After the official enthronement ceremony, the next step is for the ministers, as well as the internal and external guests, to enter the Guixiang Pavilion of Yonghua Palace with the emperor to have lunch and enjoy singing and dancing.

In particular, it should be noted that Yonghua Palace is actually the original Hanbi Village, which was historically bought by Shengkang, that is, Sheng Huaixuan's father, and then became a lingering garden.

After Li Yongji occupied Suzhou, he had already decided to use it as a government office, so it was renovated in advance.

For example, the Great Light Hall where the enthronement ceremony was held, was actually built later, and the location was probably at the location of the Sheng family ancestral hall in another time and space garden, but it covered a much larger area.

The place of the Great Light Hall was originally a warehouse built by Li Yongji, because this place of Hanbizhuang was not only the seat of the new government of Suzhou, but also Li Yongji's residence, in order to facilitate time and space transactions, so a super tall and super large warehouse was built on the vacant land with a special color steel house.

It is also because it is a warehouse, so it is a priority to build, and after it is built, it has not been used a few times, but when it comes to the enthronement ceremony, a large place is needed as a main hall, and this warehouse is just right.

That is to say, the Great Light Palace, in fact, is a warehouse rebuilt, decorate the inside, paste some insulation materials and decorative walls inside and outside, and then lay carpets, and a suitable place for worship will come out.

In the same way, out of the habit of modern people, Li Yongji arranged his residence in the Rolling Stone Mountain House, that is, the Hanbi Mountain House in the Lingering Garden, and let people modernize and expand it in advance, and renamed it Qingxin Palace.

Qingxin Hall is Li Yongji's main living place, in addition to the necessary bedrooms, there are also restaurants, study, bathrooms and other facilities, which is most suitable for Li Yongji's otaku lazy.

As for the Mingse Building next to it, Li Yongji did not hesitate to tear down and rebuild it, and all of it was converted into a multi-purpose hall, where you can conduct fitness, swimming, shooting and other entertainment activities.

Of course. At the beginning, Li Yongji considered that he wanted to hold a large-scale banquet and guest activities, so he specially expanded the place originally called Dining Xiuxuan, and transformed it into a large-scale multi-functional restaurant, which can accommodate up to 500 people at the same time at one time, because there are many osmanthus trees here, so it was simply renamed Guixiang Pavilion.

It can also be seen from this that if Yonghua Palace is actually a palace, the layout is still a little too small, and it cannot be compared with buildings such as the Forbidden City and Zhongnanhai Ziguang Pavilion in Beijing. Therefore, Li Yongji's enthronement ceremony, if you look at it purely from the scale of the palace, it is indeed a little too shabby, but fortunately, Li Yongji likes it, then there is no problem.

Although the Guixiang Pavilion as a restaurant is much worse than the state banquets of later generations, considering that this place is so large, and it was positioned as a temporary residence from the beginning, it is not a real imperial palace, so it has such a large scale. It's already good.

As for where the Guixiang Pavilion is, yes, it is actually the location of the Wenmu Xiangxuan in the Lingering Garden.

After everyone arrived at Guixiang Pavilion, they naturally began to sit down. At this time, instead of a Western-style buffet mode, large round tables were used, and everyone sat in order according to their status. Then, while eating under the service of the ladies next to him, he enjoyed the singing and dancing on the stage. Things like "King Qin's Breaking Array Music" are all to be performed here.

Li Yongji, as the new emperor, naturally wants to have a separate table, but he doesn't like to eat alone, so he pulled Li Yongchang and Yin Susu over to eat together, if you put aside the identity of the family, the two of them happen to be the chief civil official, and the other is the chief military attaché, in this way, it can be regarded as establishing a rule, that is, in the future, when the emperor feasts guests, the chief civil and military chief will eat with the emperor.

Of course, for a banquet like this, because the emperor was present, it was impossible for the ministers and guests to really shake off their cheeks and eat hard, but what they wanted was a ceremony, a ceremony for the emperor to communicate with the ministers and guests, and the legendary Manchu and Han banquets had the same meaning.

In fact, not only the ministers and guests couldn't eat, but Li Yongji himself couldn't eat either, because this was an open banquet, Li Yongji's every move was watched by others, and the emperor's costume on his body was particularly troublesome, so Li Yongji couldn't eat well at all.

felt that it was boring to eat and drink under the watchful eye of the public, so Li Yongji simply replaced the wine with tea in advance like the wedding banquet, saluted table by table, and said haha to everyone, after getting to know each other, and then left in a hurry under the pretext of busy government affairs.

After that, the three people who left Guixiang Pavilion came to the Qingxin Hall together, where a small stove was reopened, although the diet was not as diverse as Guixiang Pavilion, big fish and meat, and most of them were light, but it was more in line with Li Yongji's habits and tastes.

"Hey, I didn't expect the enthronement ceremony to be really tiring." As soon as Li Yongji sat down, he began to complain while undressing, "I have been preparing early in the morning, and I have been busy until now, I haven't eaten anything good, and my tired body is about to fall apart. ”

"Your Majesty, you will have to call yourself me in the future." Li Yongchang immediately persuaded, "You can't say me anymore." ”

"There are no outsiders here, what are you afraid of." Li Yongji waved his hand, "I'm used to talking about me, it's always me, it's troublesome." ”

"It's because habit becomes natural that it's important to practice in advance." Li Yongchang continued to persuade, "Your Majesty is now the king of a country, and he is no longer the same as ordinary people, so he must pay attention to everything he says and does." ”

"Cut, how can it be so troublesome, since I am the emperor, the king of a country, and the boss of the world, then naturally I can do whatever I want, there is no need to be specialized, and make some complicated things difficult for myself." Li Yongji, who took off his coat, shrugged his shoulders, "Usually I just say me, who dares to say how I am?" Hmph, I am in charge of my country, if you want me to say, I will give an order in the future, except for special ceremonial occasions, the emperor does not need to say me, whether it is in private or in ordinary times! ”

"This ......" Li Yongchang's mouth moved, and finally he stopped persuading, "Okay, Your Majesty, you want to leave it like this, it's not a big deal anyway." ”

After holding a few pieces of small bread with jam and butter in advance with chopsticks, and swallowing the milk one by one, relieving his hunger a little, Li Yongji said to Li Yongchang, who was sitting on the side and didn't eat anything: "Big brother." Why don't you eat it, why, the bread is not to taste? Why don't I have rice served? ”

"No, no, no, no." Li Yongchang smiled, "Thank you for your concern, but the minister has actually eaten before, and he is not hungry now." ”

"Eaten? How I don't know, what have you eaten? ”

"Back to Your Majesty, this morning, the minister ate two braised pork knuckles in advance." Li Yongchang arched his hand. "I'm still a little tired, so I'm not hungry."

"Hehe, it seems that you are also very cunning." Li Yongji smiled, "By the way, this is my private residence, you don't need to call your majesty, you are uncomfortable with what you say, I don't feel awkward to listen to it, let's just call it like before." ”

"How can this work? The ...... of the Monarch and the Minister"

"Shut up!" Li Yongji simply glared, "I said yes, you are called like this, I have to translate it a lot." It's tiring, you know? Don't come with me, since we're brothers, let's just say that...... Well, here's the order. Do you hear the decree? ”

"This ...... Be. Li Yongchang bowed his head and arched his hand, "Minister...... I. Compliance. ”

"Well, that's right." Li Yongji smiled, "By the way, then again, at first I thought that you were like me, and you couldn't eat, so you wanted to start a small stove with me." But since you're not hungry, why don't you stay in the big dining room and come with me? ”

"Actually, the minister...... I have something I want to continue to discuss with my majesty. Li Yongchang said.

"What must be discussed today?" Li Yongji asked, "You don't need to call your majesty, just say you." ”

"This can't work, His Majesty has been exempted from the self-title of the minister, but some rules still cannot be abolished, and the title of Majesty Xià cannot be changed, otherwise the rules will be broken."

"Well, since you insisted...... Then you go on, what is there to discuss with me in a hurry? ”

"General things, of course, don't need to discuss today, but some things are more urgent, I think it's better to talk to His Majesty as soon as possible." Li Yongchang said, "Actually, what I want to talk about is mainly about Russia. ”

"Russia?" Li Yongji nodded, "The Russian envoy put pressure on you?" ”

"It's not just Russians." Li Yongchang continued, "The British and the French also jointly put pressure on me as mediators, and on the surface they appeared to be mediating, but in fact they were wearing the same pants as the Russians. ”

"You mean that the British and French are uniting with the Russians to put pressure on you?" Li Yongji was surprised, "I heard you right, right? ”

"Your Majesty heard me right, that's exactly what happened." Li Yongchang said, "At the beginning, the Russians threatened us that if we did not agree to the conditions they put forward and sign a new treaty, they would press in with a large army.

But then the British and the French persuaded me in their capacity as mediators, saying that we should talk to the Russians again, saying that they had already persuaded the Russians and that the conditions had been lowered considerably, and that we should accept the new conditions and sign a treaty called the "Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship and Peace," so as not to really meet each other.

The new treaty they negotiated, though a little better on terms than the Russians had at the outset, was no less harsh, and it had to give Britain and France the benefit of their coordination, which was tantamount to one more betrayal.

Because the content was too much, I didn't agree at all, but the envoys of the three countries suddenly united to put pressure on me, saying that if they did not agree, the three countries would not rule out joining forces to intervene by force in order to maintain the so-called international order.

When I heard their threats, I didn't dare to call the shots, so I began to drag on, under the pretext that your majesty is still in the north, and we have not yet established a country, so we can't represent China, and we can't be the masters, so we have to wait for you to come back.

Now that you have ascended the throne and we have established the Chinese Empire, the envoys of the three of them have just found me again, hoping that we will arrange a negotiation immediately.

This time, they made a clear demand, saying that we must start formal negotiations with them in the name of the Chinese Empire, sign a formal treaty, and determine the contents as much as possible, and if it is delayed any longer, or if it is not satisfactory to them, then Britain, France, and Russia will form an alliance to intervene against us by force.

They said that this was not a joke, that it was a formal notice, and that if they did not reply within three days and did not start negotiations with them, they would treat the agreement as null and void. An ultimatum to war will be officially issued to us, which is why I am in a hurry to report this to you. ”

"Britain, France, and Russia form a coalition? Interfere with us by force? Li Yongji was stunned at first, and then sneered, "It's really possible, the British, the French and the Russians are actually colluding together?" And you have to deal with me? It's weird. ”

Speaking of this, Li Yongji thought for a moment, and then said to Li Yongchang: "Are you sure that the envoys of the three countries told you that they must give them an answer within three days and start negotiations within three days, otherwise they will meet us in arms?" ”

"Yes, Majesty. I'm sure. Li Yongchang frowned and said, "Otherwise, how could I tell you this at this time." ”

"Well, that's right." Li Yongji touched his chin and began to say half-inquiring, half-talking to himself, "Strange, it's not difficult to understand that the Russians want to deal with us, but I'm not bad about the British and the French." The trade volume is increasing almost every week, why should they deal with me? ”

"I don't know about this." Li Yongchang shook his head.

"What was the content of the treaty they gave you before?" Li Yongji suddenly asked, "This is the "Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship and Peace" that the British and French envoys told you. What are the conditions inside? Tell me about it. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Li Yongchang nodded, and then began to talk about the general content of the "Sino-Russian Friendship and Peace Treaty".

The so-called "Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship and Peace" contains about six points.

Article 1. The Chinese side, that is, Li Yongji's side, must immediately release the captured Russian officers and soldiers and envoys, and pay Russia three million taels of silver in compensation. At the same time, Britain and France are the mediators, and the Chinese side should pay 1 million taels of silver to each of the two countries, for a total of 3 million taels of silver to Britain, France, and Russia. If it is not possible to make a lump sum payment, you can borrow money from the three countries with interest to be determined and secured by customs taxes.

Second, the two sides must not continue to be hostile to the Qing Empire, and the two sides must take the initiative to provoke by means of a complete ceasefire on the actual control line, otherwise it will be regarded as disrespect to Britain, France, and Russia. If either side of the Qing Empire and Li Yongji took the initiative to attack the other, the three countries had the right to jointly intervene and mediate by force.

Article 3 allowed Britain, France, and Russia to set up a concession at the mouth of Dagukou in Tianjin, demolished the Dagukou fort, and opened Tianjin as a commercial port, and allowed British, French, and Russian merchants to do business freely in Tianjin, exempted from a single qiē commercial tax, and exercised consular jurisdiction. That is, the merchants of the Three Kingdoms broke the law on the territory of the Jingwu Army, and they were not allowed to be tried by someone on Li Yongji's side, but handed over to the consulates of the Three Kingdoms for trial.

Fourth, Britain, France, and Russia are allowed to recruit Chinese laborers to go abroad in the area controlled by Li Yongji, and the Jingwu military government shall not interfere with such voluntary employment behavior.

Fifth, Russia also has the right to participate in the trade between the elite military junta and Britain and France, which means that Russian merchants enjoy the same treatment as British and French merchants. As for the tariff quota, it needs to be jointly negotiated and formulated by the four countries, and without the permission of Britain, France, and Russia, the Jingwu military government is not allowed to arbitrarily raise tariffs on tariffs.

Article 6 The governments of Britain, France and Russia shall be completely open to the processes and formulas of the three types of products, such as aspirin, heroin, and stainless steel, and shall not monopolize the production and operation of these three products.

After all these six conditions were agreed, Russia promised that it would not hold the elite army responsible for attacking the Russian army without authorization, and that the two countries would continue to maintain friendly exchanges.

"Tsk, that's interesting." After listening to these five conditions, Li Yongji shook his head gently, "Indemnity, concession, demolition of forts, consular jurisdiction, employment of Chinese laborers, participation in customs and taxation, living is an unequal treaty, they really dare to open their mouths." ”

"Yes, I just think their conditions are too harsh, so I didn't agree to any of them." Li Yongchang frowned and said, "Your Majesty, their conditions are so harsh, I think they are obviously insincere, I'm afraid there is another inside story here, they want to be unfavorable to us." ”

"It's up to you to say that." Li Yongji nodded, "Of course I know that the conditions are harsh, it's not strange with the greed of the Russians, I just wonder why Britain and France are also involved, it is said that I have a good relationship with Britain and France." ”

It is no wonder that Li Yongji is strange, because he never thought that the Russians would collude with the British and the French.

You must know that Britain and France have just finished fighting the Crimean War with Russia, and it is said that there is an enmity between the two sides, and it is impossible to resolve it so quickly.

In addition, Li Yongji treats the three countries separately, and does not treat Russia at all, but he treats Britain and France very well, just a Jiangnan region. The volume of trade with Britain and France exceeded the volume of trade with all places outside the Jiangnan region combined, and it is still increasing.

In this case, the British and French should not be able to get along, but the fact is that they did.

In fact, this is not surprising, after all, there is no absolute enmity between countries, only absolute interests, and the fact that the three countries can come together is completely due to the changes in China's shape.

Due to the destruction of the combined fleet of Britain and France, Britain and France were unable to carry out armed intervention in China in the short term. Coupled with the rapid rise of the elite army and the power to seize power in China, the British, French, Russian and other powers were wary of the imminent nascent China.

Because they all know very well that the Jingwu military junta is different from the old Qing court, their rulers are Han Chinese, more justifiable, and their rulers are more enlightened, once such a China is reunified and rises, it will inevitably have a far-reaching impact on the Asia-Pacific region and even the world.

So. Partly out of fear and partly out of revenge, the call to stop China has long been heard by the British and French ruling classes.

Although Li Yongji had good relations with Britain and France in the past, and the trade volume between the Jiangnan government and Britain and France increased year after year. But this increase is not a good thing for Britain and France, because this increase in trade volume is based on a large number of surpasses in China. And Britain and France are on the basis of a large number of Super Leagues.

In other words, China is the biggest winner in the trade arena of the three countries. Precious metals are constantly being exported to China, while Britain and France are constantly importing precious metals such as gold and silver to China

Take two drugs that have been quite popular in Europe and the United States recently, aspirin and helot*because for example.

These two drugs are nominally two drugs of a pharmaceutical company called Bayer Pharmaceuticals opened in the Shanghai Concession, and because of the immediate effect, a Bayer whirlwind has been set off in Europe and the United States, especially the heroin, which has been regarded as a panacea, and is completely in short supply.

Although the legal person and general manager of Bayer Pharmaceuticals is a British, the chairman of the board is Li Yongji, and although Bayer Pharmaceuticals is a pharmaceutical company, it is actually just a trading company or an OEM company.

At present, the Jiangnan government's export volume of aspirin and aspirin has reached 550,000 taels of silver every month, accounting for a quarter of the entire Jiangnan government's export value, and it is still growing!

In other words, the average monthly export trade volume of the Jiangnan government is 2.2 million taels of silver, which is already a rather terrifying figure in this era.

Compared with this terrifying and still rapidly growing export volume, the Jiangnan government's import volume is less than 350,000 taels of silver, and almost more than ninety percent of it is the expenditure on importing opium*, which is really insignificant compared with the huge export value.

In the past year or so, the British and French governments have not thought of countermeasures, but whether it is aspirin and helotin, two universal drugs that cannot be imitated, or other high-quality and inexpensive luxury goods such as stainless steel products, aluminum products, perfumes, high-grade silk, high-grade porcelain, etc., they are all impossible for Europe and the United States to refuse, and they are simply in short supply, and it is impossible for the government to suppress these demands and reduce these imports.

The European and American powers are now completely dependent on these things, and they can't do without these things at all, especially aspirin and heyloin, which are life-saving things, without these, the common people don't care, but those big nobles and big bourgeoisie will definitely fight with them.

In particular, it should be pointed out here that aspirin is not to be mentioned, and the heroin actually uses the historical method, that is, oral powder, rather than nasal inhalation and injection, so the addiction is not so obvious, but the effect is significant, and it is regarded as a panacea as in history. If the price is not too high, a gram of heroin costs a gram of gold, and Li Yongji intends to suppress production capacity, and the popularity will be even faster.

As for the opium*-chip that the Jingwu military government was still purchasing, although Britain and France had already begun to expand the cultivation of opium*-chip in the colonies, the production did not increase as soon as it increased. Moreover, since the Jiangnan government imposed a high luxury tax, especially after the high tax levied on those who smoked opium, the demand for opium in the Jiangnan area has dropped rapidly.

But it is precisely because the Jiangnan government is purchasing it in a unified manner, so the price is pressed to death, and it cannot be sold at all, just because there is still a profit. Everyone continued to ship to China.

As a matter of fact, China has already decided the price of opium in the international market, and if Li Yongji had not wanted to continue to engage in morphine and sea loin and raise the purchase price of opium by a little so that the other party could continue to sell it profitably, the opium trade might have ended without a hitch.

But in any case, Britain and France felt that it was a bit of a loss to trade with the elite army and wanted to obtain more privileges, but the British and French armed intervention forces were temporarily insufficient, and they were afraid of affecting trade with the Jiangnan government. That's why I endured it all the time.

However, when the Jingwu army had the strength to seize all of China, Britain and France knew that they could not bear it any longer, and they had to intervene and not make China strong.

In other words, what the British and French powers wanted most was to acquire a fragmented China with warlords, so that they could better sell weapons and arms. It can also stifle China's rise, but a rising China will never work.

It just so happened that the Russians clashed with the elite army at this time, so the British and French abandoned their prejudices. He began to join forces with the Russians, and decided that once the elite army did not compromise, the British and French would send ships and the Russians would send troops. Armed intervention against the elite army.

That is, they also know that by land, the Russians will not take advantage. Unable to send more troops to the Jingwu military-controlled area, they planned to go by sea, and the British and French went out to attack Shanghai directly with Russian soldiers, and then forced the Jingwu army to agree to their conditions, and at the same time, they also used this to suppress the prestige of the Jingwu military government!

It is precisely because of this that they put forward such harsh conditions, completely waiting for the Jingwu military government to start a war as soon as it does not agree.

In other words, in fact, Britain, France, and Russia have already begun to prepare for war, and if they have agreed to the conditions, they will be able to say anything, and if they do not agree, the armed intervention of Britain, France, and Russia will soon begin!

Of course, in fact, the most important thing is the Russians, who are now in debt, and it is impossible to fight with Britain and France, but there are still as many soldiers as there are.

If Britain and France were willing to provide ships and weapons, even if it was a loan, the Russians would still be able to benefit from this armed intervention in China, or in other words, in the case of the elite military junta.

Not to mention anything else, once the Jingwu Junta is defeated, the aspirin and heroin in the hands of the Jingwu Junta can make the Russian Tsar blush, not to mention the stainless steel process with strong civilian and military value.

As for Britain and France, they still have a large backlog of weapons and equipment that are ready to be eliminated, and they are already worried about how to deal with it, and now they can lend it to the Russians in the name of loans, let them use it to fight the Chinese, and then earn benefits from it, such a good thing, they are also happy.

Therefore, whether it is out of the strategic intention of suppressing China and splitting China, or out of real short-term interests, Britain, France, and Russia have every reason to interfere in the elite armed forces, and this is absolutely not something that can be confused by those little tricks engaged in by Li Yongji.

"Didn't the Americans intervene?" Li Yongji suddenly spoke again, "Brother, this time Britain and France have mixed up with the Russians, so what about the United States, why didn't the Americans move?" ”

"The Americans really didn't intervene this time." Li Yongchang shook his head, "I don't know why they didn't intervene, in fact, it was the Americans who sent me a message in advance, telling me that Britain and France might interfere, and asked us to be careful." I think the Americans have a good relationship with us, and they know a little bit of gratitude. ”

"Do Americans know gratitude? The old sow will go up the tree. Li Yongji smiled, "If you want me to see it, there must be other reasons." ”

It is true that the Americans do not want to intervene, but first, Britain and France do not want another United States to come in and share the benefits, and second, the United States itself is now also worried about its own internal worries and is unable to carry out such large-scale foreign interference for the time being.

And seriously, now the relationship between the elite army and the Americans is very good, especially the kind of agricultural product procurement, so that the Americans' entry into the super is not very strict, plus the Americans have a high evaluation of the combat effectiveness of the elite army, and they feel that they have to pay a lot of price to fight the elite army, and it is difficult to say that they will win.

It is precisely because of these considerations that the Americans do not want to clash with the elite armed forces now, but just want to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and wait until the winner is completely separated, and then stand on the side of the winner according to the situation to obtain benefits.

In addition, the Americans also want to let Britain, France, and Russia have a hard time with the elite armed forces, at least to weaken the strength of Britain, France, and Russia, so that the interests of the United States in China will be more secure in the future.

In other words, the United States is now the great power that has the most benefits in the Jiangnan government, and if the United States does not intervene, then the United States will be able to reap the benefits no matter who wins or loses, and this is naturally what they are happy to see.

It is precisely because of this that the Americans sent a message to Li Yongchang in advance, hoping that the elite army would make more preparations and give Britain, France, and Russia a ruthless blow.

"The envoys of the Three Kingdoms are here, right?" Li Yongji, who had figured it out, suddenly asked.

"Huh? Yes, 陛xià. Li Yongchang nodded, "The envoys of Britain, France and Russia are all outside, what's the matter, are you going to summon them?" ”

"Summoning a fart." Li Yongji pursed his lips, "Everyone is clearly going to beat us, so what else do you summon?" Just prepare and prepare, just open the film with them. ”

"I'm still going to fight." Li Yongchang sighed, "But Your Majesty, can't we give in for the time being?" After all, the threat of the Taiping army is close at hand, and the strength of the Manchu Qing has not been completely defeated, so it is really unwise to start a war with the great powers now! ”

"That's right." Li Yongji frowned, "No, we still have to delay for a while...... In this way, you immediately form a negotiation team with Wang Tao, Ronghong, and others, and start negotiations with the envoys of the three countries here this afternoon to see what they mean.

But if you want me to see, there is a chance that we will not be able to talk about it this time, but it doesn't matter, your task is to drag it out with them, and drag it out little by little in the details, and the longer it drags on, the more prepared we will be. As long as we are ready, when that time comes, I will kill as many as he comes!

As for the Taiping Army, hum, I used to let them go free for so long, because I wanted to have a peaceful solution, and I didn't want to kill too much, but this time Lao Tzu had something, and they didn't know how to lift, so they couldn't tolerate it! (To be continued......)