Although there is resolute opposition from the so-called Qingliu, Li Hongzhang's strength cannot be underestimated. In addition, this matter does not actually require much money from the Manchu halal. Of course, if Chile defaulted, the Manchus would have to pay for the purchase of ships in addition to the deposit paid by the Chilean government, but in this way, the warships would also be handed over to the Manchus as collateral. Considering that the Chileans would pay a considerable part of the deposit first, once Chile defaulted, the Americans would obviously not repay these deposits, so that the Manchus only needed to spend a final payment to get the right to use these warships from the Americans. Until the Chileans could pay the balance and fines under the contract, the ships could be kept by the Manchus.

Because there is no need to come up with money to reach this agreement, at least for the time being, the opposition of those in the household department has been reduced in reason and strength. Coupled with the fact that this matter was more of a diplomatic matter, in the end, Li Hongzhang succeeded in persuading the Qing court to agree to send personnel to negotiate with the Americans and Chileans.

When it came time to determine the negotiators, Weng Tongyi wanted to intervene. Trying to put your own people in to be the chief officer in charge of the negotiations. It's just that there is a real lack of talent in this area in his hands, and the people in his pocket are not willing to do it themselves. They are all "clear streams", and the biggest characteristic of "clear streams" is that they use their mouths to spray people, rather than do practical things. Because it is easy to make mistakes in doing practical things, and if you make a mistake, you will give the enemy a chance to blame yourself. Moreover, in negotiations with foreigners, because of the language barrier, and because they don't know anything about diplomacy, if you really want them to go, the possibility of being fooled by others will be very high. So none of the "clear streams" are willing to do such a thing. In the original history, after the defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Qing court sent Li Hongzhang to negotiate peace with the Japanese. However, although Weng Tongyi, who usually fights the most fiercely, put forward a series of demands such as "breaking off the land and not cutting the ground", he resolutely refused to negotiate with Li Hongzhang. Because he knows that as long as he goes, he will not be able to take off the hat of a "traitor".

So in the end, the negotiators sent out could only be Li Hongzhang's people. Li Hongzhang originally planned to let Rong Hong take the position, but this mention was resolutely opposed by the "Qingliu", and even the relatively enlightened Zhang Zhidong also expressed opposition. Because they fear that Rong Hong is too close to the Americans and may betray China's interests.

In addition, under normal circumstances, such negotiations should be conducted in secret, but there is hardly any decent secrecy system in our Qing Dynasty, and those officials in my Qing Dynasty hardly have any sense of secrecy. As a result, before the negotiations had even begun, the relevant news had already been published in Japanese newspapers. In the Manchu Dynasty, due to the lack of intelligence agencies, they did not know anything about such a situation. It wasn't until their delegation arrived in the United States and met with the intermediaries of the MacDonald family and the representatives of Chile that they knew that such a leak had occurred.

"Mr. Rong, your country's secrecy is really poor. I don't know why such news could be known to the Japanese, you know, it has caused a lot of distraction for us and for our Chilean friends. Therefore, before the start of this meeting, I hope that the representative of your country will be able to assure that the content of this meeting will not be leaked. After arriving in San Francisco, the intermediary sent by the MacDonald consortium unceremoniously came up with such a statement as soon as he saw the Manchu delegation.

Although Rong Hong failed to become the official representative of the Manchu delegation, under the entrustment of Li Hongzhang, he still came to the United States as a translator with this delegation of only five people.

Hearing the accusations of the Americans, Rong Hong was a little surprised. Because they simply did not know that the news of the negotiations had leaked. Seeing him like this, the intermediary understood a little, so he said to Rong Hong: "Mr. Rong, it seems that you don't seem to be very clear about the leak. Then he turned his head and said to a young man standing behind him:

"Greystone, you can show Mr. Rong and the Qing delegates the reports on this matter in the Japanese and American newspapers."

"Yes, Mr. Hiddink." Greystone took out a few newspapers from his handbag and handed them to Rong Hong: "Sir, this is the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun, the New York Daily Times, and the Wall Street Journal. There are related news reports on it. ”

This was the first time that Greystone had been involved in business negotiations as a secretary, and it was a necessary process to gradually develop a successor. According to Scrooge's ideas, as well as the experience of the rabbit country in later generations, cultivating x86. It is best for the successor of the family to go to all the relevant departments of the family to experience it, not necessarily too long, even if each position only stays for a year or two at the beginning, it can also let the children have a perceptual experience of the entire operation of the family, which can be corroborated with the theories they have learned before, so that the children can grow up faster.

Greystone had been working in newspapers and broadcast media for a while, then returned to the University of Cleveland's Rockefeller School to study economics for a while, and now that it was time for the summer vacation, he began to learn negotiation skills with Hiddink, a negotiator.

At this time, the official representative of the Qing Dynasty, an official named He Yong, although he could not understand what these ghosts were saying, also felt as if something was wrong. So when the ghost guy finished speaking, he hurriedly asked Rong Hong, "Mr. Rong, is something wrong?" ”

"The news that we are here to negotiate has leaked, and the Japanese already know about it." Rong Hong said as he handed a newspaper to He Yong's hand.

He Yong asked, "What is this talking about?" ”

"Qing Guo and Chile are secretly discussing cooperation in the purchase of ships. Even our basic approach to cooperation is published. The Americans felt that this must have been a leak from our people. Rong Hong explained.

"Why do the Americans insist that we leaked the secrets and not them or the Chileans?" He Yong seemed a little unconvinced, but his voice was very low, and his tone was not resolute.

"The Japanese newspaper said that they learned the news from the mouth of a high-ranking official in our country." Rong Hong replied with a sigh.

He Yong was silent, even if there was no evidence that Rong Hong mentioned later, he was actually more inclined to believe that the leak was his own problem. Because he also knew that in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, there was no decent ability to keep secrets at all. When he followed Lord Li Hongzhang and the Taiping Army to fight with the Twist Army, he appeared more than once, and he knew the situation on the battlefield and the next move of the Qing army earlier than he led the troops to fight. And always able to rely on this wealth. From that time on, he knew what level of secrecy my Daqing was. To be honest, it's not surprising at all that Daqing gave birth to a leak, but if it doesn't leak, it's strange. The Japanese newspaper statement merely confirmed his suspicions.

"It must have been said by those shit 'clear streams' who only have one mouth. These bastards! He Yong thought viciously. He knew that there was a group of people in China who were waiting to see Huaijun, Beiyang, and Li Hongzhang. In the eyes of these guys, even if they lose to foreigners, as long as they can fight Li Hongzhang, it is a good thing. But in his mouth, he said: "This is a slander against the Japanese." If I were Japanese, I would definitely protect the source of the news, where would I say it directly......"

……

"Mr. Hiddink, why do we accuse them as soon as we see them?" After arranging the Qing delegation, Greystone asked.

"Ah, Greystone, we are doing this to suppress those Chinese first and beat their momentum down, so that it will be easier to take advantage of the negotiations later." Especially these Chinese, many of them still believe that there is reason in the world, so if they lose money, they will be very weak-hearted, even if they don't admit it, but when they really negotiate, it is still much easier to deal with. In contrast, it is the British who are the most difficult to deal with, and no matter what they do, they will always be at ease. Moreover, when necessary, do something that breaks your word, and there is no psychological burden at all. Hiddink replied.

"So, Mr. Hiddink, which country do you think is easiest to negotiate with?" Gladstone asked.

"That depends." Hiddink thought for a moment and said, "For example, if you are sure that you will beat your opponent to death, then it is easiest to negotiate with the Japanese, first beat them up, and then say that it is all right." If you're a particularly good drinker, or if you have someone on your team who is a good drinker, it's easy to negotiate with the Russians – as long as you can easily put them down with vodka, a lot of questions will be much easier to talk about. When he makes an unreasonable request, you just have to glare at him and say, 'If you're not convinced, we'll have two bottles of vodka,' and their arrogance will go down immediately. Of course, if you or your people can't drink them, then they will seem extraordinarily provocative and extraordinarily difficult to talk to. ”

"I know that." "Dad told me that when they negotiated the price of Alaska with the Russians, it was only by you, Mr. Hiddink, that you put several Russian bears in vodka in one go, that we were able to keep the price so low," Greystone said. Is it true that Dad said you drank at least 3 gallons of vodka (about 11 liters) in one sitting? ”

"Except for one breath, the rest is not too outrageous." Hiddink laughed, and then said, "But to be honest, I'd rather grind slowly with the British and play a game of sausage cutting than with the Russians." ”

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