Outside Hue City, Qin army camp.

In the Chinese military tent, in the four corners and on both sides of the seats, more than a dozen ice basins exuded a trace of coolness, which made this hot weather feel more refreshing.

Liu Xian was leaning on the handsome chair in a single shirt and closed his eyes to recuperate. He had several circles of white gauze wrapped around his head, and the center was faintly dyed red, like an Indian Ahsan. When outsiders look at him, everyone will think that he is injured, even those important ministers of Vietnam and Emperor Duc himself also think so.

Only Huo Guangcheng and other confidants knew that Liu Xian was purely pretending to be injured, and he also shaved a bald scoop for this.

But even Huo Guangcheng is an old watch, and he doesn't know why Liu Xian did this. He couldn't have imagined that Liu Xian was purely on the spur of the moment and wanted to shave the pig's tail braid on the back of his head. And this time Liu Xian is not the only one who has been shaved bald, and all those in the whole army who have been injured in their heads and have been painted have all been shaved bald.

"Your Excellency!" A guard walked into the tent. "Wu Shuai sent a battle report that his troops had captured Dingxiang Province, and now they are using troops to Bianhe Province."

After the Qin army returned to Hue, Vu Zhongping integrated the new Vietnamese army, divided into two routes with Huang Jiyan's army, and used troops in the three eastern and western provinces of Nanqi.

In this war against France, if Liu Xian's interests are in China, then among the Vietnamese generals, Wu Zhongping will benefit the most. Although because of Huang Jiyan's status as a relative, he still presses Wu Zhongping, but in terms of prestige and reputation in the army, Wu Zhongping no longer thinks of being the second person in Vietnam. Compared with his original identity, he is only one of the dozens of governors in the Vietnamese army, which can be described as a step to the sky.

Of course, Wu Zhongping knew who had 'given' him, and he also knew that if he had not had the strong support of external forces, the princes of the Ruan Dynasty would not dare to hold him up and completely empty him.

The bad habit of 'using people to face forward, not people facing backward' is not unique to China. Generals who can fight wars have always been suspicious of those in charge, not to mention that today's Nguyen Dynasty, like the Manchu Qing Dynasty in China, is already on the decline. The courtiers are even more taboo about this.

Wu Zhongping didn't want to lose the military power in his hands, and only be an empty boss. He wants to keep his position, in addition to continuing to win battles, that is, he has a close connection with Liu Xian, of course, he will not say the words of loyalty, but he vaguely reveals the meaning, and he and the Qin army are already in solidarity!

This time, Vietnam sent troops to Nanqi, and Liu Xian once again sent a sniper unit and a part of the sharp knife team to assist Wu Zhongping, so that he could defeat Dingxiang Province so quickly, and once again defeated Huang Jiyan!

Liu Xian did not think that the Vietnamese court could really recover the lost territory by taking advantage of the lack of French troops and taking back some territory. He could not expect too much from the Manchus, and even he could have concluded with certainty that the Manchus would definitely sell Vietnam. Compared with the historical Sino-French wars, the only difference is that the Manchus, who now have a good hand, can at least retain Vietnam's current power and independent status. And, of course, the Manchu Qing themselves with the suzerainty of Vietnam!

The Qing government, which wants to save face, will definitely not let up on this point.

In July, the counterattacks of the two Vietnamese armies against the six provinces of Nam Ki were unable to be defeated. Du Bailei did not have enough troops at hand, but he had enough sailors, plus the French and natives recruited on the spot in Nanqi, and finally withstood the counterattack of the Vietnamese official army.

Beijing's will on the war in Vietnam has also been clearly issued, but the envoy is still on the way, and the will has not yet been accurately delivered to Liu Siam and Nguyen Chao.

Liu Xian has his own people in Beijing, as well as Zhang Shoudai's relative, of course, he has already received the exact news. Beijing sent Li Hongzhang as a trolley negotiator, instead of Zuo Zongtang, the official minister of trade in Nanyang. The intentions are, of course, self-evident.

As for Liu Xian himself, he was given purple reins and three-eyed flower feathers. became the only minister who wears a three-eyed dazzling feather today. Since the Qianlong Dynasty of the Manchu Dynasty, only five ministers have been given three-eyed dazzling feathers: Fu Heng, Fu Kang'an, He Lin, Chang Ling and Xi En, and Liu Xian is only six. Therefore, his title of winning this honor did not move, and he was still a first-class Jing Yihou, only his obedient daughter was named 'County Monarch', which was more than the third-class Doroggege.

Liu Xian didn't care about the war in Vietnam at all now, he set his eyes on the city of Guangzhou, to see if this time the French could also take things from the negotiating table that they couldn't get on the battlefield, just like in history!

……

Manila, Philippines.

Two warships docked in the harbor, and a large number of Spanish soldiers without military uniforms were boarding the transport ships one after another.

"Lieutenant Colonel Torres, take me to greet His Excellency Governor Warren. Spain and France, friendship lasts forever! "A French major, speaking authentic Spanish, expressed his most sincere friendship to a Spanish lieutenant colonel officer.

After France's defeat in the Vietnam War, the Spaniards came to France's aid. Although the major did not know whether Spain was doing this in Europe, whether it was Paris that was working hard in Europe, or just for the private agreement reached between General Du Bailei and Manila, anyway, just like France three years ago, this year there has just happened to Spain, which is in chaos at the bourgeoisie, level. His Excellency the Warren Governor of Manila had not been afraid to make a private agreement with General Du Bailei to lend three battalions of Spanish soldiers in return handsomely. Anyway, it is not certain whether he, the position of the governor of the Philippines, can last for a long time. In recent years, due to the turmoil in Spain, the Governor's Palace in Manila has changed three owners in the past two years.

Don't underestimate a person's beliefs, that will be a big loss. Because at this time, even Liu Xian could not have imagined that Du Bailei would receive support from three battalions of Spanish soldiers from the Philippines during this time. He thought that the general trend of Vietnam was decided!

……

Guangzhou.

Li Hongzhang arrived in Yangcheng by boat at the wharf yesterday, and the people of Guangzhou seemed to be able to see the loud momentum when he entered the city. Today, a large number of foreigners have taken the initiative to come to Li Hongzhang's residence.

The British and French ministers, and their consuls in Canton, were indispensable. The representative sent from Paris is still floating on the sea, and the pre-legal representative of the Sino-French talks is the French minister to China, Luo Shuya. But in this meeting, in addition to China and France, the United Kingdom, which intervened and the United States, which later intervened to mediate, it was also necessary to have Vietnam, the victim, present. Emperor Duc had already sent his younger brother Nguyen Phuc Thanh and Nguyen Van Xiang as his chief and deputy envoys to Guangzhou to participate in the negotiations, and they would also go to Beijing to thank him.

Nguyen Phuc Thanh and Nguyen Van Huong have not yet arrived, but negotiations have actually begun.

It's just that such a negotiation is about the gains and losses of important interests, and it is necessary to communicate with each other and explore each other's bottom line after officially starting the negotiation.

Therefore, when Li Hongzhang arrived in Guangzhou yesterday, Ruilin, the governor of Guangzhou, and Changshan, the general of Guangzhou, held a banquet that night to wash away Li Hongzhang's dust. The next day, a litter of foreigners hula around Li Hongzhang.

The footsteps faded away, and Li Hongzhang's smile suddenly sank. It seems that the French are still very capable, and Belgium and Spain are even inclined to the French in their rhetoric. This gave Li Hongzhang a slap in the face! There seemed to be a layer of frost on his face, and his straight back couldn't help but lie down a little at this time, standing in place, pondering there.

From the ear room, Zhou Fu quietly paced over. He whispered in Li Hongzhang's ear: "Zhongtang, this negotiation has a heavy responsibility, and France should not be underestimated!" ”

Li Hongzhang turned around and strode inward, speaking in a low voice: "Belgium is a small country, but Spain is a big country in Thailand. He occupied Luzon in the South Seas during the Ming Dynasty, and Vietnam is close at hand, and it has been 300 years now. Even the matter of Vietnam, more than ten years ago, it joined forces with France to enter the ...... "The pressure and influence of the British are naturally not something that Spain can resist, but now in addition to Spain, there is not also the United States?"

Li Hongzhang counted with his fingers, and the situation was unexpectedly saved by the French. How can this put him at ease?

Ruan Phuc Thanh and Nguyen Van Thiang were still in a hurry to rush to Guangzhou, and they did not dare to take the sea route, fearing that they would be left to stay with the French. He only took the land route, advanced to Guangxi, and then took the inland river to Guangzhou. It took longer than when Li Hongzhang went south.

……

Saigon, inside the French Governor's Palace.

Du Bailei met with Colonel Juan, the commander of the three Spanish battalions.

"Your Excellency, for the next few months, under God's watchful eye, my soldiers and I will fully respect your commands. Attack, defend, or sacrifice! ”

In the first sentence of meeting Du Bailei, Juan made a straightforward gesture.

Du Bailei is not surprised that Juan's 'taming' was bought back by France's real money, and it is the exchange of interests of red fruits. But that didn't stop him from being happy.

"Colonel Juan, I appreciate your bluntness." Du Bailei picked up a thin straight stick, "I hope that under God's verification, we will have a pleasant memory in the coming days." ”

"Now, let's take a look at what we need to deal with. Here, here, and here, we have to contain their attacks. We must once again deal a heavy blow to the Vietnamese and create as many favorable conditions and conditions as possible for the negotiations in Canton. ”

"Then why don't we attack here? Wouldn't it be better if this is the location of the Chinese? To Juan's own surprise, the three locations pointed out by Du Bailei were completely battlefields in the southern region, and there was no arrangement at all for the middle and northern regions. This made Juan, who had some knowledge of the situation on the battlefield in Vietnam, completely confused.

In his opinion, it is better to fight the Vietnamese than to fight the Chinese, and only by striking at the Chinese, the negotiations in Guangzhou, can the French really stand in an advantageous position. The locations indicated by Juan are Da Nang and Hong Kai Port. Anyway, there is no formal ceasefire agreement signed between the two sides now! R1152