The Japanese envoys were led by an old acquaintance, Kawaji Shomo, who had maintained friendly relations with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom ever since Kawaji Shomo had made contact with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and presented the famous "Kawalu Shape" to the Shogunate. During the eight-year conflict between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and Russia in the Far Northeast, Japan maintained the same pace as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and many Japanese samurai were called up to accompany the Taiping army to fight against the Russians.

Although Japan has achieved a lot of benefits by embracing the big thick legs of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it has not improved its overall situation of being oppressed by the Great Powers, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom seems to have sided with the Great Powers to bully Japan after the end of the Anglo-French-Russo-British War. In this case, the domestic shogunate faction also shouted the slogan of emulating the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and changed the slogan of Hong Yun'er's master Yi Changji to control the country, called the king and the emperor, and they hoped to launch an uprising to end the weak shogunate in the country like the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and then confront the foreign powers, hoping that a miracle like the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would occur, and defeat the powerful powers, so that Japan would become a great power in the East.

Since 1853, when the United States coerced Japan into opening the country by force, Japan signed founding treaties with Russia, Britain, and the Netherlands, and Japan's system of seclusion and seclusion collapsed. In 1858, under pressure from foreign countries, the Shogunate's Daidai Ii Naobu signed the "Treaty of Reconciliation and Commerce between the United States of Japan and the United States of America" without waiting for the emperor's approval.

From October 1858 to 1859, the shogunate arrested a large number of people from the Emperor's faction in Kyoto, Edo, and other places, resulting in the Ansei Prison. In 1860, 18 ronin members of the Mito and Satsuma feudal domains of the Sato faction avenged the victims of the Ansei Prison. The assassination of the old Ii Naobi in Edo is known as the change outside the Sakurada Gate.

The center of the movement was in the Choshu Domain. Leaders include Yoshida Shoin and his protégés Takasugi Shinsaku and Kusaka Genbata. The members of the Shogunate faction included lower-ranking samurai, village officials, wealthy farmers, merchants, village officials, priests, scholars, and ministers who demanded reform of the shogunate or had conflicts with the shogunate. From the end of 1862 to the beginning of 1863, the Emperor sent an edict to the Emperor. The shogunate regularly announced the abrogation of treaties, the closure of ports, and the expulsion of foreigners, although this did not include the Chinese who had been trading with Japan for many years. On January 31, 1863, Takasugi Shinsaku and others set fire to the British Legation. On June 6, the shogunate was forced to agree to the emperor and set to begin the campaign on June 25. On June 24, the shogunate announced that the ports would be closed.

On June 25, July 8, and July 11, 1863, the Choshu Domain Fort shelled American, French, and Dutch ships passing through the Shimonoseki Strait. Prior to this, Japan had imported a lot of advanced artillery from China, especially the lords of the Choshu Domain. In addition, a large number of firearms and artillery were imported from China from the Taiping Army, so the armed forces of the Japanese Shogunate faction were greatly strengthened, and their determination to bring down the curtain was strengthened. Therefore, in the battle of the bombardment of the fleets of the great powers in Shimonoseki, the Fallen Curtain faction achieved some results, and the fleets of the great powers were not prepared for the fact that they were temporarily defeated.

On July 16 and 20, U.S. and French warships attacked Xiaguan successively to retaliate. At this time, Takasugi Jinsaku organized a new army modeled after the Taiping Army, the Odd Soldier Team, to defend Shimonoseki, and the battle was fierce. However, Takasugi's army held Shimonoseki for the time being.

As the war spread throughout Japan's seas, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom also sent fleets to Japan under the pretext of protecting trade routes and expatriates. Originally, the Japanese Shogunate thought that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had come to help them, but unfortunately, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had always supported the Shogunate. Therefore, soon the fleets of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom also joined the fleets of the great powers to deal with the Shogunate faction. In fact, the reason is very simple, the activities of the Shogunate faction have affected the normal trade between China and Japan. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, as an East Asian power, naturally wanted to intervene with arms.

On August 15, a total of 27 warships of the combined fleet of China and Britain attacked the Satsuma Domain. The lord of the Satsuma clan succumbed and turned to the Gongmu (the union of the Imperial Household and the Shogunate and the feudal domains). September 30, 1863. The shogunate forces and the Komu faction jointly controlled by various countries staged a coup d'état in Kyoto, ousting Minoru Sanjo and other fallen Shogunate Secretaries, and wantonly persecuting the Emperor and the Shogunate faction.

On August 19, 1864, Kusaka Genrui and others led the Choshu clan troops into Kyoto and fought a fierce battle with the Kyoto Guardian Army controlled by the shogunate, and Kusaka Genrui and others committed suicide in defeat. On August 24, the shogunate, at the behest of the Taiping Embassy in Japan, instigated the emperor to issue an edict to launch the first war against the Choshu domain in order to pursue the rebellion of the forbidden gate. The combined fleets of Britain, China, the United States, France, and the Netherlands also attacked Shimonoseki again on September 5, and the Choshu domain was defeated by internal and external attacks, and the shogunate surrendered, and the conservative forces regained control of the feudal domain, and Takasugi Shinsaku and others were forced to flee.

In the spring of 1865, Takasugi Shinsaku again raised his army, advocating the opening of the port and no longer mentioning the shogunate, which meant that he recognized the commercial interests of various countries in Japan, but was still preparing to overthrow the shogunate. At this point, the Rebellion was transformed into an armed rebellion and formed a secret military alliance with the Satsuma Domain. At the same time, Britain also weighed the advantages and disadvantages, changed its strategy, and aided the Fallen Shogunists. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, on the other hand, believed that a chaotic Japan was more in the interests of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, so they further strengthened their support for the shogunate, and this time the French sided with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and supported the rule of the Japanese shogunate together.

As a result, in 1865, with the support of the British, the Shogunate launched a number of armed attacks against the Shogunate, and the Japanese Shogunate was overwhelmed, so it sent a mission to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to ask for help.

In the Qianqing Palace in the Forbidden City of Beijing, Xiao Yungui cordially received Japanese friends, and soon the two sides reached an arms deal of five million pounds, in which the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom sold weapons to the Japanese shogunate at a parity price, and promised to send retired officers of the Taiping Army to train and reorganize a new army for the shogunate in a private capacity.

Chuanlu Shengmo was very happy, and even offered to pay for the valiant Taiping army to cross the sea to participate in the shogunate's war, but Xiao Yungui politely refused. Just kidding, Xiao Yungui knows where the bottom limit of Britain and France is, and everyone can support one side and make a lot of war money. However, it is absolutely impossible to really send the army to carry out armed intervention, this is a rule that everyone has discussed. Anyway, it was Japan's own people who died in the war, and it was Japan's own money that was spent. But it is not cost-effective to send your own soldiers to war.

The rejection was not discouraged, and then negotiated a purchase agreement for some food supplies. In recent years, Japan has always been an important market for China's dumping goods, and Central Asia, Mongolia, Tibet, South Asia, Nanyang and other places, there are all important markets for China, especially Japan, Nanyang, Central Asian countries, China is supporting pro-China forces, but also earning a large amount of gold and silver, especially the arms transactions with Japan are gold and silver spot transactions, so it also further guarantees the gold standard monetary system of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

After sending away the Chuan Lu Shengmo. Xiao Yungui came to the imperial garden humming a little song, and saw Hong Yun'er talking with Li Xuanji and Han Baoying there, and seeing that Li Xuanji was also there, Xiao Yungui couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed on his face.

Since the end of the war, the British and French concessions have been taken back by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the security and judicial rights in the concessions are managed by the police and judicial system of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but the land leased by foreigners from various countries is still used by foreigners from various countries, and there is no barrier that restricts the separation of China and the West. After the British Concession lifted the three-year siege, Li Xuanji returned to the Concession. Clifford returned to China to find his wife. When he learned that his wife was in China, he was only interested in the Red Cross with Nightingale, and did not entangle with Xiao Yungui anymore, and Clifford asked his wife to go back to England with him. But Li Xuanji refused. He still insisted on staying in China to start the Red Cross, and Clifford had no choice but to stay in Shanghai with him.

At the beginning of this year, Li Xuanji and Clifford came to Beijing. Li Xuanji planned to set up a branch of the Red Cross in Beijing, while Clifford was an artist. He also wanted to see this ancient and great oriental capital with his own eyes. So the couple went to Beijing, and today the Cliffords were allowed to visit the Forbidden City. As soon as Clifford entered the Forbidden City, he was amazed and visited around accompanied by the internal security personnel, while Li Xuanji came to visit Hong Yun'er, and it happened that Han Baoying came back from Xinjiang to visit Shi Dakai, and also entered the palace to visit Hong Yun'er, and the three daughters chatted while walking in the imperial garden.

Xiao Yungui didn't see Li Xuanji's face clearly at first, but when he got closer, he was also seen by the third girl, and when he was about to turn around and leave, Han Baoying smiled and shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, Wan'an!" When Xiao Yungui heard this, he had to step forward to meet the three daughters.

After Li Xuanji and Han Baoying performed the traditional Chinese ceremony, Li Xuanji lowered her head slightly, and Xiao Yungui touched her nose a little embarrassed, remembering that when they met again at the Shanghai Licha Hotel a few years ago, the two had already explained their words, but they were still slightly uncomfortable when they met again.

Hong Yun'er smiled slightly to break this embarrassing atmosphere and said, "Sister Xuanji came to Beijing and wants to develop a branch of the Red Cross here, what does Your Majesty think?" Xiao Yungui sighed, nodded and said, "Very good, this is very good, I fully support it, if you need anything, just say it." ”

Li Xuanji breathed a sigh of relief and said: "We will solve the problem of funds ourselves, we only need a place to ......" Before the words were finished, Xiao Yungui immediately said: "Approval, immediately approve a place for them, just in the inner city, there are still a few palaces in the former Qing Dynasty that are empty, you go and see which one you like, I will approve it for you." ”

Han Baoying chuckled and said, "Your Majesty, I've never seen you so happy." Xiao Yungui's old face turned slightly red, and he said slightly angrily: "Little girl, do you talk to me like this?" Believe it or not, I turned around and transferred Li Xiucheng to the Northeast? "Lee so-sung is still the commander of the garrison in the Gyeonggi region, and he has had a good relationship with Han Baoying in recent years, and he has reached the point of talking about marriage.

Han Baoying was slightly embarrassed, snorted and said to Hong Yun'er: "Empress, you see that Your Majesty is bullying me again." Hong Yun'er smiled and comforted a few words: "Let's go over there and take a walk, let the two of them talk alone." With that, he pulled Han Baoying and left first.

Seeing Hong Yun'er and Han Baoying walking away, Xiao Yungui breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Li Xuanji and said, "Do you plan to live in Beijing permanently?" Li Xuanji shook his head and said, "After the affairs of the branch are done, I plan to go back to Shanghai." Xiao Yungui sighed, looking at the relationship between familiar people but no longer familiar, he couldn't find anything to say for a while, and finally could only say: "Your eldest brother is still serving a sentence...... Li Xuanji's eldest brother Li Chong was arrested in Jinzhou with Rong Lu, and was later sentenced to fifty years in prison after being tried as an accomplice.

Li Xuanji nodded and said: "I have been to see him several times, and I have been encouraging him to serve his sentence well, strive to reduce his sentence, and hope that he can come out as soon as possible." Xiao Yungui smiled bitterly, even if Li Chong's performance was good, his sentence would be reduced by ten years, and when he came out, he would already be an old man of sixty or seventy years old, so what was the use? But Xiao Yungui didn't know that Li Chong's life was longer than his, Li Chong was released from prison at the age of sixty-six, and then followed Clifford to do archaeological and cultural research, until he was over 90 years old before he died, Xiao Yungui, Li Xuanji, Clifford and others have died of old age, and he is still alive.

Xiao Yungui nodded and said, "If you need anything, come to me." Li Xuanji hummed softly, she was afraid that Clifford would think about it when she came back and saw that she was alone with Xiao Yungui again, so she said: "Your Majesty, I will go back first, I wish you all the best." Xiao Yungui nodded, with a faint reluctance in his heart, but watching Li Xuanji's back go away, he didn't stop her in the end......

As one of the founders of the Red Cross, Li Xuanji's name has been praised by later generations, and her love history with the founding emperor of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has often been adapted into movies and television decades later. (To be continued......)