Midile and the others left, and one person came out of the inner hall, it was Zuo Zongtang, the first strategist of the West Palace, who saw him with an angry face and said hatefully: "These people are too deceitful!" Only sending a master to pass the word really doesn't take us seriously. ”

Xiao Yungui sighed, in fact, he didn't care much about the British approach, after all, the Taiping Army was only a rebel army occupying more than a dozen cities now, and for the British, who were known as the empire on which the sun never set, they could send a plenipotentiary minister to contact, which was already very important to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. But Lao Zuo seems to feel that face is more important, and Xiao Yungui is also very puzzled, weishenme Chinese are so concerned about face, sometimes they would rather give up very practical interests for the sake of face.

Xiao Yungui had no choice but to smile and say: "These Yingyi don't know etiquette, Mr. Zuo doesn't have to be angry." Then he looked back at Xi Wangniang, who was sitting as usual, and said with a straight face: "Why didn't you say a word just now?" ”

Hong Yun'er smiled slightly and asked, "What do you want me to say?" Directly say that we will not accept this treaty? What if you don't accept it? Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, these places are up to us? ”

Xiao Yungui said a little deflated: "Then you can't say nothing, right?" ”

Zuo Zongtang held back his anger, took the note in Wang Minyun's hand, looked at it carefully, and said: "King Xi, the purpose of Yiren's trip is very simple, that is, to say three things to us, one is that they will not help each other, the second is that they hope that we will continue to abide by the "Jiangning Treaty", and the third is that we do not attack Shanghai. ”

Xiao Yungui nodded and said, "When we discussed these things beforehand, we had already speculated that they would definitely put forward these conditions, and these arrogant Britons are like this." ”

Zuo Zongtang frowned and said: "The first one is beneficial to us, and the second one is a little difficult to accept, the Qing court's defeats and signed treaties should be counted on our heads, what is the reason?" The third is even more deceptive, can't we all attack these places in Shanghai in the future? ”

Xiao Yungui touched his chin and said, "Mr. Zuo, don't worry, you need patience to deal with these Yi people, we have to discuss now to trick their envoy off the ship first, and then sit down with us to discuss." We, in the West Temple, must get the right to negotiate with the Yi people, so that it can be beneficial for us to use troops in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. If the Heavenly King and the Eastern King were to come into contact with the Yi people, I think it would make things worse. As long as there is room for negotiation with the Yi people, I believe our best debaters will have a way. Speaking of this, he looked at Hong Yun'er, who was frowning slightly, and smiled evilly with bad intentions.

Zuo Zongtang asked a little strangely: "The best debater?" ”

Xiao Yungui laughed dryly, Hong Yun'er glanced at him with some shame, and then said to Zuo Zongtang: "Mr. Zuo doesn't have to pay attention to him, he is talking nonsense." ”

Zuo Zongtang understood that it was this little couple who played tricks, as the contact with the two deepened, Zuo Zongtang found that this living treasure couple was very strange, basically the two did not live together, most of the West Kings would stay in the palace, and the West Queen Niang liked to go to the women's camp to sleep, perhaps in wartime, the two had no time to take care of their children's private affairs, this is also where Zuo Zongtang admired the West King and his wife, and he also felt that it was worth abandoning his wife and them together. But sometimes watching this team of living treasure couples play tricks, Zuo Zongtang often misses his wife.

Seeing that Zuo Zongtang's face was different, Hong Yun'er knew that he was missing his wife and children again, so he immediately diverted the topic and said: "The king of the West is right, the British minister is willing to take the initiative to come to Nanjing, indicating that they want to understand us and see if they can get benefits from us, and judging from their note, it seems that there is room for negotiation." So far, we have not overthrown the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and the land and population we occupy are still very small, and we cannot compete with the British and French powers, so we should still deal with them patiently. ”

Xiao Yungui said with a smile: "Yes, the British want minister-level reception etiquette, this king can give it, anyway, the Kingdom of Heaven has not received foreign envoys, what kind of etiquette should be used is up to us, as long as it is not too contemptuous, the British should not be careful." I want him to suffer a dumb loss, and the etiquette we have for the reception of ministers between other countries will be tantamount to Britain recognizing my Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as the legitimate government of China in disguise, and the rest is a matter of us and them coming around at the negotiating table, and I don't believe that I can't fool him. ”

Zuo Zongtang didn't seem to understand what it had to do with whether Britain recognized the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom or not, and asked strangely: "What does it have to do with a group of foreign Yixiao Xiaocheng not recognizing my Heavenly Kingdom?" ”

Hong Yun'er explained: "Mr. Zuo, now there are many powerful countries in Shijie, and the relationship between countries is not as simple as we used to think, and whether the British admit to recognizing our regime has a lot to do with us. But if you want the Yi people to recognize our regime and provide us with what we need, they will also ask for something, mostly for profit. The most haode situation is that both parties can take what they need is the most haode, which is called a win-win situation. ”

Zuo Zongtang figured out Hong Yun'er's words, Hong Yun'er's words were too many things ahead of time, Lao Zuo didn't understand it for a while, and after hesitating for a moment, he said: "King Xi, we can't blindly back down to Yiren......"

Xiao Yungui raised his hand to interrupt Zuo Zongtang's words, and said with a slight smile: "We also have our interests, Mr. Zuo, don't worry, Yiren will not take much advantage from us, sir, do you think I am a person who will be taken advantage of?" ”

Zuo Zongtang saw that he was smiling treacherously, knowing that the king of the west had a bad stomach, and there must be some tricks to embarrass the Yi people, so he didn't say anything at the moment, he just felt that the king of the west and his wife even knew how to deal with the Yi people, which was really a blessing in heaven.

Soon Midile received a reply from the King of the West, and the two sides met at the palace of the King of the West early tomorrow morning, and the King of the West would send his guards to personally escort the British Minister, and at the same time accurately promised to give the British Minister the reception etiquette of the Minister of Heaven. and told Midile that he could negotiate with Lord Wenhan on behalf of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Xiao Yungui didn't want bad things to happen after the Heavenly King and the Eastern King who were still on the road came, the Heavenly King's arrogance would definitely make things worse, so he came forward to negotiate with the British in the same way. Xiao Yungui made up his mind to make a prelude to the first and then the prelude, and then get a batch of jewels and jade to fake the tribute sent by the British, he didn't believe that he couldn't fool the King of Heaven and the King of the East. Xiao Yungui believed that as long as there was tribute, the arrogant king would agree to the right to do business with the British, and the rest of the details and terms, the king of Hexi would not even need to report.

Midile was glad that, although the king did not reply to the three important requests made to them, he explained the reason why the king wanted to sit down with the minister and not to pass on the word to him. Midile appreciates this approach, he has had too many dealings with Qing officials, those officials seem to be very afraid of dealing with foreigners, they can avoid it, and some people will even pretend to be sick, but this Taiping Heavenly Kingdom King of the West wants to see the British minister very much, and there is no obstacle to kneeling and bowing between them, it can be seen that the King of the West seems to know some Western etiquette very well, which also makes Midile feel that the trip is worthwhile.

Later, the King of the West arranged a sumptuous feast for Midile and the accompanying soldiers, and Midile noticed that they also prayed before cooking, which made Midile and the others feel like they were their own shijie. During the feast, Midille and the six soldiers were given good wine, but neither the king of the west nor the queen of the west drank alcohol, they only drank tea, and Midile asked, and the king of the west smiled and said that the doctrine stipulated that alcohol was not allowed, which made Midile feel that they were more like Puritans.

In the afternoon, Midil returned to the Halmis and reported the situation in detail to Lord Wenham.

Lord Wen Han said with some doubts: "Is that King of the West Xiao Chaogui?" What else does he want to discuss with us? ”

Midile nodded and said, "Yes, the King of the West I saw is Xiao Chaogui, the number three person of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, as far as I know, their King of Heaven and King of the East are still on their way to Nanjing. ”

Lord Wen Han frowned and said, "Then what he said can represent the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?" Can they represent their heavenly kings? ”

Midile said sincerely: "Your Excellency, this King of the West has made it clear that he can represent the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and he is different from the Oriental people I have come into contact with, he is a devout Puritans, I think his words are credible, and we can only deal with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom through him at present." ”

Lord Wenhan pondered for a moment and said, "Okay, since that's the case, then let's go ashore to meet this rebel leader, I hope that this time we will have a harvest, and we will not be pushed around like we did with Qing officials." ”

Early the next morning, Colonel Wen Han, Midile, and Colonel Ho Bo took fifty British soldiers ashore, and under the escort of one hundred guards of the King of the West, they boarded the official sedan to prepare for Haode. When they arrived at the gate of the Xiwang Mansion, several officials of the Xiwang Mansion received them, and even set off a salute, and all the reception etiquette made Wen Han feel very satisfied.

When he arrived at the lobby of the West Palace, Wen Han saw the King of the West, who, like Midile and the others, just took off his hat and bowed, while the King of the West warmly came forward to shake hands with him and beckoned them to sit down. The two sides introduced each other's negotiators, and on the British side, in addition to Lord Wenham, Midile, and Colonel Hober, there were two other civil servants. On the side of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, there are Xiao Yungui, Hong Yun'er, Zuo Zongtang, Wang Minyun and several chroniclers.

Wen Han really felt that this king of the West was different, and after taking his seat, both sides did not talk nonsense and began to negotiate. On behalf of the British Empire, Wenham reiterated the three conditions and repeatedly stressed that the interests of the British Empire must be guaranteed.

Wen Han's words were pure English, and Midile meticulously translated him into Chinese, Xiao Yungui took the teacup and smiled patiently and said after listening: "Your Excellency the Minister is still satisfied with the reception etiquette we arranged?" ”

Lord Wenhan did not doubt him, nodded and said, "I am very satisfied, your army is very sincere in negotiating." ”

Xiao Yungui said with a smile: "Yes, Lord Wenhan is the first foreign minister to visit me since the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, of course, we are in accordance with the etiquette of receiving ministers between countries, and I hope that after the establishment of diplomatic relations between the British and our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, we can get along amicably for a long time." ”

Lord Wen Han was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly said: "Your Royal Highness the King of the West, we and your army are only in the stage of understanding each other, and we don't want to establish diplomatic relations with your army. ”

Xiao Yungui smiled and said, "Lord Wenhan, we are doing it according to the etiquette of receiving ministers, as a diplomat, you will not be unaware of the difference." ”

Without waiting for Wen Han to speak, Hong Yun'er then smiled and said: "Lord Wen Han, we have heard the three demands you just made, and we welcome Britain's neutrality, as for the second clause, which requires us to inherit the "Jiangning Treaty" signed by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, what you mean seems to mean that Britain recognizes our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as the legitimate government of China and inherits some debts and obligations left by the Manchu government, can I understand it in this way?" Now that Britain has recognized the legitimacy of our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in China, we can sit down and discuss other matters of cooperation. ”

Wen Han was dumbfounded, he didn't expect the Xiwang couple to be so cunning, so misinterpreting their meanings, relying on the fact that the other party didn't seem to have an interpreter present, and couldn't help blurting out a mouthful of English scolding, "Damn yellow-skinned monkey, so cunning." ”

The words of the conversation between the two sides have always been translated by Midile, Wen Han's uneducated words Midile naturally did not translate this sentence, he had to pretend not to hear it, but he didn't expect that after the beautiful Mrs. Xiwang in front of her heard this sentence, her face was full of anger, her pretty face turned red, she stood up with a bang, and said loudly in pure English: "Lord Wenhan, is this the tone of your English gentleman?" If you feel that we are not worthy of your respect, please leave immediately, even if Zuihou goes to war, we will prove with blood that our skin color is not the object of your please! And you have not only disgraced the face of British diplomats, but also made you Britain lose its so-called interests! To speak so badly on such a formal diplomatic occasion is to believe that you, the Queen of England, will also be disgraced by it! ”