Early the next morning, Yi? He took the people of the Li Fan Yuan and others to the mouth of Dagu. Abundant? The action was very fast, and the next day he arrived at the mouth of Dagu, and Su Shun followed the government of Dagu Town. Immediately ordered Su Shun to return to the capital to sit in the town.

Su Shun was naturally furious, but Yi? is the envoy of this negotiation, unless there is Xianfeng's will, Su Shun can only listen to him, but how can Xianfeng's will be there for a while? Su Shun didn't expect Yi? will suddenly leave himself alone, and immediately pack up and go back to the capital.

After Su Shun left, Yi? He immediately sent a note to the British and French envoys, and agreed to hold negotiations at the Dagu Town Government in three days. The British and French ministers Bao Ling and Blombur immediately replied, agreeing to the ? of the building.

That night was destined to be another sleepless night, Bao Ling and others sat in the courtyard of the courtyard after using the wine and food rewarded by the Qing Emperor in a house outside Dagu Town. This mansion was originally owned by a salt merchant in Beijing and Tianjin, and was temporarily requisitioned by Sushun to live in after the British and French ministers went ashore. The food and drink were said to have been prepared by Prince Gong's imperial chef, and the delicious Chinese cuisine was praised by the British.

Mai Huatuo looked at those rich and unusual delicacies, frowned and said, "Your Excellency the Governor, this Prince Gong may be our biggest opponent, and it will be difficult to negotiate with him. I didn't expect him to so forcefully refuse our request to go to Beijing for negotiations, and the reasons for refusal were very sufficient, because we really did not have a clause in the Jiangning Treaty to send ambassadors to Beijing for each other. ”

Bao Ling groaned: "I know, but it's good to have this wise prince here, I hope he won't be like other Qing officials who don't know what Bao diplomacy is." We are here for commercial interests, and Congress does not want to see the unpleasantness of 1847 again, so we have to talk about it no matter how difficult it is. And let the Qing know how to fulfill the treaty and respect the British Empire! ”

Mai Huatuo knew what Bao Ling said about 1847, nodded and said: "Yes, I remember after the signing of the Jiangning Treaty at that time. The whole country was jubilant, and the hot-headed energy was terrifying, and the thought of doing business with 30,000,000 or even 40,000,000 people, and the factories of the whole country were working overtime to produce goods, and as a result, the sales were not at all as one might expect, and the whole of 1847 the trade with China was only two million pounds, and many commodities could not be sold, which caused the commercial crisis, and many people went bankrupt. ”

"So the National Assembly and the Prime Minister, Mr. Palmerston, blamed the trade barriers of the Qing State for this problem, and they wanted to amend the treaty," Bao Ling said. Do you think the problem is that the increase in treaty ports, the abolition of trade tariffs, and the ability to sell more of our goods? Bao Ling made no mention of the Nissan incident, as if it had nothing to do with the negotiations. Or perhaps the anger of the British had already been vented during the bombardment of Canton.

Mai Huatuo shook his head and said: "As far as I know about China, I think it is not convenient enough to trade. The main reason is that many Chinese are not interested in our goods. I remember that year, a hillbilly from Birmingham actually shipped a shipload of pianos to China for sale. It's ridiculous to sell pianos in a country where 90 percent of the population is illiterate. However, our trade dumping has been very successful in recent years, as illustrated by the piles of cotton cloth and various commodities in the open ports of Guangzhou and Shanghai, which account for more than half of our trade with China. However, there is a very strange phenomenon, Shanghai is the territory of the Taiping Army. Where the sales of our other goods far exceed opium, opium is difficult to sell in Shanghai. In Guangzhou, opium was a very good seller. Now the merchants were accustomed to selling opium to Canton and everything else to Shanghai. ”

Bao Ling frowned. Sighing and saying: "This is not surprising, opium is a commodity with huge benefits, the Taiping Army implemented a ban on smoking in the mainland, and the Chinese opium dealers in China did not dare to buy from Shanghai, only Guangzhou could buy it, so opium sold very well in Guangzhou." Shanghai, on the other hand, is a more open and freer haven for trade, where you can sell well for everything you bring with you, except for opium. I wonder if the Qing Dynasty could open a few treaty ports in the north, would the situation be the same as in Shanghai? ”

Mai Huatuo also pondered when he heard this, and was silent for a long time, and finally asked, "What about our opium trade?" ”

Bao Ling smiled and said: "It was the trade of the East India Company, and the Congress and the Prime Minister wanted India to truly become the jewel in the Queen's crown, and did not want to see the example of the Americas played out in India." ”

Although it is unlikely that the example of the Americas in India will appear, the faint independence of the East India Company in India is still unpleasant, so Britain needs to curb the East India Company, and the most direct and best way is to crack down on the opium trade of the East India Company.

"It's time for the East India Company to hand over power, and what they're doing in India is very dangerous, and when I was in India last year, I felt like I was sitting in a crater, and the people there were very unfriendly." McVado was telling the truth, because of the oppression of the East India Company, over the years, the grievances were very deep.

Bao Ling bowed slightly: "Therefore, in this negotiation, the legalization of the opium trade is not something we have to fight for, but only as a bargaining chip for concessions." ”

Mai Huatuo laughed: "Yes, what we want is completely open Chinese trade. ”

……

The negotiations, which began three days later, were very difficult, and the two sides were at loggerheads over the murder of the priest and the Nissan incident. The Manchu Qing believed that the two priests ignored the dissuasion of local officials and insisted on going deep into Guangxi to preach, so that they would be victimized by the foolish people at the moment, and the murderer had been corrected, and the murder was considered to be an explanation. The French, on the other hand, believed that the priest represented God, and the Orientals insulted God.

The Nissan incident, the British thought that the Qing sailors destroyed the British flag This is an act of war. The British fleet shelled the city of Guangzhou as an act of war. The two sides quarreled and faced off in tension for three days.

Diplomatic negotiations are always in the midst of quarrels and compromises. A concession was made to compensate Britain and France for a total of 150,000 taels of silver, but the Manchus would not apologize for the two incidents. Britain and France finally compromised, they did not know the apology of the Qing people at all, and they had already returned the Qing with artillery fire when they bombarded the city of Guangzhou.

This was followed by more difficult negotiations on the revision of the treaty, and the ultimate goal that Britain and France wanted to achieve through this incident was to revise the treaty. Therefore, the negotiation of the amendment is the right thing to do. The conditions put forward by Britain and France were really similar to Xingzhen's guess, such as opening up the whole country, legalizing the opium trade, sending ministers to Beijing, and so on. Abundant? Knowing these terms, Xianfeng would not agree to any of them, so he patiently maneuvered and tentatively approached.

The more complicated and arduous negotiations lasted intermittently for more than a month, and the two sides gradually began to move towards their own bottom limits in repeated quarrels, temptations and compromises. After Lei Tingchang in the mission proposed to purchase cement, fertilizer and other materials in large quantities, Britain and France saw the dawn of interests.

Unfortunately, on the eve of the agreement, an unexpected event occurred. On this day, the ministers of the two countries are still at peace? After the others finished negotiating with the government office, they were assassinated at the door of the government office when they were about to return to their residence in a carriage. A Qing man suicidally attacked the convoy with a gunpowder bag, and Bao Ling and Blombul were wounded. The British sailors who escorted the mission lost two dead and five wounded.

The British and French missions returned to the flotilla parked in the open sea that night, and the note was also very tough, demanding that the Qing state give a satisfactory answer to the two countries, otherwise the war would start three days later.

Abundant? Like ants on a hot pan. I don't know who is wreaking, the perpetrator has been blown up beyond recognition. Nothing was found. However, the British and French envoys were attacked on their own territory, and the Qing State could not get out of it. Finally? I have to ask for an order, is it war or peace?

Xianfeng had already returned to the capital, and three days were quickly spent in the civil and military disputes of the Manchu Dynasty, and the British and French fleets, which had not received a reply, immediately launched an attack on Dagukou, which is known as the first battle of Dagukou.

But here's the big surprise. The first battle of Dagukou was actually won by the Qing State. As early as a year ago, after hearing the news of the Taiping army's landing in Dalian, the terrified Xianfeng ordered the monk Greenqin, who commanded the troops and horses in the north, to strengthen the defense of Dagukou, he did not want to wake up and hear the news of the Taiping army's landing at Dagukou.

Monk Greenqin, who was ordered to prepare for defense, immediately reorganized the army and added the Dagu Haikou Naval Division. New fortifications were built on the basis of the existing forts and camps. There are 3 forts on the north and south banks, and a total of 60 artillery pieces are built, including 2 12,000 jin steel cannons, 9 10,000 jin steel cannons, 2 5,000 jin steel cannons, and 23 Western iron cannons. Embankment walls were built around all forts, trenches were dug outside the embankment walls, and wooden piles were erected. In addition, three barrage chains were set up in Haikou, iron barrages were arranged, wooden fences were installed, and huge rafts were connected, and camouflage was strengthened. In order to strengthen the defense of the flanks, the forts were renovated in the Beitang area, the number of artillery pieces was increased to 24, and troops were also set up to defend the camp north of Beitang. More than 30 miles east of Tianjin, 13 new forts were built near Shuanggang, and 81 large and small steel cannons of less than 1,200 catties were installed, which greatly strengthened the defense in depth, and the defenders of Dagukou and the local regimental training reached an astonishing more than 20,000 people.

Historically, these defensive facilities were supposed to appear after the defeat of the first Battle of Dagukou in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but Xiao Yungui flapped his butterfly wings and made a Dalian landing, so these things came out in advance, and the result was that the proud and arrogant British and French fleet suffered a lot.

This battle was the greatest victory won by the Qing army since the First Opium War. A total of 4 enemy ships were sunk, 6 ships were seriously damaged (completely incapacitated), 2 ships were captured, 426 British and 14 French soldiers were killed or wounded, 1 British and 1 French soldier were captured, and Rear Admiral Hobber, deputy commander of the British fleet, was seriously wounded. The Qing army lost 38 people, and Shi Rongchun, the commander of Zhili, and Long Ruyuan, the deputy general of the Dagu Association, were martyred in the battle.

The defeat of the coalition forces lay in the light of the enemy, and after the commander of the leading fleet, Rear Admiral Hob, "thought that he had won the battle" after breaking into the estuary. Monk Gelinqin also made a more in-depth comment on this battle: "The defeat of Caiyi this time was due to pride and bullying the enemy. It means that the fort camp is within reach, and the water battle is lost, followed by the foot. It is because they do not believe that China dares to fight." The Qing army was prepared for the attack, and suddenly attacked within the range of the artillery, concentrating on the enemy's flagship, causing its command to fail and fall into confusion, thus winning a great victory. However, because the Qing army did not have modern ships with fast speed and strong firepower, it was unable to take advantage of the victory to pursue and expand the results of the battle, so it had to be allowed to withdraw from the war zone safely.

No one expected this situation, the British and French fleets had to withdraw to Shanghai first, and the victorious Manchus were even more confused. (To be continued......)