In late July of the second year, at the mouth of the Haihe River 100 miles southeast of Tianjin. Here is bordered by the Bohai Sea in the east, the Haihe Plain in the west, facing each other across the river and Tanggu, the land is the Jiuhe Jin, the road leads to the seven provinces of boats and cars, it is the gateway of Beijing and Tianjin, the mouth of Dagu called the throat of sea and land. After Zhu Di built the capital of Beijing in the second year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, he built a city and a garrison in Tianjin, and built a pier and a cannon in Dagu Haikou. In the 20th year of Daoguang of the Qing Dynasty, the governor of Zhili was subordinate to the Nar Jing, and the north and south forts and artillery positions of Dagu were added, more than 30 cannons were placed, and more than 2,000 soldiers were guarded.

The year was destined to be an eventful year, when the land south of the Yangtze River was still in the hands of the Manchu Qing and the Taiping, and the killing of French missionaries and the Nissan incident occurred in Guangxi and Guangdong, which made the already intricate shape even more unpredictable. These two incidents directly led to the Manchu foreign relations, which had been warming up, to fall into crisis again, and the tough attitude of Britain and France and Ye Mingchen's perfunctory response at the beginning led to the British fleet's bombardment of the city of Guangzhou.

The clouds of war shrouded Guangdong, and just when the initiators Xiao Yungui and Hong Yun'er celebrated each other, the Manchu Qing's arrogant attitude towards the outside world suddenly changed. He presided over negotiations with Britain and France at Dagukou.

After resuming negotiations with Britain and France, the combined fleet of Britain and France withdrew from the siege of Canton and escorted the envoys north, which was also a show of force. The Qing court assigned Shi Rongchun, a general of the Seng Greenqin Department, to serve as the general of Dagu, and commanded the heavy troops to be stationed in Jingu, supervised the defense, fortified Dagu, built five forts, and placed a total of 64 cannons, arranged by the five-character semicolon of Wei, Zhen, Hai, Gate and Gao, and set up more than 20,000 soldiers to prepare for the construction of the Dagu Water Division, and plant piles under the water to resist the enemy ships.

On the sea of Dagu, more than a dozen ships of the British and French fleets floated quietly on the sea, and one of them, a large ship wrapped in iron armor and with a tall chimney on its hull was particularly eye-catching. This is the flagship cruiser "Telia" of the British Far East Fleet, which is a new type of ironclad ship that combines steam power and sail power. With a displacement of 1,459 tons, the ship was equipped with thirty-eight breech-loading rifled guns and a crew of one hundred and thirty-six. In front of the surrounding sail warships, its huge dark gray body appeared so dazzling.

The British Empire's Minister to China and the third Governor of Hong Kong, John Brown. Bao Ling stood on the bow of the ship, under the huge rice flag, on his thin face, a pair of deep blue eyes looking at the forts in Dagu from afar, high eyebrows, wide forehead, blond hair and gray eyes, his face was shaved clean, he was wearing a snow-white shirt, and a black satin bow at the Adam's apple. It looks very lean.

Straight behind him stood a British rear admiral, but it was Admiral Feltwood of the British Fleet. Pelo, who was in his thirties, was of medium stature and had a thick sea lion beard that was meticulously combed. He wears a crisp blue twill navy suit with a short sword hanging from the left side of his belt. The hilt of the sword is embedded with a emerald of Tsui Sensen. The Anglo-French fleet anchored at Dagu Pass was only a detachment under Grant's command. Originally, after the end of the war against Russia, the British and French fleets were facing disbandment, but now they were forced to reunite because they had a common enemy and goal.

Looking at the few small sailing boats of the Qing Army's Dagu Navy Division near the sea, the corners of Pei Luo's mouth raised a contemptuous smile, and he said in a pure London accent under a thick nasal voice: "Your Excellency the Governor." We've been waiting at sea for days, and I don't think the yellow-skinned monkeys on the other side will give us a satisfactory answer. ”

Bao Ling tightened the bow on his neckline and said, "My Major General, you still don't know the temper of the Qing people, they are always compromising in constant arguments and anger. We are much luckier than Lord Wenham. He also arrived here four years ago, and was finally deceived by the arrogant prime minister of the Qing Dynasty (referring to Mu Zhang'a, a bachelor at the time) to return to Guangzhou, but the result was nothing. We were fortunate that the bombardment of Guangzhou finally brought Ye Mingchen, the governor of Guangzhou, to his knees, and the Qing government agreed to allow us to go north for negotiations. But that's not enough, we, like the French, want to see the capital of this mysterious country. "After the British and French envoys and fleets arrived at Dagukou, the British and French were not satisfied with the Manchu Qing's proposal to negotiate at Dagukou, but proposed to negotiate in the capital. Naturally, it was a refusal, and the two sides fell into a confrontation again.

"Your Excellency, I am skeptical of the credibility of this country that is unfriendly and does not keep its treaties, and you must know that the damned city of Canton still does not let us enter the city, and our compatriots do not have any security here. So I think only war will teach them how to be friendly and keep treaties. ”

"Does Your Excellency the Major General think it's a good idea to start a war with the Qing people at this time?" Bao Ling and Pelo looked back, but it was the new British consul in Fuzhou, Walter Murphy. Henry. Mai Huatuo, he was in his thirties, with blond hair and blue eyes, a high nose and deep eyes, a thick beard on his chin, and a falcon-like gaze, and he looked very shrewd and capable. Mai Huatuo has been in China for more than ten years and is proficient in Chinese and China's national conditions, so he came with Bao Ling and served as Bao Ling's deputy envoy for negotiation. At this time, the Taiping army had occupied Fuzhou, and Xiamen was also in danger, and Mai Huatuo got along with the Taiping army very well in Fuzhou, and Bao Ling also hoped that someone who was familiar with the Taiping army would be by his side, which would help put pressure on the Manchus.

Pei Luo's thick beard trembled slightly and said, "Then when does Mr. Consul think is the right time?" ”

Mai Huatuo smiled slightly and said: "Your Excellency may have forgotten the adjustment of our China policy, for us, it is the best situation that neither the Manchu nor the Taiping army can unify China, and the division of the river can make us both right and left. A separate war with the Manchus would quickly collapse the Manchus, so that our Christian friends would soon unify China. ”

Pei Luo snorted and said contemptuously: "Even if the Taiping Army can unify China, they can't stop our fleet!" Just like the battery opposite, we can send a battleship over and we can attack it! ”

McWart clapped his hands and said, "Your Excellency Rear Admiral's courage is indeed second to none in the British Imperial Navy, do you plan to send the Swenji to attack the coastal fortresses of the Qing people?" "The Swengee is a sailing gunboat with a displacement of only three hundred tons, and it is the smallest ship in the mixed fleet of British and French that has gone north this time.

Pei Luo found out that his speech disease was caught by Mai Huatuo, his face turned red, and he said angrily: "Mr. Consul, pay attention to your words. ”

Mai Huatuo smiled slyly and said, "I'm just reminding Your Excellency the Rear Admiral that the range of naval artillery is only a little bit, and it is impossible for it to cover the entire Huaxia Continent. ”

Seeing that Pei Luo was still going to speak. Bao Ling waved his hand, motioned for the two to stop arguing, looked at Mai Huatuo and asked, "My consul, are you sure that we don't need naval artillery to achieve the purpose of our trip?" ”

Mai Huatuo nodded slightly and said, "The quick reply to the request for this negotiation is something I have never seen in the Qing Kingdom for more than ten years. Compared with the previous little thing, which can make you wait for a month or two, this time the Qing Emperor seems to have enlightened, and he no longer avoids us, but is unprecedentedly generous, although they still refuse us to go to their capital to negotiate a treaty. However, I believe that the Qing people are sincere in this negotiation. I judge that the Qing people are too busy dealing with the Taiping offensive to go to war with us now, so they will accede to our request. ”

Bao Ling nodded with satisfaction and said, "It is definitely a right choice to let you serve as my deputy envoy." I also want to know if your proposal to the Qing State to bring troops into Beijing as an embassy escort was purely out of temptation? ”

Mai Huatuo said with a smile: "The Chinese have a saying that they know that they will not be defeated in a hundred battles. It is important to test the reaction of the other party in the negotiation, and it is of guiding significance for our next negotiation plan. He glanced at Pei Luo and said, "At the same time, I also want to give the officers and men of the Marine Corps of His Excellency the Major General the opportunity to visit the capital of this mysterious country." ”

Peilo's anger did not subside. I also heard Mai Huatuo's teasing tone. Said angrily: "My Marines would prefer to step on the corpses of the enemy and enter their capital for sightseeing!" ”

Bao Ling frowned and said: "Enough is enough, Major General, you will wait until after the real declaration of war, until the Qing people have no signs of using force, it is better to be patient, Prime Minister Palmerston and the whole of Britain are not ready to start a war in the Far East, we need time to digest the pain that Crimea has brought us." ”

Mai Huatuo pointed in the direction of Dagu and said, "It seems that Qingguo's reply has come." You see. Bao Ling and Pei Luo looked back, only to see a sailboat of the Dagu Navy Division slowly coming, Pei Luo opened the clairvoyant mirror to look, only to see that there were only a few officials wearing Qing court uniforms on the sailboat. There were only shirtless sailors on the ship, and there were no officers or cannons on board, so he breathed a sigh of relief and said: "There should be no combatants on board, it seems that there should be officials who came to exchange documents, but for the sake of caution, I still ordered my soldiers to be on guard." ”

Bao Ling said: "Go, Major General, put down the dinghy and pick them up, I can't wait to know how they have replied to us, my consul, please go and meet them." ”

Mai Huatuo bowed slightly and said, "I'm happy to serve you." "Let's go with Pei Luo to greet the officials of the Qing Dynasty.

After a while, several Qing Dynasty officials boarded the Tyria, the flagship of the British fleet, but one of the leaders was Su Shun, who was dressed in the official clothes of a Zhengyipin, and Mai Huatuo, who had been in China for a long time and was familiar with the clothing of Qing court officials, was also a little surprised that the officials who came to reply to the documents this time were of such a high grade. When he came to Bao Ling, after Mai Huatuo introduced each other, although Su Shun still kept a straight face, he was not as arrogant as some Qing court officials that Bao Ling had seen before, nor did he bow and hug his fists and other strange courtesies, but stretched out his right hand, signaled to shake hands with Bao Ling, and said: "Fortunately, Your Excellency the Minister." ”

Bao Ling was a little stunned, the Chinese official in front of him looked to be in his thirties, with sword eyebrows and starry eyes, a lofty instrument, a graceful attitude, and a long beard under his chin that made him look graceful and modest with a hint of rebelliousness. After listening to Mai Huatuo's translation, Bao Ling was stunned for a moment, then immediately shook hands with Su Shun with a smile and said, "It's a pleasure to meet Your Excellency the Minister. When Mai Huatuo translated, he knew that the Qing Dynasty's household department was the department in charge of money, so he directly translated it as the Minister of Finance of the Qing Dynasty.

Su Shun had to deal with the envoys of Britain and France because he had received the will, and he had to make up for some Western etiquette with evil, plus Xingzhen's guidance, he knew some etiquette between the two countries, and after listening to the translation, he continued: "This official has received the will of the imperial court, and has come to reply to the request of His Excellency the Minister to bring troops and horses into Beijing together, and let you wait at sea for a few days, please understand." ”

Bao Ling listened to the translator and immediately said: "Thank you Your Excellency the Minister for personally replying to this matter, we feel the sincerity of your country, I don't know how your Emperor Xià will reply to this matter?" ”

After listening to the translation, Su Shun smiled slightly and said word by word: "We refuse this request, the British and French ministers want to enter Beijing to submit their credentials, but there is no agreement in the previous Jiangning Treaty, and it is impossible for us to agree to this request under such circumstances." As he spoke, Su Shun looked at the ships around him, and then said: "If your country and France want to use artillery to open the gate to the capital, we will fight to the death!" (To be continued......)