The chiming clock in the Purple Light Pavilion has already begun to chime at 12 o'clock, and the history of the chiming clock in the Forbidden City can be traced back to the time of Matteo Ricci, who was still revered as the ancestor of Chinese watchmakers in later generations. But at this moment, Pasha Li, who was restless on the main hall of the Purple Light Pavilion, did not have such a good mood to remember this sage, he walked around restlessly, and he had no patience after waiting for hours.

After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom declared war on Britain and France yesterday, Pashali volunteered to negotiate with the Manchus, and after a thrilling day's journey, Pashali almost took the same path as Prince Gong to the capital of the Qing Empire that he had always dreamed of. Of course, he returned to Beijing much later than Prince Gong, so he and Gong Cheng and other entourages took a hanging basket and went up to the city wall of Beijing, and then entered the city of Beijing.

Pa Xia Li was frustrated by this, as a diplomatic envoy, he should not be treated like this, but after Gong Cheng explained, he cheered up slightly, Gong Cheng told him that now the capital of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was threatened by the Taiping army and the coalition army, so he naturally did not dare to open the city gate in the dark night, since ancient times, the envoys in and out of the besieged city were like this, so Pa Xia Li was relieved.

They were received by an official of the Ministry of Rites, with the rank of Squire, who was very polite and lived in a good place, but Pasha Li was unable to meet the more senior Manchu officials overnight, and Prince Gong asked this Squire of the Ministry of Rites to bring them to wait for the audience in the Ziguang Pavilion tomorrow morning.

According to the Qing Dynasty system, every year the new emperor routinely gave foreign vassals and Mongolian princes a banquet, in the past, most of them were in Fengze Garden in the South China Sea, and after the twenty-sixth year of Qianlong, they moved to Ziguang Pavilion until the end of the Qing Dynasty. Ziguang Pavilion has always been the place where the Manchu emperors received foreign envoys. This was even the case in later generations when New China was founded.

But Pashali's journey to the audience did not go well, and he waited for a morning at the Purple Light Pavilion. Still couldn't wait for the Qing Emperor to meet with the empress dowager, and he didn't know. During his first night and first morning in Beijing, the Allied forces were attacked by the Taipings.

Just when Pa Xia Li couldn't help but ask Gong Cheng to ask when the little eunuch outside the palace could meet him, a eunuch came in and said loudly: "Ying envoy Pa Xia Li, Gong Cheng, Qianqing Palace to meet you!" ”

After listening to the translation, Pashali couldn't wait to follow the eunuch away, and he didn't have time to enjoy the royal palace and garden scenery along the way, he just wanted to see the characters he should see as soon as possible.

When I came to the East Warm Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, I saw that it was already full of more than a dozen Manchu ministers, and a screen in the middle was blocked. Vaguely seeing someone behind the screen, Pasha Li stepped forward and took off his hat and bowed, sending his blessings to the Manchu Emperor and the Empress Dowager according to etiquette. But a Manchu minister with a beard on his face next to him glared angrily and shouted: "Envoy of the small country of Yuer, why don't you kneel down and salute when you see my Empress Dowager of the Qing Dynasty?!" ”

After listening to Gong Cheng's translation, Pasha replied: "We in the British Empire do not have the etiquette of bowing, and even when we see our own empress, we don't have to bow down. ”

When the minister heard the interpretation, he was even more furious, and rolled up his sleeves as if he was about to come up and beat Pashali, which startled Pashali. Fortunately, Prince Gong stopped in time and said: "Monk King, don't be reckless!" ”

After Gong Cheng heard the name of the minister, he whispered to Pa Xia Li, and Pa Xia Li understood. It turned out that this Manchu minister, who seemed to have a deep hatred for himself, turned out to be the monk Lingqin Wangye, who had been fighting with the coalition forces for a long time in the Jintang area.

Although Monk Lingqin wanted to beat up the foreigner Pa Xia Li, he still wanted to play in front of the emperor, so he endured it. After Prince Gong stopped the monk Grinqin. He bowed to the person behind the screen and said, "Queen Mother, as far as my brother knows." The British did not bow down, and during the Qianlong period, the British envoy Marghny came to meet him. In the end, they reluctantly performed the etiquette of kneeling on one knee, and they were also received by Lord Qianlong, so the ministers implored the Queen Mother to exempt them from kneeling. ”

A Manchu minister immediately stood up and said: "The prince's words are wrong, since ancient times, my China has been the country of all nations, and it has its own etiquette and rules." Regarding the question ......of meeting etiquette, the Manchu ministers in the warm pavilion began a lengthy dispute since then, which made Pa Xiali's eyes widen, does this etiquette issue also need to be disputed for so long?

The ministers in the palace were divided into two factions, one faction was headed by Prince Gong, and the other faction was headed by the monk Lingqin, and the two sides were arguing, at this time, a eunuch hurriedly came to report: "Queen Mother, Lord Li Hongzhang has an urgent military report. Then the room fell silent.

I saw Li Hongzhang walking into the Dongnuan Pavilion quickly, and after hurriedly saluting, he said loudly: "Queen Mother, Changmao and foreigners are fighting in Tongzhou, and the momentum is quite huge!" As soon as these words came out, the ministers in the room immediately began to discuss.

After listening to Gong Cheng's translation, Pa Xiali was shocked, and he immediately said to Gong Cheng: "Sue them, don't dwell on this etiquette issue, I can give the Manchu Empress Dowager one knee to salute, and we will start negotiations immediately!" ”

After Gong Cheng said the meaning of Pa Xia Li, the person behind the screen spoke for the first time: "Since this is the case, let's salute according to the old rules of Lord Qianlong, and you are too, so that people come from afar to see the joke." Seeing that the Queen Mother said this, the ministers stopped arguing.

At that moment, Ba Xia Li endured his anger and saluted on one knee, and after Li Lianying on the side said that he was exempt from the courtesy, Pa Xia Li immediately got up and said: "Your Royal Highness the Empress Dowager of the Qing Kingdom, now that the rebels of your country have hit your capital, our British and French forces can join forces with your Qing Kingdom to fight the rebels together......"

After Pasha Li explained the conditions of the British and French forces, the person behind the screen hummed softly and said, "Sixth Master, you can also tell us about our conditions." ”

At that moment, Prince Gong coughed, and said the conditions discussed in advance with a little embarrassment, one is to hand over a few chaotic ministers and thieves such as Mianyu, Ronglu, and Hengfu, and the second is to show the world that the so-called rebellion of the foreigners was wrong, and the foreigners still support the Manchu court as the legitimate government of China, and the third is to return the soldiers who were captured before, and the fourth is to return the Jintang and other places that are now occupied, so that the imperial court can send officials to re-govern these places, and the foreigners can only be temporarily stationed in these places. Fifth, he promised to compensate us with 5 million silver, which would be used to compensate us for our military expenses, to compensate the dead and wounded, and to appease the people in the Jintang area who had been poisoned by the war.

After hearing this condition, Pashali was very angry, and he said loudly: "Impossible, the British Empire has not been defeated, and it is impossible to compensate for any expenses!" ”

Before Gong Cheng could translate the English spoken by Pa Xiali, the person behind the screen had already said loudly in English: "Then there is no need to talk about it, these five conditions are the basis for us to start negotiations and cooperation again, otherwise this palace will not be able to explain to the military and civilian people of the world!" ”

The ministers and Pashali in the house were dumbfounded, the Queen Mother could still speak English? Then, before Pashali could come to his senses, the Queen Mother shouted loudly in Chinese: "Bring the British envoy down, today's negotiations will end here, and in the future, Britain and France will not have to negotiate again if they do not agree to this condition!" ”

At the moment, in the loud protest of Pa Xiali, he and Gong Cheng were taken out by several Qing palace guards who were like wolves, and Prince Gong wanted to stop but couldn't. After Pa Xiali was taken down, Prince Gong asked with some annoyance: "Queen Mother, is this a little too arbitrary?" The envoy spoke out against it, and we can continue to talk about it, but we can't talk so much. ”

The person behind the screen sneered and said: "Britain and France are both jackals, and now they are very anxious to be attacked by Long Hair, so they are so eager to negotiate, this palace is just using this opportunity to make them submit, so that I can get the greatest benefit of the Qing Dynasty, what's wrong?" ”

When Seng Lingqin saw that Pasha Li was taken out, his heart was very happy, and he echoed his words: "That's right, let these foreigners know that we are powerful!" Prince Gong paused and said, "You are confused! If there is no foreigner constraint, the long-haired army will come to the city overnight, and the two Huai defense lines will not be able to hold, and the Qing Dynasty will not be far away! ”

The person behind the screen seemed to be very unhappy and paddled the teacup on the table, Li Hongzhang listened to it, and said coldly: "Lord Gong, why did you say such frustrating words?" Still curse me for the Qing Dynasty? Is this another thing that a prince should say? ”

Prince Gong's face changed slightly, what he said in a hurry was indeed a bit rebellious, and when he was about to open his mouth to defend a few words, the person behind the screen also said coldly: "It's extremely perverse!" King Gong, has the state affairs been heavy recently, and your mind is confused? You'd better go home and reflect on it first, don't get involved in state affairs recently! ”

As soon as this remark came out, the Gong Wang Party in the house was shocked, and it was rare to see the Queen Mother so angry, but Gui Liang and others still stubbornly persuaded a few words, but the Queen Mother was still not allowed, and ordered the officials of the Zongren Mansion to take Gong Wang Ye home to take care of him.

When Prince Gong sneered and walked out of the Qianqing Palace, he muttered to himself: "It's over, it's over, the Qing Dynasty is dead at the hands of this woman......"

After Prince Gong was taken down, Li Hongzhang stepped forward and asked, "Queen Mother, now that Changmao and foreigners are at war, what should we do?" When Changmao and the foreigners go to war, the three camps of Changmao outside the capital must be empty, is it to send troops to defeat these three battalions first? ”

The person behind the screen said lightly: "If two tigers fight, there must be an injury, or it may be that the snipe and the clam are fighting, and the fisherman is profitable, what is the hurry?" Now that it is only the first day of the war, we will send more people to find out the news, and we will wait until the two sides are exhausted, and it will not be too late to attack the three large battalions! Na Ying also let Pa Xiali hang it first, but don't let him leave the capital, and wait for the situation to become clearer, and then make plans. ”

The man behind the screen sighed lightly and said to himself: "I hope you can defeat the foreigners as much as possible, I can't delay too long, and when the situation is clear, I can't stop those people, they will definitely ask to take down your three battalions first, and lift the ...... of the siege of the capital" (to be continued......