That night, the British and French fleets anchored outside the mouth of Dagu were waiting neatly there, and Bao Ling and Mai Huatuo both lost sleep. During the day, the attitude of the Qing court was very tough, but it did not close the door to negotiations, and the Qing finance minister said that Prince Gong could go to Dagukou to negotiate with them, but they were absolutely not allowed to enter Beijing, let alone bring troops into Beijing!

The attitude of the Qing court made them scratch their heads, but they were unwilling to give up the negotiations, after all, this time the Qing state seemed to be very sincere in the peace talks, and sent a prince to preside over the negotiations, which was unique in the history of Qing diplomacy. Bao Ling and Mai Huatuo discussed all night but still did not come to a good conclusion, so both of them lost sleep.

Thousands of miles away, it was also night, and people were asleep, no one knew that in the secret room of the Heavenly King's Mansion, they were discussing secret matters. I saw Hong Renfa, Hong Renda, Qin Rigang, Hu Yihuang, Chen Chengying and Meng Deen, all sitting around the Heavenly King. In the face of the aggressive posture of the East King, as well as the posture of beginning to prepare to deal with the North King and the Wing King, Hong Xiuquan and the others naturally could not sit still.

Hu Yihuang was named King Yu after returning to Tianjing, but he still chose to stand on the side of the Heavenly King, for the simple reason that Yang Xiuqing deprived him of military power.

Everyone summed up for a long time, and agreed that the top priority was to prevent the North King and the Wing King from returning to Beijing, once the two kings returned to Beijing and were restrained by the East King, then the general trend had gone, and the attitude of the West King was very unclear, and it was even possible to become the second East King, so the hope of the Heavenly King was not pinned on Xiao Chaogui's body. The North King and the Wing King don't have the courage to resist the East King's orders like the West King, they need to have the edict of the King of Heaven to act, so someone must send them the edict of the King of Heaven before they can raise troops and serve the King!

But who will be sent? How do you get out of Tianjing? There was a lot of talk and no idea. After a while. Hong Ren said: "Since it is unreliable to send others, leave it to me!" ”

Meng Deen frowned and said, "No! The Yang thief is very cunning, and he pays special attention to your family, you can't mix up Tianjing. Besides, Guozong, you have a rude temperament and don't adapt to improvisation, so you have to mess things up. ”

Hong Ren was annoyed that Meng Deen looked down on him, and said angrily: "Don't underestimate people, how do you know that I won't improvise?" ”

"Alright, stop arguing." Hong Xiuquan said with a gloomy face: "Big brother." Can you really do it? ”

Hong Renfa laughed and said, "What's so difficult about this! If you give me the edict and send it out, won't it be over? ”

Chen Chengying touched the beard on his chin and suddenly said: "Guozong wants to think of this matter, it's not that there is no way, but he must suffer some crimes." ”

Hong Renfa looked at Chen Chengying and said, "What are you afraid of if you are guilty?" ”

Hong Xiuquan also looked at Chen Chengying and said, "Chengying has any way to say it quickly." At that moment, Chen Chengying whispered that he was going to speak, and everyone listened. First shook his head, then nodded his head. Then Hong Xiuquan straightened his waist. said: "That's it." I'll do it early tomorrow morning. ”

When everyone heard this, they unanimously agreed, and they all said to Hong Renfa: "Lord Guozong, you are going to endure hardships. Hong Ren laughed and said: "What is this, it is much better than mourning the head!" ”

At that moment, Hong Xiuquan held the pen in his hand and wrote an edict to the two kings of North and Wing respectively. used the seal ridge and handed it over to Hong Renfa, the king of the west could not be notified for the time being, and he was also afraid that the king of the west would take advantage of the chaos to enter the capital. It is difficult to guarantee that the king of the west will not take advantage of the fisherman, and at that time, Hong Xiuquan will be regarded as a tiger at the front door and a wolf at the back door.

After Hong Xiuquan handed over the edict, he repeatedly instructed Hong Renfa: "Be sure to keep it and put it in the most secret place." You must know that it is related to the success or failure of the country and the lives of tens of millions of people! "Hurrah, rest assured. I am in the edict, and I will never fall into the hands of others. The crowd deliberated for a while before they secretly dispersed.

As the saying goes, the wall has ears, and Hong Xiuquan never expected that this secret discussion would be discovered. It turned out that this person was the female Luo Chahou Huifang sent by Yang Xiuqing to the Heavenly King's Mansion. A year ago, Hou Yifang gave it to Hong Xiuquan as a gift from the East King. Since then, she has gradually become favored and often goes in and out of the Heavenly King's bedroom.

Hou Huifang has been following the instructions of the Eastern King, closely monitoring the actions of the Heavenly King, and playing at any time. Hou Huifang took advantage of the convenience of a qiē to supervise Hong Xiuquan. Tonight, as soon as Hu Yihuang entered the Heavenly King's Mansion, he was discovered by her. Later, she found Chen Chengying, Qin Rigang, Hong Renfa and others.

Hou Huifang guessed that something must be wrong. She shook off the others and sneaked out of the window, eavesdropping on the conversation in the room. That's why we have the whole picture. Hou Huifang hurriedly returned to her bedroom, bolted the door tightly, and wrote a superstition to Yang Xiuqing.

The letter reads: Last night, he (referring to Hong Xiuquan) had a secret discussion with Hong Renfa, Hong Renda, Qin Rigang, Chen Chengying, Hu Yihuang, Meng Deen and other six people in the inner study, and it was found out that Hong Renfa was about to go out of the city to transfer to the north and the second king of Yi. They will disperse in two moments. Hui characters.

Hou Huifang finished writing the letter, sealed it, and put it in her arms. I said to myself, "I have to send the letter at once." Tomorrow at noon - maybe in the afternoon, there will be a big chaos in Tianjing.

Hou Huifang wrote the secret letter, walked quickly to the back door of the Heavenly King's Mansion, and came to find her comrade Yang Si. Yang Si was a guard of the Heavenly King's Mansion, and he was actually a member of Yang Xiuqing's "Luocha". When she saw that the back door was closed and the courtyard was empty, she realized that she had come too early, less than four o'clock. She stayed in the courtyard for a while, felt that something was wrong, and turned to leave.

At this moment, I suddenly felt a pain in the back of my head, and I fainted in front of my eyes. I saw a black shadow walking out from behind her, looking at Hou Huifang, who had fainted on the ground, and whispered to herself: "Heavenly King, Heavenly King, you are too careless in doing things, and you have been overheard so lightly, let's help you in the West Palace." ”

Squatted down with the black shadow, searched out the secret letter on Hou Yifang's body, and after a hurried look, he frowned and thought: The king of heaven only transferred the soldiers and horses of the two kings in the north wing, and it seems that he is still guarding against our West Palace. In the end, the black shadow got up, straightened his clothes, and walked to the lamplight to show his face, but it was Chen Tongshi, the head of the guards of the Heavenly King's Mansion. He carried Hou Huifang on his shoulders and went to Meng Deen's study in the Heavenly King's Mansion.

That night, there was some movement in the Heavenly King's Mansion, several female officials and several guards disappeared, but Hou Huifang and Yang Si survived, Hou Huifang was forced to take refuge in the Heavenly King, and wrote a secret letter to Yang Xiuqing, but the content was different from the previous one.

The letter reads: There have been no other changes in him (referring to Hong Xiuquan) recently. Eating and drinking, listening to music, one qiē as usual, and suing sù Hu Yihuang and others, all of them listened to the arrangements of the East King. Last night, Hong Ren sent him and asked him to give him tens of thousands of silver to build some kind of Xiaoyao Tower. He didn't give it, and when he had a long quarrel, he broke up unhappily. Hui characters.

After Meng Deen and Chen Tongshi finished these things, Hou Huifang was put under house arrest, after all, she still needed to write a letter to paralyze Yang Xiuqing. At the same time, he seized the time and made a tribute to the king.

Hong Xiuquan was surprised and delighted when he heard this, and cold sweat oozed from the corners of his forehead. He asked Meng Deen to keep the original letter and leave evidence of Yang Xiuqing's crimes. However, Hong Xiuquan did not feel relaxed because of this. On the contrary, I feel more the strictness and urgency of things.

When it came to the fifth watch, the back door was opened, and Hou Huifang found the guard Yang Si and handed him the letter. After staying for a while, Yang Si excused himself and sent the letter away. After Hou Huifang returned, she was temporarily placed under house arrest. After Yang Si came back, he was also monitored.

After breakfast, Hong Renfa entered the palace, and when he saw Hong Xiuquan, he clamored for silver. Hong Xiu didn't give it, and Hong Renfa screamed, alarming the harem. People found that the Heavenly King was so angry that his face turned pale, and he jumped like thunder, pointed at Hong Renfa and roared angrily: "Don't think that if you are my brother, you dare to do whatever you want." Hmph, I can still deal with you! ”

Hong Renfa said loudly and angrily: "You dare! You are ungrateful, you forgot that I brought you up since you were a child! "Shut up! Licentious! Hong Xiuquan couldn't bear it anymore and shouted outside: "Someone! Pull him to the rooftop and beat him a hundred! ”

Hong Ren was not convinced, the quarrel became more fierce, and he rolled on the ground even more freely. Immediately, Chen Tongshi was escorted to the rooftop outside the Heavenly King's Mansion with the guards and beaten a hundred spinal staffs. Only the blood burst out, and the skin was open.

The king of heaven was still angry, and he issued a decree to seal up Hong Renfa's mansion, and announced the severance of brotherhood, and immediately escorted him out of Beijing and sent him to other places to take care of him. The edict of the king of heaven was transmitted to Dongfu, and it was almost useless to bother, so he took the "guan" and "road guide". In this way, Hong Renfa was escorted out of Tianjing.

Two days later, Hong Renfa came to Anqing. He immediately sent his confidants to send the two edicts out at an emergency speed of 800 miles. But he didn't know that in fact, there were people from the East Hall along the way, and he was also watched after he arrived in Anqing, and his two edicts would not have been sent out if they hadn't been secretly assisted by the secret agents of Bai Zetang in the West Palace.

Two days later, a copy of the edict sent by Hong Xiuquan to the two kings of the northern wing appeared on the table of the king of the west. Xiao Yungui squinted his eyes and read the two edicts several times, and then handed the edicts to Zuo Zongtang and Hong Yun'er on the side.

The content of the two edicts is the same, but the signatures at the beginning are different, Hong Yun'er first read it and said: "It seems that Hong Xiuquan is worried that we will go to Beijing to pick peaches, so he will not give us the edict of the West Palace." ”

Zuo Zongtang smiled faintly and said: "Hong Xiuquan is really talented and shallow, if I were him, I would be the first to issue an edict to the King of the West, and I would have to send three copies in a row." ”

Xiao Yungui said curiously: "Why is this? ”

Zuo Zongtang said with a smile: "Use the righteous name of the King of Heaven to lock the King of the West, so that the King of the West can bind your hands and feet." It's best now, the king of heaven doesn't give an edict, and when Tianjing becomes chaotic, no one will criticize us for playing any banner, God really helps me. ”

Hong Yun'er said with a smile: "That's right, if the edict of the King of Heaven comes, let's be the vanguard and fight to the death with the East King, and then the army of the two kings in the north wing will be behind, so it will not be cost-effective." And there is the edict of the king of heaven, we are not easy to act, if the king of the east is defeated in the future, we can only obey the king of heaven when we enter Beijing. Now it's good, if the East King is defeated, we will play the banner of the East King Zhaoxue to pro-Jun side! ”

Xiao Yungui nodded and said: "That's right, let Chen Tongshi monitor Hong Xiuquan, and the Zhang clan in the East Wangfu should also pay attention to the actions of the East King, Li Zuoche and the Tianjing West Wangfu family will protect the good family, and it won't be long before the king can return to Beijing." Zuo Zongtang and Hong Yun'er both smiled and nodded.

Then Xiao Yungui asked again: "Is there any movement between Britain and France when they arrive at Dagukou?" (To be continued......)