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Watching the carriage of Hassan, the Ottoman Turkish Empire's minister in China, leave the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Empire, the Russian minister to China, Putiatin, his face was very ugly. Before the negotiations, Russia had asked the Chinese Empire to keep the negotiations secret and not let the Ottoman Turks know about them. But now it seems that at a time when Russia could not agree to the harsh conditions of the Chinese Empire, these despicable Chinese, they had already snitched into the Ottoman Turkish Empire. This time, the negotiations are likely to come to an end.

Immediately after returning to the legation, Minister Putiyatin personally drafted a telegram and sent it to the country. In the telegram, he elaborated that the negotiations may have been leaked, and asked the country to come up with a countermeasure. Otherwise, the Ottoman Empire would have sabotaged the negotiations as much as possible. Hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war cannot be redeemed at home, which means that Russia will not be able to launch a counterattack against the Ottoman Turkish Empire next year. Russia is very likely to lead to an even greater crisis.

When the Russian Foreign Minister, Count Neschel Rodie, received the telegram, his face was also pale. They have already put the opportunity to fight back against the Ottoman Turkish Empire next year. And the main forces that counterattacked the Ottoman Turkish Empire were those Russian prisoners of war who were captured by the Chinese Empire. If the negotiations break down and the prisoners of war are unable to return home, it will be a heavy blow to Russia. A series of their plans will have to be aborted.

Count Nesherro did not dare to slack off. Hurriedly informed the others, rushed back to Tsarskoye and reported to Tsar Alexander II. When he arrived. Tsar Alexander II was still having breakfast with the empress and children. Hearing the news of negotiations with the Chinese Empire, Alexander II did not even have time to eat breakfast, and hurriedly went to the office to listen to the report of Count Nesherro Die.

"How can this be? The Ottoman Turkish Empire may already have known about our plans? Alexander II's face was gloomy, as if it could drip water. Earlier, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Duke Gorchakov, assured him. As long as those prisoners of war captured by the Chinese Empire can be ransomed, they will be able to defeat the Ottoman Turkish Empire next year. But now it looks like the plan may be in ruins.

"陛xià. Judging from the current situation, it is likely that the Chinese Empire deliberately leaked the news. In this way, they can force us to agree to their harsh conditions! Said Count Nieschel Rodie.

"Damn, those despicable Chinese. How can they be so shameless? Alexander II roared angrily. He felt as if he had been deceived. All of Russia was fooled by the Chinese.

"Your Majesty, the Chinese are doing this just to get more benefits from us. We need to think about how to deal with it sooner. Adviser Zhukovsky persuaded.

"So what are we going to do? Isn't it possible to agree to their harsh conditions? That's a ransom of £220 million, £100 million more than the last one. Alexander II said angrily. In doing so, the Chinese Empire regarded him and Russia as a whole as objects of bullying at will, and tried to squeeze Russia's wealth again and again.

The ministers were silent. After all, the ransom demanded by the Chinese Empire was too much. The money. Russia's finances could not be taken out, only by the wealth accumulated by the imperial family. Alexander II was also clearly unwilling to be such a wrongdoer.

"Duke Gorchakov. Without those prisoners of war, will we be able to defeat the Ottoman Turkish Empire next year? Alexander II asked. If possible, he would not be willing to spend so much money to redeem those prisoners of war from the Chinese Empire. Anyway, there has never been a shortage of people in Russia. With a population of more than 60 million, Russia has been provided with sufficient troops.

"Your Majesty, it's very difficult. We need trained troops, not farmers who have just laid down their hoes. In our war with the Ottoman Turkish Empire, we lacked elite soldiers and qualified junior officers, which greatly affected our combat effectiveness. If we have more time, we may be able to reverse the decline little by little. But what we lack now is time! "said the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Duke Gorchakov.

Because of successive defeats, a large number of troops were lost. The whole of Russian society. It's already in turmoil. In addition, Alexander II advocated the reform of serfdom, but for such a long time, the reform still did not begin, which made those serfs think that they had been deceived by Tsar Alexander II. In addition to the aristocrats who were dissatisfied with the policies of the tsar, the social contradictions in the whole of Russia were very acute. In the case of internal and external troubles, if it is not handled well. If you don't do it, Russia will collapse.

The only way to do this was to defeat the invading Ottoman Turkish Empire and stabilize Russian society with a victory. And this victory can't come too late. Otherwise, Russia may not be able to hold out for that long.

"Then we will only have to accept the harsh conditions of the Chinese?" Alexander II said through gritted teeth. was blackmailed by the Chinese Empire, and he was really unwilling in his heart.

"Your Majesty, there are only two ways in front of us now, one is to continue to negotiate with the Chinese Empire, reduce the ransom of the Chinese Empire as much as possible, redeem those prisoners of war from the Chinese Empire, and then prepare to defeat the Ottoman Turkish Empire in next year's war. Another way is to negotiate peace with the Ottoman Turkish Empire, end the war, and put all your energy back home! "The Foreign Minister, Count Niechel Rodie, said in a way.

These were undoubtedly the two ways out of the predicament that Russia was now facing, but neither of these paths was Alexander II willing to choose. He did not want to be blackmailed by the Chinese Empire, but he also did not want to bow to the old enemy of the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

Alexander II's brows were furrowed tightly, and he really couldn't understand why the situation in Russia would become the way it was after he succeeded to the throne.

"Your Majesty, we can't hesitate, we don't have much time!" Zhukovsky said.

"Teacher, do you have any suggestions?" Alexander II asked.

"Your Majesty, compared to the Ottoman Turkish Empire, we may be able to negotiate peace with the Chinese Empire and find a way to get them to further reduce the ransom. If we ask for peace with the Ottoman Turkish Empire, it is difficult to say whether the Ottoman Turkish Empire will agree to our peace talks. At the same time, this will also have a great impact on Russia's prestige. The people in the country will even be angry because of this. This is very unfavorable to stabilize the situation in the country! Duke Zhukovsky said.

Alexander II nodded, agreeing with Zhukovsky's point of view.

"Count Nesherro Die, let the minister in China continue to negotiate with the Chinese!" Sue them, the ransom of 220 million pounds is absolutely impossible for Russia to pay, I hope they can show sincerity! Alexander II said.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Count Niechelro nodded.

Next, Count Neschel Rodie once again telegraphed the Minister to China, Putiyatin, asking him to continue negotiations with the Chinese Empire and make sure that the Chinese Empire lowered the ransom. Then, make sure that this negotiation is successful.

Minister Putiyatin had no choice, and after receiving the telegram, he visited Lin Zihao, the foreign minister of the Chinese Empire, again overnight. Fearing that the Ottoman Empire would sabotage the negotiations, they made some concessions on the ransom issue.

After three days of intense negotiations, the two sides kept changing their terms. In the end, the ransom was set at 100 million pounds. The Chinese Empire made huge concessions, from the initial £400 million to £100 million. Of course, 400 million pounds is just a sky-high asking price, and fools know that the Russians cannot pay such a ransom. On the Russian side, it has also risen from 10 million pounds to 100 million pounds. In the last negotiations, Russia had just paid 120 million pounds in reparations to the Chinese Empire. Now another 100 million pounds has been paid, which has indeed shrunk the wealth of the Russian royal family by a large circle.

Emperor Long Yufei also knew that it was necessary to stop in moderation. If you are persecuted excessively, you may not get anything. 100 million pounds, he is very satisfied. When converted into Chinese dollars, it is already 400 million Chinese dollars. If all of them are used to build 'Qin-class' battleships, a total of more than 60 'Qin-class' battleships can be built.

When the ransom was reduced to 100 million pounds, Minister Putiyatin could not make any more concessions from the Foreign Minister of the Chinese Empire, Lin Zihao, no matter how hard he tried. Therefore, he had to report the final result to China.

Tsar Alexander II did not want to accept a ransom of 100 million pounds. However, in the case of the resolute refusal of the Chinese Empire to give in, he had no choice. In the end, under the persuasion of the ministers, they had to agree to this condition.

On January 3, 1848, Imperial Foreign Minister Lin Zihao and Russian Minister to China Putiyatin reached an agreement that Russia would redeem more than 800,000,000 prisoners of war captured by the Chinese Empire with 100 million pounds worth of gold. 100 million pounds, converted into gold, is more than 800 tons. When the gold was transported to the Imperial Chinese Army's control area, the Chinese Empire began to gradually transfer prisoners of war to Russia.

Those prisoners of war who had been captured by the Chinese Empire could finally go home. Although, when they return home, they will also be sent to the battlefield. However, that would at least be better than working as a coolie in the Chinese Empire.

Russia received hundreds of thousands of elite troops, and the Chinese Empire received 100 million pounds, which can be described as a great joy. (To be continued......)