Time passed minute by minute, and soon, a quarter of an hour passed, but Grand Duke Petrovich still did not speak, but seeing that his face was changing uncertainly, and he was sweating profusely, as if he had been fished out of the water, if he wanted to say that there were many wolves, there would be many wolves, but Hongqing was unmoved, and he didn't care how fierce the struggle in his heart was, and the old god was sipping tea on the ground, as if he had nothing to do.

Lose sleep over something? Not at all, the person to worry about at this time is Lao Maozi, Hongqing is very sure in his heart, and he doesn't care about the breakdown of the negotiations, in fact, if it weren't for Emperor Chengde's hindrance in the court, Hongqing originally didn't plan to play a negotiation trick with Lao Maozi - not to mention that Russia's current Siberian forces are extremely empty, just say that its country has just experienced a bloody coup, the situation is very chaotic, it is a good time for the Qing Dynasty to use troops against it, at this time, you can take Ufa Fort within ten days, and completely cut the Russian Empire in two, Then, there is no need to use troops against the European part of Russia, just hold Fort Ufa, and then send a few partial divisions to pocket the whole of Siberia, which is completely feasible strategically, but there are too many constraints in the DPRK and China, even if Hongqing is reluctant, he can only sit and watch this opportunity slip away from his hand, for this reason, it is not good to knock Lao Maozi a stroke, it may not be too aggrieved.

"Your Royal Highness, I have a question that I would like to ask His Royal Highness the Prince to give me a lesson or two, well, if you and I reach a friendly consensus, do you think the officers and soldiers in custody of our country can be returned to us?"

Although Grand Duke Petrovich was the plenipotentiary envoy of Catherine I, he did not dare to make a decision lightly, and after pondering for a long time, he cautiously asked.

"Your Excellency, please understand that a friendly consensus is a friendly consensus, and there is no way to talk about it until your country compensates our country for its losses."

Hongqing smiled indifferently, and did not directly state the fate of those prisoners of war, but vaguely returned a diplomatic word.

"Your Royal Highness, what will happen if we compensate you for your losses?"

Grand Duke Petrovich is best at diplomatic rhetoric, and when he heard Hongqing's words, there was obviously an ambush in his heart, and he couldn't help but sink in his heart, and he hurriedly asked a question.

"Your Excellency is very concerned about the captured officers and soldiers, this is a good thing, this king deserves to be fulfilled, so it is good, if you have compensated for the losses of our country, this king allows you to redeem those prisoners of war, please note that it is a redemption, and the specific price must be calculated separately, according to the practice of Europa."

Hongqing is a shrewd individual, how can he not understand the careful eyes of Grand Duke Petrovich, who is just trying his best to redeem this group of prisoners of war, so as to form an instant combat force, so as to suppress the Qing Dynasty's tiger eye on the Siberian region.

"Oh God, Your Highness, how can you do that? Those prisoners of war were deceived by Grand Duke Gagarin, and they were innocently implicated, and your country has always emphasized forgiveness, shouldn't you unconditionally let go of such innocent people? You must know that this involves nearly 100,000 families, and how many wives and children and parents are looking forward to the return of these innocent prisoners of war. ”

Grand Duke Petrovich originally wanted to pretend to agree to exchange land for peace, and use this as an excuse to deceive more than 70,000 captured soldiers back, and then immediately arm the whole army to compete with the Qing army, but he didn't expect Hongqing to play such a redemption trick, and he immediately became anxious.

"Innocent? That is the opinion of His Excellency the Grand Duke, in the eyes of this king, they are all robbers who have broken into my homeland, since they dare to invade my Qing Dynasty, they should be punished accordingly, if this king is not mistaken, when your country is at war with Sweden and other countries, the price of redeeming the officers is according to the title of nobles? In that case, it is better to do as is customary, and this article is not negotiable, and I ask Your Excellency to dwell on this matter any longer, otherwise this will be the end of today's meeting. ”

Grand Duke Petrovich's acting skills are good, but unfortunately he used the wrong object, Hongqing didn't eat his set at all, and refuted all the words of Grand Duke Petrovich with an indifferent face.

"Your Royal Highness, you should know that territorial integrity is a symbol of the sovereignty of a country, and that although I am the plenipotentiary of Her Majesty's Majesty, I have no right to dispose of territorial matters.

Seeing that the pathos card was ineffective, Grand Duke Petrovich did not insist on playing any longer, but rolled his eyes and changed his words.

"Your Excellency, I'm sorry, this article is not negotiable, you must compensate us in full for our losses, the time shall not exceed three years, in addition, the time for you to redeem the prisoners of war must also be within three months, beyond this time, you must be separately priced, this is the king's final reply, whether you agree or not, it will not be easier, from now on the time, you still have a stick of incense time to consider, after this, come, burn incense time."

Twenty-seven million taels of silver seems to be a lot, but in fact, Hongqing really didn't look at it, what he wanted was not so many silver taels, but land, as long as the Russians signed the agreement, no matter whether Lao Maozi would really implement it or not, Hongqing didn't care, it was a big deal to find a suitable time to send troops to sweep up, just with the current combat strength of the Qing army, there was no need to worry about the Russians playing tricks, it was from this consideration, Hongqing didn't bother to care whether Grand Duke Petrovich's mood was good or bad, and with a wave of his hand, he gave the order in an unquestionable tone.

"Wow!"

Hongqing gave this order, and Ding Song and the others who were waiting on the side did not dare to slack off, and after they all responded to the promise, they quickly brought the incense burner and other things with their hands and feet, and lit a stick of incense.

"This ......, alas......"

Grand Duke Petrovich thought that when negotiating in private, he could rely on his own experience and ability to fool Hongqing, but he never expected that Hongqing would be such a difficult person to speak, his mood was really bad to the extreme, and he had the heart to make another effort, but when he saw that Hongqing's eyes had turned to the large sand table on the ground, the corners of Grand Duke Petrovich's mouth moved a few times, and when he reached the bottom, he still didn't dare to say more, so he just sighed, and his brows were tightly thought, Trying to find the best of both worlds.

"It's time!"

In the green smoke, the incense burned brightly and dimly, and soon after, it finally burned to the end, and when the last puff of green smoke rose, Ding Song, who was in charge of the timekeeping, had already reported in a deep voice.

"Your Excellency Grand Duke Petrovich, this king has limited time, tell me about your decision."

As soon as Ding Song's words fell, Hongqing's eyes immediately turned to Grand Duke Petrovich, whose face was uncertain, and his voice indifferently gave an ultimatum.

"Your Royal Highness, from Lake Berga to the Ergun River, a total of 320,000 square kilometers, with a huge area, and a value of far more than 27 million taels of silver, I insist on a separate price, and besides, most of those lands have now been sold to private individuals, and if you want to recover them, you will have to spend a huge amount of money, so I think that this matter should be considered in the long run, and I ask His Royal Highness the Prince to consider this article in detail."

Grand Duke Petrovich could not afford to start a war with the Qing Dynasty, but he was reluctant to give up the land he had acquired, even if the territory was actually owned by the Qing Dynasty, so he played a delaying tactic.

"Your Excellency, please note that this king does not care who those lands are in now, and no matter how much those lands are worth in your eyes, in the eyes of this king, those lands are not worth 27 million taels of silver, and the reason why this king agrees with your country to compensate for the compensation with those lands is that he has already considered your financial difficulties. Please also ask Your Excellency to come up with a proposition for yourself. ”

Grand Duke Petrovich wanted to complicate the matter in order to gain time and see if he could wait for a change, but unfortunately Hongqing saw through his intentions at a glance, and how could he leave him much room for maneuvering, so he unceremoniously rejected Grand Duke Petrovich's ulterior motives.

"Your Royal Highness, this matter is too serious, it is beyond the scope of the decision below, do you see if you can give some time to the matter to your Majesty the Queen, and when Her Majesty the Empress has made a decision, then report to His Royal Highness the Prince?"

Grand Duke Petrovich couldn't make a plan, so he immediately came back to another plan, and there was a center on the left and right, that is, procrastination and delay.

"I'm sorry, this matter is not negotiable, since you can't meet our requirements, the king of Ming Japan will go to Fort Ufa to get back the compensation on his own, and His Excellency the Grand Duke can go."

Hongqing is a master who does not eat hard and soft, no matter how the Grand Duke Petrovich sets, it is always an opinion, which is unceremoniously going to drive people out again.

"Oh God, Your Highness, you have won, and the issue of compensation will be settled as you wish, but you should always give time to consult with your colleagues in the next place, Your Highness, what do you see?"

Seeing that the matter was urgent, Grand Duke Petrovich no longer dared to mess around, so he could only raise his hand helplessly, and agreed to Hongqing's "blackmail" in frustration.

"This is okay, and the negotiations will resume tomorrow, and you and I must reach a framework consensus within two days, otherwise the consequences will be borne by you."

After spending so much effort, he finally made the cunning and greedy old Maozi admit it, Hongqing's mood was good, and he didn't embarrass Grand Duke Petrovich anymore, but he didn't plan to talk to him in detail, and with a wave of his hand, he had already given an order to expel the guest......