Yi Zhi's biggest concern at the moment is the cooperation between Britain, France and the United States and the imperial court, and he knows very well that with the current situation of the imperial court, as long as he can obtain the strong support of Britain, France and the United States, even if it is a traitorous clause, Xianfeng will definitely not hesitate to do so. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

This situation was naturally the last thing he wanted to see, so he had to change the coercive agreement and meet with Bao Ling to discourage them from cooperating with the imperial court.

Seeing that the southeast and Nanyang provinces were Yuanqi's sphere of influence, Bao Ling still seemed to be indifferent, Yi Zhizhi casually lit a cigarette, and said: "Your Excellency, as the plenipotentiary representative and commercial overseer of England to China, I think Your Excellency knows very well what is the greatest interest of England in China?"

My Qing Empire is not the Mughal Empire, not the Ottoman Empire, not the Persian Empire, not the Mexican Empire, and the greatest interest of England in China can only be commerce! All other benefits are wishful thinking! ”

Hearing this, Bao Ling opened his mouth, but he didn't refute it after all, Yi Zhizhi looked at his expression in his eyes, and continued: "Although there is a civil war of considerable scale in our country now, your country is also at war with Russia in Crimea, and I am sure that my country's civil war will definitely end before the Crimean War."

After the end of the Crimean War, even if Britain and France join forces to wage war against our Qing Empire, we will not have the slightest fear, fifteen years ago we did not hesitate to fight, let alone now.

I think I should prudently advise your country, as well as France and the United States, to abandon all unrealistic ideas and jointly prosper trade between the East and the West. ”

After a pause, he continued: "Where is the center of our foreign trade? In the southeastern provinces, in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong, all the tea, raw silk, and silk are produced in these provinces, and a large number of iron and copper, machinery and equipment, railways, and telegraphs are imported.

Your Excellency should be well aware that even if your country had the support of His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Empire, trade between the two countries would come to a standstill, and I think that with the wisdom of Your Majesty the Queen, it would not be difficult to make a wise choice. ”

Speaking of this, he lightly knocked the ashes of his cigarette, "Maybe I should add that Yuanqi now has 300,000 navy and army, and the seven richest southeastern provinces of the Qing Empire are all Yuanqi's sphere of influence, with a population of more than 100 million under his direct control, and to be more precise, Yuanqi is a country within a country." ”

I don't know if the weather is a little stuffy, Bao Ling's forehead is slightly sweaty, Yi Zhi's words are satisfied, he understands it thoroughly, he can't treat Yuanqi as a company, but as a country - a country within a country!

Even if they signed a treaty with the Qing Emperor, they would be content with this 'King of the Southeast', and the rulers of the country within the country would not admit it! So, is it to cooperate with the Qing Emperor? Or is it a collaboration with Yuanqi? It's a very simple choice.

Perhaps, with the cooperation of the Qing Emperor, they can easily obtain a port as good as Kaohsiung like the United States, but they will lose the good commercial relations they have established with Yuanqi over the years, and even completely destroy the trade relations between the two countries, and finally break the trade between the two countries.

This is obviously more than worth the loss, unless they are sure to support the Qing Emperor to defeat Yuan Qi, they can obtain greater benefits, but now the balance of power between the Qing Emperor and Yi Zhishu is too great, not to mention, the Crimean War is still ongoing, and it is impossible for them to vigorously support the Qing Emperor now.

For England, the most important thing to lack now is territory, the British Empire, known as 'the sun never sets', has an unimaginably vast territory overseas, and trade with the Qing is the most important, as the other side said, England's greatest interest in the Far East is trade, not anything else!

The choice is not difficult, but the opportunity in front of him Bao Ling did not want to let go, and after a slight groan, he said with a smile on his face: "Your Excellency Duke has extraordinary knowledge, broad vision, and admires Western learning, for so many years, our cooperation with Yuanqi has been very pleasant, but the four treaty ports are indeed too few........" ”

"Too little?" Yi Zhishu interrupted him and said: "The four treaty ports, in fact, Guangzhou and Shanghai are prosperous in commerce and trade, and Xiamen and Ningbo can't see a few foreign merchant ships all year round. The Yangtze River is an inland river, and foreign merchant ships are not allowed to sail freely, and as for warships, it is even more impossible. ”

Bao Ling spread his hands with a regretful face, "Your Excellency should make some concessions appropriately, otherwise, we won't be able to explain ........" ”

"I can make the right concessions and give you a step down." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "The import and export goods of the three countries can be exempted from taxation through the inland checkpoints, but they are only limited to the seven southeastern provinces, and I can't control the other provinces." ”

Bao Ling was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly said: "What about the immigration of laborers? ”

"Your Excellency, this is an inch." Yi Zhishu glanced at him and said: "In my opinion, free labor immigration is a continuation and reproduction of the slave trade, not to mention, at present, China is organizing large-scale migration from the northwest, northeast and southwest, and it is impossible to allow labor to freely immigrate abroad, and there is no room for negotiation in this matter." ”

"Free labor immigration is completely different from the slave trade...... ”

"Not at all?" Yi Zhizhi sneered: "Didn't France resume the black slave trade under the guise of free labor immigration?" ”

"That's France." Bao Ling was a little weak-hearted.

"Don't get an inch." Yi Zhizu waved his hand, "The exemption of the import and export goods of the three countries from the mainland tax in the seven southeastern provinces is enough for you to calm down this turmoil with dignity." ”

Seeing his tough attitude, Bao Ling's words changed, "The United States and His Majesty the Emperor of your country have privately signed an agreement to obtain the right to concession the port of Kaohsiung in Taiwan, Your Excellency must treat everyone equally, right?" ”

And this kind of thing? No wonder the Three Kingdoms Baba wanted to negotiate with the imperial court, Yi Zhicontent suddenly realized, and after a slight groan, he asked in a deep voice: "What is the specific content of the agreement?" ”

"I don't know." Bao Ling said simply, he really didn't know the specific content of the agreement, only that the United States had obtained the lease of Kaohsiung Port at a slight price, and he took the initiative to provide this news, not to get the same treatment, but simply to spoil the good things of the United States.

Among the foreign trading countries of the Qing Dynasty, the United States was the strongest opponent of England, and he did not want to see the United States easily obtain the lease of Kaohsiung Port.

I don't know? Yi Zhishu looked at him and said, "Are you sure there is such a private agreement?" ”

"I'm sure." Bao Ling said, "I heard that it was signed with a prince last year. ”

Then it won't be wrong, it should have been signed between Prince Hui Mianyu and American Minister Marshali in Shanghai at the end of last year, Yi Zhixiang silently smoked a few puffs of cigarette before he spoke: "Territorial sovereignty is inviolable, and I will let the United States take the initiative to give up this private agreement." ”

Hearing this, Bao Ling was secretly happy in his heart, the United States and Yuan Qi fell out over Kaohsiung Port, this is the situation he is most eager to see, he smiled and said: "I also hope that Your Excellency can keep ..... secret." ”

"Your Excellency, rest assured." Yi Zhifen nodded,

After discussing for a while, Bao Ling got up to say goodbye, Yi Zhizhi got up and sent him to the gate of the courtyard before stopping, seeing Bao Ling leave, he always had a faint smile on his face, he made concessions, exempting the import and export goods of the three countries from leviing taxes through the inland checkpoints, in fact, it was an excuse to abolish the centigold system in the southeastern provinces, after all, the centika will greatly hinder the circulation of goods.

The weather was a little stuffy, and it was estimated that there should be a heavy rain, so he didn't go back to the study, but paced slowly in the yard, muttering softly, "I'd rather give a friend than a house slave." "Measure China's material resources and form a friendship with the country."

These two sentences are famous in later generations, the former sentence was said by the Minister of Military Aircraft Gangyi, and the latter sentence is the original text of the Empress Dowager Cixi in the edict of the guilty self after the signing of the "Xinchou Treaty".

But Yi Zhixiang was really worried that Xianfeng, who was driven to a dead end, desperately betrayed the country at this time to gain the support of Western countries, so as to achieve the goal of continuing the rule of the Qing court! The private signing of an agreement with the United States to lease the port of Kaohsiung has already shown signs of this!

As the saying goes, a dog jumps off the wall in a hurry, a rabbit bites when he is in a hurry, Xianfeng, as the king of a country, is really going to be forced to be anxious, and the consequences are unimaginable, shouldn't he release some kindness? Although power is king, blindly sticking to the stick will only force people to take risks, and they still have to throw a few carrots after the stick.

A flash of lightning illuminated the yard like daylight, and then a burst of thunder rolled overhead, Cao Gensheng walked in quickly with a telegram, and saw Yi Zhizhi in the yard at a glance, and hurriedly stepped forward and said loudly: "Big shopkeeper, Xiangyin telegram." ”

The telegram that came at this time was obviously an urgent military situation, and Yi Zhizu said directly: "Say——。 ”

Cao Gensheng hurriedly said: "There is internal strife in Tianjing, the Taiping army abandoned Tianjing, Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing went out of the city in two ways, more than 200,000 people from the Hong Department went to Xiangxi, and tens of thousands of Yang troops fled to southern Hunan. ”

Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing are still infighting after all? Yi Zhishu was very surprised, originally he thought that there was Feng Yunshan, the king of the south, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had been constantly fighting, and the internal strife might be avoided, and he didn't want it to happen after all.

Hong Xiuquan led more than 200,000 people to Xiangxi, it seems that he is going to enter Yungui, and Yang Xiuqing is going to southern Hunan, but he is going to enter Guangxi to meet Shida Kaibu, which is really a big trouble!

Yi Zhishu entered the study while thinking about it, picked up the telegram and read it carefully under the candlestick, he couldn't help but sigh secretly, if the Taiping army defended Tianjing, it could save a lot of things, who would have thought that there would be infighting at this time, and the troops were divided into two ways, Yungui was empty of troops, and logistics and supply were also troublesome, and the Taiping army entered Yungui, and it would be much more troublesome to encircle and suppress.

After pondering for a while, he spoke: "The telegram ordered Yin Youcai's troops to cross the Xiangqian Post Road to intercept and pursue Hong Xiu." ”

"The telegram ordered the monk Greenqin to quickly intersperse with Xiangxi Suoli and Pushi to strictly prevent the Taiping army from entering Sichuan."

"Electrify Yan Yangtian's tail to pursue Yang Xiuqing's department, don't press too hard, be careful of the other party's ambush and snipe."

"Call General Mianyu, Guizhou Governor Jiang Feiyuan to assemble the Guizhou Green Battalion to garrison the far city of Qiandong Town."

"Telegraph order, Guangdong Tang Zao Sheng Department, beware of the Taiping Army joining forces into Guangdong."

"Calling General Mianyu, Qi Shan, the governor of Huguang, and Zhang Liangji, the governor of Hunan, posted notices in all counties of Xiangxi as soon as possible, and the Taiping Army's stragglers and fighters will all be repatriated to their hometowns by the Yuanqi branch, and the officers and soldiers and local regiments shall not be encircled and suppressed."

After saying it in one breath, Yi Zhizhi said slowly: "In addition, all the telegram orders are forwarded to the general Mianyu." ”

Jingshi, Haidian, military aircraft duty room.

After receiving two telegrams from the general Mianyu from Wuchang, Mu Zhang'a was wandering around the room, and the Taiping army fled in two ways, not to mention the scourge of several southwestern provinces. The most worrying thing is that Yuan Qi picks a child halfway, once Yuan Qi leaves it alone, it will be endless trouble!

Even if Yuan Qi doesn't pick a son to pursue all the way into Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi, it is not a good thing, with the temperament of easy contentment, I am afraid that the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, as well as the governors of the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi, as well as the local officials of the three or four grades will be stolen by the officials of the Yuanqi family.

Thinking about it, he was a little afraid, Liangjiang, Fujian and Zhejiang, Liangguang, Yunnan, Guizhou, Nanyang, the five major governors, the governors of eleven provinces, and a large number of officials of the third and fourth grades were all officials of the Yuanqi line, what would be the situation? There is also the Northwest .......

How can Wu Sangui, Nian Qianyao and others compare with this easy contentment! At its peak, Wu Sangui's Western Selection and Nian Qianyao's Annual Selection were only limited to the southwest and northwest, but today's Yixuan has a tendency to develop to more than ten provinces, which is most of the country!

I couldn't sleep well all night, at four o'clock in the morning, he quickly got up and hurried to the Old Summer Palace, Xianfeng was usually going to summon the minister on duty before the early dynasty, after five o'clock, there was a little eunuch carrying a lantern to open the door and come out, and several ministers of military aircraft hurriedly rushed in.

After entering the West Warm Pavilion of the Baohe Palace, after bowing to the courtesy, Mu Zhang'a bowed down to present the telegram he received last night, and then knelt quietly on the felt carpet.

After reading the telegram, Xianfeng was also very surprised, the Taiping army actually fought among themselves, abandoned the city and fled! From Mianyu's deployment, he didn't see anything wrong, so he put the matter aside with a little hesitation, and said slowly: "Yesterday, Prime Minister Yamen telegraphed, what do you think about the threat of Britain, France and the United States to revise the treaty by force?" ”

Hearing him ask about this, Prince Gong Yixun took the lead in speaking: "Your Majesty, the treaty amendment clause proposed by Britain, France and the United States seriously tramples on the sovereignty of the Qing Dynasty and cannot be allowed. Now that Britain and France are at war with Russia in Crimea, the threat of force is just a habitual intimidation tactic used by Western countries, and it is not necessary to heed it. ”

Weichen seconded. Du Han followed up and said: "Amend the terms of the treaty, lose power and humiliate the country, and the ministers earnestly pray for the emperor to reprimand them sternly, so as to maintain the prestige of the court and stabilize the hearts of the officials and the people." ”