The Garden of the Head of the Soldier – the Viceroyalty of Portugal.

Portuguese Governor Bian Du was pacing slowly in the garden in a depressed mood, the Yuan Qi regiment trained 1,500 troops, and it was also the elite who participated in the battle of Dinghai, which made him have a very bad premonition, he faintly felt that the Yuan Qi regiment was training to take over the defense of Macao, not only to guard against the British, but also to prevent the British, it seemed that he was still coming to Portugal, and the entry of this 1,500 people made him feel more obvious.

For Yuan Qi Tuanlian to take over the defense of Macao, he originally didn't take it seriously, strictly speaking, Yuan Qi Tuanlian Lian is not even a mercenary, after receiving Yuanqi Tuanlian to capture Dinghai City, which was defended by 4,000 British troops, he attached great importance to it, for the combat power of the British army, he is very clear, to be able to achieve such a record, which shows the strength of Yuanqi Tuanlianlian's combat power.

What made him uneasy was that the fortifications built by the Yuanqi regiment seemed to have a faint taste for the Portuguese garrison in Macao, which made him a little puzzled, in this Qing-British war, Portugal was strictly neutral, strictly speaking, more biased towards the Qing country, which included actively banning smoking in Macao, expelling the British in Macao, and during the battle of the Gate, the Portuguese garrison was also immovable, why did the Yuanqi regimental training intentionally or unintentionally target them?

Just when he was puzzled, a subordinate hurried to report: "Your Excellency, the big shopkeeper of Yuanqi is content to see." ”

Easy to be content? At this time? Bian Du was stunned, and hurriedly said, "Please." Then he instructed, "Arrange for an interpreter." As he spoke, he walked quickly towards the gate, he knew the details of Yi Zhi's contentment, and knew that this was the great treasurer of Yuanqi who could enter and exit the Liangguang Governor's Mansion at will, and the relationship with the Admiral of Humen was even closer, and he didn't dare to slack off at all.

Yi Zhizhi did not come alone, accompanied by Wu Changqing, this time to Macao, inevitably had to deal with the Portuguese, yes, he deliberately invited Wu Changqing, who is proficient in English and Portuguese, to accompany him.

Bian Du hurried to the gate, glanced at the two young men in long robes standing at the door, and then stretched out his hand to Yi Zhifen, who was standing half a step in front of him, with an enthusiastic face: "It's a great honor to meet Mr. Yi in Macau, hello, I'm Bian Du." ”

Although they were both governors, the difference between the Portuguese governor of Macao and the governor of Liangguang in the Qing Dynasty could be said to be 108,000 miles, Lin Zexu inspected Macao, met with Bian Du, rewarded him with four gifts, colored silk, folding fans, tea and rock sugar, and sent a batch of cattle, sheep and wine to the soldiers of Macao, plus 400 silver dollars, which was completely condescending and regarded the Portuguese governor of Macao as a subordinate.

Bian Du also knew in his heart the weight of his governor in the eyes of the Qing people, and he put his position very right, and listened to Wu Changqing's translation, Yi Zhishu shook hands with him very politely and smiled: "I have always wanted to visit Mr. Bian Du, but I have no time to withdraw." As he spoke, he introduced: "This is Mr. Wu, the largest shareholder of Yuanqi. ”

Listening to Wu Changqing's identity, and seeing that he knows Portuguese, Bian Du is even more enthusiastic, it is inevitable that it will be another polite salute, the three of them have just finished politely, but Huang Dianyuan just arrived, and when he saw this situation, he couldn't help but smile and said: "It's better to come early than to come by coincidence, and to meet contentment here, it is also a good time to run again." ”

As soon as he saw Huang Dianyuan coming, Yi Zhishu understood that Yilu had no opinion on meeting in Bingtou Garden, otherwise Huang Dianyuan would not have come to meet Biandu, so he immediately stepped forward to salute.

Knowing that Huang Dianyuan was a representative sent by Yilu, and seeing that he was very familiar with Yi Zhicontent, Bian Du couldn't help but be confused, and secretly wondered, what was going on?

The four of them greeted each other and entered the garden, and Yi Zhizhi asked, "Yilu agreed?" ”

"With the guarantee of the Portuguese, what else can you worry about." Huang Dianyuan said with a smile: "No, let me tell you a few words, Yilu hopes to meet as soon as possible." ”

The four of them entered the house, listening to Yi Zhizhi and Huang Dianyuan explain their intentions, Bian Du didn't even think about it and agreed to it, this matter seems to have to take some risks on the surface, but in fact there is no risk, under the strict monitoring and prevention of the Portuguese garrison, there can be no accidents, of course, the main reason is that he can't refuse at all, whether it is Yi Zhixiang or Yilu, he can't afford to offend, these two are the lords of Macau who can destroy with their fingers, and he is happy to sell two people for a favor.

Carefully finalized some details, seeing that Yi Zhicontent did not have the slightest intention of getting up and saying goodbye, Huang Dianyuan got up and said goodbye very interestingly, and when he left, Yi Zhizhi said straight to the point: "Portugal enjoys administrative power, judicial power, garrison power, trade preference rights and other privileges in Macao, which make England, the United States, and France blush, but the trade volume between your country and China is far lower than that of England and the United States, can you consider our country's feelings?" ”

Listening to the translation, Bian Du's heart tightened, what does this mean? Qing was interested in allowing England to take Portugal's place in Macau? Said cautiously: "Mr. Yi, is this on behalf of your government?" ”

Yi Zhi's face did not change, and his heart did not beat: "I am here to ask His Excellency the Governor of Macao and Portugal on behalf of Lin Zexu, the Governor of Liangguang. ”

This is the official representative, Bian Dujin thought nervously, what is the purpose of the other party? Was it serious dissatisfaction with Portugal's neutrality in the Qing-British War? After a slight groan, he cautiously probed: "Macao is happy to serve the Governor, I don't know what the Governor needs Macao to do?" ”

"Macao is a springboard for trade between European countries and China." "Now, we also want to have a springboard in Europe. ”

Qing Guo wants to lease a piece of land in Portugal as well? Bian Du paused, and then said: "I'm sorry, it's not up to me, the Governor of Portugal and Macao, to call the shots in this matter." ”

Yi Zhizhi said: "In the peak season of maritime trade next year, I hope to get a reply from your country. ”

Would Portugal allow the Qing to lease a piece of land on their own territory like they did in Macau? This is simply impossible, Bian Du doesn't need to think much to know that this thing is impossible, but the threat of the other party's words is very obvious, if it is refused, Macau is very likely to be repossessed, or transferred to other countries, such as England or the United States.

Seeing that he was silent, Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "I sincerely hope that the two countries can develop amicably for a long time, and work together to promote the prosperity of trade between the East and the West, which is a good thing for our two countries to be mutually beneficial and reciprocal. ”

Hearing the meaning of this, the other party didn't seem to be looking for an excuse to deal with them, Bian Du secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and when he saw the other party stood up, he quickly got up and said, "I will truthfully convey your country's goodwill to Her Majesty." ”

The two of them went out of the head garden, and Wu Changqing asked, "Brother Si is really planning to make a place in Portugal?" Or make excuses? ”

"It's both." Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "It depends on what kind of attitude Portugal has, if it is not interesting, we will expel it, if it is interesting, Yuanqi really needs a springboard in Europe." After a pause, he continued: "For us, Portugal is a chicken rib, and it is a pity to chew it tastelessly and abandon it." ”

At three o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, Yilu and Yilu entered the Bingtou Garden accompanied by Bian Du, Yi Zhishu and Wu Changqing were already waiting in the hall on the second floor. ”

"It's just a fluke." Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "The British army in Dinghai is too unlucky, and when we attacked, they were experiencing a large-scale outbreak of malaria. ”

Yilu and Yilu also didn't believe that Yuanqi Tuanlian could defeat Dinghai in a dignified manner and capture so many soldiers, and they originally suspected that the Dinghai defenders had an outbreak of large-scale malaria, and they were picked up by Yuanqi Tuanlianlian.

Yilu didn't go around in circles, and said straightly: "I heard that all the prisoners of war are in Mr. Yi's hands? ”

"It's the trophy of Yuanqi's group training." Yi Zhishu nodded and said, "The two of you met today, but to redeem those prisoners of war?" ”

"No, it's an exchange." Yilu said bluntly: "Exchange prisoners of war." ”

Swapping prisoners of war? Didn't Huang Dianyuan say that the British fleet did not carry prisoners of war? After a slight groan, Yi Zhizhi said, "How many prisoners of war are in the hands of your army?" Where are the prisoners of war? ”

"We don't have prisoners of war in our hands right now." Yilu said, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, "However, the garrison of the ports and cities in the coastal provinces of the Qing Dynasty, where does Mr. Yi need prisoners of war, and how many do he need, even if he speaks, he is guaranteed to satisfy Mr. Yi." ”

This is purely a threat, the other party wants to forcibly ask for prisoners of war, otherwise they will attack the ports and cities of the coastal provinces, Yi Zhizhi scolded secretly in his heart, he was really shameless, he never thought that the other party would ask for prisoners of war in this way, without waiting for him to speak, Yi Lu continued: "If Mr. Yi does not have a clear need, then let's fight a county near Guangzhou to exchange the prisoners of war in your hands, how about it?" ”

There are quite a few coastal county towns near Guangzhou, and the opponent is highly mobile and powerful in combat, and it can be said that it is effortless to attack a single county seat, and it is clear that the other side is not prepared to follow the rules with him.

"This is the self-proclaimed civilized behavior of England?" Yi Zhizu sneered, and then said: "Twenty large and small warships, more than 4,000 officers and soldiers were captured, Your Excellency is in a hurry, right?" Unable to deal with London, facing the situation of being dismissed from his post and discredited, he is in such a hurry and wants to get back those prisoners of war by any means, right? ”

Speaking of this, he smiled and said: "There is a big difference between the Eastern and Western cultures, we in China, we value dignity, integrity, cherish reputation more than life, there is a saying you should have heard, 'Soldiers can be killed, but not humiliated.'" 'We have never advocated surrender because we have a tradition of killing prisoners. ”

Saying that, he looked at Wu Changqing and said: "In the first battle of Changping, the Qin State rose from the white and killed 400,000 Zhao troops, the Chu and Han dynasties for hegemony, the battle of Julu, Xiang Yu killed 200,000 soldiers, the famous general Xue Rengui of the Tang Dynasty, killed the Tiele people and surrendered 130,000 soldiers, the Northern Wei Daowu Emperor Tuoba Jue buried 50,000 Yan soldiers alive, and Chang Yuchun of the Ming Dynasty. ”

Yi Zhi's content has always been said in English, Yilu, Yilu's heart is tight, hundreds of thousands, hundreds of thousands of large-scale killing and surrendering, this is really rare in European history, what does Yi Zhilu mean by this? If they dare to mess around in Guangdong, wouldn't the other party mind the mass killing of prisoners?

Wu Changqing smiled secretly in his heart, but he said very cooperatively: "Chang Yuchun has a penchant for slaughtering cities, killing prisoners and surrendering is commonplace, what I remember clearly is that he buried Cheng Youqiong's 4,000 prisoners alive, in fact, not only famous generals in history killed prisoners, but most of the founding kings of all dynasties and generations have the experience of killing prisoners and surrendering, otherwise, we will not form a tradition of killing prisoners." ”

This is a real barbaric country, killing prisoners is commonplace, famous generals and kings in history are people who kill prisoners and surrender, Yilu is a little unimaginable, if it is stimulated to kill 4,000 prisoners of war, the matter is reported back to London, he is afraid that he will have to be court-martialed.

The other party is competing with them! Yilu rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "Mr. Yi is not joking, Yuanqi Bank has branches all over Guangdong Province, and there are many factories under it, how can he kill prisoners without caring about Yuanqi's reputation?" ”

Yi Zhizhi said: "I killed English prisoners of war, not prisoners of war of the Qing Dynasty, how can I damage my reputation?" ”

Yilu said confrontedly: "If we retaliate and attack the city because of Yuanqi's killing of prisoners, will Yuanqi's reputation not be affected?" ”

Yi Zhizu said coldly: "You can try, as long as you dare to attack the city and slaughter the city, Yuan Qi will dare to openly kill prisoners and behead them in Guangzhou!" ”

After a slight sigh, Yilu spoke: "This is the era of civilization, and the war is not waged for the purpose of killing, but for the needs of national interests, so how about it, let's promise not to kill civilians and prisoners of war, Mr. Yi will return the four thousand prisoners of war to us, how about it?" ”

"If I'm not mistaken——。" Yi Zhizu deliberately dragged the factory and said: "The exchange of prisoners of war should be after the end of the war, how can there be a reason to exchange prisoners of war before the war is over?" ”

Of course, Yilu knew that it was not in accordance with the rules to ask for the exchange of prisoners of war at this time, but he couldn't wait, he knew very well that he would not be the commander-in-chief of the invasion fleet for long, and the day the reinforcements arrived, that is, when he was dismissed, he hoped to save some reputation, leave office with dignity, and hoped to be able to claim back the prisoners of war before negotiating with the Qing State, so as not to be in a passive situation in the negotiations, so that he could strive for a better negotiation result.

The other party obviously saw through his intentions, and it was only because he dared to be so tough, and after a long silence, he said in a deep voice: "Can we end this war in a peaceful way?" ”

Yi Zhixiang glanced at him and said, "The premise is to return all the prisoners of war?" ”

Nodding, Yi Lu said: "I promise that from now until the end of the negotiations, I will not take the initiative to provoke a war." ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, "If the negotiations have not reached the predetermined goal, and the war will still be waged, wouldn't returning the prisoners of war at this time strengthen your troops?" ”

Seeing that Yi Zhizhi didn't know how to advance or retreat, Yilu said in a deep voice: "Isn't Mr. Yi forcing us to attack the coastal port towns of Guangdong?" (To be continued.) )