The dispatch of the Henan battalion to Shanghai is tantamount to weakening the defensive forces of Guangzhou, of course, it is not only Guan Tianpei, the admiral of the navy, who cares about this matter, once the news comes out, the officials and gentry and businessmen in Guangzhou City will inevitably be in an uproar, therefore, for Guan Tianpei's inquiry, Yi Zhixiang has to explain and guide in detail.

Whether the British army will attack Guangzhou, he actually has no bottom in his heart, and now the whole situation has been completely disturbed by him, he has no way to judge, the British army is arrogant, disdainful of the Qing Dynasty, whether to pinch the soft persimmon first, or gnaw the hard bones first, this is really hard to say, however, the transfer of Henan battalion to Shanghai is from the overall situation, Guangzhou, he really can't take care of it, what he can do is to try his best to reach an agreement with the British army in private, to keep the industry under the name of Yuan Qi from being destroyed.

Revealing Jiang Ning's idea to Guan Tianpei was also out of helplessness, and if he didn't reveal a little, he was afraid that the whole of Guangzhou would blame him, and if the British army attacked Guangzhou, he would become the finger of thousands of people.

Mai Tingzhang was promoted to three levels in a row because of his military exploits, and when he heard that Yi Zhishu revealed that he was preparing to fight the British army in Jiangning, he was excited and disappointed, and only said after a while: "The Great Qingshui Division is already weak, and the Jiangnan Water Division is even more unbearable. ”

Hearing this, Yi Zhizhi smiled, "General Mai is worried about missing this battle?" ”

Mai Tingzhang was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly asked: "The Guangdong Navy Division will also participate in the war?" ”

Yi Zhixiang glanced at him, then looked at Guan Tianpei, and said, "If you don't follow the order, can the military dare to privately mobilize all Western-style warships to Shanghai to participate in the war?" ”

Is this kid planning to block Yingyi in the river, close the door and beat the dog? If this is the case, then it can be won or lost in a battle, Guan Tianpei said without hesitation: "What don't you dare!" Dinghai, we didn't follow the order to send troops across the border and across the province. ”

"Okay." Yi Zhicontent smiled: "Then let's see if God blesses Daqing." ”

Macau, Bingtou Garden.

Early in the morning, the governor of Portugal and Macao, Bian Du, was busy, arranging the negotiation venue, arranging guards, and checking the recipes, although it was not the first time to receive negotiations between China and Britain, but he still did not dare to have the slightest carelessness, no matter how big or small, he personally asked, he knew very well in his heart that if something went wrong, not only would he be unlucky, but he was afraid that Portugal would be implicated.

Negotiations in the Bingtou Garden in Macao were proposed by Yilu, initially Yilu asked to negotiate on the warship, but Qi Shan did not agree, it should be proposed to negotiate in Humen, where Yilu was willing to go to Humen, and finally compromised, and chose to be in the Governor's Office of Macao and Portugal - Bingtou Garden, which is a place that both sides can accept and rest assured.

At eight o'clock, Yi Zhi, dressed in a new three-grade official robe and wearing a sapphire crown, arrived at Bingtou Garden on time under the support of Yu Baochun, the prefect of Guangzhou, Jiang Liang, the governor of Macao's coastal defense, Mai Tingzhang, the deputy general of the standard, and a group of document translators.

As the owner, he had been waiting at the gate for a long time, and saw that the leader was Yi Zhicontent, and immediately greeted him with a smile on his face, and said enthusiastically: "I heard that Mr. Yi is coming, and I have specially prepared a good red robe and authentic Cuban cigars for you." ”

"Thank you." Yi Zhizu shook his hand and said with a smile: "Thank you, Your Excellency, for your hospitality." ”

Bian Du smiled: "To borrow your Chinese words, I am doing my best to be a landlord." ”

There was a problem with this, Yi Zhixiang smiled, didn't answer the stubble, and asked, "Has the British representative arrived?" ”

"I've arrived, and I'm already waiting in the conference room." Bian Du said, and hurriedly greeted Jiang Liang and other officials.

The group walked slowly into the conference room, Yilu and Yilu hurriedly got up to greet them, Yilu stretched out his hand a few steps away, and said with a smile: "It's a pleasure to see Mr. Yi at the negotiation table." ”

"Your Excellency wants me to bring good news, right?" Yi Zhifu shook hands with him casually, and Yilu stretched out his hand and said, "Mr. Yi has brought us an unexpected surprise. ”

Yi Zhizu deliberately discussed the negotiation conditions with them in detail before entering Beijing, and as soon as the Beijing division returned to Guangzhou, the deadlock in the negotiations between the two sides was greatly broken, and Yilu and Yilu could not guess the reason.

Jiang Liang, who accompanied him, couldn't help but secretly say to himself when he saw this situation, he has been involved in the Sino-British negotiations, in the first few rounds, the British side only came to a righteous law, and every time it was late, the attitude was arrogant, this easy to be content, not only the British fleet commander-in-chief Yilu came in person, but also this attitude was surprisingly enthusiastic, at the same time, he was also faintly worried in his heart, how to negotiate the relationship between the two sides?

After a little greeting and mutual introduction, the two sides sat opposite each other at the long table, and Yi Zhishu said straight as soon as he opened his mouth: "In this negotiation, both sides have shown enough sincerity, and the negotiations have made breakthroughs, but I don't understand, why do you insist on compensating the price of cigarettes?" ”

It was Yilu who insisted on compensating for the price of cigarettes, and Lin Zexu banned smoking and besieged the British Pavilion, which was the law of righteousness to the Queen of Britain. The name of the government and the representative of the government. The government asked a group of tobacco sellers to hand over the crows. If the Qing Kingdom does not compensate for the price of cigarettes, then the silver will be paid by the Queen of Britain. It's simply impossible.

Groaning slightly, Yilu didn't explain, and said toughly: "Compensation for cigarette prices, there is no room for negotiation in this article." ”

"In that case, the negotiations will once again be at an impasse." Yi Zhixiang said bluntly: "The Qing Dynasty has banned smoking for a long time, and the illegal businessmen in your country have been smuggling crows for a long time, on a large scale, and blatantly. This is a blatant contempt for the laws of the Qing Dynasty, the ban on smoking in Guangzhou, and the seizure of smuggling crows. and to destroy them openly, this is the exercise of the legitimate judicial power of the Qing Dynasty, on what basis is the reason for compensating the price of cigarettes? Your Excellency the Superintendent, please give us a valid reason to compensate the price of cigarettes. ”

Yilu said in a deep voice: "Mr. Yi should know very well what method your country's Liangguang Governor Lord Lin took to collect those crows. Slice. ”

"Soldiers don't get tired of deceit." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "For illegal smugglers and tobacco dealers, there is no need to take righteous and bright measures. After a slight pause, he said, "The Queen of Britain, known for her civilization. The government won't protect the property proceeded by crime, right? As he spoke, he took out a copy of the fold and said, "This is the Inspector-General's collection of smuggling crows. A crow in the hands of a filmmaker. I think that not only the newspapers in London will be interested in this notice, but also in other European countries. ”

Yilu's face was a little ugly, but Yilu took the notice and looked at it quickly; After that, he looked up and glared at Yilu, who had notified the Queen of Britain. House Conservation Crow. It was clear that if this notice were circulated, it would inevitably be detrimental to British politics. The reputation of the government, not to mention abroad, is bound to be in an uproar at home, the Qing country is no smoking, and the British government. The government openly supported British traders in smuggling crows. piece, how does this differ from supporting crime?

Slowly putting down the fold, he said: "Let's not talk about this matter for the time being, Mr. Fang Caiyi did not mention the opening of additional commercial ports, but your country has no objection to this. ”

"That's the point." Yi Zhishu said in a deep voice: "If your country gives up the demand for force to claim the price of cigarettes and opens more commercial ports, it is not impossible to negotiate. ”

Hearing this, Yilu secretly rejoiced in his heart, if he could negotiate the matter of opening more commercial ports, he would also be able to return to China with dignity, give up the land ceding, and instead open more commercial ports, it is not his own decision, Foreign Minister Palmerston's instructions reserved room for them to negotiate with the Qing State, if the Qing State is unwilling to cede the land, they can also sign a trade treaty with China and open a commercial port.

If this can be negotiated, he can be said to have successfully completed the task of coming to Qingguo this time, but he gave up the claim for the price of cigarettes, and Yilu was afraid that it would be difficult to make a difference when he returned to China. ”

It seems that the difficulty of asking the other party to give up the claim for cigarette prices is not ordinary, but the other party has finally loosened up, and he can take this opportunity to bargain, he doesn't have the heart to bargain like a soft grind and a hard bubble, and immediately glanced at Yu Baochun and Jiang Likeng, and said: "Next, the two of you will talk about it." As he spoke, he gestured with three fingers under the table.

Standing up, he bowed slightly to everyone, glanced at Yilu, and said, "I'm sorry everyone, I have to go have some morning tea." ”

Seeing him retreat straight away, Jiang Liang was speechless for a while, glanced at Yu Baochun, and had to dominate the topic, "The matter of opening a commercial port." ”

Bian Du, who had been staying outside, saw that Yi Zhizhi walked out of the room, and his heart tightened, he came out so soon, and the conversation collapsed? He hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Mr. Yi." ”

Yi Zhifen smiled and said, "Do you have coffee, don't put sugar and don't add milk, thank you." ”

Seeing him smiling, Bian Du put his mind at ease and said with a smile: "Mr. Yi go to the lounge to rest for a while, and the coffee will be delivered immediately." ”

Yi Zhizhi didn't finish a cup of coffee in the lounge, Yilu walked in slowly, sat down opposite him, and said, "The notice provided by Mr. Yi does not have Yilu's signature or seal. ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled and said: "The original is evidence, I naturally won't bring it, Your Excellency may wish to ask the Chief Superintendent of Yilu to see if he has recovered the original of the notice." ”

Yilu wasn't sure if the other party really had the original in hand, so after thinking about it, he said, "Will the emperor of your country really agree to open an additional commercial port?" ”

Yi Zhishu smiled, took the cigar case from the table, took out a cigarette case from the end of his nose and sniffed it lightly, lit it slowly, and then said slowly: "Your Excellency is well-informed, you should know that I am now an official official of the Qing Imperial Court, and I may not understand this official position, your Excellency may not understand, I tell you, referred to as Shanghai Dao, if Your Excellency still doesn't understand, I might as well say in more detail, Shanghai's Jianghai Customs is under my control." ”

Shanghai Road, managing Jiang Customs? Yilu reacted and said with a happy face: "Oh, that's really good, there is absolutely no one more suitable for this Shanghai Dao than Mr. Yi." ”

Yi Zhishu smiled, stretched out two fingers and said, "First, the cigarette price claim must be greatly reduced, and I can compensate for it at my discretion in Shanghai." Second, the treaty port, Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian Province, not suitable, Ningbo is too close to Shanghai, these two places should be removed. ”

Yilu said disapprerovitically: "This can be discussed slowly." As he spoke, he also took a cigar and lit it, and said tentatively: "Mr. Yi led the team to negotiate this time, not just for negotiation, right?" ”

Yi Zhishu nodded and said, "I wonder if Your Excellency's successor will still keep Your Excellency's promise to me. ”

"At this point, Mr. Yi can rest assured." Yilu Zhengrong said: "Yilu and I both firmly believe that if England wants to achieve greater interests in the Qing Kingdom, it cannot do without the support of Yuan Qi, without the support of Mr. Yi, and my successor, Sir Pu Ding Cha, who has been in India for 40 years and has enough knowledge of Guangzhou, will definitely abide by my promises." ”

Yi Zhishu nodded, put his mind at ease, and groaned slightly, before he said, "Your Excellency has returned to China, can you do a little help?" ”

"Mr. Yi is polite." Yilu smiled: "It is my honor to serve Mr. Yi. ”

Yi Zhizhi was not polite, and said bluntly: "Capital pursues profits, your country is now in a serious economic crisis, it is not easy to lend, many bankers should be worried about the way out of funds, Yuanqi can borrow large amounts of money at low interest, mainly used for two points, one is the construction of railways, the other is the construction of Shanghai Port, in addition, Shanghai as a treaty port, allows foreign investment to open banks, build factories, and open schools.

As the manager of Shanghai, I will send an invitation to all European countries, warmly welcome businessmen from all over the world to trade and invest in Shanghai, and I will give them preferential treatment. ”

After a long pause, Yi Lu said: "It is really correct for the emperor of your country to appoint Mr. Yi as the Taoist of Shanghai, it seems that my opinion of your country must be changed." As he spoke, he smiled slightly: "Mr. Yi, rest assured, I will not only do my best to publicize, but also try my best to encourage my country's bankers, industrialists and businessmen to come to Shanghai." ”

"Thank you very much." Yi Zhizu smiled and picked up the coffee cup and said, "I hope they can negotiate as soon as possible, and let's celebrate a little at noon." ”

The interest rate of the Bank of England is low, if Yuan Qi can borrow a large amount of money to lend out, he can make a lot of money, besides, he really plans to build a railway, not only Guangzhou to build, Shanghai also to build, moreover, the construction of Shanghai also needs a large amount of start-up capital, all rely on Yuanqi, there are indeed some turnover, dismantling in the country, the interest rate is too high, can borrow from England at low interest, naturally it is the best.

He believes that when this news is released, England will definitely be tempted, and large loans can not only find a way out for funds, but also take the opportunity to contract railway construction projects and port construction projects in Shanghai, which can greatly stimulate the domestic economy of England, and there is no reason not to be tempted. (To be continued.) )