6. The cold wind (I)
On the day when Britain, France, the United States and China signed the "Beijing Treaty" respectively, the Russian minister Zhu Robiv went out of Beijing angrily, and when he left Beijing, he declared that "such a shame must be washed away with blood", but at this time several people who signed the terms ignored the clamor of this loser, and after the group photo, the envoys of the three countries were very satisfied with the rights and interests obtained in the treaty, and said words around Prince Gong for a long time, the French minister, and then Ferrero, who may be the French ambassador to China, faced the brother of the emperor of China, The respected prince was very grateful, and surrounded Prince Gong for a long time to say compliments, but finally expressed his worries, "Your Excellency, of course, I am very sure that this peace negotiation and treaty are conducive to the progress of diplomatic relations between the two countries, but I am a little worried,"
"Oh? Mr. Minister, please tell me what are you worried about? ”
"I am worried about the continuity of the policy of the treaty, I learned from Gong that the Chinese have a saying that if the person who promotes the policy is not there, the policy will also die, and now the friendly situation of our four countries will not be hidden from His Excellency the Prince," Prince Ferrero said sincerely, and Gong Cheng on the side translated helplessly, "I am very worried that if you do not continue to deal with diplomatic matters, how can China's friendship with foreign countries, especially Britain and France, that began today, be maintained, I express my skeptical attitude, You must know that the minister who was in charge of Chinese politics in the palace was very hostile to us, and it was not because of the loss of Mr. Pashali in England that he had been imprisoned until now. ”
It's this Gong Cheng who is fanning the flames again, but fortunately, he has already made up his mind with the queen, Prince Gong was slightly angry, glared at Gong Cheng, but still explained, "Of course, the policy must be fully continued within a certain period of time, Mr. Minister, you don't need to worry, there is something to inform the minister." Several ministers came over and listened to what Prince Gong had to say, "Our Emperor His Majesty has agreed to my excerpt, that is, to set up a special yamen for reciprocal contact with the affairs of various countries and handling foreign affairs. Although I can't take care of other things, foreign affairs. Rest assured, yes. The subtext in the words is the matter of foreign affairs, Su Shun can't speak, and Prince Gong is all in charge.
Hua Ruohan smiled, and even the British minister who began to keep a straight face also smiled, for them, it is the best result for them to need an enlightened magnate who is gentle and kind to foreigners, Ferrero hurriedly patted his chest, "Please rest assured, Your Excellency, about the affairs of various countries." Only when you are there can we discuss it well, don't worry. ”
After laughing and talking about the delivery of prisoners of war, Prince Gong made it clear to the envoys, "The weather has become cold these days, and some prisoners of war have been injured for a long time and need to be taken care of. I think it's better to wait until the beginning of the spring of the following year to have countries pick it up, what do you think? ”
A few prisoners of war would not be noticed by anyone, and the diplomats had already been released anyway, and the British minister had given up the privilege of an exclusive treaty port to let the war commander Count Ergin release it early, and the big names had already returned, including the gray and sluggish Pashali. These little soldiers were ignored, Britain and France wished that the Chinese would provide food and accommodation for a while, there was no reason not to agree, this China is much better than the barbaric and backward appearance rumored in the country, such a humane idea, Ferrero could not think of it, the British and French ministers nodded and agreed. And prepare to write the matter into the memo.
"The captives of your country and others are fine, this matter is over, and the people captured by you and others in the Great Qing Kingdom should also be repatriated to China."
"Hu Fu, don't sigh to yourself, the boss has been very angry in the past few days, didn't Brother Lan tell us when he was dying? Eat a family's meal, be loyal to the Lord, our boss is finally a good person! ”
"Xu Qing, do you need to say more? Of course, this should be faithful to the Lord, but this is not the case at all, I tell you," another middle-aged man's deep voice sounded, "The rice is almost gone, even if we eat porridge every day, and eat with it, but after coming out for so many days, the rice is almost gone, and you will always come," the middle-aged man's voice became anxious, "What should I do?" The boss won't eat the stuff of foreign devils! Don't you listen to him always saying, 'Uncle Boyi Qiyi didn't eat Zhou Li and starved to death on Shouyang Mountain'? If you don't have rice to eat, what should you do? ”
The middle-aged man's voice was faintly crying, and another person hurriedly told him to stop, "Be light, don't let the old man hear it, that's really amazing!" This Calcutta, full of black charcoal-like Ah San, speaks like a ghost, can't understand half a sentence, and doesn't know where to sell rice? In the past, the indica rice we used to eat in Guangzhou was said to be sold in Annam, and when the Englishman came back, we would ask him. Xu Qing and Hu Fu discussed in a low voice here, and suddenly heard a cough in the inner room, where did an old man's voice call Hu Fu.
"Hu Fu, is there no rice?"
Hu Fu and Xu Qing glanced at each other, and entered the inner room side by side, only to see that the inner room was surrounded by four walls, except for a broken wooden bed, there was no other furniture, an elderly man with gray hair and a thin face was nested on the bed in his clothes, holding a book in his hand.
"Yes, my lord, there is still a little more rice, but not much," Hu Fu replied with his hand down.
Ye Mingchen put the Lu Zu Jing in his hand together, and instructed kindly, "Are you two discussing the matter of adding rice?" Don't do this, I won't eat foreigners' things, since I left China and came to India, I already have the will to die, the emperor, hey, I'm sorry for the emperor, Shi can be killed and not humiliated, the sages said, starvation is a small thing, the festival is big, the rice is finished, I don't need to live! ”
"My lord," Xu Qing almost cried, "You can't think like this, you can't leave Qingshan without worrying about no firewood!" ”
"That day I was in Hong Kong, we were on the boat together, Lan Zhong pointed to the sea with his finger, his mind I understand, nothing more than to tell me to be loyal to the country, a death, ah, why did I survive, but I still have a trace of fantasy in my heart, I heard that they are going to send me to England, I heard that the British dynasty is a queen, the king always understands things, I want to face Queen Chen, ask her, why the two countries have a good contract, but the British are treacherous, blatantly start a war for no reason, I want her conscience to touch, sincere repentance, Apologize to our emperor! ”
There was silence in the room, and the sea breeze of Calcutta whistled through the window lattice, making a terrible and shrill voice, "Then I thought that the foreigners would actually detain me in this India, and I could not go to England, and I could not see the Lord of England, so what point did I have to live in the world?" The foreigners are fighting in China again, you can also see, the Englishman before told me arrogantly that they have reached Tianjin," Ye Mingchen's face had a deep gray, "China is in turmoil again!" ”
"You know, Su Wu of the Han Dynasty was detained by the Huns for more than ten years, eating and sleeping in the open air, after all, he did not fall into the prestige of a country, although the British did not abuse me, in the end they refused to let me go to see the British king, I am the same as Su Wu, I am confined to overseas places, although I am not talented, but I can also effectively imitate the courage of the sages, this 'Su Wu on the sea' is to be responsible!"
"Yes, sir, I think the British will one day escort the adults to the UK, didn't Su Wu have been detained by the Huns for more than ten years?" Xu Qing wanted to take the opportunity to say what he meant by buying rice.
"No, I don't have a life in heaven!" The faint but vital light that was originally beating in Ye Mingchen's eyes gradually extinguished, "Su Wu is an envoy, and I am a feudal official, it is different, my original expectations have been disappointed, I want to convince the king of the guilt, this errand has not been done, hey"
"Hu Fu, you two eat the meal, I have made up my mind, and I won't be stealing my life."
"Your Excellency!" Hu Fu Xu Qing knelt down and cried, Ye Mingchen waved his hand, signaling to let his family go out, Ye Mingchen closed his eyes through the waves of the sea in front of the window, and echoed the surging heat in his heart, echoing this up and down, the black characters on the Lu Zu Sutra, as if they would beat, jumped in front of Ye Mingchen's eyes one by one, the tropical weather, although it was late autumn, it was still hot and unbearable, the surging water vapor mass wrapped around the dense forest, turn by turn like a sand, Ye Mingchen felt that his anger became more and more urgent, The light and darkness in front of my eyes.
"I didn't expect it," Ye Mingchen shook his head and sighed, "I didn't even see the scenery of my hometown before I died, and I was probably the first to open the Qing Dynasty when I died in a foreign land," Ye Mingchen struggled to stand up, gasped for a few breaths, put on his clothes, walked to the window, the waves outside, and recited the poem he had just done a few days ago.
"The moonlight at the head of Zhenhai Tower is cold, and the stars are turned into guest star lists. Zongyun Yifan has a fan's army, why should the monarchs be on the wall to avoid death, Su Qing is unharmed and persuaded to eat. Let him paint Danqing one day, and it will be difficult to write with hatred and sadness. ”
After reciting a poem, the scenery of Ye Mingchen's head couldn't help but be stupid.
Xu Qing came in with a bowl of porridge and persuaded Ye Mingchen to eat, Ye Mingchen turned a deaf ear, Xu Qing couldn't, so he could only retreat with tears, at this moment, there was a noise outside, the noise was getting louder and louder, close to Ye Mingchen's residence, the two Ah San soldiers guarding outside asked a few times, and then stopped talking, Hu Fu pounced in, knelt down with tears, and said with surprise and joy, "My lord, there are people in the country!" Ye Mingchen turned to stare at Hu Fu, trembling, "What do you say?" ”
"Take care of your health, and you will be able to return to China in a few days! We have won the foreigners! Ye Mingchen burst into tears, "We can finally return to China!" ”
In November of the 10th year of Xianfeng, due to the provisions of the "Beijing Treaty", Ye Mingchen, the former governor of Liangguang who was stranded in India, was repatriated to China. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for the recommendation ticket, your support is my biggest motivation. )
PS: What about the monthly pass.