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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 160: Bullying Too Much

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    Midile and others left, and a person came out of the inner hall. It was Zuo Zongtang, the first counselor of the West Palace. He was seen with an angry face and said bitterly: "These barbarians bully others too much! Only send one junior official, Master  Come here to spread the word, you really don¡¯t take us seriously.¡±

    Xiao Yungui snorted. In fact, he didn't really care about what the British did. After all, the Taiping Army was just a rebel army that occupied more than a dozen cities. For the British, who are known as the empire on which the sun never sets, they could send a plenipotentiary minister to the front.  To come in contact with them is already considered as paying great attention to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.  But Lao Zuo seems to think that face is more important, and Xiao Yungui also wonders why Chinese people want face so much, and sometimes would rather give up very practical interests for the sake of face.

    Xiao Yungui could only laugh and said: "These British barbarians don't know etiquette, Mr. Zuo, don't be angry." Then he looked back at Queen Xi, who was sitting calmly as usual, and said with a straight face: "Why didn't you say a word just now?"

    Hong Yuner smiled slightly and asked: "What do you want me to say? Just say that we will not accept this treaty? So what if you don't accept it? Do we have the final say in places like Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Fuzhou, and Guangzhou?"

    Xiao Yungui said a little discouraged: "Then you can't just say nothing."

    Zuo Zongtang held back his anger, took the note document from Wang Kaiyun's hand, looked at it carefully and said: "King Xi, the purpose of the Yi people's trip is very simple, which is to tell us three things. One is that they will not help each other; the other is that  I hope we will continue to abide by the Jiangning Treaty, and third, we hope we will not attack Shanghai."

    Xiao Yungui nodded and said: "We have already speculated on these conditions when we discussed them beforehand. They will definitely put forward these conditions. This is what these arrogant British people are like."

    Zuo Zongtang frowned and said: "The first one is beneficial to us, but the second one is a bit hard to accept. The Qing court's defeats and treaties signed should be blamed on us. How does this make sense? The third one  It¡¯s even more deceiving. Can¡¯t we attack places like Shanghai in the future?¡±

    Xiao Yungui touched his chin and said: "Mr. Zuo, don't be impatient. Dealing with these barbarians requires patience. We now need to discuss how to trick their envoys into getting off the ship so that they can sit down and discuss with us. We in the West Palace must  Only by gaining the right to negotiate with the barbarians can we use troops against Jiangsu and Zhejiang. If the king of heaven and the king of east are allowed to contact the barbarians, I think it will mess things up. As long as there is room for negotiation with the barbarians,  I believe our best debater will find a way." At this point, he looked at the slightly frowning Hong Yun'er and smiled maliciously.

    Zuo Zongtang asked strangely: "The best debater?"

    Xiao Yungui laughed twice, and Hong Yun'er rolled her eyes at him with some embarrassment, then said to Zuo Zongtang: "Mr. Zuo, don't pay attention to him, he is talking nonsense."

    Zuo Zongtang understood that this young couple was playing tricks. As the contact with the two deepened, Zuo Zongtang found that this lively couple was very strange. Basically, they did not live together. Most of the time, the Western King would stay in the palace.  , Xiwang Niang likes to stay in the women's camp. Perhaps during the war, the two have no time to take care of their children's personal relationships. This is why Zuo Zongtang admires Xiwang and his wife, and feels that it is worthwhile for him to abandon his wife and be with them.  But sometimes watching this lively couple play tricks, Zuo Zongtang would often miss his wife.

    Seeing Zuo Zongtang's expression was different, Hong Yun'er knew that he was missing his wife and children again, so she changed the subject and said: "The King of the West is right, the British envoys are willing to come to Nanjing, which means they want to get to know us. See  See if they can get benefits from us, and judging from their notes, it seems that there is room for negotiation. However, weak countries have had no diplomacy for a long time, and we should also see our own strength clearly. So far, we have not overthrown the Manchurian Empire.  The Qing Dynasty still occupies very little land and has a small population, and it is still unable to challenge the great powers such as Britain and France. For now, we should continue to deal with them patiently."

    Xiao Yungui said with a treacherous smile: "Yes, the British require envoy-level reception etiquette, and I can provide it. Anyway, the Kingdom of Heaven has not received foreign envoys yet. It is up to us to decide what etiquette should be used, as long as it is not too rude."  , the British should not care about it. I want him to suffer a dumb loss. We give him the etiquette of receiving envoys between countries. In that case, the British will recognize the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as the legal government of China in disguise. The rest is between us and  They are making detours at the negotiation table, and I don¡¯t believe they can deceive him.¡±

    Zuo Zongtang seemed not to understand what it had to do with whether Britain recognized the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom or not. He asked strangely: "What does it have to do with a group of foreigners and Xiaocheng not recognizing our heavenly kingdom?"

    Hong Yun'er explained: "Mr. Zuo, today there are many powerful countries in the world, and the relationship between countries is not as simple as we thought before. Whether the British recognize our regime or not has a lot to do with us.  . But if we want those barbarians to recognize our regime and provide us with what we need, they?There will also be requirements, mostly regarding interests.  The best situation is that both parties can get what they need. This is called a win-win situation.  "

    Zuo Zongtang thought about Hong Yun'er's words. There were too many advanced things in Hong Yun'er's explanation. Lao Zuo didn't understand it for a while. After hesitating for a moment, he said: "King of the West, we can't just give in to the barbarians  ¡­¡±

    Xiao Yungui raised his hand to interrupt Zuo Zongtang, and said with a slight smile: "We also have our own interests. Don't worry, Mr. Zuo. The Yi people will not take advantage of us. Sir, it seems that I will be taken advantage of."  Someone who takes advantage of others?¡±

    Zuo Zongtang saw his treacherous smile and knew that King Xi was full of bad intentions and must have some tricks to embarrass the Yi people. He didn't say anything at the moment. He just felt that King Xi and his wife knew how to deal with the Yi people. They were really lucky to the Kingdom of Heaven.  .

    Soon Midile received a reply from the King of the West. The two parties would meet at the King's Mansion tomorrow morning. The King of the West would send his guards to personally escort the British Minister, and at the same time accurately promised to give the British Minister the reception etiquette of the ministerial level of the Kingdom of Heaven.  He also told Midile that he could negotiate with Lord Wenhan on behalf of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.  Xiao Yungui didn't want the King of Heaven and King Dong who were still on the road to do anything bad when they arrived. The King of Heaven's arrogance would definitely mess things up, so it was the same for him to come forward to negotiate with the British.  Xiao Yungui made up his mind to kill first and then show off, and then get a batch of jewelry and jades to be fake tributes sent by the British. He didn't believe that this would not fool the King of Heaven and the King of the East.  Xiao Yungui believed that as long as there were tributes, the arrogant King of Heaven would agree to give the British the power to do business. He, the King of the West, did not even need to report the remaining details.

    Midile was very happy. Although King Xi did not respond to the three important requests they made, he also explained the reason. King Xi hoped to sit down and discuss with the envoy instead of passing the message through people.  Midile admired this method very much. He had dealt with too many officials of the Qing Dynasty. Those officials seemed to be afraid of dealing with foreigners, and they would avoid it if they could. Some even pretended to be sick, and the Western King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom  However, he really wanted to see the British Minister, and there was no obstacle to kneeling down and praying. It was obvious that the King of the West seemed to understand some Western etiquette, which made Midile feel that the trip was worthwhile.

    Later, the King of the West arranged a sumptuous banquet for Midile and the accompanying soldiers. Midile noticed that they also prayed before meals, which made Midile and others feel like they were in their own world.  During the dinner, Midile and the six soldiers all got wine, but neither King Xi nor Queen Xi drank. They only drank tea. When Midile asked, King Xi smiled and said that the doctrine stipulates that drinking is not allowed. This behavior  Made Midile feel like they were more like Puritans.

    In the afternoon, Midile returned to the "Halmis" and reported the situation in detail to Lord Wenhan.

    Lord Wenhan said with some confusion: "Is that King of the West Xiao Chaogui? What else does he want to discuss with us?"

    Midile nodded and said, "Yes, the Western King I met is Xiao Chaogui, the third most powerful person in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. As far as I know, their Heavenly King and Eastern King are still on their way to Nanjing."

    Lord Wenhan frowned and said: "Then can what he said represent the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom? Can it represent their heavenly king?"

    Midile said sincerely: "Your Excellency, this Western King has clearly said that he can represent the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and he is different from the Easterners I have come into contact with. He is a devout Puritan. I think his words are credible."  , we can only deal with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom through him at present."

    Lord Wenhan pondered for a moment and said: "Okay, in that case, let's go ashore to meet the rebel leader. I hope we will gain something this time and won't be pushed around like when we were dealing with Qing officials.  .¡±

    Early the next morning, Colonels Wenhan, Midile, and Uncle He led fifty British soldiers ashore. Under the escort of one hundred Western King's personal guards, they boarded the prepared official sedan.  When they arrived at the gate of Xiwangfu, several officials from Xiwangfu received them and even set off a salute. Wenhan was very satisfied with all the reception etiquette.

    Arriving at the lobby of the West King's Mansion, Wenhan saw the King of the West. Like Midile and others, he just took off his hat and bowed. The King of the West enthusiastically came forward to shake hands with him and greeted them to sit down.  The two sides introduced each other's personnel involved in the negotiations. On the British side, in addition to Lord Wenham, Midile and Colonel Hooper, there were also two civilian personnel.  On the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom side were Xiao Yungui, Hong Yun'er, Zuo Zongtang, Wang Kaiyun and several record keeping officials.

    Wenhan really felt that this King of the West was different. After sitting down, both parties started talking without any nonsense.  Wenhan reiterated the three conditions on behalf of the British Empire and repeatedly emphasized that the interests of the British Empire must be guaranteed.

    Wenhan¡¯s words were pure English, and Midile translated him into Chinese meticulously. Xiao Yungui held a tea cup and listened patiently with a smile and said: "Your Excellency, Minister?Are you satisfied with the reception etiquette we arranged?  "

    Lord Wenhan did not doubt that he was there, nodded and said: "I am very satisfied, your army is very sincere in negotiating."

    Xiao Yungui said with a smile: "Yes, Lord Wenhan is the first foreign minister to visit us since the founding of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Of course, we follow the etiquette between countries for receiving ministers. I hope that after the establishment of diplomatic relations between Britain and our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, we can  Let¡¯s continue to be friendly for a long time.¡±

    Lord Wenhan was shocked when he heard this and said hurriedly: "Your Highness the King of the West, we and your army are still in the stage of getting to know each other, and we do not want to establish diplomatic relations with your army."

    Xiao Yungui chuckled and said: "Lord Wenhan, we follow the etiquette of receiving envoys. As a diplomat, you don't know the difference."

    Before Wenhan could speak, Hong Yun'er continued with a smile: "Lord Wenhan, we have heard the three demands you just made. We welcome Britain's neutrality. As for the second one, which requires us to inherit the "Jiangning Treaty" signed by the Manchus,  You seem to mean that Britain recognizes our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as the legal government of China and inherits some of the debts and obligations left by the Manchu government. Can I understand it this way? Now that Britain has recognized the legal status of our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in China, we can sit down  Let¡¯s discuss other cooperation matters.¡±

    Wenhan was dumbfounded. He didn't expect the Xiwang couple to be so cunning and misinterpret their meaning. Taking advantage of the fact that there seemed to be no interpreter present, he couldn't help but blurt out a curse word in English, "Damn yellow-skinned monkey, so cunning."

    The conversation between the two parties was always translated by Midile. Wenhan's uneducated words were naturally not translated by Midile. He had to pretend not to hear it, but he did not expect that the beautiful Mrs. Xi Wang in front of him heard this sentence.  Afterwards, his face was full of anger, his pretty face turned red, he stood up with a roar, and said angrily in pure English: "Lord Wenhan, is this the tone of your British gentlemen? If you think we are not worthy of your respect  , please leave immediately. Even if there is a war in the end, we will prove with blood that our skin color is not the object of your pleasure! And you have also lost the face of British diplomats, and you have also lost the so-called dignity of Britain.  Profit! If you say such evil words in such a formal diplomatic occasion, I believe that you, the Queen of England, will also be humiliated by it!"
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