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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 495: Negotiation and Mediation

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    There was indeed more than one person who was troubled. The British Minister Bao Ling in Tianjing was also very troubled. He couldn't understand why Grant, a cautious man, could have a conflict with the Taiping Army at this juncture.

    According to the agreement with the Taiping Army, Bao Ling only had to release the Pearl River Estuary and agree to the Taiping Army's commitment to occupy Guangzhou in exchange for favorable conditions for opening a consulate in Tianjing and making Tianjing a treaty port.  When news of the outbreak of the conflict came, Bao Ling was still enthusiastically setting up the British Consulate in Tianjing. At that time, he believed that it would not be long before the consulate would become the British embassy in the Taiping Rebellion and become the first British consulate in China.  Countries with embassy districts.  Moreover, Bao Ling finally opened the way for the British Empire to the golden waterways of China's inland rivers. Tianjing became a treaty port, which marked that the golden waterways of the Yangtze River were slowly opening their arms to the British. This was what the British dreamed of.

    Unfortunately, a conflict interrupted Bao Ling's dream, but in order to maintain the dignity of the British Empire, Bao Ling had to be tough. However, Bao Ling was worried about angering the more tough King of the West and letting Britain get what he wanted overnight.  All time is lost.  After losing these things, Britain must launch a larger-scale war to recapture them. But will the Taiping Army be as easy to deal with as the Qing Army?  The answer is obviously no. Bao Ling saw more fanatical soldiers and civilians in Tianjing City. He has dealt with the Taiping Army for many years and he also knows the strength of the Taiping Army. Although he believes that Britain will definitely win in the end, the price will be very high because  China is too far away from the UK.

    Fortunately, French Minister Bourblon was also in Tianjing, and the Frenchman enthusiastically agreed to mediate and mediate the incident.  The French also seemed unwilling to see trade cut off due to war.

    But when Bulbulon came back, he brought depressing news. The Western King's attitude was indeed extremely tough, and he in turn demanded an apology from Britain and compensation for losses.  This made Bao Ling very angry.  Originally, Bao Ling planned that if the King of the West was sincere and minimized the problem, he could lower the amount of compensation, as long as the dignity of the British Empire could be preserved.  Unexpectedly, things became more and more difficult to deal with. Bao Ling walked back and forth impatiently. When he saw Bulbulon's half-smiling expression, Bao Ling was startled. He secretly thought that the French wanted to use this opportunity to expand or even expand.  Replace Britain's position in the Far East.  If Britain and the Taiping Rebellion went to war, France could stay out of the matter and wait for the war to end, no matter which side wins.  France was unscathed.  If the British win, they can take advantage of the situation to stabilize the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and sign the same unequal treaty as the British to obtain greater benefits. If the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom wins, the French can arrogantly replace the British and continue to trade with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.  and then took over Britain's position.

    Bao Ling clenched his fists.  I secretly thought that this kind of thing must never happen!  But if you don¡¯t want to go to war with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, do you have to bow to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom according to the conditions proposed by the King of the West?  They are still an unrecognized rebel organization. Where do they put the dignity of the British Empire and the glory of the Navy?

    Bao Ling hesitated again and again and finally decided to have an interview with the King of the West in person. The French could participate, but they could no longer take the lead. It was better for the British to lead the diplomatic negotiations themselves.  So Bao Ling submitted a negotiation note to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Ministry of Ceremonies through Bulbulon. The next day, Bao Ling received the news that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom agreed to negotiate with the British to resolve the dispute.

    The negotiation was held at the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites, and the King of the West did not participate.  Sitting opposite Bao Ling was the third most powerful figure in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Prime Minister Zuo Zongtang.  In the eyes of foreigners.  It is unanimously believed that the Queen of the West is the number two person in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom now, because this princess has extraordinary power, while Zuo Zongtang is the number three person, and the Yiwang Shi Dakai who is far away in Wuchang is the number four person, just because Shi Dakai is far away from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.  The administrative center has too little influence on national affairs.

    The negotiation was not smooth. At the beginning, the two sides had a long debate on the cause of the conflict. In short, the public said that the public was right, and the mother-in-law was right. The British accused the Taiping fleet of taking the lead in raising the red flag to represent the attack, while the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom accused the British of taking the lead.  Fired artillery and hit Taiping warships.  This is just like a fight in a street in Surrey. There may be mistakes on both sides, or there may be misunderstandings on both sides, but in the end it is a matter that cannot be slapped.

    There was no substantial progress that day. The next day, Bao Ling changed his strategy and began to show off force and threats. He and his accompanying Navy Rear Admiral He Bo boldly claimed that they could lead the Far East Shanghai Squadron to eliminate the Taiping Army in Shanghai within half a day.  of fort.

    The tit-for-tat response from the Taiping Army was that Li Kaifang, who was attending the negotiations, ridiculed Major General He Bo for the failure he suffered at Dagukou. The British fleet could not even defeat the Manchu army, so how could it be brave?

    The infuriated Major General He was very angry. In the Battle of Dagukou, the British and French squadrons he led were attacked by the Manchu troops and suffered heavy losses. He himself was seriously injured. He spent more than half a year recovering in Shanghai and stayed there.  In Shanghai, he led the Shanghai Squadron consisting of three warships.  He has always been very taboo about others.As a result of this humiliating defeat, he immediately drew his sword and asked for a duel with Li Kaifang alone.

    Fortunately, Bao Ling and Bulbulon persuaded the grumpy rear admiral, and the negotiations on the second day ended hastily without any results.

    On the third day, the British lost their temper and issued an ultimatum, promising that this was their last attempt. If the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom still refused to give in, they had no choice but to let Major General He Bo give it a try. If Major General He Bo's squadron could  A small victory in Shanghai might force the Taiping army to relent.  He did not dare to follow Major General Ho's terrible and reckless suggestion, let Grant's fleet attack the Taiping fleet from Fujian to Guangzhou, annihilate the fleet, and let the tens of thousands of land troops transported by the Taiping Navy feed the sharks.  !

    Bao Ling was not that crazy yet. He knew that if he did this, Britain might be able to gain a temporary advantage, but then it would have to endure the Taiping Army's revenge, and the British doing business and living abroad in Shanghai, Ningbo and other places would suffer.  To ensure safety, a full-scale war with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will break out. Bao Ling is not sure that he can completely defeat the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's army.

    Then an artillery battle broke out at Wusongkou Fort in Shanghai, and the result was shocking. The prepared Taiping Army fort adopted the same tactics as the Manchu Qing Dynasty, hiding the gun positions before the arrival of the British ships. Those who were actually bombarded by the British ships were some  The fake cannons made of thick tree trunks finally reached the British ship that extended the cannon fire and was attacked by the Taiping artillery on the shore. One frigate sank, and the other two British ships escaped with injuries.

    This time the British completely lost their temper, and Bao Ling paid the price for his adventure. The French and Americans participated in mediation. This time the conditions of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were even more stringent. They demanded that Britain recognize the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's regime!

    Just when Bao Ling was at a loss, even more depressing news came from the country. The British economy was in a very big crisis. Neither the British Prime Minister nor the Parliament wanted a war scene in the Far East!

    In 1857, a worldwide economic crisis broke out. It was the first general overproduction crisis with worldwide characteristics in the history of capitalism.  This crisis is also the first to begin in the United States rather than in the United Kingdom.  Since the United Kingdom invested heavily in American railway construction, the bankruptcy of American railway speculation also caused a great shock to the United Kingdom.  After the end of the economic crisis in 1847, the most important feature of the cyclical upsurge that began in 1850 was the dramatic expansion of world trade. The average annual growth of world trade in the 1850s tripled that of the previous 20 years.  The development of machine industry, the revolution in transportation, the involvement of emerging countries and sectors in international commodity flows, and the discovery of gold mines in California and Australia all contributed to the rapid expansion of world markets.

    From 1848 to 1858, the United States built approximately 33,000 kilometers of railways, exceeding the total number of railways built by other countries.  However, during the construction boom in the UK in the 1940s, only 8,000 kilometers of railways were laid.  The booming development of the American railway industry should logically lead to the great development of its metallurgical industry. However, the actual situation is not like this.  Moreover, during this period, U.S. pig iron production stagnated for a long time, and the cotton textile industry did not grow rapidly.  At the same time, imports of railroad tracks, pig iron, locomotives, cotton cloth and other British manufactured goods increased rapidly. British products flooded the U.S. market and hindered the development of important industrial sectors at the time, such as the U.S. metallurgy and cotton textile industries.

    With the outbreak of the crisis, a large number of banks, financial companies and industrial enterprises in the United States collapsed.  In 1857 alone, nearly 5,000 companies went bankrupt.  Overproduction of grain, falling grain prices and grain exports, coupled with fierce competition from British industrial products, contributed to the deepening of the U.S. economic crisis.  In turn, Britain's economic development was hit by the crisis in the United States.  U.S. banks, railroads, and commercial companies that provided funds from Britain went bankrupt, which also caused the securities held by British investors to depreciate sharply.  The economic crisis in the United States quickly spread to the United Kingdom and continental Europe, triggering waves of bankruptcies.

    Britain is still dealing with the Great Indian Rebellion. The prosperous trade in the Far East has become the last straw to save the British Empire's precarious economy. This is why the British are eager to recognize the Taiping Rebellion and establish diplomatic relations. They need what the Taiping Rebellion brings.  Stable business environment!

    Through the efforts of the French and Americans, the situation finally did not deteriorate further. However, the Taiping Rebellion diplomats were very tough and refused to give in. Bao Ling had to declare that he needed to ask the domestic prime minister and parliament for instructions before he could respond to the Taiping Rebellion's request.  Bao Ling had no choice but to hope that a miracle would happen during this period, such as the Indian Uprising being suppressed and the British Expeditionary Force sending a large number of reinforcements.  Until the last moment, Bao Ling still refused to lower the British's high head.

    The result was naturally disappointing to Bao Ling. The British troops in the Battle of Delhi in India were in a stalemate. There would be no progress in a short time. Without reinforcements and it was impossible to start a war, Bao Ling had to report to the country.News was sent inside and he brought his resignation.  (To be continued)
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