Chapter 44 Peace talks (6)

The prisoners of war gate was concentrated on the construction site of the new wharf in Dagukou. The original wharf had already been blown up by the coalition forces. Now, the new wharf was built, and letting these prisoners of war work was considered a way of repayment. Yang Yi was still very tolerant of prisoners of war. As long as he worked honestly, he could still have enough food for barbarians. As for those captured due to injuries, he would also be treated and he had to come here to work after he was cured. The people below also complained about Yang Yi's approach, saying that foreigners committed many sins in China and were lightly killed. Yang Yi criticized them on the spot. China is a country of etiquette, not barbarians, and foreigners are barbaric because they are not civilized. Should we also do those uncivilized things?

In fact, Yang Yi had another idea in his mind. From these foreign prisoners of war, Yang Yi seemed to have seen a large number of railway tracks, locomotives, and various machinery and equipment. There were still many talents among the foreign prisoners, and they had to find ways to stay and give them more salary.

When the envoys came to the prisoners' concentration camp, these prisoners of war were as excited as seeing their own father and mother. The envoys were their hope of going home, and they could not be excited. Yang Yi was also considered to have been kind and righteous. He gave the prisoners' day off to let them have a good time with the members of the envoys.

"Mr. Nelson, do you still know me? When you were elected as a member of parliament, our family voted for you. It would be great that you could come to China. You must get us back."

"Oh! Joseph, you are still alive, your mother is almost worried about death. Poor child, look at what you are now, and it is still like a royal viscount? Is your mother not worried about seeing it?"

"Hey, Fulang said, it's great to see you,"

"Oh, Quasimodo, you're still alive, that's great. Is it okay to stay in China? Don't worry that we're just going to get you back."

"What's good or bad? This war is really terrifying. It's a blessing to be able to save your life. The Chinese did not abuse us, they just were tiring to work."

"By the way, I went there before I came (Medieval Rouge), and that bitch asked you, saying why you haven't been looking for her for so long. I also told him that you are lying on the thighs of a Chinese girl now, haha!"

"Oh, don't say it, I still miss the bitch's white thighs and fat butt, and it feels comfortable to x it."

"Yuriakovichi, is it really you? It's so great. Your mother repeatedly reminded me before I came that I must take you back, and see people alive and ashes when I die."

"Prikov, I miss my mother so much. By the way, my wife didn't hook up with other men while I was not at home, did she?"

"Brother, don't be sad, you don't know your wife yet? You've gotten into a hookup with that guy Pushyin before you left for two days."

"Damn, when I go back, I will fight with that kid and dare to join my wife."

The way foreigners met with each other intimately hugged each other, and the Chinese soldiers responsible for warding prisoners of war felt disgusted when they saw it. The two big men hugged each other and chewed each other in a row. Are they all rabbits? Thinking of this, the soldiers also figured it out. When they went to bed at night, why did the prisoners of war always make strange screams in the shack where the prisoners of war lived? It turned out...

The alive prisoners of war were not executed, and the injured were also treated. As for those who died ineffective treatment, they were suffering. Seeing that the prisoners of war were not, the members of the envoys were not, they were relieved. Wilson, the chief representative of the British envoys, said on the spot on behalf of the envoys of the Three Kingdoms that they would definitely let these poor children go home and let them wait patiently. The prisoners of war heard the joy and seemed to have seen the ships returning home waved to them.

Speaking of negotiations, it seems that conflicts are resolved in a peaceful way, but in fact? Negotiations are about strength. At the negotiating table from ancient times to the present, the party with poor strength will definitely suffer some losses. Of course, there are also strong strength, but the leaders are incompetent and just want to maintain peace. For example, the negotiations between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom and the Western Xia during the Northern Song Dynasty in China.

The negotiating table was calm. No matter how hard the two sides had to negotiate, they would not overturn the table. They had to work at the negotiating table. During the Korean War, China and the United States were talking at Panmunjom and fighting at Shangganling on the other side. The battle was not worse than usual, and the intensity was even greater. In the small Shangganling, both sides did not know how many bombs they dropped and how many people died. The purpose was to be able to speak loudly at the negotiating table and be tougher.

Looking at the modern history of China, the Qing government has negotiated with people many times, but its strength is too different. If you negotiate once at the negotiating table, you will suffer once. The Treaty of the "Nanjing Treaty", "Beijing Treaty" (Shibashimony Treaty), "New Ugly Treaty" treaties are more miserable than the other, and the money you accompany is more than the other, because the country is backward and the government is corrupt.

Now as a victorious country, China has caused another dispute at the court meeting due to negotiations. The reason is very simple. Most courtiers are afraid. What are they afraid of? They are afraid of the fleets of Britain and France, and they are afraid of the 200,000 troops gathered by Russia on the border.

For this negotiation, the three countries have done a good job. The special mixed fleets of Britain and France were parked on the sea outside Dagukou. Although their army was completely wiped out, the navy's strength was still there, right? This attitude was to threaten and we would continue to fight to scare people. Britain and France sent fleets, and the Russians were not idle. They had originally sent to deal with the 200,000 troops crossing the border of the Chinese army. Before they met the Chinese army, they simply stayed and acted as if they were to fight at any time, with the purpose of making more benefits at the negotiating table and supporting their envoys. To put it bluntly, these three countries are just doing things. If they really want to fight, the British people would not agree, and the French people would rebel. As for Russia, they were too poor and could no longer withstand the tossing of a war.

The Three Kingdoms all seemed to be in full force, but they really scared these men who had always been pampered. They all planned to persuade the court to be harmonious and pay for money if they really didn't work. It would be better for us to spend money to buy peace, but they would not care about the dignity of the country and the face of the nation.

At the court meeting, the first person to jump out to say this was Weng Youyuan, the Minister of Rites. After saying a lot about how powerful foreigners were, he politely suggested to the Queen Mother: "Now we have won the battle, we should stop when we see the good things, so as not to really annoy the foreigners. The fleet on the sea and the army on the border are not vegetarians."

Before Yang Yi could express his opinion, Zeng Guofan stood up and said, "What Mr. Weng said... nonsense." No one expected that Zeng Guofan, who always regarded himself as a gentleman, would actually curse these vulgar words in the market, which was obviously too angry. When Shi Da was beaten to jump into Poyang Lake, he never said a word of swear words. He could not even curse the enemy. However, he said swear words to the Minister of Rites, who was a minister in the same court, which was not surprising.

Weng Youyuan didn't expect Zeng Guofan to be so surprised and said for a long time: "Zeng Guofan, you... you are really a disgrace to your ethics." Weng Youyuan, Yang Yi, knew that he was a Jinshi and was the product of the imperial examination and official position. He still had talents. When he was an official in the local area, he was considered a capable official and was timid. Now he was able to become a second-rank official by currying favor with his former boss Sushun. The bigger the official, the less courage he was, but he was never too brave to get money. Now, there are not many officials in the court who can be killed and imprisoned, so these people have been temporarily kept. The country is so big that someone must manage it.

Yang Yi also knew that now, people in the court had the same idea as Weng Youyuan, and the allies were afraid of being beaten by foreigners. Originally, Yang Yi planned to oppose the majority and advocated a tough attitude in the negotiations, but Zeng Guofan stood up first.

"Empress Dowager, please forgive the vulgar words of slaves, but you must not negotiate as Weng Youyuan and others said. This is really the case. It is really a disgrace to the national system. If our country is in a state of great power, we should not compensate for it. We should not compensate for it. We should not pay it back with past grudges and repay the grievances with kindness. But in turn, we should not pay it back with money." Before Zeng Guofan finished his words, Yang Yi checked and did not fall on the spot. He thought Zeng Guofan would advocate toughness. Unexpectedly, he was not very clever in his plan. He should not compensate, and he should be generous and repay the grievances with kindness. What a joke. It was so hard to fight, and so many people died. Is it a waste of fighting? Unexpectedly, Zeng Guofan was still a pedantic master.

Don't compensate, there are no ones. Have the foreigners gained fewer benefits in China over the years? Now they are finally holding their braids and not making a big fuss. How can they raise the new soldiers who died in death?

Yang Yi was thinking about it, and Cixi, who was behind the curtain, spoke: "Mr. Yang, what do you mean?"

Yang Yi stepped forward and smiled, answered Cixi, "Empress Dowager, I think I can't pay them money, but we can't pay the money." As Yang Yi said this, the ministers in the court all looked happy, and even Zeng Guofan was able to twist his beard. Even Yang Yi agreed with his opinion, which was really shameful.

"But..." Yang Yi changed the subject and then said: "When I was a young man, Westerners had great technology. They had steamships, trains, telegraphs, and my advanced machines. We don't have these things, so we can care about them asking for these things." As soon as Yang Yi finished speaking, Zeng Guofan immediately wanted to say something, but Yang Yi quickly continued: "Now in this year, if you fall behind, you will be beaten. No matter the population or national strength of our country, our porcelain, tea, and foreign countries are all good things, and they have to spend a lot of money to buy them. But why do we still can't beat them? We are just because we are behind and behind. What should we do? We can only catch up."

Speaking of this, Yang Yi looked around for a week and found that the court officials had no intention of continuing to speak. Even Zeng Guofan was in a state of contemplation. Yang Yi continued: "I think that this great victory over foreigners can be used as an opportunity to cry and trade with foreigners, but we must follow the principle of fairness. As for opium, which is a disaster for the country and the people, we must resolutely eliminate it. We can send people to the West to learn their advanced technology, their naval and industrial technology, and also introduce advanced machinery and equipment for foreigners. In short, we must learn all the good things of foreigners. As for this negotiation, I request the Queen Mother to hand it over to me with full authority."

"Okay, I'll follow you!" The tone of Cixi's words made the ministers in the court feel strange. Why did they look like a young wife talking to her husband? But no one just thought about it and didn't dare to take it to heart. They didn't know that Cixi now is actually Yang Yi's young wife. The two of them looked for a place to have a try every now. Cixi in that scene was much more boring than she is now.

Yang Yi's response to the postures put on by foreigners is to delay.

Didn’t the foreigners drive all the fleet? Want to scare me? Okay, it depends on who can afford to spend it. Anyway, someone has to do the work on the dock in Tianjin. It’s so good to use the prisoners, and you don’t have to pay for wages. It takes ten days and half a month to delay, and it depends on whether you are in a hurry.

Yang Yi's move made the envoys of the Three Kingdoms very anxious. Now all countries are like boiling water. The emperors and prime ministers are looking forward to the end of the negotiations as soon as possible and the prisoners of war will go home to soothe the people. But the Chinese representatives always don't come forward, and they are very polite on weekdays, with good food and accommodation, but these representatives have no intention of enjoying it, they are all like ants on the hot pan. Several groups of people were sent to Beijing to urge it. Ten days later, Yang Yi replied: "You have too many guns in your fleet, and I'm afraid." But there was no such thing as fear in that tone.

After receiving this reply, the deputies wanted to tear Yang Yi away, but now they are the ones who suffer from the trouble on their territory, not to mention that their braids are still in the hands of others. The more than 100,000 prisoners are the eyes of the people across the country. If they really want to make Yang Yi angry, the barbarians killed all the prisoners, and they should not go back, they can jump right away.

The representatives were not fools. If the fleet did not retreat, the negotiations would probably not begin. So the fleet of Britain and France immediately anchored and returned to its Singapore base. As for the Russians, the 200,000 army was only said to scare people. In fact, the troops' supplies were large expenses in the Far East where ghosts did not shit or birds lay eggs. The main force of the 200,000 army had already retreated almost, and there were only tens of thousands of troops left behind. Even if they were given a few courages, they would not dare to provoke the Chinese army opposite. It was really a 100,000 army, and only a few more.
Chapter completed!