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On the 24th of October, Ceng Guoquan, who was waiting at home, quickly walked into Ceng Guofan's study. As soon as he saw Ceng Guofan, Ceng Guoquan's face showed some joy. He said, "Big Brother, that is indeed Third Brother's personal letter."
In the morning, a bald guy came to see Ceng Guofan. He wrote a letter to the concierge, claiming that it was a letter from the captured Ceng Guohua. After the fierce battle with the Liberation Army in Fuzhou, Jiangxi, Ceng Guohua and thousands of Xiang Army soldiers "disappeared" together. Afterward, countless bodies were found in the big pit where the Liberation Army buried the bodies. It was too difficult to identify one person's body among so many bodies. In fact, they only dug up the soil on the ground. The legs of the Xiang Army soldiers who were responsible for digging the pit were so scared that they didn't dare to continue digging.
The Liberation Army killed all the Xiang Army soldiers they caught in Ganzhou, and all the officers were skinned. Ceng Guofan thought that his brother had also been killed by the Liberation Army, so he made a cenotaph for his brother.
Someone brought a letter in Ceng Guohua's name, which naturally shocked the Zeng family. The person was immediately arrested, but they didn't dare to interrogate him. Ceng Guoquan personally went to ask and carefully looked at the letter and token. Finally, he confirmed that it was Ceng Guohua's letter.
Thinking that his brother was actually still alive, Ceng Guofan suddenly smiled bitterly. "It's good that he's alive! It's good that he's alive! "
After saying that, his face showed a trace of ferocity. "What does Wei Ni want to do by coming here?"
"Big Brother …" Ceng Guoquan looked a little anxious.
Ceng Guofan looked at his brother with a gloomy face and said in a reproachful tone, "Wei Ni came here so brazenly, it can't be a good thing. They must want to threaten us. Just say what you want. "
"Big Brother, the Liberation Army is not here to threaten us. They are here to pass on a message that the foreign devils have gone north again, probably to attack the capital. They said that this time, the imperial court would definitely not be able to withstand it, and then … and then … "Ceng Guoquan wanted to quote the words of the Liberation Army representative, but she felt that it was not appropriate, so she repeated it a few times and could not continue.
Being in Hunan, Ceng Guofan's intelligence network was not smooth. He also knew that a few months ago, the foreign devils went north to attack the capital, but he did not expect that the foreign devils would go north again. "What is it?" Ceng Guofan couldn't help but ask anxiously when he saw his brother's hesitation.
Seeing her big brother was angry, Ceng Guoquan hastily replied, "They said that previously the imperial court only had the intention to deal with the foreign devils perfunctorily, so they used the word 'delay'. But this time, the foreign devils would not let the imperial court play with them. They were determined to give the imperial court a good beating. Since the imperial court is unable to resist the foreign devils, they will definitely kneel before them! "
When she heard the Liberation Army envoy speak, Ceng Guoquan was very touched by the word "kneel." He wanted to use this word directly, but he felt that it was not respectful enough to the imperial court, so he hesitated. After being urged by Ceng Guofan, he couldn't help but say it. After saying that, Ceng Guoquan looked at his big brother's expression. He saw that Ceng Guofan, who was upright and strict, did not have any aversion to this word. Instead, he frowned slightly in understanding.
Seeing that her big brother was not angry, Ceng Guoquan continued, "Big brother, the Liberation Army said that the imperial court asked the foreign devils to abide by the rules of China in China, which is not wrong in itself. The foreign devils can naturally use their rules in their territory, but there is no reason for them to come to China and make the Chinese people have to use their rules. Therefore, the Liberation Army felt that there was nothing wrong with the imperial court fighting against the foreign devils. But the imperial court is incompetent and can't resist the foreign devils. This is the imperial court's … loss of virtue. "
The original words of the Liberation Army's representative were, "This is the great crime of Manchu Qing." Although Ceng Guoquan had a lot of feelings about the word "kneel," he did not have the courage to use the word "great crime" to refer to the imperial court.
Ceng Guofan listened expressionlessly to his younger brother Ceng Guoquan's narration, and did not say anything until he finished listening.
Almost at the same time, in Suzhou, Anhui, the representative of the Liberation Army was also saying something similar to Jiang Zhongyuan and Li Hongzhang. The representative of the Liberation Army first boarded a British ship from Guangdong to Shanghai, and then from Shanghai to the Taiping army's territory. Finally, with the help of the Taiping army, they took Li Hongzhang's relatives to Suzhou. Li Hongzhang had always cared a lot about his clan members. When he heard that he could exchange his clan members with just one meeting, he agreed. Jiang Zhongyuan himself did not expect that the Liberation Army would come all the way here from Guangdong. They had traveled tens of thousands of miles and experienced many dangers. As a chivalrous person, Jiang Zhongyuan also wanted to hear what important words the Liberation Army had to say.
Jiang Zhongyuan was broad-minded enough. When he heard the representative of the Liberation Army describe the defeat of Manchu Qing in the foreign war as a "great crime," although he was extremely unhappy, he did not immediately lose his temper.
The representative of the Liberation Army continued, "After the defeat of Manchu Qing this time, they will definitely kneel to the foreign devils. The Manchu Qing did not understand what the foreign devils wanted at all. They only knew that the foreign devils were powerful, so they took out the officialdom and thought that there were foreign devils above them that even the imperial court could not afford to offend. When the foreign devils said a word, the officials below would either lose their temper for a moment and fight for their reputation of not being afraid of violence. No matter what the matter was, they would go against the foreign devils to show that they were not afraid of violence. Or they would listen to everything and do things as if they were serving their superiors. We heard that Mr. Jiang is a hero. I think you also think that these people are ridiculous. "
Of course, Jiang Zhongyuan knew the morality of the officials in the imperial court. Although they were enemies of the imperial court, it was precisely because they were enemies of the imperial court that they spoke more straightforwardly and even described some of the officials of the imperial court. Jiang Zhongyuan did not object in his heart. He just sneered a few times, but he did not know who he was trying to scare.
The representative of the Liberation Army was not moved at all. His task was to tell Jiang Zhongyuan these things. Now that he had encountered an opportunity, of course, he would complete the task first. He said, "Of course, after the foreign devils defeat Manchu Qing and Manchu Qing kneel, it will be good for Manchu Qing." The envoy of the Liberation Army continued. "After the foreign devils control the customs of Manchu Qing, at least the income and expenditure are clear. The imperial court of Manchu Qing can finally get some customs silver. This greatly alleviates the financial problems of Manchu Qing. Moreover, in order to destroy our Liberation Army, which is absolutely unwilling to surrender, the foreign devils will fully support Manchu Qing. Mr. Jiang, your Huai army, Zeng Guofan's Xiang Army, and Zuo Zongtang's Chu army are all stronger than the Green Camp. First, we support you to work together to destroy the Taiping Rebellion. Next, the foreign devils will besiege our Liberation Army from the sea and you will besiege it from the land. This is already the most likely way to win. "
After listening for a long time, Jiang Zhongyuan spoke for the first time, "Aren't you afraid?" Jiang Zhongyuan didn't want to listen to bad things about the imperial court. But the perspective of the Liberation Army and the importance of telling the news made it impossible for Jiang Zhongyuan not to listen. It wasn't until he heard the Liberation Army explain the strategic situation that would be disadvantageous to the Liberation Army in the future that Jiang Zhongyuan couldn't help but speak.
In response to Jiang Zhongyuan's mockery, the representative of the Liberation Army smiled slightly. "What's there to be afraid of? I'm afraid because I know that I can't overcome the difficulties. It would be strange if I'm not afraid of watching failure come step by step. But our Liberation Army knows what the difficulties are, and we firmly believe that we can overcome them. We just need to do things seriously, not be lazy, and not shirk responsibility. Walk the road of victory steadily, and you will naturally reach the end of victory. "
Hearing this, Jiang Zhongyuan couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly. Li Hongzhang, who was next to Jiang Zhongyuan, immediately felt a strong murderous intent. After following Jiang Zhongyuan for so long, even when he was commanding the battle on the battlefield, Li Hongzhang had never seen such a strong murderous intent from Jiang Zhongyuan. It was not a fighting intent, but a strong murderous intent aimed at the unarmed representative of the Liberation Army.
If the representative of the Liberation Army was killed, the relatives of the Li family in the area controlled by the Taiping army would probably lose their lives. Seeing the situation like this, Li Hongzhang immediately got up and scolded the representative of the Liberation Army, "How dare you rebels be so arrogant? Get lost …"
However, Jiang Zhongyuan waved his hand to stop Li Hongzhang from continuing to scold him. He leaned back in his chair, put his left elbow on the armrest of the chair, and said with a frown, "Seeing that you came all the way from Guangdong to Anhui, you sound like a scholar. If you have anything to say, you might as well say it."
"Mr. Jiang, our Governor said that there aren't many heroes in the world now. You're one. Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang are also almost heroes. The so-called heroes naturally put the interests of the people working for the interests of the people first. Since the Manchu Qing is destined to sign a treaty that will humiliate the country, then the Manchu Qing will only be endlessly humiliated after its demise. We are not asking Mr. Jiang to seek refuge under the banner of the Restored Commander-In-Chief. We are only here to tell Mr. Jiang what will happen in the future. If that day really comes, we think Mr. Jiang will definitely make his own choice. "
"Haha!" Jiang Zhongyuan sneered. "You're actually not here to persuade me to surrender?"
The representative of the Liberation Army laughed. "Haha! Mr. Jiang, only those who are afraid of death will surrender. We don't think you're a coward. If Mr. Jiang was someone who would surrender, we wouldn't have spent so much effort to see Mr. Jiang. As long as we beat you to a dead end during the northern expedition, you will naturally surrender. But with Mr. Jiang's character, even if you're at the end of your rope, the worst that can happen is death. You really aren't afraid of death. "
After listening to these confident words, Jiang Zhongyuan didn't feel angry. The other party had completely acknowledged Jiang Zhongyuan's noble character and treated him differently from those who were afraid of death.
"You …" Jiang Zhongyuan opened his mouth but paused. He believed the representative of the Liberation Army said that the imperial court would inevitably lose to the foreign devils. After listening to the representative of the Liberation Army, Jiang Zhongyuan also understood what "extraterritoriality" and "loss of customs rights" meant. More importantly, the Liberation Army had fought a war with the foreign devils and defeated them. This matter had already spread all over the world. Jiang Zhongyuan was a person who cared about his reputation and really couldn't do such a thing as lying.
After pondering for a while, Jiang Zhongyuan waved his hand. "You can leave!"
When Li Hongzhang saw that Jiang Zhongyuan hadn't killed the representative of the Liberation Army, he finally let out a sigh of relief. But he couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Jiang, I'm afraid the Liberation Army is just being alarmist …" At this point, Li Hongzhang couldn't continue. As a smart person, Li Hongzhang could intuitively sense if a person was lying. And the representative of the Liberation Army clearly didn't seem to be making up the truth.
Jiang Zhongyuan just shook his head but didn't say anything.
Half a month after the representative of the Liberation Army left, news came that Dagu Pass had been lost and the British had captured Tongzhou on October 18th. On the 21st, the Qing Army and the British and French allied forces fought fiercely at Baliqiao. Commander Sengrinchen and the others were the first to escape, and the Qing Army was completely wiped out. On October 22nd, Emperor Xianfeng and the others fled the capital with the empress and Imperial Consort Yi to the Rehe Summer Resort in the name of Beishou. On October 31st, the British army attacked Beijing from Andingmen.
After capturing Beijing, on November 11th and 12th, the British and French allied forces threatened to burn down the Forbidden City, forcing Prince Gong to force Yi? To exchange the ratifications of the Treaty of Tianjin with Erdin and Grove, and to conclude the unequal Sino-British and Sino-French Treaties of Beijing as a supplement to the Treaty of Tianjin.
Russia took the opportunity to move and forced Manchu Qing to recognize the Treaty of Aihui on November 16th with the excuse of "meritorious mediation." More than 600,000 square kilometers of land was cut from Manchu Qing.
As the news came one by one, Li Hongzhang gradually didn't dare to talk to Jiang Zhongyuan. After the events predicted by the Liberation Army happened one by one, Jiang Zhongyuan's expression became more and more frightening. Jiang Zhongyuan submitted petitions to Emperor Xianfeng several times, requesting to mobilize troops to counterattack in the north. These petitions were like stones sinking into the sea without a response.
By January 1859, many proclamations appeared all over Jiangnan. In addition to a brief introduction of what had happened in Beijing, there was only one evaluation of Manchu Qing: "Measuring China's land and material resources to please foreign countries!"
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