"Okay, I can go there, but please give the Prime Minister some instructions on the strategic intentions of this negotiation. You have to give me a clear path..."
Xiao Letian curled up his lips and smiled, "Strategy? What kind of strategy do you want... I didn't ask you to negotiate. What I need you to do is to clarify the facts. I want you to go to court with them!"
"Why should I be accused of dirty water? What does Ulan Geli say? What evidence does he have for saying that the Qing Dynasty and Ryukyu conspired to send troops? I also said that Ulan Geli stole my carved red lacquer toilet! He Why don't you compensate me..."
"Haha, in matters like diplomacy, it's all about who is thicker-skinned!"
Xiao Hexin and Wang Huaiyuan smiled bitterly, "Prime Minister, you can make us lose our skin and face. I can play rogue, but the Russian troop increase will not be fake. The real military pressure is real. This problem is not It can be avoided at the negotiation table..."
Xiao Letian nodded, "I don't have the luxury of expecting that the negotiation table can solve all the problems, but there is still no problem in getting through this winter safely... Do you know how many changes will happen this winter?"
"First of all, the telegraph network between Europe and Asia is about to be completely connected, and the information transmission between Asia and Europe will be shortened to three days. Such efficiency is something we could not imagine in the past. That is to say, by then we will It will be carried out into a global diplomatic war. It is obvious that the Russians have not realized this change..."
"When information transmission cannot reach global interconnection, Europe's domination of the world will inevitably rely on plenipotentiaries such as governors and special envoys. For example, in the first two Opium Wars, you thought that the final treaty was approved by the British and French governments. ?”
"It's a joke. It was all negotiated by the special envoys of the expeditionary force. They had received full authorization before going abroad, and their signatures can represent the country..."
"Ulan Geli still thinks he is the first ambassador in East Asia? Does he think he can handle all foreign affairs in the Far East independently now? In his dreams... next year I will let him know what it means to vomit blood from a secret wound!"
"The situation is urgent, but it is definitely not as serious as you think. Now the Russian Far East has been completely frozen. The Central Asian armies will never leave until spring. It will be at least next summer before the Central Asian cavalry regiments arrive in the Far East. …”
"The only army Moscow can use now is to send a fleet from the Baltic Sea to the ocean to support Vladivostok. Don't forget that the Suez Canal has not been opened yet. They have to come all the way around the Cape of Good Hope..."
"With the strength of the Russian navy, it is impossible to send too many soldiers. I estimate that three to five thousand soldiers on about ten warships is the limit, and the journey on the road will take four to five months, which will arrive earlier than the cavalry regiments in Central Asia. Not much..."
Xiao Letian patted Xiao Hexin on the shoulder with a wicked smile, "What you have to do is to anger Ulan Geli and make the Russians lose their minds. The more troops they deploy, the more likely the final outcome will be." Tragic! There is no doubt about this..."
Xiao Letian's subordinates all knew that as long as the Prime Minister showed such a wicked smile, something big was going to happen. Unless he was harboring evil intentions in his heart, he would never show such a smile.
Seeing that the Prime Minister was such a rogue, Xiao Hexin and the others finally felt relieved. The two explained the details again and then turned around and left to make preparations before leaving.
Xiao Hexin had just walked out of the door, and suddenly Xiao Letian shouted, "Wait a minute, I'm going to take a boat with you to go north, but I'm changing boats in Kagoshima to go north to Fuso... It's been too humid recently, and I seem to have a little rheumatism. I have to If you go to Japan to take a bath in a hot spring, you should negotiate with Fuso in advance..."
Seeing the strange looks in the two people's eyes, Xiao Letian scratched his head, "Don't look at me like this. You don't need to keep it a secret when you go to Fuso this time. Just let the people in Sijiu City know. What do you think? If Wulan Geli knew that at this critical moment, I, Xiao Will he be furious if Lotte ignores him so much that he is still in the mood to have fun?"
Wang Huaiyuan said in his heart that if you want a wife, just say it clearly, and he also used someone else as an excuse. The Prime Minister is really becoming more and more hypocritical, "Yes, Prime Minister, I will arrange it right away..."
Two days later, Xiao Letian and his party set out from Naha Port and headed north to Fuso. Xiao Letian bought wine in Kagoshima to see Xiao Hexin off. The brand-new clipper ship sailed towards the Bohai Sea in the wind and waves.
Then Xiao Letian took another warship and sailed all the way along the Fuso Coast to the Kanto region of Japan. Huniu in Sunfu Castle had a severe pregnancy reaction recently. Xiao Letian felt very distressed. He had to go and see it in person, otherwise he would sleep No sleep.
When Xiao Hexin came to Beijing, he found that the atmosphere in the capital had become so serious that he could not stand it at all. Zhang Jing, who was sent by the Prime Minister's Office in front of Guangqumen, had been waiting for him for three days. It was good to see Xiao Hexin, the special envoy, come to Beijing. Xuanwei shed tears with excitement.
"Is this the prime minister's plenipotentiary envoy, General Xiao? Come with me quickly, let's take a detour to Dongbianmen and enter the city?"
"Why? I am the special envoy of the Prime Minister of Ryukyu. Why should I go through Dongbianmen?" Xiao Hexin said angrily.
The term "Four-Nine Cities" in old Beijing colloquialism is actually not accurate. Four represents the four palace gates of the Forbidden City, while nine represents the nine gates of the inner city of Beijing. This is the origin of the name "Four-Nine Cities".
But Beijing is not a square city. It also has a protruding south city. This was built during the reign of Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty. In this way, the entire city of Beijing became a big convex shape. .
Guangqumen is located to the east of Nancheng, while Dongbianmen is not a formal city gate but just a small gate at the protruding angle between Nancheng and the inner city.
You can tell from the name that this is a gate of convenience. In the Qing Dynasty, apart from the convenience of people's access, the most important job was actually unloading grain. Outside this city gate is the Tonghui River, which is the end of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal entering Beijing. The end leads directly to the moat.
The last stop for transporting grain from the south of the Yangtze River is here, because the ship can't go anywhere after this. There is a market outside Dongbian Gate called Xishuiguan. There are specialized officials here who are responsible for the specific matters of grain entering the Beijing warehouse.
Now the dignified Ryukyu envoy is actually asked to enter the city through the gate where goods are transported. This is simply a huge insult! Xiao Hexin stared at the little Zhang Jing in front of him, unable to hold back his anger and wanted to slap him.
The little Zhang Jing rushed up and grabbed the horse's head. "Sir, calm down, calm down! It's not that I deliberately embarrass you, but Lao Maozi... Oh, the Russian Minister has already sent someone to guard you here. You will rush in as soon as you come." You're making trouble, you'd better hide and enter the city through Dongbianmen!"
"How brave, does this Rakshasa ghost think this is their home?" Xiao Hexin saw that more and more people were gathering around him, and he was secretly happy that he was so sleepy that he couldn't find a chance to cause trouble. Langoli came to the door.
Soon enough, the sound of horse hooves suddenly sounded in Guangqumen, and then more than a dozen Rakshasa cavalry surrounded a tall man with a Nordic appearance and a beard that was no longer young.
"Where is Xiao Letian? Where is the damn Xiao Letian..." Mandarin without the four tones sounded so harsh.
