Yi Qiong and Yi Huan, the brothers in distress, were employed without any doubt. After getting the joint letter from Bulbron and Bashali, they immediately sent Guo Songtao, who was appointed as editor of the Hanlin Academy, to go out of the city and went south to Tongzhou to contact the British and French coalition forces, demanding the reopening of negotiations. During this period, no one was sent to monitor Guo Songtao, but just sent a team of guards to protect him, which was very surprising in terms of measurement.

When Guo Songtao and his party rushed to Tongzhou, they happened to catch up with the British and French forces to set up their camps and prepare to go north. The guards were very strict in front of the camp. Before Guo Songtao and others could get disarmed before they could approach the gate of the barracks. Then they came to the gate of the barracks under surveillance by foreign soldiers and expressed their attitude and requested to meet with Erkin and Ge Luo, the commander of the British and French forces.

It is not flattering that the foreigners in this era are indeed much more efficient than those in the Qing government and army. Not much time has passed, a middle-aged Chinese man in a robe led a team of British soldiers to Guo Songtao, and said to Guo Songtao with a sarcastic look on his face: "I'm very brave, and I dare to come to see General Erjin and General Ge Luo, aren't you afraid that the British and French foreigners will kill you with one shot?"

"It is certainly fake to say that you are not afraid. But as far as I know, General Erkin and General Grolo are both from European nobles, so I guess they would not do such a thing."

Guo Songtao's calm answer made the middle-aged man stunned. After looking at Guo Songtao carefully, the middle-aged man asked Guo Songtao's name and official position again. Guo Songtao answered truthfully. The middle-aged man laughed again when he heard this and said, "Sixth-rank editor? It seems that the Qing court was really forced to find someone who is not afraid of death, even the sixth-rank editor was sent out."

"Follow me, General Erjin and others are waiting for you, don't let them wait in a hurry. Also, when you see General Erjin and others, don't wet your crotch, and don't let foreigners look down on us Chinese even more."

I guess the middle-aged man was a translator or something. Guo Songtao, who was very well-educated, would certainly not mind his rude attitude. He nodded and thanked him before he followed him into the military camp. Under the surveillance of British soldiers, he came directly to the door of the coalition command. After entering the door, the middle-aged man indeed nodded and bowed to the foreigners in the headquarters in English and said, "General Erjin, General Ge Luo, the representative of the Qing court is here."

"Ask him his official position and his purpose." A foreign man in a military uniform said in English without raising his head.

The middle-aged man agreed to the promise. When he was about to translate, Guo Songtao said in English first: "If I guess correctly, you must be General Erjin, right? My name is Songtao Guo. He is currently the editor of the Hanlin Academy in the Qing court. He was commissioned by Prince Dunqin, Prince Yixuan, and Deputy Minister Chun, Prince Yihuan, to deliver documents from the Transportation Vanguard and letters from the Consul Baxiali of your country, requesting to reopen peace negotiations with your country and France."

Hearing that Guo Songtao was not proficient enough but could barely pass the English, the middle-aged man who was arrogant and domineering just now opened his mouth wide. Erjin also raised his head in surprise and asked Guo Songtao: "You can speak English?"

"yes." Guo Songtao nodded and said in English: "In fact, I am also the assistant of Mr. Wu Futai, the governor of Hubei in Qing Dynasty. He was commissioned by Wu Futai and came to the capital to help our court contact and negotiate with the noble army."

"It turns out that he is Chaoyue Wu's assistant, no wonder he speaks English." Erjin was overjoyed and smiled cheerfully: "It's great, so it will be much more convenient for us to communicate."

Wu Chaoyue's name as a comprador traitor is also stinking among foreigners. I heard that Guo Songtao was Wu Chaoyue's accomplice. Not only did the British army be happy, but the French generals also smiled happily and all came up to welcome Guo Songtao. Guo Songtao treated everyone with the etiquette learned from Wu Chaoyue and the foreigners in Hankou, and then presented the letters that the Wild Boar Skin Brothers and Ba Xiali and others were forced to write.

"This is blackmail! Blackmail! The despicable Qing court, they are brutally trampling on international public law. We must retaliate! Let the Qing court pay the price!"

The friendly atmosphere came to an abrupt end after reading the letters that Bulbron and others were forced to write. Erkin, Gro and Prous and other coalition leaders were all angry and fought bulls, protesting to Guo Songtao, gritting their teeth and saying that they would never accept the blackmail threat from the Qing court. Fortunately, Guo Songtao was mentally prepared for this and nodded and said, "Dear sir, you are right. This is indeed a blackmail, intimidating and killing members of the negotiating delegation and forcing you to stop the action of force. It is indeed a very unethical barbaric act."

Guo Songtao took the initiative to condemn the savage and ignorance of the Qing court and successfully comforted the leader of the coalition forces. Then Guo Songtao said: "In fact, Huang Sheng, another assistant sent by Wu Futai, also strongly opposed this kind of barbaric behavior, but there was no way. The peace minister appointed by our court and the military commander in Beijing did not accept it. We had no choice but to persuade Mr. Baxiali and Mr. Bulbron to write this letter, temporarily stabilize the real power figures of our court's court, and temporarily ensure the safety of the lives of the delegation members, and buy time for you to save them."

After saying that, Guo Songtao introduced the current dangerous situation of Burbron and others to Erkin and others, saying that Burbron and others would be threatened if they did not write this letter. Finally, he and Huang Sheng's attitude was expressed, expressing respect and understanding of the choices made by the British and French coalition forces, and also expressed that they would do their best to prevent the Qing army from taking action against Burbron and others, and to buy time for the members of the British and French coalition forces to rescue the delegation.

After listening to Guo Songtao's explanation, Erjin, Ge Luo and others first thanked Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng for their efforts in it, and said that they would not forget this friendship. Then Erjin, Ge Luo and others replied to Yi Zhi and Yi Huan brothers in letters, saying that they would never accept the blackmail of the wild boar skin brothers, and would never stop the military attack. They also clearly agreed to negotiate with Yi Zhi and Yi Huan brothers, but the premise of the negotiation was first to unconditionally release all members of the delegation captured by the Qing army. Secondly, Yi Zhi and Yi Huan brothers must prove that they were full-power negotiators of the Qing court, and finally asked Yi Zhi and Yi Huan to negotiate in the barracks of the British and French coalition forces.

Knowing that Yi Qiong and Yi Huan definitely did not have the courage to enter the foreign military camp to negotiate, Guo Songtao defended a little with the attitude of trying his best to win, and suggested that Erjin and others reconsider the clause, but Erjin and others flatly refused, directly saying that they did not want to see the negotiating delegation members being kidnapped by the Qing army again. Guo Songtao had no choice but to give up and was forced to take the request that the wild boar skin brother would never dare to agree to, which made Yi Qiong and Yi Huan worry.

Finally, although he was a little sorry for the Qing court, in order not to let Yixun Yixun brothers jump to the wall and really kill all the members of the delegation, which led to the foreigners' furious killings and implicating innocent Han people, Guo Songtao reported to the British and French coalition forces the place of detention of Bulbron and others, and suggested against his conscience that the British and French coalition forces first attacked the Old Summer Palace to rescue the kidnapped negotiating delegation members. Erjin and others were even more happy after hearing this, and hurriedly thanked Guo Songtao, and said that they would attach importance to the important information and suggestions provided by Guo Songtao.

Finally, because the army was about to set off, Erjin and others could not entertain or thank Guo Songtao at the banquet, so they could only use brandy to clink glasses to thank you. As a result, while pouring the wine, the middle-aged man who had succeeded in the translation suddenly came to Guo Songtao, nodded and said, "Mr. Guo, I'm really sorry, I'm damn, I don't know that you were sent by Wu Futai, Hubei. I was offended to you just now. I hope you are a lot of masters, so don't care."

Guo Songtao was about to shrugged and said it didn't matter, but Erjin, who happened to walk over, pulled the middle-aged man away and scolded: "Go to the side, you don't need you here. Come, Guo, cheers for our friendship."

"Thank you, toast to friendship."

Guo Songtao gave Elkin a smile and toasted Erkin, followed Wu Chaoyue's tricks when dealing with foreigners, invited Erkin, Gro and others to toast the health of Queen Victoria and Napoleon III, in exchange for the smiles of Erkin and Gro and were surprised and praised. While having a cup of foreigners, Guo Songtao accidentally glanced at the middle-aged man before. Seeing him huddled in a corner of the hall, his expression seemed to be gritting his teeth.

"I am so arrogant. Now I know what the consequences of leading the foreigners are, right?" After muttering in my heart, Guo Songtao completely left the middle-aged man behind.

…………

After being reported by Guo Songtao, the two brothers Yi Qiong and Yi Huan said that they did not dare to agree to negotiate in the foreign military camp together, and forced Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng to find a way to make the foreigners give up this request. Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng suggested that the members of the foreign delegation should be released first to express their sincerity in the negotiations, and then persuade the foreigners to change the negotiation location, but were flatly rejected by the brothers Yi Qiong and Yi Huan.

The two brothers Yi Qiong and Yi Huan were wasting precious time in vain, but the British and French coalition forces quickly advanced to the foot of the capital. The frightened old prince Hui and the monk who had made meritorious contributions quickly climbed the city to prepare for battle, but they were also surprised to see the British and French coalition forces suddenly changed their way westward and rushed towards the direction of Fengtai camp. Then the old prince Hui and the monks did not hesitate, and immediately ordered Ruilin, who was responsible for commanding the Fengtai garrison, to guard the camp with all his strength and block the footsteps of the foreigners.

The messenger who went to send the order to Ruilin quickly returned to the front of the old prince Hui and the monk prince, and reported with a sad face that the Fengtai garrison had just seen the foreigners approaching, and immediately abandoned the camp and fled. Ruilin could not stop it at all, so he had to give up the Fengtai camp and turn to Liangxiang. The old prince Hui and the monk prince cursed together, but there was nothing he could do.

I thought that the foreigners would definitely seize the Fengtai camp and then attack the city walls of the capital with this base. Prince Hui and Prince Monk quickly discussed mobilizing heavy troops to guard the southwest corner of the capital. Unexpectedly, the scout suddenly came to report that the foreigners did not all enter the Fengtai camp, but divided an army and continued to move north with cavalry as the vanguard, and the advancement was very fast.

"What are the foreigners going north? Do you want to go to Rehe?"

The monks were once somewhat suspicious that the British and French coalition forces wanted to chase Rehe to kill Emperor Xianfeng. However, after his heart moved, the monks suddenly exclaimed: "Does foreigners want to go to the Old Summer Palace? Fight the Old Summer Palace to save those foreign devils?"

Unfortunately, the British and French Allied Forces were found to be directly killed outside the Old Summer Palace. The Qing army guarding the Old Summer Palace guards were scattered and fled everywhere. Only more than 20 eunuchs were loyal to their duties and guarding the garden gate and not allowing the British and French Allied Forces to enter. The British and French Allied Forces all died in their posts. The British and French Allied Forces almost effort took the Old Summer Palace, known as the Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens, and successfully rescued the forty-three surviving negotiators.

When things came to this point, Mian Yu, Senggelinqin and Yiqiu, who were left in the capital, of course, immediately suspected that a traitor had reported to the foreigners, letting the foreigners know where the delegation was detained, and naturally pointed the finger at Guo Songtao, who had been on the British and French coalition forces. Although there was no evidence that he could not directly punish Guo Songtao, he immediately kicked Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao out of the shogunate, and found an excuse to drive Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao to the Hubei Guild Hall, and sent someone to secretly monitor him.

Of course, Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao also understood that Yi Qiong and Yi Huan had suspected that they had joined him, so after moving to the Hubei Guild Hall, Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao never left the Hubei Guild Hall to be cautious, but only learned about the external situation through other people in the Guild Hall. As Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao expected, after successfully rescuing the hostages, just one day after the British and French forces launched an attack on the capital.

The first thing that came to the sound of artillery was the direction of You'anmen in the southwest corner. Knowing that there were many defenders in the capital and the city was strong, it would not be easily compromised. Worrying that the war would be delayed for a long time, Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng also asked the Hubei Guild Hall to prepare a large amount of food and vegetables to prevent food loss. He thought that the cannons on You'anmen suddenly stopped after only half an hour. Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng were extremely surprised. At one time, they thought that the British and French coalition forces were just tentative attacks and were preparing to find the weaknesses of the city defense in the capital. As a result...

"You'anmen was bombarded by foreign devils' cannons! Foreign devils are coming into the city! Run away quickly, foreign devils are entering the city!"

Hearing the shouts from the street, Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao stared at each other, their expressions becoming more and more unbelievable. They both said, "I remember when we were still by the Fifth Prince and the Seventh Prince, Prince Hui and Prince Monk and the others said they would send additional troops to You'anmen? Why, is it coming in now? So fast?!"

"Maybe Prince Hui and his team decided to temporarily give up the outer city, retreat to the inner city with stronger fortifications, and save combat power to fight the British and French coalition forces in the inner city."

Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao quickly made such a judgment again. However, in the evening, Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao found that they were very wrong and risked to go out to find out the news of the followers. They said that the British and French forces had just arrived at Zhengyang Gate and had not had time to set up artillery to bombard the city gate. The Eight Banners Warriors guarding Zhengyang Gate had already made great strides under the leadership of Mr. Hui and retreated to the north of the inner city. The British and French forces directly climbed Zhengyang Gate with civil ladders and opened the road to the inner city.

In addition, there are rumors that the monk prince had already taken his army out of the city from Guangning Gate.

After looking at each other in disbelief for a long time, Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao couldn't help but mutter, "I decided to go to Rehe to hunt without thinking. Now it seems that our emperor is really wise and powerful."

After waiting patiently in the Hubei Guild Hall for a day, until there were no gunshots on the streets, Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao carefully found the nearby British army under the protection of their followers, identified their identity and asked to meet Erjin and others. As a result, when the British soldiers led the coalition headquarters in Xiannongtan, Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao were quickly brought to Erjin and others. As a result, Erjin only shouted for a while, which almost made Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao faint...

"Guo, where are your court negotiators? Why have we all occupied the Forbidden City and your negotiators not shown yet? Who should we negotiate with your court now?"
Chapter completed!