"Mr. Guo, don't refuse to admit it. When General Erjin and others met you, they repeatedly asked you about the situation in the Old Summer Palace, and asked you directly if the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty could escape to the Old Summer Palace?"

"Although you refused to answer at that time, the foreigners asked you if the Old Summer Palace is the emperor's palace. Did you say that? You also said that sometimes the emperor would live in the Old Summer Palace?"

"Also, the foreigners took out a map of the Gyeonggi area and asked you to point out where the Old Summer Palace is. You refused again. The foreigners were still very unhappy about this. Is there any?"

"In addition, in front of you, foreigners mentioned the Old Summer Palace three times, and for the third time, they simply asked you if there are countless rare treasures hidden in the Old Summer Palace. You said you don't know, do you have it?!"

Listening to the middle-aged man's stern shout, Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng were stunned, and they were dumbfounded. Even if they broke their heads, they couldn't figure out why the middle-aged man said such a thing? Asking such a question? This was a rumor and betrayal, and it was simply helping Guo Songtao clear his name!

Finally, the Japanese 6 slapped the table and shouted angrily, pulling Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng back from their dreams, Japanese 6 roared: "Guo Songtao, such an important situation, why didn't you report to Prince Dun and Prince Chun when you returned to Beijing? Do you know that if Prince Dun and others knew in advance that the foreigners had already set their sights on the Old Summer Palace and were ready in advance, the foreigners would come and snatch the foreigners from the Old Summer Palace away?!"

He looked at the middle-aged man again and saw that he was smiling hideously, as if he was a despicable villain who had succeeded in escorting the news. Guo Songtao bowed to the Japanese Liu and said, "Sixth Master, forgive me, the officials were too nervous at that time and forgot."

"Forgotten?!"

On the other side, Prince Dun and Prince Chun were angrily yelling, "Dog slave, please wait for the court to punish the crime! Such an important military affairs, you dare not report to us, so that the court missed the last chance to transfer the foreign devils in advance. You can't escape your crime of dereliction of duty! This king not only wants to participate in your dereliction of duty, but also Wu Chaoyue's improper employment and inadvertent supervision and dereliction of duty. Please punish him together!"

"The lower official should die. The lower official was negligent for a moment. He really forgot to report to the two princes that the foreigners had set their eyes on the Old Summer Palace. The lower official was willing to accept the crime." Guo Songtao apologized repeatedly, but he snorted in his heart and said, "So what if he dereliction of duty? It's amazing that he just dismissed my official position. Anyway, I am just a editor of the Hanlin Academy, and I can't even receive the salary of a eldest son, so it doesn't matter whether I take it or not.

After a clown-like clamor, Prince Dun and Prince Chun drove Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng out. Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng, who had completed the task, also said goodbye and left immediately. Before leaving, Guo Songtao quietly looked back at the middle-aged man, but saw that he had pressed his ear to the ear of the Japanese Six and was accepting the order from the Japanese Six. Guo Songtao was curious and said in his heart: "Who is this person? Why didn't he betray me?"

I was curious and had received the kindness of the middle-aged man. In the evening, Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng of course brought a gift to the coalition headquarters to visit the middle-aged man, thanked him in person and asked him about the reason. As a result, when I went to the coalition headquarters, Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng found out that the middle-aged man was named Gong Cheng, who was hired by British ambassador and British consul in Shanghai, and was highly respected by Prous.

After waiting for a long time in front of the commander's department, the middle-aged man Gong Cheng came out to meet Guo Huang and the others. After a few greetings, Gong Cheng winked at Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng. Guo Huang and the two understood each other and hurriedly followed him into their place to sit down. Then Guo Songtao bowed to Gong Cheng and said, "Mr. Gong, you are not grateful for your kindness. Today you have saved your life. If you really tell the Sixth Master that day, not only will the people in the lower house be protected, but the whole family and Wu Futai may be implicated. The gentleman's kindness is in mind. If you have the chance in the future, I will definitely bring you a hand to repay your kindness."

"You don't have to be polite. Speaking of which, I'm a little sorry for you." Gong Cheng took out a jade ring from his arms and said with a smile: "Sixth Master bribed me with the Baijun jade ring from Lu Zigang's previous dynasty. I was jealous for a moment and I was guilty of dereliction of duty. I'm sorry for you, and I'm sorry for Zhao Huifu."

"Mr. Gong, do you know Mr. Zhao Liewen and Master Zhao?"

Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng asked in surprise, and also vaguely guessed the reason why Gong Cheng was inclined to him. As expected, although Gong Cheng did not answer, he smiled and found a letter from his luggage and handed it to Guo and Huang. When Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng quickly took it over and watched, they saw that the letter was written by Zhao Liewen, the number one accomplice in civil service, and the recipient was Gong Cheng. The content was that Zhao Liewen strongly invited Gong Cheng to Hubei and expressed his desire to recommend Gong Cheng to Wu Chaoyue. He respected Gong Cheng very much in his words, and respected Gong Cheng's brother in every word and sentence, and praised Gong Cheng's talents and knowledge.

"Yunxian, I am ignorant. When I first met you, I didn't know that you were Huifu's colleague, so I offended you a little."

Gong Cheng spoke, smiled and took the initiative to apologize to Guo Songtao. Guo Songtao hurriedly said that he didn't care at all, and asked curiously: "Mr. Gong, since you have such a deep friendship with Zhao Huifu and are proficient in foreign literature, you are the talent that Hubei urgently needs, then why don't you accept Huifu's invitation and go to Hubei to try it?"

"I originally wanted to go." Gong Cheng smiled and said, "Everyone has arrived in Shanghai to take a boat to Hubei. When I knew that I met a famous prostitute who was interested in her in Shanghai, I lived on her flower boat and didn't want to move anymore. I felt that instead of going to Hubei like Zhao Huifu, I was better off visiting prostitutes and having a boat and writing, and I was more romantic and comfortable than staying in Shanghai for free and happy life. Until all my money was spent, I went to the foreign consulate as an interpreter."

Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng were stunned. Unexpectedly, Gong Cheng had such a virtue. In order to drink, he could voluntarily give up Zhao Liewen's recommendation to him. Zhao Liewen's status in Hubei. As long as Gong Cheng arrived in Hubei, he would be basically below a few people and above ten thousand people.

Gong Cheng ignored Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng's strange eyes when they looked at him, and just said directly: "Sixth Master bribed me today and wanted to find evidence of you colluding with foreigners on the surface. In fact, the real target is Wu Chaoyue and Wu Futai behind you. Don't forget to report this to Wu Futai and ask Wu Futai to be careful."

Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao agreed hurriedly and thanked Gong Cheng again. Gong Cheng said casually: "There is another point that the foreigner and the three brothers of Yi generation have collapsed again today, and several terms cannot be reached. Although the three brothers proposed to let the foreigner envoys be stationed in Hubei Province, the foreigner was not very willing to accept it. If Wu Futai really wants to capture the diplomatic power of the court, you still have to work hard and do some foreigner work, so that there is hope."

Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao thanked each other again, and told Gong Cheng some friendship, agreed on future contact information, and then said goodbye. As a result, when sending Guo and Huang out, Gong Cheng reminded him again, "I almost forgot that the foreigners were very dissatisfied with the stupidity and stubbornness of the three brothers of Liu Ye and the others. They were discussing what fierce means to use to put further pressure on the court. I am afraid there will be any big noise in the capital. You must be prepared and don't be affected."

Guo Songtao nodded, but Huang Sheng was shocked and asked hurriedly: "Will the foreigner attack the Old Summer Palace?"

"Take action on the Old Summer Palace? What does it mean?"

Gong Cheng asked in confusion, and Huang Sheng told Gong Cheng the secret information that Wu Chaoyue had been tragically trampled. As a result, Gong Cheng frowned and said, "Why don't I know about the information from Wu Futai? That's it, I take this matter to heart. If the foreigners really have the idea of ​​the Old Summer Palace, I will contact you immediately."

In the next few days, when the security in the capital was still quite chaotic, Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng took the risk to run back and forth, shuttled between the military bases of Britain and France, and spent all his efforts. Finally, they convinced the envoys of Britain and France to initially agree to stay in Hubei, and also persuaded the US envoys Hua Ruohan, who took advantage of the situation to rob, to agree to stay in Hubei. However, the Russian envoy Ignatiev flatly refused, and Guo and Huang failed after several efforts.

Once again, after returning to Ignatiev without success, when he left the new headquarters of the British and French Allied Forces in the Zongren Mansion, Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng also saw a scene that made them laugh and cry. A large group of scholars actually petitioned in front of the commander department of the British and French Allied Forces, requesting the British and French Allied Forces to hold imperial examinations and open a magistrate, let them take the exam and be officials for foreigners.

Huang Sheng, who was born as an international student, just found it funny. Guo Songtao, who was once obsessed with the imperial examination, sighed loudly after a bitter smile, "This is the Qing Dynasty, this is the scholar of the Qing Dynasty, the so-called loyal ministers and filial sons of the Qing Dynasty. What hopes do you have for such an emperor or such a court? What hopes can you have for...?"

Suddenly, a hand on the shoulder interrupted Guo Songtao's rebellious sigh. When Guo Songtao turned around in shock, he saw that it was Gong Cheng standing behind him. Guo Songtao breathed a sigh of relief and quickly saluted Gong Cheng. Gong Cheng said nervously to the side. Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng met and hurriedly followed Gong Cheng to Zhongfu Hutong opposite the coalition headquarters and found a place where no one was talking.

"Wu Futai's information is very accurate." Gong Cheng said with a slight look: "The foreigners did have the idea of ​​the Old Summer Palace, and wanted to steal the Old Summer Palace first and then burn it to retaliate against the Qing court and put pressure on it."

Guo Songtao and Huang Sheng were also very anxious when they heard this, so they quickly asked Gong Cheng about the situation. Gong Cheng replied: "After the foreigners broke through the Old Summer Palace, they were afraid that the court would ask them to compensate for the losses at the negotiating table, so they did not dare to attack the things in the Old Summer Palace and retreated voluntarily." (Recorded by Wang Xiangqi's "The Old Summer Palace Poems".)

"But because the guardian camp of the Old Summer Palace was driven away by foreigners, and no one was guarding the Old Summer Palace these days, the bannermen in Haidian ran to the Old Summer Palace in groups to steal and rob. Among them, a bannerman named Li Chongnian was caught by foreigners. The foreigners found a large amount of jewelry from him and asked him where he came from. To be honest, he also said that there were so many such jewelry in the Old Summer Palace, which encouraged foreigners to go to the Old Summer Palace to make a fortune."

"As a result, the foreign soldiers were moved, and the whole family demanded that the military discipline be temporarily disband. Erjin and Grolo did not want to be too harsh in the soldiers, so they decided to rob the Old Summer Palace first and then burn it. They not only made money, but also put pressure on the court, and at the same time they revenge the court for beating the two foreign soldiers to death in the Old Summer Palace."

"Have you decided?" Huang Sheng asked quickly.

"It's basically settled." Gong Cheng replied with a gloomy face: "The foreigners are planning to start tomorrow, and take turns to grab the Three Mountains and Five Gardens of the West Mountains and then set fire to the garden. They are also preparing to officially inform Prince Dun and the others of this matter in tomorrow's negotiations."

Huang Sheng and Guo Songtao complained together and hurriedly asked Gong Cheng: "Yi Gong, is there any way to stop the foreigners?"

"I'm afraid I can't stop the robbery of foreigners." Gong Cheng shook his head and said, "Although the foreign army is strictly disciplined and never allowed soldiers to kill ordinary people indiscriminately, the army has been constantly asking for wealth by taking the opportunity to make a fortune. The military orders that will allow robbery have been issued. Even Erjin and Gro may not be able to take back the order."

"Can we stop foreigners from burning the Old Summer Palace?" Huang Sheng retreated and said, "We cannot protect the gold, silver and jewelry in the Old Summer Palace, but those landscape buildings are priceless treasures, and it would be a pity to burn them."

"I'm afraid it's difficult," Gong Cheng shook his head and said, "The foreigners decided to burn the Old Summer Palace. One is to take revenge and the other is to put pressure on him to force Prince Dun and the three idiots to make concessions at the negotiating table. With the three of us alone, the foreigners may not be able to take back this decision. Unless..."

"Unless what?" Huang Sheng asked quickly.

"Unless we can make the three idiots of Prince Dun quickly make concessions and agree to the conditions proposed by the foreigners." Gong Cheng said helplessly: "Although they were asked to pay compensation to cede land, but at this point, since compensation to cede land is inevitable, why do you need to build a Summer Palace? Moreover, foreigners not only plan to burn the Summer Palace, but also plan to burn the three mountains and five gardens together. The value of these gardens may be more than the compensation the imperial court promised to cede to the foreigners."

"Then let's go and find Prince Dun and the others now."

Huang Sheng was about to leave, but Guo Songtao next to him grabbed him and whispered: "Pingfu, don't be impulsive. Let's persuade Prince Dun and others to give concessions to foreigners. He is destined to leave a terror forever and give Prince Dun and others the opportunity to blame us and even Wu Futai. Even if we are willing to take the blame, we will grit our teeth and not implicate Wu Futai, Prince Dun, Prince Chun and Sixth Master, the three idiots may not agree to give concessions to foreigners in order to protect the Old Summer Palace."

"Why?" Huang Sheng asked quickly.

"Because the Old Summer Palace belongs to the emperor." Guo Songtao replied in a low voice: "No matter it is Prince Dun, Prince Chun and Liu, they are not qualified to live in the Old Summer Palace, they are not qualified to visit the landscape of the Old Summer Palace at will, and they are not qualified to enjoy the jewelry and delicacies inside."

"So for them, if the foreigners burn the Old Summer Palace, the only one who suffers losses will be their fourth emperor, and they have little to do with them. But if they make concessions to the foreigners to sign a contract in order to protect the Old Summer Palace that does not belong to them, it will be a stigma for all ages and a scolding from the people. The emperor may still use them as scapegoats and deal with them to the government and the people."

"It's not that serious, right?" Huang Sheng asked in surprise.

"Did Qiying forget to sign the Treaty of Nanjing? In order to give the world an explanation, the late emperor gave him suicide." Guo Songtao reminded him and said with a wry smile: "Actually, I have long suspected that the two idiots, Prince Dun and Prince Chun, dare not sign the contract until now, and it is very likely that they are afraid of repeating Qiying's mistakes."

Huang Sheng was silent, but Gong Cheng, who was also from the eight-part essay, nodded and said, "Yunxian is aware of his good opinion. I am also worried that Prince Dun would rather be burned by the Old Summer Palace than make a decision to make concessions. Maybe they would be eager for foreigners to burn the Old Summer Palace quickly, so that the emperor who was hiding in Rehe could personally issue an order to make concessions so that they would not have to bear any responsibility."

Huang Sheng was even more speechless, and Guo Songtao said: "So, if we want Prince Dun and the idiots to make concessions to save the Old Summer Palace, unless we can make them feel that if they don't sign the contract quickly, they will suffer losses, and they will still be unbearable losses, so they will be able to take the blame."

"It's easier said than done." Gong Cheng sighed: "They are negotiators again. According to the rules of foreigners, their lives and property must be protected. There is no way to threaten their families and property to force them to sign. Otherwise, I can encourage foreigners to do so."

Sitting in the city of troubled sorrow and racking his brains, Huang Sheng, who grew up reading foreign books, suddenly had an idea and whispered: "Brother Yi Gong, can you persuade foreigners to threaten those idiots who are not known to outsiders? If foreigners use this method, they will guarantee that the three idiots of Prince Dun will agree to sign and make concessions immediately."

"I am the only Chinese in the coalition command, so it's okay not to let outsiders know." Gong Cheng asked, "What's the solution?"

"Let foreigners threaten Zunhua archaeology!"

Huang Sheng's grinning answer made Gong Cheng and Guo Songtao stunned together, and exclaimed in a low voice: "Let the foreigners threaten to dig their ancestral graves?"

Huang Sheng nodded and said viciously: "When I was young, something happened in my hometown of Xiangshan. A man named Shen Zhiliang suddenly left the Portuguese consul Yama to slaughter. The government caught him and asked him the reason. He said that it was because the Portuguese built a road and dug up his ancestral tomb. He killed Yamaliu to avenge his ancestral tomb."

"Think about it, a commoner cannot tolerate the digging of ancestral graves. How could the two idiots, Prince Dun and Prince Chun, be princes, be able to withstand such things? And if the court and the emperor knew that it was because they were afraid of taking responsibility, they forced foreigners to dig their ancestral graves. The Aisin Gioro royal family would definitely be able to peel them off!"

"So I dare to conclude that as long as foreigners threaten to dig their ancestral graves, the two idiots, Prince Dun and Prince Chun, would definitely not think about it. They would rather take the blame than keep their ancestral graves!"
Chapter completed!