It was naturally Earl Elgin and others who negotiated with Wenxiang, who had all seen them in the capital. But those coalition soldiers were almost gone, replaced by soldiers with East Asian faces.

Anyone would be confused, so Wen Xiang asked someone to ask in private. When he asked, he was taken aback. This mountain-like large ship and artillery, as well as thousands of East Asian soldiers, were all Japanese.

The flag hanging on the ship is called Tokugawa Mitsuba Aoi, which is the big flag of the Japanese King Yuan Zhongzheng. As for those soldiers who are well-organized and imposing, they are all Japanese troops. This time, he was invited by the British envoy, Earl Elgin, to maintain the international order and demanded that Tsarist Russia return Port Arthur to Qing.

Needless to say, Wen Xiang was shocked!

He knew that Japan was just across from Korea, and there used to be Japanese pirates who robbed the coastal areas. How come there are ships that are stronger than those of Britain and France, and armies that are the same as those of Britain and France?

The first time is shock, the second time is worry...

There is no need to say what to worry about, in short, Wen Xiang did not directly show anything. Just turn around with Elgin properly and deal with it carefully. In fact, Elgin was very impatient to hand over to the officials of the Qing court, because these officials couldn't play a boring fart with ten sticks and had no diplomatic experience.

The final result is usually what he said, the other side didn't answer anything, and finally pulled out a contract, and the other side signed it with tears, and then the whole diplomatic process ended.

Fortunately, although Wen Xiang is not a strange person, he at least knows how to speak. The second and most important thing is that he is a bannerman, and he is a rare jinshi among bannermen. To put it bluntly, he was the No. 1 person in Emperor Xianfeng's pocket. As long as he didn't make a big mistake, he would be promoted in this life.

It is precisely because of this that Wen Xiang is more "daring" than ordinary officials.

Now the British don't want money or ceded land, and they also say that they want to return the Port of Lushun, which was forcibly taken by the Russians, to be taken away. Wen Xiang made up his mind that as long as the treaty is not signed, everything will be fine.

On the one hand, he rushed to report to Emperor Xianfeng, and on the other hand, he said that he would immediately dispatch a battalion of troops to guard Lushunkou. As long as it's not ceding land or opening a concession, Wenxiang can immediately agree. Even if Elgin was a little more arrogant at this time and asked for some military expenses, 200,000 to 300,000 silver, Wenxiang should also give it.

After the official business was over, Wen Xiang, as a group of more motivated officials in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, asked one thing in a low voice. The big ships in the port, how much silver is required for each, are there any ready-made ships that can be purchased, and how are they operated and used...

He and Prince Gong, Yi, were roughly the early Westernization factions in the Qing court. Although I don't tend to learn the advanced political system or cultural education of the West, I still appreciate things like warships and cannons. It is similar to that of middle school and Western learning.

I can't beat the foreigners with Qing, just because the weapons and equipment are not good. When we all put on the weapons and equipment of the foreigners, we will be able to beat the foreigners.

Before that, didn't the Qing court still have the intention to organize a Western-style fleet, and then take it to the top of the Yangtze River to suppress the Taiping Rebellion. However, the Anglo-French coalition returned, and the contact between the two sides was interrupted. There was no need for Count Roche to interfere, and the preparation of a new naval fleet was temporarily put on hold.

Now the so-called "Fu Bureau" of the Qing court and the so-called "Peace Conference" of Britain and France have been established. Wen Xiang saw this big ship today, and his mind became active. It is always good to spend some money to buy an eight-flag sailor.

Senggelinqin's 30,000-horse infantry army was destroyed by the British and French coalition forces at Baliqiao in Tongzhou, and the Manchu Qing lost a "straight line" army that they relied on to maintain the system. As a bannerman, does Wenxiang hope that the Manchu Qing can continue to have a useful army and maintain his crumbling rule?

No doubt, yes!

And instead of the Eight Banners in the capital, the Eight Banners outside the customs are used, and the Eight Banners in some other places are the same. The key point is the Eight Banners. The Eight Banners in the capital are terrible, but it should be no problem to select dozens of officers with some brains. If two or three thousand people are selected from outside the customs, this team can always be pulled out.

Speaking of something unofficial, before Rong Lu died, President Yuan Da was able to get along well, but he was always crushed by Rong Lu. With Rong Lu, President Yuan Da may not be able to grasp the situation in the capital in the end, and directly coerced the Queen Mother Longyu and asked her to announce the abdication of the Qing Emperor.

The foreigners on the left and right, especially the French envoy Gero, heard Wen Xiang's inquiry and said very contentedly that this ship was the world's largest ship newly built by them in France. Now there is only one in France, one in England, and the other two are here.

This ironclad ship is no joke. Not long ago, outside Tsushima Island, two ships attacked twenty or thirty Russian navy ships (transport ships are also counted, blow it!) Two big boats hit the Russians, and thousands of people died.

As for the price...

Speaking of this matter, the British and French envoys realized Wen Xiang's idea. Wen Xiang wanted to buy an ironclad ship. It is clear that when I see such a sharp weapon, I hope to have it.

There is one thing to say, although Britain and France have the Tokugawa shogunate, a very useful horse, in the Far East as a vanguard against the development of Tsarist Russia. However, there are too few places between Japan and Tsarist Russia, and the main border with Tsarist Russia is Qing. UU Reading www.uukanshu.com

Although I look down on the Qing army, but with a little support, let the Qing country have some troops to resist Russia. Not to mention the resistance until the British army came to the rescue, at least until the British minister notified the training team to come to the rescue.

Besides, the envoys of Lushunkou have also seen it, it is a treasure land of feng shui. It is a natural military port, and it is a warm and non-frozen port. Leaving it empty here is not a good thing.

We should support the Qing court, develop a little navy, defend Lushun, and not leave Lushun to the Russians. So that the Russians have never been able to get a warm water and ice-free port facing the Pacific Ocean, and they will not be able to develop.

"The cost of this ship is not cheap." Elgin rubbed the gem on the top of his scepter.

"If it were to be replaced with silver, it would have to be one million to 1.2 million taels." Ge Luo reported a number.

In fact, the two have the same mind. They had better meet the guy who ordered the ship with money, so that they could test and manufacture an improved ironclad ship after the Tsushima naval battle. It is the same as the test product that the shogunate paid for the French to build ironclad ships.

"It's a million..." Although Wen Xiang sighed, he was quite tempted.