Chapter 117 Li Yi: Speaking of treason, who can sell out the country better than the Qing Dynasty?
Rodel left first, and Li Yi summoned Li Sheng, Wang An and other generals to discuss the matter.
He took out the agreement in his hand and gave it to Li Sheng and others for circulation.
Just as several people were passing the book around to each other, Li Yi spoke.
"The British said that if our Restoration Army agrees to their terms, they will remain neutral. If not, they will help the Qing demons fight against our Restoration Army."
"Everyone, tell me, how should our Restoration Army deal with the threat from the British this time?"
When asking this question, Li Yi had a blank expression on his face, making it impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry.
"Grand Commander, we, the Restoration Army, will never agree to the British's request."
"Otherwise, if we keep bowing down to the foreigners, what's the difference between our Restoration Army and the Manchu Tartars?"
Luo Dagang was the first to stand up and express his opposition.
As a member of the Tiandihui, he had once participated in a militia that fought against the British. Therefore, he did not have much good feelings towards the British.
Wang An also spoke.
"I also believe that our Restoration Army will never agree to these demands, and this agreement cannot be signed."
"If we really sign, my reputation after death will not be much different from Shi Jingtang's."
Zhao Xiang and Li Sheng also expressed their opinions, saying that they could not sign.
But Li Yi said something contrary to his usual behavior.
"I think this agreement can be signed."
“But just because the agreement is signed doesn’t mean it must be implemented.”
"Aren't agreements and treaties meant to be torn up?"
How should I put it? What Li Yi did was not a betrayal, but a use of deception in war.
In war, as long as you can win, you can use any means.
As for face?
If we lose the battle, our face is useless!
When everyone heard this, they looked at each other in confusion, and Li Yi began to explain.
"That's what I think."
"Whether it's the Qing demons in Guangzhou or the British barbarians in Hong Kong, they are not easy to deal with."
"Once the two merge, it will definitely cause great trouble to our Restoration Army."
"So, my idea is to divide and disintegrate the British barbarians and the Qing monsters, and defeat them one by one."
"After this agreement is signed, we can stabilize the British barbarians first and focus on dealing with the Qing monsters in Guangzhou City."
"After we get rid of the Qing monsters in Guangzhou, it won't be too late to find a reason to turn against the British."
"By then, our army will have no worries and can focus on dealing with the British, right?"
When everyone heard this, they looked at each other in surprise.
I have to admit that what Li Yi said makes sense.
Upon hearing this, Wang An was the first to stand up and express his opinion.
"The Grand Commander is wise."
When the generals saw someone taking the lead, they all stood up to express their approval.
Li Yi nodded slightly.
"Very good, General, continue to lead the troops across the river."
"We are about to reach Guangzhou City. I hope our army can capture Guangzhou City as soon as possible."
Upon hearing this, all the generals clasped their fists in agreement, then took their leave.
……
Li Yi immediately summoned the British envoy Rodel and spoke with a serious expression.
"As for the requests you have made, I can agree to most of them."
"However, I have one more request. As long as you agree, the agreement can be signed immediately."
In order to play the whole play, Li Yi simply started bargaining with the British.
After all, you have to bargain when doing business.
What we are signing now is an agreement between the two countries. If we agree to it without even bargaining, it will seem too fake.
Upon hearing this, Rodel frowned and felt unhappy with Li Yi's bargaining.
But he still spoke.
"General, please speak!"
Hearing this, Li Yi stared at Rodel with burning eyes and then said.
"Our army is attacking Guangzhou this time, and we need your troops to assist us."
"Otherwise, I will not be able to convince my army to accept the many demands you have made."
Well, Li Yi plans to give it a try no matter what happens.
It would be best if he could really trick the British into helping him attack Guangzhou.
First, it can increase the success rate of the Restoration Army in attacking Guangzhou.
Second, it would allow us to understand the British army's strengths before the war, and even weaken it.
Prepare for the upcoming conflict between the Restoration Army and the British!
Of course, even if he can't do it, it doesn't matter, he won't lose anything anyway.
Rodel couldn't help but frown when he heard this.
But he did not agree to Li Yi's request immediately, but spoke.
"I still need to report this matter to the Governor General. Please wait a moment, General."
After saying this, Rodel turned and left.
Li Yi just smiled and didn't take it seriously.
He looked towards the direction of Guangzhou City with a gloomy look!
Guangzhou, Li Yi is here!
Just at this moment, Li Liang came to ask for a meeting with a happy look on his face.
"Great Commander, good news."
"The latest news from Jiangnan is that the Taiping Army has breached the city of Jinling!"
When Li Yi heard this, his expression froze, and then he spoke with a tone of surprise.
"Yeah!"
"Even the important town of Jinling has been lost. Qing Yao is really going to be in trouble."
"Quick, inform the whole army of this news, and let the soldiers have fun too."
Although the victory was achieved by the Taiping Army, the Restoration Army and the Taiping Army were both anti-Qing righteous armies and had a common enemy, the Qing government.
Therefore, once the news spreads, the Restoration Army will definitely be excited.
Naturally, they will be more confident about whether they can capture Guangzhou.
Many people will even develop a competitive mentality because of this.
Since your Taiping Army can capture Nanjing, then my Restoration Army can definitely capture Guangzhou!
If this is the case, the morale of the army can be maintained.
After explaining all this, Li Yi continued to stare at Li Liang with burning eyes and asked.
"Tell me in detail what happened."
Upon hearing this, Li Liang began to report.
"After the Changsha Incident in early August, the Taiping Army set out from Changsha and advanced like a hot knife through butter. On August 10, they captured Yuezhou, entered the Yangtze River from Dongting Lake, and moved eastward along the river, successively capturing important cities such as Hankou and Wuchang."
"The Taiping Army broke through Jiujiang on August 21, and broke through Anqing on the 26th, and then successively jumped through Chizhou, Wuhu, Dangtu and other prefectures, and arrived at the gates of Nanjing on September 20th."
"They immediately launched a siege on Jinling from all sides, and dug tunnels in the direction of the Yifeng Gate in the north city to bury gunpowder and attack the city from underground."
"In one day, both the inner and outer cities of Nanjing fell, and the Eight Banners retreated into the city to resist stubbornly. Even the elderly, the weak, women and children climbed the city walls with weapons in hand to fight the Taiping Army."
"The Taiping Army fought for several days, and many people died, before they captured the city of Man." "After the city of Man was captured, Yang Xiuqing, the Eastern King, ordered the massacre of more than 20,000 soldiers of the Eight Banners of Jiangning and the elderly and weak in order to vent his anger..."
"This news is spreading like crazy throughout the South!"
"That's Jinling, that's Nanjing!"
"The Tartars are really finished this time!"
Although Li Yi was mentally prepared when he heard this, he still couldn't help but be shocked by the rapid progress of the Taiping Army.
Sometimes he was really curious, who the hell was the one cheating?
How come Yang Xiuqing was more successful in fighting than him?
It took only more than a month to fight from Changsha to Nanjing.
This speed is really too amazing.
But it’s not incomprehensible.
One reason is that the Qing army in Jiangnan and Huguang was weak enough and was no match for the Taiping Army. Historically, when the Taiping Army marched eastward to Nanjing, its progress was even faster than it is now.
The second reason was that Xiao Chaogui went north to Jingzhou and attacked Xiangyang directly. In order to protect Hubei, the granary, the Qing army had to dispatch reinforcements, which relieved a lot of pressure on Yang Xiuqing and others.
To be honest, given the current situation in the world, even if Li Yi was put in Xianfeng's position, he would be helpless.
Because Jinling City is so important!
Not only because of his importance in the economy and culture of the South, but also because of his political status.
That was Nanjing of the former Ming Dynasty!
It was here that Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, then launched the Northern Expedition to expel the Tartars and restore China.
Now that the Taiping Army has conquered Nanjing, the political significance is truly too great.
Li Yi understood that from now on, the anti-Qing cause would truly enter another stage.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, Li Yi continued to ask.
"By the way, how is the progress with Xiao Chaogui?"
Li Liang thought for a while, then said.
"In reply to the Grand Commander, after Xiao Chaogui conquered Jingzhou, he continued northwards, preparing to enter the Central Plains."
"We have now breached Xiangyang Prefecture and are heading towards Nanyang Prefecture."
"But they encountered the elite Green Camp troops that the Qing court transferred from Gansu and Shaanxi in Nanyang Prefecture, and the progress was not very smooth."
In fact, these elite Green Camp troops transferred from Gansu and Shaanxi were originally intended to reinforce the war in the south of the Yangtze River, but they were encountered by Xiao Chaogui.
Although Xiao Chaogui fought bravely, his troops were quite powerful.
In history, the main force of the Northern Expedition launched by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was Xiao Chaogui's troops.
Such a small force managed to reach the capital in one breath, which shows how strong the fighting power of Xiao Chaogui's troops was.
It’s a pity that the Qing Dynasty’s Green Camp in Gansu and Shaanxi that they are facing now are no pushovers.
In addition, Xiao Chaogui's troops were not used to the local climate and environment.
Therefore, the progress of Xiao Chaogui's troops was not very smooth.
Hearing this, Li Yi nodded slightly, feeling very satisfied.
Afterwards, Li Liang withdrew and prepared to contact the Tiandihui in Guangzhou City to support the Restoration Army's war.
Li Yi continued to command his troops to cross the river and head towards Guangzhou.
……
Rodel rode all the way back to Hong Kong at full speed and immediately went to see Sir John Bowring, the Governor and Minister of Hong Kong.
"Your Excellency, the rebels have agreed to all our demands and signed the agreement."
"However, they asked Britain to send troops to assist them in attacking Guangzhou."
"The leader of the rebels said that he would sign this agreement as long as we sent troops to assist him in attacking Guangzhou."
Wenhan frowned and began to think when he heard this.
He was considering whether it was worth making an enemy of the Qing Dynasty for the sake of Guangzhou's little benefit.
Although Britain won the final victory in the Opium War, it does not mean that the British people no longer had any fear of the Qing Dynasty, the distant Eastern Empire.
Although the Qing Dynasty was rubbish, its size was still there.
In addition, after the opening of the five ports to trade, Britain had already gained certain benefits in China.
Wenhan believed that it was not worth it to become hostile to the Qing Dynasty and abandon other interests just for the sake of interests in Guangzhou.
Finally Wenhan made a decision.
"Go tell the rebel leader that Britain will only remain neutral in this battle of Guangzhou."
To put it bluntly, Wenhan still felt that the benefits he had gained were not enough.
What the Qing court could give him was the interests of the whole of China, while what the Restoration Army could give him was only the interests of Guangzhou, or at most the province of Guangdong.
There is no comparison between the two!
If Guangzhou had not been slow to respond to Wenhan's request, to put it bluntly, Wenhan probably would not even have given the Restoration Army the opportunity to sign an unequal treaty.
The British of this era are so confident.
Upon hearing this, Rodel turned around and said goodbye, preparing to go on another mission to the Restoration Army.
After Rodel left, Wenhan summoned Bao Ling again.
"Consul Bao Ling, please lead your team to Guangzhou to negotiate with the Qing general in Guangzhou."
"Just say that the rebels have fully agreed to our Great Britain's conditions in exchange for our Great Britain sending troops to help them capture Guangzhou City."
"I would like to use this opportunity to urge the Guangzhou general of the Qing Dynasty to express his position!"
Upon hearing this, Bao Ling immediately nodded to show that he understood.
Then he prepared to leave for Guangzhou to meet with Muttern and others.
……
Rodel came to Li Yi again and spoke.
"I'm sorry, General. The Governor-General said that Britain will only remain neutral in this Guangzhou war."
Li Yi didn't feel any emotion when he heard this, but he still pretended to be incredulous and asked.
"But what promises did the Qing officials in Guangzhou make to you?"
Rodel shook his head.
"I'm sorry, General, I have no comment to make."
Li Yi heard this and said with narrowed eyes.
"I'd like to ask the envoy to tell the Governor General that no matter what conditions the Qing officials agree to, it is meaningless."
"First, the battle of Guangzhou. Our Restoration Army must win. If our army wins, then this Governor will definitely not recognize the conditions agreed by the Qing demon."
"Secondly, the one who contacted you was only the Guangzhou general, or a local official like the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi. Even if they agreed to your conditions, when the matter was reported to the capital, the Qing demon emperor might not admit it."
"As long as the Qing Demon Emperor does not acknowledge it, no matter how many promises they make to you, they will just be a piece of waste paper."
When Rodel heard this, the expression on his face changed.
He had to admit that what Li Yi said made sense.
This is indeed the case with the current situation in Guangzhou. If Britain does not intervene, the final victory will most likely belong to the rebels.
Rodel said goodbye again and left.
Li Yi stroked his chin and began to think. He was a little worried that the Qing demons in Guangzhou would agree to more and more excessive demands from the British.
Use this to pull the British to their side!
This led to complications in the Battle of Guangzhou.
After all, when it comes to treason, who can sell out the country better than the Qing Dynasty?
Li Yi said anxiously.
"Pass the order down, have our troops speed up their march and reach Guangzhou as soon as possible."
After Li Yi's military order was issued, the marching speed of the Restoration Army was obviously increased again.
A group of people marched towards Guangzhou city in a mighty manner!
Luo Dagang rode his warhorse to Li Yi and spoke.
"Grand Commander, good news. The Tiandihui members in Guangzhou have responded to me."
(End of this chapter)