Chapter 125: Bargaining? You can exchange for zero!
When Bao Ling heard this, the look in his eyes when he looked at Li Yi changed slightly.
He suddenly realized that the person in front of him was not an oriental politician in the traditional sense.
He has more than just China in his eyes.
And the whole world!
Such a person is not easy to fool.
Taking a deep breath, Bao Ling spoke in a calming tone.
"Grand Commander, please calm down."
"Although it is impossible for Great Britain to pay you war reparations, we are willing to pay you a ransom for the return of prisoners of war."
"However, the amount still needs to be negotiated!"
Bao Ling’s meaning was very clear. Compensation could be given, but it could not be given in the name of compensation, and it was impossible to give that much.
Two million taels...
Bao Ling really wanted to ask Li Yi if he was crazy.
Did he know that when the Qing Dynasty asked for peace with Britain, the indemnity it paid was only 21 million taels of silver?
Hearing this, the anger on Li Yi's face subsided, and then he spoke.
"Want to redeem the prisoners of war?"
"It's not impossible."
"If we calculate based on one thousand taels of silver per prisoner of war, there are now 2,413 British prisoners of war in the hands of our Restoration Army."
"I'll give you another zero, two and a half million taels of silver."
"The money is in place, the people will leave, otherwise there is no deal."
Bao Ling was speechless when he heard this.
So the price has increased?
It increased from two million to two and a half million!
But he did not refuse outright, he just spoke.
"This price is too high. The most Great Britain can pay for each prisoner is one hundred taels of silver."
"Besides that, Great Britain only wants to redeem the British prisoners of war. As for the Indian prisoners of war, the Grand Commander can deal with them as he pleases..."
Upon hearing this, Li Yi sneered disdainfully.
"Why, a British soldier is only worth one hundred taels of silver?"
"Then your British soldiers are really cheap."
"One thousand taels of silver per person, no negotiation. If you want to bargain, I can also exchange the prisoners for you. One hundred taels, in exchange for an arm or a leg. What do you think?"
"As for those Indians, I can lower the price for you to five hundred taels each."
Bao Ling's face changed for a while when he heard this, but he still did not flatly reject Li Yi's request. He just spoke.
"I still need to report this matter to the Governor-General. Please make the decision."
"Grand Commander, please wait a moment!"
Li Yi heard this and raised his hand and said.
"Okay, but I hope you won't leave and never come back again this time..."
Bao Ling looked calm when he heard this.
Rodel couldn't help but feel embarrassed again.
After Bao Ling and Rodel left, Qing prisoners of war including Muten, Ye Mingchen, Bai Gui and others were also escorted to Li Yi.
Li Yi spoke as usual to persuade them to surrender.
"My Restoration Army has just been established, and now is the time to seek talents. I wonder if you three are willing to join me?"
"If the three of you are willing to join our Restoration Army, I will certainly use you."
Li Yi knew that the three people in front of him were not good people.
Especially Bai Gui. Historically, this guy even served the invaders during the Second Crow period, assisted the invaders in organizing a puppet regime, and suppressed the resistance of the people of Guangdong. He is really a piece of shit.
But this did not prevent Li Yi from recruiting them.
If this were to succeed, and a garrison general, a governor, and a provincial governor defected to the Restoration Army, the political impact it would bring would be enormous.
Upon hearing this, Muten and Baigui, a Manchu and a Mongolian, said nothing but lowered their heads, but they were obviously shaken.
The reason is simple, they don’t want to die either!
On the contrary, Ye Mingchen, a Han Chinese, was very resolute.
"Thief, I fell into your hands today because of my bad luck. You can kill me if you want."
"But I am definitely not the kind of person who is afraid of death!"
"Even if I am attacked by swords and axes, I will never kneel down and serve the thieves."
Upon hearing this, Li Yi just laughed.
"Governor Ye loves fame, but I will not let you have your way."
"Come here, drag Ye Mingchen down, make him into a kneeling statue, bury him outside Guangzhou, and erect a monument saying: A great traitor is buried here."
"I will make all the people in Guangzhou step on you, a traitor."
When Ye Mingchen heard this, his old face suddenly changed color.
He loves fame so much that he will do anything for it, even at the cost of his life.
But because of this, Li Yi's move hit him directly in the sore spot.
He couldn't imagine what would happen to his reputation after his death if Li Yi really treated him like this.
This is going to be infamous for eternity!
Ye Mingchen began to struggle and roared.
"How dare you, you brat?!"
"This officer... This officer will never yield to a thief like you!"
Upon hearing this, Li Yi waved his hand expressionlessly.
"Take the man away!"
Upon hearing this, several guards immediately stepped forward, grabbed Ye Mingchen, handcuffed his arms behind his back, and escorted him out.
During this time, Ye Mingchen continued to yell and curse!
Muten and Bai Gui couldn't help but look sad when they saw this scene.
Li Yi turned his gaze towards Muten and Bai Gui again.
The two men were initially shaken, but seeing that Ye Mingchen, a Han Chinese, was so resolute, they looked at each other and began to speak.
"The Qing dynasty has been so kind to me. How could you expect me to surrender to you, a scoundrel? That's wishful thinking!"
"You thief, you will be punished sooner or later. The Qing Dynasty will not let you, a traitor, go."
After hearing this, Li Yi stopped talking nonsense with them and just waved his hand.
"Drag them all away and behead them!"
Since they were unwilling to surrender, Li Yi was too lazy to continue wasting time on them.
……
With a loud bang, the vermilion lacquered door of the Ding Mansion was kicked open from the outside.
A group of big men with red scarves on their heads rushed in.
A scream was heard in the courtyard.
"Ah... who are you? What do you want to do?"
Ding Hengsheng opened his arms to block his wife and children and asked in a trembling voice.
Upon hearing this, Luo Dingshan strode forward and kicked him down, then grabbed Ding Hengsheng's braid behind his head and pulled his head up, saying with a sneer.
"Haha, what are you doing?"
"Of course I'm going to take your head and avenge my parents."
"Do you still recognize me, Mr. Ding? You never expected that I would be back."
Luo Dingshan was Luo Dagang's nephew. Before he followed Luo Dagang in rebellion, his family once ran a grain shop in Guangzhou City. Although they were not rich, they could still be considered wealthy.
But because of this, their grain shop attracted the envy of the Ding family, a big grain merchant in Guangzhou City.
The Ding family used some tricks and found a few ruffians to falsely accuse the Luo family's grain shop of causing death, and then caused trouble in the grain shop.
Luo Dingshan and his father could no longer tolerate it, so they fought with the ruffians who came to cause trouble, but this was exactly what the Ding family wanted.
As soon as the father and son started fighting, they were taken to the classroom by the police who arrived in the blink of an eye.
Then, the Luo family's grain shop was also sealed. In the detention room, Luo Dingshan and his father were beaten and tortured by a group of yamen runners and local thugs.
Luo Dingshan's mother had no choice but to sell the grain shop at home to the Ding family at a low price.
Then he spent money to redeem the father and son from prison.
But by the time Luo Dingshan's mother redeemed them, the father and son had been tortured beyond recognition.
Luo Dingshan was young, and after a period of recuperation he finally managed to survive.
But his father couldn't hold on. Just a few days after being released from prison, he died on his sickbed at home.
Not long afterward, Luo Dingshan's mother also died of grief and anger.
Then, with no more worries, Luo Dingshan simply went to join his uncle Luo Dagang.
After following the army back to Guangzhou, Luo Dingshan immediately led his men to the Ding Mansion. He wanted to avenge his parents.
Ding Hengsheng's braids were pulled and his scalp on the back of his head hurt. He looked at Luo Dingshan cautiously, his eyes full of confusion.
He did so many evil things in his daily life that he really had no impression of the victim, Luo Dingshan.
Seeing this, Luo Dingshan became even angrier. He kicked Ding Hengsheng to the ground again and said.
"Duilei, how many bad things have you done that you don't even recognize me?"
"But it doesn't matter whether you recognize me or not, as long as I know you!"
"Brothers, seal off the Ding family for me. Don't let any man, woman, old or young escape."
At Luo Dingshan's command, a group of people immediately scattered and rushed towards the Ding family's backyard.
Soon, the cries, screams and cries of women were heard in the backyard.
Soon, the elderly, the weak, women and children of the Ding family were driven out and taken to the front yard.
Luo Dingshan looked at Ding Hengsheng and said with gritted teeth.
"Watch out, you bastard. Today I am going to kill your entire family first, then cut out your heart and liver, chop off your head, and use it as a sacrifice for my parents."
After saying this, Luo Dingshan grabbed Ding Hengsheng's head and turned his head towards the Ding family.
Then, he waved his hand and said.
"Go ahead, kill all the men in the Ding family, don't spare any of them."
"You can do whatever you want with the women."
Upon hearing this, a pair of soldiers did not hesitate and started to attack immediately.
Ding Hengsheng watched helplessly as his young son was beheaded and his grandson had his hands and feet chopped off and bled to death.
The women in his family were pinned to the ground by a group of soldiers, stripped of their clothes and bullied in turns.
The screams kept coming!
Seeing this, Ding Hengsheng struggled desperately, tears streaming down his face and shouting.
“No! Don’t do this!!”
"Kill me, kill me. If you want revenge, just kill me. Don't hurt my family. Don't let the harm spread to them..."
Upon hearing this, Luo Dingshan sneered.
"When you schemed to put my father and me in jail and seized my family property, why didn't you say that you would not harm my family as well?"
"Why, only your family is human, and other people's families are beasts?"
"You only feel the pain when it's your turn? Let me tell you, it's too late!"
After speaking, Luo Dingshan said.
"Keep going, everyone!"
After saying this, he cut open Ding Hengsheng's chest and abdomen with a knife.
Amid screams, Ding Hengsheng's heart, lungs and internal organs were pulled out.
The screams became more and more miserable!
But Luo Dingshan's eyes were filled with the joy of revenge.
Finally, Luo Dingshan chopped off his enemy's head and howled to the sky.
"Father! Mother!"
"I have avenged you..."
But at this moment, a team of military police from the Restoration Army rushed into Ding's house.
"Stop, which department are you from? What are you doing?"
Upon hearing this, Luo Dingshan spoke, holding the bleeding head in his hand.
"Brothers, I am Luo Dingshan, the commander of the Second Regiment of the Sixth Brigade. My uncle is Luo Dagang. This is a personal grudge between Luo and the Ding family. I hope you brothers will give me some leniency and pretend you didn't see anything."
"In the future, Luo will definitely reward you handsomely!"
Luo Dingshan knew that what he did today was somewhat taboo.
But the reason why he knew it was a taboo but still dared to do it was naturally because he had the confidence.
Because his uncle was Luo Dagang, the father-in-law of the Grand Commander.
His cousin is the wife of the Grand Commander.
Judging from Luo Dingshan's status, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is a royal relative.
Therefore, he did not take the military law of the Restoration Army seriously!
Even though he was discovered, he still wanted to reveal his identity in order to make the gendarmerie back off.
Unexpectedly, the gendarmerie team spoke directly after hearing this.
"I don't care who you are or what your identity is. Stop what you are doing immediately, put down your weapon, and follow me to see the military judge. Otherwise, you will bear the consequences yourself!"
While speaking, he also raised the rifle in his hand, which was full of deterrence.
Luo Dingshan heard this and said it with some annoyance.
"Brother, I'm giving you face by calling you brother, but you can't refuse my honor."
"I've already told you that this is my personal grudge. Please give me some face and pretend you didn't see anything and just turn around and leave, okay?"
The captain of the gendarmerie was also rather stubborn, and continued speaking in a cold voice upon hearing this.
"Second warning!"
"Put down your weapons immediately or you will suffer the consequences!"
Luo Dingshan heard this and curled his lips.
"Get out of here right now! I don't want to make a big deal today, otherwise I'll beat you up too!"
"Who the hell do you think you are? You dare to meddle in my business? Let me tell you, my uncle is Luo Dagang."
But what responded to him was a cold shout from the gendarmerie.
"This is your last warning. Put down your weapons immediately or we will shoot!"
But before he could finish his words, a personal soldier behind Luo Dingshan rushed up aggressively and kicked the captain of the gendarmerie who was leading the team.
"Fuck you, you bastard, how dare you go against us..."
The next moment, a gunshot rang out.
The soldier who rushed forward and was ready to stand up for his commander suddenly had a bloody explosion on his chest and fell directly onto the ground.
Seeing that these soldiers who had violated military law not only refused to lay down their weapons but also dared to attack them, the gendarmerie immediately pulled the trigger and shot one of them dead.
At this moment, the air in the Ding Mansion became quiet.
The soldiers behind Luo Dingshan's back instantly had red eyes.
"Fuck you, gendarmerie! You dare to kill my brother."
"Kill them!"
"Fuck, let's fight these son-of-a-bitch military police."
"..."
Suddenly, a melee broke out.
Gunshots rang out, both sides fired at each other, and people kept falling to the ground.
After firing all the muskets in their hands, both sides raised their swords and guns and attacked each other.
Luo Dingshan wanted to stop it. He didn't want to make a big fuss, but it was too late.
The two sides were fighting each other and blood was all over the ground.
(End of this chapter)