Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 172 Downing Street

Yang Yiqing opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.

Because, it seems that Heaven really has no plans in this regard right now.

In history, the Taiping Army did the same thing. Apart from breaking through the camps in the south and north of the Yangtze River, they had no intention of consolidating their victory.

The result was that after the main force of the Taiping Army left Tianjing for the west and east expeditions, the Qing army quickly reorganized its troops, staged a comeback, rebuilt the Jiangnan and Jiangbei camps, and once again surrounded the city of Tianjing.

Li Yi was very confused. The Heavenly Kingdom had finally broken the Qing demons' blockade of Tianjing. Instead of seizing the time to push the front line outward and consolidate the results, why were you in such a hurry to march west and east and deep into the enemy's rear?
What’s the point if you can’t take it down?

In Li Yi's opinion, the current Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is actually very weak.

Even though he seemed to have captured many important cities and towns through his campaigns, he only captured some important cities and towns and had no actual control over the local areas.

As a result, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's regime was very frivolous, although it looked like a towering tree with luxuriant branches and leaves and was very prosperous.

But this big tree has never taken root.

To put it bluntly, they are just bandits who have no intention of managing the place.

The fact that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom lasted for more than ten years before being destroyed only shows that our Qing Dynasty was really weak.

Seeing Yang Yiqing's expression, Li Yi knew that he was right.

The Kingdom of Heaven had no intention of consolidating its victory and wanted to continue expanding outward.

Taking a deep breath, Li Yi spoke.

"I don't know what the Kingdom of Heaven thinks, but I have to remind you here."

"The Jiangnan and Jiangbei camps were only broken, not completely annihilated. Qishan led his troops to retreat to Huai'an, Xiang Rong and Jierhang'a retreated to Changzhou. They are probably now preparing for war."

"If the Heavenly Kingdom fails to consolidate its victory, the Qing army may come back at any time."

Upon hearing this, Yang Yiqing knew that Li Yi meant well, and said immediately.

"Thank you for your reminder, Your Majesty. I will pass it on to the King of the East."

Afterwards, the two discussed the covenant for a while.

Yang Yiqing took out a covenant and presented it to Li Yi, wanting Li Yi to stamp and sign it.

Li Yi unfolded the covenant and began to read it.

The covenant is very short, with only five articles in total.

One is that from the day the covenant was signed, the Tang Dynasty and the Heavenly Kingdom agreed to be brother countries and jointly resist the Qing Dynasty.

The second is that the two sides agreed to support each other. If one side was attacked by the Qing army, the other side would be obliged to send troops to rescue.

Third, the two sides agreed to jointly attack the Yangtze River coast and jointly cut off the communication between the south and north of the river.

Fourthly, the two sides can engage in trade and share what they have.

Fifth, it was agreed that both sides would send envoys to each other permanently to facilitate communication.

Yang Xiuqing had already signed the covenant and stamped it with his Eastern King seal.

Li Yi was obviously stunned when he saw this.

The covenant between the Tang Dynasty and the Kingdom of Heaven actually used the East King Seal, and there was only the East King Seal, but no Heavenly King Seal.

It seems that after breaking the blockade of Tianjing by the Qing army's Jiangnan and Jiangbei camps, Yang Xiuqing's personal prestige has reached its peak.

As for Hong Xiuquan, it is estimated that he had been completely sidelined by Yang Xiuqing.

Li Yi suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart.

Damn it, is the Tianjing Incident about to happen?

Should I remind Yang Xiuqing?
But after thinking about it, Li Yi gave up the idea.

The matter between Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing was an internal conflict of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and it was not convenient for an outsider like me to interfere.

Otherwise, wouldn't it be tantamount to sowing discord?

Damn it, in the end you didn't succeed as a good guy, but instead got yourself into trouble.

Not worth it!

The first lesson Li Yi learned when entering society was to let go of the desire to help others and respect the fate of others.

Nice guys won’t live long!

Ordering someone to bring his seal, Li Yi also signed the covenant with the seal, and then spoke.

"Now that the alliance is concluded, from now on, the Tang Dynasty and the Heavenly Kingdom will be brothers!"

After saying that, Li Yi seemed to remember something and continued to speak to Yang Yiqing.

"By the way, Brother Yang, please tell the King of the East after you return to Tianjing."

"I signed this treaty with the King of the East."

"As for the Kingdom of Heaven, I only recognize the King of the East!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Yiqing couldn't help but show joy on his face.

In his opinion, this was Li Yi trying to show goodwill to the King of the East, which meant that Li Yi was more optimistic about the King of the East controlling the Kingdom of Heaven.

This is naturally a good thing for Yang Yiqing, the national leader of the East Palace.

Taking a deep breath, Yang Yiqing spoke.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will convey your words to the King of the East intactly."

Li Yi nodded slightly when he heard this.

Yang Yiqing then took his leave and prepared to discuss the details of the arms sale with relevant officials of the Tang Dynasty.

For such matters, Li Yi does not need to show up in person, he can just leave it to his subordinates.

Li Yi continued to think about what topics to ask for the course in Hunan.

...London, England!
10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister's official residence.

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister, Mr. Palmerston, the former Foreign Secretary and Whig MP, is outside seeking to see you."

A waiter in a tuxedo walked into the office of contemporary British Prime Minister Edward Smith-Stanley, knocked on the door and began to report.

Stanley, who was reviewing the documents, looked up. He was wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on his hooked nose and his deep eye sockets made him look a little gloomy.

After thinking for a while, Stanley nodded.

"Invite people in!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the servant turned and left.

Not long after, the servant came in with Palmerston.

This is a typical Anglo-Saxon white aristocrat, wearing a tuxedo, a neat wig, and holding a walking stick in his hand. He looks elegant and calm, but his high attitude is visible to the naked eye in his every move.

Born into an aristocratic family, he is used to being superior and looking down on everyone.

But today, there was a rare look of anger on Palmerston's face, which made the dignified elegance that was unique to old white men fade a lot, and he looked a little exasperated.

"Palmerston, what is the matter with your visit to-day?"

Stanley put down the pen in his hand, took off his gold-rimmed glasses, and asked.

Palmerston heard this and spoke.

"Dear Prime Minister, I just received the latest news from the Far East. Something happened in Hong Kong."

"Poor Sir Wenhan was brutally killed in Guangzhou by a rebel army from the distant eastern country, the Qing Dynasty."

"Even the empire's pearl in the Far East, Hong Kong, was seized by the rebels through military means."

Hearing this, Stanley took a deep breath, his hooked nose moved, and the gloom on his face became more obvious.

The expression on his face was somewhat solemn.

"Oh my God, this is terrible news."

"Palmerston, are you sure this news is accurate?"

Palmerston nodded.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, this is the latest news sent back from India. I swear in the name of God that this news is more real than gold."

Stanley's expression became more serious when he heard this. He turned around and ordered his attendant to fetch the latest official document from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding India.

Although Palmerston said the news was true, as the Prime Minister of the British Empire, Stanley could not believe it blindly.

It is natural for you to read the relevant documents yourself.

Soon, the servant went to get the official document. Stanley looked through it and quickly found the corresponding document.

After reading it, Stanley's face became quite ugly, and he began to wonder how the British Empire should deal with the changes in the Far East.

Stanley did not find it strange that Palmerston had gotten the news first about the official document that he had not yet seen.

Because Palmerston was more than just a simple former foreign secretary.

He was also a senior member of the Whig Party and had great connections and energy within the Whig Party.

Last year, Napoleon III launched a military coup and ascended the throne. Palmerston, who was then British Foreign Secretary, recognized the legitimacy of Napoleon III's regime without the consent of the Queen and the Cabinet.

This is a huge overstep!

Afterwards, the then Prime Minister John Russell ordered Palmerston to be dismissed from his post as Foreign Secretary as a punishment.

But Palmerston did not accept his fate. He soon used the power of the Whig Party and found an excuse to impeach Russell, causing him to lose his position as prime minister in revenge.

Then Stanley got an advantage and was appointed by the Queen as the new Prime Minister of the British Empire.

So Stanley was well aware of Palmerston's power.

In addition, as the Prime Minister, he is very busy and it is impossible for him to keep an eye on the news from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs all the time.

It is not surprising that Palmerston, the former foreign secretary, got the news before himself, the prime minister.

Stanley's face looked solemn, as if he was thinking about something.

Palmerston continued.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, what the rebels have done is truly a great provocation to the dignity of the British Empire."

"I think Britain must make the most serious response to this and send troops to carry out military punishment on the rebels and that ancient Eastern country."

"This is to maintain the British Empire and the dignity of the world's hegemony!"

Palmerston's radical attitude was clearly revealed in his words.

Historically, he was a radical advocate of external expansion.

While serving as Britain's Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister, he pushed for the two Opium Wars to launch aggression against China.

And made a resolution to assist the Qing Dynasty in suppressing the Taiping Rebellion.

Provoked the Crimean War to compete with Russia for territory.

Suppressed the Indian national uprising and put a crown on the British Queen.

During the American Civil War, he supported the southern slave-owning group and promoted the division of North America...

He has a long history of bad deeds and numerous crimes!

To some extent, he is a bloody executioner, a warmonger, and a narrow-minded nationalist.

In his heart, except the Angus, no one else in this world is considered a human being.

By the way, he also has a famous saying, which is:

"There are no eternal friends or eternal enemies in this world, only eternal interests!"

This sentence has almost become the code of conduct for British diplomacy in later generations!
(End of this chapter)