Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 338 The higher you jump, the harder you get beaten!
Bruce and Baldmi looked at each other and saw the solemnity in each other's eyes.

If what Guo Songtao said was true, then the Tang people's intelligence agencies were truly terrifying.

But Bruce still spoke.

"Mr. Director, this is what happened."

"Although the Qing Dynasty tried to win us over, from a standpoint, we, England and France, still stand on the side of the Tang Dynasty..."

What Bruce meant was that since Great Britain supports the Tang Dynasty so much, shouldn't the Tang Dynasty offer some benefits to win it over?
It is obvious that Britain and France did not fall for the Qing Dynasty's trap.

The reason is simple: they have suffered too much at the hands of the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang Dynasty did not recognize any treaties signed by the Qing Dynasty.

More importantly, the military power of Britain and France in the Far East was far from being a match for the Tang Dynasty.

Otherwise, could the Tang Dynasty just disown those treaties?

For example, the Shanghai concessions were assigned by the Qing Dynasty to Britain, France, the United States and other countries, but the Tang Dynasty still fought against them and the garrisons in the concessions never fought.

With this precedent in mind, Britain and France would have been stupid to accept Lushun, which was offered by the Qing Dynasty.

What if the Tang army sent troops to attack just after they captured Lushun? Wouldn’t they be taking the bullet for the Qing Dynasty?
The great powers will definitely take part in anything that has benefits and no risks.

The great powers may take part in things that have both benefits and risks.

But there is no benefit. The great powers would never do something that is risky!

This is how the great powers behave!

Guo Songtao took a sip of the fragrant tea, feeling the fragrance of the tea blooming on the tip of his tongue, and said with a smile.

"is it?"

"Perhaps the two ministers do not know."

"During the war against Vietnam, our Tang Dynasty captured a lot of prisoners of war, and a considerable number of these prisoners of war were mercenaries from Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain and other countries."

"I wonder if the two envoys can give me and the Tang Dynasty an explanation on this matter?"

The news that the Tang army had won a great victory at Honghekou and captured a considerable number of prisoners of war had been transmitted back to Guangzhou and was reported to Li Yi in Shandong via telegram.

Guo Songtao had also received instructions from Li Yi, ordering him to use those Western mercenaries to blackmail Britain and France and force them to withdraw from Vietnam.

As for the Netherlands and Spain?
Well, they are not important!
Firstly, their strength is weak, so even if Vietnam intervenes, it will not cause much trouble to the Tang Dynasty.

Secondly, their interference in the Vietnam War would give the Tang Dynasty a handle to use against them, so that the Tang Dynasty could then take action against Manila and Batavia.

In this case, the Tang Dynasty was too lazy to care about the Netherlands and Spain.

The higher they jump now, the harder they will be beaten in the future.

For the Tang Dynasty, targeting Britain and France is the focus of its current diplomatic work.

However, before Guo Songtao had the time to do this according to Li Yi's instructions, the British and French envoys came to him on their own initiative.

Bruce and Baldmi looked at each other, and Baldmi spoke.

"Mr. Director, the prisoners of war captured by your country in Vietnam are all mercenaries."

"Mercenaries are paid to do their jobs. They cannot represent the attitude of England and France."

Guo Songtao was not angry when he heard this, but just said with a smile.

"is it?"

"So those mercenaries have nothing to do with your two countries?"

Baldmi nodded immediately.

"Of course."

Guo Songtao nodded and said.

"Very good. If that's the case, then when the Tang Dynasty executes those mercenaries, there is no need to worry about affecting the diplomatic relations between the Tang Dynasty and your two countries."

"At that time, our Tang Dynasty will publicly execute those mercenaries outside Guangzhou City. We invite the two ministers to attend the ceremony."

Bruce and Baldmi couldn't help but look at each other in surprise when they heard this.

Isn't it so direct?

They want to execute their people in front of them. What's the difference between this and getting in close to them and using a powerful attack?
However, even if the Tang Dynasty was attacking them closely, they could not say anything.

Because the Tang Dynasty had just consulted them about their attitude, and they made their own statement that mercenaries had nothing to do with Britain and France.

In this case, it is no wonder that the Tang Dynasty executed those mercenaries.

Baldmi couldn't sit still anymore and spoke immediately.

"Mr. Director, since the war is over, why kill the prisoners?"

"There is an old Chinese saying that killing prisoners is unlucky!"

Having stayed in the East for such a long time, Baldmi was influenced by Eastern culture.

I have mastered quite a few idioms, and "killing prisoners is unlucky" is one of them.

Guo Songtao responded in an orderly manner.

"Don't worry, the two envoys. We, the Tang Dynasty, only killed mercenaries."

"Mercenaries? They all deserve to die!"

"As for ordinary prisoners of war, they are generally not killed."

"Just like when the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded, didn't our Tang Dynasty not kill the captured coalition soldiers?"

Taking a deep breath, Bruce stood up and expressed his position, and the submissiveness in his words was quite obvious.

"Mr. Director, although those people are mercenaries, they are also citizens of Britain and France."

"We are willing to make certain compensation for the losses they have caused to Datang."

"We ask the Tang Dynasty to consider the friendly relations between Britain and France and properly deal with those mercenaries and give them a chance to live." Nowadays, due to transportation barriers, the population of Western powers in the Far East is actually not large.

The Netherlands or Spain may have more, but Britain and France have at most 10,000 or 20,000 people in the entire Far East.

This time, the Tang army captured more than 300 Western prisoners of war, of whom almost half were British and French.

There are more than a hundred of them, all of whom are young and middle-aged men who are proficient in military skills. Compared with the total population in the Far East, this number is not small.

If they watched helplessly as more than a hundred people were killed by the Tang Dynasty, they would not be able to explain to their superiors after returning to their homeland.

The smile on Guo Songtao's face disappeared instantly and he spoke expressionlessly.

"If you want the Tang Dynasty to spare the lives of those mercenaries, it's very simple. All we need is for Britain and France to withdraw their personnel from Vietnam and stop interfering in the Vietnam War."

"How did Vietnam have the guts to provoke our Tang Dynasty? We can forget about this issue."

"But, I don't want to see Western faces on the battlefield between my Tang Dynasty and Vietnam anymore."

"Can you two understand what I mean?"

The reason why Vietnam dared to provoke the Tang Dynasty was obviously because Western countries such as Britain, France, the Netherlands and Spain were instigating it behind the scenes.

The Tang Dynasty knew this.

Western countries also know that the Tang Dynasty knows this.

The Tang Dynasty knew that Western countries knew that the Tang Dynasty knew this.

So, this matter is no longer important.

What is important is that we cannot allow Western countries to continue to interfere in Vietnam like troublemakers.

The Western powers must be driven out of Vietnam first, and then the Tang Dynasty can pacify Vietnam.

The hundreds of Western prisoners of war captured by the Tang army on the battlefield were the best tools for the Tang Dynasty to deal with this matter.

After Guo Songtao finished speaking, Bruce and Baldmi looked at each other and saw the solemnity in each other's eyes.

The threat posed by the Tang army was very obvious.

What choice should they make?

However, just as they were struggling, Guo Songtao continued.

"Oh, there is one more thing that I think the two ministers may not know yet."

"Just a few days ago, the Russian Empire sent an envoy to the Tang Dynasty to meet with the king."

"The Russian side proposed to purchase a batch of arms and weapons from our Tang Dynasty for use in the Crimean battlefield."

"We, the Tang Dynasty, are considering this arms trade."

"Well, the probability of agreeing is still quite high."

Guo Songtao’s threat was very direct. If you, Britain and France, continue to annoy the Tang Dynasty in Vietnam, then the Tang Dynasty will go to Crimea to annoy you.

Once the gray beasts of Tsarist Russia are equipped with Tang Dynasty weapons, you, Britain and France, can weigh the consequences for yourselves.

Bruce took a deep breath and spoke with a serious expression.

"Mr. Director, as far as I know, Tsarist Russia and the Qing Dynasty are colluding with each other. If you sell arms to Tsarist Russia, isn't that aiding the enemy?"

Guo Songtao smiled and shook his head.

"maybe!"

"But I think Crimea is far more important to Tsarist Russia, Britain and France than the Far East."

"What do the two ministers think?"

Baldmi gently tugged at Bruce's sleeve and spoke.

"Your Excellency the Director is right, but this matter is of great importance. I think we need to discuss it before we can give you a reply."

Bruce also agreed.

Guo Songtao nodded slightly, then raised his hand to signal his attendants to arrange a quiet room for Bruce and Baldmi to discuss the matter.

Soon, Baldmi and Bruce entered the quiet room.

"The lethality of Tang's weapons is truly unforgettable."

"Sir Bruce, I think it's time for us to withdraw from Vietnam."

"Otherwise, once the Tang people sell their arms to Tsarist Russia on a large scale, we will be in a passive position in Crimea."

"I wonder how many soldiers of the empire will shed their blood in Crimea in vain."

Baldmi spoke, his expression solemn.

Bruce gritted his teeth and said.

"But I'm worried that these damn Tang people have already reached an agreement with Tsarist Russia. Even if we withdraw from Vietnam, they will continue to sell arms to Tsarist Russia."

Baldmi spoke up.

"Your Excellency is right."

"So, we can't withdraw from Vietnam immediately."

"It would be best to use the Vietnam issue as a handle to persuade the Tang Kingdom to sell arms to us as well."

"If we can get a batch of arms from the Tang Kingdom, it will be of great help to the Crimean War and our imitation of Tang Kingdom's weapons..."

After being rejected by the Tang Dynasty several times when requesting to purchase arms, the great powers would naturally not hang themselves on a tree.

Their local area has already begun to carry out independent imitation, and now there are some signs of progress.

However, due to the lack of physical reference, it is still difficult to imitate, and it will take some time to achieve results.

(End of this chapter)