Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

When Britain and France received the news, they were immediately in an uproar. Since the two countries dominated Europe, they had never encountered a situation where an envoy of one country was directly captured in the country concerned and more than 20 members of the delegation died. This was a great shame and humiliation!

Not to mention the two governments, even the public is now in an uproar, demanding another declaration of war, sending troops to East Asia, and demanding justice from the Qing government! Hawkish figures in both countries are clamoring that this time the Qing emperor must be made to wake up completely!

Under such circumstances, if the two governments did not send troops, they would be doing themselves a disservice. They were already somewhat dissatisfied with the content of this negotiation and felt that they had suffered some losses. Now that they had encountered such a thing, it was natural for them to go with the flow and blackmail the Qing government.

Britain and France issued orders almost at the same time, mobilizing 40 warships and 30,000 soldiers from Asia, and appointed the Governor-General of India, Saxton, as the commander-in-chief of the Anglo-French Allied Forces to expedition to the Qing Dynasty.

In just half a month, Britain and France completed the assembly of their troops and began marching towards the west coast of the Pacific.

At this time, Emperor Xianfeng was completely dumbfounded. In Tianjin, even though Prince Gong Yixin talked to them till his lips were worn out, the envoys from Britain and France ignored him. In a word, this hatred and humiliation could only be resolved through war!

After ten days, there was no progress at all. Yi Xin and Senggelinqin were somewhat desperate. Next, the Qing Dynasty could only face the war between Britain and France again!

Fortunately, Senggelinqin still had some confidence. The last time Britain and France bombarded Dagukou, weren't they also beaten to a pulp by us? This time, it's not certain that Britain and France will be able to gain an advantage. At worst, we can just give it a try. As long as we can repel the Anglo-French coalition and keep the capital area intact, that would be the greatest victory!

Senggelinqin advised: "Prince Gong, it is too late now. We can only prepare for war quickly and take precautions when the British and French forces attack Tianjin again. The situation in the capital is up to you!"

Yi? smiled bitterly. What bad luck! He and Liu Ye had worked so hard to reach a result with Britain and France, but it was ruined by that useless Zai Yuan. A bad apple ruined the whole pot of broth.

After returning to the capital, Yi Xin reported the results of the discussion to Emperor Xianfeng. Emperor Xianfeng was so angry that he wanted to kill people. "What a disaster! Damn it, Zaiyuan is a disaster! The biggest disaster!"

Emperor Xianfeng issued an imperial edict to strip Zaiyuan Yi of his title and demoted him to the rank of General of the Auxiliary State, a position lower than the eighth rank, and removed him from all his posts. As for the Minister of War Mu Meng, he was directly dismissed from his post and demoted to the rank of Shaoqing of the Dali Temple, a position of the third rank.

However, these are all useless efforts. The most important thing is, what should we do now! How can we avoid another war between Britain and France?

At this critical juncture, all the civil and military officials in the court were dumbfounded. Everyone knew that this time, the British and French would launch another invasion, which would definitely not be like the last time. With only a few thousand men, the foreign devils, who had suffered a loss before, who knew how many troops they would send! Could Dagukou be held? Could Tianjin be held? Once the British and French forces landed in Tianjin, Beijing would be completely defenseless!

"Speak up, speak up! Are you all fucking dumb? Speak up!"

Xianfeng was furious. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. None of the civil and military officials in the court could help him!

Sushun said solemnly, "Your Majesty, at this point, there's nothing more we can say. War is unavoidable. Britain and France have rejected all peace talks and are determined to fight us again. Avoiding war is not the best strategy. Our only option now is to prepare early. Order the monk king and Shengbao to deploy troops in the capital area to keep the enemy out of the country!"

"Stop the enemy from entering the country? How do we stop the enemy from entering the country? Sushun, tell me how we stop the enemy from entering the country. In the last war, the British and French forces captured several cities in a row, and even lost Guangzhou! If Liu Ye hadn't appeared at Dagukou, we might have lost Dagukou, and now Beijing might have been occupied by the foreign devils! Tell me, how do we stop the enemy from entering the country?"

Xianfeng roared angrily.

Liu Ye? Yes, Liu Ye. The last bloody battle at Dagukou relied on Liu Ye. How could we leave him this time?

Sushun's eyes lit up, and he quickly said, "Your Majesty, I think the only solution now is to send an urgent convoy seven hundred miles away to quickly summon Liu Ye back to the capital to defend the king. Although the territory east of the Ussuri River is important, it is far inferior to Beijing. I think we should quickly summon Liu Ye back to the capital to defend the king and prepare for the fierce British and French armies!"

Xianfeng's eyes lit up. Damn, he had forgotten about this matter at the most critical moment! Yes, Liu Ye was able to save Dagukou last time, so he can do it this time too! He is the only one in the entire court who is best at Westernization!

But at this time, Xianfeng was so desperate that he was confused and asked, "Liu Ye, where is Liu Ye now? Where did he go?"

Prince Gong Yi smiled bitterly in his heart. This emperor was really speechless. Why did his father fall for him in the first place? He was simply a waste. If I were in this position, I would be more than a hundred times better than him.

Prince Gong bowed and said, "Your Majesty, didn't Liu Ye follow your orders and lead the Baoding Town troops on an expedition outside the Great Wall? Now, I'm afraid his army is engaged in a fierce battle with the Russian army. In this urgent situation, I'm afraid the outcome will be uncertain. Withdrawing at this time will not only damage the morale of the soldiers, but also hand over the area east of the Ussuri River to others..."

Xianfeng was filled with despair. Damn, Baoding Town was far away in Heilongjiang, two or three thousand miles away. Even if Liu Ye had wings, he couldn't fly back to Beijing within three to five days!

Xianfeng plopped down on the dragon throne, stunned. He roared, "Never mind all that! Send an urgent message seven hundred miles away to summon Liu Ye back to the capital. Didn't you use an American ship to transport him last time? This time, use someone else's ship as well! I'll give them ten times the price! As long as they can bring back Liu Ye's army, any price is acceptable!"

As Xianfeng was roaring, a guard hurried in and said urgently, "Your Majesty, there's urgent news of victory from Heilongjiang, seven hundred miles away! General Liu Ye of Baoding Town has just arrived in Heilongjiang and won a decisive battle, defeating the Russian army at the gates of Aichun!"

Not only was Xianfeng shocked, but the important officials on both sides were also a little shocked. They broke the Russian army and the city of Aichun! It only took a few days! From Tianjin to now, no, minus the time for the urgent report of several hundred miles, Liu Ye only took less than ten days!

Xianfeng snatched up the victory report. Sure enough! It clearly stated: "Thanks to the Emperor's divine power and the bravery of our officers and men, we have killed over 2,000 Russian soldiers under the city of Aichun, captured hundreds, and captured the city. We will soon march to Vladivostok!"