Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

The looting of the Old Summer Palace lasted for two days. The huge Old Summer Palace was completely looted, and cartloads of gold, silver, jewelry, antiques and curios were transported out of the Old Summer Palace by the British and French forces.

Even though Grant and Yaman were well prepared, they were still completely shocked. So much wealth was lying quietly in the Old Summer Palace. It was such a waste. How much benefit would such wealth bring to the treasuries of Britain and France!

The Qing Dynasty is rich, the Qing Dynasty is really rich! Rob it, and make sure to rob it clean!

Without saying a word, Grant and Yaman set their sights on the treasury of the Ministry of Revenue in Beijing again. Teams of British and French forces surrounded the treasury and smashed the door to pieces!

However, this time, they were completely disappointed. The treasury, which they had expected to be filled with mountains of gold and silver, was actually empty, with only rows of wooden shelves. Where was the gold and silver? The British and French forces searched the treasury from top to bottom, but they could only barely scrape together a few hundred thousand taels of silver. This was the treasury of the so-called Celestial Empire! A few hundred thousand taels of silver, converted into British pounds, was only a mere two or three hundred thousand pounds. Any bank in Britain or France could probably come up with two or three hundred thousand pounds, no, at least a million pounds!

What is wrong with this country?

Grant and Yaman were both dumbfounded. What had happened? Had the Qing government removed all the treasury silver before the emperor fled? This was clearly impossible. The wooden shelves in the treasury were covered in dust. This wasn't something that could have accumulated overnight. This meant that the treasury had been empty for years.

How could these two people know that the emperor of the Qing Dynasty was rich, the high-ranking officials of the Qing Dynasty were rich, the nobles of the Qing Dynasty were rich, and even the landlords of the Qing Dynasty were rich, but the national treasury and the common people had no money!

The two men were incredibly frustrated. They had been hoping to make a fortune here. Based on what they had looted from the Old Summer Palace, they could have plundered at least millions, or even tens of millions, of taels of silver from the imperial treasury! They had never imagined that this was all they could find! Emperor Xianfeng had indeed taken a considerable amount of silver during his escape, but due to time constraints, they only managed to take a small amount, only a few hundred thousand taels, with nothing left over.

Apart from officials' salaries, relief and war expenses, there was hardly any money left in the national treasury every year. The government even had to spend money before it was due, and even that was not enough. The Hunan Army in Jianghuai had to raise its own military pay. The great Qing Dynasty had fallen to an unimaginable level of decline.

Grant and Yaman reacted immediately. Damn it, since they can’t snatch it away, they might as well set fire to it. Damn it, burn down the Summer Palace!

The British and French allied forces immediately began to burn the Old Summer Palace. Hundreds of allied forces held torches and continuously lit fires in various places in the Old Summer Palace. In an instant, flames rose into the sky and thick smoke covered the sky. The entire city of Beijing was shrouded in thick smoke. As for the palace maids and eunuchs in the Old Summer Palace, countless of them were killed or injured, and all died in the fire!

Not to mention the Old Summer Palace, even in Tong County, dozens of miles away, one could see the thick smoke of war covering the sky. The two hundred years of wealth accumulated by the Qing Dynasty was completely destroyed!

In Prince Gong's Mansion, Yixin and Wenxiang stood in the mansion, looking at the fire in the distance. Yixin felt heartbroken. The things left by the ancestors were burned down because of these useless officials. This was not the end. Even if there was only a little oil and water left in the treasury, these robbers of the British and French forces would not let it go. He hated it so much!

But what good was just resentment? Who had made him unable to defeat them? Who had made his emperor and his ministers do so many bastard things? When the time came, they had all fled, leaving him to clean up the mess. If he did it well, it would be fine. If he didn't, he would be investigated and punished. He and Wenxiang would be the perfect scapegoats!

A trace of helplessness and sadness flashed in Yi's eyes. Who would be willing to have all his things robbed by others? Even the common people in the capital were his own people. Just wait, now the enemy's army is at its peak and its momentum is as high as a rainbow. After Liu Ye's death, the entire north has no ability to resist. Even Senggelinqin was beaten and fled to who knows where. Even if Senggelinqin was there, it would be of no use. The more than 20,000 Khorchin cavalry under his command were almost wiped out in this battle. They were really badly injured. There will never be any Khorchin cavalry again!

Wen Xiang whispered, "Your Highness, we should also make preparations early. The peace talks are about to begin, and our nine hundred and eleven difficulties have just begun..."

Yi?'s face was filled with worry. He said, "But how can we negotiate? Grant and Yaman are so treacherous. How can we accept the terms they've given us? But if we don't accept them, how can we bargain with them?"

Wen Xiang sighed deeply, thinking that in times of national crisis one needs a good general. At this time, he thought of the omnipotent Liu Ye again. However, he was gone, so what was the use of thinking about him?

Yi sighed and said, "Liu Ye, Liu Ye, please don't die. As long as you are still alive, I, the prince, will be more confident. Now that you are no longer there to support me, how can I negotiate this matter?"

Wen Xiang smiled bitterly and said, "Your Highness, even if Liu Ye were still alive, it would be useless. We are already defeated. This is completely different from the last time. Last time, we won the battle and used war to promote peace. Liu Ye had a good grasp of the situation. But now, we are defeated. There is no army left in the capital area that can fight. To put it bluntly, even if the British and French forces want to take the Forbidden City now, we can only give it up to them obediently..."

Yi Xin said bitterly, "That won't do. No matter what, we can't accept all of their conditions. They're too harsh. If we accept them all, we'll all be criminals! I'm confused. How do the British and French envoys and generals know us so well? Every condition seems to target our weakest points, making it impossible for us to fight back!"

As Yi Xin was speaking, footsteps were heard outside and the gate of the palace was forcibly pushed open.

"Your Excellency, General Yaman, General Grant, this is Prince Gong's residence. I will show you the way! My Lord Prince Gong, the envoys from Britain and France have arrived. Why don't you hurry out to greet them?"

A sharp voice was heard!

Yi and Wenxiang were startled and looked up, immediately filled with anger. A Chinese man bowed and led Grant and others in.

"Gong Cheng! It's actually you! You scum!"

Yi Xin roared angrily!

Wen Xiang remained silent. Now he could only take things one step at a time.