Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

The expressions of Grant and Yaman behind them changed immediately. Liu Ye, this is the Liu Ye who killed so many people on the battlefield that the British and French forces were terrified! Damn, at least five or six thousand warriors died at his hands. This is the most mortal enemy of the British and French forces!

Grant's face turned pale and he said viciously, "Liu Ye? You're that Liu Ye! Are you really not dead?"

Liu Ye laughed out loud and replied, "What a joke! The person who can take my life hasn't been born yet!"

Prince Gong and Wenxiang at the back immediately became bolder when they heard Liu Ye's voice. This kid is really extraordinary. He was able to turn the momentum around right from the start and was not at a disadvantage at all!

Elgin and a few others seemed to take a look and their faces became serious. It seemed that the robbery incidents in the Gyeonggi area were definitely caused by him, and no one else had the ability to do this!

Grant shouted fiercely, "Gong Xiaogong, ask them if they were responsible for the robberies in the capital area over the past two or three days!"

Gong Xiaogong smiled apologetically, bowed, turned around, looked at the men, and shouted, "General Grat, I'm asking you, there have been many robberies in the capital area over the past three days. Was it you, Liu Ye, who sent people to do it? Are you trying to provoke a new war? Aren't you afraid that the entire city of Beijing will be burned down?"

Liu Ye sneered, "Gong Xiaogong, tell your foreign father behind you that I've been staying in Beijing for the past three days. I'm not responsible for anything that happens outside of Beijing. It has nothing to do with me! Damn it, if you don't have the ability to take care of your property, don't bite others! Hehe, you robbed the Old Summer Palace, and then you were robbed again. This is karma, the God is punishing you!"

Gong Xiaogong's face changed and he shouted, "Liu Ye, you have no right to speak here. I'm asking Prince Gong, you are not qualified to answer!"

Prince Gong said coldly, "Gong Xiaogong, you have to understand this. Liu Ye is a second-rank official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, appointed personally by the Emperor. His words are my words, and his intentions are my intentions! You are the one who has no right to shout!"

Liu Ye ignored Gong Xiaogong and spoke directly to Grant in English: "General Grant? Major General of the British Royal Horse Guards?"

Grant was stunned. He didn't expect that Liu Ye's English was so good, even more fluent than Gong Xiaogong's!

Grant replied: "Yes, I am Major General Grant of the British Empire!"

Liu Ye replied, "General Grant, as a soldier, I, Liu Ye, will only fight you on the battlefield. Playing tricks behind the scenes is a politician's trick. Honestly, if I hadn't had a problem along the way, do you think you could have broken through my defenses? You saw the three circular tunnel fortifications, right? As long as I hold out there for half a month, the armies of the capital region will gather in Tong County. By then, your nearly 10,000-strong coalition army will be nothing but a turtle in a jar!"

Grant laughed heartily. "Liu Ye, well done, you're indeed a qualified soldier. However, no matter how much you say, it's useless. We are the victors now! You are the loser. We are at the mercy of others. You should be aware of this, right?"

Liu Ye replied calmly, "Grant, it's too early to talk about victory now, isn't it? You've only occupied a small city, Beijing. You think you can conquer and hold the entire vast Chinese mainland with just 20,000 people? That's really overestimating your abilities, isn't it?"

Grant's face darkened, and he snorted, "I don't care about anything else. Now our belongings have been lost in the capital area, worth tens of millions of taels of silver. Either you annihilate the thieves in one fell swoop, or you revise the treaty and increase your compensation from 10 million taels to 15 million taels, a total of 30 million taels of silver! There is no third way!"

Liu Ye laughed and said, "First, that's not yours. You stole it, it's ill-gotten gains. Second, if it was robbed by thieves, you should go find the thieves, not our government. We have no obligation to recover it for you. Even if we wanted to recover it, the entire court has no troops in the north. How can we recover it? How can we suppress the bandits? Third, war reparations. Now you are invading us, why should we pay you compensation? You have already burned down half of Beijing. If there is any compensation, it should be you who pay us!"

Gong Xiaogong said grimly, "Liu Ye, don't refuse a toast and then drink a forfeit. Do you want to stir up another bloody storm in the capital area? If fighting breaks out again, I'm afraid the court will suffer more than just this little loss!"

Liu Ye scratched his ears and smiled at Grant, "General Grant, as soldiers, we have the same status. We are now conducting diplomatic negotiations. Please take the pug next to you out of here, or tell him to shut up completely. I have a bad temper. Once I kill this dog to eat with my wine, please don't feel bad..."

Gong Xiaogong's face suddenly turned ashen. He pointed at Liu Ye and shouted, "Liu Ye, you..."

Before Gong Xiaogong finished speaking, Grant shouted, "Okay, Gong, now is not your time to speak. You will be given the chance to speak later!"

Elgin handed the document bag to Prince Gong and said proudly, "Prince Gong, you are the chief plenipotentiary representative of the Qing government. Liu Ye is not qualified to accept this document. On behalf of the British Empire and the French Empire, I demand that you implement it according to the above terms. Otherwise, we will march on Rehe and demolish your palace in Rehe!"

Prince Gong took the document envelope, opened it, and read the document carefully: "Jinzhou, Tianjin, Yantai, Qingdao, Lianyungang, Xiamen and other coastal cities are hereby opened to British and French merchants to trade freely; all cities in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River are hereby opened to British and French merchants to trade freely; Hong Kong and the Kowloon Peninsula are ceded to the British Empire; unilateral most-favored-nation treatment is granted to Britain and France; compensation for the pensions of the diplomatic corps totaling 600,000 taels of silver is hereby paid to Britain and France for war reparations and cargo losses totaling 30 million taels of silver..."

Prince Gong's face turned pale immediately. These terms were even harsher than those of the previous two days. Much harsher!

Prince Gong replied with difficulty: "I'm sorry, Mr. Elgin, we really cannot accept the conditions between your country and France. You must lower your terms and withdraw your troops from Beijing..."

Elgin said proudly, "My noble prince, please consider this carefully. Otherwise, if war breaks out, it will be a disaster for both sides. Can you afford such consequences? I am not exaggerating!"

Gong Xiaogong, who was standing by, immediately became arrogant and shouted, "That's right, burn everything together!"