Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

"What conditions?"

Liu Ye replied, "Your Highness, please allow me to select soldiers from the army to form a firearms battalion!"

Senggelinqin was shocked and looked at Liu Ye solemnly. When she was training the Qing army at Dagukou Fort, she also put forward similar conditions, which was to drive away all opium-smoking termites. Today he put forward such a condition again!

Senggelinqin nodded slowly and replied, "I'm very pleased with you! However, if your firearms battalion cannot defeat two enemies alone in future exercises, I will personally chop off your head!"

The battle report was quickly delivered to the court.

Late at night, when Emperor Xianfeng was about to rest, the chief eunuch Lu Xi hurried to the door and called out, "Your Highness, Your Highness!"

Xianfeng frowned. It was so late, and yet he still came to disturb him. What was wrong with this old Lu Xi!

"whats the matter?"

"Your Majesty, Minister of War Chen Fuen and Grand Secretary Wenxiang request an audience with you regarding an urgent matter!"

Xianfeng was shocked. A Minister of War and a Grand Secretary came together. It seemed that there was really an urgent matter. Could it be that the Taiping rebels in the south were causing some big trouble again?

"Tell them to come in!"

Soon, Chen Fuen and Wen Xiang walked in one after the other. Both of them had happy faces, which was rare. In the past few years, the court had only heard bad news. Every time the two came to the court late at night, there was definitely nothing good going on!

It happened that two of them were on duty today, and it was already late. They were just about to rest when they unexpectedly received an official letter from Tianjin, expedited by six hundred miles, and it was a victory message! The two of them immediately understood that something was wrong at Dagukou. The victory message from Senggelinqin, the Khorchin Prince who was in charge there, must mean victory in the battle against the foreigners!

The two men didn't even bother to rest. They put on their court robes and ran into the palace to request an audience!

"Your Majesty, great joy, great joy! Victory from the Monk King of Tianjin!"

Xianfeng was immediately encouraged when he heard this. This was good news, this was what he had been looking forward to day and night!

"Tell me, what's going on!"

Chen Fu'en quickly replied, "Your Majesty, Khorchin Prince Senggelinqin has reported victory. At noon the day before yesterday, the English and French fleets raided the Dagu Forts, deploying thirty large and small warships to bombard Dagu. Zhili Admiral Shi Rongchun led his troops in a fierce battle, ultimately sinking five enemy ships and capturing the enemy flagship. Numerous other guns and ammunition were seized, and the enemy chief, Hebu, was killed instantly by a cannonball! A great victory, a great victory!"

Five enemy warships were sunk, the enemy flagship was captured, and the enemy leader was killed! This was the first victory against foreigners since the Opium War! It was absolutely a remarkable victory, a rare victory in more than a decade!

Xianfeng laughed heartily and shouted, "Yes, this is a great victory, a great victory! These foreign devils who always bully us have finally gotten their revenge! Great! Prince Khorchin is indeed a pillar of my government! Shi Rongchun is indeed a famous general! Rewards! The soldiers at the front fought bloody battles to achieve this victory. I will definitely reward them generously!"

After Xianfeng finished speaking, he suddenly noticed that the atmosphere had become somewhat awkward, and asked, "What's the matter? My dear ministers, shouldn't such a great victory be rewarded generously?"

Wen Xiang, standing aside, whispered, "Your Majesty! Such a great victory naturally calls for generous rewards for the troops. However, there is one thing Your Majesty is still unaware of. Although Dagukou was a great victory, Zhili Admiral Shi Rongchun, who personally braved the enemy's might and commanded the battle, was unfortunately killed by an enemy ship's shell. Lieutenant General Long Ruyuan was also killed by a stray bullet from a foreigner. The Monk King requests that special grace be granted to these fallen soldiers to demonstrate the majesty and virtue of the court..."

Emperor Xianfeng was stunned. He did not expect that although they had won a great victory, the two commanders at Dagukou also died heroically for their country. Emperor Xianfeng suddenly fell silent.

Wen Xiang continued, "Your Majesty, this is the memorial from the Monk King. Please review it..."

Xianfeng took the memorial, reviewed it carefully, and sighed, "Shi Yintang not only braved the arrows and stones himself, risking his life, but also selected talented soldiers for the court. This Liu Ye is a remarkable figure. The monk king is always arrogant and looks down on others, but this time he also praised him highly. It seems that this man has some talent."

Chen Fu'en replied, "Your Majesty, Shi Rongchun died for the country, Liu Ye made numerous contributions, and there are also Long Ruyuan, He Zhengqing and others. The Monk King has clearly listed the achievements of each person. We need to establish a rule for this matter, especially for Lord Shi Rongchun's death for the country. This reward..."

Xianfeng nodded and replied, "Yes, we cannot let the soldiers lose heart. You two can discuss this matter first, and then make a final decision at the court tomorrow morning. The Ministry of Rites will make the final decision."

"twitter!"

Chen Fu'en quickly agreed and continued, "Your Majesty, in addition to this, the Monk King also submitted another memorial. He proposed suggestions on the current disputes between Britain, France and the imperial court. He believed that the imperial court should take advantage of this great victory at Dagukou to once again ask for peace from both countries. Unlike last year, this time we have won and are in the initiative. Last year, our Guangzhou city was occupied by them, and Shanghai was also swarming with warships, attempting to coerce the imperial court with force. But now, there are still two or three hundred foreign prisoners at Dagukou, and their flagship is still in the water at Dagukou. Our Great Qing Empire is the Celestial Empire, and its majesty cannot be violated! As long as Britain and France are willing to make concessions, then asking for peace is the best policy. Now the imperial court is in constant internal troubles. The Taiping Rebellion and the Nian Bandits have been repeatedly suppressed, and disasters have occurred in various places. It is time to focus on domestic stability. Once the Jianghuai area is pacified, then it is time to start a war with the foreign countries..."

Emperor Xianfeng asked for the memorial and read it carefully, feeling a little unhappy. Since he could defeat the foreigners, he should give them a good beating! Why was he still hesitant? The last Opium War really made the Celestial Empire lose face. It was a loss of sovereignty and humiliation for the country. It was really disheartening. However, the saying that one must first stabilize the country before resisting foreign aggression still touched Xianfeng's heart. The Taiping rebels had been causing trouble for almost ten years and were a serious concern. The money and grain spent on them every year were countless. Now the Taiping rebels also occupied Jiangsu and Anhui. The stone bandits in Sichuan were also very fierce. The war was constant and the treasury was empty. At this time, it was really not appropriate to start a war with the foreigners.

Xianfeng replied calmly, "Alright, let's discuss this matter at tomorrow's morning court. What the Monk King said makes sense. Let's see if the officials in the court have any other opinions."

There was nothing else to do, so the two adults left the palace.

Chen Fuen whispered, "Master Wen, what does the emperor mean today? He doesn't seem that excited."

Wen Xiang replied calmly, "Master Chen, it's obvious that the Emperor thinks the Monk King is a bit cowardly. He's using war to force peace. Why should we be bullied? Why not vent our anger while we can?"

hiss……

Chen Fuen took a breath...