Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

Having just finalized the cooperation with Hua Ruohan and Colt, Liu Ye faced another diplomatic negotiation.

Zongli Yamen.

Prince Gong, Wenxiang, Liu Ye and the British and French diplomatic corps once again clashed.

The conspiracy to put pressure on the Qing government to deal with Liu Ye completely failed, causing great embarrassment to both Britain and France. Elgin and Gros were no longer polite and directly put forward the final plan, which was almost identical to the previous plan. They clamored that the Qing government must meet the demands of the two countries, otherwise the British and French forces would definitely march into Rehe!

At this time, the person in charge of Qing court's diplomacy had undoubtedly shifted to Liu Ye. Although Prince Gong was the imperial commissioner with full powers, due to his limited ability, Yi Xin transferred power to Liu Ye without hesitation. He just sat on the side and only stood up when he was needed to express his opinion. Anyway, his skills were far inferior to Liu Ye's. It would be better for him to just take a sedan chair. If the negotiation was successful, the credit would be his. Even if the negotiation failed, there was nothing he could do. If he couldn't even defeat Liu Ye, then his royal brother would have no room to blame him.

Liu Ye looked at Elgin and Gross. The two were arrogant and conceited, and had already put on an unreasonable attitude. Trying to reason with them or beg for mercy would only bring trouble.

Am I afraid of you? What a joke!

Liu Ye thought to himself, but with a cold smile on his face, he replied, "Mr. Ministers, is it really okay for you to do this? We Chinese have a saying, 'Leave a way out for each other so that we can meet again in the future.' Now you have done something so extreme that when we meet again in the future, I'm afraid you will be embarrassed!"

Elgin sneered, "Meet? Haha, you're still dreaming of meeting in the future? If we meet again, I'm afraid your situation will be even more miserable. Not only will we take Beijing, but the entire Zhili region will fall into our hands. The thirty million silver indemnity will probably become three hundred million!"

Liu Ye replied calmly: "What if I don't agree?"

Gro interrupted, replying, "If you refuse to sign, in three days our Anglo-French allied forces will march directly into Rehe. This is certain. You can just wait for Emperor Xianfeng to become our prisoner!"

Yi Xin's face changed immediately at the back. After all, Xianfeng was his brother and the emperor. This Ge Luo was being too presumptuous!

Liu Ye remained calm and replied, "Troops into Rehe? Hahahaha, I'm afraid you won't even have a chance to march out of Shanhaiguan!"

Having said this, Liu Ye raised his hand and threw an urgent report in front of Ge Luo, saying, "Look, my two thousand elite troops from Baoding Town have arrived at the foot of Shanhaiguan. Do you think you can still break through the defense line of Shanhaiguan?"

Gro and Elgin's faces changed drastically, and they quickly handed the letter to the translator. After reading it, the translator whispered, "Yes, Mr. Minister, this letter is an urgent report from Zuo Baogui, the guerrilla general of Baoding Town, to Liu Ye. Zuo Baogui has led 2,000 elite soldiers from Baoding Town to Shanhaiguan and has taken over the city defense!"

Gro and Elgin were stunned. The elite troops of Baoding Town? Of course they knew this was Liu Ye's direct line. It was Liu Ye who led the Baoding Town army of over 3,000 men to crush the Russian army of 7,000 to 8,000 men and drive them out of the Jiangdong region in one fell swoop!

If the two thousand elite troops of Baoding Town were truly holding Shanhaiguan firmly, relying on Shanhaiguan's sturdy defenses and elite firearms, it would be almost impossible to break through the city defenses. Even if a breakthrough were possible, the casualties of the British and French forces would be horrific! Shanhaiguan is known as China's most powerful pass and the only throat from the outside to the inside!

CTMD, I fell into the trap!

No wonder Liu Ye has been so calm these days. It turns out he's waiting for reinforcements. This is his stalling tactic! Damn it!

Gro's face turned pale, and Elgin's face was even uglier!

Elgin roared, "Liu Ye, you're so damn treacherous! I'm not done with you. Even if I can't take Shanhaiguan, I'll burn the entire city of Beijing down to the ground!"

Yi Xin and Wen Xiang at the back were shaking with fear. Damn, Liu Ye, don’t play with fire. If you really piss them off and let them burn down the whole city of Beijing, you will die a hundred times!

Liu Ye said coldly, "Ergin, Gro, you two should open your eyes and see the situation clearly! Now is not the time for you to blackmail others. I, Liu Ye, am not dead yet! Burn down Beijing? Then I will let your more than 10,000 British and French troops be buried with you! No one will be spared, not to mention the British and French troops, even all the British and French merchants will be killed. The men will be buried alive, and the women will be raped and killed! I, Liu Ye, will do what I say!"

Gro laughed in anger and shouted, "Liu Ye, aren't you afraid of your tongue being blown away by the wind? Are you relying on the two thousand elite troops you sent to attack Baoding at Shanhaiguan? They are not qualified, not even enough to fill the gaps in the teeth of our Anglo-French coalition!"

Liu Ye sneered, then handed over two more urgent reports and sneered, "What about the reinforcements from Henan and Shaanxi?"

Ge Luo took the urgent report and shouted, "Interpreter, translate it for me quickly. What's the content?"

After reading it, the interpreter stammered, "Your Excellency, this is an urgent report from the governors of Henan and Shaanxi. Twenty battalions of six thousand soldiers from Henan's Green Camp have arrived in Baoding and are advancing towards the capital. Twenty-four battalions of eight thousand soldiers from Shaanxi's Green Camp have passed Datong and are advancing towards the capital. They will all converge in Beijing in three days at the fastest, six days at the slowest!"

Gro and Elgin looked at each other in bewilderment. Damn it! More than 10,000 Qing reinforcements have already arrived in the capital area! If they get into a tough battle, it will definitely not be a good thing for the British and French forces!

Ge Luo said coldly, "So what? They're just some veteran soldiers. Even the 20,000 elite troops under Senggelinqin were defeated by us. With only 10,000 soldiers, and they're local troops, they're even more vulnerable! Liu Ye, is this your last barrier?"

Liu Ye laughed heartily and said, "Ge Luo, if you hadn't reminded me, I would have forgotten that Prince Senggelinqin has been eager to avenge his previous defeat. He has already recruited another 6,000 Mongolian cavalrymen in the Suiyuan area. I'm sure his cavalrymen will arrive before the two Green Camp reinforcements, right?"

The two men's faces turned even uglier. Furthermore, there were Senggelinqin's 6,000 cavalrymen! Damn it! Liu Ye had such a formidable strategy, already setting up such a massive chess game outside the capital. Now Britain and France were in a very passive position!