Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

However, Liu Ye couldn't care less now. The most important thing was to preserve certain achievements and minimize the loss of vitality for the country. As for the rest, he had to put them aside. The attacks from the court officials? I'm afraid of them. If they dare, they can jump out and bite me!

However, before the attack from the court officials arrived, a letter from Prince Senggelinqin of Gelchin did arrive.

Senggelinqin did not go to Chifeng, Suiyuan at all, but stayed near Changping, trying his best to gather the remaining troops, ready to fight with those damn foreign devils if the British and French forces attacked again or massacred the city!

However, Senggelinqin did not expect that Liu Ye could actually suppress the Anglo-French Allied Forces. Now the Anglo-French Allied Forces have begun to withdraw their forces to the capital and prepare to retreat. The details of Liu Ye's negotiations with the foreigners have also been reported to Senggelinqin.

Senggelinqin was shocked when he saw the terms. "Oh my god, this Liu Ye is really bold! He's going to spend two million taels of silver to redeem a pile of scrap metal!" That's two million taels of silver! Although Liu Ye had reduced the indemnity from nearly 20 million taels of silver to five million taels, wouldn't he be scolded to death by the ministers for spending such a large sum of money to redeem such a thing?

The upright officials in the court cannot stand seeing anyone do something meritorious. Even if you saved the court 15 million taels of silver, or even more, they might not praise you. But if you spent 2 million taels of silver in one go to exchange for those cultural relics, they will definitely not give up attacking you for such a wasteful behavior!

What's more, there's something even more serious! They're actually going to abolish the ritual of kneeling and bowing during audiences with the British and French envoys. This is a massive mess. What is the Celestial Empire? What is the Son of Heaven? What is the Supreme Being? Isn't it that, aside from China, all other countries in the world are vassal states of China? Now that the ritual of kneeling and bowing has been abolished, doesn't that mean foreign countries are on equal footing with the Qing Dynasty? How can this be a joke? I'm afraid those imperial censors will drown you in spit!

Even Senggelinqin himself was very dissatisfied, thinking that Liu Ye had handled the matter too foolishly. As the saying goes, starving to death is a small matter, but losing one's chastity is a big matter. Doesn't he want the dignity of a country?

After seeing the treaty, Senggelinqin immediately ordered the messenger to deliver an urgent letter to Liu Ye, asking him to change his decision immediately and sign a new contract!

However, the messenger was still too late, and the final contract text had already been sent to Rehe!

While Liu Ye was sitting alone in his mansion, the messenger arrived at his door.

When Liu Ye heard that the monk king had sent a messenger, he quickly invited the messenger in.

"I, Guo Songtao, editor of the Imperial Academy, pay my respects to Master Liu!"

A middle-aged official bowed to Liu Ye.

Guo Songtao?

Liu Ye's heart trembled, and he quickly bowed and replied, "Could it be that you are Guo Bochen, who assisted Zeng Disheng in suppressing the bandits?"

Guo Songtao was stunned. This Lord Liu actually knew him?

Guo Songtao quickly replied, "Yes, I am Guo Bochen, currently assisting the Monk King with military affairs..."

Liu Ye laughed and said, "Haha, I've heard a lot about Brother Bochen. It's a great honor to meet you today!"

Liu Ye had heard of Guo Songtao's name before. He had only been in this world for a year and couldn't even remember all the important officials in the court. How could he possibly remember a small editor in the Hanlin Academy?

However, Guo Songtao was very famous in the late Qing Dynasty because he was China's first envoy to a foreign country, and he was sent to Britain and France. During the Westernization Movement, Guo Songtao was the literary advisor of the Movement. During his mission to Europe, he was exposed to a lot of new things and began to vigorously advocate the Westernization Movement, advocated learning Western technology, encouraged the development of national industry, enriched the country and strengthened the military. He was an intermediary figure in the Westernization Movement. Unfortunately, although Guo Songtao was very talented, his future was far behind Zeng, Zuo and Li, and he was even worse than Shen Baozhen and Zhang Zhidong. This was because he was too stubborn and inflexible. He repeatedly hit a wall in officialdom and eventually had to end up in disgrace.

At this time, Guo Songtao was just a small editor in the Hanlin Academy, and his reputation had not yet been established. If he could be used for his own purposes, it would be a great help to him!

Guo Songtao was surprised to see Liu Ye hold him in such high esteem. Although Liu Ye's position wasn't high, his fame had indeed resonated throughout the world. Who didn't know Liu Ye, the man who had repeatedly turned the tide? There was Zeng Guofan in the south, and Liu Ye in the north. Liu Ye had become one of the most important pillars of the Qing court. He couldn't help but feel a little excited to be valued by him.

Guo Songtao quickly replied, "Lord Liu, you are too kind. I really don't deserve it."

Liu Ye smiled and said, "Alright, Brother Bochen, don't be so modest. I know that when you were suppressing bandits in the south, Lord Zeng helped you a lot, especially in foreign affairs, where he was no less than any other sage..."

Guo Songtao's face flushed. Westernization? Could it be that in this great Qing Dynasty, there was anyone who could surpass Lord Liu Ye in Westernization? Not even close. At the very least, he didn't have the ability to force the foreigners into such an awkward position twice!

Guo Songtao quickly replied, "Please forgive me, Master Liu. How dare I show off my meager knowledge in front of you? I am here to deliver a letter to you on behalf of the Monk King."

Having said this, Guo Songtao handed over Senggelinqin's letter.

Liu Ye opened the letter and quickly read it, his face suddenly darkening. Senggelinqin had severely reprimanded Liu Ye in the letter, accusing him of being ignorant of the seriousness of the matter and rashly agreeing to anything. He feared the attacks from the Qingliu would drown him! He quickly sought a way to renegotiate the peace and revise the treaty!

Liu Ye threw the letter aside and said silently, "Brother Bochen, you are too late. The messenger was sent to Rehe yesterday. I'm afraid it's almost reached the Rehe Palace now!"

Guo Songtao said anxiously, "Lord Liu, although I am not as good as you in foreign affairs, I have to say that this time, you acted a little rashly. This is a matter of great importance. How can you act on your own?"

Liu Ye said in a deep voice, "Brother Bochen, do you also think that canceling the audience with foreign envoys requires the kneeling ceremony? This is more important than millions of taels of silver?"

Guo Songtao was stunned. This question was out of his position and he hadn't thought deeply about it. Moreover, he and the monk king didn't get along very well, and the details of the treaty were very vague. Hearing Liu Ye's question, Guo Songtao pondered for a moment and said, "Sir Liu, the foreigners are now powerful. We are facing internal and external troubles. We really need to send them away as soon as possible. As for the etiquette of foreign affairs, I have heard that other countries do not directly perform the kneeling ceremony. However, the Qing Dynasty is the Qing Dynasty after all, and it is quite different from other countries..."