Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

Now there is only Tsarist Russia left. Without the protection of Britain and France, Tsarist Russia is alone and unable to make any moves. Now, it is not so easy to gain benefits. No matter who wants to negotiate with Tsarist Russia, the Qing government will probably not give in!

Once the negotiation results were reported to the court, they caused a sensation!

There were those who cursed him, those who admired him, and some who declared that Liu Ye was a man of great talent, fully qualified to be the governor of a province, and that he possessed extraordinary talents in both civil and military affairs, and that he was the second Zeng Guofan! Others gnashed their teeth in hatred, wishing they could eat Liu Ye alive!

However, anyone with insight knew that for the sake of peace, Liu Ye had to give up some benefits. For example, the three million taels of silver in war reparations paid to Britain and France totaled six million taels of silver. Including interest, that would have been close to eight million taels. However, Liu Ye exchanged this silver for a large amount of weapons and equipment, which was a win-win situation. He gave face to Britain and France while also benefiting himself. Once he had acquired a large amount of firearms, it would have been easy to defeat the Taiping Rebellion and the Nian Bandits! Although Liu Ye opened up a large number of trading ports to Britain and France, allowing British goods to enter China freely, he withdrew unilateral most-favored-nation treatment and imposed relevant taxes on both countries. Although there would be a certain amount of wealth loss in the short term, the Qing government's most important reputation was saved. Unilateral most-favored-nation treatment was the most painful scar in the court's heart!

The only two unsatisfactory issues were the ambassador to Beijing and missionary affairs, but these two clauses were only symbolic and would not cause much harm to China. At the same time, strengthening exchanges would also help promote exchanges between the East and the West. Without the introduction of democratic ideas from Western society, it would be extremely difficult to overthrow the Qing government.

Xianfeng was quite satisfied with the outcome of the peace talks. At the very least, Liu Ye had found a way to save his status as emperor. Compensation? That wasn't called compensation, it was military procurement! Opening a trading port? I even got back the unilateral most-favored-nation treatment. At the very least, I hadn't lost face for my ancestors. Even if Long Yu passed away, I would be able to see them in person!

Emperor Xianfeng praised Yi Wenxiang and Liu Ye profusely, urging them to keep up the good work and to finally defeat Tsarist Russia and restore order to the Qing Dynasty. As for the princes and ministers below, with Emperor Xianfeng so enthusiastic, no one wanted to discourage them. They asked, "Why didn't you do your job well? Now others have done it, and you're criticizing them? Is this emperor really that easy to fool?"

Immediately afterwards, Prince Gong Yixin and Grand Secretary Wenxiang jointly submitted a memorial requesting the establishment of the Zongli Yamen to be responsible for all foreign affairs, including politics, economy, trade, diplomacy, military and other fields!

The facts are now very clear, that is, the original Lifanyuan was not enough to deal with the accusations and coercion of foreigners, and the ministers in the court were all ignorant and could not tell what diplomacy was!

After reading the memorial, Emperor Xianfeng asked his courtiers, "My dear ministers, what do you think?"

Minister of War Mu Meng said, "Your Majesty, I think what Prince Gong said makes a lot of sense. We are now increasingly interacting with countries like Britain, the United States, France, and Russia. In the West, there are also countries like Spain and Italy. The court lacks the talent and institutions to handle foreign affairs. When dealing with people from these countries, language is the biggest problem. Therefore, establishing an institution specifically responsible for foreign affairs is a top priority. I believe it should be done!"

Seeing Mu Meng’s statement, others also expressed their agreement.

Seeing that the opposition in the court was not very strong, Xianfeng immediately agreed to the two people's request. However, Xianfeng did not want to just hand over the Prime Minister of the Zongli Yamen to Yizhen. After all, this guy was too dangerous. He was the most beloved prince of the late emperor, the most capable one among his brothers, and the first prince of the Qing Dynasty. If he took control of the Zongli Yamen, it would be difficult to restrict him in the future.

Xianfeng pondered for a moment and appointed Prince Yi Zaiyuan as the chief minister of the Zongli Yamen, and Grand Secretaries Wenxiang and Guiliang as ministers. At the same time, he promoted Liu Ye to the position of general secretary of the Zongli Yamen. As for the Westernization Affairs, the only person who could make Xianfeng feel at ease was Liu Ye. There were also a few talented people in the south, but they could not be mobilized now. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s war was at its most tense, and Zeng Guofan and others could not afford to be distracted at all.

As soon as the decree came down, Yi Xin's face darkened to a frightening gloom. "Damn it! I've spent most of the day, going through difficult negotiations with Britain, the US, and France, and repeatedly discussing it with Wen Xiang, with Liu Ye constantly suggesting ideas, before finally drafting this memorial to the Zongli Yamen. Now, the Yamen is established, but I haven't gotten any of the benefits. It all went to that brat Zai Yuan! This is really too much!"

But Yi? had no choice. After all, the emperor now was Xianfeng, not himself. When you are under someone else's roof, how can you not bow your head?

Back at Prince Gong's mansion, Yi Xin was filled with grievances, but with nowhere to vent them. He hid in his study, feeling depressed and even chased his wife out! The servants didn't dare approach him!

At this moment, Liu Ye leisurely arrived at the gate of Prince Gong's Mansion and came to pay his respects. When the door was opened, Ejier was overjoyed and pulled Liu Ye in from outside, shouting, "My dear brother, you are finally here, Lord Liu. The prince is sulking right now, and we servants dare not approach. You are the prince's favorite, so you should go and see him, but don't make the master angry..."

Liu Ye smiled and replied, "Ejier, it's okay. I'll go see the prince. Nothing will go wrong with me here. I know why the prince is angry. I promise you, as long as the prince sees me, he will be smiling in no time!"

Ejier was overjoyed and shouted, "Brother, if you can make the prince happy, I will personally run to the back and find the wife to report your achievement. But you don't know that the prince just drove the wife out..."

Liu Ye replied, "Okay, I'll go see the prince right away."

Arriving at the door of the study, Liu Ye said loudly: "I, Liu Ye, kneel to greet His Majesty."

Yi Yi was sulking in the room. When he heard Liu Ye coming, he immediately became alert, opened the door, and said calmly, "Come in, kid!"

After Liu Ye came in, he smiled and said, "Congratulations, Your Highness. Congratulations, Your Highness?"

Yi Yi glared at Liu Ye angrily and replied, "What's there to congratulate? A good position was given away to that bastard Zai Yuan for nothing! It's really frustrating!"

Liu Ye smiled mysteriously and replied, "Your Highness, that's wrong. Although this position is prestigious, not everyone can hold it securely. Zai Yuan is more of a hindrance than a success. I'm afraid he's about to face great trouble. Your Highness, it's far from the time for you to step out of retirement..."