Slaying the Qing: My Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

"Your Excellency, our British Empire and Gallic Empire have always desired to maintain closer relations with the Qing Empire. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is not only an enemy of the Qing Empire, but also an enemy of the British Empire and Gallic Empire."

We can absolutely unite and fight the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom together!

Count Elgin, Minister of the British Empire to the Qing Empire and Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces, said.

Baron Gros, the plenipotentiary representative of the Gallo-British Empire, nodded repeatedly.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency, the Taiping Rebellion has already caused enormous losses to the Qing Dynasty. These rebels and rioters should all be executed. His Majesty has already said that if the British Empire and the Gallic Empire are willing to assist the Qing Dynasty in suppressing the Taiping Rebellion, then you will be friends of the Qing Dynasty."

Our Great Qing Dynasty is absolutely generous to its friends. You two can rest assured about that!

Du Han, a Grand Councilor of the Qing Dynasty, acted as if the Qing Dynasty had everything.

Duhan had absolutely no experience in diplomacy.

Or rather, the entire Qing Dynasty's leadership was still immersed in the fantasy of being a superior celestial empire.

Even though they were utterly thrashed by the foreign devils more than a decade ago, they still acted superior.

Count Elgin and Baron Gros exchanged a glance, and a smile involuntarily appeared on their faces.

"Your Excellency, we hope to establish a legation in Yanjing. Furthermore, we would like to invite the Qing Empire to establish legations in both our countries as well, thereby strengthening our ties," said Baron Gros.

"No problem!" Du Han immediately agreed.

Sending envoys to the British Empire and the Gallic Empire was undoubtedly a difficult task. But with so many officials in the Qing Dynasty, there were bound to be a few unlucky ones.

"We hope that the Qing Empire can open more ports for trade and expand trade. In particular, the opium trade should not be restricted by the Qing Empire!" Count Elgin seized the opportunity to make this request.

"The Qing Dynasty can agree to these conditions!" Du Han also had no objections.

"Your Excellency, we need to establish more concessions. After all, a large number of our diplomats and officials have arrived in the Qing Empire and need places to live and do business," Baron Gross reiterated his request.

Du Han frowned; he thought these foreigners were really insatiable.

However, in order to use the strength of these foreign devils to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, these conditions were not unacceptable.

"Your Excellency Earl, Your Excellency Baron, our Great Qing Dynasty can accept all these conditions. As long as you can help our Great Qing Dynasty to wipe out the Taiping Rebellion, these conditions are not a problem!" Du Han said.

Count Elgin and Baron Gros were overjoyed.

The British Empire and the Gallic Empire have always pursued their goals, and they seem to have achieved them with ease!

"Your Excellency, please rest assured. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has brazenly attacked our concessions, arrested our consuls and other diplomatic personnel, and also attacked our troops, causing us enormous losses. We will absolutely not let them get away with this."

This time, the Empire and the British Empire will once again mobilize an army of over 30,000 to launch an attack on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

"That's what Count Elgin said."

"Thirty thousand men? Isn't that a bit too few? The Taiping rebels already have hundreds of thousands of troops!" Duhan seemed dissatisfied with the size of the army sent by the British and the Gauls.

In his view, weren't the British and the Gauls supposed to be world-class powers? It was really petty of them to only be able to send out such a small number of troops.

"Your Excellency, because Europe is too far from the Far East, the number of troops we can deploy is very limited. However, our army is equipped with advanced firearms and artillery and is well-trained, far superior to the rabble of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

Thirty thousand troops were enough to crush the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Furthermore, if the battle does not go smoothly, we will send more troops as reinforcements.

We must defeat the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!

Count Elgin assured him.

This undoubtedly reassured Du Han.

"Your Excellency Earl, Your Excellency Baron, the Qing Dynasty will also fully cooperate with you. At that time, the Qing Dynasty will mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops to attack the Taiping Rebellion from multiple directions."

"If we unite, we will definitely wipe out the Taiping rebels this time!"

Du Han appeared very confident about the upcoming war with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

"Yes, Your Excellency, we will surely achieve victory. To celebrate our agreement, let us hold another banquet tonight!" said Count Elgin.

Du Han was immediately excited.

"Is there a dance at the banquet?" Du Han asked quickly.

"Of course, Your Excellency!" Count Elgin was well aware of Duhan's thoughts.

Duhan found himself becoming increasingly vulnerable to foreign women.

He was even considering whether to take a few foreign women as concubines.

However, as a Grand Councilor of the Qing Dynasty, he was a role model for scholars throughout the land. Taking a foreign woman as a concubine would likely cause him considerable trouble.

This made Du Han very hesitant.

Or, we might as well just keep it outside as a mistress.

When you have time, you can go and have a little affair, that's the true romance of a scholar!

Du Han was having such a good time in Hong Kong that he completely forgot about home.

If it weren't for the imperial decree, he wouldn't know how much longer he planned to stay on Hong Kong Island.

However, just as he was about to leave Hong Kong Island, he received another piece of good news.

That is, the British Empire and the Gallo-British Empire have once again increased their troop strength.

The British Empire received an additional 30,000 troops, while the Gallo Empire received an additional 2.

This caused the ground forces of the combined forces of the British Empire and the Gallo-British Empire to surge from 30,000 to 80,000.

This number is already much higher than in another timeline.

Of course, this is also because in another timeline, the British Empire and the Gallic Empire were only dealing with the corrupt and backward Qing Dynasty. In this timeline, however, they were dealing with the incomparably powerful Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

In order to ensure victory, the British and the Gauls naturally had to do everything in their power.

Duhan was naturally very satisfied with the reinforcements from the British and the Gauls.

In his view, with the British Empire and the Gallic Empire continuing to reinforce their troops, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was doomed this time.

Once he returned to Yanjing, he would have an explanation to give to Emperor Xianfeng.

By the time Du Han returned to Tianjin by boat and then to Yanjing by carriage, it was already the end of May 1858.

This trip to Hong Kong truly broadened his horizons.

He not only brought back many novelties, but also two foreign women who were willing to come back with him.

This made Du Han feel a great sense of accomplishment.

"Your Majesty, during my trip to Hong Kong, I formally formed an alliance with the British Empire and the Gallic Empire. The British Empire and the Gallic Empire plan to send an additional 80,000 well-trained troops equipped with new firearms and cannons to launch an attack on the Taiping Rebellion."

"When the time comes, if our Great Qing mobilizes troops from all provinces to launch a siege against the Taiping rebels, we will surely be able to wipe them out in one fell swoop!"

Du Han reported.

"Excellent, truly wonderful! Minister Du has lived up to my expectations during this mission, and I will reward him handsomely!" Emperor Xianfeng was overjoyed upon hearing this news.

In his view, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was not easy to deal with.

But if foreigners are involved, then everything will be fine.

"Lord Du, what are the foreigners' conditions?" asked Grand Councilor Bo Jun.

"My Lord, the foreigners have proposed to establish a legation in Beijing and have invited the Qing Dynasty to establish a legation in their country, with each side sending envoys to the other. In addition, the foreigners hope that the Qing Dynasty can open more ports for trade and expand trade with them. Furthermore, they also request that the Qing Dynasty lease more land to them to establish concessions."

However, I believe that anything is acceptable as long as the Taiping Rebellion can be eradicated.

The Taiping Rebellion has become a major threat to our Great Qing Dynasty, and we must do everything in our power to eradicate it!

I'd pay any price for this!

Du Han said.

This view was also endorsed by Emperor Xianfeng.

He also regarded the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as a major threat to the Qing Dynasty.

If the Qing Dynasty wanted to continue its rule, it had to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.