Master Yuan, start!

Third, Taiwan could not be ceded. Even though there were still thousands of French troops on the island, Li Hongzhang expressed his unwillingness to give it up.

"Compensation can be discussed later, but the cession of Taiwan is a matter of great importance. It would be difficult for the court to explain to the world if it loses Taiwan." Li Hongzhang had been somewhat shaken by Badno's intimidation, but he still tried to fight for it under Yuan Shikai's firm gaze.

"Sir Li, if Taiwan is not ceded, the Paris government will feel ashamed in the eyes of the world and may even send more troops to wash away the shame." Badno pressed on, then, as if remembering something, said to Li Hongzhang with a half-smile:

"A few days ago, Russian Minister Radren asked me if the Paris government was willing to invest in Russia's Far Eastern coastal areas. After all, although the Russians have acquired a large area of ​​land north of the Amur River and the Heilongjiang River, they lack the funds to develop it.

He was drinking and regretfully told me that he should have gone further south. The land south of the Amur River was more fertile and the climate was warmer. I thought he was joking, so after finishing my drink, I ordered my attendants to take him back to the Russian embassy.

At this point, Badno's voice became increasingly gloomy, but the threat in his tone became stronger and stronger.

“But it just occurred to me that investing in Russia’s Far Eastern coastal region might be a good business. After all, the financiers in Paris are waving gold francs around, wondering where to expand their capital.

Don’t you agree, Mr. Li Hongzhang?”

The Englishman Hurd, who was standing by, frowned and said nothing after hearing Badno's threat.

However, both the French and Japanese sides were concentrating on the negotiations and did not notice the change in Hurd's expression.

The French threatened to jointly invade China from the south with France and Russia in order to force Li Hongzhang to submit. This was really beyond his expectations. He did not expect that the French wanted to involve the Russians so early.

The Russians are well-known for their power and have annexed millions of Chinese territories. Their reputation is much greater than that of the French.

Yuan Xiangcheng was not afraid when he heard this, and he was confident that the Russians were not prepared for a large-scale southward advance before the Trans-Siberian Railway was completed.

7 But he could not convince others not to be afraid. Even if he could convince Li Hongzhang in front of him, he could not convince the "high officials" in the court.

If this negotiation fails, the French will definitely spread the news that France and Russia intend to unite, and the third negotiation will then be even more passive.

As expected, Li Hongzhang was stunned for a moment when he heard this. His lips moved up and down, and his beard trembled. Finally, he said, "The amount of indemnity is too huge. It is beyond our country's ability to bear it today. Can it be reduced?"

"No more reduction." Badno took a sip of coffee produced in Saigon, looking calm.

"Please reduce the indemnity by another 500 million. Taiwan cannot give in."

"If this is the case, France should dispatch troops from Saigon and take Taiwan itself."

2. "Your country has not yet fully occupied the entire island of Taiwan. Why cede the entire island? Is it okay to just take one or two ports?"

"Your Excellency seems to be saying that there is no reason to demand the cession of territory that has not yet been fully occupied. Why did your country cede Eastern Siberia to Russia?"

"The cession of Eastern Siberia to Russia was not a result of the war."

"Ceding Taiwan is also a reasonable demand during peace talks."

"Taiwan and Heilongjiang are worlds apart; they are completely incomparable. Heilongjiang is a barren land, sparsely populated, and unregulated. On the other hand, Taiwan has fertile soil, abundant resources, and its people are educated and governed by government offices, just like in mainland China."

"But in terms of ceding territory under Chinese sovereignty, Taiwan is no different from Heilongjiang, regardless of the fertility of the land."

Seeing the two sides arguing, Yuan Xiangcheng was anxious and worried, and quickly winked at Hed who was standing beside him.

Hurd had long been touched by Badno's words, and now he understood what he meant. He took the initiative to say, "How about both sides take a step back?"

After saying this, Hart turned to Li Hongzhang and said, "If ceding Taiwan is impossible, we can lease it, just like the British Empire leased Kowloon in Guangdong. Why not set a longer lease term, say 99 years?"

After saying this, Hart suggested to Badno, "France has made a long expedition, and the most important thing is to get the captured troops home. I think asking the Qing to pay an additional 500 million taels of silver in compensation, while also leasing Taiwan and giving up the protectorate over Vietnam, is already a huge concession. France should stop while it's ahead."

The British Empire would also be happy to see Parisian capitalists use their funds to build Taiwan instead of lending to the Russians. Is that right, Mr. Badno?"

Hart's words were soft but firm at the same time. On the surface, they were asking Li Hongzhang to make concessions and generally agree to the French demands.

In fact, it implies that the French have had enough. If they really bring in the Russians, the British Empire will not agree.

9 Seeing this, Badno had no choice but to agree. Li Hongzhang felt as if he had been pardoned and looked at Hart with gratitude.

4 Only Yuan Xiangcheng was staring at Inoue Xin who didn't say anything in the corner, with a cold look in his eyes that was obvious to him.

2. Although Taiwan belongs to the Qing Dynasty, it belongs even more to China. If we give Taiwan away this time, it will cost a hundred times more manpower, material resources and financial resources to take it back in the future.

However, since one is under someone's roof, one has to bow his head. Yuan Xiangcheng could only accept it and not argue any further.

Badno's threat to transfer troops from Saigon to take over Taiwan was not groundless.

Third, they really have the ability to do so. They can mobilize troops from the Mediterranean. Algeria, Egypt, local governance, and Saigon along the way are all French colonies or spheres of influence.

Lin's supply along the way is very convenient, and if the French are pushed to the limit, there is no guarantee that they will not take desperate measures.

5 As for the threat from the Russians that Badno mentioned later, Yuan Shikai was not too worried, as he had already reached a consensus with Hart.

Yuan Shikai promised that after the Sino-French negotiations were concluded, he would return to Korea to guard against Russian infiltration and invasion from the northeast.

And Hart had witnessed the capabilities of Yuan Shikai's Right Army in Jiashen, and was also willing to reach such cooperation with Yuan Shikai.

The two men agreed at Hart's residence that day that in addition to guarding against Russia, Hart would also use his domestic connections to provide Yuan Shikai with professional guidance in various industries, including but not limited to textiles, metallurgy, mining, electricity, gunpowder, etc.

At the same time, it also supported Yuan Shikai in sending students to study science, technology and industrial knowledge in the UK.

Therefore, with the British as his backer, Yuan Shikai was confident that he could deal with even the Russians, and naturally would not pay too much attention to the Meiji government of Japan, which was still in its infancy.

Yuan Shikai knew very well what the Japanese were thinking. They simply wanted to take advantage of the French cutting their own meat to have a drink of the Qing Dynasty's broth.

However, Yuan Shikai would not give them this opportunity, and Li Hongzhang was not overly afraid of the Japanese.

So Inoue Kaoru came in a hurry, but got nothing, and was about to go back in shame.

Seeing that the peace treaty was about to be drafted, Inoue Kaoru could no longer sit still and threatened: "The Qing Dynasty has done this without any regard for the feelings of the Japanese people. Don't they fear the bayonets of the Japanese army?"

Before Li Hongzhang could speak, Yuan Xiangcheng could not help but retort: ​​"Let's put on bayonets. If the Japanese soldiers had bayonets, our Jiashen Right Army would certainly use cannons to bombard them. Let's let Mr. Inoue see whether the Japanese bayonets are sharper or the Chinese cannons are more powerful."

Taiwan was "leased" to France, and Yuan Shikai was in a state of confusion. The Japanese suddenly appeared at this time, just when Yuan Shikai was in a depressed mood, so naturally he was not in a good mood.

Inoue Kaoru was proud and arrogant. He was originally entrusted by Ito Hirobumi to come to China as a special envoy with plenipotentiary powers. He never expected to be insulted like this.

For a moment, his hair stood up on end, and he looked like a mad monkey.

His right hand pointed at Yuan Xiangcheng's arm and trembled: "You...you are disrespecting the Great Japanese Empire. You will definitely regret it!"

After he finished speaking, without waiting for Yuan Xiangcheng to reply, he stood up with a bang, slammed the door and left without even saying goodbye to Badno and Hurd.

Li Hongzhang was originally in a depressed mood after signing the treaty, but when he saw that the Japanese suffered a great loss due to Yuan Shikai's words, he also laughed out loud.

Badno had no intention of being reserved. France and Japan sent troops together on the surface, but no treaty was signed. It was just an agreement between military personnel and informed to the government.

It would have been fine if they had succeeded, but now they have failed. So they have no qualms about mocking their former "ally" the Japanese.

Hurd was even more straightforward. When he saw Inoue Kaoru slam the door and leave, he burst into laughter.

When Inoue Kaoru heard the laughter of Chinese and foreigners coming from inside the house, her steps became a little messy, but she still pushed open the door firmly and walked out of the Hurd Mansion.

After the peace agreement was reached, Li Hongzhang and Badno signed the Sino-French-Vietnamese Taiwan Treaty one after another.

The treaty was written in Chinese and French, and was supplemented by English, a third language, as a reference under the witness of Robert Hart.

After the signing was completed, Li Hongzhang and Yuan Shikai took their leave one after another. Badno also planned to send the treaty money to the Paris government. He walked briskly and hummed a little tune.

The bottom line given to him by the Paris government was to keep Vietnam and occupy Taiwan if possible, or let it go if not. The compensation should be as high as 4000 million taels, which was the same amount of military compensation demanded by France when the Sino-French War just broke out.

But under Badno's intimidation, it was successfully "leased" to Taiwan. This was undoubtedly an unexpected surprise.

Although the indemnity was only 2000 million taels, the value of Taiwan was far greater than the remaining 2000 million taels, and Vietnam's protection rights were successfully obtained.

Badno could already imagine how the people of Paris would celebrate the great diplomatic victory he had brought. At the same time, his own name would surely be engraved in the minds of the officials of the Republic.

There is no doubt that he is the biggest winner in this negotiation.

...

As for Li Hongzhang, after signing the treaty, he immediately took the paper with wet ink to the Forbidden City and requested an audience with Cixi, Guangxu and the other military ministers.

When the ministers saw such a treaty, some sighed with regret, some were angry at the lack of opposition, but no one spoke out against it.

Seeing this, Cixi could only say slowly: "It seems that I really can't bear the burden of the Qing Dynasty. I am ashamed of the late emperor!" After that, she covered her face and sobbed.

Behind the curtain, no one knew whether Cixi was crying for real or fake, but what did Cixi mean by this? Did she really want to give up or was she testing them?

Yixun reacted the fastest. If Cixi was to give up her post, his son Guangxu would benefit the most, so he had to speak out.

"Your Majesty is in the prime of life, full of energy. The country needs you to be its pillar of support in times of crisis."

Prince Li Shiduo, though not particularly shrewd, knew what to say when he saw the situation. "That's exactly what's going on. Furthermore, Your Majesty is only fourteen years old, not yet old enough to rule the country. The Qing Empire is overwhelmed with countless affairs every day, and only the Empress Dowager can rule the country!"

Yi X's eyes rolled up immediately, thinking to himself, if you can't speak, then don't speak. Emperor Kangxi captured Oboi at the age of fourteen and officially took power.

You say this because you are afraid that my son will become the emperor safely, right?

As soon as Shiduo finished speaking, Cixi sobbed even louder, and choked with sobs, she said, "If that's the case, the emperor is fourteen years old, and the emperor was also fourteen when he led the expedition. Li Lianying, please make arrangements. In two days, I will move to the old site of the Qingyi Garden and there will be no need for renovations."

Cixi was not satisfied with this. She also opened the curtain, called Guangxu to her, took his hand and said, "Emperor, from now on, the Qing Dynasty will be handed over to you. I have not done well in these years, but I have managed to keep the Qing Dynasty respectable. It is reasonable for you to see your ancestors.

From now on, the Qing Empire will be in your hands. You must be diligent in your work and care for the people, so that the Qing Empire can flourish under your leadership and not let down our ancestors."

Seeing that Cixi claimed that she wanted to live in the Qingyi Garden, which had been burned to ruins by the British and French forces, not only the Manchu military minister, but also the two Han military ministers had to stand up and kneel to ask Cixi to retract her decision.

How could Cixi, who loved building gardens so much, live in the dilapidated and broken Qingyi Garden? The ministers just wanted to say, "Stop making trouble, Empress Dowager, and let us take the blame."

Guangxu blinked his big eyes, but he had no idea what kind of drama his "real father", his real father and a group of Manchu and Han ministers were performing.

Only after repeated admonitions from several Grand Councillors did Cixi's sobs subside, but she continued slowly, "Leaseing Taiwan will undoubtedly lead to widespread criticism. I don't know how to silence the public."

Upon hearing this, Li Hongzhang quickly spoke out, "Your Majesty, we may lose something in the east, but we may gain something in the west. The loss of Taiwan is a foregone conclusion and cannot be reversed. Forcing Liu Mingchuan to defend Taiwan to the death will only waste material and financial resources, and will also cost the lives of our Qing officers and soldiers. It is better to make up for it elsewhere."

Cixi became interested after hearing this and finally stopped crying. She asked Li Hongzhang, "What do you mean by seeking compensation elsewhere?"

"Abolish the feudal system and establish provinces, and internalize Korea!"

Li Hongzhang took the opportunity to propose a method that Yuan Shikai had told him.

If the Qing Dynasty wanted to minimize the damage caused by the Sino-French-Vietnamese-Taiwan Treaty to the imperial court, it would be necessary to demonstrate the power of the Qing Dynasty elsewhere.

After much thought, among the countries surrounding the Qing Dynasty, which one would be easier to attack except Korea?

Korea is close to the heartland of the Qing Dynasty and has long been a vassal state of China. Its people admire Chinese culture and are proud to write Chinese characters and speak Chinese.

In addition, last year Yuan Shikai led his troops to pacify Seoul, repel the Japanese, and suppress the rebellious troops.

This was the best time for Korea to abolish its feudal system and establish counties, so after Yuan Shikai discovered that the cession of Taiwan was inevitable, he thought of taking Korea in exchange for Taiwan.

This was an open conspiracy. The Qing court would definitely choose the counties of Korea to offset the impact of "leasing" Taiwan. And who else could be the best candidate for the counties of Korea except Yuan Shikai?

When the Qing government first sent troops to pacify Taiwan in 1882, many people wrote to Li Hongzhang requesting that Korea be "annexed" and "made into a county." This trend even reached the imperial court.

However, the Qing court at the time was worried about causing international disputes. In addition, it did not have enough troops in Korea at the time, and was worried that the establishment of the province would cause resentment among the people of Korea, leading to instability in the vassal state.

In addition, Li Hongzhang thought that it was better to have less trouble than more, so he delayed the matter until the Sino-French War broke out.

The cession of Taiwan now would undoubtedly cause widespread shock, and compared to Taiwan, the controversy surrounding the abolition of feudal domains and the establishment of provinces would pale into insignificance. Compared to the cost of losing Taiwan, the benefits of acquiring Korea would clearly outweigh all opposition to the abolition of feudal domains and the establishment of provinces.

In addition, Yuan Shikai's Jiashen Right Army Incheon Town had lived in Seoul for a long time, and he himself had always been powerful in Korea.