After Ignatiev left his threat, he quickly reported to the Tsar that the Qing was unwilling to sign the contract. Tsar Alexander II, who was far away in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, was furious. He immediately ordered the Siberian Governor Muravyov to teach the arrogant Qing a lesson at the right time!
As for Ignatiev, because of the British and French envoys, he was sent by the Tsar to negotiate with him in the Qing Kingdom.
As a result, the Russian envoy, who was originally prepared to leave, stayed in the capital for another ten days. He came and went every day, strolling around the capital and talking about serious matters. However, the Qing Dynasty people were all talking about other things. Even the other envoys ignored him because they were afraid of offending the British and French envoys.
Especially when he visited the Gong Prince's residence a few times, the Gong Prince would find all sorts of reasons to reject him. This made Ignatiev feel depressed.
Fortunately, on the morning of the 15th day, just as Ignatiev was in despair, a Chinese official finally came to the Russian legation to deliver an official document. The first round of negotiations between Russia and the Qing Kingdom on the undetermined border division would officially begin at the Prime Minister's Office at eight o'clock the next morning.
The night was silent. The next morning, Ignatiev brought his entourage to the Prime Minister's Yamen in a carriage. He met with the Gong Prince, Wen Xiang, and the others. One party took off his hat and bowed, while the other party cupped his hands. After bowing, they sat down on the opposite side of the long table.
Both of them had come prepared. The Qing Kingdom had taken out a copy of the treaty of Nerchinsk, while the Russian Empire had taken out the treaty of Aihui. They were at loggerheads from the beginning.
Wen Xiang first said," We do not recognize the Aihui treaty signed between Russia and General Ji Shan of the Hei Long Jiang. Minister, please show us an effective treaty."”
How could the Russian envoy, who had always been rude and unreasonable, listen to Wen Xiang? He smiled and said,""I'm sorry, the Russian Empire has always had the habit of replacing old agreements with new ones. The old documents in your hands have long been cut into pieces by the warriors of the empire!”
Faced with the Russian envoy who was full of gunpowder, Zhang Guifang was, after all, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites for many years. She replied,""It's fine. There were three versions of the treaty back then. Since your side is gone, we still have them. I'll order someone to retrieve them now!”
"Humph! What you've reserved isn't enough to make us believe, so I don't think there's a need!”
The following time was no different from useless work. The Qing side insisted on following the treaty signed in the year. China and Russia used the Erguna River as the boundary river, and the right bank to the source of the river belonged to the Qing Dynasty. The area from the left bank to the Molilek River flowing into the Erguna River belonged to Russia.'No Russian villages are allowed to remain in the entire Erguna, all the way to the mouth of the river.
Ignatiev insisted on the terms of the Aihui treaty, demanding that more than 600,000 square kilometers of Chinese territory north of the Amur River and south of the Outer Xing 'an Mountains should be returned to Russia. Only the 64th Jiangdong area south of the Jingqili River on the other side of the Aihui River should retain the permanent residence and jurisdiction of China. The territory east of the Wusuli River was classified as "co-management" between China and Russia. The Amur River and the Wusuli River, which were originally the inland rivers of China, were also allowed to sail in Russia, and other countries were not allowed to sail.
Both sides insisted on their own words. It was simply like playing the lute to a cow.
At this moment, Li Qing, who was sitting beside Wen Xiang, spoke," Since Your Excellency has put it this way, then why should our two sides continue to argue over this matter? Even this meeting did not seem to be necessary, right?”
The Russian envoy laughed." Very good. Don't blame us for not giving you a chance when our troops arrive. We'll ask for more!"”After saying that, he left with the Russian personnel.
......
After the Russian envoy left, Wen Xiang asked in disbelief,""Your Highness, you know that peace talks are useless, so why do you still want to delay the meeting with the Russian envoy?”
" Hahaha, isn't this to show Baoyun the true face of Russia? How unrealistic is it to expect a hungry wolf to put down the fat meat in its mouth with the roar of a tiger far away!”Li Qing gritted his teeth.
"Gong Prince, I think we should immediately inform the Emperor of this matter and await His Majesty's judgment!" Zhang Guifang said.”
Li Qing couldn't help but look at Zhang Guifang in front of him. He seriously suspected that he and Dong Dun were specially sent by Xianfeng to monitor him, but he had no evidence. Even if he had evidence, he couldn't do anything to them.
"Lord Zhang, don't worry. I'll go back today and draft the memorial. Tomorrow morning, I'll have someone send it to Rehe as soon as possible.”
"En, Your Highness has troubled yourself. This matter is of great importance, and it is not something that you and I as officials can interfere with!”
"Hahaha, this king knows!" Li Qing said with a fake smile.
With that, Li Qing left the office.
......
Gong Prince Mansion
Li Qing once again understood what Wen Xiang had said to him," No matter how foolish the Emperor is, he is still the Emperor. No matter how wise the Prince is, he is still the King. Unless the internal strife has been pacified and the Emperor has misjudged him, if the Prince makes the first move, it will definitely attract the condemnation of the entire country."”
Arriving at the Gong Prince residence, Wen Xiang looked at the silent Li Qing and comforted him,"Your Highness, is your head hurting from Lord Zhang's words?”
After Li Qing heard this, he sighed and said,"Bochuan, if ten years ago…" Sigh, forget it. The past is the past."
"Your Highness! Since things have progressed to this point, Your Highness must know how to keep a low profile. This humble subject asserted that Your Majesty is short-lived. The eldest brother is young, the Empress is not familiar with government affairs, and the Sushun faction is arrogant. Sooner or later, the power of the government will fall into the hands of the eldest brother's mother, Imperial Consort Yi!”
Hearing Wen Xiang's analysis, Li Qing was extremely shocked and thought," The wisdom of the ancients was indeed hard to fathom. Before he was reborn, he had always wondered why the Gong Prince was so powerful back then, but why he didn't stand on his own. Although there was some foolish loyalty in it, he more or less had a sense of understanding.
"Bochuan, you said that Sushun is no match for Imperial Consort Yi. Do you know what Imperial Consort Yi is like?" Li Qing asked.”
After Wen Xiang heard this, he frowned and said in a deep voice,""Your Highness, to be honest, this lowly official has only seen Imperial Consort Yi once, and I feel that this woman's schemes are so deep that no woman in the world can surpass her. Even if she's a man, there are very few people in the world who can be her opponent.”
"Oh! Was that really the case? Bochuan, after hearing what you said, this king can't wait to meet this Imperial Consort Yi!”Li Qing said with a smile.
After Wen Xiang left, Li Qing suddenly felt that these famous figures in history were not easy to deal with. Take Wen Xiang for example. He knew her character just by meeting Imperial Consort Yi.
It seemed that he had to be more careful in the future.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。