Hearing this, everyone around him turned pale with fear, but Ye Yongjia looked disapproving and indifferent, stretched out his hand: "Do you have your credentials?"
"Yes, sir, do you want to see it?" Lian Chongwen saw that he was intimidated and could not move, so his momentum naturally dropped a little.
Ye Yongjia never wanted to sit down and negotiate with him now, so he quickly made an excuse: "The credentials are presented to the king. How can I, as a minister, tear them apart? I have the power to preside over it, but it must not be exceeded."
moment."
"What Mr. Ye said is interesting," Lian Chongwen sneered. "If he were an ordinary envoy, I'm afraid he would have been deceived by you. What power does your emperor have to influence political affairs? Besides, he lives deep in the palace and has not been there for many years.
How can you easily see me when you come out to sit in court?"
"Why can't the emperor be in charge? I advise you not to talk nonsense!" Cai Xianqing reminded him solemnly in view of the presence of many government clerks.
"Even if you can't see the emperor, can't you also see the prince who oversees the country?" Ye Yongjia didn't listen to his words at all. "Tomorrow the prince will summon you to the palace. You can go with your credentials. Ministers from all walks of life will be there."
"Okay, I'll go tomorrow." Lian Chongwen stood up and glanced at the two of them coldly, "But please, Mr. Ye, please pass on the order first and ask Yousi to handle the matter of compensation of one hundred thousand taels of silver, so as to show our country to the court.
tough attitude."
"What are you talking about!" Cai Xianqing's face turned red with anger, "How dare a foreign barbarian bargain with us?"
On their territory, Lian Chongwen did not dare to get angry. He just widened his eyes and replied in a firm tone: "Cai Shilang, these are the basic conditions set by our country and cannot be changed! If you want to negotiate, you must first accept it."
These hundred thousand taels, otherwise I will be coerced and lured by you with shameless means. How can I defend myself? How can I be worthy of the innocent souls of the sailors who were accidentally killed! I leave these words here. If you don’t agree, I will return home immediately!"
"Intimidation and inducement are what you people did in the first place. How could our country..." Cai Xianqing refused to give up and was hurriedly stopped by Ye Yongjia.
"General Lian," he suppressed his anxiety and said calmly, "Ye understands your feelings, but the money for compensation needs to be paid by the Ministry of Household Affairs. I am the Ministry of War, so I really can't make the decision."
"I just heard that Prime Minister Liu is going to hand over the power of discussion to Ye Gong. Isn't the Ministry of Household Affairs just what you ordered?"
"But Prime Minister Liu has not yet met with the Holy Father. Before the edict is issued, I do not have this right. Unless envoy Lian is willing to wait for me for a few days, at that time I will ask Duke Liu for you to withdraw one hundred thousand taels from the treasury.
Take it out."
Lian Chongwen was eager to receive the money to prevent the government from using its authority to force him to make compromises. Of course he did not agree with this method and said sullenly: "You are talking about rules again now! I will not accept your soft and hard approach.
Set! If you don’t want to give out the money, I’ll leave now. Farewell!”
"Hey," Ye Yongjia saw that he was about to leave and quickly grabbed his shoulder blades, "If you think my idea is bad, I can give you a new one: I will go to the Ministry of Finance with you tomorrow to ask for the money and we can discuss it.
If so, we will allocate the silver immediately, and leave the contents of the credentials to the court for discussion. What if?"
Compared with the previous proposal, it seemed acceptable. However, Lian Chongwen, in order to prevent fraud, said: "What Mr. Ye said is indeed good. But I cannot wait until tomorrow. I must go today."
Ye Yongjia and Cai Xianqing looked at each other, with a hint of disappointment in their eyes, and they could only nod their heads: "Well, Zeng Shangshu probably hasn't left the Yamen yet, so the two of us will go together. Cai Shilang, before I leave, I'll tell you a few words of official business.
Come with me to the study."
Ye Yongjia ordered Envoy Lian to rest briefly in the hall, then he and Cai Xianqing went around to the back of the hall, walked from the side door to the stone road in front of the study, and stopped when they heard the silence on all sides.
"Tinglong, I think this matter is difficult to handle. The initiative lies entirely in the hands of the Westerners. They threaten war at every turn, and once a provocation breaks out, ministers will definitely impeach you and me. Then you and I will not be able to protect our status; but if you accept this
Even if we have one hundred thousand taels, some people will say that we have lost our power, humiliated the country, and corrupted the national system. It is really a dilemma."
"After all, we were at fault in this matter and cannot take it seriously. I'm afraid we must pay compensation..." Ye Yongjia put his hands on the stone railing and dusted it, "One hundred thousand taels is too much. If we can suppress it,
It should be lower, I think all the princes in the court can accept it. The reason why I want to take him to Zeng Liang is not that I have compromised with him, but that I know Zeng Liang’s temperament. With this, I may be able to
Wonderful effect.”
"Yes," Cai Xianqing continued, "Although this person is straight, he is full of favoritism. He is the most hypocritical person. As long as the interests of his household are violated, this person will definitely show his fangs and bite him.
.So it might be a good idea to provoke him and make him share our hatred. Once the money is negotiated, the rest of the terms will naturally not matter."
"I don't think it's that simple. On the contrary, I feel that the letter of credence is more difficult to deal with...Mr. Cai is here to help me guess the contents and make complete preparations."
Cai Xianqing agreed without hesitation: "I will take all the conditions I can think of into consideration. You don't have to think too much and go to see Zeng Liang with peace of mind. Don't let me spend a long time thinking about it, but you won't be successful at the beginning!"
"Put it there."
Zeng Liang was sitting on the recliner in the back room of the study, with a cauldron of incense burning in front of his eyes, gently sniffing the light incense, very leisurely. There was a bookcase on the east side of him. Occasionally he glanced over and saw someone walking through the gap in the books.
After seeing the person, he quickly asked his subordinates to put back the plain clothes and put on the official uniform that he had not yet taken off.
"Master Ye! This is..." He opened the bamboo curtain and walked out of the house with a smile. Just as he was about to salute, he saw the Westerner and his smile instantly stopped.
"As you know, this is the former envoy Lian, who is here to discuss compensation matters."
"Master Zeng, it's a pleasure to meet you." Seeing his gentle attitude, Lian Chongwen thought he was also a talkative person, so he leaned down and bowed deeply.
"Please sit down." When Zeng Liang heard the word 'compensation', he already understood it a little bit, and then frowned, feeling a little unhappy in his heart.
"You can say it now." Ye Yongjia reminded him immediately after sitting down.
Lian Chongwen did not notice the change in the atmosphere, and said with confidence: "To be honest, I am here to ask for compensation on the orders of the leader of my country. The most basic condition is that your country will spend one hundred thousand taels as repairs.
The warship is used to compensate the dead and wounded sailors. Mr. Ye is willing to help the country, so he brought me to ask for money from the Ministry of Revenue. Please allocate it as soon as possible."
After hearing this, Ye Yongjia quickly glanced at Zeng Liang, his anger almost written on his face.