As Xiang Xiaoqiang expected, Emperor Guangwu was not seen at the luncheon. He was only accompanied by a few officials from the Northern Qing Dynasty. Probably because Xiang Xiaoqiang was an officer, several senior officers from Lushun also appeared at the dinner table.
The Ming and Qing Dynasties have been mortal enemies of each other for more than two hundred years. It is rare that representatives from both sides sit together for dinner like today. As Xiaoqiang knows, there have only been a few times in the past two hundred years. The most recent time was several decades ago.
Before, during the negotiations after the last war between the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Because of this, the atmosphere of this banquet called "Welcome Banquet" was not harmonious. On the contrary, it was very embarrassing. The Qing officials who accompanied them only exchanged a few formulaic greetings with the Ming officials, and each dish was served.
Apart from greeting Mingfang staff to taste the food, the atmosphere in the restaurant was dull most of the time, and almost no one talked. Everyone was just lowering their heads and eating silently, and occasionally only said a few words to the people on their side.
The people here in Nanming are very uncomfortable with it. They all feel that even if the two sides are hostile governments, now it is a negotiation between the two sides. When an envoy from one side comes, the other side holds a banquet to welcome them. No matter how hostile they are in normal times, the welcome banquet cannot be cold like this, right?
.They took the initiative to toast and chat several times, trying to liven up the atmosphere of the banquet, but the officials of the Northern Qing Dynasty only responded passively, repeating the same nonsense over and over again, which made the Southern Ming delegation extremely depressed.
If she encountered this kind of atmosphere at a normal banquet, with Zheng Yucong's temper, she would liven up the atmosphere at the table with a few heartless jokes. But now she knows a lot about it, and she knows that the water here is deep, and it's just
Lower your head and pretend to be stupid while eating food.
But Xiang Xiaoqiang understands these Northern Qing officials very well. He knows that the political environment in the Northern Qing Dynasty is not as good as that in the Southern Ming Dynasty. If any Northern Qing official is too friendly to these "Southern Ming elements" like himself at this time, then in the future, if there are political enemies who want to harm him,
This is a crime. Although it is just a friendly reception of the Nanming envoy according to the order, the lighter
Charged with "flattery with the enemy, damaging to the national character of the Celestial Empire", or in serious cases, they may be labeled as "having liaison with Nan Ming and plotting evil", which will lead to a very miserable end. Nan Ming determined the crime according to the law, and
The Northern Qing Dynasty determined crimes based on political needs. So now the people in the Southern Ming Dynasty are not afraid and are still confused, but the officials in the Northern Qing Dynasty are extremely afraid.
…
After the luncheon, the Northern Qing side said that formal negotiations would start tomorrow morning. The Nanming envoys had worked hard coming from afar, so they were asked to rest this afternoon. The Nanming people, including Xiang Xiaoqiang, did not want to stay in the place of right and wrong for a day.
I thought it would be better to start negotiations in the afternoon. But now the host is arranging everything. They said they would start tomorrow, and there was nothing I could do.
The Nanming envoys lived in the East Jiguanshan Villa. As the name suggests, the East Jiguanshan Villa is a villa built on the East Jiguanshan. East Jiguanshan is a north-south mountain range of more than ten kilometers long to the east of Lushun City. It is both a scenic spot and a scenic spot.
The district is also a military district. Because this mountain range overlooks the entire Lushun and guards the main road from Lushun to the interior of Liaodong, many forts and forts were built on various hills.
The East Jiguan Mountain Villa is built at the southern end of East Jiguan Mountain. The terrain is relatively high and you can see the sea. This villa is very large and is not a private villa, but a "leisure club" prepared for military dignitaries. And although
It’s called a villa, but it’s actually more like a military
A fortress is nothing more than a very luxurious and comfortable fortress. Because of this, the Nanming mission can only move within the villa area and cannot wander around the military zone outside the villa. The Beiqing chose this place for negotiations.
It can also be more conducive to confidentiality in the early stage.
Throughout the afternoon and evening, Xiang Xiaoqiang and the delegation members closed the door to discuss negotiation strategies, review the chips Xi Daming was prepared to pay, and the bottom line of the negotiation.
Fortunately, this afternoon and evening are not difficult. Because although it is August, it is very cool here. Lushun is located on the seaside of Liaodong, and the climate itself is not hot. In addition, the villa is on the top of the mountain, and the cool sea breeze comes in waves.
Throughout the room, there were very few mosquitoes, which was a great feeling in the summer. Xiang Xiaoqiang couldn't help but admire that the person who chose the location for the villa would enjoy it.
…
At nine o'clock the next morning, the negotiations officially began.
This time, there are five representatives from the Nanming side, excluding Xiang Xiaoqiang. They are all officials selected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The head of the delegation is He Weibang, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There are also several other auxiliary work attaches, a total of more than a dozen. The Beiqing side officially
There were about a dozen officials negotiating, led by Guade Xin, a military minister. He was a Manchu, and his surname in Manchu was "Guerjia" and his name was "De Xin".
The Manchu Military Minister was not a formal official position, but it was the most powerful official position. Unlike the Southern Ming Dynasty, the state power of the Southern Ming Dynasty was currently dispersed among the four major parts of the monarch, the cabinet government, the judicial system, and the supervisory system.
With mutual checks and balances, even people with high status, such as Zhu Yourong, Xiang Xiaoqiang, and Shen Rongxuan, cannot do whatever they like according to their own preferences.
.However, the state power of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was completely concentrated in the hands of the emperor, and the cabinet government was completely a decoration. The emperor's "private office" was the Military Aircraft Department, and the Minister of Military Aircraft was the emperor's "private office assistant". He was closest to the emperor, and the emperor
When decisions need to be made, they are only discussed with the "personal assistant", and all decisions are made in the "private office".
Therefore, as a civil servant in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the highest level was to become the military minister. And there were only a few military ministers at this time. They were all Manchus and not a single Han. Throughout the entire history of the Qing Empire, the Manchus were at the decision-making level.
The proportion of the economy is dumbbell-shaped. When I first entered the customs, all the important ministers were Manchus, and they did not trust the Han people. After several decades of "prosperity", the economy has partially recovered.
, all the unruly people became obedient, and the foundation of the new empire was relatively stable. At this time, it was relatively safe to promote a large number of Han people to the decision-making level. However, the "prosperous age" of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was just the middle period. Later, the situation became worse and worse, and the rule
As they became increasingly unpopular, they discovered that the most reliable people were their own race. Therefore, the highest levels of power gradually excluded the Han people.
…
Although the negotiations were secret, they were also recorded and archived. Both parties brought tape recorders and stenographers to preserve the entire negotiation process and prevent this important history from becoming a blank.
After both parties pressed the record button and the stenographers on both sides began to prepare shorthand, the negotiation officially began.
Guadexin, the chief representative of the Qing side, made a stern opening statement when he came up. He first accused Nanming of disregarding human justice and conscience and brazenly sending armed personnel to the hinterland of the Qing Dynasty for a bloody massacre. This was an armed invasion and war provocation. So the Qing Dynasty
As a last resort, the Qing Dynasty launched a punitive war aimed at self-defense and counterattack. However, the Qing Dynasty's military strikes were very restrained
, after having completely broken through the so-called "impregnable Yangtze River Defense Line" of Nan Ming and completely captured Nanjing, the capital of Nan Ming, the Qing Dynasty could have pursued the victory and wiped out the entire Nan Ming regime in one go. However, the Qing Dynasty stopped at the moment of victory in a humanitarian spirit.
In order to stop the attack, the entire division retreated to the north bank, leaving the surviving Zhu Ming Dynasty with a chance to repent.
However, the righteous actions of the Qing Dynasty did not awaken the conscience of the Nanming regime. Instead, it rapidly expanded its ambitions and attempted to occupy the entire Qing Dynasty, enslaving the Qing people under the enslavement of the Zhu Ming Dynasty, and allowing the Qing people to relive the memories of the Qing Dynasty.
Dongchang, the bloody and terrifying life under the rule of Jinyiwei spies. Therefore, the Zhu Ming Dynasty army took advantage of the Qing Dynasty to withdraw
In turn, they invaded the Qing Dynasty again and took away 150,000 soldiers of the Qing Dynasty, as well as countless children of the Qing Dynasty population. They also sent planes to bomb various cities in the Qing Dynasty indiscriminately, causing Pukou to be razed.
Many other cities were engulfed in flames, resulting in heavy casualties and astronomical property losses.
Finally, Guade Xinyi Zhengci slammed the table and shouted:
"You people of the Southern Ming Dynasty have always claimed that they follow the example of Britain and the United States and are a constitutionally civilized country and a pearl of the East. Looking at what the Zhu Ming Dynasty has done, it really makes the world angry. Is this the so-called 'constitutional civilized country'?
As?"
The wire of the tape recorder rotated slowly, and the stenographers on both sides recorded every word without raising their heads.
After the Qing side finished their opening remarks, several members of the Nanming delegation looked at each other with smiles on their faces, as if they were used to the Qing side's tone.
But Xiang Xiaoqiang was very uncomfortable with it, and the more he listened, the more angry he became. However, he did not have an attack on the spot. Instead, like everyone else, he smiled, squinted his eyes slightly, and reminded himself:
"Calm down, now we are begging others... As long as we can bring thousands of our officers and soldiers home safely, it doesn't matter even if they say that Nanming made the dinosaurs extinct... Just let them go... Fortunately, two
In a few months, the Northern Expedition will take place and these idiots will be wiped out... Otherwise, these idiots will write this passage into the primary school history textbook... even if it is just to prevent them from ruining the history textbooks again.