Chapter 30: The First Encounter Between Two Phases (Part 1)

  "You should thank me too, Li," said Gong Cheng leisurely. "Just now that old scoundrel Qiying handed in his card, what do you think he wants?"

  "I also don't know, logically speaking, he should have met with the four foreign envoys together with Gui Liang and Hua Shan'a, why did he come alone?" Li Mingfeng was also very puzzled by Qiying's behavior.

  Gong Cheng smiled and explained: "In the past, when it came to negotiations, there was always a white face and a red face. Gui Liang and Hua Sha Na were the ones who played the red face, taking a step back without retreating, making the foreigners feel the Qing's toughness first, and then letting Qi Ying come out to play the white face, secretly giving the foreigners some benefits in private, so that the contract reached would be much more favorable than direct negotiations."

  "Why did those foreigners still want to drive Qiying away?" Li Mingfeng asked.

  "This is our way of doing things, foreigners don't understand this. In their opinion, if there's a problem, it should be discussed clearly at the negotiating table, they don't know about red and white faces." Gong Cheng picked up the towel to dry his feet, then took out the washbasin to pour away the water.

  He came back and sat on the bed, continuing to say: "Qīyīng lǎo zéi was the imperial commissioner who signed the Treaty of Nanjing with the British that year. He thought he had some connections with the foreigners, so he volunteered to come and negotiate. How could he have known that after the foreigners broke into Guangzhou, they found many secret letters in the governor's mansion, including his own secret reports to the imperial court? Those reports were full of boastful words about how he deceived the foreigners and designed plots against them. These were actually his words to curry favor with the imperial court, but there was not much truth to them. However, the foreigners are straightforward by nature, and when they saw these letters, they really thought Qīyīng was secretly plotting against them. This time, when they heard he wanted to meet, they naturally refused."

  Li Mingfeng did not expect that there would be so many twists and turns, it seems that Gong Banlun's belly has a lot of things in store. In the future, he will probably rely on this person even more. Li Mingfeng was also generous and told Gong Cheng about Zhang Shiping's silver transaction.

  Gong Cheng listened, but said that this deal involves too much, and it's likely that the Qing government will not compromise this time. It's better to just ask for a few provinces or a few items of silver bill discount business. Li Mingfeng also thought this made sense, so the two people discussed the silver bill and negotiation matters for a long time, until dawn was approaching, before Li Mingfeng went back to his own room to sleep.

  In May 1858, at the end of the month, the British and French envoys who were participating in the negotiations in Tianjin suddenly refused to meet with any high-ranking officials of the Qing government. The Anglo-French fleet's large cannons were aimed at the city of Tianjin. Originally, the United States and Russia had been actively mediating, but they too no longer intervened. When news of this reached Beijing, everyone was shocked.

  Qishan was forced to retreat by Gong Zhenlin, and he couldn't even meet with the foreigners. This old minister of the Qing dynasty really had no face left to stay in Tianjin, so Qishan could only return to Beijing in shame. The Xianfeng Emperor was still fuming, and when he found out that Qishan had returned to the capital without permission, he became even more enraged. With the encouragement of Prince Huigong Mianmin and others, an imperial edict was finally issued, ordering Qishan to take his own life.

  The poor old man has been through ups and downs in his official career for a lifetime, and he doesn't know how many big winds and waves he has experienced. In the end, he actually fell here, which is probably something he never dreamed of.

  The news of Qiying's death by imperial edict reached Tianjin, and Gui Liang and Hua Shan Na immediately became restless. Every day they would run to the residences of the British and French ministers, but they could never see the true gods, and were always rebuffed by a few small doorkeepers.

  By early June, Gong Cheng and Li Mingfeng felt that they had tormented the two old men enough, so they chose a sunny day to submit their memorial to the Governor's Office.

  This time, the treatment was different from last time. Upon seeing the name cards of these two men, Gui Liang and Hua Sha Na personally came out to greet them. The main gate of the Governor's Mansion was wide open, with hundreds of soldiers and guards standing along the way like a wall of copper and iron.

  Li Mingfeng and Gong Cheng exchanged a glance, both secretly smiling to themselves. It seemed that whoever had the bigger fist would have the harder waistband. The two of them were just translators and did not represent any official organization, so they didn't dare to be too presumptuous. They didn't put on airs, but instead asked Guiliang and the other person to go first, with the two of them following behind.

  The last time was in the governor's mansion, and this time it was in a private room in the backyard. The four of them sat down as host and guest, with several attendants standing beside them who were originally close to Guilian and Huashana, but under Gong Cheng's gaze, Guilian resolutely cleared them out.

  They had tea and chatted for a bit, but Li Mingfeng still couldn't get a word in edgewise. However, before they came, Gong Cheng had instructed him to keep his cool and not say anything until the others brought up the matter at hand. So Li Mingfeng sat there for nearly an hour without saying a single word.

  Finally, Shi Bu Shang Hua Sha Na could no longer sit still and asked: "I wonder what brings the two gentlemen here today?"

  Gong Cheng's nickname 'Half Lunatic' wasn't called for nothing, in his eyes there was no concept of family or country, coldly saying: "This time we brothers are just trying to save the dying Qing dynasty"

  Although it was Gui Liang, Hua Sha's temper couldn't withstand these words. The teacup in his hand paused on the table and he let out a cold hum: "Hmph, what big talk! Let's not mention that the Qing dynasty is as strong as the sun in the sky. Even if the Qing dynasty were to be shaken by wind and rain, would you two fake foreigners dare to boast about this?"

  The two had planned for this meeting for a long time, with Gong Cheng playing the "bad cop" and Li Mingfeng playing the "good cop". Now was the time for him to mediate the atmosphere. He quickly stood up, bowed to the three people at the table, and said: "Everyone, please calm down. If you want to reach an agreement and sign a treaty as soon as possible, don't argue."

  This remark struck a chord with Gui Liang and Hua Sha Na. If they dragged it out any further, the capital would likely be thrown into chaos. When that happened, the Emperor's wrath would be boundless; not only would their wealth and honor be lost, but even their heads might roll.

  "This official had indeed wanted to sign the contract earlier, but unfortunately the foreigners were arrogant and refused to see us. You two are serving under the foreign army's command, but after all, you are still subjects of our great Qing dynasty. If you can mediate this matter, it would be a meritorious service to the imperial court. At that time, I and Governor Rui will report your achievements to His Majesty, and granting you official titles and promotions is not a difficult thing." Hua Shan'a saw that Li Gong and his companion were different from ordinary civilians, showing no fear of his official authority, so in the end he could only try to entice them with benefits.

  "We eat the salary provided by others, so naturally we should be loyal to them. Since my brother and I are living off foreigners, how can we betray them behind their backs?" Gong Banlun had given up his heart to work for the foreigners.

  "Although that's the case, if it doesn't harm foreign affairs and can bring convenience to the imperial court, we two will also try our best to exert some effort." Li Mingfeng feared that Gong Cheng would completely lose face, so he hastily took over the conversation.