Chapter 85 Section 85 Ultimatum

Li Fengbao, who had just been appointed Minister to France, sent the full text of the letter of protest back to the Zongli Yamen in the form of a telegram as soon as he received the letter of protest from France. On the fifth day after the Zongli Yamen received the letter of protest, the Counselor of the French Legation in China, Xie Manlu, sent a note to the Zongli Yamen, reiterating the terms of the protest in the form of an ultimatum, and he was limited to do so within seven days.How much compensation does France demand from China?It was written clearly in the note that it was at least 250 million francs and nearly 40 million taels of silver.

Ru Feili's cabinet decided to take the opportunity to open its mouth wide, blackmail the Qing Dynasty severely, and make a fortune. It also took the opportunity to establish a good image of the cabinet in the hearts of the people and consolidate its ruling position.While protesting to the Qing Dynasty, Ru Feili combined the warships distributed in Shanghai, China and Hue, Vietnam into the Far East Fleet, appointed Guba as the commander, and decided to coerce China into submitting by force. As soon as Belle Yikui received the note from France, he did not immediately go to the palace to meet the Queen Mother, but first met with Shiduo, and the two of them went to Prince Jin's mansion to discuss ideas with Yixuan.

Shiduo was able to be the foreman of the military aircraft department, and Yikuang was able to go to the prime minister's office as the foreman, all because of Yizhen's efforts to protect in front of the queen mother.Although Yizhen is not yet a justifiable king of state affairs, after Prince Gong was deposed, he has actually taken on the important task of helping the queen mother manage the state affairs. At that time, the court structure of the Qing Dynasty was as follows: Yizhen was the backbone of Shiduo and Yikuang, and the Empress Dowager was the backbone of Yizhen.Yikuang is the grandson of Yonglin, the seventeenth son of Emperor Qianlong. Eating a manly style is really what is popular in the market, so he will tinker with it.Empress Dowager Cixi was able to hand over the military aircraft department to him. To put it bluntly, it was done for the world to see, but in fact it was for herself to control everything.

The two of them entered the study of Prince Jin's mansion, and Yi Kuang was the first to take out the letter of protest from the French.Yikuang said: "I haven't talked to my boss about this matter yet, so I'll ask the prince for an idea first, in case the boss asks and can tell me a thing or two." Prince Jin picked up the protest book and read it in a dignified manner, and said: "This matter is all caused by Li Shaoquan! Li Shaoquan talked with France four times, signed two treaties, and none of them took effect! This time! , You have to explain everything to your superiors clearly, and you can’t let Li Shaoquan talk about it.” Yizhen said this, and suddenly asked Shiduo: “What did Zuo Jigao say?”

Shi Duo replied: "Zuo Jigao said that the indemnity of the legal person is absolutely unacceptable! Where can I get tens of millions of taels of silver for him!" Yizhen nodded and said, "Okay, this is not allowed. What else? France asked us to guarantee, what is the guarantee? What is collateral? Are you sure about it?" Yikuang replied: "I heard from Xie Manlu that he wanted to use several of our ports as guarantees, and he also said that we breached the contract. If we don't give it, we will call him!" Yizhen was furious, stood up and shouted: "Fuck it! Fight him! Fight him! He won't be able to do it if he doesn't fight this time! The boss has assigned Zhuge Zhang Peilun to Fujian. There is no reason for them to be intimidated! This turmoil is always due to Li Shaoquan's failure to handle it well. If he doesn't hide things, why are we so passive!"

Yikuang said: "Your Majesty, Li Shaoquan's fault for Beili's incident was not all on Li Shaoquan alone, it was Fu Lunuo who made trouble for no reason. I read the concise treaty twice, and indeed it did not specify a specific date for the withdrawal of troops. Fu Lu Nuo Fei It is simply impossible to withdraw troops on June 27!" At this moment, Prince Chun said: "Is that what the higher-ups said?" Yikuang replied: "That's what the superior told me. It seems that Prince Li was there at the time." Shi Duo hurriedly said: "The superior said so, and said it more than once."

Prince Jin nodded and said: "Since the above has said this, we can't say anything more. But this time, Li Shaoquan can't show up again. With him training the Beiyang Navy in Tianjin, no matter how France fights, at least the capital will be safe. The capital is safe, so we can sit back and relax, right? Who has changed the French envoy to me now?" Yikuang replied: "The French envoy has been replaced by another one named Bardeneau, and he has arrived in Shanghai now." Yizhen thought for a while and said, "Okay, let's quickly find someone and talk to this Bazi. What do you think of Shao Youlian? When he served as Chonghou's acting minister in Russia, his superiors were very satisfied with him. Let him talk to Bazi , I think the higher-ups can agree. Also, can Hurd talk to the French? Foreigners are easy to talk to each other. If the higher-ups think that Shao Youlian is incompetent, let’s take Hurd out. No matter how I say it, this time I can’t Let Li Shaoquan talk again."

Yikuang asked: "What if the superior insists on asking Li Shaoquan to talk to Ba Zi?" Yixuan said anxiously: "You are really confused! You are the head of the General Administration, and there are some things that are difficult for others to say, so you have to tell your superiors. Li Shaoquan signed two treaties with France, and France tore up two treaties. If you still Let Li Shaoquan go to sign the contract, and France has to break the contract. Why? The king went to Xishan to find the old monk to make a fortune. What Li Shaoquan committed recently was breaking the contract. He should avoid the calamity. You have to do the same anyway. Speak clearly."

Yikuang asked: "The prince won't enter the palace? Some words, the prince's words are more important than ours." Yizhen said: "I have a boil on my kneecap, and it hurts a lot when I kneel down. My superiors rewarded me with two days' leave in the mansion to take care of me. In fact, I wish I could go to the palace every day to pay my respects to my superiors!" This time when negotiating with the French, the Empress Dowager Cixi did listen to Yizhen's advice and did not let Li Hongzhang come forward.The Prime Minister’s Office first sent a note to the French embassy in China, hoping that the new envoy Bardeneau would arrive at the capital as soon as possible, and the Prime Minister’s Office would send personnel to negotiate a treaty with him.

But Budnau only stopped in Shanghai and did not go north.The French Embassy in China issued a note to the Prime Minister’s Yamen, saying: China must first answer all the items requested in the protest letter before France can negotiate with it.In order to show the sincerity of compromise and peace to France, the Zongli Yamen, with the consent of the Empress Dowager Cixi, decided to send Chief Taxation Secretary Hurd to Shanghai to meet Badeno. The General Taxation Department has moved to the capital, and Hurd moved to live in the capital accordingly. On the day he arrived in Shanghai, he sent a telegram to the Zongli Yamen, saying: "The manager has spent a lot of effort on this matter, and it will be useless if others comment." Obviously, Hurd wanted to take the matter all on himself and didn't want others to intervene.

The Zongli Yamen quickly called back to agree with this statement, and asked him to handle it quickly. Hurd began negotiating with Budnow, but the result was: "Repayment must be avoided, but the name is not limited." The result of Hurd's negotiations disappointed the Empress Dowager Cixi.The Empress Dowager Cixi then adopted Yikuang's second policy, and ordered Shao Youlian from Shanghai to talk to Budenuo nearby; Budenuo was furious when he saw the note, and refused to talk because Shao Youlian was not a high-ranking member of the imperial court and he was soft-spoken. As a result, Empress Dowager Cixi accepted the suggestion of Minister of Military Aircraft Zuo Zongtang and authorized Liangjiang Governor Zeng Guoquan to negotiate with Badeno.Zeng Guoquan was ordered in danger, so he had to leave Jinling and rush to Shanghai. Before leaving, the imperial court made a special decree, strictly ordering that "reparations for military expenses must never be allowed." Zeng Guoquan rushed to Shanghai and began to talk with Badeno.The two talked and talked, but at the end, Zeng Guoquan agreed to donate 500,000 taels of silver (3.5 million legal lang) to France without authorization.However, Badeno resolutely refused because the number was too small and "close to child's play".The Empress Dowager Cixi angrily reprimanded Zeng Guoquan: "I don't know the general situation, and the Ministry of Communications will strictly discuss and deal with it."Sino-French negotiations failed again. When the Zongli Yamen repeatedly sent personnel to negotiate with Badenuo, Ru Feili took the opportunity to order Guba to lead the Far East Fleet into Fuzhou and Keelung, so as to launch attacks at any time and occupy these ports in China as the so-called "guarantee". Guba ordered the warships to stop at the Majiang port of Fuzhou separately, and berth in the same port as the Fujian navy ships, so as to facilitate the attack. On the second day after the talks between Zeng Guoquan and Badeno announced the breakdown, Xie Manlu once again delivered the above terms of protest to the Prime Minister’s Office in the form of an ultimatum, and ordered 48 hours to reply, otherwise he would leave Beijing under the flag and declare the two countries Cut off diplomatic relations. The Empress Dowager Cixi called all the princes and ministers in Beijing into the palace for a day of discussion, but there was no result.Prince Chun Yizhen's attitude at this time is: if there is no harmony, there will be no peace. If he leaves the Frenchman, we can sleep with pillows up. The Empress Dowager Cixi thought over and over again, and finally adopted Yizhen's suggestion and decided to ignore the French protest. When the Zongli Yamen repeatedly sent personnel to negotiate with Badeno, although Li Hongzhang stayed out of the matter, he did not stay idle. He wrote to the US Minister to China John John Yang, and to the US Ambassador to the United States Chen Lanbin and Deputy Minister Rong Rong in accordance with the Sino-US Tianjin Treaty. Hong sent a telegram, requesting the United States to intervene to avoid provocations between China and France. John Yang soon sent translator He Tianjue to visit Yikuang in the Zongli Yamen. He Tianjue said: "Li Zhongtang of your country, I implore my minister to mediate the affairs between your country and France. My minister believes that there is absolutely no reason for France to rush to war at present. If there is a war, it will not only violate the "Public Law of the Nations ", and I'm sorry for the United States." Yikuang naturally thanked him more than once.After He Tianjue left, Yikuang hurried to Prince Jin's mansion and told Prince Jin what He Tianjue had said. Prince Jin couldn't help saying angrily: "This Li Shaoquan, he is breaking the contract. The court is afraid that he will come out again at this time, but he just came out to disrupt the situation again! This time I am afraid that the contract will fail again!" This word soon spread to Tianjin.One day after dinner, when Li Hongzhang was playing chess with Ma Jianzhong, he suddenly let out a long sigh and said, "You're such a wimp, the Qing Dynasty will be ruined by him sooner or later!" Li Hongzhang did not point out who he was, but Ma Jianzhong knew that this "he" was undoubtedly Prince Chun. After the formal breakdown of Sino-French relations, the French legations, consulates, and commercial agencies in China quickly withdrew to Shanghai, preparing to return to China. China also immediately closed its legations in France. He Ruzhang, the Minister of Shipping, followed the order of the Prime Minister's Office, not only dismissed Riyige, but also expelled all the French working in the Shipping Bureau. The governor of Fujian and Zhejiang is He Jing at this time.He Jing was originally a man of considerable accomplishment. Sino-French relations were tense at the beginning, and the sea was under martial law. He, together with Fujian governor Zhang Zhaodong, arranged coastal and Taiwan defenses, which was praised by the court.But he only hit Zhang Peilun, the left deputy of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. After the great censor Zhang Peilun came to Fuzhou to handle Fujian's coastal affairs, he dared not make decisions in everything, and acted according to Zhang Peilun's words; Appreciation, because he didn't want to set himself on fire. As soon as Zhang Peilun arrived in Fuzhou, he naturally took care of all the affairs in Fujian's coastal areas. Even Fujian Governor Zhang Zhaodong and Shipping Minister He Ruzhang did not dare to disobey him, lest they offend the famous people. Bao, and ended up ruined, that would be really wronged.