After listening to Qin Zheng's speech, although Zhang Peilun felt that this history was incredible, he believed it 70% or 80%. In fact, Zhang Peilun and Li Hongzhang also discussed the origin of this group of overseas Chinese. They did not suspect that the time travelers were from overseas. After all, there was no other place to come except overseas places, so it would not appear out of thin air. They were just suspicious of the motives of this group of overseas Chinese to come to the Qing Dynasty. They were concerned about China and returned to their hometowns. Such words were okay to coax ordinary people, but if they wanted to miss Li Hongzhang, Zhang Peilun was simply impossible.

However, although Qin Zheng's history of overseas Chinese is a bit too bizarre, it clearly shows the reason why overseas Chinese came to the Qing Dynasty. In Zhang Peilun's view, this is the reasonable reason.

In addition, the sunken island caused by the volcanic eruption is not a matter of a day for those who have been in the Westernization Movement for decades. At the same time, judging from the composition of overseas Chinese, the proportion of the army is too large and there are few women among the civilians, which is also in line with the law of natural disasters.

Therefore, Zhang Peilun did not doubt Qin Zheng's method, and at the same time he was secretly happy. He only found out the origins and outs of overseas Chinese, so this trip to Tianjin would not be in vain. In addition, this group of overseas Chinese was just a group of orphans. It turned out that the country of overseas Chinese no longer existed, which also relieved Zhang Peilun a lot. Just five or six thousand people and more than ten ships should not pose a substantial threat to Daqing. On the contrary, if the Qing Dynasty really recruited these overseas Chinese, it could indeed become a great help to the Qing Dynasty.

Thinking of this, Zhang Peilun's expression also eased, saying: "Must Qin, I feel deeply sympathy for your country's experience. Although your ancestors were enemies of the Qing Dynasty, they were also loyal and righteous people. I, Daqing, have always admired the loyal and righteous people. After regaining Taiwan, I still worshipped the throne of the nobles of the nobles in Taiwan. I was moved by the loyal and righteousness of the nobles of the nobles of the nobles. What's more, my Qing Dynasty has been more than 250 years ago and I will never pursue the matters before. Now the current situation of the Qing Dynasty is in danger. It is the time to use people. Your side has strong ships, powerful cannons, brave generals, and also made great contributions. In the future, I will only wait for the title of generals."

Qin Zheng said: "We did not ask for a general or a title, but only to have a foothold in our hometown and make us live and work in peace. Moreover, although the Eight-Nation Alliance was defeated, Beijing was still in their hands, and the Empress Dowager and the Emperor were still hunting the West. Therefore, the overall situation should be put first and the country should retreat first, so that the Empress Dowager and the Emperor could return to Beijing as the top priority."

After hearing this, Zhang Peilun also said, "What the Qin Political Commissar said is, it is true that this is what Li Zhongtang means. Now the overall situation should be the priority and stop the troops as soon as possible so that the empress dowager and the emperor can return to Beijing to stabilize the overall situation."

Qin Zheng said: "So I wonder what Li Zhongtang thinks should do now?"

Zhang Peilun said: "Li Zhongtang hopes that you can make peace with all countries as soon as possible."

Qin Zheng said: "Make peace?"

Zhang Peilun said: "Yes, although your country won the Eight-Nation Alliance in a row, and recaptured Tianjin and defeated the German fleet, the eight countries were strong after all, and although your country had strong combat power, they were alone and helpless. If they continued to fight, they were afraid that the overall situation would be unfavorable. Li Zhongtang thought he would stop when he saw the victory. Taking advantage of your country's victory, he would negotiate with foreigners to make peace with the foreigners."

After that, Zhang Peilun looked at Qin Zheng and felt a little nervous, not knowing what Qin Zheng's attitude was.

Qin Zheng said: "It is naturally a good thing to be able to set up troops and negotiate peace. However, when we met with consulates from various countries in Tianjin a few days ago, we said that peace is not a matter of one side and requires the joint efforts of both sides. But we don't know if the countries are willing to negotiate peace?"

After hearing this, Zhang Peilun couldn't help but feel happy and said hurriedly: "Naturally, all countries are willing to make peace. Before coming to Tianjin, they met with Huo Bilan, the British Consul in Shanghai. He once said to me personally that all countries also hope to end the current war peacefully, and they entrusted them to you, and they were willing to negotiate with you."

Qin Zheng said: "Mr. Qiao came to Tianjin this time not only to represent Li Zhongtang, but also to represent the attitudes of various countries?"

Zhang Peilun quickly waved his hand and said, "I came to Tianjin to send Li Zhongtang's advice to you. It has nothing to do with other countries. I just took the initiative to bring messages to other countries. If you have any requests, whether it is to Li Zhongtang or other countries, you can convey it to you."

Qin Zheng bowed his head and said, "I don't know under what conditions the countries hope to negotiate."

Zhang Peilun shook his head and said, "I don't know this, but British Consul Huo Bilan hopes to know what conditions you are under before negotiating with other countries?"

Qin Zheng thought about it and said, "I can't decide this matter alone. Let's do this. We will officially meet Mr. Youqiao tomorrow. We will definitely give Mr. Youqiao an answer at that time."

Zhang Peilun naturally knew that Qin Zheng could not express his opinion on the dining table for such a major matter, so he did not ask any further questions. Then the two talked about other things. What Zhang Peilun asked about was naturally about the affairs of overseas Chinese, while Qin Zheng asked about some historical mystery or matters about the Westernization Movement to help him further understand the situation of this era.

This time, both sides took their own needs and parted with joy. After the banquet, Zhang Peilun immediately rushed to the telegraph office regardless of the rest, and sent a power to Li Hongzhang to inform him of his gains on the day. Of course, it is impossible for Qin Zheng to send back the history of overseas Chinese in the telegraph, because the content was too long. He only learned some secrets of overseas Chinese, and gained a lot, etc.

Li Hongzhang has been waiting for Zhang Peilun's news in Shanghai. After receiving Zhang Peilun's telegram, he felt much more at ease. However, he didn't know what conditions would be raised by overseas Chinese tomorrow, so he still couldn't fully let go, but he could only wait until tomorrow to know the result. So he replied to Zhang Peilun, after receiving the reply from overseas Chinese tomorrow, don't make a statement easily, but immediately send it back to Shanghai to see Li Hongzhang.

Just as Zhang Peilun and Li Hongzhang were communicating with telegrams, Qin Zheng also rushed back to Gordon Hall. Although it was already past eight o'clock in the evening, the other four people from the Interim Executive Committee, Xia Bohai, Xiao Jianjun, Wang Yunpeng, and Xu Jichao had not yet rested, but were waiting for Qin Zheng's return.

After listening to Qin Zheng’s reunion, Xiao Jianjun first said: “The foreigners do not have their conditions, but ask our conditions first. What does this mean?”

Wang Yunpeng smiled and said, "This is touching our trump card and then deciding to negotiate with us. Although they entrusted Zhang Peilun to make a request for negotiation with us first, Zhang Peilun did not have a formal authorization and did not have written documents. Once our conditions are too high, they can refuse to negotiate with us."

Xiao Jianjun said: "Isn't that just right? Anyway, we don't plan to negotiate with the foreign ghosts now. We will attack Shandong next, so it's better if we can't get a talk."

Xia Bohai said: "It's not that simple. Once our asking price is too high, foreigners can blame us for the negligence of refusing peace. On the one hand, the hardliners within the Eight-Nation Alliance can take the opportunity to let the trouble, forcing the peacekeepers to give up negotiations, increase troops to China, and expand the scale of the war. On the other hand, the Qing court's officials who participated in Southeast Mutual Protection blamed us for disrupting the negotiations and thus distracted the relationship between us and the Qing court."

Qin Zheng bowed his head and said, "Old Xia's thing makes sense, so if we want to put forward conditions, we must consider it carefully.

Xiao Jianjun said: "How to be cautious? I think so I'll just not mention the conditions. We can let foreigners ask the conditions first."

Xia Bohai shook his head and said, "No, we should first put forward our conditions, and we should announce them in full."

Xiao Jianjun was stunned and said, "Why is this?"

Xia Bohai said: "First of all, the Eight-Nation Alliance is not a monolithic part. Some countries are in charge of war, some countries are in charge of peace, and some countries are in a volatile state. Therefore, as long as the negotiation conditions we propose can be accepted by the peace state, we can split up within the Eight-Nation Alliance. On the other hand, we must also let the Qing court officials accept our conditions, so that we can gain a high level of domestic public opinion. Then, we can push the responsibility for the unstoppable war on the Eight-Nation Alliance, and we cannot blame us."

Wang Yunpeng said: "But I see that the officials of the Qing court have different attitudes. Some are relatively weak. For example, Li Hongzhang, he may accept concessions from foreigners and end the war as soon as possible. However, some people have to be a little tough and cannot suffer too much. I'm afraid it will be difficult to unify."

Xia Bohai said: "This is not a big problem. The Qing court officials are easy to deal with. As long as our conditions occupy a big position, even if they oppose it, they will not dare to come out. Guan Jian is now whether we are ready to attack Shandong. After all, we will not leave too much time, and this battle cannot be delayed too long. We must fight and decide quickly. After all countries react, we have already captured Weihai and Qingdao and have gained a foothold in Shandong. All countries can only accept this fact."

Xiao Jianjun said: "Don't worry, the preparations have been almost done. In just about two weeks, we can launch a battle to attack Shandong. Moreover, according to the reconnaissance during this period, the troops and defenses of Weihai and Qingdao are not strong. Therefore, according to my estimate, the battle can be ended within one to two weeks. If it goes well, one week will be enough. The combat plan of the club will be completed in two or three days."
Chapter completed!