The consuls of various countries negotiated for more than a while. Although they did not discuss any results, everyone knew that they could not discuss any results, because even if Beijing sent troops to rescue the concession, it would take at least about three days. Therefore, unless God really appeared, the enemy would not attack the concession during these three days.

But the consuls got some information from Fukushima Anmasato to know who their enemies were. The enemy they encountered this time was not the Boxer Rebellion or the army of the Qing Kingdom, but a group of Chinese who claimed to be from overseas.

Of course, the consuls were not without doubt, because they had never heard of a country established by Chinese overseas, but now it is not the time to go to the bottom of the matter. One thing is undeniable, that is, the strength of the enemy is far stronger than that of the Boxer Rebellion or the Qing army, and it is definitely not comparable to the current concession. Therefore, even if you know who your enemy is, at most you can make yourself die, but you will die in the end.

The final meeting was not about the discussion, but about the result, but someone came to report it. Now the concession was in chaos and all kinds of rumors were flying. Many people rushed to the dock to find a boat to leave, and some people ran away in a carriage. In order to fight for the carriage, many people fought and some people took advantage of the situation to rob. The patrol officers in the concession could not suppress it, and several lives had already happened.

Therefore, the consuls of various countries had to terminate the meeting and come out to appease the residents of the concession, because many residents in the concession had guns, so it would be a big mess. Before the enemy could come, the concession would probably fight a chaos first.

Those who can become consuls will naturally not be incompetent. At present, the British Consul General in Tianjin, Jin Zhang, immediately ordered Fukushima Anzheng and Ball immediately dispatched troops to maintain order in the concession. First of all, it is necessary to ensure that the concession cannot be in chaos.

After all, the army was an army. After the dispatch, it immediately arrested dozens of people who were hysterical and crazy, or took advantage of the chaos to catch fish, and shot six people on the spot. This also shocked many people. It immediately controlled the situation in the concession, and at the same time blocked the docks and roads, and prohibited people in the concession from leaving. Of course, three boats had been driven away and several carriages escaped.

Jin Zhang and other consuls came to the gate of Gordon Hall and gave a speech to the residents in the concession, saying that the consulates of various countries would never escape by themselves. They would not care about the residents in the concession and would do their best to protect the concession, ask the residents to remain calm and assist the army. The consulate had sent power to Beijing and asked Beijing to send troops to defend the concession as soon as possible. I believe that reinforcements will arrive soon. In addition, Dagukou and Tianjin have been occupied by the enemy. Even if they escape from the concession and can escape there, it is better to stay in the concession, and everyone will work together to defend the concession and overcome this difficulty together.

After listening to Jin Zhang's speech, the residents became much more calm, because whether they could defend the concession or not, at least one of Jin Zhang was not wrong, that was, even if they escaped from the concession, they might not be able to survive. Instead, they would stay in the concession and might have a glimmer of hope.

Seeing that the residents' emotions finally settled down, the consuls were relieved. Jin Zhang appointed Colonel Ball again, and was responsible for military command. He immediately set out to arrange the defense to defend the concession. In fact, Jin Zhang also knew that the defense was of no use at all, but at this time, he had to show off to make the residents feel at ease, otherwise it would be in chaos.

After Colonel Ball received his order and left, the people surrounding Gordon Hall gradually dispersed. At this time, Japanese Consul in Tianjin, Hiroki Ijiyuan, came over and whispered: "Consul, our enemy has sent us a letter."

Jin Zhang was stunned and said, "What letter?"

Hiroki Ijiyuan pointed behind him, and a Japanese soldier stood beside Anmasato Fukushima with white gauze wrapped around his head. Hiroki Ijiyuan said, "He is a soldier captured by the enemy in Tianjin. According to his enemy's commander, he will be sent back and send us a letter."

Jin Zhang raised his head and said, "Let's go to the conference room first."

The consuls returned to the conference room, and only then did Yanji Yiji hand over the letter brought back by the Japanese army to Jin Zhang, and the seal had not been opened. The others were also talking about it, not knowing what the letter was.

After opening the envelope, there were three sheets of paper inside, all of which were handwritten, one in English, one in French, and one in Chinese. Jin Zhang understood French, and as a consul stationed in China, of course he also understood Chinese. Therefore, he simply looked at the first few lines and confirmed that the contents of these three sheets were the same. So he handed the piece of paper written in French to Du Shilan, Consul General of France in Tianjin, and placed the piece of paper written in Chinese on the conference table, so that those who understand Chinese could take it to see it themselves.

This is a letter of persuasion of surrender. Of course, the content drafted by the command center and passed on to Zhi9. The officers and soldiers here translated into English, French, and hand-written three copies, allowing a captured Japanese soldier to send to the concession. The letter first told the consuls that his identity was an overseas Chinese and he was going to return to his hometown of China. Tianjin City and Dagukou were both captured, and the next step was to take back the Tianjin Concession. The concession could not resist its own attack at all. However, in accordance with the principle of humanitarianism, requiring the people in the concession to lay down their weapons and surrender, which can ensure the personal safety of all people in the concession and the private property not being violated. However, the wealth plundered from China is not protected. If the concession refuses to surrender, the army will launch an attack on the concession on time at 8 o'clock in the morning, and all consequences will be borne by the concession. At the end of the Chinese version of the letter, there is also a sentence "Don't say that you are not prepared."

After reading this letter of surrender, all the consuls looked at each other. No one expected that this group of overseas Chinese would do such a trick for themselves. No one could speak for a while, but just thought about whether to accept the other party's conditions.

After a while, Jin Zhang said, "Sir, there is not much time left. If you have any ideas, come out quickly."

The Portuguese consul said: "Mr. Hobkins, since the other party proposed that as long as we surrender, we can guarantee our security of life and private property. I think this is an acceptable condition. Why not promise them..."

"No." Before the Portuguese consul finished, the Russian consul interrupted: "The words of the yellow-skinned monkeys are not trustworthy. Who can guarantee that after we put down our weapons, they will respect their promises. Therefore, we have no other choice but to fight and use battle to defend the concession. Don't be scared by the yellow-skinned monkeys. Don't look at them capturing Dagukou and Tianjin. That's because their opponent is not our heroic Russian army. There are two hundred Russian warriors here, and they can't enter the concession."

The Russian consul's words were immediately rolled, because Russia is the least trustworthy country recognized by Europe, and it is faster to turn against each other than to read books. Moreover, the Russian consul's words just now were too arrogant and did not take other countries seriously at all. If it weren't for the critical moment, someone would have come out to argue with him long ago.

However, the Russian consul's words were not completely unreasonable. If this happened in Europe, of course it would not have been decided to surrender long ago and would discuss a hammer. But no one knew whether this group of overseas Chinese came out from there, whether they knew the rules or did not follow the rules. What if they put down their guns and surrendered, they would turn against each other? Then they would be slaughtered. It would be better to resist to death. Even if they couldn't beat them, they could die gloriously like a warrior. Europe does not reject surrender, but it does not mean that Europeans are just afraid of death. It is better to try not to die as much as possible.

At this time, French Consul Du Shilan said, "I think so. Since the other party sent us a letter of surrender, we will not send people to negotiate with them. We can surrender and give up resistance, but we cannot let their troops enter the concession. They cannot enter on a large scale. As long as the army does not enter the concession, it is okay to give them some money. Or it is good to delay time. Even if it is not successful, we can still try their attitude, so that we can make a decision."

The consuls unanimously agreed with Du Shilan's suggestion, because the negotiations are not only normal for all countries. Anyway, the situation is like this. No matter whether the talk is successful or not, it cannot continue to be broken. On the contrary, if you can understand the other party's attitude, it will also help the concession make the right choice.

As for the candidates for negotiation, the consuls agreed that after discussion, the director of the Tianjin Customs Taxation Department, Gustvondetring, was the most suitable candidate.

De Cuilin is a British German. He has lived in China since 1866. From 1878 to 189 (between 188 and 1884), De Cuilin was elected as the chairman of the British Concession 10 times. Moreover, since 1878, De Cuilin served as the director of the Customs and Taxation Department of Tianjin. He has a considerable influence in China and has been up to now. He has a good relationship with many officials of the Qingting, and has a close personal relationship with Li Hongzhang. He has become an important assistant and consultant for Li Hongzhang to start the Westernization Affairs Office and is often entrusted with important diplomatic responsibilities.

Deculin also knew that she could not defeat this errand, so she did not refuse too much and immediately accepted the task. At this time, Fukushima An took the initiative to ask and wanted to go with Deculin to participate in the negotiations.

It turned out that Anmasa Fukushima had a strong interest in this group of overseas Chinese. With the intuition of an intelligence officer, Anmasa Fukushima vaguely felt that this group of overseas Chinese had too many unknown secrets and instinctively felt that it did not seem to be beneficial to Japan. Therefore, Anmasa Fukushima also hopes to use this negotiation to face contact with this group of overseas Chinese and have an intuitive understanding of them to obtain more intelligence information.
Chapter completed!