It was not a whim to talk to the British. Feng Yunshan also had this idea. If the Taiping Army wants to establish a country in Bangladesh, it must be in the gap between the two giants, the Qing Dynasty and the United Kingdom. Only when they can make good friends with the two countries will the Taiping Army have a chance to breathe.

However, Kolkata is the political, economic and military center of the British in India, and Bangladesh is the transportation corridor connecting India and Myanmar. Will the British agree to the Taiping Army to occupy it? This is impossible at all. Kolkata can become the center of the British in India, which is enough to show the British's importance to this place!

Seeing Hong Xiuquan made up his mind to contact the British, Feng Yunshan quickly said, "Your Majesty, the British will not give up Kolkata and Bangladesh easily. If we contact the British, we may get into a feud with Yuan Qi and end up being attacked on both sides..."

"Yuan Qi is a wolf that eats people but doesn't spit bones!" Hong Xiuquan's voice was low, and there was a faint sense of grief and anger. "Yuan Qi cut off the arms supply. We and the British only need to fight two slightly larger wars, and they will be out of ammunition and food and can be slaughtered.

Furthermore, if we want to establish a country in Bangladesh, we must be able to get along with each other. If we fight with the British and exhaust our strength, we will be a wedding dress for Yuanqi!”

Feng Yunshan looked up at him and said, "Yuan Qi is in Sikkim, and Bhutan has nearly 30,000 troops, so he will not stand by and watch..."

"When we and the British both suffer losses, they will help?" Hong Xiuquan sneered: "Yi Zhizu has been constantly using us from beginning to end! He has never had any kindness!"

Feng Yunshan felt quite dissatisfied with what he said. Yes, Yuan Qi has indeed been using the Taiping Army and used the Taiping Army as a gun envoy. However, it was Yuan Qi who released the Taiping Army and provided the Taiping Army with a large amount of guns, ammunition, food and medicine for the Taiping Army. Otherwise, the Taiping Army would have suffered all casualties long ago.

He didn't dare to say this clearly. He hesitated for a moment before he spoke: "The British army is coming to aid a lot, and I'm afraid they won't agree to the peace talks..."

"I always try to get in touch. I think the British army is unwilling to fight with us to lose both sides." Hong Xiuquan said and sighed inwardly, and said in a slow tone: "We can't always be used as a gun by Yuan Qi. If we can get the support of the British, it might be a turning point."

After a pause, he continued: "We can withdraw from Kolkata and stationed in Dhaka, but the British must help us build railways, open telegrams, and start factories..."

On the sea near the mouth of the Ganges River, a fleet of twenty warships and many supply merchant ships was quietly anchored on the sea surface. The rice-shaped flag hanging on the mast was fluttering in the wind. On the nearby coast, a long white military tent was hidden in the shade.

When the sun sets west, five fast ships hanging with yellow black edges quickly moved closer to the British fleet. The Southern King Feng Yunshan stood on the deck with interest and looked at the British fleet anchored on the sea. He was in a very complicated mood. He didn't know whether this step was a good or a bad thing for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

The British army's reaction was somewhat unexpected to them when they sent a telegram to Colombo and revealed their willingness to negotiate, Charles Canning, the British Governor-General of India, responded quickly, agreed to the peace talks and agreed to the venue for the peace talks.

This made Hong Xiuquan, who had a try-out attitude, excited. In order to show his importance, he sent Southern King Feng Yunshan to negotiate in person.

In the shore barracks, in front of the big tent, Charles Canning looked at Erkin with a proud look, "Even if there is no progress in this peace talks, it can still cause a gap between the Taiping Army and Yuanqi..."

Erjin nodded, "The Taiping Army's intention is very obvious, I want to preserve its strength! During negotiations, you might as well be tougher."

The negotiations were held the next morning, and Charles Canning did not follow the usual practice of negotiating on warships, but instead arranged the negotiation location in the military tent on the shore.

This was the first time Feng Yunshan was in negotiations with the British and was not familiar with Western etiquette. After the two sides introduced the ceremony, he said directly: "After the defeat of Hunan, the Taiping Army was driven away all the way, and passed through Guizhou, Yunnan into Myanmar, and then from Myanmar to Kolkata. This is the place where Yuan Qi allowed the Taiping Army to establish a country and the last hope of the Taiping Army.

We are unwilling to go to war with your army, and we cannot give up this place. If your army wants to recover Kolkata, we will fight to the last soldier."

After listening to the translation, Charles Canning didn't feel funny, "Are you here to declare war? Or a peace talk? If a war is declared, there is no need for it. If it is a peace talk, please show your sincerity in the peace talks, even a little sincerity."

After pondering for a moment, Feng Yunshan said: "It is impossible for your country to station tens of thousands of troops in Kolkata for a long time?"

Charles Canning said without hesitation: "Waring in Bangladesh, your army was isolated and unable to obtain timely logistics supplies, so it would not last long."

"The reason why Yuanqi agreed to establish our country in Bangladesh is to restrain your army to the greatest extent." Feng Yunshan said tit-for-tat: "Once a war begins, Yuanqi will inevitably strongly support it and provide logistics supply from land - Tibet and Myanmar. What Yuanqi is most willing to see is that both of our sides fought in Kolkata and both sides were injured in Bangladesh, making your army unable to invade east!"

Erkin glanced at the other party. Judging from the Qing army captured Kolkata and then gave up the Taiping Army to occupy it, it was obvious that he had the idea that if he really wanted to start a war with the Taiping Army in Bangladesh, he would be deceived by the Qing army!

Before Charles Canning could speak, he said directly: "Kolkata is our political, economic and military center in India. We must recover it. There is no room for discussion."

After hearing this, Feng Yunshan breathed a sigh of relief. The other party's request was not excessive. The other party had a huge fleet and the Taiping Army had no navy, so it was impossible for him to defend Kolkata. After deliberately pondering for a while, he said: "We can withdraw from Kolkata... However, we need your country's strong support to build a railway, open telegrams, and set up factories in Dhaka."

Withdrawing from Kolkata? Erkin and Charles Canning looked at each other, and both of them were secretly happy. They had never expected that the Taiping Army would hand over Kolkata so easily. For Britain, Kolkata is the capital of British India. Even at the cost of a lot, it must be recovered, otherwise it will be enough to shake Britain's rule in India!

Charles Canning reacted faster. He immediately realized that when the Taiping Army surrendered Kolkata, Yuan Qi would inevitably turn against the Taiping Army. If he provoked and won over, he might even turn the Taiping Army into his own use. The Taiping Army could become the sharp knife in Yuan Qi's hand, so why couldn't it become the sharp knife in the hands of their British people? Maybe it would be possible to use the Taiping Army to regain Myanmar or attack Tibet.

As for building railways, opening telegrams, setting up factories in Dhaka, Charles Canning didn't care and agreed. He knew very well that the Taiping Army wanted to learn from Yuanqi, but without strong funds as a backing, it was like dreaming in daytime.

After pondering for a moment, he spoke: "If the Taiping Army wants to establish a country in Bangladesh and want to develop industry, it must have enough funds. Assam's tea garden has already formed a scale. If your army can seize Assam, there is no need to worry about the funds."

Assam was occupied by Yuanqi's new northwest army and Tibetan soldiers. Is he trying to instigate the Taiping army to start a war against Yuanqi? Feng Yunshan secretly whispered, and then said: "We will carefully consider your suggestions."

Kolkata, the Southern Prince's Palace.

Returning to the mansion from the Heavenly King's Mansion, Feng Yunshan had not had time to take a bath and change his clothes, but heard that the King of Wings came to visit. He naturally knew about Shi Dakai's purpose. He pondered for a moment before he ordered: "Please wait in front of the King of Wings, and I will go later."

After taking a shower, he rushed to the study. When he saw him in, Shi Dakai stood up and asked directly: "Will the King of Southern go to the mouth of the Ganges to negotiate with the British?"

Feng Yunshan nodded, "If we want to protect ourselves, we must negotiate with the British."

"If we want to establish a country in Bangladesh, we can only rely on Yuanqi, not the British!" Shi Dakai said quickly and urgently, "Why did Yuanqi let us establish a country in Bangladesh? It is to prevent the British from expanding into Myanmar, and the British simply cannot give up Myanmar. If we rely on the British, wouldn't we beg for the tiger?"

"Sit down and say." Feng Yunshan reached out with a warm face and gave up his seat. After he sat down, he said calmly: "Parking talks with the British is just a plan of rights and interests, in order to preserve strength. If our troops are fought with the British army, they will lose their value of utilization. Yuan Qi will definitely abandon us as if they are worn out. Moreover, Yiguocheng also called, asking us to give up Kolkata if we cannot compete with them..."

Shi Dakai glanced at him and said coldly: "Why should the King of Southern pretend to be confused when he understands it? Yiguocheng asked us to abandon Kolkata in order to preserve our strength. Even if we abandon Kolkata, it would pose a great threat to the British army. The British army dared not to garrison Kolkata with heavy troops."

Speaking of this, he sneered, "I'm sorry, Yiguo City is considering us everywhere, but we stabbed him in the back." As he said that, he stared at Feng Yunshan and said, "What kind of character is Yiguo City? The Southern King should know better than me. We have to pay the price for this knife!"

After hearing this, Feng Yunshan sighed inwardly and said, "As long as we still have strength and still have value in use, Yuanqi will not give up on us." After a pause, he said softly: "The king of heaven means that the kingdom of heaven cannot rely on Yuanqi for a long time, nor can it rely solely on Yuanqi. Since we have to establish a country in Bangladesh and be sandwiched between Yuanqi and Britain, we must be able to get along with each other, so that we can have a chance to breathe. If we fight for a long time, our troops will always be able to fight for nothing... This is also a long-term consideration."

Long-term considerations? Shi Dakai is no longer in the mood to argue again. Just a little bit of a big territory is still mixed with two ambitious forces, Britain and the Qing Dynasty. What long-term can it be? If it is really for the long-term considerations, we should decisively invest in Yuanqi.

Although Yuan Qi has made every use of the Taiping Army in recent years, fighting, pulling and defending, he has always left room for nothing and never done anything. In fact, he has always been waiting for the Taiping Army to take the initiative to surrender. If he really thinks about the long-term and thinks about the brothers who have never given up and follow him loyally, he should give up his unrealistic plan to establish a country. If this continues, sooner or later, he will lead the brothers to a dead end!

Shanghai, Zhenhai Gongfu, Changle Bookstore.

Yi Zhizu signed the word "read" on the telegram sent from Kolkata without saying a word, then placed the telegram on the coffee table, took out the jade cigarette mouth and lit a cigarette.

Wei Yuan and Zhao Wenlie looked at each other without saying a word. They did not expect that the Taiping Army would actually negotiate with the British army and voluntarily evacuate Kolkata. In this way, Yi Zhisheng's wishful thinking of using the Taiping Army to restrain the British army in South Asia can be said to be completely lost.

"Kolkata has such good conditions, and the Taiping Army has abandoned it without fighting. Hong Xiuquan is indeed a mud that cannot be supported on the wall!" Yi Zhizu's tone was indignant and mixed with some regret and helplessness. As he said, he looked up at Cao Gensheng, "The telegram will be made to Groba, Manila, Guangzhou, hurry up and strengthen combat preparations, and be sure to be fully prepared before winter!"

After Cao Gensheng left, Zhao Wenlie thoughtfully said: "Even if the Taiping Army negotiated with the British army and handed back Kolkata to the British army, the large-scale uprising in India will not be pacified in a short time, right?"

"Don't overestimate the Indians, and don't underestimate the influence of India on Britain." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "India has never been unified in more than 700 nationalities of all sizes. In addition, there are many ethnic groups, complex composition, religious chaos, and cultural disparateness. It can be regarded as the most typical scattered sand. We cannot have too high expectations for them.

As the most important colony of Britain overseas, the British would never allow India to be in turmoil for a long time. Moreover, this time, there will be a large-scale invasion of the east, so the troops transferred to India to quell the turmoil is definitely beyond imagination and it will not take too much time at all."

Wei Yuan reminded: "Will the Taiping Army be used by the British army and make a comeback?"

"Not to it." Yi Zhizu also considered this issue and immediately shook his head and said, "The Taiping Army just wants to preserve its strength and turn against Yuan Qi. He should not have the courage to do so, and Hong Xiuquan should not be that stupid either."

Wei Yuan glanced at him and said, "Sir, since the Lord said that Bangladesh is a strategic location, the British naturally would not easily tolerate the Taiping Army occupying it. Bangladesh has a small territory, and the Taiping Army may not be satisfied. The strength of the United Kingdom is beyond doubt. If greater benefits are made, the Taiping Army may not be tempted, such as Myanmar and Tibet..."
Chapter completed!