In 1858, Xianfeng, who was listening to Cixi singing a song in the Old Summer Palace, received the news of the fall of Guangzhou, and he did not feel angry, but looked confused. Because not long ago, he also received an excerpt from Ye Mingchen, the governor of Liangguang, which said: "Yingyi has now sued for peace, and trade can be made on the record", he was also very satisfied with Ye Mingchen's handling of foreign affairs, and also issued an order to instruct Ye Mingchen: "Ye Mingchen has seen through the background, the Yi trick has been exhausted, and the overall situation can be roughly determined, and he will enter the city, pay compensation, and replace the sections of the treaty, and cut off the kudzu vine, thinking that it will be a done thing once and for all", but Ye Mingchen will never receive this holy decree, because he has been captured by the British army and sent to Calcutta, India.
And before this, Xianfeng had the impression that the situation in Guangdong was not very good, but very good, why did foreigners suddenly enter Guangzhou.
In October 1856, in order to expand the interests of Britain in China, the use of the "Yarrow" incident to make trouble, requiring that in accordance with the "Treaty of Nanjing", the British were allowed to enter the city of Guangzhou, the governor of Liangguang Ye Mingchen ignored it as usual, on October 27, the British army bombarded the city of Guangzhou, occupied the Guangzhou Fort, and entered the city to loot a lot, Ye Mingchen was incense in the temple outside the city, escaped a catastrophe, the British army due to the small number of people, looted and returned to Hong Kong. Ye Mingchen reported a "big victory" to the imperial court:
About two or three hundred people took the city of (Guangzhou), and after the general Ling Fang and the gentleman Ouyang Quan and others fell to death.
The soldiers bravely destroyed the warship, and killed the head of the sailors, and more than 400 bandits. ”
Rear Admiral Sima Migoni and more than 400 British troops were killed in battle so inexplicably, and Xianfeng, who was overwhelmed by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, received the report, of course, he was overjoyed, and praised Ye Mingchen a lot, and because the civil strife was undecided, he didn't want to cause more trouble, so he instructed Ye Mingchen to accept it when he saw it, and calm the matter, "At this time, if you concentrate on attacking and suppressing, it will not be difficult to destroy the ugly ......."If the chieftain knows his grievances, repents of his sins and seeks peace, and rejects his decision to enter the city, he may only bow down as he is asked, and let the army be relieved, but he must not be willing to give in, and cause the old wisdom to relapse and threaten him." In April 1857, France also decided to participate in the expeditionary force because of the "Father Ma" incident, and sent Gro to bring an army to form a coalition army, and the United States and Russia also agreed to participate in the operation together, but the United States was on the eve of the Civil War, and Tsarist Russia had just suffered a crushing defeat in the Crimea, so they were unable to send troops, so they only sent ministers to come and act with the coalition forces.
At this time, Ye Mingchen was still reporting the victory to the imperial court
Since March, he has engaged in many battles with the rebels, destroyed many steamers, injured and killed countless bandits, and captured more than 50 bandits."
The Yingyi boats, since withdrawing from the provincial river, have been suppressed by officers and soldiers for ten years, and the boats have been burned and killed by bandits, and the blockade is still tight. After the extermination of Caiyi, there was no movement for two decades."
Many ships were damaged, and more than 1,000 bandits were injured and killed. ......Inspecting the situation in Yingyi in recent days, he has been extremely poor, and he can be compromised in a few days. ”
Xianfeng really won when he heard it, this Ye Mingchen was really a capable person in the Qing Dynasty, and praised vigorously: "The governor is familiar with the situation of Yiwu, and he can be cautious and prudent, and he will not live up to the appointment."
In June 1857, the British army invaded Guangzhou again, 17 ** bombarded more than 100 warships of the Qingshui Division, Ye Mingchen actually did not take any action, and said to the people around him: "After the 15th, there must be nothing wrong", Ye Mingchen is so calm and calm There is also his reason, Ye Mingchen admires traditional culture very much, likes divination, the governor Yamen has long enshrined Lu Dongbin, through the divination of the great immortal told him that "after the 15th will be fine", so he is convinced.
Moreover, Ye Mingchen is also familiar with military books, knows the truth of "knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent", and sent a large number of spies to Hong Kong to inquire about the news, at this time Hong Kong adopts the British system, anyone can run a newspaper, and anything can be published, Ye Mingchen receives a lot of news every day, but he only chooses what he wants to believe.
In 1857, there was an uprising in India, the British army sent bullets coated with butter and lard to Indian soldiers, these bullets had to bite the outer package with their mouths before use, and the soldiers who believed in Hinduism and Islam felt that it was an insult to them, so there was an uprising, Ergin led the army back to India to suppress the uprising, Ye Mingchen sorted out the news he was willing to see, and played the court:
1. There was a major uprising within Yingyi, and Erjin was almost killed.
2. ** In the case of reparations for the Crimean War from the British.
3. The Queen of England asked the British army to exercise restraint and not start the war lightly.
4. The King of France instructed Gro not to help Britain in maintaining neutrality.
Anyway, "Yingyi" is in internal and external difficulties, and is in the process of collapse. The reality is the complete opposite, Britain has successfully suppressed the Indian uprising, the Crimean War has been defeated, Britain and France have won a great victory, and have transferred military forces to the Far East, the British cabinet has authorized Ergin to wage war, there is no such thing as the queen not allowing war, France has decided to join the coalition, and Gro has led an army to Hong Kong to join the British army.
In December 1857, Ergin returned to Hong Kong from India, Gro also led the French army to arrive, the British and French forces completed the assembly, and on December 24, Ye Mingchen issued an ultimatum to Ye Mingchen, at this time Ye Mingchen did not realize that the great danger was coming, and ignored the ultimatum of Britain and France as usual, and also gave Xianfeng a long excerpt of 7,000 words, while describing the good situation to Xianfeng, and finally swore that "Yingyi has now sued for peace, and the day is allowed to trade."
On December 28, the British and French forces attacked Guangzhou, and a day later on the 29th, Guangzhou fell, and on January 5, 1858, Ye Mingchen was captured by the British army and sent to Calcutta, India, and later Xianfeng learned the truth of the matter, and was furious, and ordered to scold: "The governor ......."It is really stubborn and self-serving, perverse, and a big responsibility. Ye Mingchen was immediately dismissed."
Finally, a little episode, after the British and French forces occupied Guangzhou, because they only brought a few translators, they could not manage the city at all, so they asked the governor of Guangzhou, Bai Gui, to come out and reinstate, to the surprise of the British, the order of Guangzhou was restored immediately, and the citizens of Guangzhou were completely indifferent to the fall of the city and the invasion of foreign enemies, and a large number of compradors and citizens gave the British army ** food, vegetables and other materials, Ergin mentioned in a letter to his wife: A British gunboat ran aground on the shore, and the commander went ashore to find someone to help, The villagers didn't say a word, but immediately got up and towed the boat out. Ergin sighed: "I have never seen such a war."