The Eight-Nation Coalition attacked China, and the Qing court urgently summoned Li Hongzhang to rush north to negotiate peace, and Li Jingfang was always waiting for him. However, when his father and son arrived in Shanghai, the north was already in chaos and could not go, so he could only stay in Shanghai and wait and see what happened, and together with the Qing court's southeastern governors, he promoted the mutual protection of the southeast, thus maintaining the balance of southern China.

After the establishment of the Southeast Mutual Insurance, the Qing court's southeast governor even secretly discussed, if Cixi and Guangxu died in the war, then the southeast governor would work together to elect Li Hongzhang as the president to maintain the situation in the south. And this suggestion has also been supported by many foreigners.

If it is said that the Qing court's southeastern governor elected Li Hongzhang as the president, it was only an expedient measure, and there were even manpower to persuade Li Hongzhang to take advantage of the chaos to get rid of the Qing court, support the army and stand on his own, and restore the world of the Han family? The British governor of Hong Kong, Bu Li, sent a telegram to Li Hongzhang, urging him not to lose this golden opportunity, to support the army and stand on his own, and to say that he could help Li Hongzhang in his activities and win the full support of Britain. Li Hongzhang ignored this, but after reading it, he burned the message and did not mention it again.

Li Jingfang was naturally clear about these things, and he had repeatedly discussed with Li Hongzhang in secret discussions, suggesting that Li Hongzhang first support his troops in Liangguang to stand on his own feet and win the support of Britain, and then then he could take the world, and retreat to sit on Liangguang and divide one side. However, Li Hongzhang was always noncommittal about Li Jingfang's suggestion, neither expressing nor denying it, and did not get a clear answer from Li Hongzhang, and Li Jingfang certainly did not dare to act rashly, so he froze.

Li Jingfang also knows that the old man does not want to take action, but has too many scruples, after all, the current old man actually does not have a single soldier in his hands, although the British have expressed their support for Li Hongzhang, but after all, it is only verbal, and it is a personal statement, whether it represents the British government, can get the support of the British government, it is difficult to say, not to mention that foreigners have always been unreliable.

And this group of overseas Chinese, let Li Jingfang see hope again, this group of overseas Chinese have a strong force, by no means inferior to the Beiyang Navy Division back then, and they are newcomers, no matter what the purpose, if they want to gain a foothold on the land of China, they must be attached to a powerful member of the Qing Dynasty, and Li Hongzhang is such an object, so if you can use the body to ambush this group of overseas Chinese for your own use, or exchange interests, then the chance of success is much greater. Li Jingfang took the initiative to ask to go to Tianjin, of course, not only to test the tone of overseas Chinese, but to find an opportunity to persuade overseas Chinese to support Li Hongzhang.

Li Jingfang's thoughts, Li Hongzhang is naturally clear, to say that Li Hongzhang really does not have a little betrayal of the Qing court, it is also unrealistic, the current court has been so mediocre, the political situation has been so chaotic, such as the idea of independence of the two Guangzhou, even the dream of becoming the emperor, is not without Li Hongzhang's heart.

However, Li Hongzhang's heart also understands that the hundred-legged insect is dead but not stiff, although the Qing Dynasty is a towering tree that will wither, but Bi Jing has a foundation of nearly three hundred, and he will not fall down so easily, and it is not easy to replace it, and he is no longer the Li Zhongtang who was in charge of Beiyang and sat in Zhili, the defeat of the First Sino-Japanese War has made his reputation plummet, and he was once even scolded as a traitorI don't know how much it will cost. Therefore, without complete certainty, we must not act rashly, and we must not even reveal the slightest rumor.

Before coming to Shanghai, Li Hongzhang stayed in Hong Kong for a day and had a secret conversation with Hong Kong Governor Bu Li, who did not even participate in this secret talk, but from some later signs, Li Jingfang guessed that Ying Buli was persuading Li Hongzhang to become independent in Liangguang, in fact, Bu Li introduced a person to Li Hongzhang at that time, named Sun Wen, and his other name was more familiar, that is, Sun Yat-sen.

In fact, Li Hongzhang was no stranger to Sun Yat-sen, as early as before the First Sino-Japanese War, Sun Yat-sen wrote to Li Hongzhang through Sheng Xuanhuai, the whole book was more than 8,000 words, suggesting that the Qing government should imitate the Western social system and carry out reforms. However, Sun Yat-sen was still a little-known doctor at that time, so Li Hongzhang's reaction to Sun Yat-sen was very cold and did not receive him.

Now Sun Yat-sen established the Xingzhong Society, which is a well-known revolutionary party in the Nanyang area, and no longer has any illusions about the reform and national salvation at that time, but strongly advocates the overthrow of the Qing court by force and the establishment of a republic, and has been put on the wanted list by the Qing court. When the news of the outbreak of the Boxer Rebellion spread overseas, Sun Yat-sen thought that this was a great opportunity, and if an uprising was launched in the south at this time, echoing the Boxer Rebellion in the north, there would be a great opportunity. So Sun Yat-sen came to Hong Kong in July 1900 to prepare for an armed uprising in the south.

The members of the Xingzhong Society, He Qi, Chen Shaobai, and Yang Quyun, in the name of Sun Yat-sen, proposed to the Governor of Hong Kong, Bu Li, hoping to get Bu Li's support, and at this time Li Hongzhang arrived in Hong Kong, so Bu Li suggested to Li Hongzhang that he advocate the establishment of a republican government in Liangguang, with Li Hongzhang as the commander, Sun as Li's adviser, and under the protection of the British. Of course, the aim of the British was not to help China, and they believed that the current situation in China was unknown, and in the event of a civil war in China, or the fall of the Qing court, Britain could at least secure its presence in Liangguang, and thus cover the entire southern region, and then depending on the situation in China.

However, at this time, the situation in the north was unclear, and Li Hongzhang was noncommittal to Bu Li's proposal, nor did he meet with Sun Yat-sen, but he did not explicitly refuse. And after Li Hongzhang arrived in Shanghai, he did not continue to go north, on the one hand, it is indeed because of the chaos in the north, on the other hand, he is also waiting for an opportunity, for Li Hongzhang, the best result is that Cixi and Guangxu both died in the war, and then he can justifiably come forward to clean up the mess, whether it is to be the president or the emperor.

At the suggestion of Bu Li, Sun Yat-sen arrived in Shanghai on the evening of the 29th with members of the Xingzhong Society such as Pingshan Zhou, and the Qing Dynasty officials had received the news in advance and were ready to arrest Sun Yat-sen, but Sun Yat-sen still ventured to stay in a Japanese hotel in the concession, and under the arrangement of his friend Liu Xuexun, he contacted Li Hongzhang again, proposing to start an incident in Guangdong, establish a regime independent of the Qing Dynasty, and elect Li Hongzhang as the "presiding government", and Liu Xuexun was responsible for raising military expenses and other plans.

However, although Beijing was broken at this time, Cixi and Guangxu fled to Taiyuan safely, and the differences between the countries were serious, and Russia expressed support for Li Hongzhang, but Britain, the United States, Japan, and Germany did not recognize Li Hongzhang's plenipotentiary and ministerial status. And after getting the news that Cixi and Guangxu were still there, the governors of the provinces represented by Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong also expressed their loyalty to Cixi and Guangxu to all countries, either explicitly or implicitly, so none of the countries mentioned that they would choose a new emperor to replace the Qing Dynasty. Li Hongzhang also gradually gave up his intention to become independent, and wholeheartedly acted as the peace minister of the Qing Dynasty, doing his best to preserve the Qing Dynasty.

Under such circumstances, Li Hongzhang naturally could not agree to Sun Yat-sen's suggestion, but he did not arrest Sun Yat-sen and send him to the official for punishment. And implied that Sun Yat-sen would leave Shanghuo as soon as possible. As a result, Sun Yat-sen left Shanghai on September 1, and then accelerated the preparations for an armed uprising, and in the old time, in early October, launched the Huizhou Uprising. And Li Hongzhang was still running around in Shanghai, and the countries gradually reached a consensus and were ready to negotiate peace with the Qing court, but at this moment, a group of overseas Chinese seemed to fall from the sky, and forcibly stirred up the situation that was originally Kuaiminglang into chaos again. Li Jingfang saw another opportunity from this.

Li Hongzhang did not fail to consider using the strength of this group of overseas Chinese, but he did not know anything about the situation of this group of overseas Chinese, and he did not dare to act rashly, and sent people to Tianjin to contact overseas Chinese and test the attitude of overseas Chinese, which is a feasible strategy, but whether Li Jingfang can handle this matter well, Li Hongzhang has no bottom in his heart, although Li Jingfang has no lack of diplomatic skills, but after all, he is not alone, and Li Jingfang is still calm enough, it is best for overseas Chinese to send someone to Shanghai and talk to Li Hongzhang in person, but it is enough to let Li Jingfang go to Tianjin, but don't be too knowledgeable, and try his best to persuade overseas Chinese to send a weighty person to Shanghai。

However, this group of overseas Chinese sent Zhao Weizhong to Tianjin, but they did not give Li Hongzhang any letters or words, obviously they did not take themselves as Li Zhongtang in their eyes, and it seems that they still want foreigners to take the initiative to sue for peace, which is indeed a bit too arrogant, and I am afraid that it may not be good to cooperate with them.

If he took the liberty of sending Li Jingfang to Tianjin, it would be too cheap, as if he was dignified Li Zhongtang and begged this group of overseas Chinese, so it was better not to send someone to Tianjin first, but to send Zhao Weizhong back to bring a message to himself, and let the overseas Chinese send someone to Shanghai, even if they only sent a small role, at least they sent someone over first, and their face was saved.

Thinking of this, Li Hongzhang also waved his hand and said: "Sending people to Tianjin is a very important matter, and it should not be decided rashly, and now the foreigners are still waiting for our reply, so early tomorrow morning, I will go to the British Consulate to have an interview with the British Consul Huo Bilan, and then make a decision." ”

Seeing that Li Hongzhang had made a decision, Li Jingfang didn't dare to object, so he could only nod and say, "Yes, father." ”

Li Hongzhang turned to Zhang Peilun again and said: "The telegram to the imperial court will be drawn up as soon as possible, show it to me, and then send it to Taiyuan overnight." ”

Zhang Peilun hurriedly said, "Yes, father-in-law." ”