Xia Bohai nodded and said, "Let's decide like this first, and then it depends on the specific situation." The other people have caught it, and Beijing has also been caught."

At this time, Wang Yunpeng said: "Now everyone has been caught, but Beijing has not yet been taken, after all, Beijing is still the capital of the Qing court, theoretically speaking, now you can also choose a person from the Qing court's room sect to be the emperor, continue the Qing court, so as long as Beijing has not been taken, the Qing court is not completely destroyed, I think the attack on Beijing should be stepped up, so as not to have a long night." ”

Qin Zheng said: "I don't think it is necessary to use force to attack Beijing, if you can take Beijing peacefully, of course, it is no better, after all, you can avoid the damage caused by the war to the city of Beijing, which is almost all cultural relics." And the possibility of achieving a peaceful reception of Beijing is still very large, and now the person in charge of Beijing is Zhang Zhidong, I think although he has some scholarly spirit, but he is not the kind of person who can be martyred in the Qing court, so we can let our people contact Zhang Zhidong, and persuade him to open the city and surrender to avoid losses. ”

Xu Jichao said: "Only our people and Zhang Zhidong are in contact, I'm afraid it's still a little bit worse, it's best to have an intermediary to spread the word and persuade Zhang Zhidong, so the effect is better, I think it's very appropriate to let Tang Shaoyi go." ”

Tang Shaoyi was one of the Qing court's representatives to participate in the Tianjin negotiations, and became a prisoner after Tianjin New City was breached by the People's Army. However, Tang Shaoyi and Yuan Shikai have a close relationship, and now the relationship between the East China government and Yuan Shikai is good, so for the sake of Yuan Shikai's face, he did not embarrass Tang Shaoyi, and also intended to release Tang Shaoyi to Nanjing, but Tang Shaoyi and Yuan Shikai exchanged telegrams several times, and decided to stay in Tianjin. An informal representative of the government can communicate with the East China government on behalf of Yuan Shikai.

Yuan Shikai arranged this way, of course, because he knew that this time the East China Government was really going to completely destroy the Qing court, and in the great changes of this era, he wanted to occupy a place in it, not only to understand the movements of the East China Government in time, but also to have someone to observe the great changes at close range, and give timely feedback to himself, so as to determine his next step. Now that Xu Shichang is in Beijing, there is no need to worry, if Tang Shaoyi is allowed to stay in Tianjin and act with the East China Government, he can also observe the movements of the East China Government for himself, so that he can fully control the situation of the great changes of the times.

And Tang Shaoyi accepted this errand, although he was working for Yuan Shikai, but it was also for his own consideration to a large extent, after all, at this time, as long as anyone with a little bit of brains knew that the Qing court was by no means the opponent of the East China government, and the change of dynasty was not only inevitable, but also at hand, although Tang Shaoyi and Yuan Shikai had a close relationship, but Bi Jing had not yet reached the point of life and death, and in the great changes of this era, he first considered his own interests. Tang Shaoyi and the East China Government did not intersect before, but now it is just the right time to take this opportunity to establish a good relationship with the East China Government, and it will naturally be a time to benefit in the future.

After discussion, the East China government also believed that this arrangement was acceptable, first, because it was Yuan Shikai's relationship, and now it was necessary to stabilize Yuan Shikai, so it was not appropriate to refuse; second, Tang Shaoyi Bi Jing was still an official of the Qing court, and this identity might still be used in the future, and now is the time to use Tang Shaoyi.

Xia Bohai said: "Tang Shaoyi is a suitable candidate, if you don't send him to contact Zhang Zhidong now, I think it's a little early." Although Zhang Zhidong is now the principal of Beijing, his experience is mainly in the locality, and his roots in Beijing are not deep, and now Yehenara and Zaiyan have been captured by us, and the Qing court clan and Manchu magnates may not obey him, and Tongzhou and Baoding are still in the hands of the Qing Dynasty, so the Qing court clan and Manchu power may not be dead, I think it is better to capture Tongzhou and Baoding first, completely break his illusions, and then send Tang Shaoyi to Beijing to persuade Zhang Zhidong. ”

Xiao Jianjun said: "Attacking Tongzhou and Baoding is not a big problem, and it can start tomorrow." ”

Xia Bohai said: "That's good. ”

At this time, Wang Yunpeng said: "Although we have not yet captured Beijing, it is only a matter of time, it is nothing more than that Zhang Zhidong is willing to surrender, and we will take over Beijing peacefully; if Zhang Zhidong refuses to surrender, then we will occupy Beijing by force, so we should now also start preparing to take over the management of Beijing." ”

Xu Jichao said: "Hasn't Beijing's administrative team been set up a long time ago, and what else needs to be prepared?"

The East China Government has indeed been ready to take over the management of Beijing for a long time, and the candidates for the mayor of Beijing have been determined, that is, the current mayor of Qingdao, Zeng Dong, one of the young officials he originally focused on cultivating by the East China Government, before serving as the mayor of Qingdao, he also served as the mayor of Jinan for a period of time, and has very rich experience in managing large cities, and Zeng Dong is equipped with an administrative team of 56 people, 16 veterans, and 40 local naturalized people, basically all of whom are experienced and young people. At the same time, there is also a National Guard force of more than 500 people, which is responsible for managing Beijing's public security work after taking office.

Wang Yunpeng said: "There is still no need to set up a Beijing management committee!"

Xia Bohai said: "This is still needed, because our battle is not the end of the battle after the capture of Beijing, and the Beijing Management Committee is not only responsible for managing Beijing's affairs, but also responsible for the combat command and organization of the later attack on Shanxi, Shaanxi and other places, which is not something that Beijing's administrative organs can compete. ”

Wang Yunpeng said: "Then who to send?"

Xia Bohai looked at Qin Zheng and said, "Old Qin, I'm afraid I can only work hard for you to go this time." ”

Once the Beijing Management Committee is established, then the person in charge can only be one of the five giants, but because of military work, only Xia Bohai, Qin Zheng, and Xiao Jianjun can be competent, and Xia Bohai and Xiao Jianjun are obviously impossible to leave Qingdao, so only Qin Zheng is the most suitable candidate, and in the Far East War, Qin Zheng served as the director of the Northeast Regional Management Committee and has experience in this area.

Qin Zheng nodded, he also knew that this errand could not be shirked, of course, Qin Zheng did not intend to refuse, so he nodded and said, "Okay, I will deal with the work at hand, and it is estimated that I will leave the day after tomorrow." ”

Xia Bohai said: "Lao Qin, when you go to Beijing this time, I have another imagination, you and Zai Xiang have met, it is better to appease him by the way, it is best to persuade Zai Xiang to cooperate with us." After a pause, he said: "Just let Zhou Ping go with you, the Yehenala clan also needs someone to appease and communicate, as well as Longyu and Concubine Sumire, only Zhou Ping Tongzhi is the most suitable candidate, so I can only work hard for the two of you." ”

Qin Zheng thought about it for a while and felt that it made sense, because Cixi, as well as Guangxu's queen and concubines, as well as the female officials around Cixi, treated women, as well as Prince Qing Yixuan, Prince Alcohol Zaifeng's Fujin, etc., do need a female person to manage, although the East China government has vigorously promoted the status of women, but there are not many female officials at the top of the government, and only Zhou Ping and Fang Guizhi have reached the ministerial level, but Zhou Ping's qualifications, The ability can enter the Executive Yuan, but Qin Zheng is one of the five giants, and it is really not appropriate for the husband and wife to be in a high position, so Zhou Ping is relegated to the Ministry of Health. And this time to manage and pacify the captured female members of the Qing court, Zhou Ping is indeed the right person.

Qin Zheng said: "If this is the case, then I suggest that the captives be sent to Tianjin for supervision first, after all, the Sifang military camp is too small, and even if we capture Beijing, it is not appropriate to supervise the captives in Beijing before the situation is stabilized." ”

Xia Bohai nodded and said, "Of course this is no problem, everything is arranged by you." ”

After the meeting ended, Qin Zheng returned home and told his family the resolution of the meeting. At this time, Luo Yue had already taken the lead in leaving Qingdao and going to Shanghai, because in this war, there was also the combat mission of the southern front, that is, to attack Hubei, and in this operation, the Marine Corps had an important combat mission, so Luo Yue naturally had to personally command.

And Qin Zheng and Zhou Ping went to Beijing, so only Zhou Weiying stayed in Qingdao. However, although there are five children in the family now, those who go to school go to school, those who go to kindergarten go to kindergarten, and there are three servants to help, so they can take care of it alone, and Qin Zheng and Zhou Ping can also go to Beijing with confidence.

On the second day, the People's Army launched an offensive on the southeast and southeast fronts towards Tongzhou and Baoding.

In fact, this is the fourth day of the war, but because the People's Army is very well prepared before the war, so the troops and firepower are all in place, and the Qing army suffered a crushing defeat on the first day, morale is low, although the troops are not weak, and they have built a relatively strong defense line, but it is still not the opponent of the People's Army, first of all, the Tongzhou defense line only held on 3, Of course, the armored train of the People's Army once again played an important role in this battle, bombarding the positions of the Qing army with heavy artillery on board, and at the same time completely defeating the confidence of the Qing army.

However, Tie Liangzhi, the chief general of Tongzhou, had fought against the People's Army several times, but he could not be defeated, but he had a lot of experience in escaping, and when he saw that the general situation was not good, he immediately abandoned Tongzhou and fled back to Beijing.

The first is that the People's Army on this front does not have the fire support of armored trains, and the second is that the defense range of Baoding is larger than that of Tongzhou, but it is only more than 3 hours, and the final defense line is also broken by the People's Army, and the main general Fengshan due to lack of experience, walked a slow step and was captured by the encircled People's Army. Therefore, when Qin Zheng and Zhou Ping boarded the ship from Qingdao, they received this good news, which was the best send-off gift for the two.