Although Li Hongzhang does not seek to benefit himself, he cannot bring trouble to himself by helping overseas Chinese. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoTherefore, Li Hongzhang only said that he needed time to think about it, and asked Li Sanjie to go back first, and he would reply to him in a day. And Li Sanjie also understands that such a major matter is indeed not something that can be decided at once, and Li Hongzhang needs time to think about it, which is also a reasonable request.

After Li Sanjie said goodbye and left, Li Hongzhang also immediately recruited Zhou Fu, Sheng Xuanhuai, Li Jingfang, Zhang Peilun and other his confidants to discuss how to reply to the requests of overseas Chinese.

After listening to Li Hongzhang's words, everyone fell into silence, and even Sheng Xuanhuai, who had always been disgusted with overseas Chinese, uncharacteristically did not say anything to ask Li Hongzhang to refuse the request made by overseas Chinese.

Sheng Xuanhuai and Russia did not have any contact, to Britain, the United States, France and other countries have a lot of dealings, and Britain and the United States are quite disgusted with Russia, although France and Russia are allied, but this is out of common confrontation with Germany, in fact, France has no good impression of Russia, plus Russia has been encroaching on China's territory, so Sheng Xuanhuai naturally will not have a good impression of Russia, not to mention that Russia took the opportunity of this Gengzi country change to invade Northeast China on a large scale, which also made Sheng Xuanhuai even more hostile to Russia. But looking at the current China, only overseas Chinese can resist the southward movement of the Russian army. Although Sheng Xuanhuai was quite disgusted with overseas Chinese, Bi Jing was also Chinese, and at this time, he also hoped that overseas Chinese could come out and teach the Russians a lesson, and Sheng Xuanhuai recognized that overseas Chinese were indeed descendants of China.

However, Sheng Xuanhuai also knew that he had to persuade the guards of Shanhaiguan to open the city and let the People's Army enter the pass to set up defensive positions to meet the Russian army. There is a considerable political risk, so Sheng Xuanhuai did not dare to easily persuade Li Hongzhang to agree to the conditions of overseas Chinese.

After a while, Zhang Peilun said: "Zhongtang, Peilun thinks that he should agree to the request of overseas Chinese. ”

Li Hongzhang glanced at Zhang Peilun, nodded, and said, "Why does Youqiao hold this proposal?"

Zhang Peilun said: "Russia has always been strong and rude, and rely on the strength of the army, I have a lot of peeps on the northern leaders of the Qing Dynasty, and have invaded the north of the Heilongjiang River, south of the Outer Xing'an Mountains, and east of the Ussuri River, reaching thousands of miles, but still not satisfied. can resist the Russian army in order to ensure that we do not lose the Qing Dynasty. ”

After Li Hongzhang listened, he nodded slowly and said, "What Youqiao said is reasonable. ”

Sheng Xuanhuai said: "Now there are only overseas Chinese who can resist the Russian army, but the overseas Chinese are not my subordinates of the Qing Dynasty, and Shanhaiguan is still an important town of my Qing Dynasty, Zhongtang is now only a plenipotentiary minister, Shanhaiguan is not under the rule of Zhongtang, if Zhongtang comes forward to persuade the Shanhaiguan guards, open the city, and let the People's Army enter the customs to arrange defensive positions to meet the Russian army." Although it is for my great country, it is also incompatible with the law, if the court blames it in the future, how should I deal with it?"

Zhang Peilun said: "It's better than this, Zhongtang doesn't have to write a letter, just go to Shanhaiguan with overseas Chinese, and I will come forward to persuade the guards of Shanhaiguan that if the court is held accountable in the future, I will bear it, anyway, I don't have an official position now, it is Bai Ding, and I will be punished by the court, and the court will not be too embarrassed by me." ”

After listening to Zhang Peilun's words, everyone was stunned, Zhang Peilun was planning to be an outcast, because he was Li Hongzhang's son-in-law, although he was just a white ding, he could naturally represent Li Hongzhang in the eyes of others, and he came forward to persuade the guards of Shanhaiguan that there was really no need for Li Hongzhang to write a letter, and in the future, the Qing court would really be held accountable, and Li Hongzhang could indeed put all the blame on Zhang Peilun, even if the Qing court knew that Zhang Peilun was instructed by Li Hongzhang, but with Li Hongzhang's qualifications, The weight, at most, can only be regarded as Li Hongzhang's negligence, and it will not be too difficult for Zhang Peilun, at most it is a distribution, and with Li Hongzhang's connections in the Qing court, no matter where Zhang Peilun goes, he will not suffer anything, so what Zhang Peilun proposed is really a good way. In this way, it can help overseas Chinese resist the southward movement of the Russian army, and secondly, it can also make Li Hongzhang get out of trouble.

Sheng Xuanhuai nodded and said, "Zhongtang, I think Youqiao's proposal is feasible, but I'm afraid it will make Youqiao suffer in the future." ”

Zhang Peilun smiled and said, "If you can stop the Russians from going south, even if I suffer a little, I won't visit." ”

In Li Hongzhang's team, Zhang Peilun has the best impression of overseas Chinese, because the turning point of Zhang Peilun's life was in the Sino-French War in 1884, when Zhang Peilun served as the secretary of the Fujian Maritime Frontier and the acting Minister of Shipping. As a result, in the Battle of Mawei, the Fujian Navy Division was destroyed and the Mawei Shipyard was destroyed. And Zhang Peilun was also sentenced by the Qing court to be sent to the military Taiwan to serve to atone for his crimes, and sent Chahar Chahandra Hai, Zhangjiakou and other places, and since then he has not returned to his career, and this painful lesson has always made Zhang Peilun unforgettable, and has always been vigilant about various countries, and overseas Chinese have repeatedly defeated the Eight-Nation Alliance, which is in line with Zhang Peilun's wishes, and at the same time, the Russian army's southern invasion has also caused Zhang Peilun to be highly vigilant, so he really hopes to help overseas Chinese resist the Russian army. As for his own consequences, Zhang Peilun really doesn't care too much, first, with Li Hongzhang covering, nothing will happen; second, Zhang Peilun has experienced a distribution before, and it is nothing to do it again.

Zhou Fu shook his head and said: "If the overseas Chinese really defeat the Russian army, I don't think the imperial court will necessarily blame Youqiao, on the contrary, Youqiao still has a credit to the country, maybe he can be reinstated by the imperial court because of this, and he can marry overseas Chinese, which is really a double win." ”

Zhang Peilun smiled and said, "I have no intention of pursuing a career, so it doesn't matter if I can recover or not." I just hope that the Qing Dynasty will reform and change the law from now on, enrich the country and strengthen the army, and no longer be bullied by foreign powers. ”

At this time, Li Hongzhang's heart moved, and he suddenly said: "This matter is very important, just let Youqiao go to Shanhaiguan alone, I'm afraid it may not be able to convince the guards of Shanhaiguan, the old man still repaired a book, and Youqiao took it to Shanhaiguan and presented it to the guards." After a pause, Li Hongzhang said again: "Jingfang, you also go to Shanhaiguan with Youqiao, after persuading the guards, you should not go back to Shanghai for the time being, but stay in Shanhaiguan, after the overseas Chinese army is stationed in Shanhaiguan, it is inevitable that there will be some friction with the defenders, I am afraid that the overall situation is not good, and the two of you can mediate and maintain from the left and right, and assist the overseas Chinese to resist the Russian army." In the future, if the court really blames it, the old man will bear it with all his might, and it will not embarrass you, not to mention that the old man is already nearly eighty years old, and he has not lived for a few years, so he will completely retire from the forest from now on, and he will not be in charge. ”

Li Jingfang listened, but also stunned, did not expect Li Hongzhang to send himself and Zhang Peilun to Shanhaiguan to persuade the guards, to assist overseas Chinese, because during the First Sino-Japanese War, Li Jingfang had taken the initiative to ask Li Hongzhang to be the commander of the former enemy, but Zhang Peilun blocked, since then Uncle Lang has become a fire and water, at that time there was a "small Hefei want to blade Zhang Zhangzhai" said. Now although the grievances between the two have been diluted a lot, there is still a mustard, so although both of them are by Li Hongzhang's side, they have never worked together.

However, Li Jingfang's order, Li Jingfang naturally did not dare to disobey, and this time to Shanhaiguan to assist overseas Chinese, is to go to the battlefield in person, this is also Li Jingfang's long-standing wish, although Li Hongzhang intends to cultivate Li Jingfang in diplomacy, and Li Jingfang also showed very good diplomatic skills, but from Li Jingfang's heart, he still yearns to join the army to establish military achievements, so during the First Sino-Japanese War, he will ask Li Hongzhang to serve as the former enemy commander, but Li Hongzhang knows that his son has a few catties and taels, even if there is no Zhang Peilun to dissuade, Li Hongzhang will not be able to appoint Li Jingfang。 And this time it is an opportunity to go to the mountains and seas and arrive, so the grievance with Zhang Peilun is also a small section.

Zhang Peilun was also very surprised, he didn't expect that Li Hongzhang would be so bold this time, but with Li Hongzhang's letter, and Li Jingfang went to Shanhaiguan with him, then convincing the guards of Shanhaiguan is almost a matter of nine out of ten. At the same time, Zhang Peilun also had to admire Li Hongzhang for being really thoughtful, even if he persuaded the guards of Shanhaiguan, but the two armies were stationed together in Shanhaiguan, and now the overseas Chinese were not subordinates of the Qing court, so it was inevitable that there would be some frictions, and someone really needed to mediate and maintain it. There is no unified command.

In fact, Zhang Peilun overestimated Li Hongzhang, it turned out that Zhou Fu's words just now reminded Li Hongzhang that he actually has no need to be between overseas Chinese and Taoting, and the two must not be offended, because now the Qing court is weak, and the rise of overseas Chinese is unstoppable, and it will replace it in the future, and it is not impossible to change the dynasty, and although Li Hongzhang is loyal to the Qing court, he also has no determination to be martyred for the Qing court. The ability, organization and management are obviously much stronger than those of the Qing court.

Of course, Li Hongzhang is almost eighty years old, and he has no intention of establishing a dragon gong, but it is still possible to pave a way for his son and son-in-law, after all, Zhang Peilun and Li Jingfang are not very old, and there is still a chance to show their strength, so Li Hongzhang asked Zhang Peilun and Li Jingfang to go to Shanhaiguan to help overseas Chinese, in fact, let the two of them sell a favor to overseas Chinese, and if overseas Chinese can really succeed in the future, this favor can also become the promotion of the two. Of course, in the future, Li Hongzhang will also create opportunities for the two to help overseas Chinese, so that the two of them, Li Jingfang, can establish a good relationship with overseas Chinese.