Qin Zheng said again: "But we can promise, first, in addition to the territory we occupy now, we will not expand in Henan, but will focus on Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu and other places; And this is our low line, we are not afraid of the imperial court sending troops to recruit and suppress, but at this time, we don't want internal friction. ”

Li Hongzhang pondered for a long time before he said: "Okay, your request, the old man will truthfully play to the court, but whether the court agrees or not is beyond the old man's ability." ”

Qin Zheng nodded and said, "Zhongtang can do his best." ”

Li Hongzhang was silent for a while before he said: "With your talents, you will definitely be able to make my Huaxia rich and strong in the future, but the old man will not see that day, the old man still has some friendship with you, and I hope you can take care of the old man's children and grandchildren in the future." ”

Qin Zheng was stunned, was Li Hongzhang making his last words? He couldn't help but say, "Zhongtang ......"

Li Hongzhang waved his hand and said: "The old man is already over eighty years old, and he has lived enough, but if you can make Huaxia rich and strong in the future, you will be ashamed of the old man back then, don't forget to comfort the old man." ”

In the conversation just now, although Qin Zheng had some reservations, Li Hongzhang is a smart person, so there is no need to say it so thoroughly, and the overseas Chinese obviously do not want to tear their faces with the imperial court now, but focus on the northeast battlefield, so what Qin Zheng said about "will intervene in the war at the right time" is of course not a casual remark. And since overseas Chinese have such plans, they are naturally somewhat sure.

If the overseas Chinese really expelled the Japanese and Russians and recovered the land outside the Guan, I am afraid that it will be time for a showdown with the Qing court, because if it is really at that time, the prestige and prestige of the overseas Chinese will be enough to stand above the imperial court, and they only need to raise their arms and shout, although it cannot be said that they are like a cloud, but at least there will not be many people who support the imperial court; and if they get the land outside the Guan, the territory, population, and resources of the overseas Chinese will increase greatly, and they will no longer be trapped in Shandong, and at that time at most 5 years, it will be enough to change the dynasty.

Although Li Hongzhang himself can't see that day, he can't help but think about his grandchildren. In 1903, Li Hongzhang invested 300,000 taels of silver to open a spinning factory in Qingdao, and gave his son Li Jingfang sixty percent of the shares, and his daughter Li Jingxuan forty percent of the shares, and later Sheng Xuanhuai participated in 100,000 silver, so the share capital was expanded to 400,000 silver. Among the private investments of the East China government, it is already a large investment.

Due to Sheng Xuanhuai's care, and the source of raw materials for the yarn mill is not worried, business has been good since it opened, and it is expected to be profitable this year. Seeing this, Sheng Xuanhuai also invested in a hardware factory in Qingdao, accumulating 500,000 silver, Sheng Xuanhuai personally invested 250,000 silver, Li Hongzhang invested 100,000 silver, and the rest were invested by Shanghai businessmen. At the end of 1903, production was also put into operation.

In addition, after Java protected overseas Chinese, a large number of overseas Chinese in Nanyang invested in Shandong, Sheng Xuanhuai and many Nanyang Chinese businessmen made good friends, so he also participated in a lot of shares, such as Zhang Zhenxun invested in Yantai to build a winery, planning to invest million, Sheng Xuanhuai participated in 100,000 silver, and Li Hongzhang also invested 50,000 silver. Now Li Hongzhang has invested more than 500,000 silver in total, and has a total of 5 industries. Of course, these industries are all hung on Li Jingfang and Li Jingxuan, and entrusted to Sheng Xuanhuai to manage them. However, in Li Hongzhang's plan, Zhang Peilun and Li Jingxuan are to settle in Qingdao and manage these industries. And now Li Hongzhang's statement is similar to his last words, which can be regarded as a formal surrender to overseas Chinese.

Qin Zheng was stunned for a while, and then said: "Please rest assured that Zhongtang has placed the industry under our East China government, as long as it abides by the law, it can be guaranteed, and the government will try its best to support it, but our land policy, Zhongtang should know, this is not accommodating, everything else is easy to say, and Zhongtang's wish will be fulfilled one day." ”

After the end of the talks, Qin Zheng immediately arranged for Li Hongzhang to go to the directly affiliated hospital for a physical examination, although the drugs brought by the traverser have been used up, but the medical equipment can basically be used, although the vast majority of the instruments and equipment can not cure the disease, but the detection and diagnosis are very useful, and most of the drugs have substitutes in this era, so the hospitals directly under the East China government are definitely the top existence in this era. However, the directly affiliated hospital is not open to the public, and the service objects are the traveler and his family, as well as some of the dependents, except for the traveler, everyone else has to make an appointment, which is also a privilege and benefit.

After arranging Li Hongzhang's affairs, Qin Zheng rushed to the Executive Yuan to report the results of the talks to Xia Bohai, Wang Yunpeng, Xu Jichao and others, and after listening to Li Hongzhang's last words, several people were also a little surprised, Wang Yunpeng said: "What does Lao Li mean by this, do you leave a last word?"

Qin Zheng said: "It should be about the same, I don't think his complexion is very good, of course, the specific situation still has to wait for the results of the inspection to come out, but Li Hongzhang has lived 3 years longer than the old time and space, and he has not signed the [Xinchou Treaty], so now that he is dead, it can be regarded as earning." ”

Xia Bohai said: "Is it good for us for Li Hongzhang to die, or is it good for us to be alive?"

Qin Zheng said: "Of course, it is beneficial for us to be alive, because Li Hongzhang is a person who understands, and he has profound qualifications in the Qing court, is highly respected, is familiar with current affairs, has a certain understanding of the international situation, and has won the trust of Cixi, has considerable influence on Cixi, and can play a maintenance role between us and the Qing court, which is beyond the reach of any other person." ”

Xu Jichao said: "Didn't you say that the Qing court had always been guarding against Li Hongzhang? During the First Sino-Japanese War, Li Hongzhang was stumbling everywhere. ”

Qin Zheng said: "In fact, the Qing court has always trusted Li Hongzhang, and Li Hongzhang has always been loyal to the Qing court, the Qing court guarded against Li Hongzhang because Li Hongzhang had the ability to rebel, before the First Sino-Japanese War, Li Hongzhang supported the Huai Army and the Beiyang Naval Division, and sat in the Yamen of the Prime Minister's Office, it can be said that he is in power, no matter how loyal he is, but as long as he has the ability to rebel, the Qing court must guard against it." And now that the Huai army has been dispersed and the Beiyang Naval Division has been reorganized, Li Hongzhang has lost the ability to rebel, and the Qing court is still guarding against what he does, and the Qing court will use Li Hongzhang's ability, so it will naturally have full trust in him. ”

Xia Bohai said: "What about Zhang Zhidong? Isn't he as famous as Li Hongzhang? After Li Hongzhang, can he replace Li Hongzhang?"

Qin Zheng shook his head and said: "No, although Zhang Zhidong and Li Hongzhang are equally famous, and the Qing court's trust in Zhang Zhidong is not inferior to Li Hongzhang, but Zhang Zhidong's understanding of current affairs and the international situation is far inferior to Li Hongzhang. ”

Wang Yunpeng said: "What about Yuan Shikai? In the old time and space, after Li Hongzhang, Yuan Shikai was the last capable minister of the Qing court. ”

Qin Zheng said: "Yuan Shikai can't do it even more, the Qing court has never really trusted Yuan Shikai, and now Yuan Shikai is vigorously grasping military power, which is the most taboo thing for the Qing court, so Yuan Shikai can never replace Li Hongzhang." Therefore, once Li Hongzhang is dead, there will be no conflict between us and the Qing court, such as the Javanese protection of overseas Chinese, or the matter of the river and lake base areas, and no one will be able to mediate between them. ”

Xia Bohai said: "In other words, if we intervene in the Russo-Japanese War and hit Japan and Russia hard, other countries want to intervene from it, and it is very likely that the Qing court will completely tear our faces and meet each other." If Li Hongzhang had been dead by then, no one would have been able to stop the Qing court. ”

Qin Zheng nodded and said, "Yes, since they are Manchurian magnates, such as Tie Liang and Rongqing, they may also take this as an opportunity, and even stab us in the back when we are in a fierce war with Japan and Russia, so we have to take precautions early." ”

Three days later, Li Hongzhang's physical examination report came out, on the whole, Li Hongzhang's physical function is aging, and ordinary treatment methods have not had much effect, of course, if you maintain it well, you can live for about 10 years, or even longer, but the probability of accidents is very high, such as cold and fever, or even too tired, which may lead to the danger of Li Hongzhang's life, so it can be said that he may die at any time.

Li Hongzhang saw it very openly, and only said "life and death are fate", and then said goodbye and left.

After returning to Beijing, Li Hongzhang faced Cixi alone, after all, the content of the report this time was too sensitive, and told the results of his conversation with Qin Zheng, of course, he only said what he should say, such as the East China government's request to expand the territory, but what should not be said, such as the accusations of the travelers against the Qing court, and the matter of arranging for his children to take refuge in the East China government, naturally did not mention a word.

After listening to Li Hongzhang's speech, Cixi did not express her position, but asked Li Hongzhang to kneel in peace. After Li Hongzhang withdrew, he returned home and immediately wrote to Zhang Peilun in Nanjing. Li Jingxuan and his wife remitted 200,000 taels of silver to them, and asked them to go to Qingdao to buy real estate and settle down, and manage the industry in Qingdao, if there is a suitable project, they can decide on their own investment and equity participation, without asking for instructions in advance; they also called Li Jingfang and asked him to immediately abandon his official position, go back to his hometown to clean up the family's land, buy as much as he can buy, and divide the money and property with the Li clans。

After dealing with these things, Li Hongzhang also breathed a sigh of relief, the things behind him had been arranged, and he no longer had to worry about it.

In the following days, Cixi successively summoned Prince Qing, Zhang Zhidong and other ministers, and finally officially declared neutrality on the third day, and demarcated the war zone, and ordered the whole army of about 10,000 people under the command of Ma Yukun, the commander of Zhili, to quickly drive to Gubeikou and Chaoyang to station, and ordered Yuan Shikai to transfer 12,000 people to Baoding Standing Army, and 3,000 people of the Beiyang New Army to be stationed in the area south of Liaozai, half of them to guard Chaoyang, and half of them to guard Shanhaiguan.

More than 25,000 troops were mobilized to garrison Guanwai, and the Qing court actually gave up its plan to conquer the base areas.