In April 1905, Li Hongzhang, who had been bedridden for more than a month, recruited his sons to Beijing, intending to explain the future.

Li Hongzhang has a total of 3 sons and 3 daughters, now they are all adults, after the Gengzi State Change, Li Hongzhang entered the military plane, returned to the peak of power, several sons are also favored by him, each has an official title.

Li Hongzhang's wife Zhou is not out, so the eldest son of the sixth brother Li Zhaoqing Li Jingfang to the Zhou family, also became Li Hongzhang's eldest son, Li Jingfang because of his age, has been with Li Hongzhang's side, and chased Li Hongzhang to do a lot of things, now he is the left waiter of the Ministry of Rites, walking on the yamen of the Prime Minister's Office; the second son Li Jingshu is the successor of the Zhao family, famous for his poetry and articles, and is now Guanglu Siqing; the third son Li Jingmai is from the side room Mo, and is now the candidate of the Sanpin Beijing official; of course, except for Li Jingfang, the other two have false official positions and have no actual power, and they are Li Jingfang's left attendants of the Ministry of Rites, although the grade is high, but it is not a major minister。 However, at this time, the Zhou family and the Zhao family had both died, and only the Mo family in the side room, and there was also a concubine Dongmei who served by Li Hongzhang's side.

The eldest daughter of Li Hongzhang married Guo Enyuan, but died at an early age, and her husband's family had married another person, and she had no contact with the Li family; the younger daughter Li Jingpu was born by the Mo family, and her husband's family was Ren Dehe, because Li Jingpu was 6 years older than her husband, she was quite disliked by her husband's family, and this time Li Hongzhang was seriously ill, although he also sent a letter to the Ren family, but the Ren family only sent greetings and did not come; so the daughters who are now accompanying Li Hongzhang are only the second daughter Li Jingxuan and the son-in-law Zhang Peilun from the Zhao family.

On April 3, Li Hongzhang's spirit improved slightly, so he recruited his three sons and one daughter to the ward, and retired from the side room to take care of him, Mo's concubine, and let them all be temporarily exempted in the outhouse, while his son-in-law Zhang Peilun could only wait outside the house.

In the ward, the three sons all stood by the bed with their hands bowed respectfully, only Li Jingxuan sat on the edge of the bed, helped Li Hongzhang to sit up, and put the pillow behind his back.

Li Hongzhang took a breath and said: "This time, I'm just afraid that it will be difficult to escape the limit, I have already written the testament to the imperial court, but I still have to explain the things behind me clearly, and I can leave with peace of mind, so I recruited you all to Beijing." ”

Although there is this mental preparation in my heart, but listening to Li Hongzhang say it, the three sons and one daughter can't help but feel sad in their hearts, Li Jing said: "Father is still recuperating with peace of mind, don't think about it." ”

Li Hongzhang waved his hand and said: "I know my illness in my heart, I don't need you to comfort me, not to mention that I am eighty and three, and I am a long-lived person, even if I die, I will not grieve, you are all adults, why be a child." He coughed twice as he spoke.

Li Jingxuan hurriedly patted Li Hongzhang's back gently, Li Jingfang took the tea, Li Hongzhang took two sips, and said: "Jingfang, you go and prepare pen and ink and write down everything I said." ”

Li Jingfang hurriedly put down the tea tray, brought over the pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, and laid it on the table in the ward. And Li Hongzhang pointed to the small sandalwood box on the bedside case again, turned his head to Li Jingxuan and said, "Chrysanthemum, you go and bring that box to me."

Li Jingxuan hurriedly took the small box and put it in front of Li Hongzhang, Li Hongzhang opened the box, took out a booklet, and said: "All my property and wealth distribution are in this booklet, and there is also a copy of the chrysanthemum root, as well as Jingpu, after I die, you will take your own use according to the arrangement on the booklet, which is enough to save your life for the rest of your life." ”

Li Hongzhang's property is mainly divided into two categories, one is after becoming famous, and his brother in Anhui's hometown, as well as Jiangsu, Shanghai and other places to buy real estate and land, of course, mainly based on acres, Li Hongzhang has a total of 6 brothers, the most time has more than 250 acres of land, and Li Hongzhang's name of the field is about 30 more than 30 acres, can collect about 50,000 stone per year, at the same time Li Hongzhang in Jiangsu, In Shanghai and other places, there are still some real estate properties; the other is the shares that Li Hongzhang occupied in the Western-style enterprises he set up during the Westernization Movement, including several factories invested in Qingdao, which not only can reap a huge amount of wealth every year, but these shares themselves are also very valuable. Of course, there are also some gold and silver antiques, calligraphy and paintings, etc., although there are a lot, but compared with the first two categories, it is only a small part.

In fact, in the early days of his illness, Li Hongzhang knew that he would inevitably die this time, so he sent someone to clean up his property as early as possible, and made a distribution plan, so as not to turn against his family because of the distribution of property after his death.

Li Hongzhang said: "It's just that the property is well divided, but this situation is chaotic and complicated, and if you are not careful, the family will be destroyed and the whole family will be destroyed, so after my death, the court will have a favor and reward, but you must not become an official, just take the opportunity of Ding Wei, resign and return to his hometown, close the door to thank guests, and wait and see what happens." ”

Saying that, Li Hongzhang's eyes looked at Li Jingfang, and just met Li Jingfang's gaze, Li Jingfang's body trembled and lowered his head. In fact, this article is aimed at Li Jingfang, because among Li Hongzhang's children, only Li Jingfang has a substantive official position, plus he has followed Li Hongzhang for the longest time, and has accumulated a lot of qualifications, and Li Jingfang's fame is also the heaviest, and he has asked for a single side many times before, and after Li Hongzhang's death, the Qing court will definitely be generous to Li Hongzhang's children。

Li Hongzhang again: "Although the chrysanthemum couple has set up an industry in Qingdao, it is not suitable to live in Qingdao for a long time, I still have a house in Shanghai, leave it to you, settle in Shanghai, Shanghai is not far from Qingdao, it is also convenient to manage, Youqiao is a person who knows things, and will understand my painstaking efforts." ”

Li Jingxuan hurriedly said, "Yes, father." ”

Li Hongzhang sighed again and said: "In my opinion, although the imperial court is now changing the law and innovating, it is difficult to return, and there is no one who can be of great use, it is difficult to do great things, there are overseas Chinese on the side of the couch, and there are various powers around it, each with its own ghosts, I am afraid that it will be difficult to escape the limit, so in less than 10 years, China will have a lot of turmoil." In the troubled times, only the overseas Chinese's style of acting is quite new, or it can be replaced, but there are countries in the way, and it may not be easy to set the crown. And when the situation is not yet settled, you must not participate in it, and you must protect yourself with wisdom. And if the parties are not in control, it will not be too difficult for you. ”

When the sons heard this, they immediately said in unison: "Respect my father's teachings." ”

Li Hongzhang nodded slightly, and said: "It's just that the way of governing the country of overseas Chinese is different from others, if they can finally settle the world, or occupy the land of Anhui and Jiangsu, they will definitely collect all the land of the world for public ownership, and you must not compete with overseas Chinese, it is best to take the initiative to donate all the land, the inheritance I left to you, even if you go to all the land, you are not poor, and you can't lose the overall situation because of small profits." If any other tribe comes to you for the matter of land, you must not agree, but you must persuade them to give up the land as well, and it is up to him to listen to it or not, but you must not join forces with the other tribes to fight against the overseas Chinese. ”

"If the overseas Chinese really start a dynasty, I still have a little incense with them, and in order to appease people's hearts, maybe I will ask you to take up the position, you don't have to refuse, you can come out to serve, but you should remember that everything should be low-key, not publicized, and not to participate in the internal struggle of overseas Chinese, if the situation is still good, you might as well do more time, if the situation changes, you should immediately resign and do nothing, return to the township, do more good deeds to promote education and help the people, build bridges and pave roads, and have a good reputation, so as to protect the prosperity of my Li family. ”

When the children heard this, they all agreed again.

Li Hongzhang listened, his face was a little calm, and he said, "Have you written it down?"

Li Jingfang hurriedly said: "Father, I've written it down." As he spoke, he handed the recorded note to Li Hongzhang to read.

Although Li Jingfang made some polishes to the words, the content was completely in accordance with Li Hongzhang's meaning, so after Li Hongzhang read it, he also nodded, took the pen from Li Jingfang's hand, signed his name on the paper, and stamped his own seal, and then put this will into the sandalwood box, and said: "That's what I want to say, you can do it yourself." ”

After finishing speaking, Li Hongzhang motioned to Li Jingxuan, let himself lie down on the bed again, closed his eyes, and the others quietly exited the ward in turn.

At 11 o'clock in the evening of the same day, Li Hongzhang died of illness in the mansion, and Heng was 83 years old.

In fact, the Li family had already been mentally prepared for Li Hongzhang's death, so Li Hongzhang's funeral had already been arranged, the coffin and the shroud had already been decided, and Li Hongzhang's body was immediately buried, and then the mourning hall was arranged, and incense, paper horses and other things were arranged, and reported to the Qing court overnight.

Cixi and Guangxu received the news of Li Hongzhang's death in the early morning of the next day, and at the same time received Li Hongzhang's demolition, in which Li Hongzhang mainly emphasized two things: First, he warned the Qing court that he must not participate in the disputes between the Japanese, Russian, and East China governments, and that he must not be enemies of the East China government, so that the Qing court could be preserved; and second, Yuan Shikai was recommended to the Qing court to ensure that Yuan Shikai was promoted to enter the military plane and participate in state affairs.

In fact, these two items are Li Hongzhang's usual propositions, after the Gengzi State Change, Li Hongzhang entered the military plane, and has always advocated that the Qing court should not be the enemy of the East China government, and used his prestige to suppress the radical plans of the Manchu magnates several times; moreover, after Li Hongzhang gained power again, he has also been supporting Yuan Shikai, and Yanran is to train Yuan Shikai as his successor, Yuan Shikai has been able to smooth sailing in recent years, although Yuan Shikai himself is capable, but it is also related to Li Hongzhang's support. Of course, it is precisely because of the mountain of Li Hongzhang that Yuan Shikai's actual power is still worse than in the old time and space.

After reading Li Hongzhang's testament, Cixi and Guangxu couldn't help crying, although they had long been mentally prepared for Li Hongzhang's death, after all, Li Hongzhang was already an old man over 80 years old, and sooner or later he would die, but when he heard the news of Li Hongzhang's death, he still couldn't help but feel a huge sense of loss, because now the Qing Dynasty can't live without Li Hongzhang.