The Qing court received the telegram at about the same time as Qingdao, and the first thing it was naturally sent to the inner cabinet. At this time, the cabinet ministers left behind by the Qing court were Prince Qing Yixuan, Zhang Zhidong, Na Tong, Dai Hongci, and Yin Chang.

First of all, it was naturally watched by Prince Qing Yixuan, the foreman of the military aircraft, and after reading it, Yixuan did not say a word, and handed the telegram to Zhang Zhidong, which is also the characteristic of this military aircraft team.

And Zhang Zhidong took the telegram and looked at it, and couldn't help but smile bitterly, the East China government obviously did not want to settle peacefully, so it put forward such a condition that the Qing court could not accept at all. However, Zhang Zhidong can also understand that the current overall situation has been clearly laid out, and the East China government is far stronger than the Qing court in military, political, economic, prestige, popular support and other aspects, and the change of dynasty is irreversible.

In Zhang Zhidong's view, if he is the head of the East China government, he will never allow the Qing court to retain the emperor's name, the reason is also very simple, there are no two days, and the people have no two masters, although the East China government adopts the system of the United States and France, there is no emperor, only a general commander, and the general leader has a term limit, and the term of office is immediately abdicated, and another sage is elected to take over. But it is tolerant of the royal family of the previous dynasty if it is not killed, let alone retain the name of the emperor, so the wisest choice of the Qing court is to agree to it quickly, otherwise once it is missed, not to mention that the royal family cannot be retained, I am afraid that even the mausoleum of the temple will be destroyed.

As the second person in the Military Aircraft Department after Prince Qing Yixuan, Zhang Zhidong of course knew the negotiation conditions of the Qing court, in fact, at the beginning, the Qing court was still relatively pragmatic, and at that time listened to the British suggestion, and planned to adopt the British system, that is, the reality of the hypocrisy, which is similar to the East China political * The conditions of the government were still relatively close, but it was still necessary to retain the name of the Qing court, and of course at the same time to ensure the power position of Cixi; however, during the discussion, Russia intervened and suggested that the Qing court should imitate the system of Germany and Russia, and implement a constitutional monarchy, with the monarch in charge of executive power. The government is only responsible for legislative power, so that the Qing court can still retain considerable power, and at the same time said that Russia will fully support the Qing court, so the Qing court also began to hesitate, after all, there are still a considerable number of people in the Qing court who do not want to give up power, and just a few days ago, Japan also expressed to the Qing court that it supports the Qing court to implement a constitutional monarchy, and since it has the support of Japan and Russia, the Qing court also consciously has some bargaining confidence with the East China government, so it immediately revised the conditions of the negotiation in an all-round way.

Of course, Zhang Zhidong knew that such conditions were impossible for the East China Government to accept, and the support of Japan and Russia was unreliable, but he was also very wise to argue without reason, because it was useless to fight at this time, and he would be labeled as an illicit affair with the East China Government. With this friendship, even if the People's Army invades Beijing in the future, the safety of his family will still be guaranteed, so why should he go to the trouble of forcibly renewing his life for the Qing court? He has no intention of accompanying the Qing court to the funeral.

So after reading the telegram, Zhang Zhidong did not move and handed the telegram to the other three. And after the three of them read it, their faces also changed greatly, Yin Chang first slapped the table, and said: "The hypocrisy is too deceitful, what kind of peace negotiation is this, it is clearly to destroy my Qing Dynasty!"

Na Tong also said: "Yes, such a condition must not be agreed." ”

Dai Hongci frowned and said, "It is clear in the telegram that if you don't agree to such conditions, then this negotiation can only break down." ”

Yin Chang said: "If it is broken, it will be broken, what's the big deal, I am still afraid of the pseudo-rebellion." ”

Dai Hongci said: "Now the rebel army is stationed at the border, ready to go, once the negotiation breaks down, there will be a military revolution, how to resist." ”

Yin Chang was still stiff-mouthed, and said: "Fight and fight, it's a big deal to fight with pseudo-rebellion." Besides, if you accept such a condition, it will be the death of the Qing Dynasty, so why not fight and fight to the death. ”

At this time, Zhang Zhidong couldn't help but speak, and said: "With such conditions, if you don't accept your own queen mother and the emperor's holy ruling, unless we can make a decision, don't fight anymore." ”

As soon as he said this, Na Tong, Dai Hongci, and Yin Chang really stopped arguing, and Na Tong said: "Then we will immediately enter the palace to face the saint, explain this matter, and see how the holy will will decide?"

Prince Qing, who had never spoken, suddenly said: "I heard that the Queen Mother is rarely happy today, I have already listened to three demolitions in the morning, and I plan to listen to a few more demolitions in the afternoon, I think we won't go to sweep the Queen Mother's interest today." ”

Hearing him say this, Na Tong, Dai Hongci, and Yin Chang are also a little stupid, because they all know that Prince Qing Yixuan is well-informed, and the Queen Mother's joys, sorrows, and sorrows can be known in the first time, and the other Pepsi does not ask, just blindly welcomes the Queen Mother, therefore, although Prince Qing Yixuan also belongs to the Manchu magnates, but Na Tong, Yin Chang and others are quite unconcerned with him, but at this critical juncture, Prince Qing Yixuan still only cares about the joy and anger of the Queen Mother, which is also too ignorant of the overall situation.

Zhang Zhidong said: "That's fine, the telegram also said, Lu Chuanlin, Zaifeng, Yulang, Xu Shichang have already rushed back from Tianjin by train, and they can arrive after dinner, I don't think I'm in a hurry to send the telegram in, wait for Lu Chuanlin and Zaifeng to come back, explain the negotiation process, we also know the details, and we will enter the palace together early tomorrow morning, the queen mother and the emperor will ask, and there will be a response." Don't send the telegram in today. ”

When the three of them heard it, they also felt that what Zhang Zhidong said made sense, so they didn't say anything anymore.

Everyone waited in the military plane, and it was not until about 7 o'clock in the evening that Lu Chuanlin, Zaifeng, Yu Lang, and Xu Shichang hurriedly arrived, and they rushed to the military plane as soon as they got off the train to inform everyone of the negotiations.

In fact, there is nothing to say, after all, the talks have only lasted less than half a day, but the resolute attitude shown by the East China government in the negotiations is very clear, and the Qing court is not allowed to bargain at all, either accept or go to war, there is no third way to choose. Therefore, after listening to the briefing, the mood of several military ministers was very heavy, and they could predict what kind of anger Cixi would face after entering the palace tomorrow.

After returning to his mansion, Zhang Zhidong immediately called the housekeeper and asked him to arrange for his family to go out to buy daily necessities such as grain, oil, rape and rice, and at least to ensure a month's food and drink, because once the war broke out, Beijing could hold on for a long time, and there would inevitably be a period of chaos at that time.

And early the next morning, everyone under the leadership of the eunuch on duty, came to the palace of nourishing the heart, at this time Cixi and Guangxu were already sitting at the top, and the faces of both of them were not very good-looking, because the telegram had been sent into the palace one step ahead of everyone, Cixi and Guangxu had already read it, and both of them were quite dissatisfied with the negotiation conditions proposed by the East China government. As far as Cixi is concerned, such a brazen demand that she hand over power and move out of Beijing to resettle herself is clearly intended to put herself to death! Tian Cixi knows very well that she has been in power for decades, and there are not a few people who have offended, both in the government and in the opposition, so once she loses the protection of power, even if the East China government will let her go, after she moves out of Beijing, she may not be able to escape the pursuit and killing of other enemies.

Guangxu also could not accept the negotiation conditions put forward by the East China government, although the East China government * The government agreed to retain the royal title, which is a favorable condition for Guangxu, but it wants to cancel the name of the Qing court, which is tantamount to letting the Qing Dynasty lose the country, so what's the use of just letting himself keep the name of an emperor, and Guangxu thinks that since he succeeded to the throne, the power has been controlled by Cixi, and those treaties that pay indemnity and cede land, and lose power and humiliate the country should not be responsible for themselves, of course, Guangxu thinks that if he is in power, he is now letting himself bear the consequences of losing the country, which can not convince himself.

After seeing that the ceremony was over, Cixi didn't talk nonsense, and said: "You have all read the conditions proposed by the hypocrisy, what do you think?"

Yin Chang first said: "The Queen Mother, the Emperor, the conditions of the pseudo-rebellion must not be agreed, and the pseudo-rebellion is clearly to let me destroy the country in the Qing Dynasty!"

Na Tong also said: "Yes, once you agree to the conditions of false rebellion, it is tantamount to self-destruction, I am afraid that even the queen mother and the emperor will not be able to protect it." ”

Cixi was silent, and Guangxu said: "If you don't agree to the conditions of the pseudo-rebellion, the pseudo-rebellion will inevitably raise troops to attack, how can the imperial court resist it!"

Of course, no one could answer this question, and after a while, Guangxu said: "Lu Chuanlin, on the side of the pseudo-rebellion, is there still room for negotiation." As he spoke, he glanced at Cixi again, and said: "If you imitate the British system, the reality of the hypocrisy, as long as you can keep the country name, other things are easy to discuss." After all, Guangxu's position is different from Cixi's, he has no objection to the first article, but is quite supportive; and it is also beneficial to him to retain the title of the imperial family, as for not asking about political affairs from now on, it is also acceptable, after all, Guangxu has been on the throne for more than 30 years, and has always been a puppet emperor, anyway, he has no power, so there is no loss if he does not ask about political affairs, on the contrary, there is East China Politics * The government is in charge, Guangxu can also rest assured, the only unacceptable is to cancel the name of the Qing court, and establish a new dynasty, if there is still room for negotiation on this article, Guangxu hopes to be able to negotiate, and other conditions are acceptable.

Lu Chuanlin said: "Back to the emperor, the pseudo-rebel side, there is no room for further negotiation, I can only agree in full, the negotiation can be successful, otherwise only the negotiation breaks down, the sword fights, in addition, there is no other way." ”