Zaitao led the army stationed in the Summer Palace back to Beijing, and immediately came to see Zhang Zhidong, and told Zhang Zhidong about the battle of Dinghui Temple and the results. Zhang Zhidong has experienced countless winds and waves, but after learning that Cixi and Guangxu were captured by the People's Army, he was also stunned and at a loss. Because in Zhang Zhidong's expectation, Cixi and Guangxu should be able to escape if they leave Beijing, and if they stay in Beijing, of course, they will not fight to the death with the People's Army, and after the People's Army breaks through Beijing, they will wait at home, and they will not be too embarrassed by themselves with their friendship with the East China government. And no matter what deal he reaches with the East China government, he can be regarded as worthy of the Qing court.

It is only more than 20 miles from Beijing to the Summer Palace, even if Cixi and Guangxu walk slowly, it will take half a day at most, and the People's Army will attack from the Sifang Railway Station and bypass the city of Beijing, and the distance of action will be more than twice that of Cixi and Guangxu, but it is accurate to stop Cixi and Guangxu on the way, and successfully capture Cixi and Guangxu. This kind of ability to act really amazed Zhang Zhidong.

But now is not the time to feel the generalization, this hand of the East China Government has also disrupted Zhang Zhidong's plan, because it is obviously inappropriate to carry out the original plan, Cixi and Guangxu have become prisoners of the East China Government, and they can not be said to be worthy of the Qing court if they have any deal with the East China Government. Only by dying in the city can he be regarded as fulfilling his responsibility as a courtier, but although Zhang Zhidong is already an old man over eighty years old, he is not willing to be loyal to the Qing court.

However, Zhang Zhidong is a long-standing person after all, so he quickly calmed down from the shock, of course, such a major matter, Zhang Zhidong cannot be the master alone, although he is currently the highest official in the Qing court, so he immediately ordered to recruit ministers and gather in the clan.

At present, there are four ministers of military aircraft who remain in Beijing, including Zhang Zhidong, Na Tong, Yulang, and Xu Shichang, as well as Han ministers Lu Chuanlin, Liang Dunyan, Zou Jia, and Tang Jingchong, and Manchu ministers Gui Chun, Shaochang, and Rong Qing; in addition to Zaitao, there are also Prince Shanqi of Yuansu, Prince Gong Puwei, Beile Zaixun, Pu Lun, and Yulang, and Zhenguo Gong Zaize.

Although Shanqi had been dismissed as a prince, his reputation in the clan was very high, so the other members of the clan still referred to him as a prince, and the Qing court turned a blind eye to this. And Prince Gong Pu Wei is the second generation of Prince Gong, and he is also the lowest prince in the current clan, and of course the first clan in the Puzi generation to be crowned a prince. The first generation of Prince Gong is the famous devil six Yixun, Pu Wei is his grandson, Yixun has a total of three sons, the eldest son Zaicheng died early, and the second son Zai Ying succeeded Zhongjun Wang Yixu as the heir, Pu Wei is the eldest son of Zai Ying, and then succeeded as the son of Zai Cheng, and inherited the title of Prince Gong.

Yixin is a rare capable material in the Qing court's clan, Cixi is quite jealous of him, and Pu Wei was taught by Yixun's words and deeds, he had a reputation for wisdom when he was a child, and he also had a good style when he became an adult, and now he is also a recognized talent in the clan.

Although the military aircraft department is the center of the Qing court, but the place is not big, so after the ministers have arrived, there are more than 20 people in total, and the military aircraft department is also crowded, and Zaitao will recount the battle of Dinghui Temple to everyone again, and after everyone listens, they are also shocked, many people even cried, the scene is quite chaotic for a while.

Zhang Zhidong said: "Everyone, now is not the time to cry bitterly, the pseudo-rebel army is pressing, the Beijing division is in danger, and the emperor and the queen mother have fallen into the hands of the pseudo-rebel, it is really a moment of crisis, how can we retreat from the enemy to protect Beijing, rescue the emperor and the queen mother, please think of a way." ”

And when Zhang Zhidong finished speaking, the military aircraft department was quiet, not only did no one cry anymore, but no one spoke. Bi Jing has reached this point, who can think of any way, not to mention that Cixi and Guangxu fled Beijing, and the ministers' clan are also panicked, and many people are packing some luggage at home, planning to follow in the footsteps of Cixi and Guangxu, and are also ready to slip away, so I know that now I have the news that Cixi and Guangxu were captured by the People's Army. Many people are secretly glad in their hearts, but fortunately they did not run away first, and a few people even gloated, of course, they did not show it on their faces.

After a long while, Xu Shichang said: "Everyone, in my opinion, now the pseudo-contrarian trend is difficult to fight, and this success cannot compete with it, but the only way to go now is to negotiate peace." ”

Shanqi glanced at Xu Shichang and said, "What else do you say about peace talks, isn't it just surrendering to the hypocrisy?"

Xu Shichang smiled faintly and said: "In Xia Yudun, now the pseudo-rebel soldiers are coming to the city, and the city of Beijing is in danger, but I don't know what tricks the prince has to retreat the pseudo-rebel soldiers, rescue the second palace, and protect me from the Qing Dynasty!"

Shanqi couldn't answer for a while, Pu Wei said: "Tongzhou, Baoding still have tens of thousands of soldiers, and there are ministers from various countries here in Beijing. ”

Xu Shichang sneered and said: "The armies of Tongzhou and Baoding are all defeated armies, so how can they be brave enough to fight again! As for the fact that all countries are not reliable, how can they be used as helpers, not to mention the war in the Far East, the troops of Britain, France, Russia, Japan, and the Netherlands are not hypocritical opponents, how can they be hoped. ”

Pu Wei couldn't say anything about Xu Shichang, so he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed and angry, and said: "I think you are clearly a hypocritical comrade." ”

Xu Shichang was not to be outdone, and said: "Lord, now that the emperor and the queen mother are in the hands of hypocrisy, it is difficult to protect day and night, you don't think about how to save it, but you blindly seek war, trapping the emperor and the queen mother in danger, and their hearts can be punished." ”

This sentence is indeed too heavy, Shanqi and Pu Wei couldn't help but be shocked and angry, Shanqi pointed at Xu Shichang and said, "Xu Shichang, you... You're spewing blood. ”

Pu Wei simply rolled up his sleeves and caught up to beat Xu Shichang, but fortunately he was stopped by everyone, but the entire military aircraft department was also in chaos. Zhang Zhidong was so anxious that he was about to vomit blood, and said repeatedly: "Stop, stop, what has become of this, what has become of it." ”

In fact, Xu Shichang's suggestion, many people present were in favor of it, since he was a Hanchen, he had to raise his hands and agree with a few hands, because they were unwilling to accompany the Qing court to be martyred, so surrendering now, of course, is no better, at least everyone can save their lives, and even some of the ministers are also thinking so, but no one dares to say it. Only the clan felt unwilling to be destroyed in this way by the Qing court, and wanted to rescue it, of course, this is also in line with human nature, for the clan, the Qing Dynasty is their own industry, and now their own property is going to be robbed by others, so naturally they will not be willing.

Of course, Xu Shichang did this on purpose, because first, it was the general trend of the present and could not be changed; second, Xu Shichang was not Zhang Zhidong, and he did not have too deep feelings for the Qing court, and since it was inevitable to change the dynasty, he naturally had to plan for himself, so he first proposed to surrender to the East China government, which may be an important qualification for himself in the future.

Finally, everyone persuaded Pu Wei, Pu Wei pointed to Xu Shichang and said: "As long as I Pu Wei is here, the Qing Dynasty will never die." As he spoke, he flicked his sleeves and walked out of the military plane angrily. And Shanqi, Pu Lun, Yu Lang, Zai Ze and others also left together, only Zaitao and Zaixun did not go.

It turns out that the clan of the Qing court is not an iron piece, and there are also factions, among which is a line of alcohol prince Zaifeng, and the main members are Zaitao and Zaixun, they are all brothers, and their own intelligence is not high, but they are very valued by Cixi, because the previous generation of alcohol prince Yixun's Fujin Yehenara Wanzhen is Cixi's sister, although Zaifeng, Zaitao, Zaixun is not Wanzhen's biological child, but he is also Wanzhen's child, and Zaifeng's Fujin Guerjia clan is the daughter of Cixi's most trusted confidant Ronglu, so Cixi loves the house and Wu, and looks at the Zaifeng brothers differently, and focuses on cultivating and entrusting them with important tasks. Of course, this also has an important relationship with Zaifeng's relatively weak personality and easy control.

The other is headed by Prince Shanqi of Yuansu and Prince Pu Wei of Gong, including Yu Lang, Zai Ze, Tie Liang, Liang Bi, Yin Chang and others, among these people, they are considered to be some capable materials, but they are also quite jealous of Cixi, Shanqi and Pu Wei are basically not reused, although Yu Lang, Tie Liang, Liang Bi, and Yin Chang are also entrusted with important tasks, but they are mostly to balance the Manchu and Han dynasties, and there are many precautions, and often change positions, so that they do not support their own forces. However, this group of people is all clans after all, so they have a lot of influence.

There is also a series of Prince Rui Zaiyi, Prince Zhuang Zaixun, this line was quite reused by Cixi when the Gengzi Kingdom changed, and Pu Jun, the son of Zaiyi, was even established as the eldest brother and became the heir of Guangxu, but the Eight-Nation Coalition broke through Beijing, Cixi and Guangxu fled in panic, although Zai Yi and Zaixun were not liquidated as in the history of another time and space, but they also lost Cixi's trust, and Pu Jun was also dismissed from the head street of the big brother, so now this department has lost power and no one has taken it.

The last line is Prince Qing Yixuan, although this department is lonely, but Yixuan is good at management, ingratiating himself with Cixi internally, and externally with Hanchen like Li Hongzhang and Yuan Shikai, so he has become an alternative in the clan. When Cixi was in power, Yixiao's position was naturally pivotal and should not be underestimated, and once Cixi lost power, the weakness of this series of people was exposed, not to mention that now Yixuan and Cixi, Guangxu have become prisoners of the East China government, so now Yixuan's department has also disappeared, and it is not as good as Zaiyi and Zaixun's series.

After Shanqi and Pu Wei took people away, Xu Shichang turned to Zhang Zhidong and said: "Xiangshuai, at this time, I still want you to make an idea, but don't make a mistake!"

Zhang Zhidong smiled bitterly and said, "Chrysanthemum, you are roasting the old man on the fire." ”

And just as the two were talking, someone suddenly sent an urgent military situation, Tongzhou was lost, and less than 3 hours later, the news of the loss of Baoding was also sent to the military aircraft.