In the beginning of the Boxer Rebellion, in fact, it was just a local superstitious non-governmental organization in Shandong, and in Chinese history, there were many similar non-governmental organizations, and the vast majority of them were quickly extinguished, and a few may still be able to make a little spark.

In less than a year, the Boxer Rebellion was able to develop from Shandong to Hebei, and even enter Beijing, becoming an important force that influenced the whole of China in 1900, not because of how powerful the Boxer Rebellion was, or because of its excellent leadership and organizers, but because of the overt or implicit support and promotion of some Qing Dynasty ministers.

Among the Qing ministers who supported the Boxer Rebellion were local governors, military ministers in Beijing, clan relatives of the Qing court, and even the Empress Dowager Cixi, the de facto ruler of the Qing court. They are either purely hostile to foreigners, or they are fighting for power and attacking political opponents, or they are motivated by political speculation or by entrenching their own positions of power. needed a force that could confront the foreigners, and the so-called miracles of the Boxers made them see hope, or blindly believe in what they wanted to believe, but no matter what the reason, in the end, they indulged in the expansion of the Boxers' power and developed to Beijing, and connived at the Boxers to attack the embassies of various countries, and advocated declaring war on the nations.

It was only when the Eight-Nation Coalition Army really called, and the ministers who supported the Boxers discovered that the so-called miracle of the Boxers was simply unreliable, but it was too late, and the Eight-Nation Coalition Army had already approached the city of Beijing. After the city of Beijing was broken, some of the ministers who supported the Boxers died in the war or were captured and executed by the Eight-Nation Alliance, but most of them escaped from the city of Beijing and gradually joined up with the Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu and arrived in Taiyuan.

Although the exiled court of the Qing court temporarily settled down in Taiyuan, the ministers who had supported the Boxer Rebellion at the beginning did not have a moment of peace in their hearts. Because the situation has developed to this point, there are two outcomes: one is that the Eight-Nation Coalition will continue to attack and destroy Dachun; the other is that the imperial court and the foreigners will succeed in negotiating peace, but no matter which outcome it is, the ministers who supported the Boxers at the beginning will not end well.

Needless to say, whether the foreigners directly carved up China or supported a new dynasty, the old ministers of the Qing court would definitely not end well. And if the court and the foreigners succeed in negotiating peace, the empress dowager and the emperor may be able to save their lives, but the ministers who supported the Boxers at the beginning will definitely be pushed out as scapegoats.

Moreover, in Taiyuan, a list of punishments issued by foreigners has begun to circulate, including most of the officials and clans who fled with the empress dowager and the emperor, and the foreigners claim that only the people on the list can be negotiated and made peace, and the reason why the queen mother and the emperor have not yet started is just waiting for the foreigners to formally admit that only the people on the list will be investigated, and the queen mother and the emperor will be investigated.

If this is just a rumor, then Li Hongzhang sent a telegram from Shanghai, asking the empress dowager and the emperor to punish the princes and ministers who supported the main battle of the Boxers, so as to show the foreigners the determination of the Qing court to admit its mistakes, then this is true, although Li Hongzhang did not name those ministers in the telegram to punish those ministers, but most people estimated that they must be one of them. It can be said that that road is a dead end.

And the birth of this group of overseas Chinese, defeating the Eight-Nation Alliance, and capturing Tianjin, made the ministers who had supported the Boxers seem to see a life-saving straw, and naturally they must grasp it tightly. If this group of overseas Chinese can completely defeat the Eight-Nation Alliance and drive the foreigners out of China, then their lives can be saved, so these ministers tried their best to make suggestions to the Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu, first of all, they praised the overseas Chinese, called them overseas righteous people, concerned about China, and the Qing Dynasty is expected to be revived, and suggested that the exiled imperial court immediately appease this group of overseas Chinese, and entrust them with the important task of dealing with the Eight-Nation Alliance, and it is best to drive all the foreigners out of the land of China.

In addition, he desperately attacked Li Hongzhang, because Li Hongzhang was responsible for negotiating peace with foreigners, and also sent a telegram asking the Queen Mother and the emperor to punish the princes and ministers who supported the main battle of the Boxers.

Li Hongzhang is naturally clear about the thoughts of these ministers, and he can't help but feel a deep sense of powerlessness in his heart, it is these people who have made the country so out of control, and now they have not forgotten to fight for power and profit, and they are struggling to protect the Qing Dynasty, while they are desperately pulling their own back.

At this time, Zhang Peilun said: "Father-in-law, everyone, although the court is in a hurry, but Peilun seems to be not able to delay any longer, the Queen Mother has always been shrewd and well-versed in affairs, this time it is just a confusion, and the emperor has also gone through several major difficulties, and he also understands the current situation, and will never be deceived by evil people again, so as long as we call back to show the benefits, the Queen Mother and the Emperor will naturally understand." Therefore, it is imperative to reply to the imperial court as soon as possible. ”

Zhou Fu also nodded, Zhang Peilun is a person who has experienced great changes and tribulations, although he has resigned for many years, but his judgment of the current situation is much clearer than back then, and he has long since lost the scholarly atmosphere when he was Qingliu, so he said: "Lord Zhongtang, Youqiao's words are extremely true, the top priority now is to stabilize the imperial court first, if the imperial court can't help it, first send people to contact overseas Chinese, I am afraid that there will be many accidents, so I think it is better to let Youqiao draft and reply to the imperial court." ”

Li Hongzhang turned his head to look at Zhang Peilun, and Zhang Peilun hurriedly said: "Peilun should be responsible for this matter. ”

Li Hongzhang also nodded and said, "Okay, there is Lao Peilun in this matter." After a pause, Li Hongzhang said again: "On the side of the imperial court, it can be delayed a little longer, but on the foreigners' side, how to deal with it, they are still waiting for my reply." ”

Everyone was a little helpless for a while, and after a while, Zhou Fu said: "Zhongtang, I think it's better to tell the truth to the foreigners, and see how the foreigners reply, and it's not too late to make a plan." What's more, even if the foreigners want to increase their army, at least for about half a year, they can still maneuver again. ”

Li Hongzhang frowned, thought for a while, and then sighed and said, "That's it, in this way, I will go to the British Consulate early tomorrow morning." ”

At this time, Li Jingfang, who had been silent, said: "Father, whether it is a foreigner or the imperial court, we can deal with it for a while, but on our side, we can't help but be prepared, because these two aspects can't be delayed for too long. ”

Li Hongzhang glanced at him and said, "What do you mean to do?"

Li Jingfang said: "Didn't the overseas Chinese wait for the foreigners to take the initiative to save peace? I don't know if we first sent someone to Tianjin to contact the overseas Chinese and test their attitude, isn't this Zhao Weizhong coming? But he came to Shanghai alone and did not bring his family, so he will definitely return to Tianjin, and when he returns, we can send someone to Tianyuan with him, and then we can get in touch with the overseas Chinese by introducing him. ”

Li Hongzhang pondered for a while before he said, "Then who is the most suitable person to send to Tianjin?"

Li Jingfang immediately said: "The son is willing to run this trip for his father." ”

Li Hongzhang turned his head to stare at Li Jingfang, his gaze remained unwavering for a long time, and Li Jingfang was a little weak by him, and lowered his head, not daring to meet Li Hongzhang's gaze. And Li Hongzhang sighed secretly, in fact, Li Jingfang's proposal is very good, after all, he has Zhao Weizhong as an intermediary on his side, so he sent a cronie around him, but there is no actual official position, to Tianjin, to contact overseas Chinese, to explore the tone of overseas Chinese, and also explain to the imperial court, and how the foreigners plan to deal with overseas Chinese, their own side is also prepared. It's just that Li Hongzhang also understands that Li Jingfang put forward this suggestion and took the initiative to invite Ying to Tianjin, in fact, he has his own selfish motives.

Although Li Jingfang is only Li Hongzhang's adopted son, but he was indeed raised by Li Hongzhang, knowing that his son is better than his father, Li Hongzhang of course knows his son's character, temperament, and what he is thinking in his heart.

It is fair to say that Li Jingfang is not an incompetent generation, since he was a child, he has also studied foreign Chinese and writing, and when he became an adult, he followed Li Hongzhang to deal with various major affairs in domestic and foreign affairs, and later served as counselor in Britain, counselor in the United States, and minister in Japan. He also has a certain understanding of the pattern of the whole world, and it can be said that in this era, Li Jingfang's talent can indeed be regarded as outstanding, much stronger than most officials in the Chunting Court.

Of course, Li Jingfang's ability to achieve these achievements also has a great relationship with Li Hongzhang's father, it can be said that without Li Hongzhang, there would be no Li Jingfang today, but it is also because of Li Hongzhang's existence, Li Jingfang can only play the role of Li Hongzhang's assistant, and there are not many opportunities to display his personal talents.

And Li Jingfang also does not want to live in the shadow of his father all the time, during the First Sino-Japanese War, Li Jingfang took the initiative to ask Li Hongzhang to go to the front line to supervise the war, that is, he hoped to establish military merits on the front line and get rid of the shackles of Li Hongzhang, but was discouraged by Zhang Peilun. It even alarmed the imperial court, and Yu Shi Duanliang impeached Zhang Peilun on the grounds of deposing officials and talking about state affairs, and as a result, Guangxu issued an order to expel Zhang back to his hometown. After the First Sino-Japanese War, the Li family father and son became the target of public criticism, the national public opinion was boiling, Li Hongzhang was accused of being a traitor, and Li Jingfang was also rumored to be accused of being a Japanese spy because he had served as a Japanese envoy.

In fact, Li Hongzhang is not unaware of his son's thoughts, but before the first day of the first day, his official to the governor of Zhili, the minister of Beiyang created the Huai Army, the formation of the Beiyang Naval Division, did not enter the military aircraft and called the middle hall, has aroused the suspicion of the imperial court, many ways to control elbows, if the son and the child come out again, I am afraid that the court will be restless day and night, so can only suppress the child, Zhang Peilun is to understand this, so he strongly persuaded Li Hongzhang not to appoint Li Jingfang as a general.

After the First Sino-Japanese War, Li Hongzhang lost power from then on, and Li Jingfang also followed his father's loss of power, and never had a chance to display his ambitions in his life.