It takes about 6-7 hours to get from Beijing to Tianjin by train, and from the perspective of the traverser, this degree is basically the same as an ox cart, but in this era, this is already a great flight, of course, much faster than an ox cart Chinese. ? (1) (1) (1) .?8?1 (8) Z?? ．?Ｃ?ＯＭ

In this era, it usually takes at least 2 days to get from Beijing to Tianjin, and sometimes even 3 days, and it is only in the case of a rapid march that it is necessary to travel lightly to arrive in one day. Moreover, this train packed the more than 8oo Qing troops along with dozens of carts and more than 100 horses, and dragged them all to Tianjin, both in terms of degree and efficiency, much higher than without a train.

Li Songchen's arrangement was very meticulous, specially prepared a special carriage, arranged with sand chairs, coffee tables, loose coffee seats, round tables and other furniture, as well as two lounges for Prince Zhuang, Zhao Shuqiao, Li Jingfang, Zhang Peilun and other important personnel to ride.

Prince Zhuang and Zhao Shuqiao sat on comfortable sand chairs, looking at the fields and villages flying back outside the window, and they were also quite emotional, this train is really a good thing, it seems that the Qing Dynasty should really build more railways in the future.

They left Beijing at 7 o'clock in the morning, and at 12 o'clock at noon, the train arrived at Yangcun Station, which is about 3o kilometers away from Tianjin, and it takes about 1 and a half hours to drive. However, the train had to stop in Yangcun for half an hour, because this train did not have a dining car, so it arranged a meal for the Qing court at Yangcun Station, and as early as yesterday, Yangcun Station had already received a notice, and at this time it also prepared a meal for the Qing army, and of course also prepared a table of sumptuous wine and food for Prince Zhuang, Zhao Shuqiao and others.

The wine and food were sent to the train, Prince Zhuang, Zhao Shuqiao, Li Jingfang, and Zhang Peilun sat around the round table in all directions, and when they were about to eat, they only heard the sound of footsteps, and as soon as the door of the carriage opened, they only heard a familiar voice and said: "The prince has not seen him for many days, has it always been good?"

Everyone was stunned, looked up, and saw a person standing in front of the carriage door, wearing a flower feather, and the Chaozhu horse coat was Li Hongzhang. Everyone was not surprised, because Li Hongzhang should be in Tianjin at this time, how could he come to Yangzhuang?

However, Prince Qing reacted immediately, hurriedly got up and greeted him, and said, "Shaoquan, why are you here, come and sit, come and sit." As he spoke, he pulled Li Hongzhang to the table.

Zhao Shuqiao also got up and saluted Li Hongzhang and said, "Li Zhongtang, it has always been good. ”

Li Hongzhang also returned the salute and said with a smile: "Zhao Zhongtang, your complexion is not bad, you should be fine recently." ”

Zhao Shuqiao said: "Thanks to the blessing of Li Zhongtang, it is still a great luck in misfortune." Li Zhongtang, please take a seat. Hurriedly called to the servant again: "Quick, bring another round stool." ”

A round stool was brought from the person, and a set of dishes, chopsticks, cups and saucers were added. After Li Hongzhang sat down, Li Jingfang and Zhang Peilun all stood up and stood behind Li Hongzhang. Because Li Hongzhang was present now, they could no longer sit at the table. At this time, Prince Qing said: "Boxing, Youqiao, what are you doing standing, sit down, this is just a light meal, and it is not a major banquet, you don't have to talk so many rules, Shaoquan, you can say something." ”

Li Hongzhang looked at them and said, "Since the prince said so, you should also sit down." ”

Li Jingfang and Zhang Peilun all confessed at this time, and sat down again, the group of five sat at the round table, and Prince Zhuang poured wine for Li Hongzhang and said, "Shaoquan, why did you come to Yangzhuang." ”

Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "I made a special trip here to wait for the prince." ”

Prince Qing was stunned, although he did not have the wisdom of Prince Gong, but it did not mean that he didn't understand anything, because a person who really didn't understand anything could not come up with the idea of letting his wife go into the palace to play cards with Cixi, and lose a whole box of silver every time. Therefore, after listening to Li Hongzhang's words, Prince Qing immediately understood that Li Hongzhang had made a special trip to wait for him here, and he had important things to say to himself.

In fact, this time he served as the minister of the Qincha, and until now, whether it is Prince Qing or Zhao Shuqiao, they are still a little confused. Although before leaving, the imperial court had already made a decision that this time going to Tianjin was just to appease the overseas Chinese and reassure them with good words, but did not talk about the reward for the overseas Chinese, but asked the overseas Chinese to receive the Qin meeting in Xi'an. However, the overseas Chinese have already laid down their conditions, so we must give them a clear explanation, and if they go to Tianjin in such a confused way, how can the overseas Chinese be so easy to fool?

Before leaving, Prince Qing also asked Cixi how to reply if overseas Chinese asked, but Lafayette only used the sentence "Ask less so much, tell you to go" to call. And now when they saw Li Hongzhang, the two of them suddenly realized, it turned out that Lafayette had already made arrangements, and he must have asked Li Zhongtang to negotiate with overseas Chinese first, which is not surprising, because doing this kind of work is Li Hongzhang's specialty, and the request of overseas Chinese is not conveyed by Li Hongzhang to the imperial court?

Before their trip arrived in Tianjin, Li Hongzhang made a special trip from Tianjin to Yangzhuang to meet with him, and he must have already negotiated the results with the overseas Chinese, and specially came to tell himself, so as not to say the wrong thing in Tianjin, and maybe at this time Lafayette had already received Li Hongzhang's telegram, and even agreed to this result, only his own group did not know.

So Prince Zhuang said: "Shaoquan, you must have talked to overseas Chinese in Tianjin, I don't know what the result is, what are their plans?"

Li Hongzhang smiled slightly, and said: "Although the prince is relieved, I have negotiated with the overseas Chinese, they only want to be able to settle people in Shandong, live and work in peace and contentment, and the imperial court can make them the governor of Shandong, and other things, they will handle it themselves, no need for the imperial court to exercise is Ding, and as long as the imperial court officially decrees, they can officially take office in Shandong, and they can all withdraw from the Beijing division, leaving no soldiers, and then the queen mother and the emperor can return to the capital." ”

After listening to Li Hongzhang's words, Prince Zhuang and Zhao Shuqiao glanced at each other, and they couldn't suppress the ecstasy in their hearts. Because there is no governor in Shandong, the governor of Shandong is the highest administrative official in Shandong, but compared with the feudal division in Shandong, the governor of Shandong can naturally be accepted by the imperial court, after all, no matter how great the power of the governor of Shandong is, but it still belongs to the officials appointed and canonized by the imperial court, and they are local officials in Shandong, all of which are directly appointed by the imperial court, and the governor only has the right to recommend at most。 Therefore, there is a fundamental difference between the two positions.

Of course, Prince Zhuang and Zhao Shuqiao are also old drivers of officialdom, and of course they will not be naïve to think that after overseas Chinese accepted the governor of Shandong, they were incorporated into the system of the Qing court. With the strength of overseas Chinese, it is completely possible to turn a governor of Shandong into a de facto secession and independence, and it does not matter whether there is a feudal domain or not. But this operation not only leaves enough face for the imperial court, so that the imperial court has a full step down, as long as it can make the imperial court get by in terms of face, then everything else is easy to say, after all, with the military exploits made by overseas Chinese, they are fully qualified to serve as the governor of Shandong. Moreover, the willingness of overseas Chinese to accept the governor of Shandong and give up the request to establish a feudal domain shows that they are pragmatic and flexible, and they are definitely not an easy role to deal with.

But in any case, the demands of overseas Chinese have been met, and the imperial court can get by on the big picture, which is a happy ending, and the imperial court will return to Beijing, that is, it will be just around the corner, and he can finally live a few days of stable life. As for whether the overseas Chinese will become the henchmen of the imperial court after obtaining Shandong, that is a matter for the future, although Prince Zhuang and Zhao Shuqiao do not know the famous words of the Wons: We will all die in the future. But there is also an old saying in China, called: fire the eyebrows, look at the present.

Prince Zhuang also breathed a sigh of relief and said: "This time Gengzi changed the country, and my Qing Dynasty was able to turn the crisis into safety, all thanks to the work of Shaoquan alone." ”

Zhao Shuqiao also said: "Yes, yes, our Great Qing Dynasty is indispensable to Li Zhongtang, the pillar of the pillar, and when the imperial court returns to Beijing, I have to ask Li Zhongtang to work hard." ”

However, looking at the relieved appearance of the two, Li Hongzhang couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart, these two people are also considered to be middle-class seniors in the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty, but unfortunately they still haven't figured out what Cixi really cares about? Of course, if Lafayette's mind can be guessed by a person, then the old lady will not be in charge of the Qing Dynasty for more than 4o years without falling.

Of course, it is still necessary for the two of them to order, so as not to say the wrong thing after the two arrive in Tianjin, so Li Hongzhang said: "The two are too awarded, in fact, the Queen Mother does not need to worry too much, overseas Chinese have no ambitions, just ask for a place to live for themselves, so the Queen Mother does not have to worry, just return to Beijing, after the overseas Chinese have the land of Shandong, they will never have other branches, and the Queen Mother can rest assured." ”

The Queen Mother was mentioned three times in a row in this paragraph, and the words "no need to worry", "don't worry" and "peace of mind" were used to emphasize, Prince Zhuang and Zhao Shuqiao would not be able to hear what was in the words, although the two of them did not understand what they meant at first glance, but after thinking about it carefully, they suddenly realized. It turns out that this is the case, the most heartfelt thing to dare to love Lafayette is here, pity yourself for the heart of the way, all in vain, and Li Hongzhang is in Tianjin, but he knows the Queen Mother's mind well, this is the gap between people and people, so Prince Zhuang also sighed and said: "It turns out that this is the case, or Shaoquan, you are aware of everything, and I am really indispensable to Shaoquan in the Qing Dynasty." ”