Of course, Zhang Zhidong will not say anything about these situations, one is just his own speculation, and there is no empirical evidence; second, there is no need to offend Yuan Shikai or the East China government, but Zhang Zhidong is thinking in his heart, don't look at Yuan Shikai's shrewdness, but this time I am afraid that the agency is too clever to make wedding dresses for others.

Sure enough, Zhang Zhidong's words also made Cixi very satisfied, because it was Zhang Zhidong said, overseas Chinese can no longer wage war in 5-10 years, but also dispelled Cixi's last doubt, anyway, now Cixi is also a year and two years, can live to 5 years later, even Cixi herself has no bottom, not to mention that at that time, there are still Japan and Russia to rely on, so the Qing court can indeed be invincible, so Cixi hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Okay, Tieliang, this matter will be left to you." ”

When Tie Liang heard this, he couldn't help but be overjoyed, and hurriedly fell to the ground, saying: "Thank you to the Queen Mother and the Emperor, the slaves must do their best to serve the court." ”

At this time, Cixi said again: "Yuan Shikai, you can't be idle, although this time the imperial court sent troops to recruit and suppress the overseas Chinese, but just because the overseas Chinese have gone too far, the imperial court does not want to turn against them, but on the side of the overseas Chinese, there must always be an explanation, you can speak to the overseas Chinese, this matter will be handled by you, and you will stay in Tianjin during this time." ”

And Yuan Shikai is also a bitter water now, before he came to Beijing, he did negotiate with the East China government, Yuan Shikai led the troops to fight, and the East China government will retreat all the places captured, but asked Yuan Shikai to delay some time, at least this year. Of course, this is not difficult for Yuan Shikai, and he can make a contribution and continue to consolidate his position in the court. It's just that Yuan Shikai really didn't expect someone to come in. As a result, when Tie Liang also asked Ying to lead the troops into battle, Yuan Shikai knew that things were not good, but at this time, Yuan Shikai couldn't take it back.

Sure enough, Cixi ordered Tie Liang to fight, Yuan Shikai even repented in his heart, and Cixi also ordered Yuan Shikai to stay in Tianjin, in the name of colluding with overseas Chinese, but in fact, Yuan Shikai was transferred from the battlefield, so that he could not interfere with Tie Liang's use of troops, but now Yuan Shikai has no other way but to say: "Minister's will." And sighed in his heart, it seemed that he was still a little tender compared to Cixi.

Looking at Yuan Shikai, although he tried his best to be ordinary, but he couldn't hide his disappointed expression, Cixi's heart was also quite happy, in Cixi's opinion, Yuan Shikai is capable, capable and practical, and he is indeed a rare talent, but he is power-minded, and he likes to play tricks with power, and if he can't get it, it is Li Hongzhang before the second Jiawu Dynasty, so it is necessary to beat him often, since he was since the Gengzi State Change, Yuan Shikai has risen all the way, from the governor of Shandong to the minister of military aircraft, the governor of Zhili, and the minister of Beiyang, and he should also find a reason to suppress him, otherwise Yuan Shikai really has no one in his sights。 After quelling the civil uprising in Hebei this time, I have to find a reason to remove Yuan Shikai from several positions, and make up for it in the future, so that a slap and a date to eat is the way of the emperor.

And thinking of this, Cixi also sighed secretly in her heart, if there are a few decent talents among the Manchurians, she doesn't have to be so protective of Yuan Shikai, Tie Liang and Liang Bi are not bad, but unfortunately they are too young and a little frivolous, and they need to be sharpened for a few years before they can be useful, I hope this time I can make these two people grow a little, so that I can worry less about it in the future.

Thinking of this, Cixi was also a little sentimental, and said, "Then let's do it, you guys kneel down." ”

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"What, this time the Qing court did not have Lao Yuan to lead the troops. ”

"Well, it was Tie Liang and Liang Bi who were sent to lead the troops, it is estimated that Lafayette thought that this battle was very easy to fight, and he was afraid that Lao Yuan would make meritorious contributions again, so it was not good to reward him, so Lao Yuan was not sent this time. It seems that Lao Yuan miscalculated this time. ”

"Yes, so now Lao Yuan is as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, looking for Zhang Hui as soon as he returns to Tianjin, and now he can only rely on us?"

It turned out that Yuan Shikai left Beijing with the annoyance of his stomach, and on the way back, he had already figured out that if such an iron and good man really succeeded in quelling the chaos, then the new army he had worked so hard to train would definitely not be controlled by himself again, at least half of it would be lost, and if it was not good, he would only leave one or two towns for himself. Of course, Yuan Shikai is unwilling, now the only way to solve the situation is in the East China government, only the East China government defeats the army of Tie Liang and Liangbi, and can he keep the military power of the Beiyang New Army, but now the center of gravity of the East China government is on the battlefield in Liaodong, can they defeat Tie Liang and Liangbi?

As soon as Yuan Shikai returned to Tianjin, he made an appointment with Zhang Hui, the newly appointed mayor of Tianjin, to inform him of the situation in Beijing, and repeatedly asked the East China government not to let Tie Liang and Liang Bi make this contribution, and to strengthen the troops in the river and lake base areas and defeat Tie Liang and Liang Bi. And he said that he would do his best to cooperate with the East China government and provide information on the Qing army.

After receiving Zhang Hui's report, the East China government seemed to be very relaxed, although the troops in the Hehu base area were not strong, it was estimated that it would not be difficult to defeat Tie Liang and Liangbi and others. This is really not the arrogance of the East China government, but based on the comparative consideration of the strength of the two sides, although the Beiyang New Army is an army formed by the establishment and training methods of modern armies, it is still the essence of the feudal army in its bones. Although the Beiyang Army still had a certain vigor when training troops at the small station, Yuan Shikai was bent on building the Beiyang New Army into his own private army; Tie Liang, Liangbi, and other Manchu magnates were also desperately trying to insert their own cronies into the Beiyang New Army, and with the expansion of the army, the soldiers were also uneven, and although the current Beiyang New Army was stronger than the Hunan Army and the Huai Army of the Qing court, it was not a powerful army.

Now the river and lake base area now has an army of 5 or 60,000 people, and most of the soldiers are ordinary peasants, because everyone has a share of the land and property, so the loyalty to the traverser is extremely high, and as long as it is said to defend the homeland, protect the land and fight, the morale will immediately rise, although there is a lack of heavy weapons, but there is a base to rely on, familiar with the terrain, so as long as the tactics are used properly, then the probability of defeating the Qing army is very high.

Xia Bohai said: "Inform the river and lake base area, the situation has changed, this battle must be won, and to win beautifully, not only to let Lao Yuan owe us a favor, but also to let Lao Yuan know that the agreement we reached with him before was not because we couldn't beat him, don't be too self-righteous." ”

Xiao Jianjun said with a smile: "This is good news for the river and lake base areas, they were unwilling to give up the places they occupied, now it's okay, I suggest that after this battle is won, occupy a few more places, it is also a lesson to the Qing court, even if the Qing court changes Lao Yuan to lead the troops in the future, they don't have to give it all out, as long as they can let Lao Yuan give an explanation to the Qing court." ”

Qin Zheng said: "Maybe even if Lao Yuan leads the troops, we don't have to give up the place." This time, Tie Liang and Liang Bi led the troops to fight, and the preliminary preparation took at least 1 or 2 months, and the battle lasted at least 2 or 3 months, so this battle will take 3 months, to say the least, if it is delayed again, 4, 5 months is also possible, and when Lao Yuan leads the troops again, it will be almost half a year later, at that time, as long as our Vladivostok battle is successful, the overall situation in Liaodong will be basically decided, and we don't have to deal with the Qing court at all, just tear our faces directly, beat Lao Yuan again, and the Qing court will not be able to send anyone at all. ”

Xia Bohai nodded and said, "This can be regarded as a preparatory plan, in short, after defeating Tie Liang and Liang Bi first, do you need any supplements from the river and lake base areas? In two months' time, the German supplies will arrive, and we will be much more abundant. ”

It turned out that after serious consultations, the German and US governments agreed to the East China Government's request to increase bond issuance, and allowed the East China Government to directly exchange the proceeds from bond issuance for supplies from the two countries. Moreover, after several rounds of consultations, the two sides have also clarified the details and norms for the two countries to dispatch military observer missions to the East China Government.

The German Government has already decided to send to the East China Government a military observation group of up to 62 personnel, including 35 members of the army and 27 members of the navy; in addition, the first batch of arms to be delivered to the East China Government includes 500 artillery pieces of various types, 70,000 rounds of artillery shells, 8 sets of 305-mm turrets, 10 sets of 200-mm turrets, and other machinery and accessories.

The number of US military observer missions is relatively small, only 43 people, 23 in the army, and 20 in the navy, and the materials needed by the East China government have also been sent, and some of its supplies, mainly grain and timber, are sent directly from the Philippines, so they can reach Qingdao within one month, much faster than Germany.

Of course, the actions of Germany and the United States were also strongly protested by Britain and France, accusing them of seriously undermining the peace process in the Far East, but Germany and the United States also refuted this, and in this war, France had already provided billions of francs of loans to Russia, and Britain had also provided Japan with a large amount of money and weapons, and the normal trade between Germany, the United States, and the East China government should not be blamed at all, and Britain and France were not belligerents in this war, let alone the position of Germany and the United States.

In fact, Japan and Russia, which were the belligerents in this war, also protested to Germany and the United States, but Germany and the United States did not pay attention to it at all, and they bought what they should have bought, and Britain and France had no good way to stop it.