Just as the People's Army captured Shenyang and began to rearrange the distribution of forces in the northeast, another game was being played in Beijing.

The end of the Shenyang Campaign had a major impact on the situation in the entire Far East, and it was for Britain and France, which were gathering fleets and organizing troops to go to the Far East to participate in the war, so the Russian troops stationed in Shenyang played a very important role in the war plan they formulated. But Britain and France did not expect that the 300,000 Russian army was so vulnerable, with strong fortifications, only held on for 5 days, and was completely annihilated by the People's Army. This is also equivalent to the fact that Britain and France have not yet sent troops and lost the game, so Britain and France must find a way to save the city.

Therefore, on the third day after the end of the Battle of Shenyang, the envoys of Britain, France, Japan, and Russia jointly sent a diplomatic letter to the Qing court, formally inviting the Qing court to join the anti-East China government alliance formed by the four countries. And gave the Qing court favorable conditions, promising to return the territory of Northeast China and Shandong to the Qing court after the end of the war, and restore it to the status quo before 1900, Russia also separately promised that it could negotiate with the Qing court on the distribution of interests of the Eastern Railway, and at the same time, Britain and France also confirmed to provide the Qing court with a low-interest loan worth 50 million pounds, to guarantee the military expenses of the Qing court after entering the war, and to return part of the tariff power to the Qing court, etc.

In fact, the anti-East China government alliance that drew the Qing court into the Four Nations was a plan set by Britain and France a long time ago, because after all, the Qing court was the legitimate government of China now, and it still had a great influence in China. Therefore, if the Qing court also joined the anti-East China government alliance of the four countries, then the anti-East China government alliance formed by the four countries in this battle is legally legitimate, which is very politically necessary. In addition, according to the plan of Britain and France, after the war began, 6-8 divisions of troops would be drawn from Japan, land at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and attack Shandong along the Grand Canal, so as to form a flanking attack on the north and south of the East China government, but this plan also needed the participation of the Qing court to be implemented.

However, it turned out that Britain and France planned to persuade the Qing court to join after the combined fleet of the two countries reached the Far East. Because the Qing court joined the anti-East China government alliance too early, it is very likely that it will be the first to be attacked by the East China government, and with the current strength of the Qing court, of course, it will definitely not be able to resist the East China government. And when the combined fleet of Britain and France reached the Far East, it had enough deterrent.

However, after the loss of Shenyang and the annihilation of the Russian army stationed in Shenyang, the position of the Qing court became even more important, and in order to offset the adverse effects of the disappearance of Shenyang and boost the confidence of Japan and Russia in the war, it was necessary to invite the Qing court to join the anti-East China government alliance formed by the four countries.

As for the risk of the Chun court joining the anti-East China government alliance ahead of schedule, Britain and France also assessed it, believing that the risk was not large, because the size of the Qing court was too large, and the East China government might be able to easily capture Beijing, but it would take at least five years to completely destroy the Qing court, and the Qing court was still the legitimate government of China after all, and although the foundation of its rule in China was shaken, it still had a deep foundation, and once the East China government launched a battle aimed at destroying the Qing court, it would inevitably set up a new group of enemies for itself。 With the Northeast Theater not yet completely over and facing the overwhelming pressure of the British and French forces, it was impossible for the leaders of the East China government to wage war against the Qing court as long as they were not hot-headed.

It turned out that after Britain and France announced their entry into the war, it caused a huge sensation within the Qing court. After the defeat in the encirclement and suppression of the East China government's river and lake base areas, the main battle faction represented by the Manchu nouveau riche had been dealt a heavy blow, but at this time it seemed to see hope and began to move again, and some middle- and lower-level officials wrote to the Qing court, suggesting that the Qing court join the anti-East China government alliance formed by the four countries to jointly oppose the East China government and test the attitude of the imperial court.

The Qing court was not moved by this, because Cixi and Guangxu knew that foreigners were unreliable, and now overseas Chinese were on the side of the couch, while Britain, France, Japan and Russia were thousands of miles away. So they didn't take it seriously.

However, after the envoys of the four countries in Chunting jointly sent a diplomatic letter of invitation to the Chunting court, the situation changed, and the Manchu nouveau riche who advocated participating in the war suddenly became active, and on the one hand, they frequently wrote to the Chunting court, asking the Qing court to participate in the war, and on the other hand, they made appointments with the diplomats of the four countries stationed in the Chunting court one after another, and talked about the Qing court's support for the four countries, which was not only to build momentum for participating in the war, but also to gain self-respect by holding on foreign countries. At this time, the Qing court could no longer despise it, so it ordered Yuan Shikai to negotiate with the ministers of the four countries, and ordered Zhang Zhidong to assist Yuan Shikai.

After the Qing court's conquest and suppression of the river and lake base areas failed, Yuan Shikai became the biggest winner, not only reinstated as an official, but also concurrently served as the governor of Zhili, the minister of Beiyang, the minister of the military training meeting, and also served as the minister of the Yamen of the Prime Minister's Office, and the ranking of the military aircraft department was second only to Prince Qing and Zhang Zhidong, ranking third.

And after receiving the order from the imperial court, Yuan Shikai couldn't help but have a big head, because this was not an easy thing to do. In fact, before this, the British and French envoys met with Yuan Shikai in private, and actively persuaded Yuan Shikai to come forward to influence the Qing court and join the anti-East China government alliance formed by the four countries, and perhaps gave Yuan Shikai a lot of benefits.

Yuan Shikai knows very well that this muddy water is not a good trip, if he agrees to the requirements of Britain and France, he will inevitably offend the East China government, but this end is a foreigner, or a foreigner of the four countries, these two sides are not the master that Yuan Shikai can offend, so for the requirements of Britain and France, Yuan Shikai can only take care of him, hoping to get through. But now that the Qing court has issued an order, Yuan Shikai can't get mixed up, so he can only bite the bullet and meet with Zhang Zhidong with the ministers of Britain, France, Japan and Russia.

However, before meeting with the ministers of the four countries, Yuan Shikai first negotiated with Zhang Zhidong and set the tone of the talks with the ministers of the four countries. Both of them believed that before the situation was clear, it was better for the Qing court to remain neutral and not take sides easily, after all, the risk was too great, and the Qing court could not afford to provoke both sides, so if they stood on the wrong side, it would be a disaster. Of course, if the Qing court must choose a side this time, then the two of them will not be able to make a decision, and they must not carry this pot for the Qing court.

So after the meeting between the two sides, the British minister Zhu Erdian first said: "Zhang Zhongtang, Yuan Zhongtang, five days ago, our four countries, Britain, France, Japan, and Russia, jointly proposed to the Qing government, hoping that the Qing government can join the alliance formed by our four countries to fight back against the East China government.

Yuan Shikai and Zhang Zhidong glanced at each other, Zhang Zhidong shook his head, and said, "Mr. Minister, this court has not yet decided." ”

French Minister Gu Rui said: "Why hasn't it been decided yet, it's been 5 days, and now the East China government is the biggest threat to the Qing country, so there are so many favorable conditions to fight against the East China government with us, this is definitely beneficial to the Qing country, I don't understand why the Qing government hasn't made a decision yet." ”

Zhang Zhidong said unhurriedly: "Mr. Minister, this move is very important, and the imperial court can't be cautious, how can it be decided rashly, in just 5 days, it can be decided there!"

Japanese Minister Shotaro Abe said: "Then I don't know how many days the Qing government still needs to think about?"

Zhang Zhidong said: "That's not easy to say, maybe 10 days and 8 days, maybe 10 days and half a month, all of them." ”

Russian Minister Pukodi said angrily: "I see that you are clearly deliberately dragging your feet, no, you must give us a clear answer today." ”

Yuan Shikai snorted and said, "Are the ministers here to negotiate with us today, or are they here to force us to agree?"

Zhu Erdian hurriedly said: "Of course it is negotiated, there is a reason for coercion, just now Minister Pu Kedi was just a little anxious, and there was no malicious intent, and I ask the two Zhongtang to forgive me." ”

Zhang Zhidong smiled and said: "It's easy to say, it's easy to say, Comfort Pavilion, I don't want to mention it again." ”

Yuan Shikai said: "Zhang Zhongtang is very taught. ”

Zhu Erdian said: "However, what Minister Gu Rui said just now is indeed not wrong, and it is absolutely in the interests of the Qing State to attack the East China Government, so we think that the Qing State has no reason to refuse, and we don't understand why it has not been decided yet? After a pause, he said: "If the Qing government still has any doubts or worries, you might as well bring it up today, and we can explain it clearly." ”

Yuan Shikai pondered for a while, and then said: "Okay, what Mr. Minister just said is indeed reasonable, the East China government is indeed the trouble of my Qing Dynasty, and I really can't get rid of it quickly, and the conditions put forward by various countries for my Qing Dynasty are indeed generous, but a few ministers, I will tell the truth, overseas Chinese are now in Shandong, less than 500 miles away from Beijing, and Japan, The Russian armies had already been defeated by the overseas Chinese, the Japanese army had retreated to the Korean Peninsula, the Russian army had retreated to Manchuria, and the fleets of Britain and France were still thousands of miles away. ”