In Shanghai, the business community is engaged in fierce games, while in Beijing there is a tense struggle on the political level.

Russia proposed to the Qing court that it could transfer the northeastern territory to the Qing court in accordance with the provisions of the "Treaty on the Settlement of the Three Eastern Provinces" and asked the Qing court to send troops to the receiving places outside the Guan. Immediately, a controversy arose in the Qing court, and the ministers of the court were divided into those who sent troops to receive troops, and those who maintained the status quo, the former being mainly Manchu Shaozhuang officials, and the latter mainly Han ministers, and the latter was dominated by Han ministers, and the latter was dominated by Han ministers, and the faction was fiercely debated for several days.

However, Russia's reputation was too bad to be trusted, and the Qing court still had some scruples about the East China government, so the status quo faction gradually gained an advantage in this debate, overpowering the sending faction.

However, at the end of July, the situation changed, and the British and French ministers in Beijing jointly submitted a diplomatic note to the Prime Minister's Office, expressing their support for the Qing court's acceptance of Russia's conditions, sending troops to take over the Northeast Territory, and being willing to play a supervisory role in coordinating the relations between the Qing court and Russia, and even sending a small number of troops to assist the Qing court in recovering the territory in the northeast.

This diplomatic note from Britain and France immediately triggered a great reaction in Beijing, and the sending of troops to receive the faction was weak, but with the support of Britain and France, it was suddenly reversed, including some officials who had previously held a neutral or status quo faction, and also turned against the sending of troops to receive the faction. Because the weight of Britain and France was not trivial, and with their assurance and assistance, the chances of the Qing court recovering the northeastern territory were indeed much greater. Many officials even think that even the East China government should avoid dividing Britain and France.

However, the East China government launched its own actions, and Deng Yongjian, director of the Beijing office, met with Zhang Zhidong and made it clear to him that the East China government did not want to see the Qing court involved in the situation in the east, and if the Qing court sent Ping Ping to the northeast, it would mean that the Qing and the East China government would have a war, and the East China government would attack the Qing court in any direction. Even if Britain and France supported the Qing court, they would not stop the East China government from acting, and the Qing court would be responsible for all the consequences.

This was the first time that the East China government issued a threat of war to the Qing court, and the Qing court did not dare to take it lightly, and the status quo maintainers also found a strong basis and gradually brought back the disadvantage, and it became a five-five game, which was on par.

And the Qing court's decision-maker, the Empress Dowager Cixi, was also in a dilemma at this time and hesitated. From the heart of the Empress Dowager Cixi, of course, she hoped that the Qing court would send troops to recover the northeast, but if there was a conflict with overseas Chinese, it would even be a war, which the Empress Dowager Cixi would never want to see, and the most ideal result would of course be that the East China government acquiesced to the Qing court to take back the northeast, but Cixi also knew that this was absolutely impossible. If it was before the Gengzi Revolution, the Empress Dowager Cixi might have dared to take a risk, but now Cixi no longer dares to make any risky moves, so she would rather lose the Northeast region than have a conflict with overseas Chinese, let alone war. Now the Empress Dowager Cixi just wants to live a few years with peace of mind, and when she closes her eyes, she doesn't care about the rest of the matter.

But the question is whether the East China government will let Cixi feel at ease for a few years, although Cixi does not want to make trouble, but the political feeling is still there, if the overseas Chinese occupy the northeast, I am afraid that it will be the time when they officially turn against the Qing court, and if they don't give it a go now, I am afraid there will be no chance in the future. Therefore, if she is fully sure, Cixi is willing to give it a try.

So Cixi summoned the main ministers of the Qing court, the princes and the clan to gather together to discuss countermeasures, among the ministers of military aircraft, only Yuan Shikai did not return in Tianjin, among the ministers of the clan, only the former Su prince Qishan, who was dismissed from his post at home, did not attend, and the other important ministers all gathered together.

Tie Liang first said: "Queen Mother, the land outside the border is still the place of my Qing Dynasty Longxing, once there is a mistake, it will inevitably shake the society, fortunately, now the overseas Chinese and Japan and Russia have been defeated, Russia has taken the initiative to return the land of Liaodong to my Qing Dynasty, and there are Britain and France are willing to help the imperial court, this is still God to help me Qing also, the imperial court must not hesitate, should immediately send troops to recover the land of Liaodong, if not, I am afraid it will be too late to regret." ”

Among the ministers who advocated sending troops to the Reconquistalist, Tie Liang was one of the most resolute and radical. It's not that he doesn't know the power of the East China government, but first, he thinks that he can only fight now, and if the East China government is made bigger, the Qing court may not have a chance. And after all, Tie Liang is just over 40 years old, he is in the prime of life, he is a rare military talent among the Manchurians, he has not experienced a major battle before, and he has a bit of the momentum of a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers, so he also dares to take risks.

Tie Liang was also the Minister of Military Aircraft earlier, but because of his radical attitude and strong anti-Han sentiment, he was almost incompatible with all Han military aircraft. However, Cixi also knew that Tie Liang was indeed loyal to the imperial court, and he was a rare soldier among the Manchus, and he also needed Tie Liang to contain Yuan Shikai, so although Tie Liang was removed from the military aircraft, he still let him serve as the secretary of the military department and concurrently served as the minister of military training, and according to the practice of the Qing court, the post of the six ministers of the book was generally concurrently held by the minister of military aircraft.

However, the military and political affairs of the Qing court have always been decided by the military aircraft department, if the military department is not concurrently served by the minister of military aircraft, then it is actually a post without power, although Tie Liang also serves as the minister of military training, but the Qing court's military training is almost all controlled by Yuan Shikai, in the six towns of Beiyang, Tie Liang can only transfer the first town at most, and the remaining 5 towns do not listen to Tie Liang's dispatch at all, so now Tie Liang is also very depressed, always looking for an opportunity to overthrow Yuan Shikai, at least take away the control of a few town troops from Yuan Shikai.

In Tie Liang's view, this is a good opportunity, if the Qing court decides to take over the northeast territory, it will definitely choose some officials from the Manchu officials to participate, and Tie Liang himself will definitely fight for the position of the chief general, and take the opportunity to expand his control over military power.

Of course, Tie Liang also knows that if he sends troops to the northeast, there will be a conflict with the people's army, but Tie Liang still has a certain degree of confidence in his ability, after all, he has been training for several years, Tie Liang has also learned something, and he is also quite a bit of a leap and try, wanting to try his skills on the battlefield. In addition, Tie Liang believes that the Qing court still has a certain foundation in the northeast, after all, the grassroots local officials in the northeast are still the original people of the Qing court, plus there is the support of Britain and France, so Tie Liang believes that the people's army can still fight.

After Tie Liang finished speaking, Liang Bi also said: "The emperor, the queen mother, now that overseas Chinese have sent troops outside the border, although it is called recovering lost territory, it is actually ill-intentioned. If overseas Chinese are allowed to occupy the land outside the border, they will definitely plot to rebel, and the imperial court must make preparations as early as possible to prevent it from ignoring, or send troops as soon as possible to cut off the heart of overseas Chinese to occupy the northeast. ”

Guangxu said: "Although it is easy to send troops, but the war is together, the outcome is unpredictable, overseas Chinese are known for their good fighting, in case there is a mistake, and if it is good." ”

Tie Liang said: "Your Majesty, please rest assured, the imperial court has been training troops for several years, and the troops are used here for a while, and as far as the ministers know, there are still many officials outside the customs who still have their hearts set on the imperial court, and they all hope that the imperial court soldiers will arrive, and the people's hearts can be used; ”

Guangxu nodded, and was about to speak, when Cixi said: "What about the person, do you have anything to say?" ”

Qu Hongzhen said: "The queen mother, the emperor, the ministers think that the court should think twice. Although overseas Chinese have always had the heart of unforesee, their soldiers are strong, and they have seen their strength five years ago, and this time as soon as they sent out their troops, they defeated the Japanese and Russian troops in succession, annihilating hundreds of thousands of Japanese and Russian troops, and this is still a fierce enemy of the imperial court, which should not be underestimated. Not to mention that although the imperial court has been training troops for several years and has achieved some results, it has only trained tens of thousands of troops? What is it compared to the Japanese and Russian troops? and how is it compared to the Eight-Nation Coalition Army five years ago? ”

Guangxu glanced at Cixi again and said, "In this case, will we sit back and watch the overseas Chinese occupy our Longxing land in the Qing Dynasty and ignore it?"

Zhang Zhidong said: "The Queen Mother, the Emperor, it's not that we sit back and watch the overseas Chinese occupy the land of Longxing and ignore it, but now we really can't act rashly, and we have to wait and see what happens, and wait for the opportunity." ”

Tie Liang said angrily: "Lord Zhang, now that the overseas Chinese are about to hit Fengtianfu, what time do you have to wait." Isn't it a good time to wait until all the overseas Chinese occupy the land outside the Guanwai and then go south in a big way?"

Zhang Zhidong snorted, he was very unaccustomed to the Manchu young Zhuang ministers like Tie Liang and Liang Bi, and thought that this group of people did not know the current affairs at all, and although they claimed to know the soldiers like Tie Liang and Liang Bi, in Zhang Zhidong's view, they were simply talking on paper, and they were still self-righteous, and they only knew how to blindly suppress the Han Chen, but they didn't want to think about what time it was, and if there were no hundred Han ministers, would the Qing Dynasty still be able to support it? If the imperial court was really handed over to these Manchu ministers, the imperial court would probably be chaotic in less than a year.

As far as I know, the existing Russian army still has hundreds of thousands of troops in Mukden, and there are fortified cities to defend, so it is not yet known whether the overseas Chinese can capture Mukden. Although the Japanese army retreated to the Korean Peninsula, there were still 200,000 troops, and they would make a comeback at any time, so the victory or defeat of Liaodong was still uncertain, even if it was necessary to send troops outside the border, there was no need to rush for a while, not to mention that the assembly of the army, preparation, and mobilization of military resources and grain and grass could not be determined in one day, so according to the old minister's opinion, it was better to wait and see for a few months, and when the overseas Chinese and Japan and Russia really fought to defeat each other, it was not too late to make a decision. ”