A group of people went out of Xi'an and marched to Beijing, accompanied by more than 8oo troops, more than 5o vehicles of various kinds, of which 16 carts were loaded with various rewards and labor items. 八?一Chinese ?? (a).?8?1(8)Z?? ．?Ｃ?Ｏ?Ｍ

After leaving Xi'an and entering the Shanxi boundary from Tongguan, the people and horses go all the way to the east, and then go east through the Niangzi Pass to enter the Zhili boundary, and then dismantle to the northeast, pass through Zhengding and Baoding, and arrive at the Yishui River, which is about 9o kilometers away from Beijing, and it can also be said that it has passed to the edge of the Beijing area.

And at the Yishui Ferry, the outpost reported to Prince Qing and Zhao Shuqiao that there was now an army stationed at the ferry. The two were also taken aback, although they had also encountered several bandits and robbers along the way, but seeing that their team of men and horses under the banner of the official army, not only were there a large number of people, but all of them were equipped with rifles, they all knew the difficulty and retreated, but this time they met at the ferry, I am afraid that there will be a fierce battle.

At this moment, I saw three horsemen rushing from the crossing, and saw that there were only three of them, so although the Qing army raised their guns, they did not shoot, but just shouted from a distance to ask about the identity of the comer.

The three horsemen stopped about 100 meters away from the Qing army, and the knight on horseback said loudly: "You are the Qin messenger from the imperial court, and you have gone to Tianjin to appease overseas Chinese?"

The chief general of the Qing army was called Zhang Zhongqi, who was Rong Lu's general, and after hearing the shout, he responded loudly: "Yes, we are the army of the imperial court, and we escorted the two Qincha lords to Tianjin to appease the overseas Chinese, who are you?"

The three knights listened and said, "We are soldiers of the People's Army cavalry battalion, and we are already waiting for you at the crossing of the Yishui River. As he spoke, all three of them dismounted, leaving one of them where he was, and the other two came to the two messengers in front of him and said them again to their faces.

Prince Qing and Zhao Shuqiao listened, and they were quite happy in their hearts, they couldn't imagine that overseas Chinese would come out to meet them at such a distance, no matter what intentions the overseas Chinese had, they still gave the court enough face on the big picture, although the soldier only saluted a raised hand when he saw them, not the Qing court's beating thousand, but the two did not plan these details. So Prince Qing asked the two cavalrymen some questions, it turned out that one of the two cavalrymen was named Meng Kuan, who was now a squad leader in the cavalry battalion, and now there was a company of the People's Army at Yishui Ferry, and a cavalry squad, as well as Zhang Peilun and Li Jingfang.

After listening to Meng Kuan's words, Prince Qing and Zhao Shuqiao couldn't help but be overjoyed, they both knew Zhang Peilun and Li Jingfang, although they didn't have any deep friendships, but they were finally acquaintances, and acquaintances were naturally easier to talk to. Therefore, Prince Qing took out two ingots of ten taels of silver from his skin and said, "This silver is what this king has given to you both." ”

If it is a Qing soldier, at this time, you should immediately give a thousand gifts, say "Thank you for the reward of the prince" and then take the silver, then knowing that the two people have not moved, Meng Kuan said: "Our people's army has discipline and cannot accept money and gifts privately, so we can't accept this money, please come with us, and put away the guns in addition, so as not to cause misunderstanding." ”

After finishing speaking, the two saluted again, turned around and left, and Prince Qing was also very embarrassed, and originally wanted to scold "I don't know how to lift", but after thinking about it, he still laughed dryly twice, and said: "This overseas Chinese army is a little different." ”

Zhao Shuqiao hurriedly played the round and said: "The prince saved 2o taels of silver, and he also fell into the name of righteousness and wealth, I knew that this was the case, and the lower officials should also take a few taels of silver out." ”

Prince Qing laughed, at this time, the three knights of the People's Army had already mounted their horses and walked slowly in front, and Prince Qing also hurriedly ordered the army to follow, thinking about meeting Zhang Peilun and Li Jingfang.

After walking a short distance, I saw a few more horses running in front of me, but this time Prince Qing could see clearly, it was Zhang Peilun and Li Jingfang, the two came to Prince Qing's horse, dismounted and saluted, Li Jingfang said: "Lord Wang, Zhao Zhongtang, I haven't seen you for a few years, and it has always been good." ”

Prince Qing and Zhao Shuqiao also dismounted and returned the salute, Prince Qing said: "It's okay, it's okay, I suffered a lot of fright, but I encountered this catastrophe, and it was fortunate that I didn't die, we were nothing, but fortunately, the queen mother and the emperor were fine." ”

Li Jingfang said: "The queen mother and the emperor are blessed people, how can they easily have an accident, and the prince follows the queen mother and the emperor, and naturally he is also blessed. ”

Prince Qing smiled and said: "Borrow your auspicious words, is Shaoquan okay? The queen mother and the emperor have been thinking about Shaoquan." ”

Li Jingfang said: "Domeng Empress Domeng, the emperor is concerned, the prince cares, my father's body is still tough, but his age is not lucky, I just hope that this time the court will stabilize, the two palaces will return to Beijing, and my father can rest assured that he will return to his hometown." ”

Prince Qing said: "What are these words, now our Dachun Kingdom is still indispensable to Shaoquan this Optimus Prime, and Shaoquan has to work for a few more years." ”

Zhao Shuqiao also said: "Yes, this Geng Xiao national change, if it weren't for Li Zhongtang, I don't know what would happen to the country, Li Zhongtang for the sake of the Qing Dynasty, it can be said that he has done his best to die, how can he lightly tell the old man to return to his hometown?"

Zhang Peilun said: "This is not the place to speak, please also ask the prince and Zhao Zhongtang to cross the river, and rest in Zhuozhou City tonight, just tomorrow the People's Army will escort a group of prisoners to Beijing, we can go out with them, and we can take care of them on the road." ”

Prince Qing was stunned for a moment and said, "What prisoner?"

Li Jingfang explained: "The prince didn't know that two days ago, the People's Army wiped out the remnants of the Eight-Nation Alliance near Zhuozhou, captured hundreds of prisoners, and will escort the captives back to Beijing tomorrow. “

It turned out that after the People's Army captured Beijing, there were indeed many remnants of the Eight-Nation Coalition Army that fled from Beijing and were displaced to the surrounding areas of Beijing, and the People's Army was short of troops, and second, after occupying Beijing, it had to make every effort to deal with the Russian army's southward advance and attack several main forces in Beijing, the first regiment, the second regiment, and the fifth regiment were all transferred to the Shanhaiguan battlefield to fight against the Russian army, and only six regiments remained in Beijing The Eighth Regiment and the Sixth Regiment had a certain amount of actual combat experience, and the Eighth Regiment had just been established, so naturally they did not have enough strength to sweep away the remnants of the Eight-Nation Coalition around Beijing, so during the Battle of Shanhaiguan, the People's Army mainly ensured the safety of Beijing, and anyway, the remnants of the Eight-Nation Coalition Army could not threaten Beijing City.

The other is to recruit troops in the city of Beijing and expand the size of the army. In addition, the cavalry company trained in Tianjin was also transferred to Beijing, first, to help guard Beijing, and second, because a number of war horses were captured in Beijing, so it was also an opportunity to expand the scale of the cavalry company.

After defeating the Russian army at Shanhaiguan, the regiment was transferred back to Beijing to garrison, and during this time, more than 9,000 people had been recruited in Beijing to sign up for the People's Army, and the reserve was organized into 18 reserve battalions for training, and the cavalry company was officially expanded into a cavalry battalion. In addition, during the Battle of Shanhaiguan, a large number of Russian-made weapons were captured, and the first batch of weapons and ammunition purchased from Zhang Zhidong were all delivered, so it is now fully capable of clearing the remnants of the Eight-Nation Coalition in the Beijing area. Moreover, we can also take advantage of the opportunity to eliminate the Eight-Nation Alliance and bandits, so that the recruits who are training can get some opportunities for training.

After the defeat of the Boxers, quite a number of Boxers fled from Beijing, and some continued to carry out activities in the Zhili area under the banner of the Boxers, and some even joined forces with bandits and robbers; this is not surprising, because the Boxers were originally a mixed bag, and there were all kinds of people, and the Jianghu Gangs accounted for a considerable part, and the Jianghu Gangs often had a thousand links with the bandits and robbers. Although after the Eight-Nation Coalition captured Beijing, it also suppressed the remnants of these Boxers, but with the birth of overseas Chinese, the Eight-Nation Coalition did not have the energy to wipe out the remnants of these Boxers, giving them a chance to breathe, and now it has gradually become a little climate.

Of course, neither the remnants of the Eight-Nation Alliance, nor the Boxers, nor bandits nor bandits dared to harass Beijing, but they all operated in the surrounding areas of Beijing and disrupted local order. Now that the situation in Beijing has been stabilized, and the travelers are also starting to restore Beijing's economy, it is also necessary to rectify the Zhili area, after all, economic activities need a stable social environment.

Zhang Zhengjie, the commander of the 1st Regiment, the highest military commander stationed in Beijing, ordered that the three combat battalions of the 1st Regiment be separated, each with three reserve battalions, and a cavalry platoon, which would be stationed in the northwest, west, and southwest directions of Beijing. The area for which Luo Yue is responsible is southwest of Beijing. Luo Yue led his army into Zhuozhou, the gateway southwest of Beijing, where there was a rather powerful remnant of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

It turned out that the remnants of the Eight-Nation Coalition Army were the American troops who fled from Beijing when the city of Beijing was broken, and the whole army exceeded 1,000 people, and after escaping from Beijing, they collected soldiers from some other countries, totaling more than 12oo people, and also brought two translators. Major General Chaffee, the chief general of the US military, believes that all countries will certainly not sit idly by and watch Beijing be captured by overseas Chinese, and will definitely organize new troops to reinforce Beijing, so they only need to hide outside Beijing for a while and wait for reinforcements to arrive before coming out.

Since they still had an interpreter with them, after leaving Beijing, they went all the way to the southwest to take refuge, and found a village near Zhuozhou to take refuge, which is about 7o kilometers away from Beijing, and overseas Chinese will definitely not find this place. At the same time, several surrounding villages were forced to contribute food to them to sustain the whole army.

However, the army of more than 1 person is not a small number, not to mention that the place in Zhuozhou is not large, and the result spread in the neighborhood within a few days, but at this time the city of Zhuozhou is also in chaos, because at this time the local officials in Zhuozhou died to death and fled, and the entire Zhuozhou area fell into a state of disorder, and naturally no one took care of it. Of course, even if the local officials in Zhuozhou are there, it is estimated that they will not dare to provoke the remnants of this Eight-Nation Alliance, and at most they will report to the officials at the next level.