The crisp sound of the phone rang, and the staff member Li Yunlin quickly picked up the phone, and after listening to only one sentence, he covered the microphone and said softly: "My lord, the queen mother is calling——。 ”

Zuo Zongtang quickly stepped forward and took the microphone and said softly: "Minister Zuo Zongtang respectfully invites the Queen Mother Sheng'an." ”

"Is it true that the Zhennan King special train was attacked? Is the king of Zhennan okay? ”

Listening to the other party's tone was a little nervous, Zuo Zongtang hurriedly said: "Back to the Queen Mother, the Zhennan Wang special train was indeed ambushed when approaching Turpan, and the special train was blown up........ ”

As he spoke, he asked eagerly, "Are the Queen Mother and the Emperor okay?" ”

There was a busy sound from the microphone, needless to say, the phone was cut off, Zuo Zongtang was slightly stunned, and then slowly put down the microphone.

"Hung up?" Li Yunlin was stunned and said, just said a word and hung up? He reacted immediately, "Was it cut off?" ”

"It's a good thing." Zuo Zongtang said slowly.

Meddlesome? Li Yunlin frowned and then relaxed, the other party cut off the phone but wanted to cover it up, since it was to prevent them from knowing the situation in the governor's palace, it means that the situation is not bad, if the queen mother and the emperor have been controlled, there is no need to hide it.

He hesitated and said: "Zhu Shanhai doesn't have many troops, and he controls the periphery, isn't it ......?" ”

Zuo Zongtang waved his hand, "Those Praetorian Guards are all silver spears and wax heads, once we mobilize our troops and horses, it is likely to force Zhushan Sea Dog to jump over the wall in a hurry." ”

After a pause, he continued: "The other party is more urgent than us now, and what we need now is to stabilize the situation and not let the situation deteriorate further." ”

In the Governor's Palace, the Empress Dowager Ci'an put down the phone calmly, turned around and said: "Order, it's just a small rebellion of the Northwest Army, there is no need to be nervous, just strengthen the vigilance." ”

Although she only said a few words to Zuo Zongtang, Ci'an calmed down and confirmed that Yi Zhishu was not assassinated, and also confirmed that Zuo Zongtang did not participate in the rebellion, which was enough, she believed that neither Yi Zhixiang nor Zuo Zongtang would let her mother fall into the hands of the rebels.

As for the self-reliance of the Northwest, it is nothing more than a dream of some idiots and idiots, not to mention that Yi Zhicontent was not assassinated, even if Yi Zhicontent died and Yuan Qi went out of business, it is impossible for the Northwest to be self-reliant, no one in the Qing Dynasty and the opposition will agree to the independence of the Northwest, and the millions of immigrants in the Northwest will not support the independence of the Northwest.

Besides, even if the northwest is self-reliant, her mother and mother are still puppets, relying on the northwest to restore the imperial system, revive the heroic style of the Qing Dynasty, and bully her orphans and widows without knowledge? It is impossible for the Qing Dynasty to restore the imperial system today, and if you really want to be obsessed, it will only lead to the demise of the Qing Dynasty!

In the temporary headquarters diagonally opposite the Governor's Palace, Zhu Shanhai was busy writing letters, and when Liu Changxing came in, he was not polite, and asked directly: "Have you seen Zuo Butang?" ”

"I just met Zuo Butang and Commander Tang........" Liu Changxing explained the situation of meeting Zuo Zongtang in detail, and then said: "That's an old fox, if he doesn't completely disturb the situation in .......the northwest, he is afraid that he will still have illusions." ”

Zhu Shanhai stopped his pen and said: "Then let all places mess up first!" ”

"Commander——。 Liu Changxing hesitated and said: "Zuo Feng and the others are known for their prestige in the northwest, if they want to have chaos in the northwest, they must be assisted by at least one person, if they are suppressed by the two of them, I am afraid it will be difficult to cause chaos." ”

"Teaming up?" Zhu Shanhai sneered: "The Northwest Army ambushed the special train, although Zuo Zongtang is to blame, there is still room for prevarication, but our Feng Zhitai can't shirk the blame, don't forget, I am the ....... he pulled up." ”

Report ——。

"Come in."

An officer came in and said aloud: "Report to the commander, the cable telegraph between the two provinces and to the outside world is under our control, and what cannot be controlled has been cut off." ”

"Good!" Zhu Shanhai nodded with satisfaction, "The cable telegraph and railway lines must be firmly in our hands. As he spoke, he picked up a stack of prepared telegrams, "Send a report immediately." ”

The sky gradually darkened, and the gas lamps in Hami City were lit one after another, but because of martial law, the streets were deserted and only heavily armed officers and soldiers could be seen patrolling back and forth.

The state office was brightly lit, but Yi Zhizhi's mood was very bad, but the cable telegraph line for a mile or two was destroyed, and at the speed of the army's communications troops, it could be solved in an hour or two, but he waited until dark but did not receive a single telegram from Xinjiang and Anxi provinces, and it was obvious that the communication was controlled!

"The big shopkeeper." Zhao Liewen pondered and said: "The situation may be more serious than we expected, and it is ...... to transfer troops from Lanzhou and Xi'an." ”

"We must mobilize troops as soon as possible to quell the chaos." Su Shun echoed: "The sooner it subsides, the smaller the loss." ”

Yi Zhizhi smoked a cigarette without saying a word, and said calmly: "What is Brother Guocheng worried about?" ”

After smoking a cigarette silently, Yi Zhizhi slowly spoke: "How the situation in the northwest develops, our attitude is very important, if we transfer troops to quell the chaos, the northwest will ....... back." ”

Su Shun laughed and said: "The Northwest Army even blew up the special train, Brother Guocheng still has illusions about the Northwest Army?" ”

"If Zuo Zongtang and Feng Renxuan were sincere in making trouble, they would not ambush the special train halfway." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "The person who planned the ambush of the special train intended to cause the fact of the rebellion of the Northwest Army, kidnap Zuo Feng and the others, and force the two to rebel to protect themselves.

Cut off the cable telegram with Hami in order to cut off the contact between Zuo Feng and me, and then buy time to cause a rebellion in the two northwestern provinces. ”

After a pause, he continued: "Zuo Feng has been running the northwest for many years, and his prestige is known, and the price paid by the two of them to quell the rebellion is far more slight than the transfer of troops from other provinces to rebel. ”

"The big shopkeeper." Zhao Liewen hesitated and said: "Most of the officers and soldiers in the northwest come from the two northwest provinces, and let the northwest army quell the rebellion, the students are worried that it will backfire." ”

Yi Zhizu waved his hand, "The immigrants from the two northwestern provinces account for the majority of the population, and the children of immigrants account for about half of the officers and soldiers in the northwest. ”

Hearing this, Su Shun couldn't help but sigh secretly, the Northwest Army ambushed and blew up the special train, and then the two northwest provinces cut off cable telegraph communications to the outside world, the Northwest Rebellion is already an ironclad fact, even if Zuo Feng and the two put down the rebellion, it will be difficult to end up well, in this case, how can you still expect the two of them to quell the rebellion?

However, it is not good for him to insist on deploying troops to quell the rebellion, after all, Zuo Feng and the others can be said to be each other's cronies, otherwise it would be impossible for the two to sit in the northwest for many years.

Zhao Liewen pondered and said, "That being the case, is it necessary to tightly seal the attack on the special train....... ”

"Even if you want to block this, I'm afraid you can't block it." Su Shun said: "The person who planned this matter will inevitably spread it deliberately. ”

"It must be blocked, and it is strictly forbidden to report." Yi Zhizhi said in a deep voice: "The northwest is unstable, and the whole country is shaken, so let's suppress it for the time being, depending on the development of the situation." ”