Northwest, ancient city.

If you want to earn silver, go to the ancient city.

Dihua does not live in important places, but the ancient city is at its mouth, and it is in the place of four stops. The ancient city, which is only 200 kilometers away from Dihua, is known as the commercial gateway of Xinjiang and the place where the northern Xinjiang trade and trade converge.

Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, there are two main ways for the mainland to enter the northwest, one is from Shaanxi and Gansu to Hami, and the other is from returning to Sui to take the Mongolian grassland, all of which will gather in the ancient city.

The superior geographical location has created the prosperity of the ancient city for hundreds of years, and the four commercial traffic lines radiating to the north, west and south with the ancient city as the center cover the entire Xinjiang region.

With the opening of the Northwest Railway, the trade routes on the west line of the ancient city have been greatly impacted, but the trade routes to the north and south, especially with Hami, have become more prosperous because of the railway.

In the sound of camel bells, a large camel team slowly appeared on the official road in the west, because of the civil strife in the northwest, the railway was interrupted, and the trade route of the west line of the ancient city returned to a bit of the prosperity of the past, from time to time there are large and small camel caravans going west and east, but such a large camel team that cannot be seen at a glance is still extremely rare.

Needless to say, this big camel team is the Empress Dowager Ci'an and the Little Emperor Guangxu who escaped from Gongning, and the entourage is naturally the Praetorian Guard.

Ci'an, who was under house arrest in Gongning for several months, was unwilling to stay in Gongning City for even half a day, and as soon as he regained his freedom, he couldn't wait to set off for the east as soon as he regained his freedom, but he couldn't stand Zhu Shanhai's overly enthusiastic retention, so he stayed for two more days after all, and then was sent out of the city by Gongning officials with the highest gift.

For Ci'an, this kind of high-level gift was more like a disguised humiliation and demonstration, and it also delayed the precious time of two days, so she was depressed all the way east, and the ancient city in sight made her mood better.

When it was nearly dusk, the camel caravan set up camp outside the ancient city, although he had heard of this important commercial town in the northwest, Ci'an had no interest in entering the city at all, and he did not have the heart to meet the officials who rushed to pick up the car, so he just asked Yili to deal with it, after all, the camel caravan needed to be replied.

It was dark, and Ci'an, who had been tired all the way, was about to go to bed to rest, but when she heard the news that Yixiao was out asking to see her, she didn't think much about it and ordered: "Let him in." "But I wondered in my heart, what was the emergency?

Yi Liang entered the tent, and said directly after the salute: "Queen Mother, Hami sent people to meet ......." ”

Hami? Sent by Easy Contentment? Ci'an perked up, but said in a flat tone: "What is the identity of the person who came?" ”

"Chief of Staff of the Lanzhou Military Region, Sun Yaowu."

"Xuan." Ci'an said softly, she naturally didn't know Sun Yaowu, but she knew that the identity of the chief of staff of the military region was not low, according to the establishment of the new army, the rank of chief of staff was lower than that of the commander, and the same level as the deputy commander, but the real power was higher than that of the deputy commander, second only to the commander, as far as she knew, some commanders of the military region were promoted from the chief of staff, as expected, this chief of staff Sun should be a confidant who is easy to be content.

Sun Yaowu is in his early fifties, wearing a robe and a horse coat, wearing a pair of eyes, gentle and elegant, and his demeanor is calm, not like a soldier or a businessman, quite a bit of the taste of a gentleman, after following Yixuan into the tent, he glanced at Ci'an behind the bead curtain, took off his hat and bowed, and said unhurriedly: "Sun Yaowu, chief of staff of the humble Lanzhou Military Region, bows to the Empress Dowager." ”

After the constitution of the Qing Dynasty advocated Western etiquette, the etiquette of kneeling was expressly forbidden in the officialdom of the localities, especially in the southern provinces, and she did not ask the other party's intentions, but said kindly: "General Sun does not need to be formal, give him a seat." ”

"Empress Dowager Xie." Sun Yaowu was very direct, and when he stood up, he took out a telegram, "King Zhennan learned that the Empress Dowager had returned to Beijing from the east, and he came to deliver the letter with a humble position. ”

The eunuch hurriedly stepped forward to take the telegram and forwarded it, the telegram was sent by Yi Zhisuff, first congratulating Ci'an and his wife on their smooth escape from consolidation, and then informing them that they could return to Beijing by train from the south of the ancient city to Hami, and at the end of the sentence, Su Shun was about to take over as prime minister.

After reading the telegram, Ci'an was silent, Hami is now under the control of Yuanqi's new army, and taking Hami is tantamount to throwing herself into the net, after all, she is now in a situation of confrontation between the north and the south, and she has been under house arrest in Shengjing and Gongning twice, she doesn't want to go through it again.

However, she thought again that this was not an opportunity to resolve the crisis between the north and the south, and perhaps Yi Zhixiang invited her to change her route to Hami, hoping to resolve the current crisis of the confrontation between the north and the south.

If Yi Zhixiang is holding on to detaining her mother and mother, and using this as a bargaining chip to coerce the court to negotiate in order to avoid a war between the north and the south, it is not that she cannot cooperate, in the past ten years, she has made concessions regardless of gains and losses, in order to avoid breaking with Yuan Qi and breaking out into a war, in order to extend the Qing Dynasty, and now she has a strong chance to turn the tide, she really doesn't care about taking another risk.

In addition, the last sentence - Su Shun is about to take over as prime minister of the cabinet, which makes her see hope, it is obvious that Yi Zhishu is also trying his best to avoid a war between the north and the south, of course, this sentence is also a reminder that there may be a big change in the Beijing division.

Slowly folding the telegram, she spoke: "The ancient city is still under the control of the Northwest Army, right?" If the main shrine is diverted to the south, will there be any changes? ”

Diversion southbound? Heading to Hami? Yixuan was taken aback, isn't this just out of the tiger's mouth and into the wolf's den?

Hearing this, Sun Yaowu's heart that had been hanging slowly let go, once Ci'an did not agree to go to Hami, he would explain here, relaxed, he couldn't help but have a little admiration, and immediately said in a firm tone: "Queen Mother, please rest assured." ”

After a pause, he continued: "The Empress Dowager only needs to stop in the ancient city for two days before she can set off for the south, and she has dispatched four regiments of troops to meet her to ensure that nothing goes wrong. ”

"Okay." Ci'an said simply: "The palace will rest in the ancient city for two days." ”

"The Empress Dowager Shengming." Sun Yaowu sincerely flattered him, and then bowed, "Retire from your humble position." ”

As soon as Sun Yaowu came out of the account, Yi Xuan lowered his voice and said urgently: "The minister prays to the queen mother to think carefully, go east to naturalize, the road is smooth, just step into the grassland, there is a garrison all the way to respond, even if there is heavy snow, there is no need to worry, no need to make a dangerous ......." ”

Ci'an said in a deep voice: "Traveling eastward is not necessarily a smooth road....... After thinking about it, she still said one more sentence, "The Jingshi may have changed, and the palace is like an arrow."

Maybe there is a change in the Jingshi? Yi Xuan couldn't help but be stunned, he really didn't dare to imagine what the situation would be if Jingshi changed, he didn't say anything after all.

The ancient city, where commerce and trade flourished, was also the site of four wars, and the Northwest Army originally stationed only two regiments here, but as the situation deteriorated, two divisions were successively transferred to strengthen the defense of the ancient city.

Two days later, the sky had just darkened, and the gas lamps reflected the lights of the ancient city, and the commander of the new 38th Division, Zhao Lixin, walked into the headquarters of the 23rd Division quickly, and hurriedly walked into the brightly lit war room, and caught a glimpse of the 23rd Division Commander Agudamu standing in front of the sand table with a solemn expression, and hurriedly greeted him. ”

Agudammu waved his hand and retreated from the several staff officers in the war room, and then spoke: "I just received the report, and all the cable telegrams to the outside of the ancient city have been cut off. ”

Hearing this, Zhao Lixin's heart sank, "Raid......? ”

"Most of them are coming for the Queen Mother." Agudamu said as he handed over a cigarette, "From the ancient city to naturalization, although the road is smooth, it will take two months to arrive, and now in this season, it will snow heavily in half a month at most, and there is no reason for the Queen Mother and her party to stay here for two days in vain." ”

What does this mean is that the Queen Mother has colluded with Hami? Could it be that you are too suspicious? Zhao Lixin hesitated and said: "With such a large-scale camel team, it takes two days to replenish is not a long time. ”

"This is no ordinary caravan." Agudamu said in a deep voice.

Zhao Lixin was silent, this is indeed not an ordinary camel caravan, there is no need to trade other goods, only food can be replenished in need of supplies, the ancient city has enough food, they have also prepared in advance, normal supply, let alone two days, half a day is enough.

If the Empress Dowager and her entourage intend to go to Hami, and there is Yuanqi's new army to respond, it will be a dilemma for them, and if they send troops to stop it, it is very likely to destroy the current situation and open the prelude to the Northwest War in advance.

If they don't stop it, they will also not be able to eat and walk around, and they will inevitably be held accountable afterwards!

After pondering for a while, he muttered in a low voice, "Now that the north and the south are like fire and water, and the Empress Dowager Ci'an has just escaped from the predicament, it stands to reason that it is impossible to ...... at all." ”

"Nothing is impossible." Agudamu said sullenly: "The Empress Dowager Ci'an has always taken the overall situation into account, and has always opposed war with Yuan Qi, as long as Yuan Qi reveals his willingness to negotiate peace, it is enough to make him tempted, even desperate." ”

If Yuan Qi and the imperial court negotiate a truce, what will it mean for the northwest? Zhao Lixin didn't dare to think about it, and hesitated for a moment before he said, "How about riding to Gong Ning?" ”

"Since the other side can cut off the cable telegraph, how can it not intercept the communication soldiers?" Agudamu said: "Even if the communication troops can successfully break through, this time and again, at least there will be a reply until early tomorrow morning." ”

Time was too late, Zhao Lixin took a deep breath of cigarette, since the other party cut off the cable telegram, it means that there will be action tonight, and when it comes to tomorrow morning, I am afraid that it has already traveled dozens of miles, it is a matter of life and death of Ci'an Guangxu, Yuan Qi must be heavily armed, do they dare to chase? The new 38th Division is now not even fully armed.

Spit out a long puff of smoke, and he said in a deep voice: "The lesser of two evils, the first strike is the stronger!" ”

Agudam smiled bitterly and said: "If you send troops to surround the opponent's camp, but it gives the other party an excuse to go to Hami, the other party is desperately breaking through, do we dare to intercept desperately?" ”

Zhao Lixin was speechless for a while, the lights were blind at night, the guns and bullets were not long-sighted, in case of any accidents, how to explain?

Seeing that he was silent, Agudamu said softly: "I have sent two cavalry companies to rush to Gongning ....... separately. ”

Before he finished speaking, the gas lamp suddenly went out, Agudam's heart sank, and he hurriedly walked out of the war room, seeing that the whole city was dark, he couldn't help but gasp, and immediately ordered in a loud voice, "Order, martial law in the whole city!" ”

Before the words fell, a staff officer trotted forward and reported softly: "Someone outside the door asked to see him, saying that he was the old man of the division commander." As he spoke, he handed over a post.

Igniting the lighter and glancing at it, seeing the three words of Sun Yaowu, Agudamu quickly extinguished the lighter, and muttered for a while before he ordered: "Take him to the study." As he spoke, he turned around and entered the war room, and the staff officer saw that he was quick and hurriedly came in with a Mobil lamp.

"Close the door and keep it out." Agudamu gave an order, and then handed the name card to Zhao Lixin, who looked suspicious, and saw the name on the name post, and the latter was silent for a long time.

For Sun Yaowu, he is familiar with both of them, more than ten years ago when they were still battalion commanders, they had closely cooperated in Anxi to fight thousands of miles to suppress bandits, it is no exaggeration to say that it was a fateful friendship, in fact, the two were very envious of Sun Yaowu's smooth sailing promotion from Huangpu, and they did not mention it much when chatting.

After smoking silently for a while, Agudamu extinguished the cigarette butt and said, "Let's go, see what he says." ”

In the study, the Mobil lamp emitted a dim and soft light, Sun Yaowu, dressed as a businessman, quietly drank tea and waited patiently, listening to the footsteps outside the door, he stood up and took off his hat, and when the two entered the house, he smiled and stepped forward and stretched out his hand and smiled: "In a flash, for six years, both of them have been promoted to division commanders........" ”

Zhao Lixin interrupted him, "Is your chief of staff of the army saying this?" Or is it ostentatious? ”

"The country is easy to change, and the nature is difficult to change, and I still can't chat." Sun Yaowu said with a smile.

"He's ——, not convinced." Agudamu smiled and shook hands with him warmly.

Zhao Lixin did not hesitate, and asked directly: "Chief of Staff Sun came from afar this time, is he here to reminisce about the past?" Or do you want to be a lobbyist? ”

"Lobbyist." Sun Yaowu said simply.

"Sit, sit down and talk." Agudam hurriedly stretched out his hand to give up his seat.

As soon as he sat down, Zhao Lixin said: "Do you want us to let the Empress Dowager Ci'an go to Hami?" ”

"I hope you two don't stop you."

"Can Chief of Staff Sun put himself in our shoes?"

"Of course ........" Sun Yaowu pondered and said, "The two of you don't think that the two northwestern provinces can compete with the entire Qing Dynasty with a corner of land?" ”

"The Qing Dynasty has officially recognized the Northwest State."

Yuan Qi didn't admit it.

Agudamu handed over a cigarette and said slowly: "It's all more than ten years of friendship, and I can't talk in a hurry, and I don't hurt my peace." ”

Lighting a cigarette and slowly exhaling a cloud of smoke, Sun Yaowu slowed down his tone and said: "Everyone knows it, there is no need to pretend to be confused, Yuanqi will definitely not agree to the independence of the two northwestern provinces, even if Britain and Russia and other countries strongly support the independence of the northwest, Yuanqi will fight the country." ”

Speaking of this, he glanced at the two of them, and changed his serious tone, "They are all veterans, ask yourself, once the war starts, is there a chance of victory in the northwest?" ”