Shanghai, Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Book House.

After listening to Zhao Liewen's report, Yi Zhishu frowned, "There are so many clan princes and nobles involved in the Northwest Rebellion? Is there conclusive evidence of guilt? ”

"Su Xiang did not mention the incriminating evidence on the phone." Zhao Liewen said slowly: "It is not a glorious thing for the prince of the clan to be involved in the rebellion in the northwest, and it is reasonable to deliberately conceal it, killing so many people in one go, I should not want the big treasurer to continue to pursue this matter." ”

After a pause, he continued: "Most of these clan princes and nobles are the pillars of the royalist faction, and Su Xiangwei is not as good as King Gong, and it is not ruled out that he can use this to establish his authority and eliminate the possibility ......of dissent, but in general, the advantages still outweigh the disadvantages." ”

Yi Zhi's contentment was a little unhappy, and he proposed to take the opportunity to cleanse him, but he did not approve of taking extreme measures, and in the absence of pacification in the northwest, it was not appropriate to take extreme high-pressure measures, and killing so many princes and nobles of the clan in one breath may intensify the contradictions, may also cause panic, and even lead to turmoil in the north.

Although he was a little dissatisfied in his heart, he knew that this matter was still timely and clearly expressed his support, otherwise Su Shun and Monk Lingqin would be discredited, and after a little muttering, he said: "Call Su Shun, Qing Su cannot be extreme, expanded, so as not to be turbulent in the government and the opposition."

In addition, the major newspapers have clearly affirmed their support for this, calling for peace, opposing civil war, and severely cracking down on all criminal acts of conspiracy to split the country. ”

Zhao Liewen nodded, and then said: "The mutiny of the Jingshi may make the Queen Mother and the Emperor suspicious and uneasy, is it necessary to call to appease?" ”

Yi Zhizhi said: "The reminder is timely, call Lanzhou ........" When the other party stopped writing, he then instructed: "Europe pays close attention to the movements of Britain and Russia...... ”

"The big treasurer is worried about Britain and Russia withdrawing from the northwest?" Zhao Liewen frowned and said, "Isn't it more intuitive to pay attention to the railway transportation situation connecting Russia to the northwest?" ”

Yi Zhizhi lit a cigarette, "Anxi Province or Central Asia is an irresistible temptation for Britain and Russia.... Even if they can't get involved, the two countries will do everything possible to make Central Asia independent and use Central Asia as a strategic buffer zone with China.

However, people have 10,000 calculations, and the sky has 10,000 calculations, and if there are 10,000 people, and if there is a major political event in Britain and Russia, it is difficult to say ....... ”

Major political events? Zhao Liewen frowned, in the spring election next year, Prime Minister Disraeli has been the prime minister twice as a conservative leader and is 77 years old, the possibility of re-election is very small, and there is indeed great uncertainty whether the successor will continue to implement the strategy in Central Asia.

However, this problem does not exist in Russia, and the Russian Emperor Alexander II is only in his early sixties, and he has not heard of poor health, is it because he is worried about the political turmoil in Russia and the emergence of major unrest? After all, the domestic situation in Russia has not been very stable.

Yi Zhisuff is not too worried about the English election, no matter who becomes the prime minister to form a cabinet, he must attach great importance to the safety of India, he is worried about the Russian Emperor Alexander II, after all, this guy was assassinated, although he has been reminded by phone once, but still can not rest assured, once the Russian emperor is assassinated, the situation in the northwest is very likely to change, it seems, and then go to the phone to solemnly remind me, although it is said that the plan is in the people, the success is in the sky, but the overall effort is not.

Lanzhou, Gansu.

Lanzhou was not valued in the Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty, or set up a state or a guard, Kangxi five years (1666) Shaanxi and Gansu were divided, and Gansu Province was established, and Lanzhou became the political center of Gansu, the provincial capital of Gansu.

In the 29th year of Qianlong (1764), the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, Yamen, moved from Xi'an to Lanzhou and reduced the governor of Gansu. Since then, Lanzhou has become the northwest political and military center of the three Qins and the Huairou Western Regions.

Another hundred years, with Yuanqi's attention to the northwest, vigorously immigrating to the northwest, building the northwest, building the railway, and setting up industries, Lanzhou has been valued again, and has become the second largest railway transportation hub, industrial center, and business center in the northwest after Xi'an.

A four-wheeled carriage was parked alone on the deserted but heavily guarded platform of Lanzhou Station, and in the carriage, the newly appointed governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, Li Hongzhang, sat on a soft sofa and closed his eyes and waited quietly for the arrival of the special train.

After the resignation of the governor of Anxi, he went to Shanghai to stay with Yi Zhizhi for a while, and then went south to visit the two provinces of Nanyang and the three provinces of Southeast Asia, and soon after his return he rushed to Lanzhou to take over the post of governor of Shaanxi and Gansu.

Less than sixty is ranked as the governor of one side, he is enough, however, he knows in his heart that this is due to the need for a war in the northwest, once the war in the northwest is over, he may enter the capital and enter the cabinet, Yi Zhicontent's favor and promotion to him, in order to let him do his best to assist the prince Yi Zhengxing.

Hearing a long whistle, Li Hongzhang opened his eyes and sat up straight, "Lord Governor Xian, the Queen Mother's special train has arrived." ”

Pushing the door and getting off the train, Li Hongzhang glanced at the heavily guarded platform, the Empress Dowager Ci'an was like an arrow at this time, she would not stay in Lanzhou for a long time, and she was out of trouble from Gongning, he was also lazy to hold a grand ceremony to welcome the holy driver.

The special train slowly drove into the platform, and the Empress Dowager Ci'an in the carriage glanced at the heavily guarded but deserted platform with some doubts, and no one in the prefecture and county along the way was to welcome the driver, Lanzhou is the provincial capital, even if the ceremony of welcoming the holy driver is not held, but the civil and military officials of Lanzhou should always come to pick up the car, right? What does this mean, superficial articles are lazy to do? Ignoring basic etiquette?

The door of the carriage opened, and the chief eunuch Gao Chengyun soon came to report: "Empress Dowager, Li Hongzhang, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, handed over a sign and asked to see." ”

In just a few months, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu has been replaced? Ci'an said quietly: "Xuan——。 She had almost no impression of Li Hongzhang, but she knew that this person was quite valued by Yi Zhizhi when he was the governor of Anxi before.

Li Hongzhang, who was wearing a top hat and a gray robe, slowly walked into the carriage, bowed to Ci'an behind the beaded curtain, and said, "Li Hongzhang, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, respectfully invites the Empress Dowager Sheng'an. ”

When he stood up, Ci'an looked at him twice and said, "No need to be formal, sit down." ”

"Thank you for the grace of the Queen Mother." Li Hongzhang calmly sat down and said: "The Empress Dowager's special train is top secret, the ministers dare not leak the news, and if the etiquette is not thorough, I hope that the Empress Dowager will forgive her sins." ”

So that's the case, Ci Anxin was suddenly relieved, and when she thought about it, why did the other party have a slight convincing audience, even if she was a top secret? She frowned and asked, "But has the Jingshi changed?" ”

"The Queen Mother." Li Hongzhang said slowly: "Su Xiang and the monk king launched a military admonition, put King Gong under house arrest, and hunted and killed more than ten princes of the clan ........ As he spoke, he handed over a collated transcript of the telegram call.

Soldiers? Ci'an's heart sank, she had been worried about the change in Jingshi for the past few days, but it still happened after all, and the more she looked at it, the more frightened she became, and she couldn't speak for a long time.

Seeing that she was silent, Li Hongzhang said slowly: "If it is not King Gong and Su Xiang, the princes of the clan who killed are all people who secretly colluded with and supported Zhu Shanhai to plan for self-reliance in the northwest. After a pause, he continued: "When the prince heard about it, he has called Su Xiang, not extreme, not expanding, and maintaining the stability of the Beijing Division. ”

Hearing this, Ci'an quickly calmed down, there were clan princes secretly colluding and vigorously supporting Zhu Shanhai to plan the two northwestern provinces to stand on their own, which was expected, but to say that there were so many princes of the clan who were Gao Juexian, she didn't believe it, "Isn't King Gong under house arrest?" ”

"King Gong under house arrest is just a cover-up." Li Hongzhang replied unhurriedly: "The Queen Mother, imagine that if there is no support from King Gong, how can the monk and the king fully cooperate?" ”

Why do you want to put King Gong under house arrest to hide people's eyes? Ci'an was still full of doubts, "Why?" ”

"The prince has a great plan in the northwest, and the queen mother will naturally know about it in the future."

In this way, the so-called confrontation between the north and the south is the overall situation jointly laid out by Yuan Qi and the imperial court? Ci'an didn't ask much, and instead said, "Do you want to postpone the return to Beijing from the palace?" ”

Li Hongzhang said: "The prince hopes that the queen mother will return to Beijing as soon as possible to appease the people, and ordered the prime minister to form a cabinet and promote the negotiations between the north and the south. ”

Three days later, Su Shun held a grand and grand welcoming ceremony in Beijing, and led hundreds of civil and military officials and members of the Imperial Council to welcome the Empress Dowager Guangxu back to Beijing.

The Empress Dowager Ci'an and Emperor Guangxu's safe return to Beijing and the posture of Su Shun to welcome him undoubtedly gave a reassurance to the panicked princes and nobles of the clan and the officials of the royalist faction, and the tense atmosphere of the Beijing division was swept away.

In order to appease and stabilize people's hearts, Ci'an did not return to the Old Summer Palace but drove the Forbidden City, and the first thing he did when he returned to the palace was to summon Gong Wang Yi, who was under house arrest.

After seeing Yi Yi dressed in court clothes at the door to salute and say goodbye, Ci'an was completely relieved, and after giving the tea to sit and enjoy the tea as usual, she retired from the eunuchs and palace maids in the pavilion, and asked in a low voice: "What is the intention of being content?" ”

"There are two purposes, one is to promote the Queen Mother and the Emperor to return to Beijing safely, and the other is to lure Britain and Russia into the hub, and in one fell swoop, the northwest will be stable for a hundred years." Yi said in a deep voice, the latter he only said half of it, luring Britain and Russia into the hub, but in fact, it was also to use the war to clear all the unstable factors in the northwest.

For the former, Ci'an directly ignored it, Yuan Qi did not hesitate to make such a big move, obviously the latter is the main purpose, she is also a long-time high-ranking person, and she also knows a little about the situation in the northwest, and after thinking about it, she understands, "In this way, the rebellion in the northwest, Yi Zhicontent is intentional connivance?" ”

"The ministers thought that they were not deliberately conniving." Yi pondered and said: "Yi Zhifen's assassination in Turpan is also extremely dangerous, judging from Yuan Qi's various reactions after that, it is more likely to take advantage of the situation." ”

Ci'an breathed a sigh of relief and said, "What are the plans for Uncle Huang after he leaves office?" ”

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