Li Hongzhang is a highly controversial figure in modern history, and Guan Zhuofan's feelings are also very complicated.

is different from the "traitor" in many people's impressions, Guan Zhuofan has always believed that Li Hongzhang is not afraid of foreigners. This "not afraid" does not mean that he is reckless and unreasonable, and he is prone to provocation, but that psychologically, he has never cowered and felt inferior to foreigners, which is an extremely rare character in the Qing Dynasty, especially in the late Qing Dynasty. This can be seen from his dealings with Ali Guo. In his later diplomacy, whether it was to Britain and France, or to Russia and Japan, he could be regarded as upright, and he was never as subservient as others.

As for the treaties signed by him that lost power and humiliated the country, it was not something that could be resisted by personal strength, even if he was in his position, he had to bear these "black cauldrons" for the entire imperial court. Qingliu in the court, of course, can criticize him, but under the situation, with the size of China, if anyone goes to it, I am afraid it will be difficult to have a more Haode result, is it just a group of scholars, like a river, writing ten thousand words, can say that foreign devils cry bitterly, change their minds, and hand over the interests they have grabbed?

Definitely not.

However, Li Hongzhang also has sins that he can't get rid of - too selfishness! Liu Xun pointed out that he was the foundation of a famous person, which is exactly what he meant.

As a scholar, he has the feeling of "worrying about the world first", but if he says "the joy of the world after tomorrow", he will not be willing. When it comes to running foreign affairs and promoting the process of China's modernization, Li Hongzhang is naturally an iconic figure, but it is precisely because of his personal morality and misconduct that he passed away. The property of the Lee family. It actually reached a huge amount of 40 million taels of silver. So what else is there to say?

Besides, if the chief officer is like this, how can he restrain the huge interest group under his command? Naturally, it is up and down, layer by layer! The state uses ten taels of silver, but it can only do things for one tael of silver, and even the things that are done with these two taels of silver are often extraordinary, ruined in it, and beaten by wind and rain. inevitably disappeared, and the final result was that there was not even a tael of silver.

Guan Zhuofan thought to himself, at this point, Li Hongzhang should not be compared with Fan Zhongyan, even compared to his teacher Zeng Guofan, the difference cannot be calculated - at least Zeng Guofan's incorruptibility has a good reputation, and when he marries his daughter, he presses the dowry silver at the bottom of the box. It's only two hundred taels, and even Zeng Guoquan refuses to believe it. I had to open the box with my own hands to see it, but I was dumbfounded.

Therefore, Guan Zhuofan still retains respect for Zeng Guofan in his heart, as for Li Hongzhang......

This person, if someone can control it, then use one side, which is a talent. If you are like a wild horse, let it run, or even take control of the whole thing, it will definitely be bad in the end.

Now that Yang Fang has been appointed to Shanghai Dao, the dust has settled, and Yang Fang has also begun to sit on errands. Except for the illusory governor yamen in the west of the city, Li Hongzhang wanted to meddle in Shanghai's affairs, which was already very difficult.

As for the matter of the killing and surrender of Suzhou, although there is a lot of criticism in the government and the opposition, he Li Hongzhang is covered by Zeng Guofan, and sooner or later he can be settled. However, this hurdle of consuls of various countries is not so easy to pass, and it will not be so easy for him to deal with foreigners in the future.

It is true that what foreigners are showing now is nothing more than a momentary righteous indignation. For the sake of interests, they still have to deal with China after all, but this time, they have someone else to choose from.

China's foreign affairs will not necessarily have to be handled by Li Hongzhang in the future.

I, Guan Zhuofan, can also do it.

And since he has been scheming and time-consuming and laborious to come to this point, he is not willing to focus on only one Shanghai - Susong is too often in town, and the world is also a place of ointment, weishenme can't think about it?

Guan Zhuofan gently slapped the ebony paperweight in his hand on the case.

Sooner or later, he will have to be squeezed out of Jiangsu.

*

*

Li Hongzhang is competing with Gordon, and Gordon, who is stationed in Xinyang, is also competing with Li Hongzhang.

According to Li Hongzhang's idea, an army, after all, has to fight, otherwise it will have no value in existence. Moreover, the monthly salary of 4,000 troops is not a small amount, and Gordon refused the salary he appropriated, how long can he support it by relying on a momentary outrage?

His idea cannot be said to be wrong, but what he did not expect was that Gordon had a more drastic action. Wu Xu, who was the "leader" of the Chang Sheng Army, rushed to Suzhou from Xinyang and reported to Li Hongzhang that Gordon had announced that the Chang Sheng Army was disbanded!

Looking at Li Hongzhang's stunned appearance, Wu Xu was also heartbroken, but in his heart, the happiness was indescribable.

Li Hongzhang and Guan Zhuofan are both people who plot to rob him of the Shanghai Dao, but in Wu Xu's heart, the situation is very different. Guan Zhuofan's means are gentle and drizzly, while Li Hongzhang's methods are ruthless and ruthless, so in comparison, he naturally hates Li Hongzhang in his bones. It was really difficult to settle for himself to work under such a governor, so Wu Xu had already been discouraged and gradually distracted, and he didn't even want that Sanpin Gao Si anymore.

But before leaving, he actually found an opportunity to take revenge on Li Hongzhang a little. This opportunity is the change of the victorious army caused by the surrender of Suzhou.

As a matter of fact, Li Hongzhang's judgment is not wrong, for these foreign officers who are in the victorious army, first, they must fight in battle, so that they can have the value of existence, and second, they must have salaries, so that they can live. Therefore, if there is a stalemate for a while, there may not be no possibility of reaching a compromise.

However, now that there is one more Wu Xu, it is not quite the same. He himself was able to speak fluent English, and after dealing with foreigners in the concession for so many years, he really had a thorough understanding of the psychology of foreigners, and soon won the trust of these officers. What's more, as the "band" of the victorious army, he originally had a certain authority to speak.

The method adopted by Wu Xu was to persuade them to reconcile with Governor Li, but what he said was to persuade them to "admit defeat and surrender to softness", "honor is not important", "just bear with it", and "it's nothing to kill a few prisoners", which only aroused the hostility of these people more and more, and they said that they would never bow to Li Hongzhang. When these people were forced to retreat, Wu Xu spoke again, and this time, he didn't persuade anymore.

"Such a stalemate is not a solution, we must always find a way out." Wu Xu was completely planning for them, "Why don't you probe the tone of Guan Fantai?" Anyway, you were all his old subordinates. ”

The Western officers in the team all felt that this proposal was reasonable, so the deputy commander took Magni to come forward and went to Kunshan County, which was close to the left, to contact the Xuan army, and it was Bai Qiwen who Guan Zhuofan placed here to receive him.

Bai Qiwen turned out to be the regimental officer of the Second Foreign Gun Regiment, and he was an old acquaintance with Gordon and Magni.

On the second day, Guan Zhuofan's reply came.

"Mr. Guan means that he knows that you British and French soldiers take honor as their life. You must know that the Xuan Army is also an official army, and he asked you to rejoin the official army, are you afraid that your reputation will be damaged and you will be ridiculed by others again? ”

It's the same tone of planning for them, but it leaves Gordon and Magney and the others with no room to maneuver - can't we say that we are not afraid of reputational damage? Frustrated, Gordon told Bai Qiwen that everyone had decided to resign and no longer fight for the Chinese government, but the Changsheng Army hoped that the Xuan Army could take over, so that the officers and soldiers at the bottom could have a way out.

Who knew that even this request would not be granted.

"Mr. Guan said that he and Li Futai were both officials of the imperial court," Bai Qiwen spread his hands and said regretfully, "Without Li Futai's permission, it is inconvenient for him to receive this army." ”

Magni was silent, he was able to understand the underlying rules of Chinese officials with each other.

"However, Mr. Guan is entrusting me to recruit people to re-establish the Second Foreign Gun Regiment in Kunshan. I think it doesn't matter if these officers and soldiers of yours are no longer part of the victorious army. ”

What does that mean? Magni didn't understand it at first, but when he thought about it, it dawned on him.

As a result, the Changsheng Army stationed in Xinyang officially announced its disbandment. More than half of the 224 British and French soldiers in the team expressed their desire to leave with Gordon and no longer want to serve the Chinese army. The remaining 60 or so British and French soldiers, and more than 100 soldiers from other countries, stayed behind, and together with 3,000 soldiers of the victorious army, they all threw themselves into Kunshan.

Now that the Changsheng Army has been "disbanded", Bai Qiwen is no longer polite, and even brings people and equipment to "recruit" together. He was the former commander of this army, so he could naturally get started immediately and without hindrance.

So, just when Wu Xu was making a report to Li Hongzhang, Bai Qiwen also sent an adjutant to Suzhou overnight to report the whole situation to Guan Zhuofan. There were dozens of British and French officers who refused to leave, which was quite a surprise to Guan Zhuofan. But when you think about it, this shows that they are willing to "risk their reputation" and fight for money, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Before he could say anything after listening to the whole report in the camp, Wall jumped for joy.

"Great, Bai Qiwen has soldiers to bring again." Wall waved his arm excitedly, "With this ever-winning army, the strength of the Xuan army will be stronger, and I don't think it will be difficult to fight Jiangning." ”

"What victorious army?" Guan Zhuofan said slowly, "It's obviously my second foreign group." It's nothing more than holding it for someone else for a while, and now it's coming back to see, it's white and fat, but it's grown up again. ”

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(xiexie phonograph and a few tipping friends.) I'm going to the airport in the afternoon, and I'll be back on the eighth day of the new year. In the past few days, please forgive me~)

*(To be continued......)