In Beijing City, Cixi once again sat on the dragon chair to preside over the court meeting, and Li Hongzhang had been summoned back at this time and stood on top of the main hall. --

Cixi's face was full of sorrow, now that the Beiyang Naval Division has fallen, the new army of Fengtian is fighting a fierce war with Russia and Japan, there are and only the Wuwei Army can rely on in the pass, but the strength of the Wuwei Army has never been tested, once there is another war, or Zhang Yi's new army is defeated, then Beijing City will be dangerous.

Cixi looked at the Manchu civil and military forces in the court, and now there are fewer and fewer capable ministers who can be relied on, only one Li Hongzhang is still seriously ill, and he can't stop coughing, Rong Lu is now in command of the Wuwei Army, and he has to go back and forth between Tianjin and Beijing on weekdays, and he can't rely on him for everything.

Cixi sighed and asked, "Young Quan Gong, may I ask, is there any news from Zhang Jianzhi now?" ”

Li Hongzhang stood up and replied: "Lafayette, three days ago, the minister received a call back from Lord Zhang Jianzhi, he had already packed his bags, dealt with the affairs of the United States, and set off from New York Harbor. If there is a suitable opportunity, he will order several warships to form a fleet to return to the country to help in the war, and ask his ministers to transfer to Lafayette on his behalf. ”

Cixi sighed and said, "Zhang Jianzhi's idea is good, but now that the treasury is empty, and he has to prepare for the Russo-Japanese War, where is the spare energy to buy warships?" ”

Li Hongzhang replied: "Now it seems that the only way to take a commercial loan is to take a commercial loan, I heard Zhang Jianzhi say that he has negotiated a loan with the Morgan Bank of the United States, about 10 million taels of silver, with the shares of the Fengtian Liaohe oil field as collateral, and the time limit is ten years to repay in installments. The minister had already informed Xue Fucheng of Britain and asked him to contact the shipyard and the British Navy on his behalf, but I am afraid that there will be definite news in the near future. ”

Cixi said: "It's just that in this way, Zhang Jianzhi has to delay in England for a while, and now the war outside the border is urgent, and he urgently needs to come back to take the town." ”

Li Hongzhang hesitated for a moment and said: "Lafayette, in fact, Zhang Jianzhi will not be delayed in England for too long, he only needs to inspect the warship, and someone will naturally be responsible for the negotiations later, I heard that Zhang Jizhi and Lin Xu, who are now serving in Fengtian, are almost in England, I am afraid that Zhang Jianzhi will leave for China after another four or five days of delay, and when the time comes, the follow-up negotiations will be 'handed over' to these two people, and then with Xue Fucheng's cooperation, it should be foolproof, but now the war is going 'fierce', I'm afraid that I will inevitably be slaughtered by those 'traitor' businessmen in England. ”

Cixi said: "Slaughter a knife, it's better than our defeat and pay compensation for land cession, but isn't Lin Xu an important member of the Restoration Party who originally ordered the mourning family to be strict?" How did you run away to Fengtian and still work under Zhang Jianzhi? ”

Cixi's sharp eyes swept over, Li Hongzhang's heart jumped, and said: "This, the minister is not very clear, it is estimated that after Lin Xu and others fled, they fled to Fengtian, after all, he stayed in Fengtian for a period of time, and Zhang Yi's 'private' friendship is very deep, I am afraid that Zhang Jianzhi cherishes his talents, so he 'privately' retained them, or it may be that Zhang Jianzhi's people 'privately' retained them, and it is not known, after all, the energy of the reformers in Fengtian is not small." ”

Cixi 'rubbed' and 'rubbed' her forehead, and said: "Forget it, this matter is not a matter of care, and it is not the time to worry about these trivial things, Shaoquan Gong, during this time, you have to keep an eye on it, and the mourning family can only rely on you and Rong Lu now, if there was a war the year before last, the Gongting did not go, how good it would be, we still have a tiger general available, now, alas, ......"

Li Hongzhang said: "Lafayette, now that Japan has annihilated the Beiyang Naval Division, our Gyeonggi coastal 'gate' and 'hole' are open, and we may suffer from the landing of the Japanese Army at any time. ”

Cixi nodded and said, "Young Quan Gong, in your opinion, how should we deal with it?" ”

Li Hongzhang pondered: "Now, the courtiers who can be valued in the court and know how to fight are only Yuan Xiangcheng, the ministers think that Yuan Shikai can re-sit in Shandong, coordinate all the troops in Shandong, together with his armed guards, and strictly defend Shandong and the coastal area of Zhili, and all the remaining defense of Gyeonggi can be temporarily coordinated by Lord Ronglu and defend all strategic fortresses in Gyeonggi in case of accidents." In this way, we can be guaranteed to be foolproof. ”

Cixi asked, "Young Quan Gong, can Yuan Shikai resist the Japanese army of sea and land?" ”

Li Hongzhang replied: "Lafayette, now we can only use Yuan Shikai, most of the old ministers who can fight well in my Beiyang family are deceased, or they are already old, and now only Yuan Shikai can be valued, Xu Huaijin of Fengtian is the best candidate, this person was originally in the first battle in Shandong, and he has a great reputation, and his military ability is not even under Zhang Jianzhi, but now the situation outside the customs is much more serious than that of Gyeonggi, Zhang Jianzhi is not there, where Xu Huaijin is more needed to command, unable to move, Shandong can only rely on Yuan Xiangcheng, Yuan Xiangcheng's military, political affairs, and power schemes are all the best choices, and it should be able to guard against the coastal defense of Zhili. ”

Cixi said in a deep voice: "That's good, pass the decree, appoint Yuan Shikai as the governor of Shandong, lead the minister of the Beiyang Association, the left 'servant' of the military department, and all the defense affairs of the coastal areas of Shandong and Zhili, and tell Yuan Xiangcheng that as long as Zhili and Shandong are not lost, the mourning family will let him sit in Zhili in the future and become the governor of Zhili!" ”

Li Hongzhang continued: "Lafayette, now in the treasury of our provinces, there are still many new weapons, which have been sealed and unused, and the minister asked Lafayette to issue an order to allocate some weapons to the army led by Yuan Shikai. ”

Cixi replied: "Yes, this matter, Shaoquan Gong will do it!" ”

Cixi paused for a moment and said: "Shaoquan Gong, now that the talents of our court are withering, there are fewer and fewer capable ministers who can protect the Qing Dynasty, you have to 'color' some capable ministers for the mourning family, the national disaster thinks of good generals, we can use too few talents now!" Li Hongzhang hesitated for a moment and replied: "Lafayette, in fact, if you want to be a good general, the only way is to send students to study abroad, and when they return, all of them are capable ministers, Lafayette, please look at Fengtian, now in various key positions in Fengtian, the opportunities are all young people promoted by Zhang Jianzhi, most of them are from the background of studying abroad, and now the construction of Fengtian is thriving, and it is not unrelated to its ruling ideas, but this matter was opposed by many ministers in the DPRK and China, and in the end, it fell short. Cixi said firmly: "Young Quan Gong, I support you in this matter, as long as you don't want to 'mess up' the entire court like the Restoration Party, you can do it!" ”