On the evening of the third day of the third month of March, after successfully returning to the Hubei provincial capital, Wu Chaoyue of course convened a meeting of Zhao Liewen, Yan Jingming, Huang Sheng, Shao Yanhong and Zhang Dejian and other absolute confidants to discuss the next step. At the same time, the provincial garrison and the Wu army's naval division have all entered a state www.biquge.info of alert, Wu army veteran Qian Wei personally led Wu Chaoyue's direct corps into the city to take over the city defense, and Wu Da's pro-military camp was closely protected by the Hubei governor's yamen to rebuild the governor's palace of the five provinces, prohibiting all people from entering and leaving.

There is no need for superfluous nonsense, just looking at Wu Chaoyue's posture of preparing to fight, Zhao Liewen, Yan Jingming and others all know that there must have been an earth-shattering posture, and no one asked Wu Chaoyue why he returned to Hubei in advance during the gathering, and they all waited for Wu Chaoyue to speak. As a result, it was at this time that Wu Chaoyue took out the secret edict jointly issued by the empress dowager of the two palaces, letting the accomplices and lackeys know that Ci'an and Cixi had turned against him.

The Manchu court's enslavement policy was indeed very successful, even if they were all Wu Chaoyue's absolute henchmen, they suddenly saw the actual and absolutely legal Manchu court edict saying that Wu Chaoyue would be arrested, and Yan Jingming, Shao Yanhong and Zhang Dejian, who were more seriously brainwashed by the Manchu enslavement policy, inevitably had some changes in their faces, and Zhao Liewen, who had long seen that Wu Chaoyue had different intentions, and Huang Sheng, who was born in foreign books, remained silent together, and at the same time, Dai Wenjie, the accomplice left by Hua Lao Fox to Wu Chaoyue, was also calm, and seemed to have been mentally prepared for this.

After a long time, Yan Jingming spoke first and said: "If I guess correctly, the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces will not only arrest you, but also Su Zhongtang and Zai Wangye, completely depose the eight ministers left by the emperor, and join hands to control the power of the imperial court." ”

"That's the only explanation." Zhang Dejian, who is good at analyzing intelligence, also said: "Su Zhongtang and Zai Wang Ye will never agree to attack you, and you will never allow Su Zhongtang and them to be seized power, so at the same time as you attack the Lord of Taiwan, there will definitely be big movements in the capital and Rehe, so it is estimated that in a few days, we will receive earth-shattering news." ”

"Guys, what do you think I should do?" Wu Chaoyue asked in a dark voice: "Is it that the king wants the minister to die, and the minister has to die, and he will take the initiative to tie his hands and arrest him?" Or do you want to fight back? ”

None of the accomplices and lackeys present did not scold Wu Chaoyue in his stomach for being a bitch and wanting to set up an archway - you are really so loyal, what are you doing when you arrest Chongen back? And what do you want your descendants to do with martial law?

"Of course you can't just tie your hands down." The old accomplice Zhao Liewen made a step for Wu Chaoyue, and said loudly: "Weiting, you have been fighting for the imperial court all these years, and the king of Qin from the north has gone south to quell the rebellion, and has made countless contributions to the imperial court. ”

"Huifu's words are exactly what I want." Wu Chaoyue also pretended to say: "I don't understand until now, why did the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces issue such an edict?" What exactly am I doing wrong? Who was it who slandered in front of them? ”

"Comfort Ting, it's the other way around!" Huang Sheng slapped the table and shouted: "Lead the army to revolt!" Overthrow the mediocre Manchu court, establish a democratic and free New China, and be China's Washington! Be the new emperor of China! ”

The eyes of everyone present focused on Wu Chaoyue's face, Wu Chaoyue also looked around at everyone's expressions, and saw that although several accomplices did not open their mouths to support Huang Sheng's proposal, they did not have any panic and fear, and they probably had the bottom in their hearts, knowing that if they really decided to start an incident, even if these accomplices had scruples, they would definitely choose to go with them first. Then, Wu Chaoyue shook his head and said: "I can't rebel, I can have today thanks to the Qing court, raise troops to rebel, the people of the world will inevitably scold me for being ungrateful, and I will take revenge." ”

"It can't be reversed." Zhao Liewen also said: "Not to mention that the residual prestige of the Qing court still exists, the gentry, the army and the people are still interested in the court, and they will be unknown if they raise troops to rebel." Because a secret edict that has not gone through the military aircraft department to meet with the imperial court, people all over the world will think that the pavilion is a revenge, usurping power and stealing the country's rebellious ministers and thieves, and even suspect that this secret edict is a secret edict that you yourself forged to use to rebel, and it is difficult to win the hearts of the people in the world. ”

"I don't think I can do it again." Yan Jingming also opened his mouth and said: "At present, the imperial court is still in charge of the ministers headed by Zai Wang Ye and Su Zhongtang, and what is the attitude of Zai Wang Ye and Su Zhongtang towards Wu Zhitai over the years, even the blind and deaf know it. Raising troops to rebel against them, not to mention that the people of the world do not agree, even the soldiers of the Huguang army will feel that Wu Zhitai is ingrateful, and he will take revenge. ”

"But what if something happens to them in Suzhongtang?" Shao Yanhong raised a key question and said: "Just now, Mr. Danchu, you and Shi Peng said that since the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces can attack the Comfort Pavilion, she will definitely attack Su Zhongtang and them at the same time. If they were careless for a while, had an accident and were imprisoned, or even died in Huangquan, then the comfort pavilion would be isolated and helpless in the imperial court from now on, not to mention, if the queen mother of the two palaces issued an edict to remove the comfort pavilion through the military aircraft department they formed, or even directly issued an edict to give death, then how would the comfort pavilion be handled? ”

"Zai Wang Ye and Su Zhongtang are the ministers who were personally appointed by the emperor when he was dying, and this is known to the world."

Yan Jingming said coldly: "If the empress dowager of the two palaces arrests and kills them for no reason, and builds their own military aircraft to steal the imperial power, then they are Si Chen, blatantly violating the ancestral iron law that the harem of the Qing Dynasty is not allowed to interfere in politics!" Those who dare to attach themselves to them are all rebellious ministers and thieves who violate the edict of the emperor and the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty, and everyone will be punished! If that happens....... ”

Speaking of this, Yan Jingming paused deliberately, and everyone understood what Yan Jingming wanted to say next, but they didn't open their mouths and left this opportunity to Wu Chaoyue. As a result, Wu Chaoyue did not live up to the good intentions of the accomplice lackeys, and immediately slammed his fist on the table, and roared angrily: "Then I will raise troops to clear the king's side!" ”

"That's right! Qingjun side! Yasukuni disaster! Zhao Liewen nodded vigorously, and the corners of his mouth were full of smirks.

"Qingjun side! Yasukuni disaster! Yan Jingming said viciously: "Destroy the traitorous ministers in the court, set things right, and return the power to the ministers who are the sons of today and the former emperor!" ”

"Qingjun side! Yasukuni disaster! Save my country! ”

Wu Chaoyue roared again, and everyone present understood, and replied neatly: "Qingjun side!" Yasukuni disaster! Save me from the Qing Dynasty! ”

After unifying the brazen rebellion to the extreme, Wu Chaoyue confessed his plan of action on the way back to Hubei, and decided to make all preparations for public opinion and moral high ground while reorganizing the army for war, and only after confirming the news of the misfortune that Su Shun and others had encountered, he immediately informed the envoys of the Western powers in China, declaring Beijing an illegal regime, forming a Wuhan Provisional Government to issue commanders, and fighting with Ci'an, Cixi and others for control of other places. At the same time, he immediately informed Wu Lao compradors, Zhou Tenghu, Yang Wending, Feng Sanbao and others of the changes in the situation, and asked them to prepare for the contingency of the army.

It was still when Zhao Liewen, Yan Jingming and others couldn't wait to pick up the pen to write the draft text, that Dai Wenjie, who basically didn't talk much, suddenly opened his mouth and said to Wu Chaoyue: "Weiting, you seem to have forgotten to tell Su Zhongtang what happened to them in Huguang. ”

With a slap on his forehead, Wu Chaoyue realized that he had calculated everything, but he had forgotten to calculate the possibility of the Sushun clique winning the coup d'état - although this was the last thing Wu Chaoyue wanted to see at the moment. After thanking Dai Wenjie with a smile, Wu Chaoyue hurriedly asked Dai Wenjie to make a book, so that Su Shun knew that he was forced to take Chong'en, and also let Dai Wenjie tell Su Shun clearly for himself that if the Gu Ming Minister Group really encountered any danger, he would immediately raise troops on the side of Qingjun and fight to the capital to rescue Su Shun!

Dai Wenjie promised, first put pen to paper, and then waited for Wu Chaoyue to sign the letter and send it overnight, Dai Wenjie said again: "Comfort Ting, in fact, I hope from the bottom of my heart that Su Zhongtang and they can stabilize the situation and thwart the plot of the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces to seize power, otherwise, what Yu Zhong is most worried about will definitely happen." ”

"What is Grandpa Hua most worried about?" Wu Chaoyue asked knowingly.

"You rebel, the Qing Dynasty is dead." Dai Wenjie replied with a wry smile: "Yu Zhong once said to me before he died, if you are really a loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty, then the Qing Dynasty will definitely be saved, otherwise, the Qing Dynasty will die!" ”

Wu Chaoyue was silent, and only after a while did he say: "It is not me who can decide this important matter, nor Su Zhongtang, but the enemy of me and Su Zhongtang. If they stop, don't force me and Su Zhongtang like this, and say a word of conscience, even if I want to rebel, I don't have that face. ”

Dai Wenjie nodded, and also believed that if Su Shun continued to be in power, Wu Chaoyue would not be able to pull down that face even if he wanted to rebel. Then Dai Wenjie quietly pursed his lips again, and said secretly: "But you also want to be forced, right?" Otherwise, you can even forget about such a major event as alerting Su Zhongtang? Yu Zhong and Su Zhongtang are really blind when they expect to save the Qing Dynasty by delegating power to you. ”

That night, the lights in the back hall of Wu Chaoyue's five provincial governors' mansions were not extinguished all night, regardless of the fatigue of the journey, Wu Chaoyue summoned Qian Wei, Wang Fu and other major generals of the direct army overnight, telling them that a earth-shaking event was likely to happen in the capital, and let them take charge of the army for themselves and prepare for the earth-shattering changes. And Qian Wei and Wang Fu and others are all old men of Wu Jun who were single-handedly promoted by Wu Chaoyue, and they were most affectionate by Wu Chaoyue, and they also shared the honor and disgrace with Wu Chaoyue's interests, so they naturally resolutely received the order and vowed to support Wu Chaoyue to meet the great changes.

In addition, in order to ensure that the letter could be delivered to Shanghai as quickly as possible and not give Ci'an and Cixi the opportunity to act first, Wu Chaoyue did not hesitate to hire a British steam merchant ship to go to Shanghai overnight at a high price to deliver the letter and explain the contingency plan to Wu Lao comprador, Zhou Tenghu, Deng Siyuan and others.

At the same time, for the sake of prudence, with the advantages of distance and transportation, Wu Chaoyue still sent people to Sichuan overnight with books to contact Yang Wending and Cao Yanzhong. In addition, Wu Chaoyue sent a number of messengers overnight to inform Nie Shicheng, Liu Kunyi, Huang Yuanlong (Huang Dasha), Wang Guocai, Xiao Qijiang and other generals who were commanding the troops outside, so that they could prepare for prevention and battle, and not leave any chance for the enemy to take the lead.

In the next few days, Wu Chaoyue was not only busy preparing for the army every day, but also waiting for news from the capital anxiously, so nervous that he only slept for less than two hours every day. At the same time, the civil and military officials and ministers of various countries in Hubei provincial cities also sensitively smelled the smell of unease, and kept coming to Wu Chaoyue to inquire about the news, but Wu Chaoyue temporarily prevaricated under the pretext of suppressing Chong'en's rebellion, and never announced his decision to prepare to raise troops. Although this is completely covering their ears and stealing the bell, the blind can see that the abnormal behavior of the Hubei army in the past few days is by no means as simple as preventing the so-called Chong'en rebellion.

Six days later, on the tenth day of the third month, at noon on the day that went down in history, Wu Chaoyue finally got the copy of the coup edict published by the coup group in the capital, and also confirmed the news that the eight ministers of Gu Ming had been arrested! Then Wu Chaoyue no longer hesitated, and immediately ordered to convene all the civil and military officials in the capital of Hubei Province, and presented ironclad evidence of the coup group's crime of stealing the country and usurping power in public, and announced that he would never recognize the illegal power of the capital with six devils, and openly announced that he had decided to lead the armies of the five provinces to raise troops to appease, and the Qing monarch would punish the traitorous ministers on the side, and return the power to the group of ministers who took care of their lives.

To Wu Chaoyue's surprise, in the face of Wu Chaoyue's astonishing decision, not only did not a single civil and military official present raise an objection, but even Li Qinggu, whose status in Hubei was second only to Wu Chaoyue, took the lead in applauding and supporting and supporting Wu Chaoyue's appeasement move. Lu Shenhui, who was promoted to the position of envoy by Wu Chaoyue, also openly proposed that everyone present be allied with blood, and swore to support Wu Chaoyue's army, and received the response of many officials.

"Why don't you have a loyal minister?" Wu Chaoyue took the time to ask Zhao Liewen in a low voice: "I have always been worried that someone will jump out to oppose it and fight to the death with me, and I have made so many preparations for Wu Dada." ”

"Are you stupid for them?" Zhao Liewen smiled bitterly and said in a low voice: "There are your own soldiers here and around, and most of their relatives and family members are in Hubei, the only peaceful place in the Central Plains. ”

After that, Zhao Liewen added in a low voice, "Besides, the long hair swept the southeast and the north entered Shandong, and you, the governor of the five provinces with heavy troops, also decided to raise troops and make it difficult, and idiots can see that the Qing Dynasty is coming to an end." Long hair and not the heart of the gentry, you are equivalent to their most stable and powerful thighs, they don't hurry up to hug your thighs, who else are they going to hug? ”

"Also, do you dare to bet with me? There must be some of them who have already inquired about your birth date and where your ancestral grave is buried, to see if you have the fate of the true dragon emperor. ”

After shaking his head and smiling bitterly, Wu Chaoyue realized that he was indeed not pretending to be a good man in the Qing Dynasty, and found that not to mention his accomplice lackeys had already seen that he had opposing intentions, and even the civil and military officials in Hubei who were not his descendants had already guessed that they were uneasy and kind, and they had already been mentally prepared to support their rebellion.

At the same time, with the support of many civil and military officials in Huguang and Liangjiang, Wu Chaoyue was also very embarrassed to seal himself on the spot the official position of the generalissimo of the prime minister Tianqin Wang Bingma, cast the seal and seal the official, issued an edict, established the Hubei provisional government, and decided to issue a proclamation, calling on the governors of all provinces to lead the army to join his team, and it is difficult for Yasukuni to clear the monarch's side!

…………

Coincidentally, on the same day, the messenger sent by Wu Chaoyue to the capital to communicate with Sushun was captured by the Qing army on strict guard in the territory of Zhili, and was sent to the capital on the same day that the Qing army was executed in Sushun with an expedited 600 li, and presented to Ci'an and Cixi, who had officially listened to the government. As a result, after seeing Chong'en's failure and Wu Chaoyue's blatant declaration of wanting to clear the monarch's side in the letter, Ci'an and Cixi, who knew how critical the situation was, had no choice but to quickly send An Dehai to stop the execution, intending to leave Su Shun, a valuable bargaining chip, in order to make Wu Chaoyue's move to raise troops unknown.

However, it is a pity that my friends know that because of the eagerness of the old prince Hui and the monk prince, Su Shun's head still could not be saved, and at the same time, Zaiyuan and Duanhua, who were good friends with Wu Chaoyue, have also been hanged in the Zongren Mansion, and Ci'an and Cixi's dream of letting them come forward to stop Wu Chaoyue from raising troops naturally came to naught. After hearing about this situation, Ci'an and Cixi, who had just become the female emperor for a few days, had no choice but to quickly convene the ministers of the new military aircraft department headed by Devil Six to discuss countermeasures.

Fortunately, the devil six and the others also had a certain psychological preparation for this situation, and they all comforted: "Don't worry, the two queen mothers, although Wu Chaoyue threatened to rebel, most of the soldiers and horses under his command were court officials and soldiers, and the military officials under his command were also Qing officials appointed by the imperial court before, even if Wu Chaoyue really had different intentions, these people might not follow him." ”

"At that time, the imperial court only needs an edict to send to the world, calling on righteous people from all over the country to raise troops to fight against thieves, and there will be righteous teachers in Huguang, and the imperial court officials and troops in the surrounding provinces will immediately go to Hubei to quell the rebellion, so that Wu Chaoyue will be difficult to parry even if he has three heads and six arms, and then the imperial court will organize a main force to go south to quell the rebellion, and it will be easy to set foot in Hubei and capture Wu Chaoyue's rebels!"

Considering the current embarrassing situation of the Manchu court, Ci'an and Cixi didn't dare to believe the boast of the devil six and others, and after discussing a few words in a low voice, Cixi said: "Ladies and gentlemen, the mourning family and the Empress Dowager think that for this matter, the imperial court is better to appease. You Aiqing can quickly draft two holy decrees, one for Wu Jianzhang, make him a household servant, and call him to bring his family to Beijing immediately. One gave Yang Wending, named him a scholar of Tirenge University, a scholar of the Ministry of Rites, and also called him to Beijing to take up his post immediately. ”

Knowing that Cixi wanted to use hostages to coerce Wu Chaoyue, the devil six and others immediately received the order, and Ci'an over there whispered to Cixi: "Sister, isn't your father and Wu Chaoyue very close friends?" Can you use this relationship to try to appease Wu Chaoyue? ”

Cixi shook her head and replied, "It's difficult, unless there is a scapegoat who carries the black cauldron that deceived us into issuing a secret edict to capture Wu Chaoyue." (To be continued.) )