The information that the Wu army's intelligence officers inadvertently collected at the Edo wharf was correct, and when the Wu army's expeditionary fleet was still in Japan, the Wu army had indeed sent troops to Shanhaiguan to prepare to recover the lost land in the northeast. At the same time, it is also the same as the speculation of Wang Fu, the general of the Wu army, who chose to send troops to the northeast in the autumn when it was most unfavorable to the soldiers of the Wu army, Wu Chaoyue did have his own difficulties, and there were more than one or two reasons that forced Wu Chaoyue to make this decision, which was due to many and multi-level reasons, which forced Wu Chaoyue to choose to send troops in a very unfavorable season.

Originally, the best season for the Wu army to send troops to the northeast was undoubtedly winter, which could not only avoid the wind and snow in the northeast, but also allow the soldiers of the Wu army, who were mostly southerners, to gradually adapt to the climate. The elite troops of the Wu army under the command of Cao Yanzhong, Qian Wei and Feng Sanbao were not in a hurry to go north because of this, either staying in Liangguang to exterminate the remnants of the Manchu and Taiping armies in the south, or they were transferred to the Huaibei battlefield to participate in the suppression and pacify the remnants of the Taiping army.

It is also for this reason that in order to stabilize the Manchu court, not to force Cixi's eldest niece and her sister and brother to the Russians, and not to give the Russians the opportunity to garrison the northeast first, so even though he knew that the Manchu court sent envoys to negotiate to bargain with himself, Wu Chaoyue still met with the Manchu court headed by Renshou and Li Hongzao very politely, and the Manchu court took the initiative to express its willingness to call Wu Chaoyue the emperor, and even Zhao Liewen and Yan Jingming were greatly moved, and privately persuaded Wu Chaoyue to accept the justifiable emperor first. However, Wu Chaoyue hesitated again and again, but he still laughed and refused the dragon chair sent by the Manchu court, and brazenly continued to regard himself as a courtier of the Qing Dynasty, and only persuaded the Manchu court to take the initiative to lay down his arms and invite the 10th Emperor Qixiang of the wild boar skin back to the capital to continue to live in the Forbidden City.

During this period, when it came to emotion, Wu Chaoyue also burst into tears twice, and was so moved that the envoys sent by the Manchu court, Renshou and Li Hongzao, were in tears, and couldn't help but suspect that Wu Chaoyue, the southern king of the Great Qing Dynasty, was a loyal minister of the Great Qing Dynasty who was very well hidden, and only wanted to be the Duke of Tu Zhou who supported the young lord, and had no intention of peeping into the emperor's throne. Later, when they returned to Shenyang empty-handed, Renshou and Li Hongzao really persuaded Ci'an Cixi and others to say a few words, asking them to consider accepting Wu Chaoyue's terms of reconciliation - although they were immediately scolded for being bloody.

Still in order to wait for a favorable opportunity, Wu Chaoyue also ruthlessly rejected Zeng Guoquan and Jiang Zhongji's proposal to take Shanhaiguan before winter - after diverting water to besiege Tianjin City, although Chen Guorui, the guard general of the Manchu court who remained in Tianjin, was loyal and would rather starve to death than accept the persuasion of Wu Jun to surrender, but the Tianjin defenders, who could not see any hope of reinforcements, launched a mutiny, surrounded Chen Guorui's residence and finally forced Chen Guorui to kill himself, and then immediately opened the city and surrendered to the Wu army.

After successfully taking Tianjin, Zeng Guoquan and Jiang Zhongji, who were anxious to make contributions, immediately joined forces to write a letter, asking Wu Chaoyue to allow them to continue the attack, seize Yongping Mansion and Shanhaiguan before the arrival of winter, and open the door to the northeast. However, Wu Chaoyue considered that this would put too much pressure on the Manchu court, and it might lead to the Manchu court being forced to ask the Tsarist Russia to garrison the northeast, which would make it more difficult to recover the northeast, so he still ruthlessly rejected the tempting proposal of Zeng Guoquan and Jiang Zhongji, and did not put pressure on the Manchu court after taking Tianjin.

The opportunity to open the way to enter the army was ruthlessly missed, and the opportunity to become the emperor was also ruthlessly given up, Wu Chaoyue thought that the matter could come to an end, as long as he waited for the beginning of spring next year, he could let go and recover the Northeast. However, it is a pity that the next changes in the situation greatly exceeded Wu Chaoyue's expectations, and finally forced Wu Chaoyue to the point where he could not bear it.

Before the Manchu court was driven back to Guanwai, the wild boar skin family left a way out for the Manchu Eight Banners, and it has been expressly forbidden for the Han people to live in the north of Shanhaiguan, so the northeast is sparsely populated, and many military places are simply not stationed with troops, and the only few cities are also old and dilapidated, and the city defense facilities are basically zero, and they are not vulnerable at all. It's basically in a state of instant attack.

After the Wu army successfully recovered the capital, Luo Bingzhang's proposal to open the border ban was adopted by the Manchu court, although many people in the Guannai who were seriously brainwashed by the Manchu court poured into the northeast in large numbers, but because of the financial problems of the money and grain economy, the Manchu court has not been able to come up with money to build and repair the city defense, and some resources are also prioritized in Shanhaiguan and Shenyang City, resulting in even Ningyuan, Jinzhou and Liaoyang and other famous cities outside the Guanxi have been dilapidated, and the city defense has always been vulnerable, so Wu Chaoyue does not need to worry, You can patiently wait for the time to be sent out outside the customs.

However, after the Manchu court operated outside the pass for more than a year, the situation changed rapidly, because the land outside the pass was too fertile, the Manchu court not only achieved self-sufficiency in grain and grass in the year of moving the capital, but also gradually eased up the economy, and gradually began to make up for the construction of city defenses, not only repaired and strengthened the original obsolete city walls, dredged and widened and deepened the moat, but also vigorously built forts, bunkers and sheep and horse walls with shooting holes and other advanced fortifications in this era, Shanhaiguan and Ningyuan, etc., Even a number of moats were dug to greatly strengthen the city's defense capabilities.

The most fearful thing about entering the northeast is a war of attrition, especially when attacking Shenyang and Liaoyang, which are far away from the coastline, and the supply of grain and grass for the Wu army is even more difficult. Therefore, after collecting these relevant information, Wu Chaoyue has actually begun to be vigilant and wavering in his heart, and he is extremely sorry that he was held back by the Taiping Army and failed to send troops to the Northeast this spring.

The strengthening of the defense force outside the gate only made Wu Chaoyue vigilant, but the next move of the Manchu court made Wu Chaoyue unbearable. After the futile negotiations were over, I don't know if it was the idea that Guizi Liu came up with by himself, or whether the Tsarist Russian minister in China was playing tricks in the middle, but Guizi Liu actually dragged a group of Manchu civil and military officials to write at the end of June, asking Ci'an and Cixi to take Shengjing as the national capital, establish Manchukuo in the northeast and Mongolia, completely draw a line with the Wu army, establish a country to fight against the Central Plains, and in fact split the territory of China!

Although the matter was too big for Ci'an and Cixi to make an immediate decision, when the North China Wu army found out the news and reported the situation to Wu Chaoyue, Wu Chaoyue still smashed the table on the spot and roared: "Son of a bitch!" Shame on the face! The battle in the Northeast must be fought, and the sooner the better! ”

"Comfort Pavilion, don't be in such a hurry." Zhao Liewen comforted: "Let's not talk about the eight characters yet, there must be many people in the court of the chaotic party, even if the chaotic party really starts some Manchukuo, we don't admit that it is okay to continue to fight in the northeast?" ”

"No! I can endure anything, but I definitely can't bear this! ”

Wu Chaoyue rarely vetoed Zhao Liewen's opinion categorically, and said with a hideous expression: "If they really let them start some Manchukuo, the Russian old Maozi will definitely admit it as soon as possible, and establish formal diplomatic relations with their bullshit Manchukuo, when the time comes, as long as Britain, the United States and France are shaken by any country, they will also establish diplomatic relations with bullshit Manchukuo, and we want to send troops to recover the Northeast, there will be endless skin in diplomacy alone!" ”

"Also, whether we can recover the land outside the customs with a Northern Expedition, none of us dare to make this guarantee." Wu Chaoyue said again: "If the chaotic party is allowed to preemptively start some bullshit Manchukuo, and we will send troops to the Northern Expedition in the coming year because of this or that reason, the war is unfavorable, and the Northern Expedition fails, and if we want to get back the land in the Northeast in the future, the difficulty will not only be one or two times, but ten times and twenty times more possible!" ”

"Although it makes sense, we are not ready to send troops now, are we?" Zhao Liewen said helplessly: "Not to mention that the grain, grass and winter clothes need to be prepared temporarily, even our elite main force will not be able to rush to Zhili to assemble immediately?" Could it be that they should continue to use Zeng Jiushuai and Jiang Zhongji's army to fight the northeast? Can they still have the same luck as last time? Rely on the enemy's tactical mistakes and the help of the monk to create a miracle? ”

Zhao Liewen's words finally calmed down Wu Chaoyue temporarily, but after thinking about it carefully for a long time, Wu Chaoyue still said: "We still have to fight, we don't have to rush to take back the Northeast all at once, but within this year, we must take Shanhaiguan, advance the army to the front line of Jinzhou, and strive to take Jinzhou City!" In this way, we can not only warn and crack down on the separatist forces in the court of the chaotic party, but also pave the way for the march into Shenyang! ”

After that, Wu Chaoyue added, "Just fight with the reputation of opposing the splitting of the Chinese land!" Go to Jinzhou and clearly tell the separatists in the court of the rebellious party that whoever dares to divide my Chinese land, Lao Tzu will want his whole family to die without a place to be buried! ”

"If it is just to advance to the front line of Jinzhou and strive to win Jinzhou, then as long as Zeng Jiushuai and Jiang Zhongji are supplemented with more advanced weapons, there may be some hope that it can be done." Zhao Liewen hesitated and said: "But Weiting, have you thought about it, if you force the chaotic party court to be in a hurry, and really ask the Rakshasa devils for help, and ask the Rakshasa devils to send troops to join the war, our trouble is also very big?" ”

Failure to send troops in a hurry will encourage the arrogance of the separatists, and the immediate dispatch of troops may lead to a complete push of the Manchu court to the side of Tsarist Russia, and even Wu Chaoyue, who has always been decisive in killing, will inevitably hesitate. However, just when Wu Chaoyue was shaken again, the British minister to China, Pruss, suddenly came to Wu Chaoyue's so-called Zhennan Palace, and personally submitted an official letter to Wu Chaoyue, protesting against Wu Chaoyue against the recent xenophobic incident in Shanxi, and demanding that Wu Chaoyue instruct the Shanxi local government to severely punish the murderers of British railway technicians and compensate the families of the deceased.

This matter is indeed the fault of Wu Jun, because of the need to mine Shanxi coal mines, Wu Jun hired British technicians to explore the terrain in Shanxi with a high salary, and prepared to build a railway for transporting coal, but because of cultural conflicts, the people of Shanxi who mistakenly thought that the foreigners were digging their ancestral graves launched a riot, killed a British technician, and injured two people, but the local government was afraid of causing a popular uprising, and did not dare to punish the murderer immediately. So there was no way, Wu Chaoyue had no choice but to inherit the tradition of the comprador family, and immediately apologized to Pruss in a low voice, and agreed to all of Prus's requests on the spot.

Fortunately, Pruss, who is already very familiar with China's national conditions, also knows that this matter has nothing to do with Wu Chaoyue himself, and he has nothing to blame Wu Chaoyue, and after finishing the business, he comforted Wu Chaoyue in turn and said: "Wu, I know that you don't want to see this happen, but I also have to give an explanation to the country, so I have to do business." I hope that you can increase some publicity in this regard in the future, and it is best to let the people in the Chinese mainland know that it is a good thing to build railways like the people in Hubei, and know that we help you build railways for mutual benefit. ”

"It would be so easy."

Wu Chaoyue muttered in his heart, but he continued to smile and agree. But before the matter was over, Prus said to Wu Chaoyue: "There are two things that must be told to you: first, I have received a letter from Sir Robinson, Governor of the Far East of the British Empire, and his deputy, Mr. Mei Hanli, will come to Hubei for a visit in the near future, hoping to obtain your personal reception and discuss in person the further expansion of cooperation between the two sides. ”

"No problem, I'll be up to the occasion when the time comes."

Wu Chaoyue's comprador face is not in vain to condescend to the noble, after courtesyly thanking Wu Chaoyue for Mei Hanli, Pruss said: "The second thing, for the sake of the friendly relations between your two countries in recent years, and as a thank you for your selfless help in the Shengmai incident, Mr. Robinson still wants me to tell you something. Our British Empire's intelligence officers in Moscow have received accurate information that the imperial court of Tsarist Russia has passed a resolution to provide all support, including military assistance, to the Shengjing regime in your country, to help the Shengjing regime establish a new state in the northeast of your country and Mongolia, and to completely divide your territory. ”

"Is this news really reliable, Mr. Pruth?" Wu Chaoyue's face suddenly turned a little blue.

"I've already said it, it's accurate news." Pruss smiled and said, "Don't underestimate our British Empire's intelligence officers, since they dare to guarantee accurate information, there will be no mistake." ”

Hearing this, Wu Chaoyue simply chewed the heart of the current Russian Tsar Alexander II! But there is no way, Alexander II is now hiding in Moscow, and Wu Chaoyue now has no strength to set foot in Moscow and burn St. Petersburg, so Wu Chaoyue has no choice but to suppress the anger in his heart, sincerely thank Pruth for the friendly information provided by the enemy, and then politely send Pruth away - by the way, curse a few words in his stomach that the British Empire will not die sooner!

The information provided by Prussia's friendship also finally prompted Wu Chaoyue to make up his mind, already knowing that the Tsarist Russian army would definitely intervene in the northeast battlefield, and knowing that the northeast would be more difficult to fight the longer it dragged on, and it was even more troublesome for the Manchu court to engage in Manchukuo, Wu Chaoyue held a military meeting on the same day, formally determined the plan to send troops to the northeast under the banner of safeguarding the integrity of China's territory, and decided to take Jiang Zhongji and Zeng Guoquan's North China Wu army as the main force of the battle, and sent a group of Wu troops to the north to participate in the war in the Central Plains battlefield, and jointly launched the Northern Expedition. They are preparing to seize Yongping, Shanhaiguan, and Ningyuan within this year, advance the front to the area around Jinzhou, and make every effort to take Jinzhou so that they can attack Shenyang in the spring of the next year.

In addition, Wu Chaoyue also robbed his eldest niece of the job, and decided to set up the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang, and set up the governors of the three eastern provinces, so as to divide the official positions among the generals of the Wu army who were anxious to make meritorious contributions, and the first governor of Liaoning was served by Jiang Zhongji, and at the same time, Wu Chaoyue also sent someone to bring a message to Jiang Zhongji, saying: "Whether you can become the governor of the three eastern provinces depends on your performance this time!" ”

…………

A few days later, when the envoy of the new British Governor of the Far East, Robinson, came to Hubei, Wu Chaoyue, after discussing with him many matters to expand economic, trade and political exchanges, offered to join hands with Robinson to explore the gold mines of South Africa. It's a pity that because the former Governor of the Far East, Bao Ling's father and son, lost their blood and became the laughing stock of the British in this matter, Mei Hanli didn't dare to be interested in this matter at all, Wu Chaoyue had nothing to do, so he had to say: "Then let's do it, I will pay for it, you will help to find the gold mine, Mr. Mei Hanli, you and Sir Robinson will still get Mr. Bao Ling's shares, how about it?" ”

Don't pay a penny just waiting to take advantage, of course Mei Hanli will not refuse such a good thing, so after smiling, Mei Hanli also made the decision to let future generations always be grateful and grateful to him, and said with a smile: "Since King Zhennan is so sincere, let's talk carefully about how to cooperate." ”