When the ministers heard that Li Hongzhang asked Emperor Guangxu to give him the sword of the Son of Heaven, they were in an uproar.

Weng Tongyi hurriedly said: "The emperor must not, the sword of the Son of Heaven has been rewarded by the important ministers and elders of the court on behalf of the Heavenly Patrol, and our dynasty has no precedent for giving the sword of the Son of Heaven to Shangfang. ”

Li Hongzhang glanced at Weng Tongyi and asked: "Master Weng, in the next two months, the army of all roads will gather in North Korea, with a total of no less than twenty soldiers, and the admiral will have a few reimbursed former enemies, who are in a high position, Nie Shicheng is just the new admiral, although he has a military strategy, his qualifications are insufficient, you are sure that it can shock the princes from all walks of life." The battle between China and Japan, no more than others, once defeated, my Qing Dynasty is in danger of sinking, in order to win, give the sword of the Son of Heaven, on behalf of the heavens to hunt, wait until the end of the war, and then take it back, and add another reward, why not? ”

Sun Yuwen played: "The emperor still thinks twice, giving the Son of Heaven sword, there is no precedent in my dynasty, and now the reward is against the ancestral system." ”

Guangxu was a little hesitant in his heart, looked at the Empress Dowager Cixi, and saw that she had no opinions, but saw that Cixi closed her eyes slightly and didn't say a word, which was very different from usual.

Emperor Guangxu felt helpless for a while, and then Li Hongzhang said sharply: "Ancestral system, ancestral system, the old man asks Lord Sun, is there any precedent in history when Yongzheng Ye set up a military aircraft department?" When Yongzheng Ye corrected the tax law, was there a precedent in history, and did it violate the ancestral system? Once these major policies are implemented, the overall situation of the imperial court is new, and now the Qing Dynasty is surrounded by strong enemies, and you are still dead to report the ancestral system. ”

Li Hongzhang had to fight in order to keep the foundation of the Huai Army, and if he avoided war and sought peace, he would inevitably bear the infamy of the ages; war, we must strive for the greatest support for Nie Shicheng and Ding Ruchang, otherwise, how can we defeat the wolf-like Oriental army?

Emperor Guangxu heard Li Hongzhang's words, and the new tide surged, yes, the two generations of holy masters of Kangxi Ye and Yongzheng Ye don't know how many ancestral systems have been changed and how many strategies have been formulated, that time is not a lot of resistance, but how can the two holy masters ever retreat? It is all to withstand the pressure of courtiers and nobles and promote the reform, so that there has been a prosperous Kangqian era for more than 100 years, and he does not dare to compare with the command of his ancestors, but at least his mind and ambition cannot be weak.

Emperor Guangxu thought of this, and said loudly: "Okay, Lao Zhongtang, according to your words, pass the decree, give Nie Shicheng a sword of the Son of Heaven, and act cheaply in front of the enemy, cut first and then play, send a message to Nie Gongting, fight hard to kill the enemy, don't live up to my hope!" ”

Li Hongzhang knelt down on his knees and shouted: "The emperor is shengming, the emperor is shengming!" ”

Emperor Guangxu was discussing with the courtiers, and the Huangmen official hurriedly walked up, knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, the head of the military department is waiting for an order to see you outside the noon gate, and there is an urgent matter." ”

Emperor Guangxu's heart tightened, the urgency of the military department must be about the Sino-Japanese war, otherwise it can't be so urgent.

Emperor Guangxu said: "Hurry up and announce him to the palace!" ”

After a while, the head of the military department hurriedly walked up to the hall and knelt down and said: "Lafayette, the emperor, the commander of the Beiyang Navy Admiral Ding Ruchang sent an urgent telegram, three days ago, our Beiyang Navy and the Japanese Navy met in the area of Dadonggou in the Yellow Sea, and started an encounter. In this battle, our army lost five warships, including two capital ships and three gunboats, in the battle, the Zhiyuan ship took Deng Shichang, charged ahead, and blocked three enemy ships alone, and finally caused serious damage to the hull, Deng Shichang ordered Zhiyuan to ram the Japanese capital ship and sink to the bottom of the sea with the enemy ship; The Japanese fleet lost five warships, including four main battleships and one gunboat, and its flagship Yoshino was directly sunk and fell to the bottom of the sea, and the losses were even worse. ”

As he spoke, he presented the prepared telegram to Emperor Guangxu, who took the telegram and watched it carefully, with a throbbing pain in his heart, five warships, millions of taels of silver, just like that, it was fake to say that he was not distressed. If it weren't for the defeat of the Japanese army and the heavier losses, Emperor Guangxu directly cut Ding Ruchang's heart.

When Emperor Guangxu saw Ding Ruchang in the telegram that Deng Shichang rushed into the Japanese ship group in order to protect the Dingyuan ship, the flagship of the Admiral, Emperor Guangxu's blood was also mobilized, and the Qing Dynasty had no shortage of hot-blooded men, Deng Shichang, who was good, did not live up to the cultivation of the imperial court!

Emperor Guangxu read it for a while, and made a detailed report of the contents of the telegram to the ministers in the court, and suddenly there was an uproar in the court. Sun Yuwen said bitterly: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty! Five warships, more than a million taels of silver, sank to the bottom of the sea like this, and the minister suggested that Ding Ruchang should be recalled immediately to ask for the guilt, and another person should be appointed, the losses caused by this battle to the imperial court were too serious! Ding Ruchang misled the country too much! Emperor! ”

"Fart!" Li Hongzhang was angry, furious, and scolded angrily: "Sun Yuwen, you have the ability, you go and command this battle!" , When the war was fought, none of you dared to step forward to the enemy, and now that Admiral Ding Ruchang has returned from a great victory, you actually let Your Majesty punish the crime? What is your heart for wronging a loyal and brave minister like this! ”

Sun Yuwen said angrily: "Li Hongzhang, is your Beiyang Navy all muddy?" was actually sunk by a small Japanese country with five warships, how can there be a big face? Millions of taels of silver are gone, how can you explain to the imperial court? You still have the face to stand in front of the Queen Mother and the Emperor! ”

Li Hongzhang sneered, squinted at Sun Yuwen, and said disdainfully: "Military affairs, you scholar knows a fart." Give you 500 soldiers, Lao Tzu only brings 100 people, see if you can defeat me. But whenever the two countries are at war, how can they not lose their equipment and equipment, and you want to beat Japan down without losing a single warship or artillery, are you an idiot? Do you think you are the Buddha or the Jade Emperor? ”

Emperor Guangxu was also heartbroken, but after all, his mind was still sober, the two countries fought each other, after all, it was not child's play, war losses were inevitable, fortunately, in this battle, the Qing Dynasty won, the Japanese army was not defeated, and Japan's losses were even greater.

Guangxu asked Weng Tongyi, "Master Weng, I don't know what you think?" ”

Although Weng Tongyi and Li Hongzhang are not on the same line, they are not on the same line as Sun Yuwen, and the two are the leaders of the main and main battle parties, and they are incompatible. Now Sun Yuwen has asked for an order to investigate Ding Ruchang, how can this be done? No matter what, Weng Tongyi also knows that Ding Ruchang has won the battle in the Yellow Sea, and it is precisely when he needs to set up a banner and boost the emperor's fighting spirit, he can not be vented, once he instigates the emperor to investigate Ding Ruchang, then there is no way to fight this Sino-Japanese war, and this one thing alone will make the former enemy soldiers completely chilled and have no intention of fighting!

Nie Shicheng must be protected to the death!