After returning to Hubei Province in triumph, the first thing Wu Chaoyue did was to order Wen Xiang to be handed over to the Ministry of Justice established by himself for interrogation, and to investigate the truth and specific details of the coup d'état in Qixiang, so as to expose the true face of the illegal coup group of Devil Six to the public. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Wen Xiang, who knew that he was going to die, once refused to answer any questions from the judicial officials of Wu Jun, and Wu Chaoyue did not use torture tools to force him, but only arranged for Shengbao, who had been captured before, to come forward to persuade and lure, and instigated Wen Xiang to cooperate with the interrogation in exchange for his life.

Unable to resist the repeated agitation of Shengbao, who was also a high-ranking Manchurian official, Wen Xiang finally changed his mind, and explained the details and truth of the Qixiang coup with the last glimmer of hope, so that Wu Chaoyue knew the various ugliness of the Devil Liu, Gui Liang and Monk Wangye in the Qixiang coup, and also confessed the truth that Zaiyuan and Duanhua did not die by hanging, but were hanged alive by the guards sent by the Devil Six and others.

After getting the truth of Wenxiang, Wu Chaoyue, who had obtained the treasure, of course, immediately made the truth of the coup d'état of Qixiang public, printed it in newspapers and published it publicly, so as to prove the legitimacy of his army against the Qing monarch. Then Wu Chaoyue announced in a hypocritical manner, for the sake of Wen Xiang's confession of the crime and the exposure of his accomplices, he decided to leave a whole body for Wen Xiang, and changed the beheading sentence set by the Ministry of Justice of the Wu Army to hanging for Wen Xiang.

The matter is not over, when Wen Xiang scolded Wu Chaoyue's ancestors for the eighteenth generation was escorted to the court, Wu Chaoyue also invited the Xianfeng Emperor, Su Shun, Zaiyuan and Duanhua to the Dharma field, burned incense and prayed in public, and counted the crimes of Wenxiang Party attached to the devil Zi Liu and others who violated the edict of the Xianfeng Emperor, and cried to Su Shun and Zaiyuan and others, who were really good to themselves, and claimed that they executed Wenxiang in order to maintain the edict of the Xianfeng Emperor and avenge the minister, and then ordered Wenxiang to be hanged.

The moment the execution order arrow flew out of Wu Chaoyue's hand, of course, there was a cheering voice all around the court, but Wen Xiang scolded loudly, "Wu Chaoyue dog thief, you are the number one hypocrite in the world!" It's clear that you want to rebel and rebel, but you also framed us! You shameless dog thief ....... ”

The footboard was opened, Wen Xiang, who had a heavy object hanging on his feet, hung in the air, and the thick noose strangled his neck, which also cut off Wen Xiang's angry scolding forever, and the cheers around the court were loud again, and Wu Chaoyue turned to Zhao Liewen next to him and asked, "How is it?" How much can it do? ”

"Under normal circumstances, as long as you are not the sworn friend of the leader of the chaotic party, even if the banner is full of officials, you can surrender to you with confidence." Zhao Liewen replied with a smile, and said in a low voice: "But Weiting, shouldn't you think about the issue of being promoted to the throne?" If you take two steps forward, you can not only win people's hearts, but also make it much easier to arrange official positions. ”

Wu Chaoyue didn't answer, and only said in a low voice after a while: "I'm afraid that everyone will not be convinced, after all, since the Qing Dynasty, there has never been any courtier who has established himself as a king." ”

Zhao Liewen sighed, and did not continue on this topic with Wu Chaoyue, because this matter did have too much impact, and Wu Chaoyue's slogan of raising troops was the Qing monarch's side of the Jingguo disaster, and rashly proclaiming himself king without any reason was very likely to cause unforeseen consequences.

Zhao Liewen didn't continue, Wu Chaoyue, who didn't want to work for the Manchu court for a long time, was still thinking about this idea, and said secretly: "Huifu's words are indeed very reasonable, if you want to take the last step, you must first take a few steps forward, and it is the right way to lay the groundwork step by step, and you have to think of some ways as soon as possible to test everyone's attitude and position towards me replacing the Manchu Qing." ”

Although he moved this idea, but how to test everyone's attitude and position towards himself as Wang Daiqing, Wu Chaoyue didn't come up with any good way for a while, and at the same time, another major event was also put in front of Wu Chaoyue in the past few days - to marry Zeng Jijing, the eldest daughter of Zeng Guofan, with the gift of marrying his wife.

Wu Chaoyue and Zeng Jijing's family affair is a typical good thing, thanks to the blessing of the enlightened mother-in-law Nie's mother, although the Zeng Guofan family reluctantly agreed to marry Zeng Jijing to Wu Chaoyue as a side room, but the first agreed wedding date happened to catch up with the Xianfeng Emperor kicking his legs, Wu Chaoyue, who was under the banner of a loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty, had to mourn for the Xianfeng Emperor for a year, but the marriage was postponed for a year. A year later, when the wedding date was approaching, it happened to catch up with the Qing Russian coalition army to enter the Yangtze River, and Wu Chaoyue could only postpone the date of marrying Zeng Jijing again and concentrate on dealing with the strong enemy.

Fortunately, Zeng Guofan's widow Ouyang is quite reasonable, knowing Wu Chaoyue's distress and not blaming, she also accepted the advice of Nie Shicheng's fierce old lady and moved to Wuhan with the whole family, so that Wu Chaoyue could officially marry Zeng Jijing at the right time, and after the Ouyang family came to Wuhan, Wu Chaoyue of course had to kowtow to his future mother-in-law and master mother as soon as possible. However, it is a pity that when the Ouyang family met Wu Chaoyue, Zeng Jijing, who adhered to the etiquette system, could not come out to meet Wu Chaoyue, which made Wu Chaoyue, who had long coveted his beautiful junior sister, very disappointed.

has been staying in his hometown in Hunan to take care of his family, of course, Ouyang has never seen Wu Chaoyue before, but when they met, Wu Chaoyue's dry and thin face without any strengths also made Ouyang quite disappointed, and he was a little regretful that his daughter's flower was inserted in cow dung. But fortunately, the Ouyang family, who was born in a scholarly family, has a lot of city, and he didn't show any regret for his daughter, but just received Wu Chaoyue with courtesy, and chatted with Wu Chaoyue for a few words.

In the chat, when talking about Wu Chaoyue's rebellion against King Qin, Ouyang suddenly said for Wu Chaoyue, "Weiting, folk rumors, that you raised troops on the Qingjun side not to cut off the chaotic party, but for yourself, and it is also rumored that you have the intention of peeking into the throne, I don't know if you have heard such rumors?" ”

"I've heard of it." Wu Chaoyue nodded calmly, and said shamelessly: "However, the students have a clear conscience, and sooner or later they will prove that these rumors are completely nonsense and shameless slander of the chaotic party and ignorant people in the capital." ”

"That's good." Ouyang Shi actually showed a look of relief, and said: "Your teacher has been loyal to the imperial court all his life, and he will not swerve until death, if you really have any arrogance, I am afraid that he will be difficult to look at under Jiuquan." ”

When Wu Chaoyue was dumbfounded, Nie's mother next to him also took over the conversation, and said loudly to Ouyang: "Madam, don't worry, if he dares to have any arrogance in Weiting, I don't need you to teach me a lesson, I will be the first to disagree." ”

Wu Chaoyue was even more speechless, but said in his heart: "I can't imagine that the enslavement policy of the Manchu court can be so successful, and even the two mothers-in-law who can enjoy the glory and wealth with me are so opposed to me being the emperor. ”

Although the matter is small, the Ouyang family, who has been poisoned by etiquette, and the upright Nie mother, who have an upright personality, cannot represent the attitude and position of Wu Jun's people, but this incident still left a small pimple in Wu Chaoyue's heart, and he also felt that he should have laid a good foundation for being the emperor and the Qing Dynasty earlier, and could not follow in the footsteps of Yuan Shikai.

After returning to his rebellious generalissimo's mansion with some depression, he had just sat down in the back hall, when Zhao Liewen and Yan Jingming, two powerful accomplices, walked in and put a copy of the mansion newspaper of the Manchu court in front of Wu Chaoyue, and Zhao Liewen said: "Comfort Ting, look at the third page of this mansion newspaper, the chaotic party in the capital may have to make a big move." ”

took the newspaper and flipped to the third master, and when he took a closer look, Wu Chaoyue was taken aback, and blurted out: "Jing Shou is restored, and he is the former minister of the emperor?" Kuang Yuan recovered, and served as the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites? ”

"There's one last page." Yan Jingming said: "The imperial historian Ren Zhaojian asked Bai Ye to overturn the case, but not only was he categorically rejected by the queen mother of the two palaces, but he also lost his top and never used it. ”

"That's a clear sign." Wu Chaoyue analyzed: "Jing Shou and Kuang Yuan were both ministers appointed by the emperor to take care of their lives, and they lost their official positions together after the chaos of the party and the theft of power, and now they are suddenly recovering together. ”

"Ren Zhaojian asked Su Zhongtang's sworn enemy to turn over the case, slapped the sycophants of the party leader, and continued to deduct basins on Su Zhongtang, but he lost his official position and fell into a punishment that will never be used."

"These two things are taken together, Ci'an and Cixi are clearly telling the world that the ministers appointed by the emperor have a chance to make a comeback, and Su Zhongtang and Zai Wang Ye may also be rehabilitated Zhaoxue."

"Not only that, but the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces is also hinting to the ministers that they are planning to negotiate with us." Yan Jingming smiled and said: "If I am not mistaken, in the capital in the past few days, there must be many smart officials who have taken the risk of killing their heads to ask the empress dowager of the two palaces to negotiate peace with us. ”

Wu Chaoyue smiled, and also knew that with the cleverness and liveliness of those old oilmen in the Manchu court, they would definitely understand the hints issued by Ci'an and Cixi, and rushed to ask for peace talks, so as to curry favor with Ci'an and Cixi, who were really in power.

However, after pondering it further, Wu Chaoyue frowned, shook his head and said: "This is not right, Ci'an, I dare not say it, but my eldest niece Cixi will definitely not fail to see it, there is absolutely no hope of success in negotiations with me, and it is possible to be tricked by me, and may even anger the three little uncles who hold the power of the forbidden army, forcing them to jump over the wall and launch a coup d'état again." Taking such a big risk to do useless work, my eldest niece is not so stupid. ”

"When Mr. Danchu and I were discussing just now, I also felt that this point was very wrong." Zhao Liewen also said: "We suspect that the empress dowager of the two palaces and the major leaders of the chaotic party are likely to have colluded behind their backs, and are ready to play a bitter trick first, pretending to cut down several leaders of the chaotic party to seize power, showing the sincerity of peace talks with us, and then luring us to the negotiating table and taking the opportunity to take the opportunity." ”

"Huifu and I also believe that the real purpose of the rebel party's move is to delay the army, to trick us into slowing down the attack first, to gain respite, and waiting for the Rakshasas to send troops to help again." Yan Jingming added.

Zhao Liewen and Yan Jingming's analysis ideas were naturally correct, and Wu Chaoyue was also inclined to this possibility for a while, but after careful consideration, the treacherous Wu Chaoyue was suspicious again, and said suspiciously: "It's still not right, the intelligence provided to me by the British and the French clearly shows that the Rakshasa people have sent the largest mobile force to attack the fleet this time, unless the Rakshasas no longer want their Baltic Sea coastal defense, otherwise for a considerable period of time, they will not be able to send a new fleet to help the rebels." ”

"Or are the Rakshasas going to send a large number of troops east directly, by land, to help the rebels?"

Yan Jingming proposed a new possibility, but Wu Chaoyue laughed when he heard it, and said: "Danchu, you haven't been to the Rakshasa Country, I don't know how far it is from the densely populated place of the Rakshasa Country to the northeast of our Great Qing Dynasty, and how difficult the road is. ”

After the new possibility was also ruled out by Wu Chaoyue, Yan Jingming suddenly made a difficulty, and said with strange eyes: "Then what is the chaos party in the capital trying to do?" In the current situation, no matter how much they try to delay the army, there is no way to reverse the situation in the world? ”

"If you can't guess, you don't have to worry about it." Zhao Liewen said very irresponsiblely: "Respond to all changes with the same, and when the chaotic parties in the capital send people to ask for negotiations, we may know if we talk to them casually." ”

"Yes." Yan Jingming nodded and said: "The chaotic party in the capital sent people to ask for negotiations, we can't help but talk, first make a false deal with the snake, negotiate while preparing for war, and fight if we can't negotiate." ”

"We can't afford not to talk?" Wu Chaoyue suddenly came to his senses and blurted out: "I understand, the real purpose of the chaotic party in the capital is very simple, that is, as long as you start negotiations with us!" ”

"Just negotiate with us? What do you mean? ”

Zhao Liewen and Yan Jingming didn't react for a while, but after thinking about it again, Zhao Liewen and Yan Jingming suddenly slapped their thighs and said in unison: "We forgot the reaction of long hair!" We have concluded a covenant with Longhair to join forces to eliminate the rebellious party, and negotiating with the rebellious party in the capital is tantamount to treachery to Longhair, and Longhair may turn his face against us and start a war again! ”

"The simplest and most direct discord plan, a soft and soft peace can make me and Longhair have a great chance of restarting the war, my eldest niece's means are really powerful." Wu Chaoyue shook his head in admiration, and intuitively decided that this was Cixi's masterpiece - of course, what Wu Chaoyue didn't know was that Cixi's ruthless methods were far more than that.

"What's even more amazing is that even if we see through their methods, we have to be tricked." Zhao Liewen also said with admiration: "We have always been under the banner of the Qing Dynasty, and we have always claimed that we are still the courtiers of the Qing Dynasty. ”

"Weiting, since you have discovered the true purpose of the chaotic party, how do you plan to deal with it?" Yan Jingming asked directly to Wu Chaoyue.

"That's easy." Wu Chaoyue said casually: "As long as you put forward a few conditions for peace talks that are absolutely unacceptable to the chaotic party in the capital, for example, the queen mother of the two palaces will hand over Prince Gong and the monk to ...... first." ”

Having said this, Wu Chaoyue stopped by himself, because Wu Chaoyue suddenly thought of a little - since he could easily think of a solution, then with Cixi's treachery and cunning, what could he not think? So Wu Chaoyue immediately reminded himself in his heart, "Don't think too simple about my eldest niece, she will take action in person, and she will take such pains to lure me and Changmao to resume the war, she must be sure." ”

…………

When Wu Chaoyue was still pondering Cixi's methods, Cixi had already begun to do it - almost at the same time in the capital, unable to withstand the bitter pleas of many court officials, Ci'an and Cixi finally withdrew the ban on refusing peace talks previously promulgated, pardoned more than a dozen officials who were imprisoned for asking for peace talks, and decided to take the new imperial minister Jing Shou as an envoy to carry the Tongzhi edict south to Hubei, and the edict still regarded himself as a courtier of the Qing Dynasty Wu Chaoyue and the Manchu court to start peace talks.

In addition, Ci'an and Cixi also temporarily dismissed all positions of Guizi Liu on the grounds of illness and illness, and sent Guizi Liu home to study, in order to show their sincerity in peace talks with Wu Chaoyue.

Of course, Yang Xiuqing in Nanjing City was also ready, just waiting for Wu Chaoyue to contact and negotiate with the Manchu court, Yang Xiuqing would use this as an excuse to protest and oppose, and deliberately deteriorate the relationship with Wu Chaoyue, so as to tear up the covenant at any time, block the Yangtze River channel at a critical moment, and protect the Manchu court and himself.