As soon as Zhang Yi agreed on the strategy with Xu Huaijin, he immediately sent two telegrams to Beijing, one directly to Li Hongzhang, and the other to be presented to the Empress Dowager Cixi by Li Hongzhang on his behalf. -

Xianliang Temple, Beijing.

Today's Li Hongzhang is 'intertwined' in his heart, there is no way, who let him put up a greedy and ignorant old 'woman' and a simple emperor, the building is declining, and he is the only one to support it, and anyone will feel tired.

In the morning, Li Hongzhang used too early. Zhang Peilun trotted all the way into his living room, and shouted: "My lord, my lord, Fengtian has sent a telegram!" ”

Li Hongzhang's 'spirit' perked up, stood up, and said: "Where's the telegram, Youqiao, hurry up and bring it to me!" ”

Zhang Youqiao hurriedly handed the telegram to Li Hongzhang.

Li Hongzhang opened the telegram and read it carefully: "Shaoquan Gong, the three provinces outside the customs are in danger, and the Cossacks are committing murder in Shanhaiguan, and at the time of the survival of the nation, please abandon the personal reputation, work together inside and outside the customs to expel the Tartars and consolidate our territory." Linevich's generation, plundered Gyeonggi, the invasion is very deep, compatriots of the same origin, Yi is willing to personally lead the army into the customs to suppress the Kou, but the war in the northeast is in full swing, the troops under his command are insufficient, but please help me, lobby the queen mother, the emperor, a total of troops to send troops, exterminate the bandits, the big thing is decided, Yi immediately withdrew from Shanhaiguan, and the three eastern provinces of the decisive battle with Japan and Russia, guarding the ancestral mausoleum, a letter of resignation, please forward to the empress dowager Lafayette. Jun An, Zhang Yi was the first ......"

Li Hongzhang has been in a hurry for decades, for the Northeast war situation, the "hole" is like watching the fire, the offensive and defensive and strategic comparison of the three provinces is also clear, but now the Qing Dynasty is short of major generals, that day, Zhang Yi was angry, declared independence, completely cut off the hope of the union of the two, Li Hongzhang was enthusiastic, but it was difficult to help, he could only sigh in vain.

Now the situation is completely different, first, the queen mother lives in the court and does not understand the situation outside the border; Second, now that the Cossack cavalry is raging in the pass, the court is full of headaches, if Zhang Yi is really willing to send troops to chase the enemy, the natural resistance will be much smaller.

Li Hongzhang's eyes shone with the light of wisdom, and it was not a big problem to send troops together, the Empress Dowager Cixi wished that someone would come forward to drive the Russian army away, but this was a joint dispatch of several armies, and only with the strength of either side, it would not be able to defeat the Russian army and even be defeated.

And it is absolutely difficult for ordinary people to check and balance the various departments, unless he or Zhang Yi comes forward, even Yuan Shikai, I am afraid that it will be difficult to reconcile the contradictions of the various armies.

But at this time, will Cixi let herself leave the capital? Obviously unrealistic.

Li Hongzhang sighed, no matter, go to the palace first, this time look at Zhang Yi's telegram, I'm afraid he really wants to go out in person, he dares to think, now the three eastern provinces are 'chaotic', he doesn't sit in Fengtian, he even dares to send troops to the Guannei, it is really incredible.

In Cining Palace, Cixi has been very thin recently, and an old lady who is over sixty years old, no matter how strong she is, can't withstand such a toss in the past two months.

Li Hongzhang stood in front of him and watched her finish reading Zhang Yi's telegram.

Cixi asked, "Shaoquan, what do you think about this matter?" ”

Li Hongzhang groaned for a while, and said: "Lafayette, now that Linevich is leading the cavalry, it is too unpleasant, several state capitals in Zhili have been looted by them, and even the headquarters of the Armed Guards in Nanyuan have been attacked, if we continue to be so silent, where is the dignity of our court, and how can we be worthy of the common people in the world?" ”

Cixi smiled desolate and said, "Dignity? Shaoquan, do you think our court still has dignity now? was chased to Baoding, signed the "Baoding Treaty", lost power and humiliation, where do we still have a trace of dignity? ”

Li Hongzhang replied: "Lafayette, it is precisely because of the former that we have lost power and humiliation, and now it is just the opportunity for us to turn the tables, if there is no Zhang Yi's army, we really can't help the Cossack cavalry, but now it is different, if Zhang Yi really personally led the troops into the customs, with the help of his 'elite' soldiers, we defeat the Russian army, then it is just around the corner, and when the time comes, we will all overthrow the "Baoding Treaty". ”

Cixi was silent for a moment and said: "However, we don't have any troops to send now, Shaoquan, the Russian army has tens of thousands, since Zhang Jianzhi's white-eyed wolf invited us to send troops together, it means that he is also short of troops, can we win this battle, we can't afford to lose anymore." ”

Li Hongzhang said in a deep voice: "Lafayette, you have also read Zhang Jianzhi's telegram to you, he still thinks about his homeland, declared independence and statehood, that is just his expedient measure, if he really gives up the three eastern provinces and 'Mongolian' ancient to Tsarist Russia, then we will really become sinners through the ages, he has now declared independence, as long as he can drive out Tsarist Russia, I think he is still willing to belong to the territory of the Qing Dynasty, no matter what, we are all our own people, Tsarist Russia is just a barbarian, how can the ancestral inheritance be given to others? At that time, if he really surrenders his hand, it will be Qi Tian's work, and I am afraid that it will be okay to give him the title of king, which is nearly one-third of the territory of the Great Qing Kingdom. ”

Cixi sighed and said: "I have also thought about this link, but I am just unhappy in my heart, Jianguo, this is a real rebellion, and it will punish the nine clans." ”

Li Hongzhang replied: "Lafayette, the matter is urgent, this Zhang Jianzhi has no choice, so he made this decision, what he said the most in his life is to be a soldier, and his greatest ambition is to protect his family and defend the country, let him leave the three eastern provinces and the 'Mongolian' ancients, didn't he cut his heart's 'meat'?" ”

Cixi asked, "That Shaoquan, you have to tell me, if you really send troops together, how to fight?" Who will lead the troops? What are our odds of winning? Li Hongzhang replied: "Lafayette, now there are nearly 20,000 'elite' troops of Zhang Yi on Shanhaiguan, although we have lost part of our troops, but Song Qing's military guard army is still relatively complete, there are still tens of thousands of troops, and the other departments together also have nearly 10,000 troops, Shandong Yuan Shikai's department has been in Shandong to guard against the invasion of the Japanese invaders, and now all the 'fine' forces of the Japanese invaders are contained by the Northeast and Taiwan, and there is no time to take care of the Central Plains, so they can also 'draw' the main force back." In this way, Zhang Jianzhi can send at least 10,000 troops, and our court sent Lord Song Qing north to Shanhaiguan, plus Dong Fuxiang's 3,000 cavalry, he can still have the strength to fight; Then we mobilized more than 10,000 troops from Yuan Shikai, and together, our troops should be nearly 40,000 troops, and in terms of troops, we have undoubtedly gained the upper hand; As for the person who led the troops, the minister thought that this time the use of troops, the four departments were combined, and they must be people with outstanding ability and prestige, Song Qing was old, Dong Fuxiang had too few troops, and Yuan Shikai was a little less qualified, so they were not the best choice...... "Cixi's face changed, and she said: "Shaoquan, you don't want to go out in person, absolutely not, now I can only rely on you and Ronglu, if you make a mistake, who do we orphans and widows rely on!" ”