The fiasco of the Tiger God Camp was like a thunderbolt from the sky, which shocked the nine inner and outer cities of Beijing at once, and even the clear-eyed people such as Ci'an, Cixi, and Devil Liu, who had never been optimistic about the Tiger God Camp beforehand, could not believe such a cruel fact......

More than 20 soldiers of the Wu Army can rush into the camp of the Tiger God Camp, which has 50,000 people, to kill people and set fires, and they are invincible! Two battalions of a thousand Wu troops can have a hundred battalions of Tiger God battalions, beating, hanging, beating, stepping on the ground and rubbing!

"Is the Wu rebel thief army a heavenly soldier and a heavenly general? More than 20 Wu rebel thieves can defeat the Tiger God Battalion of more than 50,000 people, if Wu rebel thieves are all so able to fight, how can this capital be saved? This was Ci'an's cry of horror after hearing the military intelligence report. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Ci'an, who is the empress dowager of the East, is still so frightened and shocked, not to mention the eight banners and ordinary people in the capital, the war outside the Yongding Gate has not yet completely ended, and the people of the capital are already full of rumors, some say that Wu Jun is possessed by the second brother of Sun Wukong, and some say that the soldiers of Wu Jun are changed by demons and monsters, and some people swear that Wu Jun soldiers are blessed by foreign foreign gods, and all of them are invulnerable to fight, and the guns will not even leave a white mark on the body! The people are panicked, everyone is in danger, there are quite a few people who predict that the number of Qing Qi has been exhausted, and there are even more Manmeng banner people who rush to pack their luggage and prepare to flee back to the outside of the border.

The civil and military officials and ministers and magnates in the Manchu court were not much better, the news had just spread in the inner city, and almost all the six departments of the capital and the major yamen had stopped operating, and the officials of all sizes were worried, for fear that the Wu army would quickly break the city and enter the Zhengyang Gate, delaying their return home to pack up the gold and silver and flee for their lives. And the major palaces in the capital were even more chaotic, and the Belle Fujin people shouted and screamed, scrambling to command the slaves to pack their property into cars, ready to flee out of the city at any time, panicking as if the end of the world had come.

Fortunately, there are still one or two people in the Manchu court who understand, at least the new minister Shen Zhaolin who is on duty in the military aircraft department is very calm, as the ministers of the military aircraft department enter the palace to report the bad time, in the face of Ci'an crying to death, Cixi and Devil Six are helpless together in the critical situation, Shen Zhaolin, who is known for the main battle, stepped forward and pointed out: "The two queen mothers are panicking, although the Tiger God Camp is defeated, but the Qing Dynasty's Jingshi defenders are intact, and there is still the strength of a battle with the Wu rebel army, the court only needs to continue to hold on without fighting, Waiting for the reinforcements of Guan Wen and Luo Bingzhang, then in a few days, the capital will be able to turn the corner, and the Wu rebel army will also flee in embarrassment. ”

Although Shen Zhaolin's opinion was optimistic, Cixi and Devil Six and the others were still sad, and Ci'an also wiped his tears and said: "Although Shen Aiqing's words are reasonable, but the Wu rebel army is so powerful, can the defenders of the capital support the arrival of reinforcements?" ”

"That's fine!" Shen Zhaolin replied loudly: "Today's defeat is not due to the fact that the Wu rebel army is too powerful, but because the Tiger God Battalion formed by the monk and the prince himself is too incompetent!" Let me ask the whole world, throughout the ages, how can there be an army that was formed yesterday and can go into battle to kill the enemy today? The defeat of the Tiger God Camp is not surprising, and the victory of the Wu thief is just a fluke, and there is no need to be afraid! ”

"Lord Shen, you're talking too much, aren't you?" Cao Yuying said cautiously: "The general of Tuhaitu was ...... back then. ”

"That's General Tu's talent, well-governed, the monk and prince despise the enemy and speak loudly, and like to seize power and discriminate against Han generals, so can it be as good as General Tu's star and a half?"

Shen Zhaolin unceremoniously reprimanded the monk and the prince, and said: "Besides, General Tu used the Eight Banners as his army back then, and he fought with the Chahar rebels only after the soldiers left Zhangjiakou. The monk and the prince blindly read the book, and only learned a superficial lesson from General Tu and rushed into battle, how could he be undefeated? ”

Just like a person who fell into the water grabbed a life-saving straw, although he didn't understand the truth of Shen Zhaolin's analysis, Ci'an was still subconsciously willing to believe that what Shen Zhaolin said was true. So after nodding, Ci'an hurriedly asked again: "Shen Aiqing, then in your opinion, what should we do now?" ”

"Hold on and wait for help!" Shen Zhaolin replied categorically, and said more directly: "Defend the outer city first, if the city wall can't hold it, let the outer city defenders retreat into the city to fight street battles, and after the outer city is lost, they will defend the inner city, and if the inner city wall is lost again, they will retreat into the inner city to fight street battles, and at the same time stick to the Forbidden City with all their might!" ”

"In this way, no matter how sharp the Wu rebel army is, it is absolutely impossible to break through the Forbidden City and endanger the palace city within three or five days! And three or five days later, the reinforcements of Guan Wen and Luo Bingzhang will inevitably arrive one after another, and they will cooperate with the defenders of the capital, and they will definitely defeat Zeng Guoquan's rebels under the city of Beijing! ”

If Zeng Guoquan could be here, he would definitely be able to strangle Shen Zhaolin to death - because this move just happened to choke Wu Jun's life. But it is a pity that although Shen Zhaolin's proposal is too correct to be correct, Ci'an and Cixi do not have this confidence, and they are noncommittal to Shen Zhaolin's proposal, and their expressions are very disappointed. However, the devil six wavered a little, and opened his mouth to echo: "The two queen mothers, Lord Shen's proposal is not impossible to consider, I hope the two queen queens will think twice." ”

After a few words of discussion in a low voice, Cixi said very reluctantly: "The capital is guarded, but we had better be prepared with both hands, of course it is best to be able to hold the capital, if we really can't hold it, we can't sit still, let the Wu rebel thief army hold the holy car hostage." ”

Obedient and listening, hearing Cixi's words, Shen Zhaolin immediately knew that Ci'an and Cixi were already preparing to open the slip, and quickly knelt down and said: "The two queen mothers, the capital should not be abandoned lightly, after the Yingyi and Fayi occupied the capital, they discussed and retreated because they were not interested in the Jiangshan Sheji of the Qing Dynasty and had no intention of occupying the capital for a long time!" ”

"But Wu is different from the rebel! Once this traitor seizes the capital, not only will it be impossible to return the capital to the Qing court, but he will definitely take the opportunity to rebel and claim the emperor, plot to usurp the throne, and steal my Qing dynasty! ”

Shen Zhaolin's words finally had a certain effect, considering that once the capital was captured by the Wu army, Wu Chaoyue, who had long coveted the throne, would definitely take the opportunity to claim the emperor and stand on his own, and would never return the capital back after signing a few treaties like the British and the French, Ci'an and Cixi were a little more determined, and Ci'an said: "What Shen Aiqing said is reasonable, the capital cannot be abandoned lightly, pass on the edict and the defenders in the city, defend the capital with all their might, and those who flee without authorization will be immediately killed!" ”

The devil and the others agreed, but Shen Zhaolin refused to give up, and suggested: "The two queen mothers, the old ministers believe that another edict should be issued, and those who abandon the city and leave should be beheaded immediately, so as to stabilize people's hearts, encourage morale, and make the military and people in the capital fully aware of the determination of the Qing court and the capital to live and die together." ”

Ci'an was a little hesitant, and Cixi, who was good at slipping away, shook her head directly, and said: "There's no need for this, you can't block the way of speech, Shen Aiqing can rest assured, if someone proposes to abandon the city, we just don't listen." ”

Shen Zhaolin sighed quietly, knowing that Ci'an and Cixi still didn't dare to cut off their own retreat, and when the situation was critical, it was still possible to choose to leave to save their lives.

It was the second watch of the night, when it was confirmed that the Wu army had retreated to Huayue Temple to camp and rest, and did not launch an overnight siege, Ci'an and Cixi had people ring the Jingyang bell at night and summoned hundreds of officials to the palace to discuss matters. As a result, our monk and prince also asked someone to tie himself up with Huang Aya for the second time, and walked up to the Jinluan Hall with tears to ask Ci'an and Cixi for their guilt. Ci'an and Cixi were on fire in their hearts, and they couldn't wait to push the monk who could only brag and talk big words directly out of the noon gate and behead him, and Ci'an, who was a little shallow in the city, also asked directly: "Monk Aiqing, didn't you say that with the Eight Banners slaves as the army, you can guarantee that you can kill Zeng Guoquan's rebels and thieves without leaving a piece of armor?" Why is it that now that the Tiger God Camp has collapsed, the Wu rebel thief army has become more rampant? ”

"Minions are incompetent! Slaves are guilty! Slaves deserve death! The minions never expected that there would be a traitor in the Tiger God Camp, spreading rumors to shake the morale of the army, shooting in violation of the order and causing chaos, giving the Wu rebel army the opportunity to break the camp! Slaves deserve death! Please rest assured that the two queen mothers will definitely find out the traitors as soon as possible and cut them with a thousand knives! Ling Chi was executed! ”

Kneeling down on the Jinluan Palace, the monk and the prince cried like pear blossoms and rain, and the cuckoo cried blood, while desperately kowtowing and asking for guilt, while desperately pushing the guilt to the traitorous traitor in the Tiger God Camp. Considering that there is really no one available in the military at present, Ci'an and Cixi endured again and again, so they had to temporarily take off the monk and the prince's crown, and let the monk continue to make meritorious contributions to the old prince of Hui as a deputy.

Then, of course, the question of how to resist the enemy was discussed, which made the main battle faction led by Shen Zhaolin breathe a sigh of relief, although some officials also suggested that Ci'an and Cixi Thirty-six Strategies should be followed, and follow their dead ghost husband Emperor Xianfeng to slip away in advance, leaving only the important ministers to continue to guard the capital and wait for reinforcements. However, before the Wu army entered the outer city, Ci'an and Cixi, who had been vaccinated by Shen Zhaolin, categorically rejected this proposal.

finalized the resolution to continue to defend the city, and then of course the next step was to clarify the person responsible for defending the city, but this time Ci'an and Cixi were not polite, and directly entrusted all the important tasks of guarding the buffer zone of the outer city to the monk prince, let the monk prince be in charge of the defense of the outer city, let the alcohol prince be responsible for guarding the inner city and the Forbidden City, and Hui Lao Wang Ye continued to serve as the commander-in-chief of the whole army. At the same time, Ci'an also said directly to the monk prince: "Monk Aiqing, this is the last chance given to you by the mourning family and the Empress Dowager Xi, the outer city is here, your head is there, the outer city is dead, you don't have to come back, solve it yourself." ”

"Slave leader, Empress Dowager Longen." The monk agreed with a sad face, and his heart was even more bitter, and he said secretly: "It's over, unless the Wu rebel thief army has its head in the water, it must hit the outer city first, if there is really anything wrong in this outer city, this king's head really can't be saved?" ”

At this time, Li Tangjie, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, stood up and made a new suggestion with ingenuity, saying: "The two queen mothers, Weichen thinks, may wish to consider recruiting Zeng Guoquan and other traitors for the use of the imperial court. ”

The Manchu Dynasty was in an uproar, and most of the civil and military officials ridiculed Li Tangjie's whimsy, and asked Li Tangjie if he had forgotten the kinship between Zeng Guoquan and Wu Chaoyue? But there are also a few officials who think it's worth a try, and Li Hongzao, who is also Qingliu (has nothing to do with Li Hongzhang), is one of them, and said: "The two queen mothers, Weichen thinks that Li Shangshu's proposal might as well give it a try." ”

"It is true that Wu Chaoyue is the niece and son-in-law of Zeng Guoquan, but I don't know what the reason is, Zeng Guoquan's niece turned out to be married to Wu Chaoyue as a side room, Zeng Guoquan is a direct descendant of Zongsheng Zengzi, even if he doesn't say anything, he must feel extremely humiliated in his heart. Moreover, Zeng Guoquan is an uncle, but he has to listen to the command of the younger Wu Chaoyue rebel, and curtsy to Wu Chaoyue, and the human ethics are reversed, and there must be resentment in his heart. ”

"With this opportunity, if the two queen mothers promulgate a decree, bestow Zeng Guoquan with a high-ranking official and a knighthood, reward him with gold, silver and jewelry, and then feel that he is enlightened by a saint, it may not be impossible to appease Zeng Guoquan's rebels and make them available to the imperial court."

Li Hongzao's words were ridiculed by everyone again, and many civil and military officials sneered and asked Li Hongzao, saying that Zeng Guoquan would soon have the hope of breaking through the capital and being promoted to an official reward, how could he still accept the official canonization of the Manchu court? However, Cixi and Ci'an never opened their mouths to refuse, and whispered behind the bead curtain.

"Sister, although the discussion between Li Tangjie and Li Hongzao is whimsical and impossible to succeed in one fell swoop, if we are a little flexible, it may not be able to turn it into a strategy to delay the army and buy time for us to wait for reinforcements." Cixi whispered.

"How to be flexible?" Ci'an asked in a low voice.

"In the name of appeasement, he secretly asked for peace talks." Cixi said in a low voice: "Zeng Guoquan's brother Zeng Guofan died in Poyang Lake, the main reason is that Wen Jun, the governor of Jiangxi at that time, refused to send troops to rescue, Zeng Guoquan must hate Wen Jun deeply, and now Wen Jun happens to be in the capital, we might as well hand over Wen Jun to avenge Zeng Guoquan as a negotiation condition, ask to start peace talks with Zeng Guoquan, take the opportunity to delay time, and wait for reinforcements to arrive." ”

"Zeng Guoquan is afraid that the thief will not be fooled, right?" Ci'an asked with some concern: "That traitor doesn't understand that time is equally important to him, how can he waste time for the sake of a Wen Jun who can be killed sooner or later?" ”

"Zeng Guoquan rebel thief will definitely not be fooled, but we can tempt him to take advantage of it, and even promise to take the initiative to open the city to welcome the thief as long as the conditions are suitable, then Zeng Guoquan rebel thief will not be tempted to consider it, as long as he offers conditions to bargain with us, we can take the opportunity to delay time and wait for reinforcements to arrive."

Cixi whispered her true intentions, and added: "And after establishing contact, if we can defeat the Wu thieves in the defense of the city, and make Zeng Guoquan's rebel thieves feel hopeless in breaking the city, then the matter of appeasement that Li Tangjie and Li Hongzao said may not be impossible to succeed." ”

After thinking about it carefully, he felt that even if this matter failed, there was almost no loss, but once he succeeded, he would gain a lot, so Ci'an quickly nodded and agreed to give it a try. At that moment, Ci'an and Cixi discussed a few words in a low voice, first casually found an excuse to erase the problem, and then announced the dissolution of the dynasty.

In the end, after the hundred officials left, Ci'an and Cixi secretly explained to An Dehai, and asked An Dehai to secretly announce that Li Tangjie and Li Hongzao would enter the palace for an audience without alarming anyone.