Liang Qichao and Tan Sitong were elated, but they understood the sinister nature of officialdom and politics, and things were as simple as they thought. [Ran^Text^Library] []. [774] [buy]. [com]

Shan said that Yuan Shikai sent Tan Sitong away, sat on the chair, and fell into deep thought.

Yuan Shikai is not a fool, on the contrary, he is very shrewd, in the entire Qing Dynasty, compared to the art of scheming, he is also a top figure, for Guangxu and Tan Sitong to give the promise, he doesn't care, what he cares about is how to survive in the struggle between the imperial party and the later party, and then grab the greatest benefits.

Yuan Shikai sneered in his heart, what Tan Sitong said to him was still in his ears, Zhang Jianzhi would also stand on the emperor's side and support the emperor to implement the new policy, and Fengtian's army might go south at any time.

Zhang Jianzhi? If Zhang Yi supports Guangxu's implementation of the new policy, then at this critical time, he will not leave Mukden, cross the ocean, and go to the United States, which is obviously unwilling to get involved and hide far away. Without Zhang Jianzhi's strong support, with less than 20,000 people under his command, how could it be possible to fight against the Hou Party headed by Cixi, don't forget, Li Hongzhang is a supporter of Cixi, the former's influence in his own army is not ordinarily large, if he supports Guangxu, Li Hongzhang can pull away half of the people with an order, and he can only rely on less than 10,000 people, what can he do?

Even if Li Hongzhang didn't give an order, with less than 20,000 people in his hands, to touch Ronglu's Wuwei Front Army, Wuwei Rear Army and Wuwei Middle Army, it would be tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg, not to mention that there were still tens of thousands of troops in the capital, wasn't he an old birthday star hanging himself, and he was impatient?

Yuan Shikai thought in his heart, his mind gradually became firm, he must not follow the emperor, it is a business that is guaranteed to lose money and not make money, it seems that he is going to start acting.

Yes, I'm going to see Lord Ronglu, Yuan Shikai cleaned up, didn't bring anyone, and rushed directly to Ronglu's Beiyang Minister Yamen.

Now Rong Lu is in Tianjin, nervously purging the various departments, strictly restricting the actions of the ministries, for the slightly distrustful generals, immediately cleared out, either transferred, or dismissed on the spot, now several armed guards, by Rong Lu firmly controlled, only Yuan Shikai's army, because of the support of Li Hongzhang behind the back, and Yuan Shikai's full response, only to maintain complete independence.

In the evening, Rong Lu was resting in his house, and someone came to report, saying that Yuan Shikai had come to visit and had an urgent report.

Rong Lu's heart was shocked, and he hurriedly called someone to invite Yuan Shikai in.

Yuan Shikai entered the hall and hurriedly saluted: "The lowly and directly subordinate commander, Yuan Shikai, the commander of the right army of Wuwei, see the governor." ”

Rong Lu smiled: "Xiang Cheng, don't be polite, come, sit, come, come and watch tea." ”

Yuan Shikai said: "Your Excellency Governor, this time Shikai came, but there is an urgent official appearance. ”

Rong Lu said, "What's wrong? I heard that Yuan Xiangcheng's heart is as wide as the sea, the city is very deep, and he has the ability to collapse Mount Tai in front of him without changing his color, what happened today? ”

Yuan Shikai smiled bitterly: "My lord, of course something big happened, Shikai had to come to see you in a hurry, this matter is not trivial, the adult still held his back, and Shikai dared to say it." ”

Rong Lu was shocked in his heart, it was absolutely amazing to be able to make Yuan Shikai so cautious. Rong Lu waved his hand and said: "You all retreat, martial law outside, outsiders are strictly forbidden to approach!" ”

All the people in the hall retreated, and Yuan Shikai said: "My lord, Tan Sitong suddenly came to Tianjin to see me this morning, and brought the emperor's secret decree. ”

Rong Lu's heart was shocked, this is a thing that pierces the sky, now the incompatibility between the two parties of the emperor and queen has reached the extreme, and there may be great changes at any time, and now Tan Sitong personally visited Yuan Shikai, the meaning of which is self-evident.

Rong Lu asked, "Xiang Cheng, what does the secret decree say?" ”

Yuan Shikai replied: "My lord, Tan Sitong said to me, ask me to command the army, in the autumn cāo, take the opportunity to wipe out all the old-fashioned ministers in the court, put Lafayette under house arrest, and then lead the troops to support the emperor's pro-government, the emperor has promised to be humiliated, once it is done, the position of the governor of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang is mine, my lord, kill the important ministers, house arrest the queen mother, this is the sin of the nine clans, but the humble duty can not be afforded, so I hurriedly came to ask the lord, how to deal with it." ”

Rong Lu was shocked, fortunately Yuan Shikai reported the news and chose Lafayette, if he didn't, he would all be in danger, kill the old minister, the first one who will not let go is himself, he is not only one of the leaders of the old school, but also against the emperor everywhere in the reform and reform, the emperor has long hated himself.

Rong Lu shouted in a low voice: "Xiang Cheng, what about the holy decree, show it to me!" ”

Yuan Shikai handed the holy decree to Rong Lu, Rong Lu opened it and watched it carefully, and after a long time, Rong Lu said: "Xiang Cheng, well done, this matter, I will definitely ask for credit for you in front of Lafayette, and reward you, the holy decree will stay with me, I will return to Beijing early tomorrow morning to meet the Queen Mother." You restrain all the armies in Tianjin, take my orders and arrows, and all the armies in Tianjin are under your control for the time being, and you must take care of your home for me. ”

Yuan Shikai was overjoyed, and hurriedly knelt down and said, "Thank you for your promotion!" ”

Rong Lu waved his hand and said: "No need, Xiang Cheng has made a great contribution this time, you should have a heavy reward, wait for the old man to be the queen mother, I am afraid that Futai and the governor will not be a problem, and I will concentrate on things in the future, and there is a chance to promote, I will not keep you, I also need to deploy here, I will enter Beijing early tomorrow morning, and I will hand it over to you here." ”

Yuan Shikai got up and said goodbye.

Rong Lu sent Yuan Shikai away, began a tense deployment, and ordered Cheng Yan, the commander of the Wuwei Chinese Army, to lead the most elite five battalions of men and horses together with the cavalry battalion overnight to move in the direction of the capital, temporarily stationed in Nanyuan, and the rest of the departments to strengthen their guard in Tianjin, and in case of an accident, immediately mobilize the army.

After Rong Lu had dealt with all the affairs, it was already past midnight, he returned to the house, rested for a while, and the sky was still completely bright, Rong Lu ordered a team of cavalry to follow him and set off to Beijing, four hundred miles away, Rong Lu arrived in the capital in just one day.

Rong Lu didn't have time to rest, so he rushed directly to the Summer Palace to see the Empress Dowager Cixi. Seeing the Empress Dowager Cixi, Rong Lu knelt directly on the ground and said, "Lafayette, something big has happened." ”

Cixi looked at Rong Lu covered in dust, her face was full of exhaustion, her eyes were bloodshot, and the old man was much haggard. Cixi hurriedly said, "Ronglu, what's wrong with you? Why does it look like this? What the hell is going on? Rong Lu cried: "Lafayette, the emperor is going to do it, Lafayette, if we don't take action, even your life is worried!" ”