"I still can't hide from it!"

Hearing Cixi's shout, Li Hongzhang stood up with difficulty, knelt down tremblingly, and said "The old minister is here", but the head that lay down could not stop the old tears.

"Li Hongzhang—"

Behind the bead curtain, Cixi tried to calm down as much as possible and said: "You have worked hard for the Qing Dynasty for most of your life, and it stands to reason that you should not be allowed to work hard this time; - But you also looked, if you don't go, the pillar of the Qing Dynasty, the Japanese will not be able to open this peace talk, and for the sake of our Qing Dynasty, you have to work hard to make this trip. ”

Is this hard work?

Li Hongzhang was really angry and aggrieved at this time.

It's you who want to be beaten alive or dead, you have been hungry for decades of hard work by the old man, the old man has been dismissed from his official position, and the old man's nephew has been imprisoned, and now he doesn't even let go of the old man's old bones and the last bit of face, and he wants to step into the dung pit!

But can you not go?

Lafayette said that this is the part, he has a large number of children, dare not go!

"The old minister's decree—"

Li Hongzhang's voice was hoarse and full of sadness.

"Boom, boom—"

At this moment, a chilling explosion suddenly came from outside the hall, which shook the entire hall with a buzzing sound.

"Boom, boom, boom-"

In just 10 minutes, nearly 100 artillery pieces of the three artillery wings of the Japanese army carried out a fierce bombardment of the area around the southeast city wall of the outer city of Yanjing.

For a time, wolf smoke billowed from the entire southeast city wall, and the Qing soldiers of the Eight Banners stationed on the bombed city wall cried wolf howls and fled one after another.

The shells that fell into the houses in the city caused a raging flame, and the smoke was thick and thick.

At about 17 o'clock in the afternoon of February 21 in the Western calendar, the Japanese artillery outside Yanjing City carried out retaliatory warning bombardment on the city walls around Guangqumen, Dongbianmen, Zuo'anmen, and Yongdingmen in the outer city of Yanjing.

The Qing army and city defenders had no power to fight back, and they fled one after another.

In this ten-minute bombardment, nearly 3,000 Qing soldiers were killed by sudden artillery fire, and countless civilians were killed.

The blazing shells set off huge fires, killing thousands of innocent people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

That night, the firelight burned half of the sky, visible for dozens of miles.

And in the south three miles of You'anmen in the outer city of Yanjing, there was also a small battle.

Xia Qingyun and Feng Guozhang led the horse team to forcibly break through a checkpoint on the Japanese post road, killing six Japanese infantrymen, and then before the Japanese brigade chased after them, they pounced on You'anmen.

In the faint night and the monstrous black smoke in the city in the east, let Xia Qingyun and Feng Guozhang shout through his throat, and the Qing army in You'anmen could not open the city gate.

In desperation, Xia Qingyun proposed to put down the hanging basket and let them climb the city tower first, but the Qing army on the city wall was afraid of burning himself and refused directly.

Xia Qingyun and other soldiers who were grief-stricken had to flee westward before the Japanese pursuing cavalry arrived to encircle.

It was also on this dark night, in the light of the fire in the middle of the city, that Sun Yuwen and Xu Yongyi, the ministers of military aircraft, went to the British Consulate under the instruction of Cixi.

The two commissioned the British minister, Ogg, to inform the Japanese army outside the city that the Qing Dynasty had severely reprimanded the defenders of the Ninghe River, assured that similar 'misunderstandings' would not occur again, and protested against the bombardment of Yanjing by the Oriental army.

At the same time, the imperial court has decreed that it will be replaced by Li Hongzhang, a scholar of the Wenhua Temple, as the plenipotentiary minister for peace talks.

The news was taken by Ogge to the Japanese garrison outside the city, and it was already early in the morning when it was transmitted back to Hiroshima that night.

However, all the Oriental ministers still got up late at night to meet Emperor Meiji, because they all knew what it meant for the Qing to bow down.

It means that the peace talks have finally officially begun, and the empire has completely grasped all the initiative, just waiting for Li Hongzhang to come and sign the pledge.

"All the kings work hard, cheers to the great victory of the Empire!"

Emperor Meiji raised the wine glass in his hand high, and his spirit was flying.

"Congratulations to the emperor, congratulations to the East!"

Hirobumi Ito, Seigo Komichi, Mutsu Munemitsu, Kawakami Soroku -

All the Oriental civil and military officers raised their wine glasses with excited faces.

In the early morning of February 22, Li Hongzhang and Li Jingfang left Yanjing City under the escort of a battalion of soldiers from southern Anhui with the national letter and a full stomach of sadness.

His trip was accompanied by Wang Wenjin, the left attendant of the military department, and Li Minchen, the Jinmen Dao.

The British consul of Tianjin, Bowsted, and the consul of Yantai, Allinger, were also escorted by a group of British cavalry, and marched eastward together.

Li Minchen returned to Jinmen to continue his post, while Wang Wenjin took the opportunity to leave Yanjing City, which was surrounded by iron barrels, with a secret decree, to find the anti-Japanese army on the outskirts of Beijing.

Because the area around Yongdingmen has been burned into ruins by the overnight fire, the team can only go out of the city from You'anmen.

Last night's attack by Xia Qingyun made Sato, the commander of the 18th Wing of the Japanese army in charge of the siege in this area, furious, so as soon as the team left the city gate, they were besieged by the Japanese cavalry.

However, the tall horses of the British cavalry made these Japanese soldiers dare not act rashly, and the situation was clarified, and the Japanese troops, who had been notified last night, immediately let them go.

During the whole process, Li Hongzhang and Li Jingfang sat in the carriage silently with gloomy faces, and Li Minchen of Jinmen Dao was around.

At this time, the father and son were already heartbroken, and they had nothing to say.

originally thought that being forced to enter Yanjing as a hostage was humiliating enough, but who knew that now he would face something a hundred times more humiliating than that.

Quisling?

Dog traitor?

In the thousands of years of post-Chinese history books, it will also be recorded that 'in the twenty-first year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, the Li family father and son crossed east to beg for peace and signed a traitorous treaty'.

A thousand years of retention!

"Gollum, Gollum—"

The sound of the carriage traveled three miles south and arrived at the Majiapu Japanese military checkpoint.

The Japanese troops at the checkpoint had already received the order of the fast horse in advance, and hurriedly removed the obstacles to let them go.

Ten miles south, arrive at the West Red Gate.

Thirty miles south, we arrived at Daxing Town, passing through the last checkpoint of the Japanese army.

It was already two o'clock in the afternoon when the team left Daxing Town, and then turned southeast and headed for Anding Town, thirty miles away.

"Zhongtang, the team is extremely tired, can you rest at the post station in front tonight?"

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the team walked more than ten miles to the southeast, and the battalion of southern Anhui soldiers plus the march in Yanjing City had already walked nearly 50 miles, and everyone complained bitterly.

Seeing this scene, thinking that there was still a long journey of three or four hundred miles below, Wan Benhua, the chief soldier of Caozhou Town, who led the team, went to ask Li Hongzhang for an order to rest.

"The matter on the march is up to you Rong Zhai, but you need to get to Dagu Wharf as soon as possible."

Li Hongzhang's hoarse voice was full of old haggardness.

"Camp on the spot, camp on the spot!"

After receiving Li Hongzhang's order, the team marched for another mile or so, and when they reached the post station in Qiandaying Village, Wan Benhua loudly ordered the team to stop advancing.

Li Hongzhang, with the support of Li Jingfang, got out of the carriage, reluctantly said a few words to Bao Shide and Alinger, and then entered the guest room in the post station to rest.

In addition to Li Hongzhang, Li Jingfang, Wan Benhua, Wang Wenjin, Li Minchen, Bao Shide, Allinger, and 11 British cavalry, they entered the post station to rest, and the rest of the soldiers opened their marching tents near the post station and camped in the open air.

The sun is setting, and the sky is full of fire clouds.

Just like yesterday's fire, there is also the blood of dead soldiers and innocent people.

Li Hongzhang took a nap for a while, feeling that the room was so stuffy, but he didn't have the face to be ashamed to go out to meet people.

The window on the second floor of the inn room was opened to breathe.

At this time, he suddenly heard the exclamations of the soldiers outside, shouting something.

"What's there to make a fuss about, even if the Japanese soldiers are coming, it's also worth exclaiming, didn't they just come out of the tiger's mouth? The old man would rather die under the guns of the Japanese people, not seeking to live for a hundred years, at least not for ten thousand years! ”

Li Hongzhang was upset and yelled loudly.