The failure of the two attacks made Luo Yang more cautious, he completely gave up the beautiful plan of disturbing the enemy and then plundering the north of the city of Beijing, but postponed the attack, sent messengers to continue north, mobilized all the cavalry of the king of Lu Ren Huabang, and went to the city of Beijing, and sent personnel himself to reconnoiter the city of Beijing.

At night, at the head of the city of Beijing, the Qing army lit lanterns and torches, shining below from time to time, looking for traces of the enemy's attack, the patrolling troops stepped on the city wall extremely loudly, almost sleepless night, the Qing army strengthened the defense, there were soldiers everywhere, and the artillery was aimed at all suspicious places,

Luo Yang didn't sleep because of the heat, in fact, he couldn't sleep at all at this time, a large group of mosquitoes or something came to bomb, outside the cornfield, the cool breeze that was covered could hardly blow on the officers and soldiers, sweating in the half of the land outside the city, everyone was very angry, and even some soldiers simply went to investigate the captured woman, and took the opportunity to tease,

When he was serious about military discipline, Luo Yang observed the city with a telescope, speculating on the whereabouts of the enemy's troops and the location, number, and power of the artillery, and silently deduced the rhythm and plan of the attack.

In fact, at this time, the Qing army was even more frightened, nervous, during the day, two attacks and battles, although the enemy was repulsed, the Qing army knew that the enemy had infiltrated the city, all kinds of urgent news, snowflakes flew to the palace, so that the two palace queen mothers of the palace were so anxious that they wanted to cry,

Emperor Tongzhi is only seven years old, what can a child who doesn't understand anything expect,

"Sister, you'd better move to Shenyang first." The Empress Dowager Xi said seriously, under the light, her beautiful face flashed with tears,

"No, sister, this is the place of our ancestors, no matter how hard we are, we must stick to it, and we can't give up." The Empress Dowager Ci'an of the East Palace was very resolute, in fact, it was a kind of annoyance,

"Sister, you can't be angry, four years ago, the British and French people were deterred, didn't Emperor Daxing hunt Chengde in the north." The Empress Dowager of the West is only thirty years old this year, it is the season of prosperity, but she has already become a widow, and she is still high, the kind of master lonely political layer is bitter, suffocating in her heart, extremely painful,

"Me."

In fact, the queen mother of the two palaces are hesitating, but also struggling in her heart, in the end, Ci'an decided to leave the next day, for the defense of Beijing City, the power of the enemy, the Queen Mother of the West is still relatively cold, she strongly advocated some people to go first, by her in the capital to stabilize people's hearts, and the Huaxia army to fight,

"If our army leaves without a fight, I am afraid that the hearts of the people will collapse and they will no longer be able to clean up."

In the face of the crippled situation of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces also carried out active efforts and efforts, doing everything possible, for example, very early put forward a plea for assistance to Britain and France, and those countries basically agreed, but, I don't know why, suddenly did not listen to the movement, let the Prime Minister Yamen people blow all day long, people have no follow-up, want weapons and ammunition, Britain and France are happy, many fleets escorted a large number of weapons and ammunition rushed over, piled up on the docks of Tianjin, but, the price pit grandma,

The purchase of a large number of new weapons and equipment allowed the Qing army to have the courage to hold out in Beijing, and the Qing army had quickly gathered a large number of troops from the northeast and Mongolia, and other regions, including Shanxi, to defend the city of Beijing.

"The Queen Mother of the Two Palaces, Prince Gong is waiting outside the palace gate." The eunuchs report,

"Please, please." The Empress Dowager West stood up decisively and invited,

Prince Gong came in, although he behaved moderately, his face was pale: "Queen Mother, slave, please two palaces and imperial palaces, and quickly move to Shenyang tomorrow, or Rehe Chengde." ”

"Well, why?" Knowing the reason, the Queen Mother of the West still pretended to show her courage and bearing.

Prince Gong had to tell all kinds of reasons, and finally said: "The enemy is strong and I am weak, the situation is pressing, and the southern Xianghuai army is annihilated, and the thief army is strong, which is not the same as before." ”

The little emperor was also brought in, in the Yangxin Palace, the highest military meeting of the Qing court was held, several ministers of military aircraft were invited, and even, the Shangshu of the six departments also arrived, and several officials of the prime minister's yamen were also there, and the talented Qing court showed a cohesion that was different from the last moment of Emperor Chongzhen in the late Ming Dynasty.

After discussing for a long time, it was decided to move the capital, and the emperor and the empress dowager of the two palaces led part of the personnel to Shenyang in the north, while Prince Gong continued to defend the city of Beijing.

Prince Gong became the figure of the public, the last straw of the fate of the Qing Dynasty, he proposed several rescue measures, and also won everyone's approval, for example, the fundamental opportunity is to ask Britain, France and even Russia for reinforcements, in order to win reinforcements, you can make the maximum concessions, and even the area south of the Yangtze River, a province or several provinces along the southeast coast, you can also promise, quickly contact the remnants of the Hunan army in Lianghu, Zuo Zongtang in Zhejiang, and ask them to quickly reinforce the north,

"Okay, the prince has good intentions and is brave enough to ignore others." Several officials praised to hide their powerlessness,

"Whether it is compensation or land cession needs to be discussed." University scholars Wu Ren and Li Hongzao both said that it is better to have a lot of large sums of money than to cut the land.

"Money, I have been in war for many years in the Qing Dynasty, and the finances have been very tight, don't talk about the money, even if you take care of yourself, you can't get through." Prince Gong said angrily,

Although Prince Gong is the minister of the Prime Minister's Yamen and the foreman of the military aircraft, his rights are still subject to many restrictions, and several scholars, under the command of the Empress Dowager Xi, have confronted him everywhere.

"However, the cutting of land is really detrimental to the national system." Wu Ren Dao,

"I had to do it as a last resort." Prince Gong shook his head and said: "As long as you can pass this level, if the capital is not defended, no matter how much territory is guarded, it will be bandits. ”

"Okay." The Empress Dowager Xi greatly appreciated it, anyway, she also had a terrible intuition, the bandit army that came this time was not Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang eight years ago, and the danger of the Qing Dynasty was imminent.

The Imperial Council discussed the balance between territory and gold and silver for a long time, and finally, it was decided to immediately ask the ministers of various countries in Beijing for help, and no matter how harsh the conditions they put forward, they would agree, "If Britain and other powers really put forward territorial claims south of the Yangtze River, how will we respond?" ”

Li Hongzao is not so scientific and meticulous, but stubborn,

"As long as the foreigners can protect me from the Qing Dynasty, no matter how much land, gold and silver, I can agree." The Empress Dowager of the West said decisively: "This palace thinks that if the Western countries can interfere in our country's affairs, destroy the bandits of Huaxia Tian**, and continue the national lineage of our Qing Dynasty, even if it is the land south of the Yellow River, it can also be agreed." ”

Under the auspices of the Empress Dowager of the West, the Imperial Council confirmed that Prince Gong was the plenipotentiary representative of the court, and the next day he went to the foreign legations to ask for assistance, and as for the military envoys of the Huaxia Heavenly Kingdom from Baoding, they ignored it, and the Qing court had judged that it was a bait and a cover for the Huaxia Heavenly Kingdom.

Late at night, Prince Gong came out and personally rushed to the city wall to observe the movement of the enemy army outside the city, but unfortunately, nothing could be seen in the green gauze tent, but in the dark night, it was even more dangerous.