In President Meng's view, the great powers kept slowly cutting the Qing Dynasty, which was the biggest harm to China, until the First Sino-Japanese War, China no longer had a major war, but the money that flowed out in the past 20 years was even more than the previous 30 years. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

The money that goes out of the war will definitely not be able to catch up with the economic aggression, and the invisible outflow is the most terrible.

President Meng's current goal is to protect China's industry and commerce, while absorbing the bone marrow of the Qing court, and at the same time to curb the expansion of the powers, after all, President Meng's strength, there is no way to directly intervene in the powers, and the powers are very united in jointly absorbing the interests in China.

President Meng's military strategy actually coincides with the Japanese, the first step is to occupy Korea and Taiwan, the second step is to control Southeast Asia and open up the channel for capital development, the third step is to swallow the Qing Kingdom, and the fourth step is to kill the world!

However, President Moe's requirements are higher, the Japanese are a small island country, and the defense pressure is small, President Moe is a place that extends in all directions, and there is a polar bear on his head, and the pressure is even greater.

Governing a country and completely controlling the direction of a country is still too demanding for a cute president who has not even been a group leader in modern times.

Chen Qin felt that there was a great chance of success in this negotiation, and in order to show its sincerity, the Danzhou army had stopped shelling the Huai army, although it had moved its artillery position forward.

Chen Qin returned to Tianjin directly by sea and reported to Li Hongzhang first.

Originally, the Qing court also handed over this matter to Li Hongzhang to do, this is Cixi's cleverness, Li Hongzhang solved it well, it is all the credit of the imperial court, if the solution is not good, the minister is not satisfied, then Li Hongzhang is a black cauldron, if Cixi herself is not satisfied, it will be dismissed, in short, let the minister do things, it must be better than her own direct idea, this minister, most of them are played by Li Hongzhang.

This is also the reason why Li Hongzhang has always stood at the peak of power in the late Qing Dynasty for 40 years, and has never been overthrown by political enemies.

But President Meng never thought that Li Hongzhang was the pillar of the country!

Because this kind of old man has already become a demon, it is because of this kind of big devil that he can barely maintain the Qing court, which is not good for the process of the whole country.

One Zeng Guofan, one Li Hongzhang, and President Meng don't understand why later generations respect them so much, most of them are people who are officials, learning from each other, being slaves, and enjoying the life of a superior person, hehe.

Li Hongzhang received Chen Qin's report, and slowly put a piece of sea bass into his mouth.

Li Hongzhang loves to eat fish, especially sea bass, and the officials below nicknamed him Li Perch.

"Look, what to do?" Li Hongzhang said slowly, and did not look at Chen Qin. "This matter is indeed a little bigger for you, but I can only let you go, my painstaking efforts, do you understand?"

Chen Qin arched his hand and said: "The lower officials understand, and the Dao is grateful for the cultivation grace of Lord Zhongtang. He felt that it was better to promise them that it would always be good if there was no more fighting, and that their demands were indeed fair compared to those of the great powers, and that if the great powers followed this charter, then we would have no more wars. ”

Chen Qin said this, thinking to himself that you have already taken the silver, what else do you want? If you don't want to reconcile it, why do you take Xuan Yuemeng's silver? Chen Qin himself also ate hundreds of thousands of taels of Xuan Yuemeng.

Li Hongzhang put down the chopsticks and forks, took a sip of fish soup, seemed to have an endless aftertaste, took the clean cloth on the table and wiped his mouth, his movements were calm and elegant, showing the demeanor of a big man, eating Chinese food with Western tableware, which is also unique, "You are confused, do you know why I asked you to talk, and didn't let Sheng Xuanhuai go?" ”

Chen Qin pretended not to know and shook his head, in fact, from the time Chen Qin got the errand sent by Li Hongzhang, he knew that he had a better relationship with the Xuan family, this was because he wanted not to fight, and he didn't feel that he was wrong. Sheng Xuanhuai and Xuan Yuemeng have a holiday, and Chen Qin is also very clear about this.

Li Hongzhang sighed, "The arms were taken by them, this is still a trivial matter, we can buy it again, whether it was in the past or now, the money given by Xuan Yuemeng is enough for us to buy how many arms?" In the future, Xuan Yuemeng will send us a lot of money! But if you look at Xuan Yuemeng's generosity, he can give us so much money, presumably the court has taken care of it up and down, this is very similar to the practice of Wu Sangui, the king of Pingxi back then, this Xuan Yuemeng's ambition, you should have seen it, why does he do so many thankless things? In fact, everything he did was for the sake of development, in order to be able to develop the economy, in order to win a good reputation, why should we let foreigners help in the affairs of the Qing Dynasty? Taking the initiative to find someone to help is different from someone taking the initiative to help! Once the fame surpasses the imperial court, think about it, what a terrible thing it is? ”

Chen Qin was taken aback, "Lord Zhongtang, are you saying that this Xuan family has the ambition to win the world?" ”

Li Hongzhang stood up, paced back and forth gently, and said half-loudly: "Whether the Xuan family has such a plan, I don't know, but Xuan Yuemeng definitely has such a plan, alas, it's a pity that this son was born with a backbone, if it can be used by my Qing Dynasty, it is really a blessing for the country and a blessing for the society." ”

"I didn't see this, I just know that this kid is very good at making money, and besides, he said that he will no longer seek land in the Northeast, so there should be no rebellion, right?" Chen Qin asked nervously, "Lord Zhongtang, what should I do now?" ”

Li Hongzhang sighed and said, "What else can I do?" On the one hand, I will report the results of the negotiations with Xuan Yuemeng to the court, and on the other hand, I will pass on my words and contact all the officials below me to oppose this matter together! You have to be the first to oppose it, and you have to show righteous indignation! This son will definitely rebel in the future! If you don't believe me, you'll see. If he gains a firm foothold in the Northeast, the next step must be to do business in the whole country, Klinsmann & Co. is already very powerful, if I hadn't been pressing, they would have developed faster! ”

Chen Qin sighed, "Understood, thank you Lord Zhongtang for your advice." The ministry immediately went to arrange it. ”

Li Hongzhang waved his hand and let Chen Qin out, and there had to be a fierce debate in the court.

After Chen Qin left, Li Hongzhang continued to pace alone, he was not afraid, but he didn't know what to do, Li Hongzhang didn't want the court to really beat Xuan Yuemeng.

Li Hongzhang still has a lot of things to say to Chen Qin, in fact, Li Hongzhang thinks that the problem is more far-reaching and more comprehensive, in addition to telling Chen Qin the obvious reasons, there are many reasoning behind it, Li Hongzhang did not say it.

The north of the imperial court is not suitable for raising too many troops, because of transportation problems, and the imperial court does not dare to raise troops in the south, and the emperor is far away, for fear that he will not be able to restrain it.

Therefore, the army of the Qing court has always been maintained within the minimum level of need, otherwise the Qing Dynasty would not be able to explode a million-strong army!

This is the backwardness of the system.

Since Li Hongzhang is worthy of going to the north with a limited number of troops, when this battle is over, if the number of troops is properly adjusted, he can only retain the Chu army Zuo Zongtang who has just finished the Northwest War, Li Hongzhang can suppress Zuo Zongtang, because his military power is greater, and the status of the governor of Zhili is the head of the governor's mansion in the world, and his status is more prominent!

But once Zuo Zongtang's Chu army is retained, the changes in strength between the two sides will be unequal again.

Zuo Zongtang may even use this to exert force, surpassing or approaching Li Hongzhang's power.

Thinking of too many things, people's hearts will be tired, Li Hongzhang is such a person who often feels tired, play more with women, play with women, relax, Li Hongzhang dragged his tired steps and went to find his favored two concubines.

Chen Qin's visit to Beijing caused a shock in the government and the public, but fortunately, Li Hongzhang made a preemptive strike, allowing Chen Qin to instigate a group of Li Hongzhang's party members to lash out at President Meng's diplomatic proposal to establish a strategic partnership with the Qing Dynasty.

Chen Qincai was spared from being blamed, but the Qing court showed one-sided opposition to this matter, and they did not approve of the union with the Eastern Hawaiian Kingdom, mainly because they thought that such a small colony dared to speak out and demand equal treatment with the foreign powers!

The most fierce opposition naturally belongs to Prince Gong Yixun, in fact, since the Tianjin Lesson Case, Prince Gong's power has been weakened many times.

Before again, Prince Gong tried to fight for power and stifle the power of Emperor Tongzhi and the two palaces.

Yixin and other ten ministers advised Emperor Tongzhi not to repair the Old Summer Palace in person, and Emperor Tongzhi was furious and reprimanded Yixun: "This position is let Er, what is it?" ”

A few days later, he urged Emperor Tongzhi again, and Emperor Tongzhi sent Zhu Yuge his prince to hereditary replacement, as the king of the county, still walking on the minister of military aircraft, and issued it the next day.

The queen mother of the two palaces intervened and rewarded the prince for hereditary replacement.

Prince Gong was not the regent Dolgon, and Cixi's ambitions were far greater than any of the empress dowagers in the early Qing Dynasty.

Cixi summoned the first rank and the prince in the warm pavilion.

"How's the money for the garden being planned?" The Empress Dowager Cixi hugged the pug sent by Xuanyue, touched it gently, glanced at the Empress Dowager Ci'an, and asked the ministers below.

The pug is raised by Jiegege, and when Jiegege sees the pug, he thinks of Xuan Yuemeng's Laipi and naturally takes care of the pug in every way.

The Seventh Prince, Yiyun, is mainly responsible for the construction of the Summer Palace, "It is estimated that there are eight million taels, and there is still a difference of four million taels." ”

"Huh? Last year, you said that there was a difference of 3 million taels, but now why is it getting worse and worse? Cixi was displeased.

Prince Yiyun hurriedly said: "Queen Mother, last year, it was originally planned to be a total cost of five million taels, but it was later increased. ”

Cixi sighed, as if she had just remembered it, "The emperor has already been in charge of the government, and the garden will be repaired earlier, and we will have a few days of peace and quiet, but this garden is royal, and it is also the face of the imperial court, and the blueprint of the Ministry of Industry, I have seen it, it is very good." Sister, do you say yes? ”

Empress Dowager Ci'an didn't care about anything, and nodded, "What my sister said is true." ”

Prince Yiyun muttered in his heart, the Ministry of Industry has increased the budget, you say so, that is, it will cost 12 million taels, you keep adding, how can you build the garden?

Cixi is not afraid of a big garden, the bigger the better, originally there was no money, but now there are two million taels of Xuan Yuemeng's tribute every year, which is not bad money.

As soon as Prince Gong heard about the cultivation of the garden, he knew that Cixi was going to use money to suppress the diplomatic proposal against the establishment of a strategic partnership with Xuan Yuemeng.

In fact, Cixi also knows the harm of Xuan Yuemeng, however, this time Xuan Yuemeng took the initiative to propose that the number of troops in Danzhou should not exceed 20,000, which is only used for self-protection, and in the future, whenever the Qing Kingdom is attacked by foreigners, it will intervene unconditionally by force, which is very in line with Cixi's requirements, if all the powers are like this, then she will really save trouble, Cixi does not think that a small Danzhou, a place with a big palm, that is, the size of a state capital in the Qing Dynasty, can cause any storms, Xuan Yuemeng did not officially oppose, in Cixi's opinion, Xuan Yuemeng loves money like life, thinking of ways to make money, the previous Klinsmann foreign firm was in the name of foreigners, and now this East Hawaiian Kingdom is also in the name of foreigners.

In fact, before today's meeting, Cixi already had a plan in her heart.

Helplessly, the opposition is too high now, Li Hongzhang can see the problem, other ministers can naturally see it, Danzhou continues to develop like this, mainly to earn fame, this is very terrible, and Cixi, but not pay attention to reputation, Cixi is afraid that Xuan Yuemeng will get the substance, and the power will be bigger step by step, as long as Xuan Yuemeng has no territorial claims, Cixi does not care! (To be continued.) )