After the banquet, President Meng invited the two to meet alone, there is a presidential suite, which is the place where President Meng receives people close to him, President Meng receives people, either in the President's Mansion, or in the Beijing Hotel, because President Meng loves to play, sometimes he has a good time, so he will be placed in the Beijing Hotel to meet the VIP temporarily. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

"President, what do you want to do with the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces? Can you get to the bottom of it? As soon as he took his seat, Xuan Yuemeng, Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang were three people at this time, and Wang Zhankui and Hu Xueyan were standing next to him, so Li Hongzhang simply went straight in, which was also a matter of concern to Zuo Zongtang.

"Didn't I make it clear? You can send someone to contact the palace now, and if the Queen Mother wants to see you now, you can arrange to enter the palace now. President Meng smiled: "It's not my problem, it's a problem in the palace, I beat my sister, I can't fight in vain, the palace will definitely be separated in the future, as for Shandong and Anhui, as well as the problem of northern Jiangsu, the main consideration is traffic, there is no unified road planning from south to north, it will slow down the speed of China's development, it has been delayed for so many years, and it can't be delayed anymore." ”

Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang glanced at each other, including Hu Xueyan, thinking in their hearts, you have already regarded the whole country as your own.

Regarding the issue of Shandong, Anhui, and northern Jiangsu, the main thing is Li Hongzhang's attitude, Li Hongzhang does not express his position, and Zuo Zongtang is even more inconvenient to say anything, from Beijing to the central part of the country, it is basically Li Hongzhang's people, saying that it is a sphere of influence, that is also Li Hongzhang's sphere of influence, Li Hongzhang has long lost the psychology of confronting Xuan Yuemeng on the frontal battlefield.

"I don't want to fight anymore, I also implore Li Zhongtang to understand my hardships, after taking Shandong and Anhui, and northern Jiangsu, I will no longer expand the territory of China, at least within ten years, I will not expand, I hope that the people will live and work in peace and contentment, I hope that the whole country will develop rapidly, if the Qing court has the ability to make the central, northwest, and southwest develop, I will bless! The country is not the country of a single individual, it is the country of millions of people. This is also the point I have stated many times in the Huacui Evening News! President Meng said indifferently.

Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang looked embarrassed, they wanted to answer, but they didn't know how to answer, Xuan Yuemeng's words, it seemed that there was no problem, but the world is definitely not the world of thousands of people, but the world of Aixinjueluo's family, this is their point of view that has gone deep into the bone marrow.

Princess Katrina Kafu personally brought tea in, and then sat next to President Moe.

President Meng smiled: "This is the secretary general of my president's secretariat, in the future, if you can't contact me immediately, you can contact Princess Katrina Kaf." ”

Li Hongzhang and Princess Katrina Kafu have met many times, nodding, Zuo Zongtang is the first time to meet Princess Katrina Kafu, and feels that Xuan Yuemeng has a foreign girl as the secretary general, which is quite fresh, and he also nodded.

"Mr. Hu, please take a seat, you're welcome, Lord Zuo, can Mr. Hu sit down?" President Meng smiled and said to Hu Xueyan: "Mr. Hu is my most important person, although you have withdrawn your business from Jiangnan, but I respect your ideas, I didn't embarrass you, right?" ”

Zuo Zongtang's nerves slowed down a little, and he nodded: "Xueyan, the president asks you to sit, you can sit down." ”

"Yes." Hu Xueyan sat on the sofa, and said to Xuan Yuemeng with some embarrassment: "Thank you to the president for facilitating it, I can take the funds out of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Hu Xueyan is grateful, I don't have any problems with the president, but I am worried that the shopkeepers under me are not open-minded and can't keep up with Huaguo's policies." ”

President Meng smiled and said: "No need to explain, I can understand, I have always praised you for helping Lord Zuo to organize the Northwest Military Expenditure, these are all national affairs, but you have to take the risk personally, I can imagine the difficulties." ”

Zuo Zongtang, Hu Xueyan and Li Hongzhang were all surprised, and they were still talking about Beijing, why did they get involved in the military spending in the northwest?

Zuo Zongtang and Hu Xueyan have always borrowed foreign debts to raise military spending, but now foreigners are unwilling to borrow, because the Qing Kingdom has no customs as collateral, and when Shandong is in the hands of President Meng, what else will the Qing Kingdom use to attract foreigners?

Zuo Zongtang's westward expedition is based in Shaanxi, extended to Gansu and Xinjiang and other places, the northwest has not made a big mess, it is really a credit, you know, the Qing Dynasty has the most chaos, in fact, not the southwest and Jiangnan, but the northwest, Kangxi himself has been pro-government how many times.

Unlike the use of troops in the interior of the Central Plains, the biggest limitation is geography and climate.

Starting from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, fighting in the northwest has been a main theme of China's foreign military use.

The difficulty in employing troops in the Great Northwest lies in the transportation of supplies, and the other is the supply of military rations and salaries.

In the autumn, the nomads can easily obtain fat war horses, as well as a large number of cattle and sheep, and the combat effectiveness will suddenly increase a lot, because logistics are not a problem.

In winter, whether it is a nomadic or a Han army, logistics will be difficult, especially the soldiers in the Central Plains can't stand the cold, so they generally can't fight in winter, but in this era, to solve the problem of the northwest, in fact, it is the same as President Meng's cold days to Shandong and Anhui The reason is the same.

China is a big agricultural country, so in ancient times, the use of troops in the northwest was generally selected at the junction of spring and summer, and the spring went to autumn back, which sounded quite romantic, but in fact, the whole country was miserable.

Zuo Zongtang knows the art of war very well, and he is also very strategic, and his method is to set up a reclamation in the northwest, make plans for a protracted war, and thoroughly eradicate the weeds that "are blown and reborn by the spring breeze" in the Hui Chaos.

Historically, since Zuo Zongtang, the northwest has been very peaceful, which is also a great credit to Zuo Zongtang.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, Zhang Zhidong, the first two are very heavy in President Meng's heart, one is talented, the other has perseverance and courage, and they have done a lot of practical things, but why is Zhang Zhidong's fame so big, President Meng can't understand it, Zhang Zhidong also runs industry, but don't mention that efficiency, it's like a primary school student.

If the military salaries and grain and grass can't keep up, you can tell me that I will let the Central Bank of China give loans, and the grain will be easy to handle, and after Shandong and Anhui are pacified, they will be transported from the south of the Yangtze River!" President Meng smiled and said: "The main thing is transportation, I plan to build a direct railway to Lanzhou, when the time comes, all problems will be solved, where there is a railway, there is no need to worry about transportation." (To be continued.) )