Li Weiguo's title of King Wu will cause a huge controversy at any other time.

However, there have been too many major events recently, first Li Weiguo led the Shanghai army to achieve a great victory in the military invasion of the British and French powers, and signed the "Beijing Treaty" that was a shame for the country, and then Xianfeng died, the new emperor ascended the throne, and then there was a coup d'état in Xinyou, the empress dowager of Ci'an and Cixi lowered the curtain to listen to the government, Prince Gong Yixin was the regent, and the execution of Su Shun and other auxiliary ministers of the eight ministers was chaotic.

After experiencing so many things, everyone is already mentally prepared, and it is not so surprising that Li Weiguo is crowned king.

However, this is just the idea of the Han officials and ordinary people, for the Eight Banners Group and the children of the clan, this is a challenge to them, even if the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces does not object, and the regent Yixin does not object, they will jump out and say, making a fuss.

At this time, the emaciated camel of the Great Qing Kingdom was bigger than a horse, and it was far from being as fragile and vulnerable as it was during the Xinhai Revolution in 1911 fifty years later.

The powerful Eight Banners forces counterattacked, including the governors of Shaanxi, Gansu, Yunnan and Guizhou, as well as the iron hat kings including General Shengjing, Jilin and Heilongjiang generals of the three northeastern provinces, the princes of Inner and Outer Mongolia, and the Tibetan and other forces, all of whom wrote to the empress dowager and regent of the two palaces, demanding that the title of King Wu of Li Weiguo be removed.

The Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces didn't want to crown Li Weiguo as the king in her heart, but they had no choice, and now they had just ended the Second Opium War, from Tianjin to Beijing, the Qing army in the Zhili area was first ravaged by the British and French powers, with nearly 300,000 casualties before and after. Subsequently, the Xinyou coup d'état, Li Weiguo's Shanghai army took the opportunity to bloody the Eight Banners Army again, and the Qing army's Eight Banners lost nearly 500,000.

You must know that the total population of the Eight Banners is less than 10 million, and the Eight Banners of the Manchurian and Mongolian Banners and the Eight Banners of the Han Army are also distinguished. Since the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the Taiping army has almost killed all the bannermen in the south, and a northern expedition has hit Tianjin, and the bannermen have also suffered heavy casualties along the way, and now they have lost 500,000 Manchurian and Mongolian Eight Banner soldiers, which can be described as a broken muscle.

The British and French powers had just signed the "Beijing Peace Treaty" and left angrily. It was difficult to guarantee that they would not come back, and all this was the credit of Li Weiguo, and stabilizing Li Weiguo had become the first priority of the imperial court, so the empress dowager of the two palaces and the regent Yixin severely reprimanded the local officials and rejected their request to revoke the king of Wu.

Everything is under Li Weiguo's control, he is low-key on the surface, and even the ceremony of promoting to the throne of King Wu is very low-key, only a simple ceremony was held in the official residence of Baiwang Villa, and some Han Beijing officials were invited. They are more friendly to the Shanghai army and can be co-opted into a camp.

Li Weiguo's apparent low-key is to cover up his covert actions to encroach on the Qing Empire.

Zhili is the Gyeonggi garrison, and as the governor of Zhili, Li Weiguo naturally has to live up to his name.

As early as the moment when the Shanghai army occupied Beijing, Li Weiguo began to rectify the army in Zhili, first dismissing a large number of Zhili officials on the grounds that the war against the British and French forces was unfavorable. The original Zhili Eight Banners Army was imprisoned and incorporated into the armed forces of Han landlords. A group of elite soldiers were selected from it, and the Zhili garrison was established to assist the Shanghai army in taking over the defense of various regions in Zhili, and quickly controlled the entire Zhili.

However, in order to reassure Cixi and them temporarily, Li Weiguo finally allowed Yixin to reorganize the Imperial Forest Army, all of which were served by banner people. Responsible for guarding the Royal Palace.

Li Weiguo knew that this was Cixi and Ci'an guarding against him, so he simply gave up Beijing City very generously and allowed the imperial court to transfer back Shengbao to serve as the governor of the Nine Gates of Beijing City. For Li Weiguo, the Eight Banners in Shengbao's hands were vulnerable, and today he handed over the Beijing city defense to him. As long as Li Weiguo wants, the Shanghai army can destroy Shengbao's army in a few minutes and recapture Beijing.

But for Cixi, Ci'an and the imperial court, Li Weiguo took the initiative to hand over the defense of Beijing City to the imperial court, which is proof that he did not want to rebel, so Cixi and Ci'an finally breathed a sigh of relief, so they reassured Li Weiguo, thinking that giving Li Weiguo a king would make him completely not rebel, they completely believed Li Weiguo's words, as long as they didn't want to kill Li Weiguo, then Li Weiguo would not rebel.

As a result, Cixi, Ci'an and Li Weiguo reached a tacit understanding, and neither of them would interfere with anyone, so that they could be in peace.

On the other hand, Yi Xin was still amicable with Li Weiguo on the surface, but in fact, the alliance between the two no longer existed, because their previous common enemy Su Shun Yidang had been completely eliminated, and now Yi Xin is frantically annexing the rights left by Su Shun Yidang, developing his own descendant forces, and vaguely beginning to take Li Weiguo as an imaginary enemy.

This is the inevitable result of the struggle for power, one enemy falls, and another enemy will inevitably stand up again, and as long as there is the word power in this world, then the struggle will never stop.

However, for the time being, Yi Xin is not stupid enough to break with Li Weiguo, unless he has the military strength to rival Li Weiguo.

But it is undeniable that Yixin has begun to prepare in this regard, in the past, the court was Su Shun and Yixin fighting, that was the power struggle between the banner man and the flag man, and now Li Weiguo has risen and become the king in one fell swoop, becoming the most powerful force in the Qing Dynasty. If Yi Xin ignored Li Weiguo, a powerful Han force, in order to deal with Su Shun, it has now evolved into a battle between the banner man and the Han people.

In order to confront Li Weiguo's Shanghai Army Group, Yixin could only win over the Eight Banners on the one hand, and on the other hand, he began to attack Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang.

Li Hongzhang is a student of Zeng Guofan, the relationship between the two is very good, Li Hongzhang can be said to be Zeng Guofan's confidant, the Hunan army and the Huai army are the same branch, persuading Zeng Guofan is equivalent to persuading Li Hongzhang.

Therefore, Yixin quickly sent someone to contact Zeng Guofan, promising heavy profits and winning over Zeng Guofan.

But it was said that as soon as Xianfeng died, the sword hanging over the heads of Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang also disappeared.

Originally, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang both had rebellious intentions, and for the sake of the Hunan Army, the Huai Army Group, and their own lives, they had to prepare for a showdown with Xianfeng.

However, as soon as Xianfeng died, the young emperor ascended the throne, the queen mother of the two palaces listened to the government, Yixin became the regent, the atmosphere of the court changed suddenly, and even named Li Weiguo as the king of Wu, which was a groundbreaking event, which surprised Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang and was full of suspicions.

Changsha. Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang met again to discuss major matters.

"Teacher, Yixin sent someone to seek an alliance, what is your attitude?" Li Hongzhang asked respectfully.

Zeng Guofan pondered for a while, and then asked, "What kind of official does Yi Xin allow you?" “

"Governor of Huguang, first-class loyalty!" Li Hongzhang replied truthfully.

Zeng Guofan nodded and said, "Yi Xin seems to be very clear about the relationship between us. He promised me the Governor of Zhili, a first-class brave and righteous duke. ”

Li Hongzhang immediately understood that the current governor of Huguang was Zeng Guofan, and Yixin knew that Zeng Guofan would let Li Hongzhang take over, so he promised Li Hongzhang to be the governor of Huguang, but Zeng Guofan was transferred to Zhili as the governor of Zhili, which was the head of the nine governors, and he was a very popular minister.

"Congratulations, teacher, if you can sit on the governor of Zhili. You are one person below ten thousand people, and you are a very human minister. ”

Zeng Guofan frowned and said, "Don't you see it? Yi Xin is forcing us to be enemies of Li Weiguo! ”

Li Hongzhang was a little puzzled and said, "Does the teacher refer to the position of the governor of Zhili?" That's not necessary, Li Weiguo has been promoted to the king of Wu, and his fief is in Liangjiang, although he is currently the governor of Zhili, but it is only temporary. ”

Zeng Guofan shook his head and said, "You underestimate Li Weiguo too much. He's too cunning. He is also too shrewd, he knows very well that he is now just a small snake in his infancy. Before he turned into a dragon, he wouldn't swallow the elephant of the imperial court, because that would kill him. ”

Li Hongzhang agreed: "Yes, the students also thought at first that Li Weiguo occupied Beijing and stayed in the palace overnight, so he must have prepared to rebel. But Li Weiguo is indeed a character. In that case, he was still not confused by the ** of the right, and even gave up the rebellion. I think Li Weiguo is not ready yet. ”

"That's right!" Zeng Guofan nodded and said: "Li Weiguo is indeed not ready, because his foundation is too thin, and the only forces in the court are Cixi and Yixin, and now Cixi and Yixin will definitely guard against him." So he doesn't have any power in the court. Locally, only the two provinces of Jiangnan and Zhejiang supported him, and the Qing Dynasty and the 16 provinces, the five generals, the ministers of Inner and Outer Mongolia, Tibet, Xinjiang, and Qinghai would not support Li Weiguo's rebellion. Therefore, Li Weiguo could only slowly try to eat it step by step, so he chose to be the king first, and then the emperor in the future. ”

Li Hongzhang asked, "What does the teacher mean?" Which side should we stand for? ”

Zeng Guofan frowned, this question is not easy to answer, it is a matter of life and death, so he said: "Li Weiguo's strength is very strong, and we are not sure that we will definitely defeat him." ”

Li Hongzhang nodded and said: "That's right, the Shanghai army can defeat 200,000 British and French troops, I heard that its own casualties are only about 10,000, and its strength is indeed very strong. Does the teacher mean to support Li Weiguo? ”

Zeng Guofan shook his head and said, "We will receive the emperor's favor in this world, if it weren't for Xianfeng's suspicion and wanting to eradicate us, we wouldn't have thought of rebellion." Now that Xianfeng is dead, the hanging sword on our heads is gone, and at this time, the emperor is young, we can influence him and let him treat us as Zhongxing ministers, so that our crisis can be lifted. ”

Li Hongzhang was a little uncomfortable and retorted: "However, in the Hunan army and the Huai army, most people support the rebellion. ”

Zeng Guofan smiled: "You are still too young to understand the minds of these people. These people follow us to do things, nothing more than to get benefits, and in the future, they will be crowned marquis and worship the prime minister, and the future is immeasurable. This is the reason why they aspire to rebel. However, if we become Zhongxing ministers, it will not be the same to ask them for glory and wealth when the time comes. In the future, the candidates for the nine governors and the five generals in the world will all come from our Hunan army and Huai army system, and they can be obtained without rebellion. ”

Although Li Hongzhang was unwilling, he couldn't oppose his teacher, so he said: "It seems that the teacher has decided, so what should the student do?" ”

Zeng Guofan was very satisfied when he saw that Li Hongzhang did not oppose him, so the two returned to the original problem.

"Li Weiguo will not give up the governor of Zhili easily, so once the division relieves the appointment of the governor of Zhili, it will be equivalent to a showdown with Li Weiguo. On the other hand, your Huaijun territory has now become Li Weiguo's fiefdom, two rivers and four provinces, Li Weiguo will definitely catch it, Yixin transferred me to Zhili is to seize the Zhili in Li Weiguo's hands, and transfer you from Anhui to Huguang, on the one hand, it is to relieve the worries of being a teacher, and on the other hand, it is to stimulate Li Weiguo to make a move against Anhui and fight with the Huai army. ”

Li Hongzhang was shocked: "It turns out that Yixin has such sinister intentions, such words. We're going to have to work with Yixin. ”

Zeng Guofan nodded and said, "That's right, Yixin is also a ruthless character, and his methods are very clever. But this is just the opportunity for us, and I also want to meet Li Weiguo, a descendant, to see if he is three-headed and six-armed. ”

Yi Xin in Beijing learned that Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang had agreed to form an alliance with him. Immediately happy to go to see the queen mother of the two palaces.

Ci'an asked with a worried face: "This Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang are also Han Chinese, can they be trusted?" ”

Cixi was also taken aback by Yi Xin's actions, and some blamed him: "Sixth Prince, you are a bit arbitrary in doing this. So how can Li Weiguo get along well? The first emperor almost forced him to rebel at the beginning, and now you have to repeat the same mistakes? ”

Yi Xin said with a smile: "The Empress Dowager of the West can rest assured, if Li Weiguo is honestly his King Wu, there will be no murder, if he dares to get involved in the Qing Dynasty, then for the sake of the ancestors and ancestors, Yi Xin will kill him even if he is broken." ”

Cixi snorted coldly: "What you say sounds uplifting. Don't forget that Li Weiguo can defeat 200,000 British and French troops. ”

Yi Xin smiled: "I naturally know this." I won't be stupid enough to collide with Li Weiguo directly, let Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang test Li Weiguo's reaction first, if Li Weiguo is too powerful to fight him, then we will honestly endure it for a few years, and slowly accumulate strength to fight again in the future. If Li Weiguo is only Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, it will be the blessing of the imperial court, we can use Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang to contain Li Weiguo, only a balanced way can ensure the stability of the country. ”

Ci'an nodded and said, "The words of the six princes are very reasonable. ”

Cixi snorted coldly. said: "I hope you don't get into trouble and come back, make a statement in advance." We're not involved in that. ”

Yi Xin was surprised, this Cixi was too cunning, and suddenly she had the idea that she couldn't see through this woman.

After coming out of Cining Palace, Yixin ordered someone to recruit Li Weiguo into Beijing, because Li Weiguo did not stay in the capital, but moved the Zhili Governor's Mansion to Tianjin.

After meeting Li Weiguo. Yi Xin told him what he thought.

When Li Weiguo heard this, his heart sank, and he had already guessed Yixin's intentions.

"I'm afraid it's not appropriate for the regent to hand over the governor of Zhili to Zeng Guofan at this time!"

Yi Xin was unhappy in her heart, thinking that Li Weiguo didn't want to give up the governor of Zhili, so she asked, "Why is it inappropriate?" ”

Li Weiguo sneered: "Didn't the prince forget that there is a Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in Jiangnan? ”

Yi Xin was stunned. patronized to deal with Li Weiguo, but forgot that there was also a Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

"What does King Wu mean?"

"Zeng Guofan's Hunan army guarded the southwest, and if he left, the southwest would be occupied by the Taiping army. If Li Hongzhang is transferred to Huguang, then the Huai Army on the northern front has no command, and the Taiping Army may make another northern expedition. ”

Yi Xin didn't think of this, and suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

Li Weiguo snorted coldly and said, "Regent, it's better to be like this, now that the external enemy is gone, the internal trouble must be eliminated." The Shanghai army, the Hunan army and the Huai army surrounded the Taiping army, and now the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has declined, just let Zeng Guofan take his Hunan army to attack the Taiping army from the west, Li Hongzhang led the Huai army to attack the Taiping army from the north, my Shanghai army attacked from the east, and the Qing army of Liangguang attacked from the south, and the four armies of the southeast and northwest were millions, which was enough to destroy the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in one go. After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was destroyed, there would be no war in the south, and then the regent could transfer Zeng Guofan or Li Hongzhang back, and there would be no problem. ”

Yi Xin was speechless, she couldn't say anything about Li Weiguo, so she had to agree.

However, Li Weiguo suddenly proposed: "By the way, the extermination of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is a great achievement, the regent might as well make a bet, whoever breaks through Tianjing first and destroys the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will be the one who will be credited, and when the time comes, the great merit of breaking through Tianjing will reward the king and the governor of Zhili, how about it?" ”

Yi Xin doesn't understand military affairs, and feels that Li Weiguo's words are reasonable, and the extermination of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is indeed a top priority, and now that even Li Weiguo has been crowned king, he has broken the iron law of not being crowned king with a different surname, if he can destroy the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it is also possible to consider giving a reward to a prince.

So Yi Xin followed Li Weiguo's advice, he felt that letting the Shanghai army, the Hunan army and the Huai army attack the Taiping army together was just for the imperial court to go out and do harm, and it could weaken the strength of Li Weiguo, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, which was a great thing to kill two birds with one stone, and of course he was happy.

Soon, Yi Xin, as regent, ordered the Hu, Huai, and Hunan armies to launch a final battle against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, making sure to eliminate the rebels, and promised to be the first to capture Tianjing as the king and transferred to the governor of Zhili.

Li Weiguo returned to Tianjin and told Chen Jingnan about the incident.

Chen Jingnan suddenly slapped his thigh and praised: "The lord has a good plan, the lord is now the king of Wu and the governor of Zhili, so this reward is dispensable, but for Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, they may not be able to withstand this temptation, even if they can endure it, their subordinates can't help it, and when the time comes, they will definitely attack the Taiping army desperately, the lord can only sit and reap the benefits of the fisherman, give the Taiping army the last blow, and directly pick the peaches." ”

Li Weiguo snorted coldly and said, "This time we not only want to destroy the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but also take the opportunity to kill Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang together." ”

Chen Jingnan was puzzled: "Didn't the Lord say to deal with the two of them slowly?" ”

Li Weiguo sighed and said: "The plan can't catch up with the changes, Yixin, this bastard has already secretly fornicated with Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, so during this crusade against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, I will easily solve them all, and when the time comes, I think he Yixin dares to count on whom?" ”

Chen Jingnan thought for a while and said, "Since this is the case, then the personnel problem must be solved quickly." ”

Li Weiguo nodded and said: "That's right, with the strength of the Taiping Army, if the Shanghai Army, the Hunan Army and the Huai Army really fight in earnest, they won't be able to stop it for long at all, and they will be wiped out in less than a year." Therefore, you immediately inform Rong Hong and tell him that the personnel training problem should be advanced, and the original planned three-year training time should be changed to a night school mode immediately, and it must be completed within one year. ”

"Yes! Lord! Chen Jingnan immediately received the order. (To be continued.) )