When night fell, in a remote building in the inner city of Shanghai, Li Weiguo stood with his hands in his hands, quietly looking out the window, thinking far away.

Dangdang!

There was a knock on the door, and the head of the guard, Zhuang Jiuxia, went over to open the door, and brought in two people after a while.

If there are outsiders here, they will definitely recognize these two people, it is Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan, who have just been shot dead by Li Weiguo, known as Li Weiguo's right-hand man, and the chief and deputy chief of general staff of the General Staff of the Nanyang Army.

"See the prince (king)!"

As soon as Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan saw Li Weiguo, they immediately stepped forward to salute.

"You two have worked hard, hurry up and be exempt! But did it hurt? ”

Li Weiguo immediately stepped forward to help him and asked with concern.

"Thank you for your concern, the old minister is fine, the guard's gun is very accurate, and it hits the iron plate directly on the minister's chest, not a single bit." Wu Yong said with a smile.

Chen Jingnan also smiled: "Your Majesty is also fine, thank you for your concern." It may be that His Majesty's body has been too thin recently, and he was stunned by the prince's bullet, and he happened to act a little more like it. ”

Li Weiguo was suddenly embarrassed, and said apologetically: "Lao Chen doesn't know, this king went to the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau to get a new Desert Eagle pistol, and he couldn't put it down, so he changed the gun on the spot, but he forgot that this Desert Eagle pistol is extremely powerful, and when that shot hit Lao Chen, this king was immediately scared into a cold sweat and felt regretful, fortunately, the iron plate prepared was thick enough, otherwise this king really killed you by mistake, but it would have become a fake." ”

Chen Jingnan came to his senses, but he didn't care, but said optimistically: "Although something went wrong, this mistake is good, because the king's expression of regret at that moment will definitely fall into the eyes of those who care, but this play co-starred by the three of us is more realistic, and we will definitely be able to hide it from them." ”

Wu Yong also said: "Yes, especially the moment the bullet hits the chest, it can splash bright red blood, it's too realistic." ”

That blood is potassium permanganate. All the details of the whole process have been calculated, and I think I can hide it from others.

The three of them looked at each other and laughed, it turned out that all this was just a play carefully planned by the three of them. It's just that they have hidden from everyone, and what purpose is hidden in it.

"Next, the two of you will each act according to the plan, this is the king's tiger talisman, and it will be handed over to the two of you."

The tiger charm represents military power and can mobilize millions of Nanyang troops. Li Weiguo solemnly handed over the tiger talisman to Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan, which shows his trust in the two of them.

Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan glanced at each other. They all knelt down on one knee, took the tiger talisman with both hands, and said in unison: "I will live up to the trust of the prince (king)!" ”

Li Weiguo nodded, said no more, and asked Zhuang Jiuxia to prepare the carriage and send the two of them out of Shanghai overnight.

After that, Li Weiguo returned to Wu Wangfu and immediately called the chief and deputy directors of the intelligence department of S.H.I.E.L.D., Li Jing and Cheng Kun.

"How's it going out there?"

Li Jing and Cheng Kun are the ones who are implementing the action plan. Naturally, they know what is going on.

Li Jing replied first: "Back to the prince, the performance of the civil and military officials is strange, and most of them have no abnormal behavior, at most they are complaining. Complain, it's all within reason. Only Zhang Tai, the political envoy of Jiangnan, and Xing Hui, the deputy envoy of Liangjiang, acted abnormally, and they continued to contact the civil and military officials in the city after the incident, and made a big statement. The relationship between the officials and the prince was divided, and they even secretly sent their henchmen out of the city, and finally crossed the river. The humble duty was not hindered by the king's order. ”

Li Weiguo nodded and asked rhetorically, "What do you think are the identities of Zhang Tai and Xing Hui?" ”

Li Jing said: "I think they are Li Hongzhang's people!" ”

Cheng Kun added: "It cannot be ruled out that they are people who have their hearts set on the court!" ”

Is your heart to the court?

Li Weiguo sneered, he had been enslaved by the Manchu Qing Dynasty for hundreds of years, and his servility was naturally difficult to change, and there were many people in the imperial court, which was expected.

"Since they want to continue to be slaves, then fulfill them! Tell them not to startle the snakes and let them make a fuss, but this king wants to see how many people are truly loyal to this king. ”

Li Jing and Cheng Kun nodded their heads in agreement, looking surprised, they had already guessed Li Weiguo's intentions this time, and they were afraid that they were going to have a big purge.

This has been the case since ancient times.

Tianjin, the Governor's Mansion of Zhili.

An urgent secret letter of 800 miles was presented to Li Hongzhang, and he stood up in an instant in surprise.

This is a piece of information, and the contents of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, which Wu Yong "carelessly" lost, are top secrets, and they not only involve the number of arms production capacity and combat readiness reserves of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, but also include the deployment and combat readiness of the Nanyang Army in various places.

"This- how is this possible? It is unbelievable that a mere Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau can produce 300,000 guns and weapons every year, which is more than 100 times stronger than the Tianjin Machinery Bureau of this king. ”

Qian Dingming, as a quartermaster under Li Hongzhang, is now concurrently serving as the general office of the Tianjin Machinery Bureau. He is already an outstanding talent in the domestic military industry, and the Tianjin Machinery Bureau under his management has achieved brilliant results in just a few years, thinking that he can become the boss of the domestic military industry, but now he looks at the production capacity and scale of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, and he has lost his temper in an instant.

The Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau's annual output of guns and artillery adds up to 300,000 pieces, while the Tianjin Machinery Bureau's annual output of guns and artillery is less than 3,000 pieces.

This is just a comparison of the two weapons, guns and guns, if compared to ammunition, it is even more embarrassing for Qian Dingming.

The Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau has an annual output of 300 million rounds of bullets and shells, while the Tianjin Machinery Bureau has not been able to produce integrated bullets and shells, and can only produce warheads, even if it only cuts metal warheads, it cannot cut out 300 million rounds.

That's the gap!

Qian Dingming analyzed: "Lord Wang, now it seems that your original decision was right, judging by the current military factory production capacity and arms reserves of King Wu, it can support at least one million Nanyang Army to continue high-intensity combat for one year, and the production capacity of our Beiyang Army's military factory is far from enough, and the guns and ammunition in reserve, if calculated according to the consumption standard given by the British, is at most enough for one million Beiyang Army to continue high-intensity combat for ten days, and if it is calculated according to our own combat standards, it will take at most one month." ”

Li Weiguo frowned, and asked rhetorically: "That is to say, if we can't defeat Li Weiguo within a month, then we are equivalent to losing?" ”

Qian Dingming nodded and said: "Theoretically, this is the case, but there are variables in the middle. For example, it is impossible for all of our Beiyang million-strong army to go to the front line to fight. At best, it will only be 300,000, so the logistical pressure will be reduced by more than half, and it should be no problem to hold on for two or three months. ”

Li Hongzhang sighed: "Before, this king looked down on Li Weiguo, because this Li Weiguo was like a profiteer, building factories everywhere to do business, and he was simply in the eyes of money. When we were still in the Huai Army, although we had a foreign gun and artillery team under our hands, we didn't feel much of a burden. But with the growth of our family's great business, the pressure of logistics is reflected, and our army needs to be equipped with a large number of guns to fight. Even though it's just an old weapon, it's tired of us. But look at Li Weiguo, millions of Nanyang Army, all equipped with expensive advanced guns, tens of millions of yuan smashed into it, what kind of way people live, but we have to tighten our belts to live, it's really more popular than people! ”

Qian Dingming smiled bitterly, this person is afraid of comparison. It's not better than not knowing, it's more frightening.

They are all princes, and they all feed an army of millions, and a poor one will sell blood. The other has an endless amount of money.

"When Li Weiguo is destroyed and his road to fortune is snatched into his hands, the prince will not have to worry anymore!"

Li Hongzhang is happy, this Qian Dingming will comfort people.

"Knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent is invincible. Now that we have received the news that Li Weiguo's weapons and ammunition reserves are staggering, we can't sit idly by and send someone to find a way to destroy the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau. As for the deployment of troops of the Nanyang Army. It is also extremely beneficial to us, and when the foreigners send the arms, we will immediately start to take Li Weiguo by surprise. ”

Qian Dingming agreed: "Destroy the enemy's munitions factory before starting the war, and follow the essentials of the art of war. I heard that before Li Weiguo went to war with the British and French forces, he sent people to infiltrate Hong Kong and blew up the arsenal of the British and French forces. With the data of the Nanyang Army's troop deployment, the prince can concentrate his forces on one point and break the enemy army individually, so that he can achieve greater results. ”

Li Hongzhang nodded, and immediately summoned his staff to open fire.

It's just that the staff members have just arrived one after another, and another 800-mile urgent secret letter has been sent in.

"Li Weiguo actually killed Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan? If this is true, God help me! ”

Li Hongzhang suddenly jumped up happily, for so many years, the names of Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan, Li Weiguo's right-hand men, can be described as thunderous, Li Hongzhang dreamed of killing these two people, but unfortunately he never had a chance, but now he didn't think that Wu Yong's life would be killed because of an intelligence leak, and he also took Chen Jingnan's life.

What could be happier than that?

Ding Richang immediately said: "Lord Wang, I'm afraid this matter is strange, then how important Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan are to Li Weiguo, how can they kill them?" ”

Unlikely!

Many of his staff members said it was incredible.

However, Qian Dingming and others thought it was true.

This may seem ridiculous, but it's inevitable! Wu Yong lost the top-secret document, this document is now here with the prince, it is conceivable that Li Weiguo's family background has let us know, of course he is angry. It's understandable that he wants to kill Wu Yong in anger, I guess he didn't plan to really kill Wu Yong, that is, to make a show, Wu Yong's power is too great, Li Weiguo must be afraid, and he will inevitably take the opportunity to weaken Wu Yong's rights, but he never thought that all civil and military officials would intercede for Wu Yong, this is a big taboo for the lord, and the high merit is definitely not something that any lord can tolerate. However, another powerful minister, Chen Jingnan, risked his life to intercede at this time, Li Weiguo was difficult to ride a tiger, and he was bound to kill chickens and monkeys. ”

This is also true, and many aides agree with it.

Li Hongzhang suddenly hesitated.

At this moment, Xu Ting walked in from outside, handed over a letter sealed with fire paint to Li Hongzhang, and said: "Lord Wang, this seems to be the information you arranged in the south, and my subordinates didn't dare to delay it, so they hurriedly sent it to you." ”

Li Hongzhang was stunned for a moment, the inside line in the south would never easily pass on information unless it was absolutely necessary.

He hurriedly checked the fire paint seal, and saw that it had not been broken or forged, so he opened it and looked at it, and immediately frowned.

"Everyone, now it is certain that Li Weiguo did kill Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan, among which Chen Jingnan was shot by Li Weiguo himself, and the inner line arranged by the king to Li Weiguo's side witnessed this with his own eyes, and Wu Yong was shot on the spot on the street, and countless ordinary people saw it, but because of the theft of intelligence, there was no news of the martial law in Shanghai."

Ding Richang and others couldn't believe it, but Li Hongzhang was already sure that what the inside line said would never be false.

Xu Ting said excitedly: "Congratulations to the prince, Li Weiguo cut off his arm, and this time he killed Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan, which will inevitably lead to the dissatisfaction of many officials under his account, and it is a good time for the prince's Beiyang army to destroy Wu in one fell swoop." ”

Wang Kaitai suddenly sighed and said: "The rabbit is dead and the dog is cooking, and the bird is hidden, I didn't expect Li Weiguo to even kill Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan. ”

Others couldn't understand Wang Kaitai's voice, but Li Hongzhang and Xu Ting understood that this matter hit Wang Kaitai very hard, from the moment when he called King Wu to call Li Weiguo's name and scolded him, it proved that Wang Kaitai had been completely disappointed in Li Weiguo.

Li Hongzhang's eyebrows suddenly fluttered, and he asked: "Everyone, this king wants to lead the army south to destroy Li Weiguo, is there a good plan?" ”

Xu Ting immediately said: "Lord Wang, Li Weiguo's killing of Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan should be caused by the leakage of top secrets and his dizziness, he will react soon, and Lord Wang should strike first." ”

Li Hongzhang asked, "How to start first?" The arms purchased by the king from England had not yet arrived, and he was not well prepared. And Li Weiguo's soldiers are strong and strong, and there is plenty of ammunition, how to strike first? ”

Xu Ting said: "The minister didn't mean to send troops first, but to let Li Weiguo's internal chaos first." ”

Li Hongzhang's eyes suddenly lit up, and he asked, "Let's hear it!" ”

Xu Ting then said: "Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan are Li Weiguo's right-hand men, once they are killed, it will definitely cause panic among the civil and military officials inside, then Wu Yong and Chen Jingnan are the chief and deputy chiefs of staff, they have huge military power, and they have a very high prestige in the Nanyang Army and a wide range of contacts. In particular, Wu Yong's son Wu Zhiqiang is the commander of the Nanyang Fourth Army, controlling 50,000 troops in two towns, all of which are the elite of the Nanyang Army. If he knew that his Lao Tzu was killed by Li Weiguo, I'm afraid he wouldn't give up, right? ”

Qian Dingming immediately agreed: "Wu Yong's son Wu Zhiqiang, there is a great hope, and then use Wu Zhiqiang's connections in the army to organize at least 50,000 Nanyang Army rebellion, if successful, on the day of the southern expedition of the prince's army, Wu Zhiqiang will fight back, and it will definitely deal a fatal blow to Li Weiguo at the critical moment." ”

Xu Ting nodded and said, "That's right, even if your subordinates mean this." Not only Wu Zhiqiang, but also send people to continue Chen Jingnan's family, believing that even if they do not surrender to the prince, they will inevitably be estranged from Li Weiguo, causing the Nanyang Group to fall apart. ”

The more Li Hongzhang listened, the happier he became, and seemed to see the dawn of victory, so he immediately nodded in agreement and sent someone to go south immediately. (To be continued.) )