Chapter 231: Qin Kai's Declaration

Chapter 231: Qin Kai's Declaration

And Pan Bosheng naturally seized the opportunity and walked among other Beijing officials with the banner of Qin Kai, but he was quite successful and achieved a lot of results.

In the end, Qin Kai personally sent Xu Geng as a junior, some problems were not convenient to talk about in public, naturally needed a solitary environment, and soon the subtleties of the war situation in northern Vietnam were relayed to Xu Geng by Qin Kai, of course, this must be mixed with Qin Kai's goods, how to say it is beneficial to yourself, of course, you will not be a fool

With Xu Geng's body, he naturally understood the erosion of the war situation in Northern Vietnam, and he immediately realized that if the worst situation really happened, how much pressure the entire court would face, when it was sent to Xu's mansion, a tribute of 5,000 taels would naturally be sent, and Xu Shilang naturally smiled at the clear rules of the Qing Dynasty officialdom.

Taking this tribute, it means that the two sides have common interests, Xu Gengshen bluntly said that he hoped to get the news of Yuebei as soon as possible, and the two hit it off.

In the afternoon of the next day, in the palace of nourishing the heart in the imperial city, Prince Gong was listening to the question of the middle-aged fùnv behind the curtain with great trepidation, while the 12-year-old little emperor Guangxu sitting in front of him was sitting very impatiently, very dissatisfied with the old man in front of him who had disturbed his rest for the New Year.

Cixi inside the curtain said unhurriedly and coldly: "Prince Gong, I heard some news, so I specially asked you to ask, I don't know if you, the chief minister of the military aircraft department, knows......"

"Queen Mother, I don't know what the news is, if it involves a military aircraft, the old minister will definitely check it carefully" Prince Gong broke out in a cold sweat, in the past, the Queen Mother didn't speak like this, but today's tone has changed, it will be difficult to catch it, so it is better to deal with it carefully.

The NV man in the curtain sighed and continued: "I heard that Yuebei suffered a defeat, didn't it mean that the Great Qing Huai Army was mobilized, how can you say that you are defeated?" ”

Why did this matter spread into the palace so quickly, Prince Gong Yi's face was black, he also just got a telegram in the morning, this is the news confirmed by Cen Yuying, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, Bac Ninh, Shanxi, and Hanoi have been occupied by the French, and the Gui army in Bac Ninh has been completely defeated, as for Wu Changqing's soldiers and horses and the Yue army, the news is unknown.

He immediately called Zhang Shusheng, the governor of Zhili, who also admitted the loss of Hanoi, but he insisted that it was the collapse of the Gui army and the situation was out of control, and the Qingzi army was not damaged, and it was building new fortifications, preparing for a counteroffensive, but Yi was naturally not an idiot, and the back roads of the eastern front were all cut off, and the Huai army duck was dead and hard-mouthed......

He still suppressed this news, it stands to reason that it should not have been transmitted to the palace so quickly, but now is not the time to find out how this news entered the palace, the most taboo thing for the Queen Mother of the West Palace is to bully, so he immediately made up his mind to tell the truth.

"The Queen Mother, there is indeed this matter, but the news has not yet been confirmed, so the old minister has not dared to come to tell him, the whole army of the Qingzi Army is still in Hanoi Province to seek fighters, and the decisive battle with the French ......" said this, Yi pondered, these words are very pale, the Queen Mother definitely does not like to listen, thinking of the excerpt of the young governor Qin Kai who came to visit early this morning.

This time, Zhou Fu of the Huai Army Department accompanied the new Qin Kai of the Qing Dynasty officialdom to meet him, and Li Hongzao was very enthusiastic with this Qin governor, and he actually gave face to introduce, for the sake of Huai Jun and Qingliu's face, he did not reject the governor of Guangdong, since he could impress the two big opponents of Huai Jun and Li Hongzao, it was a figure worth seeing.

Of course, Qin Kai is not stingy at all in silver, although he knows that this Prince Gong is destined to be temporarily refrigerated because of the war in the north of Vietnam, but now the history has changed a little, and he is really a little difficult to grasp, and this devil still has a chance to make a comeback after six days, not to seek merit but to be without fault, and that respect is also given to 30,000 taels that scared people to death.

Thinking of this, Prince Gong got up again and saluted respectfully, "Queen Mother, there is still good news here, the Nanyang and Beiyang naval divisions have won a great victory in the South China Sea, sinking and damaging 6 French warships, and they are now actively preparing for war."

Cixi behind the curtain didn't know the news, early this morning the former minister Yixuan looked worried about the country and the people, and said that he heard the unfavorable news of the war in northern Vietnam, which made him appreciate the big housekeeper of the palace again, and then found Xu Gengshen of the Criminal Department and Sun Yuwen of the Ministry of Industry to interrogate, Xu Gengshen naturally processed the news that Qin Kai heard and then relayed it. ,

This made Sun Yuwen very depressed, why didn't he know these news, today is missing a chance to show Xiàn, the next "Empress Dowager Shengming, diligent in state affairs" sycophants immediately slapped Cixi with a smile, and at the same time, the Military Aircraft Department dealt with the merits and demerits of this front-line official in a timely manner, and if there was a mistake, it would be punished, and if there was merit, it would be rewarded, so as to ensure the victory of the battle with the French.

At this time, Cixi heard that the war in northern Vietnam was won and lost, and she could be regarded as relieved of her thoughts, so she issued an order to encourage the front-line soldiers according to Sun Yuwen's intentions, investigate the responsibility of the defeated army, and at the same time order Yi to be able to defeat the French in northern Vietnam and maintain the face of this Qing vassal vassal.

As for the affairs of Vietnam, she did not care too much, that land, for her, there was neither output nor profit, the most important of which was only a matter of face.

Yi doesn't have to think about it to understand that the battle situation in the north of Vietnam, that ten ** is a dead end, I have to bear this responsibility, we are not fools, we resolutely do not do it, we have to find a capable master to throw off the burden in this matter...... Thinking of Qin Kai's 30,000 taels of silver, his mind moved, Zhang Shusheng's side suffered a defeat, and it was useless to be delegated, didn't this Qin Kai also have a team of soldiers and horses in northern Vietnam, although it was weaker, but ...... Didn't the Qing Dynasty still have tens of thousands of reinforcements on the border?

"The Queen Mother, the Minister of Nanyang and the Governor of Guangdong, Qin Kai, is in the capital, this war in the north of Vietnam, he is a person who understands, is it not for him to enter the palace to face the saint" Yixin recommended Qin Kai, one is the relationship of the 30,000 taels of respect, and the other is that this Qin Kai is a character elected by the Qingliu faction, even if he loses the battle in the future, the first to hit the board should be Li Hongzao, not him, the minister of military aircraft, thinking of this, he is also secretly proud of his wishful thinking.

Cixi behind the curtain naturally knew that Qin Kai had come to the capital, and at the end of this year, if the officials of the provinces had the opportunity, they would definitely come to the capital to walk around, but this young governor who was praised by Qingliu to the sky has always been the object of heated discussion among the Manchu nobles in the imperial court.

At these times, there are a lot of excerpts to impeach the new governor, but they are all jīmáo garlic things, which are not on the table at all, and they have let the military aircraft department be pressed down, and they just want to find an opportunity to knock on this young man, the world is full of people, and the military power in the hands of these feudal officials is also given by the queen mother, and these soldiers and horses are naturally to protect the world of the Manchurians.

Thinking of this, Cixi nodded, "Sixth Prince, then depending on you, tomorrow morning, you bring this Qin armor to face the saint, let him think about it, is there any good way to retreat from the enemy?"

"Chirp" –

Qin Kai was busy running around at this time, and went to Prince Gong's Mansion, Prince Alcohol's Mansion, and Prince Li's Mansion in the morning, which made Zhou Fu, who followed all the way, secretly surprised by his insight, and the tentacles of the Huai military system penetrated deep into the various yamén of the imperial court, so naturally there was some news, understand that this Prince of Li loves Xinjueluo? Shi Duo is also a force in the court, and it is very likely that he will be in charge of the Military Discipline Department or the Prime Minister Yamén in the future, but what he didn't expect is that this Qin governor is also very well-informed, and he is very generous.

However, he didn't deliberately inquire about Qin Kaizhi's silver, this kind of thing is too confidential and sensitive, but after saying goodbye, Master Ding, the staff of Prince Li Shiduo, specially came out of it and exchanged a few words with Qin Kaijio, it is obvious that this kind of treatment is not something that will be obtained under normal circumstances.

In this regard, he was also secretly surprised in his heart, and quietly hid this idea in his heart, along the way, he carefully observed this Qin Governor, this Qin Liefeng is not very jīng in the official way, but his vision is very vicious, and what is even worse is that he is too generous, Lord Li Zhongtang said that in the Qing Dynasty officialdom, without money, nothing can be done.

In the evening, Qin Kai returned to the house, at this time there was already an official waiting here, it was very familiar, and suddenly remembered that it was He Lu, the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple who he only met yesterday, and he brought the news of Li Hongzao and asked him to come to the house in the evening.

Qingliu's party leader invited himself, Qin Kai naturally couldn't help but go, and he had already planned to absorb this force, according to the original historical process, Qingliu's strength was completely cleaned in the Sino-French war, and he had just collected the power, how could he do useless work This is a situation that he does not want to see.

The status of the Qingliu faction in the late Qing Dynasty, he naturally had a clear understanding, from the root, this is a group of knowledgeable scholars, but most of them, for the sake of the name of the Qingliu had to give up the opportunity to govern, and became a group of people who ate by their mouths and pens, and even worse, even criticized something other than Confucianism, and became a diehard, which is also where Qingliu is quite criticized. ,

However, in the more than 2,000 years of Chinese civilization, Chinese intellectuals have long been dependent on the Qing Dynasty. This is a kind of national jīng essence born from the depths of tradition and culture, Confucianism has been inherited for thousands of years, there must be a reason, the so-called people's hearts are only in danger, the Taoist heart is only subtle, where the public opinion is, is where the norms of the world are.

Once this millennial Qing Dynasty is abolished, it will mean the degradation of moral values. In the era I once lived in, there was a period when the moral bottom line was almost completely abandoned, but fortunately, it was corrected in time, otherwise such a society where everyone is self-interested and lacks fairness makes people shudder to think about it.

Although the power of Qingliu is still more formal and verbal, some of them, such as Zhang Zhi Dòng and Zhang Peilun, have begun to try practically, which is undoubtedly a force for Qin Kai, compared to those corrupt Manchu nobles and landlord forces, he is more willing to cooperate with these people in the current form.

Out of the mouth, Qin Kai very politely invited He Lu to go with the car, and the topic along the way was naturally the relationship between the war in North Vietnam and the Westernization and Confucian orthodoxy that the Qingliu people were concerned about, among them, Qin Kai naturally did not speak full of words, but implicitly expressed his confidence in protecting **, as for the latter question, he could have 500 years of research and preparation for the later generations, and applied the theory of the later scholar Qian Mu, which immediately made He Lu's heart broken.

When he arrived at Li Hongzao's house, what he didn't expect was that there were dozens of people gathering here, He Lu hurriedly introduced that all the officials who could be found by the Qingliu party in Beijing today had arrived, which made Qin Kai really beautiful for a while, but he already knew the reason for this, and it was all because of the news he released and the delicate relationship between the two sides.

In the war in northern Vietnam, there are only a few officials in charge, the western front is the commander Cen Yuying and the governor of Yunnan Tang Jiong, and the eastern front is Wu Changqing who is the commander of the military affairs and Xu Yanxu, the governor of Guangxi.

And Tang Jiong and Xu Yanxu are the two recommended by Qingliu, of course, Qin Kai is an outlier, and he is also included in the list recommended by Qingliu, and in the known battle reports now, Tang Jiong's 3,000 Yunnan troops were all defeated, and Xu Yanxu's 15,000 Gui army was even more miserable, so he fled back with a commander and a Taoist, less than 2,000 people.

When he entered the big mén mouth, an old man with a fat, medium height, long beard and white hair had already greeted him, no need to introduce, this is the current party leader Li Hongzao of Qingliu, this is a natural rival Li Zhongtang who is a natural rival of the main family to the second mén, it is a great courtesy, Qin Kai immediately quickened his steps and stepped forward to salute.

"Xiaguan Qin Kai to meet Lord Shangshu", Qin Kai bowed and saluted, this person has a lot of influence in the court, and it is the kind of power that Qin Kai can use and need, for Qin Kai, who has no strength at all in the court now, this is an indispensable force.

Seeing that this well-known Qing officialdom newcomer was very respectful to himself, Li Hongzao was naturally very satisfied, the officials present could see it clearly, which helped him improve his reputation in the Qingliu faction, he nodded and smiled and came over to hold Qin Kai's arm, and said with a laugh: "Governor Qin is really a Confucian general, but the old man is not as good as seeing it for a long time."

Everyone surrounded and entered the living room, where the wine had already been placed, Li Hongzao very kindly pulled Qin Kai to introduce people one by one, and the first old man with long hair and eyebrows was introduced, which made Qin Kai a little taken aback - the leader of "Nanqingliu", the emperor Weng Tongsu.

For this big man, Qin Kai is naturally known for a long time, and there are few few champions with political achievements in history, of course, what makes this even more famous is the "Yang Naiwu and Little Cabbage" case, the first of the four unjust cases of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, although Emperor Guangxu has not done much in history, but he is a rare diligent and erudite emperor in the history of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which has a great relationship with this emperor.

He naturally knew that Weng Tongsu was most famous for his calligraphy, and he also expressed his admiration for Lao Weng's calligraphy at the moment, and said a few polite words.

The old man was unexpectedly quite bookish and angry when he saw this Qin governor, and he was also very surprised, after all, when talking about this Qin armor in the military aircraft department, most of the time it was related to the war, and it would inevitably leave people with the feeling of knowing the soldiers and being good at fighting, so he had an idea at that time. ,

This introduction, it took half an hour, but there were also a few names that impressed Qin Kai, Zhao Shuqiao, the director of the Criminal Department, and Lin Shaonian, the two officials in their thirties, who made him very interested in chatting a few words, but the most surprising thing for him was the last introduction of a 6-grade petty official through the political secretary Huang Zunxian.

This name made Qin Kai really stunned for a few seconds, and looked at this thin, medium-sized man, he didn't dare to think that this was the main general of the "modern poetry world", the Huang Zunxian, who had made a lot of achievements in the history of China, and quickly searched for the historical information of this person, it stands to reason that this person should be a counselor in Japan now, how to run back to Beijing?

Li Hongzao next to him was very curious about Qin Kai's attention to Huang Zunxian, this Huang Gongdu was actually a marginal figure in the clear stream of the capital, so he introduced: "Huang Gongdu has been a counselor in Japan for more than 4 years, and he has just been transferred back this month, isn't it the Americans who are making a lot of trouble, and they are going to send him to the United States to be a consul in a place to deal with local Chinese affairs."

This relieved Qin Kai's doubts, it was indeed this person, Qin Kai smiled slightly in his heart, he was worried that he couldn't find a breakthrough in this "Chinese Exclusion Case", and arched his hand towards Huang Zunxian and asked: "Lord Huang, I heard that you are writing a Japanese historical chronicle, and I happen to be quite interested in it, I don't know if I can enjoy it?" ”

For this invitation, Huang Zunxian was naturally very interested, and the fact that he wrote the Japanese National Chronicles was not a secret in his circle of friends, but it was really unthinkable that it could reach the ears of the governor in Guangzhou, and he naturally accepted the invitation very happily, but he didn't realize that Qin Kai had already thought that he had the intention of tying him to his chariot.

After everyone sat down, Qin Kai sat next to Chen Baochen, who had the most news on weekdays, for the very harmonious relationship between the two sides, he naturally expressed his gratitude very sincerely, and he seemed very familiar with the conversation.

After two rounds of light drinking, Li Hongzao's eyes closed slightly, looked at Qin Kai and said: "Governor Qin, today the Queen Mother summoned to ask about this matter in the north of Vietnam, and the six princes will invite you to go with them when they discuss the war in North Vietnam tomorrow morning, and discuss the plan of the war in North Vietnam, how is the situation in North Vietnam?" Gale you are the most well-informed."

More than half of the people here have protected Tang Jiong, Xu Yanxu and Qin Kai, and when they heard today's highlights, they naturally stopped talking and turned their eyes to Qin Kai's side.

Qin Kai naturally knew what these people meant, and also understood what Li Hongzao meant, thinking that the news of the defeat in North Vietnam had touched the fundamental interests of these Qingliu officials, which was very good, this big gamble in North Vietnam, he undoubtedly wanted to be a big dealer, and the French had a big deal, and the historical process he subverted, the benefits to these people, when the time came, he would have to collect it with interest.

Therefore, as soon as he opened his mouth, he made a declaration that scared people to death, "Princes, the situation in northern Vietnam is extremely dangerous, but my protector will definitely be able to defeat the French, every inch of land in Greater China must not be lost, and I will want to recapture the land of Vietnam like the Ryukyu Kingdom."