The sudden outbreak of war was completely unexpected. The so-called people, including the Qing court, including the Portuguese, including other powers, including the domestic people, are www.biquge.info the Qing court, including the Portuguese.

For many years, one or two gunboats and 1,800 soldiers of the great powers dared to run rampant. The so-called Great Qing Kingdom, with a vast land and many people, has been defeated repeatedly, but there are no soldiers who dare to fight.

And just when the morale of the people has been low for a long time, and foreigners cannot look at it and are arrogant and unreasonable, the battle on Coloane Island is like a thunderous earthquake, and there is an uproar at home and abroad.

It is not about how many Portuguese soldiers were annihilated, not in the small land of Coloane Island, but about this courage, the courage to dare to go to war with foreigners, and the courage to fight for the country and the people.

Up and down the Qing Dynasty, except for the imperial court that lost its voice for a while, was so shocked that it didn't have time to react. Under the clamor and propaganda of the media, the people immediately became boiling.

After the Qing season, it is the most dreary and gloomy time. After the Hongyang Rebellion, the whole country and the entire ruling institution were excited for a while by taking advantage of the last few famous ministers. Build a navy, recover Xinjiang, pacify the rebellion, the Westernization Movement, the Sino-French War...... It's a pity that in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Gengzi Incident happened, and it seemed that the last bit of vitality was exhausted, and it was time to be lifeless.

The national situation, everyone knows that it is necessary to cheer up to avoid the disaster of the country, and at this time, internal and external troubles are connected together, which makes people mad.

Let's just say that recently, the British enclosed a piece of land by the river at the terminal of the Canton Railway as a place to load cranes to unload coal and stack heavy goods, and repeated negotiations were rejected by the British; The Japanese "Erchen Maru" case ended with the Guangdong Navy firing an apology and not returning the theft of Dongxing Island; In the negotiations on the demarcation of Macao, Ma Shaduo had an arrogant attitude, and when his blackmail methods failed, he brushed his sleeves away, brazenly sabotaging the negotiations. In the name of suppressing bandits. brazenly invaded Coloane, burned, killed and looted......

Negotiation, negotiation, which time did not end with a compromise and concession by the imperial court? The place was encroached upon, the people were expelled and killed, and the apologies were humiliated. Pile by pile, pile by piece, pressing on people's hearts. But no one raised their arms and exhaled, bringing a refreshing feeling to the entire Qing Dynasty.

And now, an official who is not considered a high-powered official has actually made such a big event that shook the world and made the people feel that their waists were a little stiffer!

Building momentum and propaganda are the means that Chen Wenqiang has always been good at. This time was no exception. The news spread by telegram from Guangzhou to Beijing, Shanghai, Wuchang, Hankou, Tianjin, and other places, and it immediately appeared in the newspaper and became known to the people.

Most people's emotions are nervous and slightly excited. Since Emperor Daoguang. There are really not a few people who are bullied by foreign devils, and the people's morale has been suppressed for too long, as long as they can raise their faces in front of foreign devils a little, they will become heroes in the eyes of the people.

Folk discussions, praises, and analyses, and the surging of public opinion. Can it influence the Qing court's response?

The current bureaucratic system of the Qing Dynasty is already a complete ostrich mentality. These bureaucrats were trained according to the rules of the traditional scholars. It is completely unable to cope with the changes that have not been seen in 3,000 years. The relationship between the great powers and the strength of various countries can be said to be very little known to the court officials, only that it is the blue-eyed, red-haired foreigners who are not easy to provoke.

It's just that these officials, big and small, have just learned from the newspapers that Portugal is just a small country, and besides, public opinion is like this. I don't dare to deal with it easily.

"This Chen Wenqiang, it's really-" Zhang Zhidong looked at the second secret letter that was delivered in time, and finally understood that Chen Wenqiang had prepared for a long time, and the plan was step by step.

"Zhongtang, this is not a big deal. It is not small to say that it is not small, but it was Macao and Portugal that invaded and occupied it first, and our military counterattacked. Gu Hongming said in a deep voice: "If you talk about military strength, Macao and Portugal are not worried. Now the fear was that the Portuguese would send more troops and ships from the country to expand the war. With the Southwest Revolutionary Party in check, I am afraid that Guangdong will not be able to mobilize many troops. ”

Zhang Zhidong handed the secret letter to Gu Hongming, sighed, and said: "Wen Qiang is also prepared for this, but his ideas are a little naïve. As soon as the war with the Portuguese broke out with the aim of overthrowing the imperial court, would they not take this opportunity to launch another offensive? ”

Gu Hongming looked at the secret letter, was speechless for a long time, and then said slowly: "It's okay to try." If the Revolutionary Party takes advantage of external troubles, it will lose the support of the people. ”

"How could the Revolutionary Party have such foresight?" Zhang Zhidong shook his head and said: "Taking advantage of the chaos in the imperial court to start an incident is not the consistent strategy of the revolutionary party?" ”

"Zhongtang can wait for a while to see how the Southwest Revolutionary Party moves." Gu Hongming said: "According to the study of lowly duties, the Southwest Revolutionary Party is not exactly the same as the chaotic party led by Sun Wen. ”

Zhang Zhidong sighed and said: "What about the negotiations, Wen Qiang recommended himself, will it anger the foreigners even more and expand the war?" ”

"I think it's okay." Gu Hongming said: "Wen Qiang is good at foreign affairs, and he also has a lot of research on international trends, and I am afraid that it is difficult to find someone stronger than him in the court." The outbreak of war this time was also due to the improper use of personnel by the imperial court, and Gao Erqian's weak compromise in the negotiations on the demarcation of Macao, which caused a surge of public opinion and resentment among the people. The battle of Coloane Island started by Wen Qiang, and he was confident that he could negotiate successfully, so it would be handed over to him, which is reasonable. ”

"I'm just afraid that Wen Qiang will repeat the example of the Ili negotiations in Xinjiang back then." Zhang Zhidong said worriedly: "If it fails, the countries will force him, the court will kill his head, and then change the minister to clean up the overall situation." ”

"Wen Qiang is not a scheming person, he dares to ask for help, he is naturally sure." Gu Hongming said: "Just look at the battle on the island, he is far-sighted and well-prepared. ”

Zhang Zhidong smiled bitterly, and said helplessly: "Okay, let him solve the trouble he caused, and the princes of the court have no responsibility, and the queen mother is estimated to be able to explain it." ”

As for Chen Wenqiang's appeal in the newspapers, the Southwest Revolutionary Party should be tried to defend itself against foreign insults for the time being, and to maintain calm so that the government can go all out to the outside world. Zhang Zhidong did not have much confidence in this, because he was also an old-school intellectual, and there was no clear distinction between the two concepts of government and state. Of course, he didn't know that Chen Wenqiang was a revolutionary party, and he had already said hello and would soon get a response.

Similarly, Chen Wenqiang's secret letter was also sent to Yuan Shikai. Despite his suspicions, Yuan Shikai didn't want to take this trouble on himself. It's just a matter of words in the court, not to mention the example of the Ili negotiations in Xinjiang, no matter whether it succeeds or fails, the court will have a scapegoat to back up in the future, and it is naturally willing to hand over this mess to the initiator.

Moreover, the decisiveness of the killing on Coloane Island made Yuan Shikai appreciate Chen Wenqiang even more. There is responsibility, courage, and in the far away place of the emperor of the mountain, there is also a crazy energy. Maybe in the future, I will help the crisis and become a big help for myself!

…………… (To be continued.) )