September 5, 1900.

Shanghai Mansion, Li Mansion.

Since three days ago, when Russian Ambassador to Shanghai Dmiev paid a visit, Li Hongzhang, the eighty-year-old governor of Zhili and minister of Beiyang, and Li Zhongtang, his complexion has obviously improved a lot, and laughter and laughter have often been heard in the entire mansion.

After all, with the leading and exemplary role of Tsarist Russia, other countries will naturally stop the pace of expansion a little without figuring out the reason, and restrain the behavior of their subordinates a little, at least in Yanjing, the smashing and looting incidents have gradually decreased, and the security in the capital has improved a lot, whether it is the people or the imperial court, they have made a very high evaluation of Li Zhongtang's actions, which makes Li Zhongtang very satisfied.

Today's Li Mansion is particularly busy, because peace talks are expected, Li Zhongtang plans to leave today, take a boat to Tanggu, and then transfer to Yanjing, enter Beijing to start substantive negotiations with various countries, but just as Li Zhongtang changed into his official robe and was about to go out, Tsarist Russian Ambassador Dmiyev angrily walked into the Li Mansion.

"Lord Li, how can your country's troops do such a treacherous and collusive thing, your Qing court must give me a satisfactory explanation for this matter, otherwise, your country will lose the good situation it has now,......。"

As soon as Demiev saw Li Hongzhang, he went straight into a frenzy, and his mouth was full of accusations, which made Li Hongzhang, who was still smiling, look ugly in an instant, you must know that Li Hongzhang, as an important minister in the late Qing Dynasty, was a powerful minister who even Cixi and Guangxu had to give some face, but at this moment he was scolded by a Russian envoy in Shanghai, and it was strange that this face could be good-looking.

However, Li Zhongtang also knew that this was not the time to offend Dmiev, so he could only endure this humiliation, and after repeated inquiries, he realized that it was a Qing Dynasty army far away in Qihar, Heishui Province, who secretly took refuge in the 'bandit army', but pretended to go to help in the war, and finally joined forces with the outside and defeated the Tsarist defenders.

To tell the truth, hearing that the Qing troops cooperated with the bandit army, defeated the Tsarist Russian troops, and killed more than 4,000 enemies, which shocked Li Hongzhang, he also seemed to feel some pride in his heart, after all, in the face of foreigners, the Qing army has not won for a long time.

After figuring out the reason for Dmiev's madness, Li Zhongtang's face finally looked better, and he suddenly became a little more curious about the 'bandit army' in his heart, of course, it was just curiosity, after all, in Li Zhongtang's eyes, this 'bandit army' was destined to be exterminated.

"Ahem, Ambassador Dmiev, I'm very sorry for that." Li Zhongtang had to make a low posture again, and then said sincerely: "The situation in Heishui Province is special, the former Heishui Provincial General Shoushan committed suicide and martyrdom, the new Heishui Provincial General has not yet taken office, and even the deputy capital of Qihar is far away in Hulun Bei*er, as a result, the Qihar garrison was bought by the 'bandit army', resulting in the defeat of your country, this official apologizes to your country on behalf of the imperial court, and the imperial court will try to make up for the loss of your country." ”

"Hmph." Dmiev snorted coldly, and continued: "What Li Zhongtang said is easy, make up for it, how to make up for it, in the first battle of the rich county, our Tsarist Russia sacrificed more than 4,000 soldiers, and the casualties were so large, His Majesty the Tsar was already angry, can you make up for it?" ”

Dmiev's cold snort and arrogant attitude made Li Hongzhang's brows condense into a Sichuan character again, his posture has been low enough, and he is full of apologies, and he clearly expressed his willingness to make up for the losses of Tsarist Russia, this Dmiev actually has to be unforgiving, which makes Li Hongzhang feel extremely ashamed.

If it weren't for the cultivation and endurance cultivated by decades of officialdom, I am afraid that if I was someone else, I would have to send off the guest directly, but Li Zhongtang is Li Zhongtang after all, and he can be called a capable minister who can be called a pastemaker in the Qing Dynasty, so he can naturally endure what ordinary people can't bear.

"Ambassador Dmiev, how does your country intend to deal with this matter?"

Li Zhongtang's tone is obviously much more blunt, although he can't offend Dmiev, but Dmiyev is only the ambassador of Tsarist Russia to Shanghai, not the ambassador of Tsarist Russia to the Qing Dynasty, for the war in the Qing Dynasty, Dmiyev is actually a microphone, and does not have the right and ability to influence Tsarist Russia's diplomacy, Li Hongzhang, as the first minister of the Qing Dynasty, naturally does not need to use his hot face to stick to Dmiyev's cold ass.

"Lord Li, if you want to continue the previous agreement, and if you want Tsarist Russia to continue to deal with the Qing Dynasty, then in addition to the compensation for the dead and wounded soldiers in the first battle of the rich county town will be paid by your country, the Qing Dynasty must increase the army involved in the suppression of bandits." Dmiev said bluntly.

"Increase the army?" Li Hongzhang was puzzled: "My Qing Dynasty is in the three eastern provinces, all the garrisons of more than 40,000 people are already gathered, and the main generals have been reported to the relevant generals of your country under the leadership of Shengjing General Zengqi and Jilin General Changshun, is this not enough?" ”

Don't say that Li Hongzhang is puzzled, in fact, Dmiev is not puzzled, Tsarist Russia invaded the three eastern provinces, the five-way army, a total of more than 130,000 troops, strong and easy to take Shengjing and Jilin provinces at the same time, but also repeatedly defeated in the hands of a bandit, and even lost 40,000 or 50,000 soldiers and horses, and now it is even more to do the best of the Tsarist Russian Far East, a total of more than 80,000 people, and cooperate with the Qing army of the three eastern provinces of more than 40,000 people, a total of more than 100,000 people, and their goal is only a bandit.

But even so, the top level of the Tsarist Russian War Department was still not very relieved, and they wanted to take this opportunity to propose that the Qing army increase its strength to participate in the battle against bandits in Heishui Province.

"Hmph."

Dmiyev snorted coldly, showing disdain for Li Zhongtang in his heart, although Dmiev was puzzled, but at least he knew that the bandit army far away in Heishui Province was very powerful, and Dmiyev was even thinking that if it wasn't for that bandit army offending Tsarist Russia, I am afraid that as long as Tsarist Russia supports it a little, that bandit army can easily seize the world of the Qing Dynasty.

Of course, the top brass of Tsarist Russia knew that the leader of that bandit army had a family feud with Tsarist Russia, and it was almost impossible to reconcile, and it was impossible for Tsarist Russia to reconcile with the executioner who killed tens of thousands of Tsarist Russian soldiers, at least that's what Dmiev thought.

"Li Zhongtang, I won't say much if it's superfluous, in view of the anti-water incident of your country's troops in rich counties, first of all, the top level of Tsarist Russia hopes that your country can do a good job in your country's troops, and no similar situation will occur again, and second, your country's troops participating in the war need to increase from the original 40,000 to 80,000." Dmiev said bluntly.

"Eighty thousand?" Li Hongzhang took a breath and said in surprise: "Ambassador Dmiev, the Qing court's total strength in the three eastern provinces is only more than 40,000 now, where do you ask me to find another 40,000 troops for you?" ”

"Is it hard to find 40,000 troops?" Dmiyev sneered: "Your country still has tens of thousands of troops in the suburbs of Beijing and Zhili, and we can provide ships to transport troops to the three eastern provinces for you." ”

Obviously, Dmiyev has done his homework, in Yanjing, Zhili, Hebei, although the Qing army was defeated, but there are indeed tens of thousands of troops around it, and the existence of tens of thousands of people, in fact, for the coalition forces of various countries, there is also a certain deterrent, if it is transferred away, the heart of the Qing Dynasty will really become the backyard of all countries, it can be said that this move is definitely a clever plan to kill two birds with one stone.

Of course, Li Zhongtang was not stupid, but after a little thought, he understood the trick, so he said lightly: "Ambassador Dmiev, the dispatch of troops from the suburbs of Yanjing and Zhili is too big, time-consuming and laborious, and there are countless amounts of money and food, which is really not a good idea, with the current national strength of our Qing Dynasty, it is really difficult to pay for such a huge military expenditure,......。 ”

In the end, through some bargaining, Li Hongzhang promised to increase the number of 40,000 troops from the original 40,000 to 80,000, but it was impossible to transfer troops from Yanjing and Zhili, and he could only recruit on the spot in the three eastern provinces, but he needed to ensure that the recruitment and assembly would be completed within ten days.

"Shame."

After Dmiev left, Li Hongzhang's face turned blue and he looked up to the sky and sighed.

As the first powerful minister of the imperial court today, Li Zhongtang, who is nearly eighty years old, was actually despised by a small ambassador to Shanghai, which is indeed a shame for Li Zhongtang.

"It's a shame indeed."

Li Zhongtang's son-in-law Zhang Peilun, who was standing outside the door, also sighed secretly, but the shame he said was because the Qing Dynasty actually wanted to hand over the military power of the three eastern provinces to Tsarist Russia, in exchange for Tsarist Russia's support in peace talks, in other words, if someone beats you, not only can you not fight back, but you also have to help the person who beat you, to beat your own people, what is this called.

Zhang Peilun looked at his father-in-law, who was nearly eighty years old, trembling angrily, for fear that Li Hongzhang's illness would happen again, so he hurriedly entered the hall and persuaded: "Lord Zhongtang, now that the country is in danger, Lord Zhongtang, please take care of your health." ”

"Young wood." Li Hongzhang was a little exhausted and said: "Let's stop being busy, today's trip will be canceled for the time being." ”

"Yes, Nakado-sama." Zhang Peilun responded, and was about to turn around and leave, but suddenly heard Li Hongzhang ask: "Youqiao, how do you know about the situation of the bandits in Aihui?" ”

Although Li Hongzhang believed that Aihui's bandits would inevitably be exterminated, anyone who needed to devote the entire Qing army of the three eastern provinces to assist tens of thousands of Tsarist Russian troops to exterminate it would be interested in it, and Li Hongzhang was naturally no exception.

"Lord Huizhongtang, I have inquired through various channels in the past three days, and I have roughly known some of the situation, but it is still like a cloud, it seems that this bandit army came out of thin air, and its combat effectiveness is so miraculous that you don't know how credible it is." Zhang Peilun said.

"Oh, tell me about it." Li Hongzhang suddenly became a little interested.

"Well, this bandit army calls itself the Black Dragon Army, the leader is surnamed Yue, and claims to be the descendant of the famous general Yue Fei of the Southern Song Dynasty, in July, the battle of Hailan Pao, the Yue clan was wiped out by Tsarist Russia, only a few people escaped the catastrophe, and the survivors of the Yue family fell into the grass in the Buren Mountain for the ,......。" (To be continued.) )