In the conference room, the atmosphere is very lively.

After Shi Dakai raised troops to surrender to Li Zhen, the territory of Sichuan was brought under Li Zhen's command. Except for remote areas such as Xinjiang and Tibet, most parts of the country have been pacified.

Today, Li Zhen can be regarded as dominating the world.

With this news, the generals in the army were very happy.

From the Retainer of the Dragon!

They are the heroes who followed Li Zhen!

Li Zhen's expression was calm, his peaceful gaze swept over everyone, and he said unhurriedly: "The problem in Sichuan has been dealt with, and the next thing is the affairs of the whole country, and the focus is slightly tilted towards restoring people's livelihood." However, since Sichuan borders Tibet, Yunnan and other regions, it is the henchman of the entire southwest of the country, and its geographical location is very important, so it is necessary to leave an army. I decided that Zeng Guofan's Third Army would be stationed in Chengdu and be responsible for the stability of the Sichuan region. ”

Zeng Guoquan didn't know about Zeng Guofan's transfer, and he was quite excited.

Zeng Guo was in charge of the ruling side, and he also had more face.

Li Zhen said: "Zhang Zhidong listens to orders! ”

"In!"

Zhang Zhidong stood up and spoke.

Li Zhen's expression was serious, and he said unquestionably: "From today onwards, you will serve as the commander of the Third Army, stationed in Chengdu, and be responsible for military and political affairs in Sichuan. Zeng Guoquan was the deputy commander of the army and assisted Zhang Zhidong in handling the affairs of the army. Zeng Guofan, the former commander of the Third Army, was transferred and returned to Beijing with me for another appointment. ”

"Yes!"

Zhang Zhidong sat down, very excited.

He is so young that he can have the opportunity to be in charge of the party.

Zeng Guoquan didn't expect that it was an outsider who was in power, and he was dissatisfied, so he stood up and asked loudly: "Lord Wang, after Commander Zeng stepped down as the commander of the Third Army, what official position did he hold in Beijing?" He was worried about Zeng Guofan's situation, and he had a preconceived idea that Li Zhen was going to kill the donkey, and that Li Zhen was ready to cut off Zeng Guofan's military power after defeating Shi Dakai.

Therefore, Zeng Guoquan risked the following crimes and asked.

Li Zhen was prepared and said: "After Zeng Guofan left office, he was in charge of the political affairs of the whole country and ruled the whole country. ”

After Zeng Guofan heard this, his body trembled.

Politics!

He was in charge of the political affairs of the whole country, and although he did not hold military power, he became a civilian official, and his power was quite large. Zeng Guoquan saw Zeng Guofan's excited expression, and also knew that he had misunderstood Li Zhen.

Zeng Guoquan apologized to Li Zhen and expressed his willingness to serve as Zhang Zhidong's deputy.

Li Zhen's eyes stayed on Zhang Zhidong and Zeng Guoquan, and said: "Commander Zhang, Deputy Commander Zeng, Sichuan has just stabilized, and there are still many things to do, not only to reassure the people, but also to maintain the combat effectiveness of the army. Although the war is won, it does not mean that there is no war. After I return to Beijing, there will be a series of changes, a series of things may happen, and there may be a certain scale of fighting, so we must continue to train the troops and not slack off. You are in charge of Sichuan, and I hope that you will cooperate sincerely, guard against arrogance and rashness, protect the stability of Sichuan, and guard the fruits we have won. ”

"Yes!"

Zhang Zhidong and Zeng Guoquan should respond, and they are quite excited in their hearts.

Li Zhen said: "Take a day off and go back to Chengdu tomorrow!" ”

When they had received the order, they all took their leave.

The soldiers in the army rest for one day and return the next day. After returning to Chengdu, Li Zhen had a long talk with Zhang Zhidong all night, and then instructed Zhang Zhidong and Zeng Guoquan to have a word, leaving the army of the Third Army, and taking Zeng Guofan, Dong Haichuan, Yang Luchan, Shi Dakai, Chen Yucheng and others to Beijing.

The army hurried all the way, and when they returned to Beijing, it was already August. Before Li Zhen arrived, the Little Emperor, Cixi, and Empress Dowager Ci'an had also arrived in Beijing, including Huang Shihai, the commander of the First Army, Huang Qiang, the sharp knife battalion, Zhao Liewen, and Han Laiyu of the National Security Bureau, all of whom had moved from Nanjing to Beijing.

Because Li Zhen had already made arrangements, Zuo Zongtang directly arranged the little emperor and others in the Summer Palace, and did not let the little emperor enter the palace.

This change made Cixi and Ci'an quite dissatisfied. However, the two were more uneasy, because Li Zhen no longer took them seriously. When Cixi and Ci'an heard the news that Li Zhen had returned with the army, they felt even more dangerous.

Summer Palace, the residence of the little emperor.

The little emperor is nearly four years old, tiger-headed, but young and ignorant.

However, Cixi and Ci'an were people who understood.

Once Li Zhen comes back with the soldiers, I'm afraid there will be a showdown between them and Li Zhen. When Cixi and Ci'an were in Nanjing, they tried every means to get rid of Li Zhen, but after being taken to the north, everything fell through. Moreover, Li Zhen's speed of dominating the whole country was too fast, Cixi and Ci'an were not ready, and they did not even win over the generals in the army, and Li Zhen had already led the army back.

Cixi looked at the little emperor who was playing happily, and her face was full of worry.

Cixi said with a serious expression: "Sister, Li Zhen is in power, and things are getting more and more tricky. Now, we have become fish on the chopping board, at the mercy of Li Zhen. "Rao is Cixi usually has a lot of ghost ideas, but now she is at a loss and can't think of a way.

Ci'an said: "According to the current situation, it would be best if he could survive. ”

Cixi rolled her eyes and said, "Sister, what if you are a minister?" ”

When Ci'an heard this, his expression kept changing.

Once proclaimed vassal, it meant the complete destruction of the Qing Dynasty.

Ci'an was silent for a long time, and said helplessly: "No matter what, no matter what, only by doing this, otherwise it will be difficult to keep us safe." After a pause, Ci'an said unwillingly: "Sister, if you trick Li Zhen here and take the opportunity to get rid of Li Zhen, do you think you can do it?" ”

Cixi sighed lightly and said, "No matter what this strategy is, it will not work in the end. ”

"Why?" Ci'an asked.

Cixi said: "If you want to assassinate Li Zhen, someone must master the army under Li Zhen in order to suppress the situation after Li Zhen's death." Otherwise, Li Zhen will die, the army will be in chaos, and we will definitely bear the brunt of being killed. Without the army, we can't shake our hands on Lee, otherwise we will push ourselves to death. Besides, with Li Zhen's strength, it would be difficult to assassinate him! ”

Ci'an said: "In this case, please Li Zhenlai." ”

Cixi shook her head and said, "Please Li Zhenlai is not sincere enough, I will go in person." I will lobby Li Zhen first, and try to make Li Zhen not abolish the emperor. Once Li Zhen's heart is soft-hearted, we will have the opportunity to think about it in the long run. If Li Zhen doesn't agree, I will take the initiative to call myself a minister and let the emperor concede. What I want to do now is to take the initiative to show favor to Li Zhen and let Li Zhen know that we are obedient. ”

Ci'an's face changed, and Cixi went to the mouth of a sheep.

Cixi said: "Sister, the emperor has handed it over to you, I will visit Li Zhen." ”

Ci'an nodded and said, "Okay!" ”

Immediately, Cixi immediately asked the subordinates in the palace to prepare a carriage, and then rode the carriage towards the place where Li Zhen lived. Outside the mansion, Cixi asked the soldiers guarding the door to inform, and soon someone came to greet Cixi. Cixi entered the mansion and came to Li Zhen's study. She turned around and closed the door, knelt down with a thud, and said, "Please spare your life!" ”

ps: the second shift;