In the capital, as the news of Wang Sirui's 'death' gradually came, more and more people in the upper circle began to be anxious.

At this time, in the Qingwang Mansion, the two old men sat on the high hall with a melancholy face.

"Alas, I regret not being at the beginning!" is also full of remorse, but he looks helpless.

Li Hongzhang beside him did not show regret on his face, but Li Hongzhang's face was not good-looking at this moment.

Obviously, they still underestimated Wang Sirui's impact on the whole thing.

Seven days ago, Wang Sirui died in Nankou, not even a complete body could be left, and the soldiers of a platoon who followed Wang Sirui were all killed in battle.

This scene made Li Hongzhang feel deeply shocked in his heart, if the Qing court could have such loyal people, how could it have come to this point now?

However, after seeing the reactions of the soldiers around Wang Sirui and the subsequent developments, Li Hongzhang was also more convinced that their approach was correct.

Wang Sirui must die, or he will threaten the orthodoxy of the Qing court.

As for the other things, those are not a big deal, as long as the legitimacy of the Qing court can be guaranteed, and the country will not be harassed by the war again, so what does it matter if you lose some?

However, Yixuan is not as open as Li Hongzhang sees, and now Yixuan is full of regrets.

Why don't you stay with Wang Sirui for a while? Why didn't you choose the other way in the first place? Why do you want to agree to the last condition of the foreigner?

This series of events made Yixuan a little out of breath for a while, and he didn't even know how to explain to the court.

When Yixuan went to collect the 10,000 soldiers under Wang Sirui with the holy decree, that scene made Yixuan feel scared.

Although the imperial court has canonized several of Wang Sirui's henchmen as commanders, this is an official position equal to Wang Sirui's before. But these people are still not satisfied, or rather unimpressed.

That's right, they rejected Yixuan's co-optation.

Now thinking back to that day, Yixuan is still a little afraid.

Two days ago!

After receiving the holy decree from the imperial court, Yixuan excitedly bypassed Li Hongzhang and led his henchmen to the military camp non-stop, wanting to announce the content of the holy decree.

However, when he arrived at the barracks, he was frightened by the scene in the barracks.

In fact, that day, Yixiao noticed that something seemed to be wrong in the capital, in the past, the streets were full of patrolling soldiers, but today there is not a single soldier on the street.

It wasn't until Yixuan entered the barracks that he found that except for a few soldiers who remained on the city wall, the rest of the 8,000 people were gathered in the military restricted area in the south of the city.

And these 8,000 soldiers stood together in a row, exuding a thick murderous aura from their bodies.

At that time, Yixiao's first reaction was to feel afraid, he was worried that Wang Sirui's death would cause dissatisfaction among these people, so as to launch a riot and even control the entire capital.

And when Yixuan read the holy decree, those soldiers did not kneel, and in the face of the murderous soldiers, Yixuan did not dare to defend the dignity of his prince.

However, when Yixiao finished reading the decree, he was disappointed, because he did not see a trace of excitement on the faces of any of the soldiers.

"Don't hide it from the prince, we were all saved by Lord Wang, and it is all because of Lord Wang that we can have today's status. Now that Lord Wang has been killed by bandits, we will continue to live without shame. Therefore, we can't accept the canonization of the imperial court, and we must avenge Lord Wang, even if we dig three feet into the ground, we must find out that gang of bandits. After finishing speaking, Wu Yang looked at the soldiers below again, and said slowly: "Please also rest assured, after avenging Lord Wang, I will disband this army, if anyone is willing to continue to serve in the army, they will return to Beijing on their own." ”

"This ......" was stunned there, in order to avenge Wang Sirui, they didn't even want the canonization of the imperial court?

In the face of nearly 10,000 people, Yixiao didn't dare to disagree, and finally left the barracks in disgrace.

And that night, this army quietly left the capital, and no one knows where it went.

It was not that he did not send people to follow them, but the people he sent did not hear from them for a long time, and when they reached the back, no matter how many people they sent out, they could not find any trace of this army.

However, at the south entrance, Yili heard some news that there was an army looking for traces of nearby bandits, and it seemed that they were really angry.

If that's all there is to it, what worries Yixuan the most is that even the army defending the city left with them.

In other words, except for the 10,000 troops that Wang Sirui helped them train, all the other troops under Wang Sirui left the capital.

It stands to reason that Yixuan should be happy, after all, he has completed the task given to him by Cixi. But when I thought that my selfishness was gone, I felt very uncomfortable in my heart.

However, Yixuan did not give up, and finally, three days ago, Yixuan heard the news that about 300 people did not leave the city with the large army, they were all Han natives of the capital, and they did not want to offend the imperial court, so they left the army and returned home.

It's just that when they left the army, their weapons were taken away. But for Yixuan, weapons are not a problem at all.

That night, Yixuan found this group of people, and after promising a lot of benefits, he finally received these 300 people into the Shenji Camp and became a part of Yixuan's hands.

If this is the end of the matter, that's fine.

But just solved the matter on Wang Sirui's side, and the foreigners once again gave them a big problem.

The "Xinchou Treaty", which had just been signed, was torn up by foreigners.

They thought that the above compensation was unreasonable, so they hoped to renegotiate, and at the same time, the coalition troops stationed in Tianjin also made an offensive posture, which really frightened the Qing court.

It was only at this time that Yixuan began to regret it gradually.

What does it mean to be cocooned? Here it is.

Now that Wang Sirui is gone, the 10,000 troops under his command are gone, and only the 10,000 troops that Wang Sirui helped train are left, but these 10,000 troops have not yet fully formed an army, and what is worse is that they can't even get together weapons, so they can't fight at all.

If the foreigners call at this time, I am afraid that in three days at most, the capital will change hands again.

And the foreigners also seem to recognize this, so this time the attitude is also extraordinarily tough, not giving the Qing court room to bargain at all, directly opening up the compensation of 450 million taels of silver, and giving a three-day deadline, if you agree, modify the contract, if you don't agree, then fight again.

Anyway, your reliance is no longer there, and even the army has rushed to seek revenge on the non-existent bandits, and the Qing court has no more usable soldiers.

As for the only 10,000 troops left in the capital, the evaluation given by the foreigners is that they are vulnerable!

"450 million, that's the sum of the taxes of the Qing Dynasty in the past six years, and not counting the damn interest, how did we get this money? Foreigners are too shameless. Yixuan said with a headache.

They have already told the court about the foreigner's repentance, but they have not yet received a reply from the court, but Yixuan seems to have seen the anger of the Empress Dowager Cixi, and when she thought of this, Yixuan couldn't help but shudder.

"Now it is not a question of whether to pay for it, but whether the court is willing to pay for it." Li Hongzhang said suddenly.

"Master Li, what are you talking about? How much money is left in the treasury today? I'm afraid you know better than anyone else, right? How can the imperial court afford to pay for it? Yixuan pointed at Li Hongzhang and asked angrily.

Originally, the treasury had some money, but after the coalition occupied Beijing, the entire treasury had been emptied, and when the imperial court returned, even the expenses of the palace were still the same thing.

What's even worse is that what kind of person is the Empress Dowager Cixi, don't they know yet? Just by eating, you can eat a battleship in a year, not to mention repairing a garden or something.

It is necessary to ensure that Cixi's daily life is not affected, and to ensure that the operation of the local government is not affected, how much money can the imperial court have?

Don't look at the annual tax of the Qing Dynasty is 80 million taels of silver, but in fact, if you can go to the court, it is already very good to have 20 million taels, and you must also ensure the income of the ministers of the court and the princes.

It's very clear about this.

Let's just put it this way, the annual tax revenue of the Qing Dynasty is 80 million taels of silver, but the annual expenditure of the whole country is about 130 million taels of silver, that is, there is a deficit of about 50 million taels of silver every year.

I can't even take care of myself, so how can I compensate the foreigners? Unless, these princes can take out part of their family funds and donate them to the imperial court, which is why they are angry.

"As long as you are willing to pay, there is always a way. But there is one thing, lord, you had better have a bottom in your heart. If you agree, you can ensure the stability of the Qing Dynasty for at least 20 years, otherwise, I am afraid that it will immediately fall into the flames of war. Li Hongzhang said.

"Huh?" Yixuan didn't quite understand the meaning of Li Hongzhang's words.

"It's not that the foreigners are not unaware of our financial situation, if we agree to the foreigners, it means that before this debt is paid off, the Qing Dynasty will not be able to guarantee the development of its own army, and the court has no money, so if it is you, are you still willing to come?" Li Hongzhang explained pointedly, but when Li Hongzhang said this, his face was very ugly.

Don't look at Li Hongzhang acting like a nobody, in fact, deep down, Li Hongzhang is more angry than anyone else, he is angry that foreigners do not keep their promises, he is angry about these princes and ministers, when the country is in trouble, but he still only thinks about themselves. (To be continued.) )