After going to Hong Kong, Li Hongzhang coughed violently a few times, but was soon forcibly suppressed.

waved his hand at Wang Sirui, signaling that he could leave.

After Wang Sirui left, there was a more violent coughing sound in the room.

Listening to the coughing sound in the room, Wang Sirui shook his head helplessly.

In fact, Li Hongzhang was a little ill a few years ago, and Li Hongzhang had already planned to retire, but he had no choice but to choose a successor, and the court refused to release him, so he could only hold on.

Historically, Li Hongzhang died after the signing of the Xinchou Treaty, which can be said to have died of illness, but it can also be said that he was angry to death.

Li Hongzhang was bullied by foreigners in his later years, although on the surface foreigners still respected this important minister of the late Qing Dynasty, but in fact, only Li Hongzhang knew more about the suffering.

Leave? That's just the way the weak choose.

Moreover, Wang Sirui didn't believe that the Qing court would let him go easily.

As long as this person is alive, no matter where he goes, as long as he raises his arms and shouts, countless people will stand up and respond.

And the court's approach is undoubtedly tantamount to a thorn in Wang Sirui's heart.

For a young man with strong blood, if he is willing to compromise like this, then why does he choose to stay here and fight with foreigners? Is it just for the so-called imperial court?

On December 2, with the arrival of winter, the weather in the capital became colder and colder.

The house was full of lit braziers, and the soldiers had only a few single clothes on their bodies, which were very thin.

Regarding the problem of winter clothing for the troops, Wang Sirui also has a headache.

First, they did not have enough cotton and cloth, and secondly, the tailors in the city did not have enough stock to supply so many troops.

What's more, Wang Sirui's army on the surface is only more than 3,000 people, but in fact, there are nearly 10,000 troops stationed in the capital alone.

Although Yixuan and Li Hongzhang were temporarily ordered by Wang Sirui to form an army, the size of the army was temporarily expanded to 20,000.

However, there is no way to use these extra troops immediately, and it is inevitable that some spies will be mixed in with a newly recruited unit, and the spies on the side of a new regiment have not yet been completely identified, and if you wait to check it later, I am afraid that it will be much more difficult.

In a small conference room, Wang Sirui and Li Hongzhang's aide Liu Xuexun sat opposite each other, and this time Liu Xuexun came to discuss the expansion of the army with Wang Sirui on behalf of Li Hongzhang.

At this time in history, Liu Xuexun had already retired, but because of the butterfly effect brought by Wang Sirui, Liu Xuexun was still by Li Hongzhang's side at this time.

And because Li Hongzhang had already talked to Wang Sirui before, and the two had also reached an agreement, it was inconvenient for Li Hongzhang to continue to come forward this time.

As for Yixiao, he is even lazier to come forward, and in recent times, Yixuan has been living in a simple house, and it is rare to show his face, and he doesn't know what to do at home?

Li Hongzhang's meaning is very simple, he hopes that Wang Sirui can expand the army in the capital to 20,000 or more in a short time, preferably in the next few days.

But at the same time, Li Hongzhang did not want the command of these armies to fall into the hands of Wang Sirui.

Although he values Wang Sirui very much, this does not mean that he will support Wang Sirui to do certain things, and Li Hongzhang will not touch on some issues of principle.

At this time, Li Hongzhang handed over the matter of negotiating with Wang Sirui to his staff member, Liu Xuexun.

Liu Xuexun's reputation in history is not as good as those celebrities, but in fact, Liu Xuexun's role is beyond those historical celebrities.

Liu Xuexun and the Father of the Nation are fellow villagers, and the two have known each other for a long time. And seven years ago, he took the Father of the Nation to meet Li Hanzhang, the governor of Liangguang (Li Hongzhang's elder brother), and joined the celebrities of Guangzhou to praise the Father of the Nation.

Five years ago, the Father of the Nation founded the Agricultural Society, and Liu Xuexun and the teachers and students of his organization soon joined.

Liu Sun gradually formed a secret partner, Liu came up with ideas, money, and the father of the nation organized actions.

Later, Liu Xuexun said that the Qing court agreed to appease the father of the nation, and last year Liu wrote a letter of sponsorship to it, saying that the prime minister of Jiabao was of great use, and it was not appropriate to let him wander overseas.

Before the Guangzhou Uprising, Liu Sun had a secret meeting, and the Father of the Nation wanted Liu Xuexun to be the leader of the uprising, but Liu Xuexun refused.

It can be said that Li Hongzhang's staff, who is sitting opposite Wang Sirui at the moment, is actually one of the earliest revolutionaries in China.

It's just that this revolutionary has always had the dream of being an emperor.

"The implication of the court is obvious, I don't know what the virtuous brother thinks?" Liu Xuexun looked at Wang Sirui with interest, secretly planning for his little Jiujiu in his heart.

I have to admit that Wang Sirui's ability has impressed Liu Xuexun.

At this moment, Liu Xuexun is thinking about how to recruit Wang Sirui. At that time, with his Liu Xuexun's idea and Wang Sirui's military talent, I believe that it will not be long before they will be able to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and make him ascend to the Ninth Five-Year Plan.

Wang Sirui can even fight the foreigners, let alone the rotten army in the imperial court? As for Sun, at least in Liu Xuexun's view, his role is not as good as Wang Sirui's.

Of course, Wang Sirui is very young, which is exactly what Liu Xuexun likes. Young people, it's better to fool, isn't it? As long as he first instills his thoughts into Wang Sirui, and then he is allowed the position of generalissimo of soldiers and horses, one person is above ten thousand, presumably Wang Sirui will soon surrender to him.

Of course, if there really is that day, Liu Xuexun will definitely go even more than the current imperial court, and he will definitely kill Wang Sirui without hesitation at the moment when he is about to succeed, and then crown him a prince with a different surname.

"As long as the nation no longer suffers, what should I do if I suffer some grievances? The court naturally has his reasons for doing this, and he is ordered. Wang Sirui smiled and said very directly.

Although Wang Sirui doesn't know much about Liu Xuexun, he still has heard some things about him.

For such a revolutionary predecessor who hated to be ambushed to the bottom of the sea, Wang Sirui could only stay away.

In Wang Sirui's words, Lao Tzu still has an imperial heart in his heart, and he will help you realize your imperial dream unless he is stupid.

"Also, the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, since the virtuous brother has been appointed, then the brother will not say more, everything is as it is." Liu Xuexun was slightly disappointed, but he did not despair.

Because he knew that the imperial court would never let Wang Sirui go. And at that time, it was the best time for him to recruit Wang Sirui.

Immediately afterward, the two talked about some issues related to the expansion of the army.

And Wang Sirui was eager to solve the problem of winter clothes for the troops, so the two did not talk about it for a while.

Eventually, after an hour of negotiations, the two finally came to an agreement.

Expand the troops to 20,000, of which 10,000 are under the command of Wang Sirui and 10,000 are under the direct command of the imperial court, but all the troops need to be trained by Wang Sirui.

As for the problem of winter clothing for the troops, this was solved by the imperial court, and within ten days, 20,000 sets of cotton clothes and pants would be sent to the barracks.

Taking this opportunity, Wang Sirui once again expanded the army of 7,000 people, expanding the total number of troops on the surface to 10,000, and the surplus 7,000 people were hidden by Wang Sirui all over the capital, and even the daily patrols were temporarily handed over to the 3,000 troops.

For a while, the 3,000 troops who were made public were even more busy.

Among them, 900 men were stationed at 15 city gates, two battalions of more than 1,200 people were arranged in the barracks, and one battalion of more than 600 people was arranged in the prisoner camp, and only one battalion was left to patrol the entire capital.

Twelve squads of fighters were divided into twelve areas, patrolling non-stop during the day and resting at night.

At the same time, Wang Sirui also wrote a letter to Wang Shuqi again, ordering him to speed up the preparation of 7,000 sets of winter clothes, which were to be equipped for soldiers hidden in various parts of the capital.

After all, they can't go out normally on weekdays, so they can only stay in the yard or house, and as the weather gets colder and colder, these soldiers will become more and more uncomfortable.