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Early in the morning of the second day, as soon as Song Xiaofei got up, Li Hongzhang sent someone to invite him to Li's mansion to discuss the possible deposition of Emperor Guangxu by the Empress Dowager Cixi.

Song Xiaofei rushed to the Li Mansion, and the Taishi chair in the living room of the Li family was already full of key members of the Huai Group, including Liu Mingchuan, the governor of Taiwan, Liu Shutang, the governor of Zhejiang, Sheng Xuanhuai, who supervised the Tianjin Customs and the Shanghai textile industry, Wu Tingfang, the minister of the Prime Minister's Yamen, and Zhang Peilun, the imperial historian of the Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Li Hongzhang sat on the kang, closed his eyes and recuperated, and when he saw Song Xiao flying, he invited him to "ascend to the kang" again! Song Xiaofei resigned, and Liu Ming preached: "Brother, what are you polite, as the governor of Shandong and the commander of the Beiyang Naval Division, you also have the title of squire of the military department, half a level higher than my brother, take a seat, your military exploits and new policies, everyone can see it, I Liu Liumazi admires it so much, who dares to gossip Brother to help you beat him!" ”

The people present laughed, Li Hongzhang nodded, and Song Xiaofei sat on the big wooden kang covered with tiger skin for the first time.

After the people sat down, Li Hongzhang said: "The queen mother now appoints Pu Jun as the eldest brother, and wants to depose the emperor, I believe everyone has heard of it, the old man telegraphed and discussed with Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang, Wang Wenshao, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, and others, they all feel that once the emperor is deposed, this year's Yan will be poor, and a catastrophe is coming, what do you think?" ”

Although Song Xiaofei already had an idea in his heart, he wanted to hear other people's opinions, so he didn't speak first. Sheng Xuanhuai was the first to stand up and said: "Now the people in Shanghai's business community are panicking, worried that after the Empress Dowager deposes the Guangxu Emperor, she will re-close the country and suppress agriculture. ”

Liu Shutang, the governor of Zhejiang, said: "The emperor's fame, after the change of law, although it did not reach the foresight, was strongly supported by the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River. He didn't make any big mistakes, and the Queen Mother rashly abolished it, fearing that she would lose the heart of the Jiangnan squire. ”

Li Hongzhang asked Wu Tingfang, "What do foreigners say?" ”

Wu Tingfang said: "There were many foreigners who originally supported the emperor's change of law, and Britain and Germany all hoped that China would open more business mansions. Moreover, Zhu Erdian and other ministers in China have great opinions on the conservative Duanwang. ”

Li Hongzhang said: "The opinions of the foreigners cannot be ignored, but the abolition of the emperor is, after all, China's internal affairs, and if the queen mother is determined to depose the emperor." At best, they protested. The key is our attitude. Province three, what is your opinion? ”

Liu Mingchuan saw Li Hongzhang and answered by name. I touched my shiny forehead. said: "The emperor is set up by the Queen Mother, and if she wants to be abolished, it is also her family matter." I listened to Brother Song's opinion, and he said that he would do whatever he wanted. ”

Li Hongzhang turned his head and asked Song Xiaofei what he thought, Song Xiaofei thought for a while and said: "The new law change in the past few months is a bit radical. However, it cannot be completely denied that in the past 100 days, schools have been set up in all parts of the country, mines have been opened, railways have been built, and factories have been set up, from the government to the opposition and from the officials to the people. There is a consensus: if a country wants to be rich and strong, it must first be renewed. If the Empress Dowager Cixi deposes the emperor at this time, it will be discredited to the world. And now Duan Wang is in charge, his wife is the niece of the Empress Dowager Cixi, if he makes his son the emperor again, he can be described as powerful, and the students Wen Duan Wang can be mediocre and conservative, I am afraid that it will harm the country! ”

Li Hongzhang nodded and said: "However, the Queen Mother is resolute in establishing Pu Jun as the new monarch this time, I heard that even the year name is good, and it will be changed to 'Baoqing' on New Year's Day next year, so it is not appropriate for us to come forward directly." ”

Song Xiaofei said: "The teacher is right, Sheng Xuanhuai is just in Shanghai, and he can contact the southeastern squires and businessmen to send a telegram to stop the abolition of the emperor." ”

Li Hongzhang turned his head and asked Sheng Xuanhuai, who was sitting on the Taishi chair on the left: "Xingsun, what do you think of this method?" ”

Sheng Xuanhuai nodded and said: "The squires and businessmen have long had this intention, and I estimate that there will be more than 1,000 gentry and businessmen who will discourage the abolition of the emperor." ”

Song Xiaofei said: "On the foreigner's side, students can also go to Zhu Erdian for help. ”

Li Hongzhang said: "This is very good, you should go and prepare immediately." ”

After Sheng Xuanhuai returned to Shanghai, he immediately found Jing Yuanshan, the general office of the Shanghai Telegraph Bureau, and asked him to contact the gentry and merchants, and finally listed 1,231 people and jointly signed a telegram to prevent the abolition of the Guangxu Emperor.

Song Xiaofei also did Zhu Erdian's work, Zhu Erdian also helped to the end, so that the British ** ship continued to cruise in the waters near Dagukou, and the ministers of various countries only recognized Li Hongzhang, and they were dissatisfied with Duanwang, and when they saw that Britain had expressed their attitude, they also expressed their opposition to Cixi's deposition of Emperor Guangxu.

On that day, the Empress Dowager Cixi held a canonization ceremony for Pu Jun, the seven-year-old son of Duanwang Zaiyi, in the Qinzheng Palace, and specially invited ministers from various countries to attend to witness this grand moment. Duanwang attaches great importance to this ceremony, and a week ago, he took Pu Jun to rehearse at home, bought him all kinds of new coats worn by his brother, and even asked foreign instructors to teach Pu Jun to say simple English such as "hello", ready to greet the foreign ambassadors.

As a result, the Empress Dowager Cixi and her ministers waited until the sun set in the morning, and there was no envoy to China to congratulate, seven-year-old Pu Jun didn't eat for a day, he was so hungry that he cried, and he wanted to eat Western pastries on the table, Duanwang Zaiyi was very angry, and slapped Pu Jun in the face, and said angrily: "You only know how to eat, there is no good thing in the West!" ”

Empress Dowager Cixi summoned Li Hongzhang, and Li Hongzhang made it clear that he did not support Empress Dowager Cixi's deposition of Emperor Guangxu. Li Hongzhang said: "If the Queen Mother trains the government, the minister will be the first to stand up and support." The emperor just listened to the rumors of Kang Youwei, and there was no big fault, and he was afraid that the people in the world would be unstable, and there would be chaos from then on. ”

This is the first time in 30 years, Li Hongzhang did not stand on the side of the Empress Dowager Cixi on major issues, Cixi was furious, gave Li Hongzhang a bronze mirror, and said: "The mourning family looks at you old, give the mirror to you, take a good look at yourself, want to follow Weng Tonggong after the dust?" ”

Cixi's words mean to let Li Hongzhang look in the mirror and sober up, do you want to return to your hometown like Weng Tongyi! This is also the first time in 30 years that the Empress Dowager Cixi has turned her face with Li Hongzhang, but Li Hongzhang did not budge, and said: "If the minister agrees to depose the emperor, it is a big disloyalty, and he will be scolded by the people of the world. ”

The British warships were still cruising near the mouth of Dagu at this time, and of course the Empress Dowager Cixi would not really let Li Hongzhang return to his hometown, but the Empress Dowager Cixi reached this age and did not want anyone to resist her, so she took a step back and removed Li Hongzhang from the post of governor of Zhili, so that Ronglu took over, and Li Hongzhang was transferred to the governor of Liangguang. At that time, as the earliest city to open Fu, "the eastern part of Guangdong robbed the world", pornography, gambling and drugs were rampant, and the position of the governor of Liangguang was generally reluctant to go, which was also regarded as giving Li Hongzhang a dismount.

As the saying goes, "once a son of heaven and a courtier", after Li Hongzhang opposed Cixi's deposition of Emperor Guangxu, the ministers below also wrote against it for their own reputation and official position, Zhang Peilun and other imperial historians worked hard to write, Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang, Wang Wenshao, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, and others folded up one after another, Cixi herself has become a lonely person, think about it carefully, there is no difference between his own training and listening to politics, and finally did not depose the Guangxu Emperor again, and declared that the Guangxu Emperor was weak and needed to recuperate, Discipline yourself again.

This time, Duanwang Zaiyi's son Pu Jun was embarrassed, he entered the palace at the age of seven, and he couldn't be the emperor, and Emperor Guangxu was only twenty-one years old, so he had to wait. King Duan was annoyed and angry, thinking that these were all foreigners making trouble behind their backs, hating foreigners, and wanting to find an opportunity to take revenge. He was in charge of the Prime Minister's Yamen, so he spoke ill of foreigners in Cixi's ears every day, and from time to time let out the wind, saying that the ministers of Britain, France, Germany, Russia, the United States, Italy, Austria-Hungary and other seven countries were already plotting and preparing to send troops to intervene and coerce the Empress Dowager to return to power, so the collective did not come to participate in the canonization ceremony of the eldest brother Pu Jun, and the Empress Dowager Cixi's hatred for foreigners deepened day by day.

In that year, during the catastrophe in North China, some victims in Shandong fled to Tianjin and Hebei, and the Boxer Boxer, known as "invulnerable, helping the Qing Dynasty to extinguish the foreigners", revived in North China outside Shandong. These boxers spread rumors everywhere, saying that foreigners gouge out children's eyes to make drugs, and priests use special instruments to suck boys' yang essence, and the Chinese people have always been superstitious about such rumors, and everyone is in danger and hates foreigners and religious people to the core. Duanwang Zaiyi was overjoyed, he and Gangyi not only encouraged the boxers, ordered the local government not to arrest the boxers, but also incorporated a part of the boxers as the "official group", distributed food and salary, and for a time the number of boxers in North China reached 100,000.

These boxers burned and plundered everywhere, and some ruffians took the opportunity to join the altar, or imitated the boxers in their costumes, and the people were kind to the fish. The Boxers first broke into the city of Tianjin, the Chinese and Japanese burned and looted, the flames were in the sky, and those who were unhappy were referred to as the religious people, and the whole family was killed, and the dead were tens of thousands of people.

The Empress Dowager Cixi was afraid that foreigners would interfere in politics, and she also thought that the Boxers could be used, so she led the boxers into Beijing. In November, thousands of boxers with broadswords and spears besieged the embassy in Dongjiaomin Lane, the German minister to China Klinder was killed, the secretary of the Japanese embassy, Sugiyama Bin, was killed, and the legations of various countries were burned down by boxers, and the fire burned for three days and three nights.

Stupidity comes at a price, British Vice Admiral Edward. The Seven-Nation Alliance, led by Seymour, totaling 13,000 men, marched from the waterway towards Tianjin. Seeing this opportunity, Saigo, the veteran of Japan's main war faction, also gathered 20,000 troops in the country, preparing to lease British and American warships to Tianjin and attack the city of Beijing.

The Empress Dowager Cixi urgently ordered Rong Lu to be the secretary of the military department, led 100,000 troops, went to Tianjin to snipe the Seven-Nation Alliance, and controlled the Beiyang Naval Division. Rong Lu knew that his 100,000 Qing army could not defeat the Seven Nations Alliance Army at all, but the only soldiers to fight were the 7,000 Beiyang New Army newly trained by Song Xiaofei and the 10,000 New Army trained in Shandong, so he urgently ordered Song Xiaofei to transfer these 17,000 new soldiers to Tianjin to garrison, and command the Beiyang Naval Division to snipe the fleet of the Seven Nations Alliance.

After Song Xiaofei received Rong Lu's telegram, he secretly discussed with Xu Shichang, Tan Sitong, Duan Qirui, Liu Buyun, Deng Shichang and others, and they agreed that this was an excellent opportunity: to overthrow the Manchu Dynasty! Song Xiaofei also felt that the opportunity to completely reverse the wheel of history and open up a new era had come, so he sent a telegram to Li Hongzhang: "Some ignorant patriotic thieves in the Boxers, carrying the banner of justice, did criminal deeds like bandits, and were used by the sinister Duan Wang and Empress Dowager Cixi, causing great disasters to the country. The court is festering, the people are suffering, the teacher should be ready, turn the tide, and shoulder a heavier burden on his shoulders! (To be continued......)