Although Guan Xuqing insisted on going his own way, he insisted on continuing to fight. But many things still need to be done by everyone, but now the military aircraft department is useless. Although the people of the whole country agreed with the imperial court's proposal, most of them only wanted to be happy for a while. If the war is defeated, it will be the common people who will suffer in the end, and there will still be many poor people who will rise up and make trouble.

However, after half a year of war, the little silver that the treasury had managed to surplus had been gone. The lost warships and the Mawei military port are not among them. Post-war reconstruction is also urgent, and the Great Halal cannot afford to drag on a protracted war.

Guan Xuqing stared at the map of Vietnam, his brows furrowing more and more. Today's war situation in Vietnam can be described as evenly matched, and France's troop deployment in Vietnam is less in the middle and more at both ends. To the north is the two provinces of Bac Ninh and Shanxi. The French army concentrated two domestic integrated brigades and four mixed brigades. A total of 45,000 people, with 50,000 people of the Qing army's Liu Mingchuan Department and 5,000 people of the Black Flag Army, were in a stalemate. After several active attacks were frustrated, the endless bombardment of the two cities began. Usually bombarded in the morning and sieged in the evening. The Qing army waited for the French to repair the city defenses as soon as the bombardment was completed, and there were also several active attacks. But it was also beaten back by the French. As a whole, the war had become a war of attrition, and the French had a permanent strategic base in the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam, where the French had been operating for a long time. The masses there were largely subservient to the French, and there were also two integrated French brigades stationed there, as well as a steady stream of colonial troops of Vietnamese. In the middle is a narrow strip of land along the coast, in which there is an important military port of the French Far East Fleet, which is connected to the north and south, and both the army and the navy must pass through here when they go north. The French built it into a permanent fortress, and the remaining warships of their Far East Fleet were hiding here at this time. On the other hand, in the Qing Dynasty, due to the siege of Beining and Shanxi for half a year. The city was already in shambles, and the local people did not believe that the Qing army and the Black Flag army could withstand the attack of the French, and most of them had left. There was a great shortage of food and people in the city. For half a year, grain and grass were transported from Guangxi and Guangdong. If it continues like this, it is extremely detrimental to the Qing Dynasty.

Guan Xuqing stared at the map, how can he defeat the French as soon as possible......

At this time, Li Hongzhang was on orders to negotiate with the French representatives. In fact, it's purely to look for trouble. Since the emperor has insisted on going down, this kind of symbolic negotiation has no substantive significance.

Kiel, who had come from France, looked rather ugly, and after listening to the interpreter's words, he said: "It seems that your country has no sincerity in negotiating with the great republic?" You know, we signed an agreement with Vietnam. The land there already belongs to the republic. Your country must admit it! ”

Li Hongzhang smiled slightly and said, "Mr. Kiel, Vietnam is originally a subject country of my Great Qing Dynasty. The kings of Vietnam are all canonized by our emperor, in other words, the king of Vietnam is just a courtier of our Qing emperor. What right does he have to sign with you? The Qing Dynasty will not recognize any agreement he signs with you. ”

Kiel's face was even more unsightly, but he was still patient and tried to make a look of confidence: "Mr. Li, I think let's talk about something practical, do you think your ** team may take back Vietnam from the hands of my republic** team?" If not, then what's the point of your so-called non-recognition? ”

Li Hongzhang sneered: "I have already assembled 100,000 troops in the Qing Dynasty, and I can pacify Vietnam overnight." ”

Kiel was completely amused by Li Hongzhang, "Really? Just your opium-smoking army of 100,000? Our government has repeatedly asked the army to be patient, otherwise it would have already broken through Bac Ninh and set foot on your land. The republic is peace-loving and does not want to see bloodshed again. That's why you took the initiative to ask for peace talks, and you must not regard this as cowardice, if your country insists on doing so, we can only see you on the battlefield. ”

Li Hongzhang put away his smile, stretched his face and said, "Then see you on the battlefield." He made a gesture of please.

Kiel left in a rage.

In the Palace of Nourishing the Heart, Guan Xuqing summoned Prince Gong. Now the power of the imperial court can be said to be divided into three factions, one faction is the minions of Cixi back then. After the fall of Cixi, some of them were arrested and dismissed from their posts for investigation. Part of it went under the name of Prince Alcohol. One faction is the imperial party, represented by Dong Liang, Li Zhen, Zuo Zongtang, and Weng Tongsu. Heartfelt to Guan Xuqing. The other faction is Prince Gong's henchmen, who began to support and cultivate his own henchmen during the Daoguang period. Protégés and henchmen are all over the world. Even today's Li Hongzhang is Prince Gong's coated minion.

However, Guan Xuqing still respects his sixth uncle. It can be said that he is one of the few people among the Manchu nobles who can see the world clearly. Although there is some indecision in character. But his ability and resourcefulness are beyond doubt. If you can get his full support, many of your things will be done quite smoothly, after all, everything needs to be implemented by people at the grassroots level. No matter how perfect the plan is, if Prince Gong does not cooperate. The magistrates under him who did not work hard would result in a big discount.

"Sixth uncle, I just called you here to talk to you a few words from my heart. I know you're a little unhappy with your nephew's decision. But you can also see what the Qing Dynasty looks like now. We always pay compensation for land cession, and one clause after another strangles our necks. Until now, the tax department is still in the hands of the British, if you don't pick a tough battle, how can you turn over? Guan Xuqing said in his heart.

Prince Gong was as cold as ever and didn't say anything.

"I know that this country should have belonged to you, Sixth Uncle. To say something disrespectful to the first emperor, if you had sat on this chair instead of Xianfeng Ye back then, maybe the Qing Dynasty would not be like this. But this is what the Qing Dynasty is now. A few days ago, I went to the Old Summer Palace and saw that the remaining pillars hurt like a thorn in my heart. Has the sixth uncle forgotten the shame of Xin Younian? My nephew wants to make the Qing Dynasty stronger, and I hope Uncle Liu will help me. Guan Xuqing said affectionately.

"The ministers respect the emperor's teachings." Looking at Prince Gong's rigid face as always, Guan Xuqing didn't know how much this effect had played, and waved his hand helplessly to let him go down.

In the next few days, Guan Xuqing drew up several operational plans for the Vietnam War, which were repeatedly studied by the Military Aircraft Department. But in the end, it was inconclusive, mainly because of the limited strength of the army. It is necessary to defend Russia in the north, Japan in the east, Xinjiang, Tibet, and Mongolia in the west, and the southeast coast. I really can't break the troops. 100,000 horses into Vietnam is already the limit, but it is still quite difficult to occupy the whole of Vietnam in a short period of time.

However, surprisingly, the Minister of Military Aircraft, the Ministry of Households, the governors of various provinces, and the prefects all cooperated quite well with a series of measures such as troop transfer and grain requisition. It seems that Prince Gong doesn't say it on the surface, but in his heart he still hopes to assist Guan Xuqing to make the Qing Dynasty stronger!

Now the monarch and the ministers are united and actively preparing for war. The war against Vietnam immediately turned into a strategic counterattack!

A new trumpet is about to blow again......

At this time, good news came from Taiwan. Keelung has recovered!