On 23 December, a telegram officially approved by Russia was sent to the Russian Consulate in Tianjin, and the Russian political axe agreed to the terms of negotiations between the minister in China, Cuman, and Wang Chenhao. As a result, Cuman and Wang Chenhao agreed to formally negotiate and conclude a contract on the 24th.

In the past few days, the envoys and consular personnel of various countries in China have basically known the terms of the negotiations between Qing and Russia, and each other has their own thoughts.

The British minister Dou Nale rushed from Yanjing to Tianjin, where he met with Wang Chenhao and Li Hongzhang several times, suggesting that the attack on the Russian army in the Far East should be continued, and at the same time the Russians should be blackmailed as much as possible in negotiations.

The aim of the British was very obvious, to weaken the Russian Far East military power as much as possible. However, Wang Chenhao had insight into the purpose of the British, and in order to avoid overly weakening Russia and preventing the British from shifting their strategic goal from targeting Russia to targeting China, Wang Chenhao politely rejected Dou Nale's suggestion, and chose to conclude a treaty with Russia on the grounds that the imperial court forced him to end the war by the end of the year and that it was difficult for the imperial court to continue to pay huge war expenses.

On December 24, 1896, November 19, the twenty-second year of Guangxu, the Tianjin Zhili Governor's Office.

Wang Chenhao, Minister of Plenipotentiary Affairs of the Qing Empire for Russia, and Cuman, Minister of Plenipotentiary Negotiations of Russia, signed the "Tianjin Armistice Agreement" between Qing and Russia. Since the two sides had reached a compromise at the previous closed-door meeting, the negotiations on the 24th were just a formality and a direct armistice agreement was concluded.

Whether it is Wang Chenhao or Cuman, both sides have their own evil intentions and have their own goals, which can be seen from the fact that the two sides signed only an armistice agreement rather than a real peace treaty. The armistice agreement only stipulated that the two sides would end the state of war and return the two sides to the state before the conflict, and that there should be no further military conflict within five years of the agreement. Broadly speaking, this is only a buffer that shows that Russia is unwilling to admit defeat and that the immediate concessions are only temporary. Russia, unwilling to accept defeat, will use this time to actively reserve military forces, and wait for the time to be ripe before recovering from the Qing Empire.

Similarly, Wang Chenhao also understood that the Russians only temporarily chose to make concessions, and with Russia's military strength and contempt for the Qing Empire, they would definitely not be willing to suffer. In addition, the withdrawal of the Russian-Russian contradiction was eased by the withdrawal of the original from Korea, and Russia turned the spearhead to the Qing Empire, which in turn made the contradiction between the Qing and the Russian became irreconcilable. In Wang Chenhao's era, it was impossible for the Russo-Russian War to break out again, and it would be replaced by a full-scale war against Qing Russia on an unprecedented scale.

According to the agreement, Russia will return more than 1 million square kilometers of land forcibly occupied by Russia in the "Sino-Russian Treaty on the Survey and Demarcation of the Northwest Boundary" and the "Aihui Treaty." The Russians also needed to negotiate the relocation and redemption of the Russian facilities in these territories, so the Russians took the opportunity to deliberately delay, and the local officials of the Qing Empire who were responsible for receiving these lands were still cowardly and incompetent, making the return of these lands stipulated in the agreement a dead letter.

The Russians played tricks, and Wang Chenhao also did not sincerely give the Russians the ransom money. Wang Chenhao used the excuse that the Russians were dragging their feet in the return of the territory, so the return of more than 40,000 Russian prisoners of war to Russia was also suspended. Since these prisoners of war needed silver to eat, drink, and sleep, Wang Chenhaosuo regarded them as free laborers and sent them to Heilongjiang and Ussuri to build river fortifications. The labor efficiency of these 40,000 Russian prisoners of war is equivalent to that of 100,000 young and strong migrant workers, and they do not require labor fees, which is really cost-effective.

The Russians protested on this basis, but Wang Chenhao replied that they would return the land and when they would repatriate the prisoners of war. As a result, the Qing and Russian sides had a long negotiation and consultation on this series of post-war issues, but until the Qing and Russian sides broke out again in a full-scale war, the two sides did not come to an agreement, and it was not until many years after the end of the all-out war that these prisoners of war were repatriated one after another, and most of them worked as free laborers in China for more than ten years.

After the signing of the Tianjin Armistice Entente, the Qing and Russia officially declared the end of the state of war and the restoration of the state of peace between the two countries before the war. The Russian Cossack cavalry regiments were also withdrawn from Heilongjiang and Mongolia, and the Qing Zheng axe also relieved the Mongol cavalry assembly order. The two countries agreed to lift the war mobilization order, and at the same time on both sides of the national border, the combat readiness level of the armed forces will be lowered from the first level to the second level of combat readiness after one month, and the third level of combat readiness after two months, and the state of combat readiness will be lifted after three months, and the armies of both sides will be withdrawn and police border patrols will be resumed.

With the end of the war between Qing and Russia in the northeast, the people of the two countries returned to their homes one after another. In this war, the Russian side suffered heavy losses due to insufficient preparation and underestimation of the strength of the Beiyang Army. In terms of personnel, the Russian army lost a total of more than 110,000 officers and men of the navy and army, of which more than 60,000 were killed and more than 40,000 were captured, and the navy lost more than 1,000 and more than 100 were captured. In terms of equipment, the Russian army lost at least five divisions of weapons and equipment, the navy lost five main warships, and the Amur River fleet was completely annihilated, with a total loss of more than 20,000 tons. Excluding the loss of personnel and equipment, the cumulative expenditure of the Russian army on logistics supplies and military spending is also very large, reaching 53 million rubles. Taken together, the direct losses of the Russian army in this war have accumulated 180 million rubles, equivalent to 20 million pounds.

In contrast, the losses of the Qing Empire were not light. The Qing army suffered more than 60,000 casualties, most of which were old troops, and the Beiyang Army suffered less than 5,000 casualties. In terms of the navy, the Qing army lost the Songhua River naval division battalion, but it was really insignificant compared to the losses of the Russian navy. However, the Beiyang Army was much higher than the Russian army in terms of ammunition consumption and military spending, and the Russian army caused a lot of damage to the Heilongjiang General District and the Shengjing General District, which caused the Qing Empire to lose economic losses of 14 million pounds. Although the Qing Empire won, the price paid was also high.

These things are only known to the top of the Qing Empire, and the people are not aware of them, and they will not ask about them, they only care about the outcome of the war. When the war was won, it was easy to say anything, and the people were excited and cheered.

The Qing-Russian War ended, and the reward for meritorious deeds was immediately put on the agenda.

Wang Chenhao's great contribution to the dynasty is obvious to all, although Emperor Guangxu is not happy, but in order to block the mouth of 40,000 people, the imperial court also had to reward Wang Chenhao.

On the 25th, the Qing court issued an edict to reward meritorious civil and military officials, and Wang Chenhao ranked first on the list. The imperial court crowned Wang Chenhao as a first-class loyal and brave earl, and rewarded him with three-eyed dazzling feathers. Among them, Uncle Zhongyong was finalized after Guangxu thought of a lot of names, in order to put a big hat of loyalty and courage on Wang Chenhao to restrain him. The three-eyed dazzling feather is the reward of the Empress Dowager Cixi, and the status is equivalent to Li Hongzhang, because in addition to Li Hongzhang, Wang Chenhao is the first person to be rewarded with three-eyed dazzling feathers in decades. Of course, there are countless such as royal horses, yellow coats, yellow futons, royal boots, reckless wear, as well as gold and silver jewelry, silk and satin, etc., but they are all too inferior compared to the three-eyed dazzles, and Wang Chenhao is not rare at all.

All the rewards are a name, and the imperial court did not give Wang Chenhao a new official position with a real surname, but still let Wang Chenhao act as the minister of Beiyang military training and continue to train the Beiyang Army.

After the test of the Qing-Russian War, the eight towns of the Beiyang Army have been trained. The imperial court originally gave Wang Chenhao two years to train the Eight Towns of Beiyang, but because of the war against Russia, the Eight Towns of Beiyang were trained one year ahead of schedule. According to the original steps, the imperial court ordered Wang Chenhao to train the eight towns of Zhili within two years, and the remaining twenty-eight towns in the provinces within six years. Now that the Gyeonggi Prefecture has completed the training of the new army of the eight towns, it is reasonable to continue to organize and train the new army of the remaining 28 towns. However, the imperial court's jealousy of Wang Chenhao made Guangxu order the governors of each province to train the new army on their own in order to contain Wang Chenhao's new army in the eight towns of Beiyang, and did not let Wang Chenhao interfere.

As a matter of fact, as early as after Wang Chenhao trained to become the first town of the Beiyang Army, after the Yongping Autumn Exercise, Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, and Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang, had already begun to organize and train the new army on their own. They didn't want Wang Chenhao to interfere in the military affairs of their territory, so they formed a new army on their own.

Since the outbreak of the Qing-Russian War, both Zhang Zhidong and Liu Kunyi felt the urgency of the war, so they accelerated the pace of training the new army. By the end of the Qing-Russian War, Liangjiang and three provinces had been trained into a new-style army town, and Huguang had been trained into a new-style army town. Among them, Liu Kunyi's new army was expanded on the basis of self-improvement and its combat effectiveness was relatively strong, and it was also the first to be trained. Zhang Zhidong has experience in organizing and training a self-strengthening army, so the Huguang New Army is also quite combat-effective. Other provinces have also organized and trained the new army, but due to differences in financial, material, and manpower resources, the capacity of each province is limited, and the scale and progress of the new army's training are different.

The imperial court did not want Wang Chenhao's family to be dominant, so the matter of organizing and training the new army in various provinces was no longer under Wang Chenhao's control, which was actually equivalent to vacating Wang Chenhao's position as a military training minister. The purpose is to allow each province to have its own reading command system, which is not controlled by Beiyang, and then achieve the purpose of competing with Beiyang. As long as Zhang Zhidong and Liu Kun and other Nanyang factions contain Beiyang, then Wang Chenhao can be scrupled and dare not be presumptuous to the imperial court.

Guangxu's jealousy of Wang Chenhao is also manifested in the issue of Wang Chenhao's control of the Pacific Fleet, and Guangxu also wants to take Wang Chenhao's private fleet for himself, so he summoned Weng Tongxiao, Li Hongzao and others to discuss countermeasures.

"I want to assign Wang Chenhao's Pacific Fleet to the imperial court, what do the two ministers think?"

Weng Tongyi and Li Hongzao glanced at each other, they were both surprised, they didn't expect Emperor Guangxu to have such an idea.

Weng Tongyi said: "Emperor Qi, there is a way that is the great land of the king, and the shore of the land is not the king's minister. All the artifacts and population of the Great Qing Kingdom belong to the emperor, and Wang Chenhao, as a subject of the Great Qing Dynasty and a son of the emperor, should dedicate the Pacific Fleet to the emperor. Moreover, Wang Chenhao, as a courtier, privately raised a huge fleet, which is also unreasonable. ”

Weng Tongxiao's words made Guangxu very happy, but Li Hongzao quickly poured cold water on him.

I saw Li Hongzao think for a long time and said: "What Lord Weng said is indeed reasonable, but this Pacific Fleet was purchased by Wang Chenhao out of his own pocket in order to defeat the Russian Navy. In fact, it was precisely because of this that the Pacific Fleet defeated the Russian Navy and played a great role in the war. If the emperor wants this fleet, he can buy it with funds, but if he directly asks Wang Chenhao to hand it over, I'm afraid it will be very difficult, and the emperor will be criticized for doing so. ”

Of course, Guangxu understands that this is a blatant practice of stealing people's things, but he can't help it.

"I also want to buy this fleet, but the imperial treasury is empty and I can't come up with the money."

Li Hongzao said: "Can I take credit?" Let Wang Chenhao hand over the Pacific Fleet, and give it to him when the court has money. Or pay in installments and give him a certain amount of compensation every year. ”

Guangxu thought about it, this is a good way. Just as he was about to nod, Weng Tongyi suddenly said, "Will he agree?" The imperial court can't even afford to raise the Beiyang Naval Division, plus a Pacific Fleet, the cost of maintaining two fleets alone is very huge, and where is the money for him. If it's you, would you like to? ”

This question really made Li Hongzao speechless, Guangxu kept looking at him, even if Li Hongzao said in his heart that he was unwilling, he didn't dare to say so, so he could only reply stubbornly: "Of course I am willing!" ”

Weng Tongyi sneered, turned to Guangxu, and said, "Your Majesty, you just ask Wang Chenhao to hand over the fleet, otherwise he will be punished for the crime of owning the fleet." ”

Guangxu has been looking for an opportunity to clean up Wang Chenhao, his purpose is to force Wang Chenhao to do something wrong, and it is best to commit an unforgivable sin, so that he can clean up Wang Chenhao.

In fact, Guangxu's consideration also makes some sense. He is now forcing Wang Chenhao to rebel against the imperial court, just to eradicate Wang Chenhao while Wang Chenhao is still fledgling and can still be controlled, so as to prevent future troubles. Otherwise, when Wang Chenhao's strength is stable and unshakable, it will be difficult to move him at that time.

Guangxu is still a bit politically sensitive in this regard, and in a sense, it is also the right way for him to do so.

But Li Hongzao didn't know Guangxu's thoughts, and sighed helplessly, secretly criticizing Guangxu for not considering it, and treating Wang Chenhao like this can only make people feel chilling.

Just when the three of them were talking, they didn't know that there were people behind the screen who had been eavesdropping. After a while, a little eunuch left in a hurry.

Summer Palace, inside the Paiyun Palace.

When the chief eunuch Li Lianying opened the paper ball and saw the contents on it, she was immediately surprised.

"Someone's coming!"

"Steward!"

Li Lianying called in a guard, handed him the paper ball, and instructed: "Go, go to Tianjin in person, and hand it over to Lord Chenhao Wang of Zhongyong Bofu." ”

The guard asked, "Chief, don't you usually just send a telegram?" ”

Li Lianying said unhappily: "What so much nonsense? ”

The guard hurriedly said, "Don't be angry, sir! Who doesn't know that Lord Wang made a mistake? You give your minions a chance to get rich, and they have to thank you. ”

"It's good to know! Hurry up! Don't delay on land! ”

"Yes! The minions are leaving! ”

The guards beat Li Lianying and left, went to the stable to get a batch of fast horses, and left the Summer Palace straight and headed for Tianjin.

After the guards left, Li Lianying sat down and smoked a bag of cigarettes quietly, then frowned, and hurried to see Cixi.

In the Dehui Palace, Cixi was chatting with her goddaughter, Princess Rongshou.

Li Lianying came in to greet the two of them, because she knew that Princess Rongshou was not an outsider, so Li Lianying did not hide it from her, and told Guangxu the conversation between Weng Tongyi and Li Hongzao.

Cixi was stunned when she heard this, and said, "Which one is the emperor singing?" ”

Princess Rongshou said with a smile: "Our emperor has taken a fancy to Wang Chenhao's navy!" ”

Cixi said unhappily: "What is this? Isn't this just a robbery? If this spreads, won't it make the world laugh at it and the courtiers chill? ”

Rong Shou said: "I think the emperor is jealous of Wang Chenhao's strength and wants to weaken his strength." ”

Cixi said angrily: "The mourning family also knows that this Wang Chenhao's strength has swelled too much!" The current Wang Chenhao is far more powerful than Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang now, and he is a heart disease for the imperial court. However, Wang Chenhao has just made great contributions to the country, and in the blink of an eye, the emperor went to rob the fleet that others bought back with their own money, which will make the country and the dynasty laugh shamefully, who will dare to contribute to the court in the future? ”

Rong Shou nodded and said, "However, the emperor is also doing this for the sake of the court, after all, this Wang Chenhao's strength is too strong. With the new army of the eight towns of Beiyang in his hands, the Pacific Fleet, plus his great development of foreign affairs, and the abundant funds in his hands, if he is not stopped, I am afraid that he will become a big trouble for the imperial court in the future. This son has been living in foreign countries, and he does not accept the teachings of the Celestial Empire, I am afraid that he may not be as honest to the court as Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang! ”

Cixi nodded approvingly and said, "How can the mourning family not know this? It's just that the thief has to take the stolen goods, otherwise how can he face public opinion? Besides, at this time, Wang Chenhao was unanimously praised by the whole country, how could he be moved at this time? ”

Rong Shou smiled: "It turns out that the Queen Mother has long been wary of Wang Chenhao in her heart, I thought you were bought by him?" ”

Cixi glanced at Rong Shou and said with a smile: "Is the mourning family so easy to fool?" ”

Rong Shou asked, "Then what are you going to do, Queen Mother?" ”

Cixi thought for a while and said, "It's still the same sentence, catch a thief and take the stolen goods!" ”

Rong Shou said: "But the emperor's side? ”

Cixi snorted coldly and said, "Don't do porcelain work without diamonds!" The emperor thinks he has a lot of ability, so let him touch this Wang Chenhao, and the mourning family also wants to see the ability of the two of them! ”

Rong Shou thought about it and suddenly understood Cixi's intentions. So he smiled and said: "The magic is one foot high and one foot high, or Lafayette, your magic power is boundless!" ”

Cixi smiled faintly and asked rhetorically, "Rong Shou might as well talk about it?" ”

Rong Shou then replied: "If the emperor wins this time, he will also lose." The whole dynasty will definitely be dissatisfied with the emperor, and Lafayette will have to face the government and preside over the overall situation. If Wang Chenhao loses, a fleet of tens of millions of taels of silver will definitely make him extremely distressed. If he swallows his anger, it proves that he is still loyal to the court. The Queen Mother can also continue to use him with peace of mind, Li Hongzhang is old, and Wang Chenhao can be used as his right and left hand. If Wang Chenhao makes a fuss, it proves that he is dissatisfied with the imperial court, and the queen mother should make arrangements as soon as possible. ”

Cixi smiled: "Rong Shou really has the true inheritance of the mourning family, if only you were a man!" ”

Rong Shou hurriedly bowed and said: "The Queen Mother has won the award!" ”

(To be continued)