The moon is falling and the sky is full of frost, and it is another sleepless night of wind and snow.

Li Hongzhang's motorcade entered Beijing, and even if it was low-key, it alarmed the nerves of some people, and all kinds of people had more thoughts.

In the late Qing Dynasty, there were three major factions in thought, the diehards, the Westernists, and the Qing schools, and they were the most powerful in their own lives.

This diehards refer to the post-party clique headed by Cixi, who only want to be happy, refuse to change the surrounding living environment, and are anxious with whoever changes.

The Westernists were mainly Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, Liu Kunyi and a group of people who supported reform, hoping to learn advanced Western technology to enrich the country and strengthen the people. It stands to reason that they should be the largest group, but unfortunately they did not dare to rebel, and they fought for power and profit with each other, so they were played by Cixi in applause, and they could only be reduced to the second largest faction.

The Qing school is a special group, which is a special product of the scholar class in the feudal era of China, and as early as the Han Dynasty, there was a small group of so-called Qing scholars. Generally speaking, Qingliu officials refer to those who have lost their hopes among scholars and doctors at a certain stage, or who enjoy a high reputation in academic ethics, who are unwilling to go along with the dirty political phenomena, criticize the bad social atmosphere, and attack the [***] phenomenon and the ills of the bureaucracy, and these figures often represent the righteous and positive faction in the society, and become the progressive force for social reform.

Officials who can be called clean streamers usually have more outstanding talent and knowledge, and are recognized as having a reputation for good moral character, and are less corrupt, mediocre, and fraudulent in officialdom. The Qing faction is not a party in the strict sense of the word, there is no clear and unified criterion for who is and who is not, and they are a loose bureaucratic group maintained by an amorphous semi-personal relationship.

In fact, in the feudal dynasty, it was strictly forbidden to form a party, and the so-called "party" was only a loose faction in the bureaucracy, but sometimes a group of like-minded scholars and doctors, through various social relations, combined into a political force is common, and the Qingliu Party is famous for criticizing current politics and upright morality.

Since the establishment of the Qing Empire, relatively speaking, the three generations of Kang, Yong, and Qian were prosperous, and the situation has deteriorated since then, with financial difficulties, bribery, bloated institutions, and frequent riots, and more prominently, the contradictions between China and foreign countries have intensified, a series of humiliating treaties, land cuts, and indemnities have aroused the general indignation of the scholar class, and the Qingliu Group of the late Qing Dynasty has risen rapidly.

If the diehards stood on the side of Cixi's post-party, then the Qing faction stood on the side of Guangxu's imperial party, and the two sides gradually faced each other because of the dispute between the emperor and the queen.

The main reason for this result was that the two largest leaders of the imperial party were on Guangxu's side, one was Guangxu's teacher Weng Tongxi, and the other was Li Hongzao, a veteran of the Three Dynasties.

The reason why this Weng Tongyi and Li Hongzao became the leaders of Qingliu was because they were both talented and veteran-level ministers. Especially Weng Tongyi, the status of the two generations of emperors is respected, plus he was in charge of the thirteenth imperial examination, the position of the first division in the late Qing Dynasty is solid, and the protégés and former officials are all over the government and the opposition, so it is not surprising that he has become the leader of the Qingliu. Similarly, Li Hongzao also has the experience of serving as the chief officer of the scientific examination eight times, and there are many protégés.

Weng's mansion, an honest and honest mansion, looks very simple. Even in the festive New Year's month, except for a fiery pair and a dashing and elegant calligraphy on it, the rest of the place does not change much throughout the year.

In the study, Weng Tongyi and Li Hongzao were playing Go and talking about the major affairs of the country.

The stove next to it crackled, and after a pot of water boiled on it, Weng Tongyi flushed the teapot again.

After talking for an afternoon, the tea has been brewed and has no taste.

"Shuping, you can't change the pot of tea?" Li Hongzao took a sip and then put it down, looking at Weng Tongyi very unpleasantly.

Weng Tong's big eyelids were calm, he only stared at the chessboard, and said calmly: "Zhai, this tea is the best product for one hundred taels of silver and one tael, how much can our Qing official have a month?" I tightened my belt to save money to buy it, so I had to save some drink! ”

Li Hongzao rolled his eyes and said with a wry smile: "You won't pick and search like this, right?" ”

Weng Tongyi raised his eyelids and said, "You know that I don't deal with Li Hefei, but you still pretend to him in front of me, I get angry when I think about it!" ”

No one knows about Weng Tongyi and Li Hongzhang's old, and Li Hongzao knows it in his heart, so he can't help laughing: "The First Wu Battle made Wang Chenhao, a young man from abroad, out of the limelight, and even the emperor and the queen mother ordered the people of Li to reward and praise him, it is said that it can be compared with Zhang Peilun back then, but now he has become Li Hongzhang's cheap son-in-law, presumably Shuping is not angry because of this!" ”

Weng Tongyi glared at him angrily, it was undeniable that Li Hongzao knew him best among his colleagues, so he sighed: "This Wang Chenhao first made outstanding military exploits in the two battles of the Yellow Sea and Incheon, proving his ability to fight; Then he assisted Li Hongzhang to use the contradictions between the great powers to promote the success of the three countries' intervention in returning Liao, and this kind of diplomatic game ability cannot be compared with you and me combined, which proves that it can be literate. Wang Chenhao is both civil and military, it is rare that he is only a young man, but such a talented person has made Li Hongzhang pick up a bargain, can I not be angry? ”

Li Hongzao nodded approvingly, it is undeniable that they can't compare to Li Hongzhang in terms of competing for talents. sighed: "Back then, Zhang Peilun was originally a person in our clear stream, but it was a pity that the Sino-French Mawei War forced him to Li Hongzhang's account, and since then he has assisted Li Hongzhang to sit firmly in Beiyang, and he can be described as a great hero; Now we have just forced Zhang Peilun out of Li Hongzhang's staff group with a killer, but there is another Wang Chenhao, who brought Li Hongzhang back to life, and he has become Li Hongzhang's cheap son-in-law again, which is really a trick! ”

Li Hongzao and Weng Tongrong impeached Li Hongzhang many times, but each time Li Hongzhang saved the day. In the end, he found out that this was all caused by Zhang Peilun and other staff members secretly giving Li Hongzhang advice, so their Qing faction changed their tactics and started by cutting off Li Hongzhang's wings, and as a result, Zhang Peilun was named by the Qing faction to interfere in the government and was driven out of Zhili and relegated to Nanjing. thought that this would be a heavy blow to Li Hongzhang, but he was finally turned the tide by Wang Chenhao.

At this time, Weng Tongyi said again: "Recently, I heard that Li Hefei took Wang Chenhao to worship Menzi everywhere, I'm afraid there is a lot of article in this!" ”

Li Hongzao grabbed a few white seeds, held them in his hand and thought about it, and then said: "When the Eight Banners Green Camp was erosive, Li Hongzhang trained the Huai Army to rise; How similar the current situation is now, the Huai Army in the First Sino-Japanese War is as fragile as the green battalion back then, Li Hongzhang is not a fool and must have smelled the smell! ”

Weng Tongyi also grabbed a few sunspots, and then left a son and said: "Before Zeng Gong left, Li Hefei was chosen as his successor, and the Hunan army became the Huai army." Now Li Hefei is past the age of the ancients, and the First Sino-Japanese War is enough to prove that the Huai army has no talent to support the beam. Once he falls, the Huai army system will collapse, and his Li family's wealth will definitely be threatened. ”

Li Hongzao then put down a white child and analyzed: "At this time, Wang Chenhao's appearance made Li Hongzhang see hope. After the two battles of the Yellow Sea and Incheon, Wang Chenhao had already established his prestige in the Beiyang Naval Division; The Tianjin negotiations turned the tide and fiddled with the great powers and the book in the palm of their hands, which won the admiration of the Beiyang staff group and others. Nengwen Nengwu is half of the son-in-law of the Li family, and it is logical for Li Hongzhang to choose Wang Chenhao as his successor! ”

"Not bad!" Weng Tongyi frowned, and said with a straight face: "I estimate that Li Hefei will definitely find him an errand where he can show his strength after taking Wang Chenhao to worship Menzi, and we must not let him succeed!" ”

Li Hongzao asked, "Does Shuping have a clever plan?" ”

Weng Tongyi sneered: "Can't you fiddle with Li Hefei and can't control a hairy boy?" ”

Li Hongzao was stunned for a moment, glanced at Weng Tongyi, and both of them immediately laughed.