"I didn't expect so many things to happen in the three days I was in a coma." Guangxu, who had just woken up, summoned the ministers one after another to understand the situation.

In the hall, Tang Shaoyi, Lin Qizhao, Wang Shizhen, Ouyang Zhenhua, and Zhou Qin sat around Guangxu.

The first is the Liaodong Front. After many bloody battles with the Qing army, the total strength of the first and second armies of the Qing Dynasty is estimated to be no more than 20,000, and most of them are wounded. The army that had been cut off from logistics had been blockaded by more than 40,000 Qing troops in an area of less than 15 square kilometers on the east bank of the Liao River. The Fourth Division of Southern Liaoning is still maintaining local law and order in the Quanzhou and Fuzhou areas, and there is no abnormal behavior. In the direction of North Korea, Yuyan, Phoenix, and Jiulian City were recovered one after another. The 1st Battalion of the 2nd Forward Regiment had already approached Pyongyang with the assistance of the Korean guerrillas, and the main force of Nie Shicheng's headquarters and the 2nd Regiment was crossing the Yalu River and marching towards Korea.

On the naval side, in the Battle of Rongcheng Bay, the combined fleet was completely annihilated, and the 6th Division that was landing was completely annihilated. The Beiyang Fleet, which had been badly damaged in the Battle of Rongcheng Bay, had returned to Port Arthur to begin repairs. It is said that the railway stations in Quanzhou, Fuzhou and other places where the Fourth Division is stationed have also been taken over by the Qing Dynasty, so the railway from Mukden to Lushun has been fully opened, and the maintenance materials and personnel of the Beiyang Fleet are being sent to Lushun in a steady stream.

The Pacific Fleet is carrying out the plan of the shelling of the Ben, and the results are not known for the time being due to communication reasons. As for the latest radio station, it has been classified as the highest secret and is closely guarded by Wang Shizhen's staff guard company. At present, there are only two in the entire Tianzhuang Terrace, and the five units that have been prepared by the Academy of Sciences, Leng Jun personally took people and Wu Rongguang back to the Academy of Sciences to secretly transport them, and it is expected to arrive tomorrow.

Only the war in Shandong was extremely unfavorable. After seeing the annihilation of the Combined Fleet with their own eyes, the Second Division of the Yue Army, knowing that it would never be able to get supplies again, gave up its plan to attack Weihai, and instead went north with all its strength, charging all the way in the direction of the capital. Along the way, the Qing army was powerless to resist and left behind a large number of weapons and baggage. The Yue army, which had no domestic supplies, unexpectedly received supplies from the Qing State. The Second Division of the Yue Army captured Yantai, Dengzhou and other places all the way, and occupied Binzhou after the successful forced crossing of the Yellow River from Yingkou, Li Hongzhang's Huai army was completely dispersed, and now Li Hongzhang concentrated 70,000 people in Cangzhou, including 30,000 horses from the original Shanhaiguan and reinforcements from other places, and the Yue army of less than 20,000 people is still asking for help from Jinzhou.

"Return to the Emperor. Tianjin's affairs are very important, and there is no room for error. Therefore, Weichen took it upon himself to transfer the first division, which was originally used to attack Korea, except for the second regiment, back to Jinzhou to stand by. After Wang Shizhen stood up and finished speaking, he was a little hesitant.

"Sit down and talk. Don't be restrained, you're all my humerus, but it's okay to say it. ”

"Your Majesty, please order a change in the battle plan. Now that the Navy is gone, the Pacific Fleet can roam freely along the coast of Japan. Only the second division of the army can still fight, and it only needs to completely annihilate the army of the department, and then wave the army to Seoul. The battle of the First Sino-Qing Dynasty will be a complete victory for our Qing Dynasty. ”

"The military direction is the only one that is optimistic, but what about the financial aspect? How much longer can we hold out? ”

"Thanks to the emperor's blessing, since the emperor issued a decree to issue public bonds in September, in March, the Daqing Bank issued a total of 100 million taels of silver public bonds, which have basically been sold out. The main purchases are still the major merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, and the Nanyang fathers and elders also buy vigorously. There are also quite a few purchases from foreign banks. At present, the state finances are sound and functioning normally. Please rest assured. Lin Qizhao's words made Guangxu breathe a sigh of relief, as long as there is money, then this battle can be fought.

"As for the intelligence aspect, it is said that all external lines have been destroyed. At present, we have no way of knowing the situation in our country. However, reliable news came from the capital, and the Empress Dowager's party, which was originally preparing to negotiate peace, now also believed that as long as the emperor transferred troops to the south, they would definitely win, so the matter of peace was temporarily shelved. In addition, Britain, the United States, Germany, and Russia may come to Jinzhou to meet the emperor in the near future, and they want to mediate the war between the Qing Dynasty. "An important piece of news brought by Zhou Qin's report is that countries are going to intervene.

"Shaochuan, what do you think?" Guangxu turned his head and asked Tang Shaoyi, who had not made a sound.

"Now that the war between the Qing Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, the outcome is clear. The Liaodong army said that there was nothing to do, and only hoped to delay our army's strength in Liaodong as much as possible, so that it could not reinforce Shandong. And the Shandong army is also the end of the strong crossbow, not that Li Zhongtang can't win, but that he has no decisive death in his hands. As soon as the first division arrived in Tianjin, the army knew that it would be defeated. Coupled with the rampant Pacific Fleet, the initiative in the entire battlefield has been grasped by the emperor. And the mediation of various countries is nothing more than seeing this, and they all want to come and share some benefits. The United States must have come for the railroad, and the American businessmen in the Qing Dynasty War had to suffer heavy losses, so naturally they had to pay for it, and how to pay for it must be discussed. In addition, although the war lasted for eight months in the Qing Dynasty, the Northeast Railway from Mukden to Harbin was still being repaired intermittently, which is also favored by the Americans. As for the British, I think they want to know what is going on with the Pacific Fleet. After all, a sudden fleet would upset the original balance in East Asia. This is not something that the British are happy to see. ”

"That's right." Zhou Qin took over: "There is intelligence that American businessmen in China have almost lost all their money because of this Qing war, so they jointly put pressure on the American political axe and demanded corresponding compensation. In addition, Vice Admiral Filimantle, commander of the British Far East Fleet, had already set off from Hong Kong for Yanjing, and it is said that in order to avoid irritating the Qing people who had just won a great victory, Filimante did not take a warship but came to the capital by land. It seems that they already knew something about the Pacific Fleet through Luang Wigli's telegram. ”

"This rascal." Guangxu pointed at Zhou Qin and scolded.

The sudden appearance of the Pacific Fleet in the Battle of Rongcheng Bay had too much impact on Luang Weili. Zhou Qin took advantage of Luang Weili's eagerness to report to the Far East Fleet, first tightly controlled every radio station, and then asked Luang Weili to take the opportunity to buy a telegraph operator. The telegraph operator then handed over the telegram given to him by Luang Weili to Li Zhenhua, and then sent it to Hong Kong in the name of Luang Weili. In this way, the information that Britain has obtained is something that we are willing to let them know, and it also explains some things in preconceived ideas. Intelligence, an important surname for the country, has always been the focus of Guangxu's work.

"In order to avoid irritating us, the British fleet commanders did not take warships. Do you think we need to withdraw the Pacific Fleet in order to avoid irritation? Guangxu looked at everyone: "The answer is obvious, no." So please remember that only when you are strong can you gain the respect of others. Let's talk about how to fight this battle later. ”

"So what's there to discuss." Ouyang Zhenhua stood up and said: "Transfer the first division to the south and merge the 70,000 Qing troops in Cangzhou, and I am sure that I will defeat the second division of the Yue army in one battle." Then return to the division to annihilate the remnants of the Liaodong army, and finally gather all the main forces to recover Korea. Your Majesty, the war can be completely ended in three months at most. ”

"Sit down and talk." Guangxu raised his hand and gestured: "I believe that some people will have different opinions. ”

Indeed, from a purely military point of view, it can indeed be done as General Ouyang said. But overall, it's not the best choice. Wang Shizhen expressed his opinion: "The Qing Dynasty army was completely annihilated, and Korea gained and lost. For the political axe of the self-defeated, there is no need to surrender. It is impossible for us to land and fight, and even if we use the naval blockade of Japan, we will be attacked by all countries that have interests in Japan. Especially the UK. Therefore, the next war should be to use the remnants of the army as bait to force the company to surrender and pay reparations in order to preserve its strength. In addition, there were two 10,000-ton battleships built in Britain, and if the war did not surrender and the war was not over, it would be impossible for these two battleships to return home. I want to let me see hope. Now the strategic initiative is in the hands of the emperor, and it depends on how the emperor wants to fight. ”

"I'll interject." Lin Qizhao opened the booklet in his hand: "According to the statistics so far, since the preparation for the Qing war, the expenditure on arms, the construction of artillery batteries and logistical materials has been as high as 200 million taels of silver, of which the expenditure on building and training the Pacific Fleet is 110 million taels of silver. Since the beginning of the war, the losses of the people in Liaodong alone have been as high as 40 million taels. There are no statistics in Shandong because the war has not yet ended, and it is estimated that there are only a lot more. The people need to be rebuilt, and there are pensions for the dead in the war, and so on. In addition, he said that he would definitely not admit defeat and prepare for future wars. So we urgently need war reparations to cover the financial shortfall. ”

Lin Qizhao's words made everyone present break out in a cold sweat, they really didn't expect to spend so much money before and after. Ouyang Zhenhua touched his forehead and said, "I will fight as you say, and the new army will definitely cooperate." ”

"It's easy to do it if it's just for Yueben, but this battle of Qing is too involved. Now the initiative is in the hands of the emperor, and it depends on how the emperor wants to fight. Tang Shaoyi vaguely mentioned the dispute between the imperial court and emphasized the issue of initiative. If the emperor wants to forcibly lead troops into Beijing at this time, with the huge popularity gathered in the battle of the Liaohe River, there is no way to stop it. Tang Shaoyi looked at the emperor and waited for the final order.

How could Guangxu not know what Tang Shaoyi meant, but in this way, those local governors appointed by the Empress Dowager would immediately deviate from the emperor. Originally, the righteous name of the imperial court would immediately collapse. Although nominally the Qing Dynasty was still the Great Qing Dynasty, the central court would lose its authority over the local areas, and a new round of warlord secession would begin to unfold.

Guangxu shook his head: "Internally, we still have to focus on stability, and we should try it slowly." The top priority at the moment is to rectify the military affairs, and now that the Green Battalion of the Eight Banners has been eroded, not only can it not be used, but also a large amount of money and food, after the war, it will start from here to comprehensively organize and train the new army. The specific charter will go back and think about it. ”

"Since the emperor is determined to do so, Weichen proposes to let the first division go south to defend Tianjin as soon as possible." Tang Shaoyi proposed.

"Nope." Ouyang Zhenhua came forward to object: "Although Cangzhou has 70,000 troops, they cannot be dispatched if they are not under their control. And none of the departments have the determination to fight to the death, but looking at the large number of people, they all want to make a contribution. Once the army concentrates its forces and breaks through from one point, it will cause the collapse of the entire front. Now only the first division can take the lead. The other ministries can only fight a tailwind battle. ”

"It is precisely because of this that the first division can only deploy Tianjin." Tang Shaoyi said: "If Lord Ouyang leads these people to win the battle, then the emperor will rectify the military affairs and how to rectify these people." If you can't rectify these people, how can you convince the public. So only they were all defeated, so the emperor could easily rectify it as he wanted. Lord Ouyang, the current battle is not a military battle but a political battle. ”

"So how do we explain it to the outside world?" Ouyang Zhenhua asked rhetorically.

"Actually, this is very simple, General Ouyang wants to show that the military gate is the first hero of the first battle of Liaohe, and saves the emperor and the danger, even Li Zhongtang has to ignore it. It is to have no one in sight, and to have eyes above the top. And it is necessary to preach everywhere that the 70,000 male divisions in Cangzhou are only against less than 20,000 Japanese soldiers, how can it be unreasonable. The emperor's transfer of the military is purely superfluous. The most important thing is that after Ouyang Junmen arrived in Tianjin, he did not need to rush to deploy defenses, but used the excuse of visiting the mountains and rivers to first inspect the terrain and prepare for the war. As soon as Cangzhou is defeated, the military gate can take out the name of Liaohe's first merit and put on a picture of the supreme commander of Tianjin, killing those who should be killed, and removing those who should be dismissed. In this way, the military gate can mobilize the army like an arm. ”

Ouyang Zhenhua looked at everyone and nodded as if he understood: "The military situation is like fire." If the emperor has nothing else to tell Weichen, he will prepare. ”

"Since it is a political battle, then the military gate must remember that there is no military merit alone. In this battle, the first thing is to defeat the Yue army. Secondly, if it is not necessary, try not to let the 1st Division rush to the front line to reduce casualties and let other troops attack. Again, once the main force of the army was defeated, all the pursuit tasks were handed over to other troops. I have always believed that the defeat of North Korea was Ye Zhichao's fault. How could the troops who had led the flight of the Admiral not be defeated? But later it turned out that more soldiers were more daring to fight. Therefore, in this battle of Cangzhou, Zi'an had to carefully observe the various departments of Cangzhou and select those who can fight well. and sent more tasks to him, and personally wrote a merit for him and collected it under his command. Prepare for future military expansion. ”

"Slow down, the first division here is empty-handed, and weapons have been prepared for the first division in Dagu." Wang Shizhen said suddenly.

"Wechen understands, Wechen is going." Ouyang Zhenhua nodded, turned around and went out.

Zi'an still doesn't understand, but he has done everything that offends people. But it's okay, his surname is upright. It's nothing to offend some people. Otherwise, with his ability to lead troops, he would have led an army by himself a long time ago, and he would have to wait until the emperor built a new army to use him. Tang Shaoyi said as if relieved for everyone.

"It doesn't hurt him to offend somebody. Those who serve as soldiers should not participate in politics in themselves. As long as he can lead good soldiers and fight a good battle, no matter how much blame I have, I will block it for him. Guangxu stood up and paced back and forth in the room: "Zihua, I want to let you be appointed as the head of the household department and take charge of the country's finances after the war is over, what do you think?" ”

"Your Majesty. It's not that Weichen is hypocritical, but in this Qing War, Weichen only heard the emperor's will in everything, which has made many ministers quite disgusted with Weichen. Even Li Zhongtang, who recommended Wechen, has quite an opinion on Wechen. If the emperor forcibly appoints micro-ministers, he will only be met with opposition. Seeing Guangxu's face with doubts, Lin Qizhao said the reason. Since the Qing Dynasty began the war and the defeat of Korea, Li Hongzhang repeatedly asked Lin Qizhao to allocate money, grain, and arms to strengthen the Huai army, but Lin Qizhao transferred all arms supplies to Tianzhuangtai and Jinzhou on the grounds that the emperor had a will. It was said that the emperor was trapped and urgently needed a large number of weapons. However, in the three days since Ben landed in Shandong, the siege of Tianzhuangtai has been lifted, Li Hongzhang's request for weapons again was still rejected by Lin Qizhao. All the arms that had just arrived at the port of Dagu were pressed in the warehouse, and no one was allowed to use them without the emperor's will. The war in Liaodong is basically over, and at least 30% of the people in Shandong still have old-fashioned singles and arquebuses, and the warehouses are full of new weapons but are not allowed to use them. Now Li Hongzhang was angry, and he took a few excerpts one after another, the emperor had been in a coma before, and after waking up, he directly summoned everyone and didn't know if he didn't see the excerpts. Lin Qizhao said with a sad face: "Your Majesty, Li Zhongtang can make it clear that if Cangzhou is defeated, Weichen will be fully responsible. Your Majesty, you have to be the master of Weichen. ”

"I don't understand, why is that?"

Lin Qizhao glanced at Tang Shaoyi, and Tang Shaoyi said reluctantly: "Actually, this is Weichen's idea. Let's look at the first battle of Shandong, and the various units of the Huai army retreated all the way. But when these Huai troops retreated, they lost all their weapons and baggage, and he himself used these weapons to attack Tianjin. Otherwise, with the little supplies from the landing belt, it will be exhausted when it reaches Dengzhou. Giving it to them is to give it to him. ”

Guangxu nodded when he heard it and said, "That's right, I will explain this matter to Li Hongzhang personally." I intend to take foreign countries as examples, and after the war, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was established, and Tang Shaoyi became the minister, what do you think? ”

"No." Tang Shaoyi came forward to object, only to hear Guangxu say: Why don't you agree? Tang Shiyi said at this time: "Drag the emperor's blessing, and open mines and build roads one after another." Western countries saw that it was better to negotiate with the imperial court than with micro-ministers, and the imperial court was unwilling to deal with foreigners. So at present, in fact, diplomatic affairs are handled by Weichen, since the power is in hand, and it must care about the name. After the war, except for Ouyang Junmen as the commander of the new army and the new army, the others were still stable. We have already considered this, as long as we can exchange Lord Yan as the governor of Liangjiang, everything is worth it. After this war, the emperor will definitely open a new policy to show the future, and money and food are the top priority. The Liangjiang River has always been a major tax place for various dynasties. In this way, the continuous taxation of the two rivers paved the way for the emperor's new policy. Second, after graduation, the students of Jingshi University can also work in the local area, so that the emperor's new policy can obtain practical talents. ”

"Yes, when most of the officials in Liangjiang have changed, the central bank can collect taxes on behalf of the two rivers. Take Liangjiang as an example to promote the whole country. It is true to cancel the gold and fire consumption. Lin Qizhao continued.

"What about the issue of military restructuring?"

We-chen thought that the police system of Western countries should be followed. It's just that the specific regulations are still allowed to be given by the emperor for some time. Tang Shaoyi said.

Guangxu asked again: "What about the peace talks?" ”

"To promote peace." Wang Shizhen spoke: "The Liaodong army has done nothing. Just wait for the rout of the Shandong army, and trap it to death. In this way, there is no hope. On the North Korean side, I have ordered Nie Shicheng to take the Han River as a limit and make an offensive posture but not to cross the Han River, so as to give Yue Ben a little hope. At the same time, the Pacific Fleet will continue to attack and harass major cities along the coast, except for the Gulf of Tonkin. If he did not surrender, he would have annihilated the remnants of the army in the Qing Dynasty and recovered the entire territory of Korea. After the Beiyang Fleet is repaired, it will attack Tokyo Bay with all its might. Then send an army to storm Tokyo. Of course, I don't think this should be possible. He said that he would have chosen peace talks, so we would use the two remnants of the army and half of North Korea as bait to force him to agree to the conditions. As long as we don't agree, we will attack once. If you want to keep the last fruit and the power of the future **, you will definitely agree. ”

"In addition, the British side did not want the Qing Dynasty to weaken the capital too much, so they let the commander of the Far East Fleet go north and use the Far East Fleet to subdue us. Find a breakthrough from the British, and let the British force Ben to agree to peace talks. As for the bottom line of the peace talks, please ask the emperor to show it. Tang Shaoyi added.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, Weichen has sent an order to Yu Ben to ask the teams to stop sabotaging the communication of Yu Ben. In two days at most, Ben will understand the situation. Zhou Qin saw Guangxu turn his head to look at him, so he took the initiative to say it first.

"I am very fortunate to have your assistance." (To be continued.) )