The sun rises and the moon sets, not for the will of man for the transfer. Although there are many people who hope that the sun will never rise, so that the news of the absence of the emperor in the Qing Kingdom will never spread. But the moon still went down at the point, and the sun still opened its smiling face.

When the first rays of the sun shone on the city of Beijing, the gate of the General Staff Headquarters opened, and the generals rushed towards their respective goals according to the discussions of the previous night. Li Jurong helped his father tidy up his clothes and send his father to the court. Li Hongzhang smiled and paced the official steps, and walked into the door of the State Council leisurely.

In the State Council, no matter what grievances there were, the officials who came on a business trip every morning would greet each other. It's just that today made them feel a little strange, and several of the chief officials didn't seem to be in a good mood.

"It seems that everyone didn't sleep well last night, why didn't Prince Shangshuli of the Criminal Department come." As the prime minister, Li Hongzhang convened the eight Shangshu and related personnel to discuss the meeting as soon as he was on a mission, but he didn't see Shiduo in the conference room, so he asked questions.

"Back to Li Xiang, the secretary of the Criminal Department went to the Summer Palace early this morning to ask the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces to say goodbye." Yang Du got up and answered.

Hehe, the whole room rang out with all sorts of laughter.

"It seems that this true or false emperor can't be hidden today. The Queen Mother learned that there would inevitably be another new emperor to succeed the emperor. Before the new emperor entered Beijing and ascended the throne, the old man was the prime minister, and the situation in the court must be stabilized. What do you think? In his first speech at the meeting, Li Hongzhang very clearly expressed his political proposition -- stability in today's chaotic situation.

But stability is the first priority, and no one has a problem with that. Because only a stable situation can the affairs of the country be smoothly promoted. So there is a stable situation, which is the common idea of everyone. In other words, what Li Hongzhang said is equivalent to not saying it. Now he wants others to express their high opinions, and even if others really have high opinions, it is not easy to say them clearly at this time.

Since Li Hongzhang entered the conference room, it can be said that all his attention has been on Yan Fu, and his every move has been in his eyes. But today's Yan Fu really didn't have any abnormal behavior, except for the obvious heavy worries. Because I can't find out what they discussed last night. I don't know what he's worried about. So Li Hongzhang asked directly: "Yan Fu, as the deputy minister, let's say a few words first." ”

"Xia Guan is also a person who reads poetry and books, and this is really unheard of for the emperor. Xia Guan didn't know what to say for a while. ”

Li Hongzhang smiled: "Since the deputy minister doesn't know what to say." What is the opinion of Chief Wang of the General Staff Headquarters of the Qing Dynasty Strategy? ”

Wang Shizhen was not polite: "The subordinate is a soldier, and I don't understand it in this court." The plan to go north has been prepared for many years, and in any case there can be no twists and turns at this time, because it is a crime against the whole country. ”

"That's right, so does the prime minister. Only by completely solving the hidden dangers in the north. Only in the Qing Dynasty can we go south with all our strength to compete with the European powers. I will be consistent with you on this issue. But we have to think about what you should do if the new emperor decrees that war must not be waged. ”

"What else? All the preparations are made, and when it is time to launch, it is natural to fight. Ouyang Zhenhua said calmly: "The official is in charge of the world's soldiers and horses, and the soldiers are eager to fight, and the official still knows it." But the most worrying thing is that the news of the departure of the soldiers will be the heaviest blow to the morale of the soldiers. This is the biggest variable in the northward expansion plan now-"

In politics, the most objectionable thing is the centrists, and in the future, no matter which faction gains power, the first people to be eliminated are the centrists. So at this time, Yan Fu also needs to clarify his attitude: "There is Tsarist Russia in the north and great powers in the south. Daqing was caught in the middle and suffered at both ends. It would definitely be a mistake on our part not to take this great opportunity to solve the hidden dangers in the north at one time, because Tsarist Russia, with its huge territory and resources, will definitely be the most dangerous enemy of our Qing Dynasty in the future. If we give up this opportunity because of the turmoil in the court, our children and grandchildren will surely resent us in the future, and they will leave us at peace in the grave. ”

Yan Xiang said very much. This time, we should take advantage of the great opportunity to completely eradicate the scourge in the north, so that in the future, China can concentrate all its efforts on going south to compete with the great powers. Tang Shaoyi said: "Xia Guan thinks that since everyone here has this intention. As long as we mobilize with all our might, no one will be able to stop us. ”

"Who said no one. When the new emperor succeeds to the throne, he must reorganize the dynasty, and the focus of policy at this time should be on domestic rather than foreign wars. This is the case with the new emperors of all dynasties who ascended the throne. It's the same today-" This is what Li Hongzhang is most worried about, so he sighed, but he was helpless.

In this regard, Lin Qizhao has some different views: "The lower officials think it may not be. If we and other courtiers join forces to play the new emperor. Presumably, the new emperor is not good at openly refusing us, after all, there are seven of the eight departments that can be concentrated here. ”

"If the new emperor is determined not to go to war, how should you deal with yourself. Even if we forcibly launch the plan to advance northward, the new emperor may be forced to agree, but this is like forcing the palace. Regardless of whether the final result is good or bad, forcing the palace is a big sin. I'm worried after the war—"

"I can't. If we are defeated, the new emperor will not say that it is a capital crime for us to wait, but if we win, this will be raising the prestige of our Qing Dynasty. ”

"The prestige of the country is raised, but what about the face of the new emperor? No matter whether things are right or wrong, where there is a good result in forcing the palace, it is written in thousands of history books. ”

"Not necessarily, when I married the concubine, the emperor originally intended to go in person, but when I and other ministers refused together, they all quarreled with the emperor. At that time, the emperor's anger was written on his face, and he didn't see me waiting? ”

"That's not the new emperor."

"What about the new emperor? Advancing north is a good thing for the benefit of the country and the people, and the new emperor's accession to the throne is the merit of opening up the territory and expanding the territory. ”

"It is the new emperor who is on the surface of heaven and earth, what does it have to do with us. We're talking about forcing the palace now, don't change the subject. ”

This person had one idea, and no one could convince anyone, and the scene suddenly became chaotic. Li Hongzhang stood up and knocked on the table, signaling everyone to be quiet first: "I wait for the courtiers to force the palace today, and if we don't pursue it, it is magnanimous today." Today's vision and heart are much higher than ordinary people, but who of you can guarantee that the new emperor also has today's mind? ”

Li Hongzhang's words made everyone die down, Li Xiang was right, but if the new emperor is smaller, the crime of forcing the palace will not be liquidated at the most, and there will always be a day of liquidation. For a moment, everyone in the conference room was speechless.

Yan Fu didn't participate in the argument just now, he lowered his head and fiddled with his fingers. Today's meeting gave him a bad feeling, Li Hongzhang was talking about the new emperor's wrongs from beginning to end. Yan Fu couldn't understand whether Li Hongzhang was testing everyone or something else. At this time when the situation is still uncertain, it is better to look carefully.

The conference room was quiet like this, and no one dared to guarantee what kind of person the new emperor was. Everyone has their own thoughts. At this time, no one dared to be the first to take a stand. For a long time, no one spoke.

Finally, a sharp knock on the door woke everyone up, and Kou Liancai pushed the door in after getting permission: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces has come here from the Summer Palace, and Prince Li is driving with her. According to Xiao Zhuozi, the head of the Summer Palace, came to report. The Queen Mother of the Two Palaces cried for a while when she learned that the real emperor was dead, and now she is coming violently. Your Excellency has already made a decision. With that, he withdrew.

Everyone just glanced at each other and still didn't speak, but Li Hongzhang's face suddenly changed: "The troops outside the capital must have been arranged by the staff headquarters, and the central garrison brigade left in the capital will be taken over by Ouyang Zhenhua himself." You are the secretary of the military department, which is originally within your power and responsibility. Remember, if necessary, the use of heavy sentences must also keep the Central Garrison Brigade firmly in control. Now, all of them will go to the front hall, and the prime minister will hold a plenary meeting of officials in Beijing. After speaking, he didn't wait for any reaction from everyone, and left in a hurry.

Ouyang Zhenhua smiled at everyone, it was in their plan to control the Central Garrison Brigade. Just to prevent other officials from thinking that they were going to mutiny, they planned to come in secret. Li Hongzhang directly pushed the Central Garrison Brigade into their hands this time, so everyone nodded and left quickly.

In the front hall, all the officials stopped their work and gathered in the front hall. It is not a secret that Guangxu left yesterday, how can such a large-scale transfer of the Royal Janissary Battalion be hidden from everyone. In addition, there was no will to stay, and the various ministries held a meeting early in the morning, and now they suddenly summoned the ministers, which must be related to the emperor's sudden departure from Beijing. I just don't know what it is, but it's not a big deal. Besides, there is a telegram, no matter how urgent it is, it is just to send a telegram to the emperor, and it will soon be approved by the emperor. Now that the court situation is stable, it is nothing if the emperor will not be there for a while.

"Your colleagues must also know about the emperor's sudden departure from Beijing yesterday. There's nothing to hide from everyone. The reason why the prime minister discussed with the ministers in the morning was because the emperor was in too much hurry and did not leave any will, and the emperor was still on the train at the moment and could not be contacted. Therefore, Fang Cai Benxiang and Zhubu Shangshu were discussing this matter. Although the emperor left no will on his trip to the south of Beijing, the imperial court could not stop operating. I thought it was. Before contacting the emperor to get the will, the court was supervised by the prime minister, what do you think? ”

Yan Fu was most shocked that at the meeting just now, he didn't say a word about the arrangements of the imperial court after Jinshang left. But in the blink of an eye, Li Hongzhang offered to personally supervise the country, what does this mean? In addition, before leaving the conference room, Li Hongzhang suddenly asked Ouyang Zhenhua to take over the Central Garrison Brigade, Yan Fu seemed to have touched something in an instant. But I couldn't catch it in my hands. Yan Fu understood that Li Hongzhang must have made a decision, but he didn't know what Li Hongzhang wanted to do. Everyone in the meeting was also stunned, not knowing what Li Hongzhang meant by this move.

Liang Dunyan, a waiter of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: "For example, when the emperor or president of a country leaves Beijing, the power to supervise the country is the prime minister or prime minister, which is stipulated in the law of foreigners. Although there is no such law in our country, there are precedents before. When the emperor toured Guangzhou in the south, it was Li Xiang who stayed in Beijing to supervise the country. Since the emperor's southern tour did not leave a will, it is the proper duty of Li Xiang to supervise the country according to the previous precedent. ”

Liang Dunyan's words made everyone nod their heads and think so, so everyone seconded the proposal.

Li Hongzhang smiled: "As the prime minister, this official holds the power in his hands, and he is also the one who should not give in. The emperor was on his way to Shanghai at the moment, and the prime minister had telegraphed the officials of the Shanghai government to take over the driving. When the emperor arrived in Shanghai the day after tomorrow, he asked the emperor again to show the world. Before the emperor's decree came down, the prime minister temporarily supervised the affairs of the country. During this period, there will be no changes to this appearance, and you will continue to do your errands as usual. ”

The ministers saluted and said yes. But before the ministers straightened up, some people objected.

"The old woman is not dead yet, and it is not your turn to come to the prison country." Cixi was the first to walk into the main hall with a dragon head in her hand, and Cihui followed.

The ministers saluted the queen mother of the two palaces and said goodbye. Li Hongzhang knew that when the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces learned of the true and false emperor, she would definitely appear in the State Council, and his original intention was to take over the power of supervising the state before the arrival of the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces to stabilize the situation. Li Hongzhang saw the red and swollen eyes of the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces, sighed secretly, and saluted, it seems that this is really a matter of the emperor. In the end, I can't hide it.

Cixi walked up to the stage with an angry face, and sat on the bright yellow dragon chair. Tang Shaoyi immediately stood up: "The two queen mothers, the emperor leaving Beijing to supervise the country, it is a common practice abroad. In our country. A few years ago, during the emperor's southern tour, it was Li Xiang who exercised the power to supervise the country. "Compared with the Queen Mother and Li Hongzhang, Li Hongzhang naturally has better power to supervise the country.

Bang, Cixi angrily hit the dragon case: "That's the place of foreigners, this is the Qing Dynasty." What emperor is touring south, he is not an emperor in the first place. He's a spy. If he hadn't run fast, Bengong would have cut off his head for public display. As she spoke, Cixi burst into tears again: "Shiduo, you tell everyone what happened. ”

The ministers were still confused, why did the emperor not become the emperor but a spy? As Shi Duo added oil and vinegar to tell the matter, the ministers were in an uproar. The real emperor died twelve years ago, and the one who sat in the court and gave orders in the past twelve years was actually a fake emperor? The ministers began to discuss, how is this good?

On the day of the shock of the dynasty, it was naturally impossible to discuss the candidate for the new emperor, Cihui did not understand political affairs and could only leave it to Cixi to handle, but when he thought that it was not his own son who had been filial piety in front of him for the past twelve years, his heart was very gloomy.

With the courtiers descending to the court. Cixi also issued a decree to announce the world, so the news that the current emperor is a fake emperor spread instantly. The governors of all places were at a loss for a while, and the officials of Shanghai Prefecture reported to the capital like crazy, because in two days this fake emperor will be in Shanghai, what should they do? But neither they received any reply from the imperial court, nor did they receive any reply from the imperial court.

The Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces and the various ministers have been discussing the matter of the throne behind closed doors for two days. The officials of the Qing Dynasty are okay, they don't need to worry about these idle things, no matter who the emperor is, they can do whatever they should do. The banner people in Beijing are not good, they are hyping up how bad the fake emperor has been over the years. If it's fake, he can't be true, and now is the time to clean up the source. They desperately made a statement to the empress dowager of the two palaces that they wanted to capture the fake emperor and bring it back to Beijing and behead it to show the public. It is the way of heaven that is clear, and the retribution is unpleasant.

On the other hand, the envoys of various countries in China were suddenly at a loss. The Qing Emperor, who had a good deal, suddenly became a fake. Although this is an internal affair of the Qing State, all the previous agreements signed with the Qing State were signed by this fake emperor. After the change of imperial power, will the new Qing emperor still approve these agreements? The current Qing State is not the Qing State during the Opium War, and today's Qing soldiers are strong and strong, and they are no longer something that can be frightened.

The ministers of several other countries are fine, but it is nothing more than a consideration of profit. The Russian minister Casini's ass blossomed. At the time of the Qing civil strife, the Russian army could move south along the Far Eastern Railway as long as the Far Eastern Railway was opened, so that the entire central and northern parts would be the new territory of Tsarist Russia. Cassini's only concern was whether the Qing would be able to complete the construction of the railway on time, which Russia had paid for. British Minister Dou Nale jumped to his feet in a hurry, the Qing State was originally a pawn used by Britain to block Russia's southward advance, and now the Russian fleet is about to take shape, and the Qing civil strife at this time undoubtedly represents the final victory of Russia. It is also possible that Russia will take advantage of the power of occupying the Qing Dynasty to go south to Britain and fight for India, so Britain's interests in the Far East will be most threatened.

Because of their different interests, the envoys of various countries in China visited the Qing Foreign Ministry every day, and they wanted to make arrangements for the future of the Qing Dynasty as soon as possible.

Cixi was really a tried and tested statesman, and after much deliberation, she made a decision soon after compromising with the Hanchen that she would continue to advance northward, and Prince Zaifeng could enter Beijing to succeed to the throne.

This is probably the happiest thing in Fengtian City in these years. Since the false emperor seized power in the palace, he put them under house arrest in Mukden City, thinking that they were victims of political struggle, but in fact the fake emperor was expelling the Manchus in disguise. Now that the fake emperor has been exposed, it is a time to be happy. So they all excitedly joined the team that relied on the new emperor to make dragon robes.

He had just returned to Shoushan in Fengtian, and when he heard that the imperial court was going to welcome Prince Alcohol Zaifeng as emperor, he was anxious. In these people stationed in Mukden, these Manchurians are tossed a lot, and once Zaifeng becomes the emperor, he will definitely attack him. So after he received the will of the imperial court to Feng Zaifeng as the emperor, the first order he issued was to block the entire city of Fengtian, and no one was allowed to enter or leave. Then he tried his best to contact the various ministries in the capital, and Shoushan's idea was that no matter what, the Manchus of Fengtian City could not be allowed to ascend the throne.

Guangxu on the train also got the news, because the Praetorian Guard brought three radio stations in a row. I thought that after 12 years of governance, my rights should be recognized by most people, especially the senior generals of the army. As the generals who started with the fake emperor of themselves, they will inevitably be suppressed by the new emperor, Guangxu takes it for granted that these generals will inevitably oppose the new emperor, as long as there is military power in hand, the world is not his own. Unexpectedly, the Queen Mother set up a new emperor, and they did not object. They weren't worried about being suppressed by the new emperor? After thousands of years of unification, the imperial power has been deeply rooted in the bones of all the people, and the legitimacy of the imperial succession depends on bloodline rather than merit. If he was in the capital, he could kill all the people who opposed him, but now he only had 200 guards around him, and there was no guarantee that all of them would be loyal to him unconditionally. It's big, Guangxu suddenly regretted it.

Now that the Queen Mother has announced to the world, she can't hide it from the fake emperor for long, so she makes the guards guess that it is not as good as telling the truth. So Guangxu called Huang Minghua, the only trusted man, because he also pointed a gun at the Manchu ministers during the palace change. When Guangxu handed him the message, Guangxu quietly touched the pistol on his waist, and the safety of the pistol had been opened. No matter how trusting you are, you have to guard against it, and you still have your wife and two children.

"Over the years, it is the emperor who has led everyone to the north of Tsarist Russia, the South China Sea in the south, and the East to Japan, and it is you who have led China from a country that has been bullied by foreigners at will to a country where you can sit down with foreigners and negotiate fairly. If there is another emperor, can he have this ability? Is it necessary for Russia to recover its homeland? The emperor sits in peace, and his humble position is clearly asked by the world, and he asks the officers and soldiers of all armies, whether they want to be bullied by foreigners again. ”

Huang Minghua's expression was firm, and Guangxu quietly withdrew his hand: "You can't ask at this time, the northward expansion plan is still being kept secret, but if you ask so, it will be tantamount to leaking the military aircraft." If you believe me, we get off early. Otherwise, you may have trouble in Shanghai. In addition, since the Queen Mother has announced to the world, I can't hide the matter of the fake emperor, you go and ask the soldiers in the Praetorian Guard camp, if you don't want to follow us, don't stop it. ”

As soon as the train arrived in Suzhou, Guangxu took the opportunity of adding water to the train and rushed to Ningbo Mansion with all the Praetorian Guard Company. This is the only thing that Guangxu is fortunate about, the whole company is a veteran who followed Guangxu to fight Tianzhuangtai back then, they did not abandon their commander, and decided to continue to protect him. (To be continued.) )