In the early morning, as soon as the sun climbed above the horizon, the coolness of the morning was dispelled by the sun.

In the fields on the outskirts of Kyoshi, there are patches of harvested rice fields. In addition, there are often some ponds, the water surface reflects a dazzling white light, the north to the east and the south to the west, there are sporadic cannonballs, that is the artillery of the Guangfu Army to Wanping County, last night, Wanping started.

Wanping is the last gateway to the capital, when attacking the 108th regiment to attack Wanping, the two regiments crossed Wanping, went straight into the Beijing division, and approached the city wall.

"There's the Imperial City ahead!"

"It's not the Jinluan Palace, let's see what the dragon chair looks like!"

"Well, let's take a look at what the seventy-two concubines of the three palaces and six courtyards of the Tartar Emperor look like!"

"Hey, you kid wants to die, but don't bother the big guy, you are comfortable with a bullet and sent it to the western sky, and our masters are waiting there with fifty military sticks!"

It seems to be a joke, and it also makes this group of recovered officers and soldiers who are accustomed to the harshness of military law not forget the harshness of military law.

"Hey, hey! Look at you scared one by one, it's just a joke. ”

The soldiers with guns laughed, ate the dust, and sweated as they continued to march towards the capital.

"I'm a mother!"

With bursts of exclamations, this group of grandfathers who were accustomed to seeing big scenes arrived at the root of the imperial city for the first time and saw the walls of the imperial city.

Almost everyone's first impression is: Where is this city wall? It's literally a mountain.

In the early morning sun, the walls of the capital were like a blue-gray dragon's back, lying silently on the plain. It doesn't seem to have woken up from last night's slumber. The sound of gunfire from time to time in the four fields did not disturb it in the slightest.

Looking at this dragon lying in the middle of the place, almost all the hearts of the people beat the drum, they have attacked the city, but with such a high and thick wall, how difficult is it to fight down?

"Damn it, this wall alone is enough for us to drink a pot!"

"The dog said...... This...... This ......"

"I'm going to fuck it now!"

In the distance, all kinds of chattering sounded from their mouths, and then, with the shouts of the officers, the officers and soldiers, who were still a kilometer away from the root of the city, began to dig trenches and conquer the big city, and the hearts of all were beating drums, the soldiers were and the officers were too.

The sound of artillery rang out from the top of the city, and behind a few clouds of smoke, accompanied by a whooshing sound, several shells with inaccurate heads fell more than 100 meters away from the officers and men who were working, and several clouds of gunpowder smoke exploded.

"Lose the damn, aim and hit again, the fuck is not accurate!"

Laughter rang out in the fields, and the cannon on the walls was humiliating.

While the infantry were cursing there, a squad of sappers had already infiltrated one of the houses outside the city, which had long since been deserted, and the officer who climbed up the ladder to the roof of the house, with a pencil in his hand, was indeed calculating something with a notebook, and occasionally taking out other tools to make measurements, while the house kept being thrown into the yard.

As the officer observed, he saw a series of explosions on the city wall, and before the black smoke from the explosion had dissipated, screams and moans came from the black smoke.

The sound of guns and cannons continued to come from the outer city, and the women and children in the capital who had the courage to look out could still see the black smoke on the city...... This one is ringing.

In the Forbidden City, a hurried sound of horses' hooves came.

The eunuchs of each gate handed over the page:

"Quick, quick!"

"Hurry! The emperor is waiting! ”

"Hurry up, the emperor is in the Qinzheng Palace......"

Qinzheng Palace, Guangxu and the ministers are anxiously waiting, this will not be the yellow gauze curtain of the East Warm Pavilion or the east room of the Yiluan Palace, the emperor is in power, again!

Five days ago, unexpectedly, Cixi issued a decree to return to the emperor, and the emperor was once again pro-government, but can the pro-government emperor conjure up heavenly soldiers and generals to turn the tide?

Stop...... There is really no one to believe it, and even the emperor announced his pro-government here, and the old and young masters who are all over the city over there beat the drum in their hearts, this will really not believe that the heavenly soldiers and generals will save the Qing Dynasty, even those old fools do not believe that the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu who let the rebel army pass through Tongguan can send troops.

What's more, the most fatal thing is that Zhang Zengyi, the governor of Shanxi, passed on the "Ten Sins of the Manchu Qing Dynasty" to recover from the light, this Zhang Zengyi rebelled, and the road to the four divisions of Beijing was completely cut off, which is that they couldn't escape if they wanted to, and the loyal ministers and righteous sons put firewood and bought poison early, and when they were ready to break the city, they martyred their families to serve the court.

However, there are only a few people who are willing to move their families to serve the court. There are still some people who still have hope, after all, although this is recovered, but the news from the south, that Chen Dashuai said, "Such as Manqi, Mongolia, although not the Chinese race, but between the same heaven and earth, there are people who can know etiquette and righteousness, and are willing to be subjects, which are no different from the people of Zhongxia to raise." "That handsome man is also a reasonable person, of course, he can only think so in his heart, waiting for the city to be broken, kneeling to the ground is regarded as a submissive person of the new dynasty.

The common people can think so, but the emperor and the princes don't think so, there are ministers who have died in the country, but there are no kings in the country. Guangxu, who was sitting on the dragon chair, had a worried face, whenever there was a cannon sound outside, he would be pale, drenched in cold sweat, holding the table with his hands, and looking a little unsupportable.

This kind of situation, the princes and ministers below have seen it more than once, the emperor has been weak since he was a child, and when he came into the palace, yellow water has been dripping from his navel, and it took a lot of effort for the Empress Dowager Cixi to raise him personally. The emperor is most afraid of thunder, and if there is a thunderbolt, he must hide in the arms of the queen mother, and in the study, he will have to be held by Master Weng.

When he grew up Chengren, he was even less courageous, and in addition to the thunder, he was afraid of the sound of gold, so listening to the opera was a big thing for him, especially the martial arts, because he was afraid of the big gong. In addition, the sound of gunfire is also afraid, when Gengzinian boxers and the Tiger God Camp besieged Xishiku Church, the sound of gunfire reached Yingtai, causing him to not be able to sleep all night, which is a common thing, but I didn't expect it to happen again now.

Such an emperor really can't be looked down upon by anyone with courage and determination, but it really can't help but make people feel pitiful.

Just when the princes and ministers thoughtfully felt pity for the emperor, a eunuch hurriedly ran in with the text in his hand and knelt down to report.

"Your Majesty, the leaflet that the thief has entered the city has arrived!"

Guangxu, who was sitting on the dragon chair, listened and hurriedly said something urgently.

"Bring it up!"

The eunuch presented the text.

Guangxu snatched it and turned the first page tremblingly...... The minions and courtiers standing below all looked at him nervously.

Looking at it, Guangxu's face turned from white to red, and then from red to white...... At last he stood up and threw the leaflet to the ground, his lips trembling with anger.

"Shame! I...... I want to live and die with the Qing Dynasty! ”

The giants hurriedly stepped forward to pick up the thin one, and several ministers immediately came up.

…… In the capital, the grain store has long been robbed and robbed, closed down, for more than a month, all rely on the outside of the city to receive help, but since 12 days ago, the rebel army approached, the nine gates of the capital were not only closed, but even blocked with mud bags, and the people in the city panicked in the kitchens, even the imperial dining room was no exception.

The Imperial Dining Room was known for its spoiled food, and it never occurred to me that one day there would be no freshly slaughtered pigs. Pork is the main ingredient, and you have to use thirty or fifty heads a day, and suddenly cut off the source, how can you get it?

I had no choice but to use more chicken, duck and seafood. The small kitchens set up by the concubines of each palace are even more miserable, not only is there no pork, but because the deep palace is not as good as the imperial dining room, it can raise chickens and ducks by itself, so that the meat is extinct. I can't talk about vegetables and fruits.

The "lord" of each palace and the palace maids and eunuchs under his name suffered, and the most difficult thing was that there was no food to honor the Empress Dowager Cixi every day.

"What to do?"

Concubine Jin, who lives in Yonghe Palace, worries about the palace maid, the small dining room in Yonghe Palace, the cooking is quite good, and she also teaches Lafayette to do this.

"Master, why don't we be like last time, and be a bean flower to honor Lafayette!"

The palace maid said last time, it was still the old thing of the Gengzi year four years ago, there was a palace maid named Fuyun next to Concubine Jin in the year of Gengzi, who was stationed in Chengdu with her parents since she was a child, and would make a lot of Sichuan snacks.

Come to think of it, there's no way.

"Okay!" Concubine Jin nodded in agreement.

"Just make bean curd!"

So he grinded soybeans and made bean curd. The ingredients should be good sauce, and the sauce should be ready-made; The yellow sauce made by the eunuchs with the leftover "gram food" is many times better than the sweet noodle sauce sold on the market.

When it was time to pass the meal in Le Shou Tang, Concubine Jin arrived, opened the food box, and held it on the dining table, the Empress Dowager Cixi looked at the familiar bean curd on the dining table, and couldn't help but remember the first time she ate the bean curd, and her eyes couldn't help but redden.

"Hey."

With a long sigh, Cixi didn't expect that she would eat bean curd twice, the last time was when the coalition army invaded and fled westward, and this time, I am afraid that it was ...... "This bean curd was eaten last time!" It's still Gengzi's array, and it's also your offering, I don't want to eat such a meal again today! I almost lost my country last time...... This time"

"It's a minion's, isn't it!"

Seeing the sadness of Lafayette, Concubine Jin hurriedly squatted down to say goodbye.

"Minion ......"

"No, no! You're wrong, I'm not blaming you! I feel it myself. Seriously, I kind of love things like this that you respect. You see! It's not a chicken, it's a duck! Someone is going to starve to death out there! It's ...... to be able to be different."

In this sigh, the Empress Dowager Cixi ate half a bowl of millet porridge, even if she had eaten. Pingyu said that the concubines served the meal, and they were all silent, and this day was even more silent as death. After serving, they quietly returned, and the huge Leshou Hall was suddenly deserted.

"Alas!"

She sighed unconsciously.

"The boat will go straight to the bridge gate." Li Lianying, who appeared beside her at some point, comforted and said:

"Galeries Lafayette, please be relieved. How many winds and waves have passed, and the slave will never believe that this time will not pass! ”

"This time it's not like usual."

The Empress Dowager Cixi sighed again.

"Now...... I'm afraid I won't be able to pass this hurdle. ”

Thinking about it like this, I feel even more worried, "Resign yourself to fate!" ”

Worried, Cixi said again.

"Anyway, it's death!"

"Galeries Lafayette!"

Li Lianying hurriedly knelt down.

"But be sure to stabilize yourself! Otherwise, there will be chaos in the palace first! ”

Looking back at the past, the Empress Dowager Cixi raised a sense of desolation and desolation with good scenery withering and bald wood leaves. At this moment, there was a buzzing sound in the sky outside Rakujudo.

"What a sound! Little Plum helped me out to have a look! ”

Just when Li Lianying helped Cixi out of Le Shoutang, there was an uproar in the sky, and the white "snow flakes" swayed in the wind, floating in the whole sky, it was a leaflet! And above the palace there are a few buzzing things flying in the sky.

"This ......"

Cixi's face changed instantly, and she became very gloomy, she knew what it was, it was an airplane! The thing invented by Chen Wei...... Just as her face changed, the swirling plane threw down a few small black bumps.

When the explosion suddenly came, Cixi's iron-blue face was suddenly frightened and bloodless.

"Quick...... Fast...... Tell King Qing to come and see me! ”

Tianjin Li Hongzhang's Beiyang Minister Xingyuan, has been destroyed in the Gengzi Rebellion, the new site was originally intended as the emperor's military parade palace, Wuxu coup, the military parade ceremony is not raised, so early Yuan Shikai estimated that the emperor will never return to Tianjin, so please change to Beiyang Minister Xingyuan.

Now here the Beiyang Minister Xingyuan is renamed "Xingyuan, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Ruling Axe Military Committee", which is the name of Yuan Shikai's personal life, and even sent a telegram to Nanjing, but Nanjing only replied with six words: "Beipingding, that is, going to Beijing!" This always made Yuan Shikai understand that he couldn't stay in the north any longer.

In the flowery lakeside pavilion in the backyard of Xingyuan, two people sat there.

"Daze Longfang sting, Central Plains deer is fat!"

Thinking of a couplet written when he was thirteen years old, Yuan Shikai didn't say anything after half a salary, and after he failed to take the exam for the second time at the age of 19, the first thing he did when he went home was to burn the poems he had written.

It's easier to do anything in the world than to write an article! After so many years he has come to such a conclusion, but now he has come to another conclusion, sometimes something is more difficult than making a fuss.

"The human heart."

Chen Qimei leaned towards Yuan Shikai and said something that he thought deeply.

"Yuan Dashuai, although Chen Qimei has never seen Dashuai in the future, she also knows that you are a well-informed and ambitious hero. I don't think you will object to what I said: this liberation is the will of the people, the trend of the situation, the handsome can throw away personal righteousness, choose the national righteousness, is really a real hero! ”

"Although it is the trend of the situation, the blood of the descendants of Yan and Huang is flowing in the body of this vice chairman!"

Yuan Shikai replied seriously.

"Dashuai, it is indeed as Mr. said, what a hero!"

Chen Qimei praised it.

"It is the handsome true hero that makes the restoration of the rivers and mountains to be treated, but now after the recovery, only private ambitions are trapped, which makes him say that the national system after the restoration of the country has caused controversy, and the Chen family pretends to trust the will of the people, and intends to rebel against the master and claim the emperor, which is really against the wishes of the people of the world......"

Listening to his words, Yuan Shikai almost didn't want to laugh out loud, the people's republican wishes? Even he doesn't know what a republic is, let alone those ordinary people who don't know big words, even those gentry feel that the republic is the source of chaos, and return the hearts of the people, who is fake the people's hearts, when he thinks about it, he is thinking in his heart: The revolutionary party wants to build a republic, and no longer allows the existence of an emperor, if Chen Moran is once the emperor, there will inevitably be a life-and-death struggle with the revolutionary party, the revolutionary party wants guns or no guns, no people, no money! Can it be done?

Thinking so in his heart, Yuan Shikai said seriously.

"Well, at the moment, the revolutionary party keeps saying that it wants to build a republic, but in their hearts, everyone wants to be a big president, how can everyone be a big president."

Chen Qimei was apprehensive and waited patiently for Yuan Shikai to continue.

"Yesterday, when I saw in the newspaper some gentry talking about the revolutionary party, I said: Shaft! Ann dared to speak lightly about state affairs. ”

After saying that, Yuan Shikai stroked his bare head, but there was a smile on his face, and the words changed.

"Even though they say so, in the eyes of this vice chairman, this country is ...... Well! Ruling is not only based on public opinion, but the ignorance of the people also has to consider the advice of social elites, especially the famous revolutionary aspirants such as Ince and Yat-sen! ”

Yuan Shikai's words only surprised Chen Qimei, who rushed to Tianjin by ship from Shanghai, and at the same time, he was also happy, he never thought that this Vice Chairman Yuan would be in love with the republic!

Thinking about him, the whole person became excited, he looked at the vice chairman of the army of the two towns in front of him, and seemed to see the hope of a republic, the revolutionary party has no military power in its hands, the recovery army has no future, and there is no hope in the governor's axe, if the Chen family is the emperor, how can the revolutionary party resist it, thinking about it, only the vice chairman of the northern committee who refuses to go to Nanjing is a partner for cooperation.

But where is Yuan Shikai's scheming that Chen Qimei can detect. Until now, he was most worried about the marshal of Nanjing, whether he would let him go easily, and he had also moved the mind of striking first, but seeing that the troops in the north of the Guangfu Army were besieging the Beijing Division, and the south was based on Henan and Shandong, and now he was advancing into Shanxi, he was hesitant in his heart.

However, when he hesitated, he sent a cronie with his handwritten letter and quietly went to Shanghai to contact the revolutionary party. The revolutionary party wants to be a republic, and the emperor of Chen Dashuai should be decided, if it is two families...... Then let's get corn from the fire! But the premise is...... Can the revolutionary party really shake that seemingly unstable tree?

When Yuan Shikai and Chen Qimei were talking, behind the rockery more than ten meters away, an officer was staring at the lips of the two, trying to judge the conversation between the two people in the pavilion, although the distance was a little far, but he still judged the content of the conversation between the two, when the two were talking, his brows were furrowed, but the scene in front of him was something he had never expected.

He held a telegram from Dagu in his hand, looked at the contents of the telegram, but shook his head and sighed softly

(To be continued)