Guangxu changed the law and reformed, and the country was boiling.

The edicts of the New Deal were issued frequently like snowflakes flying, while the old guards delayed and obstructed them with all their might.

In the two months since the reform of the law, officials of the old school have gone to the Summer Palace every day to complain. Cixi just let it go, deliberately ignoring these people, letting them hold their breath and wait until the critical moment to make a move. However, Cixi also had to appease them, so she also hinted at supporting them.

After receiving Cixi's hint, these old-fashioned officials suddenly had the courage to collude with the local governors to jointly interfere with the new policy.

Guangxu's new policy could not be implemented, the edict was all empty letters, and the imperial party and the later party that supported Guangxu were like fire and water, and they were incompatible.

However, the reformers did not know the importance of it, thinking that they could be unscrupulous under the banner of Guangxu. The reformers changed their laws at a rapid pace, and there was a trend of thousands of miles. For example, one order to build roads in the capital, two orders to handle national defense, three orders and eight banners, those who wish to go out of Beijing to make a living are allowed to be free. So the people of the Eight Banners were in an uproar, and rumors spread everywhere.

The entire ruling clique of the Eight Banners soon realized that no matter how much the reform would bring to China, it would have to pay a heavy price for the main vested interest group of the Banner People, not only in terms of its own privileges, but also in the possibility of losing the power it had held for 200 years because of the introduction of a constitutional monarchy. Reform reforms can benefit the country, but the costs for those who are conservative and have vested interests are also heavy. Changing the law is beneficial to China and unfavorable to Manchuria; When China rises, Manchuria falls. So they were "rather with friends than with house slaves", and suddenly made a fuss.

The children of the Eight Banners made a commotion, and Cixi used the clan as an excuse to suppress Guangxu. Guangxu argued with Cixi on the basis of reason, and Cixi began to interfere with the reform on the grounds of Guangxu's unfilial piety.

At the beginning of March, the reform of the law became more and more difficult, and the quarrel between Guangxu and Cixi became more and more fierce every time. On several occasions, when Cixi was angry, she even expressed her desire to abolish Guangxu.

On March 8, after Guangxu quarreled with Cixi, he issued a secret edict to Yang Rui, an official of the Restoration, instructing the Restorationists to plan a good plan and promote the reform of the law. At the same time, the secret edict said that the throne could not be guaranteed, let alone others?

Emperor Guangxu realized that there would be a change, and he was in a dangerous position, and he was anxious, and asked the reform faction to plan countermeasures.

At this time, Cixi already had the intention of launching a coup d'état and abolishing Guangxu, but she lacked enough excuses. As soon as Guangxu's secret edict came out, some officials immediately slandered him, saying that Guangxu's intention was unfavorable to Cixi. Cixi was immediately furious, so she prepared to take action against the reformers.

On March 12, Guangxu asked Lin Xu to bring out the second secret edict, so that Kang Youwei could go out quickly without delay.

Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, Lin Xu, Tan Si and other core figures of the reform faction knelt down to recite the secret edict, wept bitterly, swore to save the emperor, had to take risks, decided to carry out a mutiny, besieged the Summer Palace, and forced the Empress Dowager Cixi to hand over power.

On the 15th, Tan Sitong accepted the invitation of Chen Baozhen, the governor of Hunan who was inclined to reform, and returned to Hunan to assist in organizing the new policy. In fact, Tan Sitong's return to Hunan was just an excuse, and he used the Wuchang Huguang Governor's Mansion to lobby Zhang Zhidong to protect Guangxu.

Although Zhang Zhidong is far away in Wuchang, he also knows a lot about things in Beijing. Guangxu was an emperor with no real power, and from the very beginning, Zhang Zhidong expected that Guangxu's reform and reform would not work and was doomed to failure. Of course, Zhang Zhidong was in principle in favor of changing the law, especially since a constitutional monarchy was in the interests of the Han bureaucracy. Because of this, when Hunan Governor Chen Baozhen implemented the new policy, Zhang Zhidong did not interfere. However, Tan Sitong asked Zhang Zhidong to lead troops into Beijing to protect Guangxu, which was a shocking event. It's not that Zhang Zhidong is unwilling, but Zhang Zhidong is worried that he will lead his troops into Beijing through the defense area of Zhili Province. In his opinion, Wang Chenhao is not a fuel-efficient lamp, no matter whether Zhang Zhidong sends troops into Beijing or not, the Beiyang Army will not let the Hunan army pass.

Zhang Zhidong immediately rejected Tan Sitong's request, but he did not report Tan Sitong, and nothing happened.

Tan Sitong did not live with Zhang Zhidong's support, but he was not reconciled, so he secretly visited Yuan Shikai, the commander of the Hubei New Army, hoping to open a gap in Yuan Shikai.

After the Korean Revolution in 1894, Yuan Shikai fled from Korea disguised as a civilian, but was dismissed from his military post by the Qing court and left idle at home.

Due to the rise of Wang Chenhao's power in Beiyang, in terms of backers, financial resources, and foresight, Yuan Shikai is not as good as Wang Chenhao. Yuan Shikai is a person who can't stay still, he poured all his family wealth, gave gifts everywhere, hoping to have an errand in the Beiyang Army, because Yuan Shikai is still very capable in North Korea, so there are Beiyang Army officers recommended for him, but what he didn't expect was that when the roster was sent to Wang Chenhao for approval, Yuan Shikai's name was immediately ticked off. Wang Chenhao ordered that Yuan Shikai should never be used on the grounds that he had escaped from the battle in Korea, and as a result, Yuan Shikai could not get mixed up in the area controlled by the Beiyang Group, so he had to develop in the South Seas.

Those who are rejected by Beiyang will be absorbed by Nanyang, and those who Wang Chenhao does not like, Zhang Zhidong will welcome them. Perhaps it was to fight with Wang Chenhao, or to think that Yuan Shikai was talented, and finally Zhang Zhidong left Yuan Shikai in the self-improvement army to train the new army.

After two years of training, the self-improvement army that Yuan Shikai helped train made remarkable progress, and Zhang Zhidong was very happy, so Yuan Shikai was also able to become the commander of the Hubei New Army.

But Yuan Shikai was not satisfied with this, although the Hubei New Army was stronger than the New Army of other provinces, it was inferior to the Beiyang Army. Zhang Zhidong did not have much financial resources allocated to the Hubei New Army, so the Hubei New Army's annual expenditure in terms of treatment, equipment, military expenses, and logistical supplies was not as much as that of the Beiyang Army for a month.

Yuan Shikai's outstanding performance in the Hubei New Army, in fact, he wanted to use the Hubei New Army as the capital for promotion, and he wanted to enter the Beiyang Army in his heart. He just wants to make an appearance, let Wang Chenhao see his talent, and hope that one day Wang Chenhao can change his mind and let him enter Beiyang.

Good birds choose trees to perch, Yuan Shikai's idea is actually the idea of many people.

Therefore, when Tan Sitong came to him, Yuan Shikai suddenly realized that a great opportunity for promotion had come.

Yuan Shikai supported the reform of the law, and he assured Tan Sitong that he would be loyal to the emperor. However, Yuan Shikai said that he was only the commander of the Hubei New Army and had no right to lead troops into Beijing.

Yuan Shikai just wanted to be an official, and after Tan Sitong penetrated his thoughts, he immediately asked Guangxu for instructions and entrusted Yuan Shikai with important tasks.

On 24 March, Guangxu issued an order to promote Yuan Shikai to the post of General Office of the Regimental Defense of the Five Cities, and allowed Yuan Shikai to bring a group of men and horses from the Hubei New Army into Beijing, and to prepare for the establishment of the regimental defense army of the Five Cities on the basis of this force. Guangxu originally planned to set up the Royal Praetorian Guard, but considering that the Praetorian Guard must be served as a bannerman, he gave Yuan Shikai the appointment of the five-city regimental defense army. The external propaganda is to reform the patrol battalion and form a police system similar to that of Zhili Province.

Yuan Shikai vowed to go to Beijing to report on his work, and brought more than 600 people from the Hubei New Army, and recruited troops in Yanjing on this basis.

This move immediately stimulated many forces, the first of which was Cixi. Cixi has always attached the most importance to the military power of the capital, and Guangxu transferred Yuan Shikai to Beijing under the name of reforming the patrol battalion as a police force, in fact, to divide the rights of Ronglu's nine-city patrol battalion. Cixi was immediately furious, thinking that Guangxu was a prelude to disobeying her, so she summoned her henchmen to speed up the pace of the coup.

Yuan Shikai left the Hubei New Army and entered Beijing, and of course Zhang Zhidong was hurt. Zhang Zhidong was very unhappy, thinking that he could keep his heart if he was not thin on Yuan Shikai, but Yuan Shikai not only flashed, but also abducted a large number of elite generals of the Hubei New Army, and immediately scolded him angrily.

Yuan Shikai entered Beijing to serve as the commander of the regimental defense army of the five cities, becoming the third largest military force in the Gyeonggi region after Wang Chenhao's Beiyang Army and Ronglu's Jiucheng Patrol Battalion, which immediately aroused Wang Chenhao's strong attention.

Wang Chenhao had planned to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, watching the dog eat dog between the two parties of the emperor and queen. But with the sudden appearance of Yuan Shikai, Wang Chenhao was very uncomfortable.

Wang Chenhao knew that Yuan Shikai was a generation of heroes in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, and once he was allowed to enter the Jinggi sphere of influence, he would inevitably be like a fish in water. Yuan Shikai's ambition and ability to win people's hearts are no worse than Wang Chenhao, so of course Wang Chenhao can't be indifferent.

In the Governor's Mansion, Wang Chenhao called Ruan Zhongshu and Li Guodong to discuss countermeasures.

Ruan Zhongshu first analyzed: "My lord, Yuan Shikai's mastery of the regimental defense of the five cities is equivalent to dividing half of the strength of Ronglu's ninety percent patrol battalion, and the struggle between the two parties of the emperor and queen has become variable. It is not possible to judge who will win and who will lose. ”

Li Guodong said: "I think Guangxu will definitely not be able to fight Cixi, and Yuan Shikai will definitely not be able to fight Ronglu." Rong Lu has been running the Ninety Percent Patrol Battalion for several years, and even if Yuan Shikai divides half of his troops, he will not be able to control it in a short time. When the time comes, Rong Lu has a good chance of winning. ”

Wang Chenhao shook his head, disagreed with their point of view, and said: "Don't underestimate the strength of Yuan Shikai, he is very good at winning people's hearts, and there is no problem in dividing half of Ronglu's troops in a short period of time." Besides, he also brought six or seven hundred old troops, although the Hubei New Army is not as good as our Beiyang Army, but it is much stronger than the old soldiers of the ninety percent patrol battalion, and the three thousand men and horses of Shangronglu are six or seven hundred people. ”

Li Guodong nodded and said: "Your lord's concern is not unreasonable, when Yuan Shikai was the governor of North Korea, he was very good at leading troops, and he also made great achievements in training self-improvement troops for Zhang Zhidong in Hubei. ”

Ruan Zhongshu asked Wang Chenhao and said, "My lord, it is a good thing that Cixi and Guangxu are fighting infighting, Cixi's strength was strong before, and Guangxu's defeat has been decided. Now Guangxu has fought back, and he also has the strength to fight, so that they lose both sides and are more beneficial to adults. ”

Wang Chenhao smiled bitterly and said, "It would be nice if it was really like that!" The key is that Yuan Shikai is a wall grass that falls with the wind, and he may not have the same heart as Guangxu. If Guangxu didn't use Yuan Shikai, there was still room for maneuver, and Cixi wouldn't be able to abolish Guangxu without enough excuses. What I'm afraid of is that Guangxu believes in Yuan Shikai too much, if Yuan Shikai defects, Guangxu will have no counterattack power at all, and he also gave Cixi the excuse to abolish him. ”

Ruan Zhongshu and Li Guodong glanced at each other, and they didn't have any evidence for Wang Chenhao to say that Yuan Shikai was a wall-to-wall grass, so they couldn't believe it for a while.

Wang Chenhao saw that the two of them didn't believe it, so he said, "Look, right? Guangxu was sold by Yuan Shikai, and he had to count the money for him! ”

Ruan Zhongshu asked, "What do you mean?" ”

Wang Chenhao rubbed his temples and felt a headache for the first time. Lao Bancai said: "In short, Yuan Shikai helps Guangxu, and we will help Cixi." Yuan Shikai helped Cixi, and we helped Guangxu. ”

Wang Chenhao was determined to clean up Yuan Shikai, which made Ruan Zhongshu and Li Guodong very puzzled. Wang Chenhao ticked off Yuan Shikai's name on the roster, and now it comes to the minds of the two of them. The general signs show that Wang Chenhao hates this Yuan Shikai very much.

Could it be that there is some deep hatred and hatred?

Ruan Zhongshu looked at Li Guodong, who shook his head to indicate that he was not clear. Since Wang Chenhao doesn't like people, then Ruan Zhongshu and Li Guodong have nothing to say, and they will go all out to suppress them.

Thinking of this, the two of them immediately received their orders.

Putting aside the matter of Yuan Shikai, Li Guodong then reported the latest foreign intelligence to Wang Chenhao.

The first place is naturally the war in the Philippines and the war in the Caribbean.

On February 22, 1898, W. Michael led 15,000 men of the Eighth Army of the U.S. Expeditionary Force across the Pacific Ocean to Manila, preparing to capture Manila.

At this time, Manila was surrounded by 25,000 Filipino rebels, and the city of Manila was about to be broken. In order to monopolize Manila, the U.S. military played cunning tricks. Dewey made a deal with the leader of the rebel army, promising to recognize the Filipino Reading. The rebels credulously believed the promise of the United States and promised to fight together with the American army. Unbeknownst to him, President McKinley had already ordered the U.S. military to prevent the Revolutionary Army from entering Manila under any circumstances. Moreover, the US military had already reached a secret agreement with the Spanish governor in private, and Spain would "transfer" Manila to the United States without allowing Philippine troops to enter the city. In order to save face for the Filipinos, the U.S. military launched a fake attack. The Spaniards knew that Manila could no longer be held, so they preferred to let the American army occupy it rather than let the Filipinos occupy it.

On February 26, the United States and the Philippines launched a general offensive against Manila. After a slight resistance, the Western Army disarmed and surrendered. But as soon as the battle ended, Dewey tore up the agreement and forced the Filipino rebels to withdraw to the suburbs by force. The U.S. military immediately established a military-political axe and monopolized Manila.

At the same time, in the Caribbean, the US military also achieved a big victory.

The Spanish Navy's Severa fleet ran into walls everywhere in the Caribbean Sea, and the powers of various countries refused to supply the Spanish Navy with coal, and among the three ports on which the Spanish Navy relied for supplies, the port of San Juan and the port of Santiago de de had been occupied by the Qing Empire Expeditionary Force and the American Expeditionary Force, and the only remaining port of Havana was blockaded by the US Navy.

Without coal supplies and no hope of returning, Severa had no choice but to slowly wander around the Caribbean Sea, trying to attack one or two coal carriers of the Qing Empire or the U.S. Navy in order to get supplies.

On 27 February, the Spanish fleet of Severa encountered the Qing Imperial hospital ships Bian Que and Hua Tuo, which had just bypassed South America and entered the Caribbean Sea, and the battleship Sea Scale, which was escorting the hospital ship, in the waters near the British Virgin Islands.

Seeing that the two hospital ships were flying the dragon flag of the Qing Empire, Severa wanted to attack, but soon found out that the hospital ship was still flying the international neutral flag and that it was a hospital ship with a red cross, so he chose to give up.

However, the Sea Scale, which escorted the two hospital ships, did not appreciate it.

The Seascale immediately hoisted its battle flag and sent a telegram to the Dengyun and Tayun 2 ships anchored in the port of San Juan for help. Liu Buyun received a report that the two hospital ships were being pursued by the Spanish fleet, and he was in a hurry, and hurriedly led the two ships Dengyun and Tayun to rush to the rescue at combat speed. At the same time, speedboats were sent to inform the U.S. Navy, saying that the Spanish fleet had been spotted and requesting reinforcements from the U.S. Navy.

At two o'clock in the afternoon of the 27th, the brave Sea Scale, under the command of Captain Chen Jiliang, took the lead in attacking the Spanish fleet.

Severa had planned not to provoke the hospital fleet, but he never imagined that one of the opposing warships would have the audacity to attack the Spanish fleet.

At this time, Severa had nine warships of various types, while the Qing Empire had only one warship. When a single warship of the Qing Empire dared to attack the Spanish fleet with nine warships, Severa immediately became furious, believing that the Qing Empire Navy was despising the Spanish Navy and despising his existence.

Of the nine battleships in Severa's hands, three armored cruisers Maria? Princess Teresa, Almirante? Okundo, the Vizcaya, the four cruisers Isabel II, Juan. Don Juan. Duke of Austria, Marquis of Venadeto, Antonio. Duke Ulloa, and the gunboat Max. Bender. The Duiro and Da. Maria. Morality. Molina.

The main guns of the three armored cruisers were powerful, each with two 280 mm main guns and 10 140 mm secondary guns.

Of course, Chen Jiliang would not be stupid enough to go head-to-head with the opponent's armored cruiser, and the purpose of his initiative to attack the Spanish Navy was to let the two hospital ships leave safely, and secondly, to drag the Spanish Navy, because the Sea Scale had a radio system and had already contacted the Dengyun and Tayun to come for reinforcements, and the Spanish Navy did not know this.

Chen Jiliang would not engage the three battleships of the Spanish Navy on the top of the battleship, but took advantage of the speed advantage of the Sea Scale, quickly avoided the main force of the enemy fleet, made a detour to the rear of the enemy fleet, and reached the gunboats of the Spanish Navy. Maria. Morality. The Molina attacked.

With the speed and firepower of the Seascale, it can deal with Da. Maria. Morality. The Molina, an old gunboat from the 80s, was very easy, and in less than half an hour of engagement, the Seascale's powerful firepower was about to reach. Maria. Morality. The Molina sank and at the same time severely damaged another slower gunboat, Max. Bender. The Duirau.

(To be continued)