Wang Chenhao became Li Hongzhang's quasi-son-in-law, so he became his own family, and his strategy was a little more trusting.

Subsequently, Li Hongzhang discussed with everyone in detail and decided to adopt Wang Chenhao's strategy. However, Li Hongzhang and his staff were more conservative after all, and felt that it was safer and more cost-effective to directly promise some benefits to the Russians in exchange for them to persuade them to withdraw their troops than to cede Liaodong to Yueben at the negotiating table.

However, this point was vetoed by Wang Chenhao.

The reason is simple. If he had done so, he would have been afraid of Russia and would have abandoned Liaodong and withdrawn his troops from Liaodong. However, he would not have given up Taiwan, and at that time he would have insisted on asking for Taiwan because Liaodong could not get it, and Russia could not offend him to the end, because Russia was not ready to start a war in the Far East, and at that time, Russia would in turn help him and Qing Zheng axe to demand Taiwan, and the gains would inevitably outweigh the losses.

And Wang Chenhao's method was to first reach a contract with Yueben and induce Yueben to give up Taiwan and pay compensation on the grounds of ceding the Liaodong Peninsula. Then he informed Russia that he was willing to give them some benefits, and asked Russia to bring Liaodong back.

In this way, the Qing Empire ended the war with the Liaodong Peninsula as a single place, and there was no need to pay reparations or cede Taiwan. And Russia, out of strategic interests, will definitely force Yuben to abandon the Liaodong Peninsula. In this way, it is more in line with the strategic interests of the Qing Empire to let the Russians do what offends Yuben.

Wang Chenhao is prepared not to pay reparations or cede land, and owes Russia a favor to end this war, and at the same time harbors evil intentions and instigates that Russia's violent contradictions are the real purpose. Because the Qing Empire was weak, the fact that the army was vulnerable was exposed this time, and if we didn't let the dog-eat-dog between Yuben and Russia, I am afraid that they would continue to peep and invade.

Wang Chenhao has already exhausted all the organs in combination with the historical and factual situation, and now only Li Hongzhang's courage is missing.

In the end, at Wang Chenhao's insistence, Li Hongzhang still chose to believe his words as a prospective son-in-law.

After the meeting, Li Hongzhang immediately rushed to Yanjing and personally met with Cixi and Guangxu to ask them to negotiate the rights of the plenipotentiary minister.

And Wang Chenhao hurried to the back house in line with the principle of squeezing out every second of time to fall in love.

To his delight, he had just left the confidential room, and Li Youyi's maid Baoqin had been waiting there for a long time.

Following Baoqin, Wang Chenhao slipped all the way into the back house of the Governor's Mansion unimpeded.

After turning a few pavilions, a beautiful shadow came into view, and Wang Chenhao saw the person who haunted him in the old place.

In the pavilion, Li Youyi clasped her hands with each other, pacing back and forth.

The beauty couldn't stop looking forward to it, and the moment she found that the person she was concerned about appeared, her eyes that pierced through the autumn water made Wang Chenhao unable to hold back her footsteps and run away.

There is no need to say a word, just a look, and the two hugged each other, kissing each other affectionately and not wanting to part for a long time.

Baoqin then arrived, and was dumbfounded when he looked at the scene in front of him. This little girl didn't know that their young lady had developed to such a point with Wang Chenhao, and she was in a dilemma for a while.

The two kissed bitterly for a while before parting, Wang Chenhao seemed to be unsatisfied, but Li Youyi saw the maid hugging the qin, and immediately blushed, and hurriedly pushed him away.

Wang Chenhao glanced at Baoqin at this time, and when he saw her dumbfounded, he couldn't help laughing.

"Ah~ I didn't see anything!" Only then did Baoqin come back to his senses and hurriedly turned his back.

"It's all your fault! As soon as I come back, I will bully others, and I will be embarrassed in front of the girl when I am tired! Li Youyi suddenly looked at Wang Chenhao coquettishly, and her blushing face was even more delicate.

"What's there to be afraid of?" Wang Chenhao then told her that Li Hongzhang had promised to marry Li Youyi to him.

"Really!" Li Youyi's face was full of surprise, and her heart felt as relaxed as a big stone.

Wang Chenhao nodded and saw Li Youyi's happy little woman's appearance, and immediately joked to her: "Lady, tell your husband to listen!" ”

"Shame on you! Don't want it! Li Youyi shyly buried her head in Wang Chenhao's arms, and she was about to marry a wife, and she suddenly didn't dare to face her fiancé's eyes, so she could only respond with coquettishness.

Wang Chenhao would not let her go easily, while gently saying in her ear that she would never have too many charming love words, while looking for every inch of exposed skin and kissing, his hands were even more dishonest. And Li Youyi was curled up in his arms like a white sheep, the corners of her mouth were full of happiness, intoxicated and let him do it.

Baoqin in the distance has been completely defeated by the intimate actions of the two of them at this moment, in her eyes, a young lady who is extremely dignified and treats men as nothing, but at this moment, she has completely given up all her reserve in front of Wang Chenhao.

"I can't stand it!" Hug Qin muttered, seeing that it was already dark, worried that her young lady would suffer a big loss, so she pulled Li Youyi away from Wang Chenhao's arms under the pretext of "Mrs. Find".

On December 28, Li Hongzhang asked Cixi for a plenipotentiary negotiator to replace Yi as the plenipotentiary negotiator of the Qing Empire, while Wang Chenhao attended as a deputy negotiator, which immediately aroused the strong attention of the great powers.

Wang Chenhao's three words are already on the list of people who are concerned about China by the great powers of various countries, especially in this regard, Wang Chenhao has been listed as the number one enemy and the target of assassination, and his hatred for him can be seen deeply.

On the 29th, Li Hongzhang threw out the proposal to cede Liaodong to Yueben according to the predetermined plan, which was like a bomb exploding on the negotiation table, which immediately made everyone's heartbeat and breathing stop and their brains crashed for a while.

Mutsu Zongguang didn't expect Li Hongzhang to be so generous at all, in his opinion, the indemnity of 20 million taels and the cession of Taiwan are not as cost-effective as just ceding the Liaodong Peninsula, and the Luda fortress system in Liaodong alone is worth it.

"Is this true?" Mutsu Munemitsu hurriedly asked.

"Of course! If you don't want to, then we'll have to go to war! Li Hongzhang didn't give him a good look.

"No, no, no! I didn't mean that! Seeing Li Hongzhang's face flushed, Lu Aozong was obviously forced to be helpless. He naturally knew that the Qing Empire returned the army power to Li Hongzhang and asked Li Hongzhang to clean up the mess in Liaodong, it was obvious that Li Hongzhang would also lose the battle, and if he didn't fight, he would have to bear the black pot, so it was reasonable to give up the huge benefits of the Liaodong Peninsula to Yueben.

"You still have two days to give me an answer, and agree that we will sign a contract to end the war, otherwise the old man will have to go to war with all his might!" Li Hongzhang pretended to be unwilling and helpless to show the other party, forcing the other party to reply as soon as possible.

Mutsu Munemitsu said, "Can Master Li make a decision?" Can the contract we sign actually be fulfilled? ”

Li Hongzhang said unhappily: "You have negotiated more than once, since the old man is a plenipotentiary negotiator, he naturally has full authority to negotiate and negotiate!" Don't you understand that the old man's signature represents the signature of the emperor of the Qing Dynasty? ”

Mutsu Munemitsu was immediately overjoyed and said, "In that case, please adjourn the meeting for a while!" ”

The negotiations were adjourned temporarily, and Mutsu Munemitsu urgently sent a telegram to the country to seek the opinion of the Cabinet.

Li Hongzhang, on the other hand, was surrounded by representatives of the great powers, asking him why he had made such big concessions. In this regard, Li Hongzhang only said that everything was forced to act out of desperation, and he showed a pitiful appearance in front of the great powers.

These are all Wang Chenhao's reminders to Li Hongzhang, and he must pretend to be a last resort to show the powers, especially in front of the Russian minister Cuman, Li Hongzhang tactfully expressed his hope that Russia could come forward to help.

Cuman asked Li Hongzhang to postpone the signing of the treaty with Yuben, and he would consult Tsar Nicholas II. However, Li Hongzhang cried and said that the armistice period was about to expire, and if a contract could not be reached, the lives would be ruined, and the Qing Empire really did not want to go to war anymore.

Cuman then patted his chest and promised that he would strongly urge the political axe to maintain the truce. Li Hongzhang quietly glanced at Wang Chenhao, secretly gave a thumbs up, and really took the seven inches of Russia.

Cuman hurriedly sent a telegram to St. Petersburg informing him of the Qing Empire's readiness to cede the Liaodong Peninsula to Yuben. Soon, the Russian political axe replied, "We must prevent the Qing Empire from ceding the Liaodong Peninsula to Yueben."

After receiving the instructions, Cuman immediately made an appointment with Mutsu Munemitsu, suggesting that he should not occupy Liaodong. Mutsu Munemitsu was surprised by the Russian demands, and he had already obtained Kuroda's approval to end the war by seizing the Liaodong Peninsula, so he politely declined Cuman's request.

Kiyoshi said that the negotiations were adjourned and resumed in the afternoon, and Mutsu Munemitsu agreed to Li Hongzhang's conditions on behalf of the Tsumoto Imperial Axe, and the cabinet of Kiyotaka Kuroda was also anxious to end the war as soon as possible, so Mutsu Munemitsu said that he could sign the agreement immediately.

Li Hongzhang glanced at Wang Chenhao, which meant that he was going to sign now, what should I do! Wang Chenhao gave him a positive look and let him sign with confidence.

Li Hongzhang hesitated for several minutes, and finally couldn't resist the joint urging of Wang Chenhao and Mutsu Zongguang, and signed the Tianjin contract.

The contract is signed in the presence of the great powers of various countries and has international legal force.

Mutsu Zongguang hurriedly exchanged signed contracts with Li Hongzhang, and after confirming that it was correct, he was immediately overjoyed to shake hands with Li Hongzhang, but Li Hongzhang refused to shake hands with him with a calm face.

However, Mutsu Munemitsu didn't mind, and just asked: "Since the treaty has been concluded, please withdraw your [***] team from the Luda area immediately!" ”

Li Hongzhang replied: "The Qing Empire is strictly trustworthy, and it will naturally withdraw from the Luda region with respect, but the people of Liaodong are unwilling to be slaves to the country and it takes time to evacuate Liaodong, and Luda is my Beiyang fortress, and military mobilization also takes time!" It will be completed in half a year! ”

Mutsu Munemitsu couldn't refute this, but he had to set a time limit, so he said, "Three months is enough!" Otherwise, our [***] team will also refuse to withdraw from Liaoyang and Haicheng! ”

Li Hongzhang just smiled faintly and nodded in agreement.