"Li Hongzhang, you give me tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, no, thousands of soldiers and horses are all successful, I personally go to the battlefield to fight the Japanese, I don't believe that the Japanese have three heads and six arms!" On the Jinluan Palace, Emperor Guangxu Longting was furious, pointed at Li Hongzhang who was kneeling on the ground, and roared loudly.

"The emperor is angry!" The civil and military officials knelt on the ground in fear.

"I can't quench my anger! The Ming army of more than 20,000 elite soldiers collapsed in less than half a day, and the Japanese army followed and killed and captured Qingxian in one fell swoop! Order the Japanese army to attack in the northwest direction, capture Dacheng, and approach Bazhou! Bazhou is only more than 100 miles away from Beijing, and the Japanese are about to hit the Forbidden City, how can you let me calm my anger! Emperor Guangxu said as he threw the fold in his hand in front of the civil and military officials.

"The old minister is unfavorable in the battle, the front line is defeated, the Japanese are approaching the Beijing division, and the old minister deserves death!" Li Hongzhang respectfully knelt on the ground and kowtowed to ask for guilt.

"Humph!" Emperor Guangxu snorted coldly, and said with a gloomy face, "Li Hongzhang has been unfavorable in supervising the war, has been defeated repeatedly, and his crimes are unforgivable. ”

"Old minister, thank you for your grace, long live my emperor, long live, long live!" Li Hongzhang kowtowed in thanks, and only raised his head for a long time, but he still knelt on the ground, and at this time, two palace guards stepped forward and pulled out Li Hongzhang's crown feather.

"Playing the emperor, the Japanese are powerful, approaching the Beijing Division, it is inevitable that the Japanese will disturb the holy drive, and the old minister dares to implore the emperor to follow the example of Xianfeng and patrol the Rehe!" Li Hongzhang knelt on the ground and said loudly.

"Li Hongzhang!" Emperor Guangxu was angry again, pointed at Li Hongzhang and asked loudly, "You let me patrol Xingrehe?" Do you want to lose this city of Beijing to the Japanese? ”

"Don't dare!" Li Hongzhang hurriedly explained, "It's just that the Japanese are approaching the Jingshi, and a big battle is inevitable. ”

"Shut up! I'm not going anywhere, I'm just staying here and watching you fight the Japanese! I want to take a good look at whether the Japanese are really as powerful as you say, or if the incompetence of some ministers and generals leads to successive defeats! ”

Emperor Guangxu couldn't help but sigh, slowly walked back to his dragon chair and sat down, and then said, "Li Hongzhang, today I will hand over this net worth and life to you, if you defeat the Japanese and keep this Beijing city, I will prepare a celebration banquet for you, but if you can't hold this Beijing city, then I can only go to Jiuquan to apologize to the ancestors and ancestors!" ”

"The ministers are terrified!" All the civil and military officials said in unison.

"The old minister dares to ask the emperor to think twice!" Li Hongzhang said loudly.

"Li Hongzhang, do you mean that this Beijing city can't be defended?" Emperor Guangxu glared at Li Hongzhang and asked loudly.

"Now that the Japanese soldiers are in full swing, the old minister is not completely sure!" Li Hongzhang said honestly.

Emperor Guangxu couldn't help but show a hint of anger on his face, "Hasn't Ren Chao already recovered Yantai and Weihai?" The back road of the Japanese Invaders has been cut off, and there is no supply, even if the Japanese can reach the city of Beijing, it is already the end of the crossbow, and you are not even fully sure to defeat them? ”

"Back to the emperor, although there are still tens of thousands of troops in Beijing, most of them are the Eight Banners and the Green Battalion, and the combat effectiveness of these troops is really limited. Even if it is the Huai army, it has been peaceful for a long time, and it is not what it used to be at this time, and most of the main forces of the Huai army are still in Liaodong, and the old minister has urgently mobilized ships and stepped up transportation, and it is difficult to rush to Beijing for a while! Li Hongzhang replied honestly.

"Rubbish! Eater! Is there no one to worry about? Emperor Guangxu couldn't help but scolded loudly, "Hasn't Ren Chao's Tiger Ben Army already recovered Weihai?" Immediately sent a decree and ordered him to rush to Beijing to escort King Qin! Li Hongzhang I don't care how you dispatch the troops and horses, but there is one thing you remember for me, Beijing City must not be lost! ”

"The old minister's order!" Li Hongzhang had no choice but to kowtow.

After the dispersal of the dynasty, Li Hongzhang walked out of the Jinluan Palace with heavy steps, at this time Li Hongzhang's mood can be said to be terrible, the repeated defeats of the Huai army have made Li Hongzhang lose face, and now the Japanese are approaching the Beijing Division, Beijing is in danger, and Emperor Guangxu issued a strict decree, no matter what, to hold the city of Beijing, but Li Hongzhang really has no bottom in his heart, can this Beijing city really be held? Maybe only God knows the answer.

"Nakado-sama stays!" At this moment, someone shouted from behind, and Li Hongzhang, who was in a trance, didn't seem to hear it, and walked forward mechanically.

Ming Taizu abolished the prime minister system in order to further centralize power, and the power of the prime minister was transferred to the cabinet. The Qing Dynasty inherited this practice, and the first assistant scholars of the cabinet and the co-organizers of the university were called Zhongtang, another name for the prime minister. The Qing system has six departments, each of which has two Shangshu, one Han and one full, sit on the left and right sides of the lobby, and if the minister is in charge of the department as a scholar, he sits in the middle of the hall, called "Zhongtang", which is just a false name, and does not represent the actual power, and the real power is held by the Military Aircraft Department. Almost all the ministers of military aircraft have the title of cabinet scholar, so they are all called "Lord Zhongtang" (called in person), and now that the Manchu Dynasty has just dispersed the dynasty, Li Hongzhang is not the only one who can be called Lord Zhongtang, so even if Li Hongzhang is not distracted, he may not necessarily think that the person behind him is called himself.

Li Hongzhang was walking, and a person stopped in front of Li Hongzhang out of breath, "Lord Zhongtang, why shouldn't you if I call you, I almost tired me from trotting all the way!" ”

Li Hongzhang looked up and saw that the person blocking the road was none other than Sun Yuwen, Minister of Military Aircraft. Sun Yuwen, the word Laishan (also known as Laishan), a native of Jeju, Shandong, has been in Xianfeng for eight years, and Ding's father is worried. In the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860), a group exercise was held in his hometown, and he was impeached and dismissed from his post for resisting donations. In the first year of Tongzhi (1862), he was reinstated as an official with a salary. Looking for Zhan Shi, inspect Anhui. Promoted to the Cabinet Bachelor, the Ministry of Labor. In the tenth year of Guangxu (1884), he joined the military and concurrently served as the prime minister and minister of national affairs. In the fifteenth year (1889), the Ministry of Punishment was moved, the military department was transferred, and the prince was given a young guarantee. Yuwen is the "most trusted person" of the Empress Dowager of the West, and she has an orchid score with Li Lianying, so that she can spy on the news of the inner palace and treat the emperor (Guangxu) as a virtual weapon.

Even Li Hongzhang didn't dare to despise this Sun Yuwen, seeing Sun Yuwen's panting appearance, Li Hongzhang hurriedly apologized and said, "Lord Sun, forgive me, I was thinking about fighting against the Japanese just now, and I didn't pay attention to Lord Sun calling me for a while, please forgive me." ”

"You're welcome!" Sun Yuwen said politely and took a few more breaths. This old guy is usually pampered, but his body has long been bad, and now he is tired after running so many steps.

"I don't know what Lord Sun called me?" Li Hongzhang opened his mouth to ask, at this time Li Hongzhang was full of worries, and he was not in the mood to be polite with Sun Yuwen.