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"Lord Nakado, please take a step to speak!" Sun Yuwen glanced left and right, saw someone passing by, and hurriedly pulled Li Hongzhang to a place where no one was. Seeing the two sneaky, Weng Tongyi couldn't help but snort coldly, glared at the two of them with great disdain, and then flicked his sleeves and walked away, Li Hongzao, the Minister of Military Aircraft, couldn't help but shake his head, turned his head, and came out of sight. Weng Tongyi and Li Hongzao are the representative figures of the main battle faction, while Li Hongzhang and Sun Yuwen are both members of the main peace faction.

Sun Yuwen didn't care about this, pulled Li Hongzhang to a place where no one was, and asked with a pleading face, "My Lord Zhongtang, can you give me an explanation, can this Beijing city still be defended?" ”

Li Hongzhang glanced at Sun Yuwen, who had an anxious look on his face, and asked tentatively, "Is this what you want to ask?" Or does it mean west? Li Hongzhang said that the west naturally refers to the Empress Dowager Cixi of the West, this Sun Yuwen is a celebrity around Cixi, at this time to find Li Hongzhang, and to ask such a sensitive question, Li Hongzhang naturally thought that this Sun Yuwen was most likely instructed by Cixi.

Sun Yuwen sighed helplessly, "Lord Zhongtang is not bad, this is exactly what the Queen Mother meant, you also know that the Queen Mother and her old man have returned to the emperor, so it is naturally inconvenient to summon the Minister of Military Aircraft, so as not to fall into the mouth of those officials, so I came to you, the Queen Mother and her old man are still waiting for a reply?" ”

Li Hongzhang nodded thoughtfully, then stretched out his right hand, and shook his five fingers in front of Sun Yuwen, Sun Yuwen was so anxious, how could he be in the mood to guess dumb riddles with Li Hongzhang, and hurriedly asked, "What does Lord Zhongtang mean by this?" ”

"Didn't you ask me if this Beijing city could be defended? Five-five! Li Hongzhang sighed helplessly and said.

"So, Lord Zhongtang doesn't have a bottom in his heart?" Sun Yuwen couldn't help frowning.

Li Hongzhang nodded and said, "Whether this Beijing city can be held or not is no longer up to us, but to the Japanese, whether their ammunition supply can support them to fight Beijing City is the key to whether Beijing City can be defended." ”

"This~!" Sun Yuwen's color changed slightly, "Lord Zhongtang means that if the Japanese have enough ammunition, we won't be able to hold Beijing City no matter what?" ”

"I didn't say that, you said it." Li Hongzhang shook his head and said.

Sun Yuwen was slightly stunned when he heard this, and said very dissatisfied, "My Lord Zhongtang, when is this coming, are you still in the mood to tease me?" ”

"Funny, I'm not in the mood." Li Hongzhang stretched out his hand to support the white marble pillar in front of him, looked at the palace gate in the distance, sighed slightly and said, "I really didn't expect it, but in just over 20 years, the Huai army has also degenerated to the point of vulnerability, and now looking at the whole country, there is no more usable army!" ”

Looking at Li Hongzhang with a lonely face, there was a feeling of heroic twilight, and Sun Yuwen couldn't help but sigh.

"Nope! I'm wrong, and the Tiger Army, this one that seems to pop out of a crack in the stone. Only they can block the Japanese troops, but unfortunately this army is still in Jiaodong, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to rush to Beijing for a while, and it will not be able to quench the thirst of the near water! Li Hongzhang suddenly remembered the Tiger Benjun, and couldn't help but burst out with a glimmer of hope in his eyes, but this glimmer of hope was fleeting, and in the end, Li Hongzhang couldn't help but sigh deeply again.

"Is there really no way?" Sun Yuwen asked unwillingly.

Li Hongzhang shook his head and said, "You better go back to the Empress Dowager and let her old man come forward to persuade the emperor to visit the Rehe!" I'm afraid it's too late. ”

"This~! Nakado-sama! How do you let me get back! The queen mother, her old man, means that no matter what, she can't let the Japanese invade the capital. Sun Yuwen said with a sad face.

Li Hongzhang nodded understandingly, "It's time for this, I can only return truthfully, Beijing is an important place for the capital division, if the Japanese invaders occupy it, the Celestial Empire will definitely lose face!" ”

"What Lord Zhongtang said is very true, and the Queen Mother and her old man also said that this good Old Summer Palace was burned by foreign devils, and this newly repaired Summer Palace can't be ruined by Orientals. Also, although the Queen Mother's 60th birthday has passed, but this newly repaired garden, the freshness has not yet passed, if the Japanese are bad, can the Queen Mother and her old man agree? Sun Yuwen said with a frown.

As soon as the Summer Palace was mentioned, Li Hongzhang was angry in his heart, if it weren't for Cixi's misappropriation of naval funds in order to repair this dilapidated garden, how could the Beiyang Naval Division be defeated in Dadonggou. In fact, after 1888, due to the significant reduction in the funds of the fleet under the "reduction of expenditures" of the Weng Tong Household Department, most of them were diverted by the government. At that time, it was a time when naval technology was advancing by leaps and bounds, but the Beiyang Naval Division had not purchased new ships for many years until the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1894. Not all of the Navy's military spending has been diverted to the Summer Palace. However, Sun Yuwen mentioned the Summer Palace at this time, and Li Hongzhang put all the responsibility on Cixi, but Li Hongzhang could only muttered in his heart, who would dare to offend that Lafayette in the current Qing Dynasty!

"Then bother Lord Sun to return to the Queen Mother and her old man's house, and the old minister will do his best to protect the Jingshi to the death! But in order to prevent the Japanese from disturbing the holy car, please ask the Queen Mother and the Emperor to patrol the Xingrehe! Li Hongzhang said seriously.

Sun Yuwen nodded helplessly, "That's it!" Then Sun Yuwen and Li Hongzhang said goodbye and went to Cixi to report.

Li Hongzhang left the palace and hurried back to his mansion in Beijing. Li Hongzhang's staff and son-in-law Zhang Peilun greeted him, "Lord Zhongtang is back?" ”

"Yes!" Li Hongzhang nodded, "Immediately order someone to send a telegram to Ren Chao in Weihai, and ask him to immediately lead the Tiger Ben army to land from Dagukou by sea, and then gallop to the aid of the Beijing Division, and King Qin will escort him!" ”

"Yes, I'll do it!" Zhang Peilun hurriedly responded. Zhang Peilun, the word Youqiao, Tongzhi Jinshi. He has served as a bachelor and a deputy governor of the Imperial History. In response to France's invasion of Vietnam and its coveting of China's frontiers, he wrote more than a dozen chapters, advocating resistance to France. At the beginning of the Sino-French War, the main battle. He was appointed to handle Fujian's maritime affairs with the title of Sanpinqing, and concurrently served as the Minister of Shipping. On July 15, 1884, the French warships invaded Mawei Port without guard, and on August 23, the French ships launched an attack, the Fujian Navy Division was destroyed, and the Mawei shipyard was destroyed. and He Ruzhang, the Minister of Shipping of Fujian, was dismissed from his post. He was released in 1888 and re-entered Li Hongzhang's curtain, in charge of clerical work, and because his original wife was dead, he married Li Hongzhang's youngest daughter Ju Rong.

"Wait! Hasn't the details of this Ren Chao been investigated clearly? Li Hongzhang suddenly stopped Zhang Peilun and asked.