A heavy rain for several days washed the air in Beijing clean, clear and bright, only making the air that stinks in summer a rare refreshment, and there is no dullness and pungent smell of summer. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

And in this refreshing weather, Li Hongzhang entered the palace and did not go to see the emperor. Outside Ningshou Palace, the two met in a hurry, and within a few words, they had already "called". But in fact, the two couldn't talk about anything at all, and after Li Hongzhang revealed that sentence yesterday, before King Gong could react, the military aircraft department over there received a telegram from the other seven governors.

The arrival of those telegrams, the blow to King Gong, is not even inferior to the meaning of Li Hongzhang's words, even if he is as shrewd as King Gong after receiving the telegram, he suddenly has the idea of wanting to return to the mountain, the reason why this kind of thought was born is because although the telegram of the seven governors did not explicitly say that they wanted to "discuss politics with the eight governors", but the meaning of the telegram was to force the imperial court to express its position, force the imperial court to cede power and localities, and discuss politics with the governors.

No, yesterday he stayed in the palace with a dry prince for three or four hours, Rao is plain eyes turned and gave birth to a few ideas King Gong, yesterday he also had no idea, but no more ideas, this Li Hongzhang has to see, he is the head of the eight governors, and even King Gong believes that the reason why the telegram of the seven governors came on his front foot, and the back foot is afraid that it is still from his arrangement, in other words, Tang Haoran may have made a start, but Li Hongzhang, the "man who abandoned the master", sang this play.

Although he knew Li Hongzhang's intentions, whether it was King Gong or King Alcohol, even Cixi did not dare to mention anything like "capture the thief and capture the king first". On the contrary, it is like a funeral, and advocates appeasement. There are some truths that everyone understands. If they really captured Li Hongzhang. This Qing Dynasty will definitely die in less than two days, not to mention that Ye Zhichao will let Tang rebel into the pass like Wu Sangui did back then, that is, the Huai army in Tianjin and other places will be able to capture the capital.

On the other hand, everyone knows very well that the future of this court is completely in Li Hongzhang's thoughts, in the past, the court could seize his official position, but now, Li Hongzhang's thoughts can save and abolish the Qing Dynasty. The change of status really made King Gong and others unwilling, but even if they were unwilling, what could they do? Now the Great Qing Kingdom can't rely on anyone except Li Hongzhang.

Entering the hall, I first saw the face of the Empress Dowager Cixi, under the cover of the yellow gauze screen, it was not very clear, I only heard the Empress Dowager Cixi coughing slightly, her voice was hoarse and low, Li Hongzhang listened quietly, and even dared not breathe, and she really had a sense of trembling as in the past. Inside. Li Hongzhang found that his mentality was completely different from the past, and he was really worried every time he entered the palace in the past. At this time, when entering the palace, although there was a sense of trembling, but it was also very relaxed, and it seemed that this feeling of trembling was just a long-standing habit.

After figuring this out, Li Hongzhang, who had moved from a "courtier" to a "powerful minister", couldn't help but straighten up his spine slightly due to his age and habits.

This scene did not fall in Cixi's eyes, but she was not annoyed, but became more calm, she had been in control of the government for so many years, and she didn't know that she was annoyed or angry at this time, it didn't make any sense at all, and the most important thing at the moment was to pull Li Hongzhang back.

"Now the state affairs are difficult, thanks to you Li Hongzhang, the country left by this ancestor will not be lost from the hands of my orphan and widow."

As soon as the Empress Dowager Cixi opened her mouth, she seemed to be pitiful as in the past, as if she was an ordinary woman.

"Although I don't read much, but I can't see the orphans and widows who guard the world and are taken away by others, the Song Dynasty that you Han people say, isn't that also the orphans and widows of the Great Zhou Dynasty Zen to Zhao Song?"

Li Hongzhang, who was kneeling on the ground, had realized the difference between today and the past, in the past, the Queen Mother would ask two sentences first, and then give a seat, but now instead of giving a seat, she even mentioned what Zhou Dynasty, Chai Shi, Zhao ...... Thinking of this, Li Hongzhang's mind sank, and he suddenly showed a look of sincere fear.

"Yes!"

Although he didn't know what the Queen Mother meant, looking at Li Hongzhang, who was sincerely afraid, King Gong echoed on the side.

"Zhao Song Jiangshan is indeed made by Chai Zhouchan."

Li Hongzhang, who was kneeling on the ground, really felt that sense of trembling, before entering the palace, he had imagined countless possibilities, but he never thought that the queen mother, who was so sophisticated that even he himself admired it, would pretend to be pitiful in front of him. This made his original plans suddenly empty, and he had to pretend to be sincerely afraid.

"Li Hongzhang, what kind of ability do you say that Tang Haoran led a division of 100,000 tigers and wolves to bully me, an orphan and widow? Aren't you afraid of the ridicule of the world? Could it be that he, Tang Haoran, didn't receive the favor of this court in the first place? ”

Now Li Hongzhang should make a difficulty, how to say this? For him, who has regarded loyalty and morality as a creed all his life, now Cixi's move is just to block his life, on the surface Cixi is talking about Tang Haoran, but actually referring to Li Hongzhang and the other seven governors, she didn't even say that she was disloyal, but said that she was unrighteous and unkind, in other words, she said virtue, alluding to Li Hongzhang and others' "loss of virtue", how can this metaphor not make Li Hongzhang's old face blush, and he couldn't speak for a long time.

"Back to the Queen Mother, Tang Haoran is certainly a loss of virtue, but this matter of the military family is still the business of the military family. At present, there are only more than 30,000 training troops and defense troops in Fengtian, Jilin, and Heilongjiang outside the Guan, and the 100,000 rebel troops carried by Tang Rebellion are strong and strong, and they are even more invincible along the way since they started, and no one can ......stop them."

Li Hongzhang, who was alluded to by Cixi for having a loss of virtue, gritted his teeth fiercely, but pretended not to know what he meant, and in turn followed his words, since she said Tang Haoran, let's talk about this person.

"The battle of Lushun, the minister was incompetent to Lushun for its attack, the battle of Liaoyang, the rebel army was defeated by the left precious 20,000 troops, so that Fengtian no longer had no soldiers to fight, although the minister painstakingly transferred troops to Jinzhou to block the rebel army, and the rebel army from the sea into the river to capture Jinzhou, now, outside the pass are Tang rebel base, its troops are currently directed at Yuguan, coercing the Beijing division! The minister is really incompetent, so that he has lost even battles, please punish the queen mother! ”

Li Hongzhang, who seemed to be kneeling on the ground and kowtowing his head to ask for sin. In fact, he was telling Cixi nakedly. Your so-called "women's family" and "orphans and widows" are just pretending to be pitiful. Don't pretend now, his Tang Haoran's 100,000 army is about to reach the capital, and if you pretend again, this Beijing city may not be able to accommodate you.

Li Hongzhang's pretending to be deaf and dumb only made Cixi's mind sink, and she clearly remembered that in the past, as long as she pretended to be pitiful a little, she revealed the pity of the "orphan and widow". These self-professed moral Hanchen all expressed their uneasiness with sincere fear, and then wept bitterly to show their loyalty, as it is now...... This is all caused by that Tang Haoran!

That Tang Haoran used a piece of telegram to make the world's ministers deviate from morality like this, his crime is really deserved, even if he is like Cixi, it will be difficult to suppress the anger in his heart, and he will ask rhetorically after a while.

"Then in Li Hongzhang's opinion, if this Tang rebel comes over, can we hold it or can't stop it?"

"Naturally, I can't stop it for a while. The minister has already said it to Prince Gong. The officers and soldiers of the Korean Legion were all trained by the Germans, and they learned all their skills. On the battlefield, it is naturally like the elite of foreigners, and then it has 100,000 soldiers, coastal army, in addition to Jiaozhou Taigong has not been completed, Shandong Weihaiwei is Suigong Army eight battalions, two battalions of the protection army, and six battalions of the Qinqing army; Yantai, Shandong, the fourth battalion of the Songwu Army; There are two battalions of Renzi in Beitangkou, and 670 artillery teams in Dagukou. The so-called distribution of Zhili, the two eastern provinces of Haikou with a total of 20,000 available soldiers, refers to this. It was stationed in the 16th battalion of the Shengjun Mabu in Qingxian County, Tianjin, the two battalions of the Ming Army Horse Team of the Military Grain City, and the two battalions of Wuyi in Lutai, all of which filled the back road to prepare for the division of the guerrilla strategy of Qipu. As for the soldiers of the Green Battalion, they have been weak for a long time, and it is more practical to train the army since the former governor Zeng Guofan and his ministers. As the ground of Zhili is vast, bordering the east, Feng, Jin, and Henan, and the northern boundary of Duolun and paddocks, all of which are thieves-infested areas......

When he said this, Li Hongzhang looked a little helpless, it was not that he was incompetent, but that the gap between the strength of the two sides was too big. And the difference in strength between the two sides is so big, it is completely the result of the dismantling of the imperial court in recent years, if the Huai army still has 100,000 brave back then, how can there be today's lack of troops?

"Now, Tang Rebellion with 100,000 elite divisions, attacking my scattered troops from all over the country, naturally invincible, and today after the three battles of Fengtian, the imperial court can fight more than half of the available soldiers, although the minister has gathered 20,000 troops in Yuguan, although the defense is based, but it may be difficult to resist the strong attack of Tang Rebellion's army......"

"Got it......"

Regarding what Li Hongzhang said, the Empress Dowager Cixi naturally knew that on the surface, the Qing Dynasty had millions of soldiers, and it was the "forbidden flag" of the Eight Banners directly stationed in Beijing. It was organized into 14 battalions with a total strength of 125,900 men. In addition, the garrison flag battalion stationed in Jifu, including those stationed in Zhili Province and at the mouth of the Great Wall, is divided into nine small places, five places under the jurisdiction of the deputy capital of Shanhaiguan, six places under the jurisdiction of the deputy capital of Miyun, and three places under the jurisdiction of the Zhangjiakou capital, totaling 23 places. There are also two places in Rehe, a total of twenty-five, as well as the green battalion soldiers stationed in Chahar, Mongolian Eight Banners, and Kifu Zhili.

Look at this soldier is a lot, there are more than 200,000, but the problem is that these soldiers are not used at all, they couldn't block the long hair back then, and now they can't stop Tang Haoran's elite division of Western France, and because of this, although she is angry, but there is no way, and even this is the reason why the imperial court needs Li Hongzhang - except for Li Hongzhang, no one else can point to it, the first emperor still has the opportunity to hunt Rehe in the north, but if they lose the capital, this Xinjiang minister can "hunt where".

"Then Li Hongzhang, tell me, is it possible that we have to take away the country of the Great Qing Dynasty by him?"

"War, there is no way, it is only 100,000 soldiers, even if the capital is captured, as long as the ministers of the world are united, this country will naturally not be lost, as short as two or three years, more than five or six years, when the new training of the new army in the provinces is completed, it is the day of the fall of the Tang Dynasty."

"Oh?"

Empress Dowager Cixi glanced at Li Hongzhang, the meaning of his words could not be clearer, fighting, it is impossible to hold the capital, if it is fought, then it will have to be fought according to two or three years, or even five or six years of hard work, this is still better, how many years did it take to flatten the bandits? That's more than ten years of hard work.

More than ten years, what will the world become when the time comes? Especially these Hanchens? If it takes more than ten years, can they still be as loyal as they were back then?

In her opinion, the ungrateful Tang Haoran is hateful, but a white-eyed wolf like Li Hongzhang is also hateful, then Tang Haoran just mentioned the "Eight Governors Discuss Politics", they are good, they directly borrowed some to ask the court for power, and also used Tang Haoran as a threat.

He Li Hongzhang is unstoppable on the left, insufficient troops on the right, and then he says "the ministers of the world are united", in fact, it is nothing more than asking for power from the imperial court, and it is nothing more than wanting the position of "Minister of Parliament".

Can this capital leave? That is naturally impossible to leave, even if the flag camp is no longer used, but after all, it is still their own family, these individuals want to make trouble, and they have to look at the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses in this Beijing banner, but if they leave the capital, when the time comes, the life and death of the royal family will not be kneaded by these Hanchens.

"Li Hongzhang, you have worked hard, the affairs of this world still have to rely on you, by the way, someone today has an excerpt, saying that they want to imitate the parliamentary king meeting of the year to build a council, and the governor of this place and the imperial court jointly agree on some military affairs, after all, Li Hongzhang is a Xinjiang minister like you, and he knows better that the place is not ......"

Cixi's tone didn't seem to have changed, but in fact, there was a fire in her heart, why did Emperor Shizu keep entrusting the prince, Baylor and even the minister as the minister of parliament, just to remove the shackles of the minister of parliament to the emperor, and now that it is good, she is really going back more and more.

The excerpt on this is actually just the instruction of the Eight Governors, as for him Li Hongzhang, if the court agrees, he will naturally be the Minister of Parliament. Although she was annoyed in her heart, Cixi couldn't help but let go.

"Panic!"

Li Hongzhang did not answer, but hurriedly apologized, some words can be a little bit, he doesn't need to come out, with Tang Haoran to come out, and then there are others to lead the fire, the rest depends on how the court picks up, as for him, he only needs to tell the court what to know.

"Actually, this reason, but also this reason, the emperor is not more important, I am a woman, and it is inconvenient to meddle in the government, so let's discuss politics!"

Just when Cixi looked at the kung fu that seemed to be relieved, she only heard her eyes glared and spoke sharply.

"But Li Hongzhang ......"

(New January, a new beginning, although there are only two more today, but they are more than 4000 words of the big chapter, I hope you can be satisfied, weak to ask for a fixed reading and monthly pass, whether you look at the genuine or not!) The Empire's Sunrise Reader Exchange Group: 150536833 welcome you to join) (To be continued.) )