In the blink of an eye, more than half of the wax moon, just a heavy snowfall, the snow-covered earth is becoming more and more thick, although the year has not yet arrived, but at this time, almost every city, town, and village in the entire land of China is still in an atmosphere of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

In the midst of this snowstorm, in the second year of the twentieth century, the weather seems to be colder than usual. In the city of Tianjin, under the bright street lamps, the wind and snow are drifting, and a thick layer of snow has fallen on the ground, and in the deep snow, the patrol officers wearing black woolen coats and wearing foreign knives at their waists patrol the streets back and forth, maintaining the law and order of the city.

Over the years, Tianjin has transformed from a quaint Chinese city to a modern city similar to the Tianjin Concession, with bright street lights, street patrols, and even the newly implemented sidewalks.

On this winter night, on the streets, I am afraid that only these loyal patrolmen will still be on the streets, enduring the bitter cold of this winter night, and walking around the path that has been walked countless times.

Occasionally, they would look in the other direction, where the street lamps seemed to be brighter than here, and there was the Beiyang minister's line, and at the gate of the line, the Beiyang soldiers in yellow woolen coats stood in the sentry box, and they seemed to be more difficult to bear than the police on this winter night—they were only more cold when they were motionless.

But no one will take it lightly, in case the commander catches and is lazy, it is a military law!

On Chinese New Year's Eve, the Beiyang minister Xingyuan was extremely quiet, and there was not even any sound of firecrackers here, only occasionally some people walked around. Right now. It's all at this point. Naturally, no one will hand the telegram here, and the telegrams taken from all over the country for the New Year have all come to them, even the people who come to pay their respects to the New Year will not come at this clock. Logically speaking, this time should be the time to be idle, but this time. The people in the house were surprised to find that the adult did not seem to be idle this year, but after hurriedly finishing dinner, he entered his study again.

"It's almost Chinese New Year's Eve!"

The old man who had been pondering in the kang sitting cross-legged on the bed suddenly raised his head and asked, this person is Li Hongzhang, who is known as "the traitorous male of the world", the minister of Beiyang who cleaned up the mess for the Qing Dynasty for a lifetime, ten years ago, finally went to another road, from a loyal minister of the Great Qing State to a "traitorous minister".

But this "traitorous minister" still maintains the "decency" of the Qing Dynasty. If it hadn't been for Li Hongzhang's painstaking maintenance, I'm afraid it would have been ten years ago. This Great Qing Kingdom has already broken the capital and perished, and now, no matter how bad it is, this Great Qing Kingdom is still here, the court of the Great Qing Kingdom is still in the capital, and the emperor and the queen mother are still in the Forbidden City.

Even just a few hours ago, Li Hongzhang also received the will of the emperor and the queen mother, in addition to the New Year, of course, he will also tell Li Hongzhang to take good care of his body, as we all know, he is already seventy and nine, he may be called "the traitor of the world", but everyone knows that the Qing Dynasty can not do without this Dinghai Shen needle.

"Yes, Quan Shuai! Thirteen days to go. ”

Zhang Peilun, who was on the side, responded tightly, as Li Hongzhang's son-in-law, he is also one of his most trusted staff, and he is the only one who often accompanies him after dark.

"This year is a good year, I want the people to have a good year...... Ay! ”

Before the words were finished, Li Hongzhang let out a long breath, calmed down, supported himself, and got up.

"Quan Shuai, it's cold outside, don't catch the cold......"

Before Zhang Peilun finished speaking, Li Hongzhang, who had gotten out of bed, put on his clothes and pushed the door and walked out, Zhang Peilun had to be busy following aside, he knew that why Quan Shuai was like this today was worried, and now, the most worrying thing finally happened.

dragged some heavy steps to the courtyard, looking at the night of the black hole, the strange silence in this snowy winter night, which made Li Hongzhang feel extremely heavy in his heart.

Just a few hours ago, Hurd, who had come to pay his respects to the New Year, brought news that he was still in extreme shock -- the British representative in London had signed a treaty of alliance, more precisely, the "Supplementary Clause on Trade and Navigation between Britain and the Northeast."

In the past two years, Britain has suffered a great drain on its national strength because of the Anglo-Boer War in Africa, and it is no longer able to deal with Russia alone. Therefore, Britain, which had long since abandoned "isolationism," began to look for partners in East Asia in order to secure and expand its rights and interests in the East.

At the beginning, Britain first wanted to win over Beiyang, but Li Hongzhang, who had held the "raze to raze" for many years, naturally disappointed Britain. Then he even wanted to do the work of the United States, but he gave up because his influence was too far from the Far East. In this way, the British turned their attention to the Northeast, which was equally powerful and contradictory to the expansion of the Russians in Asia, and finally based on the realization that "only the Northeast is the most reliable in the Far East", the British decided to approach the Northeast in favor of the Beiyang norm.

At that time, the Northeast was facing strong pressure from Russia. Moreover, international relations are complex and need to be properly handled. With the efforts of Tang Ziran, such as Tang Zhaoyi and others, through diplomacy to create favorable international conditions for the Northeast, he took the last move, that is, to form an alliance with Britain.

Now, in the face of Russia's ambitions to Southeast Asia, when the New Year finally came, the Northeast got the alliance treaty they coveted, and Li Hongzhang did not know this news from the British minister or the Northeast side, but from Hurd, through the channel of "friendship".

"In the event of a war between one of the two countries and a third country, the Allied Powers shall engage in joint operations...... Youqiao, Tang Ziran has been working hard for ten years, and finally succeeded! ”

Yes, it's finally happening!

Now, no one can stop Tang Ziran, externally, even if he has a war with the Russians, he doesn't need to worry about the Guannei, the British will help him take care of the rear, internally, when he unifies the Guannei, he doesn't need to worry about the Russian attack, the British will also give him protection.

Ten years of hard work!

Tang Ziran can finally let go of his hands and feet!

After getting the news, it was only a few hours. Li Hongzhang seemed to be a few years older. Even the spine that had never bent down would bend weakly. Now he has seen the future, and he has seen the scene of the Northeast Army, which is sharpening its knives, and is about to enter the customs.

"No one can stop him anymore, Tang Ziran!"

Sighing bitterly, Li Hongzhang closed his eyes with some pain, ten years, in the past ten years, he has also worked hard to manage Beiyang. He has done more in the last decade than he had in the previous thirty years. Naturally, the success achieved is far from being comparable to that of the previous 30 years.

The locomotive factory and steel plant in Tangshan, the Dagu shipyard in Dagukou, the Beiyang Arsenal in Dexian, the naval dock in Qingdao, the Luhan Railway, the Jinzhen Railway and the Jiaoji Railway, all of these factories and railways have witnessed the progress of the past ten years, but compared with the Northeast, they are still a little worse. More than a little!

It's too much worse, actually. From the very beginning, people left Beiyang behind, but they have always pretended to turn a blind eye, not pretending to be invisible, but ...... Hey, what's the use of thinking about it now?

Now, he, Tang Haoran, has prepared everything, just waiting for the master to enter the customs and go south! When the time is right, I'm afraid it's the yellow robe!

What's more, there is also the Mandate of Heaven...... Mandate of Heaven!

Thinking of these two words, Li Hongzhang's face suddenly showed a mixed look.

In the eighteenth year of Guangxu, when the Manchu court had just been defeated in the "Battle of Renchen", the "imperial court" even had to "humiliate" recognize the "Nine Governors to discuss politics", and even Tang Haoran, the commander of the "Battle of Renchen", was also ranked as one of the nine governors, and the government and the opposition were naturally full of hatred for this "chaotic minister and thief", and in the eyes of many scholars, Tang Haoran, who replaced the national studies with "foreign studies", was undoubtedly the "thief of the world" who was "the source of trouble", and public opinion became very unfavorable to the Northeast. In the face of the unfavorable public opinion in the Guan, the Northeast authorities are naturally very anxious.

In view of the complicated situation in the Far East and the hinterland at that time, the "East Asian Tongwen Society," which was originally tasked with "assimilating Asahi and integrating China," began to shoulder a new responsibility -- to agitate public opinion in the Guannai, believing that the most appropriate way was to ease the tense relations with the hinterland, gradually cultivate a heart close to the northeast, and influence public opinion in the hinterland under the premise of "rectifying China."

It was precisely from that time on, with sufficient financial support, that the "East Asia Tongwen Society," a "Tonghua organization" founded in the DPRK with the aim of assimilating Koreans and later advocating "East Asia with the same language and the same species," began its internal work, and in just a few years, taking advantage of the opportunity of the new policy in the mainland, it acquired and founded dozens of newspapers in the mainland in order to influence and influence public opinion in the mainland.

It was precisely since then that the mainland began to be affected little by little, and the most affected of them was probably the "Manifest Destiny of Heaven".

"Kuang restores China's Manifest Destiny!"

A simple word, to a certain extent, reveals a certain degree of ambition. After the "Nine Governors Discuss the Government," although there were all kinds of remarks in the staff of the various governors in the Guannai and in the public opinion, while the public opinion was boasting of the great unification, there were also signs of "acting on behalf of the Qing Dynasty," but more in the interior it was from the so-called "five virtues to the end" that talked about the "exhaustion of virtues" of the "Manchu Qing Dynasty."

If the traditional public opinion in Kannai still traditionally uses the so-called "Five Virtues to Begin Speaking" to show its own eyes, then the East Asian Tongwen Society directly uses the "Huayi Debate" as the basis to talk about the "Manifest Destiny of Heaven" of the Huaxia clan.

Unlike the mainland, which boasts of the "end of the five virtues," public opinion in the northeast, which is more deeply influenced by the same literature in East Asia, is more willing to believe in the "Mandate of Heaven," and the Mandate of Heaven in the Northeast is "Kuang Restore China," and the revival of the "Huayi order" is also the "Manifest Mandate of Heaven" in the Northeast.

Twelve years ago, no one cared about this "Zhao Zhao Mandate of Heaven", and now, this "Zhao Zhao Mandate of Heaven" in the mainland has also affected many people, 12 years ago, in the eyes of the world, Tang Haoran was a "chaotic minister and thief", and now, there are a few people who regard him as a "chaotic minister and thief", just when he waives his army to the south, I am afraid that some people will immediately advocate his "destiny".

"Tsuen Shuai ......"

Zhang Peilun smiled bitterly, this smile seemed a little far-fetched.

"At least, we still have a fight! He wants to eat our Beiyang in one bite, even if he can't die of exhaustion, he has to support him! ”

When the smile faded, Zhang Peilun's face showed a trace of ruthlessness, yes, although the Northeast is strong, and now there are no worries, but on the other hand, in the past ten years, Beiyang has not been idle and has not done anything. Beiyang is also preparing for this day, don't say anything else, the new army of the Sixteen Towns in Beiyang alone is enough for him to drink a pot in the northeast.

As for the Beiyang Naval Division, although the scale is not as large as that of the Northeast Navy, no matter what, there are still five combat ships there, and with the accumulation of 20 years of division, even Russia may not be able to curry favor under the hands of the Beiyang Fleet.

Yes, that's probably the only thing to be comforted about!

Zhang Peilun's words did not make Li Hongzhang breathe a sigh of relief, but made his brows frown tighter, in the past ten years, the reason why he has worked hard to maintain all this, and what is it for? Even sometimes at the expense of humiliation, for what?

Is it for the Li family?

When did the Li family ever have a country again?

Is it for Beiyang, which is more important than Beiyang and China?

Such thoughts permeated Li Hongzhang's heart, he thought silently, considered, and in the end, he still cast his eyes outside the corridor, looking at the fluttering snowflakes through the light of the electric lamp, but his heart once again thought of the scenes he had seen when he first came to Kanto.

Suddenly, Li Hongzhang broke the silence, and he whispered as if talking to himself.

"Youqiao, what did you say Tang Ziran had done in the Northeast over the years?"

What did Tang Ziran do in the Northeast? Li Hongzhang knew, and he didn't know either, because there were always many things about the Northeast in the newspapers and in the intelligence, and he didn't know because he didn't know what was going on in the Northeast except for the exaggerated or contemptuous words.

"Tsuen Shuai ......"

Before Zhang Peilun could figure out what Li Hongzhang meant, Li Hongzhang's next sentence was so shocked that he was speechless for a while.

"Youqiao, if I can, I really want to go to Kanto to see, I want to see what he has done in the past ten years, what kind of barren land he has become in the three eastern provinces! I want to see what confidence this Northeast has given him! Can ......"

After a pause, Li Hongzhang said helplessly.

"I'm afraid he won't give us a chance, look at the northeast...... Hundreds of thousands of troops have already moved! (To be continued.) )