Li Hongzhang waved his hand casually and said, "There are no outsiders here, so don't be so restrained." I want to see you, but it's just a casual conversation. After all, as soon as you go to Shandong this time, you don't know when the next time you meet? ”

"If I have time to do my job, I will often go to Tianjin to visit Lord Zhongtang and listen to the teachings of Lord Zhongtang." Ren Chao said politely.

"You are also the governor of a province now, a feudal official of one party, and you are usually busy with government affairs, how much time can you go to Tianjin to see me, a bad old man!" Li Hongzhang smiled self-deprecatingly.

"Lord Zhongtang laughed, the humble position is only the position of acting governor of Shandong." Ren Chao said very modestly.

"It's just to cover someone's mouth." Li Hongzhang said casually, "The change from acting to actual teaching is just a matter of the emperor's words." You're still young, and I'm afraid you don't know much about these things above the court. It is said that the post of governor of Shandong is in charge of the military and political power of a province, and Shandong Province is adjacent to Zhili, so its importance is self-evident. I don't know how many pairs of eyes are staring at this position? Although the emperor issued an edict before to pacify the people who were the governor of Shandong, there are still many people who oppose you as the governor of Shandong on the grounds that Zifeng is young. Fortunately, the emperor Shengming was not deceived by these people with ulterior motives, and under the old man's arguments, he agreed to let Zifeng act as the governor of Shandong. After you arrive in Shandong, work hard and make some political achievements, and you can remove the word acting in less than half a year. ”

"The grace of the promotion of the Lord of the Middle Hall is unforgettable." Ren Chao hurriedly got up and said, "Please rest assured, Lord Zhongtang, after he arrives in Shandong, he will definitely make some political achievements, which will not live up to the emperor's grace, let alone discredit Lord Zhongtang." ”

"Alright, alright! Since I have vigorously protected you. Naturally, I believed in you. Li Hongzhang waved his hand and said with a smile.

"Regarding the matter of peace with Japan, how does Zifeng plan to deal with it?" Li Hongzhang paused and suddenly asked.

"Returning to Lord Zhongtang, I think that Japan is not sincere in negotiating peace this time." Ren Chao said honestly.

"Oh? How so? Li Hongzhang raised his eyebrows and couldn't help asking.

"If Japan really had the sincerity to negotiate peace, it would not have sent just a small foreign minister to negotiate peace!" Ren Chao analyzed to Li Hongzhang very seriously, "If Japan is really sincere, their Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi should personally come to negotiate peace." He thought that the Japanese were still thieves, and when he saw that he could not win the Qing Dynasty, he wanted to get some advantage at the negotiation table. ”

Li Hongzhang nodded noncommittally, "Then how are you going to deal with this Mutsu Zongguang?" ”

"Dry him first, anyway, we are not in a hurry to negotiate peace." Ren Chao said casually. "The peace talks with Japan this time seem to be nothing more than a tentative contact between the two sides. Wouldn't it be better to let the lowly first probe the bottom line of the Japanese, wait until Ito Hirobumi can't do it, and come over to negotiate peace in person, and then the Lord Nakado will come forward to negotiate peace with the Japanese side? ”

"Yes! What you say is not unreasonable. Li Hongzhang nodded and said, "It's just that we still have tens of thousands of troops stationed in Liaodong, and thousands of Tiger Ben troops are stationed in North Korea. The consumption of one day is not a small amount! Now that the treasury is empty, it is natural to save what can be saved, and this matter of peace cannot be delayed for too long. ”

"Please rest assured, Lord Zhongtang, I know what to do, and I believe that it won't be long before Ito Hirobumi will run to Tianjin. Wagging his tail and praying to Lord Nakado. Ren Chao said confidently with a smile.

"Haha, if that's the case, that's for the best." Li Hongzhang couldn't help laughing and said. Seeing Ren Chao say this, Li Hongzhang was somewhat relieved, and then the two chatted for a while.

When Ren Chao was leaving. Li Hongzhang couldn't help but mention Ren Chao again, "Kang Youwei is just a group of poor and sour talents who only know how to talk on paper." Where do they know how to govern the country? What a book of 10,000 words or something like that, it's just something that deceives people's hearts and disturbs the holy hearing! If these scholars continue to make trouble like this, sooner or later they will get into trouble, so it's better not to get too close to them. ”

"Thank you, Lord Zhongtang, for mentioning it, I've written it down!" Ren Chao said respectfully, "The humble position is also young and ignorant, and he was bewitched by others for a while, so he agreed to forward the 10,000-word book, and now I regret it." ”

"If you know what's going on, you can't do such a stupid thing in the future!" Li Hongzhang warned again.

"Humble duty and follow the teachings of Lord Nakado." Ren Chao hurriedly replied, Ren Chao knew that this Li Hongzhang was against the reform of the law, and now that Li Hongzhang was old, the ambitions of his early years had long been wiped out, so Ren Chao had no idea of trying to change the old guy's mind. Because it is too difficult to change Li Hongzhang's concept, it is really worth the loss to offend this old guy plainly.

Seeing that Ren Chao seemed to have listened to his advice, Li Hongzhang nodded with satisfaction, leaned on the Taishi chair and closed his eyes slightly.

Seeing this, Ren Chao hurriedly got up and bowed down and said, "If Lord Zhongtang doesn't have any orders, then the humble position will not disturb Lord Zhongtang's rest, and the humble position will retire!" Seeing that Li Hongzhang nodded slowly, Ren Chao honestly retreated.

After leaving Li Hongzhang's mansion, Ren Chao went back to his house directly, ordered people to start packing his bags, and prepared to leave Beijing for Shandong to take up his post. Ren Chao didn't have anything to pack, but there were still hundreds of seriously injured in the Tiger Army, and it was not suitable to move because of the serious injuries. So Ren Chao could only order them to stay in Beijing for the time being to recuperate from their injuries, and then go to Shandong after they recovered from their injuries. In order to take care of these wounded, Ren Chao not only left a group of medical personnel, but also left a company of soldiers to protect their safety.

At the same time, Ren Chao's people rushed to the Langfang camp overnight to convey Ren Chao's order, and the whole army pulled out the camp and marched to Shandong.

Early the next morning, Ren Chao and the others, who had packed up, left Beijing City and came all the way to Shandong. Anyway, there is nothing urgent after returning to Shandong, Ren Chao is not in a hurry, he hurries slowly along the way, and by the way, he also appreciates the customs along the way, and deepens his understanding of the current situation in China.

But the main force of the 10,000 Tiger Ben Army that set out from Langfang was not so leisurely, under Ren Chao's order. The army marched all the way, first to Jinan, the capital of Shandong, but except for leaving 2,000 people to garrison Jinan, the rest did not stop, but continued to advance to the Jiaodong Peninsula.

Ren Chao and his entourage walked for more than ten days and finally came to Jinan, the capital of Shandong, and the civil and military officials in Shandong had already received the news that the new governor was about to arrive in Jinan, and he went out of the city early to greet him. That scene was magnificent, and Ren Chao, who watched it, couldn't help but smack his tongue secretly, the pomp and circumstance of the first Chinese officials was simply incomparable with that of later generations. However, what surprised Ren Chao even more was that in addition to the officials from Shandong, there was also a group of Japanese in the team that greeted him. (To be continued......)

PS: The third update arrives,

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