The eyes of a lieutenant colonel officer of the Qin Army, who was about thirty years old, were about to burst, and his men lost at least hundreds of men in the continuous sound of explosions.

"Kill me, kill me!" Raising his hand, the lieutenant colonel roared in rage. "None left, none left—"

Xi Yuan used such tragic means to traumatize the Qin army, but in fact, he was also cutting off the back road of the New Army of the Eight Banners. Such a move is very damaging, even if the Eight Banners soldiers want to surrender again, they have to consider the mood of the Qin army.

"Boom, boom, boom, ......boom" cannon sound continuously.

"Rush, ......" Behind the vanguard team, there was a loud shout of killing.

Seeing the dust and smoke rising from the city, Liu Xian didn't think about it, and waved his hand again to order. In the second group, the entire battalion of Qin troops rushed up to the shouts of the lieutenant colonel officers.

The fighting was louder.

In the afternoon, Liu Xian stepped into the Yamen of the Shaoxing Prefect at four o'clock.

In a prosperous Shaoxing city, I am afraid that two or three percent of the streets and houses have been turned into ruins, but there are not many local people killed or injured. Because in the past, many people in Shaoxing Fucheng have fled.

In front of the prefect's yamen, the last remnants of the Eight Banners were still fiercely resisting, and these people were all Manchu diehards who had a mortal heart. In the rest of the world, most of the New Army of the Eight Banners had been wiped out, and only a few sporadic battles remained in the streets. A large number of Qin troops entered the city, holding torches, lighting bonfires, and carefully cleaning every corner of the battlefield, not letting go of every gun, every knife, and every corpse in the ruins.

The sound of fighting in the prefect's yamen gradually disappeared.

"Your Majesty!" Huo Guangcheng led people to hug Liu Xian, and the bloodstained lieutenant colonel battalion commander, along with his deputy and a team leader, stood at the foot of the gate steps. The trauma on their bodies can set off their bravery even more, although they are all covered with gunsmoke, but this is the glory of soldiers.

"Good! Well done! ”

The lieutenant colonel was indeed just as he had shouted before—[to the enemy] not a single one. Liu Xian never hesitated to praise those who fought bravely, and he always admired brave generals.

"Let's go, go in and have a look."

This is the territory of Zhejiang, and this is the only hostile force in the southern part of the country. Although Zuo Zongtang in Hangzhou is still under the banner of the Manchu Dynasty, Liu Xian does not think that Zuo Zongtang will really accompany the Qing Dynasty to the funeral. He strode into the prefect's yamen. On the bluestone steps, blood completely stained the steps, and the corpses were already being cleaned up, and the bright red blood stains were particularly dazzling in the sunlight.

Along the way, there were dead bodies everywhere in sight, and the fight between the two armies here was really tragic.

On the half-collapsed lobby, Liu Xian saw Xi Yuan, who had committed suicide with a knife, his gray hair was stained with blood, and he was dressed in a first-class military general's uniform and was not spotted.

A loyal Manchu minister with a mantis arm as a car? In Beijing, it is possible to write a big book. But Liu Xian himself is concerned, he absolutely does not have the feelings of 'reverence' mixed with Guan Tianpei, Chen Huacheng, and Dinghai for the three general soldiers.

In mid-May, the Qin army approached Hangzhou in a big way.

Although the tension between Qin and Chu is very low, will the war break out? No one can say.

Hu Xueyan turned back from Shanghai, and the Chu army looked forward to Zuo Zongtang's decision.

At the same time, the city of Beijing.

The envoy sent by the Great Qing State to Europe was in the process of making his last audience before leaving.

This envoy was the former Chengdu general Chonghou.

The only few talents in the Great Qing Kingdom who know how to diplomacy, Zeng Jize, Guo Songtao, and Li Fengbao are already members of the Qin army. Here Zeng Jize was left in China by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and Guo Songtao and Li Fengbao were sent to Europe. However, under the co-optation of the New Qin Office in Europe, Guo Li, who wanted no one and no money, changed their courts immediately after the surrender of Hunan.

Li Fengbao was left in Europe by Liu Xian as deputy director of the European Office, and Guo Songtao returned to China by boat and became the first minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Xinqin. Zeng Jize also became a member of Xinqin with Li Hongzhang, and was immediately promoted to one of the four vice ministers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"It's not easy to do foreign affairs. Hearing that there are cases of burning church houses in Shandong and Hebei, the machine is not open to the people's wisdom, and the government is forced to push, and there will be chaos in the future. ”

The Manchu faction sent generous envoys to Europe, especially Russia, in order to find a hug with thick legs. And with the bad shape of the Manchu Qing Dynasty at the moment, the most reliable object is Russia. The war between Russia and Turkey is also coming to an end. The British said this to the Manchus.

Turkey's reliance on trenches has lasted more than a year longer than in the history of the original time and space, which is really commendable. Russia expects to end the fighting this autumn and return in the winter, and the Manchus will definitely have some intervening power next year. 、

Therefore, the noble envoy, Russia is more important than the British, and it is the absolute top priority.

In order to add luster to themselves, the Manchus also really wanted to set up arms factories, at least on the surface, to create an "enlightened" and "Western civilization" posture. In the past half month, new laws and regulations have been promulgated continuously. It's all about having a good-looking skin.

"The difficulty in running foreign affairs is that foreigners are unreasonable, and Chinese are not aware of the situation. It goes without saying that the Chinese people should hate foreigners, but they must try to improve themselves, but they can help, and they will never destroy a church or kill one or two foreigners, and they will be regarded as revenge. But now the Chinese people are ignorant and don't know this reason, so the queen mother and the emperor are diligent. ”

The lofty words are very much in line with Cixi's heart. "Isn't it? How can we forget this hatred one day, but we must slowly become self-reliant. What you just said is clear, you will never kill a person and burn a house to take revenge.

Master Yi's long skills to control it. Lin Wenzhonggong's words are still very reasonable. ”

"The imperial court must be strong, and if it wants to block the bandit army that rebels against Qin, foreign affairs cannot be stopped."

"In this world now, there are too few readers. The common people understand that this director is young. If you do this for the country, these people will point at your nose and scold you in the future. Where can I feel the painstaking heart of the mourning family. ”

Cixi didn't know if it was a drama or if she really felt like this. Speak like this.

"The slave used to read, and when he read the phrase 'the king can bring him to his body', he thought that if he was loyal, he would do his best, and he had reached the extreme. Looking closely at the recent situation, we can see that China's foreign affairs are still involved in incidents, and sometimes we have to see that our lives are still in the second layer, and we must take our reputation as irrelevant, so that we can protect the overall situation for the country. Foreign affairs are a matter of importance, and they cannot be done by one death.

Compromise and seek perfection in order to protect the peace bureau. Fight for fame in order to take care of the overall situation. In today's situation, there is no way to abandon what Zeng Guofan did in the Tianjin teaching plan back then. ”

Chonghou had a deep exchange with Prince Gong and others. I know very well what the mission of my visit to Europe is, that is, to betray the country. As long as you can find a buyer!

"Zeng Wenzheng is still loyal to the country." Cixi was very satisfied with Chonghou's answer.

If you want to save the Qing Dynasty, you should have the consciousness of sublime now. Although Cixi regretted those costs, compared to the Qing Dynasty's 'Jiangshan Sheji', there was nothing to abandon.

……

Hangzhou city. The army outside the city was visible, but the atmosphere in the city was calm. Zuo Zongtang put down Li Hongzhang's letter in his hand and asked Wang Minyun to rest elsewhere.

Sitting alone in the study, I often sighed for a long time.

The Qing Dynasty really didn't make it.

Zuo Zongtang understood when the "Ta Kung Pao" broke the news. Not only militarily, but also politically and in the hearts of the people after the fight, and the Qing Dynasty was also finished.

As for seeing Li Hongzhang's letter today, a shameless guy, and seeing Wang Minyun, who made him feel funny, Zuo Zongtang really had nothing to say.

I don't really have a dead heart on the Manchu Dynasty, and the current situation has progressed to this point, so no matter how hypocritical it is, it seems that I don't know what to do. Or now, his impression in Liu Xian's heart has been greatly damaged. The reason why Qin Jun didn't do it was just because Liu Xian had already set up the archway, so he didn't want to turn around and recruit bees and butterflies to be and sons.

Zuo Zongtang is not ready to do anything big in Xinqin, he is old. The change of dynasty took away his spirit and spirit, and made him lose the fighting spirit of running the shipyard at the beginning.

Li Hongzhang is eleven years younger than Zuo Zongtang, and Zuo Zongtang is disdainful of what he did in Huai'an.

Li Hongzhang used the hands of the Qin army to smash the Huai army that he had built up single-handedly, that is, he had a reasonable explanation to the Manchu Qing and the eyes of the whole world looking at him, and also removed the fetters on his body. It was easy to swim into the court of Xinqin, and then try to make a big difference.

Zuo Zongtang saw this very clearly. The new Qin was different from the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and Liu Xian was also different from the Empress Dowager of the West and Prince Gong, who was the founding emperor and the lord who saved the edifice of China's collapse. Such an emperor would not allow his subordinates to have independent military power that belonged only to him. Look at what the Qin army is like?

Therefore, the Huai army, the Hunan army, and the Chu army will all go behind the scenes.

Zuo Zongtang, who is 70 years younger, has no desire to 'make a comeback', but 56-year-old Li Hongzhang still yearns for 'looking for a marquis 3,000 miles away'.

Therefore, in the face of the Qin army, they chose two different paths.

Of course, Zuo Zongtang is still very proud that he is valued by Liu Xianzhi. This point definitely overpowered Li Hongzhang. Long before the Huai'an War, Zuo Zongtang had already calculated whether he would return to his hometown in Hunan in the future, or be there, and watch the world surge.

May 20th. The Qin army marched into the city of Hangzhou, and 30,000 Chu troops disarmed and surrendered.

"Zuo Gong is reluctant to go out, and this king is very regretful. However, Zuo Gong supervised Fujian and Zhejiang for more than ten years, and founded the shipyard and sailor, which is in the world. Even if you don't want to be an official, this king should also crown you as Jing Anbo, give you 2,000 acres of good land, 10,000 silver dollars, and a mansion in Changsha Mansion, so that you can live a good life in the future. ”

Liu Xian said to Zuo Zongtang. He was mentally prepared for Zuo Zongtang's choice. When Zuo Zongtang retreated to Zhejiang, Liu Xian definitely had the intention of taking it for his own use at that time, and this intention was full. But now, Zuo Zongtang is willing to serve, and Liu Xian can only hang him high. This man's temper and temperament did not seem to be suitable for serving as an official under him.

Then simply go back to Hunan to be with Liu Rong and others!

When the group of Chu army generals below heard this, they glanced at each other, and they all breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts. This King of Qin still has the capacity to accommodate people. If the old superiors have good results, they will be relieved. R1152