"Of course it will be investigated!" Li Hongzhang didn't even look at Weng Tongyi and then said, "The emperor can issue another secret decree to reprimand his guilt and make him meritorious service. ”

Emperor Guangxu nodded and said, "Then do what Li Zhongtang said!" ”

"The Emperor Shengming!" The ministers bowed down and received the command.

Although Weng Tongyi was not convinced, he did not dare to openly violate the holy will. With a roll of his eyes, he couldn't help but think about it, and went out of class again, "Weichen thinks that Ren Chao is just a martial artist, and he doesn't know etiquette, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to take on the task of helping to handle North Korean military affairs. ”

"Yes!" Emperor Guangxu nodded and said, "What Master Weng said is polite, so who should be sent to Quanzhou?" ”

"Lao Chen, there is an excellent candidate here!" After Li Hongzhang heard Weng Tongyi's words, he couldn't help but secretly regret that he had forgotten about this stubble for a while.

"I don't know who this excellent candidate Li Zhongtang is talking about? Tell me about it. Emperor Guangxu asked with a smile.

"Yuan Shikai has been in North Korea for many years, and he has made outstanding political achievements, and is familiar with North Korean affairs, so he is the best choice to go to Quanzhou." Li Hongzhang said honestly.

"Oh! I almost forgot about Yuan Shikai, where is Yuan Shikai now? Emperor Guangxu asked.

"Yuan Shikai is still in Tianjin!" Li Hongzhang replied. On the eve of the outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War, Yuan Shikai, who sensed that his shape was not good, fled disguised as a civilian on July 19 and arrived in Tianjin on July 22.

"He is now serving as a minister in the DPRK, what is he doing in Tianjin? He was told to return to Korea immediately and go to Jeonju. Emperor Guangxu said casually.

"Obey the order!"

"What is the situation in Pyongyang now? Li Hongzhang, you play to me carefully! Emperor Guangxu then said.

"Back to the emperor, at this time, all kinds of armies have gathered in Pyongyang, including the Sheng Army, the Yi Army, the Feng Army and the Fengtian Jilin Training Army, the four major armies have a total of 32 battalions, a total of more than 15,000 people, and they are all elite generals. However, North Korea is far away from our Daqing Dynasty, and it is difficult to transport grain and grass, so Weichen built a defensive position first, and then sought to attack. At that time, Yuan Shikai and Ren Chao led their troops to the north of Quanzhou, and the two armies attacked Seoul together, and they will be able to recover Seoul and annihilate the Japanese in one go, and the overall situation of Korea will be determined. ”

"Yes! Good! Emperor Guangxu was overjoyed when he heard this, and said with a smile, "This time, I must teach this group of Oriental Japanese robbers who don't know the height of the sky and the thickness of the earth, and let them see how powerful my Qing Dynasty is!" ”

"Caused by the emperor's heavenly might, the Japanese will definitely fall apart and flee in despair!" Seeing that Emperor Guangxu was in high spirits, everyone couldn't help but pat their ass together.

"Oh! That's right! Emperor Guangxu suddenly remembered something and asked with a smile, "The various armies in Pyongyang are not subordinate to each other, who does Li Zhongtang think can hang the seal of command and coordinate and command the various armies?" ”

"Your Majesty, in the humble opinion of the old ministers, all the generals in Pyongyang are the commanders-in-chief, and only Ye Zhichao is the commander." Li Hongzhang said respectfully, "Besides, in the battle of Asan, Ye Zhichao fought okay, and it is better that the armies in Pyongyang still have Ye Zhichao's unified command." ”

"Okay?" This time, Weng Tongyi, who has always been in opposition to Li Hongzhang, jumped out again, "In the battle of Ashan, Ye Zhichao had thousands of troops, but the results he achieved were not as good as Ren Chao's hundreds of stragglers, and in the end he lost Ashan, in fact, it was a defeat, Li Zhongtang actually said that he fought okay?" ”

"Master Weng, in the first battle of Asan, the Japanese are twice the strength of our army, and Ye Zhichao's lone army is stationed in Asan, once it is surrounded by the Japanese invaders, the consequences are unimaginable, and it is forced to give up Asan." Li Hongzhang defended.

"Lonely army, Ren Chao is also a lonely army, didn't he still fight a big victory like Jilong Mountain?" Weng Tongyi asked with a sneer.

At this time, Li Hongzhang has the heart of Weng Tong alive, this old guy is against me everywhere, stubborn! But in front of Emperor Guangxu, Li Hongzhang was naturally not angry, Li Hongzhang endured his anger, and said honestly, "The battle of Jilong Mountain is all thanks to the majesty of our emperor, Ren Chao's command, and the soldiers in front of him used their lives to win a complete victory." At this time, Li Hongzhang was also very helpless in his heart, in the face of Weng Tong's aggressive questioning, Li Hongzhang couldn't say that Ren Chao's victory was really a fluke! Although Li Hongzhang really thought so in his heart, he couldn't say so. Because just now Li Hongzhang also praised Ren Chao as a rare good general, and at this time he said that Ren Chao's victory was a fluke, this is not a slap in the face! At this time, Li Hongzhang couldn't help but scold Ye Zhichao in his heart, Nie Shicheng and the two were incompetent, if it weren't for the defeat of Ashan, Li Hongzhang would not have been so squeezed by Weng Tongxiao, an old immortal.

"Ren Chao has the convenience to command and can win a big victory, but Ye Zhichao lost Ashan, doesn't this mean that Ye Zhichao has no way to command? How can such a person take on a heavy responsibility? Weng Tongyi did not let Li Hongzhang go, and still asked aggressively.

"That's it!" Emperor Guangxu said impatiently, these two old guys quarreled as soon as they met, which was really annoying, and Emperor Guangxu unceremoniously interrupted the argument between the two, "Except for Ye Zhichao, who else is up to the task?" How is Wei Rugui? ”

"There is no courage in planning." Li Hongzhang replied honestly.

"What about Ma Yukun?" Emperor Guangxu then asked.

"There is courage and no strategy!" Li Hongzhang thought about it and said, Li Hongzhang's words are really against his will, Ma Yukun is brave and strategic, he is indeed a general, but Ma Yukun's Hunan army is the foundation, and the various armies in Pyongyang are dominated by the Huai army, if Ma Yukun is the commander, I am afraid it will be difficult to convince the public, I am afraid that it will be a bad thing at that time, but in the Guangxu Emperor Li Hongzhang naturally can't tell the truth.

"How is Zuo Valuable?" Emperor Guangxu then asked.

"Brave and resourceful, but it's a pity that I'm old!" Li Hongzhang replied.

"Then according to what you say, you can only use Ye Zhichao?" Emperor Guangxu was somewhat unhappy in his heart.

"Back to the emperor, as the saying goes, a short man pulls out a general, now that the war is imminent, where can I find a handsome general like Liu Mingchuan!" Li Hongzhang said respectfully.

"Is Liu Mingchuan still recuperating at home?" Emperor Guangxu couldn't help but ask when he heard Li Hongzhang mention Liu Mingchuan.

"Liu Mingchuan has been in poor health and is still recuperating at home." Li Hongzhang replied.

"Yes!" Emperor Guangxu thought for a moment, and then said, "Then order Ye Zhichao to command the Korean army, and tell Ye Zhichao that this battle will be won, but not defeated!" ”

"The old minister's order!" Li Hongzhang respectfully received the order.

"That's it! If nothing else, kneel and be in peace! Emperor Guangxu said.

"Wait for the resignation!"