Next, under the escort of the Mengshan Army, the two palace cars drove from Xuanhua and Huai'an all the way west to Tianzhen, entered Shanxi Province, and then passed through Julebao, Daiyue Town, Yanmen Pass, passed through Lao County and Xinzhou, and arrived in Yangqu County on September 8. Shanxi Governor Yuxian, Taiyuan Prefecture Yin Xu Handu, Yangqu County Ling Baichang, the suburbs welcome outside. Cixi was connected to Taiyuan City and lived in the governor's yamen.

Cixi, who was even more depressed when she entered Shanxi, finally ended her long-distance travel.

At first, everyone didn't know what Cixi's depression was, and they always thought that it was because of the emperor's own edict, but later someone solved the mystery, that is, the coldness of Shanxi officials and their worries about the situation in Beijing.

Shanxi officials were indeed very indifferent to the arrival of the two palaces. The first to show up was Datong House. It was said that there was no silver left in the treasury, and it could not meet Long Qian's request for 20,000 taels of silver. For food and vegetables, the attitude towards supply is also very cold. Long Qian was a little strange, according to his understanding, these magistrates should think of a way to please Lafayette. How many magistrates can come across such an opportunity in their lifetime? Why is the atmosphere of Shanxi officialdom so different? Wu Yong, who had become a good friend along the way, helped him solve this mystery, and the root of it was still in the edict of his own guilt.

It is not the two palaces that have caused such a situation, but a group of disobedient officials below, if the foreigners have to be angry, then find them to be angry.

At this special time, in a special province, Cixi and Guangxu met the cold reception of the magistrate without precedent.

Shanxi is the province that kills foreigners the most ruthlessly, because they have a governor Yuxian who is extremely hostile to foreigners.

During the siege of the embassy in the capital, Yuxian killed foreigners in Shanxi. Regardless of women and children, as long as they are foreigners, they are all among the slaughter. When Cixi came to Shanxi, there was basically no foreigner in Shanxi Province.

The officials in Shanxi saw the edict of the guilty of the world, and it was impossible not to worry about the retaliation of the foreigners, and now that the imperial court abandoned them as soon as they turned their faces, it was impossible for them not to have a little emotion. The clay figurines also have three points of fire, let alone officials who are used to being powerful.

In addition, the "Southeast Mutual Insurance" also brought them courage. It was the first time in the history of the Qing Dynasty that there was a collective resistance. Look at this, the court can take those prestige. What about the powerful governors? It can't be said that even Cixi's position can't be kept.

This brings up the problem of supply. Where can the flour brought by Long Qian from Tianjin withstand the chewing of two thousand people? If it weren't for the reservation of a bag for the emperor and the queen mother in advance. Cixi would gnaw at least two or three times. If you can take care of the Empress Dowager, the emperor can't take care of others, and a group of princes have accused Long Qian and Wu Yong of being "incompetent", but it is Rong Lu and Li Lianying, the two "internal and external" first people, who have spoken fairly, and Wu Yong is a little worried. Long Qian didn't care. He knew that those princes and princes were finished. After this great change, the Qing court has lost its prestige and entered the countdown to its demise.

The two palaces lived in the governor's yamen. Rong Lu decided to follow the Jingying army to Taiyuan to take over the guards of the two palaces, and the Shandong soldiers and foreign captives lived in the military camp outside the Great South Gate. Long Qian's mission was accomplished. Without being summoned, Long Qian couldn't see Cixi, and before, Long Qian entered Cixi's bedroom without even needing anyone to report it.

Cixi entered Taiyuan, and finally got relatively accurate information about the political situation, Dong Fuxiang did the opposite, he and the servants of the wind and dust from Gansu brought 2,000 soldiers to the Gansu of King Qin's Gansu according to the inspection of Cen Chunxuan's troops also did a battle, Cen Chunxuan had few soldiers, had no choice but to get out of the way, let Dong Fuxiang go back to the northwest to claim the king. Cen Chunxuan packed up the rout and prepared to continue to march east into the Beijing Division, but learned that the two palaces had escaped from the Beijing Division and went to Rehe. Tens of thousands of foreign soldiers have occupied the Beijing Division, and the soldiers have been forced to Baoding. Cen Chunxuan expected that she was powerless to reverse the situation, so she had to retreat to Shanxi and temporarily stationed in the area of Yuci, the southern gate of Taiyuan.

The fortitude that fell behind in the Desheng Gate is indeed dead, very unlucky guy. However, even if Fortitude comes along, I'm afraid that he won't be able to pass the foreigner's level. He was an ardent supporter of the Boxers.

And another piece of news caught Cixi's attention. Prince Qing Yixuan has been out of Beijing, is on the way to Taiyuan, he is taking the southern route, that is, from Baoding all the way to the west through Niangziguan into Jin. When Prince Qing arrives, it will be clear what the conditions of the foreigners are.

Cixi's current mood is somewhat like that of a prisoner waiting for the verdict.

Long Qian relinquished his duties of guarding the two palaces. After coming to Taiyuan, Long Qian knew that the battle of Tianjin of the Mengshan Army had spread to the world, and the officials and people of Taiyuan poured into the streets to see the Shandong soldiers who had defeated the foreigners and the hundreds of foreigner prisoners captured. Yuxian, this guy is extremely hateful to foreigners, he is in charge of Shanxi, so that the official and civil people of Shanxi Province are extremely rejecting foreigners, get rid of those who escaped, and all the foreigners left behind, regardless of women and children, will be killed. A large group of foreign soldiers appeared on the street, which made the people of Taiyuan extremely crazy, and they threw stones and bricks at the captives, and the soldiers who had to escort the foreigners were also beaten. Long Qian, who was riding on a horse, wondered, is this situation in Taiyuan, which is located inland, considered to be a rise in public morale? It was easy to take the captives to the military camp south of the city, and at least a dozen foreign soldiers had their heads broken. And then the local chamber of commerce organized the labor army, for the Shandong soldiers to send a lot of vegetables and meat, I heard that Long Qian's ancestral home in Taiyuan, is very enthusiastic, gave him a lot of personal items, except for the food left in the kitchen, all other refused.

Now is not the time to be famous, especially not in this area. On the one hand, Long Qian seized the time to rest and recuperate the troops, recover from the fatigue of the long-distance march, strengthen food and nutrition, and ensure that there was meat at a moment's notice, and on the other hand, he strictly ordered the troops to abide by military discipline and not to leave the barracks without an order. Those gentry who came to see Long Qian were all blocked from the barracks and were not accepted. Every day, he only played chess and chatted with his subordinates in the barracks, and lived a relatively leisurely life.

Along the way, Long Qian's more contact with the character is Seymour. Edward. From Huailai to the west, Long Qian had to take time out every day to take care of this British vice admiral who was over sixty years old, and personally sent relatively sumptuous food. Because of the language, Seymour, who was cut off from meeting with his subordinates, could only communicate with Long Qian. In Jule Castle, Seymour fell ill, and it was Long Qian who persuaded Seymour to drink the Chinese medicine soup that was simply poison in the eyes of the British old man, and the cold was miraculously cured. As a result, there is more scope for conversation beyond state relations. That's Chinese medicine. Because of the culture of traditional Chinese medicine, Seymour unexpectedly discovered that Long Qian had read Shakespeare, so the daily meeting and communication with Long Qian became a happy time in Seymour's boring and sad captive life. The two men compared the similarities and differences between Chinese poetry and English poetry, and although Long Qian's translation of the famous Chinese poems stammered and lost their charm, the elder Edward admitted that the strong sense of picture in classical Chinese poetry was more flavorful than that of sonnets. "At the end of the song, people are gone, and there are several peaks on the river", "Falling flowers are independent." The charm shown in "Swift Double Flying" made the British old man chant repeatedly. Intoxicated.

When Wu Yong hurriedly came to the barracks to look for Long Qian, Long Qian was discussing something with Seymour enthusiastically. Upon arriving in Taiyuan, Seymour met his disheveled and haggard subordinates, and Long Qian took humane care of the Allied captives. It was all reported by his subordinates. Get rid of their protection. Timely treatment for them along the way. Seymour was deeply grateful for the description of the meal arrangement, even the haircut and bath. Calling Long Qian the best general in China, "Dear Long, although you are our enemy, I still have to pay tribute to you. You have the splendor of Christ in you. If you have the chance, I invite you to the UK. ”

"Oh, Your Excellency, your government, or the governments of other belligerents, may list me as a war criminal who must be punished."

"No, you're not a criminal. I'll explain this in writing. Seymour said seriously.

Wu Yong's arrival interrupted Long Qian's conversation with Seymour.

"The Queen Mother summoned me. Let's go. ”

"What's going on?"

"Prince Qing is here. I heard that the foreign soldiers were advancing west from Baoding and were preparing to attack Shanxi. ”

Long Qian's face was expressionless, but he was very happy in his heart, and he had been waiting for this news for a long time.

When he arrived in Taiyuan, he reported the situation of the Jingshi to Cixi, and the tragedy of the princes and ministers, especially the royal nobles Chongqi, made Cixi very sad. After a long time, she said this, "Tang Xuanzong was also covered in dust by the Anshi Rebellion. Seeing the death of his favorite concubine and unable to save him. Yu Jin's place is especially great. ”

Li Hongzhang has not yet arrived in Beijing, and the foreigners do not pay much attention to the Yixuan who stayed in Beijing to preside. Yixuan is the lord and faction, but the foreigners did not embarrass him, nor did they go to ransack his palace. Maybe the foreigners have heard that the Qingwang Mansion has been looted, and they can't say for sure. During this time, foreigners in Beijing were mainly killing people and stealing money. King Qing wanted to meet the commander of the coalition forces, Marshal Wadsey, several times, but he was closed. Under such circumstances, peace talks will naturally not be possible.

Yixuan told Cixi that the foreigners paid more attention to Li Hongzhang, the Han man, and ignored him as a prince.

Cixi did not listen to the peace talks (in fact, there was no progress), and she was stunned by Yixuan's statement that the foreigners were going to send troops to attack Shanxi. asked again and again what was going on.

Yi said that he had heard that the foreigners had come up with a list of officials they had asked to be punished. Yuxian is among the best, Yuxian killed foreigners in Shanxi, and the foreigners were angry!

This was what Cixi expected. If the foreign adults who occupied Beijing only held their subordinates accountable for the "war" and did not fight her idea, she would really be thankful that she would have shouted Amitabha Buddha dozens of times in a row.

Cixi thought about it and asked Yixuan to go down and rest. Rong Lu was passed, and the two talked secretly for a long time, and then ordered to find Long Qian, who had not seen him for several days. When she was waiting for Long Qian to come, she first found Yuxian.

Cixi trusted Rong Lu as always on important issues.

Different from the attitude of the state capital along the way, Yuxian was dedicated to receiving Cixi Guangxu. All the utensils were used by the Holy Grandfather when he visited Wutai Mountain, and they are absolute treasures. Although it has gone through more than 100 years, it is still as bright as new. Cixi said that she had never seen such a good thing in the capital. As for the food, Yuxian did his best to send a large number of ingredients to the small kitchen of the governor's yamen according to Lafayette's taste.

Cixi knew that Yuxian was absolutely loyal to herself, but now she had to give Yuxian a hint.

Cixi said to Yuxian, "Last year, you left the capital to take up a post in Shanxi, and when Your Majesty resigned, you were able to present the Boxer Rebellion, which was a big mistake. Now that Beijing is occupied by foreigners, the emperor and I have fallen to this point, all of which are the sins of the Boxers. Now that the foreigners claim to take revenge on you, I have to say something. I may dismiss you soon, but don't be too sad, I'm just hiding the eyes and ears of outsiders. I know that you are faithful and capable, but what can be done about the situation? ”

Yuxian kowtowed and replied, "The minister understands. He is ready to be dismissed. ”

Cixi nodded, the matter was over, and when Yuxian left, Cixi said thoughtlessly, "I heard that the price of coffins has been expensive recently?" ”

Yuxian didn't understand this. went back to find his confidant master for details, and the master was shocked, "Dong Weng, the Queen Mother is letting you kill yourself to apologize." ”

Yuxian listened to his master's explanation and immediately collapsed.

Long Qian came to the palace and did not meet Yuxian, and the two staggered. Now it is Nayantu who is responsible for the palace guards. Old acquaintances. directly brought Long Qian into the house where Cixi lived.

When Cixi saw Long Qian, she immediately changed her face, saw Long Qian kowtowing, and smiled. "No excuses. Sit. Think back. Recently, I have been busy with everything, and I haven't seen you, and I am still worried about you. You okay? ”

"To the Empress Dowager Hongfu. Wechen is all right. Long Qian worked hard to learn the "eight shares" etiquette of the court.

"Retreat, your ancestral home is Taiyuan, isn't there any news about your family?" The current Cixi is like a kind old lady.

"The Queen Mother is really good to Weichen. However, there really is no __"

"Taiyuan Mansion is so big. I have explained to Xu Handu and asked him to check the family surnamed Long, and maybe he can find clues. ”

"Wechen thank the Queen Mother." Long Qian smiled secretly in his heart, where to find it? But I have to say thank you.

"Retreat, I remember that you were born in Yihai, right?" It's getting closer. On the way, he asked his age, Long Qian just asked casually, but the old woman really remembered.

"Yes, Weichen's canine teeth, I can't imagine that the Queen Mother still remembers__"

"The man should get married. Listen to Rong Lu, you have never been married so far? ”

"Back to the Queen Mother. Lord Ronglu misremembered. Wechen is engaged, but he hasn't been married__"

"Oh? Which lady has such a blessing? Cixi raised her eyebrows.

"It's the daughter of a gentry in Fei County, Shandong, surnamed Chen__ was originally going to get married, and King Qin's will came down, and Weichen could only go home first." Long Qian's shadow of Chen Shu appeared in his mind, and he couldn't say how much he missed it, let alone fell in love. When I promised the Chen family, it was for today.

"Oh, that's a blessing." Cixi paused, and finally put the topic aside, "Thanks to you along the way." I know it. Today, King Qing came from the capital, and I heard that the foreigners had the intention of sending troops to Shanxi, what do you think? ”

This is what Long Qian has been thinking about, and after a little hesitation, he said, "Empress Dowager." Weichen thinks that he must no longer show weakness to foreigners! Long Qian's tone became indignant, "The foreigners occupy our Beijing division, burn, kill and loot, the morale has been dispersed, and it is a multinational coalition army, so there must be the drawbacks of ineffective mobilization and command." The Beijing division is prosperous, thinking that the foreign soldiers must not want to go out to suffer from the expedition, and the enemy chieftains must have heard that the two palaces were stationed in Taiyuan to promote peace. If the imperial court shows weakness to the enemy, the great powers will definitely offer conditions that are difficult for the empress dowager to accept in the future. On the contrary, if our army defeats the enemy from the west, the enemy chieftain will be in a dilemma. The mountains and rivers in Shanxi are steep, and the terrain is precipitous, and it is not difficult to recover the Beijing division, but it is not difficult to resist the enemy outside the gate of Shanxi. When the enemy army left Beijing in the east, it was bound to advance westward along Baoding and Shimen. Please ask the Queen Mother to issue an order, order Weichen to lead the army east out of Niangzi Pass to resist the enemy, as long as Weichen is there, no foreigner will be allowed to step into the city. ”

These words moved Cixi and Rong Lu. The two of them have already talked about countermeasures just now, because Dong Fuxiang's Gan army is moving westward, it has become unsafe to go to Xi'an. It is best to stay in Taiyuan and wait for the situation to change. But for guarding Taiyuan, Cixi did not have the slightest confidence. Summoning Long Qian was to let him lead his troops to block for a while, so as to buy some time for the imperial court to escape again. Because the imperial court really doesn't have a suitable place to settle down except for Taiyuan at the moment. But Long Qian's well-founded words greatly boosted Cixi's confidence.

"Well, in your opinion, the foreigners won't raise the whole army to invade the west?"

"Yes. Weichen thinks that foreigners are just putting on a show. ”

"Retreat and know the soldiers! What are the requirements for sending you to defend against the enemy? ”

What Long Qian was waiting for was this sentence, "Empress Dowager, under the command of Weichen, there are only more than a thousand elite soldiers." The amount of force is still a little thinner. I heard that the Gansu envoy Cen Chunxuan had been ordered to serve the king of Qin, and the troops were stationed in Yuci, can the officers and soldiers of this department be transferred to my command to increase the strength? The other is firearms and ammunition, which need to be vigorously replenished. ”

Cixi looked at Rong Lu and nodded, "Yes." ”

"What else? Let's just say it together. ”

"Queen Mother, there are three more things that need the Queen Mother's permission."

"Tell me."

"One is the British lieutenant general Seymour. In order to appease his heart along the way, Weichen talked with him a lot, and General Seymour thanked the court for its benevolence. Therefore, after Weichen led the troops away, he asked the Queen Mother to arrange for proper people to take care of these prisoners. ”

"That's right. Ronglu, you wrote it down. She glanced at Rong Lu. Rong Lu nodded, indicating that he had written it down.

"Second, Weichen hopes that the Queen Mother will be allowed to recruit soldiers on the spot to enrich the department."

"That's right." Cixi did not hesitate.

"Third, Weichen came from Shandong, and Lord Yuan of Futai only gave Weichen 30,000 taels of opening fees. Let's not talk about the pension of the fallen officers and soldiers, this silver, Weichen has already spent it along the way. The subordinate officers and soldiers went to Niangziguan to defend against the enemy, and hoped that the imperial court would give them a salary to encourage the officers and soldiers to fight bravely to kill the enemy. ”

"It should be. Rong Lu, you take care of this. Cixi readily agreed to Long Qian. She didn't bring more silver when she left the palace, and she knew the scene on the road.

"Then, Weichen will go and prepare. Start early and have more certainty. ”

"Okay, it's really my Zhao Zilong. You go back and prepare, and take care of the east gate of Shanxi for me. The court will never fail you. ”

"Please rest assured, as long as Weichen is in one breath, he will never allow the devil to step into the lady's pass!" Long Qian replied categorically. (To be continued......)