When Long Qian and Situ Jun accompanied Prince Qing Yikuang back to Beijing, Li Hongzhang had already arrived in Beijing, which was occupied by the Eight-Nation Alliance, from Tianjin. In the vast city of Beijing, there are only two courtyards under the jurisdiction of the Manchu court, one is the Qingwang Mansion, which is scheduled to be used as a place for negotiations, and the other is the Xianliang Temple in Dongcheng, the high-end guest house of the Qing court. Li Hongzhang currently lives there.

Yi Kuang established a "friendship" with Long Qian along the way. Originally, with the respect of the prince, even in distress, it would not be the turn of a reckless Han lieutenant to come forward. But Yi Kuang saw the Empress Dowager Xi's liking for Long Qian in Taiyuan, and the review of the Mengshan Army when passing through Niangzi Pass also deepened his understanding of Long Qian. And Long Qiantian's nonsense in the south and north of the sea made Yi Kuang, who was not conservative in his bones, very interested. From the mother's pass, almost every meal Yi Kuang must be accompanied by Long Qian, every night to call Long Qian to his bedroom to chat for half an hour, the content of the chat is very wide, but most of them are to talk about the customs and customs of overseas countries. Long Qian found that this Manchurian prince who was robbed by himself was actually a good old man, he was quite open-minded, and did not or rarely showed the arrogance and ignorance of the Manchu aristocracy, on the contrary, he showed a childlike love for all kinds of new things that had appeared in Western countries introduced by Long Qian, in fact, some things were not clear to Long Qian himself. Of course, although Yi Kuang is stupid, his identity is destined to be more concerned about politics. Yi Kuang is very interested in the political structure of the United States, and even said that Washington, who voluntarily gave up the "throne", is a great person, but Yi Kuang is incredulous about the so-called election campaign in the United States, will those politicians who step down not be persecuted? In Yi Kuang's eyes. A government that has been ousted in a campaign is like an overthrown dynasty in Chinese history.

Long Qian explained that it is the protection of the law. Not only will they not be persecuted, but they can organize and overthrow the current government in an open and honest manner, of course, by virtue of the power of peaceful elections granted by law, not by force.

Judging from Yi Kuang's expression, he didn't believe it at all. No wonder he didn't believe it. In the history of China, almost no dynasty has been replaced, and the magnates of the previous dynasty have died well. The Song Dynasty was relatively civilized, and Li Yu, the queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty, was still greatly humiliated after being taken to Kaifeng, but it was fine in the hands of Zhao Kuangyin. Wait for Zhao Guangyi to come to power. Li Yu's wife was openly insulted, and he himself was poisoned by Zhao Guangyi because he wrote a few small poems nostalgic for the old days. As for the law, it is even more ridiculous. The Qing Dynasty also has laws, isn't it the law of the Qing Dynasty? Can a Qing Dynasty law ensure the safety of the royal family?

Long Qian suspected that Yi Kuang had a premonition that the Manchu regime was precarious.

Back to Beijing. Na Tong, who stayed in Beijing and was the prime minister and minister of national affairs, picked up Yi Kuang at Xizhimen. The report Prince Qing said that Li Hongzhang had come to Beijing. He lived in the Temple of the Virtuous and is now defended by Russian soldiers. Natong, who is as fat as a pig, is surnamed Yehenara and is the family of the Empress Dowager Cixi. Because he did not approve of the Boxer Rebellion and the war against the foreign powers and his tenure in the prime minister's yamen, Natong who stayed in Beijing had nothing to lose, and lived a period of danger. Na Tong said that it seemed that Li Hongzhang had reached some kind of agreement with the Russians, and that the Russians were ready to withdraw part of their troops to show their sincerity for the peace talks. And Li Hongzhang's closeness to the Russians had already caused discontent in Britain and Germany, and they openly declared their support for the Guangxu Emperor. This made Li Hongzhang very worried. Formal peace talks have not yet begun, and Li Hongzhang said that he will wait for King Qing to return before talks.

Of course, Yi Kuang had to go home first. He invited Long Qian to live in his palace, but Long Qian politely declined. He said that he had friends to see, and of course he didn't dare to live in Qingwangfu openly - for fear of being recognized. Although he was masked that night, who knows if the people of the Daoist will remember his body shape and voice?

Na Tong seemed to be familiar with Long Qian. Long Qian's doubts were immediately explained, or because of the group of prisoners in his hands, especially the British Lieutenant General Seymour. Minister Dou Nale demanded that Li Hongzhang immediately release General Seymour and escort him back to Peking. Therefore, Li Hongzhang is also very much looking forward to Long Qian's arrival.

"Long Qianna, although Beijing is a little calm at the moment, no one knows whether your business friend is safe or not. The Queen Mother is so important to you, so she should take state affairs as the priority. When the business is over, let's go about your private business. Na Tong said to Long Qian.

"Thank you for the reminder. I am worried about the safety of my friends, so I must pay a visit. There are martial arts in the lowly position, and three or five people can't get close to each other. Security is no problem. Moreover, my chief of staff, Situ Jun, had studied in Germany and had some personal relations with the murdered German minister, Klinder. I plan to meet with Situ Jun first with the new German minister and get a touch of the Germans, which will be of great benefit to the prince's next peace talks with the foreigners. Long Qian smiled.

"Vice Admiral Long has everyone under him." Na Tong glanced at Situ Jun, who was standing as solemn as a javelin, "It's okay." The German Wadsey is the commander of the coalition forces, and he is very arrogant, and he has not seen Lord Li so far. If you can know the hole cards of the Germans, it is a great achievement. ”

said that he would meet at Xianliang Temple in the evening, and Long Qian broke up with Yi Kuang, Na Tong and Wu Yong. Wu Yong wanted to go with Long Qian, but Long Qian refused, and asked him to go to Xianliang Temple to find Li Hongzhang to report first, and then he went. So he took Situ Jun and a dozen selected soldiers, made up and walked to Deshengmen.

Long Qian was indeed worried about the safety of Ning Shijun and Wang Mingyuan and others. After two months, Beijing has changed a lot, there are ruins everywhere, there are few pedestrians on the streets, most of the shops are closed, and from time to time I encounter coalition patrols wearing various military uniforms. Fortunately, I didn't encounter any situation along the way, and I came to the three-entry courtyard rented by Jiang Yun smoothly.

The courtyard was intact, and there was no trace of fire, so Long Qian let go of his hanging heart. Previously, he was most worried that the coalition forces would search homes for the Boxers, and it would be difficult to ensure that they would not clash with their remaining troops. Now it seems that the battle has not been fought.

knocked on the closed door knocker, and after a long time, someone opened the door, Long Qian didn't recognize the other party yet, but the other party was surprised, "Commander!" It's really you! Hu Zongyu, who was dressed in a green coat and a small hat like a rich entourage, suddenly hugged Long Qian, "Commander." You're back! I miss the brothers, and I worry about the brothers. ”

"Zong Yu, you are dressed up well. Ha Luha, everyone, how are they? Go in and say. Long Qian was also very excited.

"Okay, good," Hu Zongyu pulled Long Qian into the gate, and when more than a dozen people came in, Hu Zongyu shouted, "Come out, the commander is back." ”

Hula-la. A crowd pounced. They all shouted the commander.

Ning Shijun and Wang Mingyuan were not here, Hu Zongyu immediately sent someone out to find him, and half an hour later, Ning Shijun. Jiang Yun. Wang Mingyuan, Cheng Erhu and David all came. Aftermath. The joy of the reunion of these tribulated brothers who have experienced life and death tribulations and great changes can be imagined. Several people were in tears.

The most interesting is David. Di Wen, hugged Long Qian and didn't let go.

"Let's listen to the chief of staff first, how did they get over the past two months? And then talk about you. My dear brother David. Long Qian broke free from David, "See you." I'm really happy. ”

Ning Shijun straightened out his thoughts, "God bless." Except for a clash with foreign soldiers at Longfu Temple, there was no danger. ”

After Long Qian took Gu Xiaolin's Third Company and Xu Gongzhi's Eleventh Company away, Ning Shijun discussed with Wang Mingyuan, Cheng Erhu, Jiang Yun, Tian Shubang, Hu Zongyu, Jiang Cunxian and others for half a night.

That night there was chaos in the city, with fires everywhere and gunfire everywhere. However, it is still quiet on the side of Deshengmen. The next day, Jiang Yun took the risk of taking a few subordinates from the intelligence department who were familiar with the road out to investigate, and gathered in Ning Shijun's room at night to report the situation and discuss countermeasures.

Jiang Yun was the first to consider the upcoming manhunt, believing that the coalition forces that had already occupied the city would definitely loot everywhere under the banner of arresting the Boxers. If we find out that there are so many young people in the two houses we live in, it is amazing, no matter how you explain it, you have to think of a way. The enemy is clear and I am secret, and we may not suffer losses when fighting, everyone has fought with foreign devils anyway, but there are huge gold, silver and jewelry hidden in the two houses, and if you lose it, you will come to Beijing for nothing? As for the use of this batch of gold and silver, they didn't think about it, they just thought that Long Qian led troops into Beijing this time for the purpose of robbing money! In the eyes of a few officers who stayed in Beijing, there was nothing wrong with robbing money, it was a private money bank, and if they didn't rob it, would it be left to foreign devils to rob it? As for the royal palace, it is even more fine. For example, Cheng Erhu didn't figure it out about Long Qian leading the army to recruit An, but he was afraid of Long Qian's prestige and couldn't openly sing against the commander. Now it can be concluded that Commander Long's so-called Zhao'an is just a means to coax the imperial court, otherwise why would he take his brothers to rob the palace? Even Prince Zhuang was slaughtered? Thinking that with this gold and silver in the future, he will be able to recruit troops and do a lot of work, Cheng Erhu is really happy.

In fact, there are many people who have the same thoughts as Cheng Erhu, so after Jiang Yun finished speaking, when Wang Mingyuan said that he wanted to keep this batch of gold and silver no matter what, Cheng Erhu was the first to agree, and Hu Zongyu and Jiang Cunxian both said that they would fight to protect this batch of silver.

Ning Shijun scolded, "Now is not the time to fight for your life with bayonets!" How many of us are there? There are tens of thousands of foreign devils who have entered Beijing! How to spell it? Now I want to use my brain, not my hard. ”

Jiang Yun put forward an opinion, he said that it is time to disperse the target, in addition to these two houses, when the intelligence department is deployed in Beijing, for security, there are still two or three residences, it is better to divide the current people and horses, the target will be small. After waiting for a while, the noisy energy of foreign devils will be less.

Tian Shubang added, "There are still some places where you can hide, such as those princes and nobles who have been robbed, and the Zhuangwang Mansion that we have done was burned by foreign devils, but there are hundreds of houses, and you can hide everywhere, even if you start fighting, it is better than here." ”

Wang Mingyuan praised, "Lao Tian has a good idea. It's dark under the lights, and the foreign devils can't imagine that we will hide in those ruins. ”

"We also have to make some arrangements, our people, at first glance, are soldiers, and their murderous spirit is exposed. This is not good, foreign devils are not stupid, it is estimated that there are traitors accompanying them as interpreters, and their identities must be hidden. Those who stay here, who is the master and who are the subordinates, are all rehearsed clearly, just in case. Ning Shijun thought more thoughtfully.

The only ones who are suitable to be masters are Ning Shijun and Tian Shubang, mainly because their Beijing dialect is good. Ning Shijun's body is full of books, while Tian Shubang has rich experience in the rivers and lakes, and his ability to observe words and colors is first-class. So more than 20 people were carefully selected, left behind in two houses, and the rest were led by Jiang Yun, Wang Mingyuan, and Cheng Erhu, and moved to the newly ransacked Zhuangwang Mansion by night. Tian Shubang's idea of a bearded man from the Northeast is really good, and Wang Mingyuan found that this huge mansion with empty smoke and fireworks is really a good place to hide. I hid like this for a while, and the wind passed. The team returned to the courtyard where they had bought and rented.

"Didn't anyone come to check?" Long Qian was deeply grateful. He didn't think of these details at the time, but these people were really good and handled it properly.

"I checked, this area was checked by American soldiers, it was not strict, and we fooled it. Lao Tian and I are both wealthy businessmen, and we gave the traitor who led the way some broken silver, and then fooled him. At that time, I was asked why I didn't have any female dependents at home, and I said that they were all sent to the countryside. ”

"Thankfully, it's American soldiers. Compared to the Japanese and Russians, the Americans are quite good. But. Brethren. Long Qian was moved, "It doesn't matter how much gold or silver you have. If the silver is lost, it can come again, but a person cannot be resurrected after death. You have to write this down. By the way, what is the situation at Longfu Temple? ”

"Lao Tian rented a yard there. Later, I brought some brothers to live there. One day, a few Oriental devils went to the house next door to do bad things. Crying and shouting. The brothers couldn't help it, so they climbed over the wall and slaughtered the four Oriental radish heads! We were unscathed. Jiang Cunxian said proudly.

Jiang Cunxian, the commander of the guard company, is one of the best masters of national art in the army, and Long Qian, who has the ability to deal with each other in hand-to-hand combat, knows the way. "This has to be punished. Despite your good intentions. In case our people fall into the hands of foreign devils, it will be troublesome. Lao Jiang, you are already a company commander, not a Jianghu person. Didn't the chief of staff punish you? Long Qian said dissatisfied, "What happened later? ”

Lao Tian categorically gave up that point. Never went back. Jiang Yun reported, "The chief of staff has already criticized Company Commander Jiang. Thankfully, nothing happened. ”

Long Qian nodded, "The soldier wants to be praised, and you have to be punished." Lao Tian," he turned to Tian Shubang and said, "Lao Tian, you have made a lot of credit this time, and I have written it down." When we return to Shandong, you will be indispensable in terms of meritorious deeds! ”

"Look at what the commander said, am I not a soldier of our Mengshan Army? What credit is not credit, it is good that you didn't smash the commander's errand. Tian Shubang, who had already followed Long Qian, said with a smile.

After this battle, Tian Shubang can be regarded as a core officer of Long Qian.

"Okay, David, it's your turn, let's talk about the situation in our hometown after the main force leaves."

David can now speak fluent Shandong dialect, he reported the situation of the camp left behind after the main force left, including the establishment of a new battalion, Sheng Guang acting battalion commander, and finally talked about the situation of Zheng Du's return to Zhengjiazhuang, Long Qian was very happy, he was worried that Zhou Yi would not be able to pass the Zheng family, which was also the reason why he decided to take Zhou Yi away at the beginning, and then he wanted to face it, fortunately Zhou Yi did not make a mistake when he fought between private affairs and justice. It's stronger than anything else.

Jiang Yun supplemented David's report, and also said that Chen Chao sent Luo Xiucai to Gansu.

"Jiang Yun, your intelligence department has made a great contribution this time. It's really the first work! Everyone has seen the role of the intelligence department, and it will be expanded next, and among the brothers who stay in Beijing, there must be someone suitable for you to do this job, and you can choose as much as you can. Long Qian looked at his little follower in the past with satisfaction, "In the future, you will have a bigger stage, not only tossing all over the country, but also tossing to the world realm!" Ha Lu Ha! ”

"Commander, why did you send someone to Dunhuang? What is that place? Got treasures? Wang Mingyuan wondered.

"Yes, there is treasure. Not gold or silver, though. I won't be able to explain this to you for a while, but it will be clear in the future. Long Qian cleared his throat, "Brothers, in the past three months, we have sweated and blooded, lost a large number of good brothers, and it is finally coming to an end. At present, Li Hongzhang has arrived in Beijing, and Prince Qing has also returned from Shanxi. The next step is to negotiate with the foreigners, and the war will not be fought for the time being. This time, the Manchu court suffered heavy losses, and the worst thing was not the strength and wealth, but the hearts of the people! The disaster of the Gengzi year completely broke the hearts of the people. Even the big and small officials who were originally loyal to the court have seen the true face of the court. I dare to say, ten years at most, the Manchu will be finished! ”

Everyone's spirits lifted. Listen attentively to Long Qian's speech.

"We're not going to openly oppose the Qing Dynasty. Although soon there will be a continuous armed uprising in the south. Before the fall of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, we should try our best to use this tree whose roots have rotted to shelter from the wind and rain. What we have to do is to develop ourselves. Now Lu Shan is a guerrilla general, and he and Yan Bing and Feng Lun are stationed at the junction of Zhili Shanxi, recruiting and training troops, and everything is fine. The hometown is also normal. You've made it through the hardest part. Our expedition this time can be regarded as a complete merit. When we meet Shandong, our strength will greatly surpass the previous one! ”

Everyone laughed softly.

"Those fools in the imperial court treated me as a treasure and sent me to assist Li Hongzhang and King Qing in making peace with foreigners, what is the peace talk? It's just an indemnity. and take the lives of a few more foolish officials. Of course, I still have to try my best to win back some benefits for the country, after all, what is lost is the silver and vitality of our Chinese. During this time, I may not be able to take care of this side, but I still take Shi Jun as the leader, everyone listens to Shi Jun's orders, stay vigilant, and don't relax. You must be reminded of discipline, discipline must be strengthened! We have tens of millions of silver under our feet, and I can't guarantee that no one is confused about it. So. All ministries must resolutely enforce discipline. No one is allowed to enter or leave without an order. If anyone dares to violate discipline, there is no need to show mercy, in exceptional circumstances. There is only one result of a violation of discipline. Death penalty! Wait for my command. The companies withdrew from Beijing in batches and returned to Shandong. Not yet, though. ”

"Everyone is looking forward to going back to their hometown, when can they leave?"

"It's coming. I'll get an errand back this time. We can go back to our hometown in a dignified manner. Situ and David stayed with me, as did most of the men of the Intelligence Bureau. The rest go back. ”

"Why don't you bring back the money?" Cheng Erhu, who had never spoken, asked.

"Ha Luha, Erhu, of course we have to bring the silver back, but we won't be stupid enough to push the cart back! You will know this in the future. Oh my silly brother. Long Qian smiled and patted Erhu's shoulder, "Shi Jun, the next work of the few of you is mainly to recruit talents. What we lack most now is not soldiers and guns, but talents with various skills, Jiangyun Laotian, you have to pay attention, all those who are useful and willing to go to Shandong with us are recruited. But don't rush, do it slowly. Long Qian was in a good mood, and he made a few dangerous moves, but he went through, and only the last link was left.

"Commander, when we return to Shandong, shouldn't we drink your wine?" Wang Mingyuan asked with a smile.

"Drink, drink what should be drunk!" Long Qian smiled, "When we go back, we will ask for everything we should ask for our daughter-in-law." Ha Lu Ha. Hmm, Situ, why haven't you been angry? What are you thinking? Long Qian noticed Situ Jun, who was obviously contemplative.

Situ Jun, who had never spoken but just listened quietly, was in a different mood. At the beginning, following Lu Yongxiang to be defeated and captured, what attracted Situ Jun to join the Mengshan Army was the strong military strength of this army, and the military skills they displayed fascinated Situ Jun. Another point is that Situ Jun was very disgusted with the Manchu court, probably the mainstream of overseas Chinese has long been tired of the Manchu court that lost its teachers and land, so the Manchu revolution advocated by Sun Wen has a market. The Mengshan army was obviously anti-imperial court, and the desperate Situ Jun instinctively intended to join an army that was against the imperial court. Situ Jun never thought that the Mengshan army was a bandit, how could there be such a well-disciplined and well-trained bandit? After joining the Mengshan Army and being immediately appointed as the deputy chief of the General Staff Section, Situ Jun found that Long Qian unreservedly trusted him on the military issues of the Mengshan Army, but on political issues, such as the movement of the army and the acceptance of government recruitment, Situ Jun did not know anything about it. didn't enter Long Qian's inner circle at all. For example, when Long Qian divided his troops into Beijing, he was very puzzled. Now the mystery has finally been revealed, and it also marks that he has gained Long Qian's true trust.

Although Situ Jun strives to be a pure soldier, he also knows that even in Germany, it is impossible for high-ranking military generals to completely get rid of politics. He was fascinated by Long Qian's very peculiar training methods and army building ideas, and always looked for opportunities to discuss military issues with Long Qian, but he found that Long Qian was not a pure soldier, and most of his energy was put in other places. These three months have been dazzling, Long Qian's protection of the imperial court is acting in his opinion, and he does not believe that a young man who grew up in the United States will have the idea of feudal loyalty. For this reason, Situ Jun felt confused. Could it be that Long Qian is seeking personal wealth? Indeed, the skill of escorting was enough for him to get what he wanted, but it was bought with the blood and lives of hundreds of loyal and brave Mengshan soldiers. Long Qian, he has no right to step on the bones of his subordinates to climb the peak of his life. Situ Jun was unwilling to think of Long Qian, who was deeply rooted in the hearts of the military and had irreproachable personal morality, like that. But the reality is like this, Long Qian had a hot fight with the imperial court, was named a deputy general, and also served as a very important diplomatic mission. If the peace talks in Beijing achieve the desired outcome of the Empress Dowager Cixi, Long Qian will reap more rewards...... Situ Jun followed Long Qian from Niangziguan to Taiyuan with a stomach full of confusion, and then set off from Taiyuan to protect Yi Kuang to Beijing. It was only now that Long Qian had uncovered the mystery for him and completely exposed Long Qian's true colors, which made him feel relaxed.

"It's nothing, I think the commander is really generous." Situ Jun knew that Long Qian asked him to participate in this meeting, which was tantamount to opening his highest secret to him. But the crime of robbing the palace and killing the prince is definitely not something that can be offset by the merit of a single escort. But Long Qian led hundreds of subordinates to do this, it was indeed too risky. Situ Jun didn't think he could keep it a secret at all, "However, the silver I just said must not be revealed......

"Situ, what you think, I have thought of. Let's take it one step at a time. Do you know what I'm most afraid of? Time! Long Qian himself said the answer, "Time is in awe of me." As long as you have time, everything is fine! He spread his five fingers and slashed hard, pursing his lips with a resolute look. (To be continued......)