In the palace, Rong Hong held his head high and angrily reprimanded, but the object of his reprimand was the emperor of the Chinese Empire.

"You have changed the name of the country set by your ancestors, this is disloyalty; Killing one's own father is unfilial; It is ruthless to kill the queen mother who supports your power; It is unrighteous to slaughter the ministers who support them; Remember what you said to the U.S. Secretary of State? You say you want a democratic constitutional, but what about now, this is unfaithful; forcibly promoting industrialization, looting the people's rations, and starving to death countless times, this is unkind; If a tyrant like you who is disloyal, unfilial, ruthless, unjust, unkind and untrustworthy, if he still opposes you, then is there any reason in this world? ”

After a moment of silence, Ding Yuntong said slowly: "I don't need to debate anything with you, and you don't have this qualification. I want to teach you a truth today, today is just a line in the long river of history, each of us is just a point in it, and in the eyes of future generations, we are just points and lines. What we do is just numbers and symbols in history books, exam questions in the classrooms of future students, printed materials on the shelves of bookstores, and topics and materials that experts and scholars rely on to make a living. No matter we live or die, no one sympathizes, no one pities us, no matter how great we are, no one will thank us, no matter how despicable we are, no one will hate us, we are just dots and lines. ”

Looking at the stunned Rong Hong, Ding Yuntong continued: "When it comes to whether I am a tyrant or not, and how many people I have killed, it doesn't matter. As long as I can expand the territory of the Chinese Empire, and even keep such a territory in Shijie, where the great powers are strife, no matter how many people are killed, future generations will still defend me, and the merit outweighs the demerit.

killed 100,000 people, but only three points; Killing millions of people is still three points; Killing tens of millions of people is still three points. You'll never understand such a mathematical law.

And those who died, in the eyes of future generations, are just dots and lines, just numbers, they will not get any pity and sympathy, and future generations will defend me.

Do you think it's impossible? Don't you believe it? They'll defend me, they will.

You can't see it, and I can't see it, but I believe it, because I saw it before. ”

Ding Yuntong waved his hand and asked people to take Rong Hong down, he originally wanted to execute Rong Hong, but now that he has changed his mind a little, maybe it will come in handy if he keeps it.

Before leaving, Rong Hong looked at Ding Yuntong like a madman, Ding Yuntong shook his head, the truth can indeed make people crazy sometimes, and revealing the truth will also be regarded as a madman, which is also a kind of truth in itself.

At the same time, Yuan Shikai is in the biggest crisis of his life.

The defensive positions on the north bank of the Han River have established telephone contact with Seoul, which can quickly report the situation, because at this time telephone communication needs to set up a switch, etc., Jishu operation is very troublesome, and there is no telephone in the direction of Mount Esang in the east, so Yuan Shikai stipulated that no matter what is going on, the situation must be reported every other hour to ensure safety.

Although Yuan Shikai was in charge of the military affairs of the Korean Peninsula, his military rank was only that of a colonel and a staff officer. Today is even more unusual, from the afternoon until it is dark, no one has been sent, which makes him very annoyed.

Yuan Shikai wanted to transfer Zhang Guangqian back to Seoul and let He Zengzhu replace him to take charge of Mount Esan. Of course, now is the combat period, rashly transfer Zhang Guangqian back alone, it is easy to create contradictions, the enemy is very unwise at present, so Yuan Shikai decided to change the troops in the name of the change of defense and rest, let He Zengzhu take the entire battalion to replace the Eshan troops, and wait for the Japanese army to be repulsed, and then settle accounts with Zhang Guangqian.

After deciding on it, he immediately sent an order for He Zengzhu to gather his troops, and at the same time sent someone to inform Eshengshan to change the guard tonight.

Just a moment later, there was a sudden commotion outside, and then a subordinate ran in: "Report to your lordship, the enemy has been found three miles outside the east gate!" ＂

Yuan Shikai was shocked, there was an enemy outside the east gate, what did Zhang Guangqian eat?

He immediately rushed out of Qingnongzhai, flew on his horse, and led his men to the east gate. But not far from Gyeongbokgung Palace, I heard a faint sound of gunfire from the direction of the east gate, and the light of the fire could be seen in the distance. Yuan Shikai was extremely surprised: "The speed is so fast? Could it be a cavalry assault? He suddenly felt that when he arrived at the east gate, maybe the east gate had already been lost.

Yuan Shikai immediately decided, did not want the east gate, stabilized the formation, did not let the enemy rush down, and then Xu Tu counterattacked. He immediately turned the horse's head, ordered to return to the palace, and sent someone to let He Zengzhu lead the team to Gyeongbokgung Palace. At the same time, he also ordered Yin Taijun's new army rear camp to immediately intercept the area of Changqing Palace near the east gate, not expecting to repel the enemy, but to buy some time.

Yuan Shikai was right, the east gate had been lost at this time.

Akiyama Yoshigu led more than 600 cavalry to cover all the way from the south bank of the Han River, except for two who lost their hooves and fell off their horses, almost none of his subordinates were injured, which made him very proud. Now that he has captured the East Gate, he has begun to dream of defeating the Chinese defenders on his own, occupying Seoul in one fell swoop, and becoming the "Hannibal" in Shijie's eyes.

The Japanese continued to advance, and at Changgyeonggung Palace, they were met by the North Korean troops, and after paying a negligible price of five dead and eleven wounded, the North Korean army was completely routed.

According to Kotaro Kataoka's guidance, further ahead was Changdeokgung Palace, where Gojong was located, and Akiyama Yoshiko felt that it was impossible for the headquarters of the Chinese army to be located here, so he ordered to cross Changdeokgung Palace and go straight to Gyeongbokgung Palace behind.

The sound of rumbling horses' hooves shook Seoul, and the frightened citizens of Seoul only dared to press on the door, and the family trembled under the bed.

The cavalry was fast, and the Japanese army soon arrived at the main gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace, "Gwanghwamun Gate", which took the meaning of "illuminating the Quartet and educating the Quartet", and could be said to be the "national gate" of Korea.

At this time, the gate of Gwanghwamen was opened, and there was no sound inside, and it seemed that the building had already been emptied, and the Japanese army took it for granted that the Chinese were scared away, and the soldiers rushed in directly on horseback, and Kotaro Kataoka was the first.

Almost instantly, there was a burst of gunfire in the Gwanghwamun Gate, the golden snake danced wildly, and the rain of bullets came on, and the Japanese troops who rushed in had no way to dodge, and they were immediately swept across a large area, and for a time people shouted and neighed, and the screams were endless.

Akiyama was shocked: This is a trick to lure the enemy. He ordered the troops to retreat, pausing the charge.

And Yuan Shikai in Gyeongbokgung Palace was deeply fortunate, because he was ready to let He Zengzhu lead the army to replace Zhang Guangqian, so the troops were assembled, and he quickly retreated into Gyeongbokgung Palace with an order. Fortunately, the front foot of the Guards retreated, and the Japanese army hit the back foot, which was really thrilling, which made Yuan Shikai break out in a cold sweat!

The Japanese army dismounted one after another and launched a fierce attack, which played into Yuan Shikai's arms, the enemy's advantage was speed and suddenness, but in such a storm, these two advantages would be quickly neutralized. He Zengzhu is also deploying troops and firepower, preparing for a fierce counterattack.

Unexpectedly, the Japanese army outside Gyeongbokgung Palace suddenly stopped attacking, and all the Japanese soldiers flew on their horses, only to hear a whistle, and actually gave up Gyeongbokgung Palace, and all of them went to the west. The speed, the decisiveness of the command, and the flexibility of the tactics are really terrifying, Yuan Shikai listened to the sound of the horse's hooves rumbling away, and sighed in his heart: "Fierce enemy! ”

Looking at the direction, the Japanese army is heading to the West Gate, there is a battalion of Zhu Xianmin outside the West Gate, and the inside of Seoul is a mess, he must have been prepared, the Japanese army wants to attack there but it is not cheap, just send troops to attack.

Thinking of this, Yuan Shikai immediately called Wu Zhaoyou on the north bank of the Han River and asked him to transfer a battalion to the west gate to encircle and annihilate the enemy, and another battalion to reinforce Gyeongbokgung Palace to prevent the enemy's follow-up troops from attacking.

Not long after the call, a soldier came in and reported: "Report to your lord, it's not good, the enemy has suddenly appeared in Huijicang at the north gate!" ”

Yuan Shikai stomped his feet anxiously: "What a treacherous wolf, it turned out to be a voice from the west to the north!" ”