The group landed in Tianjin, because the British and French ministers were all traveling with the army, in order to demonstrate like them, the teams along the way were the most elite men and horses of each army, and the distance of 200 miles was intermittently walked for five days before arriving in Beijing.

Lieutenant Li Yun placed the foreigners in a relatively remote alley in the west of the city, and before he was familiar with the environment of the imperial palace, he immediately summoned the generals of the group army at and above the division level to discuss the matter.

Li Xiucheng, Li Desheng, Li Chunfa, Ye Lian, Lin Fengxiang, Li Kaifang, Li Hongzhang and others are prepared in their hearts, the army has been out for a long time, which emperor sleeps peacefully?

After everyone arrived, Li Yunzhong walked in quickly with Zhao Yali, Luo Xuan, Chen Yucheng, Zhang Zhidong and others, signaled with both hands that the generals did not have to salute, and after each found a seat and sat down, he immediately spoke: "This time I summoned you to come to discuss the arrangement of military academy graduates. ”

For the graduates of the Nanjing Military Academy, Ye Lian looks down on her the most, not only has she never fought, but she can't even ride a war horse, and she has a headache every time she gets a graduate.

Ye Lian saw that everyone was silent, so she said: "Emperor Qiqi, although all the disciples are not afraid of death these days, but cavalry combat is different from infantry, the most important thing is horsemanship. ”

Li Yunzhong glanced at Ye Lian, and then at Tang Liang, he already knew that Ye Lian and Tang Liang got married in Beijing last month, if it wasn't for Tang Liang's face, he would rely on this sentence. Ye Lian, the position of the commander of the cavalry army, is someone else's.

The representatives of the officers of the military academy are Chen Yucheng, Tan Shaoguang, Bai Yinwu and others, and Chen Yucheng also knows that Lu Dao is about to start a war against Russia. As long as there is a war, the cavalry becomes the main force. It must be expanded, how can he tolerate Ye Lian continuing to monopolize the cavalry.

"What Commander Ye said is not unreasonable, Wei Chen suggested that among the cadets give priority to those who can ride and assign them to the cavalry army, besides, our army is about to run Mongolia, the cavalry will definitely be expanded, and it is the right time for the grassroots officers to be supplemented by the cadets."

Li Yunzhong nodded, looked at Ye Lian's disapproving expression, and said solemnly: "What Chen Yucheng said is reasonable, this matter will be done!" ”

"Yes!" Ye Lian bowed her head and agreed.

Li Xiucheng said: "Weichen thinks this matter is feasible. It's just that there are enough grassroots generals in the army, and I'm afraid there are not so many positions, so Wei Chen thinks that this matter should not be rushed, so as not to cause turmoil in the army. ”

Li Yunzhong saw that they were all pushing back, so he used the second set of plans, took a sip of tea, and said slowly: "This time, I have brought a total of 1,300 students, and I plan to use them as the core to form a new group army, and the number will be set at 100,000. 25,000 men were drawn from each of the four existing group armies, and all of them were trained in Luoyang. ”

Li Desheng nodded, he thought that this move was the safest, and immediately said: "The emperor is wise. After Weichen went back, he immediately selected the subordinates. ”

Li Yunzhong advised: "The Fifth Army, I am of great use. Don't be perfunctory! Otherwise, the punishment will be severe. ”

"Your Ministers obey!"

Li Yunzhong nodded and said, "There is one more thing. I heard that the Hui people in Hanzhong had an uprising, and the Qing army had no heart to fight. Most of them have retreated to Hubei Province, but the Hui leaders Feng Yuanzuo, Feng Hualong, and Yang Shenghua accepted the Manchu canonization, and vainly tried to secede Gansu, Qinghai, and Shaanxi, and slaughter the people there. ”

Li Hongzhang was overjoyed, what he lacked most now was his military exploits, and immediately said: "Weichen is willing to lead the troops to quell the chaos!" ”

Li Xiucheng also continued: "Weichen is willing to lead the troops to quell the chaos!" ”

Li Desheng was not far behind, and replied: "Weichen is willing!" ”

The generals in the palace were all angry, and they asked for war, the Han was about to unify the country, if you didn't get some war achievements as soon as possible, there would be no chance if you wanted it in the future.

Li Yunzhong nodded and smiled, waved his hands slightly, and the hall fell silent, and asked, "What do you guys think of the Hui people?" ”

Li Xiucheng first said: "The Hui people also believe in foreign religions, although they are not the same system as the worship of God, and the Weichen will not force them to change their beliefs, and persuade them to do good deeds according to the situation. ”

Li Yunzhong didn't say anything, but just smiled: "The weapons held by the Hui people are all big swords and spears, which are not enough to worry about!" ”

Li Desheng said: "Wechen led the troops to fight when they encountered the rebels, and in less than a year, Wechen could wipe out the rebels!" ”

Li Yunzhong said with a smile: "This method treats the symptoms but not the root cause. ”

Li Hongzhang smiled knowingly, and replied in general: "Divide and rule, the Hui people only raised troops because they were oppressed, and Weichen will inevitably find the crux of the problem and march again." ”

Li Yunzhong also wanted Li Hongzhang to go, don't look at these literati who have no power to restrain chickens, but they are very black-bellied, as long as they are beneficial to the country, they dare to do anything, and although Li Xiucheng, Li Desheng and others are brave, they will all do the slaughter of the city.

"It is natural to kill people to pay for their lives, and it is natural to repay debts, and you will act in this way when you go to the northwest!"

Li Hongzhang bowed down and said, "Weichen understands!" ”

Li Yunzhong ordered someone to write a holy decree, handed it to Li Hongzhang, and advised: "This time, you bring 50,000 soldiers and horses to quell the rebellion, in addition to the 14th Army, there is also Ye Lian's cavalry army, she is from Shaanxi, you have to listen to her opinion, in view of the many villages in the northwest, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and then equip you with fifty cannons, even if you chase to the edge of the sky, you must also destroy the rebels for me, and leave no trouble!" For those who have committed the most heinous crimes, I only need heads, and do not take prisoners. ”

"Weichen Command!" Li Hongzhang couldn't help kneeling down, and his hands followed the holy decree.

Li Yunzhong picked up Li Hongzhang and ordered: "This matter is not too long or too late, you go to order troops immediately, and you will set off tomorrow morning." ”

Li Hongzhang immediately responded, took Liu Mingchuan, Wu Changqing and others and slowly retreated outside the hall, glanced at each other with a smile, and marched to the barracks together.

Walking on the bluestone road out of the palace, Liu Mingchuan quickened his pace and asked Li Hongzhang: "My lord, there is one thing that my younger brother doesn't understand, and I hope to teach him!" ”

Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "Do you want to ask, all the people in the palace who are invited to fight are the emperor's henchmen and generals, and why did the emperor choose the 14th Army to participate in the war, isn't it?" ”

Liu Mingchuan nodded yes, and said in his mouth: "Whether it is Li Xiucheng or Li Desheng, they are both figures who command hundreds of thousands of troops, invincible and invincible, with them, it is easy to quell the Shaanxi-Gansu rebellion!" ”

Wu Changqing also nodded yes on the side.

Without waiting for Li Hongzhang to explain, Liu Bingzhang smiled and said: "Province three, this chaos is not as simple as it seems, since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, the Hui people have been very strictly controlled, especially after Emperor Qianlong, the Han people bullied the Hui people, and the Hui people killed the Han people to retaliate, these things often happen, hundreds of years of grudges, can be described as a feud, how can the chaos be as simple as Li Xiucheng and others said, the emperor also thought of this, so he ordered Lord Li to lead the troops forward!" ”

Liu Mingchuan seemed to have an understanding, and replied: "The Han people and the Hui people are not mutually exclusive, which side should we help?" Yes, we are all Han Chinese, and most of the Guangxi people such as Li Desheng are Zhuang, which is ...... The emperor's meaning couldn't be more obvious. ”

Wu Changqing looked at Li Hongzhang and asked, "Could it be that the emperor is asking us to drive out all the Hui people?" It's too cruel! ”

Li Hongzhang hurriedly reminded: "Xiao Xuan said cautiously, the emperor just asked us to quell the rebellion, as for what to do, it is our business, don't push it on the emperor's head, in the past, the capital was Nanjing, the dynasty was sluggish, the law was not strict, it will be different in the future, if you speak as presumptuous as before, you will suffer a big loss!" ”

Liu Mingchuan saw Wu Changqing with a straight face, and said with a smile: "Xiao Xuan is just too kind, didn't the emperor say it!" Killing people pays for our lives, we are not butchers, we are open to those Muslims who have never killed anyone, we don't have to kill the Muslims without leaving a piece of armor! ”

Li Hongzhang shook his head, as far as he knew, the Hui people were all brave and ruthless, and most of the Han people were addicted to smoking, and their martial arts were sluggish, with the help of the government, the Han people had the upper hand, and now the Hui people have raised troops, which Han people are their opponents, and I don't know how many Hui people have not killed the Han people? This time to go to quell the rebellion is bound to be bloody.

Wu Changqing listened to Liu Mingchuan's comfort, and said with a forced smile: "I hope so!" Otherwise, there are millions of Hui people, and we will not be able to rely on tens of thousands of people, and then we will have to devote the whole country to quell the rebellion, and it will be the common people who will suffer. ”

Liu Ming preached: "Even if there are tens of millions of Hui people, what are you afraid of using big swords and spears!" (To be continued......)

PS: I won't write about the specific war when I return to chaos, so as not to be hacked