In the eyes of many people, Long Qian's sudden appointment as the commander of the right wing of the newly formed Weisheng Army, and concurrently serving as the town guard of Yizhou and Yanzhou, was a contemplation. In fact, behind this appointment, there is a painstaking twist and turn.

Li Hongzhang and Yixuan had difficult negotiations with foreigners in Beijing, and Cixi, who was nested in the narrow and damp palace of Taiyuan, was not idle. On the one hand, the old lady remotely controlled the negotiation process in Beijing, and on the other hand, she painfully reflected on the national disaster of Gengzi.

The Gengzi Year that had hit Cixi was slipping away, and there were two things that bothered Cixi the most, one was how to successfully end the negotiations with the foreigners and let the foreigners return the capital of the Qing Empire. Cixi longed more than ever to return to that familiar environment, the Imperial Palace, the West Garden, and the Summer Palace, which she loved even more. Another question is how to deal with the devastation, and change is inevitable. Cixi thought many times of Long Qian's reform proposals, unchanged is indeed not enough, the finances are bankrupt, the army is wiped out, and the rich areas in the south are in a state of semi-separation, and if this continues, the Qing Dynasty will die in its own hands.

Reform is urgent, but even more urgent are the ongoing negotiations in Beijing. The problem focuses on the list of the so-called "culprits", the "culprits" are naturally the original main battle faction, and who they are ready to sacrifice is not something that Li Hongzhang and Yixuan can decide. It must be taken by Cixi in Taiyuan. The first batch of punishment lists taken out by the imperial court could not satisfy the foreigners, so they added one or two more names like squeezing toothpaste, but the foreigners were still not satisfied, thinking that the Manchu court was not sincere in negotiating peace. Li Hongzhang had no choice but to exchange letters and telegrams with the Taiyuan Imperial Court, stating that if he did not satisfy the appetite of foreigners on this issue. Later, the crucial issue of troop withdrawal is out of the question.

The court was distressed. But again and again had to give in. The "culprits" led by Zai Yi are actually Cixi's diehards, representing the most stubborn force of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Every time a person is thrown, it is equivalent to weakening a force that represents the "most traditional". The royal family can't move, pushing Duanwang to the guillotine is an extremely dangerous signal, and it also involves the inheritance of the throne, Cixi understands the power of it, so she must not allow Zaiyi's life. Among the few people hated by foreigners the most, Prince Zhuang Zaixun died "happily" in his palace, and the Minister of Military Aircraft was killed by soldiers on the way out of Beijing for some reason, which was equivalent to solving two problems that made Cixi very difficult. The man is dead. Foreigners naturally no longer pursue it, if Zaixun is alive, he also needs Cixi to protect him, plus Zaiyi who must be protected. It's much more difficult. As for Zhao Shuqiao, Yuxian and other main battles Hanchen. Cixi has decided to abandon it.

They're like a pair of smelly socks. After using it, it was unceremoniously thrown away.

However, the so-called main battle faction is extremely damaging to the morale of the people. Cixi saw it clearly. When the grievances of foreigners are relieved, they will suffer huge losses when the situation is out of control. Cixi, who had been in control of the court for more than 40 years, decided to show her attitude and appease the military and public opinion. This breakthrough selected Long Qian, the most brilliant person in this war.

Long Qian is the main battle, and Long Qian's achievements have been spread all over the world. If the imperial court reused Long Qian, it clearly and unmistakably showed the attitude of the imperial court.

What kind of official position did Long Qian appoint? Long Qian himself recklessly put forward a request for a state capital, which is not too much. After Long Qian was ordered to enter Beijing, Cixi and Rong Lu repeatedly discussed the appointment of Long Qian, and Rong Lu even put forward the idea of letting Long Qian serve as the Yin of Shuntian Mansion, which was a member of Wen Sanpin! Rong Lu's meaning Cixi is clear, the ravaged Beijing needs a hero, and letting a hero who defeated the foreigners to serve as the mayor of Beijing is of great benefit to appease the people who fled in a hurry because the imperial court abandoned their subjects. For a time, Cixi almost acquiesced in this proposal. But then came the news that Long Qian was competing with foreigners in Beijing, and Marshal Wadsey's reluctance to allow Long Qian to participate in the peace talks made Cixi dispel this idea. The Germans also want to save face, and they don't want to see an officer who has defeated them sitting in front of them with his toes proud.

"Xiaolongzi is still young and vigorous, how can he fight with a foreigner as a second lieutenant with the respect of a lieutenant? He also beat people and crawled all over the ground. It's a lot of work. During a court confrontation, Cixi said to the two military planes sitting in front of the ministers.

Although it is criticism, the appreciation in it cannot be concealed.

Wang Wenshao heard that Cixi was going to make great use of Long Qian, and he disapproved of this. This eighty-year-old minister could not tolerate "fortunate advancement" that did not conform to the rules of the imperial court, and the most important thing in officialdom was to follow the rules, especially for civil servants, and there were strict regulations on the promotion of their positions. A young man who returned from overseas was directly promoted to Jing Zhaoyin with a little military exploits, isn't that a mess of the rules? What's more, this person has also been a ringing horse!

"The Queen Mother Mingjian. With Long Qian's military exploits, awarding the deputy general is already a heavy reward, and now he is causing trouble in Beijing, which shows that he is reckless and naïve. It is okay to bring troops, but not to the main town. Wang Wenshao was clearly opposed.

Rong Lu glanced at Wang Wenshao, and said in his heart that what Lafayette valued was not Long Qian's military exploits, but more of the love of saving the driver. But this point can't be said explicitly, to say it is to expose the shortcomings of the imperial court, and you have been in the center for so many years.

"Hmm, what do you think?" Cixi looked at Rong Lu. This time, the military machine took a leave of absence to Zhao Shuqiao, and heard that the foreigners named him, but the Queen Mother did not make it clear, so Lao Zhao became emotional.

Rong Lu lowered his head, "Queen Mother, Long Qian's merits must be rewarded, otherwise it will chill the hearts of loyal ministers and righteous people in the world." The slave thought that Long Qian's ability to train troops and fight wars was good, and it was better for the imperial court to form another army under his command, promote its strengths, and avoid its shortcomings. ”

"Well, what Zhonghua played is exactly what I wanted. You can take a look at it. In fact, Cixi has discussed with Rong Lu in private, Li Hongzhang and Yi Liang jointly signed a fold, Cixi discussed with Rong Lu once, the news of Long Qian's "fight" with the Germans came, Cixi and Rong Lu discussed again, today is just a formality.

This Gengzi national disaster is a huge disaster for the country, and it is an extremely painful disaster for the people in the area of Beijing and Tianjin, including the people around Beijing and Tianjin. It was also a fatal blow to a group of adults such as Zhao Shuqiao, Yuxian, and Xu Tong. But for the court officials who were not involved, it was a good opportunity for rapid promotion. Take stock of the seats to be vacated by the six ministries and nine secretaries of the six ministries of the DPRK and the Central Committee. That's a pretty impressive number. The imperial court must complete a major personnel adjustment as soon as possible in order to rectify the broken politics. During this time, Cixi has been thinking about the personnel layout.

However, in Cixi's heart, the rectification of armaments is obviously the first priority, and the force available to the imperial court now is undoubtedly Yuan Shikai's army. Long Qian suddenly became famous, and his connections and strength could not be compared with Yuan Shikai, who had been in business for more than ten years. A large part of Long Qian's military exploits in Tianjin were recorded in the name of Yuan Shikai, and Yuan Shikai actually gained the reputation of knowing people and being good at their duties. After all, Long Qian's Qinwang detachment. It was the banner of the Wuwei Right Army.

Yuan Shikai is a candidate for a new generation of commanders. In the imperial court, he has long had a reputation as a soldier. And its political achievements in Shandong are also considerable, especially the transformation and expansion of the provincial capital Jinan, which has won praise from the government and the opposition. This is an unstoppable political star. Li Hongzhang had strongly recommended it before, and later Yuan Shikai obviously left Li Hongzhang. switched to Ronglu and Yixuan. There is no strong recommendation from Yixuan and Ronglu. Yuan Shikai will not ascend to the throne of the governor of Shandong. Right now. Cixi counted with her fingers, and there was no more suitable person to use. Li Hongzhang is old and frail, and will be the governor of Zhili in the future. Cixi has been appointed by Yuan Shikai.

The Gyeonggi military armament will undoubtedly be led by Yuan Shikai's Wuwei Right Army. But the Han people were in charge of the army, after all, it was not so reassuring to Cixi. In particular, Yuan Shikai was not so satisfied with Cixi on the issue of mutual insurance in the southeast. The so-called imperial mind of the supreme ruler always has a mysterious taste in the eyes of the courtiers who are not very talented. In fact, tearing apart the appearance, it is just the word "balance". Now, Long Qian, who was unknown half a year ago, has become an important bargaining chip for Cixi to balance power.

Therefore, the excerpt that Rong Lu took out the next day about the formation of the Weisheng Army was immediately approved by Cixi. In view of the limited conditions, the Wasion Army first formed a wing, which was the right wing of the Wasion Army. This new-style armament, which Rong Lu decided to personally grasp, adopted an establishment similar to that of the Western Army, with one army under the jurisdiction of two wings, one wing under the jurisdiction of two standards, one standard under the jurisdiction of three battalions, one battalion under the jurisdiction of four teams, one team under the jurisdiction of three platoons, and one platoon under the jurisdiction of three sheds. Artillery, engineering, cavalry, and baggage were established with reference to the establishment of the German Army. Therefore, the wing is the brigade of the posterity. This right wing, which was established first, was formed by Long Qian's Qinwang detachment. The position of wing commander unexpectedly fell on Long Qian's head.

If it weren't for the great victory in Xigu and the escort of thousands of miles, Cixi would never give such treatment to Xiangma, who had just recruited An. But the most important thing is that Long Qian has a gap with Yuan Shikai. That's the most important thing. Cultivating a new army that did not belong to Yuan Shikai was in line with Cixi's wishes. Therefore, Rong Lu's suggestion was immediately approved by Cixi.

The initial consideration of where to locate the right flank of the Wasion Army was to be located in Baoding. Baoding is too important to be garrisoned by a reliable force. But the foreigners still occupy Baoding, and Li Hongzhang can't talk about the results, and Baoding can't return to the imperial court. In the second place, Ronglu chose Luanzhou, which was also under the control of foreigners. However, the news of the capture of Yixian by the Baoqinggu bandits came from Shandong, which made Cixi suddenly change her mind, and immediately decided that Long Qian would lead the troops back to Lunan and serve as the envoy of Yizhou and Yanzhou towns.

The town guard envoy is a military position, and his status is above the prefect, but the civil service still has to be appointed, the former Yizhou and Yanzhou prefects were dismissed, and Wu Yong was appointed as the prefect of Yanzhou. The other prefect was recommended and appointed by Yuan Shikai. Although Cixi was dissatisfied with Yuan Shikai, since she was ready to reuse this person, she had to give this face. Otherwise, in the eyes of the government and the opposition, Yuan Shikai's face would be lost.

Long Qian, who was in Beijing, naturally didn't know that there were so many twists and turns behind his appointment. In his opinion, although Yizhou and Yanzhou are not very ideal places, the benefits are also obvious, at least there is no need to bother to do the ideological work of the troops.

So, Long Qian was very happy.

Immediately after that, Wu Yong's appointment also arrived. Congratulations are not to be given. And Wu Yong was also happy and said that he would work together with Long Qian to govern Yanzhou well. And what Li Hongzhang said to Long Qian afterwards made Long Qian have a headache again.

Li Hongzhang told Long Qian that the imperial court had decided to implement a new policy. In the secret decree given to me by the Queen Mother, I asked you to write a letter on how to implement the new policy. Didn't you boast to the Queen Mother? Didn't you want the court to train a strong army for the court for a penny? Now the imperial court has given you two states of land, which is enough for you to spread. This time you go back to Taiyuan, the Queen Mother will definitely ask you about the charter, you should prepare well.

Long Qian said to Li Hongzhang that the road of the New Deal has actually been walked by Zhongtang. It's just a copy of doing foreign affairs. It is impossible to run government affairs, but there is confidence in training soldiers, but there is no way to train soldiers without money. When I return to Shandong this time, I must figure out the essence of the Zhongtang people's foreign affairs, run education, develop industry and commerce, and increase taxes. Strive to train a strong army for the imperial court within three to five years.

Li Hongzhang said: Your suggestion to the old man on peace talks is quite impressive. But it's easier said than done, and most of the things in the world are like that. In Lunan place, the land is barren and the people are poor, it is very good to be able to let the people have enough to eat, and it is not easy to revitalize industry and commerce!

Long Qian saw Li Hongzhang's tired face, and sincerely said to the old man that Zhongtang's experience in running foreign affairs over the years was enough for the kid to study for life. When I arrived in Shandong, I must ask for more instructions from Zhongtang, and if Zhongtang is free, I hope that Zhongtang will give more guidance to the younger generations.

Li Hongzhang waved his hand, unwilling to talk any further. The peace talks were far away, and they had exhausted his energy. The body is getting worse and worse, vomiting blood more and more times, except for a few of the most confidant, no one knows that they have reached the point where they have run out of oil! After three or four months of discussions, only a 12-point outline was come out, the first of which was that because of the murder of Minister Klinde, the Qing court would send the prince to Germany to apologize for his crimes, and to erect a monument to commemorate the murder of the German minister. The second is to severely punish the culprits, and stop the imperial examinations within five years in the towns that harm foreigners, as a punishment. The rest, such as the garrison of the embassy, the destruction of the Dagu Fort, the revision of the treaty on trade and shipping, and the compensation of foreigners' net worth and property, all nailed themselves to the pillar of shame in history.

In this way, it has exhausted their own strength to get foreigners to approve and sign this outline. Specific to the withdrawal of troops and indemnities, the foreigners bite to death, and they do not let go at all. And the list of culprits who have been punished several times has given Li Hongzhang an extremely headache. After this matter is done, I am afraid that the name of the traitor will not be able to escape. Weng Tonghe, the leader of the Qingliu at the beginning, accused himself of being a big traitor, and Gu Hongming, who was dedicated to assisting him some time ago, also turned his face with himself because of his concession. Gu Hongming criticized that in order to save the lives of Zai Yi and his gang, he was willing to sign such a document! I asked helplessly: What do you mean I am Qin Hui? Gu Hongming, the madman, actually said that the traitor Qin Hui and the misleader Li Hongzhang. After saying that, he said goodbye without saying goodbye.

"Old man, China's affairs depend on your seniors. You can do it. ”

Long Qian didn't expect that this was the last sentence left to him by this famous minister of the late Qing Dynasty. (To be continued......)

PS: A new volume unfolds. But Aaron has been busy with housework lately and is very upset. Today's chapter came out in a hurry. I hope you will have a lot of encouragement and let Aaron continue to tell this story.