In the big tent of the King of the West, after Xiao Yungui helped up Yuan Jiasan and Li Hongzhang with a smile, he said a few words of encouragement, and sat down again, Yuan Jiasan said: "Your Highness, now that the two of your subordinates are newly attached, they have not made an inch, but they have been sent, and they will do their best to serve them." ”

Xiao Yungui nodded and said: "Duke Yuan doesn't need to be in a hurry, the two of them will definitely be of great use, now let's talk about the internal situation of the Manchu court?" ”

Yuan Jiasan said: "Since the defeat of the summer battle, the court is divided into two factions, monk Gelinqin and others insist on asking the two palaces and the emperor to let the city go, give up the capital, or retreat to Shanxi, or retreat outside the pass, in short, can not resist in the capital. The other faction was led by the ministers of the clan such as Prince Yiyi, Prince Huafeng, Prince Yixuan, and Wang Zaiquan of Dingjun, who tried their best to prevent the city from leaving, and invited the two palaces and the little emperor to hold on to the capital, and gathered the army of the king of Qin from all walks of life to continue to come to the capital to help. Although the monk king fought on the basis of reason, he could not resist the opposition of the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty, so in the end, the two palaces issued an order to stick to the capital and gather the army of the king from all walks of life to help. ”

Xiao Yungui touched his chin and smiled: "In this case, this king's major event is decided." Then he glanced at the two of them and asked with a smile, "Which faction are the two of them?" ”

After Yuan Jiasan and Li Hongzhang glanced at each other, Yuan Jiasan said honestly: "His Majesty and Shaoquan are from the Monk Greenqin faction, His Royal Highness's tens of thousands of troops besieged the capital, the purpose is to besiege but not attack, to attract the army of Qinwang from all walks of life to come to the capital, and the Manchu court has been trapped for a long time, and all the rich lands in the south of the Yangtze River have been lost, and there is simply not so much money and food in the north of the river to supply the army of Qinwang from all walks of life." At that time, His Highness only needs to sit in the camp, and once the armies of all walks of life are defeated due to money and food, His Highness can drive troops to chase after the rout. When the army of King Qinwang is destroyed, the capital can be fired without a single shot. The two ministers and Peng Yulin also saw the power of His Highness's strategy. It's just that the Manchu court refused to listen to our good words, so it was only a matter of time before the court was defeated. It is only the two of them who have the idea of joining the new dynasty. ”

Li Hongzhang also said: "Although the two ministers ate Manchu Yulu before, they have been loyal to their duties, and they have thought about the way to think about it, and they have done what they should do. ”

Yuan Jiasan and Li Hongzhang said it openly, Xiao Yungui didn't mind at all, but appreciated the honesty of the two, and then said, "Yes." The Manchu Qing Dynasty is already waiting to be killed in the twilight, and there is no need to let go of the words of loyal ministers and good generals, it is a matter of time before they are defeated, and it is excellent that the two of them can see the general trend clearly. By the way, since the two of them have been attached, what does Peng Yulin say? ”

Li Hongzhang bowed slightly and said: "Xue Shuai has not been injured and has not been able to come this time, but Xue Shuai is also cold to this court, and I believe that the minister will send a letter back." Inevitably, you can also vote. ”

Xiao Yungui stroked his palms and smiled: "This is very good, in fact, the last time Xue Shuai went back, this king was waiting for him to voluntarily come to vote for the day, and later this king also gave him a handwritten letter." They both handed it to him. Then he said: "There is another person who has not been mentioned, that Prince Gong?" This? ”

Yuan Jiasan said: "Since King Gong negotiated with the foreigners, he committed lying because of the prelude. has been deprived of his powers by the Queen Mother and confined at home. Do not go out of the house for half a step. ”

Xiao Yungui sighed and asked, "That monk Greenqin has been in a relationship recently?" Since the court did not allow him to recital, what about him? ”

Li Hongzhang said: "The monk king seems to be also hit by this incident. Morning and evening, they were in the barracks, neither going to court nor facing saints, and seemed to be deliberately evading. ”

Xiao Yungui's brows furrowed when he heard this, and then asked, "Then did he contact Prince Gong?" ”

Li Hongzhang and Yuan Jiasan glanced at each other, already knowing what the King of the West was worried about, and at that moment Li Hongzhang slowly shook his head and said: "The two of your subordinates don't know, although King Gong is confined at home, but the soldiers guarding are all people who lead the yamen of the infantry army, and the commander of the infantry army is in charge of the Yamen, and the prince of alcohol has always had a good relationship with King Gong and the monk king, and it may be possible to exchange news." ”

Xiao Yungui frowned and said, "It's not that maybe, it's definitely going to be!" After pacing a few steps, he asked, "How many troops can the two of you control in the capital?" ”

Yuan Jiasan said: "The two of his subordinates brought tens of thousands of Huai troops from Huaishang, and after repeated battles, there were less than 5,000 people left, and more than 10,000 reinforcements from Shanxi were also brought in. They are all stationed in the camp of Xiyuan in the capital, and there is not a single soldier in the capital. ”

Xiao Yungui was a little disappointed, and after a moment of silence, he said: "The two of you still have to go back to the capital first, Monk Greenqin behaves strangely, he has military power in his hands, I am afraid that he will do something to admonish the army, such as hijacking the two palaces of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the emperor, and forcibly taking them out of the capital, so that the king's plan will be wasted." ”

Yuan Jiasan and Li Hongzhang were both shocked, and Li Hongzhang even lost his voice: "Soldiers? Monk Greenqin is only afraid that he doesn't have the courage, and the palace guards and infantry commanders are still in the hands of Prince Alcohol. ”

Xiao Yungui smiled bitterly: "Monk Greenqin doesn't have the guts, but Prince Gong has it, if the dog jumps off the wall in a hurry, he will definitely do it." Prince Yiyi, this kid is still young, and if he really encounters a big event, he will definitely not be able to handle it, not to mention that Monk Greenqin also has heavy troops in his hands. Previously, the Empress Dowager Xi had been able to control the situation because of the orders of the military generals such as Seng Lingqin, but now that the situation is chaotic, these generals are unwilling to stay in the capital, which will definitely cause chaos in the army. ”

Li Hongzhang also frowned and said: "The two ministers should go back immediately, and remind the Queen Mother to strictly prevent Monk Greenqin from suddenly attacking, and it is best to preemptively divide the military power of Monk Greenqin to prevent chaos in the capital." ”

Xiao Yungui nodded and said: "That's right, the two of you will go back and prepare now, pull Peng Yulin to do it together, this king can also give the two of them an edict, but anyone who is willing to belong to my heavenly kingdom, the two of them can be recruited first, and in the future, this king will definitely cash in the reward one by one according to the conditions offered by the two." ”

Yuan Jiasan and Li Hongzhang stood up together to receive the order, and Xiao Yungui said to Qian Jiang: "There is no need to talk to Yishan about anything, summon them immediately, and tell them that this king does not want to negotiate with the Manchus and blow them away, so that Yuan Gong and Shaoquan can return to the capital immediately without being suspected." ”

Qian Jiang also bowed down to receive the order, and when he parted, Xiao Yungui said to Yuan Jiasan and Li Hongzhang: "After the two go back, they must help the Qing court queen mother to stabilize the situation in the capital, the prosperous capital is what the king wants, if the monk Greenqin admonishes the army together, the capital will definitely be in chaos, and the king has to send troops to attack the capital in advance, and at that time, the ancient capital of the past dynasties will be destroyed by military disasters." What this king wants is an intact capital, not a dilapidated capital, and the two of them should keep in mind. ”

Yuan Jiasan and Li Hongzhang immediately solemnly agreed, and the King of the West handed over the letter to Peng Yulin to the two, and then the two quietly returned to the camp where the Manchu envoys were stationed under the leadership of the personal guards of the King of the West.

Yishan and others were not optimistic about this negotiation, and when they saw that everyone was driven away, they didn't say much, and after hurriedly packing up, they left the Nanyuan camp under the custody of Taiping soldiers, and Yuan Jiasan and Li Hongzhang also returned to the capital.

After returning to the capital, Yishan took Yuan Jiasan, Li Hongzhang and others into the palace to hand over the sign to the Empress Dowager of the West, which was regarded as returning to the palace to hand over the decree. Soon the Queen Mother sent a decree to let them go to the Qianqing Palace to meet them.

The three of them came to the Qianqing Palace to see the Queen Mother, and after Yishan saw the ceremony, he couldn't wait to say that Changmao was not sincere in negotiation, and at the end he also babbled about Changmao's rudeness to drive them away.

The Queen Mother did not get angry after hearing this, but only comforted Yishan a few words after a gentle sigh, and then ordered him to go back to rest, and then sent him back to the left and right, leaving Yuan Jiasan and Li Hongzhang alone for questioning.

The Queen Mother inquired in detail about the trip, Yuan Jiasan and Li Hongzhang answered the same as Yishan, the Queen Mother pondered for a while and only listened to Yuan Jiasan: "Recently, the ministers heard that the monk and the king live in a simple place, and stay in the military camp most of the time. ”

The Queen Mother sighed and said, "Yuan Jiasan, you go on." ”

At that moment, Yuan Jiasan slowly said the inference of the King of the West, and finally Yuan Jiasan said: "Queen Mother, although what your subordinates said is just speculation, but now the situation in the capital is delicate, for the sake of the safety of the two palaces and the emperor, your subordinates feel that they should still take precautions." ”

Li Hongzhang also said: "Queen Mother Mingjian, although King Gong does not have any power in his hands at this time, but the monk king can't make up his mind, it is difficult to guarantee that King Gong will not pinch it, and since the monk king behaves abnormally, he should still take precautions." ”

After hearing this, the Queen Mother suddenly laughed, which made Yuan Jiasan and Li Hongzhang puzzled, and then the Queen Mother smiled and sighed lightly: "Didn't the two of you also support the strategy of letting the city go before?" It's an anomaly to talk like this today. Speaking of this, Yuan and Li were shocked, and then the Queen Mother said: "If the two of you don't really think about the two palaces and the emperor, they are here to contribute to the new dynasty." ”

After hearing this, Yuan Jiasan and Li Hongzhang broke out in a cold sweat, and hurriedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed, only saying: "The ministers are very sincere to the Qing Dynasty, and they have no disobedience at all. ”

The Queen Mother hummed behind the screen and said, "You two don't have to panic, this palace is just joking, get up." After a while, he said: "In this case, I still have to take precautions, and later the palace will summon Yi Yi to come to the palace first, and the palace will give you a will at this time, so that the two of you can lead the Huai army of the headquarters of 5,000 and 10,000 Shanxi soldiers to enter the west of the capital in a few city gates. Later, Yiyi will come, and you will hand over the sign and come in to discuss together. Oh yes, you go and invite Peng Yulin together, he is also a cadre, and he can be entrusted with important tasks. ”

Yuan Jiasan and Li Hongzhang trembled and came out, and after coming to the outside of the palace, Li Hongzhang asked in a frightened whisper: "Duke Yuan, what does the Queen Mother mean by this?" Could it be that she had already guessed something? ”

Yuan Jiasan gritted his teeth and said: "Whether the Queen Mother is aware of it or not, in this case, I and Peng Yulin will enter the palace to face the saint later, you can stay in Xiyuan and take the soldiers and horses, once something happens, you can continue to lead the army, and the camera will unite with the King of the West to rescue me." If the Queen Mother is really joking, then we will do ...... according to the original plan" (to be continued......