It is difficult to say what the state of the Qing state was in 1898, and in the eyes of the discerning people, the emperor and the empress dowager in the Forbidden City fought openly and secretly for the so-called power. Li Hongzhang's Zhili Governor's troops were far away from the background city, and concentrated their troops in Tianjin and other nodes. Watching the battle in the center with a neutral attitude. In addition to Zhili, whether it is the Beiyang or Nanyang or some Manchu governors, they have a kind of indifference to this power dispute, because they know that as long as the center really breaks out into flames, then the final victor cannot be the emperor or the empress dowager.

But no one has broken through this layer, the reason is very simple, the Beiyang side has been eager to let this court fall as soon as possible, whether it is those governors who hold the power of local administration, or businessmen with thousands of pockets, as well as those civilians who have been suppressed in various ways, they have no nostalgia for this decadent and backward center, what they need is an opportunity, an opportunity to overthrow it.

As for the South Seas? Maybe Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong still have a little nostalgia for this dynasty, but at this time, the vast majority of people in the Nanyang system have formed a new interest group in the process of long-term exchanges with Beiyang. Beiyang bought steel from the Hanyang Iron Works controlled by Nanyang, and new artillery and other weapons from the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau. The major business groups in Beiyang have shares in these people, and many people are even using their connections in Beiyang to do some other business. And in this case, whether it is Liu Kunyi or Zhang Zhidong, they know very well that even if they want to protect this Qing Dynasty, their subordinates will not agree, and they will have nothing if they lose their subordinates. Rather than this, it is better to follow the trend of history.

As for the Manchu admirals like Iktang'a, after their own calculations and deductions, they found that if there was really a war, even if the South Seas were neutral, the center and they would definitely not be the opponents of the North Seas. Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili, had jurisdiction over Zhili, Shandong, and Liaodong. Liu Mingchuan was the governor of Fujian, Zhejiang, and Taiwan, Li Hanzhang was the governor of Liangguang, and there was also a governor of Sichuan, Liu Bingzhang, who remained in office in this book. Of course. There is also Li Hongzhang's protégé, the Northeast Armed Guard Army commanded by Xu Jie.

In addition to the industrial economy and military strength of the provinces to which Beiyang belongs are significantly stronger than those of other provinces, the Beiyang system also controls more than 70 percent of the Qing navy's combat power, under the cover of the Beiyang Fleet and the Foreign Fleet. The materials and troops of the coastal provinces under Beiyang can be deployed by sea, which is an advantage that the governors of the inland provinces do not have. What's more, Iqtanga among them must also be ready to respond to the Russian invasion at any time. In Iktanga's mind, the lives of the millions of Manchus outside the pass were much more important than that center.

The so-called authorities are obsessed with bystanders, and they are clear when the provinces are bored and developing their own calculations. Guangxu and Cixi were still fighting for control of the city of Beijing. It's not that Cixi and the others have low political wisdom, but now that they are in front of them, someone wants her life, even if the situation outside Zhilu Dao is a little abnormal, Cixi has no spare strength to take care of it. What's more, at present, on the surface, the provincial governors are still obedient, at least the silver is not less. As for the right to manage? After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The real power of the governors of the provinces has been too great. This situation has continued for decades. Cixi was used to it.

Originally, Guangxu and Weng Tongyi were definitely not the opponents of Cixi and Ronglu. The two are far from the Hou Party in terms of political wisdom and strength. But with the addition of a man named Yuan Shikai, this form has been reversed! What's more, Yuan Shikai also took a large number of Beiyang training troops that were differentiated from Beiyang. In addition, it has been expanded and refurbished over the past three years. This unit has been expanded to more than 30,000 people, although the number of troops trained in the northwest of Ronglu is relatively large, but in terms of combat effectiveness. Compared with Yuan Shikai's troops who use Western-style training, it is actually about the same! …,

Cixi also thought about wooing Yuan Shikai, but Yuan Shikai's asking price was too high. It was impossible for Cixi to kick Rong Lu away and then choose Yuan Shikai. And this directly led to Yuan Shikai's defection to Guangxu. In addition, Li Hongzhang didn't know what the purpose of Lu Dao was, and he actually allowed Yuan Shikai to take away a batch of human guns from the old army. So. Yuan Shikai formed a certain climate in a short period of time, and Cixi wanted to transfer Yuan Shikai away under the pretext, but was boycotted by Guangxu and Li Hongzhang. It was only at this time that Cixi discovered Li Hongzhang's true purpose. He's playing balance too! It's just that Li Hongzhang is really balanced in the center, and the Empress Dowager Cixi used various means to restrict Li Hongzhang's rights, and now Li Hongzhang has learned to support Guangxu to limit Cixi's rights, and really govern others in his own way!

In the face of this situation, Cixi must not attack Li Hongzhang, and even cannot express dissatisfaction, because the Beiyang at this time is no longer the Beiyang of the past, in 1890, Li Hongzhang insisted on buying warships, Cixi still wanted to give some, and now, in the face of the Beiyang system that is already like a behemoth, what can Cixi do? For now, we can only solve the troubles of the center first, and then think about other things!

On the other hand, the Guangxu side, after obtaining the support of Yuan Shikai and Li Hongzhang's hints, has become more and more active in the struggle for power. Coupled with the fact that Weng Tongyong, the household servant, was in charge of the center's money bag, Guangxu, who had money and an army, became more and more uneasy. has even hit the idea on Rong Lu's Northwest Training Army!

However, in a short period of time, the open and secret battles between the two sides still could not distinguish the winner, although Guangxu was relatively strong, and Yuan Shikai's military governance and political talents did not let Rong Lu go. But after all, the Houdang family has been strong for many years, and the contest between the two sides in the court has not been decided.

However, for the sake of insurance, Cixi decided to temporarily move out of the Forbidden City to the Summer Palace. There, it is naturally safer to have the protection of the Northwest Training Army under Rong Lu than in the palace. In this case, the central control over the local area naturally fell to the extreme, on the one hand, in order to win over the governors of the provinces in order to gain an advantage in the future political struggle, and on the other hand, the strength was really insufficient. There is simply no effective control. Faced with this situation, both Guangxu and Cixi want to settle this dispute as soon as possible, after all, if they continue to let it go, even if their side wins, this Qing Dynasty will exist in name only!

August 7, 1898, in the Forbidden City.

"Lord Yuan, if you launch a military admonition, are you sure?" Weng Tonggong broke the silence.

"I don't have a big grasp, whether it is in Beijing or the entire Zhili, the army in the hands of Weichen is not dominant, not to mention that the entire Summer Palace is guarded by Rong Lu's army, and there is also a radio station, once the war starts, I am afraid that Rong Lu will quickly reinforce." Yuan Shikai looked at Guangxu sitting on the dragon chair and said. Yuan Shikai is very disdainful of Weng Tongyi, in his opinion, Weng Tonggong can't do anything other than a few articles that are quite passable!

"In this way, does it mean that the emperor has no hope of recovering power?!" Weng Tongyi ignored Yuan Shikai's attitude and continued.

"Wechen just said that Wechen's army alone will not work." Yuan Shikai said.

"Then you mean to contact Li Zhongtang? Borrowing Beiyang's soldiers and horses to make things happen? Guangxu pondered for a moment and said.

"Li Zhongtang is a post-party, although he is neutral now, but I am afraid that it will not work for him to deal with the queen mother. And once it is revealed at this time. There are endless troubles in the future. "Joke, how could Yuan Shikai let Guangxu join forces with Li Hongzhang? Isn't leaving Beiyang to join Guangxu as a great minister? Once Guangxu and Li Hongzhang join forces, what does it have to do with him? Didn't you make a wedding dress for someone else? …,

"Li Zhongtang's attitude is unclear, and it is better not to let those who are not determined to intervene in such a matter that has a lot to do with it." Weng Tongxiao also hurriedly said, as Li Hongzhang's mortal enemy, Weng Tonggong didn't want Guangxu to choose to join forces with Li Hongzhang, first of all, he himself was extremely distrustful of Li Hongzhang, Li Hongzhang turned out to be the back party, and now although he has shown goodwill, it doesn't mean that he has really changed his ways. And the second reason is the same as Yuan Shikai, if Li Hongzhang supports Guangxu, then Weng Tongyi and Yuan Shikai will become dispensable chess pieces. At the critical moment, he didn't dare to guarantee that Guangxu would not abandon him!

"So, I don't have any foreign aid at all? According to what you said, your new army is not enough to form an overwhelming advantage, and Li Hongzhang cannot fight for it, so won't I be able to rule the world for the rest of my life? Guangxu's face was flushed and he said angrily.

"In addition to Weichen's new army, Ronglu's Northwest Training Army and Li Zhongtang's Beiyang, there is actually a force in this Zhili." Yuan Shikai said in a tricky way.

"You mean foreigners?" Weng Tongyi asked tentatively. Not to mention the Tianjin Concession, Dongjiaomin Lane in Beijing can already be regarded as a country within a country, and the embassies of various countries are guarded by their own troops, and more importantly, they can provide Guangxu with a large amount of weapons and funds. With weapons and money, everything is easy to do!

"Foreigners? Which country's foreigners can fight for? The British, Germans and Italians were busy doing business with the Beiyang, Japan was too busy to take care of itself, and Austria and France were not concerned with northern affairs. Could it be that the teacher is talking about the Russians? Guangxu said thoughtfully.

"It is the Russians, as the emperor said, Britain, Germany, Italy and Beiyang are very close, in the case of Beiyang does not express their position, they may not intervene, other countries either do not have the strength, or do not have the mind in this regard. Only the Russians were both powerful and willing to help the emperor. Yuan Shikai on the side said.

"Russians? Why did they help me? What's more, this Russian wants to clear my heart, and everyone knows it. When the Anglo-French army attacked Beijing, the Russians took advantage of the fire to loot. invaded a large area of land in our Qing Dynasty, helped Japan fight against our Qing Dynasty during the First Sino-Japanese War, and gave the Japanese a backhand blow in the later period. How can such a country be trusted? Guangxu said dissatisfiedly.

"There is no credibility in this world, only profit. Cooperation can only be talked about when there is a common interest. And right now, the emperor and the Russians have common interests! Yuan Shikai said with a smile.

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