In the face of Cixi's procrastination, Lao Li was fully prepared. I made so many requests, if Cixi agreed, it would be abnormal. Cixi thinks well, you are fighting in Beiyang, and your proud protégé is also in the Beiyang Naval Division. Without you, the big guy in the middle of the scheduling, it's no wonder that Beiyang is not messy. I'll drag it for you, can you afford it?

But Li Hongzhang also has his own methods. "Since the Queen Mother treats Beiyang like this, aren't you afraid that I, Li Hongzhang, will change from the rear party to the imperial party?" Looking at the departing Cixi, Li Hongzhang sneered in his heart. At this critical moment, winning over Li Hongzhang is undoubtedly the best way to strengthen the imperial party. Although Guangxu did not have such political foresight, Weng Tongyi, who was the emperor, was unwilling to let Guangxu and Li Hongzhang join forces. But that doesn't mean others don't have this vision. It doesn't mean that no one threads the needle for Guangxu and Li Hongzhang.

In the political map of the center of the Qing Dynasty, the Qingliu was also divided into two factions, one was the Southern Qingliu of Weng Tongxi, and the other was the Northern Qingliu represented by Li Hongzao. Originally, it was Weng Tongyi's faction that was powerful. But since the addition of the "Beihai Model Exhibition", Weng Tongyi can be regarded as a memorization! Then all the protégés were taken down by Vittorio. The dismissal of dismissal and the exile of exile caused heavy losses to the entire Nanqing Stream. The status of the North Qingliu has risen a lot relatively speaking.

But why did Li Hongzao help Beiyang and Guangxu join forces? Just as Guangxu is the backstage of Weng Tongyi, and Li Hongzao is the backstage of King Gong. Although King Gong and Cixi failed in the struggle for power back then, it does not mean that King Gong does not want to come back. And then with the banner of the imperial party, it is undoubtedly the best way to let King Gong take charge. Secondly, Li Hongzao's son-in-law was the leader of the Northern Qingliu before he entered the Huai system, and his relationship with Li Hongzao and others was extraordinary. Therefore, the above two reasons allowed Li Hongzao to match Beiyang and the imperial party.

When it started. Guangxu is still quite resistant to Li Hongzhang, on the one hand, because Weng Tongyi, the emperor, has eye drops. On the other hand, as an emperor, he doesn't want to let the local magistrates have too much power. And the toughness and strength shown by Beiyang made this emperor who wanted to control the world very jealous. But what, who is Li Hongzao? Does he know where Lu Dao Guangxu's weakness is, as an emperor, but an emperor without any rights, what does he want? You can figure it out with your knees. As long as it can help him gain the right to be an emperor, even if the transaction partner is the devil, Guangxu will agree. What's more, it's Li Hongzhang. And judging from Beiyang's attitude towards Cixi, Li Hongzhang, as a post-party, is obviously very dissatisfied with Cixi!

In addition to rights, in essence, Emperor Guangxu still wants to be a meritorious emperor in his heart, since Daoguang began, the Qing State has repeatedly lost wars with foreign countries, and even after the death of Emperor Daoguang, he made a will to say that he should not set up any more merit monuments, and he can't even look at the land of his ancestors, what else is there to show? Qing Guo was bullied by those big European countries, I don't know when. Even the small country to the east of itself came to look for trouble, first in Taiwan, then in North Korea, and finally in the Manchu land of Longxing! Is this worth it? So both from a self-interested point of view and from a careless point of view. Guangxu must choose to cooperate with Li Hongzhang.

So the day after Cixi summoned Li Hongzhang, Emperor Guangxu called Li Hongzhang again. met with the first powerful faction of the Qing Dynasty in the imperial study! Let's see if there is a possibility of cooperation between the two sides. The contradiction between Weng Tongyi and Li Hongzhang. Emperor Guangxu's rational Weng Tongyi avoided it, and let Li Hongzao accompany him. No matter what, Li Hongzhang should at least give Li Hongzhang, the little brother of King Gong, a little face.

"What does Li Zhongtang think about the battle situation? How long will this battle be fought? Are the armies of the Northeast worthwhile? "Guangxu himself is in a hurry. He also takes the Qing-Japanese War very seriously, after all, he still plans to rely on this war to establish his power! …,

"The Japanese navy has been basically wiped out." Li Hongzhang's first sentence made Guangxu's hanging heart fall back. But the second sentence made Guangxu raise his heart to his throat. "But now the situation is somewhat complicated. The Russian fleet came to the Far East, fearing that it had made some deal with the pirates. And the combat power of the Japanese army must have heard of it. I'm afraid that the armies of the Northeast will not work. ”

"Which Zhongtang lord has a good strategy to retreat from the enemy?" Guangxu asked.

"There is still one way, to rule the land by the sea. As long as the Russian fleet can be defeated, then the Japanese army, whose supply lines have been cut off, will become grasshoppers after autumn. I can't be on it for a few days. Li Hongzhang said unhurriedly.

"Then does the Beiyang Naval Division have any plans to defeat the Russians? Speaking of which, this Russian is also my old enemy of the Qing Dynasty, and he fought with me in the Qing Dynasty during the Kangxi Dynasty, and it has intensified in recent decades. When it came to Russia, Guangxu couldn't help gritting his teeth. Large tracts of land in the northeast were usurped by the Russians during the British and French invasions. Thinking that half of the land of Longxing in the Qing Dynasty has been lost, Guangxu's anger will not be hit!

"It should be no problem to defeat the Russian fleet. But I'm afraid it will take a while, after all, the Russians are all cutting-edge clippers. If you fight guerrillas, I'm afraid you will waste some time. Li Hongzhang replied.

"Then how does Lord Zhongtang think this northeast occupation should be dealt with? After all, you can't wait for the navy for everything. Li Hongzao on the side couldn't help but ask. After all, at the same time as naval battles, land battles are also being fought.

"Layers of defense, strong walls and clear fields." Li Hongzhang came up with one of the safest but also the most ugly ways to play.

"The Beiyang Army can hold out for half a year in the face of nearly three divisions of the Japanese army in Korea. Now with the addition of the new army in Liangguang and Taiwan, there are no less than 70,000 elites, so why not take the initiative to attack and severely defeat the Japanese army's spirit? Guangxu said with a flushed face.

"There are 70,000 of them, but more than 20,000 of them are troops who have just been withdrawn from North Korea. It's been half a year, and you always need to fix it, right? A sizable part of the remaining troops were garrison troops, and there were not many real mobile troops. The Queen Mother, her old man, is afraid that my Beiyang will become bigger, and the military salary has been short of catties and two pounds in the past few years. Even if I want to expand the army in Beiyang, I can't do it. What's more, in order to solve the threat of the Beiyang Fleet, compared to the Japanese army, which will definitely attack Lushun, the old man's Beiyang garrison still has to face the onslaught of the Japanese army. ”

Li Hongzhang's answer is very ingenious. First of all, the number of named troops is indeed 70,000, which takes care of Guangxu's face. At the same time, however, it was pointed out that these troops were not suitable to go out to the field at this time. And by the way, the reason for the lack of combat strength of the Beiyang troops was linked to Cixi. And put Weng Tonggong aside. This made Guangxu very satisfied. At the end of the day, Li Hongzhang stressed that the Japanese army would definitely besiege Lushun. This made Guangxu conclude that Li Hongzhang did not passively avoid the war. So these words made Guangxu unable to refute.

"Then my Longxing land in the Qing Dynasty will be left to the Japanese army?" Guangxu asked depressedly.

"The Japanese army can mobilize no less than 150,000 troops. Defense is only a task at this stage, and when the Japanese supply is cut off, wouldn't it be better for our army to counterattack? Moreover, I still have Lord Ronglu's northwest training in the Qing Dynasty, Lord Liu's old Hunan army and the Eight Banners Green Battalion have all been pulled up for training, this is an opportunity, a good opportunity to train troops. Li Hongzhang smiled.

"Training?" Guangxu's eyes lit up, yes, as long as he could fight those armies attached to the Hou Party. Then the strength of the party will be greatly reduced, and the party will be able to take charge of the government by holding the two great powers of appointing and dismissing officials and the army. When the time comes, some of the people will be dismissed because of the disadvantage of war, and then their own people will be replaced. On the army side, once Ronglu is hit hard, then it can only build a new army. When the time comes, I will have a chance to seize the military power. No matter from which point of view, it is beneficial to him to let Rong Lu's northwest training army fight with the Japanese with Li Hongzhang. …,

"And what about after this battle? Where do I go from here? Li Hongzhang has already expressed his intention to cooperate. This has made Guangxu very satisfied. Now Guangxu wants to know what the purpose of Li Hongzhang's westernization is.

"The old minister has already told His Majesty and the Queen Mother yesterday. If we want to improve ourselves, we must emulate Japan's Meiji Restoration. Open the door to learn from the advanced points of the West. Otherwise, even if I am lucky enough to defeat Japan, I will not be able to resist the behemoth in the north of my Qing Dynasty. Li Hongzhang said leisurely.

"Shhh You mean the Russians? Will they attack my Daqing? Guangxu gasped. Although he didn't know much about the outside world, he also knew that Russia was much stronger than Japan in terms of land area and population and industrial base.

"Since the beginning of the Xianfeng Dynasty, the Russians have invaded and occupied the territory of the Qing Dynasty step by step, and later there is only the tiger skin of Tongguang Zhongxing. The Russians have only relented. But now, with so much effort for us to deal with Japan, what is there for Russia to be afraid of? And after the end of the war, our Qing Dynasty also suffered huge losses, and the Russians had no reason to give up this opportunity. Li Hongzhang had a trace of sorrow in his eyes.

"In this way, the only way out for me in the Qing Dynasty is to change the law and improve myself?" Guangxu asked.

"There's still a chance to change the law. Old-fashioned can only wait for death. Li Hongzhang replied quite simply!

"Then what does the imperial court need to start with now?" Guangxu said a little anxiously.

"Just encourage Western learning. Let's start by allowing the private sector to run a Western-style business. On the one hand, it can solve the urgent need, and on the other hand, it can enhance the national strength of the Qing Dynasty. Li Hongzhang said.

Li Hongzhang's opinion is very simple, that is, at least the right to obtain private loans and the right to issue licenses for operating Western-style industries, only in this way can Beiyang have the money to continue fighting. If Guangxu does not even meet this condition, then there is no need for the two sides to talk.

Guangxu was very worried, because he knew that such a big matter was not something he could decide, and it was the Empress Dowager Cixi who had the final say on the scene. The amount of strength I have is too small. What's more, Beiyang, which has mastered part of its financial resources. It also made Guangxu feel insecure. After all, if the feudal town is strong, the center will be weak!

"Your Majesty, in fact, this matter is not so difficult to do. Qing Yi is all on His Majesty's side. Coupled with the support of the governors and governors of the provinces, even the Military Aircraft Department cannot refuse, not to mention that this is just an expedient measure. After Li Hongzhang left, Li Hongzao looked at the hesitant Emperor Guangxu and said. Even if you don't agree, I'm afraid that after the Queen Mother knows about this matter, she will agree to Li Hongzhang, and even give more. ”

"Then do as you say." As if he had made a lot of determination, Guangxu nodded heavily and said. "By the way, take me to say hello to the sixth uncle, and say that I remember his benefits."

Thanks to the book friends Kong Chen and Dreamposter for their tips, as well as the book friends who read the world and qw020884 for their monthly ticket support. The political link will end tomorrow, and the naval part will begin the day after tomorrow ~~~. Well. (Your support is my biggest motivation.) )