Li Hongzhang's study in the governor's mansion of Zhili. Looking at the two telegrams in hand, Li Hongzhang only felt that a fire of ignorance and karma went straight to his head! A telegram was a war report from Ding Ruchang and others. It contains a detailed account of the Battle of Gunsan Bay. The other telegram was a rebuke from the imperial court. On the basis of the hearsay and unwarranted so-called "facts" of certain imperial histories and Hanlin, the Beiyang Fleet was labeled as unfavorable in battle and passively avoiding war. and hinted that he wanted to take down Ding Ruchang and others. In the face of this telegram that reversed black and white, Li Hongzhang, who was sad before the loss of the Beiyang Fleet just now, was even more sad and indignant! Their own troops were killed and killed in front.

It's okay if the little people in the center don't support it strongly. Now he is still stumbling on himself! It's really intolerable. Even Li Hongzhang remembered what Peng Yi said to Li Hongzhang not long ago about the attitude of the imperial court towards Beiyang: Killing the Japanese army will eliminate trouble, and killing Beiyang will remove internal trouble! This is really a small blow to the front line and a big blow to the rear! It doesn't matter if the efforts of the people in Beiyang are not recognized by the imperial court, they actually issued such an edict!

"Lord Zhongtang, if you endure this matter, I'm afraid that the imperial court will even worse." Zhang Peilun on the side said worriedly, in fact, both Li Hongzhang and Zhang Peilun knew very well in their hearts that the center wanted to use this war to weaken the power of Beiyang. Li Hongzhang, the first governor of the world, with tens of thousands of soldiers and the Beiyang Naval Division, is no longer the dry city of the country in the eyes of the imperial court, but a threat.

Moreover, a period of Beiyang Navy Division was in the limelight, and the land fight was okay, and the imperial court really couldn't find an excuse, but after the naval battle of Qunshan Bay, the imperial court was reasonable. How did you finish the battle and lose a total of 7 warships in the Qing Navy? And Japan sank only 5 ships? How did you win this battle? With a battleship as powerful as Dingyuan Zhenyuan, can it still fight like that? Are there some people who are passive and avoid war? Are there some people who are not good at fighting? As for the comparison of strength between the two sides and the process of the naval battle, which bigwigs and Qingliu in the center don't know, and they don't want to know!! What they need is to hit Beiyang, and nothing else matters!

"Shinobi?" Li Hongzhang snorted coldly. "When I Beiyang Huai is a good bully?" Li Hongzhang knows very well in his heart, if this matter does not knock on the center, don't say that the center will get worse, and the Huai system will not buy his account, in the event of a major event, you need to say a fair word for your subordinates, if you shrink up and keep silent, will anyone follow you?

"What do you mean?" Zhang Peilun asked.

"Since my Beiyang battle is unfavorable, let's let the people who are capable of fighting come. The Northeast is Aixin Jueluo's hometown, and it is inconvenient for me to intervene. Besides, our Beiyang Army has 30,000 in North Korea! The navy was also hit hard and some were overwhelmed. I think the imperial court will understand. Speaking of this, Li Hongzhang couldn't help laughing. I want to see how capable that Rong Lu is. ”

"And this silver, it is time for Sheng Huaixuan to report the bill. You don't let me live in Beiyang. Then don't think about your birthday! What is the big birthday in Li Hongzhang's words, Zhang Peilun naturally knows. He really didn't expect that Li Hongzhang was actually planning a showdown with the Empress Dowager Cixi!

"My subordinates heard that there are already some people in the court who are planning to negotiate peace." Zhang Peilun said and handed over another copy of the text.

"Peace? That won't work, if peace is negotiated. Who do I ask for these expenses for the war in Beiyang? Li Hongzhang said as if talking to himself. If peace is negotiated now, the court will definitely have to pay a lot of silver. At that time, the financially embarrassed center will definitely not pay for Beiyang. At that time, Beiyang will not be able to pay back the silver on credit.

And more importantly, who is going with this discussion? Ninety out of nine still want him, the governor of Zhili, to go. When the time comes, put on the hat of a traitor. He Li Hongzhang can't turn over at all! Now there is only one way out for Beiyang, and that is to fight! Hit hard. Let the imperial court feel that the land of Longxing is not guaranteed, so that it will fully support Beiyang's combat operations, and Beiyang will be able to obtain reparations from the defeated Japanese! …,

This plan to obtain reparations from Japan may seem to some to be fantastical. But after careful argumentation, it is still feasible. If Japan's hundreds of thousands of troops and conscripts were stranded in Korea and Northeast China, once the Beiyang Fleet could defeat the Japanese fleet and gain control of the Korean Strait. Let's not say that Japan's sea lines of communication will be cut off. The army, which had been cultivated for 20 years after the Meiji Restoration, was afraid that it would be completely cut off from being sent to the Tohoku in the absence of provisions.

In addition, the number of recruits is no less than the number of troops, and the loss of hundreds of thousands of young and middle-aged laborers and almost all of the army at once is absolutely unbearable for Japan. Compared with the huge amount of compensation, these hundreds of thousands of young adults are undoubtedly more important. The Japanese government has no choice, and it is absolutely impossible for Japan to almost take the army after losing its navy! Therefore, the most important thing in Beiyang at the moment is how to attract the main force of the Japanese army, and then destroy the main force of the Japanese fleet at sea. And the premise of this qiē is that the war must be fought!!

"Then how is Lord Nakado going to write the excerpt?" Zhang Peilun asked.

"It's not a problem that can be solved with a single excerpt." Li Hongzhang sneered. "We need to do at least three things well."

"The first thing is to tell Ding Ruchang that they should sort out the situation of the entire naval battle and send it to Jishi, and then let Jishi and those foreigners publish the situation of the battle in Gunsan Bay in the newspaper. At the same time, let the people spread these things too. Let the world know the situation of my Beiyang Naval Division! The imperial court can ignore the facts, but it can't ignore the overall situation! Li Hongzhang stretched out a finger and said.

"The second one, it also operates like the first, but the content is changed to my Beiyang will fight for the Qing Dynasty to the last soldier! I, Li Hongzhang, would rather die than go to Japan to negotiate! I want to let the world know that I will never sign any foreign treaties in Beiyang! Li Hongzhang snorted coldly. Let me be a scapegoat? Don't! ”

"Wonderful, in this way, the court will not dare to talk about peace lightly. Whoever brings it up is a traitor. Zhang Peilun couldn't help but stroke his hands and said.

"The third piece is this excerpt, since the emperor said that the old ministers passively avoided the war, the Beiyang Army was incompetent. Then I'll see if there are any soldiers in the imperial court!! Didn't he Ronglu train in the army for 5 years? Isn't there still General Sheng Jing and General Heilongjiang in the Northeast? Let them come! Li Hongzhang let out a sigh of relief after speaking.

"When is the Nakado-sama going to be on the fold?" Zhang Peilun asked again.

"Don't worry, let the people below build up the momentum first." Li Hongzhang leaned back in the chair and said leisurely.

"Then how will my Beiyang Army fight next?" Zhang Peilun said.

"How to fight and how to fight, first defeat the Japanese fleet, and then withdraw the troops in Korea." Li Hongzhang is not in a hurry. There will be no big moves on either side in winter, and there will be enough food on the side of the North Korean garrison, so there is nothing to worry about.

"Jishi sent a telegram saying that the Russians would also send a fleet over." Saying that, Zhang Peilun handed over Xu Jie's telegram.

"Could it be that the Russians also want to wade into this muddy water?" Li Hongzhang was quite puzzled, if the Russian fleet was really facing the Beiyang, then the situation would be strict.

"What do you think?" Li Hongzhang asked.

"Jishi's view is that regardless of the purpose of the Russians, the Japanese fleet must be defeated by March of the following year, and only then will the Beiyang Fleet be free to deal with possible moves by the Russians." Zhang Peilun said.

"Does Jishi have a chance of winning?" As the Russians gradually intervened, Li Hongzhang also wavered a little.

"Ji Shi said that if we can defeat the Japanese fleet before March, our Beiyang will have a 70 percent chance of winning against the Russian fleet coming from afar." Zhang Peilun said, a drop of cold sweat fell. The situation of the war to this day was not expected by Zhang Peilun and others, and the tragic situation and huge consumption shocked Zhang Peilun and other high-level officials.

But just as Li Hongzhang envisioned, we must not stop, we can only continue to fight. Originally, Xu Jie did not mention the question of the chances of winning the battle with the Russian fleet, in order to strengthen Lao Li's confidence, Zhang Peilun could only make up a nonsense to deal with the past!

"That's good, sue sù Jishi, I will fight here for the rise and fall of Beiyang!" Li Hongzhang said with a long sigh.

"Yes, Lord Zhongtang, my subordinates will go and send the report now." Zhang Peilun didn't say much, turned around and left. There is one more shift tonight. Everyone's support~~~. Thank you very much. It seems that it may be on the shelves today, if you can, I hope that book friends will support it~~.