Chuxiu Palace in the Forbidden City, Beijing. Cixi threw the fold in her hand aside, then looked at Guangxu and the kneeling ministers and snorted coldly: "If you have any ideas, please tell me."

"This Li Hongzhang is really a big rebellion. After the defeat of the Beiyang Naval Division, he did not investigate the fault of Ding Ruchang and others, but threatened the imperial court, and everyone knew that he was not subservient! Look at the Queen Mother, the Emperor Mingjian! Weng Tongyi spoke first.

"This Li Hongzhang wants to pick a son, if the Beiyang Army Division in Korea is defeated, then the only ones who can resist the Japanese army are the Lian Army in the Northeast and the Wuwei Army of Lord Rong. King Qing on the side said.

"Master Weng, was this group of mountains and bays defeated or won? The imperial historians say that there are many sunken ships in the Beiyang, but if you count the tonnage, the Beiyang seems to be a little cheaper. Guangxu on the side suddenly asked.

"This old minister doesn't know. But even if it's wrong, the imperial history has the right to hear the news. Weng Tongsheng was afraid that he and his protégés would be responsible, so he moved out of the news.

"What a sniff. Lord Weng, it doesn't matter if you hear the news, but it has caused a lot of trouble to the imperial court. Cixi glared at Weng Tongyi fiercely and said. Weng Tongyi on the side immediately lowered his head in fright.

"I told you a long time ago that this Li Hongzhang can't move now, whether it is war or peace, he still needs him, the war depends on his Huai army, and the peace talks also need him to go. This is good, the excerpts of the imperial historians can annoy Li Hongzhang. On the battlefield, he planned to pick a pick, and at the peace talks, he also let out rumors that he would not go. You've got what it takes. Have you ever wanted to go to the battlefield and fight the Japanese? Cixi said coldly.

"Dear Dad, what now?" Guangxu asked.

"What to do? You are the emperor, and you have to decide these things. They all ask me what this old woman is doing? As soon as she saw Guangxu's expression, Cixi was immediately annoyed, pointed at Guangxu and said.

Although Li Hongzhang has a clear attitude, it is impossible for Li Hongzhang to let go. After all, North Korea has more than 30,000 Beiyang Army. Li Hongzhang's Beiyang Army, the new army, and the old army were 60,000 to 70,000 together. And that's counting the garrison of the fortress.

Li Hongzhang will definitely not be able to ignore it, otherwise Beiyang, which has lost more than 30,000 troops, may not even be able to hold on to Weihaiwei's nest. And a land retreat was unlikely, and the Japanese troops who landed at Wonsan already threatened the retreat. Withdrawing from land in the winter is likely to turn the retreat into a rout. And by sea, the Beiyang Fleet has just recently been hit hard. It is estimated that the safety of sea routes cannot be guaranteed in a short period of time. It is also quite difficult to walk by sea. Among the Manchus, Rong Lu still has some military talent. In his opinion. Li Hongzhang wants to let go now, but I'm afraid it's not easy to leave.

"It's up to you. Li Hongzhang is just pretending? Cixi frowned.

"At least until the Beiyang Fleet is back in combat. But it's hard to say what will happen in a few months. Once the Beiyang Land Division withdrew to the Liaodong Peninsula, I am afraid that the imperial court will have to put a lot of effort into letting them come out again. Rong Lu replied.

The minister also heard that Liu Mingchuan of Taiwan and Li Hanzhang of Liangguang had also mobilized the training army of the province to support Li Hongzhang. Weng Tongyi on the side said.

"This matter was requested by Li Hanzhang and Liu Mingchuan in a letter, and the emperor approved it. Cixi waved her hand as if to drive away a fly.

"And this? In this way, Li Hongzhang's troops to defend Liaodong were sufficient. However, the officials of this feudal territory jumped over the imperial court and took the initiative to connect with each other. It's the first time in my Qing Dynasty. Rong Lu frowned. There are some things he didn't dare to say, the Huai system is still so united, this kind of "one side is in trouble and all sides support the situation is a great challenge to the authority of the center."

"I know what you're trying to say. The tail is too big to fall, isn't it? Cixi looked meaningfully at the surrounding circle of princes and ministers. "Even if the tail is too big to lose the center, what can it do? At the moment of the great enemy, you can't say don't come. Just let Li Hongzhang carry it alone, right? …,

"Then does the Queen Mother have a way? Rong Lu asked.

"What can be done? Now the people are not angry. Not even a single one that can fight. Without Li Hongzhang's Huai army, what would the Qing Dynasty do to fight with foreigners? Speaking of which. Cixi felt annoyed in her heart.

"And Liu Kunyi's Hunan army can still fight. Guangxu thought for a while and said.

"Hunan Army? The old Hunan army has long been cut off, not to mention how long it will take for the Hunan army to be transferred in the south, and in terms of combat effectiveness, it is not as good as the Second Marine and Land Division carefully cultivated by Li Hongzhang. Cixi was quite unimpressed with the Hunan army. The old Hunan army is gone, and the generals who can fight are gone, and it can be seen from the table of the Nanyang Navy Division that Liu Kun's subordinates are all kinds of goods. If it weren't for the accident on the Zhenhai, I'm afraid that not a single ship in Beiyang would have been left behind!!

"Rong Lu, can your training army have the strength to fight? Half-ringing, Cixi broke the silence.

"When the minister was the general of Xi'an, he was ordered to train the army, and now there are more than 30,000 people in 80 battalions. After the war with Japan, Weichen built a new army of more than 10 battalions, and now the total strength has more than 40,000 people. If you add the Heilongjiang general Yiketanga and the Jilin general Changshun outside the pass, the attack will not work, but the defense along the Yalu River defense line should be possible.

In fact, when it comes to the war against Japan, Rong Lu himself has no bottom in his heart. But in front of Cixi, Guangxu and others, he said no? That's obviously impossible, the Empress Dowager Cixi spent 5 years getting Rong Lu to train an army by herself, and in the end she couldn't fight? Isn't this looking for death?

Weichen believes that although the Hunan army and the southern training army have been greatly reduced, they still have the foundation, and if they get together with Zhang Zhidong, there will still be tens of thousands of people. If you choose a good general, you may be able to fight. Prince Gong, who had not spoken, said.

Compared with King Qing, who only knows how to be greedy for money, and Qingliu, who only knows how to pick thorns and doesn't know anything, Prince Gong still has some skills, although he also knows that the Hunan army and the southern training army are definitely inferior to the Huai army, but in the current situation, it is a little bit to be able to make up a little troops. More is better than less.

"What about Li Hongzhang's side? Guangxu asked.

"What else? Didn't the emperor issue a holy decree to let Li Hongzhang lead the military affairs of North Korea? Then let's take another one step now, let Li Hongzhang be optimistic about his treasure fleet. The Liaodong Peninsula was originally dominated by the Huai Army, so if this is the case, then be a favor and let Li Hongzhang be in charge of Liaodong military affairs. Cixi sneered.

"My other multi-way army fights with the Japanese, and Beiyang is watching? Weng Tongyi didn't believe his ears a little. He really didn't expect that Cixi would make such a will.

"Don't worry, if you don't knock out the Beiyang Fleet, the Japanese won't be at ease. I dare to assert that even if the Japanese army invades our Qing Dynasty, at least more than half of the troops will be mobilized to Liaodong to attack Lushun! Rong Lu on the side said with a smile. "When the time comes, he Li Hongzhang will fight if he doesn't want to!

Li Hongzhang has long been prepared for this, and since the war began in July, Li Hongzhang's war preparations for Liaodong have never stopped. On the Liaodong Peninsula, the Beiyang armies accounted for the vast majority, they built fortifications day and night, and fortified the wilderness. Many banner people have great opinions on this, but Li Hongzhang has no choice but to be powerful. He also has military affairs in his body, and controls the army stationed in Korea. Most of them dare not speak out. King Qing on the side said dissatisfiedly.

"The Beiyang Army naturally listens to Li Hongzhang, and it should be prepared for war. Jianbi Qingye used it when Li Hongzhang exterminated the Twist Army, and he did not inform the local governor and admiral. will be outside, which should have the right to arbitrariness. Besides, if Liaodong and Beiyang are really over, this war will not be able to be fought. Prince Gong was very dissatisfied with the deliberate provocation of Prince Qing and others, and he knew very well that although the Empress Dowager Cixi was very dissatisfied with what Li Hongzhang had done, and indeed had the intention of weakening the Huai army with the help of the war against Japan. But dissatisfaction does not mean that it is not used, and weakening does not mean that the Huai army will completely stand aside. In today's situation, checks and balances are the best choice for the center. …,

It's not good for Li Hongzhang to be powerful, but it's not good for Zhang Zhidong and Liu Kunyi to be powerful. Just in terms of loyalty, I'm afraid that Li Hongzhang, as an old minister of the Three Dynasties, is stronger than Zhang Zhidong and others, right? As for leaving the Manchurian in charge of the overall situation? It's not that the center doesn't like to support the Manchurians, but the Manchurians really can't help them! Moreover, the overall situation now is that the war must be won. For more than 20 years, Tongguang Zhongxing has achieved decades of stability thanks to the Westernization Movement and the tiger skin of the North and South Oceans.

Although there was a war with the French during this period, the ending was not ugly in the eyes of the center, but now if it is defeated by Japan, which has never let the Qing rulers face it squarely, it is estimated that those Western powers will be unable to bear it again, right?

"What Prince Gong said is that Li Hongzhang still needs to be used. The Second Beiyang Naval and Amphibious Division is now fighting hard. All the big ships of the Beiyang Fleet participated in the naval battle, and there were also captures. As soon as Li Hongzao saw that Prince Gong had spoken, he immediately came out to help round the field.

"It's still the sixth who has a vision. The national disaster is at the head, whether it is Manchu or Han, whether it is the Hunan army, the Huai army or the Eight Banners training army. We should all go to the national disaster together. What is this doing to divide you and me again? Cixi glanced at Prince Gong and said with satisfaction. Cixi was deliberately suppressing Li Hongzhang, but while suppressing Li Hongzhang, she also had to prevent the imperial party from becoming bigger. After all, Li Hongzhang is still a post-party. The place needs to be balanced, and the center needs to be balanced. Cixi, who takes power very seriously, also doesn't want Weng Tongyi and others to step on Li Hongzhang and climb up. And as a full man. Seeing that his hometown was occupied by the Japanese, he definitely didn't want to. And it is obviously unrealistic to want the Beiyang Army to hold the entire Northeast, so. Regardless of whether Li Hongzhang mentions it or not, all other armies will want to go up. And Cixi also hopes to be able to fight an army that can always fight in the war.

"Rong Lu, over the years, money has been given to you, people have given you, and guns have been given to you. If you don't come up with some results this time, you can't talk about it. Although Rong Lu was promoted by Cixi, he was naturally impeccable in terms of loyalty, but loyalty alone was not enough, Cixi expected him to build a reliable army for the imperial court. If Rong Lu's training army is really capable of fighting, then the center will be much more comfortable in handling relations between the North and the South Oceans. In the imperial court, with this army, there is no fear of any big waves from Guangxu's imperial party.

"For the sake of the Qing Dynasty, the minister will never give up. After many years of military training, Rong Lu also has plans to go to the battlefield to try his skills. What's more, this is still fighting in Manchuria. Manchurian's hometown. If he can fight well, it is estimated that General Sheng Jing will not be able to escape. While there are risks, the opportunities are just as great. …… q！。

Chapter 209 of the New History of China in the First Wu Dynasty, is this a showdown?