- "What! ”

"Ahem, ahem."

"My lord, the body is important!"

Li Hongzhang sat up from the bed with wide eyes, and suddenly got up violently, and at the same time, a crimson flashed on his cheeks, and his cough also intensified. What Weitang said is true?! ”

In front of the bed, in addition to Lin Lianhui, a personal doctor, and Lu Weitang, a confidant, there was also one of his most important assistants, Sheng Huaixuan.

Sheng Huaixuan had just arrived from Hanyang, and he was known as Li Hongzhang's money bag, and he was sitting quietly in front of the bed at the moment, looking at Lu Weitang who was talking, and his heart was also turbulent.

As the leader of the China Merchants Steamship Bureau, he also invested in industries and built railways in various places, and he was no stranger to the name of the Hawaiian young master, not to mention that he defeated Hawaii empty-handed, and defeated Yuben to obtain huge compensation, and other "great achievements" that have been spread among the people, and the Pacific Freight Company under his command alone has already put pressure on the China Merchants Shipping Bureau, which was established 20 years earlier.

In particular, two years ago, in the competition for the South Sea route, the two almost started a white-knuckle battle, and in the end, the stronger and cheaper Pacific Freight won the victory, making China Merchants Shipping Bureau withdraw from the South Sea route in its entirety.

Although Sheng Huaixuan later also adopted their way to attract customers, but the China Merchants Steamship Bureau still did not escape the predicament, already has 50 large freighters, the Pacific Freight Company, has now begun to penetrate into Guangzhou, their kind of bill-by-container, bulk cargo method not only for them to attract bulk business, but also the usual shipping companies look down on the small business also taken down, now this method has been imitated by foreign freight companies.

And what made Sheng Huaixuan even more strange than their expansion was that this Hawaiian young master never seemed to be short of money! As the only person here who has set foot in Honolulu and Ryukyu in the name of business, no one knows better than him how much has changed in these two places, and in the recent Ryukyus, if so many factories, docks, warehouses and infrastructure were to be started at the same time, at least more than 50 million taels of silver!

Not to mention Honolulu, which is now almost a processing island! It was built before he got the money for the indemnity, and he couldn't believe that someone could come up with hundreds of millions of taels of silver before that!

What is this concept?

Sheng Huaixuan shook his head, he couldn't figure it out! I also can't figure it out, and Lu Weitang on the side, it's only been a few days? As soon as the Russian naval division invaded and occupied the Golden State of Arthur, and the army had not yet gained a firm foothold in Mukden, Hawaii suddenly declared war on Russia on the grounds of deliberately destroying peace in the Far East!

So much so that when he received the news, he thought he had heard it wrong, or he had heard it the other way around!

Russia is not the original, there are more than a dozen ironclad ships of more than 5,000 tons, more than the Pacific Fleet in Honolulu, plus there is a short distance between Ryukyu and Arthur, after the declaration of war, Russia has enough time to arrange, and a sneak attack is no longer possible.

Even if the Pacific Fleet can gain a certain advantage at sea and send the army to Liaodong, on the one hand, the Pacific Army, which has only about a few tens of thousands of troops so far, and on the other hand, the Russian Army, which has painstakingly planned and sent cavalry, does not need to think about who wins or loses!

It is impossible for Honolulu not to know their weaknesses, since they are so clear and dare to take the initiative to go to war, there are only two possibilities, one is crazy, and the other is that they have already been fully prepared.

Now everything has been confirmed! The Russian naval division was completely annihilated, the Liaodong Peninsula was already under the control of the Pacific Army, and Lu Weitang brought the news that Mukden had also been lost at this moment, so it can be said that their troops were already waiting for them to go north!

More importantly, the occupation of Mukden also indicates that the land route from Zhili to the north along Shanhaiguan was also blocked, and even the transfer of troops from Mongolia to Liaodong had to face the threat of the Pacific Army!

"Didn't Prince Gong go to see the Hawaiian ambassador? Any news? After digesting the shocking news brought by Lu Weitang, Li Hongzhang calmed down instead, squinting his eyes and leaning on the pillow.

"That Ambassador Feng has already replied, saying that this is a war between Hawaii and Russia, in order to maintain the balance of the Far East, and they reached an agreement with Britain before the war, so it is not to help me recapture the three provinces, this is just a matter between the two countries." Lu Weitang continued: "However, I heard that the imperial court is very dissatisfied with this answer, and has already sent Sun Yuwen and Xu Yongyi to contact again, and also brought the Russian ambassador, I believe that new news will come soon." ”

After listening to this, Li Hongzhang waved his hand: "Nonsense, go with the Russians, isn't this self-inflicted?" If Mukden is still in the hands of Russia, it would be fine, now that Mukden is gone, the land route has been cut off, and the Russians themselves cannot protect themselves, and going to this moment is tantamount to looking for a slap! ”

After saying it in one breath, Li Hongzhang seemed to feel that the stuffiness in his chest gradually dissipated, and slowly leaned on the head of the bed, before he smiled bitterly: "Hey, I still underestimate this Li Mo, it seems that when he set up the mansion, he was already working on this battle!" ”

These words shocked the three people present, and Sheng Huaixuan asked even more anxiously: "What do you mean, my lord, that Li Mo set up the mansion to deal with the current situation?" ”

"It can't be!" Lu Weitang was born in the military, served as the commander of many ships, and has always boasted that he is proficient in military affairs, but he still can't believe it when he hears Li Hongzhang's words: "At that time, the Russians were still at sea, we had not signed an agreement with Russia, and Korea was even more unfazed, so how could we predict that Russia would attack the northeast?" ”

"Or maybe he has arranged a small number of annihilations in Russia." Lin Lianhui seemed to have long been accustomed to the Hawaiian young master's astonishing behavior.

Li Hongzhang leaned on the pillow and didn't speak, sighed and said: "The old man has read countless people in his life, this time he is really blind, this Li Mo ......!" The old man can't understand it! ”

After a long sigh, Li Hongzhang continued: "If the old man is not mistaken, that Li Mo must have known that the Russians were ambitious, so he hurriedly came to build the mansion, in order to find an opportunity to declare war on Russia and seize the land of the three northeastern provinces in one fell swoop!" ”

"He, he wants the whole Northeast?!" Sheng Huaixuan opened his mouth wide, this Li Mo is too bold, he actually took advantage of Russia's attack on the Northeast to make a fuss, just this scheming is deeply scary.

Lu Weitang was also stunned, now that the Qing army in the Northeast has been strangled by the Russians, coupled with the annihilation of the Beiyang, the sea off Arthur is already the world of the Pacific Fleet, and without the escort of the naval division, it is no longer possible to increase troops by sea, if it is really the Pacific Army plotting against the three northeastern provinces, I am afraid that the imperial court will not even be able to transfer troops!

Is this helpless? Or is it sad?

Lin Lianhui, who was sitting next to him, did not speak, the sailor was gone, Li Hongzhang worked hard for ten years to build, and the Beiyang built by hundreds of millions of taels of silver was destroyed in one fell swoop, and his dream of strengthening the army and the country was completely shattered, and the Qing Dynasty returned to ten years ago in the blink of an eye!

This old man, who is only seventy years old and has worked hard for the Qing Dynasty for half his life, can he still hold on?

"Then this Li Mo has sent troops into my Qing Dynasty land without permission, which is already a big rebellion! He actually said that this was a war between Hawaii and Russia, what did he want to do? Sheng Huaixuan took a deep breath and asked.

"He deliberately gags other people's mouths, limits the war to two families, and deliberately ignores our Qing Dynasty." Li Hongzhang said slowly: "In order to control the Northeast after the war!" ”

"What he wants is the entire Northeast, and maybe Jiaodong! In this way, we can choke the sea throat of our Great Qing Dynasty and control the Far East! Lu Weitang took over the topic, and a cold glint appeared in his eyes: "In the end, I am plotting to take over the whole world!" ”

The words of the two of them were like a heavy hammer, smashing Sheng Huaixuan's heart to shake!

"My lord, do you want to remind the imperial court?" Sheng Huaixuan said urgently.

"Reminder?" Li Hongzhang leaned on the bed, shook his head after a long time, and suddenly asked: "You say, is it better to control the Northeast in the hands of Li Mo, or in the hands of the Russians?" ”

"It's ......."

Lu Weitang and Sheng Huaixuan glanced at each other and were speechless.

"What's the use of reminding you? Without Mukden, without the naval division, the land and water routes were blocked by the Pacific Army, and it would be good if they didn't directly drive the warships to Tianjin, so what should we do to continue fighting? Lin Lianhui, who had not spoken, suddenly straightened his waist: "My lord, I have let the Qing Dynasty drag on for ten years!" The matter has come to this point, and it is irreparable, so why not let go of your mind and take good care of your body? ”

After saying this, Li Hongzhang and the others looked at Lin Lianhui, who was usually silent, at the same time, they didn't expect that he, who was dedicated to studying medicine, would say this, which was equivalent to acquiescing in the Pacific Army's control of the Northeast!

Li Hongzhang looked at Lin Lianhui deeply, sighed again in his heart, and suddenly smiled: "Lianhui is right, the matter has come to this point, it is useless for the old man to be careless, not to mention that the old man has been dismissed, just let him go!" ”

After speaking, Li Hongzhang instructed again: "Weitang, Huaixuan, the old man is going back to his hometown to recuperate, so it's up to you to arrange it!" ”

"Back home?"

"Yes, the old man is old." Li Hongzhang's dim old eyes suddenly lit up: "How prosperous the land south of the Yangtze River is, it's time to enjoy the rest of your life." ”――

Mukden.

Riding on horseback, watching the groups of Russian soldiers lay down their weapons in front of the Pacific Army, his heart was slightly sour.

A few days ago, these Russian soldiers were still rampant, forcibly knocking on the gate of Fengtian City with cannons, and the Qing army paid the price of nearly 20,000 people here, even Lord Song Qing was righteous here.

But it's only been a few days? The blood stains around have not dried up, and the damage has not been repaired, and the Pacific Army has already killed the city, and the Russian army that used to shout for slaughtering its own subordinates is now like a well-behaved sheep, waiting for the reorganization of the Pacific Army.

Dozens of cannons lined up in the distance, Nie Shicheng couldn't help but stand upside down, he had seen the power of the Pacific Army's artillery shells, and compared with the Qing Army's artillery shells, it was simply incomparable.

Now that Fengtian has been captured by the Pacific Army, it is even more difficult to recapture it from so many cannons, and without Mukden, it also indicates that the last passage for the imperial court to enter the northeast of Liao has also been cut off, unless it is a bypass to Mongolia, otherwise the counterattack has become a mirror.

Thinking of this, Nie Shicheng couldn't help but grit his teeth, looked back at the soldiers who were following behind him, waved his horsewhip violently, and took the lead to run southwest. Seeing him lead the team away, Zhao Long on the city wall sighed, everyone has their own ambitions, although he has been wooing a lot these days, it seems that he still can't change the mind of this admiral.

Nie Shicheng's departure indicates that the area from Fengtian to Haicheng to Yingkou has been completely controlled by the Pacific Army, and with the arrival of follow-up troops one after another, the recovery of the two northern provinces is also within reach.

"Report, the three divisions and one regiment have taken over the defense of Mukden."

With a report, the whip in Zhao Long's hand also swung violently.

"Let's go, let's go to Jilin!"

(To be continued)