Nanking. (Vertex Hand Hit)

Governor of Liangjiang, in the Nanyang Minister's Palace.

Sheng Huaixuan pursed the corners of his mouth, a pot of fragrant tea in front of him, five rattan chairs, but there were four governors on the southeast coast, who had just re-emerged from the mountains because of their meritorious work in suppressing bandits, Li Hongzhang, the governor of Huguang, Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, Tan Zhonglin, the governor of Minxi, and Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang, almost occupied half of the Qing Dynasty, and they could connect them together, even he couldn't help but be proud.

However, he is an understanding person, although he can connect this feudal official together, but he rarely speaks, but these adults who were born in the army have not been able to get together for many years, and they can chat.

"Lord Zhongtang is returning to Beijing this time, maybe the position of the governor of these two Guang is not hot, and he will be promoted again......" Today's proprietor Liu Kun smiled and saluted Li Hongzhang and said: "Come, I am here to wish your lord a high ...... step by step."

"Guanzhuang (Liu Kun's word) made fun of the old man, this time he returned to Beijing to report on his work, just to explain the matter of Guangzhou to the court and the emperor, as for the promotion, the old man is old, and he can hold a territory for the emperor, and he is already satisfied......" Li Hongzhang smiled and waved his hand.

"Lord Zhongtang returned to Beijing this time, I'm afraid it won't be peaceful......" Zhang Zhidong picked up the teacup, looked at the turquoise tea and sighed slightly: "I heard before I came that the Queen Mother seems to be extremely dissatisfied with the emperor, plus Weng Tongsu and Kang Youwei and others are making trouble from it, I am afraid that it will be another storm when I go back this time." "Hmph......" Tan Zhonglin, the governor of Minxi, snorted: "The old man doesn't like those reform parties, how can the rules and foundations left by the ancestors be changed, you always say that you learn from foreigners, but where are foreigners good......

The three of them glanced at each other, smiled and shook their heads, this Governor Tan of Minxi has always been unaccustomed to the Restoration Party, "So the Emperor Guangxu's Restoration Zhaoyang Fengyin is more prosperous than a few of his own, and now I am afraid that there is only one person who sincerely welcomes and calls for the Restoration, and there is only one person in Hubei Governor Chen Baowei, but although they resist, they will not turn their faces, after all, the Restoration is the trend of the times, only this Lord Tan is truly disgusted with the Restoration."

Zhang Zhidong smiled: "Don't be angry, Lord Zhong, although foreigners are not good, but their mechanism is skillful, why not use it for me?" And it makes sense to run a new school, Qi Mingzhi is also reasonable, but the emperor is in a hurry, and Weng Kang and the others are probably not sincere in reform, in my opinion, they are just a group of juniors competing for profit......"

"What Lord Zhang said is very true, and I don't agree with such impatient reform, but building railways, running industries, and developing industry and commerce are also dignified and upright, and we and other feudal officials "should also support it......" Liu Kun said with a smile.

"That's it. ......" Tan Zhonglin waved his hand: "I'm old, I can't say you, this time if the Queen Mother Lafayette is innocent of the Holy Judgment, the old man will also open his face to implement the new law, but if there is no follow-up, the old man doesn't want to be this acorn......"

Listening to the words of the three of them" Li Hongzhang smiled bitterly in his heart, Cixi knew best about the dissatisfaction with the Restoration Party, and how could he let the emperor continue to implement the new policy, so I am afraid that Beijing City is already full of storms at this moment, and he will definitely be involved in it if he chooses to go back at this time to report on his work, it seems that it is really not the time.

"Xingsun, you and we are connected" Why didn't he speak? Zhang Zhidong saw that everyone had their own thoughts on the matter of the Restoration, so he immediately changed the conversation, looked at Sheng Huaixuan and smiled: "You are our big money basket......

"A few adults laughed, Huaixuan is just a businessman, and he was recommended by Lord Zhongtang to become a petty official, and there is a place for me to speak in front of a few people......" Sheng Huaixuan hurriedly waved his hand modestly.

"Xingsun doesn't have to be polite, today I won't mention the official position, only talk about the old ......" Li Hongzhang smiled, and suddenly asked: "Xingsun, I heard you say before, what moths are there in Liaodong again......"

Sheng Huaixuan nodded, and his face became serious: "Don't hide it from a few adults, Huaixuan usually has business dealings with merchants there, so he is more familiar with Liaodong than ordinary people, that Young Master Li is indeed a character, and he has really started to study for free, and those who don't study will be fined and served, I heard that several university halls have also been built, and students are being recruited from all over the country, and foreigners have been invited to be gentlemen."

In addition, he has four railways in a row, which are longer than the capital of the Qing Dynasty, and they have seen more than 100 large factories on their own, and they have also built two large shipyards in Dalian and Huludao! In addition, there are nearly a thousand overseas wealthy businessmen who follow them, so I think this person has to guard against it......"

"Hiss ,......" After listening to Sheng Huaixuan's words, several people's faces sank at the same time, and they also heard about the three provinces forcibly promoting free reading, I thought it was a joke, but I didn't expect it to be true!

And with four railways and nearly a thousand factories, isn't this Young Master Li too rich?!

If he is allowed to live for another two years, then the Great Qing Kingdom will regret it!

"Hey, even if you know, what defense do you have? We are too far away from Liaodong, and the sailor regrets ......" Liu Kun suddenly stopped his mouth as soon as he said this, "Li Hongzhang immediately waved his hand: "Guanzhuang can say whatever he wants, the fault of Beiyang is the old man, say it......"

"Then you can't be blamed on Zhongtang, if Weng Tongsu can allocate military funds in time, there will be no today's sentence......" Liu Kunyi comforted and continued: "I have contacted Britain and France before, and their sailors are reluctant to ask about this matter, but they said that they will not watch Li Mo enter Beijing!" Besides, you also know that although our Daqing Division is gone, there are still more than 100,000 troops stationed in the area of Shandong Zhili, and it is better to take Yuan Shikai's new army in Tianjin "Unless he Li Mo can drive the warship to land, I am afraid that he will not be able to attack Beijing......"

"What's more, we are not vegetarians, who is the army of Hunan can go north at any time, there are more than 100,000 troops in Shaanxi, Gansu and Changgeng, if he is pressed, I am afraid he will not be comfortable......"

"Yes......" Tan Zhonglin took over and said: "It's a pity that the Mongolian prince is not in my Qing Dynasty now, otherwise more than 100,000 iron horsemen will go south, and I will raise troops together, and then contact the foreigners to contain his sailors, how can we let him get the land of the three provinces......"

"Now, we can only wait a few more years, and when the recruits from all over the country are trained, we will fight each other."

Hearing this, Sheng Huaixuan shook his head: "My lords, Li Mo has some research on him, he has always been well-prepared and well-planned, once he makes a move, it is a must-kill situation, from the beginning of the First Sino-Japanese War to his decisive battle against Japan not long ago, this is always the case, so I am worried that if the Restoration Party makes too much trouble, he may find an opportunity to make a move......"

Listening to Sheng Huaixuan's obscurity, Li Hongzhang raised his eyebrows, and immediately asked, "Xingsun, did you get any rumors?" Sheng Huaixuan nodded hurriedly: "Dissatisfied with a few adults, Huaixuan did get some news from the foreigners, first of all, the matter of Taiwan is likely to be Li Mo is playing tricks, it was he who drove away the French, and I heard that an agreement was signed, and secondly, I heard from the foreign businessmen who came back from the northeast recently said that since the beginning of the Restoration, the army movement in the north has often been seen, and it has become more frequent in recent days, and even the Luzon side has a ship coming back to say that it has seen abnormal movements, so I want to ......."

Before Sheng Huaixuan's words were finished, Li Hongzhang took the lead in straightening his waist, and a cold light flashed in his old eyes: "You mean "Li Mo will take advantage of the chaos in Beijing ......"

"That's right, so Huai Xuan hereby wants to remind you that the battle of Jingfang is inevitable in Huai Xuan's opinion, and adults should think more about the things that follow......"

"What's next!" , Zhang Zhidong and a few others also chuckled in their hearts, could it be that Li Mo would really take this opportunity to attack Beijing? Liu Kunyi immediately said: "Don't be afraid, if he wants to go south, he must first enter Tianjin and Shandong, where there are tens of thousands of Yuan Shikai's new army, I am afraid that it will not be so easy to defeat it, and when the time comes, our army driven by King Qin will go north together, then he can only return in vain......

"Da Zhuang is right" The old man has already reached an agreement with the French this time to take advantage of the French proposal to lease the land, and they will sell me some foreign guns and cannons, and the old man from the Germans has also asked, and he can also buy it, "but the money is still being raised......

Before Li Hongzhang finished speaking, Sheng Huaixuan immediately said: "If Lord Zhongtang really has a heart, this money is not a problem, my annual taxes in the Qing Dynasty can reach 90 million taels, half of which are in the hands of the four adults, I think at this moment, since the north is unstable, you may as well suppress the taxes that should be paid in the first half of the year, and when the matter is clear, I believe that the court will also be able to sympathize with the thoughts of your lords......"

Although Sheng Huaixuan did not say it explicitly, he was actually very clear, he was not optimistic about the war in the north, so he suggested that the taxes that should have been shipped to Beijing one after another should be deducted first, and the weapons should be purchased for training, and then the situation will be stabilized.

However, private deduction of taxes is a big crime of killing the head, if half of the children are reduced at this moment, in case the emperor and the queen mother blame it, I'm afraid no one can afford it.

Seeing that the four of them were hesitant, Sheng Huaixuan immediately guessed what they were worried about, and immediately began to sell the southeast strategy that had been conceived in his heart for a long time, and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, you might as well have a southeast mutual guarantee, so that you can not only block the mouths of the idlers, but also let them know that we are also a last resort, and you are all the brains of the imperial court, and the feudal officials, presumably the emperor will not be too difficult for you in the future......"

"Southeast Mutual Protection ......" Li Hongzhang and the other four people glanced at each other, and were just about to ask clearly, when suddenly there was a rush of footsteps outside, and without waiting to ask, they saw Lu Weitang stumbling in, and shouted before they arrived: "Zhongtang, Zhongtang, the big thing is not good, Li Mo's army has hit the city of Beijing......

"What ......"

This news made several people stand up at the same time, how is this possible? Li Hongzhang even grabbed the telegram, but after looking at it twice, he felt that his chest was tight and weak, Sheng Huaixuan hurriedly supported him: "My lord, Lord Zhongtang should be restless, it may just be Miao Chuan, there are still tens of thousands of new troops in Yuan Shikai, the commander of the Tianjin New Army, how can it be so easy to attack......

"It's useless! It's useless! Lu Weitang choked and shouted: "Yuan Shikai has led the army to surrender Li Mo......"

"Yuan Shikai has fallen? How is this possible? How could it be! Some time ago, he came to Jiangsu on business, and I have seen him, how is it possible! Liu Kunyi's eyes were also straight, and he couldn't believe the news.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is true......" Lu Weitang wiped his tears: "This telegram was forwarded by Li Bingheng, the governor of Shandong, he said that a few days ago, a foreigner saw that Li Mo's sailors bombarded Dagukou, and then the army also landed, originally those foreigners also wanted to send a telegram to contact the outside, but Li Mo sent people to cut all the telephone lines in the Zhili area, and also occupied the telegraph room, and blocked the sea route, they had to return to Weihai by land, and finally went around to Tai'an to send this telegram to Shanghai.

According to them, Yuan Shikai had already surrendered to Li Mo with tens of thousands of troops, and Lord Li Bingheng didn't believe it at first, so he ordered someone to ride a fast horse to check, only to find that the small station in Tianjin was crowded with forty or fifty thousand new troops, all of whom had put down their guns and were under the supervision of Li Mo's army......"

"Send troops, send troops! Protect the king of Qin, quickly contact the governors of the provinces, go to Beijing, the king of diligence to protect the ......, puff ......"

Lu Weitang's words made everyone stunned, and they didn't know what to do at once, only the corners of Li Hongzhang's lips trembled, and he straightened his waist, but before he could say the last two words, he couldn't lift it in one breath, and suddenly spurted out a mouthful of blood, and fell into Sheng Huaixuan's arms.

"Qinwang Bao Every ......"

"It's all under the city of Beijing, is it too late......"

The remaining three people looked at Sheng Huaixuan and Lu Weitang, who were in a hurry to support Li Hongzhang, and immediately looked at each other.