Master Yuan, start!

The bolt was removed, and the heavy gate of Shengjing slowly opened.

"Squeak~~"

Yiktang'a and his entourage formed a thin line and rode into the city.

"Thank you, Lord Yi, for coming to our aid. These cannons can be of great help." Mua led hundreds of soldiers defending the city down the city wall and bowed to Yiktang'a on his horse.

"hehe"

Yiktang'a didn't say anything, but smiled stiffly, then dismounted and waited together at the city gate.

Muada thought his face was frozen and didn't think much about it.

When the city gates were fully opened, Yiktang'a's troops were still lined up in a thin line, with the cannons at the end.

Muada was standing at the city gate, shivering in the cold wind due to the narrow channel effect.

"Brothers, the city gate is very wide. Let's form a row of five and quickly enter the city to eat something hot!"

It was really cold, Muadai couldn't help but shout.

"I wonder what your name is, sir, and which banner are you from?" Yiktang'a suddenly asked.

"My name is Muadai, I am from the Guwalgiya clan, a member of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner, and my ancestral home is Jinzhou." Muadai thought that Yiktang'a had chosen him as his personal soldier, so he quickly reported all his family background.

"Okay, brother Mu, I will go to Jinzhou one day to find a Feng Shui treasure land to bury you." Yiktang'a bowed deeply to Mu Adai.

"A Feng Shui treasure land for burial?" Mu Adai thought that the wind was too strong and he had heard it wrong.

"excuse me!"

Yiktang'a drew the big knife from his horse and chopped at Mu'ada's head.

"My lord, you..." Before Muada could finish his words, the head flew into the air!

"Why are you killing me? I am also from the Bordered Yellow Banner, why are you killing me?"

This was the last thought in Muada's mind. After a few seconds, his head fell into the snow and his last thoughts stopped.

This scene was seen clearly by Shengjing General Yu Lu who was walking down the stairs.

"Close the city gate! Close the city gate!"

Seeing Yiktang'a suddenly attacking and killing people, he crawled to the top of the city wall and at the same time did not forget to have the city gate closed.

"Squeak~~"

The soldiers who opened the city gate were quite courageous and closed it regardless of their own safety.

But it was too late. Not to mention that hundreds of disguised Wehrmacht troops had already entered the city, even if there was no internal support, the artillery had already been pulled to the optimal striking distance.

"boom!"

A loud bang was emitted towards the city gate, causing pain in the ears of the Eight Banners and the National Defense Army who remained inside the city gate.

The eight-horse w:j5(qi 熘杉siz bannermen who were closing the gates held the gates with their hands, facing the shock, and their noses were bleeding from the shock of the artillery shells.

However, the National Defense Army reacted quickly, drew out their swords and slashed at the Eight Banners defenders beside them. For a moment, blood, flesh and body parts were scattered all over the city wall.

Some clever ones saw that the situation was not good and followed Yu Lu to the top of the city wall. Seeing this, the National Defense Army also hurriedly chased after them with swords in hand.

The guards on the city wall were armed with muskets. When they saw several enemies attacking, they immediately raised their guns and shot.

The aim wasn't very good, but it still made two Wehrmacht soldiers fall in the snow, and the white snow was immediately soaked red.

"Stand back and wait for the brothers behind to come up. They have guns in their hands!"

Seeing the casualties among his friendly forces, the commander of the vanguard of the National Defense Army, disguised as the Eight Banners, immediately ordered a retreat.

Upon hearing this, the follow-up troops rushed forward and fired repeatedly at the Eight Banners who were climbing the stairs.

Their accuracy was much better than that of the Eight Banners, but the difference in terrain between low and high allowed many people to escape upstairs.

"Hurry, hurry, enter the city, enter the city!"

Seeing that the National Defense Army's offensive was in chaos, Yiktang'a quickly reminded them that the most important thing on this trip was to capture the city.

Yu Lu, who was standing on the city wall, wanted to slap himself twice. Why did he covet these cannons? Now, he had let the thieves into the city. Even if he could survive, the Empress Dowager would not let him off easily.

The main reason was that he never expected that Yiktang'a would rebel, and he had never heard of any collusion between Yiktang'a and Yuan Xiangcheng before.

Although Yu Lu served as the Governor-General of Huguang, he was not a capable official. On the contrary, he was a diehard. The reason he became the Governor-General was because he clung to the thigh of Cixi.

Previously, when the court discussed the construction of railways, he had submitted a memorial to the emperor, strongly advocating against it. However, since the court officials in power generally agreed, he offended a group of key ministers and local officials.

In order to appease the Han officials and at the same time protect her few local officials, Cixi specially transferred Yu Lu from the Han area to Shengjing to stay away from disputes.

Who would have thought that the emperor and empress would fight each other and Yuan Shikai would raise an army.

Yu Lu knew that with his resume, it was impossible for him to be valued by Guang Lingxu, so he was determined to follow Cixi.

But now there are enemy troops below the city wall, and there are only a few hundred Eight Banners and a few city defense cannons on the city wall. What else can he do?

Seeing thousands of enemy soldiers rushing in from outside the city, Yu Lu cried out to the sky, drew his guard's sword and pretended to commit suicide.

The eight bannermen around him naturally quickly grabbed their swords and tried to dissuade him: "Sir, why do you have to do this?"

"Shenyang has been lost. How can I face the Empress Dowager again? How can I face the late emperor again!" Yu Lu roared loudly and burst into tears after just a few words.

"Sir, Emperor Guangxu is also the emperor. If we surrender Emperor Guangxu, we will be worthy of the ancestors of the Qing Dynasty!"

The Eight Banners around Yu Lu had not received much favor from Cixi. They felt that the Empress Dowager and the Emperor were both members of the Qing Dynasty and were the same as everyone else.

Hearing this, Yu Lu's body softened.

"Yes, the Empress Dowager may want to kill me, but Emperor Guangxu may not let me die."

He decisively threw away the sword in his hand, took off his hat, and slowly walked down to the city gate.

In an unexpected city deception strategy, Shengjing City was captured by Yuan Shikai.

After the city gate was broken, most of the remaining Eight Banners had no will to fight.

When they heard that the emperor's army had arrived, they laid down their weapons and surrendered.

However, Yuan Shikai still captured them all for other purposes.

After fully controlling Shengjing City, the few ammunition and supplies in the city were all taken over by the National Defense Army, and a large amount of food stored in winter also fell into Yuan Shikai's hands.

A few hours later, the baggage train finally arrived. Yuan Xiangcheng ordered his men to repair the telegraph lines that he had previously destroyed.

After the repair was completed, Yuan Xiangcheng sent an electric signal to the whole country.

I had just read the news of the oath-taking ceremony in Seoul in the newspaper, and now I received the news that Shengjing had "fallen".

It was as if Yuan Shikai was the Eight Banners of the early Qing Dynasty, traveling back and forth outside the Great Wall like the wind.

This telegram also completely ignited the anti-Queen movement in China.

Originally, inside the Forbidden City.

The temperature in Beijing was far lower than that in Shengjing, but the ministers who came to attend the court meeting felt cold from the bottom of their hearts to the tips of their toes.

Yili Zaiyi, Ronglu, Sun Yuwen, E'erhebu all stood respectfully on both sides, not daring to speak.

The new Emperor Baoqing was only a few years old and could not sit still. After a while, he started crying and wanted to go out, so he had to be taken back to the palace by his wet nurse.

There was also a newcomer who was a familiar face, Prince Gong Yi?

After Huan Xiangcheng escaped, in order to stabilize the court, Cixi invited Yi Xin, whom she had fired six years ago, back into office.

After all, when Guangxu passed away, the new emperor had little prestige and relied entirely on Cixi to support the country.

She naturally thought of her "old partner" who had worked with her for many years during the period of empress dowager

Yi? He didn't want to come out. After all, he was not a rag that could be used or thrown away as needed.

However, in order to prevent the situation from collapsing immediately, he accepted Cixi's invitation to join the Grand Council, but he was mostly silent on weekdays and rarely participated in discussions.

"Take a look at this telegram. I really don't know what to say." Cixi started the conversation and took out the telegram sent by Yuan Shikai in Shengjing City.

Counting from the day of the oath-taking ceremony in Seoul, Shengjing was captured on the 20th, which was a bit too fast.

The rest of the Jiashen Army under Ronglu had just arrived at Shanhaiguan when they had already captured Shengjing, as if the Eight Banners had been reborn.

Who are the real Eight Banners?

"How could Shengjing City be captured so easily by the Yuan thieves? What is Yu Lu doing?" Zai Yi is the youngest among them and also the one with the worst temper.

However, he is the biological father of the current emperor, so it seems normal for him to have a bad temper. After all, he and Yuan Shikai are the only ones who really have no room for maneuver.

Seeing that no one responded, Zai Yi calmed down and asked in a normal tone, "Can we ask a foreigner to mediate?"

After hearing Zai Yi mention that he was in charge of the affairs, Yiliang asked the Zongli Yamen several times, but the British used the excuse that it was an internal affair and they did not intend to interfere.

Only France and Russia are still a bit of a shrewd person, but I am afraid that the French mediation will have little effect on Yuan Shikai."

"The Russian one is also fine, why don't you try it?" Zai Yi asked impatiently.

"The Russians are asking for too much. They're demanding jurisdiction over the sixty-four villages in Jiangdong and wanting to give all the people there to them." Yi Lianzun explained, "Besides, even if the Russians are willing to mediate, whether Yuan Shikai will listen or not is another matter. He now commands a massive army that no one can stop.

And so on: "It is best to include Britain in the mediation. Without Britain, it will be difficult for Yuan Shikai to surrender."

Zai Yi continued to ask, "What about the Americans and Germans?"

"Neither country has troops stationed in the Qing Dynasty. Even if they wanted to mediate, they would be powerless."

Zai Yi was repeatedly blocked when he asked questions. He was dissatisfied but had nowhere to vent, so he could only turn away angrily.

"How many people are left now when the four armies of Jiashen, the Zhili training army, and the Zhili Green Camp are added together?" Cixi asked quietly.

Ronglu replied, "The Empress Dowager, the Jiashen Fourth Army has 5 men, the Zhili Training Army has nearly 2 men, and the Zhili Green Camp still has more than 1 men left."

"How many have been transferred?"

"The front and rear armies of Jiashen have been dispatched to Shanhaiguan, the left army is in Beijing, Tianjin and other places to guard against the landing of Yuan thieves, and the central army is stationed in Nanyuan, Beijing." Ronglu replied.

"Let the left army go north to Shanhaiguan." Cixi felt that it was not safe enough, so she simply transferred all the three armies of Jiashen except the central army of the bannermen to Shanhaiguan to block Yuan Shikai's attack.

"The rioters seem to have Western firearms, and I heard there's a well-trained group of rioters called the White Tigers who have evaded the government troops several times."

"Firearms?" Cixi frowned. Why was the situation getting worse?

"Prince Gong, tell me, what should we do now?" There was no way. Cixi was only good at power struggles, but was much worse at dealing with practical problems.

When Cixi called him, Yixin had to put away his indifferent expression and stood up to reply.