Master Yuan, start!

In his opinion, this was not what a qualified minister should do. If Yuan Shikai had not rescued him in time, he might have been abducted by the Japanese and fled overseas.

Can the King of Korea, who has fled overseas, still gain recognition from the people?

It's not like he doesn't have a son. At worst, the Qing court can just appoint another king.

What he wanted was to go one step further on the basis of fine clothes, delicious food, glory and wealth, to sleep on the lap of a beautiful woman, and to hold power in the world when he was awake, to control the entire Korea and thus dominate East Asia.

But if someone told him:

"Your Majesty, this path of independence could lead to your downfall if you're not careful."

He would immediately give up those unrealistic thoughts and become a wealthy king honestly.

Li Xi ultimately did not dare to take that step, but this was also in line with his character. He was not trained to be a king since childhood.

During his growth, he was controlled by his stepmother, biological father, and wife one after another, and he lacks determination.

The group, surrounded by the people of Seoul, slowly arrived at the palace, accompanied by the eunuch's announcement.

The punishment of those involved in the coup was immediately announced.

"Kim Ok-gyun, Hong Young-sik, Seo Kwang-beom, Seo Jae-pil, and Park Yong-hyo—the five traitors—are all incredibly vicious and unheard-of. Some, like Qin Hui, have used foreign power to sell out their country, but none have summoned foreign troops to threaten the emperor and his father, like Ok-gyun and his companions."

"Sentence: immediate execution! Execution will be carried out immediately after the unrest subsides."

After listening to the eunuch's hastily read out brief speech, Kim Ok-gyun and Park Yong-hyo, who were now kneeling in the hall, still stubbornly held their heads high and refused to admit defeat.

But it doesn't matter. The big thing has been decided. The remaining two Xu brothers should still be in the city, and Yuan Xiangcheng has already made arrangements.

It is impossible for the Xu brothers to flee overseas in this life like they did in their previous life. Yuan Shikai wants to see them alive or dead.

After issuing an imperial edict, Kim Ok-gyun and the other five members of the Gapsin Coup were charged with treason, wanted notices were quickly posted throughout the city.

On the one hand, he denounced the Group of Five as scum worse than Qin Hui, and on the other hand, he compiled a pamphlet on the facts of the Jiashen Incident, published it nationwide and presented it to the Qing Dynasty.

...

At this time, the Xu brothers were hiding in a secluded corner of Seoul, feeling anxious.

"Brother, what do you say we should do?" After Xu Zaibi led people to kill Wu Zhaoyou in the gambling house, he launched a heavy attack on the wealthy families and Chinese businessmen in the city, killing countless people. His hands and even his face were covered in blood.

"What should I do? What can I do! The only thing I can do now is to seek refuge from the Japanese!" Xu Guangfan knew that the mutiny had failed and he had no choice but to make other plans.

"But what about Bowen (Jin Yujun) and Zichun (Pu Yongxiao)? Can we just watch helplessly as the Qing dogs behead them and display their heads to the public?" Xu Zaibi was still a young man at heart and could not bear to see his comrades who pursued the same ideals end up like this.

"Don't even mention that the new army has been dispersed. Even if all 500 Korean new soldiers were there, would you dare to rob the execution ground if I asked you to?" Xu Guangfan didn't even raise his head. He just picked up a handful of dust from the ground and wiped it on his face.

"But...then..." Xu Zaibi was speechless for a moment.

"Okay, stop talking about buts. Take off your clothes quickly, wipe the blood off your face, and get to the Japanese Embassy as soon as possible."

After a series of operations, the two disguised themselves as ordinary people who had just suffered a disaster and limped towards the Japanese Embassy.

On the way, we occasionally saw Korean new soldiers being killed by the Qing army, and their bodies were dragged through the streets.

Although the two felt sorry for the tragic scene, they could only hide their sadness.

After finally arriving at the Japanese Embassy, ​​I didn't dare enter through the main gate, so I could only sneak in through the back door.

The two Xu brothers were taken to a side hall on the first floor by the embassy's doorman. Before they could even sit down, they saw the Japanese Minister Shinichiro Takezoe coming down from the second floor with a piece of paper in his hand.

"Takezoe-kun, you have to save us, save North Korea!"

"Oh, really, you two? I wonder what the relationship is between North Korea and Japan? You two are visiting my embassy today, do you have an appointment?" Takezoe Shinichiro didn't listen to their cries for help at all, but just shook off the paper in his hand.

Xu Zaipi was puzzled when he heard Takezoe Shinichiro's words. He thought, "Didn't you invite us to the Japanese embassy before and tell us that Japan supports Korean independence and will provide assistance? Why do you act like you don't recognize me now?"

Xu Guangfan, however, became alert, protecting his cousin behind him, and asked the Japanese envoy, "Takezoe-kun, what are you holding in your hand?"

"Oh? Are you talking about this?" Takezoe Shinichiro pointed at the paper in his hand. "Of course it's your arrest warrant. It's posted all over the city."

"Goro!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Inoue Kakugoro, who was still in Yuan Xiangcheng's prisoner camp, had returned to the Japanese embassy at some point.

"Your Excellency, what are your orders?"

"Lead the military and police to arrest these two and hand them over to General Yuan Shikai of the Qing Dynasty. Don't let anyone misunderstand the Great Japanese Empire's determination to maintain peace in East Asia."

"You, you, you!" Xu Zaibi's brain collapsed for a moment when he saw this situation. He was shocked and angry. His lips moved up and down but he was too angry to speak.

The third Xu Guangfan cursed loudly: "The Japanese are untrustworthy. They sold out their friends for glory today, and they will surely suffer retribution in the future!"

Linzhu Tianjinyilang just sighed as he saw the two Xu brothers walking away.

"Hey, it's your fault that you lost so quickly."

Chapter 18 Who is Yuan Xiangcheng?

Thank you for your support in keeping me updated even though I haven’t been working for half a year!

In just two days and nights, the situation in Seoul changed drastically.

After the Gapsin Coup, the remaining officials of the Shidae faction quickly reorganized the government agencies under the arrangement of Queen Min.

Shen Shunze was appointed as the Prime Minister, also known as the Prime Minister, which can be simply understood as the Prime Minister. Yuan Shikai's Korean close friend Jin Bingshi was the Right Prime Minister and Jin Hongjip was the Left Prime Minister.

As for the subsequent protection of the palace, it was temporarily provided by the Incheon New Army under Yuan Shikai's command to prevent a counterattack by the rebel army.

Those ministers who were usually close to the Kaihua faction were now in a state of panic, trying desperately to prove that they had nothing to do with the rebellious Kaihua party.

The officials of the major factions, who had been criticized and abused by the Kaihua faction in the past, are now finally able to hold their heads high and feel proud.

You Kaihua Party members keep saying you're fighting for the country and for Korea, but you turn around and collude with Japan and hold the king hostage. You say you're patriotic, but who would believe you?

Yes, yes, yes, you say that if North Korea becomes independent, it will become a dog for the Japanese?

Since we are both being a dog, wouldn’t it be better to be a dog for the Qing Dynasty?

Yes, yes, yes, you said to get rid of the clique and recruit talents equally.

I work for a big sect, so why don't you recruit people based on their abilities?

Things that the powerful faction can do should be done by you, the enlightened faction; people that the powerful faction dare not manage, you, the enlightened faction dare to manage.

In a word, you have to take care of the things that the big guys can take care of, and you have to take even more care of the things that the big guys cannot take care of.

Who do you think you are? The Russian Tsar or the Qing Emperor?

With the help of Yuan Shikai, the political situation in Korea finally stabilized, but there was still a problem facing Yuan Shikai: how the Korean government would operate.

The rebels killed more than half of the court officials in one day and one night, and now there are almost no more useful officials in the city of Han.

Even though the central government was being run by Sim Sun-taek, Kim Byung-si, and Kim Hong-jip, the current Seoul court was still debating whether or not to allow these three ministers to take power.

Before the Gapsin Coup, King Yi Hee largely ignored state affairs, leaving the Min clan in power. Queen Min, however, practiced nepotism, favoring her cronies and ostracizing dissidents from both the central and local levels.

Since the Korean unrest was caused by the public resentment caused by the Min clan, the faction headed by Min cannot be allowed to continue to hold power.

The next step is to make a choice between King Lee Hee and the three councilors.

Li Xi, let alone Yuan Xiangcheng's willingness to return power to Li Xi right now, even if he wanted to, Queen Min and the three ministers of the State Council would probably stop him.

Because there is a ready-made example here. Li Xi is too easily influenced and can be easily swayed by anyone. Is such a king really suitable to lead the Koreans forward?

Since Queen Min was unworkable and Yi Xi was untrustworthy, the final option was for the three ministers to rule the country, making decisions on daily affairs by themselves, and then asking the Celestial Empire, Yuan Shikai, for instructions on major national issues.

Queen Min and Lee Hee could only make their presence felt in royal or ceremonial affairs.

As for Queen Min and Lee Hee being dissatisfied?

That depends on whether the Incheon New Army in Seoul agrees.

However, the current structure is still missing the last link, which is the approval of the Qing court.

Thinking of this, Yuan Xiangcheng looked towards the west with some worry, his eyes penetrating the clouds and waves, as if he was looking directly at the Forbidden City, the most magnificent city in the world today!

As early as when he received the news from Wang San, Yuan Shikai sent a telegram to Beijing detailing the cause of the Seoul mutiny.

Originally, the first telegraph in Korea in the original time and space was a line built by the Japanese from Nagasaki to Busan in 1883.

After Yuan Shikai's journey through the country, he felt deeply the inconvenience of communicating with the country, so he petitioned Li Hongzhang and the then Shengjing General Qing Yu to build a telegraph line starting from Seoul, passing through Pyongyang, Liaoning and finally reaching Beijing.

Although Qingyu was a member of the Manchu Plain White Banner, he did not have the old-fashioned and decadent ideas of other Manchu nobles.

As soon as he entered the officialdom, he passed the examination as a translator and was admitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, working under the famous Sixth Prince "Guizi Liu".

Therefore, Qingyu was quite receptive to Western affairs. Coupled with Li Hongzhang's operation in the court and Yuan Shikai's financial support, a telegraph line spanning North Korea, Shenyang and Beijing was built in mid-1884.

After sending a telegram in the military camp that night, Yuan Shikai took his troops to quell the rebellion without waiting for a reply.

When Yuan Shikai led his army to the city of Seoul, the reply he received was:

"Hold on and wait for help"

Li Hongzhang actually didn't know that Yuan Shikai had secretly trained so many new troops, and they were quite combat-effective.

Since ancient times, every minister who was sent abroad had recruited a few private soldiers, let alone Yuan Shikai who was guarding a foreign country and facing Japan and Russia.

Therefore, when someone reported something to Li Hongzhang, he would just smile indifferently and not take it seriously.

After receiving the telegram from Yuan Shikai this time, he was overwhelmed. The war report from the south said that the French had repeatedly attacked Qing ships, and Yuan Shikai sent another telegram saying that Seoul was in rebellion and there were traces of the Japanese behind it.

Ship 9679102(

In desperation, we can only do the big things first and the small things later, and the urgent things first and the slow things later.

He ordered the Qing Battalion stationed in Jinzhou to prepare and rush to Korea. If the rebellion was minor, they would suppress it; if the rebellion was large, they would bring back the court officials.

First, be on guard against the French.

But he didn't expect that just one day later, he received a telegram from Yuan Shikai saying that "the rebellion has been quelled and Seoul is safe."

Inside the Forbidden City, there was a lively quarrel in the court of the Qianqing Palace.

Ever since Empress Dowager Cixi dismissed the Sixth Prince on the pretext of the defeat in the Sino-French War, there have always been quarrels in the court.

Without the Sixth Prince Gong Yixin's support, the voices of the upright officials, celebrities, and writers of the Han Dynasty became louder.

The newly-appointed Prince Qing, Yi Ru, left the world in ruins.

Ever since Li Hongzhang submitted Yuan Shikai's memorial about the "rebellion in Korea", there has been no peace in the court.

The peace faction, led by Prince Qing Yiliao of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the war faction, led by the upright officials in the court, frequently quarreled.

Even the young eunuchs passing by the door covered their ears and ran over like the wind.

By the time Li Hongzhang entered the hall with heavy steps, carrying Yuan Shikai's latest telegram about the "Korean rebellion being quelled", the hall was already in a state of chaos.