Master Yuan, start!

Our Qing Dynasty is the Celestial Empire and loves peace. We took the initiative to stop fighting and make peace with them. Who can say that Empress Dowager Cixi was surrendering?

But the bad thing was that they did not win the battle. Li Hongzhang's Huai Army performed poorly on the battlefield in Guangxi, so he placed his hopes on Yuan Shikai.

It happened that the pro-war bannermen in the capital were beaten to death, which made the situation in the court even more turbulent.

Yuan Xiangcheng chuckled inwardly. Li Hongzhang had been so dignified in front of him, even asking him to submit his own training, that he had no good intentions. "On the surface, it was you, Li Hongzhang, who pushed me to Prince Chun and blocked the attacks of the court's censors. But I'm going to take the blame for you. Your Huai Army was unable to cope with the task and suffered a crushing defeat in Guangxi, so you planned to push me out to take the French bullets."

Even though he complained, Yuan Shikai knew that there was no free lunch in the world. It was a political exchange. If he wanted Li Hongzhang to help him in this matter, he also had to help Li Hongzhang solve the difficulties.

He is currently just a pawn under Li Hongzhang, who is the most convenient to use and does not require much political resources.

After all, even if the Huai Army was short of talent, it didn't mean that Li Hongzhang had no one else to use, and Yuan Shikai was the only one who could be appointed. It was just that he was the most suitable person.

Zhang Shusheng, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi from the Huai faction, had been dismissed from office and put on hold for his unfavorable military performance, and had just died of illness in October.

At present, Liu Mingchuan is trapped in Taiwan, Nie Shicheng is in Fujian preparing to wait for an opportunity to cross the sea to aid Taiwan, Liu Bingzhang is stationed in Ningbo, Wu Yulan, Wu Changqing and others died early, Ye Zhichao and Zhou Shengbo are in Beijing and Tianjin to guard against the French going north.

The rest of the Huai Army officers were in charge of important local affairs, and if they were to be transferred, it would inevitably affect the Huai Army's control over the local areas.

It is natural to sit firmly on the position that you have finally occupied for a while. If you rashly transfer to the Sino-French battlefield, if you win, then everything will be fine, but what if you lose?

In Li Hongzhang's view, the Qing Dynasty had never won a war against foreigners since 1840, the th year of the Daoguang reign.

The positions of Hunan Governor Pan Dingxin and Zhejiang Governor Liu Bingzhang were not stable. If they were defeated by the French, there would be many people in the court who wanted to replace them.

So we can test the waters with Yuan Shikai. If we lose, it will not be too late to send out local leaders of the Huai Army.

Yuan Shikai thought about it and felt that he would not suffer any loss. What Li Hongzhang wanted was for him to participate in the Sino-French War and win a victory so that Kang Youwei could be rescued.

Unfortunately, Li Hongzhang had no idea how capable Feng Zicai was at fighting, and there was no need for Yuan Shikai to take action. Just a few months after the New Year, the news of the victory at Zhennan Pass would have spread throughout China.

"I can't let the Sino-French War end so hastily. My foundation is still shallow, so I still need to rely on the new army in my hands to gain more bargaining chips."

After making up his mind, Yuan Xiangcheng turned around and went to the Infantry Commander's Office to see the current situation of Kang Youwei and his group.

The area in front of the barracks of the Infantry Commander's Office had been cleaned up long ago, and the remaining wood in the broken wooden cell was simply removed and replaced with new hard-core solid wood.

Yuan Xiangcheng didn't see Kang Youwei, Xu Shichang and others, so he called for the captain Gong Baotun. Gong Baotun had been frightened all day, and when he saw Yuan Xiangcheng coming, he hurriedly asked:

"Sir Yuan, the Shuntian Prefecture came to pick up someone early in the morning. I felt that this was a matter related to a Juren candidate, and since the Shuntian Prefecture Governor was also the Superintendent of Education, he did have jurisdiction over the case. So, I handed the person over, and also took away the bodies of the Juren candidates and Du Liu.

But when Lord Ronglu Rong found out, he scolded me profusely and told me to bring the man back or I'd be fired. But I didn't dare break into Shuntian Prefecture. I could only sit in the camp. Luckily, you're back." Gong Baotun recounted everything he had encountered that day, pacing anxiously in front of Yuan Xiangcheng.

"Brother Gong, you are a few years older than me. Today, we will not address each other based on our positions, but on our ages." Yuan Xiangcheng tried to get closer and told Gong Baotun the situation he had learned at Li Hongzhang's residence. Of course, he omitted the part about the power struggle at the top.

It mainly tells the story of how the pro-war and pro-peace factions in the court will take advantage of the incident of the fight and death of the bannermen to disturb the court again.

"Oh, that's ruined. No wonder Lord Rong is so angry. This matter could have been suppressed, but if it gets out of hand because I sent the person out, Lord Rong will definitely tear off this layer of clothing of mine." Gong Baotun became even more anxious after hearing what Yuan Xiangcheng said.

"I have parents at home, and my younger brother has just become a martial arts student under the Empress Dowager's personal guard. If he gets implicated by me, everything will be ruined. Brother Xiangcheng, you are a great hero who saved Korea for the court. I believe you can speak with the ministers in the court. You must find a way for me."

Yi asked Yuan Xiangcheng for help after only two meetings. It was not that Gong Baotun did not know the principle of speaking to someone close, but he was really worried about his own future and the future of his family.

"Don't worry, Brother Gong. There is still room for maneuver. It's not a done deal yet." After learning about what happened to Gong Baotun, Yuan Xiangcheng made up his mind.

"Come on, Brother Gong, take me to see Lord Rong!"

6 Yuan Xiangcheng knew Ronglu, and he also knew that this period was one of the rare low points in Ronglu's life.

After the Sino-French War, Ronglu would rise step by step with the approval of Cixi, until he finally succeeded Li Hongzhang as the Governor-General of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang.

Yi Ronglu's full name was Guaerjia Ronglu. In his early years, he followed the army to suppress the Nian Rebellion and was gradually promoted step by step. He was appreciated by Wenxiang, the then Minister of Military Affairs.

After Sihou was transferred to the capital, he served as the Minister of Internal Affairs due to his Manchu identity. After the death of Emperor Tongzhi, he also served as the Minister of the Infantry, commonly known as the Nine-Gate Commander.

He was quite trusted by Cixi. After the death of Empress Dowager Cian, he also served as the Minister of Works and participated in the construction of the Empress Dowager Cian's mausoleum. In order to seek allies in the court, he came together with Li Hongzao, but was also involved in the conflict between Li Hongzao and Shen Guifen.

Because he was involved in the conflict between the then Grand Councilor Shen Guifen and the then Grand Councilor Li Hongzao, Shen Guifen took the opportunity to send people to impeach him for bribery, demoted him, and removed him from his positions as Minister of the Imperial Household Department and Minister of Works.

Ronglu wholeheartedly followed Li Hongzao and Shen Guifen in the competition, but he did not expect that despite his support, Li Hongzao was fine, while he was betrayed by his good friend Weng Tong, and Li Hongzao did not protect him.

In the early years of the Guangxu Emperor's reign, Empress Dowager Cixi was already very fond of Ronglu. Dissatisfied with the Grand Councilor's disobedience to her orders, she wanted to punish one or two of them to reaffirm her authority. She asked Ronglu for advice. Ronglu replied, "This is easy. Send one or two to remote areas to warn the others, and they won't dare to interfere."

In other words, Ronglu told Cixi to transfer one or two military ministers to remote areas to make an example of them, and no one would dare to talk back to her.

However, Cixi was not powerful enough at the time, and just proposing this motion aroused great resentment from the Grand Councilors. At that time, Yi Xin and Shen Guifen joined almost all the Grand Councilors in opposing Cixi's proposal.

This is why Cixi regarded Yi D as a thorn in her side.

Back to Ronglu, after Shen Guifen refuted Cixi's idea, she thought that Ronglu might be helping with the plan, so she asked Weng Tong to test the waters.

Weng Tong and Ronglu had met in their early years over the Tongzhi Emperor's selection of a mausoleum, and they became familiar with each other. Later, under Shen Guifen's orders, he went to ask Ronglu about it. Ronglu, treating Weng Tong as a good brother, told him everything that it was he who had suggested the idea to Cixi.

Weng Tong and Shen Guifen were both from Jiangsu. At that time, Shen Guifen had great power in the court. Weng Tong wanted to make progress so much that he honestly told Shen Guifen what Ronglu had told him.

Ronglu was attacked by the Grand Council of Military Affairs headed by Yi Xin and Shen Guifen, and was removed from his posts as Minister of the Imperial Household Department and Minister of Works. He was left with only the post of Governor of the Nine Gates of the Infantry Commander-in-Chief's Office, as a face-saving measure for Cixi.

But with Shen Guifen's death from illness, Li Hongzao should have brought Ronglu back. He couldn't be the governor of the Nine Gates for the rest of his life.

However, Li Hongzao had no intention of helping Ronglu. After Shen Guifen's death, in order to resolve the conflict between Prince Yi and the Han Dynasty, Li Hongzao tacitly allowed Weng Tong to serve in the military affairs office.

In other words, Ronglu confronted Shen Guifen for the sake of his ally, but was first betrayed by his brother Weng Tong, and then tricked again by his ally Li Hongzao who tacitly allowed Weng Tong to join the Grand Council.

Ronglu felt that such a huge court was full of people who sold out their friends for fame and fortune, and he really despised them.

It was at this time that Ronglu was angry. He would not listen to anyone and would not believe anyone except Cixi. Cixi also hinted to him that she would reinstate him after the turmoil of the Sino-French War was over.

So when he heard that the bannerman Du Liu was beaten to death by the juren, and that Li Hongzao might make a big fuss about it, he angrily scolded Gong Baotun.

There was nothing else but anger, the anger of being betrayed by a friend, and Gong Baotun had just suffered an unexpected disaster.

When Gong Baotun brought Yuan Xiangcheng to Ronglu, Ronglu was already furious.

Seeing Gong Baotun, he threw a teacup at him. The scalding hot water spilled on his official uniform, and the teacup fell to the ground and broke into pieces.

"How dare you come to see me? This is a matter concerning the Bannermen. You, Gong Baotun, are so capable that you ordered Shuntian Prefecture to take the people away without even asking for permission. Do you still have eyes for me, the Nine Gates Admiral?"

"Lord Rong, I...I didn't know that Du Liu was so deeply involved. If I had known, Shuntian Prefecture would never have handed him over even if they beat me to death." Gong Baotun saw that Ronglu was still angry.

"Stop talking nonsense. Where is the person I asked you to go to Shuntian Prefecture to pick up?"

"I went to the detention center in Shuntian Prefecture and saw dozens of yamen runners guarding the door. I was afraid that robbing people in broad daylight would cause too much trouble, so... I didn't dare to do it." Gong Baotun didn't just rely on Yuan Xiangcheng. Before Yuan Xiangcheng came, he tried to do what Ronglu said, but failed.

"Why did you come here when the people haven't been rescued yet? Do you want me to lead the team to rescue them?" Ronglu's anger subsided a little after hearing this.

He knew how big a ramifications it would be to try to snatch someone in the capital, the capital city that was under the emperor's feet. There was also some anger in what he said to Gong Baotun before. It was better if he didn't snatch the person, because it would be more troublesome if he did.

However, despite this, the situation is still tricky, and not having people on hand is always a hidden danger.

"That's not the case, Lord Rong. There may be another way to deal with this matter." Yuan Xiangcheng stepped forward from Gong Baotun's side, clasped his fists and bowed.

"Who are you?"

"Sir Rong, I am Yuan Xiangcheng. I just returned to the capital a few days ago."

"I know you. So you're the Yuan Xiangcheng who recaptured Seoul in three days? I heard storytellers say you were eight feet tall, with strong arms, and could hold your own against ten. They even boasted about you to the Empress Dowager. I didn't expect you to be..." Ronglu looked Yuan Xiangcheng over, "only five feet tall."

Yuan Xiangcheng was speechless. No wonder Weng Tong and Li Hongzao didn't take you seriously. One betrayed you, and the other didn't pull you back afterwards.

Even if this body is only 1.6 meters tall, you shouldn't say it to my face.

However, despite his complaints, Yuan Xiangcheng still knew why he came to see Ronglu, so he did not say much and continued:

"Master Rong, Du Liu is now dead. Although the remaining companions and the group of candidates are in custody, they have not yet been brought to trial. You can also send someone to guard them."

"You mean, we should get in touch with them first?"

"That's right. While censors have the right to report rumors, they're not allowed to report groundless rumors. As long as we have witnesses, even if only partially, there's still room for maneuver." Yuan Xiangcheng voiced his thoughts. "I heard from Lord Gong that Du Liu was a notorious troublemaker in his early years, causing trouble everywhere. Lord Gong arrested him many times, but because of his bannerman status, he was usually released after a short detention."

Ronglu's eyes lit up as he heard this. He turned to Yuan Xiangcheng and said, "Are you suggesting that we first contact these imprisoned scholars and Du Liu's remnants, collude with them, and then spin Du Liu's death as a case of a quarrel over drinking, where someone accidentally got beaten to death, while concealing the fact that they advocated war or peace?"

"That's right, Lord Rong!" Yuan Xiangcheng praised.

"What a bullshit idea! Do you think I couldn't think of it before?" Unexpectedly, Ronglu suddenly changed his face and yelled at Yuan Xiangcheng.

Chapter 31: Inviting people to join the gang

"What a bullshit idea! Do you think I couldn't think of it before?"

Hearing Ronglu's sudden anger, Yuan Xiangcheng was also a little stunned. "Am I wrong?"

"Do you really think the focus of this matter is on that group of scholars? The focus is on the court censors and that group of pro-war officials. If you can't convince these people, it doesn't matter how good the confession is. How this case will be handled depends on the judge, not the criminal." Ronglu was very angry. He thought Yuan Xiangcheng could have some clever tricks, but he didn't expect it to be such an idea.

86073baling45 auxiliary fee

Ronglu and Yuan Xiangcheng did not communicate with each other, and it was not clear that Yuan Xiangcheng actually knew that the key point of the turmoil between the pro-war and pro-peace turmoil in the court was actually between Cixi and Prince Gong.

As long as Cixi could appease the Qingliu pro-war faction, the idea of ​​former Grand Councilor Li Hongzao to take advantage of the situation to stir up a political trend would be shattered, and Prince Gong Yixin would not be able to take advantage of the situation to make a comeback.

After hearing Ronglu's words, Yuan Xiangcheng realized that he had misunderstood: It turned out that Ronglu thought I was only focusing on this case, and did not expect that I also had a backup plan to deal with the upright people in the court.

There was no room for concealment at this time, so Yuan Xiangcheng spoke frankly about what he was thinking: "Sir Rong, this is how Xiangcheng would like to respond."

Yuan Shikai exaggerated his experiences in Korea, praised the new Western army without hesitation, and trained a small Western-style new army, which enabled him to pacify Seoul in three days.

With practical examples, Lian Ronglu was attracted by the broad prospects of the Western-style army described by Yuan Xiangcheng.

Changing the subject, Yuan Xiangcheng told Ronglu that he planned to submit a memorial to the court meeting in the next few days requesting the training of a new army.

I also ask Ronglu to help out in the palace when the time comes. The two of them working together can not only help the Empress Dowager relieve her worries and shut up the Qingliu, but also train troops for the country and defend the Qing Dynasty.

"That's fine!" After listening to Yuan Xiangcheng's plan, Ronglu felt that it was not impossible.

It can only be said that it was fortunate that it was Ronglu, otherwise this plan would not be so easy to advance. Yuan Shikai wanted to submit a memorial to the court requesting the training of a new army, but Li Hongzhang could not stand up to support it and could only acquiesce, otherwise it would arouse Cixi's fear.

After all, you, Lord Li, already have the Huai Army in your hands. It has been less than 20 years since we defeated the Taiping Rebellion and the Nian Rebellion, and they have not been completely disbanded yet. How can you think of getting involved in the New Army?

In this way, there is a lack of the strong support of a big boss.

As for Prince Qing Yiliji Zidirongx, Prince Li Shiduo, although the three supported it, they had no experience in governance after all, and their foundation in the court was still shallow. They all directly received high positions in the central government through their clan titles.

If the three of them all supported Yuan Xiangcheng's training of a new army, it would give people the feeling that they were just talking about the army on paper, and even Yuan Xiangcheng's proposal would make people feel unreliable and difficult to convince.

On the contrary, Ronglu, although he was a Manchu and received preferential treatment during the promotion process, but because he was not a yellow belt clan member, he could be said to have climbed up from the bottom step by step.

If Ronglu supported them, the Qingliu would not be able to accuse the training of the new army of being "a waste of national treasury and useless to the country."

After the two of them had a discussion, Yuan Xiangcheng and Gong Baotun led a dozen soldiers from the Infantry Commander's Office and rushed to the Shuntian Prefecture Office.

...

After Yuan Shikai left the Infantry Commander's Office, Xu Shichang had to go to the Zongli Yamen to take up his post. He simply accompanied the Shuntian Prefecture's yamen runners to escort Kang Youwei and his party to the destination, gave them a few instructions, and then left.

After Xu Shichang left, Kang Youwei was even more at a loss.

He had not slept all night because of the fight, and was detained in another place by the yamen runners of Shuntian Prefecture early in the morning. He was still trying not to fall asleep until the afternoon. His eyes were already bloodshot, and his friends around him were all urging him to rest first.

Du Liu's gang of cronies were not too sad about his death. They just took the opportunity to make some harsh remarks last night in an attempt to extort more money from these scholars.