Master Yuan, start!

According to later statistics, the five armies of Jiashen suffered heavy losses in the French landing battle over the past ten days. Except for Yuan Shikai's right army of Jiashen, the four armies of front, center, left and rear were almost all defeated and lost their organization.

Of the five armies of Jiashen, which had a total of more than 6000 men, only less than men were left after the battle, and almost all of them were injured. Of Yuan Shikai's right army of Jiashen, which had nearly men, only less than were left.

In addition to the thousands of French soldiers who stayed in the fleet and those who fell behind and were separated, more than 3000 French soldiers were killed, most of whom were Vietnamese and Algerians.

Teaching 86o 3.8?45;

The remaining 6000 people were divided into two waves inside and outside the city, and were captured in batches after Courbet persuaded them to surrender.

In addition, the biggest gain of this battle was the capture of Courbet, commander of the French expeditionary force.

They also seized more than a dozen intact 90mm field cannons, tens of thousands of Grasse rifles, and a large amount of treasure looted from the French and Japanese.

But fortunately, everything was worth it. After this bloody battle, the Jiashen Right Army fully grew up and was no longer a Qing army that could only fight civil wars.

Lin has grown into a truly modern army capable of fighting national wars!

Just as the people in southern Beijing were rejoicing that the situation had stabilized, a group of senior officials outside the Forbidden City saw the Qing soldiers pouring in to maintain order in the city. They looked at each other in silence, covering their faces and crying.

When Lu Yix and Shi Duo heard the soldiers outside Prince Li's mansion shouting "The French commander has been captured, Lord Yuan, enter the city immediately!", they stopped moving the antiques and banknotes into the dark room and turned around to come out of the dark room.

"Seventh brother, Yuan Xiangcheng is really a lucky general!" Shiduo couldn't help but cheer for Prince Chun beside him.

Lei Rong X's originally sad eyes gradually became bright, and he felt in his heart that he had made the right choice to choose Yuan Xiangcheng.

The entire Chang'an Avenue was filled with the joy of surviving the disaster. Central ministers Zhang Zhiwan and Yan Jingming, who had not had time to run away, took off their hats, revealing their gray braids and sat slumped on the ground.

"Quick, catch up with the Queen Mother and the Emperor and tell them that the capital has been defended!"

Liu Yan Jingming shouted to the yamen runners around him, saying that while the imperial carriage had not run far, there was still a chance to catch up. If it really ran out of Shuntian Prefecture, it would be a laughing stock to the world.

The afternoon sun spread across Beijing, bringing a touch of life to the deserted streets that had been deserted after the war.

The bodies of the rebel soldiers and civilians were scattered across the streets. Yamen soldiers were collecting them one by one, but there were too many dead and too few living. Some of the bodies that had died earlier gradually gave off a pungent stench of decay.

Although it was not the first time that the capital was captured by the enemy, nor would it be the last time for the Qing Dynasty, it was bound to deal a heavy blow to today's China.

After the news spreads across the country and even to Europe and the United States, the domestic landlord class will undoubtedly re-examine the giant beast of the Qing Dynasty. Is it still necessary for this blood-sucking beast that has sucked blood for more than two hundred years and is now crumbling to exist?

And the countries in the world that covet China will certainly test the strength of the Qing Dynasty again and take the opportunity to take advantage of it.

With such a big incident, there is no doubt that someone among Cixi, Guangxu, the Manchu military affairs council, and the Han central government will have to take the blame.

Cixi will not take the blame, Guangxu has no reason to take the blame, and the Manchurian Military Affairs Council does not want to take the blame, so the blame can only be taken by our dear Lord Li Hongzhang. At most, a few insignificant Manchurian ministers will be implicated.

The Japanese Minister to China, Motoaki, was in a bad mood. He was extremely opposed to participating in the French invasion, but after the Japanese soldiers followed the French army into the capital, he had to wait for an opportunity to respond.

However, he did not expect that he could not provide the support and was caught by the soldiers of Jiashen Right Army. If he had not known Chinese and shouted loudly that he was the Japanese minister, he would have been killed on the spot.

"I am the Japanese minister, you have no right to detain me!"

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency. But my Lord Yuan has ordered that all suspicious people on the street must be arrested and interrogated. You can talk to him directly when he arrives." Sheng Feiniao ignored Ben Wuyang and went to clean up the situation.

...

After receiving the messenger's order, Li Hongzhang immediately turned back from Shandong and arrived in Baoding City.

However, due to the fierce fighting in the north, he was worried about encountering the French, so he stayed in Baoding for some time. When he heard that the defense of the capital was won, he opened his eyes wide and opened his mouth in disbelief.

Without even bothering to drink the strong tea in his hand to refresh himself, he hurriedly stood up and prepared to go to Beijing.

Halfway through the journey, his pace slowed down again.

Yuan Shikai won the battle, and the five armies of Jiashen won the battle, but he was defeated.

The Beiyang Fleet was almost completely wiped out. Even if there were still warships in the docks of Britain, Germany and other countries, there would be no navy available in Bohai for a while.

What will be his fate? Will he be transferred from Zhili to Liangjiang like Zeng Guofan, or will he be idle and live a meager life until the end of his life?

"Sir, let's go. We have to go to the capital eventually." Aide Yu Shimei said from the side.

Thinking about how he started his army in Hefei, traveled across the country throughout his life, suppressed the Taiping Rebellion, defeated the Nian Army in the north, became the governor of Zhili, started foreign affairs, and planned to build a navy, he felt unwilling to give up.

But no matter how unwilling he was, the current situation was already like this. The mistake this time was too big. If he didn't take the blame for the fall of the capital, no one else could.

Li Hongzhang could only smile helplessly and said, "Then let's go. Don't forget to take the official seals of the Governor-General of Zhili and the Minister of Beiyang. They may be useful."

Yu Shimei also breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that Li Hongzhang might not understand. After hearing this, he quickly arranged a carriage and rushed to Beijing.

When Li Hongzhang and his entourage were speeding along the official road from Baoding to the capital, the imperial carriages of Cixi and Emperor Guangxu had been caught up by the guards, who reported that the French commander had been captured and the capital had been defended.

Cixi and Guangxu fled in a simple carriage, dressed like ordinary people and wearing patched clothes, but they were surrounded by many followers. Li Lianying also loyally followed the Empress Dowager all the way.

"Victory?" Cixi was a little surprised.

Ever since she entered Beijing, she has never been able to defeat the foreigners. She either suffered a complete defeat or won a small victory before suffering a big defeat.

So when she heard that Yuan Shikai had captured the French commander, she was a little overwhelmed.

Guangxu on the side was much smarter. As a teenager, he didn't have too many rules and regulations in his mind, and didn't think that foreigners were so difficult to defeat.

Instead, he had a deep memory of Yuan Shikai, who captured the French commander alive. Guangxu still remembered the last time he met Yuan Shikai, when he made a petition in the court to train new soldiers, which left an impression on him.

He had never expected that he could train such a "magic weapon" in just half a year. He immediately wanted to return to the capital as soon as possible to meet this great hero.

So he shook Cixi's arm and said, "Dear father, since the capital has been pacified, let's go back quickly. It would be bad if the news of our leaving the city spreads too long."

Cixi was also shaken awake by this, and immediately ordered to return to Beijing, and said to Li Lianying: "Lianying, ask me and the emperor to change clothes, and then we will go back to Beijing!"

If you look down at the capital area from a God's perspective at this moment, you can only see that the imperial carriage in the west is returning eastward, Li Hongzhang is inevitably heading north, and the Jiashen Five Armies in the east are eliminating the remaining enemies.

At this time, all the important figures who would influence China's future rushed to Beijing.

The busiest people in the capital now are not the people who survived the disaster, but the telegraph office in the Zongli Yamen.

At this time, Beijing and Shanghai had already been connected by telegraph, and news from Tianjin, Baoding, Jinan, Jining, Xuzhou, Jiangning, Zhenjiang, Suzhou, and Shanghai between Beijing and Shanghai could arrive in an instant.

Since the French army landed, a number of Chinese and foreign newspapers in Jiangnan have been following the war situation continuously, especially in Shanghai.

When the news came that the Weihaiwei and Lushun forts were destroyed one after another, everyone was concerned about the safety of coastal defense. At the same time, people of insight shouted that the French army was invincible and that negotiations should be negotiated quickly to prevent the situation from becoming irreversible.

When the Tianjin blocking battle failed and news came that the capital was about to fall, scholars from all over the country wrote to the government demanding punishment for the local French trading company.

Some scholars even planned to give up their studies and join the army, returning home to donate their wealth to recruit soldiers and train to defend the king.

However, more people silently felt in their hearts that the Qing Dynasty might not be able to hold on any longer, and they openly or secretly purchased guns and ammunition for self-defense, preparing to deal with the impending chaos.

Just like a scholar who wants to return to his hometown to recruit soldiers, does he really want to ruin his family to serve his country, or does he take the opportunity to train soldiers to protect himself in order to have a step forward in the troubled times?

No one knows.

As for the foreigners in the Shanghai Concession, after hearing the news of the landing in Tianjin, they also took to the streets to celebrate another European victory. This caused the Chinese in the concession to not dare to go out unless necessary, and they kept their tails between their legs, fearing that they would be caught and humiliated by the foreigners.

Just a few days after the news of this failure, news came that Yuan Shikai led his troops to attack the French army and captured the French commander Courbet alive.

Everyone who heard the news was dumbfounded. This was the first time that an enemy general was captured alive on the battlefield, and the commander-in-chief of the European power France.

Most people initially thought that this was fake news released by the court after being deceived by those below it.

But as more details of the war came in and news of the emergency closure of the French Consulate in Shanghai was learned, even the most stubborn people believed this battle report.

After learning the news, the Chinese were no longer afraid of foreigners and walked around the concession with their heads held high. However, some foreigners who usually beat and scolded the Chinese were surprised that the Chinese, who had always been cautious, had become fearless and did not dare to attack them.

All over the country, wherever the telegraph received the news, there was a great excitement, and the telegraph office was afraid that there were still people who did not know about the great victory.

For example, the Shanghai Telegraph Bureau hired hundreds of people to parade around the city, hoping to let everyone know the good news as soon as possible.

Shenbao and Zilin Shanghai News also gave up their previous habit of targeting each other and immediately published the news of the great victory in the defense of the capital.

At the same time, the title of contemporary Zhuge Wuhou was officially given to Yuan Xiangcheng.

For a time, scholars and some common people who had been depressed for more than ten days appeared in restaurants, storytelling halls and streets, advocating that China had won another great victory and the Qing Dynasty had gained another general.

In Minxiang, on the eastern outskirts of the capital, the envoys from Britain and France also held an emergency meeting to discuss the next steps.

Although the British were happy to see the French suffer a defeat, they did not want the French to be weakened too much. The British had consumed a lot of financial and material resources in the Boer War a few years ago, but in return they only gained a moment of peace.

The Boers were far from being as honest as they had promised and were secretly accumulating strength. The British had to divide their forces for defense and were no longer seeking to expand their interests in the Far East. They were content to maintain stability for the time being.

Therefore, seeking limited cooperation with the French and jointly safeguarding the interests of the two countries in China is an inevitable choice. Local disputes will not affect the cooperation between colonial officials.

However, the French envoy was obviously a little hysterical and even tried to ask the British to send troops to jointly punish the Qing Dynasty again.

Perhaps, contacting General Yuan would be a better choice?

Chapter 60: Yuan Xiangcheng is difficult to arrange

As soon as Yuan Xiangcheng arrived, the offensive and defensive situation was reversed in an instant.

The French sent troops from Taiwan and marched northward all the way from Jiangnan to Beijing and Tianjin. The invincible French army had its commander captured at the gates of Beijing.

Those Qingliu war advocates who usually despised foreigners, after learning the news of the victory in the defense of the capital, put down their actions of packing their belongings and gave up their plans to escape.

Instead, they cursed the French army with all the curses they had learned in their lives. Of course, they also praised the calmness of the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, and their determination to live and die with the capital. At the same time, they also praised Yuan Shikai's behavior of defeating the enemy.

However, unlike the Qingliu pro-war faction, the Westernization faction, which often dealt with foreigners, knew that this was only a temporary lull. If the French were not stabilized, they might face even stronger retaliation.

During the Xianfeng period, the detention of only 38 foreigners led to the British and French armies entering Beijing. Now, nearly 6000 French troops have been detained.

Among them, 1000 were pure French, and there were more than 2000 so-called "adventurers" and "mercenaries" from various Western countries. If something went wrong, the Qing Dynasty would have no chance of keeping its reputation.

The French ambassador could be heard yelling in an incomprehensible language from across the street.

The Tongwenguan's interpreter eavesdropped and learned that the French envoy had said: "This is a great disgrace, unprecedented. Report to Paris and fight again."

Although the interpreter said that what the French minister said might not be entirely true, because the British minister next to him also advised him not to invade or anything like that, several military ministers at the center still did not dare to take it lightly.

Therefore, after the situation stabilized, Yi X and others immediately went to Yuan Xiangcheng and asked him not to harm the prisoners. They did not ask for kind treatment, but they should be provided with food and drink.

When order in the capital began to gradually recover, the ministers who had fled everywhere gathered in the Forbidden City.

Let’s put the foreigners’ affairs aside for now. The priority now is the problems within the court.

One of the five ministers of the Grand Council, Prince Li Shiduo, Prince Chun Yixun, Prince Qing Yili Pangwan, and Yan Jingming, must resign and leave the cabinet to take responsibility for this matter.

When Cixi finally returned to her loyal city of Beijing, walked into the magnificent Forbidden City, and lowered the gauze curtain that symbolized supreme power.

The military ministers had also prepared solutions and were waiting for Cixi's review.

As for Cixi, at this moment, she only wanted to drive the foreigners away as soon as possible, and at the same time take this opportunity to clean up the ministers in the court who were difficult to control.

So she said to the ministers of the military council with a pointed look in her eyes, "Right now, I just want to live a peaceful life for a few days. They came to attack us. We finally won a victory. From now on, we should not have any disputes with the Westerners. Can you do this?"

It is very simple to negotiate with foreigners. It is nothing more than choosing a leader to take the blame, but who should we choose?

The Sino-French War has continued to this day. In addition to the five military ministers at the central government, the main responsible persons are Li Hongzhang, Zeng Guoquan, Zhang Peilun, and Zhang Zhidong at the local level.

Among them, Zeng Guoquan served as the Governor-General of Liangjiang and concurrently as the Minister of Commerce in Nanyang. During the Sino-French War, he did not have much contact with the French, but the Nanyang Navy was under his command. He was responsible for the almost complete annihilation of the Nanyang Navy in the Battle of Zhenhai, so he was dismissed from office but remained in office.