Master Yuan, start!

In my opinion, it would be better to give the eldest daughter of Cheng'en Gong Guixiang to Yuan Xiangcheng. In this way, Yuan Xiangcheng will be my Manchu son-in-law, and I will no longer have to worry about the difference between Manchus and Han people.

The Empress Dowager's arrangement of marriage will help scholars all over the world understand the Qing Dynasty's cherishment of heroes!"

No one had expected that someone would want Yuan Shikai to become a Manchu prince consort. All the ministers, including Empress Dowager Cixi, were stunned.

She originally pulled out the eldest daughter of her brother's family to make up the number. After all, choosing only one would feel a bit like imperial appointment. That's why she mentioned the eldest princess Jingrong, who was six years older than Guangxu.

How old is her brother's child? How could she not know? She and her brother were just putting on a show in front of the ministers.

"But it doesn't seem impossible?" Cixi turned her head and thought seriously about this possibility.

Yuan Shikai, who had no idea that he was about to become an "honorary Manchu", was currently studying in Seoul how to govern Korea.

Chapter 85: The Northeast King and North Korea

Cixi placed her hopes of controlling power on Yuan Shikai, but still needed to convince the court officials involved in the discussion.

However, as soon as the words of granting marriage to Yuan Xiangcheng came out, the voices of opposition immediately died down, simply because the person who made this suggestion was Prince Chun Yixuan, the father of the current Emperor Guangxu.

Why did Yi X want to be the first to speak out in front of all the ministers? Because he was anxious.

Seeing that Yuan Xiangcheng's official position was getting higher and higher, Yi X felt that the simple cooperation he reached with Yuan Xiangcheng in the palace in the capital a few years ago was not very solid in his eyes now.

Although Yi Jiuxun had promoted Yuan Shikai as one of the four great ministers of the Grand Council and the biological father of Emperor Wu, it was also he who pushed Yuan Shikai to submit a petition at the Grand Court meeting requesting the training of a new army.

Moreover, he relied on his status as a prince and a key minister to give the green light to Yuan Xiangcheng's military training in Tianjin. He tried his best to help Yuan Xiangcheng with personnel, weapons, logistics, venues, funds, and anything else he could.

However, after training in Tianjin, he returned to the capital to fight, and then returned to Korea to quell the rebellion. The subsequent promotions and advancements were all bestowed by the Empress Dowager based on merit, and had little to do with Yi X, a prince.

So Yixun was worried that if he and Yuan Xiangcheng were estranged for too long and their relationship was severed, and Yuan Xiangcheng's heart turned to Cixi, it would be really troublesome.

However, Yi Xin resigned from the post of Grand Councilor after the Sino-French War and only assisted in the Zongli Yamen. He had no involvement in central decision-making on weekdays. How could he be kind to Yuan Shikai?

Yuan Xiangcheng's power was already established, so it was impossible for him to become enemies. Moreover, Yi Xin still needed Yuan Xiangcheng's help for the future of his son who would become emperor.

But if he gave Yuan Xiangcheng a reward just because everyone else said so, he would be too indistinguishable from the crowd. How could he stand out among the ministers in the court, make a deep impression on Yuan Xiangcheng, and then pick up this faint favor of support? This made Yi X think hard.

Sometimes Yi X felt that being the emperor's biological father was not easy. He wanted to weaken the Empress Dowager so that the emperor could take power quickly, but he also had to stabilize the Empress Dowager to prevent the situation in the Qing Dynasty from becoming unstable.

It happened that Cixi asked all the ministers to come to the Summer Palace for a meeting. Yi Xin was absent-minded in the official team until he heard that Cixi wanted to betroth Guixiang's youngest daughter to the emperor. Then he came to his senses and came up with a plan.

Since Cixi had found a wife for his son, he also planned to choose a wife for Yuan Shikai.

"Gui Xiang's youngest daughter has been given to my son, so the eldest daughter should be betrothed to Yuan Xiangcheng. In-laws are the best bond that binds Yuan Xiangcheng. When the emperor comes, my son will be Yuan Xiangcheng's brother-in-law. Add to that my support, and he won't do anything to betray his master and relatives for fame."

With this in mind, Yijiu suddenly made up his mind and directly suggested that Yuan Xiangcheng should be made the son-in-law of the Manchus.

Hearing this, the Han ministers were stunned for a moment, not knowing whether they should express their opinions. Logically, they should not interfere in the marriage of Manchus, but Yuan Shikai was Han, so should they say "absolutely not" to show their loyalty?

After all, throughout the Qing Dynasty, the Manchus and the Han were one, and the idea that the Manchus and the Han shared the same origin was something only the Manchus could say, not the Han. On the contrary, when they saw the Han people committing crimes, they, as Han officials, would add insult to injury to satisfy the Manchu nobles.

As for the Manchu princes present, they were not objecting to it. It was just a matter of raising the banner. It was done from the early Qing Dynasty until the time of Yongzheng and Qianlong. Now it was acceptable to give Yuan Shikai a bannerman status.

Just as everyone was pondering this, the Mongolian military councilor, Elehebu, clasped his fists and put the brakes on the matter: "Your Majesty, what Prince Chun just said about granting a marriage to Yuan Xiangcheng is not unprecedented in our Qing Dynasty. However, I have heard that Yuan Xiangcheng has already married and had children in his hometown of Henan. If another marriage is granted, what will become of his original wife?"

In fact, according to Yi Xin's ideal, the worst that could happen is that Yuan Xiangcheng's Han wife would be given a position as a concubine, and Yuan Xiangcheng would marry Guixiang's eldest daughter as his principal wife. After all, it was not uncommon for Han people to have three wives and four concubines. After Yuan Xiangcheng became a bannerman, there was no distinction between wives and concubines, all of them were wives.

However, Yuan Xiangcheng had already married and had children, which was indeed a trouble. When Cixi was reminded of this by Elhebu, she also remembered that Yuan Xiangcheng had once said that he had already married.

"I understand. Let's first make arrangements between Jingfen and the Emperor, Li Lianying."

"The slave is here."

"After returning to the capital, go to Guixiang Mansion and bring Jingfen to the palace. I want to take a good look at what this little girl has grown into now."

"!"

"Also, regarding Yuan Xiangcheng's marriage proposal, you can first send a telegram to inquire about it, and then discuss it after he returns home. However, since the abolition of feudal domains and the establishment of provinces in Korea is a foregone conclusion, I think it would be better to make plans early and change his Haidong Minister to Haidong Governor-General.

"Given the current situation, how would the foreigners react if Yuan Shikai was sent to govern Korea? After all, Korea was conquered by Yuan Shikai, so giving him a governorship wouldn't be excessive. I haven't said I'll immediately annex Korea, so it shouldn't provoke strong resentment from the foreigners, right?" Cixi touched the jade inlaid on the cloisonné nail polish and asked the ministers in the hall.

After the collapse of the Zongli Yamen Minister Yiliang, Britain did not react strongly. However, Robert Hart expressed concern about the Korean issue and how North Korea would join China: would it be incorporated as a whole or divided into provinces and then incorporated on a provincial basis?

"Oh? Do Western countries have different opinions on these two different ways of merger?" Cixi was not very clear about the logic of territorial mergers in Western countries.

Yi Lie, of course, knew the pros and cons of both methods, so he said, "Although Korea is a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, it has not been directly administered by the central government for hundreds of years. If it is to be incorporated as a whole, according to the ancient practice, the Korean king will come forward to submit a letter of surrender and a map of the mountains and rivers of Korea to the Qing Dynasty, and then it will be incorporated into China. This method will be effective quickly and the territory can be merged immediately.

However, this method of incorporation has its hidden dangers. After all, Korea is not part of China, and most of its people are unfamiliar with Chinese characters. If it were to demand independence in the future, foreigners would have an excuse to intervene.

"Well...what about the second one?" Cixi asked calmly.

"The second is the popular vote form that has been popular among Westerners for the past century."

“What is a public opinion vote?”

"The so-called public opinion referendum is to select talented people from all eight provinces of North Korea and let them decide whether North Korea should be incorporated into China. This vote reflects the true public opinion, and there will be no risk of independence in the future. Even if independence is sought again, it will only be partial, not complete."

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"Let the people vote? I've heard that the Supreme Leaders of America and France are elected by one vote per person, but our Qing Dynasty is the Manchurian Empire. How can we give power to the common people of Korea?"

"This..." Yi Lian Huai Ru asked back, and was a little stuck, not knowing what to say.

In fact, how could a prince who just lived a lazy life know so much? It was only after Hurd came to him and explained it in detail that he finally understood what "overall integration" and "public opinion voting" meant.

As for why Hart looked for Yi Liaowu, it was of course Yuan Shikai who asked him to do so. Yuan Shikai had been cooperating closely with the British in Korea for more than a year. Not only did he use the British's power to lay railways, he also took the initiative to help the British resist Russia's influence in the Far East. So of course Hart was willing to do him a favor.

Yuan Shikai wanted Korea to be loyal to him rather than the Qing court. The most important thing was to get rid of the influence of the Qing court in Korea.

When he was in charge of Korea, on the one hand he had to gain the recognition of the Qing court, and on the other hand he had to prevent Korea from developing the idea of ​​being loyal to the Qing court. He had to cultivate Korea's sense of autonomy. This sense was not a sense of independence, but a sense that "Korea is different from the Qing Dynasty with pigtails."

After all, he would use Korea as a base to attack northern China in the future. It would be funny if someone in Korea, which was already a province of the Qing Dynasty, rose up to support the king when he raised the banner of anti-Qing.

Only by making Korea recognize China instead of the Qing Dynasty, when he launches an anti-Qing wave, will the Koreans "welcome the royal army with food and drink" instead of being buried with the Qing court.

"Forget it. The situation in Korea is complicated. Let's write to Yuan Shikai and ask for his opinion before making a decision." Cixi saw that Yilinwuwu could not speak coherently, and knew that these words were probably not what Yilin agreed with, so she put it aside for the time being.

"Except for the British, what about the other countries? Don't they have any comments?" Cixi asked again.

"In reply to the Queen Mother, the Russians expressed strong dissatisfaction and threatened that this was against international law and should be stopped immediately. Otherwise, they would not rule out the use of war to restore North Korea to its rightful position."

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"However, apart from Russia, France and the United States were more moderate. They both stated that their commercial interests in Korea must be protected by the court. They also mentioned that since Korea will soon become Chinese territory, the scope of the Most Favored Nation Treaty should be expanded to include Korea. I am undecided on this matter."

"Foreigners never have any good intentions!" Cixi slammed the chair heavily.

"Your Majesty, I have some thoughts on the Russian threat." Grand Councilor Sun Yuwen stepped forward to make a report.

"Does the Empress Dowager still remember last year when the Russian envoy asked why Yuan Shikai was allowed to take back the Korean customs?"

"I have some impression of this matter." Cixi remembered.

Yuan Shikai returned to Korea after the Battle of the Capital, but on the grounds that training troops, manufacturing artillery and mining consumed too much energy, he submitted a petition requesting to take back the Korean customs from the German Mullinde. Mullinde was in collusion with the Russian ambassador to Korea, Weber, and wanted to suppress Yuan Shikai by force, but was retorted by Yuan Shikai.

The reason why Cixi still remembered this incident was that she felt that after the Sino-French War, the Qing Dynasty had no external threats for the time being, so she intercepted part of the funds for training new troops and used it to build the current Summer Palace. That is why she allowed Yuan Shikai to intercept the Korean customs for his own use.

Seeing Cixi recalling the past, Sun Yuwen continued, "At that time, the Russian envoy was very aggressive and even threatened the court with war. However, Yuan Shikai sent a telegram saying that the Russians were powerful but weak, and that they had at most a thousand troops in the Northeast, far from being able to threaten the Northeast border.

What's more, the situation is different now. Yuan Shikai even defeated Japan. Even if the Russians want to move south, they have to think twice.

As for France and the United States, they were even easier to deal with. Although the imperial court was afraid of foreigners, the foreigners were not afraid of the imperial army. They cared more about the money in their pockets. The French had suffered defeat before. Yuan Shikai slaughtered so many heads under the capital that it was the first time so many foreigners were lying on the ground. In the end, the French still did not hesitate to do business with the Qing Dynasty.

So what I mean is that you don't have to pay attention to the opinions of the Russian Minister Lin, just keep one in mind, and if he is in a hurry, let him go to Yuan Xiangcheng.

As for the French and the British, I believe that if we offend one major power, we cannot offend the others, so we should grant them the most-favored-nation treatment. Not only France and the United States, but Russia can also enjoy the most-favored-nation treatment in Korea."

Sun Yuwen finished explaining how to deal with Britain, France, Russia and other countries, and let everyone in the hall choose.

The tough treatment of the Russians in territorial matters gave the Qing Dynasty face; the commercial concessions to France, the United States and Russia gave these countries benefits.

How many of the Manchu and Han ministers in the hall truly understood Western affairs? They didn't understand what most-favored-nation treatment meant, but they all understood the meaning of ignoring the Russians.

Thinking of making the Russians lose face, everyone, regardless of whether they understood or not, agreed:

"Lord Sun is worthy of being a famous scholar in Qi and Lu. He is indeed a disciple of Confucius and has clear logic."

"Master Sun is right. I think so too."

After taking a break, Cixi drank a sip of iced sugar water and asked worriedly, "But can Heilongjiang and Jilin hold up?"

"General Xi Yuan of Jilin and General Wen Xu of Heilongjiang haven't mentioned any unusual Russian activity yet. However, both have submitted memorials stating that they are far from the capital and hope that telegraph lines can be laid to Qiqihar and Jilin City so that they can relay intelligence in the event of an emergency."

"I understand. Just let Yuan Xiangcheng take charge of this matter. He has previously built a telegraph line from Korea through Shengjing to the capital. This time, we can use this telegraph line to let him interact with the generals in the three northeastern regions.

After all, North Korea is also close to Russia, so they will inevitably need to work together."

Cixi was good at palace fighting, but had little experience in dealing with foreigners, so when faced with such a problem, she would push it away whenever she could. At first, she pushed it to the Sixth Prince Yixin, then to Li Hongzhang, and now she pushed it to Yuan Shikai.

After making arrangements for today's affairs, seeing that all the ministers had similar opinions, Cixi did not intend to keep them any longer, so she immediately drafted an imperial edict and sent it to Yuan Shikai, and then let the ministers return to Beijing.

As for herself, she was leisurely lying on a bamboo chair in the Summer Palace to enjoy the cool air.

...

On September 1887, 9, the 2th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, Empress Dowager Cixi issued an imperial decree, appointing Yuan Shikai as the "Governor-General of Haidong", Minister of Beiyang, and temporary Prime Minister of all Korean affairs. At the same time, he was given the title of Inspector General of the Northeast, a position of the same rank. His duty was to assist the three generals in the Northeast in defending the military affairs of the Northeast, and after communicating with the generals in various places, he had full authority to mobilize the garrison officers and soldiers in the three places of the Northeast.

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The position of Inspector General can be said to have been specially created for Yuan Shikai. On the one hand, there were generals in the three northeastern regions, and he was given the governor-general of Korea and was asked to serve as a general in a certain place. Some ministers expressed that it was inappropriate on the grounds that "there has never been such a precedent in our dynasty."

Therefore, he was given an inappropriate position of Inspector General. To put it bluntly, he wanted Yuan Shikai to keep an eye on the Northeast and prevent it from being taken advantage of by the Russians. After all, they knew what the Eight Banners stationed in various places were like.

Therefore, Yuan Shikai was given a Northeast Inspector General of the same rank to facilitate the mobilization of troops. The generals in various places were also of the first rank, and the Northeast Inspector General was also of the first rank. At least there would be no embarrassing situation where subordinates commanded their superiors.

In this way, despite the opposition of the Russians, the Qing court issued the imperial edict in writing.

On the other side of the sea, Yuan Shikai was fighting for the new government of Korea in Seoul. Before leaving, Yuan Shikai asked King Li Xi to appoint him as the Prime Minister of Haidong.

Using the title of Prime Minister, he planned to establish various modern departments under the new North Korean government, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Posts and Communications, Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of Education.

At the same time, each ministry has one minister and one to three deputy ministers.

However, the selection of ministers for each department gave him a dilemma.

Chapter 86: Thousand-Gold Horse Bones

Yuan Xiangcheng brought the famous scholars and civil and military officials from the eight provinces of Korea to send King Lee Hee on board the ship and return to Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Along the way, there were people celebrating the new birth of Korea, especially the young people who worked in factories or attended new-style schools. They waved their hands and greeted Yuan Shikai on both sides of the street.

The Tian family's method of replacing Qi was effective over 2000 years ago, and it still works today. The people of Hancheng had long been won over by Yuan Shikai's combination of tactics. Even those who were dissatisfied with Yuan Shikai were almost wiped out during the Yangban Rebellion and the subsequent anti-counterrevolutionary campaign.

Did people in the late 19th century really care about who was king or emperor? Perhaps what they had for lunch was more important than who was the head of state.

After the Xinhai Revolution, in order to promote anti-Qing ideas, some places gave one dollar as a reward for cutting off one's braids. Countless people flocked to do so.

For the lower classes, as long as they were willing to make concessions, there wouldn't be too many problems. On the contrary, the middle-class gentry, with a certain economic foundation, would often express their opinions on the replacement of the state superstructure.