Chapter 15 of Part 4: Talk about beating

There was no imperial edict, only a piece of writing issued by the Military Affairs Bureau, which severely rebuked Chen Congyun. It even used a harsh wording of "Where is the place for ancestors?". The Qing Dynasty ruled the world with filial piety, and what the ancestors left were good, and what the ancestors stipulated could not be changed. This has a little bit of "anything".

"I thought about it for a month behind closed doors, and I apologized for myself and stopped the imperial envoy to negotiate the position of deputy envoy." Such a punishment decision was issued by the Military Affairs Office and the Zongli Yamen. It tasted a bit like an adult beating a child, not a bone.

Chen Congyun was idle, and Yuxiu, who was accompanying Cixi in the palace, was calm. He still accompanied Cixi every day, talking about gossip and watching the play. Chen Congyun's affairs seemed to have nothing to do with Yuxiu, and Yuxiu did not say a word to defend Chen Congyun.

The peace talks between China and Japan finally began with the interference of foreigners. The Japanese who repeatedly emphasized that Li Hongzhang had to go to Japan to negotiate, but now they came to Tianjin in shame, and Hirobuki Ito personally led the team.

Isn’t this kind of arrogant attitude at first and respectful at the end all the result of the battle on the battlefield? Anyone with a little brain can figure this out. Those who are about to step into the dragon gate and use their pen to gain fame and fortune, naturally think so.

It was dawn and three cannons sounded!

"Open the gantry!"

The eunuchs who had been waiting for a long time entered one after another. Kang, who was in the queue, couldn't help but look up and look back at the direction of the Forbidden City.

In the Guangdong Association of Tianjin, Mr. Sun, who had been busy for several days, wrote tens of thousands of words, sorted out the hard work of these days, and carefully bound the manuscripts in order with needles and threads.

"Yixian, what are you busy writing? You haven't slept all night again, right?" Lu Haodong came in with a smile, stretched his waist and yawned, looking like he had just woken up.

"It's nothing, I just compare the advantages and disadvantages of constitutional reform and abolishing the imperial system. The Chinese are used to having an emperor for too long. If the imperial system is not completely smashed, there will be a new emperor." Mr. Sun sighed slowly.

If Chen Congyun heard this, he would definitely sigh: "It's deafening!"

However, when this manuscript was placed on Shen Congyun's desk, Chen Congyun had no time to read it, nor did he need to read it. Which is better, constitutionalism or democracy, Chen Congyun reads it very clearly in past history books.

Chen Congyun just picked up the pen, wrote a line of words on the manuscript sent by Mr. Sun and said, "Let's wait!" and sent it back as it was.

The peace talks began, Hirobuki Ito walked up to the negotiating table with his head held high, feeling infinitely sad and uneasy. Before the war, Ito's cabinet had reached a stormy crisis. It was launched to divert domestic conflicts in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. It was originally a very clever chess move. The successive victory in the early stage of the war seemed to confirm that China was not as powerful as expected, and the benefits that could be sought through war may be beyond expectations. Therefore, after Zhang Yinheng and Shao Youlian arrived at Hiroshima, Ito refused the peace talks with full power.

Who would have thought that when the battle was about to be won in full, although Chen Congyun and his new army had always attached great importance to it, suddenly emerged. Everything changed overnight. The victory of the Japanese army was like soap bubbles in the sun. After blooming with colorful colors, it was instantly shattered.

After receiving a telegram from China, Zhang Yinheng and Shao Youlian have also packed up and returned to China. If they had known, they would have talked to them. Why should they be greedy for too much?

At present, peace talks are the only life-saving straw for Ito's cabinet. If enough benefits can be obtained at the negotiating table, it can still eliminate the dissatisfaction of the Chinese people. The empire can still appear as a victorious attitude. As the Asahi Shimbun wrote, "After eliminating a large number of living forces in the Qing army, considering that the supply line is too long, after achieving the expected strategic goals, the Imperial Army makes strategic progress in order to fight again."

Another thing that is fortunate is that the support of the three countries of Britain, the United States and Russia to Japan is to be precisely instigated. The British aim is to use Japan to restrain Russia's development in the Far East and stabilize its interests in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Americans hope that China will open up in an all-round way, so that the Russians can only mention it, just to ask Japan to act like a big fight so that they can profit from it.

Li Hongzhang and Yi Xin came in from another door. These two main negotiators were also very uneasy and nervous. Li Hongzhang was a little better. He was worried that if the negotiating table was not serious and sold too much, his reputation would be destroyed, and Beiyang might have changed hands. At the same time, Cixi's strong desire to seek peace made Li Hongzhang in a dilemma, and there was a bit of a taste of seeking voice to survive in the cracks.

Yi Xin, who made a comeback, has a completely different mentality. After years of ups and downs in the officialdom, Prince Gong, who almost inherited the throne, knew very well which one in the Summer Palace had. Now Yi Xin is really worried about advancing and retreating, and she has no mood to be happy about coming out of the mountain.

The host of the Sino-Japanese peace talks was the US Minister Tian Bei. After the two sides exchanged letters of national affairs, Hirofumi Ito stood up and smiled arrogantly: "Prince Gong and Li Zhongtang, as pillars of the Qing Dynasty, were able to attend the negotiations together out of sincerity."

After Li Hongzhang stood up and bowed to the Three Kingdoms ministers who attended the negotiations, he said to Hirobuki Ito: "We have also felt sincerity about the peace talks from Prime Minister Ito's personal arrival. It is precisely because we feel Mr. Ito's sincerity, our country naturally has to treat each other with sincerity."

When the Japanese army won a great victory in Liaodong, Japan was arrogant. The province of Taoism proposed to claim 100 million taels of silver (it was so fucking that it was crazy). The war expenditure was only 80 million taels, and the Navy Province proposed to ask for Taiwan. Later, Shen Congyun was in Shandong, and Liaodong gave the Japanese army a one-stop, and all drove out of Chinese territory. The base camp immediately began to urgently modify the terms of peace talks, and became 100 million taels. Taiwan took the mentality of getting what he could do, and took it out to scare people, expressing his attitude of continuing to start a war.

Li Hongzhang's somewhat sarcastic words made Hirobu Ito's face slightly angry. He snorted coldly, turned around and nodded slightly to his assistant. After the assistant gave Li Hongzhang and Yixin a prepared treaty, Hirobu Ito continued: "Please look at the peace talks that our country has planned. If you have no objection, you can sign it."

It was a completely commanding tone! The one who was defeated on the battlefield was so aggressive, which was considered a strange thing. But such a strange thing happened, and it was not once.

If this were the case with Chen Congyun at the negotiating table, he would have smashed the contract directly on Hirobu Ito's face. Unfortunately, the negotiators were Li Hongzhang and Yi Xin.

"Mr. Ito, with such conditions, it is difficult for us to see the sincerity of you and your government." Li Hongzhang said slowly with a forced smile on his face.

"Mr. Ito, please forgive us for not being able to sign this contract." Yi Xin also spoke quickly, really having to sign this contract. Not to mention that the Chinese people would not agree, Cixi would not agree.

"Is that true? Then please think more about it. Today's negotiations end here, say goodbye!" Hirofumi Ito stood up and turned around and went out.

………………………………

Chen Congyun, who was at home, did not write any apology. Ouyang Quan asked Ouyang Quan to write a pen to capture the knife. Chen Congyun himself lay on the table, biting the pen pole and thinking hard, and muttering in his mouth: "Trial Western-style education in Jiangsu counties,..."

Keze rushed into the study and threw a telegram on Chen Congyun's table and said, "As we expected, at 8 o'clock yesterday morning, the Japanese Combined Fleet shelled Lushun and Weihai."

Chen Congyun picked up the telegram, squinted his eyes and said, and Ekze looked at the expression that felt a little sinister and said, "Yeah! Yes! Very good, the telegram aftershock, you can do it."

After Keze went out, Chen Congyun grabbed a piece of paper and started writing it. After writing it quickly, he found out the envelope and called Sheng Xiaoqi in and said, "Send it to Li Zhongtang quickly."

When Li Hongzhang and Yixin arrived at the negotiation site, they did not see the Japanese delegation. They only saw a Japanese entourage waiting at the door. When they saw the two of them, they stepped forward and bowed loudly and said, "His Excellency Prime Minister Ito asked me to tell the two of them that the Japanese government did not feel the sincerity of the Qing negotiations, so they refused to continue the peace talks. My delegation has already started packing its luggage and left and returned to China in three days."

Li Hongzhang and Yi Xin looked at the accompanying American minister Tian Bei in surprise. Li Hongzhang asked in a little anger: "Mr. Minister, what does the Japanese delegation mean?"

Tian Bei showed a helpless expression and shrugged his shoulders and said, "I can't understand either."

Prince Gong hurried back to Beijing to report. Li Hongzhang returned home in a furious manner. Before his butt was still hot, Yang Shixiang hurried into the study and said, "En Xiang, the Japanese Joint Fleet shelled Lushun and Weihai."

"Bang!" The teacup in Li Hongzhang's hand fell on the table, and the overflowing tea dripped onto the clothes. The little maid with bright eyes and white teeth hurriedly helped wipe it. Li Hongzhang was impatient and brushed away the little maid, and said to Yang Shixiang with a pale face and rapid breathing: "Go and inform Mr. Tian Bei quickly."

Yang Shixiang pondered for a while, and then stopped talking, hurried out and ran into Zhang Peilun head-on. Seeing him in a hurry, Zhang Peilun said, "Lotus Room, what are you doing in a hurry?"

"You Qiao, you are here just now. I received a telegram that the Japanese Joint Fleet bombarded Lushun and Weihai. Zhongtang asked me to go to the US minister quickly. I always felt that there was something wrong here, but when Zhongtang was anxious, he didn't persuade Zhongtang."

Zhang Peilun instantly understood what Yang Shixiang meant and nodded, "Don't hurry to leave. I happened to have an urgent letter from Chen Congyun sent someone here. I will make a decision after I read it."

"Chen Congyun's urgent letter? Why didn't he go there in person? He lives not far away." Yang Shixiang whispered with some dissatisfaction, and Zhang Peilun smiled bitterly: "Isn't he trying to avoid suspicion? Besides, the Military Affairs Office ordered him to face the wall at home and think about it for a month, and he wouldn't dare to go out, right?"

When Zhang Peilun walked in, Li Hongzhang was lying on the chair, holding one hand on his forehead and his eyes were closed. A little maid was carefully surrounding Li Hongzhang's feet with a small quilt, while the other gently lifted Li Hongzhang's feet and stuffed a fire cage below.

"Yeah!" Zhang Peilun walked in and said softly. Li Hongzhang opened his eyes, sighed and whispered: "Young Qiao is here!"

Zhang Peilun shook his hands at the two little maids, signaled them to go down, and stood in front of them and whispered: "Honey, Chen Congyun sent someone an urgent letter. The sender said that Chen Congyun repeatedly emphasized that it was an urgent letter."

"Hmm?" Li Hongzhang was about to sit up immediately, and Zhang Peilun quickly came over to help him up.

"Take it to me and take a look!"

Zhang Peilun handed over the letter sealed with hot paint, Li Hongzhang tore open the opening and took out the letter, squinted his eyes and looked at the letter.

"The axiom is only within the range of the cannon! I used a telegram to force Pyongyang's 50,000 majestic troops to move south, responding to the artillery bombardment of the Japanese Combined Fleet, and cheering for the Zhongtang peace talks."

Zhang Peilun saw clearly on the side and couldn't help but say in his heart: "What a Shen Congyun, it seemed like he had guessed in advance that the Japanese Combined Fleet was going to take action, and the troops had already been assembled in advance."

Let’s talk about fighting and fighting. There are so many such means in history. Zhang Peilun is not stupid and quickly realized that Chen Congyun is just a precautionary measure. As long as Japan does not take action first, Chen Congyun will not take the initiative to attack. After all, Chen Congyun’s new army has not received a long rest since joining the battlefield.

"The court must be anxious, and the court needs to report the court to make the ministers."

Li Hongzhang hummed, put down the letter, raised his hand and knocked his forehead and said, "Chen Congyun is trying to keep the position of Zhili for me. Unfortunately, Beiyang lost in a row, and he is afraid that his efforts will be wasted."

Zhang Peilun knew Li Hongzhang's situation at this moment. The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 was defeated and the Beiyang Navy was defeated. The court would not miss this opportunity to attack Li Hongzhang and re-cultivate Beiyang, which was within the control of the court.

Chen Congyun's efforts can only make Li Hongzhang look better and cannot change Li Hongzhang's fate. It is precisely because Li Hongzhang understands his situation that he says so.

"It's hard for him!" Li Hongzhang sighed softly and raised his hand and said, "Go and call the Lotus Room back. You can go to Prince Gong's office and inform the new army of the offensive in North Korea. Humph, even if I want to go down, I will leave with a decent scenery."

…………………………

After leaving Pyongyang, it was the Datong River. After occupying Pyongyang, the new army once pursued the river, advanced to Songlin and Huangzhou, and then retreated north of the Datong River. After the new army retreated to the north, the Japanese base camp transferred the Fifth Division and part of the Sixth Division for negotiations, and set up a formation along the Datong River line, making a stance to attack Pyongyang at any time to exert pressure on the new army.

After the first month of the year, the climate began to warm up, and the ice layer on the frozen Datong River surface loosened locally. This season is undoubtedly very unfavorable for crossing the river to fight.

It is precisely in view of this that the Japanese army somewhat relaxed some of their vigilance against the new army of Pyongyang. In addition to part of the Sixth Division, the main force of the Fifth Division retreated to the Songlin for rest.

On April 1, on April Fool's Day in the West, the morning of the next morning when the Japanese United Fleet shelled Lushun Weihai, at the darkest time before dawn, the earth suddenly shook violently, and countless flames flew from the north bank of the Datong River to the south bank.

The firepower of three hundred cannons instantly turned the south bank of the Datong River into a sea of ​​fire. At the same time as the artillery began, the engineers who had already prepared were dispatched to set up floating bridges on the river surface.

The artillery bombardment lasted for an hour. When the telescope aftershocked the scene of the Japanese army running around opposite him, the anger in his heart was sniffled. As the artillery fire extended, the ground troops began to cross the river and advanced at high speed along the five floating bridges.

Although the Japanese army fought to the death, how could a few thousand men in a brigade stop the 50,000 tiger and wolf army? Two hours later, the Japanese army was defeated. Wang Chao's Sixth Brigade established a stable bridgehead on the south bank to cover the brigade across the river.

After completing the Battle of Crossing the River, the troops were divided into two groups, and left and right were out, showing the stance of surrounding the Fifth Division of Songlin. There was no danger to defend the front line of Songlin Huangzhou. The Fifth Division of the Japanese Army did not dare to fight, so they hurriedly organized troops to defend themselves and cover the main force to retreat to the front line of Shaliyuan.

The new army did not spend much effort to occupy Songlin and Huangzhou, but did not continue to advance. Instead, it stopped on this line and sent a large number of small troops to harass the Japanese army.

The Fifth Japanese Division, who fled to Shaliyuan, saw the New Army's small troops following him. After the change was not decided, they repeatedly called the base camp for help. The New Army's combat capability in the ice and snow environment was obviously inferior to that of the Japanese army, otherwise Shen Congyun would not have ordered aftershocks and would have bombarded the Japanese defense line without hesitation of ammunition.

The results of this battle were counted. Less than a thousand enemies were annihilated and only one hundred prisoners were captured. According to the convention of the new army, no prisoners were left. Aftershocks ordered all the heads to beheaded, and then the small troops took bamboo poles to show off in front of the Japanese army. This move caused a huge psychological shock to the Japanese army. Without a head, you cannot return to your hometown.

The next day after the new army took the Songlin, Shen Congyun handed over the letter to the Military Affairs Office. Shen Congyun asked Ouyang Quan to write the letter to ask for the letter to be rewarded, and asked for military pay and supplies.

The Military Affairs Bureau has been suffering from nerves these two days. First, the Japanese fleet came to the door again. Then Li Hongzhang expressed implicitly that he had ordered the new army of Pyongyang to retaliate against the provocative behavior of the Japanese fleet.

Sure enough, as soon as Shen Congyun's memorial was sent to the Military Affairs Office, Li Hongzhang's telegram to request credit for the new army arrived.

In the Nan Study Room, Guangxu's faced with two battle reports, a slight flush appeared on his face.

"Emperor, Shen Congyun advocates reform and reform, and has a tiger and wolf army under his command, which can be used as a helping hand. The minister has prepared 300 taels of silver. As long as the emperor speaks in person, the silver can be allocated to Shen Congyun's troops as military expenses." Seeing that there was no one around, Weng Tonghe raised his courage to test it.

The old man was so utilitarian, which can be seen from the fact that he misappropriated the Beiyang Navy's funds for Cixi to cultivate the garden. Unfortunately, Cixi didn't seem to appreciate the old man's favor and manners, and still didn't like him very much. The old man's forehead was still labeled as the leader of the "Imperial Party".

The old man who had been thinking about Chen Congyun for a long time. A few days ago, when Tan Sitong, who was at the school, mentioned the meeting with Chen Congyun in Tianjin, mentioned Kang Youwei, and mentioned Chen Congyun's firm attitude of supporting the reform. This made the old man's mind come alive again, and he forgot about deducting Chen Congyun's military pay.

Weng Tonghe always thought that as long as Guangxu expressed his support for Chen Congyun, the Ministry of Revenue squeezed some money to express that this was Guangxu's care for Chen Congyun, Emperor Guangxu stood up and expressed his support for the reform. Is Chen Congyun still moving forward?

Emperor Guangxu's face suddenly darkened. After looking around with caution, he said angrily: "Teacher, you have too much care. My filial piety to the Empress Dowager can be seen by heaven and earth."

"Emperor! I'm leaving!" The old man who thought he understood Guangxu very much had no fear on his face and slowly retreated with a smile.

Guangxu picked up the Shen Congyun's note on the table and looked at the suggestion of trying out Western-style education in Jiangsu. The thin Qing emperor had a burst of excitement in his eyes and picked up the pen and wrote on the note: "This move is feasible! If the effect is significant, it will be implemented in Liangjiang."

After writing, Guangxu called the little eunuch and came to Cining Palace.

As soon as he arrived outside the Cining Palace Gate, Guangxu ran into Empress Longyu head-on. If you want to say that Guangxu really had no good feelings for the empress that Cixi chose for him. The reason is that Empress Longyu is Cixi's niece, and the other is that Empress Longyu is not popular. Not only can her thin body float up when the wind blows, she also has a hunchback. Guangxu is also a serious emperor after all. Any palace maid in the palace is more beautiful than this queen. How could he like Empress Longyu?

As the saying goes, ugly people make trouble, but Empress Longyu is the problem. Just be your queen with peace of mind. Maybe it’s a little low-key, which can make Guangxu feel guilty, right? Empress Longyu is extremely jealous. Seeing that Guangxu favors Concubine Zhen, he repeatedly says bad things about Concubine Zhen in front of Cixi, which naturally only increases Guangxu’s disgust towards her.

"I've seen the emperor! The emperor is lucky!" Longyu greeted the emperor according to the rules. Guangxu nodded unenthusiasm and said, "The queen is here too. I have something to do with the empress dowager."

In the Cining Palace, a middle-aged official was kneeling in front of Cixi, Ronglu.

Ronglu's life in his official career was inseparable from Cixi (there is a text in unofficial history that Ronglu was the head of Cixi, and the two committed adultery and gave birth to a son. This article will not adopt this statement). During the Xinyou coup, Ronglu was appreciated by Prince Gong Yixin and Cixi because he stood in the right camp. He became the Minister of the Interior Office and participated in the support of Guangxu to power. He was relied on by Cixi. As the saying goes, Cixi was successful and defeated. In 1879, Ronglu was directly demoted to Cixi and was demoted to two levels. He was resigned for ten years. He did not take office until 1891. In 1894, he was allowed to return to Beijing to celebrate Cixi's birthday. When the Japanese started the war, he stayed in Beijing and was appointed as the commander of the infantry and could handle military affairs. Perhaps because Ronglu had a better chance of fighting, he was even more able to do the camp. As soon as the Sino-Japanese War stopped, Ronglu transformed himself into a minister of the Ministry of War and was appointed as the Minister of War.
To be continued...