"Report! The British and French Allied Forces were defeated in the Battle of Shanghai, and 200,000 troops were wiped out. The British and French fleets evacuated from the Sanjia Port and were anchored in the high seas."

"Report! The Battle of Wuchang in the Eight Banners of Manchuria and Mongolia was defeated, with 300,000 troops defeated, with heavy casualties. The Regent and Iketang A fled back to Beijing, and the governor of Sichuan surrendered."

"Report! Guo Dingxing's incident on Jiangnan Road failed. Liu Zhengshan was ambushed in Yanziji area. More than half of the 80,000 troops were killed or injured. He is currently back to Yangzhou for rest."

A series of urgent news from the eight hundred miles was sent back to the Haimen Hall. Li Hongzhang was in a coma several times in a row. After waking up, he became more than a teenager.

The 200,000 British and French coalition forces were defeated, the 300,000 Manchu and Mongolian coalition forces were defeated, and the 80,000 Beiyang army was defeated, and the latter was the only remaining elite of Li Hongzhang. Forty thousand people were lost at once. Not only did they hurt, but their balls were almost broken.

Without the 200,000 British and French coalition forces in the east, and without the 300,000 Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners in the west, this means that Li Weiguo will free up his hands and mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops from the East and West lines to concentrate on the North Line to deal with Li Hongzhang's Beiyang Army.

"What should I do?"

Li Hongzhang asked in a panic and confused. If it were before, he would never have said such words. He obviously lacked confidence and was scared.

The staff also frowned, but they didn't come up with a good idea for a long time. They shook their heads and sighed, but no one went to take Li Hongzhang's words.

At this time, the problem is best seen. Anyone with discerning eyes understands that with Li Hongzhang's strength, he cannot stop Li Weiguo's counterattack. Those who are interested have already begun to consider a way out. The more he gives Li Hongzhang advice, the more he makes suggestions, the better he will end up in the final settlement. Any smart person is finding a way out for himself at this moment.

Qian Dingming sighed and took the initiative to stand up and said, "Prince, for the sake of the present, we should immediately seek peace from Li Weiguo!"

If someone dared to ask for peace in person before, Li Hongzhang would have to cut off his head, but the current situation would be forced to do so.

"I want to ask for peace, but is Li Weiguo willing to make peace?"

Indeed, Li Hongzhang took the initiative to provoke the war. Now that he has lost the battle, he has been seeking peace. Not to mention whether Old Li can afford to lose this face, Li Weiguo may not agree.

Qian Dingming smiled bitterly and said, "Then it depends on whether the prince can give up?"

Are you willing to give up?

Old Li was stunned and immediately understood Qian Dingming's meaning. He asked back: "Do you mean I will pay the money to Li Weiguo? Or do you want me to give the princess to Li Weiguo? Or do you want me to pay both money and people?"

Qian Dingming was also stunned, thinking that Li Hongzhang was not stupid, at least he knew what to accompany him. But this was not Qian Dingming's original intention, obviously Lao Li would have misunderstood.

"This prince misunderstood. What I mean is to ask if the prince still wants to sit on the dragon throne?"

"You still need to ask this? I have already controlled the entire Beiyang. Now that the main force of the court has been defeated, I can no longer compete with me. I can seize the capital at any time and complete the hegemony of becoming the emperor." Li Hongzhang blurted without hesitation. Since he became the King of Yan, his ambition has become increasingly expanding, and he has long been determined to become the emperor.

Qian Dingming shook his head helplessly and said, "If the prince wants to be the emperor, then there is no possibility of a peace talks with Li Weiguo."

"What do you mean? Didn't you say that if I am willing to give up, I can ask for peace?" Old Li was stunned again.

Qian Dingming rolled his eyes and explained: "Prince, I do think so, but the premise is that the prince can no longer have any fantasies about the throne. You even have to take the initiative to reduce the vassals and descend from the throne. Give up the Beiyang Army and be a free and happy duke. Only in this way can Li Weiguo feel at ease and agree to the peace talks."

"Bastard! Are you going to be the king to become a bare-stop?" Li Hongzhang finally understood. He was furious and was already very angry when he wanted him to give up the throne. He even asked him to give up his current throne and had to give up the Beiyang Army. It's better to just say that he surrendered directly. What a turn!

Qian Dingming did make Li Hongzhang surrender. He understood very clearly that not surrendering would be death, because with the current strength of Li Hongzhang's Beiyang Army, he was no match for Li Weiguo at all. When Li Weiguo attacked the Northern Expedition, the Beiyang Army would be vulnerable and would collapse instantly. Instead of surrendering at that time, it would be better to surrender now and stay for a lifetime of glory and wealth.

It can be said that Qian Dingming said so purely for Li Hongzhang. In fact, he can not say that, because Li Hongzhang is the lord and will definitely die if he is defeated. As a minister, even if Li Hongzhang is defeated, he can still surrender to Li Weiguo because Li Weiguo's mind will not only not blame him, but will also use it.

This is the different treatment of the master and the minister.

But Old Li couldn't bear to let it go, and finally became the prince. He stepped into the Forbidden City with one foot, and the throne was right in front of him. How could he give up just by saying that he had to give up? What's more, he had to give up the entire Beiyang and the throne. He couldn't do it, at least he wouldn't cry before he saw the coffin for the time being.

Of course, Lao Li didn't think about it at all. With a try, he decided to send someone to talk.

As for the candidate issue, Lao Li sought Qian Dingming's opinion, because Qian Dingming was the person he trusted the most at this time. Even Xu Ting and Wang Kaitai who had been with him for more than ten years could not believe it. Although Lao Li had not obtained conclusive evidence that Xu Ting and Wang Kaitai had played a bitter trick, he would definitely not trust it anymore. This is true.

Of course, Xu Ting and Wang Kaitai wanted to cross the river, but unfortunately Qian Dingming was too cunning and refused to let them represent Li Hongzhang to negotiate.

Li Hongzhang thought so, because he had just investigated the group of people lurking around Zeng Guofan, and now they have all been valued and rewarded by Li Weiguo, which shows that Li Weiguo is a nostalgic person. If that day really comes, he would hold Xu Ting and Wang Kaitai as bargaining chips in his hand, he might be able to save his life.

In the end, Li Hongzhang ordered Qian Dingming to cross the river to negotiate.

At the same time, the men far away in Beijing were also panicked. Everyone could see that the King of Wu had become a climate and no one could suppress it.

As Yixin and Yiketang A returned to Beijing, the remaining Eight Banners of the Qing army quickly spread the news, causing panic in the entire capital.

Forbidden City, Cining Palace.

The two empress dowagers summoned Yixin and Yiketanga to inquire about the war in the south.

Yixin and Yiketang A did not hide it either. At this time, they could not hide it, so they told it truthfully. However, Yiketang A would not say that he could not fight, and he pushed the responsibility for defeat to Li Hongzhang to lie about military information. He also said that the Nanyang Army was advanced in equipment and had a force of 500,000. His 300,000 Eight Banners Army was defeated.

A genius believes his words!

Yixin snorted coldly and did not reveal it. Ci'an and Cixi were both shrewd women, and they could see through the illusion at a glance. However, the Han people now believe that there is no one available to Manchu and Mongolian generals since Senggelinqin, so they adopt a tolerant attitude towards Iketanga and do not reveal it.

"Now I can only use the relationship card. Didn't my sister say that Yilan's sister married Li Weiguo? I heard that Yilan's sister is now quite favored in the Wu Palace. Did you let someone say good things in front of Li Weiguo? What's the relationship between us?" Cixi immediately suggested to Ci'an.

However, Ci'an smiled bitterly, glared at Yixin, and said, "I planned this way before. If Li Hongzhang and foreigners could not defeat Li Weiguo, then we can't use him to fight him. We can only use Yilan to appease Li Weiguo. But how did you regent get into this? Even though you know that Li Hongzhang has been seriously injured, why would you still send troops? Your troops not only deceived 300,000 children of the Eight Banners of Manchus and Mongolia. It also gave Li Weiguo an excuse to send troops to the north to attack the court. I think it is impossible to rely on Yilan alone to blow the wind beside the pillow."

Yi Xin was scolded, but she was frustrated, but she could not refute her. Who made him feel confused when eating lard? She took action on a whim.

Now that I have suffered a big loss, I can’t blame anyone else.

"Sister-in-law, things have come to this point, and it will be useless to even kill the minister! Let's think of a solution!"

Ci'an shook his head and said, "What can I do? I can't think of it!"

Everyone was silent. After a while, Cixi suddenly said: "At this point, we can only sacrifice the Regent and the King of Yan!"

"What does the Queen Mother Citizen mean? Why did I sacrifice myself?" Yixin was furious when she heard this. She stopped calling the emperor's sister-in-law.

Cixi smiled slightly and said, "The Sixth Prince doesn't have to be nervous. Sacrifice is only temporary, just to appease Li Weiguo. Otherwise, Li Weiguo's army will fight northward. Who can stop him from entering Beijing? Then your Sixth Prince will still be sacrificed. Even beheaded, and the Qing Dynasty will be lost. Instead of the entire Qing Dynasty, it is better for the Sixth Prince to sacrifice for a while."

Yixin frowned immediately and didn't say anything.

Ci'an looked at Cixi and asked, "What do you say in sister?"

Cixi said: "Our court army did not participate in the war at the beginning, so she said that Li Hongzhang had a ill-intentioned plot. In order to usurp the throne, he had to destroy the only King of Wu, Li Weiguo, who was loyal to the Qing Dynasty, so he sent troops to raid. The British and French powers were colluded by Li Hongzhang, and the court was blinded by Li Hongzhang and did not know. The regent also impulsively sent troops because of being deceived. The court removed the sixth prince from the position of regent, put him under house arrest, promoted Li Weiguo to regent, and looked at the government affairs and the world's troops, and attacked Li Hongzhang, who was unscrupulous."

Yixin sneered: "Do you think Li Weiguo will stop?"

Cixi also snorted coldly: "Stop, how can you know if you don't try?"

Seeing Yixin and Cixi glaring at each other, Ci'an hurriedly persuaded: "At this point, we can only be a living horse. Sixth Prince, do you have any better solutions?"

Yixin shook her head, obviously he had no better solution.

Ci'an then said, "Since there is no better countermeasure, then follow my sister's plan and I will complain about the Sixth Prince first."

The two empress dowagers spoke, and Yixin had to carry out the execution unless she rebelled, and finally left the Forbidden City in a bitter way.

When he learned that Li Weiguo's northern expedition was imminent, both the court and Li Hongzhang had sent missions to Shanghai as soon as possible.

Li Hongzhang was close, Qian Dingming arrived in Shanghai in half a day, and the capital was far away. The envoy rode the imperial BMW and rushed to the road at night at a rapid speed of 800 miles. Two days later, he also arrived in Shanghai.

Although Qian Dingming arrived in Shanghai first, Li Weiguo did not summon him immediately.

At this time, it was obvious that he came to seek peace. Li Weiguo knew very well that since he had something to ask for, he had to leave him alone and make him anxious. This is the basic skill of negotiation.

At the same time, Li Weiguo also learned about the situation in the capital. After all, SHIELD was still secretly lurking in the capital and had contact with Cixi. He learned about the attitude of the court immediately and sent a letter back to Shanghai.

After learning that Yi Xin was dismissed and Li Hongzhang was designated as a rebel, Li Weiguo suddenly laughed out loud, laughing at the fact that these two enemies were defeated and were eventually betrayed by the court. At the same time, he also applauded the two women Ci'an and Cixi. It is obvious that these two are extremely smart women. No wonder they can rule China for decades, which is definitely not something that ordinary stupid women can do.

"Tell Li Hongzhang the news from the court. What should I do if I see him? "

Li Weiguo was very happy, and it seemed that he had seen Lao Li with a bitter expression across the Yangtze River.

Sure enough, Li Hongzhang from the yamen hall on the other side of the Yangtze River was so angry that he cursed his mother after receiving the news.

It was not until this time that Old Li realized that he was betrayed by the court. He was attacked by the court as a gun envoy, but now he could not defeat Li Weiguo. The court immediately sold him Lao Li, hoping to please Li Weiguo and stop the military and peace.

"Damn the court, it's indeed a ruthless cousin who turned against me, I'm so angry."

Li Hongzhang was furious, and a mouthful of old blood suddenly hit his throat. He forced himself to not spit it out.

"Brother, since the court is not kind, we can no longer work hard for the court. Let's go against it!"

The person who spoke was Li Hanzhang, Li Hongzhang's younger brother, who had just brought troops from his hometown in Anhui. All the former Huai Army troops came to help with the war.

Li Hongzhang frowned and said, "We have already started a war with Li Weiguo. If we rebel, we will go to war with the court. Are we still afraid that we will be unhappy in defeat?"

Li Hanzhang said: "Brother, you are all here. You are dead. We must be vigorous and vigorous. You cannot let Li Weiguo and the court laugh at us. After all, my elder brother is still a minister of Beiyang. The troops of the eight northern provinces have at least 200,000 to 300,000. Even if you can't beat Li Weiguo, you have to knock down a front teeth. If you attack the court, you can get down the capital."

Li Hongzhang paced back and forth. At this time, he needed to make a decision, whether to live or die was all in one thought.

"Let Qian Dingming meet Li Weiguo as soon as possible, negotiate terms with him, and tell Qian Dingming that I can surrender and let him win the benefits of this king as much as possible."

Li Hanzhang sighed. His brother was still afraid of death after all. If it were before, he would have ended up breaking his wits than being completely broken.

Qian Dingming there got Li Hongzhang's latest order and asked Li Weiguo for a meeting again. This time Li Weiguo agreed to him.

However, what Li Hongzhang never expected was that Li Weiguo was willing to accept Li Hongzhang's surrender, but the premise was that Li Hongzhang needed to immediately attack Beijing and destroy the Qing court.

"Damn, I'll still be used as a gun!"

Ah pud...
Chapter completed!