When the People's Army defeated the Russian army on the Northeast battlefield, captured Harbin, and besieged Chenyang, the second anti-encirclement and suppression battle between the river and lake bases in the country was also continuing.

After encircling and annihilated the army of the third town of Beiyang and capturing Duan Qirui, the volunteers led their troops north and captured Daming Prefecture, Guangping Prefecture, Jizhou Prefecture, Shunde Prefecture and other places. Almost all the places captured by Duan Qirui were taken back, and Bingfeng once again reached Baoding Prefecture.

The Qing court was shocked this time. It turned out that after Duan Qirui recovered the Hebei prefectures, the Qing court was full of confidence in this expedition and suppression, believing that even if they could not achieve their full contribution, they could also dampen the spirit of overseas Chinese. Then he thought that in just a few days, the situation had undergone a huge reversal. Without the entire army of the Fourth Town of Beiyang, Duan Qirui was unaware of his life and death. Moreover, the volunteer army actually returned to Hebei Province and threatened Baoding again. This was the case. Therefore, the Qing court immediately issued an edict to Tieliang and Liangbi, accusing them of being unfavorable in governing the army, neglecting their duties, delaying the military opportunity, and betraying the court's trust. He also ordered the two to march immediately to stop the Volunteer's attack, otherwise the court would punish them severely.

After receiving the imperial edict from the court, Tieliang and Liangbi also knew that the situation was serious now, so they hurriedly dispatched troops and ordered the troops of the second and fourth towns of Beiyang to attack again and launch an attack on the river and lake base areas. The two led the first town of Beiyang to rush back to guard Baoding Prefecture.

Tieliang and Liangbi believed that attacking the base of the Volunteer Army would inevitably be strongly resisted by the Volunteer Army. On the way to the last march, the two were a little scared by the tactile tactics of the Volunteer Army, not to mention that Duan Qirui had learned such a dangerous thing. Such a dangerous thing was handed over to the second and fourth towns of Beiyang to do. The two led their troops to retreat to Baoding, which was actually far away from the battlefield in order to protect themselves, because after the second and fourth towns launched an attack, the Volunteer Army would inevitably return to the army to rescue, so that there would be nothing wrong with Baoding.

It was known that although the two of them had a good plan, the development of the situation did not proceed as they expected. First, Wang Yingkai, the commander of the second town, and Wu Fengling, the commander of the fourth town, did not implement their orders. After all, Duan Qirui's lesson was too profound, and the two could not be affected. At this time, how dare they attack the river and lake base again? And anyone with discerning eyes saw that Tie Liang and Liangbi hid in Baoding, but asked himself to fight against the Volunteers, no one would do it if they were to die. So both of them agreed verbally, but in fact they did not move.

The Volunteer Army concentrated the forces of three divisions and set up an ambush in Xinle County, about 30 kilometers away from Baoding Prefecture, severely damaged the first town of Beiyang led by Tieliang and Liangbi. In this battle, more than 6,000 Qing troops were killed and more than 15,000 prisoners were captured. Tieliang and Liangbi only fled to Zhengding Prefecture with hundreds of people. The Volunteer Army took advantage of the situation to continue to advance and captured Zhaozhou Prefecture, Hejian Prefecture, and Baoding Prefecture in one fell swoop.

The fall of Baoding Prefecture was a major shock to the Qing court. Because Baoding was the southern gateway to Beijing, the Volunteers could march straight into the boundary of Beijing. Will the Gengzi Kingdom change happen again six years ago?

Cixi also regretted and hated her heart, regretted why she was obsessed with the wits and even started a war against overseas Chinese. How could overseas Chinese be easily messed with? The Eight-Nation Alliance is not their opponents, and Japan and Russia were beaten to pieces by them. That was the Qing court able to deal with it? She is now an old man over 70 years old. How many days will she live? She doesn't wait to close her eyes honestly and is still trying to make trouble. She also hates the Manchu nobles. If they hadn't instigated in her ears, she wouldn't have been confused. It turned out that she wanted to use Manchu nobles to stop the Han ministers. Unfortunately, these people were really unable to support the walls and could only compete for power and profit. She didn't have many abilities, but she had many random ideas. Why couldn't Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang have such talents? It would be better if it was Yuan Shikai.

When Cixi thought of Yuan Shikai, she couldn't help but feel moved. Now this situation can be used. Anyway, she can only try to use Yuan Shikai at this time. And no matter what, Yuan Shikai is stronger than Tieliang and Liangbi. Therefore, the Qing court issued an order to transfer the fifth Beiyang towns to the fifth towns immediately rush to Beijing. At the same time, it issued an order to return to Beijing and resume office immediately, which was actually to ask Yuan Shikai to take on the task of defending Beijing. At the same time, the Qing court also asked for help from the embassies of various countries, hoping that the ministers of various countries could deal with the Qing court.

Other things were easy to handle. After receiving the Qing court's transfer order, Wu Changchun, the commander of the fifth town of Beiyang, and Wang Shizhen, the commander of the sixth town, did not hesitate at all. They immediately led their troops to Beijing. The fifth town was stationed in Zhuozhou, and the sixth town was stationed in Bazhou to defend Beijing. The envoys of various countries suggested to the Qing court to negotiate with the East China government as soon as possible and recommended the negotiator - Yuan Shikai to the Qing court.

Then I knew the problem was Yuan Shikai. After receiving the imperial edict from the Qing court, Yuan Shikai actually claimed that he was seriously ill and bedridden and could not be in charge of the affairs, so he was unable to take charge of the duties, so he asked the court to choose another wise man.

In fact, after Yuan Shikai fell ill, he had been living with ministers from various countries and suggested to the ministers of various countries that the Qing government had basically failed to fight. The only way now is to negotiate with the East China government to restore peace. Otherwise, overseas Chinese would really attack Beijing and drive away Cixi Guangxu, which would be detrimental to all countries. He also said that he had a way to stop the war in the East China government.

The ministers of various countries appreciated Yuan Shikai's suggestions because they did not expect that the Qing court had become so corrupt. They had been practicing the new army for 4 or 5 years, but they could not even defeat a subsidiary army of the East China government, so they could only make peace with the East China government. Otherwise, the East China government would really capture Beijing and win the Qing court, which would be detrimental to all countries. So the ministers of various countries promised that they would suggest to the Qing court.

But Yuan Shikai refused the Qing court's recruitment. On the one hand, he was the army of Cixi, because Yuan Shikai was also full of bitterness. He had always been respectful to the old lady in recent years. He never had disrespectful times. He was also dedicated to the court, and had no credit and hard work. However, the old lady left him idle for no reason, and even indulged Tieliang. Liangbi planned to seize his military power. He didn't expect that today would be today. Since it was the old lady's turn to beg him, why don't he take the opportunity to show off?

After receiving Yuan Shikai's comment, Cixi was almost so angry that she cursed. Of course she could see that Yuan Shikai was challenging the court! Although the Qing Dynasty had fallen to this point, no minister dared to be so disrespectful to the court. Zeng Guofan held 300,000 elite Hunan Army; Li Hongzhang even owned the Huai Army and the Beiyang Navy, and that one could be considered powerful, but both of them were loyal to the court, respectful and respectful to the court, and they never threatened the court with power. What kind of power, Yuan Shikai, you, are far less powerful than Zeng and Li, who dared to take advantage of your strength. Do you think that the court would not be able to do without Yuan Shikai, but it was just a matter of peace with overseas Chinese. This is not a difficult thing, and you really think that there is no one in the court.

So Cixi immediately ordered Zhang Zhidong to negotiate with the ministers of the country and go to Qingdao to negotiate peace with overseas Chinese. At the same time, Cixi also made up her mind that after the peace talks ended, she must deal with Yuan Shikai and warn others.

After Yuan Shikai learned that the Qing court appointed Zhang Zhidong's negotiation minister, he couldn't help but laugh out loud. A staff member around him asked him why. Yuan Shikai said: "Zhang Zhidong is fond of reputation, loves fame, and cherishes his feathers, but has no support. How can he do negotiations and peace? The court used Zhang Zhidong as an envoy to negotiate with overseas Chinese, and it would not be successful. When the Zhang Zhidong negotiations failed, it would be my day to make a comeback."

It turned out that after Yuan Shikai refused the Qing court's recruitment on the grounds of serious illness, he was indeed a little worried, afraid that he would have done too much, if the court sent someone else to do the peace talks, he would have no chance to make a comeback in the future. However, when he learned that the candidate of the court was Zhang Zhidong, Yuan Shikai was completely relieved. Because this negotiation with overseas Chinese was definitely a thankless thing, and the final terms were definitely not good for the Qing court. To put it bluntly, it was a traitorous treaty. Although Zhang Zhidong was as famous as Li Hongzhang, he was also a member of the Westernization Clan. However, he lacked the responsibility of Li Hongzhang and cherished his reputation more than Li Hongzhang. Therefore, it was definitely not good for him to be the negotiating minister, and Yuan Shikai was completely relieved.

In fact, Cixi was indeed no one to send. Don’t look at Cixi’s simple thoughts, just negotiate peace, and everyone can send it! But this is really not something that ordinary people can get. Looking at the government and the country, there are indeed few people who win. The Manchu powerful people, Cixi was completely disappointed with them, so naturally it was impossible for them to be entrusted with important tasks. There were not many Han officials who were capable, otherwise Cixi would not have tolerated Yuan Shikai again and again.

Zhang Zhidong is the only old minister in the Qing Dynasty who has experienced the Tongzhi Center. He has qualifications and prestige, and he has some friendship with overseas Chinese. Therefore, Cixi believes that Zhang Zhidong is the most suitable candidate to negotiate with overseas Chinese except Yuan Shikai.

After receiving the appointment from the court, Zhang Zhidong also smiled bitterly. Although he did have some friendship with overseas Chinese, Yuan Shikai represented the Qing court to negotiate with the East China government in recent years. Zhang Zhidong did not participate, so his friendship with overseas Chinese became much weaker. Moreover, such negotiations were useless to talk about personal friendship, and the court forced himself to be the second Li Hongzhang! When the Qing court was defeated in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Li Hongzhang went to Maguan to negotiate peace and signed the [Treaty of Shiguan]. As a result, thousands of people across the country pointed out that Li Hongzhang was a traitor, and the court did not say justice for Li Hongzhang. At that time, Zhang Zhidong made up his mind that even if he resigned from office and refused to do so, he would not be able to accept the order for negotiations and peace.
Chapter completed!