Shanqi, Pu Wei and other members of the royal family left the Military Affairs Office and had not received any news of the loss of Tongzhou and Baoding. Of course, Zhang Zhidong would not tell them the news on his own initiative.

However, Shanqi, Pu Wei and others could not wait to sit idly by the current situation. Moreover, Cixi and Guangxu were captured by the People's Army, which made these royal families feel that they were not bound and could do something big. When Cixi was in power, although Shanqi, Pu Wei and others did not dare to object blatantly, they were quite dissatisfied with Cixi's governance in their hearts, and they had the idea of ​​"if I had been the one who came, I would have done much better." Now the opportunity has finally come. Although the current situation is critical, everyone is quite confident that they will turn the tide and support the building in danger.

So after leaving the Military Affairs Office, Shanqi and Pu Wei immediately assigned tasks to others, asking Yulang and Pu Lun to find officers at all levels of the Imperial Guards and demanded that they support themselves, because Shanqi and Pu Wei also understood that if they want to accomplish great things, they must have an army in their hands. The Imperial Guards are not only the most important army in Beijing, but are basically composed of disciples of the royal family, and the army that members of the royal family have the most hope to control. They also ordered Zaize to contact other royal families and Manchu officials to expand their strength. Shanqi and Pu Wei went to find ministers from various countries and requested their intervention, and it would be best to send troops. At the same time, they agreed that everyone would gather in Pu Wei's mansion at dusk, first to inform each other of the things assigned to each other; second to negotiate the next plan.

Although Shanqi and Pu Wei wanted to do a big fight, they were also very clear that relying solely on the power of the Qing court, they were unable to compete with the East China government. Moreover, they were still divided and needed to introduce external support. Of course, in the eyes of the two, all countries would definitely support the Qing court, because after the Far East War, countries such as Britain, France, Russia and Japan that participated in the Far East War intentionally strengthened their relations with the Qing court and expressed their support to the Qing court. Although the United States did not stand on the side of the Qing court like Britain, France, Russia and Japan, it also clearly showed great kindness to the Qing court. Only Germany, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, Belgium and other countries deliberately maintained neutrality.

In fact, Shanqi and Pu Wei did not understand the reason why foreigners were unreliable. They did not like other countries very much. However, the top priority now is the East China Government, so they have to rely on the power of various countries.

The two visited British Minister Jurden, hoping that Britain could put pressure on the East China government together to force the East China government to stop military operations and even withdraw troops.

In the eyes of the two, Britain was defeated by the East China Government in the Far East War, and the two sides had their enemies and the Qing court was destroyed, which was definitely not good for Britain. Therefore, at this time, Britain would do its best to support the Qing court.

After hearing the purpose of the two, the British Minister Zhu Erdian immediately expressed his request to them. Britain was powerless to do anything about it, because the situation in Beijing is irreversible. Cixi and Guangxu have become prisoners of the East China Government, and the remaining troops are not enough to confront the East China Government. In this case, even if the UK comes forward to call on all countries to put pressure on the East China Government together, it is useless. The East China Government will not care about these pressures. Even if various countries send troops to interfere, it will take at least half a year to a year to prepare, which is not too late.

However, Zhu Erdian still made a suggestion for the two, which was to evacuate Beijing immediately, go to Taiyuan first, and go to Xi'an for a while, so that they could escape to the south, because the East China Government is not very powerful in the south, and the Qing court could re-establish the government in the south, confront the East China Government, and also gain time, so that all countries can do their best to support it.

In fact, after learning that Cixi and Guangxu had been captured by the East China Government, all countries were of course disappointed, because this completely disrupted the plans of various countries. Originally, all countries supported Cixi, Guangxu fled south, re-established a new government in the south, and continued to confront the East China Government.

Although before this, various countries successfully helped Yuan Shikai to the south and supported him to establish an army and gain a foothold in the south, all countries could not be completely relieved of Yuan Shikai. After all, Yuan Shikai was different from other Qing officials. He was capable, had an army in his hands, and was good at scheming. He was not a person who was easy to control. Although all countries had set up consulates in Nanjing, his influence on Yuan Shikai was still not strong. Now Yuan Shikai has established a stable foothold in the south and his dependence on various countries has also decreased greatly. Moreover, Yuan Shikai had a relatively good relationship with the East China Government, so he could get along with the two. Therefore, all countries also considered that they needed to have certain checks and balances against Yuan Shikai.

Helping Cixi and Guangxu go south is the best check and balance against Yuan Shikai. After all, Cixi and Guangxu represent the orthodox of the Qing court, while Yuan Shikai is a minister of the Qing court in famous discussions, so he is naturally restrained. Although after moving south, the orthodox power of the Qing court represented by Cixi and Guangxu will be greatly reduced, with the support of various countries, it can completely form a considerable check and balance against Yuan Shikai. Moreover, in this way, Cixi, Guangxu and Yuan Shikai need to win the support of various countries to maintain their own power status, and of course, it can greatly enhance the weight of various countries.

Of course, all countries also know that even if the Qing court reorganized the new government in the south, it would not be a rival to the East China government, and all countries would not really send troops to help the Qing court. However, after the East China government occupied the north, it would take several years to stabilize its rule, so this would give all countries time. On the one hand, supporting the Qing court to reorganize the new government in the south can increase the bargaining chips for countries to negotiate and play with the East China government in the future; on the other hand, they can also use this period to gain more benefits in southern China.

However, the East China Government's sudden move completely disrupted the wishful thinking of various countries. Therefore, the ambassadors to the Qing Dynasty also launched urgent consultations and finally decided to organize a group of Qing royal families to go south as soon as possible to form a new government agency. This is also the second best way to settle down. After all, at this point, we can only make such arrangements first, try our best to increase the bargaining chips in our hands, and wait for the opportunity to play with the East China Government.

Although Shanqi and Puwei were very disappointed with Zhu Erdian's reply, they had to admit that what Zhu Erdian said was indeed reasonable. Even if countries planned to send troops to help the Qing court, it would take at least several months of preparation, so it was definitely too late. Because the two learned from Zhu Erdian that the news of the loss of Tongzhou and Baoding had completely extinguished the last hope of the two. Beijing could not defend itself, and at the extreme, withdrew from Beijing and went to the south to re-establish the imperial court. This is also a common phenomenon in Chinese history. For example, after losing territory from the north and the Southern Song Dynasty, after losing its northern territory, retreated to the south and re-established the government, forming a north-south confrontation. Even if it could not go north to recover the lost land, it could last for at least a hundred years. Even if it was the worst Nanming, it could support it for nearly 20 years, and it would be a feasible way.

So the two bid farewell to Zhu Erdian and returned to Pu Wei's Prince Gong's mansion. At this time, it was almost dusk, and many people were coming and waiting for the two to come back. Among them, Tieliang, who had just been defeated from Tongzhou, was defeated by Tongzhou. After Tongzhou was captured, Tieliang led the defeated army and fled back to Beijing. As soon as he entered the city, he met Zaize and learned that Cixi and Guangxu had been captured by the People's Army.

After hearing this, Tieliang fainted on the spot, but was woken up by Zai Ze and the soldiers accompanying him, so he did not go to the Ministry of War to report and followed Zai Ze to Prince Gong's Mansion to participate in the gathering.

Seeing Tieliang come back, Shanqi and Pu Wei are also surprised, because Tieliang is one of the few military talents among the Manchu ministers, his return undoubtedly added a great help to the royal family. Moreover, although Tieliang was defeated by the People's Army in Tongzhou, he should have brought back some people. Now the most lacking in the royal family is the army.

At dusk, many people came one after another, with a total of more than 40 people. So Pu Wei ordered a banquet to entertain everyone, and while eating, he was planning to discuss it.

First of all, Pu Wei told everyone about the content of his conversation with British Minister Zhu Erdian. However, most people did not react much unexpectedly after hearing this. In fact, as soon as Cixi and Guangxu fled, the hearts of the people in Beijing dispersed. Most people were packing their luggage at home, packing fine things, and preparing to escape from Beijing. However, the news of Cixi and Guangxu being captured scared many people, so they did not form a trend of escaping from Beijing on a large scale. But now after Pu Wei said this, everyone knew that Beijing could not stay there, so they just wanted to escape.

At this time, Tieliangren said, "Your Majesty, everyone, it's not that I am the mighty and powerful of the pseudo-rebels, to destroy our own aura. The pseudo-rebel army is indeed powerful and not something we can fight against now. Therefore, the current plan is to follow the advice of foreigners, flee Beijing first, turn to Xi'an to the south, and then revive the situation and plan to restore the country. There is only one way to die in Beijing."

Pu Wei nodded and said, "This time you retreat to Beijing, how many people are there under your command?"

Tieliang said: "There are about 3,000 people."

Pu Wei said: "Okay, you can quickly reorganize your subordinates. After leaving Beijing, you will have to rely on your troops to protect them along the way. Don't hesitate now. We will leave early tomorrow morning and retreat to Shanxi first."

Tieliang nodded and said, "Okay."

At this time, Shanqi said, "Everyone has worked hard tonight. When you go home, pack your luggage quickly, bring more gold, silver, fine and soft items, and less thick and bulky items. We will set off to leave Beijing early tomorrow morning."

Tieliang interrupted again: "In addition to gold, silver and fine things, you should also bring more food and rice to eat, and prepare more horses, donkeys and animals. The servants they bring also try to choose young and strong people, and fewer elderly, weak women and children. This time, the journey from Beijing is long, without food without foot strength, and more young and strong people are needed."
Chapter completed!