It takes about 6-7 hours to take a train from Beijing to Tianjin. From the perspective of a time traveler, this degree is basically the same as a ox cart, but in this era, it is a great flight, of course it is much faster than a ox cart.

In this era, it usually takes at least 2 days from Beijing to Tianjin, and sometimes it takes 3 days. Only in the case of a rush, it is necessary to travel lightly to arrive in one day. Moreover, this train packed all the more than 800 Qing troops and dozens of large trucks and hundreds of horses, and dragged them to Tianjin in one trip. Both the degree and efficiency are far higher than the absence of a train.

Li Songchen's arrangement was very detailed, and he specially prepared a special car, arranged sand chairs, coffee tables, loose coffee tables, round tables and other furniture, as well as two lounges for important personnel such as Prince Zhuang, Zhao Shuqiao, Li Jingfang, and Zhang Peilun to ride.

Prince Zhuang and Zhao Shuqiao sat on a comfortable sand chair, looking at the fields and villages flying out the window, feeling quite touched. This train is indeed a good thing. It seems that the Qing Dynasty should really build more railways in the future.

Their group left Beijing at 7 a.m. and at 12 noon, the train arrived at Yangcun Station, which was about 30 kilometers away from Tianjin, and took about 1 and a half hours to drive. However, the train had to stop in Yangcun for half an hour, because this train did not have a dining car, so they arranged for the Qing court staff at Yangcun Station. As early as yesterday, Yangcun Station had received a notice and had prepared meals for the Qing army at this time. Of course, a table of hearty wine and food was specially prepared for Prince Zhuang, Zhao Shuqiao and others.

The food and food were delivered to the train, Prince Zhuang, Zhao Shuqiao, Li Jingfang and Zhang Peilun sat around the round table in all directions. When they were about to have a meal, they heard footsteps. As soon as the door of the car opened, a familiar voice heard: "Your Majesty has not seen each other for many days, is it always good?"

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and looked up and saw a person standing in front of the carriage door, wearing a flower feather and a court bead jacket. Everyone was not surprised, because Li Hongzhang should be in Tianjin at this time, so why did he come to Yangzhuang?

However, Prince Qing immediately reacted and hurriedly got up to meet him, saying, "Shaoquan, why are you here? Come and sit quickly, come and sit quickly." As he said that, he pulled Li Hongzhang to the table.

Zhao Shuqiao also stood up and bowed to Li Hongzhang, saying, "Li Zhongtang has always been good."

Li Hongzhang also returned the tribute and smiled and said, "Zhao Zhongtang, you look very good, you should be fine recently."

Zhao Shuqiao said, "I finally have the blessing of Li Zhongtang. I am still a great blessing in my misfortune. Li Zhongtang asked me to sit down." He hurriedly called the follower again: "Hurry, bring another round stool."

Another round stool was brought in from the man, and a set of bowls, chopsticks, cups and plates. After Li Hongzhang sat down, Li Jingfang and Zhang Peilun stood up and stood behind Li Hongzhang. Because Li Hongzhang is present, they can no longer sit in front of the table. At this time, Prince Qing said: "Boxing, Youqiao, what are you doing when you stand? You sit all the time. This is just a meal, not a major banquet. There is no need to talk about so many rules. Shaoquan, just say something."

Li Hongzhang looked at them and said, "Since the prince said that, you can sit down too."

Li Jingfang and Zhang Peilun were all guilty and sat down again. Five people sat at the round table. While pouring wine for Li Hongzhang, Prince Zhuang said, "Shaoquan, why have you arrived in Yangzhuang?"

Li Hongzhang smiled and said, "I'm here to wait for the prince."

Prince Qing was stunned. Although he did not have the wisdom and wisdom of Prince Gong, he did not mean that he did not understand anything, because a person who really didn't understand anything could not ask his wife to come into the palace to play cards with Cixi, and he would lose a whole box of silver every time. This idea came. After hearing Li Hongzhang's words, Prince Qing immediately understood that Li Hongzhang was waiting for him here and said something important to him.

In fact, he served as the imperial envoy, and up to now, both Prince Qing and Zhao Shuqiao were still a little confused. Although the court had made a decision before leaving that this time, he went to Tianjin to recruit overseas Chinese and said kindly, but he did not talk about rewards to overseas Chinese, but asked overseas Chinese to come to Xi'an to meet you again. But overseas Chinese have already offered their conditions and always give them a clear explanation. Just go to Tianjin in such a confused manner. Is overseas Chinese so easy to fool? If they are not clear, their leaders will not easily go to Xi'an.

Before leaving, Prince Qing also asked Cixi how to answer if overseas Chinese asked, but Lao Fu only beat her with one sentence "Stop asking so many questions, just go and go." Now when they saw Li Hongzhang, the two of them suddenly realized that Lao Fu had already made arrangements and must have asked Li Zhongtang to negotiate with overseas Chinese first. This was not surprising, because doing this kind of work is Li Hongzhang's specialty, and the request of overseas Chinese was just conveyed by Li Hongzhang to the court?

Before their vocation arrived in Tianjin, Li Hongzhang made a special trip from Tianjin to Yangzhuang to meet him. He must have negotiated with overseas Chinese and told him specifically to avoid saying the wrong thing in Tianjin. And maybe at this time, the Old Buddha had received a telegram from Li Hongzhang and even agreed to the result. Only his own group did not know.

So Prince Zhuang said: "Shaoquan, you must have talked with overseas Chinese in Tianjin. I don't know what the result is. What are their plans?"

Li Hongzhang smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty is relieved. I have negotiated with overseas Chinese. They only hope to be able to place people in Shandong and live and work in peace. The court can grant him the title of the governor of Shandong. They will handle other matters themselves, and they will not need to be punished by the court. Moreover, as long as the court formally issued an order, they can officially take office in Shandong and withdraw from the capital without leaving a soldier. At that time, the empress dowager and the emperor can return to the capital."

After hearing Li Hongzhang's words, Prince Zhuang and Zhao Shuqiao looked at each other, but they could not suppress their ecstasy. Because there was no governor in Shandong, the Shandong Governor was the highest administrative official in Shandong. However, compared with the separatist vassal in Shandong, the Shandong Governor was naturally accepted by the court. After all, no matter how powerful the Shandong Governor had, it was still an official appointed by the court. Since they were local officials in Shandong, they were directly appointed by the court, and the governor had the power to recommend at most. Separatist vassal in Shandong meant to become an independent kingdom with independent military, political and financial power. Although it was still under the rule of the Qing court, the court could not interfere in the affairs of Shandong. Therefore, there were essential differences between these two positions.

Of course, Prince Zhuang and Zhao Shuqiao are also veteran drivers in the officialdom. Of course, they would not naively think that overseas Chinese were included in the Qing court system after they accepted the Shandong Governor. With the strength of overseas Chinese, a Shandong Governor could be transformed into a substantial separatist independence, and it was not important whether they had a vassal or not. However, this operation not only left enough for the court and gave the court a sufficient level of progress. As long as the court could live with face, everything else would be easy to say. After all, the military achievements made by overseas Chinese were fully qualified to serve as the Shandong Governor. Moreover, overseas Chinese were willing to accept the Shandong Governor and gave up the requirement to establish a vassal, which shows that they were pragmatic and flexible, and were not good at making a false reputation and seeking real profits. It was definitely not a easy role to deal with.

But no matter what, the requirements of overseas Chinese have been met, and the court can live on a broad scale, which is a happy ending. The court returns to Beijing in the near future, and he can finally live a few days of stable life. As for whether overseas Chinese will become the confidant of the court after they acquire Shandong, that is the future. Although Prince Zhuang and Zhao Shuqiao don’t know the famous saying of Qi Ens: We will all die in the future. But there is also an old saying in China, saying: Fire is burning, look at the eyes first.

Prince Zhuang also breathed a sigh of relief and said, "This time the Gengzi Reform, the Qing Dynasty can turn danger into safety, all depends on Shao Quan alone."

Zhao Shuqiao also said, "Yes, yes, our Qing Dynasty is also indispensable to Li Zhongtang. After the court returns to Beijing, Li Zhongtang will be tired."

However, seeing the two of them feeling relieved, Li Hongzhang couldn't help but sigh in his heart. These two people were considered middle-class and superior in the Qing Dynasty officialdom, but unfortunately they still didn't understand what Cixi really cares about? Of course, if the Old Buddha's mind was a personal guess, then the old lady would not have been in charge of the Qing Dynasty for more than 40 years without losing.

Of course, it is necessary to click on the two of you to avoid saying the wrong thing after you arrive in Tianjin. So Li Hongzhang said: "The two are too rewarding. In fact, the empress dowager does not need to worry too much. Overseas Chinese have no ambitions. They just want a place to settle down. Therefore, the empress dowager should not worry. Just go back to Beijing. After overseas Chinese have a place in Shandong, they will never have any other details. The empress dowager can be at ease."
Chapter completed!