The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 321: Give Away
Although what Cixi said was a topic of discussion, in the flower hall, except for Gangyi, who still had dull eyes and a confused expression, and the elderly Wang Wenshao, Zai Yi and Ronglu both felt a sense of vigilance in their hearts.

However, the vigilance of these two people is different.

Zai Yi was thinking about how to help Teng Yuzhao in the future, how to find a way to make Cixi give up such an idea, and how to resist and even attack Yuan Shikai, the chess piece that Cixi might use to balance the situation.

Helping Teng Yuzhao is helping himself, Zai Yi is very clear about this in his mind now.

This time, Teng Yuzao raised the idea of ​​war criminals in his memorial. Zai Yi had now figured it out and thought that this was probably part of Teng Yuzao's way of fulfilling his promise to him.

Teng Yuzao had already considered in advance how to deal with the foreigners' pursuit of the so-called culprit of the war in the future. From this, it can be seen that Teng Xingfu is a trustworthy person and he can be given enough trust.

You know, in the list of culprits that was circulated by the foreigners, Zai Yi was the first one to be investigated.

But Ronglu had different thoughts. In his opinion, Cixi, who was always so wise that he even admired her, suddenly brought up Yuan Shikai and his Wuwei Right Army, who were so close to Zhili but ignored the invasion of foreigners, left the court in danger, and even signed the Southeast Mutual Protection Agreement, and had been standing by and watching in Shandong.

Obviously, it would not be a matter of facts, nor would it be as simple as Cixi said.

In Ronglu's view, Cixi's intention to check and balance Teng Yuzao and his vanguard army has now become clear.

Checking and balancing court officials has always been the tactic of emperors, and there is nothing wrong with it.

However, at this critical moment, it is inappropriate for Cixi to start trying to check and balance Teng Xingfu and his vanguard army. If she fails to do so, it may even backfire or even backfire.

It should be said that the rise and success of Teng Xingfu and Yuan Weiting were both closely related to Ronglu. Although Teng Xingfu seemed to be more closely connected with Zai Yi now, Ronglu did not care much about it.

After all, Zai Yi was the chief military minister of the current dynasty, and now we were at war with the foreigners, so it was normal to have close contact with Zai Yi.

Although he was the Minister of Beiyang and Governor-General of Zhili, after losing Tianjin, he could not help Teng Yuzhao at all, so it was normal that they had less contact.

Moreover, based on his understanding of Teng Xingfu, this man was very kind.

As for Yuan Shikai, Ronglu felt somewhat conflicted.

When the imperial court was in danger, Yuan Shikai actually colluded with those governors and signed some kind of mutual protection agreement with the foreigners. He no longer cared about his past promotion and was not a good person.

Ronglu had even considered finding ways to reduce his military power in the future.

Judging from the situation this time, if Yuan Shikai becomes more powerful in the future, his ambition will probably expand even more, and the harm he will cause will definitely be greater than that caused by Teng Xingfu.

Moreover, Teng Xingfu is now the mainstay of the court headed by Cixi. We must not let him down at this moment. If he also joins the mutual guarantee agreement, the nearly three hundred years of Qing Dynasty will fall apart immediately without the foreigners fighting. While Ronglu was trying to figure out the meaning of Cixi's words and thinking about how to persuade Cixi to stop her from making it too obvious to check Teng Xingfu at this moment, he suddenly heard Cixi change the subject and asked about Li Hongzhang. Ronglu quickly cheered up.

Due to the Boxer Rebellion in Shanxi, most of the telegraph lines were destroyed. Now, most of the telegraphs between Taiyuan, Shanxi and the outside world are no longer connected. The only ones that remain are the lines from Taiyuan to Xi'an and from Taiyuan to Baoding.

Therefore, if Cixi wanted to contact governors and governors-general from other places, she could only transit through these two places. Baoding was the capital of Zhili and the location of the Governor-General of Zhili. Some confidential matters could not be known to outsiders, so Cixi could only do it through Ronglu.

"The contact between Cixi and Li Hongzhang, mainly about the peace talks with the foreigners, was done through Ronglu. Ronglu would report the relevant content to Cixi as soon as possible. He had already reported to Cixi about the fact that Guangdong and Guangxi sent people from the Beiyang Military Academy to Teng Xingfu.

Cixi said this at this time, obviously wanting him to be the supporting actor, Ronglu bowed and said.

"Yes, the people sent by Li Zhongtang are now on their way to Hankou. They are planning to go to the capital via Huguang."

Ronglu hesitated for a moment, and said uncertainly, "According to Yu Chang, it seems that Zhang Xiangtao also intends to select some people who understand Western warfare to help Teng Xingfu's army."

Yu Chang had a prominent position. Although he was a governor, he was a first-rank official. Therefore, he was different from other governors in that he was not only the governor of Hubei, but also the governor of Henan.

Cixi nodded and said, "Li Zhongtang and Zhang Xiangtao are still loyal ministers to the court. Their hearts are commendable."

"Although they signed the Southeast Mutual Protection Agreement, they also have their own difficulties. Now they are secretly supporting Teng Xingfu in fighting the enemy. This is still on the side of the court."

Cixi's tone softened and she said with a smile, "Zhonghua, since the court has said that it will fully support Teng Xingfu, we can't fall behind Li Zhongtang and Zhang Xiangtao."

"You should also search among the various armies, not only the imperial guard armies, but also the green camp armies of other provinces. As long as they are graduates of the Beiyang Military Academy, you should select some capable people and send them to Teng Xingfu's army to help him reorganize the army as soon as possible so that he can fight again."

"Also, send a telegram to Zhang Xiangtao and ask him to send all the people sent to the Vanguard Army to Shanxi first. You need to meet them in person."

"All those who are sent to the vanguard army are willing to contribute to the court during this national crisis. You must not let these people down. You must comfort them and then send them to Teng Xingfu's army."

"In addition, in order to let these people feel at ease fighting in the vanguard army, you can provide them with some silver money so that they can send it back home to support their families and relieve them of their worries."

Cixi looked at Zai Yi and Wang Wenshao, "There is something I need to discuss with you. Li Zhongtang also supports continuing to fight with the foreigners. He has even agreed that if the foreigners are willing to negotiate peace, he is willing to be the peace negotiating representative with the foreigners."

Cixi's words were understood not only by Ronglu, but also by Zai Yi. This was to let Ronglu represent the court to win over those who were about to join the Vanguard Army. To put it bluntly, Cixi and even Li Hongzhang wanted to throw sand into the Vanguard Army. In this regard, their purpose was the same.
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(End of this chapter)