The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 355 They Want to Send Troops to Huguang Again

Zhang Zhidong recognized that it was Ronglu's handwriting, and there were also the words "personally written by Marshal Xiang" written on it. There were also the words "urgent" and "confidential" in the corners. This scared Zhang Zhidong so much that he broke out in a cold sweat.

Ronglu not only wrote this confidential urgent letter to me at this time, but also made it so mysterious. Could it be that...
The terrible thought that suddenly popped up in Zhang Zhidong's mind made his heart suddenly hang in the air, and he even felt dizzy.

At this moment, nothing else can happen in the court!

If something unexpected really happened, the Qing Dynasty would probably fall apart immediately, which would give the foreign powers an opportunity to take advantage of the situation, and the Qing Dynasty would fall into an irretrievable situation.

Although Zhang Zhidong was not very fond of this old woman who ruled from behind the scenes, and even had a little disdain in his heart, he had to admit that the Qing Dynasty was now in a precarious situation, just like a leaky boat in the sea. Only this old woman could barely maintain herself from capsizing and sinking in the rough waves.

Although it might not be impossible if someone else were to do the job, but among the powerful people in the Qing Dynasty, who could do better than her?
Although this woman was a little foolish and even acted on impulse occasionally, she was still rational, tactful, and knew how to endure.

The most important thing is that no one dares to try and make mistakes. If you are not careful, or even take a wrong step, it will not only cause the ship to sink, but it will also be a matter of life and death for everyone on board!

Zhang Zhidong took a deep breath and tried his best to control his hands which were even trembling slightly. He opened the envelope and slowly took out a few pages of written letter paper. He forced himself to read the secret letter in his hand which made him feel a little scared.

It was not until he read the contents of the letter that Zhang Zhidong felt relieved and breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he felt relieved, Zhang Zhidong was still eager to find out the content of the letter written by Ronglu.

Zhang Zhidong began to quickly read Ronglu's secret letter, but as he read more and more of what Ronglu wrote in the letter, Zhang Zhidong's heart began to pound uncontrollably.

However, this time Zhang Zhidong's heart was not agitated because of extreme worry. Instead, he was overly excited, and his heart was agitated like a surging wave.

The content of the secret letter that Ronglu wrote to Zhang Zhidong was exactly what Cixi asked him to tell Zhang Zhidong about her plan to move the capital, and it was also a nearly verbatim restatement of Cixi's words that she wanted Zhang Zhidong to train a new army.

As he read more deeply into the content of the letter, the expression on Zhang Zhidong's face became more and more excited. He seemed to be in high spirits and full of energy, and even smiled smugly from time to time.

However, after reading the letter, Zhang Zhidong did not hand the letter to Gu Hongming for his help in reviewing it as he did in the past. Instead, he seemed to realize that something was wrong, and the expression on Zhang Zhidong's face gradually became a little stagnant.

Zhang Zhidong read the letter carefully again from beginning to end several times. When he read a certain part, he would sometimes frown and ponder for a moment before continuing to read. Or when he read a certain part, he would read the part he had just read again, as if he was repeatedly comparing the previous and subsequent contents, carefully pondering the deep meaning contained therein.

At this moment, Zhang Zhidong seemed like a scholar preparing for an exam. When reading classic historical books, he tried hard to find the true meaning between the lines.

After a long while, Zhang Zhidong took the letter in his hand, put his hands behind his back, and slowly paced in the pavilion again.

Zhang Zhidong's demeanor and unusual expression made Gu Hongming even more eager to see the contents of the letter that was still tightly held in Zhang Zhidong's hand.

Gu Hongming knew that although Zhang Zhidong was over 60 years old, he still had a very quick mind. Moreover, Zhang Zhidong was intelligent and could quickly make simple and clear arrangements or decisions on many tedious and complicated matters.

The things that require him to consider repeatedly are all extremely important and difficult matters.

Zhang Zhidong now obviously encountered a big problem that was very difficult for him to deal with, making it difficult for him to make a quick decision.

At this moment, Zhang Zhidong should still be weighing the pros and cons in his mind, or even considering the trade-offs in his mind, which made Gu Hongming even more anxious.

Finally, Zhang Zhidong stopped, as if he had made up his mind, and handed the letter in his hand to Gu Hongming.

"Hongming, you can take a look too."

Although the voice was very plain, Gu Hongming still felt that the content of the letter was unusual.

Although Zhang Zhidong seemed to have made a decision, his brows were still slightly furrowed, as if he was still pondering the contents of the letter and making the final difficult choice in his heart.

Gu Hongming took the letter handed over by Zhang Zhidong and saw that it was a handwritten letter from Ronglu. Although he was a little nervous, Gu Hongming frowned after just a few glances at it.

Gu Hongming's expression when reading the letter was exactly the opposite of Zhang Zhidong's. Zhang Zhidong was happy at first and then worried, while Gu Hongming was worried at first and then happy. Obviously, the two people's joy and worry were not on the same level.

It was not until he read the second half of the letter that Gu Hongming's expression gradually improved. The content of the letter not only made him happy and excited, but his excitement was beyond words, and the expression on his face became extremely complex and rich.

Gu Hongming was well aware that when Zhang Zhidong discussed the relocation of the capital in 1898, he was a staunch advocate of moving the capital away from Zhili. He believed that if the capital was in Zhili, it would often be threatened by foreigners, especially Japan and Tsarist Russia.

If the capital city were to move from Zhili to the inland hinterland, it would no longer be threatened by foreign troops, allowing the court to respond more calmly. This would be a long-term plan.

At that time, Zhang Zhidong preferred Luoyang and Taiyuan as the places to build the capital.

Zhang Zhidong believed that Shanxi's mountains and rivers not only had Zhili as a buffer and barrier, but Taiyuan also had the danger of Taihang as a shield, which was enough to ensure the safety of the capital.

However, it now seems that Zhili is not enough to block the foreigners' guns and cannons. Most of the area is now occupied by the great powers. If the imperial court is located in Taiyuan, it is still too close to the foreigners.

For the same reason, Luoyang, which was only protected by the Yellow River, was obviously not a suitable place to build a capital, so Zhang Zhidong suggested that the court should move the capital to Jingmen.

Naturally, Zhang Zhidong's intention to move the capital to Jingmen could not be concealed from his chief aide Gu Hongming.

Not only is Jingmen located in the inland hinterland, it has convenient transportation to the wealthy coastal areas in the north and south, but also because Jingmen belongs to Hubei, which was under the jurisdiction of Zhang Zhidong, the Governor-General of Huguang.

If the capital was moved to Jingmen, Huguang would become an important area around the capital, and Zhang Zhidong would become the number one governor in the world, and he could finally suppress Li Hongzhang.

However, Gu Hongming strongly disagreed with Zhang Zhidong's suggestion to move the capital to Jingmen, especially at this time, he was even more strongly opposed.

The reason why Gu Hongming did not strongly express his opposition when Zhang Zhidong proposed this idea and wrote to Cixi was because he did not think that Cixi would agree to move the court to Huguang.

In Gu Hongming's view, the issue of moving the capital had been discussed several times, but it never came true.

Not only did the powerful people in the capital city strongly oppose the relocation of the capital and obstruct it in every way possible, but money was also a huge problem.

Moving the capital is a bottomless pit. New cities and countless palaces and corridors need to be built, and royal gardens are also a big place to spend money.

This might have been possible sixty years ago, but in the past few decades, the court had to deal not only with foreign invasions, but also with the Taiping Rebellion, the Yangzi Rebellion, and the Nian Rebellion. The court's finances had long been stretched to the limit and its income was not enough to cover its expenses. The court had been torn apart by the turmoil.

Today, the indemnity for the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 has not yet been paid. How can the court come up with so much silver?

For these reasons, Gu Hongming believed that Zhang Zhidong's suggestion to move the capital was just his wishful thinking.

Therefore, he did not object to Zhang Zhidong's suggestion to move the capital to Jingmen. Gu Hongming knew very well that Zhang Zhidong was very concerned about his reputation, and he did not want to offend Zhang Zhidong, let alone be the bad guy who poured cold water on Zhang Zhidong's enthusiasm.

But he never expected that the capital would suddenly be moved, and to Jingmen.

Could it be that this empress dowager, who was always shrewd but occasionally did some incredible things, was completely frightened and confused by the foreigners this time and suddenly agreed to Zhang Zhidong's suggestion?
Gu Hongming knew that if he did not make his attitude clear at this time, the court's move of the capital would most likely come true, and if the capital was really moved to Jingmen, then everything would be in vain.

"Marshal Xiang, the court must not move the capital to Jingmen!" Gu Hongming said impatiently.

"Why?"

Zhang Zhidong seemed to be a little absent-minded, because he walked to the couplet he had written and stopped to look at it.

"Xiang Shuai, if the imperial court moves its capital to Jingmen, then the Southeast must unite"

Zhang Zhidong refused to accept the British suggestion to promote the independence of Huguang, but there was still a proposal for several provinces in the Southeast to unite and establish a country!
If that were the case, even if Li Hongzhang was the first president, with Zhang Zhidong's prestige and ability, it would be a natural thing for him to take over the position of the next president, and he would be even better as the chief of staff.

However, when the words were on the tip of his tongue, Gu Hongming held back and did not dare to say them out loud.

Zhang Zhidong would not allow others to interfere with his decisions.

Gu Hongming suppressed his true feelings and changed his words, "Marshal Xiang signed the Southeast Mutual Protection Agreement. If Marshal Xiang agrees to build a new capital in Jingmen, wouldn't that be contrary to the agreement?"

"Once we start building the capital in Jingmen, it will show that Marshal Xiang still recognizes the imperial court. I'm afraid that the Southeast Mutual Protection will fall apart immediately!"

Zhang Zhidong said casually without even looking up, "Ever since Li Shaoquan sent officers to Teng Xingfu and proposed that his former chief of staff and old friend Zhou Yushan go to Teng Xingfu's army to help him, the so-called Southeast Mutual Protection has become a dead letter."

"Don't forget that we are also secretly supplying Maxim machine gun bullets and cannon shells to Teng Xingfu through Qian Yizhi and the so-called trading company."

"Among the three regions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Huguang, and Liangjiang, only Liu Kunyi is still holding on. As for Yuan Weiting of Shandong and Wang Juetang of Anhui, they are simply dispensable and cannot shoulder the heavy responsibility. The Southeast Mutual Protection will no longer be a big deal."

Zhang Zhidong smiled bitterly and said, "Li Shaoquan saw the opportunity quickly and expressed his feelings to the court early, seizing the opportunity to express his feelings to the empress dowager first."

"However, Li Shaoquan's attitude is still a little ambiguous. Since I have already made a move, if I don't go straight to the middle, I will really be defeated by Li Shaoquan."

"But if the foreigners start to question us, how are we going to respond? Marshal Xiang should consider these things!"

Zhang Zhidong smiled contemptuously and said, "The original intention of the Southeast Mutual Protection was that the local areas in the southeast disagreed with the court's connivance with the Boxers. At this time, the court had already issued a clear order to ban the Boxers and even ordered all localities to suppress them. In fact, the Southeast Mutual Protection no longer had any reason to continue to exist. This Southeast Mutual Protection had long been out of its proper name."

"Besides, the mutual protection agreement only promised not to provide weapons and military supplies to Zhili and the imperial court, but it did not say that we would be independent. I have not cut myself off from the imperial court. I, Zhang Zhidong, am still a minister of the Qing Dynasty. The foreigners have no right to interfere in the construction of a new capital for the imperial court."

"Besides, even if the foreigners are dissatisfied with what I have done, what can I do? Do they want to send troops to Huguang again?"

"Don't even mention that they would be hard-pressed to deal with Teng Xingfu in Zhili. If the foreigners send troops to Huguang again, will they have that many soldiers?"

"Even if the great powers wanted to send troops to Huguang and start a war in the Yangtze River Basin, the British would suffer the most. Don't they want to do their stable business and make money in the Yangtze River Basin?"

If the Southeast wants to be independent from the imperial court, the three largest frontier governors in the country, namely Liangjiang, Guangdong and Guangxi, and Huguang, are indispensable, especially Li Hongzhang, who has a very high prestige among the court officials, and Zhang Zhidong, who has a good reputation in the court and the country. These two people are even more indispensable.

Now that Li Hongzhang had backed out first and Zhang Zhidong followed suit, it was obvious that the independence of the Southeast had become impossible. Gu Hongming felt discouraged and could not help but sigh in his heart.

He also had to admit that Zhang Zhidong's analysis was correct. Among the great powers, the first one with significant interests in the Yangtze River Basin was the British. The British would never agree to anyone messing up their sphere of interests. Making money was the foundation of the British Empire.

Since they were no longer thinking about the Southeast Mutual Protection, Gu Hongming had to start considering practical issues for Zhang Zhidong.

"Marshal Xiang, if we move the capital to Jingmen, the money must come from Huguang. How can the court afford the money now?"

"But we can't afford such a large sum of money. Where will the money for building a new capital come from? Should we suspend the first batch of autumn taxes to be sent to Shanxi? There is still more than 200,000 yuan left."

After the conversation with Gu Hongming just now, Zhang Zhidong seemed to no longer be hesitant, but had made up his mind. When he answered, his expression returned to his previous decisiveness.

"No, send them off as usual."

Zhang Zhidong smiled slyly and said, "It costs a huge amount of money to build the new capital. A small amount of more than 200,000 yuan will not help if it is kept."

Although Huguang was also considered wealthy, it was not as rich as Liangjiang and Guangdong. Zhang Zhidong seemed addicted to building factories. There were now more than a dozen government-run Western-style factories of various sizes in Huguang, which required huge sums of money to be invested every year. However, Zhang Zhidong never blinked an eye at these investments.

But when it came to daily expenses, Zhang Zhidong was very stingy and would calculate every expenditure carefully. Now he actually said that more than 200,000 taels was just a small amount, which made Gu Hongming somewhat puzzled.

Obviously, Zhang Zhidong's suggestion to move the capital to Jingmen was not a casual remark, but was something he had prepared for a long time ago, so he had already made up his mind about raising money.

"As for silver, the two million taels that were allocated annually for the construction of the Lu-Han Railway have been suspended due to the Boxer Rebellion. The two million taels that should have been allocated this year have not been spent yet. For the time being, it will be used as the cost of moving the capital. In addition, a message has been sent to all prefectures and counties in Huguang, asking local officials to immediately call on local gentry to donate."

"We also need to issue fundraising amounts to the prefects and county magistrates in accordance with the population and land of each prefecture and county. They must raise funds according to the amounts. If they raise a lot, I will report it to the court. If they raise less, they will be in trouble. There is no need to report it to the court. They can go home and wait for their dismissal from office."

"As soon as I submit a memorial, I will report them. At the same time, I will ask the governors and provincial governors to supervise them strictly."

Zhang Zhidong's tone became stern. "Remember, strictly order all places not to increase taxes, and not to collect money from the people under false pretenses. Those who violate the rules will be severely punished and dismissed from office."

In order to complete the task of allocating amounts to different places, these officials would inevitably seek ways to benefit the common people. With Zhang Zhidong's words, Gu Hongming felt somewhat relieved.

However, the local officials had a hard time. It was extremely difficult to get the gentry to donate large sums of money.

Moreover, Zhang Zhidong would never threaten anyone if they failed to raise enough money.

As long as Zhang Zhidong submitted a memorial, it would be guaranteed that every suggestion would be approved. The court would definitely not offend Zhang Zhidong at this time. Even if Zhang Zhidong wanted to recommend Jingxing, the governor of Hubei, a genuine Manchu governor, the court would approve it.

Zhang Zhidong continued with a smile, "First, we will start from Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang. You will make arrangements in a moment. Tomorrow, we will summon the gentry from the three places and ask them to come to the Governor's Office. I will treat them to a meal."

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(End of this chapter)