King of Beiyang

Chapter 67 Li Hongzhang's Break with the Empress Dowager (Please read on and add to your favorites!)

Prince Li, Shiduo, was ordered to go to Tianjin to meet with Li Hongzhang.

But this meeting was destined to end unhappily.

The Li family has already formally proposed marriage to the Zhang family, and the Zhang family has accepted.

They have even decided to choose an auspicious day in the second half of the year to get married.

At this point, how could Li Hongzhang possibly back out of the marriage proposal?

Even if this was Empress Dowager Cixi's request, it was still impossible!

Furthermore, the Empress Dowager Cixi had not explicitly stated that Li Jingyuan was not allowed to marry Zhang Renzhun. Even though Shiduo had hinted, intentionally or unintentionally, that it was the Empress Dowager's wish, Li Hongzhang simply pretended not to understand.

This greatly excited Shiduo, even as he was furious.

In his view, Li Hongzhang's behavior was simply courting death!

This is a betrayal of Empress Dowager Cixi, and it will surely enrage her greatly.

At that time, Li Hongzhang will definitely be dismissed, or even killed.

Then, he could take over the entire Beiyang Group. Even if he couldn't completely swallow the whole group, just taking the most lucrative piece would be an unimaginable fortune!

It's worth noting that Prince Li, Shiduo, was also a notorious corrupt official during the late Qing Dynasty. Although not as famous as Prince Qing, Yixin, the wealth he amassed was by no means small.

Putting everything else aside, all the real estate and gold and silver treasures combined would amount to tens of millions of taels of silver.

Of course, Yi was even more outrageous. He amassed a fortune of over 100 million taels of silver through large-scale selling of official positions.

  

This shows just how ruthless these high-ranking officials of the Qing Dynasty were when it came to making money.

This is perhaps the real reason why the Qing Dynasty was completely beyond saving.

"Father, Shiduo's words implied that the Empress Dowager Cixi would not allow my third brother to marry the second daughter of the Zhang family, and she did not approve of this marriage. Father, by pretending to be ignorant, you have clearly offended Shiduo!"

Actually, offending Shiduo isn't a big deal.

But everyone knows that Shiduo has the Empress Dowager Cixi behind him!

Li Jingshu couldn't help but feel worried.

"Of course I understand that. However, although I am loyal to the Empress Dowager, hasn't she been meddling too much this time?"

If she even interferes in her children's marriages, that's going too far.

Besides, as long as the Empress Dowager Cixi doesn't issue a clear imperial edict, even if I pretend to be deaf and dumb, what can she do to me?

The Beiyang government is now thriving.

The elite troops under the third brother's command are almost ready to be formed.

Even the Empress Dowager Cixi wouldn't dare to push my Li family too far.

I will always remember the kindness shown to me and remain loyal to the Empress Dowager. But if she tries to force my Li family to our deaths, then don't blame me for being ruthless and unjust!

Li Hongzhang's mindset has gradually changed.

If Li Hongzhang was still blindly loyal to the Qing Dynasty before, then under Li Jingyuan's influence, he realized how dangerous the current situation was for the Qing Dynasty.

We are surrounded by powerful enemies, especially the Japanese, who are eyeing us covetously. Internally, there are so many people who are sabotaging us.

The entire Qing Dynasty was rotten to the core.

This is also why Li Hongzhang strongly supported Li Jingyuan and further strengthened the Beiyang Army's military power.

No matter what, as long as they have guns, the Li family's status and interests can be guaranteed.

Li Jingshu nodded, even though this was quite different from the Confucian classics he usually read that promoted loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.

But when it came to the safety of the entire Li family, he naturally sided with them.

At this moment, Li Jingyuan was not in Tianjin, but had returned to the Liaodong Peninsula.

The 1st Marine Division of the Beiyang Fleet has completed its basic training. The entire unit can be said to have basically achieved combat capability.

Li Jingyuan was busy inspecting various troops and had no energy to deal with anything else.

Anyway, when the wedding day arrives, he can simply go to Wuchang to fetch his bride.

However, Li Jingshu still wrote a letter to Li Jingyuan, informing him that Li Hongzhang's meeting with Prince Li Shiduo had ended unhappily.

"That's meddling in other people's business! That old woman, does she even care who I marry? She's really meddling too much!" Li Jingyuan cursed after reading the letter.

Li Jingyuan harbored immense hatred towards Empress Dowager Cixi.

This vicious old woman, in another time and space, caused the entire country and nation to pay an unimaginable price.

Furthermore, they could even utter such shameless words as "using the resources of the Qing Dynasty to win the favor of foreign powers."

It's easy to imagine that this is treason to the extreme!

Many times, Li Jingyuan wondered whether he should just lead his troops into the Forbidden City and overthrow the Qing Dynasty.

On the other hand, foreign enemies are watching us closely, especially the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95 next year, which is of paramount importance. If we cannot defeat this formidable foe, the nation and its people will truly be in danger.

On the other hand, this would inevitably plunge the entire country into chaos, and would also give the great powers an opportunity to launch a large-scale invasion.

In addition, Li Hongzhang's loyalty to the Qing Dynasty was also a question.

(Of course, there is another very important reason, which I won't go into detail about, but those who know, know.)

"However, it is quite an improvement that Old Li was able to refuse the Empress Dowager's decree! Even though Shiduo did not explicitly say that it was the Empress Dowager's will, the meaning he was trying to convey was already very clear."

Old Li pretended to be stupid; that was a show of toughness for him!

When Li Jingyuan thought of this, he was very satisfied with Li Hongzhang's performance.

This means that Li Hongzhang will provide him with more support in the future.

Furthermore, in the future, should any disputes arise between the imperial court and the Beiyang government, Li Hongzhang would no longer be so blindly loyal.

This allowed Li Jingyuan to act more freely in the future.

Li Jingyuan's greatest fear was that if he were to become an enemy of the Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang would become an obstacle because he couldn't let go of their past relationship.

But now it seems that Li Hongzhang has changed a lot.

This is undoubtedly a very big step forward.

"Pingqing, Zhiquan, the troops are all ready and have formed combat capability. So, according to the plan, it's time to let each unit see some blood," Li Jingyuan said to Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui.

"Commander, all units are ready and can be deployed at any time!" Wang Shizhen replied.

"Yes, Commander. The division staff has gathered information on the bandits in various parts of Northeast China. We can now deploy troops to launch an attack on these bandits," Duan Qirui replied.

Previously, Li Jingyuan had already issued this instruction, and the 1st Marine Division had been collecting relevant intelligence and preparing various operational plans.