Chapter 346 Southeast Change

"Pefu, Lord Liu and several other adults are discussing mutual protection matters in Changsha. Why don't you wait? Why don't you leave when the Governor comes back?"

"Your Excellency, Peifu really doesn't want to be a soldier anymore. I just want to go back to my hometown to do some small business."

In the North Zhejiang battalion, in addition to 10,000 new troops lining up on the campus to train according to the methods of foreigners, more than 2,000 Huai troops who retreated from Jiangsu were also temporarily placed here.

Hearing Ye Zhichao's inquiry, Wu Peifu immediately answered.

He joined the Huai Army more than two years ago. He wanted to make some achievements, but he didn't expect that he would die in the Qing Dynasty just a few days after he put on his military uniform! Tens of thousands of Xinhua troops crossed the Bohai Sea and took Yanjing City with lightning speed. The emperor and the empress dowager committed suicide one after another. Even the princes and ministers in the city died and were exiled.

Before the news was digested, the Xinhua Army entered Jiangsu. He could not help but follow the Huai Army until he handed over the whole land of northern Jiangsu and fled to Zhejiang, which was protected by foreigners.

In terms of soldiers' abilities, weapons and equipment, no one in the Southeast Army can compare with others, but it will not be defeated so quickly and so tragically. The reason for this is completely because of the Admiral Ye around him.

This man lied about the victory when he was in Asan. In the end, he was defeated in a row and lost North Korea. He didn't know why he used some means after returning to the Huai Army, and unexpectedly became an admiral again. In the previous war, he commanded chaos. He waited for the Xinhua army to attack but did not know how to counterattack. Half of the responsibility for losing Jiangsu was to blame this person.

At this time, although there is southeast mutual protection, Xinhua has been firmly in the country, and staying here is just a lingering breath. Recently, the Xinhua army has frequently moved along the north of the river and immediately entered Sichuan. Once Sichuan is captured, there is only one defeat waiting for the southeast!

Stay again, wait to die?!

Ye Zhichao didn't know that Wu Peifu would leave because he saw through the overall situation after the loss of Sichuan, but it was a pity, because this person was a rare rising star in the Huai army, but he did not insist on retaining him. After all, it was already like this. What's the point of blocking other people's future?

"It's just?" Ye Zhichao looked at a Fa [***] team stationed outside the camp and sighed.

Although there is a mutual insurance agreement, now everyone knows that the southeast is in charge of foreigners. Guns are bought from foreigners. Those who train the new army are also foreigners, and taxes are also held by foreigners. If officers want to leave, they must say hello to foreigners. This is still the Qing Dynasty, and foreigners are in charge of the family!

Everyone knows that foreigners are afraid that the southeastern provinces will bring down Xinhua. You know, Xinhua doesn't like foreigners. The north has already canceled the privileges given to foreigners in the Qing Dynasty, and even repurchased all the mines where foreigners are there. You can do business. You must follow other people's rules. If you violate it, you can kill them!

So, if you want to go, you have to use your brain. Pefu, let's go. I'll go with you to meet foreigners. I just say that something happened to your family and I have to go back. As for what you do after you go back, I can't care so much.

"Thank you, Admiral." As soon as Wu Peifu bowed his hand and thanked, a captain immediately ran over. After whispering a few words in Ye Zhichao's ear, the latter's face suddenly changed greatly.

"Sichuan is gone!"——

"Cough..."

In the quiet room, Li Hongzhang coughed violently a few times. When he took off the handkerchief covering his mouth and swept the corners of his eyes to the trace of red, he quickly pinched it into a ball and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Lord Li, are you all right?" Seeing this, Pu Xu hurriedly asked.

Li Hongzhang hurriedly rushed to the original general of the Qing Dynasty. After the descendants of Aixinjueluo shook his hand and said that he was fine, he continued to talk to Zhang Zhidong about the recent events in the southeast.

Seeing that Li Hongzhang was fine, Pu Xu calmed down a little. At the time of the national change, he happened to be in Yanjing City, so he avoided a disaster with several other Princes of Baylor and fled to Jiangsu.

But who would have thought that tens of thousands of Huai Army still failed to stop the pace of the Xinhua Army. In just two months, they lost again and again, and finally lost the whole north. If it hadn't been for the agreement between the foreigners and Li Mo, maybe Hunan could not hide.

With Li Mo's implementation of the new law in the north, the people's sayings were getting better and better. They also built railways, started businesses, recruited people from all over the country, and the southeast half of the wall finally began to crumble.

The so-called southeast mutual protection seems ridiculous at this time, because the southeast coast has no self-protection ability at all. The Huai army, which was once relied on, was defeated, and the Xiang army gave up Hubei without a shot. If the foreigners hadn't sent sailors to block the Yangtze River, I'm afraid that their army would have waved their division to the south.

But before they could catch their breath, now Li Mo began his northern expedition again. He not only took Mongolia neatly and captured all the Mongolian princes. Finally, he not only swallowed tens of thousands of Mongolian horsemen, but also announced the liberation of those lowly serfs. In this way, millions of herdsmen on the grassland all fell to Xinhua. Under the threat of force, some flag owners and tribal leaders had no choice but to accept the exchange of officials for power and became acting officials under Li Mo.

After the settlement of Mongolia, his army quickly went westward. At present, although the troops are stationed in Yinchuan, the vanguard battalion has pointed directly to Xinjiang Province, and it is just around the corner.

And the most worrying thing is that Li Mo's infiltration of the southeast has not stopped for a moment. He not only sends people to run newspapers in various places, publicize new studies, and promote the Chinese theory, but also encouraged those students to make trouble, especially in Changsha at this moment, which is even more chaotic!

He also took the opportunity to forcibly promote new coins to collect silver, almost got all the silver in the north, and used these silver as weapons to hoard a large number of goods in the southeast, which made prices soar in various places, food was so expensive, and people's hearts were completely messed up by him!

And foreigners are not idle. They take this opportunity to make a lot of money and blackmail the southeast. Now there are countless foreigners south of the Yangtze River, which has aroused great dissatisfaction among squires all over the country. If everyone hadn't been afraid of the new land law in the north and had some concerns, they would probably have been kicked out of power.

Officials are not officials, the people are not people, and students have no intention to study. The good southeast is already called Muxi Mountain like Shandong and other places a few years ago.

But these are not the key to their concentration in Changsha and continue to talk about how to maintain Southeast Mutual Insurance. The real reason is Sichuan!

Li Mo's infiltration into Sichuan has not been interrupted since the day he established Xinhua. Especially in the past few months, Liu Guangdi, the pioneer of the past, has frequently entered and left the governor's office and constantly lobbied Liu Bingzhang, the governor of Sichuan, to withdraw from mutual insurance.

This is a great thing!

As the northern barrier of the southeastern provinces, Sichuan's geographical location is extremely important. Once there is no Sichuan, the southeast mutual protection will become a joke. Their army can quickly start from Sichuan and follow the Yangtze River like a flood. In addition, there are many lakes in the south of the Yangtze River, and the canal waterways are dense. As long as there are enough boats, they can even It took the southeast half of the wall without any effort, and it couldn't even stop it!

And although the southeast has strong financial resources, it is impossible to gather so many troops to defend every river and lake, not to mention a large sailor, who can land directly from anywhere on the southeast coast!

Although there are foreigners to rely on, are foreigners really reliable?

In the past, foreigners were also rampant in the north. There were also British warships stationed in Weihai, Yantai. Everyone thought that Li Mo did not dare to fight in the capital, but he fought, and he was caught off guard. In a few days, he calmed Zhili, saying that Britain, the world's first sailor, was not farting and he was gray. They have been withdrawn from the north!

Even if foreigners are willing to work hard, can they support them? Over the years, it has cost tens of millions of taels of silver just to be stationed in Hankou and defend the Yangtze River. Coupled with the cost of buying foreign guns and cannons, even the wealth in the southeast is a little uncontrolble. What's more, the foreigners have arranged Hede to supervise the taxes of several provinces, which is equivalent to drawing blood from the southeast!

Pu Xu turned his head and looked at Prince Su Shanqi, who was sitting on the top, but didn't say a word, and his heart sank more and more.

The former king of the iron hat of the Qing Dynasty, the highest official among the surviving descendants of Aixinjueluo, was immediately regarded as the leader of the people after coming to the southeast, but now he sits there like a dead man, like a withered, neither happy or angry, expressionless, and even his eyes can't move.

Pu Xu sighed deeply. In fact, everyone here knows that the Qing Dynasty is over!

But now it is difficult to ride a tiger. On the one hand, the foreigners force them not to make peace with the north, and on the other hand, the north is aggressive. Today's southeast is like the fat oil squeezed in two hot iron plates. While being roasted, the oil and water are constantly squeezed away and gradually dry.

And I can't struggle yet!

So how to change this dilemma?

"Hyunzhuang, in your opinion, what should I do now?" After chatting with Zhang Zhidong, Li Hongzhang turned his head and looked at Liu Kunyi, who fled from Jiangsu to Zhejiang. The latter was also at a loss. After sighing, he said, "For today's plan, I think I can only learn from Song Gaozong!"

"Song Gaozong Zhao Gu?"

"What does Dianzhuang mean to establish the capital of Hangzhou?" Zhang Zhidong looked at him quickly. Liu Kun glanced around the crowd and said, "Other than that, is there anything else you can do?"

"The Southern Song Dynasty is located in the southeast, and it has also established the country for more than a hundred years. With the wealth of the south of the Yangtze River, we can protect the needs of a country. As long as we don't learn from the Zhao family for pleasure, take the Western law as the reform of foreigners, and strive to govern. If we are strong in the early days, why should we be afraid of Li Mo!"

"And compared with all of you, it is very clear that there is frequent chaos in the southeast now. It's not because there is no one in the southeast, or that the people don't like the Qing Dynasty, but because there is a lack of a leader. Since ancient times, the snake has no head. Therefore, if you can invite the new emperor to ascend the throne earlier, you will be able to stabilize the southeast and recover the rivers and mountains early!"

Zhang Zhidong nodded. Now the southeast is rotten. Although there are foreigners and Li Mo's interference, the biggest problem is that there is no leader. Although they are all feudal officials, people are panicked at this moment. How many people can listen to them?

So the establishment of a new unified regime is the only way out of the current predicament. Only by letting the new emperor ascend the throne as soon as possible can the people of the southeast be stabilized. But the question is, will the foreigners agree? And who should be the emperor?

"The foreigner's side?" Before Zhang Zhidong finished speaking, Liu Kun said early: "Not long ago, when I went to Shanghai, I had already tested the words of the British and French envoys on this matter. Although they did not say they agreed, they did not say no. In my opinion, they are still old tricks, waiting to collect fishing profits. If it is really done, they will not object to those foreigners. It's better for us to be in charge than for Li Mo!"

Liu Kunyi's words made everyone nod one after another, but who should be the emperor?

Everyone looked at Shanqi one after another. He was the iron hat king of the Qing Dynasty and the descendant of Aixinjueluo, so that he could be the emperor to serve the public.

However, before everyone spoke, Shanqi, who had not spoken, suddenly waved his hand. He had already seen that these people in front of him had already changed from a feudal official to a villain who made profits for themselves. What's more, what's the point of being aggrieved emperor like a puppet? In that case, it's better to go to Li Mo. Although he killed a lot of people when he entered Beijing, who died?!

Those descendants of Aixinjueluo, who have no evil deeds, have not lived a good life so far. Although they have been confiscated part of their family property and have been depressed a lot, they have not been clean and killed. They still stay a little. As long as they are safe, they are enough to live for the rest of their lives.

I don't have a bad surname. At worst, I will donate my family property to be a safe and stable people!

Besides, if there is Sichuan and the support of foreigners, maybe he can be the emperor of Ansheng for a few years, but who is Liu Bingzhang? He was a righteous predecessor. In the Yucheng teaching plan in those years, there were so many clear streams, and the officials impeached him, but he didn't only arrest a few bandits, kill the gentry without blinking his eyes, and drove away most of the foreign missionaries. If he didn't care about Li Mo, why did he receive Liu Guangdi many times?

He is testing Li Mo's patience!

If Li Mo is impatient to enter Sichuan, he may be a loyal minister for the Qing Dynasty, but Li Moyue persuaded him with good words and lobbied him with national righteousness. I'm afraid he has been thinking about it for a long time!

The occupation of Sichuan is only a matter of time, so it's better for this emperor not to do it. Thinking of this, he immediately got up and arched his hand and said, "Gentlemen, I can't be this emperor. You'd better set up another master." After saying that, before everyone could react, he quietly walked out of the room.

Shanqi's departure immediately surprised and tricked everyone. In terms of qualifications and identity, Shanqi was originally the best candidate, but now he is not, so who should he choose?

When everyone's eyes began to turn to Pu Xu, his scalp suddenly became numb. If he really sat in this seat, what's the difference between it and the fire? But before he shook his head and waved his hand, there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps outside the room.

"Your Excellency, my lord, it's not good, it's not good!"

"What's the style of panic? Tell me, what happened?" Zhang Zhidong stopped the reporter. As soon as he finished asking, the reporter immediately shouted, "Sisters are not good. Liu Bingzhang, the governor of Sichuan, just sent a telegram announcing that he would withdraw from Southeast Mutual Insurance and accept the leadership of the new emperor. At this moment, officials and soldiers from all over Sichuan have gathered in Chengdu, waiting for the reorganization of the Xinhua Army!"

Plop.

This news immediately made everyone in the room suddenly stand up and sit down. The most worrying thing still happened. After Sichuan dropped Li Mo, the southeastern provinces immediately lost the most important northern barrier. Li Mo's army could directly threaten Yungui, Huguang, and even downstream, straight to any city in the southeast. Town!

Before everyone could finish digesting the news, there was another urgent news outside.

"Your lords, Lord Sheng Xuanhuai just sent a telegram from Shanghai, saying that Li Mo's sailor had defeated the Dutch and won the support of the British. They signed an agreement in Hong Kong, and the Netherlands gave up the three islands of Borneo to the management of the Xinhua Army at a price of two million pounds."

Borneo?!

The remaining princes of Baylor have never heard of that place at all. Only Zhang Zhidong and Li Hongzhang frowned. Neither of them expected that when Li Mo's army was still suppressing bandits in the northwest, they would quietly capture Borneo!

And the most surprising thing is that he got the support of the United Kingdom this time. Why did the two come together? If Britain changes to support Li Mo, I'm afraid the southeast will change color in the blink of an eye!

In silence, Li Hongzhang suddenly stood up trembling and said, "Now there is no other way. You should prepare for the establishment of the country immediately. This is the last thing we do for the emperor and the empress dowager. If we can't stabilize the southeastern provinces, we might as well resign and go home and hand over the world to Li Mo. Let's go!"

On February 3, 1900, on the first day of the first lunar month, when the country was celebrating the New Year, an amazing news suddenly came from several southeastern provinces that were pinched together by a piece of mutual protection. The eleventh son of Emperor Qianlong, the descendant of Prince Yongbao, who had lost the throne, Aixinjue Luo Pulun, suddenly appeared in Hangzhou. Announce the accession to the throne!

Yanda Qingguo.

And on the same day, two regiments of the Third Infantry Division of the Xinhua Army stationed in Hubei Province were bombarded into Sichuan, announcing that this land of Tianfu, which has been on the wrong road for nearly two years, has returned to the embrace of Greater China--

Resurreation!

ascended the throne in Hangzhou? Do you really think you are Zhao Gu of the Southern Song Dynasty? Don't open your eyes to see what era it is! Moreover, Zhao Gou is a Han man. He has the foundation of the people in the southeast, and the resistance is the invasion of foreigners. Now it's ridiculous and sad to get a Manchu to rule the river!

Li Hongzhang and Liu Kunyi want to be loyal ministers, but they have to pull hundreds of millions of people on the southeast coast to suffer. It seems that they really look up to them!

If you don't want to deal with the northwest and Russia first, the young master doesn't mind waving the army across the river immediately, arrest all these people, open their eyelids, and let them see clearly. The world is already different!

But since they are going to make trouble, you can teach them a good lesson!

It's time for Southeast mutual protection to end. The young master wants to see if Britain, France and other countries really want to fight to the end! Li Mohan's eyes flashed and handed the information back to Chen Ping: "Tell Duan Fei to kill Sheng Xuanhuai! A businessman should not participate in politics!"

"In addition, Tang Shaoyi should still be in Hong Kong. Contact him immediately, let him go to Shanghai to contact various countries, and clearly tell them that since a new emperor has ascended the throne, they should immediately..."

"Withdraw from the southeast!" ......

(to be continued)