Chapter 118 The Post-Party Becomes the Imperial Party

Guangxu looked at Weng Tongqi desperately, hoping that the master could stand up. After all, he was recognized as the "imperial party" in the court.

Weng Tongqi saw Guangxu's despair, but in fact, his heart was also full of despair.

It was Guangxu himself who pushed Zhou Charter to a dead end. This little emperor, who grew up in the deep palace, is still so capricious and simple, and doesn't understand any political skills.

What made Weng Tongqi more desperate was that at today's imperial meeting, the protagonist was not the highly honored Prince Gong Yi, but the upstart of the Empress Dowager, Duan Prince Zaiyi.

This is a political signal! There has been a rumor in the garden for a long time. The Empress Dowager is extremely disappointed with Guangxu. She is going to be replaced!

Now it seems that this wind is likely to become a reality. Zaiyi is so domineering, which shows that the new emperor in the mind of the old Buddha is related to Zaiyi!

Guangxu can't even save himself. How can he keep a small Zhou Charter? What's more, this Zhou Charter has offended Li Hongzhang!

As early as half a year ago, he should have died!

Weng Tongqi glanced at Li Hongzhang, and Li Hongzhang narrowed his eyes as if he were asleep.

However, Weng Tongqi knew that Li Hongzhang was absolutely not asleep. On the contrary, his brain was clearer than anyone else. He must have remembered the martial arts hall of Tianjin Wubei School, where Zhou Charter made him lose face.

At today's imperial meeting, Li Hongzhang didn't say a word. The Qing army was defeated in a row. As the Beiyang minister in the Premier War, Li Hongzhang had no face to speak, so he could only keep silent. Now, Zaiyi is going to kill Zhou Charter, and Li Hongzhang must be secretly having fun.

Weng Tongqi secretly scolded Li Hongzhang for being a traitor and killing people with a knife, but there was nothing he could do. The old Buddha in the garden had a murderous intention, and no one was able to return to heaven.

Weng Tongqi sighed: "Your Majesty, Zhou Charter's stranded in North Korea is not enough to make up for the failure of our Qing Dynasty." Weng Tongqi's words are to remind Guangxu to stop pestering the topic of Zhou Charter. The more Guangxu wants to promote Zhou Charter, the more it will prompt the Empress Dowager Buddha to make up his mind to kill Zhou Charter!

"Lord Weng means..." Guangxu asked.

Weng Tongqi gritted his teeth and said, "I think the top priority should be to determine the next strategy of our Qing Dynasty's war against Japan. The matter of Zhou Charter can be postponed."

Weng Tongqi knew that at this time, the name Zhou Charter must be cold disposed of, otherwise, the old Buddha must kill him!

Li Hongzhang suddenly opened his eyes: "Lord Weng, it's better to clarify Zhou Charter first!"

Weng Tongqi is really desperate.

Li Hongzhang stood up, came to the center of the hall, faced Emperor Guangxu on the dragon chair, bowed his head and said, "North Korea is defeated, the old minister Li Hongzhang deserves to die!" The defeated general should not have been loud, but the old minister had a word and had to say that he still hoped that the emperor would learn from it.

Guangxu's nose hummed softly and nodded blankly. He completely guessed what Li Hongzhang wanted to say, but he couldn't let Li Hongzhang say it. He was an important minister of the imperial court! Emperor Guangxu has ordered someone to find out the origin of Zhou Charter. He knows that Zhou Charter is a deserter from Tianjin Military Academy, and Li Hongzhang can't tolerate him!

"Since the beginning of the war, the soldiers have not been killed, but our Qing Dynasty has been defeated repeatedly. The reason is that the old minister has no way to command, and the old minister is willing to bear all responsibilities."

Guangxu sneered and said no words. Of course, the responsibility for defeat should be borne by the Beiyang Minister of the Prime Minister's War! Li Hongzhang himself won't say this account, and Guangxu will also ask him to settle this account, as long as he is still the emperor!

Li Hongzhang continued: "In the Battle of Pyongyang, our army was defeated for thousands of miles. And the General Zhou Charter led hundreds of mourners to rise up to meet the enemy, fought fiercely with the Japanese army in Hufeiling, killed the Japanese major general Oshima Yichang, and annihilated 500 enemies. The good news came, and the whole country was excited, and Japan was scared to hear it! The battle of Hufeiling is bound to be a great history! The old minister begged the emperor to commend Zhou Charter's immortal achievements while treating the old minister's defeat of the army, so as to encourage our Qing generals to serve the country loyally and kill the enemy bravely!"

"Li Li Zhongtang, what are you talking about?" Guangxu thought he had heard it wrong.

On the Yangxin Hall, all the civil and martial arts ministers and princes thought they had heard it wrong.

They all heard that Zhou Charter had a quarrel with Beiyang Minister Li Hongzhang. For this reason, Li Hongzhang also put Zhou Charter's mentor to prison. Unexpectedly, at this time, Li Hongzhang would take the lead for Zhou Charter.

Moreover, Li Hongzhang is openly against the old Buddha! Everyone knows that Li Hongzhang is a "post-party", and today, he suddenly became the "imperialist party"!

Weng Tongqi hurriedly asked, "What Li Zhongtang means is to commend Zhou Charter?"

Li Hongzhang nodded: "Lord Weng, our army has been newly defeated, and the Japanese army is staring at it and will attack our Liaodong. At this time, the top priority is to boost morale, share the enemy, and reject the enemy outside the domestic gate! And to boost morale, there must be clear rewards and punishments. Ye Zhichao was cowardly and afraid of the enemy and commanded poorly, resulting in a great defeat in our army. He should be arrested and handed over to the Ministry of War immediately. Zhou Charter is brave and good at fighting, and his outstanding achievements should be rewarded. In this way, the generals and soldiers in front of me can unite as one, advance without retreat, and fight bravely to kill the enemy. Otherwise, everything will be empty talk to mislead the country!"

In addition to his impassioned anger, Li Hongzhang can't forget to ridicule Weng Tong's empty talk to mislead the country.

"Li Zhongtang said it well!" Guangxu was overjoyed: "In the meaning of Li Zhongtang, how should the court commend Zhou Charter?"

Guangxu can't figure out what medicine is sold in Li Hongzhang's gourd. Anyway, as long as he can keep Zhou Charter. Keeping Zhou Charter is equivalent to keeping his throne!

Li Hongzhang said, "Zhou Charter led his troops to guard Yizhou. Yizhou is the gateway of our Qing Dynasty. Yizhou is lost, and the portal of our Qing Dynasty is opened, and the Japanese army can **. I think that Zhou Charter can be promoted to the general of Yizhou..."

Zaiyi shouted, "Li Zhongtang is not good. Zhou Charter's current position is Qianzong, and he has been promoted to a second-class general soldier. There is no precedent in the Qing Dynasty. Second, Yizhou is a Korean city. How can the Qing Dynasty add the general of North Korea!"

Prince Gong, who had never spoken in the chair, finally said: "I have always used people to be meritorious and unconventional. Zhou Charter has made great achievements in battle. At this time, it is time to use people. I think he can afford this general. As for Yizhou, North Korea was originally my vassal state of the Qing Dynasty. The city of North Korea is the city of my Qing Dynasty. What's more, North Korea does not have a court now. The court in Seoul is a Japanese puppet. I will never admit it!"

Since then, the Qing Dynasty no longer called the capital of North Korea, but changed its name to "Hancheng", that is, it no longer recognizes the puppet regime in Seoul.

"What Prince Gong said!" Guangxu was surprised. He never thought that the two "post-party" of Li Hongzhang and Prince Gong would stand on his position in the court.

Prince Gong frowned and said, "However, there is a question. I wonder if Li Zhongtang has considered it?"

"Your Majesty, please speak."

"Zhou Charter was promoted to General of Yizhou. With his talent, he will be able to be alone. That is to say, he is the highest officer of our Qing Dynasty in North Korea, the same position as Yuan Shikai in those years. If this person is loyal to the country, it's okay..."

Li Hongzhang laughed: "The prince is extremely worried. It coincides with the old minister. The old minister thought that Nie Shicheng, the general soldier of Taiyuan, was loyal to serve the country and had great strategy. This person could replace Ye Zhichao as Admiral Zhili and command the army in Liaodong. The Zhou Charter was dispatched by Nie Shicheng. Nie Shicheng knew the kindness of Zhou Charter and had a way to do it. It was expected that the Zhou Charter would not have two hearts.

Weng Tongqi suddenly realized that he finally understood what medicine was sold in Li Hongzhang's gourd!

The Qing army stationed in North Korea is dominated by Li Hongzhang's direct Huai Army, and the Beiyang Marine Division is the direct line of Li Hongzhang's direct line. Both the Huai Army and the Beiyang Marine Division were defeated, and Li Hongzhang lost face.

The only thing that won Li Hongzhang's face was Zhou Charter, who offended him and was almost beheaded by him. This is a very embarrassing thing, but Li Hongzhang can't care about embarrassment at this time!

Before the war, Li Hongzhang made peace, and now his troops have been defeated. Not only does this not prove that the Lord is right, on the contrary, many princes and ministers will think that Li Hongzhang is deliberately defeating the battle. Especially those princes Baylor, who originally had doubts about the Han people to take charge of the army. Now, Li Hongzhang holds heavy troops, but he has been defeated repeatedly. He can't escape the suspicion of blackmailing the court.

Therefore, at this time, Li Hongzhang is eager for a victory more than anyone else to clear his suspicion.

And Zhou Charter's victory in Hufeiling came at the right time.

Zhou Charter is a subordinate of Nie Shicheng, and Nie Shicheng is a general of Huai. This victory will eventually be recorded in the name of Li Hongzhang.

Therefore, Li Hongzhang cannot abandon Zhou Charter, and he must personally promote him to show the world that Zhou Charter is Li Hongzhang's person, and the victory of Zhou Charter is Li Hongzhang's victory!

Not only that, after Zhou Charter was promoted to general, Nie Shicheng became a moderation. In this way, the world will naturally believe that Zhou Charter is a Huai general, and Zhou Charter sticks to Yizhou of North Korea, that is, Li Hongzhang is sticking to North Korea!

In this way, Li Hongzhang can not only avoid the responsibility of defeat, but also declare his determination to fight to the end to the world, win the respect of the Chinese people and improve his prestige.

Weng Tonghe secretly scolded Li Hongzhang for being treacherous and slippery, but he had to admire Li Hongzhang's measurement - he not only tolerated Zhou Charter's offense, but also pulled him out by himself.

As for Prince Gong's coaxing with Li Hongzhang, it is understandable.

Prince Gong did this for Prince Duan.

Duan Prince Zaiyi is too domineering. Everyone knows how his title of prince came from, but this new rich man not only did not pay attention to Guangxu, but also did not pay attention to Prince Gong.

Since the death of Emperor Xianfeng, Prince Gong has been the pillar of the court. Everyone knows that without Prince Gong, there would be no old Buddha today!

Zaiyi has only been a prince for a few days, and he dares to roar and nourish the palace. You can not give the emperor a son, but you can't help but give face to Prince Gong.

What's more, Prince Gong was originally very dissatisfied with Cixi's promotion of Zaiyi. To put it bluntly, Cixi pushed Zaiyi to the front desk in order to restrict Prince Gong.

Zaiyi shouted loudly, "Li Zhongtang, do you want to sing a stage play with the garden?"

Li Hongzhang was silent that the empress dowager in the garden did not want to spare Zhou Charter.