Chapter 113 Two Cards

Taiwan is located in a remote overseas area. Whether it is economic or military, it is extremely backward compared with the mainland. Liu Mingchuan once started an industry and developed the economy in Taiwan, but Taiwan's foundation is too weak. Although Liu Mingchuan has achieved results, Taiwan's overall economic level is compared with the mainland, especially compared with Shandong and other Beijing. The land is more than thousands of miles apart!

In the hinterland of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing army could not win a war, let alone in Taiwan.

The current economic situation in Taiwan is difficult to support a war. Today, Taiwan's only living force is Liu Yongfu's 2,000 black flag army and more than 5,000 Qing troops, with poor equipment and short food and salary. The 200-kilometer Taiwan Strait has separated Taiwan from the mainland. Even if the Japanese army has not blocked the Strait, it is not easy to transport the mainland's war materials to Taiwan. Moreover, the Qing Dynasty, which had just experienced a big war, was unable to support another war.

Because of this situation, Japan regards Taiwan as its pocket!

Li Hongzhang knows that it is very difficult to save Taiwan! At this time, even if the Empress Dowager wants to fight, this battle can't be fought. What's more, the Empress Dowager Buddha has been determined to give Taiwan to the Japanese.

However, Li Hongzhang does not have nothing.

He has two cards!

The first card is the hearts of the people! Neither the Taiwanese natives nor the Hakka people who moved to Taiwan from Fujian and Guangdong are willing to be Japanese slaves! Li Hongzhang deeply understands this truth - the hearts of the people are available! Today, in the Yangxin Hall, when Tang Jingsong held up the blood book, Li Hongzhang strengthened this belief.

The hearts of the people are not only the soldiers and civilians of Taiwan, but also many people in the court of the Qing Dynasty who are dissatisfied with the cession of Taiwan. On the coast of Fujian, many ships pass through the Taiwan Strait every day to deliver food weapons to the troops stationed in Taiwan, and local officials in Fujian do not care about it. These ships delivering food weapons were intercepted by the Japanese fleet, some were sunk and some were captured. After the Japanese captured these people, they continued to negotiate with the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty also instructed Fujian officials to strengthen coastal defense and interrupt the delivery of weapons to Taiwan. On the surface, Fujian officials agreed, but secretly let it be.

The second card is Zhou Charter!

When Li Hongzhang heard from Zhirui's mouth that Zhou Charter was still alive, he came up with the idea of defending Taiwan with Zhangjun.

Throughout the army of the Qing Dynasty, the old-fashioned Xianghuai army has been completely out of touch with this era, while the training of the new army has just started and has not yet formed combat effectiveness. Only Zhang Jun is a real modern army from the battlefield. Only Zhou Charter's Zhang Jun has the ability to compete with the Japanese army!

Li Hongzhang immediately sent Zhang Peilun to Dagu, Tianjin, and met Nie Shicheng. He asked Nie Shicheng to find a way to find Zhou Charter and persuade Zhou Charter to lead his troops to Taiwan.

After Nie Shicheng met Zhang Peilun, he was not interested in Li Hongzhang's plan. He thought that the plan was that Li Hongzhang was idle in Xianliang Temple and had his anemia. What he cares about is, where is Zhou Charter? How can I find Zhou Charter?

Nie Shicheng told Jin Shu and Li Guoge that Zhou Charter is alive and may be in Shanghai. He asked Jin Shu and Li Guoge to go to Shanghai quickly and get in touch with Liu Kun, the governor of Liangjiang, hoping that Liu Kun would take action and find Zhou Charter.

Nie Shicheng and Liu Kunyi have a good personal relationship, and the two are heroes cherish each other. Liu Kun has always been cautious and never easily reveals his true thoughts. Only Nie Shicheng knew that in the First Sino-Japanese War, Liu Kunyi secretly helped Zhou Charter and his Zhang Jun many times. He was very sympathetic to Zhou Charter and admired Zhou Charter.

In this way, Zhang Peilun, together with Jin Shu and Li Guoge, hurried to Nanjing and met Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang. As expected by Nie Shicheng, as soon as Liu Kun learned that Zhou Charter was still alive, he rushed to Shanghai and finally rescued Zhou Charter from Ye Tuo's hand.

Li Hongzhang pondered for a moment and asked, "So, did Zhou Charter agree?"

Zhang Peilun shook his head slightly.

Li Hongzhang's heart sank, and his body collapsed in the chair. He sighed with a bitter smile, "I'm also in trouble! The Empress Dowager wants his life, and I want him to work for the Qing Dynasty. If anyone else, he will refuse!"

Zhang Peilun said, "Your father-in-law misunderstood. The question now is not whether Zhou Charter agrees or not!"

"What's going on?"

"Father-in-law, the situation is complicated now. We are looking for him by Dianshan Lake. At that time, he was with Sun Wen, and in order to rescue Sun Wen, he did not hesitate to replace him!"

"What's going on? Why did he get together with Sun Wen!" Li Hongzhang was shocked.

Zhang Peilun told the story of Dianshan Lake.

Li Hongzhang suddenly collapsed in the chair.

Sun Wen is an uncontinent enemy of the imperial court! If Zhou Charter really stood on Sun Wen's side, his nature would have completely changed, and he would become a traitor who committed chaos!

Li Hongzhang meant that Zhou Charter should gather Zhangjun, and the court should pay for food and guns to arm Zhangjun, and send him to Taiwan to fight against the Japanese army. However, if Zhou Charter becomes the revolutionary party, it will be troublesome. The purpose of the revolutionary party is to overthrow the Manchu Qing Dynasty and arm Zhou Charter to help the revolutionary party rebel!

Not to mention that the Empress Dowager Buddha did not agree, even those court ministers who sympathized with Zhou Charter will never agree - that is to lift a stone and hit themselves in the foot!

Zhang Pellen sighed: "It's too unkind and unkind for the court to treat Zhou Charter like this! The court pushed all the talents to its opposite side!"

Li Hongzhang stared at Zhang Peilun fiercely. Zhang Pailun means that if Zhou Charter really rebelled with Sun Wen, it would be remonable!

Zhang Peilun lowered his head in a hurry and was silent.

Juqi said softly, "Father, if this is the case, the court should send Zhou Charter and Zhang Jun scattered everywhere to Taiwan!"

Li Hongzhang looked at the lotus root. Although Chrysanthemum is just a weak woman, Li Hongzhang knows that his daughter is very knowledgeable. If she is a man, her achievements will not be worse than him!

"Father, the Empress Dowager wants to kill Zhou Charter and let Ding Ruchang take action to assassinate him at sea. If he dies, there is no proof of death. But he is not dead! Sooner or later, this matter will be exposed to the world. If the people in the world know that the Empress Dowager Old Buddha slaughtered meritorious officials, I'm afraid the life of the Empress Dowager Buddha will be difficult. Among other things, how can those Zhang officers and soldiers scattered everywhere be convinced! These people are all tough soldiers who have experienced the war, and the people sympathize with them. If they partner with Sun Wen and make trouble, the Empress Dowager Buddha will not be able to end up! My daughter guessed that the Empress Dowager was worried about this these days. The lotus root style said.

Zhang Peilun nodded and said, "Yes, a few days ago, the Empress Dowager suddenly sent Cui Yugui to take Zhou Charter's mother-in-law and wife to the Summer Palace. It seems that she also noticed the wind that this is taking Zhou Charter's family hostage and leaving a way for herself!"

Chrysanthium continued: "Zhou Charter stayed in the Qing Dynasty, and the life of the Empress Dowager Buddha had a difficult life. She could never kill Zhou Charter again, and the people under that day would not agree! Now, the Qing Dynasty has completed the Taiwan ferry with the Japanese. Taiwan is no longer the boundary of the Qing Dynasty. What people are there and what happened has nothing to do with the Qing Dynasty!"

Li Hongzhang brushed his beard and nodded slightly: "Go on!"

"If Zhou Charter takes his Zhang Jun to Taiwan, even if the Empress Dowager goes to Taiwan, even if Zhang Jun is in Taiwan, no matter how powerful they are, it will compete with the Japanese for Taiwan, not with the Empress Dowager Buddha. Taiwan is isolated overseas. No matter how noisy Zhou Charter is, even if he and Sun Wen establish a republic there, it has nothing to do with the Qing Dynasty! In this way, isn't it a heart disease of the Empress Dowager Buddha? Why didn't she do it?

Li Hongzhang's eyes lit up: "Not bad! This is the best choice for the Empress Dowager Buddha! However, is Zhou Charter willing? He has had a bloody battle with the Japanese, and Zhang Jun has suffered heavy casualties. Is he still willing to fight with the Japanese? Palen, what did he say when you saw Zhou Charter?

Zhang Peilun said, "Zhou Charter is seriously injured by the lake and has not made a statement yet."

Chrysanthemum lotus root said, "If I were Zhou Charter, I would agree!"

"Why?"

Chrysanthemum said, "This is also good for Zhou Charter. His Zhang Jun is a thorn in the empress dowager's side. If he stays in the Qing Dynasty, how can the empress dowager give him a good life? He went to Taiwan and stayed away from the Empress Dowager. The sky was high and the birds flew. It was not in vain to be a human life. Moreover, under the current circumstances, Zhou Charter can also make conditions with the Empress Dowager Buddha and force the Empress Dowager to take out silver and arm his Zhang Jun. Otherwise, he will tell his experience on the Yellow Sea and lead Zhang Jun's old subordinates to fight with the Empress Dowager to the death. Even if he can't succeed, it will be enough for the Empress Dowager!"

Li Hongzhang's eyebrows stretched: "Not bad, not bad! The Empress Dowager Buddha has been shrewd all her life. She has always talked to others about conditions, and no one has ever dared to talk to her about conditions! And now, Zhou Charter can actually make conditions with the Empress Dowager!"

Zhang Peilun said, "As the Empress Dowager Buddha is eager for Zhou Charter to leave the Qing Dynasty as far away, the better. However, she can't say such words by herself and needs someone to say it for her. Father-in-law, let's take advantage of the situation!"

Li Hongzhang pondered for a long time and asked, "What is the relationship between Zhou Charter and Sun Wen?" Did he really join the Revolutionary Party?

Zhang Peilun said, "As far as I know, it is pure coincidence that he is with Sun Wen's group. At least now, he is not a revolutionary party."

"Now?" Li Hongzhang frowned: "What about the future? What if he joins the Revolutionary Party in the future? The revolutionary party wants to overthrow the court and establish a democratic republic!"

Zhang Peilun pondered for a moment and said, "Father-in-law, I heard a message on my son-in-law's way to Beijing."

"What news?"

"Taiwan gentry Qiu Pengjia gathered the people in Taipei and intends to establish a democratic country in Taiwan!"