It is said that Emperor Guangxu left an edict before his death, asking Zaifeng to help him get rid of Yuan Gongbao. The young faction of the royal family, such as Zai Xun, Zai Tao, Tie Liang, Liang Bi, etc. also advocated killing Yuan, but the military minister Zhang Xiangshuai

After hearing the news, he fell ill and submitted a memorial to express his firm opposition. One of the reasons he stated in the memorial was that Yuan Gongbao was already a mature man, and disturbing him would cause a mutiny in the Beiyang faction.

Zaifeng asked Tie Liang to secretly send a secret message to the commanders of the 4th and 6th Beiyang Town Divisions under his control to solicit opinions. They all responded by saying that they could not act rashly and that it would be appropriate to remove them from their posts first.

Afterwards, Zaifeng dismissed Yuan from all his posts on the grounds that he was suffering from foot illness, retained him as a noble, and forced him to "open the vacancy immediately and return home to recover from his illness."

The second major event of Zaifeng's regency was to prepare for the establishment of a constitution.

Faced with the increasingly severe domestic revolutionary situation, the calls within the Qing court for the establishment of a constitutional government became louder and louder.

In view of this, the regent's first edict in the first year of Xuantong was to prepare for the establishment of a constitution and order all provinces to effectively prepare for constitutional government.

This gesture of commitment to constitutionalism actually caused some domestic and foreign constitutionalists to have great illusions about Zaifeng and constitutionalism. Each province showed great enthusiasm and devoted itself to the constitutional movement in each province.

The third major event of Zaifeng's regency was the centralization of military power.

He appointed his seventh brother Zai Tao, who was only 20 years old, to serve as the minister and commander of the Imperial Guards. Liang Bi, a member of the royal family who was also over 20 years old, served as the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards and began to train a force of more than 12,000 people.

The elite master of horses.

At the same time, it was announced that the new armies of all provinces would be placed under the direct jurisdiction of the central government, and the regent would act as the general marshal of the national army and navy.

At the same time, he appointed his sixth brother Zai Xun as Minister of the Navy, reorganized the Navy Department, and became his right-hand man along with Tie Liang's Minister of War.

It seemed that everything was going smoothly, and Zaifeng seemed very confident. Starting from the eighth day of the first lunar month, he entered the palace early every day, met with ministers in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and handled state affairs. He wanted to show that he was a diligent regent who loved the people.

The most time-consuming and laborious thing for him in handling state affairs these days is of course annotating the mountains of memorials in front of him.

He held several memorials from various provinces on supporting constitutionalism. He was so happy that he couldn't help but stand up and cheer loudly.

Zaifeng was so excited that he walked around the hall, but he didn't notice that his sixth brother, the new Navy Minister Zai Xun, who was only 22 years old, was holding a memorial with a wry smile on his face.

"Sixth brother, I have reviewed your navy development plan. As soon as you take office in the first month, you and Sa Zhenbing will seize the time to visit Europe, the United States, Japan and other countries. I will strongly support you in developing the navy," Zaifeng said with a smile on his face.

.

Zai Xun smiled bitterly and handed over the memorial in his hand, "Fifth Brother, first take a look at this memorial from Chen Tianhua, the commander-in-chief of the Second Town Division of the Zhejiang Army!"

Seeing Zai Xun's frustrated expression, Zai Feng took the memorial with doubts on his face. He only glanced at the cover and questioned:

"Chongming Navy? What does this have to do with Chen Tianhua of the Zhejiang Army? Why did he get the Zhezi instead of Nazan?"

After opening the memorial, a quick glance showed that his expression changed drastically. After he finished reading it all, Zaifeng slammed the memorial on the table, gasping for breath, and was speechless.

"...Chongming was invaded by bandits, attacking the city and plundering the territory, causing trouble for the people. Almost the entire Chongming Navy was wiped out. At the request of Navy Admiral Nazan, two thousand warriors from the Zhejiang Army's Second Town Division Task Force entered Chongming to assist in the suppression.

Defeated, two thousand

More than half of the new army's athletes were lost, the city of Chongming was destroyed, and the army fled to Hailing Port. After boarding the ship, they suddenly encountered a typhoon. Immediately, their life and death were unknown. I personally brought the army and rushed to Chongming that day. The bandits were wiped out years ago..."

"Nazan, this stupid pig..." Zaifeng cursed bitterly.

From Chen Tianhua's memorial, he seemed to see that the Zhejiang New Army was running rampant in Chongming. After Meiguang, southern and northern Jiangxi, Hanyang, Daye and other places, Chongming also fell into Chen Tianhua's hands silently.

As for Chen Tianhua, during his years as Prince Chun, he has heard a little bit about him. He is a man with both ability and ambition. Just see how he uses it?

"Fifth Brother, please calm down!" Zai Xun said cautiously:

"That guy Nazan has been in Chongming for many years, selling illegal salt and lining his own pockets. However, the navy has basically no investment. It is still an old ship from decades ago. This kind of bastard who has brought disaster to the country and the people should have stepped down long ago. It is not a pity.

, Yudi discussed with Tie Liang a few days ago, and wanted to reorganize the Qing Navy, merge Beiyang, Nanyang, Guangdong, Fujian, etc. into the Navy Department, and a new fleet can be formed in the East China Sea. "

"So who should be sent to build the East China Sea Fleet? We won't let Chen Tianhua do it?!" Zaifeng looked confused.

"The fifth elder brother and Yudi discussed with Tie Liang and Zhang Xiangshuai and believed that it would be more appropriate for Chen Tianhua to concurrently serve as the admiral of the East China Sea Fleet. There are three reasons: First, he is the governor of the Chongming Autonomous Region and has the administrative power to manage Chongming's economy and people's livelihood. He will also oversee coastal defense and water resources.

Handing over the divisional military power to him will be more conducive to the unification of military and political affairs and the planning and construction of the navy."

"Secondly, Chen Tianhua has huge wealth. He owns the Taihu Shipyard, the largest in the south of the Yangtze River. Now he has acquired the Chongming Baykou Shipyard. His appointment as the admiral of the East China Sea Fleet can greatly reduce the pressure on the imperial treasury."

"Third, various indications indicate that Chen Tianhua was very loyal to the Qing Dynasty. In addition to paying excessive taxes to the treasury every year, he also actively suppressed bandits and fought against the Japanese, and also used repressive measures against revolutionaries.

.”

"The top priority is that Yu Di discussed with Tie Liang, Qi Di, Liang Bi and others, and concluded that Zhang Xiangshuai is too old and weak to be of any use. In addition, with the fall of Yuan Gongbao, there are not many Han ministers who can be used. We have to re-establish a Han Dynasty.

Leaders of ministers should rise up to balance the relationship between Manchu and Han in the government, which will be more conducive to the future constitutional system."

Although Zai Xun is young, he has extensive knowledge, a long-term vision, and can analyze problems thoroughly.

"Well... this person is available, the purpose is to limit his ambition. In a few years, he will be sent to the court, let him join the cabinet, and be isolated." Zai Feng remained silent and nodded to show that he basically agreed with Zai Xun's suggestion.

"Goodbye, fifth elder brother." Zai Xun raised his hands and praised.

"Hey... is Nazan alive or dead?" After all, he is his clan brother, Dafujin, and he still needs to care.

"Fifth brother, how can the eggs be intact after the nest is overturned? Chongming Navy's small broken ship has been in disrepair for many years. How can it survive when it goes to sea to avoid typhoons?" Zai Xun affirmed, he didn't care about this greedy person

Manchu scum.

"Hehehe..." Zaifeng sneered, his expression ambiguous.

"Fifth brother, Chen Tianhua is a fierce tiger. If we set up a beautiful halter to cover him, then our hope of reviving the Qing Dynasty will be just around the corner. We lack a hardline figure just to deal with the Western and Eastern countries," Zai Xun said.

.

"Well, after some time, we will reconsider it in court. If there are no major differences, we will immediately issue an order to cancel the establishment designation of Chongming Navy and change it to East China Sea Fleet. Chen Tianhua will be appointed as the admiral of East China Sea Fleet within three years.

Build a brand-new East China Sea Fleet, the preparation funds will be paid by ourselves, and Chongming will be exempt from paying taxes within five years."

"Fifth elder brother is wise!" Zai Xun bowed his hands.
Chapter completed!