Li Hongzhang, the virtuous master of the capital, had a sallow complexion and was exhausted. Just a quarter of an hour ago, the Russian minister forced him to sign and pledge. The Treaty of Xinchou had been signed three months ago. Logically speaking, the great powers should start from China.
Begin to withdraw troops and leave.
But among the great powers, there is one country that is more greedy than Britain and the United States, and that is the Russians.
Among the reparations from the Xinchou Treaty, the Russians received as much as 130 million, accounting for 29% of the total, ranking first among all countries.
After the compensation was negotiated, Allied Commander-in-Chief Waldersey led the German troops to evacuate the capital, and other countries also evacuated one after another. However, the Russian army had actually occupied the three northeastern provinces. The Russians had always peeked into the land of Northeast China. This time they had already obtained the meat. How could they?
Spit it out easily.
Of course, because the great powers also had many conflicts with each other, Britain, the United States, Japan and other countries did not want Russia to gain power in China, so they supported the Qing government to put pressure on Russia in withdrawing their troops.
While delaying, the Russians deceived Li Hongzhang: as long as the Qing government first signed a contract with the Sino-Russian Daosheng Bank and completely ceded its rights to build roads, mines, and operate industry and commerce in the three eastern provinces to Daosheng Bank, the Russian government would consider withdrawing its troops.
In fact, the Russians were forced to change their policies and prepare to withdraw their troops due to pressure from various countries. However, before withdrawing their troops, they also prepared to trick Li Hongzhang in order to obtain more benefits from the Northeast.
Li Hongzhang was mentally and physically haggard. He was over seventy years old. He was frightened and deceived by the Russians. After the Russian minister left, he closed his eyes tightly and it looked like he was dying.
When Zhou Fu, the staff member, saw that he was so angry, he immediately burst into tears and said: "I still have something to say to the central hall, we can't just leave like this."
Li Hongzhang's closed eyes slowly opened, but he could not speak. He just looked straight at Zhou Fu.
"We can handle the unfinished business, sir, please don't worry." Zhou Fu held Li Hongzhang's hand and said with sobs.
Li Hongzhang's tears fell from the corners of his eyes, and he made a dull sound in his throat. He grabbed Zhou Fu's hand with an extra strength, and then his whole body relaxed, and there was no strength left in his hand.
"Zhongtang is dead!" Zhou Fu burst into tears and held Li Hongzhang's eyes, which were still open arrogantly, with his hands before letting him close them.
"Zhongtang!" In the room, more than a dozen of Li Hongzhang's staff were in tears.
In the turbulent Qing Dynasty, where should we go? Zhou Fu looked out the window with confusion in his eyes.
…
In Jinan, Shandong Province, Shandong Governor Yuan Shikai held the telegram in his hand and was speechless for a long time. Standing on Yuan Shikai's side was his subordinate Wang Shizhen.
"Zhongtang died of illness last night." Yuan Shikai put away the telegram and said calmly. Yuan Shikai can be regarded as Li Hongzhang's Beiyang family background. In addition, he is usually good at business. When Li Hongzhang passes away, some of his staff will naturally
Looking for a new master, Yuan Shikai is very capable and some people are interested in him.
Therefore, Yuan Shikai received the news in a timely manner.
"Sir, now is a good time to go to Beijing to meet Lafayette." Wang Shizhen stroked her beard, but the expression on her face did not change because of Li Hongzhang's death.
There is no longer any organized army in the entire Zhili area. Cixi and Guangxu fled to Xi'an and have not returned to Beijing until now. A large part of the reason is that there is no escorting army.
"Well, what you said makes sense." Yuan Shikai's eyes flashed, and he thought it was the right time for Li Hongzhang to go. The treaty has been signed. At this time, entering Beijing does not need to bear the reputation of being a traitor, and he can also show his loyalty.
Yuan Shikai knew that Cixi would definitely have objections to him because of the previous mutual guarantee between the Southeast and the Southeast, but he was not worried that Cixi would not reuse him, because Yuan Shikai's new army was the only one left in the entire north.
The Southeast Mutual Protection was when the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China. Cixi sent a telegram to the governors of various regions to lead troops to the capital. However, the governors of the southern provinces and the governor of Shandong, Yuan Shikai, believed that this was the Boxer Rebellion's attempt to control Cixi's order. They ignored the central government and refused to disagree.
The great powers went to war, but instead reached a Southeast Mutual Protection Agreement with the British and American countries...
While this move saved the southern provinces and Shandong and other places from war, it also greatly reduced the authority of the central government and further expanded local political and military power.
To say that Cixi had no objection to these provincial governors who disobeyed edicts and refused to save lives, she would not believe them even if they told her. However, since the Jiawu Year, the only troops trained by the Qing court in the Zhili area were Yuan Shikai's.
Well, even if Cixi had an idea in mind, she had to rely on Yuan Shikai first.
Yuan Shikai sat back on the table, took a sip of tea, and murmured to himself: "It's time to send a telegram to Brother Juren."
Xu Shichang, nicknamed Chrysanthemum, was Yuan Shikai's sworn brother and top aide. When the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China, he happened to be in the capital and escorted them. Now he stays around the two palaces.
Naturally, Yuan Shikai would not lead his troops so rashly to greet Cixi. He was interested in the position of Zhili Governor left after Li Hongzhang's death. With Xu Shichang on the side, the new army in Yuan Shikai's hands was the only one in the north.
With the troops taking action, I believe that the position of Governor of Zhili is almost certain.
Ambition grew wildly in Yuan Shikai's mind. He glanced at Wang Shizhen, who was standing beside him, and suddenly remembered something. He frowned and asked, "Mr. Ping, how did you go about the task entrusted by the British?"
At Yuan Shikai's level, it was inevitable to have contact with foreign forces. During the Boxer Rebellion, Yuan Shikai crazily suppressed the Boxers in Shandong and tried to protect the British and American religious people, so he was favored by the British and American countries.
"What do you mean, sir?" There have been too many things going on recently, and Wang Shizhen didn't know which one Yuan Shikai was talking about.
Yuan Shikai touched his chin and said solemnly: "It's the Chinese named Liu Heming, Liu Zhenming. This man killed the President of the United States not long ago and then ran to Canada. After an investigation, the U.S. government confirmed that he had
The Chinese came to America not long ago, and they still speak with a northern accent, so they entrusted us to investigate the origins of this Liu Zhenming."
"Oh, it's that matter. There are too few clues about this matter. After several investigations by my subordinates, no results were found. Do the British and American governments still want to kill the Liu Zhenming Nine Clan?" Wang Shizhen said with a touch of sarcasm in his tone.
To be honest, when he learned that the President of the United States had been assassinated by Liu Zhenming, he felt happy for a while.
Yuan Shikai shook his head and sighed: "Mr. Pin, you may not know that not long ago I asked Wu Tingfang, the minister to the United States, and I know a little bit about this matter. To this day, the American and British governments have not caught Liu Zhenming. I heard that
Instead, Liu Zhenming led hundreds of people to defeat thousands of British troops."
Canada is a British colony and does not have much diplomatic power. Yuan Shikai described the Canadian army as the British army. There is nothing wrong with it. When the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China, the British army was composed of its colonial armies, including Weihai.
Wei's Chinese camp.
"My lord, did you hear that correctly? A few hundred people defeated thousands of British troops?" Wang Shizhen looked at Yuan Shikai with a suspicious look on her face and asked with shock in her heart.
"At first I thought it was false news, but I have confirmed it repeatedly with overseas contacts. Now, the Chinese in America are almost in a rage because of this incident. And just yesterday, the British government once again urged me to find out Liu Zhenming's identity as soon as possible.
Origin, this matter is probably true." After Yuan Shikai finished speaking, he closed his eyes and didn't know what he was thinking. Maybe he was thinking that he was also a Chinese, so why could the overseas Chinese defeat the foreign army, but the domestic army was defeated?