Shanghai, lilac garden.

Although it is autumn, the climate in Shanghai is mild, so the lilac garden is still green at this time. Surrounded by lilac and camphor trees, there are two two-story American villa buildings. Insiders know that these two villa buildings were designed by famous American architects and were later called one of the pioneers of modern architecture, Aisia Rogers.

In a concave villa building in front, in the middle of the living room, a luxurious American leather sofa was placed. On the main seat, an old man over 60 years old sat upright. Although the old man seemed to be older than Gu Xi, his hair and beard were mostly gray, and his face was full of wrinkles, but he was still very energetic and his eyes were flickering. Although he was wearing regular clothes, he had a sense of majesty.

In front of the old man, two officials who were wearing embroidered robes and jackets, wearing flower feathers, hanging court beads with their chests, and had a full set of Qing Dynasty official uniforms, and were not even as young as they were all bowed and said, "I have met the Lord of the Central Hall."

"Zhongtang" is a respectful title for the Qing Dynasty's military ministers. Since the establishment of an organization like the Military Affairs Office during the Yongzheng period, the Military Affairs Office gradually replaced the cabinet and became the center of power for the Qing Dynasty. The Military Affairs Office became the highest official position in the Qing Dynasty, which could be equivalent to the prime minister. However, the prime minister of the Qing Dynasty should have been on the road of escape with Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu, and would not appear in Shanghai.

However, looking at the Qing Dynasty, there was an exception. A person who had not entered the Military Affairs Office, but could be honored as a "Zhongtang". He did not have the name of prime minister, but he was the prime minister. This person was Li Hongzhang, the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion of the Qing Dynasty, the Governor of Zhili and the Minister of Beiyang. That is, the old man sitting upright on the sofa. Of course, his current official position is not the Governor of Zhili and the Minister of Beiyang, but the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. This lilac garden is Li Hongzhang's residence in Shanghai.

Li Hongzhang, in response to the request of the court, went north from Guangdong to Beijing on July 17 to preside over the situation and deal with Sino-foreign conflicts. On July 21, Li Hongzhang arrived in Shanghai and also received an urgent telegram from his younger brother Li Jingshu: Tianjin is lost and Beijing will be out of protection. Do not risk going north, be honest.

In fact, Li Hongzhang set out to go north of Guangdong and was very reluctant to be strong, because as early as May and June, Li Hongzhang firmly opposed the court's reliance on the power of the Boxer Rebellion to fight against foreigners, repeatedly submitted a letter to the court, warning the court to restrict the development of the Boxer Rebellion and not allow the Boxer Rebellion to arbitrarily intensify Sino-foreign conflicts.

However, the Qing court rulers led by Cixi did not obey Li Hongzhang's advice. Not only allowed the Boxer Rebellion to develop, but also formally ordered them to declare war on the eight countries on June 1, and issued an order to govern the country and lead the army north to serve the king.

At this time, the governors and governors in the southeast were planning to form the [Southeast Mutual Protection] to ensure that the south was not in chaos. Li Hongzhang was one of the important officials who first advocated Southeast Mutual Protection. In response to the imperial edict of the imperial court to lead troops north to serve the king, Li Hongzhang took the lead in showing his attitude: this was a disorderly mission, and Guangdong did not obey the imperial edict. It also greatly increased the confidence of the governors and governors in the southeast. Finally, he ignored the imperial edict of the imperial edict and promoted the [Southeast Mutual Protection].

However, after the Qing court declared war on the Eight Kingdoms, the situation became worse and worse. On July 9, Nie Shicheng, the admiral of Zhili and the president of the Wuwei Army, was killed in Balitai. On the same day, Qingting sent a telegram to Li Hongzhang to Beijing. On the 14th of July, Tianjin was lost, and Qingting sent another telegram to urge Li Hongzhang to go north. Therefore, Li Hongzhang had to leave Guangdong and head north by boat. But at this time, Li Hongzhang also understood that the current situation in Beijing was not something he could preside over. Therefore, he moved into his residence in Dingxiang Garden in Shanghai and watched the changes in the situation. Although the Qing court issued a repeated edict later, requiring Li Hongzhang to go north as soon as possible, Li Hongzhang was still unmoved, pushing left and right to entrust it and staying in Shanghai, which delayed for nearly two months.

The two Qing court officials in front of Li Hongzhang were not ordinary people. One was Zhou Fu, the current governor of Sichuan. He failed many exams in his early years and joined the army and became a clerk in the Huai Army. He became Li Hongzhang's document and assisted Li Hongzhang in establishing the Westernization Affairs Office for more than 30 years. He achieved achievements in the establishment of modern enterprises such as the Beiyang Navy, the Military Academy, the Tianjin Telegraph Bureau and the Kaiping Coal Mine. He was the actual operator of the later Westernization Movement.

In the seventh year of Guangxu, Zhou Fu was sponsored by Li Hongzhang and served as the Customs Road in Tianjin. In the nineth year of Guangxu, he also served as the Tianjin Army Preparation Road. In the fourteenth year of Guangxu (1888), he was promoted to the Censor of Zhili. After the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War of 1895, he was appointed as the Prime Minister of the Front Enemy Battalion Affairs Office by Li Hongzhang. After the peace talks between Maguan, Zhou Fu was dismissed for his illness. In the twenty-fourth year of Guangxu (1898), he was reinstated as the governor of Sichuan.

After the Qingting issued an edict to transfer Li Hongzhang to the north, Li Hongzhang immediately thought of his old subordinate and asked the court to transfer Zhou Fu to the Zhili vassal and handle Chinese and foreign affairs together. Therefore, the two gathered in Shanghai, and because the situation was unclear, they stayed in Shanghai and waited for the development of the current situation.

The other person is Sheng Xuanhuai, the current minister of Dali Temple. This name is very famous in modern Chinese history. One of the representatives of the Westernization School has created a total of 11 "firsts in modern Chinese industries". Moreover, Sheng Xuanhuai and Li Hongzhang have a closer relationship. His father and Li Hongzhang had a golden orchid relationship. There are even rumors among the people that Sheng Xuanhuai recognized Li Hongzhang as his adopted father. Most of the industries founded by Sheng Xuanhuai were related to Li Hongzhang. Without Li Hongzhang's support, Sheng Xuanhuai would not have achieved success.

Under the care of Li Hongzhang, Sheng Xuanhuai's official and business journey were smooth. Now he was appointed as the Chief Minister of Dali Temple and the Minister of Beiyang Telegraph. The main industries he handled were the Shanghai Telegraph Bureau and the China Merchants Shipping Company, which were both rare enterprises that could ensure profit during the Westernization Movement. Sheng Xuanhuai was naturally rich. At this time, his personal assets had reached more than 25 million taels of silver, while his adoptive father Li Hongzhang's assets were only more than 15 million, and a considerable part of them were Sheng Xuanhuai's filial piety.

Not long ago, Sheng Xuanhuai came forward and actively worked hard to promote [Southeast Mutual Protection]. Then Sheng Xuanhuai stayed in Shanghai to observe the changes in the situation.

Today, the two of them were invited by Li Hongzhang to come to Lilac Garden.

Li Hongzhang waved his hand and said, "Yushan (Zhou Fu), Xingsun (Sheng Xuanhuai), don't be polite, sit down."

After the two of them thanked each other, they sat on the sofas on the left and right. After they came to deliver tea, Zhou Fu said, "Zhongtang, I'm going to wait here, I don't know what to do."

Li Hongzhang took out two pieces of paper from a stack of books on the coffee table and handed them to them, saying, "You can take a look at this first."

The two of them took the paper and found that they were two telegrams. The content of the first telegram was actually clear, and they could also know the entire Shanghai and even the entire Chinese big cities. The content of this telegram was published in the full text on Shanghai [Report]. This was the telegram released by the Time Travel Group to the whole country three days ago. The content was that the Time Travel Group officially appeared as a famous overseas Chinese and returned to China, and required the Eight-Nation Alliance to stop fighting immediately and withdraw from China unconditionally, otherwise the Time Travel Army would drive them out by force, etc.

Another telegram was a private message sent to Li Hongzhang, signed by Zhao Weizhong. Of course, it was a telegram sent to Li Hongzhang by the Time Travel Group. The content was first introduced to Zhao Weizhong's acquaintance with the Time Travel Group and the previous battles he experienced with the Time Travel Group. Then, in Zhao Weizhong's name, it expressed that this group of overseas Chinese originally intended to return to China and help the Qing Dynasty resist foreigners. Li Hongzhang sent someone to Tianjin to contact overseas Chinese, so he could be an intermediary, etc.

After reading these two telegrams, Zhou Fu and Sheng Xuanhuai remained silent for a long time. The first telegram was nothing, but the content of the second telegram was indeed a bit amazing, and Li Hongzhang did not urge them to wait for them to digest.

After a while, Zhou Fu said, "Zhongtang, who is Zhao Weizhong? He is so humble that he feels familiar with him?"

Li Hongzhang said: "He was an old member of my Huai Army and worked as a clerk in the Tianjin Machinery Bureau. He has done things under your hands for several years."

After hearing Li Hongzhang's reminder, Zhou Fu immediately began to think of it, and said, "It turned out to be him. I didn't expect that he would actually meet this group of overseas Chinese."

Li Hongzhang said again: "What do you think of these two telegrams?"

Shanghai is the most developed city in China in this era, well-informed. More than ten days ago, some news came to Shanghai. A group of troops who claimed to be overseas Chinese attacked Dagukou, destroyed the fleet of the Eight-Nation Alliance, and landed in Dagukou.

At the beginning, Zhou Fu and Sheng Xuanhuai were half-doubted about these rumors, and most of them were unbelievable, because they were both people who had been doing Westernization for decades and were one of the Chinese who knew the most about the foreign world in this era. However, they had never heard of a country established by Chinese overseas, and this group of overseas Chinese would return to China. Therefore, both of them thought that this might be the result of the remaining Boxer Rebellion, and as long as the Eight-Nation Alliance in Beijing reacted, the remaining Boxer Rebellion could be destroyed immediately.

However, as time went by, a large number of news came to Shanghai, and this group of overseas Chinese even captured Tianjin City and Tianjin Concession. The consuls of various countries in Tianjin continued to generate electricity to Shanghai to inform the situation in Tianjin. The consuls of various countries in Shanghai also continued to come to Li Hongzhang, Zhou Fu, Sheng Xuanhuai and other Qing officials to ask if this group of overseas Chinese had any relationship with the Qing court. Only then did the two realize that the group of overseas Chinese were indeed true, and according to the information obtained from the consuls of various countries, this group of overseas Chinese was also aggressive in ship-type cannons, and the weapons they used were definitely not under the Eight-Nation Alliance.
Chapter completed!