"Bang!" Guangxu slapped a fierce shot on the table and said angrily: "It's really too much to deceive people. What do overseas Chinese want to do? Is it a rebellion?"

Prince Qing hurriedly said, "Emperor calm down."

Guangxu shouted: "How can you please calm me down? The Qingzhou incident was that overseas Chinese forced to rob the land of bannermen. Wenrui was therefore angry. The overseas Chinese not only relied on the military force to kill Wenrui and seized the whole city, but also falsely accused Wenrui of plotting against rebellion. On the other hand, they also wanted the court to stop sending officials and personnel to Shandong. What is this not a rebellion? They were originally a group of refugees who had no place overseas and could not return to Middle-earth. The court did not think that they were the survivors of the previous dynasty. They not only kindly took refuge and set up land to resettle, but they were greedy and dared to despise the court so much. They also killed the bannermen without permission. This was really outrageous and must not be forgiven." Speaking of the excitement, Guangxu actually stood up from the chair.

After hearing this, several people were shocked. Is it so difficult that the emperor was going to get impulsive again? Then Guangxu said again: "What do you think should you do?"

At this time, Li Hongzhang stepped forward and said, "Emperor, overseas Chinese have the intention of being unjust, and the court must not stop perfunctory. It should immediately issue an edict to the world to denounce the crimes of overseas Chinese, and then mobilize a large army to encircle and suppress them, capture their heads alive, destroy their bandits, and correct the law of the country."

Prince Qing, Ronglu, and Zhang Zhidong almost all suspected that they had heard it wrong. When did Li Hongzhang become so arrogant that he actually asked Emperor Suo to start a war with overseas Chinese?

When Guangxu heard this, he was a little surprised and hesitated and said, "Do you mean the court should send troops to conquer overseas Chinese?"

Li Hongzhang nodded and said, "Yes, although the old minister is not talented, he is willing to ask the emperor for orders to lead the army to fight to the death with the overseas Chinese."

Guangxu was stunned for a moment before saying, "You... can you beat overseas Chinese?"

Li Hongzhang said with gaze: "The old minister is nearly 80 years old. Even if he dies, he will not die prematurely. Even if he loses to overseas Chinese, he is willing to die on the battlefield to repay the court's kindness. However, after the old minister sent troops, he asked the emperor and the empress dowager to prepare early and move the capital to Xi'an to avoid the sharpness of overseas Chinese."

Guangxu was stunned for a long time before he felt relieved and said, "You mean the court cannot defeat overseas Chinese."

Li Hongzhang said: "Report to the emperor, overseas Chinese are always good at soldiers, and the Eight-Nation Alliance is not an opponent. The Tsarist Russian army is famous for its fierceness and was also defeated by overseas Chinese. The emperor asked himself, if the Qing Dynasty rashly sent troops to conquer overseas Chinese, what would be the number of winners and losses? I am afraid that the court will not be able to return to the west again."

At this time, the others also understood Li Hongzhang's intention. Zhang Zhidong said: "The emperor clearly understands, what Lord Li said is reasonable. Now the court has just returned to the capital. The situation has been decided. We should focus on rest and recuperation. We should not start the war easily. Therefore, please think twice."

Prince Qing and Ronglu also said: "Please think twice."

Guangxu smiled bitterly before sat down dejectedly, saying, "So what do you think should you do? Is the court just letting overseas Chinese continue to be so rampant, and even if the court ignores it, do you think overseas Chinese will give up? Will they no longer make any progress?"

Li Hongzhang said: "Emperor, it's not too late for a gentleman to take revenge. Now the court has decided that everything is waiting for new things. The Chinese overseas are in a strong position and cannot start the war easily. However, the court is implementing new laws, training new troops to strive for self-improvement. By the time and month, the new laws, the new army will be successful, and the country will be rich and the army will be strong. It's not too late to teach overseas Chinese a lesson. Moreover, overseas Chinese only occupy a province with small land and few people. How can they compare with the court? What's more, overseas Chinese are expending intensive taxes in Shandong, forcing land to seize people's wealth, which will inevitably lead to anger and resentment from heaven. Therefore, only if the court is patient for a few years, overseas Chinese are not a trouble for the court."

Guangxu pondered for a while before saying, "So what should we do about Qingzhou now?"

Li Hongzhang said: "Overseas Chinese have written to the court, saying that Wen Rui has stolen rebellion. However, the current plan can only follow the arguments of overseas Chinese and temporarily calm the hearts of overseas Chinese."

Guangxu said: "Wenrui was not guilty, and the court forced him to rebel. Wouldn't it disappoint other bannermen? How would the people in the world view the court?"

Rong Lu said: "This is easy to deal with? It is a temporary solution to accuse Wenrui of rebellion. I believe that other bannermen can understand the intentions of the court. Brother He and others after the imperial court destroyed overseas Chinese, they issued an order to clear the grievances and restore their reputations. They would posthumously grant titles and honor their descendants." After a pause, he said: "What's more, although Wenrui died, his family is still there. The court did not visit and took Wenrui's family out of Shandong in the name of exile and exile, and chose a place to support them well, which would be enough to satisfy the hearts of the bannermen." Because Rong Lu was a bannerman, he only said something.

After hearing this, Guangxu thought about it again and then said, "Okay, let's take Wenrui's family to the capital, and you must be kind."

Li Hongzhang said again: "Overseas Chinese people also need Zhan Tianyou to help them build railways. This person has nothing to do with it, so you might as well give it to me."

Guangxu had no objection to this. In fact, even Zhan Tianyou was not aware of who he was. He only knew that he was a craftsman who built a railway, which was indeed insignificant. So he said, "Okay, you guys go and arrange it."

Li Hongzhang also said: "Overseas Chinese have also proposed to prevent the imperial court from dispatching officials stationed in Shandong. I would like to make a decision on this."

Guangxu frowned, as if he wanted to say something, but he held it back and said slowly: "Ronglu, Li Hongzhang, you two go to the Summer Palace with me tomorrow to meet the Empress Dowager. It is up to the Empress Dowager to decide."

Ronglu, Li Hongzhang hurriedly bowed and said, "I respect the order."

The next morning, Guangxu brought Ronglu and Li Hongzhang to the Summer Palace, and in front of Cixi. The first two items were asked to designate Wenrui to rebel and call Zhan Tianyou. After hearing this, Cixi said only one sentence, "Then let's do it!"

But when talking about the last one, when the time traveler asked the Qing court to stop sending officials to Shandong, Cixi just lay half on the couch chair, closed her eyes slightly, and said, "What do you mean?"

Guangxu said: "It was because we were unable to make up our minds that the Empress Dowager asked to make a decision."

Cixi said: "So what does the emperor think?"

Guangxu hesitated for a moment before saying, "My son has no idea. If he agrees, what is the face of the court? If he doesn't agree, I'm afraid that the overseas Chinese will cause other troubles, so I'm in a dilemma?"

Cixi said without commenting, "Li Hongzhang, what do you think?"

Li Hongzhang said: "When two evils meet, they should be the least. Do not easily refute the intentions of overseas Chinese to avoid other changes."

Guangxu glanced at Li Hongzhang again, but didn't say anything.

Cixi said again: "Ronglu, you also say something."

Ronglu hurriedly said, "A little impatience will cause chaos in the big plan. The servant thought Lord Li's words were reasonable. The court had just settled down. There were still boxers in Zhili, Henan and Shanxi who rebelled, and they should not easily anger overseas Chinese."

In fact, the two of them estimated that Cixi would not dare to turn against overseas Chinese at this time, so they could only choose to agree to the conditions of overseas Chinese. However, these words could not be expressed from Cixi, and they could only let Ronglu and Li Hongzhang take the blame. Guangxu was going to the Summer Palace to find Cixi to make a decision, which was the intention.

Cixi was silent for a while before saying, "Telling overseas Chinese that it is impossible to let the court not send officials to Shandong. The current Shandong officials will be transferred one after another. As for the successors, they will ask them to submit a memorandum to recommend the list of local officials in Shandong, and the court will just sign the official according to the list."

Guangxu was stunned and understood Cixi's intention. Local officials in Shandong were recommended by overseas Chinese, and the court appointed officials according to the recommendation. This actually agreed to the conditions of overseas Chinese. However, local officials in Shandong were still appointed and removed by the court. In this way, the court's face was preserved. It can be said that the best of both worlds is possible. I am afraid that only Cixi could think of such a trick, and Guangxu should not admire it.

When Ronglu heard this, he felt something else. Although the court made concessions to overseas Chinese on the surface, it still held the appointment and removal power of Shandong local officials in the hands of the court. In this way, the court would have more room for maneuver. When the court's strength is sufficient in the future, it would not be possible to accept the recommendations of overseas Chinese. Moreover, if overseas Chinese want to be promoted, the court must decide the position. In this way, the court can not only use this power to buy some overseas Chinese, but also create conflicts among overseas Chinese. At that time, a few hills among overseas Chinese will make overseas Chinese unrest. The empress dowager's methods are indeed powerful. Overseas Chinese are good at fighting, but the methods are still far from playing.

Li Hongzhang sighed softly. Of course, he understood Cixi's methods. It was not new to put it bluntly. It was nothing more than mixing sand among overseas Chinese, building hills, and disintegrating. At that time, the court used this trick to deal with Zeng Guofan, promoting Zeng Guofan's accomplices such as Zuo Zongtang, Li Hongzhang, Shen Baozhen and others, so that they could each have a unique position and stand on their own. This was not only convenient for the control and utilization of the court, but also restraining Zeng Guofan. Later, he used this trick to deal with himself, and now he planned to use this trick to overseas Chinese.

However, Li Hongzhang has a lot of contact with overseas Chinese, and has sent special personnel to collect information about overseas Chinese, and has a certain understanding of their behavior, concepts and system. The court can use this trick to deal with Zeng Guofan and himself, and has achieved good results, but using this trick to deal with overseas Chinese is useless. Because overseas Chinese have established their own official position system in Shandong, which is very different from the Qing court, and they do not care about the official positions granted by the court. For example, the number one leader of overseas Chinese is Xia Bohai, but the second leader Qin Zheng who took over as the governor of Shandong was Qin Zheng. At that time, Li Hongzhang felt it was incredible and even thought that overseas Chinese had started to coax.

But neither Xia Bohai nor Qin Zheng went to the place where he served. Qin Zheng even pushed the matter of Shandong Governor Wang Sheng to Jinan Prefecture. He formed an East China government in Qingdao with Xia Bohai and others. Moreover, even in Jinan, overseas Chinese did not use the famous directors of Jinan Prefecture, but instead established the local government of Jinan City. Although Wang Sheng was the prefect of Jinan, he obviously valued the latter even more because all the governance was carried out by the famous proposal of Jinan City local government. Therefore, overseas Chinese proposed to the court that they would not send local officials to Shandong, not to let their own people take the position of Shandong local officials, but to use their own administrative official system in Shandong. Then the court could not divide and disintegrate among overseas Chinese.
Chapter completed!