After the hall was silent for more than two minutes, Cixi said, "Yuan Shikai, then what do you think the court should do?"

Yuan Shikai said: "Reporting to the Empress Dowager, I think the court should declare the neutrality of the guards as soon as possible and define the Japanese-Russian war zone as the best."

At this time, Prince Qing also said: "Empress Dowager, I think Yuan Shikai's words are reasonable. The ministers from various countries have sent letters to the Prime Minister's Office several times, asking the court to strictly observe neutrality. If overseas Chinese are ordered to send troops outside the pass, foreigners do not understand this plan to drive away tigers and swallow wolves, they will definitely blame the court, which is not beautiful."

When Prince Qing moved out of foreigners, Tie Liang and Rong Qing's arrogance was immediately suppressed a lot. After all, over the past 60 years, the pressure on the Qing court was all-round. Although the Qing court did not sign the [Xin Chou Treaty] that was to lose power and humiliate the country, the change of the Gengzi country still made the Qing court still feel scared. If it weren't for the sudden rise of overseas Chinese, the Qing Dynasty might have already lost its country, but now overseas Chinese are not reliable. Although Tie Liang and Rong Qing dare to confront Li Hongzhang and dare to confront overseas Chinese, they would not only have to be inferior when they mentioned foreigners.

Cixi was silent for a while before saying, "So how can the overseas Chinese explain? They made it clear that it would be difficult for the court to make a decision."

At this time, Zhang Zhidong said: "Report to the Empress Dowager, I think it's better to let foreigners deal with overseas Chinese. The court cannot get caught in the middle of this splint."

Cixi nodded slightly and said, "This is a law. Prince Qing, you can negotiate with foreigners."

Prince Qing hurriedly said, "Reporting to the Empress Dowager, it is not difficult for me to negotiate with foreigners, but I am afraid that overseas Chinese may not be able to sell foreigners' accounts. What if foreigners can't handle it, what should I do?"

Cixi frowned and said, "What should we do in your opinion?"

Prince Qing said: "I think it is better to send someone to negotiate with overseas Chinese first, and touch the background of overseas Chinese, and then make other plans, otherwise it will only give foreigners personal favors in vain."

Cixi calmed down for a while before nodding, saying, "It's good, but who should I send to Shandong?"

Prince Qing looked at Li Hongzhang and said, "I'm afraid I can only work harder for Lord Li. In the past, Lord Li was responsible for negotiating with overseas Chinese."

Cixi looked at Li Hongzhang and said, "Li Hongzhang, what do you think?"

Li Hongzhang said: "I should be responsible for it."

Cixi said: "Okay, then thank you for your hard work."

The next morning, Li Hongzhang and Yuan Shikai set off together, took Huodong to leave Beijing, first to Tianjin, and then took a boat to Qingdao on Tianjin. This is also the most common route for Qing officials in Beijing to go to Qingdao.

Of course, the East China government knew Li Hongzhang's purpose, and had already made preparations, so Qin Zheng still came forward to receive Li Hongzhang.

More than 8 months have passed when he met Li Hongzhang last time. However, when he met Li Hongzhang again, Qin Zheng found that Li Hongzhang had become much older and had a lot of spirit. He was indeed a little old. However, Li Hongzhang was already an 81-year-old man. In the old time and space, he should have died three years ago. Although it was because of his exhausted negotiations with various countries, it was also related to Li Hongzhang being old and his health was not as good as before. Although the appearance of time travelers made Li Hongzhang less worried during the Gengzi Reform, it was also a laborious task for Li Hongzhang to join the military director. Therefore, it is reasonable for Li Hongzhang to be old like this now.

After the two of them sat down, Qin Zheng said, "I haven't seen each other for several months. Li Zhongtang is much older. I think he is worried about state affairs a lot. I'd like to take care of his health. You might as well have a full body examination here to prevent accidents."

Li Hongzhang smiled bitterly, thinking that if you don’t come to cause trouble, I will save at least half of my concern, but I can’t say this, and Qin Zheng also had good intentions. Therefore, Li Hongzhang said: “Thank you for your concern to Political Commissar Qin. It’s just that the court has a lot of affairs now, internal and external troubles, and it’s impossible not to worry about it.”

Qin Zheng laughed and said, "Outsider troubles are of course the Russian-Japanese war, but this internal troubles probably refer to our river and lake base."

Li Hongzhang had long been used to the frankness of time travelers, and not to mention that when the two talked privately, they had said more blunt and bolder topics than this, so they did not come to surprise Qin Zheng's confession and said, "Political Commissar Qin is still so quick. I am talking about these two things this time when I come to Qingdao."

Qin Zheng said: "Okay, we can have a good talk, but should Li Zhongtang talk about internal troubles first or external troubles first?"

Li Hongzhang thought for a while and said, "Let's talk about external troubles first. Now Japan and Russia are in peace and meet each other, but the battlefield is in Liaodong, our country. Therefore, the government and the country were in an uproar. They all wanted the court to expel Japan and Russia and recover Liaodong. However, all countries asked the court to strictly observe neutrality and not interfere with the Japanese and Russian battle. Now the court is in a dilemma and does not know what to make a decision."

Qin Zheng nodded and said, "So what is the court planning now?"

Li Hongzhang said: "I don't hide it from you. With the current military strength of the court, the government is simply unable to send troops outside the pass. Unless you can send troops, even if there is a huge uproar in public opinion, the court can only adhere to neutrality in order to protect itself."

Qin Zheng smiled and said, "Okay, why didn't the court let us send troops? It just so happened that we would fight with Japan and Russia to lose both sides. Can't the court make profits? I don't believe that no one in the court advised this."

When Li Hongzhang heard this, he couldn't help laughing and said, "Political Commissar Qin is indeed very insightful about the affairs in the court." But he was thinking in his heart whether this was what Qin Zheng guessed or was the information that overseas Chinese had carefully discovered in Beijing.

Qin Zheng said: "Since that is the case, why didn't the court adopt it?"

Li Hongzhang smiled and waved his hand, saying, "These words are not necessary to be said anymore. They are just the arrogant words of a group of ignorant people. You should also be very clear that the court cannot adopt this proposal at all. Not to mention that it is difficult to explain to foreigners. Even if there are no foreigners to interfere, the court cannot hand over the military and political power to you, so the court will never order you to attack outside the pass."

Qin Zheng also nodded and said, "Zhongtang can see clearly. So what are the plans to discuss with us when Zhongtang comes to Qingdao this time?"

Li Hongzhang smiled bitterly again and said, "The court has decided to abide by neutrality, but the statement you issued made the court very passive and the public opinion was in a turmoil. In this Japanese-Russia war, the court naturally cannot control what you want to do. I just hope you don't involve the court. You can raise any conditions you have, even if you can raise them."

After hearing this, Qin Zheng's expression became serious and said, "Zhongtang should understand that since the return, what we have done is a bit disrespectful to the court, but it is to safeguard the overall interests of the Chinese nation. Whether we were fighting against the Eight-Nation Alliance, preventing the Russian army from going south, or protecting overseas Chinese in Java, we were all acting under this principle. That's why we issued this statement."

Li Hongzhang also nodded and said, "Since you returned to China, you have indeed done a lot of things to fight foreign aggression and boost our country's power. In this regard, the court is also very inferior. I am deeply impressed. I just want to forgive me for saying that this time, the Japanese and Russian bad friendship is not as good as before. All countries in the Eight-Nation Alliance have not done their best. In the Battle of Java, the Netherlands is not a strong country, but this time, Japan and Russia have both made efforts, which is not comparable to the Qing Dynasty. Even you, I am afraid it is a little inferior."

Qin Zheng also admitted very calmly: "Yes, our strength is certainly not as good as that of Japan and Russia, but this does not mean that we will sit idly by and watch the Northeast become the battlefield of other countries. This is the biggest difference between us and the court. Of course, we will not fight hard with Japan and Russia immediately, but will intervene in this war at an appropriate time."

Li Hongzhang was slightly stunned and immediately understood that it was estimated that overseas Chinese wanted to send troops outside the border after both Japan and Russia were both defeated and then sent troops outside the border. This is indeed a good idea, and it is also the only way. However, it is already good for overseas Chinese to do this. If the court changes, Japan and Russia would probably be both defeated and they would not dare to take action. So Li Hongzhang said: "I don't know what you need the court to do?"

Qin Zheng said: "The first is that after we intervened in the Northeast, the court ignored it and pretended not to know it, and did not do anything such as issuing orders or commendation. Or we are now consistent with us, opposing Japan and Russia together, and even preparing to intervene in the Northeast together, but I guess this is impossible."

Li Hongzhang understood that overseas Chinese did not want to see the situation in Java protecting overseas Chinese again. At that time, the imperial court did not give clear support to overseas Chinese when protecting overseas Chinese. However, after successfully protecting overseas Chinese, he hurriedly commended overseas Chinese and benefited from overseas Chinese. This was Li Hongzhang's suggestion to the court. Now overseas Chinese do not want the court to gain weight at all.

Qin Zheng said again: "Secondly, the court cannot move troops against our rivers, lakes and bases."

Li Hongzhang couldn't help but be surprised and said, "What?" Unexpectedly, external troubles were coming back to internal troubles again.

Qin Zheng said: "I don't hide it from the Zhongtang. We now have only one province in Shandong. The land is narrow and there are few people, which is far from enough for us to develop. Therefore, we need to expand our territory. However, if the court has assigned us a few more provinces, the court will probably find it difficult to agree. I am afraid it is difficult to explain, so we can only seize and occupy it. But please turn a blind eye to the court."

Li Hongzhang smiled bitterly and said, "This request is probably a bit difficult for the court."

Qin Zheng shook his head and said, "The imperial court has only a land of the whole country, which ruled hundreds of millions of people, but cannot use it well. The country cannot be prosperous and healthy at home. It is better to let us replace the court's responsibility if we have three or four provinces now and have a population of more than 100 million. We have long since sent troops out of the customs, expelled Japan and Russia, and regained the northeast."
Chapter completed!