C526 Li Hongzhang's Decision

In the true history, Ci An had died seven years ago, in other words, in 1881 years. There was still more than twenty years of time until the present time, and in the true history, Ci Xi had also used these twenty odd years of hiding his strength to slowly accumulate, carefully maintaining a balance between the Empress Dowager of the East and his subjects.

The historical Ci Xi was indeed a demon, but this demon had reached the peak of his life through half his lifetime of hard work, and had slowly expanded his own power and connections. In the end, he had intertwined and controlled the entire Qing Empire, until even after her death, there was no one who could shake him.

But the Ci Xi of 1866, was far from having such a great power. All she could control was the Beijing Belt s.

The Jiumentu Palace, the army camp of the Forbidden City, the conservative factions in the Manchu, and her own son, Emperor Tongzhi made her create an iron net inside the Beijing. This was why she dared to make such a change in the palace.

But after leaving the Beijing, how much influence did Ci Xi have? This was questionable, the two brothers definitely would not submit to her, after all, Ceng Guofan was a scholar during the Dao Guang era, he would have to remember the kindness given to him by Dao Guang and Xian Feng's father. In the end, you, Ci Xi, were just a concubine, even if you gave birth to an elder son, you would not be able to have a mother.

In the Confucian ethics, the Emperor was first place, and when the Emperor has no personal authority, the Eastern Palace was first, while your Western Palace was only second. Our loyalty came in sequence, so Ci Xi, you should just wait at the back of the line.

Then who else could it be other than Ceng Guofan? Mongol prince? This group of people had a close relationship with the Iron Hat Kings, so why would the Eight Kings be so interested in getting them on Ci Xi's boat? That would be drinking poison to quench one's thirst.

Further places like Guangzhou, Sichuan, Fujian and other places, you can not hope for, high mountain road, long distance waiting for them to come to Beijing, cucumber vegetables are cold. Looking at Li Li Li, Shan Xi, Shengjing and other places, they were either weak, or their close relationship with Ci An, there were not many people that Ci Xi could rely on.

After choosing and choosing, only Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang still had some hope. First of all, both of them had weapons in their hands, so Li Hongzhang himself was able to create the Huai Army, while Zuo Zongtang's prestige in the Xiang Army was only second to the Zeng Family Brothers, so no one dared to disobey his command of the Xiang Army.

One was able to use the Xiang Army, one was able to use the Huai Army, and none of them were top officials. There was also room for kindness, so Ci Xi's gaze landed on the two of them at the last moment.

After thinking about it, Ci Xi decided to place the treasure on Li Hongzhang. Because Li Hongzhang was a direct descendant of her own Huai Army, so activating the army was only a matter of words to him.

Even if Zuo Zongtang agreed, his subordinates would still be affected by Ceng Guofan. If the old fox went against him, Zuo Zongtang would have to listen to him.

Moreover, Ci Xi's eyes were extremely sharp. Compared to Zuo Zongtang, Li Hongzhang's eyes held a lot more ambition.

Ci Xi was truly worthy of being called a domestic political genius, in a few minutes, he had already locked onto his target. In order to take the letter from, he had even personally written a letter, he would rather leave him a piece of evidence than to let him feel at ease.

had only mentioned the root of the chaos in the capital. It was because of Xiao Letian's new army, who had secretly instigated them, hoping that the Huai Army would send out their elites to fight against Xiao Letian in order to protect them.

If he really wanted to deal with Xiao Letian, why not just send him to the north, where he would have him fight his way all the way to the Tanggu, all the way up to the Tanggu along the route of Le Ling, Yan Shan and Huang Hua.

However, Ci Xi insisted that Huai Army go to the Beijing to guard against Xiao Letian's new army.

In the history of Li Hongzhang, he had participated in foreign affairs with great achievements. However, when the issue of Xinjiang was still being dealt with in the Sino-French war with Vietnam, his actions were indeed criticized by many, not to mention the upcoming afternoon war. But there was one thing that everyone believed, Li Hongzhang was an official fanatic, being a proper official was the motto of his life. To him, every opportunity to be promoted was precious, and he had to grasp it tightly.

"Someone, come …" I will give you all one day to select the three thousand Veterans of the Hundred Wars s, the best Gun s, and enough ammunition. Listen to my orders … "

After the time it took to eat a whole meal, Li Hongzhang finally made up his mind. What Eastern Palace Empress Dowager, what annihilating Twisted Army, all of you playing on the side.

"Ah …" "We are here on orders of the marshal!"

They were all clansmen from Huai Clan, and as long as Li Hongzhang gave the order, they would immediately gather troops without even asking for directions.

Li Hongzhang's thoughts were now all on Ci Xi's secret letter. He had long forgotten about the massacre of Twisted Army and the tragedy at Jiaozhou Bay. Twisted Army was already at the end of his rope, and exterminating them was just a matter of time. Fuck them, who cares.

Just as Li Hongzhang was preparing to enter the diligent capital, two French battleship had already went around the Jiaozhou Peninsula and officially entered Bohai Bay.

Although the sailors on the deck didn't have a beautiful navy uniform and had changed into old sailor suits, they still had to be proud when they were in the army.

"Ten fishing boats have been discovered up ahead... I don't know which country... "Look, they're trying to escape …" lookout hand on the mast roared loudly.

"Hahaha, children... "We have another game to play. Let's rush up and see what good stuff they've prepared for us …" Under the orders of the captain, the Zodiac s were like two tiger sharks as they surrounded them, the surface of the sea pulling out a long white wave.

The ten fishing boats were filled with strange cries of fear, so much so that no one could understand what they were shouting about. However, at the bow of the boats, there were a few naked, muscular women that proved the identity of the boats.

"Oh, God, that must be a North Korean fishing boat. Only North Korea has this sea woman... "Great, we've got some fun …" The bandits on the deck cheered.

Sea women were unique to Japan and Korea. Their harsh living conditions made women want to go out to sea as well, and in order to fish for the most precious sea products, they were forced to dive deep into the sea and rely on their own hands to find traces of precious sea products such as abalone and sea cucumber.

That was why the sea women worked naked. If the fishing boats were full of family members, they would be naked, and if there were outsiders around, they would just be wearing a crotch cloth.

Actually, in modern Korea, Sea Maiden was also retained as a traditional folk culture. Of course, she was definitely wearing a diving suit.

Now that they were in the Bohai waters, the Sea Maiden that appeared here could not possibly be a Japanese Sea Maiden. The nationality of these fishing boats could easily be assumed to belong to North Korea.

The small fishing boat wanted to compete in speed with the Sail battleship, but it was no different from courting death. Not long after, ten small boats were surrounded by them.

The people on the fishing boat were kowtowing as if they were beating garlic. When they saw that they were Western Bandits, they were so scared that they could not even speak properly. They could only kowtow and beg for forgiveness.

Having lost their status as soldiers was like having lost the last trace of their moral restraints. Those sea women were extremely healthy due to diving and swimming all year round, and their figure was extremely good. Countless soldiers whistled, their eyes all on the woman's chest, staring at her.

"Send a small team down to see if there are any delicious seafood on board …" Pick the two most beautiful women for laozi … "

Laughing, the pirates threw themselves onto the rope ladder and boarded the fishing boat. When they opened the water tank, they immediately broke into smiles, "Oh, we can improve our food today. Crab, abalone, sea cucumber …" There were also a lot of prawns and unnamed fish... "Release the ropes, move everyone …"

These ten fishing boats belonged to families. When the family saw that the bandits had robbed them for more than ten days, they did not dare to resist. They hid in the stern of the boat and held each other's arms while crying.

Baskets of seafood were pulled onto the battleship, and sometimes, when the soldiers were careless, they would shake the basket full of crabs and fall into the sea, escaping. A small mistake would only result in laughter from the bandits.

However, the hearts of the fishermen were dripping blood. The child who saw the fruits of his hard work fall into the sea was crying in pain. The harvest this time would be exchanged for rations to survive the winter.

"Our Crab... You are robbers... This is our rations for the winter. Since you've all taken it, we'll have to go fishing in the winter … Do you know how dangerous it is? We'll freeze to death in the sea... "

A child over ten years old pounced over like a madman, reaching out his hands to snatch the seafood. He was right. It was already autumn, so the fishermen had to take advantage of this time to catch more fish and earn more money and food. They had to try their best to avoid going to sea in the winter.

But the child's weeping did not move the robbers. If they had a moral limit before when wearing military uniforms, now that they had taken off their military uniforms and were in East Asia where the barbarians roamed, the last bit of their moral limit had been thrown into the sea.

"Get lost, you wild monkey, I don't understand what you're saying …" Get lost, get lost! " The pirates raised their hands and slapped him twice.

The mother rushed over in tears, grabbed the child and dragged him back. "I'm sorry, he's too young to be sensible, I'm sorry!"

He smiled lewdly as he grabbed the woman and ran his hands over her body. "Captain, I caught a woman for you, throw a rope over here and drag her up …"

The woman struggled madly, the man knelt down and prayed, and the child furiously charged up and bit the pirate's wrist, causing the French army to scream out in pain.

"Scram, Wild Monkey …" The soldier kicked the boy into the sea, then took out his pistol and fired. The bullet had pierced the child's forehead, and his blood was all red.

"Animal, beast …" The cowardly fisherman went crazy. He jumped up and pounced towards the robber, but the French army on the battleship was already prepared. With a gunshot, the bullet accurately penetrated the man's heart, causing his body to roll into the sea.

"AHH!" "Ahh!" The woman looked at her husband and child dying miserably in front of her, screaming hysterically as she struggled to jump into the sea. However, the bandit's fist had landed on her stomach, causing her to feel pain like a large prawn that was being cooked.

The grinning soldier took the rope thrown down from the boat and tied the woman's hands together with a few twists. In the end, he even patted the woman's butt and shouted towards the deck above his head, "Let's pull her up." You guys be careful not to leave a crippled body for me in the end... "Hahaha!"