Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 33 Before the Great War
At the gate of a magnificent mansion on Xuandemen Street, a large Lenny sedan stopped.A middle-aged man in a purple robe stepped out of the sedan chair. He was Li Hongzhang, Minister of Military Aircraft.

The gatekeeper saw that it was Li Hongzhang, so he hurried in to report.Not long after, the housekeeper of the mansion went out to greet him.He led Li Hongzhang in, and walked through the long corridor to the back garden.

I saw an old man wearing a white cloth shirt and a gray mandarin jacket doing Tai Chi leisurely.

"My lord is in good health. Hongzhang greets you." Li Hongzhang said and knelt down.

"Oh, Mr. Li. Why are you giving such a grand ceremony? Although you are a slave of my family, but now you are a minister of military affairs like me. You and I are ministers of the same court, so there is no need to be like this." It was Prince Gong who spoke.

"Sixth Lord, you are always my master. Li Hongzhang will never forget his master's grace wherever he goes." Li Hongzhang continued.

Prince Gong stopped, but the towel passed by the servant wiped the sweat on his forehead, and then wiped his hands.Returning the towel to the servant next to him, he continued: "Get up, let's talk in the study."

The two entered the study room, and the host and guest sat down.Li Hongzhang said: "France sent troops to attack Vietnam on a large scale, advancing both by land and sea, and fell into Hanoi, Nanding, Heyang and other places. It also invaded Hue, the capital of Vietnam, and the king of Vietnam fled from the capital. Now I am asking for help from the Qing Dynasty, and the zhezi has been sent. The military plane is here."

"Then hurry up and present it to the emperor for the royal review? Why are you running to me?" Prince Gong said.

Li Hongzhang looked at Prince Gong anxiously, trying to see something from his eyes.However, this prince with a very deep city mansion did not express his own views or opinions.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor is in charge of the government. He follows the style of his ancestors, and he still focuses on stability. Now that the rebellion in North Korea has just been eliminated, the treasury is still empty. It is inconvenient to send troops to Vietnam at this time." Li Hongzhang tentatively said.

Prince Gong took out a cigar from his cuff and lit it with a match.Blowing out the match, he said quietly: "Vietnam is the gateway to Guangxi in the Qing Dynasty. If France is allowed to occupy it, it will always threaten the southern gate of the Qing Dynasty."

Li Hongzhang rolled his eyes, and said, "Your Highness, you want to start a war against the French?"

Prince Gong took a sip of tea and continued: "The emperor has been watching the incidents in the south and North Korea since last year. The emperor sent two bidders to test the combat effectiveness of the new army. Now Xiang Yun , Gui, dispatch troops from the Guangxi region, what do you think will happen to our little emperor?"

Li Hongzhang seemed to see the blue sky through the clouds, and immediately said: "The emperor is going to declare war on the French?"

Prince Gong took a deep breath of cigarettes, nodded and said, "The emperor has already made up his mind about this matter. Let me tell you the truth, the emperor has ordered Zuo Zongtang to prepare food and grass for the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. Truckloads of military rations are on the way." Send it to Guangxi and Yunnan."

Li Hongzhang exhaled heavily, startled.He hurriedly said: "My lord, my Qing Dynasty can't afford to make a fuss now. I also ask your lord to persuade the emperor, the French fleet has already assembled in the strait. If there is a war, the southeast coast of my Qing Dynasty will be in a mess again, and the economy that has finally developed will be destroyed again." Going to be paralyzed."

Prince Gong murmured: "Our emperor has big ideas, and I can't persuade him. I advise you not to talk too much. Back then, Lafayette specially chose him as emperor. In a few years, he took Lafayette as emperor. Killed. Ten-year-old took charge of the government, hehe, better than the holy grandfather!"

Li Hongzhang slumped on the chair, and said with dull eyes: "I don't know if this battle is a blessing or a curse. If you win, you will empty hundreds of miles of wasteland. If you lose, your country will be destroyed!"

In the early morning of the next day, Guan Xuqing yelled loudly.The entire palace was still shrouded in darkness, and the ministers entered the palace with lanterns.In the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Guan Xuqing sat high on the dragon chair, looking at the two rows of civil and military ministers standing below.Opened his mouth and said: .

"Everyone, I believe everyone has heard about the Vietnam War. I want to hear your opinions. Whether it's war or peace, please draw up a charter."

At this time, Zhang Zhidong, the minister of the Ministry of War, took a step forward and said: "Qizuo, the emperor, Vietnam is my vassal of the Qing Dynasty, and it pays tribute to the Qing Dynasty every year. It is also my gateway to Guangxi. The veteran believes that Vietnam and the Qing Dynasty are closely related. We should send troops Aid Vietnam, fight France."

As soon as Zhang Zhidong finished speaking, there was a disturbance in the court.Prince Li, who was trying to protect himself, stood up again and said: "Your Majesty, please punish Zhang Zhidong for misleading the king. My Qing Dynasty can't take care of itself now, as long as the French don't enter our territory. My Qing Dynasty only needs to stabilize the frontier. Don’t pay attention to other things. Mr. Zhang’s words are misleading the country, the emperor, and the world.”

At this time, Weng Tongsu came out and said: "Your Majesty, since the fifth year of Tongzhi, France has never stopped aggressing Vietnam. Now that it is occupying the capital of Vietnam, it wants to use it as a base for invading the Qing Dynasty. Instead of spending a lot of manpower To defend the frontier, it is better to help Vietnam to dare the French out."

"Your Majesty Weng's words are very true. Hue and Guangxi are only separated by a mountain. It is so-called that we can arrive at night. It is impossible to guard against it. How can we allow others to sleep soundly on the side of the couch? I advocate sending troops into Vietnam to drive away the French." Peng Yulin said.

But Li Hongzhang and Prince Gong already knew what the emperor was thinking and were silent.Of course, Prince Chun depends on his son's opinion.In the rest of the voices calling for war, the diehards headed by Prince Yu still advocated for peace.There was a sound of quarreling, which was extremely intense.He almost rolled up his sleeves to fight in court.

Guan Xuqing looked at the situation and found that there were obviously more people advocating war against France than those seeking peace.Moreover, most of the neutral people are loyal to the emperor, as long as Guan Xuqing gives an order, they can swear to die.

"My dear friends, I have made up my mind. Declare war on the law! I will not pursue the different opinions I held before. From now on, our monarchs and ministers are united, and what we are discussing is how to fight against the law. There is nothing else. Beheaded!" Guan Xuqing said decisively.

"Cha!" There was a sound of kneeling down.

After a long discussion, it was finally decided to appoint Zuo Zongtang as the commander-in-chief of the Nanyang Navy.Responsible for combat against the French Navy.Peng Yulin went to the Department of Guangdong Governor to be responsible for the preparation of grain and grass.Liu Mingchuan's ten bidders all went to Vietnam to fight, and then Lu Yiwei's troops were transferred as the second echelon to garrison Yunnan and Guizhou provinces.The rest of the ministries were stationed in place and mobilized after listening.

As soon as the imperial decree came out, the troops of each province were mobilized normally.The Fujian navy in the Mawei military port set sail and assembled in the strait.On the official road leading to Vietnam, the flags were fluttering, the horseshoes were moving, and the mighty brigade marched towards the border of Vietnam.

The warships assembled on the sea and the sea, and the soldiers fired their guns and fired their guns, and the muzzles were unanimously exposed.The semaphore soldiers of each ship are waving semaphore, a busy scene before the war!
(End of this chapter)