Li Zhen ran with Ci Xi on his back. Even if Ci Xi was as light as a swallow, she would feel tired if she hung on her for a long time. Li Zhen sat down on the ground and kept kneading his two sore and swollen thighs. Shaking his aching arms, he waited for his heartbeat to calm down before he said, "What the hell, these Russian guys have finally retreated. If you don't pay attention, I'm afraid I'm going to die today."
After a pause, Li Zhen asked again: "Shihai, why did you and Smith bring soldiers to Beijing?"
Huang Shihai said respectfully: "Commander, after Huang Qiang returned to the Jiangbei camp with his wife, son and young lady, Zheng Zaoru, Huan Xiaolang, Lu Shaochuan and others discussed the situation in Beijing and agreed that it would be dangerous for the commander to stay in Beijing. , so I led the team and took a regiment under Smith's command to go north. Unexpectedly, Smith and I met the commander as soon as we arrived outside Beijing with the soldiers."
Smith stood nearby and interjected: "Commander, Huang Qiang said that your condition was quite good when he left Beijing. Why are you in such a mess now?"
Li Zhen sighed and told the story of the young emperor's accession to the throne and Yixin's rebellion, without omitting anything.
After finishing speaking, Li Zhen sighed again: "I didn't expect that Yixin would suddenly rebel. This is really unexpected. Now that Yixin has controlled the city of Beijing with the help of the foreign devils, we will definitely not be able to fight back. If we had known it, Yixin is so ambitious that he should have been imprisoned when the emperor ascended the throne, and nothing like what happened today would have happened."
Ci'an continued: "Master Li, the matter has come to this, and there is no use regretting it anymore. We must consider what will happen after we are kicked out of Beijing. What should we do next?"
Cixi interjected: "In my opinion, I will send an order to the world and call on the officials of the world to work diligently with the king and destroy Yixin." Cixi regained her former shrewdness, and the expression on her face became serious, revealing a hint of majesty. She held Zai in her arms. Chun, looking at Zai Chun who had fallen asleep, a wise smile appeared on his face.
She secretly made up her mind to get back what belonged to Zai Chun.
Li Zhen shook his head and said: "Yixin took Beijing, and it is almost impossible for us to fight back."
"Why?" Cixi asked immediately.
Li Zhen explained: "The biggest difficulty is that the Russians want to see Yixin usurp the throne. As long as the imperial court is divided, the Russians can intervene openly. After we send troops to attack Yixin, the Russian troops will continue to flow in. Going south and constantly entering China from the north, even if the Russians cannot defeat us, Yixin may drag in the armies of Britain, France and other countries in order to save his life. By then, the situation will be out of control and not good for us. "
Ci'an frowned and looked at Li Zhen expectantly: "Master Li, when the late emperor was still alive, he praised Master Li many times as the nemesis of foreigners and the mainstay of the imperial court. Even if Yixin and foreigners from Russia, Britain, France and other countries There is collusion among the armies. As long as Mr. Li sends his troops northward, he will definitely kill them without leaving a single piece of armor behind."
Li Zhen stood up, shook his head and said, "Queen Mother, I am not invincible."
"Admiral Li, the Ai family believes in you," Cixi said.
Li Zhen did not dare to agree, and explained: "Two queen mothers, do you know the current situation? Yixin has occupied Beijing and will definitely become emperor next. He colludes with the Russians and will definitely be able to separate one side. It's us. His great enemy, Hong Xiuquan, was in Nanjing. He had suffered heavy losses before, but he was still alive and still had the strength to resist. Shi Dakai entered Sichuan with great power and was about to take root in Sichuan. There were countless foreigners in the south who were eyeing the situation. It’s not good.”
"We summon officials from all over the world to lead the army to attack Beijing. The provinces will be in chaos, and the whole country will be affected. It will give opportunities to bandits and foreigners. The foreigners have enmity with me. If they get involved, they will definitely help Yixin. Whether we can block the attacks of so many foreigners is still a difficult problem."
Now that Li Zhen has taken Ci Xi, Ci'an and Han Laiyu out of Beijing, he naturally does not want to go back.
Moreover, he also stated a fact.
With less than 10,000 troops under his command to attack Beijing, or to summon troops from various provinces, it is absolutely difficult to deal with the allied forces from various countries. Once the armies of Britain, France, the United States and other countries are united, the consequences are not something Li Zhen can bear. .
Cixi's face turned pale after listening to Li Zhen's words. She was frightened by Li Zhen's words. She was good at power, but it was still difficult to figure out real important matters.
Cixi asked: "Admiral Li, what do you think?"
Li Zhen said with a serious expression: "For the current plan, we will immediately go south to station in the Jiangbei camp, and then attack Hong Xiuquan with all our strength. We will first deal with Hong Xiuquan, gain a foothold, and then increase our strength as quickly as possible to connect the south. Get up, we can’t let the southern provinces be won over by Yixin.”
After a pause, Li Zhen continued: "If you think about it carefully, when the Russian army appeared outside Beijing, it must have been Yixin who persuaded officials from Shandong, Zhili and other places to allow the Russian army to enter Beijing. We must do it as soon as possible. The organization must form a powerful force that can not only resist Yixin, but also block the coalition forces of various countries, and gradually eliminate bandits and other rebellions, in order to build a strong empire for the emperor."
In fact, Li Zhen wanted to go to Guangdong, but after thinking about it he decided not to go.
In this way, Cixi's suspicion can also be eliminated.
Without going to the place close to Li Zhen, Cixi and others would not have strongly resisted.
After listening to Li Zhen's words, Han Laiyu narrowed his eyes, and a light flashed in his eyes. He had been with Xianfeng for several years, and even stayed with Emperor Daoguang for a period of time. His vision was not comparable to that of Cixi and Ci'an. He was much more mature. After listening to Li Zhen's words, Han Laiyu did not feel Li Zhen's loyalty, but felt his strong ambition.
Sweeping the world, but the emperor is still young.
At that time, wasn't Li Zhen just another Cao Cao? Han Laiyu had something in mind but didn't say it out loud because he was not loyal to Xianfeng or to the Manchus, he was just a eunuch who wanted to live a better life.
After listening to Li Zhen's words, Cixi nodded in agreement and said: "Nanjing is the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, and the situation is unmatched. We will temporarily let Yixin wander for a while, first go to Jiangbei Camp, and then temporarily surrender to Nanjing."
Cixi did not refute Li Zhen's proposal.
Ci'an wanted to speak, but Cixi stopped her with her eyes. Cixi knew the current situation very well, and she knew even more clearly that the person she was relying on now was Li Zhen, so she tried her best to cooperate with Li Zhen.
Seeing that Cixi and Ci'an had no objection, Li Zhen unified his opinions and led his troops south.
…
Yixin returned to Beijing with his guards and went directly to the Forbidden City.
He sat in the Qianqing Palace and began to issue orders one after another. At the same time, he ordered the soldiers to summon Sushun, Du Han, Jingshou, Zaiyuan, Duanhua and other auxiliary ministers to the palace overnight to meet. At about three o'clock in the morning, Su The seven auxiliary ministers, Shun, Zaiyuan, Duanhua, Jingshou, Kuangyuan, Mu Yin and Du Han, all gathered in Qianqing Palace.
Fan Jian, Yi Xin's confidant, looked at the seven auxiliary ministers and said: "Jin Shang is too young to preside over the affairs of the country. Moreover, I was dragged out of Beijing by the traitor Li Zhen. I don't know whether he is alive or dead. As the saying goes, the country cannot be destroyed." There is no king for a day. The sixth prince is wise and just, with the world in mind. He is also the sixth son of Lord Daoguang. It is just and right to inherit the throne. I have called you all overnight to discuss the prince's succession. If you have any ideas, please tell me as soon as possible. "
"Rebellious, dog thief,."
Sushun raised his head and stared at Yixin, with blazing anger in his eyes, and cursed: "Sixth Prince, what do you mean that I am too young to handle state affairs? What do you mean that Li Zhen forced the emperor to leave? It was clearly you who rebelled. Forcing the emperor and the two empress dowagers to flee Beijing, you, the rebellious minister and traitor, deserve to be punished by everyone."
Yixin laughed and asked: "Su Zhongtang, do you mean you are planning to kill me?"
"Of course I want to kill you. If I had killed you earlier, I wouldn't be as rebellious as you."
Sushun had a strong temper and retorted loudly.
Yixin smiled coldly and said in a cold tone: "I really don't like to be threatened. Since someone wants to kill me, I have to kill him first to prevent this king from being in danger. Come, General Su Drag him out and behead him."
After saying this, Yixin suddenly felt extremely happy.
To have the power over the world, this is life.
Two soldiers walked in, held Sushun's shoulders and pushed him out. Sushun was a strong man and cursed: "Yixin son, you may be proud now, but you won't be proud for long. Li Zhen protects you." As the emperor leaves, he will come back one day. When your head falls on the ground, you will definitely die..., your death will be worse than mine..."
"Drag it down."
Yixin's face looked ugly as she listened to the solemn scolding.
He lost his patience and asked: "What about you, if you want to die, just say it and I will help you."
"thump,."
Jingshou was the first to kneel down and said: "Your Majesty, Jingshou, pays homage to our emperor. Long live the emperor." Jingshou married the sister of Yixin's mother, and was Yixin's brother-in-law. The two had a close relationship, and now Yixin took control of the city of Beijing, and Jingshou was naturally the first to support Yixin's ascension to the throne.
Immediately afterwards, the remaining six auxiliary ministers, including Zaiyuan, Duanhua, and Mu Yin, also took advantage of the situation and knelt down. These people were all old foxes and would never kneel down like Sushun. Among the people, Du Han was worried. His father, Du Shoutian, was Xianfeng's teacher and had helped Xianfeng ascend the throne. Now he was afraid of revenge.
But Yi Xin said: "Don't worry, Mr. Du, I won't care about the past things, they will be wiped out."
At this moment, he has changed his name.
Du Han, Zai Yuan and others all breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.
Yixin's eyes swept over Zaiyuan and others, and continued: "The matter is as simple as that. Let's go back. We will meet tomorrow morning to discuss the matter of enthroning. I hope you will consider it well."
Zai Yuan, Du Han and others retreated and left quickly.
Yixin also went to rest and look forward to tomorrow.
Now, he has controlled the city of Beijing, and has the help of the Russian army, so he is not worried about the situation in the city. He only focuses on controlling the residences of some important officials. Yixin rested in the palace for a night, and was ready to dress the next morning. Wear a good dragon robe, put on the beads, and sit upright on the dragon chair in the Qianqing Palace.
