After Xu Geng left, Emperor Guangxu was pacing anxiously in the main hall again. Although Emperor Guangxu had a weak character, he was very impatient.
Now that Emperor Guangxu received Liu Hai's memorial, he immediately felt that the matter was of great importance and could not wait any longer, so he immediately ordered the young eunuch to tell his teacher Weng Tonghe.
Weng Tonghe was a man who served under four emperors and was the imperial tutor for two generations. He had great prestige in the court and was now highly used by Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu.
After Weng Tonghe arrived at Yangxin Hall, he first saluted Emperor Guangxu, and then stood aside, waiting for Emperor Guangxu's questions.
"Master Weng, there is a memorial here, take a look."
After Emperor Guangxu finished speaking, he handed the memorial to the little eunuch beside him.
The young eunuch received the memorial, went down the imperial steps, came to Weng Tonghe, and handed the memorial to him.
After receiving the memorial, Weng Tonghe looked at it carefully, then smiled and said to Emperor Guangxu: "Your Majesty, don't worry, this memorial is a bit exaggerated."
Emperor Guangxu was a little puzzled after hearing this, "What does the teacher mean by this? It seems to me that the Japanese emperor is scrimping on food and clothing and developing a navy, which is a huge danger to the Qing Dynasty."
Weng Tonghe smiled slightly, and then answered Emperor Guangxu: "Your Majesty, Japan is a small country and the people are weak. He is trying his best to develop the navy, so how much military expenditure can he have?"
When Weng Tonghe said this, he looked up at Emperor Guangxu and saw that Emperor Guangxu was deep in thought, so he continued: "Our Qing Dynasty's annual military expenditure in Nanyang and Beiyang is more than 4 million taels, and most of this silver is Give it to the Beiyang Navy, and with this money, Li Hongzhang can customize two ironclad ships every year, so what is there to worry about?"
Emperor Guangxu couldn't help but nod when he heard this. He didn't know much about the situation in Japan. He only knew that most of the 4 million taels of silver every year were given to the Beiyang Navy. The development of the Nanyang Navy in recent years was all based on local resources. Donate.
Thinking of this, Emperor Guangxu let out a long sigh of relief, and then asked with a smile: "Teacher, if this is the case, then what is the purpose of this bangs memorial?"
"In my opinion, this is just asking for money. Over the years, the imperial court has been fully developing the Beiyang Navy, but has been a little neglectful of the Nanyang Navy. So they rely on donations from wealthy businessmen in the Liangjiang area for funding. I'm afraid this bangs can't support it. Already."
Emperor Guangxu nodded after hearing this and whispered a few words to an eunuch next to him.
The eunuch quietly retreated, and after a while he brought a stack of documents to Emperor Guangxu.
Emperor Guangxu opened the document, read it carefully, and then he laughed out loud: "What the teacher said is indeed true. The warships owned by the Nanyang Navy are no less than those of the Beiyang Navy. Such a large fleet will be replaced every year. The money that needs to be maintained has gone to the sea. He can't bear to ask the court for money? This is normal."
When Weng Tonghe heard that Emperor Guangxu agreed with his opinion, he couldn't help but stroke his beard proudly, feeling proud that he could see through Liu Hai's thoughts.
After Emperor Guangxu felt relieved, he asked Weng Tonghe: "How should we respond to the teacher's opinion next?"
Weng Tonghe thought for a moment, and then a cunning light flashed in his eyes, "Long live, there are only two elites in the world today? One is Li Hongzhang's Huai Army, and the other is the Hunan Army controlled by Liu Hai. The Queen Mother and Li Hongzhang are not as good as the Emperor Shi En and Liu Hai can also compete with Li Hongzhang."
After hearing Weng Tonghe's words, Emperor Guangxu's eyes shone with excitement. He had been living in the shadow of Cixi for these years. If he could get rid of Cixi, he would be relieved.
"In this case, I will issue a decree to allocate some more silver to the Nanyang Navy."
"Your Majesty, you don't have to be so hasty. It's not that time yet. It won't be too late for your Majesty to issue an order after a while." That means that when Liu Hai can't hold it anymore, he begs before the emperor, and Emperor Guangxu will show mercy again, and the effect will be Bigger.
Emperor Guangxu nodded and said nothing more. His mind was now focused on fighting for connections in the court, and then posing the shadow that Empress Dowager Cixi had brought to him.
In this way, Liu Hai's memorial was ignored by the two largest factions in the imperial court, the Imperial Party and the Hou Party.
Liu Hai waited in Shanghai for nearly a month and still did not receive a reply from the imperial court, which immediately made him feel cold.
It seemed that the imperial court could not count on him, so he might as well go it alone. When the imperial court fell into ruin that year, it was the time for him to rise as a hero.
Liu Hai has calmed down, but the court is not so calm. Liu Hai's memorial completely reminded Prince Li Shiduo that in the south of the Yangtze River, far away from the emperor, there was a warlord called Liu Hai.
After Prince Li Shiduo returned to his palace, he summoned his staff and analyzed the two current military forces of the Qing Dynasty, and then came to the conclusion that Li Hongzhang was old and there would be no successor after his death. His Hunan Army would soon will be disintegrated.
But Liu Hai is different. He is in his prime, and he has been authorized by Zeng Guoquan, the previous commander of the Hunan Army, so now the Hunan Army is firmly in his hands. It may not be that easy for him to hand over military power, so in the future If there is going to be turmoil in the imperial court, it will probably start with Liu Hai.
After Prince Li Shiduo came to this conclusion, he immediately had trouble sleeping and eating. The Aixinjueluo family had ruled the Central Plains for so many years and had never trusted the Han people.
The imperial court is now weak, and the Han people are rising on a large scale, especially Liu Hai, a man with military power. If he does not nip it in the bud quickly, the imperial court will act based on his face.
But for Liu Hai to hold military power, the imperial court was very cautious. Once Liu Hai was forced to do so, he would immediately rebel. By then, the financial and taxation center of Jiangnan would be in chaos, and the scene of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would reappear.
At this time, Shen Zhuo, an aide of Prince Li Shiduo, gave him an idea, "Master, since we can't do it hard, we might as well do it softly."
Prince Li Shiduo became interested when he heard this: "What's the plan?"
"Liu Hai is a young man who must be focused on fame. It is better for the court to appoint him a high-ranking official, such as the Minister of the Navy or the Under-Secretary of the Navy, let him take office in the capital, separate him from the army, and then the court will disperse and disintegrate him with high-ranking officials and generous salaries. My troops, in just a few years, the Hunan Army will disappear."
After Prince Li Shiduo heard this, he felt enlightened. He thought hard but could not solve it. It was so simple that it could be solved.
"Okay, that's a good plan. I will reward you for your merits this time."
After Prince Li Shiduo finished speaking, he said to the steward next to him: "Mr. Shen, you have made a great contribution this time. His monthly money will be doubled, and at the same time, he will be rewarded with 500 taels of silver, a house, and three maids. "
Shen Zhuo was also very satisfied when he heard this. He made so much money just by saying something casually, which is something that ordinary people can't even imagine in their lifetime.
Prince Li Shiduo wrote the memorial that night and sent it to Cixi the next day.
After receiving the memorial from Prince Li Shiduo, Empress Dowager Cixi also fell into deep thought. Prince Li Shiduo's considerations about the future were not unreasonable. When she was around, Cixi was still confident that she could temporarily suppress her bangs.
But considering that he is already old, if one day he is gone, who in the court can make Liu Hai bow his head and obey orders.
Now while I can still speak, I should get rid of the hidden danger of my bangs as soon as possible. This will also be a good thing for the Qing Dynasty in the future.
So the Empress Dowager Cixi immediately approved the memorial of Prince Li Shiduo, and at the same time issued an edict, conferring Liu Hai the title of first-class marquis, fighting bravely in Batulu, adding a yellow mandarin jacket, making Liu Hai the deputy minister of the navy, and ordered Liu Hai to serve within one month. Entered Beijing to take up his post.
The memorial from Empress Dowager Cixi was quickly sent out.
And the current imperial court is completely a stopper. Anyone who is interested can find out any information.
Li Hongzhang in Tianjin was the fastest official to get the news.
When he got the news that the imperial court wanted to make Liu Hai the deputy secretary of the Navy and transfer him to the capital, he was shocked. Then he felt sweating all over his body. This frightened him greatly.
Although Li Hongzhang had never met Liu Hai, based on Liu Hai's behavior over the years, he knew that he would never follow orders and would never leave his territory.
Li Hongzhang began to worry that if Liu Hai was forced to rebel this time, the country would be in turmoil. At that time, foreigners would be able to take advantage of it. In the end, the Qing Dynasty might become the same as those countries occupied by foreigners. their slaves.
Thinking of this, Li Hongzhang felt trembling all over. Finally, he decided that once something like this happened, he could only fight for his life and try to turn the tide.
Li Hongzhang immediately ordered the entire Beiyang Navy to assemble, load more coal, prepare ammunition, and then renovate the warships to be ready for any eventuality.
In addition to the Beiyang Navy, Li Hongzhang also ordered the Huai Army under his command to enter a state of alert. All soldiers were not allowed to leave the camp and were subject to his orders at any time.
Li Hongzhang's move immediately caused a burst of tension around the capital, especially the Empress Dowager Cixi, who felt numb after learning that Li Hongzhang had begun to mobilize troops and dispatch generals.
In order to understand the situation, Empress Dowager Cixi sent three telegrams to Li Hongzhang within one day, asking him to explain why he needed to mobilize troops to strengthen security.
At the same time, in order to prevent unexpected events, the Empress Dowager Cixi ordered her confidant Ronglu to take full charge of the military forces near the capital and strengthen vigilance to prevent unexpected events.
After Li Hongzhang received the telegram from the Empress Dowager Cixi, he did not reply. He knew that this would not alleviate the suspicion in the Empress Dowager Cixi's heart. Only by going to the palace himself could the Empress Dowager Cixi relax her mind.
Therefore, after Li Hongzhang arranged his army, Li Hongzhang immediately took a train to the capital.
As soon as Li Hongzhang got off the train at the Beijing Railway Station, military minister Erhebu personally took him to the palace.
It seems that the Military Aircraft Department is also aware of Li Hongzhang's actions, but since Li Hongzhang was able to come to the capital alone, it also shows that he has no objection.