After the two sides sat down, Li Hongzhang said to Liu Hai: "My nephew has gone too far in blocking the north and south waterways of the Yangtze River this time. I hope my nephew will immediately release the blockade to allow smooth traffic between the north and the south."
Liu Hai smiled after hearing this, and then said: "What the boss said is that as long as the imperial court can give me an explanation, the north and south waterways will be unimpeded immediately."
Li Hongzhang's eyes narrowed after hearing this, but he did not refute Liu Hai, but followed his words and said: "The imperial court has already given the explanation that my nephew asked for."
After Li Hongzhang finished speaking to Liu Hai, he looked at the eunuch behind him who was delivering the order, "Admiral Liu Hai of the Nanyang Navy is here. You should convey the imperial decree to him as soon as possible."
The eunuch listened and took a look, and found that there was no incense table in the cabin. However, when he saw Li Hongzhang's firm eyes, he did not dare to hesitate any more.
So the eunuch took a few steps forward and came to the opposite side of Liu Hai, took out the imperial edict from his back, and held it high.
"The imperial edict has arrived. Admiral Liu Hai of the Nanyang Navy will receive it."
After the eunuch finished speaking, Li Hongzhang looked at Liu Hai. The depth of his eyes made Liu Hai's skin crawl.
Liu Hai naturally understood what the old man meant. He wanted to give the court some face now so that he could step down in the future.
So Liu Hai also stood up, came to the eunuch and knelt on the ground, "Your Majesty, Liu Hai accepts the order."
Li Hongzhang nodded with satisfaction when he saw Liu Hai kneeling down and accepting the order.
When other officers in the conference room saw Liu Hai kneeling on the ground, they also knelt behind Liu Hai.
When the eunuch saw Liu Hai and the important officers kneeling down, he showed a smile of satisfaction, and then opened the imperial edict and said: "The emperor is destined to carry the emperor, and the edict says: Liu Hai, the admiral of the Nanyang Navy, has made outstanding contributions and is diligent in government affairs. Liu Hai is specially awarded the title
, for the bravery of Batulu, I was given a yellow mandarin coat, and was given the title of Waiting, supervising the Yangtze River Navy and the Fujian Navy. I admire this."
After hearing this, Liu Hai quickly said: "My lord, Admiral Liu Hai of the Nanyang Navy has accepted the order."
At this moment, the eunuch breathed a sigh of relief. If Liu Hai didn't accept the order, would he make a big blush? That was a trivial matter. If Liu Hai rebelled, his life would be at risk.
So the eunuch hurriedly delivered the imperial edict to Liu Hai. Was he afraid that he might be too late? Liu Hai regretted it.
Liu Hai took the imperial edict? Then he stood up and gave the imperial edict to Liu Yu, who had been following him.
Finished all this? Liu Hai handed over his hand again and said to Li Hongzhang: "Have you worked hard this time, sir? I wonder what your requirements are when you go south?"
Li Hongzhang didn't hide it. He immediately said: "The court is a little impatient this time. Don't you remember it, nephew? Now that Prince Li Shiduo has been reprimanded by the court and punished? I hope my nephew will forget about this matter."
.”
Since Liu Hai has achieved his goal, he doesn't need to go north to the capital, and his territory has been expanded to a certain extent, so naturally he has no other requirements.
But Liu Hai also knew in his heart that from now on, the honeymoon with the imperial court was over. His actions this time were undoubtedly rebellion. Although the imperial court temporarily suppressed it for the sake of the overall situation, the thorn in his heart could never be removed.
But since Li Hongzhang intervened, Liu Hai just agreed.
"What the boss said is that I am really a little impatient this time. I hope that after you return to Beijing, you can give me more kind words."
Li Hongzhang was finally completely relaxed now. In fact, he had just come to Liu Hai to board the ship alone, and he was worried about what might happen, but fortunately this did not happen.
"Don't worry, my dear nephew, I will definitely make suggestions to the court after I return."
Li Hongzhang's words were not meant to deal with Liu Hai. In the past, the court focused on his Beiyang. Now that he has a more arrogant and domineering Liu Hai, the court will naturally focus most of its attention on Liu Hai. Then his Beiyang
It will definitely reduce the stress.
"My nephew, now that the matter has been resolved, what do you think about the transportation problem of the north and south waterways?"
Liu Hai actually saw that the imperial court had compromised, and there was no need for him to continue to carry on, so he said: "Don't worry, Lao Zhongtang, I will issue a military order soon to release the traffic on the north and south waterways."
Li Hongzhang nodded with satisfaction. This time he went south and was finally able to resolve the matter peacefully.
Seeing that the matter was done, Liu Hai invited Li Hongzhang to Shanghai for a few days.
However, his invitation was rejected by Li Hongzhang, "There are too many things in Zhili and I really can't spare the time. I will wait until one day when I have free time to get together with my nephew."
When Liu Hai saw Li Hongzhang shirk, he didn't force it. After all, he now understood that Li Hongzhang held a high position and had too many things to do.
After the matter was over, Liu Hai personally sent Li Hongzhang to the transport boat and watched Li Hongzhang and the eunuch who delivered the order return to the Dingyuan ship before returning to the conference room.
As soon as Liu Hai entered the conference room, Liu Yu asked beside him: "Master, if we just withdraw our troops like this? Will we miss a great opportunity?"
Liu Yu was actually a little unwilling. If Liu Hai took one step further, he would be able to dominate the south of the Yangtze River. If he agreed to the court's mediation now, all his previous achievements would be wasted.
Liu Hai smiled and shook his head and said: "The time has not come yet, and our strength is still weak. Even if we can dominate Jiangnan, we will be constrained by the great powers. We might as well wait a few more years."
After Liu Hai finished speaking, he ordered the Nanyang Navy to return to Wusongkou base, and at the same time issued an order to open up the north and south waterways.
As soon as Liu Hai returned to Wusongkou, Shanghai, he received a letter from Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang, in which he denounced Liu Hai and ordered Liu Hai to go to Nanjing to meet with him immediately.
Liu Hai held this letter and was silent for a long time, wondering whether he should go to Nanjing.
His uncle has always regarded himself as a loyal minister and good general. If he went there, this uncle would not imprison him and give him to the Qing court, right?
But it would be unjustifiable if we don’t consider family ties. After all, that damn Liu Hai was raised by the Governor of Liangjiang.
Liu Hai was in a dilemma in his study for a long time, and finally decided to go to Nanjing, but he had to be fully prepared when going.
Fortunately, the First Division of the Hunan Army, led by Lu Chun, has moved to the vicinity of Shanghai.
So Liu Hai had already asked the 1st Division to garrison Nanjing, and went to Nanjing with the 1st Division.
By the time Liu Hai's 1st Division with more than 10,000 troops arrived near Nanjing, the city of Nanjing was already under a curfew.
Liu Kun, the governor of Liangjiang, had already known through a telegram that the imperial court and Liu Hai had reached a reconciliation. However, this time Liu Hai appeared at the gate of Nanjing with more than 10,000 elite Hunan troops, which also made him a little frightened. What if Liu Hai suddenly repeated and captured
Nanjing, how did he explain to the court?
At the same time, Liu Kunyi's heart was also full of regret. If he had known that Liu Hai was rebellious, he should not have taken him in and let him fend for himself in the countryside.
After Liu Hai led the 1st Division to the vicinity of Nanjing, he ordered the 1st Division to set up troops at Yuhuatai, and he himself came to the gate of Nanjing with 500 guards.
The green camp in the city was a little surprised when they saw a group of men and horses descending, and each of them was well-equipped, and hurriedly reported to the top.
When the general guarding the city gate got the news, he quickly came to the top of the city and looked down. There were not many people below. The leader was wearing a flower bell on his head. According to his rank, he should be a second-grade military attache.
So he shouted down: "Who is coming down below?"
After hearing this, Liu Hai immediately replied: "I am Liu Hai, the admiral of the Nanyang Navy. I came to Nanjing for a meeting on the order of Mr. Liu, the governor of Liangjiang."
The general above was shocked when he heard Liu Hai's words. It turned out that the man below was the great warlord who had caused turmoil in the world.
So he did not dare to neglect and ordered people to report to the Governor's Mansion of Liangjiang.
After a while, Liu Kunyi's order came from the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion, asking Liu Hai to go into the city to meet him. After receiving the order, the general dared to slowly open the city gate.
When Liu Hai saw the city gate opened, he led his guards into the city. The general guarding the city gate saw Liu Hai leading so many people into the city. Although he wanted to stop Liu Hai, he saw that these people were well-equipped and had weapons in their hands.
Guns, and each one was filled with murderous intent, immediately extinguished the thought in his heart.
Just like that, Liu Hai led his guards all the way to the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion.
When we arrived at the gate of the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion, we saw that the place was heavily guarded. There were hundreds of officers and soldiers patrolling back and forth. It seemed that Liu Hai's actions this time scared the city of Nanjing. Even Liu Hai's uncle Liu Kunyi stepped up his guard.
in case.
Liu Hai dismounted his horse at the gate of the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion and walked in with his guards. The officers and soldiers at the gate dared not let him in, so they rushed over and one or two hundred people blocked him from the door.
Liu Hai was not angry when he saw these people blocking his progress, "I am Liu Hai, the admiral of the Nanyang Navy, who has been ordered to come to meet with the Governor of Liangjiang."
When Liu Hai signed up, the officers and soldiers were also shocked, so they quickly sent someone in to report. Soon a housekeeper came out from inside, drove away the nearby officers and soldiers, took three steps at a time, came to Liu Hai, and knelt down in front of Liu Hai.
Then he handed it to Liu Hai as a gift.
"The young one has met the eldest young master."
Liu Hai didn't know this person, but he seemed to be very familiar with his predecessor, so he pretended to say: "It's really disrespectful that I bother you to come to greet him."
Seeing Liu Hai's polite words, the man who looked like a butler didn't dare to answer the conversation. He could only smile awkwardly and said: "Master, you are so polite. How can a young servant dare to accept the courtesy of the eldest master?"
Then the housekeeper took Liu Hai into the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion, and then led Liu Hai to Liu Kunyi's study.
When we arrived at the door of the study, the butler said from behind: "Master, the young master is here."
There was a coughing sound coming from inside, and then he said: "Let him come in."
The butler then turned around and said to Liu Hai: "The master asked the young master to go in and answer the question."
Liu Hai nodded, lifted the curtain and entered the study.
In the study room, Liu Kunyi was sitting there holding a book. I don't know if he was really reading it or pretending to read it. Anyway, he ignored his bangs. After a while, he pointed to the seat next to him.