Li Hongzhang thought for a while, and then said to Prince Gong Yixin: "Your Majesty, the court has no owner now, and the world is in some turmoil. Why don't you step in to take charge and establish a new king to stabilize the world? What do you think, Your Majesty?"
After hearing this, Prince Gong Yixin smiled bitterly, and then said: "I am an old man, and now I have established a new king. I'm afraid Liu Hai will not admit it when he enters the capital. Then I will just waste the lives of others.
It's better to wait until Liu Hai enters Beijing and let him make his own decision."
When Li Hongzhang heard this, he also felt that what he just said was a bit abrupt.
After Prince Gong Yixin finished speaking, he thought for a moment, suddenly stood up, and knelt down in front of Li Hongzhang with a plop.
Li Hongzhang was shocked when he saw this situation, and then he quickly knelt down opposite Prince Gong, "My lord, what are you doing? You really killed me."
When Prince Gong saw Li Hongzhang kneeling down, he quickly stepped forward and knelt down a few steps, forcefully trying to help Li Hongzhang up, but he was already extremely ill and had no strength.
In the end, he could only say: "Master Li, please rise. I have something important to ask of Master Li."
But Li Hongzhang was unwilling to get up. In the end, Prince Gong had no choice but to kneel down and talk to each other.
"Mr. Li, we have been working together for decades. To be honest, although we launched the Westernization Movement, our national strength has not recovered much. Now the Qing Dynasty has reached its most dangerous period. I ask Mr. Li, for the sake of working together for so many years,
Can you help me one more time?"
Li Hongzhang said quickly: "Your Majesty, if you have anything to say, just give me your orders. I will do my best."
"You have also seen the current situation. The traitor Liu Hai entered the capital very quickly. Now that there is no Queen Mother and Emperor, the world will probably fall into Liu Hai's hands."
Li Hongzhang nodded silently after hearing this. In the Qing Dynasty, Liu Hai only had hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers under his command, and there were two to three hundred thousand Japanese soldiers to help him.
I am afraid that no governor in the world can compete with Liu Hai. It seems that Liu Hai will be able to pacify the Qing Dynasty within a year or two at most.
"The Qing Dynasty was won by our ancestors after many battles. I don't want the Qing Dynasty to disappear in my generation, so I implore you to rely on your relationship with Liu Hai and say more kind words to him, that is, to establish a young master to give way to him.
He is in charge of the government and will not let the Qing Dynasty disappear."
After listening, Li Hongzhang analyzed the current situation. If he wanted to temporarily stabilize the Qing Dynasty, Prince Gong's method could be tried.
"Prince Liu Hai has great ambitions. I can't completely guarantee that he will be able to give up his position as the supreme king, but I can assure you that I will do my best to ensure that the country will not be too turbulent."
After Prince Gong listened wholeheartedly, his eyes lit up at first, but then darkened immediately. Although Li Hongzhang's words sounded like a promise to himself on the surface, a closer analysis revealed that Li Hongzhang did not make any promises, just a few polite words.
Now Prince Gong Yixin only felt weak all over, his eyes turned black and he didn't know anything anymore.
Li Hongzhang was shocked when he saw that Prince Gong had fainted on the ground. He quickly stood up and helped him to his seat, and then called the servants of Prince Gong's palace.
As a result, Prince Gong's palace immediately fell into chaos. You must know that Prince Gong Yixin is the pillar of the entire palace. If he is gone, these people will have no confidence.
Soon Prince Gong's palace sent several waves of minions to summon all the famous doctors in Beijing to the palace.
But human power could not save the day. At midnight that night, Prince Gong, who had served the Qing Dynasty for more than half a century, breathed his last.
The news of Prince Gong's death was immediately discovered by Liu Hai's spies in the capital, and a telegram was soon sent to Liu Hai.
At this time, Hou Liu Hai led his troops to a place more than 100 miles away from the capital. After receiving the news of Prince Gong's death, Liu Hai jumped for joy.
To be honest, Prince Gong is the last capable person in the Qing Dynasty. As long as Prince Gong is here, the Qing Dynasty can survive.
Now that this man has passed away, the blow to the Qing Dynasty can be imagined.
At this time, Li Hongzhang, who was in Beijing, was thinking about what he should do next in his mansion.
Through the various intelligences he obtained, Li Hongzhang judged that Liu Hai's army would soon arrive in Beijing. When it came to defending the capital, Li Hongzhang simply did not have that extravagant hope.
Because the soldiers in the city have been transferred to the south by Ronglu to resist Liu Hai's land attack.
The remaining part was also taken away by the Empress Dowager Cixi and fled westward. Now the whereabouts of the Empress Dowager Cixi are unknown. Those soldiers may have scattered to various places and will never be reunited.
Therefore, the current city of Beijing can be said to be empty and undefended.
In the end, Li Hongzhang analyzed the pros and cons and felt that it was better to greet Liu Hai in person. With his status, Liu Hai would not mess around when he entered the capital. Then he would slowly discuss with him the appointment of a new king.
Li Hongzhang was also a happy man. After he made up his mind, he immediately put aside the pain of losing his daughter, ordered his guards to prepare a carriage, and he left the capital with his people and headed straight for Liu Hai's army.
Besides, after Liu Hai received the news of Prince Gong's death, he immediately urged the army to advance quickly. He wanted to control the capital as quickly as possible, and then establish a new king in his own name so as to command the world.
As a result, the army suddenly stopped more than 20 miles away from Beijing. Liu Hai became a little annoyed when he discovered this situation.
"What's going on? Why isn't the army moving forward?"
Liu Hai's bodyguard, Liu San, heard Liu Hai's words and quickly sent someone to the front to check.
After a while, someone came back to report: "Reporting to the commander-in-chief, the Minister of Military Aircraft Li Hongzhang led a convoy to block the road, so the army stopped advancing."
Liu Hai frowned when he heard this. Due to the suicide of Zhang Peilun and his wife, Liu Hai now felt that he and Li Hongzhang were not enemies, and they were not far behind.
Now that Li Hongzhang is leading his convoy to block the advance of his own army, it goes without saying that he is here to find trouble.
However, Li Hongzhang, Zeng Guoquan and Liu Kunyi are old acquaintances, and I also have some respect for Li Hongzhang. After all, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, it was only Li Hongzhang who was able to continue the Qing Dynasty for such a long time.
Therefore, Liu Hai temporarily suppressed his anger and said to the guardian on the side: "You guys go with me, let's see what this old man has to say."
The reason Liu Hai had so many guards following him was because he was afraid that Li Hongzhang would kill him.
Liu Hai's self-determination is now very close to the peak. If the other party takes advantage of him and loses his life now, it would be really unfair.
Liu San received Liu Hai's order and immediately summoned two to three hundred personal guards around him, and took Liu Hai's personal camp with four to five hundred people. Together, these people protected Liu Hai and marched toward the front of the army in a mighty manner.
At this time, Li Hongzhang was sitting in the car observing the situation of Liu Hai's troops.
I saw Liu Hai's former troops standing there with their heads held high, like wood, without any movement, and they were well-equipped and neat.
Not to mention its combat effectiveness, just by looking like this, it was stronger than any army he had ever seen.
Now Li Hongzhang is somewhat impressed. No wonder Liu Hai's troops are able to chase south and north. They have been invincible in the past few years, beating the Japanese people to submission and beating the Ji Li people to the point of ceding territory and paying compensation. It seems that they are really capable.
Just as Li Hongzhang was sighing, suddenly there was a burst of smoke and dust behind the army, and then hundreds of cavalry came, quickly surrounding Li Hongzhang and the others.
After that, there were one or two hundred personal guards escorting a young man here.
Li Hongzhang looked up and saw that it was indeed Liu Hai, the famous Governor of Liangjiang.
But Li Hongzhang didn't get out of the car when he saw Liu Hai. He wanted to see what this junior could do to him, an old man.
Liu Hai rode up to Li Hongzhang and saw Li Hongzhang sitting in the car without making any movement.
Liu Hai now had a different identity. When he saw Li Hongzhang, he didn't get out of the car and saluted him first, and he felt a little unhappy.
Zhao Jiahua, who was next to Liu Hai, also saw Liu Hai's anger, so he quickly persuaded him: "Commander, Li Hongzhang, Lord Zeng Guoquan, Liu Kun and Lord Liu are all close friends and can be regarded as your elders. Sir, please come forward and do it."
present."
After hearing this, Liu Hai endured it, nodded angrily, turned over and dismounted, walked a few steps to Li Hongzhang's car, clasped his fists and handed over his hands.
"Uncle Li, you haven't seen me for a long time. How are you doing?"
Li Hongzhang seemed to have just discovered bangs at this time. He was startled at first, and then hurriedly got out of the car with the help of the servant before returning the greeting: "I am old, and I was a little confused just now. Please don't take offense, Mr. Liu."
Although Liu Hai was pretending to see Li Hongzhang, seeing him get out of the car was a step down for him, so he didn't take it to heart.
"What did your uncle say? I am a junior, and it is normal for me to come to see my uncle."
Next, Liu Hai exchanged a few polite words with Li Hongzhang before turning the topic to business.
"I heard that my uncle is a guard in the capital. He is not in charge of the city now. What do you want to do before joining the army?"
Li Hongzhang smiled and then said: "The Queen Mother and the Emperor were on a tour to the west. The news I got was that they encountered rebels on the way, so their life and death are unknown. The world is unstable now, so I came here specially to welcome Mr. Liu to the capital to preside over important events."
When Liu Hai heard what he said immediately, a smile appeared on his lips, but he still said modestly: "I am a junior, how can I shoulder such an important responsibility? I think it is better for Mr. Li to preside over the matters in the court."
Li Hongzhang could only complain in his heart now that he had brought a large force to the capital for dozens of miles, and he said that he could not shoulder the heavy responsibility. Everyone was sensible, so there was no need to pretend like this.
But now Li Hongzhang can only continue acting with Liu Hai.
"Nephew Liu Xian is too modest. Now you are the only one in the world who can control me. You don't have to refuse anymore."
After listening to Li Hongzhang's words, Liu Hai smiled so much that his eyes narrowed, "Since Uncle Li said so, I will do my part, nephew."