Master Yuan, start!

Why is Five called a nail? Just look at the title and it will be clear.

6 Bian Bao was the first juren who donated money to study, but he served as the Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang and concurrently held six major positions: Governor of Fujian, General of Fuzhou, Governor of Fujian Land, Fujian Salt Commissioner, and Fujian Education Commissioner.

Known as the "Governor of Six Seals"

Even Zeng and Li have never had such an honor. Bian Baodi was able to receive such treatment not because of his strength, but because of the situation.

Therefore, as long as the Qing court loses its dignity, Fujian and Zhejiang will definitely be coveted by Zeng and Li.

: Zhejiang is too close to Jiangning, and it is estimated that it will be gradually eroded by the Hunan faction entrenched in the two rivers.

Yuefei? Jun 9163101.

However, if Xiang and Huai can be persuaded to fight for Fujian, the pressure on Yuan Shikai will be greatly reduced.

Yuan Xiangcheng squinted his eyes and planned what he imagined China's situation would be like in the next ten years.

After entering the capital, he could no longer allow Guangxu to be the sole emperor. If he did so, Guangxu would probably turn around and deal with him first.

Which emperor can sleep peacefully with a huge army at his side?

But if Yuan Xiangcheng were to be Guangxu's golden thug, he would not be very happy about it.

Although Yuan Shikai went south in the name of attacking Empress Dowager Cixi and serving the emperor, he just wanted to gain a piece of fertile land for his own development, rather than helping Guangxu unify China.

This kind of thing should be done in your own name.

Moreover, even if he helped Guangxu suppress several governors in the southeast, the ones who came up would not be his own people. Instead, they would owe Guangxu a favor.

If this is the case, it would be better to let the Xiang and Huai factions control the southeast, so that Yuan Shikai can take the opportunity to cultivate his internal strength and develop modern industry and agriculture.

After all, without a sufficient industrial base, the Wehrmacht was a "disposable army" that could not produce large-caliber artillery or high-intensity explosives.

The reason they were able to fight all the way from the Yalu River to Shanhaiguan was entirely due to their tactical cleverness, the weakness of the Qing army, and the nominal call of Emperor Guangxu.

So after the King's support, what needed to be done was to weaken Guangxu's supremacy, and he was ready.

"Don't worry, Mingye. Five years, give me another five years." Yuan Xiangcheng gazed westward with his bald head. "Five years from now, I want to see no one in this great China wearing a braid!"

But the scene in the capital at this moment is quite different.

...

"The Zhili Governor Rong was killed, and Yuan Xiangcheng's army is unstoppable!"

After saying this…: Suddenly, several deserting soldiers who had come running overnight fell off their horses, but no one helped them at the first time.

Because they were all shocked by the news.

Didn't they block Yuan Shikai's advance in Zunhua a few days ago? How did he suddenly die?

In just a few hours, the capital was in complete chaos.

Especially for the officials who were previously loyal to Cixi, it was easy for the people to deal with them. They just needed to take out the national defense flag and the flag of Governor Yuan from their homes.

But the officials can’t do that. Without a proper reason, they can’t explain themselves to Governor Yuan!

Those who could run had already fled to the countryside, carrying large and small bags and rushing out with their servants.

Forbidden City, inside the Qianqing Palace.

Cixi's originally well-maintained black hair gradually turned gray in the past few months, showing how much she was involved in state affairs.

But even so, the situation seems to be irreversible.

Even at today's court meeting of important ministers, several ministers claimed to be ill and did not attend.

"What do the British say?" Cixi wiped her tears and asked, "Can they mediate?"

Cixi once again wanted to ask foreigners for help. After all, things had come to this point. Apart from foreigners, who else could stop Yuan Shikai?

"My Lord, the foreigners are asking a high price," Yi Lianshi said after contacting the British. "They want to station troops in the capital and build a railway from Tianjin directly to Beijing."

"How can this be possible?" Grand Councilor Sun Yuying jumped up. "Wouldn't it mean that the foreigners could just march straight into the capital after disembarking in Tianjin?"

"Not to mention the troops stationed in the capital, Your Majesty, this is a serious matter and you cannot agree to it lightly!" Zai Yi advised, he still had a little bit of rationality.

After all, the current emperor is his son.

"Old Buddha," Zai Yi asked tentatively, "why don't we go on a southern tour?"

Sun Yuying rolled her eyes at Zai Yi. Even at this time, he was still trying to gain the upper hand with words. If he wanted to flee south, then he could flee south.

What the hell is patrolling?

Cixi seemed to be touched as well. She did not want to give up her current power and position, nor did she want to stay in the Forbidden City and wait for death.

"Prince Qing," Cixi called out. "What's the matter with you?"

"Less than 3000," Yi Liang turned around and replied, "Old Buddha, if you plan to leave the city, you'd better hurry up."

It seemed as if Cixi was pointing at Zai Yi with trembling hands, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably, and it was unclear whether it was real or fake.

3 "Zai Yi, go pack up, let's set off quickly."

After the Fifth Empress Dowager gave the order, the news could no longer be concealed. Not only the capital, but even the Forbidden City was in chaos.

The palace maids and eunuchs came and went, not looking at each other, and wandered around in the huge Forbidden City, all trying to get out of the palace as soon as possible.

The young eunuch who was in charge of the cultural relics in the Qianqing Palace went against the flow of people and hurriedly found Li Lianying.

"Eunuch Li, something terrible has happened!"

"What's wrong?" Li Lianying hurriedly packed something.

"Eunuch Li, four pieces of calligraphy and paintings with Emperor Qianlong's seal have been lost from the East Warm Pavilion!"

"What, 10 pieces?!" Li Lianying's hands kept moving, wrapping them with layer after layer of oil paper.

The young eunuch was very anxious, thinking that he had not explained it clearly: "Oh, it's not 10, it's 4!"

"What? 14?"

Li Lianying's hands moved faster!

The young eunuch was about to cry: "Oh, what are these, Eunuch Li? They are just 4 pieces."

"What? Ninety-four pieces?!" Li Lianying finally finished packing and asked in surprise.

Immediately, he pushed a packaged paper box to the young eunuch.

"Xiao Yingzi, take this and remember this. If Governor Yuan asks about it in the future, it means we lost 94 items!"

Chapter 149 Lord Yuan personally leads the army to Beijing!

This night was a frenzied one. No one paid attention to the curfew in Beijing. Lanterns were hung high along the streets and pedestrians were hurrying along.

Those who wanted to escape would do whatever it took to pawn everything in their homes for gold, silver, and other treasures, and then exchange them for banknotes, which they would then keep in their pockets.

Those who didn't want to escape couldn't suppress their greed when they saw the streets full of people holding treasures.

Stealing, robbery, murder, and looting.

All order no longer existed at this time, and the Infantry Commander's Office had lost its former solemnity and majesty, and the foreman was worried.

Their boss, Ronglu, the Governor-General of Zhili and the Commander-in-Chief of the Nine Gates, has died, and now there is no one to protect them.

When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. Those who had close ties with Ronglu knew that they could not escape the liquidation of the National Defense Army, so they killed people in the city, robbed money and property, and then fled the city.

Some people who had no close relationship with Ronglu in the past thought of organizing the yamen runners in the chaos to suppress the increasingly chaotic situation, so that they could make a pledge of allegiance to Governor Yuan in the future.

But more of them were just trying to make a quick buck, and took advantage of the official title given by the court to extort money from merchants.

However, there are still decent people in the capital. A group of people, led by private escort agencies and gangs, have taken the initiative to gather together and act as maintainers of temporary order.

The important officials who were adopting children at home due to illness also mobilized their servants to maintain public order in the neighborhoods and alleys.

As for the Forbidden City and the six ministries, which had long lost their owners, important officials such as Weng Tong, Li Hongzao, Prince Li Shiduo, Pan Zuyin, Xu Gengshen, and Sun Jianai joined forces to mobilize a troop from the Infantry Commander-in-Chief's Office to defend them.

In short, thanks to the joint efforts of various forces, the situation in Beijing did not get worse.

Cixi and her entourage ignored the tragic situation in the capital behind them and ran all the way to Wei County, which is at the junction of Shanxi and Zhili.

Prepare to go south from Taiyuan and then transfer to Xi'an.

As for the next step, Cixi herself said, "Let's take it one step at a time."

Fortunately, a considerable part of the inland area was still relatively closed and backward, and people still had awe of the imperial power. Cixi traveled with several thousand guards and did not encounter any danger along the way.

The Hunan Army, which was originally going to besiege the National Defense Army according to Ronglu's order, decisively fled because of Ronglu's death. They quickly evacuated the open space between the capital and Shanhaiguan, and rushed towards Shandong for their life.

The National Defense Army also marched towards the capital while gathering the defeated soldiers along the way.

With a National Defense Army strength of less than 4 and 3 surrendered soldiers from the Jiashen era, the 5000 White Tiger Regiment advanced with great momentum.

The 2 Zhili trained troops and 1 Zhili Green Camp troops stationed in Baodi under Ronglu's order surrendered immediately upon seeing the flag.

After assigning several thousand people to resettle and reorganize tens of thousands of surrendered soldiers, Yuan Shikai headed west with peace of mind.

If it were before, Yuan Shikai would probably still be worried about the Qing army surrendering and then rebelling again.

But now the capital area has been cleared, and all the influential members of the Hou Party have fled. Even if there are still small anti-Yuan armed forces, they are just a minor threat and are not worth sending a large army to encircle and suppress.

Absorb when necessary, dismiss when necessary, and disrupt and reorganize when necessary.

The National Defense Force has not yet fully expanded its operations, and will face a large shortage of troops for a considerable period of time in the foreseeable future.

Therefore, it is necessary to establish a relatively modern police force. These surrendered soldiers have at least been on the battlefield. It may be possible to reuse some of the old, weak, sick, disabled, and cunning ones by eliminating them.

In the future, maintaining public security in the capital area will temporarily depend on this group of people.

In just a few hours, the vanguard of the National Defense Army, carrying flags, arrived in front of Chaoyang Gate.

As the sky gradually brightened, the situation in the capital gradually stabilized, and officials of all ranks popped their heads out of their mansions.

After visiting each other, they brought their friends and gathered in front of Chaoyang Gate, ready to welcome Yuan Shikai, who was about to purge the emperor's court.

The Shuntian Times, which had been taken over by Ronglu as the official newspaper, had long since seen the situation clearly. They called out the editor who had been hiding in the city and printed thousands of copies of the newspaper overnight. The front-page headline was:

"Lord Yuan has led the army to the capital to support the king!"

Many people were waiting in front of Chaoyang Gate, holding newspapers.

A few months ago, Yuan Xiangcheng was like a stray dog, killing people and trying to escape from here overnight.

Now, Governor Yuan has finally come to Beijing again!

Yuan Shikai and the flags of the National Defense Army were approaching step by step. More and more officials and civilians gathered at the gate, and many of them had shining eyes.