Super Dictator

Li Hongzhang's telegram was delivered to the military aircraft department that day. Military Minister Li Hongzao rushed to read it. When he saw that Wei Jichen was shot in the leg and still desperately led his men to break through, and finally made the Japanese dare not pursue them, he couldn't help but burst into laughter and praised loudly. Said: "He is also a true hero and righteous man of China."

Several other military ministers, Weng Tonghe, Sun Yuwen, Xu Yongyi, Prince Gong Yixin, and Prince Qing Yikuang saw that Li Hongzao was so excited, and they all gathered around to watch.

Li Hongzao wiped away the gloom on his face for many days, his lips were trembling a little, and he said excitedly: "Following the great victory at Caohekou, I finally got news of another victory."

Li Hongzao and Weng Tonghe are both leaders of the Qing Dynasty. Li Hongzao is Tongzhi's master and a veteran of the Three Dynasties. Weng Tonghe is Guangxu's master. Both of them can be said to be emperor's masters. At the same time, they are also highly valued by Cixi. These two people can be regarded as having a strong relationship. The main militant faction.

Prince Gong, Prince Qing, Sun Yuwen, and Xu Yongyi can be said to be the advocates of peace. As the army retreated steadily, they became more and more discouraged. They believed that there would be no good results if they continued to fight the Japanese. In the end, they would only This resulted in unstable domestic governance.

Prince Gong's hair was gray and he squinted his eyes and touched his beard. He read the telegram for a long time but couldn't see clearly the words on it. He couldn't help but asked: "Lansun, what kind of good news is it that makes you so upset?"

Li Hongzao still respected this mainstay of the Qing Dynasty and the last smart man in the royal family. He smiled and replied: "Your Majesty, there is a battle report from the Liaodong front. Wei Jichen, together with other armies, annihilated two thousand Japanese slaves from the 3rd Division." There were so many people that the Japanese slave base camp had to remove Yamagata Aritomo, the commander of the First Army, and appoint someone else as its commander. "

The Japanese were so beaten by Wei Jichen that they had to change their commanders on the spot. Two thousand people were killed or wounded. Several of them were excited and looked happy.

Prince Gong secretly thought: "This time the Japanese will definitely sit down and negotiate."

Weng Tonghe thought to himself: "In this way, the rampant offensive momentum of the Japanese will finally be contained, our Qing Dynasty will be protected, and we will be able to regain the lost territory soon."

Just as Weng Tonghe was thinking this, Li Hongzao continued to point to the telegram and said, like a roundworm in his belly: "Wei Jichen reported that the Japanese had suffered heavy losses. He was confident that he could recapture Ximu City and regain our territory in the Qing Dynasty, thus defeating the Japanese." And return."

"Oh, I didn't expect that this young man is always thinking about helping our Qing Dynasty. He just escaped from the encirclement of the Japanese, and before his old wounds healed, he planned another famous attack. He is really a loyal minister of our Qing Dynasty."

Weng Tonghe's favorable impression of Wei Jichen immediately increased by more than ten points. He believed that Wei Jichen was just right for him. Compared with those Qing generals who only retreated and retreated all day long and did not dare to fight again, Wei Jichen was better than them. , It’s simply a difference between cloud and mud.

Prince Gong said with some worry: "Although the Japanese have been newly defeated, Haicheng is between the two bandits from the southeast. We must plan our advance and stop carefully and be cautious in our efforts to avoid falling into the enemy's tricks."

Prince Gong was worried that the first and second armies of Gaiping and Ximucheng would unite to deal with the Haicheng defenders.

Li Hongzao thought for a while and said: "Conquering Ximucheng will help our army reverse the situation in Liaodong. Song Qing and other troops are stationed at Yingkou, which can contain the Japanese pirates. It can also make the Yiketang Abe move from top to bottom to Haicheng and fight with them." Wei Jichen worked together to encircle and suppress them."

Several other military ministers expressed their opinions one after another, either agreeing with Wei Jichen's idea, or fearing that Wei Jichen would steal the chicken but lose the rice.

No one could convince anyone for a while.

Weng Tonghe picked up the telegram and said hurriedly: "In this case, I will send this good news to the emperor now, so that the emperor will be happy, and then we will see what the emperor's opinion is, and how about we make a decision?"

Several military ministers had different opinions, so they had no choice but to do this.

In the Palace of Qianqing, Guangxu was sitting on the dragon chair, reviewing memorials and dealing with government and military affairs. Guangxu read very quickly, trying to find a piece of good news, but unfortunately he couldn't find it until the end.

Guangxu sighed. He was worried about state affairs and felt depressed. The land of his ancestors was about to be lost, and he would become the most unfilial descendant since the founding of the Qing Dynasty.

After twisting his sore shoulders, another smiling face appeared in Guangxu's mind. Usually at this time, his favorite concubine Zhen would appear behind him, pinching his back and waist, trying her best to make him happy.

It's a pity that Concubine Zhen is now locked up by Cixi because of her betrayal and official cases.

Everyone has a love for beauty. To be fair, among Guangxu's concubines, only Concubine Zhen is a little bit pretty. The others are unsightly and miserable. The queen is even more hunched and has a crooked face. No wonder Guangxu is so fond of her. Concubine Zhen never forgets it.

Life is so unfortunate. State affairs, family affairs, everything is in decline. Guangxu has no mood, his heart is heavy, and he is extremely depressed. He lies at his desk and thinks about why the Qing Dynasty has become like this. Before the Sino-Japanese War, it seemed that there was still a little bit of ZTE. It won the Sino-French War, and the country had a rare peace of mind for more than ten years. It vaguely had the momentum of an Asian power. The Beiyang Navy was called the sixth in the world and the first in East Asia by various countries.

Unexpectedly, a Sino-Japanese war would bring everything to naught. The seemingly glorious Qing Dynasty had long been suffering from chronic diseases that were difficult to cure.

Guangxu happened to be depressed, and suddenly a eunuch called Weng Tonghe, the minister of military aircraft, to ask for an audience.

When someone came to whom he could talk, Guangxu without thinking too much, raised his head and spoke immediately, then straightened his body so that he looked more dignified.

The relationship between Weng Tonghe and Guangxu was unusual. In addition to being monarchs and ministers, they also had a teacher-student relationship. Moreover, Weng Tonghe started teaching Guangxu when he was three or four years old. Therefore, Guangxu respected Weng Tonghe very much and saw him walking into the hall. At the door, he stood up and said: "Master!"

Weng Tonghe had a smile on his face. It could be said that he had seen and trained Guangxu since he was a child. Now that he has taken charge of the government, he is still more respectful and affectionate towards him, and he still has great comfort in him.

However, the due etiquette should still be indispensable. Weng Tonghe first bowed to the emperor and his ministers, and then stood up and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, I am here to tell you the good news. Wei Jichen led his army to kill more than 2,000 Japanese at the foot of Ximu City. The people have shaken Yunei and threatened the whole country, forcing the Japanese to change their commanders in front of the battle line and not dare to advance lightly. This is really gratifying and worthy of universal celebration. If this continues, our Qing Dynasty will not be far away from regaining the land of Liaodong. "

Guangxu was feeling sorry for himself here. When he heard the news, he couldn't restrain his joy. He quickly grabbed the telegram from Weng Tonghe's hand and read it carefully several times before putting it down. He said with surprise: "If all the generals of the Qing Dynasty were so brave, If you have a plan, why worry about the Japanese not defeating it?"

"What your Majesty said is true. I never thought that there would be such a person in the Huai Army. He is really a beautiful pearl covered in dust, but it is only in the pocket. Wei Jichen didn't stand out until the Japanese invasion. It can be seen that Li Hongzhang's Huai Army is backward in organization, and usually treats talented people too much." There is an obstacle." As he spoke, Weng Tonghe did not forget to step on Li Hongzhang, saying that talented people in the Huai army would not be promoted.

Under his influence day and night, Guangxu didn't have a very good impression of Li Hongzhang. He frowned and said: "Li Hongzhang has become increasingly unable to do things recently. Zhao Huaiye lost Dalian Bay, Gong Zhaoxuan and Huang Shilin lost Lushun, all of them are bad." The people he values ​​​​are all greedy for life and afraid of death. Wei Jichen, who is skilled in military skills, was just a small sentry officer before fighting the Japanese. He is really dim-sighted. "

Zhao Huaiye, Gong Zhaoyu and other people who were greedy for life and afraid of death, and who ran away when they heard the enemy, were all arrested by the Ministry of Punishment. After torture, they would be questioned. However, the reason why these people dared to escape knowing that they would be questioned was because they knew that as long as they spent a few silver taels, , this capital crime will become a living crime, and if you spend some silver, the living crime will become innocent.

Later facts also proved that these people had a good idea. Huang Shilin was originally scheduled to be executed in prison, but in the end he bribed Rong Lu with 30,000 taels of silver and was released and returned to his original position.

It's no wonder that these generals of the Qing Dynasty dared to run away when they saw something bad happened. Those military regulations written in black and white had long been turned into decorations. The corrupt Qing Dynasty was simply digging its own grave.

As soon as Guangxu finished speaking, Weng Tonghe was secretly happy and continued: "Your Majesty, this Wei Jichen also proposed to counterattack Ximu City and regain the lost territory."

"Oh, he is somewhat sure." Guangxu was very excited when he came and stood up immediately. The Qing army lost cities and territory one after another, and the peace faction gradually gained the upper hand. If they could win a victory to regain the lost territory, those The Zhuhe faction will definitely not be so rampant. There is actually a rumor in Beijing that even if they cede some territory to the Japanese, it will be fine as long as it can end the war.

Weng Tonghe said with a smile: "I observe that Wei Jichen never tells lies. He has won consecutive battles, and the more he fights, the more heroic he becomes. There is no doubt about his talent. Since he said that he can regain Ximu City, he must be absolutely sure, but the sea The armies in the city are not in command of each other, and if their names are not correct, their words will be inconsistent. I am afraid that Wei Jichen will not be able to command the other armies alone. "

"What's so difficult about this? As long as Wei Jichen can regain Ximucheng, there's nothing wrong with having all the troops inside and outside Shanhaiguan under his control." Guangxu was a young man and was rarely happy. In addition, Weng Tonghe was the closest person to him, so he spoke He no longer had his usual composure.

Weng Tonghe was silent in his heart. Wei Jichen was only a small commander and he was young. Even if Guangxu believed in him, others would not believe it. It seemed that the emperor was getting carried away this time.

"Your Majesty, if Wei Jichen wants to counterattack Haicheng, he only needs to control the forces in Haicheng." Weng Tonghe reminded.

Guangxu smiled mockingly and said: "Maybe I haven't heard such exciting news for a long time, and I got a little carried away for a while. Since Wei Jichen is sure to regain Ximu City, I specially promoted him to the rank of admiral and appointed him as military affairs officer." Assistant, control the troops in Haicheng. In addition, we should counterattack Ximu City. Haicheng's troops are slightly insufficient. We will transfer an army from Yingkou to Haicheng and put it under his control. We must defeat Ximu City in one fell swoop."

Assistant Military Affairs Officer, Weng Tonghe was secretly speechless. It seemed that the Emperor valued Wei Jichen very much. Liu Kunyi was now appointed as the Imperial Envoy to supervise the military affairs of the Eastern Expedition.

As for the Military Affairs Assistant, although it was only a temporary position during the war, assisting him in supervising military affairs, it could be said that he was only one level below Liu Kun and on an equal footing with Song Qing and others.

How old is Wei Jichen?

If only Weng Tonghe knew that a few years later, during the reform and reform, Guangxu clearly stipulated that all memorials should be read by Yang Rui, the alternate minister of the cabinet, Liu Guangdi, the alternate chief of the Ministry of Justice, Lin Xu, the alternate minister of the cabinet, and Tan Sitong, the alternate governor of Jiangsu; all edicts should be read in circles; , were drafted by four people, but the original princes, ministers and military aircraft ministers were kicked away and put aside.

With a mere fourth rank, Guangxu was able to do everything he could to command those first and second rank ministers.

The appointment of Wei Jichen as Assistant Military Affairs Officer is really nothing.

When Weng Tonghe saw that the young emperor finally showed a smile that he had not seen for many days, he no longer tried to persuade him, but comforted him and said: "Your Majesty, although Liaodong has lost a large area of ​​territory, the situation has stabilized now. Nie Shicheng and others The people were stabilized on the Dakaoling front line. Wei Jichen also actively counterattacked Ximucheng. Song Qing and others did not have much fighting in Yingkou for the time being. As long as our Hunan army comes out of the border, all the generals will work together to drive the Japanese out of Liaodong. Far."

After Guangxu heard his words, he became confident again. He swept away the decadence just now and felt that Liaodong still had a lot to do and was not in danger as before.

Guangxu is synonymous with impulsiveness and weakness. He does things with passion, and is at a loss when he is slightly frustrated. He has always lived in the shadow of Cixi, and he does not dare to make his own decisions in everything, which makes him very weak.