Super Dictator

In the Governor's Mansion of Zhili, Tianjin, Li Hongzhang, the Minister of Beiyang, and Wang Wenshao, the Assistant Minister of Beiyang Affairs, were having a lively chat. Wang Wenshao was originally the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, but after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, the Qing government called Tianjin the gateway to the capital and summoned him to the imperial court. At the beginning of this year, he was appointed as the Assistant Minister of Beiyang Affairs. Of course, what he said openly, but secretly, actually showed that the Qing court no longer trusted Li Hongzhang very much and sent Wang Wenshao to contain him. Not long after Wang Wenshao came to Tianjin, Li Hongzhang hosted a banquet today. In addition to some of Li Hongzhang's staff, there were also some people brought by Wang Wenshao. Li Hongzhang raised his wine glass with a smile on his face and said loudly: "Kui Shi, I am busy with military affairs. I only have time to entertain you today. I hope you will forgive me." Wang Wenshao also smiled back and said: "Master Zhongtang, where are you? By the way, affairs in Beiyang are very busy. I have seen this, and I would like to ask Master Zhongtang not to be polite. In the future, I will hand over some insignificant matters to you. In this case, wouldn’t Zhongtang be able to spare more time for supervision? Big things." Li Hongzhang squinted his eyes and put down his wine glass, and sighed: "I don't want to worry about these troublesome things. Unfortunately, there are some things that I can't do except for me. Take the counterattack on Ximu City as an example. Liu Kunyi is still on the way. Chi We haven't arrived at Shanhaiguan yet, and only our Huai army is still resisting on the front line. Not only is it resisting, but it is also planning a counterattack. This is the greatest blessing since the war started. If I don't take command personally, how can the soldiers on the front line do so?" Wang Wenshao said silently. , but secretly blamed the imperial court for what kind of job he was given. Seizing power from Li Hongzhang was tantamount to snatching food from the tiger's mouth. It was not easy. If he failed, he would have to go back in despair. Wang Wenshao lowered his head and said nothing, but Li Hongzhang pursued him fiercely, and continued to sigh: "Now the situation in Liaodong is corrupt, and the frontier army and other armies are sluggish. Only my Huai army has won a few times. For example, Wei Jichen, now even The Japanese always walked with their heads down when they saw him. When they heard that he was going to counterattack Ximu City, they all stayed in the city in fear and no longer dared to attack lightly. I believe that even if the Hunan army comes out of the border, they will not You must have achieved such great results." Wang Wenshao could only agree: "What Master Zhongtang said is true. Among all the armies, Wei Jichen was the only one who fought brilliantly." Wang Wenshao called it a compliment, but it was actually a disparagement, mocking Wei Jichen as the only one in the Huai army. But if you use it well, everyone else will be a loser. For a while, at the banquet, there were constant verbal exchanges between Li Hongzhang and Wang Wenshao. From the outside, they seemed to be having a good time over wine, and one could see the hidden meaning in their words. The two of them were matched in chess, and they were excited to talk. However, Sheng Xuanhuai, the supervisor of the Tianjin Telegraph Bureau, hurriedly walked in from the door. Sheng Xuanhuai didn't even say hello to the others, but walked straight to Li Hongzhang. Seeing his panicked steps and pale face, Li Hongzhang couldn't help but asked first, "Xingsun, why are you so panicked?" "Zhongtang, something bad happened. Wei Jichen, the assistant military affairs officer of Liaodong, was assassinated by the Japanese and died unfortunately." Sheng Xuanhuai was anxious. said anxiously. "What!" Li Hongzhang stood up in shock, no longer chatting and laughing like before. The entire banquet also became extremely quiet. The staff who were making a lot of noise just now were all stunned when they heard the news. The atmosphere of the banquet took a turn for the worse due to the news of Wei Jichen's death. "When did it happen?" Li Hongzhang calmed down and asked repeatedly. "It happened last night. The matter has been confirmed without a doubt. Ma Jinxu, Jiang Xiyi, Nie Guilin and others jointly reported it." Sheng Xuanhuai said with a sigh. Seeing that Li Hongzhang was in a daze, Zhang Peilun quickly made a move and secretly ordered his servants to move away from the banquet. Although Wang Wenshao and Li Hongzhang were competing for power, this important matter now went beyond the fight between the two and related to the overall situation of Liaodong. He was also hesitant in his heart. "The Japanese actually did such a despicable thing. This shows that they are really afraid of Wei Jichen's counterattack. They are willing to be inferior and feel ashamed that they resort to such despicable methods. We must expose to the world that the Japanese are cowardly and afraid of me." The Qing army is already here." Wang Wenshao rolled his eyes and said quickly. After all, Li Hongzhang was used to strong winds and waves. After the initial shock, he immediately recovered and carefully considered the impact of Wei Jichen's death. There is no doubt that it will definitely seriously affect the morale of the frontline sergeants. However, now that the matter has come to this, we can only do our best to weaken the impact. Wang Wenshao's suggestion does have some truth to it. "Send a note to all countries, strongly condemning this despicable assassination method of the Japanese, and inform the officers and soldiers of the three armies, so that all the armies share the same hatred of the enemy, and understand that the Japanese will also be afraid, and the Japanese will also be timid. I will make the Japanese lose face this time." Li Hongzhang turned around. He gritted his teeth and said to Sheng Xuanhuai. Li Hongzhang was dreaming of further promotion after regaining Ximu City, but unfortunately he only achieved half of it, but he was awakened by this news. You can imagine the anger in his heart. Li Hongzhang just talked about how some Japanese were afraid of Wei Jichen, and how they went from being brave at the beginning to being timid now. This naturally cannot change the overall situation, but it can still somewhat save the impact of Wei Jichen's death. Hiroshima, Japan's wartime headquarters. Youpeng from Shan County took a telegram and hurried to Mu Ren's temporary palace with a happy face. As he walked to the door, an attendant stopped him and said: "Your Majesty has been working hard all day and has just laid down to rest. Mr. Shanxian, if there is nothing important, please come back tomorrow morning and don't disturb me." Youpeng from Shanxian looked impatient. He waved his hand and said: "This is great news. Your Majesty will be extremely happy when he hears it. Go and report it quickly." The attendant hesitated, but seeing Youpeng's face of joy and impatience in Shanxian County, he had no choice but to set off. .

In the palace, Mu Ren's concubine Yoshiko Yoshiko rested her head on his chest, with a trace of dissatisfaction on her face. Although she had resentment in her heart, she did not dare to show it. She just said sideways: "Your Majesty , Why are you not very interested tonight?" Mu Ren glanced at the dissatisfied concubine, smiled, and said awkwardly: "I happened to have used up the powerful Vajra pills sent by the inner palace, so this is what I have to do tonight." When Yoshiko Mitsuko heard this, he quickly opened the bedside table, took out a few red pills from it, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, I have already prepared it." Mu Ren's eyes lit up, and he immediately took one, and after a while he still took it. Can't afford any effort. Yoshiko turned aside helplessly and thought in his heart: His Majesty is still old. Compared with the attendants, he is in the sky and on the earth. Mu Ren pretended to be concerned about the country and the people, and concealed it: "Now the situation in Liaodong has changed. I am very anxious and really have no other thoughts." Mitsuko Yoshiko had no choice but to follow his words and asked: "Your Majesty, the Empire Hasn't the army already occupied most of Liaodong in the Qing Dynasty? Will there be any new changes? "Mu Ren sat up straight, leaned on the bed, put on a piece of underwear, and said slowly: "It's not that Wei Jichen. , he actually gathered more than ten thousand Qing troops in an attempt to counterattack the Ximu City that the imperial army had just occupied. Once he gets his hands on it, it will have a great impact on the morale of the frontline soldiers." "Wei Jichen is the one who fabricated facts and slandered His Majesty. The famous Wei Jichen?" Yoshiko asked, gently stroking Mu Ren's chest with his hands. "This is the man. I wish I could cut him into pieces, otherwise I can eliminate the hatred in my heart." Mu Ren said with a ferocious look on his face. Mitsuko Yomuro rolled her eyes at him charmingly, and said with a silly smile: "Your Majesty, why don't you kill this concubine first." After saying that, Mitsuko Yomuro bent his head and kissed Mu Ren's chest. Mu Ren was full of ambition but not strong enough. Just as he was about to scold Yoshiko Mitsuko, there was a knock on the door. "Your Majesty, Lord Shanxian wants to see you." The attendant loudly reported outside the door. Mu Ren quickly opened the quilt, got up and got out of bed, put on his clothes in a hurry, and quickly replied: "Ask our friend from Shan County to wait a moment, I will announce my meeting soon." "Yes, Your Majesty!" The attendant asked a guard to go immediately. Inform that there are friends in the three counties. Not long after, Mu Ren appeared at the door, fully dressed, and fled in panic. In the night room of the palace, Mitsuko saw the attendant still standing outside the door, and couldn't help but whisper: "I'm a little sore, come in quickly and give me some massage." "Yes, your Majesty!" The attendant smiled quickly. He walked in and closed the door. When Mu Ren came out, Shanxian Youpeng had only waited for a short while and hadn't even finished a cup of tea. He couldn't help but thought smugly in his heart: It seems that my friend from Shan County still has a status that no one can match in His Majesty's mind. As soon as Your Majesty heard my request for an audience, he couldn't wait to announce it. Youpeng from Shanxian County quickly stood up and bowed to the emperor and his ministers, and then the two of them sat down one after another. Youpeng from Shanxian County first smiled and apologized: "Your Majesty, I deserve death for disturbing you late at night, but an important piece of information came from Liaodong. I believe that after hearing this, Your Majesty will not only not blame me, but youpeng from Shanxian County." "I didn't send this information earlier." "Oh, what kind of information is it?" Mu Ren became interested and asked curiously. "Your Majesty, Wei Jichen was killed in a bombing last night." Youpeng from Shanxian County did not dare to keep it secret anymore, but spoke out the contents of the telegram with great excitement. "What did you say!" Mu Ren was completely awake and suddenly stood up when he woke up completely. "Your Majesty, Wei Jichen is dead." Shan County Youpeng said loudly again. The muscles on Mu Ren's face were trembling with excitement. He was obviously in a state of excitement. He picked up the tea cup that Shanxian Youto had just drank. He drank it all in one gulp, and then regained his composure. His hands moved involuntarily. Picking up the telegram from Shan County, he muttered: "Have a good death, a good death." Soon, Guangxu and Cixi respectively learned the news of Wei Jichen's death. When Guangxu learned the news, he was reading the telegram sent by Wei Jichen. ——On protracted war. His blood boiled with excitement, and for a moment he was confident and determined to fight the Japanese to the death. Just as Wei Jichen said above, the Japanese are a small country with few people, but China is a vast country with 40 million people. Even if they trade space for time, they will eventually survive. Drag the Japanese to death and win the war against Japan. Guangxu no longer doubted Wei Jichen's ability. He could see and explain the state affairs between China and Japan so clearly. In the entire Qing Dynasty, who else besides Wei Jichen could do it? Guangxu could not wait to recruit him to the capital immediately, and hold candlelit night talks with him to discuss military and state affairs. He suddenly felt that Wei Jichen was here to save the Qing Dynasty, and he was here to save Guangxu. He was a blessed general sent to him by God.