Super Dictator

After a round of greetings, Su Zhiniang went out to entertain other people, while Wei Jichen stayed here to accompany Li Hongzhang in person.

Originally, Li Hongzhang wanted to ask his personal soldiers to bring wine and food, but he shook his head.

Only the personal soldiers could bring tea, and Li Hongzhang gently took a sip.

Wei Jichen thought to himself: "Li Hongzhang can't just come for his engagement party. There must be something else important. I don't know what it is."

After Li Hongzhang put down the teacup, he looked at Wei Jichen for a moment. Seeing that Wei Jichen looked calm and not irritable, he couldn't help but secretly praised him in his heart.

"Zijie, now there is a lot of trouble outside, but you are here to be a family father." Li Hongzhang sighed softly and said.

Li Hongzhang's life is not easy now. After the contract was changed, more and more people criticized him.

Since Kang Youwei and the scholars played a public bus petition, the trend of scholars asking about politics has gradually formed, and various political groups have also begun to form slowly.

Kang Youwei was born with a sharp tongue and was good at taking advantage of the situation. When he was in Guangdong, he opened a school called Wanmu Caotang, where he gathered students to give lectures and expound his theories.

After the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, he found that Guangxu was very interested in his theories in the capital and wanted to reform the country, so he started to jump up and down and made a lot of noise.

The "hustle and bustle" mentioned by Li Hongzhang refers to this incident.

Wei Jichen asked tentatively: "Zhongtang, the emperor has issued an edict of self-criticism, and he is a man of great talent and strategy, and intends to reform. What do you think?"

Li Hongzhang saw that there was no one else in the room, and sighed: "Reform is difficult. Although I have never seen Kang Youwei in person, I can see from his actions and words that he is a scholar who likes to talk nonsense. His words are often eccentric, and he can't see the situation in the court clearly and can't figure out the relationship between superiors and subordinates."

Although Li Hongzhang did not point out the relationship between superiors and subordinates, Wei Jichen knew that he was saying that Kang Youwei had found the wrong person. What effect could he have if he found Guangxu, who did not have much real power.

"Zijie, don't get too close to these people. The old Buddha is most afraid of generals with soldiers in their hands having unclear relationships with some ministers in the court." Li Hongzhang reminded.

"I understand." Wei Jichen was still very grateful for Li Hongzhang's kind reminder.

Li Hongzhang stopped there and changed the subject, saying: "Whether those who believe that reform can strengthen the country or those who don't believe it, they all think that training a new army is the top priority. This war has also made me see clearly that the Huai Army that I built has been corrupted for many years and can no longer be used. If it encounters the enemy, it will be destroyed. It is time to disband it." Li Hongzhang felt bad when he said this. Wei Jichen comforted him, "You are also a member of the Zhongtang. How can you say that the Huai Army will be destroyed if it is destroyed?" Fortunately, Li Hongzhang has lived for so many years and has experienced everything. He immediately calmed down and smiled, saying: "That's why I want to recommend you to train a new army. This is Zijie's opportunity and the continuation of our Huai Army. Zijie is a brave and resourceful general in my Huai Army. I hope you can train a strong army and let others see that there are still many talents in my Huai Army." "It's a pity that I don't know what the emperor and the old Buddha mean." Wei Jichen said a little depressed. It's really not a good feeling to have your fate in the hands of others. Li Hongzhang smiled slightly, took another sip of tea, and replied to Wei Jichen: "The emperor thinks highly of you, so you don't need to worry about it. Now it depends on the Empress Dowager's opinion. I will handle the Empress Dowager's affairs. I still have some influence in the court and can have a say with the Empress Dowager." Wei Jichen asked knowingly: "Why does the Empress Dowager have some prejudice against me?" He wanted to see how Li Hongzhang would answer and whether he really had no complaints against Cixi. Li Hongzhang curled his lips and said helplessly and depressedly: "She is not prejudiced against you, she is just a little suspicious. The emperor has ordered you to come to Beijing for an audience, and I brought you here today." Li Hongzhang saw that Wei Jichen's face was just a little more surprised, so he continued: "I only have one thing to say to you. After you come to Beijing, you don't need to run around like Yuan Shikai. Zijie, your reputation is already big enough, and I am still helping you behind the scenes, so you just need to stay still and be at ease." Wei Jichen was shocked. The old man is still the best. He was just thinking about how to hook up with Ronglu or Yixin after entering Beijing. Now he heard what Li Hongzhang said, and he felt it was inappropriate. These people took their money. If they often mentioned themselves in front of Cixi, wouldn't Cixi be more suspicious. "Thank you for your reminder, Zhongtang. I really don't know how to thank you." Wei Jichen didn't expect that he would be taken care of by Li Hongzhang. Li Hongzhang smiled and took out the telegram and handed it to Wei Jichen.

He was busy with work, and after finishing these, he was ready to leave. Wei Jichen suddenly thought that he didn't have many talents, so why not let Li Hongzhang recommend some.

When he was about to stand up, he said: "Zhongtang has many talents, please recommend one or two. If the court orders me to train soldiers, I'm afraid I won't be able to handle it for a while."

Li Hongzhang nodded and said: "I will keep an eye out for you."

The main reason why Wei Jichen dared to let Li Hongzhang recommend talents for him and was not afraid that he would secretly control the soldiers he trained was that Li Hongzhang was now over 70 years old.

For a man in his seventies, to put it bluntly, half of his body has already been buried in the earth. Now that he has been hit so hard, I am afraid he no longer has the ambition he had before.

The two chatted for a few more words, and then Li Hongzhang stood up to leave without even drinking a glass of water or wine.

Li Hongzhang left many gifts. After Wei Jichen watched him leave in a grand manner, the entire banquet was almost done, and Wei Jichen, the host, also showed up in time.

Everyone was still shocked by Li Hongzhang's pomp and discussion, and they all speculated about which high official in the court it was.

Seeing Wei Jichen appear again, everyone's eyes looked a little different this time. Last time Wei Jichen only led two or three horses back, and everyone couldn't feel anything for a while, but this time they really felt that Wei Jichen He has truly become a great man.

"General Wei, I wonder if you are still recruiting people in the army?" As soon as Wei Jichen took his seat, an old man in his fifties came over and asked softly.

Wei Jichen grunted and finally drank the wine in his mouth.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm here to ask for my son." Seeing Wei Jichen's reaction, the old man knew that Wei Jichen had gone astray and explained quickly.

"Who is your lord?" Wei Jichen asked with a smile. In this era, many generals' personal soldiers are from their own countrymen. This can at least guarantee some loyalty issues, so Wei Jichen didn't think there was anything unusual when the old man asked this. .

The old man scratched his forehead and said embarrassedly: "I have three sons. The eldest son has already married and established a family. The second son is about to get married but has not established a career. The third son has neither married nor established a career. Therefore, if there is still a shortage of generals in the army, As a human being, I would like to entrust my second and third sons to the general.”

Wei Jichen had a bad feeling in his heart and asked softly: "But Huo Yuanjia and Huo Yuanqing."

The old man nodded heavily.