The Gong Prince residence, Silver Peace Hall.
Li Qing held the heavy imperial edict in his hand and his heart wavered a little.
"Your Highness, according to my experience, this imperial edict must have been written by Imperial Consort Yi. It looks tolerant and thick on the surface, but it hides a murderous intent. If you're not careful, you'll fall into her trap!”
"Bochuan, you're right. With this imperial edict, this king feels that everything I do is authorized by others, but all the officials in the court know that these 18,000 troops have nothing to do with the court.
Sigh! Only now did this king realize how shrewd Imperial Consort Yi is. She doesn't look like a 25-year-old woman at all. Instead, she looks like an old fox in her seventies. She's meticulous and flawless!
Moreover, now that this king has seen this imperial edict, I feel a little awkward. Bochuan, do you think this king should not send troops to the northeast and go directly to Rehe?”Li Qing placed the imperial edict on the table and said.
Wen Xiang looked at the slightly depressed Li Qing and said," Your Highness, you can't say that. Although this imperial edict has increased the influence of the Imperial Court, hasn't Your Highness always advocated putting the goal first? On the bright side, hasn't the Imperial Court already indirectly admitted to the world that these 18,000 troops are your private army? In the future, we can openly call this army the Gong Wang Army!”
Li Qing was indeed a little excited when he heard Wen Xiang's words. His blood boiled, so Li Qing smiled and said,"That's true! Alright, this time I'll let the Rehe side take advantage of me. Wen Xiang, if it wasn't for you saying this, this king really wouldn't want to go all the way to the cold northeast to lead troops to battle!”
Wen Xiang only smiled and didn't say anything, because he knew that Li Qing was just talking nonsense. After the battle at Ba Li Qiao, the people around the Gong Prince knew that Li Qing was a man who put the country's righteousness first.
Of course, Li Qing was just grumbling. Although he said that, he still wanted to fight with Russia. Now that the Siberian railway had not even moved a shovel, it was very inconvenient to transport ammunition from Europe to the northeast. Therefore, Russia's strength in the northeast was not particularly strong. However, sluts had their lives, and fools had their fortunes. Russia was also lucky. It encountered a military vacuum in the northeast and advanced triumphantly. Naturally, they clamored more than anyone else. Moreover, Russia's influence in the Far East was completely managed by the Siberian governor, and there were not many true elites.
Muravyov was scaring the Cossacks on Mount Kushan, but they were actually militia he hired temporarily according to the standards of bandits. They rode on horses and waved their sabers while shouting "Wulaula". They looked a little scary, but their actual combat strength was very limited.
The most important thing was that Tsarist Russia was too greedy. It was simply an expanding monster. Starting from Peter the Great, the polar bear had been constantly looking for an outlet to the sea. After fighting hard in Eastern Europe for nearly a hundred years, he finally obtained the sea outlet that he had dreamed of. However, when he went into the water, he realized that the so-called sea was just a huge saltwater lake. Since they could not get to the west, Russia began to develop eastward. From the reign of Emperor Kangxi to the reign of Emperor Xianfeng, it was to get an ice-free port in the Far East.
Russia's strategy was to advance from east to west and exert strength on both sides. As long as there was hope, they would not give up. In the Crimean War that lasted for hundreds of years, Russia's perseverance was amazing. Moreover, the Russians had a very regular way of doing things. If the east was thwarted, they would go to the west to make trouble. If the west was thwarted, they would come back to the east. It was precisely because of the defeat of the Crimean War that Russia made a mess in the northeast.
The British, on the other hand, were desperately trying to maintain the balance of power in Europe. Naturally, they would not give Russia a chance to expand. It was also because of this that when Li Qing told the British and French envoys that Russia was forcing the Qing Kingdom to fulfill the Aihui treaty, the British, who had always advocated restricting the expansion of Russia, realized that Russia was about to take over 600,000 square kilometers of land from the Qing Kingdom. The British then joined forces with the French to attack the Russians in an attempt to stop the expansion of Russia.
In history, the United Kingdom had indeed done the same. The Russians had searched for a way out all over the world, and the British had blocked them all over the world. As long as they could contain the Russians, the British had funded almost all of the countries such as Spain, Turkey, and the like. In the past, the United Kingdom had tried to support the Qing Dynasty, but in the end, they found that the Qing Dynasty was too big and many things could not be reconciled. Moreover, the Qing Dynasty was also declining day by day, so in the end, the United Kingdom chose to support Japan, which was preparing to completely westernize it.
Because of this, it gave Li Qing a certain amount of confidence. He could get funding from England. Although he was only a prince now, he was still stronger than Japan, which was still in the shogunate stage.
Moreover, the development of Russia in the Far East had caused the Qing Kingdom and the Eagle Kingdom to have a common enemy.
......
In the ten days after receiving the imperial edict, Li Qing would go to Beiyuan to train Prince Gong's army in the day and go to the British embassy at night to cry for poverty and see if he could get more help.
The facts proved that Li Qing's thoughts were correct. The United Kingdom, which was already jealous of Russia, and the domestic parliament pushed all the responsibility for the failure of China to Russia, so they hated Russia even more.
Therefore, under Li Qing's persuasion, Li Qing got the second batch of arms funding from the United Kingdom as he wished. However, he needed to pay for it. However, Li Qing was now poor. After a few days of negotiation, the British envoy agreed to Li Qing's request--Therefore, Li Qing achieved his goal of getting something for nothing.
Apart from leaving 300,000 taels of silver for the Gong army, Li Qing used the rest to buy guns and ammunition.
......
February 27th, 1861, the fifteenth day of the first month of the eleventh year of Xianfeng.
In a remote village in Aihui, Northeast China, there were more than 100 families living in the village. It was the Lantern Festival, and the villagers were immersed in laughter. However, the happy time forever stopped at this moment.
A strange sound came from the cold wind outside the village. It was like a muffled thunder in the sky. The sound was getting closer and closer. The men from all the families came out and gathered in an open space. The sound scared the children at home.
"Don't tell me the wild boars have entered the village! Just as everyone was guessing, a wave of fire rushed over, so bright that they could not open their eyes. However, when everyone saw the situation outside, they were instantly stunned. They saw hundreds of cavalrymen holding torches and long knives. Their gazes were even more ferocious than bandits. One of them was wearing a felt hat and had white skin. The gathered people were running around nervously because the Russians had arrived. They were a group of demons who killed without blinking!
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