After Zhang Zhidong finished speaking, Cixi and Guangxu had not spoken yet. Shi Xuji said, "It's unreasonable. I am a great Qing Dynasty, how can I negotiate with the pseudo-reverse? Not to mention peaceful coexistence, Lord Zhang, what do you mean?"

Zhang Zhidong said lightly: "Time is the momentum, the power is not to be disobedient." He also owed Cixi and Guangxu, saying: "I only have these two strategies, please ask the emperor and the queen mother to make a decision."

Guangxu was still thinking about Zhang Zhidong's words, and Cixi said: "Zhang Zhidong, who do you think you should send to the south to take charge of the overall situation!"

Zhang Zhidong glanced at him and said, "I think it's not Yuan Shikai."

When Guangxu heard this, his body was shocked and looked at Yuan Shikai. However, Cixi thought about it. In fact, not to mention Zhang Zhidong's second suggestion, the first suggestion was actually not novel. When a critical incident occurred in the local area, sending ministers from the central government to the local area to preside over the overall situation was a common practice in all dynasties, because the ministers sent by the central government generally knew the intentions of the court better, and often had higher identities than officials in other places, so it was easier to command and dispatch local affairs. Therefore, Zhang Zhidong's suggestion was not an accident.

Yuan Shikai recommended by Zhang Zhidong was also quite grateful to Cixi. To be honest, among the officials of the Qing court, Yuan Shikai is the strongest and has also been trusted by Cixi. Although Cixi often hit Yuan Shikai, this is a normal technique of guarding against Yuan Shikai. Of course, it is not wrong to say that Cixi is guarding against Yuan Shikai. Because Cixi will be guarding against anyone, whether it is Zeng Guofan or Zuo Zongtang, Li Hongzhang, Cixi cannot be completely relieved. They will be guarding against one hand, but when it is time to use it, they should still let go, and when it is time to support it, they should support it with all their strength.

If the court wants to send people to the south to take charge of the overall situation this time, Cixi also tends to send Yuan Shikai, and only Yuan Shikai can reassure Cixi. First of all, although Yuan Shikai has not served in the Prime Minister's Office over the years, he has not dealt with foreigners a lot and can basically handle it well. Moreover, Yuan Shikai has a certain relationship with East China **, so he is indeed the most suitable candidate to handle this crisis.

But what Cixi had to consider is how much effect it could play when sending Yuan Shikai to. If East China is determined to occupy the provinces in the Yangtze River Basin, then it would be useless if Yuan Shikai went there. Cixi did not think that Yuan Shikai was able to fight against the army of East China. It would be better to keep Yuan Shikai. After all, the court now also needs a capable minister like Yuan Shikai; another thing to consider is whether Yuan Shikai would collude with East China and even surrender to East China.

But this possibility is not great. After all, important officials like Yuan Shikai will not surrender easily until the last moment. Moreover, Yuan Shikai was a member of the Qing court, but in the East China **, his main positions were basically held by overseas Chinese or people trained by them. So far, it seems that no officials who surrendered by the Qing court have held important positions. Therefore, even if Yuan Shikai surrenders, it is difficult to gain power again. Yuan Shikai is a smart person and will not be able to see through it.

And just as Cixi was thinking, Guangxu suddenly said, "Yuan Shikai, are you willing to go to the south?"

After hearing this, Yuan Shikai hurriedly said, "As long as the court issues an order, I will die."

At this time, Cixi glared at Guangxu fiercely, obviously quite dissatisfied with Guangxu's question, because Guangxu's words were basically foregone conclusion, but he had not completely thought about it, but Guangxu pretended not to see it, and he was a little proud. He was not as thorough as Cixi, but was simply targeting Yuan Shikai. It turned out that during the Wuxu coup, Yuan Shikai reported to Ronglu and reported to Kang Liang and his group. Guangxu had held a grudge against Yuan Shikai since then, but Yuan Shikai was very respected in front of Cixi. After Wuxu, Guangxu was under house arrest. After the Gengzi Reform, Guangxu was in a better condition and was no longer completely under house arrest. He could attend and participate in the affairs of the court meeting. Of course, the power of the court was still in the hands of Cixi, but it was still possible to express personal opinions occasionally, but it was still impossible to move Yuan Shikai.

This time, Guangxu saw the opportunity and asked Yuan Shikai to go to the south to negotiate with the East China **. If the East China ** attacks the Yangtze River provinces, then Yuan Shikai will die. Even if the East China ** does not intend to attack the Yangtze River provinces, Yuan Shikai will not be able to finish his trip in a year or two. Anyway, he is out of sight and not upset, and he can still calm himself for a few days.

Of course, the words had been said and Cixi could not take them back. However, she originally wanted Yuan Shikai to go to the south to deal with the incident, so she made it so sure, so she said, "Yuan Shikai, what are you planning to do after you go to the south?"

Yuan Shikai said: "Now that the pseudo-trend is very strong, and you cannot compete with him in the short term. After you arrive in the south, you should try your best to deal with him and stop the truce."

Guangxu frowned and said, "Yuan Shikai, the pseudo-rebellious person has always been arrogant and unreasonable, and he is greedy and insatiable. How could he stop the war?"

Yuan Shikai said: "Although the pseudo-rebellion is unreasonable, he acts hypocritical and likes to be famous. This time he sent troops to save disasters in the name of saving people, and the court should be able to attack his shield. I went south in the name of saving disasters and dealt with the pseudo-rebellion to force him to stop his troops and quit his war. In addition, all countries will not sit idly by and watch the pseudo-rebellion start a war. They will definitely help the court, put pressure on the pseudo-rebellion, and force him to stop his troops and quit his war. I think there is still a lot to do." He paused and said: "But the preparation for military reform must be taken. Although I am going south this time, although I am quit the military and seek peace, I must be guarded against the military preparations. I should bring elite soldiers and generals to show them the power of the army, and there is more hope of stabilizing the situation. If the pseudo-rebellion completely ignores and insists on invading the borders of our Qing Dynasty, I will bear the brunt of the breach and fight to the death with the pseudo-rebellion to repay the court."

At this time, Cixi said, "Yuan Shikai, how many troops do you want to lead south?"

Yuan Shikai said: "If some of the troops can be drawn from the Hubei New Army and handed over to the ministers to control it, you only need to draw two towns from the Beiyang New Army. If it is not possible, then three towns are needed."

Cixi nodded. After the failure of the attack on Henan, the Beiyang New Army was reorganized. Yuan Shikai could only control three towns, and the other three towns were controlled by the personnel arranged by the Qing court. Although Yuan Shikai was dissatisfied, he had no choice. Now Yuan Shikai asked to lead the troops of the two towns south, which was not too much, but it was interesting to ask for control of the Hubei New Army. It was probably because Yuan Shikai wanted to find some compensation from the Hubei New Army.

Guangxu said again: "Yuan Shikai, the Beiyang New Army has the responsibility to defend Beijing, so it should not be taken lightly. Moreover, Henan is now occupied by pseudo-rebels. How can the army pass through the border and move south? Why do you give the Hubei New Army to you to command without the need to transfer the army to the south?" He looked at Cixi and thought to himself that this was a great opportunity to lift Yuan Shikai's military power. The Hubei New Army Bi Jing is not Yuan Shikai's team, so it will be difficult to command. If a war really starts, it will definitely be messed up.

Before Yuan Shikai could speak, Zhang Zhidong said, "Your Majesty, this is not true. The Beiyang New Army has the responsibility to defend Beijing, but it is not harmful to take two of the six towns. Moreover, the Beiyang New Army was still trained by Yuan Shikai, and he knew the roots and the command was naturally easy. However, the Hubei New Army was originally insufficient in scale and had the responsibility to station two lakes. If both were left to Yuan Shikai, the two lakes would change, so it would be better to transfer the Beiyang New Army to the south. As for not being able to go south from Henan, you might as well take the Xing'an Prefecture in Shaanxi to Hubei and then go east along the river."

Speaking of this, Zhang Zhidong looked up at Cixi, and indeed saw Cixi's eyelids moving, knowing that her words touched Cixi.

Sure enough, Guangxu was about to speak again, but Cixi snatched: "The new Beiyang army was transferred south, and that's how it was decided."

Guangxu was stunned for a moment. Although he was a little unwilling to accept it, Cixi had already decided and was not good to say anything else, so he had to say, "I will follow the Empress Dowager's opinion."

It turned out that Zhang Zhidong's words really reminded Cixi that although Cixi had paved the way for herself at this time, sent Wu Huai as the Daotai of Shanxi and Ren Cen Chunxuan as the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu to prepare for his escape again, this time she was not facing the Eight-Nation Alliance in the Gengzi year. Even if she escaped to Xi'an smoothly, it might not be safe, because the People's Army could completely chase Xi'an, so she still needed to find another way for her. Then she could only enter Hubei from Shaanxi and reach the south.

As a result, there will be a lot of room for activity. Even if the People's Army wants to chase after it, it will delay for a while. This time, Yuan Shikai took the Beiyang New Army to go south to Hubei by Xing'an Prefecture, Shaanxi, and Cixi can explore the way and make arrangements in advance. In addition, when Yuan Shikai arrived in the south, he could also prepare all matters for himself in advance. When the matter was irreversible, he fled to the south and there were still people to take on it. Zhang Zhidong is indeed the only remaining famous minister of Zhongxing, and he was considerate and thoughtfully.

Cixi ignored Guangxu and said, "Then the matter of going south is settled. Yuan Shikai, you can prepare well after you go back and the imperial edict will come down in the afternoon."

Yuan Shikai hurriedly said: "My decree is the decree."

Cixi said again: "Zhang Zhidong, let's do the negotiations with the pseudo-revolutionary. First, see if the pseudo-revolutionary is sincere in negotiating with the court, and then report it to you."

Zhang Zhidong also bowed and said, "I respect the order."

Shixu, when Na Tong heard this, he opened his mouth and wanted to argue for a few more words, but after looking at Cixi's appearance, he was reluctant to go back.

Cixi nodded and said, "Okay, let's kneel down and rest."

The ministers then saluted Cixi and Guangxu together, and then left the room.
Chapter completed!