"I don't care if the Mongolian tribe is unlucky or not! What the Ai family wants is victory, and they want all the Far East volunteers to die!" Cixi roared in a high-pitched voice.
"Twenty thousand is enough for what! Let Tepuxin raise food and grass on the spot and send it to these Rakshasa ghosts. I will let them eat it. The Qing Dynasty is rich and has tens of thousands of people. We can still provide food and grass."
"Every fifty thousand army has to be dragged to the battlefield. It is recognized even by foreigners that Xiao Letian's soldiers are difficult to deal with! Don't try to defeat him without spending money! If there is a shortage of food, we will give food, and if there is a shortage of silver, we will give money. As long as we can destroy the Volunteer Army, it will be worth whatever money we spend!"
Yixuan was somewhat more mellow. He swallowed dryly and whispered, "Will doing this and this cause controversy between the government and the public? The court also has to worry about face."
"What shame!" Cixi slapped the table with a slap. "How can you be confused when others are confused? Destroying the volunteer army will benefit us without any harm. Haven't you figured it out yet?"
"First of all, destroying the Volunteer Army is equivalent to cutting off one of Xiao Letian's arms. This evil dragon entrenched overseas is best at deceiving the people. On the surface, he pretends to be an imperial master, and he seems to be the same as our Qing Dynasty. Qiu has done nothing wrong, but he keeps stealing our people's hearts and our wealth."
"We can't let him develop any longer. How much money will he take away from that damn stock market in Jiangnan! It's all ours, it's all our Qing Dynasty's!"
Cixi gasped and sweat broke out on her forehead. "This cunning fox knows how to stay overseas and drink the blood of our Qing Dynasty. He bullies us because we don't have a navy and can't fight him decisively. If he dares to put his base camp in the Qing Dynasty, he will be the only one in the Qing Dynasty." You can kill him with just your hands!"
"But he just didn't dare to go ashore. He's as disgusting as a thief!" Cixi was so angry that his veins popped out. The three people present, including Ci'an, had to admit that they had underestimated Xiao Letian before. The most important thing was that he didn't dare to go ashore. It was because he underestimated Xiao Letian's strategy.
Taking overseas Chinese as their roots, seizing the interests of maritime trade, and then eroding the wealth of the Qing Dynasty. This kind of routine is simply incomprehensible to the Manchus. Of course, they understand it now, but the Chinese have become a force and the seedlings have grown. A small tree is no longer something they can strangle to death if they want.
"Containing or even eliminating Xiao Letian is the most important thing before our Qing Dynasty. Everything else can be discussed under this matter! The Rakshasa ghost is greedy? Of course the Ai family knows, but the Ai family knows better Xiao Letian's greed is worse than that of a Rakshasa ghost."
The atmosphere in the Yangxin Hall made Ci Xi tense and full of gunpowder. Ci'an took a sip of tea and suddenly smiled and said, "What my sister said is certainly good. In fact, cooperation with Tsarist Russia will not do any harm to our Qing Dynasty!"
"I would like to add a second point. Since Tsarist Russia needs us and they want to cooperate with the Qing Dynasty, they have to stop for a while in the northwest!"
"Didn't Agub rely on the support of Tsarist Russia? Otherwise, he would dare to invade Xinjiang! Thanks to his courage, the Aijia sent people to talk to Ulan Geli during this period. Although he did not agree, his tone was already Much softer”
"Xinjiang or the Far East, let the tsar choose one! They didn't say that they both want to eat it! If 50,000 Central Asian cavalry are transferred to Vladivostok, the strength of Agub's side will be greatly weakened. I A secret message has been sent to Zuo Jigao. Now that the situation in the west has improved significantly, Zuo Jigao's department is preparing to raise troops from Gansu and Shaanxi in early summer. It should not be difficult to pacify Xinjiang!"
This is really good news. The expressions of everyone present softened. Yixuan let out a long breath, "This is the first good news I have heard this year. Buddha bless! Buddha bless!"
The strong rise of the Volunteer Army in the Far East directly broke the divisions of forces around the Qing Dynasty. In particular, Tsarist Russia has been tilting its resources to Central Asia in recent years. On the one hand, it wants to compete with the British for Afghanistan, and on the other hand, it also wants to covet the Qing Dynasty. Rich Xinjiang, especially the Tianshan area.
In the final analysis, it is still the strategic thinking of going south that is at work. Vladivostok is indeed a good deep-water port in the Pacific, but its geographical location is still too far north. The surrounding population density is not enough and there is a three-month ice period every year, so the value of Vladivostok can only be said. It is only slightly higher than the port in Tsarist Russia's hands.
The value of Vladivostok is completely incomparable with the tropical and temperate seaports occupied by Britain, France and other countries, and its military value and commercial value are not worth mentioning.
The outlet of the Baltic Sea was suppressed by the British Islands. Not to mention Tsarist Russia, even Prussia could not escape British control. An attempt was made to compete with Turkey on the Black Sea, but the Crimean War dispelled Tsarist Russia's ambitions.
Although Vladivostok was obtained, it was still not perfect. In the end, Tsarist Russia focused its attention on Afghanistan. As long as it controlled the Afghan plateau, there would be a great plain to the south and the end of the plain would be the warm and fertile Arabian Sea.
If you want to compete with the British for Afghanistan, you can't do it without a stable rear area to provide war fuel. Helping Agubai seek prosperous Xinjiang can weaken the Qing Dynasty on the one hand, and on the other hand, it can also provide excellent logistics for the legions heading south. Base, if you want to attack Afghanistan, it is absolutely impossible to rely solely on the poor Central Asian Khanates.
Wishful thinking was really good, but it was a pity that Xiao Letian's emergence was not taken into account, nor was it taken into account that a new force that had just emerged in the past two or three years would have the courage to compete with the old empire Tsarist Russia in the Far East. .
The volunteer army disrupted Tsarist Russia's plans. They had no choice but to mobilize troops from Central Asia. In order to compete for the Manchu ally, they could only temporarily cut off the resources of Aguba. Now is the best time for Zuo Zongtang to regain Xinjiang. A history A strategic turn that has never occurred before.
Ci'an was not as violent as Cixi. She explained the situation in Xinjiang in depth, as if reading lines on the palm of her hand. The two princes became more and more impressed as they listened, and finally Cixi was beating a drum in her heart.
"Damn it, why didn't I think of leveraging my strength? What a great opportunity to blackmail the Russian envoy! Why did Ci'an get the lead? With this, Ci'an's prestige among the courtiers increased. Damn it, it’s that little beast Zai Chun who messed up the Ai family’s heart, otherwise I wouldn’t have let this negotiation opportunity go!”
I don’t know why, but the Yangxin Hall suddenly became quiet, and no one spoke up about the third reason why they had to borrow troops to destroy the Far East Volunteer Army.
The four of them suddenly fell silent, and no one spoke for ten minutes. Hou Yi? suddenly stood up and said with a smile, "Since the Queen Mother has formulated the tune, my brother will go and execute it. First, send a telegram to Tepuxin and ask him to send it to the Cossack cavalry. Prepare a batch of food and grass”
Yixuan also stood up, "I still have a little friendship with Hunchun, and my face should be taken care of. I will send him a private telegram, asking him not to move around, and there is no need for him to fight, as long as he can insist on cutting off the volunteer army. Just the food road will do”
"Then I will resign now." The two of them bowed and left the Yangxin Hall.
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