The Queen Mothers of the two palaces are skilled in power and have a strong sense of political balance in the court, but after all, they are still women who only know a general idea of the military and are incapable of playing with the specific details.
Guiziliu announced to the outside world that the Xishan Camp had 30,000 combat troops and 30,000 auxiliary troops... In fact, the Qing Dynasty did not have the concept of auxiliary troops, because the so-called auxiliary troops in the Qing Dynasty were all performed by Han military flags and temporarily recruited civilian men.
Guiziliu came up with a secret exchange concept. He promoted the excellent Western logistics support system to the court, saying that the foreign devils fought because of a huge auxiliary system.
There are professional people who transport grain and grass, dig fortifications, and manufacture various explosives such as bomb bags and so on... The war has fully entered the war era, so even the logistics work must be done by professionals.
This truth is actually correct on the surface. Chinese people also attach great importance to logistics work, and the same applies to Europeans!
However, Guiziliu promoted the benefits of the auxiliary system in such a big way. In fact, he did not want to train auxiliary soldiers at all. He just wanted to secretly expand the army under the hood.
The 30,000 auxiliary soldiers listed in the Ministry of War register are all civilians, engineers, and logistical guards... Even carpenters who carry shell boxes have quotas.
But this is all an illusion. These so-called workers' auxiliaries also receive strict military training, and the amount of ammunition consumed by firing guns is no less than that of the regular army.
Guiziliu hid his army in the Western Mountains, and the army was filled with his domestic slaves and spies. The officials sent by the court were either just messing around and waiting to die and were useless. They didn't understand the twists and turns here at all.
Or he is just a weakling who can understand Prince Gong’s scam but is afraid that the prince is too powerful!
In this way, this secret actually deceived the empress dowagers of the two palaces, until Zeng Guofan tore up this layer of window paper. This is actually the main reason why Guizi Liu became so angry today.
The shock during the day had to be pretended to be calm, but there was no need to pretend at night when the two queen mothers were drinking and talking privately.
"Sixty thousand, sister, that's an army of 60,000 armed with foreign guns! There is such a tiger hiding in the capital, we were so miserably deceived!"
Speaking of this, Cixi even took out her handkerchief and wiped her tears!
Ci'an was a little panicked at this moment, but she still had to show her majesty. "Yes! In the past, I thought we could still control it if we trained 30,000 troops..."
"Yixuan has more than 20,000 soldiers. Even if Zeng Guofan is alone in the capital, he can withstand a strong army of 10,000 people...Long live my life, I also trained a new army of 30,000 people in Fujian!"
"This has become a stable trend! As long as they are balanced, we will take our time slowly. After all, Long Live the Lord is young. If we manage it well, the government will naturally come to us when we grow up!"
"But I didn't expect...the Xishan camp actually hid 60,000 soldiers!"
At this point, Cixi suddenly said, "Why don't we send an emergency telegram to the outside of the customs... Let our hometown send troops to the capital! Don't forget that Long Live Lord has been there. Those generals were conquered by Zai Chun!"
Cixi's vision was so far-sighted that she immediately thought of Ninggu Pagoda and the General's Station in Heilongjiang. Not to mention that the officers and soldiers there recognized Lord Long Live. After all, Emperor Tongzhi once personally went to the Far East to fight and fought against Lao Maozi!
Ci'an shook his head when he heard this, "Nonsense... If the imperial court needs family members from outside the country to defend the imperial capital, this will only prove to the world that our imperial court has completely lost control!"
"Don't be anxious. Didn't Marshal Zeng lead 20,000 people to the north? These 20,000 soldiers can handle it!"
Cixi's face turned bitter when she heard this, "Huh? In the end, we still have to rely on the Han people, Han people, Han people... What if everyone follows the precedent set by Zeng Guofan?"
"What else can we do? In any case, Zeng Guofan is sincere to Long Live Lord. I can see this... Have you really put all your hopes in the hands of your family outside the country?"
"Haha, save it... I'm telling you, the people outside the customs are not as loyal as you think. What if they propose to restore the eight kings' political affairs at the founding of the country?"
"When the time comes and the tiger warriors outside the pass are stationed in the capital, they will all be tiger and wolf teachers who have not received Han Confucian education... Even if they are named after relatives, do you really dare to reuse them?"
"Don't be stupid, our Manchu world has actually been able to survive these two hundred years thanks to the ideas of the Han people... How many times have it been the Confucian scholars who saved the Qing Dynasty in times of crisis. It was the ideas of Confucius that saved the Qing Dynasty!"
"If we, the Manchus, had this kind of virtue, we would be able to stand up to the sky in one hundred years instead of two hundred years! We would have been beaten to pieces!"
Cixi's face was ashen and she said nothing. At this moment, she knew that the Empress Dowager of the East Palace really had ink in her belly!
"Then we can only watch like this? Do nothing?" Cixi looked like she was mourning.
"Soldiers are coming to cover up the water and the earth! What are you afraid of? Long Live Lord asked Xiao Letian to take him out of Europe. It is also beneficial!" Ci'an said lightly while drinking fragrant tea.
"After all, Long Live Lord has established friendship with the kings and queens of Europe, and all countries have recognized His Majesty's right to rule! What dare he, the Six Devils, do?"
"Really launching an army to rebel? Then fight with real swords and guns! Anyway, we girls don't have to go to the battlefield!"
"But...but there were 60,000 troops at that time!"
"Shit! So what if it's 60,000? The Hunan Army's soldiers can't be used? Xiao Letian's soldiers can't be used? If it doesn't work, just take the Emperor to Dongjiao Minxiang!"
"I don't believe that the Japanese dare to bombard the British Embassy!"
ah! Cixi's eyes lit up, and a beautiful new world suddenly appeared in front of her!
Yes, why worry? What are you afraid of? This era is no longer the past when each family lived behind closed doors and fought and killed each other. Countries around the world are all mixed together. You interfere with my affairs, and I interfere with your wars.
Mutual intervention has become the mainstream. If there is a coup in Beijing, you have to consider the attitudes of London and Paris. Of course, now you also have to consider Berlin and Washington.
The great powers are all approaching our doorstep, and the forces of the foreign devils must also be included!
"Sister, what you mean is to muddy the water, and then muddy it again...to force out the bigger snakeheads and water snakes? Then you don't believe that the Japanese will not be afraid?"
Ci'an put down the tea bowl, "Okay, don't think too much about it...Why did the number of 60,000 soldiers scare you so much today? Is Yixin going to rebel?"
"Have you thought about this question? Are you sure? Don't let us all just think about it in the end!"
The atmosphere in Jiang Xuexuan had eased a bit at this moment. After thinking about it for a while, Cixi said that the Japanese had rebelled without any clear evidence! In the final analysis, today's tense atmosphere was stirred up by Zeng Guofan.
A master is a master, and a random layout can cause chaos inside and outside the court!
Thinking of the old man who had run out of oil and lamps, Cixi felt a flash of fear and panic in her heart!
"I'm making a bullshit rebellion! Are you stupid, Old Seven?" At the edge of the bat pond in Prince Gong's Mansion, Guiziliu and his brother also started to quarrel.
"What kind of era is this? Are you still playing the tricks of rebellion? I, Yi Xin, dare to rebel today, and tomorrow all nations will dare to send warships to intervene! I'm stupid!"
"Do you know that I am protecting myself? Do you know that I am leaving the last retreat for the Eight Banners?"
The crazy roar of Guiziliu sounded from the edge of the bat pool!
