After receiving the report from the base government, Qingdao Executive Yuan was also very happy. After all, it was a good thing to win. Although the strength of the Qing army was not strong, the conditions of the base area were far from comparable to that of the East China government. Therefore, it is indeed very commendable that the base area could defeat the Qing army entirely by relying on its own strength. This also shows that the base area has begun to become a climate and has basically the ability to protect itself.

The Executive Yuan also conducted serious research and discussion on the suggestions put forward by the base area. The first one is of course feasible. However, some people suggested that the Qing government might not be able to pay for redemption. It is estimated that the families of the prisoners would be more likely to pay for redemption. Most ordinary soldiers are poor families and may not have money to redeem them. The possibility of the officers being redeemed is greater. Therefore, it is best to identify the prisoners, find the officers first, and redeem them for a price.

For soldiers who had no money to redeem people, they were released in the base area for several years before they were released. The Military Commission proposed that they could try their best to develop their own soldiers from prisoners, because after this battle, the army in the base area would definitely expand. After all, the soldiers were all soldiers who had served as soldiers, and their quality habits were much stronger than ordinary civilians. If some soldiers could be developed among the Qing army's prisoners, they could quickly form an army. In the old time and space, the ancestors of the time travelers fought more and more, and the more they fought, they became stronger.

He also agreed with the proposal of the Military Commission, but put forward two requirements: First, the development of targets is limited to ordinary soldiers and not officers; second, the surrendered soldiers must first strengthen ideological and political education.

The second and third points violate the principle of occupying rural areas and letting go of large cities when developing base areas. However, this principle was formulated at that time, mainly because it did not want to stimulate the Qing court too much and gain time for the development of base areas. However, after this battle, the base areas could not be concealed, which would definitely attract the attention of the Qing court. Moreover, the base areas now have enough armed forces, and with the support of the East China government, they are fully capable of confronting the Qing court. Therefore, there is no need to have any more concerns and can completely capture the big cities.

After careful discussion and consultation, the Executive Yuan finally issued a formal order to the base government: First, expand the armed forces of the base area and formulate 2-3 divisions, one of which was organized according to the standards of ordinary divisions, and the weapons were provided by the East China government to prepare for the Qing army's further attack; second, it required the base area to fully occupy the four places of Guide Prefecture, Chenzhou Prefecture, Xuzhou, and Weihui Prefecture, and control some areas of Nanyang Prefecture, Runing Prefecture, and Xiangyang Prefecture; third, the next expansion direction of the base area is Hubei in the south, Anhui in the east, and northern Jiangsu in the north, and the two key targets are Xiangyang Prefecture in Hubei and Xuzhou Prefecture in northern Jiangsu.

At the same time, the Executive Yuan also formally issued a commendation order to the base government to commend the outstanding performance of the base government and the army in this battle.

After receiving the order from the government, the base government immediately began to take action. First, in accordance with the requirements of the Military Commission, the captured Qing army officers were requested ransom and the soldiers were developed among the captured Qing soldiers. Two months later, about 1,700 officers and soldiers were redeemed, and a total of about 50,000 taels of silver were obtained, which to a certain extent alleviated the financial pressure of the base area. In addition, about 1,200 Qing soldiers volunteered to join the Volunteer Army after listening to the mobilization of the Volunteer Army. In addition, the recruited new soldiers were organized and two regiments were organized. The Volunteer Army then began to implement the expansion order of the East China government.

Henan and Hubei provinces suffered a crushing defeat, dispatching a total of about 17,000 troops, and less than 5,000 people fled back. Xie Baosheng, the general of Hebei Town, Henan, was killed, Henan Governor Zhang Renjun, and Huguang Governor Zhao Erxun also knew that it could not be concealed, so both of them could only report to the court to apologize.

After receiving the report, the Qing court was shocked. Because it was Cixi, she originally planned to be invisible and unhappy. Overseas Chinese would demolish them as much as they wanted in Shandong. No matter what they wanted, they did not expect that overseas Chinese would be unwilling to stay in Shandong Province, and they actually extended their hands to Henan Province, and had occupied such a large piece of land.

Although overseas Chinese have already separated their relationship with Henan bandits, who Cixi was naturally aware that it was just a pretentious move to cover up the eyes and ears. However, Henan is still the hinterland of the Central Plains, and all Chinese dynasties have said that those who have won the Central Plains will win the world. Therefore, this move by overseas Chinese is quite terrible. If they indulge themselves and let Hainan Chinese occupy the entire province of Henan, it will cut off the connection between the north and the south, which is quite unfavorable to the Qing court.

Although Cixi did not want to pay attention to the affairs of overseas Chinese, she could not ignore it at this time. So Cixi immediately discussed the recruitment of military ministers and negotiated countermeasures in the name of Guangxu.

At this time, Li Hongzhang was still sick and did not say anything. Prince Qing still did not speak. Zhang Zhidong and Zhao Shuqiao did not dare to speak lightly. It was two young Manchu military officers, Rong Qing. Tieliang seemed very active and passionate. He insisted that he could not be polite to overseas Chinese anymore. The court should immediately issue an order to declare overseas Chinese rebellion and then send troops to fight.

This radical suggestion also scared the others. Zhang Zhidong didn't want to talk too much, and at this time he couldn't help but object, believing that the power of overseas Chinese was too strong, and the new army of the court had not yet been trained. At this time, starting a war with overseas Chinese was probably not good for the court.

Zhang Zhidong was also an old minister of the Qing court, and his reputation was second only to Li Hongzhang. Generally, even after he spoke, he would not say anything else directly, but would express it more tactfully. However, Rong Qing rebuked Zhang Zhidong for being a foul instigating the enemy. The reason why overseas Chinese became popular was because the court had been indulging, which has now become a climate and a major concern for the court. Now that the ambitions of overseas Chinese have been emerging, how can they indulge in any more? They can only fight with all their might to eliminate this problem and ensure the safety of the court.

Tieliang offered another plan, which might as well be able to quell the Changmao Rebellion, ask all countries to send troops to help the court quell the rebellion. It is best to let all countries fight against overseas Chinese to defeat both sides. The court just takes advantage of the fisherman's benefits, which is a strategy to drive away tigers and swallow wolves.

After hearing Tieliang's words, Zhang Zhidong was shocked and asked foreigners to send troops to fight overseas Chinese. Is this a fun thing? Although the Qing court did invite foreign troops when the Changmao Rebellion was put down, the most famous of which was the foreign gun team formed by the American Chinese, these troops were actually mercenaries, and had nothing to do with governments of various countries. Even their members were not all foreigners. A considerable number of them were determined by the Chinese. In the overall situation of suppressing the Changmao Rebellion, they were actually insignificant. The main force was still based on Zeng Guofan's Hunan Army. But the Qing court now, where did they find the second Zeng Guofan and the second Hunan Army?

If governments are invited to send troops to help, it is far from comparable to mercenaries. All countries are greedy. After the Sino-Japanese War, the Three Kingdoms intervened and returned to Liao. Although the Qing court saved the Liaodong Peninsula, Russia, France and Germany both rented Lushun forcibly, Germany forcibly rented Jiaoao on the grounds of making contributions to the return of Liao. France forced the Qing court to sign the Sino-French Treaty on the Continuing of Border Affairs, and ceded the places of Mengwu, Ude, Modine, Mobbe, Moxa and other places in Yunnan to French Indochina (equivalent to the current Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia). If countries are invited to send troops to suppress overseas Chinese, how much profit should they be used to fill the desires of various countries? Therefore, Zhang Zhidong also refused to fight for reason and insisted that he could not invite all countries to send troops.

Rongqing and Tieliang were not willing to be outdone. They gave Zhang Zhidong a big hat to Zhang Zhidong without any hesitation, even if they were afraid of the tiger, they would give Zhang Zhidong a big hat, which implied that Zhang Zhidong had collusion with overseas Chinese, and also made Zhang Zhidong's hair tremble.

In fact, there is a reason for the propositions of Rong Qing and Tieliang. Although most Manchus were still living in a daze at this time, they were still a little clear-headed and full of a sense of real crisis. Rong Qing and Tieliang were the representatives. In the eyes of these Manchus, the biggest crisis of the Qing court was not the European and American countries, but the rise of the Han forces in China, because what European and American countries only wanted was business power, at most it was to cut off a few small places, while what the Han people wanted was the entire Qing Dynasty. After their overseas Chinese landed, this sense of crisis became even stronger.

Overseas Chinese are descendants of the previous dynasty, which is an unreliable identity. Of course, in the Manchus' eyes, overseas Chinese are Han people from the previous dynasty, so there is naturally more suspicion. Moreover, after the overseas Chinese landed, they first seizure Shandong and excluded the Manchus from Shandong. Not long ago, the overseas Chinese protected the people signed a contract with the Netherlands in the name of the country, and bribed the hearts of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. In the eyes of the Manchus, all these actions were all acts to subvert the Qing Dynasty. However, Han ministers such as Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, Yuan Shikai and others defended overseas Chinese in the court, which made many Manchus doubt their motives.

Not long ago, a rumor was circulating in the Manchu circle, saying that many Han ministers have colluded with overseas Chinese to overthrow the Qing court and restore the Han nationality. Rong Qing, Tie Liang and others believed in this rumor. Although they did not have the names of Han ministers in the rumor, in Rong Qing and Tie Liang's heart, many Han ministers had been named in the hearts of Rong Qing and Tie Liang, so Zhang Zhidong was naturally on the list. Therefore, the two of them were unceremoniously angrily at Zhang Zhidong.

Seeing that the military ministers either said nothing or attacked each other, Cixi couldn't help but feel upset. She slapped the armrests of the seats and said, "It's enough."

When he heard Cixi's speech, Rong Qing, Tieliang and Zhang Zhidong stopped talking and stood down with his hands and lowered their heads. Cixi angrily scolded: "Look at what you are like. The emperor asked you to come to you to make an idea, not to let you come to the party to fight against the differences."

The word "party and fight against differences" is quite important, because all dynasties have been very taboo to form cliques by ministers, so many military ministers, including those who did not participate in the quarrel, couldn't help but feel silent.
Chapter completed!