In the days when the Guangzhou Uprising was just successful, when the news reached Beijing, the Qing court could still maintain a calm attitude. Empress Dowager Longyu nagged all day long, and her mother-in-law and mother had to ask about the whereabouts of the Regent almost every few hours to find out what the situation in the country was. However, in the past two days, as Fujian, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Yunnan and other provinces successively issued electricity to announce the **, and uprisings in other provinces were frequent, and the Qing court finally knew the shaking of the country.

Empress Dowager Longyu changed from nagging her mother every day to crying; the newly established clan society party seemed to revitalize discipline on the surface, but in private everyone had their own ulterior motives; powerful figures from the Beiyang faction walked around, especially Xu Shichang, Tang Shaoyi and others, who were all in Dongjiaomin Lane all day, but no one knew what the purpose was.

A large number of officials from the Advisory Bureau and the Sixth Ministry left, and all went south quietly.

The entire capital is already a preparatory situation.

On February 20, the Zongshe Party asked to lead troops south to suppress the revolution, and even the plan for marching was formulated. The fifth town went straight to Jiangsu from Shandong, the second town was directly suppressed by Henan, and the fourth town moved to Zhengzhou to prevent the revolutionary army from counterattacking the northern expedition. Regent Zaifeng also strongly agreed to such a decision. Even though his agreement seemed so hasty and anxious, the Qing Dynasty was about to end, what else could it do?

But after ordering, the young and strong nobles of the Qing Dynasty were eager to try, but none of the soldiers in the three towns were launched. If it weren't for the critical situation and fearing that further mutiny would have caused, the young and strong nobles would have arrested a few ruthless soldiers to start the operation. Everyone knew that at this critical moment, the six towns in Beiyang were the only reliable troops. If even they were rebelling, the Qing Dynasty would have really died.

By the 25th, the domestic situation was no longer controlled, and the electricity from various provinces spread to the capital.

Under the leadership of the ambassadors of Britain and France, diplomatic embassies from various countries in Dongjiaominxiang jointly submitted an opinion letter to the Qing court, saying that in such a critical survival and death, Yuan Gongbao could only take charge of the overall situation. This opinion letter was not an official document, but was just a private suggestion of ambassadors of various countries. From this point of view, it has been seen that Yuan Shikai had already started to move after lying in so long.

On the 29th, Zaifeng, who drank poison to quench his thirst, issued an edict in the name of Emperor Xuantong, appointing Yuan Shikai as the head of the army, urging Yuan Shikai to go north to preside over the overall military and political situation as soon as possible. Regarding this news, the members of the Zongshe Party called for the heavens and earth, and opposed it endlessly, saying that this was a way to attract the wolf into the house, and the Qing Dynasty would inevitably be ruined by the thief. But what about such a call?

Yuan Shikai originally thought that this matter would be delayed until after the end of the New Year, but he did not expect that Zaifeng would compromise before the end of the New Year. However, how could his ambition be satisfied by a minister of the Army? He immediately refused the imperial edict of the court because his old illness had not been cured and continued to live his spare time at home. In any case, he had to persist until after the New Year.

On the morning of the 31st, Zhonghe Hall of the Forbidden City.

There was a curtain on one side of the first seat, and Empress Dowager Longyu was holding Emperor Xuantong and crying. The Regent Zaifeng on the first seat looked gloomy, bloodshot in his eyes, and one hand tightly clasped his court beads.

In the center of the hall, the last few ministers of the Qing Dynasty who could still gather together stood there, covered in sorrow, and only a few young and strong people were angry. There was no sound in the huge Zhonghe Hall for a while, only the cry of Empress Dowager Longyu and the babbling sounds made by the little Xuantong Emperor from time to time.

"Let's talk, everyone, can you tell me, for the sake of the present plan, can there be a countermeasure?" Zaifeng couldn't help but feel silent, and then shouted in a resentment. This sudden scream scared Empress Dowager Longyu jumped. After calming down, he actually restrained his crying. It was useless to cry at this time.

"We have said that if Yuan Xiangcheng is not invited to take action, we will probably suspend the final payment of those loans. If there is no money at this time, let alone quelling the rebellion, there will be enough chaos in our imperial city." Prince Su Shanqi frowned and took the conversation first.

"Yuan Xiangcheng, Yuan Xiangcheng, he is just a thief. If he is asked to come back, I will definitely finish the Qing Dynasty sooner or later." Tie Liang, a representative of the Zongshe Party and the core figure of the war faction, said gritting his teeth.

"Baochen," Prince Qing Yili, who was standing beside Prince Su, had his hands stuck in his sleeves, his upper body remained motionless, his eyes narrowed into slits. If he didn't look carefully, he would think that the old man was asleep standing. "When is it now, are you still holding those prejudices that are not useful? Why, are you planning to let Fengshan alone transfer the imperial guards to the south to quell the rebellion? At the beginning, you were shouting that you would lead troops south. Okay, I raised my hands to agree. Can you move me?"

Fengshan has a very bad face, and he likes to be used as a shield the most.

Tieliang glared at Yi Li fiercely and said coldly: "You are the only one who can do it? Who doesn't know that you are old and Yuan Shikai is always in love with each other. It was your bad idea to relocate the military power to Yuan Shikai. Now you are still pretending to be a god or a fool here?"

When Prince Qing heard this, his eyes opened a little, and he became angry and said, "Good boy, who are you scolding!"

Before Tieliang could speak, Liangbi, who was standing opposite Tieliang, also cursed: "You old dog, who else should be scolded here besides you? If it weren't for the iron hat given to you by your ancestors, you would have gone back to the countryside to farm today!"

"You...hum, what do you little generations know? If you have the ability, go and fight to the Democratic Party. Just a few of you, go! You are so powerful here. You will die if you go to the south. Hum, I tell the truth. What else can you expect if you have done this? Who else can you expect?" Yi Li maintained the demeanor of his elders while retorting unhappily.

Tieliang and Liangbi were going to scold Yi Li. At this time, Zaifeng on the first seat slapped the chair and shouted loudly: "Look at what you all look like, what kind of style are they all? Where is this place? You can scold them like this?"

Tieliang and Liangbi both glared at Yi Li fiercely, shook their sleeves, and held back their breath.

Yi Li rolled up her sleeves again, squinted her eyes, and regained her dozing attitude.

After the brief farce, the Zhonghe Palace fell silent again. Because everyone knows that there are not many choices in front of them, or there is no room for choice at all. The domestic turmoil is so powerful that even if there are more than 100,000 elite troops in the north, one soldier cannot move, and it makes people feel uneasy when it is decorated. The foreigners are even more treacherous and use the last number of loans to threaten it. The lifeline of the Qing Dynasty is now maintained by this pitiful infusion. Once it is terminated, it will be really in chaos.

But now most people in the court know that Yuan Shikai is ambition, how can he willingly let Yuan Shikai take the lead again?

This contradiction and opposition is the root of this silence and helplessness.

"What can you do for it, what can you do for it? Are you really unable to do it?" Zaifeng spoke anxiously again.

Shanqi said again: "What else can I do? Is there any other way? I have no money and nothing. To put it in a fair way, Lai Chen (Liang Bi), don't be surprised if you hear it. If you don't let Yuan Xiangcheng come out, then our Qing Dynasty will be over; if you let Yuan Xiangcheng come out, we will always have a glimmer of opportunity."

Tieliang muttered something, but no one heard it clearly.

Liangbi was wearing a new military uniform, with his hands on his waist, and looked like he was dissatisfied. But there was nothing he could do if he was dissatisfied. If the military power was in his hands, would he still be so cowardly?

The hall then sighed everywhere, and Empress Dowager Longyu started crying again.
Chapter completed!