Capital, Dongcheng District, Dongjiang Mi Lane, Russia Museum.

The Russian Pavilion is a hall where merchants, priests and students live after the signing of the Sino-Russian Treaty of the Chikhoto Treaty, and is converted from the Nanhuitong Pavilion. It is a hall where merchants, priests and students live. In fact, it is the embassy of the Russian Orthodox Church's mission in Beijing.

In a room in the backyard, Russian Minister Ptiyatin was rummaging carefully and carefully reading the information he had sent. The Orthodox Church mission in Beijing did not actually aim at missionary purposes, and rarely developed believers. The main task was to collect intelligence information on the Qing Dynasty's politics, economy, military, diplomacy, etc., exert a pro-Russian influence on the upper princes and princes, learn Chinese and Chinese culture, and translate Chinese classics to Russia.

The coalition of British and French declared war on the Qing Dynasty, landed directly in Tianjin, and divided its troops to attack Beijing. This was undoubtedly the top priority for Russia. The Russian delegation spared no effort to collect all the information it could collect during this period.

Putiyatin originally lived in Shanghai. When he learned that the four-nation coalition forces were heading north to attack Tianjin, he couldn't wait to come to the capital. For this battle, he not only cared about the outcome of the war, but also wanted to learn the strength of the new Yuanqi army in detail through this battle. Therefore, he was unwilling to deal with others with the information sent, but screened and analyzed it himself. Of course, this was inseparable from the sinologists of the delegation, China Communications.

"Your Excellency—." Zaharov quickly stepped in with a look of surprise and whispered: "Are there any distinguished guests coming to visit."

The noble guest? Putiyatin raised his head and looked at him in confusion. "Who?" As soon as he finished speaking, a Chinese man with a beard and a little gray, wearing a long gown and jacket, about fifty years old stepped into the room, with a reserved smile on his face, "Your Majesty, I have long admired Daming..."

Before Zaharov could translate, Putiyatin realized that the other party must be a senior official of the Qing Dynasty. After listening to the translation, he quickly got up, and the man took a famous post from a servant behind him and handed it over.

Putiyatin didn't know Chinese characters, so he took the famous post and took a fake look. Zaharov beside him quickly whispered: "This is the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, Suochuoluo Baofeng." As he said that, he added, "I used to be the minister of the Zongli Yamen."

Right Minister of Rites, and once served as Minister of the Zongli Yamen, Putiyatin hurriedly extended his hand enthusiastically, "It turned out to be Lord Suo..."

Baofeng spent a few years in the Zongli Yamen to deal with Westerners. He was familiar with Western etiquette and knew the habits of Westerners. After shaking hands and greetings, he said directly: "I will come today if I want to discuss with you..."

After listening to the translation, Putiyatin reached out to signal the door of the room, but did not speak. He waited for the following words, Baofeng paused slightly and then said: "His Majesty the Emperor of my country hopes to establish diplomatic channels with Britain and France."

After pondering for a moment, Putiyatin spoke: "I am honored to have the opportunity to serve Your Majesty the Emperor of your country. We will contact Britain and France as soon as possible." After a pause, he continued: "I would like to ask you, what is the intention of Your Majesty the Emperor of your country? Is it a truce? Or an alliance?"

Bao Jin smiled and said, "How can a mere military and national affairs be considered by a minister of the Ministry of Rites?"

Putiyatin smiled disconcerted and said, "The current situation will probably take four or five days to get news."

"After there is news, I will send someone to my mansion with a post." Bao Jing smiled. The other party's attitude made him very satisfied. When he came, he was still very worried, worried that the Russians would not help because of the matters between the Northeast and the Northwest.

After seeing Baoqiu off and returning to the room, Putiyatin looked straight at Zaharov and said, "Why did the Qing court contact Britain and France?"

Zaharov is a Chinese master. He not only knows Chinese but also Manchu. He keeps in contact with many princes and ministers in the capital. After hearing this, he chuckled and said, "Don't you already know the answer? Since the Qing emperor was not in a hurry to contact Britain and France, it means he is not worried that the coalition forces will attack Beijing. It will either be a truce, but naturally it will be an alliance."

If the Qing court formed an alliance with the British and French coalition forces, Yuanqi's situation would probably be a bit dangerous! Putiyatin slowly took out his pipe and put it in his mouth. The Qing Dynasty was the overlord of the Far East. From Russia's standpoint, Russia did not want the Qing Dynasty to be too close to Britain and France. In fact, Russia hoped that Yuanqi could rule the Far East.

Compared with the Qing court, Russia and Yuanqi had a closer relationship. Although Yuanqi forced himself to buy Alaska and Kamchatka Peninsula and was also aggressive in Central Asia, a Sino-Russian railway that ran across Europe and Asia will bring endless benefits to Russia, which was nothing more than what the Qing court gave!

Moreover, after this war, Yuan Qi will definitely have some cold talk about the attitudes of Britain and France. After all, Britain has a considerable conflict with Yuan Qi in Southeast Asia and on the southern foot of Tibet.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Zaharov tentatively said: "Do you need to send someone to contact Britain and France?"

After slowly lit a match and lit the smoke, Putiyatin said slowly: "Of course, I'll send someone to contact you as soon as possible to test the attitude of Britain and France."

After hesitating for a while, Zaharov said, "Shouldn't we stop it?"

"We can't stop this." Putiyatin said slowly: "But we can sell favors to Yuanqi."

Tianjin, Coastal Defense Office, Command Center.

Cao Gensheng walked in with brisk steps and reported: "The emperor has already allowed troops to send troops to Tongzhou in the capital," he said.

After hearing this, Yan Yangtian looked over with a eager look on his face. Yi Zhizu smiled and took out his watch to see it. Seeing that it was five o'clock, he said, "I specially asked someone to buy a table and ask Feng Renxuan to come over together."

"Student obeys the order!" Yan Yangtian said happily.

"Call back, the army will set off tomorrow morning." Yi Zhizu said and added, "There is an urgent call to my yard."

The yard where Yi Zhizu stayed was not far from the command center, but it was just a single arrow. The yard was not big, but it was very elegant. Lin Meilian was commanding several servants to busy schedule banquets in the living room, while Zhao Wenlie was walking in the yard to enjoy the flowers. When he saw Yi Zhizu in, he greeted him with a smile and said, "Is the capital calling back?"

"What else can I do if I don't agree? I can't let the Eight Banners New Army resist alone." Yi Zhizu smiled and said, "I just received a call from the monk."

Zhao Wenlie glanced around and whispered: "Are you leaving Beijing now?"

"The Monk King did not mention it, and there was no information in the capital." Yi Zhizu pondered: "However, the coalition forces are at the city, and logically, he should go to Rehe to escape the summer heat."

Lin Meilian came out at this time, "The shopkeeper is back, and the banquet is ready."

"Yeah." Yi Zhizu nodded, "Come and make a basin of water."

After Yi Zhizu washed up, Yan Yangtian and Feng Renxuan rushed to the yard to chat with Zhao Wenlie. Today, he did not invite anyone else to the banquet, so he invited Yan Yangtian and Feng Renxuan. Zhao Wenlie was accompanied, and the four of them came to the table. Although Yi Zhizu greeted him diligently, Yan Yangtian and the other two were still a little restrained.

After withdrawing from the table and serving tea, Yi Zhizu began to get to the point. "Yuanqi has always been committed to developing and improving weapons. Now the weapons and equipment of the new Yuanqi army is indeed slightly ahead of the four-nation coalition forces such as Britain and France, but it is only slightly ahead.

Compared with the Raven War more than ten years ago, the gap between the weapons between the two sides has not widened, but narrowed. I believe you know this very well. This is why over the years, I have always emphasized that weapons are an important factor in determining the outcome of a war, but not a decisive factor.

When the weapons gap between the two sides are not large, there are many factors that determine the outcome of the war, including logistics support, battlefield rescue, military quality, battlefield environment, battlefield communication, etc., but the most important thing that can play a decisive role is the quality of the army! The most important thing in the quality of the army is to obey orders and obey commands!"

Hearing this, Yan Yangtian looked excited, while Feng Renxuan was a little confused. However, he reacted quickly and immediately stood up and saluted and said loudly: "Please rest assured that the shopkeeper will be tens of thousands of officers and soldiers of the Northwest Army will firmly obey orders and obey commands."

Seeing him like this, Yan Yangtian didn't dare to sit down, so he quickly followed suit. Yi Zhizu reached out and pressed his hand to signal the two to sit down. Then he continued: "Tongzhou intercepted, only 20,000 troops were dispatched. It was not because I was entrusted, but because the court was not at ease with us. If there were too many troops, the court would not allow it!"

Zhao Wenlie interrupted at this time, "The students don't understand. Since the court is worried, why do we have to send troops to Tongzhou to intercept? Tens of thousands of Eight Banners new troops can't watch the British and French forces break through the capital."

This is a scoop! Yi Zhizu didn't answer, but looked at Yan Yangtian and Feng Renxuan and said, "What do you think?"

Seeing that Yan Yangtian didn't say anything, Feng Renxuan hesitated and said, "Is the shopkeeper worried that the court will sign a truce agreement with Britain, France and other countries in private?"

After lit a cigarette, Yi Zhizu said slowly: "It is not easy to create the Eight Banners New Army, and it is even more difficult to have the scale today. The court regards the Eight Banners New Army as its last resort and is reluctant to let the Eight Banners New Army fight against the Four-Nation Alliance head-on, for fear of being disabled. If we do not send troops to Tongzhou to intercept, the court will do everything in order to preserve its strength and to protect the capital!

It is impossible to sign a truce agreement in private, because the Four-Nation Alliance will not agree. Even if the Eight Banners New Army withdrew from the battlefield, the Four-Nation Alliance will not be able to recover its disadvantages. Therefore, there is only one result, that is, the court colluded with the Four-Nation Alliance and attacked us in turn!"

Yan Yangtian felt nervous, but Feng Renxuan was stunned. He really couldn't accept this inference. He never thought that the court would collude with the Four-Nation Alliance to fight Yuan Qi in turn! However, after careful consideration, this might be true, not only, but also very large! After all, the court has always regarded Yuan Qi as a thorn in his eyes. If the Four-Nation Alliance can defeat Yuan Qi, the court is very likely to take a risk.

Seeing the two people, Yi Zhizu said in a deep voice: "This time, the troops sent to Tongzhou to intercept, you can only win, not lose! Otherwise, the court will inevitably have other ideas!"

After a pause, he continued: "Yuan Qi has never had the intention to overthrow the court, but if the court colluded with the four-nation coalition forces, turned against the enemy at the last minute, and sold out the national interests, whether for the sake of Yuan Qi's own safety or for the long-term interests of the Chinese nation, I would raise troops to overthrow the court without hesitation!"

This is the first time Yi Zhizu openly said that he would overthrow the court. Although he had the conditions, he was also inspiring. Yan Yangtianteng stood up and saluted: "Resolutely obey the principal's orders and obey the principal's orders!"

Feng Renxuan did not dare to hesitate, and stood up and saluted, "Resolutely obey the orders of the shopkeeper and obey the orders of the shopkeeper!"

"I don't want Yuan Qi to have a fight with the court to the point of fighting." Yi Zhizu slowed down and said: "I will fight hard for the Tongzhou blocking war. I must learn to annihilate the enemy in the movement and learn to concentrate my superior forces in the movement to defeat them one by one!"

"Students obey orders."

"Subordinate to obey the order!"

"Go down and prepare." Yi Zhizu said softly: "Let's start tomorrow morning."

Yan Yangtian and Feng Renxuan had just left the yard, and Cao Gensheng hurried in and said, "The shopkeeper, the capital, the Russian minister Putiyatin called, and Bao Yan, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, met in private. He asked the Russian delegation to contact the British and French ministers."

After receiving the telegram, Yi Zhizu gave a soft command: "Call back, report the progress at any time."

After Cao Gensheng left, Zhao Wenlie sneered and said, "I'm still far away from the capital, so I can't help it."

Yi Zhizu knocked the ashes and said in a calm tone: "It is still possible to violate the evils of God, but it is impossible to survive if you commit sins."

Military Grain City, Command Center.

It was two days later than Tianjin's intelligence. The news that the main fleet of the Nanyang Navy appeared in Dalian reached the Military Grain City Command. After hearing the report, Erjin and Ge Luo all had an incredible expression. You should know that the joint naval fleet of the four countries has been looking for the Qing Dynasty since entering Nanyang, hoping to eliminate its main force in a battle. Unexpectedly, the other party actually came to his door!

"What does the Qing Navy want to do?" Erjin muttered subconsciously. If it was just to eliminate the two supply bases of Dalian and Zhifu, there would be no need to dispatch the main fleet. After all, the coalition forces stationed in Dalian and Zhifu were pitifully fewer troops and warships.

Ge Luo whispered: "Will it be to lure our fleet to go out to sea and thus reduce the pressure on Tianjin?"

"The river channel leading to Tianjin was blocked by a shipwreck and could not be cleared in less than three or four days, and the other party may continue to block it." Erjin said carefully: "The naval fleet does not actually put much pressure on Tianjin at all, and this matter is strange."

After a while, Erjin said, "Send the Clippers to Dalian and Zhifu to investigate the situation." After a pause, he continued, "A part of the Tianjin Beiyang Navy fleet entered the Daliao River in the north and closely monitored its movements."
Chapter completed!