At the same time, a pair of monarchs and ministers in the imperial study room of the Qing Dynasty capital were also talking about this matter.

"Master Weng, what do you think of the outcome of this negotiation with the Japanese?"

Weng Tonghe thought for a while and said, "Return to the emperor, I think that although the Japanese side failed for a while in this negotiation, it did not hurt the fundamentals. It may be possible for the court to obtain some compensation from the East, but if it were other aspects, it would be difficult to reach an agreement."

The little emperor smiled slightly after hearing this, got up and walked and said, "Oh, why?"

Seeing the little emperor stand up, Weng Tonghe hurriedly followed and said as he walked: "I know that the emperor sent Prince Gong to contact the Russians, but I think the Russians are not reliable. Moreover, with the current situation, the French will definitely go to the Japanese. Once these two families offset, whether they will succeed in the end depends on our own strength. Although the Beiyang Navy has been built for a long time, it is not useful, so I think it is difficult to force Japan to surrender."

Guangxu suddenly stopped and looked at Weng Tonghe meaningfully.

Weng Tonghe did not dare to face Guangxu's gaze and quickly lowered his head.

Guangxu smiled and said, "Although the Beiyang Navy was established several years ago, the silver spent is basically used for port construction and forts. The only warships purchased are super brave, and the two ships of Yangwei are barely available, so it is naturally difficult to completely suppress the Japanese. Of course, Master Weng said one thing very well, 'Whether it can be accomplished depends on his own strength in the end'. Humph, although I can't suppress the little Japanese this time, one day, my boots will step on the top of Mount Fuji!"

Weng Tonghe didn't feel much about the little emperor's bold words, but he understood Guangxu's previous words. The little emperor's ability to speak for the Beiyang Navy shows that Li Hongzhang is now in the emperor's heart, and his holy relatives are not yet weak. It is probably too early to defeat him now if he wants to knock him down.

Thinking of this, Weng Tonghe mentioned another thing: "The emperor, the censor Chen Qitai reported the "Yunnan Reimbursement Case" the day before yesterday. The Ministry of Revenue has found that the subordinates and others have owed more than 200,000 taels of gold silver, especially Long Jidong and Sun Jiamu. The two have been handed over to the Ministry of Justice. How should the officials involved be punished? I don't know if the emperor has the will."

When the corruption was mentioned, Guangxu was angry. "The country is now using money everywhere. There are floods in Anhui, Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces, and the people are living in poverty. The French in the south are eyeing them, with Japanese in the east and Russians in the north. The country is in trouble, and these people are still sucking blood and knocking marrow. Aren't they greedy for money? They sent the Ministry of Justice, and all the people involved in the case confiscated their homes. Didn't Zuo Zongtang ask the Nanyang Sea to prevent the shortage of silver? Let Zuo Zongtang arrange an operator to handle it, and all the confiscated silver is used for the Nanyang Navy!"

After saying that, Guangxu glanced at Weng Tonghe and said, "How did Jing Lian and Wang Wenshao check?"

Jing Lian and Wang Wenshao had served as the Ministry of Revenue respectively. Because of the "Yunnan Reimbursement" case, the censor Hong Liangpin and others received bribes in the case, but both of them were important officials in the current court. Of course, they could not file a case in a hurry like those minor officials. Therefore, Prince Chun and Weng Tong and the two of them asked in detail, and they must obtain real evidence before they can handle it.

"When I went back to the emperor, I asked about it, but Hong Liangpin had no evidence or physical evidence, so I could not point it out."

Guangxu sneered, "Isn't this nonsense? Can you leave some evidence and evidence waiting for you to investigate in this matter? If it's really okay, why did Deng Chengxiu participate in him again? Do these ministers have nothing to do and think it's fun to establish a minister as an enemy for themselves?" As he said, he quickly paced in the house.

Weng Tonghe was dizzy when he looked around, wanting to say something, but he did not dare to disturb the little emperor's thinking. At this time, Guangxu suddenly paused and said, "Suspend the two of them and notify them to go to Dali Temple to explain the problem between Chen and Shen hours every day. Remember, they must explain all their property, land, and property clearly and must not be concealed. When to buy each piece of land, who bought it, what value it was when it was bought, etc., etc., they all need to explain it in detail. It must be said that there is something. If the property that is not explained clearly, all of them will be confiscated."

Guangxu finished the explanation quickly, but he was exhausted from the little eunuch who was recording on the side. He could understand the little emperor's deep intention of "explaining problems at the prescribed time and place". Fortunately, there was Weng Tonghe who was a slutty official next to him. At least he understood the emperor's profound theories and hurried out to do the job.

It was already the time for Liu Yongfu to return home. The French have been making a big fuss in the past two years, especially recently, the army has been frequently mobilized, and it seems that they have the intention to go north. The Black Flag Army was entrusted by the Vietnamese king to lead the defense of the Three Propaganda. These days, in order to deal with the French, Liu Yongfu recruited soldiers and arranged military affairs everywhere, which was really busy.

Just as he was about to go back to his bedroom, he suddenly saw the lights on one side of the room. Liu Yongfu smiled and knew that his baby son was not asleep yet, so he was not in a hurry to go back and walked to his son's room.

When I pushed the door open and saw a handsome boy drawing something on the table by the window holding a geese brush.

There was a special candlestick in front of the boy, which was very distinctive. Behind the three large candles, there was a silver-plated metal plate inserted. The metal plate was slightly curved, forming a half-encirclement behind the candlestick, reflecting all the light of the candle onto the front desk.

Looking at the light, the boy was about eleven or twelve years old. Maybe because he lived in the army all year round, he looked relatively strong, but his skin was slightly darker. He was Liu Yongfu's second son Liu Shaoqing.

Liu Yongfu originally had an eldest son, but he was separated from the battle with the Qing army during the Tongzhi period. At that time, the Qing army attacked, and his wife and son were still at home and had no time to transfer. After arriving in Vietnam, Liu Yongfu found a Vietnamese girl in the local area to get married again, and then he had this son.

Because of his own reasons, the eldest son and ex-wife both fell into the chaos. Liu Yongfu almost passed on his guilt towards his wife and son to the youngest son in front of him, and he was very doting on him. But this son is also well-behaved and clever, and he has been different from ordinary people since he was a child. He will never forget the words, poems, poems, and the Four Books and Five Classics. At least he can memorize them after reading them two or three times. But there is something wrong with it, and there are always some strange thoughts, such as the candlestick I made, which is said to protect myopia and prevent myopia.

Hearing someone coming in, the boy quickly raised his head and saw that it was his father. Zhan Yan smiled and said, "It's my father. It's so late. Is there anything wrong with looking for the child?"

Liu Yongfu smiled and walked up to touch the child's cheek, "Just come back from the camp and see that the lights are still on in your room, come and take a look." Then he picked up the paper on the table.

"What are you drawing?"

"By my father, didn't the Qing court send a batch of guns and weapons before? The child looked at it and felt that there was room for improvement, so he thought about how to redesign it so that the rifle could be used better."

Liu Yongfu had never studied any books. Although he couldn't quite understand the 'space' and 'design' that his son said, but he could still understand the meaning. After looking at the drawings in his hand, he couldn't understand them, so he turned around and asked his son: "Can it work?"

Liu Shaoqing laughed and said, "It's not that easy. Now I'm just designing a sketch. If I really want to improve it, I have to have corresponding machinery and equipment, gunpowder, and I have to keep up. We can't do this now."

It turned out that it was nothing but a loss, so Liu Yongfu stopped asking.

Looking at his father's expression, Liu Shaoqing paused and asked, "Father, what are you worried about?"

Liu Yongfu nodded.

He knew that his son was different from others, and he had a lot of thoughts in his mind, and they were all things that others could not think of, so he was willing to talk to his son if he had anything to do. He said that the Qing court suddenly supported a group of weapons in the first half of the year, because the Black Flag Army was originally a rebel army that started against the Qing court, so many old brothers in the army did not agree to accept it. But his son said, "Learn from the barbarians to control the barbarians, and even the Qing court understood this principle. Is the descendants of our Han people not as good as those of Manchus? Nowadays, the French are aggressive, and our weapons are not as good as the French. If the French fight, will they let the brothers die? It would be better to take these weapons. Even if they don't fight with the French in the future, they will fight more happily, right?"

These words moved Liu Yongfu's heart, and Liu Yongfu persuaded a group of old brothers to leave behind this batch of arms. With these two thousand new foreign guns, the combat effectiveness of the Black Flag Army immediately increased exponentially, and the thoughts of the old brothers turned around.

When my son asked, Liu Yongfu sorted out his thoughts and said, "There is news coming from the north that Li Hongzhang is preparing to sign a contract with the French in Shanghai. I thought, if the Qing court signed a contract with the French, I might give up the Vietnamese land. If the French call him, where can we go?"

After hearing this, Liu Shaoqing smiled slightly, then turned around and moved a stool, walked over and sat at his father's feet, and snuggled in front of Liu Yongfu's knees.

"Where does my father want to go?"

Liu Yongfu touched his son's head and sighed: "We are the people who have committed the rebellion of the Qing court in China and were driven here. I thought that no one would ask about the scriptures in this southern barbarian land and could do the rest of my life. But I didn't expect that the French would actually worry about this land. Now we have a country that cannot be returned, so we can only fight with the French to the end, which is just a pain for you children."

After hearing my father reveal his feelings, Liu Shaoqing was a little sad. "Didn't the Qing court give his father an official position as a escort envoy? Why did his father say 'If there is a country, you can't return'?"

Liu Yongfu snorted coldly and said, "You don't understand. Clearing the demons will win people's hearts. Now it is to let us block the French. If we sign a contract with the French, we will be useless. We will definitely still think about destroying us. What do you think is the use of this shattering envoy? "

Liu Shaoqing suddenly realized: "What my father said is very true, so if we want us to have a home to go back and a country to return, we must ensure that we are still useful!"

"Huh?" After hearing what his son said, Liu Yongfu knew that the boy must have a bad idea again, so he immediately asked: "What do you think? Tell me about it to my father."

Liu Shaoqing stood up and walked a few steps in the house, then said, "According to his son, although the court asked Li Hongzhang to negotiate with the French to sign the contract, it is probably unknown whether the contract can be signed. Moreover, even if Li Hongzhang signed with the French, the French may not admit it. In the end, the two families will definitely have to fight. Then, don't we have the opportunity to take advantage of it?"

Liu Yongfuqi said: "How come you know that this contract cannot be signed? How do you know that even the Frenchman can refuse to admit it after signing the contract?"

"Father, do you think, did the Qing court fight with the Japanese in North Korea this summer?"

Liu Yongfu nodded: "That's the case, and I heard that I won."

Liu Shaoqing slapped his thigh: "Yes! You think that the Qing court can let Li Hongzhang negotiate with the French at this time, which means that the matter on North Korea must be over. With China's new victory, it is Xiao Dongyang. The Qing court must have a lot of confidence, so we will definitely not suffer any losses in the negotiations between North Korea, right?"

Liu Yongfu thought: "Well, that's the case."

"Hey~, then think about it again. The Qing court has not yet fought with the French because of Vietnam. If the negotiations at this time, the French can take advantage of the advantage at once, can Li Hongzhang be regarded as an official? He will not be scolded to death by the Qingliu people in the court. So, I think this time, the price of our court's asking price must not be lower. But you know the French's character. If they don't take advantage of the advantage, can they give up? So the child asserted that they will definitely not sign this contract!"

After hearing his son's analysis, Liu Yongfu immediately felt that the knot in his heart had dispersed a lot. He was just thinking about the various things and completely ignored his son's words "our court".

Although Liu Yongfu was a rebel army, he had been engaged with the Qing court for half his life and was very clear about the struggle for power and profit between the officials in the court. At that time, the Heaven and Earth Association was in Guangxi, which was to take advantage of the intrigue between officials at all levels, so he had room for survival and found a glimmer of hope from the Qing army's encirclement and suppression, and fled to Vietnam to re-establish the banner of the Black Flag Army. So he knew that what his son said was likely to become a fact.

At this moment, Liu Yongfu felt much more happy in his heart, and then laughed and said, "It makes sense. Then you can talk about it, what should we do now?"

Liu Shaoqing said: "As the saying goes, 'You must be strong by yourself', we cannot just rely on others. The most important thing is to improve our own strength. As long as we are strong, the Qing court and France will not dare to mess with us. At that time, we still want to live in Vietnam, Vietnam, and China." As he said that, Liu Shaoqing churned out a few pieces of paper on his desk.

"At this time, some of the training strategies my son has been thinking of in the past few days are designed for the current new foreign guns and cannons. I also ask my father to trust his son. Practicing troops according to this strategy will inevitably make the combat effectiveness of our Black Flag Army higher than the level!"

Liu Yongfu took a few pieces of paper handed over by his son, and saw that it was full of words and various pictures, drawing arrays or fitness equipment. Each picture was accompanied by text descriptions, indicating what it was used for, what effect it could have, etc.

Liu Yongfu looked at it for a long time but couldn't understand it very much. With a try-and-see attitude, he still solemnly put these pieces of paper into his arms.
Chapter completed!