Chapter 350 Can revenge be taken in the 9th generation?

Chapter 350 Can revenge be taken in the 9th generation?

Chapter 350 Can revenge be achieved in nine generations? Even in a hundred generations!

"When I was young, my waist and legs were as strong as a calf. I loved famous mountains and lived there. Now that I am old, my body is as stiff as a silkworm. I just want to have room to wander around. It is quite pleasant to stay in a small garden. There is no need to look far beyond the clouds."

The new work that Qiao Songnian presented to the emperor was ethereal and elegant, as if he was absorbed in Qiao Garden and had no interest in the officialdom.

Cixi felt cold in her heart when she received the telegram from Hailing.

The old man was on his side after all. He might have been loyal to the court, but now that he was sent back to live out his days in retirement, he might have been disappointed.

Qiao Songnian claimed illness and refused to obey the imperial edict, which was clearly an excuse for Shao Quanzhong to take revenge on him when he returned.

I was away at the battle, and you stabbed my adoptive father in the back. Then I'll let the young emperor take sick leave and replace him with my younger brother, right?
Now the Qing Dynasty is peaceful and the people are safe. The people have experienced turmoil for a long time and their minds are at peace. The Qing Dynasty is stable, and most of the governors are loyal to the court. Shao Quanzhong probably can't rebel.

But if Shao Quanzhong were to depose or enthrone the emperor, it would be the behavior of a powerful official. As long as the Qing dynasty was still in name only, everyone's official hats were intact, their salaries were received, and people kept paying respects to each other, no one would stand up and form a group of 18 princes to fight against Shao Quanzhong.

What if the little emperor turned into the Duke of Shanyang and fell into the water and died?
After thinking about it, he couldn't think of any way to stop Shao Quanzhong. Zaiyi was also his son, and he couldn't bear to get rid of the second son to protect the first son, not to mention that there were Haiqing and Tonglin guarding, so it would be difficult to get rid of the second son.

Is the Aisin-Gioro family's bloodline about to lose the throne and let the Shao family take over?
Even though Cixi married "following the example of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang", in her heart she still considered herself a widow of the Aisin-Gioro family. She and Shao Quanzhong were just sex partners who used each other and there was no emotional connection between them.

The "wisdom of Cixi" that I have always been proud of is useless in the face of absolute strength.

Cixi held Qiao Songnian's poem in her hand and sat in the West Warm Pavilion for a long time
Suddenly I realized that at this time, the Qing Dynasty needed the "virtue of Cixi".

Although Ci'an had lost her power, she still had the title of the legitimate empress dowager. She lived in seclusion in Zhongcui Palace and was still the object of loyalty of the Aixinjueluo royal family. Only she could make the final decision on such a major event concerning the change of the country and the family name.

Cixi thought about it and made up her mind, "Little Li, come with me to Zhongcui Palace to pay respects to Sister Ci'an."

In Zhongcui Palace, Ci'an was still as elegant as ever.

She entered the palace at the age of sixteen, two years younger than Cixi. Her appearance was slightly inferior to that of Cixi, one of the "Five Springs in the Harem", but she had a noble and confident temperament that Cixi could never catch up with.

The reason why Cixi called her sister was simply because she was carried in from the Qianqing Gate in a sedan chair with music and fanfare by the late emperor, while Cixi was carried into the palace from the back door in a sedan chair and rose to power by relying on her beauty.

Today, Cixi unexpectedly came to pay her respects, but Ci'an was not excited. "Sister, you have the responsibility of the country, how can you have time to come and see me?"

Cixi suddenly fell to the ground and burst into tears, "Sister, I am incompetent. The throne of the Aisin-Gioro family is in danger."

Ci'an personally helped Cixi up, and the lights in Zhongcui Palace remained on until midnight.

The two widows of the previous emperor discussed until the early morning when eunuchs suddenly appeared in the Zhongcui Palace.

In the Imperial City of Sijiu, all the princes' houses were knocked down in the middle of the night. Half an hour later, all the princes in the capital were urgently summoned to the Zhongcui Palace overnight.

Including Prince Su Longqin, Prince Yi Zaidun, Prince Zhuang Yiren, Prince Chun Yihuan, Prince Zheng Chengzhi, Prince Li Shiduo, Prince Xian (formerly Prince Rui) Dechang, Prince Yu Benge, and even Prince Gong Yi, who was reflecting on his mistakes at home, were called over.

At this critical moment, the Aisin-Gioro family put aside their past grudges and reunited.

The meeting in Zhongcui Palace lasted until dawn, and the princes returned home with heavy hearts, but the court did not issue any earth-shaking decree.

The Forbidden City was eerily quiet, and seemed to have no response to Shao Quanzhong's glorious achievements in France.

…………

On November 1870, 11, the Huai Army arrived outside the city of Paris.

In fact, eight days ago, Shao Quanzhong had already arrived outside Paris with his Guards, but it would take at least ten days to transport 50,000 troops, 56,000 Cossacks, and too much equipment, as they were limited by the train's capacity.

The same thing happened with the Prussians. They surrounded Paris early on, but never started shelling it. This was simply because it took hundreds of thousands of soldiers to surround a city of two million people, and the railways were unable to transport troops and ammunition. The heavy artillery was still in Metz and had not yet been shipped.

The French attacked the Prussians with scorched earth, and all the food around Paris was snatched away before the siege.

The hundreds of thousands of people besieging the city had to be supplied with food from the rear, which was impossible without the well-developed railways in France. Therefore, the Prussian heavy artillery was not expected to arrive until early 1871.

Shao Quanzhong had few soldiers and came from the south, which did not conflict with the Prussians' railway line in the north. He had enough food and one hundred heavy artillery pieces were delivered in advance.

Shao Quanzhong stationed his troops at the foot of Mount Alven outside Paris. On the opposite mountain was a group of fortresses built by the French to protect Paris.

France is much richer than Ma Hualong, so the defense of Paris is naturally far greater than that of Fort Jacques-Louis.

Paris is surrounded by a 100-kilometer-long line of fortifications, which house 1300 cannons and each gun is equipped with 458 rounds of ammunition. It can be said that the barriers are strong and the pass is as strong as iron.

There were 40 defensive troops stationed in the fortresses. To the Prussians, it was extremely difficult to take down these fortresses one by one and for the army to break into Paris.

After his army arrived, Shao Quanzhong went to visit old acquaintances in the Prussian military camp, His Majesty King William I of Prussia and Prime Minister Bismarck.

Shao Quanzhong saluted William I, and Prime Minister Bismarck shook hands with Shao Quanzhong cordially, "Shao, you are indeed a trustworthy person, coming from afar to help in the war."

"The Huai Army has annihilated the Loire Army. We have nothing to worry about and can focus on besieging Paris. It is only a matter of time before France surrenders. When the fruits of victory are divided in the future, you will definitely have a share."

Shao Quanzhong smiled and said, "Your Excellency Prime Minister, hundreds of thousands of troops besieging the city will cost more than hundreds of thousands of silver coins a day. This is really too wasteful. It is better to break the city as soon as possible and achieve a complete victory."

"No, no, no, Shao, although the Huai Army has achieved brilliant results, you lack combat experience in attacking a large city like Paris."

The speaker was Prussian Chief of Staff Moltke, who was very strict and did not give face to Shao Quanzhong, the distinguished guest. "We have hundreds of thousands of troops besieging Paris. The transportation of food and ammunition alone has exhausted the railway's transportation capacity. Without heavy artillery, it is impossible to break through the heavily defended Paris."

"Your 150 heavy artillery pieces alone cannot take down Paris. It will take us until early next year to transport our 210-plus mm siege artillery pieces and mm mortars to Paris. By then, the people of Paris will probably have starved to death."

"The correct way is to besiege the enemy and force them to surrender because they are out of food. There is no point in wasting manpower on a futile attack."

Ahem, what Moltke said was right, he was a master of military strategy who had truly inherited the true teachings of the Prussian soldier saint. However, at this time, Shao Quanzhong could not agree with Moltke's correct opinion.

I have to break into Paris for a compelling reason. It's 900 million francs. I have even signed a gentleman's agreement with them. Even if it's not for the money, I can't afford to lose face.

I am the Far East Lord of the Society and one of the behind-the-scenes rulers of this world. What I do is not something a worker like you, Moltke, can understand.

Shao Quanzhong smiled and said, "The Prussian army made a significant contribution to the siege. I admire Count Moltke's military strategy very much."

"However, we only have 50,000 Huai Army soldiers. We can't help much by participating in the siege. Why don't we try to attack Paris alone? What if we can break in? Wouldn't we save a lot of military expenses?"

Moltke's breath was stuck in his throat and he felt very depressed.

They knew it wouldn't work but still tried it. What could possibly go wrong in a large-scale battle between millions of people? Did they treat the war as a game?

Well, the Huai Army is yours. If you want to cause trouble and suffer casualties, you have to bear the consequences yourself. I won't worry about you anymore.

Shao Quanzhong ended his visit and returned to the military camp. He was about to organize a combat meeting to start the attack on Paris tomorrow when he suddenly saw flames rising into the sky in the distance in the east and black smoke rising into the sky.

In a moment, the foreign general Ivan returned with 6,000 Cossacks, followed by hundreds of steam tractors, and under the escort and supervision of dozens of Huai Army military police, they returned with a full load.

Ivan was very excited and saluted Shao Quanzhong. "Your Highness, we have set Fontainebleau on fire and seized all the treasures inside."

The Huai Army had strict military discipline and did not harm anyone wherever they went. The military rations they had now were collected and transported by the Bourbon Restoration Army in the occupied areas.

As for the Prussians, they had no military discipline towards the common people, but they strictly followed the orders of their superiors. They were all participating in the siege of Paris and had no time to go out and rob things.

Besides, His Majesty William has to consider his reputation as he is preparing to become the German Emperor.

Destroying a historic palace like Fontainebleau would bring disgrace upon his reputation, so he restrained his troops and only robbed civilians along the way.

Shao Quanzhong didn't care about that. He had a reason for sending the Cossacks to seize Fontainebleau.

The British and French allied forces burned down the Old Summer Palace, and most of the treasures looted by the French were stored in Fontainebleau, which served as a place for France to show off its banditry to the world.

Later generations of Western-admiring intellectuals visited Fontainebleau with reverence, took photos and wrote articles, praising French civilization and showing off their own Western style and elegance.

When they saw the treasures hidden in the Old Summer Palace, they felt nothing and forgot about the national hatred and family feuds. What do they mean by unfilial descendants?

The stolen goods hidden in that place were looted from China, and it is legitimate for us to take them back. You are allowed to burn the Old Summer Palace, but we are not allowed to burn Fontainebleau?

Can the ninth generation still take revenge? Although it lasts for a hundred generations!

"Okay! According to our agreement, the treasures of the Old Summer Palace belong to us, and as for the rest, you can keep them or exchange them for money. It's up to you."

"We want money, you can take all the treasures."

This time Ivan led his men to grab the fat. In 1812, Alexander I led the anti-French alliance to enter Paris. Fifty-eight years later, your grandfather Ivan also came!

The Huai Army had a complete system for selling stolen goods. The logistics and financial staff carefully counted the gains of each Cossack, and everyone made a fortune.

Ivan was not satisfied. "Your Highness, the main task has been completed. Please allow us to go to Versailles to make a fortune again."

Shao Quanzhong shook his head. "His Majesty William is about to ascend the throne in the Palace of Versailles. Burning it would be too disrespectful to him."

"We promise not to enter the Palace of Versailles, but go to the town to rob. Those who live there are all the rich people of France. Brothers, we have finally arrived in Paris, so wouldn't it be better if we can get as much as possible?"

It doesn't matter, "Go ahead."

Ivan cheered, whistled, and led the Cossacks to the town of Versailles.

The people of Versailles were in panic.

"Have you heard? The Huai Army has sent Cossacks to burn down Fontainebleau in revenge for the burning of the Old Summer Palace. Although the Han Chinese in the Huai Army have strict military discipline, the Cossacks are quite a bunch of jerk. Will they come to Versailles? Our property and women will be in trouble."

"But there are Prussian soldiers and Huai troops everywhere. Where can we run?"

"Oh no! Someone saw the Cossacks coming this way!"

The town was in chaos and everyone was helpless and had to wait for disaster to strike.

Suddenly, a retired translator stepped forward and said, "Gentlemen, I may have a way to keep Versailles safe."

(End of this chapter)