The next day, all the departments of the Qing army entered the city cautiously, no longer taking the enemy lightly and then advancing step by step, and carried out a strict search of the places they passed, so that the speed naturally slowed down, but the casualties were greatly reduced, down to more than 500.

Just when Yi Xun was relieved, he saw the fire in the city and the gunfire, it was obvious that the Japanese army in the city launched a night attack, and his heart couldn't help but hang.

The monk who had just fallen asleep was also awakened, and hurried over, and soon a signal corps came to report that the Japanese army launched a large-scale night attack on all parts of the city almost at the same time.

Hearing the report, Seng Lingqin's expression was a little gloomy, although he had strictly ordered all the troops entering the city to strengthen their vigilance and guard against night attacks, but the night battle greatly weakened their weapon superiority, such a large-scale night attack would inevitably cause a lot of casualties.

The gunfire and explosions continued throughout the night, and it was only after dawn that the gunfire gradually stopped, but the fire in the city grew bigger and bigger, and spread everywhere, and the various parts of the city had to evacuate from the city one after another.

On the city wall, Yi Xun and Seng Greenqin looked at the skyrocketing fire and billowing smoke and were relatively speechless, and after a long time, Monk Greenqin said in a deep voice: "Besieged on all sides, set fire to the city, don't miss a single person!" ”

A fire burned in Kyoto for seven days and nights! The prosperous city of Kyoto was burned to the ground, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the city were also burned to the ground.

Shanghai, Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Book House.

"The city of Kyoto was broken, the Japanese king fled westward, the Japanese army attacked and set fire at night, the fire spread, and the whole city was burned." Cao Gensheng, who listened to it, read the telegram aloud, and Zhao Liewen looked regretful, "It's a pity, a thousand-year-old capital was destroyed in a burn." ”

"War is extremely destructive, and that's one of the reasons why I'm so strongly opposed to civil war." Yi Zhizu said slowly, he also had some heartache for Kyoto being burned, not because of the thousand-year-old capital of Heian Kyo, but because of the fact that the wealth in Kyoto City was burned clean by a fire.

After a slight groan, he ordered: "The telegraph monk Greenqin led a group to the west to pursue the king of Wa, to see people alive and corpses to die." ”

"Elect Xiao Mingliang and lead his troops to enter Edo!"

Edo, Shogun's House.

"The fire in Kyoto burned for seven days and seven nights, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the city perished ........" Without waiting for Sakai Tadashi to finish reading, Tokugawa Ieshige said with concern: "What about the Heavenly King? ”

Sakai Tadanori said softly, "The Heavenly King fled west out of the city before the war. ”

Fleeing west? Where can you escape? Doesn't he know that wherever he flees, he will lead the Qing army to? Tokugawa Ieshige reluctantly sat up, half-lying on the floor, and asked, "What is the movement of the Qing army?" ”

Sakai Tadanori knew what he was asking, and hurriedly said, "The Qing army on the front line from Nagoya to Tsuruga has not moved. ”

"Lord." Inaba Masami said: "The Qing army captured Kyoto, and the next target must be Edo, and please prepare as soon as possible, in case the Qing army betrays its promises and storms Edo, it will not panic." ”

Tokugawa Ieshige sighed secretly, if the Qing army wanted to storm Edo, what difference did it make if they didn't prepare? The brutality of the Qing army has exceeded his expectations, he cannot let Edo become a second Kyoto, and must try his best to prevent the war from spreading to Edo!

"Lord, you must not prepare for war." Sakai Tadashi said in a deep voice: "The Qing army must have planted many spies in Edo, once it actively prepares for war, it will be investigated by the Qing army, and it is absolutely impossible to fall behind the handle of the Qing army to attack Edo, Edo Castle has a population of more than one million, and it cannot follow in the footsteps of Kyoto." ”

Before the words fell, Matsudaira Yasuei hurriedly came in and reported: "Lord, the Qing naval fleet is coming eastward, and the target should be Edo!" ”

As soon as he heard this, Ye Ye was anxious, and hurriedly said: "Your Lord——, Qingjun's move is obviously uneasy and kind!" Please also ask the lord to prepare early and gather reinforcements from various feudal domains to reinforce Edo! ”

Gather the feudal clans to reinforce Edo? Tokugawa Ieshige secretly smiled bitterly, the shogunate sat back and watched Kyoto be destroyed, and its prestige was long gone, where would the feudal domains still be called? Besides, even if the feudal domains sent troops to reinforce Edo, what could they do? Could it be that it can still resist the offensive of the Qing army?

He glanced at Sakai Tadanori and instructed: "Be prepared to surrender the city, and don't make any trouble........" ”

The news that the Qing army was pressing the frontier and that the shogun was preparing to surrender the castle soon spread throughout Edo Castle, causing a sensation at the time, and soon the news that the Wa king had fled, Kyoto had been captured, and that it had been burned to ruins by a fire.

One after another, the whole Edo Castle was boiling with discussions, some in favor of surrendering, some advocating resolute resistance, and many people were busy packing up and preparing to go out of the city to escape the war, and all the shops in the city were closed, creating a scene of chaos.

Just when the city was in chaos, another shocking news came out, the old middle school Sakai Tadatsu, who strongly advocated the surrender of the city, was assassinated!

Sakai Tadashi had a big life, although he was assassinated, but he was only slightly injured, he immediately used this incident as an excuse, ordered the city gate to be closed, the whole city was under martial law, and the murderers and fallen elements were hunted down.

A huge fleet of hundreds of warships and merchant ships sailed into Edo Bay, and on the deck of the flagship "Qingdao", Yang Xiuqing looked at the sea in front of him with excitement, thinking of Edo, the largest city in the Japanese kingdom and known as the head of the "three capitals", he could not hide the excitement in his heart.

Xiao Mingliang paced over slowly, and said: "Kyoto was burned clean by a fire, Edo must take strict precautions, 100,000 soldiers eat horses, the expenses are huge, and they expect to be able to capture some as a subsidy ........" ”

All the seizures of the Yuanqi New Army must be handed over, this regulation Yang Xiuqing knows, he knows very well that the other party is reminding him euphemistically, and immediately said with a big grin: "Although the commander-in-chief can rest assured, before he scrapes the ground three feet to the ground, ensure that Edo will not catch fire!" ”

Xiao Mingliang smiled and said: "It is more likely that the shogunate will surrender the city, and it has been negotiated with the shogunate before, allowing the shogunate to surrender, and the new sixth army will be stationed in Edo, so it will be a little more restrained first." ”

Converge a little first? Yang Xiuqing listened to it, but said in his mouth: "The New Sixth Army obeys orders and listens to commands. ”

When the fleet arrived in the sea near Edo, Sakai Tadanori immediately came to visit by boat, and after boarding the flagship to meet Xiao Mingliang, he respectfully saluted, and then explained: "My lord is ill and cannot come to greet him, and I hope that the general will forgive me." ”

Tokugawa Ieshige's condition, Xiao Mingliang naturally understood, nodded disapprenosingly, and said straightforwardly: "Kyoto has been destroyed, is Edo a war or a surrender?" ”

"Drop! We surrender the city! Sakai Tadanori said busily.

Xiao Mingliang said slowly: "The shogun and all the shogunate officials must move to our country's capital division. ”

This was something that had been discussed before, and Sakai Tadanori naturally didn't dare to object, and nodded again and again: "We are ready to leave at any time." ”

Hearing this, Xiao Mingliang smiled, "Then there is no need to be in such a hurry, we will talk about it after we take over Edo and stabilize the situation, we also need the assistance of the shogunate." ”

Hearing this, Sakai Tadashi couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief, as long as there is no war, everything is easy to say, to be honest, the ruthless methods of the Qing army's attack on Kyoto really made his heart beat.

The next morning, Tokugawa Ieshige held on to his sick body, led a group of shogunate officials and troops out of the city, held a grand surrender ceremony, and welcomed the Qing army into the city.

Shanghai, Zhennan Wangfu, Changle Book House.

Zhao Liewen put down the telegram and looked at Yi Zhizhi and said, "The big shopkeeper really plans to move Tokugawa Iesamoge and other shogunate officials to Jingshi?" ”

Yi Zhishu glanced at him and said, "Huifu is asking knowingly. "The reason why this article was proposed in the first place was just to stabilize the shogunate, and if it was said that the shogun and other senior officials were allowed to continue to live in Edo, it would not give them peace of mind and move to Kyoshi, which is also a common practice. However, he didn't intend to let these people go, since he wanted to destroy his country and destroy his species, he wouldn't be soft-hearted and leave hidden dangers.

Zhao Liewen sneered: "The student is just curious ........ Before he finished speaking, Cao Gensheng hurriedly came in and reported: "The big treasurer, Washington is calling, the United States has amended the Constitution, and blacks have obtained full citizenship." ”

Zhao Liewen hesitated: "Black people get full citizenship, which means that black people and white people are completely equal, which is really tolerant of the United States." ”

"The United States has this kind of inclusive heart, and its rise is just around the corner." Yi Zhishu said and instructed: "Publish this matter in the newspaper, and Huifu will write another article to praise ........" ”

Zhao Liewen said tentatively: "The big shopkeeper wants to use this to promote and promote national integration? ”

"Not bad." Yi Zhizhi said: "Promoting and promoting national integration is a long-term and arduous task, and we must pay close attention to it, and strive to completely complete national integration within twenty or thirty years, the United States will integrate blacks into the American nation, this is a good propaganda opportunity, a nation can only tolerate the world, with the spirit of embracing all rivers, in order to stand in the world of nations for a long time!" ”

Zhao Liewen silently remembered in his heart that when Cao Gensheng retired, he said cautiously: "Since the big shopkeeper has the heart to tolerate the world and embrace all rivers, why not tolerate the Japanese country?" ”

"Huifu, this is my army." Yi Zhixiang was not dissatisfied, and said in a relaxed tone: "I can tolerate the world, but I can't tolerate hidden dangers." As far as our country is concerned, the Japanese state is a major hidden danger, the Japanese state hangs overseas, there are 30 million people, and it has a long history, and it is extremely easy to become independent in the future, and we must learn the lesson of Annan's repeated surrender and rebellion. ”

Jingshi, Embassy District, British Embassy.

A four-wheeled carriage slowly stopped in front of the embassy gate, the military aircraft was walking, and the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites, Lang Baojun, wore a dress and a high top hat and got off the carriage and quickly walked into the embassy gate, and the British Minister Walson greeted him with a smile, greeted him warmly, and then led him into his office.

Bao Jun personally came to see the British Minister Gong this time to seek assistance, the capture of the Japanese capital of Kyoto, the shogunate surrendered the news to the Beijing Division, Ci'an was a little unable to sit still, the end of the war of the Japanese State, which means that Yi Xun is about to return to Beijing, at that time, the situation in the Beijing Division will also change, she must strengthen the combat power of the Eight Banners New Army as soon as possible.

After sitting down and chatting for a while, Bao Jun said tentatively: "We want to buy a batch of arms, that is, the latest breech-loading rifled gun ........" ”

The arms business has always been profitable, and when he heard that the other party wanted to purchase a large amount of arms, Walson couldn't help but be secretly happy, but he said quietly: "I don't know how much Your Excellency wants to buy?" ”

"We need to arm 50,000 troops."

Walson said with a smile on his face: "As far as I know, your country's Eight Banners New Army in Beijing currently has more than 100,000 troops. ”

What do you mean? Too little arms purchased? Baojun glanced at the other party, the imperial court didn't want to arm all the Eight Banners New Army in one go, but the treasury was empty, and the price of arms was terrifyingly expensive, so he planned to equip 50,000 people first, so he naturally didn't say it clearly, and immediately took out a list and said: "This is the list we listed, we need to understand the price first." ”

"Rest assured, we will give you the best price." Walson smiled and said, "I heard that your country has pacified the Japanese state, do you still want to use troops on a large scale?" ”

"I'm not going to use troops." Bao Jun said in a light tone: "This time to pacify the Wa Kingdom, I found that the Mini gun has been completely eliminated, and we need to gradually replace the most advanced weapons." ”

Walson doesn't know everything about the situation in the Qing Dynasty, but he is also roughly clear, even if the other party doesn't say it, he also knows that the other party purchases such a large amount of arms to counter Yuan Qi, for this kind of thing, he doesn't have to think about it, he knows that he should support it vigorously, but for this kind of good thing sent to the door, he naturally wants to grab more benefits.

He deliberately pretended to be embarrassed, "Your Excellency should know that our country and Yuanqi have huge commercial interests........ ”

As soon as he heard this, Bao Jun knew the other party's intentions, and immediately said: "If your country is unwilling to accept this order, we can take France." ”

"Of course I would like to take it." Walson said unhurriedly: "It's just that we have to bear a lot of risks in this arms trade." ”

After a slight groan, Bao Jun said: "We need to be able to produce and manufacture complete sets of metal bullets and shells by ourselves. ”

Seeing the other party's conditions, Walson was secretly happy in his heart, and said: "Although the whole metal bullet is small, it requires many processes, and the process is also very complicated, we can provide machines and processes, but the time may be longer, at least two years." ”

Two years? Bao Jun shook his head and said, "No, a year at most." ”

So urgent? Walson was secretly happy in his heart, and said: "This is not a trivial matter, I need to report to the country, and I will reply to Your Excellency in a few days, how about it?" ”

Bao Jun nodded, stood up and said, "I hope Your Excellency can hurry up, I think France also has a strong interest in this arms trade." ”