In addition to Zhao Fengchang and Gu Hongming, the other three are Liang Dingfen, Yang Shoujing, Wu Dianying, although these people are not prominent in history, but in this era, they are all very well-known scholars or gentry, Liang Dingfen, Yang Shoujing has made considerable achievements in China's modern education, while Wu Dianying was born in the military and was Zhang Zhidong's most important military assistant, helping Zhang Zhidong train the Hubei New Army, and also promoting a comprehensive opening up and brand-new military guiding ideology in the army, which opened the ideological floodgates in an all-round way and enabled the ideology within the Hubei New Army to quickly integrate with the new trend of international democratic thought. Bayi?Chinese ??? (1) It was also the Xinhai Revolution that later broke out in Wuchang, that is, with the Hubei New Army as the main force.

After Zhang Zhidong introduced a circle, Qin Zheng said with a smile: "The ancients said: Only Chu has materials, and the shogunate of Xiangshuai is really true, today's banquet can also be called a meeting of heroes." ”

Zhang Zhidong said with a smile: "Awards, awards, what kind of heroes do I have here, I think your people are full of talents, since your return to China, it is really a great promotion of my Chinese national prestige, admiration at home, the old man wanted to go to Tianjin to visit the nobles, no matter how busy the official affairs of the two lakes are, the old man really can't get away, this time the Qin political commissar can come to Wuchang, it can be regarded as letting the old man end a heart." ”

Qin Zheng said: "Xiang Shuai is too polite, although we have lived overseas for a long time, but in the past few decades, I have also heard of some Xiang Shuai's big names, using Feng Zicai, achieving a great victory in Langshan, and setting up industry, opening education, creating Hanyang Iron Works, Hanyang Arsenal, Hubei weaving layout, all of which are beneficial to the country and the people, and to build a self-improvement school, Lianghu Academy, for the country to educate people, merit in the present and benefit in the future, such a meritorious deed, it is really admirable, to make the state of China a few more Xiang Shuai, and the state will never be corrupted. ”

Zhang Zhidong listened, and couldn't help laughing, although he even said the award in his mouth, but his heart was really happy, among the famous ministers of Zhongxing, Zeng Zuo Li and Zhang were tied, but the first three all started from the military, and they all commanded the army and conquered the battlefield, only Zhang Zhidong was born in Wenchen, although he is now respected as "Xiang Shuai" But in fact, he has never been on the battlefield, which is also Zhang Zhidong's biggest regret, but during the Sino-French War, Zhang Zhidong was the governor of Liangguang at the time, and was the rear of the Vietnam battlefield, raising grain, grass and ordnance for the battlefield, supporting the front operations, and recommending Feng Zicai to the Qing court, advocating recruiting the Black Flag Army, and achieving a great victory in Zhennanguan, which is also Zhang Zhidong's rare achievements in the military.

But although he was happy in his heart, he still had to apologize in his mouth, Zhang Zhidong said: "There, there, how can the old man compare with the nobles, this time it is all thanks to the return of the nobles to China, so that my Qing Dynasty will be saved from the catastrophe of annihilation, we are all old, and the future of the Qing Dynasty will still rely on young people like you." ”

Qin Zheng said with a smile: "Xiang Shuai is too sorry, as the saying goes, there is an old man in the Taoist family, if there is a treasure, we people may be okay to fight, but it is not enough to govern the country and govern the place, not to mention that we are the first time to return to China, and we don't know much about the country, so we still need more guidance from Xiang Shuai in the future, and this Gengzi national change has corrupted the state affairs, and the court will be restored in the future, and we also need a high-ranking minister like Xiang Shuai to take charge of the overall situation, so that China can quickly restore stability, and realize a rich country and a strong army as soon as possible." ”

Zhang Zhidong's heart moved, what did Qin Zheng mean by this, whether he was polite or something else, but now was not the time to talk about these things in detail, so Zhang Zhidong changed the topic and said: "This time the Russian army is advancing south, the comers are not good, I don't know if you are sure to defeat the Russian army." ”

Although Zhang Zhidong deliberately diverted the topic, the biggest thing now is the southward advance of the Russian army, and everyone knows that the only one who can stop the southward advance of the Russian army is overseas Chinese, so everyone's eyes are also focused on Qin Zheng to see how he answers.

Qin Zheng said: "Xiang Shuai, please rest assured, if we want to drive all the Russian troops out of the northeast region, we can't do it, but if we want to defeat the Russian army in Shanhaiguan, it is completely possible." ”

Zhao Fengchang said: "The Russian army has always been brave and good at fighting, the most powerful of the powers, this time to the south, it is necessary to come is not good, after listening to the army of tens of thousands, and although the nobles can also fight well, but after all, it has just returned to China, and the army is not fully equipped, how can it defeat the Russian army?"

Qin Zheng smiled and said: "Fighter, it is nothing more than the right time and place, if the Eight-Nation Coalition Army is still there, the Russian army is advancing south, and the two armies echo inside and outside, it is naturally not disadvantageous, and now the Eight-Nation Coalition Army has been completely annihilated, Beijing has been restored, and the Russian army is sending troops to the south again, it is already difficult to speak alone, this is the unfavorable time; Beijing is connected, and the transportation of soldiers and materials is convenient, but the Russian army has come from afar, and there is no railway transportation, and it has also lost in terms of geographical advantages; Russia has always been arrogant and unreasonable, and there are discords with European countries, the former is fighting for Korea, and Japan almost wants to meet each other, and if the Russian army really enters the south of the pass, it will be unfavorable to Britain and the United States, so the British and American countries will not want to help Russia, and our army will fight for the family and the country, and the top and bottom will work together, and Li Zhongtang will maneuver from it, and Zheng Caisheng, the general of the mountains and seas, will fight side by side with our army, so as to resist the Russian army, if the whole country works together and hates the enemy, why worry about the undefeated Russian army。 ”

Everyone present listened, and they all nodded again and again, Qin Zheng said these conditions for winning are not empty words, it is Qin Zheng who said that Li Hongzhang is maneuvering from it, so that Zheng Caisheng and overseas Chinese can fight side by side, and Zhang Zhidong can't help but think about it, Li Hongzhang's approach is of course inconsistent with the system of the imperial court, but Li Hongzhang really did it, it seems that Li Hongzhang really put the treasure on the overseas Chinese, but if the overseas Chinese really defeated the Russian army, then Li Hongzhang really made a great contribution, and he can't fall behind Li Hongzhang, fortunately, he has guns and cannons in his hands, which is exactly what overseas Chinese need, so it's not all without hole cards.

So Zhang Zhidong said: "State affairs are like this, the husband is responsible, if it is to fight against the Russian army and defend my Qing Dynasty, the old man will also help him, if you have a need, you can ask the old man to propose, everything the old man can do, he will not shirk." ”

Qin Zheng waited for Zhang Zhidong's words, as a latecomer, of course he knew the grievances between Zhang Zhidong and Li Hongzhang, so he deliberately mentioned that Li Hongzhang violated the taboo of the Qing court and helped overseas Chinese, just to stimulate Zhang Zhidong. Of course, if Zhang Zhidong is a narrow-minded person who ignores the overall situation, such a stimulus may be counterproductive, the more Li Hongzhang helps overseas Chinese, the more I will not help, and I will also dismantle the Taiwan outside; however, Zhang Zhidong is not such a person, although he is not on good terms with Li Hongzhang, but the overall situation still has to be taken into account, as early as when planning the southeast mutual protection, Zhang Zhidong's first thought is to ignore grievances and grievances, pull Long Li Hongzhang to do it together, because Zhang Zhidong is very pure, without Li Hongzhang, the southeast mutual protection can not be carried out, and after the Eight-Nation Alliance Army ascended to the 6th, Zhang Zhidong even planned, in case the Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor died in the war, he united with the southeast and elected Li Hongzhang as the presidentIt is necessary to determine a new regime as soon as possible and not give foreigners a chance to take advantage of it. It can also be seen that Zhang Zhidong and Li Hongzhang are fighting for the rest, but when it comes to national affairs, they are still measured.

So Qin Zheng said: "Xiang Shuai, we are now short of weapons and ammunition, if Xiang Shuai can supply some, we will be grateful, we will not pay according to the price in vain, and in the future, Xiang Shuai will also contribute to the defeat of the Russian army." ”

Zhang Zhidong laughed and said: "It's easy to say, it's easy to say, guns and weapons, I still have some ...... here."

As he was talking, the congregation had already brought the wine and food, Zhang Zhidong smiled and said: "Come, eat first, other things, wait until after eating, everything is easy to discuss, easy to discuss." ”

After the banquet began, the two sides did not talk about the southward march of the Russian army, the purchase of weapons and other things, and talked about some customs, wind and snow, and other things, Zhao Fengchang and Gu Hongming were full of witty words during the banquet, and the atmosphere was also very warm, and Gu Hongming also asked a lot of things about overseas Chinese, Qin Zheng should also answer them one by one according to the principle of determination, and the two of them also used English from time to time. The content of the German conversation gradually changed from wind and snow to talking about the past and the present, and later the whole banquet became the interaction between Qin Zheng and Gu Hongming, and everyone else became a supporting role.

And after this discussion, Gu Hongming was also a little impressed by Qin Zheng. It turned out that Gu Hongming didn't pay much attention to overseas Chinese, thinking that they were just a group of reckless men, and it was okay to fight, but the cultural background was insufficient, but after talking with Qin Zheng, Gu Hongming realized that Qin Zheng not only knew the past and the present, but also had unique views on ancient and modern Chinese and foreign history, grasped the general trend of the world exhibition, and judged the international situation. Although Gu Hongming has a strange personality and is arrogant, he is also a master-level scholar after all, so he also has a sense of pity for Qin Zheng, and the atmosphere of the whole banquet is also very warm.

If you talk about real knowledge, Qin Zheng naturally can't catch up with Gu Hongming, but his era is an era of information explosion, any information can be found on the Internet, and after more than 100 years of exhibition, various social and economic theories have become mature. Almost all of the theories of social exhibitions have done a lot of dissection, and Qin Zheng, as a researcher of modern history, is very familiar with these views and theories, and throwing out one or two at random is enough to surprise Gu Hongming.

In fact, in all fairness, although Qin Zheng admits Gu Hongming's academic achievements, he does not have much admiration for Gu Hongming, after all, Gu Hongming's theories and concepts are not out of the scope of traditional Chinese culture, and they do not help much to the reality of China in this era.