More than 100 foreigners, business delegations and local officials from Shandong, wanted to visit Zaozhuang, and in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, more than 60 dart masters of "Yisheng Dart Bureau" were hired. net

In order to show respect for the local heroes, the dart master of the Yisheng Dart Bureau hung the dart flag on the carriage, but did not shout darts, the delegation landed from Qingdao, the road was peaceful, on March 5, when the foreign business delegation passed through Lincheng, it was kidnapped by the armed forces of the Sun brothers.

During the kidnapping, a British businessman drew a gun and resisted and was shot dead on the spot, which was the first foreigner to die in the Lincheng kidnapping case.

Sun Meifang was righteous, and released the dart master and executioner of the Yisheng Dart Bureau, and also released the women in the delegation, and the entourage of those who served people was also released, indicating that the Lincheng garrison was a righteous army.

Sun Meifang released two more accompanying officials and asked them to send a message to Zhang Renjun, the governor of Shandong, indicating that the Lincheng garrison was forced to kidnap and had no intention of rebelling, and Sun Meifang also wrote a letter of complaint to show the wishes of the people of Zaozhuang.

The matter was out of control, Shandong Governor Zhang Renjun received the report, was taken aback, while dispatching troops, while looking for relations and negotiations with the Sun brothers, but the paper could not contain the fire, the kidnapping case was poked out by Shanghai's "declaration", a total of 38 foreigners were kidnapped, and 27 businessmen of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce were kidnapped.

For a while, public opinion was aroused, and the British and French ministers immediately put pressure on the imperial court, asking the imperial court to guarantee the safety of the kidnapped foreigners, and before they could negotiate, they would ask the Qing court to compensate for the losses.

The newspaper exaggerated, saying that the Sun army had tens of thousands of horses, only because the government bullied the Zaozhuang miners, which caused this turmoil, and the Lincheng garrison was to expel the foreigners as its own responsibility, which made the imperial court more nervous, and the military aircraft department sent the new military army into Shandong overnight, because only this army was in a state of combat readiness and was assembling at the mouth of Dagu, urging Zhang Renjun, the governor of Shandong, to properly handle the matter and protect the safety of the hostages.

Prince Gong sat in Beijing, Li Hongzhang and other important members of the imperial court went to Jinan, Shandong, to prepare to negotiate with the Lincheng garrison.

The matter is urgent, Li Guolou received the military order, quite surprised, Taiwan has not yet started, the civil war is about to start again, it is understood that the miners in Zaozhuang support the kidnapping case, thousands of miners have been armed, this Sun armed has already exceeded 10,000 people.

Li Guolou has a victorious army of about 2,000 men, but this army is led by foreigners with high noses and blue eyes, and it is a foreign mercenary army, which cannot be used to suppress the people of Zaozhuang, which will cause the people of Shandong to rebel against colonial rule and set off an anti-foreign demon upsurge.

There are more than 800 officers and soldiers of the Beiyang Naval Division stationed at Dagukou, and this naval division cannot move, so there are only 1,000 soldiers left in the new armed forces, but this army is a newly formed army, and the officers in it have fought battles, and the soldiers are all new soldiers, and the good seedlings have been picked up by Liu Ming, and the remaining soldiers belong to the second class, and the combat effectiveness of this new armed army is not strong, and it has not passed the test of blood and fire.

The Ministry of War issued an edict to let the new military army pull out, whether to go to Lincheng to fill the number, or to do it with real swords and guns.

Li Guolou and the generals discussed overnight, if they advanced layer by layer, sincerely cooperated with other armies, and put pressure on the local armed forces of the Sun brothers, there would be no problem with using this army, but the consequence of this would be a long negotiation, can the new army afford to spend it.

If you cut through the chaos with a quick knife, fight quickly, and don't listen to the orders of Zhang Renjun, the governor of Shandong, the new military army is not enough, and a thousand men and horses are used to fight the civil war, no matter whether it succeeds or fails, Li Guolou is willing to do it.

Li Guolou was in a dilemma, although he trusted his warriors, and could use the precious lives of the warriors to consume them in useless battles, he was not willing to say anything.

Li Guolou's heart was sour, Li Hongzhang in order to avoid suspicion, afraid of arousing the suspicion of the Tongzhi Emperor and the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces, deliberately did not come to the negotiations, at this time Li Hongzhang had not yet arrived in Jinan, but gave him an edict to let him act cheaply.

The other four armies in Shandong mobilized by Zhang Renjun, the governor of Shandong, were also sluggish, refusing to advance to Lincheng, all of them sympathized with the Sun brothers' plight, and the hostile sides had not yet started fighting, waiting for negotiations.

The military meeting was not finalized, Li Guolou asked his subordinates to prepare to leave, leaving with complicated feelings, sometimes the decision was only in a thought, Li Guolou stood on the fort at the mouth of Dagu, looking at the yellow dragon flag fluttering in the harbor, the mood has never been so complicated, the Sun brothers' garrison in the city did not go to the state of rebellion, and whether he wants to talk about the friendship between warlords, if he follows the trend, will he not be the same as those local garrisons, for his own selfishness, his own interests are more important than national interests.

The pros and cons have been analyzed, the Lincheng kidnapping case is actually caused by the intensification of the contradiction between Zhang Renjun, the governor of Shandong, and the local warlords, but in essence, it is the contradiction caused by the in-depth restructuring of the Qing Dynasty.

Don't give foreigners some sweetness, advanced industrial facilities in the mining industry, it is impossible to introduce them into the country, the essence of the Westernization movement is to sell the interests of the country, let the foreigners get rich first, in exchange for development space, the only people who selflessly help you in the world are your parents, not to mention the exchange of interests between countries, and if you don't let foreigners make money, who will help the Qing Dynasty.

The industrial society is a technological revolution, but now these industrial technologies are in the hands of foreigners, do not rely on foreigners, rely on self-reliance, that is self-deception, only by relying on the introduction of one side, on the other hand to cultivate technical personnel, the Qing Dynasty can embark on the road of industrialization, the Qing Dynasty industrial foundation has not been laid, and want to expel foreigners, Shandong people really add to the chaos, Shandong people eat their own people.

As for the 300 million peasants who were exploited by the landlords and gentry and could only endure poverty, Li Guolou could not think of a fundamental solution to the problems in the rural areas, so he could only hire the peasants with workers and vigorously develop industry to solve the stubborn problem of surplus labor in the rural areas.

The thousands of Zaozhuang miners followed the Sun brothers to make trouble, who is behind the back, Li Guolou knows in his heart that it is time to establish rules for these places, the mining industry has been full of blood since ancient times, and this time it is still necessary to win over a group, kill a group, and not break it.

Li Guolou in the sea breeze blowing, the mind became clear, must not tolerate the extreme practices of the Sun brothers, the warlords pay attention to coexistence and common prosperity, but also can not be above the country, kidnapping foreigners to the law of the country, this is the style of bandits, must not be in the Qing Dynasty to promote this atmosphere, this time do not hurt the killer, next time there will be a bigger international incident, this is a country's national shame, the foreigners as meat tickets, where there is national pride, if the Sun brothers are national heroes, then the foreigners will become fish on the board, at the mercy of others, On the contrary, how foreigners view the Chinese people, they must not give the truth and laugh at the Fang family.

Li Guolou made up his mind, to raise the butcher knife in his hand, first give the Lincheng garrison a dismount, to promote peace with the war, where can the garrison be compared with the Jingluo army, pull a few bolts is a soldier, then what kind of soldiers, Li Guolou turned around and went straight to the Changsheng army station, this operation still has to use this group of murderous bastards, compatriots who grew up in the concession, connected with the blood of the Qing Dynasty, the motherland is in trouble, support from all directions, let this gang of mongrels integrate into the system of the new armed army, take pride in being a Qing soldier, and disband this winning division in the future. He will co-opt this gang of mongrels, and will never let these descendants of the Eight-Nation Alliance have the opportunity to rebel against their masters, and even if they die in battle, they will sacrifice their lives for the glory of the Qing Dynasty.

Li Guolou held a meeting with Bai Langning and other officers of the Changsheng Army, briefed them on the latest situation of the Lincheng kidnapping case, expressed their sorrow over the imprisonment of British and French businessmen, explained the practical difficulties faced by the Xinwu Army, and let Chang Shengshi make his own choice.

The next day, Li Guolou led 4,000 new military troops to Lincheng to pull out, Li Guolou also borrowed a thousand long-term husbands from the governor Yulu of Dagukou to transport supplies, including 300 Dagukou artillery officers mixed in the long-husband, so that the Dagukou soldiers can leave the fort, and the quartermaster Hong was given a heavy responsibility to control this long-term team, and now the new military army has become strong and strong, and can fight to the death with 10,000 Lincheng garrisons.

Bai Langning is not stupid, Li Hongzhang let the Changsheng army return to the command of Li Guolou, that is, to serve Li Guolou with loyalty and blood, the Changsheng army under his command needs to take refuge in a strong man, at this time to take refuge in Li Guolou, even if he retires in the future, he can also find a good job in the Li Group, so this time, his troops took the lead, 500 forward battalion soldiers, ready to sacrifice their lives for the Qing Dynasty.

The Changsheng Army is really different, and the marching drum is also beaten, saluting the new military army flag held high, as a professional soldier ethics is nothing to say, it is a little more expensive, the annual salary of the Eight Banners elite soldiers is thirty-six taels of silver, and four stones of rice are received in half a year, these incomes are enough for a family to live a worry-free life, and the sergeants of this Changsheng Army are less than the Eight Banners elite soldiers to get forty percent more, weapons and equipment are the most advanced British equipment, peacetime live-fire training, it takes a huge amount of money, these investments are enough to feed ten Lincheng garrison army, Therefore, Li Guolou did not approve of the disbandment of this Changsheng army, the military department spent such a large price to hire this foreign gun team, has been trained into elite soldiers, and now the disbandment of this army is not beneficial to the Qing Dynasty, and the Changsheng army must make the best use of its materials and die on the battlefield for the country.

At this time, Li Guolou did not regard this army carrying the banner of the Xinwu Army as his own people, and wanted this army to fight bravely and rush to the front line, but on the surface, he still praised the Changsheng army and praised Bai Langning for his good training.

Along the way, the people welcomed the arrival of the Xinwu Army, full of curiosity about the high-nosed and blue-eyed officers, and the people rushed to witness the demeanor of the Xinwu Army, the only regret was that they did not see the demeanor of Li Guolou, and the spies of the Sun brothers could not find out where Li Guolou was.

The horse team of the Xinwu Army dragged the artillery wagon, the gun carriage was covered with a cotton tarpaulin, and passed through the street majestically, the thirty artillery carriages passed, and there were tightly wrapped carriages, and the soldiers of the Xinwu Army were murderous, which made the spies of the Sun brothers frightened, this is the vanguard of the Xinwu Army, the Xinwu Army is strong in combat, and the spies of the Sun brothers immediately passed the news of the five hundred Xinwu troops stationed in Qicun Town.

Until now, the Xinwu Army is the closest army to Xuancheng, the other three armies only sent a few sentry horses to reconnoiter the situation in Lincheng, of course, the two sides are safe, those sentry horses come and go freely, and are sent out of the country by the Lincheng garrison, the so-called sentry cavalry is a person dressed as ordinary people, want to mix into Zaozhuang, Xuancheng and other places, but they are all recognized by the Sun brothers' armament, the Qing army does nothing, and the Sun brothers are full of eyeliner in the Xuancheng territory, and the local people support the Sun brothers' feats, and there is no refugee flow in the local area, The common people lived the same life, thinking that they would not fight, and waited to see the Qing court make concessions to the Sun brothers.

The Xinwu army did not fire a shot, and then stationed in Qicun Town, the two hostile sides seemed to have discussed, people respect me, I respect people, the Sun brothers left an intact Qicun town to the Xinwu Army, it depends on whether Li Guolou knows whether he knows how to repay the favor.

Li Guolou sat in an ordinary carriage and entered Qicun Town, most of which had been emptied and turned into a military camp, and entered a watchtower lined with sentry posts, where he held a pre-war mobilization meeting to unify his thinking and implement the policy decision of "promoting peace through war."

Li Guolou's words, as soon as he said it, the generals put aside their unrealistic illusions, prepared to recover Lincheng by force, and first put the old nest of the Sun brothers to the end, Li Guolou's move was an unauthorized proposition, and did not put Zhang Renjun, the governor of Shandong, in his eyes, since Li Guolou, the chief soldier of the Xinwu Army, was determined to fight, no one dared to disagree.

The military order fell like a mountain, and Bai Langning received the order, preparing to attack Yong'an Township, the stronghold of the Sun brothers, early tomorrow morning, to fight a small-scale battle, and see how the Sun brothers' armed forces and combat effectiveness were.

Bai Langning returned to the camp to do the final pre-war mobilization, very happy to have a place to use, the Changsheng division has not fought for more than three years, this time to catch the striker, it shows that Li Guolou values him very much, his grade is a second-grade military attaché, but this official hat does not have many people to bird him, 2,000 people are considered the command title, only high-nosed foreigners have this honor.

Bai Langning knew that he had a few catties and a few taels, and he didn't dare to pretend to be a big man in front of Li Guolou, so he arranged his tactics very seriously, and wanted to fight a beautiful battle, so that the Xinwu Army could see that the Changsheng Division was not in vain, and he was very dissatisfied with Li Guolou because he couldn't erect the glorious battle flag of "Chang Sheng", how could the "Xinwu" be compared with the "Chang Sheng", it would be a harm to the army's combat effectiveness, and if the soldiers were unwilling to fight to the end for the "Xinwu" battle flag, it would be no wonder to him.