Chapter 109 The Wind of the Confessional Case

The guards outside the barracks all laughed, "It's really like a rabbit...... I'm afraid that after a while, I will become the king of Baluo! These words were obviously instructed by Xue Chao, and the pro-soldiers outside turned black one by one, but they couldn't break out!

In front of the Xiǎo section of the road, there are a few pro-army soldiers in front of the escort officer, but after a while, the strength is discharged, and the escort ** officer is very light overtaken, but the first time to go back and forth, the escort ** officer can already stand in place to make a pot of tea, a group of pro-army has just run to, and after three laps, only 18 of the more than 20 pro-army are left.

The ** guard officer was not in a hurry to lead the team in front, and his expression was still that disdainful! However, when he led the remaining 18 people to the registration table, he spoke a little politely, "Rabbit cubs, how is it, are these three back and forth convinced!" For half an hour, I'll be waiting for you for half the time......"

The 18 soldiers stood together in a staggered manner, shouting, "My lord, be convinced!" Convincing! ”

"You bunnies, look at your bear-like appearance, you ran this little way, and you became like this, chasing the French that day, it seems that you are running faster than today!" Seeing the queue of these soldiers, the officer who guarded the ** scolded loudly again, and these soldiers had already been sharpened at this time, and hurriedly re-lined up......

Seeing that the queue of these 18 soldiers was also in good shape, the officer patrolled back and forth a few times with a straight face, and commented loudly: "So-so, this is a little different from the farmer!" "With that, with a move, a team of guards immediately took out bright and neat military uniforms from the cart behind them and gave each of the 18 soldiers a set, and then each of them had a máo rifle!

And these eighteen soldiers were immediately announced to be promoted to captain xiǎo! More than half of them were originally just a xiǎo pawn in the pro-army, but I didn't expect that this time the iron heart would actually fight out of the position, and the time to protect ** can be described as a dead heart!

The news naturally spread all of a sudden, the pro-military camp was obviously blown up, this military uniform was put on, and this rifle was carried on the back, it was the same as protecting **! I heard that this salary is a few percent more...... This rifle has seen the power of many pro-soldiers with their own eyes, and it is not ambiguous to fight the French, I heard what the general said, it is better than the guns of the French!

Song Yunze's plan of generalizing, polishing, and then recovering his heart was obviously very good, and those soldiers who were unwilling and unwilling to spend their lives in the Tuntian Army were immediately moved, and there was a long queue in front of the registration table, so that Xue Chao had to increase manpower to help test the recruits.

Five days later, a tested and selected Vietnamese guard ** battalion was established, the commander of the army is Ma Long, who was actually taught from the commando team of Liupinwei Qianzong, which is also Xue Chao's hope that Ma Long can bring this team out, after all, the foundation of these pro-army is a little worse, but how can it be considered stronger than the farmer!

But there is a major problem in military discipline, and Ma Long is also an expert in training in this area! In addition, the vacancy of the captain and captain of each team is the officer of the Chinese battalion, and the number of this Vietnamese servant army suddenly overshadowed Xue Chao's three battalions, with a total strength of 2,647 people, in addition, a group of soldiers who signed up, but did not meet the test scores, but were acceptable, were organized into a logistics team of four battalions, and this logistics team also had more than 730 people, and as for the number of eliminated, there were as many as Niu máo.......

After the completion of the reorganization, the remaining soldiers were put in order, the Mawei shipping company came to recruit workers for a while, in the face of good salaries, some soldiers were also tempted, Mawei shipping also recruited nearly 4,000 young and strong laborers from it, and some of the more than 1,000 young people who were willing to leave Hue to work outside were sent to Fangcheng County, and the remaining labor was immediately put into the construction of Hue port.

The port near Hue City is one of the large deep-water ports near the sea, and along one side of the city, there is a large river Xiang River that flows into the sea, which on the one hand facilitates the development of commerce, but on the other hand, it makes the whole city safe and strictly threatened by the sea.

Hue's eastern city mén and northern city mén are installed with artillery, but it is indeed the kind of old-fashioned cast iron cannon and bronze cannon, the firepower is very poor, shè cheng is also very close, the last time the French left, probably too hurried, even forgot to dismantle these mén cannons and take them back as scrap iron and rotten copper, Qin Kai saw it, immediately ordered all to be removed, this thing is put here, it is better to transport it back to the horsetail, the iron cannon is useless, such a heavy piece of bronze is a good thing......

Prime Minister Song Xing, who accompanied the inspection, secretly complained, this Lord Qin really made the best use of everything, and originally wanted to get some money from him to restore the Hue industry, but it seems that this difficulty is not xiǎo! ,

Standing at the bottom of the city tower, Qin Kai held a large map and pointed to the mouth of the Xiangjiang River in the distance, "Prime Minister Song, there are 4 forts to be built here according to the map, and the three thousand laborers will pay 30 per person per day, two meals, this money will be paid by the Mawei Shipping Company first, and the artillery, shells, and fires will be transported from Fuzhou, I will calculate, 20mén heavy artillery, 20mén speed gun, 20mén 11mm machine gun, together it will be almost 700,000 taels of silver, you have to cash this money for me!" ”

Song Xing also had a black line on his face when he heard this, this Lord Qincha is really jīng Ming, this fort is not built for you to protect the **, and let me raise this money, now Hue City does not have so much silver to dig three feet into the ground, so you need to donate it! It's not 700,000 taels, anyway, he is already too poor to kù, and he doesn't have any money to operate, so he gritted his teeth.

"Lord Qin, my prime minister is also a poor jingle now, or I will borrow 1 million taels this time, in addition to the 700,000 yuan for building the fort, I will use the rest to invest in the reconstruction of Hue! What do you think? ”

"No problem!" Qin Kai smiled, now Hue is not the general use of our protection ** silver ticket, then continue to use the silver ticket, anyway, the entire business system that Hue is operating now is almost controlled by Mawei Shipping, but unfortunately he lacks the talents of Yinzhuang on hand, or he can really build a silver village, and he can still make money.

"Prime Minister Song, you have a share in the Chinese Entrepreneurs Alliance anyway, when the fort is built, I will find a way to blockade the harbor, when the time comes, it will be difficult for others to come in except for the ships of the Chinese Entrepreneurs Alliance, I will put into production some industries here, and you will have to support more when the time comes......"

Qin Kai glanced at Song Xing, and saw that he still hadn't figured out the situation, "The shopkeeper of the Shang Alliance will tell you in detail about this matter, and some products that can be produced in Hue will be put here!" It can be sold locally, or it can be transferred out by the fleet, and in addition, you can ask Xue Chao about military matters, and civil affairs will bother Prime Minister Song! ”

"Lord Qin, listen to your tone, could it be that you are leaving Hue now?

Qin Kai doesn't have to hide this matter from Song Xing, he still needs Song Xing to take care of the affairs of the Vietnamese Xiǎo Imperial Court here, "There are still a few days!" I am ordered to build this protector**, and in three days, I will set off! You give me a decree to admiral Tuyen Quang, Viet Chi, Hanoi, and Bac Ninh......"

Song Xing was taken aback and blurted out, "Adults want to deal with Huang Zuoyan?" ”

Qin Kai glanced at Song Xing and said lightly, "Huang Zuoyan...... It's just that you are too worried, if there is anything difficult to decide in Hue, you can contact me by telegram from the British company! What's more, you can gradually advance the adjustment of officials in various places that we have discussed, anyway, in that sentence, those who go along will prosper and those who rebel will die! ”

Two days later, Qin Kai left Hue in a hurry, and the military affairs here were given to Xue Chao, and he was especially jiāo, after sending the scheduled large number of anchor mines to the Mawei Sea, he immediately blocked the outer harbor to prevent the French from disturbing and raiding, and the forts stepped up supervision, whether Hue could hold it or not depends on the play of these forts, and the artillery side must step up training, and after the instructions, the Nanyang Naval Division fleet led by the 501 ship raised the flag of departure.

Qin Kai left Hue in a hurry, but the destination of his fleet was not Haiphong City, a port in northern Vietnam, and three days later, the fleet rushed back to Mawei Port in Fuzhou, and after going ashore, he did not return to the ship, but came directly to see Ding Richang.

Lao Ding's life during this period can be described as a rich and colorful life, in addition to the regular entertainment of officialdom and ancient book collection, he also took the officials to various places to the "Qiushi School" to see the progress of this new school, and listened to Zhang Jian's idea of this new school in Fuzhou.

Although the current huā fee for this new school is a bit much, the subsidy for students every month needs nearly 5,000 taels of silver, of course, this money is now used to be spent by the Mawei shipmaster, but this achievement is shared between him and Zhang Peilun, in this regard, he has no consciousness of taking advantage of it at all, and often boasts that his attention to this new school is much higher than that of Qin Kai, who runs a school with huā money.

Qin Kai came back, this governor was really not in Yamén, and asked a few familiar officials, only to know that Lao Ding was invited by Zhang Jian to unveil a newly opened primary school today.

After careful questioning, I learned that this is a new school for the children of the eunuchs and poor scholars in Fuzhou, and the people who have been coming to the new school are the children of poor families, the reason is very simple, the entire Qing Dynasty is to play the imperial examination, your school focuses on Western learning, of course, it also takes into account Confucianism, but Confucianism and Bagu are still far behind, and the newly learned students will definitely not be able to take the imperial examination, and the scholars who want to enter the office are naturally unwilling to learn these. ,

After Zhang Jian came, he naturally discovered this problem, from a certain point of view, it is easier to produce talents among the children of these eunuchs, and everyone understands the truth of this, and the new education he is committed to, if it can't attract this group of people, he always feels that it is lacking, so he specially wrote a feudal letter to Ding Richang.

Lao Ding was also surprised after reading it, this Jane is not famous, but he didn't expect this article to be very good, the ideas, arguments, and comments are quite insightful, and after inviting him to talk in detail, he immediately agreed with his opinion. As a result, a new school for the children of scholars and eunuchs was opened, and Ding Richang came forward to invite the local Confucian to teach the imperial examination in it, and the teachers of Mawei served as professors of Western studies.

When Qin Kai arrived at the school, Lao Ding was talking to Zhang Jian about the grand plan of education in Fuzhou, and when he saw Qin Kai, he asked very unexpectedly: "Gale Wind, why did you run back?" Sun relapsed to your telegram received! Then there's no need to rush back......"

"My lord, you're joking with the lower officials again......" Qin Kai put up his middle finger in his heart, seeing the character of the people who crossed us like this, but he was still very grateful for the position that Lao Ding fought for himself.

Ding Richang was obviously ridiculing himself, he came back, it was indeed because of Sun Fu's telegram, the telegram said that the imperial court's reward for the great victory in Hue had come down, and Qin Kai was finally promoted this time, and he was promoted to the third level of the official, directly from the fourth-grade Taoist to the second-grade Fujian political envoy.

It seems that Lord Li Zhongtang has finally raised his noble hand, there is no one on it, it really can't be done! Lao Ding and Li Zhongtang's officialdom alliance is obviously the main reason for his promotion.

However, this is not the main reason for his return, Sun Fu telegraphed that the imperial court had a statement on the "case of young children studying in the United States" a year ago, and the queen mother spoke, all of them recalled the children who had not completed their studies, and now several batches of schoolchildren are about to arrive in Shanghai, and Beiyang came to ask if the Mawei Ship Administration wanted someone, and Qin Kai was eager to fly directly to Shanghai at this time......

After returning to the governor's office, Ding Richang asked people to take out the documents of the imperial court, Qin Kai opened it, and there were people on it who were really different, the pages were full of words of commendation, what "meritorious service is not arrogant, diligent management of the army", what "lonely overseas, immortal meritorious service", Qin Kai's own face was feverish......

But he is now a member of the second grade, in the territory of Fuzhou, under Zhang Peilun and Ding Richang, of course, there is a Fuzhou general, but the Fuzhou general in this era is also a decoration with the abolition of the Eight Banners Army, and in terms of official rank, he is already a grade with Lao Ding, but his position is slightly lower, and this political envoy is the chief official under the governor and governor.

Ding Richang left Qin Kai alone and told him three things, one is that after this incident, he needs to express his mind to Li Zhongtang's side, this is a common practice in officialdom, and it must not be casual, Lao Ding also knew that Qin Kai did not understand the rules of the Qing Dynasty's officialdom, so he asked Sun Fu to handle this matter.

Second, this time in Vietnam to protect the ** thing, just maintain the status quo, don't be greedy for merit, the speed of your promotion, once there is a mistake, the court gang Qingliu must be a verbal criticism, Lao Ding Jianyì After he recruited the Black Flag Army, he immediately gave the command of the Black Flag Army to the Yunnan and Guangxi General Soldiers, so as to avoid the defeat of the Black Flag Army and drag himself down.

For this article, Qin Kai disagreed, the Black Flag Army was actually defeated repeatedly in the Vietnam War against France, of course, it was also quite successful, in fact, he was quite skeptical of this combat power, a peasant as the main body, the Black Flag Army veterans as the backbone of the Tiandihui civilian armed forces, in the case of inferior equipment, and the army in this era known as the "first in Europe" France, it is normal to lose, because the only thing they rely on is the terrain, not to mention that there are Vietnamese and Qing border troops behind them......

Now, this Vietnam is already in the bag, and the French want to come, first ask themselves if this protector agrees! After the test of actual combat, Qin Kai is still full of confidence in the decisive battle with the French on land! But Qin Kai understands very well that in this matter of Vietnam, the victory or defeat of the war comes first, but the factor that determines this outcome is outside. In his own time and space, despite the great victory of Zhennan Pass, Vietnam's vassal status was finally abandoned.

The reason for this is that later generations have said that Li Zhongtang is old and traitorous, but the deep-seated substantive factor still falls into that sentence - a weak country has no other than Jiāo, after the victory at Zhennanguan, there are only more than 20,000 soldiers on the border of Yunnan and Guangxi, and many of them are Qing troops who have returned from the defeat of Vietnam, and at this time, the French navy has blocked the Taiwan Strait, occupied the coal mines in Keelung, and obtained a power supply base, although the army has been defeated, it has only lost more than 1,000 soldiers, and the number of the entire French expeditionary force is close to 30,000, the advantages and disadvantages of this situation, this is war or peace, and the scheming Li Zhongtang will not know the severity. ,

However, Li Zhongtang also miscalculated, this compromise with France, directly led to the complete exposure of the weak face of the Qing Dynasty, the great powers who used to pretend to be gentlemen all day long, naturally not willing to be weak, the first to act was precisely in the Sino-French War to maintain neutrality, even not to allow French ships to Hong Kong to coal, Myanmar, another vassal country quickly fell into the control of his British.

When Qin Kai thought of this, it was inconvenient to say these thoughts directly, but Ding Richang naturally knew his thoughts from his god and tone, shook his head and smiled: "Gale Wind, you must have other ideas, the old man was also proud to come back then, but I still tell you, this third thing is to put stability first, and it may not be wrong to seek danger and win, but you still have to be everywhere, your officialdom is still too shallow, and above this court, there is no chance of winning without Olympic aid!" ”

Today, Ding Richang suddenly said these words to Qin Kai, Qin Kai is not an idiot, he naturally understands every word, it is the precious experience of Lao Ding's officialdom, he pondered for a while, but still didn't understand, Lao Ding asked him to repay Li Zhongtang's help this time, is it to let him take the line of Beiyang? It's not easy to ask this directly......

"My lord, with you, I will always follow you, don't you do it, things in this court are too complicated!"

"Gale, the old man is in his sixties, and he can still do it for a few years! During this time, although the mood is comfortable, but this body is not as good as before, you create a new school here, the old man is very satisfied, and so on to retire, to the school to start teaching, it is also a blessing! Lao Ding sighed with emotion, and changed his words, "By the way, Governor Zhang has a good impression of you, don't forget!" ”

Now Qin Kai understands it, Lao Ding originally let himself lead Qingliu's forces as Austrian aid, after thinking about it, this is indeed a feasible method, Qingliu was originally some loose literati, one is anti-"Westernization" and "Westernization" as the main argument, and Beiyang sings against each other, but ...... There are indeed a lot of insights in the clear stream, but their weakness lies in practice! They are all able to speak, but when it comes to specific affairs, they are not as good as the local officials who are scolded by them.

Although Zhang Zhidòng's later Westernization Movement in Hubei achieved remarkable results, they were all imported foreign outdated technologies, and there were many precedents of failure, and Zhang Peilun's defeat in Mawei was even more miserable.

Obviously, Lao Ding knows his strengths very well, and these are the shortcomings of the Qingliu faction now, and on Li Zhongtang's side, Qin Kai himself knows very well that with his qualifications, he can't squeeze into the core of Beiyang no matter what, and Ding Richang obviously wants to maintain neutrality with Beiyang himself...... The golden mean! Qin Kai has heard this word many times in later generations, but to really do a good job of the horns of this wall grass, he scratched his head, it is really an extremely testing problem......

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