In order to let more people and corrupt officials of the imperial court see what kind of troops defeated a French ** team that seemed impossible to defeat at that time. Therefore, a part of the navy of the naval division, Lu Yiwei, Liu Mingchuan, Dong Liang, and the Black Flag Army who participated in the war each drew a battalion to the capital to show the demeanor of the new army that killed the enemy and defended the country.

On the Dagu wharf in Tianjin, it was already full of people. After several years of construction, Dagu Wharf has dozens of moored slipways, which is very spacious. On both sides of the port, there is the towering Dagu Battery, which has been equipped with the latest German Krupp fortress guns, which can sink any warship within 5,000 meters, and Dagu has truly become an impassable iron gate to protect the Beijing Division.

As early as the day before yesterday, the people near Jingshi learned the news that the army that defeated the French devils would return to Beijing in triumph through the "Daqing Daily". In order to celebrate the victory of the Sino-French war, Guan Xuqing specially requested that all the civil and military forces above the fourth grade in Beijing go out of the city to greet them. The new army landed in Dagu, Tianjin, walked into the capital on foot from Tianjin, and then received the emperor's reward after a full week in the capital. This is nothing at all for the troops who usually cross mountains and mountains.

The shopkeepers in the capital, the workers in the factories in Tianjin, the students of Tsinghua University, and other citizens all flocked to the city, and the alleys were empty. From Dagu Wharf to Guang'an Gate in the capital, there were crowds of onlookers everywhere, which was busy and crazy Prince Alcohol, the commander of the Nine Gates, and all the ten battalions of men and horses guarding the capital were dispatched to maintain order.

The crowd waited for the victorious army to return north by boat, and the anxiety and anxiety of the past year seemed to have come to an end today. Although France did not admit defeat until the end, anyone with a discerning eye could see that France had suffered a great loss, tens of thousands of soldiers were captured, and the naval forces in the Far East were completely wiped out, and the refusal to admit defeat was just to preserve the last fig leaf.

As far as the Chinese people are concerned, they only know that the country they have been bullied by foreigners for decades has finally washed away the shame of the Opium War and won a great victory. Especially the people near the capital, many of them still remember in their minds the scene more than 20 years ago, after the French got off the ship in Dagu, they burned and looted all the way into Beijing. In everyone's impression, those foreign devils can defeat thousands or even tens of thousands of Chinese devils with only a few hundred people, but today there is an army that has won and captured tens of thousands of devils, how can they not come to see them.

Not everyone is happy, though. Outside Guang'an Gate, in a small circle surrounded by people and horses in the infantry barracks, Prince Li Shiduo, Qingjun Wang Yixuan, Duanjun Wang Beile Zaiyi and others all had a gloomy face.

Zai Yi looked disdainful this time, pointed to the soldiers in the infantry camp who were busy before and after, and said: "Look, that little emperor won the war with the Han people, and even asked us Manchu to maintain the team for them, I don't know if he is the emperor of our Manchu people or the emperor of his Han people." ”

Qingjun Wang Yixuan frowned and said, "Who said it wasn't?" I heard that the emperor was also going to let the soldiers go to braids, and I think he was more and more wrong. Guan Xuqing ordered officials above the fourth grade in Beijing to go out of the city to greet them, which made them, the high-ranking princes, feel very angry.

At this time, the whistle finally sounded on the sea.

From afar, he saw a huge fleet sailing towards the wind, and the 5,700-ton displacement of "riding the wind" and "breaking the waves" made him look like an elephant, and the speed that was faster than other warships looked like a galloping cheetah. In contrast, behind them, the "triumphant", "long-winning", "undefeated", "victorious", and "brave", and the five ironclad ships of the same 4,800 tons did not show any brilliance. Behind the ironclad were the troop carriers of the brigade, on which the Triumphant army was loaded. The three cruisers, "Nanji", "Nanxiang", and "Yangfan", surrounded the troop carriers one on the left and one on the right. Finally, there are four supergiants "Zhenyuan", "Dingyuan", "Weiyuan" and "Jiyuan" that have returned from Germany. The whole formation is tight and thick! After successive battles, many warships have been damaged, and this time, before departure, both the captured French ** ships and the original Nanyang Naval Division painted the outside paint uniform black like the five new warships returned from Germany, so that the fleet has always looked mighty and hideous.

The fleet slowly approached the port, and the people in the harbor could already clearly see the navy on the warship. They stood straight on the side of the ship, and they looked in the direction of Dagu Port one by one, looking proud and proud, but some of them shed tears. I don't know how many brothers died in the sea for today.

When the people on the wharf saw those warships dozens of meters high, they all showed expressions of amazement, and some even opened their mouths wide. "These iron ships belong to our Daqing?" The crowd was filled with incredulous expressions.

"Riding the Wind" and "Breaking the Waves" arrived at the pier first. Sailors from the original cruiser "Yang Wei" were the sailors who walked out of the "Chengfeng", and their "Yang Wei" was seriously injured by the "Breaking Waves" (formerly the Duer) behind them, and they had to abandon ship when they returned home, and the "Changsheng" took them back. And now they * control the best cruisers in the world.

They stepped out of the warship, strode off the gangplank, and lined up in a neat line in front of the empty space vacated by the dock. Although the movements were quick and concise, the soldiers did not seem to have any idea of the crowd around them, and the noisy voices did not affect them in any way. All they listened to were orders from the front commander's mouth.

A line was lined up, and immediately marched forward under the orders of the officer, and it was not as good as looking around. The unique temperament and the navy blue military uniform made the surroundings ten degrees colder. The people who got close only felt a murderous aura rushing towards their faces, and couldn't help but gasp, what kind of team is this, there is such a heavy murderous aura on the battlefield.

All the soldiers lined up in a neat line from the Dagu wharf to cross the city of Tianjin and then enter Beijing. Unlike the welcoming procession of later generations, flowers and colorful flags flew all over the sky, but there were also long walls of people on both sides of the road, even through the countryside between Beijing and Tianjin, and many villagers even ran after the procession, they felt extremely new to such a procession that they had never seen before.

After entering Beijing, the warm atmosphere reached a peak, although the newspaper reported the news of these troops every day, and Zheng Guanying even drew a page for it, but the feeling of seeing these tiger and wolf divisions with his own eyes was completely different, and everyone understood why they could defeat such a powerful foreigner at the moment they saw them. And seeing a cannon thicker than a cannon behind the carriage, the faces of all the people in the capital were full of excitement.

Beile Zaiyi, the king of Duanjun, who was originally scolding, stopped scolding at this time, and stood aside with an ugly face. And Prince Li's heart was full of shock, he had led soldiers, and he knew what kind of soldiers would have such a temperament. In contrast, the ten battalions of men and horses guarding the Beijing Division did only serve as honor guards. He was even more unsteady in his heart, that little emperor had such an army, who else dared to oppose him, wouldn't the future government be based on his temperament? Shi Duo's gaze became even colder as he looked at the new army.

Guan Xuqing's soldiers did not go outside the city to meet the triumphant army like other officials, and he did not use that hypocritical attitude in the face of the army he had built with his own hands.

At this time, he stood with his back in front of the ruins of the Old Summer Palace, which was the focus of the New Army procession.

The Old Summer Palace was destroyed in the Second Opium War and has not been restored. As far as the eye can see, there are only faintly recognizable stone foundations, winding waterways and paths, only a few stone pillars of the Great Water Law and Yuanying View are still standing there, overlooking the ruins and broken tiles, scattered and hazelnut, like a miserable monument.

Guan Xuqing stood like this, immersed in the sad atmosphere of the Old Summer Palace. Behind him, groups of soldiers formed a neat line, silent. The crowd of onlookers saw that the emperor and those soldiers were standing still one by one, and gradually quieted down.

Finally, Guan Xuqing turned around and looked at the soldiers below.

"You must have all heard of this place, this was once the largest royal forest garden in our Qing Dynasty, that is, my home, twenty years ago the French stole all the treasures here, and then set a fire to destroy my home. They can't make our own treasures, so they rob us, and they don't leave us bricks and tiles that they can't take away. This time you won the battle against the French and avenged my family's vengeance, and I thank you. Guan Xuqing said and bowed deeply to all the troops below.

When the soldiers below heard this, their eyes changed, and they became proud and fanatical, and Guan Xuqing's every word reached their hearts. Seeing that the emperor gave such a big gift to himself, he was a little panicked.

Under the leadership of Dong Liang, Liu Mingchuan, Lu Yiwei, and Liu Yongfu, everyone knelt down on one knee and shouted to Guan Xuqing: "Loyal to the emperor and defend the homeland." ”

Then, thirty or so people waiting to be awarded came up. The leaders are Zuo Zongtang, Dong Liang, Liu Mingchuan, Liu Yongfu, and Lu Yiwei. Guan Xuqing wore gold medals painted on the Great Wall on their chests, which was the "Medal for Protecting the Country" that he designed.

There are also people like Feng Zicai, Ding Shichang, Feng Xianghua, Wang Feng, **Hu, etc

After the award, Guan Xuqing looked at them and said, "You remember, the honor of a soldier is above all else. You should cherish this honor on your body. ”

At this moment, everyone stood straight, and the soldiers of the infantry battalion, the cavalry battalion, the forward battalion, and the guard battalion who were blocking the crowd around were full of envy and affection.

Although the short military parade ended quickly, the impression left in the hearts of the people, students, and Manchurian soldiers was very profound. It can be said that what they see today is something that they still find difficult to imagine.