Tianjin, Yamen, Minister of Beiyang Commerce.

The governor's guards formed a neat four-column horizontal line at the entrance of the yamen, holding foreign names and holding the festival flags of the governor's ministers. All the soldiers of the guard stood silently with their guns on their shoulders. A small military attache with a sword at his waist was walking up and down the front of the line.

The Qinglong Gate and the White Tiger Gate at the entrance of the yamen were all wide open, and the officials of the Governor's Office were waiting in a crowd inside the gate. Only Li Hongzhang is still in his festival hall according to the etiquette system. The Minister of Beiyang Trade and Commerce usually hangs the title of Qin, and there is no need to greet the Qincha in person, and it is also a courtesy to meet. Coupled with his status as a militaristic minister, even if he doesn't have the title of Qincha, who would dare to pick on him?

In the past, in addition to welcoming several red princes out of Beijing, the yamen of the supervision office set up this guard of honor. This time, the two ministers of military training went out of Beijing and passed through Weili, and they were actually so solemn and fanfare. But I don't know what Li Hongzhang's idea is.

Among the waiting subordinates, Yuan Shikai was also among them. He was dressed in Tongzhi's mendling uniform, and he was not conspicuous in the crowd at all. To be honest, those Huai veterans are still consciously or unintentionally staying away from him, a newcomer. Yuan Shikai rose too fast, even if he was one of the elders of the Huai family, but he was still very unpopular. This time, he deprived the Qingjun under his command, and many people still gloated.

But today, compared with one of the ministers who are coming, Yuan Shikai's speed of development is really small.

Yuan Shikai came by sea ship from Seoul, and at this time his face was expressionless, quietly bowing slightly and waiting. There was a whisper of discussion around him, as if he hadn't heard it.

"Okay, a Manchurian general who has come back from Xi'an is equivalent to the Minister of Military Training of the General Office of the General Office who has been idle for more than ten years. It is estimated that now that he has this errand, his eyes are all green, and he is a small place in North Korea, don't you want to shave him three feet high? ”

"What training Praetorian Guards, it's all a joke, it is said that 20,000 soldiers will be trained? Can you rely on the six battalions of people in the Qingjun to do things? We have worked hard, but we have maintained fifty or sixty thousand Lu Divisions, and millions of silver a year. At present, even if 200,000 yuan is allocated to Tianjin Customs, the center will subsidize more than 100,000 yuan. More than 300,000 yuan a Chinese New Year's Eve, enough to support how many soldiers? It's not enough for the two old men to pretend to be their own purses. I see, the imperial court has made it clear that we have the right to divide Beiyang! Those who do not train their troops will be secondary. ”

"In this world, it's useless to train any soldiers! After training, can you still beat foreign soldiers? If the boat is broken, let's row slowly......"

"One Yuan Weiting, one Manchurian general, one lives two hundred and five...... There's a joke here......"

"Tell me, which side Yuan Weiting is he leaning on this time? I estimate that he and that life are two hundred and five, and this time Liang Zi is not shallow! ”

The voice of the words, intentional or not, was heard by Yuan Shikai. but it was as if it had not been in the ears at all.

Hmph, we'll see. On the ground of North Korea, I don't know who has the final say.

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In the Beiyang Governor's Office, people's hearts are surging and waiting for time. The minister's convoy also entered the guard.

This time, the team is unusually large. Xu Yifan's basic team was very small, first of all, his family did not travel with him, but walked by water under the escort of Wang Wu. The second is his wings, most of whom have been dispersed. Li Yunzong took his Qinchaguan defense line and began to recruit troops in the old land of Yan Zhao. Tang Shaoyi, on the other hand, ran at both ends of Tianjin and Shanghai, preparing supplies and purchasing arms according to the list opened by Zhan Tianyou and Xu Yifan. It is also indispensable to contact Nanyang, and many things still need the contribution of the Nanyang Li family. Zhan Tianyou, with Zhang Xuzhou and some of the apprentices, as well as a large number of Nanyang youths, had already taken his Qinchaguan defense document and went straight to Pyongyang.

Xu Yifan also sent a letter to Han Lao's shopkeeper, Zhan Tianyou, Zhang Xuzhou, and Nanyang youth, preparing camps in Pyongyang, selecting factory sites, prospecting and paving roads, etc., the material support needed in advance, as well as the transportation of small workers recruited in China. Da Shengkui was also asked to set up transshipment warehouses on both sides of the Yalu River and on both sides of the Datong River. Because a lot of materials transported by waterway also have to be transported into the river by small boats, and then unloaded for distribution and transshipment. Why not take advantage of Dashengkui's ready-made logistics talent manager? As for how much it will cost, let the old shopkeeper Han and the big housekeeper Tang Shaoyi settle it.

In this way, his basic team has almost been distributed, and although there are still dozens of people in his guard to support the scene, most of them were selected by him in the capital, among the young people who have served one after another and have had basic military training. Many people were introduced by the soldiers under his command. Anyway, this kind of appointment of private individuals is also a common practice in the Qing season, and there is no taboo.

Compared with his shabby simplicity, his top boss Rong Lu is amazing. Before and after His Majesty's resignation, he sent the general office attaché of the tune, I'm afraid there are not more than 100 people! The so-called Xiaorui young children selected by the children of the Manchu clan also have seventy or eighty people. Why not take the most convenient and fast waterway and get up and down to Tianjin. It's also these attachés who make trouble. Taking the waterway is just for the official use of sealing the ship, and as soon as the small steamer is towed, it will arrive. What else is there to grow?

When the drought comes down, after all the way, you can ask for supplies from the locality, cars, horses, porters, and entertainment bags after passing through a state and county. This opportunity to make a fortune is only a fool to let go! He had an attaché of almost 200 people, and the carriages and horses were almost 300, plus more and more porters, and he couldn't walk 30 miles a day. At night, these flag people and clan attachés also went around calling houses, driving out landlords, visiting earthen kilns, drinking and gambling money. It's a smoky miasma.

Xu Yifan didn't come to them, and his small team was silent every time he stayed down, and closed the door at night to give lessons to these newly joined attaché guards, sometimes talking about world events, sometimes talking about Korean customs. These young people who originally came for Xu Yifan's heroic deeds in Nanyang also listened to it with relish.

He behaved like this, those banner clans, who still bird him, the Han deputy minister? The eyelid clip didn't pinch him, and he was like nothing. Instead, he had a hot fight with Shangguan Ronglu, who deliberately accepted them, with an atmosphere of harmony between the top and the bottom.

Even Rong Lu didn't notice that every night, after people fell asleep, he rode a fast horse and quietly came to the line where Xu Yifan was stationed, and quietly left. Xu Yifan's arrangements and preparations had already been solidly unfolded when they were still drunk and dreaming of death.

No matter how much delay was on the road, there was a day when I arrived in Tianjin Weili. As soon as he entered the guard, he was greeted by a training officer. A system should be routine, kneeling and kneeling, and reporting the roll call. All the way, it's as good as singing. Rong Lu wanted to put on the majesty of his military training minister, riding on a tall horse with purple bridles, surrounded by the Goshha guards he brought from Xi'an, and swept across the avenues in Tianjin like the wind. Along the way, passers-by avoided one after another. I'm not afraid of him, but I'm afraid of the yellow and red belts that will follow right behind! In the land of Gyeonggi, who doesn't know that these characters are more powerful than locusts?

Some of these Manchurian children can barely ride horses, and some can only sit on mules. There were several attendants waiting around, some with eagles on their arms, some with spit cans, and some with snuff bottles and hookahs on their bodies. Rong Lu walked fast in front, and they followed sparsely behind, complaining bitterly. Only Xu Yifan brought the attaché chariots and horses, and a team, closely following behind. Xu Yifan didn't show up from his official car, but just looked at those flag men through the cracks in the curtains. The sneering smile on his face couldn't hide it.

When the gas is exhausted, the qi is exhausted. No amount of thought is in vain......

In the blink of an eye, this strange team arrived at the Beiyang Minister's Mansion, and the voice of the communication sounded. The military attache commanding the guards of the Superintendent gave a loud order: "Raise the cannon, call the trumpet!" ”

The platoon was training at the head of the army, and suddenly the foreign horn was blown, and the trainees all raised their guns and flat-chested military salutes. As soon as the gunner's fire rope lit up, Peng Peng Peng Peng rang out seven cannon cannons. The officials of the Governor's Office who were waiting all over the courtyard clapped their horseshoe sleeves in a hurry: "The ministers respectfully invite St. Ann, see the Minister of Military Training!" ”

Rong Lu jumped off his horse, the spurs creaking and staggering, and strode over under the embrace of Goshha. It's really imposing. Don't wait for Xu Yifan, who is also a messenger. Xu Yifan also stopped the carriage at this time and jumped down with a smile. looked at Rong Lu's pie, but Fu Yi smiled. Rong Lu himself took the shelf, but unfortunately the attachés of the clan behind him did not give him a face. As soon as the trumpet sounded and the cannon was raised, some mules and horses were actually startled, and they fell down with a crackle. Didn't these uncles scold all the swear words?

Rong Lu pretended not to see it, strode up to the officials of the court, raised his face and replied loudly: "Holy bow! ”

At this time, Li Hongzhang was also surrounded by several henchmen, and came to the Qinglong Gate, waiting to pay a peaceful salute to the ministers. Looking at the farce in front of them, they glanced at Yang Shixiang beside them, and both of them shook their heads slightly.

After the officials saluted, they retreated to both sides with a bang. Xu Yifan also followed, standing half a step behind Rong Lu. The two paused slightly, and then walked towards the middle door. Zhengzheng and Li Hongzhang's eyes collided, and the three of them looked at each other, and they didn't know how much they were hiding in their eyes. In the end, he smiled slightly and gave up.

Xu Yifan, who was standing behind Rong Lu, was slightly emotional, the last time he came to see Li Hongzhang, he had to be meticulous. This time, although the official titles and qualifications are still far away, everyone is a minister, but it is not even. The next time I see Li Hongzhang, what will happen?

Li Hongzhang just smiled: "The two Qin sent His Majesty to resign from Beijing and go to suppress the Korean vassals." After Tianjin, as long as there are any requirements, Li should do his best. ”

Rong Lu laughed, stepped forward arrogantly, and shook Li Hongzhang's hand: "Old Zhongtang, in front of you, we are still the younger generations." The affairs of that place in North Korea are not supported by the Beiyang? I'm really here to beg for help. No matter what the old hall is called, I will get into the cracks in the ground. ”

Li Hongzhang smiled, glanced at Xu Yifan, who didn't speak, waved his hand and said, "Please, let's talk inside." Many of the officials who are familiar with North Korean affairs are already here, and I don't know which of the two Qincha lords is going to summon to come over to meet them? ”

Rong Lu's eyes moved, glanced at the team of officials standing on duty, and said lightly: "I don't know if the plenipotentiary negotiator in North Korea, Yuan Weiting, Lord Yuan, is not there?" ”

As soon as the air in the field was quiet, I saw Yuan Shikai's short and fat body, and he walked out of the standing team steadily, and saluted to the three people present: "Humble Yuan Shikai, see the three adults!" ”

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On both sides of the Datong River, there is already a verdant green, and among the paddy fields, North Korean farmers wearing white traditional clothes are dotted. While working, I played a song. The singing voice is long and trembling, one person plays the song, and the four echo the harmony.

It's a wonderful painting.

This land, huddled outside the heart of the East Asian continent, extends out to the sea, with many mountains and few plains. From history to the present, it has always been a vassal of the continental powers. Countless peoples have conquered and come and gone on this land, and one nation after another has been born and died here. Samhan, Goryeo, Balhae...... The people who remain on this land now are already people who have been destroyed several times, mixed blood several times, and have nothing to do with the great nations that were once here in history.

Time has come to this day, and this land is still sandwiched between continental power and maritime power. Be careful to find the right and left, and be careful to struggle to survive. As a Manchu vassal for more than 200 years, Korea has not been free from its fetters and self-existent in this last era. After all, their suzerain-lord empire is already old, and it is crumbling. Even if you want to hug thick legs, you have to hug a more promising one, right?

It's a pity that there were two incidents in Renwu and Jiashen, and the Western-oriented Kaihua Party in Korea died and fled. Concubine Min, the leader of the Enlightenment Party who stayed behind, didn't dare to talk nonsense. The two coups d'état were exchanged for a treaty in which the Qing state could instead station troops everywhere in Korea.

Now in Korea, the power is still in power by the conservative forces of Dayuanjun, which is favored by the Qing Dynasty. But the undercurrent is turbulent, but there is still no rest.

Zhan Tianyou and Zhang Xuzhou, with more than a dozen heavily armed cadets, were standing on top of a mountain. On the left and right of the mountain, there are Chinese in long robes and horse coats measuring altimetry. All kinds of Western-style measuring equipment purchased from Shanghai and Tianjin are everywhere. Li Xing is also here, with dozens of Nanyang youths, none of them have yet been issued military uniforms, but they are not wearing robes and horse coats, some follow Zhan Tianyou, and some follow Zhang Xuzhou's pile, pointing at the unfamiliar scenery around them.

Zhang Xuzhou's face was as pale as iron, the well-fitting military uniform was stretched tightly on his sturdy body, the six-wheeled pistol was inserted in the belt, and the nose of the machine was open. The apprentices around him were all on guard. Compared to these sturdy officers in Western-style military uniforms. Wearing bamboo hats, tattered gowns, and rusty spears, the Korean Pyongan Daoist soldiers did not dare to approach in fear. The envoy of Pyongyang Prefecture in Pyongan Province, Park Zunyan, wore a full set of official uniforms and followed them with a sad face.

A few days ago, this team, as well as hundreds of noisy youths, under the leadership of a prefect of the Celestial Empire (Zhan Tianyou) and guerrilla military attache (Zhang Xuzhou), suddenly visited Ping'an Dao. The area around the Taedong River was barren and mountainous, and the Joseon Kingdom deliberately wanted to create a relatively insignificant area on the border with the Qing Dynasty. It turned out that Pyongyang, the capital of the Goryeo Dynasty, was really far away from the royal power of Seoul. The Qing Dynasty said that the power of foreign devils was far from extending here, and they were all fighting for several ports in Seoul and South Korea. When have they ever seen such a scene?

Looking at the team led by the guerrillas, the observation of Ping'an Dao made the supervisor unable to raise the courage to protest at all. Their hundreds of chaotic Dao troops are not enough for people to stuff their teeth. What's more, there are treaties in there! While asking Park Zun to entertain these uninvited guests, the superintendent reported to Seoul and asked the cabinet to come up with ideas. In the past few days, it has been bitter for the ambassador of the Pu Mansion. Follow them to run around on both sides of the Datong River, especially the Zhan prefect, the more remote the place, the more powerful the run.

Pu Fu made these words down, and carefully observed that the information written down by the Zhan Governor on his small notebook was already thick, and the land where the guerrilla circle was to be used as a garrison barracks was getting bigger and bigger. It can accommodate tens of thousands of people. What kind of ideas did these people from the Qing Dynasty have?

However, these things are not something that a small envoy of his government can do, and they can only fool around. I hope that as the Inspector said, the Seoul Cabinet will come up with a way to come out as soon as possible!

Zhan Tianyou looked around and just nodded silently. Li Xing said to him: "Write it down, the location here is very good." Twenty miles away, there is an almost open-pit coal mine, which is barely mined and of decent quality. It is also very convenient to transport it by water, although the reserves are not large, but it is enough for our early needs. ”

Zhan Tianyou didn't know how to value Li Xing, and felt that this Nanyang young man was flexible and careful, and he also had a little organizational ability. I take him everywhere, almost hand-in-hand, teaching him. To be precise, these Nanyang youths are all well-educated. It is also necessary to have the traditional hard-working virtues of Nanyang Chinese. In terms of use, it is much stronger than the original Beiyang foreign affairs system, which is much stronger than those large and small commissioners with titles.

Li Xing agreed and wrote it down again. After running with Zhan Tianyou for a few days, he also wrote down a lot of things. Zhan Tianyou has circled a lot of places and is preparing to open a foreign factory. Just what Li Xing wrote down, there were silver dollar bureaus, small ironworks, gunpowder factories, and firearms bureaus...... This pattern is so big, it is another scene compared to Nanyang!

It's a pity that Li Xing is still a little dissatisfied, looking at Zhang Xuzhou and their loaded guns, how majestic? He is more willing to follow Xu Yifan to be a soldier! With a gun, foreigners don't dare to bully us Chinese anymore!

While he was recording, Zhang Xuzhou walked over steadily and saluted Zhan Tianyou: "Lord Zhan, there is something I don't understand...... the lower officials."

Zhan Tianyou was wearing a hunting suit, dragging big braids, and was immersed in the planning here. Listening to someone ask, he said without looking back, "What's the matter?" ”

Zhang Xuzhou's eyebrows furrowed, and he secretly glanced at the North Korean official who was shrinking to the side: "We're here, aren't we just opening a factory for North Korea to do foreign affairs?" What the adults are talking about is military training! ”

Zhan Tianyou snorted, turned his head and looked at Zhang Xuzhou impatiently. He is really not good at being an official, and he doesn't care that Zhang Xuzhou is a descendant who followed Xu Yifan from birth to death, so he opened his mouth very politely: "You don't understand this!" Don't pretend to understand if you don't understand! When there is a war, there is no supply of weapons and ammunition, and you go to fight for your life? It couldn't be cheaper to train our own workers and produce things for us with North Korean resources. Don't all foreign devils do this? This is called capital export! If you are soldiers, you can just defend us with guns, and you don't need to point fingers at the rest. ”

Zhang Xuzhou is an honest man, and he doesn't care, but he retreats silently. I was worried: "This Lord Zhan is really not good to serve, when will Lord Xu arrive?" It's better to follow Lord Xu, and I'm happy in my heart......"

When he was muttering, Zhan Tianyou was already standing on a high place, with one hand on his waist and the other hand drawing a big circle: "Starting from Ming'er, as soon as the domestic workers recruited by Lord Tang arrived, they began to build camps, set up factories, and open coal mines!" According to what Master Xu said, let's make Datongjiang completely become our sphere of influence! ”

The voice was agitated, and the students and Nanyang youths gathered around the left and right, their eyes shining brightly. Looking at the three thousand miles of picturesque mountains and rivers in front of me, I almost had to shout out.

Only the Pu envoy, who knew Chinese, closed his eyes and trembled.

(To be continued)