Song Xiaofei knew Zhang Peilun better, so he said to Li Hongzhang: "Teacher, as far as I have heard, Zhang Peilun is indeed more talented. But it's also very simple to deal with him. There are two ways to do this: First, you can use it in general. I heard that he still respects his mentor very much, and hopes to do some foreign and pragmatic things, as long as the mentor nods, it shouldn't be a problem to pull him into the staff. Second, if you can't get close, it's not worrying, the teacher can transfer him to the front line, he has a fatal flaw, that is, conceit, often compare himself to Zhuge Liang, I think he is just a show talent who can talk on paper, things are not difficult, to the front line he will know that fighting is not as simple as moving his mouth. ”

Li Hongzhang nodded and said to Zhang Shusheng: "Zhenxuan, the old man has a point in seeing the comfort pavilion, let's salute first and then soldier, you have a personal relationship with his father, and you have time to talk to him about the scene." ”

Zhang Shusheng said: "Don't worry, Lord Zhongtang, I will persuade Zhang Peilun." ”

When it comes to foreign affairs, among Li Hongzhang's staff, Ma Jianzhong and Song Xiaofei are more active. Ma Jianzhong introduced the situation at that time: the British occupied Burma, the French were trying to occupy "Tokyo" in Vietnam, and the French Navy Captain Li Weiye in Vietnam was leading 500 French soldiers to provoke in "Tokyo".

Of course, this Tokyo is not the Tokyo of the Ben, otherwise the French will go to fight him, and the Chinese will not be happy and crazy? This Tokyo is the transliteration of the French "tonkin", referring to most of the northern part of Vietnam, the Vietnamese called it Beiqi at that time, which means "northern region", and because it is located between the Red River and the Su Li River, it is named "Hanoi", which is the current capital of Vietnam, but the "Hanoi" in the Guangxu period has not been developed, like the "Great Northern Wilderness", but Hanoi is an ideal military base, occupying Hanoi, which is particularly close to Guangxi, once the great powers want to carve up China, the French can be the first to go deep into the hinterland of China from Hanoi, occupy Guangxi, Guangdong, The three provinces of Yunnan, so Hanoi is also a strategic point for China's defense.

China is the suzerainty of Vietnam, after Ma Jianzhong introduced the situation, Song Xiaofei frowned and said: "Teacher, I have a sentence, I don't know whether to say it or not." ”

Li Hongzhang said: "But it doesn't hurt to say it. ”

Song Xiaofei said: "Weng Tongyi and Zhang Peilun don't know how to open their eyes to see the world, and they are still sleeping in the spring and autumn dream of the Heavenly Empire, and they don't realize that the world has changed. Even if they are aware, they will pretend to be asleep, they just eat by mouth, thinking that the world will be peaceful if they move their mouths. But in the new era, there are already new rules of the public law of all nations, and now it is precisely because of the backward rules of the suzerainty that China has made enemies on all sides. He said that he was in Korea, the British in Burma, and the French in Vietnam, and every place was a time bomb. I think that even if these suzerains were to be turned into provinces, like Xinjiang Province, North Korea would be set up as North Korean Province, Vietnam would be set up as South Vietnam Province, Burma would be set up as Far Eastern Province, and Taiwan would also be set up as a province and send troops to take the initiative to garrison them, which would be much better than being harassed on all sides and waiting to be beaten. ”

Song Xiaofei's words shocked everyone, and Liu Mingchuan, Zhang Shusheng and others said that they were reasonable. Li Hongzhang said: "The old man has also had such thoughts. But now the Huai army with combat effectiveness in the country is only about 30,000 people, 60 battalions, scattered throughout the country, and this includes the ten battalions of the three provinces guarding the gateway of Gyeonggi, and the Hui of Xinjiang Province and Qinghai. People, now the people's hearts are unstable, they need to garrison, there is no extra army to garrison the suzerain, and once the garrison is required, a large amount of military pay is needed, and now the treasury is empty, it is impossible to come up with so much silver, or face the reality, solve the urgent need, set up the province, not the old man alone can have the final say, think about it in the long run. ”

When Song Xiaofei heard this, it was also true that the Qing Dynasty was mainly for military salaries and to support his family, and he couldn't do anything without military salaries, so he said: "The French are now occupying Tokyo, and they will not give up, and a war between China and France is inevitable. The French have had a bad time in the last ten years, the 200,000 French troops were defeated by the Germans at Sedan, 20,000 were killed and wounded by Krupp shelling on the open plain, and more than 20,000 were captured, Huang Yanjing was captured by the Germans, the French Empire was destroyed, and after the riots of the common people in Paris, their vitality was greatly damaged, and I expected that they would not dare to act rashly. ”

Li Hongzhang said: "This is very good. The French minister to China, Bao Hai, is messing with me about the occupation of Vietnam. You go and give the French a little color to see, Vietnam can't afford to lose, otherwise the three provinces of Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guangdong will lose their barrier. In addition, I will allocate you ten breech guns and 3,000 shells from the Huai army, 1,000 breech guns and 1,000 bullets from Remington, Zhen Xuan is just the new governor of Liangguang, and he will help you transport these ordnance weapons to the front line in Hanoi. In addition, I asked Li Fengbao to purchase another batch of Krupp guns and Mauser guns in Germany for your troops. However, the main purpose of your trip is deterrence, and a little lesson to the French will be fine. The Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ironclad warships ordered by the old man have not yet returned to China, and the gap between the strength of the Beiyang Naval Division and the French Navy is too large, and the conditions for a full-scale war with France are not ripe. ”

Song Xiaofei was overjoyed when he heard that Li Hongzhang had given him so many guns and ammunition. At this time, Zhang Shusheng told Song Xiaofei another good news: "Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army is in Vietnam, and I can cooperate with you when the time comes." ”

When Song Xiaofei heard Liu Yongfu's name, he felt more sure. Liu Yongfu was born as a peasant, was originally an anti-Qing Black Flag Army general, and was later recruited by the Qing court, as early as the twelfth year of Tongzhi, the French invading army occupied Hanoi, Vietnam, he led more than 2,000 Black Flag troops with big swords and firearms, and even beheaded hundreds of French army leaders Captain An Ye, recovered Hanoi, and the king of Vietnam granted him the post of deputy governor of Sanxuan, let him manage the three provinces of Xuanhua, Xinghua and Shanxi in Vietnam. What is little known is that after the cession of Taiwan on May 25, 1895, he supported Governor Tang Jingsong as the president of Taiwan's Ming Cook State, proclaimed himself a general, and in June of the same year, he established himself as the president, and was an ambitious figure. Liu Yongfu's troops, originally from bandits, were extremely familiar with the mountainous terrain of Vietnam, and it was easy to drive the French out of Vietnam by joining forces with him.

So, Song Xiaofei bid farewell to Li Hongzhang, returned to Korea, and led 3,000 recruits to the south, including 2,000 Huai troops and 1,000 Korean troops.

Before leaving Beijing for North Korea, Song Xiaofei sent a letter back to Rong Rong, who was far away in the United States, and asked someone to bring it back to the Qing Embassy in the United States to her. Song Xiaofei wrote in the letter: Dear Rong Rong, although I am not a fanatical nationalist, I cannot turn a blind eye to everything that has happened and is about to happen in this country. I thought this way four years ago, and now it's getting stronger. Kind-hearted Chinese, who originally lived and worked in peace and contentment in their own country, "the people are noble, the monarch is light, willing to eat, beautiful, peaceful, and happy", this is their life and dream, but they were bombarded with strong ships and artillery by the British and French invaders who have pirate civilization and logic, and they do not know how to change the fate of being slaughtered by others, at this time, they need national heroes. Remember what you told me about Napoleon, who was also my idol, who won the dignity of the French with a knife and a sword, with a gun and a cannon. For the sake of the dignity of the 40,000,000 Chinese people, and for the sake of them to stop being cattle and horses, no matter what the abyss is ahead, or foreign guns and cannons, I will rush forward without hesitation. If I can come back alive from Vietnam this time, I hope to meet you to make up for the regret of four years ago.