Ye Zhichao has been practicing martial arts for a long time, and his physique is very strong, with a sparse beard, a round and thick neck, and a thick braid dragged behind his head. Feng Guozhang took two personal soldiers and pressed him to the ground with great effort.

Song Xiaofei stepped forward with a knife and angrily reprimanded Ye Zhichao: "Lord Zhongtang has authorized me to command the army in Korea, and you will not enter Seoul if you don't obey the military order; The 20,000 Huai army against the 5,000 Yuan army broke and fled in less than two hours, delaying the military plane, resulting in heavy casualties for the Huai army; After the defeat of the army, he even lied about the military situation, and the military expenses allocated to you every year by Lord Zhongtang are hundreds of thousands of taels a year, let alone hundreds of thousands of taels a year, you go to the camp to see, your soldiers don't even have a pair of decent shoes, they wear straw sandals when they fight, and they are barefoot, and the soldiers have not been issued new military uniforms for five years, only sewing a large cloth of 'soldier' on their chests and backs! You yourself drink and sing every day! With the troops led like this, can the war not collapse and become an army? At the beginning, if you didn't punish you, you were afraid of shaking the morale of the army, but now if you are not severely punished, don't say that the thousands of brothers who died will not agree, and your soldiers will not agree! ”

After speaking, Song Xiaofei grabbed Ye Zhichao's black and thick braid and cut it off with a knife, which was equivalent to "killing the head" at that time, Song Xiaofei said: "Today, the two armies are facing each other, I will miss you following Lord Zhongtang for many years, and you will not die for the time being, and you will be imprisoned!" ”

Ye Zhichao was already embezzling military salaries and flying high, Song Xiaofei arrested Ye Zhichao, which was very happy, and the generals were shocked and convinced. Song Xiaofei incorporated the remaining more than 10,000 Huai troops, reorganized them into 20 battalions, and sent officers from the Beiyang Military Academy to command, together with the 5,000 Huai troops he brought, to attack the Yue army led by Keisuke Otori outside Seoul.

After Song Xiaofei returned to Seoul with nearly 20,000 Huai troops, Xu Shichang said: "Although we have an advantage in numbers, I see that the thousands of troops of Keisuke Otori are all elite of the army, and their weaponry and military quality are obviously stronger than those of the Huai army, so we should not attack by force." The king of Korea has issued an edict to severely punish those who commit adultery, and the Beiyang warships have blocked the Tsushima Strait, and logistical supply is the fatal point of the army. ”

Song Xiaofei thought that Xu Shichang's analysis was very reasonable, so he did not rush to attack, but divided the Huai army into two parts, 10,000 people occupied the commanding heights near Asan and confronted Yue himself, and the other half entered Seoul to station.

At this time, the 5,000 reinforcements that followed the book arrived in the waters of the Han River on three British merchant ships including the "Gao Sheng". When Song Xiaofei blockaded the Tsushima Strait, he telegraphed to the envoys of various countries in China that if the [***] ships were leased to Yueben, they would be unfriendly to China, and the leased warships would be regarded as Yueben warships, and the Beiyang Naval Division would have the right to sink them. Therefore, Britain and the United States no longer lent their own warships. Saigo was very cunning and knew that the Beiyang Naval Division would not dare to start a war with the British, so he leased three merchant ships including the British "Gao Sheng" at a high price to transport the army, and the "Gao Sheng" alone transported 2,000 soldiers.

Lin Tai, the commander-in-chief of the left wing who blockaded the Tsushima Strait, took the "Zhenyuan" and the "Suzhou" with Deng Shichang, the commander-in-chief of the central wing, and the "Dongting" with Zhan Tianyou, to intercept the "Gaosheng" and other three merchant ships, and they were not allowed to pass through the Han River.

The two sides were at sea for two hours, and the captain of the "Gosheng" felt that he was a merchant ship of the British Empire, and that Korea was a country open to trade with Britain, and they had the right to enter Korea. The three ships were all heavily armed soldiers, and Lin Tai once said that this was a wartime blockade, and that not a single soldier was allowed to enter North Korea, and asked to send people on board to inspect it, and it was not allowed to pass unless it was really the goods being transported. After moderate protests by the British on board, they compromised.

Lin Tai had sent ten officers and soldiers of the Beiyang Naval Division to search on the ship, but before he boarded the "Gao Sheng", he was attacked by the rifles of the army on the ship.

As a result, the "Zhenyuan" and "Suzhou" raised their heavy artillery to fight back against the rifle attacks of the Yue army, and in less than a single pillar of incense, they drove the "Gao Sheng," a bulky merchant ship, out of more than a dozen large holes, and the "Gao Sheng" entered the water and sank, killing more than 2,000 Chinese soldiers on board.

Otori Keisuke's army stationed outside Seoul was short of logistical supplies, and no reinforcements arrived, and the rebellion in southern Korea was put down by Duan Qirui, Song Xiaofei took out the edict of the Korean king Li Xi, and clearly asked Yuben to withdraw the army, Otori Keisuke was isolated, so he sent a telegram back to ask for the withdrawal of the army. Saigo was furious and refused to allow it, so he ordered Keisuke Otori to lead the army to take Seoul.

At this time, Duke Andrei, a lieutenant general of the Russian army, arrived in Korea with 10,000 Russian troops, also stationed outside Seoul. Prime Minister Shigenobu Okuma originally wanted to engage in economic construction for a few more years, so he took the opportunity to mediate with the British, who were very angry with the Chinese because of the sinking of the "Gao Sheng", and asked Keisuke Otori to negotiate with Song Xiaofei in an attempt to drive the Yue army into Seoul and garrison the Legation of Yumoto.

Although the British side expressed strong dissatisfaction with the attack on the "Gao Sheng," after 10,000 Russian soldiers arrived in Korea, Britain's attitude changed and it was willing to mediate between China and China. The British ambassador to Korea, Zhu Erdian, tried his best to win over Song Xiaofei and get the Qing army to prevent the Russian soldiers from entering Seoul, because once Russia took control of Korea, it would threaten British interests in East Asia and the Far East.

Song Xiaofei saw that the army was all new weapons, and if he started a war with the army at this time, the Huai army would not have an advantage, and he also wanted to return to China as soon as possible to train new soldiers and promote China's constitutional reform, so he agreed to negotiate with him.

So, Keisuke Otori, British Ambassador to North Korea Zhu Erdian, and Song Xiaofei sat together.

Song Xiaofei opened the door and asked for the withdrawal of the army: "The most important thing at the moment is to quell the rebellion in Korea. Now that the Qing army has sent troops to do this, the army should leave Korea immediately. ”

Keisuke Otori asked very slyly: "North Korea is in rebellion, why can your country send troops, but my country can't?" ”

Otori Keisuke guessed that Song Xiaofei would definitely talk about the rules of the suzerain, so he was falling into his trap. Because the British minister Zhu Erdian did not understand what a suzerainty was. Song Xiaofei understood Otori Keisuke's plan as soon as he heard it, and instead of answering it positively, he asked rhetorically: "Why did your country send troops?" ”

Keisuke Otori said: "The North Korean mob rebelled, and I said that this sent troops to protect our expatriates and the legations of various countries. ”

Song Xiaofei said: "Now that the mob has been pacified, and the embassies of various countries are safe, why are the soldiers still staying in Seoul and not leaving?" ”

Keisuke Otori was speechless for a while, and then turned the question back: "Your country can send troops, why can't my country?" ”

Song Xiaofei took out the edict of the king of Joseon and said, "China was invited to come to quell the rebellious party, and it was said that it was sending troops without authorization, and to put it mildly, it was to take advantage of the fire to loot, and if the troops entered Seoul, it would inevitably cause the troops of Russia and other countries to also enter Korea." ”

Song Xiaofei's words were not leaky, and Zhu Erdian suddenly felt that the young man in front of him had an unlimited future. Out of British interests, he also wanted to maintain the status quo in Korea, so he urged the army to return home.

China, Britain, and Benz all agreed to maintain the status quo in Korea, and Russian Army Lieutenant General Andrei did not dare to annex Korea alone, so he soon withdrew his troops and returned home with 10,000 Russian troops. North Korea remained a vassal state of China, and the huge crisis was temporarily resolved.

After Ye Zhichao returned to China, he was sent to Beijing for interrogation by the Criminal Department and sentenced to imprisonment. However, he took shit luck, and soon after he was imprisoned, Prince Yiyun died of illness, and Emperor Guangxu granted amnesty to the world, and he was pardoned and returned to his hometown for retirement.

After Ye Zhichao left office, Li Hongzhang played the imperial court, and the post of Admiral of Zhili was concurrently held by Song Xiaofei, Admiral of the Beiyang Naval Division. The Admiral of Zhili was in charge of the green battalion of the Qing army in the jurisdiction of Zhili, controlled the total army of the seven towns, and also governed the battalions of Hetun Yixie and Santun, with a total of more than 70,000 soldiers. Song Xiaofei wrote to Li Hongzhang on the grounds that Ye Zhichao's 20,000 Huai army was defeated by 5,000 Yue troops, asking to supervise the training of the new army, and Li Hongzhang expressed his support.

At this point, Song Xiaofei holds the Beiyang Naval Division and 70,000 Zhili heavy soldiers, and his life is about to turn a new and brilliant next page!;