At night, the martial arts academy was quiet, and there was no hustle and bustle of the day, and in the courtyard of the Ruoda Martial Arts Academy, only a few students patrolled back and forth in the academy.

In a row of houses near the river, Teng Yuzao lay on the bed in the middle of the night and tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He simply got up again and lit the oil lamp, stared for a moment, but let out a sigh of his own accord.

Shuffling his feet, he pushed open the door and walked into the courtyard, where he saw the large pool not far ahead, where the students in the academy practiced building military bridges, and if it was daylight, hundreds of students could be seen practicing there, and only the moon shadow was reflected on the wooden bridges that had not yet been built.

Standing on the edge of the big pool, Teng Yuzao took a few deep breaths, and his brows couldn't help frowning again.

Sometimes the circumstances of life are so delicate, last year he was with three other classmates on the order of the Zhongtang Lord, went to Germany to stay abroad, and returned to China half a month ago, during this half a month, he has been living in the Martial Arts Academy, and the Lord of the Middle Hall has only met once, and then sent to the Martial Arts Academy to wait, this is half a month, half a month, everyone sighs all day long and does not know what the future will be.

What will happen in the future?

Looking at Ruoda's martial arts academy, Teng Yuzao thought of his classmates again, where are they who have not gone abroad now? He also understood in his heart that five years ago, Lord Zhongtang set up a martial arts academy. The plan of the day was to train the young Benmu in the Huai Army, and some of the scholars who had joined the army, and those who passed the grades were sent back to the base camp and appointed according to their talents, so as to enrich the battalions of the Huai Army. It's a pity that, like other armies, the Huai Army has long become a system of nepotism, and the generals at the head of the battalion would rather use their own private than these students. The Martial Arts Academy has already trained two batches of students, but unfortunately, most of them are not used, and there is no place to use them. A small number of outstanding students only stay in school to teach, and those who go to the camp are at most used as teachers, and none of them have been of great use. There were even some people who changed to other professions, some went to the telegraph office, some to the mining bureau, and some to the railway company, but they were completely useless.

What kind of job can you hold in the future?

With his brows furrowed, Teng Yuzao couldn't help but let out another long sigh.

"Xingfu, why can't you sleep?"

The words behind him made Teng Yuzao look back, it was Shang Dequan, and the five of them went to Germany to study military affairs together last year, and they also returned to China at the same time.

"Sleepless nights!"

Teng Yuzao spit out a sentence casually, he was not on the list of studying in Germany at the beginning, it was Master Zhongtang who personally ordered it, and he had to go to Germany to study, so naturally he couldn't say his thoughts in front of others.

"Xingfu, you can't sleep at night, but my brother has no intention of sleeping peacefully!"

Shang Dequan sighed and walked towards the edge of the pool, looking at the pool that was no longer muddy, his eyebrows seemed to be a little worried.

"Oh, Brother Zichun, why is that?"

"Xingfu, you and I have been friends for many years, you also know some things, I am different from you, no matter how you are, the elders in the family have also joined the Huai Army, and there is a friendship with the Lord of Zhongtang, Xingfu, don't be angry, listen to me......"

Seeing that Teng Yuzao seemed to be a little annoyed, Shang Dequan hurriedly said.

"This martial arts academy is said to be the seed for the Huai Army, but what are the camps of the Huai Army, we all know, since you and I are in the camp but entrusted with teaching, the generals in the camp are connected by nepotism, how can you tolerate me as an outsider?"

Shang Dequan's words made Teng Yuzao, who originally seemed annoyed, sigh.

"This, this can't be done, Daqing Kingdom, isn't it all like that there?"

Yes, that's not the case in the Great Qing Kingdom? On the contrary, he was nostalgic for the Prussian Army, where as long as he graduated from the military academy, he would definitely be appointed, and the army was even more meritocracy, on the other hand, the battalions of the Huai Army...... Not to mention anything else, last year they went to Germany to learn gunnery, but when they returned to China, Duan Zhiquan of the five people was allowed to continue their studies for half a year because of the relationship with the Zhongtang adults as fellow villagers, and the four of them returned to China in advance.

"I, I want to ......"

Moaning, Shang Dequan looked at Teng Yuzao and said.

"I want to go and see Lord Tang tomorrow!"

Lord Tang!

Teng Yuzao was stunned for a moment, and then looked at Shang Dequan in surprise.

"You mean the new Minister of Prime Minister's Affairs in the DPRK......"

Shang Dequan glanced into the distance, nodded and continued.

"In the past few days, you and I have read the two books "Tai Xice" and "The Danger of the Prosperous Age", Lord Tang is different from others, he not only knows the foreign, knows how to run the new policy, but also knows how to train the new army, in the past, we think that this practice of foreign exercises is enough, but, Xingfu, do you think it is really a practice of foreign exercises?"

Shang Dequan's rhetorical question made Teng Yuzao's whole person dumb, practicing foreign exercises, Huai Jun's foreign exercises seem to be in English, but in fact? It was just a showmanship, and he didn't think much of it in the past, but when he arrived in Germany and saw the Prussian army, he understood that this army would never be able to resist foreign aggression in the future.

"Not to mention that the battalions of the Huai Army have no rules for training guns and artillery, and if the training of troops does not train officers, it will determine the situation, when we were in Germany, the German generals repeatedly emphasized that the combat strength of the army is based on the excellence of the officer corps and the training of the education of the officer corps, and it can be ...... in our place."

Shang Dequan's complaint made Teng Yuzao just hang his head and be speechless,

"I heard that during the trial of the new policy, Lord Tang will practice the new army, and this is also an opportunity for us to find a career!"

Another voice came, Teng Yuzao looked at it with his spare eyes, it was Wu Dingyuan, he and Kong Qingtang walked over, could it be that they had already discussed?

"I heard that this new army, the establishment is different from the old army, with the Western system, the new army of five or six thousand people, although I don't know how it is organized, but if you look at the old army, it is almost ten battalions of the old army, Tang Lord has no roots in the court, and he has no relatives in the army. You can also get a background! ”

Kong Qingtang's words, only let the two people on the side nod, isn't this the reason, isn't the reason why everyone joins the army is for the future day? If he can find a career in the new Korean army, then when he waits for the new army of the DPRK to be organized, the future of everyone will naturally be limitless.

But on the other hand, in Teng Yuzao's view, Lord Zhongtang and himself have the grace of knowing each other, how can they go against each other? Thinking of the generous words of Lord Zhongtang before studying in Germany, Teng Yuzao couldn't help but fall into a dilemma.

"I'm just afraid it's a little difficult...... It's good to train the new army, but what about training the weapons and artillery of the new army? What about soldiers' salaries? Although Lord Tang has full authority over North Korea, but after all, it is North Korea, if Lord Tang used to train troops for the King of Korea? Let's go, don't end up with a dead end! ”

Teng Yuzao's words are not so much to tell others, but not to persuade himself, hoping to use such a reason to make his mind more determined and not to be tempted.

"Weapons, I think there is always a way to solve it, as for the weapons, how many foreign guns and foreign cannons have been bought by the Guo Dynasty over the years, not to mention anything else, just in the Beiyang warehouse in Tianjin, there are 60,000 or 70,000 German Mauser guns, three or four hundred cannons, these guns are all reserves, even if the Lord Zhongtang is not happy, he has to allocate a few thousand of them, and it is not useful to train a new soldier?"

Shang Dequan's words made Wu Dingyuan shake his head and say,

"Weapons are not a thing, the problem is that if North Korea is our province, it doesn't matter, no matter how North Korea is, it is also a vassal domain, if Lord Tang goes there, it is just to train the king of Korea, we are in the past, I'm afraid it's just a right to teach."

Wu Dingyuan's words made Kong Qingtang nod and say with deep understanding.

"What's the harm in teaching Quanyi? If this country does not train the new army, how will it fight in the future? The soldiers of the dynasty have always been inferior to one round, the Hunan army is not good, and the Huai army must be trained if it is weak, and the Huai army is weak, and the new army must not be trained? Now, this is ostensibly for North Korea to train troops, but in fact, the court itself is not intended to train the new army, if we can train in North Korea, he will be reused by the court one day, if you and I are lucky, maybe he will be able to become the great cause of the marshals one day! ”

People always have a utilitarian heart, although they know that military training is to resist foreign humiliation, and they also know the knowledge of soldiers when they are in the West, but soldiers who don't want to be marshals are not good soldiers, not to mention that they originally joined the army to seek a background.

"Hey......"

Kong Qingtang's words made Teng Yuzao couldn't help but sigh, emotionally he naturally wanted to repay Zhongtang's knowledge, but intellectually, he understood that if he stayed in the Huai Army, at least in the next five or six years, he would not want to have a way out, if he seized this opportunity, he might ...... I can really find a background.

While his thoughts were floating, Shang Dequan noticed Teng Yuzao's hesitation, so he threw out another reason.

"Although Lord Tang is quite refined in the way of military training, but he is not from the military, he wants to train new soldiers, he will be of great use to others, if we go to defect, not only can he be appointed, but also have the effect of buying bones, if you miss this opportunity, I am afraid of ......"

Shang Dequan's words made Teng Yuzao hesitate, and after pondering for a while, he looked at Shang Dequan, Sun Qingtang and Wu Dingyuan, and said for a while.

"However, if you and I take the liberty to go to Lord Tang, will it make Lord Zhongtang unhappy, after all, Lord Zhongtang has the grace of knowing you and me!"

Teng Yuzao's question made the three of them stunned at first, indeed, if they were accused of not repaying their kindness because of this, then their reputation would be ruined in the future, and then Wu Dingyuan laughed out loud again.

"Lord Zhongtang and you and I do have the grace of acquaintance, but we went to Lord Tang, and we also ran errands for the imperial court, not to mention, this North Korea is not still the minister's acting minister, we are still the people of Zhongtang, besides, I see that Lord Tang and Lord Zhongtang must have a tacit understanding first, otherwise, how could Lord Zhongtang allow him to choose people in the school, Xingfu, you have too many concerns!"

Smiling reluctantly, Teng Yuzao asked again.

"But, if we go to see Lord Tang tomorrow, how can you and I knock on Lord Tang's door? How can we make Lord Tang trust you and me, and use you and me? ”