Winter goes to spring, when it rains in the valley, on the dirt road in the countryside, the morning fog spreads, and a group of people and horses gallop over. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info This group of people is not riding the usual pony, but a tall Yanma with a color or black or jujube, if in the eyes of people who know horses, they will definitely recognize that the tall horses ridden by this team are all "Northeast Oceanic Horses" without exception.

The so-called Northeast Ocean Horse, in fact, is the Northeast Qiangzi to promote the horse political plan to breed the third generation of hybrid horses, although there is still a certain distance from the ideal military horse, but compared with the old Mongolian horse, its temperament, physique has made significant progress, and because of its appearance of the tall horse in the Guannei horse is very popular.

On the black northeast horse in the lead, Li Hongzhang, who was full of white beard, was still dressed in official clothes, and he occasionally cast his eyes on the white saline land on both sides of the road, and his pale face looked a little dignified.

He still remembers that when he pacified the rebellion, it was here that tens of thousands of bandits were killed.

"Hey......"

After a long sigh, Li Hongzhang continued to ride his horse forward, followed by Li Jingfang, Sheng Xuanhuai, Zhang Peilun, Wu Tingfang and the guards.

The expressions of several of them looked a little nervous, they often wore the body of Lord Zhongtang, after all, since the body of Lord Zhongtang was getting worse and worse, although the spring breeze will be warm now, if it is cold again, how can it be good?

Now this Beiyang, as well as the Great Qing Kingdom, are all supported by Lord Zhongtang.

Although there are some worries in everyone's hearts. But no one said anything. It seems to be clear to everyone. Lord Nakado, why did you come here, maybe this is the reason why people are old, people are old, and they always miss the old.

It was the warm spring season, and the sparse trees on both sides of the road had turned green by this time, and two or three wisps of cooking smoke rose from the rooftops of the village not far away. A reed rooster. Jump on the half-section of the loess wall at the head of the village and cry "oh oh".

And on the saline-alkali land at the edge of the village, you can see the villagers who are sweeping the ground everywhere, those villagers are sweeping the nitrate, sweeping the nitrate, boiling nitrate is now the most common means of livelihood in Shandong Province, every year the people from all over Shandong Province sweep millions of loads of soil nitrate, will be sold to the northeast, made into gunpowder explosives and fertilizer.

The busy scene in front of him couldn't help but let Li Hongzhang pull the reins. Walk slowly. The people behind him also slowed down.

"Everyone in the world knows that the annual ex-factory value of soil nitrate in Shandong Province is tens of millions, but who knows. The nitric acid and other materials used by our Beiyang Machinery Bureau are purchased from the Northeast, and the land in the Northeast is highly productive, and it is supported by the nitrate fertilizer produced in Shandong......"

After a sigh, everyone with complicated expressions, Li Hongzhang said with a long sigh.

"If the soil nitrate in such saline-alkali land is stored in China, how can it be a matter of three or two hundred years? But who has used it for hundreds of years? ”

There is no one else except Tang Haoran,

"With my mainland, most of everything is waste, but with the Northeast, it can be turned into industrial raw materials.

"Lord Zhongtang, our Beiyang has also made great progress in the past few years, not to mention anything else, let's just say that now, even Tang Haoran in the Northeast has to buy guns and ammunition from our Beiyang......"

When Sheng Xuanhuai said this, his expression looked a little proud. Not really! Now it is he who presides over the management of various foreign affairs of the Beiyang Group.

From the day of the war with Russia in the Northeast, they began to buy all kinds of materials from the Guannai, from small flour to guns, and it can be said that as long as they can be bought, the Northeast will pay for them.

"Not really! Father! ”

Li Jingfang hurriedly echoed with the side.

"The strength of the Northeast industry and commerce is far beyond that of China, but I have not been idle in Beiyang over the years, and the achievements I have made in Beiyang over the years are obvious to all, father, you ...... look"

Pointing to the railway line in the distance, where a train happened to be speeding by, Li Jingfang continued.

"Father, look, this, the Chinese dragon, is made by our Tangshan Locomotive Factory in Beiyang!"

The "Chinese Dragon" in Li Jingfang's mouth refers to the steam locomotives produced by the Tangshan Locomotive Factory using American drawings, and now running on the Zhili and Shandong railways, less than half of which are "Chinese Dragons" made in Tangshan.

"Indeed, it is much stronger than back then, thanks to the big guys in the past few years, otherwise our place will be stronger and stronger day by day!"

Li Hongzhang nodded, indeed, in the past ten years under the auspices of the Beiyang Yamen, whether it is Zhili, Shandong, Henan, or foreign enterprises, more and more year by year, even Shanxi, where the roads are blocked, has now set up a new type of coal mine and built a railway.

"Lord Zhongtang, now even the Northeast is in our Dagukou Shipyard, as well as the shipyard in Jiaozhou Bay to order ships and build ships,"

Sheng Xuanhuai said quite confidently.

"If there are a few more years, we will also build warships for the sailors like them, and by that time, what will he have in the northeast?"

The pride of Sheng Xuanhuai and the others fell in Li Hongzhang's eyes, but it made him sigh in his heart, but he didn't know what he was talking about for a while, just silently rode forward.

Suddenly, a hare sprang up from the field by the side of the road, ran into the dirt road, looked at them with its round eyes open in confusion, jumped three times and twice, and disappeared into the dead grass beside the roadside.

Li Hongzhang's gaze followed the hare to disappear, and then he turned his head and sighed:

"Bend the bow and shoot the hunt, when the time comes!"

As he spoke, the hand subconsciously placed the butt in the holster on the side of the saddle.

Who said that Li Hongzhang was born in Hanlin, but after all, he was also in the army, and the Huai Army was also the first army in China to use foreign guns to practice foreign exercises, and Li Hongzhang was naturally proficient in marksmanship.

Seeing Lord Zhongtang's actions, Sheng Xuanhuai's heart moved, and he immediately stepped forward and said:

"I have heard for a long time that Lord Zhongtang's shooting skills are amazing, can you open Xuanhuai's eyes today"?

The commander of the escort army on the side also said loudly:

"That's not bragging, I heard that our Huai army fought with Changmao in Hongqiao, Shanghai, and our Huai army broke the 100,000 people with 3,000 people, and the adults had a foreign gun. Just shoot thirteen of his mother's long-haired bandits! ”

Although this man's words are exaggerated. But it's not all lies. In fact, among these feudal officials, Li Hongzhang is also the first to be recommended by those who can write and martial arts.

The sycophants of his subordinates made Li Hongzhang laugh and said:

"The old man's eyesight is not good now, and he can't compare to back then!"

That being said, his gaze searched in all directions!

The Protector Commander.

"Your Excellency is looking for a living thing? There's exactly one there! ”

As he spoke, he pointed with his hand.

Looking in the direction of his finger, on the loess wall of the half of the village, the reed rooster was standing there, looking forward to his own rooster crowing.

Li Hongzhang smiled. Pulling out the rifle from the holster on the side of the saddle, the slightly sickly face suddenly condensed with murderous aura, and raised the gun to aim—

But for a long time, no shots rang out.

When he looked at Li Hongzhang again, his face was already calm, and the gun was hanging down.

Lord Zhongtang's actions made Sheng Xuan ask in surprise:

"Why doesn't Zhongtang shoot?"

Li Hongzhang did not answer, but stared at the village, which looked a little dilapidated, with cooking smoke rising from the roofs of almost every house, and the sound of children playing and laughing and dogs barking beside the wheat straw stacks.

Looking at the scene in front of him, Sheng Xuanhuai said as if he had an understanding.

"Zhongtang is afraid of disturbing the people?"

Nodding, Li Hongzhang asked rhetorically:

"You know you're armed with sharp weapons. Murderous intentions, this sentence? ”

Sheng Xuanhuai and the others nodded at the same time. Li Jingfang also nodded and said.

"I've heard it too."

Put the rifle into the holster on the side of the saddle, Li Hongzhang.

"Although the old man is Hanlin, he started in the army, but I have always used this sentence to warn myself for so many years!"

As he walked on his back, he said slowly:

"When a person carries a sharp blade, he can't help but have the urge to use this sharp blade to slash and hurt others; In the same way, when a person has even a little power, he will be uncontrollable to give it to others. This is why the officials of the county government, even a small tax collector, often act as a prestige, scolding and beating ordinary people...... My generation is the minister of the country, and every word and deed will make millions of people suffer from it, so we should be more cautious in using our power, and we have been in chaos since then, although the old man has a sharp weapon! So far, however, no further shots have been fired or another person has been killed. The old man is using this to cultivate concentration, curb murderous intentions, and warn himself not to abuse his power! ”

Everyone couldn't help but be shocked when they heard it, and Sheng Xuanhuai sighed with the side:

"Lord Zhongtang's remarks, chasing after the ancient philosophers, should be the world's officials!"

"Be so! Our generation must remember the words of Lord Zhongtang, today. ”

The flattery of his subordinates made Li Hongzhang sigh:

"Where do you dare to look at the world as an official? It's only good that my Beiyang errand can listen to it! ”

"Father's words today, who listens to only me Beiyang, but in the future, I will not be an official for the world!"

Li Jingfang's words are not arrogant, most of the people in this world think that those who stand in the future will be Beiyang and Li Hongzhang.

At least the world is divided into three, and Beiyang is dominant, but it is a well-known fact in the world.

Li Jingfang's words made Li Hongzhang look at him, looking at this son in a new-style military uniform, he sighed in his heart, but nodded silently on his face.

"I'm a little tired, let's take the train at the next station!"

Lord Zhongtang's words made Sheng Xuanhuai, Zhang Peilun and others all breathe a sigh of relief, and several people said in unison.

"As it should be, as it should be."

Half an hour later, a train stopped next to the small station, and Li Hongzhang and others got on the train to Jiaozhou Bay, which was also the destination of their trip, Jiaozhou Bay, the home port of the Beiyang Fleet.

As soon as he entered the carriage, Li Hongzhang picked up today's newspaper, and among the many current political news in the newspaper, the one that attracted Li Hongzhang's attention the most was probably the report related to the war in Northeast China.

Ay......

Li Hongzhang, who was sitting in the carriage, put down the newspaper in his hand, as if he remembered something, and sighed again.

"My lord, but what the eldest prince said before?"

Among so many staff, I am afraid that the one who knows Li Hongzhang best is Zhang Peilun, and if it were someone else, I am afraid that he would think that he was worried about the war in the Northeast.

"You still know me."

Li Hongzhang nodded, and then shook his head helplessly and said.

He only heard the precept of being an official, but he did not hear the precept of being himself! I'm afraid ......."

When the words came to his mouth, Li Hongzhang still couldn't say it, although this body was not as good as day by day, but he always couldn't let go of some things, more precisely, he couldn't let go of Beiyang, he couldn't let go of China, and he couldn't let go of the Li family.

"Your Excellency, you are worried about ...... future"

Looking at the melancholy on the sickly face of his father-in-law in front of him, Zhang Peilun knew what the adults were worried about, he was worried about Beiyang after his death, and he was worried that the descendants of the Li family would not be able to bear this burden.

"Who knows what will come?"

With a long sigh, Li Hongzhang turned his gaze to the newspaper again, looking at Tang Haoran who was smiling on the newspaper.

"Compared with Yu Ziran, we are all too old, we are old and old, and our descendants are incompetent, so we can be their opponents."

Age! For many years, for Li Hongzhang, compared with Tang Haoran, the biggest pressure is not that he understands foreign affairs and is proficient in diplomacy, but Tang Haoran's age, indeed, on the one hand, he is too young, so he seems to be a little inexperienced, and it can even be said that he is young and vigorous, if he is not young and vigorous, how can he fight with Russia?

But on the other hand, age is Tang Haoran's biggest advantage, whether it is Li Hongzhang or Zhang Zhidong, they are all too old, and whether it is the Li family or the Zhang family's children and nephews, their talents are far away, and they cannot be compared with Tang Haoran.

Thinking that after his death, Jing Fang and others could not support the beam, Li Hongzhang's mind sank, and his face was a pity, a pity, and a heartache.

After decades of hard work, in the end, he made wedding dresses for others, how not to make people's hearts.

"My lord, Ziran is a believer!"

Zhang Peilun did not say anything to comfort Li Hongzhang, but only said a fact. Tang Haoran is a person who talks about faith and righteousness and remembers old feelings, and this can be seen from the relationship between him and Zhang Zhidong. Even if Zhang Zhidong failed him, how could he hold a grudge against Zhang Zhidong because of this, he has helped Zhang Zhidong more than once or twice over the years. It can be said that it is with his help and support that Zhang Zhidong has today's one-third momentum.

His words made Li Hongzhang nod,

"Ziran, he is a believer, if he is...... If you want to come to Jingfang, they will have no worries about food and clothing all their lives, there should be no problem, even if I am under the Beiyang Gate, I will also be appointed if I want to come, hey......"

With a heavy sigh, Li Hongzhang closed his eyes, and the old and sickly face was full of pity for a while before he spoke.

"I'm afraid, I'm afraid that the scriptures will be ruined together! After all...... Hey"

After a sigh, Li Hongzhang shook his hand a little weakly,

"Children and grandchildren have their own children and grandchildren, if it is that day, I hope that he Tang Haoran can remember two old loves, and he can be regarded as worthy of the old man!" (To be continued.) )