The one that signed the cooperation agreement with other countries was "Yanhua Foreign Bank", whose head office was located in the United States, and even the name of the person in charge did not have Yang Hao's business.

What's even more infuriating is the content. Originally, it was firearms, artillery and other equipment, but the list listed all kinds of seamless steel pipes, alloy cutting parts, wood products, leather, and woven products. All in all, there is absolutely no word for guns and cannons that are assembled.

This is also the detail that Yang Hao and the foreign powers jointly agreed upon after negotiations. Originally, it was shameful for foreign devils to import weapons by pinching their noses, can you expect them to make a big deal of it in the country and make themselves uncomfortable?

Their domestic statements are also all kinds of parts and components, industrial products, and it is another thing to go back and assemble them into guns, anyway, in any text, you should not expect to see relevant irritating words.

Emperor Guangxu slapped the table angrily and scolded loudly: "Yang Dingshi, you still have to be shameless!" Acting in this way, where is a little bit of the decency of a wise man in the world? ”

Li Hongzao, Wen Tingshi and others could only sigh. It's not that we don't do our best, it's that the enemy is too cunning to give them a little bit of a grip at all. It is so difficult to detain Yang Hao in the name of making private arms, and it is not easy to expect to knock him down from public opinion!

Their troubles are just beginning.

The case of Zhou Ziqing's assassination of Yang Hao, after many overt and covert maneuvers, finally opened on January 5, 1895. The venue was selected in the American concession, and the jury was composed of Tianjin Dao, the US embassy and consulates, and other institutions.

There is no way to do this, the matter is in the US concession, and the assassination target Yang Hao is still nominally an American. There were also ministers and other heads of state at the scene. It's okay to say that he is a conspiracy against various countries. Such a big trouble. None of the yamen dared to take it!

The Qing court's gang of Qingliu people did not understand the details of diplomatic relations between the countries, and under Li Hongzhang's inaction, they did not know such a more favorable way to extradite Zhou Ziqing and hand him over to Tianjin Dao for trial.

As a result, in the temporary court, there are hundreds of foreigners from all over the world who are idle. There were also a large number of representatives and witnesses from various countries, and they put on a grand posture and were witnessed by a bunch of reporters. That's a world-class spec.

In the past ten days, Zhou Ziqing tried all the ways to commit suicide, but the result was unsuccessful. Even if he went on a hunger strike, he couldn't stop being confined to a special bed like a mental illness, and he was forced to feed him with a hanging bottle and a stomach tube.

The doctor on duty told him even more coldly: "Even if you cut your esophagus, we still have a way to insert a tube into you from the anus!" That kind of taste, hehehe, it's not very pleasant! ”

Zhou Ziqing is not a revolutionary martyr. Even if he dares to play with his life for revenge, it doesn't mean that he can endure all kinds of terrifying tosses. The shiny and cold hanging bottle, the sharp needle pierced the body. With a horse-chewing stuff in his mouth. I was forcibly broken open and inserted a tube into my stomach, and my ears, nostrils, and eyes were all sealed, and I couldn't detect any movement outside....

All kinds of fears. It was as if he had gone to hell to be tortured, and he was terrified. After less than three days of confrontation, he was at the mercy of his heart, and on the day of the trial, he was basically resigned to his fate and looked like a puppet.

Fortunately, this qiē was carried out under the supervision of the representatives of the world, and Yang Hao could not find the slightest fault.

Wu Tingfang, as the defendant's defense lawyer, and another British barrister had a long verbal argument, and finally ruled that Zhou Ziqing was convicted of plotting to assassinate Yang Hao under irrefutable evidence; He was convicted of endangering public safety and disturbing public order.

At the same time, Kang Youwei, who instigated Zhou Ziqing's conspiracy and planning the case, was also exposed. The waiter of the Shunde Hotel in Tongguò corroborated the evidence that the prisoner had a secret meeting with Kang before the operation. Although there is no clear evidence to determine that Kang was the mastermind, he is absolutely inextricably linked.

I have to say that the two are smarter, they have not reported their names from beginning to end, and there is no third party to prove it directly, so this matter can only be doubtful. And it happened in the British Concession, so naturally it was up to them to solve it.

As for the case of the defendant's accusation against Yang Hao for killing and seizing the property, it was all overturned by a group of witnesses from Rizhao with irrefutable official conclusions. On the contrary, it was Zhou Quan's father and son who ran rampant among the people in the township, and the ugly deeds of killing people many times were all exposed.

If Yang Hao was just a poor man or a little rich, the amount of money involved in the Zhou Quan case might also discredit him. But it's a bit funny if you accuse a billionaire of killing people for your family's tens of thousands of dollars.

What's more, in front of people from all over the world, it was also revealed that the source of the huge wealth of the Zhou family (relative to ordinary land owners) was actually obtained from the resale of national treasure bronzes!

Rizhao is the main location of Longshan culture, and it is also the location of the Huiji Mountain of the legendary Dayu Huimeng princes, and it may even be the summer capital. Judging from the cultural relics unearthed in later generations, it is more reliable than several other places. The ancient pottery and bronze unearthed here have a long history, but the major sites have not yet been officially excavated.

This case involved the British, and it was Zhou Quan's father and son who secretly sold the looted bronzes to the British, and obtained the deposit from the Macquarie Bank. It was also through the help of the British that he was able to go to Japan to study. Originally, people wanted him to go to Europe, but Zhou Ziqing couldn't stand it because he was far away, so he didn't go.

This matter was revealed, which made the British face dull for a while. They invaded China twice, looting countless antique cultural relics during this period. In recent years, there are many national treasures that have been taken away by various means, and this is just one of them.

The truth of the whole case is revealed, no matter which country's law is adjudicated, Zhou Ziqing is innocent of death.

Because of the seriousness of the case, there are too many high-ranking officials involved, and it is no longer suitable to punish him solely by US law.

However, the court considered that this method was too cruel to be applied to civilized countries, and that the punishment for several crimes was the death penalty, and that it was sufficient to be put to death by hanging.

As a victim, Yang Hao was largely exempted from claims for personal and property losses caused to him. However, the Zhou family's resale of cultural relics, the Qing court had to go through the guò official for further verification. With their urine, the rest of the Zhou family who are still surviving now can be imagined.

At the end of the trial, there was a public execution.

Originally, according to Chinese culture, it was generally necessary to wait until the autumn to ask for beheading. In winter and spring, life without killing is the law of heaven and earth.

The foreigners are not so particular, they just want to quickly get rid of the eyesore of the province. If it goes on again, God knows who else can be involved, and it won't be fun to make it into a big scandal.

So the day after the trial ended, on the edge of the Haihe River, under the watchful eyes of at least tens of thousands of people, the makeshift gallows hung Zhou Ziqing and the two accomplices as if they were jerky.

The entire trial process was completely open, and every progress was announced by the newspaper in a timely manner.

This made the young emperor angry again: "With the Supreme Son of Heaven, such a major matter related to the survival of the world is not as great as a case of attempted murder. How can this be! Do those people still have a conscience? How many percent of them are pretending to be Qing in their hearts? ”

Li Hongzao had no choice but to be relieved: "It's not that everyone is unscrupulous, but the imperial court is lagging behind them in propaganda." For example, today, the people are accustomed to reading newspapers and listening to news, and they do not understand major national affairs. ”

Guangxu had no choice but to shake his head and sigh: "This is the way to change and reform, so that hundreds of millions of people can understand the righteousness of the monarch and the country!" ”

After finishing speaking, he suddenly remembered that these words seemed to have been said by Yang Hao eight hundred times. The people of the world only like those wild historical anecdotes, market stories, court events and the like, which have been the patent of scholars since ancient times. In this dynasty, whoever dares to speak will look down on his head, and even steal his family and destroy his ancestors. It's been hundreds of years, and who cares about what you're messing with? Anyway, the common people can't take advantage of it.

Why do you care about Yang Hao? Boss Yang has provided countless jobs and created countless factories to give people the opportunity to support their families, and he has done 800 times better than your imperial court. Now that Mr. Yang is in trouble, don't we care about it?

The so-called people's hearts are back, and this is the case.

In addition, there is another fatal consequence, because Zhou Ziqing is a reporter of the "Daqing Political Daily", which can be regarded as a complete disrepute of this government mouthpiece. Originally, the circulation was not very high, and now no matter how patriotic the scholars are, they are very disdainful and refuse to buy it.

The people who used to work in it resigned one after another, and only a group of Qingliu people insisted on editing, but they could only come up with it and force it to local official institutions - what is the difference between this and Di Bao?

It's no wonder Guangxu sighed. Yang Hao can succeed in getting something, and countless people watch every move, and they applaud. The court made a serious matter but no one cared about it, so a group of people and officials were making trouble, although the countries also expressed optimism, but after all, there was no excitement outside, and he felt that something was wrong in his heart.

Therefore, he became more and more jealous of Yang Hao.

In January 1895, the Tianjin New Army began to intensify its training, and under the vigorous coordination of the Military Affairs Office of the Superintendent, a group of recruits were recruited around the Spring Festival, and some elites from the Tianjin Military Academy joined in one after another. This time, there will be no temptation, as soon as it is shot, it will be the size of 20,000 people.

The purpose of the Qing court's action was clearly revealed, and Yang Hao sighed: "It seems that we also have to speed up, but do you want to compare with us and the troops?" The Great Qing Kingdom is still a little worse! ”

On January 31, 1895, the sixth day of the first lunar month, the Jinzhou New Army suddenly went north, broke through Haicheng within three days, and forced the Japanese Third Division to retreat. During this period, the Qing army was constantly reinforced, and the group training was recruited on the spot to supplement the vacant establishment of the first division.

At the same time, the forces of another infantry division were quietly accelerating training from several bases.

The clouds of war between the Qing court and Yang Hao are getting thicker and thicker, and they are about to break out! (To be continued......)

PS: ps: Happy holidays to everyone!