The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 228 You Don’t Seem to Be an Ordinary Warrior

Wu Peifu told Cixi and others in detail how the vanguard army broke through, with some duplication of the story.

In the meantime, everything mainly revolved around how to highlight Teng Yuzao, how to show his wisdom and bravery, how he could foresee things, and how he often went to the battlefield to charge into battle and other heroic deeds.

Wu Peifu's talent as a scholar was not just a reputation, it was real. His story was very vivid and exciting, and everyone in the hall, including the eunuchs who were serving him, was excited and felt a sense of heroism in their hearts.

After Wu Peifu finished telling these stories, Ronglu, Zai Yi and Gangyi began to take turns asking about all the related battles that Teng Yuzhao had led the vanguard army since the first battle at the Beiyang Military Academy, and how the vanguard army had been able to hold out in Tianjin City for nearly half a month under the siege of more than 100,000 allied forces.

Wu Peifu began to explain the answers to the three people one by one. As he spoke, Wu Peifu himself gradually became excited, and his words and actions were full of admiration and respect for his teacher Teng Yuzhao.

However, although Wu Peifu admired Teng Yuzhao almost to the point of worship when he talked about his teacher, his mind was always clear and he always kept his teacher's instructions in mind.

Wu Peifu did not mention a word about the conscienceless cannon.

It’s not that Teng Yuzao just wanted to monopolize this simple but powerful unique weapon.

But even if he gave the Unscrupulous Cannon to the rest of the Qing army, they would not be able to unleash the terrifying power of the Unscrupulous Cannon.

After all, this kind of unscrupulous cannon is, to some extent, an offensive weapon and is not conducive to defense.

Moreover, if it is a battle to defend a city, relying on manpower to throw explosive packs to the foot of the city can also achieve a similar effect.

The most crucial thing is that if this unique weapon is handed over, the "super cannon" in the vanguard army will likely lose its deterrent effect on the coalition forces.

When talking about the shocking scene of the explosion on the east and west gate arrow towers designed by Teng Yuzao, Zai Yi and Gang Yi's faces turned pale, but Ronglu, who was once the general of Xi'an, his eyes lit up.

The battle came to an end when they heard that the vanguard army took advantage of the opportunity that the coalition forces in the city were dizzy due to the flying bricks and stones, and immediately launched a fierce counterattack against the coalition forces in the city, chasing more than 10,000 coalition forces to the south city in one fell swoop, and regained their position to defend Tianjin City.

"Every word I have said is true. The broken flags of the Japanese and Russian armies that were seized have been handed over to the Military Affairs Office for record."

Wu Peifu, who was so dry-mouthed from speaking, finally ended his "speech".

Cixi, who had been listening quietly, was obviously also excited and in a very good mood.

All the unhappiness since learning that the foreign powers had brazenly sent troops to capture Dagukou in order to prevent him from deposing Emperor Guangxu seemed to have disappeared with Wu Peifu's narration and a series of victories reported by Teng Yuzhao's vanguard army. All these unhappiness were washed away by the successive victories of Teng Yuzhao's vanguard army.

Even Cixi felt that the sunshine outside was much brighter.

When Cixi saw that Wu Peifu was obviously very excited about his story and his face was tired but his lips were a little chapped, she knew that Wu Peifu must have had no time to rest after traveling day and night to get here, so she hurriedly said to a eunuch who was accompanying him.

"Bring Ziyu a bowl of my ginseng soup to moisten his throat and replenish his energy."

Seeing Cixi's courtesy, Wu Peifu hurriedly stood up and thanked her.

Cixi smiled and asked Wu Peifu, "Zi Yu, the journey from Anping to the capital is long. Even if you travel day and night, you can't get to the capital so quickly. I'm afraid you have lost these war horses. Your horses are all rare and good horses!"

Zai Yi couldn't help but twitch his lips at Cixi's seemingly casual words.

He knew that the old Buddha was trying to find a way to verify the truth of what he had just said.

"My teacher, as soon as I arrived in Anping, I learned the tragic news that Yu Zhongtang had died for his country. I was worried that the Queen Mother and the other court officials were worried about state affairs, so I did not dare to delay for a moment and prepared the memorial overnight. Naturally, I did not dare to slack off in the slightest, so I set out overnight and rushed to the capital day and night."

"As for the fact that we were able to arrive so quickly, it was all thanks to the good horses we captured from the Russians. My master said that these were the Russian Don horses, which are not only fast, but also somewhat similar to our Mongolian horses, with great endurance, and can run hundreds of miles without taking a breath."

Seeing that Cixi had been confirmed, Ronglu immediately changed the subject and asked with a smile, looking at Wu Peifu, who was wearing a neat and clean military uniform.

"Zi Yu, I think you just put on this military uniform."

Before telling a few people about the Battle of Tianjin, under the arrangement of Cixi, Li Lianying had introduced to Wu Peifu the identities of Zaiyi, Gangyi and Ronglu one by one. These three people were not only high-ranking officials of the court whom his teacher Teng Yuzhao could not afford to offend at all, but also the decision makers of the current court in fighting against foreigners.

Especially Ronglu, who was kind to him as well as his teacher, Wu Peifu naturally had to be careful in dealing with him.

Wu Peifu smiled a little embarrassedly and said, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Rong Zhongtang. Before I left, my master repeatedly reminded me that when I arrived in the capital, I might be received by important officials in the court. I must change my military uniform before entering the city to avoid offending important officials in the court. I didn't dare to disobey my master's instructions, so I changed my military uniform before entering the city."

Zai Yi was very pleased with Wu Peifu's words, and he felt warmer towards Teng Yuzao.

The eunuch quickly brought a tray with a silver bowl full of ginseng soup and an exquisite silver spoon. Wu Peifu hesitated for a while, and only at Cixi's repeated urging did he pick up the bowl and test the temperature. Seeing that it was just the right temperature, he drank it in one gulp without using the silver spoon.

Although Wu Peifu knew that this was the equivalent of an emperor's food, he was secretly glad to have been served this meal today. It was his teacher who sent him to the capital to receive this honor.

I wanted to taste it carefully, but since Cixi, Ronglu, Zai Yi and others were watching me, I had to drink it all in one gulp.

Perhaps he was a little nervous just now, and was confused by the series of questions from Cixi and others as soon as he entered the flower hall. Now, after drinking this bowl of ginseng soup, Wu Peifu suddenly felt refreshed and his mind was clear.

It was not until then that Wu Peifu suddenly remembered that the memorial he had submitted to the Grand Council had been returned to him by the Grand Council after the Grand Council learned that Cixi had summoned him, and that he had been asked to present it to the Empress Dowager. Thinking of this, Wu Peifu broke out in a sweat and hurriedly took out Teng Yuzao's memorial and handed it to Cixi with both hands.

Li Lianying stepped forward, took the memorial and handed it to Cixi.

This time, Cixi did not ask others to do it, but read it carefully herself. She read some parts over and over again. Cixi was very devoted in reading the memorial. Sometimes she frowned in deep thought, and sometimes she seemed to understand something. After a long time, Cixi finished reading the memorial.

However, although she had finished reading the memorial, Cixi still held it in her hand. After pondering for a while, she asked Li Lianying to give Teng Yuzhao's memorial to Zai Yi and the other two for circulation.

In his memorial, Teng Yuzhao not only described how he had volunteered to Yu Lu to defend the city of Tianjin, how he later led his troops to defend the city and fight against the Allied Forces, how he had broken out, where he and his vanguard troops were now, and the casualties of the vanguard troops.

He also informed the court of his advice on the current situation and his subsequent plans.

The defense of Tianjin City and how they broke out were basically the truth, but the number of casualties was foreshadowed. After breaking out and retreating to Anping, the entire army still had more than 16,000 people, but Wu Peifu said that there were only a few thousand left.

There were three main suggestions to the court. First, Teng Yuzhao believed that it would be beyond the capabilities of the Qing Dynasty or even the Zhili Province to independently fight against all the powers in the world, and that it was necessary to delay the fight and take a long-term approach.

Specifically speaking, it means exchanging space for time, gradually resisting and gradually retreating, regardless of the gains and losses of a city or a place, and focusing on annihilating the effective forces of the armies of the powerful countries.

Second, since the great powers are most worried about the safety of their diplomats stranded in the capital, they are eager to attack the capital, not only to rescue their diplomats, but also to force the court to compromise and gain benefits.

Teng Yuzhao therefore suggested to the Grand Council that the Empress Dowager and the Emperor should be invited to go hunting in the west, and at the same time all the diplomatic envoys of the foreign powers who were besieged in Dongjiaominxiang should be released.

"Xishou" means going hunting in the west. In fact, it was a suggestion that Cixi take Guangxu to Shanxi, Shaanxi, or even Sichuan to temporarily avoid the limelight.

If the safety of the great powers' diplomats was no longer a problem, and Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu were not in the capital but in remote inland provinces, Teng Yuzhao did not believe that these great powers would chase after them.

The purpose of this third article is still the same as the first article, which is to exhaust and tire out the great powers so that the Allied Forces will take the initiative in peace talks. Only in this way can we seize the initiative and avoid the great powers making exorbitant demands and demanding cession of territory and payment of huge compensation.

It's just that Teng Yuzhao's words about ceding land and paying compensation were very vague, but Cixi had already understood what he meant.

Teng Yuzao mentioned the following points in his subsequent plans:

First, his vanguard army still needs to recruit soldiers;

Second, although Tianjin was lost, he would lead his troops to stay between Tianjin and the capital, not only to harass the rear of the coalition forces, but also to intercept the military supplies transported by the coalition forces to the front, so that the coalition forces could not threaten the safety of the capital;
Third, in order to quickly recruit soldiers and maintain strict military discipline, the vanguard army’s salaries were too high. If this continued, the imperial court might be overwhelmed.

Fearing that the war would last a long time and that the long-term military pay of the vanguard army would exceed the standard, Teng Yuzhao took the initiative to offer to share the burden with the court and raise the funds on his own.

Ning Xingpu, a wealthy businessman in Tianjin, was grateful to him for resisting the Allied Forces' invasion of Tianjin City, preventing the Allied Forces' intention to massacre and loot in Tianjin City, and using this to intimidate the imperial court and save the lives of the people in Tianjin. He planned to set up a trading company to purchase the necessary supplies for the vanguard army, and gave him a personal share of the company.

Teng Yuzao plans to use the shares donated by Yishang Ning Xingpu to build a bank and corresponding industries, and all the money obtained will be used for the vanguard army.

Fourth, in order to ensure the smooth operation of relevant banking companies, I would like to ask the court to grant Ning Xingpu an official position. In addition, I would like to transfer Shandong alternate governor Zhou Xuexi to the vanguard army to take charge of the management of related industries.

Cixi looked at Wu Peifu's rambling and suddenly asked, "Wu Ziyu, I have read this memorial. Not only is the choice of words and sentences very appropriate, the writing is also good, but the handwriting is particularly outstanding. Not only is the writing force vigorous and steady, the strokes are brisk and vivid, the word formation is not bad or strange, the brushwork is ancient and vigorous, and it seems to have the shadow of Zhang Xu, Yan Zhenqing, and Wang Duo. The most rare thing is that it follows the ancients but is not rigid, and can come up with its own ideas and form its own style. This was written by Teng Xingfu himself."

Teng Yuzhao did not give any special instructions about the writing of the memorial, and Wu Peifu also knew that his teacher did not like false fame, so he told the truth.

"In reply to the Queen Mother, this memorial was dictated by my teacher and written by me."

Cixi asked in a gentle tone, "Wu Ziyu, I see that you are well-spoken and use appropriate words, and your calligraphy is even more powerful. You don't seem to be an ordinary warrior."

Seeing Wu Peifu was about to stand up again, Cixi waved her hand to stop him and said with a smile, "Zi Yu, there is no need to be too polite. Just sit down and answer."

Wu Peifu thanked Cixi and said, "The Empress Dowager is wise, your humble servant..."

When talking about his background, Wu Peifu couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed and his face flushed slightly, which made Cixi, Zai Yi, Ronglu, Gangyi and others even more curious. After Zai Yi's repeated urging, Wu Peifu finally spoke hesitantly.

"I was the third scholar in the Bingshen year of Dengzhou Prefecture. In the autumn of the 23rd year of the Guangxu reign, I was stripped of my title by Dengzhou Prefecture because I criticized men and women for performing on the same stage, which overturned the opium smoking of the gentry. I fled to Beijing to avoid disaster. At first, I made a living by writing Spring Festival couplets and fortune-telling. Later, with the help of my cousin, I joined the Wuwei Front Army. When I was in Tianjin, I was recruited by my master and learned Western military tactics from him."

After hearing what Wu Peifu said, the people in the flower hall were stunned for a while. Then Zai Yi, Ronglu and Gangyi couldn't help laughing, pointing at Wu Peifu, and even Cixi couldn't help but smile.

Wu Peifu's face flushed red, and he smiled awkwardly and said, "I was a bit pedantic at that time, and I was a bit reckless in doing things."

Gangyi laughed and said, "Wu Ziyu, this is not your fault. It was the prefect of Dengzhou who was absurd and made a fuss out of nothing. There is no need to explain this matter to the queen. I will ask Prince Duan to send a note to the Dengzhou Prefecture to restore your status as a scholar. In time, your story as a scholar-general will probably become a good story."

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(End of this chapter)