The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 690: Heading North to Zhili
Fang Yao led a group of people to the consulate on horseback, and were then taken into the reception room inside the consulate.

American Minister George Seward is talking to Chen Zhengwei here.

Chen Zhengwei's men suddenly seized the city gate, which scared him.

"Mr. Chen, I wonder why the fighting started again?" Fang Yao asked seriously.

"Forget what I said two days ago? My people died in your prison, you must give me an explanation! If you don't... I will occupy Guangzhou!" Chen Zhengwei crossed his legs and spoke slowly.

"My fleet has also headed north to Zhili!"

Hearing this, Fang Yao's face changed slightly: "Mr. Chen, the millions of people in Guangzhou are all citizens of the Qing Dynasty. You only have 2000 people. Even if your muskets are sharp, how many people can you kill? If you arouse public anger, I'm afraid Mr. Chen will be in trouble!"

When Chen Zhengwei heard this, he laughed out loud, as if he had heard a huge joke.

After a long while, he sneered: "Are you confused? I occupied the gate of Guangzhou and attacked the Guangzhou government! What do the millions of people in Guangzhou have to do with me?"

"Don't forget, I am also from Guangdong! All my subordinates are from Guangdong! If I were to say, they would line the streets to welcome you, do you believe it?"

"If you don't want to go to war, you can persuade the court to pay the compensation!"

"The money was given by the court. It was allocated by the Ministry of Revenue, not taken from your pocket!"

"I have occupied this city gate, but you'd better control your men! Otherwise, if a gun goes off accidentally, no one will be able to control the situation afterwards!" Chen Zhengwei snorted.

Fang Yao's face turned pale. He bowed to Chen Zhengwei, stood up and left: "Since Mr. Chen insists on doing what he wants, I'll take my leave!"

After Fang Yao left, Chen Zhengwei said to George Seward, "Go negotiate with them later!"

"Mr. Chen, this is my duty!" George Seward was very sober now.

Fang Yao left the consulate with a gloomy face, and his subordinates immediately asked: "Admiral, what should we do next?"

"Order the city guards to set up defenses at a distance and do not clash with them!"

"Order the artillery battalion, all personnel to stand by!"

"Whether to fight or make peace is still up to the court to decide!"

"Send a carrier pigeon to ask the navy camp if their ships are still there!"

After returning to the governor's office, Fang Yao walked into the lobby. After sending everyone away, his expression returned to calm.

Just as he thought, Chen Zhengwei did not intend to occupy Guangzhou by force.

The current action is nothing more than forcing the court to pay compensation.

He originally wanted to ask someone to notify Guangdong Governor Zhang Zhaodong, but when he sent someone to ask, he found out that Zhang Zhaodong had actually run away.

This made Fang Yao choke on a mouthful of phlegm.

"These civil officials are indeed unreliable. They usually claim to be loyal to the emperor and patriotic, but when something happens, they flee in panic without even seeing anyone."

While sending people to look for Zhang Zhaodong, he waited for news.

In fact, it took less than an hour, only a dozen minutes, for the navy camp to send a message that the two cruisers at sea had left their original location and their whereabouts were unknown.

Now the Navy Battalion is confronting the Warrior and the Pacific Squadron.

"Those two ships are probably heading for Zhili!" Fang Yao kept walking around in the governor's office.

"Sir, the governor, Mr. Zhang, has been found."

"Where did he go?"

"Master Zhang hid in the concubine's home in Shangjiupu..."

"Notify him, there's no need to hide! People don't plan to catch him!" Fang Yao snorted coldly.

It was not until the evening that Zhang Zhaodong returned to the Guangdong Governor's Office.

At almost the same time, Chen Zhengwei's men from Huangpu Town also arrived in Guangzhou. After occupying the city gate, they stationed directly on the city wall.

The number of people at the consulate has also increased to 300.

At the same time, the American minister also hurried to the consulate to find out what was going on.

After discussing with Fang Yao, Zhang Zhaodong hurriedly sent a telegram to Zhili to explain the situation.

After refusing the imperial reward, Chen Zhengwei suddenly invaded Guangzhou.

Guangdong Admiral Fang Yao led the army to confront them, and the two sides could open fire at any time.

As for Chen Zhengwei's fleet, two cruisers left Huangpu and disappeared, suspected to be heading north.

When the telegram reached Zhili, Li Hongzhang became even more worried.

The court originally thought that recruiting Chen Zhengwei would not only resolve previous conflicts, but also gain help from overseas.

With Chen Zhengwei stepping forward, it would be much easier for the Qing Dynasty to do whatever it wanted overseas.

It will be much easier to negotiate with those foreigners.

Unexpectedly, Chen Zhengwei was so unruly that he directly refused even the title of admiral of the Japanese Navy and the title of second-class marquis. He even sent people to occupy Guangzhou and confront the Guangdong Army.

The two cruisers whose whereabouts are unknown are even more worrying.

The news was sent to the court as quickly as possible, and the court was furious again.

He then ordered the Fujian Navy, the Nanyang Navy and the Beiyang Navy to patrol the coast and pay close attention.

Two days later, the Nanyang Fleet discovered the San Francisco and Los Angeles in the waters near Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The speed of these two ships was incredibly fast, twice the speed of the Nanyang Fleet's speedboats.

Moreover, these two ships were heading straight to Zhili.

When the news reached the capital, the court was shaken again and there was endless quarreling.

There are many options for fighting and peace.

Then they called the U.S. Deputy Minister to the Qing Dynasty and angrily said, "This is all because of you! If you can't control him, then we will make it public that this was your request."

The deputy minister said without hesitation: "You misunderstood. We are just following orders! The president who advocated this matter has been assassinated, and the president who made the deal with you has also left the White House. Apart from this, I don't know anything else. But if this matter gets out, how will other countries view you?"

Simply put, they were just following orders, and the president who had the agreement with you has already stepped down.

You can say whatever you want.

If this matter gets out, it will be a disgrace to your Qing Dynasty.

……

A thousand men under Chen Zhengwei entered Guangzhou, causing even more chaos and panic among the people, who were all worried about war.

However, the citizens of Guangzhou soon discovered that apart from occupying the city gates, everything was normal as usual.

It was as if nothing had happened.

Although Guangzhou residents are worried, they still have to live their lives.

These days, Chen Zhengwei is still hanging out in Guangzhou.

"There are too many people smoking opium here! Since the Qing court knew that opium was very harmful, why didn't it do anything? I heard about Governor Lin's ban on opium when I was a child..." Lin Changning said beside Chen Zhengwei.

As the group walked along the street, they saw opium dens everywhere, and people lying in the lobby smoking opium, each of them looking as emaciated as a corpse.

There are many opium dens in Shisanhang, but those are all rich people, so they still want to be respectable.

In Guangzhou, smoking opium has even become part of daily life and is extremely common.

Even the government doesn't care.

There are at least three to five opium dens on one street, and as many as a dozen.

How many streets are there in Guangzhou?

"Who do you think owns these opium dens?" Chen Zhengwei asked after taking a look at the opium dens on the street.

"You mean, the government?"

"Who else but them?"

"Those officials rely on these opium dens to pay them, the localities rely on opium to collect taxes, and the imperial court also relies on opium to collect taxes! How do you think they can ban it?" Chen Zhengwei threw down a sentence:
“It’s rotten to the core.”

"Here, opium has become part of everyday life."

Chen Zhengwei thought about it and said with a joking look on his face:

"In San Francisco, people saw me. Good afternoon, Mr. Chen! Good evening, Mr. Chen!" "Here, people saw me. Did you smoke, Mr. Chen?"

"I said no no no!"

"Come on, take a puff! Take a puff first, then we'll talk! There's no need to talk after you're done smoking. Just lie down and sleep. Talk after you wake up!"

Chen Zhengwei started laughing as he spoke.

Lin Changning smiled somewhat, but also felt somewhat helpless, and said regretfully:
"It would have been great if the Qing Dynasty had been overthrown earlier! Unfortunately, my father and his people failed..."

“Don’t listen to your father’s bragging. Even if he and his people succeeded, it would be useless. It would have been decades earlier than the chaos of warlord separatism.

Their goal is to pull those people down and replace them with themselves. After taking the position, they will become corrupt faster than the officials of the Qing Dynasty.

Ask them how to build, what productivity is, how to strengthen the country, and how to establish a new order? "

"It's not like Yung Wing didn't look for them at the beginning! Then what happened? Yung Wing became the Qing Dynasty's deputy minister to the United States."

"Then what do you think we should do?" Lin Changning asked back.

Chen Zhengwei always arrogantly evaluates other people and forces in the world.

However, it must be said that Chen Zhengwei is indeed qualified to be arrogant.

Moreover, Lin Changning always felt that Chen Zhengwei was actually very charming when he commented on other people in a contemptuous manner.

That kind of strong confidence that radiates from the inside out.

"Wait...wait for a baptism!" Chen Zhengwei smiled and said no more.

"It should be soon!"

From now on, as some people on this land awaken, they will awaken the people, and then talents will emerge in large numbers.

Starting from Tan Sitong and others.

Now Sun Yat-sen still doesn’t know where to study.

Chen Zhengwei didn't know that he had passed by Sun Yat-sen.

When he was in Hawaii, several students were lying on the upper floors watching him. Although he knew about it, he didn't take it seriously.

Wherever he goes, he is the focus of attention.

……

A few days later, before the argument in the court had come to a conclusion, the San Francisco and Los Angeles appeared in the waters near Zhili.

All members of the Beiyang Navy immediately went on alert, but after seeing the warships in the distance, they felt more despair.

At this time, the two cruisers Yangwei and Chaoyong with a displacement of 1380 tons ordered by the Beiyang Navy from Britain had not yet returned.

Today's main warships are the "Zhenbei" and other gunboats purchased from Britain, with a displacement of only 650 tons.

Don't look at them as small, but they are also slow...

The wooden hull is covered with iron sheets, has no armor, and can only travel at a speed of 10 knots.

This type of gunboat had almost no advantages and could only be used as a sea artillery. Moreover, its price was as high as 22 silver dollars, which was 5000% of the cost of the cruiser USS San Francisco.

But the Qing Dynasty thought that the guns on this type of gunboat were large and cheap, so it purchased them many times.

In addition, there are some wooden gunboats built by the Qing Dynasty, such as the Zhenzhong, which has a displacement of 500 tons and a speed of only 8 knots.

The Xincheng Fort is located 30 kilometers southeast of Tianjin. As the carriage stopped, Li Hongzhang quickly walked to the top of the fort.

"What's the situation? How are their warships?"

"It hasn't moved..."

"Sir, look!" Someone on the artillery platform handed a telescope to Li Hongzhang.

"Their ship's displacement is at least 3800 tons, and its speed reaches more than 20 knots..." (The actual data is a displacement of 4120 tons, a speed of 22 knots, and a maximum speed of 24 knots.)
"Can we fight?" Li Hongzhang asked.

"My lord, there is no way to fight!"

Even just observing the size, main guns and speed of the two ships from a distance was enough to make the Beiyang Navy lose the will to fight.

Li Hongzhang looked through the telescope for a while, and suddenly a burst of fire broke out from the bow of the ship in the distance, and then two shells fell into the water in front of the Xincheng Fort.

"Protect the master!" Li Hongzhang's entourage rushed forward.

"What are you panicking about?" Li Hongzhang said angrily. He pushed aside his attendants and asked the lieutenant commander of the artillery fort, "What are they doing?"

"To intimidate... to show off..."

As the lieutenant general was speaking, someone nearby said, "They are showing off their range!"

"Their range reaches 6000 meters..."

"What about us?" Li Hongzhang asked.

"3700 meters..."

"But with a range of 6000 meters, their hit rate must be very low." Having said that, it is enough to show that if a battle breaks out, they can only take the beating and will not even have a chance to fight back.

Li Hongzhang inspected the artillery position and ordered the artillery and navy not to open fire before the enemy attacked.

After that, he returned to Tianjin. On the one hand, he sent a telegram to Guangzhou to inquire about the situation, and on the other hand, he asked people to send memorials to the capital as quickly as possible.

According to news from Guangzhou, there were at least 500 land forces on the two ships, and he didn't want to gamble whether these people would land.

You should know that the last time Chen Zhengwei traveled from San Francisco to Cuba, he traveled all the way from Panama, Peru, Colombia, to Cuba.

This time, he beat up people from Hawaii to Japan.

And it directly blocked Tokyo Bay.

Within one day, three memorials were sent to the capital at full speed.

There were endless quarrels in the Qing court, but those who advocated peace gradually gained the majority.

Even those upright people felt that the court should not make a big fuss with such a crude laborer, so what was the harm in giving him some money?

Otherwise, if a war breaks out between Guangzhou and Tianjin, these two places will be the Qing Dynasty's external ports.

If something goes wrong, the losses will be incalculable.

After several days of debate in the court, there was finally a result, and Li Hongzhang was given full responsibility for the matter.

The Deputy Minister to the Qing Dynasty also went to Tianjin, contacted Guangzhou via telegram, and negotiated with Li Hongzhang at the same time.

……

"It's been twelve days, and they still haven't found the bullet? They might as well tear our President into pieces!" Chen Zhengwei was too lazy to scold the American doctors at this time. Instead, he felt a little amused.

For twelve whole days, the top doctors in New York and Washington searched his body several times, but they couldn't even find the bullet.

He suspected that if James died in the end, it might have little to do with the shooting.

He was tortured to death by the doctor.

"Has our doctor arrived yet?"

"The train is delayed due to a breakdown. Our doctor will arrive tomorrow morning!"

"Let them do their best!"

Chen Zhengwei is now unsure whether the doctors in San Francisco can find the bullet in James Garfield's body.

Opened the system panel and took a look.

There is a human body structure LV0 on it.

He estimated that if he could upgrade this skill to level 6, he would definitely be able to find the bullet inside the opponent's body.

But he was too lazy to do it.

We can't let him sail back now, can we?

The president is dead, just replace him!

"Xiwen, do you think the Feng Shui of the White House is not good? Why do things always go wrong?"

(End of this chapter)