Beiyang Dream

When Chang Desheng woke up today, the sun was already high in the sky. He squinted at the sunlight streaming through the window paper and estimated that it must have been eleven or twelve o'clock at most.

He stayed up too late last night, not because of official business, but because of Luo Jingrou. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and that saying is absolutely true. He spent so many days in Yuanshan, and then after returning, he was delayed for an hour or two by Qingzi's mess... He finally got some peace and quiet, but would that rich woman Luo let him off the hook? Chang Desheng rubbed his back, thinking that marrying this wife was quite worthwhile, but it's a bit tough on his back...

He got dressed and washed up. Luo Jingrou brought in a bowl of congee with preserved egg and lean pork, glanced at him, and smiled sweetly, "Brother Zhenbang, are you up?" Chang Desheng took the fragrant congee and took a big gulp, "Yuan Datou... has there been any news from Lord Yuan?" "Lord Yuan sent someone over this morning to ask, saying he had important matters to discuss." Luo Jingrou sat down in a chair, "I told him you were still asleep, so the person went back."

Chang Desheng nodded, finished his porridge in a few gulps, wiped his mouth, and said, "Alright, I'll go then."

He went out and got into a carriage, which led him to Yuan Shikai's office for foreign affairs and trade with Korea. It was his first time there, and once inside, he realized that despite its small facade, the courtyard inside was quite deep.

Yuan Shikai converted the front yard into a signing room and the back yard into living quarters. As he crossed the yard and reached the door of the signing room, he heard a voice from inside speaking in Henan dialect: "Brother Zhenbang, what a relief! Good news, the deal is done!"

It's done? What's done?

Chang Desheng strode into the signing room and saw Old Yuan sitting behind his desk, clutching a booklet in his hand, his face beaming as if he had just found a gold ingot, his chubby face all scrunched up.

"Brother Weiting, what's the matter?" Chang Desheng hurriedly asked.

"Li Wang has issued an order to prioritize military training in Westernization!" Yuan Shikai slammed the booklet on the table. "He wants our Beiyang Army to help train a new army, establish military academies, and set up arsenals. Look, this is a copy."

Chang Desheng immediately perked up upon hearing this, quickly walked to the table, took the notebook, and opened it. It read: "...The situation in Korea is critical. Only through self-strengthening can the nation be preserved; only by prioritizing military strength can the people be protected. Therefore, the Qing Dynasty's Prime Minister in Korea, Yuan Shikai, is hereby appointed, with Chang Desheng assisting in the establishment of a new army, military academy, and arsenal. The necessary funds will be provided by the Korean treasury and customs subsidies."

Chang Desheng read it word by word, then looked up at Yuan Shikai with some doubt: "This Prince Li is quite decisive. He said he would consider it yesterday at Huiqing Tower, and today he has already issued the order."

Chang Desheng knew a little about what kind of king Li Xi was.

Yuan Shikai laughed heartily, picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip: "Last night, Queen Min and I went to Chang'an Hall in Gyeongbokgung Palace and had a heart-to-heart talk with this King, and King Li came to his senses."

Chang Desheng thought to himself: Heart-to-heart talk? It won't be the kind of heart-to-heart talk that involves coercion or bribery, will it?

King Li Xi was truly a tyrant; he was completely sidelined by his wife. ...His wife would even come to his bedroom late at night with other men to have heart-to-heart talks with him. No wonder rumors later circulated that Yuan Shikai and Queen Min were having an affair.

However, he didn't say that aloud; instead, he asked, "What about the old man surnamed Zhao? Did he stop objecting?"

Yuan Shikai sneered: "What's there to object to! They're all hereby dismissed from their posts, never to be employed again, and exiled to Hamgyongbuk-do."

Chang Desheng was taken aback: "That serious? That old man was a second-rank official, right? What crime did he commit?"

Yuan Shikai said in a deep voice, "His crime is very serious; he is suspected of treason!"

"Treason?" Chang Desheng blinked, thinking to himself, "Could this guy surnamed Zhao be one of those Donghak Party members?"

Yuan Shikai nodded: "Yes, he wants to overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming!"

Chang Desheng thought to himself, "Wow, you've got guts! I thought he was a Donghak Party member, but it turns out he's a member of the Heaven and Earth Society?"

"What did he do?" Chang Desheng asked, a little curious.

"You heard him say something about 'using barbarians to change Chinese culture' at the banquet at Huiqing Tower yesterday?" Yuan Shikai said, picking up his queue and shaking it. "If these words reach the Empress Dowager's ears, wouldn't that be considered anti-Qing and restoration of the Ming?"

So that's what the anti-Qing and restoration of the Ming was all about!

Chang Desheng stared at the queue in Yuan Shikai's hand, and a thought suddenly popped into his head: Old Yuan, so you know we've been "reinvented by barbarians"? Then why are you so hesitant to rebel? Fine, this time we'll do it together, you be the leader, I'll be the principal. Let's storm the palace together and seize the throne.

Thinking of this, Chang Desheng closed the booklet and said to Yuan Shikai, "Brother Weiting, we must strike while the iron is hot."

"How so?" Yuan Shikai asked.

"We need to hurry up and get the North Korean new army, the Nampo Military Academy, and our two brothers' three thousand new troops organized before the Six-Party Talks begin," Chang Desheng said. "If we don't hurry now, we might lose this military power after the Six-Party Talks are over."

Yuan Shikai tossed aside his queue, his brows furrowing. "Brother, what are you planning to do?"

Chang Desheng thought to himself, "Isn't this obvious? Taking the route of 'Big Cannon + Principal' equals the Whampoa Military Academy'!" But he didn't know where Big Cannon was right now, so he wouldn't look for him. He already had Big Head, and they were both from the same generation, so it was about the same.

Principal? I can handle it myself; they're all "Principal Chang." I'm a graduate of the Prussian War Academy, after all; I'm definitely better than those Japanese officers who haven't even studied there. Let's just call the Whampoa Military Academy the Nanpu Military Academy; it sounds about the same.

Having made up his mind, Chang Desheng continued, "Brother Weiting, here's how we'll do it: First, we need to secure a piece of land in Korea as a training base. This land can't be in major cities like Seoul or Incheon; those places are too close to the foreigners and the high-ranking Korean officials in Seoul, too conspicuous. We can't let the foreigners and the Korean officials in Seoul know that we have only raw recruits under our command!"

Yuan Shikai nodded: "Okay. Then where do you suggest?"

"Zhennanpu," Chang Desheng said.

"Zhennanpu?" Yuan Shikai thought for a moment and said, "That place is by the sea, about three or four hundred li from Seoul. It's quite peaceful. But wouldn't using only new recruits be a waste of time?"

"Don't worry, we have time," Chang Desheng said. "We won't be fighting this time, so we need to recruit three thousand simple farm boys from Zhili and Henan. Those with basic literacy will be given priority. We'll train them from scratch, and those trained will be our true soldiers, much better than those old, hardened soldiers." Yuan Shikai nodded: "Then I'll have someone recruit soldiers from Henan."

Chang Desheng thought to himself, "You mean you'll take half of this new army? Fine, half it is. But that's soldiers; you can't assign half the officers and non-commissioned officers."

But he still went along with Yuan Shikai's wishes, saying, "I will arrange the soldiers in Zhili. While recruiting soldiers, we also need to recruit more officers and train non-commissioned officers. The officers will be students from the military academy; they are all my classmates and quite capable. As for the non-commissioned officers, we will train them ourselves, through the Nanpu Military Academy."

Chang Desheng's plan was this: most of the students in the Beiyang Military Academy were from Zhili Province, and they were all my fellow townsmen, classmates, and dearest friends and relatives! As for the Nanpu Military Academy, I was Principal Chang!

The officers are my classmates, and the sergeants are my students; this team is not going to run away!

Yuan Shikai nodded and smiled, "Alright. I know some people from the military academy; would you like me to write a few letters for you?"

Chang Desheng understood that Yuan Shikai also wanted to seize military power... He was a master at winning people's hearts!

"Then I'll trouble you, Brother Rao Weiting," Chang Desheng said with a smile.

"Okay, then what should we do!"

Yuan Shikai was thinking: It seems that Chang Desheng is thinking the same thing as us.

Then let's each rely on our own abilities!

Let's see who has more people in the end.

Yuan Shikai continued, "Given the current situation, as long as we raise the banner of defending against Russia and protecting the Republic of Korea, the Grand Secretary will grant us a legitimate status, and the court won't stop us. After all, no one can bear the responsibility of losing the last vassal state of the Qing Dynasty. However, the military pay might be difficult to resolve. The annual expenses for three thousand soldiers would amount to at least 250,000 taels of silver. The Grand Secretary won't give us that much money; he himself is short of funds everywhere."

Chang Desheng frowned and asked, "Approximately how much can the Grand Secretary offer?"

Yuan Shikai held up his hand and said, "Fifty thousand, the exact number."

He emphasized the word "real number" very much. Chang Desheng understood that the money allocated by the imperial court had to be paid to the departmental fees first, and then deducted at each level. If he could get 50,000 yuan in hand, that would be considered good.

Chang Desheng thought for a moment and said, "Hart has also promised a maximum of 50,000 in customs subsidies to the Koreans."

Yuan Shikai pondered for a moment and said, "Then let's calculate it at 50,000. I can still manage the Korean customs. That leaves us short 150,000." He counted on his fingers: "How do we get that?"

Chang Desheng patted his chest and said, "I'll take care of the 100,000."

Yuan Shikai's eyes lit up: "Oh? You have connections, brother?"

Chang Desheng smiled but didn't reply. But he already knew what was going on. The 100,000 yuan had a source: the general contracting of the docks and warehouses in Yuanshan would easily bring in 30,000 yuan a year, and the private minting of copper coins would squeeze out another 70,000 yuan.

However, he wouldn't tell Yuan Shikai any of this, and Yuan Shikai knew that Chang Desheng had connections in Southeast Asia, so he didn't press the matter, assuming he was just going there to beg for alms. He nodded and said, "Okay. There's still 50,000 left. I'll think of a way. We can squeeze some money from the Korean customs, and we can also get some from Queen Min."

"And what about this equipment?" Chang Desheng asked.

"Let's ask the Grand Secretary for a look first," Yuan Shikai said.

"If that's not enough, I'll figure something out," Chang Desheng said.

He figured it out in his mind. This matter was actually quite easy to handle. With Korea as a front, he could legitimately buy arms from the Germans—Krupp cannons and Mauser rifles, which were far superior to what Li Hongzhang had. Half of the arms would go to the new army in Korea, and the other half could be resold in Southeast Asia. The profits could even subsidize the new army. In the end, the arms purchases probably wouldn't cost much.

Okay, this deal is worth doing!

Yuan Shikai slapped his thigh: "Great! It's settled then. I'll handle all the documents for the Grand Secretary and the memorials for the Emperor. I'll go write to my old classmates and see if any of them are willing to come to Korea."

Chang Desheng thought for a moment and then said, "The land in Zhennanpu also needs to be fenced off as soon as possible. The site selection for the barracks, school, and ammunition factory must begin immediately. There are bound to be complications if we delay. We can have Zhiquan take people there first, and it would be best if we could also find a place to build a dock."

"A dock?" Yuan Shikai was taken aback. "What's the point of building a dock?"

"Transporting people, equipment, and grain," Chang Desheng said. "These all go by sea. Zhennanpu is by the sea, so building a dock there would be perfect. In the future, our people and goods can go directly to Zhennanpu by boat without having to go through Incheon, so that the foreigners won't see us."

In reality, Chang Desheng harbored another ambition: to seize any opportunity to build up a navy, under the guise of the North Korean navy.

Let's not bother with cruisers or ironclads, we'll just use the "Kowshing." We'll find an opportunity to buy it from Jardine Matheson, modify it, mount a couple of cannons, and add some mines. We'll use it as a decoy attack ship, and when the First Sino-Japanese War breaks out, we'll send it out to cause sabotage. Whatever they do, we'll see!

Yuan Shikai nodded: "Okay, I'll have Duan Zhiquan lead a team to make that trip right away."

Chang Desheng had also arranged to meet Natalie today, so after finishing their business, he stood up to say goodbye and leave. Just as he reached the door, he suddenly turned back: "By the way, Brother Weiting, have you decided on a name for this new army?"

Yuan Shikai chuckled: "Let's call it the Korean New Army."

"That's so unimpressive," Chang Desheng chuckled. "How about calling it the Nanpu Army?"

"Nanpu Army." Yuan Shikai muttered it twice, not thinking it was anything special, but he still nodded, "Okay, I'll listen to you, let's call it Nanpu Army."

Chang Desheng smiled and extended his hand: "Brother Weiting, let's get started then."

Yuan Shikai smiled and shook his hand, saying, "Good, let's do it!"

Then, their two large hands clasped tightly together.

One was a bald, fat man from Xiangcheng, Henan, whose mind was filled with the old version of the Beiyang warlords.

One is a time-traveling dog from Tianjin, who has quietly picked up a new version of the founding of the Whampoa Military Academy.

But at this moment, they are still good brothers.

As for the future, we'll see...