Master Yuan, start!

Weng Tong pondered silently for a while, then said with emotion, "The last genuine Han Chinese general was Yue Zhongqi during the Yongzheng period, who was granted the title of Ningyuan General.

However, although Yue Zhongqi was a figure, he did not have any outstanding military achievements. He only conquered some small tribes on the plateau. When he was conquering the Dzungar tribe, he missed the opportunity to fight and was stripped of his official position and detained by Emperor Yongzheng.

The fact that he was able to be appointed the General of Ningyuan was also due to the blessing of another general."

Seeing that Yue Zhongqi wasn't even listed, Yuan Xiangcheng shook his head and laughed, "Yue Zhongqi is the descendant of Yue Fei, so how come he's not even rated as highly as another great general here? I wonder who this person is?"

Looking at Yuan Xiangcheng, Weng Yi uttered three words with deep meaning.

"Nian, Geng, Yao!"

"Weiting, everyone knows that the most famous general during the Yongzheng era was Nian Gengyao, who pacified Qinghai. Emperor Shizong later promoted Yue Zhongqi simply to allow him, a fellow Han Chinese, to share some of Nian Gengyao's fame.

You must know that when Nian Gengyao was conferred the title of General Fuyuan, it was the first time in the Qing Dynasty except for the Three Feudatories, and Yue Zhongqi was only Nian Gengyao's deputy general at that time.

The title of General of Fuyuan was traditionally only bestowed upon the Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners, and it was the first time it was bestowed upon a Han Chinese. Therefore, Nian Gengyao became extremely popular in the court and was universally recognized as the world's greatest general.

Nian Gengyao? That's unlucky. Yuan Xiangcheng paused while pouring the tea, thinking back to the fate of this great general from Fuyuan.

As gracious as Yongzheng was to him when he first ascended the throne, he was so cruel to him later that he didn't even want to leave him a complete corpse. If it weren't for the persuasion of all the officials, Nian Gengyao would not have committed suicide, but would have been beheaded.

When Weng Tong saw Yuan Xiangcheng's expression suddenly change, he immediately understood what he was thinking.

"Hahaha, Wei Ting, this general is not that general.

The title bestowed upon Nian Gengyao by Emperor Yongzheng was General Fuyuan, a title established for the first time in this dynasty. After his property was confiscated, this title was destroyed by Emperor Yongzheng and was never awarded to anyone else again.

As for you, Wei Ting, the General of the Southern Expedition, you have been one of the four generals of the Eastern, Western, Southern, and Northern Expeditions since the end of the Han Dynasty, a position that has continued for nearly 2000 years, without interruption throughout the dynasties."

After Weng Tong's reminder, Yuan Xiangcheng gradually recalled several famous generals who had conquered the south in history.

Cao Ren, the General who conquered the south of Cao Wei.

Zhao Yun, the Shu Han's General who conquered the south.

Even in the late Ming Dynasty, Mu Tianbo, the Duke of Qian who was stationed in Yunnan, was granted the title of General Zhengnan by Chongzhen.

Yuan Xiangcheng thought to himself, if that were the case, the General of the Southern Expedition could indeed be considered to have a long history.

Seeing that he remained silent, Weng Tong continued slowly, "The title of General of the Southern Expedition in our dynasty has always been bestowed upon those who are not members of the royal family or nobles.

From the beginning, only brothers of Emperor Taizong, such as Prince Zheng Jirgalang, Prince Regent Dorgon, Prince Yu Duoduo, and Prince Su Haoge, were qualified to hold the position.

If you think about it, the General of the Southern Expedition is half a level higher than the General of the Fuyuan Expedition.

Wei Ting, do you know that the emperor appointed you as the general of the southern expedition, which not only represents his hope that you will unify the south, but also represents his unwillingness for you to repeat Nian Gengyao's mistakes.

Otherwise, Your Majesty could have just reinstated Yue Zhongqi's title of General Ningyuan. Why bother giving you the title of General Zhengnan, which is reserved for members of the imperial clan?

The swelling that Weng Tong referred to was that Guangxu once summoned a group of military ministers and royal princes to discuss the matter of conferring the title of general on Yuan Shikai.

At that time, almost all ministers and princes believed that the title of General of the Southern Expedition was too important and should not be awarded lightly; the title of General of the Fuyuan Army was unlucky and could be given at all; if it had to be awarded, it could be General of the Ningyuan Army or General without a nickname.

Unexpectedly, in the end, Guangxu still stubbornly gave Yuan Shikai the title of "General of the Southern Expedition".

"I see. I never thought there were so many details in the general."

After listening to Weng Tong's explanation of the twists and turns, Yuan Xiangcheng suddenly understood and poured Weng Tong another cup of tea.

Seeing how open-hearted Guangxu was towards him, Yuan Xiangcheng felt a little pity for this young man who was just beginning to understand the world.

In the future, Guangxu would have no choice but to abdicate. Yuan Shikai would never allow him to be the emperor of China again.

But if such a naive person does not become the emperor, won’t there be no place for him to live in peace in the world?

Shaking his head, Yuan Xiangcheng threw away the feeling of pity in his mind.

Personal feelings cannot affect the overall situation of the times. If Guangxu was an idle royal family member, Yuan Shikai would have protected him, but he was an emperor.

Whether he lives or dies does not depend on Yuan Xiangcheng's personal wishes, but on how the people of the world view this matter.

If social reform goes smoothly, it will be harmless whether he goes to Gongdelin or the CPPCC.

However, if the monarchist forces continue to cause chaos and are used by foreign forces as pawns to interfere in China, just like the Republic of China in history, where they restore the monarchy, split up, and collude with foreign forces, then we will have to make an example of them and let the people of the world see clearly what the world will be like in the future.

Chapter 226: Manchu Resistance

Yuan Shikai headed south only three days after arriving in Beijing, which made the people in the capital have some wild thoughts. What did the emperor say when he met him?

It was not until the news of his appointment as the General of the Southern Expedition came out that they suddenly realized what was going on.

Now that he has commanded an army, I'm sure that Lord Yuan must be very confident about this trip south, right?

Some people are looking forward to it, while others are unhappy.

"Go to hell!"

In a dark room in the capital, Zaixun, the iron-hat prince of Wangzhuang, threw the newspaper in his hand to the ground and cursed out the national quintessence.

"What kind of Han bastard is he, and he thinks he's worthy of being a general? Everyone knows this position is only given to members of the royal family. I never thought that this position, which hadn't been granted for 200 years, would be given to a Han Chinese now."

If there is any major achievement made by the anti-Yuan forces in the capital in the past three years, it is that they have published a newspaper exclusively for themselves.

Since Emperor Guangxu implemented reforms and learned from the West, the newspaper industry has flourished in the capital.

Prince Zhuang Zaixun took the lead in publishing a weekly newspaper called the Eight Banners Newspaper, which published some interesting stories about the Eight Banners that happened near the capital every week and introduced good places to eat, drink and have fun.

Among them was a Manchu editor named Niu Dao, whose catchphrase in his articles was "How authentic!" He was particularly familiar with the brothels and small restaurants in the eight alleys of the capital, and in every issue he would mention some private places that others didn't know about.

However, today, the editor Niu Dao did not introduce the new place in the newspaper, but for the first time ever, he talked about the origin of the "General of the Southern Expedition" in the newspaper.

This is why Prince Zhuang Zaixun just got furious.

"Your Highness, when are we going to get rid of Yuan Shikai? It's been three years. Do you know what kind of life our Eight Banners of Manchuria and Mongolia have been living in these three years?" The banner leader Tie Liang said in anger, and seemed a little rude even to the Iron Hat Prince.

He usually stationed in the suburbs of Beijing, and today he took advantage of the monthly leave to return to Beijing for a secret meeting. He was still unaware of the news that Yuan Shikai had been appointed General of the Southern Expedition.

Fu Yu, who was standing by, couldn't stand the man's arrogant remarks and immediately mocked him, "My Grand Commander Tie Liang, it's been three years, and you also said it's been three years.

"What achievements have you made with the Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners in the past three years? How many of them can endure the hardships of daily training, and how many of them have been selected for the National Defense Army?"

: Tieliang is a rare person in a small group who holds military power. When Guangxu decided to recruit a town of troops in the capital and incorporate it into the National Defense Army, Tieliang was the commander.

There is no need to say much about what happened later. Although this town was under the jurisdiction of Tieliang, most of the soldiers were Han people. Even the few bannermen were of the Han army banner. There were very few pure Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners.

Tieliang was born into a lower-class Manchu family. He lost his father at a young age and suffered a lot. He was also very cruel to himself. It was precisely because of this that he was valued by Guangxu.

But he was helpless in the face of the lack of Manchus and Mongols, and now he was being laughed at by others, so he immediately stood up and cursed:

"Fu Yu, who the hell do you think you are? If it weren't for the influence of your father, the great master of Mongolian Confucianism, do you think you could have become an imperial minister?!"

"I have no talent and can only rely on the legacy of my ancestors, but I've never been the one to bring news from the palace." Fu Yu looked at Tie Liang and said sarcastically, "What about you? Where are your elite Manchu and Mongolian troops? All your subordinates are Han Chinese. I think you should just stop calling yourself Murcha Tie Liang and change your surname to Tie Ming Liang!"

San looked at the two people who were making a fuss. Prince Zhuang Zaixun couldn't help but sigh in anger. Three years ago, he was ambitious and wanted to secretly organize a Manchu-Mongol group to overthrow Yuan Shikai.

But after all the developments in the past three years, Zaixun finally understood one thing.

0It is no use trying to sow discord between the emperor and Yuan Xiangcheng.

Wu Because the biggest trump card behind Yuan Xiangcheng is the young emperor today. If you want to overthrow Yuan Xiangcheng, you must overthrow the emperor.

However, in the more than 200 years since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, there has never been a precedent of open rebellion by the royal family, so Zaixun was also worried about what to do next.

Zaixun sighed again and was about to speak up to stop the quarrel when he saw Boyan Nemuhu and Niu Dao walking in hand in hand.

As soon as the two entered the house, they saw Fu Yu and Tie Liang arguing endlessly. Seeing this, Niu Dao hurried forward to persuade them.

Boyan Nemohu, who was standing by, also came to Prince Zhuang Zaixun and said in a heavy voice, "Prince Zhuang, we have been desperately trying to find something to hold against Yuan Shikai in the past few years, but who knew that he wouldn't even be greedy for a tael of silver.

The four major taxes of commerce, fields, salt and customs in the three northeastern provinces were all invested in building railways, constructing artillery batteries and training new soldiers.

When Li Hongzhang was organizing the Huai Army, he even knew to set up a "Huai Army Office," but he actually refused to even accept the soldiers' pay.

Speaking of this, Bayan Nemuhu recalled the scene a few days ago in the palace where Guangxu dictated the imperial edict, appointing Yuan Shikai as the General of the Southern Expedition.

"Alas, the emperor is also confused and naive. He gave money to Yuan Xiangcheng when he asked for it, and used the money to build the railway inside and outside the Great Wall and the Beijing-Tianjin railway.

Now he is given the title of General of the Southern Expedition. Even if he has always been submissive and is not Cao Cao, how do we know that he is not Sima Yi?

Sima Yi seized power on the banks of the Luo River only ten years after pacifying Liaodong, and he slaughtered Wei's loyal ministers. Yuan Shikai abolished the feudal system and established provinces in Korea ten years after that. Comparing the past and the present, how similar, how similar!

When Boyan Nemuhu talked about Yuan Xiangcheng, he looked worried. However, if Yuan Xiangcheng was here, he would definitely sigh that the Manchus were uncultured and had read too much Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Can the situation of the Qing Dynasty be the same as that of Cao Wei? If we want to make a comparison, then Guangxu's current situation can only be compared with the reforms of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

These Manchu nobles were not loyal subjects of Cao Wei, but backward Xianbei nobles.

After hearing what Boyan Nemohu said, Prince Zhuang Zaixun looked at the two people arguing in the room and sighed, "It would be great if Yuan Shikai was a Manchu. If he were a Manchu, the Qing Dynasty would definitely continue to have a national destiny for another 100 years.

But he is a Han Chinese, and although he submits to His Majesty, he refuses to acknowledge any other Manchu or Mongolian nobles and shows no mercy at all."

"Your Highness, this is absurd," Boyan Nemohu warned, "Except for Prince Li Shiduo and his son, these two have "telegraphed" all the affairs of the Zongli Yamen to Yuan Xiangcheng outside the Great Wall.

As the Minister of Railway Affairs, he never asked about the survey and construction of railways inside and outside the customs, and only knew about the "Chengcheng Company" he had established with Yuan Xiangcheng.

At the imperial conference a few days ago, Shi Duo was the only royal noble who supported Yuan Xiangcheng being appointed the General of the Southern Expedition.

"Yep!"

Zaixun thought of Prince Li Shiduo and his son, the "Manchu traitors," and said angrily, "In my opinion, he should stop being called Aixinjueluo Shiduo and just call him Yuan Shiduo. If you don't know, you might think Yuan Jiasan wasn't his teacher, but his father!"

What Zaixun mentioned was an old story. Prince Laoli once invited Yuan Jiasan, who was a Hanlin scholar at that time, to be a teacher in the royal palace to teach the young Shiduo.

This incident became a laughing stock among the princes of the Eight Banners in the capital at that time. How could a dignified Manchu and Mongolian iron-hat prince need to rely on poetry and books to pass on his family legacy?

Even if he wants to study, there are many among the Bannermen. Why should we ask a country bumpkin from Henan?

While they were reminiscing, Tieliang and Fuyu were finally calming down in their quarrel.

Seeing this, Zaixun woke up from his memories and decided to assign a key mission to the Manchu-Mongolian group.

"Tieliang, I haven't explained yet that Fuyu has been appointed by the Emperor as the chief recruiter. All the Manchu and Mongolian banners near the capital are under his control. Even if we just force them, we can still gather an elite force of eight banners!"

"Is this really true?" Tie Liang looked at Fu Yu, with whom he had just quarreled, with a look of disbelief.

"Hmph!" Fu Yu turned away with an arrogant look on his face.

"As the commander of the National Defense Army's Jingshi Town, you should help Fu Yu learn how to command, train, and control troops in the future." Zaixun's eyes lit up as he spoke of his plan: "Yuan Xiangcheng's march south to unify the country this time, according to what is written in history books, will take at least three to five years to complete the task.

"In the past few years, with you as the commander of the National Defense Army, plus the Manchu and Mongolian Bannermen troops trained by Fu Yu, when Yuan Shikai marches south, who will have the final say in the capital? Don't you understand?"

"Your Highness, what are you doing?!!!" Upon hearing this, Tie Liang didn't dare to think too deeply about what Zaixun meant.

"Shh, the secret cannot be revealed." Prince Zhuang Zaixun put his finger to the corner of his mouth with a strange smile on his face.

Chapter 227 Marines, Land!