Master Yuan, start!

The weather was getting warmer. In order to welcome the guests who were coming from afar, he boarded the steamer of the Sihai Shipping Company and sailed downstream to Jiangning under the escort of the guard regiment.

It was calculated that after the beginning of the second year of the Republic, Yuan Shikai spent half a year on the road, attacking by sea and land.

At this time, Yuan Xiangcheng, who was drifting on the boat, was extremely hoping to get on a plane.

However, this can only be wishful thinking.

Although the Wright brothers had already been conducting flight experiments on model airplanes in the suburbs of Chicago, they still had a long way to go before they could be fully realized.

Moreover, even if it was completed, the aircraft would only be a wooden biplane that would be difficult to fit a pilot, let alone passengers.

At the end of the 19th century, internal combustion engine technology in various countries around the world was still in its infancy. Before the emergence of high-horsepower and lightweight engines, commercial passenger aircraft was ultimately just a luxury.

Instead of putting your hopes on an airplane, you might as well put them on an airship.

Large-scale production of hydrogen has been possible since at least the beginning of the 20th century.

Although hydrogen airships are far less safe than helium airships, they are still superior to early aircraft in terms of carrying capacity and safety.

That's it!

Putting aside these overly distant thoughts, Yuan Shikai passed through Jiujiang, Anqing, and Wuwei, heading eastward.

...

At the same time, Liu Yongfu, who was thin but had a determined look in his eyes, also stepped out of the train carriage from Shanghai to Jiangning.

Behind Liu Yongfu, there were two dark-skinned men following closely, one middle-aged and the other young.

The two of you are shorter, have thick lips, and protruding jaws, and you clearly have a Southeast Asian appearance.

Phan Boi Chau, a young Vietnamese anti-French scholar, asked curiously, "Could this be a train?"

Nguyen Thien Thuy, a Vietnamese anti-French official who had been in exile in Shaoguan, sighed as he watched the endless stream of people getting off the bus:

"It only takes half a day to reach a distance of a hundred miles, and it can transport thousands of people and several cannons at a time. It is much more powerful than a carriage!"

For the anti-French patriots who had never left the Vietnamese countryside, the compound expansion locomotive entering the station with thick black smoke was undoubtedly a behemoth.

As for the large-caliber artillery pulled down from the carriage, they were even rarer.

After all, the French had not yet launched a railway construction boom in Vietnam.

In Vietnam, there is currently only Saigon in the Cochinchina region that has a meter-gauge railway that is dozens of kilometers long.

Hearing the exclamations from the two people behind him, Liu Yongfu unconsciously straightened his chest even though he had never seen such a scene before.

"In the Chinese Empire, this thing is just ordinary."

Liu Yongfu tried hard to act like a local and calm the shocked Vietnamese duo.

However, when I saw the "Chinese people" on the dock, not only did they not have those ugly braids on their heads, but almost everyone was wearing right-side-opening Hanfu.

Not to mention the two Vietnamese, even Liu Yongfu's face was filled with surprise.

After Li Hongzhang declared his anti-Manchu campaign, he simply cut off his queue and left it at that.

Jiangning City, under the control of the Republican government, solidly implemented the "Five Articles of the Republic".

In other words, compared with the Lingnan region, the clothing in the Jiangnan area has changed more.

Jiang Ning at this moment was completely different from the Jiang Ning that Liu Yongfu and the others had imagined.

"Is this the Great Chinese Nation mentioned in history books?"

Ruan Shanshu, who came from an official family, swallowed his saliva and was a little dumbfounded.

Seeing the shock on the faces of the three people who had just got off the train, the station attendant smiled and couldn't help thinking in his heart.

Is this the Great Chinese Nation? If I were to visit Inchon or Tianjin and see those towering chimneys and rows of steamboats, wouldn't I be in awe? Wouldn't I directly request a map to be annexed?

The station attendant was thinking this in his mind, while at the same time, the young Vietnamese scholar Phan Boi Chau was in shock and unable to extricate himself.

Is this the power of the Republic?

France is a republic, so it was able to travel thousands of miles to conquer the Great South and turn it into a colony.

After the Chinese nation rebelled against the Manchus, it established a republic, which enabled it to repel the invasions of Russia and France, and gave the country, which had been occupied by the Tartars for more than 200 years, a new look.

Is the Republic a panacea for the independence of the Great Southern Kingdom?

Thinking along with the young Phan Boi Chau was former Vietnamese official Nguyen Thien Thu.

Ruan Xuanshu had been resisting the French for a long time, so he certainly knew what the Qing Dynasty was like more than 10 years ago. It was just a paper shell with a strong exterior but a weak interior.

Even after winning the Battle of Zhennan Pass, no one dared to take the opportunity to go south and rescue the Great Southern Kingdom.

Later, the anti-Manchu and independent Lingnan Grand Marshal's Office was hesitant and unwilling to confront the French, and was indifferent to the anti-French Vietnamese living in Lingnan.

Today, it is said that the Republican government has an army of 50, more than 2000 cannons, and more than 10 warships.

Under the leadership of President Yuan Shikai, who is regarded as the contemporary Yue Fei by the scholars of the Southern Dynasties, the great Chinese nation seems to be regaining its glory a hundred years ago.

Thinking of this, former Vietnamese official Nguyen Thien Thu couldn't help but feel emotional.

In the final analysis, China is so vast and has so many people that even after being occupied by the Tartars for more than 200 years, countless heroes still emerged.

In just over ten years, the Qing Dynasty, which had defeated the French but asked for peace, had disappeared.

In its place, there is a fearless republic.

In contrast, the Great Southern Kingdom is still in the clutches of the French. The king has become a puppet, the officials are aiding and abetting the evil, and the people are in a state of confusion.

Such a big country, without the French, can't even build a cannon.

"Has Lord Yuan gotten off the car yet?"

When Nguyen Thien Thu and Phan Boi Chau were dazzled by the trains, cannons, Hanfu costumes, and the National Revolutionary Army in formation, a loud voice came from behind them.

A middle-aged man who was not tall but had strong limbs and arms, wore a blue military uniform and had sharp eyes, walked over.

Seeing a group of people gathered behind this person, Liu Yongfu immediately realized who had come, and hurriedly lowered his head, bent down, and stepped forward as usual, intending to greet Shangguan.

"I, Liu Yongfu, the common man, greet the President!"

Before Liu Yongfu's knees touched the ground, Yuan Xiangcheng hurriedly took a half step forward and lifted him up:

"Master Yuan, please don't embarrass me. Since 1867, the sixth year of the Tongzhi reign, Master Yuan has fought against the French in Vietnam for nearly 20 years. It is not an exaggeration to call him a hero of Lingnan. Xiangcheng is absolutely unworthy of Master Yuan's respect."

While helping Liu Yongfu to stand up, Yuan Xiangcheng was also looking at this famous anti-French general who had a thin face and looked like a native of Guangxi.

Although the braid at the back of his head had been removed, the front of his head had not grown any hair due to years of shaving and the fact that he was over 60 years old.

Unlike the impression we had, Liu Yongfu at this time looked more like an old farmer in the countryside rather than an elite soldier with a long history of battle.

It is conceivable that after Zhennan Pass, since Li Hongzhang became the governor of Guangdong, he probably regarded Liu Yongfu as an undisciplined and non-direct descendant, and never took Liu Yongfu seriously at all.

I wish he would resign and return home.

After a few pleasantries, Yuan Xiangcheng put his hand on Liu Yongfu's shoulder and said sincerely:

"Who in China doesn't know that Lord Yuan, under General Feng's command, inflicted heavy losses on the French and barbarians at Zhennan Pass?

Li Hongzhang is now colluding with the French and abandoning his meritorious officials.

Xiangcheng hereby promises Lord Yuan that the Seven-Starred Flag of the Black Banner Army will never again be covered in dust and will surely fly high in Vietnam again!

Chapter 371 Exporting the Revolutionary Party

Hearing Yuan Xiangcheng's evaluation of himself, even though Liu Yongfu was a veteran of the battlefield, he couldn't help but shed tears in his eyes.

The reason is simple: Liu Yongfu has been living a very frustrating life in the past few years.

After the Battle of Zhennan Pass between Qing and France, the Qing Dynasty not only missed the last good opportunity to march into Vietnam, but also completely gave up its sovereignty over Vietnam.

Faced with this concession, Liu Yongfu was indignant, but he endured it.

Later, under pressure from France, the King of Vietnam had no choice but to sign the Second Treaty of Hue with France, an unequal treaty also known as the Treaty of Gap Thanh in Vietnam.

France sent 2 expeditionary forces to Saigon, Hue and other places, and set up a Governor-General to manage Vietnam, completely turning Vietnam into a French colony.

After becoming a colony, large-scale anti-French movements broke out in both southern and northern Vietnam. Nguyen Thien Thu and Phan Boi Chau gradually rose to fame in the anti-French uprisings.

These officials of the former Vietnamese court, who were unwilling to become accomplices of France, tried to join hands with Li Hongzhang, who was entrenched in Guangdong and Guangxi, to drive out the French.

However, the good times did not last long, although Li Hongzhang once secretly supported the Black Flag Army's activities on the Sino-French border.

But after making peace with France, the Lingnan Governor-General's Office sent Liu Yongfu to suppress the bandits.

However, the so-called "bandits" were actually comrades who had fought against the French and barbarians in the mountains in the past.

Liu Yongfu was extremely confused about Li Hongzhang's change of heart. He couldn't bring himself to do it, so he chose to resign and return to his hometown in Qinzhou.

The Black Flag Army was disbanded.

Seeing that the biggest "financial backer" had stopped making moves, most Vietnamese returned home disappointed.

It was not until Yuan Shikai rebelled against the Manchus, established a republic, and had an unclear attitude towards Li Hongzhang that the minds of this group of anti-French patriots became active.

Yuan Xiangcheng glanced at Liu Yongfu, who was hunched over in front of him, and Ruan Shanshu and Pan Peizhu, who were a little reserved behind him, and said with concern:

"Vietnam has been a vassal state of China since ancient times. Now it has fallen into the hands of the French. As the President of the Republic of China, how can I sit idly by and watch?"

"The President is wise!" Ruan Shanshu bowed and sighed.

"It's a pity that we are so poor that we can't even gather a thousand muskets. Otherwise, we wouldn't be hiding in the mountains and dense forests now, panicking like a lost dog."

At this time, Vietnam had not yet experienced the complete baptism of nationalist thought, nor had it reached the level of obsessive "anti-China" in later generations.

Otherwise, they would not have recognized the Qing Dynasty as their suzerain state and asked Emperor Jiaqing to grant the country a name.

In fact, although Nguyen Phuc Anh, the founding emperor of the "State of Vietnam", relied on the French to come to power, he was able to start his army from the southernmost tip of Vietnam and eventually march northwards through the entire Vietnam.

But in fact, after that, three generations of kings, including Nguyen Phuc Anh’s son, grandson and great-grandson, all had a bad attitude towards the French.

There is no debate about Chinese and barbarians in Vietnam. Their monarch is a pure Miao descendant of Guangnan, and is extremely orthodox in the eyes of Vietnamese scholars.

Although Vietnam is deeply influenced by Confucian culture, it resists China in its heart.

But that kind of boycott is more like the hostility between the various vassal states during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It was based on simple interests and did not involve morality.

It is more similar to the relationship between Britain and the United States in later generations. They both want to compete for the right to speak in the English-speaking world. The British often use their own opinions in movies to mock Americans, and Americans also often make fun of the British.

However, when it comes to certain actions of major East Asian countries, Britain and the United States often stand on the same front and jointly condemn them, regardless of the economic interests involved.

The same is true for Vietnam to the French.

The three generations of kings after the founding monarch Nguyen Phuc Anh all hated barbarians from the bottom of their hearts.