The Heroic Age of the Late Qing Dynasty

As he said that, he immediately pointed at Hoffman who was guarding the ring. Hoffman looked at the translator pointing at him and immediately stood there to show off his muscles. His arms were thicker than the thighs of most Chinese people nowadays. It can be imagined that if he was hit by a punch, even if the bones were not broken, they would at least be injured.

Seeing Hoffman flexing his muscles, the translator said smugly: "Huh, hahahaha, whoever wants to go on stage, in order to save the foreign master's time, the registration fee is one or two taels of silver. If you beat the foreign master, you can get one hundred taels of silver.

After saying that, he immediately poured a few pieces of silver onto a table. Under the sunlight, they looked extremely dazzling.

Seeing so much silver, the onlookers exclaimed in amazement, many of their eyes sparkling. Zhang Yinghao sneered, this was one of the foreigners' true motives. If it weren't for the money, they wouldn't have done anything out of thin air. Then the translator continued, "Pay the money, sign the life and death agreement, and you can immediately spar with the foreign masters. As long as you admit defeat in time, your lives will be safe."

Zhang Yinghao didn't intend to read on after seeing this. He said directly to Yuan Kesheng: "Give these foreigners two days to be arrogant. If someone goes up to fight, remember to save these people's lives. If no one wins after two days, then send the police to arrest these people, detain them, fine them and ask them to pay compensation. The reason is that they entered the country illegally, injured our citizens for no reason, and need medical expenses. After paying the fine, they will be expelled from the base.

"Chairman, they signed a life and death agreement.

Zhang Yinghao sneered again and said, "What does their death warrant have to do with us? Their death warrant is based on the rules of the underworld. We are officials. Why should we talk to them about the rules of the underworld? If their death warrant is legally binding, then if they give you a suicide warrant, will you commit suicide? If you injure someone, you must pay the full compensation. Okay, I'm going back. You tell Comrade Zhang Kai about this matter. You are responsible for it."

After saying that, Zhang Yinghao turned around and left. Zhang Yinghao was in no mood to watch these tricks of the foreigners. If he had this time, he would rather produce one more bullet. This bullet might be able to kill an enemy or save a soldier's life.

However, since the foreigners were so arrogant, Zhang Yinghao had to fight back, otherwise he would feel uncomfortable. He did it as soon as he thought of it. Zhang Yinghao went directly to the cultural and art soldiers and entered the office to start writing the lyrics for "The Great Wall Will Never Fall":

After a century of slumber, Chinese people are gradually waking up.

Open your eyes! Look carefully! Who would be willing to admit that he is a captive?

Because of cowardice and tolerance, people become more and more arrogant.

Shout out! Shout out loud! The whole country is a soldier here.

Throughout history, robbers who invade will eventually lose their lives.

The Great Wall will never fall, and the Yellow River will flow forever.

The mountains and rivers are beautiful with overlapping peaks and ridges. How can my country look sick?

Break through the bloody path and wave goodbye! We must work hard for the national rejuvenation.

We must not allow our country to be trampled upon again. Everyone should shoulder their mission.

The Great Wall will never fall, and the Yellow River will flow forever.

The mountains and rivers are beautiful with overlapping peaks and ridges. How can my country look sick?

Break through the bloody path and wave goodbye! We must work hard for the rejuvenation of our nation!

How can we allow our land to be trampled upon again? The Chinese people are gradually waking up!

Zhang Yinghao replaced the "sleeping lion" with the Chinese people because it better aligns with his sentiments. If there's a single song best suited for this era, it's undoubtedly "The Great Wall Will Never Fall." This song perfectly embodies the times, its grandeur and passion stirring. The Great Wall is considered sacred and indestructible by the Chinese people, and this song perfectly evokes patriotism and a desire to resist foreign aggression.

Chapter 115:

Zhang Yinghao wrote the lyrics and put them aside. After thinking for a while, he plagiarized a poem "Dead Water" and wrote a pen name called Desperate.

"Dead Water" was created by Wen Yidu in 1925.

At that time, he returned to his country with a strong sense of patriotism and earnest expectations. However, the motherland that appeared before him after his return was an extremely disappointing scene.

Warlordism and rampant imperialism caused the author's emotions to shift from disappointment and pain to extreme anger. "This is a ditch of hopeless stagnant water. It is definitely not a place for beauty. Let it be cultivated by ugliness and see what kind of world it creates."

By comparing the "semi-feudal and semi-colonial old China" to the symbolic image of "stagnant water", the multi-angle and multi-level writing exposes and satirizes the corrupt old society.

It expresses the author's despair, indignation and deep patriotism towards the ugly reality.

borrow.

The poet's sarcastic words are filled with a hatred of evil and a desire for destruction, a fiery passion to destroy the old world with every blow. But behind the indignation and impassioned outburst is actually an earnest call for a bright and beautiful new life, a new world full of vitality, hope and justice!

This is a war song full of curses against the dark society and a completely uncompromising attitude.

After Zhang Yinghao finished writing the lyrics, he took them outside and taught the art soldiers the song "The Great Wall Will Never Fall." Then, he took "Dead Water" and went to the training school set up by the intelligence department. Zhang Yinghao knew that Li Tianqiao was in the school at that time.

Zhang Yinghao felt it unnecessary to publish this kind of poem within his base. It only served a special purpose during a special period, and once used, it would be obsolete. However well-written, and despite its despair and curse on a dark society, it was not what the people of the base needed. This poem was needed by the suffering intellectuals outside, as well as by the radicals and revolutionaries. This poem should serve as encouragement to them.

Zhang Yinghao arrived at the door of the intelligence department, showed his ID and pass, and asked, "Is Comrade Li Tianqiao in there?"

"Chairman, Comrade Li Tianqiao is next door.

As soon as Zhang Yinghao heard the guard say this, he knew what "next door" meant. Li Tianqiao's new intelligence training school was right next door. Originally, Li Tianqiao planned to set up the school in a remote place. When he came to Zhang Yinghao for approval, Zhang Yinghao said directly: "The great hide in the city. If confidentiality can be achieved, then the intelligence department and the school will be hidden no matter where they are located."

Because of this, Li Tianqiao placed the intelligence department in the urban area, and the school he established was also established directly next to it.

Now that he was already here, Zhang Yinghao planned to take a look at the training school set up by the intelligence department to see the progress and teaching content.

Since he knew Li Tianqiao was next door, Zhang Yinghao was not in a hurry to go in to look for him, so he walked outside. Seeing an older man enjoying the cool air at the door, Zhang Yinghao walked over and said, "Uncle, I had a relative who lived there before.

He pointed to the gate of the intelligence department and continued, "Why is there someone standing guard there now? What is that for?"

"Oh, there, I heard they are researching something, we who live here don't know what they are doing inside.

"Uh, no way, what about next door? There seem to be quite a few people in there.

"Oh, I know it's a school, but I don't know what they teach specifically." At this time, an old lady walked over and said.

“It’s a school, I don’t know if I can study there.

"I'm not sure about that. I just overheard people talking inside, talking about what classes they had today. Classes, after all, aren't they school?"

"Yes, that's the school. I'll go ask how I can get in and study.

"Hey, aren't you looking for someone?" the old man interrupted.

"Yes, I need to find someone, someone who can help me find a school through connections. Thank you. I'll go ask around."

After saying that, he waved to them and headed straight for the training school entrance. Zhang Yinghao was quite satisfied with the intelligence department's confidentiality work, hearing from the two old men and women. You know, the intelligence department has been here for quite some time. And they're going to move out in the future, so there's no chance of a leak for the time being.

The intelligence department was now arguably the most advanced department in the base, with even the guardhouse equipped with a telephone. To enter the school, three conditions were required: one's own ID, an entry permit, and an internal escort. Otherwise, entry was not permitted.

Zhang Yinghao registered his ID and the guard called in directly. Li Tianqiao came out to greet Zhang Yinghao. Seeing Zhang Yinghao, Li Tianqiao quickly walked over and saluted, and Zhang Yinghao returned the salute.

"Chairman, why didn't you let me know earlier that you were coming? I could have waited for you at the door.

"Haha, Comrade Tianqiao, I just came here temporarily because of something. I hope I didn't interfere with your work.

"No, no, welcome, welcome, Mr. Chairman, please come in.

“Okay, you lead the way. I’ve never been here before so I don’t get lost.

“Chairman, even if you didn’t come, I would have gone over to report to you about the situation I just learned.

"Oh, what happened again?

"A large number of Boxers have entered our base area.

Zhang Yinghao stopped when he heard this. He looked at Li Tianqiao and said, "Is it confirmed?

"Yes, confirmed. According to the intelligence we've received, many parts of the country have been affected by disasters since last year. People are living in poverty. The Boxer Rebellion has spread from Shandong to Zhili, and now it seems to be spreading across the country, with traces of it appearing everywhere. The news that there is a way out here is spreading more and more, and more and more people are flocking to our base."

"Haha, that's perfectly normal. People need food and clothing, so they'll go wherever there's a way to make a living. The Boxers represented the lower classes. Although their content was filled with feudal and superstitious ideas, that was because they lacked a revolutionary platform. For us, the only way to fight the Boxers was science, revolution. They were nothing more than a minor nuisance to us, not worth mentioning."

“Don’t we need prevention?

"Alas, they are also a group of pitiful people. As long as they don't spread their feudal superstitions in our base and just want to live a good life, why not accept them? Apart from some greedy people at the top, what do the people at the bottom know? They are just blindly following the crowd. But since they have appeared in our base, an investigation is necessary. You should give the information to Comrade Zhang Kai and let him handle it. Find out the identities, purposes and number of these people, so that we can have a clear idea of ​​them. However, these people are not allowed to worship the Kaishan Hall or the senior brothers in the base. Once they are discovered, they will be dealt with."

“Yes, I am worried that these people will do evil things in our base.

Zhang Yinghao thought for a moment and said, "It doesn't matter what these people do. What matters is whether we can stabilize the situation. Can't we just wipe out the Boxers with hundreds of thousands of people? They won't amount to anything. But what you said makes sense. If they cause us trouble, it will be a problem. Feudal superstition is like cockroaches and mosquitoes in summer. There is no end to them. We really need to deal with them properly. Since you reported this to me, it means that you have a better understanding of them in our base. Tell me your opinion and we can discuss it."

"Chairman, according to intelligence, these people have entered our base and haven't done anything yet. We can't monitor or arrest them; it would be a waste of our limited resources. Since there aren't many of them now, the best approach is to reform them and deny them the opportunity to develop in the base.

"No, if we arrest people indiscriminately, it will only lead to trouble. We won't give them the opportunity to develop. The best solution is land reform. If the people have a way to make a living, who would still follow the Boxers in their mischief? Organizations like the Boxers are just a bunch of things created by people who can't make a living out of desperation. There's nothing progressive about them. As long as the people in our base area have hope, how can these people make a living out of mischief?"

"Chairman, what should we do specifically?

"Hehe, you should first investigate the feudal superstitions in our base. Let's deal with those immortal ladies and witches in the base first. The Boxers only use the big brother and second brother tricks to intimidate the ignorant people. They can only take advantage of natural disasters and man-made disasters to cause trouble. I have never heard of such tricks being successful when the world is peaceful. There is no need to pay too much attention to them for now."

"Okay, then we will continue to monitor the Boxer Rebellion and report to the Chairman if any other developments arise."

"Okay, I just went to the training camp and saw that they're using hourglasses to tell time, which is very inconvenient. See if you can get some information on pocket watch production. I'll talk to our colleagues at the Ministry of Commerce about buying a watch factory. This little gadget will become increasingly important to us.

Zhang Yinghao felt quite helpless. Others who traveled through time and space either bought a bunch of knock-off goods, or brought a truckload of items, or even an aircraft carrier, or even worse, a system, giving them everything they wanted. But he, on the other hand, had nothing and had to rely on himself for everything.

"Okay, I will collect relevant information for reference by the comrades from the Ministry of Commerce.

"Well, you give this poem to the relevant comrades to publish in the concessions in Wuhan and Shanghai.

As he said that, he took out the paper with "Dead Water" written on it and handed it to Li Tianqiao.

Li Tianqiao took it, read it through and said, "Good poem, I'll arrange it later.

Published in newspapers within the concessions.

"Okay. Come, come, come, tell me about the layout and courses of your school.

"Look, Chairman. This side is the teaching area, that side is the dormitory area, next to the dormitory is the library, and next to the library is the laboratory area... We don't have any specialized divisions here yet. The courses include chemistry, intelligence gathering and analysis, actor self-cultivation, reconnaissance and covert operations, combat and firearms, telegraphs and codes..."

“How do our teachers here solve this problem?

"Part of it is poaching talent from other places, part of it is recruiting from abroad, and part of it is exploring on our own.

"That's great! We need to have that kind of drive. We mustn't wait, rely on others, or ask for help. We should identify problems and solve them. We should find what we need ourselves. Last time, you said that intelligence departments could train with the military. I have no objection to that, but you must ensure the confidentiality of their identities. If everyone knows that someone working in intelligence is an intelligence officer, then they are a failure and that's the end of them.

"Well, we will pay attention to this and have emphasized it before."

"When is the class?"

"I'm on lunch break now, and class will start soon.

"Okay, let's go to your office for a cup of tea. I'd like to attend some of your classes later so I can learn a bit."

“Okay, this way.

"Comrade Tianqiao, where do the books in your library come from? Is your collection large?"

"Chairman, most of the books were purchased through comrades in Shanghai. We are now mobilizing overseas Chinese to donate books or translate books for us. Our collection is not very large at the moment, and we mainly purchase books based on our needs."

"The library is a very useful tool. In the future, every county and city in our base area should have a library. If your books don't involve confidential information, you can take them to our printing department to print them. I plan to build a library and, by the way, study the county annals and record what's happened here. What do you think?"

"Okay, Chairman, I can send some of the books to be printed, but they have to send us a few more copies after they are printed.

"You guys can discuss this between yourselves. I won't get involved. We might sell the books we print. If it's a book you wrote here, you can discuss publishing it."

Chapter 116:

Selling books was something Zhang Yinghao had just thought of. In today's China, selling books is a lucrative business. Young people at this time have begun to open their eyes to the world, but modern books and materials are still very few and far between. Why did the "Republic of China style" appear in later generations? Why did the Republic of China produce so many great masters?

This was because books were expensive during this era, culture was still a monopoly, and intellectuals held a high status. Furthermore, many people bought books, and these people wrote articles or poems, published them, and made a fortune. Later poets could barely support themselves, and so they began to yearn for the days of the Republic of China, when the literati and poets were free to express their ideas.

It is recorded in "Journey to the West" that when Mao Zedong was a librarian, he earned 8 yuan a month, which was not a low salary. However, Cai Yuanpei, the president of Peking University, earned 600 yuan a month; Chen Duxiu, the dean of the liberal arts department, earned 400 yuan a month; and professors earned at least 200 yuan a month. It is no wonder that there is such a thing as the Republic of China style. The mouth cannon is the highest-paid group.

Another important reason was the question of saving the nation. The Qing Dynasty had corrupted the country to such an extent that countless people sought a way to save it. Could the literati save the country through concrete action? Of course not. How could they save the country through violence? They believed in the power of words to revive the country. So they relied on writing to save the country, and countless young people also sought a way to save the country through the words of these people, so their articles had no trouble selling. Even now, as long as the books were popular among these literati, theoretically, they would have no problem selling them.

Today we're continuing with the topic we left off last time. In our work and daily lives, we're bound to experience a variety of situations and play a variety of roles. The Chairman once said, "Life is like a play; it all depends on your acting skills." So, what should we do?

Today's lesson will focus on this topic. You might have noticed something like this: someone might be loud and noisy while burning incense and praying to Buddha. Someone might smile at someone else's funeral. Someone might wander off while playing games together.

That is to say, some people cannot be happy when they should be happy, cannot be serious when they should be serious, and cannot be sad when they should be sad. For this kind of situation, we use a word to describe it: incompatibility.

What is our job? What kind of expression do we need to use in the current situation? Comrades, life is full of different situations. As long as we observe carefully, we will find this fact.

For example, the faces of the teahouse and restaurant owners are always full of smiles, the faces of the Feng Shui masters are always serious, the young literary and artistic people always have a hint of sadness, the facial muscles of the dock laborers always appear stiff, and so on.

We say birds of a feather flock together. We need to learn the facial language of the people we interact with, or in other words, we need to learn to use any facial expression to face others.

We should use different expressions in different situations and with different people. When it's time to dance, dance; when it's time to sing, sing; when it's time to be serious, be serious; when it's time to be sad, be sad; when it's time to cry, cry; when it's time to sweat, sweat; when it's time to get goose bumps, get goose bumps. In other words, use whatever expression is appropriate for the situation, and do whatever you're supposed to do.

You could say I'm just acting, but that's our job. We need to adapt to different situations and speak differently to different people. We need to blend in with the environment and not stand out from the crowd. If we stand out from the crowd, our job as an intelligence officer is pretty much over.

We say that as a monk, you must ring the bell for the day you are a monk. This is your job, the monk's job. The same goes for everyone here. In the future, whatever work you do, just do it. Don't add unnecessary details or overdo things.

What does it mean to be in tune with the present moment? It means doing what needs to be done, and acting as it should be. Just like when we assist business negotiations, we should shout when we need to, frown when we need to, and look away when we need to. Whether the negotiation succeeds or fails depends on the circumstances, and the personnel who faced it should be appropriately handled.

Let me give you an example. If a foreigner threatens us during a negotiation, and we need to show fear, our hands and feet will tremble, our lips will quiver, cold sweats will break out, our concentration will be disrupted, and our expression will be panic. But if we want to show we're not afraid of the threat, we need to become emotionally agitated, filled with righteous indignation, or even gnashing our teeth. Our emotions will be determined by what we want to convey to the other party.

Zhang Yinghao sat quietly at the back of the classroom, listening to the teacher on the podium. His students were giving a course on negotiation and acting. The content was good, but the specific effect would depend on future training. He wondered how many students would be able to reach the level of acting proficiency.

"Now let's talk about the art of speaking. The most in-depth study of speaking in China is by none other than Guiguzi. Two thousand years ago, Guiguzi said: 'To speak is to persuade, and to persuade is to provide resources.' In other words, the purpose of our speaking is to persuade the other party, and to persuade the other party, we must be able to benefit the other party and be able to help the other party.

The specific technique is the one in Guiguzi's "Bihe": "Therefore, when speaking with the positive, follow the lofty; when speaking with the negative, follow the humble. Use the low to seek the small, and use the high to seek the great. In this way, there is nothing that cannot be expressed, and nothing that cannot be entered. Nothing is impossible. You can talk about people, family, country, and the world."

In the chapter "Flying Clamp", it is said that "when using it in the world, one must measure the world and give it accordingly; when using it in the country, one must measure the country and give it accordingly; when using it in the family, one must measure the family and give it accordingly; when using it in the body, one must measure the body's body, ability and momentum and give it accordingly. Whether big or small, advancing or retreating, its use is the same";

In the "Power Chapter", it says, "When speaking with a wise person, rely on breadth; when speaking with a broad-minded person, rely on discernment; when speaking with a discerning person, rely on conciseness; when speaking with a noble person, rely on power; when speaking with a rich person, rely on loftiness; when speaking with a poor person, rely on profit; when speaking with a lowly person, rely on humility; when speaking with a brave person, rely on boldness; when speaking with a foolish person, rely on sharpness. This is the technique."

In the "Planning Chapter" it says, "A benevolent man does not care about material things and cannot be tempted by profit, but can be made to spend money; a brave man does not care about difficulties and cannot be frightened by danger, but can be made to face danger; a wise man is good at numbers and understands principles and cannot be deceived by dishonesty, but can be shown the truth and made to achieve merit... Therefore, those who are close to you externally but distant from you internally should be persuaded internally; those who are close to you internally but distant from you externally should be persuaded externally. Therefore, take advantage of their suspicion to change them, take advantage of their views to make them agree, take advantage of their arguments to persuade them, take advantage of their momentum to achieve success, take advantage of their evil to control them, and take advantage of their dangers to repel them."

In the Ben Jing Yin Fu Qi Shu, it is said, "When it is difficult or easy, then make plans, and follow the natural way to make it real. The round one will not work, and the square one will not stop. This is called great achievement. Whether it is to increase or decrease, all are words."