The sun never sets

"That won't do. We have to make it clear first, otherwise what if it's exposed later?" Andrei muttered, "Chekov can kill people."

"Well, tell me the truth. How many of these guns are usable?"

"Forehead........"

"Okay, I understand." Lin Yongchang said, "You go back first. I'll take people to Tianjin to transport guns in a few days."

"Hurry up, it will be bad if someone finds you."

"Alas, Andre, you are not a qualified arms dealer."

Lin Yongchang explained to Andre what a "qualified arms dealer" was, and then immediately left the capital and headed for Zhuozhou with his men. More than 10,000 rifles, even if they were all broken, could not be transported by 200 people, so he needed to ask Wang Qi and Li Dayan for help.

The reason for the separation was to allow Wang Qi and his men to return to their hometown to recruit people. The situation was becoming increasingly tense, and they could not care about anything else. The more people they could recruit, the better. Another reason was to expand their territory. Wang Zuolin did not dare to do it, but Lin Yongchang had nothing to fear.

Li Dayan was a powerful man near Handan, and Wang Qi was a great hero from Hebei. Both of them were local tyrants and quickly gathered several thousand people. If they hadn't only wanted young and strong men, they could have gathered even more people. Wang Qi also called on many heroes, such as the famous hero Wang Wu.

Wang Wu and Wang Zhengyi were close friends of Tan Sitong. After Tan Sitong's death, Wang Wu organized people to assassinate Yuan Shikai many times, but unfortunately, he failed. Wang Wu's swordsmanship was superb, but he really couldn't beat foreign guns and cannons. He led people to assassinate Yuan Shikai, but not only failed to kill the other party, but also killed many of his nephews and friends. Later, he was wanted by the court and could only flee to the countryside to wait for the future. After arriving in Zhuozhou, Wang Wu did not insist on killing Yuan Shikai. In his opinion, Yuan Shikai should be killed, and foreigners should also be killed.

Chapter 62: Fighting Evil

In the late stage of the Second Opium War, the British and French allied forces captured Tianjin and approached Beijing. After the war, the court was forced to sign the Treaty of Beijing with Britain as a supplementary treaty to the Treaty of Tianjin to open up trading ports. Article 4 of the treaty stipulates: "On the day the supplementary treaty is signed, the Great Emperor of the Great Jin (Qing Dynasty) agrees to use the port of Tianjin County as a trading port.

All ports of commerce where British citizens reside and trade shall be opened in accordance with the regulations of the various ports approved by the Treaty, with no difference in proportion.

In this treaty, Tianjin was added as a trading port. Although the treaty did not stipulate the establishment of a concession, it became the basis for Britain to forcibly set up a concession in Tianjin in the future. Only two months later, the British ambassador to China, Bruce, submitted a note to Prince Gong Yixin, writing that "I intend to rent an area of Tianjin on behalf of the country forever" for the use of consular offices and merchants' housing and warehouses. Later, he sent a note to the Zhili Governor Hengfu, instructing the local government of Tianjin to set up a British concession in Tianjin.

This is the origin of the British Concession in Tianjin. Later, the United States and Germany also opened concessions in Tianjin. At this stage, only the United Kingdom and the United States have concessions in Tianjin, and Russia does not. Chekov, Andrei and others rented several warehouses in the American Concession, which were filled with old firearms shipped from Russia.

Wang Wu was familiar with Huo Yuanjia who was making a living in Tianjin. Huo Yuanjia was a famous expert in Tianjin. He could get a lot of help from people in the foot trade. Of course, he had to pay them. Wang Wu volunteered to go to Tianjin to move the goods. He didn't know what the goods were. He asked Wang Qi, but was told that he couldn't tell him for the time being.

This made Wang Wu a little dissatisfied, but Wang Qi explained to him that the army must have military discipline. If the military discipline is not strict, how can we win the battle? Wang Wu said he could accept the explanation, but he still felt uncomfortable. He was a famous hero who was much older than Wang Qi, but now he was treated like this. No matter how he thought about it, he still felt a little uncomfortable.

When they arrived in Tianjin and saw the boxes of goods in the warehouse, Wang Wu guessed what was inside and was very excited. Wang Wu, the sword master, was very famous, but a sword could not beat a foreign gun! If the boxes were filled with foreign guns, that would be amazing!

Chekov originally disagreed to pay half first, but Lin Yongchang brought too many people, and with Andre's persuasion, he finally agreed to let the people ship all the goods out. Andre was right, there was no point in keeping these goods, they were called goods, but in fact they were garbage, they couldn't be sold at all, and if they were kept, they would have to pay for the warehouse rental fee.

These foreign rubbish were old-style rifles that had been eliminated by Russia and could not be sold, so Chekhov and his men were able to get so many of them. In fact, they did not spend much money. They just treated the relevant personnel to a few drinks, and these guns and bullets were pulled out in boxes.

Huo Yuanjia guessed what was in the warehouse, but he pretended not to know and just urged the laborers to work faster. Dozens of carts were transporting the wooden boxes out of Tianjin. After leaving Tianjin, the people brought by Wang Qi took over the carriages and quickly moved to Zhuozhou.

When the convoy went far away, Huo Yuanjia, Wang Wu and others finally felt relieved. There were not many foreign troops in the concession, but they were enough to deal with them. Moreover, there were foreign warships parked in the port. Those terrifying war beasts were like small mountains, and just parked there had an unparalleled deterrent effect.

Huo Yuanjia was born with supernatural powers and extraordinary martial arts, but he was not as keen on confronting foreigners as Wang Wu and Wang Qi and others. It can be said that he was influenced by those warships. When making a living in Tianjin, people would see those warships like small mountains when they came and went. After seeing so many of them, foreigners were naturally very proud, but the Chinese were inevitably frustrated.

Looking at the convoy going away, Huo Yuanjia thought of something and couldn't help but sigh. Lin Yongchang came over from behind and asked with a smile, "Why are you sighing, Mr. Huo?"

The heroes and heroes he had seen were all big and strong, with a height of more than eight feet. To become a master, innate conditions are very important. In boxing, tonnage is a very important indicator. It does not mean that lightweight players will never beat heavyweights, but it is difficult. The heavier the tonnage, the more advantages there are. This is determined by the laws of physics in this world.

Li Dayan is eight feet tall, with broad shoulders and a round waist; Wang Qi is half a head taller than Li Dayan, and is covered in muscles; Wang Wu is eight feet tall, and so is Huo Yuanjia. Only people with their physiques can practice powerful martial arts. In other words, there is nothing magical about martial arts, and these people can become masters no matter what they practice.

Huo Yuanjia heard a voice behind him and trembled slightly. Then he turned around and said, "Master Lin..."

Lin Yongchang waved his hand, "I'm not an adult, Master Huo, please don't address me like that. How about this, Master Huo and I hit it off right away, so we can call each other brothers?"

Huo Yuanjia had heard about the bald man becoming sworn brothers with Li Dayan and Wang Qi, and also knew that Lin Yongchang became sworn brothers with Wang Zuolin from Yangyuan. They were all heroes from Hebei, and even if they had never met, they would have heard of each other's names. He thought to himself: It seems that this person likes to call others brothers.

But he was not Li Dayan, nor was he Wang Qi or Wang Zuolin. Huo Yuanjia shook his head and said, "My Lord, do you have anything else to say?"

Lin Yongchang pretended not to notice Huo Yuanjia's obvious alienation and said warmly, "I'm going to stay in Tianjin for a few days. Could you, Mr. Huo, introduce me to the local customs and practices of Tianjin?"

Huo Yuanjia pondered for a moment, shook his head again, and said, "I am not good at speaking, so why not find two escorts to accompany you, my Lord?"

"Ha, forget it. I suddenly remembered that I have something urgent to do. Next time I come to Tianjin,

We'll talk about it later."

Lin Yongchang called out to Wuyun Qiqige beside him, "Qiqi, let's go!"

"Oh!" The girl kicked her mount lightly, and the docile horse immediately ran over. She raised her head and asked, "Why do you call me Qiqi?"

"Well, because I'm a hero who focuses on fighting evil! Have you heard of Sun Wukong?"

The girl tilted her head and said, "I've heard of Sun Wukong, but..."

"Well, I'm going to write a new book called 100,000 Whys. I'll publish it when I finish it!" Lin Yongchang said with a smile, "Let's not talk about that. My second brother and the others have gone far. Let's catch up quickly!"

"Oh!"

Dozens of cavalrymen galloped away, leaving Tianjin behind. Lin Yongchang looked back and saw the western-style buildings and the port were still there. He waved to Huo Yuanjia on the side of the road and said loudly, "I will definitely come back!"

"........."

Chapter 63: A Just Cause

They stayed in Zhuozhou for a day, recruited hundreds of young men, and marched southwards, passing Gaobei, Dingxing, and arriving at Baoding. At this time, Lin Yongchang already had several thousand men under his command, and they did not leave.

Zhuozhou is too close to the capital, and he was afraid of scaring the people in the court. Baoding is much better. It is more than 300 miles away from the capital, not too far nor too close, just right. Baoding, Tianjin, and the capital almost form an equilateral triangle. With this place as a base, if something happens in the future, it will be very convenient to enter the capital or head to Tianjin.

After arriving in Baoding, Lin Yongchang led his men to occupy the city, and then took over the granary, arsenal, and all the household registers. Officials loyal to the court expressed their opposition and organized yamen runners and local soldiers to launch an attack. But how could those miscellaneous soldiers beat foreign guns?

The exchange of fire lasted only a dozen minutes before the yamen runners knelt down, and the local soldiers dropped their weapons and weapons and ran back home. A local native threw away his "Yong" uniform, and who knew what he was doing?

Wang Zuolin did not dare to openly attack the prefectures and counties, but Lin Yongchang had no scruples. After occupying Baoding, he started to celebrate with great fanfare.

He brought in many veteran craftsmen, who disassembled the pile of Russian junk they had bought, cleaned and oiled the parts, and reassembled them. By piecing together they made a good gun, and in the end they assembled more than 8,000 intact rifles.

The remaining parts were not spared. After assembling them together, if there was anything missing, the blacksmith would make a similar one and install it. If the buttstock was broken, the carpenter would make a new one. Even if there were problems, at least it would make a sound. After applying oil and reloading it into the box, it looked no different from a new one. As for whether the gun would explode, Lin Yongchang would not use it for his own people. These were "external sales" and were prepared to be sold to other Boxers.

He sent people to transport 2,000 rifles to equip the Dalai Lama, and equipped half of the remaining 6,000 rifles, and the remaining half was stored first. He would issue guns to the new recruits after they completed their training. Guns and bullets are consumables, so there must be some inventory.

While setting up a training camp outside Baoding City, he also opened a military school called "Baoding Military School", which set up four majors: infantry, cavalry, artillery, and logistics, specializing in training junior officers. He himself served as the principal and director of the political department. The previous students and some veterans with outstanding performance were pulled in to serve as instructors, and they were also allowed to continue their studies. In addition to teaching military skills, the military school was also responsible for teaching cultural knowledge. Most of the Boxer leaders who were caught and attended classes were illiterate and could not recognize a few words, so they had to take literacy classes first.

The training of new soldiers usually takes half a year, but the current conditions do not allow it. Lin Yongchang only let the soldiers go through a month of harsh training in the new recruit camp, and when the ice and snow melted, he let them go out to work. Controlling the city is just the beginning. If you want to stabilize the regime, you still have to go deep into the vast rural areas.

China's problems, in the final analysis, are still the problems of farmers. As long as the problems in the countryside are solved, other things will be easy to solve. Lin Yongchang knew this truth before, and after controlling Baoding, he had a deeper understanding of this truth. More than 90% of the people under his rule lived in the countryside, and the soldiers, food and wealth all came from the countryside. If the problems in the countryside were not solved, other things would be out of the question.

Baoding is not a concession like Tianjin or Shanghai, nor is it a big city like Yanjing or Jinling. Baoding can generate some wealth, but compared with the vast countryside, it is not much. Lin Yongchang found that his understanding of this world was somewhat biased, and he corrected it immediately. He sent a large number of troops to control the surrounding rural areas, and then found that if he wanted to penetrate into the enemy-controlled rural areas, he had to adopt certain methods.

The situation pushed him forward, and unless he intended to stop there, something would inevitably happen. Burning bonds and establishing farmers' associations were the only two moves that made most of the local Boxers give up resistance and join the cause of justice wholeheartedly.

There were also a few who could not see the situation clearly and wanted to resist stubbornly. The Boxers were not only powerful and poor, but also some gentry and officials. Some people were unwilling to give up the bonds in their hands, and were unwilling to distribute the land to the mud-legged night raiders in the countryside: ⑥⑨四九,三⑥①三⑤子, they also pulled together based on clan and blood relations

There are quite a few people, but no matter how many of them there are, how can they compare to the number of poor farmers?

They were outnumbered, and in terms of the number of foreign guns, tactics, and command skills, those people were completely at a disadvantage. Lin Yongchang led the newly formed army to attack in turns, and soon all the reactionaries nearby were crushed. Then he used the trick of public trial, which he didn't want to use at first. In those days, there was no powerful gentry who didn't have blood on his hands. If this trick spread, too many people would be killed.

But who made those guys so blind? Lin Yongchang didn't want to do that. He caught the leaders and the masterminds and pushed them all to a public trial. Only in this way could he stand on the commanding heights of justice.

The situation here was developing rapidly, but the court still had no reaction. Local officials were placed under house arrest in the city, and Baoding was still nominally a land of peace under the rule of the court. Officials loyal to the king wrote to the court to accuse the "rebel Lin Tuzi" of being rude and lawless, and hoped that the court would send out heavenly soldiers to eliminate him as soon as possible.

But where are there no rebels? Henan, Hebei, Shandong, and Shanxi, there are Boxers everywhere, and there are urgent petitions for help everywhere. Baldy Lin's place is not the worst. Shandong has already fought with the Germans, and the great powers have continuously protested to the court, but it is useless.

On the one hand, many officials in the imperial court wanted to add fuel to the flames and use the power of the Boxers to fight against the foreigners. On the other hand, the Boxers had too many troops and the imperial court was a little overwhelmed. It was trying to win over the strongest leaders of the Boxers and wanted to use these militia groups for the imperial court.

The court is now most worried about Jiaodong and Tianjin. Diplomacy is no small matter. If you anger the foreigners, it will cause a big mess. As for Baoding, Baldy Lin did not capture the prefectures and counties, so let it go for now and suppress the issues in Jiaodong and Tianjin.

When Lin Yongchang's troops were marching deep into the countryside, Zhang Decheng arrived in Baoding with thousands of troops. Zhang Decheng was a veteran leader of the Boxers, who had joined forces with Zhao Sanduo, Yan Shuqin and others two years ago. He now had more than 20,000 people under his command. He established the "First Altar of the Boxers" in Duliu Town, Jinghai County, and appointed himself as the leader of the first altar.

This is the biggest leader of the Boxer Rebellion. Lin Yongchang's influence is not small, but compared with Zhang Decheng, it is still a long way behind. The reason why Zhang Decheng brought people here is very simple, just to ask for guns. He only brought a thousand people, but there are 20,000 troops behind him.

The brother who claimed to be the best general in the world had arrived, so Lin Yongchang pulled out all his troops to prevent Zhang Decheng from having any other ideas.

Chapter 64: Real Kung Fu

There is a truth in the saying that people are afraid of being famous, just as pigs are afraid of being fat. Baoding made a big noise, and the bandit leader "Lin Baldy" became famous. Zhang Decheng also heard about it, and also heard that there were foreign guns for sale here, so he became interested. The soldiers of the Boxer Rebellion were determined to defend their country, but their weapons and equipment were very poor.

Zhang Decheng set up a forum in Jinghai to teach boxing, but after actually handling military affairs, he realized that boxing was really useless and foreign guns were really useful. Even if there were no foreign guns, a big knife was much more useful than boxing. He ordered his craftsmen to make a lot of hunting rifles. Those rifles were good for hunting rabbits, pheasants, wolves, etc., but they were not good enough for fighting. If you want to fight against foreigners and their lackeys, you must have foreign guns and cannons.

Lin Yongchang was prepared for Zhang Decheng's arrival. Those "for-sale" rifles were prepared for people like Zhang Decheng, but just in case, he still raised the level of alert. Some sneak attacks are long-planned, and sometimes they are impulsive. What if Zhang Decheng impulsively decides to do it?

Zhang Decheng was very bold and didn't care about the defensive posture of Baoding. He came directly to the city with a thousand soldiers. Seeing Zhang Decheng's sincerity, Lin Yongchang admired him very much, but he still asked the soldiers to remain alert. There was no other way. Zhang Decheng's army of tens of thousands was in Renqiu. Wouldn't it be a matter of minutes for them to attack?

After occupying Baoding City, all the functions of [The Sun Never Sets in the Celestial Empire] are unlocked. If you lose the only city in your hand, many functions and some skills will be lost. Let's be villains first, and then gentlemen.

"Chief Lin!"

Zhang Decheng jumped off his horse, riding just like Wang Zuolin. He first stared at Lin Yongchang's bald head, then said, "I'm here to ask the leader for help!"

He was eight feet tall, about the same height as Li Dayan, and spoke in a loud voice, and one could tell at a glance that he was a fierce general. Lin Yongchang smiled and said, "Master Zhang has tens of thousands of elite soldiers under his command, and they are feared in Hebei. I am the only one who should ask Master Zhang for help!"

Zhang Decheng was a straightforward person, and perhaps because he had tens of thousands of troops under his command, he spoke directly, even in a domineering manner. He said sternly: "Brothers, if you want to fight the foreign devils, you can't do it without a good weapon. I heard that Chief Lin is selling foreign guns. I didn't bring much money this time, but I want at least a thousand guns!"

As soon as these words came out, Li Dayan beside him couldn't help but get angry and said, "Zhang Decheng, others may be afraid of you, but I am not!"

Zhang Decheng narrowed his eyes and looked at Li Dayan, then said, "You are no match for me."

Li Dayan sneered and put his hand on his waist. Lin Yongchang coughed and said, "Master Li is a guest from afar. Let's go inside and sit and talk. If we stand outside, people will say we don't know etiquette. Third brother, go ask someone to bring some tea. By the way, Master Li, what do you say?

I didn’t bring much money, so I brought some anyway. How much is it?”

Zhang Decheng asked his men to unload the boxes from the truck, and then opened them. A box full of cute golden fish appeared in front of everyone. Lin Yongchang stepped forward and picked up two of them and touched them together. The crisp sound was very pleasant to the ear, "Big yellow croaker, we had quite a few before."

“…This is a small yellow croaker.”

"Ah?" Lin Yongchang asked in surprise, "Is this a small yellow croaker?"

"Correct!"

Lin Yongchang fell into deep thought. The weight and size were clearly the same as the gold bars that were given to Yixin and then returned. If this was a small yellow croaker, why did he keep saying it was a large yellow croaker and no one pointed out his mistake? He turned to ask Wang Qi, "Is this a large yellow croaker or a small yellow croaker?"

Wang Qi was silent for a moment, "Small yellow croaker."

"big eyes?"

"Small yellow croaker."

"............", Lin Yongchang put the gold bars back into the box, laughed, and then asked with a smile: "How many gold bars did Master Zhang bring?" As long as he didn't feel embarrassed, it would be fine.

"One hundred taels."

One thousand taels of gold is several dozen kilograms. Wait, "How much did you say?" Lin Yongchang thought he had heard wrong.

"One hundred taels of gold!"

Lin Yongchang was silent for a while, then laughed and said, "The firearms issue is easy to deal with. The first batch of students from our Baoding Military Academy will hold their graduation ceremony tomorrow. Master Zhang, why don't you take a look at the quality of these students first?"

Well, it's definitely not that good. What good officers can be trained in one and a half months? Even ordinary infantrymen need six months of training! But Lin Yongchang still has expectations for the first batch of students. Now they are not very good, and it doesn't matter if they don't know many words. They can learn to fight in battle. As long as they persist in learning and gain more experience, they may grow into generals.

Zhang Decheng had also heard about the Baoding Military Academy, and nodded and said, "Okay, it depends on what skills you teach here."

Those soldiers drilled every day, singing and shooting, and it was impossible to hide it, and Lin Yongchang had no intention of hiding it. When the first batch of students was about to graduate, the second batch had already started training. This was specially used to train low- and middle-level officers such as sergeants and battalion commanders. As long as it could continue, it would definitely continue.

China is lacking a lot of things now, including qualified officers. Lin Yongchang has already planned that those soldiers who have shown bravery, those who were injured in the war, those who have performed outstandingly, and those recommended by other Boxers and various powerful people will be given priority for admission. Junior officers are the backbone of the army. To train the army, we must first train officers. This is something that many countries and many powerful armies in ancient and modern times have already proven.

The 1,000 men Zhang Decheng brought were stationed in a camp five miles outside Baoding, and the city doubled the number of sentries. The soldiers' training was also stopped, and the emergency assemblies at night were not held. The alert level continued to remain at level two.

Lin Yongchang has read many history books and remembered many anecdotes, among which there are a few that left a deep impression. Li Shimin killed Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji at Xuanwu Gate; Zhu Jin killed his father-in-law's family while getting married and seized his father-in-law Qi Kerang's territory; Yang Xingmi pretended to be dying and killed his wife's brother with an iron ruyi... Once you embark on the road to power, you must be prepared to encounter various accidents at any time. Especially in troubled times, anything can happen.

Is it a chaotic world now? Different people have different opinions. Lin Yongchang thinks that it is better to be more careful. It is better to be cautious. It is better to be nervous for a few days than to be attacked by others. Although the people brought by Zhang Decheng did not carry many firearms, what if? Didn't Zhu Jin pretend to have no weapons?

Fortunately, Zhang Decheng did not follow the idea of Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin. He brought a thousand people, not to attack Baoding, but to prevent Lin Baldy from making a move. One night passed, and nothing happened.

On the second day, in the open space near the military academy, hundreds of non-commissioned officer cadets formed a square formation, holding rifles with bayonets, and walked towards the viewing platform from a distance. These people had undergone a month and a half of rigorous training, and many of them had also run a trip to Zhangbei in the ice and snow, traveling thousands of miles back and forth, and had military career experience. Therefore, although this small unit was small in number, its spirit and morale were quite good.

The bayonets swung up and down with the orderly steps of the non-commissioned officers, like a clump of steel trees moving on the ground. The people brought by Zhang Decheng were originally arrogant, with a kind of momentum of being the best in the world. After seeing the performance of the non-commissioned officers, they couldn't help but change color.

But some people think this is just a show. "What's the point of marching in such an orderly manner? Fighting a war still requires real skills!"

Real Kung Fu? Real bullets too.

Chapter 65: Unity

Lin Yongchang glanced at Zhang Decheng. The man who was talking had a full beard and was very strong. He looked like a fierce Zhang Fei. But he had a greasy braid behind his head, which made him feel uncomfortable. Both Zhang Decheng and this fierce Zhang Fei looked good, one was handsome and the other was majestic, but as long as there was a braid behind his head, it would look a bit funny.

Li Dayan, Wang Qi, and many other students had already cut off their braids and cut their hair into a long braid like Lin Yongchang.

The ostensible reason for shaving one's head is to make it easier to treat injuries, which is true, but there is another reason to distinguish between friends and foes. If you shave your head, you will be completely different from the court officers and soldiers, and your attitude will clearly stand on the opposite side of the court. Li Dayan said that only those who cut their braids are our own people!

"One, two, one! One, two, one! One, two, three, four!"

"stand at attention!"

"Take a break!"

"Standing!"

The chief holding the military flag stamped his feet vigorously and shouted, "Turn left!"