Chapter 107 Pulling Tiger Skin to Make a Big Flag

[107] Pull the tiger's skin to make a big flag

Yao Fan will definitely invite Sun Maowen, Wei Guofu and Liu Ziming to have dinner together every week. Before the start, he hopes that these Jiaozhou officials will completely reassure or even indulge him.

Tonight, Yao Fan still held a banquet at Shijia Hotel.

Under the eaves of the hotel, four red lanterns are still hanging high.

After three rounds of drinking, Wei Guofu asked Yao Fan, "Brother Yao, I heard that you have more than 100 soldiers and strong horses to practice all day long. What's the pain?" Wei Guofu looked at Yao Fan after saying that.

Yao Fan glanced at Wei Guofu. He didn't know whether Wei Guofu was intentionally asking or inadvertently mentioning it. But he is bold now. He doesn't care what Wei Guofu thinks: "Brother! The Japanese are ambitious and have repeatedly tested the bottom line of our country. They dare to land * and slaughter * the army and civilians. I estimate that our Qing Dynasty is about to fight a war. If a man can unify the army for the country and attack the Japanese pirates, how fast it would be. Yao Fan did not answer Wei Guofu directly.

Wei Guofu saw Yao Fan's solemn words and hurriedly said, "Brother Yao Gaoyi, but I'm afraid it's not our brother's turn to take action. The middle hall's army is majestic and deterred the north. Forgive the small Japanese country, I dare not make up * at will."

Yao Fan shook his head slightly: "I think he will be happy if he can train an elite soldier and give it to Lord Li at the critical moment."

Wei Guofu didn't agree with Yao Fan's idea, and even sneered at it.

He felt that Yao Fan's idea was too unrealistic and hoped to train a brave army to join Li Hongzhang in order to gain appreciation and rise to power. This work is really too difficult. But he no longer persuaded Yao Fan. On the one side, he was not good at eloquence, and on the other, he felt that Yao Fan was rich anyway. He was willing to burn his head here to beat Li Hongzhang, but it was not necessarily a good thing to dissuade him.

Sun Maowen brushed his beard and said, "Li Zhongtang has many soldiers and generals. I'm afraid he doesn't like the bravery of hundreds of people, but Brother Yao's bravery really helped me a lot. Now it's much easier to collect money and donate food than before. Besides, Brother Yao is a merchant who transports goods. If there is no brave escort from the township, it is inevitable that thieves will come to make an idea.

Wei Guofu remembered the hatred between Yao Fan and Guo Jixiu, and immediately woke up, patted his thigh and said, "What Lord Sun said is that to prevent people from calculating, there must be someone in his hand."

Yao Fan laughed and said, "Last time I saw Lord Li in Jinan, Li Zhongtang asked me to help him purchase machines and warships, and encouraged me to practice local courage diligently, not cherish money, well equipped, and share worries for the country. You should buy not only guns, but also cannons. Next time he will come to see the equipment I bought. If it is good, he will also buy it.

I thought, after I spent money to buy foreign guns and cannons for Xiang Yong, I finally share my worries for the country, right? Even if Lord Li doesn't like my guns, if Lord Li is short of soldiers in the future, I can send Xiangyong to fight. Maybe the name can be mentioned above the emperor.

Yao Fan thought that the matter of having guns and cannons will spread sooner or later. It's better to blow the wind early and make them mentally prepared. He didn't dare to say that it was his own decision. The joke is that it is a waste of resources to have a ready-made tiger skin like Li Hongzhang.

"Lord Li asked Brother Yao to buy a foreign gun? Do you still want to buy a cannon?" Wei Guofu quickly took out a hand towel from his sleeve and wiped his mouth and asked. In his opinion, Yao Fan was so red that he would be ordered by Li Hongzhang to purchase weapons by himself!

"My family has bought Britain* for me, because I heard that Lord Li is also equipped with Britain*. In this way, in the future, Xiang Yong will send him to Lord Li's camp, and the guns can also be used. In addition, most importantly, Lord Li also asked my family to buy warships. The two gunboats have now placed an order in the shipyard and are in a hurry. Yao Fan's bragging has completely ignored the marginal, but he still hasn't said that he has bought a cannon for the time being.

Everyone only knew for the first time today that Yao Fan was picked up by Li Hongzhang when he went to Jinan last time!

So all three were surprised by Yao Fan's favor. After getting Ding Baozhen's weapon, a man actually beat up to Li Hongzhang. Will this boy return it in the future? For a while, he praised Yao Fan for his great future.

So Yao Fan boasted about his meeting with Li Hongzhang in Jinan, saying that Li Hongzhang asked Yao Fan to purchase warships and machines and trusted him very much. He stressed once again that his training was for Li Hongzhang's entrustment and trust.

However, Wei Guofu was surprised and envious. Obviously, he still felt that Yao Fan was stupid about spending money on training soldiers. He sincerely said, "Brother Yao really can't spend this money to train soldiers. You should know that the rifle and gun are extremely expensive. Let's talk about that gun. It will rust when oiled! And the gunpowder will be damp after a few months. But if you really use it, it's equivalent to burning silver. Buying these to equip brave soldiers is equivalent to ruining money in vain. I think it's better to go to Laizhou to buy some knives and guns for the benefit. After saying that, he thought that this was Li Hongzhang's idea again. He immediately felt that he was cheap and changed his words and said, "Since it is the middle cousin who wants his brother to buy it, naturally he should try his best to do something wrong. I just hope that the middle cousin can like Brother Yao's goods. Then Brother Yao will be rich and prosperous. I'm afraid that he will forget what he says and teach Brother Yao's silver white flowers. ."

Since Wei Guofu was recommended by the Huai army to take charge of the green camp and spent all day. Yao Fan has never seen him practice bird gun or other firearms. Yao Fan knew that not to mention the Green Camp these days, even Li Hongzhang's Huai Army was also in Mafang Nanshan, and a gunman shot only 10 bullets a year. There are officers everywhere who eat empty meals and practice silver.

Yao Fan can see that Wei Guofu is not afraid of spending money to train soldiers, but really feels that it is a waste of money.

"Kung Fu always needs to be learned. In case Li Zhongtang remembers one day and asks Brother Yao if he wants to see people and guns, Brother Yao can also prevaricate." Liu Ziming agreed with Yao Fan's caution, but he also felt that Yao Fan was wasted money by taking a needle as a mallet. I think Li Hongzhang just said beautiful words. How can he really want you to go to war bravely?

For the blessing of Yao Fan, Qingdao's overseas trade is booming, and Liu Ziming has really made a lot of money in the customs. For him, it is absolutely reliable for Yao Fan to collude with Ding Baozhen and Li Hongzhang. Since Yao Fan has a big backer, he must be able to make Jiaozhou's officialdom peaceful, which is good for everyone. Therefore, he has not asked Yao Fan where he is now shipping many goods and wholesale them out in Qingdao all day long. Yao Fan has explained this, saying that it was transported to Qingdao by land from docks in Yantai and other places.

At this time, Yao Fan took out three silver bills from his sleeve pocket with a smile, each with a denomination of 1,000 taels, and distributed them to three people.

"This is my brother's filial piety this month, and the brothers laugh."