Chapter 140 Make the Western Period

From time to time, patrol soldiers lined up on the street. Most of the soldiers did not have guns and carried spears or knives, but they were full of energy and the team was neat. Under the leadership of the officer, they strode forward and saw Zhou Charter.

The autumn wind blew the Buddha, lifted the soldiers' thin clothes, and some soldiers' faces turned blue.

Zhou Charter suddenly remembered Xijing Maru.

In Incheon, Xijing Maru brought cotton-padded clothes to the First Army!

This is a signal. Is it that the Japanese army plans to launch the battle of the Yalu River in winter?

North Korea's winter usually comes in late November.

If this judgment is correct, the Japanese army is likely to launch an attack on Yizhou in mid-to-late November. Now it is late September, that is to say, Zhang Jun has nearly two months to rest.

Of course, this is good news. At present, Zhang Jun's equipment and training level are not enough to fight against the Japanese army. He has two months to rest, which is what Zhou Charter wants.

Zhou Charter turned to Yao Xi and said, "Winter is coming, and everyone is still wearing summer clothes. Tomorrow you tell him that money is expensive, and he doesn't have to worry about guns. What he has to do now is to get more than 10,000 sets of winter clothes before winter comes. Otherwise, everyone will be frozen to death!"

"Teacher, are we going to spend the winter in North Korea?" Yao Xi was a little disappointed. He thought that he would soon see his new wife when he arrived in Yizhou.

Zhou Charter did not answer.

Nahawu shouted, "Yao Xi, this is a military plane event. I, a deputy division commander, dare not ask randomly, and you are still asking nothing!"

Yao Xi grinned: "You? Deputy division chief? Fuck, I..."

"Then Hawu is the deputy division commander I appointed!" Zhou Charter said coldly.

Yao Xi had to shut up.

Soon, the three came to the Jiang family compound. There were two lanterns hanging in front of the gate building, swaying in the night wind. In front of the door were two soldiers with live ammunition. They were Yuan Shikai's own soldiers. They were strong, upright and energetic.

Zhou Charter nodded secretly, and there were no weak soldiers under the strong generals! Yuan Shikai not only met around in the officialdom, but also seemed to be quite good at military. The two soldiers in front of the door were obviously different from Li Hongzhang's Huai army. Their standing posture and gun-wielding posture were quite Western-style military exercises. Is this Yuan Shikai training the new army?

Zhou Charter knows that Yuan Shikai once served as a soldier, but now Yuan Shikai is a civil official. He has no army in his hand, only a few personal guards.

Seeing Zhou Charter, a soldier raised his hand to salute: "Mr. Zhou, Lord Yuan is waiting for you. Please!"

Zhou Charter nodded and followed the soldiers into the house. The house is not big, and there is a hall. The three of them come to the hall. It is brightly lit. On a round table, there are tea sets. The tea sets are very ordinary and not exquisite.

The soldier said, "Please take Mr. Zhou to my study. Please use tea here."

Yao Xi shouted, "I'm an adjutant..."

"Yao Xi, this is the residence of the imperial envoy. Don't shout, it's not decent!" Zhou Charter scolded: "The guests are at their convenience!"

Yao Xi hurriedly silenced and sat down at the round table with Naha Wu. Yao Xi had no imperial envoy in his eyes, and no one could hold it in his eyes except Zhou Charter.

Zhou Charter followed the soldiers and went out of the hall to the west wing. The door of the west wing was closed, and there was a faint candlelight in the doors and windows.

"Mr. Zhou, please, Lord Yuan is waiting for you inside." The soldier flashed aside, made a gesture, and then left.

Zhou Charter knocked on the door gently and said loudly, "Zhou Charter, General of Yizhou, please see Lord Yuan."

Yuan Shikai's voice came from inside: "Zhou Zongbing, please come in."

Zhou Charter gently opened the door. In the wing room, there was a dark red long table facing the door, with red candles and a pile of books. After sitting for a few minutes, Yuan Shikai held a book in his hand and a line of regular characters "Xi Ji Cheng" on the cover, which was reading with relish.

The Journey to the West is a banned book! Its author is Guo Songtao, a recognized traitor and traitor!

Zhou Charter was secretly surprised.

Speaking of Guo Songtao, a traitor, we have to start with the Ma Jiali incident.

In 1874, Britain built a railway from Yangon, Myanmar to Simao, Yunnan, and sent an expedition from Myanmar to Yunnan. British ambassador to China, Watoma sent an interpreter Ma Jiali south to welcome him. In January 1875, Ma Jiali arrived in Myanmar, met with the expedition and headed for Yunnan. In February On the 21st, there was a conflict with local ethnic minorities in Tengyue, Yunnan. Ma Jiali and several accompanying Chinese were killed, known as the "Ma Jiali" incident or the "Yunnan case".

The main reason for the Ma Jiali incident is that the British expedition has not been to China. The government allowed unauthorized intrusion into Yunnan and brazenly shot local residents. However, after the incident, British minister Witoma took the opportunity to pressure the Qing government and said that he would send troops to Yunnan. At that time, Xinjiang was in an eventful period. The Qing government was determined to send Zuo Zongtang to conquer Xinjiang with all its strength. It was difficult to take care of both sides. It was also worried that the British and the Russians would unite to seize Xinjiang, so they had to send Li Hongzhang to negotiate with the British, sign the Yantai Treaty, apologize to the British for their compensation, and open Yichang, Wuhu, Wenzhou and North. Haiwei is a commercial port.

The peaceful settlement of the Ma Jiali incident relieved Zuo Zongtang's worries about the recovery of Xinjiang. The Qing government was able to go all out to the west, repel the Russians, and won the only foreign war in the late Qing Dynasty. Since then, China has included the whole region of Xinjiang, and Xinjiang has officially become a province of China. The victory of the Qing government in Xinjiang was an extremely arduous great undertaking even in the prosperous era of Kangqian, and this victory was even more dazzling in the poor and weak late Qing Dynasty.

However, if Xinjiang and Yunnan are not combined, the handling of the whole incident will be extremely humiliated by the Ma Jiali incident in Yunnan alone. The Ma Jiali incident was originally a grievance of the British, but the Chinese wanted to apologize for compensation and open the port, and the British took advantage of it.

For more than 100 years, there have been different opinions and debates about the success or failure of the Ma Jiali incident. At that time, many Taiwanese Qingliu angrily scolded Li Hongzhang, who presided over the negotiations, for selling his country for glory.

Guo Songtao, who was the servant of the Ministry of War at that time, stood on Li Hongzhang's side. He made a memorial, strongly for talking with the British, impeached Yunnan governor Cen Yuying, attacked those blindly arrogant and old-fashioned bureaucrats and doctors, angered the Qing school, and was named "traitor" and "2 ministers" by the Qing school.

In the winter of 1876, according to the Yantai Treaty, the Qing court sent a mission to Britain to apologize to the British government for the Ma Jiali incident. Guo Songtao was appointed as the regular envoy by the court and Liu Xihong as the deputy.

Guo Songtao's envoy to Britain once again attracted domestic abuse. This time, Guo Songtao was not only the Qing school, but also the common anger of the whole country! He has become a "traitor" recognized by the whole country!

The anger of the Chinese people is not that he apologized to the British on behalf of the Qing government, but that he made an envoy to Britain and set up a public embassy in the UK.

For thousands of years, in the political and geographical concept of the Chinese people, China has lived in the world and is the center of world civilization and the leader of world order. Countries outside China are all Di, Yi, Man and Rong. They need the education of Chinese civilization. The emperor of China is the emperor of the world! There is no equal diplomatic relationship between China and Di, Yi, Man and Rong, but only the Chinese emperor's tenderness and education for them. Therefore, although the Qing Dynasty has been repeatedly defeated in front of Westerners, and the door has been knocked open again by Western guns and cannons, and countless unequal treaties have been signed, in the minds of the Chinese people, the heavenly kingdom still maintains a strong psychological advantage - China is the upper country, Chinese etiquette is the ultimate civilization, and those Westerners with foreign guns and cannons People are uncivilized barbarians. One day, they will be taught by Chinese civilization and become the obedient people of China.

According to this concept, the Qing Dynasty refused to send envoys to Western countries, because once it sends envoys, it recognizes that Western countries and the Qing Dynasty are equal countries, and the theory of the Celestial Empire will be shattered!

The Qing Dynasty not only did not send envoys, but also did not allow Western countries to set up embassies in Beijing. The embassies of all countries were located in Tianjin, and the governor of Zhili was responsible for dealing with Western ministers. The Qing Dynasty did this to show a gesture that Western countries did not have the right to have equal dialogue with the imperial court of the Qing Dynasty, and they could only talk to the local governments of the Qing Dynasty. As the old saying goes, when the king of a small country comes to a big country, he can only be regarded as a minister, and when a small country comes to a big country, he can only be regarded as a common people.

Now, Guo Songtao, a great member of the heavenly kingdom, unexpectedly went to the barbarian Britain to be a minister. Britain and the Qing Dynasty were on an equal footing, which completely corrupted the prestige of the court, destroyed Chinese civilization, and the etiquette and music collapsed to an incompreted state! The Chinese people couldn't figure out why Guo Songtao did this. The only explanation is that Guo Songtao was bought by the British and was willing to be a traitor.

What's more annoying is that Guo Songtao was not honest when he was a "ghost" in Britain. He wrote a book, which is full of praise for British politics, culture, military, education, industry and science, advocating that China should learn from the British.

The kingdom of heaven actually wants to learn from the barbarians! Guo Songtao was either crazy or fainted and turned into a complete British lackey!

The Chinese people strongly protested that "Zhi Ji Cheng" promoted the prestige of Yangyi and destroyed the prestige of the celestial Empire. It was a complete traitor book. The Qing court had no choice but to declare "Zhi Ji Cheng" as a banned book and completely banned it.

However, the Qing court did not recall Guo Songtao, and he continued to serve as a minister in the United Kingdom.

There are two people who support Guo Songtao, one is Li Hongzhang and the other is the Empress Dowager Buddha!