C229 The Centennial Plan of the Han People (1/2)
Ceng Guofan left. He only stayed in the Tanggu for six hours, and then left before daybreak. There were still twenty thousand troops waiting for him in the Azure Province, and at this time, the imperial order had probably left the capital, so the Great Marshal Zeng had to go welcome him.
In the morning, Xiao Letian sat on the chair in a daze. In front of him were the three bottles of wine that had already been drunk, his thoughts had already been brought to a subtle realm by Ceng Guofan.
In this realm, he could understand what the whole of late Qing's Chinese elites were doing and what they were thinking. Zuo Zongtang had entered Xinjiang only years old, was he really working for the Qing Dynasty to pacify the rebels against Yaqub? Was Li Hongzhang really bringing Beiyang here to defend the Qing Dynasty? If it was for the good of the Qing Dynasty, why would Ci Xi and Weng Tonghe go all out to deduct the military expenses?
The war between China and France in Vietnam. Was Liu Ming, Liu Yongfu and the likes really loyal officials of the Qing Dynasty? And Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhi Dong and the others who were behind them, were they subconsciously working for the Great Clear or for the entire Han?
During the afternoon war, the newly risen Japan not only wanted money but also land. At that time, the Japanese had already annexed Liaodong and Shandong, and of course, Taiwan as well. In the end, Beiyang forces spent money from the Japanese to redeem Liaodong and Shandong.
If the country was strong, it would use military means to protect its territory. If the country was weak, even if it had to bow its head and submit to being bought as a grandson, it would still do its best to protect every inch of land that China had not come from. The Chinese have been working hard, even behind the scenes.
Even in 1919, the Northern government's Xu Shuzheng marched north, preserving the entire outer world even when the people were at their weakest. Just whose thoughts did the commanders, represented by Xu Shuzheng, inherit? What kind of values did they believe in?
Looking over the hundred years of history of the entire late Qing Republic, the forces that Ceng Guofan had created finally reached the Huai Army s and most of the talents in the Beiyang faction that Li Hongzhang had created were people that Ceng Guofan had brought up.
As for Yuan Shikai creating new army personnel, they were also eating up Ceng Guofan and Beiyang's old books. In the early years of the Republic of China, most of the Beiyang army officers were generals who protected the Army Academy and Beiyang.
The historians had always regarded the assassination of Zhang Zuolin as the symbol of the complete extinction of the Beiyang forces, so why was Zhang Zuolin being assassinated by the Japanese? In the end, he, a Chinese man, would rather fight a civil war than sell out his country. This was the root cause of his death. And Zhang Zuolin was the last inheritor of the Beiyang system.
”Sigh …” ”Finally, it makes sense. The complex history of China's modern era finally has a convincing answer, and countless people have sacrificed their dreams and lives for nothing, all they have to protect is the living space of the Chinese people.”
”Was Yuan Shikai really a traitor back then? If it wasn't for the negotiations between Yuan Shikai and the Qing Ting, how could the Qing Dynasty issue a declaration of abdication? What exactly is the preferential treatment Yuan Shikai gave the Qing Ting? ”
”The truth has finally been revealed. It is precisely because the Qing Ting and the Republic of China had a peaceful transition regime between them and did not exterminate them that the Republic of China had the right to inherit the laws of the world, Xinjiang, Mongolia and even the four incomparably huge territories on the other side of the border.”
”This is the real history. This is the result of the Chinese spine enduring humiliation. Regardless of who it is, the political parties that are in power on stage, or at least the Han nationality's territory is preserved. This is the benefit of thousands of years of history …”
In the quiet morning, Xiao Letian stood blankly in front of the window, staring at the rising sun in the east.
”You haven't slept for the entire night. Go to the back of the house and rest!” His father-in-law still felt heartache for Young Master Ye. However, Xiao Letian's reply caused old shopkeeper's face to turn pale white.
”What is a dragon? I finally understand today, what the true Son of Heaven represents is not supreme power and endless pleasure, the dragon represents protection, because billions of Li's citizens need protection in order to have the existence of a divine dragon. ”Hahaha, I finally understand. Even if he's an emperor, if she can't protect this country, then he's not a dragon, she's just a bug …”
Fan Lian's legs went soft and he collapsed on the armchair, ”You... What are you doing? ”We can't rebel, you better not harm big guy, you can't …”
When Xiao Letian saw his father-in-law's pale white face, he immediately poured himself a cup of tea and carried it over to him. ”What's wrong with you? Stop daydreaming, who said that I was going to rebel? The emperor was the only profession in the world that was most difficult to deal with. I'm not that stupid … If you really have nothing better to do, then control the marriage between Hu Niu, me and Fu Hui. They are the same wife, I want to marry them all day long! ”
Xiao Letian finally uncovered a huge knot in his heart. He knew that he could be considered as having integrated into this era, and it could also be said that this era had accepted him. Ceng Guofan's acknowledgement of him was equivalent to opening a door for Xiao Letian, and the two Western Evils were finally accepted by the Han Chinese landowner class.
After Ceng Guofan left, it also represented the end of the four years of turmoil for Tongzhi. Qing Dynasty, Qingliu, and Xiang Army had finally let him go.
Two days later, Zhou Daoying and the weak Hairy # 2 rushed to Tanggu and started an intense debate. Zhou Daoying was Emperor Tongzhi's personal eunuch, Empress Dowager Ci An's trusted aide, and his position in the Forbidden City was no lower than An Dehai's. He was the loyal henchman of the Qing Dynasty, and could be said to be unyielding during negotiations.
The compensation that Xiao Letian wanted was rejected, and the proposal to jointly fund the formation of a security team was rejected as well. In the end, the only promise was for the imperial government to not investigate Xiao Letian's crimes, and not restrict the construction of the Industrial Zones.