Chapter 9 Chapter IX Politicians

The yamen in Beijing were located next to the Forbidden City, where the Qing emperors lived.The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Industry are located in areas under the jurisdiction of foreign embassies and areas designated as extraterritorial jurisdictions. After the Boxer Incident, they were forced to move. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs happened to be outside the above-mentioned areas, so it was not moved. As mentioned earlier, before the Opium War, China's old system did not recognize the existence of countries that were equivalent to China in the world, and there was no need to set up administrative agencies to manage foreign affairs.After the Opium War, China had to admit the existence of an equivalent country.

In the eleventh year of Xianfeng (1861), an administrative agency for foreign affairs was established.The agency's original license plate was: "The Office of the Prime Minister for International Affairs" The location is in Dongtangzi Hutong in Beijing, and the house used the original "Tieqian Bureau Office" (that is, the Manufacturing Bureau).At the same time, in order to recruit foreign language students and provide residence for returning diplomats during their stay in Beijing, the "iron money house" (i.e. currency minting house) was rebuilt and named "Tongwenguan".

However, Tongwen Hall was quickly withdrawn.The Prime Minister's State Affairs Office was renamed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.After the founding of the Republic of China, it was renamed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry was moved to the former "Baoyuan Bureau" in the adjacent Shidaren Hutong.This is something for later, so there is no need to mention it. In the twenty-ninth year of Guangxu, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was established in a rough and old house in Dongtangzi Hutong. The Prime Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Military Aircraft, Prince Qing, has a lot of affairs and does not visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dongtangzi Hutong every day.

Natong, Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, went to see things almost every day. That day, Prince Qing was in charge of the future, and Na Tong fell asleep drowsily.At this time, Russian Minister Lesa came to visit. The Russian Legation is located in Dongjiaomin Lane near the embassy area.China and Russia have been in contact for many years due to the division of national borders and trade issues. Before the establishment of embassies in various countries, there was a representative office of the "Russian Pavilion" in Beijing.After that, the embassy was directly changed into a Russian legation.

Apparently, the purpose of Raisa's visit was to urge quick ratification of the troop withdrawal agreement. It's quite subtle when you think about it carefully. Under normal circumstances, it should be the government of the country that concludes this type of agreement and urges the foreign troops stationed on its territory to withdraw quickly.The Government of the country whose territory is occupied by foreign forces should wish to withdraw the occupying forces as soon as possible. However, things have been reversed, and now, it is the Russians stationed in the territory of other countries who are constantly coming to urge the ratification of the troop withdrawal agreement.

Needless to say, its purpose is to deal with Japan. As the Russian army that has forcibly occupied the Manchuria region of China, of course it does not want to retreat. This is obvious. If Russia does not withdraw its troops, it will create a favorable excuse for Japan to launch a war, which will make it famous. Once Japan is determined to fight, Russia, which keeps intimidating Japan, is also afraid. Although, Russia is very powerful.However, Russia's operational preparations in Manchuria were not yet ready. In order to prevent Japan from taking advantage of it, Russia pre-empted the attack and pretended to withdraw its troops.

Agreements had been concluded in the past but never implemented.In order to create a protective color, Russia hopes to re-conclude a new troop withdrawal agreement.It seems that the Russian side also took great pains. In fact, Russia did not sign a troop withdrawal agreement in good faith at the beginning.Delaying time and strengthening the military power in Manchuria is the strategy of the Russian government. In fact, the Qing government was very aware of Russia's conspiracy, and had never taken it seriously. At the same time, Japan, which advocates a quick decision, discovered the strategy of China and Russia before the ratification of the Sino-Russian troop withdrawal agreement, and used bribery methods to prevent the formal ratification of the agreement.

However, Minister Raisa was completely unaware of the tactics adopted by the Japanese authorities. In addition, Russian spies obtained internal information from other sources, proving that the Queen Mother had a cold. Russia's doubts about China only started yesterday.They felt that Prince Qing deliberately avoided meeting with Lesa. Last night, Minister Lesa sent someone to Prince Qing's mansion to contact him about the matter.Unexpectedly, Prince Qing's family said that the prince was going out and had no time to receive him.Generally speaking, this situation is common.However, the Russian emissary was suspicious of Prince Qing's plan to go out as a reason for not meeting.

In fact, the Russians had already set up a spy network by Prince Qing's side.They used small favors to buy servants in the palace. On the surface, they said they knew the life dynamics of the high-class people and family festive events so that they could go to congratulate them, but they actually had other intentions.And the beneficiary servants will continue to tell each other what they know about the important person's dynamics. "Why do you avoid me?" Minister Lesa naturally thought of the delay in ratifying the Sino-Russian troop withdrawal agreement. Prince Qing is not good at lying, and is easy to show joy.Besides, he never hid his feelings.

After stepping into politics, Prince Qing discovered his weakness.One of the reasons why he is better than other ignorant royals is self-knowledge. If he met with Minister Lesa, he would probably show his flaws, so he excused that he was involved in official business, and Na Tong met him on his behalf without even going to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inspect the matter. Natong is very competent in dealing with such problems. No one could guess what he was thinking when he narrowed those tiny eyes even more. He said cheekily: "It is said that there is a problem with the words and sentences. There are a few improper usages, which are stuck by the military aircraft department."

Natong answered Minister Lesa's question about the approval of the Sino-Russian troop withdrawal agreement. Lessa asked further through an interpreter. "I just heard about it... In short, we people don't know anything about the military aircraft department. We just heard something indirectly." The Empress Dowager listened to the government behind a curtain, and all important decisions were made by several military ministers under the inquiry of the emperor himself.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, like the other six ministries, is only an administrative agency, and it only acts according to the decisions of the Military Aircraft Department. The Military Aircraft Department is the place where the military aircraft ministers usually meet.Every morning, the Minister of Military Aircraft discusses and rests in the Qianqing Palace.This place called the Military Aircraft Department is actually a lounge, not a formal yamen. At this time, Na Tong adapts to the situation and shifts the responsibility to the military aircraft in name only. Minister Laisa was so angry that his face was red and his ears were red, and he was furious.But no matter what the other party says, Na Tong always responds to all changes with the same. Lesa leaves angrily.Not long after, Tao Dajun, the envoy of Prince Qing, came to visit. "Last night, the lord (referring to Prince Qing) said that the venue for the meeting tonight is still the same, and it is still in Shaojiu Alley. There are also people from Tianjin. I heard that the people who attended the meeting returned for that matter (referring to the loss of 250,000 yuan). Bring the patrolmen." Tao Dajun said quietly. Last night, Prince Qing avoided the Russian Minister Lesa and went to Natong's house to discuss and convene a meeting with relevant personnel to study the missing 250,000 yuan.Tao Dajun came to inform Natong for this matter. "Who the... who is the patrolman brought here?" Natong asked. "I'm not sure. I heard that it's a man who studied in Japan and England and learned detective skills... His name is Zhang Shaoguang." Tao Dajun replied. "Oh! It's Qing Kuan's young child!" Natong nodded. Qingkuan was a spy in the Forbidden City who specialized in spies.The Empress Dowager and the dignitaries in the Forbidden City used Qing Kuan to spy on their political opponents and then killed them.This kind of person not only collects intelligence, but also undertakes assassination work, and is regarded as an unpredictable and dangerous person. When Na Tong heard that a detective was coming, he first thought of Qing Kuan. "Probably that kind of person." Tao Dajun said. "Why do you invite such a person?" Natong asked. Qingkuan is a strategist engaged in planning.Such people have special powers, however, they are only figures who act in the dark. Natong, a high-ranking official in the Qing Dynasty who valued dignity, believed that detectives belonged to the humble and inferior people, and they were not qualified to sit with scholar-officials. "Oh!" Tao Dajun tilted his head and said, "I can't understand either. The prince heard about this Zhang from somewhere, and he is very interested in him." "What's the big deal?! It's just like juggling... Even people with unknown identities like this often..." Natong shrugged and said. Anyway, tonight's meeting is a secret meeting and shouldn't be attended by random people.Na Tong is a person who made his fortune in one step, and he has very strict requirements on the qualifications of the participants. "I heard that Zhen Beizi seems to have taken care of that person..." "Really? The young master is the guarantor..." Natong spread his arms and made a gesture, expressing helplessness.He knew that as long as the eldest son Zhen Beizi said, Prince Qing would always obey. "Regarding this matter, it seems that people from Tianjin also expressed their approval." "Oh! You said Xiangcheng..." Having said that, Na Tong remained silent. "People from Tianjin" refers to Yuan Shikai.The yamen of the governor of Zhili is in Tianjin, and foreigners call him the governor of Tianjin.Xiangcheng was originally Yuan Shikai's birthplace, and the Chinese often use people's birthplaces as nicknames. In Japan at that time, anyone who was an official hoped to take a seat in the central government.Transferring from the central to the local is called Zuoqian, and from the local to the central is called Rongsheng. The Qing Dynasty was no exception.People refer to the officials in the central government as "Beijing officials".Beijing officials probably refer to excellent people, while local officials are inferior. However, the situation changed later due to the Taiping Rebellion. In order to suppress the rebellion, many local officials trained and developed their own armies, such as the Hunan Army organized by Zeng Guofan, and the Huai Army formed by Zeng Guofan's subordinate Li Hongzhang.They have military power, and their words carry weight. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the strengths of Beijing officials and local officials had been reversed. The governor of Zhili is the local official who governs Zhili Province (now Hebei Province), including the capital Beijing, as well as Shandong and Shanxi.At that time, it was the governor of Liangjiang who was in charge of the three provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, and Jiangxi, which were rich. Yuan Shikai is the governor of Zhili, the founder of the Beiyang Warlord, and has the most elite army in the country. Yuan Shikai is one of the powerful figures negotiating with Japan this time. Yuan Shikai often went to Beijing on business.But this visit to Beijing was not for diplomatic affairs, it was probably at the invitation of Prince Qing to attend this secret meeting. All the first-class politicians of the Qing government participated in the meeting.Even so, Natong was not happy, and Zhang, who was engaged in detective work, also attended the meeting, which made him feel extremely disappointed. "Let that unknown Zhang..." Having said that, he slammed his mouth and stopped talking. "But Zhang will withdraw immediately." Tao Dajun said persuasively. "Anyway, Wen Baotai died so badly. If you don't investigate this case clearly, you gentlemen won't feel at ease..." "Then, did the person surnamed Zhang ever talk about solving the mystery of this case?" "Oh, I'm not clear on this point. It seems that he wants to report on the investigation. Also, if the matter of tonight's meeting is leaked, it is said that Mr. Wen's friends held the meeting to find out the cause of his death." "Hey! Even the matter of preventing leaks has been considered, really thoughtful. Hahaha..." Na Tong finally laughed. I heard that the detective surnamed Zhang was simply reporting the process of investigating the case.Then immediately withdraw from the meeting and do not participate in the discussion.He thought to himself that Prince Qing did this probably because he was afraid that if someone leaked it, he could use an excuse to say that this meeting was just to study Wen Baotai's case.It seems that this is also a strategy.Thinking of this, Natong's mood calmed down. It was decided to hold the meeting after dinner. Na Tong returned to Jinyu Alley, had dinner, took a short rest, and then attended the meeting according to the prescribed time. At this moment, the head maid brought a letter. "Master, this was sent by Fang Lantuo just now. She said that it doesn't matter if she doesn't see you, anyway, everything she wants to say is written in the letter." Natong opened the letter. The characters in the letter are very small, but the strokes are completely manly. The letter read: "Last night, a male servant of the Wen family named Lao Liu was beaten to death in the yard by someone. He was forty-one years old." "Oh!" Natong said while crumpling the letter into a ball and throwing it into the fire guard. He is extremely cautious in his work, and all correspondence will not be kept, and he will deal with it immediately after reading.There may not be any major problems in Fanglan's letter involving Lao Liu, but in his opinion, it is always inappropriate to keep the black and white letters by his side.This is also Natong's way of dealing with the world, no matter how big or small, it is best to be cautious. He thought: Who is Old Liu? He often went to Wen's house, and most of the male servants in Wen's house were around forty years old.He had never heard of who Lao Liu was, nor did he know this person. Lao Liu's death had nothing to do with Na Tong. However, Na Tong thought about it, showing a rare melancholy expression on his face. "No, in case something goes wrong..." Natong's egg-shaped face rarely showed a sullen look. If Lao Liu's death is related to Wen Baotai's death, Natong will naturally be involved. Since Fanglan's letter said "I don't know who was beaten to death", that means who the murderer is is still a mystery. "Why are all the strange things happening in the Wen family!" Natong said to himself. Na Tong went to Shaojiu Alley. This is not only their club, but also a place where they often gather for gambling and secret talks.There are many entrances and courtyards, but all of them are single-family houses. Shaojiu Hutong faces the North Street, south of the Bow and Arrow Camp. Ce Taro lived in a rented private house in this alley. Of course he didn't know that the high officials of the Qing Dynasty were meeting here tonight. On the surface, it seems that the place where Natong and the others had secret talks is no different from ordinary private houses.The low-hanging willow branches in the courtyard protrude from the white wall, swaying with the wind, making it look extraordinarily charming. When he reached the door, Na Tong grabbed a willow, looked left and right, pushed the door open and went in. Two reception maids were waiting. "Is everyone here?" Natong asked. "Almost all have arrived, only the prince has not yet arrived, and it is estimated that he will be here soon." One of the maids replied. Only then did Na Tong calm down. He thought, for tonight's meeting, except for Prince Qing, everyone else is under him and arriving later than him is absolutely not allowed. ——The thought of this nouveau riche came to his mind subconsciously.