Chapter 46 5. Feng Zicai Megatron Town Nanguan

After Huang Wanquan came in and bowed to Zhang Zhidong, he took out a five-inch long and two-inch red paper bag from his left sleeve pocket, held it in both hands, and said, "This is seven, eight, nine, three months. Public money, three silver bills, three thousand taels each, nine thousand taels in total, sir, please have a look." Zhang Zhidong was taken aback: What's going on!Is it bribery?In broad daylight, a Taoist from Guangdong Province dared to come to the governor's office to openly offer bribes. Is this Taoist too courageous, or did he underestimate my platform?Thinking of this, Zhang Zhidong suddenly felt angry.He pulled his face down and shouted sharply: "What are you doing? Why don't you take it back quickly!"

Huang Wanquan stared blankly at Zhang Zhidong's long ashen face with his eyes wide open, and the hand holding the red paper bag couldn't help shaking. "My lord, please don't misunderstand me. There is no other meaning to career path. This is the routine work of Guangdong Customs." Routine?Zhang Zhidong thought that there must be a trick in the middle, so he withdrew his elongated face and said softly, "Sit down and talk, what's going on?" Only then did Huang Wanquan realize that Zhang Zhidong didn't know about this matter, and his expression became much more stable.He sat down, put the red paper bag back into his sleeve pocket for the time being, and said quietly: "Your Excellency didn't know, but Rong Zhi said, this is a practice that has been practiced for more than ten years. As early as the Tongzhi period, Rui When Lin was the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, due to the huge expenditure of the Supervision Office and the lack of public funds, Fu Can, then the Guangdong Customs Road, shared the worries of the Governor. The customs said that he would still hand over the silver, and no matter who became the governor of Guangdong, he would still receive it; the difference is that the silver has increased year by year, from one thousand to one thousand, to two thousand. Last year it was After Jiushuai came to Guangzhou, his expenses were even greater, so he simply paid 3,000 a month, handed over once a quarter. Zhidao thought that the adults already knew, so they didn't explain it. This is the fault of the profession, and I hope you will forgive me."

Zhang Zhidong thought: The Governor's Yamen does not have enough expenditure, so they extract it from the Guangdong Customs. Doesn't this obviously mean taking money from the state treasury?Such blatant embezzlement of the national treasury has become a legitimate practice, and it has been practiced for more than ten years without anyone reporting it. Where is the law and discipline of this country!As the saying goes, the upper beam works the lower beam, and the upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked.The governor's office can draw money from the customs tax, the governor's office can draw money from the salt tax, and the county office can draw money from the tax.In this way, wouldn't it be all messed up?This established practice must be abolished and cannot be followed any longer!Just as I was about to say this to Huang Wanquan, I thought about it again: three thousand a month, thirty-six thousand a year, now Tang Jingsong and Feng Zicai's newly recruited Yong Ding is asking for military pay, and all the teams in Vietnam are also hopeless. Right now, money is morale, and money is victory. Just now, Gu Hongming was asked to go to Hong Kong to borrow foreign money. Why didn't he accept the money?Since it has been practiced for many years, there is already a legal way to withdraw the three thousand taels of silver from the tariff, so let it continue like this. I, Zhang Zhidong, will use this money to replenish the barracks today.

"Yodia." "Professionalism is here." "Since this amount of money has been established for more than ten years, the governor does not want to change it. You can start from this quarter's 9,000 taels, submit a booklet every quarter, and hand it over to the Military Supplies Department of the Supervisory Office, which will be used to supplement the military salary. It is not allowed to be used for any other expenses of the supervisory office, and I will report this matter to the imperial court in the future.” "My lord is clean and honest, I admire him, so let's do it now." Huang Wanquan hurriedly stood up and said goodbye.

After Huang Wanquan left, Zhang Zhidong thought that he didn't know how many such outdated customs existed in the yamen at all levels in Guangdong and Guangxi.It was originally an illegal act, but everyone did it like this, and it became legal after seeing it for nothing. It is really unreasonable!He can't wait to take a measure to completely clear up the officialdom immediately, but the flames of war are raging and the situation is threatening. The biggest thing right now is to prepare for the war with all his strength, and other things have to be suppressed. Yes, war is now the number one matter of national concern.

After the French navy failed to attack Taiwan's Keelung in June, in mid-August, under the leadership of Commander Guba, it invaded Taiwan again.Eleven French ships attacked Keelung, and another five ships attacked Huwei.At that time, there were only three or four thousand Qing soldiers in this area. In order to protect Huwei with all their strength, Keelung had to be abandoned.The French army occupied Keelung, an important port in northern Taiwan, and expanded its aggressive territory to the four routes, deploying to advance to Taipei.Taiwan governor Liu Mingchuan had to ask his old boss Li Hongzhang for help.However, Li Hongzhang only sent more than 1,500 old subordinates of Liu Mingchuan who had stayed in the mainland to land from Taitung on a British cargo ship.This army has done little to ease the situation in Taiwan.Liu Mingchuan was very disappointed by this, and he called Li Hongzhang again for emergency.Li Hongzhang replied to Liu Mingchuan: Now there are only two fast-touching ships in Beiyang, which are definitely not enough to withstand the giant guns of the iron ships. Even if they are sent to Taiwan, they will not help, so we have to ask the court to find another way.

Zuo Zongtang, governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, went to the imperial court and asked why the soldiers from the north and the south oceans were sitting idly by and should immediately go to Taiwan for emergency treatment.So the imperial court ordered Zeng Guoquan, governor of Liangjiang, to send five ships to the disaster quickly.Wu Ankang, the commander of the Liangjiang Navy, led five ships of Kaiji, Nanchen, Nanrui, Yuyuan, and Chengqing to the Taiwan Strait.Traveling to the ocean of Zhejiang, we suddenly encountered nine French ships.When it was foggy and foggy, Wu Ankang ordered the ships to sail to Zhenhai under the pretext of being outnumbered.As a result, Yuyuan and Chengqing were sunk by French ships.Nanyang's aid to Taiwan was declared a failure.When the situation in Taiwan was extremely critical, fortunately, French Vice Admiral Guba died of illness in Penghu. The morale of the army was affected. The artillery fire to attack Taiwan gradually faded, and Taiwan was saved from the fall of the whole island.

In northern Vietnam, the French army's offensive against the Qing army was also in full swing.After more than three months of practice, the Jingzi Battalion recruited by Tang Jingsong left Zhennan Pass to assist Liu Yongfu in stationing near Xuanguang.At the request of Zhang Zhidong, the imperial court awarded Liu Yongfu the title of admiral, and added the title of Tang Jingsong fifth grade.Immediately afterwards, the 18th battalion soldiers recruited by Feng Zicai in Guangdong were also drilled into an army. His two sons, Xiang Rong and Xiang Hua, served as the left and right wing commanders, and marched into Vietnam from Qinzhou and Shangsi.The 7,000-strong New Cantonese Army led by an ancient famous general injected a strong vitality into the entire battlefield in northern Vietnam, and all the Qing troops stationed outside the pass were all inspired.

At the same time, Wang Xiaoqi, the commander-in-chief of Jieshi Town, Guangdong Province, was also ordered by Zhang Zhidong to lead the Eighth Battalion of soldiers from Wuxun to the Xijiang River, and left the Nanguan of the town via Longzhou.Wang Xiaoqi, a native of Hefei, Anhui, is a small fellow of Zhang Shusheng, and also the first group of hard-core brothers Zhang Shusheng planted the flag of the army. For more than 20 years, he followed Zhang Shusheng to the north and south, and was promoted to the general army.Wang Xiaoqi is brave and good at fighting, but he is also strong and willful. Like Wu Yuanluo and other Huai army generals, he originally looked down on Zhang Zhidong, a scholar who has no experience in the battlefield.After a few months, he saw the ability of the new governor from Zhang Zhilou's series of actions against Zhang Shusheng and the Huai army, and he also saw that although this person is not a general who leads troops to fight, he has the ability to control the overall situation. He is willing to obey orders, lead troops into Vietnam, and make new contributions.

A total of 30 battalions and 12,000 soldiers from these three groups went out and entered Vietnam, which undoubtedly greatly increased the military power of the imperial court in northern Vietnam. In fact, the imperial court has already invested a lot of troops in Vietnam.At this time, Pan Dingxin, governor of Guangxi, commanded two battalions of elite recruits to station in Lang Son City.Surrounding Lang Son, there are three groups of troops, namely the 18th Battalion of Su Yuanchun on the Middle Road in Gusong, the 9th Battalion of Yang Yuke on the West Road in Nanjiao, and the 10th Battalion of Wang Debang on the East Road in Nayang.These three armies are only a hundred miles away from Lang Son.In addition, there are four thousand black flag troops of Liu Yongfu.All the court troops in Beiqi, Vietnam add up to no less than 30,000 people. If they are well-disciplined, well-armed, and well-commanded, these 30,000 people can be called a mighty army. Not only can they effectively resist the provocations of the French army, but even The invaders can be driven out of Beiqi.Unfortunately, this is not the case.Sloppy military discipline and inferior weapons were common problems in military camps in the late Qing Dynasty.What's worse is that Pan Dingxin, the governor of Guangxi with the highest official rank and commanding all the military camps in Vietnam, is an old bureaucrat with empty name and no real ability. Almost all the commanders don't buy his account.Feng Zicai's 18th Battalion soldiers, after entering Vietnam, have been wandering outside Zhennan Pass, wanting to wait and see the changes in the situation.He refused to accept Pan Dingxin's dispatch, and Pan Dingxin did not dare to command him.

France continued to strengthen its military deployment to Vietnam.Veteran Nigri served as the commander-in-chief and frequently provoked wars against the Qing army, trying to drive all the Qing troops in Beiqi back to the pass by virtue of its strong national strength and sophisticated military equipment, making northern Vietnam a colony of France.The navy led by Guba invaded Taiwan, and its strategic purpose was still to cooperate with Vietnam.After Feng Zicai pointed out this point, Zhang Zhidong became more and more aware of it.He went to the imperial court and clearly pointed out that although France provoked troubles in the southeast sea, its intention was in Vietnam, so the overall situation was to fight for Vietnam, and the fight for Vietnam was within a few months. Gu Hongming lived up to expectations and borrowed one million foreign funds from HSBC. Zhang Zhidong used the foreign funds to quickly purchase guns and ammunition from foreign arms dealers, and at the same time, he also tried his best to meet the requirements of frontline soldiers in terms of military pay.He also accepted Gu Hongming's suggestion to order a large number of Western newspapers in Hong Kong, and send special personnel to the Guangzhou Superintendent's Office every day for translation. Provide information. In November, 7,000 French troops under the command of the expeditionary force commander-in-chief Boli attacked Fenggu on a large scale. Wang Debang was defeated and asked Su Yuanchun for help.Su Yuanchun did not move.Half a month later, the French army aggressively attacked Gusong and other places, and Wang Debang also sat idly by.Su Yuanchun had no choice but to retreat to Weipu.When Zhang Zhidong learned of this, he was very annoyed by Su Yuanchun and Wang Debang's behavior.On the one hand, he went to the imperial court, and on the other hand, he appointed Feng Zicai as an assistant in Guangxi military affairs, so that Feng could obtain the military dispatch right second only to Pan Dingxin.In December, the French army took advantage of the continuous defeat of the Qing army on the middle and east roads to attack Lang Son.Pan Dingxin lost the barriers of the central and eastern roads, and Yang Yuke of the west road was killed in battle, so he lost Lang Son and fled for his life in a hurry.On the way to escape, he fell off his horse and broke his left hand.Shy and anxious, he fled from Langshan to the shogunate, from the shogunate to Pingxiang, and from Pingxiang to Longzhou Hall, still in shock.The French army captured Lang Son and then occupied Zhennan Pass, completely destroying a centuries-old pass before withdrawing.Refugees inside and outside the pass fled along the Beijiang River along with the deserters.The earthquake in Guangxi province. The imperial court was very angry at Pan Dingxin's behavior of abandoning the city and fleeing. He immediately ordered his dismissal and severe punishment, and ordered Li Bingheng, the procurator of Guangxi, to take care of Guifu and take on the important task of leading the Beiqi area of ​​Vietnam. The loss of Lang Son certainly brought great disadvantages to the situation in Vietnam, but the world is dependent on fortune and misfortune. The resignation of Pan Dingxin led to the appointment of Li Bingheng, which brought a new turn for the situation. Li Bingheng was a rare honest and capable member in official circles in the late Qing Dynasty. Although he came from a donation background, he had a very good conduct.Zhang Zhidong admired Li Bingheng's style of being an official, and he recommended a group of talents to the imperial court as Jinfu, including Li Bingheng. On the recommendation of Zhang Zhidong, Li Bingheng was soon promoted to be the inspector of Zhejiang, and then moved to Guangxi.Li Bingheng is grateful to Zhang Zhidong for his kindness, and Zhang Zhidong also trusts Li Bingheng very much, and the two get along well. At the same time that the imperial appointment was issued, Zhang Zhidong also sent an urgent letter to Li Bingheng who was about to leave the customs to command the troops.The letter said that the worsening of the war in Vietnam in the past two months was due to the inability of the various leaders to coordinate and cooperate, and the root cause of this situation was Pan Dingxin.Pan Dingxinde is not enough to conquer the enemy because he cannot convince the crowd. I hope that Li Bingheng will learn from the previous failures and hand over the military command of Beiqi, Vietnam to Feng Zicai, and Feng Zicai will have full authority to supervise military affairs outside the customs. Zhang Zhidong told Li Bingheng that the current situation is similar to that when the Jiangnan camp was defeated in the tenth year of Xianfeng.At that time, in order to save the defeat, the imperial court had to entrust the southeast affairs to Zeng Guofan alone.Right now, both Feng Zicai and Liu Yongfu are independent people.For this reason, he planned a large strategic deployment for the front line: the East and West fronts will use troops together, the Lang Son Committee on the East Front will be assigned to Feng Zicai, and the Xuanguang Committee on the West Front will be assigned to Liu Yongfu. At this time, Feng Zicai was in a rather depressed mood.It turned out that Pan Dingxin was not only the governor, but also the post of admiral of Guangxi land route.After he was dismissed, the imperial court appointed Su Yuanchun as the admiral of Guangxi, but did not promote him as a deputy as usual.The sixty-eight-year-old former admiral of Guangxi felt very unhappy when he saw the forty-year-old Su Yuanchun standing above him. Li Bingheng took Zhang Zhidong's letter with him, and as soon as he arrived at Zhennan Pass, he went to visit Feng Zicai who was stationed outside the pass. "Old general," Li Bingheng said sincerely, "the situation is critical, and all the armies outside the pass have no leader. Although I was ordered by the imperial court to nurse the governor to supervise the battle outside the pass, but I don't really understand military affairs. I would like to ask the old general to come forward and provoke this heavy burden." Feng Zicai said coldly: "Didn't Su Yuanchun be promoted to Admiral of Guangxi? Naturally, he will shoulder the heavy burden, and I'm just helping." Li Bingheng said: "Although Su Yuanchun was promoted to admiral, his prestige and ability cannot be compared with that of the old general after all. Wang Debang had an enmity with him in the last war. How can he listen to him now? Wang Xiaoqi is a veteran of the Huai army. General, his seniority is already above that of Su Yuanchun, and he will not listen to Su Yuanchun. As for Liu Yongfu, he has already said that he only serves the old general." Feng Zicai sneered and said, "Since this is the case, why let Su Yuanchun occupy the position of Admiral of Guangxi?" Li Bingheng saw that Feng Zicai was nearly seventy years old and had been an admiral for many years, and now he still cared about his status like this. Although he didn't think it right in his heart, he still patiently explained: "More than three months ago, before the old general came to Vietnam, Pan Dingxin sent him to Vietnam. The imperial court recommended Su Yuanchun as Admiral of Guangxi. He is a native of Guangxi. He has organized regiment training in Guangxi for many years, and has a lot of contacts with village leaders and chieftains in Guangxi. But to be the commander-in-chief of all walks of life in Vietnam, he is obviously not qualified, let alone compared with the old general. The old general was the admiral 20 years ago, do you still care about this rank? Besides, it’s a shame to be with a person of the same generation. , it's not worth it." Li Bingheng's remarks are not without reason.Feng Zicai thought: I am almost seventy years old, and I have been an official for many years. Do I still care about the level of my position? It's just that I am not feeling well! It was already noon, and he left Li Bingheng to have lunch in the barracks, and neither of them talked about it anymore.After lunch, he arranged for Li Bingheng to rest, and he took a nap as usual.Soon after Feng Zicai fell down, he snored loudly. Facing the severe situation, Li Bingheng, who was born as a scholar, was extremely anxious and restless.At this moment, the messenger from the army came outside the camp.Li Bingheng hurried out the door, pointing to a letter sealed with wax in the messenger's hand: "What is this?" The messenger replied: "This is a letter sent by the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi to Feng Junmen." "Oh." Li Bingheng thought to himself: Is there any urgent military situation? "Just give it to Old General Feng!" It turned out that what the courier sent was not an urgent military situation, but a personal letter from Zhang Zhidong to Feng Zicai.The letter said: Last time in Lizhiwan, the old general said that in order to be sure of victory, he must have the power to command the armies. At that time, because Pan Dingxin used Guifu to supervise the army outside the pass, it was inconvenient to agree, so he could only make a decision in the future. move.Now that Pan has resigned, although Su Yuanchun has been promoted to admiral, he has lived up to expectations and cannot command the armies. The admiral of Guangxi does not have the authority to control the armies outside the customs.The time has come, I hope that the old general will put the state affairs first, and take orders in the face of danger, so as to restore the overall situation and win glory for China.Recently, foreign newspapers revealed an important piece of news in the French expeditionary force, and I hope the old general can grasp it earnestly.Obtaining military information from the enemy's camp is often the secret to winning by surprise.The veteran general has spent his entire life in the army, so he naturally knows the truth better than others.Attached to the other paper is a piece of lace news in the British "Times" translated by Gu Hongming: Major General Nigri, the commander-in-chief of the French Expeditionary Force on the Eastern Front, was greedy for women, and had a hot fight with a Hanoi singer, and even summoned the singer from Hanoi to Lang Son Accompanied, there are many dissatisfaction in the army. When Feng Zicai saw this news, an idea suddenly popped up, and he seemed to see the signs of victory from it. He walked into Li Bingheng's rest room excitedly, and said briskly to the frowning nurse: "I agree to come forward to command the overall military affairs, but you want Su Yuanchun, Wang Xiaoqi, Wang Debang and others to promise that they will fully obey my general orders, No slight disobedience is allowed; if there is any violation, the old man will be dealt with by military order." Hearing this, Li Bingheng's worries disappeared immediately, and he happily stroked Feng Zicai's shoulders and said, "Don't worry, old general, this matter is on my shoulders. To be honest, Su Yuanchun and the others also obey you, old general, from the bottom of their hearts." Feng Zicai formulated his battle plan from both light and dark aspects.On the Ming side, that is to defend Zhennan Pass and regain lost ground in Beiqi.Feng Zicai took Su Yuanchun and others to carefully survey the terrain around Zhennan Pass, and decided to move the general camp into the pass, which is eight miles away from the pass building.This place is towering from east to west, and the distance between the two mountains in the middle is about forty feet wide. Feng Zicai built a long earth and stone wall connecting the east and west mountains with the height of two people here.A big ditch one person deep was dug outside the wall, and three forts were built on the east and west mountains.Wang Xiaoqi's military camp was stationed in Dongling, Su Yuanchun led his troops in the shogunate three miles away, and Wang Debang led his troops in You Pass five miles away, forming a corner against the Guanqian Pass camp.Feng Zicai and his two sons led their troops in the long wall of earth and stone. Wang Xiaoqi asked Feng Zicai in private: "The Zhennan Pass is so tightly arranged inside and outside. France has already burned down the pass building. Will he come again? If he doesn't come, wouldn't our efforts be in vain?" Feng Zicai said with a smile: "The French want to monopolize Beiqi, Vietnam, and China is not allowed to intervene. As long as we still have a team here, he will not feel at ease. Now we have more than 70 battalions and 30,000 soldiers stationed inside and outside Zhennan Pass. He doesn't eat or sleep well all day long, so he will come to challenge us in a short time." Wang Xiaoqi said: "The inside and outside of the Zhennan Pass can be said to be as strict as an iron barrel. Forgive them if they come again, they will not be able to take advantage of it. However, the French are obedient. Once they fail at the pass, they will retreat and flee. If we adopt a siege It would be good to cut off his back route and annihilate them all here. But it is better to know in advance which way they come from, and to ambush there in advance, how can we know in advance?" Feng Zicai looked at the barren land with thick grass and trees outside the pass. After a long silence, he said quietly: "The solution is to think, whether we can succeed or not, we have to see if the Lord can help us." It turned out that the dark side was going on at the same time, but he didn't want to tell Wang Xiaoqi explicitly, this kind of thing can only be hidden as much as possible. Feng Zicai had lived in Vietnam for several months and had some contacts with the local people. Through their visits, it was soon confirmed that the lace news in The Times was telling the truth.The singer's name is Xisun.Xisun no longer has parents, one elder sister is married, and one younger sister works as a waiter in a small restaurant, and her life is not well off.Xisun is a singer, and her income is not much. In fact, she doesn't love this old French man, she just wants his money. After inquiring about these circumstances, Feng Zicai asked his youngest son Xianghua to dress up as a Vietnamese businessman, and accompanied by a local interpreter, he quietly came to Hanoi, which was occupied by the French.In the evening, they found the home of Xisun's eldest sister, Xicao.Xicao and her husband Ruan Zhiqing were quite surprised by the arrival of these two unexpected guests. The translator said to the Xicao couple, "I'm from Hue." Hue is the capital of Vietnam, and coming from Hue means coming from the imperial court.Xicao and her husband are both ordinary people, and the translation of the first sentence made up at will stunned the two of them.They stared timidly and listened. "Let me tell you the truth. The French didn't stay in Vietnam for long. The whole court, from the king to the civil and military ministers, hated the French to death. We asked China to send troops to our country just to get the French out of our country." The Vietnamese are kicked out and mixed with the French will not end well." Xicao's heart was beating wildly, she knew all about the girl's friendship with a French general and her recent trip to Lang Son.Relatives, friends, and neighbors who knew the inside story all pointed behind their backs, and some people called Xisun a villain.As a biological sister, Xicao is also worried about her.She sometimes advised her sister not to hang out with the French, but she would not listen, and often gave her some money to spend, so she didn't say anything.Now, this man's stern face uttered such hard words, which really scared her: Could it be that he was sent by the imperial court to arrest the girl?Xicao looked at her husband, and his expression changed obviously. "Your sister Xisun became the mistress of the leader of the French army and followed him to Lang Son." "We don't know." Xicao wanted to cover herself. "This matter has been published in British newspapers." The translator glared at Xicao, "I don't know, I will officially tell you today." Ruan Zhiqing became anxious, and said, "We are not getting more rascal, nor is Xisun, she is just trying to get that Frenchman's money." "Being the Frenchman's mistress means you're suspected of being an adulterer. After the Frenchman is kicked out of Vietnam, your sister's life will be difficult." The appearance of the translator, the spokesperson of the government, made Xicao and his wife even more afraid. . "I'm going to Lang Son right now, tell her to come back to Hanoi, and leave that Frenchman behind." Xicao said in a begging tone, "Please, don't trouble her in the future. She is also suffering, there is nothing I can do. " "Just leave, and you'll be fine?" The translator sneered, "Unless you have made contributions to the country." Ruan Zhiqing asked: "She is a little woman, what contribution can she make for the country?" Xianghua said: "As long as she is willing, she can make great contributions." After relaying Xianghua's words, the interpreter said, "This is the general we invited from China. His army is so powerful that the French cannot beat them. If your sister can help, it will be much easier to defeat the French. Your sister has made meritorious service, and the imperial court will naturally not trouble her again." Xicao hurriedly asked, "How can she help?" Xianghua chatted with them through the translator. "I want your sister to work hard to understand the military situation of the French. If there is a major incident, you should report it to us immediately." "How do these things get to you?" "You two couples will go to Lang Son with us tomorrow, and find a place to live near your sister. You go to see your sister, tell her about this, and ask her to tell you as soon as she has something, and then you tell us people. We have people coming in every day.” Xicao and his wife sat without talking to each other. Xianghua took out a piece of silver from his pocket and said, "This is fifty taels of silver. I'll give it to you first, and then I'll give you another fifty taels. In addition, Give your sister three hundred taels of silver." Looking at this heavy ingot of silver, Ruan Zhiqing's eyes suddenly brightened.He has worked hard for a year, working from dawn to dusk, and after a year, he can't earn twenty taels of silver. If he does this job well, he can get one hundred taels of silver in no time. After five years of hard work, his sister can get three hundred taels of silver. ; If you share another one hundred taels from the sister, you can start a house and buy a field, become a rich man, and the family will be comfortable, not to mention washing away the shame of being more adulterous for the sister.He touched his wife with his shoulder: "how is it?" Xicao had the same idea as her husband, so she nodded and agreed.In this way, Xisun's sister and brother-in-law settled down in Lang Son, and Feng Zicai's ears heard about Nigri's movements at any time. On this day, an extremely important news came from Xisun: the day after tomorrow, that is, on February 7th, Nigri will lead a large number of troops from Lang Son and attack Zhennan Pass from the east along the line of Shenmu and Duntu.Nigri has already boasted to Poli: he will flatten the Zhennan Pass in one fell swoop and completely drive the Chinese army out of the pass. When Feng Zicai got the news, he adjusted the military strength of Zhennanguan, and arranged for Wang Debang's troops stationed in Youai to lurk in Duntu at night, and cut off the escape route of the French after the battle broke out.At the same time, Feng Zicai flew to tell Liu Yongfu on the western front of the news. Once the battle of Zhennanguan was won, he would take advantage of the momentum to attack Xuanguang, Guangfu, Guangwei, Dunjiang, etc., and the eastern and western fronts would fully blossom. Sure enough, in the early morning of February 7th, Nigri marched towards Zhennan Pass with 1,000 well-equipped French soldiers, really advancing along the line of Shenmu and Duntu.Wang Debang watched this group of Frenchmen pass by under his nose, feeling nervous and excited.The former leader of the Chu army who followed Zuo Zongtang to the north and south, clenched his fists tightly, and secretly made up his mind that he must close the back door firmly, so that this group of arrogant foreign devils will never come back, and none of them can come back. run away. At noon, Nigri came to Zhennan Pass.Nigri is also a soldier who was fought in the flames of war, and he is an experienced and powerful commander.When his army came to Zhennan Pass, they used binoculars to see clearly the deployment of Chinese troops in the pass.The forts on the east and west ridges are obviously for the purpose of defending the entrance pass.The fort on the west, after its firepower is concentrated behind the pass, is the fort on the east that poses the greatest threat to the front of the pass. Nigri knew that in order to open the pass, he must first take down the three forts on Dongling.He divided the troops into two parts. He led 600 people to attack Dongling, and Chief of Staff Michel led another 400 people to attack the earth and stone wall in front. He commanded the soldiers to build temporary fortifications, mounted gun mounts, and began to launch a fierce attack on Dongling Fort.Wang Xiaoqi, who was guarding here, was well prepared and calmly faced the challenge. The artillery fire from both sides was intense.Relying on advanced military equipment and high spirited spirit of repeated victories, the French did not take the Chinese army seriously.The Chinese army was full of anger, and this time it had already been planned, and the cowardice and panic in the past were swept away, and they were not afraid of the arrogance of the enemy down the mountain.Nigri has dealt with the Chinese several times, and this is the first time he has felt this different atmosphere from the past.From time to time, he picked up the binoculars and looked at the top of the ridge, and kept yelling.With more than 30 cannons under his command, as he shouted and waved his arms, he fired the cannonballs with flaming lights towards the top of the mountain like flying. As the evening approached, the artillery fire of the Chinese army on the top of the hill suddenly became rarer.It turned out that the shells that were usually prepared had almost been fired, but the dozens of boxes of shells that were rushed up the mountain from the camp were mostly squibs, and some even fell down top-heavy when they were shot halfway.Seeing this situation, Wang Xiaoqi stomped his feet angrily: "Damn it, what's going on! Where was this shell made?" "This is made by the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau." The gunner pointed to the black lettering on the wooden box and said. "Fuck his eight generations of ancestors! Isn't this killing me?" Wang Xiaoqi was so angry that he threw an empty wooden box with the words "Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau" printed on it out of the artillery barracks. He still couldn't let go of his hatred, and cursed again: "These guys will all cramp and peel off their skins! I won't let any of them live!" This unexpected turn of events was quickly seen by Nigri, who shouted excitedly: "God, God! The Chinese have no more shells. Let's push the gun mounts over, aim well, and shoot one by one!" The French soldiers applauded one by one, and pushed the gun mounts over without any restraint.The shorter the range, the more powerful the French cannon.Not long after, Fort No. 3 was blown up, and more than 20 gunners all died. Wang Xiaoqi was so angry that he was dizzy, and shouted: "Brothers, follow me and rush down, and fight with foreign devils!" At this moment, Xiang Rong had come to the top of the mountain.He grabbed Wang Xiaoqi's hand and said: "Wang Zhentai, if you go on like this, isn't it obvious that you are going to die? My father asked me to tell you that since the shells are dumb, it is useless to guard a few empty forts, it is better to just give up. Let's fight them hand-to-hand before the pass." Just as he was talking, the French shells came like raindrops.As soon as the gunners in the No. 2 Fort came out, the fort was blown up by French shells. Seeing that the No. 1 Fort was about to suffer the same fate, Wang Xiaoqi could only sigh and led all the soldiers stationed in Dongling down the mountain. Seeing that Dongling hadn't fired a single shell for a long time, Nigri knew that the Chinese army had no power to fight back, so he waved the command flag, and two hundred French soldiers picked up more than 30 light steel cannons, and soon reached Dongling. In this way, the three forts of Dongling, which controlled the pass, all fell into the hands of the French. The scene three months ago will be repeated at Zhennanguan again!The severity of the situation made Feng Zicai and all the Chinese soldiers feel extremely heavy.Fortunately, it was completely dark at this time, and the French had to eat, sleep, and rest, so the fierce fighting during the day stopped temporarily.That night, the ancient old general looked at the cold moon above the Guan Tower, unable to rest for a long time.The honor of his life as a soldier, the dignity of a soldier, and the patriotism of a man of lofty ideals are all intertwined, prompting him to make a tragic decision to fight to the death and die for justice. At dawn, he called Wang Xiaoqi, Su Yuanchun and other senior generals together with his sons Xiangrong and Xianghua, and said sadly: "The fort in Dongling has been lost, and Zhennan Pass is in danger of being breached at any time. Now we only have There are two ways. One is to abandon the gate and flee to save your own life like some people do. Your own life is temporarily saved, but hundreds of thousands of soldiers and people will die because of this, and the court will not let it go easily , Dismissed from office, needless to say, it is not an exaggeration to be exiled and killed, even if you don't die, thousands of people will curse at your fingers, living is worse than dying." Feng Zicai's bright eyes glanced at the people around him, and he saw that all the people were holding their voices and listening respectfully.He continued: "There is still another way, that is to go forward bravely and never take half a step back, and fight the enemy to the end. All generals, this is the way, and only this way, that I have chosen for you. Don't say desperately. It is our duty as soldiers to shroud horse leather on the battlefield, and judging from today's situation, we can only choose this path, which is our only hope of survival." Feng Zicai looked at everyone with firm and unyielding eyes. Seeing that there was no embarrassment in everyone's eyes, he was quite satisfied, and his voice became louder: "Generals, the French only have a thousand people, and we have 30,000 people. Thirty against one, the advantage is on our side, the key is for everyone not to be afraid of death, unite as one, and fight the French to the end!" Su Yuanchun interjected: "The old general is right. We are thirty against one, and the number of people is great. The main danger now is that the Dongling Fort has been taken by the French, which is not good for us. I suggest that the West The fort was moved down and installed at the foot of Dongling Mountain. After the battle broke out, the artillery fire was aimed at Dongling to suppress the firepower of the French. We went all out to annihilate the French soldiers outside the long wall, and after eating the enemy in front of us, Then deal with Dongling." Feng Zicai said: "Su Junmen's suggestion is very good. You should quickly order to move down the West Fort." Su Yuanchun immediately ordered a general next to him to go to Xiling to convey the order. At this moment, a general came in in a panic and reported: "It's not good, old general, the French are already filling the ditch." "What are you panicking about? Let them do it!" Feng Zicai's face suddenly turned livid. He tore off his black vest and shouted, "Brothers, it's time to serve the country! Who is a hero and who is a coward? Bastard, I will see you at the southern end of the town! This old man will send this old life here today, and all of you must follow me!" As he said that, he pulled out a sword hanging on the pillar with a "swish", and the whole body of the sword emitted a cold light. "This sword was a reward given to the old man by Emperor Wen Zong more than 20 years ago. It is the country, law and military discipline of our Qing Dynasty. Su Junmen!" "Yes!" Su Yuanchun replied. "Today, this sword will be handed over to you. You will execute the king's law on behalf of the old man. When the cannon fires, all the soldiers will follow the old man to charge into battle. If there is anyone who is too timid to escape, you can immediately use this sword to kill him." head." "Yes!" Su Yuanchun replied loudly, and took the sword solemnly. "Old general, a group of French soldiers has rushed across the ditch!" the former general shouted loudly before he even entered the door. "Pass my general order, shoot and smash their dog heads." As soon as Feng Zicai's voice fell, the sound of cannon outside started like firecrackers. After a while, people from Xiling Fort came to report: "The twelve cannons in Xiling have been moved to the foot of Dongling and installed." Feng Zicai ordered: "Fire at the top of Dongling Mountain to suppress the firepower of the French." The sound of gunfire and gunfire outside became louder and louder. Feng Zicai waved his hand and said, "We all go to the earth and stone wall!" Wang Xiaoqi hurriedly stopped: "Old General, the guns are too dense outside, don't go out, we will command on the wall for you!" "That won't work!" Feng Zicai picked up a long and wide blue homemade cloth from the table, wrapped it around the top of his head, and said with a smile, "Wrap it up, and you won't be afraid of gunshots!" As he said that, he strode out of the barracks door, and took his second son and the generals up the earth and stone wall together. Outside the wall, the Qing army and the French army are fighting desperately.尽管山脚的炮弹对东边岭头上法国人的火炮构成压力，但法国人占据地势居高临下，仍然有不少炮弹落到墙外沟边，可怕地威胁着守卫关隘的清军。趁着这有利的机会，深沟又被法国人填满了一段，大批洋兵哇哇乱叫如潮水般地踏过深沟，直向土石墙外扑来，形势越来越危急了。 “冯相荣、冯相华！” “在！”见老父厉声呼叫，冯氏兄弟愣了一下后马上高声回答。 “跟我到墙外去！”冯子材将上衣脱下甩掉，露出黑瘦的光膀子来，又随手从身边的一个士兵手中夺过一把长矛。 “爹！”冯相荣忙去抢父亲手中的长矛，“你老不要下去！” 冯子材将手中的长矛往墙上用力一戳，瞪着眼望着儿子：“你怕死？” “不是！”次子相华也来劝阻，“爹，你呆在这儿，我们下去。” “老将军不要下去！”诸将也都来阻挡。 冯子材阴沉着脸，拿起这根一人半高的长矛，快步奔下土石墙。相荣、相华知道父亲的脾气，再也不说话，急忙各自操起一把大砍刀紧随着父亲下去了。 冯子材来到墙外，站在一块突兀的青石上，咬紧牙关死盯着一群群跨过深沟来到关隘口的法国人，万丈怒火升腾在他的胸中。穿出云层的朝阳，照在他飘拂的银须上，照在他头上的布帕和脚上的草鞋上，照在他手中那根闪闪发亮的丈八长矛上。这是一尊顶天立地的英雄雕塑，这是一股冲霄长虹的浩然正气，这是一座万古不倒的巍峨山峰。懦弱的大清王朝，你是多么地需要千千万万个冯子材啊！多灾多难的中华民族，你是多么地需要这种不畏强暴、誓死捍卫民族尊严的气概啊！ “相荣、相华，我们爷儿三个跟他们拼了！” 冯子材大叫一声，从青石上跳下来，手中的长矛直向一个法军小头目的胸膛刺去。相荣、相华紧紧地护卫着老父，挥起大砍刀，左右砍杀。 王孝祺看到这一幅壮烈的情景，早已热泪盈眶。他振臂高呼：“兄弟们，冯老将军跟法国人肉搏了，我们都下去吧！” 苏元春也高高挥起手中的宝剑，大喊起来：“冯老将军都亲自上阵了，我们还怕死吗？” 古稀老英雄这一壮举，成了清军将士最强有力的号令，最崇高的榜样。顷刻之间，这些平时散漫疲沓、畏难怕苦的绿营团勇仿佛吞下了仙丹灵药，浑身上下立时平添无穷的胆量和气力。断腿断臂、流血死亡的恐怖好像都不存在了，眼中只有冯老将军英勇杀敌的伟岸身躯，胸中只有不共戴天的仇恨，聚集在土石墙后的两万多清军如波涛如海浪般涌向墙外，山脚下的十二门大炮也一齐向东岭山头射击，顽强压住法国大炮的火力。在一股强大力量支持下的清军，此刻总算像个真正的军队了！他们三个四个围住一个法国人，大刀长矛，一齐向侵略者头上身上刺去。可怜这些一向骄横狂妄自以为东方无敌手的法兰西子弟们，今儿个懵了头，晕了向，他们压根儿也没想到镇南关内竟然有如此强硬的对手：难道他们不是中国来的兵油子，难道他们今日真的是神灵附体？常言说，一人不怕死，十人不能敌。现在两万多人都不怕死了，千名洋鬼子岂能抵抗得住？法国人平时打仗得手，靠的是枪炮的威力，一旦短兵相接，枪炮就失去了优势，需要的是棍棒拳脚的功夫，而这一方面，洋人普遍不如中国人。 不到半个钟点，跨过沟来的法国人便大部分躺在墙外起不来了，没有过沟的见势不对，纷纷后撤。这时，王德榜率领的军队从敦土埋伏点冲了过来。他们人多势众，又见前方打赢了，更是气势十足，早已吓破胆的法国兵见了这批截断归路的中国军人，不由得更加心虚胆战，除开极少数的几十个逃出包围圈外，几乎所有人都成了刀下之鬼。至于那个头头米歇尔，因为服装与众不同，多时便成了众矢之的，早被剁成一堆肉酱了。 尼格里没有想到败得如此之惨，气得口吐鲜血，昏倒在地。身边的副官知道炮台保不久，便趁着还有十几发炮弹的机会，叫人背着尼格里，慌忙从山背后逃走了。 东岭炮台很快便被夺回。 还没有到中午，镇南关隘之仗便以法军全军覆没而获得大胜。乘着这股强劲的军威，冯子材指挥东线的苏元春、王德榜、王孝祺一鼓作气向谅山进发，几乎没有费多大力气便光复谅山，接下来又连连收复文渊、谷波、委坡、船头等地。 捷报传到西线，刘永福的黑旗军和唐景崧的景字营联合起来，一举光复被法国人占领多时的西部重镇宣光，紧接着又拿下广威、鹤江等地。越南北圻的大部分土地已在中国军队的控制之下。 这是一个多么令人兴奋的喜讯，这是一个多么令人珍贵的胜仗啊！中国人对这个胜利已盼望了四十多年！自从道光二十年的鸦片之战以来，凡中国军队与外国军队一接火，便注定是中国失败，外国获胜。中国人打不赢洋人，似乎已成了举世皆知的定理，在许许多多中国人的心中，对洋人的恐惧，早已深人骨髓。这种心理，四十多年来一直沉重地压在大清帝国的头上，从朝廷到民间，在洋人的面前都直不起腰，挺不起胸！ 现在终于有了这一场关外大捷，冯子材统率的中国军队在越南北圻为大清帝国，为中华民族扬了一次眉，吐了一口气。捷报传到广州，全城喜气洋洋，张之洞更是兴高采烈。他感谢冯子材和关外的三万将士扬了国威，振了民气，也感激他们为他这个两广制军赢得无上脸面。 他以两广制军的名义命令，东线统领冯子材稍事休整后立即进攻北宁、河内，西线统领刘永福迅速攻占兴化。东西两线齐头并进，互为声援，争取尽快光复整个北圻；并以此为基础，将所有侵犯越南的法国军队全部驱逐出境，使越南重新回到中国的怀抱，成为中国一个稳定可靠的藩属国。他随后又给朝廷上折，详细禀报关外大捷的前前后后，在表彰冯子材、王孝祺、苏元春、王德榜、刘永福、唐景崧等人的功劳的同时，也不忘将自己如何谋画运筹的过程叙说了一番。又着重提出收复河内，全驱法人的宏伟构想，请朝廷准予按此执行，大张远威，以申天讨！ 不料，事情远不是张之洞想得这么简单顺利。就在关外大捷刚刚获胜的时候，一场以口舌为刀枪的外交谈判便已开始。 究其实，中法的外交会谈，在两国冲突发生之后，就一直没有停止过，主持这件大事的便是有当今中国第一臣之称的李鸿章。 李鸿章治理国家的大计简单地说，对内兴办洋务，徐图自强，对外息事宁人，以夷制夷。在外交上，凡与洋人冲突，他的主张是能和则和，不能和则尽量减少损失，中国自己无法调停，则请别国洋人出面帮助。 面对着与法国人的纠纷，他采取的亦是这个办法。先是签订条约，希望和平解决冲突。不料法国人并不接受这个条约的约束，蓄意挑起更大的战争。李鸿章担心，战争打响之后，中国军队吃亏更大。早在第一次镇南关大战之前，他便委托中国海关税务司驻伦敦办事处的英国人金登干，去巴黎代表清廷与法国政府秘密和谈。法国代表态度强硬，为了赢得谈判桌上的更大筹码，他们发起了这次的再打镇南关之役。孰料遭到惨败，法兰西举国哗然，反对党议员纷纷责难政府，茹费理内阁不能得到议院谅解，引咎辞职。法国代表一改往日的傲慢无理之态，表示愿意全数撤退停留在台湾海峡的舰艇，解除对台湾的封锁，用来换取中国的开放海口允许法国商船出入。李鸿章认为法国能让到这种地步便是和谈的最大成绩了，立即命令金登于在此条约上签字，并电令中国所有在越南北圻的军队立即停战，限期撤退。张之洞的宏伟构思付之流水，他对李鸿章的怨恨又加深了一层。冯子材、刘永福等眼看着到手的功勋而不能建立，更是扼腕叹息，愤愤不已！ 自从国门被强行闯开以来，直到清王朝覆灭之前，七十余年间这惟一一次的对外胜仗便这样了结了。它本该以辉煌的句号来结束，却以遗憾无穷的省略号而令人长叹。这真是中华民族诉说不尽的悲哀。 然而，它毕竟是一个胜仗，它使这场战争的最高主帅张之洞赢得朝廷上下一致赞扬，奠定了他日后纵横政坛的厚实基础；它也使这位主帅更加坚定开创一番宏图大业的雄伟信念。同时，它又使得这位名流出身的总督逐渐滋生了舍我其谁天下独尊的倨傲心态。 张之洞在总督衙门举办了一个大型庆功会，除中国官场人员外，还特为邀请法国之外的所有在穗各国领事以及洋商、教会方面的头面人物参加。他向这些平日趾高气扬的洋人绘声绘色地介绍中国军队英勇杀敌的感人场面，着意渲染这次大捷所带来的重大国际影响，使得这些洋人面对美酒佳肴而坐立不安，一个个争先恐后地端起酒杯，向这个身材矮小、模样丑陋的制台大人表示祝贺。辜鸿铭跟在张之洞的身边大出风头。他时而用英语、德语，时而用俄语、日语，流利无误地翻译着，令庆功会上的所有中外宾客惊讶不止。他们在私下议论：张大人从哪里请来了一个这样的翻译奇才！ 庆功会结束的时候，七十岁的兵部尚书彭玉麟来到张之洞的身边，激动地说：“老弟，我盼望多年的胜仗，终于在你的指挥下打成了，为我们中国人争了脸面。我今天真是太高兴了！” 张之洞开怀大笑：“大司马，我们再来为关外大捷痛饮一杯！” 立时便有一个侍者端来两杯酒，彭玉麟抬起手来轻轻地接住：“我已经喝得太多，不能再喝了，老弟你也不要喝了。酒不能多喝，喝多了头就会晕晕的，忘乎所以。” 张之洞听出了彭玉麟的话中之话，忙说：“大司马说得好，我们不能让关外大捷晕了头。” “正是这话。”彭玉麟收起笑容肃然说，“关外大捷诚然是一件大喜事，但我今天要特别提醒老弟的是，这场胜仗主要是机缘凑泊，切不可引为常例。我戎马一生，深知真正的胜负之别在于实力的较量。若论实力，我们远远不是法国人的对手，更不要谈美国、英国、德国了。提高实力，这才能使中国永远立于不败之地。” 张之洞点点头说：“大司马所言极是。我也想到这一层了。” “郑观应过几天就要从南洋回来了，你应当召见他。他是一个很有头脑的人。” “好！”张之洞立时想起《盛世危言》一书中所说的种种实业救国的举措来，他也很想见见这位识见远在常人之上的商人。“关外的战争结束了，我正要和郑观应谈谈他的救危之策。” 彭玉麟发亮的双眼紧紧盯着张之洞，语重心长地说：“我已经老了，无所作为了，这些年来一直是少荃当家。他虽精力旺盛，雄心勃勃，但年过花甲，岁月不饶人。中国的事情，已经责无旁贷地落在老弟你的肩上，你可要十分清楚地看到这一点啊！” 张之洞凝视着白发苍苍的老英雄，重重地点了点头，好半天，才从牙缝中挤出一句话来：“中国不会只有一个李少荃的！”