Chapter 37 Section 37 What should the boss do if the subordinate makes a mistake?

In fact, Li Hongzhang had received an urgent letter of protest from Pacharley the day before. He rushed to Changshu early in the morning to reward the army. He did intend to avoid Pacharley, but it was true that Cheng Xueqi was injured.He stayed in Changshu for more than ten days before returning to Suzhou. There are two unopened letters on Li Hongzhang's desk: one is from Guo Songtao, and the other is from Kunshan, where the Ever Victorious Army is stationed.Li Hongzhang tore open the letter from Kunshan alone. The letter from Kunshan was written by Ding Richang. Ding Richang said in the letter: "Zheng Dao is planning with Li Zongzhen to lay off the Changsheng Army. It is advisable that the British Consul Bacharley and Admiral Bolang suddenly come to express objections and not allow the layoffs. Dispatch the army." Ding Richang finally said: "The Ba Consul and Bo Junmen have planned to stay in Kunshan until the governor's office gives up the dismissal of the army. Now I am very worried and don't know how to deal with it. I hope that Master Futai will show you soon. .”

Li Hongzhang pushed Ding Richang's letter aside, and opened Guo Songtao's letter. At the beginning of the article, Guo Songtao questioned Li Hongzhang's dismissal of the Changsheng Army at this time, saying: "Jinling has not been conquered, the long hair is not finished, and the Nian Party has risen again. It is too early to dismiss the Changsheng Army at this time." Guo Songtao went on to write : "The recovery of Jinling is a great achievement. Now that the enemy and our soldiers are exhausted, we dispatched the Ever-Victorious Army to Jinling, and with the help of more than a dozen battalions of Huaiyong, Jinling should be able to overcome it quickly. Jinling is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu. There should be a share in Jiangsu. A man is born in the world to make contributions. Wouldn’t it be a pity to give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?”

After reading Guo Songtao's letter, Li Hongzhang smiled wryly, but didn't say a word.The next day, Li Hongzhang sent a letter to Kunshan, asking Pa Xiali and Bo Lang to meet in Shanghai to discuss the issue of dismissing the Ever Victorious Army. When the letter arrived in Kunshan, after Bacharley and Bolang received it, it was delayed for a few days before returning to Shanghai and negotiating with Li Hongzhang at the commercial office. Seeing Li Hongzhang's face, Bo Lang was the first to shout: "You, Mr. Li, are so bold! How dare you break the contract! I want to go to Beijing to speak to your Prime Minister's Yamen!" .

Bacharley also said: "Master Li, the Ever Victorious Army was originally founded by your two countries. If you want to lay off, you should negotiate with our two countries. How can you do it without knowing us now? What about sending the army? You are clearly showing contempt for the British Empire by doing so, and we absolutely cannot agree!" Li Hongzhang opened the cover with a smile, and took out the long-drawn-out plan for disbanding the Ever Victorious Army written in Chinese and English, and said: "The Ministry does not understand what you two are talking about." Bo Lang hurriedly said: "Master Li, you are still pretending to be confused! Aren't you going to dismiss the Ever Victorious Army?"

Li Hongzhang signaled the two to sit down, and said with a smile: "This department only has this plan, and it has not yet been implemented. Now that you have asked, this department will formally notify you that the governor's office has decided to dismiss the Changsheng Army. The plan has been drawn up. Please take a look, both of you." Li Hongzhang sent the plans to Bacharley and Bo Lang respectively. Bacharley took the plan and asked back, "Master Li, why did you do this?" Li Hongzhang replied: "At the beginning, our two countries established this army because Changmao caused rebellion and Shanghai was in danger. Now, the war is about to end, and Changmao is almost wiped out. According to our agreement, it is time to dismiss the army. .The dismissal of the army by the headquarters is also after some careful consideration. The so-called compensation for the deceased and reward for the survivors, we will handle it properly. Please rest assured."

Bo Lang threw back the plan and said, "We don't agree with you dismissing the Ever Victorious Army! This team, after our training, has killed so many long hairs for you, and has made such a great contribution. Your Excellency Li If you want to cut it off, we can’t agree to it! We want to lodge a strong protest to your prime minister’s office and empress dowager!” Li Hongzhang was neither in a hurry nor annoyed, and still said with a smile: "You two should know that since the establishment of the Changsheng Army, we have spent a lot of money. Now, the treasury is empty and the food table is in a hurry. If the Changsheng Army is not dismissed as soon as possible, the source of salary will be lost." Where will it come from? No salary, no food, will the thousands of troops of the Changsheng Army agree? If the Changsheng Army can go hungry to help suppress Jinling, the Ministry will not only not dismiss the army, but also make a statement The imperial court, reward the army! What do you two think?"

Bo Lang scolded Pacharley in English: "This Li Hongzhang is such a scoundrel! How dare he let our people go to fight for them hungry! He is too calculating!" Pacharley pondered for a while and replied: "General, I have heard that the Qing Dynasty spent a lot of money for the Ever Victorious Army when I was in Guangzhou. It seems that they don't want to do it anymore." Bo Lang said: "Can we be blamed for this? Xue Huan and Wu Xu asked us to come forward. We didn't get a lot of money, so what are we trying to do? In order to destroy the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as soon as possible, they were willing to give us a lot of money , this is a matter of mutual consent.”

At this time, Bacharley said: "General, let's take a look at the plan proposed by Li Hongzhang. We can recover our losses from the plan." The two stopped talking and looked down at the plan.Li Hongzhang didn't know what the two of them were muttering about, but he guessed intuitively that the suspension of pay and food for the Changsheng Army made the two British people into trouble. After reading the plan, Bacharley and Bo Lang exchanged in a low voice, and then they both got up and said, "Master Li, we disagree with your plan, and we have to draw up a plan. But there is one thing to remind Li Your Excellency, the Ever Victorious Army cannot be dismissed until our plan is drawn up."

Li Hongzhang stood up and said with a smile: "The Ministry is waiting for the consul to send the plan at any time. However, the Ministry also has a word to tell you. It is now the end of this month, and it is less than ten days before the end of the month. If you are in The plan cannot be delivered before the end of the month, and the pay and rations of the Ever Victorious Army next month will have to be figured out. The province's treasury has only prepared the silver taels needed for the dismissal of the Ever Victorious Army, and has not prepared for the next month of the army. monthly pay."

Bo Lang jumped up and shouted loudly: "Why is this happening? What do you want to do, Mr. Li?" Li Hongzhang touched his newly grown beard with his hand, and replied: "The headquarters doesn't want to do anything, just want to disband the Ever Victorious Army as soon as possible. After disbanding the army, we will have many things that require our cooperation. For example Said, Shanghai Manufacturing Bureau, we need not only American machines, but also a lot of steel. If we don't lay off the ever-victorious army as soon as possible, how can we have spare money to do this? Sooner or later, the ever-victorious army will be laid off. Written in the agreement."

Bacharley and Bo Lang couldn't figure out what Li Hongzhang meant when he said this, so they didn't answer hastily, but they already judged from Li Hongzhang's demeanor that the Changsheng Army must be lost. Back at the consulate, the two of them decided to focus on the plan to lay off the ever-victorious army, and beat the Qing Dynasty hard in terms of pensions and rewards. Soon, Gordon also returned from England.When he reported to Li Hongzhang, he was very dissatisfied with the dismissal of the Changsheng Army, and he behaved even worse than Bai Qiwen. Li Hongzhang didn't argue with him, but just sat in front of the case and stroked his beard and smiled. When he had vented enough, he shouted out the door: "See off the guests!" Gordon felt bored and had to leave disgruntled. Bacharley quickly sent a letter to the governor's office, agreeing to the governor's office's dismissal of the ever-victorious army; but in terms of compensation and rewards, the British side made many unreasonable demands. Li Hongzhang didn't want to be entangled by this matter, he still had many things to do.At this time, he had already learned from the people around him that Ding Richang was the one who obstructed the dismissal of the Ever Victorious Army from various sources by the British.After thinking for two days, he summoned Ding Richang and Li Hengsong to the governor's office, and ordered: "Bachari has agreed to dismiss the Changsheng Army, but he made many unreasonable demands. It is appropriate for the two parties to agree on the handling of this army. If you blindly appease the British, it will definitely fuel their aggression." After Li Hongzhang finished speaking, he took out a re-drafted plan and said: "This is the plan drawn up by the Ministry according to the original agreement, you just follow it. If the British raise objections, Ding Dao can argue with them according to the original agreement. The Ministry has made up its mind to dismiss all Xiyong first and not keep any of them. For the remaining Huayong, 300 people can be selected to form the musket team, and 600 people can be selected to form the artillery team, and they will be incorporated into the Huai army system." Hearing this, Ding Richang only now knew that the dismissal of the Ever Victorious Army was a foregone conclusion, and no one would be able to pull it back. He couldn't help feeling a thousand regrets in his heart, and wished he could find a crack in the ground to sneak in. At this time, Li Hongzhang looked at Ding Richang, and said with a smile: "Dao Dao, there is one more matter in this department that I need to explain to your brother. Someone told this department that Consul Ba and Bo Junmen made things difficult for the dismissal of the Changsheng Army." Hearing this, the Ministry did not believe it, because the Ministry knew very well that Ding Dao was a smart man, and he would never confuse state affairs for his own prejudice. The headquarters decided not to change its original intention to dismiss the Ever Victorious Army, and still entrusted the younger brother to do it. The headquarters has been in the officialdom for a long time, and knows that it is not easy to be a capable person. The younger brother is well versed in Western learning and understands the nature of Westerners, so he can be called a capable person in foreign affairs , there will definitely be a lot to do in the future. The reason why the headquarters here is to give my younger brother a place to display his talents and do more for the country. This is also my mentor's idea. Other words, the headquarters will not say , my brother will do it according to his own discretion." Ding Richang was terrified by what Li Hongzhang said, and his face was red. He stood up abruptly, fell to his knees again, kowtowed and said, "Master Futai, don't worry, even if you risk your life, you still have to do the things assigned by Futai properly, so that Foreigners can't find a single loophole!" Li Hongzhang stood up and helped each other, while smiling and said: "With my brother's words, the Ministry is relieved. If there is anything wrong, brother, you can directly negotiate with the Pakistani consul, and the Ministry will allow you to do it cheaply." After coming down, Ding Richang wiped his sweat and said to Li Hengsong: "I don't know which Wang Bajin's slander! If it wasn't for Futai's bright eyes, not only would this be the end for me, but my brother's future would also be ruined, right?" Li Hengsong smiled. speech. The next day, Ding Richang got up early, drank a bowl of porridge, and then took a sedan chair to the appointed place to wait for Li Hengsong.After Li Hengsong arrived, the two of them rushed to the ferry with their entourage, where the boat of the Changsheng Army was waiting. After getting on the boat, Li Hengsong asked, "Master Ding, are we going back to Kunshan?" Ding Richang shook his head and said: "Let's go to Shanghai first. I have already patted my chest at Futai. I want to pour some rice soup for the two foreign boys, Ba Xiali and Bo Lang, before we dismiss the Changsheng Army." Only then will it go well. This official must handle this matter beautifully, so that Futai will have a good face, and I will shut up those bastards." Ding Richang and Li Hengsong came to Shanghai and went straight to the British Consulate in sedan chairs. After seeing Bacharley, Ding Richang changed his original tone, and first talked about Chang Shengjun's faults. He said that Chang Shengjun was corrupt from top to bottom, and everyone was corrupt. It was really terrible.He also said that once these things about the Ever Victorious Army were found out by the governor's yamen, not only the consul would be implicated, but even the former governor Shidi Foli and the current governor Bolang would not be able to explain clearly. Afterwards, Ding Richang and Ba Xiali bit their ears and said: "These days I have been in the Ever Victory Army, I am very worried for the Pakistani Consul. I am afraid that the Pakistani Consul does not know that the huge Ever Victory Army consumes 70,000 to 80,000 taels of salary every month." , I don’t even have a decent account book! The official came here in a hurry just to talk to the consul. If the Changsheng Army doesn’t take advantage of this time to lay off, it will be a big trouble when the governor’s yamen knows the inside story. Don’t worry. Let’s not talk about it for now, the return of stolen goods alone is enough for the consul and the uncle!” Bacharley was confused by Ding Richang's words.He asked ignorantly: "You mean, if we don't agree to dismiss the Ever Victorious Army, we still have to take money out? Why is this? Is Li Hongzhang crazy, or is your court crazy?" Ding Richang said eloquently: "Consul Ba, think about it. You, Bo Junmen and team leader Gordon jointly embezzled the salary of the Changsheng Army. If the governor's office really investigates it, why don't you return it? The money allocated by the governor's office every month , are all clearly registered, and there is nothing wrong with that!" Bacharley still didn't understand, so he asked again: "Master Ding, have you made a mistake? It has not been three months since I came to Shanghai to take over as the consul, and I haven't seen the money of the Ever Victorious Army! How can you say, Did I embezzle the salary of the Changsheng Army with others?" Ding Richang rolled his eyes and said, "I know that Consul Ba has just taken over as Consul, but what about the former Consul Mr. Mai Huatuo, Shi Junmen and Bo Junmen? Can you guarantee that they have not embezzled Chang Shengjun's money? There is Gordon. On the second day when he was the leader of the Ever Victorious Army, he had a ticking Western watch in his pocket. If he did not embezzle the salary of the Ever Victorious Army, where did he get that Western watch? What? If Mr. Consul doesn’t believe it, we will go to Kunshan to check the account now. You will be shocked when you see the big account. Only then will you know how good I am to your consul!” Seeing that Bacharley was silent, Ding Richang hurriedly made a few empty wishes, promising to give him some benefits after the manufacturing bureau was completed. The next day, Gordon happened to come to Shanghai.Bacharley made another appointment with Bolang, and they went to Kunshan together with Ding Richang and Li Hengsong. In just a few days, the huge ever-victorious army was dismissed to the point where there were only a foreign gun team of 300 people and a foreign gun team of 600 people left. Li Hongzhang handed over the foreign gun team to Li Hengsong, and handed over the foreign gun team to Luo Rongguang, a general of the Huai army.Luo Rongguang is a native of Ganzhou, Hunan Province. His style name is Yaoting and he was born in Wutong.Luo Rongguang first joined the Hunan Army, and then came to Shanghai with Li Hongzhang.After Li Hongzhang was granted the title of governor of Jiangsu, Luo Rongguang, who was already on the defensive, was dispatched to the Ever Victorious Army. The Ever Victorious Army has since ceased to exist.