Chapter 52 Resist Japan and Aid Korea

The Qing government, which has always been procrastinating in its work, was very forthright this time, because there was no way not to be unhappy: North Korea was close to the Manchuria region where the Qing Dynasty rose, and its geographical location was very important. Other vassal states could give up, but North Korea must not. Wu Changqing was lucky, because Cixi entrusted him with the glorious task of resisting Japan and aiding Korea, and ordered him to lead the six battalions of his troops into the court to suppress the rebellion. The military situation was urgent and time was short. Wu Changqing immediately set up the former enemy battalion affairs office, and the "director" was Yuan Xiaosi.

What was done within six days of the restriction order, Yuan Xiaosi did it safely and completely in three days.He led his colleagues from the former enemy battalion office to take the lead in landing in North Korea, selected the landing site of the army, and surveyed the marching route to Seoul...The logistics service support and other aspects were done in an orderly manner. Taking three of the most advanced warships in Asia under the command of the Beiyang Navy at that time, they arrived at Nanyang Port in North Korea safely, and the sixth battalion completed the landing within two hours. Yuan Xiaosi's talent was fully revealed for a while.

After Wu Changqing went ashore, he intentionally questioned Yuan Xiaosi: How do you think we should solve the current situation?Xiao Si replied: To catch the thief, first catch the king.Wu Changqing was very satisfied: Then leave it to you to do it, do it well, and be careful of military law if you don't do it well! Xiaosi also knew that this was an opportunity for Uncle Wu to make meritorious service for himself in the face of the dead ghost father, such a good opportunity must not be missed! Little Si thought about it, and felt that "Hongmen Banquet" was the most perfect solution at present. After all, only by obtaining the greatest victory at the least cost can he show his level.

"Hongmen Banquet" is simple to say, but it is very complicated to implement. You have to deceive people first, and you can't let people escape. Xiang Yu, the ancestor of "Hongmen Banquet", is a typical failure.Yuan Xiaosi thought hard all night, and finally came up with a way to capture Mr. Dayuan. On the second day, Yuan Xiaosi prepared generous gifts, dressed lightly, and visited the Lord of the Grand Court in person. After some unnutritious greetings, Yuan Xiaosi expressed his intention of coming: This time the Qing Dynasty sent troops to fight the Japanese pirates, and in the future, we will have to rely on the Lord of the Courtyard to support our work!

It turns out that the Qing Dynasty was worried about Japan, not to deal with itself, so that's good, that's good!Lord Dayuan was very satisfied, and finally let go of the big stone in his heart. Next, the more the two chatted, the happier they would be, and naturally they would drink and eat when they were happy.Yuan Xiaosi ate and drank at the wine table without restraint.The host and guest enjoyed themselves, and everyone was very happy. After the banquet, Yuan Xiaosi graciously invited Mr. Dayuan to pay a return visit the next day, saying that Wu Changqing was treating guests. With such a friendly signal, Mr. Dayuan is ashamed to say no.

The next day, Lord Dayuan led his guards to the Qing army station to pay his respects. Now that you're here, there's no need to leave.As soon as he arrived at Daying, Yuan Xiaosi tied him up. The emperor of the courtyard didn't finish his meal, but he became a rice dumpling himself. After Mr. Dayuan was arrested, he was immediately escorted back to China and confined in Baoding. After the "beheading" operation was successful, the remaining rebels had no leader. Yuan Xiaosi led the Qing army to wipe out the rebels on the banks of the Datong River and completely put down the rebellion.

The North Korean regime returned to the hands of Princess Min. It is easy to deal with the Koreans, but it is difficult to deal with the Japanese. Fortunately, the Japanese only recognize fists, and it is the uncle who knows how hard the fist is.The blinding warships of the Qing army dwarfed the reinforcements Yoshito Hanabo brought from Japan, and made Japan feel inferior at that time, and did not dare to challenge the status of the Qing Dynasty as the suzerain. However, Japan, under the pretext of seeking justice for its dead expatriates and officials, forced the Korean royal family to sign a treaty: paying Japan 550,000 yen in compensation and allowing Japanese troops to protect the expatriates.

Don't underestimate this treaty. The Qing Dynasty said that the Japanese garrison was not good for the Qing Empire, and they clearly wanted to challenge their position as the leader; the North Korean side said that the huge compensation of 550,000 yen greatly increased the country's finances. Difficulties and a burden to the people! For the Qing government, due to Japan's intrusion, the results of this dispatch of troops have been greatly reduced, but it is not completely unacceptable. For Yuan Xiaosi, this dispatch of troops was considered a good deal, but it was not a purely public-funded trip abroad, and his performance was still remarkable.Therefore, Wu Changqing, who originally intended to promote Yuan Xiaosi, highly praised Yuan Xiaosi's deeds in the list of heroes sent to the imperial court, and listed him as the top hero.

This is also the first time that Yuan Xiaosi's name has entered the field of vision of the core ruling circles of the Qing Dynasty. A few days later, the 23-year-old Yuan Xiaosi was named a fifth-rank Tongzhi by the court, equivalent to a deputy mayor, and became a young high-ranking official.From this moment on, Yuan Xiaosi was truly elated and embarked on a political career. The petty name of Yuan Xiaosi is no longer appropriate, and now we should call him by his first name—Yuan Shikai. After the Qing army quelled the chaos in North Korea, Wu Changqing was ordered to stay in North Korea and set up the Qing Army Command stationed in North Korea.

In this headquarters, Wu Changqing is the supreme commander.He has two assistants, civil and military: the military is Yuan Shikai, and all Wu Changqing's military affairs are decided by Yuan Shikai, whose position is equivalent to today's chief of staff; Wen's affairs are decided by the future industrial master Zhang Jian, whose position is equivalent to today's secretary long.The chief of staff and the secretary-general share similar political philosophies, both of which are hawks and advocate toughness. For Yuan Shikai, North Korea was a good place for him to display his skills, and it was also the starting point for his prosperity.He knew that in addition to his job, language skills would also determine his future in North Korea, so he learned Korean as soon as he arrived in North Korea, and soon reached the level where he could communicate directly with North Korean people by using gestures.

It was winter in a blink of an eye, and it was getting colder on the Korean Peninsula. Wu Changqing assigned a new task to Yuan Shikai, who had newly mastered a foreign language: to be in charge of foreign affairs, that is, to let Yuan Shikai be in charge of communication and entertainment. Due to this new job, Yuan Shikai often had to attend entertainment activities such as the banquets of the Korean royal family.According to the custom, of course one must drink while eating, and Yuan Shikai is no exception. After drinking, bragging is the main entertainment. Once, Yuan Shikai bragged to the king of North Korea after drinking, saying that he could train an army as powerful as the Qing army for His Majesty the king.In fact, how can he train soldiers? It's purely drunk talk.Who knew that the king of North Korea took it seriously, and really handed over his five hundred guards to him for training. Yuan Shikai was forced to go to Liangshan, so he had no choice but to imitate the cat and draw a tiger. Compared with the training mode of the Qing army, he really worked out a decent army. Yuan Shikai, who found the feeling, made persistent efforts and trained a regular army of 4,000 people for the Korean royal family. Soldiers were not trained for nothing, and Yuan Shikai gained at least two benefits: first, he established a good relationship with the Korean royal family and enhanced his ability to influence the decision-making of the Korean royal family; At least I was ashamed to shoot Yuan Shikai. This was the beginning of Yuan Shikai's military training, and he finally gained a foothold in North Korea.