Chapter 23 Section 23

Fluno left Tianjin in late April. Before leaving, he said that the French army would send troops to patrol the border and expel Liu Yongfu's Black Banner Army. Stationed in Lang Son and Baosheng, requiring the Chinese army to retreat in advance.Li Hongzhang bluntly refused this request, but he was noncommittal and did not report to the French army patrolling the border.In his view, the Chinese army stationed at the border only wanted the enemy not to invade. As for patrolling the border outside the border, they turned a blind eye and did not affect each other. Unexpectedly, on the first day of the fifth lunar month, the 23rd of June in the Western calendar, 900 French troops, led by Colonel Desen, drove to the Guanyin Bridge in the south of Lang Son, ready to take over Lang Son.

Guanyin Bridge is an important pass. The south of the bridge and the north of the bridge are surrounded by high mountains. There are 4,000 people stationed in the south of the bridge, led by the Huai army general Wan Chongxuan, and the north of the bridge is defended by Yang Yuke, the admiral of the Guangdong Land Route, leading three battalions.Wan Chongxuan's subordinates in Qiaonan, because of Desen's arrogant and rude words, opened fire first. The firearms were not as sophisticated as the French army.Desen waved his army in pursuit, hoping to take advantage of the victory to occupy the Beishan highland, condescending, and intimidating Lang Son.

At that time, the Right Battalion was led by Ning Yuming, who was trapping Dang Minxuan. Seeing this situation, although he was worried but also happy, he hurriedly divided into three teams. Down shot, the French offensive was thwarted.So the left and right wings ambush all out, Desen was shocked, and nine hundred people retreated out of formation.All the armies chased Langjia.The Chinese side said that "hundreds of their sharp soldiers were wiped out", while the French side reported that 22 people were killed and 68 were injured. Pan Dingxin, the governor of Guangxi, had already decided that the Cantonese army was useless, so he refused to pay the troops, and planned to disband them. After this battle, he was impressed and allowed to pay the troops. However, the munitions needed in the front were never given.

Pan Dingxin had a very deep relationship with Li Hongzhang, and he also knew Li Hongzhang's temperament and style very well. Of course, he should give him a strong response to "preserving the peace". Therefore, he did not advocate preparing for war in Guangxi at all.Even if he had no worries about "preserving the peace", he would not want to fight, because the present and past are different, and fighting foreigners would be detrimental to his reputation. It has been a long-standing habit for many years: to avoid defeat is to win, if it is a small victory, it will surely become a big victory. It is not surprising that the battle reports are exaggerated, and even exaggerated to the point of unimaginable.That kind of battle can be fought, and now there are telegrams and newsprints, often exaggerated memorials of military exploits, which are still being carefully deliberated, while the newspapers have revealed the facts one after another.The imperial court often quotes news from the newspaper and criticizes them. In this way, there is no excuse, and the battle cannot be fought.

But now that he has actually won a battle, although Pan Dingxin has to pay the Cantonese army's food and pay, and also has to report the victory by telegram, he dare not exaggerate, and even deliberately dilute it. The tone of his words seems to indicate that this is a military strategist Common things, nothing to say.This has two functions. The first is not to offend Li Hongzhang and "preserve" the tie he presided over; Isn't it difficult to solve the problem that you can't get through with yourself? However, victories were won, especially victories won by foreigners.The generals of the defeated army are as expensive as the governor and admiral, the dismissal of the dismissal, the investigation of the investigation, and the rectification of the law. Since the merits and demerits are so clear, the victorious officers and soldiers should of course be rewarded.Pan Dingxin has been leading troops for many years, and he knows that this level cannot be suppressed no matter what, otherwise it will affect morale and cause great trouble, so he has to report.

In this way, it is not easy to dilute the matter.At the same time, Pan Dingxin was far from Longzhou and did not know the process of Li Hongzhang's negotiation with Fuluno in Tianjin.When King Chun saw it, he was very surprised. The five models were simple and clearly recorded. Why did they have these words of patrolling and receiving?Something is wrong, and you have to ask Li Hongzhang to find out the reason. Of course, Li Hongzhang does not admit that there is any promise other than the treaty. He only admits that Fu Lu Nuo once proposed to abridge the request when he intends to accept Lang Son and Bao Sheng. , strike out with a pencil, and have a "signature as proof".

This explanation is one-sided. To take a step back, since there is this section in the middle of the negotiation, no matter what, it should be reported to the court, so as to understand France's intentions.Concealment and non-reporting, it is hard to escape the blame of ambiguity. At this time, the Paris side protested that China had violated the contract and demanded compensation for huge military expenditures, and pointed out that the content of the five simplified Chinese and French versions was different.According to diplomatic practice, all treaties are based on French, let alone the treaties concluded between France itself and other countries, of course it is even more insisting that everything is based on the French text as evidence.

At this point in the situation, the Empress Dowager Cixi was deeply annoyed. On the one hand, she issued an order to blame Li Hongzhang for not handling the negotiations well.Of course Zhang Zhidong and Zhang Peilun also received this secret decree. At this time, the two, accompanied by Li Hongzhang, were going out to sea from the Dagu Port in Tianjin to inspect the Beiyang Navy. At that time, Liu Mingchuan was also being called to Beijing and passed by Tianjin. Naturally, he was the honored guest of the Beiyang Yamen, a veteran upstart, with high spirits. Whether Li Hongzhang wanted to maintain his status as a personal important minister or to realize his ambition to establish a navy, he needed the group of "red men" in front of him to be his wings, so he deliberately won over, and besides the big feast, he personally accompanied two Zhang and one Wu— ——His minister, Wu Dacheng, went out to sea to inspect the Beiyang Navy.

Going out of Dagukou from north to east, he visited the fortresses of Lushun, Dengzhou and Weihaiwei, which gave Zhang Peilun a lot of insight.Of course, in Tianjin and on the ship, he and Li Hongzhang held closed doors many times, confided their hearts and obtained an understanding.Li Hongzhang almost regarded Zhang Peilun as his mantle, and his only request was to cooperate in secret no matter what to preserve the peace, otherwise not only the creation of the navy would be hopeless, but the existing situation might also be lost. This is Li Hongzhang seeing that France has a lot of ambition and will definitely provoke in the Fujian area, but he can't say anything about backing down. He hopes that no matter how high-spirited Zhang Peilun is, he can make a concession to France at a critical juncture.In addition, Li Hongzhang also hoped that Zhang Peilun could fight against Zeng Guoquan and take over the real power of the Minister of Nanyang. On the one hand, he could support Beiyang, and on the other hand, he would be the Zhang Ben of the future "Seven Provinces of Classical Painting".

Zhang Peilun was naturally very interested in this idea, so he issued a memorial in Tianjin under the name of "Deploying Fujian Bureau Ships for Gathering Operations": "It is said that coastal defense is more important than navy, and Fujian Province is more important than shipping administration." . The Shipbuilding Bureau of Zhamin Province was created by Zuo Zongtang and completed by Shen Baozhen. The shipbuilding was regarded as the foundation of the navy, and the training school was set up to select the sailors.Although the Western ship system is becoming more and more strange, the bureau ship is already an old style, but when China creates a steamship navy, the generals in the future must learn from the party from the Fujian Bureau, and the first and second are in charge of the pilots, so it is important to treat them seriously. And the inspection has to be strict. "

The so-called "ju ship" is a ship built by the Fujian Shipping Bureau. There are 22 ships in total, and only 8 are stationed in Fujian. The Fujian Shipping Minister specially dispatched him to Tianjin to meet Zhang Peilun. He was in charge of a lieutenant named Zhang Cheng. After talking with him, he found out about the corruption. Straight play: "There is no fixed direction for the division of exercises, and there is no fixed method for combined exercises. If the ships are scattered in Haikou, and they are raised but not taught, the soldiers are bound to wander around, and the ships and equipment are worn out. After thinking about the style of writing in each province, every victory in the capital of Dayi Those who live in remote and small counties are those who are orderly and orderly, dedicated to their work and entertaining groups, and those who are in a narrow village. Pan's soldiers play wild all the year round." The following quotes the essence of Western naval training, and then discusses the Chinese navy: "China is eager to catch up, and it is still too late. If it spends a lot of money to build ships, it will not talk about the method of naval training. Only the north and the south Things should be transferred to the mission, so that the soldiers will take turns to drive, and gradually develop the habit of gambling in the green camp. In the future, we will set up seven provincial navy divisions. This is to rectify military discipline, which is the fundamental plan for building an army. The reason is extremely convincing, but the method has other intentions. The method first mentioned that he had "detailed acquaintance" with Li Hongzhang, and the result was: "Those who plan to divide the bureau's shipbuilding into different provinces will be transferred back one after another by the officials. The diligence and laziness of the stewardship, the firmness of the ship, the ingenuity of the machine, and the bluntness of the gun are all well understood by the ministers. If you are transferred back to Fujian, you can return to the defense within three to five days if you are near, and more than ten days if you are far away. If you want to respond vertically and horizontally, it is urgent to build the naval forces of the seven provinces. The minister plans to transfer the bureau ships, which are also in Fujian and Fujian. As Meng Yu promised, except for the five "Kangji" ships transferred from Beiyang, the minister If you follow the sea to the south, you can check it nearby; the two "Feiyun" ships dispatched by Guangdong are now stationed in Qiongqiong for transshipment, and the transfer is postponed. It is still ordered to return to defense. In the future, it will be divided into operations and joint operations, how to formulate regulations, the seven provinces really have horns, and the three oceans have no boundaries. In the meaning of cultivating materials in Chenghai, the deputy imperial court." What is stated in the memorial is that each is an "investigation drill", but in fact it is trying to trick the seven "juan ships" under the Nanyang Minister's command to return to Fujian and put them under their control.At the same time, there are two deep intentions in this memorial. The first is to deceive the court into admitting that all ships built by the Fujian Shipping Bureau are under the command and management of Zhang Peilun; The status of "Fujian Maritime Affairs" is the imperial envoy who surpasses the minister of shipping and works in parallel with the ministers of the Northern and Southern Ocean and the governor. After sending out the memorial, I boarded the ship immediately, but naturally I couldn't see the instructions, and all news was blocked by the sea.After arriving in Yantai, Fang Shi said goodbye to Li Hongzhang, and boarded the "Yangwu" with Zhang Zhidong via Shanghai to Fujian and Guangdong. As soon as I arrived in Shanghai, I realized that something was wrong. The war in Vietnam resumed, the peace treaty was on the verge of breaking down, and the "martial law" was changed from "martial law" to "martial law".The worst thing is that they won the battle of Guanyin Bridge!If the battle is lost, the imperial edict must be enough to protect the coastal areas, and nothing will happen. Once the battle is won, the imperial court will naturally be proud, let alone beg for peace, and France will definitely not give up. I'm afraid Hai will be troubled from now on. Zhang Peilun began to feel a little regretful.After all, he is not Fan Zhongyan, let alone Lu Xun. "Walkside" can certainly show off his might, but "Linrong" has no clue, and he doesn't know how to show off the power of the heavens?Things have been like this, so I have to bite the bullet and rush to Fujian to talk about it. Once at the mouth of the Minjiang River, enter the Majiang River from the "Northern Waterway", before entering the waterway, you can only hear the continuous bombardment of giant artillery, as if besieging the "Yangwu" from all directions.Zhang Peilun was taken aback, his mouth was dry and his heart was beating. He knew that his face had turned pale, but he wanted to imitate Xie An's hypocritical skills and asked casually, "What is this for?" "Returning to your lord, it's Nagato and the two forts of gold medals. Let's salute your lord's appointment." Hearing Zhang Cheng's answer, Zhang Peilun breathed a sigh of relief unconsciously, feeling ashamed and fortunate that he was able to calm down, otherwise it would be a big joke when he arrived in Fujian. "Take two hundred taels of silver." Zhang Peilun told the old servant Zhang Fu: "Please ask Vice General Zhang to reward the bravery of the two soldiers." So Zhang Cheng thanked the reward, personally commanded the entrance of the Yangwu, and drove southwest along the river. There were forts on both sides of the river mouth, that is, the south bank and the north bank. Bypassing Qingzhou, but seeing the deep and wide harbor and the calm water, this is Mawei.The area to the south is called Luoxing Pagoda, and the Ship Administration Bureau is to the north. There is a wharf in front of the bureau. The Minister of Shipping, He Ruzhang, has already led the civil and military personnel to stand on duty and wait for the imperial envoy. He Ruzhang is a native of Dapu, Guangdong. He lived in the Imperial Academy of Boshin in the seventh year of Tongzhi. This year was the year when Emperor Meiji of Japan ascended the throne. Victory resulted in the "return of the registration" and "abolition of feudal vassals and establishment of counties", which ended the dictatorship of the shogunate for many years and began the famous "Meiji Restoration".Eight years later, China sent an envoy to Japan for the first time, and He Ruzhang stayed in Japan for four years as a lecturer. He Ruzhang returned to China after his term of office expired. The beauty of poetry is abundant.Zhang Peilun asked him, what happened to Japan's "Meiji Restoration"?He Ruzhang was dumbfounded.Therefore, Zhang Peilun looked down on him very much. Although the name of the subject was one later, he didn't want to call himself a junior. When they met, he called him by his nickname: "Ziyi!" On the contrary, He Ruzhang called him "Young Man".Welcomed into the hall of the shipping bureau, regarded as the seat of honor, accompanied by himself, the "young man" was long and the "young man" was short, and stated the general situation of the shipping bureau.Zhang Peilun raised his face halfway, and responded with "um, um", it was like a "middle hall". "Young man!" After the statement, He Ruzhang asked again: "The bureau has prepared a hotel for the young man. Is it an advanced province, or is it here?" "Naturally, I will explain to the superiors face-to-face. Let me ask Mu Chunyan and He Xiaosong first about the situation in Fujian. I plan to enter the surplus tomorrow." This refers to Fuzhou general Mu Tushan and Fujian and Zhejiang Governor He Jing, implying that even Zhang Zhaodong, the governor of Fujian, doesn't care about him.He Ruzhang didn't know what secret order he had in his mouth, and he wanted to go to Fujian to rectify it?Yifa didn't dare to be negligent, and accompanied him to inspect the ship tanks and docks of the Shipping Bureau, the nine factories it belonged to, and the "front and back schools" where he taught manufacturing and management.Ye Lai invites you to a banquet, but Zhang Peilun refuses to go. He Ruzhang sends a table of swallow dishes full of seafood, including the cook, to the hotel. Zhang Peilun finally never refuses. In the early morning of the next day, He Jing specially dispatched the Superintendent of the Biaozhong Army, accompanied by Shouxian, to bring Zhang Peilun to Fuzhou in the eight-carrying green woolen sedan chair that the governor sat on.From the general to the governor, they all waited on duty at the Jieguan Pavilion at the south gate. Whenever imperial envoys come, local civil and military officials will "invite Sheng An" as usual. At this time, Zhang Peilun's identity "is like my presence", so he got off the green wool sedan chair and went directly to the official pavilion. Set up the incense table, Zhang Peilun went to the top of the incense table as soon as he entered, and stopped to the left.Mu Tushan and He Jing took the lead. Amidst the sound of drums, the foreman saluted, and declared his title: "I respectfully invite the Empress Dowager and the Emperor Shengan." "An!" Zhang Peilun only replied with one word, which was more noble than "title Tianxian", and it was equal to the queen mother and emperor answering in person. After performing this set of ceremonial notes, Zhang Peilun resumed his own identity, and greeted the local officials one by one-at this time, he had to talk about the etiquette of the Hanlin. He Jing, named Xiao Song, was born in Xiangshan, Guangdong. He was also born in Hanlin, the same age as Li Hongzhang.Zhang Zhaodong was one subject earlier than He Jing. Although he was not a member of the Hanlin Academy, he was truly an "old-timer" before Zhang Peilun's 12th subject.It's just that "the younger generations are fearful", the unshaven governor and governor, in front of Zhang Peilun, did not dare to have the slightest airs of his predecessors, just like He Ruzhang, he kept saying: "You should ask the young man to preside over everything." "The country is in trouble, the emperor is young, and the old officials of the three dynasties, I don't know how to express it?" Zhang Peilun's tone was reproachful as soon as he opened his mouth, He Jing and Zhang Zhaodong looked at each other in blank dismay, silent.On the contrary, Mu Tushan was more free and easy, calling out his nickname and saying: "Youqiao! You know the intention of the court. We are more familiar with the situation in Minhai. The situation has come to the point where it is today. There is a reason for it. The so-called turning the tide , I'm afraid I can't rely on the strength of one or two people. They are all doing things for the court, as long as they are open and honest, and work together, there is nothing that cannot be done." These two sentences carry a lot of weight. In addition, Mu Tushan was first recognized by the famous general Duolong'a, and later followed Zuo Zongtang to the west. He treated Mu Tushan with a polite attitude, and replied very politely: "I see that the teaching is right!" "To be honest, we are far away in the frontier, so we really don't understand the intention of the imperial court. It seems that there is no agreement between Zhan and Zhan." Mu Tushan said again, "You Qiao, the higher ups on this floor want to listen to your ideas." "Don't dare!" Zhang Peilun couldn't say something clearly because of the grand plan of peace and war, and Mu Tushan also wanted to put the responsibility of defense on his own head, so he had to be more careful when speaking: "Military affairs are closely related. The current situation in various countries is not what it used to be. Between peace and war, it is natural to measure one's morality and strength. If a quarrel is easily provoked, I am afraid that all countries will join forces to plot against me. I know the court's intentions better than your lords. Generally speaking, the peace situation can be preserved. It must be preserved. However, it is one thing to preserve the tie, and it is another thing to rectify the defense, and defense must not be relaxed just because the tie can be preserved." "Of course." Mu Tushan said, "It's just that Fujian's defense is weak. I don't know if Beiyang is willing to help?" "According to the rules, Fujian Defense should cooperate with Nanyang. But Hefei is a person who is willing to take care of the overall situation. This time, he has promised me in person, with 24 Krupp mountain cannons and 1,200 Hatchkiss foreign guns. Zhang Peilun then said: "I want to train a new army. I need four artillery teams and more than a dozen battalions of foreign spearmen. Of course there are not enough foreign guns. I need to ask Beiyang to do it for me. Hefei also promised me. I will try my best." This shows Zhang Peilun's strength even more!As soon as he arrives, he will have to train the army, and it seems that he will be stationed in Fujian for a long time, so he will not use the name of "being able to handle Fujian's maritime affairs" for a long time.It is impossible to become the governor all at once, but it is a matter of course to transfer the governor of Fujian. Therefore, Zhang Zhaodong felt uncomfortable. "Young man," Zhang Zhaodong immediately offered a suggestion: "I am afraid that talking about war on paper will not help in practice. I think it is better to ask the young man to go to sea first, inspect the ports of the whole province, and then decide on a countermeasure. It is more practical." "I also mean that." Zhang Peilun nodded. "Then it's up to me to prepare." Zhang Zhaodong volunteered to do work for Zhang Peilun. Although Zhang Zhaodong is very active, He Jing is not very interested in the tour, because one is the governor, accompanied by Zhang Peilun, it is unclear who is the master and who is the follower, which is embarrassing; I really don't dare to bear it, so I might as well take this opportunity to shirk it to Zhang Peilun. After making up his mind, he bowed his hands to Mutushan and said, "Chunweng, please accompany the young man for a hard trip, so I don't have to go. To be honest, it's useless to go." The last sentence, confession is useless, Zhang Peilun has no reason to force him to go.And Zhang Zhaodong saw the governor like this, and it was inconvenient to show too much affection, so in the end only Mu Tushan accompanied Zhang Peilun to Haikou for a tour. I didn't see anything when I saw it, but I heard a lot when I heard it.Mu Tushan knew a lot about Fujian's defense, and was quite dissatisfied with He Jing's indulgence of his generals.Speaking of the military officers in Fujian, there are two people with the worst reputation. One is Yang Zaiyuan, the acting commander-in-chief of the Taiwan town. This person is from Ningxiang, Hunan. Because of short supply, short supply, playing for ginseng, dismissal and audition, and cunning confession, he was sent to prison for torture, which made his face very ugly.Unexpectedly, in the third year of Guangxu, he did not know how to go through He Jing's way, and ended up with "invading the camp, and paid the compensation according to the amount", and opened the restoration officer. The general soldier who had been imprisoned for corruption returned to the old place, as if he had been sent again by one party. Naturally, no one in Taiwan thought highly of him.And Yang Zaiyuan actually worked as the general soldier for several years.From spring to autumn of last year, my parents died of illness one after another, and they didn't report to Dingyou, and they were still in love with each other. In Mutushan's eyes, it was really shameless. The other two are Zhang Desheng, the commander-in-chief of Funing Town. He is under the control of his two lieutenants, one named Cai Kangye and the other named Yuan Mingsheng. His discipline is lax and he cannot fight at all.However, ten battalions of new recruits were recruited to defend the forts in Nagato and other places. If Zhang Desheng was transferred, the ten battalions of recruits might collapse. When Zhang Peilun heard this, he was furious.He can talk about things, and of course he can correct his participation according to the facts, but the participation belongs to the participation, and the dispatch belongs to the dispatch, and he doesn't care whether he has the right to dispatch the general army.After returning to the provincial capital, he drew up a message and informed He Jing that the sea and the border were critical, and that "a corrupt and unscrupulous person like Yang Zaiyuan would be difficult to be aunted with", and He Jing was asked to "select officials to accept the administration". His screen friends advised him that doing so seemed to make He Jing look bad.According to general rules, it is best for Zouan Yang Zaiyuan to have the rank of governor, and it is not appropriate to make such a decision to open a vacancy on his own. Moreover, Taiwan's military affairs have been ordered to be supervised by Liu Mingchuan with the rank of governor, and it seems that it is inconvenient to infringe on his power. Zhang Peilun blatantly ignored and acted according to his own decision.After paying homage to Yang Zaiyuan's notes, he then joined Cai Kangye and Yuan Mingsheng, and made a special statement: "Zhang Desheng has made great achievements in the war, and it is inconvenient to face the enemy and change generals. He will give strict instructions, and withdraw the lieutenant general and leave the camp, and the army will begin to obey." Said: "I am a scholar who is a beginner in the army. How dare I lead you to correct the bomb when I come to Fujian for ten days? But the enemy is present, and the new general of the humble minister must be kind and trustworthy. It will collapse." After the note was issued, Zhang Desheng was passed on, and he reprimanded him sternly. As soon as the news spread, no one dared to say that he was domineering, but felt that the imperial envoy's prestige was really impressive.He Jing, Zhang Zhaodong, and He Ruzhang were even more uneasy, knowing in their hearts that although Li Hongzao was unlucky with Prince Gong, Qingliu's power was as powerful as Japan's.Zhang Peilun was well known by the Empress Dowager Cixi, he had the reliance of King Chun inside and the support of Li Hongzhang outside, so he couldn't afford to offend him. It's one thing not to be offended, but Zhang Peilun is aggressive, and it's another thing to make others bear it.Especially He Jing, as the governor who governs the civil and military affairs of the whole province and has the power to seize life and death, but he is so bullied by a junior, he feels that his face is shameless, and he is very distressed.At the same time, being soft is not reconciled, and being hard is unacceptable. I don't know what attitude to take?So he sighed and wished he could resign from office. He has a friend named Zhao, from Shaoxing.This master Zhao has been in Xianfeng for ten years, and when He Jing was in Lufeng Road in Anhui, Yanzhi entered the curtain, and he has been following him for more than 20 years.Mr. Zhao originally specialized in criminal names, but he was also good at poems and elegant in speech, so Dong Weng rose to the top, from supervisor to governor, and from governor to governor. A cleaner.In his spare time when talking about poetry and art, he learned about people and commented on the current situation. He talked about the subtleties, and he became a close friend of He Jing's "you can't live without him for a day".