The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 270: Drinking a Bowl of Wine to Seize Military Power

Although Teng Yuzhao could roughly guess the identity of the Boxer leader who questioned his orders, he had never met Zhou Zhan and Liu Zhigang, so he naturally could not accurately determine who was speaking.

Liu Jiujiu raised his eyebrows and was about to speak, but Wei Jinghai hurriedly said, "Sir, this is Zhou Zhan, the temporary leader nominated by the various Boxers in the capital."

Then Wei Jinghai pointed at another tall and thin man standing next to Zhou Zhan and said, "This is Liu Zhigang, who was also elected as the leader."

Teng Yuzao didn't care much about Zhou Zhan, but he took a few more glances at Liu Zhigang.

Liu Zhigang is said to be the founder of another mysterious organization under the name of Wang Jueyi that emerged in China decades later and was severely cracked down by the authorities. This person should not be underestimated.

Just as Teng Yuzhao was about to speak, there was a sudden explosion like muffled thunder from the direction of Qihua Gate in the east, which startled all the Boxers in the flower hall.

Although cannons had been firing in the East City and the Outer City for most of the day, the sound was not this loud. Such a loud sound was as if hundreds of shells had exploded at the same time.

Teng Yuzao said calmly, "Don't be nervous, everyone. This is not the foreign devils' cannon. This is the super cannon of our vanguard army showing its power."

Originally, Liu Shijiu was about to say the name "Conscienceless Cannon", but after hearing Teng Yuzhao say the name "Super Cannon", he stopped talking abruptly.

Sure enough, as soon as Teng Yuzhao finished speaking, a staff officer hurried in, whispered a few words into Wei Jinghai's ear, and then quickly ran out of the hall.

Wei Jinghai turned around and whispered a few words to Teng Yuzao, then smiled and said to everyone, "My master is right. It is our super cannon that is showing its power again. We have launched a general attack on the more than 6,000 foreign devils surrounded by us in Qihua Gate. It will take at most half an hour to end the battle by eliminating these more than 6,000 Japanese devils."

"In addition, the main force of our Vanguard Army's Third Mixed Brigade has also begun attacking the Japanese devils outside Qihua Gate."

"Also, our vanguard army's artillery brigade is moving its super cannons to the outer city, and is striving to completely wipe out the more than 5,000 foreign devils of the British and American coalition forces who are surrounded by our army in the outer city before dark."

"Well done! The vanguard army is mighty!"

As Wei Jinghai spoke, a tall, long-faced man sitting next to Wang Decheng became excited and his face turned red. He slammed the table and shouted loudly.

"Good fight!"

"The Vanguard Army is mighty!"

The fact that the vanguard army could wipe out tens of thousands of foreign devils within an hour made all the leaders extremely excited. Many of them flushed with excitement, and they couldn't help but follow the long-faced man and cheer loudly.

"Sir, the first one to cheer was Zhu Kaishan." Wei Jinghai said to Teng Yuzhao in a low voice.

In fact, without Wei Jinghai's hint, Teng Yuzhao roughly guessed that this person was Zhu Kaishan, because Teng Yuzhao estimated that it was very likely that the crew of later generations got a portrait of Zhu Kaishan, or it was God's will, anyway, this Zhu Kaishan looked very similar to the Zhu Kaishan in the film and television drama.

Although he was interrupted by the explosion of shells from the conscienceless artillery and artillery corps bombarding outside the Qihua Gate, he still had to answer Zhou Zhan's words.

Teng Yuzao bowed slightly to the cheering crowd, then turned to Zhou Zhan and nodded slightly, saying, "Captain Zhou, please be patient."

Then Teng Yuzao stopped paying attention to Zhou Zhan and looked at everyone proudly and said, "I think you should all have heard about what I did in Tianjin, including what I did today in the capital. I am not bragging, but in the past few months, I have killed at least 30,000 or 40,000 foreign devils on the battlefield."

"I don't mean to belittle you. All of you here, plus the brothers you have accepted, have killed more foreign devils in the past six months. I can say with certainty that it will never exceed this number."

Teng Yuzao took out his silver cigarette case, lit a cigarette with Wei Jinghai's lighter, and said lightly.

"So, in the matter of killing foreign devils, no one has the right to blame me. Not only you, but also the high-ranking officials of the court have no such right."

Teng Yuzhao exhaled a puff of green smoke and glanced at the leaders.

Obviously, Zhou Zhan's words were what some other leaders wanted to ask, but Teng Yuzao's words also shocked them deeply. None of them had ever counted how many foreign devils Teng Yuzao's vanguard troops had killed, but no one would question the shocking number of 30,000 to 40,000 mentioned by Teng Yuzao.

Teng Yuzhao didn't want to waste any more time arguing with these leaders about this matter.

"This time, the reason why I have to let these people in the embassy district go is because I have received the order from the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother not only wants me to lead the vanguard army to command the various troops in the capital to guard the capital, but also wants me to release the people who are surrounded in the embassy district. This is why I refuse to allow it."

It was probably difficult to explain to these people why the foreigners in the embassy area should be released. Teng Yuzhao didn't have time to waste here, so he had to bring Cixi out.

Moreover, there was a hidden threat in Teng Yuzao's words.

The meaning of these words was to tell Zhou Zhan, Liu Zhigang, and other stubborn individuals that he came with a vanguard army of tens of thousands, and was ordered to lead all the troops in the capital.

As soon as Teng Yuzao finished speaking, Zhou Zhan widened his eyes and was about to speak again, but Liu Zhigang at the side quietly touched him. The words were already on the tip of his tongue, but Zhou Zhan forced himself to hold them back.

Liu Zhigang stood up and bowed to Teng Yuzao, saying, "Since it is the Queen Mother's order, then there is nothing to say. Please give us your instructions, sir. What should we do next?"

Teng Yuzao nodded and said, "Captain Liu, please take a seat. Although the Queen Mother has ordered us to do so, these foreigners refuse to surrender. We still need to teach them a lesson."

As soon as Teng Yuzao finished speaking, Liu Shijiu patted his chest and said, "Xingfu, leave this matter to our assault brigade. After we wipe out the foreign devils in the outer city, I will bring two squadrons here to teach them a lesson."

"Third brother, count me in on this matter." Zhu Kaishan patted his chest and stood up.

"Count me in too."

"Count me in."

With Zhu Kaishan taking the lead, more than ten people stood up. Only a few leaders such as Liu Zhigang and Zhou Zhan did not stand up.

Liu Zhigang suddenly laughed and stood up, "Alright! Brothers are all full of heroic spirit. Let's go and teach those foreigners a lesson."

As he spoke, Liu Zhigang pulled Zhou Zhan, who stood up angrily and was about to leave with Liu Zhigang.

The remaining few Boxer leaders who had not stood up just now also stood up and called Zhu Kaishan and others to leave.

Now that they have come to his doorstep, Teng Yuzhao cannot let them leave so easily.

Teng Yuzao said in a cold voice, "Wait a minute, leaders." As soon as Teng Yuzao said this, the atmosphere in Huating suddenly changed. Liu Zhigang, Zhou Zhan and the Boxer leaders who had not yet stood up all changed color. Zhou Zhan even reached for his waist.

Liu Zhigang coughed lightly, then with a smile on his face, he bowed to Teng Yuzao and said, "I wonder if you have any other instructions, sir?"

Teng Yuzao stood up and said with a calm smile, "I just said that the Empress Dowager has ordered that all troops in Beijing are under my control. As the saying goes, a snake cannot survive without a head. Since we are to defend the capital, all troops in Beijing must have a unified command to enforce discipline. Otherwise, they will be like a pile of scattered sand, each acting on their own, and will not be able to stop the attack of the foreigners."

Teng Yuzao looked at Liu Jiujiu and said, "Therefore, I have decided that from today onwards, Liu Jiujiu, Wang Decheng, and Zhu Kaishan will be appointed as the temporary leaders of the Boxers in Beijing."

Teng Yuzao wanted to seize the leadership of the Boxers in Beijing from Liu Zhigang and Zhou Zhan. Liu Shijiu understood Teng Yuzao's intention and answered loudly with his chest puffed out.

"I obey my orders."

Wang Decheng also stood at attention and saluted, "I obey your command."

Zhu Kaishan was a little stunned when Teng Yuzhao suddenly called his name. Seeing Liu Shijiu and Wang Decheng both looking at him, Zhu Kaishan also hurriedly bowed deeply.

"The common people obey."

Teng Yuzhao threw the cigarette butt in his hand to the ground and crushed it with his foot. He looked at the Boxer leaders with a cold gaze and asked softly.

"Are you willing to obey my arrangements?"

Although Teng Yuzhao spoke softly, these people could hear that there was murderous intent in his words.

Zhu Kaishan, who had come to his senses, looked at the Boxer leaders who had just shouted that they should be included, and said with a bow, "Brothers, if we kill the foreign devils by ourselves, it's just a small fight. If we really want to kill the foreign devils, it's more exciting to follow the adults. Don't you think this makes sense?"

The leaders nodded one after another, and then someone said, "We are willing to obey your arrangement."

With a leader, the others also expressed their willingness to obey Teng Yuzao's orders.
Seeing that Zhou Zhan was about to explode, Liu Zhigang quickly pulled Zhou Zhan and said with a fist, "Sir, I am also willing to obey your arrangements."

Seeing that Liu Zhigang had surrendered, the Boxer leaders who had been acting according to Liu Zhigang and Zhou Zhan's expressions also expressed their obedience to the arrangements. It was not until the end that Zhou Zhan reluctantly bowed his hands in obedience.

Although he knew that it was impossible to make these people obey him completely and wholeheartedly with just these methods, Teng Yuzhao was not worried. As long as they were willing to obey his management now, he still had plenty of ways to deal with these people.

"Okay! Bring some wine. We have the honor of meeting all of you heroes today, so we have to celebrate. However, the military situation today is urgent, so let's drink a bowl of strong wine first. After we wipe out the foreign devils in the city, we can have a drink to celebrate."

With Teng Yuzhao's actions, he easily took the leadership of the Boxer Rebellion in the capital, at least in name only, which made Wei Jinghai, who was standing by, stunned.

However, when he heard Teng Yuzhao shouting for wine, he immediately came to his senses and shouted loudly for the guards to bring wine.

Liu Shijiu, Zhu Kaishan and Wang Decheng invited everyone to gather around the table again and quickly poured a large bowl of wine for each person.

Teng Yuzao picked up the wine bowl and smiled again, saying, "Let's drink this bowl of wine for helping me kill the foreign devils."

After Teng Yuzao finished speaking, he was the first to raise his head and drink a large bowl of wine. Except for Wei Jinghai and Cao Futian who just took a sip of the wine and put down their bowls, everyone else drank it all in one gulp.

The same was true for Liu Zhigang and Zhou Zhan. They now knew that if they displeased this God of Death, they would probably not leave the capital alive.

People under low eaves have to bow their heads.

After drinking a bowl of wine, Teng Yuzao put down the bowl and looked at Liu Shijiu.

"Brother, I will temporarily let you command the guards I brought back to support you."

In order to suppress the leaders of the Boxer Rebellion, Liu Shijiu must have some manpower.

"Also, the first thing you have to do is to teach the foreigners in the embassy district a lesson. You can set fire to the embassy district and force them to surrender to me. However, once they surrender, you cannot hurt anyone. These people must be released. Do you understand me?"

Teng Yuzhao was worried that Liu Shijiu would kill prisoners at will again, which would not be a good thing if the news got to the coalition forces.

Liu Nineteen nodded solemnly and said, "Xingfu, don't worry! I know what is light and what is heavy."

After Liu Shijiu finished speaking, he pulled out the Browning from his waist, slammed it heavily on the table, and said to him with glared eyes.

"My dear brothers, since you are all willing to obey Xingfu's orders, I will make it clear to you that if anyone dares to disobey my orders, or pretends to obey but actually disobeys them, don't blame me for being ruthless. My gun is not a vegetarian."

As soon as Liu Shijiu and the leaders of the Boxers left, Wei Jinghai said with a smile, "Your Excellency is wise. Emperor Taizu of Song gave up military power with a cup of wine, but your Excellency is taking it away with a bowl of wine! With these tens of thousands of Boxers, we can train them quickly and add tens of thousands of people without any problem."

Teng Yuzao smiled bitterly and said, "Ningbo, don't be too happy too soon. Many of these people are gangsters. It's not easy to win their hearts. We have to divide and disintegrate them. Liu Shijiu did a good job today. Zhu Kaishan will be of great help to us. You have to pay more attention to these things."

Teng Yuzao then added, "Of course, we must not be lenient with those who refuse to change."

Wei Jinghai nodded and said, "Sir, Liu Zhigang and Zhou Zhan, in my opinion, should be...

Wei Jinghai said this, opening his palm and making a chopping motion.

Although Teng Yuzao knew very well that neither Liu Zhigang nor Zhou Zhan were available, he did not dare to use them. But after thinking for a moment, he shook his head and rejected Wei Jinghai's suggestion.

"No, we can't act rashly now. Once we kill these two people, it will likely cause panic among these Boxer leaders, which will be detrimental to our efforts to recruit their men."

"Report."

The staff officer who had just come in to report hurried to the hall again, "Commander Hu just called and said that the conscienceless cannon was extremely powerful and had a surprisingly good effect. Thousands of Japanese soldiers in the encirclement were killed or injured, and most of the courtyards they occupied were blown down. Now the troops have rushed up and are dividing and encircling the remaining Japanese troops. He estimated that in half an hour at most, they can completely wipe out the remaining Japanese troops."

"Commander Hu, please tell me if the main force of the Third Mixed Brigade can start attacking now."

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(End of this chapter)