The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 277: Planting a Few Landmines for the Foreigners (Part )
As for whether the Boxers would obey Teng Yuzao's command, they could not draw a conclusion yet, so for the time being they could only agree with Teng Yuzao's statement.

Even the angriest Resar shrugged his shoulders and turned away with a frustrated look on his face.

Just as Resar turned his head, his gaze was immediately attracted by the things in the hands of the guards approaching the door. His eyes were already shining with extreme excitement.

"Wow, thank you very much for your generosity, General. Give me a glass of vodka!"

This time, it was not one person who came in, but four people. Except for Teng Yuzhao's guard, the other three were holding trays with several bottles of foreign wine and high-heeled glasses on them.

Taking into account the preferences of these people, Teng Yuzhao asked the guards to bring not only the red wine that the French liked, but also the whiskey and brandy that the British and Americans loved to drink, and even sake from the Japanese.

After the guards poured each of the powers wine according to their own choices, these people could not help but drink it all in one gulp, as they hadn't smelled alcohol for some time.

Especially Resar, who immediately asked the guards for another glass after drinking one glass. After obtaining Teng Yuzao's consent, he placed a bottle of wine on the coffee table for each minister.

On the coffee table in front of Resar was, of course, the Russians' favorite, vodka.

Luban and Bellow, as well as Rosston, the acting chargé d'affaires of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Qing Dynasty, and Savage, the Italian Minister, all chose French Lafite.

The Japanese Minister, Jutaro Komura, asked for a bottle of Japanese sake.

American Minister Conger ordered a bottle of brandy, while British Minister MacArthur and reporter Morrison both chose whiskey.

Resar poured three glasses of vodka in a row, and he drank them all in one gulp.

Lu Ban drank two glasses of Lafite in a row before he looked at the third glass of Lafite and stopped taking any action.

The other ministers took a big sip and put down their cups. Even Komura Jutaro took only a small sip of sake and stopped drinking.

Teng Yuzao said to Bellow apologetically, "Mr. Bellow, I'm sorry, I really don't have any beer here. I can only give you French red wine."

Bellow bowed and said, "Thank you very much for the general's hospitality. I hope we will have a chance to have a beer together in the future."

"Okay, I hope we can taste your German beer together someday."

Teng Yuzhao said this with a smile, then lit a cigarette and spoke to the foreign ministers.

"I'm sorry, but I still have a lot of things to deal with. If you want to see me, just tell me what you want."

The British Minister to China, Claude MacDonald, who had been watching Teng Yuzao intently, leaned over and looked at the other ministers. They all nodded for him to speak, so Claude MacDonald straightened up and spoke.

"Respected General Teng, we have all heard about your series of achievements in Tianjin. We deeply admire that a Qing general has such amazing and superb modern military command capabilities. At the same time, we all agree that your opinions must be given full attention by us. Therefore, we have a few questions for you."

Teng Yuzao nodded to Dounale, asking him to continue. "We would like to know what the general thinks about the premeditated assassination of Baron Klind, and whether you think that the statements and property safety of envoys from various countries stationed in Qing Dynasty should be protected by their host countries. If you agree, then how do you explain the siege of the embassy district?"

After Dou Nale finished speaking, he stared at Teng Yuzao.

Not only MacArthur, but all the ministers, including Morrison, were like this.

In response to Dou Nale's aggressive question, Teng Yuzao nodded.

"First of all, I want to correct Minister Claude's statement. This was not a premeditated assassination of Minister Klind. It was just a misunderstanding. I personally deeply regret the death of Minister Klind."

Teng Yuzhao knew very well that according to the European powers, this was a premeditated act instructed by the Qing court. Although he was not fond of the current court, he still did not want it to bear the blame.

"I fully agree with the need to ensure the safety of diplomats. I believe that the safety of the lives of not only you but also diplomats from all over the world should be effectively protected by the countries where they are located."

"As for the siege of the embassy district, I don't know the specific cause and I have no comment on it."

With Morrison, a reporter from The Times, present, and Morrison constantly taking notes, the content of this conversation would definitely appear in the newspaper. Naturally, Teng Yuzhao did not dare to say anything careless. This was Cixi's matter, and how it would be resolved in the end was not something he, the chief military officer, could decide.

Dou Nale then asked, "Then what do you think of those governors and governors-general who signed the Southeast Self-Defense Agreement?"

Teng Yuzhao was somewhat disdainful of those governors and governors-general who saw the invasion of foreign enemies but only tried to protect themselves, and some even said that this was to protect the people from the harm of war. However, this question was a bombshell, a question he could not answer, at least for the time being he was not qualified to answer it.

To be more blunt, he currently does not have the ability to make any comments on these governors and governors-general.

Teng Yuzao smiled bitterly and said, "Sir Dounale, please don't forget that I am just a small military affairs director. I am not qualified to comment on this issue. That is the business of the court and those governors."

Seeing that Teng Yuzhao refused to be fooled, Dou Nale was still unwilling to give up and spoke temptingly again.

"No, our envoys all agree that with your talent, you can definitely govern a region. For example, you can be the governor of the entire Zhili region. If you are willing, our countries will fully support you."

Dou Nale's words made Teng Yuzao couldn't help laughing.

"Mr. Dou Nale, if you are trying to alienate the relationship between me and the court, make the court suspicious of me, and then do something to destroy the Great Wall so that you can defend against invasion of my beautiful land, then you are making a wrong calculation."

"Now, not only is the emperor wise, the queen mother intelligent, but all the ministers in the court are also outstanding, and each of them can be called an outstanding person. Who can't see through your little tricks? Please discuss this topic in person, otherwise I will send you away, or even throw you into the captives."

Although Dou Nale's face changed color, he still pretended to be calm and smiled, "General, you are joking. I just mentioned one option. Since you don't want to discuss this topic, let's change the question."

Dou Nale picked up the wine glass in front of him and took a sip of wine, as if to calm himself down, or as if to consider his question.
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(End of this chapter)