The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 313: Attitudes are changing
Zhang Zhidong laughed and said, "This Teng Xingfu is very cunning. He has won so many battles and captured so many guns that he probably has more than he can use."

"This time, he only said that he would take out the Japanese Golden Hook Rifle, which is not the most advanced one today. Obviously, the Golden Hook Rifle is useless to him."

"Even with this Golden Hook Rifle, he still accused me of not wanting to take something given out of pity, and refused to speak out his true intention of wanting to sell it to me."

Zhang Zhidong put away his smile and said, "But he is right. I have never eaten charity in my life, and this time is no exception."

"Nothing"

Zhang Zhidong hesitated for a moment and said, "Contact Teng Xingfu. He must have seized a lot of firearms. He can't use them himself, and it's a pity to leave them idle. If you can sell those weapons and exchange them for the silver or ammunition that Teng Xingfu urgently needs, it will be of great help to him in fighting against the foreigners."

"However, I have signed the Southeast Mutual Protection Agreement after all, so it is inconvenient for the Governor's Office to intervene in this matter."

"I will have someone open a trading company, and they will contact you to buy your unused guns and then sell them to the governors who need them. What do you think?"

Zhang Zhidong smiled slyly and said, "This business can also use illegal means to buy some guns, ammunition and bullets that you urgently need. I'm sure Teng Xingfu will be very happy."

It is completely impossible to buy guns, artillery and ammunition from foreigners. Not to mention that Beiyang Zhili cannot buy them, even the provinces participating in the Southeast Mutual Protection cannot buy them. They can only rely on domestically produced weapons.

For example, the Shanghai Machinery Bureau and the Hanyang Gun Factory could produce artillery shells and bullets, and could even imitate some guns, bullets and artillery shells.

Zhang Zhidong said that Teng Yuzhao could buy ammunition from this trading company. This must mean that Zhang Zhidong was planning to secretly sell some much-needed ammunition and shells to the vanguard army. This made Master Qian excited.

However, the implied meaning in Zhang Zhidong's words still made Master Qian feel a little embarrassed.

Zhang Zhidong's words almost confirmed that Master Qian was the person sent by Teng Yuzhao. This was not the result that Teng Yuzhao wanted, and naturally Master Qian was unwilling to admit it.

Master Qian smiled bitterly and said, "Marshal Xiang misunderstood. I am not a member of Marshal Teng's vanguard army. I am just delivering a message for Marshal Teng."

"The reason why my newspaper is called Ta Kung Pao is that it is based on the eight words of non-partisanship, non-selling, non-private, and non-blindness. It reports all news and information truthfully, sets a precedent, enlightens the people, draws on Western learning, enlightens the wisdom of my compatriots, and advocates resistance to foreign aggression."

"That is to say, Ta Kung Pao will not be attached to anyone and only wants to report objective facts impartially."

"This newspaper is now entirely funded by me and a few colleagues."

Zhang Zhidong just smiled slightly in response to Qian's explanation.

"Mr. Fuzhi, don't worry. No matter what your relationship with Teng Xingfu is, I will spare no effort to support you. You don't have to worry about this at all."

The middle-aged man at the side said, "The original intention of the eight-character motto of Ta Kung Pao is good, but I'm afraid it's difficult to achieve the non-partisan principle."

The middle-aged man's words were quite impolite, and one could even say they hit the nail on the head.

The so-called "non-partisan" is indeed difficult to achieve, and it is even impossible to report the facts impartially. There will always be some bias towards one side, and non-partisanship is just talk. Seeing the middle-aged man suddenly say such impolite words, Zhang Zhidong, who felt it was inappropriate, pointed at the middle-aged man and said to Master Qian, "Mr. Fuzhi, let me introduce you."

"This is Gu Hongming, also known by his given name Tangsheng and his courtesy name Hongming. He is proficient in nine languages, including English, French, German, Latin, Greek, Malay, and Russian. He has 9 doctoral degrees and can be regarded as the first person in the Qing Dynasty who is proficient in Western science, languages, and Oriental Chinese studies."

Master Qian had heard of Gu Hongming's name a long time ago. He knew that Gu Hongming was currently working in Zhang Zhidong's government and was very popular with Zhang Zhidong.

Master Qian quickly stood up and bowed to Gu Hongming, saying, "Mr. Gu, I have heard of your name a long time ago. Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you!"

"But I don't know why Mr. Gu said that this non-partisanship is probably difficult to achieve. What does this mean?"

Seeing Zhang Zhidong looking at him, Gu Hongming held back the words on his lips and spoke.

"Brother Yizhi, please don't blame me. I just said it casually and didn't mean anything else."

“Although your newspaper only published two articles in The Rise of Great Powers, these two articles are full of historical data and clear arguments. Reading them is a mind-blowing and magnum opus. Not only will Chinese people be shocked by their reading, but Westerners will also be deeply inspired after reading them.”

"It's just that Xiang Shuai and I both want to know how many chapters there are in this book? And is it really written by Teng Shuai?"

Seeing that Gu Hongming no longer focused on the so-called "non-partisan" and whether it could be effectively implemented and pursued it relentlessly, but instead asked whether "The Rise of Great Powers" was written by Teng Yuzhao, Master Qian finally put his mind at ease.

He smiled and said to Zhang Zhidong and Gu Hongming, "Marshal Xiang and Mr. Gu, please rest assured that this book was definitely written by Marshal Teng. It is the result of Marshal Teng's years of research on the rise of the great powers."

"This book consists of eleven chapters, which not only analyze the rise of all the great powers except Italy and Austria, but also summarizes the rise of great powers in the last chapter, "The Great Way of Thinking". It contains the process that great powers must go through after years of hard work. It has a sobering effect on Chinese people who are determined to work hard and become stronger. It is really a good article that is rare in a thousand years."

Zhang Zhidong was irritated by Master Qian's words and he kept asking about the content of each chapter. Master Qian had no choice but to give a brief summary of each chapter.

After hearing the last part, Zhang Zhidong could not help but sigh with emotion, "Teng Xingfu is only thirty years old, but his achievements in civil and military affairs are so great. It is really admirable!"

After Zhang Zhidong expressed his emotion, he suddenly changed the subject.

"Mr. Yi Zhi, can you tell me why Teng Xingfu wanted to recruit the Boxers? Why did he even become brothers with the leader of the Boxers?"

Master Qian said hurriedly, "Marshal Xiang has misunderstood. As far as I know, there are indeed many people in the Vanguard Army who used to be Boxers, but Marshal Teng is not recruiting the Boxers. Those people are all members of the scattered Boxers. Marshal Teng will not take in any organized Boxers."

"General Teng has no choice but to take in these people. The Vanguard Army has been fighting since its establishment. Although we are actively recruiting new soldiers, they need training time. Far water cannot quench near thirst."

"Those who participated in the Boxer Rebellion have all been on the battlefield, and most of them practice martial arts."

Zuima was too tired after climbing Mount Tai yesterday, so I stopped updating yesterday. I have returned home today and will resume normal work tomorrow.

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(End of this chapter)