The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 376 Don’t reject anyone who comes

Teng Yuzao said slowly, "I have understood what you mean. Now let me tell you."

When the generals heard that Teng Yuzao was about to speak, they all pricked up their ears.

What Teng Yuzhao said today is very important to the future of the vanguard army. Although these generals do not have exactly the same thoughts, they are completely the same on this point.

Needless to say, for generals like Liu Shijiu, Li Xianze, and Liu Yuzhi who extremely supported Teng Yuzao, the future of the vanguard army was Teng Yuzao's future, and of course their future as well. They could not fail to attach great importance to it.

In Teng Yuzao's opinion, the people who had such thoughts might even include Liu Changfa and Li Yaoting.

Although these two people may accept it passively, they will always stand completely on Teng Yuzhao's side.

But of course there are people who have other thoughts. After all, the imperial court is still more authoritative than him, Teng Yuzhao.

Teng Yuzhao even thought that some of these people would side with the court under certain circumstances, such as when the situation was not favorable to him, Teng Yuzhao.

However, no matter what they think, this matter is extremely important to them. Some of them may start to choose their own direction based on Teng Yuzhao's approach, at least in secret.

Teng Yuzao said slowly, "I agree with Xuan Qing's words. We are the imperial army, and I am not a mountain king who has established my own mountain. How can I refuse someone sent by the imperial court?"

"As for the people sent by Li Zhongtang and Zhang Xiangtao, it was also out of their good intentions. Moreover, these people they sent all came from our Beiyang Military Academy, so naturally they will all be used."

"Shao Mu Gong has a couplet, I'm sure you all have heard of it. It says, 'The sea embraces all rivers, and tolerance makes it great.' Our vanguard army is the army of the imperial court, not just the army of Zhili Province."

The Shaomu Gong mentioned by Teng Yuzhao is Lin Zexu, who served as the governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi and destroyed opium in Humen.

Teng Yuzao had great respect and admiration for Lin Zexu.

Not only because Lin Zexu is a national hero and advocated fighting against Western invasion throughout his life, but also because Lin Zexu was open to Western culture, technology, and trade, advocating learning from the best and applying them, and he was not a pedantic person who closed his eyes and was blindly arrogant.

Moreover, according to historical records, Lin Zexu was at least proficient in two foreign languages, English and Portuguese, and he also made efforts to translate Western newspapers and books.

"Haiguo Tuzhi", a very famous book that broadened the horizons of the Chinese people, was compiled by the late Qing Dynasty thinker Wei Yuan from the documents translated by Lin Zexu and his staff. This book inspired the Westernization Movement in the late Qing Dynasty and even the Meiji Restoration in Japan.

Teng Yuzao continued, "Since our vanguard army is the imperial court's army, we must accept people with lofty ideals from all provinces in the country to fight the enemy together."

"It shouldn't just be the province of Zhili. Only in this way can our Vanguard Army truly become a national army. Especially in the current national crisis, the Vanguard Army should recruit knowledgeable people from all over the country to jointly resist foreign humiliation."

Teng Yuzhao deliberately did not say the word "court" but said "country", just to show his attitude to a certain extent.

As for how many of these generals could understand what he meant, Teng Yuzhao didn't think about it for the time being.

"Nothing"

Teng Yuzao suddenly changed the subject and said, "What Kangnian said makes sense. Although these people came from the Beiyang Military Academy, they have been back to their respective provinces for a long time. Some of them have been serving in the Green Camp. They may be unfamiliar with Western tactics and methods."

"Therefore, it's not just Kangnian who is worried that they won't be able to perform their duties in our vanguard army. I have the same concerns as well."

Teng Yuzhao glanced at the generals and spoke in an affirmative tone.

"These people may not all be qualified for the positions in the vanguard army, so we still have to select the best ones."

"I think we should do it according to Kangnian's method."

Teng Yuzhao noticed Liu Shijiu's expression. He was stunned at first, but when he heard the second half of what Teng Yuzhao said, his demeanor returned to normal and he picked up his wine bowl and took a sip of wine.

Liu Shijiu was the only exception in the vanguard army when it came to drinking. Including today, others only drank half a bowl, but he drank a whole bowl.

As for the others, Li Xiance and Liu Yuzhi were indifferent, their expressions did not change at all, while Liu Changfa was obviously relieved. Due to the angle, Teng Yuzao could only see Wei Jinghai's expression with his peripheral vision.

Although there was no change in the expression on Wei Jinghai's face, Teng Yuzhao's sensitive ears still heard the subtle sound of Wei Jinghai secretly breathing a sigh of relief after he finished speaking.

Pan Jinshan was excited, but the excitement only flashed across his face for a moment before disappearing.

Liu Yuanshou and Li Yaoting still had a calm expression, as if they thought Teng Yuzao should be like this.

Cao Futian was a little surprised at first, but then he returned to normal.

After being surprised, the Lin brothers looked at each other, and there was a hint of excitement in their eyes.

Only Hu Dianjia seemed to be deep in thought.

Teng Yuzhao sighed secretly, human hearts are hard to predict, the stone he threw today can only be regarded as a test stone, and cannot be regarded as the final conclusion. He still needs to observe some people, people will always change.

However, today's events also made him once again believe that his original group of subordinates can still be trusted, including the left-behind students headed by Wei Jinghai. These talents are his backbone and confidence.

What surprised him today were the Lin brothers.

But after Teng Yuzhao thought about it carefully, he understood the reason.

Both of them studied in the United States when they were young. Americans don't have any emperors. Not only do they not have much loyalty in their minds, they may even be dissatisfied with the Qing court for ending their study abroad careers so early.

Teng Yuzhao drank the remaining wine in the bowl in one gulp, wiped the wine from the corner of his mouth and said.

"There is one more thing, which I will also announce today."

"The Empress Dowager sent an imperial decree. Zhang Xiangtao suggested moving the capital to Jingmen, Hubei. The court thought this suggestion was insightful and asked Zhang Xiangtao to choose a site in Jingmen to plan a new capital."

Teng Yuzhao's secret memorial was written by him personally, and he never told anyone about it except Wei Jinghai. This was the first time he talked about this matter today.

Moreover, Wei Jinghai did not know that Cixi had already issued an imperial decree. Today was the first time Wei Jinghai heard about the capital relocation.

Moving the capital was a big event that could shake the whole world. As soon as Teng Yuzhao's words came out, these people held their breath and looked at him nervously.

Teng Yuzhao's voice continued to sound neither hurried nor slow.

"Moving the capital to Jingmen shows that the court is determined to fight the foreigners. However, Jingmen is more than 500 miles away from Hankou. Although it is much farther than the distance from Tianjin to the capital, there are foreign concessions in Hankou. In addition, there is the Yangtze River water conservancy there. Moving the capital to Jingmen does not mean that we can sit back and relax."

"Therefore, the court decided to train a new army in Hubei that is as capable of fighting as our vanguard army."

Teng Yuzhao glanced at Hu Dianjia and said to everyone with a smile.

"What Xuan Qing said just now is right. The Vanguard Army is the army of the imperial court. Moreover, it is not only the Vanguard Army, but also the armies of all provinces in the country."

"We can no longer allow the current situation where the armies of each province only listen to the orders of the governors of each province and ignore the safety of the imperial court, and stand aside and watch in times of national crisis. Therefore, the imperial court must now unify the military numbers of each province."

Teng Yuzao's tone slowed down and he continued.

"Of course, since the governors and governors-general are still signing some kind of agreement with the foreign powers, the unified serial number issue can only be implemented in Zhili and Huguang for the time being, and it is only limited to the new army."

"The court is preparing to train ten new troops, plus an artillery town and two cavalry towns."

感谢：昼伏夜出我独行、书之狂雨、江海2207、yaus-ming、风渐蓝、20220531153434091、拔锋寒、心漂浮、平凡之路二、阿秉忠、龙腾九霄上、201807068543045GAGIU、20210323214736463、20220123190759431、符小斌、其实我想留、20190508230723768、9721、20180407113842684、20190619170840655、20230913204721495、剑仙一心魔、20240427115303986、20240202115629098、20170919194825085、160925091957072、20190320000431282、小小肥仔、五星嘉耀、alexan0、辰雨、书香思益、将神、20170701164006138、莫打哈哈、121022092051640、救己渡人、菩萨蛮lbg、20220608010459333、wuyufanzero、依梦山人、161009201239821、20180822185926184、20170728105920853、寂寞的兰博基尼、月票推荐票支持！



(End of this chapter)