The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 432 Aren’t You Afraid

After arriving in Yi County, Teng Yuzhao, knowing that the vanguard troops were already in a state of extreme fatigue, gave up the plan to move to Luzhou Prefecture as soon as possible and ordered a day of rest in Yi County.

Teng Yuzhao even gave the troops a day off for the first time.

Of course, the officers and soldiers of each unit take turns to take holidays, and half of the troops are always present in the temporary base of the unit.

Moreover, troops on holiday are absolutely not allowed to leave their base too far and are basically only allowed to move around within the city.

Although the officers and soldiers below could take a holiday, the senior generals would not. After finally having a good night's sleep, the generals had just finished their lunch and were gathered by Teng Yuzhao in a spacious room next to the lobby of the county government to prepare for a military meeting.

However, these generals, including the newly appointed Senator Duan Qirui, had been sitting there for an hour, and Teng Yuzao had not yet arrived.

But the generals did not take it seriously, because they all knew that Teng Yuzhao was meeting with an official from Guangdong and Guangxi.

Moreover, before this, Teng Yuzhao had received an imperial edict from the imperial court, which was already in Pingyao, Shanxi, asking him to rush to Pingyao as soon as possible as the imperial court had important matters to inquire about.

Since Teng Yuzao had not arrived yet, these generals, without Teng Yuzao's restraint, began to talk about the two wars that had just ended without restraint and with great enthusiasm.

Even Wei Jinghai joined in and had a great time chatting with the generals.

Only Hu Dianjia and Duan Qirui did not join the discussion among the generals.

Hu Dianjia did not join because he had just experienced a defeat that caused heavy losses to the 3rd Mixed Brigade and was in a bad mood.

Although after the war, Teng Yuzao not only did not say much, but even found some objective reasons for his failure, and firmly rejected Hu Dianjia's request to resign from the post of Xietong, which made Hu Dianjia feel grateful to Teng Yuzao, but also felt more ashamed of Teng Yuzao's trust.

So, after arriving at the meeting place today, although none of the generals gave him a cold look, and no one made sarcastic remarks towards him, Hu Dianjia could not be happy and remained depressed.

Duan Qirui did not join because of his identity issues.

Duan Qirui could sense that although the generals under Teng Yuzhao were warm to him on the surface, they all treated him as an outsider, which made Duan Qirui very uncomfortable.

He had already told Teng Yuzhao that he would leave with Teng Yuzhao. Teng Yuzhao would go to Pingyao, Shanxi, while he would go south to Luzhou to serve as an instructor at the Vanguard Army's camp school to help Teng Yuzhao train artillery talents.

"Come here, capture this audacious lunatic and hand him over to the court for punishment."

A roar that was obviously from Teng Yuzhao's rage came into the room from the open window, which stunned the generals inside who were passionate about justice.

I heard that this official from Guangdong and Guangxi was assigned to the vanguard army by the court, and it seemed that he had to rush to Pingyao immediately.

At this moment, Teng Yuzhao was talking with the official who had just finished his meal in the small garden of the county government office separated by a wall.

However, all the generals were stunned by Teng Yuzhao's sudden roar, and they didn't know why Teng Yuzhao was so angry.

Even Hu Dianjia, who had been in a bad mood, and Duan Qirui, who was sipping tea alone, couldn't help but prick up their ears, wanting to listen to the noise in the garden.

What disappointed everyone was that there was no more movement coming out from inside.

Since the moon gate of the garden could not be seen from the window of the wing room, no one had any idea what was going on inside.

Yi County was not a big county, and because it was located in a mountainous area, it was not wealthy. Although the county government had a small garden, there were no exotic flowers or plants, pavilions or waterside pavilions in the garden. There was only a small pavilion with four corners in the center of the garden.

There are many trees in the garden, but there is only one kind, and the water is all covered with green willows. In the plainness, it has a unique flavor.

At this moment, there were only Teng Yuzhao and an official in his forties wearing the robes of a fourth-rank civil servant in the pavilion.

Apart from this, there was no one else in the garden.

This official was none other than Yang Shixiang, who was recommended by Li Hongzhang and formally appointed by the court to assist the vanguard army in military affairs.

After Yang Shixiang received a telegram from the court in Wuchang asking him to rush to Shanxi, he immediately rushed to Zhili at full speed, intending to meet Teng Yuzhao first before going to Shanxi.

In Baoding, it was learned that Teng Yuzhao had robbed a large amount of ammunition and supplies from the Allied Forces and killed more than 20,000 Allied Forces, which attracted heavy Allied Forces to pursue him. The Allied Forces even wanted to invade Baoding in the south.

At this time, Teng Yuzhao was leading his troops in a fierce battle with the pursuing Allied Forces in the Laishui area of ​​Waiyi County.

Moreover, there are rumors that part of the vanguard army suffered a defeat in the battle of Dongxianpo and is retreating to the vicinity of Laishui.

Such news made Yang Shixiang very anxious, and he hurried to Yi County to find out the exact location of Teng Yuzhao.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived in Yi County this morning, he met Teng Yuzhao, who had just moved his troops to Yi County after winning a great victory, the greatest victory in foreign wars in the past hundred years. This made Yang Shixiang very happy, and he immediately rushed to meet Teng Yuzhao.

Teng Yuzhao seemed very happy about Yang Shixiang's arrival. After the banquet, he ignored the upcoming military meeting and accompanied Yang Shixiang to the garden to drink tea.

Looking at the tea cups placed on the stone table in the pavilion, it seems that Teng Yuzao is drinking tea and chatting with Yang Shixiang.

However, Teng Yuzao was standing in the pavilion with an angry face, and Yang Shixiang was not frightened by Teng Yuzao's anger. He just looked at Teng Yuzao with a smile and sat there quietly.

Hearing Teng Yuzhao's roar, Xu Ting, who had been on guard outside the moon gate of the garden, rushed in quickly with a dozen men holding Mauser pistols with their muzzles already opened in an instant.

Teng Yuzhao glanced at Yang Shixiang who was still sitting upright like a mountain, and asked with a frown.

"You have made irresponsible remarks to disrupt government, slandered the imperial court, and encouraged imperial officials to plot evil. If you send them to the imperial court, you will be beheaded. Aren't you afraid?"

Yang Shixiang still smiled and said, "General Fu, you are joking. Who doesn't fear being beheaded? Of course I am afraid."

"If you are scared, how can you remain so calm? How come?" Teng Yuzhao asked curiously.

Yang Shixiang just glanced at Xu Ting and others and said with a smile.

"Because I know that Commander Fu will not only not arrest me, but will not hand me over to the court. He will not even talk about what happened today to anyone else."

Teng Yuzao frowned and asked, "Are you so sure that I won't arrest you?"

Yang Shixiang did not answer immediately. Instead, he picked up the teacup on the stone table with a smile, took a sip, tasted it carefully, and then said.

"Fu Shuai, this tea is very good. It should be the authentic West Lake Longjing."

(End of this chapter)