The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 438 First Arrival in Qi County
Not far from the village is the famous Qiao Family Courtyard.

Qiao Family Mansion is not only famous locally, but also one of the few famous mansions in Shanxi. It is the home of Qiao Zhiyong, a wealthy businessman who ranked first in Shanxi and was known as the Rich Man.

On the afternoon of the same day after presiding over the military meeting, Teng Yuzhao hurriedly left Yi County and rushed to Shanxi.

Teng Yuzao did not go south to Niangzi Pass first and then enter Shanxi.

The areas around Niangzi Pass and Jingxing are too close to Baoding, and it is easy to encounter the coalition forces' outer guard troops.

Wei Jinghai, Liu Yuzhi, Li Xianze, Liu Shijiu and others therefore firmly opposed Teng Yuzhao's decision to take that path.

Therefore, Teng Yuzhao had to go directly west into the mountainous area in Yi County, and then enter the plain area in the hinterland of Shanxi through Laiyuan, Lingqiu, and Fanzhi, where he parted ways with Yang Shixiang.

Yang Shixiang wanted to rush there before Teng Yuzhao arrived and wait for the summons.

He received the imperial telegram in Wuchang. If he went to meet Teng Yuzhao first, it would be a great disrespect to the imperial court. Then it would be inappropriate for him to go with Teng Yuzhao.

Fortunately, Yang Shixiang had already prepared an excuse. He would say that he learned that the vanguard army was fighting a fierce battle with the allied forces, and he was eager to understand the situation and then report to the court.

In order to buy time for Yang Shixiang, after setting out from Yi County, although the mountain road was difficult to travel on, once the road was flatter, they would ride as fast as they could until dark.

After breaking up with Yang Shixiang, Teng Yuzhao slowed down, although he wanted to meet Cixi as soon as possible and rush to Luzhou to preside over the reorganization and training of the troops after achieving his desired goal.

However, Teng Yuzhao's entourage had too many personnel, and the hinterland of Shanxi was densely populated. It would be inconvenient if they continued to rush all the way every day.

This time, in addition to the special guard squadron accompanying Teng Yuzhao, he was also accompanied by a guard battalion from the headquarters, and a guard unit each sent by Liu Yuzhi, Li Xianze, and Wu Peifu, totaling fourteen to five hundred people.

Originally, the three of them were vying to send their guard battalion to follow Teng Yuzhao to Shanxi. Teng Yuzhao naturally understood that they were concerned about him, but it was not easy for him to specify who to send to follow and protect him.

Finally, in order to speed up the journey, Teng Yuzhao required people who could ride horses. He asked the four men to each select a sentry from their guard camp and put him under the command of Xu Ting. Only then did these people feel relieved.

Originally, Xu Ting's special guard squadron was also to be expanded, but because he was worried about Teng Yuzhao's safety, Xu Ting only left someone to be responsible for selecting new recruits, and he himself still followed.

Along the way, Teng Yuzhao tried his best not to disturb the local people, but with a horse team of nearly a thousand people passing by, all of them tall and big foreign horses, it was hard not to attract attention.

Eventually, it inevitably attracted the attention of the people of Shanxi, and someone even soon discovered from their military uniforms that this cavalry was actually the famous vanguard army.

This discovery immediately attracted the attention of the people along the way and the encouragement of the troops by the gentry.

Officials from prefectures and counties along the way came out of the city early to welcome them and actively arranged accommodation for Teng Yuzhao and his party.

You know, Teng Yuzao is not only the prestigious president of the Vanguard Army, he also holds the title of Governor-General of Zhili, who is known as the number one governor in the world.

Although the provincial governor was not from the same province, none of the officials along the way dared to be careless. Who knew whether they would have the opportunity to meet or even work with this youngest governor in the Qing Dynasty in the future?

If the other party is not satisfied with you, you might end up suffering the consequences.

However, this completely shattered Teng Yuzhao's idea of ​​not wanting to disturb the people of Shanxi.

What's more, when passing through Taiyuan City, Teng Yuzhao was forcibly dragged into the city by Xi Liang, the new governor of Shanxi, who personally greeted him at the city gate.

In order not to neglect Xiliang's enthusiasm, Teng Yuzao had to stay in Taiyuan for a day. However, Teng Yuzao also learned from Xiliang that Cixi was still staying in Qixian and had not yet arrived in Pingyao.

It was not until yesterday evening when it had already darkened that Teng Yuzhao arrived in Qi County.

After meeting Yang Shixiang and Zai Yi who came to greet her in person despite his status, Teng Yuzhao learned that Cixi was living in the home of Qiao Zhiyong, a famous wealthy businessman in Shanxi, and had already gone to bed. So he followed Zai Yi to the mansion of a local gentry near Qiao's compound, where they rested.

Teng Yuzhao developed the habit of getting up early. He had nothing to do after getting up in the morning, so he started physical training.

Since traveling through time, Teng Yuzhao has given up the morning exercises he had been doing for more than ten years in his previous life.

Because, ever since Teng Yuzhao traveled through time, he has been extremely busy every day, so how could he have time for morning exercises? Since he had some free time today, he was tempted and ran out for some morning exercises.

However, Teng Yuzhao was sweating profusely after running only two laps, and he felt visibly weak.

Teng Yuzhao stopped and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Teng Yuzhao's physical fitness should be good, but in the past few months, Teng Yuzhao often ate casually and then started to command the troops in battle, or was busy studying related matters. Even if the troops occasionally had time to rest, he would not have time to relax.

So much so that after a few months, my physical fitness has deteriorated significantly.

Since he was not running anymore, Teng Yuzhao had no plan to go back. Instead, he walked around the village while looking at the towering mansion in the distance.

Teng Yuzhao had been here in his previous life, but in later generations the surrounding area was full of modern buildings, which could not show the grandeur of Qiao's Courtyard.

At this moment, against the backdrop of the surrounding ordinary houses, the Qiao Family Courtyard, which covers an area of ​​over 10,000 square meters and has a wall more than ten meters high, appears even more magnificent.

According to what Zai Yi said last night, Xi Liang searched the Taiyuan treasury but only collected more than 100,000 taels of silver. Cixi knew that Xi Liang had just taken over Shanxi and was responsible for the military pay and food fodder for Song Qing, Ma Yukun and other troops on the Niangzi Pass front line, which was very difficult. In the end, he only took 50,000 taels of silver.

When passing by Qi County, Ronglu remembered Qiao Zhiyong of Qi County, with whom he had had dealings in his early years, and he suddenly decided to stay at Qiao's house.

The head of the Qiao family, Qiao Zhiyong, was very well-behaved. After Cixi settled down, he immediately offered her 100,000 taels of silver.

Although one hundred thousand is not a small number, for the princes, ministers, and guards who have gradually gathered along the way, a huge group of more than ten thousand people, one hundred thousand taels of silver is barely enough to cover the expenses for more than a month.

This was only possible given that Empress Dowager Cixi, who knew that she was short of money and Shanxi was a poor province, had greatly reduced her own food expenses.

Helplessly, Zai Yi came forward and borrowed 300,000 taels of silver from Qiao Zhiyong in the name of the court.

The Qiao family opened two banks, "Dadetong" and "Dadefeng". Their money and grain businesses were not only spread across the country, but it was also said that they also expanded their business to the Netherlands.

It is rumored that Qiao Zhiyong alone has a fortune of four or five million taels.

A mere three hundred thousand yuan, let alone borrowing it, even asking for it would not be a problem at all. The Qiao family would naturally not spend much money on this amount.

However, Qiao Zhiyong made a request, that is, he wanted the court's food and salary to be transported through his two banks if possible, especially the funds used by the vanguard army, for which he would be responsible for the transportation.

It should be said that Qiao Zhiyong's request was not excessive, and it would even save the court a lot of trouble, so Zai Yi was naturally willing to agree to it.

(End of this chapter)