The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 509: Will reuse Yuan Weiting
Gu Hongming took a deep breath and said, "When I arrived, I saw some writers on the street loudly reading this article to the people who were eager to know the news of the vanguard army."

"I estimate that this article by Teng Xingfu will soon cause a sensation, and even stir up an uproar in the three towns of Wuchang."

Zhang Zhidong sighed and said, "It's not just the three towns of Wuchang. By tomorrow at the latest, people in big cities like Shanghai and Guangdong will have a strong reaction. Then Anqing, Jinan, Kaifeng, Taiyuan, Chengdu and other places will also have a big response."

Zhang Zhidong spoke angrily with obvious dissatisfaction with the court in his tone.

"What is the will of the people? Each of these suggestions by Teng Xingfu is a powerful weapon that can help the Qing Dynasty to avenge its humiliation a hundred years ago. Even if only one of them is achieved, the people will cheer for it and Teng Xingfu's reputation will soar. This is what the will of the people means."

"What can the court do to such a great and prestigious hero? At least in the short term, the court dare not do anything to Teng Xingfu. How short-sighted the court is!"

Gu Hongming agreed with Zhang Zhidong's words, but after thinking about it, he still said.

"Xiang Shuai, I'm afraid that the imperial court will bear a grudge against Teng Xingfu and gradually weaken his reputation."

Zhang Zhidong smiled and said, "Hongming, don't hesitate. Are you trying to say that the court has already started to take action against Teng Xingfu?"

"If I'm guessing correctly, you're referring to the rumor that Teng Xingfu hid the huge amount of gold and silver that he had seized from the Boxers when they looted the wealthy families in the capital, right?"

Gu Hongming smiled a little embarrassedly and said, "Xiang Marshal Mingjian, I have asked someone to inquire about it. This rumor was spread by people from the Qing Palace who came from Xi'an to purchase supplies, so I doubt it."

Zhang Zhidong shook his head decisively and said, "Although the Empress Dowager is a woman, she is very clear-headed in this regard. Have you ever seen her say anything critical of the Southeast Mutual Protection?"

Without waiting for Gu Hongming to answer, Zhang Zhidong continued.

"No, not only that, she never even mentioned it on her own initiative. The court now relies on Teng Xingfu and his vanguard army. The Queen Mother will definitely not do anything to Teng Xingfu at this time."

"Although she will definitely do something, she will not do it until the coalition forces of the great powers are driven away and the domestic political situation is completely stabilized."

"The rumor is probably spread by Yixin alone, and has nothing to do with the Queen Mother or the court."

Zhang Zhidong smiled again and said, "For example, Li Shaoquan, Liu Xianzhuang, and me, Zhang Zhidong, the court will also be like this."

"Once the domestic political situation stabilizes, I'm afraid that as long as the three of us survive, we will not be able to keep our positions as frontier officials. The most likely scenario is that we will be demoted in name only and transferred to the imperial court to retire."

When Zhang Zhidong said this, there was no trace of resentment or worry on his face, as if he was not talking about his own affairs, but about other people's affairs.

Zhang Zhidong's words made Gu Hongming somewhat puzzled.

"Xiang Shuai, won't Wang Zhichun and Yuan Weiting be okay?"

Zhang Zhidong curled his lips and said, "The reason why I didn't mention them is because compared with the three of us, they are not important enough."

"Wang Zhichun will definitely be affected, but given the Queen Mother's scheming, he won't be dealt with immediately."

"In my opinion, the most likely scenario is to first transfer Wang Zhichun out of Anhui and send him to another place where problems are more likely to occur, such as Northeast China or Guangxi, to continue serving as governor. Then they will find an opportunity to demote him to a civilian."

"Remove your post and serve the people!"

Gu Hongming said in surprise, "Isn't this a bit too much?"

Zhang Zhidong shook his head and said, "Women are the most vindictive, especially those who can endure and not complain. They will never forget their sorrows and grievances. This time, the Southeast Mutual Protection has offended the Empress Dowager. She will never forgive us until her death." "But, let's not talk about Li Shaoquan. He has a bad reputation among the people, but the civil and military officials in the court know that Li Shaoquan has worked hard for the court all his life. This reputation is unmatched. Moreover, he has been in poor health recently, including Liu Xianzhuang. I'm afraid they don't have much time left. The Empress Dowager will naturally not do anything unnecessary to them."

"The only one is me, Zhang Zhidong. Fortunately, I have some reputation in the court and the public, so she can't do anything to me. She just transferred me to the court."

"As for Wang Zhichun, she won't be polite. I'm afraid she will take out all her resentment towards us on him. Simply demoting him to a commoner is probably the lightest punishment. If he makes a big enough mistake, she might even chop off his head."

Gu Hongming looked at Zhang Zhidong and spoke carefully.

"Xiang Shuai, won't Yuan Weiting be held accountable?"

Zhang Zhidong smiled and said, "No, absolutely not."

With a sigh, Zhang Zhidong continued, "If there is another strong army in the country, such as Song Qing's Wuwei Zuojun, which is also a strong army capable of fighting, then it will be different. At that time, the worst person will probably be Yuan Weiting. However, the Wuwei Zuojun is a hopeless case, so Yuan Weiting got the advantage."

"In order to check and balance Teng Xingfu, the Queen Mother will not only not do anything to Yuan Weiting, but will also use Yuan Weiting."

"What a shame!"

Zhang Zhidong said with a bleak expression, "If I had a strong army like the Wuwei Right Army and was in Shandong, I would definitely not let Teng Xingfu steal the limelight."

Gu Hongming admired Zhang Zhidong's clarity and could only shake his head bitterly, and suddenly asked again.

"Xiang Marshal, you should have noticed that Teng Xingfu said in this article that he wanted to promote foreign affairs in Zhili, and he also threatened to invest no less than 1 billion taels of silver in ten years."

Gu Hongming was shocked and said, "One billion taels of silver, that is a huge amount of money. Where can he raise such a huge amount of money?"

"Also, Marshal Xiang only spent five million taels of silver to build the Hanyang Iron Works. How much can be accomplished with ten billion taels? Does Teng Xingfu want to turn Zhili into a place like the great powers within ten years?"

Gu Hongming's words made Zhang Zhidong laugh.

"Hongming, you still think that Teng Xingfu's money came from an illegal source, right?"

When Zhang Zhidong hit the nail on the head, Gu Hongming couldn't help but smile awkwardly.

Zhang Zhidong put away his smile and said, "Hongming, to be honest with you, I think so too."

"At that time, the Boxers looted the palaces of the kings, the dignitaries and the wealthy merchants in the capital, and took away hundreds of millions of taels of money. Teng Xingfu was searching for the Boxers in the capital, and it is said that only a small number of Boxers escaped from the two gates controlled by the Gansu Army. He captured the rest, drove them out of the city, and let them live."

"I have never heard that Teng Xingfu reported this matter to the court. This shows that he intercepted all the property he seized, and the property he obtained was definitely not less."

"It's just that it may be difficult to find evidence for this matter, unless the Boxers come out to testify. But now, the court is hunting down the Boxers on a large scale. How can those Boxers who were spared by Teng Xingfu be willing to come out to testify for the court and accuse Teng Xingfu?"

"Besides, even if someone came out to accuse Teng Xingfu, Teng Xingfu could deny it, and he wouldn't even need to blame his subordinates. So, how credible are the criminals being hunted down by the imperial court?"

"Teng Xingfu could even say that someone had framed him. If this matter gets out of hand, the imperial court might not be able to handle it!"

(End of this chapter)