The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 541 Yikuang's Unexpected Disaster

As soon as they saw these senior generals coming down the steps of the headquarters, the Chinese and foreign reporters immediately swarmed forward, all vying to interview these senior generals. Even if it was just a few words, they would get a lot of valuable information from them.

Because these senior generals of the vanguard army who suddenly appeared all had serious expressions, which made these sensitive reporters smell something very unusual.

"Excuse me, General Hu, how is Marshal Teng now?"

"General Liu, I'm Morrison, you recognize me. May I ask what is General Teng Yuzao's attitude towards the peace treaty just signed?"

However, the dozens of reporters who swarmed in were immediately pushed away by the guards beside the generals and the guards in front of the headquarters who quickly rushed up. Then these soldiers holding rifles with sharp bayonets quickly formed a human wall to block the dozens of anxious reporters.

Faced with the reporters' urgent questions, none of the generals answered. They all looked at the horsemen who were trotting over with their horses, with their mouths tightly closed.

Although no one answered their questions, these people still felt something unusual from Liu Shijiu, who was the first to jump on the horse and rush out along the street with his guards.

Afterwards, the other generals also rode away hurriedly under the protection of their horsemen.

These senior generals of the vanguard army who commanded heavy troops left in such a hurry. Something big must be happening!
Just when these reporters were somewhat confused and uncertain, there was movement inside the headquarters. First, a dozen guards carrying Mauser pistols ran out in a line and lined up on the left and right sides of the steps of the headquarters.

Immediately afterwards, someone inside the headquarters loudly shouted "Salute". Following the shout, except for the two rows of guards who had just run out and the guards with guns who blocked the reporters, all other vanguard officers and soldiers stood at attention and saluted towards the headquarters gate.

Such a scene made these Chinese and foreign reporters quickly understand what was going on. Those who reacted quickly ran to the cameras that had been set up in front of the Governor's Mansion, got in front of the camera lenses covered with thick black velvet, and prepared to take pictures.

The generals who just came out did not have such a pomp. Now, there is only one person who can have such a pomp in front of the gate of this headquarters, and that is the highest official here, Teng Yuzhao, Minister of Beiyang, Governor-General of Zhili, and President of the Vanguard Army.

Sure enough, the four vanguard soldiers who came out later, holding pistols and vigilantly scanning the surrounding movements, stood on both sides of the gate on the steps, and Teng Yuzhao, who was following closely behind them, appeared in front of them.

Standing on both sides of Teng Yuzao were generals Yang Shixiang, Xu Shichang, Wei Jinghai, Liu Yuzhi, and Wu Peifu, wearing golden epaulettes, collar badges, and cap badges, making Teng Yuzao, who was wearing an ordinary officer's uniform but without any rank insignia, stand out particularly.

As a few white lights flashed by, the image of Teng Yuzhao with his lips tightly pursed was recorded forever.

"Excuse me, Marshal Teng, what do you think of the peace agreement that was just signed?"

"Dear General Teng, could you please express your opinion on this end-of-war agreement?"

"General Teng, I'm Morrison, I want to interview you!"

Although they were blocked tightly on the street by the more nervous guards, the reporters still struggled to break through the guards' blockade. More than a dozen guards on the stairs also rushed down the stairs in panic to stop the reporters.

Teng Yuzao's four personal guards quickly stood in front of Teng Yuzao to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the chaos to harm Teng Yuzao.

Teng Yuzhao stretched out his hand to push away the guards' obstruction, and said with a forced smile.

"Mr. Morrison, it's nice to see you again, but I'm in a bad mood right now and I have military affairs to attend to, so I don't have time to accept your interview for the time being. After the final ceasefire, I would be happy to accept your interview in Tianjin."

Teng Yuzao's words stunned all the reporters, including Morrison. The blonde female reporter was the first to react and shouted anxiously.

"Dear General Teng, I am Louise, a reporter for The New York Times in Hong Kong. General, the war has already ceased and both sides are about to conclude the peace talks and reach a final result. Don't you think so? Why do you still say that we have to wait until the final ceasefire?"

Teng Yuzao snorted coldly and said, "Miss Louise, according to your Western recognized principles, as long as the peace talks do not ultimately reach a result acceptable to both sides, the peace talks are not the final end, and the war will not stop. Don't you think so?"

"I can also tell you clearly that as long as the peace talks do not reach a result acceptable to both sides, the vanguard army will continue to fight."

Before Louis could ask again, a young male reporter with braids and wearing a gray suit spoke loudly.

"Marshal, I am a reporter from the Ta Kung Pao. May I ask, Marshal, what do you think of the peace treaty that the imperial court and the foreigners just signed?"

"contract."

Teng Yuzao sneered and raised the contract outline in his hand, saying sternly, "Everyone, as far as I know, many clauses in this contract outline deviate from the consistent claims and positions of the court and the empress dowager. This contract was signed behind the backs of the court and the empress dowager by Yikuang in collusion with the allied forces for his own selfish interests. The court and the empress dowager will never agree to this contract."

"Since this goes against the consistent position of the court and the Queen Mother, this is an invalid contract and a piece of waste paper."

Until this time, Yang Shixiang and Xu Shichang, who were standing beside Teng Yuzao, finally put their minds at ease.

They were very worried that Teng Yuzhao would clearly express his rejection of the contract. In their opinion, even if it was a humiliating contract, Cixi would definitely agree to it. After all, they had seen many of the telegrams Cixi sent to Li Hongzhang, and naturally understood that Cixi was determined to end the war as soon as possible.

But as long as Teng Yuzao refused to accept this contract, it would be considered as a complete break with the court. Although under the current circumstances, the court did not dare to break with Teng Yuzao completely, it would probably spare no effort and even arm Yuan Shikai's Wuwei Right Army without any cover, and even get strong support from the powers, eventually starting a civil war.

At that time, the local provinces, which have already become like scattered sand, will probably really demand independence, and the great powers will take the opportunity to intervene, and the country will eventually be destroyed.

But now Teng Yuzao insisted that the contract was signed privately by Yikuang for personal gain and in collusion with foreigners, which gave Cixi a way out and saved her face in front of the Chinese people. In the face of the overwhelming public opinion in China that was bound to support Teng Yuzao, even if Cixi was extremely unwilling, she could only swallow her anger in the end!

Yang Shixiang and Xu Shichang both secretly admired in their hearts that Teng Yuzhao's move was brilliant!
"Dear General Teng, I am Lucas, a reporter from the German Empire's Advertising Telegraph. Please forgive my intrusion."

"I think the general must have remembered it wrong, or the information he got was inaccurate. The person who signed the contract was not only your prince Yikuang, but also the highly respected Mr. Li Hongzhang in your country. Does the general think that Mr. Li Hongzhang will also collude with the powers? There is also Mr. Li Hongzhang's signature on it."

Teng Yuzao sneered and said, "It's true that there is Li Zhongtang's signature on it, but I think you don't know that Li Zhongtang has been seriously ill for a long time. He is even coughing up blood and is already dying. He is even often unconscious. Under such circumstances, do you think Li Zhongtang can make a normal and rational judgment?"

"So, this so-called contract was signed by Yikuang to deceive Li Zhongtang. This contract is not valid at all."

"Now, I will give you my opinion as you requested."

Teng Yuzao unfolded the copy of the contract in his hand and said, "The first and third clauses here are about the murder of your German Minister Kettel and the secretary of the Japanese Embassy, ​​Shan Shanbin."

"It is a recognized principle to protect the personal safety of foreign envoys. For example, your country did not vent its anger on the Qing Dynasty's Minister to Germany, Lü Haihuan, because of the unfortunate death of Minister Klind."

"As far as I know, the imperial court and the Queen Mother expressed deep sympathy for the unfortunate death of Minister Klind, and even punished the relevant personnel before the peace talks began."

"Therefore, I personally think that it is appropriate for your country to express appropriate apologies, but it should not be written into the treaty at all. As for how to express apologies, we still need to discuss it with the court in detail."

"The second clause, severely punishing the culprit, is completely nonsense. Before the peace talks, both sides had a tacit agreement that we would not pursue war criminals, and the coalition forces would not pursue the so-called culprit. Now that this clause appears in the peace treaty again, it is even more certain that this is the result of Yikuang's collusion with the coalition forces."

"Moreover, the great powers shamelessly demanded that the court execute court ministers including Ruijun Wang Zai Yi, Fuguo Gong Zai Lan, Prince Zhuang, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate Yingnian, the Minister of Justice Zhao Shuqiao, the Governor of Shanxi Yu Xian, the Minister of Rites Qi Xiu, the Left Vice Minister of Justice Xu Chengyu, the Grand Secretary Xu Tong, the Associate Grand Secretary and Minister of Personnel Gang Yi, the Governor-General of Sichuan Li Bingheng, and the Admiral of Shaanxi and Gansu Dong Fuxiang."

"As far as I know, the great powers are going even further and are preparing to demand severe punishment for as many as 142 local officials. It is said that the great powers have included all local officials who they think are not very friendly to them, and even court officials who are not on good terms with Yikuang. This is naked interference in our internal affairs, which is absolutely unacceptable."

Teng Yuzhao remembered that in history, only after Cixi killed more than 120 ministers in one breath like cutting melons did the turmoil in various countries about punishing the culprits gradually subside.

Teng Yuzao sighed secretly, "As for the suspension of imperial examinations for five years in towns that kill and insult foreigners, I agree with that. I also support that the imperial examination, a way of recruiting officials that is outdated, should be stopped forever."

"Fourth, I think that in order to avoid similar problems in the future, the remains of all foreigners on our land should be gathered together in one cemetery for centralized management."

"Article 5 prohibits the importation of arms and equipment for the manufacture of arms into our country. This is blatant discrimination. If any country dares to do so, even if it still regards us as an enemy, we will automatically regard the other party as an enemy, sever diplomatic relations and all economic exchanges with this country, and expel all the other party's merchants."

"Article 7: Each country can station troops to guard the embassy and demarcate the embassy district. This matter can be discussed, but the premise is that we need to be equal to each other and give us the same treatment."

"Articles 8 and 9, regarding the demolition of Dagu Fort and the garrison of the capital to the seaside, are absolutely impossible. Although the fort is no longer of much use under current conditions, it is a coastal defense facility of our country. Whether it needs to be demolished is our internal affairs. The same is true for the garrison. This is also the jurisdiction of me, the Minister of Beiyang. I will never agree to this."

Seeing that Teng Yuzao was about to end his speech, Morrison hurriedly shouted, "General Teng, you haven't expressed your attitude towards the sixth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth points yet?"

Teng Yuzao nodded and said, "As far as these clauses themselves are concerned, I personally fully agree with them, so I will talk about them next."

Teng Yuzhao's words stunned several foreign reporters, while the Chinese reporters were immediately shocked.

The reporter of Ta Kung Pao thought that Teng Yuzao did not understand the meaning of these articles, and could not help but shouting, "Marshal, Article 6 requires us to pay compensation! It's compensation!"

"The other clauses are also infringements on our rights and interference. Marshal, you must not agree to them!"

Teng Yuzao smiled with satisfaction and said to the Ta Kung Pao reporter, "You are very good! You are fully qualified to be a deputy editor-in-chief."

Then Teng Yuzao raised the copy of the peace treaty in his hand again and said, "Why, I completely agree with these terms."

"Let's talk about Article 6 first. I still emphasize fairness and equality. An unfair treaty is a treaty signed by the victor against the defeated, such as the war between Germany and France."

Teng Yuzhao waved his hand vigorously, and the copies in his hand made a rustling sound due to the sudden and violent swing.

Teng Yuzao shouted angrily, "But we were not defeated. It was the foreign powers, the Eight-Nation Alliance, who were defeated!"

"So, if these clauses must be included in the treaty, they must be included under the premise of equality. This is the premise. Without this premise, everything is off the table. If this is the case, I personally think it is better not to discuss the peace talks."

"As for the blackmail and clamor for more troops, if the Germans are not worried about the French, then let them do it; if the British Empire is not worried about the Boers making a comeback and the Germans taking advantage of the opportunity to grow stronger, then it can continue to increase its troops; even the French can continue to increase their troops, provided that they are mentally prepared to be bitten off by the Germans again."

"Even the Germans have to be careful about their east. If they don't mind being bitten by a polar bear, they can send 300,000 or 500,000 troops to the Far East."

"I can say responsibly that if we include the new recruits currently in training, the total strength of the Vanguard Army has exceeded one million. If we continue to fight for another year, we will have two or three million soldiers. By then, the powerful Vanguard Army will be able to wipe out all invaders."

Teng Yuzao said bitterly, "So, I think that not only should we fairly compensate foreigners for their losses of value and property, but the great powers should also compensate us for our losses of life and property. This invasion by the coalition forces has caused huge losses to our officials and civilians. Preliminary estimates put the losses at nearly 10 billion, and all of this must be compensated."

(End of this chapter)