The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 548 Yang Shiqi

Seeing Teng Yuzao getting off the car, the captain of the special guard squadron Liu Ziwei immediately took Teng Yuzao's two personal guards and flashed out from behind Yang Shiqi, spread out around Teng Yuzao, and looked around vigilantly.

Teng Yuzhao felt helpless that Liu Ziwei was so cautious with his personal guards.

Although not only the peace negotiations had ended long ago, even the foreign powers' garrisons in Zhili had already boarded the ships and left, Teng Yuzhao was prepared to leave only one person by his side at all times.

However, people like Liu Shijiu, Wu Peifu, Li Xianze, Liu Yuzhi, Wei Jinghai, Liu Changfa and Li Jinyu were more concerned about Teng Yuzao's safety. They even went to find Teng Yuzao and strongly demanded that his security guards be strengthened.

They claimed that Teng Yuzao was not only the future of the Vanguard Army, but also the future of all of them. Only when Teng Yuzao was there would the Vanguard Army be there. Therefore, Teng Yuzao's safety was not only Teng Yuzao's personal concern, but also the concern of all of them, and even the Vanguard Army. This matter could not be decided by Teng Yuzao alone.

In the end, Wei Jinghai ignored Teng Yuzao's objections and insisted on ordering Xu Ting to strictly follow their requirements to strengthen Teng Yuzao's security.

Xu Ting, who usually only obeyed Teng Yuzao's orders, stood firmly with these people this time and strengthened Teng Yuzao's security work.

Not only can no one around Teng Yuzhao retreat, but there will even be a small team of special guards following him at all times.

Only this time, the situation was a little special. A small team of special guard squadron members had already rushed to the capital in advance on an additional train at midnight yesterday.

Teng Yuzhao wanted to stay in the same two carriages with these noble ministers, and it was not convenient for Liu Ziwei and his two bodyguards to follow him, so he arranged for them to stay with Yang Shiqi.

Teng Yuzhao naturally understood the thoughts of his generals, and he could only accept it helplessly.

He even thought that what these people said was very right. Once he encountered an accident, the vanguard army would inevitably fall apart. Teng Yuzhao would be extremely unwilling if this army, which was capable of competing with any army of the great powers, was lost in the long river of history and became a thing of the past.

In response to Yang Shiqi's question, Teng Yuzao could only smile bitterly.

"Xingcheng, I know all this!"

"It's just that there are too many people in the carriage, and it's this season, and the train is moving so slowly that even with the windows open, you can't feel much wind. Some of the elderly really can't stand it, like Prince Zhuang."

"These people asked me to do this, how could I refuse on the grounds that the Queen Mother would be unhappy!"

Yang Shixiang smiled playfully and said, "Marshal, these two carriages are reserved for you princes and ministers accompanying the emperor. I noticed that not many people got off the carriage where Yikuang and his companions were. There are so many carriages in this special train, including the ones for eunuchs and palace maids, but the one where you are is the one with the most people getting off."

Yang Shiqi's words made Teng Yuzao smile bitterly.

Yang Shiqi was different from Yang Shixiang. Not only was he inferior in appearance, he was also more careless and quite cynical.

His speech and behavior were more direct, even a little harsh, but Teng Yuzao could completely accept it. After all, he knew Yang Shiqi's history and his talents very well.

Yang Shiqi bowed slightly to Teng Yuzao, "Marshal."

"This time, we saved these culprits, which was a great achievement. I heard that when the Queen Mother first got the peace outline sent to Xi'an by Li Zhongtang and Yikuang, she discussed it with Ronglu and others and was prepared to accept it. She would dismiss these people from their posts, exile them, or even execute them immediately."

"They even sent people on horseback to catch up with Yu Xian, the former governor of Shanxi, who was being taken to exile in Xinjiang, and made him drink poison and commit suicide. When the Marshal raised his arm and called for action, he firmly opposed the pursuit of the so-called culprit. For this reason, he not only fought with the foreigners again in anger, but also offended the Queen Mother."

"The Queen Mother finally had to publicly express her agreement with the Marshal's proposal and rejected the outline, but she was too late to chase back and punish Yu Xian. The unfortunate Yu Xian had already committed suicide by taking poison. The culprits should all be aware of these things."

"How could they not be grateful to the Marshal? And it's not just these people. Many local officials are very moved by the Marshal's righteous act and are loyal to him."

"besides."

Yang Shiqi lowered his voice and said, "Marshal, before I came to Baoding, I met Li Yaoting once in the capital. I asked him to do me a favor and spread the news that the court was going to bring charges against more than 400 officials against the foreigners."

Teng Yuzhao only found out about this last night. Li Yaoting told him about it in a confidential document that Li Yaoting sent to him.

In the secret letter, Li Yaoting apologized to Teng Yuzhao, saying that he had made the decision on his own without Teng Yuzhao's prior consent and had done what Yang Shiqi had said, and the news was spread through some tabloids.

In his heart, Teng Yuzao was very satisfied with what Yang Shiqi and Li Yaoting did. Sometimes, Teng Yuzao found it difficult to talk about these shady things, but with the actions of Yang Shiqi and Li Yaoting, he saved himself a lot of worries.

Although Teng Yuzao wrote back to Li Yaoting last night, in the letter he sternly warned Li Yaoting against any obvious attempt to win people's hearts for Teng Yuzao, and asked Li Yaoting to consult him in advance if there was anything similar happening again.

However, Teng Yuzao immediately stated in the letter that from now on, Li Yaoting would not need to ask for instructions on some minor matters, and he would not object as long as it was beneficial to the vanguard army.

Seeing that Teng Yuzhao just nodded and did not express his opinion, Yang Shiqi smiled and whispered.

"Marshal, there is one more thing I want to tell you."

"As you know, my residence is close to Jae-hoon's. Jae-hoon came to my residence while taking a walk last night."

Yang Shiqi's words made Teng Yuzao a little surprised.

Yang Shiqi said hurriedly, "Marshal, although Zaixun only talked to me about Li Zhongtang and the recent situation in the capital, he seemed to inadvertently mention the establishment of the Ministry of the Army during the conversation."

When Teng Yuzao heard Yang Shiqi talking about the Ministry of the Army, he couldn't help but perk up.

Zai Yi did talk to him about this matter last night, because some ministers believed that the establishment of the Ministry of the Army was a major event involving restructuring and should not be taken lightly. Moreover, there would be conflicts in power and responsibilities between the Ministry of War and the Ministry of the Army, so they expressed opposition.

Moreover, there were many people who opposed it. In the end, Cixi agreed not to set up the Ministry of Army for the time being, but only to establish an Army Preparatory Office under the Ministry of War to temporarily perform the duties of the Ministry of Army.

At the same time, it is planned to send people to European and American powers to inspect the army. After the inspectors return, detailed regulations will be established and then the Ministry of the Army will be set up.

This Army Preparatory Office was quite special. According to Zai Yi, it was only affiliated with the Ministry of War, but the Minister of War had no management authority. Instead, it reported directly to the Grand Council, and even the person in charge of this preparatory office had the authority to report directly to it.

In this way, although this preparatory office did not have the name of the Ministry of the Army, it already had the reality of the Ministry of the Army.

Moreover, this also told Teng Yuzhao that Cixi wanted the Manchus to be involved.

With such an arrangement, Teng Yuzhao could feel that Cixi really wanted to build a strong army like the great powers, and of course also wanted to seize military power.

Yang Shiqi continued, "Then Zaixun said that the Empress Dowager had summoned the Minister of War Tieliang twice recently on various pretexts."

Cixi summoned Tieliang, but Zai Yi did not mention this matter. It should be that all this was kept secret from Zai Yi and others.
Teng Yuzao was about to ask Yang Shiqi again when he suddenly saw several palace maids coming down from the carriage where Cixi was, and then standing respectfully on both sides of the carriage door. Teng Yuzao knew that this must be Cixi getting off the carriage to take a walk, so he hurriedly told Yang Shiqi.

"Xingcheng, come on, let's get in the car and talk."

After Teng Yuzhao finished speaking, he quickly walked towards the carriage where Yang Shi and Qi Jieduo were.

Following Teng Yuzhao's gaze, Yang Shiqi also saw the situation in the carriage where Cixi was, and hurriedly followed Teng Yuzhao and ran into his carriage.

Not only was there no sign of Jie Duodi in the carriage, but there was no one else in sight either. Teng Yuzhao knew that this must be because Jie Duodi had led the entire platoon of people on the railway to complete the task of adding carriages.

As soon as he entered the carriage, Yang Shiqi said with a smile, "Marshal, you have caught yourself in a trap this time!"

Teng Yuzao also smiled helplessly and said, "There's nothing I can do! The Queen Mother is already wary of me now, so I have to avoid her suspicion!"

As Yang Shiqi spoke, he took Teng Yuzao to a private room at one end of the carriage.

Yang Shiqi occupied three compartments in this carriage, which took up almost half of the space in this carriage.

This carriage was originally intended for important ministers, but since Li Lianying occupied a carriage with a private room, there was only one carriage with a private room left.

Since there were quite a large number of princes and ministers, and Cixi was unwilling to favor some over others in this matter, and it might even be that Cixi did not want those "culprits" to become alienated from her, so in the end Cixi decided that all princes and ministers should not ride in the carriage with private rooms, so Yang Shiqi got the advantage.

The carriages at that time were very different from ordinary passenger carriages in later generations. The compartments were large and spacious. Especially since this was Cixi's special train, the rooms were much larger.

In carriages without private rooms, the seats were not arranged back-to-back as in later times. Instead, the seat backs were against the wall panels of the carriage, and the passengers sat opposite each other across the aisle.

In the box occupied by Yang Shiqi, tea cups had already been placed on the table. There was even a teacup that had never been touched, as if it was specially prepared for Teng Yuzhao.

Seeing Teng Yuzhao looking at the teacup on the table, Yang Shiqi said with a smile.

"I figured the Marshal would find an excuse to come over after parking the car, so I prepared tea for him in advance."

Yang Shiqi pointed to a pot of tea on the table and said, "Marshal, this pot of tea was also brewed before the car stopped. It should be at the right temperature now."

When Yang Shiqi was pouring tea into Teng Yuzao's and his own teacups, Teng Yuzao noticed that the tea in the teapot was still steaming.

Teng Yuzhao noticed from the corner of his eye that Liu Ziwei was still standing at the door of the box. He turned his head slightly to look at him. After the two of them exchanged glances quickly, Liu Ziwei closed the door of the room.

Teng Yuzhao had been so thirsty from chatting with the ministers for the past few hours that he immediately picked up the teacup, skimmed aside the tea residue and took a sip. When he felt the temperature was fine, he drank it all in one gulp and said jokingly.

"Xingcheng, you are comparable to Zhuge Kongming!"

Yang Shiqi also picked up the teacup and took a sip, then sat down and said nonchalantly.

"You are too kind, Marshal! He is definitely not as good as Zhuge Kongming. If he uses conspiracies and tricks, he can barely be compared with Sima Yi. But compared with your upright and open schemes, I am ashamed of myself."

Although Yang Shiqi said that he could not match Teng Yuzhao in open conspiracy, there was no trace of humility on his face.

Yang Shiqi was a conceited person, so Teng Yuzhao did not find it strange to say this.

Yang Shiqi put away his smile and suddenly said.

"Marshal, in fact, the Queen Mother has long been afraid of you. I can sense it from the telegrams she exchanged with Li Zhongtang. It has nothing to do with whether you are close to those ministers today."

Teng Yuzao did not respond to Yang Shiqi's words, but waited quietly for Yang Shiqi's next words.

Yang Shiqi continued, "For example, when preparing to train a new army, the vanguard troops are to be stationed in the nine coastal provinces of Yanbian. My brother and I have different opinions on this matter."

The brother Yang Shiqi was referring to was naturally Yang Shixiang.

Yang Shiqi continued, "From this incident alone, we can see that the Queen Mother relies on the Marshal and the Vanguard Army, but also needs to be on guard against the Marshal. At the same time, she also needs the Marshal to check and balance Yuan Shikai."

Yang Shiqi's words made Teng Yuzao raise his eyebrows.

Cixi also needed to check and balance Yuan Shikai, but he had never thought about it.

Yang Shiqi went on to say, "The Marshal's vanguard troops are stationed along the coast and borders. Now they only lack Mongolia and Tibet. This is because the Queen Mother recognizes the combat effectiveness of the vanguard troops and knows that the vanguard troops are still needed to resist foreign invaders. This is where the Marshal needs to be relied on."

"Of course, there is no need to deny that the purpose of stationing the vanguard troops in various places is naturally to guard against the Marshal, and there may even be the idea of ​​dividing and ruling the vanguard troops in the future."

"However, in my opinion, the Empress Dowager was not at ease with Yuan Shikai. She had the Marshal in Zhili, and placed Yuan Shikai and his Wuwei Right Army in Henan and Shuntian Prefecture. This was to prevent Yuan Shikai, the Marshal, and Yuan Shikai from checking and balancing each other, and to prevent one side from becoming too powerful to be controlled, or even having its own troops and bullying the superiors."

Yang Shiqi continued, "The Empress Dowager was actually not at ease with Yuan Shikai. Although she transferred Yuan Shikai and the Wuwei Right Army to Shandong to guard against the Germans in Jiaozhou Bay and suppress the militia in Shandong, she was definitely not without the intention of guarding against Yuan Shikai."

"You know, in the year of Wuxu, Yuan Shikai was almost dragged over by the current emperor!"

"Moreover, he has once again disregarded the imperial court and signed the Southeast Mutual Protection Agreement. How can the Queen Mother trust him unconditionally?"

"It is only because of the presence of the Marshal that we let him expand his army and placed a town of the Wuwei Right Army in Shuntian Prefecture."

Teng Yuzao smiled and said, "Xingcheng's words today really opened my eyes. I have been thinking that this is to let Yuan Shikai check me, but it really doesn't mean that I want to check Yuan Shikai. The Queen Mother has put a lot of thought into this move!"

Yang Shiqi smiled and said, "Marshal, please don't underestimate yourself. You may not realize that although you are not as good as Cao Mengde who held the emperor hostage to control the princes, you are much better than Emperor Taizu of Song in terms of reputation and military strength."

Yang Shiqi spoke without reservation. Teng Yuzhao knew that he and Yang Shixiang must have communicated a lot, so he didn't care and just smiled and said.

"Xingcheng, please be careful with your words, otherwise I will be charged with another crime."

(End of this chapter)