The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 550 Duan Qirui in Trouble

Teng Yuzhao took a puff of cigarette and continued.

"One of these two railways connects the capital and Zhangjiakou, and the other connects Tianjin and Pukou. With these two trunk railways, we can also build more branch railways, such as the Jinpu Line connecting Jinan, Anqing and other cities."

"In this way, not only can Zhili and Zhangjiakou quickly transport troops, but the troops in Anhui and Liangjiang can also quickly withdraw or receive reinforcements from Zhili."

"If hostile forces blockade our coastal areas, the troops in Fujian and Guangdong and Guangxi can also reach the Yangtze River by water transport, and then either transfer to the Jinpu Line or transfer to the Lu-Han Railway in Hankou to quickly rush to Zhili to prepare for war."

"In this way, although our vanguard army is still in a long line, with the railway, the connection will be closer."

"It would be best if these two main railway lines could be built at the same time. If that is not possible, then we should build the Jinpu line first."

"However, survey work on the Tianjin-Zhangjiakou line must be carried out at the same time."

Yang Shiqi could fully understand Teng Yuzao's eagerness to build the Jinpu Line. After all, Teng Yuzao was somewhat worried about so many troops being dispersed. With the railway, he could control his troops more firmly.

Moreover, if foreign invasion breaks out outside the Great Wall or in Zhili again, these troops will retreat even faster.

But Yang Shiqi was a little puzzled as they were in a hurry to build the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, and said with a slightly frown.

"Marshal, this Beijing-Zhangjiakou line has nothing to transport except coal from Datong, and there won't be many passengers. This line won't make much money. After it's built, it will only lose money. Why not build a railway from Wuchang to Guangdong and Guangxi? In this way, not only can the two provinces be connected by rail, but also Nanchang, Changsha and other places can be connected."

Teng Yuzao nodded and said, "Xingcheng, this railway from Wuchang to Guangdong and Guangxi that you mentioned is also very important, but it has to be put on the back burner for the time being."

"Zhili promoted Westernization on a large scale, and the demand for coal would not be less. It was inevitable to transport a large amount of coal to the Beijing-Tianjin area. This was just one of the reasons."

"The most important thing is the border defense issue. The Russians have already started to set their sights on our border areas, and Mongolia will not let them go. Sooner or later, they will set their sights on that area as well."

"Especially in Mongolia in the northern desert, they will not let it go. The Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway can connect the inland and Inner Mongolia more closely. Once something happens in the north, it will be more convenient to mobilize troops."

"In my plan, after the Tianjin-Zhangjiakou line is completed, it will be extended westward to Suiyuan and Baotou, and northward to Kulun. Of course, as the Governor-General of Zhili, I cannot manage that far for the time being. The railway can first be built to Zhangjiakou and then extended to Datong."

The two men discussed the railway for a while. After Teng Yuzhao explained his ideas to Yang Shiqi in detail, he brought up the matter of the Preparatory Office of the Ministry of the Army.

Teng Yuzao looked at Yang Shiqi and said, "Xingcheng, what you just said was what Zaixun revealed to you in a private chat. This should be Zaixun's subtle reminder to us that the Queen Mother is going to seize the military power?"

Yang Shiqi nodded and said, "I think so too. Zaixun should be grateful to the Marshal for saving his life and wants to help the Marshal secretly, but he is concerned about his identity. After all, he is still a prince of the Qing Dynasty, so he thought of passing this message to the Marshal through me."

Yang Shiqi continued, "The Queen Mother did not set up the Army Department, and summoned Tieliang twice. It is very likely that she wanted Tieliang to take the opportunity to establish an army controlled by the court by setting up the Army Department."

Seeing Teng Yuzhao frowning and thinking, Yang Shiqi spoke again.

"Marshal, there should be another meaning for not setting up the Army Department for the time being."

Yang Shiqi's words surprised Teng Yuzao. He looked up at Yang Shiqi, waiting for him to continue.

Yang Shiqi smiled bitterly and said, "Marshal, I thought the Queen Mother was unwilling to hand over the Army Department to Ju Ren, but because you, Li Zhongtang, and Zhang Xiangtao jointly recommended it, it would be embarrassing for you, so this matter has to be put aside for the time being."

"I also think that even so, Kikuto should participate in this preparatory office, otherwise we may suffer losses in future military reforms and other aspects."

Teng Yuzao nodded and said, "Not only the Chrysanthemums still need to participate, we also need to strongly support it, and the Vanguard Army must also send a large number of personnel to participate in the preparations."

As the special train shook, it had arrived outside Majiabao Station and was slowing down to enter the station.

Majiabao Railway Station is located between You'anmen and Yongdingmen in the south city. The straight-line distance from these two city gates is a little over 2 kilometers. The station and the two city gates form an isosceles triangle.

It is located here, which makes it convenient for travelers to go to the West City and East City of the outer city. Also, since this place is close to the Chongwenmen Customs, it is very convenient to pay taxes on goods.

The station originally had a beautiful Western-style building covering a large area. Unfortunately, it was burned down by the Boxers last year. Although it has not been repaired yet, Shuntian Prefecture has erected a curtain wall with large pieces of cloth to cover the burned waiting room of the station, and has also built a memorial archway on the platform.

As soon as the special train arrived at the station, the sound of Western musical instruments came into the compartment.

Yang Shiqi smiled and said, "Marshal, now the Wuwei Right Army and Shuntianfu Green Camp are jointly guarding the capital. In order to welcome the return of the empress dowager from the western hunting trip, Yuan Shikai has invested a lot of money. I heard that he set up a Western military band and invited instructors from British warships from Weihai to teach skills. It is said that Yuan Shikai spent more than 20,000 taels of silver to buy these Western musical instruments."

Although the playing was still a little uncoordinated, to Teng Yuzhao, these members of the Wuwei Right Army, who had just become familiar with Western musical instruments, played quite well.

Through the window of the train that was slowly approaching the station, Teng Yuzao could see that the cement platform of Majiabao Station was not only swept clean but also washed with water. It was almost spotless and even emitted a layer of light under the sunlight.

The station platform was already filled with people welcoming Cixi back to Beijing, and kneeling on both sides of the platform with swords and guns in hand were densely packed Green Camp soldiers from Shuntian Prefecture.

The group of officials in the middle did not have the chance to follow Cixi on her hunt to the west and hid in various counties outside the city or even in Henan. They are now officials from the capital who have returned to the capital from all over. The ranks of these officials are not high, and most of them are below the fourth rank. The highest-ranking officials are those standing in the middle, headed by Ronglu and Chen Kuilong, the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture.

Another group of people that stood out the most was Yuan Shikai's military band, who were wearing the gray uniforms of the Wuwei Right Army and holding shiny Western musical instruments in their hands, playing them diligently.

Teng Yuzao smiled and said, "Yuan Shikai's military band is pretty good. The Vanguard Army should also have a military band like this."

Yang Shiqi took out a pocket watch from his bosom and took a look at it. He smiled and said to Teng Yuzao, "Marshal, this Jie Duodi is really capable. He has calculated the time very accurately. It is exactly two o'clock in the afternoon now. It seems that we can't save this one thousand taels of silver."

Teng Yuzhao had just glanced at the watch on his wrist and knew that it was on time, so he smiled and said.

"Xingcheng, we don't have to pay for this silver. If we arrive on time, the Queen Mother will definitely reward us. The amount will probably be much more than the one thousand taels of silver we promised." Teng Yuzhao suddenly remembered something and said to Yang Shiqi.

"Xingcheng, we have set up too many businesses in the railway sector. We cannot rely on our own people alone. We need to hire some engineers and technicians from Europe and the United States at high salaries. Our people can also learn more about their technology."

"In addition, the Beiyang Railway School in Shanhaiguan will be moved to Tianjin. Not only will we resume school operations as soon as possible, but we will also expand enrollment. If there is a shortage of teachers, we can hire foreigners."

After telling Yang Shiqi about this, he smiled and said, "Let's go, it's time for us to go down."

As Teng Yuzhao spoke, he stood up, straightened his military uniform without rank, glanced at his riding boots which were still shining, and then walked out of the box first.

In Baoding, Teng Yuzhao had been in charge of everything, but now that they had arrived in the capital, he had to stand back. After getting off the car with Yang Shiqi, he first went to meet and greet Ronglu and the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, and then mingled with the group of princes and ministers who had just got off the car, waiting for Cixi to get off.

Teng Yuzao was always very polite to Ronglu. After all, Ronglu had been his superior and had promoted him. But towards Chen Kuilong, Teng Yuzao just nodded politely.

Teng Yuzao was not cold towards Chen Kuilong, but he knew very well that Chen Kuilong's wife was the goddaughter of Lady Yikuang. This Chen Kuilong was also Yikuang's godson-in-law and was very close to Yikuang. Teng Yuzao felt that there was no need to be too close to this person.

The first person to get off the car was Xiao Dezhang, who had been promoted to the head of the imperial kitchen and wore a third-rank hat. Behind Xiao Dezhang were two young eunuchs holding red silk lacquer trays with lids.

After Xiao Dezhang got off the car, he looked for a long time among the officials before he found Teng Yuzhao. Then he brought two young eunuchs and quickly came to Teng Yuzhao. He bowed to Teng Yuzhao with a smile on his face and then spoke in a low voice.

"Teng Zhongtang, the Queen Mother said that the special train arrived on time, thanks to Teng Zhongtang's good dispatch and the railway's diligence and thoroughness. The Queen Mother has issued a reward of 5,000 taels of silver to the railway and a Double Dragon Star Medal to Jie Duodi."

As the country's doors gradually opened in the late Qing Dynasty and Sino-foreign exchanges increased, foreign officials often presented medals of their own countries to China, but the Qing Dynasty's rewards were inconsistent with international practice.

In the 17th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, the Zongli Yamen requested the establishment of a medal regulation, suggesting that the national flag be used as a model for the design of the Double Dragon and Treasure Star Medal, a combination of Chinese and Western designs.

Prince Gong Yixin drafted the "Baoxing Regulations" with five grades and eleven levels for this purpose.

Since then, China's earliest medal, the Order of the Double Dragon Star, was born.

In the early days, most of the Order of the Precious Star Medals were made for specific individuals, that is, they were made by the Imperial Household Department when they needed to be awarded. Therefore, their shapes were very different, there were many versions, and they were quite arbitrary. Moreover, they were far from the shape of the Mangguang Star Medal used in various countries.

In the 22nd year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, the style of medals was redefined in combination with the common styles of medals in various countries in the world. While retaining the original oriental pearls, red corals and sapphires that distinguished the ranks, as well as double dragons, ruyi cloud patterns, Manchu and Chinese characters, etc., the medals were uniformly changed to hexagonal stars. At the same time, a distinction was made between star medals and hanging medals, and they were uniformly equipped with large ribbons of the corresponding colors of the ranks.

There are strict regulations for the production of the Double Dragon Star: the first and second grade six medals are all produced by the Zongli Yamen and the Imperial Household Department; the third grade and below can be produced by the yamen that requests the award. Since this medal was awarded by Cixi to Jie Duodi, it should naturally be at least second grade.

This made Teng Yuzhao smile bitterly in his heart. It only took Jie Duodi a few hours to send Cixi back to the capital from Baoding, and he was awarded a second-class medal of the Qing Dynasty. Isn't this medal of the Qing Dynasty too worthless?

However, the five thousand taels of silver were genuine goods. Teng Yuzhao hurriedly asked Liu Ziwei behind him to accept the reward. Yang Shiqi on the side had already greeted Xiao Dezhang with a smile and shook his hand affectionately.

Teng Yuzhao noticed that after shaking hands, Xiao Dezhang retracted his hand into his sleeve without leaving a trace, then stretched out his empty hand again and thanked Teng Yuzhao with a smile on his face, before happily getting back into the carriage.

Yang Shiqi had 30,000 taels of silver in the form of silver notes given by Teng Yuzhao. These were the funds specially prepared for Yang Shiqi to make friends with officials. Moreover, as long as he spent the money, he could continue to receive it without any limit.

Yang Shixiang would never be stingy with a eunuch like Xiao Dezhang who was close to Cixi.

Shortly after Xiao Dezhang returned to the car, Cixi, surrounded by a group of eunuchs and palace maids, and supported by Li Lianying and Xiao Dezhang, began to get out of the car.

Just as Cixi had just stood still on the platform and everyone was coming forward to greet her, a minor official from Shuntian Prefecture with a panicked look on his face hurriedly ran up to Chen Kuilong, the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, and whispered a few words into Chen Kuilong's ear. Chen Kuilong's expression changed drastically.

Ronglu, who had just greeted Cixi, saw Chen Kuilong's appearance and asked in a low voice.

"Yushi, what happened?"

Chen Kuilong said with a bitter face, "Sir, the commander of the Right Army of the Wuwei Army Duan Qirui who came to welcome the emperor refused to order the soldiers of his garrison to kneel down and greet him."

Chen Kuilong's words made Ronglu's face turn cold. He whispered, "This matter can only be solved by Yuan Weiting. Go and talk to him quickly."

Although Chen Kuilong tried to keep his voice as low as possible, it still immediately caused a burst of murmurs among the officials who came to receive the emperor.

Teng Yuzhao also heard it clearly and knew that Duan Qirui had once again fallen into his stubborn temper. He could not help but secretly praise Duan Qirui for his audacity.

Although the officials' discussion did not attract the attention of the smiling Cixi, after Chen Kuilong ran to whisper to Yuan Shikai, Yuan Shikai's face changed drastically and he hurried away, which made Cixi realize that something must have happened.

Cixi looked at Ronglu with some doubts. Ronglu had no choice but to step forward and tell her what had happened with a wry smile.

While Ronglu was explaining the whole story to Cixi, Yang Shiqi whispered to Teng Yuzhao.

"Marshal, this Duan Qirui is a capable general under Yuan Shikai. If he starts like this, he will cause trouble for Yuan Shikai!"

Yang Shiqi suddenly remembered something and said, "He seems to be a classmate of the Marshal, right? I heard Li Zhongtang say that this time, I think this person is going to be in trouble. Marshal, do you want to help him?"

Teng Yuzao nodded and said with a wry smile, "Not only were we classmates at the Beiyang Military Academy, we also went to study in Germany together. Duan Zhiquan is a bit stubborn, but there shouldn't be any problem. Let's see."

After Teng Yuzhao finished speaking, he turned his gaze to Cixi.

After listening to Ronglu's story, Cixi did not get angry, but just smiled faintly, and then talked with several princes and ministers who were unable to accompany the emperor.
(End of this chapter)