The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 583 It was the Russians who did it

Wei Jinghai said without hesitation, "What General Manager Yang and Mr. Lianfu said makes sense. We will listen to the Marshal's decision on everything."

Although Yang Shixiang is now the second person in the Beiyang faction after Teng Yuzao in terms of position, he actually serves as Teng Yuzao's think tank. Apart from military generals, he has the closest relationship with Teng Yuzao. Therefore, Wei Jinghai and others seldom call him "Sir", but call him "Mr." instead.

After Wei Jinghai said this, the other generals stopped talking.

Although Wei Jinghai was a student of the Beiyang Military Academy who was promoted by Teng Yuzhao as an exception, Wei Jinghai was not only extremely capable and Teng Yuzhao's most capable assistant in military affairs, but he was also very considerate in his interpersonal relationships, which made his prestige in the army increasingly high.

In the past two years, Wei Jinghai, the chief of staff whose nominal position in the army was second only to Teng Yuzao, not only became the leader of the nearly 100 students of the Military Academy who were rescued together with him by Teng Yuzao, but he also gained the recognition of Liu Yuzhi, Li Xiangze, Liu Shijiu, Liu Changfa, Li Yulin and others.

Therefore, he is fully qualified to speak on behalf of the generals present.

Li Yulin saw that Teng Yuzhao looked exhausted, and said to him with a sigh.

"You have been traveling a long way, Marshal. You probably haven't had a good rest for a long time. Should we take a rest first and then have the meeting?"

Teng Yuzao smiled bitterly and shook his head. Just as he was about to speak, two staff officers walked into the meeting room with freshly brewed hot tea and a hot towel. The staff officers placed the teacup on the table in front of Teng Yuzao and handed the hot towel directly to Teng Yuzao.

Teng Yuzhao wiped his face with a hot towel and spoke to the two staff officers.

"I won't drink the tea. I've been drinking hot tea on the train to relieve my fatigue. My mouth is bitter from drinking it. Let's get two bottles of cold beer."

Seeing Liu Shijiu licking his lips, Teng Yuzao smiled and called to the two staff officers who had already walked to the door of the meeting room.

"Bring four bottles, and give Liu Zhentong two more."

Teng Yuzhao's words caused a burst of laughter, and even the two staff officers tried to hold back their laughter and walked out quickly.

These people all knew that apart from Teng Yuzhao himself, only Liu Shijiu could drink at will in the army.

Fortunately, Liu Shijiu could drink a lot and had never missed anything due to drinking.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, everyone asked Teng Yuzhao about his inspection tour, and Teng Yuzhao only gave a brief answer.

Soon, four bottles of beer were brought in by the staff officer. Teng Yuzhao took a big sip of the cool beer and immediately felt refreshed.

Teng Yuzao let out a long breath and said to Li Yaoting, "Hanhun, tell me about this assassination."

Although Teng Yuzao knew that Li Yaoting must have informed everyone present about this matter, he still wanted to hear it in person.

Li Yaoting naturally could not hide anything after receiving Teng Yuzao's request. Except that there were too many people present and his intelligence personnel spoke very vaguely, he told Teng Yuzao everything else.

There were five Russians involved in the assassination this time. According to the confessions of the captured Russians after interrogation, they came from Lushun three days ago disguised as businessmen. In order not to arouse suspicion, they did not go to the Russian Concession, but stayed directly in the hotel leading to the Governor's Palace at the Laolongtou Railway Station in the new city.

Later, they spent three thousand dollars to buy a Ford sedan made in Zhili.

From the weapons seized from them, it was discovered that they not only carried five high-powered Browning pistols, but also twelve British-made military grenades. They were prepared to ram Teng Yuzao's car with their vehicles when he met with the Governor's Mansion, and then rush forward to assassinate him with pistols and grenades.

Fortunately, Li Yaoting's security department was very efficient. After receiving the information that the Russians wanted to assassinate Teng Yuzhao, they quickly found the five people and captured the five assassins in the first half of the night before Teng Yuzhao returned.

However, the interrogation situation was not good. These five people were not active Russian military personnel. They were hired by a Chinese of unknown origin in Lushun. They were given 50,000 taels of silver as funds for the operation and were promised that they would be given another 50,000 taels after the assassination was successful.

According to Li Yaoting, although the killer of this failed assassination was Russian, it cannot be confirmed that the Russians ordered it. Although he is not sure who did it, he thinks the Japanese are also a possibility.

Teng Yuzhao agreed with Li Yaoting's opinion, but he didn't care too much about who was behind this matter.

Because, overall, this failed assassination attempt was very crude and even seemed a bit hasty, and it did not pose a big threat to him. He just needed to be more careful in the future.

After Li Yaoting finished speaking, Wei Jinghai continued.

"Marshal, before you came back, we discussed that in order to prevent Russian assassins or assassins from other countries from hiding in the concession, I have arranged for the military police commander Hu Daqiu to personally lead the charge, and Liu Zhentong sent a brigade to assist. The Russian concession has now been tightly besieged. At the same time, the entrances and exits of the concessions of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the United States, Austria, Belgium, Japan and other countries are also monitored and inspected, and roadblocks have been set up for this purpose."

"But, what should we do now?"

Liu Shijiu said angrily, "Marshal, these old Russians, Japanese and Westerners are not good people. We should just take back all these concessions and drive away all the people except those who come here to do business, so as not to let them take advantage of us."

Teng Yuzao smiled and said, "Brother, this won't do. There are many foreign engineers, professors, and foreign technicians among them. We invited them here, such as Jizhi and Qionglin, and there are many people at Beiyang University and Tongji Medical College. We can't drive them all away."

"Before the people we send abroad finish their studies, or even after they finish their studies and return, these will have a great impact for quite a long time."

"These people can help us a lot. In some places, we can't do without them."

"As for the concessions, we cannot take them all back for the time being. One reason is that we made a promise in the beginning, and the so-called concessions here are actually no longer concessions. They are completely different from those in Shanghai and Hankou."

"In our concession here, foreigners are not allowed to station any soldiers. Even the patrolmen are our people. If foreigners break the law, they must accept our legal sanctions."

"To put it bluntly, the name of the concession was retained just to let these foreigners save some face."

"It is actually just a residential area for these foreign powers in Zhili. It doesn't really matter whether we drive them away or not."

"Also, since their concessions are still there, foreigners who come to Zhili to work, teach, and do business are willing to live in the concessions because there are many people from their country, with the same living habits and language. They will not have the inconvenience and discomfort of living abroad. This is very helpful for us to attract foreign professors and engineers to Zhili."

"So, we can't take back all the concessions for the time being."

Yang Shixiang nodded in agreement with Teng Yuzao's opinion, but still frowned and said, "Marshal, there is one thing I don't understand. Why did the Russians send someone to assassinate you at this time? Are they trying to take this opportunity to stir up trouble outside the Great Wall?"

Teng Yuzao smiled and said, "It's possible."

"If it was done by the Russians, then there are only two reasons for assassinating me."

"First, since the Russians stopped implementing the second batch of troop withdrawal plan in October last year, our Ta Kung Pao has been publishing these news one after another, and even attracted newspapers in other provinces in the country to follow suit and refute them, setting off a wave of driving out the Russians in the country."

"This made the Russians hate it to the core, and they naturally wanted to put the blame on me."

"Secondly, the Russians really don't want to leave now. If they assassinate me and provoke another war, they can justifiably occupy the area outside the Great Wall."

Wei Jinghai nodded and said, "Also, the Russians are only afraid of the Marshal. If their conspiracy succeeds, they think our Zhi army will fall apart and will no longer pose a major threat to them."

"However, from the Marshal's tone, it seems that he thinks the Japanese are also suspects?"

Teng Yuzao smiled disdainfully and said, "In fact, it's not just the Japanese who are suspected, the British and French are also suspected. If I die, these countries will become vested interests. It's just that the Japanese are the most suspicious."

Tang Shaoyi asked in confusion, "Marshal, the Japanese have always coveted our three northeastern provinces. Logically, the Japanese want the Russians to withdraw quickly. If they do so, wouldn't that give the Russians even more reasons to stay in the three northeastern provinces?"

Tang Shaoyi helped Teng Yuzhao deal with all matters involving foreigners and foreign affairs. Under Teng Yuzhao's teaching and example, Tang Shaoyi made rapid progress. He was also deeply impressed by Teng Yuzhao and even regarded himself as Teng Yuzhao's student.

Teng Yuzhao also loved Tang Shaoyi very much. Tang Shaoyi was very smart and capable, but he was still too immature in government affairs, especially in his understanding of the great powers, and needed more experience.

Although Tang Shaoyi's question was a bit naive, Teng Yuzao still explained patiently.

"To be honest, I can almost be sure that this was done by the Japanese. I am at least 70 to 80 percent sure."

Teng Yuzao's words surprised everyone in the conference room.

Teng Yuzao continued, "You are right. The Japanese have always coveted our three northeastern provinces. They really hope that the Russians will evacuate quickly, so that they won't gain a firm foothold in the Northeast over time."

"But don't forget that the Japanese appetite is actually bigger than that of the Russians. They are not only thinking about our three northeastern provinces, they are even thinking about the interior of the country and Mongolia."

"The Japanese sent a large number of spies disguised as merchants to Mongolia. These people have been inciting the rebellion of those Mongolian princes. When I went to Zhangjiakou this time, I learned that Wu Ziyu had arrested two of them. Together with the Mongolian traitors who defected to them, they were all executed by Wu Ziyu."

Teng Yuzao continued to say to Tang Shaoyi, "In addition, according to Wang, the Japanese are actively trying to win over the bandits outside the Great Wall, and even gave guns and ammunition to some of the bandits who are close to them."

Teng Yuzhao almost blurted out Wang Decheng's name. Although the main generals and officials of the Beiyang faction knew that Wang Decheng was going to the Northeast, there were still some people here who were not aware of it. It would take some time to keep this matter secret.

"All signs indicate that the Japanese have always had evil intentions towards our land."

"Take this assassination attempt for example. If it had not succeeded, it would have certainly aroused my wrath. What they most want is to see us and the Russians fight a big battle in Northeast China. It would be best if both sides were defeated, so that they can reap the benefits."

"If the assassination succeeds, our Zhi army will fall apart, which will be more beneficial for them to attack the interior in the future."

"Damn it!"

Liu Shijiu said bitterly, "Marshal, we have been preparing for more than a year. Now our Zhi army is much stronger than when we attacked the concession in Tianjin. Now is the time to have strong soldiers and horses. Since the old Russians refuse to leave the border and the little Japanese have evil intentions towards you, this time we will fight them with real swords and guns again."

Teng Yuzhao picked up the glass filled with beer, took a sip, and said to Liu Shijiu with a smile.

"You are the one who will fight the battle. Just be patient and prepare for it."

Teng Yuzao no longer paid attention to Liu Shijiu, who was already beaming with joy after hearing that a war was going to take place, and said to everyone.

"Since the assassination has happened, we can no longer keep the Russian concession. Otherwise, we will not be able to explain to the people and domestic public opinion."

"Early tomorrow morning, we will send an ultimatum to the Russian consul in the concession. In view of the assassination, all Russians in the Russian concession in Tianjin must leave within three days. Otherwise, we will use force to resolve the issue. We want to take back the Russian concession."

"Except for the diplomats of the Russian consulate in the concession, all others must board the ship to leave the country. We will contact the British ship for the corresponding ship, but they need to pay for it themselves. If the money is not enough, we will use their property to deduct it."

"Oh, right."

Teng Yuzao hesitated for a moment and said, "In order to prevent misunderstandings, we can ask the foreign merchants settled in Tianjin and the Russian factories, houses and other real estate in the concession to come forward and form an evaluation team with us to negotiate fairly. Once the Russians withdraw from the three northeastern provinces according to the agreement, we will pay the full amount of compensation in Zhili."

"Shoushen will contact the British about the ship and send all the Russians in the concession to Port Arthur."

Teng Yuzao looked at Tang Shaoyi again, "Shaochuan, you are the one who will contact the powers regarding the assessment team."

Teng Yuzao also said to Cao Jiaxiang, the general manager of the Beiyang Patrol General Office, "Xilin, for the same reason of preventing misunderstandings from foreigners and not giving them a handle, the military police and the Ninth Regiment will not enter the Russian concession in Tianjin."

"If the Russians in the concession resist, your people will be there to deal with it. You can shoot if necessary, but you must never kill innocent people."

Following Teng Yuzao's instructions, Tang Shaoyi, Zhou Shoushen and Cao Jiaxiang all stood up and agreed.

Cao Jiaxiang even saluted and said, "Please rest assured, Marshal. I have ordered the patrol corps to assemble and stand by. They can quickly enter the concession at the command."

Teng Yuzao also instructed Yang Shixiang, "Lian Mansion, contact the Ta Kung Pao. If there is not enough time, have Mr. Qian publish an extra edition to announce the assassination. You must insist that the assassination was done by the Russians, and never mention the Japanese."

"As for the reason, I will tell you later."

(End of this chapter)