The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 59 Seat
After Li Yulin left, Liu Yuzhi selected one squad from each of the six platoons and sent out four squads of troops to escort the remaining more than one hundred Allied prisoners, including the lightly wounded, to the camp where Liu Changfa was for custody.

The other two squads were stationed in the No. 1 and No. 4 Maxim heavy machine gun bunkers on both sides, monitoring the Allied forces and civilians who were carrying corpses to the concession.

As the Allied Forces were not allowed to bring too many people at a time, they had to hire hundreds of civilian laborers in the concession to help transport the bodies. Under the supervision of the leading Allied officers, these people were busy all the time. However, even so, it took them more than four hours to finally transport the bodies of the fallen soldiers back to the concession on the other side.

Liu Yuzhi was not idle during this period. He had been organizing the remaining soldiers to undergo intensive training.

Although they had just fought a great battle and the soldiers were exhausted both physically and mentally, in order to prepare for the next possible battle, Teng Yuzhao still made up his mind. Not only did he not stop Liu Yuzhi's actions, but he also sent Wei Jinghai and several staff officers to help Liu Yuzhi train his soldiers.

This kind of training continued until dark, and only stopped when the whistle sounded for dinner.

Tonight's meal was particularly sumptuous. The staple food was still the snow-white white flour buns. Each person had a large bowl of braised lamb with broth, which contained half a bowl of meat. The vegetables were much simpler, with each person being given two scallions and a piece of salted radish.

However, no officers and soldiers complained. They often ate vegetables, but many of them had not eaten braised lamb for many years.

Teng Yuzhao, Wei Jinghai and several other staff officers ate together. Originally, Teng Yuzhao had always eaten with Li Yulin and Liu Changfa in the military camp. Although Teng Yuzhao has now become the Teng Yuzhao who traveled through time, he is not prepared to eat the same meals with the soldiers. He also does not agree with other vanguard army officers and soldiers sharing the same hardships. However, now it is wartime and the dish is braised lamb, so it is not appropriate for him to cook more dishes.

Although the food was the same, the portions were sufficient, and they called Liu Yuzhi over to eat with them.

Just after dinner, Teng Yuzhao received a verbal message from Yulu who sent his groom to convey it.

Notify Teng Yuzhao to arrive at the Beiyang Governor-General's temporary headquarters in Tianjin City at 8 pm to participate in the military meeting.

The Beiyang Governor-General's headquarters was originally located in Sanchahe outside the north city, but now the situation is tense, and Yu Lu has moved the headquarters into the city, temporarily staying at the Zhejiang Guild Hall.

It was about ten miles from the Beiyang Military Academy to the city. He had to walk or trot all the way there, so he naturally had to ride a horse.

For safety reasons, Teng Yuzhao was unwilling to go there alone on horseback, so he had no choice but to ride his horse and take his guard squad to Liu Changfa's artillery position, borrow twelve horses, and then rush to Tianjin City.

The Zhejiang Guild Hall was on Liangdian Street. When Teng Yuzhao arrived, it was almost exactly eight o'clock. On the street outside the guild hall, there were already hundreds of guards leading war horses and Boxers wearing turbans and holding swords, guns and spears.

These people were obviously escorting their respective leaders to attend the meeting.

As soon as Teng Yuzao arrived, he was welcomed in by a groom of Yu Lu who had been waiting outside the door and led directly into the hall.

When he walked into the hall in military uniform, even with the saber that had been kept by the guard squad hung on his waist, and wearing black boots that had been carefully wiped, he immediately attracted everyone's attention. Some were envious, some were disdainful, and some were jealous. Teng Yuzhao was prepared for these strange looks. He just glanced at the situation in the hall, and then looked straight ahead, ready to salute Yu Lu.

Sitting in the middle seat was the Zhili Governor Yu Lu, who was wearing a coral hat and a second-rank golden pheasant robe. Behind him sat several staff members, including Master Qian. Although he only took a quick glance, Teng Yuzao had already taken in all the situations in the hall.

The hall was already full of people, with government army generals and Boxer leaders sitting on both sides of Yu Lu.

Sitting on the left were the officers of the imperial army. The first of them was Nie Shicheng, the president of the Wuwei Front Army, and below him sat He Yongsheng, the general of Tianjin. Both of them were second-rank military officers, wearing coral-flowered hats and robes with lion patches.

Sitting behind them were several generals of Nie Shicheng's Wuwei Vanguard Army and three training camp commanders under Tianjin General He Yongsheng. Among these people, the Wuwei Vanguard Army generals were all wearing gray military uniforms, while the three training camp commanders were wearing military officer uniforms.

Pan Jinshan was not seen among the officers of the Wuwei Front Army. I guess he couldn't leave Dongjuzi.

On the other side were the leaders of the Boxers, all of them dressed in brightly coloured red and green.

Sitting at the top was a big man with a red scarf and a black face. Next to him was Cao Futian, the leader of the Jinghai Boxers. Then Han Yili, Jing Tingxiu, Zhao Landuo, Sixty-nine, Wang Decheng and more than a dozen other Boxer leaders sat down in turn, and behind them sat their subordinates.

As soon as he saw Teng Yuzao coming in, Yu Lu stood up with a smile on his face, pointed to an empty seat next to Nie Shicheng above him and said, "Xingfu, you're here, come and sit here."

That seat was obviously the most honorable one except for Yu Lu's seat. With two second-rank officials, Nie Shicheng and He Yongsheng, present, how could Teng Yuzao dare to sit there?

Although if the court approves him as the new president of the Vanguard Army, his rank will be at least a third-grade military post, not too far from the other two, but now he has not been officially appointed. If he really takes the seat, Nie Shicheng and He Yongsheng may not react, but the generals under him will definitely be dissatisfied, which is extremely unfavorable to some of Teng Yuzhao's future ideas.

Teng Yuzao hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Sir, how can this be done? I'd better let Sir He take over."

Teng Yuzhao's words made Yu Lu stunned. Nie Shicheng and He Yongsheng looked at each other and nodded slightly.

Yu Lu frowned, "It's just a seat, and you've won so many victories in the Military Academy, so why can't you sit here?"

Although what Yu Lu said was the truth, he said it too bluntly, implying that your achievements are unparalleled, so what's the point of sitting here?

Such words made Teng Yuzao feel even more uneasy. He bowed and said, "Everyone present has worked hard and made great contributions. I just won by chance, so it's not worth mentioning. I hope you can help me."

Seeing that Teng Yuzao was determined not to sit in the front, Yu Lu naturally understood what Teng Yuzao was thinking, and could not help but look at Nie Shicheng and He Yongsheng. Although Nie and He sat upright and did not look around, they would glance at Yu Lu and Teng Yuzao from the corner of their eyes from time to time.

Nie Shicheng looked at He Yongsheng, and the two exchanged glances. Nie Shicheng stood up and bowed to Yu Lu, "Sir, Brother Xingfu has received a series of good news. Sir He and I also want to get closer to Brother Xingfu. We would like to invite Brother Xingfu to sit between us. Is that okay?"

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(End of this chapter)