The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 6 Vanguard Army

This scene not only surprised Teng Yuzao, but also Li Yulin and Liu Changfa, who were so shocked that their mouths opened wide.

Master Qian stretched out his hand and lifted the red silk on the tray. There was only a document on the tray. Master Qian held up the document with both hands and spoke solemnly to Teng Yuzhao.

"Yu Zhongtang's order, Captain Teng Yuzao, has been working hard day and night to protect Tianjin, and has been unable to sleep at night. His loyalty and diligence are highly commendable, and he is truly a pillar of the Qing Dynasty. Now the foreign army is pressing harder and harder, and Tianjin is in great danger. In order to consolidate the territory of the Qing Dynasty and protect the people of Tianjin from being slaughtered by foreigners, he is specially appointed as the acting president of the Wuwei Vanguard Army to immediately reorganize the troops and equipment in preparation for any emergency."

After saying this, Master Qian solemnly handed the document to the still dazed Teng Yuzao with both hands.

After saying that, Master Qian smiled, clasped his hands and said, "Xingfu, congratulations to you! The memorial recommending you was written by me personally, and Yu Zhongtang has already sent it out by express delivery. There is also a personal letter to Rong Zhongtang. Not to mention the recommendation of Rong Lord, the military minister, even if there is no recommendation, given the current critical situation, the court will definitely not give face to Yu Zhongtang, a frontier official, and will definitely approve the memorial. Moreover, as long as Xingfu has another special achievement, the word "substitute" will be removed immediately."

"besides."

Master Qian added, "When I came here, Yu Zhongtang specifically told me that Xingfu didn't need to go to the headquarters to express his gratitude, but to quickly organize the army and go there. He hopes that you will achieve special merits soon."

Teng Yuzhao knew clearly that what Master Qian said was the truth. As long as Yu Lu did not commit suicide by taking poison a month later due to military defeat as happened in history, his position as the president would be confirmed.

At that time, he would become an official of the same level as Yuan Shikai, and would be qualified to compete with Yuan Shikai.

But the key question now is, which army is this "vanguard army"? There is no such army in the Wuwei Army!
Teng Yuzao hurriedly bowed deeply to Master Qian, "Thank you Master Qian, please tell Master Zhongtang that I will remember your kindness for the rest of my life, but as long as I am here, I will ensure that Master Zhongtang is safe and sound."

Teng Yuzhao's words were not meant to be false, he was truly grateful to Yu Lu. No matter what, Yu Lu had given him an opportunity, as long as he could grasp this opportunity, his future would become brighter, and it might even be a smooth journey.

Master Qian quickly stepped aside and bowed to Teng Yuzao repeatedly in return, "Xingfu, no, you are embarrassing me."

"I will report Xingfu's words to Yu Zhongtang without missing a word."

After Master Qian finished speaking, he turned around, took the folded red silk from the horseman's hand and handed it to Teng Yuzao, "Xingfu, this is the flag of the Wuwei Vanguard Army. The situation is urgent, so it is a bit crude. You can use it first. Your new flag will be made tomorrow and will be sent to your army immediately."

Teng Yuzhao took the military flag and did not unfold it to examine it immediately. He did not care whether the flag was simple or not. What he cared about was where his troops were.
"Master Qian, it's just..."

Master Qian seemed to see through Teng Yuzhao's thoughts and waved his hand to signal the two grooms to retreat.

Watching the two groomsmen exit the door, Master Qian only glanced at Li Yulin who was also trotting out, and lowered his voice, "Xingfu, do you want to ask where your vanguard troops are?"

Seeing Teng Yuzao nod, Master Qian smiled slyly and said, "Xingfu, I'm not trying to show off in front of you. This idea was mine."

Teng Yuzao immediately bowed and said, "Master Qian, I will never forget your kindness, and I will definitely repay you handsomely in the future!"

Master Qian waved his hand and said, "I won't talk about whether the reward is generous or not. Who knows, I may have to work for Xingfu in the future. I just need Xingfu to bear some of my burdens when the time comes."

Without waiting for Teng Yuzao to say anything, Master Qian continued, "Xingfu, the memorial to the old Buddha did not mention where your vanguard troops came from, nor how many troops you have now, but these are not important. What is important is that you just need the title of the commander of the vanguard army. With this title, you can slowly increase your troops. Yu Zhongtang said that as long as you have people, food, wages, and weapons are not a problem. Xigu has many elite Western weapons and ammunition. As long as you need them, he will definitely allocate them all."

Teng Yuzhao finally understood that Yu Lu had only given him a title for the time being, and the army was still his battalion for the time being. In other words, the vanguard army was still just an empty shell.

However, Yu Lu would unconditionally support him in expanding his army, and his vanguard army would be slowly developed by himself. Teng Yuzao bowed deeply in the direction of the Governor's Office again, "I will never forget your grace, Lord!"

"correct."

Master Qian smiled and said, "Zhongtang Yu said that the relevant troops should be raised as soon as possible, and the officers can arrange and appoint them as they please. Zhongtang will not ask about it. You can just report it to Zhongtang in your name. If you have any difficulties, you can let him know."

Master Qian lowered his voice and said, "Xingfu, in my opinion, these soldiers may not have reported the truth. The officers and soldiers also need to be properly resettled as soon as possible, otherwise there may be changes!"

As soon as Master Qian finished speaking, Li Yulin came back with a heavy cloth bag in his hand and nodded slightly to Teng Yuzhao.

Master Qian bowed to Teng Yuzao and said, "I have finished my work. I have to go back and report. Xingfu should also leave quickly and leave Tianjin, this troubled place."

Teng Yuzao took a few quick steps and took the cloth bag from Li Yulin. He felt it and realized that it contained a hundred taels of silver. He smiled and said to Master Qian, "Master Qian, this is just a small gift. I hope you won't refuse it!"

Although silver dollars had begun to be minted during this period, due to insufficient quantities, there was still a period when both silver and silver dollars were in circulation.

Looking at the heavy cloth bag, Master Qian said with a smile, "I still dare to accept Xingfu's things. Thank you very much!"

When seeing off Master Qian, Li Yulin stuffed a few taels of silver into the two grooms, which made the two grooms so happy that they couldn't stop smiling and kept thanking Teng Yuzhao.

After seeing off Master Qian, Teng Yuzao handed the flag in his hand to Liu Changfa and said in high spirits, "Qingyun, raise the flag of our vanguard army."

Liu Changfa took the military flag joyfully and shouted loudly for people to find the flagpole.

Li Yulin quietly pulled Teng Yuzao aside and whispered, "Just now when I came out to get the silver, I happened to see Alvin, the deputy manager of the German Lihe Company, who came to see you outside the north gate. He said that their Lihe Company was in trouble and the Boxers were going to besiege their company. Your classmate Christian was surrounded inside. Because Master Qian was there, I put him in my room. Do you want to see him?"

The news that Lihe Foreign Company was about to be besieged made Teng Yuzao feel nervous. Naturally, he wanted to meet this little Christian's deputy. Not only because little Christian was his classmate and friend, and not only because little Christian had helped him, but also because Teng Yuzao, a time traveler, could not just watch these businessmen die so tragically.

"Qionglin, gather the whole camp immediately, we will set out immediately, I will be back soon."

While arranging Li Yulin to assemble the team, Teng Yuzao ran towards Li Yulin's residence.

As soon as Teng Yuzao entered the room, the tall middle-aged German man with blood on his face grabbed Teng Yuzao's hand tightly.

This German man was none other than Alwin, the deputy manager of the Lihe & Co.

"Teng, our company is surrounded by hundreds of militiamen. Christian asked me to come to you. He said that only you can save the people in the company. There are not only Germans, but also nearly a hundred Christians. They are very dangerous!"

Teng Yuzao patted Alwin on the shoulder, trying to comfort Alwin who was already trembling slightly with fear, "Don't worry, I will keep them safe. Now follow me, let's go and save Christian."

(End of this chapter)