The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 654: Slow or fast

The people in the cabin, even Tang Shaoyi who had been promoted suddenly, could see clearly that Cixi had made a great determination not to let Teng Yuzao become the first prime minister in order to avoid being forced by the might of the Zhi army!
For this, she was even willing to abandon the capital city to do this, which explains everything!

Now, she depends on Teng Yuzhao's attitude!
If Teng Yuzao swallowed the bitter fruit, she could also gradually weaken Teng Yuzao's power and eventually expel Teng Yuzao from the court.

If Teng Yuzao refused to submit and launched a rebellion, she would have the new troops from various provinces at her disposal and the support of Britain and Japan. In particular, the British Far East Fleet was located along the coast and on the Yangtze River. She would have been able to fight back. At worst, she could retreat across the Yangtze River and confront the Zhili Army.

"Someone is coming."

Teng Yuzhao, who had been pacing in the cabin for nearly an hour, finally spoke, but even though he spoke, he did not stop.

Everyone in the cabin knew that Teng Yuzhao had just been making a difficult decision in his mind, so no matter what they were thinking, no one dared to disturb him.

Hearing Teng Yuzao finally speaking, they couldn't help but become nervous.

They didn't know whether Teng Yuzao was going to break off relations with the court, or was prepared to accept the fact silently and swallow the bitter fruit, or simply retire from the court in anger.

But no matter what decision Teng Yuzao makes in the end, it will change the fate of all of them.

As long as Teng Yuzhao started talking, they were all eagerly waiting for this moment.

Following Teng Yuzao's shout, the cabin door was immediately pushed open, and Teng Yuzao's confidential staff walked in quickly.

"Ready to record!"

Teng Yuzhao continued to pace while speaking to the confidential staff officer.

"First, send a telegram to Director Li of the Ordnance Department and ask him to report the casualties and losses of the arsenal. At the same time, quickly find out whether the military academy and Baoding City have been affected. If there have been any losses, what are the specific circumstances?"

"Second, send a telegram to Xingcheng and ask how many railway vehicles have been seized?"

"Third, Xingcheng must immediately try every possible means. If necessary, he can contact Li Hanhun directly. He must notify the main personnel of the Vanguard Army Support Association in all provinces except the three northeastern provinces, the two Zhishan provinces, Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Liangjiang as quickly as possible, as well as friends from all walks of life who have recently expressed their support for me to serve as the first cabinet in the newspapers. Ask them to stay out of the spotlight for the time being."

It seemed that Teng Yuzhao was still unsatisfied and wanted to continue explaining something, but after a brief pause, he waved to the confidential staff officer who had already recorded the message, signaling him to send the message as soon as possible.

Then, Teng Yuzhao sighed lightly, glanced at the people around him, and slowly started walking again. He spoke to them in a calm tone as he walked.

"Although the situation reported by Li Hanhun, Qionglin, Xingcheng and the others is not very detailed, this is the basic situation. You all know it. Tell me what I should do? Or, how should I do it?"

Hearing that Teng Yuzhao wanted to listen to their opinions, Tang Shaoyi, who had been eager to try, almost blurted out his opinion, but seeing that Yang Shixiang, Xu Shichang and Ye Zugui on the side did not say anything, he had to suppress the strong impulse in his heart.

Yang Shixiang glanced at Xu Shichang and saw that Xu Shichang didn't seem to want to speak. Yang Shixiang coughed lightly and spoke in a gentle tone.

"You are wrong, Marshal!"

Yang Shixiang's words made Teng Yuzhao stop and look at Yang Shixiang.

Yang Shixiang smiled bitterly and said, "Marshal, the court has made its position clear. If you refuse to submit, they are even ready to fight you. If you are willing to submit, or even retreat at the right time, that will be exactly what they want."

"The Marshal can just walk away, but those around him will not end up having a good ending. So now it's not about what the Marshal should do, but what we should do!"

In fact, Teng Yuzhao was waiting for this sentence. In his heart, he looked up to Yang Shixiang again, but he still didn't say anything. He still needed the others to express their attitudes.

As soon as Yang Shixiang finished speaking, Ye Zugui, who had been sipping beer, spoke.

"Marshal, you can't leave. What will happen to the navy if you leave? It's just starting to get better. If you leave, there will be no hope for the navy!"

Xu Shichang also sighed heavily and said, "Marshal, you can't leave. If you leave and no longer care about worldly affairs, what will happen to us is secondary. Hundreds of thousands of Zhili troops will be leaderless and will probably cause chaos immediately. In that case, the three northeastern provinces will probably fall into the hands of the great powers."

"Commander!"

Tang Shaoyi also said anxiously, "Not only will your industries soon be divided up by Yikuang and his ilk, but the Westernization Movement advocated by the Marshal will also be difficult to continue. I'm afraid we will return to the old days of being arbitrarily bullied by the foreign powers and ceding territory and paying indemnities. We can't do without the Marshal to enrich our country and strengthen our army!"

Although Wei Jinghai did not speak, Teng Yuzao did not need him to express his attitude. Wei Jinghai's attitude was the same as Liu Shijiu, Wu Peifu and others, and there was no need for Wei Jinghai to prove this. Although Teng Yuzao was very happy in his heart, he still showed a bitter smile on his face, and said after exhaling a breath of foul air.

"Lian Fu is right. My stay or departure, even my life or death, is no longer just my business. It is about all the people who follow and support me in order to enrich the country and strengthen the army. It is about not ceding territory or paying compensation, and not allowing foreigners to bully us at will!"

Teng Yuzhao seemed to have made up his mind and waved his hand vigorously.

"Well, since the court has decided to keep the first cabinet prime minister in the hands of the Manchus, in the hands of the corrupt official Yikuang, and is still trying to maintain this corrupt and incompetent court by changing the soup but not the medicine, we can't just sit there and wait for death and be slaughtered. Now let's talk about what we should do."

Although Yang Shixiang had begun to persuade Teng Yuzao to seize power and even change the dynasty as early as the Gengzi Year, he now understood Teng Yuzao's thoughts and spoke after a little consideration.

"Marshal, now we can do two things outside the step."

"The Marshal should issue a statement as soon as possible, opposing or even refusing to recognize Yikuang as the Prime Minister, and then mobilize public opinion to stir up public opinion. Right now, the people are still on the Marshal's side."

"In addition, the generals of the various towns of the Zhili Army have all sent telegrams to express their support for the Marshal. Kikuto and I will also lead the officials of the two provinces of Zhili and Shan to send telegrams in support of the Marshal. If Xiliang can also express his support for the Marshal, and even bring over the most important governors and governors-general in Anhui, Jiangsu, Liangjiang, Fujian, and Shanxi, that would be the best."

"This will eventually force the imperial court to let the Marshal take his place, and then the Marshal will be able to act calmly as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet."

"It may take a long time to do this, and it is still unknown whether the court will replace Yikuang and hand over the prime minister to the Marshal."

"Judging from her attitude towards the Southeast Mutual Protection, she will definitely compromise in the end."

"If the Marshal wants to speed up the process, he can do something more drastic. He can ask the Second Town in Liangjiang and Pan Jinshan's Third Town to expel all officials from Liangjiang, Anhui, and Jiangsu who do not support the Marshal. Wu Ziyu can lead his troops from Datong into Shanxi to also expel the relevant officials."

"After public opinion is mobilized, the Marshal can directly announce his inauguration as the first prime minister in Tianjin, and even appoint officials from Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangsu and Liangjiang."

"The second way is to conduct a military remonstration!"

Seeing that Teng Yuzao did not refute, Yang Shixiang continued.

"Now if the Marshal leads his troops into Hubei, with the powerful combat force of hundreds of thousands of Zhi troops, it will not be a problem to enter Hunan and Guangdong in a short time."

"If time passes for a long time, once they have integrated the new armies from various provinces, a military solution will inevitably result, which will lead to a war."

Yang Shixiang's two paths are one fast and one slow, but both paths are feasible.

As soon as Yang Shixiang finished speaking, Ye Zugui sat up straight and spoke loudly to Teng Yuzhao.

"Marshal, both of Lord Lian's methods are feasible. I will follow your instructions. If you choose the first method, I will lead all the naval commanders in Beiyang to issue a telegram in support of you."

"If the Marshal wants to use troops, as long as ten of the navy's fast cruisers enter the Yangtze River, they can eliminate the threat of Jiang Guiti's river defense fleet, and then go up the river to Huguang. The river defense fleet and the British warships will definitely not be our opponents."

"The British Far East Fleet remaining at sea is not a concern. They only have one battleship and cannot withstand the siege of our two large ships and the remaining fast cruisers."

In principle, the navy also includes the Yuan Dynasty's Nanyang Navy, but the Nanyang Navy in Fujian and Guangdong may not necessarily support Teng Yuzao, so Ye Zugui did not mention it.

The river defense fleet led by Jiang Guiti was reorganized from the Yuanyang Fujian Navy. Both the river defense fleet and the Nanyang Navy now have old small ships and wooden gunboats, which are almost insignificant compared with the navy's more than 3,000-ton fast cruisers.

Seeing that Xu Shichang still had no intention of speaking, Tang Shaoyi could no longer hold back and spoke.

"Marshal, I support the second method Lord Yang mentioned. Marshal often says that time waits for no man. This matter should not be delayed. We should immediately assemble troops south and north of the Yangtze River to act simultaneously, which will achieve twice the result with half the effort."

Teng Yuzhao looked at Xu Shichang again, and before Teng Yuzhao could speak, Xu Shichang sighed softly and said.

"I still don't agree with the use of force. Not only will it plunge the country into large-scale war again, but once the two sides continue to stalemate, Northeast China may be lost. Please think twice, Marshal."

Teng Yuzhao took a deep breath and nodded, then turned his gaze to Wei Jinghai who was standing beside him.

Wei Jinghai saluted Teng Yuzao before solemnly saying, "Marshal, I and the hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers of the Zhi army will resolutely obey your orders and follow your lead in everything."

Teng Yuzao reached out and gently patted Wei Jinghai on the shoulder, then turned around and looked around at the others and said.
(End of this chapter)