A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 407 Black Water
Wang Zonghan, the magistrate of Dunhuang County, thought that Li Yu and the others would come back immediately, but they didn't expect them to return to Dunhuang County after staying in Mogao Grottoes for half a month.

Wang Zonghan couldn't help asking: "Shangguan, are there really ancient objects in the Mogao Grottoes?"

Li Yu said: "The countless murals are exquisite. My lord, you must be careful of foreigners coming to steal them."

Wang Zonghan asked again: "Can murals be stolen?"

Li Yu said: "They will take away the wall, and it will inevitably be damaged in the process, but it is not the foreigners' own things, and they will not feel bad if it is damaged."

"I thought foreigners were rich, and they could do such a thing." Wang Zonghan wondered.

Li Yu snorted: "A few years ago, during the Gengzi national calamity, foreigners invaded the Forbidden City, and even scraped off the gold plating on the surface of the pot."

Wang Zonghan was also angry immediately: "They have done so much damage in the Forbidden City!"

Li Yu said: "So be careful, don't think that foreigners have any good intentions. Besides, there are many Buddha statues in Dunhuang. It will be troublesome if they saw off the Buddha's head and take them away."

"This is too much!" Wang Zonghan said, patting the table.

They really did.

Li Yu continued to instruct: "Anyway, if you see foreigners who say they are here for an adventure in the future, your lord can conclude that they are robbers and thieves. Don't forget that!"

Wang Zonghan said: "The lower officials will keep it in mind."

Li Yu said a lot more, almost describing foreigners as devils, and he had no choice but to do so.

After all, no matter which country's so-called explorers, they just want our treasure, and they don't even think about studying it when they take it back.Dunhuang studies are still in China in the end, and only Chinese people can study and understand them.

Wang Zonghan asked again: "Why didn't the emperor bring some scriptures?"

Li Yu said: "That's all, let's leave it to the old man, I can't understand it at all."

Li Yu deliberately kept the number small to minimize the risk.

The best decision can only be to hide the scripture cave. In history, when the last Dunhuang ancient books were transported to the capital, a lot of losses were lost on the way.

Li Yu was also not at ease with these people in the Qing court.

Li Yu left a radio station in Dunhuang County and taught him how to use it.

The current power supply capacity in Dunhuang County is extremely low, so I can only turn it on when I want to send a telegram.

However, according to common sense, in ancient times, the more border areas, the more valuable the intelligence, because it was impossible to garrison troops in places where supplies were difficult for a long time.

Even a major function of the Great Wall is to transmit information.

Wang Zonghan himself understood this truth, so he learned it carefully.Li Yu left him a codebook, which he used to practice when he had nothing to do.

Then Li Yu and the others set out on their way home.

Going east along the ancient Silk Road, after passing Jiayuguan, we arrived at Jiuquan, and happened to meet Ye Changchi, a scholar in Gansu Province who was inspecting.

Xuezheng is a special official. Although it sounds small, it has a lot of energy, because in ancient times, many officials came from the imperial examination, and their connections were too strong.

China is also a society of personal relationships, so Xuezheng is really not a petty official. Zhang Zhidong has been studying politics for many years from the beginning.

Lu Bicheng's father used to be a political scholar in Shanxi, and returned to his hometown in Anhui in his later years. He had a large number of fertile land in Lu'an, Anhui, and his collection of books totaled [-] to [-] volumes.

Ye Changchi asked: "Can the emperor's teacher gain something in Dunhuang?"

"The basic goal has been achieved," Li Yu said, "How did Mr. Xuezheng come to such a place to the west?"

Ye Changchi said: "I'm going to the north to inspect the Turghut Ministry under the order of the governor."

Li Yu asked, "Xuezheng is going to Ejina Banner?"

"You actually know this place?" Ye Changchi was a little surprised.

Li Yu originally wanted to deal with this matter later, but now that we have met, he can take a look at the situation first.

Li Yu replied: "I've heard that Ejina has a magnificent Populus euphratica forest and Juyanhai in the history books. But it's been a long time since the flying generals of Dragon City are there, and Huma is not taught to go to Yinshan Mountain."

Ye Changchi smiled and said, "That's right, now that we're here, we don't have to worry about walking another five or six hundred miles."

Li Yu asked Lu Bicheng and others for their opinions, and when Lu Bicheng heard that it was "only" a few hundred miles, he agreed, otherwise he would never know if he would have a chance to see it in his life.

So Li Yu said to Ye Changchi: "Let's accompany Master Ye as a companion."

Ye Changchi was actually quite bored, so he was naturally happy to have them together: "Tomorrow at the latest, the guards from the Torghut Department will arrive and escort us to the grassland."

Back then, the Turhu Special Forces returned from thousands of miles east and were received by Qianlong. This incident was learned in middle school history textbooks.

However, the motive behind the return of the Torghut Special Department was not pure at the beginning.

At that time, Ekaterina was in power in Tsarist Russia and she was very tough. She asked the Torghuts to convert to the Orthodox Church and recruited them in large numbers.

Originally, the Turhut tribe wanted to occupy the empty Ili and become king again, but they didn't expect that when they arrived in Ili, they found that it was different from what they imagined, so they had to choose to surrender.

Qianlong handled this matter quite reasonably, and dispersed the Turghuts in several banners far apart to prevent them from further heresy.

In the past, the nomads were quite complicated and scattered, so most people didn't understand them at all. Many people probably only knew Zhungeer and the beautiful Lan Qier after watching "Kangxi Dynasty"...

As for the Turhu Special Department, if they hadn't returned to the east and entered the history textbooks, not many people would know about it.

It's good to know that.

If you take a closer look, you will find that the struggles among the Khanates and Stans in Central Asia are very complicated, and they are simply a mess. If you hit me today, I will fight you tomorrow.

But it doesn't feel too interesting, because the combat power is too far behind the era of Genghis Khan and Torrey.Zhungeer used to rub Kazakhs on the ground, and was soon wiped out by the Qing army.

The next day, the cavalry from Turghut arrived at Jiuquan, and Li Yu and others set off with them.

There are a lot of horses in the Torghut Department. If you push forward 100 years, the Cossack cavalry with the same equipment can also be head-on.

However, since Seng Gelinqin's Mongolian cavalry was defeated by the British army in the Battle of Baliqiao in the Second Opium War, the country has not paid much attention to the cavalry.Later, both the Hunan Army and the Huai Army, as well as Yuan Shikai's six Beiyang towns, all began to follow the route of Britain and Germany.

Tsarist Russia, because the Cossack cavalry performed well in the Russo-Japanese War and could break through quickly on the flanks, has always regarded the Cossack cavalry as its trump card and kept it.

Many Japanese TV dramas exaggerate the Japanese cavalry general Yoshiko Akiyama, leading the Japanese cavalry to defeat the Cossack cavalry, but in fact there is no such thing.

Japan can win, many times because of the Russian military's own strategic decision-making mistakes, giving it away for nothing.

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There are not too many Torghuts in this banner of Ejina, and their positions are not particularly important, so they don't pay much attention to them.

Even they themselves don't know that there are treasures buried for nearly a thousand years in their own area.

After walking for a week, a group of people arrived at the Wang Tent of the Torghut Department of Ejina Banner.

The leader at this time was Lord Darcy. They had been obedient for many years and they were very polite to the court officials. They greeted them into the tent, and then served fat sheep and milk tea.

But the communication here is backward, and everyone doesn't know Li Yu's ability, but they only know that he is respected by the emperor's teacher.

Ye Changchi first conveyed some routine affairs on behalf of the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, while Li Yu and others concentrated on eating delicious mutton.

After they finished chatting, Li Yu asked: "Prince Darcy, have any Russians come to inquire about a city called Black Water?"

Lord Darcy replied: "It has indeed happened, but we are not willing to be guides, because Heishui City is a cursed place, and those who went there did not come back alive."

Li Yu said: "There will be such a situation in the future. The prince still doesn't want to provide a guide. After all, the Torghut Ministry used to have a blood feud with Tsarist Russia, and now Tsarist Russia leads the army to harm the people in the Northeast."

Lord Darcy is only generally aware of some of Tsarist Russia's intentions to invade the Northeast, and not much is known about the recent Russo-Japanese War.

Then Lord Darcy said: "Of course we will not help the Russians."

The Russians have inquired about Heishui City many times, but on the one hand, few people in the Torghut Department know about it, and on the other hand, most of them don't understand the language, and they don't want to help the Russians.

But Li Yu knew that a few years later, the Kozlov appointed by the Russian Royal Academy of Sciences was different. This person had a military background—of course they did not dare to openly provoke a war.

The key point is that Kozlov is good at building relationships. With a few pistols and a phonograph, he got a very powerful guide Bada from Lord Darcy, and it was Bada who helped the Russians find Heishui City.

Li Yu brought some Western items with him, including lighters, pistols, etc., and Li Yu took out some of them to Lord Darcy: "My lord, you can accept these things. After a few years, if the Russians want to use this as a good intention to detect black Shuicheng, you must not be fooled by them."

Prince Darcy felt baffled: why would he be fooled?

But these things in front of him really liked it, so Prince Darcy agreed to Li Yu's words with a masked face.

After eating, Li Yu inquired again and found the swarthy guide boy Bada, who also conveyed similar words.

After Bada received some of Li Yu's items, he was very moved: "It turns out that people in the capital live so well."

Li Yu had an idea: "Why don't you come back to the capital with us."

It was easy for Li Yu to arrange such a person.

Bada was indeed moved, and after thinking about it for an hour or two, he agreed to Li Yu.

Of course, all this is just a small trick.

Li Yu had already planned for the matter of Heishuicheng in his heart. To prevent Heishuicheng from being discovered by the Russians, the most direct way is to get rid of Kozlov, a key figure.

The situation of Heishui City is different from that of Dunhuang, because Dunhuang has been discovered by Wang Taoist priests, while Heishui City is just a legend at this time.

Wang Yuanlu was indeed hateful, but at least he was a compatriot, and Li Yu couldn't do anything, so after several twists and turns, he spared his life.

But Kozlov is different. After a while, Li Yu will definitely go to Europe, and by the way, to St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.If Kozlov is still determined to go his own way, hehe, then let him go to meet the Lord in advance.

During the few days in Ejina Banner, Li Yu asked Bada to take him and Lu Bicheng to see the rumored Ju Yanhai and the beautiful Populus euphratica forest as a guide.There is nothing to say about the scenery. Populus euphratica, which lives for a thousand years, dies for a thousand years, and falls for a thousand years, is impressive. It's a pity that the photos taken are black and white.

After Ye Changchi finished his official duties, he returned to Lanzhou with Li Yu and others.

Li Yu helped them adjust the radio equipment in Lanzhou, and then left a guide before leaving.

It was another long journey home, and when they returned to the capital, it was already winter.

After Li Yu returned home, he fell asleep and slept for a day and a night before he felt a little recovered.

If it wasn't for being too hungry, Li Yu felt that he could still sleep for a day.

Feng Ling finished the meal, and Li Yu had just eaten a few mouthfuls when Zhao Qian hurried back: "Sir, there is a lot of excitement outside, do you want to watch?"

"What excitement?" Li Yu asked casually.

Zhao Qian said: "The Jiangyang thief Kang Baye is going to be executed by Ling Chi, and many people are going to see where he is."

Li Yu just fed a mouthful of meat, and scolded with a smile: "What's so exciting about this kind of excitement? After seeing it, you might not be able to eat a mouthful of meat in three days."

Zhao Qian said: "I heard that Mr. Kang Ba is so stubborn that even the queen mother and imperial concubine dare to scold him face to face."

Li Yu said, "Why did he scold you?"

Li Yu was not at home for the past half a year, and Zhao Qian chatted with his former coachman colleague when he had nothing to do, and they were almost well-informed.

Zhao Qian spoke eloquently: "After Mr. Kang was arrested, the Queen Mother heard that he was a tough guy. She was quite curious and asked for an imperial trial. Everyone in the prison thought he was alive, because Yang Naiwu and Xiaobaicai were The Empress Dowager pardoned him."

This case has been in the past for a long time, but the characteristics of Cixi can be seen from these things.

Cixi is a person who harms the country and the people, but calls herself Avalokitesvara, so she likes to give some small favors.

There are too many similar examples in the past dynasties, ancient and modern China and foreign countries. There are many psychological explanations for trying to cover up big mistakes with small favors.

Li Yu asked: "Is the queen mother really interrogated?"

"Trial," Zhao Qian said, "but how about Mr. Kang Baye being stubborn! Seeing that the Queen Mother actually contradicted the Queen Mother and the Queen Concubine, he said in front of the Queen Mother, 'If I want to rob, I will rob Huang Gang! If I want to rape, I will Annihilate the imperial concubine!' Can the empress dowager bear it? Directly turn Zhan Lijue into Ling Chi."

After listening to Li Yu, isn't this just a fool!And it didn't feel real, so I asked, "Where did you hear it?"

Zhao Qian said: "The three cripples heard it from Mr. Teahouse, and then told us about it."

Li Yu said, "So it's all heard."

Zhao Qian said: "Anyway, Master Kang can't go wrong with Ling Chi, he's really a good guy!"

Li Yu said: "What a hero, he was caught because of several murders."

"Sir, do you want to go and have a look? The knife is about to be used. There hasn't been a scene of cutting in the capital for many years." Zhao Qian asked again, and it was obvious that he was eager to try.

Li Yu spread his hands, "I'll take a look from a distance."

This Kang Baye was the last person to be executed by Ling Chi, and all kinds of rumors about the execution in old Beijing in later generations also came from witnesses of this case.

What Li Yu wanted to see was the public's reaction, and by calculation, at this time, Brother Xun probably had to watch the movie that shocked him and changed his life in Japan.

　There's something wrong at home these two days, I'll make it up the day after tomorrow...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)