mage in the late qing dynasty

Chapter 814 Unsolved Mysteries

Not long after, there was a slight crunching sound and the sound of branches breaking.

Unfortunately, the conversation was in full swing and no sound was heard.

This kind of thing started at Douzizi Station and continued to happen along the Dongqing Railway to the west.

At two o'clock in the morning, on the top of the mountain south of Yakeshi, Zhao Chuanxin casually threw two 1904 mountain cannons here with a tired face, and took out some fragmentation bombs, armor-piercing bombs, smoke bombs, and incendiary bombs.

He lay on the snow, looked at the stars, and stopped thinking about it as he lay down.

But after resting for a while, he still struggled to get up, opened the "Code of the Old Gods", and teleported to the sand dunes, where random condensed rocks covered the two cannons.

Fighting back the sleepiness and exhaustion, there was still one last stop left to visit.

There was an arsenal theft in Manzhouli, and this time it was strictly guarded.

But no Russian soldier can withstand the sleepiness at 2:15 in the middle of the night. No matter how cold the weather is, he can lean against the wall and take a nap with his two sleeves in his hands.

They didn't hear the tiptoeing, chirping, or the slight sound of the newly installed glass cracking. They didn't even notice anything was wrong until they changed shifts at dawn.

When Rebecca Levi woke up, she habitually took a look at the room, and was pleasantly surprised to find Zhao Chuanxin sleeping soundly on the kang.

There was only one fire in the house at night, would it freeze him?

Rebecca Levi hurriedly went to burn another stove, moving carefully, and warned the sleepy Yao Bing not to wake up Zhao Chuanxin.

She wanted Zhao Chuanxin to sleep a little longer, but Zhang Shouzeng couldn't open his eyes. He walked in and asked loudly: "Is the prefect back?"

With just one voice, Zhao Chuanxin woke up.

He went to the ground to put on his clothes, his body like a gearbox solidified in the cold, and he slowly stretched his stiff limbs: "I'm back, come in."

Zhang Shouzeng didn't care whether Zhao Chuanxin stayed up late or not, but what he did: "Prefect, I went to have a meeting yesterday..."

He recounted what happened yesterday.

Zhao Chuanxin lit a cigarette and listened quietly, yawning from time to time.

After saying that, Zhang Shouzeng looked at Zhao Chuanxin: "What do you think, the prefect?"

"Looking at it with sleepy eyes." Zhao Chuanxin yawned and said, "Since they want to continue talking, you can continue talking."

"This..." Zhang Shouzeng couldn't believe it.

What the other person said was so unpleasant, so you just let it go?

"go quickly."

Zhao Chuanxin went back to mend his clothes, button them up, brush his teeth and wash his face.

After washing up, Rebecca Levi asked him what he wanted for breakfast.

Zhao Chuanxin put on his coat: "You don't want to eat. You can eat. I'll go to Che and Zha's place to drink milk tea. By the way, I've packed up the important bills. It's been more troublesome these two days. If anything happens, I'll take care of them." Hidden in the underground secret room I dug before, don’t lose it.”

In order to save time, he had to do this.

While drinking milk tea in Chehezha's yurt, Zhao Chuanxin ordered by the way: "Prepare horses, enough for the Lubin Prefecture's public officials to ride. You Ba-erhu wings will prepare them, and the forage money will be withdrawn from the accounting office." "

Among the five-wing managers, Che Heza and Shengfu are the two smartest ones.

He was stunned: "Is there going to be a war?"

Lubin Mansion is adjacent to Manzhouli, and the war is likely to be affected.

"Be mentally prepared. You don't need to be the main force, but I will use this opportunity to train troops." Zhao Chuanxin finished drinking milk tea and wiped his mouth and said: "At this time, you only need to keep an eye on the movements of the Russian troops in Manzhouli. Once If they make any changes, immediately go to Lubin Mansion to ask the public officials to retreat to your two wings. Before the war begins, I need you to fight with me at Chenba-Erhu. This place is under the charge of Chief Zana. "

"But I think there is no need to go to war with Tsarist Russia at the moment, right?"

"Even if you place a lot of candlesticks, they won't be able to light up a night that's too dark."

"..." Che Hezha understood: "What does the prefect mean?"

"Let the sky above Hyrule be so bright that even the stars will have to hide."

Zhao Chuanxin had long been thinking about Manzhouli and was ready to imitate the great powers and encroach on it step by step.

If Tsarist Russia couldn't stand it, he would start a war. He would scrape the blood and scrape the blood. Sooner or later, Nicholas II couldn't stand it and would go to war to retaliate. The Hylar region would be a breeding ground in the future.

When they arrived at Shengfuna, Zhao Chuanxin said: "Your Erlut and Sauron troops pay close attention to the movements of the Russian troops stationed in Hailar. If there is any change, send people to Lubin Mansion to notify you. You are close to Hulun City. If they dare If you dare to attack the two of you, I will help contain them."

Shengfu sensed the danger and gritted his teeth: "I swear to advance and retreat together with the prefect."

Strictly speaking, the five-wing general manager is equivalent to a third-grade official and a fifth-grade deputy general manager.

The prefect is from the fourth rank, and an autonomous prefect like Lubin Prefecture is at most the fourth rank.

But in Hailar, Zhao Chuanxin is the father, and the others are sons.

After leaving Shengfuna, Zhao Chuanxin went to Badang Abe.

He called some people to take out the ammunition stolen from Mao Zi.

Boxes of ammunition, bullet bridges and Nagant runner were placed on the ground.

Batang'a was shocked when he saw it, but he didn't ask too much. He just looked at Nagant's Wheel with greedy eyes and said: "Master Prefect, can you give me a seven-star gun? I think it can match this kind of short gun. Only Tsarist Russian officers."

"Soldiers can also get it. In the early days, single-action ones were given to soldiers, and double-action ones were given to officers. I'll give you a double-action one."

It used to be like this, but now it's basically double action.

A few single moves were selected by Zhao Chuanxin for his own use.

The main purpose of finding people is to let them reload.

Those bullet bridges are all loaded with bullets.

All single action Nagant runners, all loaded.

It's easier to do things when there are more people. Zhao Chuanxin gave them a warning and warned them: "Don't pull the trigger, don't cock the hammer, just load the ammunition. If anyone accidentally injures himself, don't say I'll slap him."

The gun is a murderous weapon, and Badang'a also shouted a few words.

"Master Prefect, is there going to be a war? The Russian army has artillery, so we need to be careful."

Zhao Chuanxin bared his teeth and said happily: "Now they have no cannons."

The Russian soldiers were large in number and had artillery, so Zhao Chuanxin pulled them to the same level as him.

……

Flying in the sky.

Benjamin Goldberg entered the restaurant. The old wolf behind him wanted to follow, but he kicked him: "Get out, get out."

Old Wolf: "..."

Why can that dog named Ganfan enter the house?

As soon as he entered the restaurant, everyone stood up quickly: "The young gentleman is back..."

Wang changed his name but hesitated and glanced at Liu Ai.

Liu Ai received the look, stood up and said, "Little sir, how did you go to Hankou?"

Benjamin Goldberg dusted himself off: "I am really impressed by the Chinese people's determination to study hard and endure hardships. There is no one like them in the world!"

Liu Ai forced a smile: "So, the gun-making thing is done?"

"Making guns is much easier than building cars. I have already helped them debug the equipment. The factory is located in the concession and no one dares to manage it. It won't be long before they can provide my master with fast guns."

Liu Ai coughed: "Well, young gentleman, I have some bad news for you. Lu Fuji is dead."

Benjamin Goldberg frowned: "How did you die?"

Liu Ai said: "The government arrested and threatened the people who participated in the anti-donation campaign that day. Lu Fuji led people to rescue them. However, they were not rescued. Instead, he was captured and was immediately executed by the government."

Benjamin Goldberg pondered for a long time: "My master said that if you are threatened once, the enemy will always think about threatening you. This is true. From now on, you all remember, ignore anyone who threatens you, and dare to kill anyone. Let's go back with revenge. Whoever lasts until the end will be the winner."

"What should we do?" Everyone was waiting for him to make up his mind.

"What should we do?" Benjamin Goldberg rubbed his chin: "First, we are running out of coal, so we have to use camels to carry a load of coal back. Second, it's going to snow, so we have to cut some sheep. The grass is ready for the winter. Third, several shops in Liangzhou City must clear out their goods and close down."

What the hell?

Everyone was confused.

What does this have to do with Lu Fuji’s murder?

Liu Ai asked what everyone was thinking: "What about Mei Shunan? Aren't you going to take revenge?"

"My master has a friend named Tang Guoan, who is going to hold an anti-smoking meeting of all nations in Shanghai on New Year's Day next year. I have met that person, he is a capable person, and I think he can do it. We must also reduce opium cultivation here, and even To ban the cultivation of opium. How do you think the people will react?"

Wang changed his name and patted the stone table angrily: "Opium is harmful to people, and the taxes are high. Everyone will be happy to see it."

"Shit." Benjamin Goldberg sneered: "On the contrary, the income from growing opium is several times that of growing grain, and the people will definitely not allow it. When the time comes, we will send people to fan the flames in Liangzhou City, and it will be enough for Mei Shunan and others to drink a pot ”

Wang changed his name: "..."

Is that right?

Everyone was shocked.

Others can only think about things superficially, but Mr. Xiao can always see the overall situation clearly.

Liu Ai asked: "Then why do you want to close the shop? Business is booming now."

Benjamin Goldberg sat down and took a sip of water: "It is not necessary to close it immediately, but it must be closed after the New Year's goods are sold. The areas on both sides of the Yellow River have already become strongly dependent on the opium economy. If smoking is suddenly banned, there will inevitably be a rebound. Governors in various places will have to replenish their own finances. hole, all crises will still be passed on to the people. Guess what the scene will be like then?"

Everyone thought for a while and took a breath of cold air.

In fact, there were many reasons for the demise of the Qing Dynasty, but banning smoking for the sake of long-term peace and stability was also a key one.

To organize and train the new army, most of the military expenditures came from opium.

Until 1905, 30% of the funds of the Hubei Gun Factory came from opium. Once smoking was banned, gun factories struggled, and the court even had to reduce the salaries of the new army.

By 1911, the Year of Xinhai, wages and salaries even had to be cut by %.

As a result, the soldiers and officers of the New Army suddenly became unbalanced and alienated from the Qing court. This was also one of the keys to Sun Gongwu's success.

In addition to these, the people who were not allowed to grow opium were also unbalanced. Some rebelled, and some joined the revolutionary army.

The lingering Qing court was really working hard to survive, but its efforts pushed itself against the army and the people.

All in all, Tang Guoan did a good thing for the people. Opium must be banned, but it indirectly cheated the Qing court, but neither party had yet expected the seriousness of the matter.

Liangzhou City will definitely be affected by that time, and the economy will usher in an unprecedented sluggishness.

If you start a business again, you are courting death.

Benjamin Goldberg clapped his hands and said dissatisfied: "Okay, let's take action. I've only been gone for less than a month, why are you so lazy?"

……

England, East London.

Limehouse is a gathering point for the Chinese.

At this time it has not been demolished.

Liu Baogui brought a group of people here to eat at the restaurant.

The boss is begging for free because these people are bringing glory to the Chinese people.

But Liu Guogui insisted on giving money, which can be called a strange sight.

Liu Guoguo said: "If you accept the money, we will come again next time. If you don't accept it, we won't dare to come next time."

But the restaurant owner said: "I won't take it this time, but I have to give it to you next time. That's settled, right?"

Seeing that he was sincere, Liu Baobao shook hands with the restaurant owner: "You don't know, white people are the most despicable and shameless. At first, we won a gold medal in shooting, a gold medal in the 3500-meter walking race, and a gold medal in women's archery." Silver, and won a bronze medal in the pole vault. These foreigners' eyes were red with jealousy. On the day of the boxing match, they secretly drugged our meals and everyone was infected. Wang Lung staggered on stage and couldn't compete. By In the Mihe Marathon, they repeatedly made mistakes, and finally only won the bronze medal. During the bicycle race, these sons of bitches suddenly pulled up the rope in the middle of the race, causing our athletes to fall with bruises and bruises..."

The restaurant owner was furious when he heard this: "With such villainous behavior, how can this Olympic Games be fair? I don't think it can be done."

The athletes at this time were far worse than those of later generations, and they were not very professional.

The members of the Lugang Town Insurance Team are in excellent health and practice diligently at home. They have many advantages in running, especially long-distance running.

The thing is, there aren't any black people here who are incredibly talented.

That’s why Liu Guogui previously thought that winning three or five gold medals was a matter of holding on to your fingers.

result……

When it came to the swimming competition, several countries seemed to have agreed upon it, and the athletes from Austria, Bohemia and Denmark joined forces to cause trouble. They would not win medals, and they would not let the Chinese team win.

Liu Guoguo was furious.

Many people couldn't hold themselves back and wanted to fight with them.

But Liu Guigui was very clear-headed and angry. The lives of these good men were not sacrificed on the battlefield, let alone die here.

It is now at the end, with three gold medals, one silver medal and two bronze medals.

Given the size of Xiaolugang Town, it was beyond Liu Guigui's expectation to achieve this result. Twenty countries were actually ranked in the middle.

Liu Baobao felt that this was like one town beating ten countries.

I feel like floating when I walk.

When the banquet started, Liu Guogui raised his glass: "We will return to China after the closing ceremony on October 10st. Now foreigners no longer dare to underestimate us, and only by obstructing us can they prevent us from continuing to win gold medals. The original strategy of passing on the legacy was right. , we ski in the winter and swim in the summer and usually climb mountains, train with live ammunition every day, run long distances every day, eat and drink well, we are indeed stronger than them all. Athletes from other countries see the flinch in our eyes, this is victory, this is how we come to the Olympics The meaning of the sports meeting. There are 31 golds, 3 silver and 1 bronzes in total. You should be proud. After we go back, not only will we practice, but the children will also practice. May Lugang Town become stronger and stronger, and may China always be strong, drink!"

People at several tables drank heavily, while other Chinese people in the restaurant stood up and applauded.

His face flushed with excitement.

They couldn't even enter the venue, but they still felt proud.

At this time, overseas Chinese are more patriotic and yearn for their own people to get ahead.

At this time, no one in the country dared to call them banana people, because when something happened, they really came forward, donated money to people, and made an indelible contribution to resisting foreign enemies.

When Liu Guogui and the others competed in the London Olympics, they received a lot of goodwill from overseas Chinese, including food, fruits, clothes... Basically no one would charge money when they ate in Chinese-owned restaurants.

There were still people who wanted to give money, but Liu Guigui refused to accept any money. He just said: "It's not yet the time when we need to collect your money. If that day comes in the future, it will definitely be a critical moment for the country's survival. We will not refuse at that time." .”

……

Forbidden City.

Cixi's complexion was not very good.

"I had a nightmare last night. I dreamed that Zhao Chuanxin came to the capital and said that I had left him in a bitter cold place. The people were against him. The local officials did not listen to his orders. Tsarist Russia put pressure on him and wanted to ask me for an explanation. Japan I have thoughts and dreams at night, do you know what the situation is like in the north?"

Cixi neither addressed herself as "Aijia" or "my palace", and certainly would not risk the disapproval of the world by calling her a loner. She always referred to herself as "I".

Aixinjueluo Zaifeng knew that Cixi was thinking about their father and son, so he brought Zhao Chuanxin to the Hailar area.

The closer she was to the end of her life, the more worried Cixi would be about causing all kinds of trouble.

Recently, her attitude toward Guangxu has become much better. Once when Guangxu came to say hello, she blamed the palace maids and eunuchs for ordering them not to let Guangxu wait outside without saluting.

Because Guangxu was weak and ill for a long time, he could not withstand the torture.

Aixinjueluo Zaifeng pursed his lips and said: "Old Buddha, Zhao Chuanxin is negotiating with Tsarist Russia. He has moved the boundary monument to the right bank of the Ergun River without authorization, and also wants to set up a checkpoint in Manchuria to collect land. Tsarist Russia does not agree with the customs tariff, and the two sides are in a stalemate. Wu Sadi, Tsarist Army Major General Putilov, and the General Office of the Dongqing Railway Company Horvath telexed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, claiming that if Zhao Chuanxin did not compromise, it would be resolved by force. The incident..."

Not only was Cixi not afraid this time, she even asked him: "What happened to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?"

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called back and said that Zhao Chuanxin was subject to the jurisdiction of the imperial court and had lost control. What he did did not represent the imperial court. The imperial court still acted with the purpose of 'consolidating borders and advocating peace'."

Consolidating borders and advocating peace, these eight words have been said in the Hailar area for many years, which makes Tsarist Russia more and more emboldened, occupying land wantonly, and doing whatever they want.

This is still the same rhetoric.

Cixi, however, was smug and nodded with satisfaction: "Excellent, let them bite the bullet. There are tens of thousands of Russian soldiers outside the pass. I'm afraid Zhao Chuanxin can't defeat Tsarist Russia. In this way, I can sleep peacefully for a few nights."

"It's just..." Aixinjueluo Zaifeng hesitated: "Zhang Shouzeng, the appointed director-general of the Bureau of Negotiation with Russia, seems a little unstable. Zhou Shumo telexed that Song Xiaolian had seen with his own eyes that Zhang Shouzeng was currently working for Zhao Chuanxin, There is no constraint at all.”

Cixi snorted coldly: "Since he doesn't want to serve the imperial court, then I'll take him out of his position and never hire him!"

Anyone who is on the same side as Zhao Chuanxin is going against the Qing court and Cixi.

Aixinjueluo Zaifeng nodded: "Let's do it now."

……

Since Baiyin Dalai was shot to death by Zhang Zuolin, Tao Ketaohu escaped and wandered around like a bereaved dog.

Later, he learned that his son had been killed by a man named Zhao Chuanxin, and he was heartbroken for a while.

Along the way, with the help of the Mongols, he fled to the Chechen Khan tribe and met Haishan who had returned from the Hailar area.

After Haishan learned the identity of Taoke Taohu, he said with emotion: "You actually have the blood of the Golden Family flowing in your body. Your deeds are sung in our world. Heroes should not end up like this..."

After a hearty conversation, the two became close friends.

Taoke Taohu resisted reclamation, but Haishan wanted independence, but in general they coincided.

He also heard that Taoke Taohu's son was killed by Zhao Chuanxin. He was moved in his heart and said: "Zhao Chuanxin is so ambitious that he intimidates the Five-winged Banner people on the Hulun-Beir grassland from being able to raise their heads. Everyone is afraid of him." . He helped Zhang Zuolin and killed your son. He is the enemy of all our Meng people. I heard that the Russians will soon send troops to attack Zhao Chuanxin. If you rise again here, lead troops to help. When the Russians killed Zhao Chuanxin, they did some harm to our grassland."

With Zhao Chuanxian sitting in Lubin Mansion, he could not carry out lobbying activities in the Hailar area. He was inextricably linked to Tsarist Russia. After getting the news, he couldn't help but think about Xiao Jiujiu.

But Tao Ketaohu was disheartened: "Bai Yin Dalai, who was originally a rival to me, has been killed by Zhang Zuolin, and my men have also been killed. How can I make a comeback now? I was thinking of starting from Chechen The Khan tribe fled to Tsarist Russia to avoid disaster, Zhang Zuolin can no longer find me."

Haishan shook his head: "If you are determined to avenge your child, I can help. Jigar Niulu's people were caught by Zhao Chuanxin because they stole Russian businessmen's money at the Ganzhuer Temple Fair. Jigar Niulu The assistant leader is the same fourth-grade official as Zhao Chuanxin, but Zhao Chuanxin will not let him take people away. Why not start recruiting people from Jigar Niulu. It won't take long to gather a team of thousands of people. Combined with the Tsarist Russian army to besiege Zhao Chuanxin, we attacked from the west and south, and Tsarist Russia surrounded him from the north and east. I think Zhao Chuanxin will be doomed."

Taoke Taohu hesitated for a moment: "It's not enough to just have people, we also need weapons, horses and food."

"Haha." He said with confidence: "As long as you are willing to do something, I will help contact you and ask for a batch of weapons and ammunition from Tsarist Russia. Horses are even easier to talk to..."

Tsarist Russia, like Japan, has always been good at recruiting bandits outside the border to help fight.

Anyone willing to fight will be given weapons and silver coins.

Haishan felt quite proud. He contacted many princes and nobles. These people were not interested in the imperial court. To put it bluntly, they were just timid.

But let them provide some horses, that's okay.

Unexpectedly, things turned around!

……

Zhang Shouzeng and others continued negotiations with Wu Sadi and others.

Song Xiaolian and Huang Shifu were also there.

When they first met, Wu Sadi said to Zhang Shouzeng: "We had a large number of armaments stolen yesterday. Do you, General Manager Zhang, know about this?"

Zhang Shouzeng said in surprise: "How could I know? Are there any casualties?"

"There are no casualties. The thieves are very capable. They stole weapons, ammunition and several artillery pieces without anyone noticing. Haha..." Wu Sadi sneered again and again, losing the calmness and calmness of yesterday.

Paralyzed, the weapons that had just been transported were deployed along the east side of Lingdong, and a large number of troops were gathered at the same time. As a result, the arsenal was stolen again.

And not just one or two, but more than ten stations along the way were all stolen overnight.

Simply sensational.

How it was stolen and how the weapons and artillery were transported are all unsolved mysteries.

(End of this chapter)