late Qing Dynasty arrest

In the evening, Li Hongzhang led the convoy to Xiaozhan Town. The scene in front of him was very different from two months ago, and it was a thriving scene.Liu Jie led [-] students to line up to welcome Li Hongzhang.

When the "Xinwutang" military academy was built in Xiaozhan Town, it was built using a large area of ​​farmland.The whole school consists of four parts: the headquarters, branch schools, large playground and shooting range.The school headquarters is located in the center, covering an area of ​​more than 180 mu.Its architectural pattern was built in imitation of the British Non-commissioned Officer School, and it is a complex of brick and tile structures with austere weather.There are tall walls on all sides, and there is a river ring outside the wall, and ancient willows line up on both sides of the river.The gate of the military academy is on the south side, and there is a tall screen wall opposite it across the river.The gate tower is tall and three rooms wide, and its majesty can be compared with the gate of Zhili Governor's Mansion.

The vermilion lacquer gate is decorated with copper nails and rings, and a horizontal plaque with three big characters "Xin Wu Tang" is hung on the lintel.There are high stone steps in front of the door, and the south road in front of the steps leads directly to the river bank.There are a pair of stone lions on both sides of the South Road, about Zhang Xu high.A flat bridge is built over the river to connect to the playground.The school-based part consists of the North and South Schools.The north courtyard is the living area.The South Campus is the center and teaching area of ​​the military academy, and is divided into East, Central, West, and three courtyards.The east and west courtyards are classrooms and student dormitories, each with ten rows of blue-brick houses with long corridors. , there are about one student in each courtyard, commonly known as Yishao Daozi.The middle school has the school office and Shangwu hall.The tall Shangwu Hall faces south, surrounded by stone railings, carved beams and painted buildings, which is magnificent.There are couplets on both sides of the hall door, which read:

Shang Fu's Yin Talisman, Marquis Wu's Taolue, concisely conceived into a hall.

Aspiring to serve the country, bundled up and joined the army, many students Ji Siwang.

Li Hongzhang glanced at the couplets. It must have been written by Weng Tonghe.

There is a long corridor in front of the hall leading directly to the school gate.To the north of Shangwu Hall is a large empty courtyard.In the courtyard, there are two ancient poplar trees more than five feet high standing side by side, and a bronze bell hangs between the two trees.Officials lecture and issue orders here as the center of the whole school, and the east side of the school headquarters is the branch school, covering an area of ​​[-] mu.

"Welcome Lord Fu to review!" The tallest Battelle stood in front of the lineup in military uniform.

Li Guolou hurriedly informed: "Master Fu, according to the rules of the military academy, all marching salutes are cancelled."

"Hmm..." Li Hongzhang looked at the two rows of students who were motionless, with a frenzied glow on their heroic faces, and shouted loudly: "Students have worked hard!"

"The chief is working hard!" Eight hundred students shouted together.

"Hello, students!" Li Hongzhang raised his hand, enjoying many admiring gazes.

"Hello, Chief!" The voices of the [-] students were a little immature, but the voices they made with all their strength were so hoarse and exhausted.

"Beep beep beep beep!" The 30-member guard of honor raised the western bugle tied with a red silk scarf with their left hand and blew a simple melody.

Liu Jie quickly explained: "Master Fu Xiang, the work and rest of the Xinwu Hall are all based on the military number."

Li Hongzhang blushed and said with a smile: "Liu Jie is in good spirits, why is he getting fat?"

"Xiaguan, I am with young people every day. I can eat, sleep, and do exercises together, so I have become stronger." Liu Jie walked all the way, introducing the achievements of the new martial arts hall along the way. The fruit of his hard work.

Liu Jie said solemnly: "Master Fu, please don't worry, the students still live in thatched huts, and the red brick four-story tile-roofed houses will be built next month. There are heating pipes in the houses. No student can be frozen, and the windows are double-glazed. Before the students live in new houses, the instructors do not live in the academic building."

Li Hongzhang nodded slightly and said, "Well, what do the students have for dinner?"

Liu Jie led the way and said: "Master Fu, when the students are growing up, they have to see one meat, two vegetarians, and one soup, steamed buns, etc. every day. This is a must. Three days plus One meal, one meat and one vegetable, and extra meals if there is a major sports training. We are building a farm, a vegetable base, and a fish farm here, so that the local people who have been demolished can also have a job."

"Hmm!" Li Hongzhang stood at the highest point of the outpost, holding a telescope, watching the scene in the distance.He secretly admired Liu Jie for his nimble actions and excellent demolition work, which razed thousands of acres of land to the ground.I just don't know where the local people were driven by Liu Jie?Liu Jie did a good job with this kind of superficial writing, without revealing any clues.The capable officials were wasted in Xiaozhan Town. In the future, Liu Jie will be transferred from Xinwutang and an arm of Li Guolou will be cut off.

The night was approaching, and the surrounding scenes were vague. Li Hongzhang put down the binoculars and said with a smile, "Let's go, have dinner with the students."

"When a soldier eats food, he does not forget the common people. The common people are our parents. The common people provide us with food and clothing. They are loyal to the emperor, patriotic and protect our parents..."

The students stood at the entrance of the dining hall and sang eating songs, their clear and orderly voice piercing the night sky.

Li Hongzhang laughed freely and sang majesticly.Glancing at Li Guolou, he admired Li Guolou's ability to compose vernacular songs, and he was not afraid of losing Tanhualang's face.

The students lined up to eat in the dining hall. Each table had an instructor eating with the students. The dining hall was silent. After each table finished eating, they cleaned up the table and wiped it clean.Another group of people enter the dining hall to eat, and three groups of people take turns to eat at a table.It takes less than 10 minutes for each table to eat and wash the dishes.

In fact, Xinwutang has not started school yet, and the Ministry of War has not allocated student allowances.Today, the daily expenses of these 1000 students are paid by Li Guolou himself.Li Hongzhang and Liu Mingchuan knew about this matter in their hearts, but they didn't say it out loud. They had already reminded Li Guolou that the daily expenses of the new martial arts hall should be in place. Anyway, Li Guolou owed the Beiyang Navy [-] million taels of silver. Deducted from teachers' expenses.

Seeing Li Hongzhang eating the same dinner as the students made the young students admire the national hero Li Hongzhang even more.Although Li Guolou was dissatisfied, he didn't dare to show it. Being able to bend and stretch is what a man does. He seeks development in the cracks. The large army belongs to Li Hongzhang.Small-scale students can still be included in the bag, so he will be a prince along the way.

The dusk in summer was very long. After dinner, Li Hongzhang was still very interested in visiting the school site of Xinwutang, and a group of officers followed leisurely behind.Li Guolou was squeezed dry by Liu Mingchuan, revealing the secrets of Xinwutang.

The shooting range is in the north of the branch campus, covering an area of ​​more than 330 mu.It covers an area of ​​more than 880 mu from the north, west and south sides of the guard school headquarters, and the west side has the largest area.The main function of the military academy is to train junior officers.The study period is four years, divided into five subjects: stepping, cavalry, artillery, engineering, and transportation. The teaching content and teaching methods of Xinwutang Military Academy are formulated with reference to German military education and combined with the actual situation of the Qing Dynasty.

The military academy is a military school with complete equipment and strict training.Prussian officers and outstanding Huai army officers were also hired as instructors and section leaders.Historically, education and training have been carried out separately according to the formation of military departments.The captain is at the major level, and serves as life management and the military instructor of the military department. The military course is taught by the battalion officer instructor; the technical courses include chopping, gymnastics, martial arts, etc., and the technical instructor is in charge. There are also technical assistants to assist in technical training.In the mixed formation of various arms, the general military lessons and life management are in the mixed team (except for specialized training), the captain is promoted to the rank of sentry officer, and the food is also changed to the sentry team.

The cavalry and transportation divisions are concurrently managed by the captain of the cavalry division, reducing the number of persons in charge of the arms, and the military instructors are battalion officers.For classroom education, there is at least half a day for teaching courses every day. In addition to military tactics, weapons, surveying and mapping, fortification and model orders, physics and chemistry, mathematics, history, geography, etc. are added. Each class lasts for one and a half hours.The model order booklet is the criterion for coaching various military operations.General knowledge and foreign languages ​​are supplementary education, and civilian teachers are hired to enrich students' military knowledge and prepare for the gradual and comprehensive learning of various military exercises.

For technical training, first conduct various standard coaches in the playground, and then go to each coaching field for exercises.Field exercises, first from simple to complex, and then gradually into comprehensive joint exercises.There is a shooting range for live ammunition shooting, a horse range for horse riding training, a cannon range for artillery training, civil engineering and bridge construction work sites for engineers, and a place where no harm will be caused for blasting exercises.Auxiliary skills such as gymnastics, chopping, martial arts, etc., have professional instructors and are conducted in the compound.Equipment exercises are carried out in the equipment playground outside the back gate of the school.Each of these training sessions lasts at most one hour, the formal exercise training generally takes two hours, and the field drills take at least half a day. When the subjects are complicated and the school is far away, the time is increased to one to several days.The big exercise also carries tents, cooking utensils, and organizes life at the exercise site.

Li Hongzhang listened to Li Guolou's eloquent talk in the office of Xinwutang Middle School Department, and he had a higher opinion of Li Guolou's ability to handle affairs in his heart.In just over two months, Li Guolou actually built the new martial arts hall, which has begun to take shape.This ability to do things is so strong that even he is ashamed of himself.This also made him determined to tie Li Guolou to his carriage, and he must not let Li Guolou become his own school.This son is by no means Zhao Kuo, who can do so many things on paper. He is capable, hundreds of times stronger than "Liu Mazi".

Liu Mingchuan raised his eyebrows with joy, and said, "Oh, Guolou. The war horse has already been purchased, and you don't need to be dispatched by the Ministry of War. You are really rich and powerful. Then I will eat ready-made meals. Hahahaha!"

Li Guolou wished he could knock Liu Mingchuan to the ground with one kick. This is a warlord, those who follow me prosper, and those who oppose me perish. People like "Liu Mazi" form small gangs in the army, that's why the "Mingzi Camp" bombed the camp.Handing Xinwutang to Liu Mingchuan, how could he let it go, he said with a smile: "Liu Gong is willing to come out to help, Xinwutang will definitely become a wonderful flower in the Qing army, blooming with dazzling light, and students should pay more attention to you!" Learn and take care of me in the future."

Liu Mingchuan was a rough man, unable to hear the voiceover of Li Guolou's refusal to let go of power, he grinned and said, "It's easy to say, let me show you my military training methods tomorrow, I'm sure it will open your eyes."

Li Guolou turned pale with fright, and hurriedly waved his hands and said, "Grand Liu, these students are all cultural people, we should take it easy, let them overcome their own shortcomings and increase the difficulty of training little by little after they have the thought of being loyal to the emperor and patriotism. Use force, and within a few days, all of these people will run away. It is not easy for scholars to be willing to serve as soldiers, so you must not beat them to death with a single stick. They have joined the army because of the reputation of Mr. Fu Xiang and Mr. Liu. You should have your men Be merciful."

Li Hongzhang understood it as soon as he heard it, and hurriedly said: "Sheng San, you should watch it for a few days first. You can't overdo anything. It is very important to get in touch with each other. Those instructors have any military ideas that conflict with you. Don't be impatient. Listen. Listen to what Xiaolou said, scholars have a good face, you scolded a few times, hit a few times, and escaped, wouldn’t it be a waste of effort. Waiting for those students to eat well, dress well, and get their allowances, I feel that being a reserve officer is a waste of time. What an honorable moment. When you beat them and scold them, they will accept the reality."

"Grandma's Xiong, when will the soldiers still coax you? The Eight Banners are just spoiled." Liu Mingchuan couldn't believe that this kind of thing happened in the army. He is also an old soldier. , has been passed down from ancient times to the present, and has not changed.

Li Guolou argued: "Liu Gong, this is different. It is not called habit here, but ideological education. Everyone has room for improvement. There were too few educated people in the Qing Dynasty, and our resources were scarce. If What is difficult for the strong is not a fight for nothing. So education is the first, and those who are really unreasonable can only be persuaded to quit, but the vast majority of people can still overcome difficulties. Just like me, Mr. Fu Xiang Give me an official hat, and I will obediently obey orders. In Xinwutang, if you want students to surrender, you must first lead by example. The instructors do not specialize, and the main focus is on enlightenment and supervision, supplemented by punishment. If the talent reserve is full in the future, At that time, talent training can be brought to a new level. It is impossible to accomplish things in one step. Even if all our instructors are replaced by Prussian officers, the students will still have the same quality, and the ending they will face is still not optimistic."

"Well, what Xiaolou said is very good. What kind of seeds and what kind of melons can be cultivated can only be cultivated according to the trend. It is difficult for others, but it is not beautiful. The first batch of students must set an example, so that in the future, young people from all over the country will be good. Jun will flock to him and apply for the new martial arts hall."

Liu Mingchuan was a hundred dissatisfied in his heart, but Li Hongzhang agreed with Li Guolou's proposition, and he did not dare to object, and obeyed orders obediently.

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