Chapter 39: Training the New Army

Something happened on this day. A fifth-rank chief of the Ministry of War, named Zhao Yuecheng, was beaten by two soldiers in the yamen when he went to the infantry commander's yamen. The chief was a Han official, and the two bannermen who beat the people. This matter became increasingly riots. First, Xu Gengshen of the Ministry of War and Hui Chong, the commander of the infantry commander, commonly known as the Nine Gate Admiral, quarreled over this. Hui Chong was very pleased and asked the two eyes to apologize to Zhao Yuecheng, but Zhao Yuecheng was very handsome.

I couldn't think of it, so I was beaten first, but after I got home, my wife scolded me. I was impatient for a while, and after a few days, I secretly went out of the city to go to Yongding River and died. Shuntian Prefecture's yamen was also involved. The people of the Zhao family refused to let go, saying that Shuntian Prefecture covered the infantry yamen and silenced the infantry yamen as committing suicide by jumping into the river. The lawsuit became more and more serious. The Ministry of War and the infantry commander's yamen refused to give in to each other. It was extremely difficult to get the lawsuit between the Shuntian Prefecture. Finally, the lawsuit was Prince Li, who had been at home recently.

Prince Li Shiduo has been the foreman of military aircraft for several years and has always had a good relationship with the Ministry of War. Hui Chong naturally believed that he was a good player to solve problems. But since the incident between Cixi, this guy has developed a fear of things and stability. I just took a nap in the study and handed in the sign to ask for a meeting.

After talking about the matter, Shiduo respectfully bowed to me, "Long live the Holy Lord."

I smiled. Of course, this guy is not afraid of offending the Ministry of War or the infantry commander's office, but is afraid of offending me, so he has to ask my opinion first. What can I think? Just do it for official business, but I still have to ask.

Just as he was about to reply to him like this, he thought that Shi Duo was not very old. If he continued to live cautiously, he would have wasted his talent as the former foreman military aircraft. So he smiled and said, "Shi Duo, you are also an old foreman military aircraft. If it were before? Shouldn't you also respectfully invite the Lord Lafayette to the Holy Commander?"

"I dare not... I should do my own thing." Shi Duo was stunned and looked at me carefully and said.

I laughed and stood up and said, "So, according to you, what should I do when I do it impartially?"

Shi Duo hesitated for a while and said, "Reply to the emperor's words, naturally... naturally, the person who beats someone, and who disobeys Shangguan according to the law will be sentenced to exile. Now that a person's life has been forced, it should be aggravated and sent to Ussuritai is more appropriate. As for the family members of the deceased who asked to kill someone to pay for his life, it is not an extra crime because of the character of the deceased. According to the law, there is no pension for suicide. However, if this matter is investigated, there are many involves, and you can get a pension at your discretion. This is a simple opinion of the slave, please ask the emperor to sage the holy."

I listened with relish. Shi Duo's handling was very appropriate. He did not deliberately pay for his life for the sake of the family of the deceased, nor did he leniently cause trouble. It was very good. This guy really had two tricks.

Well, I nodded and said, "It's great, Shiduo, let's do it like this. With my intention, Hui Chong will ask him to pay the money and pay for his subordinates. I will leave this matter to you. After finishing it, I will give it to me and I will give it to you. I will give it to you with additional things."

"Zha——Slave received the order." Shi Duo took his life and went out.

I was lying in a chair and was quite excited. This incident gave me a great opportunity to purify the army in the capital. These Eight Banners' children had long been unable to say that they had any combat effectiveness, otherwise they would not have had 20,000 troops to 300,000 troops in the world, and more than 100,000 Boxers were defeated by the only 20,000 Eight-Nation Alliance. Now is a good opportunity to start with the garrison troops in the capital, temper the new army, and then promote it to the whole country.

Since Ronglu can train troops, let him practice. Prince Li Shiduo, he should take care of him when he sees him looking more cautious. He also needs a Han Chinese, otherwise he will eventually be a Manchu army. In the future, it will be easy for people to criticize the Manchu world, which is inconsistent with my future national integration.

Who should I use? Nie Shicheng.

The first master of the Beiyang Army, Lushun Qingying, was appointed as the general of Taiyuan Town, Shanxi Province, and was stationed in Lutai to train troops.

Of course I know him, Admiral Nie, China in the feudal era, and the last general. During the Sino-Japanese War, he followed the Zhili Admiral Ye Zhichao to the court and guarded the Dagaoling in Liaodong. He fought fiercely with the Japanese army for more than ten days and nights. He recovered the Japanese occupation of Lianshan Pass and killed the Japanese general Fu Gang and was awarded the Zhili Admiral for his merits. (The former Zhili Admiral Ye Zhichao was greedy for life and afraid of death, so he killed him.)

Later, the Boxer Regiment plundered the wires and the railways. Nie Junmen tried to stop it, saying that "this is a country's property and was not made by foreigners." He offended the Boxer Regiment and made meritorious service under the imperial edict of Cixi. The Eight-Nation Alliance arrived and died in a fierce battle.

Outsiders recorded: "Although the Chinese army is heavy, it is not worth worrying about. What is feared is the Nie Army's troops; because Nie Army advances but not retreats, they are always the first of each army; although they are guns and cannons, the former is killed, and the latter is advanced again. There are indeed some things that are beyond the reach of other army." Later, a monument was erected at the time of Nie Shicheng's death, and the monument was engraved: "The bravery and fierceness penetrated the long rainbow, thinking that the horses and leather were wrapped in corpses, and a piece of loyalty turned into raging waves flying on the sea; loyalty left the blood, watching the insect sand here tragically, the bones of the three armies sang to the south of the city." The banner was "righteous".

When later generations read history, I couldn't help but sigh when I read it, and I felt tears. Of course, some people called him a traitor for suppressing the Boxer Rebellion for the Qing government... Hey, how come there are fewer people in the world who are blind?

Nie Jingzhong served the country, and Nie's mother did not let her mother-in-law go too long. Nie's mother was over 70 years old and still practiced martial arts with her fellow villagers every day to urge her to serve the country. If she had a mother like this, wouldn't her son be a traitor?

Just when Nie Junmen was fighting with the coalition forces in Balitai, the Boxer Regiment captured his mother in his hometown. Nie Sheng could not fulfill his filial piety, so he could only be loyal. It was dawn. Kuhn, the German commander in front of Balitai's position, recognized Nie Shicheng because he had worked as a cavalry coach in Nie's army. Kuhn sent soldiers as military envoys to demand Nie's surrender. But he was rejected. It is said that Kuhn got the answer that he, a German who "knows Chinese", had never understood a Chinese word: dick! Kuhn immediately ordered all the firearms to open fire together. He knew that if he did not kill Nie Shicheng, the battle in Balitai would never end.

Nie Junmen fell under the spears of the coalition forces, and Balitai was lost. After the war, the German army pulled a red blanket and covered Nie Shicheng's almost broken body. He ordered a soldier to carry Nie Shicheng's body and return it to the Qing army.

When Nie Jun was transporting Nie Shicheng's body, he was intercepted by the Boxer Regiment. The Boxer farmers tried to steal the body and "kill the corpse". They were dispersed by the coalition forces.

Yulu submitted a memorial to the court, requesting the grant of Nie Shicheng's pension, but was opposed by Prince Duan and Gangyi. Afterwards, Cixi issued an edict saying that Nie Shicheng "has lost his life due to his mistakes, and he was really detested. I would like to remember his previous achievements and grant him a compassionate Dharma." (Luo Dunrong: "Records of the Changes of the Gengzi Kingdom", Volume 1 of "Unknown History of the Qing Dynasty", Bashu Bookstore, first edition in September 1998, page 209.)

After several conversations with Li Hongzhang, I was able to get some reports on the situation of the Beiyang personnel. How could I feel sorry for my official title and reputation? I immediately issued an order to prepare for a new army, mainly with young people near the capital, and trained a new army in three years. Of course, it was very similar to the training of Yuan Shikai at the small station back then, but I was earlier than him.

Prince Li Shiduo was the chief of President, Nie Shicheng was the chief commander, Rong Lu was appointed as the rank of admiral, and the military personnel returned to Mongolia and Tibet without limit. It is strictly prohibited to divide the Manchus and Han dynasties in the army, and use strict military discipline and high silver as a means of training. All weapons were new rifles, and bullets were coordinated and supplied by the Shenji Battalion Manufacturing Bureau. Li Hongzhang and Guo Songshou purchased several Maxim machine guns and cooperated with several German instructors to train the new army!

Once the imperial edict was issued, the major camps in the capital and Beijing were shocked. The soldiers of the original major camps were greedy for the high salary and asked their superiors for transfer. The generals felt unable to bear it and came to me to file a complaint.

I only replied one sentence, as long as he can bear the pain, let them go. Sure enough, not long after, people escaped one after another. I will not say anything about this later.

However, there was news from Shanqi Liu Guangdi that Ronglu was normal. He said that most of the manpower had been raised, and now he only thought there was little trouble.

I laughed, thinking that it was not easy to deal with when there was little trouble. I immediately ordered the Qing government to strengthen the surveillance of Zaiyi and his son. I knew that if someone wanted to oppose me, he would definitely build a puppet first. Pu Jun, who had the title of Grand Prince, was the best puppet. The net was already open, so let's see who jumped into it without opening his eyes.
Chapter completed!