Chapter 278 Loyal Ministers and Righteous Men (First Update, Please Subscribe)
In fact, 1868 was a new era in itself - in this year, the overseas students who had been sent abroad a few years ago returned to Nanhua. During their seven-year study abroad, many of them not only graduated from university, but also completed internships in enterprises.
It's finally time to go home!
Among these international students, Zhao Tianfeng was undoubtedly an exception. When his internship was about to end, after seven years of painstaking preparation, he finally boarded a ship to Britain in New York, and then took a mail ship from Britain to Singapore.
Finally coming back!
After a bumpy journey and "going through untold hardships", Zhao Tianfeng finally boarded the steamer from Hong Kong to Haizhou.
"Xuzhou, here I come!"
Whenever Zhao Tianfeng thought about stepping on the land of the Qing Dynasty, he felt excited.
After leaving the Qing Dynasty for seven years, he is finally returning to the Qing Dynasty!
It takes seven or eight days to travel from Hong Kong to Lianyun, even with the fastest steamer. Since the day he boarded the ship, Zhao Tianfeng stood on the deck from time to time, gazing into the distance. He was so eager to return home that he wished he could reach Lianyun right away.
Where is Lianyun?
It is the first port opened in northern Jiangsu.
The opening of Lianyun as a port was completely accidental - because Xuzhou was the residence of the Beiyang ministers.
Three years ago, in order to stop the Taiping Army from advancing northward, Li Xunfu, who had repelled the Taiping Army in Shanghai, was entrusted with an important task and was promoted from the post of Jiangsu Governor to the Governor-General of Zhili, in charge of the military and political affairs of Zhili, Shandong, and Henan. In order to facilitate the suppression of bandits, he moved his headquarters to Xuzhou.
Two years ago, after Haizhou opened as a port, Governor Li, who was in Xuzhou, also served as the Minister of Commerce of the Northern Ocean. His position was far more prominent than that of his mentor, the Governor of Huguang.
Of course, Governor Li was also under great pressure - the Taiping Army had tried to move north many times, and he had to be on guard.
That's why he stayed in Xuzhou.
In order to facilitate dealings with foreigners, Governor Li wrote to the imperial court requesting an order to open a port in Lianyun. After the opening of the port, Lianyun became very prosperous, with foreign companies from various countries lining the city.
However, Zhao Tianfeng doesn't care about these. What does he care about?
Of course, it is about how to serve the court.
He was also full of passion. He even changed his name to "Ziqing", which was Su Wu's name, in order to emulate Su Wu's spirit of "staying in the Huns for 19 years and remaining unyielding".
Of course, Su Wu would rather die than be loyal to a foreign race, but he was determined to serve the Qing Dynasty.
He did not hold a chastity ceremony, nor did he go to a foreign land to herd sheep. Instead, he studied in France for seven years. After returning from his studies, the first thing he wanted to do was to dedicate what he had learned to the court, so he came to Haizhou.
After all, as everyone knows, Li Zhongtang, the Beiyang Minister, is absolutely a popular figure in the dynasty. Not to mention that his 100,000 Huai Army is the "pillar of the country", just looking at the fact that he is running foreign affairs in Lianyun, Xuzhou and other places, he is a man who can do big things. Zhao Tianfeng believes that when he goes to Li Zhongtang, he will definitely be able to use his talents!
After all, in the Qing Dynasty...there were only a few people like him who had gone to college and were proficient in Western science.
Thinking of this, Zhao Tianfeng was so proud!
Return to Nanhua?
Working like a cow or a horse for Zhu? He is so beautiful, doesn't he know that I am thinking about the imperial court?
The braid on my head has been cut off, but the braid in my heart is always hidden in my heart!
"When I see the Lord Zhongtang, I have to extend my braid first. This braid is the dignity of our Qing Dynasty!"
Muttering to himself, the steamer finally sailed into Haizhou Port. Zhao Tianfeng was surprised when he saw several black armored warships moored by the port.
"Ah, you are worthy of being my Celestial Empire's Royal Master. You actually have an ironclad warship. I think the Taiping rebels will be crushed in no time."
When he said this, his words were full of pride. In his opinion, those ironclad ships were the so-called magnanimity of the Celestial Empire.
Even in New York, he had never seen so many ironclad ships. In fact, he was just surprised by the rare things.
Those iron-clad swords were just a dozen "mosquito cannon boats" that were bought at a huge cost of money. The largest one had a tonnage of just over 600 tons, and the smallest one had a tonnage of just over 300 tons.
But even such a small ironclad ship was invincible in East Asia at that time. The only nemesis was the Taiping Army's similar ironclad ship. Fortunately, the gunners on both sides were not well trained. Even though there were several naval battles on the Yangtze River, no damage was caused to the other side.
"Hey, Brother Zhao, you are not dreaming, are you?"
The person who was speaking was none other than Zhao Qi, a cousin whom Zhao Tianfeng met on the boat. He was from Guangdong and spoke Cantonese.
"Go to Shanghai and take a look. The Huangpu River is full of ironclad ships, at least a dozen of them. The Taipings have strong ships and powerful guns..."
Shanghai, after being conquered by King Li Ying two years ago, became the headquarters of the Taiping Navy. As for the foreigners in Shanghai, they all moved to Nanjing. In fact, those foreigners were not willing to move at first, but they could not resist King Li Ying's prohibition on Chinese people doing business in the concession and not allowing Chinese people to enter the concession.
So in less than a year, the foreigners surrendered and agreed to move to Tianjing. A new embassy district was added outside the city of Tianjing, and more foreign trading ports appeared in Xiaguan. At the same time, the Shanghai Concession was sold to the Heavenly Kingdom at a low price. The concession that prospered during the war became a large military camp of the Heavenly Kingdom, and the wharf that originally docked merchant ships from all over the world also became a military port.
"The long-haired man actually has so many ironclad ships!"
Zhao Tianfeng said in surprise.
"That's not true. Don't you see where the Taipings occupy? Jiangsu and Zhejiang are on their territory. If they have money, they can buy ironclad ships."
yes!
With money, one can naturally buy an ironclad ship. As a native of Hangzhou, Zhao Tianfeng knew the prosperity of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
"It's a pity that the land of heaven has been occupied by bandits. If I can't quell the bandits and recover my hometown, I will die with regret..."
In fact, what is Zhao Tianfeng obsessed with?
It's his family's business in Hangzhou.
His ancestral business was taken away, his wife was robbed, and his family was killed. Naturally, he hated Changmao Zhao Tianfeng to the core, which was why he was determined not to change.
"Okay, stop talking about life and death. Take it. The ship is about to dock. There are still hundreds of miles to go from Lianyun to Xuzhou..."
"No train..."
When the words came to his lips, Zhao Tianfeng realized that this was the Qing Dynasty, not the United States, and there would definitely be no trains for travel.
There were definitely no trains, only horse-drawn carriages. The 400-li official road was fairly smooth. After six days of travel, Zhao Tianfeng finally arrived in Xuzhou. Although he was wearing a Western suit, he was not very conspicuous in Xuzhou. There were quite a few foreigners here. But there were more soldiers, all of whom wore light yellow Western-style uniforms and had their heads wrapped in cloth. This was the biggest difference between the Huai Army—not only did they use foreign guns and practice Western exercises, but they also wore Western clothes.
In fact, after fighting for several years, not to mention the Huai Army, even their opponents began to hire foreign brothers to practice foreign exercises, and foreign guns and cannons were standard equipment. Of course, foreign military uniforms also naturally entered the army.
After entering Xuzhou City, Zhao Tianfeng went straight to the governor's headquarters. Soldiers stood solemnly outside the headquarters. The guards, wearing black scarves on their heads and gray-blue Western-style military uniforms, spoke politely when they saw Zhao Tianfeng, who was dressed as a foreigner, coming.
"What can I do for you, sir?"
To put it bluntly, the reason why he was polite was because this man was dressed like a foreigner and didn't have a braid. Looking at his attire, he might be the boss of a foreign company. Such a person was not something an ordinary soldier could afford to offend.
The politeness of the soldiers made Zhao Tianfeng immediately feel something different. They were indeed the mighty royal army. They were so polite in treating people, unlike the Taiping rebels who killed innocent people indiscriminately.
Obviously, as a native of Hangzhou, he had long forgotten all the messy things that the Eight Banners stationed in Hangzhou did in the past. While expressing his emotion, he stepped forward and said.
"Please inform the Governor-General that my student Zhao Tianfeng has confidential military information to report to him!"
I have set up a book club: 335260551. Everyone is welcome to join and discuss and deduce the plot together.
(End of this chapter)
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