Chapter 141 I will hold up the sky if it falls
Chapter 141 I will hold up the sky if it falls
Shao Quanzhong didn't care about getting into trouble. "Third brother, you can't do this. You have to learn from your elder brother and be brave. How can a person who doesn't dare to get into trouble have a future? It's okay. If the enemy comes, the general will stop him. If the water comes, the earth will cover it. The worst that can happen is a rebellion."
Of course, it is better not to rebel for the time being. Shao Quanzhong rolled his eyes and said, "Mr. Yang, you just said that we killed almost all the pursuers. Are there any who escaped?"
"There is a sixth-rank imperial guard with a blue feather and a sword who stayed in Shanghai and is responsible for contacting Li Hongzhang."
Shao Quanzhong turned around and ordered, "Sixth Lady, send a message to Jiang Chunlin and kill him."
Hu Liuniang was extremely excited. She had thought that she would live a peaceful life after being recruited by Shao Quanzhong, but she felt a little unwilling in her heart.
I didn't expect that the guy I was going to entrust my life to could cause more trouble than me. This life is so exciting. It turns out that being an official is not a stable job. What I do every day is much more cruel than being a bandit.
Zhenjiang is also the territory of the Jiangning Provincial Government, and the wired telegraph also extends here.
The radio waves instantly reached the base of the Huai Army Intelligence Department in the backyard of Wen's Bank in the British Concession, and the Huai Army Intelligence Department's action team was immediately dispatched.
That night, a sixth-rank sword-bearing guard from the capital was besieged and killed by a group of thugs in Ruyu Pavilion because of jealousy with a thug from Shanghai. The thugs dispersed and no one was caught.
The team that was trying to capture Dong Haichuan and Yang Luchan was completely wiped out, and could only delay the time before the incident was exposed.
The Haichang bombarded the Changlong battleship of the Huaiyang Navy, and Shao Quanzhong's guard platoon also killed and shot the survivors on the warship, not in the wilderness, but at the bustling Zhenjiang wharf.
Surprisingly, when Feng Zicai, the general of Zhenjiang, received the report, he didn't care at all. "I am the general appointed by the court. The conflict between the Huai Army and the Hu Army and the Hunan Army has nothing to do with us. Don't meddle in other people's business."
None of Shao Quanzhong's subordinates had ever been warlords, and they didn't know how unscrupulous the big warlords were, so they couldn't understand Shao Quanzhong's behavior.
Shao Quanzhong had trained more than 14,000 elite soldiers armed to the teeth. He had a territory of an entire province to provide unlimited manpower and a large amount of material resources. He also had the support of Britain and the United States, and the protection of court bigwigs such as Yuan Jiasan, Qiao Songnian, and Zhang Zhiwan. He was already a well-established warlord. Of course, Shao Quanzhong had to act according to his warlord nature.
Shao Quanzhong pondered for a moment, "Mr. Dong, you are over sixty years old, do you still want to venture into the world?"
Dong Haichuan patted his chest and said, "No problem, I am willing to serve the prefect."
"Okay! I'll trouble you a lot, old man. Haiqing, you don't have to go to Hong Kong with me. Take Old Man Yang and the two Mianquan disciples who were injured in the artillery battle back to Hailing to recuperate. Take Old Man Yang's disciples with you as well."
Shao Quanzhong glanced at Yang Luchan and said, "Mr. Yang, you should just stay at the Shao residence in Hailing and recover from your injuries. No one will dare to do anything to you. When you recover from your injuries, you can teach the Mianquan to the servants in my house."
Yang Luchan was very satisfied. "I will change my name from now on and become Yang Huyuan of Shao Mansion. The Yang family's Mianquan will definitely protect the safety of your family."
"Master Dong, Brother Ban Hou, I appoint you as the captains of the first and second teams of the Huai Army Detective Division, with the rank of major. You will follow me to Hong Kong this time."
They both clasped their fists together, "Yes!"
"Brother Ban Hou" is Yang Luchan's eldest son. He has inherited all his father's skills and his abilities are almost the same as Yang Luchan's at the peak of his martial arts career.
Although Dong Haichuan is old, he has no worries after becoming a eunuch. He is as strong as an ox and is willing to work hard in the world.
He thought for a moment, "I have to keep my real name secret so as not to bring trouble to my lord. I have decided to change my name to Tong Lin, and from now on I will be Major Tong of the First Operations Team of the Huai Army Detective Department."
Shao Quanzhong laughed, "Okay, Haiqing, let's split up. I'll lead the team to Hong Kong to do some big business!"
At the Zhenjiang dock, Yunsheng No. 1 set sail with thick smoke, carrying a group of students going to Europe led by Liao Rong, Evan, and Emery, as well as Shao Quanzhong and 22 experts from the Detective Teams 1 and 2, heading for Hong Kong. Haiqing and a group of Yang's disciples saw Yunsheng No. 1 off, complaining, "You just made a big mess here, and now you're going to Hong Kong to kidnap people. You're really bold, second brother. You're going to the British territory to kidnap Americans, so aren't you offending two powers at the same time? It's really scary."
Shao Quanzhong laughed loudly on the boat, full of heroic spirit, "Don't worry, third brother, I will hold up the sky if it collapses."
Shao Quanzhong got into trouble in Zhenjiang, and then took a steamer to Hong Kong to get into more trouble. This place was immediately in an uproar.
Feng Zicai didn't care. The news that the Huai Army Navy's only warship, the Haichang, fought with the Huaiyang Navy in Zhenjiang and sank the Huaiyang Navy's Changlong warship, and the Beijing thief-catching group on the warship were wiped out, spread quickly.
Zeng Guofan sent people to Beijing urgently to impeach Anhui Governor Qiao Songnian and Fengyang Prefect Shao Quanzhong for condoning their subordinates and attacking friendly forces.
The Minister of the Imperial Guard Aisin-Gioro Yixin (xuān), the Governor of the Nine Gates Guaerjia Wenxiang, and the Governor of Shuntian Prefecture Shi Zanqing all seconded the motion, and suspected that the death of the sixth-rank blue-feathered sword-bearing guard in Shanghai was also related to Shao Quanzhong.
What is worth pondering is that the old fox Li Hongzhang did not react. He turned a blind eye to the sinking of the warships he lent out, and pretended not to know that the imperial guards were killed in his own jurisdiction.
In general, the Shanghai Army and the Huai Army were allies in resisting Zeng Guofan's suppression. Li Hongzhang looked at the overall situation and played dumb in this matter.
Qiao Songnian and his son were impeached by four court officials at the same time. The court responded quickly. Fengyang prefect Shao Quanzhong was suspended from his post pending investigation, Qiao Songnian was reprimanded and allowed to submit a memorial to defend himself.
Surprisingly, Feng Zicai, the general of Zhenjiang, sided with Shao Quanzhong at this time and wrote a joint memorial with Qiao Songnian, saying that the incident happened in his jurisdiction and he had the final say. The Haichang boat was first bombarded by the Huaiyang Navy, and it retaliated in self-defense, so the Huai Army was not guilty.
Ahem, the small boat was actually on the Yunsheng No. 1, but there were indeed Huai Army soldiers on it, so don’t pay attention to those details.
This criminal case of murdering the bandit-catching group has now turned into a political struggle between the Hunan Army, the Imperial Guards, Shuntian Prefecture, the Nine-Gate Admiral, and the Huai Army.
Feng Zicai was a subordinate of Jiangning General Du Xing'a, and should have belonged to the Hunan Army. However, he considered himself to be a member of the imperial army, and received food and wages from Qiao Songnian, so he was not in the same boat with the Hunan Army at all.
Soon, the brave Hunan Army general Duolong'a also submitted a memorial, supporting Shao Quanzhong together with Feng Zicai.
The bigwigs in the court did not want to know the specific situation of the artillery battle. They only knew that Zeng Guofan had suppressed the Huai Army again.
The Huai Army camp is also full of pillars of the imperial court. When the Guangdong bandits and the Nian bandits are rampant, it is not appropriate to start an internal fight, start to smooth things over, and prepare to drag this matter out.
Yihuan, Wenxiang and Shi Zanqing immediately jointly submitted a memorial to impeach Shao Quanzhong for colluding with the rebels, having connections with the gang that assassinated the previous emperor, and suspected of harboring traitors and plotting rebellion.
This was a big deal. The imperial court was planning to send someone to investigate and was also preparing to suspend Shao Quanzhong's military power.
The British Acting Inspector General of Shanghai Customs, Robert Hart, and the American Minister to China, Anselm Burlingame, jointly reported that they had just received a telegram from Hong Kong that the traitors Dong Haichuan and Yang Luchan had appeared in Hong Kong.
Together, they robbed Henry Wall, a passenger on the American Pacific Mail Company's transoceanic steam liner "Costa Gorda". Wall was sunk overboard in public, and the one million taels of silver he was carrying for purchasing the ship was stolen.
The two rebels and their subordinates have fled without a trace and are believed to have fled to the Dutch territory in Southeast Asia. Shao Quanzhong was a loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty and was extremely loyal to our Great Qing Dynasty. He had absolutely nothing to do with the rebels.
Shao Quanzhong is a good friend of our British Empire and the United States. If he is treated unfairly in the Qing Dynasty, we cannot take it lightly. The British and American governments will consider sending a joint fleet to intervene in this matter.
(End of this chapter)