Yamafu Military Affairs

Chapter 390: Waterside Seclusion
Zhili, Cangzhou, Baiyangdian.

The lake is vast and misty, the water waves are endless, the reeds are dense, and the harbors are crisscrossed. Two figures dressed differently are walking along the lakeshore, one step deep and one step shallow, listening to the calls of gulls and herons and chatting about family matters.

"Xizi, the weather in the north is cold, and Lord Yuan has a foot disease. You have been following him for a long time, why don't you persuade him to return to the south to recuperate? Why do you have to stay in this bitter and cold Cangzhou?"

The tall and thin man following behind was wearing a gray suit and a hat with the brim half pulled down, so his face could not be seen.

"Brother Dunchu has a wide circle of friends, so he should have heard some rumors. Since Zhang Zhongtang's death, the capital has loosened up its tactics on the surface, but the calculations behind the scenes have not decreased at all. Lord Yuan thought about it and decided to stay in Beijing and Tianjin. He has friends to look after him and old subordinates to look after him. Although the weather is a bit cold, he is not in danger of losing his life."

Leading the way was a thin middle-aged man, about thirty years old, wearing a gray satin robe, a black jacket, a melon-shaped hat, and a long braid behind his head, looking like a scholar.

"So that's how it is. Master Yuan is in there?"

"Yes, please."

As they were talking, the two of them walked through the wooden corridor built on the shore to protect against wind and rain, and stepped onto the pier that extended into the lake.

"The sky is high and the land is far away, with no one around. It is really a good place to live in seclusion. Xizi, does Lord Yuan fish here every day?"

"Yes, he fishes every day."

As they walked forward, they met a beautiful woman in gorgeous clothes with a five-year-old child.

"Madame (Madam)."

"Master Yang is here."

After the two of them greeted each other, they continued on their way without much pause, leaving the woman looking thoughtfully at Song Dunchu, who was wearing a dress and had short hair.

After walking a few steps along the pier, I saw a man wearing a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat sitting on a low chair with a heater, a teapot and other items at his feet.

"Kung Pao."

The tall and thin scholar stopped and shouted.

The man in the straw raincoat did not respond, but raised his arm, signaling the two to be quiet.

slap~
The fishing rod was pulled up quickly, water splashed, and a silver fish as long as a palm was thrown into the bamboo basket.

Yang Xizi and Song Dunchu smiled at each other, then continued: "Gong Bao, this is my good friend Song Dunchu, Mr. Song."

Hearing this, the man in the straw raincoat turned around and raised his head, looking at Song Dunchu behind him with a scrutinizing look.

At the same time, Song Dunchu was also looking at Yuan Xiangcheng, who had resigned but was still the number one figure in the Beiyang government.

He had a round face, a mustache, thick eyebrows and a lion nose. His raincoat and trouser legs were stained with snow and mud. Although he had no valuables on his body and was a little hunched, he had an aura of majesty without even being angry.

Song Dunchu took off his hat and gestured, causing Yuan Xiangcheng to nod and smile: "Okay, okay, a distinguished guest is here~"

"It's getting late, let's go home."

Yuan Gongbao picked up the bamboo pole and the fishing basket, called to his wife and children who were still playing on the shore, and led them back to the newly built villa.

"Master Yuan is very good at fishing."

Song Dunchu thought about the purpose of this trip and took the initiative to start a conversation.

"What do you mean by adult? He is not an adult~"

Yuan Xiangcheng, who had taken off his raincoat and changed his clothes, waved his hand and led the two to a small pavilion: "Although I have retired to become a villager, the regent has appointed me as the Prince's Guardian. From that time on, everyone has called me Gong Bao."

"Dun Chu, the emperor's grace is so great, I must never forget it!"

Yuan Xiangcheng looked at his concubine and his full-term son in his arms, and pointed at Yang Xizi beside him: "You are like Xizi, so just call me Gong Bao."

"Gong Bao?"

The Emperor Xuantong, who had just ascended the throne, was only four years old. Where did the crown prince come from? The crown prince eighteen years later?
Song Dunchu knew that this reward was tantamount to humiliation for most people, but looking at Yuan Xiangcheng teasing the baby in front of him, he still followed his wishes and greeted him accordingly.

"That's right, come and sit down."

Yuan Xiangcheng laughed, pulled Song Dunchu over and asked him to look to the side: "Dunchu, look at the scenery here, what do you think?"

"Clear wind and clear water, cold osmanthus and red plum blossoms, beautiful, beautiful."

"Haha, I never thought there would be a pretty person like you over there."

Yuan Xiangcheng stared at Song Dunchu and said with a smile.

"Gong Bao, which side are you talking about?"

Song Dunchu had a subtle expression, as if he didn't understand.

"Someone planted a bomb in my car back then, and I guess it wasn't someone as pretty as you."

Yuan Xiangcheng put his hands behind his back and made a half-seriously funny joke.

"Does Gong Bao hope it's me?"

Song Dunchu's eyes flashed and he asked back with a smile.

"Whether it's you or not, I don't care~"

Yuan Xiangcheng waved his sleeves and paced slowly: "Now, I am like a dragon in shallow water, a tiger in plain water, with Jiushui in front of me and Taihang Mountain behind me, living in the countryside."

"From now on, no one will send me bombs, haha."

"The dragons in the Great Lakes are dormant, and the deer in the Central Plains are growing fat."

Song Dunchu looked at Yuan Xiangcheng's behavior, smiled slightly, and suddenly chanted two lines of poetry.

Before he finished speaking, Yuan Xiangcheng's expression suddenly became a little subtle.

"Dunchu, you actually know the poems I wrote when I was a child, this is really..."

"When Gong Bao was thirteen years old, he had the ambition to rise like a dragon and leap like a tiger, and to fight for the throne of the Central Plains. Now he has hidden himself in the mountains and lakes, pretending to be fishing for flowers. How can I believe it?"

Song Dunchu still had that smiling face, but his words were constantly testing.

"You have to believe it even if you don't want to! Dunchu, this book is good."

Yuan Xiangcheng took a copy of Guwen Guanzhi from the side and handed it to Song Dunchu: "I spend my days fishing and reciting several articles to cultivate my character. I have forgotten all the bad things."

"Gong Bao may be worthy of yourself by doing this, but are you worthy of Zhang Zhongtang?"

After these words were spoken, everyone present fell silent.

Zhang Xiaoda and Yuan Shikai were the only two powerful Han officials in the court after the Xuantong reign. They founded the Nanyang and Beiyang respectively, and their achievements were far beyond those of the Manchu royal family who only knew how to eat, drink, gamble and smoke.

However, not long ago, Emperor Xuantong's biological father, Prince Chun Zaifeng, who was then the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, relied on the tacit approval of the Regent to kill Yuan Jiquan and obstruct the establishment of a constitution. Zhang Xiaoda had a quick mind at the court meeting and helped Yuan Xiangcheng escape, but the price was that he was scolded to death by Zaifeng a few days later and died of anger.

Zhang Xiaoda, a talented person from Nanpi and a pillar of his generation, died just like that.

"Xiang Shuai has passed away."

Yuan Xiangcheng turned around and lowered his head, as if remembering the old man who had done him so much good. "He is dead, but he left a poem a few years ago that has been passed down to this day."

Song Dunchu didn't care whether Yuan Xiangcheng had eyes on the back of his head. He nodded at him and continued, "I thought that poem was written for you."

"What poem?"

Yuan Xiangcheng's heart suddenly stirred a little, and he asked curiously.

"It is a seven-character quatrain, and the title of the poem is Reading the History of the Song Dynasty."

Song Dunchu stood up and walked to Yuan Xiangcheng while reciting: "The southerners do not follow the Song family tradition, and they claim to be the guards of Jinqiao. The Li, Yu, Wen and Lu generations have worked hard to follow the cold sun to Yuyuan."

After listening to this seven-character quatrain, Yuan Xiangcheng's expression remained unchanged. He turned around and sat down at the table, as if he was unwilling to stand with Song Dunchu.

"Alas~ I never understand Xiang Shuai's poems."

"Zhang Zhongtang's poem only has 28 words, but he wrote a history of the Southern Song Dynasty, and also contains Zhang's thoughts. He wrote about the Song Dynasty: the invasion of the Jin people, the relocation of the court to the south, the use of the wrong people, and the decline of the country."

"But wasn't he writing about the Qing Dynasty, which was at the end of its rope, riddled with holes, and wondering how many days it had left to live?"

"At this time, everyone should think about what I should do."

Song Dunchu patiently and patiently waited for Yuan Xiangcheng to speak.

"Dunchu, I finally understand why you came. But the poem you recited just reminded me of Xiang Shuai."

Yuan Xiangcheng shook his head slightly, his expression reluctant: "I have received his great kindness, and I don't know how to repay him."

"Gong Bao, you thought of Zhang Zhongtang, and Zhang Zhongtang also thought of someone. This poem was written for this person."

Song Dunchu saw Yuan Xiangcheng still practicing Tai Chi and continued, "Calling himself the Jinqiao Police Dujuan, how sad and heroic. He hopes to restore the great Song Dynasty. And only one person can do this."

"Who is this person?"

Yuan Xiangcheng asked the question even though he knew the answer.

"The founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin."

Song Dunchu looked at Yuan Xiangcheng steadily and answered leisurely.

Yuan Xiangcheng thought for a while, but he didn't look at Song Dunchu. Instead, he looked up at Yang Xizi beside him: "I heard from Xizi that you are going to go further north. I have prepared a small gift here. It's just a small token of my appreciation. Please, Dunchu, don't refuse it."

Yuan Xiangcheng pressed down Song Dunchu's hand that wanted to refuse, took out a large silver note, and slapped it into his palm: "In the future, no matter if it's urgent or not, as long as you need anything, just come to me, don't be shy."

Song Dunchu opened the banknote and saw that it was from Beiyang Bank with a total amount of 10,000 taels.

"Recently, Gong Bao has shown particular interest in Honolulu and has tried his best to recruit people and given many gifts."

One day after Song Dunchu left, Yang Xizi and Yuan Xiangcheng were walking in the courtyard and asked, "Does Gong Bao really want to be a Honolulu native?"

Yuan Xiangcheng smiled slightly and said slowly: "There is an old lady in the countryside. When she sees little girls wandering around the countryside, she raises them at home. When they grow up, she dresses them up and sells them for a good price. Such little girls are called skinny horses."

"A skinny horse, a skinny horse, will eventually get fattened up."

Yuan Xiangcheng looked to the south and stroked his beard: "I think this Honolulu is not a skinny horse!"

At this moment, an old man in his sixties with gray hair walked in from outside the yard, holding a tiger-head stick in his hand, and his breath was long and frightening.

"Gong Bao, someone from the capital has come with a handwritten note from the Regent."

"Ok?"

Yuan Xiangcheng and Yang Xizi looked at each other and felt something was wrong.

"Let him in."

Yuan Xiangcheng pondered for a while, and thinking of the methods of the regent who had lived for more than two hundred years and refused to die, he had to bite the bullet and call the envoy in.

"Yuan Xiangcheng, the ancestor has found a doctor for you who says he can cure the stubborn disease in your foot. With this favor, why don't you come back to the capital with me as soon as possible?"

Bai Tang, who had a gold and jade ornament on the end of his braid, strode into the courtyard and spoke sharply and rudely to Yuan Xiangcheng, who looked like a country bumpkin.

"Since the ancestor has summoned me, Wei Ting dare not disobey, dare not disobey."

Yuan Xiangcheng knew very well how terrifying the old monster was, so he winked at the old man with the stick and used the excuse of packing his luggage to try to delay more time.

"It's getting late today, so I'll allow you to delay. But if you haven't arrived at the Imperial City by 3 p.m. tomorrow, and end up missing the ancestor's dinner, you will bear the consequences yourself!"

After saying this, he looked deeply at the old man with the stick and left the villa.
-
Tianjin, inside the Bajiquan gym.

Li Shuwen sat in the seat of honor, watching Qin Huai sparring with Huo Dian Ge in the ring, but he even forgot to drink the tea in his hand. Occasionally he looked at the falling snow outside, his brows tightening and loosening.

"Okay, stop. A Ge, stay away."

Putting down the teacup, Li Shuwen stared at Qin Huai for a while, then stood up, replaced Huo Dian Ge, and said, "Use all your strength and hit me with a punch."

"Master, be careful."

Qin Huai didn't hesitate at all. He also wanted to know how big the gap was between him and Li Shuwen.

boom!
The force penetrated the rock-like muscles of Qinhuai, making a crisp sound, and the scarred fist was like a giant pillar that collapsed from the sky, and a deafening sonic boom suddenly sounded, which lasted for a long time.
【Buzhou crack】!
Facing this blow full of fist power, Li Shuwen did not dodge or evade. He stomped his right heel on the ground, and his index finger flashed and pointed out, like a spear, instantly piercing the Taiyuan acupoint on the side of Qin Huai's wrist, like a flesh hook deeply penetrating the meridians, breaking most of the strength in his whole body.

After this stab, Qin Huai's forearm felt numb. Although his punches were powerful, he actually lost.

An ordinary warrior facing his punch would be shocked by the momentum. Not to mention finding a way to break it, it would be good enough if he could see the shadow of the fist clearly.

But the master is the master after all. The Taiyuan point that Li Shuwen pierced with a single finger just now was indeed the key point for him to exert his strength. It was not a flaw, but once it was interfered with, the power of his punches would be greatly reduced.

Just one hand reminded Qin Huai of the projection of the True Lord who had tortured him thousands of times.

"There is leather in the poke, and there is a poke in the leather. The straight force can also be horizontal, and the horizontal force can also be straight."

Li Shuwen raised the finger he had just pointed at Qin Huai and continued, "Just now I used my finger like a spear, and the tip of the spear was like a hook, specifically designed to break the real and fake strength. Even if you are born with supernatural power and your body is strong, you will still not be my opponent if you can't break free from the rut."

"Ah Huai, you have traveled a lot in the past few years and have gained a lot, but you have used your strength a little roughly."

Seeing Qin Huai thinking seriously, Li Shuwen grabbed the Liuhe spear on the weapon rack and it crossed the open space of several feet and stood at his feet.

"The gun is the king of all weapons. All other weapons will be defeated when they encounter the gun."

Li Shuwen stood with a gun in hand and spoke slowly: "Each school's gun skills have been practiced to a deep level, and the essence is the same, but the people who use guns are divided into six grades."

"[Divine transformation], [understanding the subtleties], [proficiency], all these three are of the highest quality; [observance of the law], [partiality], [struggle], all these three are of the middle quality."

"Age is proficient in spearmanship, but his understanding is not yet complete. His skills are very deep, just like Lu Xian, who learns by doing."

"You have mastered the finer points of spearmanship, but not the whole. You have realized the primordial spirit alone, and you can defeat a hundred with one, destroying all of them."

Qin Huai thought about it for a while, and when he saw that Li Shuwen didn't want to elaborate, he asked hurriedly, "Then where are you, Master?"

"I have nothing else to be proud of in my life, except this divine spear skill. I am incapable of anything else. I am formed by the enemy, like water forming waves, like fire forming flames!"

(End of this chapter)