Master Yuan, start!

Not to mention that once this battle is over, he can secretly control the North Korean customs and replace them all with his own people.

With such a foundation, why worry about not achieving great things?

The new army can be expanded to two town divisions. At present, the new army under Yuan Xiangcheng has only four battalions.

The Beiyang New Army was organized into one regiment, two brigades, four regiments, and twelve battalions.

^6679 Book Search Group

Yuan Xiangcheng's current 2 troops, when put into the later Beiyang New Army's 0 organization, is the level of one-third of a town division.

With the military strength of the two towns, Yuan Shikai believed that the threat posed by Japan to Korea would be greatly reduced for at least a few years, and he could focus on development.

Japan's Meiji government was severely damaged after the victory in the Southwest War, but after estimating that there would be no major war in the short term, it reduced the army to only more than 50,000 people, vigorously developed the economy, and purchased more warships.

Although the Japanese army's strength is slowly increasing, it still does not pose a threat to Yuan Shikai's city, not to mention that the Huai Army is not yet old.

If the Japanese really forcibly landed in Korea, the worst that could happen to Yuan Shikai would be that he would give up being the King of Korea and concentrate on being a dog of Li Hongzhang and the Qing court.

Anyway, if he had waited until Li Hongzhang's death, he would have been able to succeed him as the Minister of Beiyang and Governor-General of Zhili, it was just that he started ten years later.

First, ask the Qing court for help to destroy the expeditionary force. At that time, the Qing court was still the top brother in East Asia.

Li Hongzhang still had more than 30 battalions of the Huai Army with about troops under his command. Yuan Shikai's old boss Wu Changqing was just one of the battalions, the "Qing" Battalion, but he was able to cross the sea to quell the Korean rebellion.

This shows that the Chinese army at that time was quite powerful. In the north, thousands of people were able to quell the rebellion in Korea, and in the south, they were able to fight the French back and forth.

It was only because of the confused central leadership that Korea was lost again and the Sino-French War was lost despite not having won.

Now that the Japanese and Korean rebels had been dealt with, Yuan Shikai was unwilling to stay in the palace any longer.

Although three of the five main culprits of the Seoul mutiny have been killed, the two Xu brothers are still causing chaos in the city, so we have to be more cautious.

Yuan Xiangcheng simply took Li Xi and Queen Min with him and escorted the disarmed Japanese soldiers and police to the camp outside the city overnight.

Before leaving, he did not forget to ask someone to notify the Japanese embassy or consulate to pick up the person.

...

Fukuzawa Yukichi and Takezoe Shinichisaburo, who were anxiously waiting for good news in the Second Embassy, ​​heard the riots outside the window gradually subsided, and even some Qing soldiers took to the streets to maintain order. They felt more and more uneasy.

"Dang! Dang! Dang!"

Wang San shouted to the Japanese embassy inside the wall: "Minister, the soldiers and police you sent to protect the King of Korea have been escorted to the camp by my Lord Yuan."

"Master Yuan also asked me to bring you a message!"

Chapter 16 Many Friends, Few Enemies

"Master Yuan also asked me to bring you a message!"

Hearing the shouts of the Qing soldiers outside the door, Fukuzawa Yukichi felt that something was wrong. Now he could only anxiously ask the messenger who came over, "What did you say?"

"The small Dongyi nation is overestimating its own capabilities and eyeing the Central Plains is a dead end!"

Upon hearing this, Takezoe Shinichiro said viciously: "The Qing government has sent troops without reason and insulted our two countries. Our country will definitely respond with force!"

"Mr. Takezoe, things have come to this point. What's the point of saying harsh words? You'd better think of a solution quickly." Fukuzawa Yukichi said anxiously, worried about his detained student Kakugoro Inoue.

While the two people in the Japanese embassy and consulate were at their wit's end, the Russian embassy and consulate were peaceful.

When the Korean New Army rebelled, they simply ignored the Russian embassy and consulate, did not send anyone to surround it, and did not attack it, simply pretending it did not exist.

The surrounding bandits were afraid of the Russians' reputation and did not dare to attack the embassy, ​​so Ma Jianzhong and Mu Linde entered the Russian embassy very smoothly.

The Russian representative Weber was also confused. He didn't know why the North Korean capital was in chaos, and he didn't have time to find out what was going on.

Mu Linde and Ma Jianzhong brought several hundred soldiers to "visit him", which left him puzzled.

"Paul Mulinde, foreign name, do you know what the riots in the city are about?"

"Michel Weber's foreign name. As far as I know, it should be that the progressive class in Korea is dissatisfied with the current situation and wants to kidnap the king and implement new policies." Mu Linde also heard about this rebellion from Yuan Xiangcheng, and only had a vague understanding of it.

I can only use simple words to make Wei Beizhong understand.

"Oh, are they radicals like the revolutionaries? That's terrible. Radical thinkers are like a plague. It's not enough that they assassinated the Tsar in St. Petersburg, but now they want to start a riot in Korea?" When Weber heard the word "holding the king hostage", he instinctively thought of the old incident of the Russian Narodnaya Volya party assassinating Alexander XX.

At that time in Russia, Alexander II carried out an extremely incomplete bourgeois reform, but to be fair, the reform did strengthen the national strength and brought about a substantial increase in fiscal revenue.

Swamp?l86.073 bar 04

However, along with the reforms came the spread of Western European liberal ideas in Russia. Unable to stop the growing activities of revolutionary groups, Alexander II was eventually assassinated by members of the Narodnaya Volya.

Mu Linde instinctively felt that there seemed to be a difference between the two, but considering that the man in front of him was just a mediocre second-generation official who came to the Far East to gain experience, he did not say much and just echoed his words.

"Michelle, the North Korean rebel army has nothing to do with you, right?" After some casual chatting, Mulinde finally got back to the point.

"Korean military chaos? No, no, no, I came to the Far East to take charge of business and trade. I never get involved in military affairs. Besides, our Russian Empire has no troops stationed in Korea."

Hearing that the Russians had nothing to do with the Korean rebel army, Ma Jianzhong next to him immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

I’m afraid that if the North Koreans involve Russia again, the situation in Seoul will become really difficult to handle.

"Minister Michel, I wonder if you are interested in the specialty trade between Qing Dynasty and Korea?" Ma Jianzhong took the opportunity to bring up what Yuan Shikai had told him before leaving.

He would also bring the Russian envoy into his chamber of commerce. Since he had taken Yuan Shikai's money, he would have to give Yuan Shikai some benefits.

If you want to gain a firm foothold in the future of North Korea, suppressing the rebellion is only to stabilize a group of people.

Just like there are four people at a poker table, on the Korean poker table today, the Seoul government, Yuan Shikai, the Qing court, and European and American forces each occupy one side.

Yuan Shikai has only allied with the Qing court and defeated the Seoul government, but if the European and American forces do not give him face, it will be difficult for him to advance his cause in Korea.

Therefore, making more friends and fewer enemies was a principle that Yuan Xiangcheng followed when he was weak.

Early the next morning, Yuan Shikai ordered the eunuchs around Li Xi to lead the Qing army into the city one by one to look for the Korean ministers.

When he learned that his relatives and ministers Min Tae-ho and Min Young-mok had been killed by the Kaihwa Party, and his other favorite nephew Min Young-ik had been hacked and seriously injured.

She immediately disregarded her image and ran towards the place where the prisoners were held in the camp.

He also shouted that he wanted Jin Yujun and other members of the Kaihua Party to pay with their lives.

However, Yuan Xiangcheng would definitely not let her do that, so he quickly asked the surrounding guards to pull her away.

Even if the mastermind of the rebellion is to die, he must be executed according to law and it is impossible for him to die in such a cowardly way in prison.

Yesterday, when Yuan Shikai escorted a group of Japanese out of the palace, although the rebellion had not been completely quelled, some brave Seoul residents still went out to look around.

Yuan Shikai took the opportunity to ask the Korean soldiers in the army to explain that the mutiny was the result of the Kaihua Party colluding with the Japanese to kidnap the king and kill ministers everywhere.

The people of Seoul thought it was another palace coup, but they never imagined that the Japanese were involved.

People in Seoul already hated the Japanese to the core, and now the new and old hatreds combined together directly ignited the anti-Japanese sentiment in the hearts of people in Seoul.

"Kill all the pirates and rescue the king!"

"Drive out the Japanese forever and protect Korea!"

The gangs of insurgents had gradually retreated, and the Koreans inside Seoul were fighting with the Japanese ronin who were still roaming the streets.

In anger, more than a dozen Japanese ronin were killed by the people of Seoul.

Yi Yin Yongguan, Park Qi N, Wu Jian and other Enlightenment Party members who were usually loyal to the Enlightenment Party but did not participate in the incident were also killed by the angry people of Seoul.

In addition, dozens of Korean civilians were killed by the Japanese during the fighting.

When the conservative faction and the ministers of the Saeda Party, such as Kim Yun-sik, Kim Hong-jip, and Shim Sun-taek, who had not been purged by the Enlightenment Party, ran to the Qing army camp to cry for help, they all said that the people's hearts could be used.

"Your Majesty, Lord Yuan, the soldiers and civilians in the city are hostile to the Japanese and are ready to kill them. The people's hearts are with me, the people's hearts are with me."

"That's right, Your Majesty. Although the majority of the rebels in the city have been pacified, some still collude with the Japanese to cause rebellion."

"Sir Yuan, please save the people of Seoul from this dire situation!"

"Sir Yuan, the people of Seoul need you!"

Yuan Xiangcheng felt truly ashamed of the acting skills of these North Korean officials. He thought to himself, if I hadn't known you would flatter the Russians and Japanese in the future, I would have been fooled by you.

Before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, this group of people had an attitude of "What should I do if China's father is gone?", but when they heard that the Beiyang Fleet was destroyed.

He immediately threw himself into the arms of the Japanese, and after the merger of Japan and South Korea, he accepted the title conferred by the Japanese.

Yuan Xiangcheng had seen patriots and traitors, but he had never seen anyone who could be patriotic and yet betray his country with a clear conscience.

But now is not the time to worry about these things. As the saying goes, a gentleman judges deeds, not intentions. For now, the North Koreans are still obeying China.

Even if China turns to Japan in the future, it was the Qing Dynasty's incompetence that pushed the Koreans over, and the blame cannot be put entirely on the Koreans.

"Sir, it's time to enter the city! The people of Seoul are all looking forward to our Celestial Empire's army entering the city to quell the rebellion!" Ming Ye said next to Yuan Xiangcheng.

Chapter 17 Japanese Normal Operation

Ming Ye robbed the Seoul branch of the Yokohama Specie Bank of Japan in the early morning and also robbed the national treasury in Seoul.

However, the Seoul branch of the JP Morgan Bank had just opened in North Korea. Not only was its security weak, but it also did not make much money. It only had some bills and business accounts.

Ming Ye, with a few hundred new troops, easily defeated the Japanese guards, burned all the accounts, and robbed hundreds of thousands of taels of silver notes before retreating.

However, the Seoul treasury gave Ming Ye a surprise. At that time, there was a riot in Seoul, and nearly half of the Korean New Army guarding the treasury were instigated to enter the city and stage a coup.

Ming Ye and his group of several hundred people easily dealt with dozens of Korean new troops guarding the national treasury.

Zhaoshu Group*695.738

There are hundreds of thousands of taels of silver deposited by the Korean Customs in the national treasury. No one expected that such a small Korean Customs could have such an income.

But these hundreds of thousands of taels of silver weighed several tons, and Mingye couldn't pull it all out in a short time.

We could only send people to move part of it and bury it outside the city wall, and then return to the camp to ask for help.

一番忙碌9之下4，忙活捌到天贰亮才勉强把银4子全拉完。3”3wu

This is another reason why Yuan Shikai only suppressed part of the rebellious army and also garrisoned the King of Korea and his entourage outside the city.

The owner is at home, so it's not appropriate for you to take things.

But now the problem has been solved, and Yuan Xiangcheng is about to arrive in his loyal Seoul!

As soon as they entered the city, they saw the Korean people dancing along the road, cheering like thunder, welcoming the return of the royal army.

"Your Majesty, China and North Korea have always maintained friendly relations. Now that the people are so supportive of the Qing army, it is clear that the people's will cannot be reversed." Queen Min walked along, looking at the people of Seoul in front of her, and took the opportunity to remind Li Xi to face the reality.

"My beloved concubine is right. Only by following the Qing Dynasty can we survive. If we hang out with the Japanese, we will be wiped out sooner or later." Li Xi was also easily influenced. Looking at the people of Seoul who lined the streets to welcome the Qing army, his original idea of ​​becoming self-reliant and strong was extinguished.

He did not dislike the enlightenment school, and was also attracted and moved by the prosperous era after the independence of Korea described by Kim Ok-gyun and others.

But Kim Ok-gyun and others acted too hastily. With just a few people taking the lead and hundreds of guns, they launched a coup and put them in danger.