Master Yuan, start!

As people from Anhui, they naturally preferred to support Li Hongzhang in the fight for the throne rather than Yuan Shikai.

That's why these Anhui people reacted so strongly when they saw someone praising Yuan Shikai.

"I see. There's no need to argue any further. This is exactly why I came to the public school today!"

Lu Haodong adjusted the headband on his head and looked at the students from Anhui and other places with a smile on his face.

4 At this moment, at the school gate, another person ran into the house, sweating profusely, carrying a bulging package on his back.

"Keqiang!"

"Brother Keqiang!"

"Huang Keqiang!"

Everyone's faces were filled with excitement, and they looked at the person who hurried into the room with some surprise.

Lu Lairen is another influential figure in modern history who cannot be ignored, Huang Xing, Huang Keqiang.

4 The reason why everyone was so happy was that Huang Xing was recognized as a prominent figure in Nanhai Public School.

Huang Xing is a descendant of Huang Tingjian, one of the Eight Great Masters of the Northern Song Dynasty. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the Huang family had an ancestral motto: "Never serve in the Qing Dynasty."

Therefore, although most of Huang Xing's uncles were well-educated scholars, most of them only taught knowledge to the people, or taught nephews and nieces of the same clan, or taught children from the same hometown.

Relying on a good family education, Huang Xing passed the county examination, prefectural examination, and academician examination in one go, and was admitted as a scholar. However, since then he was unwilling to study, but instead became interested in Western knowledge and military knowledge.

After Li Hongzhang took charge of Guangdong and Guangxi, Huang Xing went south to study and was admitted to Nanhai Public School.

Because of his outstanding literary and martial arts skills, he showed signs of becoming a student leader.

However, Huang Xing had taken leave a few days ago to return to his hometown in Hunan to prepare for his mother's funeral because his mother was seriously ill. He did not catch up with the news that Yuan Shikai had captured Jiangning, paid homage to the Emperor Xiaoling, and sent a telegram to the whole country to drive out the Manchus.

But unexpectedly, his mother miraculously survived the winter and her health became better and better, so Huang Xing set out again after the Chinese New Year and rushed to Guangzhou.

As soon as he arrived in Guangzhou, he met Lu Haodong. After discussing the current situation, the two decided to make a big move!

Facing the gazes of the crowd, Huang Xing put down the package on his back and asked with a sigh:

"All of you students are interested in rebelling against the Manchus, wanting to drive out the Tartars and allow us Han people to rule our country again, right?"

"Yes!"

"Exactly!"

"Absolutely no lies!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Tianhua, Liao Zhongkai and a group of Anhui scholars stood up and agreed.

"My fellow students, Sun Wen founded the Xingzhonghui in Taiwan, calling for an anti-Manchu movement and independence. We claim to be serving China every day, so how can we weaken our spirit?

According to me, today, we will establish the Huaxing Society here at Nanyang Public School and personally petition Li Hongzhang, asking him to raise the flag against the Manchus and restore our Han dynasty!"

Huang Xing opened the package and saw that it was full of blue and white round headbands, exactly the same as the one Lu Haodong was wearing on his forehead.

"Huaxing Society?"

"petition?"

Everyone was confused and looked at the hundreds of headbands in front of them, still thinking about what Huang Xing had just said.

"Yes, I've already thought of the slogan: Fight against the Manchus and drive out the Russians, and revive the Han Chinese land!"

Huang Xing excitedly grabbed a handful of headbands and threw them to the people in front of him.

"This is the Blue Sky and White Sun painting designed by Brother Haodong. It's also the flag of our Huaxing Society. If you want to petition the Guangdong and Guangxi Governor's Office, come with me!"

After saying this, Huang Xing immediately turned around and walked out the door.

Chen Tianhua, Liao Zhongkai and others who were on good terms with him looked at each other, and without hesitation, they took the headbands, tied them on their heads, and walked out of the door hand in hand.

Seeing this, Lu Haodong smiled happily, showing his big white teeth. Then he took out a headband, tied it on his head, and left in a cool manner.

The remaining scholars from Guangdong, Guangxi and other places were inspired and also picked up their headbands, put them on hurriedly and ran out.

"I'm shocked! How can we be outdone by the southern barbarians?!"

The remaining Anhui students could not bear such stimulation, and one by one, they grabbed their headbands and ran out to chase after him!

Soon, on the streets of Guangzhou, hundreds of students wearing headbands with the blue sky and white sun pattern on their heads shouted, their voices echoing throughout the city.

"Resist the Manchus and drive out the Russians, and revive the Han land!"

While shouting slogans and holding a banner that read "Please Governor Li save China", they walked towards the Governor-General's Office of Guangdong and Guangxi under the astonished eyes of citizens from all walks of life in Guangzhou.

Chapter 294: Grand Commander of Lingnan Xinghan

"What a great Huaxing Society! What a great organization to fight against the Manchus and expel the Russians, and to revive the Han land."

Inside the Governor's Mansion, Ding Ruchang heard the slogans coming from outside and was moved. He bowed to Li Hongzhang, who was holding the Lingnan Current Affairs Newspaper, and said:

"Marshal Tsuen, those Nanyang Public School kids from Guangdong and Guangxi are marching in the streets again, and the slogans they're shouting are pretty outrageous!"

The reason why I said "again" is because Ding Ruchang witnessed a grand parade a few years ago when the South China Sea Fleet returned to Hong Kong with a great victory.

It was also the students of Nanyang Public School who took the lead, and almost all the people in Guangzhou City participated. Everyone's face was filled with joy, celebrating Li Hongzhang's contribution to the country's prestige.

After hearing Ding Ruchang's words, Li Hongzhang, wearing his newly-worn reading glasses, read the newspaper attentively without responding.

Liu Ruifen, the governor of Guangzhou, smiled and said, "There are more than just kids from Guangdong and Guangxi, right?

Judging from their accents, there seem to be quite a few young men from Anhui. This Yuan Xiangcheng is really going to stir up the world."

It can be seen that Liu Ruifen supported Yuan Shikai's approach, and also admired the students who shouted the slogan of "Anti-Manchu and Anti-Russia".

Some people appreciate it, and naturally some people don’t.

Wei Rugui, one of the three major army commanders of the Lingnan New Army, was quite indignant. He slammed his chair and stood up suddenly.

"General Quan, it's one thing for Yuan Xiangcheng to rebel against the Manchus, but anyone can see that the Manchus are already dead, and all that's left is a final fire to burn them clean.

But he actually wanted to fight the Russians in the bitter cold outside the Great Wall. What made him think that if he could capture Jiangning City, he would be invincible? How arrogant!

In my opinion, we should make plans early. As soon as we hear the news of Yuan Shikai's defeat, we should head north to Jiangxi and seize Jiujiang City."

Wei Rugui's words were partly a satire on Yuan Shikai and partly a request for battle to Li Hongzhang.

After Li Hongzhang moved south, he formed the Lingnan New Army based on the old Huai Army, and promoted Wang Xiaoqi, Ye Zhichao, and Wei Rugui, who had outstanding performance, as the commanders of the three major infantry armies.

: He is known as one of the "Five Great Generals" of the Lingnan New Army along with Liu Buchan and Lin Taizeng, the "Two Great Naval Officers" of the South China Sea Fleet.

However, compared with the two naval commanders from Fujian, the three infantry commanders were undoubtedly more suitable for Li Hongzhang's new appointment.

The reason is simple. These three people are all from Anhui, and they are all from Hefei, Anhui. They are Li Hongzhang's fellow villagers.

Ye Zhichao was promoted due to his outstanding performance in suppressing bandits.

After the formation of the Lingnan New Army, it began to wipe out the banditry that had been entrenched in Guangdong and Guangxi for many years, and even went deep into Guizhou, where it clashed with some local chieftains' armed forces disguised as bandits.

During this period, Ye Zhichao led his troops to disperse the chieftains of southern Guizhou, occupied Guiyang, opened up the road to Chongqing, and allowed Liu Bingzhang, the governor of Sichuan, to form a branch of the Huai Army and directly border Guangdong and Guangxi. Therefore, he was promoted to commander for his merits.

Wang Xiaoqi, on the other hand, shined in the battle with the Spaniards in Manila. He led his troops into the Governor's Palace, captured the Spanish Governor alive, and was promoted to commander for his merits.

Only Wei Rugui was promoted due to his merits.

This promotion based on merit sounds good, but in fact, to put it bluntly, he did not make any great contributions, but he worked hard and had a long experience, so he was appreciated by Li Hongzhang and was appointed as the commander.

So Wei Rugui was anxious, and he also wanted to achieve some achievements to avoid being gossiped about and looked down upon by others.

After saying this, Li Hongzhang still held the newspaper in his hand, but turned his head to Wang Xiaoqi on the other side and asked, "What do you think of Yuan Shikai's move?"

Seeing that the question was directed at him, Wang Xiaoqi looked at Wei Rugui with a wry smile, and finally told the truth:

"General Quan, after all, Yuan Shikai defeated the French army 10 years ago, and he has rarely been defeated in recent years. He is not necessarily going to lose against the Russians now. In my opinion, they are just neck and neck."

"Oh, is that so? I understand." Li Hongzhang looked away. He did not receive a satisfactory answer and continued to look at the newspaper in front of him.

"You Gongting, how can you boost other people's morale and destroy your own prestige!" Wei Rugui saw that Wang Xiaoqi did not agree with him, so he approached and said softly.

"Brother Wei, now is not the time to be arrogant. You and I are both very clear about the combat effectiveness of the Hunan Army." Wang Xiaoqi looked at the senior and advised earnestly:

"Yuan Xiangcheng's national defense army was able to defeat the Hunan army. We must not underestimate it. How can we easily make such boasts in front of Marshal Quan?"

The two men were whispering on the side, but Li Hongzhang turned a deaf ear to them. He raised his head, looked at a middle-aged man on his right, and continued to ask.

"Jing Fang, what do you think?"

Hearing Li Hongzhang speak again, Wei and Nie also shut their mouths and stopped talking, because the person Li Hongzhang was asking about was of a very special status.

It was his son, Li Jingfang.

Although Li Hongzhang still had a braid and retained the title of "Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi", his connection with the small court in Wuchang was actually weaker than that of Liu Kunyi, the Governor-General of Jiangnan.

Moreover, he usually does not have much energy to handle the daily government affairs of Guangdong and Guangxi.

Born in 1823, he is now 73 years old and is the longest-lived important official in the late Qing Dynasty in history.

71去er世的曾国藩、7si3去世的左宗棠、76去世的san曾国荃，5一个liu个曾经官场上四的敌人和好友相继去世。

Even though Li Hongzhang's cough symptoms had eased a lot in the warm climate of Guangdong, he still followed the advice of Western doctors, working less, staying up late less, and working less.

At the same time, Li Hongzhang's adopted son Li Jingfang was transferred back from the consulate in Manila and began to gradually participate in the handling of government affairs.

Li Jingfang was a son adopted by Li Hongzhang from his clan brothers when he was over 40 and still childless. This was called "Chongxi", and the intention was to use this to bring good luck and to have a son.

Unexpectedly, in the second year after the adoption, Li Hongzhang gave birth to his legitimate son, Li Jingshu, but Li Hongzhang still regarded Li Jingfang as his adopted son and called him "eldest son".

After Li Jingfang's biological father died in 1873, Li Hongzhang completely treated Li Jingfang as his own son. At that time, he had just taken over as the Governor-General of Zhili and Minister of Commerce of Beiyang, and he deeply realized the importance of Westernization.

So he sent this adopted son to London, England, to serve as counselor, along with the imperial commissioner.

In other words, Li Jingfang lived in Europe during his youth, was exposed to a lot of European ideas, and was well versed in the workings of nationalism.

"Dad, I think..." Li Jingfang thought for a moment and spoke slowly.

"I've been told countless times that when discussing important matters in the Governor's Mansion, we must state it as official business!"

Before Li Jingfang could finish speaking, Li Hongzhang put down the newspaper, took off his glasses, and started to scold him.

"Yes, Marshal Quanquan!" Li Jingfang finally reacted and quickly changed the address.

"General Quan, I believe that Yuan Xiangcheng's move may seem unwise, but it actually plays into the hands of the common people!"

"Oh, what do you mean?" Li Hongzhang became interested. He put the newspaper on the table and looked at his eldest son.

"Marshal Tsuen, since ancient times, those who started a rebellion have always had a slogan.

There is a call to punish the unjust and punish the tyrannical Qin! This is a call to plead for the people.