Master Yuan, start!

916?31零1?0]?9钱

Therefore, China is not currently considered important in Britain's global colonial interests. Not to mention that it is not as important as India, it is even not as important as some regions in Africa.

Due to the rise of the People's Republic of China, Britain was more inclined to choose cooperation in the Far East rather than to gain benefits by expanding its occupied areas.

The bonded sector is a vivid example.

So, in the conference room, Yuan Shikai had a very pleasant conversation with the two British diplomats, MacArthur and Jordan, who had come from afar.

"Mr. President," Dounale spoke first. He picked up his teacup, smiled, and said, "We haven't seen each other for a long time since you left Beijing.

I heard that you went to Shanghai some time ago. Unfortunately, Consul Jordan didn't know about this at first. By the time he heard the news, you had already left.

Otherwise, he would have invited you to try some black tea from Assam."

"I'm very busy with government affairs, please forgive me." Yuan Xiangcheng raised his teacup, looked at Zhu Erdian and said apologetically, "Next time, I will definitely let you know in advance."

Chapter 401 Becoming Emperor Tai

While Yuan Shikai and the British were discussing how to deal with France, some people in Vietnam, which had been a French colony for more than a decade, were plotting a new round of anti-French uprising.

When it comes to the southern part of Vietnam, most people probably only have two cities in mind: Hanoi in the north and Saigon in the south.

The former was the capital of North Vietnam in the original time and space and later Vietnam, and the latter was the capital of South Vietnam.

But in fact, after the establishment of the Nguyen Dynasty, until the abdication of the last emperor Bao Dai for nearly 150 years, the capital of Vietnam was neither Hanoi, located in the Red River Plain, nor Saigon, located in the Mekong River Plain.

Its capital is a city called Hue on the narrow coastal plain in the central part of the country.

France had colonized Vietnam for 1883 years since 15, during which time many vigorous anti-French "loyalist movements" broke out.

After realizing the importance of the Vietnamese royal family in the hearts of the people, the French colonists gave up the idea of ​​deposing the Vietnamese royal family and instead placed them under house arrest.

Hue, the capital of the Nguyen Dynasty, became a place of house arrest.

...

In the center of Hue City, the Emperor of Great Southern Kingdom, Nguyen Phuc Trieu, known in history as Emperor Thanh Thai, hurriedly stepped out of the palace gate and walked onto the bluestone paved road.

Nguyen Phuc Thieu was hailed as a child prodigy since childhood. After he succeeded to the throne at the age of 10, the French kept a close eye on him to prevent him from having any rebellious intentions.

Nguyen Phuc Thieu was well aware of this, so he never showed resentment in front of the French.

But in fact, Nguyen Phuc Trieu had already plotted against France. However, in order not to expose his plan prematurely, he often acted low-key in front of the French, pretending to be crazy and stupid, so that the French would relax their guard.

For example, he learned French at a very fast speed, corresponded with the French sinologist Paul Pelliot many times, and cut his hair short in a Western style, as if he wanted to embrace Gallic culture.

After the French saw that Emperor Thanh Thai Nguyen Phuc Thieu showed a very friendly attitude towards France, they also relaxed their control over him and even allowed him to leave the palace and "visit incognito" in Hue City.

Outside the Hue Imperial City, Nguyen Phuc Zhao looked back at the somewhat dilapidated palace and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

6. Once upon a time, this palace was so magnificent, with carved beams and painted buildings, and it was a place of infinite admiration in the hearts of thousands of people in the Great South.

It's a pity that since the French came, this palace has never been carefully repaired. The outer walls are in ruins and it doesn't look like a royal palace at all.

Although he was inside the palace, Emperor Chengtai, as the Emperor of Da Nan, was still surrounded by concubines and court officials. He knelt three times and kowtowed nine times, shouting "Long live the emperor".

But if he wanted to go out, he had to obey the orders of the French leader, and all government decrees had to be reported to the French leader first. Nguyen Phuc Zhao could not help but clench his fists.

"Wait a little longer, wait a little longer. Even Gou Jian could endure hardships for 30 years. I can afford to wait!"

2 After walking out of the palace, when Emperor Thanh Thai Nguyen Phuc Thieu "accidentally" met the French officials who were guarding him, he loosened his clenched fists and put on a flattering smile.

"Bonjour, Bishop Felix, you look very energetic today!"

"Oh, really, Your Majesty?" French Bishop Felix stroked his beard, smiled complacently, and then talked about today's business:

"Your Majesty, the personnel for the Autumnal Equinox Moon Festival have been found and are waiting not far away. They are ready to see you at any time."

Upon hearing this, Nguyen Phuc Zhao humorously bowed and said to Felix, "Thank you for your hard work, Bishop. Please be sure to attend the moon festival tomorrow!"

"Well, then I thank you very much, Your Majesty."

After a brief exchange of greetings, the French bishop bid farewell to Nguyen Phuc Trieu and left the imperial city.

"call"

Seeing that the French had been fooled away, Nguyen Phuc Zhao let out a breath of air and then whispered to the eunuch beside him: "Have the people arrived?"

Upon hearing this, the young eunuch replied, "Your Majesty, they have arrived. Lord Ruan has disguised himself as a wealthy merchant from Hanoi and is waiting outside the palace."

"Okay, invite him into the palace quickly!" Nguyen Phuc Zhao was overjoyed and hurried back to the palace to have a detailed discussion with Nguyen Thien Su.

However, after looking warily at the French soldiers on duty outside the hall, he hesitated for a moment and changed his mind.

"Invite everyone outside the palace in, and let Lord Ruan blend in. Don't be too conspicuous. Do you understand?"

"Yes!" Upon hearing this, the young eunuch nodded quickly and then walked out of the palace.

Nguyen Thien Thu is now a banner of resistance against France in Vietnam.

After meeting Yuan Shikai in China, he received weapons and financial support from Yuan Shikai, and quickly relied on Liu Yongfu to form a team of thousands of people on the border between Guangxi and Vietnam.

However, he knew that if he wanted to launch another vigorous anti-French uprising, he must have a resounding name.

And Cheng Thai Emperor Nguyen Phuc Trieu was the title that Nguyen Thien Su wanted.

...

Led by a young eunuch, Nguyen Thien Thuy followed a group of officials participating in the Autumnal Equinox Moon Festival into the Hue Imperial City. In a small, dimly lit room, he saw the 18-year-old Emperor Thanh Thai, Nguyen Phuc Trieu.

"His Majesty!"

As soon as Ruan Shanshu saw Emperor Thanh Thai, he fell to his knees and cried, "Your Majesty, you have suffered!"

"Get up, get up!" Emperor Thanh Thai quickly lifted Nguyen Thien Thuy up and comforted him, "Why should I suffer? If we talk about suffering, you, the heroes who resist the French, have suffered the most!"

Upon hearing this, Ruan Shanshu cried even louder.

However, he also knew that time was limited, so after a while, he wiped his tears, quickly stood up and said:

"Your Majesty, after Li Hongzhang, the governor of Lingnan, China, cut off our food and fodder supplies, the Royalist Army was on the verge of disbanding.

Fortunately, Chinese President Yuan Shikai has always disliked the French and once again provided weapons and financial support to the loyalist army.

Now the President is marching his army southwards from China to attack Lingnan, hoping that the people of Southern China will rise up in rebellion to welcome the Chinese army southwards and expel the French!"

"Does President Yuan really want to support the restoration of the Great South?" Emperor Thanh Thai excitedly shook Nguyen Thien Thu's hand.

The French did not cut off Emperor Chengtai's access to outside news, so he naturally knew about the famous Yuan Shikai.

After all, he was a hero who drove out the Tartars and was quite legendary.

For Confucian cultural countries like Vietnam, which attach great importance to the distinction between Chinese and barbarians, they only regret that their country does not have a Yuan Shikai to drive out the French.

"Absolutely true!" Ruan Shanshu nodded and said affirmatively:

"The President said that Vietnam was originally a Chinese country, and now being invaded by the French is like invading the Chinese mainland, which cannot be tolerated."

Ruan Shanshu looked at the excited Cheng Taidi for a long time and continued:

"General Liu of the Black Flag Army has regrouped his scattered troops in Guangxi. This time, I've brought 1000 muskets funded by the President with me, and they've already been distributed to the loyalists!"

The President said that the issue of weapons can be completely handed over to him, and we only need to gather the anti-French forces!"

"What about me?" Emperor Chengtai's heart was overwhelmed by what he heard. He no longer called himself "I" and asked hurriedly, "What do you need me to do?"

"If the anti-French uprising resurfaces, it will inevitably be under the banner of Your Majesty." Ruan Shanshu looked at the young Emperor Thanh Thai and said worriedly:

"Your Majesty, are you sure you can escape from the French?"

"Escape?"

Emperor Thanh Thai pointed at himself and asked, "You mean to let me escape from Hue?"

"Yes!" Ruan Shanshu nodded heavily:

"As long as you can escape Hue, there will be people outside the city to pick you up and take you on board. You will reach China in a few days!

When Your Majesty arrives in China, the Southern Anti-French forces will be truly free of worries!"

Chapter 402: The Battle of Yuezhou

“Swish, swish!”

When the first snow fell on the banks of the Yangtze River in 1897, stray bullets were fired continuously outside Yuezhou City.

On the surface of Dongting Lake, dozens of black cannon muzzles were aimed at the defensive fortifications built by the Hunan Brave Army and the Lingnan Huai Army in Yuezhou City.

Under the siege of tens of thousands of National Revolutionary Army troops and more than ten gunboats, this city guarding the northern gate of Hunan has become somewhat dilapidated.

Although the sound of returning artillery fire could be heard from time to time on the walls of Yuezhou City, it seemed to indicate that the defenders in the city had not given up their resistance.

However, these intermittent artillery sounds pale in comparison to the continuous artillery fire from the National Revolutionary Army outside the city.

Yuezhou City was built against the backdrop of mountains and beside rivers. In the trench at the foot of the mountain, Gong Chuntai, a soldier of the New 2nd Brigade of the Central Plains Military Region of the National Revolutionary Army, held a piece of withered wild grass in his mouth and stared at the city wall above.

The newly formed 2nd Brigade is a mixed brigade, not only is its equipment mixed, but its personnel are also mixed.

In addition to the original Hubei New Army, there were also many Hunanese who were originally from the Jiangnan New Army.

Gong Chuntai is such a person. He is from Liuyang, Hunan Province. He has been a farmer since childhood. His father died when he was young and his family was in financial difficulty. So he learned to make firecrackers from others and sold fireworks for a living.

Although Gong Chuntai was from Hunan, he did not feel any sense of belonging to the Hunan Army, which was successively led by Zeng Guoquan and Liu Kunyi.

On the contrary, because he had been bullied and had his payment withheld by some wealthy landlords who came from the Hunan Army when he was selling fireworks in his early years, he still had a trace of disgust in his heart towards these Hunanese people who were his fellow villagers.

If the timeline had not changed, he would have participated in the anti-Qing uprising in the year of Xinchou, and later joined the vigorous revolutionary tide in the late Qing Dynasty. Finally, in the first month of the establishment of the Republic of China, he died of overwork and coughing up blood.

In this time and space, when Zhang Zhidong was in charge of Hubei, many factories were established in Wuchang, including a firecracker and fireworks factory.

Fireworks factories introduced European and American technology and seized a lot of market share. Due to backward technology and lack of variety, Liuyang's local fireworks and firecrackers gradually lost their market share at the high-end level and could only rely on low prices to survive.

As the fireworks business gradually declined, Gong Chuntai chose to join the Jiangnan New Army in order to make a living and covet the high military pay mentioned by the conscription officer.

Unfortunately, this high-paying life did not last long. During the Battle of Yangzhou, Gong Chuntai surrendered to the National Revolutionary Army along with the main force.

After surrendering, he was screened and found not to have much blood on his hands, so he was released.

With no one to turn to, Gong Chuntai chose to return to his hometown of Liuyang, intending to go back to his old ways and make a living.

However, after part of the Hunan Army was defeated and returned to Hunan, they quickly regrouped. While saying that they would never surrender to the National Revolutionary Army, they forcibly conscripted local firecracker makers in Liuyang, intending to use them to make artillery shells and gunpowder.

Gong Chuntai was so angry that he escaped and went to Jiangning, where he formally joined the National Revolutionary Army and was transferred to the Central Plains Military Region with the troops.

1. "Brothers, follow me!"

In the middle of the long trench, a man suddenly jumped out, shouting slogans, and then rushed forward.