Chapter 55 I'm going to bet on Empress Dowager Cixi's attitude this time

  Su Shan and Hui Feng did not expect that this conflict with the Russians would subside so quickly, but Kang Fan didn't feel unexpected.

  Analysis of the reasons reveals that firstly, the Qing Empire has shown a united and determined front in this incident. Although the empire's national strength is currently declining, it remains a major power, and as long as it has the determination to fight to the end, no rational government of any powerful country would dare to challenge the Qing Empire alone and engage in an all-out confrontation with it. Secondly, Russia fears losing the benefits it has already gained in Jilin and Shengjing. Thirdly, Western countries led by the United States have clearly expressed their support for the Qing Empire. Lastly and most importantly, Kang Fan's command of this rescue operation was highly successful, not only annihilating the Russian bandits but also retrieving the bodies of the fallen Jin army officers and soldiers, leaving no pretext for Russia to use as evidence. The wounded and killed Chinese nationals, as well as the destroyed houses and shops of the local Chinese community, serve as direct evidence of Russia's heinous crimes. If Russia were to go to war with the Qing Empire over this incident, its government would not gain widespread support domestically. On the surface, it appears that the impression left on the world is that the strong resistance from the Chinese nationals in this incident, while suffering great losses themselves, also inflicted significant losses on Russia, only proving the incompetence of the Russian local authorities and the bravery of the Chinese nationals.

  Shou Shan and others nodded in agreement after hearing Kang Fan's analysis.

  Kang Fan said: "This time, if we didn't take the initiative to attack and the Empress Dowager's strict order to supervise the war, the Northeast region and even the entire Qing Empire would still be in a state of each fighting separately like during the First Sino-Japanese War. Think about it for a moment: If there was no strict order from the Empress Dowager, could we have mobilized the garrison troops from Jilin and Fengtian provinces? If not, Russia would have definitely taken the initiative to attack."

  "Are you gambling?" Donavan asked in surprise.

  Kang Fan smiled, "Yes, I'm betting on Empress Dowager Cixi's attitude this time."

  Duonowan's hands trembled with fear, "What if Empress Dowager Cixi doesn't support you?"

  Kang Fan shook his head, "She wouldn't do that, she also has the desire to make this country strong. Besides, for Russia, unless our army occupies its territory, it's unlikely to go all out against us. This action has already shown our strength, and the Russian military must be wary. And Heilongjiang Province, located in the Far East, is too far from Russia's economically developed and densely populated European central region, making it difficult to supply troops and materials. If a fight really breaks out, the outcome would be uncertain. In a situation where there is no guarantee of victory and no gain, the Russians will not easily go to war. I am not a crazy gambler, I understand the principle of 'striking iron requires one's own strength'."

  Duonowan stopped talking, looked at Kangfan, turned around and walked away with a huff.

  Kang Fan was well aware that although this time, through hard work, the invasion of the Eight-Power Allied Forces in China due to the Boxer Rebellion had been temporarily delayed, and some losses had been recovered in some local areas. However, the long-term strategy of both Japan and Russia was to occupy the northeastern region of the Qing Empire and seize its rich resources for their own development. Therefore, although both countries handled the conflict with the Jin Army in a relatively low-key manner, it was not a sign of weakness, but rather preparation for the war between the two countries in 1904 to compete for control of the northeastern region of the Qing Empire.

  The battlefield of this war is in the Qing Empire, but the will to fight is controlled by both Japan and Russia. In fact, it has nothing to do with the Qing Empire, and the Qing Empire can no longer influence the course of the war by changing its own behavior. Therefore, the battle to defend Heilongjiang and even the entire Northeast is inevitable.

  While Kang Fan took advantage of the current complex international situation and his gradually increasing strength, he cleverly achieved the purpose of training his troops and establishing military prestige through actual combat, also preparing for this future war.

  Shoushan is a descendant of the national hero Yuan Chonghuan at the end of the Ming Dynasty. It is indeed worthy of being a general's family, and its high realm of loyalty to the country can be seen from its rectification of the border defense in Heilongjiang Province: following Kangfan's suggestion, Heilongjiang Province had already built a defensive system with strategic points heavily guarded by troops and mobile forces responding to each other. With the rapid improvement of Shanxi's industrial production capacity, new-style guns, artillery, and other weapons produced by military enterprises also began to be supplied to the garrison in Heilongjiang, and the original old-style weapons were transferred to other domestic troops or sold abroad for pounds. Shoushan completely copied the Jin army model to modernize the elite mobile forces in the Heilongjiang garrison, such as cutting off braids, changing to short hair; wearing Jin army uniforms and combat equipment; expanding cavalry on a large scale; transforming local military camps into Jin army standards, adopting Jin army's modern training methods, etc. These measures encountered many obstacles during implementation, but with the support of open-minded generals like Huifeng, the above reforms were still implemented smoothly according to plan. And the large-scale military-industrial complex in Hulan City has also been put into production, producing weapons and ammunition as well as combat equipment that have begun to be supplied to the Heilongjiang garrison. In the future, when war breaks out, this will be a powerful friendly force!

  The Empress Dowager was quite satisfied with the suppression of the Boxer movement by the army, and under this circumstance, local governments in Shandong, Fengtian and other places followed suit, suppressing the local Boxer movement vigorously. The situation took a drastic turn for the better. However, the Empress Dowager disagreed with Kang Youwei's proposal to pardon the Boxers and those soldiers who had participated in the riot.

  "The Boxers are indeed the source of trouble. Now that we want to eradicate the root and stop the evil, it is impossible not to thoroughly eliminate them!" said Cixi.

  The Empress Dowager, according to what I know, the Boxers are ordinary people, mostly ignorant and foolish, incited and indulged by a group of treacherous officials in the court, causing trouble in the suburbs. Although their methods are cruel and their actions are detestable, they have taken "Support the Qing and destroy the foreigners" as their slogan, which is reasonable and should be supported. At present, our dynasty must take "tolerance" as its first priority, pacifying all parties as the top priority, and absolutely cannot lose sight of the overall situation because of a small mistake, thus cutting off our dynasty's intention to become strong. The Boxers, if guided correctly by the court, will be useful in the future, and their power should not be underestimated! The root of the trouble lies within the court, and people like Ronglu and Dong Fuxiang are actually the main culprits behind the riot. As for the Boxer civilians who participated in the riot, they should be punished according to the law, and the rest can be dispersed and sent back home, no need to investigate further.

  The Empress Dowager smiled and said: "With a heart as kind as yours, how can you accomplish great things?"

  Kong Fan smiled, "Your humble servant is not benevolent by nature, but rather united. United with the officials in the imperial court, united with the people of the world, and united with fellow scholars from afar, gathering the strength of all citizens to overcome national crises together. When united we are strong and prosperous, when divided we are weak and poor, this is a principle that everyone knows."

  The Empress Dowager sighed and said: "In dealing with people like Gengzi, I indeed have the heart but lack the strength."

  Kang Fan did not expect Cixi to say such disheartening words, and he couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart: "Your Majesty needn't be disheartened, for there are the troops of General Jin and the Black Dragon River soldiers under General Shou Shan, tens of thousands of strong and brave soldiers, who can quell internal strife and defend against external threats, what is there to fear?"

  The Empress Dowager smiled and nodded her head, "I know all about your efforts. From now on, I will definitely support you with all my might."

  Kang Fan bowed his head and thanked him.

  At this time, Empress Dowager Cixi issued an edict, ordering that the main culprits among the Boxers and Qing military officers who participated in the riot be handed over to the Ministry of Punishment for punishment according to their crimes. Those who were involved but not as deeply were given lighter punishments, while those who were lightly involved were pardoned. Death row inmates were all executed by firing squad, a relatively civilized method of execution, abolishing the previous cruel methods such as lingchi and beheading. The rest were forced to disperse and return home. As for the officials who incited the riot, such as Zeng Guofan, they were given punishments such as demotion, imprisonment, and reprimand, while also being granted the status of garrison troops in Beijing, with the heavy responsibility of defending the capital region.

  In this way, the Shanxi Army was elevated from a local force to a central army on par with Ronglu's Wuwei Troops, enjoying equal treatment and status. Kang Fang naturally became a high-ranking military officer of the imperial court, equivalent in rank to Song Qing, Dong Fuxiang, Nie Shicheng, Yuan Shikai and other commanders of the Beiyang New Army, but unlike them, he was not under Ronglu's command, instead directly answering to Empress Dowager Cixi. In essence, he had become Cixi's personal army, used to counterbalance the various factions in the imperial court that controlled military power and achieve a certain balance of political power.

  "You are currently residing in the capital, and it's likely you won't be able to leave for a while. Why not bring Mei Xiang over to keep me company? It's been a long time since I've seen her, and I miss that little girl dearly." Empress Dowager Cixi said to Kang Fang.

  Kang Fan had actually intended to do so, from the beginning of the Tianjin War until now, he and Mei Xiang had not seen each other for more than half a year, and he had long been thinking about it with aching lungs. It was just that due to being busy with official duties, he couldn't get away, and could only give up. Now that the situation is stabilizing, the Nanmen base has also been initially established, and since his troops are stationed in Beijing, he doesn't have to worry about Mei Xiang encountering any risks in the palace, it's time to bring her over. Thinking of this, thinking of Mei Xiang's beauty, he couldn't help but feel his heart fluttering.

  After the Security Bureau sent someone to escort Mei Xiang to the Nan Kou base, Kang Fan was scolded by Mei Xiang for a long time, saying a lot of things, but ultimately only one meaning: you just busy yourself, and forget about me Mei Xiang in the 21st century!

  Kang Fan told Mei Xiang in detail about what had happened during this time, and Mei Xiang's face finally improved with great difficulty.

  "Judy really helped a lot, and it's only right that you're good to her." Mei Xiang said with a sour tone.

  Kang Fan thought she would mention Judy, but he couldn't help feeling flustered in his heart.

  "What I said is objective and also my true intention. Don't overthink it, Kang Fan." Mei Xiang saw that he was a bit uncomfortable, so she intentionally added this, then slyly smiled, "As long as you're alive, that's all that matters."

  Kang Fan hugged her, unwilling to let go for a long time. Smelling the familiar scent on Meixiang's body and feeling Meixiang's plump and warm physique, his turbulent heart calmed down immediately.

  Mei Xiang brought a lot of beauty products, daily chemical products, pure cotton underwear, nylon stockings and other women's goods produced by local enterprises in Shanxi Province. In addition, she also brought some rare mountain goods from Shanxi and Heilongjiang provinces. Judy liked those novel women's goods very much, and couldn't wait to try on the long tube flesh-colored nylon stockings in front of Kang Fan, but she didn't even look at those mountain goods.

  "It's really incomprehensible. These rare mountain goods are hard to find worldwide, such as ginseng, sable fur, pine mushrooms, and wood ears, which one is not better than these things?" Kang Fan was puzzled.

  Mei Xiang and Judy exchanged a knowing glance and smiled at each other, ignoring Kang Fan as they engaged in an intense, hushed conversation.