Chapter 12 The Mountain Collapsed

  The foreigner nodded at Feng Guozhang in a friendly manner and asked in poor Chinese: "Feng teacher, are you good?"

  That fatty narrowed his eyes and looked up and down Zhou Xianzhang, with a face full of disdain, and let out another cold laugh: "You want to enter the Tianjin Martial Arts Academy?"

  Zhou Xuanzhang nodded: "I promised my elder brother, of course I have to go to school."

  "Preposterous!" Fatso thundered, "I heard you from outside just now. You, a mere commoner, dare to discuss state affairs and say that the enemy of our Great Qing Empire is the Easterners? Your seditious words are deceiving the masses! According to the laws of our Great Qing Empire, do you know what crime you should be charged with?"

  Zhou Xuan Zhang looked bewildered: "I don't know."

  "Off with his head!" The fat man shouted loudly!

  This is what it means to be unlucky! That Feng Guozhang was shouting that he wanted to chop off his head, and just when things were finally turning for the better, some fat guy pops out of nowhere and wants to chop off his head again!

  Zhou Xuanzhang explained: "The Japanese are really our great enemies, they also want to occupy Diaoyu...". Zhou Xuanzhang hastily stopped himself, only then remembering that this was the Qing dynasty in the 19th century, and the matter of Diaoyu Island had not yet occurred.

  "Nonsense!" the fat man shouted: "Our great Qing's archenemy is the Westerner! The Easterner and our Great Qing nation share a common culture, we are as close as lips and teeth, like brothers! The East and our Great Qing have suffered from the bullying of the Westerners, our Great Qing is about to join hands with the East to resist the West! You dare to spread rumors and confuse the minds of our troops! I think you're either a remnant of the Taiping Rebellion or a leftover bandit! Confess honestly! How did you sneak into school? How did you deceive Teacher Feng? What do you plan to do? If there's half a sentence of deceit, this official will tear you apart!"

  That fatty is really something. With a swaggering air, Zhou Xuan Zhang felt indignant in his heart. The Qing government would chop off heads at the slightest provocation. Looking at it this way, the common people's heads on their necks aren't even their own; those in power can cut them off at any time!

  Zhou Xuan Zhang was new to the Qing Dynasty, unfamiliar with the local customs and lacking confidence, not daring to contend with others. Now that he has become sworn brothers with Feng Guozhang, a teacher, he has a "big official" as an elder brother. According to the rules of his hometown in western Hunan, younger brothers must obey their elder brothers, and in return, elder brothers must protect their younger brothers with all their might.

  So, Zhou Xuan Zhang relied on his elder brother Feng Guozhang's protection and was very bold. Seeing the fat man's arrogant attitude, he loudly said: "What makes you dare to cut off my head! My Qing dynasty is a harmonious society, it doesn't allow punishment for speaking out, you say I'm a Taiping rebel, you need evidence to speak, can't just frame me with false accusations!"

  As soon as Zhou Xuan Zhang's voice fell, the fat man's white and round face turned into a green face with anger: "A small grass citizen dares to defy me, the great fourth-rank academician! Lawless and unscrupulous, disloyal and unfilial, kneel down for me!"

  Zhou Xuanzhang let out a cold laugh, standing but not kneeling. Not only did he not kneel, but he became even more arrogant: "Why should I kneel to you? A real man doesn't kneel to anyone! Only to parents and to my sworn brother... My own big brother didn't even ask me to kneel..."

  Zhou Xuan Zhang had not finished speaking, a face full of spirit and vigor suddenly turned into a bitter melon face - Big Brother Feng Guo Zhang "thudded" and knelt down in front of the fat man.

  Zhou Xuanzhang dared to defy that fat man, all those grandiose words like "kneeling to heaven, earth and parents" were fake, in fact, he relied on his big brother Feng Guozhang for support.

  Until now, Zhou Xuan Zhang still didn't understand that "Jiao Xi" was a low-ranking official. Feng Guo Zhang, from the riverbank to Wu Sheng Temple, all along called himself "Ben Da Ren", bluffing and boasting, Zhou Xuan Zhang really thought that Jiao Xi was a high-ranking official who could chop off people's heads. Moreover, Feng Guo Zhang was dressed very neatly, carrying a gun, wearing a leather belt, and wearing leather boots, full of spirit. But the fat man wore wide-sleeved clothes, a long gown around his waist, and a pair of black cloth shoes on his feet, looking very comical. Although he called himself "Ben Guan", in Zhou Xuan Zhang's eyes, this official's position must be lower than big brother Feng Guo Zhang's!

  With Feng Guozhang backing him up, Zhou Xuanzhang dared to speak out and offend his superior, standing upright without kneeling, and even retorting back at that fat guy.

  Who would have thought that Zhou Xuan Zhang was tough enough, but his backer Feng Guozhang collapsed!

  This week's Charter also suffered from a lack of understanding of the basic national conditions of the Qing Dynasty.

  Zhou Xuanzhang took an attitude of judging people by their clothes towards that fat man, which was originally not a big deal. He had traveled to the Qing Dynasty and couldn't help but judge people by their appearance due to his unfamiliarity with the place. However, Zhou Xuanzhang's biggest mistake was using 21st-century aesthetics to evaluate officials of the Qing Dynasty!

  In the 21st century, people who dress neatly and carry guns are considered "the most lovable people". However, in the Qing dynasty, those who were respected were not those who carried guns and wore short clothes, but rather those with wide sleeves, big coats, fat heads, and big ears. Most of them were officials, and high-ranking ones at that! The wider the robe, the fatter the belly, the higher the official position.

  Just like now, Feng Guozhang was wearing a neat military uniform, although also called an official, but that was not in the mainstream! And that fat man wore loose and baggy long gown, with a rank far higher than Feng Guozhang by countless levels!

  This fat man's surname is Yehe Nara, his name is Najin, and he is from the Yellow Banner. He holds a position at the Tianjin Military Academy as a fourth-rank official in charge of daily affairs. In modern terms, this would be equivalent to being the Executive Vice President (the president being referred to as the "General Manager"). The Tianjin Military Academy was the first military academy in the Qing Dynasty and the highest military institution of learning, equivalent to today's National Defense University. Najin is thus equivalent to the Executive Vice President of the National Defense University!

  Feng Guozhang was a teacher who stayed in school, equivalent to a counselor of a certain class at the National Defense Military University.

  Vice President and counselor are all officials. According to the current military rank, the vice president is at least a major general, and the counselor is at most a lieutenant.

  The gap between these two ranks is like heaven and earth. Zhou Xuan Zhang's attempt to use a junior officer as a backing to rival a lieutenant general is simply a mantis trying to stop a chariot!

  Zhou Xuan Zhang had just crossed over into the Qing Dynasty and couldn't understand this kind of relationship. He still thought that a lieutenant was higher than a major general!

  Zhou Xuan Zhang was confused, while Feng Guozhang was very clear. He didn't dare to confront the Jin Hui banquet, his legs went soft and he knelt down on the ground.

  Feng Guozhang is not a softie, this one kneel, in fact, has nothing to do with whether the bone is hard or not, this is the Qing court's rules, subordinates see superiors, must perform the lower kneeling ceremony. The Qing country governs the country with etiquette, this rule cannot be broken! If the rule is broken, the world will be in chaos.

  Of course, Feng Guozhang's kneeling was seen by Zhou Xuanzhang as the collapse of his backing, and Zhou Xuanzhang suddenly felt a chill down his spine. Feng Guozhang's performance was enough to show that the fat man was a real big shot! Although he may not be the governor, he had enough power to chop off Zhou Xuanzhang's head! If things went wrong, even Feng Guozhang's own head might be chopped off in the same pot!

  The situation is extremely serious, and it turns out that Big Brother is unreliable! Zhou Xuanzhang had wanted to hurry up and kneel down, but since he had already said the harsh words "kneeling to heaven, earth, and parents", he couldn't go back on them, so he could only learn from the palace drama scripts he had seen in movies, steeling himself to shout loudly: "I, Zhou Xuanzhang, have offended Your Excellency, and it has nothing to do with my big brother Feng Guozhang! If you want to behead someone, just behead me alone! It has nothing to do with my big brother!"

  Big brother doesn't talk about loyalty, but as a younger brother, he can't help but talk about loyalty, this is also the rules of the old house in Xiangxi!