Chapter 20: General-level Commander's Badge

  Two high-ranking officials from the imperial court arrived at the school, and the school authorities attached great importance to it. Jin ordered that all personnel, from the general manager down to the cooks, must stick to their posts and were not allowed to take leave.

  Nanjing couldn't figure out what kind of tricks Li Hongzhang and Weng Tonghe were playing. However, one thing was clear to Nanjing: the two high-ranking officials had come to test the students, no matter what their purpose was, even if it was just a formality.

  Zhan didn't want to let go of this opportunity. Li Hongzhang and Weng Tonghe were both influential figures in the imperial court, and if Zhou Xianzhang could gain recognition from either of them, he would have a chance to get into the Imperial Academy.

  So, the national studies class that was supposed to go on until 11 pm ended at 9 pm. Master Jin dismissed the class and told Zhou Xuanzhang to return to his dormitory to prepare well, as he must fully demonstrate his abilities in front of the two high-ranking court officials.

  Of course, Ji Zhi did not have any illusions about Zhou Xianzhang's military achievements. He just hoped that Zhou could write a good strategy and let the two big men take a look.

  As for tomorrow's exam, Zhou Xuanzhang didn't have any special feelings about it. He would just answer the questions randomly, which was what he had been doing in every exam over the past eight months, and his scores were always sixty points. As for the policy essay, he had already memorized one, so all he needed to do was recite it when the time came.

  Ever since entering the school, Jin was very strict with Zhou Xuanzhang's discipline, fearing that this student would not learn and ruin his reputation. Every night, the national studies class had to go on until 11 o'clock, which was also the time when the dormitory blew out the lights. Zhou Xuanzhang had to hurry back to the dormitory, otherwise he would be punished. So, for such a long time, Zhou Xuanzhang had never really appreciated the night scenery of the school.

  Tonight is rare leisure time, Zhou Xianzhang didn't want to go back to the dormitory so early, he strolled around and unknowingly walked to the edge of the pond.

  The pool is an artificial lake, formed by diverting the Hai River. It was set up by the Academy to train students in building military bridges. The surrounding area is lined with willows, and the flowers and trees are lush. In the center of the pool there is a small island, connected to the shore by a wooden bridge, which also has a few scenic spots. The pool became a recreational spot for the students.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang stepped into the moonlight to arrive at the pond, but saw the moonlight like a ribbon, rippling waves, floating on the water surface several leaves of residual lotus, new willow green shore, swaying in the wind, quiet without human voice, as if in a dream.

  In his memory, Xiangxi also had such a moon color, only now. Zhou Xuanzhang really couldn't understand whether the moon color in front of him was a dream or the moon color of Xiangxi was a dream!

  Zhou Xuanzhang thought of the story of Zhuangzi's Butterfly Dream that Jin had taught, and imitated Jin's mannerisms, shaking his head and reciting: "I do not know whether Zhou is dreaming of a butterfly or a butterfly is dreaming of Zhou. Zhou and the butterfly..."

  Suddenly, a sharp shout came from the depths of the willow shade: "Who's there!"

  Zhou Xuanzhang didn't expect there to be someone else by the pond, and was startled. He looked around in the direction of the sound, and saw two people, one tall and one short, walking out from under the willow trees.

  Those two men were both in military attire, but completely different from the uniforms of the Tianjin Military Academy.

  Two men wearing black felt hats, blue Chinese jackets with embroidered borders and cloud patterns on the hem, brown leather belts around their waists, and long leather boots on their feet.

  That is the uniform of the Beiyang Fleet!

  The Qing army, whether it was the Eight Banners, Green Camp or Xiangjiang Army, had a distinctive large circle on their uniforms, like a living target. The Beiyang Navy continued to use the Qing army's cavalry uniform, but abandoned that live target-like circle, and the fabric color of the uniform was also very carefully considered, no longer being coarse cloth with a dull grayish-blue color, but rather imitating Western naval uniforms, using navy blue woolen fabric, which looked very spirited when worn.

  The uniforms of the Qing army officers and soldiers were almost indistinguishable, with only the battalion officers wearing heavy armor to show their difference from the soldiers.

  The naval uniform of the Beiyang Fleet, however, could be distinguished at a glance by rank.

  The Beiyang Fleet imitated the Western military rank system, combined with the national conditions of the Qing Dynasty, and created its own "military rank".

  Each cuff of the military uniform has 3 hollow cloud head patterns, with different fonts of "shou" (longevity) characters embroidered inside. The font and number of longevity characters determine the owner's rank. Simply put, the Admiral of the Navy has 9 longevity characters, the General-in-Chief has 7, the Deputy General has 6, and so on in decreasing order.

  Of the two, the one on the right was slender and small in stature, with a melon-shaped face, fair complexion, willow eyebrows and big eyes, looking very delicate. There wasn't even a longevity character on the cloud-shaped cuff, apparently an ordinary sailor.

  The one on the left was a burly man in his forties with seven longevity characters in the cloud-shaped cuff of his sleeve!

  This suggests that he is at least a bandmaster!

  And it's not just a regular gunboat belt, at least it's an armored cruiser belt.

  Ironclad cruisers are the most advanced warships in the world today, with thick armor, large tonnage, high speed and powerful firepower, making them giants at sea.

  The commander of the ironclad cruiser of the Qing Empire is equivalent to the general, which is a high-ranking general of the second product, second only to the admiral!

  Zhou Xuan Zhang was greatly astonished.

  In the Qing army, the Tianjin Military Academy and the Beiyang Fleet were Li Hongzhang's two trump cards, also the two main pillars of the imperial court. Both were the favorites of the imperial court and had some arrogance, however, between them was a situation where "well water does not offend river water".

  Tonight, two Beiyang Navy personnel suddenly appeared in the Tianjin Martial Arts Academy, one of whom was a general-level officer.

  "Hey, you're not back in the barracks at this late hour, what are you doing sneaking around here? Are you plotting something treacherous? Speak up!"

  The Beiyang Fleet was built with silver, it is a high-tech military branch of the Qing Dynasty. The soldiers' salaries are much higher than those of the Xiang Army and Huai Army, even the Eight Banners Army can't keep up. All officers were overseas students, overall quality is far superior to the army, Beiyang Fleet officers and men generally look down on the army, and have the support of the imperial court, they eat differently, dress differently, and speak with a different tone. Even a small soldier dares to scold people!

  Zhou Xuan Zhang was furious, the students of Tianjin Martial Arts Academy were treated as generals, enjoying the treatment of a thousand generals. Normally, a small soldier should salute him, but now, a small soldier dared to scold General Zhou!

  Zhou Xuan Zhang wanted to scold the little soldier a few words, but saw that the pipe band adult with 7 longevity characters on his sleeve stood tall and majestic, not angry and self-mighty, he was a general-level official!

  "Fourth-term infantry science student Zhou Xuan Zhang, reporting for duty to Commander!"

  The little soldier's sword eyebrows stood upright, and he shouted loudly: "How dare you! Since you know it's Officer Guan, why don't you kneel down? Do you want to rebel?"

  Zhou Xuan Zhang said calmly: "Sorry, the Tianjin Military Academy uses Western-style military salute, not kneeling and bowing!"

  Actually, Tianjin Martial Academy implemented a dual system of etiquette. The German instructors strongly demanded the use of Western-style military salutes, while the school's management, mostly composed of Manchu nobles, had a special fondness for kneeling and bowing rituals, especially when it came to ceremonial events. In their view, the way one paid respects was a matter of great importance, related to the fundamental principles of morality and ethics. They even saw the kneeling and bowing ritual as a crucial defense line for protecting Chinese civilization; if this ritual were abolished, it would mean the collapse of etiquette and music, and the country would be doomed!

  Finally, a compromise was reached: during drill and training exercises, Western-style military salutes were used, while in other contexts, especially informal ones, cadets would use the Chinese kowtow to Chinese officers and instructors, but render Western-style military salutes to German instructors.

  Of course, in any occasion, German instructors would give Western-style military salute to Chinese officials. The Qing government officials' interpretation of this was that the Germans couldn't bend their knees. This explanation helped save some face for the Qing government officials.

  Following this rule, it is not a training session now. In front of Zhou Xuan Zhang, there was another general-level officer of the Qing Dynasty. Zhou Xuan Zhang should have performed a kneeling bow to this officer.

  Zhou Xuanzhang had always been disdainful of the kneeling and bowing ceremony, and seeing that little soldier's arrogant attitude made him even more angry. So, Zhou Xuanzhang simply fabricated an imperial edict, declaring that the school would no longer observe the kneeling and bowing ceremony. Anyway, this was a local policy of the Tianjin Military Academy, and it was unlikely that people from the Beiyang Navy would understand it.

  "Nonsense!" shouted Little Soldier: "Let me ask you, isn't Tianjin Military Academy the best in our great Qing dynasty?"

  "Of course."

  "This is the Qing Empire's territory, so you should follow the Qing Empire's rules! If you don't follow the rules, your head will be chopped off!"

  It's beheading again. Zhou Xuanzhang sighed bitterly in his heart, the officials of the Qing dynasty loved to behead people, even a small soldier would be beheaded at any moment, how many heads did the common people have for them to behead?

  "The Great Qing Empire also has rules for not kowtowing!" Zhou Xianzhang said with a stern expression.

  "What's going on?" Xiaobing's head was just at Zhou Xuanzhang's shoulder, but he had an attitude as if he wanted to compete with Zhou Xuanzhang.

  "Armor on body, inconvenient to pay respects!" Zhou Xianzhang recalled the phrase from the opera.

  "Armor? You call that foreign stuff armor? Don't humiliate our ancestors!" The little soldier sneered: "Our Beiyang Navy uniform is majestic and neat, that's what we call armor!"

  Actually, in the Qing dynasty army, not only the Beiyang Navy had uniforms that were different from others. The students of Tianjin Military Academy also wore uniforms that imitated those of the German Army, rather than traditional Chinese attire. However, these uniforms were not recognized by the imperial court and were limited to use within the academy. After graduation, the students had to take off their "foreign devil" clothes and wear traditional attire to serve in various camps.

  Only the Beiyang Fleet can proudly wear their unique uniforms and enter the hall.

  "This armor is just a military uniform!" Zhou Xuan Zhang disagreed: "This armor is convenient to wear, marching and fighting are very easy, not hindering hands or feet at all. Your Beiyang Navy's armor looks bright, but it's actually a case of old wine in new bottles, just changing the color and fabric, still wide robe with big sleeves, when you're on the sea, you'll be blown by the wind..."

  The little soldier let out a cold laugh: "Since your armor doesn't hinder your hands or feet, you should even more quickly and neatly kowtow to Officer Guan. And yet you say that wearing armor makes it inconvenient to pay respects? I think you're clearly harboring evil intentions and committing the crime of insubordination!"

  The little soldier was also quick-witted and sharp-tongued, using the son's spear to attack the son's shield, and Zhou Xianzhang was immediately left speechless.