Chapter 31: The Dignity of Soldiers

  Zhou Xuan Zhang suddenly gained strength from somewhere, his two arms propped up and shook off the two soldiers holding him, blocking Wu Peifu in front of him, shouting at the officer: "Lord Ye, Wu Peifu is innocent!"

  The officer's name was Ye Qia, and he held a sixth-rank position as a guard officer at the Tianjin Military Academy's Security Battalion.

  Ye Kui's rank was not high, but his father Ye Zhi-chao held the position of Zhili Tidu, the highest military officer in the Beijing area, equivalent to the current Commander of the Beijing Military Region, with a strong army guarding the capital and deeply trusted by the imperial court. Li Hongzhang also gave him three points.

  Ye Qian relied on having Ye Zhi-chao as his father, and was arrogant and domineering at the Tianjin Military Academy, where even the principal and administrators had to cater to him.

  The guards' camp was Ye Qia's domain. Ye Qia believed in ruling the army with an iron fist, and in the guards' camp, he acted arbitrarily, and soldiers who made slight mistakes were either given eighty lashes or beheaded on the spot, his methods extremely brutal.

  In the Qing dynasty, there was a military system where generals had absolute power over their soldiers. The officers in charge of the troops had the power to kill or spare lives as they saw fit. Ye Tuo's guard battalion was essentially his private army, and with Ye Zhi-chao backing him up, everyone at the academy knew that Ye Tuo was a ruthless tyrant, but no one could do anything about it. Fortunately, Ye Tuo only threw his weight around within the guard battalion and did not interfere with the teaching at the academy. The headmaster and other officials turned a blind eye to his behavior.

  "Zhou Xianzhang, you're a guilty man, what qualifications do you have to speak with Ben Shoubi!" Ye Tong shouted.

  "Lord Ye, I am a prisoner awaiting trial, but I have not been convicted yet! Before conviction, I am still a student of the Tianjin Martial Arts Academy, enjoying the treatment of a battalion commander! Of course, I have the qualifications to talk to Lord Ye!"

  Although the ranks of Tongzheng and Shoubi are vastly different, they are both officials appointed by the imperial court and can converse with each other.

  Ye Kung sneered: "Zhou Xuan Zhang, you're about to die and still dare to be so arrogant. Wu Peifu's gate is in chaos, according to the law, he should be beheaded!"

  "Lord Ye, this is not the prison gate, it's the Martial Arts Hall! According to school rules, even if Wu Peifu has committed a crime worthy of punishment, he should be detained for only three days!"

  "Zhou Xuan Zhang, Wu Peifu is a member of my guard regiment. I love him however I want to, it's none of your business! Take Wu Peifu away!"

  "Governor Ye, you're playing with people's lives!" Zhou Xuan Zhang shouted loudly, blocking Wu Peifu in front of him: "Ye Tong, if you have the guts, kill me first!"

  Ye Qiu sneered: "Don't worry, Li Zhongtang will kill you!"

  Just then, Ai De walked out of the main gate of the martial arts hall and said to Ye Tong: "Lord Ye, I think you are insulting the dignity of the military!"

  In those days, foreigners were half a level higher than officials. Ye Qiao could ignore the various officials in school, but he didn't dare to be too rude to the foreign teachers.

  "What dignity does a small soldier have!" Ye Qiao said discontentedly, but his tone was eight degrees lower.

  "Ai De sternly said: 'The dignity of the army is built on the dignity of the soldiers, Lord Ye, you insult a soldier, it's an insult to the entire Qing army!'"

  Ye Qiao smiled and said: "Mr. Ai De, you're being too serious! These damn soldiers, if you don't show them some color, they won't be willing to risk their lives!"

  "Ai De said loudly: 'Lord Ye, the soldiers of the Qing Dynasty are not willing to die for the court, not because you have not given them a reason, but because the court has not given them dignity! Lord Ye, please let this soldier go!'"

  Ai De's remarks about dignity, Ye Qiao disagreed, even the soldiers and students present were confused, in the Qing Dynasty, being a soldier was the lowest profession, with a status lower than that of a *, where is the dignity to speak of.

  However, since the foreigner has spoken, Ye Qiaoyu did not dare to lose face in front of him.

  "Alright, for Mr. Ai's sake, spare Wu Peifu's life, take him down and give him 80 military lashes!"

  The Eighteenth Army went down, Wu Peifu was either dead or crippled.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang shouted: "Lord Ye, I am willing to take Wu Peifu's punishment on his behalf!"

  "Fart!" Ye Qiao scolded: "You little devil just wait for beheading!"

  "First receive eighty military sticks and then behead, what a relief!" Zhou Xianzhang burst out laughing.

  As Zhou Xuan Zhang burst out laughing, the students who were originally standing at attention in front of the martial arts hall all knelt down: "Please, Lord Ye, retract your order!"

  Ye Qiaobo was arrogant and domineering at the Tianjin Military Academy, from the instructors to the students, no one could stand him. Now seeing Zhou Xuanzhang confront Ye Qiaobo, the students felt a sense of relief and followed Zhou Xuanzhang in pleading for Wu Peifu's pardon.

  Ye Kui seeing that he had incurred the wrath of everyone, and the foreigner Ai De also standing on the side of the students, could only go with the flow: "Since everyone is pleading for mercy, I'll let it go, this eighty strokes of the rod will not be carried out, get Wu Peifu out of the school, from now on don't let me see him again!"

  Bing Ding let go of Wu Peifu. Wu Peifu walked up to Zhou Xuanzhang and knelt down, saying: "Big Brother Zhou, I'm leaving, but I won't be far away. I'll wait outside the school for you, waiting to collect your corpse!" This Wu Peifu was indeed a straightforward person, convinced that Zhou Xuanzhang wouldn't live much longer.

  Wu Peifu said, and with a stern expression, he kowtowed three times to Zhou Xuanzhang, then stood up and left with his head held high.

  Ai De looked at Wu Peifu's back and shrugged his shoulders, saying to Zhou Xuan Zhang: "Let's go."

  "Go? Where are you going?"

  "Go see Li Zhongtang."

  "Isn't he going to chop off my head?" Zhou Xianzhang was furious, if you want to chop it off, just do it, what's the point of seeing each other, take off your pants and fart.

  Ai De didn't answer, beckoned with his hand and walked towards the main gate of the martial arts hall.

  "Push forward!" Ye Tong shouted loudly.

  Two soldiers lifted Zhou Xuan Zhang and followed Ed into the martial arts hall.

  The atmosphere in the grand hall of the martial arts hall was solemn and dignified.

  On the north wall of the main hall, a huge Qing dragon flag was hung, which was both the national flag and military flag of the Qing dynasty. Under the flag, two Taishi chairs were arranged side by side, on which sat two officials wearing first-class court attire, one thin and one fat.

  On the left, a slender figure with a pointed face and a goatee beard, his complexion gloomy, eyes gleaming brightly. On the right, a robust figure with thick whiskers, a gentle countenance, and an air of calmness.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang had never seen Li Hongzhang, nor had he seen Weng Tonghe, but the names of Li Hongzhang and Weng Tonghe were well-known to everyone. Zhou Xuan Zhang had heard people describe their physical appearance before, so when he saw them, he knew that the thin one on the left must be the Beiyang Minister Li Hongzhang, and the stout one on the right must be the Minister of Revenue Weng Tonghe.

  On both sides of the hall, two rows of civil and military officials stood, including the director, deputy director, supervisor, and chief instructor of the Tianjin Military Academy, as well as six German instructors. There was not a single Chinese instructor among them, their ranks were too low, they did not have the qualifications to stand here. The German instructors had no rank, but like all foreigners, having no rank meant having unlimited rank.

  Liu Buqian stood to the left of Li Hongzhang, and below Liu Buqian were several military officers, including some from the Beiyang Navy and others from the Zhili Army. Zhou Xuanzhang didn't recognize most of them. To the right of Weng Tonghe stood a row of civil officials, none of whom Zhou Xuanzhang recognized. However, judging from their attire, these officials were not only from the Ministry of Revenue but also included some remonstrance officials, such as those from the Imperial Censorate.

  In the center of the hall, a large military sand table was placed. On the sand table, an offensive and defensive formation that was very familiar to Zhou Xuan Zhang was arranged.

  The sand table indicates a bay, with one side facing the sea and three sides surrounded by mountains. On the five commanding heights along the mountain range, there are five artillery emplacements, marked from north to south as No. 1 to No. 5 artillery emplacement. The artillery emplacements are situated high above, equipped with large-caliber cannons, with their muzzles pointing towards the sea. In front of each artillery emplacement, facing the direction of the sea, there are breastworks and fortifications, equipped with Gatling machine guns and various long and short firearms. Underneath the breastworks, a minefield stretching 500 meters wide is laid out. On top of the artillery emplacements, red flags are planted everywhere. Outside the bay, a fleet with blue flags is deployed, taking on a landing formation.

  The sand table marked is exactly the same as the combat situation map on the test paper!

  At that moment, Zhou Xuan Zhang finally understood why he offended Li Zhong Tang!