Volume 1 Chapter 45: Nationals and Subjects

  Li Hongzhang handled things smoothly, but if his own backyard had problems, he would never show mercy.

  Li Hongzhang said in a deep voice: "The Tianjin Military Academy is the highest military academy of our great Qing dynasty, and it is the hope for the future of our great Qing. The students should be strictly required, and treated equally, without any tolerance for even half a point of difference. Zhou Xuanzhang's military achievements are extremely poor, and he should have been eliminated long ago. However, that Jin promoted himself to the position of director of the Military Academy, abused his power, altered Zhou Xuanzhang's grades, and allowed such an inferior student to remain in the academy until now, which is a betrayal of our country and our military! I hereby order the removal of Jin from his position as director of the Military Academy, the removal of his official hat, and a report to the imperial court for punishment by the Ministry of Punishment!"

  That Jin has never tampered with Zhou Xianzhang's grades, in fact, regarding Zhou Xianzhang's grades, Na Jin is still in the dark. The ones who tampered with the grades are those supervisors and instructors, especially Feng Guozhang.

  However, in an attempt to add insult to injury, Jin became the main culprit of tampering with the scores.

  Both sides responded with a voice and pulled him down from the big hall.

  Li Hongzhang did not order a warrant for Zhou Xuanzhang's arrest.

  In Li Hongzhang's eyes, Zhou Xuzeng was just a small pawn of the Qingliu faction. As long as he grasped that powerful backer, a small Zhou Xuzeng wouldn't amount to much.

  Moreover, Li Hongzhang had no time to bother with the insignificant and inferior Zhou Xuanzhang, and he soon forgot about this person. Even his arch-nemesis, Zuo Zongtang, was not worth his attention.

  Li Hongzhang had just arrested and imprisoned Zuo, when he received a report that Yuan Shikai had slunk back from Korea with his tail between his legs.

  Li Hongzhang had to put down the Jin matter and hastily left Tianjin Wubei Academy with Weng Tonghe, rushing back to Beijing to listen to Yuan Shikai's report.

  The news brought by Yuan Shikai is depressing.

  The Donghak Peasant Revolution is getting more and more intense, the Korean army can't withstand a single blow, the peasant army captured Jeonju, and the military situation is directly aimed at the capital. The Korean court had no choice but to reach an agreement with the peasant army, agreeing to implement reforms.

  The peasant army withdrew from Jeonju Castle. The Japanese, however, used the pretext of reforms promised by the Joseon court in the "Jeonju Agreement" to massively increase their troops in Korea and demanded that Korea implement internal reforms under Japanese supervision. The Japanese Minister to Korea, Marquis ōtori, presented a 27-point reform proposal to Korea, openly demanding that Korea sever its tributary relationship with the Qing dynasty and become an independent nation!

  Korea was the last tributary state of the Qing dynasty and also the closest tributary state to the Qing, its tributary status originated from the Ming dynasty, with a history of nearly 500 years.

  The Qing Empire lost Korea, and its international status will plummet. The so-called independence of Korea is actually pushing Korea into the arms of Japan. Korea is either a vassal state of the Qing or a vassal state of Japan; it can never achieve what is called "independence"!

  So, even Japan knows that the Great Qing Empire will never allow Korea's independence!

  As Japanese Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu said: "The so-called reform of Korea's internal affairs is just a name, and the Qing government will certainly reject Japan's proposal. In this way, the responsibility for obstructing Korea's national progress lies with the Qing country, and Japan's war with the Qing country will be justified."

  The situation in Korea is getting worse and worse, but the Qing court is still wavering between war and peace.

  The sand table exercise in the Tianjin Wubei Xuetang's performance hall, although it made Li Hongzhang lose face, also cooled down Weng Tonghe's head a lot. At least, Weng Tonghe found that the Oriental people were not as vulnerable as he had imagined!

  Weng Tonghe remained silent, but the voices of those advocating for war within and outside the imperial court grew louder and more intense.

  It's no wonder that Japan's demand for Korea's independence touched the core interests of the Qing Dynasty, pushing it to the edge of a cliff. Whether it was the Westernization Group or the Purist Group, whether it was the Conservative Party or the Reform Party, there was no other way but to fight with all one's might. Moreover, everyone generally believed that Japan was not worth worrying about, and its provocations in Korea were simply a case of overestimating its own strength.

  Only Li Hongzhang knew that once war broke out, Korea would inevitably be lost; without war, there was still a glimmer of hope.

  Li Hongzhang's "one thread of life", was to seek the intervention of the powers and force Japan to withdraw its troops from Korea.

  This hope is very slim.

  The North Korean authorities mutilated Kim Yu-kyeom's body, and international public opinion completely turned in favor of Japan, with the international situation favorable to Japan.

  However, Li Hongzhang knew that in the eyes of the powers, morality could not replace interests.

  At least, Japan's actions in Korea will touch on Russia's interests!

  Japan's rise in the Far East has caused concern among Russians, who would actually be pleased to see a Korea shared between China and Japan. If Japan were to control Korea alone, it would pose a great threat to Russia's interests in the Far East and Manchuria.

  But Britain, France and Germany also did not want to see a Japan that grew up on its own!

  So, after the Japanese presented a reform plan similar to an ultimatum to the Korean royal court, Li Hongzhang did not order a full-scale increase in troops to Korea but instead ran around all day at various consulates, engaging in political maneuvering.

  Li Hongzhang's efforts finally yielded some results, the Russian government sent a strongly worded note to Japan: "The internal unrest in Korea has been quelled, Japan should comply with the Korean government's request and accept the proposal for simultaneous withdrawal of both Chinese and Japanese troops; otherwise, Japan will bear major responsibility!"

  After the Russian ultimatum was issued, the Qing government ordered the various armies that had already set out to enter Korea to halt at the Yalu River and not to enter Korea, so as to avoid clashes with the Japanese army.

  At this time, the Qing army in Korea had less than 3,000 men and was stationed at Asan. The Japanese invasion force had 8,000 men and was stationed in the Korean capital.

  The Qing army was at an absolute disadvantage in both numbers and terrain.

  Li Hongzhang was worried and anxious, where could he still care about that Jin.

  That Jin was a pedantic scholar, but his younger brother, Na Tong, was an astute and versatile person. He not only had the trust of Weng Tonghe, but also had some connections with the ministers of the imperial court, and even got along well with the Empress Dowager.

  Not long after, Tong brought Jin out. After his narrow escape from death, Jin knew he was not the material for an official and from then on lived a life of leisure at home, spending his days reciting poetry and writing essays, no longer inquiring about politics, and thus gained peace of mind.

  ……

  Zhou Xuan Zhang hurried north to the garrison of Fengtian. He wore the uniform of the Beiyang Navy and held Liu Buquan's order, and along the way, he was unimpeded.

  All along the way, troops stationed in various places were heading north, and the roads were congested with dust. The people along the way looked bewildered, their expressions numb as they watched the soldiers rushing by, not knowing where they were going to fight.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang looked at those expressionless citizens and sighed deeply in his heart.

  In the eyes of ordinary people, where to fight and who to fight with are actually irrelevant.

  Fighting is the emperor's business, and whoever the emperor wants to fight with will be fought with. If they win, it's the emperor who wins; if they lose, it's the emperor who loses. Whether winning or losing, it has nothing to do with ordinary people. As long as the war doesn't affect the ordinary people, that's all that matters. People should just eat when they need to eat, sleep when they need to sleep, and pay their taxes on time. After all, no matter who becomes emperor, don't ordinary people still have to pay taxes?

  The subjects of the Great Qing Empire have only the concept of being subjects, but no concept of being citizens!

  In Japan, the Meiji Emperor issued a mobilization order for war, and the whole country was stirred up. Regardless of whether it was government officials or ordinary people, everyone was thrown into a fervent pre-war mobilization. The opposition party stopped attacking the ruling party, and the public's enthusiasm for donations surged, with even prostitutes donating their savings to the state.

  Liu Buquan ordered Zhou Xuanzhang to follow Zuo Baogui into the capital to make war, Zhou Xuanzhang knew that this time, he might not return - He knew that in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Qing Empire would surely be defeated!

  However, Zhou Xunzhang still rushed towards Korea without hesitation.

  Zhou Xuanzhang thought of his grandfather and remembered his grandfather's Han Yang knife!

  "Beat the devils! If you can't beat the devils, don't enter our ancestors' tombs!"

  Zhou Xuanzhang no longer had his grandfather's Hanyang Arsenal rifle, but he got a 1988 Committee Rifle that was identical to the Hanyang Arsenal.

  It is destined by heaven!

  He's finally going to have it out with the little devil!

  Not for the great Qing Empire, but for Grandpa!

  Zhou Xuan Zhang did not acknowledge from the bottom of his heart that he was a subject of the Qing Dynasty!

  He is China's national treasure!