Chapter 69: Fundraising

  Tan Yanqing did not know who Wei Rugui was, he only knew that Ye Zhi-chao abandoned Pyongyang and fled, causing the Qing army to retreat in disarray. Left Baoguang died in battle, no matter what, Left Baoguang's death in battle is more reliable than using a fleeing general to defend Hanzhong. In history, the Qing army's only achievement on the Korean battlefield was to flee, like Wei Rugui leaving his weapons to the Japanese army, this phenomenon not only occurred in Korea but also in Lushun and Liugong Island naval base.

  Tan Yanqing asked himself that he could not change this fate, so he privately suggested to Li Hongzhang to allocate the five Maxim machine guns in his hands to Zuo Baogui. He also suggested to Li Hongzhang that if Zuo Baogui was defeated by the Japanese army and had to withdraw from Hancheng, these Maxim machine guns must not be left to the Japanese army and must be destroyed.

  Li Hongzhang had witnessed the demonstration of the Maxim gun and also felt a sense of fear towards this powerful infantry killer weapon. After the demonstration, Li Hongzhang immediately commissioned Tang Shaoyi to order twenty Maxim guns and corresponding ammunition from the Mauser weapons factory, planning to deploy these machine guns in the naval bases in Korea and North China to defend against Japanese attacks. Upon hearing Tang's suggestion, he also agreed to destroy the Maxim guns before retreating if absolutely necessary.

  Wei Rugui's defeat and false report of military achievements caused a great stir among the high-ranking officials in the Qing court. Wei Rugui was also a long-time Huai Army general who followed Li Hongzhang, and Li Hongzhang also strongly defended him. However, after this matter was presented to the capital from the Zongli Yamen, Weng Tonghe and others decided to severely punish Wei Rugui in order to attack Li Hongzhang. Seeing that things could not be changed, Li Hongzhang had no choice but to abandon his defense of Wei Rugui.

  "Let him engage in political struggles or enforce severe punishment, it doesn't matter. The strict punishment of Wei Rugui is undoubtedly a great boost to the Korean War situation. The more severe the punishment, the better it would be to confiscate property and execute by beheading, absolutely cannot show leniency... Not only will it fail to play a role in urging on the troops, but it will also increase the prestige of the surrendering generals..." Although still serving in the Beiyang government, Tang Jiyao had not a shred of goodwill towards this fake military achievement incident, and was extremely dissatisfied with the underhanded sabotage.

  For Tan Yanqing, he will not fix himself in a certain camp now, nor will he in the future. Because these camps will all disappear with the collapse of the late Qing dynasty, even the Beiyang Group, which has had a profound impact on modern Chinese history, is now rotten to the core in his eyes. Yuan Shikai's reorganization of the Beiyang was just a flash in the pan. As for whether Yuan Dadao can take over the Beiyang as history develops, it's still uncertain!

  The Japanese army has landed in Korea, which is an undeniable fact. On the map, Korea is only one or two provinces in size compared to China, but due to its complex terrain and the current number of Qing troops entering Korea, the Qing army can only surround major cities such as Pyongyang and Hanseong for core defense. As for where and when the Japanese army landed in Korea, it is difficult to determine, at least it can be confirmed that landing in Korea is not a difficult task for Japan - so far, the main task of the Beiyang Fleet is still escorting troop ships, rather than seeking a decisive battle with the Japanese Navy.

  In recent years, Japan's rapid military expansion has created a sense of "fear of Japan" among the Northern Fleet, where people dare not speak out. The Japanese warships' high speed, fast firing rate, and dense firepower have left an indescribable impression, to the point where even the leaders of the Northern Fleet believe that if China's navy had sufficient funding, it should follow the development path of Japan's navy, rather than its current focus on heavy armor and firepower. In fact, the comparison between the Chinese and Japanese navies reflects the current trend in world naval power, although the Jiyuan ship's battle with a Japanese fleet at Weihaiwei has changed some of the Northern Fleet leaders' views. One thing is certain: large-caliber rapid-fire guns, especially those over 150mm, will be extremely powerful in naval battles.

  Zuo Baogui, with the encouragement and support of Li Hongzhang, obtained the highest command of the Qing army stationed in Hancheng. Judging from the number of Japanese troops that pursued Wei Rugui to the outskirts of Hancheng and still dared to attack the city, Zuo Baogui believed that there were not many Japanese troops around Hancheng at present. Otherwise, they would not have retreated after seeing him persist in defending the city, leaving behind more than 200 corpses. Based on this judgment, Zuo Baogui concentrated all his cavalry and horses into two large teams to patrol the outskirts of Hancheng, ready to attack the Japanese troops as soon as they were discovered. The three Krupp infantry guns captured by the Japanese from Wei Rugui posed a great threat to Hancheng, and at present, morale was most important. If the morale was hit by these three infantry guns, it would not be impossible for his soldiers to retreat like Wei Rugui's troops did.

  To boost morale, Zuo Baogui took out the military pay and heavily rewarded the cavalry. For every Japanese soldier killed, they would receive 20 silver dollars, and for every captured artillery piece, they would get 200 silver dollars. Additionally, before setting out, they were given a generous supply of opium... Under these heavy rewards, the two teams of 500 cavalrymen really made an effort, and within three days, they launched attacks everywhere, searching for the Japanese army's tracks. Unlike the previous time when the Qing army searched for enemy tracks, this time the Japanese ambassador to Korea, ōshima Ken'ichi, had already lost over 200 soldiers in Hanseong (Seoul) and chose to hide due to the vastly different strength of the two sides. Despite this, they were still pursued by the Qing cavalrymen who had their eyes on the silver dollars and suffered another loss of 100 men.

  They also let the Qing army recapture two infantry guns and a bronze gun.

  This way of rewarding soldiers for killing enemies before battles has been around since the time of Zeng Guofan's Xiang Army, and providing opium to soldiers before battles was also a common practice. The Huai Army was derived from the Xiang Army, and Li Hongzhang learned his teacher's way of governing the army, also transplanting this skill of rewarding killings and providing opium to the Huai Army. After receiving Zuo Baogui's battle report, Li Hongzhang praised him repeatedly, and specially dispatched a warship to transport gunpowder supplies for Zuo Baogui, of course, accompanied by sufficient foreign silver and opium...

  At a time when both China and Japan were preparing to launch a new round of attacks, a targeted anti-corruption campaign was underway within the Guangzhou Liangguang Governor's Office. After careful consideration, Tang Shaoyi decided to accept the old man's 500,000 taels of silver in funding, but the target of this fundraising effort was the corrupt officials and bureaucrats who were being nurtured in Guangzhou. In addition to sending a letter to the old man, Tang Shaoyi also sent letters to his trusted advisors Shen Jing and Chen Fei, instructing them to assist the old man in "collecting" the 500,000 taels of silver.

  This "fundraising" method is a living art. It requires more "technique" and "method" than high-difficulty surgery in later generations. Tan Yanqing was very clear about Lao Taitai's experience. In his early years, Lao Taitai was also a thorough "capable official", with his own set of methods for punishing local bullies and corrupt officials, which also brought him great prestige.

  It's a crime to speak. Tan Zhonglin, in his half-life official career, had repeatedly offended the Empress Dowager Cixi, who was at the height of her power at that time. Unlike now, she was openly and legitimately involved in politics behind the scenes, which gave her even more power than she has today. Over the decades, people like Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, and Li Hongzhang all came from that era, but they never dared to openly defy Cixi, let alone become one of her most trusted officials after offending her, like Tan Zhonglin did. Even Tan's son, Tan Yanke, was deeply impressed by his father's ability to navigate the complexities of politics and gain favor with the Empress Dowager, a classic example of "the art of flattering those in power".

  Tan Zhonglin had already become disillusioned with politics and only wanted to live a peaceful life until his old age, but as Tan Yankai's talent gradually emerged, he also began to consider making long-term plans for his son and family. Especially after Tan Yankai passed the imperial examination, he spared no effort in planning for the future. It was also out of this motivation that he did some practical things during his tenure as Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang. After taking over as Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, this famous "Governor-General who doesn't care" began to take his responsibilities seriously.

  "Have you all read Zhao An's letter? What are your thoughts, the two of you?" Tan Zhonglin said calmly as he sat in his armchair.

  —

  This time, Tan Zhonglin did not use his own trusted aides, but instead used Shen Jing and Chen Fei, two new and promising young men. These two people were also highly valued by Tan Yankai in Europe. It can be seen that they will become the son's important confidants. One cannot accompany one's son for a lifetime, besides letting Tan Yankai experience more major events to mature, he also needs to train his trusted aides.

  "Xiang Tan Du had also punished many corrupt officials and local tyrants back then, but this was a different time. Zong An also mentioned a sequence of events in his letter, which I think is the most important part!" Chen Fei replied, although he was just a failed scholar, he was more practical than other poor scholars, and he was very familiar with the officialdom, having put in effort to understand it.

  Yu Sheng is right, although Guangdong can't compare to Shanghai, it's also a place where Chinese and foreigners live together, with many different forces at play. In my humble opinion, it's better to start from small things, clearing up old cases that have been pending for years, which will naturally lead to the exposure of some big fish, these are all concrete evidence, on the one hand, it will uphold Director Tan's reputation, and on the other hand, it will also intimidate those lawless elements...

  Tan Zhonglin nodded in satisfaction with Shen Jing and Chen Fei, but he didn't reveal the true intention of this anti-corruption campaign to them. If the matter of collecting 500,000 taels of silver were to be exposed, it would be a disaster. From Tan Yan's letter, Tan Zhonglin sensed that the current situation was extremely delicate. He didn't understand war, but he understood politics. In his eyes, Tan Yan's move to force the emperor to abdicate was no different from murder. It was precisely this that made him see an opportunity - a chance to make Empress Dowager Cixi remember someone, and perhaps only this one time could establish the position of the Tan family in her mind. That is, collecting 500,000 taels of silver to celebrate Empress Dowager Cixi's birthday!

  Tan Yanqing naturally understood the reasoning behind it, although he was extremely dissatisfied with this approach in his heart. However, he couldn't help but admit that the old man's method was correct in political struggles - once he entered this arena of right and wrong, he could only do things that were beneficial to him. This also made him understand why some famous historical figures knew they were wrong but still insisted on being wrong until the end, completely helpless! All he could do was shift the blame onto the corrupt officials' heads. As long as he gained Cixi's favor, these corrupt officials would be powerless against them. However, this meant that he would have to retrace the steps of Li Hongzhang and Weng Tonghe's old feud.

  The King of Qing's government office, Yi Xuan is greedy and corrupt, he and his son Zai Zhen, along with the minister Na Tong, sell official positions and titles. Just to see him once, one has to spend at least several thousand taels of silver. Now, war clouds are gathering between China and Japan.

  The Guangdong Customs, relying on the master's name, is even more lawless... The Daoist Wang Cunshan has been an official in Guangdong for over eight years, and his corruption is countless. He has bought a large amount of land, and the people call him "Wang Half City". Although he was a friend of my father's from his old days, his reputation is so bad that it's hard to describe. One day, disaster will befall my father...

  Tan Zhonglin said expressionlessly, holding the letter paper: "Wen Yuan, Yu Sheng, you two have always been calm and steady in handling matters. Zuan is very appreciative of you. I am also watching you. Let's not talk about other things, what I want to do most now as the governor of Liangguang is this official governance. I believe you should also know the relationship between Zi Zhan and me, but his corruption and lawlessness are also something I cannot tolerate! You two will start secretly investigating the evidence of Wang Cunshan and Zhou Rongyang from today, even if it means using their heads to prove the imperial decree!"

  Although Wang Cunshan followed Tan Zhonglin for a long time, Tan Zhonglin recommended him as the alternate Daotai of Guangdong. The close relationship between them is self-evident, but for his son's future, Tan Zhonglin had already made up his mind to get a large sum of money in a short period of time to please Empress Dowager Cixi. The Tan family did not think highly of Li Hongzhang, but Tan Yankai could not bear to watch the First Sino-Japanese War repeat history, and joining Li's staff was a huge risk politically. Tan Zhonglin did not know how the war would end, but this potential risk was something he could not tolerate, and the only solution was to leave a way out for himself with Cixi, having such a powerful backer would prevent anyone from making reckless moves in the future.

  Tan Zhonglin did not want to make the striking surface too large. These 500,000 taels of silver, or even a larger number, would be most suitable for scraping off from corrupt officials, and that would be Zhou Rongyao. The Guangdong Customs' oil and water are very rich, and as long as one moves their brain, they can guess three points. Yi Xiu is Zhou Rongyao's backer. Pulling out the basket and bringing out the mud, Yi Xiu absolutely cannot withstand scrutiny. With 500,000 taels of silver opening the way, Tan Zhonglin believes that Cixi will make a wise choice, and this choice will greatly enhance her own political reputation!

  Tan Zhonglin was secretly gathering evidence in Guangdong, while in the capital of the Qing Empire in the north, a dark undercurrent was brewing - the consequences of Wei Rugui's shameful performance on the battlefield in Korea were not simply to dismiss and punish him. Weng Tonghe seized this opportunity and decided to attack Li Hongzhang at this time - Wei Rugui's defeat and fabrication of false military achievements showed that the Huai Army had become absurd to what extent, and the defeat on the battlefield was not just a matter of fear of death, but probably more than half of Wei Rugui's hands were also dirty.

  Weng Tonghe decided to use this speculation to investigate the Wei Ruigui incident thoroughly, in order to attack Li Hongzhang and once again gain the upper hand over him in public opinion. Under Weng's instruction, An Weijun submitted a memorial impeaching Wei Ruigui for embezzling military funds, which led to his subordinates being unwilling to fight to the death on the battlefield... This is an extremely "civilized" way of putting it; behind this impeachment lies the implication that it was precisely because of Wei Ruigui's embezzlement of military funds that the soldiers were demoralized and refused to fight, and that the defeat in Korea was actually a mutiny!

  Perhaps it was Wei Rugu's bad luck, and the impeachment memorial submitted by An Weijun did not take two days. Someone secretly reported that Wei Rugu had embezzled tens of thousands of military salaries and opened a pawnshop in Qingjiangpu. For a time, the officials used this as evidence to continuously impeach him, and Emperor Guangxu was furious and ordered Liu Kunyi, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, to thoroughly investigate this matter and give an explanation to the world.

  Liu Kunyi was not like Weng Tonghe, and he did not have a deep-seated feud with Li Hongzhang. However, Li Hongzhang's performance in the Sino-French War made Liu Kunyi, the Southern Minister, a mere figurehead, and many of his industries, especially military ones, were still under Beiyang's control. Although they held the same rank, this was an encroachment on his authority. With this in mind, Liu Kunyi took immediate action after receiving the imperial edict and achieved initial results without much effort: there were five pawnshops in Qingjiangpu, but none of them belonged to Wei Rugui; however, Wei Rugui had opened seven pawnshops in Jiangsu and Anhui provinces. During the investigation of three pawnshops in Anhui alone, they found 280,000 taels of silver and over 2,000 stones of grain. The situation in Jiangsu was not yet clear due to distance.

  From Wei Rugui being watched by Zuo Baogui in Korea to Liu Kunyi making a big fuss about it in Anhui, it only took more than 20 days. Liu Kunyi quickly submitted the "Petition for Severe Punishment of Wei Rugui", with extremely severe wording, requesting severe punishment for Wei Rugui. Li Hongzhang had also made efforts, hoping to save Wei Rugui's life by just dismissing him from his position. However, when this petition reached the hands of Emperor Guangxu, he finally chose to thoroughly abandon Wei Rugui - Wei Rugui is now notorious, with evidence in the hands of Weng Tonghe, and the consequences are imaginable. If he protected him, he would also be implicated, which would not be worth it.

  "Politics is always cruel!" Tan Yanqing warned himself in his heart after figuring out the pros and cons, this was not the first time, nor would it be the last. From his own father Tan Zhonglin, Zhang Zhidong, to the current Li Hongzhang, he had learned a lot from these people. His road ahead was still very long...