Volume 1: The Battleship Yitian Changes into the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 Chapter 60 Someone said something bad
What Qiu Baoren brought him was bad news.
Since the signing of the Sino-Japanese Tianjin Treaty, the two sides began to exchange prisoners of war. China returned 112 Japanese naval officers and soldiers, and Japan returned 1,046 Chinese army officers and soldiers, including Mr. Ye Zhichao.
In order not to affect the Empress Dowager's birthday celebration, the court initially only detained him and did not make a clear decision on punishment. However, as soon as the Empress Dowager's birthday was over, the censors couldn't wait to jump out and find trouble with him.
Sun Gang knew a little about Ye Zhichao. In his early years, he also participated in suppressing the Taiping Rebellion and the Nian Rebellion. He led the troops in battle and even had the nickname "Ye Da Daizi". However, after decades of peace and prosperity, his youthful vigor had long gone. In the Battle of Yashan, he had a perceptual understanding of the almost terrifying combat effectiveness of the Japanese Army, and ended up being a frightened bird. In addition, the court made inappropriate moves and appointed him as the commander-in-chief of the entire army after he had already lost the battle, which greatly dissatisfied other generals and led to the separation of the upper and lower levels. In the Battle of Pyongyang, all he could think of was to run back to China as soon as possible, but God did not take care of him and let him fall into the hands of the Japanese. Now he has finally achieved his goal of returning to China, but what awaits him is probably nothing but a knife in the neck.
If Ye Zhichao deserved the punishment he received, then Sun Gang thought the punishment for Wei Rugui was indiscriminate.
The Battle of Pyongyang was first fought outside the city at the bridgehead area of Songqiaoli on the south bank of the Taedong River. The Japanese Oshima Yoshimasa mixed brigade launched the attack first. The Huai Army general Ma Yukun stationed there led his troops to fight back desperately. The Chinese artillery on the north bank of the Taedong River also opened fire to help. At dawn, the commander of the Sheng Army on the north bank of the river, Wei Rugui, took the lead and personally led hundreds of soldiers to cross the Taedong River to support Ma Yukun's troops on the south bank. In addition to consolidating the position, he also actively launched a counterattack against the Japanese army, and captured two trenches from the Japanese side. The bloody battle lasted until 2:30 pm, and the Japanese army was forced to withdraw from the battlefield . In this battle, more than 2,200 Chinese army soldiers faced more than 3,600 Japanese troops, and no one retreated. They fought bravely, killed and wounded more than 430 Japanese soldiers, and achieved a glorious record. But such a brave general was impeached by those clean officials for not dissuading Ye Zhichao's behavior and was convicted and beheaded! Hearing this news, Sun Gang was extremely depressed.
Wei Rugui's Sheng Army had problems with military discipline, and it seemed they had even robbed civilians in Korea. But after all, they had also fought a bloody battle with the Japanese. Isn't this punishment too severe?
But what made the naval officers and soldiers even more suspicious and uneasy was that this group of people turned their attention to Ding Ruchang again.
As early as the beginning of the war, the Qingliu people had many accusations against Ding Ruchang, saying that he laid mines to consolidate the defense of Weihaiwei, which was "hesitant to move forward, waiting and watching, and letting the enemy play with the bandits" (the word "play" once made Sun Gang stunned for a long time, and I don't know which Hanlin scholar used this word). Emperor Guangxu, who was deeply influenced by the Qingliu leader Master Weng, didn't understand why and was extremely angry. After Ding Ruchang led the Beiyang Fleet to patrol the sea and did not encounter the enemy, he actually asked Li Hongzhang to immediately investigate whether Ding Ruchang "had any fear of the enemy" and replaced him as soon as possible if he did. If it weren't for Empress Dowager Cixi asking about this at a critical moment, Ding Ruchang might have had to leave.
The purpose of Master Weng's move once made him feel horrified: a country's former naval commander, when the war was imminent and foreign enemies were knocking on the door, was suspected, sabotaged, and even unreasonably slandered and abused by the highest power class. This was not because of his personal ability, but because the critics wanted to use this opportunity to replace the naval commander, seize the naval power controlled by Li Hongzhang, and undermine and weaken Li Hongzhang's strength!
A war against foreign aggression that should have been fought with common hatred of the enemy has unknowingly become a stage for factional fighting and internal consumption!
And now, the battle has just ended and the powerful enemy has not yet completely retreated, this shameless personal attack has begun again!
According to Qiu Baoren, some censors said, "After the defeat in Pyongyang, the navy did not arrive at the Taedong River to provide support, which shows that Ding Ruchang was afraid of the enemy and avoided fighting." Some said, "In the Battle of the Daedong Valley, Ding Ruchang did not issue a single order when he encountered the enemy. When the cannon sounded, he hid in the thickest part of the cabin in the armor. His subordinates requested his order to fire, but he did not fire until later, which allowed the enemy to take advantage of the ships." Others said, "Japanese warships invaded Weihaiwei and sank many of our ships, but Ding Ruchang reported it as 'training and transporting small boats', and disguised defeat as victory." "After the naval battle, Japanese warships still repeatedly invaded our coastal areas, and various places were alarmed several times a day. Ding Ruchang did not try to capture them, but instead considered it an achievement to go out to sea and fight." Others were even more absurd, saying, "Usually, the department did not discipline them strictly, and the soldiers rushed to the boats to play, and some even brought women on board." This one was probably directed at him as the Minister of Shipbuilding.
Bringing women on board? There are only three of us on board now! Do whatever you want!
Sun Gang's good mood after getting the gold was completely brought to the bottom by these messy news.
At this time, he deeply realized what Li Hongzhang meant by "what we should worry about is within, not outside".
After all, China and Japan should have been at the same starting line, but why is China so far behind Japan? The decadent ideology and disunity from top to bottom played a "decisive" role here.
China will never become strong unless it throws these rotten guys and the old rotten things they believe in, such as foot bindings and smelly socks, into the Pacific Ocean!
"General Lin is really angry and wants to write a letter to Lord Ding to explain, but he is not good at writing. The emperor appreciates Lord Sun's articles, so he would like to ask you, Lord Sun, to write for him." After returning to Lushun, Qiu Baoren said to Sun Gang. Since everyone got promoted, he also changed his tone. The feudal hierarchy system is really unacceptable.
"I have no choice but to do it!" Sun Gang agreed immediately. He had a good foundation in classical Chinese in high school. He was a "super gunner" who had written various graduation papers for others in college and had published articles on Qidian. He was confident about this.
After arranging for the gold to be deposited in the bank and sending the wounded to the hospital, he hurried to find Lin Taizeng, only to find that Ding Ruchang was there too.
"I heard you brought back a shipload of gold?" Ding Ruchang looked at him and smiled, "The first lucky star is indeed worthy of his reputation."
After not seeing him for a long time, Ding Ruchang looked much more haggard than before. The fighting on the front line and the criticism from many sides had exhausted him, and when the war was finally over, the court began to play the trick of putting away the bows after the birds were killed and the dogs were cooked after the rabbits died, which made him feel disheartened. Seeing this young man who had helped him achieve great success, he couldn't help but reveal a rare smile.
"It would be great if it was just one boat." Sun Gang didn't mean to hide it from him. "We don't have to ask the Ministry of Revenue for money to buy a boat, and they won't feel bad about it."
"I just feel happy when you talk." Lin Taizeng looked at him and said, "You can express what I think in just a few words."
"Young people, don't be so impulsive." Ding Ruchang waved his hand and asked them to sit down, saying, "The country's future still needs you. We old people should also give way."
"With the enemy at our side, you must never entertain such thoughts, both for public and private reasons," Lin Taizeng said excitedly.
"Those guys who claim to be incorruptible want to squeeze you out, but we won't let them do that." Sun Gang said, holding Ding Ruchang's hand. He had already thought of an idea when he came, but it would be best if he could get the consent of him and Li Hongzhang.
"Nothing is more sad than a dead heart." Ding Ruchang patted Sun Gang's hand and said with a wry smile, "I just don't want the Prime Minister to be blamed for me anymore."
"Your Majesty's wish is to make the country strong, and so is my wish." Sun Gang said solemnly, "Even for your Majesty, for me, and for my comrades, you cannot leave lightly." Seeing Ding Ruchang's agitated look, Sun Gang smiled mysteriously, "The Emperor has allowed me to make special memorials. How about I write a letter to appeal for you and our navy and army officers and soldiers?"
"You mean 'navy and army'?" Lin Taizeng asked in surprise.
"Yes." Sun Gang said, "Although the army has more defeats than victories, many of the soldiers are good men who have fought bloody battles with the Japanese. We cannot let them die in vain and bear a bad name." He made up his mind on the way to find a way to speak up for Wei Rugui! Although he didn't know the general at all.
"What do you want to do?" Ding Ruchang looked at him in surprise and asked.
"This bunch of clean officials think they are good at writing, and they always report rumors to fool the emperor, but their rumors have no real evidence and cannot stand the test." Sun Gang said, "I am entrusted with the important task of military intelligence. I just returned from Korea by ship and saw the situation there with my own eyes. I can report everything to the emperor and the empress dowager. Now Japan and Russia may have gone to war, and the situation in Korea is uncertain. Warships from Britain, France, the United States, Russia and other countries are frequently in the area, all of which are trying to profit from it. In my article, I can imply that these corrupt scholars do not know the situation between the enemy and us, and they make comments without thinking, which will cause endless harm. I am afraid that the emperor will have to think twice about what they say in the future."
Ding Ruchang looked at him in surprise, and said worriedly, "You have to choose your words carefully and don't get yourself into trouble." He knew very well that the officialdom was treacherous, with undercurrents and crises everywhere. If one was not careful, one might be doomed. The young man in front of him looked determined to succeed, which made him secretly worried.
“I dare not say that my writing is better than those of the Hanlin scholars, but since the emperor has cried once, it won’t be a big deal if it happens again.” Sun Gang smiled wickedly and said, “I will make sure those bookworms will be speechless.” Last time, he just stated the facts in the naval battle report, and it almost made the emperor sleepless. This time, he came prepared. Hehe, after all, he has been working at Qidian all day. How can those eight-legged essay nerds compare to him?
"Master Lin, please don't get involved. You can fight the enemy on the sea, but I'll play the word game." Sun Gang said to the surprised Lin Taizeng with a smile, "Brother Lin, just tell me what you want to say."
