Chapter 845 Encountering an old friend in a foreign land (2)
Li Zhen was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, with a look of ecstasy on his face.
When the guests upstairs saw the happy expression on Li Zhen's face, they immediately smiled, stood up, bowed respectfully, and said, "Your Majesty."
Li Zhen stepped forward, took the other person's hand, and said, "What a good boy, you didn't even tell me when you came to Vladivostok."
Yang Luchan asked: "Your Majesty, who is this brother?"
Yang Luchan couldn't remember whether he had met the person in front of him, and there was no impression in his mind. Dong Haichuan recalled it carefully, but he couldn't come up with a clue. He looked at Li Zhen, waiting for Li Zhen's explanation.
Li Zhen said: "His name is Zhang Zhidong, Brother Zhang. I met him in Beijing."
"Zhang Zhidong,."
After hearing this, Yang Luchan and Dong Haichuan still shook their heads and had no impression.
Li Zhen waved his hands and said: "Mr. Yang, Mr. Dong, Brother Zhang and I have something to say. You go down to have a drink and don't worry about me."
Yang Luchan, Dong Haichuan, Huang Hu and Duan Que went downstairs and chatted downstairs.
After Li Zhen sat down, he gave Zhang Zhidong a glass of wine, and then asked: "Brother Zhang, I remember you have been in Beijing, why did you suddenly come to Vladivostok?"
Zhang Zhidong took a sip of wine and said: "To be honest, Your Majesty, I was in Beijing when I met you. Later, my father died of illness, so I went home and mourned for my father at home. By the time I came out, it was already this year In September, at that time, I was looking for something to do, and planned to go directly to Zeng Guofan, Mr. Zeng, but..."
Having said this, Zhang Zhidong couldn't help but sigh.
Li Zhen immediately asked: "What's wrong?"
Li Zhen frowned, wondering if it was Zeng Guofan who refused to close Zhang's Cave.
However, Li Zhen changed his mind and felt that it was impossible. With Zeng Guofan's mind and magnanimity, people like Li Hongzhang, Peng Yulin, and Hu Linyi could be accepted, and it was impossible to turn Zhang Zhidong away. This was not Zeng Guofan's style, no When Zhang Zhidong spoke, Li Zhen asked tentatively: "Brother Zhang, is it because Zeng Guofan was jealous of talents and talents that you came to Vladivostok?"
Zhang Zhidong shook his head and said, "No, I haven't seen Mr. Zeng."
"Oh, since it's not Zeng Guofan, could it be that the people below are blocking it?" Li Zhen was furious and said in a deep voice: "When I go back, I will deal with these people."
Zhang Zhidong didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said: "Your Majesty, it has nothing to do with them, it's all my fault."
Li Zhen smiled awkwardly, but felt relieved in his heart.
What Li Zhen was most worried about was that his people caused Zhang Zhidong to fail to see Zeng Guofan. Now it was Zhang Zhidong's own fault. He felt much better and no longer stressed.
Zhang Zhidong had a heavy expression on his face and said slowly: "In the past, my father died of illness in the army. After I buried my father, I returned to Nanpi, Zhili. For two years, I stayed in Nanpi, firstly to mourn my father. , The second is to devote myself to reading and studying knowledge. After Yi declares war to the prince and the two armies fight, I will think about going to the south."
"It was my first time to travel, and all my money was robbed before I left Zhili. Unlike the south, the north was full of wars and chaos. I had no money and couldn't find a way to go south, so I had to go back in despair. Nanpi.”
"The second time, I brought enough travel expenses and went south again. This time I was careful and my money was not stolen. Unfortunately, another accident happened. On the way, I encountered soldiers under Yi's command arresting young men. I was afraid of being caught. I avoided it immediately and tried my best to escape. The army arrested people everywhere. I couldn't go south, so I had to retreat."
"The third time I went south, my money was not stolen, and I did not encounter the army capturing young men. However, I did encounter the Qing army who had fled from the front line. I was coerced by these soldiers and returned to Nanpi, but I still didn't find anything. I was able to go south, but I failed three times in a row, so I became disheartened and had no intention of going south."
Zhang Zhidong said these words with emotion again and again, and finally said: "It happened that at this time I heard a businessman coming back from the north saying that there was a war in Vladivostok, and it was commanded by the prince himself. I knew you were in the north, so I took a boat to go north. , I just arrived in Vladivostok, thinking that it’s the Chinese New Year, so I didn’t look for you right away, so I planned to wait for a while before looking for you again, but unexpectedly, I met you again.”
Zhang Zhidong said this, but actually he was still a little nervous when he arrived in Vladivostok.
After all, Li Zhen was not the original governor, but the prince.
Their status and status were not the same as before, but now that he saw Li Zhen, Li Zhen was still the Li Zhen he had met before, and he felt at ease again.
Li Zhen sighed: "It's fate, God wants you to come here."
Zhang Zhidong smiled slightly and nodded.
Li Zhen smiled and said: "Brother Zhang, your experience is too bizarre. All I can say is that you are so lucky."
Zhang Zhidong smiled awkwardly, he didn't want to do this either.
Li Zhen and Zhang Zhidong talked for a while, and finally stood up and said: "Brother Zhang, follow me back to the government office. You can stay with me for the time being and be an adviser. What do you think?"
"yes."
Zhang Zhidong immediately agreed, feeling ecstatic in his heart.
Although he has no position, it is undoubtedly a good thing to be with Li Zhen. Zhang Zhidong looked extremely humble and said respectfully: "The word for humble position is Xiaoda. You can call humble position by the word, or you can call me by name." ."
Once he became a minister, Zhang Zhidong immediately changed his attitude.
Li Zhen patted Zhang Zhidong on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Brother Zhang is a very good title. I like it very much. There is nothing special about me here. There is no need to talk about humble positions. Just be casual and let's go." Li Zhen He took Zhang Zhidong downstairs, looked at Dong Haichuan, Yang Luchan and others, and said: "Mr. Dong, Mr. Yang, thank you for today, and thank you Huzi too. Without you to lead the way, I wouldn't have met Brother Zhang. "
After a pause, Li Zhen cupped his hands again and said: "Shopkeeper, let's go. Thank you."
Huang Hu immediately paid, but Duan Que refused to accept it.
Finally, Duan Que treated him to a treat, and Li Zhen took Dong Haichuan, Yang Luchan and others away and returned to his house.
A day flies by in a blink of an eye.
The New Year celebrations are still going on.
On the other side, Muravyov led his troops towards Vladivostok. After nightfall, in Muravyov's camp, a young man in his early twenties was sitting. His appearance was seventy-nine similar to Muravyov. He was a Muslim. Raviyov's son Victor, at this moment, looked solemn and said solemnly: "Dad, I got news about Princess Shanapova. She took her maid to Vladivostok, which is a dangerous place. Oh my god, if Shanapova falls into Li Zhen's hands, it will definitely be dangerous, so we have to speed up and get on our way."
Victor was very dissatisfied with the current speed of travel.
For Shanapova, we must speed up.
In fact, Victor already wanted to go to Vladivostok first, but thinking that without Muravyov's help, it would definitely be useless for him to go alone, Victor suppressed his desire to fly to Vladivostok.