?On the Gyeonggi Avenue in early August, six war horses were galloping. In the sultry weather, the horses were breathing heavily. Ma Dequan was driving a four-horse carriage in the middle of the road. There were only suitcases in the carriage and no one was there. , Li Guolou was dressed in the attire of a personal guard, and was riding on a horse. No one could tell that there was a court official in this Biao man. It was more than 200 miles from the capital to Tianjin, and in such hot weather, You have to walk and rest on the way, and you won't be able to reach Tianjin in one day.
The birch trees on both sides of the road block some sunlight, but in the hot weather, people sitting on horses are already sweating like horses. The crops on both sides of the road are not growing well, especially in areas without rivers. Li Guolou Looking up at the sky, the scorching sun is shining above my head. A bad harvest is inevitable, and the people are still living in dire straits.
There is a row of big willow trees, which is a wonderful sight. In the shade, a group of naked passers-by sit feebly and rest under the trees.
"Stop." Li Guolou pulled the reins of the horse and asked loudly: "Hey, brother, where did you come from?"
Seeing the several military officers with live ammunition, the timid ones immediately hid far away. Only a middle-aged man with a wrinkled face said timidly: "Qingdao, we are all from Qingdao, where the traitors were killed." The Dinggui slaves were given to the Prussians. We didn’t want to be slaves to the subjugation of our country, so we left our hometown and wanted to find a job in the capital!”
"Old man, what are you talking nonsense about? That was rented to the Prussians." Madequan was furious and was the first to scold the common man who was talking nonsense.
"Ma Dequan, don't scare people." Li Guolou's face turned red, and the people still didn't know that the person who betrayed the territorial integrity of the country was "Li Guolou". In the final analysis, he elaborated on a whole set of stories of being a Goujian and enduring hardships. The theory of the new era was also compiled into a book and discussed in the Yamen of the Prime Minister's Office. Of course, he did not dare to write Li Guolou's name on the book, but published it in the name of the Yamen of the Prime Minister's Office.
Li Guolou turned over and jumped off his horse, and several other guards immediately jumped off their horses, untied the horse's bridle, took out the iron bucket from the carriage, ran to the creek under the slope, and fetched water for the horses to drink.
Li Guolou looked at the number of people in this group of people. There were about a hundred people, and some even brought their families with them. He couldn't help but feel sympathy. Anyway, he would not be exposed as a traitor for a while. Li Guolou took a basket of apples from the carriage, handed it to a little girl, and said kindly: "Children, each of you has an apple. Eat it for free. This apple can be eaten by humans and horses!" "
The brave children came to get the apples. Some children were greedy and took one in each hand, bowed and ran away. Some children did not dare to come and get the apples. Li Guolou let them go, and the poor also He likes to strive for success and does not eat food that comes from his mouth. He has also seen a lot. He treats the things he kindly gives to the poor as the liver and lungs of a donkey, but the poor directly throw them on the ground.
The personal guards fed the war horses with pantothenic apples. Each horse was fed at least two apples, and crystal clear salt was also given to the war horses to eat. This made the people staring at them feel jealous and hateful, and the government controlled them. Ordinary people, calculating the local population is to calculate how much salt is consumed in this place to calculate the actual local population. Salt is sold by the government, and people who sell private salt will be beheaded. Private salt dealers are not rampant in the north, and the government controls official salt. The jurisdiction is quite effective, otherwise there would be no good life for Yandao.
Looking at this group of ordinary people with sallow faces and skinny muscles, Li Guolou raised his voice and said: "Ma Dequan, give them a bag of salt!"
Ma Dequan muttered, babbled, and was a little reluctant. People were already calling him "Ding Gui Nu", and then he called him "Ji Zi Liu" and "Fake Foreign Devil." These three people were indistinguishable from each other, and they had already been accused of wearing the same pants.
This time Li Guolou touched the hearts of these Qingdao people. When they saw Li Guolou giving them salt, which was more practical than a few apples, they all ran over to thank Li Guolou. They were all still military masters. The best, a hundred times better than an official position, generous in dealings, talking about what he had seen along the way, all the apples in the basket beside Li Guolou were wiped out at random.
Li Guolou asked: "Hey, since you are from Qingdao, how is the situation in Shandong now? Is Ding Baozhen your blue sky?"
"Anyway, the common people say that he is Qingtian, but we can't see it. But I heard that the governor's office he built is very grand and the best building in Jinan Prefecture. Hey..." The middle-aged man had something to say and did not dare to say anything more.
Li Guolou found another topic and asked: "Hey, brother, there is a lot of idle land in Shandong, why don't you go and reclaim the land!"
Another young man next to him sneered and said: "Guan Ye, that's all because of the old calendar. Now we can't get in even if we want to reclaim the wasteland. The roads are all blocked. The local tyrants and the boxers collude. They are not good birds. Bah." ." After saying this, the young man spat on the dirt ground, feeling that he had nowhere to vent his depression.
Li Guolou smiled freely. He walked in front again, and joined forces with the landlord Lao Caiwang from Qilitun to make a fortune. They were enclosing land in Shandong. Walking in front of the poor stick, Li Guolou covered his mouth, pretended to cough, and said : "Well, I see that you are all good people. Why don't you join the Boxer organization? I will introduce you to a job. If you want to go to the capital, go to Dengcao Hutong to find Wei Xiaoliu. Food and accommodation will be included. You will earn a month. ·····Nine hundred coins, if you are willing to go to the Tianjin Sino-foreign joint venture and work at the Yelia Real Estate Company, the strong labor force will be one or two hundred coins a month, and women will also be hired, for... Six Seven hundred Wen." After saying that, Li Guolou stood up, patted the dead grass behind his butt, stood up and prepared to leave.
This time the situation exploded, and Li Guolou did not escape. This group of patriotic Qingdao people surrounded Li Guolou and asked questions, fearing that Li Guolou would deceive them.
"Master, are you kidding me?"
The personal guard Guohu said loudly: "Don't worry, this official is our master, the fake foreign devil Li Guolou you just scolded. Mr. Li, you want to hold your breath, don't pull him down, and want to live a good life." If you want, go to Tianjin. If you want to live a hard life, find a job by yourself!"
Li Guolou was furious and cursed: "Guohu, why do you want to harm the master like this? Why don't you go to the small station to do coolie work for me tomorrow!"
"Thank you, Master." Guohu frowned with joy and turned over and knelt on the ground. He had long wanted to leave Li Guolou and become an officer with a bright future.
Li Guolou did not listen to the discussion of the Qingdao people, put on the bridle of his horse, climbed on the bay-red horse and headed directly to Tianjin. Before leaving, he looked back at the figures of the Qingdao people. A group of people had already turned around and headed towards Tianjin. Okay, hey, a little more than a tael of silver will knock down the people of Qingdao who claim to be patriotic. This is the virtue of patriotism. No wonder when the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded the Qing Dynasty, the people rushed to lead the way for the invaders and transport food and grass. They were indifferent in the face of money. The only people who were moved were the old-school British and the strict Prussians. The Chinese nation's Han complex was completely destroyed by the Manchus. The rebels who came one after another used bloody killings to overthrow the Manchu government. They did everything possible, even worse than the Manchus. Qing is even more shameful.
Staying overnight at Shuangqiao Zhenguanyi, Li Guolou habitually cleaned his own weapons. First, he had a long Prussian long rifle, a breech-loaded single-shot gun with a rotating locking bolt. This rifle was later adopted by the Prussian army and was later adopted by the Prussian army. Named Type 71 rifle, this is the first Mauser rifle in history. The empty gun weighs 4.6kg, the total gun length is 1293mm, the barrel length is 801mm, 4 riflings, right-hand rotation, 550mm muzzle velocity 440m/s, muzzle Kinetic energy 1975j, effective range 270~1600m, magazine capacity 8rds.
The rifles invented by the Mauser brothers will be introduced to the Qing Dynasty, and the entire production line will be introduced. In order for military industrial enterprises to develop and expand in the Qing Dynasty, it is cost-effective to lease Qingdao to the Prussians for use as a military port. It will take at least two years to develop it yourself. In ten years, it would be a great thing to directly use communism. If you wait until the steel plant is built, you can make new cannons by yourself, and directly drive the British devils out of the Qing Empire.
Li Guolou was favored by the Prussian mission and received the first batch of "aid" from the Prussians, which made him even more ambitious. The steel factory was the source of the industrial revolution. He had a lot of money in his hands. Building a modern steel plant is the top priority. Like Li Hongzhang, he hopes to buy a modern navy. It seems to be the fastest, but in fact he is a fool. In the industrial age, warships are booming and will be eliminated just as quickly.
This time, he did not cooperate with Li Hongzhang, but directly negotiated with the Prussians as a controlling shareholder. He also built the steel plant far away, on the bank of the Datong River in Yanbian, Jilin, out of Li Hongzhang's control, and cleaned up the virgin land in the east. "Three Provinces", with his sharp tongue, Emperor Tongzhi and the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces would believe that he, a Manchu, would develop the virgin land of the three eastern provinces well.
When Li Guolou was cleaning the American-made Colt revolver, the personal guard came in and shouted: "Report, Mr. Li, there are people outside asking for an audience, calling themselves Feihu and Scabbard Yun!"
Li Guolou was stunned. The gang of horse thieves were so audacious that they dared to come to his door. He had given face to the female horse thief Fei Lingxue, and instead of sending troops to kill them, he advised them to leave the Gyeonggi area. Maybe they came to seek revenge.
"Search me, including women, otherwise the flying fox will not be allowed to enter the hotel, and I will not see the assassin." Li Guolou tied the belt around his waist again and put the revolver in the holster. He did not believe it. , the flying knife is faster than the bullet, of course he will not give the assassin a chance, even if it is a woman, he will not give the female assassin any chance.
Fei Lingxue quarreled with several adjutants Ge Shiha at the entrance of the hotel. The two sides refused to give in. Ma Dequan waved his hand and said: "Feihu, don't mention the past. Now my lord has a high status. If you want to see him, you have to search him. You don't have to do it if you don't want to." , please go back and let Scabbard Yun go in, why is there so much nonsense!"
"Li Guolou, even though you are a picky ass-sucking and finger-licking boss, you are willing to buy cakes with sesame seeds. Who invited you to eat lard bibimbap in the first place?" Fei Lingxue refused to let the man search her body. Reluctant to leave, he still stayed at the door of the posthouse, blaming Sang and Huai.
Guohu shook his head and said: "Nvxia, the so-called Hou Men is as deep as the sea and Mr. Li can't hear it inside. It's useless for you to scold us. We have been tired of being scolded for a long time. Even if you beat us to death, it will be useless!" "
Fei Lingxue was so angry that she had stars in her eyes, but she came to seek wealth, not to fight. She settled for the next best thing and said angrily: "I'm stupid, don't you have women in your hotel? Let women I'm here to search you, I'm not an assassin, why are you so afraid, Mr. Li!"
Guohu nodded and said: "Hey, that's right, Heroine. I'm going in to find a woman. A body search is a must. Who calls you a Heroine?"
Guanyi is a facility with military protection functions. Walking on the seven-and-eight-turn path inside, there are tall walls on both sides. Fei Lingxue looked up at the tall walls, and there were many sentries with guns. Li Guolou, on the other hand, His status was valuable, and a pavilion sent so many people to protect him. Fei Lingxue had a cruel smile on her face. Flying leaves and picking flowers could kill people. She couldn't help but touch the hairpin in her hair.
Behind him, Ma Dequanlang said: "Feihu, give me the hairpin on your head, you have so many little tricks!"
Fei Lingxue's face changed. She was only a little bit successful. She never expected that the honest-looking "horse cake" would be so weird and cruel.