Super Prestige System

Chapter 47 The Emperor's Messenger Tan Sitong
Not long after Tsarist Russia left, Emperor Guangxu's confidant, Tan Sitong, came to Zhou Ding's battleship, and said to the man guarding the passage: "Please report to the owner of the ship, Tan Sitong is here to pay a visit!"

Zhou Ding was thinking about the "chicken rib" problem, and he was both surprised and happy to hear the reward from his subordinates!
Tan Sitong, one of the "Six Gentlemen of the Eighth Movement", was born in Beiping.At birth, his father was the governor of Hubei,

When he was six years old, Tan Sitong faked his death for three days, and later miraculously resurrected, hence the name; Resurrection.

Zhou Ding hurriedly ran out of the boat and said enthusiastically: "I have heard about the name of Resurrection for a long time, and it is like thunder in my ears. When I see it today, it can be said that I am lucky in my lifetime!"

Everyone knows that "like thunder hitting the ears, three lives are blessed" is a commonly used polite saying. However, when this polite saying came from Zhou Ding's mouth, it seemed very sincere!
Zhou Ding thought: Can you not be sincere?The three words Tan Sitong really sound like thunder to me, and I really want to see him too!
Tan Sitong did not expect that this "former Song adherent" would have heard his name, and he was very happy. He clasped his fists and saluted and said, "Mr. Zhou's name is just like a thunderbolt. Those who are lucky in life should be I!"

After the two exchanged pleasantries, Zhou Ding dragged Tan Sitong to the boat, and presented delicious food and wine in real life to entertain him warmly.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, the two have become brothers. The prestige of Tan Sitong and Zhou Ding has reached a friendship from neutrality.

"I wonder what Brother Zhongde thinks of the current situation?" Tan Sitong asked tentatively.

Zhou Ding knew that the "reform reform" was imminent, and although he had no intention of helping Guangxu, he was willing to make friends with Tan Sitong.

Smiling slightly, Zhou Ding replied: "The current system of the Qing Dynasty has long been unable to keep up with the pace of world progress. If it continues without changes, it will sooner or later become a colony of the world's powers. By then, it will be too late to regret!"

As soon as this remark came out, Tan Sitong was very satisfied: "My dear brother, I wonder if you are willing to contribute to the prosperity of the country?"

Zhou Ding smiled casually: "Brother Fusheng, if you ask me for help, Zhou Ding will do his best to help!"

Tan Sitong was very satisfied with Zhou Ding's attitude and asked: "I heard that my wise brother won the city of Lushun in Tsarist Russia. I wonder if this is true or false?"

"That's true!"

"Brother Yu, Brother Yu has a merciless request."

"Brother Resurrection, it's all right!"

Tan Sitong found it hard to express Zhou Ding's attitude. However, in order for the reform to go smoothly, he could only make up his mind and said: "My dear brother, can it be done, can it be done... can it be done..."

Zhou Ding struggled to hear what he said, and said for him: "Return Lushun to the imperial court?"

Tan Sitong nodded with a blushing face, and said with guilt in his heart; Tan Sitong, Tan Sitong, people respect you as a brother, but you actually conspired to steal other people's things, what face do you have sitting here...

"It's not impossible!" Zhou Ding continued.

Tan Sitong looked at Zhou Ding with surprise on his face, but he didn't expect him to really agree.

Before Tan Sitong came, Zhou Ding was struggling with the problem of Lushun:
Zhou Ding was very happy when he just won this territory!

After planning for a long time, Zhou Ding suddenly discovered that Lushun is very important to Tsarist Russia, and it is not of great benefit to himself. It can be said that it is a pity to discard it if it is tasteless.

Don't say that Tsarist Russia will not let go so easily, even if Zhou Ding snatches it, he will be retaliated by Tsarist Russia constantly, which is very annoying.

What's more terrible is that not long after, the Allied Forces of the Eight Nations attacked the Qing Dynasty together, and Lushun was the main sea route.

At that time, many countries that have friendship with Zhou Ding will definitely borrow from Lushun. Even if they don't lend them to them, they can still bypass you.

When the time comes, do you care or not?

in spite of?

The people in the country are likely to regard Zhou Ding as a real coalition force, which is not good for Zhou Ding's reputation!

Tube?
Don't forget, Empress Dowager Cixi's proposition: 'Ning and friends, not slaves'.

If she knew that 'the Zhou family is at war with all the countries of the world', not only would she not buy Zhou Ding's, but she might make trouble and stab her in the back.

Typical thankless.

But, you can't just let go!

If he hadn't won the territory at the beginning, it would have been fine. If he had won it and returned it to Tsarist Russia, Zhou Ding, a great hero, would have immediately become a traitorous traitor to the country.

The difference is that if this piece of hot potato is returned to Da Qing, not only will the reputation be harmless, but the people of the country will definitely increase Zhou Ding's reputation after they know about it.

Of course, the court cannot be cheap for nothing, Zhou Ding said slowly: "There is a small condition!"

Tan Sitong said: "My dear brother, please speak!"

"To tell you the truth! A few years ago, when my Zhou family heard that the imperial court had ceded Taiwan to RB, they were all furious!

This small island country not only dares to claim to be emperor, but also dares to offend China. This is simply intolerable!

Therefore, as one of the candidates for Patriarch, I got a task..."

Having said this, Zhou Ding quietly glanced at Tan Sitong.

The reason why Tan Sitong risked his life to advocate reform lies in the RB people.

In the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of [-]-[-], China failed, and the entire Beiyang Navy was wiped out.Under the military pressure of RB, the Qing Dynasty humiliated and sued for peace, and signed the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" that humiliated the country, ceded Taiwan, and compensated [-] trillion taels of military silver.

Tan Sitong was deeply worried about this, and later wrote a book called "Renxue", which was called "a book written by Taiwanese".

Zhou Ding's attitude of hating RB aroused Tan Sitong's hatred of the enemy.

Tan Sitong asked, "Brother Fool feels the same way as the wise brother said. I wonder what the wise brother's mission is...?"

Zhou Ding stood up, pointing his finger to the south through the window of the boat, and said: "To conquer Taiwan, instead of letting the people of Taiwan live under the slavery of the RB people, it is better to let my Zhou family be the master of Taiwan Island!"

Tan Sitong said hurriedly: "Brother, your condition is to ask the imperial court to help you conquer Taiwan? This is impossible! If the imperial court can defeat RB, it will be your turn..."

Zhou Ding interrupted Tan Sitong with a wave of his hand, and said, "Of course not, although my Zhou family has advanced technology, the population is not large.

The reason why they tried so hard to capture Lushun from the Tsarist Russians was because they wanted to use it as a base to recruit soldiers and wait for opportunities to deal with RB.

The imperial court can take Lushun away, but my condition is: Appoint me as the prefect of a locality, preferably Qiongzhou (Hainan Island), for a period of three years. I will borrow Qiongzhou to train soldiers and horses, and after three years, I will send troops to Taiwan! "

After listening to Zhou Ding, Tan Sitong fell into deep thought.

Zhou Ding's conditions are undoubtedly beneficial to the imperial court!
The reform is imminent. If the reform begins, it will be announced to the world in a high-profile manner; "The imperial court has taken back Lushun and abolished the "Luda ​​Land Lease Agreement", which can be regarded as a shot in the arm for the whole of China."

Zhou Ding was not from the Qing Dynasty, so it was impossible for him to give Lushun to the court for free.

If it is an equal exchange, even if Qiongzhou is exchanged for Lushun, the imperial court will not suffer. What's more, Zhou Ding only asks for a prefect of Qiongzhou, and there is only a three-year period.

In this way, not only the dignity of the imperial court is preserved, but also the effect of icing on the cake!

After thinking about it again and again, Tan Sitong nodded and said: "Brother Yu already knows Brother Yu's intentions, but now Brother Yu is only an alternate magistrate and cannot make such a big decision. This matter needs to be reported to the emperor!"

"That's natural! After Brother Fusheng returns to the court, you can report the matter. Whether it succeeds or not depends on God's will!" Zhou Ding meant that it doesn't matter whether it succeeds or not, just leave it to luck!
In Tan Sitong's understanding, the phrase "it depends on God's will" means that it depends on the emperor's intention.He thought to himself: Zhou Ding still respects the emperor quite a lot, this person should be a friend to him!
The two had a drink together, and Tan Sitong asked: "My dear brother, let the ugly words be said first, my dear brother must let Tsarist Russia withdraw from Lushun, otherwise..."

"Brother Fusheng, don't worry, you stay in Lushun for three days, and take a look at my Zhou family's methods by the way!"

--------

Three days later, Tan Sitong was in awe of the 'Zhou family' behind Zhou Ding!Because Tsarist Russia softened, expressed its willingness to give up Lushun, and all retreated to Dalian.

What happened during this period?

Tan Sitong didn’t know!

All he knew was that there were a few warships of the Zhou family in Lushun Port. As for what the Zhou family had done to Tsarist Russia, Zhou Ding did not say, nor did he ask.

Because Tan Sitong knew that it didn't matter what happened, what mattered was that the Zhou family had the strength to be an enemy of Tsarist Russia.

For Tan Sitong, knowing this is enough. Such forces must be won over. Even if they cannot become friends, they must not become enemies.

Not only Tan Sitong didn't know what happened, but everyone else didn't know.

Zhou Ding repeated his old tricks, quietly sneaked into the Tsarist Russian military port, and used the system to take away four warships at the Tsarist Russian military port.

In the real world, the RB military port with dense network surveillance, Zhou Ding can come and go freely, let alone Tsarist Russia 100 years ago.

The Tsarist Russian military was dumbfounded at the time: upon waking up, their own warship disappeared without a trace, and there was no movement at all during the period. This method is too terrifying, how to fight?How to fight?
Start a war with Zhou Ding?
Zhou Ding lives on the boat and can evacuate to the sea at any time. We don’t even have a battleship, how can we fight?
Ask for help from home?
Even if a few more warships come, who can guarantee that they won't be lost silently like these few ships!
Give up naval warfare and retreat to land?
Zhou Ding comes to bombard you every now and then. What can you do?
Tsarist Russia thought about it and had no choice but to send envoys to bow their heads and give in.

Along with the envoy, there was also Zhou Ding's agent in Tsarist Russia, who sold more than 1 of Zhou Ding's Water Lianzhu to Zhou Ding.

Zhou Ding also didn't want to have a complete enmity with Tsarist Russia, because: Soon, Tsarist Russia will fight against RB.In order not to be too big a storm as a little butterfly.

As a result, Zhou Dingshunpo gave up and said to Tsarist Russia: For the sake of the Zhou family's agents, as long as you fulfill the bet and withdraw from Lushun, I can return the four warships to you intact.

As soon as this remark came out, everyone was happy.

Tsarist Russia withdrew from Lushun, Tan Sitong returned to Beijing to report, Zhou Ding had nothing to do, gathered all the members of the Anti-Japanese Mutual Aid Association, and started military training.

Facts have proved that the things that Zhou Ding University has been exposed to in military training are not enough at all.

After being fresh for two days, Zhou Ding lost interest in training soldiers and asked Andus to send his men to Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin and other docks to look for those officers who had failed in the West and came to China to seek gold.

Before the officer found it, Zhou Ding, in addition to conducting queue training for his subordinates, also streamlined ten spear techniques suitable for bayonet fighting from the pear blossom spear, and gave them to his subordinates for practice!

Beiping, in the imperial city!
Guangxu listened to Tan Sitong's echo, bowed his head and muttered:
Unexpectedly, Zhou Ding's family is so powerful!

I used to want to figure out how Zhou's watch came from, and how the gun got there. It was ridiculous to think about it.

Four tens of meters long warships disappeared without a sound just under the eyes of Tsarist Russia, not to mention some scattered cargo?
Zhou Ding's exchanging Lushun for a prefect of Qiongzhou is equivalent to exchanging reality for fiction, and there is a lot of sincerity in it!
The Zhou family has plans for Qiongzhou?

Should not!
In that case, Zhou Ding could send warships to occupy Qiongzhou like other countries, but what could the Qing Dynasty do?
The Qing Dynasty had enemies all over the world and needed an ally!

……

On June [-], [-] AD, Emperor Guangxu promulgated the "Ming Dingguo Shizhao", expressing his determination to change the system, officially announced to the world, and started the reform.Advocate the people of the whole country to learn from the West, promote science and culture, reform the political and educational systems, and develop agriculture, industry, and commerce.

On the next day, news was published in newspapers across the Qing Dynasty that Zhou Ding, a Chinese rich man, supported the reform and was willing to return Port Arthur to the imperial court and become a Chinese citizen as a congratulation!
As soon as the news came out, the whole country was in an uproar!

"Zhou Ding is truly a noble and upright person, and he is truly a role model for our generation!"

"Huh, in my opinion, Zhou Ding is a fool. If he doesn't do good things as a free citizen, he will come back and be controlled by the Qing Dynasty."

"No, no, the Zhou family is so powerful that even Tsarist Russia has to bow its head. Even if Zhou Ding joins the Qing Dynasty, he will not be controlled by the imperial court like us!"

"Speak carefully!"

"In my opinion, it was the Boxers who caused the trouble. I heard that Mr. Zhou was once besieged by the Boxers, and no one was killed in the process!"

"Aren't the Boxers invulnerable? How could they die?"

"Bah! If you believe this, are you stupid?"

The world is so big that there are many things to say.Zhou Ding didn't know, and didn't care.What he cares about is: how much his reputation has increased.

On the third day, the newspaper published the court's reply:

The imperial court welcomes overseas Chinese to return to China to serve the imperial court and support the construction of the Qing Dynasty. In recognition of Zhou Ding's contribution, he confers a third-rank Dingdai Hualing, and appoints Zhou Ding as the prefect of Qiongzhou.

"I was directly rewarded with a third-grade crown and became the magistrate with real power. Zhou Ding is really lucky!"

"Hmph! If you can take back the territory occupied by the foreign devils, the imperial court will probably reward you with a high-ranking official to do it!"

"The key is that the power behind the family is strong enough. If my family can subdue Tsarist Russia, the imperial court will look up to me!"

"Haha, this is ridiculous! If your family has such a big influence, there are only two ways to go!"

"Which two ways?"

"Either rebel, or the family will be ransacked and exterminated by the court!"

"Brother upstairs is right, how can you allow other people to snore and sleep beside the couch!"

In mid-June, Zhou Ding received the imperial edict and the confession document, handed over Lushun to the court officials, and drove three cruisers to Qiongzhou.

Zhou Ding took away all the 500 members of the Anti-Japanese Mutual Aid Association. Not only them, Zhou Ding also took away the families of these [-] people.

Among these 500 people, except for dozens of older ones, the rest were incorporated into Hou Yi's army by Zhou Ding.

Hou Yi Army was the name given to this team by Zhou Ding. The original Anti-Japanese Mutual Aid Association was too crude and did not resemble the name of an army.

At the beginning, everyone complained about the cancellation of the name "Anti-Japanese Mutual Aid Association". Zhou Ding asked, "Why are you reluctant to use the name Anti-Japanese Mutual Aid Association?"

Fang Youde and some other key members replied: "Over [-]% of these people in the organization have enmity with RB..."

Zhou Ding smiled slightly: "A few days ago, I told everyone about my three-year plan. The first step is to train you well. The second step is to expand the army. The third step is to attack Taiwan and attack RB!"

Everyone lowered their heads. Mr. Zhou always thought about them. It was really outrageous that they were so entangled over the same name. Could this be arrogance based on favor?

Zhou Ding went on to say: "Everyone has enmity with the RB people, how could I not know? Think about it, everyone, why I named it Houyi Army!"

Fang Youde replied: "Houyi is good at archery, and the army's weapons are mainly muskets. What the gentleman means is: we must have good archery skills."

Zhou Ding nodded and said: "What you said is only one point, there is a second point, which is more important, who of you knows?"

Everyone frowned and thought deeply. After thinking for a long time, they couldn't figure out the reason. They all turned their questioning eyes to Zhou Ding.

Zhou Ding laughed: "This is the second thing, everyone think about it; what did Hou Yi shoot?"

Everyone suddenly realized: Hou Yi shot the 'Japanese' ah, the Anti-Japanese Mutual Aid Association is just an anti-'Japanese', but: how 'anti-Japanese' can compare to 'shooting the sun'.

Everyone happily accepted the new name 'Hou Yi Jun'. At this moment, whoever wants to prevent everyone from using the name 'Hou Yi Jun', everyone must fight him hard!
The fleet went all the way south, and the descendants of the army were all working hard to learn how to drive warships. In the future, the battles would mainly be naval battles. Zhou Ding wanted to train this direct lineage into a navy. force.

As for the previously hired crew members, after arriving in Qiongzhou, those with high prestige will stay and those with low prestige will be dismissed.

(End of this chapter)