Chapter 159 Undercurrent

Wei Jichen was happily thinking about buying a few cannons, but he didn't know that an undercurrent began to surge towards him.

In Ximu City, Osako Shangmin, the commander of the 5th Brigade of the 3rd Division, put down the telegram in his hand, and his heavy mood for many days finally eased a lot.

After the news that Wei Jichen annihilated most of the 3rd Division came, Ximu City was the most shaken. The Japanese troops in the city were in a panic, fearing that Wei Jichen would lead his troops to attack.

In those days, Osako Shangmin was living a miserable life, and kept asking the commander of the 1st Army, Nozu Michikuni, for tactical guidance. Nozu Michikuni was also considering whether to withdraw troops from Ximu City.

Fortunately, it was not long before he received news that Wei Jichen turned his horse around and the army went south to attack Gaiping. Osako Shangmin, who was relieved, was preparing to reorganize his flags, but he received news again: Li Guangjiu's old Hunan Army 5th Battalion and Wei Guangtao's Wuwei Army 6th Battalion were pressing towards Ximu City, ready to pick up a bargain.

Although there were only about 2,000 people on his side and 5,000 or 6,000 on the enemy side, Osako Naotoshi was not afraid. As long as Wei Jichen did not lead his troops to attack, he would have the confidence to defend the city.

The secret telegram from the headquarters arrived in time, asking him to defend Ximu City to the death. After killing as many attacking Hunan troops as possible, he would contact Li Yunfei in Haicheng and express his willingness to withdraw from Ximu City and hand over Ximu City to him.

Kawakami Soroku began to alienate the relationship between the Weizi Army and the Hunan Army.

Others fought hard but could not capture the city, but Li Yunfei only needed to send someone to receive it. No matter who it was, he would feel resentful.

At the same time, the commander of the 1st Division in Jinzhou, Yamaji Motoharu, also received a secret telegram from the headquarters, asking him to spread the news: he was willing to cease fire with Wei Jichen's Weizi Army, and could hand over several small cities around him through negotiations.

Kawakami Soroku's last move, the most vicious one, was to use spies in China to bribe some newspapers in China and start to advocate for Wei Jichen.

At this time, most of the newspapers in China were still run by foreigners. They heard that someone was funding their newspapers, and they just wanted to publish a few articles praising Wei Jichen. What's the difficulty?

And some Chinese newspapers who didn't know the reason saw the articles praising Wei Jichen, and they didn't think much about it and were ready to publish them.

If Wei Jichen knew about this, he would definitely shout: "This is fucking flattery."

Of course, there are also smart people among them.

For example, Lin Zhixing, the head of the Beijing branch of "Wan Guo Gong Bao", has now become a die-hard fan of Wei Jichen. Since he learned that Wei Jichen not only did not die, but instead tricked the Japanese and reversed the situation in Liaodong with one battle.

He was like finding a lighthouse in the dark sea. If he was a woman, he would probably throw himself into Wei Jichen's arms immediately.

Lin Zhixing has collected all the big and small deeds of Wei Jichen, and even prepared to send people to Tianjin to visit Wei Jichen's hometown Jinghai, interview Wei Jichen's relatives, and then write an article about Wei Jichen's experience before he became famous.

That day, Lin Zhixing picked up the newspaper that Qian Jiazhi had just sent from the headquarters. The entire main page was about Wei Jichen. Lin Zhixing couldn't help but read it carefully.

This article first counted the results of Wei Jichen's battles. This was nothing. Lin Zhixing read it with relish. Unexpectedly, someone actually counted how many Japanese Wei Jichen annihilated in each battle, and even counted the Japanese junior officers among them.

Lin Zhixing continued to read while admiring.

At this moment, his face changed a little. This was a bit too much praise. Lin Zhixing saw this sentence: Wei Jichen is the most outstanding general of the Han nationality since the founding of the Qing Dynasty. Wei Jichen used his troops like a god, and he often defeated the enemy with a small number of troops. Moreover, the soldiers all admired and worshipped him and were willing to die for him.

The following also describes how the soldiers of the Weizi Army were brave and willing to die for him: In the battle of Yushubao, Wei Jichen's more than 2,000 Weizi Army were surrounded by more than 6,000 Japanese. Even the Japanese general Yamagata Aritomo believed that Wei Jichen was doomed, but the Weizi Army broke out with the greatest bloodiness since the war began.

At that time, Cheng Buzhi, an officer of the rear camp, fought bravely and shouted loudly before his death: General Wei treated us like brothers. Now General Wei is in danger. How can we not repay this favor and use our own lives to obtain General Wei's life. For a time, the morale of the soldiers in the rear camp was greatly boosted. Everyone was willing to sacrifice their lives to repay General Wei for his kindness, promotion, and care. In the end, they repelled dozens of Japanese pursuits and made great contributions to the army's breakout.

In the same battle, a sentry officer Zhao Hu also shouted "A soldier will die for his friend" and led more than a hundred soldiers to rush to the Japanese position, and finally broke through the Japanese defense line, allowing the Wei army to retreat calmly.

Alas, there are many heroes in China. Wei Jichen is resourceful, brave and good at fighting. He loves his soldiers like his sons, so of course he can win battles one after another.

Who in the court today can compare with General Wei?

I have heard that children in Liaodong know that General Wei has three tigers under his command, one is the white-faced tiger Li Yunfei, the second is the black-faced tiger Zhang Meng, and the third is the red-faced tiger Zhao Hu.

General Wei has many good and brave generals under his command. Why should we worry that China cannot resist the attack of the Japanese, why should we worry that China cannot defeat Japan, and why should we worry that China cannot catch up with the great powers and rise again?

Lin Zhixing suddenly thought of this word: "Too much merit to shock the master."

"Jiazhi, when is this newspaper?" Lin Zhixing stopped Qian Jiazhi who was walking out and asked anxiously.

Qian Jiazhi turned around and replied with a smile: "Editor Lin, this is the newspaper issued by the headquarters this morning. It is estimated that it has started to be sold all over the streets now. What's the matter? Is there any problem?"

Hearing this, Lin Zhixing sat down on the chair dejectedly, muttering to himself: "What should I do? General Wei did not die at the hands of the Japanese. Will he be destroyed at the hands of his own people?"

Lin Zhixing did not know that the newspapers published in the "Wan Guo Gong Bao" were really insignificant compared to those published in other newspapers.

^.^,

The "Shen Bao" was jointly founded by the British businessman Mei Cha and his friends in Shanghai in 1872. It is also a very influential newspaper in China.

On that day, Shenbao published an article written by British military strategist Wallace. At the beginning of the article, Wei Jichen was praised as the most outstanding general in the Far East. He deceived everyone in the world with a trick to deceive the world and laid the foundation for the two victories. Wallace also highly praised Wei Jichen's theory of protracted war, believing that Wei Jichen was not only an outstanding general, but also a rare strategic master and a powerful politician. Otherwise, he would never have analyzed the war between China and Japan so thoroughly from the economic, political and military strength between China and Japan.

Wallace said that he was deeply impressed by the talent of this famous general in the Far East and was willing to act as an intermediary to ask the British government for mediation, hoping to end the Sino-Japanese war as soon as possible and save the people of the Far East from the war.

Subsequently, newspapers run by Americans and Germans in China published articles written by celebrities in their own countries specifically for Wei Jichen, all of which were based on facts, and then they strongly advocated Wei Jichen and claimed how much they admired him.

These newspapers simultaneously exerted their strength and immediately praised Wei Jichen to a high position, calling him a famous general in the Far East, the first general in the Far East, the most powerful strategist in the history of the Far East, and the Chinese most favored by the West.

It seemed that Wei Jichen became a world celebrity overnight, but who would investigate whether Wallace, Dreiser, etc. were British or German.

A newspaper run by a foreigner, an article signed by a foreigner, could this be false?

The Chinese had been oppressed by foreigners for a long time, and they hated and feared foreigners, with a little bit of admiration for foreigners. Now, when they heard that even these foreigners were smitten by Wei Jichen's talent, the whole of China was boiling.

After reading the newspaper, countless ignorant people gave a thumbs up and said that General Wei was amazing. Wei Jichen's reputation spread all over China, causing countless people to admire him.

The news that Wei Jichen led his troops to take back Gaiping added fuel to the fire. Some civilians who had relatives in Liaodong actually set off firecrackers at their doorsteps to celebrate Wei Jichen's recovery of lost territory. Influenced by foreign newspapers, scholars from all over the country also regarded Wei Jichen as the savior of Liaodong, believing that only Wei Jichen had the ability to turn the tide in Liaodong. Therefore, they wrote to the governors of various provinces and even the central departments of the court, asking for Wei Jichen's promotion to command the various armies to fight in Liaodong.

The scholars' wishes were beautiful, but their requests were very naive. They didn't know that they had caused a lot of trouble for Wei Jichen.

In the capital, at the Prince Rui's mansion, Zai Yi half-closed his eyes and lay on a recliner with a comfortable look on his face. Surrounded by several beautiful maids who massaged his back and legs, and occasionally put a snack into his mouth.

Zai Yi lived a fairy-like life, but he didn't have much power in his hands, which made him feel that his life was not fulfilling.

"Beauty, smile for me." Zai Yi lazily opened his eyes, stretched out his hand, gently touched the towering breasts of the maid who was delivering the snack to his mouth, and said with a lewd smile.

"My Lord, I won't come anymore. You are teasing me again." The maid rubbed Prince Rui with her breasts and said coquettishly. The expression on her face was not unwilling, but a shy look of wanting to refuse but not wanting to.

Zai Yi's index finger moved, and his hands slowly reached into the maid's clothes, and smiled: "It seems that you, a slut, were not punished enough by me last night."

The other maids were all envious, and their bodies quietly surrounded her.

"I am afraid that you will not punish me." The maid who was touched looked at Zai Yi with a pair of peach blossom eyes, and said with a coquettish hum.

Zai Yi was about to have a lustful heart, and was about to pick up the gun and go up, but a servant outside the door shouted that someone wanted to see him.

Zai Yi's good time was interrupted, and he was angry but couldn't vent it. He scolded in a bad tone: "You dog slave, don't you see that this prince is busy?"

The servant outside the door hurriedly reported flatteringly: "Prince, the person who wants to see you brought a little gift, so I dare to disturb your interest."

Although the servant's words were very obscure, Zai Yi could not fail to hear that the person must have brought a lot of silver to ask for an audience, otherwise the servant would not dare to offend him.

Thinking of this, Zai Yi's mood improved a lot. He tidied his clothes a little, coughed twice and said: "Let him in."

"Yes, Prince." The servant hurried down.

Zai Yi sat upright with a serious face, and several beautiful maids stood behind him pretending to be serious. This Zai Yi would also be a good official in the future, because he was a set of both inside and outside, and he was so good at pretending.

After a while, a bannerman in a long gown and a mandarin jacket walked in with his head bowed and bent, led by the servant.

"Your Majesty, my slave Yin Jiu, you have to make the decision for our bannermen." As soon as Yin Jiu saw Zai Yi, he knocked his head on the ground and shouted loudly with tears in his eyes. His sad look really made him feel sad. Weeping.

The servant took the opportunity to walk to Zai Yi, took out some silver coins from his arms, and handed them to him quietly.

Zaiyi took a sneak peek and saw that there were tens of thousands of taels.

At this time, he transformed into the appearance of a black baker and asked seriously: "You are actually our bannerman. What grievances do you have for asking to see my king?"

"Your Majesty, this servant is the distant cousin of General Feng Sheng Afeng. My son serves under General Feng. With General Feng's expeditions in the north and south, he has made a lot of contributions. Who would have thought that bad news came not long ago that my servant My son did not die in the hands of the enemy, but he was killed by Wei Jichen for any reason. The poor boy was only in his twenties and had not yet married and had children. I am afraid that I will be extinct as a slave. "That bannerman Yin Shi. Jiu wiped away her tears while narrating in great sorrow.

It turned out that it was about Wei Jichen. Zaiyi pondered secretly in his heart, and asked curiously: "Since you are Feng Sheng'a's cousin, didn't Feng Sheng'a make the decision for you?"

Zaiyi never cared about frontline affairs, so he was not very clear about Feng Sheng'a's death as a sperm donor for the country.

Yin Shijiu was even more sad after hearing this, and said with tears streaming down his face: "I originally thought so too, but I didn't expect that General Feng would die inexplicably afterwards. I no longer have anyone to make the decision. I heard that you, Your Majesty, He has always been a generous man and always liked to fight against injustices. He was the savior of the helpless bannermen like the servants. The servant had the courage to come to ask for help from the prince. Prince, please be sure to make the decision for the servant. Wei Jichen has no laws and is ruthless. "At that time, I was just a small general who dared not take our banner men seriously. It will be fine when I have more wings."

Zaiyi accepted the money and heard what the banner man said so pitifully. He aroused some anger in his heart. Yes, Wei Jichen is just a slave of our Manchu people. How dare he act so boldly and indiscriminately? Killing our bannermen at random is really despicable.

"Don't worry, I will go into the palace to report this matter to the Queen Mother. You must let the Queen Mother make the decision for you. Just go back and wait for the news." Zai Yi said with a gloomy face.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, Your Majesty." Yin Jiu kowtowed several times before slowly retreating.

After walking out of Prince Rui's Mansion, Yin Jiu touched a stack of banknotes in his arms and couldn't help but smile. There was still the miserable look just now. His identity was real, and the person who died in Wei Jichen's hands was really him. Son, it's a pity that he has many sons, there will still be care for them all.

Just the day before yesterday, a man who was said to be his son's best friend came to him and told him in tears how Wei Jichen brutally killed his son, and then left a large sum of money behind. He said that as a close friend, he wanted to help his son. Take revenge and let yourself move.

It was true that money had fallen from the sky, and it was not for nothing. In addition, the man also talked about how tragic his son's death was and how unjust he was. Yin Jiu even cried with his son's friends and vowed to avenge this for his son. A bloody feud is coming.

Therefore, Yin Jiu immediately thought of several money-greedy princes in the capital, and Prince Rui Zaiyi, Cixi's niece and son-in-law, was his first choice.

After seeing Yin Shijiu go out, Zaiyi dressed up and prepared to go to the palace immediately to ask for Cixi. She would use people's money to do things for others, so that the wealth would come rolling in in the future.

At this time, Cixi in the Summer Palace didn't need Zai Yi to accuse him. She was already unhappy with Wei Jichen.

I saw that she was sitting on a golden chair with carved dragons. The table in front of her was filled with information about recent events in the capital. As the most powerful person in the Qing Dynasty, no trouble could be hidden from her in the capital.

Li Lianying stayed aside with her head lowered, not daring to make a sound. Cixi had lost her temper just now, which could be seen from the broken vases in the room.

"What a first person in the Far East." Cixi said calmly and powerfully.

"Lafayette, everyone is praising him. Wei Jichen can compare with you." After seeing Cixi lose her temper, Li Lianying calmed down a little and expressed relief on her face.

"Why can't you compare with me? Look, even the British, Americans, and Germans are saying good things about him. Who else in China is as famous as Wei Jichen?" Cixi felt really bad, she She was humiliated by foreigners again and again, but Wei Jichen was admired by foreigners. Doesn't this indirectly mean that she, Cixi, is not as good as Wei Jichen?

"Lafayette, Wei Jichen's small contribution, without your support, could he succeed?" It was better that Li Lianying did not say this, but Cixi's anger immediately increased when he mentioned it.

She said coldly: "The support of the Ai family? All these achievements are hidden from the Ai family. What support does the Ai family have? This is all done by him. Look, the sergeants under Wei Jichen only know that there is Wei Jichen didn’t know there was a court, and they didn’t even think about whose salary they were getting. Could it be Wei Jichen’s?”

"Lafayette, what do you think?" Li Lianying asked cautiously.

Cixi snorted coldly and said unhurriedly: "Raising a tiger will eventually lead to trouble. The Ai family must let him disappear quietly before he becomes a man."

Li Lianying rolled his eyes and said with some worry: "Wei Jichen has made some contributions. If we touch him now, I'm afraid."

"Don't worry, I won't be so stupid as to touch him now. Moreover, he is needed in Liaodong to deal with the Japanese. However, I can't let him continue to grow. I will leave him alone for a while. When the storm is over, I will kill him. It's not as easy as killing a small ant." A cold light flashed in Cixi's eyes.

"The old Buddha has a good idea!" Li Lianying had to admire Cixi's political strategy.