Chapter 193 Li Hongzhang Scolds Yuan Shikai

There was an order from the emperor, but Wang Wenshao had no good solution. He just said that he would petition the emperor to let Wei Jichen temporarily assist him in handling military affairs.

Then several people chatted about the current situation. Wang Wenshao asked about some situations on the Liaodong battlefield, and Wei Jichen also answered them one by one. Unconsciously, two hours passed. Seeing Wang Wenshao's high interest, he A staff member next to him had to remind him that he was busy with government affairs.

Seeing this, Wei Jichen stood up and left. Wang Wenshao didn't know whether he really valued Wei Jichen or was just pretending. In short, he warmly sent Wei Jichen to the gate of the governor's office and asked his servants to bring some horses so that Wei Jichen and others could travel. A carriage Let Wei Jichen wear the things given by Guangxu.

"Sir, where are we going?" Wang Huaiqing couldn't help but asked after seeing Wei Jichen getting on the horse without saying a word.

"Go and see the central hall." Wei Jichen said softly.

Wei Jichen's feelings towards Li Hongzhang were quite complicated, with mixed feelings.

Li Hongzhang had just returned from Japan not long ago. The Huai army was defeated and Li Hongzhang was the one who signed the contract. In the end, he was definitely the one who was reviled by the Chinese people. However, in Wei Jichen's opinion, those in Beijing were the most deserving of reviling. , It’s a pity that history will only remember those who left their names.

In any case, as a member of the Huai clan generals, Wei Jichen had no reason not to visit him, even if Li Hongzhang was about to lose power.

After asking for the direction, Wei Jichen rode his horse. There were many stragglers in Tianjin City. Fortunately, Wang Wenshao still had some ability. Wei Jichen did not see any forced buying or selling. At most, he saw a sergeant whistling at the passing women. Something like that.

Half an hour later, Wei Jichen appeared at the door of Li Mansion.

To Wei Jichen's surprise, not only was there a lot of traffic at the door of Li's Mansion, but there were also a lot of cars coming and going. Maybe Li Hongzhang had just returned to Tianjin, and his disciples and former officials still had some ties to him, so they didn't want to end the relationship right away.

Turning over and dismounting, the servants of the Li Mansion hurried over.

"Excuse me, do you have a greeting card?" Although the servant asked politely, he could not hide the look of contempt on his face.

Come on, you are another person who judges people by their appearance. It seems that next time you will have to dress up in smart clothes.

Too lazy to talk to him, Wei Jichen directly gave his name and said: "Please inform the central hall, just say that Wei Jichen wants to see you."

"I haven't returned the invitation, wait...wait, who do you think you are?" the servant asked in shock.

"You bitch, my military sect wants to see the old man in the middle hall. Why are you still making noise here? If you don't inform me, you will be left with nothing to eat." Wang Huaiqing's eyes widened and he scolded angrily.

"I'll report it now, little man. I'll report it now." The servant hurriedly crawled inside.

Only those with the official title of admiral can be respectfully called the military gate. Even the general soldier cannot be called the military gate. Of course, in order to show respect, some people will also call the general soldier the military gate, just like the title of deputy county magistrate in later generations. Just like the county magistrate.

Not long after, the housekeeper of Li Mansion walked out quickly.

"Wei Junmen, the middle hall is meeting with some Zhili officials inside, please come inside." The housekeeper made a gesture of invitation, and then ordered the servants next to him: "Take these military masters to the side room next door to have a rest."

Seeing that the housekeeper was very organized in his work, Wei Jichen couldn't help but secretly praise him in his heart. He took out a banknote from his arms like a reflex and handed it over quietly.

Unexpectedly, the housekeeper waved his hands repeatedly and said: "How dare you accept Wei Junmen's money? I admire you very much. You must know that these days, as soon as there is news about you, the master will be in a much better mood."

It turned out that the servants of the Li Mansion had already figured out a set of rules. As long as news about Wei Jichen came from the front line, everyone would rush to report it, because it would definitely be good news. Li Hongzhang felt happy. They would give a reward of one or two dollars. If it was news about other people, the servants would remain silent one by one and would not go forward to report it, because most of it was bad news.

This irregular pattern really became a pattern later on, because Wei Jichen had never let them down, so the servants of the Li Mansion really admired Wei Jichen.

When Wei Jichen walked to the door of the hall, he saw more than a dozen officials standing in a long queue, waiting quietly with bated breath.

This was the situation when Li Hongzhang was about to lose power. If it had been before, it would have been even more extraordinary. Wei Jichen secretly smacked his lips. No wonder some people called Li Hongzhang 'sitting in Beiyang and ruling the government from afar'.

An official at the front of the row was talking to an old man with a goatee and a mandarin gown.

Wei Jichen had seen so many photos of Li Hongzhang that he was sure that the old man with the goatee was Li Hongzhang without even taking a second look.

Li Hongzhang leaned on his cane, half-closed his eyes, and listened expressionlessly.

As for the person Li Hongzhang was talking to, Wei Jichen could only see his back, and he looked very familiar.

The housekeeper led Wei Jichen forward, while the officials couldn't help but secretly guess Wei Jichen's identity.

After walking two or three steps, Wei Jichen heard their conversation.

Just listen to the official say: "Qi Zhongtang, the preliminary plan for the military training has been deployed, and the German instructors have been hired. The contract will be signed within a few days, and it can be officially launched immediately."

Training? Wei Jichen was stunned, it sounded familiar, hey, isn't this Yuan Shikai? Wei Jichen glanced at the side of his face and recognized him immediately.

It turned out that Yuan Shikai was a realist. Li Hongzhang gave him a logistics official, but he was not satisfied. He had been running around the capital, looking for other ways to sell his military training plan to Ronglu, Weng Tonghe and others. Finally, he succeeded and got the post of Zhili Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, but he did not take up the post but was dedicated to military training. He was preparing to take over the new army trained by Guangxi Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Hu Renfen in Tianjin Machang.

Zhili Provincial Surveillance Commissioner was a local official, so he was naturally at the forefront of the officials who met with him. At this time, he was reporting to Li Hongzhang on the military training.

Wei Jichen was waiting for the housekeeper to report. At this moment, Li Hongzhang suddenly interrupted Yuan Shikai's report, opened his eyes suddenly, raised his cane, banged on the ground, and said sternly: "What do you know about training soldiers and signing contracts? I have been training soldiers for decades, but I still dare not say anything sure. Is it so easy to train soldiers? If you take care of a few foreigners, carry a few foreign guns, and shout a few foreign commands, will it be a Western-style army?"

^.^,

The 36-year-old Yuan Shikai was scolded by Li Hongzhang as a child, and his face turned red. He dared not refute. Li Hongzhang suddenly got so angry that all the officials lowered their heads. They dared not look at Li Hongzhang, nor did they feel embarrassed to look at Yuan Shikai. The scene suddenly became extremely awkward.

Seeing this, the housekeeper hurried forward and said, "Zhongtang, Wei Jichen, the general of Wei, is here."

The three words Wei Jichen were like magic, and all the officials who were bowing their heads suddenly raised their heads and looked at the young man in front of them. If it weren't for the unusual silence at this time, they would definitely whisper to each other.

However, although they couldn't talk, these officials still communicated with their eyes.

Li Hongzhang took the opportunity to step down. First, he was in a bad mood just now, and second, he was always resentful of Yuan Shikai running around for his political enemy Weng Tonghe, so he got angry.

Li Hongzhang coughed lightly, stood up, and said in a gloomy and affectionate tone: "Zijie, Zijie is here."

Wei Jichen stepped forward to salute and said with a smile: "When I came, I saw the old Zhongtang was so angry and his voice was like a bell, scolding Brother Weiting so much that he dared not say anything."

"You are so good, Wei Zijie, you said that I am an unreasonable person as soon as you came." Li Hongzhang looked up and down at Wei Jichen with a smile. He still had a good impression of this young man who dared to argue with him in the telegram.

Although Wei Jichen was a little blamed for the Beiyang Fleet, as the Japanese advanced rapidly and occupied Weihaiwei and the surrounding islands with almost no effort, Li Hongzhang also thought clearly that there was only one way to die if he insisted.

Wei Jichen blinked innocently and asked in confusion: "Did the boy say that you are unreasonable?"

Yuan Shikai looked at Wei Jichen, who was chatting and laughing with Li Hongzhang, with some jealousy, and secretly admired him in his heart. Damn, this boy is really good at fighting. He has established his reputation with a series of victories. No wonder he speaks calmly. He really has the style of a great general.

Li Hongzhang saw Wei Jichen's dusty appearance and asked curiously: "Zijie, didn't you just return to Tianjin?"

"It's true that I returned to Tianjin not long ago. I originally wanted to visit you immediately. Who would have thought that Lord Wang had someone tie me up at the train station and take me to the Governor's Mansion. Look, I came to visit you just after leaving the Governor's Mansion." Wei Jichen told the truth. He didn't think Li Hongzhang couldn't find out where he had been.

Li Hongzhang smiled with some relief, and then said sadly: "I didn't expect Zijie to come to see me, a traitor."

Wei Jichen was about to say something comforting, but Li Hongzhang waved his hand, turned around, and said to the officials with a smile: "Come, I will introduce you to a young talent from my Huai Army."

Everyone had just heard the conversation between the two, and now they all came forward to greet them. For a moment, it was very lively.