In fact, 1868 itself was a new era - this year, the overseas students sent a few years ago returned to Nanhua one after another. During their seven-year study abroad career, many of them not only graduated from university, but also
Completed an internship in a company.
It's finally time to go home!
Among these international students, Zhao Tianfeng is undoubtedly an alternative. At the end of his internship, after seven years of painstaking preparation, he finally boarded a ship in New York bound for Britain, and then boarded a ship from Britain to Singapore.
of mail ship.
Finally coming back!
It was a bumpy journey, and after "going through a lot of hardships", Zhao Tianfeng finally got on the steamer from Hong Kong to Haizhou.
"Xuzhou, I'm coming!"
As soon as he thought about setting foot on the land of the Qing Dynasty, Zhao Tianfeng felt a little excited.
Seven years after leaving the Qing Dynasty, he is finally returning to the Qing Dynasty!
Since it is the fastest steamship, it takes seven or eight days to go from Hong Kong to Lianyun. From the day he boarded the ship, Zhao Tianfeng stood on the deck from time to time, looking into the distance. He was so eager to return home that he wished he could do it now.
Arrive in Lianyun.
Where is Lianyun?
It is the first port in northern Jiangsu.
The opening of Lianyun was a complete accident - because Xuzhou was where the Beiyang ministers were stationed.
Three years ago, in order to prevent the Taiping Army from moving north, Governor Li, who defeated the Taiping Army in Shanghai, was entrusted with an important task. He was promoted from the governor of Jiangsu to the governor of Zhili, and the prime minister of Zhili, Shandong, and Henan military and political affairs. In order to suppress the bandits
, he changed his headquarters to Xuzhou.
Two years ago, after the opening of Haizhou as a port, Governor Li in Xuzhou also served as the Minister of Commerce of Beiyang. His official position was far more prominent than that of his mentor who was the Governor of Huguang.
Of course, Governor Li was also under great pressure - the Taiping Army had tried to move north many times, so they had to guard against it.
That’s why I settled in Xuzhou.
In order to facilitate dealings with foreigners, Governor Li wrote to the court to request Lianyun to open a port. After the opening of the port, Lianyun became very prosperous, and foreign banks from various countries were numerous in the city.
However, Zhao Tianfeng doesn’t care about these things. What does he care about?
Of course, how to serve the imperial court.
Speaking of which, he was also full of passion, and he even changed his name to "Ziqing", which was Su Wu's name, in order to imitate Su Wu's spirit of "staying with the Xiongnu for nineteen years and remaining unyielding."
Of course, Su Wu would rather die than be loyal to a foreign race, but he wanted to serve the Qing Dynasty.
He did not follow the rules and did not go to a foreign land to herd sheep. Instead, he studied in France for seven years. No, after returning from his studies, the first thing he thought about was to dedicate what he had learned to the court, so he
Then came Haizhou.
After all, as we all know, the current Beiyang Minister Li Zhongtang is definitely a popular figure in the dynasty. Not to mention that his 100,000 Huai army is the "pillar of the country", just look at him doing Western affairs in Lianyun, Xuzhou and other places, that's just one thing
Zhao Tianfeng believes that when he comes to Li Zhongtang's side, he will definitely have a place for him!
After all, in the Qing Dynasty... there were several people like him who had gone to university and were proficient in foreign science.
Thinking of this, Zhao Tianfeng is so proud!
Back to Nanhua?
Make oxen and horses for Zhu? He is beautiful. I wonder if we are thinking of the imperial court!
The braids on our heads have been cut off, but the braids in our hearts have always been hidden in our hearts!
"When I meet Lord Zhongtang, I have to renew this braid first. This braid is the dignity of our Qing Dynasty!"
After thinking about it in his mind, the steamer finally sailed into Haizhou Port. When he saw several black armored warships moored at the port, Zhao Tianfeng was suddenly surprised.
"Ah, you are worthy of being the king of our heaven. You actually have an iron-armored warship. If you think about it, Changmao will definitely fall apart in a short time."
When he said these words, his words were full of pride. In his opinion, those armored ships were the so-called heavenly magnanimity.
Even in New York, he had never seen so many ironclads. In fact, they were just rare and strange.
Those armored swords were just a dozen "mosquito cannon ships" bought with a lot of money. The largest ones were only over 600 tons, and the smaller ones were only over 300 tons.
But even such a small ironclad ship was invincible in East Asia at this time. The only nemesis was the similar ironclad ship of the Taiping Army. Fortunately, the gunners on both sides were not well trained. Even there were several water battles on the Yangtze River.
, and did not bring any losses to the other party.
"Hey, let me tell you, Brother Zhao, are you dreaming?"
The speaker was none other than Zhao Qi, the family member Zhao Tianfeng met on the boat. He was from Cantonese and spoke Cantonese Mandarin.
"Go to Shanghai and take a look. There are armored ships everywhere in the Huangpu River, and there must be more than a dozen of them. Long hair means the ship is strong and powerful..."
Shanghai, after it was conquered by King Li Ying two years ago, it became the residence of the Longhair Navy. As for the foreigners in Shanghai, they all moved to Nanjing. In fact, those foreigners were not willing to move at first, but
I can't stand King Li Ying not allowing Chinese people to do business in the concession, and not allowing Chinese to enter the concession.
So in less than a year, the foreigners gave in and agreed to move to Tianjing. There was an embassy area outside Tianjing, and there were more foreign commercial ports in Xiaguan. At the same time, the Shanghai Concession was also sold to Tianguo at a low price.
, the concession that prospered during the war became the military camp of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the wharf that originally hosted merchant ships from all over the world also became a military port.
"Zhangmao actually has so many ironclads!"
Zhao Tianfeng said in surprise.
"That's not true. Don't look at where Changmao occupies. Jiangsu and Zhejiang are both on their territory. With money, you can naturally buy ironclad ships."
yes!
With money, you can naturally buy armored ships. As a native of Hangzhou, Zhao Tianfeng doesn't know the wealth of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
"It's a pity that the land of paradise is occupied by bandits. If we can't put down the bandits and restore our hometown, Zhao will die in peace..."
In fact, what is it that Zhao Tianfeng never forgets?
It's still his family's business in Hangzhou,
His ancestral family property was taken away, his wife was robbed, and his family members were killed. Naturally, he hated the long-haired Zhao Tianfeng deeply, which was why he was determined not to change.
"Okay, don't talk about whether you will die or not. Take it. The ship is about to dock. There are still hundreds of miles to go from Lianyun to Xuzhou..."
"Is there no train..."
When the words came to his lips, Zhao Tianfeng realized that this was the Qing Dynasty, not the United States, and there would definitely be no trains for travel.
There must be no trains, only horse-drawn carriages, and the four-hundred-mile official road is fairly smooth. After six days of driving, Zhao Tianfeng finally arrived in Xuzhou. Although he was wearing a suit, he didn't look like that in Xuzhou city.
No matter how conspicuous it is, there are quite a few foreigners here. However, there are more soldiers. These soldiers are all wearing light yellow Western-style military uniforms with cloth scarves on their heads. This is the biggest difference between the Huai army - not only do they use foreign guns and practice foreign exercises, but they also
Still wearing a dress.
In fact, after fighting for several years, not to mention the Huai Army, even their opponents began to hire foreign brothers to practice foreign skills. As for foreign guns and cannons, they were standard equipment. Of course, foreign military uniforms were also a matter of course.
entered the army.
After entering Xuzhou City, Zhao Tianfeng rushed to the governor's palace. Outside the palace, soldiers stood solemnly. Guards with black cloth headscarves and gray-blue Western-style military uniforms. When they saw Zhao Tianfeng dressed as a foreigner approaching, they spoke politely.
"What does this gentleman do for you?"
To put it bluntly, the reason why I was polite was because this man was dressed in foreign clothes and had no braids. Looking at his clothes, he was probably the chief executive of that foreign company. Such a person was not something that ordinary big-headed soldiers could offend.
The politeness of the soldiers made Zhao Tianfeng immediately feel a different feeling. He was indeed an illustrious royal master. He was always so polite in dealing with people and things, unlike Changmao who killed innocent people indiscriminately.
Obviously, as a Hangzhou native, he had long forgotten all the messy things that the Eight Banners garrisoned in Hangzhou had done back then. With emotion, he stepped forward and spoke.
"Excuse me, please send a message to the Governor-General that student Zhao Tianfeng has confidential military information to report to the Governor-General!"