Add Bookmark | Recommend this book | Back to the book page | My bookshelf | Mobile Reading

Free Web Novel,Novel online - All in oicq.net -> Historic -> Taiping blood

Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 333: Foreign Instructor

Previous page        Return to Catalog        Next page

    "Your Highness the King of the West, everyone is here." Xiao Yungui was awakened by Tang Erniu's voice outside the door. After arriving at the Shanghai Martial Arts School late last night, Xiao Yungui ordered people to notify the main leaders of the Martial Arts School.  We will discuss tomorrow morning.

    Xiao Yungui rubbed his sore eyes and replied: "I know, I will be here soon." After settling down at the martial arts school last night, Xiao Yungui lay down with his clothes on and slept for only two hours.  It was dawn.  As the number of people and territory under his control grew larger and larger, Xiao Yungui found that his private time had disappeared, as if his wife was pregnant and he had no time to take care of her. Now he even has less and less time to sleep.

    "It's really hard to be a good prince and a good emperor." Xiao Yungui smiled mockingly and got up to wash and dress.  He still maintained the habit of washing and dressing himself, without any servants or maids to serve him. This became a virtue widely praised by everyone in the West Palace, and also became a good talk to imitate.

    We quickly came to the main hall of Jiangwu Hall. This main hall cannot be understood as a Chinese palace style in the traditional sense. It is more like a foreign Gothic architectural style, which softens some local architectural styles.  This three-story building that is neither Chinese nor Western, or a combination of Chinese and Western, is the office building of the Jiangwu School.  Although Xiao Yungui knew that it was an office building, according to Chinese custom, the people who taught the martial arts hall still gave it a Chinese name, called Xuanwu Building, and the largest conference hall inside was called Shengwu Hall.

    In fact, Xiao Yungui doesn¡¯t care much about its name, but rather its practical functions.  Xiao Yungui from the Martial Arts School came several times, but the construction of the Xuanwu Building had not been completed at that time. Later, because he had to deal with the petitions of township officials from various places, the King of the West missed the opening ceremony of the Xuanwu Building.

    When Xiao Yungui entered Xuanwu Building for the first time, he was attracted by its interior. There were no dragons or phoenixes carved on the pillars or under the corridors.  Instead, it is decorated with swords and gunfire, and a strong martial arts atmosphere rushes towards you.  In the foyer of the building is a huge "Han Army Exiting the Fortress". This giant painting, which is three feet long and one foot high and twenty feet high, is the collective creation of many folk painters in Susong. It depicts the history of more than 1,900 years.  The majesty of the former Han army when they left the fortress, the Han soldiers above, with their halberds like a forest, their horses like flying swallows, and their battle flags hunting, make people feel proud at first sight.

    On both sides of the foyer are relief sculptures of the bloody battles of the Taiping Army.  It is also engraved with the new military regulations of the West Palace Taiping Army written by Xiao Yungui himself.  Going up the stairs, the offices of various military departments and divisions are arranged in an orderly manner. The top floor is the Shengwu Hall and various small combat deduction rooms or gathering halls.

    Xuanwu Building, like most buildings in Jiangwu School, were designed and built by foreigners, but Xiao Yungui and Hong Yun'er changed many places.  That's why it has such a strange appearance.  But Xiao Yungui hopes that these buildings are neither traditional Chinese buildings nor copies of Western-style buildings.  He also hoped that the martial arts school would have an obvious combination of Chinese and Western styles.  Because he is giving people a psychological hint that the things taught in the martial arts school are also a combination of Chinese and Western things.

    Throughout the Xuanwu Building, you can see historical scrolls, carvings and reliefs of the Han armies of various dynasties fighting against foreign invasions. The whole building gives people the atmosphere of the illustrious Han martial arts.  Xiao Yungui hopes that this kind of martial arts can inspire the nation's martial arts, even though it has been taught by a country that emphasizes etiquette for more than a thousand years.

    In the Shengwu Hall, pictures of Han military uniforms in various periods were hung on the walls, and hundreds of teachers and students from the Jiangwu School were watching.  Pointing from time to time and discussing something excitedly.  This is the first time that Shengwu Hall has welcomed so many people. Although many of them are studying in the martial arts school, this is the first time for Shengwu Hall to come.

    In fact, Xiao Yungui doesn¡¯t remember whether there are any mistakes in these pictures of Han army uniforms.  Hong Yun'er ordered the painter to draw them after recalling the historical materials she had read. There might be fallacies in them, but Xiao Yungui didn't care. All he wanted was to let the soldiers here know the glorious history of the Han army.

    "His Royal Highness the King of the West has arrived!" After the door of Shengwu Hall opened, Tang Erniu saw people in the hall looking at the paintings on the wall in twos and threes, and immediately shouted loudly.

    After hearing the words, everyone in the hall quickly returned to their positions, and everyone occupied their positions. The whole process only took half a minute.

    Xiao Yungui was very satisfied with their speed. This kind of vigorous and resolute attitude should be what a soldier should have.  After walking up to his seat and standing, Xiao Yungui waved his hand and said: "Sit down!"

    Hundreds of people in the hall all had their own seats behind them. After saluting Xiao Yungui with a new military salute unique to the West Hall, everyone sat down neatly. No one made a sound, no one was pretentious, and no one gave in.  , their style already has the style of later generations of soldiers.

    The closest person to Xiao Yungui is the principal of Jiangwu School, Lin Qirong of the Shanghai Naval Administration Department. Ever since Xiao Yungui assigned him the task of establishing Jiangwu School, he has been completing it very well.  Opposite him is Wang Kaiyun of Shanghai's Administrative Department. He serves as the vice-principal of the Shanghai Military Academy and concurrently serves as the political director.Director, he, like Lin Qirong, also holds important positions in the martial arts hall.  Letting Lin Qirong and Wang Kaiyun, two of Shanghai's top naval and political leaders, concurrently serve as the principal and vice-principal of the Jiangwu School, which shows how much Xiao Yungui attaches importance to the Jiangwu School.

    Later, Liszt, chief consultant of the Western Instructor Consultant Group of the Martial Arts Academy, and his assistant Barit.  These two people were the two British officers Xiao Yungui met when he attacked Shanghai.  Lister served as a military adviser to the Taiping Army for a time, but was later called back by Lord Wenham.  At that time, Liszt was still a soldier, and the British people believed in being loyal to the queen, so Liszt resigned from Xiao Yungui.  But after returning to the country, Liszt was immediately dismissed from the military. In addition to offending too many bosses, he acted as a military adviser to an armed force without permission. This crime played a catalytic role.  Eventually Lister lost his job and faced prosecution in several military courts.  Fortunately, with the help of his friend Barritt and others, Liszt was finally dismissed from the military.

    After Liszt suffered unfair treatment at home, he did not give up on himself. He entangled several friends and returned to Shanghai. He accepted Lin Qirong's invitation and established the Foreign Instructor Advisory Group of Jiangwu Academy, responsible for recruiting suitable candidates for Jiangwu Academy.  foreign instructors.

    From Liszt's point of view, he is no longer a British officer, and there is no problem in serving as an instructor of the Taiping Army. Moreover, the Taiping Army is not hostile to the British, and his behavior is not considered treason. What's more, Liszt has always believed in the future of the Taiping Army.  The army will definitely gain control of all of China. He just wants to win potential friends for the motherland and the queen.

    There were hundreds of foreign soldiers in the Taiping Rebellion in history, and there were about 200 foreign volunteers under loyal king Li Xiucheng.  These people come from Europe, America, Australia, and Africa, and there are fifty or sixty warriors from Africa.  There are 13 people from Europe and America with surnames and testable deeds, including 5 from the UK, 4 from the US, 2 from France, 1 from Italy and 1 from Greece.  Six people died in the battle, and this number does not include their family members, such as the British wife Mary.

    Now Xiao Yungui has changed history. Lister, a retired or abandoned British officer, has become the commander of this foreign officer corps and the general consultant of the foreign instructor advisory group.  Through the efforts of Liszt and Barritt, they recruited a total of 342 foreign instructors for the Shanghai Jiangwu School.

    Because Xiao Yungui¡¯s Taiping Army occupied Shanghai, and his enlightened trade policies further stimulated the great powers, for example, he abolished the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes in the mainland, allowing foreign trade goods to enter the Chinese market more cheaply, which was greatly appreciated by the great powers.  Moreover, the West Palace Taiping Army represented by Xiao Yungui even gained the secret support of the British Rothschild family. The British Parliament even issued a motion to support the Taiping Rebellion to overthrow the Manchu Empire. Although this motion was subsequently rejected by the British Parliament with a slim majority, it shows that  The great powers showed clear deviations from the so-called neutral position.

    On both sides of the seemingly enlightened West Palace Taiping Army and the ignorant and backward Manchu Qing Dynasty, the great powers began to favor the Taiping Army intentionally or unintentionally. Behind this, Xiao Yungui's huge and ambitious investment plan was also an important part.  Just the purchase of railways, telegraph lines, arms purchases, and construction orders for some civilian factories made the great powers choose the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom without hesitation. At least when they remained neutral, there was no obstacle to cooperation and trade with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

    This is not as hypocritical and evasive as the Qing Dynasty. In the words of the new British Minister Bao Ling, he was fed up with the hypocrisy and self-righteousness of the Manchu officials. Bao Ling only arrived in China at the beginning of the year and took note of the five-port trade  Minister Ye Mingchen (although there are only three left), Bao Ling hopes to go to Beijing in person to submit his credentials and discuss the exchange of contracts.  But now several months have passed, and Bao Ling's note has been pushed back and forth between the five ministers of commerce, the governor of Liangjiang, and Beijing. There has been no reply, no follow-up, and everything is the same.

    It is precisely because of the inclination of the great powers that Liszt's recruitment work was carried out smoothly, and many retired officers from various countries came to Shanghai to try their luck.  It has to be said that the salary offered by the West Palace to foreign instructors is five times that of the national army where they originally worked. Many officers even resigned and came to apply for recruitment.  However, the requirements of the West Palace Martial Arts School are also very strict. Those without special skills have no chance, and the King of the West prefers officers with actual combat experience.

    Among the 342 foreign instructors currently working at the Jiangwu Academy in Shanghai, they are involved in almost all the army's military departments. They are responsible for compiling military textbooks, guiding training for the Chinese instructors at the Jiangwu Academy, and most importantly, providing guidance to the Chinese Taiping Army.  The soldiers imparted their valuable experience from actual combat.

    After several months of running-in, the first more than a thousand officers and young guardsmen transferred from the West Palace have adapted to these foreign instructors.  Although they have big differences in culture and customs, they have one thing in common. They are all soldiers. It is the duty of soldiers to obey orders.??The first thing that the first batch of students in the West Hall Lecture School learned.

    After experiencing quarrels, scoldings and even group fights, a group of Chinese and foreign soldiers got together in a strange way. The reason is very simple. Both sides need each other and need to prove themselves through each other.  (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!
Didn't finish reading? Add this book to your favoritesI'm a member and bookmarked this chapterCopy the address of this book and recommend it to your friends for pointsChapter error? Click here to report