Chapter 104: Flying High and Unrestrained

  "Is this a rebellion? Not even listening to the imperial edict, are you all waiting for the Japanese to destroy the mausoleum of our ancestors before you're satisfied? You're all just treacherous officials and unfilial sons. And has Li Hongzhang also lost his head? Talking about raising funds for ships, tens of thousands of troops can't retreat in a day or two, doesn't Yang Feng have ships himself? Pass on the imperial edict to him, tell him not to bother, just surrender to the Japanese on the spot!" Cixi said furiously after receiving Li Hongzhang's reply.

  These days, the rumors about Longmai have been spreading wildly. Even those Taoist priests who were supported by the imperial court agree with this view. Shan Xianyou has already started preparing explosives in Fengtian. Conveniently, when the garrison withdrew, they left behind tens of thousands of pounds of explosives and gunpowder. It's said that destroying the tomb of Yehe Nara clan would be enough.

  Apart from this, to increase the pressure, the Japanese army also carried out a large-scale massacre of officials in the city. This is the capital, apart from the Shengjing General System and the Fengtian Prefecture System, there are also five other government departments besides the Ministry of Officials. The city's small and medium-sized officials are as numerous as cow hair, and basically all Manchu people, those who didn't escape in time were caught by Saneto Matsumoto and pushed to the city wall, then stabbed one by one with bayonets.

  Although the lives and deaths of these people are not worth mentioning to Cixi, they fully demonstrate the wolf-like nature of the Japanese. To say that they would do something as heinous as digging up graves and scattering the ashes of their parents is absolutely believable. In this situation, the lives and deaths of the various armies in Japan are not even worth mentioning; in fact, Cixi thinks it's better if they all die off cleanly! This disobedient army is a scourge that should be eliminated.

  Received the imperial edict from Li Hongzhang, Yang Feng was almost laughing to tears. He gathered Song Qing and others, then told them that Cixi wanted them not to retreat, but to surrender to the Japanese army on the spot.

  "You guys handle it yourselves, if you're willing to go and surrender, I won't stop you. Anyway, I don't have to take care of this order." He said with a very nonchalant expression.

  Song Qing and the three of them were directly stunned, damn it, they wanted us to go over and surrender. Japan would not rest until these more than 7,000 people were chopped up and fed to dogs, especially Song Qing's unit, from Yang Feng snatching Sendai was just following along, plus the discipline of his subordinates was not as good as Yang Feng's subordinates. For the Japanese people, it was simply a heinous crime, at this time if they surrendered, I estimate that more than 2,000 people would not even have a complete corpse left.

  "This, this, will not be tolerated by the foreign ruler. We are a lone army in a foreign land, and we can't even speak out against it, so we'll just have to disobey orders." Song Qing gritted his teeth as he spoke, his white beard bristling with anger, his normally kindly face now twisted into a fierce scowl.

  Xu Bangdao and Jiang Zikang hastily echoed him.

  Yang Feng nodded in satisfaction, this was exactly what he wanted from these Han Chinese leaders. One by one they would gradually learn to defy orders, and then they would discover that the imperial court's authority wasn't so formidable after all. After a few more times, they would also discover that rebelling wasn't so scary either. Of course, some necessary procedures still had to be followed, such as sending telegrams to appeal and explain the reasons for not surrendering to the Japanese army. Moreover, in order to add fuel to Cixi's fire, this guy even sent the telegram he was supposed to send to the imperial court directly to the newspapers in Shanghai.

  At this time, Guangxu's disagreement with the peace talks had already been released by Weng Tonghe, and originally among the scholars, there was extreme anger towards the peace talks. Some people even publicly criticized Cixi in newspapers. With Yang Feng's telegram, it was like adding fuel to the fire, causing a huge stir at home. Even with the financial support of the Bao Fu Si洋行, some people had already begun to mention Yang Feng and Yue Fei together, describing the court's actions as no different from recalling Yue Fei with the Twelve Golden Plaques, and even worse than that. Yue Fei only wanted to attack the enemy directly, but Yang Feng's four generals actually broke into the enemy's lair. For a time, his reputation among the people soared, and even peddlers who didn't care about national affairs knew that there was a Yue Wumu, and soon they would suffer the same fate as Yue Wumu.

  With the intervention of the pro-Emperor party, this matter has completely changed its flavor. Cixi is full of vigilance towards her little dog and those people around him. The pro-Emperor party is now borrowing the peace talks to wrestle with itself, while also trying to win over Yang Feng, a powerful vassal with heavy troops in his hands. Moreover, this call for war will inevitably gain the favor of frontline generals, knowing that Li Hongzhang, Liu Kunyi, and even Yikang are all opposed to peace talks.

  At this time, Guangxu showed a pro-war attitude, which would undoubtedly make these great generals abroad feel that they had a wise monarch, and on the other hand, the Empress Dowager became a treacherous minister who misled the country. Therefore, this matter must be cut off at the fastest speed. This old lady was a ruthless character, and without hesitation, she used the name of defying imperial orders to announce that Yang Feng would be removed from office and investigated, and even directly dispatched the Minister of War, Jingxin, to take the fastest cruiser in the Beiyang Fleet, the Zhiyuan, to deliver the edict, and also took over command of the various armies.

  "Remove my post? Are you kidding me? I spent 100,000 taels of silver to buy this official position and you think you can just remove it? Don't people need to be honest? I'm a businessman, I don't understand those grand principles, but I do know one thing - something I paid for with my own money will never be taken back. Whoever dares to remove me from my post, I'll make sure they die." Yang Da Boss rolled up his sleeves, his eyes fixed on the letter of dismissal with a fierce expression.

  To match his boss's performance, the bodyguards behind him, who were over two meters tall, also sneered and surrounded him, scaring the letter carrier so much that his legs trembled. As a scholar, he had never seen such a scene before, especially those black bodyguards who looked like giant bears, revealing rows of sharp white teeth, their arms thicker than his thighs, looking like a group of cannibalistic demons.

  He was still good, and a eunuch who followed him to deliver the edict was so scared that he urinated in his pants. Seeing this scene, Song Qing and three others who were originally prepared to receive the edict also stood up.

  "How dare you! Are you trying to rebel?" A loyal and brave goshah stepped forward, his voice trembling with rage.

  Yang Feng let out a cold laugh and beckoned to someone behind him. A black man stepped forward, and the Goshha quickly drew his waist knife, performing a beautiful knife flower that boosted Jing Xin's courage. However, the bodyguard wearing dragon-scale armor didn't even bother to look, and with an arm as thick as a beam, he smashed down like an iron rod, sending the waist knife flying. He then lifted his hand, pinched Goshha's neck, and lifted him up with one hand, just like lifting a small chick, and threw him out. From outside came a blood-curdling scream, like the sound of a pig being slaughtered.

  Jingxin was stunned, then reacted and fell to the ground at Yang Feng's feet, crying and wailing: "Yang sir, spare my life! I'm just a messenger, I have an old mother and young children at home, please have mercy on me!"

  Yang Feng looked at him speechlessly for a moment, then helped him up with a gentle smile.

  Staring at him with a mixture of fear and trepidation, her face still bearing tears.

  "Your Excellency, what are you doing? My brother didn't mean anything else. This official position was bought with 100,000 taels of silver, and I won't be able to hold it for even a year. Although I'm not familiar with the ways of the officialdom, I know this is absolutely not how things are done. Am I right? My temper has always been bad, and I overreacted earlier. Please forgive me, sir." Yang Feng said, putting his arm around Jing Xin's shoulder.

  Although Jingxin was a bit dizzy from what he had done, he also knew what to do at this time and expressed that he didn't mind at all. However, he also understood Yang Feng very well. At this time, the transaction of official positions in the imperial court was based on a fixed price, and basically, there was no deception among children. The term of office bought with 100,000 taels of silver had not yet been one year and was already removed, which indeed should not be the case.

  The problem is that this is an imperial edict.

  He glanced at the yellow cloth roll in the eunuch's hand and said in a low voice, "Lord Yang, I am in charge of the Ministry of War and naturally understand this matter. Even if it means losing my official position, I should speak up for you to clear your name. However, this is an imperial edict, and I am really powerless."

  "An imperial edict? I didn't see any imperial edict!" Yang Feng said with a bewildered expression.

  That eunuch came over with a fawning air and very impolitely thrust the imperial edict forward.

  Yang boss glared at him and shouted: "Eat it?"

  "Ah?!" Jingxin and the eunuch were both stunned.

  "Didn't hear that? Eat it, do you still need me to find someone to feed you?" Yang Feng suddenly changed his expression and sneered, saying. The bodyguards behind him immediately stepped forward, each with malicious intentions staring at Jing Xin and the others, one of them even revealing a curved dagger, not knowing what they were preparing to use to feed people.

  Jingxin and the other two exchanged a resentful glance, then helplessly opened the imperial edict. They looked at the half-meter-long yellow silk, suppressing their disgust as they exchanged another glance. Their expressions seemed to be yielding to each other.

  "I'm telling you, why aren't you eating yet?" Yang Feng said impatiently.

  The two of them were so scared that they immediately lay down on the ground and started eating.

  Song Qing and the three of them were completely stunned at this time, is this the rhythm of rebellion? But they also understood very well that if Yang Feng really wanted to rebel, they could only follow. This was Tokyo, Japan, not Beijing City. Unless they surrendered to the Japanese, whatever Yang Feng did, they had to follow. This was what it meant to be on a pirate ship. However, for them, as long as Yang Feng didn't openly rebel, they still had enough room to retreat. This matter was done by Yang Feng, not by them. He was the governor of the Ottoman Empire, and they had no right to control him, let alone the issue of disobeying orders.

  Where is the imperial edict? Who has seen the imperial edict?

  Yang Dalao sat there, watching Jingxin and the others finish reading the imperial edict, leaving only the wooden rod behind. Only then did he nod in satisfaction, waving his hand to indicate that they didn't need to read the rod anymore. Then, with a kind heart, he had someone bring over cups of tea for them to rinse their mouths. After all this fuss, he also gave them a piece of paper with their schedule for the next day, including what words to say, all written very clearly.