Beiyang Dream

Chapter 100 Toasting, Weighing

On the first day of the fifth month of the seventeenth year of the Guangxu Emperor's reign, at the Chang family mansion in Tianjin.

The entire Chang residence was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers. Firecrackers crackled and popped incessantly, and gongs and drums resounded deafeningly. The courtyard was full of people, some in official robes, some in silk shirts, some wearing official hats, and some wearing melon-shaped hats—it was truly a lively and bustling scene.

Chang Desheng stood in the center of the main hall, wearing a brand-new fourth-rank official robe with a cloud-and-goose design, covered by a bright red auspicious robe. He was covered up in layers, looking like a dumpling, almost stale, with beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.

He thought to himself: "I'm going to get heat rash from all this stuff! It's so hot, and I'm wearing three layers, and there's no air conditioning... But I can't let the heat get to me!"

Because there was an even more heavily covered-up, extremely wealthy bride standing opposite them.

Luo Jingrou was also dressed in a bright red wedding gown, with a phoenix coronet and embroidered robe, her head even covered by a red veil. She was helped in step by step by a wedding attendant. Behind her followed Qingzi, who was wearing a festive cheongsam. She was Luo Jingrou's "bride's attendant" today, which is a traditional Chinese bridesmaid.

Chang Desheng then turned his attention back to the extremely wealthy woman.

The incredibly wealthy woman... you really can't tell anything about her now, she's covered up like a red candle, but her slender and tall figure is still there! As he was looking at her, the matchmaker had already started chanting.

"First bow to Heaven and Earth..."

Chang Desheng quickly bent down, and Luo Jingrou next to him also bent down, her red veil swaying slightly.

"Bowing to the parents twice..."

Chang Fuhai and Chang Zhaoshi sat at the head of the table, beaming from ear to ear and nodding incessantly. Beside them sat Luo Zhenxing and Zhangshi, also looking joyful. "Husband and wife bow to each other..."

Chang Desheng turned around to face Luo Jingrou. As he bent down, he heard a few very soft laughs coming from under the red veil. His heart skipped a beat. This girl, laughing even with the veil on... can't wait any longer, can she?

"Send them to the bridal chamber..."

The matchmaker helped Luo Jingrou turn and walk towards the backyard. Qingzi followed beside her, seemingly whispering something to Jingrou. The three of them walked through the crowd, around the screen, and disappeared behind the moon gate.

Chang Desheng stood there, watching the red figure walk away little by little, and suddenly felt a little dazed.

In his past life, he lived for over thirty years, had several girlfriends, but none of them led to marriage. They either complained about his low salary (which wasn't actually low, especially during the real estate boom years) or his lack of a house. He thought back then: "I'm probably going to be a bachelor for life." But now, not only has he married, but she's also a wealthy woman from Southeast Asia, with a dowry of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

It seems that warlords are more popular with women than civil engineers!

He was still in a daze when someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"What's wrong? Staring blankly?" Cao Kun's round face loomed closer, a sly grin on his face. "It's not time to go to the bridal chamber yet! Come on, let's change our clothes first, we still have to toast the guests!"

Chang Desheng came to his senses and sighed inwardly: Well, even if I've time-traveled, I still have to offer a toast.

Who told us we're still in China? If we were Americans, we'd be on Lolita Island in the 19th century by now...

Seeing that he still didn't move, Cao Kun pulled him again: "Hurry up... don't keep the adults waiting!"

Chang Desheng nodded: "Let's go change our clothes."

Soon, Chang Desheng changed into a thinner silk robe, making him look much more capable. He followed Cao Kun to the entrance of the main hall and glanced around.

In the large main hall, there were four tables in total: one large, three medium, and one small.

The large table is the main table, seating eight people.

Seated at the head of the table was Hong Jun, Vice Minister of War and concurrently a member of the Zongli Yamen (Foreign Ministry), a proper second-rank official, and Chang Desheng's former superior from the Tongwen Guan (School of Combined Learning). Next to him was Zhang Bishi, the richest man in Southeast Asia, a first-rank official, and Luo Jingrou's third maternal uncle. Next still was Yuan Shikai, the Prime Minister stationed in Korea, a second-rank official. Then came Sheng Xuanhuai, Luo Zhenxing, Huang Zhonghan, and Yin Chang, with Chang Fuhai sitting at the very end. Except for his own father, everyone there held official positions and ranks.

Three medium-sized tables.

The table was full of foreigners. Seated at the head of the table was Consul Bülow, an elderly gentleman in his sixties with gray hair and a slightly hunched back. Beside him was his wife, Natalie, whose figure was unusually voluptuous; at his age, marrying such a woman, it was no surprise that he was a little hunched over. Further along were Hannagan, Reiner, Hessmann, Wolfgang…

One table was filled with local officials from Tianjin: circuit intendants, prefects, and county magistrates—all the "parent officials" of Chang Desheng in Tianjin. Another table was filled with Manchu bannermen from the Westernization Movement system. Lian Fang, from the Beiyang Army, sat at the head of the table, next to Bai Siwen from the Zongli Yamen (Foreign Ministry), who had come with Yin Chang.

There's also a small table.

Just one person.

Haruko's uncle, Kijuro Okura of the Okura Group.

He sat alone at the small table, with a pot of specially prepared sake and a table full of small dishes in front of him. He wore a polite smile, but his eyes darted back and forth between the main table and the foreigners' table.

Chang Desheng glanced at him, thinking to himself: I want you to hear and see this, and we'll have a proper chat later! Let's not talk about Haruko, let's talk about Nikolai. Chang Desheng, holding his wine glass, began to toast Cao Kun.

Toasting naturally begins at the head table.

The first person we pay our respects to is Hong Jun, the top scholar.

This is the custom. Hong Jun was his former superior, a high-ranking official of the second rank. For him to come to his wedding banquet was a great honor.

Chang Desheng walked over with his wine cup in hand and bowed respectfully: "Lord Hong, this junior toasts you. Thank you for your honor." Hong Jun, holding his wine cup, glanced at him with a smile.

"Zhenbang, congratulations! You've achieved great success in Southeast Asia and married the Luo family's daughter; it's a double blessing. I heard about it back in Beijing and I'm happy for you too."

Chang Desheng smiled and nodded: "Lord Hong, you flatter me."

Hong Jun took a sip of his drink, put down his glass, and then, as if casually mentioning it, said:

"Zhenbang, I've heard there's quite a stir in Luanzhou? If I may be so bold as to ask—your factory is going to be a 'government-supervised, merchant-operated' operation, bringing in foreign technology shares, and raising funds from Southeast Asia… This approach is rather audacious. Some in the court are asking: Is this factory a Beiyang enterprise or a Southeast Asian enterprise? Is it our Qing Dynasty's, or Krupp's?"

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere at the head table paused slightly.

Chang Desheng cursed inwardly: "You, Scholar Hong, are you trying to frame me, especially in front of a group of wealthy Southeast Asian patrons... No, you're not that bad. It was the Empress Dowager and Master Weng who sent you!"

Thinking of this, Chang Desheng said loudly, "Lord Hong asks a good question. This factory naturally belongs to our Great Qing. The land of Beiyang, the mines of Beiyang, the officials of Beiyang, the merchants of Beiyang... how could they not belong to our Great Qing? As for Krupp, they provide the technology, the blueprints, and the engineers, while we provide the resources, the market, and the labor. This is called each getting what they need."

Foreigners help us smelt steel, and we use that steel to build railways and manufacture guns and cannons, thus strengthening the Qing Dynasty's national power. If anyone dares to criticize this, then we shouldn't even bother running the Hanyang Ironworks anymore. Doesn't the Hanyang Ironworks also use foreign furnaces?

Hong Jun was momentarily speechless at his words, but still maintained a smile on his face.

On a grander scale, this is called the magnanimity of a top scholar, not bothering to lower oneself to the level of a junior.

To put it simply, this is just a performance. He's a member of the Qingliu faction, right? Master Weng sent him, and the Empress Dowager also had his permission, so he came. Everyone can criticize him, and he'll just get a bigger red envelope later.

Chang Desheng was also performing; he raised his voice so that everyone at the main table could hear him clearly:

"Given China's vast territory and abundant resources, how could it not support two ironworks, one in the north and one in the south? The northern plant is preparing to smelt 50,000 tons a year, I wonder how many tons the southern plant will produce?" Hong Jun was taken aback.

He hadn't expected Chang Desheng to ask him about production output. He didn't know, but it didn't matter; he could just make something up. Old Hong said, "The Hanyang factory has 60,000."

You're kidding. How could someone who can't brag get the top score in the exam?

"Excellent!" Chang Desheng slammed his hand on the table. "Three years from now, our Great Qing will have 110,000 tons of steel!"

This was said to Okura.

He glanced at the Japanese table out of the corner of his eye... Okura held a wine glass, his face still smiling calmly, it was hard to tell whether he believed it or not? After toasting Hong Jun, Chang Desheng turned around and went to Zhang Bishi.

Zhang Bishi was the second. In terms of official rank, his first-rank official hat was a nominal title (bought), inferior to Hong Jun's actual second-rank position. But in terms of seniority, he was Luo Jingrou's third maternal uncle, Chang Desheng's elder, and also the head of the Nanyang financial magnates.

Chang Desheng, holding a wine glass, bowed respectfully and said, "Third Uncle, I toast you. Thank you for coming all this way to officiate my wedding." Zhang Bishi picked up his wine glass but didn't drink it immediately. Instead, he started talking about the steel factory.

"Lord Hong just said that the Luanzhou factory is unscrupulous. I heard that." He started his performance too; these guys were all seasoned veterans. He said, "Whom to invest their silver in Southeast Asia, or not, is our business as merchants. The court can prioritize Hanyang, and we can prioritize Luanzhou. It's fair competition. Besides..."

He paused for a moment: "The Hanyang Ironworks received two million taels of silver from the imperial court, but still no iron has been produced. The Luanzhou Ironworks, on the other hand, produced steel in three years without receiving a single tael of silver from the court. Whose path is legitimate and whose is illegitimate will be revealed in due time."

As expected of a Southeast Asian tycoon, holding Dutch medals and British Kapitan titles, and with a private army at home, he was much more powerful than people like Hu Xueyan! Chang Desheng silently gave his third uncle a thumbs up, thinking, "He's got a real sugar daddy!"

He quickly continued his performance: "Don't worry, Uncle, there's plenty of market demand. Building bridges, repairing roads, constructing houses, manufacturing machinery—everywhere needs steel. Even Britain and Germany, with their relatively small territories, don't have enough steel—two or three million tons a year. The Qing Dynasty is so vast, it could easily consume twenty or thirty million tons. And even if the Qing Dynasty can't consume it all, there's always Southeast Asia!"

Zhang Bishi nodded and looked at Luo Zhenxing and Huang Zhonghan beside him.

Luo Zhenxing immediately chimed in, "Borneo's tin and coal mines are desperately short of railways. With rails, transporting tin and coal out will be much easier." Huang Zhonghan nodded in agreement, "Malaysia's rubber plantations and Sumatra's tin mines all need railways. The King of Siam also has plans to build railways… rails are needed everywhere!"

Chang Desheng thought to himself: Great! The Nanyang financial group has become the Nanyang drama troupe. They can all act!

They even staged a scene involving building railways in Southeast Asia.

Hong Jun sat in the main seat, holding a teacup, a smile on his face, but in his heart he was making his own "old calculations".

The collusion between the Southeast Asians and the Northerners was deeper than he had imagined. These wealthy Southeast Asians not only invested money, but also helped find sales channels.

Zhang Bishi, that rich bastard, is slapping the face of us upright officials just because he's wealthy!

I'll have to talk to Master Weng later. If we really want to help Zhang Nanpi, we'll have to give him more money. Don't be so stingy, otherwise these wealthy Southeast Asians will look down on the Qing Dynasty...

Chang Desheng offered toasts to everyone at the main table, and finally came to Yin Chang's side.

Yin Chang was his "mentor," though he hadn't taught him anything, the path to an audience with the Emperor was provided, so he had to continue the act. Chang Desheng, holding his wine glass, bowed slightly: "Teacher, this junior toasts you."

Yin Chang smiled and waved his hand: "Zhenbang, no need for formalities. Today is your big day. As your teacher, I don't have anything good to give you. Lord Rong asked me to bring you a congratulatory gift to add some elegance to your study."

He took a brocade box from his attendant and opened the lid.

Inside was a Duan inkstone. I couldn't tell if it was good or bad, but the box holding it was clearly a fine piece—made of rosewood and carved with flowers. Next to it were a pair of cloisonné enamel paperweights, one with a dragon and the other with a phoenix. The glaze was bright and beautiful; they were said to be from the Qianlong era and probably worth a bit of money.

Chang Desheng took the brocade box, thinking to himself: Ronglu, the Nine Gates Admiral, is not familiar with me. What is he doing...?

Yin Chang's smile remained unchanged, but his voice was lowered, so low that both what he should and shouldn't hear could be heard:

"Zhenbang, besides Lord Ti Rong running errands today, I also have a few words I'd like to say to you."

Yin Chang picked up his wine glass, took a sip, as if carefully choosing his words, and then slowly began to speak:

"Some say that someone overseas has done a lot of things behind the Emperor's back—colluding with foreigners, committing murder and arson, and having shady dealings with armed merchant groups in Southeast Asia. Every single one of these things is remembered by someone."

Chang Desheng's smile remained unchanged, but his back was already tense.

The claim that he colluded with foreigners refers to his relationship with the Germans.

Murder and arson—this refers to the Battle of Pontianak.

The unclear relationship between the Nanyang armed merchant groups and Luo Zhenxing's Pontianak Autonomous Army is what's being discussed.

How much does Yinchang know? Where does he know it from?

Several thoughts raced through his mind, but he simply smiled and asked, "What makes you say that, teacher?"

"Really?" Yin Chang smiled, leaned closer to Chang Desheng's ear, and whispered, "Someone reported those things..." He paused, then added in a low voice, "But not to the Grand Secretary!"

Chang Desheng understood.

The affairs of Pontianak, the affairs of Germany, the affairs of Southeast Asia... ...someone has informed on us.

Who tipped them off?

The first person who flashed through his mind was Duan Qirui. That kid didn't get along with him, and he was also Yin Chang's student... But Li Hongzhang had already endorsed the Pontianak affair, so how dare he betray him to the Manchus? Did he want to quit?

Perhaps it was an anonymous tip-off from the Japanese!

By the way, Natalie mentioned the other day that someone was inquiring with the German consulate about the details of her relationship with the German military advisor... Could this "Eastern friend" be Yin Chang?

He remained expressionless, smiled as he raised his wine cup, and said in a low voice, "Teacher's question makes me feel uneasy. I have always been loyal to the court, the Empress Dowager, and the Grand Secretary."

Yin Chang nodded in satisfaction, his smile returning to its warm tone.

He put down his wine glass, held up one hand, and made a "one" gesture:

"Lord Rong has received the Emperor's decree to establish a new Manchu army. He intends for you to mentor twenty Manchu students from the Tongwen Guan (a school for learning foreign languages). You don't need to teach them anything personally; just let them experience German military tactics, weaponry, and tactics. Ideally, select a few outstanding students and send them to the Prussian War Academy to try their luck... You graduated top of your class there, so you know the connections and how to pass the exam."

Chang Desheng thought to himself: "Fine, a combination of hitting and pulling. First, I'll let you know you have something on you that I can't hold against you, then I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself. If you know what's good for you, you'll be one of my men; if you don't, those upright officials will start gossiping about you."

He smiled and nodded, "If Lord Rong thinks highly of me, I will naturally do my best. I will definitely take good care of these twenty students."

Yin Chang glanced at him, smiled, and continued, "Just keep that in mind. Bai Siwen will be handling things with you. If there's anything, just tell him." He beckoned to the flag table next to him, "Bai Siwen, come here."

Bai Siwen quickly stood up, jogged over, and bowed, saying, "Lord Yin."

Yin Chang pointed at him and said to Chang Desheng, "This is Bai Siwen, a graduate of the Tongwen Guan. You met him at the Empress Dowager's place. He will be in charge of contacting the Manchu students from now on. If you have any instructions, just tell him directly."

Chang Desheng cupped his hands in greeting to Bai Siwen and said with a smile, "Alright. Bai, please keep in touch."

Bai Siwen quickly bowed: "Please be polite, I am at your service at any time."

The toasts at the head table have been finished.

Chang Desheng turned around, still smiling, holding his wine glass, but in his mind, he had already turned to another page of his grievances:

The affairs of Pontianak, Germany, Southeast Asia… they’ll leak out sooner or later! No, not sooner or later, they’ve already leaked out! Ronglu knows, so how could the Empress Dowager Cixi not know?

As for Li Hongzhang... he was just pretending to be confused!

What he did might not weigh more than two ounces on a scale, but once it's on, it's worth a fortune.

No, we need to speed things up.

Once we arrive in North Korea, we must train the "Zhenzi Battalion" as quickly as possible.

With capable soldiers, no one will dare to put me on the scales!