Rebirth of the Northern Giants

Walking through Dongjiaomin Lane, you can see a resplendent courtyard. This courtyard was originally the residence of a prince of the Qing Dynasty, but it was rewarded by Ye Zhikui.

In the hall of the mansion, Wang Huaiqing, the commander of the imperial guards, was lying on the chair with half-closed eyes, and two concubines were beating his legs and back for him.

Thinking of him, Wang Huaiqing, who was born as a commoner, and after several life and death, finally managed to gain the power he has today, the commander of the imperial guards, because he saved Ye Zhikui's life in Qingdao, and created the slogan of loyalty and unparalleled, everyone looked up to him.

However, as his position increased step by step, his desire swelled without limit, and he began to sell officials, engage in fraud, and plunder people's wealth. Secretly, there was a proverb that "to be an official, find Maoxuan".

"Master, I want to eat a bear's paw today," a concubine said coquettishly.

"Yeah..." Wang Huaiqing opened his eyes, patted his fat buttocks, and said with a smile, "Little girl, delicacies from mountains and seas, follow me, eat whatever you want."

"It's not good, master, the door is surrounded by people." The servant ran in like a shit, shouting loudly.

"Mom, who dares to surround Wang Huaiqing's mansion." Wang Huaiqing stood up angrily, and said loudly.

"Brother Wang, it's me. The President is looking for you." Wang Xiaoshan walked in with a few guards.

Wang Huaiqing asked in amazement: "The President is looking for me? Then there is no need to surround my house, and my old Wang did not rebel."

"Brother Wang, please ask for blessings. I heard that Cen Chunxuan from the Independent Commission Against Corruption read your copy." Wang Xiaoshan revealed a little information to him.

Wang Huaiqing said indifferently: "I thought the Independent Commission Against Corruption was something stupid, didn't it just take a few taels of silver, so I asked the President to judge it."

Wang Huaiqing took big strides and followed Wang Xiaoshan out without paying attention.

At the same time, patrol officers appeared in the residences of dozens of officials in the capital. Without saying a word, these people took out the ICAC notice as soon as they entered, and then quietly detained these officials.

Police chief Zhao Bingjun personally brought several patrolmen to Li's Mansion in the west of the city.

Li Hongzhang was listening to Peking opera in the mansion, when Zhao Bingjun's sudden intrusion made him feel thumping, vaguely feeling that something was wrong.

"Zhongtang, this is an arrest warrant from the ICAC. Please come with me." Zhao Bingjun didn't say much, and after Li Hongzhang backed away, he said seriously.

ICAC?The first thing Li Hongzhang thought about was not whether he was corrupt, but whether there was something about him that made Ye Zhikui dissatisfied recently.

He didn't believe that he would be arrested if he was greedy for ink and money. This was political strife, Li Hongzhang thought self-righteously.

"Let me change into some clothes." Li Hongzhang stood up and said calmly.

"Please do what you want in Zhongtang." Zhao Bingjun stretched out his hand, and then waited quietly aside.

……

"Are you here?" Ye Zhikui sat alone at the table, which was full of food and wine.

"President Huaiqing originally came to Ye Zhikui full of grievances, but now seeing such a situation, he doesn't know where to start.

"Come on, sit down and have a drink with me." Ye Zhikui glanced at him and said lightly.

Wang Huaiqing lowered his head and sat opposite Ye Zhikui.

"Maoxuan, it feels like someone stabbed me in the heart. It hurts. You saved my life back then, and I always regarded you as a brother who could talk to me. Instead, I hurt you and made you proud of me." , Think about it, how much money have you been greedy for? These are the hard-earned money of the common people. They are donated to the brothers on the front line. You take a little, I take a little, and how much is left in the hands of the brothers? How much is left? The brother who was injured and disabled is struggling to survive now? Have you ever thought about it?" Ye Zhikui said with a heartbroken heart.

"President Huaiqing looked at Ye Zhikui in pain, opened his mouth, but was still speechless.

"You said, if you are short of money, you can tell me. I, Ye Zhikui, am not a stingy person. Why do I take money from the government? Take money from the soldiers? You go back and hand over the money you have been greedy for, and then Live in peace and stability." Ye Zhikui turned his head away, unwilling to see this scene.

In fact, based on the amount of Wang Huaiqing's greed for ink, he was already sentenced to death, but Ye Zhikui still missed his old love and let him take off his military uniform.

"Maoxuan, take this money away. If you have any more difficulties, come to me, Ye Zhikui." Ye Zhikui pointed to a large stack of bank notes on the table, which is enough for Wang Huaiqing to spend the rest of his life.

"President, Maoxuan has embarrassed you." Wang Huaiqing knelt down on the ground, tears streaming down his face, then kowtowed a few times, picked up the bank note on the table, turned and left.

The next day, Ye Zhikui got the news that Wang Huaiqing used the money Ye Zhikui gave him to dismiss his wives, concubines and children after paying back the corrupt silver taels, and left a sentence, my life belongs to the President, since the President abandoned it, I have no face to live on. world.Then he hanged himself in his own house.

cry out

Ye Zhikui remained silent all day, neither eating nor drinking.

Wang Huaiqing's death was just the beginning. Later, Foreign Minister Li Hongzhang was dismissed, but it was said that Li Hongzhang resigned due to illness and Wu Tingfang took his place. Next, dozens of officials from the capital were sent to jail.

The earthquake in the capital's officialdom shocked the whole country, and the aftershocks continued. From time to time, officials from all over the country were arrested by the ICAC. The officials were all in danger, and there was almost a turbulent situation. Fortunately, Ye Zhikui was able to hold on to the situation. The public supports him, who is he afraid of? His cronies and saviors all hanged themselves because of this incident, who will he let go? .

Volume 3, The Wind and Cloud of the Capital, Chapter [-], Chapter [-]

Chapter 3

In the Qianqing Palace, Ye Zhikui was wearing a coat and leaning on the table to deal with government affairs. The war was a bit peaceful, and Ye Zhikui spent most of his time on internal affairs, but he also knew that the days of peace might not be far away. The Yankees sent warships to Cuba , This move will definitely annoy the Spaniards, as long as you pick up the dissension again, maybe, they will fight without having to pick the dissension yourself.

Regarding this war, Ye Zhikui certainly hopes that Spain can defeat the United States and temporarily suppress the United States. Spain is going from bad to worse, but the United States is thriving.

But the reality made Ye Zhikui understand that the Spaniards could not stop the rise of the United States. The difference in national strength between the two was too great, but it was still possible to secretly support Spain and prolong the war.

In addition to Spain, can't there be some eye salve for Americans in America?Ye Zhikui thought about it hard, if there is, isn't there Mexico?

The Mexican-American War from 1846 to 1848 allowed the Americans to seize 230 million square kilometers of land from Mexico, and became a transatlantic and Pacific power.

Since then, Mexico has always retained hatred for the United States, which has lasted for hundreds of years. Later generations of Hitler wanted to provoke Mexico to attack the United States. Unfortunately, the United States at that time had become a big country that is not what it used to be, and it was not something that a small Mexico could compete with.

Thinking of this, Ye Zhikui hurriedly found information about Mexico from the next bookshelf. After looking through it, he felt more depressed, because the current ruler of Mexico, Dias, also engaged in military violence. In order to consolidate his rule, he did not hesitate to The land was sold cheaply or given free of charge to the big landowners and the Catholic Church who supported and supported him.

Most of Mexico’s mines, oil fields and other national economies are in the hands of British and American capitalists. The Mexican people live a miserable life. Now it’s no problem to go to Mexico to buy a piece of land or two, but if you want to incite Dias to lead Mexico to invade the United States, then It must be an idiot's dream. Dias is in danger now, not to mention invading the United States, just maintaining his political rule is in jeopardy

Ye Zhikui was a little vacillating about whether he should personally take action against the United States now, no matter what, anyway, Hawaii and Alaska must be obtained, whether it is to grab or buy, in short, the Spanish-American War is a good time.

Only with Hawaii can we compete for hegemony in the Pacific Ocean.

Only with Alaska can the land of the Americas be further engulfed. After Alaska was sold to the United States by the Czar for $1867 million in 720, it has not been valued by Americans so far. However, news has spread in the past two years that Alaska has discovered After the gold mine was acquired, the situation changed slightly, but Ye Zhikui knew that the value of Alaska was far from being realized by the Americans. As long as the operation was done properly, it was very possible to get the enclave in the hands of the Americans.

"President, drink tea"

Ye Zhikui has been dreaming sweet dreams, and he didn't even notice when Wang Xiaosheng entered the door.

"Oh, put it on the table."

Waking up, Ye Zhikui hurriedly wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth secretly.

"President." Wang Xiaosheng hesitated to speak, and finally said: "Someone outside the palace has come to intercede for Li Hongzhang."

Ye Zhikui was a little upset. After Li Hongzhang stepped down, a large number of officials came to intercede for him, but the more people interceded, the less likely Ye Zhikui would use Li Hongzhang.

No, it will never be used again, you still have a few years to live, what's wrong with teasing your grandchildren at home, and you are still greedy for power.

With the support of Ye Zhikui, Cen Chunxuan withstood the pressure on the nationwide donation and corruption case. The ICAC strictly followed the "Anti-Corruption Law of the Republic of China". After recovering the money of corruption, the official position will be cut off, and it will never be reused.

"Don't worry about them, whoever loves to plead, let him keep pleading." Ye Zhikui asked seriously: "Xiaosheng, do you think I'm too heartless?"

Recently, someone compared Ye Zhikui to Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang.