After listening to Re Fuli's words, Lin Yizhe immediately understood. Re Fuli is talking about the Black Flag Army! Among the civilian armed forces that appeared in China¡¯s modern history, Liu Yongfu and his Black Flag Army have long had the highest ¡°score¡± in the minds of the Chinese people. The brilliant achievements of "killing the French generals An Ye and Li Weiye" have made them praised for a long time, and they have reached the point of deification. In many later film and television literary works, the Black Flag Army has a very high appearance rate. But Lin Yizhe knew that the true appearance and historical role of Liu Yongfu and his Black Flag Army were not as positive as the "mainstream historical view" promoted. Liu Yongfu is a native of Shangsi Village, Bobai County, Guangxi. He is also called "Liu Er" by people around him because he is the second brother in the family. Liu Yongfu's family was poor since he was a child. A disaster hit his hometown when he was young. He fled the disaster with his parents and went to Qinzhou to join his uncle. In 1854, when Liu Yongfu was seventeen years old, his parents and uncle all died in the famine. In 1857, Liu Yongfu was too hungry to survive. Deciding to "rise up" with a group of poor fellow villagers for the sake of food, he participated in the local Tiandihui uprising and surrendered to Zheng San, a subordinate of Wu Lingyun, the leader of Guangxi Tiandihui. When Zheng San could not feed him enough, he returned in 1860. He switched to Wu San, but Wu San's food supply soon ran into problems. Liu Yongfu did not hesitate to change his position and joined another peasant army, Wang Shilin's unit; however, Wang Shilin's supplies soon also encountered difficulties, and he obviously could not feed him enough. Liu Yongfu; Liu Yongfu then switched his allegiance to Huang Sihong, a powerful enemy of Wang Shilin, in 1865, turned against Wang Shilin, and became a battalion officer leading about 200 people, and finally had his own team; 1866. When Huang Sihong's food supply could no longer be maintained, 29-year-old Liu Yongfu and about 200 people in Huang Sihong's team switched to Wu Yazhong, who "gived him thirty thousand yuan and rice as much as he wanted, as long as he had enough food." In order to receive the "letter of surrender", he quickly turned his gun and helped Wu Yazhong kill Huang Sihong; in the battle to eliminate Huang Sihong, Liu Yongfu's bravery was deeply appreciated by Wu Yazhong, and he was awarded the "Left Wing Pioneer of the Enemy". At this time, Liu Yongfu Yongfu's troops had their own military flag - the "Big Dipper Flag with Black Background" and the name "Black Flag Army". But the good times did not last long. When the Qing army encircled Wu Yazhong's troops in 1867, Wu Yazhong was injured. When Liu Yongfu saw that the situation was not good, he took his team of about 200 people and ran away. Wu Yazhong already had considerable trust and appreciation for Liu Yongfu, and even decided to marry his sister to Liu Yongfu, but Liu Yongfu was unwilling: if he married Wu Yazhong's sister, it would be equivalent to becoming Wu Yazhong's "direct relative" ", he will definitely be implicated in being investigated by the Qing army in the future. If he doesn't marry, he will offend Wu Yazhong. But when he was in a dilemma, it happened that the Qing army's encirclement and suppression "helped" Liu Yongfu solve this problem - he walked away. Once and for all. As soon as Liu Yongfu ran away, he ran into Vietnam. After fleeing into Vietnam, because the Vietnamese government was unable to exterminate the exiled rebels, including the Black Flag Army, the only way to deal with these remnants of rebels from China was to divide and disintegrate them, recruit one group and attack another group - for The Vietnamese government believes that it does not have the ability to wipe out all the rogue bandits and rebels, large and small, entrenched in northern Vietnam. We must rely on the "Heavenly Soldiers" of the Qing Dynasty to assist in the suppression. When the Heavenly Kingdom has no time to take care of it, it can only adopt the method of dividing and alienating, recruiting one group, attacking another group, and using the peasant army to fight the peasant army to defeat them. The threat level of roving armed forces is controlled within an acceptable range. Liu Yongfu chose to accept the recruitment and serve the Vietnamese government in order to receive this certificate of nomination. In 1869, he led the Black Flag Army to cooperate with the Vietnamese government army and the "Yellow Flag Army" of Huang Chongying, a former comrade of Wu Yazhong's peasant army, in the attack, and after initial victory. The Vietnamese government was determined to expel Liu Yongfu's troops and invited Guangxi Admiral Feng Zicai to suppress them. Liu Yongfu, who was extremely panicked after hearing the news, immediately cried out to the Vietnamese government and expressed his willingness to wholeheartedly help the Vietnamese government completely kill Huang Chongying, his former comrade in Wu Yazhong's unit. He only asked not to expel him. Finally, they were able to gain a foothold in the Baosheng area close to the Chinese border and set up a tax collection gate on the busy Red River waterway. In addition to the "basic salary" paid annually by the Vietnamese government, they could collect 80,000 taels of silver per year to buy roads. The Black Flag Army was overjoyed, because now they could rely on mountains and water to feed themselves, and finally no longer had to live the life of having no fixed place to live and no food to eat. Many people in later generations have been accusing the Qing government of using its attitude towards the Black Flag Army as "cannon fodder". However, this is not without reason. After looking at Liu Yongfu¡¯s personal resume, everyone will put a question mark on his ¡°loyalty¡±: they all say that ¡°house slaves with three surnames¡± are absolutely abominable. In ancient times, there was Lu Bu during the Three Kingdoms, and during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Hou Jing, at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, there were also Wu Sangui, Geng Jingzhong, Shang Kexi and his son, Li Chengdong, etc. However, in terms of the frequency of changing masters, I am afraid that these people are just "little witches" in front of Liu Yongfu. Liu Yongfu was not only one of the "three surnames", but there were five peasant armies with high numbers, not counting the Vietnamese government and the Qing Dynasty. Even if it is forced by life, it is just for personal safety.If you want to play "revolving door" casually with your own life, this kind of behavior is not to mention in the Qing Dynasty where ethics and ethics are the first and morality is supreme. In an era when loyalty is regarded as a god, wallflowers are the most despised, regardless of official or official status. All thieves are like this, but what Liu Yongfu lacked in the eyes of the officials and even the people of the Qing Dynasty was precisely loyalty. After successively taking in refugees, bandits, wanted criminals, deserters from the Qing Dynasty, as well as the remnants of the Tiandihui and the Taiping Army that were dispersed by the regular troops of the Qing Dynasty. Liu Yongfu organized these stragglers and local farmers (this was an out-and-out "mobilization of the masses") to form a well-organized army that combined agriculture with warfare and was well trained (according to bandit standards). The black seven-star battle flag he formulated when he was under Wu Yazhong was called the "Black Flag Army" by people at the time. The standing strength of the Black Flag Army is usually maintained at around 2,000, with a maximum strength of no more than 3,000, but it quickly became an important separatist force in northern Vietnam. The reason why this is possible is that the Black Flag Army has a relatively high overall quality compared to the Vietnamese government army and other local Chinese armed forces (but it will never train the Hunan Army, the Huai Army or even the Green Camp in the elite regiments of the Qing Army). Otherwise. Sure enough, the well-trained elite Black Flag Army has already responded to the anti-Qing forces lurking in Guangxi and made a comeback). And although they are equipped with "Remington" single-shot rifles and some "Grass" single-shot rifles captured from the French's Vietnamese servants, there are even a small number of Mauser 71 rifles smuggled from Hong Kong. The salvo firepower of equivalent rifle units of the Black Flag Army even exceeded the French regular army uniformly equipped with single-shot "Grass" rifles, but ammunition was difficult to guarantee during wartime. And because the Black Flag Army is a regiment-trained armed force that combines agriculture with war, and is half-farmer and half-soldier, its quality is among the best among similar armed forces. However, compared with first-class professional armies, the gap is still huge. Moreover, the cultural level of the troops from officers to soldiers is low, and they basically do not have the ability to engage in positional warfare, critical warfare, and field operations with regular troops. Under the advice of Liu Changyou, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, the small court of the Nguyen family in Vietnam, which was unable to resist the French invasion and had lost one-third of its entire territory (the entire seven provinces of Nanqi fell into the hands of the French), regarded Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army as A life-saving straw. Nguyen Phuc, the Vietnamese Emperor Su Duc, personally issued an edict to confer the title of Seventh Rank Thousand Households and the official position of Baosheng Defense Envoy (actually, it officially confirmed Liu Yongfu's identity as the local master legally). Liu Yongfu was officially recognized by the Vietnamese government, and the Black Flag Army became Vietnam's legal armed force. Nguyen Phuc Thi, the Vietnamese emperor who had always resisted France and was unwilling to be controlled by the French, thought of using the Black Flag Army to fight against the French after Hanoi was captured by the French army led by An Ye. Unintentionally dragging the Qing Empire down, he hoped to prevent the French from further encroaching on Vietnam. Therefore, the Black Flag Army, which occupied the key point of the Red River Channel to ensure victory, attacked and killed An Ye. The Black Flag Army's attack on An Ye was a proud thing for the elites of the Qing Empire, but Lin Yizhe understood. The negative impact of this incident on China is far greater than the so-called "victory" and "great victory" in which An Ye and several other Frenchmen were killed! When An Ye was killed, Japan was preparing to attack Taiwan. At this time, Sino-French relations were in the honeymoon period, and cooperation in various fields was close. In particular, the Fuzhou Shipping Bureau, which can be called a "model project for Sino-French cooperation", was in the midst of a crisis. During the rising period of wind, wind, fire and fire. The French were unwilling to break up with the Qing Empire over Vietnam, a piece of cake, and cut themselves off from this huge market. In order not to hinder the military action against the Japanese invasion, Lin Yizhe asked Hong Jun to mediate in Paris. At the same time, he also used his personal relationship with the French Navy Vice Admiral Guba to calm down the situation with great difficulty. In the subsequent battle against Japan's invasion of Taiwan. France still sides with China. Lin Yizhe knew that Re Fuli was asking him his views on Vietnam in a private capacity this time. It is probably because the Black Flag Army's occupation of victory threatened the interests of French businessmen, and as the minister to China, Refulie himself was not willing to cause a rift between Paris and Beijing because of the Black Flag Army, so he used this method. way to ask for your opinion. And if the Black Flag Army is allowed to escalate tensions in Vietnam, it is likely to destroy the various cooperation between China and France that it has contributed to, and even push China and France to the brink of war! Only a fool would be willing to ruin all the results achieved before for the sake of a half-hearted and nominal vassal! "I personally very much agree with your opinion. The Qing Empire and the French Empire should play an important role in peace and tranquility in Vietnam." Lin Yi Zhe said, "I will urge our government to pay attention to the situation in Vietnam. When necessary, the Qing Empire will and The French Empire takes joint action to end the chaos in Vietnam." Hearing Lin Yizhe's words implying that China would recognize France's status in Vietnam, Refuli understood it and expressed his gratitude to this young official who he regarded as "pro-French".?The good impression has reached another level. Re Fuli had no doubt that Lin Yizhe would exert a beneficial influence on France on the Empress Dowager Cixi and Prince Gong. "I heard that Baosheng, an important town on the Red River Channel, has become a lair of gangsters." Lin Yizhe added, "This will greatly damage the business interests of foreigners in Vietnam. I am personally deeply worried about this and have been paying attention to it. Something in this regard. I heard a suggestion a few days ago and thought it was very good. I wonder if you want to know. "Of course I am very interested in your suggestion," Refuli said with a look on his face. An expression of concern. "That's right. My suggestion is to change the existing trade route, that is, take the route from Hanoi to Bac Ninh, pass through Langjia and Lang Son, enter Zhennang Pass and then go to Longzhou." Lin Yi Zhe said, "Whether it is Chinese merchant ships or French It will be safer if we take this route, and the gangs in Baosheng will be unable to do anything about it." Hearing that Lin Yizhe was so familiar with the situation in Vietnam, Re Fuli was surprised for a moment. "Are you sure this route will not be attacked by the Baosheng gang?" Refuli asked. "Yes." Lin Yizhe nodded, "This is a very safe route." Lin Yizhe made such a suggestion after careful consideration. And he also had his own plans for making such a suggestion to the French! Now that Hanoi has fallen into the hands of the French, bypassing the Red River route controlled by the Black Flag Army for Sino-French trade can not only avoid a direct conflict between the French and the Black Flag Army, but also avoid China's conflict with France over the Vietnam issue. Diplomatic disputes. after all. For China, Vietnam is a disloyal vassal. Vietnam has always stood on the wall between China and France. When it needs China, it relies on China, and when it wants support from France, it alienates China. In Lin Yizhe's view, China went to war with France because of Vietnam. It's the most unwise thing to do. In fact, in his heart, Lin Yizhe already has a plan that is most beneficial to China on how to deal with Vietnam, but the time has not come yet and he cannot implement it. "I have always been very concerned about what happened in Vietnam. I will report to the Queen Mother in detail what happened there. I believe that the Queen Mother will make the wisest and wisest decision for the sake of the friendship between China and France." Lin Yizhe told Refu. Li said, "I believe that no matter what happens in Vietnam, the friendship between China and France will not change." After listening to Lin Yizhe's last words of assurance. Refuli was very happy. In his opinion, the purpose of today's talks could be said to have been achieved. The two talked for a while. Refuli seemed to have remembered something and said to Lin Yizhe with a smile: "By the way, dear Lin, there is one more thing I want to tell you. I am about to resign as minister and return to France. "Oh?" Lin Yizhe looked a little surprised, "What's the reason?" "It's nothing, it's because of my personal reasons." Re Fuli smiled and said, "Actually, I don't want to leave China, but It¡¯s all God¡¯s will, haha.¡± After hearing Refuli¡¯s answer, Lin Yizhe knew that it was inconvenient for him to ask further. He thought for a moment and said, ¡°I feel very sorry for your resignation, Mr. Refuli. "We will never forget your contribution to the friendship between China and France. I hope that the new minister sent by your government will be a sincere friend like you." "You are very grateful." "Refulee said with a smile, "I just did something that I should do." He turned to look at Counselor Bao Hai (Albert Bouree) who accompanied him but remained silent, and said to Lin Yizhe, "In the meantime. During my resignation, Mr. Bao Hai will take over my duties. I will inform you today. " "I heard that Mr. Bao Hai is an expert in Eastern affairs." Lin Yizhe glanced at Bao Hai and had an idea. He said meaningfully, "I sincerely hope that someone like Mr. Bao Hai can succeed you as the minister." Hearing that Lin Yizhe actually recommended himself to Re Fuli publicly, Bao Hai couldn't help but be startled, his face Although his expression did not change, his eyes suddenly lit up. Re Fuli was also stunned for a moment, and then he understood. "I will convey your opinions to our government." Refuli glanced at Baohai and said to Lin Yizhe with a smile. Lin Yizhe knew that Refuli understood what he meant, so he smiled and nodded. The reason why he wanted to use his influence in France to recommend Baohai as the French Minister to China was not without reason! In the original historical time and space, the "Li-Bao Agreement", which was very beneficial to China, was reached after repeated negotiations between Li Hongzhang and Baohai, who he called "the Chonghou of France". It was only later that because of the mass movement of the Qingliu war faction in the country,The letter of opposition and the sudden killing of Li Weiye by the Black Flag Army ruined this peace agreement and all efforts to avoid war. Lin Yizhe, who is familiar with history, will certainly not miss the opportunity for France to appoint a "French version of Chonghou" as minister to China! After the two sides talked for a while, Re Fuli stood up to say goodbye. Lin Yizhe personally sent Re Fuli, Bao Hai and others out. Although Bao Hai remained silent, Lin Yizhe was keenly aware of his inner excitement. When he got on the carriage and headed to the French Legation, Bao Hai looked at Refuli and finally couldn't help but said: "Your Excellency, you are really willing to recommend me to Paris as the Minister as suggested by His Excellency Minister Lin Yizhe." An honorable position?" Seeing Bao Hai stuttering with excitement, Re Fuli laughed. "Of course! There is no doubt about it!" Refuli gave an affirmative reply, "I must explain to His Majesty the Emperor in Paris that this is the meaning of 'Savior of France'. I think our respected Majesty will fully I respect his opinion! " "Oh - please forgive me, Your Excellency! I really don't know what words to use to express my current mood -" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote at Qidian. 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