At the end of 1908, the Battle of Kinshasa finally came to an end. First, the 20,000 French reinforcements to Kinshasa were surrounded halfway. The French immediately sent 8,000 people to Africa, trying to open a gap and rescue them.
The French did not expect the black troops to choose to besiege the reinforcements. They used a small number of troops to contain the besieged French, while the main force secretly moved out of the encirclement and besieged the French reinforcements halfway. After a bloody battle, the 8,000 French reinforcements were completely annihilated. The besieged French only realized something was wrong when they received the reinforcements' telegram '. They immediately broke through the encirclement and went to rendezvous.
At this time, the besieged army had been in the African jungle for two months. Lack of food and disease had sharply reduced the fighting power of the army. The black troops suffered heavy losses after annihilating 8,000 French troops, but they displayed the courage and perseverance to fight the besieged French in a decisive battle.
At first, the two sides were evenly matched. After all, the French troops were well-trained, and gradually gained the upper hand. When it seemed that they could break through the defense line of the black troops and fight their way out, sugar cane cutters from all over the country joined the battle. The first few thousand black men couldn't turn the tide of the battle, but they paid a huge price to delay the French. The 50,000 sugar cane cutters that came in two days were the straw that broke the camel's back. The French army finally collapsed, and less than 200 lucky people escaped.
The morale of the black troops was greatly boosted. They used the captured French cannons to join the black troops that surrounded Kinshasa. The Belgian colonists in Kinshasa had already run out of food. Under the fierce artillery and the fierce attack of the black troops, the Kinshasa stronghold was breached. The Belgian colonists and the French troops were completely annihilated.
France and Belgium immediately protested to the Min dynasty, accusing the Min dynasty of privately ordering the East African security forces to participate in the battle. The Min dynasty responded: Neither our country nor the East African administrative region issued such an order. Perhaps a small number of black people in the East African administrative region joined as volunteers out of affection for their compatriots. Those were personal choices, and had nothing to do with the Min dynasty.
This matter shocked Europe. What surprised Europeans was not that France or Belgium lost to the Min dynasty, but that the black people could form an army of 100,000 black troops. Not only could this black army annihilate 28,000 French soldiers in Africa, but they could also break through fortified fortresses. If this became the norm, the risk of Europe colonizing Africa would increase, and the cost of colonization would skyrocket.
The Battle of Kinshasa also provided another situation. Even if the black soldiers were not as strong as the elite French soldiers, they could still be regarded as a fighting force. Even in Europe, many countries might not be able to defeat 28,000 elite French soldiers with 100,000 soldiers. It was even more impossible to completely annihilate the enemy.
No matter how excited the Europeans were, the central government of the Min dynasty had no interest in it. Recently, there were cases of nurses hanging themselves in several hospitals in Tianjin. There were also cases of nurses hanging themselves in front of the hospital gates. Because there were too many people who saw it, they couldn't even block the news.
Once there was a report, there was a follow-up. For a time, all kinds of rumors were flying around in Tianjin. The popular and horrifying stories spread like wildfire and even spread to Beijing. As a last resort, the local police publicly stated that the poor nurses who hanged themselves were all Japanese. Their deaths were caused by hanging themselves, and they had not been harmed by any other illegal acts.
Since someone dared to speak, someone else dared to continue. The matter of Tianjin hiring thousands of Japanese nurses was exposed. Earlier, the rioting students had shouted the slogan, "Foreigners are not allowed to steal China's jobs." At that time, many onlookers could not understand. Now that the chain of evidence was complete, the news spread like wildfire again. Shen Xin, who had been waiting for a long time, finally mentioned the matter at the Central Committee.
The matter of Yao Bang's son asking Tianjin to accept Japanese nurses was not flawless, but it was not widely spread. The Central Committee members were so busy, how could they have the energy to listen to such trivial matters? When Shen Xin exposed the matter, it immediately shocked the Central Committee.
The Minister of Health and the Party Secretary were both Central Committee members. Hundreds of people looked at them at the same time. Although these two could still sit in their chairs, their faces had become very ugly. After looking at each other, the Party Secretary of the Ministry of Health stood up and said, "I didn't know about this matter. Since there is such a thing, I will carefully investigate it. How could there be so many Japanese in our hospital? "
The Party Secretary of the Ministry of Health had made such a statement, so the Central Committee members naturally did not want to pointlessly pursue it. At this time, the Minister of Foreign Affairs stood up and spoke, "I personally don't think it is necessary to fire these Japanese nurses immediately. If such a small matter is blown up, it will not be good for China and Japan. Even if they can't be used in Asia, they can still be sent to Africa. Africa has said that they need experienced nurses. "
The Minister of Foreign Affairs came out to express his position, and the Central Committee members did not intend to oppose it. Wasn't it just a few thousand female nurses? In fact, some Japanese female nurses had already worked part-time as private nurses. Some senior officials hired such nurses for their elderly. After decades of equality between men and women and industrialization, China's young girls could do ordinary jobs, but to ask them to serve people … Forget it. The Japanese nurses knew the rules, were polite, and worked hard. The officials who hired them were very satisfied.
Shen Xin waited for everyone to express their opinions, and then he said, "These nurses rely on labor to make a living, and I have no opinion on them. The young girls worked in our Min dynasty, and in the end, they hanged themselves. I sympathize with them. Since I sympathize with them, I also investigated it, so I got this data. I would like to show it to you. "
Some printed leaflets were distributed to everyone, and everyone was stunned when they saw it. The leaflet printed the content of how the Japanese labor exporter and Yao Bang's son divided the money. The young girls earned 2,400 yuan a month, and with overtime pay, it was 4,000 yuan. The money was not sent to the Japanese nurses, but to Japan's account. The Japanese "labor exporter" took 2,000 yuan, and Yao Bang took 1,000 yuan. In the end, the young girls only got 1,000 yuan. The hospital provided very cheap canteens and dormitories. Even so, an income of 1,000 yuan was too little in a place like Tianjin. In Tianjin, any job could earn more than 1,500 yuan.
"I haven't seen such exploitation in 50 years since I followed the commander-in-chief in the revolution." Shen Xin's voice was cold and ruthless. "Even in the North American War, we hired the Japanese slave army, and the Japanese asked for half of the so-called labor fees, but we gave the rest to the Japanese slave army. Not only that, but the nurses had allowances, and those who went to the battlefield had trophies to collect. They earned a lot as a whole. Taking three-quarters of it like this is completely unconscionable. What do you think? "
No member of the Central Committee was a fool. Everyone completely agreed with Shen Xin's words. Yao Bang's son's actions had exceeded the bottom line of everyone's acceptance. However, dissatisfaction with Yao Bang's son had nothing to do with unconditional support for Shen Xin. The people who spoke in this meeting were all trying to achieve their own goals. No one thought that Shen Xin's goal was only to bring down Yao Bang's son.
Some people waited to hear what Shen Xin would say next, and those who didn't want to cause trouble couldn't help but want to find Military Governor Vaize. However, Vézé's seat was empty. Everyone remembered that the second wife, Li Yifang, was seriously ill and Military Governor Vaize had recently returned to Nanjing. In recent years, the commander-in-chief had rarely been seen in this position. Some comrades suddenly found themselves getting used to this situation. Some comrades suspected that Military Governor Vaize was planning something.
Vézé didn't plan anything at this time. The beds in the VIP ward were well designed. Vézé let Li Yifang lie down and washed her hair. After drying her hair with a hairdryer, Vézé took an apple and began to peel it. There were only two people in the room. Vézé said while peeling, "I'm not busy these days. Don't think so much. I'm not at ease when I'm with you. I'm not at ease when I'm not with you. "
Li Yifang knew that Vézé still held a grudge against Li Yifang's words ten days ago. She forced a smile. "Vézé, after so many years, you're still the kind of person who can't help but argue when you feel guilty."
Vézé didn't refute. As soon as the truth came out, he understood the paradox. If Vézé was really with Li Yifang to feel at ease, the two wouldn't have been separated for so many years.
"Vézé, call Wei Kun back. I want to see him. "Li Yifang continued to say with difficulty.
"Nonsense. You'll get better. When you get better, we'll call Wei Kun back. "Vézé said gently.
"You're seventy-five, and I'm over seventy. At this age, I have nothing to be afraid of. Wei Kun went to Africa in such a hurry. I still have something to tell him. It'll take you one day to go from Beijing to Nanjing, and it'll take him several days to come back from Africa. If you don't want to, I'll send him a telegram now. "Li Yifang was a little out of breath.
Vézé hurriedly called the secretary in. "Send a telegram to Wei Kun. Tell him that his mother is sick and ask him to come back immediately."
After the secretary left, Vézé couldn't help but gently press Li Yifang's hand. He hesitated for a long time before saying, "Yifang, I know I'm not a good person. I've killed many people with my own hands. I had to kill many people. I've also ordered the killing of many people with clear targets. So I think I've seen through life and death. Because I know I can't control my own life and death, I don't feel it at all. But now, I just want you to live a long life. Whenever I think about the possibility that you're gone, my heart feels so uncomfortable that I don't dare to think in that direction. I also feel that I owe you too much. I feel that I'm not worthy … "
"Don't think like that!" Li Yifang interrupted Vézé's words. After resting for a while, Li Yifang continued, "When I was with you, I was lonely. At that time, I didn't know where to go in the future. Now that I think about it, I thought too much about having a good place to go in that era. After I was with you, my life was much better than I thought. You're not a person who only has yourself in your heart. Even if you don't have much of me, you still put me in your heart. I know that. People say that you don't want to be with me, but we both know that it's because you don't want to make things difficult for me. "
At this point, Li Yifang softly touched the back of Vézé's hand. "Vézé, you're right. Death is the will of God. It's useless for us to worry about it. At this time, you don't dare to think about me dying. Thinking about it makes you feel uncomfortable. That's the truth. You stay with me and wait for Wei Kun to come back. I can see the two of you and two other children sitting together in front of me. Listen to me and I'll have a clear conscience. I can die whenever I want. "
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