By rendering faithful service he established the
reputation he wished to win; and though he did nothing great he
retained his post right up to the act which led to the declaration
of war in 1894. Whether he actually precipitated that war is still
a matter of opinion. On the sinking by the Japanese fleet of the
British steamer Kowshing, which was carrying Chinese
reinforcements from Taku anchorage to Asan Bay to his assistance,
seeing that the game was up, he quietly left the Korean capital
and made his way overland to North China. That swift, silent
journey home ends the period of his novitiate.
It took him a certain period to weather the storm which the utter
collapse of China in her armed encounter with Japan brought about
--and particularly to obtain forgiveness for evacuating Seoul
without orders. Technically his offence was punishable by death--
the old Chinese code being most stringent in such matters. But by
1896 he was back in favour again, and through the influence of his
patron Li Hung Chang, he was at length appointed in command of the
Hsiaochan camp near Tientsin, where he was promoted and given the
task of reforming a division of old-style troops and making them
as efficient as Japanese soldiery. He had already earned a wide
reputation for severity, for willingness to accept responsibility,
for nepotism, and for a rare ability to turn even disasters to his
own advantage--all attributes which up to the last moment stood
him in good stead.
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