In order to think of a best of both worlds, Duan Qirui also racked his brains, thought about it all night, and finally came up with a way, he wrote a letter to Yuan Shikai, to the effect that he was about to follow Yuan Shikai's instructions and stop the army, but now the imperial court issued an order, requiring himself to march as soon as possible and fight a decisive battle with the brave bandits, and he was also very embarrassed, like Yuan Shikai asked himself what to do, in order to complete Yuan Shikai's entrustment, and he could also cope with the past in the imperial court.

Duan Qirui's wishful thinking is that after his letter is sent, it will take 3 or 4 days to receive Yuan Shikai's reply, even if it is exchanged by telegram, because the only place where he can send telegrams here is in Baoding Mansion. And this time is enough for himself to defeat the volunteers stationed in Shanglong Town and capture the Daimyo's Mansion, even if he receives a reply from Yuan Shikai again, he has already made raw rice into cooked rice, and he can also explain to the Qing court.

Moreover, the content of Duan Qirui's letter to Yuan Shikai was not to do what Yuan Shikai wanted, but to ask Yuan Shikai to find a way for himself to deal with the requirements of the imperial court, so this subtext is that if Yuan Shikai can't think of a way, then he won't be able to do what Yuan Shikai wants.

After sending the letter, Duan Qirui no longer hesitated, and immediately launched an attack on the position of the volunteers. Of course, in Duan Qirui's view, it is naturally easy to break through the position of the volunteers, so this time the volunteers did not play with Duan Qirui again, and stubbornly blocked the Qing army's attack, and made full use of the trench bunkers of the position, and the fierce firepower based on general-purpose machine guns caused a lot of damage to the Qing army. In one day's battle, the Qing army suffered more than 800 casualties, but they did not even touch the edge of the volunteer position.

The results of this day couldn't help but surprise Duan Qirui, he really didn't expect to kick the iron plate here, it seems that he still underestimated this brave bandit, Bi Jing and their backs are overseas Chinese, not long ago, overseas Chinese were still fighting Russia and Japan outside the border, how can this guy be incompetent?

However, during this period, Qirui was also difficult to ride a tiger, and it was impossible to stop, so he personally supervised the battle the next day, and transferred the artillery to bombard the position of the volunteers. It's just that the artillery of the Qing army is all small and medium-caliber, and the trench bunkers of the volunteers are also adhering to the People's Army, and the effect of anti-artillery bombardment is excellent, so they did not suffer much losses, and after the Qing army launched an attack, it was still met with strong resistance from the volunteers.

As a result, the Qing army attacked for 3 days in a row, but failed to shake the position of the volunteers, and the casualties reached more than 1,700 people, but on the fourth day, the volunteers took the initiative to withdraw from their positions and retreated in the direction of Guide Province.

Although Duan Qirui was a little suspicious, he sent people to the Daimyo's Mansion to reconnoiter and found that the volunteers had indeed evacuated the Daimyo's Mansion, so Duan Qirui could only order the troops to occupy the Daimyo's Mansion, and thus recovered all the land of Hebei.

And on the second day after Duan Qirui recovered the Daimyo's Mansion, the Qing court rewarded Duan Qirui again, this time he was crowned as a third-class hereditary viscount of Wuyi, although the title does not have any real power, but it is also a very high honor, and it is still a hereditary title, which means that Duan Qirui's descendants can also inherit his title, so this can definitely be regarded as a glorious ancestor.

In addition, the Qing court also praised Duan Qirui a lot in his words, and even compared Duan Qirui to Zeng Guofan, and finally asked Duan Qirui to march immediately, capture Guide Mansion, and completely eliminate the bandits. It turned out that after Duan Qirui recovered the Daimyo's Mansion, except for some Manchu magnates, the other ministers were very appreciative of Duan Qirui, and believed that the success of this attack was in sight, because he was the minister of Britain, France, Japan, Russia and other countries, hoping that the Qing court could order Duan Qirui to attack the Guide Mansion in one go, completely quell the banditry in Henan, and of course could contain the energy of the East China government.

Cixi also believed that it would be a good thing if the banditry in Henan could be quelled as soon as possible, first, it could enhance the prestige of the imperial court, second, it could also teach overseas Chinese a lesson, and third, it could take the opportunity to promote Duan Qirui and divide Yuan Shikai's forces. That's why Duan Qirui was rewarded again.

Of course, Duan Qirui didn't know the intricacies of this, but for a person like him who was born as a commoner, to be able to get such grace from the imperial court, it was indeed the green smoke on the ancestral tomb, and he was even more grateful to the imperial court, so he also made up his mind that he must go to the Guide Mansion to serve the imperial court. And at this moment, Yuan Shikai's reply was also sent to Duan Qirui's hands.

When receiving Yuan Shikai's letter, Duan Qirui's heart was also a little uneasy, for fear that Yuan Shikai would scold himself in the letter, but when he opened the letter, Yuan Shikai first congratulated Duan Qirui on his promotion, and also sent 10,000 taels of silver to Duan Qirui's house, and did not mention Yuan Shikai's previous requirements such as preserving strength and not being able to enter the army, but only tactfully warned Duan Qirui that the wood was beautiful in the forest, and the wind would destroy it, and hoped that Duan Qirui would do it himself.

After reading the letter, Duan Qirui breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, at least Yuan Shikai didn't pick out and turn his face with himself, but just mentioned it very tactfully, and Duan Qirui thought about it deeply, thinking that it was not strange, because the march was an order from the imperial court, and Yuan Shikai had no way to deal with the imperial court, so he had to give up, and he was now the governor, Yuan Shikai couldn't help but give himself some face, what is the benefit of Yuan Shikai turning his face with himself now? And in the future, Yuan Shikai obviously still has a place to use himself, so it is better to stay on the line and meet in the future.

Thinking of this, Duan Qirui also felt a little sorry for Yuan Shikai in his heart, after all, he didn't do what Yuan Shikai told him to do this time, obviously sorry for Yuan Shikai's kindness to him, and Yuan Shikai didn't blame himself, not only wrote a letter to congratulate himself on his promotion, but also sent 10,000 taels of silver, this kind of strength is really admirable; 。 After he becomes the governor, he will find an opportunity to report to Yuan Shikai, Duan is not a person who does not miss the old love. So he let go of Yuan Shikai's letter and went to study how to attack Guide Mansion.

In fact, after receiving Duan Qirui's letter, Yuan Shikai's heart was quite annoyed, and he couldn't imagine that Duan Qirui, who he had picked up, would forget about his kindness to him for the position of governor, and he married his adopted daughter to him in vain, but he didn't expect to raise a white-eyed wolf, so Yuan Shikai was furious in the mansion. But to be honest, Yuan Shikai has nothing to do with Duan Qirui now, after all, now Yuan Shikai doesn't care about the affairs of the Beiyang New Army, so naturally he can't care about Duan Qirui's affairs.

However, Yuan Shikai was not reconciled, so he sent someone to invite his most trusted and most powerful assistant Xu Shichang to discuss countermeasures.

After reading Duan Qirui's letter, Xu Shichang asked: "Duan Zhiquan's behavior is really a blessing to comfort the handsome, but what are the plans to comfort the handsome?"

Yuan Shikai was stunned, smiled bitterly, and said, "I just want to ask Brother Juren for advice." As he spoke, he sighed again and said, "Their wings are stiff, and I can't control them." ”

Xu Shichang laughed and said: "In my opinion, right and wrong, the world has its own justice. But now it is Ning Sect Duan Zhiquan who has a negative consolation, but the consolation is not a negative Zhiquan. ”

Yuan Shikai is also a very shrewd person, but he was angry with Duan Qirui, so he was a little impulsive for a while, but as soon as Xu Shichang said this, he immediately calmed down and understood what Xu Shichang meant.

Since Yuan Shikai basically has nothing to do with Duan Qirui now, even if he writes a letter to scold Duan Qirui and completely tears his face, it has no substantive effect, and after breaking with Duan Qirui, Duan Qirui may throw himself into someone else's door, Bi Jing Duan Qirui's military talent is one of the best in the Beiyang New Army, I am afraid that there will be many people who can network Duan Qirui, and this will not be easy for others.

And more importantly, the other generals of the Beiyang New Army saw it, what would they think, on the surface, this is the imperial court appointed Duan Qirui as the governor of Henan, and ordered Duan Qirui to march, so Yuan Shikai's original request was a little difficult for a strong man. After Yuan Shikai calmed down, he was able to understand how attractive the official position of "governor" was to these generals in Beiyang.

Yuan Shikai also asked himself in his heart, if he changed himself, I am afraid that he would make the same choice as Duan Qirui, and if he moved to Duan Qirui angrily because of this, and completely broke with Duan Qirui, then the other generals in Beiyang saw it, I am afraid that they will be a little disappointed in Yuan Shikai, and if they are still detached, then the team they have built will probably collapse, which is what Xu Shichang said, "Right and wrong, the world has its own justice". Thinking of this, Yuan Shikai also had to admire Cixi, Jiang was really old and spicy, and Cixi used a Henan governor who was still a fictitious governor to easily divide his hard work for several years.

Since you can't tear your face with Duan Qirui, then it's better to pretend to be generous, that is, what Xu Shichang said, "I'd rather let Duan Qirui lose myself, but I can't fail Duan Qirui" Bi Jing didn't do what Duan Qirui did not do according to his own requirements this time, and he really had the grace of his own knowledge, and let other generals in Beiyang see it, because he was humble and magnanimous, but Duan Qirui was forgetful of profit. Then you have a moral advantage.

It's just that Yuan Shikai is a little unwilling in his heart, obviously Duan Qirui is sorry for himself, how can he not blame Duan Qirui, and in the future, everyone else will learn from Duan Qirui, isn't he still working hard in vain? Therefore, he hesitated for a moment before he said: "Brother Juren, even if I have the heart to live up to Zhiquan, but Duan Zhiquan is now the governor, I am afraid that he may not be able to accept my affection." ”

Of course, Xu Shichang understood what Yuan Shikai meant, so he smiled and said: "Although comfort Shuai can rest assured, Duan Zhiquan is now Liling Zhiyong, I only see its benefits but not its harms, I think he may not be able to do a stable job as a governor, but I am afraid that in the end it will only be an empty dream." ”

Yuan Shikai listened, also thoughtfully, nodded, and said: "Brother Juren is really high, okay, then according to Brother Juren's proposal." ”

I wish all book friends a happy new year in 2019 ~ good health ~ all the best