Li Yuanhong walked on the streets of Nanjing, and was unexpectedly hugged from behind. Looking back, it turned out to be a colleague from the previous Navy. The relationship between the two has always been good, and this colleague is also unable to stay in the navy and turn to the self-improvement army.

After listening to Li Yuanhong's intention to come here, he was very enthusiastic and said to Li Yuanhong that it is easier to be valued and reused if someone recommends it.

"Can you find someone to recommend?" Li Yuanhong asked a colleague.

Colleagues said that his uncle was Zhang Zhidong's staff and a person close to him.

Of course, someone recommended it, Li Yuanhong was overjoyed, how could he not know this reason, such a relationship would definitely work. Li Yuanhong quickly wrote a post on his resume and handed it to his colleagues.

What Li Yuanhong didn't expect was that Zhang Zhidong would see him in person. What a big character Zhang Zhidong is! A court member who is almost as famous as Li Hongzhang, can a small person like himself be seen? Li Yuanhong really couldn't believe it, but it was true, because the famous Zhang Zhidong was sitting in front of him.

This is an old man with a kind and kind face, and he is obviously the old man of the family next door. If you didn't see it with your own eyes, how could you be one with the amazing Zhang Xiangshuai.

On the way here, Li Yuanhong was very nervous, he had never seen such a big man in his life, for fear that he would say the wrong thing. But in the face of this kind and kind elder, Li Yuanhong was much more casual.

Zhang Zhidong mainly asked him about his studies and service on a warship at the Tianjin Naval Academy, and then asked about his family.

When he learned that Li Yuanhong's father had joined the army twice and had become a guerrilla general twice, he couldn't help but praise: "You have a great high hall." ”

No matter what Zhang Zhidong asked, Li Yuanhong answered truthfully.

When it was over, Zhang Zhidong asked him, why didn't he stay in the navy if he was so used in the navy and did such a good job, and it was a pity to come here?

If it is a person who can see the direction of the wind and is good at greeting, he must flatter Zhang Zhidong and Ziqiangjun, say something that has been admired for a long time, and he has come to defect and so on.

But Li Yuanhong didn't, he was an honest man, and he was honest. Saying how could he not want to return to the Navy, but there was no chance. He didn't have any special skills except being a soldier, so he came to defect. It doesn't matter if you can run for a future, you always have to support your family.

I didn't expect Zhang Zhidong to listen to his words, because Zhang Zhidong likes honest people and likes to listen to honest people.

He praised Li Yuanhong in front of everyone: "A thousand troops are easy to get, but a general is hard to find." …… I haven't seen such an honest and capable person as Mr. Li for a long time. ”

Li Yuanhong was immediately assigned an important errand ,—— supervising the repair of the Shogunate Mountain Fort, and concurrently serving as the translator of the Ziqiang Army, earning eight taels of silver per month.

Supervising the project, this is obviously a fat shortage, and the salary is so high, it is enough to support the family, Li Yuanhong is very happy.

People often say that when an honest person suffers, in fact, in many cases, being an honest person not only does not suffer, but can make a profit, such as the current Li Yuanhong. However, this is just the beginning, and there are more good things waiting for Li Yuanhong.

Shogunate Mountain traverses the north end of Gulou District and the west end of Qixia District of Nanjing City, is a hilly mountain range located on the south bank of the Yangtze River, starting from Shangyuanmen in the west and reaching Yanziji in the east, it is about 5.5 kilometers long and 800 meters wide, and the main peak of Laoshan is 190 meters high.

According to legend, Emperor Sima Rui of the Jin Yuan Dynasty crossed the river and set up the shogunate (staff department) here, hence the name. Shogunate Mountain is also known as Mofu Mountain, and because the mountain is stony, it was called Lime Mountain and White Stone Mountain in ancient times.

The mountains of the Shogunate Mountain are undulating, ascending to the Shogunate, looking at the sedum from afar, and the Yangtze River rushes forward from the bottom of the mountain. Forty-eight views of Jinling in the Qing Dynasty, there are six views of Shogunate Mountain, Bodhidharma Ancient Cave, Yongji River, Hualong Lidi, Jiashan Wenjing, and Yanji Sunset.

Since ancient times, the vicinity of Shogunate Mountain Swallow Rock is not only a traffic ferry port between the north and south of the river, but also a strategic barrier and military artery for the defense of the north of the river in ancient Jinling. In addition, it enjoys the reputation of the common scenery of the rivers and mountains and the auspicious land of the six dynasties, so it has left many celebrity footprints, historical landscapes and folklore in the Shogunate Mountain.

The Shogunate Hill Fort is a large project, with seven Western-style forts, eight ammunition pharmacies, four bullet rooms, six general medicine stores, and four secret passages.

In addition, there are earthen trenches, lookouts, barracks, and uniformed rooms, and two "180-pound long" breech-loading steel cannons, four "180-pound short-type" breech-loading steel cannons, and one "80-pound breech-loading steel cannon" will also be installed.

Before Li Yuanhong took charge of this fort, the management here was chaotic, the system was unreasonable, and the people were superfluous. There seems to be someone in charge of everything, and there seems to be no one in charge of everything. Some people understand technology but don't have the power to do things, and some people have a lot of power but don't understand anything.

Faced with such a situation, Li Yuanhong first started by rectifying the management personnel. Those who have the ability and a strong sense of responsibility will go up, and those who do not take advantage of their posts will go down. There is a special person responsible for everything, and there is management and supervision at all levels.

In terms of materials, funds and quality, it is strictly controlled.

Through his efforts, he snatched back a lot of time that had been delayed before. The project was completed on schedule, and all parties were satisfied with the quality of the project. The whole project cost a total of 39,254 taels of silver. The accounts are clear and clear, and what every tael of silver has been done is well documented.

The completion of the Shogunate Hill Fort won the favor of Zhang Zhidong, and Li Yuanhong was also reused. He was first sent by Jang Zhidong as the chief liaison officer of the Shogunate Mountain, Zhongshan and other forts, and was later promoted to the full-time Taiwan officer of these forts. Fifty taels of silver per month, and fifty taels of silver at public expense. At this point, although Li Yuanhong and his family are not very wealthy, they have no worries about food and clothing after all.

Li Yuanhong thanked Zhang Zhidong for his kindness and conscientiously did anything that Zhang Zhidong handed over to him, and Zhang Zhidong trusted and appreciated Li Yuanhong more and more.

Once, he wrote the four characters "Wisdom and Courage Deep" for Li Yuanhong, and spoke highly of Li Yuan's work and behavior. Soon, Zhang Zhidong recommended Li Yuanhong to the imperial court, and after Zhang Zhidong's nomination, the imperial court decreed that Li Yuanhong was promoted to the chief teacher of the Nanjing Fort.

His father joined the army twice, and his highest achievement was to become a guerrilla general, that is, equivalent to a battalion commander, at this time Li Yuanhong had surpassed his father in his position. Not only that, but he also entered Zhang Zhidong's decision-making level, and Zhang Zhidong was willing to listen to his opinions on many things.

And he never follows the trend, never caters to anyone, and always tells the truth, which is more important to Zhang Zhidong.

In the spring of 1896, Zhang Zhidong resigned from his post as temporary acting governor of Liangjiang and returned to his post as governor of Huguang. Although Zhang Zhidong is not a person who forms a gang and cultivates personal power everywhere, he is transferred, and he has to bring a few people who he likes very much, and Li Yuanhong is one of them.

Li Yuanhong returned to Hubei after a 20-year absence, and when he left, his family was almost like fleeing the famine, and when he came back, it was not what it used to be.

After Zhang Zhidong returned to Hubei, he continued to organize and train the new army, and Li Yuanhong became his senior staff member and right-hand man. He was first sent by Zhang Zhidong to the artillery factory to supervise the production of fast guns. Later, he was assigned to be responsible for the formation and training of the Hubei New Army.

Zhang Zhidong brought a battalion of the self-improvement army trained in Nanjing back to Hubei as a guard. After returning to Hubei, on the basis of this battalion, it was expanded into two battalions and one engineering outpost, and the army battalion in Wuchang was formed.

Zhang Biao served as the front battalion manager of the guards, and Li Yuanhong served as the rear battalion helpers of the guards. In terms of position, he seems to be a deputy battalion commander, but in fact it is much bigger, because this is a special unit.

It was on the basis of this army that the Hubei New Army was developed. After repeated expansion, by 1902, Hubei already had a new army, two banners on the left and right of the protective army, eight battalions of the infantry team, one battalion of the artillery team, and one battalion of the engineering team. The second banner of the Wujian Army, the eighth battalion of the infantry team, the fourth battalion of the Wukai Army infantry team, and the fourth battalion of the armed defense army infantry team. There are also four battalions of the Infantry Brigade of the Escort Railway, with nearly 10,000 officers and soldiers.

Except for the Wujian battalion, which was transferred to Guangxi by the Qing court, the remaining 7,000 people formed the foundation of the Hubei New Army. In Zhang Zhidong's view, this contingent of more than 7,000 people cannot be regarded as a new army in the true sense, but it is only imitating the new army in terms of establishment, and there is still a long way to go from the standard of the new army in terms of quality in all aspects.

Zhang Zhidong was immersed in Confucianism all his life, wrote prolifically, and regarded the Confucian ideal of "self-cultivation and unity of the family to govern the country and level the world" as a lifelong political ambition. He is not blindly chasing power like Yuan Shikai, but pays more attention to "seeking prosperity and strength for the country". For this reason, in the face of the "world changes" of internal and external difficulties, he had no choice but to "exhaust his pillars" in order to support the two lakes for the Qing Dynasty in the stormy situation, and to build the new military camp in Hubei into an armed force to defend the country against insults and self-reliance.

The difference between the old and the new sources of soldiers will inevitably affect the intrinsic quality of soldiers. The old army "is a rabble, comes and goes inconsistently", "the inside and the outside are uncertain, and it is difficult to distinguish between the good and the bad", and "the accumulation of habits and disadvantages will lead to a fatal situation." The "new army" reorganized from this will inevitably carry a strong old army habit.

Zhang Zhidong also tried to reorganize the old army at first, but after discovering that the middle battalion of the Protector Army, which was reorganized from the left battalion of Wu Kai, "did not see any improvement in training", he "ordered the whole bank to be abolished". From then on, he basically gave up the reorganization of the old army and concentrated on "recruiting another strong".

When recruiting recruits, in addition to requiring physical fitness, it is stipulated that they must report their home address, protect their neighbors, and refuse to accept "those who are restless and have committed crimes". Most of the recruits recruited in this way must be simple and strong young people. That is to say, compared with the Beiyang New Army, which was semi-reorganized from the old army, the Hubei New Army, which was basically composed of new soldiers, had "relatively simple soldiers, few prejudices and no habits".

Zhang Zhidong's training focused on loyalty to the monarch, patriotism, self-improvement and resistance to insults. This is most directly and fully reflected in the "military songs" that he personally wrote and asked the soldiers to read and recite by heart. On the one hand, the military song devotes a lot of space to praising the "deep benevolence and benevolence" of the Qing Dynasty, and requires the soldiers to "be determined to repay the king's kindness".

On the one hand, in connection with the historical examples of the rise and fall of China and foreign countries, he repeatedly stated the necessity of "self-improvement": "China's weak culture and foreigners laugh at shame, if we don't carve up the country, how can we escape?" Please say that India's territory is not small, and you cannot get out of prison as a slave or a horse. , please say that Japan is only three islands, and the world respects and praises the power of the world. I don't envy Japan for making good use of ships and cannons, but I only envy the hearts of the people of the whole country. There are 400 trillion people of the same species in our country, why is it difficult to be angry and show off the dragon for the hero? If you want to protect the country, you must have elite soldiers", "the same kind of consolidation is difficult for outsiders to shake".

The lyrics are thought-provoking and show the good intentions of the songwriter.

Under Zhang Zhidong's earnest teaching, the ideology of the Hubei New Army has made much progress compared with that of the Beiyang New Army.