The "small house" is actually a suite, divided into the inside and outside, between the inside and outside, the passage is tortuous, so the structure is to ensure that the servants outside the door of the "small house" cannot hear the conversation inside, King Gong and Bao Jun, are now in the room.

However, this also brings a problem: if there is an urgent report, the sound of knocking on the door may not be heard clearly by the people inside; In addition, if King Gong wanted to give any orders, he had to walk through the passage, go to the outer room, and open the door before he spoke, which was very inconvenient.

So, he installed a bell on the outside, and the bell pulled two strings, one line extended to the inside, and the other line extended to the outside of the door.

Vice versa.

When King Gong stayed in the "small house", if there was no emergency, the family was not allowed to disturb him, and now that the bell is ringing, there must be something urgent to report.

King Gong stood up: "Pei Yu, you sit down first, and I'll take a look." ”

After a while, King Gong returned to the inner room and frowned slightly: "The seventh is here, and now the study is waiting, this ......"

In the middle of the night, King Alcohol came to visit, there must be something very important, Gong and Alcohol are brothers, even if King Gong has rested, he can't not see him. In addition, there is no need to be well-dressed, even if you talk in front of the bed, there is nothing wrong with it - anyway, it is a brother, plainclothes and shirtless, and it is not a slow guest.

Bao Jun next, there is a lot of things to say, so halfway, it's really unpleasant, but I can't help but ask King Gong to see King Alcohol, so I have to say: "In this case, Sixth Master, you can go to see Seventh Master first, I'll ...... Uh......"

In normal times, if this is the case, as a visitor with a lower status. It's time to say goodbye, leave the master's time for the high-status visitor, and if there is anything you haven't said here, I'll talk about it tomorrow.

But. Now is not "usual", who knows what will become of the little emperor's condition tomorrow? King Gong has already moved, not to strike while the iron is hot, to say everything and thoroughly, and then to make relevant plans, the situation is changing rapidly, and it may delay things!

King Gong knew what he meant. said: "You tonight, if you don't have anything else, just wait here in the 'little house', the drinks, snacks, and fruits are ready-made, you drink slowly, I guess...... It shouldn't take long. ”

Bao Jun's heart was relieved and said, "Okay." Sixth Master, I'll be waiting for you here. You don't have to worry, I don't have anything else to do. ”

King Gong smiled and said, "I'm even more idle, at most...... Tonight, let's talk all night! ”

Bao Jun was very excited and said, "Okay. Burning incense on the moon, meeting at night, honest and happy! ”

As soon as King Gong entered the study, he saw King Alcohol sitting there, holding a tea bowl in his hand. But he didn't send it to his mouth. He lowered his head slightly, kept blinking his little eyes, obviously turning some thoughts, and was in a trance, not only did he not think of the tea bowl in his hand, but he didn't even hear the footsteps of King Gong.

King Gong called "Lao Qi", and King Alcohol woke up, hurriedly put down the tea bowl, and was careless, and almost knocked it over. Then he stood up, rushed forward, and said "Say hello to the sixth brother" while beating Qian'er.

"Yes," said King Gong, "what are you doing with these at night?" Sit down. ”

Although King Gong said so, the banner people have always valued the most etiquette, and even more so between relatives and nobles, King Alcohol still meticulously asked for peace before sitting down.

"Sixth brother," King Alcohol swallowed, "There is a matter, I have thought about it again and again, I still have to come over and discuss with you." ”

King Gong thought to himself, wouldn't it still be a matter of "discussing the heir of the emperor"?

He wanted to say, "Now that I have retired to the domain, don't tell me about the government, and I can't make random ideas."

can think about it, "discussing the heir of the emperor" is not only a "state affair", but also a "family affair", and his own identity cannot be escaped. In addition, Bao Jun has been lobbying for half a night, and his mentality towards this matter has changed considerably, not to mention that now it is both night and in the private residence, and the brothers are facing each other, so it is difficult to say anything high-sounding and rejected, so he sighed slightly and said, "You say." ”

King Alcohol didn't know why King Gong sighed, he was already nervous, and now he was getting more and more nervous, but the words were on his lips, and he couldn't help but say it.

"Sixth brother, I think, I think, I think-"

The alcohol king said "I think" a few times, and his face turned slightly red, before he finally spoke: "Well, the matter of the Shenji Camp must be a little ...... Special measures. ”

Hey? Is this the thing?

Do you finally feel that your mission to the Divine Machine Battalion is not quite the right way?

King Gong was quite surprised, I don't know why King Alcohol came to talk to him about the mission of the Shenji Battalion? However, it's always good to sense that there is a problem and want to make a difference, so I nodded with satisfaction and said, "Okay, I support this matter, maybe... Maybe you can make some suggestions, well, Shenji Battalion, how are you going to change it? ”

The Divine Machine Battalion is a strange existence.

British and French prisoners, Wenzong went hunting, and stayed in Beijing to handle the Fu Bureau, King Gong and Wen Xiang, who felt that swords and spears were aimed at foreign guns and cannons, just like a child was to a barbarian, and he was in vain; Seeing that the decay of the flag camp and the green camp is unusable, Ping Hongyang and Ping Twist Zi all rely on the brave battalions raised by themselves from all over the country, and the long generals will be in the past, and the imperial court will be replaced by force, and the power will gradually fall into the hands of local governors, shaking the country's foundation, and the consequences are unimaginable.

Therefore, at that time, the two of them had the idea of creating a new army using foreign guns and cannons.

After the coup d'état of Xinyou, the power was in hand, and King Gong and Wenxiang immediately put this idea into practice, which was the Shenji Battalion.

The establishment of the Shenji Battalion adheres to two principles: first, all foreign guns and cannons; Second, from officers to soldiers, all flag men are used.

Therefore, if only in terms of weapons and equipment, the Shenji Battalion was the first "new army" in late Qing China, and the Xuanjun had to go to the back.

However, apart from the guns, the internal structure and system of the Shenji Battalion are not substantially different from those of other flag battalions.

Therefore, in the bones, the Shenji Battalion is still an old-style army.

However, the old army does not necessarily mean that it is not capable of fighting, it all depends on how the leader manages it.

The soldiers of the Shenji Battalion were selected from the original Praetorian Guard armies of the Eight Banners, including the vanguards, the guards, the infantry troops, the firearms, and the elite of the Jianrui Battalions, and the 25 battalions of horses and infantry were under the jurisdiction of the 25 battalions of horses and infantry, nominally, led by Prince Gong, the prince of the council at that time; The person who "manages the camp", that is, the actual person in charge, is Wenxiang.

Whether in the original time and space or in this time and space, the Shenji Battalion is a joke after people's tea and dinner, but most people don't know that the Shenji Battalion at the beginning of the grass, that is, the Shenji Battalion during the period when Wenxiang led the army, was not the virtue that came later, and it was still quite combative.

In the autumn of the first year of Tongzhi, the horse thief entered the Xifeng Pass and threatened Dongling, Wen Xiang personally led the Shenji battalion to protect Dongling, and supervised the army to suppress it. He took the Shenji battalion, won more than a dozen battles, drove the horse thieves out of the customs all the way, and finally, with the assistance of the Mongolian princes of the Eastern Three Leagues, he broke the horse thieves in Tianjingzi, Jinzhou, and captured more than 3,000.

This victory is a big victory that the "flag camp" has not had for many years, and the opponent is still known for being a horse thief outside the Guanwai, who is known for being fierce and frequent, and the people are excited for a while, and the two palaces, King Gong and Wen Xiang themselves all think that the Shenji Camp is on the right track.

However, the good times were short-lived.

The turning point happened when King Alcohol took over the Shenji Battalion.

There are several reasons why the Shenji Camp will be transferred to the alcohol king to "manage the camp affairs":

First, the alcohol king has coveted the Shenji camp for a long time, he proclaims himself a "good martial arts" and "knowing the soldiers", and he is quite interested in making a big difference in the military, among the guards, the Shenji camp is the most eye-catching, the alcohol king has long wanted to pick this peach, more than once, in front of his sixth brother, openly and secretly, begging for this messenger.

Second, since the alcohol king has this intention, Wenxiang pushed the boat down the river.

On the one hand, as the most important assistant to King Gong in governing the country, he is even busier than King Gong himself, and he can't wait to use it for thirteen hours a day to "manage the affairs of the Shenji Battalion", and he is indeed lacking in skills; On the other hand, the Shenji Battalion is the most important forbidden army, and for the sake of avoiding suspicion, Wen Xiang also thinks that this force is still in the hands of relatives and nobles, and they can rest assured of each other.

Third, Cixi intends to cultivate her brother-in-law, and King Gong is indispensable, anyway, King Alcohol is her own brother. In addition, at that time, King Gong still had certain illusions about King Alcohol - maybe, we love the Xinjue Luo family, and today we can really produce a prince who can lead troops and fight!

As a result, King Alcohol "wears the seal key of the Shenji Battalion" - this is not only Wenxiang's "management of the camp", but actually replaces the role of King Gong, who is nominally in charge of the Shenji Battalion.

Alright, the Shenji Camp is starting to get lively.

Among the Praetorian Guards, the Shenji Battalion is the most well-equipped, the most abundant money and food, and it is under the control of the emperor's own uncle. As for the alcohol king, almost no one refused, and the scale of the Shenji Battalion expanded rapidly, from 14,000 people at the beginning of the grass creation to more than 30,000 people, more than doubled.

This is not just a young and good face of King Alcohol, but it is just a human face, in fact, he uses the Shenji Camp as a "territory" to develop and expand his own power, and he thinks that recruiting talents, the more the merrier.

The question is, where did so many "virtuous" come from? Where did so many "taxis" come from?

The original 14,000 soldiers of the Shenji Battalion sounded good, but they were selected from the "best of the best" of the Eight Banner Praetorian Guard armies, in fact, the Praetorian Guard armies at that time, such as the vanguard, the escort army, the infantry army, firearms, Jianrui and the like, were all corrupt, can there be geometric elite? It's just that he is the tallest of the shorts, and it all depends on Wenxiang's strict management, restraint and training, coupled with more advanced weapons, to be able to form a certain combat effectiveness.

Wen Xiang let go of his hand, the Shenji Battalion was originally going to "rebound", where could he still stop the big gang of alcohol king Xin Zhang Luo coming in?

The most important thing is that the number of ways that King Alcohol led his troops was completely down, compared to Wen Xiang.

*(To be continued.) )