"Mr. Danchu, Huifu is not here, you know my writing, please write to Rong Hong, the general manager of Daye Iron Works, and ask him to take out some silver from the profits of the iron works, go to Jiujiang to buy back those captured long-haired women and children, and distribute them to the single miners of Daye to start a family. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info"

After listening to Wu Chaoyue's instructions, Yan Jingming, who was only invited by Wu Chaoyue to be transferred to the grain station of the Hubei General Department some time ago, rarely showed a smile and said: "The world says that Wu Futai wears blood-stained tops, and every red tassel on the official hat is congealed by long-haired blood, and I can't imagine that I can still have this kindness and benevolence. ”

"They are all raised by their parents and parents, and they can save a life." Wu Chaoyue sighed and said: "Most of them are also forced, the officials and soldiers are incompetent, and the long hair hits the door of the house, and it is still a dead end for them not to obey the thief." I'd rather be a peace dog than a troubled world. ”

nodded silently, agreeing with Wu Chaoyue's words from the bottom of his heart, Yan Jingming picked up the pen and wrote a letter to Rong Hong for Wu Chaoyue. When the letter was about to be written, Zhao Liewen, Wu Chaoyue's number one helper in internal affairs, also came to the room with a large number of official documents, and directly shouted: "Comfort Ting, bad news, someone wants to rob your business!" Mr. Yang sent a letter, saying that Luo Bingzhang had also sent a letter to Hu Linyi and Zeng Guoquan, asking the rest of the Hunan army to withdraw to Hunan for reorganization. ”

"Withdraw Hunan for reorganization?" Wu Chaoyue was surprised and asked, "Luo Bingzhang is still reluctant to give up the Hunan army?" Still want to rebuild the Hunan army? He can still get the money and grain to re-expand the Hunan army? ”

"Luo Futai can take it." Yan Jingming, who had just finished writing the letter, put down the brush and said: "Since August of the sixth year of Xianfeng, Luo Bingzhang has gotten rid of the burden of military salaries of the Hunan army, re-launched the tea levy, and also opened a new production area. ”

"This old immortal!" Wu Chaoyue was extremely depressed and cursed a dirty word in his stomach - if Luo Bingzhang really pulled the rest of the Hunan army back to Hunan, not to mention missing a bunch of talents in vain, the reorganized Hunan army would immediately become a sharp knife against his waist, and continue to threaten his own plan to raise troops against the Qing Dynasty.

After being depressed, Wu Chaoyue hurriedly asked Zhao Liewen again: "Huifu, what is the attitude of Zeng Guoquan and Hu Linyi?" Are you willing to accept my invitation and go back to Hubei for reorganization, or go back to your hometown in Hunan? ”

"The attitude is ambiguous, and I don't take a stand."

Zhao Liewen shrugged his shoulders and handed the letter from Yang Wending that had just been delivered to Wu Chaoyue, Wu Chaoyue took it and read it, seeing that Yang Wending did say that Hu Linyi and the others had not yet expressed whether they would accept their solicitation, a thin face suddenly stretched longer than a donkey, knowing that his plan to absorb the remnants of the Hunan army could not be as easy as planned.

At this time, Yan Jingming, who had just come to work as a cow and a horse for Wu Chaoyue for a few days, heard the clue, so he asked curiously: "Wu Futai, Mr. Huifu, listen to your tone, did you plan to incorporate the remnants of the Hunan army a long time ago?" ”

Zhao Liewen nodded and replied: "Weiting has always believed that the Hunan army has not had a good record in the past two years, and it is not a mistake in the war, but it is just bad luck, and those civilian and military generals under the command of Zeng Butang are also rare talents who have been used in the world, so after Zeng Butang was martyred this time, Weiting immediately wanted the rest of the Hunan army to be recruited to listen to it." ”

"I see." Yan Jingming nodded, and after a little calculation, Yan Jingming immediately said: "Wu Futai, with all due respect, if you want to incorporate all the remnants of the Hunan army under your command, it is impossible, you can't compete with Luo Futai." ”

Wu Chaoyue looked at Yan Jingming's ugly face in confusion, and Yan Jingming replied: "If Lord Futai wants to ask the reason, there are two answers, one is age and seniority, and the other is the township party. ”

"The problem of age and qualifications, Wu Futai, you can't solve it, Liu Rong, Guo Songtao, Hu Linyi, Zeng Guoquan, Li Xubin and Yang Yuebin under Zeng Guofan, those people are not more than ten or twenty years older than you, many of them are still your elders, it is naturally difficult for them to pull down their faces and bow down to you, the young Shangguan and juniors. And Luo Futai is over sixty years old, and he has the upper hand on you in this regard. ”

"The problem of the township party is more difficult to solve, and the people used by Zeng Butang are all fellow villagers in Hunan, who are in a group up and down, and have strong cohesion. Although Luo Futai is not from Hunan, he attaches the most importance to the promotion and appointment of Hunan locals, and the leaders of the regimental training under his command are all local generals in Hunan, and they provide food and salary, and never complain. Under the imperceptibility, of course, the people of the Hunan army were more willing to return to Hunan to regroup, and with the support of Luo Futai, they continued to make a comeback as a township party. - In doing so, it will be easier for the people of the Hunan army to rise again. ”

After listening to Yan Jingming's analysis and judgment with a sad face, Wu Chaoyue asked extremely depressed for a while: "So, I can't keep them?" ”

"Of course it's impossible to keep them all." Yan Jingming replied with a smile: "But if you want to keep some of it, it's not hopeless. ”

"But Wu Futai, the lower officials think that if you want to leave some of the remnants of the Hunan army, it is best not to use any means such as money and beauties to buy the remnants of the Hunan army, which can not be used to attract real talents, and it is not reliable at all. Because if you keep them with silver beauties today, tomorrow someone else will offer double the price, and they may abandon you. ”

"Mr. Danchu, what should I do then?" Wu Chaoyue hurriedly asked.

"It's very simple, just let them know that following you will be more beneficial to their career in the future."

Yan Jingming replied with a smile, and said: "Wu Futai, the previous officials only said that you are inferior in terms of age and qualifications and the Hunan Township Party, but did not say that you have two major advantages over Luo Futai, one is that you are young and have a great future, and you have more hope of getting a promotion opportunity if you follow you." The second is that you don't need the township party, only the talent moves, and the people in the Hunan army can worry about the future. ”

"Xiaguan is a living example, to put it mildly, the reason why Xiaguan took the initiative to ask Lord Futai for you to transfer me to Hubei to serve, in addition to admiring your character, a more important reason is that you don't need the township party, only talent, and the military under your command comes from all over the world, all over the world, and does not deliberately reuse your Guangdong fellow countrymen, which is most suitable for Xiaguan This kind of official who has no way to rely on has no background. Therefore, Lord Futai, as long as you let everyone in the Hunan army understand this truth, you will not worry that the Hunan army will not have the intention of taking refuge in you. ”

Wu Chaoyue smiled and smiled at Yan Jingming: "Mr. Danchu took the initiative to vote, and I have one more right-hand man." ”

…………

It's time to take a look at the situation on the remnants of the Hunan army, after the Jiujiang battle situation was basically stabilized and the confrontation across the lake, when they received solicitation letters from Wu Chaoyue and Luo Bingzhang, the generals of the Hunan army also got together twice to discuss how to deal with it. It is a pity that although they are very grateful to Wu Chaoyue for his support to the Hunan army in the past two years, as well as to repay the grievances of the Hunan army with virtue, the civil and military forces of the Hunan army are still not very interested in defecting to Wu Chaoyue collectively.

There is no other reason, except that he can't pull his face to listen to the call of Wu Chaoyue, a junior, he has been accustomed to building an army with fellow villagers, fellow clans and clans as a link, and the civil and military forces of the Hunan army have subconsciously found it difficult to accept being incorporated and subordinate by a person from another province, and they are even more unwilling to lose their autonomy and work hard for others to earn credit.

Although Luo Bingzhang is also a Cantonese person, he has always attached importance to important Hunan people, giving money and food and giving Hunan regiment training autonomy, only giving command in the general direction and never asking about details, whether it is the Hunan army or Chu Yong, once they leave the province, they can fight independently, and the merits and spoils obtained are basically distributed by Chu Yong of the Hunan army, and Luo Bingzhang never interferes. At the same time, Hunan is also the only source of grassroots soldiers of the Hunan army, so whether it is emotionally or from personal interests, the Hunan army is more willing to return to Hunan to make a comeback, rather than to join Wu Chaoyue, who has strict control over the army.

The top and bottom were all thinking about this, even if no one was embarrassed to come forward to refuse Wu Chaoyue's invitation, the two meetings still did not discuss any results, and finally Liu Rong proposed: "Otherwise, let's go back to Hubei Province first, and when we get there, we will see what Wu Futai is planning to do, and also ask the attitude of our subordinates, and then make a decision." ”

Hearing this, the eyes of everyone in the Hunan army lit up, and they knew very well that after several major defeats, the Hunan soldiers who had been away from their hometown for a long time had long been homesick and wanted to go home to rest as soon as possible, and they were definitely unwilling to continue to stay in Hubei as soldiers. When the time came, Wu Chaoyue was prevaricated with the excuse that the soldiers refused to comply, and Wu Chaoyue had nothing to say. At that moment, Hu Linyi, Zeng Guoquan and the others immediately nodded their heads again and again, and said: "It's still Mr. Meng Rong's idea, go back to Hubei Province first, and then discuss with our soldiers whether to go back to Hunan or stay in Hubei." ”

In this way, with the intention of actually wanting to return to Hunan, eating Wu Chaoyue's food, and spending Wu Chaoyue's travel expenses, the Hunan army went on the road with the intention of returning to the Hubei provincial capital to rest. When parting, Wu Chaoyue's white-gloved Yang Wending in Jiangxi personally went to the dock to see him off, and did not persuade Hu Linyi, Zeng Guoquan and others to accept the solicitation of his grandson-in-law, but said to Hu Linyi and others: "Everyone, my grandson-in-law sent a letter saying that when you pass through Xiangyuankou on the way back, you must go to Daye, he has sent someone there to prepare to welcome you, and there are still some things I want you to know." ”

I don't understand Wu Chaoyue's intention, but there are too many favors owed to Wu Chaoyue, and when he returned to Xiangyuan Pass by boat, the leaders of the Hunan army obediently let the fleet turn into Xiangyuan Lake, and rushed to the increasingly prosperous Daye Wharf to dock, and met with Shao Yanhong, the right-hand man sent by Wu Chaoyue, on the Daye Wharf.

What puzzled the leaders of the Hunan army was that Shao Yanhong did not greet them with great fanfare, even the dinner party that received them was very simple, and there was nothing to be desired except for wine and meat. Shao Yanhong also saw the doubts of the leader of the Hunan army, so he smiled and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm really sorry, dinner is a bit simple. But you probably don't know, although our Wu Futai family is definitely rich in the world, but his daily diet is actually simpler than this, long hair is rampant, the world is in chaos, Wu Futai He doesn't dare to spend money indiscriminately, he can only use it to give priority to the army. ”

Remembering that when he joined forces with Wu Chaoyue in the past, Wu Chaoyue was indeed drinking and eating with ordinary soldiers, and the leaders of the Hunan army were relieved and hurriedly expressed their modesty. Then Hu Linyi asked curiously: "Mr. Shao, what is Wu Futai asking us to come to Daye for?" ”

"I would like to invite you to visit Daye Iron Works and Daye Gun Bureau." Shao Yanhong replied truthfully: "Lord Futai, he said that he wants you to see the real strength of the Hubei New Army, and know why the Hubei New Army can taste defeat on the battlefield and why it is feared like a tiger by Long Hairy. ”

While looking at each other, even if there were some suspicions that Wu Chaoyue was deliberately showing off, the interest of the leaders of the Hunan army was successfully aroused by Shao Yanhong, so early the next morning, under the guidance of Shao Yanhong, everyone in the Hunan army stepped into the Daye Iron Works with great curiosity and curiosity.

In the Daye Iron Works, the first thing the leaders of the Hunan army saw were the British iron-making furnace Pudlin Furnace that Wu Chaoyue had purchased with a lot of money, as well as the two new furnaces that Daye Iron Works had imitated themselves. When they learned that the monthly wrought iron output of these three iron-making furnaces exceeded the wrought iron output of Hunan in a year, the leaders of the Hunan army all opened their mouths and screamed in surprise, and Shao Yanhong said lightly: "This is nothing, if we want, we can build a few more such iron-making furnaces at any time and double the output." ”

"Mr. Shao, then why don't you build more?" Liu Rong asked curiously.

"Wait for a better steelmaking furnace." Shao Yanhong replied: "In Kent, England, there is a foreigner named Tolly who invented a new steel-making furnace that can directly smelt iron ore into molten steel. Wu Futai has already entrusted a foreigner friend to buy this kind of steel-making furnace with a lot of money, and we are also trying to develop it ourselves, once it is successful, we will no longer use wrought iron for guns in the future, and all will use steel. ”

When I saw the huge hammer driven by the steam, the impact of large pieces of red-hot iron embryos, even without Shao Yanhong's explanation, the leaders of the Hunan army also knew the mystery, and even knew why the Wu army's artillery and muskets were so numerous - the disparity in output was too great.

In the Daye Gun Bureau, the Hunan Army Buns saw metal processing lathes for the first time, saw with their own eyes all the links where a piece of wrought iron turned into an iron bar and then into a barrel, and also saw how to carve rifling into the barrel of the gun, and how to produce their coveted high-fire rate firing guns, Mini guns and Colt revolvers—although the output was not high, it was enough to make the eyes of the Hunan Army Buns red.

In order to keep it secret, of course, Shao Yanhong did not lead the Xiangjun Tubaozi to visit the picric acid production line and Wu Jun's most secret weapon development laboratory, but only told the Xiangjun Tubaozi what was in those buildings. In the end, in the evening, Shao Yanhong invited a large group of Cantonese technicians represented by Rong Hong to lead them to dinner with the Hunan army buns. During the banquet, Shao Yanhong took the initiative to raise the issue of the township party again, pointing to the group of technicians who spoke in Cantonese and smiled at the Xiangjun: "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know if you have found this detail?" The technicians here in Daye Iron Works are almost all our Guangdong villagers from Wu Futai, do you know why Wu Futai didn't let these fellow villagers let their horses lead the troops? Riding the battlefield? ”

The Xiangjun Tubaozi all shook their heads, and almost all of them were curious to ask the reason, and Shao Yanhong asked the Xiangjun Tubaozi to ask the Guangdong technicians himself. As a result, under the curious questioning of Hu Linyi and others, a Guangdong technician replied in a half-baked official dialect: "Of course, we didn't think about leading troops to fight and being promoted and rewarded, but Wu Futai didn't agree, he said that we don't understand military affairs, and we can't play much role on the battlefield." Only by doing a good job in industry in Daye Iron Works and giving full play to our strengths in Western studies can we play a greater role in Hubei and China. ”

was able to get the reputation of not being an army without Hunan at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, of course, everyone in the Hunan army had a good IQ, and they all vaguely guessed the real reason why Shao Yanhong deliberately brought up this topic. And Rong Hong, who knew Wu Chaoyue's purpose, also stood up, and smiled at the people of the Xiang army: "I also know a little bit about Western military affairs, but Wu Futai, who was born in the same county as me, still does not agree to let me lead troops to fight, saying that I can't change anything when I go to the battlefield alone, and ask me to help him establish a military academy, teach students advanced Western tactics and advanced weapons, and train more army generals who understand modern military affairs for China, and everyone will work together to change the situation that the Chinese army is inferior to the foreign army." ”

"Fortunately, the establishment of a military academy in China is also one of the purposes of my return from Citigroup, the Hankou martial arts academy has been established, the textbooks are written by me and foreigners, and I also go there every once in a while to take classes, Wu Futai is also a volunteer teacher there, as long as he is free, he will personally go to the military academy to teach the reserve officers there. If you are interested, you can also visit Hankow when you arrive. ”

Silently ending the dinner, accompanied by Shao Yanhong, the Hunan army fleet set sail again and returned to the Hubei provincial capital, and when they arrived in Hankou, they saw the steam gunboats of the Wu army's naval division galloping like the wind on the river. Guo Songtao, who had been silent on the road, was the first to speak, and said to Hu Linyi, Zeng Guoquan and others: "I won't go back to Hunan, I want to stay in Hubei." ”

"Yun Xian, have you made up your mind?" Hu Linyi, who was also silent on the road, asked.

"It's decided." Guo Songtao nodded solemnly and said: "Back to Hunan, we can make a comeback and build the Hunan army again, but you have also seen the current situation, Wu Futai here no matter guns, money and food, and the army, have already thrown off more than eight streets in our heyday, even if we return to Hunan to rebuild the Hunan army, we will never have a chance to catch up with Wu Futai's Hubei New Army, we will only be thrown farther and farther away by them, and there will never be a day!" ”

"And." Guo Songtao said with a serious expression: "Wu Futai is a meritocracy, employs people in a good way, does not engage in cronyism, his right-hand men are almost all not his Guangdong countrymen, I think Wu Futai's approach is more correct than Zeng Butang's method." Broad-minded and broader. ”

No one accused Guo Songtao of being disrespectful to Zeng Guofan, on the contrary, the leaders of the Hunan army still had different expressions and began to think about whether they should accept Wu Chaoyue's solicitation again. (To be continued.) )