From a bird's-eye view, the three towns of Hankou, Wuchang and Hanyang stand across the river. The Yangtze River flowed through the city without hesitation, rowing Wuchang alone on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

With a long whistle, a train spewed a string of white steam into Hankou Dazhimen Station.

Tang Shaoyi, the Qing court's special envoy for peace talks, arrived in Hankou on the 21st of October in the year of Xinhai and got off at the Dazhimen Railway Station.

Tang was accompanied by dozens of attachés and Morrison, the commissioner of the London Times in Beijing.

In order to welcome Tang Shaoyi, Feng Guozhang moved the barracks of the former enemy headquarters from the comfort of Liu Yuan to Dazhimen Station.

Three cannons rang out in front of the gate, which shook the crows that were already nearby, and hovered in the cold winter sky for a while. Hearing that the ambassador and the envoy had arrived, Feng Guozhang led more than 1,000 officials to greet him from Yimen, and the British consul, British captain, and British militia chief were all welcomed at the station. At this time, the commander of the Qing army was still Feng Guozhang, although Feng Guozhang was ordered to return to the north, but Duan Qirui, who replaced him, was being dragged by Li Xiang in Xiaogan and had not yet arrived in Hankou to take office.

I saw Tang Shaoyi wearing a hard-collared suit, a doctor's hat, and a pair of bright leather shoes under his feet, walking in leisurely, with a special foreign temperament, elegant and graceful, without the slightest officialdom, looking very close and kind, just in his identity as the ambassador of the Qing Dynasty, he looked very awkward.

Since Feng Guozhang was detailed, after Beiyang General Zuo saw Tang Shaoyi, a leftist, his face was wonderful, and even the foreigners Ge Fu and Pan En shook their heads again and again. Although Tang Shaoyi was Yuan Shikai's comrade-in-arms in the Joseon Dynasty, they really couldn't see which play Tang Shaoyi was playing?

"Lord-sama!" Feng Guozhang said, "Mark Feng Guozhang............" Feng Guozhang sang his resume and was about to kneel.

"It's not the Chincha, it's the ambassador of the National Assembly." Tang Shaoyi hurriedly helped Feng Guozhang, and said with a smile, "You Feng Huafu fired a cannon and opened the middle door, but I don't dare to be it!" ”

The two exchanged pleasantries, and Feng Guozhang introduced the generals in the hall one by one. Tang Shaoyi didn't know anyone, so he had to smile and nod, and when he was introduced to the British Consul in Hankow, Gofo, and the president of the International Chamber of Commerce, Pan En, his eyes flashed, and he said with a smile: "Oh! It turned out to be two gentlemen, and it was not easy for the two gentlemen to mediate the peace between the north and the south! Come, come, let's sit together! ”

The English gentleman nodded reservedly, and sat down in his Chinese robes. Although he is a foreigner, he is very unhappy with Tang Shaoyi's foreign dress. If it hadn't been for Pan's advice to "don't be rash," he wouldn't have come at all. Seeing Feng Guozhang welcoming Tang Shaoyi like a dog, in comparison, he was a little less enthusiastic about him, and his heart was even worse. The peace talks between the north and the south, and Yuan Shikai elected such a person, the future is not good...... Gofo looked at Pan En in the next seat, who sat quietly, playing with a blue and white porcelain wine glass in his hand, silent.

Tang Shaoyi is such an alert and intelligent person, he has already seen it, and he only grinned and talked around with everyone.

The feast was not abundant. The generals did not pay attention to "not getting tired of eating fine, and not getting tired of being fine" -- as long as the wine was strong and the meat was fat. Feng Guozhang said a few words about the scene, and the military academy at the first few tables shouted and shouted, and the hall was immediately chaotic and noisy.

Tang Shaoyi is a returnee from abroad, and the peace mission is also a famous family, like Ge Fu and other foreign adults, he is not used to this kind of rough environment, he only looks at it coldly, picks light dishes and uses a little bit, while talking to Feng Guozhang. Unexpectedly, when the wine was being eaten, Chen Zisheng picked up a long piece of meat from the plate and asked Li Lianfen: "Lao Li, what kind of play is this?" ”

When Tang Shaoyi saw it, she almost vomited on the spot, it turned out to be a dead earthworm!

Li Lianfen's face immediately swelled like pig's liver, and the muscles on his left cheek twitched violently. This person is not only very cruel in punishment, but also very cruel in his daily punishment, and he can kill the offender in court with just one stick, so he is nicknamed "Li Yiba". Chen Zisheng was already at odds with him, but today he was ugly in front of Tang Shaoyi, and his face couldn't hold it anymore, so he hurriedly ordered someone to pass the cook, and shouted: "Wait for the big stick!" ”

The guessing of the punch stopped. When the generals saw that Li Yistick was about to kill again, they saw the chef who was trembling all over his body and his face was like ashes bowing his head and coming in, some of them showed unbearable expressions, and some of them picked their teeth to look at the excitement. Tang Shaoyi got up and said, "Brother Li, everyone is happy together today, you have to save face for your brother and spare him!" ”

"That's what Lord Tang said." Feng Guozhang also hurriedly said, "We are all people who crawled out of the pile of dead people, Master Li has all tolerated it, are we poor and exquisite?" To tell you the truth, I've eaten dead flies and dead crickets......" Li Lianfen was deflated when she heard this, and pointed to the cook and scolded with a smile: "Nai, don't kowtow to Lord Tang soon!" ”

The matter was already over, but I ran into a prankster Yang Du, who was blushing drunk, and said to Feng Guozhang with his eyes and wine: "I don't believe in the words of the military commander, I am also an old military officer!" Don't you love my chrysanthemum very much? My brother wants to eat this earthworm, this horse, my brother will give it to you! As he spoke, he picked up the dead earthworm that was almost half a foot long and sent it to Feng Guozhang.

Tang Shaoyi felt that this was too much, and just said, "The hairy man has eaten too much wine...... but Feng Guozhang sandwiched the earthworm and swallowed it as soon as he stretched his neck. At this time, the room was full of people, some clapping, some laughing, some full of foul language, joking for fun, and some cheering, Tang Shaoyi only felt that his head was buzzing, and he couldn't hear a word.

"Feng Juntong is really capable!" Lord Yang Gefu finally couldn't help it. He drank a few cups of wine, and when he saw Feng Guozhang flattering Mingzhu so much, he was even more angry, and sneered: "If you bet on eating, you will swallow it like this?" ”

Beiyang gradually lost control in Hankou, and the foreigners began to be unscrupulous towards him. Tang Shaoyi saw that Feng Guozhang's face was so angry that he put down his chopsticks with a smile and said, "Let me persuade a few words: I look at Mr. Gefu, there is wine." This is just a gambling game, how can it be related to eating, people eat? Brother Wang, you don't have to mind. ”

It was obviously teasing, but he said that it was "persuasion", the dry firewood was already burning, and Tang Shaoyi poured a scoop of oil on his hand. Tang Shaoyi knows too much about foreigners, so she doesn't have any good feelings for them.

Hearing the "bang", Feng Guozhang was so angry that his facial features were not in place, and with a fist, he struck a fist, and the plates, bowls, cups, plates, cups, and bottles jumped high with a "bang". Feng Guozhang walked over, grabbed Ge Fu with his chest, and yelled at the big nose of the foreigner: "Aren't you just a foreigner? Others are afraid of you, but you are not afraid! What a fucking foreign adult, I think it's a foreign devil! ”

Tang Shaoyi smiled secretly in her heart, but she pretended to come over and grabbed Feng Guozhang and said: "What's the matter with you, this wine can't be eaten, come here, prepare a sedan chair!" "He walked away.

Tang Shaoyi and Yang Shiqi used the British militia in the British Concession as their dormitory and lived in various stacks.

After Tang Shaoyi arrived in Hankou, he originally hoped to meet with Li Yuanhong in the British concession, but the revolutionary army did not agree, so according to Chinese custom, the guests paid their respects, and at noon, Tang Shaoyi, accompanied by the British acting consul general and the British captain, crossed the river to Wuchang to weave the layout and meet with Li Yuanhong, the nominal leader of Wuchang.

When discussing the decision to meet with Li Yuanhong, General Representative Tang said: "We have a large number of people, so we don't have to go together. ”

"Li Yuanhong is already just a decoration in Wuchang......"

"What else can I get out of talking to him?"

The delegates immediately babbled about what they had just heard at the banquet.

Tang Shaoyi nodded and said, "I don't plan to talk to him about anything at all, just to meet...... Are you willing to stay here and wait for Madman Li to come back and talk to him? ”

The deputies immediately shook their heads like waves, and decided that Tang Shaoyi and several deputies would cross the river to meet Li Yuanhong.

After Tang Shaoyi went, his Guangdong countryman Feng Gengguang went alone to the enemy headquarters in front of Hankou Dazhimen Station to find Feng Guozhang.

Along the road, I saw that the northern army was completely annihilated in Wang Zhanyuan's department, looking depressed, always with a trace of panic, and there were always soldiers of the Beiyang Army in the streets and alleys singing a song with an extremely resentful tune and thick sadness......

Outside the long pavilion, by the ancient road......

The melody is full of soldiers' boredom of the journey, longing for their hometown relatives...... "Soldiers Thinking of Returning to ......" Feng Gengguang thought so, and at the same time he was very curious, who created the lyrics, and it had such a strong appeal?

Before I knew it, I arrived at Dazhimen Station, only to learn that after Feng Guozhang suddenly moved out of Liu Yuan, he set up his headquarters on the train parked at the station, which was very simple.

At the door of the carriage where the headquarters was located, human feces were piled up more than two feet high, and the smell came from the surface, Feng Gengguang couldn't get up, it was really unreasonable!

Feng Gengguang was a person who knew Tang Shaoyi's intentions, so when he saw Feng Guozhang, he didn't have time to talk about these idle things, and after a few words of greetings, Feng Gengguang asked: "How is the military situation?" ”

Feng Guozhang said with a smile: "I will send a staff officer to accompany you to the top of Hanyang Turtle Mountain, to appreciate the situation in Wuchang Snake Mountain, and we will talk about it when we come back, what do you think?" ”

Feng Gengguang said: "I think it's okay. ”

Feng Gengguang asked him to borrow a horse on his behalf, and together with a staff officer and two attachés, he went to the top of Hanyang Turtle Mountain with binoculars to look at Wuchang Snake Mountain.

It is the early winter weather, and I see the ruins and broken walls in Wuchang City, and the gravel is jammed, and the former downtown has become a ruin. There were no pedestrians on the road, and it was obvious that it was very empty. Then look at the vicinity of Snake Mountain, from the top to the foothills, only see a few wisps of smoke, desolate and silent, and there is no human figure.

A staff officer of Feng Gengguang's classmate pointed and said: "Look at the high and high posts in front, Li Yuanhong's army is hiding under the hillside behind that post, there are not many men and horses, and I don't see them appearing; Even in the case of the red boats, there is no one left on the south shore now, and we have all mobilized them to the north shore. ”

They watched for a long time, and then they still went back to the headquarters to see Feng Guozhang.

Feng Guozhang said: "You have seen it, after the defeat of the people's army, they have all scattered upstream, there are few people's troops in Wuchang, and our army has mobilized all the large and small red boats on both sides of the strait to the north bank, the Yangtze River can be crossed at any time, and Wuchang is at your fingertips." If you want to negotiate peace, I think it's best to let me recover Wuchang first, the three towns are in control, and then negotiate peace with their city, wouldn't it be a win! In this case, I have repeatedly telegraphed to the palace guard, but the palace guard has never agreed to this matter, what exactly it means, I really can't figure it out. Dude, do you know? ”

When Feng Gengguang left Beijing, although Yuan Shikai sang such words as "loyal to the monarch and patriotism, advocating a constitutional monarchy" and "if the unfortunate situation changes, he must sacrifice his life to report the situation", they expected that "Yuan Xiangcheng must overthrow the Qing dynasty", especially after talking with Tang Shaoyi in Cantonese on the train, they strengthened his belief.

But Feng Guozhang asked him at this time, but it was difficult for him to say to Feng Gengguang directly, what he was afraid of was the betrayal in front of the army, and the fault of "confusing the hearts of the people", so Feng Gengguang never dared to understand the point, so he had to tell him vaguely: "There are a lot of rumors in Beijing, and we don't have many of them, I'm afraid that the palace guard also has his heart, and he will understand it after a long time." ”

Feng Guozhang's expression was gloomy: "Is there anything else you don't understand...... The general trend has gone, Madman Li has gained power, the military supplies of the Jinghan Railway cannot be transported to Hubei, and it is difficult for the Beiyang Army to support it in Hubei, and the withdrawal of troops is a matter of the past few days......"

"Crazy Lee! He is the biggest victor in the Han Dynasty......" Feng Gengguang didn't know what to say......

(Sorry for the late update)

225 Stir the hearts of the people

225 Stir the hearts of the people, to the website