After discussing all the details of the march, Chang Zhenbang returned to Hangzhou County again, Chen Guangyuan went out of the city to greet him, when he learned that all the arrangements were in place on the road, his face leaked a long-lost smile, this smile came from the heart, no matter how he suppressed it, he couldn't close it, and the officials in the Overseer's Mansion saw it, and they all went up to say goodbye, so that Chen Guangyuan was confused by the second monk at first, and he was stunned in a cold sweat, thinking that if these people knew Chang Zhenbang's intention, wouldn't he be revealing his calculations about Lu Yongxiang? With Lu Yongxiang's spy in the Overseer's Mansion and his action, he could blast himself out of Zhejiang in less than three days, thinking of this aspect of his face just now he was still full of red light suddenly turned into ashes, and slowly looked at Chang Zhenbang, Chang Zhenbang said very calmly to those happy officials: "What is the happy event, the adults have heat stroke, why don't you prepare cold water herbal tea, so you can wait!" ”

As soon as he heard the word heat stroke, the officials and stewards in the Overseer's Mansion hurriedly brought this kind of thing for a while, Chen Guangyuan also sat at the table, picked up the herbal tea and drank it, and after his gray face gradually faded, he slowly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Go down...... Go down and boil some mung bean soup or something to bring to the brothers of the 12th Division, on such a hot day, they have worked hard, hard. When even if there were officials of the 12th Beiyang Division who flattered them and loved the people like sons and soldiers like brothers, Chen Guangyuan smiled slightly and said with a wry smile: "Don't talk about these useless things, Brother Zhenbang quickly help me go back to the room." Chang Zhenbang hurriedly grabbed Chen Guangyuan's arm, and he didn't know if he was pulling Chen Guangyuan, or Chen Guangyuan was pulling him, and the two of them quickly entered Chen Guangyuan's bedroom at a speed that didn't look like they were helping the patient.

After Chen Guangyuan and Chang Zhenbang entered the house, they blasted out the surrounding maids in the name of overseers suffering from heat stroke and needing to recuperate. Don't close any doors and windows. Chen Guangyuan said: "The wall has ears, and the window has eyes, so it is still not appropriate for outsiders to hear what you and my brothers are discussing." Chang Zhenbang said: "It's all some miscellaneous things, instead of aggravating my brother's condition, why don't you let these subordinates chew the root of their tongues?" ”

Chen Guangyuan couldn't help but glance at Chang Zhenbang with some confusion, Chang Zhenbang lowered his voice and said: "We want to deal with Lu Yongxiang, Lu Yongxiang may not be unclear, and closing the doors and windows made him nervous, made him jump off the wall in a hurry, and drove the old brother out in advance, it is better to be frank and let him relax, this side is like fishing, as long as the fish is not surprised, sooner or later he will be hooked!" Chen Guangyuan nodded, and also lowered his voice and said: "Brother Gaoming, foolish brother is ashamed, since Brother Li has already agreed, I don't know when to act." ”

Chang Zhenbang said: "Red! ”

"Red?" Chen Guangyuan said a little confused.

Chang Zhenbang nodded and said, "Red!" ”

"Is this ......," Chen Guangyuan asked suspiciously.

Chang Zhenbang said with a smile: "This is the content of a telegram that someone will send to my brother in two days, it has no meaning, it is just a signal for the Jiangsu army to enter Shanghai, and my brother should not miss the show." ”

Chen Guangyuan nodded, lowered his voice and said, "When will the red come?" It's probably how long it will take, and my brother is so prepared. ”

Chang Zhenbang was stunned for a moment and said: "What stupid thing my brother said, shouldn't I have been prepared when my brother went to Nanjing to meet Li Dujun?" Is it ...... now?"

Chen Guangyuan smiled and said: "The brothers of the 12th Beiyang Division are all following the elder brother in Zhili, the old man in Suiyuan, the first time he came to this water town in Suzhou and Hangzhou, the water and soil were seriously dissatisfied, when the elder brother went to Nanjing, the elder brother went to the barracks, only to know that because of the hot and humid reasons, more than one-tenth of the brothers fell ill, and many brothers Although they are fine, but the combat effectiveness is greatly reduced, for the brother to count, the available soldiers, the entire division is only a brigade and a half, if it is really Lu Yongxiang to fight, It would be nice to have a brigade that comes in handy. ”

"So little?" Chang Zhenbang didn't expect that the Beiyang Twelfth Division would lose so many personnel because of a lack of adaptation, and said: "No, my brother has been coming to Zhejiang for two or three months, no matter how this habit of adapting to water and soil should have been overcome a long time ago!" ”

Chen Guangyuan was reminded by him like this, and couldn't help but blush, and said: "There is heaven above, and there is Suzhou and Hangzhou below, this humid and sultry weather is easy to overcome, but this beautiful woman is not easy to overcome, don't you know, any woman here is more flavorful than Suiyuan's top brand, you also know that those who fight in the war and serve as soldiers are hungry ghosts in the color, those people come to this kind of place, and they can't spread their legs when they see women, and two people have died immediately last month." ”

Chang Zhenbang said: ", brother, what is the military discipline officer of your military justice department doing, why don't you stop it." ”

Chen Guangyuan said: "The two bastards who died last month were the military discipline officers of the Military Justice Department, and now my brother has strictly ordered the Military Justice Department to restore the Military Law as soon as possible." But it didn't work out. ”

Chang Zhenbang said fiercely: "Now is the time of life and death for my brother, I can't get used to them anymore, if anyone can't control himself, brother, you should ......" said and made a head-cutting action.

Chen Guangyuan was taken aback and said, "No, these are all old brothers who follow my brother to the north and south." ”

Chang Zhenbang said: "The amount is not a gentleman, no poison is not a husband, Li Dujun has promised to give you 30% of Shanghai's tax on a monthly basis, you should know what this concept is!" ”

"What is the concept, it's just tens of thousands of oceans?" Chen Guangyuan asked.

Chang Zhenbang sighed and said: "Brother, you are really interesting as the overseer of Zhejiang, you don't know how much taxes are in Shanghai, then Lao Tzu will tell you that the cost of selling tobacco and soil in Shanghai alone is enough to feed three divisions, plus the taxes from all over Jiangsu and Zhejiang, you can recruit troops and buy three or four more divisions." ”

"! So much? Will we lose money if we give up Shanghai? Chen Guangyuan was taken aback and said, to be honest, he knew that Shanghai was a fat place, but he never expected Shanghai to be so fat.

"It's not much, how can a small Shanghai town guard dare to slap his face with your dignified Zhejiang overseer!" Chang Zhenbang said: "Lao Tzu knew that you would think so, so I fought with Uncle Li to give you 30% of the tax!" Don't feel lost, Shanghai is really not enough to see if it is fatter than the whole of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, brother, you are not distressed about money now, when you feel sorry for your brother, after killing Lu Yongxiang and receiving the entire Jiangsu and Zhejiang into your hands, how much money you want, how many troops you want, if you are driven out by Lu Yongxiang, you feel sorry for him is not just this thing. ”

After hearing what he said, Chen Guangyuan also said ruthlessly: "Don't worry, brother, brother will find a way to mobilize the enthusiasm of these lazy bones, even if the twelve divisions are exhausted, Lao Tzu will become the overlord of Zhejiang!" ”

Chang Zhenbang said: "Brother, being an overseer is the strength you want, if you don't have this strength, what is the difference between us and those town guards, brother will go to Fuzhou to prepare, as long as he receives the signal, brother will wave his army north to contain the army of Taizhou town guard Gu Naibin." ”

Chen Guangyuan said: "Then it's troublesome brother." After the deed is completed, the brother will have a heart! ”

Chang Zhenbang said: "You and I in the five southeastern provinces have always advanced and retreated with the same qi, which is within Zhenbang's division. ”

Chen Guangyuan said: "Brother said well, our five southeastern provinces, have always been the same breath and branches of the same advance and retreat, as long as my brother wins Zhejiang, in the future, your brother will be the head of the horse, honor and honor, advance and retreat together." ”

After the two finished speaking, they smiled knowingly, Chen Guangyuan continued to pretend to be sick, and all of a sudden the news of the overseer's heat stroke spread through ups and downs, boiling, and even the price of mung beans and red beans in the Chinese medicine shop rose by about one percent, and Chang Zhenbang used the excuse that the overseer had heat stroke, and he had no time to take care of his feelings out of Hangzhou City and went straight to Taizhou.

After the death of Emperor Hongxian, the Beiyang generals went to the east and west, and gradually formed two major military and political factions headed by President Feng Guozhang and Prime Minister Duan Qirui, the only fly in the ointment is that Premier Duan actually gave Chen Guangyuan the position of the overseer of Zhejiang, which made Lu Yongxiang and others quite unconvinced, and also indirectly confirmed Premier Duan's means, since Chen Guangyuan came to Zhejiang, everything was constrained, and nothing was achieved in two or three months.

On this day, He Fenglin was working in the yamen of the town guard, and suddenly heard the soldiers outside the door say that there were old people from Fujian who came to see them, and He Fenglin had never set foot in this land of Fujian, how could there be old people, and he couldn't figure out who this person was, so he had to let people come in.

Chang Zhenbang strode forward and clasped his fists with both hands, and said, "Brother Fenglin, I haven't seen you for a long time, are you healthy?" ”

When He Fenglin saw that it was him, he couldn't help but be a little surprised, Chang Zhenbang shined at the Nanjing party, He Fenglin remembered deeply, but he was Feng Guozhang's faction, Li Chun's old subordinate, and Chen Guangyuan and others were friends, what were you doing here? Thinking about it, he immediately left the table to greet him, and said: "Lord Chang is here, my brother has not been far away, forgive my sins!" ”

Chang Zhenbang said with a smile: "Brother came uninvited, disturbed Brother Feng Lin, it is the younger brother who should not be, Brother Feng Lin is too polite." ”

After the greetings, He Fenglin couldn't help but ask: "A few days ago, I heard that the adults were coming and going between Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and I didn't want to go to my brother's place today, I don't know what the adults are doing." ”

Chang Zhenbang smiled faintly and said: "President Feng is my uncle, before leaving, I was afraid that Zhenbang would be bullied, so I invited my brothers to Nanjing to make love with me. This is not that Brother Chen Guangyuan has no time for heat stroke, so the younger brother came to Brother Fenglin's side to make love. ”

He Fenglin saw that he had no scruples to tell Chen Guangyuan about heat stroke, and there were many buckles at that time, Chen Guangyuan's heat stroke should be true, so he nodded and said: "Hehe, Brother Zhenbang, you really look up to it, you are just a small Taizhou town guard, how dare you not be intimate with adults?" ”

Chang Zhenbang glanced at him mysteriously and said: "There will be no seeds, and men should be self-reliant!" Today's town guard, maybe tomorrow's overseer, today's overseer can't be tomorrow's prime minister, president, as long as it's our Beiyang, there is nothing impossible, and please don't be arrogant. ”

He Fenglin was stunned for a moment, thinking of Chen Guangyuan, Lu Yongxiang, Feng Guozhang and other characters flying away one by one, he didn't feel a little sour in his heart, sighed and muttered: "Thank you for your praise, it's a pity that my brother has no way to go to heaven, so he has to work hard, others are thinking about how to go to the next level, and my brother thinks that the position of the town guard should not be lost for no reason." I'm really ashamed, ashamed. ”

Chang Zhenbang said: "The elder brother is a talent, the army is no longer far than that Chen Guangyuan, Lu Yongxiang and those people are worse, but now they are still a small town guard, I can't help but feel sorry for the elder brother, and I feel sad for the elder brother, and the most important thing that the elder brother feels is that he hates iron and steel!" ”

Hearing this, He Fenglin couldn't help but raise his head and said coldly: "Master Chang, what do you mean by this? Could it be that I, He Fenglin, am so lazy in your eyes? You'd better explain this to Lao Tzu. Otherwise, modifying Lao Tzu is not welcome to you! ”

Chang Zhenbang coldly pointed to his nose and said: "Brother He, the junior brother can't compare to you in terms of age or military qualifications, do you know what position I have?" ”

"Guangdong, Jiangxi and Fujian patrol envoys!" He Fenglin snorted coldly and said coldly

Chang Zhenbang said: "The younger brother has only been in the army for a few years, and he has entered Jiangxi to quell the chaos with a city defense regiment, guarded Jiujiang in one year, fixed Jiangxi in three years, and Guangdong and Fujian in five years!" What does Brother Feng Lin think? ”

He Fenglin said coldly: "That's your luck!" ”

Chang Zhenbang shook his head and said: "The world is chaotic, and the heroes are high-spirited. Let him drift on his own. If you want to know where to go, you have to see me draw a knife, the man's momentum is like a rainbow, and the sun and moon are like a dream. Life is not afraid of the heavens, and fate is in control with both fists. ”

He Fenglin was shocked and said, "You want to rebel?" ”

Chang Zhenbang smiled faintly and said: "It's just a poem, why does Brother Fenglin make such a fuss, but he has lost his military style!" ”

He Fenglin said: "You...... You ......"

Chang Zhenbang said: "Life is just a gamble, if you win the gamble, you will start all over again if you lose!" Does the old man want to be a town guard for the rest of his life? Watching peers call for wind and rain, listening to colleagues giving orders, watching colleagues set the world, saying that classmates are gracious, and envying their wives and sons? ”

He Fenglin shook his head bitterly and said, "Don't say it." ”

"My life is up to me!" Chang Zhenbang said coldly: "The current Guangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian, and the future China, North Korea and Vietnam!" As long as I, Chang Zhenbang, am still alive, I will continue to forge ahead, and sooner or later, one day, under the sun will be all my people, and the sea will be all my soil! ”

He Fenglin raised his head blankly, glanced at Chang Zhenbang and said, "You ......"

Chang Zhenbang stretched out his hand and patted him on the shoulder and said, "Brother Fenglin, are you willing to gamble with me and God?" If you win the bet, I'll make you an Overseer and a wife! ”

He Fenglin said: "What if you lose? Aren't you afraid? ”

Chang Zhenbang sneered and said, "Lost? Guangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian and Fujian provinces let me have the capital to make a comeback, what am I afraid of! ”

He Fenglin fell into deep thought after hearing this.

Chang Zhenbang continued: "Don't hide it, Brother He, the junior brother is here to give you a chance this time. ”

"What chance?" He Fenglin asked curiously.

Chang Zhenbang sneered: "Within ten days, the four provinces of Jiangxi, Fujian, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang raised troops to expel Lu Yongxiang at the same time. If you have considered cooperating with your brothers, when the soldiers arrive, the banner of the rebel army can be set up in Taizhou City. ”

He Fenglin glanced at Chang Zhenbang and said, "You're not afraid that I will say it?" ”

Chang Zhenbang couldn't help but laugh and said, "Why be afraid? You're just a little town watchman, who will believe you? Even if you believe it, the armies of the four provinces are ready, what can Lu Yongxiang do? What can Duan Qirui do if he is busy conquering the southwest? ”

He Fenglin broke out in a cold sweat and said, "Why are you optimistic about me?" ”

Chang Zhenbang said: "Brother He Fengyu is the object of my great admiration, especially what he did in Longchuan, Min County, the official is very appreciative, if he returns, I am now willing to treat each other as a Fuzhou protector, Brother Fenglin, if you return, I can promise you a future of the overseer!" ”

He Fenglin said unhappily: "You also underestimate me He Fenglin!" ”

Chang Zhenbang sneered and said: "It takes capital to make people look high." The national army failed in the expedition to Mongolia, so that his younger brother He Fengyu relied on the division to help the war, and recovered the two important places of Kuisu and Zhaoduosu, and in the sixth year of the Republic of China, Shandong Province reorganized the people's army. This is Brother Ling, what about you, brother? It's not that I Chang Zhenbang underestimates you, with my brother's conservative and diligent character, he is a general who defends the city, and he does more with less merit. In the long run, the position of a protector will come to an end. Even if Lu Yongxiang becomes an overseer, he can't guarantee you the position of a protector! Where to go, Brother He is a smart person, so don't let me say more. Saying that, Chang Zhenbang took his hand and left.

After Chang Zhenbang left, He Fenglin retreated left and right, locked himself in the study, held his head and fell into a long contemplation, every word Chang Zhenbang said smashed on his heart like a piece of alien stone, and the figures of Lu Yongxiang and Chang Zhenbang also rotated back and forth in front of his eyes like a marquee. The fork in the road of fate once again appeared in front of He Fenglin's door, and his final choice was to sell his loyalty for a better price.

Read the first book of the novel