Although Chang Zhenbang repeatedly ordered and even issued a ban on the spread of the poisoning incident in the yamen by the patrol, how could this kind of lace news that the people like to see be blocked? Before noon the next day, it was spread all over the city, but the newspapers were full of relevant comments, which really made Chang Zhenbang very sad, and he moved the idea of closing the newspaper several times, but after a few days of tossing in the newspaper, Changfu's secret news was replaced by the national government news.

President Feng Da officially dismissed Duan Qirui from the post of premier and invited Wang Shizhen to form a cabinet. Wang Shizhen claimed that he was tired of the words of government affairs and hoped to spend his old age in peace, and refused Feng Guozhang's appointment. Who is President Feng? The character who followed Emperor Hongxian Yuan Shikai all the way through the level, can he still understand his thoughts? Immediately sent people to petition in front of Wang Shizhen's door, and shouted: "Please hire the old man to form a cabinet to consolidate the Beiyang group." Wang Shizhen repeatedly and repeatedly refused, but he really couldn't refuse, so he had no choice but to announce his appointment as prime minister of the cabinet, and the first thing he did when he came up was to declare: "This prime minister will come alone today and go alone in the future, and he will never change a person in the cabinet." ”

None of the cabinet members really moved, but it was President Feng's peace affairs, Duan Qirui was not stupid, he naturally understood his thoughts, and immediately sent Xu Shuzheng and others to move around, north to Fengtian, south to Bengbu, to liaise with Zhang Zuolin, Ni Sichong and other places to supervise the army, and even pulled Cao Kun in Feng Guozhang's faction to the main front.

On the third day of the establishment of Wang Shizhen's cabinet in Beijing, and the second day after Tang Baichuan arrived in Tianjin on a naval ship, Tianjin began to gradually become lively. Cao Kun, the overseer of Zhili, Zhang Huaizhi, the overseer of Shandong, and the overseers of Shanxi, Fengtian, Anhui, Shaanxi, Heilongjiang, Shanghai, Chahar, Suiyuan, Rehe, and Central China gathered in Tianjin. On the 21st, the Overseers and their representatives held a meeting in the Sunjia Garden in Tianjin. Except for Hubei, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, which did not send representatives, almost all the Beiyang warlords from all provinces were represented.

The slogan of Beiyang to unite has been shouted since the time of the small station training of Emperor Hongxian, and it has been shouted for half a century today, since they have all shouted like this, then some words will have to change their clothes and dress up a little before they can be said, the main content of this meeting is to actively deal with the second armed rebellion of the southwest rebellion and what measures should be used to restore the vitality of the country after the "main peace faction" in the north may be bewitched by the rebellion in the southwest and thus make a loss of power and humiliation of the country. The so-called northern lord and faction are Feng Guozhang and President Feng.

Of course, at the beginning of the recollection, Premier Duan first praised President Feng Da's policy of peace between the north and the south and peaceful reunification, and did not hesitate to ask the local overseers to obey the orders of the central government and devote themselves to the great cause of the country's peaceful reunification. He also predicted that President Feng Da would be bewitched by others, and that the so-called peace between the north and the south was nothing more than a delaying tactic for the southwestern provinces to recuperate and plot against them, and once the strength was strong, it would be like the era of Emperor Hongxian, and immediately set off a rebellion, so for the sake of the country's overall plan, I hope that the representatives of the participating provinces will always be ready to fight the rebellion of the southwestern provinces and be ready to attack the rebellion of the southwestern provinces head-on.

As soon as the words fell, the applause was thunderous, and the atmosphere of the meeting suddenly became warm. At this moment, a person hurriedly passed by outside the door, and handed a document to Duan Qirui, after Duan Qirui read it, he was taken aback, and randomly threw it on the table, saying: "The southwest is rebellious, it is really bold!" ”

Everyone stretched their necks curiously to look, but there was only one document, and it was far away, so they couldn't see what was written on it at all, they only felt that Duan Qirui's nose was crooked all of a sudden, Tang Baichuan smiled and picked up the official document in front of him, and said in frustration: Southwest Rebellion had the following suggestions in the Liuzhou Conference: (1) Welcome Li Yuanhong back to president. (2) Urging Feng Guozhang to go into the wilderness. (3) Punish Duan Qirui and Liang Qichao, the culprits of the war. (4) Restore the old Congress. (5) Reinstate Tan Yanmin as the overseer of Hunan. Shu Zheng asked the delegates to "make a decisive decision".

When the participants at the Tianjin meeting saw these provisions, they were greatly indignant, believing that the southwest side had deceived people too much, and that Feng Guozhang did not know whether he was alive or dead, and that he still wanted to make peace with the southwest.

Duan Qirui coughed a few times, and pretended to say, "Make a decision!" Shu Zheng said this sentence well! To deal with these southwest rebellions, we must not tolerate the traitors, only the strong man can break his wrist to put down the southwest rebellion, what kind of talk is tantamount to seeking skin with the tiger is never a good end, at that moment, the only way to solve the problem is to make a decisive decision! ”

The representative of the Anhui Overseer Ni Sichong stood up and roared menacingly: "Our Ni Dashuai said that this time we will swear to fight a decisive battle with the Southern Barbarians to the end!" ”

Zhang Huaizhi, the overseer of Shandong, roared: "Instead of raising tigers, it is better to fight against the water!" Sweeping the southwest of Shandong, willing to be the first in the world! ”

Premier Duan couldn't help laughing when he saw these buddies of his being so powerful: "All the gentlemen are majestic, Qirui admires, and the southwest clown, don't worry!" Getting along with all the heroes really feels like drinking Huanglong! The overseers, the representatives also laughed after hearing this, who knew that Premier Duan's voice changed, and he said coldly: "There is no shortage of Yue Fei among us, and Han Shizhong is naturally indispensable to Qin Hui." Everyone in the world knows that it is easy for us to pacify the southwest, but why is it that the rebellious people in the southwest are more nourishing? It's because of the Qin Hui among us. What's going on in the rebellion of the protectorate, Qi Rui doesn't say it, and the brothers also know it, this time they can't repeat the same mistakes. ”

After that, everyone's eyes swept to Cao Kun, Tang Baichuan and others, these people were all Feng Guozhang's relatives and friends, Feng Guozhang's blatant disobedience to Yuan Shikai, and only then did the absurd rout of the Sichuan battlefield and the Hunan battlefield in the rebellion to protect the country. Now that Feng Guozhang is the president of the North and the South, and Mingfa is the world, if there is any more war, these people are estimated to be peaceful diehards, even if they participate in the Tianjin Conference, it is inevitable that they will not turn against the water in the future, so everyone throws to Cao Kun, Tang Baichuan and others are naturally very vigilant and hostile.

Cao Kun, who was sitting on the side, was furious, his muscles were rising, and he was about to shoot the case, but he was grabbed by Tang Baichuan and whispered: "Third Brother Cao, don't be angry!" Saying that, Tang Baichuan smiled slightly, slowly stood up and said: "Premier Duan is right, the generals in the southwest have bad intentions, it is not a day, if such a wolf with ambition does not clear up as soon as possible, it will be a big disaster in the world!" Therefore, my family patrol envoy is very supportive of Premier Duan's use of troops in Guangxi, and is willing to send two divisions to clear Guangxi for His Excellency the Prime Minister! ”

Duan Qirui glanced at Tang Baichuan and said slowly: "Brother Tang is right, Guangxi is a national abscess, if you don't dig it up as soon as possible, it will definitely fester, but Sichuan and Hunan have already shown a festering posture, which is more important, Brother Tang should understand!" ”

Tang Baichuan smiled faintly and said: "Sichuan and Yunnan are abscesses that have festered repeatedly, and they cannot be effective without heavy troops, but Guangxi is a new abscess, as long as the soldiers are used properly, they will be all done in one battle!" I don't know if Premier Duan thinks so? ”

Duan Qirui thought for a while and said: "Brother Tang's idea, Qirui still supports it, if Chang Daren has a heart, the central government will support Chang Daren to Pinggui alone, but didn't Chang Daren just unite with Li Chun, the overseer of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and Chen Guangyuan not long ago, so that the whole country can find peace?" Wouldn't this be a villain who rebelled? ”

Tang Baichuan smiled, shook his head, and said: "Premier Duan's words are wrong, advocating peace is the suggestion of my family, sweeping Guangxi is the will of the central government, and it is the duty of local officials to express their opinions on state affairs, and it is the obligation of government officials to follow the instructions of the central government, these two are not contradictory, just like Yan Zhenqing of the previous dynasty, advocating that the imperial court send troops to sweep away the feudal towns, but he was ordered by Tang Dezong to appease the feudal towns, and finally martyred the country, how can Premier Duan say that Yan Zhenqing is a villain who rebelled?" ”

Duan Qirui was stunned, then stroked his palms and laughed: "Brother Tang is really a wonderful person, I will hand over the matter of sending troops to Guangxi to Lord Chang and you?" ”

Tang Baichuan shook his head and said, "What Duan Qirui said was useless, but what Premier Duan said must be done!" ”

Duan Qirui said: "Well said! Chang Daren is really a person who obeys the central government. When Qirui returned to the prime minister, it was when Chang Daren sent troops to the southwest. ”

Tang Baichuan said: "When Premier Duan left Tianjin, it was the time when my family sent troops to Guangxi. This time I sent troops, not to mention the recovery of Guangxi, my family will never withdraw from the army! ”

Duan Qirui nodded and said, "Then Qirui is waiting for the good news of Lord Chang in the Prime Minister's Mansion." ”

Tang Baichuan smiled and turned to sit down, but many other overseer representatives were a little unimpressed by this, after all, Chang Zhenbang sat in Guangzhou, in charge of the three provinces of Guangdong, Jiangxi and Fujian, and because of Fujian, he was subordinated to Zhang Zuolin in the northeast, if he was allowed to get Guangxi, wouldn't he become the first feudal town in the world, with the wealth of Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi's army, Fujian's navy, within ten years, the bandits would inevitably not be under Tang Jiyao in the southwest, so although Duan Qirui was very optimistic about Chang Zhenbang's proposal to send troops to Guangxi, However, the overseers and the delegates said that it was too rash, and that it was necessary to start with Sichuan and Hunan to sweep the southwest, and as for Guangxi Chang Zhenbang, he might as well send troops to harass him, if he entered with heavy troops, he was afraid that he would lose his troops and lose his generals, and the gains outweighed the losses.

For the opinions of the overseers and representatives, Tang Baichuan said that he would tell Chang Zhenbang truthfully, as for whether to send troops, how to send troops still depends on Chang Zhenbang's opinion, for this reply everyone expressed understanding, in fact, everyone is not afraid of Chang Zhenbang sending troops to Guangxi, you must know that Guangxi is now formed as a buffer land for Guangdong, Yunnan, and Guizhou, if Chang Zhenbang sends heavy troops into Guangxi, Tang Jiyao and Lu Rongting will unite to control the enemy after all, and when the time comes, the pressure on the whole Hunan and Sichuan will be transferred to Guangxi. At that time, it will be much easier for the overseers to pacify Sichuan and Hunan.

After understanding what Chang Zhenbang meant, everyone shot their eyes at Cao Kun, Cao Kun took the case, and said: "The rise and fall of the country is the responsibility of the husband, the southwest rebellion, Cao Kun is the duty of a warrior, and he is willing to lead the people of the headquarters to be the vanguard of quelling the chaos, and if he does not win a complete victory, my surname Cao will not be a person!" ”

Cao Kun stood up next to another person, this person is dignified, not handsome, but also gives people a hearty and intelligent but heroic feeling, said: "General Cao said well, in the autumn of national crisis, I have the responsibility of accepting apprentices to quell the rebellion, and my family overseer is willing to personally lead the army of tigers and wolves to the south!" ”

"This ......" Cao Kun glanced at him, slapped his thigh fiercely, and said, "Peifu said that is what Lao Tzu meant!" Just look at it! ”

Tang Baichuan couldn't help but be taken aback when he heard this, this Cao Kun is not simple, as a party overseer, holding the civil and military power of a province, but he can trust Wu Peifu so much, compared to himself and Chang Zhenbang, it is rumored that this person is so cool, righteous and squandering money, but he lost his calculation and has the nickname of Cao San's fool, but today it seems that this is not the case, this Wu Peifu is more than just right, not flexible enough, resourceful and not good at human feelings, and everyone dares to take the idea for his boss Cao Kun without authorization, if this is placed elsewhere, even if it is Chang Zhenbang, I definitely can't eat good fruits, but Cao Kun, who is nicknamed Cao San's fool, is as willing as a glutton, and there is no feeling of being in power at all, nor does he have any unpleasant expression of being coerced, but this open-mindedness is different from ordinary people, and it is still above Chang Zhenbang, no wonder it is not unreasonable that he has been in the Zhili Overseer for less than three years, and his power has expanded rapidly, and he has become the heir of Feng Guozhang.

This person is not only a big fish, but also a river and sea, don't look at him as easy to deal with, but the fish, turtle and shrimp monsters around him are not so easy to deal with.

"Lord Cao is extremely happy, Baichuan admires it, and is willing to invest a thousand oceans to make a strong appearance!" Tang Baichuan shouted loudly.

Duan Qirui glanced at Tang Baichuan, but Wu Peifu stood up and said, "Lord Cao went out to quell the rebellion, and the last general is willing to send 2,000 troops to help!" ”

"Dry, Peifu, Brother Tang is so refreshing, Lao Tzu can't be left behind, Lao Tzu personally led 3,000 troops out of battle, and I hope Prime Minister Duan's permission!"

Premier Duan glanced at him with a wry smile and said, "It's rare that Brother Cao Kun is so generous to serve the country, and there is a reason why the brother is not allowed." ”

Wu Peifu's trick is really wonderful, generally speaking, counterinsurgency and rebellion are sent out by an established army, where is the reason that you pay 3,000 and I pay 2,000? The atmosphere of the meeting was so intense, and I was afraid of hurting the hearts of the overseers to love the country and quell the chaos, and it became a partnership for everyone to do business, and no one cared about anyone, so where is the central authority!

Originally, Duan Qirui would not agree to this bullshit condition no matter what, otherwise when he returned to the prime minister's throne, wouldn't he be the same as the commander of the light pole and the puppet emperor, but if he didn't agree, how could the great cause of counterinsurgency in the southwest continue? I'm afraid I'll never be able to return to the position of prime minister. After thinking about it, I only hope that the rapid pacification of the southwest can improve his prestige, so as to deter the overseers who are about to move everywhere, all of them are unified, and the army is guarded, after all, the southwest is strong, and it has become a big situation, looking back at these overseers, except for Zhang Zuolin, Chang Zhenbang is almost a province, or even a province, and it is subject to the central government's selection and dispatch, and it may be easier to deal with it under the vertical and horizontal. Premier Duan had no choice but to choose the lesser of two evils, gritting his teeth and agreeing.

After he agreed, the overseers and representatives of the overseers in the other provinces also took the floor one after another, showing an unprecedented hatred of the same enemy. In the end, it was decided that Zhili, Shandong, and Anhui would each send 10,000 troops, Fengtian 20,000, Shanxi, and Shaanxi each with 5,000 troops, Guangdong, Jiangxi, and Fujian provinces with 10,000 troops, Rehe with 2,000 troops, Chahar with 2,000 troops, Suiyuan with 2,000 troops, and the two overseers in Central China each sent 2,000 troops.

After the clerk finished counting, he reported to Duan Qirui, Duan Qirui was surprised after reading it, if it was really selected by the central government, the soldiers and horses that could be mobilized would not exceed 30,000, but I didn't expect that if they reported it themselves, they would suddenly raise more than 60,000 elite soldiers and strong generals, with these soldiers and generals attacking the southwest, they would definitely be able to succeed, but after being happy for a long time, Duan Qirui was troubled by a new problem, that is, the grain and grass needed for this army, there is a way that the soldiers and horses have not moved the grain and grass first, if the central government can not provide sufficient support, I'm afraid that this Tianjin Conference will be ruined, but it will make Duan Qirui a laughing stock in Beiyang, and the sharp drop in prestige is not conducive to his future rule, but he only prepared 30,000 soldiers and horses, how can he support the great cause of rebellion of 60,000 people? Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly, if these overseers and representatives were allowed to raise grain, grass and military salaries, then what would the central government deter and restrain these arrogant soldiers, wouldn't he, the prime minister, become Tang Zhaozong under the division of the feudal town? However, this Qi Rui is not just a guy who knows how to complain and has no brains, and soon has an idea and says: "The brothers are so gracious, Qi Rui is very grateful, and is willing to donate a thousand oceans in his personal name as a reward in addition to military salary." ”

Everyone was amazed, this Qirui Qirui lived a simple life, honest as water, no savings, no real estate. His lifelong creed is not to smoke, not to drink, not to prostitute, not to gamble, not to be greedy, not to possess, known as the six no prime ministers. , 1,000 oceans is not much, but for Duan Qirui, it is a big burden, equivalent to 100,000 oceans for those overseers, so after the overseers on the scene were surprised, they also enthusiastically contributed and generously donated money, this result made Duan Qirui very satisfied, but Wu Peifu next to Cao Kun stood up and said: "I don't know how the Prime Minister distributes these expenses, it is good to say that it was used up before the counterinsurgency, with the support of Premier Duan's military spending, if there is still a surplus after the rebellion, how can Premier Duan choose?" ”

This question was raised, which really caused an uproar. These overseers are not bad for money, but they are also unwilling to use their own money to cheapen others, Duan Qirui was also bored all of a sudden, and subconsciously looked to the left, only to find that Xu Shuzheng had not arrived.

"Baichuan has a way to solve this problem"

This novel comes from Reading Books