This is a bit serious, the Beiyang officers were just making trouble, but they were about to be labeled as rebellion, so they could only be completely purged. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Duan Qirui's face was blue and red, but at this time, he couldn't help but say a word for Feng Guozhang and the others, "Commissioner Chen, please calm your anger, Hua Fu and the others are just a little complaining, and they have no intention of rebellion." His subordinates immediately sent him a telegram, which will definitely calm people's hearts. ”

Chen Wenqiang's face softened a little, and said: "Zhiquan, you tell them that the new government is about to be established, and the Beiyang Army has become history, so they must change their thinking and recognize the situation clearly." The country is poor and weak, and unless there is a strong army, it will not be able to resist foreign insults and boost the country's prestige. The future is bright, and you must not be mistaken. ”

"My subordinates understand." Duan Qirui nodded and replied: "Brother Fang Zhen revealed a little situation, after one to two years, the compulsory military service law will be implemented, and after five years, the country will have at least 500,000 regular troops. The soldiers and officers were worried about the retrenchment and relocation, and since there was no such plan, the morale of the army was stable. ”

"There are still some reductions, but for the troops that have no combat effectiveness, or do not obey orders, or have military discipline corrupted, the state food and salary will be wasted, and it is useless to keep them. Is China short of troops? Apparently not. Chen Wenqiang smiled faintly, but his words were shocking.

Jiang Baili picked up the wine glass, motioned for the banquet to continue, smiled to ease the atmosphere, and said: "Soldiers should take obeying orders as their first duty, and the army should put the interests of the country first, there is nothing to say. As long as you can do these two things, the new government will still rely on you. ”

"yes, two very simple requests, I guess that's not too much, is it?" Chen Wenqiang motioned for everyone to continue drinking and eating, and asked with a smile.

Everyone really had nothing else to say except nodding yes. Who let the family occupy a famous and righteous position, and the obedience can continue to be maintained. After that, it will be up to each man to make it; Disobedient, a charge of rebellion was deducted, food and ammunition were deducted, the army was in turmoil, and there were armies from all sides who made meritorious contributions to quell the rebellion.

"The situation in the Northeast is the most severe, and the Japanese are rampant. Obstruction everywhere, unless there are heavy troops stationed, can not discourage its ambitions. Chen Wenqiang groaned and said: "Yuan Xiangcheng, although he is talented, he is old and lacks sharpness; Zhiquan is quite diligent and sensitive, and is known for his tireless mechanics; I have stayed abroad, and I have some contact with democratic and republican ideas, but not deeply; What I value is Zhiquan's military achievements. and self-purification. No prostitution, no gambling, no greed, no smoking, no favoritism, no drinking, can be called the 'six no's'. ”

Chen Wenqiang smiled, and everyone also accompanied, Duan Qirui didn't expect Chen Wenqiang to know so much about himself, in a word.

Chen Wenqiang turned to Xu Shuzheng again and said: "You Zheng is talented, both civil and military, and brave and responsible. He is a first-class chief of staff. But their eyes are empty, and they have sinned many. If you can relax your mind. There will be great things to come. Well, you're studying in Japan, so you don't have pro-Japanese tendencies, right? ”

Xu Shuzheng thought for a while and said: "Japan is China's closest power, and China is a weak country in the last one or two decades. If China wants to do anything, it will be very difficult to do so without Japan's understanding, and it is not impossible for China to adopt a pro-Japanese attitude on the surface. But Japan is by no means a friend of China. It won't make China rich and strong; In the future, only the United States in the Americas and Germany in Europe will be able to be China's friends in the future. Therefore, his subordinates greatly admired Commissioner Chen's vision and diplomatic strategy. Now it has won over the United States and Germany, which can be described as a great success. ”

"Ostensibly pro-Japanese?" Chen Wenqiang shook his head lightly and said, "How can we do it, let the Japanese encroach on national interests?" You may be talking about a solution, but you don't understand the character of the Japanese people. Do you know the story of the wolf and the butcher? The Japanese are the insatiable wolves who are pressing every step of the way; As for China, if it does not rise up to resist and just seeks temporary peace and feeds itself, it will only make the appetite of the Japanese people grow bigger and bigger. ”

"Of course, toughness also has limits and strategies." Chen Wenqiang smiled faintly, raised his wine glass, and said: "Iron must be hard to be strong, and Guoqiang can straighten his waist." Therefore, it will all depend on you soldiers in the future. Civil officials are not greedy for money, and military generals are not afraid of death. There is a training in ancient times, it sounds simple, but it is difficult to do! ”

"Soldiers are still pure good." Jiang Baili had already communicated with Chen Wenqiang, and said in passing: "The most important thing is to remember the principle that the military does not interfere in politics. The initiator, what is the aftermath? Today you rely on the army to ascend to power, and tomorrow someone will follow suit. If the arrogant soldiers were left unchecked and allowed to infringe on administrative power, the melee between the feudal towns and the five generations of warlords in the middle and late Tang Dynasty would be repeated. ”

"And mutiny." Chen Wenqiang's face became solemn, and he said: "The people are fat and the people are ointed, but in turn, they burn and loot, and those who have a little hearts will not do such an act." Zhiquan, you tell Cao Kun that he is guilty of this mutiny, and no one can hide it. But not killing a group of rebels is not enough to warn others. I don't think I need to teach you how to deal with it, right? ”

This is the rhetoric of the open side of the net, and of course Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng can understand it. Cao Kun cannot be severely punished, but the heads of a group of scapegoats must be landed. And it is handled by the Beiyang Group itself, with half of the pros and cons, but do they still have a choice?

It was late at night, the simple banquet was dispersed, and the matters discussed were basically finalized, and it seemed to be a happy ending.

Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng said goodbye and returned to the arranged accommodation. When only Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng were left in the room, Duan Qirui let out a long sigh and lay down on the bed, his hands pillowed behind his head, and his eyes seemed to be closed.

Xu Shuzheng smiled bitterly and persuaded in a low voice: "You should really let Hua Fu and the others come, let them know the methods of others, and don't mess around with self-righteousness." ”

Duan Qirui snorted, noncommittal. After a while, he said faintly: "It's not in vain, I finally found some rules and ideas for the future government's actions, so that I won't make big mistakes in the future." ”

Xu Shuzheng nodded in agreement and said, "I also figured out some doorways, I don't know if it's right?" ”

"Tell me about it." Duan Qirui pursed the corners of his lips and looked at Xu Shuzheng with a smile.

"Hehe, it's easy to say, that is, the troops are not together, which is quite a bit of a drawdown." Xu Shuzheng thought about it and said: "As long as the soldiers are treated better, and the generals jump up and down again, there will be no response." Without the support of the soldiers, you can't make trouble if you want to. ”

"The Beiyang Army is divided and can no longer be pinched together." Duan Qirui let out a long sigh, "It's really history." ”

Xu Shuzheng was also helpless. If the soft ones do not listen, the provisional government does not need to come to the hard ones, as long as it drags on, the Beiyang Army, which is short of pay and ammunition, will naturally be in chaos. Trapped at home and abroad, people's hearts are scattered, can they still not succumb to the situation?

……………

Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng left. No matter what they think, as soon as the government's policies and measures on how to deal with the Beiyang Army are announced, most of the soldiers of the Beiyang Army will be relieved, and there will basically be no market for the demagoguery and incitement of the officers. As long as all the units of the Beiyang Army were dispatched to various places according to the order, this great disaster would be temporarily eliminated.

Of course, Chen Wenqiang did not expect a fundamental change in the thinking of Duan and Xu through a single conversation, but as long as he could reunify the north and the south at the minimum cost, it would not be too late to slowly deal with the Beiyang Army in the future.

Zeng Guofan, who started with the Hunan army, was desperate to disband and weaken the Hunan army in the later period. Why, just because the Hunan army has become a bomb. The court is jealous, and the generals are forced to push Zeng Guofan into the abyss at any time.

The current situation is relatively similar, the Beiyang Army is becoming a drag on Yuan Shikai. Let's fight, it is difficult to raise food and ammunition, and it will be a defeat sooner or later; In making peace, some people in the Beiyang Army still have to talk about conditions and make trouble. If the Beiyang Army gets out of control. This black cauldron is only carried by Yuan Shikai, and he has also lost the last capital.

First of all, Duan Qirui's Second Army was transferred as scheduled. Get out of the way of the Jingshi; secondly, the Beiyang Army, which guarded the Shanhaiguan, was reorganized and incorporated into the Northeast Military Region; And Feng Guozhang, under the combination of Yuan Shikai and Duan Ruiqi's soft and hard work, also began to act slowly.

In this way, one mixed brigade of the Shandong Military Region, one mixed brigade in the northeast, and two mixed brigades in Hubei. It was divided into three routes, north and south, and headed for Beijing.

The peaceful takeover of Beijing was almost a foregone conclusion, and this finally relieved Chen Wenqiang's tight heartstrings. If the vitality of the country and the property of the people can be lost, the power of revival will be increased.

……………

The ironclad train spat out heavy gasps like a monster. With an awe-inspiring murderous aura, he slowly drove into Beijing Daqianmen Station and slowly stopped.

The defense inside and outside the station has been taken over by the Northeast Mixed Brigade, which arrived in advance, and the platform is heavily guarded with five steps and one post at ten steps.

Yuan Shikai looked at the ironclad train and was slightly distracted. This thing is not said to be a new thing, it appeared during the American Civil War, and now all countries are also equipped, but why didn't you think of getting a few for the Beiyang Army?

He was careless, careless, and short-sighted, thinking that at home, machine guns and artillery would be enough to deal with the enemy. However, the revolutionary army was constantly equipped with new weapons and new tactics, and finally defeated the Beiyang Army. Although it was not a complete defeat, it was enough to break the prestige of the Beiyang Army, add countless confidence to other armies, and gain the upper hand in the peace talks.

Look at these recruits again, some of them still have the simplicity of peasants on their faces, and some of them still exude a bookish atmosphere, but the kind of spiritual outlook, the confidence and firmness in their eyes, are not to be underestimated. Although they were not like the troops who first entered Beijing, they were contaminated with the murderous aura of the battlefield and blood, but as the newly formed troops of the Revival Society, their loyalty was unquestionable.

Looking at their military uniforms, they are truly unique. From texture, composition, shape, decoration to color, and then from steel helmets, cockades, collar badges to buttons, the top and bottom are symmetrical, the left and right echoes, coordinated and harmonious, and integrated. How to look at it, how to make people look so heroic. There are also fiery and gorgeous banners, majestic and sacred, hunting and hunting, which makes the army's awe-inspiring military majesty and strict military appearance fully revealed.

In time, this army is definitely a steel force, Yuan Shikai asserted in his heart that what they currently lack is only actual combat experience.

A few more whistles, and a train drove into the station with black smoke in its mouth. Yuan Shikai hurriedly cheered up and prepared to meet Chen Wenqiang again. Thinking of Chen Wenqiang, he couldn't help but smile wryly. This guy can not only do things, but also figure people through, it's really too difficult to deal with!

Chen Wenqiang stepped off the train, followed by a group of young officers, their military uniforms were more beautiful and heroic, and several of them were acquaintances of Yuan Shikai and old men of the Beiyang Army.

"Old Yuan." Chen Wenqiang took the lead in greeting, walked over with a smile on his face, and shook hands tightly with Yuan Shikai, who was still a little unaccustomed to modern etiquette.

"Wen Qiang-" Yuan Shikai looked at Chen Wenqiang and didn't know what to say, and shook his head with a wry smile.

"That's right, that's what we call it, we're still friends!" Chen Wenqiang smiled and walked hand in arm with Yuan Shikai and said: "Different paths lead to the same end, for the sake of the country and the nation, we still come together." Let the previous unpleasantness pass, turn the page, and let's start again. Everyone admires and admires my brother's military management ability and rich experience, who else is you in the post of Minister of Defense? According to the era of feudal emperors, you are the generalissimo of the world! ”

"It's a joke." Yuan Shikai waved his hand and said humbly: "I'm old and my thinking is outdated, so I really can't afford such a heavy responsibility." ”

"Not really." Chen Wenqiang pursed his lips and said, "If you can't be the president, you will be discouraged?" I'll be honest with you, the current president is really not good at work, he is worried about internal and external troubles, and if he doesn't handle it well, he will leave a bad name. When the country is stable and the people's wisdom is opened, all the work will be carried out smoothly, and it will be difficult to complete it without three or five years. At that time, it was the presidential election, not to mention you and me, anyone who has the ambition can participate in the election. This is not a feudal era, and if you want to be an emperor, you have to be killed. As long as you follow the rules, no one will be punished. Of course, the president is not an emperor, that's the analogy. ”

"New era, new rules!" Yuan Shikai sighed with emotion, for modern politics, he is still just an apprentice, and the loss is also on this.

"In addition—" Chen Wenqiang pondered for a moment and asked inquiringly: "Brother Xiangcheng, I want to make an appointment to meet the Manchu relatives in Beijing, who do you think is more appropriate?" ”

Yuan Shikai immediately turned his gaze to Zhao Bingjun beside him and said, "This is not difficult to do, let Zhi'an go and summon it!" ”

In fact, in Yuan Shikai's heart, because of traditional concepts, he didn't want to bear the reputation of a rebellious minister and thief, let alone the name of persecuting "orphans and widows". He used to be a Qing minister, but now he is a little embarrassed to meet with his Manchu relatives and nobles.

"King Qing Yixuan is in the Tianjin Concession, I want to see him the most." Chen Wenqiang suddenly smiled a little weirdly: "It's a guy who can make money, I want to ask him for a word or two." ”

Yuan Shikai swallowed his saliva, the revolutionary party has no taboos, these wealthy Manchu relatives and nobles, I am afraid that everyone will have to be slaughtered.

………… (To be continued.) )