Chain Reaction (XXXIII)

"Big brother, good skills." Liu Yongfu tied up the people who were squirming in pain on the ground, and praised happily. Like Pang Zi, Liu Yongfu has never fought a battle with such a huge disparity in numbers in his life. One against twenty, and still being able to play like this, is an incomparable boost for self-confidence.

Pang Zi didn't care about the praise, and everyone was far from being out of danger at this time. Pang Zi looked around with a gun, looking for where the villagers had hidden their horses, and observing the safe breakout road. The villagers, who had not long been encircled by menacing force, were hiding behind walls or in other places where they could hide their bodies, and had to show their faces only occasionally when they peeked at Pang Zi. From that movement and face, Pang Zi could see the horror of the villagers. The village is small, with a total of less than 150 people. The ten people who were defeated were all young men, and it can be said that nearly half of the young people in the village have been captured.

Just when Pang Zi was thinking about it, he suddenly heard "Alas! Liu Yongfu and the others were very hard when they were tied, for fear that these people would break free. The villagers were already beaten, where could they stand such a desperate force, and the villagers couldn't help but groan and cry out in pain.

Pang Zi ordered: "Brothers, just tie it tightly." Don't be so desperate. We weren't at war with these people in the first place. ”

"Big brother, we're not here to fight them. But these people are here to ask for the lives of our brothers. Liu Yongfu said indignantly.

Seeing that Liu Yongfu still didn't give up, Pang Zi smiled helplessly, "Yongfu, these villagers are going to kill bandits." We're now called bandits, and we can't blame the villagers for doing that. ”

Everyone who heard this froze in place, not because Pang Zi said something wrong, but because it was so reasonable that it didn't seem like what Pang Zi, who was treated as a bandit, could say. Seeing Liu Yongfu and the other two brothers stunned in place, Pang Zi urged: "Hurry up and tie it up, let's make it clear to the villagers after the bundle." Let's get the horse back and leave. These men took them over the mountain pass and let them go. ”

Zhou Wencai held back the pain and asked loudly: "King Huge, are you serious?" ”

Pang Zi looked at Zhou Wencai condescendingly and said very seriously. "Brother Zhou, there is a misunderstanding between us, and we all have to fight in order to survive. Now we can stop fighting, and when we get our horses back, we will go our separate ways. If you don't believe me, I can't do it. However, a gentleman once told me that if this person only thinks about his own gains and losses, then things will never be settled. If you only think about what this thing is, then you can have a beginning and an end. In this matter, you want to destroy the bandits and never be bullied again. We came here to avoid the limelight because we had to encounter difficulties, and now we are going to go out of the mountain and never come back. Everyone is fighting for life and death, all for their own things. When we leave the village safely, our business will be done. What's the point of harming you again? So don't be afraid, just let us leave your village safely, and we will neither retaliate nor return. ”

Zhou Wencai felt that Pang Zi's words were very credible, and he said loudly: "King Huge, since you say so, I provoked the bandits this time. When you want to leave, you naturally have to bring meat tickets, so you might as well take me with you. Don't move the others. ”

"This Brother Zhou is very righteous. Since you are so righteous, I will say that these horses we brought from outside the mountains, not yours. Just give us the horses first, and we'll do it. If we don't give us horses, these brothers will inevitably suffer a little bit of flesh and skin. ”

Pang Zi said so seriously, Zhou Wencai knew that Pang Zi was definitely not joking. He hurriedly responded: "Then let go of my fourth uncle and let him bring your horses." ”

After that, things went much smoother, the villagers obediently handed over the horses, Pang Zi and they got on the horses, and brought Zhou Wencai with them. The horse team went all the way out of the village. The villagers hid from a distance and watched, and as soon as Pang Zi and the others left, the villagers ran towards the people who were tied up in a pile.

No one stopped me on the road, and it was far from the village, so I thought it was safe. Pang Zi asked everyone to stop, and then put Zhou Wencai on the ground. Liu Yongfu asked, "Big brother, do you want to ......" said and made a gesture. Zhou Wencai made everyone so frightened, and everyone had a bad impression of him.

"I just said, let's leave safely, this matter is done. Killing people again is just adding to the incident. Pang Zi himself also risked his life to deal with the villagers. At this time, I finally got out of danger, and I didn't want to do anything extraneous at all.

Liu Yongfu and the others naturally didn't dare to go against Pang Zi's thoughts, and they were about to leave, when they heard Zhou Wencai shouting: "King Pang, don't go back to the cottage now, now that there are already people over there to attack, you go rashly, I'm afraid that you will meet those people." ”

"Thank you Brother Zhou for your kindness." Pang Zi answered, and then urged the horse away.

This time, Pang Zi can be said to have lost completely, and he didn't even have the last foothold, and Pang Zi didn't feel sorry for himself at all. He made up his mind that as long as he found Chen Tianhua and Chen Ke, he would follow him wholeheartedly. When people have a clear goal, they don't have so many ideas. After the group got out of the mountain, they went all the way to the east, and everyone walked this road many times, and they would not get lost at all. And although Pang Zi's belongings were left in the cottage, he still brought some money with him, which alone was enough to pay for the trip to Shandong. They didn't dare to go to Nangong County, but took a detour in the direction of Baoding first. Pang Zi knew that the two Ganoderma lucidum in his hand could be sold at a good price in a big city. Although he is "famous" in Xingtai and Nangong County, no one knows him in Beijing at all.

It's already hot, and it's easy to walk. Everyone traveled lightly and arrived in Beijing in a few days. Everyone found a place to rest near Beijing, and Pang Zi went into the city to sell Ganoderma lucidum by himself. As soon as I entered the city of Beijing, I saw police officers everywhere on the road. Pang Zi was watching from the crowd, and he couldn't see any special people, but the atmosphere in Beijing was tense, looking like something big was going to happen.

Just when Pang Zi was looking for a pharmacy to sell Ganoderma lucidum, Cen Chunxuan was standing in front of Cixi with his hands down, and said loudly: "Queen Mother Lafayette, the minister is willing to be a vicious dog for the two palaces, and he will die with all his might." ”

Ten days ago, on April 20, the official system of the three eastern provinces was announced, with Xu Shichang as the governor, Tang Shaoyi as the governor of Fengtian, Zhu Jiabao as the governor of Jilin, and Duan Zhigui as the governor of Heilongjiang. The four of them are all Beiyang team. Beiyang seized power and was unscrupulous, and as soon as the appointment was announced, it aroused strong repercussions from the government and the opposition. The time is ripe for a joint counterattack against Beiyang. Under the secret invocation of Qu Hongzhen, Cen Chunxuan took a boat to Wuhan in the name of going to Sichuan to take office, and asked for a "passing" to see him, because he expected that the fold would be rejected by Yixuan and others, so he did not wait for a call back, and took the Jinghan car to the north, on the way Qu Hongzhen's fellow countryman Zhao Qilin made a special trip to Baoding Station to greet him, and accompanied him into Beijing.

On the night of May 1, Cen arrived in Beijing, and in the early morning of the next day, he knocked on the palace gate, and Ding Wei's political tide was unveiled. On the following May 2 and May 3, Cen Chunxuan was summoned by Cixi twice in a row. Cen Chunxuan was an official promoted by Cixi after the "Western Hunt" in the year of Gengzi, Cixi was very appreciative of Cen Chunxuan's reputation as "not afraid of rape", and Cen Chunxuan himself has always supported Cixi's new policy, so Cixi has always regarded Cen Chunxuan as a person who can be used in her hands.

This time, in order to dominate the constitution, Beiyang frantically installed its own people among the officials in various provinces. Cixi also felt that Beiyang was really unscrupulous. Although Cen Chunxuan first disobeyed the state's appointment, and then secretly came to Beijing. Cixi did not blame Cen for his fierceness, but immediately after he arrived in Beijing, he met with him and consulted on national policies. Cen Chunxuan relied on Cixi's trust, and immediately impeached Yixuan for corruption and Yuan Shikai for selfishness after meeting.

Although Cixi has a sick desire for power, she hopes that she can do something when she is in power. But after all, she is an old woman in the deep palace, and compared with the ministers of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, they are actually the same dog. All have the same fatal flaw, that is, "not professional enough". It is very good to engage in power schemes, which is very clear in the Manchu court. But when she really wanted to do something for the country, her shortcomings were immediately exposed.

Cen Chunxuan, known as the "Guantu", stood in front of Cixi, the leader of the Qingliu who was known as the last Qing official of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, was extremely excited at this time, and the monarch and ministers had been talking for a while. When Cixi talked about "the situation is changing day by day, and it is difficult", she couldn't help but burst into tears. For Cixi's tears, Zeng Chunxuan felt "empathetic". He first said loudly: "The Queen Mother Lafayette, the minister is willing to be a vicious dog for the two palaces, and he will die with all his might." After saying this, Zeng Chunxuan couldn't help crying.

Zeng Chunxuan's performance is not contrived, at least he doesn't think it's contrived. Cen Chunxuan believes that this is out of loyalty to the imperial court. He has repeatedly explained to Cixi that the government is bad in the hands of these relatives and nobles, and the government is terminally ill and helpless, and it has become a consensus because of corruption at the top. However, the relatives and nobles formed a network of interests, unable to move, and every move would leave the Qingliu Constitutional Legislator dead without a place to bury.

Seeing Cen Chunxuan crying like a child, Cixi, as a woman, couldn't help but take out a handkerchief and wipe her tears. She calmed down her emotions for a while, turned her head and gave a few orders, and immediately someone went out, Cixi asked, "Lord Cen, I don't know if I ask you to be the secretary of the Ministry of Posts and Communications, what do you think?" ”

Cen Chunxuan was overjoyed when he heard this. He immediately knelt down and said loudly: "The minister will live up to the hopes of the Queen Mother Lafayette." ”

Cixi is 72 years old this year after all, although she still wants to talk more to Cen Chunxuan, but she is not exhausted. The palace maids and eunuchs below obviously saw Cixi's exhaustion, and hurriedly poured a bowl of ginseng soup for Cixi. Although Cen Chunxuan was nicknamed "Guan Tu", he didn't dare to really let Cixi suffer. After all, if you want to bring down the Beiyang Group this time, you must get Cixi's support.

As soon as he smelled the smell of ginseng tea, Zeng Chunxuan asked to leave. Although Cixi still wanted to say more, her body was tired after all, and she said, "Lord Cen, I will continue to pass you into the palace tomorrow." ”

On the same day, the news that Cixi had conferred Cen Chunxuan's post and communication department with the book spread all over the capital. This was an extremely obvious signal, and the whole court already knew that the political offensive spearheaded by the Qingliu had successfully taken the first step.

That evening, twenty-seven young people gathered in a courtyard in Beijing. This is where they often meet, and nearly half of the attendees are members of the political group that Chen Ke previously formed in Beijing. That time, Chen Ke just wanted to see if there were any capable people in Beijing, and in the end, the few people he selected followed Chen Ke south. The other part was left unattended in Beijing. These people are all young people, and they finally found some companions who have a common language, although Chen Ke, Shang Yuan, Xu Dian and others are gone, and the rest of them still have no intention of disbanding this organization.

Today, these people are coming together because there is a very important person who has returned to Beijing. Everyone has been waiting for news from this person for a long time. When the young people were waiting together, they naturally chatted, and Zeng Chunxuan's matter was naturally the focus.

"Brother Zheng, you are from Beiyang, what do you think?" Someone asked Zheng Wenjie, who was sitting on the side smoking a cigarette.

Zheng Wenjie spat out his cigarette, and then said: "I don't have any ideas, Cen Chunxuan came prepared, and after seizing the position of the secretary of the Ministry of Posts and Communications, he will definitely attack Prince Qing and Lord Yuan." It's just a matter of how and when he does it. How can I know such a thing. ”

"Could it be that Lord Yuan and Prince Qing can't fight Cen Chunxuan, the official slaughter?" Someone said with some skepticism.

Zheng Wenjie continued to smoke his cigarette as if he hadn't heard.

"Brother Zheng, what are you thinking?" Li Yongzhong leaned over and asked, "It's not common to see you so sullen." ”

Zheng Wenjie saw that many people looked at him, and knew that his recent performance was indeed very abnormal. Since Chen Ke, Shang Yuan and others left, Zheng Wenjie has been a relatively recognized leader in this "revolutionary interest group", and he simply no longer conceals his thoughts. Zheng Wenjie said loudly: "Everyone, everyone knows that one of the earliest initiators of our group is Chen Ke, and he is now making a big situation in Anhui. ”

Hearing this, the expressions of several people in the audience became strange. I haven't seen them for more than a year, and these people can't even remember what Chen Ke looks like now. What they can remember is that the people who remained in Beijing tried to remove Chen from the position of "leader". and kicked Chai Qingguo out of the group meeting. When Chen Ke had to leave Beijing in a hurry because of an accident in the southern nest, these people were very happy.

It must be said that the common denominator of these young people is that they all believe that the Manchus are hopeless, and the constitution is hopeless. There must be a revolution that will put them on their own as leaders and guide China out of its present miserable fate. Although Chen Ke is known as an international student, he did write such a book. The problem is that Chen Ke is an unknown person, and it is impossible to convince these people. The reason why Chen Ke and his gang were not able to bring down Chen Ke when he was in Beijing was only because Shang Yuan and others strongly supported Chen Ke. And this group of people has not yet chosen a leader they identify with.

After Chen Ke left, the people who were the nuisance disappeared one after another, and the members of the "revolutionary group" in Beijing became a group of people who could accept each other. It didn't take long for these people to feel that the atmosphere in the revolutionary group was certainly more comfortable for them, but compared with the time when Chen Ke was there, there was no longer the atmosphere of doing practical things in this group at that time. You can now say whatever you want, and as a result, it's useless to say anything. Everyone tries to call the shots and let others do the work. The problem is that everyone in this "revolutionary group" is of similar rank, and no one is willing to be subservient. The people who were willing to succumb to Chen Ke back then all followed Chen Ke. There is no one here who is willing to dwell under men.

Zheng Wenjie is a member of the Beiyang Army, and more than three months ago, he accidentally learned that Wang Shizhen had sent someone to check on Chen Ke. He was concerned about this matter, and later got the news that Chen Ke actually had a territory in Anhui. Zheng Wenjie did not dare to be careless about this, he told the "revolutionary group" the news, and everyone assigned Wang Simiao to make a special trip to Anhui to find out the matter. It's been almost two months, and when Wang Simiao arrived in Wuhan a few days ago, he immediately sent a telegram saying that he was in a hurry to take the train back to Beijing. This is Zheng Wenjie's code agreed in advance, if Chen Ke makes a big name in Anhui, the telegram will naturally not leave a handle on people, so the word "very urgent" will be used instead. Tonight, Wang Simiao is coming back.

Most of the people in the "revolutionary group" are newcomers, and they don't even know who Chen Ke is. I just know that there is such a former member. Naturally, the new members did not know about the festivals between the old members, but they were happy.

As he spoke, there was a knock at the courtyard door. After a while, two people entered the door, it was Wang Simiao and Meng Shu who went to the station to greet them. Wang Simiao's expression was excited and nervous. As soon as he entered the door, he looked at Zheng Wenjie. Everyone else is mixed with all kinds of officialdom, how can they not know what this look means. Someone has already shouted: "Brother Wang, it's hard work." If you have anything, just say it. ”

Zheng Wenjie didn't feel the need to talk alone, he poured Wang Simiao a cup of tea, "What the hell is going on?" ”

Wang Simiao drank the tea in one gulp, and then said, "Close the door tightly and watch it." It's a big deal. ”

Half an hour later, there was silence in the room of the "revolutionary group" in Beijing, and Wang Simiao had already finished telling the information he had personally seen in the base area. The People's Party occupied half of Anhui and raised an army of tens of thousands of people. Everyone knew that Wang Simiao was not a big talker, so they sent him to Anhui to check the situation.

Zheng Wenjie was silent for a while before asking, "Have you seen Chen Ke?" Wang Simiao was a member of the group at that time and had met Chen Ke. Zheng Wenjie was a little skeptical that the leader of the People's Party who made such a big name was Chen Ke. Or maybe it's just a person with the same name and surname.

"I saw it, and sure enough, it was Chen Ke." Wang Simiao replied solemnly in a dark color.

Everyone in the room was silent, and everyone looked at each other's comrades who knew each other, and they could see all kinds of thoughts in each other's eyes. Finally, someone couldn't help but ask in a tone of anticipation, "Brother Wang, what did Chen Ke say?" ”

Wang Simiao's face became a little difficult to look at, "Chen Ke greeted everyone and said that he hadn't been in touch for a long time. I miss you all very much, and I hope to get in touch more when I have time. ”

This kind of remark is clearly a condescending refusal. If Chen Ke really took the Beijing group seriously, he would never have said that. The new members were very dissatisfied with Chen Ke's arrogance, and the old members did not speak one by one, they knew very well that they treated Chen Ke like that back then, and Chen Ke could say this, which was already a very self-contained performance.

Zheng Wenjie already knew why Wang Simiao wanted to talk to him alone at the beginning, but it was not interesting to regret it at this time. Thinking that Chen Ke, who was not in his eyes at all at that time, actually did such an act, Zheng Wenjie felt a strong sour breath in his heart. For a while, Zheng Wenjie was jealous and wanted to kill Chen Ke.