Since the end of the battle in Huaiyuan County, it has rained for five days in a row. Working in the freezing autumn rain is really hard work. Chen Ke did not return to Fengtai County, and his headquarters was set up in a random straw hut on the street. At such times, as a leader, sitting in a clean and warm room and giving orders, you must not let the comrades of the unit feel that the leaders of the unit share weal and woe with you.

If the leading cadres make the appearance of "sharing weal and woe," then it is better not to go. If you can't solve the actual problem, you can stand there as a prison guard, and it will have the opposite effect. In this regard, Chen Ke finally understood what is called "the fresh atmosphere of the new life group". In addition to solving problems and proposing plans under the grass hut, Chen Ke mainly took the guards and logistics comrades to engage in the transportation of support materials and inspect the work along the way.

I watched Chairman Chen personally push the cart and carry the burden, bringing hot water, food, and clean towels to himself. The cadres and fighters were very excited. Chen Ke didn't say any about the cold and asking for warmth, "Comrades, hurry up!" We'll go back to the base when we're done. These are the words that everyone really wants. Although the revolutionary cause is "the whole world is home", after fierce battles and almost non-stop autumn rains, everyone hopes to return to the clean and tidy barracks. After listening to Chen Ke's words, the comrades immediately plucked up their enthusiasm and continued their work.

Chen Ke inspected while delivering things. Whether it is the People's Party or the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, some comrades are indeed reluctant to work so hard because of exhaustion, but they just avoid it. At least that old oilseed hasn't appeared yet. Lazy comrades can also be regarded as "real people", and the old oilman is terrible. Chen Ke believes that if he starts a rebellion, he must first kill the old oilman.

Huaiyuan County was devastated by the war, and more than 100 houses collapsed completely. Even more were burned by the fire. The Beiyang Army also harmed many houses, but these accounts had to be recorded on the heads of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army without exception. This is also human nature.

First of all, the weapons, ammunition, and military equipment of the Beiyang Army were transported back to the base area by boat, and then the wounded of both sides were transported by boat for treatment. The captives of the Beiyang Army were temporarily guarded. Once the rain stopped, the soldiers, in addition to the officers, were repatriated after the rain stopped.

The war dead had to make lists and clean up their relics. This is the method that Chen Ke came up with. He wants to post these lists in Beijing. Fighting the dead is a matter that everyone can understand, although it will inevitably accumulate hatred, but this hatred is generally a "public grudge", if the family of the deceased wants to take revenge, most of them will choose to join the Qing army and recover this account on the battlefield. If you are abused to death or something, this is a personal vendetta. The family's revenge is unscrupulous. It is better to settle public grievances than personal vendettas. This is the result of discussions within the BJP.

Posting such a list in Beijing is, on the one hand, a very tangible indication of how huge the victory was. On the other hand, it can also solve the problem of personal enmity to a large extent.

Bangwen was transported to Beijing by rail, and on a dark and windy night, a lot of these things were posted in the city.

Due to several examples in the past, the Beijing government tore up the list when it found it. But no one dared to tear up the list this time. The news immediately reached the War Department. The beacon fire is day long, and the family is worth 10,000 gold. No matter what kind of regime it is, as long as it is not incorrigibly stupid, low-level officials generally do not dare to easily destroy such a death list. If the family members learn who broke the list, they will not be able to learn about their relatives in time. This is not just a matter of being scolded by the eight generations of ancestors.

The War Department in the capital soon learned of the news, and almost at the same time, Cixi also learned about the list. The old lady immediately ordered a notice to be sent into the palace.

The notice was the same as before, and the head still advised "Cixi, the female leader of the Manchu bandits, to recognize the situation and surrender quickly." Cixi's anger had long passed, and after coldly sweeping these words, Cixi's eyes fell on the list behind.

More than 18,000 troops from the Third Town of Beiyang and the 13th Mixed Association went to suppress the bandits, and as of the time of the publication of the list, there were 7,764 dead. More than 5,000 wounded and more than 600 missing. According to the surnames and places of origin, the dense list of texts made Cixi feel cold in her heart. Every name means a life. This was Cixi's first real contact with the military. In the past, Cixi listened to her subordinates say a bunch of nonsense that they could or couldn't understand. She had no idea what the battlefield was like, what the war was like. When this long list was placed in front of Cixi, she knew how many would die in a war.

The words on the paper are not big, and the People's Party has to protect the safety of its comrades anyway. The person who posted the notice takes a long time, has a large amount of tasks, and has a high chance of being caught. Cixi didn't know the People's Party's considerations, and she closed her eyes slightly, thinking about the ratio of this small character to life-size. The old lady shivered. If so many corpses were spread out, Cixi couldn't imagine how much land this area would occupy. When she opened her eyes and glanced at the paper in front of her, Cixi's body couldn't help but sway.

The eunuch and palace maid next to her were frightened, "Lafayette ......" Li Lianying exclaimed and hurriedly stepped forward to support Cixi, and the little eunuch had already put away the list on the table with interest.

Cixi took a few weak breaths, she opened her eyes and said, "Chuan Tieliang." ”

"Lafayette, Tie Liang is already waiting outside the palace gate." Li Lianying was worried, and the eunuch's sharp voice became sharper, but Li Lianying's throat was obviously extremely dry, and the sound seemed to pass through the rough surface of the stone.

"Let him in." Cixi was already excited, and the old lady's voice became unusually strong and powerful: "Let him in!" ”

Tie Liang didn't know what he was thinking along the way, and he also read the list. Together with Yuan Shikai to form the Beiyang Army, Tie Liang was very familiar with the names of the soldiers of the Beiyang Army, especially the officers. The name on the top of the list was not made up by the People's Party. If it hadn't really fought the war of annihilation mentioned in the list, the People's Party would never have written such a report.

The reason why Tie Liang became the Minister of War was very unusual, Yuan Shikai cleared the Manchu forces in the Beiyang Army, and Tie Liang was naturally the first to bear the brunt. And Yuan Shikai was almost successful at that time. As a result, Ding Wei was politically motivated, and Cixi wanted to suppress the Beiyang family, so Yuan Shikai's attack on Tieliang fulfilled Tieliang. In order to balance the power between the factions, Cixi promoted Tie Liang to Minister of War. Yuan Shikai had to hand over the Beiyang Army later, and Tie Liang became the powerful man in charge of China's most elite troops.

In this regard, Cixi has the "grace of knowledge" for Tie Liang. The fall of the Third Town and the Thirteen Mixed Formations proved that Tie Liang had lived up to Cixi's high expectations. Walking in the Forbidden City with the eunuch, Tie Liang didn't know what he was thinking at all, he had thousands of thoughts in his head, and he didn't seem to have the slightest idea at all. Tie Liang knew that he had no room for argument at all, but he was not willing to take responsibility and dispose of it casually.

In this groggy feeling, Tie Liang entered the main hall. As soon as he entered the door, he fell to his knees, "Slave Tie Liang see Lafayette." After saying that, Tie Liang's forehead was pressed against the cold ground, and he didn't dare to raise it again.

"Tieliang!" Cixi popped out the name word by word from between her teeth, "You did a good errand." ”

"Slaves deserve death!" Tie Liang didn't argue at all, but just said this sentence.

"What's the use of your sin deserving death?" Cixi asked. In the past few decades that she has been in power, Cixi has heard too many words about crimes that deserve death, and none of these men who claim to be "guilty of ten thousand deaths" have died, and they are doing what they should do outside, that is, continue to create all kinds of messes for Cixi, so that Cixi racks her brains to wipe these people's buttocks. At this moment, Cixi really wanted to drag Tie Liang out and cut it down. However, this kind of thinking was only a matter of a moment, and Cixi knew that at such a time, she could not do this. The situation outside was chaotic like this, and it was not easy to cut the military power in Yuan Shikai's hands, and replaced Tie Liang, who knew military affairs, to take charge of the War Department. If Tie Liang is cut down, will Yuan Shikai be used again? Or hand over the War Department to the clan that has long been staring at the military power with red eyes? In this way, it is better to let Tie Liang continue to be in charge of the War Department.

"How the hell was this battle fought?" Cixi asked.

Hearing this question, Tie Conscience was confused for a while. yes, how did you win this battle? He didn't know at all that since Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen left Xuzhou with their troops, the things on the front line were really thousands of miles away from Beijing, and Tie Liang didn't take it seriously what "telegraph communication" was formulated before the war, and Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen didn't take it seriously.

But it's not okay not to answer at this time. Tie Liang said: "Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen rushed forward with light troops and fell into an ambush. led to a great defeat of the whole army. ”

This very standard answer directly did not make Cixi acceptable, she shouted angrily: "The imperial court spent so much money to form a new army, and several drills have praised the training of the new army. You can also defeat a battle against a group of bandits. Defeat after defeat. Anhui New Army, Hubei New Army, Jiangbei New Army, Beiyang New Army. After spending tens of millions of taels of silver in the court, you will only lose the battle when you encounter bandits? ”

Cixi's anger made Tie Liang's back break out in a cold sweat, and Cixi's problem was also Tie Liang's problem. The intelligence of the People's Party was not a completely secret to the Manchus, and Chen Ke took 100 people to Anhui, where the floods were raging, and in just over a year, he raised a contingent of tens of thousands of people to conquer the city and establish his own government. Dealing with such a group of bandits who were completely native to Anhui, the elite new army of the imperial court was simply powerless to resist. Now even the third town of the Beiyang Army has been destroyed. Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen, two military generals who had been praised since Li Hongzhang's former Beiyang days, were listed at the top of the list of captured personnel. Cixi didn't understand what was going on, and Tie Liang didn't understand either.

"Lafayette, the slave has failed Lafayette. The minions immediately sent people to check the situation, and mobilized new troops from all walks of life across the country. Tie Liang said very sincerely. This is actually Tie Liang's only choice.

Cixi took a breath, Tie Liang's words were indeed a solution, but there was no operability in the slightest. Cixi knew the great cost of sending troops. This time, only the third town was dispatched, wasn't it because the imperial court had no money to send troops? Tie Liang did this, it was just a statement.

"First find out the truth of the chaotic party in Anhui!" Cixi said coldly, "What is the origin of this Chen Ke, you must find out for me." ”

"Wow!" Tie Liang replied.

"In addition, Chen Ke is married to the daughter of the He family. Put the He family in prison. Cixi said.

Tie Liang didn't understand how Cixi thought of Zhu Lian at all, but this kind of question was not something he dared to ask. Tie Liang is now unable to protect himself, what does the life or death of the He family have to do with him?

Seeing Tie Liang take the order and leave, Cixi held her body strongly, so that she collapsed in the seat without collapse. Letting the He family go to prison was actually not a decision made by Cixi to vent her anger. Tie Liang suffered this defeat, and there must be many people who want Tie Liang to step down. The He family is a person from Beiyang, and the arrest of the He family is to make a statement, there are many people in Beiyang who are related to the He family, if you don't want to harm yourself, the people of Beiyang had better keep their mouths shut and say nothing. Just dealing with the group of people in the clan, Cixi is enough of a headache, and Beiyang should not add to the chaos. Cixi thought that with Yuan Shikai's cleverness, he could understand the meaning of this order.

Yuan Shikai put a notice in front of him, and his face was pale. No one in the family dared to touch their heads at this time, and the servants were even more breathless, not daring to let Yuan Shikai notice their existence at all.

However, these people are too worried, and Yuan Shikai really doesn't have the heart to find someone to vent his anger at this time. The Hubei New Army was hit hard, and Yuan Shikai looked at Zhang Zhidong's extremely ugly face, and his heart was very happy. He felt that even if the Beiyang Army could not win, it would not fail. But he was wrong, Chen Ke proved the combat effectiveness of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. Since beating Wang Shizhen out of Beijing and becoming the governor of Jiangbei, Yuan Shikai has no one to discuss with him. looked at the names of Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui, who were at the top of the captured list, and Yuan Shikai felt that his heart was like a knife.

"Come on, please come Mr. Sheng Xuanhuai." Yuan Shikai said. These two people must be ransomed, Yuan Shikai made a decision. This time, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army announced that it would release all the captured soldiers, but not a single officer would be released. Yuan Shikai can understand Chen Ke's thoughts, as long as there is money, there are as many soldiers as there are. And these officers are the backbone of Beiyang, not only spent countless silver to feed, but also Beiyang spent a lot of effort to cultivate. Without these officers, Yuan Shikai could not effectively control the Beiyang Army. In any case, we must find a way to get Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui back first, and then redeem the other officers. The ransom has to give money, and the only one who can take out this money is Sheng Xuanhuai.

The news spread very quickly, and everyone in the capital soon learned of the defeat. Although the notice was quickly torn down, the list could not be concealed at all. The War Department and the police station are now facing countless visitors, all of whom are the families of the officers and soldiers sent from the Third Town of Beiyang, who have asked to see the list to see if the names of their relatives and friends are on the list.

The Sun family was already anxious, He Qian's mother-in-law was sitting in the hall crying, and the Sun family was sitting anxiously waiting here. Sun Yongsheng's father has already taken someone to the police station to find someone, hoping to see the list. He Qian stood in the room without saying a word. The people of the Sun family scolded Anhui for the chaos of the party, scolded Chen Ke, and even spoke coldly to He Qian. He Qian's face was like ashes, and she let these people talk nonsense, as if she hadn't heard it.

However, He Qian's mother-in-law didn't say much, before sending troops this time, He Qian sincerely persuaded Sun Yongsheng not to send troops. For this reason, Sun Yongsheng made a fuss at home, and Sun Yongsheng's parents knew it very well. So no matter what other people say, Sun Yongsheng's parents don't say a word to He Qian, if they accuse He Qian again, they want He Qian's life.

There was a burst of footsteps outside the door, and Sun Yongsheng's father had already strode back. "Did you find it?" Sun Yongsheng's mother immediately stood up and shouted.

"I found out, Yongsheng is injured." Sun Yongsheng's father said anxiously. He pulled out a stack of papers, which he had copied out of the announcement, along with a portion of the list.

When my grandmother heard this, she immediately burst into tears. It's a good thing that his son didn't die, but his son was injured and is still in the hands of the bandits. As a mother, my grandmother still couldn't accept it.

Hearing this, He Qian, who had been silent, walked in front of Sun Yongsheng's father and knelt down quietly, "Dad, I have a request." Please let me go to Anhui and bring Yongsheng back. I am from the Sun family, and I know Chen Ke. If I don't go, I'd better be killed. ”