"It's only been a few days, and my face has changed! You have long been thinking of maintaining the republic, why do you still go along with what kind of telegram in favor of the imperial system? Why did you take it when I gave you an official promotion? ”

"Shameless! Dog! Dog! A dog! ”

Yuan Shikai roared loudly in the room, and slammed his fist on the purple wooden table, and the jīng Mei's "Jurentang" colored porcelain cup on the table suddenly jumped up, and then fell heavily on the table, but it was surprising that none of them were broken, which fully proved the quality of Jingdezhen's special "Hongxian porcelain".

Seeing Yuan Shikai so angry, all the ministers and generals in the room were silent one by one, and cold sweat broke out on their foreheads.

"Your Majesty is angry." Secretary of State Xu Shichang showed due composure at this critical moment, "I have received various telegrams from Yunnan a few days ago, and no trace of rebellion has been found. ”

Listening to Xu Shichang's words, Yuan Shikai took a breath and slowly calmed down.

"You can use the name of the political hall to immediately call Yunnan and ask if the call is fake." Yuan Shikai said, "You probably just said that: I learned that the content of the call was very different from the telegram sent to the General Staff Department and the church three days ago, and the church would never believe that Yunnan had such a rebellious thing, and wanted to be fabricated by others to send it on behalf of others. ”

Xu Shichang agreed, nodded to a confidential secretary, and the secretary quickly wrote down what Yuan Shikai had just said, and then turned to leave.

"Whether this telegram is true or not, we still have to take precautions." Yang Du, the prime minister (prime minister) of the cabinet, who has not spoken, said, "Not only Yunnan, Guizhou, 41, but also Guangxi should be on guard as soon as possible." ”

"I have appointed Yang Hanzhi as the patrol envoy of Nanzhili, rectifying the soldiers and horses, and thinking of them as a backup." Yuan Shikai said, "Chen Eun will be able to return from Europe in a few days.

With them, no matter how fierce his grandson's cannon is, he is not afraid. ”。

After hearing Yuan Shikai's words, Chen Huan, the actual commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, came back, "Yang Du, Xu Shichang and others were all taken aback.

"If you don't want the trend of opposing the party to spread, why don't you let Yang Hanzhi lead the armies, divide and attack, and fight together." Yang Du thought about it, took a few words, and suggested to Yuan Shikai, "In this rebellion, our army should fight a quick battle and make a quick decision, and not give Japan a chance to support the anti-party." ”。

Yuan Shikai listened to Yang Du's suggestion, and his face became a little depressed, "He nodded slowly, "Let's see how Li Chun, Ma Jizeng, and Tang Tianxi are playing!" ”

Yang Du listened to Yuan Shikai's answer and understood that he was still not very at ease with Yang Shuoming, a rising star, and couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart.

"How's Matsupa's condition?" Yuan Shikai asked suddenly.

Yang Du didn't expect Yuan Shikai to ask such a question, and couldn't help but be a little surprised, but he immediately replied: "Three days ago, I went to Renhe Hospital and visited Songpa, and the doctor said that Songpa recovered quickly after surgery. ”。

"The matter of the General Staff, I'm afraid he can't stand it now." Yuan Shikai clenched his fists, and his speech and demeanor began to become irritated again" "Chen Er'an is anxious and can't come back",.

"Your Majesty, why don't you go to Duan Mansion in person and ask Zhiquan to come out of the mountain." Yang Du suggested again.

"What Tetsuko said is very true." Xu Shijing also said, "It's better for the emperor to go on a trip, there is a Zhiquan out of the mountain, and the emperor should be a big helper." ”。

"It's not that I don't want to see him! You don't know that he's a person who is so rigid! ”。 Yuan Shikai waved his hand a little annoyed, "He just doesn't approve of me being the emperor!" I'm afraid that if I give up this seat to him, he will not come out! ”。

Hearing Yuan Shikai's voice rise again, Yang Du and Xu Shichang glanced at each other, "I didn't say anything more."

The air in the room became so dull for a while, and at this moment, Cai Tinggan walked in from the outside quickly, and his crisp footsteps were particularly clear at this time.

Yuan Shikai turned his head and saw Cai Tinggan's happy face, and then he noticed that he had a telegram in his hand, and his face couldn't help but stretch out.

"What's the matter? In such a hurry? Yuan Shikai asked in a somewhat hoarse voice.

"I just received a call from General Li Chun, and the Gan army athletes killed Chen Yingshi, the leader of the rebel party. And take its head! Cai Tinggan said loudly, "General Li is sending someone to send a letter to the Beijing division in the starry night!" ”

Listening to Cai Tinggan's words, the people in the room were all happy, and Yuan Shikai rushed to Cai Tinggan as if he had been stimulant, snatched the telegram from his hand, and looked at it carefully. ,

"That's pretty much it." After reading the telegram, Yuan Shikai's face finally showed a smile, "I didn't say anything about it, who is so capable and has made such a great achievement." ”

"I heard that it was done by the special forces in the Gan army." Cai Tinggan said.

"Special forces?" Yuan Shikai's eyebrows raised, "What special forces Diao"

"It is a small unit established by Yang Hanzhi when he was serving as the guard of Ganxi Town, specializing in reconnaissance and infiltration and other special combat missions, and many of them are said to be brave men trained by Yang Hanzhi himself." Cai Tinggan didn't hear the deep meaning of Yuan Shikai's question just now, but replied straightforwardly, "The ministry made great contributions when it captured the Qingdao fortress. ”。

"Oh, I see." Yuan Shikai nodded silently, and while saying to Cai Tinggan, he gave the telegram to Xu Shichang, "Let the War Department ask about the specific situation, so that the meritorious personnel can be commended."

Cai Tinggan agreed, turned around and left.

"He Chen Yingshi is accustomed to killing innocents by assassination and other indiscriminate means, this time he finally conferred the head, Zheng Zijing is in the spirit of heaven, and he should smile at Jiuquan." Yuan Shikai sighed and said.

After listening to Yuan Shikai's words, Yang Du, Xu Shichang and others also claimed to be.

Zheng Zijing mentioned by Yuan Shikai is the original Beiyang Navy Admiral Zheng Rucheng, who was appointed by Yuan Shikai as the Shanghai town guard, and became the primary target of the Shanghai revolutionaries because of his stubborn defense of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau during the "Second Revolution". On November 10, 1915, Zheng Rucheng was killed by a bomb thrown by a hitman assigned by Chen Yingshi at the age of 43. Zheng Rucheng's death made Yuan regret, and Yuan Shikai ordered "Zheng Rucheng posthumously awarded the first-class Zhangwei Marquis, and he will be given preferential compensation according to the example of the general's death." "Give 20,000 yuan of silver for funeral expenses, allocate four acres of Yingtian, a small station under Tianjin, to his family to support him, and establish a special shrine for Zheng Rucheng in Shanghai and his hometown.

Yuan Shikai has always felt very hated and frightened about Chen Yingshi, the culprit who assassinated Zheng Rucheng, and now that Chen Yingshi has been ambushed, Yuan Shikai can certainly breathe a sigh of relief.

"Is there any news from Xu Youzheng?" Yuan Shikai asked again.

No one answered.

Seeing that Yuan Shikai's face was a little depressed, Xu Shichang comforted him and said: "The Mongolian desert is vast, and it is normal for news to be difficult to get through, presumably there will be good news in a few days." ”

"I hope so." Yuan Shikai sighed, "Now I can only wait." ”

Outer Mongolia, desert.

"Look! That's our airship! ”

Chu Xiangzheng, the commander of the Second Brigade of the Border Guards, pointed to the huge silver-white objects floating in the sky and said with some excitement.

"Yang Hanzhi has a heart," Xu Shuzheng, who was sitting in the four-wheeled command truck produced by Renhe Heavy Industry Co., Ltd., which imitated American cars, looked up at the giant silver shuttle in flight, and sighed, "If he hadn't given us so many good things, it would have been really not easy for us to go deep into this desert." ”

"Those Mongolian lamas must be dumbfounded if they see this thing." Chu Xiangzheng's gaze was still on the airship.

These advanced airships, specially made by Yang Shuoming for Xu Shuzheng's military campaign into Mongolia, can not only be used for reconnaissance and ridicule, but also can carry special heavy bombs for bombing.

For the Mongols, "the psychological shock of this monster falling from the sky is much greater than that of an armed army."

"This time, I have to let them obey and submit to my China," Xu Shuzheng withdrew his gaze from the airship and sneered, "Don't make Lao Tzu kill when the time comes." ”

"Last time, the conditions offered by Chen Du's escort to Outer Mongolia were too generous, even if it is done, maybe one day they will want to separate from our China again." Chu Xiangzheng nodded, looked back at the cannon towed behind a truck, "This time they dare to say another "no, word", Lao Tzu flattened Kulun. ”

General Chu said this badly, "We are going for the purpose of peace this time, and Kulun is also our Chinese city, so we can't destroy it..."A middle-aged man in a Chinese costume sitting in the back seat of the car said with a smile, "Supervisor Yang said that he wants to open a bank there." ”

Listening to the words of Fang Wenlin, the middle-aged first vice president of China Jiāo Tong Bank, Xu Shuzheng smiled and nodded.

As for how to carry out the operation in Outer Mongolia this time, Yang Shuoming has reached a specific strategy with Xu Shuzheng.

After the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution," the Tsarist Russian government believed, "this was the best time to annex Chinese territory and fulfill the long-cherished wishes of successive tsars." Taking advantage of China's internal luàn and no time to take care of Outer Mongolia, the Russian army sent troops to Kulen under the pretext of "protecting the consulate and the diaspora", and single-handedly directed the farce of "foreign ** standing". ,

When the news of Kulun's declaration of "independence" and the signing of the "Russian-Mongolian Entente" spread throughout the country, there was a great uproar and indignation throughout the country, and all political parties and all ethnic groups and circles throughout the country held rallies and demonstrations one after another, issued telegrams, angrily denouncing Russia's aggressive act of vain attempt to annex China's Mongolian region, and angrily denouncing Russia's crimes. People from all walks of life in China have also united to take concrete actions to protect China's former territory in Mongolia, and dock workers in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Yantai and other places have gone on strike, refusing to load, unload and carry the goods of the Russians. The Chinese workers of the brick tea factories of the Russian merchants in Hankow also staged an allied strike. The masses in various parts of China have resisted the use of the banknotes of the Sino-Russian Daosheng Bank, refused to deposit money with the bank, and rushed to demand the exchange of silver with the bank's paper notes in hand, and the Beijing Hua-Russia Daosheng Bank was withdrawn in cash of 2.5 million yuan within three days, with the result that the banknotes issued by the bank could not be circulated in the market.

Driven by the anti-Russian voice of the people of the whole country, after the establishment of the Republic of China, the government of the Republic of China immediately solemnly telegraphed to the Outer Mongolian authorities, "Outer Mongolia is the same Chinese nation, and for hundreds of years, the Yiru family "Mongolia and Han borders, lips and teeth depend on each other, Mongolia and the hinterland, religion, race, and habits are the same, and if they are united, they will benefit both, and if they are divided, they will hurt both, and they must not feel the infinite calamities of heresy and Outer Mongolia", "A country with independent continents must have sufficient wealth and military strength and politics to become a country, and not be swallowed up by people, although Mongolia has a vast land, the population is too small, The total number of Mongolian provinces is less than that of a small province in the interior. "And since Mongolia has been enshrined in the Yellow Religion, it has become a day to avoid killing, and all the arrows only know how to ride shè, and the swords and spears are not yet ready, so what about guns" "Immediately cancel independence, and still unite with the interior as one country, then the crisis can be saved and the state can be consolidated." Otherwise, the wall will be read endlessly, and the whole country will be harmed, and there will be regrets for being slaves! ”。 The Outer Mongolian authorities were ordered to revoke their independence.

In the face of the warnings of the Chinese government, the Outer Mongolian authorities still stubbornly did not come to their senses, and after learning that the princes of Inner Mongolia and Simon refused to separate from China and become independent, they brazenly sent troops to invade Inner Mongolia, and the Outer Mongolian army invaded Zhangjiakou and other places, and wandered around Inner Mongolia to harass and brutalize the Han people. In order to deal with the invasion of the Outer Mongolian army, the government of the Republic of China successively mobilized garrisons in Rehe, Zhangjiakou, Shanxi, and Zhuanyuan, and carried out a comprehensive and uninterrupted counterattack against the Outer Mongolian army that invaded Inner Mongolia in the vast area from the Zhaoniao Dameng in the east to the Niollanchabu League in the west.

Due to the lack of power in China and the domestic political turmoil since the founding of the Republic of China, it was unable to make a strong response to foreign power, although it later succeeded in forcing Outer Mongolia to cancel the imperial title and recognize China's suzerainty, but Outer Mongolia actually obtained the right to "autonomy".

As Tsarist Russia continued to encroach on Mongolia, Japan also extended its claws here, and in order to stop Russia and Japan's ambitions against Mongolia, the Republic of China government has been trying to restore China's sovereignty over Mongolia. And this time, the opportunity finally came.

As a result of the revolution that broke out in Russia, the puppet regime in Outer Mongolia lost its "Slavic nanny." In addition, after the Trans-Siberian Railway was managed by Russia, Russia's import of goods and materials into Mongolia has been decreasing, which has put the economy of Outer Mongolia in a difficult situation, and many princes and lower-class people in Outer Mongolia have increasingly called for returning to China. In this favorable situation, in order to "prevent problems before they happen." "The squadron was able to enter Mongolia in a big way.

Of course, the reason for this situation is related to the quiet flapping of wings by a "dark bat".

In order to completely exclude Russian influence from Mongolia, Yang Shuoming and Xu Shuzheng's strategy "included economic measures in addition to military control of Mongolia."

Since most of Mongolia's supplies of goods and materials come from Chinese mainland, after "independence," commercial exchanges between China and Mongolia have been reduced and almost cut off, and Russia's supply of materials to Mongolia through the Trans-Siberian Railway can only reach 30 percent at most before "independence." The idea was to control Mongolia economically. This is also the reason why he sent Fang Wenlin and a "non-combatant". The reason for coming with the army.

"Don't worry, Yang Hanzhi has helped me so much, if I don't take back the beautiful Mongolian beauty, I will be a little sorry for him." Xu Shuzheng's gaze returned to the desert in the distance.

At this time, the fiery red sun was hanging high in the sky, and the airship flying between the blue sky and white clouds looked so majestic. ,

"How far is it from Cullen?" Xu Shuzheng asked.

"There's still a lot of work to go by." One of the staff officers replied after checking the map.

"It's a fucking bad thing to bring too many things, it's just that it's too slow." Xu Shuzheng said with some annoyance.

"Either let the cavalry go first." Chu Xiangzheng suggested, "The soldiers are very fast, and I don't know how many Russians there are in Kulen." ”。

"Good!" Xu Shuzheng thought for a moment, nodded, and said loudly, "Pass my order!" Let the cavalry regiment go first! ”。

Kulen, Ganden Monastery.

"If the Russian "red plague" spreads to Mongolia, then we will be finished! Living buddha! ”。

"The revolution of the Russians is the revolution of the powerful and the rich! The government they established spoke to the poor! Lamas, princes and nobles like us will certainly not have good fruit to eat! ”。

"Yes! Living buddha! In any case, the Russians are no longer reliable! ”

"Let's withdraw the rule and return to China! Living buddha! ”。

Listening to the pleas of the lamas and princes, Jebtsundampa began to let out a heavy wheezing sound.

At this moment, he feels "independent" about the cup of obeying the Russians. And I feel regretful.

Now that the revolution in Russia has swept across the country, Outer Mongolia, which was "autonomous" under the direction of the Russians, has lost its "protection". He was well aware of the consequences of the possible export of the Russian Revolution to Mongolia.

In fact, the "autonomous Mongols" were originally the product of the political blackmail carried out by Tsarist Russia against the Chinese government by taking advantage of the collapse of the Manchu dynasty in China. At that time, China's government was almost powerless to fight back in the face of a serious crisis situation in the country. Therefore, under the pressure of Tsarist Russia, the Chinese government was forced to allow "autonomy" of Outer Mongolia on the premise of guaranteeing that "Outer Mongolia is part of Chinese territory...... It can be said that Tsarist Russia is the nanny of "autonomous Mongolia", which controls the political, economic and foreign affairs of Mongolia with one hand, and Jebtsundamba is nothing more than a puppet of Tsarist Russia.

And the outbreak of the October Revolution in Russia had a negative impact on the "autonomous Mongols". It's like a chōu salary at the bottom of the kettle. The fall of Tsarist Russia deprived the "autonomous Mongolia" of its own backers and its support in all aspects of society. In the face of this sudden and complex situation, although Jebtsundamba claims to be a living Buddha with "great wisdom", like many lamas and princes with full brains, he feels at a loss.

(To be continued.)