Duan Qirui had no good impression of the Hubei New Army, and the outside world generally commented that the Hubei New Army "won with knowledge" and "won with courage" in the Hejian Autumn Exercise, and evaluated the Beiyang New Army as "winning with courage". In the Qing Dynasty, being knowledgeable was more important than having courage, which was something that Duan Qirui was extremely dissatisfied with. War Minister Tie Liang ordered to escort some defeated soldiers of the Hubei New Army into Beijing for questioning, which gave Duan Qirui a chance to have a seizure. Of course, Duan Qirui's attack was not all about revenge, he also wanted to intimidate the defeated soldiers so that they would not dare to tell nonsense.

When Duan Qirui angrily reprimanded the defeated soldiers, it was really murderous, if it was in the Beiyang Army, Duan Qirui was so angry, he really wanted to kill. The officers of the defeated army were terrified. He knelt down, but hugged Tie Liang's legs, "My lord, I said before I entered Beijing that I would never kill us." Spare your life. ”

In addition to the officer who was angrily reprimanded by Duan Qirui, the other soldiers were also frightened, and when they saw the officer asking Tie Liang for help, they also quickly knelt down and begged. What would have been a normal inquiry suddenly became chaotic.

Tie Liang glanced at Duan Qirui reproachfully, but at this time, he couldn't refute Duan Qirui's face because of these defeated soldiers. Snorted coldly, Tie Liang said, "You just speak honestly, don't make things up." When I say I won't kill you, I want you to speak honestly. If you are not honest, can't the War Department kill you? ”

The defeated soldiers "understood" Tie Liang's words, and in the inquiries from then on, they tried their best to guess what Duan Qirui meant, and Duan Qirui really had no experience in interrogating the defeated soldiers. The defeated soldiers are trying to survive at this time, where are they willing to tell the truth, and they are passing the buck in every sentence. And the biggest responsible person is naturally co-commander Li Yuanhong. There were even defeated soldiers who were frightened and dizzy, and actually led some responsibility to Zhang Zhidong.

"That's what a trick to beat." Duan Qirui couldn't help but think. He himself regretted it a little, but in fact, Duan Qirui himself really wanted to find out what his opponent, the People's Party, was capable of. I didn't expect it to be like this. But after thinking about it, Duan Qirui had a calculation. He only needs to make a copy of the confessions of these defeated soldiers that will penetrate the wind everywhere, of course, these news will definitely not mention what Duan Qirui himself did, but hint to other parties that Tie Liang will deal with Zhang Zhidong by interrogating the defeated soldiers. These news will definitely reach Zhang Zhidong, and Duan Qirui believes that Zhang Zhidong will definitely not ignore it. If Zhang Zhidong and Tie Liang fight, it will first follow Duan Qirui's thoughts, and secondly, it will also help Yuan Shikai.

Seeing that the inquiry had become like this, Tie Conscience was also extremely dissatisfied. He was able to get these defeated soldiers, not by relying on any authority to suppress Hubei, but by relying on the full battalion set up in the Hubei New Army. At the beginning of this year, there was a rebellion in Anhui, and in order to strengthen its control over the new army, the imperial court set up full camps in each new army. The purpose was to let these Manchurians spy on the military situation and arrest the revolutionary party. Tie Liang relied on the full battalion of the Hubei New Army to send the defeated troops to Beijing.

Tie Liang actually has his own measure, and he is absolutely unwilling to turn the questioning into a confession, so he repeatedly emphasized to the officials who interrogated these defeated soldiers that they must not be tortured into a confession, nor can they induce confessions. Duan Qirui, as the commander of the third town, out of his identity, Tie Liang did not explain to Duan Qirui, but something still happened. "How could Duan Qirui be such a person?" Tie Liang was disappointed. In the Beiyang Army, Duan Qirui has a good reputation. This is also the reason why Tie Liang is willing to let Duan Qirui lead the third town to send troops.

However, since the incident has happened, what to say to Duan Qirui will only intensify the conflict. Tie Liang had to endure this. At the same time, he made a note to Duan Qirui in his heart.

After the inquiry, the War Department began to discuss the gains and losses of the Hubei New Army in the Anhui Campaign. Since the Hubei New Army was annihilated too completely, there was naturally no "gain" in this battle, and as for the "loss," the people in the War Department had long known that Tie Liang would not allow him to be held accountable, and they could not say too deeply.

Duan Qirui was a veteran of the army, and he didn't care about the intention of the War Department, so he directly raised his own questions, the first of which was the issue of "barrage", Duan Qirui resolutely did not believe that the People's Party refused to allow a dam to be built at the bottom of the river. The second problem is the problem of exploring horses, the People's Party destroyed the exploration horses of the Hubei New Army in a short period of time, Duan Qirui is not completely unconvinced, he thinks that there must be a problem here. The third is the hollow phalanx discharged by the Hubei New Army. The hollow phalanx was clearly for the purpose of attacking in a queue. The Hubei New Army turned this formation into a situation of being beaten and beaten. Duan Qirui felt that there was something strange here. Where is the ability of a group of bandits of the People's Party to suppress the Hubei New Army in terms of firepower? If they had such ability, it would have been impossible for the People's Party and bandits to retreat in Anhui, Henan to the north, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, all of which were fertile lands, and the People's Party should have attacked these places a long time ago. It is simply impossible to shrink back in Anhui, which has been flooded. Last year's floods were severe, and Duan Qirui, who was in Beijing, knew a lot of news. It is a blessing that the People's Party can survive in the mud, how can it come up with such a strong army?

Duan Qirui did not know what hard efforts the People's Party had made under the leadership of Chen Ke. Of course, even if Duan Qirui heard about this kind of thing, he would think it was "nonsense". However, the question raised by Duan Qirui is indeed to the point. Most of these people in the War Department didn't like Duan Qirui, and they nodded frequently after hearing these questions.

Tie Liang frowned and was silent, and after a long while, he said: "Duan Commander, this time the suppression of bandits cannot be delayed. If we figure this out, I'm afraid it will drag on for a while. I think we still have to send troops as soon as possible. ”

Duan Qirui said in his heart: "Do you know now that it is urgent? If you hadn't taken away Lord Yuan's military power, you would have destroyed Chen Ke and these chaotic parties a long time ago. ”

Although he thought so in his heart, Duan Qirui definitely couldn't say that, he asked, "What are you going to do?" ”

Tie Liang replied: "Duan Commander will hurry up and prepare for the dispatch of troops now, and I will investigate what you said in detail." It will definitely solve the question of the section system. ”

Tie Liang said this, and Duan Qirui couldn't question it face to face. He had no choice but to continue asking, "Then when will the troops be dispatched?" ”

"Within fifteen days, troops will be dispatched." Tie Liang replied.

"Within fifteen days?" Duan Qirui's eyes widened. This is not what he pretended, there are tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in the third town, and the baggage is huge. It is absolutely unrealistic to send troops within 15 days. If Wang Shizhen was here, this would be possible, but Duan Qirui hadn't even formulated a military plan now, which was not realistic at all.

Tie Liang also knew what the problem was, but he couldn't wait any longer, "You don't have to go out completely, you can send some soldiers and horses to the south first, but in any case, within thirty days, the third town must all go to Xuzhou." Then he marched into Anhui with the governor of Jiangbei. ”

When he came out of the conference room of the War Department, Duan Qirui was furious. No matter how he explained, Tie Liang refused to let go. Tieliang is not without reason, in 1905, an uprising broke out in Liuyangli, and the rebels echoed Shangli Yao. In less than 10 days, the rebel army reached more than 30,000 people, and its prestige spread to the middle of the Yangtze River. The officers and men of Hunan and Jiangxi provinces were in a chaotic mess and frequently cried for help, and the Qing court issued a "letter from above," urgently ordering the four provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Jiangsu to quickly dispatch effective troops to "gallop and suppress" and transfer their navies to Jiujiang and Wuhu to strengthen their courage. At one time, the Qing army gathered 40,000 or 50,000 people. This was the largest number of troops sent by the Qing Dynasty to the south after the defeat of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Even the Beiyang Army, which was far away in Tianjin, sent a cavalry battalion to take part in the suppression of the uprising.

Of course, Duan Qirui knew about that incident, but at that time, the Manchus were still able to cooperate, and the commanders of the various soldiers and horses did not have such obvious factional disputes as they do now. What's more, what happened this time can't be compared to this time, who would have thought that such a team of rebels would suddenly emerge from the center of the flood. When the imperial court found out, this team turned out to be the climate.

Duan Qirui didn't realize that because he didn't know the specific situation, when he judged the strength of the People's Party, it actually changed differently with his own mentality. Now Duan Qirui has not reflected on his thoughts at all, it is easy for Tie Liang to give orders, and Duan Qirui, who executes the order, will have to face countless problems. Gathering the officers of the third town, Duan Qirui gave the order to send troops.

The officers of the third town did not expect to send troops so soon, and when Duan Qirui issued the order with a gloomy face, everyone did not dare to say anything. When Duan Qirui ordered the meeting to be dismissed, the officers immediately packed their luggage and returned to Tianjin. The officers secretly exchanged glances with each other. Sun Yongsheng originally felt that the discipline of the War Department was lax, but he really knew that he was about to put into intense preparations for sending troops, and he was about to go thousands of miles away to participate in the war. He actually felt that this comfortable life had become nostalgic.

After the meeting was dismissed, some of the officers began to contact and go out for a drink in the evening. Everyone thinks that they have to have a good time before going out to the army. It's months before the next pleasure.

The officers of the Beiyang Army are not short of money, and it is common for everyone to take turns to drink in the east. This time the army was a big deal, and everyone also felt that ordinary drinking could not be enjoyable at all, so they simply got together and went to Bada Hutong to drink flower wine. The group first went to change into civilian clothes, and after gathering at the agreed place, they set off for Bada Hutong. Sun Yongsheng found that there was one more person among the people who came with him, but it was Zheng Wenjie, who was now working at the War Department. Zheng Wenjie used to be Wang Shizhen's subordinate, and he can be regarded as a person from Beiyang. He didn't say much either.

This flower wine is still very enjoyable to drink, needless to say, the banquet is needless to say, the dishes are naturally excellent, the kiln sisters who accompany the wine are deliberately flattering, and there are singing tunes next to them. A group of officers hugged Sister Yao and drank happily. But he heard the sound of the lute, and the woman who sang the song sang a tune. This song is said to be a song but not a song, and it is said to be a play but not a play.

"It's so late at night, how can the paper window be lit. It wasn't the candle you lit for me waiting all night. It's just an encounter, a dream of the Red Mansion. My landscapes are all faded, as if they have been washed by heavy rain. The scenery in the cup is ghostly, and I forgot who I am. The mood is as cool as water at night. Holding a butterfly cup in his hand, flying solo, not drunk and not returning. I made a mistake in the flower field, and I said that I would forget it before dawn. Mistakes were made in the flower field, hugging turned into torment, mistakes were made in the flower field, mistakes were made...... Like the boredom of obsessing with the mirror flowers, I made a mistake in the flower field, please forgive me for my amorous interruption. ”

The woman's voice is clear, it was originally a very provocative tune, and it was not in a soft way, but it was a straightforward and sharp voice. The officers were originally here to "make mistakes", and after listening to this song, they felt that it was very appropriate for the situation, and they were extremely happy. An officer said with a smile: "I have been here many times, I have listened to this song many times, and every time I listen to it, I feel that the aftertaste is endless." After saying that, he couldn't help but sing along with the song.

After hearing this, an officer smiled and said, "Niu, how about singing in your grandfather's arms." These words were rude and heroic, and the officers who listened laughed loudly.

After drinking for a while, everyone had a sense of drinking, and they all began to lose their mouths, and an officer said to Zheng Wenjie beside him: "Brother Zheng, you have seen Chen Ke before, what kind of person is that guy." ”

Zheng Wenjie laughed and said: "That guy is not a good person at first glance, so I don't bother to pay attention to him." Chen Ke has made our Beiyang pit bitter. If I knew that he was such a chaotic party, I should have stabbed Chen Ke at that time. ”

After hearing this, the officers also laughed, and some officers didn't know if they had really drunk too much, so he said in a malicious voice: "Brother Zheng, you are really lucky." Lord Yuan was implicated by Chen Ke and lost his errand. Your brother has been promoted to the War Department. It's really different. ”

Zheng Wenjie's face immediately changed when he heard this, and he thought about it but didn't have a seizure.

When Sun Yongsheng heard this, he was very unhappy in his heart, although he had never seen Chen Ke, he felt that he was implicated by Chen Ke. Now that the Beiyang Army and the War Department are not dealing with each other, although Zheng Wenjie was born in Beiyang, he is inevitably suspected of becoming an "outsider" at this time. He snorted heavily, then drank the wine from his glass.

There is never a shortage of instigators in this world, not to mention that after drinking and drinking, there are even more people who can't control their mouths, and some officers laughed and said: "Brother Sun, you are now Chen Kena's uncle." This time, you have to kill your relatives in righteousness. ”

Sun Yongsheng was angry when he heard this, but he was not good at getting angry at the brothers of the Beiyang Army, he was too late to pick himself up now, if he made a fuss, in case someone deliberately made a mistake in the back, Sun Yongsheng would definitely not be good. The sullenness in his heart couldn't be vented, Sun Yongsheng saw Zheng Wenjie opposite, and felt that Zheng Wenjie first befriended Chen Ke and then joined the War Department, Zheng Wenjie is not as good as himself. Sun Yongsheng also said with a sense of wine: "I'm just Chen Ke's uncle, and I can't do anything about this relative." But if it's a friend, I will never choose the wrong person. ”

All the officers knew the meaning of Sun Yongsheng's words, and they all laughed.

When Zheng Wenjie heard this, the anger on his face flashed, and he put on a smiling tiger-like expression, "Brother Sun, I toast you." ”

Sun Yongsheng stood up with a big grin and touched a glass with Zheng Wenjie. The two sat down, and Zheng Wenjie said with a smile: "I did make friends carelessly. There's no way, I can't compare to you, Brother Sun. You're in luck, it's really good. When Chen Ke wanted to propose to the He family, Lord Yuan asked who the object of the proposal was, and Chen Ke originally thought that he was proposing to He Ruming's sister. Later, someone persuaded him that He Ruming's daughter was much better than He Ruming's sister. Then Chen Ke changed his mind, and I looked down on such guys the most. However, if Chen Ke hadn't changed his mind and married He Ruming's sister, then now I'm afraid that Brother Sun would have to be called Uncle Chen Ke. Brother Sun, you're really lucky. ”

Hearing this, there was another burst of laughter among the officers. Sun Yongsheng didn't laugh, not only did he not laugh, the green tendons on his forehead burst out, and his face became hideous.

Zheng Wenjie just wanted to see such a scene, he continued with a smirk, "Brother Sun, I heard that when He Ruming's daughter got married, the eldest lady of the He family was actually very unhappy. I don't know if Brother Sun is going to send troops this time, and if the eldest lady of the He family said anything to you. ”

The officers at the same table were still watching the excitement, and they were all baring their teeth and laughing. However, after hearing this, some of the more upright guys had lost their smiles, and someone said, "Brother Zheng, you drank too much." ”

But not all officers were so upright, and some went on to laugh. Zheng Wenjie also knows how to make fun, and after fighting back against Sun Yongsheng's provocation, he was in a good mood, so he also smiled and said: "I drank too much, drank too much." Ha ha. Then he picked up his glass, only to find that there was no wine in it. was about to pour wine from the wine jug, but heard Sun Yongsheng say loudly: "Come, I'll pour you wine." ”

Everyone's eyes fell on Sun Yongsheng, only to see that his face had turned iron-blue, and he picked up a wine jug in his hand and was about to go around the table to Zheng Wenjie. Everyone knows that things are not right, and some people are holding Sister Yao and preparing to watch the excitement. Some officers were uneasy. Zheng Wenjie knew that Sun Yongsheng didn't want to come over to pour wine for himself at all, but to come over and beat himself. Zheng Wenjie is very confident in his skills, and Sun Yongsheng has a lot of flaws in his anger. A fight is nothing to Zheng Wenjie, but Zheng Wenjie is now the one who provides information to Chen Ke, and if it starts, it will definitely make a big deal out of it. When the time comes, after the defeat of the Beiyang Army, it may not be that some people will chew their tongues without any basis. This is not good for Zheng Wenjie. As long as Zheng Wenjie fights with Sun Yongsheng, it is not good to win or not. Although I was very happy to take advantage of my tongue. Zheng Wenjie secretly pulled the sleeve of Wu Yongfu, an officer next to him.

Wu Yongfu has a good relationship with Zheng Wenjie, and this time he took Zheng Wenjie to drink. As soon as Zheng Wenjie pulled Wu Yongfu's sleeve, Wu Yongfu knew what it meant. He hurriedly stood up and stopped Sun Yongsheng, who was walking over with a wine jug, "Brother Sun, don't be like this. Several other officers who were unwilling to make a big deal of it also quickly stood up and stopped Sun Yongsheng together. Sun Yongsheng saw that he couldn't go over and beat Zheng Wenjie, so he scolded, "Zheng Wenjie, what are you?" ”

Zheng Wenjie couldn't see that he couldn't fight, so he also got up and made a circle to everyone, "I drank too much, I'll retire first." I paid for Brother Sun's wine. After speaking, Zheng Wenjie put a stack of silver dollars on the table, and then Shi Shiran left the flower hall. Sun Yongsheng looked at Zheng Wenjie's back and wanted to smash the wine jug at Zheng Wenjie, but was stopped. He had no choice but to scold Zheng Wenjie's broken mouth.

Listening to Sun Yongsheng's scolding, Zheng Wenjie didn't care at all. He was originally here to spy on specific information this time, and he already knew what he wanted to know. Originally, Zheng Wenjie still had some ideas, and he really didn't want to inform Chen Ke of the news of the Beiyang Army's dispatch in such a timely manner, but now he has changed his mind. If Sun Yongsheng is killed by Chen Ke in Anhui, Zheng Wenjie will be very happy.