Big news?

Wen Desi thinks that Zhang Biao's hint is more like some kind of trick - although he is in a special department on a secret mission, he can get some information that no one else can reach, but this does not mean that he necessarily knows what is going to happen. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

His hint was nothing more than a conjecture he had based on the situation in China and the state of alert of the army.

The situation in China is terrible, and everyone here knows that, and knows part of the reason: the Manchu government's capriciousness and traitorous behavior on the railroad issue caused too many people to stand against it, and the loss of two wars in quick succession put a heavy economic pressure on it, and the cost of 65 million taels of silver to buy back a small island was even worse, but the ambitious young emperor had to build a new army of 600,000 men to meet his demands. His ministers had to sell more railroad construction to American or European companies, which led to more people standing up against his rule.

If His Majesty the Emperor had been a little more sensible, or if his ministers had been able to solve the financial problems in other ways - such as the abolition of the Manchurian pensions - the situation might have turned a little around, but after Li Hongzhang's death, there was no one to restrain the Emperor's behavior, and there was no better way to do so, so the situation could only go in a worse direction.

More unfortunately, this is not the only trouble Beijing has to face.

"If you know a guy named Wang Zhen, you will understand that our emperor is actually sitting on top of a volcanic crater that could erupt at any moment." Zhang Biao mocked, without showing the slightest fear or respect for the emperor, "He only has 100,000 soldiers and a lot of useless waste, but those who oppose him can find at least 300,000 guns and tens of millions of bullets among the people, all of which were sold by Wang Zhen." ”

"I've met the company's sales representative in China, and I've heard a lot of rumors about him." Wen Deji sighed. Those rumors made him not like Wang Zhen very much, although they were all working for the same boss, but the things that this guy did were beyond the scope of what he could accept. "Three hundred thousand guns and tens of millions of rounds of ammunition are by no means an accurate number, and he sells new guns and ammunition, and also resells the army's stockpile. As far as I know, in many places the old army, the guns and bullets of the entire army were sold by him. ”

Butz almost squirted all the beer in Vane's face. "No one exposed him? And how did the commanders of those units cope with the inspections from above? ”

Bundeji shrugged. "Those who knew the inside story were either dragged into the water by him, or they were framed by his accomplices and lost their hats, or even killed, and some pretended not to know anything. To be sure, the people below knew how serious the problem was, but the emperor and the lords of the military aircraft department were still in the dark. ”

Butz, Vane, and Shangguan Yunton still felt that this was something they could not have imagined.

"He's just the company's sales representative in China!" Butz emphasized Wang's identity, which is undoubtedly a senior employee, but apparently not high enough to mobilize too much money and strength to solve every trouble that comes his way, "There will always be people he can't solve." ”

"And those rumors." Vane continued, "They can reach your ears, and they will surely reach the ears of the Emperor. ”

"Unless the people around him are deaf, or they are bought by Wang Zhen." Shangguan Yundun shook his head, "The rumors can't be true. ”

Zhang Biao smiled secretly. Rumors are always untrue, and Wang Zhen's ability to move is certainly not as terrifying as Wen Desi has heard: he did sell a lot of troops' weapons, but only a few officers sold all the guns and bullets of the entire army, and that kind of people are either too crazy or too stupid, and most people will only sell one-third to one-half of their inventory, put these guns and bullets on the list as normal wear and tear, and then ask for new ones.

These officers do not have to worry about audits and spot checks, every unit has the means to deal with inspections, usually scrapped or obsolete old goods, and most of the inspectors sent are not obsolete bureaucrats who are perfunctory in their work and only want to get bribes - even if they do not steal weapons and ammunition, the officers have to pay bribes to them, first, this is the custom, and second, there are far fewer troops who do not eat empty salaries than those who do not steal stockpiles - they are fools who do not know anything, and it is not difficult to hide from them.

Only a small number of inspectors need Wang Zhen and the officers to consider other means, mainly bribery, and then framing and framing, and giving a bullet is the last insurance measure, and only when it is absolutely necessary, Wang Zhen will choose to use it.

However, these are secrets, and neither Buts, Fan Wen, Shangguan Yunton, nor Wen Deji can know about it, so they are still arguing about the authenticity of the rumors: Wen Deji is convinced that the rumors are true, if not all, at least mostly, and the other three have found new loopholes.

They think it's a loophole. "How did he or his accomplices cover up the deaths of those who were going to expose them?"

Wen Desi did not answer, the rumors he had heard did not include this part, but Zhang Biao knew the answer, and he himself had solved several "troubles" for Wang Zhen, and knew the situation better than anyone present: contrary to popular belief, covering up the cause of the victim's death was the easiest part of the process to complete, and the part that could be talked about publicly.

"Actually, it's easy." He laughed, "They can put all the blame on that Dr. Sun and his allies." ”

He wasn't kidding. Dr. Sun's alliance would have been a brilliant choice, a Japanese-backed anti-government group that had been an out-and-out activist who had been engaged in a variety of attacks over the past few years, including armed rebellion and assassinations of government officials, and although none of the operations planned by Dr. Sun and his comrades themselves were successful—the closest to success was the assassination of the acting governor of Guangdong, but it was only "close" to success, and in the end Zhang Biao had to take matters into his own hands to achieve their goals for them. But the Emperor and his ministers were apparently unaware of this, and shifting the blame to it would not make anyone suspicious.

And it's a good thing for everyone to hold the League accountable: Wang Zhen can continue to steal and sell the army's stockpiles of weapons and ammunition, the bureaucrats investigating the case can submit a satisfactory report, and in the end, Dr. Sun has the reputation he wants. Now he is the most famous revolutionary in China, leading the League that eliminated hundreds of government officials, except for a very few, and those who sought to overthrow the Manchurians regarded him as a leader and idol, some intended to defect to him, some intended to emulate him, and all believed that once the revolution succeeded, no one could stop him from becoming the leader of the country.

If the new leader of the country is elected with a ballot, not a rifle.

Obviously, this is the situation that Dr. Sun wants to see, so instead of exposing the lies, he actively cooperates - Zhang Biao means that at first, Wang Zhen also needs to falsify evidence to make people believe that the League is responsible for those cases, and later, without him doing anything, the members of the League will take the initiative to come forward and admit that they did it.

These people may just be waiting to pick peaches.

Zhang Biao made a concluding speech to his friends while thinking back on the secrets he knew: "So, you see, since someone has carried the black pot for him, and he doesn't intend to expose him at all, what else does Wang Zhen have to worry about?" ”

"So, the attacks I heard about were actually carried out by Wang Zhen or his accomplices, and they were just framed by the Alliance?" Wen Deji shook his head a few times, driving the unreal feeling out of his brain, "Now even I can't believe it's real." ”

"What's more, the people of that organization actually accepted it, which makes no sense!" Butz agreed, and went on to state his opinion further: "Are all the people of the League fools? With so many government officials dead, sooner or later His Majesty the Emperor will launch a counterattack, and I don't see any benefit in admitting that those cases were my own. ”

"Who knows." Although he thinks his assessment is very correct, Zhang Biao still pretends to be noncommittal, "Maybe they just want to be famous too much, so they ignore the hidden dangers." ”

"Maybe you're right." "It is said that the Emperor is going to send a note to the envoys of various countries, asking them to inform their countries that they will assist China in the fight against terrorism and expel the members of the League. ”

"Please", and "hope", there is no deterrent at all, and few people will listen to him. Butz couldn't help but taunt, he always liked to taunt, "I guess the Emperor's request can't be met." ”

"That's just an indication of his attitude." Wen Deji disagreed with his assessment, "As long as the emperor is not too stupid or too uninformed, he will not use stronger words." But he'll definitely fight the Confederacy wherever he can......"

He suddenly stopped, thought for a moment, and then looked at Zhang Biao. "Did you hear any inside information?"

"What?" Zhang Biao was stunned for a moment, not understanding what he meant.

But Butz, Vane, and Shangguan Yunton had already thought of it. "Just now, you said there might be a big news." Together, they turned their gazes to Zhang Biao, "You mean, His Majesty the Emperor is about to take action against the Alliance?" ”

"Nope." Zhang Biao bluntly denied their speculation, "I know as much as you do. ”

"So, what's the big news?" They want to know.

Zhang Biao did not satisfy their curiosity. "You should ask the guy who asked for a higher alert level and the abolition of leave for officers and soldiers."

However, no matter who that person was, it was clear that it was impossible for any of them to ask him questions. Only those who are in Beijing at the moment, and of high enough rank, can do this, such as a young general who commanded a new infantry division and was valued by the emperor - the name could be Lan Tianwei or Wu Luzhen.

Or Zhang Shaozeng.

At the same time that Mr. Wen and his friends were discussing what "big news" would be in the remote leased land of Guangzhou Bay, Mr. Zhang was questioning him in the office of a general as he was young in Beijing.

"Why did you suddenly raise the alert level of the troops, cancel the leave of officers and soldiers, and ask the emperor to urgently summon my entire division to Beijing?" His voice was not high, but it was stern, and if there was another person present, his tone was enough to shock him.

Because the object of his questioning was not ordinary people, but the youngest auxiliary minister, the supreme commander of the Guards, a member of the imperial family, Liangbi.

Zhang Shaozeng couldn't speak to him in such a tone.

But Liangbi didn't care about his attitude at all, his face was very calm, and his tone was too. "I have reliable information that the Alliance has planned a new attack, targeting the Emperor or an auxiliary minister."

"The Alliance?" Zhang Shaozeng began to have a headache, and as a revolutionary who was also committed to overthrowing the Manchu government, he did not want to see the League suffer losses and did not approve of its whimsical attacks, and this dilemma made him so uncomfortable that his tone became even worse. "What great things can those people do? We all know that successful assassinations are actually ......"

"Watch your words, General." Liangbi interrupted him, as if unwilling to hear him mention the truth that only a few people knew, "The emperor believes that the alliance will be a serious threat to my Qing Dynasty, so we should pay attention to these rebellions. ”

Zhang Shaozeng was not surprised by his attitude. Although the alliance was very stupid and took the initiative to bear the black pot for Wang Zhen, his behavior still did not be seamless, Liangbi knew the truth very early, but never exposed it to the emperor, but covered it up many times, and even used his identity to prevent others from investigating, so that people who know the experience of this auxiliary minister and know the inside story wonder if he was already in collusion with Wang Zhen and even Wang Zhen's boss when he was studying at the Virginia Military Academy branch in Guangzhou Bay.

Although Wang Zhen's actions were causing serious damage to the foundation of Manchu rule, although Liangbi was an imperial family, although he was loyal to the emperor......

Maybe his loyalty is just a disguise.

It's just that Zhang Shaozeng also didn't intend to expose Wang Zhen's crimes, and knew that Liangbi knew that he knew Wang Zhen's crimes, but he didn't intend to expose them, and he also knew that he knew that he knew Wang Zhen's crimes...... This tongue twister-like confusion actually has only one meaning, they both know what the other person knows, and they both intend to hide it, which produces a little benefit, he can get closer to Liangbi and not care too much about his identity.

――It should be pointed out that Lan Tianwei and Wu Luzhen also knew those secrets, so they also received this kind of preferential treatment. For the Emperor and his cronies, these generals, who had studied at the Virginia Military Academy's Canton Bay campus, seemed to be in a small circle and needed to be wary, but it was not surprising.

However, it was clear to any of them that the relationship was in some way based on their unanimous decision to keep Wang Zhen's secret, and that if someone tried to violate their tacit understanding, their relationship would quickly break down.

"My bad." Thinking of this, Zhang Shaozeng immediately expressed his apologies to Liangbi, and then returned to the original topic, "It's just that I think that the people of the Alliance are not worth mobilizing so many soldiers, and the emperor is in the palace, so they can't pose a threat." ”

He hoped that Liangbi would lift the state of emergency for the army and withdraw his division from Beijing, so that no matter what the Confederacy men were going to do, at least they would have a chance to escape.

But Liangbi only said one sentence: "They got mortars, two." ”

Zhang Shaozeng's head hurt even more. (To be continued.) )