Shandong!

Since he was sent to Shandong to suppress the Boxers because of the Boxer Rebellion the year before the war, Yuan Shikai's Wuwei Right Army has never left Shandong.

And Yuan Shikai himself is also shouldering the position of governor of Shandong, and it is precisely because of this move that Yuan Shikai avoided a huge disaster.

Until the end of the war, Yuan Shikai has always had lingering palpitations, and has always sighed, if he hadn't come to Shandong at the beginning, I'm afraid that his fate would be similar to that of the other people in the new army, right?

It's just that Yuan Shikai, who escaped the disaster of the coalition forces, naturally still failed to escape Wang Sirui's pursuit.

For this generation of heroes who once left a great impression on Wang Sirui in later generations, Wang Sirui obviously has no reason to let him go like this.

Of course, the current Yuan Shikai is not the Yuan Shikai of later generations, but with the current Yuan Shikai's scheming, he still can't make Wang Sirui completely reassured.

In fact, to put it bluntly, it was because Yuan Shikai had an army in his hands, that is, this army, which put pressure on Wang Sirui and gave Yuan Shikai confidence.

Wang Sirui bribed a close confidant of Li Hongzhang and sent him to Shandong to meet Yuan Shikai.

A few days later, a holy decree arrived in Shandong.

Historically, Yuan Shikai sat in the position of Governor of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang for a period of time before Li Hongzhang's death, and the reason why Yuan Shikai was able to ascend to the throne was also because of Li Hongzhang's strong recommendation.

And after receiving the holy decree, Yuan Shikai called several of his henchmen together.

"Gong Bao, congratulations, I'm afraid I'll take over Li Zhongtang directly when I enter Beijing this time, right?" Wang Shizhen, who was at the head of the three masters, clasped his fists with both hands and congratulated Yuan Shikai.

A few days ago, Li Hongzhang's henchmen had already come to report that Li Zhongtang was seriously ill and planned to nominate Yuan Shikai to take over as the governor of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang in the near future, and at the same time told Yuan Shikai to pay attention to protecting the interests of the Han people and a series of other issues.

Yuan Shikai is the successor of Li Hongzhang's training, so he is still relatively clear about Li Hongzhang's thoughts, and when he met this henchman who was bought by Wang Sirui, Li Hongzhang did not notice the problem.

Because what he said was very consistent with Li Hongzhang's attitude, and there was no contradiction.

Sure enough, on the tenth day of the first lunar month, a holy decree from the imperial court was transmitted to Jinan, summoning Yuan Shikai to Beijing to discuss military affairs.

If it was just that, but the eunuch who conveyed the holy decree revealed a piece of news that Yuan Shikai couldn't believe even more.

To tell the truth, in the days after the newly built army was wiped out by foreigners, the blow to Yuan Shikai was huge.

At one time, he thought that the only thing that could compete with the Western army was the new army, but the reality slapped him hard, and it turned out that even if the new army was built, it still could not defeat the West.

However, the eunuch told Yuan Shikai that while the imperial court was forming a new army, it also secretly formed a new army in the inland area, and the two armies adopted completely different training methods.

And the reason why the coalition army was able to return in the end in this coalition invasion was also due to the strength of this new army.

It's just that the commander of this new army is an extremely arrogant guy, and he is a madman who doesn't want to die on the battlefield, and as a result, he was unfortunately martyred in a battle. And after defeating the foreigners, there were not many people left in this army.

Therefore, the imperial court planned to let Yuan Shikai integrate the troops according to the training method of the new army, and become the sharpest blade of the imperial court.

It is precisely for this reason that Wang Shizhen congratulated Yuan Shikai on his upcoming promotion.

"Hireqing, I always feel that this matter is a little strange." Yuan Shikai frowned slightly, although everything was normal, but Yuan Shikai always felt that something was wrong, but what was wrong, he couldn't say, this was an intuition, this feeling seemed to make him return to the Korean battlefield.

"What's wrong? Why don't I take the troops with you into Beijing? Feng Guozhang said with a big smile.

The current Yuan Shikai Group is not what it used to be, and in the more than a year since they came to Shandong, their strength has been well developed.

Not to mention the nearly 10,000 Wuwei Right Army in Yuan Shikai's hands, that is, in the hands of Feng Guozhang, there is also the vanguard of the Wuwei Right Army adapted from the Shandong Yong Battalion of 10,000 people, and now the entire Wuwei Right Army adds up to more than 20,000 people, which is already a big force in the country, to put it mildly, if they are willing, it is not a problem to use 20,000 new troops to directly defeat the capital.

Therefore, Feng Guozhang is a little inflated.

Of course, it is impossible for them to think that someone has already done something about this thing that they dare not think about at the moment, and a big net has been arranged for them.

"Hua Fu (also known as Hua Fu), don't talk nonsense!" Wang Shizhen hurriedly said, there are some things to say, but some things are unspeakable.

Hearing Wang Shizhen's words, Feng Guozhang grinned and didn't say anything more.

"What does Kung Pao think is different?" Wang Shizhen continued to ask.

As Yuan Shikai's staff officer, Wang Shizhen's talent has been recognized by everyone, and since Yuan Shikai feels that there seems to be something strange here, Wang Shizhen naturally has to ask about it.

After all, their group is still dominated by Yuan Shikai, once Yuan Shikai falls, they can only fly separately in the face of great disaster, if someone looks at them, they may be able to have a good future, but if no one looks at them, they can only stay in the current position until they are old, or go back to their hometown to retire.

"I can't say it, but I feel like I was in North Korea." Yuan Shikai said.

Hearing this, Wang Shizhen and the others were suddenly stunned, similar to the feeling when they were in North Korea? If that's the case, that's a big deal.

"Could it be that the commander of the new army is not dead? And Li Zhongtang recommended Gong Bao you to be the governor of Zhili, which caused that dissatisfaction? Wang Shizhen frowned, doubting all the possibilities in this.

"No, he should be dead, but there are still some forces under him. And this army is so well hidden, if it weren't for this foreign invasion, I'm afraid they wouldn't have shown their faces. Could it be that those people felt that they suffered so many casualties that they finally defeated the foreigners, and as a result, Li Zhongtang asked Gong Bao to take over such an important position as the governor of Zhili with a word, but their own people did not get any promotion, so they were dissatisfied. Duan Qirui analyzed.

None of the three non-commissioned officers was a fuel-efficient lamp, and after being reminded by Yuan Shikai and Wang Shizhen, they were also analyzing the possibilities as much as possible.

"In other words, the situation on their side is not much different from ours, the people above are dead, but there is a commander below who is about the same status as the palace guard, and in the end the palace guard is in front, so it causes this dissatisfaction." Feng Guozhang also followed suit.

In fact, Feng Guozhang's meaning is already very clear, if it is really what he guessed, then as long as Yuan Shikai is eliminated, then he is the only one who can be qualified to take over the position of governor of Zhili.

Because under this full sky, there is no one who can compete with him.

This is very much in the interest of that person, so there is a reason to do so, and the court will not turn against a minister with military power for the sake of a dead man.

Therefore, even if the court is reluctant, as long as Yuan Shikai is dead, the last one will still be in that position, because the current court can't afford to offend that one.

"This is not the wisest choice after all, don't underestimate the imperial court, there are many talented people around them. If the imperial court was really worried about that person, it would not agree to the palace guard entering the capital. Wang Shizhen shook his head and denied the speculation of the previous people.

"Oh? What do you mean by that? Yuan Shikai wondered, he didn't quite understand.

"If that person is really dissatisfied, why should the imperial court agree to Li Zhongtang's recommendation? Wouldn't it be better to let that person be the governor of Zhili for the time being, and then secretly support the palace guard, and cultivate the palace guard into a force that can compete with that one, and then use our hands to eradicate that one? And once there is an accident in the palace guard, I am afraid that no one in the whole world will be able to compete with that one, once things are like this, that person's power will become bigger and bigger, and in the end, no one can control it. Wang Shizhen explained.

Wang Shizhen's explanation made several people listen to the Tao, and they couldn't help but nod their heads in agreement, but at this moment, Wang Shizhen continued: "In this way, there is only one possibility left. ”

"I said Pingqing, can you finish this at once? Sometimes I really want to cure your stinky problem for you. Feng Guozhang laughed and scolded, but Wang Shizhen was not angry, and several other people also laughed one after another, seemingly agreeing with Feng Guozhang's words.

"It's very simple, that is, the commander of that army is indeed dead, but he was not killed in battle, but was killed by the imperial court. The purpose is to be able to control this army more firmly and let them continue to work for the imperial court. And since that person has trained this army and led this army to win the battle, his subordinates will definitely be the same as us, only the palace guards are obedient, so the court has already felt the threat brought by that one, so it killed him.

And after controlling that army, it is naturally impossible to hand them over to the palace guards to be responsible, wouldn't this increase our strength?

Therefore, it is most likely that this army has completely obeyed the will of the imperial court, and this time the palace guards were recruited into Beijing, on the one hand, because of Li Zhongtang's recommendation, and on the other hand, I am afraid that they will test the loyalty of the palace guards.

In addition, by the way, it also shocked us, let us know that under the whole day, the imperial court still has such an army in hand that can fight well and defeat foreigners.

Therefore, this time the palace guard will definitely encounter all kinds of troubles in Beijing, if the palace guard handles it well, it can do that position, if it is not handled well, I am afraid that it will kill the capital and not be sure. Wang Shizhen explained. (To be continued.) )