Yang Du and Zhao Bei only talked and left the other people aside.

Seeing that the two of them had a tendency to talk more and more, Li Yuanhong said: "It's windy outside, it's cold, this is not the place to talk, it's better to go upstairs and talk, and when we finish watching the river view, let's eat downstairs." Originally, I prepared a whole sheep banquet, but Tan Zu'an couldn't look at it, and called his chef Cao Jingchen to take charge of the spoon himself, Xiangxiang flavor, what 'cured meat and steaming', 'oil and black bean sauce button meat', 'Dongting Golden Turtle', 'Butterfly Floating Sea', 'Xiangxi sour meat', 'fried blood duck', either sour or spicy, in this midwinter season, it also has a unique flavor. ”

After speaking, he introduced a few other people to Zhao Bei, all of whom are little-known small roles, and there are few big people, which is not surprising, a few days ago, Yuan Shikai sent a telegram in Tianjin, calling on constitutionalist figures to go north to "discuss politics", and Yuan Shikai compared, Li Yuanhong's telegram seemed much smaller, some constitutionalist figures who had arrived in Wuchang turned around and went north to Tianjin, which made Li Yuanhong quite embarrassed, it can be imagined that when the "constitutional wizard" Yang Du arrived, how flattered he Li Nanpi was.

Li Yuanhong led the way, Zhao Bei followed with the guards, and the group went up to the deserted Yellow Crane Tower, and sat in the small warm pavilion on the top floor, Li Yuanhong called Ma Ben to serve some snacks and tea first, and instructed Ma Ben to open the window a little, so that everyone could look at the Yangtze River, but no one had the heart to enjoy what river scenery, now in the middle of winter, and caught up with the war, even the Parrot Island bamboo and wood market was closed, the Yangtze River was deserted, in addition to the gunboat or gunboat, what scenery can be enjoyed?

This warm pavilion is very small, there are two charcoal basins in the middle, burning warmly, but it also occupies space, a coffee table is full of snacks and tea, just set up on the side of the charcoal basin, a few Taishi chairs are put next to it, the warm pavilion is more and more narrow, and it is not easy to even turn around. But in this small space, the two guards still squeezed in, pinned the "box cannon" at their waists, and stood aside, Tian Jinfu led people to guard the staircase outside the warm pavilion.

Zhao Bei sat down unceremoniously, put the horsewhip on the coffee table, and did not beat around the bush, picked out the words clearly, and said: "A few people invited me over, I'm afraid they are definitely not here to enjoy the river view and taste the famous dishes of Xiangxiang, right?" Needless to say, the revolution has not yet succeeded, and I must not slack off, and I am busy with everything, and I have little spare time to drink and chat. ”

Li Yuanhong and the others looked at each other, and finally set their eyes on Yang Du's face.

Yang Du put down the teacup, stood up, arched his hand to Zhao Bei, and said without humility or arrogance: "Since the commander-in-chief is quick to talk, Yang is not nonsense." In fact, Yang came this time, first, to discuss constitutional matters with Speaker Lai, and secondly, to ask the commander-in-chief for the people of the world. ”

"Ask for the lives of the people of the world?" Zhao Bei frowned slightly, this kind of exaggerated rhetoric of Chinese-style traditional knowledge practitioners made him feel a little awkward, obviously he was "being a lobbyist for Yuan Xiangcheng" just now, and now it has become "asking for the people's life".

"Exactly!" Yang Du took a few steps forward and looked deeply at Zhao Bei.

"Please send another telegram to the commander-in-chief, in favor of Yuan Xiangcheng's constitutional monarchy initiative, collect the army back to Hubei, rest the army and support the people, in this way, the world will be safe, the people will be happy, a few years later, Yuan Xiangcheng will be famous in history, and the commander-in-chief will also be in history."

"You told me to electrify in favor of a 'constitutional monarchy'?" Zhao Bei raised his hand and pointed to his nose, but heard a dry laugh from Tian Jinfu outside the door.

Although the soldiers may not know what a "republic" is, the title of "republican army" has clearly indicated Zhao Bei's position, and it is no wonder that Tian Jinfu felt ridiculous about Yang Du's "ignorance of current affairs".

However, there are really few people who can truly understand Zhao Bei's intentions. The "racial revolution" was suitable to deal with the Qing court, but it could not be used against Yuan Shikai, so this "republican" stance could not be shaken, and the "social revolution" had to keep up with it, and the shackles of this "republican" had to be worn around Yuan Shikai's neck.

"Yang also knows that the commander-in-chief is deeply infatuated with the word 'republic', but I don't know if the commander-in-chief has thought about it, how many people in China today can recognize words? And how many people understand what a 'republic' is? ”

Yang Du smiled faintly, flicked his narrow sleeves, put his hands behind his back, turned around and walked a few steps, leaning against the window to look at the surging river, and sighed.

"When Yang arrived in Hankou yesterday, he saw many people parading the streets with slogans of the republic, shouting slogans. How do they answer? ”

Yang Du turned around, glanced at everyone in the warm pavilion, shook his head helplessly, and said, "Those people replied, 'The republic is white-flour steamed buns!'" Isn't that a gimmick? ”

Listening to Yang Du's words, everyone present couldn't help laughing, even Tian Jinfu, who was standing outside the door, couldn't help but poke his head into the door, glanced at Yang Du a few more times, and secretly gave him a thumbs up. In fact, many people disagree with Zhao Bei's sale of "Republic Steamed Buns", thinking that exchanging braids for steamed buns is inevitably a bit unreasonable, and it is indeed a bit gimmicky to associate "Republic" with steamed buns.

Zhao Bei also smiled faintly, then restrained his smile, and said, "Mr. Huizi, this statement is ridiculous!" Don't look at the steamed buns are inconspicuous, but in the eyes of today's people, the republic represents the steamed buns, they understand that they did not eat white flour steamed buns in the imperial era, and there were steamed buns to eat in the republican era. Although there are only a few steamed buns, they taste wonderful in the mouth, for those poor people who have never eaten white-flour steamed buns, this steamed bun can make them reminisce for many years, and it can also make them miss for many years, for them, steamed buns are republic, and republics are steamed buns. What is 'faith'? Here it is. ”

Everyone was stunned, thinking that this "republican steamed bun" was just a trick used to lure the people to cut their braids, but they didn't expect Zhao Bei's intentions to be so far-reaching.

After careful consideration, this hand is indeed clever, the people do not understand the republic, but they understand the truth that steamed buns are better than wild vegetables, so simple and straightforward to infiltrate the concept of "republic" into the hearts of the people, it is indeed much better than empty talk, but this technique is indeed a little rude, and this rhetoric has a strong taste of reason.

"In this way, Yang asked someone to sell steamed buns, and the words 'constitutional monarchy' were also written on them with brown sugar and honey, wouldn't it also be possible to deeply root the concept of constitutional monarchy in the hearts of the people?" Yang Du said unhurriedly.

Zhao Bei glanced up, shook his head and said: "It's difficult, now that the braids near Wuhan are about to be cut out, I'm afraid your steamed buns won't be sold, if you let the people buy them with money, it seems to prove that the imperial system is not as good as the republic." ”

"Flutter", the two Li Yuanhong's horses who were standing on the side and waiting couldn't help laughing, and everyone really saw this Commander-in-Chief Zhao's ability to talk about it left and right.

However, if the "Junxian steamed buns" are delivered for free, how should the people understand it?

Yang Du was speechless, he obviously didn't think of the idea of delivering steamed buns for free, so he just changed the topic and said: "Commander-in-chief, you said in 'Shock' that if you can't be republican, you will lead the Northern Expedition and use artillery to blow up a republic. But I don't know if you have calculated, with your current strength, when will you be able to hit the capital? How much does it cost to feed the IRA? If Xiangcheng adheres to the constitutional monarchy and refuses to back down, then the north and the south will fight endlessly, the people will be in difficulty, foreign merchants will stop, commerce and trade will be cut off, tax donations will not come up, and foreigners will not give you loans, how long can your republican army last? To fight a war is to fight money, and without money, no war can be fought. ”

Zhao Bei touched his chin, he had calculated this account.

The maintenance of the Republican Army does require a lot of money, and a fully equipped infantry division, if it is a Division A, will require between 1 million and 1,500,000 silver dollars a year, and this is still in peacetime, and if it is wartime, this military expenditure will have to be doubled. Fighting a war is to make money, of course he understands this truth, but as for Yang Du's worries, it is indeed unfounded, because Zhao Bei has no plans to really go on the Northern Expedition now, and his "shock" is just a knock on the mountain and a tiger, and a false shot, the purpose is very simple, one is to encourage the southern revolutionaries to continue to rise up, and force them to also echo the republican initiative, and the other is to scare the Qing court and Yuan Shikai, and at the same time further improve his prestige.

The current republican army is indeed very difficult, not only is the military budget stretched, but also the troops have not completed the reorganization, the personnel are uneven, and the combat effectiveness cannot be guaranteed, besides, Hubei has just been recovered not long ago, and there are still sporadic resistance from stubborn forces in various places, as for the western part of Hubei, as soon as Yang Wangpeng left, the local Huidang armed forces that had already been reined in began to jump up and down again, under the banner of the republican army, doing the business of raiding homes and robbing houses, and these armed forces must also be digested as soon as possible, the reorganization of the reorganization, and the elimination of the extermination. This requires the use of the regular troops of the Republican Army and the strength of the Revolutionary Guards, so that the military strength is more dispersed, unable to form a fist to carry out a fatal blow to the stubborn forces in the north, coupled with Sichuan's Zhao Erxun claimed to carry out a large-scale eastward crusade to exterminate the Republican Army, which also makes people a little worried, although the combat effectiveness of the Sichuan Army is not strong, but it must not be guarded against, if the base area of Hubei is unstable, the Northern Expedition is a tower in the air, but at this time the foreigners also came to join in the fun, claiming to interfere with the revolution by force, and also intercepted the tariffs, in this regard, Zhao Bei can't help but be worried.

Of course, the most important point is the extreme shortage of weapons and ammunition, according to Zhao Bei's reorganization plan, the republican army will form five infantry divisions, of which at least two A divisions should be trained, equipped with the most advanced light and heavy weapons, each division has a total of more than 12,000 officers and soldiers, a total of more than 60,000 rifles, but now, the patchwork has only gotten more than 70,000 rear-loading guns, many of which still use black fire yao's single-shot guns, the loss of rifles in the war is quite large, 60,000 troops, No matter how you say it, you have to prepare at least 100,000 rifles, and as for machine guns and barrel guns, they are even more luxuries, and only the most elite armor divisions are equipped.

Until the Hanyang Arsenal fully resumes work and sufficient raw materials are obtained, a large-scale Northern Expedition is indeed unrealistic.

In view of this, Zhao Beicai bluffed, deliberately made a posture of a large-scale Northern Expedition, and took advantage of the opportunity of Yang Wangpeng's Northern Expeditionary Army to enter southern Henan to send out a "seismic lightning" to deter the stubborn forces.

This is a kind of psychological warfare, and it depends on which side holds out to the end.