108721908 Far Eastern madman

At noon. The sun is blazing. The street is deserted, I can't see anything to know, only a newsboy squatting under a crooked neck tree on the side of the street, gathering together to count copper plates, who is trading better today, there is a shaving stall next to the tree, the shaver is lazily crossing Erlang's legs, sitting on the shaving head, holding a bowl of plain noodles, holding chopsticks in the coarse porcelain bowl of hand stall noodles, there is a bite to eat, from time to time to turn his head, in the almost empty street to look at a few times. Then he put his head down and continued with his simple lunch.

This is Beijing Daqianmen Railway Station, due to the war between the north and the south, the Beiyang Army destroyed the railway in Zhili, resulting in the Jinghan Railway being blocked, the train from the south can not reach Beijing, and the train from the north can not go south, as a result, the Daqianmen Railway Station has become deserted, and the days of the people who are counting on the railway station to make a living have suddenly become difficult, many people have gone to Tianjin Tanggu Railway Station, so that there are more train departures.

Although there are still trains between Beijing and Tianjin. But the timetable has been completely disrupted, when the train will come, even the dispatcher of the railway station can't say for sure, it all depends on the Beijing-Tianjin Garrison Command

。

Finally, the long-lost train whistle came from afar, which made these small merchants and vendors near the train station refreshed their spirits and looked forward to it. Waiting for the train to enter the station, some well-informed people also quickly learned the news that this train was not a military train, but an ordinary passenger train coming from the direction of Tianjin.

The traders put their minds at ease, they all know that the money in the military column cannot be earned, and those Qiu Ba masters who came down from the military column are all taking their lives to eat, and when they meet those Beiyang soldiers, the traders can't hide, where do they dare to go up to sell business?

The passenger train quickly entered the station, and the passengers got off the train one after another and walked out of the train station. The originally deserted streets and alleys became lively for a while, the shaver finally had a deal, and the newsboys also shouted hard.

"Extra! Extra! The North and the South are about to reach a peace agreement! The 16th Division of the Beiyang Army was ordered to withdraw outside the Guanwai! ”

"The war in Xuzhou has ended! Ai Hui Governor Jiang Gui and Henan Governor Zhao Silk responded to the North-South Peace Bureau! ”

"Members of the Senate and House of Representatives have arrived in Shanghai one after another, and the first plenary meeting of the National Assembly will be held soon!"

"Zhao Zhenhua, chairman of the United Front, is expected to be the vice president of the Republic of China! It seems that the candidate for prime minister of the Republic of China cabinet will be submitted to the National Assembly."

In the midst of these shouts, one newspaper after another was bought, and the newsboys were all smiling.

A middle-aged man in the carriage poked his head out of the window, shouted to a newsboy closest to the carriage, bought five newspapers in one go, and then continued on its way.

The middle-aged man who bought a newspaper in the carriage was not an ordinary person, this person was named Cao Rui. It is the younger brother of Cao Key, the former commander of the Third Division of the Beiyang Army, Cao Suo is the third, Cao Rui is the fourth, and the old and rough Cao Yin is slightly different, Cao Rui studied private trenches for a few years when he was a teenager, and among the six brothers and sisters of the Cao family, Cao Rui is also a rare cultural person.

Cao Key's Third Division of the Beiyang Army was wiped out in the Battle of Southern Henan, and Cao Key himself died on the battlefield. According to Cao Yin's military rank, official position and other items, Cao Yin's bereaved family can receive a one-time pension of 1,000 oceans when Cao Yin died in battle. Thereafter, you can still receive a pension of 600 oceans per year, which is not ungenerous.

Cao Rui rushed from Tianjin to Beijing this time to receive the pension, and the telegram inviting him to the War Department to receive the pension was personally signed by Duan Qirui, acting chief of the War Department.

Beiyang's face work is still home, but it is a pity that it is a little favoritism, only remembering the preferential officers, but completely forgetting those ordinary soldiers who died on the battlefield for Beiyang, also according to the "Wartime Compensation Statute", the soldiers of the Beiyang Army died in battle, even if they were the lowest level of privates, their bereaved families can also receive a one-time pension of 60 oceans, and they can still receive a pension of 25 oceans every year thereafter.

There is no way not to favor one over the other, the current Beiyang is that there is no last meal, and the overstretched financial situation is even a problem to ensure the military salary of the existing troops, where is the extra money to compensate the bereaved families of those soldiers who died in battle? In this battle in southern Henan, the Second Army of Beiyang South was completely annihilated, and the list of dead and captured and missing people exceeded 50,000, even if these people were all privates, this would be a total of 3 million in the ocean, even if the War Department and the Presidential Palace were sold together, they couldn't raise much money, so. This excuse is also high-sounding, because the prisoners of war have not yet been released, so it is not clear how many have been killed, and the United Front has only announced the names of some of the fallen officers, and the Beiyang Center just happened to be off the donkey.

Fighting a war is to burn money, this point, through this battle Beiyang up and down can be regarded as seeing the truth, the Manchu court of that year would rather cede the land to sign a treaty than war, but I am afraid that I also understand this truth.

The Beiyang Center is distressed about money, and the families of those who died and missing are distressed about people, on top of this, Cao Rui and Cao Caiye cried to Beijing City in linen and filial piety, and the younger generations of the Cao family who came with him also cried with red eyes.

"Woo, woo", Zhao Bei, the master is not finished with you, not finished! : Brother, you died so miserably! ”

Sitting in the carriage, Cao Rui was crying while reading the news in the newspaper, and the juniors of the Cao family also cried, which made the officer who was sent by the War Department to the train station to pick them up very much

pistil

"Fourth master, you rest first, and when you get to the War Department, you can't cry again The officer patted Cao Rui's back, but this is not like comfort.

"Why don't you cry? It was my third brother who died! ”

Cao Rui wiped his tears and pointed out! "It is said that it will be a success. I'm just in a trance now. In this battle in southern Henan, so many people in our Beiyang Army died on the battlefield, and he achieved his achievements in Zhaobei! Right now. My third brother is a violent corpse in the wilderness, but he Zhao Bei has ascended to the sky in one step, and now he wants to be the vice president of the Republic of China, which is one person under ten thousand people! Third brother, you died so miserably! ”

When the officer heard Cao Rui's words, he also shook his head and sighed, and said: "The fourth master is wrong, Zhao Bei's exploits are not achieved by our Beiyang Army, but by those traitors in our Beiyang. "Don't say it, don't say it, when you get to the War Department, Chief Duan will tell you." ”

After the officer finished speaking, he no longer persuaded Cao Rui to them. Let them cry bitterly, the carriage was miserable, and finally arrived on the street in front of the army department, Cao Rui and others got out of the carriage with red eyes, followed the officer into the war department, and when the net stepped into the door, they heard a whimper, like many people crying together.

When he arrived at the place, Cao Rui understood why it sounded like many people were crying, it turned out that several rooms in the courtyard of the War Department were full of people wearing linen and filial piety, and they were all the same as his fourth master. They are all the family members of the dead officers of the Second Army of the Beiyang Southward Advance, and they were also called by Duan Qirui to the War Department to receive pensions, some people arrived two days first, and some people were the same as Cao Rui, who just arrived in Beijing today, and as soon as they arrived at the War Department, they joined the ranks of the weepers, and many people bought paper figures and dark money, which were incinerated in the compound of the War Department, and some people invited monks and Taoist priests to chant the scriptures outside this wing, which turned this military aircraft into a land and water dojo, which made people stunned.

The officer led Cao Rui into the wing, confessed his guilt and went to report to Duan Qirui.

Cao Rui was crying and inquired all over the house, only to learn that the family members of the regiment commander, brigade commander, and division commander in this wing room were the same as Cao Jiao. According to the list of Beiyang officers who died in battle published by the United Front, these people were also killed in the southern Henan battlefield. And not missing.

Cao Rui was surprised by the death of so many senior officers, what kind of civil war is this, it is simply a national war, is the United Front fighting the Beiyang Army as an external team?

Just when Cao Rui was dumbfounded, he heard a shout outside the door.

"Mr. Duan is here!"

As soon as the figure flickered at the door, Duan Qirui, the acting chief of the War Department, had already walked into this room, followed by several officers, one of whom was the officer who led Cao Rui to the War Department.

"Chief, this is Cao Zhongshan's widow Cao Siye." The officer introduced Cao Rui.

"Condolences are good, and condolences are good."

Duan Qirui held Cao Rui's hand, his eyes were also slightly red, and he choked a few times, but he didn't say much.

"Chief Duan, you have to call the shots of our old Cao family! Now my third brother is in the wilderness, no matter what, I have to get the coffin back to Tianjin, and I am afraid that I will not be able to go to the six reincarnations to be a lonely soul and a wild ghost outside. ”

Cao Rui knelt down and couldn't cry, and when the other people in the room saw this, they also knelt down and begged, now not only Cao Ling's body has not been brought back, but the bodies of other dead officers and soldiers have not been brought back.

Duan Qirui sighed and said, "Everyone get up." The bones of loyal ministers are to be transported back in the end. But not now, the weather is too hot now, the southern army said, they are afraid of the plague. The dead officers and soldiers have been buried, and Cao Zhongshan is the same, this cemetery is in the northern suburbs of Xinyang, and the center has sent someone to see it, and the news will be transmitted back in a few days. ”

At these words, the house was even more miserable. Returning to the roots, this is really not suitable for soldiers.

Duan Qirui saw that everyone stood up, so he said again: "You are all here, if you come a day earlier, you will not receive the pension, today Duan asked President Xu for a presidential decree, and sold a few pieces of land in Nanyuan, so he scraped together some silver, and now it has been transported back to the ministry, and people are being sent to the bank to exchange it for a bill, and when the people who do the work come back, you will receive the pension and go back to your hometown quickly." Now that President Xu is discussing the matter of the vice president with the United Front, I am afraid that I will not be able to come to see you. Nowadays, the world is not peaceful, and it is not safe to carry too much money with you, so it is better to return to your hometown as soon as possible. ”

As soon as these words fell, someone in the house shouted.

"Why do you call Zhao Bei the vice president? His soldiers killed so many of us, and he used the blood of our Beiyang to dye the tops red! Since President Xu Da is the head of our Beiyang family, he doesn't come to the orphans of loyal ministers now, but he bargains with a gang of chaotic parties, what is going on? Let's not do it! Let's go to the president and reason! President Xu Da doesn't see us, so let's go to President Yuan's door to shout grievances! Our people are loyal to Beiyang, and the violent corpse wilderness, this can't be without an explanation! ”

As soon as these words were shouted, the crowd was suddenly turbulent, and someone pouted a few more words, so everyone rushed out. Calling the bereaved families of those middle and lower-level officers, carrying the piled up of sacrifices in a courtyard, and calling those monks and Taoist priests as well, hundreds of Beiyang bereaved families wearing linen and filial piety walked towards the presidential palace with such a menacing attitude.

Duan Qirui and several officers tried to stop these angry Beiyang remnants, but it was useless, and people rushed towards the presidential palace. The tumultuous War Department soon fell silent.

"Chief, that's a good idea, isn't it? With such a fuss, it's not good for Mr. Xu Ju to talk to Zhao Beimei again, right? A staff officer walked up to Duan Qirui and whispered.

"These are the remnants of loyal ministers, using them, this is a little uneasy in my heart. It's just a matter of authority. The next is not an example, the next is not an example. ”

Duan Qirui shook his head, sighed, walked into the War Department with his hands behind his back, looked at the wolf house full of people, and walked back to the office with a heavy heart.