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In Tianjin, after summer, the air is already filled with hot and humid breath. In the large playground that can accommodate 10,000 people at the China Non-commissioned Officer School (formerly the Beiyang Military Academy), there are more than 9,000 army and navy officers who are about to graduate.

The reason why the portrait of Zeng Guofan is hung in the barracks instead of Li Hongzhang is because Song Xiaofei's thinking on governing the army mainly draws on Zeng Guofan's way of governing the army.

The ideological work of the army is extremely important. It is hard to imagine that an army without faith can win a battle. In the ancient army, loyalty to the monarch came first, and after the republic abolished the emperor, it was very difficult for the army to do its ideological work, and how to make the army remain loyal was a major problem. Historically, Wu Peifu deliberately repaired the ethical and moral system that tended to collapse when the situation was changing, and stubbornly insisted on etiquette and religion as the foundation of governing the country and the army, while Feng Yuxiang practiced Christianity, which is exactly this reason.

Song Xiaofei thought that Li Hongzhang's Huaijun did not inherit the "spirit" of Lao Zeng's army management, which was a big mistake, so he made up for it again and promoted it throughout the army. In addition, Song Xiaofei's thinking on governing the army also borrowed from Wang Yangming's doctrine of "learning from things and integrating knowledge with action", and also followed the example of the West Point Military Academy, emphasizing the discipline and honor of the army.

These energetic young officers, one by one, wearing straight military uniforms, held their heads high in the scorching summer sun, and beads of sweat the size of beans oozed from their heads, and they did not move at all. They were listening attentively to President Duan Qirui's speech standing on the rostrum, "Today, I am honored to invite the President to give us a lecture, and everyone applauds warmly!" ”

The graduates in the audience applauded, and Song Xiaofei, Xu Shichang, Feng Guozhang, Wang Shizhen, Cao Kun and others were all seated on the rostrum. As soon as Duan Qirui's words fell, Song Xiaofei was dressed in a military uniform, smiling, walked onto the rostrum, raised his hand to signal everyone to stop applause, and began to speak: "Thank you." Thank you for the applause. Graduation ceremonies for students of the Chinese Non-commissioned Officer School every year. No matter how busy I am, I'll make a time to attend in person, and I'm so proud of what each and every one of you have accomplished today. I don't have anything else to say, but I'll repeat what I told you at the opening ceremony before. Remember! ”

Song Xiaofei said: "Zeng Wenzhenggong once said, 'The way of a gentleman. It is not great to advocate loyalty for the world. The chaos of the world also. The top and bottom indulge in the desire to die, swallow each other with treachery and hypocrisy, turn into deceit, and give others even danger for their own safety. Afraid of hardship and avoiding harm, he refused to donate the power of silk millet to save the world. Those who are loyal rise up and defend themselves, and love others with self-denial. Go to hypocrisy and worship clumsiness, bow to all difficulties, and do not blame others for the same trouble, and donate their lives heroically. Like returning home from a long journey, and there is no need to care. Since everyone does what they do, they are also ashamed of living and ashamed of avoiding things. This passage is very important, and everyone must know: why did China get into chaos in the past? Why are there Taiping Longhairs and Bandits? The fundamental reason is that the Chinese people lack loyalty, only talk about hypocrisy and deceit, and only believe in guns and not in justice. If we can be loyal and self-exhorting, get rid of hypocritical vices, and do real things, foreigners are afraid of death, we are not afraid of death, foreigners are afraid of hardships and dangers, and we have the courage to be responsible and work hard. Then the ** team will be invincible! ”

The students in the audience applauded warmly, and at the signal of Yin Chang, the chief of general affairs of the Chinese Non-commissioned Officer School, they waved their fists and shouted in unison: "The ** squadron is mighty!" Long live the President! ”

After talking about loyalty, Song Xiaofei continued to talk about how to "lead the troops": "The way to strengthen the army in the world is in the general, the way of the general, take the ambition as the commander, act with great spirit, and be strict and decisive!" You will all be excellent officers in China in the future, Zeng Wenzhenggong has worked hard in his life, and it took nine years to pacify Changmao, and he was dealt with with with the spirit of perseverance and perseverance of 'knocking out teeth and swallowing blood', and never blamed others and the environment, this is Zeng's greatness, and it is also the key to his success, we should follow suit, especially those who lead troops, they must share the joys and hardships with their subordinates in peacetime, and they must live and die with their subordinates in wartime. ”

The applause from the audience continued to ring, and Song Xiaofei continued to talk about the importance of establishing rules and regulations for the army, "If people say that our Chinese army can only complete one task, and when the task is completed, it will definitely be arrogant and lascivious, corrupt and degenerate, this is already a historical law. The Hunan army led by Zeng Wenzheng, as well as the Huai army led by my mentor, are all the same. But I see, since ancient times, any army has been born in sorrow and died in peace! And why can the armies of the Taixi countries last for a hundred years? For example, the British Navy has resisted several world wars such as Napoleon and Wilhelm II, and still dominates the world. I am afraid that this is the reason for the institutionalization of foreign countries, and our Huai Army and Hunan Army have always relied on family affection, nostalgia, and teacher-student affection to control the army! Why was the Beiyang Fleet able to defeat Japan? It is because we established a modern system early on, strict discipline! Therefore, for the army, it is organized, systematic, disciplined, and there are clear rewards and punishments, and this is the division of steel and might! ”

Speaking of excitement, Song Xiaofei raised his fist and said: "Of course, having discipline in an army can only ensure that it is an army, not a rabble, and it also emphasizes honor and responsibility!" With discipline, honor, and responsibility, the training of the army will get twice the result with half the effort, everyone knows why they are soldiers, and a sense of honor will soon be born, and the army with a sense of honor will regard death as home, and this kind of death will not be as irrational as a wild wolf, but a willing sacrifice for the sake of ideals. The army has an iron will, or the soul of the army! With a sense of responsibility. The soul of our army is to build strong ships and artillery, as well as tank corps, to defend the homeland and defend the country, although China is big, but not an inch of land is superfluous! The soul of our military is to enable the 40,000,000 Chinese compatriots to live a dignified life. The soul of our army is to let all places in the world where there are Chinese people feel the strength of the motherland! Recently, the newspapers said that there has been another anti-Chinese incident in Cuba, and our army will definitely not sit idly by! No matter whether our opponent is Japan or Spain, we will definitely safeguard the interests of all Chinese! There will be daunting tasks ahead for your younger generation. Each and every one of you is important to our old and young republic! ”

The audience was silent, and then burst into warm and prolonged applause! Song Xiaofei looked at the young faces under the rostrum, and couldn't help but think of the scene when he had just established the Beiyang Military Academy, and with a flick of his fingers, more than ten years have passed, and this place has also changed from a small station on the outskirts of Tianjin to a modern military academy covered by greenery, and he is already the president of 40,000 people, and the burden on his body is getting heavier and heavier.

President Song Xiaofei finished speaking. Duan Qirui also asked him to award the Medal of Honor to the representatives of outstanding graduates of the Chinese Noncommissioned Officers School. Ten young representatives of outstanding graduates wore military boots and walked onto the stage with their waists straight. Two of them impressed Song Xiaofei, one was a "small" Northeast man Zhang Zuolin, and the other was Wen Zou Zou's Shandong Han Wu Peifu. A short red beard with a long face and a high forehead. The nose is very good. Both of them were twenty-three or four-year-old hairy young men. The impression given to Song Xiaofei is very different from the stereotype of "reactionary warlord" in history.

Zhang Zuolin's life experience is very miserable, he is a street child who came out of Xiaowa Village in the north of Yejiapuzi in Haicheng, Liaoning, and is a poor child without any background. He only studied in a private school for a few months, but he was quick by nature and good at dealing with three religions and nine streams. When the Japanese army attacked the northeast, General Sheng Jing was defeated and fled. The place is chaotic, he organized a security group in Zhaojiamiao, responsible for the security of several nearby villages, and then moved to Zhong'anbao, Beizhen County, in the insurance area is very well-behaved, abide by rules and disciplines, maintain public order, so that this poor mountain and bad water area of the bandit harassment has been curbed, he has jurisdiction over more than 20 villages, and then into the green forest, the power is strong, Xu Shichang is in charge of the northeast, Zhao'an, Zhang Zuolin assisted Xu Shichang to exterminate Du Lisan and other bandits, appreciated by Xu Shichang, recommended to the Chinese non-commissioned officer school for further study.

Wu Peifu is a native of Wujia Village, Beigou, Penglai, Shandong, he is always taciturn, and he is nicknamed "Wu Fool". Wu Peifu passed the Xiucai examination, and when his mother Zhang was pregnant, Wu Kecheng dreamed that Qi Jiguang came home, and he was named after Qi Jiguang's word Peiyu, so Wu Peifu often told people that he was "the reincarnation of Qi Jiguang". In 1890, his father died of illness, Wu Peifu and his mother depended on each other, and his family was getting cold, so he went to Penglai Sailor Camp as a student soldier, and later switched to Cao Kun's army to attack Gansu and Qinghai, and made great contributions, Cao Kun sent him to the military academy for further study.

Song Xiaofei likes to use such young people from poor backgrounds, and intends to cultivate them, so he accepted them and arranged for the two of them to serve as personal soldiers in the guard regiment of the presidential palace.

After the graduation ceremony, Song Xiaofei convened a meeting of army generals such as Xu Shichang, Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang, Wang Shizhen, and Cao Kun to discuss the end of military politics and the beginning of the period of political training. In order to make the atmosphere harmonious, Song Xiaofei invited them to their former residence in Tianjin and talked at the wine table.

After three rounds of drinking, Song Xiaofei said: "The Republic has been implementing military politics for nearly three or four years, and it is time to enter the stage of political training. I have appointed Xi Jiaming as the secretary general of the Central Party Department of the Baath Party, responsible for the party affairs of the whole party. Focus on promoting our party's four people's principles, that is, national independence, national commerce, people's livelihood-oriented, and democratic politics. Moreover, in the stage of political training, national independence, national commerce, and people's livelihood are fundamental, and democratic politics will wait until the constitutional stage. We have been friends for many years, and we don't talk about 'monarchs and ministers', but we have something to say and speak freely. ”

After speaking, Song Xiaofei relayed Sheng Xuanhuai's conversation with himself and glanced at everyone. Xu Shichang is a very good official, he is the chairman of the three eastern provinces at this time, he is very good at pondering Song Xiaofei's thoughts, listening to Song Xiaofei's meaning, not to discuss with them, but to decide directly, so he catered to: "The president is far-sighted, and the military is in power, which is not in line with the general trend of world democracy." If the president is determined to start political training, I, Xu someone, will be the first to take the lead in supporting it and resign as chairman of the three eastern provinces. Moreover, the Four People's Principles, if taken gradually, sound feasible. ”

Xu Shichang has the closest relationship with Song Xiaofei among several people, and has the highest prestige, Feng Guozhang, Wang Shizhen, and Cao Kun also expressed their support for discipline and politics when they heard him say this. Duan Qirui said worriedly: "If the military is not in government, you must always find something to do, otherwise it will be easy to cause chaos." ”

Song Xiaofei said: "Of course, in the next two years, China has two very important battles to fight, and everyone will discuss them. The first is the seizure of colonies in Cuba and the Philippine Islands from Spain, and the anti-Chinese incident that occurred in Cuba this time can just be used as a pretext for the protection of foreign nationals. The United States had just joined the coalition against Japan, and the United States was delayed, and the Congress was still discussing the question of whether or not to use troops against Spain. In addition, it is to use troops against Tsarist Russia to regain the land that belongs to China. Spain and Russia are both European powers, if we can win these two foreign wars, we China can be among the great powers, and then we will have enough confidence to abolish the unequal treaties signed with European and American countries! (To be continued......)