Zhou Zhongju nodded thoughtfully and said, "If I were those governors in the south, I would definitely learn from the Beiyang Army in this case." Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"If you have a little ambition, you may also learn from the Beiyang Army and use all the resources you can use to expand the new army."

At this time, Zhou Zhongju's brows furrowed again and asked: "Even if there is no support from those feudal officials in the south, there are still more than 50,000 forbidden troops in the hands of the imperial court, and more than 100,000 Mongolian cavalry can advance eastward at any time to support." ”

"More than 50,000 forbidden troops, don't think about it too much!" Yang Xing replied in Chinese.

"More than 50,000 forbidden troops, although they are all Manchus, the imperial court has overlooked one thing. At the beginning, most of the grassroots officers of the forbidden army were selected by Yuan Shikai from the Beiyang Army. ”

Although these people are also Manchus, judging from the fact that Yuan Shikai dared to tell them that they did not know the forbidden army, these people must be loyal to Yuan Shikai. Now that the imperial court wants to expand the forbidden army, Yuan Shikai has found that the grassroots officers of the forbidden army will definitely be promoted on a large scale and become middle-level officers of the forbidden army. At that time, as long as Yuan Shikai finds a way to control the high-level officers in the forbidden army who are loyal to the imperial court, then the entire forbidden army will be Yuan Shikai's. When the time comes, the expansion of the forbidden army by the imperial court will be a wedding dress for the imperial court in vain! ”

"Shhh Zhou Zhongju gasped and exclaimed.

"Why didn't I think that Yuan Shikai must have sent grassroots officers into the forbidden army with this purpose. He also did this to our Liaodong Army at the beginning, but fortunately he found it early at that time, otherwise it would definitely bring us immeasurable losses. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Zhongju continued to worry and asked: "Commander, won't there be more than 50,000 elites in the Beiyang Army at that time?" ”

"In the future, as long as we enter the customs, we will definitely have to fight another battle with the Beiyang Army. Suddenly there are more than 50,000 elites, which is definitely a huge threat to us. Commander, you can't say anything to let Yuan Shikai's treacherous plan succeed, it is best to let Yuan Shikai lose his wife and break his army. ”

Yang Xingguo nodded and affirmed: "Needless to say, Yuan Shikai has always calculated us before, and now that I finally have an opportunity to calculate Yuan Shikai, I will definitely not let it go." ”

"In this way, after all, the imperial court still represents the orthodoxy of the Qing Dynasty, and tomorrow I will see Zaitao, the representative sent by the imperial court, so that the smell of gunpowder between the imperial court and Yuan Shikai will become stronger. As for calculating Yuan Shikai, I already have a way. ”

In order to avoid the Qing Dynasty from falling in her own hands, Cixi also tried her best this time.

Not only should the forbidden army be expanded to 50,000 people, but it is also necessary to set up a guard force of 10,000 people for itself.

The Liaodong Army's capture of Shanhaiguan and the division of the Beiyang Army made Cixi feel that the capital was no longer as safe as she imagined.

If there is an accident in the capital one day, you must not only have a forbidden army to resist the enemy's attack, but also a guard that can protect you from leaving the capital.

In order to build these two armies, Cixi emptied almost all the silver that the imperial court could come up with, and also took two million taels from her own private treasury, and then forced all the imperial relatives in the capital to pledge 1.5 million taels, and the entire five million taels of silver were handed over to Zaitao, so that Zaitao could buy weapons and form a new army.

With money in hand, you will be more confident in negotiations.

In addition, before leaving, Cixi also repeatedly explained that she must take down these rifles in front of the Beiyang Army and suppress the Beiyang Army fiercely.

As soon as the negotiations got to the point, Zaitao proposed to buy 40,000 rifles and 4 million rounds of ammunition from the Liaodong Army at the price of 23 taels of silver for a rifle.

This price is three taels of silver more than he originally estimated, and a rifle is worth 40,000 rifles, which is equivalent to 120,000 taels of silver. While feeling the court's generosity in his heart, Yang Xingguo was not carried away by happiness, and told Zaitao very calmly that he needed to think about it for a day.

As soon as Zaitao left the room, Yang Xingguo asked people to release the price offered by the imperial court, especially to let Xu Shichang know.

"The court is clearly trying to grab these rifles from us. Once the 40,000 rifles are bought by the imperial court, the rest is selected by the imperial court, and there are unlikely to be too many good goods. Xu Shichang frowned and analyzed.

Yuan Shikai's deputy arranged for Xu Shichang, a strategist who was in charge of the procurement of weapons for the Beiyang Army, frowned and analyzed: "We can pay twenty-five taels of silver, a rifle and a hundred rounds of ammunition." ”

"Now that rifles are ordered directly from abroad, the Japanese Type 38 rifle with inferior performance costs at least 38 taels of silver, the Russian water bead costs at least 40 taels of silver, and the German Mauser rifle is the most expensive, plus the freight at least 43 taels of silver."

"Buying 50,000 rifles at a price of 25 taels can save at least 750,000 taels of silver for the marshal."

After Xu Shichang sent the news to Yuan Shikai by telegram, Yuan Shikai agreed without hesitation.

But since receiving the telegram, Yuan Shikai's brows have been furrowed.

Judging from the fact that the imperial court went to the Liaodong Army with himself to buy rifles, the imperial court has regarded itself as an enemy and is trying to target and suppress itself. This means that from now on, when you expand your strength, you must be careful to guard against the imperial court.

After Xu Shichang told Yang Xingguo the offer of twenty-five taels of silver, although it was two taels more than the imperial court, Yang Xingguo still did not agree.

After Xu Shichang left, Yang Xingguo still asked people to reveal Yuan Shikai's bid to Zaitao.

"Sure enough, he is a traitor, knowing that the imperial court needs these rifles to expand the forbidden army, he Yuan Shikai still dares to grab these weapons from the imperial court, it seems that Yuan Shikai's ambition is not small, and the imperial court must deal with the Beiyang Army as soon as possible." After scolding Yuan Shikai and Xu Shichang for a while, Zaitao frowned and analyzed.

Several staff members who came with Zaitao came to a conclusion after some analysis.

Although the Liaodong Army sold all old guns, even so, the price of buying these old guns from abroad was around thirty-five taels of silver.

As long as the price of weapons purchased from the Liaodong Army was less than thirty-five taels of silver, the imperial court did not suffer a loss.

With this idea, he had already added two taels of silver to Zaitao, whom Yuan Shikai and Xu Shichang hated.

The price of a rifle of twenty-seven taels of silver is a direct purchase of forty-five thousand rifles.

Yuan Shikai was not to be left behind, and decisively ordered Xu Shichang to increase the price to his limit, twenty-eight taels of silver.

In order to completely cut off Yuan Shikai's idea of buying this batch of weapons, the ruthless Zaitao directly offered the price of thirty taels of silver for a rifle, and bought all the water beads, 38 styles, and Mauser at one time. ”

Seeing that Yang Xingguo finally showed a positive expression on his face, he no longer shirked. Zaitao, who breathed a long sigh of relief, immediately said: "Governor Yang, the imperial court will send the silver to Shanhaiguan within ten days." I hope that the Liaodong Army can also send weapons and ammunition to Shanhaiguan, and we will trade in Shanhaiguan. ”

"In addition, if Commander Yang has second-hand light and heavy machine guns and artillery in his hands, as long as the price is right, the imperial court is willing to buy them all."

Of course, Yang Xingguo, who is so good at slaughtering, will not let go. Nearly 100 battlefields were damaged, and finally repaired light and heavy machine guns and more than 30 repaired mountain artillery guns, Yang Xingguo threw them all to Zaitao at a total price of 300,000 taels of silver. ”

From the beginning of entering Mukden, Zaitao rarely showed a smile on his face.

At this moment, Yang Xingguo suddenly reminded: "King of the county, my people overheard something from the captured Beiyang Army officers, which is related to the life and death of the imperial court, and I don't know if the imperial court is willing to buy this news from me." ”

"I'm sure this news is worth a million taels of silver, but I only need 100,000 taels of silver, and I'll report the news to the imperial court."

Zaitao looked at Yang Xingguo with a dumbfounded face, and the subconscious thought in his heart was that Yang Xingguo was crazy about money. (To be continued.) )