After the outbreak of the "Wushen Revolution", Hunan was the second province after Hubei to declare its independence from the rule of the Qing court. Although it is not as good as Hubei, the "source of the revolution," it is also a leader among the revolutionary provinces in the south.

But compared to Hubei, Hunan's revolutionary foundation was quite fragile, because it was simply a loose alliance of revolutionary soldiers and the Zhongzhong.

From Hunan, in addition to rice, firecrackers and other local specialties, the most talked about is Hunan's extension of power.

Hunan's extension of power rose in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom War period, its symbol is Zeng Guofan's inauguration of the regimental training minister and the formation of the Hunan army, almost since then, Hunan's Zhushen group has the power of life and death, Zeng Guofan's single-handedly created trial bureau is the most convenient killing tool in the hands of the gentry. Countless Hunan peasants and vagrants died under this knife, and the number of peasants who were sent to the front line as cannon fodder to fight against the Taiping army was also considerable. It can be said that Hunan Xiangshen has achieved the ultimate in the ruling technique of "using the people to control the people", and if it were not for the more clever means of the Qing court rulers to "control the ministers with their subjects", I am afraid that the revolutionaries would not have replaced the Qing Dynasty.

The gentry power in Hunan did not end with the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and more than ten years of war had caused the Zhushen to allocate all local government affairs in Hunan. "Zhushen" is no longer a noun concept. Rather, it is a culture, a ruling culture, where all affairs are inseparable from the Zhushen group, from the collection of taxes to the appointment and dismissal of officials. From the implementation of the New Deal to the mediation of clan disputes. can see the shadow of the borrowing group. Even the dignified governor of Hunan had to rely on the power of Zhu Zhong to make Witte authoritative, and the influence of the Zhong on the Hunan feudal officials was far stronger than that of other provinces.

Although ancient China emphasized that the emperor and the scholars shared the world, the scholars wanted the imperial power to reach the county. Villages below the county level should be completely managed by the Promoters, but this is only ideal. For most of the reign of the dynasty. The monarchy has always suppressed the extension of power, and only when the troubled times come, is the time when the middle power encroaches on the monarchy.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Hunan really achieved the "co-governance of monarchs and ministers" here, the extension of power is the shrinking of the monarch's power, and the monarchy is usually regarded as an enlarged extension of power by the dark middlemen, here, often a word of the gods, can determine the life and death of the local grass people.

Carrying out a revolution in such a province undoubtedly requires great courage and superb skill, and the slightest carelessness will provoke fire, and this is one of the reasons why Zhao Bei did not annex Hunan in the first place.

The reason why Hunan has become the province with the most influence of the Hui Party is not unrelated to the ferocity of this kind of power extension, and the only weapon for the grass people to resist the power is the Hui Party. However, since the Zhuzhong clique has all the political, economic, and cultural resources in its possession, it is basically a dream to rely on a group of grass people to organize the party to turn over. Moreover, out of consideration for their interests, many discerning borrowers have drawn eyebrows with the revolutionary forces while wooing the government and dressed themselves up as "enlightened" Shinshi, a trick that can very confuse some revolutionaries.

After the New Deal at the end of the Qing Dynasty, a large number of Hunan townships devoted themselves to industry, creating a group of new forces, these people are the "constitutionalists." "They are the result of the further encroachment of power on the monarchy, and these people want to share more power from the royal family, so. Outwardly, they were natural allies of the revolution. However, they are opposed to violent revolution in their bones, and their favored state system is a constitutional monarchy. To be precise, it is "Zhu Zheng Constitution." "For them, an overly violent revolution means the loss of their political and economic privileges, which is not what they want.

As a member of the great revolutionary era, Hunan is the most stubborn fortress of the old school in this era. If you want to conquer this fortress, you can't do it with tens of thousands of guns and a few cannons.

It was precisely on this issue that the Communist Party made a short-sighted mistake, so Hunan was in chaos.

As the southern barrier of Hubei, Hunan has always been the focus of Zhao Bei's attention, although he did not plan to directly intervene in Hunan affairs in the short term, but he has also reminded the leadership of the Communist Party of China more than once to pay attention to the movements of Hunan Zhushen. However, some people took his kind reminder as a deaf ear, and as a result, the revolutionary situation in Hunan changed suddenly. and implicated a coup d'état in Guizhou.

The coup d'état in Guizhou took place two days earlier, the Guizhou army stationed in the provincial capital Guiyang mutinied because of the trouble, the attacking army zhèngfǔ and the governor's mansion, Jiao Dafeng, the governor of Guizhou on the side of the Communist Advancement Society, was killed, the whereabouts of the deputy governor Zhong Yushan are unknown, and the "revolutionary coalition army" of the descendants of the Communist Advancement Association was ambushed by the Guizhou army and suffered heavy losses. It had retreated to the border of Hunan and Guizhou, and the current Guizhou army had fallen into the hands of the constitutionalists, and the military and political leaders in the province who were inclined to the southern revolutionary party were either killed or fled. The first zhèngfǔ.

The chaos in Hunan was earlier than that in Guizhou, because the main force of the Gongjin Association marched south to Yunnan, the provincial wall was empty, and the day before the Guiyang Mutiny, thousands of people from the original Qing army patrol battalion outside Changsha mutinied at the same time, and then dragged artillery to attack Changsha, and the fierce exchange of fire with the descendants of the Gongjin Association stationed in the city, the battle lasted for a day, although the Gongjin Association had the assistance of the Hui Party armed forces, but because the gunpowder magazine was blown up by the inner jiān, all the ammunition was lost. In the end, he could only abandon Changsha and divide his troops into two routes, all the way to the south to defend Yuling, and all the way to the north to Xiangyin, and at the same time send people to ask for help from the Fifth Division of the Jianhe Army stationed in Yuezhou, northern Hunan.

Although he is the deputy commander-in-chief of the Republican Army, as the commander of the guest army, he has no right to directly transfer troops to interfere in Hunan provincial affairs, so he can only send a telegram to the commander-in-chief, Zhao Bei, to explain the details of the Hunan Revolution and ask for instructions on how to deal with it.

Zhao Bei's call back was simple: stick to Yuezhou and wait for orders.

Wu Zhenhan did not dare to slack off, and immediately ordered the Fifth Division to enter the state and build two additional lines of defense outside Yuezhou City. Two days later, several steam ships arrived from Wuhan with batches of weapons and ammunition, and Cai Liulin's dúlì artillery brigade also arrived with the ships at the same time

Decide.

When Zhao Bei received Wu Zhenhan's telegram, he was inspecting the flood control work in eastern Hubei, and as soon as the telegram arrived, he immediately decided to return to Wuhan to take up the town. Stop-and-go, and when he returned to Wuhan, it was the third day after the Hunan Revolution.

The situation on the battlefield changed rapidly, and in just three days, the situation in Hunan deteriorated further, and the troops of the Communist Advance Society who retreated to Yanling failed to hold their positions, and in the face of enemy forces several times their size, the "revolutionary coalition army," which lacked ammunition, had no choice but to continue to retreat eastward and enter the territory of Jiangxi, intending to retreat to Pingxiang. He made contact with the revolutionary armies of Yan Xishan and Li Liejun, but on the way to the army, he was suddenly ambushed by the Jīng Rui troops of the Gannan patrol battalion controlled by the constitutionalists, and was forced to lay down his arms and surrender after suffering more than 1,000 casualties. Several generals were immediately executed by the Jiangxi army on charges of "meeting bandits", and the rest were dismissed.

The Gongjinhui troops who retreated to Xiang Yīn were also attacked, although the enemy's offensive was not fierce, but the morale of the army was shaken for a while, and if it were not for Cai Liulin's Dúlì Artillery Brigade to arrive in time and enter the battle, I am afraid that Xiang Yīn would not have been able to hold it. Xiang yīn has an advantage compared with Kuling, it is close to Dongting Lake, and it is in time for the flood season of the Yangtze River, the water level is high, and the small gunboats of the republican army can drive directly to the shore to support the defenders with heavy artillery fire, and it is not far from Yuezhou, and the rest and recuperation policy of the Hubei army has also affected here, the burden of the people is lighter, the revolutionary enthusiasm is higher, and they can take the initiative to deliver news for the revolutionary armed forces.

When Zhao Bei returned to Wuhan, Pan Kangshi, the deputy commander of the Fifth Division of the Republican Army, had already arrived in Wuhan, and he was the liaison sent back by Wu Zhenhan to report to the commander-in-chief on the changes in Hunan and foreign affairs.

In the small conference room of the General Staff, Zhao Bei convened an emergency military meeting, and did not immediately deploy a military counterattack, but only inquired about the situation in Hunan.

After the fall of Changsha, the Junxian faction formed the so-called "Constitutional Autonomous Association" and sent a telegram, saying that the Communist Party was armed with bandits, not a revolutionary army, and the leader was not from Hunan. Tan Yange, a famous constitutional scholar, took over the post of speaker, and Yuan Shikai sent a telegram approving the speaker, but vetoed the candidate for governor, appointed Tang Hualong, the former governor of Jiangsu, as the governor of Hunan, and announced that Huang Zhonghao, the former general office of the middle road of the Hunan Mining Bureau, was appointed as the envoy of Hunan Town and commanded the Hunan army. ”

Pan Kangshi held a briefing note and gave a brief introduction to the political situation in Munan in recent days.

Zhao Bei tapped his finger on the table and asked, "Is this Huang Zhonghao the original commander of the small patrol battalion?" ”

"It's this person. Before Sun Wu returned to Hunan, the commander-in-chief specially called on this Huang Zhonghao, saying that this person was opposed to the revolution and that he would be careful if he wanted to advance together. Now it seems that the commander-in-chief was really prescient, and it was this person who single-handedly provoked the Changsha mutiny, and the patrol battalion that participated in the mutiny was also his old subordinate. Pan Kangshi nodded.

Zhao Bei can only smile bitterly, history has become unrecognizable because of his arrival, this Huang Zhonghao died at the hands of the revolutionary army in the Xinhai Revolution, but now, this person not only did not die, but was appointed by Yuan Shikai as the Hunan town guard, which is really a bit ironic.

"Tang Hualong is the governor of Hunan, what is Yuan Shikai's idea?" Zhao Bei pondered.

Tang Hualong is a native of Hubei, but also a famous constitutionalist, after the revolution at the invitation of Li Yuanhong to become the vice president of the Hubei Council, later participated in the north-south peace, as the general representative of the south, and then was appointed by Yuan Shikai as the governor of Jiangsu, the chair was not hot, and caught up with the Hunan change.

Pan Kangshi saw that Zhao Bei didn't speak for a long time, so he said: "As soon as Yuan's telegram arrived, the old and young people in Hunan quarreled all over the world, and some people clamored for "Hunan people to govern Hunan" but finally agreed to let Tang Hualong take office, and now Tang Hualong is taking a boat to Yuezhou, and he also took a telegram to Wuhan, I wonder if the commander-in-chief has read the telegram? ”

Zhao Bei said: "When I didn't go back to Wuhan, Li Huangling retook the telegram to me, I have seen the telegram, but it is just some scenes, this Tang Jiwu is sleek, and he knows that the governor of Hunan is not good." He is a scholar, and now there are mutinies in Hunan, and he can't suppress it with his strength, so he will send me a telegram first and let me support him behind his back. ”

"Do we support it? In my opinion. This incident in Hunan has no impact on us. Anyway, when the Communist Party was in power, we were not welcomed.

Tang Hualong is a native of Hubei, and he has also served as the deputy speaker of Hubei, and has a close relationship with Speaker Li. ”

Although Pan Kangshi's words are a bit extreme, they are also true. At the beginning of the year, the Communist Party sent telegrams to Wuhan one after another, urging Zhao Bei to withdraw the Fifth Division stationed in Yuezhou to Hubei as soon as possible, and even put pressure on Zhao Bei through Yuan Shikai, but Zhao Bei's attitude has always been very tough, so it did not succeed.

It was not for nothing that the Fifth Division was placed in Yuezhou. Yuezhou guards the mouth of Dongting Lake, with convenient transportation. The strategic position is quite important, as long as it is guarded here, it is equivalent to guarding the gateway of northern Hunan Province. Whether it is to protect Hubei or go south to Hunan, it will become a place where soldiers must fight, when Wu Zhenhan led the first echelon of the joint advance of the troops to conquer Changsha, Zhao Bei immediately ordered the first echelon to go to Yuezhou to rest, and then the first echelon was stationed here, and was later reorganized into the fifth tower, and never moved again.

As a time-traveler familiar with history. Zhao Bei's arrangement was very wise, and the Fifth Division finally came in handy.

In fact, the reason why the Hunan and Guizhou changes happened this time. It is also not unrelated to Zhao Bei's acquiescence and connivance.

If the Communist Advancement Association had only looked forward to the commander-in-chief, perhaps the Hunan and Guizhou Incident would not have been at all.

But it is very irrational that the Communist Party chose to part ways with the commander-in-chief.