Xiao Yiming's 80-man guard was successfully established, and the basic formation and military order training were immediately launched, but then the expansion of the 17th town of the Sichuan Army was accompanied by personnel disputes that were difficult to reconcile.

In addition to the unshakable position of the commander Zhong Ying, the other two co-commanders and the five standard commanders competed fiercely, and more than 10 middle-level officers with old qualifications, such as Zhu Qinglan, Cheng Qian, Jiang Dengxuan, Zhou Daogang, and Xu Xiaogang, as well as officers who graduated from the early military academy, competed with each other and refused to give in to each other, the atmosphere in the army was very tense, and the army expansion work also came to a standstill.

After repeated consideration, Xiao Yiming, who had the least qualifications, resolutely resigned from his post as quartermaster and cultural instructor of the Army Accelerated Training School with the consent of his uncle, Zhao Erxun, and only retained the post of the Sichuan Army Supervision and Training Association.

Xiao Yiming didn't know that on the fourth day after he left Chengdu, the army primary school building in the north school field collapsed, but fortunately, the students were gathering in the field at that time, and there were no casualties, but no one dared to continue to live in that barracks.

The barracks in the north school field, which have not been repaired for decades, are separated from the brand-new building area owned by Xiao Yiming, which is less than 100 meters away from each other, and now most of them are dilapidated houses, and even the city wall on the north side is gradually declining, and cracks have already appeared on the city wall from the north gate of the northwest corner of 1.2 kilometers.

Hundreds of students in the army primary school have no place to live, and most of the leaders of various military departments are caught in the scramble for their official positions, and when something goes wrong, they pass the buck to each other, and finally put all the responsibility for the aftermath on the head of Zhong Ying, the commander of the 17th town, and Zhong Ying had no choice but to temporarily move the teachers and students of the army primary school to the army crash school in the south school and report in detail to the governor Zhao Erxun.

When the Governor received the report, he summoned the officers in charge of various departments to discuss and seek countermeasures, but none of the more than 30 absent-minded officers could come up with a solution, and they complained endlessly, saying that "except for the South School Field, where the Crash School is located, all the other barracks have the problem of outdated barracks and aging facilities", and the other saying that "nearly half of the existing guns are seriously worn out and can no longer be used." In the end, no one mentioned the proper placement of the army primary school.

Seeing that dinner time was approaching, and there was still no clue after a day's special meeting, the Governor's face became more and more unsightly, and I don't know who sighed in a low voice, "It would be nice if Xiao Military Academy was here", which immediately caused the vast majority of officers to echo loudly, and all the officers talked about the new area in the north of the city and the reconstruction of the old city, and finally agreed that only Xiao Military Academy, which is good at planning and making money, can solve the problem of huge funds raising and construction, and no one else can do it.

Zhao Erxun saw such a situation, so he had to announce the dismissal of the meeting, and chose to discuss it again, how could he not know that Xiao Yiming was worthy of a heavy responsibility, and he wanted to take the opportunity of this army expansion to rectify the army with many factions, but he was very disappointed by the continuous series of situations, if it weren't for Xiao Yiming's qualifications, and his promotion was too big to convince the public, he would not have talked to this group of selfish and infighting officers at all, he agreed with Xiao Yiming to resign from the position of quartermaster and instructor of the crash school, is to avoid Xiao Yiming falling into the quagmire of infighting, and to avoid becoming the target of others because of too many part-time jobs, but now it seems that it is out of consideration.

That night, after weighing it repeatedly, Zhao Erxun wrote a letter and sent it to Dayi to hand it to Xiao Yiming, asking him what he had to do and whether he was willing to undertake the important task of repairing the military camps and the northern city wall.

When the guard officer delivered the letter from the Governor to Xiao Yiming, Xiao Yiming was chatting with Shi Yupei and Liu Wenyuan, representatives of the two major families of Dayi.

Xiao Yiming saw that the familiar guard officer hurriedly asked him to sit down, took the letter and opened it, then put away the letter and thought silently, and finally asked the guard officer to go back to convey his decision: "Please tell your lordship that Xiao Yiming is willing to take on this important responsibility, and when she returns to Chengdu in half a month, she will definitely present a complete plan to your lordship!" ”

Early the next morning, Xiao Yiming left Wu San to lead 20 guards to protect seven German engineers to continue the survey and design work, and led most of the German engineers and guards to Ya'an, hurrying all the way, and finally arrived before dark.

When Xiao Yiming saw that the old man Wang Yutang led a group of squires and hundreds of disciples to wait in the Wuli Pavilion outside the city, the emotion in his heart was indescribable, and he turned over and dismounted from a distance of 100 meters, and came to Wang Yutang at a trot and knelt down and saluted: "Master, the disciple should not be so loving by the master and the old folks." ”

A group of squires and hundreds of disciples were overjoyed to see Xiao Yiming, the famous protégé of the governor, so polite and filial, and praised loudly one by one, and were overjoyed.

"Well deserved! You are here not only on behalf of you personally, but also on behalf of the Governor Yamen, although Ya'an is located in a remote area, the people are fierce, but there is never a lack of courtesy, come! Tell your people to enter the city, the dust washing banquet has been arranged, and your brothers and sisters want to drink with foreigners! ”

Xiao Yiming greeted a group of squires very politely, and ordered the captain of the guard, Zong Yi, to lead the team into the city, so he took the hands of several senior brothers in the Ya'an Heavy Camp and talked in a low voice.

Worrall, the commercial officer of the consulate who was the leader of the team, and the German engineers saw such a grand and sincere welcome scene, and saw the civilians pulling dozens of guards escorting them, and they were so affectionate that they were surprised and infected, and they all got off their horses and waited with a smile.

The long-bearded old man Wang led a group of local elders to salute, and Worrall hurriedly led the German engineers to greet them, politely returning the salute and greeting them warmly, realizing that the task of this trip would be very smooth.

That night, the Wang family ancestral hall was brightly lit and smiling.

The elders and soldiers in the city took turns to drink wine to express their respect and welcome to the Germans. It didn't take long for most of the Germans to be overturned by the mellow local wine, and if Worrall hadn't found Xiao Yiming, who was also drunk, for help, I am afraid that few Germans would have been able to walk out.

The next morning, Worrall and the others, who still felt dizzy, finished washing, and quickly gathered in the wide and quaint courtyard to exchange feelings, and without saying a few words, Xiao Yiming and a few officers arrived, and invited everyone to go to the restaurant with a history of more than 100 years by the river for breakfast, and then listen to the introductions of local officials and gentry and elders, and then start the inspection activities tomorrow.

The hundred-year-old brand by the river is really extraordinary, and the Germans, who don't have much appetite after a hangover, actually eat very deliciously, give a thumbs up to the courteous shopkeeper while eating, and express their praise and gratitude in a few words of Sichuan dialect that they have just learned, which makes the local officials and villagers who accompany them extremely proud and laughing.

Xiao Yiming, Zheng Yi, and Wang Jian, He Qiwu, and Xie Mingyang, who were assigned to the Ya'an Heavy Camp of the Border Army, sat at a table and talked in a low voice, and after introducing the expansion of the Seventeenth Town, Xiao Yiming asked in a low voice: "Are you senior brothers doing well in the Heavy Camp?" ”

When Wang Jian saw the two junior disciples looking at him, he replied on behalf of everyone:

"We had a good time, but after the year, Lord Zhao came back from Chengdu and passed by, stayed in the camp for one night, and after dinner, immediately summoned the three of us and asked about some information very kindly. After the adults left, the Manchu stewards in the camp, Lord Qi Luo, immediately promoted us to the next level, and now the three of us together lead the third step team to protect the safety of the camp, and are also responsible for liaison affairs with several towns around the county, and the military ranks have also been promoted to deputy military schools.

"At the beginning, we were surprised, how did we suddenly get promoted? You won't be sent to Tibet to fight hard, will you? Later, I slowly learned that you had become a closed disciple of the Minister of Frontier Affairs, Lord Zhao, and only then did I react. Senior brother, even if you don't want to listen, I have to thank you! ”

"Don't talk about you, isn't the junior brother also the deputy captain of the military academy now?"

Zheng Yi smiled proudly, and specially puffed out his chest, so that people could see the two German-made shell guns on his waist, and Wang Jian was so angry that he punched him.

Xiao Yiming couldn't help but wave his hand to the three people who raised their hands:

"During the Spring Festival, I talked to Lord Zhao about the Ya'an Heavy Battalion, Lord Zhao attached great importance to the Heavy Battalion that undertook nearly half of the material support for the border army in Tibet, and believed that the current 700 officers and soldiers and 500 healthy horses were still not enough, and planned to set up a special material transport horse team of 500 people, and the soldiers were recruited in the Ya'an area, and the weapons and equipment were handed over to me for purchase, all German-style weapons, and it is estimated that in two months, 500 Mauser 98 rifles, 300 Mauser shell guns and 300,000 rounds of ammunition can be transported here, and the spears will be equipped with a new transport horse team. The short gun is estimated to be assigned to your pipe belt. ”

"Great! Here's your chance! He Qiwu, who was full of beard, was the most excited.

Xiao Yiming waved his hand:

"Senior Brother He, don't be happy first, although your Manchu Guan Qi Luo is rough in appearance, he is a very scheming person, and he is deeply trusted by Lord Zhao, otherwise how could Lord Zhao hand over such an important baggage camp to him? I saw him twice in Chengdu last year, and the latter time was at the house of the eldest brother Guo Tiecheng, the chief of the governor's body, and after a few drinks, we became familiar with each other, and I guess he also knew my situation, and when he returned from the archery furnace tomorrow, he would have to have a glass of wine with him, and then he would talk to me about it, and listen to what he had to say. In addition, the younger brother doesn't want you to lead the transport horse team, it's not a question of whether you can endure hardships and whether you can get a greater chance of promotion. ”

Wang Jian asked thoughtfully, "Senior brother, what do you mean......?"

"Stay in the camp, stand firm, don't worry about no promotion opportunities, don't forget that Lord Zhao is my teacher!"

Xiao Yiming lowered her voice and continued:

"After the ammunition factory is set up, we need a guard of no less than two hundred people, this guard will be established in the name of the local militia group, I will handle the approval documents, the weapons and equipment are all the best German-style weapons, and I will pay the military salary, I hope that the three senior brothers will help me train the guards, and it is best to recruit all the disciples who are poor and can bear hardships and stand hard work, all of them are our Ya'an disciples, and when the opportunity comes, they can be transferred to the new army at any time, if any of the three senior brothers are promoted, and take away one hundred and eighty people at will, won't they have their own personal soldiers?"

The three of them were overjoyed, and Xie Mingyang asked in surprise: "Little brother, do you mean to treat this factory guard as our training camp?" ”

Xiao Yiming lightly slapped his palm on the table:

"It's still Senior Brother Xie's quick brain, that's what it means! Think about it, if you can train thousands of young children in the whole region in rotation, what will happen in the future when the opportunity comes? Taking a step back, with thousands of elites, the surrounding forces, including those forces in Chengdu with low eyes, who would dare to fight our Ya'an idea?

"The younger brother has already introduced the situation of the Sichuan army just now, everyone should know that it is inevitable that the army will split in such a trouble, and if it is not good, it will fight by itself, so we have to prepare early!"

The three of them were gearing up, excited, Wang Jian leaned down and said word by word:

"Senior brother, don't worry, when you take out the specific regulations, the foolish brothers will immediately start recruiting people, and they will definitely train a strong army that is not afraid of death, and they will never let you down!"

He Qiwu clenched his fists:

"That's right! Senior brother, just put a hundred hearts, the master said well, as long as you lead the brothers forward, you will be able to do something vigorous! ”

;