Forty-three-year-old Wu Peifu is really as dignified and calm as the legend says.

It is no different from the appearance of the high-grade military generals discussed in the book of the ancestors handed down for thousands of years, the heavenly court is full, the ears are lobe, the eyebrows are grandiose, the cheekbones are full, the high nose sets off his eyes extraordinarily deep, the sharp eyes are hidden in a slight smile, the focus is slightly cunning, and the pride is implicitly wary.

Xiao Yimin's first impression of Wu Peifu was quite good, and the only thing that made him feel that the fly in the ointment was Wu Peifu's neatly structured Beiyang Army Major General's dress - this military gift inherited from the Yuan Dashuai period, although the materials are exquisite, the precision is meticulous, not only the rigorous style of the Prussian army, but also contains the soft innovation of traditional Chinese elements, but the cumbersome decoration and overly exaggerated extension of the part affect the overall effect.

Xiao Yimin also had this set of major general dresses, and it was personally customized and rewarded by Yuan Dashuai, but Xiao Yimin only wore it once or twice on a formal occasion a few years ago, and then hung it in the wardrobe as a collector's item.

Xiao Yimin always felt that all the military dresses of the Beiyang generals were influenced by the Manchu costumes, just the sleeves embroidered with cumbersome trim almost covered the palms, and the hem of the jacket was neither like a coat nor like the length and width of a short jacket, which was enough to affect the overall effect of this dress.

However, no matter how Xiao Yimin feels, I am afraid that in the minds of all the officers and men of the Beiyang Army, Wu Peifu's dress in front of him is incomparably majestic and beautiful, as long as he glances at the fiery eyes of the more than 300 Beiyang officers and soldiers neatly arranged on the dock looking at Wu Peifu, you can understand the height of Wu Peifu in the hearts of the officers and soldiers under his command.

Xiao Yimin, who stepped off the gangplank of the gunboat, was looking at Wu Peifu at the same time, Wu Peifu was also carefully observing this legendary figure who was smiling and slowly walking towards him.

What made Wu Peifu's heart surging was not Xiao Yimin's youth and appearance, nor the several guards and staff officers wearing crisp and loose green new military uniforms behind Xiao Yimin, but Xiao Yimin's neat and simple military uniform, especially the unique rank mark on the collar of this simple and fitting military uniform, and the silver five-pointed gold star on the slightly upturned cap, which instantly made Wu Peifu feel an indescribable sense of distance and strangeness between them.

Wu Peifu saw that Xiao Yimin was about to stop when he came to the front, so he hurriedly took half a step forward and made a fist salute that everyone didn't expect: "Brother Yiming's name has long been like thunder, and when I see it today, it really deserves its reputation, haha!" ”

After Xiao Yimin was stunned for a moment, he immediately understood, thinking that you Wu Peifu would meet me Xiao with the gift of the rivers and lakes, neither calling me an official position nor calling me a military rank, and spreading it can not only keep your good reputation of being humble and courteous, but also show your political position and demeanor that is neither humble nor arrogant.

So, Xiao Yimin also smiled slightly, and very politely hugged his fists in return:

"Brother Ziyu has won the award, and the little brother was terrified along the way, always thinking about what to say when he saw his brother, but he didn't expect Brother Ziyu to be treated so favorably, which made the little brother extremely grateful! Previously, the younger brother's father-in-law mentioned Brother Ziyu many times in the letter, and praised Brother Ziyu's Wen Taowuluo, and told the younger brother to have the opportunity to ask Brother Ziyu for advice and closeness. ”

The surrounding people were quite surprised when they heard Xiao Yimin's words, and Wu Peifu was also stunned: "I don't know who Brother Yiming's father-in-law is......"

Zhang Qiqi hurriedly stepped forward and whispered in Wu Peifu's ear: "It's Lord Zhao Erxun!" Xiao Yimin is not only the closed disciple of Lord Zhao Erfeng, but his eldest lady is also the righteous daughter of Zhao Cigong, have you forgotten? ”

Wu Peifu suddenly realized, and immediately solemnly greeted Xiao Yimin again: "In the early years of Peifu's army, I had the honor to listen to the teachings of the second prince and Ji Gong, after the second prince returned to Beijing from the northeast, Peifu was praised and promoted by the second prince many times. I don't know what the situation is? Can the body be safe? ”

Xiao Yimin politely replied: "Brother Lao is worried, since Yuan Dashuai drove the crane, his father-in-law felt that his energy was low, so he resigned and returned to support." His old man wanted to return to his hometown in Shandong after leaving Beijing, but there were few people in Shandong, and there were few people in Shandong, and the Tieling clan was luxuriant, full of children and grandchildren, but the climate was cold, which was very unfavorable to his father-in-law's rheumatism and lung disease recuperation, so he lived in Tianjin for the past two years, and now that winter is coming, his father-in-law felt that he was in good spirits, and moved to Qingdao for the winter last month. ”

"Good, good! The second prince has worked hard for the country and the people all his life, and it is time to retire for the rest of his life, okay! ”

After Wu Peifu finished speaking, he immediately introduced Zhang Qiqi and others to Xiao Yimin, greeted each other, and boarded the dock together.

Wu Peifu had already regained his original reserved bearing, and when he saw Xiao Yimin looking at the war horse, he smiled and apologized insincerely: "I heard that Bashu has been running cars everywhere, but unfortunately Wu is too poor, and only a few inferior horses are walking, I'm sorry!" The dock is still some way away from the camp in the city, so let's take a look. ”

The surrounding generals all showed a knowing smile, who knew that Xiao Yimin not only did not feel a little deflated, but patted the neck of the war horse with great interest, showing a bright smile: "This is obviously a Mongolian horse with outstanding foot strength, how can it be said to be an inferior horse?" Although it is worse than the horses from the Western Regions that the younger brother got back from Xinjiang Province with a heavy machine gun, this horse is also rare in the current armies of the country. ”

After Xiao Yimin finished speaking, he took the reins from Ma Ben's hand, and moved slightly to the horse, and the chief of the guard Wu San and the confidential adjutant behind him flew on the horse, and their movements were extremely skillful, which was not inferior to the elite cavalry in the Beiyang Army.

Wu Peifu and hundreds of surrounding officers and soldiers couldn't help but look at each other and secretly admired Xiao Yimin and others when they saw Xiao Yimin and others' skillful and agile horseback movements, and a question arose in the hearts of many people: Didn't you say that the commander-in-chief of the Sichuan Army was a Confucian general who was polite and courteous and pursued luxury and enjoyment? What's going on now?

How do they know that Xiao Yimin has persevered for ten years and has developed a good martial arts and superb equestrian skills, and equestrianism has always been a compulsory course for all officers of the Sichuan army, and the powerful Sichuan army has not only always maintained a brigade of cavalry, but also the officers and soldiers of the guard units and special forces of the Sichuan army divisions can be used as cavalry, and in terms of the popularization and training of equestrianism, as well as the possession of war horses, pack horses, and horses, the Sichuan army has far surpassed the Beiyang armies.

After being slightly surprised, everyone beat their horses forward, Wu Peifu pulled the reins, approached Xiao Yiming, and asked with interest: "Brother Yiming just said that he used a machine gun to get a batch of horses from the Western Regions from Xinjiang Province?" Does it mean that the weapons and ammunition produced in Sichuan have been sold to Xinjiang Province? ”

Xiao Yimin said with a smile: "That's right, thanks to the help of General Chen Shufan, the envoy of Xi'an, Wu opened up the trade route of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningbo, and most of the horses of our army were bought back through Gansu. It wasn't until two years ago that the younger brother set up a horse farm in Xikang to improve the degraded Sichuan horses, and by the way to settle those retired Manchu and Mongolian officers and soldiers who had been homeless, that he thought of the problem of excellent stallions, and later contacted Yang Dujun in Shangjiang Province through General Chen Shufan.

"Yang Inspector has good horses, but he lacks guns and ammunition, and Lao Maozi in the north has long been suspicious of Xinjiang Province and is unwilling to sell it to him, Yang Inspector learned that we need this, and immediately sent one hundred and fifty horses from the Western Regions through General Chen Shufan as part of the deposit for the purchase of weapons and ammunition, which made our Xikang Horse Farm look like this.

"At present, the first batch of more than 1,000 high-quality horses and foals are less than half a year old, and it is estimated that they will really benefit after five or six years, so the war horses, pack horses and horses used by our Sichuan army are actually Mongolian horses bought from Ganshan, basically the same as the horses everyone rides."

Wu Peifu was shocked, Xiao Yimin's casual words revealed too much important information, whether there was a secret alliance for the time being, not to mention whether there was a secret alliance for the time being, in just a few years, when the Beiyang departments and the northern and southern forces were fighting openly and secretly, the hand of the Sichuan army actually reached Xinjiang Province, what a lofty vision and amazing means?

What made Wu Peifu even more focused was that Xiao Yimin's unconcealed behavior was only a short ten minutes of contact, and it was the first time they met, Xiao Yimin broke everything carefully designed by Wu Peifu by understating a few words and a neat move.

Wu Peifu suddenly found that not only did he fail to grasp the initiative as he wished, but gradually wavered in Xiao Yimin's humble and peaceful, seemingly unsuspecting speech and demeanor, and was quietly shaken by Xiao Yimin unconsciously, this bad feeling and uncontrollable situation made Wu Peifu very uncomfortable, although he had a good impression of Xiao Yimin who met for the first time.

The sky continued to be gloomy for many days, and the gray clouds obscured the sunlight, making it impossible to make out the exact time of day.

Xiao Yimin and his entourage, who entered the guest room of the Yamen Intermediate Courtyard under the command of the New Army, washed up a little, and went to the dining hall for a banquet at the warm invitation of Zhang Qiqi and two adjutants.

To Xiao Yimin's surprise and secretly happy, Wu Peifu was already standing at the door of the dining hall waiting, and his smiling face could no longer see the previous arrogance and contempt.

The banquet was not luxurious, but it was very exquisite, especially the fragrant spicy hot pot on the small charcoal stove in the middle, which made Xiao Yimin have a great appetite, and thanked Wu Peifu for his meticulousness and enthusiasm.

Wu Peifu waved his hand politely, and asked Xiao Yimin to sit on the main seat, where is Xiao Yimin willing to follow, after some politeness, Wu Peifu sat down first, and Zhang Qiqi of Lehaha was accompanied, there were only three of them at this table, and the rest of the generals were arranged in the outer hall.

After thirty years of drinking, he took a short rest, and without waiting for Wu Peifu to pick up the chopsticks, Xiao Yimin stood up again, raised his wine glass, and said in a loud voice:

"Brother Ziyu, you are a cheerful person, don't say any jokes about going to the meeting alone, the little brother is still up and down in his heart, and while he is glad that he can see Brother Ziyu, he is also deeply worried about Brother Ziyu's vigilance. The junior brother came rashly this time, first of all, because he admired Brother Ziyu's character and strategy very much, and secondly, he sincerely wanted to hear Brother Ziyu's views on the crisis in the two lakes and the situation in the whole country, and how to end the confrontation and hostility between our two armies.

"The younger brother knows that in the previous war in Hunan, the younger brother waved his army eastward to oppress Wuhan for his own selfishness, and offended Brother Ziyu, this glass of wine can be regarded as an apology for the younger brother!"

Wu Peifu and Zhang Qiqi looked at each other, very unsuitable for Xiao Yimin's style of talking and acting, but Xiao Yimin had already said this, Wu Peifu couldn't be without courtesy no matter what, so he had to pick up his wine glass and stand up politely:

"It's serious, it's serious, haha! Wu Mou and Brother Yiming had a drink, first said Okay, no one in front of the two armies is sorry for anyone, Brother Yiming doesn't need to be humble at all, since they all say that I, Wu, is a refreshing person, I believe that Brother Yiming will not hide it, right? ”

Xiao Yimin laughed, raised his glass and touched it to the end, showed the bottom of the cup, and then sat down, put down the cup and asked something that made Wu Peifu and Zhang Qiqi stunned.

(To be continued)