On 26 December, the grand sacrifice for three consecutive days and three nights officially ended, and Zhao Erfeng's coffin, escorted by tens of thousands of soldiers of the border army, was carried on a four-wheeled carriage by Xiao Yimin, Xu Weiyue, and six staff members of each battalion of the border army, and marched through the east gate to the east wharf, where a river passenger ship rented by Xiao Yimin was already waiting, and 100 officers and men of the border army will send Zhao Erfeng back to his hometown in Shandong for burial under the leadership of Xu Weiyue.

As soon as the coffin came out of the east gate, Xiao Yimin, who was all plain, shouted to stop, and several guards immediately put incense on the incense table in front of the coffin, lit incense candles, Xiao Yimin shouted miserably, and knelt down suddenly in front of the coffin:

"Teacher, the disciple is incompetent, for the time being, I can only use a small head to see you off, I am ashamed of the spirit of the teacher in the sky!"

Wu San, the head of the guard, and Wei Changfeng, the captain of the guard, immediately took a wooden box, grabbed out the bloody human head, and placed it on the incense table.

The officials who saw off the surrounding people looked at it intently, and suddenly their faces were as frightened as white paper, and they exclaimed, looking at the head of Tao Zekun, the head of Zhao Erfeng's guard, and were shocked for a while, no one knew how Tao Zekun, who was closely guarded in the camp in the eastern suburbs, died, and who cut off Tao Zekun's head and sent it over?

Today, Xiao Yimin saw off his mentor with Tao Zekun's head, so who will be his turn tomorrow?

For Xiao Yimin and his army, it doesn't matter who it is tomorrow's turn, the important thing is to send the marshal Zhao Erfeng on the way home first.

After the sacrifice, several guards hung Tao Zekun's head on the tower of the East Gate, and the send-off team set off slowly again in the sound of firecrackers and paper money flying in the sky.

On the dock, Xiao Yimin grabbed Xu Weiyue's hand tightly and burst into tears: "Senior brother, are you really not coming back to help my younger brother?" ”

Xu Weiyue couldn't cry anymore, hugged Xiao Yimin and whimpered:

"After this great calamity, he almost passed the battlefield of thousands of troops and horses, and the foolish brother's heart died...... After burying the teacher, the foolish brother returned to his hometown, took his wife and children to the Shanghai Concession, and lived in seclusion for a few days...... Virtuous brother, forgive the foolish brother's selfishness......"

"Senior brother, take care! I often write to my younger brother, don't hold it alone if you have something......"

Xiao Yimin pulled Xu Weiyue and hugged him tightly, then let go and helped him onto the gangplank for boarding.

The passenger ship carried the coffin and Xu Weiyue and more than 100 other guards, and slowly walked away, and the thousands of troops and horses on the dock were still motionless. Sister Yi, who was wrapped in sackcloth, secretly pulled Wu San's sleeve, Wu San reacted, and hurriedly surrounded Xiao Yimin with his brothers to get into the carriage, and the officers of each battalion commanded all departments to escort Xiao Yimin's carriage back to the city.

In the carriage covered by layers of heavy linen, Xiao Yimin, who had not closed his eyes for three days and three nights, fell asleep on Sister Yi's legs, Sister Yi gently stroked his emaciated cheeks, stroked his chapped lips and dense stubble, couldn't help covering her mouth tightly, sobbing silently, she knew that the little man in her arms was too difficult and too hard.

Less than half a day after sending Zhao Erfeng away, more than 3,000 officers and soldiers of the border army, under the leadership of several staff officers, returned to Ya'an in a neat formation, along with 16 Krupp artillery pieces quietly set up around the cemetery in the west of the city.

Around the imperial city, more than 5,000 young men of the Manchu and Mongolian ethnic groups put away their waist knives, brought the carriage, picked up the broom and shovel, and in only half an hour, they cleaned the streets around the imperial city, and even wiped the blackened stone slabs that were lit on the bonfire.

More than 1,000 officers and soldiers of the engineer company of the Zhenzi battalion and the Hongmen brothers in Chengdu dismantled the mourning hall, and the 64 flagpoles and more than 100 pillars and beams erected were quickly transported away, and the hundreds of holes dug in the ground were quickly filled, and finally the inside and outside of the imperial city and the Mingyuan Building were cleaned up, and all the garbage was removed, and more than 1,000 brothers said goodbye to each other and left silently.

The tens of thousands of onlookers wanted to help but didn't dare to go up, and finally looked at the neat and clean inside and outside of the imperial city, and couldn't help but sigh - the little brother is the little brother, and he doesn't want others to clean up after losing his temper, and everything he does is so beautiful.

Before dusk, the officers and men of the Zhenzi Battalion removed all the barricades and fortifications in the west and north cities, and dragged the 18 Krupp guns on the city wall back to the main camp, except for the two infantry companies and two heavy machine gun platoons that continued to guard the north and west gates, the remaining 3,500 officers and men all entered the heavily guarded North Campus Camp and began to rest and recuperate and conduct normal training in turns.

The news of the dispersal of the border army spread to the eastern suburbs camp, Yin Changheng and his generals finally put down the huge stone in their hearts, three days and three nights of pain and suffering, has tortured Yin Changheng and others to the point of no human appearance, under the threat of revenge that may come at any time, none of them dared to close their eyes to sleep, especially after Tao Zekun suddenly disappeared mysteriously last night, a strong sense of fear enveloped the entire eastern suburbs camp, hundreds of officers and soldiers were frightened, and finally waited until dawn, and found that more than 1,000 officers and soldiers had fled after gathering.

After counting the number of people at that time, Yin Changheng comforted himself with self-deprecation: "Fortunately, it is better than the East Campus, where half of the 2,500 brothers have run." ”

After a while, the subordinates who went to contact the deputy governor Luo Lun came back and reported: "The deputy governor Luo Lun has returned to his hometown Xichong to recuperate. ”

Yin Changheng suddenly jumped like thunder, and in front of hundreds of generals, he scolded Luo Xiaozi for not being a thing, and threatened that as long as he Yin Changheng was still the governor for a day in this life, Luo Xiaozi, who escaped from the battle and had no responsibility, would not have a day to make a comeback.

With the end of the memorial ceremony, the border troops returned to their respective camps, Chengdu and the outside of Chengdu once again restored the calm of the past, the people of Chengdu with the surname of tenacity lived a stable life again, the war that was originally worried was gone, everyone praised Xiao Yimin for his benevolence and righteousness, filial piety first, and even the dead Zhao Erfeng also received a fair and objective evaluation, and the people after the crisis were grateful to Xiao Yimin, and through this sensational memorial event that shook the world, Xiao Yimin won greater support from the people.

This strange phenomenon made many old masters puzzled, and the opportunistic politicians who originally hoped that Xiao Yimin would lose the support of the people because of this were even more shocked, they didn't know that only people like Xiao Yimin were flesh and blood, affectionate and righteous people in the eyes of the people, so that the people could see and touch him and trust him

On the morning of January 1, 1912 in the new calendar, Yin Changheng and his civil and military henchmen, who felt that there would never be a crisis again, began to make a big noise and move back to the Governor's Mansion in the Mingyuan Building, but they were not happy for a few minutes, and an astonishing news came from Cangxi County in northern Sichuan:

Late at night two days ago, a fire broke out in the Tao family compound on Sanxian Street in Cangxi County, and more than 70 members of Tao Zekun's family were all killed in the fire!

Just when Yin Changheng and his henchmen were panicked, another shocking news came from the North Campus:

Xiao Yimin, the commander of the Zhenzi Battalion of the Border Army, invited envoys from various countries in Chengdu, Chinese and foreign journalists stationed in Chengdu, the Sichuan General Chamber of Commerce, provincial institutions and non-governmental organizations in Chengdu to hold a grand inauguration ceremony at the camp of the North School Field, officially announcing his appointment as the commander-in-chief of the Sichuan Frontier Army Major General appointed by Yanjing, and at the same time concurrently serving as the Colonel of the Sichuan Kang Army, and continuing to perform the duties of the deputy chief of the Sichuan Provincial Political Axe Army!

The two news that came one after another shook the whole city, and the Chinese and foreign reporters who attended the inauguration ceremony did not bother to enjoy the delicious food and wine, and ran to the telegraph office opposite the Quanye Field in the southeast of the city to spread this important news to Chinese and foreign news organizations.

In the afternoon, Mr. Sun Yat-sen, who had just arrived in Nanjing from Shanghai, solemnly announced that he would officially become the provisional president of the Republic of China at 10 o'clock in the evening.

This bombshell news was like a storm and waves, instantly covering all the voices of the whole of China, triggering a strong shock in Chinese and foreign countries, and everyone knew that the two political axes that appeared in ancient China, one in the south and one in the north, were likely to trigger an all-out war that would affect the whole of China.

What is completely different from the two capitals in the north and south, which has attracted the attention of the world, is that Chengdu and even the whole of Sichuan have not been greatly affected, and the people of all walks of life in Sichuan are still in a daze, not knowing who to listen to -- the "Shu military and political axe" in Chongqing and the "Han military and political axe" in Chengdu are both shouting in the newspapers that they are the only legitimate political axe of the Sichuan people.

As a result, not many people paid attention to the news that Xiao Yimin was appointed commander-in-chief of the Sichuan Frontier Army, and it was widely believed that after the death of the border marshal Zhao Erfeng, the officers and men of the seven major battalions of the border army scattered after the funeral, and now except for the "Zhenzi Battalion" in Chengdu and the "Tai'an Battalion" in Ya'an, which are still quite complete, there are few officers and soldiers left in the other battalions, and Xiao Yimin, who already has 4,000 troops, will not increase his strength much at this time.

As for Xiao Yimin's promotion to major general, the vast majority of people think it is reasonable and natural, not to mention Xiao Yimin's great achievements, don't you see that Yin Dudu, who is only seven years older than Xiao Yimin, is already a lieutenant general? In the past few days, Governor Yin has promoted a large number of his subordinate generals and colonels, and all the four assistant commanders of the new army have been promoted to major generals, and a large number of officers have also been promoted.

Among the large number of new army generals who have been promoted, Xie Jiong, the assistant leader of the new army, who was originally only a major, has been promoted the fastest, and he suddenly sat on the throne of the chief of staff of the major general of the Sichuan New Army. It's just two and a half years older than Xiao Yimin, and when it comes to his ability and ability to lead soldiers, he doesn't even deserve to lift Xiao Yimin's shoes.

Xiao Yimin and his generals scoffed at Yin Changheng's series of means of not being willing to be passive and quickly counterattacking, and everyone had no interest in the half-crippled Sichuan New Army at all, and devoted all their energies to the establishment of the army and the formulation of commanders at all levels; in order to effectively enhance the army's combat effectiveness and cohesion, the new frontier army will, under the direct command of the headquarters, establish two mixed brigades, each with two infantry regiments and three companies directly under its command, and the total strength must be maintained above the minimum range of 12,000 officers and men.

There is another important matter related to army building that needs to be mentioned:

Liu Bingxian, who studied at the Baoding Noncommissioned Officers School, and Lu Chengfang, Wan Lianfeng, and Yu Chengjie, who entered the Baoding Accelerated Military Academy three years ago for further study, did not say that they were about to return from their studies, and Zeng Chaoran, who went to the Yueben Noncommissioned Officers School for further study at the same time as Liu Bingxian, were even more admired by the brothers -- Zeng Chaoran, a noncommissioned officer student in the eighth phase of the University, was selected to continue his studies at the University with his outstanding performance in the first place in his graduation grades.

On the other side of the city, Xie Jiong, the new chief of staff of the New Army, who wore a brand-new major general uniform, returned home, pushed away the concubine who had pounced on him, strode into the study, and closed the door with a "bang".

Xie Jiong lit a match, lit a cigarette, and sat on a wicker chair with a painful face, since he learned that Tao Zekun was killed and more than 70 members of the Tao family were tragically wiped out, Xie Jiong spent every second of every day in great fear, he always felt that in the place where he couldn't see, there were pairs of hateful eyes peeping at his every move, and there were blades or flying bullets at any time.

Suddenly getting Yin Changheng's support, and being promoted to become the chief of staff of the new army that everyone envies, this kind of glory is not only not worth being happy for Xie Jiong, but it is even more uncomfortable than killing him, and he doesn't need anyone to remind him, he can guess the real reason why Yin Changheng is so generous - this is to push him Xie Jiong to Xiao Yimin's knife tip as a substitute for the dead ghost!

Xie Jiong knew very well at the moment that Tao Zekun's head was cut off, and the corpse may have been fed to wild dogs, Yin Changheng, who was strong on the outside and capable in the middle, was more afraid than anyone else, everyone thought that Xiao Yimin, who was more like a scholar than a soldier, would not have any overreaction except for being mercenary and obedient, but who knew that this little white face would be ruthless so quickly and so cruelly?

Didn't he help orphans and widows for several years and devote himself to education?

Isn't he praised for being kind-hearted and kind-hearted?

But now that his mother has cut off Tao Zekun's head, he still hasn't stopped, and he has to send people to go hundreds of miles to kill more than 70 innocent members of Tao Zekun's family, how can such a ruthless person not make Xie Jiong tremble?

The burning pain of the cigarette butt made Xie Jiong jump up, he subconsciously bit the blistering finger, Tie Qing's face twisted, the pain of the finger made him make the wisest decision in an instant: he must flee immediately, the farther away the better, if he lives in boundless fear again, beware of his head hitting the ground every day, maybe he will go crazy soon, it is better to leave early and stay away from this terrifying place......

(To be continued)