Prince Zaifeng is a pampered person, his ideas are a bit simple, and he looks a little honest, but in fact, deep down he is a very stubborn Manchurian eternal unification element, full of Manchu superiority theory and royal bloodline immortal, unchanged for thousands of years.

The reason why he became the regent later was the main reason, in addition, there are really not many talents among the Manchus, he is considered to be a more charismatic kind, he has the "ambition" to restore the great Manchu Empire, but he has no actual ability, and he has not even had any political experience and political experience before, which determines that Zaifeng is easy to make mistakes, and it is easy to make the most fatal mistakes for a dynasty.

Zaifeng insisted on inspecting the new army on behalf of the imperial court, and there was a great idea to prove that the master of the new army in the Northeast was still the royal family of the Manchu Dynasty, and this attitude made Zhang Zhidong and Yin Chang, who were in charge of coordinating the matter in advance, quite embarrassed, because both of them had agreed to Song Biao's condition that the new policy inspection team would not inspect the new army.

After parting with Zaifeng in the evening, Song Biao left the Governor's Mansion very dissatisfied, and returned to his home to continue working at night, dealing with some matters related to the recent introduction of new equipment by the Northeast New Army.

The sudden increase in the coal tax made Song Biao have a lot of military expenses in his hands, and after signing the "Free Trade Agreement between Germany and the Three Eastern Provinces of China" with Germany, he agreed to the proposal of the German political axe to adopt the German mark as the trade currency between the two countries, and borrowed a friendly loan of about 7 million pounds for military cooperation from a number of German banks.

Because of the disturbance of the New Deal inspection group, Song Biao suspended the regular military meeting tomorrow morning, and invited Martos, Jiang Fangzhen, Chen Qicai, and Shu Fangde to his living room in the evening to discuss the issue.

The expansion of the new army is a real major event, and there is not only the question of expanding the six infantry brigades into infantry divisions, but also the establishment of a third artillery brigade and brigades directly under the military headquarters.

After receiving Song Biao's order, Jiang Fangzhen and the three of them arrived in a hurry, sitting in the living room waiting for Colonel Martos.

Song Biao sat on the sofa with a cold expression, thinking about the problem with his eyes closed, Zaifeng's backtracking made him very unhappy, and his face was as ruthless as an iron plate, which made Jiang Fangzhen and the three of them extremely sensitive, but they didn't need to use their brains to know that it was a bad thing on the side of the New Deal inspection team.

At this moment, Zhang Futian hurriedly walked in and said to Song Biao: "Junzao, Lord Zhang Zhidong and Lord Yinchang came to visit, saying that they are here to apologize to you. ”

Hearing this, Song Biao sighed very dissatisfied, and said, "What are they messing with again?" ”

Zhang Futian asked cautiously, "Then let them go back?" ”

Shu Fangde also asked cautiously: "Military seat, is there anything rude about that Prince Alcohol?" ”

Song Biao pursed his lips coldly and said: "He wants to inspect Lao Tzu's troops on behalf of the Qing political axe, he was really kicked in the head by a donkey, and they all said that Manchu is a bastard, I think he is not only a bastard, but also a little ignorant." ”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Fangzhen and the three of them were also surprised.

Shu Fangde continued: "Didn't you already say that you don't need to inspect the army? Why did you get to us here and repeat it again? ”

Song Biao pondered in his heart, feeling that Zaifeng was deliberately looking for pleasure, and thought for a moment before saying: "I think this Prince Alcohol consciously wants to test how loyal I am to the Qing political axe, or he has some illusions, thinking that the Northeast New Army is being coerced by me to disobey the imperial court, maybe the soldiers are still very loyal to the imperial court, as long as he is present in person, say something about how the imperial court attaches importance to the new army, how to hope that the new army will serve in the Manchu court, etc., to show his charm, and his courtesy to the Northeast New Army as the Manchu Iron Hat Prince, he was able to recruit the New Army under his command like a hero of the Manchus. ”

Jiang Fangzhen and the three of them couldn't help but sneer, Chen Qicai, who had never liked to make a clear statement on this kind of thing, also sighed a little helplessly: "Why is this prince suffering? In his opinion, about all the armies are similar to the Hunan Army, the Huai Army, and the Eight Banners Battalion. ”

Song Biao said to Chen Qicai: "The key to not letting him inspect the New Army is that he doesn't want to continue to cause other incidents, if there are no extreme anti-Manchu members or revolutionary aspirants within the New Army, then I am afraid it is impossible, what if someone shoots coldly?" There are too many soldiers in front of us who have cut off their braids, because the army has little contact with the outside, there is a special environment and atmosphere, and the need for military appearance, all of which are understandable, but they will not understand. We can prepare more than a thousand braids, but where to go to prepare tens of thousands? What's more, military equipment is also a very important military secret, and we rely on the new army to base ourselves on the three eastern provinces, and we can still defend against the Manchus and the Qing court. ”

Chen Qicai said: "What the military seat said is yes, the most afraid is that someone will shoot coldly." Some time ago, many soldiers were seriously dissatisfied with the feudal incident, and the estrangement between them and the Qing court was too deep. ”

Shu Fangde persuaded Song Biao very realistically: "Junzuo, we can't back down if we can't back down, but Zhang Zhidong and Yin Chang are also people who have a lot of contacts, you should see it." ”

Song Biao bowed slightly, and said: "That's why you said that they are messing around, what's the point of running over at this time, do you tell me that Zaifeng is very angry, and the consequences are very serious, let me be careful?" It's really annoying, forget it, you guys go back first, tomorrow there will be a regular military meeting as usual, and I won't continue to receive this bullshit New Deal delegation. ”

Everyone smiled, and then they all got up and said goodbye to Song Biao.

Song Biao was in a displeased mood, so he waved his hand and asked them to leave first, so that Zhang Futian welcomed Zhang Zhidong and Yin Chang in, and he went to the study to wait.

After waiting for a while, Zhang Zhidong and Yin Chang entered Song Biao's living room accompanied by the guards, at this time Zhang Zhidong and Yin Chang were wearing the official uniforms of a first-class officer, but the former was a product, and the latter was located in a product because of the title of Jiashang, the difference between the two is still very big, the difference is in the identity of the middle hall, but when it comes to real power, Yinchang is dozens of times bigger than Zhang Zhidong.

When the two entered the study, Song Biao was sitting behind the desk sorting out some of the books he had read yesterday.

Zhang Zhidong has deep seniority in the officialdom, as a cabinet scholar and minister of military aircraft, he naturally has the biggest face, he first bowed his hand and replied: "Fang Cai really embarrassed Song Zhongtang, and Lord Yinchang and I are also quite difficult, please forgive Song Zhongtang." ”

After a pause, he smiled again: "Song Zhongtang, you and I have exchanged no less than 100 telegrams in the past few years, and they can be regarded as close friends, and it is really not easy to meet them now." ”

Speaking of this, Song Biao also sighed, so he continued to invite Zhang Zhidong and Yin Chang to sit down, and arranged for the orderly to pour tea for the two adults, and he also sat in the rattan chair sofa in the study and sighed with Zhang Zhidong and Yin Chang: "Time is really fast, two years have passed in a trance, and now that I think about it, I also want to thank the two adults for their kindness." ”

Zhang Zhidong waved his old and withered hand, and said: "This is already a thing of the past, don't mention it, the past is like a shuttle, my life is vast, recalling the past, I am afraid that there will be endless old things to talk about for a few days and nights." As for the matter in front of me, Lord Yinchang and I also wanted to persuade Song Zhongtang with the old feelings, Zaifeng has always been a bit self-conscious of height, no one in his eyes, and he never put me in his eyes before entering the military aircraft department, so I personally think that the Queen Mother arranged Zaifeng to come to inspect the new deal, not so much that he came to inspect the new deal, but that he came to you to run into a wall, and to suffer a loss here, so that he would know what it means to lie down and taste courage after he goes back. ”

"That's ......!"

Song Biao was skeptical, and after thinking about it carefully, he felt that there was indeed this possibility, after all, Cixi had not yet reached such a faint state, knowing that there were tigers in the mountains, but he deliberately arranged for a stunned young man to come over to provoke.

After pondering for a while, he and Zhang Zhidong and Yin Chang said: "I don't care what the Queen Mother and the prince think, I don't agree in principle with Prince Alcohol's inspection of the new army. If he must inspect, then it is okay, please ask him and the court to play in case anything happens, the court will not be held accountable. The two of them know very well in their hearts that in this bullshit incident of the so-called establishment of the domain, it is purely the Qing Dynasty and the Manchus who deliberately framed me, and I am too lazy to reason with the imperial court, what do you like to think, then how to think, how to deal with it, my only countermeasure is martial law of the three armies, if the imperial court itself is to the point where it must send troops to Kanto, then I can only wait for the battle, the water will cover the earth, and the soldiers will block. I should say that there is no one under my command who does not know the origin of this matter, and they were originally preparing for war, and the brothers were quite resentful of the imperial court's sowing discord and treachery, and it was not easy for us to resist the northeast, and the imperial court was still trapping us everywhere in the back, and the distinction between Manchu and Han was already very serious in the army. At this time, you have to inspect the new army in the posture of the imperial court, and you will even more offend the anger of the public, if any soldier secretly shoots cold, I am afraid that the consequences will be very serious. The new army in the Northeast is not as good as those bullshit soldiers in your pass, our army is extremely rigorously trained, and there are many sharpshooters, not to mention a hundred paces through Yang, and there are thousands of accurate gunners who can shoot targets at a distance of 600 steps. ”

After a pause, he continued to add: "Actually, these are still within the scope of my barely control, there are many special extreme revolutionaries in the new army, especially those non-commissioned officers and students who have returned from studying abroad, they are hiding in the army, I can't be sure who they are, they naturally can't wait to provoke a military conflict between the Northeast New Army and the imperial court, and the two armies are fighting, and they are profiting." If they assassinate Prince Alcohol in the name of the Northeast New Army, the Kanto Guannai would only be able to settle the situation in one battle. The imperial court wants to stabilize the whole country and stabilize the central power, and I want to sit in the Kanto region, collect money, have a lot of money, and raise an army of 100,000 to deter foreign countries. Therefore, I can only say that it is okay to inspect the new army, and the imperial court must ensure that in case Prince Alcohol and the two are assassinated, the imperial court will not pursue it, and I do not have to accompany the new policy inspection team to inspect the three armed forces, so as not to injure me by mistake. ”

"This ......!!!"

Zhang Zhidong was speechless, he looked at Yin Chang, and Yin Chang was even more frightened.

Song Biao drank tea, waited for Zhang Zhidong and Yin Chang to make a decision, and after waiting for a while, he added to Zhang Zhidong and Yin Chang very seriously: "We are actually old friends, there is nothing to say, an army of more than 100,000 people, anywhere can obey your command, 80% of them are your people, listen to your words, then it is very good." The past is the past, and now a shot is five or six hundred meters away and can still kill, I really don't want to take this risk, Zaifeng must want to take the risk, then let him go, I am resolutely not accompanied. Something is really going to happen, the members of the revolutionary party killed Zaifeng, and Zaifeng's personal soldiers killed me, so I took this risk from a nervous disorder! ”

Zhang Zhidong replied: "What Song Zhongtang said is very true, in the final analysis, it is the trouble caused by the establishment of the domain, and now the people and officials of the provinces in the Guannai have misunderstood Song Zhongtang, so that the division inside and outside the Guanguan is serious, and the matter has reached this point, which is really something that was not expected before." ”

Yin Chang said: "In this case, Zhang Zhongtang, Song Zhongtang, we still truthfully play the imperial court, and it is strictly forbidden to inspect the new army for the time being, so as not to continue to divide in the Guandong Guan." Although the establishment of the feudal domain is over, there are many misunderstandings about Song Zhongtang in the Guannai, and the people of Kanto are rich and healthy under the governance of Song Zhongtang, and they treat Song Zhongtang as their parents, and the two places are divided because of this, which is really one of the great disasters of the imperial court. We and the New Deal delegation came this time to inspect and learn from the good points of the New Deal in the three eastern provinces, and second, to bridge the gap between such divisions. ”

Zhang Zhidong and Yin Chang said: "What the Governor said is very true! ”

After saying this, he asked Song Biao again: "I don't know what Song Zhongtang thinks?" ”

Song Biao said: "The bell still needs to be tied to the bell, and the court can only resolve it if it is intentional, not something that you and I can deal with with with the efforts of the three of us, Lord Zhang, although you and I are cabinet scholars, how much power do we have in the court, and how much weight can we speak, you and I know in our hearts." I have always been a person who tells the truth, not so much the imperial court, but the Manchus, and even more so whether the Manchus of the clan are interested in resolving it. If they don't want to, we can only be anxious, and we will fall into an unfavorable situation, such as Yuan Shikai, I personally think he is not far from being killed, once the Queen Mother drives the crane west, Lord Yuan will be unable to escape death, even if he is lucky to live, it is better to live than to die. No matter what kind of capable ministers and wise men are, as long as they threaten the rule of the Manchus, they will inevitably die, this is not because the Han people are too strong, or the Manchus are in decline, but they don't want us Han people to be stronger than them, and would rather us decline with them and let foreign countries bully. I don't want to talk about all this today, and I don't want to talk about it. Talking about the new deal, we can talk about a few words, and the rest is better to say less, you and I sweep the snow in front of the door, I am the first to save my life, not only to do what a Han can do, but also not to be persecuted to death by the Manchurians. If we just talk about the New Deal, we can talk about some. ”

After listening to Song Biao's words, Zhang Zhidong, who had been confiscated from him, was powerless to refute, and Yin Chang was quite embarrassed.

People like Zhang Zhidong and Yuan Shikai were confiscated of all their powers, but people like him were appointed as governors of Zhili, doesn't it explain Song Biao's words?

The three of them were silent for a long time before Zhang Zhidong opened his mouth to break this embarrassment and said: "When it comes to the new deal, I can say that I admire Song Zhongtang so much, the three eastern provinces can have such a situation in just two or three years, which is really surprising to the Chinese people, I think that ten years later, the only place where China can compete with foreign countries is the three eastern provinces." If we talk about the new policy, Song Zhongtang, there have been no less than dozens of letters and telegrams discussed between you and me, now that I think about it, I think we have not been able to talk about the real point before, or I have not been able to ask the real point, in Song Zhongtang's opinion, if our country wants to work hard and compete with foreigners, how should we govern the country? ”

Song Biao bowed slightly, although they talked about a lot of things in the past, in fact, they only discussed some superficial issues, and failed to involve the fundamentals, and immediately replied to Zhang Zhidong: "Eight words, honor the virtuous, respect the law and love the people." The so-called solemn ceremony and respect for the virtuous are, first of all, to break the orthodox ideology of Confucianism, restore the idea of a hundred schools of thought in the Spring and Autumn Period, make freedom of thought and freedom of speech, attach importance to the popularization of national education, promote the spirit of the nation, and reshape the national quality that has gradually declined due to the rule of [***] since the Qin and Han dynasties; Emphasizing the law and loving the people means that it is necessary to establish a comprehensive new legal system on the basis of equality for all, break down the distinction between the Manchus and the Hans, between officials and businessmen, and between the people and the people, establish a fair and fair legal foundation, and take the wealth from the people as the foundation of governing the country, so that the people can get rich on an equal footing, compete fairly, and have capable talents and people of insight can stand out. ”

When Zhang Zhidong heard this, he couldn't help but sigh and said: "The rule of the three eastern provinces is in the Guannei, and you can only learn the skin but not the essence." Recently, I have also been studying the editorials of the "Northeast Newspaper", all of which can be called classics, and they are all excellent essays for governing the world, and the "New Treatise on 'Honoring the Virtuous' in the Honorable Manners" has awakened me like a thunderbolt, which has made me suddenly realize what I have gone wrong in the past 30 years. ”

Song Biao comforted: "Zhang Zhongtang's words are exaggerated, how can the imperial court not give up the Confucian orthodox doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven in Guannei, let alone give up the dispute between the Manchus and the Hans, so Guannai is destined to only learn some of the skin of the new policy of the three eastern provinces, and it is also a good thing to learn some skin, I am afraid that even the fur matter will be done crookedly." For example, the matter of issuing tickets, now all provinces are handling the ticket affairs of the province, and I am afraid that there is no province that can really do a good job, but they just want to use this matter to issue banknotes indiscriminately for relief, because no one can always be the governor of a province, and they still have to be transferred back and forth, who will think about the long-term? I'm different, I'm afraid I'm going to sit in the three eastern provinces for decades, so I naturally have to think about the long term. Personally, I think that the difference between the new policies of the three eastern provinces and the new policies of the provinces in the Guannai is here, after all, I have to think about the long-term, so I can govern on the basis of loving the people, and the governors of the provinces just want to achieve political results for a while. ”

Zhang Zhidong had to agree: "Song Zhongtang said yes." ”

The two of them sang and harmonized, in fact, they were all full of incompetence, but they just wanted to control the key issue of the government, so they would bring disaster to the country and the people, and Yin Chang became more and more embarrassed on the side.

Zhang Zhidong would not have discussed this kind of issue with Song Biao before, because he was on the throne of the governor of Huguang and held real power, but now he was suspended by the Manchu court and the Manchu clan, and he was removed from all real power, so that he would be dissatisfied, and he could also take 10,000 steps back to re-examine the fundamental mistakes of China's various problems.

The three of them talked a lot that night, in addition to the new deal issues inside and outside the Guan, Song Biao also talked with Yinchang about the new deal in the Zhili area, and when it comes to the new deal in Zhili, it must talk about cotton, because Zhili is the largest cotton producing area in China, and if the planting and promotion of new cotton in Zhili is not good, it will be difficult for China's textile industry to really develop.

The industrial and mining foundation of Zhili is also very good, and the coal and iron resources are abundant, which also requires large-scale development.

Regarding these two things, Song Biao and Yin Chang talked a lot, and also talked about the problem of the Beiyang New Army, the two definitely did not want a direct collision, and they both needed a buffer zone in the middle, so they decided to leave the Luanzhou New Army vacant separately and not included in the scope of the Beiyang New Army, and both sides did not control it, so as to avoid a direct collision between the Beiyang New Army and the Northeast New Army in the Luanzhou area.

Since Zhang Zhidong came on behalf of the imperial court and the empress dowager, Song Biao also talked with Zhang Zhidong about the issue of Outer Mongolia, hoping that the imperial court would give the Northeast New Army a certain amount of authority to manage the Xilin Gol steppe area, plus the Hulunbuir Military and Pastoral Bureau set up by the three eastern provinces in the western part of Heilongjiang Province, to implement a certain degree of monitoring over Outer Mongolia, so as to prevent Russia from continuing to infiltrate Outer Mongolia, and Song Biao could also negotiate with Russia about this after controlling a certain amount of real power.

The three of them talked about it late at night, and they ended the day's talks very amicably, as for Zaifeng's idea that he must take the opportunity to "inspect and review" the Northeast New Army, and take the opportunity to show his personal charm and the authority of the Qing imperial family, Song Biao no longer forcibly opposed, as long as the Qing Zheng Axe guaranteed one thing - if Zaifeng was assassinated, he would definitely not bear any responsibility, and the Qing Zheng Axe would not continue to investigate, so whatever Zaifeng inspected, he would never accompany him anyway.

(To be continued)