Henan ().

In the Zhangde Longevity Garden, Qi Yaolin bent down slightly and followed the housekeeper without making a sound, although he was a political envoy of Henan, he was already a master outside, but compared to this one, it was really different.

Especially along the way, the courtyard is full of strong men, carrying German Mauser guns, hanging plate cannons on their waists, and there are a few officers wearing Beiyang military uniforms running back and forth, even "seclusion" can be so prominent, in the Qing Dynasty, I am afraid that only this one can put this score! After passing through a courtyard gate, he saw that the familiar figure was walking towards the side hall, Qi Yaolin hurriedly trotted a few steps over to greet him: "Henan political envoy Qi Yaolin has seen Lord Gong Bao. ”

"Oh, it's a shock, hehe." Yuan Shikai's heart has been a little confused recently, and he has been thinking about what price and what conditions to get out of the mountain, he doesn't want to go back to the past and almost become a ghost under the Manchu knife, so he didn't see him until Qi Yaolin spoke, and a green shirt and horse coat made him look a lot more elegant, and he smiled and said: "The old man has no official position at the moment, and Zhenyan asked me to protect the palace ()." ”

"I don't dare." Qi Yaolin dared to call this one, and hurriedly took out a record from his sleeve: "My lord, this is what I have seen and heard in Henan recorded by the lowly post in the past few days, and I learned that Yang Mianzhai of the Wuchang Advisory Bureau after the incident jumped up and down, and repeatedly went in and out of the barracks. ”

"The earthquake has a heart." Yuan Shikai knew Qi Yaolin's thoughts, took the detailed record, looked at it twice, grabbed it in the palm of his hand and asked, "Governor Baofen has a decision?" ”

"After the imperial court ordered the army to enter Hubei, Baofen has let the patrol city 52 standards go south, at this moment I am afraid that it has reached Wusheng Pass, in addition, I heard rumors in the house, he sent people to keep an eye on Ying Longxiang every day in the past few days, because Ying Longxiang and Li Yuanhong are in-laws, he also saw Zhang Xiyuan many times at night, and ordered Chai Degui to return the remaining patrol thirteen battalions to Kaifeng City as soon as possible just in case."

"He's still a little alert."

Qi Yaolin said again: "My lord, Henan has really not been peaceful these days, and those party members have jumped out to make trouble, and they have publicly shouted many times to learn from Wuchang, do you think you want to be humble?" ”

"No need, don't meddle in this matter, if they want to make trouble, the old man can turn the sky around if he doesn't believe in Henan?"

"Hehe, I'm too lowly to worry about. No matter how many chaotic parties there are adults, they are not afraid. Qi Yaolin hurriedly patted his ass, and Yuan Shikai frowned when he heard it: "Although the old man is here, don't let your guard down, especially in the army!" If not, Wuchang is an example. ”

Yuan Shikai sighed again after taking care of it, and shook his head with endless regret: "Hey! This Song Qing, the old man met him, how could he be confused! Does he really think that the party can achieve great things? The Eight Towns and the Twenty-first Mixed Association are all elite divisions with the name of my Beiyang, but now they are in the hands of the party in vain! It's a pity that these more than 10,000 soldiers, even if they are not requisitioned by the imperial court, I am afraid that they will be tossed to death by those who are brave and unscrupulous. ”

"As soon as you entered the door, you heard the sigh of the palace guard, I don't know what can make you worry?"

Qi Yaolin was about to accompany a few words of flattery, when he suddenly heard that someone dared to call the name of Gong Bao, and just about to scold, he saw a man wearing a military uniform, holding a gilt command knife, polishing the traditional German boots under his feet, and skimming two stacks of beards. ”

When Yuan Shikai saw the visitor, he also smiled, pretending to bend down and salute: "Yuan Weiting has seen Qincha. ”

"Gong Bao, Yuan Gong Bao! You're not deliberately trying to play tricks on the noon floor. The person who came was the Minister of War, the new commander of the First Army, Yin Chang, who helped Yuan Shikai up and said with a smile: "Could it be that you blame me for not coming to your longevity garden for a few years?" ”

"Hehe, Lord Qincha is joking." Yuan Shikai and Yin Chang are very familiar, when he was training in a small station, Yin Chang was in Tianjin, only a few dozen miles apart, and now the three heroes of Beiyang were also recommended by him to his disciples, and he also spoke when Zaifeng wanted to kill himself, so the Yuan Mansion regarded him as a favor. However, he also knew that this Yin Wulou was really not a candidate for commander-in-chief, and the frame of learning from the Germans was good, but there was a bag of straw in his stomach. But isn't it important to need such a person to support yourself now?

"Kung Bao is still quite lively here." Yin Chang glanced at Qi Yaolin and asked, "Lord Qi, what are you?" ”

"That's the case, the imperial court ordered Henan to supervise part of the grain and grass, and he didn't know about military affairs, so he came to ask the old man what to do with this errand." Seeing that Yuan Shikai personally covered Qi Yaolin, Yin Chang looked at it twice more before he smiled and said: "The commander of the army is here, first, to see the palace guard, and secondly, I also want to ask the military aircraft about the affairs, Prince Qing has been worried about the Wuchang chaos in the past few days, and he can't eat, I wonder if the palace guard can give me some advice?" ”

If Yin Chang asked, maybe Yuan Shikai would really say a few words, but as soon as he talked about Yixuan, the corners of his mouth immediately twitched twice, if it weren't for that old guy, he wouldn't have avoided living in this poor and remote place, so he said: "My lord, this matter can be regarded as asking the wrong person, Yuan has lived in retreat for many years and does not understand the world, how dare he talk nonsense." ”

Yin Chang smiled: "Why should the palace guard be humble, you have been in charge of Beiyang for many years, and your protégés are all over the government and the opposition, so you can ignore the current situation?" ”

"Over the years, a lot of people have come to see me, but it's a pity ()." Yuan Shikai deliberately knocked on his leg a few times, and sighed: "The foot disease has been plagued for many years, but it is getting more and more serious, it seems that I should really go to the warm place in the south of the Yangtze River to rest for a few more years." ”

Yin Chang knew that the events of the past few years made this a little disheartened, but he knew this very well if he couldn't fight, he was by no means the kind of person who sat and watched the clouds disappear as a princess, but it was not yet the time to make a move, so he turned a corner and said: "That is the case, then I won't force Gong Bao, but most of the first army in my hands are old people from Beiyang, Gong Bao can take care of me for two sentences, and also help me sing this play." ”

"You can rest assured that although the old man has retired for many years, he can still say a few words, and he will take care of Huafu and Zhiquan." Thinking of helping him get out of trouble when Yinchang was in danger, Yuan Shikai hesitated for a moment and then waved away Qi Yaolin and his subordinates beside him, and said solemnly: "Wulou, you and I are not outsiders, so we don't talk about the two families, you must be careful about the affairs of Wuchang, the party is empty talk, courage and no strategy, but Li Songqing is a rare person who commands the army, and now the party worships him as the governor, and must not be underestimated, if you are not fully sure, you must start a war rashly." ”

It is rare to be able to say a word, Yin Chang was so frightened that his eyebrows jumped twice, thinking about whether it was not for Wuchang to shoot a few shots casually and say that his hands were in the body to dodge, and when he suddenly heard the sound of hurried footsteps outside the door, Yuan Shikai suddenly raised his eyebrows and shouted: "Who is making a noise!" ”

"Master, it's not good!" With Yinchang here, the housekeeper didn't dare to call him an adult, so he changed his nondescript title and hurriedly said: "Just now, Lord Qincha's military master sent a letter, saying that he had just received the news that Liujiamiao was occupied by the chaotic party, and Lord Zhang's life and death were unknown!" ”

"What!" Yin Chang still wanted to ask about the situation after meeting Zhang Biao, and then quickly counterattacked Hankou, but he didn't expect that Zhang Biao was annihilated in just two days, and even people were gone!

Yuan Shikai deserved to be a hero, and his face remained unchanged and asked, "But Li Yuanhong's hand?" ”

The old housekeeper hurriedly shook his head: "It was done by a person named Yang Qiu, he is now the commander-in-chief of the right route army of the rebellious party, it is said that this person also personally led the army to attack Liujiamiao, everyone said that Lord Zhang was likely to fall into his hands!" ”

"Yang Qiu, Yang Qiu ()!" Yuan Shikai read a few times and asked, "Is it Yang Qiu, who killed the leader of the party on the streets of Chengdu two months ago and was canonized by the imperial court as a loyal and brave Baturu?" ”

"That's the man." Yang Shiqi walked in from outside, he was Yuan Shikai's henchman for many years, and he was free to come and go in the longevity garden at will. After meeting Yin Chang, he said: "The news came from within the Hankou Concession, and it was also said that Chen Delong and Ruicheng might also be in the hands of this person, because someone saw that the three ships of Chu and Yu had already listened to his dispatch. He now has about two bids in his hands, but the news from Wuchang is that he seems to be at odds with that side, and he sent people to ask for ordnance and was pushed back, and the Hanyang Gun Factory is currently controlled by him, and Han Yeping's steel mill is also temporarily blocked by him with military management, and he also took advantage of the opportunity of the bandits in Hankou on the night of the Wuchang accident to deliberately connive at the bandits and then intercept the major silver ticket merchants from their hands no less than one million. After yesterday's defeat of Zhang Biao, he deliberately let the army parade through the streets, so that thousands of recruits were recruited and training was intensified! After the triumph, it did not stop for a moment, and it is said that a large number of people were seen setting off from Hanyang, but their whereabouts are still unknown. ”

Yang Shiqi's eyes were above the top, and there were not many people who could be verbosed by him like this, so Yuan Shikai also immediately wrote down the name, but when he heard that a large number of people were dispatched last night, he got up and slapped his thigh suddenly: "Not good!" Wusheng Pass! ”

Hearing this place name, Yin Chang's face also changed suddenly, Wusheng Pass is the only place for the Jinghan Railway to enter Hubei, after Zhang Biao was completely annihilated, the Kuomintang people can take here without any hindrance, once Wusheng Pass is blocked, it may be a dream to quickly solve Wuchang! So his face changed so much that he couldn't even bother to say hello, and immediately got up and went back to the train station to give orders, Yuan Shikai thought about it and was just about to catch up and take care of a few words, but was pulled by Yang Shiqi: "My lord, although Wushengguan can block it for a while, but with Huafu they are just scabies." At this moment, the civil strife in the Hubei army is still unsettled, the Kuomintang is vying for power and profit, and Li Songqing will never wake up to how to fight at this moment before he fails to hold power, so Gong Bao You still have some time! ”

"I have contacted Zhu Erdian and other ambassadors, and if the situation continues to erode, they will definitely protect the palace and protect you from the mountains to quell the chaos." After Yang Shiqi finished speaking, he looked around and suddenly came over: "Now Yang Qiu in Hubei is just a clown who jumps off the beam, and Wu Luzhen in the north is a big trouble!" ”