It is the summer heat, Wuchang city is like a furnace, the weather is very dry, the city echoes everywhere with bursts of cicadas, the exposed streets rarely see pedestrians, even if someone walks by, but also crowded in the roadside of the shade hurriedly walked. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

And in the sullenness of this summer, there are bursts of dark tide surging in Wuchang City, and they don't know what the situation of the "Nine Governors of the World" means to them? As a result, some of the officers with a sensitive sense of smell began to jump up and down, trying to find a position in this great change.

Almost from the day the imperial court issued the decree to "discuss politics", the supplementary officials in the world realized that this was a good opportunity for them to be promoted to real positions.

Not really!

In the past, even if the local governor intended to recommend the officials, they still needed to wait for the local vacancies, and the officials had not recommended them before they were sent, and if there was an appointment, even if it was recommended, it could only be filled. In this way, some of these supplementary officials who gathered in the governor's mansion were naturally hard to find.

But now it is different from the past, when the government of the country was controlled by the central government, but now the government of the country is controlled by the local governors. Not to mention anything else, that is, the "Governor of the Three Eastern Provinces" Tang Haoran, who was appointed to preside over the establishment of the Northeast Province, as soon as he took office, not only sent all the generals of the three provinces back to the capital, but then carried out the "political reform" in the Northeast in a big way, and the appointment and dismissal of the magistrates came completely from the Governor's Office, not the Ministry of Officials. It even abolished the rank of the dynasty in the northeast - there were no governors in the provinces, no governors in the prefectures, no counties in the counties, and some were only civil governors at all levels, which is also rare for the local governor to be like this.

Although the other eight governors are not as domineering as him, how can the big guy watch him Tang Ziran dictatorship? From the appointment of Yuan Shikai, the governor of Zhejiang. Well-informed people can see that the governor of this place has begun to challenge the power of the imperial court.

At that time, Hangzhou was still under the basis of "rebellion", but Li Hongzhang of Zhili and Liu Kunyi of Liangjiang and Bian Baodi of Fujian and Zhejiang privately taught each other. The governor of Zhejiang was awarded to Yuan Shikai, the governor of Taiwan at the time, and then Yuan Shikai was transferred to Zhejiang to suppress the rebels, so that the three places could jointly quell the rebellion.

In the end, the court not only did not blame, but even issued a decree to approve the appointment. In the provinces of the present dynasty, the relationship between the governor and the governor is basically equal, and the governor presides over the affairs of a province, and sometimes the province where the governor is stationed does not have a governor at all. It is concurrently held by the Governor. But as everyone knows, this relationship between the governor and the governor is by no means one of "principal office" and "deputy office", and in the old days, the governor of the province where the governor was not the governor was stationed was often on an equal footing. After controlling the provincial government to the governor, even if he is the governor, he has no choice, just like Zhang Zhitai can only discuss matters with the governor of Hunan, but cannot be "delegated". If the governor of Hunan objected. Often, it has to be left alone.

But now it has completely changed, and in the name of "counciling", the governor has the right to control the localities, and at that time he will naturally use the excuse of rectifying the rule of officials and appointing private individuals in order to consolidate the localities, and this "private" is the opportunity for the officials to fill in the office.

After realizing the great changes in the world, the local magistrates rushed one after another. or visit old friends or ask to meet important people in the scene, in order to advance to officialdom or find a place in this change.

And Wuchang City, which is the residence of the governor of Huguang, is naturally no exception. Although the supplementary officials frequently visited the dignitaries in the scene, few people knocked on the gray-walled courtyard door in the northwest corner of the governor's yamen. Although many people know that the owner of this courtyard is a close confidant of Zhang Zhengtai, everyone knows that if they ask him, it may be counterproductive.

The owner of this gray-walled house is the residence of Zhang Zhitai's friend Sang Zhiping, who seems to be a friend, although he is the teacher of the second son, but more often than not, he is Zhang Zhidong's staff to participate in the deliberations of the house. Although his status is noble, he has still maintained a simple life like a farmer in the north for many years, and he has planted some vegetables in the courtyard, and he has turned the soil and fertilized the field. If Zhang Zhidong hadn't sent him two servants to live with him so that he could take care of him at any time, I'm afraid it would be hard to believe that this old man in a coarse cloth shirt with mud sticking to his feet would be Zhang Zhitai's own curtain.

Usually, Sang Zhiping goes directly to the yamen, and Zhang Zhidong and everyone discuss in the conference hall or study of the department, but this time he invited Zhang Zhidong to his courtyard, and after coming to this small courtyard, he looked at Sang Zhiping with mud on his feet, and after sitting down, Zhang Zhidong asked with a smile:

"Brother Zhongzi, what are you asking me to do here? Could it be that you have grown something new for me to enjoy?"

Sang Zhiping also smiled and said with a smile:

"If you want anything new, I'm afraid you have to come out of the governor's yamen first, and it will be my turn?"

Sang Zhiping is saying something new, now that the country has been open to trade for decades, many overseas fresh foreign countries will always be brought into China by foreign merchants, just like the basket of pineapples that the governor rewarded last time, in contrast, his small courtyard is not anything new, just some seasonal vegetables.

After the servants offered tea, Sang Zhiping asked them to leave the hospital, and he wanted to discuss important matters with the governor, so naturally there could be no one else.

"There is a matter that I did without consulting you beforehand, and I did it on my own initiative, and now I have come to ask you for the guilt."

"What's the matter?"

Zhang Zhidong was a little confused for a while, this pleading words were the first time they came out of Sang Zhiping's mouth, and in the past, at most he blamed himself for his mistakes.

"A while ago, I privately asked the Martial Arts Academy to send two astute students to Zhejiang on a business trip, and they came back a few days ago."

Martial Arts School, that is after returning from North Korea last time, Zhang Zhidong in accordance with Sang Zhiping's suggestion to set up a military academy to train new officers, and its instructors are also hired from the North Korean New Army, although the school is only a sketch, but the students have been enrolled for more than a month.

"What are you going to do in Zhejiang?"

Listening to the word Zhejiang, Zhang Zhidong's brows were furrowed.

Zhejiang, that was a nail inserted by Li Hefei in the south of the Yangtze River, but at the beginning, he took advantage of the eagerness of Liangjiang, Min and Zhejiang to impeach the rebellion in Hangzhou, and forced Fujian and Zhejiang to agree to the transfer of Taiwan Governor Yuan Shikai to Zhejiang. Li Er is in charge of Zhili, Li Da is in charge of Liangguang, and in the middle, Yuan Shikai, the governor from Beiyang, is in charge of Zhejiang, which Li Hefei ...... It's really drawing a line along China, connecting a string!

"Go to Zhejiang to inspect the training of the new army in Zhejiang."

Sang Zhiping said quietly.

"I thought it was a big deal!"

Hearing him say this, Zhang Zhidong suddenly smiled, this is important. If Tang Ziran taught the big guy anything, I'm afraid it is this training of the new army, and Huguang has now also trained the self-improvement army. set up a martial arts academy, and even the instructors in the martial arts academy were also from Tang Ziran's new army.

"What is this, you don't want to be mysterious, it doesn't hurt to tell me beforehand."

"If I tell you first, you will surely say, what is there to investigate. Yuan Shikai's kid has not dried up, what good trick can he have. ”

"You think I'm going to say that?"

"You're going to say that!"

"I really know my heart!"

The two looked at each other and laughed.

"Why are you so interested in Yuan Shikai and his Zhejiang New Army?"

After laughing, Zhang Zhidong asked solemnly.

"Brother Xiangtao. This Yuan Shikai was quite courageous, courageous, and capable, and he trained Taiwan's new army to be impressive, and when he put down the rebellion in Zhejiang, his new army from Ningbo came ashore. Win battles along the way. It is completely invincible, and it has the momentum of the new army stationed in Korea, and like the new army stationed in Korea, its new army in Taiwan only had one association a few months ago, and the new army in this town was only organized and trained after the Ryukyus, so it can be seen that its method of training troops is by no means inferior. When he arrived in Zhejiang, the first thing he did was to train the new army, and I wanted to see it myself. But it's not as convenient for me to go as the young people in the martial arts academy, so I let them go and take a look first. After listening to the report of their return. I have some ideas, so please come to this remote place and talk about it. ”

Looking out the window, it's already night. Sang Zhiping got up and closed the curtains, and the Western glass in the room covered with large kerosene lights made it appear brighter and softer.

In the past, although the local governors said that they were training soldiers, no one was in a hurry, because no matter how good the military training was, it was also for the imperial court to train. But since Tang Haoran, even if he is no longer a governor who has no intention of training, he also knows that the situation in the world has changed greatly, and this training is not so much about training as self-improvement, but rather to protect his own life.

When it comes to military training, the oldest qualification in the world is naturally Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili, and the best training is naturally Tang Haoran. And Yuan Shikai, who is in the shadow of the two, has no reputation, and is not even noticed.

However, this little-known Yuan Shikai was trusted by Li Hongzhang, and after the rebellion in Zhejiang was pacified, Li Hongzhang immediately ordered the 16th battalion of the Huai Army and Lu Lian to stay in Zhejiang, and Yuan Shikai organized and trained them as a new army, and allocated 15,000 of the latest small-mouth five-shot guns ordered from Germany to him for the purpose of training the new army.

Li Hefei's reuse of Yuan Shikai naturally attracted Sang Zhiping's attention.

"Brother Xiangtao, the two students of the Wubei Academy have lived in Hangzhou for half a month, and Zhejiang is naturally very enthusiastic about them. I vaguely feel that this Yuan Shikai must not be underestimated, Li Hefei ordered him to train the new army, it seems that he has found the right person. ”

"Really?"

Zhang Zhidong smiled slightly at the corner of his mouth, and said disapprerovingly.

"Could it be that he Yuan Shikai can train better than Tang Haoran?"

For Zhang Zhidong, the most important thing now is to pull the governor of Hunan Wu Dashi off the horse, he is not worried about Hubei, since Tan Jixun was dismissed, the post of governor will be vacant, if the court intends to meddle in the post of governor of Hubei, it is enough to recommend one of his own, but Hunan is different, then Wu Dashi is not his own person, at least not his own person.

As for military training, Zhang Zhidong is also not worried, the last time Sang Zhiping went to North Korea, he solved this matter - he brought back fifty instructors from North Korea in addition to being responsible for military training, and even imitated Tang Ziran to build a military academy to train officials. Even if it is a firearm, this Hanyang Gun Factory will be put into production in two years at most, and then there will be soldiers and officials, and the weapons and ammunition can be made by themselves, so there is naturally no need to worry about this military training.

"Yuan Shikai is not particularly special, why do you expect so much from him? It is possible for him to train the new army for Li Hefei, but will our self-improvement army not be able to succeed in the future?"

The adult's rhetorical question made Sang Zhiping smile and said:

"I specially talked to you about Zhejiang's new army today, precisely so that our self-improvement army can become a great thing in the future."

Putting away his smile, Sang Zhi said solemnly:

"When I was living in seclusion in Gubeikou. A number of historical armies have been studied. From the military system of all dynasties to the deployment in wartime, from the major battles in the history books to the famous military generals, especially the Eight Banners, Green Battalion, Hunan Army, and Huai Army in modern times. I've been very interested in them. After studying in this way, I have come to understand that all the armies that can achieve great things and accomplish miraculous feats are the private troops of the commanders, not the official troops of the imperial court. From the Yang generals and Yue's army in ancient times to the current Hunan army and Huai army, this can confirm my view. Brother Xiangtao, have you thought about it, thirty years ago. The Xianghuai Army at the time of the establishment of meritorious service was actually Zeng Jiajun and Li Jiajun, which were his Tang Ziran's garrison in Korea. Oh, it's called the Northeast Army now, isn't it also the Tang Army? ”

At first glance, this sounds like a complete deviance, but when you think about it, it makes sense. Zhang Zhidong stared silently at this old friend who had been assisting him but was unwilling to accept any official position. Listen intently as he continues.

"I vaguely felt. This Yuan Shikai is also taking this path, this Zhejiang New Army is on the surface Zhejiang New Army, but in fact, it will definitely slowly become Yuan Jiajun in the future. ”

Zhang Zhidong was slightly stunned in his heart, and hurriedly asked:

"Nakako, do you have any evidence? Why do you say that this Zhejiang army will become the Yuan family's army?"

This is what he is most concerned about, this Zhejiang army will only be beneficial to Huguang if it becomes Yuan Jiajun, which means that Li Hongzhang's arm can be broken again, and he is buried in the south of the Yangtze River. Maybe it can be used for good.

"At the moment, the evidence is not enough, based on the observation of those two students for half a month. Not sufficient to constitute a credential. This one, though, is secondary. Whether he Yuan Shikai can achieve this point in the future, and put it aside, I think that if he has a heart, he should do this, and take advantage of this great opportunity to do this. ”

Zhang Zhidong seemed to hear that the name was coming, so he calmed down and continued to listen.

"When I was in Gubeikou, the people in Zhuangzi were ordinary farmers, and in winter, they chased animals and hunted animals. I have a hunter friend who said something like this to me. Hunting is done by hounds. The role of the hound, usually chasing wild beasts, in times of danger can rescue the owner, the usual hunters buy puppies to train. But his family chooses the best ones from the puppies born to his own female dogs, so his hunting dogs are more loyal and protective than other people's hunting dogs. In the words of this friend, it is actually a very simple truth: one's own relatives, other people's negligence. ”

"My own relatives, other people's sparse."

After taking a sip of tea, Sang Zhiping continued:

This also applies to leading troops. Bringing an existing soldier is like raising a half-grown dog, and bringing a soldier that you have formed from scratch is like raising a dog born in your own house, and there is a big difference between them. But leading a soldier is very different from raising a dog. Anyone can raise a dog in the family, and the imperial court will naturally never allow it in the past. But now they are all recruiting troops in the name of the imperial court, and the provinces are raising their own salaries, isn't it a godsend? Yuan Shikai's cleverness lies here, taking advantage of this opportunity, he himself trained troops in Zhejiang, and even handed over all the new troops in Taiwan, and in the name of training the new army, he rectified more than a dozen battalions of the Huai Army and the training army, and now this army is actually his domestic dog. The reason why he put all his heart into it is not that he is particularly loyal and wants to serve the court, but that he is doing things for himself. Xiang Shuai, do you still remember the incident when 200 officers of the Guangwu Army went to Wuchang with the ship?"

"Why don't you remember!"

When mentioning the old things, Zhang Zhidong's words inevitably carried some annoyance,

For this reason, he also attracted a reproachful edict. It's just that later, I went all out to do foreign affairs, and I didn't care about running the Hubei New Army, and these people didn't use it well. ”

Not only this group of people, but Tang Haoran...... Thinking of this, his face couldn't help but change slightly, and he sighed in his heart.

"To tell you the truth, I had a distant plan at the time, but I didn't make it clear to you. Almost three years have passed, and the officers are already in the twilight and cannot be counted on. ”

Sang Zhiping sighed in his heart, regretting that the "Yuantu" was not paid back then. Zhang Zhidong stared wide-eyed, waiting for his next step.

Sang Zhiping lowered his throat and leaned forward slightly.

"Our Great Qing Kingdom, in fact, has entered a troubled era since the same year as Xian. What to rely on in troubled times is to rely on the army, if there is an army, there will be an official position and a career, and if there is no army, the black gauze hat on the head will always be in the hands of others. Zeng Wenzhenggong was in a dilemma in Jiangxi back then, and he used his father's funeral to get out of the predicament, but why did the imperial court ask him to come back after only one year of mourning? Not because he can fight, but because the Hunan army is his. The imperial court reinstated him, not because he was someone, but because of the tens of thousands of Hunan troops under him. The reason why Li Hongzhang can maintain his wealth and honor for a long time, and the clear streams of the whole world can't scold him, is because the Beiyang land and water force he holds in his hand is actually the Huai army of the year, even if it is Lu Lian and Zhi Lian, to put it bluntly, it is still the Huai Army. The reason why Yuan Jiasan, the uncle of Yuan Shikai, who also dealt with long hair back then, moved around like a rogue and finally achieved nothing, was because the army under his command was not born but a dog. Yuan Shikai learned from the ancestral teachings of his Yuan family, changed his ways, and took the road of success of Zeng and Li. And he Tang Ziran, isn't it the same! ”

After a slight pause, Sang Zhiping stared at Zhang Zhidong and said.

"Even, he Tang Ziran walked farther than anyone else, he simply relied on the military power in his hand, and directly stepped on the face of the imperial court, my lord, now in this Great Qing Kingdom, those who want to gain a foothold must rely on military power!"

(Well, it should be said that to some extent, the Manchu Qing after 1892 in the novel has already shown the rudiments of warlord secession, but fortunately, those eight are not really from the army, and they are not as unscrupulous as warlords.) Although everyone realizes that the time has come to establish the world by military power, at least a few years of dignity can be maintained.

The results of the novel are a little bleaker, and Speechless has been working hard, and there is only one change today...... Weakly ask for a fixed reading and monthly pass, whether you are looking at the genuine version or not! The Empire's Sunrise Reader Exchange Group: 150536833 welcome you to join) (To be continued.) )