With the establishment of the mixed brigade, Brigade Commander Tang gradually shifted the focus of his work to the two major tasks of the Political Propaganda Office and the Intelligence Department, while the original training and assessment were mainly handed over to Chief of Staff Xu's Staff Office and officers at the battalion and company levels.

All the work of the Political Propaganda Department was completely new, and there was no similar organization in the Beiyang Army, and in the original mixed regiment, only the propaganda detachment taught the soldiers to sing military songs, helped the illiterate soldiers write letters to their families, and told the glorious deeds of patriotic generals such as Yue Fei, Wen Tianxiang, and Deng Shichang. Tang Zhidao, who came from later generations, was well aware of the importance and sensitivity of this work. To say that it is important, as long as you look at the amazing performance of a certain party's army in later generations, you can know that it is simply against the sky. He is said to be sensitive because carrying out political work in the army is actually a double-edged sword, and although it can greatly enhance the combat effectiveness and cohesion of the troops, it may also involve officers and men in the quagmire of political struggle.

After hesitating again and again, Tang Zhidao also decided to start slowly promoting the political propaganda work in the troops from the political propaganda department of the brigade headquarters, but the political propaganda section was set up in the two infantry regiments and did not continue to extend to the battalion and company levels, and the main work of the political propaganda department itself was still to compile political propaganda teaching materials and train political propaganda personnel.

However, the Political Propaganda Department finally waited for a director, this person is called Yu Lifu Zijingyi, 28 years old, stayed in Japan in his early years, studied political science at the Imperial University, and joined the northern branch of the Kuomintang after returning to China, and was once elected as a member of the Zhili Provincial Assembly, and later fell out with the Kuomintang and broke away from the party, and found a section chief errand in the Yin Mansion of Koubei Province. Since Brigade Commander Tang entered Zhukou North Province, he was sent by Daoyin Zheng Chenglong to be responsible for the communication and coordination between the mixed brigade and the Daoyin Mansion. Tang Zhidao soon found out that this guy was a talent, especially in politics, political parties, and policies, and sent someone to check his old background, there was no major problem, and he had no dealings with the Kuomintang.

Brigade Commander Tang was overjoyed as soon as he proposed Yu Lifu, after all, he was also a person with ideals and ambitions, but in a series of political struggles in the early Republic of China, he saw through the face of the so-called party members and was ashamed of these companies, so he broke away from the Kuomintang and settled in Xuanhua, but he couldn't hold back this quietly, and he was unwilling to die with a small section chief. After the new position described to him by Brigade Commander Tang, he felt more and more that this was simply tailor-made for himself, and he agreed without hesitation to go down and complete the handover procedures as soon as possible, and officially came to report to the mixed brigade.

As for the intelligence department, it is relatively easy to get started, and playing intelligence is nothing more than people and money, and the talents needed to engage in intelligence are useful as long as they are people, and the difference is only the size of the use. At present, Brigade Commander Tang does not have much ambition, and his main concern is the situation around the Beijing Division and the counties of Koubei Province, and a relatively simple intelligence network can be established in a short period of time, but there is still a lack of a director to lead the intelligence department.

Time flies like a white horse, more than a month has passed, and the mixed brigade has gradually stepped onto the right track, and all work is carried out in an orderly manner. In just over this month, the political situation in Beijing has undergone tremendous changes, and the dispute between the government and the court has finally reached its climax.

On May 10, the House of Representatives of the National Assembly held a committee to examine the case of declaring war on Germany, and Duan Qirui instigated a citizens' petition group to surround the court (commanded by Jin Yunpeng and Fu Liangzuo), and was forced to pass the bill on the same day, beating up opposition legislators, and insulting the people.

On May 11, President Le Yuanhong ordered those who caused trouble in the House of Representatives to be prosecuted. Foreign Minister Wu Tingfang, Minister of Justice Zhang Yaozeng, Minister of Agriculture and Commerce Gu Zhongxiu, and Navy Chief Cheng Biguang resigned because of the insult to the members of the National Assembly. Sun Yat-sen, Cen Chunxuan, Tang Shaoyi, Zhang Taiyan, Wen Zongyao, and Li Yuanhong requested that the puppet citizens who disturb the House of Representatives be punished. …,

On 19 May, the House of Representatives decided to postpone the motion of declaring war on Germany on the grounds that many cabinet members had resigned, and that the urging message was made in the name of the State Department, which was not proposed by the president, and that the law was not in agreement. On the same day, Meng Enyuan, the overseer of Jilin, Wang Zhanyuan, the overseer of Hubei, Zhang Huaizhi, the overseer of Shandong, Cao Kun, the overseer of Zhili, Li Houji, the overseer of Fujian, Zhao Qi, the overseer of Henan, Yan Xishan, the overseer of Shanxi, Li Chun, the overseer of Jiangxi, Ni Sichong, the governor of Anhui, Tian Zhongyu, the governor of Chahar, Jiang Yanxing, the overseer of Suiyuan, Zhang Zuolin, the overseer of Fengtian (on behalf of Yang Yuting), Yang Shande, the overseer of Zhejiang, Chen Shufan, the overseer of Shaanxi, Bi Guifang, the overseer of Heilongjiang, Zhang Guangjian, the overseer of Gansu, Yang Zengxin, the overseer of Xinjiang, Feng Guozhang, the overseer of Jiangsu, Liu Xianshi, the overseer of Guizhou, Representatives of Tang Jiyao, the overseer of Yunnan, and Tan Yanhong, the overseer of Hunan, asked the State Council to forward it to the president, dissolve the National Assembly, and reform the constitution.

On 23 May, the president ordered the dismissal of Duan Qirui, premier of state and chief of the army, and ordered Wu Tingfang, minister of foreign affairs, to temporarily act as premier of the State Council, Zhang Shiyu to act as chief of the army, Wang Shizhen as commander-in-chief of the temporary garrison in the Beijing-Tianjin area, and Jiang Chaozong and Chen Guangyuan as deputy commanders.

When he arrived here, it seemed that in the battle between the government and the court, President Li Da laughed and said that finally, he brazenly ordered Duan Qirui to be dismissed from the post of prime minister and minister of the army, and Duan Qirui and his henchmen Xu Shuzheng, Fu Liangzuo, and Jin Yunpeng left Beijing in disgrace, but in fact, this was only the beginning of a more fierce struggle.

On May 26, the governor of Anhui Province, Ni Sichong, declared that Duan Qirui's dismissal was illegal and that he would become independent and disassociate himself from the central government.

On May 30, Yang Shande, the governor of Zhejiang, Qi Yaoshan, the governor of Zhejiang, and Zhang Zuolin, the governor and governor of Fengtian, announced their disconnection from the central government.

On May 31, Zhang Huaizhi, the governor of Shandong, Bi Guifang, the governor of Heilongjiang, and Xu Lanzhou, the deputy military officer, declared independence.

On June 1, Cao Kun, the overseer of Zhili, Zhu Jiabao, the governor of Fujian, Li Houji, the overseer of Fujian, Lu Yongxiang, the envoy of the Shanghai Protector, and Fan Guozhang, the commander of the 20th Division, announced that they had severed their ties with the central government.

On June 3, Yan Xishan, the overseer of Shanxi, became independent.

…………

In a short period of more than ten days, more than ten provinces and autonomous regions in the north under the control of the Governor's Army have expressed their independence, and these feudal officials with military power have expressed their desire to enter the king of Jingqin, which has put tremendous pressure on President Li, who has always been cowardly. In order to fill the huge power vacuum left by Duan Qirui, President Li Da successively nominated Wang Shizhen, the head of the three heroes of Beiyang, Xu Shichang, a veteran of Beiyang, and Li Hongzhang's nephew, Li Jingxi, the former governor of Qingyungui, as prime minister.

In desperation, President Li Da had no choice but to set his sights on Zhang Xun, the Anhui overseer who was entrenched in Xuzhou and held nearly 100 battalions of Dingwu Army (Braided Army). Since the dispute between the government and the court, Zhang Xun has been moving between the two sides of the government under the banner of neutrality. Both parties felt that Zhang Xun was easy to use, and they vied with each other to win them over, but they didn't know that when others were fools, they finally realized that they were the fools.

On June 7, Zhang Xun led more than 5,000 people from 10 battalions of infantry and artillery from Xuzhou to the north, and sent a telegram to the independent provinces, hoping to carry out the same process, set off the army, and should not enter again.

On June 8, Zhang Xun's subordinates went to Tianjin and demanded that Li Yuanhong dissolve the parliament within three days, otherwise he would not be responsible for mediation.

During this period, Brigade Commander Tang did not say a word, and quietly waited for the opportunity in Xuanhua City.

"Ci Chen, pay close attention to the movements of Zhang Xun's department, and report to me at any time!" When Xu Yongchang sent Zhang Xun to the north, Tang Zhidao happened to be teaching the students in the teaching team. At present, the training team is mainly responsible for the rotational training of officers at the company and platoon level, and the classes are mainly German advisers and senior officers of the mixed brigade, and the courses cover basic tactics, strategy, history, geography, current affairs and politics, and other aspects. After all the company and platoon officers are trained in rotation, the training team will select a group of potential non-commissioned officers (between 30 and 50 people) as grassroots officers to train. …,

"Yes!" Xu Yongchang nodded suspiciously, wondering why Brigadier Tang was so interested in Zhang Braidshuai, when Premier Duan and Secretary-General Xu were dismissed together a few days ago, Brigadier Tang was unmoved, and it was rumored that Brigadier Tang was one of Xiao Xu's henchmen.

"Cichen won't fail to pay attention to the recent messages on the market." Tang Zhidao's words broke through the doubts in Xu Yongchang's heart.

"The brigade commander means that Zhang Xun is going north this time with the intention of restoration!" Xu Yongchang quickly understood, but he still shook his head and said, "Zhang Xun won't be stupid enough to risk the world's disapproval, right?" ”

"It's hard to say, but I guess nine times out of ten." Tang Zhidao said lightly, I am afraid that everyone in the world knows that Zhang Xun is keen on restoring the Qing court, but because the wolf is coming and shouting too much, few people really believe that he really dares to restore.

"He only brought 5,000 men and horses, and there were 10,000 or 20,000 policemen in the Guangjing Division, not to mention the three or four divisions on the periphery." Xu Yongchang said in astonishment: "These people are not decorations. ”

"I'm just guessing, but the preparations that need to be done must be done." Tang Zhidao didn't explain much, but just ordered: "Let the battalions and companies scattered in various counties temporarily stop their daily training and prepare to assemble in Huailai and Yanqing counties." ”

"In addition, your staff office has drawn up a training plan for me for long-distance training." Without waiting for Xu Yongchang to ask, Tang Zhidao gave another order.

"Artillery battalions are also included?" Although Xu Yongchang had doubts, he only raised questions about the specific content. In the past month or so, he has been quite happy in the mixed brigade, and what he has learned over the years has finally come in handy, and what is even more surprising is that Tang Zhidao, the young brigade commander, is extremely trustworthy in himself, and almost all the ideas and plans he put forward have been adopted.

"The whole brigade includes the logistical baggage." Tang Zhidao nodded and said.

At this time, a strong wind suddenly blew, and a large dark cloud drifted through the originally clear sky, and the sky darkened.

"It looks like it's going to rain, and I have to go back to collect my clothes, and the uniforms I washed in the morning should be dry." Looking at the sky, Tang Zhidao said casually, and pulled Xu Yongchang in the direction of the brigade.