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The right bank of Tianjia Town is half of the eastern part of the mountain, overlooking the Yangtze River in front of the Pillow Net Lake, the river surface is only two miles and three minutes wide under the mountain, and it is precisely because of this location that this place has become the only one along the river in Hubei, this fort built more than 20 years ago, in the past few years, in order to cope with the expansion of the Northeast Navy and the Beiyang Navy, the Governor of Huguang began to strengthen the defense of the Tianjia Town Fort. First of all, several 12-inch cannons were purchased and built, and then 8-inch and six-inch rapid-fire guns were added, so that its firepower could not be said to be powerful, and the fort was located on the mountain near the Yangtze River in Tianjia Town, guarding the throat of the Yangtze River.

It is precisely because it is the gateway of Hubei that it has been extremely important to this place as the Huguang Governor's Mansion for many years, just like Zhang Renting, the chief of the fort composed of 36 cannons, is not only a native of Nanpi, but also the nephew of the same clan of the governor Zhang Zhidong, which shows the importance of the fort.

According to China's practice, putting one's own family members in key positions is always better than outsiders, even Zhang Zhidong is not exempt from vulgarity, and since Zhang Renting became the chief of the station, he has indeed lived up to the trust, not only sweeping away the old ills of the fort, but also strictly training the fort soldiers, so that they can live up to the trust of the "gateway to Hubei".

But at this time, on the top of the hill fort, which can be called the gateway, the atmosphere seems a little strange, most of the fort soldiers are helpless or sitting or standing on the gun emplacement, in the half-hidden pop-up window near the gun emplacement, one after another cannonballs stand in it, just on the gun car at the tail of the gun, there are also cannonballs, there is a big look of starting a war at any time, but the officers and soldiers have no intention of fighting, they just stand or sit there, away from the danger area, and even smoke there, occasionally they will turn their eyes to the river. There were two warships moored on the river, and the tonnage of those two warships was not large, only a few hundred tons at most, but they were just two small gunboats of the Jianghu patrol fleet of the two rivers. They didn't even doubt that they could sink him with just a 4.7-inch rapid-fire gun, but no one wanted to open fire, and even if there was a military order, they didn't want to shoot.

The mood of the soldiers was gloomy, and the faces of the officers were no better, and like the soldiers, the officers were also grouped together in a group of left and right, as if they were saying something.

As for Zhang Renting, who is the chief of the station, this will also be standing by the fort, he just keeps smoking, and the collar of the military uniform has been untied by him at some point, for him who graduated from the Yongzong Island Naval Academy in the northeast, grooming has always been the most important thing for him, but now, his appearance looks a little messy, and anxiety is burning in his heart, so that he doesn't know what he should do at all.

If they continue to sail forward, should they open fire?

Zhang Renting didn't know the answer, strictly speaking, he should have opened fire, but he didn't want to fire because he didn't want to see the flames of war burning on the land of China.

"What are the duties of a military man? It is to defend the country, to defend the people, and to resist foreign humiliation! ”

Once upon a time, when he received gunnery training on Yongzong Island, he repeated these words over and over again, but when he left the Northeast Navy, when he returned to Hubei and served in the Tianjiawan Fort under the placement of his uncle from the same sect, after the initial enthusiasm, he had to face the reality that the enemy against which the fort was guarded was actually his own people.

Unlike the coastal defense fort of the Northeast Navy, which is used to protect the harbor, the Tianjiawan fort is to block the "enemy" from entering Hubei from the Yangtze River.

Now, there is no need to think about this anymore. Because Hubei has become the enemy of all of China, at least to some extent.

"Sir, if ......"

Before the chief of staff next to him could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Zhang Renting, who threw the cigarette butt at his feet and stomped on it fiercely.

"Don't think nonsense, wait for the decision of Wuchang......"

At the end of October, it stands to reason that even in Jiangnan, the weather has already turned cooler, and even a little chilly. But at this time, the vast area of the lake was filled with an anxiety that had never been seen before, and when the surrounding provinces lowered the triangular golden dragon flag one after another and raised the sun and moon flag, the anxiety of the war in people's hearts became anxious.

In the past period, the atmosphere in the whole of Hubei has been a little weird, almost since the news of the Northeast Governor Tang Haoran ascending the throne and becoming emperor in the newspapers, everyone has turned their eyes to the Yamen, the governor of Huguang, as if they are waiting to see what that Zhang Zhitai will do.

However, the next news turned their curiosity into anxiety -- the yamen in Beiyang, Liangjiang, and Liangguang all successively telegraphed to support the new dynasty, and the provinces outside Huguang changed their banners one after another, changing their era names, and even the most stupid people could see that the sky had changed.

It's a change of dynasty!

What does it mean when it comes to the point where ordinary people can see it?

It means that everyone knows the general trend of the world, what is the general trend, not only the people's aspirations, but more importantly, the choice of the world.

But this platform is still being carried there, it doesn't matter if he is carrying it, the problem is not to bring the big guy to the fire pit, it is such a psychological reason, so that with the transfer of troops from all over the country reported in the newspaper, the atmosphere in Wuchang has become more and more anxious.

And when the news came that the new emperor had left Nanjing and arrived in Jiujiang, the first word that came to people's minds when they contacted the Liangjiang Army that had been transferred there, that is...... Driving the Expedition!

Okay, this new emperor is going to kill a chicken to show the monkey!

For a while, Wuchang led to various places, especially the ferry tickets from Chongqing to Shanghai, which were even more difficult to find, and as for the train tickets to the north in Hankou, it was also difficult to find, and the big guys tried to escape this military disaster in their own ways.

Some people can go, but the vast majority of people can't leave, they can only stay in place and count the days restlessly, thinking about how long they have to live in peace.

Such abnormal actions are naturally also affecting the Governor's Palace, so that in the face of high grain prices, the Governor's Mansion has to release grain many times to stabilize grain prices, and everyone knows that if the grain prices are allowed to rise again, without waiting for the emperor's army to come, Wuchang City will be in chaos.

"The 600,000 stone grain transported from Hunan was sold out in a blink of an eye, and the people were afraid to ......"

Zhang Renfu, who wears the uniform of an army general, may be the youngest general in China; eight years ago, when he became a major general of the army, he was only 25 years old; since he returned to Hubei in the northeast eight years ago, he has been Zhang Zhidong's "spokesman" in the army, and he is also the actual head of the "Zhang Jiajun" -- chief of staff of the Huguang Army General Staff.

After graduating from the Northeast Army Military Academy, Zhang Renfu served in the Army Staff for half a year, and returned to Wuchang with the rank of colonel of the Northeast Army half a year later.

After a drastic reform, the Huguang New Army also showed a bit of complexion, and in the following years, many drills were praised at home and abroad, and even together with his alma mater, he also personally sent instructors to inspect it, and finally gave a high evaluation.

Of course, the result of all this is that as the second son of the Zhang family, Zhang Renfu finally controlled the army for the Zhang family through the General Staff, mastered the military power, and turned the Huguang New Army into the "Zhang Family Army". And this is exactly what his Dongxi mentor did for Zhang Zhidong before he left Wuchang.

Although for Zhang Zhidong, this is a good thing. But on the other hand, it is precisely because Zhang Renfu controls the army that the relationship between him and his brother Zhang Quan is deteriorating day by day, after all, for Zhang Quan, who regards himself as the "heir of the Zhang family", it is not a good thing for the second brother to control the military power, and disputes between the two occur from time to time.

"Then another million stones, I still don't believe it, they can buy all the grain!"

Almost as soon as Zhang Renfu's words fell, Zhang Quan bluntly retorted, in the past many years, he has been meddling in many affairs such as the smoking ban in Hubei and Yang, foreign affairs, and most of the affairs of the governor's office have his shadow, it can be said that to some extent, he is more like Zhang Zhidong's successor, as for Zhang Renfu, he is more like a soldier.

"Rationing? Tune from there? In the past, there were companies to Wuchang to transport foreign rice, we can also go to Shanghai to buy foreign rice, but now, the Yangtze River has been cut off, can only transport rice from Hunan, since the last time from Hunan transferred 600,000 stone grain, Changsha's grain price rose by one percent, if another one million stone, Hunan's grain price will naturally rise, what to do then? When the time comes, where will grain be transported from there to stabilize the price of grain in Hunan? When the price of grain rises, the common people will be able to rush into the yamen without anyone calling......"

Unlike in the past, when grain prices were difficult to equalize, since shipping bureaus were established in the provinces along the Yangtze River, and railways were built in the inland provinces, although there were occasional cases of grain prices skyrocketing due to natural disasters, the government or grain merchants were always able to quickly raise grain to "stabilize grain prices," and this "pacification" was more due to grain profits, after all, sometimes, it was at least double the windfall profits.

In the old days, the government seldom talked about profits, but now it is different, the fact that the local government has carried out large-scale foreign affairs in the past ten years has made the government from "not saying profits" to "talking about profits from time to time", and this grain adjustment to stabilize grain prices is a move that the government often uses, which can not only stabilize people's livelihood, but also obtain profits, why not.

In the past, cheap foreign rice had always been used by the government to stabilize grain prices, but now that the Yangtze River channel has been cut off, this foreign rice will naturally not be able to enter Hubei.

Before Zhang Renfu's words were finished, Zhang Quan's brows suddenly furrowed, and he said sharply.

"Mobs storming the yamen? Then what is your gun for, don't tell me, you don't dare to fight Tang Haoran, even with the mob! ”

For his younger brother, Zhang Quan can be said to have always been dissatisfied, previously because he held the military power, and he was never allowed to interfere in military affairs, but now, it is because these hundreds of thousands of troops spend nearly 30 million yuan in military spending every year, it can be said that more than 30% of Huguang's income is all military spending, but when his father asked him if he had the ability to stop Tang Haoran a few days ago, he actually said something.

"The soldiers are unwilling to fight, naturally they can't fight, if they insist on fighting, at most three days, and after three days, he will take the lead in surrendering......"

When he said this, did he forget who he was? He is a member of the Zhang family, and the people of the Zhang family can lead the horse to the surnamed Tang and call him a minister.

"Big brother, I'm ......"

The eldest brother's accusation made Zhang Renfu's mind sink, and he hurriedly defended.

"If we really shoot at the people, then there will be a real place to die, and when the time comes, it will not only be ......."

Because of habit, just as he was about to say "principal", he changed his words when he thought of the current situation.

"The imperial court in Nanjing will kill us, even the common people will not let go of the Zhang family! At that time, the Zhang family will really be stinking for 10,000 years! ”

"It's a stinky 10,000-year-old father, look at the second child......"

The second brother's words made Zhang Quan feel annoyed in his heart, and pointed at Zhang Renfu and said to his father who had been silent.

"I went to the Northeast to drink ink for two years, forgot about my home, and accused you of ......"

"Boom ......"

Gently touching the cup with the lid of the cup, Zhang Zhidong's brows furrowed slightly, looking at the two sons who were arguing, he was a little disheartened, the sons were so arguing, even if they won the world, what should they do? Looking at Renfu in a military uniform, he thought of Li Shimin in the history books, if he won the world, would the second child become Li Shimin? Even if he doesn't become Li Shimin, how can the boss let him go?

"You guys......"

With a long sigh, Zhang Zhidong put down the teacup in his hand, looked at his two sons, and finally didn't say anything, but asked the question that people in Huguang are most concerned about now.

"Ziran has arrived in Jiujiang?"

"Yes, father, I have already arrived in Jiujiang, but except for the personal guards, there is no elite ...... of the Northeast Army."

Zhang Renfu hurriedly replied, although he knew that he couldn't defeat the Northeast Army, he still paid attention to the principal's every move, and when he found out that he did not order the elite of the Northeast Army to accompany him, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"The child thinks that Tang Haoran has no intention of sending troops to Hubei, and the reason why he came to Jiujiang is for ......"

"I know, it's for my ......"

Only halfway through the words, Zhang Zhidong looked at the respectful second son, and sighed in his heart, it would be nice if he was there...... Just as this thought was moving, the voice of the servant suddenly came from outside.

"Sir, sir, you, you have an old friend to visit......" (To be continued.) )