Chapter 40: A Way Out?

At the Xuzhou Railway Station, several military vehicles have been steadily parked on the platform. With the sound of neat steps, groups of soldiers in khaki uniforms with long braids behind their heads, rifles on their shoulders and backpacks on their backs, poured into the station under the leadership of the officers. There was a neat queue on the platform waiting to get on the train, and there was a rush of military hats and rifles everywhere. The officers of the pigtail army were all full of ambition, and when they hugged each other and greeted each other, they were all auspicious words for promotion and fortune, and it seemed that they had no determination to fight hard with anyone at all...... These pigtailed troops are the signboard of the strongest soldiers in the southeast, and the pigtailed handsome Zhang Xun is the leader of the big alliance of the Beiyang warlords of the thirteen provinces.

Zhang Xun's green sedan chair also arrived under the escort of a team of guards, staff, and messengers, and he did not like to ride in a car, as if the car represented the Republic of China, and the sedan chair carried by eight people was the symbol of the Manchu Dynasty. Chang Ruiqing's younger brother Chang Ruiyuan was also in the middle of a group of little messengers, and his complexion was the same as those braided army officers, beaming, as if he didn't know that he was already a hostage.

The green sedan chair stopped in front of a hanging float, and as soon as the sedan curtain was lifted, I saw Zhang Xun and Zhang Braided Shuai in military uniforms coming out of the sedan chair, with their hands behind their backs, and a cold face looking at the scene of thousands of pigtails crowded at Xuzhou Station.

The chief soldier of the Dingwu Army, the Haizhou town guard, Bai Baoshan, squeezed through the crowd and walked over with a retinue. He is also Zhang Xun's confidant general, and this time he rushed over from Haizhou with 3,000 pigtailed soldiers, preparing to protect Zhang Xun to go north to restore the Qing Dynasty. Seeing his Zhang Dashuai, Bai Baoshan did not salute according to the etiquette of the Beiyang Army, but beat a thousand children according to the rules of the Manchu Qing Dynasty: "The lowly Haizhou town guard makes Bai Baoshan greet the marshal!" ”

Seeing his favorite general, Zhang Xun smiled with satisfaction: "Okay, Baoshan, get up, the eight battalion leaders rushed from Haizhou to Xuzhou City in just three days, this is what the old man's first strong soldier in the southeast looks like!" ”

Bai Baoshan straightened up and said proudly: "Back to the big handsome, our Dingwu Army is no longer the strongest soldier in the southeast, but the strongest soldier in the world!" ”

Zhang Xun smiled and nodded: "Well, it's to have such ambition!" We must have the determination to fight all over the world in order to recapture the Qing Dynasty. ”

"That's right! Take the Qing Dynasty back! ”

"With the handsome man with us, it is easy to restore the Qing Dynasty!"

"Dashuai is the first hero of the Qing Dynasty and the first hero in the world!"

His voice fell, and the surrounding generals and staff all echoed in unison. Zhang Xun turned his head and looked at Zhang Wensheng, who came to see him off.

"Wenzheng, the old man brought eighteen battalion leaders and more than 7,000 brothers to the north this time. Xuzhou will be handed over to the elder brother here...... Things in the north are already fully certain, but in the south there are expected to be problems. Feng Hejian has changed his mind, the three governors of the Yangtze River are all his people, and the southwest has always disobeyed our Beiyang, and this time he will not support the Qing Dynasty. The final situation may be the confrontation between the north and the south, our Qing Dynasty is in the north, their Republic of China is in the south, and Xuzhou is the brother of the north and the south! Therefore, the old man left forty-five old battalion leaders for you, and you must block Feng Hejian's soldiers! Do you understand? ”

On January 8, 1917, Zhang Xun sent a telegram opposing participation in Europe and expressing solidarity with Li Yuanhong. At the same time, the heroes of Beiyang also began to express their positions, as Zhang Xun said, the Beiyang warlords in the north, including the three eastern provinces, Shandong, and the main warlords of Zhili, and even Jiang Chaozong, the infantry commander in Beijing, expressed their support for Zhang Xun. However, the Beiyang warlords in the Yangtze River basin, including the three governors of the Yangtze River and the commander of the Fourth Division of the Anhui system, Yang Shande, and the commander of the Tenth Division, Lu Yongxiang, did not squeak, and only Li Houji, the overseer of Fujian, expressed his support for Zhang Xun...... Therefore, Zhang Xun took it for granted that the warlords in the north who expressed their support for him would definitely support him in restoring the Manchu Dynasty, while the warlords in the south who remained silent were loyal to the Republic of China.

"Please rest assured, there are forty-five battalion heads, nearly 20,000 elite soldiers, this Xuzhou City is like iron beating steel, no one wants to fight down!" Zhang Wensheng patted his chest and assured Zhang Xun. Zhang Xun nodded with satisfaction, said a few words of encouragement, and then boarded the northbound train with a staff member and messenger.

As soon as he settled down on the float, a staff member came to report that it was the Japanese military adviser to the Beiyang government, and the Japanese Army Lieutenant General Aoki Nobu-sumi had arrived at the station and was about to get on the train. As Chang Ruiqing guessed, Japan was indeed a two-headed bet in the "government dispute" and the later "Zhang Xun restoration", and both played an important role! Suffice it to say that if it had not been for Japan's fanning of the flames, the situation would never have turned out to be what it is now. In fact, the purpose of the Japanese in doing this was not to restore the Manchu Qing Dynasty, nor to support or oppose China's participation in the European war, but simply to create a storm in China, and then to obtain special rights and interests in China by supporting this and that.

And those warlords who were used by Japan actually knew that the Japanese did not have any good intentions, and none of them had the intention of really turning to the Japanese, but on the contrary, they all cooperated with the Japanese with the idea of using the Japanese to strengthen themselves...... Who makes the Japanese really willing to bet real money? Zhang Xun was naturally no exception, and he set up a line with the Japanese military department early in the morning, and then contacted Li Yuanhong's military adviser, Lieutenant General Aoki Xuanchun, the head of the Aoki organ, through the matchmaking of the Japanese military department, and then Aoki mediated from it, facilitating the alliance between Li Yuanhong and Zhang Xun. This time, he personally went south to Xuzhou to have a secret talk with Zhang Xun to discuss the issue of Japan's support for the aftermath after the restoration of the Qing Dynasty.

As soon as he heard that Aoki was coming, Zhang Xun dared to slack off, and immediately went to the door of the carriage in person and greeted a Japanese army lieutenant general who was extremely short and fat and looked like a meat ball.

"Zhang Dashuai, the contemptible people have received instructions from Tokyo, and Prime Minister Terauchi has agreed in principle to provide a large loan of more than 100 million yen to the Qing Dynasty after the successful restoration." After the guests were seated, Aoki Nobujun got straight to the point. The originator of the Japanese army's espionage activities against China spoke fluent Beijing Mandarin, and his face was full of humble smiles, coupled with a dough-like fat face, he did not look like a murderous Japanese army lieutenant general at all, but like a businessman who made money amiably.

As he spoke, Aoki handed over a telegram, and Zhang Xun took it and looked at it, and the smile on his face could no longer be hidden. 100 million yen is equivalent to 50 million silver dollars. With this huge amount of money, the situation after the restoration of the Qing Dynasty will be easy to settle down.

He arched his hand at Aoki and said with a smile: "Lord Lieutenant General, brother, I am also on the road, this time you helped me, helped the Qing Dynasty like this, we won't say anything else, after this matter is completed, what benefits your country wants, we will give the Qing Dynasty!" As long as the court can come down, it will be done. ”

Aoki Xuanchun also gave him a hand back, and said with a smile: "Zhang Dashuai, after the restoration of the Qing Dynasty, let's talk about it slowly, there will always be a way for both sides to get off the stage." The question now is, if the restoration fails, will the marshal have any way out? ”

"A way out?" Zhang Xun's face darkened suddenly, and he said calmly: "I, Zhang, only know how to be loyal to the court, and I don't know what way to retreat!" ”

Aoki Xuanchun smiled and waved his hand: "The contemptible people are not talking about Zhang Dashuai's retreat, but the retreat of the Xuantong Emperor in the Forbidden City." Of course, there is no problem if the restoration succeeds, but what if it fails? What will happen to Emperor Xuantong? Has Zhang Dashuai thought about it? In Chinese history, what has always been the fate of the king of the dead country? Emperor Xuantong's treatment is now an outlier...... If the restoration fails, what will happen to His Majesty the Emperor, has the marshal thought about it? Isn't there really a need to prepare a retreat for His Majesty? ”

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