In Wuchang, when the river ship slowly approached the wharf at the entrance of the Simen, Kui Bin, the governor of Hubei, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately walked to the riverside with the officials of the major yamen of the three towns of Wuhan to receive him warmly, and then held a grand and grand reception reception and handover ceremony in the governor's yamen. All from

A few low-level officials who did not receive the invitation due to mistakes were worried and suspicious that they did not attend this grand event, and somehow lost this qualification, and they were very careful about whether the little black gauze hat on their heads could be worn. Even Huang Pengnian, a feudal priest who was seriously ill in his old age, managed to cope with his illness, and after the two-day ceremony, he lay back on the bed.

Walking into the luxurious and magnificent big lottery room arranged by Kui Bin, the first thing Zhang Zhidong did was to hang the "Gubeikou Great Wall Map" high on the north wall. This majestic Danqing, from Taiyuan to Guangzhou, now comes to Wuchang Yamen with the owner. Zhang Zhidong looked at it intently, feeling that he was like both the winding Great Wall and the towering Guan Tower, and he was very proud in his heart. He glanced at the large desk in the center of the room. On the desk, there are stacked volumes and books that are more than a foot high. He picked up the one on the top, which was a 400-mile express sent by the military aircraft. Looking at the list of receiving the letter, it was ten days ago and arrived at the Wuchang Governor's Office. What is the urgency to let the military aircraft department send such an express? Zhang Zhidong opened it while thinking about it, and a few lines of words jumped into his eyes:

"Recently, when the governor went to office, he often accompanied his own barracks, which was not only expensive, but also inconsistent with the system. It is rumored that Zhang Zhidong went to his post this time, with 200 personal soldiers, which is a terrifying number. Zhang Zhidong sent all the soldiers he brought back to Guangdong, except for one or twenty as appropriate, and there must be no mistake. ”

Zhang Zhidong, who came to Wuchang with great ambition, never expected that the edict he received for the first time as the governor of Huguang would make him angry. He was so annoyed that he threw the letter from the Military Aircraft Office on the table, and then left the bookcase and walked back and forth quickly on the red carpet.

After hurriedly walking a bag of cigarettes, his mood calmed down slightly, and he asked the official outside the door to invite Sang Zhiping, who was his friend who personally invited him to the countryside when he was in Shanxi. The construction of the north and south railways and the transfer of the governor of Huguang were also from Sang Zhiping's handwriting. It is precisely because of this that he came to Wuchang before Zhang Zhidong.

After a while, Sang Zhiping walked into the signing room, and when he saw Zhang Zhidong's face was gray and black, he knew that he was in an unhappy mood.

"What happened to me and I feel uncomfortable?"

Zhang Zhidong pointed to the letter on the table and said.

"Just look at it."

Sang Zhiping picked up the letter from the Military Aircraft Department, quickly read it, and said softly: "I hurt you." ”

It turned out that a group of officers were selected from the Guangwu Army to be brought to Hubei, and this construction was proposed by Sang Zhiping. In order to show the prestige of the army and to protect the safety along the way, the governor often brought a large number of personal soldiers with him when he moved and moved. In recent decades, it has become a common practice. After receiving the order of the Governor of Hu, Sang Zhiping said to Zhang Zhidong: "It has been three or four years since the establishment of the Guangwu Army, and I have invited German instructors, and the German Army is the strongest army today. In recent years, under the guidance of German instructors, the Guangwu Army has been very similar. If a group of outstanding officers from among the middle and lower ranks of the Guangwu Army are selected and brought to Hubei as a personal army, and then this group of people is used as the backbone to recruit a new army in Hubei, the new army in Hubei can be trained very quickly. ”

Zhang Zhidong agreed with Sang Zhiping's construction, so he appointed Sang Zhiping and Zhang Biao, who had been promoted to the capital of the pro-military battalion, to the Guangwu Army to secretly select personnel. So Sang Zhiping and Zhang Biao selected 150 middle- and lower-level officers from the 3,000 Guangwu army, and Zhang Biao selected 50 of his buddies from the pro-military camp, a total of 200 people, to form a new pro-military battalion, and escorted them all the way to Wuchang on another sea ship. was originally a good idea, but it was suddenly disrupted, who stabbed this matter to the imperial court?

Alas! Zhang Zhidong sighed in his heart and thought, Brother Ziqing has only been on leave for a few days due to illness, and the Military Aircraft Department has issued such an edict!

Thinking of this, he walked up to Sang Zhiping and said.

"If you hurt me, where to start! Your idea, I still think is very good. I'm angry that someone is secretly messing with my ghost. ”

"As long as you don't regret it."

Sang Zhiping tightened his eyebrows, thought for a moment and said.

"Troublemakers are certain, you have been in Guangdong for all these years, how can there be a place where you should not offend people? Fortunately, the edict did not punish you, but only ordered the accompanying soldiers to be sent back to Guangdong. Let me ask you now, will you send these soldiers back or not?"

Zhang Zhidong immediately asked rhetorically.

"What about repatriation, and what if not?"

"If you are willing to repatriate, it is very simple, do what you want, send these people back to Guangdong, and still go to the Guangwu military camp, I have nothing to say. If you don't want to be repatriated, we'll talk about it next. ”

When Zhang Zhidong, who was already stubborn, heard this, he immediately gritted his teeth, tightened his face, and after thinking for a long time, two words burst out of his mouth.

"No!"

"Yes, it shouldn't be sent!"

Sang Qiaping showed a look of relief on his face, and nodded approvingly, if he was sent, whether it was the court or the local government in the future, he would be bullied with his weakness.

"What do you think next?"

Zhang Zhidong, who was deeply interested, hurriedly asked Sang Zhiping to sit down.

"We have to find a way to deal with the court."

Sang Zhiping looked up and down the urgent letter from the general's plane, and had an idea in his mind.

"Is this okay?"

"How to deal with it?"

"You will give the court an excerpt, saying that these pro-soldiers are Huaiyong. They are not accustomed to the water and soil of Guangdong, and would rather go back to their hometown in Anhui to work as a farmer than return to the barracks. They are now discharged on the spot in accordance with the order, and they will be paid travel expenses to return to their hometowns to work in agriculture. The reason why the imperial court is like this is not because there are less than 200 personal soldiers in Guangdong, but because you are afraid that you will settle the soldiers who have been following you for a long time in Hubei, as long as these people leave Hubei, the imperial court will not bother. ”

Sang Zhiping looked at Zhang Zhidong with a smile and came up with the simplest method.

"Few Huaiyong people who come to Guangdong can adapt to the hot and humid climate there, and they all want to go home, and this statement can be handled. Please sue Uncle Sù and ask him to draw up an excerpt according to this meaning. ”

This edict sent by the Military Aircraft Department reminded Zhang Zhidong that in addition to the railway, mining, and iron works, the matter of forming a new army in Hubei should not be delayed for too long. If the time is not ripe, we can first set up an army school in Hubei like Frederick the Great as Tang Ziran said on the ship that day, and train a group of new-style officers as soon as possible.

Thinking of Tang Haoran, the anger in Zhang Zhidong's heart suddenly disappeared, but he got better, and said to Sang Zhiping as if offering a treasure.

"Brother Zhongzi, this time with the ship, I met a great talent who is proficient in the West, and I am afraid that no one in the country can understand the things of the West, and what he said can be described as three points!"

Sang Zhiping picked up the teacup, took a sip slowly, looked at Zhang Zhidong and said.

"Xiang Shuai, could it be another Gu Hongming?"

In his opinion, Gu Hongming is just a scholar who is proficient in Western studies rather than proficient in Western affairs, so that since he entered the scene, he can only act as a "foreign copywriter" for Xiang Shuai.

"Absolutely different, absolutely different!"

Only Sang Zhiping dared to say such a thing to Zhang Zhidong, and he was not annoyed, Zhang Zhidong waved his hand again and again, and then talked with the two people on the boat that day, and finally Zhang Zhidong smiled again.

"Therefore, I ordered him to write a book of what Ou Xing heard and understood, and planned to publish it into a book with Hubei, Zhongzi, if you have time, you can also take a look at it, and see it! Now I want to do foreign affairs with Huguang, and I need such talents! ”

Sang Zhiping picked up the tea bowl silently, slowly took a few sips of tea, and after putting down the tea bowl, he calmly opened his mouth.

"If it is published into a book, I will definitely buy it and take a look, but what about Xiang Shuai, what about Gu Hongming's talent?"

Although Zhang Zhidong and his entourage only arrived in Wuchang for the first time, Sang Zhiping already knew Tang Haoran's name from Zhao Zhujun's mouth, but perhaps because he was used to seeing talents who were proficient in "foreign studies" in recent years, for those people, there were not so many expectations.

"Tang Sheng is indeed a great talent, and there is no one else in China who is proficient in Western learning,"

Not to mention Zhang Zhidong, even many foreigners admired Gu Hongming's full of Western knowledge when he was in Guangzhou.

"And what about my learning?"

Sang Zhiping's words made Zhang Zhidong stunned, and he immediately said seriously.

"In terms of learning, Brother Zhongzi is still on me! However, Zhongzi's talent is a weekday talent, and his younger brother is a chaotic official! ”

With a seemingly simple question and a smile, Zhang Zhidong nodded and said.

"I understand what Brother Zhongzi means, what you said is that what I need now is someone who is proficient in Western studies and can do practical things."

Speaking of this, Zhang Zhidong thought of the most appointed foreign talents in Li Hefei's staff, Wu Tingfang, who had an annual salary of 6,000 taels of gold, who was able to do things, and served as a legal adviser in Li Hefei's office, participated in countless large and small matters, and even saved China's rights and interests during the Sino-French negotiations.

"Xiang Shuai, as for this Tang Ziran, how to use it, it's not in a hurry now, what's the harm in publishing a book for it, how can this way of employing people be used because of his words?"

Sang Zhiping blinked and smiled slyly.

"If it is indeed talented, when the time is ripe, it will naturally surprise you, so why rush!"

(In the release of new books, every click, recommendation, and favorite you have is the biggest motivation for your speechless efforts to update!) Ask for collections, ask for recommendations! ）