"Young Master, look up. These are the arms that the old man bought back from Germany this time. You take a look, I was afraid that the ship that got off the ship a month ago would be found out and shipped directly in batches by sea sand boat, and it has always been stored in this warehouse, and the master has instructed," the housekeeper Uncle Shan carefully twisted the kerosene lamp in his hand and put it aside, opened a long box and said. Then the dim light and an old bolt-action rifle more than a meter long with a cooling sleeve and a thick magazine appeared impressively in his eyes, and he didn't know that he was inexplicably excited. Soldiers have an innate special affection for firearms and any kind of violent machinery, and he is no exception. In my previous life, I had seen this gun in the memorial halls in Nanchang and Wuchang. German Commission 1888 rifle, the longest-lived rifle in modern Chinese history. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, it entered China and became the standard equipment of the new army, and mass production continued until 1944. It has always been used in the Xinhai Revolution, the Northern Expedition, the Wuchang Uprising, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and even the Korean battlefield, and the militia even used it until the 70s. Taking into account the consistent precision and durability of German-made firearms, although it is limited by the limitations of the design era, it has left some regrets, but it is really a generation of famous guns. In the later era of the Republic of China, after the large-scale introduction of the Mauser 98 (which was later named as the official after the imitation), a large number of copies were still used to imitate and improve the Hanyang 79 rifle from the Committee in 1888. "Uncle Shan, how many arms are there in this batch?" Yi Yi was reluctant to close the wooden box and turned around and asked casually. "If you know the young master, this batch has a total of 4,000 fast guns, 12 five-life and seven-mountain guns (Grusen 1894 type back-of-the-line howitzers), and more than 400 horse guns." Coral hunched over and replied earnestly. Hearing this, Hu Rui looked at the small warehouse and gasped, according to the establishment of the new army in the late Qing Dynasty, this is almost a mixed equipment, such a large scale. After repeatedly looking at the arms in the warehouse, Hu Rui no longer paid attention to Uncle Shan, pacing back and forth in the warehouse by himself, and finally decided after thinking about it: "Uncle Shan, don't keep silent about this batch of arms first, don't move until I go to the Anqing Huifutai to make a decision, don't leak the news." "Yes, it's all up to the young master." Uncle Shan replied very simply, anyway, it's your family's things, you are the boss, you can do what you say. Thinking back to the history of the Republic of China that I had learned before, I had already had a plan in my heart, and the largest and most equipped new army in the late Qing Dynasty was the six towns of Beiyang, followed by the Hubei New Army. The Beiyang Army was directly funded by the Qing court, and it was needless to say that it ate imperial grain. The Hubei New Army was born out of the self-improvement army organized and trained by the former governor Zhang Zhidong, and guarded the Hanyang Arsenal, the largest in China at that time, and the Chuwangtai armory, so it was absolutely self-sufficient in terms of ordnance. Therefore, looking at the needless new army units of Anhui, Sichuan and Jiujiang that have the demand and ability to procure, no matter how bad they are, they will keep them for their own use, anyway, three years later, when Wuchang starts, this batch of fires will definitely catch up with gold.

After seeing the munitions, early the next morning, Hu Rui and his entourage set off by boat to Anqing to meet with Zhu Jiabao. To say that the old man Hu really has the means and ability, for the baby "son" to sprinkle more than 10,000 taels of silver up and down, and actually really got into a relationship with Zhu Jiabao of Anhui Patrol, relying on a calligraphy and painting of Dong Qichang collected by the old man and put on a warm greeting letter, Zhu Jiabao, a famous honest and honest man in the officialdom, immediately made a decision to invite Young Master Hu to come to Anqing for a trip to meet and discuss in detail, and the telegram was full of expectations. got off the boat, took Uncle Shan and several servants who were responsible for carrying luggage and sundries, Hu Rui and his party got off the boat lightly, inquired all the way, and touched the Futai Yamen. Before they could step forward, the doorman guarding the door immediately rushed over. "This little brother has worked hard, you can take it to drink tea for this little meaning." Without waiting for the other party to speak, Uncle Shan took the lead in taking out 5 silver dollars from his arms and stuffed them into Menzi's hand. Before coming, the old man repeatedly told the young master to stay in the ocean since he was a child, and he didn't understand the rules of domestic officialdom, and asked Coral to be responsible for all matters. "Yo, how many masters, are you ......" Menzi shook the silver dollar in his hand and lowered his posture, glanced at Hu Rui, who was silent behind him, and greeted politely. Oh, this brother is my young master, we are from Shanghai and have something important to ask to see Master Zhu, please let me know. "People are old and fine, Uncle Shan has followed the old man to the north and south for so many years, and even the king of Hades is easy to beat, and the truth that the little ghost is difficult to deal with is said to be another 5 silver dollars." Two masters, you are too polite, and the little one will inform you later. Menzi was overjoyed, and secretly said in his heart that this young master was really generous, and he deserved to come from a big city. He said that he went in with a prayer post in his hand. 5 minutes later, Menzi came back and said respectfully: "2 masters, Lord Futai is invited." As he spoke, he led the way. Looking at Zhu Jiabao Hu Rui with a kind face in front of him, he was in a trance, and it seemed that it was difficult to connect such a kind old man with a foolish Manchu executioner whose hands were stained with the blood of the revolutionary party. Thinking about it, he quickly stood upright, and his shiny leather boots stomped on the bottom plate and saluted: "Hu Xiaolian (filial piety, Old Man Hu got the name for Hu Rui) has seen Lord Futai!" "When I came, I specially put on the German tweed military uniform in the suitcase, and a burst of military might and solemnity came to my face." Hehe, the virtuous nephew doesn't have to be Dolly, please sit down quickly. Ling Zun and Minister Sun Muhan Sun are close friends, and the old man has an old relationship with Lord Sun, so he will call you a good nephew? Zhu Jiabao smiled and looked at the tall and confident young man in front of him, who seemed to be very satisfied with his mental state, and beckoned him to sit down. Adults, please feel free. Hu Rui didn't dare to be careless, and replied hurriedly. There are too many things about hiding knives in laughter in the square. "Hehe, the virtuous nephew doesn't have to be too formal. I heard that the virtuous nephew stayed in the United States since he was a child, studied hard under the German Army, and returned from studying hard, why did he give up the Southern New Army and the Six Towns of Beiyang and join the Anhui New Army? "Zhu Jiabao is not an ordinary clean official, not to mention honesty, he is also very good at ability, and he also knows a little bit about the army and the current shijie situation, and immediately grasped the idea. Anqing is the provincial capital, and now Anqing is not peaceful, and you can guess what the situation is in other parts of Anhui. A week ago, the rebel Xiong Chengji's move had just been quelled, and the smoke of gunpowder had not yet dissipated, and the new army in front of him was really curious. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the new army was originally trained in 36 towns (divisions) in the country, and a province in Anhui also trained a town of troops, but due to local financial reasons and the Anqing Machinery Bureau has not played a role, in fact, it has been organized and trained into a 35 mixed association, with less than 5,000 people, both in terms of quantity and equipment, it is far from catching up with the six towns of Beiyang and the new army in the south. "Sure enough, it's an old fox, it's tricky enough." Hu Rui sighed secretly, and replied with a little bit of words in his heart: "Back to adulthood, the little nephew left his parents at the age of 6 and traveled thousands of miles across the ocean to study, and now he just wants to stay by his parents' side when he returns from school." The tree wants to be quiet and the wind does not stop, the son wants to be filial and his relatives are not there, and the little nephew does not seek to fly Huang Tengda, but only to learn and be useful, and can stay by the side of his body. Although the new army in the south is strong now, it is close to its homeland, but it has long been infiltrated by traitors, and riots are continuous. Looking at the Beiyang private army again, the breath of the Beiyang private army is extremely heavy, Yuan Gongbao Yuan Daren wantonly worships his immortal position in the army, and now Yuan Daren has left his post and returned to his hometown to recuperate, but he still controls the soldiers and horses of the six towns, and the new army built up by the imperial court with blood, sweat and silver, but the new inner is the same as the Huai Army and the Hunan Army, all of which are old-style private armies! "Good! Good! Good! Good! Well said! Whip into the inside, into the wood three points! The virtuous nephew's eyes are like torches, and his knowledge is really extraordinary! Zhu Jiabao didn't wait for Hu Rui to finish speaking, but couldn't help but applaud. In just a few words, Zhu Jiabao has a new understanding of the young man in front of him, the first is that this person attaches great importance to filial piety, and he has been a loyal son since ancient times: second, this son has extraordinary knowledge, delicate thoughts, and disagreements are incised. Zhu Jiabao and Yuan Shikai have always intersected, but they are extremely disgusted by his private worship of his immortal throne in the six towns of Beiyang. Shi Cai heard this son mention this, and his words were full of dissatisfaction, and he was very respectful to the court, and his favorability increased greatly. "Virtuous nephew, I have unique insight, I wonder what the virtuous nephew has to say about the repeated rebellion of the Southern New Army?" Zhu Jiabao took a sip of tea, moistened his throat, picked a question that he had been worried about for a long time, and continued to ask. Hu Rui was stunned, obviously he didn't expect that Zhu Jiabao would mention this issue when they met for the first time. At the moment, I recalled the historical knowledge learned in later generations, and immediately had a plan in my heart, but I hesitated and kept peeking at Zhu Jiabao's face, and only after a moment did I hold back a sentence: "Back to my lord, this matter is widely implicated and involves major national affairs, and the little nephew dare not discuss it, and I ask my lord for forgiveness." ”