The fifth town still stayed in the western part of Jiangxi, occupying the two prefectures of Yuanzhou and Linjiang, and a force (the twentieth standard and the cavalry standard) went out of Luling (the capital of Ji'an) in the name of clearing out the bandits who had slipped through the net. The prefect of Luling did not allow soldiers and horses from the Fifth Town to be stationed, which led to a clash that resulted in the casualties of four soldiers of the Luling Patrol Battalion. The troops commanded by Feng Lun eventually occupied Luling.

The lawsuit of the Luling conflict reached Wu Chongxi, the governor of Jiangxi, and was suppressed. The reason for the fifth town is very sufficient, Linjiang Yuanzhou is in difficulty with food, and the soldiers and horses of the fifth town are not accustomed to the water and soil of the south, and they are sick day by day, so they need to rest and recuperate in a larger area.

The Fifth Town cleanly quelled the riot and solved Governor Wu's big trouble. Dead and wounded a couple of patrol battalions is not a big deal. Now the key is to send this guest army out of the country, otherwise, just to feed the army of nearly 20,000 people and thousands of horses of cattle in the fifth town, it will put serious pressure on the province.

Wu Chongxi and the Fifth Town's report of victory were delivered to the imperial court almost at the same time. This is the best news that Cixi has heard recently, and the situation that he was worried about the spread of the riot in several provinces did not appear, Long Qian lived up to his expectations, pressed it with a thunderous force, and quelled the riot at a speed that exceeded the best expectations of the imperial court, which made Cixi very happy. Said to the ministers of military aircraft, this palace said that Long Qian will not live up to me! How about now? The Military Aircraft Department, in conjunction with the established War Department, was ordered to propose a reward for the Fifth Town and Long Qian himself. Although it is to deal with a few mud legs, this is also a field feat, isn't it?

Tie Liang has already entered the Military Aircraft Department, and he is the secretary of the War Department, so this errand naturally falls on Tie Liang. But the plan couldn't be taken out for a long time, and the fold of the fifth town was directly handed to the imperial front. He claimed that the officers and men were not accustomed to water and soil, and they were eager to return to Shandong.

After Cixi saw it, it was rumored that Tieliang and Yiliang entered the palace to discuss matters.

In 1907, Cixi's physical condition was seriously "slippery", her energy was poor, her memory was seriously decayed, and the courtiers she was very familiar with couldn't remember their names, and she often had to rely on others to remind her. This kind of thing was Li Lianying's special mission before. Now Li Lianying can't do it either. After three days of illness, this errand fell on the heads of Yu Geng's two daughters, Deling and Rongling. In the past, Cixi used to take pleasure in reading excerpts and making instructions, but now she sees them as a daunting path. I don't want to take care of the ordinary trivial things, and there was a blizzard in Jingshi three days ago. Hundreds of houses were crushed. There are also dead people. Suncheonfu typed the report. Cixi was angry about this, and said that I should take care of such a small matter, so what is the use of asking these ministers? If it was before. Cixi will definitely take care of it herself.

Yiliang and Tie Liang stepped on the snow and came to Ouchi and came to Cixi's residence in the palace, and the East Warm Pavilion of the Heart Cultivation Palace. Cixi lived in the Summer Palace more after the Wuxu Change, and returned to the palace not to live in the Empress Dowager's dormitory Cining Palace, which people thought, but to live in the Palace of Nourishing Heart, which symbolized the imperial power.

"Give a seat," Cixi was in a bad spirit, and her cheeks drooped even more, "I summoned you here today to talk about the matter of Longqian's fifth town." Got an idea? Cixi's gaze fell on Tie Liang's face.

"Back to Galeries Lafayette's words. The minions already have a plan. As for the reward, the opinion of the War Department was to reward the silver, and in view of the fact that the soldiers of the Fifth Town had used their lives to quell the chaos. The reward is 50,000 taels of silver, of which 10,000 taels are for Long Qian. As for the headquarters of the Fifth Town, the War Department thought that it would be appropriate to stay in the Hunan and Jiangxi areas for the time being. The War Department received many reports from Jiangxi and Hunan provinces, saying that although a large number of bandits had been wiped out, there were still small groups that had fled to the mountains and left a calamity in the townships. ordered the Fifth Town to divide its troops and exterminate it. For the convenience of Long Qian's use of troops, he can be granted Lin, Yuan, Ping, and Lizhou to patrol the envoys......"

"There are a few thieves left, do you want to be cleared by soldiers? Is it an ulterior motive to keep him in Jiangxi? Cixi asked.

"Lafayette Shengming. Recently, the War Department received a secret report that Sun Wen's chaotic party might make an incident in Liangguang. The Military Aircraft Department has ordered strict precautions. If the party is in trouble, it can make the fifth town from Jiangxi to the south, and it will be leveled in one go. Tie Liang glanced at Yi Xuan, who hung his head and didn't say a word, "The slave thinks that Long Qian's suppression of bandits this time has achieved remarkable results, and it is best to let him lead his troops south to Liangguang and Yongzhen Tiannan." ”

"King Qing, what do you think?"

"The slave understands that Tie Liang's intentions are for the sake of the court. But I'm afraid that the officers and soldiers of the fifth town are homesick and will be in trouble. Long Qian reported to the Military Aircraft Department that due to the lack of adaptation to the water and soil, the soldiers were sick day by day, and if they were transferred to Liangguang ......"

"Hmm, those bandit leaders were indeed killed?" Cixi turned her gaze back to Tieliang. Previously, Tie Liang had secretly reported that Long Qian was suspected of arson, and Gong Chuntai, Liu Daoyi, and Cai Shaonan, who led the uprising, all fell into the hands of Long Qian, but Long Qian was quickly shot without trial. And that Liu Daoyi is the younger brother of Liu Kui, the giant of the Alliance, and a figure like this should be released from Beijing. At the same time, Tie Liang also said that he had sent someone to verify the matter, so as not to wronged the hero.

"There are reports locally that those people were indeed shot. More than a dozen other bandit leaders were shot along with him. Their heads have been hung over the public. One of them is indeed very similar to Liu Bandit......"

"With the thunderbolt method, Fang shows the heart of the Bodhisattva. Long Qian did a good job. That thing, don't pursue it anymore. The reward is light, 50,000 taels? Seven deductions and eight deductions, spread to the soldiers, may be less than a tael of silver, how can it reflect the grace of the imperial court? What's more, it would be too embarrassing for the court to only reward Long Qian with 10,000 taels of silver. Well, he is already an admiral, so let's add a first-class viscount, and double the reward. In addition, he took out a few light car captains and cavalry captains and rewarded those generals under Long Qian to show the favor of the imperial court. By the way, Long Qian's eldest son, let's seal a light car captain. ”

For the meritorious heroes of the opposite sex, the Qing court listed nine kinds of titles: duke, marquis, uncle, son, male and light car captain, cavalry lieutenant, cloud cavalry lieutenant and encai lieutenant. Among them, the viscount is a genuine product. For the current commander, he has not actually been promoted, but he has an extra title, and he can get an extra 410 taels of silver every year. Since the establishment of the new army, for Long Qian's fifth town commander's generous salary, the annual salary of four hundred taels is simply not worth mentioning. In other words, it just sounds good. Like the ninth-class Enqi Lieutenant, the annual salary is only 45 taels, and I am afraid that I can't even buy people's hearts, so it is better to reward the silver solidly. When the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs, they learned the policy of treating officials harshly in the previous dynasty of Zhu Ming, and the very low price was to reward military merits. It's also shabby. However, in recent years, the new army has been reorganized, and the atmosphere has changed. The salaries of the army were set at an extremely high level, and this time the new army was used to quell the rebellion, and the reward was too small, which inevitably aroused the disgust of the officers and men.

"Galeries Lafayette." Yiliang and Tie Liang replied in unison.

Yixuan's eyebrows trembled, and he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything. Recently, some Yushi attacked him for accepting huge bribes from Long Qian, and also said that he secretly held shares in Shandong Huayuan and Zhongxing. The excerpt of the complaint was left by Cixi, but Cixi asked him about his shareholding in Shandong Industrial Group, and of course Yixuan swore that he did not have a penny of shares.

Over the years, he has received countless pieces of silver from Long Qian. But there is not a single share. So. He justified it. But someone was eyeing his relationship with Long Qian, which made it difficult for him to speak to Long Qian at such a time. The purpose of Tie Liang's transfer to the fifth town is to get involved in Shandong, and the main purpose is, of course, the two cash cows, since the beginning of this year. Beiyang has already bought more than 100,000 silver arms from Shandong. The main thing is ammunition. Shandong's tone was very hard. Insist on taking the money to pick up the goods, and never refuse to owe on credit. Therefore, Tie Liang will never allow Long Qian, the little tiger, to return to his lair. Look at Cixi's demeanor. It is estimated that Tie Liang has fully communicated with the old lady in private. What kind of reward for the viscount is just to compensate Long Qian.

"Then let's do it. By the way, is Liangbi back? Cixi asked.

"Just as I was about to play Lafayette, Liangbi had already returned, just the day before yesterday. On the way, he contracted a cold and lived in Xianliang Temple to recuperate. The minions had already seen him. Tie Liang replied.

"Oh, let him go home. I'm cured, and I'm going to see him. Cixi was very satisfied with the few Manchu military ministers who were using their abilities.

"The slave thanked Lafayette for his grace."

Liangbi led Qincha's errand to Jilin to inspect the newly established 18th Town of the New Army, and he had been gone for almost two months. Speaking of these eighteen towns, it's really interesting. Three years ago, Japan and Russia fought in Manchuria, killing hundreds of thousands of people in the dark. The losses of the people of Kanto were even worse, countless villages and towns were destroyed in the war, and tens of thousands of people were displaced. However, the imperial court did not have the courage to demand compensation from the two robbers of Japan and Russia, and they deserved the bad luck of those people in the war.

This war, which suffered the people outside the Guan, brought variables to the Manchu court, that is, the Japanese drove the Russians out of South Manchuria, eliminating the danger that the Russians would swallow the Manchu Qing "land of Longxing". After the entry into force of the Treaty of "Portsmouth" signed by the United States, the Russian forces were completely expelled from South Manchuria. As a result of the violent domestic upheaval in 1905, the Russians could no longer care about the Far East. In 1906, the main forces of the Russian army withdrew from Jilin and Heilongjiang one after another, which greatly relieved the imperial court. Although the South Manchurian Railway fell into the hands of the Japanese and the Port of Arthur had a new owner, the imperial court still believed that the Russo-Japanese war was a good thing for the Manchus.

Another change was the emergence of two Han-dominated armies outside the Guan. One is Zhang Zuolin's department in South Manchuria, which has been supported by the Japanese and has a scale of nearly 10,000 people. However, compared with another army of soldiers and horses in North Manchuria, Zhang Zuolin's department is a little trivial.

The origin of this army in the North Manchurian army is very surprising, they once under the command of the Russian army in the Battle of Mukden heavy damage to the Japanese army, killed the father of the Japanese cavalry, Major General Akiyama Yoshiko, forced Lieutenant General Limi Shangwen to commit suicide, the limelight for a while, the wind is rumored that the Japanese hate it to the core, and once sent someone to assassinate the leader of the department, Lu Dashan, but unsuccessfully. After the armistice between Japan and Russia, Lu Dashan withdrew north with the Russian army and was reorganized into the North Manchurian Infantry Division by the Russian army. After the Russians withdrew, the unit took the initiative to surrender to the government and was ordered to vigorously clean up the "beards" that had attacked and disturbed the Russian army's communication lines in the eastern part of Jilin. For this reason, Lu Dashan was favored by Zhu Jiabao.

According to the report of Zhu Jiabao, the governor of Jilin, the actual strength of Lu Dashan's troops has exceeded 15,000, and the full set of Russian-style guns and artillery has almost no opponents in Jilin and even Heilongjiang. Zhu Jiabao, the first governor of Jilin, had long suggested that the imperial court should encircle him and include him in the new army of the imperial court, which was tantamount to obtaining a force sufficient to appease the local area out of thin air. With it, you can go north to defend Heilongjiang. The current governor of Heilongjiang is called Cheng Dequan, who took office together with Tang Shaoyi and Zhu Jiabao. This Governor Cheng won the favor of Cixi by virtue of his merits in sacrificing his life to negotiate with the Russians in the year of Gengzi, and after several turnovers, he was quickly promoted to the governor of Heilongjiang. From Zhu Jiabao to Cheng Dequan, the hostility towards the Russians was far greater than that of the Japanese who went deep into the important areas of South Manchuria. Although Lu Dashan was raised by the Russians, this person is loyal, has a strong sense of family and country, and is willing to fight for the country, which is very good. Otherwise, the huge northern frontier. It is simply unimaginable that there is no regular armed force of the imperial court.

Therefore, the imperial court sent Liangbi as a messenger to personally inspect the Lu Dashan Department in Jilin and bring the official number of the eighteenth town of the army. Cixi has been paying attention to this matter, and now that Liangbi has finally returned, of course she has to ask.

The reason why the eighteenth town was awarded was not that the imperial court already had seventeen army towns. In fact, there are only eight army towns that have been formed in the imperial court, which are the first ~ sixth. Eighth, and ninth towns. At the beginning of the year, Yuan Shikai proposed a national defense plan for the reorganization and establishment of 36 towns and Taiwan. Each province has at least one town. This plan was approved by the original military department. However, the formation and training of new army towns is not a matter of one sentence, and the army of six towns alone overwhelms the household department (the fifth town only pays military salaries according to the establishment). The military expenses of the eighth and ninth towns were paid by the local government. However, the Ministry of War has never been able to let go of the construction plan of the 36 Towns Army, believing that the territory is huge and the 36 Towns Army will not be able to defend it.

The Ministry of War advocated the establishment of a new army. The household department is firmly opposed. Although Guanwai is said to be the land of Longxing of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. It is the ancestral mausoleum. However, the Manchu aristocracy, who had long been dissipated, regarded Guanwai as a daunting path, and they were unwilling to go to Guanwai even as officials. Not to mention recruiting and training troops on the spot. Now that a ready-made armed force has emerged in Jilin, the War Department is naturally overjoyed, which was restructured from the Ministry of War. simply crossed the order and gave the number of the eighteenth town, in order not to forget the grand plan of the Thirty-six Towns Army.

Liangbi was sick and lived in Xianliang Temple was also helpless, according to the imperial court system, Qin sent back to Beijing without getting rid of the difference, and could not go home. You can only live in a government-run inn. Cixi must have asked for details, but now she still listened with great interest to Tie Liang's report on the results of Liangbi's northward journey, "...... Tie Liang and his entourage strictly inspected the department and found that it actually had 15,435 officers and men, more than 60 Russian-made and Japanese-made cannons, and more than 40 machine guns...... Lu Dashan's ancestral home is Shandong, his ancestors went to Guandong, he was grateful for the grace of the imperial court, and kowtowed to swear allegiance to the imperial court and the queen mother...... Lu Dashan was awarded the command of the eighteen towns of the army, and Han Ping (Fan Deping) and Qi Huzi (Cheng Erhu) were the 35th and 36th co-ordinators...... The establishment of the department is completely the same as that of the Beiyang New Army, only the artillery and cavalry are sharp, they bought a large number of good horses from the Don River from the Russians, and made up two cavalry marks, Lu Dashan asked to organize a cavalry association under the eighteen towns, and Liangbi refused in the name of not conforming to the military system. At present, the 18 towns and towns are located in Jilin (now Jilin City), and the 35th Association is stationed in the area of Hulan and Shuangcheng (now Harbin), and the 36th Association is stationed in the area of Changchun Hall (now Changchun City), suppressing bandits on the one hand and training troops on the other ......"

Cixi has nothing to do with specific military affairs, she cares about the loyalty of the army generals, "According to what Liangbi saw, is this Lu Dashan reliable?" ”

"The Queen Mother is ambitious. The minions thought that it was not possible to send personnel to take over the ministry at present, because Lu Dashan's subordinate general Ben had a close relationship with the Russians, and there were still Russian troops stationed in Kyrgyzstan and Hei provinces, with a number of 20,000 to 30,000, and they had not yet been fully withdrawn. Liangbi had a secret discussion with Tang Shaoyi in Fengtian, and planned to transfer capable personnel from Tang Shaoyi and send them to the eighteen towns to serve as instructors and staff officers, so as to Xu Tuzhi. ”

"That's right. How to raise military funds in the eighteen towns? ”

"Before Liangbi went to Guanwai, the servants discussed with him and planned to refer to the precedents of Hubei and Jiangsu. Jilin Province has some difficulties, but Cheng Dequan is willing to help pay 30%. ”

"Hmm, you can make an excerpt for the Military Aircraft Department."

"Huh."

"Mukden is more important. How is it armed? Cixi changed the subject.

"Back to the Queen Mother's words. At present, the total number of Fengtian patrol battalions has exceeded 10,000, but there is a shortage of officers, and the training is not as good as that of the troops in the 18 towns. Tang Shaoyi had reported several times that officials from Beiyang had been transferred to enrich the ministry, and in addition, he hoped that the imperial court would grant him an official title......"

"What does the War Department think?"

Tie Liang couldn't help but glance at Yixuan, "The slave thinks that there are many people who have studied military affairs in Japan in recent years, and they can choose those who are capable to be sent to Fengtian to assist in military training." Tang Shaoyi was skilled in political affairs, but the military was not his forte, and the imperial court was elected to go and integrate the various departments of Fengtian into an army town...... Manchuria is the land of our dynasty, and even if the army of the two towns is stationed, it is far from enough. ”

"yes. But it costs money to raise soldiers. Does the War Department have the right candidate? Cixi understood the deep meaning of Tie Liang's glance at Yixiao, Yiliang and Yuan Shikai hooked up with a chain, and Cixi also heard about it. Therefore, Tie Liang did not mention the selection of generals from Beiyang towns, because Tang Shaoyi was Yuan Shikai's person. Tie Liang still regards Yuan Shikai, who handed over the three and six towns, as a great enemy.

"The slave thinks it's good."

"Hmm, what does King Qing mean?" Cixi turned her gaze to the military aircraft foreman Yixuan, who had been silent.

"The minion seconded." In the face of the aggressive Tie Liang, Yiliang chose to retreat.

"Well, the Military Aircraft Department will take a charter for this matter. What else? ”

"Lafayette, the slave heard that Shandong is going to build a car?"

"Yang Shixiang has already made a report. Is there anything wrong? ”

"It is said that with the participation of Americans, will Shandong Industry be swallowed up by foreign capital? This is one of them. Second, even if the car can be built, to whom will it be sold? Where does the oil come from? The minions thought they needed to be cautious. In addition, Shandong's arms manufacturing has surpassed Hanyang, and Beiyang is ready to order ammunition from Shandong. Originally, it was very expensive to order from a foreigner. Now that we can build it ourselves, is it a regulation set by the imperial court? Take back the ordnance factory controlled by civilian and commercial enterprises? ”

This latter one is the focus of Tie Liang. Now Tie Liang is in the hands of the Three Towns Army, although the Third and Sixth Towns are still in the hands of Yuan officers, but the supreme command has changed hands. Considering the replenishment of ordnance and the formation of new troops, Tie Liang naturally set his sights on the munitions factory in Shandong. Moreover, after Tie Liang was in charge of the War Department, there was more and more news about the Fifth Town, and he was even more uneasy to learn that the soldiers of the Fifth Town were trained at least four times a month with live ammunition at least 20 grains each time, which was more than twice as high as that of the Five Towns of Beiyang.

"Retracted? Those factories didn't the imperial court invest? Cixi asked suspiciously.

"Shandong Industry is mainly Huayuan and ZTE. Its Huayuan made guns, Zhongxing steel-making and explosives, all of which were necessary for the imperial court to strengthen the army. However, Huayuan Industry was built on the basis of the Jinan Arsenal, which was an asset of the imperial court. The minions thought that the arms should be controlled by the imperial court. ”

This is for the sake of the imperial court, and Cixi is very pleased. I think that Tie Liang and Liang Bi are more suitable for these newcomers than Yiliang, "You think very much." However, this matter needs to be careful, and Yang Shixiang can be summoned to Beijing to discuss, he has done a good job in Shandong over the years. Cixi said this.

"The minions obey."

"Long Qian's reward over there should be fast, understand? In the name of the War Department, he issued an order to the Fifth Town, saying that although the rebellion in Jiangxi was quelled, it still needed to be suppressed. The fifth town will not return to Shandong for the time being. ”

"Servants obey the oracle."

The whole performance is right, and Yixuan, the foreman of the prince's military aircraft, has almost become an ornament. (To be continued......)