In the twenty-first year of Guangxu, on August 15, 1895, the regular meeting of the Imperial General Staff was being held in a very hot weather.

Lieutenant General Zhu Tao, director of the Intelligence Division, sat firmly on a red-lacquered sandalwood chair, pinched a stack of documents, and reported the latest military intelligence while wiping sweat: "...... The Russian army is withdrawing from the main cities of Hokkaido, but still occupies the main islands north of Hokkaido, and by August 13, the Russian army still has an infantry brigade and a cavalry regiment on the main island of Hokkaido, about 6,000 people, and at least 3,000 people are stationed on the affiliated islands of Hokkaido. ”

"What a long supply line from Petersburg to Hokkaido, the Far Eastern Railway has just been built to Chita, and there are still 2,000 kilometers away from the Sea of Japan, so it is extremely stupid to want to compete with us for the interests of the Japanese archipelago." General Liu Yun, Chief of the General Staff, said disapprovingly.

Zhu Tao put forward an explanation: "On August 25 last year, Tsar Alexander III died and Nicholas II ascended the throne. However, because of the long supply lines, the inability to keep up with logistical support, and the signing of an alliance treaty between Japan and Japan, the Russian side was bound to be worried that our country would march to the Far East and cut off the rear route of the Hokkaido garrison, so it was forced to withdraw its troops on its own initiative and concentrate its efforts on guarding against our country on the line from Baikal to Primorye. ”

Liu Yun nodded: "I agree with Zhu Tao's analysis, do you have any opinions on this?" ”

Lieutenant General Yang Zhengjin, head of the Operations Division, was puzzled: "I read a book called "Memoirs of Count Witte" before I teleported, saying that Tsar Alexander III died of illness on October 31, 1895 in the Gregorian calendar, but now it is finished on August 25, which is strange——"

Liu Yun said with a smile: "The tree of history has given birth to completely different branches because of our intervention, and the history and future of the era we are in now may be completely different from the era in which we were born, but I don't know what the connection between the early death of the Tsar and our intervention history will be, this kind of issue does not need to be discussed in the future, we should focus on practical issues." Zhu Tao, continue your report. ”

Zhu Tao grabbed the handkerchief behind the chair and wiped his sweat again: "Yes, the next thing is the intelligence of the Russian Navy." At the beginning of this year, the Russian Pacific Fleet had seven cruisers, four gunboats, and five destroyers, and the Siberian Fleet had one cruiser, four gunboats, and four destroyers. As of 1 August, the Pacific Fleet had added three cruisers and four destroyers, the Siberian Fleet had added two gunboats and three destroyers, and two more fleet armored ships were being transferred to the Far East. ”

"Our Zhenyang Fleet now has four fleet armored battleships and sixteen capital cruisers, as well as four new destroyers, ten large fleet torpedo boats, and has an overwhelming advantage over the Russian Far East naval strength in terms of strength, but we can't start to recover the lost territory in Northeast China now...... Liu Yun looked around at the generals, "The internal political reform is waiting to be launched, the country's industrialization needs to be realized, the modern army needs to be built, the diplomatic situation is still grim, and the integration of Northeast Asia has just begun...... More importantly, the temporary regional maritime superiority does not mean anything, the Russian Empire's naval strength is still the fourth in the world, the army standing army has nearly one million, and the reserve and extraordinary reserve personnel are more than 2.5 million, and the equipment and technical level of the army standing army is comparable to that of our national defense force. Next, Director Yang will report on the newly drawn military expansion plan, and everyone will put forward their opinions, and if you have no objections, it will be submitted to the cabinet for deliberation. ”

Yang Zhengjin wiped off the sweat on his hands with a hand towel, pinched up two documents, and said: "The Operations Department and the Training Department have jointly drawn up this 10-year armament expansion plan, the main points of which are as follows: First, the Army will build 20 new Standing Infantry Divisions, 10 Independent Infantry Brigades, and 8 Independent Cavalry Brigades within 10 years, adding a total of 520,000 Army Standing Troops. Scrap and restructure all of the old troops, including the existing 200,000 Improved Army. By 1905, the standing strength of the national army would include five Janissary Infantry Divisions, three Janissary Independent Brigades, 24 Wehrmacht Standing Infantry Divisions, 10 Independent Infantry Brigades, and 10 Independent Cavalry Brigades. Second, the Army will complete the construction of 10 National Defense Combat Reserve Divisions and 10 National Defense Combat Reserve Brigades within 10 years, and the standard is that mobilization can be completed within three days, equipment and recovery training can be completed within two weeks, and the Army can be converted into a standing division of the National Defense Forces and put into combat within one month. Within 10 years, the construction of two Janissary Supplementary Reserve Divisions, 22 National Defense Supplementary Reserve Divisions, and 20 National Defense Supplementary Reserve Brigades will be completed, and the standard is that mobilization can be completed within two weeks, equipment and recovery training can be completed within one month, and new Standing Brigades and regiments of the National Defense Forces can be put into combat within two months, or the existing standing forces can be supplemented with formed or unformed soldiers. By 1905, the National Reserve Army will include 10 national defense combat reserve divisions, 10 national defense combat reserve brigades, 5 Janissary Supplementary Reserve Divisions, 24 National Defense Supplementary Reserve Divisions, and 20 National Defense Supplementary Reserve Brigades, and it is expected that 320,000 reserve combat soldiers will be mobilized within one month, 1 million reserve combat soldiers within two months, and 2.36 million reserve combat soldiers within six months. Thirdly, the provinces should establish local militias in proportion to their population, and it is estimated that there will be one militia member for every 100 people, and that the whole country will have 4 million to 5 million militia members by 1905. Fourth, within 10 years, the Navy added eight new armored battleships, 10 armored cruisers, 18 cruisers, 32 destroyers, 12 large torpedo boats, and a number of offshore gunboats, small torpedo boats, and even small submarines, most of which were built by domestic shipyards, and a few were ordered from Germany or Britain. By 1905, Ji Lu planned to maintain twelve fleet armored battleships, ten fleet armored cruisers, four armored coastal defense ships, thirty main cruisers, thirty destroyers and twenty-two large torpedo boats of the fleet......"

"What about the development plan of the military industry?" Lieutenant General Ma Chengwu, director of the logistics department, reminded.

"There is also a plan for the development of military science and technology." Lieutenant General Hook, head of the armament department, added.

Liu Yun took a sip of Guiping Xishan green tea: "Because the development of the military industry and science and technology must be coordinated with the development of the national economy, the cabinet should make overall plans in accordance with our army expansion plan, so that at least the army expansion plan and the national economic development plan will not cause serious contradictions." Our task is to make effective use of the resources allocated by the Cabinet and to accomplish the arms expansion program with high quality. Still have questions? ”

Zhu Tao hesitated for a moment and said in a low voice: "In this way, aren't we going to be bound by the cabinet?" ”

Liu Yundao: "Our goal is to establish a democratic state, not a military dictatorship, and the system is like this, restraint is necessary, and unrestricted power is an inevitable disaster." ”

"No problem." Zhu Tao said that he was still a little uncomfortable in his heart.

"Next, Director Yang will report on the newly drafted plan for the division of military regions, and if it is approved internally, it will also be submitted to the cabinet for deliberation."

While warmly nostalgic for the air conditioner of that era, Yang Zhengjin wiped off the sweat droplets on his forehead and picked up another document: "This is a plan drawn up by the Operations Department alone, mainly out of consideration for the selection of strategic directions and the perfection of the national mobilization system, the national plan is divided into six formal military regions: Northeast China, Zhili, East China, South China, Southwest China, and Northwest China, as well as two special military regions of Mongolia and Tibet. The Northeast Military Region includes Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Shengjing provinces and other Korean vassal areas; The Zhili Military Region includes the five provinces of Zhili, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Henan; The East China Military Region includes five provinces: Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, and Jiangxi; The South China Military Region includes Fujian, Taiwan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hunan provinces, as well as the Ryukyu vassal region; The Southwest Military Region includes Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou provinces; The Northwest Military Region includes four provinces: Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang. The navy will continue to follow the structure of the Zhenyang Fleet and the Sanyang Fleet, but plans to build three new domestic bases, including the Jiaozhou Bay base group in Shandong, the Kaohsiung base in Taiwan, and the Zhanjiang base in Guangdong. In addition, it is planned to open three dedicated bases in Korea and Japan, including the Busan base, the Sasebo base and the Yokosuka base......"

“…… The Northeast Military Region has the Fengtian Army Academy, the Zhili Military Region has the Baoding Army Academy adapted from the former Baoding Army Academy, the East China Military Region has the Jiangning Army Academy adapted from the former Jiangnan Martial Arts School, the South China Military Region has the Guilin Army Academy adapted from the former Guilin Infantry School, the Southwest Military Region has the Chengdu Army Academy adapted from the former Chengdu Infantry School, and the Northwest Military Region has the newly established Lanzhou Army Academy. The Imperial Army University has set up a special specialty, a steppe cavalry specialty, and a plateau tactical specialty, for the Mongolian and Tibetan special military regions to train military personnel for these two special military regions. The Sanyang Fleet also has its own naval military academies, including the Beiyang Naval Academy in Tianjin, the Dayang Naval Academy in Mawei, Fujian, and the Nanyang Naval Academy in Guangzhou, Guangdong. The military academies directly under the General Staff will include the Imperial Naval University, which has been newly relocated to Dalian, the Imperial Army University, the Imperial War College, and the Imperial Communication College near Beijing, the Imperial Military Medical College and the Imperial Military Science and Technology College in Tianjin, and the Jinan Artillery Academy in Shandong......"

"So, can the heads of the military districts and fleets be sure?" Zhu Tao asked.

Liu Yun glanced at him: "Before the start of the congressional election, it is necessary to complete the implementation of the structural plan of the new military region, so major personnel changes will be carried out in the near future, and most general-level officers will have changes in their positions, so everyone must be mentally prepared." ”

Lieutenant General Wu Dingguo, head of the training department, spread his hands and said, "It doesn't matter what you tell me to do, but it's best to have the opportunity to go to the front." ”

Yang Zhengjin put forward his opinion very seriously: "I think you are more suitable to sit in the office." ”

"Really? I don't feel it. ”

"You're overweight right now, and there are probably not many horses that can carry you." Yang Zhengjin smiled sinisterly.

Liu Yun followed with a smile: "Director Yang is right, Director Wu should lose weight." Without further ado, what do you think about the new military region system? ”

"Report!" The voice of the guard officer was heard outside the door.

"Come in. What's the matter? Liu Yun picked up the document and fanned the air.

"Chief of Staff, your family has come to report, Mrs. Zun started to have stomach aches this morning, and a doctor has been called, I am afraid that she is going to give birth."

"We are discussing confidential matters, and in the future, unless it involves national affairs, we are not allowed to come in and disturb them, do you know the truth?"

"Yes!"

Liu Yun watched the guard officer leave, and when he turned his head, he saw that all the generals were struggling to clean up the documents on the table.

"What, I haven't said adjournment yet."

Zhu Tao said with a smile: "Let's go back and take a look, national affairs are important, and the family members around you should not be taken lightly, and patriotism must start with lovers." ”

Liu Yun sent him a smile back: "I don't look like I'm old anymore, I don't have so much fun as you young people." ”

"Nonsense, you are in the prime of life, if you want to talk about sex, it is more flavorful than ours."

"Forget it......"

That night, Mrs. Liu gave birth to a beautiful boy who was white and chubby, Liu Yun was happy to see it, and couldn't put it down when he hugged it, and then named it "Liu Fan", which was the name of Liu Ping, who was four years old at the time.

One month later, Liu Fan was full moon, the emperor gave a gold lock and jade pendant, Liu Yunyou was a guest of the banquet, and he was invited to be a military and political official of the dynasty, and the mansion was suddenly very lively.

Among the ministers and vice-ministers of the cabinet, except for Minister of War Liu Kunyi, who said that he was ill, 10 ministers and 11 vice-ministers all attended, and the military was even more than a few, from the chiefs of various divisions of the General Staff to the commanders of various headquarters, and the commanders of all Janissary Divisions and brigades. In the face of great powers, no one can always remain calm.

Taking advantage of his free time, Wen Yi pulled Liu Yun to a slightly deserted place: "The general election is about to begin, the cabinet has approved the armament expansion plan of the General Staff and the division plan of the military region, has the new personnel arrangement plan of the military been decided?" ”

Liu Yunmo held the blue artificial crystal wine glass and took a sip of blood-red wine: "It has been determined, and it will be submitted to the cabinet and the emperor for consideration the day after tomorrow." ”

"How does Ding Jieyun arrange it?"

"Still in the Praetorian Guard Command."

"Where's Zhong Xiahuo?"

"Commander of the Northeast Military District."

Wen Yi took a glass of champagne from the waiter's tray: "It's a good idea to keep the tiger by your side. ”

Liu Yun glanced at the officers who were eating and drinking in Zhenghai: "It's better than letting the tiger into the mountain and brewing the danger of civil war." ”

"Do you think you can control him?"

"If you can't control it, you have to get rid of it, and besides, he just has the ability, not necessarily the ambition."

"Ability is enough, ambition can grow."

Liu Yun put down his wine glass, climbed on Wen Yi's shoulder and whispered: "My Eagle Wolf Team has been monitoring some senior officials of the military, Zhong Xiahuo I know this person very well, he is just not very clean in his mouth, and he acts a little recklessly, but he does not have much ambition in his heart. On the contrary, Ding Jieyun acted cautiously, pandered to me in every possible way, showed favors to his subordinates, and made wider friends with politicians, although his actions could not be regarded as a sign of rebellion, but he showed considerable ambition, which I do not insight, but after all, he is a talent, and his influence in the military circles is also extraordinary, if possible, I still hope that he will contribute to our ideals. ”

"Don't be bitten by the tiger's sharp teeth, why don't you keep Zhong Xiahuo by your side to protect us?"

"Where there is Zhong Xiahuo, there shouldn't be Ding Jieyun, and vice versa, the two of them will cause countless troubles when they meet together. Tigers can bite, but as long as we have a shotgun in our hands, we don't need anyone else to protect us. ”

Wen Yi frowned: "The shotgun you are talking about, is it the Tiger and Par Battalion and the Eagle Wolf Team?" ”

"Not only that, but also my influence, and the new officer corps that I have single-handedly trained. The huge risks can make most people hesitate. ”

"You're confident."

"You can't have nightmares all the time."

"Then I'll be relieved." Wen Yi said this, still a little uneasy in his heart, he disdained the secret intelligence organization in his bones, especially this organization was still subordinate to the private, but he couldn't think of a better way to curb the ambitionists' coveting of power - unless Liu Yun voluntarily gave up his position and power similar to that of a dictator, although legally speaking, Liu Yun's power was extremely limited, but in fact, Liu Yun's mental control was enough to cover the main military and political points. The problem is that if Liu Yun gives up this power, or hands it over to people with different ideals, then he will not be able to organize the strength of the force to effectively defend in time when the hostile forces counterattack, let alone urge in an ideal way when the development of history is stagnant. At least in this period when the situation is not stable enough, we need to rely on Liu Yun's strong control. Thinking so, Wen Yi felt that he had fallen into an embarrassing situation, he wanted democracy, but he had to rely on dictatorship, he was not sure that he could control that dictatorship, he had to pay attention to the problem in front of him first.

It is normal for ideals to have to compromise with reality.

On the other side, Liu Yun's two children were arguing with Zhu Tao's two children, four-year-old Liu Ping snatched Zhu Liefeng's melon skin hat one month younger than him, one ran away and the other chased him, and Liu Yuchun, who was a few minutes younger than his brother, taught three-year-old Zhu Xin to dance an unknown chaotic dance.

The ladies gathered here, except for Zhu Tao's wife, only Luo Sulan, the vice minister of culture and education, can be regarded as a frequent visitor to Liu's Mansion. The split was: "Drink less." ”

Zhang Zhigao shrugged: "More than ten degrees of wine, nothing to do." ”

"Look, how cute the children of Liu Yun and Zhu Tao's family are."

"Oh......" Zhang Zhigao smiled at the corner of his mouth, "Yes, how cute the child is, it's better to ......"

Luo Sulan pursed her lips and said, "Why don't you do it?" ”

Zhang Zhigao rubbed his hands: "It's better to ...... Marry me. ”

"It's a beautiful idea."

"To marry or not."

"I still have to work."

"Marry me and you can work."

"That's ...... different"

"Just say one word, marry."

"Don't say it."

"Really?"

"Don't say it."

"If you don't say it, you should say yes."

"It's weird."

Just as the two continued to quarrel with outsiders that seemed meaningless, Wen Yi had already quietly come over.

"Hey, you two ......"

Zhang Zhigao and Luo Sulan each stopped their mouths and smiled at Wen Yi.

"Zhigao, are you ready, we will leave next week, this round of the world visit is very long."

Zhang Zhigao patted his chest: "Everything is ready, I can go abroad at public expense and visit Europe and the United States, this is what I dreamed of when I was in college." ”

Luo Sulan teased beside her: "You are so ambitious, and Zhang Zhigao is still there." ”

"No way, who called me a poor student."

"Then ......" Wen Yi dragged out his tone meaningfully, "you two should get married before Zhigao goes abroad." ”

"What are you doing, it's not like it's gone forever," Luo Sulan pulled Zhang Zhigao's arm, "Isn't it, Zhigao." ”

Zhang Zhigao shook his head, and then nodded vigorously like a chicken pecking rice.

Luo Sulan smiled at Wen Yi and said, "Mr. Wen, you have seen it, we are not in a hurry, and you don't have to worry about us." ”

Wen Yi turned his head: "Forget it, your affairs, solve it yourself, I'm not in a hurry, who am I anxious for, the young people now, really, degenerate." ”

When Wen Yi walked away, Luo Sulan raised her head and stretched out her hand to Zhang Zhigao.

"Do something." Zhang Zhigao couldn't come back to his senses.

"Stupid, you don't want to take out the ring when you propose?"

Zhang Zhigao was stunned for half a second, and quickly touched the ring in his pocket. The moonlight flowed, and the glow of diamonds shimmered between the two.

At the same time, two other people are also in close contact.

Lieutenant General Ding Jieyun, commander of the Praetorian Guard, and Lieutenant General Zhong Xiahuo, commander of the Reserve Army, loudly touched the wine glasses with the intention of breaking them, and just as they were throwing thorny and poisonous words at each other, Liu Yun walked over.

"Chief of the General Staff!" The two stood up to greet each other.

Liu Yun patted the shoulders of the two with a smile: "Today is a private banquet, there is no need to be polite, it is rare for the two of you to be together, I will only say one thing, and then you continue to drink." ”

Ding Jieyun respectfully agreed: "Please give a lecture to the chief of the general staff." ”

Liu Yun said: "I can't say anything yet, but next Monday I am going to inspect the new internal combustion engine factory of Beiyang Heavy Industry, and I want to invite the two of you to take a look together." ”

Ding Jieyun and Zhong Xiahuo followed their heels together and shouted in unison: "Obey!" ”

On September 20, the emperor approved the cabinet restructuring plan, and merged the two posts of the imperial minister of army and navy into the imperial minister of defense, the former imperial navy minister Zhang Zhidong was appointed as the first imperial minister of national defense, the former vice minister of the navy Jiang Wentao was appointed as the vice minister of national defense, the former minister of the army Liu Kunyi was transferred to the deputy chief of general staff, and the former vice minister of the army He Xin was appointed director of the ordnance industry department of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

On 23 September, the Emperor approved the restructuring plan of the top military leadership, and in addition to the General Staff as the central military command organ, there were three first-level commands of the Army, the Navy, and the Reserve Army, and a total of 13 second-level commands of the Praetorian Guard, the six official military regions, the two special military regions, the Sanyang Fleet, and the Zhenyang Fleet, and issued new letters of appointment to senior officers of the Praetorian Guard and the Wehrmacht. Its main contents are:

He was awarded the title of Duke of Wuwei Liu Yun as Chief of the General Staff;

Earl Liu Kun was awarded the title of General of the Army;

Admiral Liu Buyun, Viscount of the Navy;

Viscount Yang Zhengjin was awarded the commander of the reserve army;

Lieutenant General Ding Jieyun was awarded Viscount Ding Jieyun as commander of the Praetorian Guard;

Lieutenant General of the Northeast Military Region;

Lieutenant General of the Baron Hook Army Commander of the Zhili Military Region;

Baron Liu Bailiang was awarded the commander of the East China Military Region;

Awarded Baron Wu Beinian as Lieutenant General of the Army Commander of the South China Military Region;

Awarded Viscount Nie Shicheng as Lieutenant General of the Southwest Military Region;

Awarded the Baron Wu Dingguo Lieutenant General as Commander of the Northwest Military Region;

Conferred the title of Viscount Zedoqilan Army Major General as Commander of the Tibet Special Military Region;

Baron Zhang Yao, former army major general, commander of the Mongolian Special Military Region;

Viscount Lin Taizeng, Vice Admiral of the Zhenyang Fleet and President of the Imperial Naval University;

Vice Admiral Yang Yonglin, Baron Yang Yonglin, Commander of the Beiyang Fleet;

Awarded Baron Chiang Chao Vice Admiral Commander of the Ocean Fleet;

Awarded Baron Vice Admiral Huang Jianxun as commander of the South Seas Fleet.

other

Baron Zhu Tao, Lieutenant General of the Army, Chief of the Operations Division of the General Staff;

Awarded Baron Gu Yingyang, Lieutenant General of the Army, Director of the Training Division of the General Staff;

Baron Xiao Ruhai, Lieutenant General of the Army, Director of the Equipment Division of the General Staff;

Baron Ma Chengwu, Lieutenant General of the Army, Director of the Logistics Department of the General Staff;

Awarded Baron Du Zhuolin as Lieutenant General of the General Staff as Chief of the Intelligence Department.