Zaifeng was noncommittal about Zaitao's proposal, and was silent for a long time before he sighed: "This is really 'Zhou Gong is afraid of rumors, Wang Mang is humble and has not usurped the time'!" ”

Na Tong and Xu Shichang naturally understood the meaning of Zaifeng's words:

There is no doubt that "Zhou Gong" refers to Yuan Shikai. No pop-up window update fast // On the occasion of Guangxu and Xuantong, the imperial court was suspicious of Yuan Shikai in every way, seized power and resigned from office, affected the pro-party, and even wanted to get rid of it for a while. Fortunately, many people in the court helped him intercede, and he was able to get out. After the rebellion broke out in Wuchang, he didn't care about the gains and losses of previous grievances, and quickly led his troops to Hubei to quell the rebellion, and the good news was frequent, eliminating 1,008 today and 2,000 tomorrow. -- According to the sum of the figures on the battle report, the whole Hubei New Army was shot at least five times in turn. - But one thing is very certain, that is, the rebels have indeed been driven south of the Yangtze River! is so loyal to the country, regardless of grievances, isn't it Duke Zhou or what?

In contrast, "Wang Mang" is none other than Sun Yuanqi. Before there was a retrograde, Sun Yuanqi was simply the same as Wang Mang, not showing mountains, not dewy, keeping pure, being humble, courteous, virtuous, and profoundly learned, and he was completely a moral model for students in the world, and was deeply loved by the government and the opposition. is such a person, who is unbelievably counterattacking the imperial court.

Zaitao has looked down on the generous and easy-going Zaifeng since he was a child, and he can't understand why the smart Empress Dowager Xi finally wants to hand over the power of the regent and the prison to Zaifeng, who is simply looking at the survival of the Qing Dynasty like child's play. Seeing that Zaifeng was still shaking his head and dropping his bookbag at this time, he frowned and said, "Fifth brother, don't drag the text." Let's get an idea! ”

Zaifeng smiled helplessly, and asked Natong and Xu Shichang: "I don't know what the two of you think?" ”

Xu Shichang replied: "Lord Wang, Shaanxi is next to Henan, and Shanxi is approaching Gyeonggi. Henan is the hinterland of the Central Plains. Gyeonggi is the foundation of the Qing Dynasty, and neither place can afford to lose. According to the humble opinion of the lower officials, for the sake of today's plan, the armed guards of Henan should be quickly mobilized to the west, block Tongguan, and prevent the rebels from entering Henan; In addition, he ordered the sixth town of the army stationed in Zhengding to move to Shijiazhuang, seize Niangzi Pass along the Zhengtai line, and prevent the rebels from disturbing Jifu and shaking the world. The specific way to do it in the future will not be decided until the Military Advisory Office and the Cabinet have deliberated. ”

Zaifeng is a rolling pin blowing fire for the military-he doesn't know anything. After listening to Xu Shichang's suggestion, he only nodded. Zaitao said angrily: "Lord Xu, now that King Qing has disbanded the cabinet, when will the cabinet have to wait for the cabinet to make an idea?" ”

Xu Shichang was stunned for a moment before saying, "Tao Belle." Qing Wang Ye is old, he is a close relative of the clan, a national elder, and admired at home. Just now it was just a moment of anger for him, and he couldn't take it seriously. After a few days, the prince will be angry, and then find someone to persuade him. It should be fine. ”

"If the situation is as urgent as a spark today, how can the people of the Manchu Dynasty wait for him? If there is no butcher Zhang, you have to eat hairy pigs? Zaitao said very politely.

Na Tong couldn't sit still anymore, so he quickly got up and said goodbye. I can't pull it. The Prime Minister and Associate Minister have all left, can Xu Shichang stay? A moment later. In the living room, only Zaifeng and Zaitao brothers remained. Zaifeng couldn't help but complain: "Seventh brother, how can you talk nonsense? ”

Zaitao said: "Why am I talking nonsense? You didn't see King Qing's face. It seems that Sun Yuanqi is his ancestor, and he is maintained everywhere. How much silver did you say Sun Yuanqi had to give King Qing to make him say those words with a clear conscience? The Qing Dynasty was corrupted in the hands of these people, and it was still light to scold him. According to my temperament, I should have directly raided his house and removed his iron hat king! ”

Zaifeng's face was full of worry: "Although King Qing is greedy, he is still very politically skilled after all, and he needs to deal with many affairs in the court." Now that you are making such a fuss, and the news reaches King Qing's ears, will he still come out to do things? ”

"What are you afraid of! Two-legged toads are hard to find, and two-legged living people are still hard to find? What's more, being the prime minister? Zaitao didn't care at all, "It's really not good, the little brother is willing to take the initiative to ask Ying to take on this important task for the Qing Dynasty!" ”

"How dare you work? I think it's better to forget it! Of course, Zaifeng knew what Zaitao was, and he unceremoniously rejected his kindness at the moment, "Early tomorrow morning, I will still persuade King Qing and let him take back his fate." It's really not good, I'm afraid I can only ask Yuan Weiting to come forward to form a cabinet. ”

"Let Yuan Si form a pavilion?" Zaitao screamed like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, "Old Five, have you forgotten the last words of the second brother before he died?" You don't think the world is chaotic enough, do you? ”

Zaifeng stood up: "Seventh brother, it's getting late, I still have to discuss with the sixth brother about the transfer of troops in Henan and Zhili, so I won't leave you for supper." After that, he turned into the back hall, leaving only Yu Tao alone to jump in the living room.

Let's say that Xu Shichang left Prince Alcohol's Mansion and immediately sent someone to contact Yuan Shikai's secret agent in Beijing to spread the news of Yixuan and Zaitao's falling out to Hubei. Yuan Shikai was overjoyed when he learned about it, and he couldn't take care of sleeping, so he hurriedly summoned his henchmen Zhao Bingjun, Ruan Zhongshu, Zhang Yilu and others to discuss secretly.

After reading the telegram, Ruan Zhongshu carefully worded: "Judging from the telegram, King Qing's resignation is only a momentary anger, not out of his own heart. King Qing has always been greedy for money, and the position of prime minister is a high-ranking and powerful cash cow, so how can he give it up? And the old age is in good condition, as long as there is a slight turnaround, he will definitely not go.

"Looking around today, there are only two people who can qualify for the post of prime minister, King Kyungwang and Lord Lord, and I guess Zaifeng can also think of it. If he comes back tonight and gives in to King Qing tomorrow morning, King Qing will inevitably get off the donkey down the slope. In addition to King Qing and Zaifeng who were present at that time, it was Lord Xu, Na Tong and Zaitao, and it was easy to hide it. So what we have to do now is to poke this matter out as soon as possible and make a big fuss, so that the government and the opposition will know about it, and King Qing will naturally be embarrassed to make a comeback. ”

Yuan Shikai nodded, quite agreeing with Ruan Zhongshu's opinion.

Zhao Bingjun said: "It's not easy to make this matter bigger? We will now send people to contact the major newspapers in Beijing and Shanghai, so that tomorrow the front pages of newspapers large and small across the country will carry the news that "the Imperial Cabinet Announces the General Resignation on the Night of 5 July." I don't believe that the trouble is known to the whole country, and Yixuan still wants to continue to be the prime minister! ”

Yuan Shikai said: "Since that's the case. The matter of contacting the newspaper will be handed over to Zhi'an (Zhao Bingjun). But you have to remember that this matter must be kept secret, try to make people believe that this is the news released by Zaitao, and don't suspect us. If you get acquainted with King Qing because of this. That's more than worth the loss! ”

Zhao Bingjun got up and bowed: "I understand." After saying that, he went out and went to work.

Zhang Yilu added: "My lord, we must also go north as soon as possible. Although the post of prime minister is the best choice except for King Qing, if Zaifeng does not play according to the routine, won't it be a failure? In addition, before you become prime minister, you must visit the ministers of various countries in China. ”

Ruan Zhongshu also agreed with Zhang Yilu's words: "Your Excellency might as well board the train tomorrow morning and arrive in Zhengzhou first." Zhengzhou is between Beijing and Hankou, and it is only half a day's journey into Beijing, once there is something in Beijing. It can be sent to the sunset. Moreover, in Zhengzhou, you can command the troops of Zhili and Henan to capture Niangzi Pass and Tongguan nearby, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone. ”

Yuan Shikai stood up: "Then according to what the two of you said, go to Zhengzhou first!" We sit in the Central Plains and watch the turbulent officialdom in the capital, the smoke of gunpowder in the Jin-Shaanxi battlefield, and the changes of hands south of the Yangtze River. It's a life-long event! ”

The night of November 5 was not destined to be peaceful, and everything that happened in Beijing, Hankow, Baoning, Xi'an, and Taiyuan was enough to affect the course of Chinese history. Until the second half of the night, countless radio waves were still busy shuttling around China. At this time, several trains full of soldiers departed from Taiyuan and sped eastward with a "boom-boom-boom".

In the box of the first train. Cheng Ziyin and Zhang Huizan sat across the table, relatively speechless. The staff officer and the clerk were busy on the side, but they did not dare to make any loud noise, for fear of breaking the silence of the two. More than ten minutes passed. Cheng Ziyin turned his head and asked the staff officer: "This time, our army is going east, how many people are there?" How is the equipment? ”

The staff officer wiped the beads of sweat from his head. Lizheng replied: "Back to the standard, our army has 1,873 people. Among them, there are 786 veterans from the Northeast and 1,087 recruits recruited in Taiyuan. The weapons and equipment are mainly light weapons, including 1,500 Hanyang-made, 300 Lin Mingdun, 350 other fast guns and masqueraders, and 215 mortars of various calibers; There are only 4 Shanghai-made Krupp 75mm mountain guns with heavy weapons. Guns and ammunition are all carried with 2.5 bases. ”

Cheng Ziyin nodded with satisfaction: "From the perspective of soldiers, more than sixty percent of the veterans in the Northeast and more than ninety percent of the new recruits from Taiyuan accompanied us eastward, which shows that Mr. Sun's influence among young students is far beyond the reach of Yan Baichuan's generation!" ”

"Brother Huchen, the situation is very unoptimistic!" Zhang Huizan had a bitter face: "We only have less than 2,000 people, and more than sixty percent of them are recruits who have not been in battle. The equipment is also very poor, all light weapons, and the ammunition is even less than one shot. But what we have to face is the sixth town of the Qing Army, with tens of thousands of people. They are well-trained and well-armed. We have no other advantage than anticipating that the enemy plane will seize Niangzi Pass first. I'm afraid this battle is not easy to fight! ”

Cheng Ziyin was unmoved, but asked: "Shihou, why do you think I took the initiative to lead the troops to the east, instead of going west to join Zhao Xietong?" ”

Zhang Huizan said in his heart: I am a regular graduate of the dignified Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School, don't I understand the careful thinking of you, who was born in a family? At the moment, he replied confidently: "Because Brother Huchen heard from Senior Brother Yan Baichuan's speech that he wants to stand on his own, but the old army that Senior Brother Yan started is loyal to Mr. Sun, if he wants to occupy the land and become the king, he must first clear up the threats around Shanxi and our dissidents who do not conspire with each other." If we want to retain our troops, we must stay away from Taiyuan and withdraw from Shanxi as soon as possible.

"If we go west to join Zhao Xietong, Senior Brother Yan will covet our soldiers and equipment, and will definitely obstruct it in every possible way, and even borrow the heads of the two of us if necessary. And what if we take the initiative to lead the troops east? Not only can it help him temporarily resist the threat from the east, but it can also use the hands of the Qing soldiers to get rid of us, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone. Why wouldn't he do it? So I will definitely say yes.

"Brother Huchen's move not only can bring out most of the veterans who are loyal to Lord Sun, but also the new recruits can also follow us east, so the strategy is still very successful at this point. It's just that after arriving at Niangzi Pass, the Qing court army will roll in immediately, and once the war starts, our situation is still not optimistic! ”

Cheng Ziyin looked at Zhang Huizan dumbfounded.

Zhang Huizan said proudly: "Brother Huchen, is the younger brother right?" ”

Cheng Ziyin shook his head fiercely: "I don't think that at all!" (To be continued.) )