Fortunately, those planes did not care much about themselves, and did not continue to drop bombs after bombing the Military Uniform Bureau, but threw countless leaflets to persuade them to surrender around Changsha City, and then they left.

Soon the director of the Military Uniform Bureau appeared in front of Tan Yanmin with a sad face, and as he expected, almost all the guns and ammunition purchased at a huge cost in the warehouse were destroyed in the bombing, and less than one-tenth of them were complete. Hearing the news, Tan Yanmin sighed and felt a little relieved in his heart: he could finally justifiably not start a war with the Northern Army! It's just that after the northern army goes south, how should I deal with myself?

With such a question, Tan Yanmin sent away the director of the military uniform bureau who had already been commanded bare, and was about to return to the study to find a few staff members to discuss how to deal with the current situation, when the porter suddenly came to report: "Master Qiqi, Master Zuo Gongxian, Vice Speaker of the Parliament, and Master Zeng Guangxi, Director of the Department of Finance, came to visit, claiming that there are important matters to discuss." Sir, do you see it? ”

Tan Yanmin was a little puzzled: these two people are both children of the Huxiang family, and they are quite famous in this province, so they can be in this high position. But their political attitude is very elusive, neither supporting the revolution, nor relying on Yuan, and even for themselves, the governor, they only have official dealings, and they have not much to do with it, and they have a bit of a maverick flavor. What does it mean that they are suddenly visiting together today and are talking about important matters?

Despite the doubts in his heart, Tan Yanmin politely welcomed the two into the study. After greeting him, he asked: "Brother Zhizhong, Brother Houchen, I heard that the two of you have important matters to discuss, but I don't know what to do?" ”

Zuo Gongxian did not answer the rhetorical question: "Brother Zu An's disarmament and economy, diligence and love for the people since he supervised Hunan have enabled Hunan to recover after the chaos. The whole province is grateful. If it is timely, Brother Zu An may not be able to establish a meritorious career, but it is just a day without a holiday. This year's chūn summer was marked by torrential rains, followed by hail and severe cold, which displaced people and starved countless people to death on the roadside of the ditches. These are natural disasters, and Brother Zu An can still excuse himself from the crime, but what about the current **?

"Hunan has been known for its good fighting since Zeng Wenzheng practiced Yong to quell the chaos. Flattening the bandits, annihilating the Twisted Army, and eradicating the rebellion, the Hunan Army made meritorious contributions. However, at this time and at that time, there are only the First Division of the Hunan Army led by Zhao Yiwu (Zhao Hengti), three newly formed infantry regiments and an artillery battalion in Hunan. Recruits are not enough. The total number of veterans is less than 10,000, and they have to be stationed in all provinces and counties in the province, how to deal with the tiger and wolf division in the north? I am afraid that as soon as the war starts, the land of three Hunan and four rivers will be ruined. It is 100 times more tragic than previous natural disasters. May I ask how Brother Zu An will face the 20 million fathers and elders in the province at that time? ”

Tan Yanmin smiled bitterly: "How can Tan start a provocation lightly? Things have become what they are today. It's really a last resort! Tan witnessed such a situation and tried his best to maintain it, but it was like being in a thorn bush, and he couldn't use his hands and feet at all; I wanted to take the initiative to resign, but I was afraid that the position of the governor would be occupied by the Jiān people, and the Sanxiang father and elder would be poisoned even more. can only learn from Li Wenzhong Gong (Li Hongzhang) of the previous dynasty and try his best to be a pastemaker! ”

Zeng Guangxio interjected: "The tragic fate of Li Wenzhong is also here! In fact, his old man had long known that the Qing Dynasty was hopelessly ill, and he was just in love with the old favor of the Qing family. I can't bear those bricks, bricks, bottles, bottles and cans, and I try my best to barely maintain them. until the oil ran out, and the lamp withered and passed away with hatred. But what about the end result? Ten years after the death of Wenzhong Gongxian, the Qing Dynasty collapsed and disappeared. Therefore, the wise man must not only do something, but also judge the situation and choose the good one to follow! ”

Situation? Choose the good ones and follow them?

Tan Yanmin suddenly remembered that the two people in front of him were not only from a famous family in Huxiang, but also the first batch of graduates of Jingshi University, which can be described as Sun Yuanqi's descendants. Could it be that they got up for Sun Yuan to be lobbyists?

Although the intelligence shows that they have not had any contact with Sun Yuanqi all along, who knows if they have communicated with each other in private? Even if there is no contact and communication, this teacher-student relationship is inseparable. Moreover, the political attitude of the two people in the province is not a party, which can be completely understood as Taoguang and obscurity, waiting for the time to move.

The more Tan Yanmin thought about it, the more he felt that it made sense, and immediately sighed and replied in a low voice: "In the end, Tan is just a scholar, and the official to the governor is beyond his imagination. I, the governor, am not worthy of my name at all, not only do I not have a single soldier in my hands, but I can't act autonomously in my body, speech, and movement, and I am at the mercy of others. For example, this announcement of dúlì, Tan is extremely disagreeable. When it comes to their hearts, they have great respect for President Yuan and Premier Sun, and have no intention of confronting Zhongyāng.

"It's just that since the assassination of Song Dunchu and the aftermath of the big loan case, the violent people in the party have been running and shouting, forcing the contemptible people to electrify against Zhongyāng. Seeing that they did not care about the situation in Hunan at all, and tried to sacrifice the people of the whole province in exchange for the victory of the revolution, Tan also spoke out against it several times, but they ignored it at all, and regarded Tan as a 'party jiān', and even threatened with bombs and assassinations. Later, seeing that the threat was ineffective, they wanted to replace Tan and elect the young and vigorous Tang Guiliang (Tang Python, the eldest son of the famous political activist Tang Caichang in the late Qing Dynasty, who was only 27 years old at this time) as the governor, so as to achieve the goal of waving troops north. Later, because some party members were worried that the change of governor would lead to unstable public sentiment and self-confusion, the proposal was vetoed. However, in order to prevent Tan from contacting the north, they actually replaced all the servants in our mansion and monitored them at all times, so that Zaixia could not communicate with Zhongyāng. I'm afraid that at this moment, there are people outside the study who are patrolling and eavesdropping!

"At the government meeting to decide whether or not to dúlì, Tan Shiping (Tan Renfeng), the Yangtze River patrol envoy, actually brought a pistol to the meeting. As soon as the meeting began, he pulled out his pistol and slapped it on the table and said, 'Whoever disagrees with dúlì today, I'll give him this thing!' 'Seeing him behave like this, who would dare to make a sound?' The resolution of Dúlì was hastily adopted.

"Now that the matter has come to this, the banner of the Yuan army has been hung outside the Governor's Mansion, and it is too late to regret it! But the contemptible people really don't want to confront Zhongyāng, let alone let the people of Huxiang be poisoned by this soldier, if Zhongyāngzhèngfǔ's army is near the Hunan border, Tan will order them to lay down their guns and not resist. Tan has already prepared the potion, if the party persecuts again in the future, Tan will take poison and commit suicide to thank the world! ”

Zeng Guangxi sneered: "Before visiting Tan Du, Zeng just heard that our Hunan Military Uniform Bureau was bombed by Northern Army aircraft, and all guns and ammunition have been destroyed. Now that there is no money for procurement, and there is not enough time, I am afraid that Tan Du will not make them put down their guns and give up resistance, and they have no guns to hold and no ammunition to use, so how can they resist? ”

Tan Yanmin's face suddenly turned red, and it took a long time to hold back a sentence: "Although there are no guns and no bullets in the army, our Hunan army is still not to be underestimated." Haven't you heard the ancient adage of 'Although Chu has three households, if Qin dies, Chu will die'? ”

Zuo Gongxian waved his hand to stop Zeng Guangxi's rebuttal, and said calmly: "The battle of words is useless, let's talk about the public sentiment and public opinion of the people in Hunan for the Northern Expedition against Yuan!" Let's talk about the military circles first, the jīng of the Northern Army is not allowed to be rapped by Zuo, especially the plane under Premier Sun, who was honored in the battle of Mongolia, even if he is brave and good at fighting like a Russian ** soldier, he must retreat. And can the number of soldiers in my Hunan army be able to Brother Zu An also has a scale in his heart, and he thinks what are the odds of winning? Today, a single bomb dropped by the plane has turned all the guns and ammunition of our Hunan army into ashes, and the morale has also plummeted. If the two armies meet in the future, how does Brother Zu An think he should fight the enemy? ”

Tan Yanmin was silent.

Zuo Gongxian continued: "The second time is the business world. The business community was afraid of the chaos of social order after the war, and it was inevitable that there would be disturbances and looting, which would affect the normal operation of shops. Second, if the army is raised for the Northern Expedition, the army must be strengthened, and a large amount of military salaries will be spent, and this huge amount of military salaries will eventually be passed on to them through exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes. Therefore, they must have vigorously opposed the Northern Expedition against Yuan. ”

Zeng Guangxi: "It's not 'will', but 'already'!" I heard that thousands of merchants and citizens in Changsha held a meeting to openly oppose Yuan, claiming that if there is any help and donation in the future, they will resist to the death and fight to the end! ”

Zuo Gongxian said again: "Let's talk about the academic world." Mr. Sun's reputation in the academic world is unrivaled, especially the establishment of compulsory education, which has benefited tens of thousands of students in Huxiang and thousands of families. Now I am afraid that if Mr. Sun ascends to the heights, the students of the whole province will put pen to paper and fight hard, and rise up to be the enemy of Brother Zu An. Does Brother Zu An think so? ”

Hearing that it was an academic world, Tan Yanmin couldn't help but nodded.

Zuo Gongxian continued: "There is also the agricultural world. Mr. Sun was exempted from taxes in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu, vigorously promoted the advantages and eliminated the disadvantages, and founded countless industrial and mining enterprises, which significantly improved the livelihood of the people in various places. According to sources, a large number of poor people in Xiangxi have moved to Sichuan as a result. Moreover, the investment in compulsory education has not only enabled countless children of rural families to enroll in school, but also improved the lives of poor families on the other hand. At present, Hunan Province is suffering from floods and hunger, and Zuo asserted that most of the farmers in the province are looking forward to Mr. Sun taking over Hunan, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as 'the hope of the great drought'! ”

Immediately, Zuo Gongxian changed his words: "Of course, the Kuomintang can gain a foothold in Hunan and also has its own foundation. In Zuo's view, it is mainly the political and industrial circles. Politics goes without saying. The reason why the industrial circles vigorously supported the Kuomintang was mainly because of the effectiveness of Long Yanxian (Long Zhang) and others in vigorously organizing propaganda, of which Long Yanxian's personal prestige accounted for the majority, and to a large extent, the labor circles supported the Northern Expedition against Yuan because they believed in Long Yanxian. And their propaganda itself doesn't have much substance, it's just a big pie to fill their hunger, and sooner or later they will wake up hungry. ”

"In general, although the political and industrial circles are quite powerful in the provincial capital, they cannot be compared with the large number of business, academic and agricultural circles in the province. Moreover, the power is above all propaganda, and under the premise that the military circles are vulnerable, no matter how much the political and industrial circles make a big noise, it will still be difficult to escape the fate of fiasco in the end! ”

Counting the advantages and disadvantages is nothing more than preparing for negotiations. Since there is a showdown, there is room for bargaining!

Tan Yanmin suddenly relaxed when he thought of this, and asked in a good time: "Brother Zhizhong has analyzed the situation in Hunan, which can be described as hitting the nail on the head and penetrating into it. But what are you talking about? ”。 )，.