"I promise you."

Five days later, Zhang Zhidong finally gave Yu Ke an answer.

In the past five days, Zhang Zhidong has read the translation of the German book that Yu Ke handed over to him countless times.

In fact, Zhang Zhidong was unwilling to rebel with Yu Ke, but he understood that he couldn't stop Yu Ke.

He also didn't want to send his niece and son-in-law, a promising young man who loved the country and the people, to the guillotine.

Moreover, he saw a kind of hope from Yu Ke's body, a kind of hope to change the sun and the moon, let the dead wood spring, and let China return to the prosperous Tang Dynasty......

The salaries, military equipment, troop transfers, and officer promotions of the new army were almost all controlled by Yu Ke.

Because Yu Ke is his own nephew, Zhang Zhidong boldly delegated power, which can almost be said to be unconditional trust.

Who knew that Yu Ke, who was usually gentle and mellow in front of him, would actually rebel.

"I misjudged you, Kezhi." Zhang Zhidong's face was complicated.

"What are you going to do?"

"Six words: accumulate grain, slow to become the king!" Yu Ke said.

Yu Ke showed a smile on his face, thought for a while, and said:

"In recent years, the Qing court's degree of control over the local government has become less and less, and it is even difficult for the government decrees issued to leave Hebei Province. We have something to do here, and the court will not receive news in the short term. Even if the news is concealed well enough, it is not impossible that the imperial court will not know about it for a year or two! ”

"And now we have two broads. There are also 5,000 new troops, 3,000 black flag troops, and there is no shortage of guns. But it could not compete head-on with the entire Qing Dynasty. To overthrow the Qing court, it is not possible to do it in three or five years. ”

"We must first secure the inside before we go outside, and we must first integrate all the forces in the two Guangzhou."

"The Cantonese army, the squires, the wealthy merchants, the local officials, and even the gang forces, bandits, bandits, etc."

"We must deal with their problems first, and run the two Guangxi into unbreakable iron buckets!"

"In this way, we can be regarded as having the initial confidence to compete with the Qing Dynasty."

"But it will take at least two years to do all this. Uncle Zhang, you must hide from the imperial court for at least a year and a half, otherwise it will be difficult to achieve great things. ”

“……”

Zhang Zhidong listened carefully and thought about it for a long time. Finally, he nodded: "There is basically no problem with the strategy." What do you plan to do with the military garrison, the squires, the wealthy merchants, and the local officials? ”

Yu Ke said: "If the gang forces can be used by me, they will be used, and if they can't be used by me, they will be destroyed and dismissed." ”

"The bandits and bandits in the territory of Liangguang are only a hundred in number, but they are just a rabble, and they can't become a climate, so send troops to exterminate them."

"The Cantonese army is not difficult to deal with."

Yu Ke sneered: "Before the Sino-French armistice, Kuang Yingtao, who was in charge of the Guangdong army, supported his troops and respected himself, and he never listened to the order and refused to participate in the war. Thought we couldn't do anything about him. ”

"Now that China and France have ceased fighting, they will send troops to the Pingnan County garrison in a few days, and they will be destroyed in the name of exterminating the rebels."

"Although the Guangdong army has more than 20,000 people, it has not fought since the collapse of Dacheng 20 years ago and the extermination of Guangdong Tiandi, and the armament has long been relaxed over the years."

"Kuang Yingtao is even more emboldened, selling arms and seizing food and salaries without permission."

"I have sent people to investigate, and those big-headed soldiers are skinny and tattered, and they are not much better than beggars."

"Where is there any combat power?"

"The only one with combat effectiveness is Kuang Yingtao's personal department, which is well-equipped, no less than the new army. But there are only more than 400 people, and it can be easily exterminated. ”

"As for the gentry, the magnates, and the magistrates......"

Yu Ke touched his nose a little embarrassed: "I haven't thought about it yet." This requires your help from Uncle Zhang. ”

Zhang Zhidong nodded approvingly at Yu Ke:

"Yes, I didn't expect you to find out about the affairs of the Yue Army."

"Originally, if you weren't ready to rebel, I was also about to settle the matter of the Yue Army."

"The Cantonese army has been eroded for a long time, and after pacifying Kuang Yingtao, it is better to directly dismiss the old and remnants of the Cantonese army, and the young and strong will be merged into the new army."

Yu Ke frowned, shook his head and said, "There are at least thirty percent of the Yue army, that is, more than six thousand old and disabled people. If they are dismissed directly, these people will have no way to live. ”

"And what are you going to do?"

"I have my own way." Yu Ke knocked on the table and said, "What about the squires, wealthy businessmen and local officials?" If they knew of our plan, they would have reported it to the court. ”

Zhang Zhidong said with a smile: "You don't have to worry about this, with me, the governor of Liangguang, it will not be a problem to hide from the imperial court for a year and a half." ”

"Then please." Yu Ke arched his hand.

Zhang Zhidong said: "Without further ado, it is best to solve the matter of Kuang Yingtao as soon as possible, I am afraid that there will be trouble if it drags on for a long time!" ”

"Okay, I'll take the troops to Pingnan County overnight tonight, no, and kill Kuang Yingtao."

Yu Ke nodded and left.

Looking at the back of the leaving, Zhang Zhidong suddenly thought of the scene when he first met Yu Ke.

"You are a langzhong, but you also care about state affairs?"

"The humble did not dare to forget the country."

………………

New Military Academy Field.

Yu Ke recruited Gan Qiliang, the commander of the First Regiment of the New Army.

This person is a Shandong man of more than 1.7 meters, Ding Wuqi fled south with his family during the famine, and then got separated and somehow arrived in Guangdong.

Gan Qiliang has a full beard and looks like he is in his forties, but he is actually not yet thirty.

He was very talented at leading his troops in battle, and when he fought against the French, he won two battles with stratagem.

Just a few months earlier, the former regiment commander had unfortunately been killed by a French shell.

Yu Ke and Zhang Zhidong strongly recommended Gan Qiliang and promoted him to the head of the regiment.

"Staff Officer Yu, are you looking for me?"

Gan Qiliang received Yu Ke's edict and immediately came to the office, and after a military salute, a funny smile appeared on his face.

Yu Ke said directly: "Within twenty minutes, gather all your subordinates and gather at the school field." ”

"Yes." Gan Qiliang's face was grim.

Fifteen minutes later, 1,432 people of the 1st Regiment of the New Army, all but 100 wounded, were all there, not a single one.

Dozens of wooden boxes were placed under the rostrum, and Yu Ke asked people to open the boxes, revealing the new rifles and paper-wrapped bullets inside.

"What is this?"

Gan Qiliang picked up a new rifle and asked with some excitement.

"The new rifles that the gun and ammunition factory has just made are no worse than the guns of the French."

Yu Ke stood on the platform and said loudly: "The squad leader of each squad will come out of the queue and receive ten new rifles and ten boxes of ammunition in turn!" ”

The New Army soldiers in the audience erupted in enthusiastic cheers, even happier than when they received their salaries.

After receiving the new rifle, everyone loved to play with it.

A smile flashed in Yu Ke's eyes, and after everyone had finished receiving the new rifles, he picked up the gun and fired a shot into the sky, shouting:

"Silence!"

More than a thousand Forces nouvelles immediately fell silent.

"Now, line up and follow me to the shooting range. You can shoot 20 rounds per person, so familiarize yourself with the guns you have in your hands! ”

"Wow!!" Before the words fell, more than 1,000 new troops erupted in even more enthusiastic cheers.

Boom!

"Silence for Lao Tzu!"