Chapter 66 "Three Heroes of Beiyang"

After Yuan Shikai arrived at Xiaozhan, he first set up the Supervision and Training Department of the New Army, and then changed the "Dingwu Army" to a more modern and vigorous name "New Army", and recruited 7,250 soldiers. people. Of course, Yuan Shikai didn't want any soldiers.He has several rigid conditions - age must be 20 to 25 years old; height over 1.6 meters; strong enough to lift a hundred catties; able to march twenty miles per hour; No charge. This requirement is not too high, soldiers are still easy to recruit.But where can you find excellent instructors?The only person he can use now is his brother Xu Shichang, who is very short of elite talents!

Fortunately, during his idle time in Beijing, Yuan Shikai made a friend of a Manchu nobleman named Yin Chang, who was the general office (principal) of the Tianjin Wubei Academy founded by Li Hongzhang.Knowing that Yuan Shikai was short of people, Yinchang sent him two people by courier.Later, another talent delivered the goods to the door by himself.As a result, Yuan Shikai won three great talents in a short time. These three people have made countless contributions to Yuan Shikai in the future, so let's invite them to play. Duan Qirui, courtesy name Zhiquan, was born in Hefei, Anhui in 1863, a fellow of Li Hongzhang.

Duan Qirui's parents are both farmers. Counting him, he has a total of four children. The only source of income for the family is a small piece of land at home. At that time, there was no technology for farming, and it was all dependent on God for food. It was really difficult to support four children.If it weren't for Duan Qirui's grandfather who used to be a petty official and saved a little gray income to help them from time to time, the whole family would have to wait to starve to death. When Duan Qirui was young, he couldn't say how well he lived, but he still had food to eat, and he could barely read a book, so he was considered happy.Unfortunately, since he was 16 years old, bad luck and misfortune have come to him one by one.

This year, the grandfather who loved him the most passed away, and Duan Qirui was forced to drop out of school. A year later, all the food in the family has been eaten, and they are about to be hungry. The family urgently needs Duan Qirui to stand up and share some pressure.So he took all the property that the family could come up with - a silver dollar, and went to Weihai, Shandong to join an uncle who was a soldier and find a job to support his family. It is more than 2,000 miles from Duan Qirui's house to Weihai. Everyone knows his financial conditions. It is only one silver dollar, so it is obvious that he can only walk.

While he was on his way, he begged for food.Sleeping in the open air, crossing cities and villages, begging from house to house, every time he knocked on a door, it was an unforgettable test for him, because what he received was often nothing but stares and ridicule. For Duan Qirui, knocking on that door Maybe it means losing dignity, but if you don't knock on that door, you will starve to death. Begging along the road, dressed in rags, Duan Qirui finally made it to Weihai relying on willpower. Until many years later, he himself could not believe it: the self who was dressed in rags and begged on the street decades ago would actually become the ruler of a big empire.

The suffering was not in vain, and his uncle helped Duan Qirui find a job in the military camp. Just when life improved, misfortunes came one after another. At the age of 19, his father was killed on his way home from visiting him. Not long after, his mother also died of grief, leaving only three younger siblings who could not stand on their own. Such great misfortune, such great pain, made Duan Qirui from weak to strong. He knew that no one could save him except himself. From then on, while working hard to support his younger siblings, Duan Qirui squeezed out all available time to study. At the age of 22, Duan Qirui was finally admitted to the Tianjin Armed Forces Academy run by Li Hongzhang.A few years later, Duan Qirui won the opportunity to go to Germany for further study with the first place.After returning from studying in Germany, Duan Qirui was assigned to a key military academy as an instructor, and finally completely solved the problem of food and clothing for the whole family.

After serving as an instructor for three years, Yin Chang, his teacher at the Tianjin Armed Forces Academy, recommended him to Yuan Shikai, who was training at Tianjin Xiaozhan. Duan Qirui's own knowledge is good, and he has the experience of studying in Germany. You must know that Yuan Shikai is now planning to use the German army as a model to train troops, so Duan Qirui was reused at the beginning of the training. Perhaps because of the many hardships he has experienced, Duan Qirui has a resolute personality, fierce methods, and strong desire for power. He is called the "Tiger of the North Sea" among the senior cadres under Yuan Shikai's command.

Wang Shizhen, courtesy name Pingqing, was born in Niujiazhuang, Zhengding County, Hebei Province in 1861. This person does not have a foreign education like Duan Qirui, nor does he have such a strong desire for power as Duan Qirui, and he looks a little chic and detached on the outside.He often detaches himself as a "celebrity", presiding over the overall situation for a while, and hiding in the mountains for a while. When Comrade Wang Shizhen indulged in the mountains and rivers, Duan Qirui mingle with soldiers in the barracks, so Comrade Wang Shizhen's appearance rate in this book is far less than that of Duan Qirui, who is passionate about power and force.It may be for this reason that although he is not as popular as Duan Qirui, he is the most trusted by Yuan Shikai among the three.

Although Wang Shizhen's academic qualifications are not outstanding, he is also a graduate of Tianjin Military Equipment Academy, so his skills are naturally not far behind.After graduation, Wang Shizhen also had a period of experience as an instructor. More importantly, he participated in the Sino-Japanese War as an artillery commander, and he commanded well. He is a rare talent with actual combat experience. Not only that, this person is also good at using his brain and has a lot of strategies in his chest, so Yuan Shikai usually entrusts him with more troublesome projects. Of course, Wang Shizhen was also recommended by Yinchang, but because of his wisdom and bravery, and better demeanor, he was given a much higher honor and was called the "Dragon of the Northern Ocean".

Feng Guozhang, courtesy name Huafu, was born in Cangzhou, Hebei in January 1859, a few months older than his elder brother Yuan Shikai.By the way, there is a famous cross talk actor named Feng Gong among his direct descendants. At the age of 26, Feng Guozhang entered Tianjin Wubei Academy to study. Because of his excellent academic performance, he was able to stay in the school to teach after graduation. During the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Qing army recruited people, so Feng Guozhang left school and went to the front line. He joined Nie Shicheng's team and became a staff officer with the army.

Feng Guozhang's fortune began here.Although the Sino-Japanese War ended with the defeat of the Qing army, Feng Guozhang's performance on the battlefield was still remarkable, so not only was he not beheaded, but he was also promoted, and most importantly, he got a chance to study in Japan . Teachers generally have the habit of writing lesson plans, and Feng Guozhang is no exception.Write wherever you go.After returning from Japan, his teaching plan has become a thick one. It contains not only the field experience of fighting the Japanese, but also the knowledge of modern warfare learned in Japan. This is a very valuable textbook. The slogan "Development is the last word" on the wall tells us: Whether a company can recruit real talents depends not on how much money you give them now, but on how much room you can give this kind of talents for development now.In the same way, talented and learned people are most afraid of secret casting of pearls, and if no one knows the goods, wouldn't their work be in vain? Therefore, Feng Guozhang sent this lesson plan to the old leader Nie Shicheng, hoping that the leader could know the goods and give himself a bigger stage for performance.But Feng Guozhang was disappointed. Master Nie just said lightly after reading it: I have read it, and it is well written!But there was no expression of half-appreciation. Feng Guozhang, who was full of expectations, knew that there was nothing to do with Nie Shicheng. At this time, someone told him: Yuan Shikai is training at Tianjin Station, you might as well try it. So Feng Guozhang found Yuan Shikai, and once again sold his teaching plan with great expectations. Yuan Shikai was overjoyed after reading it, and exclaimed: This book is really a treasure (Hong Bao), you are the most powerful person I have ever met who came from a major!So he kept Feng Guozhang by his side to train soldiers. Scholars died for their confidants, Yuan Shikai's appreciation made Feng Guozhang very grateful. Feng Guozhang is both capable and hardworking, but also relatively loyal. He has the loyalty and madness of a dog, so he was nicknamed "The Dog of Beiyang". The above three people all came from the Tianjin Armed Forces Academy, and in the end they all became the direct cadres of the Yuan family class, which can be regarded as the first of its kind in the modern army to establish factions based on schools. With these four helpers, Yuan Shikai should be able to do a big job!