Chapter 67 The "good guy" in the fat world, the wizard in the military training world

Yuan Shikai knew very well that apart from the poor weapons and equipment and the low overall quality of the soldiers, the main reasons for the Qing army's failure in every battle over the years were lax discipline and lack of training, resulting in poor combat effectiveness.If you want to win battles and become a strong army, you can only strengthen training and strict discipline. Therefore, Yuan Shikai decided to start the curtain of military training from the rectification of military discipline. But Yuan Shikai did not simply emphasize military discipline from a military point of view, because he saw the disadvantages of this approach from his predecessors Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang: both the Hunan Army and the Huai Army can only be strong for a while and cannot be strong forever.Fortunately, after hard thinking, Yuan Shikai finally found the root cause of the corruption of the Qing army's military discipline: ideological and political backwardness.

In order to solve the ideological and political problems of the soldiers, Yuan Shikai and Xu Shichang used their brains and compiled a military song "Song of Encouraging Soldiers", which can be summarized as "one major program and seven points of attention", instilling in the soldiers that the purpose of serving as a soldier is to serve the country; The bounden duty of a soldier is to obey orders absolutely; the magic weapon for defeating the enemy is a family of soldiers and civilians;Note that the melody of this song was later adopted by the Red Army military song "Three Disciplines and Eight Points of Attention".

Soldiers and military discipline are all over, it's time to look at the instructors. On the one hand, Yuan Shikai hired German instructors to train the new army. On the other hand, he reused the young generals Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang, Wang Shizhen, and the younger Cao Kun who had received the education of the new military academy. These people later became Yuan Shikai's powerful go-getters. Yuan Shikai adopted advanced training methods from Germany to make the training of troops more scientific. At the same time, he purchased weapons from Germany for the new army equipment.Through the three major methods of strengthening the army through politics, talents, and science and technology, in less than a year, the combat effectiveness of the army has been greatly improved compared with the past.

Everyone knows that Yuan Shikai made his fortune by relying on this army, but how did Yuan Shikai hold this army firmly in his hands? The secret lies in the second of his three great skills, "being good at touching people's hearts with details". The magic of this skill is that he can use some small details to stir up thousands of huge waves and receive unexpected rewards. Yuan Shikai had an amazing memory, and he was so familiar with people's names, place names, and other people's temperament and hobbies. Even if he had only met people once, many years later, he could still call out the names of people, and tell the other's experiences and hobbies.This ability of his often surprises the other party, who not only feels honored and honored, but also feels that this person is shrewd and cannot be bullied.

So Yuan Shikai went deep into the battalions when he was free, approached junior officers and soldiers, and called them by name, which made these people happy and surprised.That's not to mention, he can not only call the other party's name, but also remember the other party's character, strengths and weaknesses, so that he can use it according to his needs. As for taking the lead, training with the soldiers, eating big pot meals together, paying the soldiers' wages to prevent corruption and ensuring the welfare of the soldiers, eagerly condolences to the soldiers in difficulty, sending warmth and other activities that incorporate the concept of people-oriented human care, Yuan Shikai did not even Do less.Yuan Shikai understood that what he sent was not only warmth, but also affection, and even more respect!

Yuan Shikai was even more careful about the people he deliberately wanted to win over.For example, when he was eating at home and saw braised big hoof or cheese, he would order his entourage to bring a copy to Feng Guozhang's home, and confessed: When Mr. Yuan was eating, he remembered that General Feng also liked this dish, so he sent it over to please. General tasting. With such a boss, which subordinate can not be grateful? After such an operation, Yuan Shikai's image of a slightly fat, slightly silly, and smiling good man was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and he also established absolute prestige in this army.