Chapter 12 Chapter Eleven

Turn over the thick Chinese history, volumes, pages, every sentence, every sentence is full of battles, life and death, ups and downs, ups and downs, ups and downs, after you sing, I will go on stage, Divided and combined.The Qing Dynasty of the Aixinjueluo family started from Taizu Nurhachi in 1616 AD, when Guangxu died (AD 1909), and was succeeded by Emperor Xuantong. This dynasty, which has gone through nearly 300 years, has already grown old and is about to die. It's dead! The 9.6 million square kilometers of China are basically divided into two major power groups, and the royal family has become a body.

In the north, although Yuan Shikai's military power seems to have been weakened, in fact, the military power is still in the hands of this person.After two years of Yuan Shikai's preparation and training of the new army in Baoding as a Beiyang minister, plus the standing, continuous and patrol troops of the governors of various provinces, the Beiyang army has 90,000 people in the six towns alone, and it has become the main force of the Qing Dynasty. main armed. Yuan Shikai's feathers were plump, and the imperial court had to look at him differently. In addition to the Governor of Zhili and the Minister of Beiyang, he was also awarded the Minister of Political Affairs, the Minister of Supervising Shanhaiguan Internal and External Railways, the Minister of Government Affairs, the Minister of Tianjin-Zhenjiang Railway, and the Supervision of Commercial Affairs. There are 8 ministerial titles, including Minister, Minister Supervising Electricity, and Minister of Military Training.Its prestige and power are both internal and external, far surpassing Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, who were extremely popular at the time.Yuan Shikai became powerful, and other ministers in the court felt uneasy, and the royal family especially hated him. Even Yushi Wang Naizheng also scolded him in the memorial that "the minions are spread in the elbows and armpits", "the heart is placed in the court", and "the party's aid is placed in the pivot". , "If you want to take the power of the four departments of officials, households, soldiers, and engineering, the people will be shocked, saying that they are suspicious of the imperial system and rely on trust. It can be said that it has never existed in ancient times."

After all, Yuan Shikai was not a bannerman and could not join the "family" of the Qing court. He was just a pawn of the Aixinjueluo clan.The big tree attracts the wind, the guest is big to deceive the master, the court is not at ease with him.Not long after Guangxu's death, Puyi became the successor emperor, and his father, Prince Jin Zaifeng, acted as the emperor for only one month before he issued an imperial edict: "Yuan Shikai suffers from a foot disease, and he will return to his hometown immediately to recuperate. "Yuan Shikai stepped down, and he returned to Zhangde, Henan.

In the south, Sun Yat-sen, a native of Xiangshan County, Guangdong Province, organized a revolutionary party and launched a revolutionary movement to "expel the Tartars, restore China, establish the Republic of China, and equalize land rights." Sun Yat-sen graduated from the Hong Kong College of Western Medicine in his early years and once practiced medicine. In 1894, he went to Beijing to write a letter to Li Hongzhang, advocating political innovation, but was rejected by Li Hongzhang.In a fit of rage, Sun Yat-sen went to Honolulu to organize the Xingzhonghui, and in 1900, he united with the Hui Party in Guangdong to stage an uprising.After the failure of the uprising, he went east to Japan and united the Xingzhong Society under his leadership with the Huaxing Society and the Restoration Society to form the China Tongmenghui. The Qing Dynasty became the main target, determined to overthrow it and establish the Republic of China.

The revolutionary forces led by Sun Yat-sen continued to grow in the south, and gradually formed a powerful army.This army continued to launch armed attacks from south to north.Finally, on October 10, 1911, a huge uprising was held in Wuchang - the Wuchang Uprising, namely the "Xinhai Revolution".The fire of revolution gradually burned to the north and spread to the whole of China. Duan Qirui, who is stationed in Qingjiangpu, Jiangbei, has sharp ears and eyes, and knows all about the ups and downs that happened in the north and the south.He panicked at first, feeling that Yuan Shikai had gone to the field, lost his backer, and he didn't know what would happen in the days to come.Before the Wuchang incident, Duan Qirui was transferred back to Beijing in less than two years in Qingjiang to serve as the commander of the Second Army. In addition, he was given an official title: Governor of Huguang, who will handle the suppression there.At that time, Duan Qirui was still anxious, for fear that after Yuan Shikai, someone in the court would not let him go, and his situation would be difficult.After the Wuchang incident, the two lakes were tense, but Duan Qirui became excited instead——

Duan Qirui understood: the revolutionary army Wuchang uprising, the Qing government will send troops to crusade.After thinking about it, the imperial court found that there was no other soldier to send except the Beiyang Army; and there was no one else who could command the Yang army except Yuan Shikai.Duan Qirui predicted that the situation would force the imperial court to use Yuan Shikai again. In fact, there were twists and turns. The imperial court did not use Yuan Shikai, but sent the new army minister, Miao Chang, to fight in Wuhan with Feng Guozhang as the commander of the army.Duan Qirui laughed again: "Fuchang, the boss office of the Beiyang Armed Forces Academy; Feng Huafu (Feng Guozhang's word Huafu) military commander..." Duan Qirui estimated that this was a prelude to Yuan.

Sure enough, when Fu Chang led his team to Xiaogan, Hubei, they couldn't move anymore.It's not that he doesn't want to leave, he originally wanted to fight hard and go straight to Hankou.Unexpectedly, the troops placed on the railway line did not leave one car after another-it turned out that when the troops were dispatched, Feng Guozhang hurried to Zhangde, reported the situation to Yuan Shikai, and asked for instructions.After Yuan Shikai pondered for a while, he gave him the 6-character "truth" and told him to "go slowly and wait and see".Seeing this, the imperial court became anxious, and Empress Dowager Longyu, who was in charge, cried out anxiously.At this time, I had to think of Yuan Shikai.

On the fourth day of the Wuchang Uprising, the Qing government issued an edict to appoint Yuan Shikai, appointed him as the governor of Huguang, and asked him to go to the front to command the troops in the front together with Fuchang. Yuan Shikai felt that "exotic goods are available to live in", so he refused to take up the post on the pretext of "unhealed foot disease". The battle had already started, and troops were sent to fight against rebellion, but the soldiers did not move forward. The court was anxious. Immediately, it sent Yuan Shikai's friend Xu Shichang to Zhangde to discuss with Yuan the conditions for leaving the mountain.In the end, he had to issue a decree to transfer Lai Chang back, and ordered Yuan Shikai to command the army as the governor of Huguang and the imperial envoy... Everything went as smoothly as Duan Qirui imagined. After Yuan Shikai took office, the general he arranged was naturally his first "" "Three Heroes": Wang Shizhen was by his side and served as the battalion counselor, Feng Guozhang was the front-line commander, only Duan Qirui was not by his side.It's not that Yuan doesn't need him, but that Duan has more important tasks.

du8.com copyright Yuan Shikai's base was in the north, the capital and Tianjin, and he had to consolidate this area.Just like home, no matter where you drift to, you have to return to "home" in the end.The task of guarding the house was given to Duan Qirui. Duan Qirui, who returned to Beijing from Qingjiang, served as the commander of the Second Army, and the Second Army was stationed in Beijing and Tianjin.This time the Qing army was transferred to the south, Fuchang only mobilized troops from the second, fourth and sixth towns of the former Beiyang army to form a mixed army, and did not mobilize the troops of the second army.At this time, the third town of Duan Qirui's original army was stationed in the northeast, and no troops were dispatched.In this way, no matter how tight the battle in the south was, none of Yuan Shikai's housekeeping troops was moved.Therefore, when Yuan Shikai's command car arrived at Xinyang, an important town in southern Henan, he sent a confidential telegram to Duan Qirui, asking him to "quickly" make such arrangements...

Duan Qirui received a call from Yuan Shikai's front, brought Xu Shuzheng in front of him, and said to him: "Let's discuss it carefully and see what we should do?" He said to Xu Shuzheng: "The south is a bright battlefield. The north is a dark battlefield, and we have left it to us. As the saying goes, it is easy to hide open spears, but it is difficult to defend against hidden arrows. Our battlefield is actually more difficult to deal with." Xu Shuzheng is already the general staff of the Duan Army. , I was thinking of making my own achievements—the return of Tokyo Gilded, with greater ambitions and farther ambitions, but there is no place to use them.Now, there is a big war between the north and the south, and he has already used his brains. "My lord, there is no need to worry. Master Yuan asked us to transfer the three towns from Jilin. This is already a good move. After this move, we basically can sit back and relax."

Duan Qirui shook his head lightly. "I can't be more optimistic!" ——Duan Qirui's "optimism is impossible" is not because he is alarmist, but because he has a full understanding of the situation in the north. Originally, the Qing government followed Yuan Shikai's overall design when training the new army. In addition to the six towns directly controlled by the Beiyang ministers, there were 30 towns established in each province.That is, the total force is thirty-six towns.It's just that by the time of the Wuchang Uprising, towns had not been established in many provinces and autonomous regions.When Xiliang was the governor of the three eastern provinces, he combined the original First Mixed Concorde Fengtian Patrol Army into one town, called Twenty Town, under the control of Chen Huan.Chen Huan was not from the Beiyang family, he was born in a Japanese non-commissioned officer school; Chen Huan was replaced by Zhang Shaozeng after a short time, and Zhang was also from a non-commissioned officer school.In this way, the twenty towns are basically not under the control of the Beiyang faction.In addition, there are six towns, and Wu Luzhen is in charge of the six towns after Zhao Guoxian.People from Hubei Province in Wu are not only not from the Beiyang faction, but also have a lot to do with the revolutionaries.According to this, the two towns of Six Towns and Twenty Towns have become the confidants of the Beiyang faction. Yuan Shikai felt uneasy about the armed forces of these two towns in the north.Of course, the two towns he wanted to "pay attention to" were these two towns. Duan Qirui said to Xu Shuzheng: "Originally, the imperial court decided that the parade held by the six and twenty towns in Yongping was suspended due to the Wuchang uprising. Go to the south to fight. I think it will be difficult." It was when the two were discussing the military affairs that someone came to report that "the military in Luanzhou has changed!" Duan and Xu called the visitor into the secret room, and after careful questioning, they found out the details of the incident. Later, the twenty towns stayed in Luanzhou temporarily, and Zhang Shao, the governor of the six towns, conspired with Wu Luzhen, the governor of the six towns, to raise righteousness in the north and respond to the revolution.At this moment, a train carrying a batch of munitions from Fengtian to support Han Vl from the three northeastern provinces passed through Luanzhou, but was intercepted by Zhang Shaozeng.After that, Zhang and Lu Yongxiang, the deputy commander of the third town, issued an uprising declaration, and wanted to leave Beijing! Duan Qirui was in a hurry, even his confidant Lu Yongxiang turned against him, he had to be in a hurry! "This Lu Yongxiang, Lu Yongxiang..." Xu Shuzheng was not in a hurry.This is his personality, he is always surprisingly calm whenever he is in a hurry. "What's the use of being anxious when things come up? The most important thing is to find out the situation and take countermeasures!" After calming down for a while, he said firmly: "My lord, I don't think Lu Zijia (Lu Yongxiang's name is Zijia) will follow Zhang Shaozeng. That declaration must be fraudulent!" "I also think Lu Yongxiang won't go with him." Duan Qirui frowned and shook his head. "Now there is a way," Duan Qirui said, "that is, send a secret message to Zijia, asking him to quickly move the army to the corridor. If Lu Zijia obeys the order, the uprising will be a rumor; if Lu Zijia does not move, it means that the situation has changed. Action should be taken immediately." "This is the only way." After speaking, Duan Qirui asked Xu Shuzheng to draft a telegram and send it to Lu Yongxiang in Jilin. Lu Yongxiang is a confidant cultivated by Yuan Shikai and Duan Qirui for many years, acting as the proxy control of the three towns is also the careful arrangement of Yuan and Duan.He had already handed over his wealth and life to Yuan and Duan.As soon as he saw Duan's secret telegram, he led the army into the pass non-stop - it turned out that Lu Yongxiang on the "Uprising Declaration" in Luanzhou was signed by someone else.All misunderstandings were resolved.Because Zhang Shaozeng's Twenty Towns lost Lu Yongxiang's "ally", they also felt weak and did not dare to act rashly. Due to the tense national situation at that time, the Qing government decided to organize a cabinet that could stabilize the situation to save the precarious fate.Who can have this ability? Counting and counting, only Yuan Shikai.Therefore, at the imperial meeting on November 5, it was decided to appoint Yuan Shikai as the prime minister of the cabinet. du8.com copyright Yuan Shikai became the prime minister of the cabinet, and his treatment of the revolutionary party in the south was unshakable, but in the north he "attended" Wu Luzhen in Six Towns even more. That Wu Luzhen was also a little ignorant of current affairs, and Yuan Shikai was always going against him when things were going well.Just the day before Yuan Shikai became prime minister, a train from Beijing to Hankou to deliver supplies to Yuan was detained by Wu Luzhen in Shijiazhuang, and a telegram was sent to request the Qing government to cease fighting and negotiate. After Wu Luzhen intercepted the arms, he negotiated with the representatives of the Shanxi Revolutionary Army at Niangziguan and reached an agreement: the Shanxi Revolutionary Party, the Six Towns, and the Twenty Towns jointly formed the Yan-Jin Allied Army, and sent troops to Beijing in three ways.Wu Luzhen was also elected as the governor of the coalition army. Yuan Shikai could not tolerate this situation.He originally wanted to return to the north and deal with Wu Luzhen himself.But no, the south is tight, and he can't get out, so he has to send Duan Qirui another confidential message, asking him to handle the matter. Duan Qirui's main force, the three towns, has moved from Changchun to Langfang, and his strength has grown stronger. He originally wanted to send troops to Shanxi, and eat Wu Luzhen in one fell swoop--Duan Qirui is confident that with his strength, eating the six towns is the right thing to do. A breeze.However, he didn't want to do that.He said to Xu Shuzheng: "The north is still peaceful, and there can be no more wars. Besides, the six towns are also a strong army, which will be useful in the future. We can only use tricks to deal with Wu Luzhen." He also said, "What tricks to use? I have no idea at the moment. " Xu Shuzheng thought for a while, and said: "The war in the south is raging, and the north can no longer fight. It is the best policy for your lord to take the six towns. You can still come up with a solution." After a short pause, he said: "I remembered a Man, it might be useful." "Who?" Duan Qirui asked anxiously. "Zhou Fulin!" Xu Shuzheng said, "Zhou Fulin is your fellow townsman from Hefei, and he was originally the leader of the 12th Association of the Six Towns. Because he was not in harmony with Wu Luzhen, he was removed by Wu. Right now, he is full of hatred for Wu Zheng." If you are dissatisfied, why not ask him to discuss it." "Looking for Zhou Fulin?" Duan Qirui's heart skipped a beat. "It's nothing more than to promise him that the official will return to his original post after the matter is completed," Xu Shuzheng said: "At worst, I will give him a little reward." "Good way, good way!" Duan Qirui immediately sent someone to find Zhou Fulin. Zhou Fulin was invited.Duan Qirui met him in a secret living room.As soon as they met, he said to him enthusiastically and regretfully: "Fu Lin, I have been thinking about you, and I should have said something fair about you. It's just that I'm running around all day long, and the situation is always uncertain. .how have you been these days?" Zhou Fulin must also be regarded as a figure of the Beiyang Department. Although he did not catch up with the military training at the small station, he was a top student in the Garrison Academy in Baoding.In the first group of six towns, he was the first president of the Twelfth Association. Duan Qirui had served as the governor of this town for two terms, so he must be regarded as Duan's direct subordinate.His post was dismissed entirely because of disagreement with Wu Luzhen.Now, being invited by his old boss, and being so caring and considerate, he was impulsive, and before he could speak, he sighed a few times and shed two lines of hot tears. Duan Qirui looked at it and felt that the time had come, so he hurriedly said: "Fu Lin, I have talked to Mr. Yuan (Shikai), and I will let you go back to the Twelfth Association if you find a chance. That is your team, you understand They, they also. Respect you." "Master Duan, I thank you for loving me so much." Zhou Fulin was excited. "From now on, I will give it to you and Master Yuan for the rest of my life. I will never change my ambition!" "Don't talk about these things," Duan Qirui said, "I invite you here today because I have important matters to discuss with you. I hope you will take on an important task!" "Please make it clear, my lord!" Duan Qirui gave a brief introduction to the situation in the south, and then clarified the rebellion situation in Twenty Towns and Six Towns, and finally implemented it on Wu Luzhen. "This man is very overconfident. The battle ahead is so urgent that he dares to intercept the arms in Shijiazhuang. Isn't this putting Mr. Yuan and the frontline officers and soldiers to death! Intercepting the arms and colluding with the revolutionary army to attack Beijing, what is this? ?" "Wu Luzhen has rebelled?" Zhou Fulin was impulsive. "Lord Duan, is it true that the court has nothing to do with him? Master Yuan has nothing to do with him? Isn't he just a town, at best the two alliances, what can we do?" Duan Qirui smiled lightly and shook his head. "The Liangxie Bing and Wu Luzhen are two different things. The army belongs to the court, and Wu Luzhen is just him. To solve his personal problems, the army is still a good army." "So, I understand." Zhou Fulin broadened his mind, and he understood Duan Qirui's words. "Master Duan, leave this matter to me, and I will take care of it." "Master Yuan and I both believe in you." Duan Qirui said again: "Of course, we never want you to do it yourself. Because you will lead the army after it is done. You find a suitable person to do it. Reward him with some silver dollars, I have them here." Then, he handed Zhou Fulin a silver note of 20,000 yuan. Zhou Fulin did not refuse, put away the banknote, and said confidently: "Master Duan, I will report the good news to you within three days!" Zhou Fulin returned to his residence, thought about it in the middle of the night, and finally remembered a person——Ma Huitian. Ma Huitian is Zhou Fulin's fellow villager, and once served as the commander of the cavalry battalion under Zhou's subordinates.The two have a close relationship and talk about everything.This person also gained Wu Luzhen's trust, and now he is in charge of Wu Luzhen's guard battalion.Zhou Fulin found him in secret, first handed the 20,000 yuan silver note to Ma, explained the situation, and said: "This is a matter between Mr. Yuan and Mr. Duan. What is the current situation of these two people?" You know, China's political and military power is in its hands, and the battle in the south will be completely won. From now on, the overall situation must be controlled by them. We have to understand this current affairs!" Although Ma Huitian was a battalion supervisor, he was also a greedy person. He was jealous of money and coveted officials.Immediately promised to Zhou Fulin all day long: "Master Xietong, don't worry, this matter can be done easily. I will prepare a pot of wine and a few dishes for you here. You can drink it yourself first, and I will put Wu Luzhen right away. Lift up your head!" "I wish you success!" Ma Huitian returned to the battalion headquarters, called up his soldiers, told them "there is an urgent mission, follow orders!" and then took them all into the position - the train station outside Shijiazhuang. Wu Luzhen's headquarters of the Yan-Jin Allied Forces was set up on the train that stopped at the station. After Ma Huitian deployed the troops, he hurried to Wu's special train.He told the guarding soldiers that "there is a confidential matter and we need to meet with the commander", and he walked into the carriage without waiting for a notification. Seeing Ma Huitian rushing over with a flustered expression, Wu Luzhen was about to ask him what's the matter, but seeing that he took out a pistol from his waist, and knowing that something was wrong, she shouted loudly: "Ma Huitian, what are you doing?" Before the sound fell, the horse had already fired. "Ping!" A shot was fired, and Wu Luzhen fell to the ground... Wu Luzhen died. Zhang Shao, the commander of the 20th Township in Luanzhou, was scared away when he heard the news.Duan Qiruiling relieved Yuan Shikai of all his worries about the north.