The chief of staff of the governor's office is not an ordinary official, so his words cannot be ignored.

Fortunately, he was fully rested on the speedboat and did not need to rest any longer. Chen Tianhua did not bother to go into the house to rest, so he took a special carriage to the Governor's Mansion.

Entering the Huguang Governor's Mansion, I saw that the staff office was completely dark, with only the light in one room still on.

Chen Tianhua was led by the guards at the door to the chief of staff's room, where the lights were on.

As soon as I walked to the door, I heard low voices coming from inside, followed by a "hiss..." sound as a match was struck, as if something like smoke was being lit.

When Chen Tianhua entered the room and took a look, he felt a little funny:

I saw Gu Hongming lazily sitting on a large single leather sofa in undress, with a gray woolen coat covering his body and holding a freshly lit cigar in his hand.

Sitting on the single leather sofa opposite him was a burly, regular-featured major general with a thick mustache and a military uniform.

His sitting posture is completely different from Gu Hongming's. He straightens his back, puts his hands on his knees, and looks straight, a standard Japanese military posture.

Judging from his age, he looks about forty-one or twelve years old.

"Please sit down, young master." Gu Hongming raised his buttocks and bowed slightly, as a salute to Chen Tianhua.

He had a sickly look on his face, with a high nose and a white face covered with unshaven hair. It seemed that he had been under a lot of stress recently.

"Mr. Gu is in poor health. Have you seen a doctor?" Chen Tianhua nodded slightly and sat down on the couch in the middle without politeness.

He and Gu Hongming were old acquaintances. Whenever he came to the Hubei Governor's Mansion in the past few years, it was this chief of staff who he saw the most and talked with the most.

Gu Hongming is a mixed-race man who has received Western education for many years. He is very casual and aloof in character. He is not like the bureaucrats in the Qing Dynasty who have cumbersome etiquette. He and Chen Tianhua are like old friends, and everyone is informal.

Chen Tianhua is a modern man, and he is very fed up inside. He always bows and hands his hands. Seeing Gu Hongming's appearance, this is most likely due to depression, loss of appetite, and inability to cheer up, which is a mental illness.

"Haha, thank you for your concern, young master. I'm fine. I'm just irritable and have trouble sleeping and eating."

As he spoke, he straightened up and put out the cigar in his hand, placed it on the groove of the ashtray, pointed at the major general and introduced to Chen Tianhua:

"Young Master, this is Major General Li Yuanhong, the acting town commander of the Second Town of Hubei New Army."

"Young Master, I have admired you for a long time!" Li Yuanhong stood up and stood at attention, giving a military salute.

"Both each other, General Li, please sit down." Chen Tianhua also stood up and returned the military salute.

Although he wears civilian clothes, he is still a soldier.

The person in front of me is Li Yuanhong, a famous and legendary figure in history. After the Wuchang Uprising, he was elected as the admiral of the Hubei Army, and later served as two presidents and three vice presidents of the Republic of China.

As expected, he is a good-looking person, not an ordinary person.

At this time, Li Yuanli's actual duties were the commander-in-chief of the 21st Mixed Association of the Hubei New Army, the admiral of the Yangtze River Navy, the general office of the Hubei Gun Factory, and the chief instructor of the Hubei Military Preparation School.

His 21st Mixed Association had just been named the Second Town of the Hubei Army by Zhang Zhidong. He became the acting town commander, but his status remained unchanged.

If you look at these titles, you will know how favored he is by Zhang Zhidong, and he is definitely the favorite among the senior generals of the Hubei New Army.

Speaking of Li Yuanhong, this man is not a simple man. He is intelligent, eager to learn, loyal to his duties, and modest. He can definitely be called a proud man in the military.

He manages the army well, has rich theoretical and practical experience, is well-informed, and is young and powerful. He is a rare and outstanding general of the new army.

He was born in Huangpi, Hubei Province, and moved to Tianjin with his father when he was young.

Later, he was admitted to the mechanical department of Tianjin Beiyang Naval Academy founded by Li Hongzhang. From then on, he developed a strong interest in Western machinery and achieved excellent academic performance.

After graduation, he was personally awarded the rank of Sixth Grade Commander by Li Honghong, and was sent to serve in Guangdong as the second engineer of the Guangjia Ship, and was later incorporated into the Beiyang Navy.

When the Sino-Japanese War broke out, he accompanied the fleet to the north to help. The Guangjia ship was sunk by a Japanese torpedo, and Li Yuanhong threw himself into the sea and was rescued.

Later, he joined the Self-Strengthening Army of Zhang Zhidong, Governor of Liangjiang, serving as a German translator and supervising the construction of the Nanjing Lion Rock Fort. After the fort was completed, he also served as an instructor.

It can be said that during this period, his military talents and abilities were appreciated by Zhang Zhidong, and he was kind to him.

He came to Huguang with Zhang Zhidong and was sent to the Japanese Army Officer School as a trainee. As a senior officer, he participated in the Hubei military delegation and went to Japan three times to inspect military and political affairs. He was highly regarded by the Governor-General.

He is a senior officer in the current Hubei New Army who actively promotes the organization and combat training of the Japanese army.

During the preparatory period for the construction of the Guangdong-Hankou Railway, he served as a representative of the military community, and his fourth bid of the 21st Association was to be the escort force for the Wuchang-Changsha section of the Guangdong-Hankou Railway.

It should be said that in the future, Li Yuanhong and Chen Tianhua will have more opportunities to interact with each other.

Chen Tianhua was not polite. He reached into the special moisturizing box containing cigars on the coffee table, took out two cigars, handed one to Li Yuanhong, and held the other in his mouth, using cigar scissors to slightly trim the top of the cigarette.

"I'm sorry, young master, I'm not used to smoking cigars. I'll just drink tea." Li Yuanhong waved his hands and declined politely.

"Oh, Mr. Gu, you are becoming more and more particular about smoking cigars now. What a beautiful humidor and cigar scissors. You can smoke the best Cuban cigars."

As he spoke, he lit a match and lit it for Gu Hongming, who had picked up most of the cigar. He then lit the cigar in his mouth, took a deep breath, and leaned on the back of the sofa to reminisce.

Well, this Cuban cigar is really good and has a rich flavor!

Gu Hongming stretched out his head, enjoying the cigar that Chen Tianhua helped light, took a sip in his mouth and raised his eyes and said:

"Haha, look what the eldest young master said, if I, the chief of staff of the governor's government, didn't even have this privilege, my life would be very boring. This humidor for cigars was given to me by a British banker a few years ago.

, plus those British cigars, but now I am obsessed with Cuban cigars, which were given by an American friend."

He interacted with political and business people from various countries, and the gifts they gave him the most were foreign wine and cigarettes, and cigars were exactly what they liked.

"Hey Mr. Gu, just give these British cigars to me. In my office of the General Administration of Railways, the most frequent visitors are British experts. Asking them to smoke British cigars shows respect."

Chen Tianhua looked at the cigar in his hand while joking lightly with Gu Hongming, making the atmosphere as relaxed as possible.

He accidentally discovered that the matchstick thrown into the ashtray had not burned out after lighting two cigars.

This flame-resistant technology is good.

I looked at the trademark on the matchbox and saw that it was made in Switzerland.

"That's no problem. I have seven or eight pieces of English cigars here. I'll pack them up and bring them to you later. Since I'm the one sending you a telegram to invite you over, it seems a little unreasonable not to present some gifts."
Chapter completed!