Chapter 6 First meeting with Ni Duan ()

In this gap, the soldier wearing a new military uniform suddenly became happy and said, "Are you from Anhui? A fellow villager!"

Wu Shaoting still had some good feelings for the new army soldier, at least the other party looked quite enthusiastic. He smiled and said, "That's right, I was born in Anhui and later moved to Jiangxi. I came to Guangzhou alone at the age of twelve."

"It's a coincidence that I met a fellow villager in another place. It's a good thing. My name is Ni Duan, from Hefei, Anhui. I was transferred to Guangzhou at the end of last year. Now I am serving as the instructor of the Third Battalion of the New Army." The New Army sergeant introduced himself with a smile.

"It turns out it's Lord Ni, I'm lucky to know." Wu Shaoting bowed with a smile.

Ni Duan is not the real name of this person. His real name is Ni Yingdian. He was a non-commissioned officer in the Ninth Town of the New Army. During the Pingliuli Uprising, the Ninth Town of the New Army was sent to suppress him. Ni Yingdian contacted the people of Tongmenghui to plan an uprising in the Ninth Town of the New Army, but unfortunately he failed to succeed.

Later, Ni Yingdian changed his name to Ni Duan and came to Guangzhou to join the New Army Patrol Battalion as the coach. Just two years later, the Guangzhou New Army Uprising broke out in 1910, and he was the commander-in-chief of the New Army of the uprising. Unfortunately, he was killed by the Guangzhou Navy Admiral during the uprising, which led to the final failure of the New Army of the uprising because of the lack of a leader.

Of course, Wu Shaoting didn't know this, but he knew very well that eight out of the ten new troops in this era were all about revolution. What's more, Ni Duan was a fellow villager, so he felt particularly close.

"What's the matter with Master Ni Ni? You a top student may be my boss in a few days. I want to call you an adult! Haha!" Ni Duan said jokingly.

"Where are people, you are both fellow countrymen and seniors. Please take more care of yourself in the future." Wu Shaoting said politely.

At this time, Lord Chen found Wu Shaoting's file from a pile of old documents, which was covered with a thick layer of dust. He slapped the file while walking back behind the counter.

"Your files are really there, and they have been left for four years." He opened the files and verified them with Wu Shaoting's resume according to the procedures. "Okay, Lord Wu, welcome to return home."

Wu Shaoting could not hear any welcome from Lord Chen, and he asked directly: "Mr. Chen, have any arrangements for me?"

"I am just a secretary, and I am only responsible for registering your information. It's getting late now. I will send your resume to the Governor tomorrow. As for how to arrange it, it's the Governor's business." Mr. Chen said slowly.

"Since that's the case, what should I do about my stay tonight?" Wu Shaoting asked again.

"You can go to the fire camp's dormitory for a while. According to me, you will be sent to the fire camp as well, so that you will not be able to move around in the future." said Mr. Chen.

"Fire Fighting Battalion? How did Lord Chen know?" Wu Shaoting was a little surprised. His top student from the German Higher Non-commissioned Officer Academy was actually transferred to the firefighting battalion to work?

Although he knew that the fire battalion at this time was not entirely a fire brigade specializing in firefighting in the 21st century, it was just the number of an army. However, this army was not a conventional army. It was only responsible for security work in the town, and of course its responsibilities also included fire relief. To understand it superficially, the fire battalion belongs to the internal security force, not an offensive force.

Lord Chen was not in a hurry to answer. He first took out a copy from the counter and then replied: "Look, it turns out that, now all the official positions in Guangzhou should be released, leaving only the post of a post in Shanziying of the Firefighting Camp. As expected, the Governor and Governor will entrust you to the position."

Wu Shaoting vaguely guessed that the so-called "release of officials" means "selling officials". The whistle officer is the official position of the old army, which is equivalent to the company commander of the new army, but the soldiers under the command are only dozens of fewer than the company commander of the new army.

Before he could speak, Ni Duan on the side was dissatisfied and said, "Old Chen, what are you doing? The fire battalion is training the army! Lord Wu is a top student who has returned from Germany. He has to be arranged to serve in the new army. Where can there be any officers studying abroad do not bring the new army?"

The military training is actually an evolutionary version of the Qing Dynasty Green Camp Army. This is the army derived from Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang when they founded the Hunan Army and Huai Army, and used the Hunan Army and the Huai Army system to train the Green Camp Army. Fifteen years ago, it was barely considered a relatively new type of army, but today, fifteen years later, the military training is like the old army.

Although Lord Chen also found it ridiculous, there was indeed no precedent for new-style officers to lead old-style troops. But he couldn't control this matter. Who made Wu Shaoting come and catch up with the time when he was in short supply?

"Oh, Lord Wu, although I have wronged you, this matter has not been decided yet. I will hand over your files and resume to the Governor tomorrow. Maybe the Governor will make other arrangements!" Lord Chen comforted perfunctorily.

Wu Shaoting sighed depressedly, lifted his suitcase, turned to Lin Zhaoren and said, "Brother Lin, please guide the way to the fire camp dormitory."

At this time, Ni Duan walked out from behind the counter and said, "Mr. Lin, please go with yours."

Lin Zhaoren said goodbye and left.

Ni Duan accompanied Wu Shaoting out of the officer's office. On the way to the gate of the yamen, he smiled and persuaded, "Mr. Wu, don't go to your heart. At the beginning of the year, there was a top student who returned from the Japanese non-commissioned officer school. He was not much better than you."

"Oh? Who is this person?" Wu Shaoting asked curiously. There were not many people who went to Japanese non-commissioned officers' schools to study abroad in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, and they were all world-famous generals in the future. It was necessary to ask the person's name.

"The surname is Xu and his name is Chongzhi. When he came back to report, the superiors also arranged it in the old army, and he was just an intern adjutant, but he was even worse than Lord Wu." Ni Duan said in a joke tone.

Xu Chongzhi? The leader of the Kuomintang’s Guangdong faction is indeed a big shot!

"Then he will be willing to obey the arrangement?" Wu Shaoting asked.

"It is said that Mr. Xu took his archives to Fujian the next day." Ni Duan said.

"So that's it." Wu Shaoting nodded slowly. In history, Xu Chongzhi participated in the Fuzhou Uprising and later returned to Guangdong with Chen Jiongming, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Expedition Army.

The two walked into the corridor, and at this time there were fewer people around them.

Ni Duan sighed and said, "Actually, the above are deliberately trying to trouble you top students who study abroad."

Wu Shaoting was stunned, confused, and asked, "How do you say this?"

Ni Duan smiled mysteriously and said, "Mr. Wu, you may not know the situation in the country after just returning from studying abroad. Now the waves of revolutions are turbulent across the country. There is no need to say much about the people. The new army is the one who is most influenced by revolutionary ideas. The Qing court must rely on the new army to consolidate national defense, but it must be wary of the unexpected situation in the new army, so it has to be careful."

Wu Shaoting pondered for a moment and suddenly said, "Mr. Ni means that the superiors are worried about us students who are studying abroad, for fear that we will spread foreign ideas to the new army?"

"That's right." Ni Duan nodded.

Wu Shaoting was silent for a while, and suddenly smiled and asked deliberately: "Mr. Ni, this is the army yamen. Do you dare to talk about the word "revolution" so unscrupulously?"

Ni Duan laughed twice and said, "The two most popular words these days are revolution. I can't help but want to!"

In the past few years, the Qing government still had a very strict control over public opinion. Anyone who mentioned "revolution" in public would inevitably be arrested and beheaded. However, now the prestige of the Qing government is becoming increasingly weak, and centralization is becoming increasingly unreachable. As one rises and the other falls, the openness of the people's customs will naturally rise.

Wu Shaoting vaguely felt that Ni Duan was testing himself, just like Hu Hanmin was testing himself on the "Buckingham". Revolutionaries have always been very active, and anyone who is helpful to the revolution will actively win over him. He thought to himself: It seems that Ni Duan is really a member of the Tongmenghui!

However, he knew very well that with China's current state, revolution was inevitable, and it was wise to be able to maintain good relations with the revolutionary party.

The two left the Army Yamen and went directly to the street in front of the Yamen and headed towards the large schoolyard opposite.

The firefighting battalion has a total of four battalions, two of which are equipped with firearms are stationed in the urban area. The Shanzi Camp and the other battalion are arranged to be stationed behind the large campus because of their backward equipment.

With Ni Duan's help, Wu Shaoting quickly completed some temporary procedures. A small official from the firefighting camp found an empty dormitory for him and got a set of quilts and mattresses.

Wu Shaoting simply organized a room, and the sky gradually faded.

Ni Duan never left. After looking at the sky, he invited Wu Shaoting to go to the cafeteria with him for dinner.

Because the fire battalion still belongs to the old military system, officers and soldiers eat separately. The officers have officers’ canteens, and soldiers basically line up to eat big pots near their barracks. Although Ni Duan does not belong to the fire battalion, as long as he wears the officers’ clothes, no one in the canteen dares to say anything, it’s just an extra meal.
Chapter completed!