Chapter 77: Test?

The car Xu Shuzheng and Chang Ruiqing took did not follow Duan Qirui and his party to Tieshizi Hutong, but turned westward on the south side of the Forbidden City, and then went to the Nanchang Street between Zhongnanhai and the Forbidden City, heading north, then along the Beihai and Houhai, heading straight to a mansion surrounded by mountains and rivers.

When Chang Ruiqing saw this route, he immediately knew that he was going to Prince Chun’s mansion on the northern edge of Houhai. It seemed that it was to rescue Prince Puyi. Sure enough, the car drove for a few more minutes and finally stopped in front of a huge mansion that was black and huge. The door face of the mansion was wide, and there were a few men dressed in Qing custodians standing at the door, with old-fashioned waist knives slings on their waists. The horse stakes in front of the door were also rows, and there were several towering trees standing on the left. It just looked a little bleak and deserted, but the wealth was incomparable to the mansions of ordinary officials of the Republic of China.

"Mr. Zheng, is this..." Chang Ruiqing pointed at the mansion with one hand and looked at Xu Shuzheng: "Isn't this the Northern Mansion? Prince Chun's mansion, are we here to meet King Chun today?"

Xu Shuzheng showed a hint of helplessness on his face and smiled coldly: "There is no way. This morning, Prince Chun's mansion has sent someone to invite him several times. He has agreed to the asking price of Red Brigade, 250,000 taels of gold, which is not a lot! But the place where the other party collected the money seemed a bit remote..."

...

It turned out that after spending a lot of effort, the father of Emperor Xuantong finally raised a huge sum of 250,000 taels of gold that the Red Brigade wanted! Moreover, the former regent of the Qing Dynasty was worried about the life and death of his precious son, so he did not dare to bargain with the Red Brigade anymore, so he instructed Beile Zaizhen, who was in charge of the negotiations in Tianjin to fully agree to the other party's request... But after getting what he wished, Meng Li, the chief negotiator of the Red Brigade, immediately put forward a new request-the payment location for the ransom should be chosen in the Yishan Mountains of Shandong!

It seems that this group of gangsters in the Red Brigade are really heroes who occupy the mountains and become kings. However, Prince Chun and Beijing and Tianjin, a vote of the Qing Dynasty left behind were immediately in trouble when they heard the place where they paid for the redemption of the people. Yishan, Shandong is a place where bandits are rampant, and even Shandong Governor Zhang Huaizhi had no way to take them... It would be fine if these Qing Qinggui were going to pay gold out of their pockets, but they had to take risks and take 250,000 taels of gold to the robber's nest. That would cost their lives! In short, no one dared to die, including Prince Chun himself, and he did not dare to go there. So, the job could only be counted on the Beiyang warlords holding a gun.

And the money is too big! Prince Chun dared not directly entrust it to Shandong Governor Zhang Huaizhi... Who knows if he would have a black man and swallow the gold? Who can punish him then? So, I found Duan Qirui, Xu Shuzheng and others who had just entered Beijing. After all, they were the central government, and they always had to talk more about decent and reason than local warlords?

As for the "dream" of leading troops to escort gold to Shandong, it naturally only fell on Chang Ruiqing, a young man from the Beiyang generation! Who made him "obedient and easy to command" and the price was also low? Other mixed brigades were recruiting soldiers and running so far, and there was risks. Don't even think about it if you don't have 50,000 or 600,000 yuan! Chang Ruiqing has a 100,000-200,000 yuan here, so he should be able to go there, and he can fight! Zhang Xun's 8,000-pig soldier is not an opponent, and ordinary bandits can probably be dealt with even a thousand horses!

Xu Shuzheng and Chang Ruiqing got off the car at the door. Prince Chun Zaifeng and Shi Xu, the Minister of the General Office of the Internal Affairs, had already greeted him personally, and were smiling all the time, and kept getting close to the two Beiyang warlords. Then the group talked and laughed, walked through the main hall and the back hall, and headed straight to the back garden of the palace.

Along the way, Chang Ruiqing was also looking at the once remarkable royal palace. Prince Chun Zaifeng, who lived here, was once the ruler of this country! Now, after the Qing Dynasty had only been destroyed for a few years, the royal palace has inevitably become depressed. The brick roads on the ground were covered with snow, but a thin walkway was swept out, and the walls of the houses were also a little mottled, and red paint could be seen falling off everywhere, revealing grayish white color. There were very few maids and servants in the royal palace, all of whom were listless.

I don’t know if this “Puyi’s kidnapping” storm will this Prince Chun’s mansion decline faster?

After a few twists and turns, everyone arrived at a pavilion in the middle of the lake built by the water on the back garden lake. After walking in, Chang Ruiqing suddenly felt that it was warm and hot. It seemed that the room was filled with earth dragons, and the fire was still burning vigorously.

A banquet was already set up in the middle of the room, with all kinds of treasures and treasures, and a few beautiful little maids were serving them.

"General Xu, General Chang, please sit down." Prince Chun's voice sounded. This prince who used to hold the power was now a middle-aged uncle with a gentle smile on his face and no deterrent power.

Xu Shuzheng and Chang Ruiqing also returned the favor with a smile, and then sat down separately. Xu Shuzheng sat next to Prince Chun, while Chang Ruiqing sat with Shi Xu, the Minister of the General Office of the Internal Affairs Office.

Shi Xu had already taken off his mourning clothes and did not wear the Qing Dynasty official uniforms. Instead, he wore a long gown and jacket, and the braids on the back of his head were cut off. He bowed slightly at Chang Ruiqing, poured a glass of wine for the other party, and then smiled and said, "Brother Yaoru is indeed young and promising. He became a brigade commander at a young age. It seems that Beiyang has a successor."

Of course, Chang Ruiqing knew that this was a compliment. He was about to say a few words on the scene, but heard Xu Shuzheng say: "Prince, Lord Shi, it is important to save people now, so I won't say anything about the scene... Have you raised 250,000 taels of gold?"

Prince Chun sighed and nodded helplessly: "Everything is ready."

Xu Shuzheng paused, as if he was thinking about something. After a while, he said, "Prince, what are you planning? Do you really want to give this gold?"

Prince Chun smiled bitterly: "What else can I do if I don't give it to me? The emperor is in their hands, how can I ignore it?"

"We just need the emperor to come back safely, and don't ask about anything else... Even if the Red Brigade is wiped out and gold is recovered, we don't want it!" Shi Xu understood the profound meaning of Xu Shuzheng's words, and hurriedly gave Prince Chun a wink while replenishing. After seeing this, Prince Chun hurriedly echoed: "Yes, yes, yes... We just need the emperor, don't care about anything else!"

Xu Shuzheng nodded with satisfaction and looked at Chang Ruiqing with a smile: "Yaoru, do you know what to do?"

Chang Ruiqing was stunned when he heard this and thought to himself: "What does Xu Shuzheng mean? He wants to lead his troops to encircle and suppress the Red Brigade and rob the gold? No! He shouldn't have any doubts that he has anything to do with the Red Brigade! This is a test of himself. If he can grab the 250,000 taels of gold, it means that he has nothing to do with the Red Brigade. Otherwise... "Thinking of this, Chang Ruiqing's back was already sweating profusely, but on the surface he was still calm: "Mr. Zheng, don't worry, the student will take people to Shandong and help you grab the gold!"

Speaking of this, his tone slightly condensed, and he looked at Xu Shuzheng and said, "Zhenggong, just that way, my plan to expand the army in the 31st Mixed Brigade may be......"

Xu Shuzheng smiled indifferently: "It won't have any impact. Isn't it just to train another group of soldiers? You leave some officers in Fengtai camp, new recruits, weapons and equipment will be solved by the Army Department... You go to Shandong to suppress the bandits and let them continue to suppress the bandits, so that both ends will not be delayed!"

"Okay! That's great!" Chang Ruiqing nodded without hesitation. He thought for a while and said, "Let the students take their brother Zhao Youlin (Zhao Zhen) to stay in Fengtai Camp for training. The students take a group of people to set off before the fifteenth next month."

"Next month's fifteen?" Xu Shuzheng was stunned and looked at Chang Ruiqing. Chang Ruiqing smiled and said, "Mr. Zheng, the student plans to move his family to Beijing and bring his parents together, so it takes half a month to arrange it."

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