As soon as Zai Zhen and his party got off the boat, Yuan Shikai on the opposite side gave an order, and military music sounded.
It turned out that he also brought a military band with dozens of people to play music, which was really grand.
Yuan Shikai greeted him with a smile: "Zhen Beizi has traveled thousands of miles and traveled to various countries. It's a lot of hard work!"
"It's not hard work, thank you. Yuan Zitai personally greeted you." Zai Zhen pointed to the orchestra behind him, "Is this all your fault?"
Yuan Shikai said proudly: "Exactly! It's just that there are not many pieces of music now. It would be good if you can practice one or two well. I heard that it is quite troublesome to learn various Western musical instruments."
Zai Zhen nodded: "Why not use our silk and bamboo wind instruments, golden bells and drums?"
Zai Zhen's thinking was so exciting that he actually wanted to use these as musical instruments in a military band.
Yuan Shikai was stunned and patiently explained: "Zhen Beizi, since we are learning from foreign armies, these rituals must also comply with other people's systems."
"It makes sense." Zai Zhen looked at Yuan Shikai's new army, "Foreigners do have something to say about their stuff, and this time I'm considered to have opened up the world."
Behind Yuan Shikai stood several officers, whom Li Yu knew, of course, followed closely by Xu Shichang, and then all three Beiyang heroes arrived: "Dragon of the North" Wang Shizhen, "Tiger of the North" Duan Qirui, and "Dog of the North" Feng Guozhang.
Zhang Xun and Cao Kun could also be vaguely seen in the crowd.
Tianjin is the territory of Beiyang, and most of the top officials from Beiyang came. Of course, in addition to the officers from Beiyang, Tang Shaoyi from the Tianjin Customs Department also came to greet him in person.
Ordinarily, there was no need to be so grand. Judging from Yuan Shikai's scheming, he must have had his purpose in doing so. It was probably to win over Zai Zhen. Maybe there were some new changes in the DPRK during this period.
Yuan Shikai said: "I have prepared a small amount of wine in the army to welcome the envoy and wash away the dust. I also ask Zhenbeizi and the envoy to go together."
"Yuan Zitai is very considerate." Zai Zhen had no reason to refuse.
The military camps in Beiyang were really different from those of the Eight Banners. The soldiers recruited by the new army were carefully selected: first of all, they had to have good physical fitness, and then they had to have a clean family background, and they should not have a history of opium smoking.
Yuan Shikai even personally wrote the "Thirteen Essential Principles for Military Training", which clearly stipulated all aspects, and it already looked like a modern army.
The salary in the army is also pretty good. Ordinary soldiers get 4.5 taels per month, sentry officers (platoon leaders) get 30 taels including public expenses, and battalion commanders get 400 taels a month.
If you are an artilleryman, your salary will be better. After all, it is a technical job and you need to learn more operations.
This kind of salary was really high at the time. In addition, in order to prevent empty pay, Yuan Shikai established a new food and salary bureau, and every time the salary was paid by roll call on the playground.
The Beiyang Army was actually very rich from beginning to end. Since they were rich, of course the food in the army was not bad.
Although the Yingpan Canteen is not as good as the restaurants in the capital, the dishes prepared by Yuan Shikai are still very rich.
There is a large long table in the canteen. In order to show his closeness to his subordinates, Yuan Shikai often served meals in the army with a large number of officers sitting at the same table.
Everyone took their seats one by one. At the top of the table were Yuan Shikai, Xu Shichang, Wang Shizhen, Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang from Beiyang, as well as Zai Zhen from the special envoy, Liang Cheng, Huang Kaijia and other second-rank officials.
Li Yuze, Wang Daxie, Tang Wenzhi and others lined up in sequence.
Li Yu's ancestral home is in Shandong, and he really knows a lot about seating. If it's a big round table, he knows the rules of the host and the deputy. However, the people here today either have official or military ranks, so he wanted to sit back.
Just as he took a few steps back, Yuan Shikai actually stopped him: "Are you Li Yu? Don't be so formal, sit forward, sit forward! Let me see, um, you can sit down and bow down to Cao Kun."
Yuan Shikai actually remembered him, and the host and his companions all spoke, so Li Yu had no choice but to sit down under Cao Kun.
Yuan Shikai asked the people from Beiyang to sit apart from the envoys. On Li Yu's right was Cao Kun and on the left was Zhang Xun. Both of them would become great warlords in Beiyang in the future.
Opposite Li Yu, diagonally across and further up, is Tang Shaoyi of Tianjin Customs Road.
Li Yu's position is very high, just below Tang Wenzhi and Wang Daxie, members of the fourth-rank mission.
Zhang Xun, the future "braided handsome man", saw that the food would have to wait for a while, so he took out a betel nut from the purse he brought and chewed it. After chewing for a while, it became boring, then he lit a cigar and took a pleasant puff.
"This is so exciting!"
Li Yu was almost confused. Who could smoke like this?
Is it true that just betel nuts and cigarettes have boundless magical power?
Zhang Xun took a few sips and said to Cao Kun: "I said to Cao San, you fool, this military band you brought is really boring! Let me tell you, it must be according to what Bei Zi said, using some Western instruments. In the past, we
War is not fought with gold and drums."
Cao Kun was dull by nature, and he was like a fool in the army. He was called "Cao San Fool" by his fellow soldiers since he was a child. However, fools have their blessings. Cao Kun's successive leaders liked him very much, and Yuan Shikai also liked him very much.
The kind of person who works hard and obeys orders.
And he was very lucky. Somehow he was admitted to the Beiyang Armed Forces Academy, he somehow became a high-ranking military officer, he somehow became Yuan Shikai's son and daughter, and he somehow became a briber to elect the president.
I really don’t know if he is pretending to be stupid and acting like a fool?
But of course Cao Kun still had advantages, such as caring for soldiers, which was a huge advantage among officers at the time.
Moreover, Cao Kun was also relatively accurate in judging people, and single-handedly promoted Wu Peifu. Later, when Zhili was able to be so fierce, it was really Wu Peifu who was so good at fighting.
Wu Peifu deeply felt the kindness of encountering Cao Kun. His eldest brother took me to Beiyang, and I will take him to become the president!
Cao Kun was not angry at all after hearing Zhang Xun's ridicule, and said slowly: "You are talking about the golden drum during the war. In peacetime, the army must look like an army. The military band is used as a guard of honor to strengthen our army."
Power."
"Exactly!" Zhang Xun said disdainfully, being a very old-fashioned person, "It's not like our ancestors lacked musical instruments. Do we have to learn from foreigners to do these? Let me see, using our silk and bamboo orchestra, the golden drum and suona will be very good!
"
I don’t know if Zhang Xun has heard of it, “Of all kinds of musical instruments, the suona is the king, either ascending to heaven or worshiping in the hall; a thousand-year-old pipa, a ten-thousand-year-old zither, and an erhu playing for a lifetime. The whole play ends when the suona sounds.”
If you play the suona and go to the battlefield, you really can't tell whether you are welcoming a bride or attending a funeral.
Moreover, Zhang Xun was definitely the last loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty. He loved the Qing Dynasty to the core. Otherwise, how could he have carried out the restoration later?
Li Yu could hardly hold it in any longer, but luckily Tang Shaoyi, who was diagonally across from him, laughed first, attracting Zhang Xun's attention.
Zhang Xun said: "Why, what we said is wrong?"
Tang Shaoyi also smokes cigars, but his movements are much more elegant, and the way he holds the cigarette is the same, not as rough as Zhang Xun. He said: "Musical instruments are like weapons, different instruments have different uses. Military music, of course, is an orchestral instrument
more suitable."
Tang Shaoyi was a man of culture. Zhang Xun had little education and didn't know the difference between orchestral music and traditional musical instruments. He couldn't tell the specific details and couldn't continue to refute. He saw that Tang Shaoyi also smoked cigars, so he immediately changed the subject: "Tang Daoist knows it too.
cigar?"
Tang Shaoyi pointed to the cigar in his hand: "Just for fun."
"I bought this one from the French Concession. It costs three silver dollars each. Do you want to try it?" Zhang Xun took one out of the box and handed it to Tang Shaoyi.
At that time, smoking cigars was an absolute luxury, and the price was simply not acceptable to ordinary people. The cost was comparable to that of smoking.
Of course, later generations of cigars are not cheap. A good one costs six to seven hundred yuan, and there are also cigars that cost two to three thousand yuan. Calculating this, it is not much different from that of the past.
Tang Shaoyi laughed loudly, and even took out a small box, took out one and invited him over.
Zhang Xun's expression changed as soon as he saw it: "This! Isn't this the Cuban cigar sold in the British Concession? Each one costs ten silver dollars!"
Tang Shaoyi took a breath and said, "If Zhang Guandai likes it, I will send someone to deliver 10 boxes to you."
Guandai is the term for the position of battalion commander in the Beiyang Army.
Zhang Xun also cares about face, so he immediately pretended: "I don't like Cuban cigars, but I like the one I smoke."
Tang Shaoyi smiled slightly and no longer insisted. In terms of worldview, how could he be inferior to Zhang Xun.
After fussing for a while, the kitchen prepared the food and brought it out. Because it was a long table, many dishes were arranged in a messy manner even though they were prepared several times.
Cao Kun placed a plate of chili-fried pork belly in front of Zhang Xun, "I heard from Teacher Juren that you like spicy food. I'll put this plate in front of you. Eat more!"
Juren is Xu Shichang's nickname. Yuan Shikai likes to call him "Brother Juren", so many military battalion officers also respectfully call him by his nickname. And because Xu Shichang was born in Juren, he later served as a Jinshi scholar for nine years, so he can be called
He ranks first in knowledge and academic qualifications in the Beiyang Army. Most of the soldiers in the battalion have little education, let alone fame, so everyone respects him as their teacher.
Zhang Xun is from Jiangxi. In later generations, Jiangxi people were famous throughout the country for eating spicy food.
It’s just that Jiangxi cuisine is not as famous as Hunan cuisine, so many people think that Hunan people can eat spicy food the best.
Zhang Xun does like spicy food, but today he was a little shy. He smiled and said, "We can't just eat spicy food!" Then he pushed the dish gently and said, "You all eat it, you all eat it."
Cao Kun said with a smile: "Why, could it be that hemorrhoids have occurred again?"
Zhang Xun said sternly: "Where can I have it? I'll be fine a long time ago!"
"Then I have to give you this dish. Come, take two bites!"
Zhang Xun couldn't tell whether Cao Kun was a real iron hanhan or a fake one. He didn't know why he was so persistent, but he couldn't embarrass the people of Jiangxi! He didn't even put the meat in his mouth, so he put two chili peppers in his mouth.
Chew it.
Cao Kun waited until he had swallowed it before giving him a thumbs up: "Zhang Guan is so heroic!"
Zhang Xun's face was almost red, and most likely he cried and cried again when he went to the toilet today.
Li Yu is really interesting to watch. He was able to bring together these great warlords of later generations, who is now Yuan Shikai.
Li Yu once saw a national "hemorrhoids map", but Hunan ranked first in the incidence rate, and Jiangxi was not weak either, ranking sixth.
The last one is Li Yu's hometown of Shandong, so he doesn't have a deep feeling about hemorrhoids and cannot understand the distress of Zhang Xun, a "hemorrhoid-afflicted man".
Zhang Xun became famous as a "hemorrhoid sufferer". Even the Empress Dowager Cixi knew that he had hemorrhoids!
Two years ago, the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded Beijing, and Lafayette hurriedly took Guangxu away.
As a loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Xun didn't care about anything and quickly led his troops directly to the north. After finding Cixi, he walked all the way and followed Lafayette's sedan. Despite the heavy snowfall in the cold winter, he always surrounded him unswervingly.
By Cixi's side.
As a result of walking for a long time, Zhang Xun suffered from hemorrhoids and he was bleeding profusely. The robe behind his buttocks was stained red with blood, and he looked uncomfortable as he walked.
It was Li Lianying who saw General Zhang's buttocks turning red and asked about it before he knew what had happened, so he told Cixi.
Cixi was deeply moved when she saw Zhang Xun walking with his butt stuck out and bleeding continuously, so she specially ordered General Zhang to ride a horse.
But Zhang Xun said: "It doesn't hurt me! I will follow my ancestors! It's important for me to protect the saint!"
What does it mean to be a loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty! Otherwise, he is the last loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty!
Zhang Xun was not a direct descendant of Beiyang. He was born in the Huai Army and did not have a strong sense of belonging to Beiyang. He did not attribute most of the credit for his rise to prominence to Yuan Shikai, but felt that Cixi had given him a glorious status.
The drinks in the Beiyang military camp are also foreign wines, whiskey with more than 40 degrees of alcohol. Nowadays, soldiers like to drink. Alcohol can strengthen their courage and improve their morale, so the control is not too strict.
Yuan Shikai, who was in the first place, filled up the wine and said: "Brothers, please fill it up!"
Cao Kun was quite polite and wanted to pour wine into Li Yu's glass. Li Yu wanted to refuse, but Beiyang was the employer after all today and the envoy was the guest, so Cao Kun insisted on filling Li Yu's glass with wine.
Cao Kun didn't seem to know Li Yu, so he just asked: "How's your drinking capacity, little brother?"
As a native of Shandong, Li Yu's drinking capacity was not able to finish the staple food according to Shandong standards, but he persisted until the hot dishes were okay, and he barely reached the passing mark.
However, he rarely drank alcohol, so he said: "It is definitely far behind the amount of alcohol consumed by other officers."
"Okay!" Cao Kun became more energetic, "Well said! But my ability to drink is not good either."
Then he poured a full glass of Zhang Xun's glass attentively and said, "As for the amazing amount of wine, I, Zhang, have to take care of the adults."
Zhang Xun looked at the wine in the glass and felt the corner of his mouth twitching and his anus tightening. On weekdays, he really drinks a lot, drinking half a catty of Fenjiu with every meal, but today, thinking about his butt, he really couldn't drink it.
Zhang Xun said tactfully: "The soda drinks in the camp are also good. There are so many guests today. It would be inappropriate to drink too much."
"It doesn't matter!" Cao Kun insisted, "I don't believe there is anyone who can make Zhang Guan drink down."
Sitting below, Li Chun, who was also a great warlord in later generations, laughed and said, "I don't believe it either!"
Zhang Xun suddenly felt that it was difficult to get off the tiger.
After everyone filled up their glasses with wine, Yuan Shikai stood up with a glass in his hand and said, "Everyone, let us toast Master Zhenbei and the envoy who have returned from thousands of miles away!"
Everyone stood up one after another. Zhang Xun was most afraid of sitting together now, but he had no choice but to stand up with the wine glass in hand.
Yuan Shikai shouted: "Cheers!"
Everyone drank it all in one gulp, Zhang Xun cursed in his heart that Grandma was a bear, and drank it all.
Chapter 2 will be a little later today, and I will probably mention 8,000 words a day in the future.