The appearance of Cai E and others did not attract much attention. Many officials did not even say hello, and no one asked them to take a seat. The atmosphere in the conference room seemed a bit awkward and raw. Xia
Shoukang didn't say much. He just lowered his voice and asked Yuan Su to take a seat first.
Fu Liangzuo could still play a role in smoothing things over. He smiled and greeted Cai E, Jiang Baili and Yan Xishan to sit down.
No one spoke to each other, and the bureaucrats of the Army Department occasionally whispered to each other, not paying attention to Cai E and others at all. Yuan Su glanced at Cai E subconsciously, and Cai E still looked cold.
He looked calm and composed, with no emotion shown on his face.
The scene before him alone made Yuan Su understand a lot of things in his heart. The Beiyang Group would not tolerate an outsider dictating, especially a person from Yunnan. He did not know whether this was the xenophobic custom of the Beiyang Group, or whether it was Duan
Qi Rui was worried that Yuan Shikai would use Cai E to seize his power. According to the historical description of Duan Qirui, he should not care about personal honor and disgrace. Therefore, Cai E was excluded because outsiders were not tolerated within the Beiyang Group. But what was the reason?
It cannot be generalized.
After a while, Officer Chengqi's voice came from outside the conference room: "The commander-in-chief of the Army Department has arrived."
As soon as the voice fell, there was a sound of footsteps outside the gate. Duan Qirui was not tall, he was thin and dark, and the military uniform he was wearing was directly changed from the old military uniform, and it already looked very old. He
There was no good-looking expression on his face, and he walked in a Lei Liefengxing manner. After entering the conference room, he took some documents from the attendants behind him, and quickly walked to the head of the conference table, signaling that everyone did not have to get up.
salute.
"Time waits for no one, no need to be polite. Let's get straight to the point." Duan Qirui's voice was a bit boring, as if he never spoke with emotion, giving people a feeling of being thousands of miles away.
What needs to be discussed at this meeting is a series of documents that Cai E submitted to the Ministry of War a few days ago to reorganize the Beiyang Army and the Central Army. Duan Qirui held a special meeting today to make decisions on this series of documents.
reply.
After Duan Qirui announced that he had entered the main topic, he immediately began to discuss the feasibility of a series of plans proposed by Cai E. His tone and attitude at the beginning were quite normal, and many things were discussed item by item, including how to regulate the military discipline of the Beiyang Army.
, how to strengthen the centralized management of the army, eliminate old-style troops, etc. Duan Qirui still agreed to accept several of these contents after Cai E explained them.
But later on, as the issues discussed became more and more acute, especially regarding the re-evaluation of officers above the regiment and brigade level, the elimination of cliques for personal gains and the dismissal of unqualified officers, as well as the future status of the Central Army in the Beiyang government, military expenditures
Budget and other issues, the atmosphere in the conference room suddenly changed significantly.
Duan Qirui was not in a hurry to take the lead in attacking Cai E. Instead, the attitude of Xu Shuzheng and other Army Department officials on the side quickly became fierce. Xu Shuzheng's domineering arrogance throughout the capital has long been known to everyone, and now in the Army Department himself
He was even more arrogant on his territory. He did not regard Cai E as a major general officer at all, but more like his superior was lecturing an ignorant newcomer.
"Why do you have to dictate the personnel issues of regimental and brigade-level officers? Just evaluate them as you say?"
"That is, you are just an adviser to the Presidential Palace. The appointment and removal of military officers is a big matter, and a slight mistake will cause a change in the morale of the soldiers. Why do you still claim to be a top student who studied abroad in the military, but you don't even understand this principle?"
"There have always been evaluations, why are you so worried about it?"
"Even if the President wants to establish a separate Central Yang Army, the Central Yang Army currently has only nine divisions. Even if you include the three brigades of Mr. Yuan, it is far less than the number of provincial army divisions. Why does the military budget of the Central Yang Army need to be so high?
Taking the majority? What kind of truth is this?"
The tone of everyone's refutations became higher and higher, and the atmosphere seemed extremely intense and aggressive.
Yuan Su has never seen the documents submitted by Cai E, and he does not know what the contents of the documents are. But he believes that since Cai E can raise problems, there must be appropriate solutions to the problems. Obviously the Ministry of War
It is not aimed at these documents, but at Cai E as a person. Therefore, no matter whether there is a solution to the problem or not, these bureaucrats will not buy it.
Facing such a barrage of questions from many officers of the Army Department, Cai E was a little confused at first, but then his face gradually became relieved. He didn't have any excessive expressions, he just listened patiently to the almost abusive questions. When everyone
When he was almost done with what he said, he spoke unhurriedly: "Everyone, I can answer all your doubts one by one, but the question is whether you can really listen to my answer. I think the biggest question now is,
It’s not the questions you raised, but whether the Department of the Army is really determined to support the president’s military reform.”
The meaning of these words is already very obvious. In the documents that Cai E submitted to Duan Qirui, many things were actually written clearly. Half of the questions raised by the bureaucrats in the Army Department were because they did not read carefully at all.
The documents he passed were completely based on random questions, and the other half asked questions that had nothing to do with what he had stated.
To put it simply, the Army Department is not questioning, but making things difficult.
Xu Shuzheng snorted coldly and said: "Cai Songpo, what do you mean? Don't push the president out as a shield at every turn. I think you are just a waste of fame. You don't understand the actual situation of our Beiyang Army at all, so you do it rashly."
To carry out so-called reforms, huh, now you dare to ask us?"
Cai E sneered twice. He had long expected that these officials from the Ministry of War would not easily cooperate with him. But after all, this is the great cause of China's rejuvenation. No matter how difficult it is, we must make every attempt. Immediately, he put his mind to it.
Yiheng said solemnly: "Okay, don't talk now. I will answer the questions you just asked me one by one."
Immediately, with a somewhat sullen expression, he began to answer the questions raised by the Army Department officials.
It took him more than 20 minutes without any pause. Whether it was a question that he had a little knowledge of or a question that was arbitrarily fabricated, he answered them without missing a beat. He clearly explained what he had written in the document.
, I repeated it clearly again, what the evaluation was, how to evaluate it, who would conduct the evaluation, how to appease the troops after the evaluation, etc. Not only was it clear and logical, but it was also flawless.
As for those fabricated questions, he didn't save any face for these people, he directly made sarcastic remarks, and finally asked these people to take a closer look at the documents with a simple sentence.
Yuan Su really didn't expect that Cai E not only had such a high military quality, but also had the aura to fight with the Confucian scholars. You must know that there are so many people with so many tongues, and the questions raised alone are messy enough, let alone
He said he would write down these people’s questions and answer them one by one.
After listening to Cai E's words, all the officials of the Army Ministry were dumbfounded, and some of them looked ashamed.
At this moment, Duan Qirui finally said: "The purpose of the meeting is to discuss various situations. Military reform is no trivial matter. A little carelessness may lead to catastrophe. Regarding the reform plans you proposed, I
I think the biggest mistake is to forcefully separate the so-called Zhongyang Army and the Beiyang Army. What is the Zhongyang Army? What is the Beiyang Army? Our Chinese Army is divided into so many ways. Is this to create a split or to accuse?
Who wants to be a warlord?"
Cai E was about to open his mouth to defend, but as soon as the words reached his mouth, he suddenly stopped his voice, and then his face fell into a strong doubt. He lowered his head slightly, looking worried, and the frown between his eyebrows became tighter and tighter.
After a long time, he suddenly let out a slow and lengthy breath, as if he had finally figured out some problems.
Seeing that Cai E didn't speak, Xu Shuzheng thought that the other party had nothing to say, so he sneered and said sarcastically: "I think the president is just a whim. Whatever the Zhongyang Army or the Beiyang Army, I think they should all be the Zhengfu Army."
That’s it.”
Cai E didn't speak again until the meeting ended.
After exiting the conference room, Yuan Su had many questions in his mind. One was what was the outcome of the discussion at this meeting? The other was why Cai E suddenly stopped talking. He believed that Cai E was definitely not in the wrong, because regarding the establishment of the central government
Regarding the Yang Army system, I once advised the president’s uncle that the Central Yang Army and the Beiyang Army are very different in terms of system, but there are not many differences in nature. It can be said that the Central Yang Army and the Beiyang Army are not very different in nature.
It is a system model that was established first, and then transformed the Beiyang Army into the Central Yang Army one by one. Even he can answer it, and Cai E should naturally be able to answer it too.
Yuan Su originally planned to talk to Cai E after he came out and ask the opponent what he was thinking at the time.
However, after Cai E walked out of the venue, Jiang Baili followed him and asked anxiously, but the other party still had a solemn face, said nothing, didn't care about anything, and just walked "not fast, not slow"
Left "in a hurry".
On the way back to the guest house, Xia Shoukang, who had been accompanying him, sighed and said to Yuan Su: "Well, we in Beiyang have always had different opinions on the President's establishment of the Central Army, whether it is towards the President
It is still towards Commander-in-Chief Duan, and many people are very uneasy about the hasty establishment of the Central Yang Army."
Yuan Su had heard about this, but he had never heard of the fact that even the faction that supported Yuan Shikai was worried. It stands to reason that the central military was established to allow the president to better and more directly control the military power, and to avoid and degrade the warlords.
This is the situation of separatist regimes. He asked in a puzzled tone: "How do you say this?"
Xia Shoukang sighed again and said: "Commander Duan has been with the President for so long. Doesn't he still know what the President thinks? But I believe that if the President lets Commander Duan be responsible for establishing the Central Army,
This matter will definitely be handled properly, but it is a pity that the president’s purpose of reorganizing the entire Beiyang army is to target some powerful elders in Beiyang, so this matter can only be carried out in a tit-for-tat manner."
Yuan Su nodded slightly and sighed in his heart: Beiyang has never been united.
Xia Shoukang continued: "Those who support the president generally believe that it is necessary to rectify the entire Beiyang army, but they are not rashly setting up a new central yang army. Even if a central yang army is to be established, it should not be done.
It should be done in a cyclical and gradual manner. To put it bluntly, everyone is worried that if the president takes this step, the gap between various departments in Beiyang will become wider and wider, and it may even lead to more serious consequences."
Yuan Su sighed and said: "I see. However, it can be seen that my uncle is determined to do it, but today's meeting may make General Songpo very unhappy, and I don't know what will happen next."
Xia Shoukang shook his head and said with a wry smile: "It is true that the president is imperative, but I believe that the president is not imperative to carry out military reforms, but is imperative to give those old subordinates a new life.
Warning. If there is no objection, this military reform may be completely implemented overnight. But once things go beyond the control of the president, it will be really hard to say."
Yuan Su glanced at Xia Shoukang, and he realized that Xia Shoukang was implying that once the pressure within the Beiyang Group was too great, his uncle Yuan Shikai might not be able to insist on implementing military reforms. If this was true, it would be inconsistent with history.
The situation is exactly the same. He really hopes that this military reform can be implemented consistently. At the very least, he must win over Cai E to stand for the Beiyang government. Otherwise, the next civil war in the country will not be as trivial as the second revolution.