There is nothing special going on in the Presidential Palace during the first month of the year. Just like ordinary people outside the Red Wall, the first month of the year is still in the process of celebrating the Spring Festival. Although Yuan Su doesn’t know anyone well in Beijing City, he has been there since the first day of the new year.
Early in the morning, he went to Huairen Hall to pay New Year's greetings to the elders. Every day, people invited him to the banquet. Except for some government officials he knew, Yuan Keding, Yuan Kewen and Zhang Boju, he basically didn't know the rest.
But even so, it was still very lively during the entire first month of the year. Yuan Su didn't have to worry about having nowhere to move around, let alone having good food and drink.
However, on the morning of the sixth day of the first lunar month, Yuan Su planned to follow Zhang Boju to a wealthy businessman's house in the north of the city for dinner. The wealthy businessman not only invited Zhang Boju, but also specially sent an invitation to Yuan Su. In Yuan Su's impression, he had never met him before.
, but Zhang Boju knew him and was very familiar with him, so they went together.
Little did he know that just as he was about to get on the bus in Nanyuan Square, an attendant hurriedly ran over from the south gate of the Presidential Palace and stopped the carriage with shouts. The attendant ran up and informed him that the President had requested Governor Yuan to go immediately.
Beiyuan Campus, and said it was an important matter.
Yuan Su guessed that it might be about the new rifles, or it might be about Zhang Zhenfang's invitation to send troops to Henan, but he was confused because there had been no news before, so why did he choose to make arrangements on the sixth day of the first lunar month?
Next, he complained to Zhang Boju and had to follow the attendant back to the Presidential Palace and take another carriage to Beiyuan.
Beiyuan is a large military camp that covers an area. It used to be a place where the Qing emperors went on hunting trips. After renovation and renovation in recent years, it has been completed into a large military camp that protects the presidential palace and intimidates the city of Beijing. It is the same as Nanyuan.
Similarly, the central military equipment divisions directly under the Presidential Palace are stationed in these two places.
After passing the checkpoint at the entrance of Beiyuan's main camp and conducting a few symbolic checks, Yuan Su's carriage passed through the front gate smoothly and headed northwest along the main passage in the camp. At first, a few people passed by.
There was a barracks area, and then a small forest. After that, we arrived at the large playground that was just expanded and renovated at the end of last year.
Yuan Su looked out from the window of the carriage and saw many soldiers standing guard outside the cathedral, as well as some plainclothes guards from the Presidential Palace patrolling around. As for the cathedral, there happened to be the Central Yang's Second Division
A cavalry regiment is training, but the training of this cavalry regiment only uses one-fifth of the field. To the north is the shooting range. You can see many figures gathering there from a distance, and the carriage crosses the road.
The side entrance of the casino is heading that way.
He crossed the large playground and stopped outside the shooting range.
After getting off the carriage, people from the Internal Affairs Office of the Presidential Palace came up to greet him. One of them was Li Bin, whom Yuan Su knew.
"Captain Yuan is here, the president is waiting for you." Li Bin said hello.
"Oh, are you testing a new gun?" Yuan Su followed Li Bin and asked as he walked.
"That's right, the twenty new rifles sent by Governor Yuan are already in place. We just tried firing them. Mr. Bell and Mr. Ban Zhichao both said that this new rifle performs very well." Li Bin laughed.
He said.
"Ban Zhichao? Bell?" Yuan Su guessed that these two people should be Yuan Shikai's foreign consultants, but he did not know their origins.
"Mr. Bell is a German weapons expert. His father was Li Zhongtang's arms trade consultant. He is a senior arms expert. Mr. Ban Zhichao is Banxi Rihachiro. He is a Japanese artillery officer and has been following the president for several years.
It’s time." Li Bin introduced.
Hearing this introduction, Yuan Su was vaguely affected. He remembered that Li Hongzhang liked to purchase German firearms, so that every time Li Hongzhang visited Germany, the local people rushed to greet him because they thought
Li Hongzhang's arrival can bring them direct benefits.
As for Rihachiro Bannishi, he has been identified as a high-level secret of the FU in many historical materials, so it has a decisive impact on Sino-Japanese relations. The key to identifying him as a spy lies in Rihachiro Banishi’s role in the "Twenty-One"
After his China policy was blocked, he put forward the diplomatic proposal of "China annexation theory". This shows that this person has great ambitions.
Yuan Su didn't say anything more and continued to walk towards the shooting range. As soon as he arrived at the entrance, Yuan Keding had already walked over quickly and greeted Yuan Su with a smile on his face.
At this time, Yuan Shikai also heard the noise, and everyone turned around.
Yuan Su saw that standing with Yuan Shikai were Cai E, Jiang Baili, Duan Qirui, Wang Shizhen and others. The one closest to Yuan Shikai was a foreigner wearing a suit and leather shoes, and on the other side was a typical short Ri.
I don’t need to think too much to know that these two people are Bell and Ban Zhichao.
"Keli is here." Yuan Shikai asked Yuan Su with a smile.
"My nephew pays homage to my uncle and some adults." Yuan Su walked up and down, bowed politely and said hello.
"Today I made a special appointment with everyone to see the new rifle you sent. After the round of testing just now, everyone said they were very satisfied. It's up to you to explain in detail the advantages and disadvantages of this new rifle, as well as the implementation of this rifle.
The idea of standardized equipment." Yuan Shikai said in a calm tone.
"Yes." Yuan Su said quickly.
Immediately, he stepped behind the shooting position on the shooting range, took the new rifle from a soldier, turned around and described in detail the parameters of the new rifle and the actual combat conditions to everyone present.
Advantages and disadvantages. He originally didn’t want to talk about these things in front of foreigners, especially the Japanese man named Ban Zhichao. China’s implementation of a new weapons policy could have gained strategic advantages within a certain period of time, and hostile countries
Even if you can buy this new rifle through various channels and then study it to find its weaknesses, this is better than telling these people openly.
Now, in front of the Japanese people, I have listed the advantages and disadvantages of this new rifle one by one. It is almost unnecessary to guess that the various data of this new rifle will be sent to the military of various countries soon.
intelligence unit.
"Zhiquan, what do you think?" Yuan Shikai asked Duan Qirui seriously.
"Back to the President, there is nothing bad about weapons alone, but I think that the domestic situation is not stable and the national treasury is not full. Since the various troops can be equipped with weapons, there is no need to do so at this stage.
We must work hard and carry out drastic standardization. You must know that this new rifle is expensive to make, and large-scale mass production will only increase the burden on the government. It is better to wait for a few more years, until the national tax policy is stabilized and the country is on track.
It's not too late to implement standardized weapons." Duan Qirui's expression was firm and his words were meticulous.
Yuan Su, who was standing at the front, was naturally unhappy when he heard this. In his opinion, Beiyang Zhengfu still has sufficient funds at this stage. The previous large-scale loan from the five-nation bank group for the aftermath of the crisis was 20 million pounds.
So far, not much of the money has been used, and there is absolutely no problem in investing it in the production of armaments. Duan Qirui's excuse of empty national treasury is obviously unjustifiable.
However, he believed that Duan Qirui's objections were by no means unfounded. Even though the other party was a conservative person, he still felt that he was a military strategist with broad vision and could not come out because of personal emotions or personal preferences.
As a basis for judging a matter. Although he knew that Beiyang Zhengfu had a large loan to deal with the aftermath, after all, he did not know the current situation of Beiyang Zhengfu as well as Duan Qirui. Maybe he really had a problem.
That's why I object.
Yuan Shikai nodded slowly, pondered for a moment and then said: "What you said Zhiquan is not unreasonable. So, Songpo, how do you come to see it?"
Cai E has been standing at the outermost place, picking up the new rifle from time to time to look at it, and yawning boredly from time to time. From beginning to end, it seems that he has not paid attention to serious matters. At this time, he heard Yuan Shikai's question
He still looked calm and said with no confidence in his voice: "I personally think that it is still necessary, even if we equip the troops of Beiyuan and Nanyuan first. But Commander Duan must have considered more than
I am very careful, as for whether it is necessary to equip this new rifle, it is still up to Commander Duan to decide."
His attitude when speaking was extremely prevaricating and perfunctory, completely different from Lei Lie's previous attitude.
Yuan Shikai frowned slightly, a trace of displeasure flashed across his face, but he quickly returned to calm. He gave a noncommittal "hmm" and turned back to Wang Shizhen again and asked: "Guan Ru, tell me.
Look." b fu Since we want to implement the overall situation of unifying the upper and lower levels, we must set an example to the outside world. The unification of weapons can be the first step. On the one hand, it can improve the combat efficiency of the army, and on the other hand, it can also act as a deterrent.
On the other hand, it can better reflect the reform and integrity of our Beiyang Army. Therefore, I think it is still necessary."
Yuan Shikai nodded matter-of-factly and said: "It makes sense. The funding issue can be discussed slowly, but the issue of military reform cannot be delayed. We must make a posture of continuous progress to the outside world, and there will always be some savings."
The Xiaoxiao gang accuses those of us from Qiuba behind our backs that we are old-fashioned and pedantic."
Duan Qirui insisted: "President, standard weapons are indeed necessary, but we should also distinguish the time. Nowadays, the country's economic resources have not been rectified clearly. With such a large investment in mass production of standard equipment, I am afraid that if there is a slight mistake, we will not be able to turn back.
There is no room for it. Moreover, the country has finally settled down and is devoting its full efforts to the development of people's livelihood. At this time, drastic changes in armaments will only lead to wild speculation from the outside world and the gradual unrest in some areas."
After hearing what Duan Qirui said, Yuan Su felt that he could agree with it. Now the southwestern provinces are very nervous, and the lessons learned from the second revolution have made all these warlords in danger. Nowadays, these provinces
What the governor fears most is that the central government will make some big move. And large-scale changes in armaments will obviously cause trouble.
However, he still believes that China's internal conflicts cannot be resolved through negotiation. Historical experience has proven that all outliers can only be eliminated through force. Now that the Beiyang government has the upper hand, there is no need to give any face to the southwestern provinces. We should seize the time to make drastic rectifications, and then send our troops south to complete the unification of the country.
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Rihachiro Banishi (1870-1950), Japanese Army Lieutenant General, the second generation giant of Japanese intelligence on China after Nobuzumi Aoki. During the Beiyang government, he went through seven generations of government changes and he was always behind the scenes. Zong, so he is called the tumbler of the rise and fall of the seven generations. The so-called third generation of the Japanese army, China Tongtu, Fei, Hara, Kenji, Itagaki Sei, Shiro, Honjo Shige and others all came from his sect. He has written lectures Collection "Talking about Neighbors".dd