On February 18th, after three days of contact, Yuan Su arrived in Kaifeng by car that afternoon.
The Henan Governor's Office sent a team of people to wait in the suburbs of Kaifeng to greet him. Zhang Zhenfang's adjutant Cheng Shichang and his deputy division commander Li Qian were both present in person. After the two parties met, Yuan Su and Cheng Shichang were relatively familiar with each other. They had met in Baoding before.
In person, they exchanged polite greetings with each other for a while, and then headed to the Governor's Mansion.
The Kaifeng Dudu Mansion was the former mansion of the governor of Henan Province. After several renovations, it now has a modern architectural layout.
When Yuan Su, accompanied by Cheng Shichang and Li Qian, walked up the steps in front of the mansion, a burst of cheerful greetings immediately came from the door. The visitor was none other than Zhang Hanling, whom he had not seen for a long time. At this time, Zhang Hanling appeared
Wearing a white jacket and deerskin leather boots, her calves are very slender and beautiful, and her green silk hair bun hangs by her ears, giving her a rather exquisite and exquisite oriental classical beauty.
"Brother Keli, you are finally here. I heard that you were already in Zhengzhou a few days ago. Why did you come to Kaifeng today? Obviously, you don't take me... and my father to heart." Zhang Hanling said playfully,
However, when he said the second half of the sentence, he seemed a little abrupt, and his face flashed a little red.
"I'm really sorry. Our troops have just arrived in Zhengzhou recently. It took a few days to sort out the military affairs in the camp. I only had some free time yesterday and hurriedly came to visit Uncle Zhang today." Yuan Su
He still maintains the elegant demeanor of the past, speaks in an orderly manner, and shows a somewhat mature and steady aura.
Zhang Hanling had almost never seen Yuan Su wearing the new and straight uniform of a military governor. Although Yuan Su was the governor of Shanhaiguan, he was one level lower than the governor of a province, so the uniform was the same as that of a provincial military affairs assistant. At that time,
When Zhang Hanling was still in Luanzhou, Yuan Su was just a commander of the security regiment. Now two years later, the other party jumped several levels in a row, which really meant that he was treated with admiration even if he had not seen him for three days.
She has always had a very good impression of Yuan Su. During the first month of the year, she also heard her father Zhang Zhenfang say that Yuan Su was coming, and more or less hinted that he was coming for her. For a girl who was in her prime, a
The shy Chunxin naturally hopes to be pursued by the opposite sex. Even if she has someone she likes in her heart, she can't hide her nervous and shy joy.
What's more, she and Mr. Yuan have not made much progress in the past two years. Some concubines of the Yuan family always think that she is too tall and her feet are not bound. Every time she stands with Yuan Keduan, she almost looks like Yuan Keduan.
It's too high. Even Mr. Yuan Sigong himself dislikes such a "big girl".
However, Yuan Su's views are different. In Zhang Hanling's view, Yuan Su is the modern youth who has truly broken away from feudal ideas.
"Well, my father is waiting for you inside. Since you became a high official, you have rarely contacted our family, but my father still misses you from time to time. Today you have to make a good apology to my father.
That's right." Zhang Hanling said with a cute smile.
"This is natural." Yuan Su responded with a smile.
The group walked into the Governor's Mansion, walked through the front courtyard and arrived at the front hall. Zhang Zhenfang had been waiting in the front hall early in the morning while drinking tea. After hearing the servant come first to announce that Yuan Su had arrived, he
Get up and stand behind the threshold.
After Yuan Su saw Zhang Zhenfang across a corridor, he quickly stepped forward, bowed in front of Zhang Zhenfang, and said respectfully: "Uncle Zhang, please bow to my nephew."
, and was still planning to kowtow. Although we have now entered the Republic of China, these old traditional etiquette still have to be observed to some extent, especially people like Zhang Zhenfang, who are conservative in their family tradition, even pay more attention to this set of etiquette than Yuan Shikai.
If it were in the past, Zhang Zhenfang would definitely accept Yuan Su's worship. However, today, Yuan Su's status has changed greatly. Not only has he changed from a small military leader in the past to a dignified military officer in the Zhili Province, he is on the same level as the Assistant Military Affairs Officer.
The senior officials have even been personally recognized by President Yuan Shikai, and are now incorporated into the central military system. This shows that Yuan Su is no longer what he used to be.
Furthermore, Zhang Zhenfang was already very happy now that he saw that Yuan Su still respected him so much. There was no need to pay so much attention to details. So he quickly crossed the threshold, stepped forward and helped Yuan Su up with both hands.
"Ke Li, why are you so generous? I've been looking forward to it for so long, and finally you are here. Come on, come on, come and sit in the room first." Zhang Zhenfang said with a smile, and took Yuan Su's hand and led him into the front hall.
After some greetings and greetings, everyone sat down one after another, and Zhang Zhenfang ordered his servants to serve tea.
Yuan Su drank half a cup of tea first, and then Zhang Zhenfang gradually began to change the topic to the main topic, talking about the civil unrest in Henan and the relevant arrangements of the Central Army's Third Brigade. Yuan Su had already sent a telegram yesterday to discuss the third brigade of the Central Army.
The movements of the Third Brigade were revealed, and he came here today to implement the issue of dispatching troops to the Third Brigade.
In front of Zhang Zhenfang, he further explained his plan to send troops to Shangqiu.
After listening to Yuan Su's words, Zhang Zhenfang nodded thoughtfully, but his expression was not as happy as expected. He sighed slightly and said to Yuan Su: "Ke Li, Bei Jing seems to be treating you the first time.
The third brigade has special requirements, doesn't it? I have heard about this, so I want to remind you." I hope that the third brigade will sit in Zhengzhou and not move at all, otherwise it will be embarrassing.
He really didn't expect that Zhang Zhenfang actually received the news, and he didn't know whether it was brought by an old friend in Beijing as he said, or whether it was a special order from the Presidential Palace. If it was the former, it wouldn't matter.
But if it is the latter, it means that the Presidential Palace asked Zhang Zhenfang to keep an eye on him.
He pretended to pause for a moment, and then said: "To be honest with Uncle Zhang, this is indeed the case. My uncle warned me before I went south. The current situation in Henan is different. Many people have stumbled here before.
, if our central yang army also had an accident, it would be harmful to the public."
Zhang Zhenfang let out a long sigh and said helplessly: "Well, to be honest, this matter is indeed extremely difficult. I didn't expect those unruly people to be so hateful. In just one year, they suddenly became out of control.
.I originally hoped to lend your troops to help me and calm down this matter as soon as possible so as not to embarrass Zhong Yang. However, your uncle's meaning is not unreasonable. Our marching operations are not just about fighting the actual situation.
, and at the same time, political considerations must also be taken into account.”
Yuan Su could see that Zhang Zhenfang was really in a big predicament now, which was inevitable, because not long after in history, Zhang Zhenfang would be ordered to resign due to his unfavorable handling of Bai Lang's uprising, and then Duan Qi would
Rui took over the governorship of Henan and took charge of military affairs to encircle and suppress Bailang's civilian army.
Obviously, Zhang Zhenfang did not want this incident to affect his personal career, but he may have guessed in his heart that Yuan Su was a fledgling young man after all, and even those veteran generals could not cope with it. Yuan Su had never experienced actual combat.
How could a junior not fall into a trap?
If Yuan Su's central yang army is defeated, it will not only fail to help him, but will also send his career to hell.
"Uncle Zhang, although my uncle has such concerns, as a soldier, my nephew has a bounden duty to protect his family and the country. Now he is timid before sending troops to fight. This is definitely not the nature of our soldiers. What's more, this
My nephew naturally has a certain degree of confidence when he comes here, otherwise he would not dare to violate his uncle's wishes so rashly." Yuan Su said solemnly.
"Well, Ke Li has such a sincere heart, which is really a blessing for me in China. However, this matter still needs to be considered in the long term. A group of troops under my command has been fighting against the unruly people in Shangqiu since last year. It's true that
It is very dangerous. Although Shangqiu is in the Guangbao Plain, it is not easy to defend or attack. The civilian army is extremely cunning and often elusive. It cannot be said that the enemy is in the dark and we are in the light. It is difficult." Zhang Zhenfang sighed with emotion.