In any case, Yuan Su sincerely hopes that the Zhengzhou Plan will not be implemented. Even though he has been looking forward to seizing the opportunity to gain power, he still believes morally that this is a trial that can completely change human nature. In front of Tian Wenlie, he
Zhu Panzao, Tang Tianxi and others openly and honestly explained the reasons for their private dealings with the revolutionaries, and then decided to take the risk to go to Hankou to lead the rebellion. This is enough to prove the seriousness of the matter.
If people like Zhu Panzao still want to take the opportunity to cause trouble, it shows how vicious these people are!
In the next few days, the Guards troops successively set out from Zhengzhou to the designated towns in accordance with the deployment plan discussed at the military meeting. Watching the troops gathered in Zhengzhou go one after another, Yuan Su suddenly felt something in his heart
Part of the pressure was that he gradually began to question whether he had the ability to control such a large number of troops.
Fortunately, in the following days, Guo Wenyuan and Li Jinfu did not detect any movements from those old-school officers. This was originally a good thing, but it made Yuan Su gradually feel relieved, and he was planning to think of ways to concentrate on launching an action plan against Hankou.
On the other hand, Guo Wenyuan and Li Jinfu seemed a little anxious, fearing that the people monitoring, following and investigating had not done their job properly and might have missed something.
Long before the military meeting was held, when Yuan Su convened his direct subordinates at the residence to discuss the overall plan, he had already secretly dispatched Gao Shun's intelligence organization to go south to Zhengzhou to participate in the two-part plan in Hankou and Zhengzhou. Guo Wenyuan and Li Jinfu were currently
Among Yuan Su's direct troops, he was the first to arrive in Zhengzhou, so he naturally shouldered the main responsibility for relevant military arrangements. This included buying off people around the old-school officers, sending people under disguise to lurk in various valuable locations in Zhengzhou to establish surveillance networks, etc.
Even in Yuan Su's opinion, these tasks were done well, especially the soldiers who were selected to establish the surveillance network. They were very flexible in dressing up and staying in place, which really surprised him. However,
For Guo Wenyuan and Li Jinfu, they always feel that these people are not "professional" and lack "experience", so there are many unreliable aspects.
In the blink of an eye, it was early March, about half a month after the Central Guards marched to Luanzhou.
All the supplies distributed from the north and the troops that arrived later were basically in place. The first division, the second division, the third division, and the fifth division were respectively stationed in the established defense areas. Only the remaining troops in Zhengzhou city were
The logistics troops of each division, as well as the 10th Division, which had just arrived in Zhengzhou. Even the rest of the First Corps first gathered in Shangqiu, Xuchang, and Kaifeng.
But the commanders of several divisions and the senior generals at the division headquarters still stayed in Zhengzhou.
Yuan Su had not previously emphasized that these people should be transferred with the headquarters, but he also did not require these people to stay. Obviously, the headquarters still needs to take care of it, and personally supervise the deployment of logistics supplies, fearing that other divisions will
Take the opportunity to rob or make some small moves. In addition, I also hope to receive first-hand information from the headquarters to see how Yuan Su implements the Hankou plan.
This actually created an excellent environment for the Zhengzhou Plan!
In the overall plan, Yuan Su is not without any difficulties. In addition to having to bear unpredictable risks, especially at the intersection of the Zhengzhou plan and the Hankou plan, some careful consideration is also required. Since the Hankou plan is to be implemented,
Then you must get in touch with the Hankou side in advance. But when you get in touch with the Hankou side, you have to worry about whether those old-school officers will make some tricks at this time. Once the two sides collide, the result will be very serious.
trouble.
However, both parts of the plan were full of game-like nature from the beginning. Therefore, Yuan Su still had to make certain decisions.
On March 3, he secretly sent his staff adjutant Li Dian to Hankou alone. Li Dian naturally wanted to contact Cao Kun and pave the way for Yuan Su to go to Hankou in person.
Before leaving, he specially asked Li Dian to deliberately mention that after meeting Cao Kun, he hoped to use Cao Kun's help to take the opportunity to kill all the direct generals of Yuan Shikai gathered in Zhengzhou. As for the help,
The method is to have Cao Kun send someone to secretly contact Zhu Panzao and others, pretending that he intends to reveal some important information, such as evidence of his secret contact with Hu Yisheng. At that time, he will take sudden action to use Zhu Panzao and others
On the grounds of secretly collaborating with Hankou, these people were arrested to control the overall situation.
Such an arrangement was Yuan Su's sudden idea. It was obviously a trick to completely disrupt the thinking of both parties, so as to achieve the trick of "the intersection of virtuality and reality, virtuality and reality".
In this way, even if those old-school officers tried to play tricks secretly, in Cao Kun's view, it was nothing more than a deliberate conspiracy. For Cao Kun, leaking the information about Yuan Su's private conversation with Hu Yisheng could also force Yuan Su to
"Going to Liangshan". Even if Cao Kun himself thought there was a trick in this, as long as Yuan Su could be allowed to start an internal conflict with Yuan Shikai's direct generals here, it would at least alleviate the military pressure on Hubei.
It took Li Dian four days to transfer to Jiangxi and take a steamer to reach Hankou successfully.
As the two armies confront each other across the province, the entire Jiangbei area of Hubei Province has entered military martial law, causing people to panic.
After arriving in Hankou, Li Dian first found a large hotel in the concession and settled in. Then he contacted the Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Beiyang Military Reform Commission through the telephone exchange and disclosed some information to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The next day, he met with the commissioner sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
, only said that he came to see Cao Kun on the order of Yuan Su, and no matter how many times the other party asked him what was going on, he kept silent and asked to tell Cao Kun in person after meeting him.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs had no choice but to return and report to Cao Kun. During this period, no action was taken against Li Dian. They only dispatched a few guards to monitor. This alone made Li Dian feel that this matter
It is bound to succeed. It is not difficult to speculate that Zhengzhou obviously did not leak the contents of the previous military meeting.
On March 9, after some discussions between Cao Kun and his confidants, the decision was finally made. Early that morning, the Ministry of Internal Affairs set out for the concession again and invited Li Dian to go to the Beiyang Military Reform Commission.
Office, and said that Chairman Cao decided to conduct an interview.
The building of the committee office is not very tall, but it occupies a large area. In addition to the office building on the front, as well as several adjacent houses, manors and other civilian buildings, they were also requisitioned for use.
The offices of other departments are owned by Cao Kun. Cao Kun's guard camp is stationed in a factory behind the building. Along the street of the building to the west until Xiaojiangmen is the garrison of the direct troops that Cao Kun recently reorganized into the Republican Army designation.
Along the way, Li Diancai either witnessed these situations with his own eyes or chatted with those accompanying him, and remembered all these situations in his mind. The garrison location of the troops in Hankou, especially the distribution location of the security forces of the Military Reform Commission, will become
Important intelligence support for the implementation of the Hankou Plan.
After some twists and turns, Li Dian met Cao Kun in a small conference room on the third floor of the office.
In addition to Cao Kun, there were also his adjutant and chief of staff Xiong Bingqi, Hubei Governor Wang Zhanyuan, and the Civil and Commercial Director of the Beiyang Military Reform Commission Shang Wenzhen. These can be regarded as the core figures in the Beiyang Military Reform Commission, besides others
Most of the departments are just for show and have no real power or significance at all.
"I'm Li Dian, the staff adjutant of Commander-in-Chief Yuan. I've met all of you sirs." After entering, Li Dian greeted everyone politely. He deliberately acted politely and generously, making it seem like this was just a normal meeting.
"Adjutant Li, I really bother you to come all the way. Come on, please sit down." Cao Kun put on a smiling face and happily asked Li Dian to sit down, and then ordered the attendant to serve tea.
Pour water.
After sitting down, Li Dian originally wanted to get to the point directly, so that it would appear that the matter had reached the end of the road and he could make a decision in one fell swoop by waiting for Cao Kun to express his stance. However, he had just said a few words when Cao Kun suddenly interrupted,
He suddenly changed the topic and asked about the current weather conditions in Henan Province. The topic turned out to be a thousand miles away.
Li Dian vaguely noticed that Cao Kun seemed to have other deep intentions. He actually talked about some irrelevant things when talking about serious matters. He must have done this on purpose. He was a little worried in his heart. Could it be that Zhengzhou really leaked it?
News? But when it came to this, he could only bite the bullet and continue to waste it, just to see what the result would be. So he simply didn't talk about anything serious with Cao Kun, and just followed Cao Kun's topic and started chatting casually.
"Earlier, I came to Henan once with my family, but at that time I was busy suppressing the militia and could not take care of exploring the folk customs in Henan Province. When I came to Henan again this time, my family actually appointed me
I supervised the logistics work for a while, so I had some free time to walk around. I really have to sigh deeply."
Cao Kun seemed very patient and interested, and instead chatted with Li Dian about the customs and customs of Henan.
However, Wang Zhanyuan, Xiong Bingqi, and Shang Kezhen on the side did not understand Cao Kun's intention. Before formally meeting with Li Dian, they did not even hear Cao Kun say how to treat Li Dian. At this moment, the three of them saw two people put down their hands.
Instead of talking about the main topic, he talked about some insignificant things and couldn't help but show a look of confusion.
Especially Shang Kezhen. He had no intention of participating in the power struggle within the Beiyang government. He only cared about following a powerful figure to develop the industrial and commercial industries. Regarding the central government's aggressive posture of sending the Guards southward, he
I haven't been able to sleep peacefully every day these past few days. Now that Yuan Su has sent people over, no matter what happens, it may be a change in the current situation. How can I be patient?
After waiting for a while, Shang Ke cleared his throat, pretended to hesitate and interrupted the conversation between Cao Kun and Li Dian, and said: "Well, Chairman, Adjutant Li, it is better to wait until the situation in the country eases before discussing the matter.
It’s about the folk customs of various provinces. When the time comes, I’m willing to fund a special seminar on folk customs, which can be considered as my modest contribution to the inheritance of Chinese culture.”
With Shang Kezhen taking the lead, Wang Zhanyuan also said: "Yes, it is not easy for Adjutant Li to travel all the way. I heard that it was transferred from Jiangxi to a ship. Let's not waste any more time.
Okay, let’s get down to business quickly.”
Cao Kun's expression suddenly changed. He was a little gloomy at first, but soon returned to normal.
Li Dian was not in a hurry to change the topic, but instead looked at Cao Kun leisurely, waiting for Cao Kun to express his attitude.
Cao Kun sighed slightly, still with a smile on his face, and then changed the subject and asked Li Dian: "Well, if the current situation were not serious, Cao would really want to have a good chat with Adjutant Li. But Cao believes that,
Adjutant Li's arrival will definitely bring about a turn in the current serious situation. I wonder what Mr. Yuan thinks of it?"
Li Dian said calmly: "I came here this time just because I was entrusted by my Lord Yuan to discuss our way out of Beiyang with Lord Cao. If there is such a big move in Hankou, Beijing will definitely swallow it.
If you don't say this, such a large-scale military confrontation will almost involve all of our main forces in Beiyang. Once there is a big fight, no matter what the final outcome is, it will definitely severely damage our Beiyang vitality. So my Lord Yuan hopes that we can
Think of a compromise to resolve this unnecessary war."
Before Cao Kun could speak, Shang Kezhen on the side said quickly: "Yes, yes, that's exactly what it should be. If we can turn the conflict into friendship, then everyone will be happy!"
Cao Kun glared at Shang Kezhen fiercely. The latter was startled and had no choice but to remain silent. Cao Kun regretted it thoroughly now. He should have known better that he shouldn't have let other people follow him here. What a good thing now.
, Li Dian was able to see through the hearts of people in Hankou all at once.
"Adjutant Li, to be honest, we don't want things to get to this level. However, Xiangcheng is really disappointing. The good president doesn't do anything, but he just makes a big emperor. So now the north and south of the country are in conflict.
When there is a gap, the revolutionary party is ready to move, people are panicked, and the people are in dire straits. We do not want to see Beiyang being dragged down by this, so we initiate military reforms, hoping to promote Beiyang to change the status quo from the inside out."
"Master Cao is certainly not wrong to have such an idea. However, now that Beijing has issued a decree, His Majesty the Emperor has accepted Master Duan's persuasion and officially decided to abdicate and restructure. In this way, what is the biggest problem that Master Cao is worried about?
Isn't there a solution?" Li Dian said following Cao Kun's words.
"Having said that, it's just that this matter may not be that simple." Cao Kun said in a mocking voice, showing a far-sighted look.
"What does Mr. Cao mean?" Li Dian asked.
"The first is that Xiang Cheng has lost the support of the people. If we hadn't worked hard to oppose him, I'm afraid he would have continued to dream of the emperor and never woke up. To put it simply, it's because Xiang Cheng is not sincere enough. The second is that we will naturally initiate
The Reform Committee aims to complete the transformation of Beiyang's interior. Now the road to transformation has just begun, how can it be stopped here? If not, after we all die out, what if there are other changes in Beijing?
Come and count?”
"It sounds like what Mr. Cao said is not unreasonable. But if Hankou refuses to give in, they will definitely have to fight with the Guards, and my Mr. Yuan will be very embarrassed by then." Li Dianqiang
said in a tone of voice.
"It's not that I want to embarrass Mr. Yuan. It's just that Xiang Cheng sent his troops southward in such a bold and aggressive manner without sending anyone to communicate with us beforehand. He showed no sincerity and seemed to have a militaristic attitude. He was bound to want to follow me.
Let's wait and compete. In this case, how can we deal with it?" Cao Kun said deliberately distorting the facts.
The dialogue at this time was nothing more than window-dressing. Neither party considered negotiating at the beginning. For Cao Kun, once he accepted the negotiation, it would be equivalent to a compromise. Once he compromised, he would have nothing. For Yuan Shikai, he already had a premonition that his end was coming.
It's nothing more than a fight to the death. If you are lucky enough to win, you may be able to leave a name for your descendants.
Li Dian nodded slowly and deliberately acted in silence and thought for a while. Of course he understood Cao Kun's intentions and the purpose of his visit, so there was no need to worry too much about these superficial words.
.
"As entrusted by my Lord Yuan, Lord Yuan's intention is to avoid this military conflict as much as possible and jointly promote the completion of the great cause of Beiyang's military reform. However, how to deal with this must be discussed with Lord Cao first.
A conclusion. Of course, in addition to this, although Mr. Yuan of my family in Henan is the commander-in-chief, most of his subordinates are close confidants sent by His Majesty the Emperor, so it is really difficult to mobilize the command. I am afraid that something will go wrong. "
After listening to Li Dian's words, Cao Kun and others had different expressions. They roughly understood the situation in Henan. Of course, they understood that Yuan Su could not support himself alone, and it was impossible for him to defeat the generals stationed in Henan with his own strength.
Everything was sorted out. On the one hand, it was a matter of troop strength, and on the other hand, Yuan Su was not a fool. The Guards had started fighting among themselves, and everyone was seriously injured. What strength would they have to negotiate with Hankou in the future? Yuan Su also
That's all.
"Since Mr. Yuan sent Adjutant Li here, Mr. Yuan must have already had an idea. We might as well make it clear and see if you and I can work together." At this time, Wang Zhanyuan interrupted.
"There are no outsiders here, so let's just open the skylight and speak frankly. The reform plan recommended by my Lord Yuan does not care about the state system or the political system. It only cares about our young faction occupying a place in the central government in the future. Lord Cao should understand what I mean. Except
In addition, once the imperial system is abolished, earth-shaking changes will inevitably occur in Beiyang. Frankly speaking, there will be some changes in the territory between the respective generals." Li Dian gradually opened the topic and said.
----
[When I saw the great message from the book review reader, I was shocked and silently left a line of tears. I didn’t say anything, tried to correct my attitude, and prepared the new book. Dear readers, it’s really hard for you to accompany me until now. All I can say is this
This book has started to show little improvement since it started with 800,000 words. It really affected my emotions a lot, so the writing state is getting worse and worse. I’m really sorry.]