On the morning of April 5th, Wang Huaiqing’s residence in Changli County.
A fast horse galloped past and stopped at the main entrance of the palace courtyard. A footman wearing a blue coat jumped out of the horse. The footman hastily tied the reins to the horse post beside him and walked three steps forward.
Zuo climbed up the steps in front of the palace in two steps, stretched out his hand and patted the buckle of the vermilion door a few times.
The porter saw the person coming through the crack in the door and knew that the footman was from the patrol battalion headquarters, so he opened the door first and asked outside: "What's the matter?"
The waiter said eagerly: "Hurry up and inform Mr. Wang that a telegram has arrived from the capital. It's a great news."
The porter was stunned for a moment, and after coming to his senses, he quickly asked the footman to come in and rest, and then hurried to the hospital to report.
At this time, Wang Huaiqing had not gotten up yet. He was about to get angry after being woken up by his servants. Fortunately, he heard that a telegram came from the capital, and it was good news. Then he crawled out of his second concubine's bed without saying a word.
I spent half a cup of tea washing and dressing, and then went to the front hall to meet the footman who came to report the news.
As soon as the footman walked into the door of the front hall, he knelt down on the ground with a bang and shouted excitedly: "Congratulations to Mr. Wang, congratulations to Mr. Wang. The president issued an order yesterday, appointing Mr. Wang as the envoy of Tongyong, in charge of Changli.
, Luanzhou, Tanghai, and Laoting military affairs. A response to the ceremonial official document arrived in Luanzhou three days later to hand over."
After hearing these words of congratulations, Wang Huaiqing's eyes suddenly opened wide, and he stood up and asked the waiter: "Are you serious about what you said?"
The footman quickly took out the telegram, presented it to Wang Huaiqing with both hands, and said: "The telegram received this morning, Mr. Wang, please read it personally. I don't dare to make false claims."
Wang Huaiqing held the telegram in his hand as if snatching it, and read it carefully. Then a triumphant smile appeared on his face, and he couldn't help laughing: "The President treats me well, he treats me well!
Go, hurry up and pass the order, I will hold a military meeting this afternoon, and all battalion leaders must be present to participate."
The footman responded: "Yes, I will go and do it now."
Wang Huaiqing hurriedly called out again: "Come back, let me know this news, let everyone in the city know that I am now the inspector of Tongyong."
The footman smiled and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Wang, I will definitely take care of everything."
Wang Huaiqing then waved his hand with satisfaction and said: "Go, go, you will be rewarded if you do it well."
Since the Great Revolution, the designation of Tongyong Town has always been in name only, and this matter has always bothered him. In addition, during this period, the patrol battalion became more and more powerful, and its roots became deeper and deeper. There was no official one.
The official name is really unjustifiable. Not only is it a matter of face, but more importantly, it cannot openly interfere with local political power.
Now that the higher-ups have finally given me a title, and it was personally appointed by the president, this is a well-deserved title. How can I not feel excited? How can I not show it off right away?
Soon, the entire palace compound became lively. After hearing the news about Wang Huaiqing's promotion, several concubines and relatives rushed over to offer congratulations and congratulations. Some said they would hold a banquet to celebrate, while others said they would knock on the door.
We patrolled the streets with gongs and drums, and some people said that we should quickly build an inspection office.
Not long after, the gentry and bureaucrats in the county got wind of the news and rushed to the palace to congratulate them. Although these gentry and bureaucrats were not happy, Wang Huaiqing was already a greedy person before he was promoted. Now that he has been promoted,
Why don't you work harder to skin them? But if you are not happy, you are not happy. Who knows that people have guns and soldiers, so they can only bite the bullet and please Wang Huaiqing. I hope this uncle can treat me better in the future.
Near noon, Wang Huaiqing's chief of staff Yu Jifang rushed to the palace from the patrol camp.
As Wang Huaiqing's chief adviser, although Yu Jifang's status in the patrol camp is not very high, he holds a lot of power in his hands. Whenever Wang Huaiqing is not in the patrol camp, he will be fully responsible for handling official business in the camp.
.
He read the telegram sent from the capital this morning immediately, and then quickly sent someone to Wang Huaiqing's residence. He thought that Wang Huaiqing would immediately start preparing to take office after reading the telegram, but he didn't know that the other party only informed him of a meeting in the afternoon.
Afterwards, celebrations started to be held at the house.
For this reason, he had to come to the palace in person and explain the current situation to Wang Huaiqing in detail.
The concierge recognized Yu Jifang and introduced him into the front hall attentively, and then sent someone to notify Wang Huaiqing.
After a while, three or four gentry from the county came out of the central hall. When they passed by the front hall, they greeted Yu Jifang politely. After a while, Wang Huaiqing arrived with a bright face and a smile on his face.
In the front hall, when dealing with other guests, he asked his servants to take them to the central hall, but when he met Yu Jifang, he came out to greet him in person. This shows how much he relies on Jifang.
"Yang Wu, why, have you made a special trip to congratulate me?" Wang Huaiqing said with a smile to Yu Jifang who was getting up as soon as he crossed the threshold of the front hall.
"Your Excellency, you have been promoted to Tongyong as Inspector, and you have truly returned to your title. Since you have humbled your position, I would like to express my congratulations." Yu Jifang bowed and saluted.
"You are a person who likes to cover everything. Shouldn't I go to the camp in the afternoon? Why go all the way?" Wang Huaiqing said a polite word, and then quickly waved to Yu Jifang to sit down.
"Although your Excellency will go to the camp for a meeting in the afternoon, I still hope to know your next step, Your Majesty?" Yu Jifang has followed Wang Huaiqing for many years, and he never beats around the bush when talking about business.
"The next step is, of course, to send people to the counties below to deliver the notice. The capital will send formal official guards of honor three days later. Will we go to Luanzhou to take office then? Why, Yang Wu is still needed for such a trivial matter
Are you here to remember me?" Wang Huaiqing said with a smile and squinted his eyes, as if he was joking.
"Sir, if you have to wait until three days before taking office, I'm afraid it will not be easy by then." Yu Jifang said seriously.
"Oh? What do you mean by that?" Wang Huaiqing frowned slightly and asked in confusion.
"You have to know that there is another Yuan Su in Luanzhou. He is not only the nephew of the president, but also has soldiers and guns. If he had been prepared in advance, it would be difficult to enter the gate of Luanzhou City.
Here." Yu Jifang said quickly.
"So this is what you are talking about, Yang Wu. I am not talking about you. You have always been a smart man. Did you only read half of the telegram sent to the camp this morning?" Wang Huaiqing said with a smile.
"Of course I have read it word for word."
"The president repeatedly warned me in the telegram that I should keep a good watch on this boy Yuan Su and not let him cause any more accidents. He also said that in the future Tongyong Town will be reorganized and the two battalions in Yuan Su's hands will be reorganized.
After being brought under the command of Tongyong Town, to put it bluntly, he will be working for me from now on, is it possible that he dares to rebel?" Wang Huaiqing said with a proud look.
"Having said that, firstly, Yuan Su is the nephew of the President after all. Secondly, Mr. Wang, please imagine, if Yuan Su is really a peaceful character, how can he instigate the new army stationed in Luanzhou to break away from Twenty Towns?
? To be honest, Lord Wang, I had asked someone to inquire about Yuan Su's activities in Luanzhou earlier. He first engaged in civil defense, then made friends with foreigners, and privately purchased a large amount of arms. This young man is by no means a fuel-saving lamp.
"Yu Jifang said loudly.
Wang Huaiqing had heard these words more than once before. If he had said them from other people's mouths, he would have just regarded them as nonsense and long-winded words. But now that the person who said these words was Yu Jifang, he had to think deeply about the seriousness of this matter.
Although he is a person who holds grudges, he was certainly not happy when Yuan Su had to deal with him before.
But no matter what, the other party is President Yuan's nephew, and in today's telegram, President Yuan personally told him to "watch over" Yuan Su. If you think about it carefully, the word "watch over" can have many meanings.
explained.
In terms of military strength alone, he does have two to three thousand more men than Yuan Su, but the question is, does he dare to lead his troops to confront Yuan Su head-on? Military strength is his only advantage, and this is his only advantage.
It just doesn't come in handy, so it's really a troublesome thing.