At night in the north, the moon is bright and the stars are sparse, but the sky is not very high. The capital city, which has been noisy all day, gradually becomes quiet after a busy day. The city wall outlines a line of black in the distance, and the shape of the city wall can be vaguely distinguished.

The nearby street market lights flickered dimly and were vaguely visible.

Suddenly, a burst of footsteps broke the silence of the night. In the side alley leading to one of the back doors of Zhongnanhai, a black figure walked quickly in the alley. When the figure walked out of the dark side alley, he used the street light to

Only under the bright light could one see that this was a young officer. The young officer walked in a hurry, as if something was urgent. After walking a few streets, he stopped and took out a cigarette from his pocket.

, after lighting a cigarette, he crumpled the cigarette case and threw it into the trash can nearby, then he smoked and walked forward, but the cold wind could not slow him down.

A few minutes later, a ragpicker walked over from a distance. Every time he passed a trash can, he would reach in and take out some waste paper and other things. Since the streets in Beijing have been filled with garbage,

After setting up trash cans, these beggars finally have another livelihood - picking up rags.

After a while, the beggar left the main road. No one would pay attention to the movements of a beggar. About half an hour later, an intelligence message sent from Zhongnanhai appeared on the desk of the Secret Service. Because the intelligence was urgent,

The information was first sent to the director's office. As director, Li Siqin made the office his home most of the time. He always rested in the lounge next door. After another ten minutes, Li Siqin left with a piece of documents.

The not-so-conspicuous Secret Service drove to the State Department.

In the capital at this moment, there is another person who also rests very late. In the Chinese political circles, his status is second only to that of Jurentang in Zhongnanhai. In the past, perhaps that status was only in name. But now after experiencing

After the "suppression of bandits and threats", no one will doubt his power and status, and this is Li Zicheng, the Prime Minister of the Republic of China.

In fact, brightly lit nights like this have long been a common occurrence for the State Council. The reputation of the State Council has never been established in vain. It relies on a lot of work, and the heavy work is not only on the employees of the State Council. Even

As Prime Minister, the same is true.

After Li Siqin entered the Prime Minister's Office, only three or four minutes later, the two walked into a room on the other side of the office. During the "Lincheng Carjacking Case", it used to be a military map room, but now, it is a room

Small conference room. Rather than saying it is a small conference room, it is better to say that this is a place for secret meetings.

But there are no permanent interests. As the power of the State Council increases, the contradiction between the seemingly "tacit understanding" between the government and the Yuan is also deepening. Li Zicheng, who serves as the Prime Minister, not only controls the five ministries directly under the State Council, but also controls many things across the country.

It also has the power of co-ordination, especially now that the Ministry of Internal Affairs has removed a large number of incompetent local officials through official assessment, recommended and appointed hundreds of city and county chiefs, and it controls the two most important tax sources for China -

Tariffs and salt taxes all make the State Council develop in one direction. A State Council that is about to compete with the central government, local governments, and the presidential office has appeared on the Chinese political stage.

All this only leads to a situation. In the future, the "Fuyuan" will definitely be divided. In order to prevent Yuan Shikai, the Secret Service has been responsible for monitoring Zhongnanhai and Fuyuan officials. At this time, Li Siqin came here.

I came here to report on one thing. If it was just an ordinary piece of information, perhaps it would only require a simple report in the office. However, this matter has an impact on China's future political situation that is beyond the imagination of the world. I realize that it is serious.

Before coming to the State Council, Li Siqin deliberately took out the files in the secret archives of the Secret Service...

Sitting on the sofa, Li Zicheng was carefully looking at the slideshow of photos of Cai E in various periods.

Photos of Cai E during his time in Hunan, with Liang Qichao; photos of Cai E with Jiang Baili and others at the Japanese Military Academy; photos of Cai E as an instructor at the Guangxi Military Academy; photos of Cai E during the "Chongjiu" uprising in Yunnan; photos of Cai E in Yunnan

Photos of the martial arts hall; photos of Cai E with Yunnan military officers, photos of Cai E with Yuan Shikai, and people from the General's Mansion, and even photos of himself...

And Li Siqin was telling the Prime Minister.

"Cai E, whose original name was Gen Yin and whose courtesy name was Songpo, was born in Shaoyang, Hunan. In 1898, he entered the Changsha Current Affairs School and studied under Liang Qichao. He was deeply influenced by Liang Qichao's reform ideas. He later studied at the Japanese Military Academy. He had excellent grades and was praised by Jiang Baili and Zhang Xiaohuai.

He was one of the three outstanding non-commissioned officers. He returned to China in 1904 and served as an instructor in Jiangxi and Hunan military schools. The following year, he was transferred to Guangxi and served successively as the general staff officer and chief instructor of the New Army, the general office of the Army Primary School, and the co-ordinate of the New Army. This person held positions such as

He trained troops and had good skills in leading troops and generals, and won the support of his subordinates. In 1911, he was transferred to Yunnan and served as the commander-in-chief of the 37th Association. In October, he launched the new army in Kunming to respond to the Wuchang Uprising. He responded to every call and was promoted to commander-in-chief, and later took up the post of Yunnan

Governor. He was 29 years old at the time. He took charge of Yunnan for two years and managed the chaotic Yunnan in an orderly manner. The strength of the Yunnan Army also increased greatly. For example, the military factory in Yunnan could produce 20,000 bullets in one day.

…”

While listening to Cai E's introduction, Li Zicheng carefully looked at Cai E's image on the slide and secretly considered Cai E in his heart. He was no stranger to this person. In fact, many people in later generations have always known him more or less.

He would know that the Southwest general who would "fight" with Yuan Shikai would later be known as the "General who protects the country." And just ten minutes ago, Ah Si reported to himself the news he had just received:

"According to news from the Presidential Palace, the President has decided to appoint Cai E as the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force."

Appoint Cai E as Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force!

After listening to this report, Li Zicheng raised the corners of his lips slightly.

At this time, Li Siqin, who was standing by the wall, approached the Prime Minister and said:

"The President's appointment of Cai E as Commander-in-Chief is a plan to kill two birds with one stone. Firstly, it can prevent Duan and Xu from controlling the expeditionary force under the pretext, and secondly, it can prevent us from interfering in it. According to the current intelligence we have, in addition to appointing the President,

In addition to being the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, Cai E also appointed Xu Shuzheng as the chief of staff of the expeditionary force. At the same time, the expeditionary force does not have military-level units, only division-level units..."

After listening to the report, Li Zicheng smiled coldly and patted the armrest of his seat:

"What a good idea the President made. This way, we can avoid one family becoming the dominant one. Cai E and Xu Shuzheng will check and balance each other, and each division will not be affiliated with each other. In the end, the expeditionary force will not become his Yuan family army! It's a good idea.

…”

At this time, the sneer clearly turned into a sneer!

This idea seemed like a good idea, but Yuan Shikai forgot what kind of person Cai E was.

Anyone who is familiar with the history of the early years of the Republic of China knows Yuan Shikai and Cai E. The former was the first official president of the Republic of China. He had a dictatorship for four and a half years, failed to proclaim himself emperor, and was reviled by the people and died of anger; and the latter was him.

The gravedigger. In history, at the end of the fourth year of the Republic of China, at this time, Yuan Shikai was preparing to restore the monarchy and call himself emperor. Cai E vowed to "fight for the dignity of the 400 million compatriots" and returned from Beijing at great risk.

When he arrived in Yunnan, he organized the Yunnan army to launch an uprising to protect the country. He went to Sichuan and fought fiercely with the Beiyang Army for three months with an outnumbered enemy. He dealt a heavy blow to Yuan Shikai and made great contributions to saving the Republic of China.

Cai E and Yuan Shikai, one is pure and elegant, the other is strong and powerful; the other is restrained in energy; the other is as fierce as a tiger; the other is noble and self-defeating; the other is both black and white; one donates his life to help people in trouble, and the other steals the country for his own benefit. Between these two strong men,

The story is absolutely wonderful and worth pondering....

This meeting of two heroes began in October 1913 when Cai E, the governor of Yunnan, resigned from office and came to Beijing. One of the most popular theories is that Cai E was transferred to Beijing, whereupon he was deprived of military power by Yuan Shikai and placed under house arrest. In the past, Li Zi

Cheng was convinced of this. After all, it was written in history books. However, it was not until he lived in this era that he discovered that what was written in history was not necessarily true. Many of them were "written by later generations" according to their own needs.

”.

In fact, after the founding of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai was determined to reorganize Beiyang and rebuild the army. However, in his mind, Cai Songpo was the most suitable new military figure-chief of the army. Cai E served as the governor of Yunnan, and Yuan Shikai also

Don't worry, if he is transferred to the head of the military and political affairs, he will be promoted to Chu Cai, without direct military power but responsible for building the army. This will not only strengthen his personal force, but also send a confidant as a deputy minister to monitor him at all times.

That is not the best, and Cai E's mentality is exactly the same as Jiang Fangzhen's. Establishing national defense is their first priority. Whether it is to eliminate national thieves at home or defend against powerful neighbors externally, they must train troops and train military talents. Therefore, for

This was not rejected.

Cai E was a man of few words, but he had a sharp vision and profound discernment. Didn't he see through that what Yuan Shikai wanted to build was only an army to fight for personal power and position rather than a force to defend the country from aggression? However, he wanted to use his plan to his advantage.

Yuan Shikai relied on Yuan Shikai to complete the modern national defense. He believed that the family world was no longer what the times allowed. If new soldiers were given spiritual education, their thoughts and beliefs would be different from the slave-like soldiers who only knew how to be loyal to individuals in the past, so he wanted to swallow it.

Yuan's fragrant bait to carry out his army-building work of turning private affairs into public affairs.

But the Beiyang generals did not agree. Even if Yuan Shikai used administrative means to force the resettlement, if his colleagues and subordinates did not cooperate with Cai E's work, set up obstacles everywhere, and pointed eastward and westward, not only would it be difficult for Cai E to perform effectively and achieve results, but it might even cause harm to the military community.

Creating chaos is not beautiful.

Despite this, Yuan Shikai still gave Cai E, a non-Beiyang southern soldier, a great honor and favor, and added the rank of General Zhaowei, and General Zhaowei was the first among generals with the "Wei" title, which shows that Cai E is a general

Yuan Shikai had a position in the government and entered the Generalissimo Command Office of the Army and Navy, and this position was equivalent to the National Military Commission in later generations, which all showed considerable appreciation and trust in him. If it was just house arrest, Yuan Shikai would have to absorb Cai E into

The core military command organization? What's more, if it is under house arrest, how can it go in and out of Beijing, Tianjin and other places? The relationship between Yuan and Cai is not the kind of strong versus weak relationship that is generally described in later generations, let alone a relationship under house arrest.

Yuan Shikai wanted to use Cai E, but there were too many resistances. He was not very confident about Cai E either way. Now, he used him as the commander of the expeditionary force, which might not be paving the way for him. Cai E had no selfish motives in taking charge of the army, so he was surrendering to Yuan Shikai.

wish, but the unfulfilled wish is not in line with his wish. It is better for the expeditionary force to be in the hands of Cai E than to be in the hands of others. At least he is a person who cares about the country!

And Li Siqin reported again:

"I think Cai E is a thorn in the president's hand, stabbing Beiyang! According to the intelligence we currently have, if this appointment is made, Xu Shuzheng is likely to conflict with Cai E. I'm worried,

Will this affect the expeditionary force’s operations?”

After hearing this, Li Zicheng pondered for a moment:

"Get Han Wu for me!"

Because the expeditionary force was about to be dispatched, Han Wu had resigned from the post of Chief of Staff of the Jiangsu Army and was transferred to Beijing. He entered the Expeditionary Force Preparatory Office of the Ministry of Army as deputy director. According to Xu Shuzheng's "ventilation", he took up the post of the Expeditionary Force.

Above, if the "State Council" supports him as commander-in-chief, then the Army Department supports Han Wu as chief of staff. Now it seems...

More than half an hour later, Han Wu followed Zhang Yilin in. After entering the small conference room, he first gave a military salute to the Prime Minister sitting on the sofa:….

"Prime Minister!"

Regarding his own people, Li Zicheng asked straight to the point:

"The Secret Service just received a piece of information. Cai E may be appointed as the commander of the expeditionary force!"

Hearing that Cai E might serve as the commander of the expeditionary force, Han Wu was slightly startled, and then replied:

"I don't know much about him, but it is said that he graduated with second place in the Japanese Military Academy at the age of 22. Together with Jiang Baili and Zhang Xiaozhun, he was known as the Three Heroes of the Military Academy. After returning to China, he served as an instructor at the Jiangxi and Hunan military schools.

Later, he served as the general staff officer of the New Army in Guangxi, the general office of the Army Primary School, and the co-teacher of the mixed army. He was very good at training the army. The governor of Guangxi Zhang Mingqi and the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou Li Jingxi all thought highly of him. I also heard that Governor Cai set an example in everything, was strict in self-discipline, and did not compromise.

Jun Xiang. I don’t want to enjoy it. He is very prestigious in the Southwest New Army. Well, he is also a suitable candidate to be the commander of the expeditionary force!"

Then, Li Zicheng asked tentatively:

"Do you know that Cai E will be appointed as the commander of the expeditionary force, and Xu Youzheng may be appointed as the chief of staff!"

After pondering for a moment, Han Wuyi said without any expression:

"Prime Minister, Commander Xu is good at strategy. As the chief of staff, with his ability, he will ensure that the expeditionary force will not suffer."

But at this time Zhang Yilin interjected:

"Director Han, the Prime Minister did not listen to you praising Cai Songpo and praising Xu Youzheng. One of them is suitable and the other will not suffer. But you, Director Han, will suffer!"

Seeing that he couldn't cope with it, Han Wu saluted and then smiled on his face:
To be continued...