Chapter 5, First Encounter with Nai Duan

  Just at this moment, the soldier who was wearing a new-style military uniform suddenly laughed and said: "You're also from Anhui? Fellow countryman!"

  Wu Shaotong still had some good feelings towards this new army soldier, at least the other person looked quite enthusiastic. He smiled slightly and said: "That's right, I was born in Anhui, and later moved to Jiangxi. At the age of 12, I came alone to Guangzhou."

  "What a coincidence, meeting fellow townspeople in a foreign land, what a good thing. My name is Nian Duan, from Hefei, Anhui Province, I was transferred to Guangzhou at the end of last year and now serve as an instructor officer for the New Army's Third Battalion." The new army soldier smiled and introduced himself.

  "It's Lord Nai after all, nice to meet you." Wu Shaotong smiled and bowed.

  Ni Duan is not his real name, his real name is Ni Yingdian. At that time, he was a soldier of the 9th Division of the New Army. During the Xinhai Revolution, the 9th Division of the New Army was sent to suppress the uprising, and Ni Yingdian contacted the Tongmenghui to plan an uprising within the 9th Division, but unfortunately it did not succeed.

  Afterwards, Ni Yingdian changed his name to Ni Duan and came to Guangzhou to join the new army's patrol camp as a training officer. Just two years later, in 1910, the Guangzhou New Army Uprising broke out, and he was the commander-in-chief of the uprising new army. Unfortunately, he was ambushed by the Guangzhou Navy Commander during the uprising and sacrificed, leading to the failure of the uprising new army due to the lack of a leader.

  Of course, Wu Shaozhong did not know this, but he was very clear in his heart that among the new army of this era, eight out of ten were inclined to revolution. Moreover, Nai Duan and himself were also from the same hometown, so he felt especially close.

  "What a big shot you are, Mr. Nai! This genius might become my boss in a few days, and I'll have to call you sir! Haha!" Nai Duan joked.

  "It's nothing, we're fellow townspeople and you're also my senior, I'll have to ask for your guidance in the future." Wu Shaotong said with courtesy.

  At this time, Mr. Chen found Wu Shaotong's file from a pile of old files, which was covered with a thick layer of dust. He patted the file while walking back to the counter.

  "Here is your file, it's been four years. He opened the file and verified Wu Shaotong's resume according to procedure, "Alright, Mr. Wu, welcome back."

  Wu Shaotong did not hear any welcoming tone from Chen Dabing's words, and he asked directly: "Lord Chen, what arrangements does the government have for me?"

  "I'm just a clerk, only responsible for registering your information. Now it's getting late, tomorrow I will send your resume to Governor Chen, as for how to arrange it, that's Governor Chen's business." Mr. Chen said slowly and calmly.

  "In that case, what about my accommodation for tonight?" Wu Shaotong asked again.

  "You go to the fire brigade's dormitory first. In my opinion, you will probably be assigned to the fire brigade too, so it's better for you not to move back and forth later." said Mr. Chen.

  "Fire Brigade Camp? How did Lord Chen know about it?" Wu Shaotong was somewhat astonished. As a proud graduate of the German Higher Military Academy, he had been assigned to serve in the Fire Brigade Camp?

  Although he knew that the fire brigade at this time was not a 21st-century firefighting team, it was just a military unit. However, this army is not a regular army, it is only responsible for maintaining security work in the city, of course, its responsibilities also include firefighting and disaster relief. Superficially understood, the fire brigade belongs to the internal guard troops and is not an offensive force.

  Mr. Chen did not rush to answer, he first pulled out another document from under the counter and flipped through it for a while before answering: "Look, as expected, all official positions in Guangzhou have been assigned, only one position of a sentry officer in the Shanzi Camp of the Fire Brigade is left. As expected, Governor Chen will appoint you to this position."

  Wu Shaotong vaguely guessed that the so-called "dismissal of officials" meant eight or nine out of ten were actually "selling official positions". The position of Xiao Guan was equivalent to the company commander in the new army, but with fewer soldiers under his command.

  Before he could speak, Nai Duan, who was standing beside him, spoke out in dissatisfaction: "Old Chen, what are you doing? The fire brigade is a military training unit! Wu, the official from Germany, is a high-ranking scholar, and it's only suitable for him to be assigned to the new army. How can an overseas officer not lead the new army?"

  The Xiang Army was actually an evolved version of the Qing dynasty's Green Standard Army, which was derived from the training system of the Xiang Army and Huai Army created by Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang. Fifteen years ago, it was still considered a relatively modern army, but fifteen years later, the Xiang Army is now classified as an old-fashioned army.

  Mr. Chen also felt that it was quite absurd, but there had never been a precedent for a new-style officer to lead an old-style battalion. However, he couldn't control this matter, and Wu Shaotong happened to come at the wrong time when there were no vacancies.

  "Alas, Lord Wu, although it's a bit of an imposition on you, this matter hasn't been settled yet. Wait until tomorrow when I'll submit your dossier and resume to the Governor-General; who knows, maybe he'll have other arrangements in store!" Minister Chen placated him with these words.

  Wu Shaotong let out a depressed sigh, picked up his luggage and turned to Lin Zhaoren: "Brother Lin, would you mind showing me the way to the fire brigade dormitory?"

  At this time, Nai Duan came out from behind the counter and said: "Fellow countryman, I'll take you there. Mr. Lin, you go ahead with your business."

  Lin Zhaoren bid farewell and left.

  Ni Duan accompanied Wu Shao Ting out of the military officer's place and walked towards the gate of the yamen. On the way, he smiled and advised: "Wu, don't take it to heart. At the beginning of the year, there was another talented student who returned from a Japanese military academy, not much better than you."

  "Who is this person?" Wu Shao-tung asked curiously. Not many people went to Japan's Military Academy for further study in the late Qing and early Republic periods, and later they all became world-renowned famous generals, so it was necessary to ask that person's name.

  "His surname is Xu, and his name is Chongzhi. When he came back to report, he was also arranged in the old army, and he was just a deputy officer on probation, which is even more miserable than Mr. Wu." Nian Duan said with a playful tone.

  Xu Chongzhi? The leader of the Guangdong faction of the Kuomintang, is indeed a big shot!

  "Then he would willingly obey the arrangement?" Wu Shaotong asked.

  "It's said that Mr. Xu took the files to Fujian the very next day," Nian Duan said.

  "So that's how it is." Wu Shaotong nodded slowly. In history, Xu Chongzhi participated in the Fuzhou Uprising and later followed Chen Jiongming, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, back to Guangdong.

  The two walked into the corridor, and at this time, the people around gradually decreased.

  Ni Duan sighed and said: "Actually, they are intentionally making things difficult for you overseas students who are considered high-caliber talents."

  Wu Shaotong was taken aback and looked puzzled, asking: "What do you mean by that?"

  Ni Duan smiled mysteriously and said, "Mr. Wu, you may not know the current situation in the country since you just returned from studying abroad. The revolutionary wave is surging across the nation, and it's not necessary to mention the ordinary people, but surprisingly, the new army is the most deeply influenced by revolutionary ideas. The Qing government relies on the new army to consolidate national defense, but at the same time, they are also wary of the new army's unpredictability, so they must be guarded against."

  Wu Shaotang thought for a moment, then suddenly said: "Mr. Nian's meaning is that the top doesn't trust us overseas students, fearing we'll spread foreign ideas into the new army?"

  "That's right." Nian nodded.

  Wu Shaotong fell silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled and deliberately asked: "Ní Dàiren, isn't this the Army Ministry? How dare you discuss 'revolution' so recklessly?"

  Ní Duān burst out laughing and said: "The two most popular words these days are 'revolution', you can't ban them even if you want to!"

  In the past few years, the Qing government's control over public opinion was still very strict. Anyone who mentioned "revolution" in a public setting would be arrested and executed. However, nowadays the Qing government's prestige is increasingly weakening, and its centralized power is becoming more and more ineffective. As one thing declines and another rises, the openness of the popular sentiment naturally grows with the tide.

  Wu Shaotang had a faint feeling that Nian Duan was probing him, just like Hu Hanmin had probed him on the "White Goose" ship. Revolutionary party members have always been very active and would actively win over anyone who could help the revolution. He thought to himself: It seems that Nian Duan might indeed be a member of the Tongmenghui!

  However, he was well aware that with China's current situation, revolution is inevitable, and it would be wise for him to establish a good relationship with the revolutionary party.

  The two men left the army yamen and crossed the wide street in front of it, heading straight for the large drill ground on the opposite side.

  The Fire Brigade has a total of four battalions, with two armed battalions stationed in the urban area, and Shanzi Battalion and another battalion are arranged to be stationed behind the Grand School Field due to their outdated equipment.

  Thanks to Nian Duan's help, Wu Shaotong quickly completed some temporary procedures. A small official from the fire camp found him an empty dormitory and also brought a set of bedding and mattress.

  Wu Shaotong simply tidied up a room, and before long, daylight gradually faded away.

  Ní Duān never left, after looking at the sky, he invited Wú Shào Píng to go with him to the cafeteria for dinner.

  Because the fire brigade still belongs to the old military system, officers and soldiers eat separately. Officers have their own canteen, while soldiers basically line up to eat big pot rice near their barracks. Nian Duan, although not belonging to the fire brigade, as long as he wears an officer's uniform, the cooks in the canteen dare not say much, it's just a matter of having one more meal.

  They arrived at the cafeteria early for the fire camp, and there were hardly any officers dining in the entire cafeteria. The two of them took their meals and sat down in the empty cafeteria, chatting as they ate. However, what they talked about this time was not revolution, but just casual conversation between old friends from the same hometown.

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