Chapter Eleven: Zhongyong Batu

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  "Paper, paper!"

  The Sichuan Revolutionary Party was completely captured, and the imperial court awarded Yang Qiu the title of "Zhongyong Batulu".

  "Bring me one."

  On the Hankou dock, a newsboy had only shouted twice when he heard someone asking for a newspaper. He hastily took the money and handed over a copy. When he looked up, however, all he saw was a burly figure boarding a passenger ship heading south from Chongqing.

  Miao quickly walked into the cabin and handed the newspaper to Song Jiaoren, who was disguised as a civilian.

  "What a scoundrel!" Miao Luo, whose pretty face had been darkened by some unknown substance, leaned over to take a look and immediately clenched her silver teeth. For some reason, the scene of Yang Qiu's humiliation that day flashed through her mind again.

  "Sister, don't be reckless!"

  Miao Yuan, how could he not understand his sister's thoughts? Seeing her gnashing her teeth, he hastily asked a sentence after turning around: "Mr. Song, this person is likely to come over to the imperial court side now, and we are currently in Hankou, I estimate he will also return within the next day or two, do you want me..."

  Seeing the big brother making a slashing gesture with his hand, Miao Luo felt a surge of hatred in her heart, telling me not to mess around, but she was more anxious than anyone else, so after a flash of beautiful eyes, she quietly squeezed into the crowd beside her.

  Song Jiaoren and Miao Yuan did not notice Miao Luo's departure. Although the newspaper reported in black and white that Yang Qiu was awarded the title of "Zhongyong Batulu", he still couldn't forget what had happened that day. After some thought, he shook his head: "When I left Sichuan, Huang Xing had already sent me a telegram asking me to return to Shanghai as soon as possible to take charge of the situation. We won't interfere with this matter, and our comrades in the New Army should know what to do."

  "Yes."

  Miao nodded and glanced at the newspaper, thinking to himself that it was a pity. Yang Qiu was indeed a figure of great importance. If only he could be won over to his side... But no, they had all been awarded the title of Batulu by the Qing court, and he had even killed Wang Yishi. The Sichuan Tongzhigui had almost collapsed because of him, and this grudge would never be resolved.

  Shaking off the distractions, he thought of the dry rations he hadn't bought earlier and was about to ask Miao Luo to go down again. But as soon as he turned around, he found that his sister had disappeared, and his heart skipped a beat.

  "Mr. Song, Luo Er she..."

  Brother and sister are connected at heart, Miao Yuan didn't care about it anymore. He pulled Song Jiaoren to ask him, the latter's face also changed slightly. Rushing to the bow of the ship, he found that the plank had been withdrawn, the passenger liner had started, and in the distance, Miao Luo's back was gradually disappearing into the crowd on the dock.

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  "Hey, isn't this Brother Yang?"

  As soon as the wheels of the carriage rolled into the Hankou territory, Yang Qiu on the carriage heard a greeting with a hint of jest. Several soldiers standing guard with guns on their backs surrounded him: "Brother Yang, this time you must treat us to a good drink."

  "Why?"

  Yang Qiu and Xiao Anguo were taken aback, the soldiers on guard quickly fetched a newspaper from behind and said with a smile: "Brother Yang, you are now officially conferred by the imperial court as 'Zhongyong Batu Lu', this is a formal title, shouldn't you be treating us to drinks?"

  Zhōng yǒng bā tú lù? !

  Translation: Zhong Yong Batulu?!

  Yang Qiu didn't quite understand the complex official hierarchy of the Qing dynasty, but this term that often appeared in later generations' operas was still familiar to him. It roughly meant a brave warrior, which means he had been conferred as a loyal and brave warrior of the Manchu state.

  I don't know if I will become the last person of the Great Qing Dynasty to enjoy this title.

  "Yang brothers' good skills, now the whole country from north to south has spread your story, Shanghai and Guangzhou have reported it, yesterday there were people from the newspaper office who came to Zhang's residence to see you, I heard that even Yuan, the governor of Zhili, sent a telegram to report and congratulate the Commander-in-chief."

  These words made Yang Qiu feel as if every hair on his head was going to explode, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Zhili! This means that the great name of "Yang Qiu dog thief" has spread all over the land of China.

  Is Zongzhong Batu still loyal? After flipping over the sign, it reads "Qing traitor plus gunpowder".

  Luckily, Yang Qiu had thought about it for a few days on the bus and, being optimistic by nature, had already anticipated that things wouldn't end so simply. Self-pity was useless anyway, so she might as well face each day with optimism.

  The soldiers who had been watching the scene with interest saw Yang Qiu's expression and lost their topic, so they said: "General Guan, Brother Yang. General Zhang and General Li have been waiting for a long time at the Admiral's Mansion, let you go see him as soon as you return."

  "Alright." Xiao Anguo responded and let Ma Kui lead everyone into the camp, also instructing them on taking care of the wounded and comforting the families of the deceased. He then immediately brought Yang Qiu to the dock.

  As the Admiral's Mansion was in Wuchang, they had to take a ferry from Hankou Wharf first. But as soon as Yang Qiu stepped onto the boat, he suddenly felt a chill run down his neck.

  This feeling wasn't the first time, it happened when executing tasks in past lives, and also when being stared at in front of the Governor's Mansion, so I immediately turned my head to look back.

  A figure by the dock caught Yang Qiu's attention, but the owner of the figure quickly hid and disappeared into the crowd in the blink of an eye. Xiao Anguo, who had already been startled, was also frightened by Yang Qiu's sudden movement and hastily asked: "Brother Yang, what's wrong?"

  "It's nothing."

  Yang Qiu felt that the figure was somewhat familiar, but couldn't recall where he had seen it before. Afraid of worrying Xiao Anguo, he waved his hand and said it was nothing.

  The army is different from the people. In order to increase the connection between the three towns across the river, there are special ferries for soldiers and officials to come and go, so they arrived in Wuchang quickly. After getting off the boat, they saw the governor's personal soldiers who had rushed to greet them after receiving the news. After chatting with them for a few sentences, the two of them followed the personal soldiers to the governor's mansion.

  "Scoundrel, how sharp you are!" On the other side of Yangzi River, Miao Luo saw Yang Qiu disappear into the distance and finally let out a sigh of relief. After muttering a curse, she quickly turned around and disappeared into the crowd as well.

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  As soon as Yang Qiu walked to the entrance of the governor's mansion, he heard a loud "Haha" coming from inside. When he arrived at the courtyard, he saw a man in his fifties, wearing a martial arts uniform, with a big beard and a ruddy complexion, practicing martial arts. Several bodyguards were cheering him on, while a short, stout man with a big belly standing to the left was frowning, seemingly deep in thought.

  Li Yuanhong

  Upon seeing the short and stout man, Yang Qiu immediately recognized him as he had just visited the Xinhai Revolution Memorial Hall. Fortunately, having previously met Song Jiaoren, his face remained calm and composed. As for the person practicing martial arts, if he wasn't mistaken, it should be Zhang Biao, the new army commander who had saved Zhang Zhidong, the Hubei governor.

  When Xiang Ankou and Yang Qiujin came in, Zhang Biao immediately stopped his fists and hands, took the towel from the maid's hand to wipe off the sweat, and then waved away the outsiders and walked over with Li Yuanhong.

  "Xiao An Guo (Yang Qiu) has met with Governor-General, has met with Commander-in-Chief."

  "An Guo is back, hurry up and respond." Zhang Biao enthusiastically pulled Xiao An Guo to the side and smiled: "I heard that you, An Guo, have also practiced a few moves, how about exchanging blows with me?"

  "Hanjiang's three towns know that Lord Cao is skilled in martial arts, An Guo dare not."

  "Oh? Isn't Anguo laughing at me for being too arrogant towards someone younger than me? Haha......"

  "Just kidding."

  When Zhang Biao and Li Yuanhong saw him, they only chatted with each other, not paying attention to his words at all. Yang Qiu secretly smiled in her heart, thinking that these two old foxes were trying to fool her, so she obediently stood aside without speaking. On the contrary, Xiao Anguo looked a bit embarrassed and said: "Sir, if it wasn't for this time..."

  "An Guo, no need to say more." Zhang Biao stretched out his hand to interrupt An Guo and said: "I've already learned about your entry into Shu this time. Well done, you haven't tarnished the reputation of my new army."

  "That is the wise teaching of the adults, who dares to take credit for stabilizing the country?"

  Li Yuanhong walked up and patted Xiao Ankou familiarly, smiling: "Ankou, don't be polite. Before you came back, Commander had already discussed with me. From today on, you will be transferred to Chuwangtai as Pingku. What do you think?"

  Chu Wang Tai? Ping Ku!

  Not to mention Xiao Anguo was shocked, even Yang Qiu also perked up his ears.

  Even if Yang Qiu was not a new army soldier, he knew that Chuwangtai was the arsenal of Hubei New Army, and it is said to be the largest in the country at present! The success of Wuchang Uprising was not because many soldiers of Hubei New Army followed the uprising, nor was it because the people's party was so powerful.

  In fact, according to records, the high-level Kuomintang at that time only knew that Wuchang was going to rise up, but most of them didn't think it would work out because there were too many troops here, and the difficulty of the uprising was too great to grasp. The accidental explosion before the uprising also caused the command center in the Wuchang area to be destroyed. In the end, success was only possible due to a small number of grassroots Kuomintang members. From the process, it didn't look like an uprising either, but more like a military mutiny, because at that time nearly half of the soldiers adhered to the military code and did not participate until the end when Li Yuanhong was brought out, which finally stabilized the military's mind.

  This time the uprising was able to succeed in the end, largely thanks to the capture of the Chu Wang Tai arsenal, otherwise the rebel army would not even have enough bullets.

  Because Chuwangtai is too important, Zhang Biao specially dispatched the so-called "heart" "Engineering Camp" to defend it, but the Engineering Camp's garrison was actually still a long way off. In peacetime, there was only one team (equivalent to a battalion) defending, so Chuwangtai had its own management personnel, with their leader called Pingku. Although most of them were civilian management personnel, with only dozens of guns and library soldiers, they were already equivalent to the banner army in terms of rank! Moreover, in terms of importance, it was even higher than the banner army, because almost every bullet entering or leaving required the signatures of the three parties: the Governor, the Commander, and Pingku. Therefore, it can be seen as Zhang Biao's heart and soul.

  Being able to jump from the most marginal heavy camp to being appointed as the flat warehouse of Chuwangtai, it means that Director-general has already regarded himself as a confidant, making Xiao Anguo excitedly rub his hands, hastily kneeling down to thank him, even Yang Qiu's face showed joy and happiness for him.

  Li Yuanhong personally helped up Xiao Anguo and pulled him aside to talk, after which Zhang Biao slowly walked up to Yang Qiu with official steps.

  "Are you Yang Qiu?"

  "Returning to the adults, the one below is indeed Yang Qiu of the baggage camp."

  "Get up."

  Yang Qiu stood up and didn't even say thank you, when he saw two sharp lights coming straight at him. He thought to himself that Zhang Biao wasn't as incompetent as the history books said, at least his eyes were still very sharp. It seemed that these old guys really did have some skills. Unfortunately for Zhang Biao, he had encountered two people who had experienced the most absurd things in the world, and Yang Qiu's past military experience made him know that even if soldiers got tainted by the bad habits of the officialdom, they still didn't like their subordinates to be tainted by secular air. So he didn't avoid or dodge, and just stared quietly at his opponent.

  Zhang Biao was also secretly sizing up this young man who was almost a head taller than him. He didn't have the refined features of a scholar, but had broad shoulders and long legs, with sturdy arms that suggested he had practiced martial arts. Standing there, he looked like an unsheathed precious sword.

  If Yang Qiu had avoided eye contact, he might still have disliked him, but with this straight-waisted gaze, he saw the self of his youth wandering around, also revealing a sharp edge, and couldn't help but secretly like it. As for what happened that day when he refused Rui Cheng and let him be the leader of the 42nd squad, he didn't regret it as much anymore.

  But still, reminders should be given as reminders.

  "Haha... It's been a long time since anyone dared to make eye contact with me." After glancing at him for a few moments, Zhang Biao's mouth curled up slightly, unnoticed by others. He broke the silence first and walked over to the desk to pick up a document, pretending to read it for a moment before saying: "Very good..."

  "You can't just say that and get away with it." As soon as he heard the tone of Yang Qiu's voice, Zhang Biao knew there was more to come. Just as he was about to speak up, Zhang Biao slammed his hand on the table, suddenly changing his expression to one of anger and shouting: "The transportation of military equipment is a matter of great importance! You're not careful at all, just trying to be a hero, and what's with the Sichuan affair? That has nothing to do with you, it's under the jurisdiction of Governor Zhao. What business do you have getting involved as just a humble logistics soldier?"