Chapter 51: The Miser

  It wasn't until halfway through that Fang Zidao finally understood, and the leader of the White Wolf Army, Bai Lang, was a certain kind of person. The common people had all sorts of rumors about him, but no one knew the truth. It turned out that Bai Lang was originally from Baofeng County in Henan Province, his family was quite wealthy, and he loved to read from a young age, especially admiring Song Jiang. In the late Qing dynasty, he served as an advisor under Wu Lüchen, the commander of the 6th garrison, but after Wu's death, he joined forces with Wang Tianzong, a great hero from Zhongzhou, and became a bandit in Mount Songshan, calling himself the Grand Commander of the Central Plains Pro-Han Army. It was said that he was around 37 or 38 years old, fat, over four feet tall, wore a black turban on his head with a two-and-a-half-inch green braid, and rode in an eight-person yellow sedan chair. The border areas between Henan and Hubei were poor and barren, and the local people lacked food and clothing, making it easy for them to take risks and become bandits.

  In the autumn of 1913, the White Wolf Army began to appear in Henan. Zhang Zhenfang, the governor of Henan, was a cousin of President Yuan Shikai and had previously served as the director of the Tianjin Maritime Customs Office. During the revolution, he managed the imperial family's donations and later became the governor of Zhili Province. Because Henan was President Yuan's hometown, he transferred his cousin from Zhili to take up the post. Zhang Zhenfang did not know how to govern and only knew how to extort money, so soon after taking office, he made life difficult for the common people. The White Wolf Army took advantage of this situation and shouted slogans such as "Replace Heaven's Way" and spread songs that went like this: "Good White Wolf, White Wolf is good, rob from the rich and give to the poor, replace heaven's way, everyone says White Wolf is good!" Another song went: "Old White Wolf, White Wolf is old, plunder the rich and save the poor, replace heaven's way, everyone says White Wolf is good. In two years, poverty and wealth have been equalized."

  It can be seen that Bai Lang is a character like Song Jiang and Li Zicheng, and the legend of him is similar to that of Li Kui and the heroes of Mount Liang in the past. Under the banner of "punishing the heavens and upholding justice for the poor", he was actually just a thoroughgoing bandit leader, and most of his troops were coerced into joining, with smokers accounting for more than half. This time, taking advantage of the opportunity of the "Second Revolution" of the Southern Revolutionary Party, Bai Lang thought that the time to seize power had arrived, and he formally rebelled by raising a flag.

  Unexpectedly, the south didn't make a big fuss for long, and this intense "Second Revolution" failed. Feeling that he couldn't gain an advantage in Henan, Bai Lang decided to flee with his followers to the northwest while the Beiyang Army hadn't yet shifted its main attention to him.

  The northwest is a land of bitter cold, and the military strength stationed in the central region has always been insufficient. The northwest is vast and sparsely populated, and the common people are poor and destitute. The White Wolf bandits who fled to the northwest were like fish in water, and within a short period of time, they had assembled an army of tens of thousands of men, attacking large households, distributing land, dividing silver and gold, causing chaos throughout the northwest...

  "How does the Ministry of War plan to quell the rebellion?" Fang Zida asked with a frown, unable to help himself.

  "Heh heh, of course it's to deploy troops to quell the rebellion. Duan Qirui, guess who I plan to deploy?" asked Duan Qirui with a smile.

  Fang Zida shook his head and smiled: "How can this be guessed? The central army has many troops, I think it's possible to transfer anyone."

  "Haha, Deng Ming, Deng Ming, it's been a few months and you've already learned the official jargon. Actually, the person I want to transfer is someone you know, and an old friend of yours."

  "Old friend?" Fang Zida thought for a moment, he didn't have many friends in the military to begin with, and even if he did, they would be from the 8th Division of Nanjing. Could it be that the Ministry of War wanted to transfer the 8th Division to the northwest? This was unlikely. Even if Yuan Shikai had this idea, Song Jiaoren would never agree to it.

  Shaking his head, indicating he couldn't guess, Duan Qirui smiled and revealed the secret: "Zhang Xun!"

  "Zhang Xun?" This answer was surprising, but after careful consideration, Fang Zidao understood and couldn't help but admire Yuan Shikai.

  Zhang Xun's troops clashed with the Eighth Division in Nanjing, resulting in heavy casualties. Zhang Xun also unilaterally entered Jiangsu Province and attacked the Eighth Division's garrison. The Central Government had already formally issued a decree dismissing Zhang Xun from his post and holding him accountable for attacking friendly forces. However, Zhang Xun was a thorough warlord who disregarded orders from either Yuan Shikai or Song Jiaoren, or even the Ministry of Army. His troops were his personal army, and he didn't care about being dismissed or investigated.

  However, the situation is different now. The defeated and wounded Banner Army has lost its momentum and no longer has much bargaining power with the central government. Moreover, the order to dismiss and investigate Zhang Xun's case still exists. At this time, if Zhang Xun were to be ordered to go and quell the rebellion, he would absolutely not be able to refuse. Once Zhang Xun disobeys the order, the central government will settle old scores with him, and at that time, Zhang Xun will probably have no choice but to surrender.

  In addition, transferring Zhang Xun away is also a good way to achieve two goals at once. From this, it can be seen that the central government already has the idea of using Bai Lang's hand to consume Zhang Xun's warlord power. If Fang Zidao guessed correctly, this idea must have been put forward by Yuan Shikai, and the Minister of War, Duan Qirui, just followed suit.

  "Zhang Xun's braided army has strong combat effectiveness, and eliminating the rebel army should not be a problem." Although they were opponents, Fang Zidao did not underestimate Zhang Xun, only after fighting against him did he understand how strong his braided army was. On this point, the Ministry of War also didn't choose the wrong person, but what would happen to Zhang Xun this time was not within Fang Zidao's consideration.

  Duan Qirui was busy with official duties, and Fang Zidao chatted with him for an hour before taking his leave. As for the formalities at the Ministry of War, Luo Fengge had already taken care of them while they were chatting. Moreover, regarding the investigation into the Chen Qimei incident, Duan Qirui didn't mention a single word, as if their casual conversation was equivalent to completing the investigation.

  After leaving the Ministry of War, Fang Ziduo officially resigned from his military position in the Eighth Division. Since it was still early, Fang Ziduo did not return home and instead went to the Premier's Office again.

  The Premier's office, Song Jiaoren has lost a lot of weight in recent days, and he looks even more haggard than before. His desk is piled high with documents, and since taking office as Premier, he has spent every day working busily, without any leisure time.

  "Trouble you to approve this expense first." Liao Zhongkai hastily walked into the office, holding a document in his hand.

  After taking the document and glancing at it, Song Jiaoren hesitated and did not sign, but instead looked up and asked: "Can this expense be delayed? I remember that Premier Zhao approved a sum when he was in office. Did your Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry spend it all?"

  "My great Premier! When Zhao Bingjun was in office, he only approved 100,000 yuan. What use can this small amount of money be put to? You're not unaware of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's situation, are you? Every place across the country needs money. With autumn harvest just around the corner, there will be many places that need funding. Please approve it."

  Liao Zhongkai is the new Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, while Chen Zhenxian remains as the Minister. However, due to his relationship with Song Jiaoren, Liao Zhongkai has been handling most of the department's affairs. After taking office, in order to reduce the number of trips to the Premier's Office for agricultural matters, Song Jiaoren initially supported him, approving all proposals and funding requests without hesitation. But today, looking at this document in his hand, he hesitated for half a day and still did not sign it.

  "Zhong Kai, let's put off this expense for now and talk about it again in two days."

  "This... is outrageous! This money can't be delayed! Our Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's follow-up work is waiting for this money to get started, what am I supposed to do if you delay it here? I gave Chen Gongbo a guarantee before I came." Liao Zhongkai immediately became anxious upon hearing this and insisted on having Song Jiaoren sign.

  Song Jiaoren was exasperated, where could such things be done? Only Liao Zhongkai would do this.

  "Brother Zhongkai, brother Zhongkai, do you think the government's money is blown in by the wind? This department wants 100,000, that department wants 200,000, do you know how much the government will spend tomorrow? You're waiting for rice to be cooked, but I'm still waiting for urgent use of money here! Look at these people, aren't they all coming to ask for money? If I really had the money, would I not approve it for you?"

  "Didn't President Yuan borrow money? Will the government go bankrupt? Don't think you can cheat me just because I don't understand!" Liao Zhongkai said displeased.

  "Cheating you? Hehe……” Song Jiaoren shook his head and sighed: "It's true, President Yuan borrowed a lot of money, but can this money be used casually? Just take the suppression of the previous rebellion, do you know how much military expenses the central government spent? It's scary to say it out loud! The subsequent relief, consolation, and local reconstruction all require a large amount of funds. And these two days, you must have also heard about the White Wolf incident? As soon as the guns and cannons sounded, the silver was flowing out like water, who knows how much more is needed?"

  After a pause, Song Jiaoren said: "Moreover, borrowing is not free, these are all to be repaid! You use it up and then go borrow again? What if others don't lend to you? Even if they do, shall we sell out the country's interests for money? At that time, I'm afraid we'll be pointed at by the whole world. Zhong Kui, not being in charge doesn't know the preciousness of firewood and rice, this premier is just a big household manager, it's...it's really difficult!"

  "Or... give me half first?" Song Jiaoren's words made Liao Zhongkai speechless, and he had no choice but to retreat and compromise.

  "Not even half! Not even a third!" Song Jiaoren flatly refused without hesitation.

  "What! You... like this, you yourself say, how much can you give me? Say it out loud first! If you don't give me a single cent, I'll start living in your premier's mansion from today!" Liao Zhongkai was about to curse, but seeing Song Jiaoren's tired look, he swallowed his words and leaned forward, propping himself up with both hands on the table edge, staring at him and asking.

  "Zhong Kai, I'm convinced by you now. You're a debt collector who won't let me live if he doesn't see the money!" Looking at his shameless appearance, he could only shake his head and sigh, thinking for a moment, he picked up his pen and crossed out the original amount on the document, rewriting a new number, signing it and throwing it back: "Here, take it."

  He took it with a smile, looked down and saw that Liao Zhongkai's eyes were almost bulging out: "What! Only this much? I said Dun Chu, are you sending beggars?"

  "What? Don't want it? Don't give it back to me!" Song Jiaoren was also blunt, stretching out his hand to take the file back.

  "Hey! Stop it! You can't be serious?" Liao Zhongkai, seeing that he was really going to play for real, hastily hid the documents behind his back and muttered under his breath: "Miser..."