Chapter 61: Wu Yi's Army Arrives for Battle

  Rong Lu spent several days inspecting the new army and found that Ye Zhi Kui always had meals with the soldiers in the military cafeteria, which made him nod secretly.

  Before leaving, the last day of investigation into Ye Zhi's indulgence in the army, after learning about the ins and outs of the matter, Ronglu was a bit headache that Ye Zhi did not play according to common sense, but after understanding the facts, he could not empathize with Ye Zhi's pity and love for his soldiers.

  That night, Ronglu asked his staff Yang: "How do you think the new army compares with the old one?"

  Yang thought for a moment and replied, "I have always been ignorant of military affairs, but judging from the military appearance and morale of the soldiers, the old army is far inferior to the new one. Moreover, various tactics emerge in the new army, each with its own unique features."

  Rong Lu heard Yang say this and agreed: "Your words are extremely correct. Ye Zhikui must be preserved, in order to plan for later achievements."

  Soon after Ronglu returned to Beijing, he reported: "Ye Zhikui is a man who loves and protects his soldiers, and there is no case of damaging military discipline. The new army's strength is the key to China's reform and self-strengthening. Ye Zhikui is an indispensable talent."

  Ronglu turned around and entered the Yiheyuan, saying to Cixi: "I have observed that Yuezhi's leader is very loyal to our great Qing dynasty, and even more respectful to you, Empress Dowager. He should be greatly promoted. Now, the Emperor wants to reform and strengthen the country, but he is still young and inexperienced. It is still necessary for you, Empress Dowager, to secretly support him from behind the scenes. Moreover, the Emperor listens to Kang Youwei, but I see that Kang Youwei is all empty talk, without any practical experience, just a bookworm who talks big. What can be done?"

  Cixi remained silent for a while, and Ronglu couldn't understand her thoughts at the moment, so he had to retreat. Cixi was actually very conflicted, on the one hand she was hostile to foreigners and hoped to strengthen China through reform, catching up with Western countries; on the other hand, she didn't want Guangxu to gain power through reform, making herself powerless.

  Kang Youwei's biggest mistake at this time was, as Guizi Liu said, that he couldn't tell top from bottom and didn't know who the real master of the Qing dynasty was. He was extremely naive politically and didn't know what compromise meant.

  Of course, the things that happened in Beijing had nothing to do with Ye Zhiqi for the time being. After Ronglu left, he just needed to live a good life, and of course, when there was nothing to do, he would still go to bully Yuan Shikai. It's not that Ye Zhiqi had any irreconcilable feud with Yuan Shikai, but rather that Ye Zhiqi couldn't put his mind at ease. Who let Yuan Shikai have such a great reputation in later generations? Ye Zhiqi was afraid that if he wasn't careful, he would suffer losses at the hands of young Yuan. Therefore, he attached great importance to Yuan Shikai and suppressed him in every way, digging up his people, snatching his soldiers, all for one purpose: not to let young Yuan rise to power. Ye Zhiqi shouted in his heart: because I am the protagonist.

  Ye Zhiyun was hit by a sneak attack from Yuan Shikai this time, and although he didn't seem to suffer any losses for the time being, he couldn't just let it go. He had to make Yuan Shikai understand that there were some people he couldn't afford to mess with.

  "What? The Wu Yi army is going to march and train. What's the use of that?" Wang Wenxiang started to get a headache as soon as he saw Ye Zhiwei, who was increasingly treating the Governor's Mansion like his own home. Whenever he had some strange idea, he would come here to discuss it with him. But in reality, there was no discussion at all - anyone who knew Ye Zhiwei understood that he was actually a rogue, and whatever he proposed, you had to agree to. If you didn't agree, he would keep pestering you until you did.

  "Your Excellency, the Governor, it's like this. What is meant by 'drill practice' is to have the troops leave their garrison and conduct training during the march. This move is a kind of training to strengthen the physical fitness and combat effectiveness of lower-level officers and soldiers, which can temper the will of the soldiers and make the entire unit more united."

  Wang Wenshao nodded, thinking that Ye Zhikui was right, but then he turned around and said in a bad temper: "This is good news, you as the governor of Zhili can make decisions on your own, why come to me?"

  Ye Zhi Kui rolled his eyes and replied, "Governor, this drill is a must, no matter how thrifty we are, it still requires money and grain. It's not suitable for me to report such trivial matters to the Ministry of War, so I had to come to your esteemed office to resolve it."

  Wang Wenshao was so angry that his mustache stood on end, and he hurried to drive Ye Zhiwei out the door, cursing: "You good-for-nothing Ye Zhiwei, you've come to rob me in my old age! I don't have any money here, but I do have a life!"

  Ye Zhi Kui walked out of the Governor's Mansion, returned to Lu Tai and discussed with other generals about military training. Ye Zhi Kui came to report to Wang Wen Shao not because he really lacked money, but because no matter what you do, it's always better to let your superiors know, otherwise who knows whether they will secretly resent you for taking things into your own hands?

  " Gentlemen, this time our Wu Yi army will be divided into five echelons to conduct military training in succession. Each echelon consists of 3,000 people. Only when the previous echelon returns to camp can the next one depart from the camp. The location for the military training is from Lutai to Xiaozhan, and then back to the camp entrance of Dingwu Military Camp. We will set up camp at Xiaozhan for a night and return to the camp the next day. Each person is only allowed to bring one day's worth of military rations. If it's not enough, you have to solve it yourself. I don't care if you do good deeds for the common people and they reward you with a meal or use other methods. In short, three things are strictly forbidden: first, no stealing; second, no looting; third, no disturbing the civilians. Did you hear clearly?"

  The officers all responded in unison: "Understood!" Because horseback riding was not allowed, the round trip from Lutai to Xiaozhan took two days. They only brought one day's worth of military rations, and for the second day, the soldiers had to fend for themselves.

  "Zhou Dingchen, the left wing commander, didn't understand why Ye Zhiqi had set the destination of the exercise as Xiaozhan, so he asked the right wing commander Jiang Zikang: 'Fu Ke, is there some deeper meaning behind setting the final goal of this march as Xiaozhan?'"

  Jiang Zikang shook his head and replied, "Don't ask me, I've been unable to see through Ye Shao since the Korean War." He then pointed at Xian Ren Shi Wu and said, "This person is the most understanding of Ye Shao's thoughts!"

  Two old men surrounded Jian Renshi, who listened carefully and said with a flick of his head: "Isn't this simple? Why did you set up camp at the small station for one night? Do you know that Wu Dashi led people to charge into the Dingwu army camp?" Then, Jian Renshi looked around, lowered his head, and whispered: "This is just a rumor, not confirmed yet. I heard that this time, the Minister of War Ronglu came to inspect our Wuyi Army because Yuan Shikai was secretly plotting behind our backs. Can you swallow this insult? This is to show off in front of the Dingwu army. When you are stationed at the small station, it's best if you can think of a way to make Yuan Shikai uncomfortable, and Ye Shao will be happier."

  The two old men suddenly understood, and hastily thanked him. Seeing Ren's timely help, he stretched out his hand and said: "No need to thank me, I'm glad you patronized me, here are two silver coins." Zhou Dingchen and Jiang Zikang were shocked!

  In the Xiaozhan military camp, after several days of anxiety and unease, Yuan Shikai finally calmed down a bit. At dinner time, he was about to go eat when suddenly a soldier came to report.

  "It's no good, it's no good, General Yuan! The Wu Yi army has blocked our main gate." the soldier said breathlessly.

  Yuan Shikai was perplexed, what is the purpose of Ye Zhikui's Wuwei Army coming here? Before long, Xu Shichang also received intelligence and walked with Yuan Shikai towards the entrance of the camp.

  Only the gate was crowded with soldiers watching the excitement, and when Yuan Shikai approached, they made way for a path. Yuan Shikai and Xu Shichang walked out of the camp gate, only to see the soldiers of the Wuwei Army standing silently in front of them, blocking their way. The Dingwu Army soldiers wanted to pass through, but had to step on the heads of the Wuwei Army soldiers.

  Yuan Shikai angrily stepped forward and asked: "What are you doing surrounding our gate with the Wuwei Army?"

  A familiar voice rang out, and Yuan Shikai looked carefully, only to see that it was the same commander who had rushed into the camp last time. The commander said: "Our Wuwei Army just came to ask for food, General Yuan won't be so petty, will he?"

  Are you here for food? Does General Wu Yi still need to come and beg for food? Yuan Shikai looked at Wu Dashan's rough face, really wanting to rush up and punch him a couple of times. Unfortunately, it was just a thought.

  Xu Shichang fell silent for a moment, then said to Yuan Shikai: "Cuiting, let's do it their way first! Let's see what other tricks they have up their sleeves."

  Yuan Shikai had no choice but to let the cook prepare more food and send it over. As soon as the food arrived, the soldiers of the Wuwei Army began to drool, and Wu Dashan waved his hand and shouted: "Brothers, dinner is ready! Whoever grabs it first eats first, whoever doesn't grab it will go hungry tonight!"

  Wu Dashan took a big step and rushed towards the rice bucket like crazy. The other soldiers reacted quickly, following him with wolf-like howls as they charged forward. Yuan Shikai didn't have time to retreat and was pushed to the ground, and when he got up again, he had already been trampled on several times. Looking at the Wuwei Army's rush for food, he couldn't even get angry, and exchanged a glance with Xu Shichang, both thinking: "They really are here just for the food."

  After eating and drinking enough, the soldiers of Wu Yi's army began to disperse one after another. Yuan Shikai looked far away and saw that Wu Yi's army had set up temporary tents not far from their own camp. Unable to understand the situation, he saw that things were already settled, so he returned.

  Who would have thought that soon after Yuan Shikai's departure, the soldiers of the Wuwei Army began to gather in twos and threes again. As soon as they saw a soldier from the Dingwu Army coming out, they stood still in front of him, not moving or giving way. If a soldier from the Dingwu Army asked what they were doing, the Wuwei Army's response was uniform: "We want rice!"

  The clever soldiers of the Dingwu Army could only take out their silver coins, thinking that this would bring them peace and quiet. Unexpectedly, this tactic was indeed effective, as long as the soldiers who had spent their silver coins were rarely bothered again by the Wuwei Army soldiers. What was nominally "begging for food" but actually "extortion" began to spread among the small stations of the Dingwu Army.

  The soldiers of the Dingwu Army were also helpless. The Qing dynasty only had a crime of robbery, but no crime of begging for food on the road. It's really unbearable. Most of the soldiers who went out of the camp had spent money to settle the matter.

  Starting from the first team, for more than ten days, every other day, a group of Wuwei Army soldiers would come to ask for food, making Yuan Shikai extremely annoyed and wanting to scold them. Fortunately, after more than a decade, the Wuwei Army finally calmed down. Yuan Shikai couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief, thinking that Ye Zhikui shouldn't be provoked again in the future.