25 undercurrent

Li Xiang didn't care much about the Western Expedition hosted by his general Lin Tiechang. Perhaps he was very reassured about the ability of the Ezhou Revolutionary Army, so he was more concerned about the subtle changes in the situation in Nanjing at all times.

Yuan Shikai is stepping up the differentiation work in the revolutionary camp in order to isolate Sun Yat-sen's Nanjing government. One of his actions was to instruct Zhang Xun's troops in Xuzhou to launch an attack to the south to threaten Nanjing. However, Zhang Xun's attack not only had no effect, but also was forced to give up Xuzhou and retreat to Jinan under the counterattack of the Northern Expeditionary Army. The voice of the civilian army is getting louder and louder.

Zhang Xun's rapid retreat also made Yuan Shikai see clearly that solving problems with war is beneficial to the revolutionary camp. Therefore, Yuan Shikai secretly used methods outside the battlefield to deal with the situation after the establishment of the Nanjing government.

Although he stopped the meeting between Tang Shaoyi and Wu Tingfang, he did not give up the flag of the Armistice. He came forward to continue negotiations with Wu Tingfang by telegram. Although the open telegram between Yuan Shikai and Wu Tingfang is still talking about convening the National Assembly, it is just a confusing smoke screen. In fact, no one is ready to hold such a meeting at this time. Outside the behind-the-scenes movement, Yang Du's substantive negotiations were carried out through secret telegrams. Tang Shaoyi, who continued to stay in Shanghai, also secretly contacted Wu Tingfang. The real problem of the negotiations between them is: under what conditions to end the Qing Dynasty and abolish the Nanjing government at the same time, so that all power belongs to Yuan Shikai. In cooperation with this kind of negotiation, Yuan Shikai's backstage powers and his friends in the revolutionary camp unanimously mobilized, causing difficulties for the Nanjing government in all aspects, forcing it to go to the trap designed by Yuan Shikai.

Tang Shaoyi was deeply anxious about this, and Yang Du disappeared again. He couldn't see the situation clearly when he ran to Xiyintang all day long. He really wanted someone to go to Nanjing to see the real situation of the Democratic Party, so he talked privately with Feng Gengguang and Zhang Zongxiang: "You two had better go to Nanjing to have a look, and the camera will explain to them."

Tang Shaoyi believes that Feng Gengguang, Sun Yat-sen and Hu Hanmin have a relationship with each other. Feng Gengguang is familiar with the military situation in the north. Zhang Zongxiang knows the law and makes sense to go together.

In fact, Feng Gengguang did not have a deep friendship with Sun Yat-sen and Hu Hanmin, and he was not a member of the League. However, when Sun Yat-sen went to Tokyo to promote the revolution while studying in Japan, they welcomed him, and there were only a few elegant aspects in the future. This was a trend at that time. It was also very common for students studying in Japan to go there. Therefore, after hearing this, Feng Gengguang and Zhang Zongxiang immediately hesitated about this matter and thought to himself, "I think that your dedicated messengers can't break the problem, so why don't we go?"

Tang Shaoyi also saw it and smiled and said, "It's really some good for you two to go here. You should not only explain to them, but also know their exact situation and expression, so please help.

Of course, they can't go for nothing. Tang Shaoyi made a lot of benefits for Yuan Shikai, and they agreed.

Feng Gengguang said, "We in Nanjing are unfamiliar with people. If we go there rashly, I'm afraid it's not right."

Tang Shaoyi smiled and said, "Wang Zhaoming once expressed his willingness to write a letter."

At this time, Feng Gengguang and Zhang Zongxiang suddenly realized that he had already planned the relationship.

At this time, the order of railway traffic has not returned to normal. Tang Shaoyi immediately asked the Shanghai Military Governor's Office to negotiate a special car for them. However, Shanghai and Ning just opened the car just now. There is only one car running back and forth every day. The so-called special car is actually a third-class carriage on the front of the car. The carriage is not neat, and the station is also messy. All the driving procedures It is not complete, and there are no railway employees flying flags at all stations along the way.

They boarded the train to Nanjing overnight with Wang Zhaoming's letter of introduction.

The car didn't arrive in Nanjing until dawn for about ten hours. After getting off the bus, the temporary presidential palace sent a car to pick them up.

The dawn appeared. On the streets of Nanjing, along the road, I saw some southern troops stepping on the morning sun. The ordnance and clothing were simple and incomplete. In the winter, most of them wear single clothes, and some wear "a bell" with a woolen face and red inside. It can be seen that it was bought temporarily in the market, but it is only three yuan a piece, which is very thin. Therefore, the soldiers of the revolutionary army shrank and did not show any power, which was not the same as the well-equipped hundred-war powerful divisions that Li Madman rampaged in the Shanghai Concession.

Feng Gengguang and Zhang Zongxiang met Sun Yat-sen in the Heavenly King's Mansion of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, in the stone pan with a historical story.

"Welcome, welcome." Sun Yat-sen came forward with a smile and pulled hands with them.

After a simple greeting, I learned that Hu Hanmin was the secretary-general. Feng Gengguang and Hu Hanmin were familiar with each other, and they were more attentive to entertain them.

The group walked to the Great President's Office in the west living room, that is, the Baohua Temple of the Dragon Boat Bridge as the governor of Liangjiang.

There is a large and square desk in the spacious and bright hall. Sun Yat-sen and Hu Hanmin sit on each side, sitting opposite each other, and all the facilities are simple and simple.

Sun Yat-sen and Hu Hanmin talked with them for about an hour. Most of them were gossip. At first, they did not involve the preferential treatment.

"Unconsciously, we have talked about more than eleven o'clock. How about we continue to talk after eating?" Sun Yat-sen sincerely left them for dinner.

On a small square platform next to the big desk, four people sit on all sides. The rice is an authentic Guangdong hometown flavor, sausages, salted fish and so on.

After dinner, Sun Yat-sen said to them, "I'll review the navy later. Shall we go together?"

"It's a great honor!" Feng Gengguang and Zhang Zongxiang wanted to know more about the virtual reality of the Southern Army, so they agreed.

Sun Yat-sen originally wore a casual robe, and then went in and changed into a Zhongshan suit. Feng Gengguang and Zhang Zongxiang are dressed in gray rat leather robes.

Sun Yat-sen enthusiastically took their hands and walked together. He walked to the main gate of the presidential palace and saw a burly man in military uniform in front of him, the same thin man in a stand-up collar leather military uniform, who came to the door. Feng Gengguang and Zhang Zongxiang knew at first sight that they were Marshal Huang Keqiang and Marshal Li Crazy.

Sun Yat-sen introduced it to them.

When Li wanted to see Feng Gengguang and Zhang Zongxiang, a light flashed in his eyes. He had understood the purpose of these people coming here and didn't say much. He just greeted them with a faint smile, neither cold nor enthusiastic.

When Feng Gengguang held a hand-in-hand salute with Li Xiangxing, he felt that his palm was generous and stable, and seemed to contain infinite power. At this time, they found that Li Xiang was not thin at all, well-proportioned and powerful. It was only because they stood around the burly Huang Xing that they had such an illusion. At the same time, Li Xiangwang's eyes were very sharp, which made them cold all over. For this reason, Feng Gengguang and Zhang Zongxiang looked at each other and read the same answer from each other's eyes. This feeling was only when they faced Yuan Shikai. The key is that this Li Xiang is still so young. It's already so terrible. Is it a thing in the pool? It has long been rumored that the Northern Expedition was made up by him behind the scenes. Now it seems that what really competes with Yuan Shikai for the world is this little golden scale.

With such a complicated mood, Feng Gengguang and Zhang Zongxiang were pulled into a two-horse car by Sun Yat-sen. Hearing that he was going to review the navy, Li Xiang and Huang Xing didn't say anything and rode on the horse to follow him.

The road in Nanjing is very bad. When the carriages and horses move, the body is bumpy, dusty and uncomfortable. They envied Li Xiang and Huang Xing, who were riding horses. After driving for half an hour, when they arrived at Xiaguan, five people boarded a naval ship together.

At this time, the large and small warships of the Manjiang River are full of small national flags. From the rice flag of the old British government to the small Japanese rouge plaster flag, there are all the flags of the Eastern and Western powers. The Japanese are called "Man Ship Decoration" and the Chinese are called "the Ghost of Ten Thousand Ships".

Sun Yat-sen went to the ship to carefully check the cannon equipment and so on, as if he had some experience with warships. He is gentle and intimate with officials and soldiers, and he is very general demeanor, and the officers and soldiers are also very respectful to him. He looked at the two boats in a row and paid attention to them.

Li wanted to stand in the bow of the boat, and the cold river wind blew against his face, shaking the corners of his clothes uneasily.

Tang Yuewan's uncle, navy deputy commander Tang Xiangming came to him, looked at the sinking red sun in front of him, and said leisurely, "Nanjing still can't tolerate my eldest brother. However, I think the future of Nanjing is worrying. There is no copper in the naval military expenditure today, so it's okay for the interim government that has no prospects to stay.

This year, Tang Qianming was 26 years old, not much older than Li Xiang. He is of the same medium height as Li Xiang, thin and weak, neatly dressed, oily hair, and meticulously combed. Therefore, he is more like a sentimental scholar, which is really "it's hard to paint a tiger's skin and bones, and it's hard to know people's faces but not the heart". Tang Qianming's courage, shrewdness, determination and ambition are completely hidden behind this white-faced scholar statue. This white-faced scholar will play the leading role in the magnificent historical drama of the naval uprising of the 1911 Revolution. He has his own performances in the 1911 Revolution, the Yuan family's title of emperor, the melee of warlords and even the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation, and has left a reputation for thousands of years in the ups and downs of China's chaotic politics. Throughout his life, people say that Tang Qianming's political desire is too strong. The so-called political desire is political desire and ambition.

Tangxiangming's decisiveness from time to time, the strangeness of turning over the clouds and rain, the change of power that destroys reputation, and the fierceness of action when it is time to take action are all from this. And the times often belong to such a popular figure.

Assuming that he leaves the curtain call after the end of the great revolution in 1911, he will be commemorated as a revolutionary; if he dies in a plot of this drama, he may even become a young hero in history books; and what will happen if he meets Li Xiang today?

Li wanted to put away his thoughts and show a bitter smile. The behavior of the two Tang brothers was really not good, but they were very influential and worth pulling in, so he said, "I heard that he set up a seminar on republican construction in Shanghai. He did not participate in the regime and focused on guiding the people. I don't know if you would like to go to Wuhan to guide the Ezhou government?

Tang Xiangming remembered the first meeting on the Hairong ship. The current situation has completely reversed. Now Li wants to swallow their brothers in turn. However, his eldest brother Tang Hualong has been driven out of Nanjing, and he is also accusing him of being accused within the Sun Yat-sen Leather Bag Alliance in Paris. Although Sun Yat-sen doesn't care now, it is hard to guarantee that it will not be in the future. His eldest brother, Tang Hualong, left Wuchang with Huang Xing. After the saddle, he did his best, so he offended Wuchang Group. Now Wuchang Group is immediately abandoned as an abandoned son. Today's Tang brothers are different from the past. They have a bad reputation, and many people don't want to rely on them.

So as soon as Li Xiang finished speaking, Tang Xiangming smiled and said, "I think my eldest brother should be very happy to hear this news!" After a pause, he thought, "I heard that you bought the Jiangnan Shipyard? Will you build a civilian merchant ship or a warship in the future?

"All made!" Li wanted to wave his hand. And it is necessary to independently develop and manufacture a new Dreadnought-class heavy armored battleship as soon as possible.

Li Xiang is not full of cannons. He knows that Jiangnan Shipyard made 10,000 tons of merchant ships at the beginning of the People's Republic of China, which is recorded in history, which proves that China at the beginning of the People's Republic of China has this basic shipbuilding technology.

At this time, it is the era of the crazy development of the world navy. In order to consolidate the old colonial system established by Britain's pirate ancestors, Prime Minister Hamilton threw out a "two-strong standard", that is, "The British navy must maintain enough strength to fight against the joint fleets of the two enemy countries." Its naval spending has doubled, with more than 60 battleships and 145 cruisers, and began to build a new heavy armored battleship "dreadnought". Germany is Britain's main competitor in Europe. It has always wanted to replace Britain's maritime hegemony and pressure Britain step by step in this maritime arms race, which is related to the rise and fall of the country. The second year after Britain began to build "dreadnoughts", the German parliament passed a resolution that all warships built in the future must be of the "dreadnought" class. This "dreadnought ship" worshipped by Li Xiang is really scary: it has a displacement of 22,000 tons, a length of more than 160 meters, a width of 25 meters, a water intake of more than 8 meters, a speed of 21 knots, 10 305 mm naval guns, 27 76 mm naval guns, 5 457 mm torpedo tubes, turrets and command towers. The armor is 279 mm thick. At the same time, in the United States, the followers of Mahan, the author of The Theory of Seas, occupy the vast majority of the seats on the U.S. Navy Committee, and they emphasize that "there should be a strong battleship force that is always concentrated". During the 1911 period, the standard displacement of the U.S. battleships Delaware and North Dakota had exceeded 20,000 tons, while the design tonnage of the proposed new battleships under construction even reached 32,000 tons. As for Japan, the eastern neighbor of the Qing Dynasty, after winning the Russo-Japanese War, it regarded the development of the navy as the lifeline of the imperial country. The Japanese navy plans to launch the "Great Naval Development Plan" with the "Eighth Fleet" as the main body. The main content of this ambitious plan is: "According to the imperial national defense policy, in order to make the main imaginary enemy dare not start a war in the Far East, the navy must have the most elite fleet at peacetime, and at least the following troops. : eight 20,000-ton-class battleships and eight 18,000-ton-class armored cruisers..."

Tang Xiangming's eyes immediately lit up, and the Chinese navy failed from the First Sino-Japanese War. In these dark days, every navyman did not forget to restore the navy. However, the situation of the Qing Dynasty is getting weaker and the politics is getting worse and worse. The revival of the navy is still far away, and he is still waiting patiently. In those years, the middle and senior officers of the fleet were exhausted, and some of the surviving Beiyang navy soldiers were disheartened and never talked about the past; some were feeding rich families and talking for a living; some were discouraged and became silent shopkeepers of a small grocery store in Tianjin Wei; some ran away on the beach and spent their gloomy days by teaching foreign language; there were Gradually becoming the critics and improvers of the rotten dynasty; some simply go together and speculatively in the dirty officialdom... Is the dream of a powerful Chinese navy be placed on this boy?

Li wanted to take back his thoughts again and continued, "In addition, I want to buy the wasteland in Pudong and establish the Xinhua Naval School. Can you invite Sa Zhenbing to be the headmaster? In terms of funds, I will never be stingy.

"This is no problem! As long as you have money, what can't you do?" Tang Xiangming gave a trace of admiration for Li Xiang's courage and foresight. Suddenly, he thought of something interesting and said it. Xinhua Naval School opens in Shanghai instead of Wuhan. It's smart! The naval school recruits tens of thousands of student soldiers and stationes tens of thousands of security guards. If there is any war in Shanghai, your naval school will have a great effect.

"Not bad." Li wanted to nod proudly. Principal Jiang Guangtou is only playing around in Guangzhou with the Huangpu Student Army. In the future, of course, his Xinhua Naval School can also do it.

Tang Xiangming thought about it and said, "Well, I'll find a way to transfer all the ships of Chu Yu, Chu Tai, Chu Guan, Chu Qian, Chu Tong, Chu You, Jiang Yuan, Jiang Heng, Jiang Li, Jiang Zhen and other ships of the former Qing Yangtze River Fleet to you."

Li wanted to laugh and finally heard a truth.

At the other end of the warship, Feng Gengguang didn't expect that Sun Yat-sen would say to him, "If the peace is broken, I will supervise the Northern Expedition. Can you go with me?"

Sun Yat-sen's problem came suddenly, and Feng Gengguang had to be submissive.

Sun Yat-sen said again, "You have been in military affairs for many years. The military situation in the north is always very clear. Can you talk about it?"

Feng Gengguang knew about the Beiyang military situation at that time. Before leaving Beijing, in order to get familiar with the situation, he drew a map of the military situation in the north. In the past month, he also knew more or less about the allocation of troops in the north at the representative office. Therefore, Feng Gengguang first talked about the military situation in Beiyang in the past and the situation of Yuan Shikai's gathering of the army on various railways and rivers and Huai front lines to prevent the civil army's northern expedition after the uprising of the southern army.

Feng Gengguang thought to himself, "You southern army are naked in winter, and you don't even have a cotton coat. You are covered with a hollow 'clock'. The weather in the north is not better than that in the south. It's not easy for you to cross the Yellow River in large numbers. If you really insist on hard work, there will be many difficulties and hard work. Moreover, in terms of cannons, the northern army is the largest, and the southern army is few. Even if you have some sporadic heavy firearms, you often have problems with them, and the equipped parts are pieced together. How can you have an emergency? Therefore, in terms of strength, the southern army is far less powerful than the northern army. And Yuan is a man with a good heart. Before the incident broke out, he had already pulled out the strong brigades of all sides and prepared to fight a hard battle in case. If the peace is broken and the soldiers are in array, it is difficult to predict who will win or lose. However, the north is strong and the south is weak. Once contacted, I expect that the first victory will belong to the Northern Army, so the internal changes of the Southern Army cannot be taken into consideration. If so, I think you should think about it carefully and then decide.

As Feng Gengguang thought about it, he actually said what he thought directly to Mr. Sun Yat-sen. Finally, he said, "I hope that the peace will be successful and unanimously overthrow the Qing Dynasty so as not to have many dreams. It is not a blessing for the future of the Republic and the future of the country."

Feng Gengguang advised Sun Yat-sen to try his best to promote peace, and never complain. After hearing this, Mr. Sun Yat-sen nodded repeatedly, as if he agreed. In this way, Feng Gengguang could not speak deeply, nor did he ask deeply.

The sunset slowly fell, and the group broke up after returning to the presidential palace, and Feng Gengguang returned to the warehouse.

In the evening, Hu Hanmin secretly came to talk to Feng Gengguang. He kept talking about late at night. Because Feng Gengguang and Hu Hanmin had known each other since childhood, Hu Hanmin was several years older than Feng Gengguang. Especially in the secret room, he was not afraid of rumors, and there were no scruples when talking about it. Feng Gengguang asked Hu Hanmin what the preferential treatment was like.

Hu Hanmin blushed and said, "Mr. Sun and I are really not familiar with the domestic situation and Yuan Shikai's personal situation, so we are very dissatisfied with Yuan. At present, Mr. Sun has some understanding. He took a sip of wine and said, "I think it's almost done. There is no big problem. The problem may be solved soon. It may be solved when you go back to Shanghai. The peace can be successful."

Feng Gengguang asked puzzledly, "What's the reason? The Northern Expedition has begun, and the first battle has been successful. Why not continue the Northern Expedition?

And what to do with the madman Li who shouted that he would carry out the revolution to the end? He didn't dare to ask.

"Due to serious financial difficulties, the provisional government's borrowing abroad is unable to carry out debts because the government has not been recognized by foreign countries. The issued public bonds are only within the reach of the civilian military forces, and the debts are collected in advance by provincial governors. In addition to the allocation of military rates, most of them are sold at a low price, but there are few subscribers, and the government directly raises them. Most of the money is also purchased for the patriotic overseas Chinese in Nanyang, which is naturally less pitiful. Therefore, Li wants to propose to Mr. Sun that the industry in Nanjing should be used as a contraribusiness for Chinese businessmen to meet the urgent needs of the central government, which is just a drop in the bucket. The supply of military expenditure is not enough, and the Northern Expedition can't continue. Hu Hanmin sneered repeatedly, "Moreover, everyone knows that this is Yuan Shikai using this topic to embarrass the South, so we don't make it a border situation. Anyway, Mr. Sun is unwilling to be the president. I think you will stay for two more days, right?

Feng Gengguang smiled with Hu Hanmin and finally understood: "In this way, most of the matter in the Democratic Party agree with the conditions put forward by the north. Only a few people from the New Progressive Democratic Party have some opinions and some insist on opposing opinions."

Hu Hanmin nodded. This "a few people from the New People's Progressive Party" is, of course, the unknown Xinhai upstart Li madman before the Great Revolution.