The snow was falling, and it was so white that it was impossible to distinguish where the sky was and where the earth was.

Beijing, Forbidden City Longzong Gate, Military Aircraft Department.

This yamen, which was founded in the Yongzheng period, has been standing here for more than 100 years, from the first few wooden houses to the current scale, eroded by wind and frost, standing tall, not only a witness to the rise and fall of this dynasty, but also a spectator and participant in the palace swords, swords and intrigues.

Now that the imperial court has changed to a new policy, the new policy will have a new atmosphere, the new official system has been implemented, and the old yamen has been abolished, but the military aircraft department has not been withdrawn, because the military ministers are not happy, and the royal family is not happy, so today's Qing court, the real decision-making center is still these inconspicuous big tile houses.

Like other yamen, the window edge of the military aircraft department is also hung with white silk, the curtain at the door has been replaced with pure white, and even the iron plate engraved with "idle people waiting to stop" erected in front of the door is also covered by a piece of white silk, of course, although the iron plate is covered, but the rules are still rules, the military aircraft department is a military aircraft important place, if you are not invited, let you be a prince and noble, without the emperor's will, you have to stand far away.

Dozens of little eunuchs dressed in a thousand days of filial piety are clearing snow and sifting sand on the road in front of the military aircraft department, and the eunuchs have not dared to be lazy in the past few days, and the eunuchs have not dared to be lazy.

"Urgent! Urgent! A military aircraft commonly known as the "little military aircraft" Zhang Jing hurriedly ran out of the telegraph room not far away, shouting while running, holding a telegram envelope in his hand, the little eunuchs hurriedly dodged the way, but they didn't even dare to raise their heads, these days from the south of the "fishy news" one after another, not only the queen mother was unhappy, even the ministers of the military aircraft were all holding back the fire in their hearts, a few days ago a little eunuch looked at the door of the military aircraft department, and as a result, he was treated with a capital crime of "watching the military plane", although there was a small Dezhang pleading, But in the end, he was still sent to Tanglin to see the forest, at this time, which little eunuch dared to look up indiscriminately?

Before Zhang Jing of the military aircraft ran to the door, two bigwigs had been snatched out of the duty room of the military aircraft department, one was the foreman of the military aircraft minister, Prince Qing Yixuan, and the other was the military aircraft minister Qu Hongzhen.

Speaking of this Qu Hongzhen, he is also a famous figure in the officialdom, if nothing else, just for his sentence "Liang Tou Kangwei", which not only made Liang Shiyi and Yang Du lose their reputation, but also made Qu Daren the best talking point for officials after dinner. Master Qu is now the second time to enter the military aircraft department, he was just impeached last year, the crime is "stupid and confused, power and indulgence", in fact, everyone in the officialdom knows that the real reason for Qu Hongzhen to get out of the house is to give Yuan Shikai a place, if he doesn't leave, Yuan Shikai can't enter the military plane, Yuan Shikai can't enter the military plane, the court can't put him in the air, and looking at the military plane, the person with the worst popularity and the least hard backstage is him Qu Hongzhen, who will get out if he doesn't get out? What's more, Qu Hongzhen has always been close to Cen Chunxuan, and he is a political enemy with Yuan Shikai and Yixuan, so he must withdraw from the military aircraft.

But people are not as good as the sky, now Yuan Shikai ran away with the suspicion of "killing the emperor of Daxing", and the military aircraft department vacated a position, it is said that this is a position that everyone is jealous of, but when it happened to the southern revolutionary army, no one dared to come to pick up this hot potato, Xiao Gong Wang wanted to do it, but he was not qualified enough, he couldn't be the minister of military aircraft, there was no way, he was discussed, and the only suitable candidate was only Lord Qu Hongzhen, so several military planes totaled, folded to the court, and invited him back to replace Yuan Shikai, As for the imperial history who impeached Lord Qu back then, he was punished for the crime of "framing Zhongliang" and went to Uriya Sutai to herd sheep.

Because Yuan Shikai is not only the Minister of Military Aircraft, but also has several errands, so he has a lot of cheaper people, Qu Hongzhen is only the biggest official among many people who pick up cheap, like "Guantu" Cen Chunxuan took the place of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and now it is very likely to serve as the post of Minister of Beiyang, as for the original Minister of Beiyang Yang Shixiang, the imperial court has sent Yushi to Tianjin to check the accounts, I believe it will not take long to grasp the evidence of his greed for ink. Today's Qing officialdom is a pitch-black dye vat, no one is clean, one check is accurate, he can't run, he doesn't check others but goes to check Yang Shixiang, just because he is Yuan Shikai's henchman, and he still has some soldiers in his hands, and the court can't help but guard against it.

As soon as Yixuan and Qu Hongzhen came out, two more people came out of the military aircraft department, one is the scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion University, and the other is Lu Chuanlin, the four military aircraft ministers stood outside the door, looking at the military aircraft Zhang Jing, who was getting closer and closer, his expression was a little numb, the military reports from the south these days have trained everyone's nerves to become stronger and stronger, whether it is where the revolutionary army has fallen, or what feudal officials the revolutionary army has killed, everyone will not care.

Since it is a troubled time, everyone has made up their minds to be the pillars of this troubled world, as for whether it can hold up this broken house, but they are not sure, as long as the heart is there, it will be worthy of the money and the official motto.

The telegram was handed to him, and the four military planes gave in, but in the end, the foreman military aircraft opened the seal, glanced at it hurriedly, turned around and walked back to the military plane with an expressionless face, and presented the telegram to the regent Zaifeng.

Zaifeng didn't have the same good concentration as Yixuan, and was stunned by the content of the telegram, jumped off the kang, and said for a long time: "This is ...... This...... What's going on? Li Yuanhong became the speaker of the House of Representatives of the rebels? Wang Zhanyuan and Lu Yongxiang surrendered to the thieves? Also sent power? ”

Seeing that the others were stunned, Yi Xuancai said quietly: "This telegram said that yesterday afternoon, the Wuchang anti-thieves held a 'press conference' in the city, at the meeting, in front of the foreigners, Wang Zhanyuan and Lu Yongxiang, the Beiyang military commanders, read out a statement, said some big rebellious words, and said that they were defected before the battle, and now they are a member of the anti-thieves, and at the end they will support Yuan Shikai as the 'republican commander', and they also followed the anti-thief leader Zhao Bei to raise his fist and shout 'Down with the Manchu Dynasty', and finally called on all the Beiyang soldiers Join the revolution', although Li Yuanhong stood aside and did not speak, but his braids were also cut, and he also wore a foreigner's tuxedo, and became the speaker of the House of Representatives. This telegram was taken by Chen Kuilong, the governor of Huguang, and he also said that he had also taken a photograph at that time, and that he had sent someone to deliver the photograph at the same time, and that you would be able to see the Speaker of the Speaker of the Parliament in a few days. ”

"Didn't Chen Zhitai send a telegram the day before yesterday, saying that Wang Zhanyuan and Lu Yongxiang were defeated and captured? Why did you turn against each other again? Sexu asked.

"You ask me? Who should I ask? Hanyang and Hankou are in a mess, no one can figure out which news is true and which news is false, but even Chen Kuilong himself does not know. The knife holder is on your neck, and you dare to say that you are not sincere? ”

Yixuan took out a snuffbox, wiped some snuff, sneezed down, suddenly perked up, and said: "Even if this is a play, it is also a clever play, this play is not only for the court, but also for the Beiyang Army." Let's get an idea quickly, and if we let that Zhao Bei jump up and down like this, it won't be long before he Chen Kuilong and Governor Chen are about to become 'revolutionary comrades'. ”

"What King Qing said makes sense, Wang Zhanyuan and Lu Yongxiang are both martial artists, and so is Li Huangpi, and now they are in the hands of the chaotic party, how to pinch it, how to pinch it, isn't it all up to the chaotic party? Ants still steal life, let alone people? Zhang Zhidong, who was sitting in the corner with his eyes closed, opened his eyes and said word by word.

"The imperial court must not be distracted by the suspicious tactics of the disrupted party. According to the old man's opinion, it is better to send troops south as soon as possible, and concentrate troops to sweep away the Wuhan chaos first, that Zhao Bei is much more cunning and experienced than other chaos parties, it is really a big trouble for the imperial court, as long as he is eliminated first, other chaos parties are not to worry. Don't underestimate this Commander Zhao, judging from his telegrams and statements, this person is insidious and cunning, he wants to muddy the water even more. ”

"Send troops south? Whose soldiers are reliable? Beiyang New Army? New armies in the provinces? Xiao Gong Wang Puwei asked. He is not the minister of military aircraft, originally could not enter the military machine room, now he is Feng Yi aimed at learning to walk here, since Yuan Shikai ran, the court is in chaos, many ministers who are too close to Yuan Shikai are worried about being implicated, and they have also moved their families to hide in the concession, and even the official does not do, the court has to let the flag people take more responsibility for some government affairs, and now at this pass, only the flag people can be relied on.

Everyone was silent, even a moderate figure like Li Yuanhong surrendered to the revolutionary army, who could guarantee the loyalty of other Han army generals? Do you rely on the Eight Banners? It's really better to roll up and cover back in Liaodong.

Pu Wei struck while the iron was hot and said: "In addition, aren't there Jiangsu soldiers in the rebels? They are in Wuhan, but their families are in Jiangsu, so we might as well follow the map and take them one by one, so that the rebels will be in danger and see who dares to rebel. As I said earlier, Hanchen is unreliable, and at a critical time, we have to go to the banner! Why did Li Yuanhong, Wang Zhanyuan, and Lu Yongxiang drop so neatly? Because they are Han Chinese, they are not of the same mind as us. While the Beiyang Army is still in a daze, let's hurry up and seize the military power in our own hands. ”

When Zhang Zhidong heard this, his heart sank. It turned out that he had been busy for the court for so many years, and in the end, in the eyes of the banner people of King Xiaogong, he was only worthy of standing with Li Yuanhong's small characters, thinking of this, he staggered and stood up, and said: "No, never!" This is the way to bring about self-destruction......" But before he finished speaking, he felt a tightness in his chest, coughed a few times, and his throat was sweet, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Seeing this scene, the regent Zaifeng pulled his face and scolded: "King Gong! How do you speak? ”

(Errata: In Chapter 68, the rate of fire of the 150mm heavy mortar is mistaken, it should be six rounds per minute, not nine, thank you for correcting me.) Anyway, when I wrote this paragraph, I thought that there would be one shell every ten seconds, but when it was written, it was written as nine rounds per minute...... You understand what caused the error, right? Hehe. Of course, the rate of fire of six rounds per minute is also quite wild, I don't know if it is too exaggerated, but considering the short barrel and the non-standard shells, it seems to be reasonable. ）