There was a bell at the top of the mountain, it was the monks of the temple praying for the blessing of the world, and at the foot of the mountain stood a church, and there was also a singing sound from it, which was the faithful making up the New Year's Mass.

The pace of war seems to be gradually receding, and taking advantage of this rare time of peace, all people are trying to find a way to relax their nerves, regardless of their faith, regardless of status, almost everyone is praying for peace in their own way.

Of course, war is still peace, and the choice is ultimately in the hands of the military, because in essence, only the military can win the peace, and only the military can defend the peace.

After the rain and the sky was clear, the horses' hooves were brisk, Yang Wangpeng led his guards, and was marching along the riverside path, and the bell on the top of the mountain made him feel happy.

As the commander of the second echelon of the Republican Army, and also as the supreme commander of the Western Expeditionary Force, Yang Wangpeng has been in a good mood in recent days, and the smooth recovery of Jingzhou, Shinan, and Yichang has not only further enhanced his personal prestige, but also consolidated the revolutionary situation in Hubei.

All this is the result of the struggle of the revolutionary comrades, and at the same time, it is also the result of the decisive decision of the commander-in-chief Zhao Beiying.

Yang Wangpeng's return to Hanyang this time was under the military order of the commander-in-chief Zhao Bei, first, to report on the recovery of Jingzhou, Shinan, Yichang and other prefectures, and second, to reorganize the troops.

Hanyang was already in sight, Yang Wangpeng raised his whip, clamped his legs, and the green horse under his crotch slammed forward, throwing the guards behind him far away. This green horse was captured in Jingzhou, is the Jingzhou garrison flag battalion deputy capital Heng Ling's mount, Heng Ling killed himself when Jingzhou City was broken, this good horse in a hundred miles belonged to Yang Wangpeng, in addition, there is a white horse with the same divine horse, is the mount of the Jingzhou garrison general Encun, although Encun himself has surrendered in Wuchang, but this horse remained in Jingzhou, was also captured by Yang Wangpeng, this time brought back to Hanyang, intended to give Zhao Bei as a mount.

The battle of Jingzhou did not take much trouble at all, a few cannons bombarded, the flag people in the city put up a white flag, the elite of the flag soldiers had long been wiped out in Wuchang City, the people who stayed in Jingzhou were old and weak and tired soldiers, they had no training for many years, they could not even use foreign guns, and the shells released were not even released from the fuse. Although he was somewhat dissatisfied with the military order of Zhao Bei prohibiting revenge on the banner people, Yang Wangpeng still restrained his subordinates, only confiscated the land of the rich banner people, and stopped issuing "flag salaries".

But this is also a matter of no way, raising a group of people who can't do anything in vain will only drag down the government's finances, the reason why the Manchu court is in financial embarrassment, "flag salary" is an important reason, a quarter of the annual financial revenue is spent on the flag salary, plus those indemnities, military spending, can it not collapse?

Now not only Jingzhou has stopped issuing flag salaries, but the whole province has strictly implemented Zhao Bei's order, but fortunately, there are not many eight banners in Hubei, and the miserable image of Jingzhou is not everywhere.

The guards urged the horses to chase after them, and finally caught up with Yang Wangpeng, but they didn't travel far, and they saw two people standing on the side of the road, both of whom were members of the Qunzhi Society, and the person headed by him was Deng Gang, after being dismissed from his military post by Zhao Bei, he managed the daily affairs of the Qunzhi Society as the minister of review, and was regarded as the second-in-command of the Qunzhi Society.

"Why are you standing here? Don't you have anything to do? Yang Wangpeng reined in his horse and asked Deng Gang.

Deng Gang grabbed the bridle, raised his head and said, "Commander, you can't enter the city!" ”

"Why?" Yang Wangpeng frowned slightly.

Deng Gang said: "We are afraid that the commander is in danger!" Hearing that Commander Zhao Bei was summoning him back to Hanyang, we sent cadres to intercept him at various crossings, but fortunately he was stopped. Don't go into the city recklessly, Zhao Bei is now wreaking havoc in the city! I think he wants to remove the commander from military power! ”

"What do you mean by that?" Yang Wangpeng turned over and dismounted, ordered the guards to guard the side of the road, and pulled Deng Gang to a tree.

"The day before yesterday, Zhao Bei issued a military order, called the "Harmony Order", in the order, he ordered the disbandment of all political groups in the army, soldiers and officers below the battalion commander are not allowed to join any political group, and those who violate the order will be forced to leave the army! Officers above the battalion commander level may join a political group, but they must report to him for his consent. In the past two days, half of the people in our Qunzhi Society have written a statement announcing their withdrawal from the Society, and those who refuse to write a statement have already packed their backpacks and are waiting for the discharge order. In addition, he also asked Zhang Jiyang to step up the establishment of a 'current affairs lecturer' system in the company to encourage the soldiers, and at the same time set up an 'officers' club', in which all officers can enjoy some privileges, so as to win over the officers.

Commander, the meaning here is very clear, he Zhao Bei wants to turn this republican army into the army of the Restoration Society, and turn it into his own private army! Think about it, when the Huangnigang uprising, if it wasn't for our Qunzhi Society, how could he control this army? He now makes it clear that he wants to unload the mill and kill the donkey, commander, in his eyes, our Qunzhi Academy is the donkey that pulls the mill! ”

After listening to Deng Gang's words, Yang Wangpeng didn't say anything for a long time, and after a long time, he said quietly: "He is really fast, I thought he would wait a little longer, and only after the situation is completely stable will he start to deal with us." ”

"So the commander has already peeked into his mind?" Deng Gang exchanged glances with the person from the Qunzhi Academy.

Yang Wangpeng asked Deng Gang: "Is your case over?" Didn't give you a punishment? ”

Deng Gang was slightly stunned, and then understood that Yang Wangpeng was talking about his "disobedience to military orders" during the Hanyang Campaign, so he sighed and said: "Don't mention it, this "Harmony Order" was caused by that case. ”

"You make it clear." Yang Wangpeng felt strange. "Did the court-martials convict you?"

"If you are found guilty, it will be better. It was because he was found not guilty that he fell into Zhao Bei's trap! Deng Gang sighed, raised his hand and touched the bandage on his head, then clenched his fist and slammed it into the tree beside him.

(Canvassing, canvassing.) ）