There is a Qing generation, the birthday ceremony is extremely grand, and the birthday ceremony in the longevity is even more solemn, even if Guangxu has been strictly ordered not to be extravagant, but this is Guangxu's 40th birthday, the internal affairs office and the princes and nobles in order to please Guangxu, is still to do things lively. In the past few days, starting from Changchun Garden, to Xizhimen, Xinjiekou, Xi'anmen, Nanhaizi, and finally to Qingyi in the Forbidden City, all the way is the color of the mill continuously, the platform, the song stage, the stage, the lantern workshop, the lantern gallery, the dragon shed, the lantern shed is innumerable, it is the temple and Taoist temple everywhere, and it is also a large scripture altar.

According to the rules of the Longevity Festival, the most important thing in the birthday ceremony is not the courtiers to pay homage, not the banquet of the inner court, but the longevity opera that sings for three days in a row.

Guangxu's birthday was originally on June 28, but in order to avoid the first day of July, the birthday was put two days forward to June 26. The day before the Forbidden City was a warm birthday, and on this morning, the stages everywhere began to sing, 35 Peking Opera troupes, 24 Qin dialect troupes, and more than a dozen foreign troupes only made the Forbidden City lively and lively, and even, in order to let the foreigners in Beijing also celebrate together, several drama troupes invited from Shanghai also began to perform dramas in the eastern suburbs.

Listening to the gongs and drums everywhere, Zhang Zongxiang, who was sitting in the sedan chair, was very uneasy, the entire inner city was now crowded with people, and if a few revolutionary soldiers really came, they would rush to the crowd with explosives like the Korean rebels and pull the line of fire. Then the whole capital is going to be turned upside down. However, this was only his imagination, and the Revival Society did not advocate assassination. The people who were caught by the patrol police, although they brought in wooden cannons, but the artillery technicians have checked them, and they are not explosives, they are all leaflets against the Qing Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, but this is the Revival Association, what if the League comes here? They're serious bombers.

Zhang Zongxiang didn't fall asleep all night last night. When I finally fell asleep at four or five o'clock, the sky was bright, and I had to get up. first went to the inner city patrol police headquarters for a meeting, and once again emphasized to the patrol chief below that there should be no chaos in the past three days, and then he took people to the mansion of Yu Huizu, the chief of Tianzihao. This is the richest businessman in the Qing Dynasty, although he was suspected of being a bandit before. Judicial reform after constitutionalism. The support of the American minister, and his constant bribery of shares and silver, are now uneventful.

This time Guangxu birthday banquet, he was to show his loyalty, not only donated 100,000 taels of silver, but also arranged the decoration and lighting project of the entire birthday ceremony - earlier Jingshi Huashang Electric Light Co., Ltd. only had 150 kilowatts of generator sets, which could only be used for the electric lights of the inner courtyard and the yamen, and many stages of this birthday ceremony were outside, and at night you wanted to see the brilliant lights of the whole Beijing. Then it was necessary to expand the capacity of the generator, so this Yu Huizu not only paid for the generator to expand the capacity. In addition, wires were pulled around the capital and street lights were installed to ensure that the entire capital was brightly lit at night.

Bright lights are what Zhang Zongxiang wants, and during the day, five thousand patrol officers are scattered everywhere in formal or casual clothes, but at night, the whole city is dark, and the five thousand patrol officers carrying angry wind lanterns may not be able to take care of all places, thinking that in order to ensure that the entire capital is not powered at night, Yu Huizu still has to come once.

"Oh! It's Master Zhang who is here. As soon as Zhang Zongxiang's sedan chair landed, Yu Huizu's housekeeper ran over, and while greeting Zhang Zongxiang, he shouted to his subordinates: "Quick, go and tell Master Sù, just say that Master Zhang is here." ”

Zhang Zongxiang got out of the sedan chair, looked at the Fu manager in front of him, and said, "Master Yu is at home today, there are no distinguished guests in the house?" ”

The last time Zhang Zongxiang came, it was because Yu Huizu was seeing a Baylor, and he waited for more than an hour. Hearing him ask, Mr. Fu smiled and said, "Master Zhang has a lot, and our master was forced to do so last time." ”

As the housekeeper spoke, Yu Huizu came out inside, arching his hands from afar and saying, "Ah! Lord Zhang, forgive your sins and forgive your sins, if you miss the distance, you will miss the distance. ”

Looking at Yu Zixun with a smile on his face, Zhang Zongxiang also said politely: "How dare you, how dare you." Why is Master Yu so idle today, Zong Xianglai was still worried that Master Yu had a distinguished guest here. ”

Seeing that he mentioned the last time, Yu Huizu hurriedly said again, "Last time was really ...... Please also bear with me. After saying that, he led him into the flower hall.

Zhang Zongxiang looked at him and just smiled, the person in front of him had the ability to reach the sky and bandits, how could he deal with it as a small inner city hall hall, and immediately suppressed the evil feeling of being neglected last time, and said: "Master Yu, this official is here for the electric light this time." Today's warm life, everywhere has been singing, lively during the day, that night I am afraid it will be more lively, although the lights everywhere have been installed, but I am afraid of forks, if the lights are on and suddenly go out, that is going to be a big thing. ”

Yu Huizu already knew his intention, and said with a smile: "Master Zhang, the electric lights were turned on last night, and there is no problem with more than a thousand electric lights, and I will ensure that nothing goes wrong." After that, he picked up a light bulb on the table again, "Master Zhang, this time it is all this newly listed tungsten light bulb, which has a service life of more than three hundred hours, the first in the world." The bulb is fine, then all that's left is the line and the power plant. The line can only be guarded by the adults, and then there is a power plant, but the diesel engine is used, and there are two as a backup, if it really breaks, the backup generator can be started immediately, and nothing can be delayed. ”

Tungsten light bulb Zhang Zongxiang knows, foreigners' newspapers say that this kind of lamp is the first in the world, and the line is also the focus of the patrol police's inspection, but the power plant, "Master Yu, I think it is more secure to send more people to the power plant to protect it, although the revolutionary party caught a lot of them last time, it is difficult to guarantee that there will be a leak." ”

"Master Zhang, you can send as many people as you want, but what you want to offend is that the diesel engine is no better than the steam turbine, the sound is very loud, bang bang, and it can be heard more than ten miles away, so I set up the power plant on the side of the Xiannongtan in the outer city, what I want is not to disturb the people. If you can get used to hearing that kind of voice, you won't be in the way of going to as many people as you want. Yu Huizu looked at Zizhang Zongxiang and smiled, looking harmless to humans and animals.

"No matter. One qiē is to keep the longevity and peace. "Zhang Zongxiang has also heard the sound of the diesel engine, but no matter how noisy it is, he can't care about it." In the afternoon, I'll send a patrol over there, and you can talk to the steward over there. Sue him that these people are just to prevent small trouble, and they will not miss his side to generate electricity. ”

"Good, good. I'll call right away. However, Lord Zhang, when they come, they must warn them that they are here to protect the normal operation of the power plant's generators. In case there is a power outage in the inner city, the father-in-law of the Internal Affairs Office will be to blame, and the machine room will not be allowed to enter. There was electricity everywhere, and he ...... a few days ago, "Yu Huizu saw that he really wanted to send someone, and he was not ambiguous, so he immediately agreed."

But just wait for him to go. Yu Huizu had just returned to the inner room. Gong Baoquan inside said, "What are the people from the patrol police department doing?" ”

"What else can you do?" Yu Huizu said, "It was said that he was going to send people to protect the power plant." Then he smiled: "I can't wait for them to protect me, it's better to keep it on all night." ”

Yu Huizu was relaxed, but Gong Baoquan said worriedly: "Brother Hanzhang, since they sent someone, what if they see that the situation is not right and cut the wires?" ”

That's why I told the man with the surname that I must warn the person who came that the electricity must not be cut off. As soon as the father-in-law is judged, he will be blamed. At that time, there was chaos in the city, and they did not know the situation, and they did not dare to make claims rashly. And the diesel engine is not like the steam turbine, which requires people to shovel coal, and it can run until dawn without taking care of it, even if they go in and don't know how to turn it off. Yu Zuhui, who went deep into the tiger's den, didn't care about the patrol police's move, the generator was nothing, it didn't matter if the line was cut off, he still had a follow-up, anyway, he would have to light up the entire Beijing city all night tomorrow night.

"Misheng, what's the news on your side? Is all the money still there? After Yu Huizu finished talking about the electric light, he was worried that the silver in the capital was coming, and the defeat of Beijing was the defeat of Beijing, and the more important thing was to search out the silver of the prince Baylor, otherwise if the bank group of the four countries did not lend, it would be choked.

"It's all there!" Gong Baoquan said: "This spring, the Bank of Kanto began to raise interest rates, and my side asked people to pull deposits hard, and many princes and ministers have deposited their silver. Now the number of the accounts is almost 10 million taels. Speaking of this, Gong Baoquan's face was very hideous, "Those princes and ministers, they only know how to recruit power and accept bribes, and Guangxu has emptied the inner treasury to subsidize the military, but they put the money in the bank to make money, and it is really unreasonable not to lose the country!" ”

"It's good to recruit power and accept bribes, but I'm afraid of being mediocre and misleading the country." Yu Huizu sighed, "Don't come back after you are today, and don't open the door if anything happens outside tomorrow night." It's been your hard work for the past few years, so let's take a break from today. ”

"No way!" Gong Baoquan said, "I'm resting, so what should you do?" Didn't you say that you will give you a feast tonight and a seat tomorrow night? The stage in the palace is in the Changyin Pavilion of Ningshou Palace, which is in the northwest corner of the Forbidden City, and it is sitting with a group of governors and admirals who have entered Beijing to congratulate the shrimp, they are not as dull as the prince Baylor, once they do something, the first thing they detain is you. When the time comes, these dogs will jump over the wall and hurt you......"

"Hurt me?" Yu Huizu smiled, "Don't worry about it, since I was injured last time, I'm not afraid, isn't it a big deal." I am very relieved to die on the eve of the uprising. This time, I can see with my own eyes how those princes and ministers are frightened and captured, and I am too late to be happy. These rats who have collected the people's fat and ointment, lost their power and humiliated the country, will be thrown into the oil pot one by one to squeeze the oil one by one the day after tomorrow, which is really a blessing for the country and the nation. Do you know how many silver stocks they have taken? That adds up to 10 million taels! If you don't do it again, the Tianzi number will be demolished by them. ”

"Chapter!" Looking at Yu Huizu's appearance, Gong Baoquan was worried for a while, "You must not have an accident!" ”

"There's no going to happen." Yu Huizu's tone lowered, "When the whole city is in chaos, it's too late for them to escape, so take care of me, you can wait for the news at home with peace of mind." ”

Seeing Yu Zuhui like this, Gong Baoquan was not easy to persuade again, and went back in a sedan chair after a while. However, after thinking about it for a long time, Yu Huizu still didn't worry about going deep into the tiger's den, so he had to draft a telegram and send it directly to the headquarters of the Guosi Temple in Shanghai, and this telegram was transferred to the headquarters of the 2nd Army in Mentougou in the afternoon of the same day.

Deep into the underground mine, under the incandescent lamp, Lei Yizhen, who was discussing the details with the staff officers, listened to the adjutant's report: "The staff department ordered us to send someone to Mr. Yu's mansion. Keep Mr. Yu safe! ”

"How could Mr. Yu be in the city?" Lei Yizhen asked puzzled.

The adjutant didn't answer, but the chief of staff, Xu Dachun, said, "I received information a few days ago that Mr. Yu was running that electric light. In addition, he donated 100,000 taels of silver, and then Guangxu named him to give a banquet to listen to the play, so let's send a report to Wang Menghui in the city. But I heard that Mr. Yu is not easy to mess with, the last time he was stabbed, he caught the gunman, this time maybe he can catch Guangxu in person, so he will rob Meng Hui of the credit. ”

Xu Dachun is a native of Ganxian County, Jiangxi. During the anti-Russian movement, he, together with Zhang Shizhao and several other classmates, dropped out of Nanjing Army Middle School and went to the Shanghai Patriotic Society to be an instructor of the anti-Russian volunteers. In the second half of the year, after Su reported the incident, he was considered credible, so he was also sent to South Africa to attend the second military academy. He was only a brigade staff officer earlier, but now he suddenly became the chief of staff of the army. It's still a little uncomfortable. But after all, the ability is not bad, after arriving at Mentougou, pretending to be a coal carrier, he probed the entire capital inside and outside, changed the details, and readjusted the entire battle plan.

"It's up to you to figure it out." Lei Yizhen laughed when he said it, and then said sternly. "Mr. Yu is very important, and Mr. Yu said that he must not be allowed to have an accident. Look. Is the arrangement in the Forbidden City going to be adjusted? ”

"The one responsible for attacking the Forbidden City is the special combat team of Camp Commander Wang, their goal is the Palace of Cultivating the Heart, according to the adjusted plan, the attack time is eleven o'clock in the middle of the night, no matter how much the banquet is given at this time, everyone is already sleeping. I think it was because the staff headquarters in the capital didn't inform them of the specific time, and they were just worried. Xu Dachun said, he is still satisfied with the secrecy work of this uprising, more than 20,000 people are in the coal mine, more than 1,000 people are in the city, and there is no accident.

"Be careful, too." Lei Yizhen fully understood the importance of Yu Huizu and reminded again. "There will be Manchu routs everywhere at night, and it won't be good if something happens. Immediately notify Meng Hui and let him come out in more than a dozen people, so as to ensure that Mr. Yu is safe. ”

Since Lei Yizhen gave the order, the adjutant had no choice but to do it, and after drafting the telegram and showing it to him, the urgent telegram was sent. Ten minutes later, the message arrived at the handkerchief alley in the east of Beijing's outer city. After listening to the telegram, Wang Menghui, the captain of the special operations team, only scratched his head, there were only more than 1,000 people on his side, and the others were some student soldiers, although he had received strict training during the winter and summer vacations, but no matter how much he was trained, he was not a real soldier, and now he was actually asked to transfer people to guard a businessman, which made him very dissatisfied.

"That's what you said?" Wang Menghui asked.

"That's what I said." The chief of the communications section brought the telegram over and asked Wang Menghui to read it for himself.

"Spicy guys, there were no soldiers, and now more than a dozen have been removed!" Wang Menghui scolded after reading the telegram. Although he is from Wuxi, he is now completely northern.

"Brother Meng Hui, what's the hurry. Our task is two, one is to rush into the inner city control and telegraph office, and the other is to enter the Forbidden City Yangxin Pavilion to arrest Guangxu. This Mr. Yu is rumored to be our man, and it will be so chaotic tomorrow night, it would be bad if something really happened. Political Commissar Wu Xifen comforted.

"Our people? But this, this Yu Huizu donated money to Cixi and Guangxu, everyone said that he was a profiteer, how could he be our people? Wang Menghui asked.

"Mr. Gong, the brothel owner of Bada Hutong, is our person, who else can't be our person?" Wu Xifen asked rhetorically, "You can send a class, just ten people." If you are really afraid that there will not be enough people, then send a few more students to the Forbidden City and make up for the lost ones. ”

The troops in the capital are rickshaw drivers, there are more than 600, and then there are coolies who work at the station in front, there are more than 300 people, and finally there are shops opened everywhere, there are more than 100 people, adding up to a total of 1,134 people, these are veterans with families in the northeast, extremely reliable and specially trained in street fighting; Second, the students in the public and private schools are all members of the Youth League, and there are very few people, only more than 100 people, although they have carried out military training, but their main task is to help the troops entering the city to lead the way.

Thinking of those students, Wang Menghui shook his head: "It's better to find them, don't say help, don't drag me down." Don't talk about this, which way are we going to attack, are we sure? And arms, how can we enter the Forbidden City without guns? When the time comes, catch Guangxu and catch a fart! ”

"I don't know now, I'll have to wait." Wu Xifen shook his head. Then he silently recited, "There are three gates in front of the inner city, and the Chengwen gate in the east. The Xuanwu Gate in the west, the Zhengyang Gate in the middle, that is, the front gate. Of these three gates, only the Xuanwu Gate is safe, the main gate and the Chengwen Gate are close to the embassy area, the front gate against the wall is the American barracks, and the Chengwen Gate is the German barracks. This section of the inner city wall is also being defended, if it is really a cannon fire in the middle of the night. They're going to think we're boxers, and they're going to shoot us. ”

"Those foreigners, it's best to kill them all!" Wang Menghui listened to Wu Xifen's whisper. He was very indignant, but he had pulled a cart to the embassy area, where the wall was thirty meters high, and there was a trench more than a foot deep outside the wall. The walls are mostly machine-gun breech guns. This is the embassy area, which is simply a bunker.

"That was also when I was scared in the year of Gengzi." Wu Xifen's point of view is the opposite of Wang Menghui, "Many things are self-inflicted by the Manchus, but they have the habit of killing foreign envoys, and the two countries do not cut down the envoys, they are good, and they are addicted to killing, and in the end in order not to get their hands dirty." He also instigated the people to kill, which is really barbaric......"

Although Wu Xifen is right. Wang Menghui's heart was hot when he heard it, and he hurriedly stopped him and said, "Okay, don't say it!" Ask the headquarters which plan to choose? And how exactly is the ammunition being supplied? ”

"What are you in a hurry, you can open the package in three hours." Wu Xifen looked at the pocket watch, and the old god was there. After saying that, he opened the map and looked at it, his eyes fixed on the Heart Cultivation Hall motionless, as if he was about to shoot through the map with the table below.

When Wu Xifen looked at the map, Zhang Zongxiang was also looking at the map, he inspected hard today and found no problems, but he still couldn't put it down in his heart, so he had to take the map and look at it carefully. Unlike Wu Xifen's map of the Forbidden City, his map only has two parts, the inner city and the outer city, but there is also an embassy area on it, but once his eyes are close to the embassy area, he wants to burn it and quickly move away.

"Yulin, did you find anything unusual during your inspection today?" Unable to find the answer on the map, Zhang Zongxiang had to ask Dong Yulin.

"My lord, I don't feel anything unusual." Today, the sun was shining outside, and it was hot to death, Dong Yulin reluctantly inspected the main hall, and he never felt that there was anything unusual there. "My lord, I think I still called Yang Yide from the Arrest Bureau, he has arrested a lot of revolutionary parties, if something really happens, he is afraid that he will be able to see something."

As soon as he said this, Zhang Zongxiang remembered that the case of Wu Yue's bombing of the five ministers was solved by this Yang Yide, and then he cracked several big cases in a row, and only wiped out all the revolutionary parties near Gyeonggi, but he was born in Beiyang, and after the fall of Yuan Shikai, he followed Prince Su Shanqi, and Shanqi and Zhao Bingjun also left, he suddenly lost the backstage, and now although he is the general office of the Auditing Bureau, but the power and position have been taken away by the people below, just a single commander.

It is also a trouble to call this person, Zhang Zongxiang secretly thought in his heart, he was worried that as soon as Yang Yide came to the main hall, he would be recognized as Yuan Dang, but he thought that he was originally a Yuan Dang Su Party in the eyes of others, and it was nothing to call him here, so he said: "You call him, just say that I have something important to see him, let him come quickly." ”

Seeing that Zhang Zongxiang only needed to see Yang Yide, Dong Yulin smiled meaningfully: "My lord, when I see this person, I will be misunderstood." ”

"If you misunderstand, you have to see you, and if you see it, you're just wearing small shoes, but if something really happens, we people will not only lose our officials, but also lose our lives." Zhang Zongxiang said, "Go ahead, call him and ask him to come over immediately." ”

Half an hour later, Yang Yide came. Zhang Zongxiang didn't care about being polite to him, and as soon as he sat down, he asked, "Are you walking around today, do you feel anything wrong?" ”

"Go back to my lord, Xia Guan has turned around a few times, and there is nothing wrong." Yang Yide is now out of position, the chair only dares to make a small side, and when he speaks, he bows his head, very respectful.

"No, no, right?" Zhang Zongxiang was a little surprised, "Impossible." Did you really turn around, or did you fake it? ”

"Back to my lord, it's really turned. The adults are gifted and talented, and the patrols everywhere are arranged in an orderly manner, and the subordinates admire them to the fullest. At that time, the lower official had a gun pinned to his waist, but he was not wearing an official uniform, and he was soon targeted by the patrol police, if he hadn't finally shown his official card, he was afraid that he would have been arrested and put in prison. Yang Yide patted his ass very humbly, which only made Zhang Zongxiang angry. (To be continued......)