Beiyang reactionaries

Therefore, Wang Ruqin sighed and said, "Mr. Guo, I will not hide anything. Since the Ministry of the Army announced that my troops belonged directly to the Ministry of the Army, except for giving me [-] silver dollars at the beginning, it has not given us a single coin until now. At the time when Wang Zhanyuan was When Hubei was the warlord, the troops were never paid in full. Now it is like this again. To be honest, the army is very difficult. My troops have not received the military salary for two years. If this continues, I am worried that the troops will have trouble mutiny."

"so serious."

Guo Songling was "surprised".

In the army, the biggest thing is mutiny.

But for these troops in Hubei, the so-called mutiny is really not a rare thing.Wang Zhanyuan is a well-known greedy warlord of the Beiyang Army. In the position of the Hubei warlord, he seized more than 2000 million funds in just over three years. The warlord is said to be worth more than 3000 million.

After Duan Xun's troops took control of Wuchang this time, everyone was shocked by some things in Wuchang.

Because in Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang, many important locations are all properties under Wang Zhanyuan's name.There are many chambers of commerce in Wuchang and Hankou, and many street shops, many of which belong to Wang Zhanyuan.

Wang Zhanyuan fled in a hurry, but Duan Xun confiscated all these things because he couldn't deal with them.

These fixed assets alone add up to more than 2000 million.Moreover, when Wang Zhanyuan fled, there were a lot of gold and silver jewelry in big bags and small bags. One can imagine how much money he was greedy for in the position of the governor of Hubei.

It is estimated that several million, or even tens of millions, were stolen from the military pay alone.

Therefore, many troops in Hubei have become bandits because of lack of money.Even the second division of Wang Zhanyuan's own direct line had a mutiny, and other troops can imagine.At a time when all warlords attach the most importance to guns, Wang Zhanyuan is definitely an alternative warlord.

More money than the army.

"Yes, Commander Guo."

"Mr. Wang, I don't know if I should say something or not?"

"Mr. Guo, what else can we say between you and me?"

As soon as Guo Songling came today, Wang Ruqin knew that Guo Songling had something to say.It's just that if Guo Songling doesn't say anything, Wang Ruqin won't force him to.Looking at Guo Songling's appearance now, let's get to the point.

"You may have heard of it too. Recently, our general, along with Governor Lu Yongxiang of Zhejiang, Ni Sichong of Anhui, He Fenglin of Songhu Guard, and Zhang Guangjian of Gansu, signed a contract with the diplomatic mission in Beijing on tariff issues. All The customs in these controlled provinces will hand over the customs and will not give it to the Beijing government.”

"Yes."

This is the biggest issue in China right now, how could Wang Ruqin not know about it.After all, the current newspapers are reporting this matter at length.Wang Ruqin has nothing to do recently, so he can know the progress of the matter by reading the newspaper.

"Recently, we have received new news. Zhang Zuolin, the tour envoy of the three eastern provinces, Li Chun, the governor of Jiangsu, Chen Guangyuan, the governor of Jiangxi, Lu Rongting, the president of the French Protectorate Military Government in Guangdong, and Chen Jiongming, the commander-in-chief of the Guangdong Army, have also notified the diplomatic missions in Beijing. Hope Can talk about tariffs."

"Where's Cao Kun?"

"Cao Kun, the patrol envoy of Zhilu and Henan, did not express his opinion, but Cao Rui, the governor of Zhili, Wu Peifu, the governor of Shandong, and Cao Ying, the guard envoy of Tianjin, also expressed their intentions in this regard."

Cao Kun wanted to object, but now even allies such as Zhang Zuolin, Li Chun, and Chen Guangyuan came out to fight for the control of Guan Yu, and it was useless for Cao Kun to object.After much deliberation, anyway, Beijing is still the Beijing government of Xu Shichang and Jin Yunpeng, not the Beijing government of Cao Kun.If Cao Kun doesn't do it, then only Cao Kun will be unlucky.Anyway, Cao Kun is not yet the president, nor is he the prime minister, so he doesn't want to think about that.At least keep the tariffs in Tianjin, Shandong and other places first.

Therefore, Cao Kun did not stop his subordinates from taking action.

Anyway, the warlords all over the country are now eyeing this piece of fat, and they want to carve up the rest of the country.

"Mr. Wang, although it is cruel to you, I still want to tell you. The Beijing government has no income from Guan Yu, so let alone your military pay, I think it is the salaries of their Beijing government staff. "

"Cough cough cough."

Wang Ruqin couldn't help coughing a few times.

This is what Wang Ruqin is most worried about.Although Zhongxiang is not a big city, it is one of the transportation centers in Hubei.Especially the goods going south from Xiangyang, and the goods going north from Jingzhou and Wuchang, whether by land or water, many of them will pass through Zhongxiang.

Where goods circulate, there will never be poverty.

Wang Ruqin really wanted to designate land as his home, enclose Zhong Xiang, and collect taxes by himself here.With so many business travelers coming and going, there is still a lot of money as long as taxes are collected.It's a pity that Wang Ruqin is surrounded by Duan Xun's troops. Jingzhou has Guo Songling's Fourth Army, Jingmen has Xiong Qixun's Eighth Division, and Xiangyang to the north is Hu Jingyi's security division. To the east is Duan Xun's current political center, Wuchang. many.Wang Ruqin's army is known as a division of the Beiyang Army, and now it can have 6000 to [-] people.Wang Ruqin himself didn't even know how many people there were.

Under such circumstances, how dare Wang Ruqin occupy Zhong Xiang.

Just wait for the Department of the Army to support itself.In fact, Wang Ruqin didn't have a little thought in his heart at first.Duan Xun's power has risen sharply now, no matter whether it is Cao Kun who he offended, or Jin Yunpeng, the current cabinet prime minister, they must be very jealous of Duan Xun.They must be trying to contain Duan Xun.And their troops are in the hinterland of Hubei, in Zhongxiang, and they will definitely rely on themselves.Maybe he will give himself more money and weapons to win him over.

In this way, I might be able to restore the glory of the Eighth Division.

But the result?

I thought it was too beautiful.This idiot Jin Yunpeng has no money at all, and he probably doesn't have any good weapons in his hands.Without money to pay myself for the army, and without good weapons for myself, I really can't do anything.

Life is getting harder and harder now.

"Mr. Wang, the emperor does not send hungry soldiers. But I am really worried about you. Judging from the current situation of Jin Yunpeng's cabinet, there must be no money for you at the end of the year. I think his best way is to borrow money from foreigners, but This loan is not something that can be borrowed in a short while. When the Ministry of the Army distributes the military salary to your troops, I guess it should be three or four months later."

Wang Ruqin's eyelids kept twitching.

It's not that Guo Songling was angry, but Wang Ruqin knew that this was true.What Guo Songling said is definitely not an exaggeration.This happened to Yuan Shikai when he first became president.

Fortunately, Yuan Shikai has a lot of face, and the people in the old transportation department are also very capable.

I quickly borrowed a large amount of money from foreigners, and I was able to borrow money from China's domestic financial market.But what is Jin Yunpeng, how can he compare with Yuan Shikai.Wang Ruqin thought for a while, then suddenly raised his head and said to Guo Songling: "Commander Guo, in my current situation, what do you think should be done?"

"Mr. Wang, you are a smart person. You should understand what I mean by coming to you today."

"kindness."

Yes.

We are all smart people, Guo Songling came here today to talk so much, Wang Ruqin certainly understands.Although his troops are not many, he occupies the name of the commander of the Eighth Division, and the Eighth Division is currently stationed in a very good position.It is in the very center of Hubei, although it is not the three towns of Wuhan, nor Jingzhou, nor Xiangyang.

But location still matters.

Duan Xun must be worried about himself.

But after all, Duan Xun and the Beijing government signed a contract and took over the post of border defense supervisor appointed by the Beijing government.It is impossible to attack the Eighth Division directly under the Ministry of War for no reason, and it is impossible to expel the Eighth Division for no reason.

Therefore, taking advantage of the fact that the Ministry of the Army has no money to pay the army, and the stalls of our troops are difficult, it is certain to win over ourselves.

"I don't know what General Duan thinks?"

"Mr. Wang, do you know what the military governors in the provinces under our general's control do?"

"I have heard about it. Responsible for recruiting and training recruits in various provinces, ensuring the logistics of local troops, paying compensation to casualties and so on."

Wang Ruqin didn't know whether to complain or admire.

What makes me complain is that compared with other provinces, Duan Xun's provincial governors have completely different powers.What I admire is that Duan Xun was able to turn the warlord into a post in charge of logistics.

Starting from Yuan Shikai back then, Duan Qirui, Li Yuanhong, and Feng Guozhang later all had this idea.But none of them succeeded.But Duan Xun managed to accomplish this within his own control area, this ability alone deserves Wang Ruqin's admiration.

In this way, it is not only impossible for these local warlords to become local warlords, but they can also help Duan Xun contain other troops.

"Mr. Wang, what do you think of the position of Guangxi military governor?"

"Guangxi Governor?"

"Yes."