The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 375: The Jianghu is Everywhere
Although Teng Yuzao has always insisted on employing people from the Beiyang Military Academy, it is inevitable that he will also need to use some people from the Boxers. Although among these people, except Liu Shijiu and Cao Futian, the others are all serving as deputy positions, factions are still inevitably emerging in the vanguard army.

According to Teng Yuzao's observation, there are now six or seven factions of varying sizes in the vanguard army.
Among them, there is a faction headed by Liu Yuzhi, Li Xiangze and Liu Changfa, which can be called the old faction.

This faction should also include Li Yulin, Sun Shijun and Xue Qian, but Sun Shijun and Xue Qian are isolated from them and a little distant from these people.

This faction has the largest number of people and is currently the strongest in the army.

Its members were basically all from his original battalion.

In that battalion, the platoon leaders at that time are now either captains, or the three mixed associations and the guards associations, as well as assistants of the assault column and independent column and chief of staff, such as Liu Yuanshou.

Even among the original forty or so squad leaders in that battalion, half of them entered the camp school, while the others are now at least platoon leaders, and some have even become sentry leaders.

As for the soldiers in the original battalion, almost all of them were squad leaders or platoon leaders.

The above officers are now scattered among various troops.

The second faction is the left-behind students headed by Wei Jinghai.

The third faction was the Wuwei Front Army faction headed by Hu Dianjia and Pan Jinshan.

Liu Shijiu and Cao Futian each had a group of people, and their factions should be divided into the Shandong faction and the Tianjin faction.

However, both of their factions are too small and few of them hold full-time positions.

In fact, Wu Peifu had gradually formed his own small circle, such as Li Jinyu, Xu Ting, Hu Daqiu and others.

Although these people have not yet reached the point of sabotaging each other or engaging in intrigue, their closeness and distance to each other are still very clear.

It is true that wherever there are people, there are rivers and lakes! Teng Yuzao couldn't help but sigh secretly.

As soon as Teng Yuzhao finished speaking, Liu Shijiu slammed the wine bowl in his hand on the table and cursed at the top of his voice.

"Damn it, why didn't they send anyone to help us when our Vanguard Army was in trouble? This is because our Vanguard Army was not only not destroyed by the foreign devils, but on the contrary won victory after victory, became stronger and stronger, and the Marshal's rank became higher and higher."

"Sending people here at this time is like sending lice to a monk's head. It's obvious that they are trying to throw sand in our vanguard army!"

"No! Absolutely not! Send all these people back to them."

"And the Anhui Governor Wang Zhichun and Shandong Governor Yuan Shikai are even worse. At this time, they are still worried about offending the foreign devils."

Liu Shijiu said bitterly, "One day, sooner or later."

But he only said half of what he was saying and held back the rest.

Looking at Liu Shijiu with a red face and thick neck, Teng Yuzao felt warm in his heart, but his face remained unchanged and he spoke in a flat tone.

"Brother, don't make it sound so bad. Li Zhongtang and Zhang Xiangtao sent us people, but they didn't necessarily have any intentions towards us. Their main purpose should be to show goodwill to the court, and secondly, they wanted to establish a good relationship with us."

Teng Yuzhao did not mention the imperial court, let alone Wang Zhichun and Yuan Shikai.

Hu Dianjia said carefully, "Marshal, it may not be easy to withdraw these people arranged by the court. We are still the court's army." Although Hu Dianjia did not continue speaking, Teng Yuzhao also understood Hu Dianjia's thoughts. He just nodded, but did not say much.

Liu Shijiu curled his lips and said, "It's true that we are the imperial army, but we can't be manipulated by others. They can come if they want."

Liu Shijiu looked at Teng Yuzao and said, "Then place them all in my assault column. I will make sure they can tell me where they came from and where they will go back."

Teng Yuzao understood what Liu Shijiu meant, but he was not at ease to hand these people over to Liu Shijiu.

Teng Yuzhao looked at Pan Jinshan, and Pan Jinshan spoke without much hesitation.

"General, I agree with Captain Liu Zong's method, but we should not retreat all of them. We should make it clear to the court that our vanguard army needs officers who can fight, and we don't want those who can't fight. With this excuse, we can retreat some of them. The few remaining people can't cause any big waves."

Ever since Pan Jinshan got close to his teacher Teng Yuzhao last time, he has always regarded himself as Teng Yuzhao's student.

Just counting like this, Teng Yuzhao had many more students who were more genuine than Pan Jinshan, because he taught at the Beiyang Military Academy for six or seven years. Most of the people in the vanguard army who came from the Beiyang Military Academy, including Liu Yuzhi, Li Xianze, and Wei Jinghai, were his students.

However, when Teng Yuzhao was at the Beiyang Military Academy, he was only a teacher, not the principal, which made Teng Yuzhao feel a little regretful.

"Commander."

As soon as Pan Jinshan finished speaking, Li Xianze suddenly said, "It is naturally not easy to send these people back. Besides, we are in need of officers, so they must stay."

"However, although they all came from our Beiyang Military Academy, they have been in the Green Camp for a long time, and it is inevitable that they are influenced by those old habits. Some of them may even have climbed up by other means. I think since these people come to our Vanguard Army, they have to listen to us."

"No matter what positions these people held before, they need to get familiar with us first, and we also need to see how capable they are. So I suggest that they all take up deputy positions now, otherwise it may be difficult to convince the public."

As soon as Li Xiance finished speaking, Liu Yuzhi and Liu Changfa nodded repeatedly, expressing their agreement with Li Xiance's method. Liu Shijiu clapped his hands and said.

"This is a good idea. If someone doesn't want to do it, he can just go home."

Teng Yuzao looked at Cao Futian, who smiled and said, "I will follow the Marshal's lead in everything."

Teng Yuzao looked at Liu Yuanshou who was standing beside him and asked with a smile, "Yannian, what do you think about this matter?"

Although Liu Yuanshou didn't expect Teng Yuzhao to ask him, he still answered immediately.

"Marshal, I think Commander Li's method is the best!"

Teng Yuzhao finally turned his gaze to Wei Jinghai beside him, and Wei Jinghai said with a wry smile.

"Marshal, if you can do without it, that would be the best. The hundreds of students in our camp school's crash course will graduate in a few months."

"But it's definitely not possible, so I agree with Li Xietong's method."

Teng Yuzao nodded. Although he did not ask about the attitudes of Lin Lianhui and his brother, Teng Yuzao always kept his eyes on the expressions of the two brothers.

Teng Yuzao heaved a sigh of relief and said slowly, "I have understood what you mean. Now let me tell you."

(End of this chapter)