The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 623 The Marshal Has Rebelled

Strangely enough, Wei Jinghai had been feeling uneasy since he received the official document from the Ministry of the Army yesterday, but the moment he saw Teng Yuzhao, he completely calmed down.

Although Teng Yuzhao has not said a word about the Army Department's plan to reorganize the new army, and is not even clear about the details of the reorganization of the new army, as long as Teng Yuzhao is in front of him, Wei Jinghai has a great sense of security in his heart, and this sense of security allows him to look down on everything.

Wei Jinghai, who had completely regained his usual calm demeanor, nodded and said.

"Marshal, this is what happened. Yesterday, we suddenly received a document from the newly established Army Department regarding the reorganization of the new armies in various provinces. The content not only concerns the new armies in various provinces, but even our Zhili Army is included in the scope of the reorganization."

The new army also included the Zhi army, which surprised Teng Yuzao a little!
Although Teng Yuzhao knew very well that neither Cixi nor Tieliang, including those powerful officials in the court, would allow such a powerful army as the Zhi Army to be independent of the new army controlled by the court for a long time, once the ten-year agreement expired, or even if they found an opportunity, they would immediately take action against the Zhi Army and completely control it. Only then would the court feel at ease.

But now, not only has the ten-year period not yet arrived, but there are also two evil-minded powers fighting frantically in the three rich provinces of Guangrou outside the Great Wall. This is not a good time to stir up trouble!

Before Teng Yuzhao could think carefully, Wei Jinghai continued.

"The Army Department sorted out the specific details of the new army, mainly four points. The first is to clearly emphasize that all new troops in each province only obey the military orders of the Army Department. All other officials at all levels have no right to interfere in any affairs of the new army, let alone mobilize the new army."

"In addition, according to the Ministry of the Army, the quality of the new troops in each province is uneven, not only in terms of weapons and equipment, but also in terms of numbers. The number of soldiers in a town can be as high as tens of thousands or as low as a few thousand. There are even rumors that some provinces' new troops are not paid for their work."

"Therefore, the Army Department ordered that the strength of each regiment of the new army in each province should be 16,000 people, and each regiment's two brigades should have 6,400 people in each regiment, and the organization of its subordinate regiments, battalions, and outposts should be strictly organized according to the original standards."

"Third, after this reorganization, the new armies of various provinces in the country will be organized into 36 regiments. The largest organization of the new armies in each province is a regiment, and the commanders of each regiment will directly report to the Ministry of the Army."

Seeing that Teng Yuzhao was just listening quietly with no change in his facial expression, Wei Jinghai smiled bitterly and continued.

"There have also been changes within the Army Department. Under Tieliang, there is an assistant minister, Liangbi from the former Military Advisory Office."

"The Army Department has changed its organization. Specifically, there will be one left assistant minister who will assist the minister in handling daily affairs and be mainly responsible for administrative management. This person will be Na Jin, who is currently the assistant manager of the Beijing Banner Standing Army Camp. There will also be one right assistant minister who will assist the minister in handling daily affairs and be mainly responsible for military command. This person will be Liang Bi, who will serve concurrently as the assistant minister."

"It consists of the Senate, which is responsible for staff, strategic planning, and tactical research; the Judicial Department, which is responsible for the military courts and the formulation of laws for the new army; the Training Department, which is responsible for the training of the new army, including the training of recruits and officers; the Logistics Department, which is responsible for logistics support, including material supply and medical rescue; and the General Staff Headquarters, which is responsible for military planning and combat command."

"Tie Liang is now the Minister of the Army, so Duan Qirui can be dismissed from his position as assistant. Wang Shizhen, the chief of staff of the Henan Army, who actually presides over military affairs, will be formally appointed as the chief of the most important General Staff Headquarters. I will be appointed as the chief of the Senate Office and concurrently the chief of the Training Office."

"It may seem glorious for me to be a dual-ranking envoy, but with people like Tie Liang, Liang Bi, and Wang Shizhen around, I can't play any role in the Army Department."

Na Jin was the younger brother of Na Tong, the Co-Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Commander-in-Chief of the Infantry. Like his brother Na Tong, he was very close to Yuan Shikai.

As for Liangbi, his full name is Aisin-Gioro Liangbi, with the courtesy name Laichen. He was a member of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner and the grandson of Grand Secretary Ili Bu.

Liangbi studied in Japan in his early years and was a graduate of the second class of the Infantry Department of the Japanese Military Academy.

Teng Yuzhao was not surprised that Tieliang, Liangbi, and even Wang Shizhen entered the Ministry of Army.

Tieliang and Liangbi were both rare people among the nobles of the late Qing Dynasty who understood military affairs. With them in charge of the highest administrative body of the new army, they would naturally gain the unanimous support of all the Manchu nobles, including Cixi.

Wei Jinghai smiled bitterly and said, "The court has been very secretive about the reorganization of the new army. I asked Director Li, but he didn't get any information in advance. Director Li's people only heard that the court might appoint Zhang Xiangtao and Yuan Shikai as the chief and deputy ministers of reorganization, and that they would go south soon to Huguang and supervise the reorganization of the new army in various provinces."

"There is also news that Zhang Xiangtao and Yuan Shikai also have the task of supervising the establishment of the new capital of Jingmen."

Unlike in history, this time Cixi did not stop the construction of the new city of Jingmen just because the foreign powers withdrew their troops and returned to Beijing. In recent years, no matter how tight the court's funds were, she set aside 5 million taels of silver for construction every year and announced to the outside world that Jingmen would be the secondary capital.

Wei Jinghai continued, "In order to find out the truth behind the reorganization of the new army, Director Li rushed to the capital yesterday."

Wei Jinghai's report made Teng Yuzao fall into deep thought.

Although this reorganization of the new army was aimed at all the new troops, Teng Yuzhao could feel that the so-called reorganization of the new army was actually mainly aimed at the Zhi army.

Although it was a commonplace that the governors and governors-general of various places were not allowed to interfere with the new army, it was not only the first time that there was such a clear statement that the commanders of various towns should directly obey the orders of the Army Department, but it was also targeted at the Henan Army and the Zhi Army. Because only the Henan Army and the Zhi Army had their own staffs, they could have a certain coordination function for the Henan Army and the Zhi Army.

According to the order from the Ministry of Army, the General Staffs of the Henan Army and the Zhili Army would be abolished, and even all the departments directly under the Zhili Army and the Henan Army, such as the Ordnance Department, Medical Department, and Camp Affairs Office, would be abolished or placed under the direct command and management of the Ministry of Army.

In this way, it can be said that the names of Zhi Army and Yu Army were almost completely abolished.

The most important thing is that the court's promise to him that he alone would be responsible for raising and deciding the military expenses of Zhili and the Zhili Army within ten years was completely overturned.

Although the imperial court ignored his promise and tentatively removed him from his post as Governor-General of Zhishan in an attempt to take back his control over Zhili and Shandong provinces, it still allowed him to command the Zhili Army and did not immediately take away his military power.

This time, he made it clear that he wanted to seize the military power of the Zhi army.

The military power of the Zhi Army is Teng Yuzhao's bottom line, and he will not allow anyone to challenge it, not even Cixi!
Teng Yuzhao still has absolute confidence in his prestige and status in the Zhi army.

With a "bang" sound, as soon as Wei Jinghai finished speaking, Liu Shijiu slammed the table and stood up.

"Damn it! They are trying to seize the military power of the Marshal without regard for their dignity!"

Liu Shijiu rolled up his sleeves and said with a bad look on his face.

"Marshal, this devilish imperial court has become emboldened after seeing the Eight-Nation Alliance being driven away by us. They are beginning to disregard their loyalty and are ready to turn against you, Marshal!"

"Cixi first seized the position of the Marshal-General and Governor-General, and now she wants to seize the Marshal's military power. In this case, there is no need for us to be polite to her anymore."

In the past, whether it was Liu Jiujiu or other generals, even Teng Yuzhao himself, when referring to Cixi, they all referred to her vaguely as the court. Now, Liu Jiujiu called Cixi by her name in public, which shows that Liu Jiujiu no longer cared about his status as a minister of the Qing Dynasty.

"Marshal, as long as you give us a nod, you don't have to show up for this matter. Kangnian, Ziyu, Mingguang, Shoucheng and I will immediately return to the capital and then we will push you out to take charge of the situation."

Shoucheng is the courtesy name of Liu Bingyi.

"And me." Liu Changfa also slammed the table and stood up and said.

"teacher!"

Wu Peifu's face flushed, and he said in a resolute tone, "The court is just using the strategy of boiling a frog in warm water. If we don't do something, not only will Zhang Xiangtao be the only one waiting for our teacher, but our hundreds of thousands of Zhi troops will also vanish into thin air sooner or later."

"Besides, with Yixin, the old dog, around, even if the teacher really wants to be the second Zhang Xiangtao, it's impossible. Why not just rebel?"

Li Xianze, Wei Jinghai, Liu Bingyi and Zuo Baotian also stood up with angry expressions.

Li Xiance and Liu Bingyi said in unison, "Marshal, let's rebel!"

Li Xiance added, "There's no need to talk about Yuxuan. There's no problem at all in the third town of Panjinshan."

Wei Jinghai looked at Teng Yuzao excitedly, "Marshal!"

"Including the cavalry garrison, we have a total of eight garrisons in the areas outside the Great Wall and Anhui, Shandong, and Zhili. This does not include the Marine Corps, which was just established not long ago. The strength of the garrison is 600,000 to 700,000. Moreover, the artillery configuration of our two garrisons is even more powerful. We are absolutely sure to attack from both north and south to deal with the Shuntian Army, including the former Henan Army."

Seeing the indignation of his generals, Teng Yuzhao couldn't help but feel a surge of heroic spirit in his heart.

Although Li Yulin was still there with a gloomy look on his face and had not stood up, it was not just Teng Yuzhao. Everyone else knew that although Li Yulin did not approve of Teng Yuzhao's position in power, he would never do anything that would be detrimental to Teng Yuzhao. He just did not want to get involved directly.

Teng Yuzhao waved his hand to signal several generals to sit down, and then looked at the brothers Yang Shixiang and Yang Shiqi.

(End of this chapter)