The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 626 You Will Still Follow Me

Yang Shixiang continued, "Marshal, ever since I learned that the imperial court wanted to learn from Japan and study their constitutional system, I have thought about it carefully."

"Although the court is going to learn the Japanese constitutional system this time, and the Japanese constitutional system is not only far inferior to the British, but even inferior to the German constitutional system, it has given some power to the cabinet after all."

"So, the position of the prime minister is equivalent to the first person under the emperor."

Seeing that Teng Yuzhao still had no reaction, Yang Shixiang continued.

"Marshal, I think that although this constitutional reform is not thorough, it is a great opportunity. Marshal must first occupy the position of Prime Minister."

"As long as we get this position, we will have the upper hand. The commander will have more room to maneuver whatever he wants."

"It's just that I'm afraid the President of Zhijun will have to let it go."

The Japanese constitutional system is a constitutional monarchy with an autocratic emperor, in which the emperor holds the overall ruling power. Under this system, although parliament has a certain status and rights, laws still require the emperor's approval, and the military and politics are integrated.

Teng Yuzhao had complicated feelings about this constitutional system. Under this system, he could do a lot of things. His only aversion was that he still had to be under the jurisdiction of the emperor.

Teng Yuzhao was also very clear about Yang Shixiang's intention. With the support of the Zhi army, as long as he became the prime minister, he would have the reputation to compete with the imperial court. Even if he wanted to overthrow the Qing court by force in the future, he would get greater support from the government and the public.

To be more specific, Yang Shixiang believed that this cabinet prime minister was just a prelude, or a stepping stone for him to ascend to the throne.

However, this requires a lot of effort and is still a slow process.

However, time is exactly what Teng Yuzhao lacks. He now has a feeling that time is running out.

However, no matter what, Teng Yuzhao is absolutely qualified to implement constitutional government this time. With this position, as long as he does not make any stupid moves, not only will his reputation among the people be unrivaled, but he will also get many followers among the officials in the court system, which will be of great benefit to him when he wants to take further measures in the future, at least it will reduce many obstacles.

"This is not okay!"

Before Teng Yuzhao could speak, Liu Shijiu had already started shouting with his face flushed and neck thick.

"I have no objection to the Marshal taking the position of Prime Minister, but the position of President of the Zhili Army cannot be lost. If the military power is lost, it will be like handing the knife handle to someone else. This is absolutely not acceptable!"

"Also, according to the regulations of the Ministry of the Army, each town has less than 20,000 people. If we really do this, our Zhi army will only have about 30% of its strength left. How can we recover the three northeastern provinces?"

Yang Shixiang seemed to have already made up his mind, and without any hesitation he smiled slyly.

"General Chengxiang, please be patient!"

Seeing that Liu Shijiu wanted to say something more, Yang Shixiang hurriedly spoke.

"We must not reduce the size of the Zhi army, and we must not retreat in the slightest."

"As for whether the Marshal will take the position of President of the Zhili Army, it is not important. What is important is where the hearts of the generals are. Should the Zhili Army listen to the Army Department or the Marshal? It is up to the generals to decide!"

"And more." Yang Shixiang continued.

"If the Marshal wants to compete for the position of Prime Minister, he must give up the position of President of the Zhili Army. Otherwise, the imperial court will not agree to it, and even the people will have many complaints, which will be very disadvantageous for the Marshal to compete for the position of Prime Minister."

"The most important thing is that if the Marshal insists on being the president of the Zhi Army, he will immediately fall out with the imperial court, and then we will have no choice but to use force."

Although Yang Shixiang spoke hesitantly, everyone understood that what Yang Shixiang meant was that if Teng Yuzhao did not give up the position of President of the Zhi Army and still wanted to take the throne, he would have no choice but to use force against the court to seize power now.

Yang Shixiang's words immediately made Liu Shijiu stop talking, and he quickly exchanged glances with Wu Peifu, Li Xianze and others.

Li Xian thought about the strategy and said to Teng Yuzao, "General, I agree with Mr. Lianfu's suggestion."

Liu Shijiu nodded and suddenly laughed, "Damn it, I was ignorant for a moment and misunderstood. Mr. Lianfu's idea is still good! I agree with it."

"Also, we can't let the Army Department get away with it."

Liu Shijiu said cunningly, "If the Marshal is no longer the president, then there is no need to worry about the military expenses of the Zhi army. If you want us to reduce the number of troops, first let them take out the next month's military pay and severance pay equivalent to three months' military pay."

Liu Shijiu's tactic hit the nail on the head. There were more than 700,000 Zhi troops, and the military pay for four months was more than 20 million yuan. How could the Army Department come up with such a huge sum of money?

Wei Jinghai also nodded in agreement, but then frowned and said, "I also agree with Mr. Lianfu's suggestion, but if the Army Department can really come up with this money, what should we do?"

Wei Jinghai's concerns were not unreasonable. The Army Department's disarmament initiative must have been approved by Cixi, and they had even made the decision after careful consideration. It would be unreasonable to have no preparation at all.

If he really has prepared a large sum of money, it's hard to say.

Wu Peifu decisively waved his hand and said, "If they really want to pay, it will be easy. We can accept the money and then learn from Cao Kun, the former commander of the Henan Army, and start a mutiny."

"If the imperial court uses force, then there is nothing we can do about it. We will just have to fight them and march into the Forbidden City."

If a mutiny really broke out, the imperial court would certainly not dare to suppress it with force. The ultimate solution would be to ask Teng Yuzhao to come forward to restrain the troops. Although the position of President of the Zhi Army would not be returned to him, the issue of disarmament would definitely be left unresolved.

However, the most important thing is that there is no change within the Zhi army itself.

Yang Shixiang seemed to have the same idea as Teng Yuzao. He glanced at Wu Peifu, Liu Shijiu, Li Xianze and Liu Bingyi and said with a smile.

"If the Marshal resigns as the President of the Zhi Army, the generals present here will not have any problems. Liu Yuxuan from Liangjiang should not have any problems either, but what about the others?"

Although Yang Shixiang knew that Teng Yuzhao had a strong control over the Zhi army, he was still unaware of the Fenjin Society in the army, so he asked this question.

Teng Yuzhao was completely confident in the Zhi army. With his connivance and secret support, the Endeavor Society had now spread almost throughout the army.

According to Li Yaoting's report, the vast majority of middle and senior military officers were members of the Endeavor Society, and even many sentries and platoon leaders who were promoted from the old troops of Teng Yuzhao's battalion also participated. If any general wanted to leave the Zhi army and take his troops away, it would be absolutely impossible. He was very confident of this.

It was just that Teng Yuzao was still unsure about some individual generals, such as Hu Dianjia, Cao Futian, and Su Xilin. Teng Yuzao was still unsure.

Hu Dianjia had already held a high position before joining the Vanguard Army. I believe he would never think that his current position was given by Teng Yuzhao.

However, neither the personal relationship between Hu Dianjia and Teng Yuzao, nor his recognition of Teng Yuzao's undefeated victories in battles, could change his mentality of being loyal to the court.

Teng Yuzao could clearly sense this from Hu Dianjia's past performance and even from the secret report handed over by Li Yaoting. Once Hu Dianjia made a move that was in line with his wishes, a bloody and cruel internal conflict would probably break out in that town in Fujian immediately, which was what Teng Yuzao was most worried about.

Cao Futian not only did not come from the Beiyang Military Academy or the Suiying Academy, but he was not even close to his own generals, and his true attitude was difficult to guess.

Although Su Xilin had taught oncology at the Wuwei Front Army's school, which was later the Zhi Army's school, he was somewhat cautious in character and only focused on his work. He did not have a close relationship with the generals around him, and his attitude towards the court was somewhat vague.

Also, because Su Xilin used to be the deputy of Xue Qian, who has now been promoted to the director of the Beijing Patrol Police Bureau, and had a good relationship with Xue Qian, Teng Yuzhao did not dare to trust him too much.

Since leaving the Vanguard Army, Xue Qian has had a cold relationship with his colleagues in the Zhi Army, and even kept his distance from Teng Yuzao. However, he still did a good job in his post at the Beijing Patrol Police Bureau.

Naturally, all the generals understood who the other people Yang Shixiang was referring to. Liu Shijiu frowned, as if he was dissatisfied with Yang Shixiang, and turned his head to speak to Teng Yuzao.

"Marshal, I can vouch for Cao Futian. Although he is not close to anyone and there seems to be a layer of window paper between him and everyone, he is still grateful to you and will never do anything to let you down."

Wu Peifu also said hurriedly, "Teacher, I can also vouch for Yushu. He has always remembered the Marshal's promotion and there will be no problem. As for Mingguang, it goes without saying that he is absolutely loyal to the Marshal."

Teng Yuzhao remained silent in response to the statements and guarantees of several people. He just nodded silently and let out a long sigh with mixed feelings.

Teng Yuzhao stood up from the sofa, walked to the wine cabinet in the corner of the office, took out a cup, and then took out half a bottle of Wuliangye from the cabinet and poured most of the cup.

This half bottle of white wine was what Liu Shijiu drank after he came to his office last time and reported on his work for half a day.

Although Teng Yuzhao knew very well that excessive drinking was very harmful to the body, there were many soldiers in his previous life who could drink a lot. There was even a famous general who not only had an amazing alcohol tolerance, but also drank almost every day, and he also lived to be eighty years old.

Teng Yuzao believed that drinking was good for the body's functions, especially for a warrior like Liu Shijiu with a strong body, so there was no need to strictly restrict him.

So Teng Yuzao didn't care about Liu Shijiu drinking.

Teng Yuzhao has no preference for liquor. He almost never drinks it. He only drinks beer.

He opened a bottle of beer, drank a large glass of beer in one gulp, then poured himself another glass. He held the two glasses of beer and walked to Liu Shijiu, who had happily stood up and stretched out his hands, and handed them to him.

Then, Teng Yuzhao took his glass of beer and walked slowly on the ground, sipping the beer in the glass.

No matter what everyone said, the final decision was made by Teng Yuzhao alone, and facts have proved that his decisions have been proven to be very correct so far.

Everyone knew about Teng Yuzao's habit, and no one said anything. Yang Shixiang was thinking silently with a serious expression, while Yang Shiqi was staring at Teng Yuzao intently while he was thinking. Several generals were exchanging fiery glances with each other.

After a long time, Teng Yuzao stood still, glanced at the generals' faces one by one, and then asked with a smile.

"If I decide to resign as the president of the Zhijun Army and strive to become the first prime minister, or even go higher, will you still follow me and obey my command?"

Liu Shijiu took the half cup of Wuliangye handed to him by Teng Yuzao, took a small sip, and then put the cup on the coffee table beside him. When he heard what Teng Yuzao said, he was the first to jump up with a red face and thick neck, and spoke loudly.

"Marshal, I've been waiting for you to say this!"

"Don't worry, the 700,000 Zhi troops will follow you. If anyone dares to disobey me, I will kill him with my sword. No matter who he is, I will kill him."

Wu Peifu jumped up right after Liu Shijiu and spoke excitedly.

"My dear teacher treats me like my own parents. I swear to follow my dear teacher till death, and will never give up even if it means going through fire and water!"

Li Xianze, Liu Changfa and Liu Bingyi, who had already stood up, also spoke loudly.

"Marshal, no matter whether you are the president of the Zhi Army or not, we only recognize you and are willing to follow you to fight for justice!"

Wei Jinghai also said excitedly, "The Marshal saved my life, and I have no way to repay him in this life. I can only follow the Marshal to do this righteous cause, and I will never regret it!"

When Wei Jinghai was at the Beiyang Military Academy, he was a real student of Teng Yuzao. Not only him, but also Liu Yuzhi, Li Xianze, Li Yulin, Hu Daqiu, Liu Bingyi, including the platoon leader and sentry leader in Teng Yuzao's earliest battalion, were all Teng Yuzao's students.

Even many of the students rescued from the Eight-Nation Alliance by Teng Yuzhao at the Beiyang Military Academy were once Teng Yuzhao's students.

After these people expressed their opinions, Li Yulin on the side seemed a little embarrassed. He could understand the meaning of Teng Yuzao's words "even go higher", and he stood up with some difficulty.

"Xingfu, I knew you would end up like this."

Li Yulin could already feel several hostile gazes directed at him, but he still sighed, as if he had finally let go of a burden in his heart, and continued speaking.

"Although I don't want you to break with the court, I will still follow you. I just hope Xingfu won't kill too many people. It would be best if he could be like Wang Mang as Mr. Lianfu said, so that he can ascend to the throne more smoothly."

After receiving Li Yulin's reply, Teng Yuzao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Teng Yuzhao had always felt helpless about Li Yulin's stubbornness. After several fruitless attempts, he gave up the idea and just hoped that Li Yulin would not betray him, otherwise he would have no choice but to get rid of him.

Killing an old man like Li Yulin will have many side effects and may even make some people feel disheartened.

"it is good!"

As soon as Li Yulin finished speaking, Teng Yuzao couldn't help but say the word "good" with excitement.

"Qiong Lin, don't worry. I also think what the Lianfu said makes sense. Naturally, I don't want to see a situation where swords and swords are everywhere and there is a massacre."

"To tell you the truth, when Lian Fu and I first met in Taihang Mountain, Lian Fu advised me to abandon this incompetent and ignorant court, but I did not agree."

"At that time, I had already thought of trying to persuade the imperial court to abdicate. You should have seen that after the foreign devils withdrew their troops and negotiated peace, I did everything, whether it was expanding the Zhili Army, rebuilding the Beiyang Navy, or sparing no effort to promote the construction of Westernization."

"They all wanted to bring about changes subtly and silently, and even thought about making Zhili prosperous and its people wealthy after the ten-year agreement with the court expired."

"So that the world can recognize my ability to enrich the country and strengthen the army, and then achieve my goal, so that we Chinese can stand on our own in this world and revive the glory of the Han and Tang dynasties!"

"We are taking the same path as what the Lotus Mansion said, but they just didn't say it explicitly."

Teng Yuzao, who couldn't hide his excitement, waved his hand and said, "Everyone please sit down. I have something to say."

(End of this chapter)