Changsha's "Hunan General's Mansion" is the highest official office in Hunan Province.

The General's Mansion, inherited from the former Hunan Governor's Yamen, does look like the highest official office. It occupies a vast area, the roof is so high that it almost touches the sky, and a garden wall is about ten feet high. Within the wall, there are front and back yards, and left and right courtyards.

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Whether it is the front or back yard, or the left or right yard, not only are the houses connected to each other, but they are also magnificent, with wolf fangs and eaves in every room. The most impressive thing is the aura. This aura is unique to the gate.

You can see the ground and feel like you are out. At the gate, there is a string of lanterns hanging on a flagpole so high that it reaches the sky, tall stone steps, lifelike stone lions, and a magnificent door head, tall and thick.

There are two gates, rows of electric door lights, the bright electric lights are as bright as the road in front of the general's mansion, a pair of iron door knockers, and neatly dressed army guards lined up on both sides, standing there with loaded ammunition.

Not to mention ordinary people, even a smaller official, once he comes here, he will feel cold in his heart and tremble in his body. This is exactly the feeling of Chinese government, majestic and solemn, and of course the more important point is,

The purpose of the government is to make people feel cold, so that they can be suitable for official power!

It's getting late now, but the lights in several rooms in the backyard of the "General's Mansion" are still on. From the light coming through, you can see that in the yard and on the corridor, not far away is a guard with a short gun.

Not only did the guards carry two short guns across their waists, some of them even carried submachine guns. The three-year-old "Lianyun Made" steel helmets on the top of their heads shone darkly under the lights.

It seemed to be heavily guarded, as if facing a formidable enemy.

In fact, it has always been like this here in the past few years. For Tang Xiangming, the Hunan general who is known as "brutal" and "cold" in Hunan, this kind of tight security is understandable and even more understandable as if he is facing a powerful enemy.

What's more, Hunan is one of the base provinces of the Revolutionary Party. For his own safety, Tang Xiangming certainly does not mind strengthening the defense of the General's Mansion.

In this corridor, which looks like facing an enemy, the light shines through the window panes. This is the study room of Hunan general Tang Xiangming. In the study room, Tang Xiangming, wearing a cotton robe, is standing behind the desk, holding a pen in his right hand.

Although it was already midnight, he was still practicing calligraphy there.

Tang Xiangming was originally a scholar. As early as the age of eighteen, he participated in the Hubei Provincial Examination and passed the imperial examination. However, Tang Xiangming had no intention of pursuing the imperial examination career to the end. Because he had seen through the twilight of the Qing Dynasty, he had a vow in his heart: to revitalize China with force. So

Taking advantage of the abolition of the imperial examination, he put the imperial examination aside and entered the Fujian Shipbuilding Academy, a fashionable general school, to study navy. Later, because of his excellent performance, he was recommended to study in France.

In 1909, Tang Xiangming returned to China after finishing his study abroad career. He served as captain of the Jingqing ship and then as the captain of Nanchen. He did some practical work in rebuilding the Chinese navy. The conscientious comrade was soon promoted to the staff officer of the naval commander Sa Zhenbing.

long.

Opportunities only come to those who are prepared, but history has always given great responsibilities to those with talent.

In the turmoil of the political world, the sharpness of the secret room is often lost for a long time. The gunshots of the Wuchang New Army Uprising pushed the young Tang Xiangming to the forefront of history in advance.

While in Jiujiang, Tang Xiangming received a secret letter from his brother Tang Hualong, "Return to justice as soon as possible so as to achieve special merits." Everything that happened next demonstrated his weight and courage: first, he summoned the officers of each ship to plot an uprising, and was promoted as an uprising by the representatives of each ship.

The temporary commander of the fleet, then came the news of the uprising of the Wusong Fort and the navy stationed at Wusongkou. Sa Zhenbing saw the general trend of the world, and he was unwilling to rebel against the Qing Dynasty and was unwilling to associate with the revolutionary party. After some struggle, he decided to leave quietly.

Tang Xiangming took over the command of the fleet as a matter of course, and several Manchu captains left immediately...

It didn't take much for Tang Xiangming to get the fleet to hoist the Iron-blooded Eighteen-Star Flag and sail back to the Hankou River. This time they turned their guns to the Qing troops crossing the river. The cannons that had been reluctant to use their power at first made a big splash, killing more than 400 Qing soldiers.

army and strongly supported the Wuchang Revolutionary Army

The brilliant contribution of the first righteousness has passed away long ago. For Tang Xiangming, life seems to be like duckweed, and there is nothing that can never be figured out.

"Zhi Ge!"

The two big words were written on the fine Xuancheng rice paper. Looking at the words on the paper and the right hand holding the pen, Tang Xiangming couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

"What a pity...the hand holding the pen!"

Indeed, this was once a pair of hands holding a pen, but now the hand holding a pen has picked up a gun!

Although it is in vain to try to find in Tang Xiangming the inherited virtues of China's orthodox intellectuals. The emphasis on Legalism and techniques and the adaptability of Taoism are well blended in his spiritual blood, but he still has a certain degree of spiritualism in his bones.

With the spirit of some scholars, just like the occasional regret.

"Stop fighting with force!"

When he put down the pen again, another sentence, a sentence completely different from the previous regret, came out of Tang Xiangming's mouth. When he sighed, the hand holding the pen followed, leaving two more words on the rice paper.

The word "Weiwu!".

If analysts from the Security Department had seen this scene at this time, they would definitely have concluded that this was his character expression. In the Security Department's analysis of Tang Xiangming, they clearly pointed out: "Tang Xiangming has a high self-esteem, a deep city and a flamboyant nature.

He is completely made to be a powerful minister. He holds a Buddha bead in one hand and holds a spear and sword in another hand. He only focuses on what he cares about. He thinks that he has become a Buddha. The blood flows like a river and the lamentations are everywhere. It is just an inevitable path before reaching the true state.

It’s just a sign of scripture.

He may feel sorry for these things, but he will never change his mind. This is a manifestation of his Legalist thoughts of emphasizing law, power and technique, just like when he was governing Hunan.

With his iron fist, Changsha was transformed into a kind place where "nothing is picked up on the road" in just half a year, without any trace of the chaos of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China.

When Tang Xiangming put the pen on the pen holder and turned the Buddhist beads in his left hand again, the voice of his staff member Gao Jizhi sounded outside the study.

"General, a secret message from Speaker Tang!"

Chairman Tang, of course, refers to Tang Hualong's eldest brother. As the saying goes, "The elder brother is like father." After the abolition of the imperial examination, he was recommended to study in France because of his excellent academic performance. However, he was opposed by his whole family. Fortunately, it was his eldest brother Tang Hualong who

Only with full support can he do it. Therefore, he has always not only respected his brother, but also listened to his words.

During the Revolution of 1911, the reason why he revolted was because of his eldest brother Tang Hualong’s secret letter, "Return as soon as possible to achieve special merits." During the Kuomintang rebellion triggered by the "Song Case" in the second year of the Republic of China, it was his brother who shook his head and sighed.

"The Kuomintang rebelled and caused chaos in China." Therefore, when Yuan Shikai ordered him to lead the fleet, he cooperated with Li Chun to attack Li Liejun. Later, he went to Hunan to suppress Tan Yankai's independence and forced him to cancel his independence.

It can be said that Tang Hualong was the one who made the decisions for him at the three most important points in his life, whether it was studying in France, the Wuchang Uprising, or Min Ergan City, there was the shadow of his brother behind the scenes, and it was also true that

Because of this, after the State Council promulgated the "Bandit Suppression Order", he sent multiple telegrams to his eldest brother. He even paid no attention to what his staff said or what the lobbyists said, and he just waited for his eldest brother's telegram.

"Is the telegram from Kaifeng Xingying?"

Before receiving the telegram, Tang Xiangming, who was sitting behind the table, asked with concern. After learning that his elder brother was traveling south to Henan with the Prime Minister for inspection, he had been worried about his elder brother's safety, fearing that Li Zhiyuan would take him as a hostage and force him to submit.

Although the information obtained from various parties showed that Li Zhiyuan had no intention of taking action against his eldest brother, he was still a little uneasy...

"The telegram is a civilian telegram sent by the Kaifeng Telegraph Bureau!"

When answering, Gao Jizhi had already handed the telegram to Tang Xiangming with both hands. He had already translated the telegram. As a close confidant of Tang Xiangming, he held in his hand the password for the secret telegram communication with his brother, which was of course only one of them.

"Brother is interested!"

It sounded like it was a civilian telegram sent by the telegraph office. Tang Xiangming had already vaguely guessed the content of the telegram. He sighed before reading the telegram, and then started the telegram.

After a while, Tang Xiangming put down the telegram, then sighed again, and did not say a word for a long time. The elder brother made his thoughts very clear in the letter, and also analyzed many pros and cons for him.

Tang Xiangming, who only entered Yuan Shikai's system after the Republic of China, knew that he could never become Yuan Shikai's confidant. In addition, because his brother belonged to Li Yuanhong's system, Yuan Shikai was now checking and balancing him in Hunan. At this time

This letter from eldest brother is...

After pondering for a long time, Tang Xiangming asked Gao Jizhi.

"Sheng San, what do you think?"

When he asked this question, Gao Jizhi saw something from his slightly raised eyebrows and eyes that raised his gold-rimmed glasses. For this Hunan general who was known as the "butcher" among the revolutionary party, he

I understand very well that although they use the E people from the same hometown to govern Hunan and use harsh punishments and laws to rule Hunan, in recent years, most of the Hunan people have benefited from it. In troubled times, they use heavy codes and gain the power of force. Those who lead troops,

The masters of tigers and wolves must be able to suppress them, but scholars cannot. They are cold-blooded, but those who love reading are the most ruthless. Although the person in front of me is a scholar, his ruthlessness is incomparable to that of ordinary people.

However, like all Hubei people, he has a two-sided character. When fighting with others, he fights and is aggressive. When compromising with others, he is rounded and gives in. The pride and restlessness in him are mixed with each other. This time

, will this sharp weapon of the country recognize its owner? Gao Jizhi has no answer, and he can't guess any answer. He knows that for Tang Xiangming, who thinks highly of himself, he has always regarded himself as a sharp weapon of the country, and has always been in parallel with the king's way.

Hai Rui's suicide attack was also to safeguard the royal order. It is hard to say for Tang Xiangming. This sharp weapon has changed too many owners. With every new dynasty, he will knock on the door, but it is just a door. In fact, it has never been

Once it recognizes its owner, its heart belongs to itself!

It was also from that time that Tang Xiangming could only get further and further away from his dream of being a weapon of the country. Just like he was secretly expanding his strength in Hunan, he regarded himself as a weapon of the country, but this weapon had no owner.

utensil.

"Mr. Da's words do make some sense!"

While speaking, Gao Jizhi kept observing Tang Xiangming, trying to detect some expression on his face, but he was the same as before, with no movement on his face. He just sat there quietly, constantly turning the piece in his hand.

Anyone who knows him well knows that he may be devoted to Buddha, but he has no compassion for others.

"Expand the 39th Brigade into the First Division of the Hunan Army, and ask the central government to send Europe to participate in the war..."

As he recited the contents of the telegram, Tang Xiangming looked extremely calm.

"Invite the Ministry of Internal Affairs to rectify Hunan's police force and cooperate with the Ministry of Internal Affairs to implement province-wide anti-bandit measures!"

Another sentence, but at this time Tang Xiangming's seemingly calm face showed a slightly strange look.

"If you follow Big Brother's advice, you will undoubtedly be putting yourself in front of others!"

"Mr. Da is indeed a little thoughtless!"

Sensing Tang Xiangming's change, Gao Jizhi quickly spoke.

"This is to make the general surrender power to the central government!"

Under the magic wand of power, how many people can understand and how many can let go? At least the person in front of me is definitely not a person who can let go!

"...I want to set an example for the whole country! I want to set an example for the whole country!"….

After reciting the end of the telegram one after another, Tang Xiangming finally let out a long sigh and then said.

"Make special contributions to China!"

That sigh seemed to have other meanings. Just when Gao Jizhi was speculating on the meaning of the sigh, another thunderous words came into his ears.

"It is difficult for others to tolerate such self-binding behavior. However, Xiang Ming is not Maitreya, but he wants to tolerate things that are difficult to tolerate in the world!"

Although the words with Hubei Mandarin accent were not loud, they were like thunder, echoing in the study room. The shock only made Gao Jizhi slightly open his lips, and looked at him in surprise after saying these words.
To be continued...