"Pah, pah, pah..."

At the shooting range of Nanyuan Military Camp, although it was already dark, the sound of gunshots still continued.

If anyone comes here, they will see an officer wearing the uniform of the expeditionary force shooting here, and his collar badge clearly bears the rank of general. There is only one army general in the expeditionary force, and that is the commander of the expeditionary force Cai.

Cai E, at this time, he was holding a pistol similar to a German oar in his hand, and he was firing one shot at a time. The target was hit by several bullets, and the gun hit the center. Cai E did not stop yet, and continued to shoot.

It continued until the wooden board in the center of the target was shattered and flew away, turning it into a hollow target.

After emptying 8 rounds of bullets, he took off the magazine again. This 2-year-old pistol was made in Lianyungang. The pistol is very well made and is the standard pistol of the expeditionary force. However, changing the magazine is a little complicated.

The lock is a typical European-style base-mounted bamboo shoot. You need to use your left hand to assist when changing ammunition, but it is very popular among military officers because of its power.

As early as last year, after a friend from the field staff team who went to Jiaoao brought back this kind of pistol, Cai E immediately eliminated the Browning pistol. But now, this pistol presented by the Jiangsu Army is

A tool for him to vent his dissatisfaction.

In the past month, on the surface Xu Shuzheng seemed to be cooperating with his work, but in fact he was a stumbling block. His director of the preparation department set up obstacles for him, so that he could not even command the troops. Not only could he not issue military orders,

The headquarters, even now, has not yet been established. If anything happens, it still needs to go through the preparation office, and Xu Shuzheng also obeys it. As long as he thinks that the date of the expedition is getting closer and closer, he will feel upset.

It is becoming more and more prosperous. This expedition is related to the future of the country. How can Xu Youzheng forget his official duties for personal reasons?

After another magazine was emptied, seeing that the general still wanted to shoot, Lei Biao came over and advised Cai E:

"If you don't want to do it, you won't do it. Who doesn't know? The Beiyang Army is the Yuan family's army. Even if the general went to Europe, he would work for Yuan Shikai and fight for Yuan Shikai's face. If he doesn't want to do it, he will do it."

After listening to his subordinate's words, Cai E remained silent, fired all the bullets, continued to change the magazine, and continued shooting at the target.

Yuan Keding and Yang Du were outside the shooting range when they heard gunshots inside.

Yang Du said to Yuan Keding:

"I guessed it right, this is him."

Yuan Keding and Yang Du walked into the shooting range. Yang Du and Cai E were old friends. It was Yang Du who recommended Cai E to Beijing back then, and now they naturally know Cai E's situation in the expeditionary force.

Cai E greeted Yuan Keding and Yang Du. They all walked to a table and sat down, and a waiter brought tea.

Yuan Keding asked Cai E:

"Brother Songpo, are you angry?"

"No, there's nothing to be angry about."

"That's good, that's good."

Yang Du also said:

"Songpa, you once said that you would build a national army dedicated to national defense. Now that the expeditionary force is about to set off, you won't give up for this trivial matter?"

"I don't want to give up, but this thing is so useless. Some of the old habits in the military are too strong, and I really can't do anything about it."

It was more than powerless, it was simply helpless. In the preparatory office, except for Han Wu who fully cooperated with him, most of the others secretly resisted it and could not start work, which really made him distressed.

After hearing what he said, Yuan Keding, who had been trying to win over Cai E in every possible way since he came to Beijing, responded to the old man's request and comforted him:

"Songpa, things can take your time."

Cai E shook his head:

"My lord, the matter is not as simple as you said! Now the expeditionary force is about to go out. If the disagreement between the chief officers causes the expeditionary force to lose the battle and damage the country's reputation, then it is better to resign than to do so."

Seeing that Cai E was about to resign, Yuan Keding hurriedly said:….

"No rush, no rush, you can think about it later."

Yuan Keding, who failed to persuade Cai E, returned to Jurentang and could not help but complain in front of Yuan Shikai:

"This Cai E is really unworthy of being reused. He gave up his job after suffering a little grievance. If he had known this, he should not have been appointed as the commander of the expeditionary force! Whoever gets this commander will be unhappy! He is here, his last name is

If Xu doesn't cooperate, he will resign!"

His son's words made Yuan Shikai frown in deep thought:

"Jiang Baili and Cai Songpo were two of the best students from the Japanese Military Academy. One shot himself to death while running the Baoding Military Academy, and the other had to resign after joining the expeditionary force... Keding, there's a lot going on here."

"What do you mean, uncle?"

"I appointed Jiang Baili's principal, and I also appointed Cai Songpo's chief instructor. They also ended up in disgrace..."

"I understand, it's Duan Qirui and his gang who are jealous of talents and eliminate dissidents!"

"Well, the term 'excluding dissidents' is used accurately. Duan Qirui and the others just want to make Beiyang a monolithic entity. I will act as Chao Gai as a signboard, and he will act as Song Jiang and hold the real power."

"Yes, they just want to make the army impenetrable to pins and water. This was the case with the old army, and it is also the same with the current expeditionary force. Sir, if this continues, the future will be worrying."

Yuan Shikai thought for a moment, then asked someone to spread the rice paper on the case aside, walked over, and smoothed his sleeves:

"Keding, grind the ink for me."

Yuan Keding wondered why Yuan Shikai was still writing in Yaxing at this time:

"Uncle, what should we do about Cai E's resignation?"

Yuan Shikai didn't respond. He picked up a pen and wrote on the rice paper, urging:

"Practice ink."

Yuan Keding had no choice but to grind the ink reluctantly.

Yuan Shikai finished the work with a swipe of his pen. After finishing the last stroke, he threw the pen away, feeling a bit like looking forward to Zixiong:

"Keding, take a look, what do you think of this calligraphy?"

Yuan Keding looked at the characters. Yuan Shikai wrote the four characters "Gong Er Wu", and there was a signature below.

"Dad, these words of yours are powerful and powerful, like a flying dragon or a phoenix, with the potential of a faint wind and thunder... Who are you writing this to?"

"Cai E."

"Cai E?"

"Yes, Cai E knows the meaning of this word."

Then Yuan Shikai spoke seriously:

"Keding, you still need to think carefully about how to know and employ people."

"Please tell me, father."

Putting down the brush in his hand, Yuan Shikai slowly said:

"Cai E is a wise, strategic and capable military commander. If you want to achieve great things, you must pay attention to recruiting talents."

"I also think Cai E is a rare talent. With Xu Shuzheng holding him back, I'm afraid he's just a dragon and won't be able to make big waves."

Hearing this, Yuan Shikai sneered:

"If Xu Youzheng is not there, can you rest assured if you hand over a million expedition troops to Cai Songpo?"

Yuan Keding was silent for a moment and shook his head slowly. Yuan Shikai continued:

"Loyalty is said to not be in the ministers, but in the king. It is not just about kindness and power. Showing kindness and power to the ministers can win the loyalty of the ministers. But kindness and power alone are not enough.

Zhiquan and the others were very loyal to your father and me in the past. If it weren't for them, your father and I wouldn't be the president, but why did they have different intentions in the end?"

While asking the question, Yuan Shikai sneered again in his heart.

"When a person reaches a certain level of strength, his heart becomes wild. Duan Zhiquan is, but how do you know that Cai Songpo is not? There are checks and balances, and the expeditionary force will still be China's expeditionary force. It cannot become anyone's expeditionary force!"

"Father taught me, I understand."

Yuan Keding bowed at the same time and said:

"Children are taught."

"Sir, if it is as Cai E fears, and the feud between the chief officials harms the war, then it will be difficult for the Allied Powers to explain it..."...

His son's reminder only made Yuan Shikai smile, and then he said again.

"Who else is in this expeditionary force?"

After thinking, Yuan Keding seemed to understand:

"Dad, what you mean is to bring Han Wu up and let them control the three sides."

Yuan Shikai smiled and nodded and said:

"This is not enough."

"What do you mean, uncle?"

Yuan Shikai, who had already sat down, pondered briefly:

"Why were Cai Songpo and Xu Youzheng appointed first, but Han Wu was not appointed?"

"Dad, do you want to..."

"It's not me who thinks about it. It's Li Zhiyuan who thinks about it?"

"Li Zhiyuan wants to?"

Now it was Yuan Keding's turn to be confused. It seemed that Li Zhiyuan had not interfered with the expeditionary force.

"Cai and Xu, instead of intervening, it is better to watch. Han Wu's non-fighting is actually Li Zhiyuan's non-fighting. He is not not fighting. He is not fighting now, so your father just goes along with the flow and puts Han Wu on the back. This time

When Dan was there, he just sat on the mountain and watched the fight between tigers. He complied with Cai Songpo's orders here, and he didn't disobey Xu Youzheng over there. Now..."

He sneered and picked up the tea cup, but Yuan Shikai sneered again.

"Now, how could Xu Youzheng fail to see that Li Zicheng wanted to be this fisherman, but he didn't expect that there is a tax collector behind this fisherman!"

That night, someone in the presidential palace passed the news to Duan Qirui. After Duan Qirui heard it, he remained silent. At this time, he was playing chess with Xu Shuzheng.

"Fair and fearless!"

Reciting these four words, Xu Shuzheng took a bite out of the boss and then said.
To be continued...