Master Yuan, start!

The first were officials from Anhui, Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces. These people were originally appointed by the imperial court and were somewhat unruly.

But it doesn't matter. Even if he pretends to obey but actually disobeys, Liu Kun can just turn a blind eye and let it go.

But what is even more terrible is that there are signs of power struggle within the Hunan faction.

Liu Kunyi did not want to take the initiative to send troops westward, but he could not resist the soldiers under his command from Hunan who were all clamoring to "avenge the Ninth Marshal", so he had to practice for the soldiers at Yuhuatai.

What he wants now is to consolidate his power rather than to fight wars and return to his hometown.

His hometown is in Xinning County, Hunan, which is adjacent to Guangxi, not Changsha Prefecture!

The newly formed Hunan Army now has 8 members, and the only commander he can truly trust is Zhu Hongzhang, who was born in Guizhou.

The remaining Chen, Xiao Qingyan, Xiong Dengwu and others were either former martial arts students of the Zeng family, nephews of Zeng Guoquan's wife, or from Zeng Guofan's shogunate.

The most important thing is that all of the above people have a common identity, that is, they are from Xiangxiang, Hunan.

Xiang, on the surface, means Hunan, but actually it means Xiangxiang.

In the early Qing Dynasty, Chu was the name for Hunan and Hubei. The two provinces were not distinguished and were collectively called Chu.

In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the names of Chunan, Chubei, Chuxiang and Chue gradually emerged.

直到湘军崛起9，极大4的提8升了2“湘4”字在全国的3知名度，楚3这个名号也就0从湖南身5上褪去，彻底不用，转而用“湘”来指代湖南。

It can be said that the Hunan Army came first, and then the Hunan Province, abbreviated as "Xiang", came into being.

Before this, Chu, Yuan, Xiang, etc. could all refer to Hunan, and there was no fixed name.

Therefore, strictly speaking, the "Xiang" in the Xiang Army does not refer to Hunan, but to Xiang in Xiangxiang.

Therefore, in Liu Kunyi's mind, when the battle reached his hometown, the ones who benefited were actually the Xiangxiang generals who were originally under Zeng Guoquan's Ji camp.

Everyone has selfish motives.

Zeng Guoquan's death was sudden, so after Liu Kun came to power, he naturally had to spend time trying to win over his old subordinates and establish his own prestige.

Therefore, he had no choice but to agree to the plan of revenge by marching westward that his generals were clamoring for.

But no one expected that Zhang Zhidong was so vulnerable. The exhausted Hunan Army, which had arrived after a long expedition, actually broke the city in one battle and occupied Fengguozhou without even firing a few cannon shots.

However, the foreigners, especially the British, were worried that the war would affect the trade security on both sides of the Yangtze River, and they demanded that Liu Kunyi must stop fighting and make peace as soon as possible, otherwise they would temporarily withhold the remaining customs revenue.

The British used the same tactics they had used on the imperial court in Beijing on the Governor-General's Office of Liangjiang.

Now Liu Kunyi was completely stuck in a dilemma. He had been able to dismiss more than a dozen county magistrates for the sake of foreign missionaries before, and now he would naturally listen to the foreigners again in order to stabilize the Liangjiang area.

"General Xian, are you worried that the Western Expedition Army will get out of control?" Zhu Hongzhang stepped forward and said to Liu Kunyi, "But the battle in Jiujiang is urgent. If we force a retreat once the fighting starts, chaos may break out on the front lines!"

"Hubei is the thoroughfare connecting nine provinces, so of course I want to take it." Liu Kun glanced at Zhu Hongzhang and said, "But we can't ignore the foreigners' words."

"General Xian, it's fine if you tell me this." Zhu Hongzhang smiled bitterly, "But if you tell the rest of the Hunan Army, they won't take it seriously.

Apart from Jiu Shuai, no one can make them bow their heads!"

Liu Kunyi nodded helplessly upon hearing this. Yes, apart from Zeng Laojiu, who else could make these lawless generals of the Ji Camp bow their heads?

There is always a way to conquer something. The old general Zeng Guofan can control the nine generals, and the nine generals can control the Hunan Army.

If they were really allowed to capture Wuchang, the five provinces of Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi would be connected, and it would be uncertain whether the Hunan Army would be able to have the final say in the future.

Just when Liu Kunyi was worrying about how to deal with the Xiang army's offensive, a hurried shout came from outside the mansion:

"Oh no, Commander Xian!"

"What's the matter?!" Zhu Hongzhang frowned. He was a veteran of the battlefield and had been there during the fight against the Taiping Rebellion. He had never seen such a panicked messenger.

"A telegram arrived from Xuzhou saying that Yuan Shikai's national defense army had marched south and captured Tongshan County, and was eyeing Xuzhou City.

The National Defense Army also sent people to deliver a letter to the city, saying that they wanted to mediate the dispute between Hunan and Hubei, and that no more fighting would occur, which would harm the Chinese land and displace the people.

"What a joke," Zhu Hongzhang, who had personally experienced Yuan Shikai's battle to enter the Pass, felt that anyone could use this excuse except him, Yuan Shikai.

"When he first launched his army into Korea and marched westward, why didn't he consider temporarily suspending the fighting and avoiding war?

Now that you've entered the Forbidden City and become the savior of the Qing Dynasty, you're still trying to get others to stop. How can this be justified?"

"Not only that!" the telegraph operator shouted breathlessly, "In addition to this, several ships have also arrived at the north of Jiangning City, with their guns pointed at the north gate.

In addition to the two British ships, there are two other warships that we have never seen before."

"Apart from the British, which other foreigners are involved?" When Liu Kun heard that the foreigners were using warships, he knew he had to retreat.

"They're not foreigners, they're Wehrmacht!" the translator said with a sad face. "The people coming off the warship were wearing the blue uniforms of the Wehrmacht. I saw it clearly!"

"What?" Zhu Hongzhang widened his eyes in shock.

"How come Yuan Xiangcheng, a guy who was bombarded at Shanhaiguan, now has warships?!"

Chapter 175 Warships and Good Governance

What is Yuan Xiangcheng going to do?

No one except the British knew what he was going to do.

When the Hunan Army marched westwards to attack Hubei, Yuan Shikai ordered the National Defense Army to attack Xuzhou. Did he want the army to march completely south, or just to gain some benefits on the border?

After all, it has not even been a year since the north and the south have been stabilized. Is Yuan Shikai so impatient?

The "duty-free world" he created after negotiating with foreigners was incomprehensible, and many people called it a new concession.

After that, he raided the Kong family. This matter received mixed reviews. Many people secretly insulted Yuan Shikai behind his back, saying that he was unfilial, but on the surface they still gave him a thumbs up and said that he did a great job.

However, where did this navy come from?

A few days ago, two large warships with steam rising from them entered the port of Shanghai. Although they did not fly any flags, most people thought they were new British ships because they entered together with British warships.

It was not until the two ships were replenished and headed north along the Yangtze River that the people of Shanghai realized that the situation was not that simple.

Inside the Governor-General's Office of Liangjiang.

"Where did Yuan Shikai get the navy warships!" Zhu Hongzhang shook his head, somewhat unbelieving.

"How big is the warship? How many main guns and secondary guns does it have?" After Liu Kunyi and the other messengers recovered, they stepped forward and asked in detail.

"It only states that the two ships have one 150mm 1mm cannon on the bow and one on the stern, and eight mm mm cannons on both sides of the deck. The rest is not specified in the telegram, and I am not sure about it." Note

As the messenger read out the words on the telegram one by one, Liu Kunyi knew that his chance to be transferred back to the Hunan Army had really come.

"Huanwen, you know a thing or two about the navy." Liu Kunyi turned his gaze to Zhu Hongzhang. "These two ships are very similar to the Zhiyuan of the South China Sea Fleet, and they are also similar to our three Yong'an-class ships."

Liu Kunyi was referring to the three warships that the Hunan Army ordered from the British when Zeng Guoquan was still alive. They were also modeled after the Zhiyuan, but were called the Yong'an class.

They are Yong'an, Tai'an and Kang'an.

After these three ships were launched and returned to China, they docked in Ningbo and became the three main flagships of the newly formed Jiangnan Navy.

Together with the other dozen or so supporting gunboats and torpedo boats, the paper strength of the Jiangnan Navy has reached one-third of Li Hongzhang's South China Sea Fleet.

"Yes, the younger one is smaller. [Group: baWu Qi Liao3 Tong Jin Ye!

Zhu Hongzhang didn't notice the hidden meaning in Liu Kun's words, but instead became worried: "We are a wealthy country like Liangjiang, and we spent a lot of effort to buy three warships. How come Yuan Xiangcheng came up with two at once?"

Zhu Hongzhang had seen how the National Defense Army had swept through the Shanhaiguan Pass, and now with Yuan Shikai's navy, he felt that it would be even more difficult to suppress them in the future.

"No matter how he got it out, the brothers on the Western Expedition are in danger now!" Liu Kunyi did not respond to Zhu Hongzhang's words, but instead said righteously:

"Yuan Xiangcheng is harassing Xuzhou in the north. If Xuzhou falls, there will be no strong city to defend north of Jiangning. If the Jiangxi army is blocked in Hubei and cannot return to support, the situation in Jiangning will be even more disastrous!"

"General Xian, is the situation so critical?"

Zhu Hongzhang felt that Liu Kunyi overestimated the combat effectiveness of the Hubei Army.

"How can it not be dangerous? Yuan Xiangcheng's warships are right on the Yangtze River, ready to sail upstream. We have to be on guard!" Liu Kunyi said firmly:

"The army must return even if it doesn't want to!"

"In that case, Marshal Xian should send a telegram," Zhu Hongzhang felt that it was indeed a hidden danger, so he stopped arguing.

But at the same time, he was secretly worried that the Western Expedition would be abandoned halfway.

These newly formed Hunan troops attacked Hubei not only to avenge the Ninth Marshal. When the Hunan Army was reorganized, many younger generations of the "first generation Hunan Army" from more than ten years ago were mixed in.

In previous years, these boys had mostly only heard from their elders at home how glorious they were when they defeated the Taiping Rebellion.

These guys definitely wouldn't believe the boasts like he jumped single-handedly onto the ten-zhang-high Tianjing City, captured and killed the Little Heavenly King with one hand, and kicked to death more than a dozen heavenly generals with one kick.

But although the story is false, we can see that the homes of these "first generation Hunan Army" have been transformed from dilapidated thatched huts into luxurious mansions.

8226 long] Ba 51

These younger generations knew very well that if the elders in the village had not made contributions in the Hunan Army camp, how could they have lived a prosperous and wealthy life later on?

Therefore, now that they have the opportunity to join the army, they naturally will not let it go.

Zhu Hongzhang knew that the newness of the newly formed Hunan Army was only in form, referring to the use of Western-style organization for training.

However, the core of it is still the same as that of the first generation of Hunan Army.

The so-called killing, promotion, taking money, marrying a wife, and building a house.

This time, General Xian has called people back. If there is no meat to feed them, they will probably cause trouble.

Thinking of this, Zhu Hongzhang glanced at Liu Kunyi and said, "General Xian, how about leaving some of them to look after Hubei and transferring the rest to Xuzhou?

Otherwise, if the expeditionary army returns to the city hastily, it will inevitably cause trouble."

"Right on my mind!"

Liu Kunyi's idea coincided with Zhu Hongzhang's. Since they had to fight a war anyway, it would be better to let this group of disobedient Xiangxiang people take on the tough tasks first.

In this way, the British would have no reason to interfere and could also find out the true strength of Yuan Shikai City.

As for Zhang Zhidong, Liu Kunyi never took him seriously from the beginning to the end. He was just relying on the old woman to bully others.

In Liu Kunyi's view, once he has complete control of the Hunan Army and sorted out the hierarchy, Hubei will be within his grasp.

By then, he would have both Hunan and Hubei, and he would hold them firmly in his own hands, rather than letting them be taken over by the "Xiang Army".

...

While Jiangning City decided how to deal with the Hubei Army and the National Defense Army, the people of Shanghai did not pay much attention to the war between Hunan and Hubei.

Because yesterday, the front page of the newspaper published a new news from Governor Yuan, the so-called "abolition of li and reform of shang"

"The harm of customs duties is a threat to the foundation of the country. They tax all goods, regardless of their value. The cloth for people's clothes, the salt for their food, the brushes for their books and writing, the rouge for their makeup, etc.

All these things can be taxed with lijin. For example, silk from Suzhou to be transported to the capital had to pass through four checkpoints: town, county, prefecture, and province. It had to pay silver and money four times before crossing the Yangtze River.