Chapter 5

PS: First update, please follow and recommend!

No. 19 Xilahutong, Wangfujing Street, Beijing, was originally the residence of Yuan Shikai, the Viceroy of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang. However, after Yuan Shikai launched a military coup, this place had become the political center of the country! The ordinary people who originally lived in the hutong had long been forcibly relocated, and a brigade of the Third Division of the Beiyang Army had been stationed there, fortifying the entire hutong like an impregnable fortress!

Yuan Shikai launched a military coup, placing Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu under house arrest. Countless loyalists to the Qing Dynasty wished to eat his flesh and sleep on his skin. Of course, he was extremely concerned about his safety!

On July 21, it had been more than a month since Yuan Shikai launched the military coup! However, the situation had not changed at all! No one in the country had come forward to support him, or more precisely, none of the provincial governors and provincial administrators had recognized him! They all loudly declared their intention to march to Beijing to support the emperor, trying to climb up by stepping on Yuan's corpse! As the situation became increasingly chaotic, the foreign legations that had originally supported him seemed to be changing their stance, which made Yuan Shikai even more anxious!

"Sir, I just returned from Dongjiaomin Alley! Apart from the British, the envoys of the other countries are very dissatisfied with our inability to stabilize the domestic situation! Especially the Japanese, who believe that your actions have harmed their interests! If the Japanese were not currently focused on negotiations with Russia, they might take more aggressive actions!" a middle-aged man reported to Yuan Shikai. He was Tang Shaoyi, the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Yuan Shikai's important assistant in foreign affairs!

"Damn the Japanese! One day, I will settle accounts with them!" Yuan Shikai cursed! Before the First Sino-Japanese War, Yuan Shikai was the Governor-General of Korea. When the First Sino-Japanese War broke out, Japan invaded Korea, and he had to disguise himself as a civilian and flee in disgrace, which was a lifelong humiliation for him!

"Sir, the most pressing issue now is how to deal with the difficult situation! The foreigners are losing patience!" Tang Shaoyi said!

"Bring Zhiquan and Pingqing here! Since those guys refuse to yield, we will use military means to solve the problem!" Yuan Shikai said fiercely! Among the six divisions of the Beiyang Army, the First Division had already been disarmed, Duan Qirui's Third Division and Wang Shizhen's Sixth Division were in Beijing, while the other three divisions were in Henan and Shandong, dealing with the southern enemies! Among those opposing Yuan Shikai, the most important were the Viceroy of Liangjiang, Duanfang, and the Viceroy of Huguang, Zhang Zhidong. Both were gathering troops, preparing to take action against Yuan Shikai! Therefore, Yuan Shikai had to dispatch the main force of the Beiyang New Army to resist them!

Soon, Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen arrived at Yuan's residence.

"Zhiquan, Pingqing, if we are to use military force against the south, how confident are you?" Yuan Shikai asked directly!

"Sir, are we going to take action against the south? I suggest we start with Liangjiang and then move north along the Yangtze River to attack Hubei! The Viceroy of Liangjiang, Duanfang, only has some patrol and river defense troops, which are no match for us! The Hubei New Army under the Viceroy of Huguang, Zhang Zhidong, is not as strong as our Beiyang New Army, but they cannot be underestimated!" Wang Shizhen said first!

Yuan Shikai nodded after hearing this. He still had great confidence in the Beiyang New Army he had trained!

"In that case, Pingqing, lead the Sixth Division south immediately, and prepare to cooperate with the Fifth Division to defeat Duanfang! Then, together with the Second and Fourth Divisions, attack Hubei! As long as we eliminate these two forces, no one will dare to oppose us!" Yuan Shizhao finally made up his mind!

"Yes, Sir!" Wang Shizhen said excitedly! Duan Qirui was a bit envious, but he also knew that Beijing needed to be defended, and the six divisions of the Beiyang Army could not all be dispatched! In recent days, the Shengjing General, Zhao Erxun, had been loudly declaring his intention to march to Beijing to support the emperor, which made it necessary to leave enough troops behind!

"Xiangcheng, ha ha, good news!" Suddenly, a person rushed in, his face full of joy! The person was Xu Shichang, a Qing Dynasty Grand Secretary and an important ally of Yuan Shikai!

"Bu Wu, what's so happy?" Yuan Shikai asked, frowning. He had been almost driven to despair in recent days!

"Xiangcheng, people from the northeast have come! Representatives from Fengtian have come to contact us!" Xu Shichang said!

"Really?" Yuan Shikai was overjoyed! At this point, he was like a rat everyone wanted to beat, and the sudden appearance of a supporter made him feel as if he had seen a glimmer of hope!

"That's right! The leaders of the Fengtian patrol camps, Zhang Yuting, Feng Lingge, Ma Tengxi, and Wu Xingquan, have sent people to see me, claiming they can support us! However, they have conditions: they want the three northeastern provinces in return for their support!" Xu Shichang said!

"Hmph! Four nobodies want to become provincial governors, it's a pipe dream!" Tang Shaoyi said disdainfully!

Yuan Shikai was somewhat hesitant. Although these leaders of the Fengtian patrol camps might be significant figures in Fengtian, they were nothing on a national scale. Additionally, although the three northeastern provinces were poor, Yuan Shikai was reluctant to hand them over so easily!

"Xiangcheng, I think we should agree to their conditions! They claim that if we reach an agreement, they can capture the Shengjing General, Zhao Erxun, and send him to Beijing! They will also issue a nationwide telegram supporting our action to purge the court!" Xu Shichang said! Now, their Beiyang faction was surrounded by enemies, and they must seize this opportunity for an ally!

"Is it too generous to hand over the three northeastern provinces to those guys?" Yuan Shikai asked!

"Xiangcheng! What's good about the three northeastern provinces? Don't forget that the Russians and Japanese just fought a war there! What we need now is the support of local power brokers; we can deal with other issues later! Once we control the central government, we can always find a way to deal with them!" Xu Shichang said anxiously!

"Alright! Agree to their conditions! But they must bring Zhao Erxun to Beijing!" Yuan Shikai finally nodded! At this point, he was isolated and needed support! This would also show the foreign legations that he was not without supporters!

"Alright, Xiangcheng, I will continue to negotiate with them!" Xu Shichang said!

Zhang Yuting sent Zhang Fuchen, one of his important assistants, to Beijing. Although only in his thirties, Zhang Fuchen was extremely capable. Zhang Yuting sent him to Beijing entirely because of his abilities!

That night, Xu Shichang and Zhang Fuchen held secret talks, and both sides eventually reached an agreement! Zhang Yuting and others would capture the Shengjing General, Zhao Erxun, and send him to Beijing, and issue a nationwide telegram supporting the Beiyang's action to purge the court. In return, Yuan Shikai, representing the Qing government, appointed Zhang Yuting and the others to oversee the military and political affairs of the three northeastern provinces! Additionally, he granted the three northeastern provinces four divisions of regular army! Once Yuan Shikai controlled the central government, these four divisions would enjoy the same treatment as the Beiyang New Army!

To win over the three northeastern provinces and gain the support of Zhang Yuting and others, Xu Shichang spared no expense! However, there was another important reason: the Beiyang faction did not take Zhang Yuting and others seriously. They believed that once they gained control of the central government, it would be easy to eliminate these people in the three northeastern provinces! The current concessions were made out of necessity!

In Shengjing, the Shengjing General's residence, the Shengjing General, Zhao Erxun, was scolding the leader of the Fengtian patrol camp, Zhang Yuting.

"Zhang Yuting, how much longer will it take for the Fengtian patrol camps to be ready? I give you three more days. If you don't march to Beijing to support the emperor by then, you can get out of here!" Zhao Erxun shouted! Zhao Erxun, a member of the Han Bannermen, was extremely loyal to the Qing Dynasty! After Yuan Shikai's military coup, he was one of the first local power brokers to denounce Yuan Shikai and declare his intention to march to Beijing to support the emperor! However, Zhang Yuting and others were dragging their feet and being uncooperative, which made him very angry!

"Yes, Sir, I will definitely be ready within three days!" Zhang Yuting said, bowing his head!

"Hmph!" Zhao Erxun coldly snorted, not even looking at Zhang Yuting, and turned to leave for the back hall! He had always looked down on officers like Zhang Yuting, who had a bandit background! If not for needing Zhang Yuting and others to lead troops, he might have already ordered them to be dismissed!

Zhang Yuting gritted his teeth and turned to leave the Shengjing General's residence!

On the afternoon of July 21, Zhang Yuting received a telegram from Zhang Fuchen in Beijing. This made him extremely happy, and he immediately sent people to invite Ma Tengxi, Feng Lingge, and Wu Xingquan to discuss the matter!

Soon, Ma Tengxi, Feng Lingge, and Wu Xingquan arrived at Zhang Yuting's residence. Of course, as the one who first proposed this idea, Wu Haoxuan also came with his father!

"Ha ha! Brothers, the Beiyang has agreed to our demands! Grand Secretary Xu Shichang, representing Yuan Shikai, has fully accepted our conditions! They have promised us four divisions and control over the military and political affairs of the three northeastern provinces!" Zhang Yuting laughed heartily!

The other three were also overjoyed, even Ma Tengxi! However, they seemed to have not considered that there were only three provinces in the northeast, and how they would divide them among the four of them!

"Since Yuan Shikai has agreed to our demands, we must act immediately! We will capture that old man Zhao Erxun tonight! I've had it with him for a long time!" Feng Lingge said loudly! A division and control over local military and political affairs were enough to drive them mad!

"Good! We will act tonight!" Zhang Yuting said eagerly!

At 11 PM on July 21, Zhang Yuting, Feng Lingge, Ma Tengxi, and Wu Xingquan led their troops into Shengjing and launched an attack on the Shengjing General's residence!