Quanjude and Liu Shaoqing held a banquet to send off Wen Dusu and Muller.

At the beginning of the 14th year, Emperor Guangxu ordered dozens of Manchu Eight Banners generals including Mutushan and others to study in the advanced training class of the Army School for half a year. Not long ago, the half-year assessment was completed, and more than a dozen people including Fengshenga failed. Emperor Guangxu was not ruthless and removed their responsibilities. At the same time, he ordered Mutushan, Yiketanga and others to go to the Northeast to train the new army.

The training of the Northeast New Army was not a temporary measure. Guangxu considered a long-term national defense project and implemented a series of measures for this. First, when Mutushan and others were still studying, they contacted Germany through Xu Jingcheng and hired dozens of retired German officers to teach in China; then instructed Weng Tonghe to build a new military camp in Siping to use as the site of the newly built Northeast Army Non-commissioned Officer School. In addition, Guangxu also instructed Liu Shaoqing to find outstanding talents from this group of students and prepare them as the foundation to support the Northeast Army School and the Northeast New Army. After this series of actions, Mutushan and others accepted the order to train the new army.

As an outstanding student of the Beijing Army Academy and also Mutushan's beloved son, Muller is naturally the best candidate for the team leader of the Northeast New Army support cadets. At the same time, Wen Dusu, who had been studying for more than two years, was also ordered to return to the Mongolian grasslands to recruit soldiers for his new cavalry unit. As the good buddies of these two, Liu Shaoqing naturally had to hold a banquet to say goodbye.

He skillfully wrapped two pieces of duck with dough and dipped it in sauce. Liu Shaoqing sent it to Wen Dusu's plate, and then made a piece for Muller.

"Please, please, after leaving Beijing, you may not be able to eat such a good roast duck. Today, our brothers will not return without getting drunk."

Wen Dusu smiled and said, "Okay, don't go back if you don't get drunk!" Then he put the duck in his mouth, chewed it hard, and delivered it with a sip of wine. Muller followed suit, chewing the duck in big mouthfuls and drinking in big mouthfuls.

As the saying goes, the four major irons: carry guns together, pass the window together, divide the dirty together, and engage in prostitution together. The three brothers met in the winter of the 11th year of Guangxu. Although the two years were not long, the four major irons accounted for three. It can be said that the relationship is really good. Now we have to separate. The young men are loyal and value feelings, and they are all sour in their hearts.

Liu Shaoqing smiled strongly: "Oh, I really envy my two brothers who can go to the vast world outside to show their strength. Poor brother, I still have to be frustrated here. Alas, the prairie, the forest, I have no chance."

Wen Dusu and Muller laughed and pointed at Liu Shaoqing: "You, if you want to go, you tell the emperor to go, the emperor will definitely let you go."

Liu Shaoqing pretended to be bitter and said, "How dare I?"

"Haha," the two laughed and said, "You don't have to worry, sooner or later, you will have to be released. Shaoqing - except for the emperor and the little princess, most people do not call Liu Shaoqing, it is too special - you are still young and will stay in the capital for a few years. When you are twenty years old, the emperor should let you go out for training too."

Liu Shaoqing nodded: "I hope I can share my worries soon."

The three of them looked at each other and then raised their glasses together: "This glass is for the sake of the emperor!"

Putting down the wine glass, Liu Shaoqing said: "Although we brothers are all divided this time, we have to congratulate the two brothers on finally having the opportunity to show their ambitions."

Muller's dream was to build an army of his own style, while Wendusu always dreamed of restoring his grandfather's previous glory and revitalizing the Mongolian cavalry. This time Muller could go with his father to the Northeast to train a new army, while Wendusu went to the grassland to recruit cavalry, which was exactly what they dreamed of.

The two smiled and Wen Dusu said to Liu Shaoqing: "Okay, don't talk sarcastic here. You will be in the glory of the past year. Tell me, what should I remind us to pay attention when I go out this time?"

Muller also smiled and said, "Yes, even the emperor believes in your military talent. Now that he is leaving, he will quickly speak to our brothers."

Liu Shaoqing smiled embarrassedly and said, "Don't make fun of me, brothers, what talent can I have."

Wen Dusu said, "Okay, okay, let's not be polite, Shaoqing, just talk."

Liu Shaoqing stopped shy and thought for a while and said, "In addition to normal training in the Northeast, I believe that according to its regional characteristics, we should also focus on combat ability training under cold conditions. Although I have not experienced the weather in the Northeast, I always know a little. Moreover, in the past two years, we have conflicts with the Russians in the Northeast, and we may fight. The Russians are more cold-resistant than us, so if we do not pay attention to this training, we will definitely suffer a great loss in the future."

Mueller nodded and said he had written it down.

Liu Shaoqing thought about it again and continued: "Fighting in a high-altitude environment is still a new topic for us. I just thought about it. Not only the training of soldiers, but also the equipment in the later stages must also keep up. First of all, weapons must be able to meet the use of severe cold conditions, which is not a big problem. But more importantly, the warmth of soldiers and the transportation of materials. We will study it carefully in the future."

Speaking of this, Wen Dusu interrupted, "When I mentioned the weapon, I suddenly remembered when the rifle you have been working on for a while can be equipped? We have used it before, and they all think it's good. Then we have to arrange some for me."

Mueller quickly said, "Yes, there are also our Northeast New Army."

Liu Shaoqing smiled and said, "The new gun has completed a comprehensive test at the beginning of the year, and you all know this. Later, the emperor personally arranged to introduce a new manufacturing machine, which is now in mass production and is expected to be equipped before the end of the year. Speaking of which, I suddenly realized that this gun is not suitable for cavalry equipment now."

Wen Dusu said strangely: "This gun has reduced the caliber, which has reduced the weight of the gun. Moreover, because the caliber of the bullet has reduced the amount of ammunition carried by individual soldiers. For cavalry, this is very important because it is necessary to run for a long distance. I think this is suitable for cavalry, how can it not work?"

Liu Shaoqing said: "Brother said it well. Judging from the weight of the carriage, this gun does have a considerable advantage, but I feel that this gun still has a little flaw, which is a bit long. Although this doesn't seem to have a big impact, cavalry warfare requires the word "fast". The gun is long and short, which will affect whether the soldiers can put the weapons on their backs into use faster. So, I wonder if this gun is slightly changed to make it more convenient to use on horseback."

Wensu nodded after hearing this: "That is true, there are some flaws, but once the gun size is shortened, will it affect the other performance of the gun?"

Liu Shaoqing thought for a while and said, "It may affect the range, but it will not have much impact on cavalry combat. However, this may be later in the equipment."

Wen Dusu said: "This is okay. Anyway, I'm going back to recruit soldiers and train them to form an army. It will take a year to catch up."

In the autumn of the 14th year of the Guangxu period, Emperor Guangxu issued an order to establish the Northeast Army Non-commissioned Officer School. The first principal was Yinchang and the assistant was Muller. He also ordered Mutushan, Yiketanga, Wu Dacheng and others to organize the three new army towns in the three northeastern provinces. At the same time, he sent Bernardan Mohu's second son Wen Dusu as the imperial envoy to Mongolia to recruit cavalry and train a new cavalry town.

The new recruits recruited last spring have basically formed an army after half a year of training. Some of them have been left to continue their studies in the military academy, some of which have followed Mutushan and Yinchang to the north, and others have been transferred to the Fengtai camp. At the same time, the young emperor further asked Liu Shaoqing to expand the scale of the new army and clearly required the establishment of the five new army towns of Zhili within the next three years.

The training of the new army requires a lot of money to support it. A new army soldier costs at least 40 taels of silver for a year, as well as equipment and training. Ten thousand soldiers cannot get enough money if they don’t give 700,000 taels a year. However, the Qing Dynasty’s finances are not abundant now. Although the reorganization of the Eight Banners, Green Camps, and military training has begun, there are a lot of money saved in this regard, and it will not start to take effect until next year. Although the development of industry and commerce has also had a good start, it is also out of a fragile stage that Guangxu did not want to fish in the new industry and commerce because of the expansion of the army.

Moreover, there are more than the places where money is needed, including the army, the navy, rivers, land reclamation in the northeast, roads and other infrastructure construction and education in various places, which all require the imperial court to get the money.

Where can I get money?

"Our Qing Dynasty earned more than 84.21 million taels of silver, and the average annual silver was 40.86 million taels, including the eight banners of each province, and the green camp pay silver was 145 million taels per year. However, the provinces used bravery rather than soldiers to suppress bandits and public security. By the 13th year of the Guangxu period, there were more than 540,000 registered brave soldiers in the country, and the annual vacancies were more than 34 million taels of silver. In addition, there were more than 300,000 foreign flag soldiers, and the annual salary was more than 10,000 taels of silver. In addition, there were new investments in education in recent years.

The increase in expenditure is 2.18 million taels, and the construction of the two naval forces in Beiyang and Nanyang requires 2 million taels of silver. This year, the Yellow River broke in Zhengzhou, and the repair of the river construction requires 3.4 million taels of river construction. The palace is preparing for the emperor's wedding next year, and plans to use 4 million taels of silver. The construction of the Northeast will be allocated for 2 million taels of silver this year, and at least so much will be needed next year. Now the court has relied on borrowing money again, and for this reason, the debts to be paid back every year are more than one million taels. Emperor, where can there be money to train the new army!"

Because Guangxu wanted to increase military pay, Yan Jingming, the Minister of Revenue, had to settle accounts for the prodigal emperor.

In fact, Guangxu knew about these data, but the construction of the new army is an important part of the entire national defense system. The success or failure may be directly related to the survival of the country twenty years later. Moreover, Guangxu knew clearly that if the army was not strong now, within ten years, the Qing Dynasty would pay a greater price for it!

"I know all these difficulties. I remember that in the 11th year of Guangxu, the imperial court used military force every year, and the amount of silver that braved the imperial court reached 60 million taels of silver. In the past two years, the national army was rectified, some soldiers were eliminated, and some bravery was saved. Moreover, the successors would continue to reorganize."

Xu Geng, Minister of War, said: "Return to the emperor, the reorganization of soldiers from all provinces is indeed in depth. It is expected that more than 200,000 will be eliminated next year. Three years later, by the 16th year of Guangxu, the reorganization of soldiers from all provinces will be planned to be reorganized to more than 600,000, which is about half of the 11th year of Guangxu. At that time, the annual salary expenditure will be less than 40 million taels."

Yan Jingming sneered: "Mr. Xu, the annual military pay and silver in the country has accounted for 80% of the total income. This is already a 'military and powerful'. Even if it is reduced to 40 million taels in three years, it will account for half of the annual income. Moreover, this is only the existing soldiers, brave ones, and new navy ones? What about the new army ones? I'm afraid it will still have 60 million taels at that time."

Xu Geng also said tit-for-tat: "Mr. Yan, the military camps in each province are ruled by the court, and they are actually controlled by the Ministry of War. Needless to say, three years later, even now, the silver is less than 30 million taels per year, and most of them are used by flag soldiers. However, the brave camps in each province are not in the Ministry of War. It is probably inappropriate for Lord Yan to calculate this account on the military headquarters. Moreover, the training of the new army is only based on the layoffs of existing soldiers and bravery. The number of new troops increased is far less than the number of layoffs, which is itself a reduction of the burden on elite soldiers."

Yan Jingming wanted to say something else. Seeing that the two of them were about to quarrel, Guangxu quickly said, "Stop, stop, what Yan Qing and Xu Qing said are all right, but each has their own difficulties. I have summoned everyone today to discuss solutions, not to listen to your quarrel."
Chapter completed!