For the key piece in the game between Zhao Bei and Yuan Shikai, Zhao Erxun was no one knows why he hanged himself at this time. He only knows that he tore the long cloth gown he was wearing into cloth strips, woven a rope with these cloth strips, and put his neck on the window railing that was only half a foot square on the wall of the prison.

Although the prison guards had carried Zhao Erxun's body out of the prison, there was still a lot of discussion in the prison area. Most of the detained people in the A district of Huayang's No. 1 Model Prison were special prisoners. Many of them were officials of the former Qing Dynasty and had superiors and subordinates with the Sichuan Governor Zhao Erxun. As soon as Zhao Erxun died, everyone could not help but feel sad about the death of the rabbit and the fox. They also discussed the reason why Zhao Erxun hanged himself.

However, after much discussion, these criminals in the officialdom still doubted Zhao Erxun's statement of "hanging himself" and could not bear it, because when Zhao Erxun hanged himself, the prisoners on the left and right sides of the prison did not hear the movement. Even the four criminals in the same cell with Zhao Erxun did not notice Zhao Erxun's abnormal movement. Even if the prison was pitch black at that time, it would not be so silent. Moreover, the small window half a foot square was more than one person high. If Zhao Erxun wanted to hang the rope on the window railing, it would not be easy. Moreover, if Zhao Erxun didn't step on anything under his feet, those who could hang themselves on him might be the masters. Although Zhao Erxun usually has a hobby of dancing swords, everyone did not believe that he could hang himself on his feet more than one foot away from the ground.

Therefore, there is a saying in the prison area that Zhao Erxun did not hang himself up, but was hanged by others. The most disliked was the four people in the same cell as him. They were all criminals of Zhao Erxun in the "Chuan-Han Road Deficit Case", and they were all "greedy for public funds". Perhaps the four people thought that letting Zhao Erxun live would threaten their own interests, so they joined forces to kill Zhao Erxun and disguise themselves as hanged.

In fact, late at night when Zhao Erxun hanged himself, the four prisoners in the same cell were taken away by the prison guards and have not returned until now. This seems to support the statement that Zhao Erxun was killed.

Most of the criminals have to die strangely, but at least one criminal doesn't think so.

This criminal was Duan Jinting's brother, who was appointed as the governor of Liangjiang, Duan Fang, to avenge Duan Fang, who Duan Jin planned to assassinate the Republican Army. However, his operation failed and he was detained in Huayang County Prison awaiting trial.

Duan Jin knew how Zhao Xun died, at least he thought he had mastered the real reason why Zhao Erxun hanged himself because he had evidence in his hands.

The evidence was a white foreign cloth with a square head of half a foot, with more than a hundred words written in dark red and black. At a glance, you can tell that it was written in blood, and there was no pen, so it was used with fingers.

This foreign cloth was originally owned by Zhao Erxun. On the afternoon of the day when Zhao Erxun hanged himself, Zhao Erxun threw the cloth wrapped in a steamed bun and the aisle in the prison to Duan Jin.

Duanjin's prison was on the inclined surface of Zhao Erxun's prison. He was less than one meter away and he received the cloth smoothly. When he opened it, he saw that it was a letter written by Zhao Erxun. Because the content was a bit bizarre, Duanjin didn't care at first, but he didn't say anything. After Zhao Erxun hanged himself, Duanjin came back to his senses. He took out the cloth and thought about it carefully. Only then did he realize that the letter was actually Zhao Erxun's suicide.

It is precisely this reason. Duan Jin did not care about Zhao Erxun and hanged himself. In his opinion, perhaps Zhao Erxun was tired of his life in prison. Perhaps he felt that he could not escape death after going to court. So he simply cut himself off. Before his death, he left a suicide note and handed it over to Duan Jin. Although he did not explain anything to his superiors, Duan Jin's hostile position towards Zhao Erxun completely changed.

"Zhao Cishan, Zhao Cishan. If you write the truth above, you are the most loyal minister in the Qing Dynasty! If the Qing Dynasty is restored in the future, I will definitely submit a letter to the court and let you enter the Zhaozhong Temple and the Virtuous Temple! When your god position is placed on the ground, I will definitely kowtow to you a few real sounds!"

Sitting in the corner of the wall, he threw the window into the prison. Duan Jin looked at Zhao Erxun's suicide note over and over again, reciting it word by word. Fortunately, he was the only one in this prison. There was no need to worry about being noticed. The only thing that disturbed him was the humming song of the flag next door, Eledenbu.

However, Duan Jin had no time to pay attention to Eredenbu. He memorized the contents of Zhao Erxun's suicide note. After memorizing it silently for dozens of times, he looked at the white cloth with words written on it. He sighed in his heart a few times. He bit the edge of the cloth with his teeth and tore it hard one by one. He stood up and looked left and right. Then he threw the cloth strips into the dung bucket, rolled up his sleeves, stirred it in the bucket with his hands for a while. Then he covered the bucket lid, sat back and cleared the filth on his arms with straw.

"You have to find a way to escape. Otherwise, Zhao Erxun's loyalty is a waste of time. It's just that the guards here are tightly guarded. How can you escape?"

Duan Jin rolled down her sleeves and began to think about it carefully.

...

When Duan Jin was thinking about the escape plan in Huayang County prison, some people were also formulating a escape plan for him in the General Command of the Republican Army in Chengdu.

The person who "helps" Duan Jin escapes from prison is nothing else, but the Supreme Military Chief of the Republican Army and Commander-in-Chief Zhao Bei.

The only assistant to assist the Commander-in-Chief in formulating this prison escape plan was Tian Jinfu. This matter was top secret. Even Chief of Staff Lan Tianwei was completely unaware of it. From the beginning, only Zhao Bei and Tian Jinfu were planned. Although several staff members also participated in the preliminary preparations for the matter, they did not know what the Commander-in-Chief wanted to do, and in fact Tian Jinfu was not very clear.

At this moment, Tian Jinfu was holding a telegram codebook and effortlessly translated a password telegram on the table, while Zhao Bei stood aside and drafted another telegram draft.

"Commander, it's translated." Tian Jinfu straightened his waist and handed over the telegram.

Zhao Bei looked at it, nodded with satisfaction, and said, "Since the strips of cloth were taken out of the feces bucket, it means that Duan Jin has carefully read the contents on it and attaches great importance to it. This is exactly the same as what we expected, and it is consistent with the report of the 'nail' we arranged. It has bitten the hook and can be retracted."

After saying that, he burned the telegram and copied the draft, and then handed the draft telegram to Tian Jinfu.

"Translate it into a password immediately, take a photo to Tianjin, issue instructions to the 'Iron Bridge' and 'Tao Shu'. In addition, reliable personnel are sent to Tianjin with password letters and handed them to the 'Iron Bridge' and 'Tao'. Some things are not clear and inconvenient to say in the telegram."

Tian Jinfu took the draft and translated it with the code book.

After he finished translating the telegram, Zhao Bei said again: "I plan another telegram to instruct the intelligence officer stationed in Huayang to take my order to find the Huayang City Defense Commander. According to the plan formulated, considering that Duan Jin had already 'escape' last time, this time it was more realistic and it could burn some prisoners and let more prisoners go. Remember, the Japanese, Gongxiong Nishizawa, must let him escape with Duan Jin, which is very critical. After the operation, the Huayang City Defense Commander was immediately promoted to the colonel and transferred to the Military Intelligence Bureau."

He paused and said, "This operation is of great importance. Although Duan Jin's initiative is not completely in our hands after he escapes, at least our Huayang operation must not fail. The relevant documents of this operation will be blank and left with an action code:

action."

The commander-in-chief and the guards arranged secret operations in the secret room, but outside the secret room, a group of gentry and local officials, "Sichuan Xuanfu Envoy", were also waiting here.

The reason why so many people are waiting at the headquarters is very simple. Because the commander-in-chief has officially issued an order yesterday, he will leave Chengdu this afternoon and rush to Chongqing from Route 6. After a short rest, he will lead some Republican troops back to Hubei.

It is impossible not to return to Hubei. Now that the founding of the People's Republic of China has basically ended, several newly built divisions of the Beiyang Army are being arranged along the Beijing-Han Railway, and the vanguard has arrived in Kaifeng and Luoyang. Although there is only half of the division's troops, it has put military pressure on Hubei. The commander-in-chief must rush back to Hubei to stay in charge to stabilize the hearts of the people and to figure out the true intentions of the Beiyang Army.

Everyone, including Yang Du, did not know the real reason why Zhao Bei was rushing back to Hubei. In Yang Du's opinion, many things in Sichuan still need to be handled by Zhao Bei himself, and Yuan Shikai has not yet issued a formal appointment of the "Sichuan Governor". For the commander-in-chief who has always paid attention to "legitimate", his rule in Sichuan may be subject to the possibility of being criticized, which is intolerable for the commander-in-chief.

Just as Yang Du and others were measuring the real reason why the commander-in-chief rushed back to Hubei, the guard captain Tian Jinfu walked out of the commander-in-chief's office with a few telegram papers, greeted Yang Du and several acquaintances, and hurriedly left.

After a moment, the commander-in-chief also walked out of the office, and Zhang Jiyang, the secretary-general of the Political and Publicity Committee, hurried over.

Zhao Bei smiled and said to everyone: "Dear Sichuan elders and revolutionary comrades, the founding of the Kingdom is almost over, and the Battle of Conquest of Sichuan is over. Zhao has been lingering in Sichuan for several months. The task of restoring Sichuan has been completed. Now there is still a lot of work in Wuhan that needs to be handled, so I will entrust the Sichuan affairs to you."

"Who will preside over the government's work after the commander-in-chief left?" Yang Du asked hurriedly.

The four military governments are now brains of Zhao Bei. Once Zhao Bei leaves, it is impossible for the Sichuan military government to be controlled by Zhao Bei in Wuhan. At least there should be a puppet of the commander-in-chief. This puppet candidate is basically certain that it is a general in the Republican Army. Yang Du was eager to know who would take over Zhao Bei's position. Looking at Zhang Qiyang on the side, he felt that the possibility of this person taking over was relatively high. If it were this person, it would not be so easy to win over.

"I have suggested that the center should temporarily implement military separation in Sichuan. Military affairs will still be in charge of me, and civil affairs will be handed over to the governor and the House of Assembly. Xizi, I, the "Sichuan Governor", was also publicly recommended by the people of Sichuan. Although the center is not convenient for formal appointments, it does not mean that the public opinion of the people of Sichuan can be ignored. When the negotiations with Japan are over, I will take the initiative to take this "Sichuan Governor"!"

Zhao Bei's statement made the Sichuan gentry and the officials relaxed their hearts, but at the same time, Yang Du's heart suddenly sank.

"I am also wrong in Xiangcheng's plan. Commander-in-Chief Zhao is so domineering, so he is already in a state of great power. If I had known today, why would I have been there?"

Yang Du sighed in his heart, regretting that he had suggested that Yuan Shikai appoint Zhao Bei as the "Salt Administration Supervisor of the Six Southwest Provinces". If he had known that the Commander-in-Chief was so greedy for power, he would not have helped him no matter what.

But then again, if Yuan Shikai refused to appoint Zhao Bei as the supervisor of the Salt Administration, then the "presidential system" written into the Constitution would not be realized. After all this, Yuan Shikai and Yang Du really had no choice at that time.

Even though he knew that he was drinking poison to quench his thirst, he had to drink that cup of poisonous wine. Yuan Shikai not only drank, but also continued to drink. Will Yang Du continue to drink too?

Yang Du himself didn't know either.

...

A few days later, a gunboat rose and started to fire at the dock at Chaotianmen Wharf in Chongqing. The iron-blooded Republic flag flying at the stern of the boat was particularly bright.

Zhao Bei, commander-in-chief of the Republican Army, stood on the open-air bridge, accompanied by a group of subordinates, and waved to the representatives and members of the civilians who were sending the commander-in-chief back to Hubei on the shore.

After rushing from Chengdu to Chongqing, Zhao Bei only rested in this mountain city for half a day, and took the boat to the host the next day. Before leaving Chongqing, he attended a plenary meeting of members in the Provincial House of Commons. At the meeting, he announced in public that although the "Chuan-Han Road Deficit Case" is still under trial, all stocks of Sichuan-Han Railway Company will continue to be valid and will never depreciate. As for the deficit road deposit, they will be regarded as losses in operation. After the railway is built in the future, once the profit is made, the stock holders can cash in the stock. Moreover, from now on, the whole province of Sichuan will no longer force "rental shares", the railway company will achieve complete commercialization, and reorganize the board of directors of the railway company again.

As a compensation for the Sichuan people and also as a reward for the support of the Sichuan people for the revolutionary army during the Battle of Sichuan, Zhao Bei also announced that Sichuan Tianfu Pu was exempted for one year as the Sichuan public governor.

These two measures not only stabilized the hearts of the people, but also kept the commander-in-chief's prestige in Sichuan.

"Xiuhao is the public opinion, this is the public's heart."

Looking at the representative of the scholars and people who were as good as mountains and seas, Zhao Bei said only one sentence to Lan Tianwei standing beside him.

One sentence is enough, "Give the people's hearts and interests to the world", there is no need to say this sentence.

...

Of course, Zhao Bei didn't know that just after he led the fleet to sail eastward, four fugitives in ragged clothes also arrived in Chongqing. Although they arrived half a day late and did not catch up with the Commander-in-Chief's farewell ceremony, the situation that day was transmitted to their ears through the mouths of the people.

"Zhao Bei, I am incompatible with you!" Duan Jin said gritting his teeth.

"This person is very good at bribing people's hearts and is a difficult opponent to deal with." Nishizawa Gongxiong sighed.

"Master Duan, don't stand here. The Japanese concession is ahead. Let's go over quickly. When Mr. Nishize and others join us, we will disguise ourselves as Japanese and flee to Liaodong. Let's see the place where our ancestors conquered the world." Guishan interrupted.

"You guys, don't look at it. There are revolutionary troops standing outside the Japanese concession. Will we be caught back when we go over? Although the fire in Huayang County Prison was burned in time and we all escaped, but Jessen was beaten to death by pursuers. If we are caught back again, we will have to be buried in a pit with Jessen." Eledenb whispered.

However, this reminder was exchanged for Duan Jin's slap.

"You guy thinks that the Japanese only live in the concession? Mr. Nishizawa said it well, you shouldn't have brought you idiot with you at that time! It's useless to say anything, just say despicable!"

"Master, don't be angry. When I was in prison, I had a bad temper. You are not careful about villains. When I arrived in Liaodong, I was a bannerman. Even if I went to war, I could carry a gun, right?"

The fugitives gathered together and muttered for a long time before turning around toward the concession, but they did not dare to get close. Instead, they knocked on an inconspicuous small silk shop and hid in happily.

The night quickly enveloped.

In Chongqing, this mountain city has returned to tranquility.

Late at night, an encrypted telegram was shot through a wireless telegraph machine set up in Chongqing. If the content of the telegram is translated, there are only eleven words:
Chapter completed!