.On the beginning of October, the weather in the north was getting colder. A number of small foreign buildings were recently built in a small town in the suburbs of Lu'an County, Anhui. All of them were rich politicians, businessmen or big landlords to enjoy their old age. And behind these small foreign buildings, which were both brand new and generous, there was a quaint mansion with a slightly old color but a separate forest garden.

This ancient mansion had several names before. People remember that the earliest name was "Zhenwei Mansion", and later it was changed to "Tiger Garden". Now all the plaques hanging at the door have been demolished, and only a bare piece remains on the eaves of the door. Despite this, the locals still privately called this ancient garden house "Duan Mansion".

Since the peace talks between the north and the south, Duan Qirui has stayed away from the political arena and returned to his hometown to live a life of a residence. Not only that, even those adjutants who were willing to follow him and their subordinates were fired. In the entire "Duan Mansion", there are no military and political figures except for the old servants and maids who have been serving the left and right before.

Grow flowers and trees every day, fish and drink tea when you are leisurely and elegant, and you no longer have to worry about intrigues in the officialdom, nor have you have to worry about state affairs and political affairs. After these days of self-cultivation, Duan Qirui's whole body and mind have long returned to nature, and even the problem of crooked nose has been completely eradicated.

However, early in the morning, a team of people riding tall horses came from the county town to the countryside. After some inquiries, they found Duan Qirui's mansion. The horse riders were wearing casual clothes, but they were all energetic, dark skin, arms, legs and feet looked very neat. Many people had pistol holsters on their waists, and they were obviously from the army.

When they arrived in front of the Duan Mansion compound, the leader vaulted down first, and the people following him also turned over and fell off one after another.

"Is this here?" The leader turned around and asked. He was tall and thin, but he felt very strong, and he spoke with a strong northwest accent.

"Brother, that's right, it's just here, there is no sign." A young man walked forward with his horse, nodded and replied to the leader.

"Go up and ask, wait, I'll go up in person." After the leader said that, he handed the rope to the young man, then walked to the gate of the courtyard with great strides, and carefully buckled the door twice.

After a while, footsteps came from the courtyard gate, and an old voice asked, "Who is outside the door?" Logically speaking, as long as someone knocks on the door, the doorman will first open a crack in the door to ask, so he can see who is outside the door. But obviously Duan Qirui has been closed to thank guests in recent years, and he rarely opens the door, so the doorman saves waste of energy. If the former subordinate comes to visit, he will refuse through the door.

The leader outside the door asked respectfully: "Is this the mansion of Duan Guogong?"

The concierge was surprised by the title of "Duke of the Kingdom". Duke of the Kingdom was a title. Although Duke of the Kingdom was a high and powerful person in the past, no one used such a respectful title on weekdays. He immediately seemed a little abrupt and asked again: "Who are you?"

The leader said: "Ma Bufang, who is in Qinghai, came here to visit Duke Duan today. I'll report it."

The concierge was not familiar with the name Ma Bufang at all, but since he was here to visit Duan Qirui, he naturally refused according to the management: "My master has been in a closed door for a year. I'm really sorry, please ask this Lord Ma to come back."

Ma Bufang was stunned and said calmly: "Old man, we have not had ten thousand miles from Qinghai and eight thousand miles away. You sent us this sentence, which is a bit hasty. In any case, please inform us on your behalf and say that Ma Bufang has important matters to pay homage to Duan Guoguo."

The concierge sighed. It was indeed a journey from Qinghai to here. Even if the master did not see a guest, he should have a cup of tea to quench his thirst. He immediately opened the door and asked everyone to come to the front hall to sit down first, instructed the servants to prepare tea and fruits for a simple reception, and then went to the backyard to inform Duan Qirui.

At this time, Duan Qirui was raising fish in a small pond in the backyard, throwing the fish materials that had been prepared in the pond. Seeing all kinds of small fish rushing to compete, a pleasant wave appeared on his calm face.

The doorman walked behind Duan Qirui and bowed slightly and said, "Master, there are some guests outside the door. One of them claimed to be Ma Bufang from Qinghai, and said that he would visit the master if he had something important."

Duan Qirui didn't react for a moment and muttered to himself, "Ma Bufang? I don't know this person."

The statement of the Ma family army in the northwest has not achieved much. Although the Ma family is a military family, the Ma family army has experienced ups and downs and gradually declined since the Boxer National Damage. In the early days of the Republic of China, it relied on the Beiyang government to transfer from the grassroots to the army. In the end, it was just one of the warlords of all sizes in China.

When Duan Qirui was in power, he did deal with Ma Bufang's father, but he was just a general friend. He didn't care much about the Ma family army. Therefore, today, the younger generation of Ma Bufang came to visit and could not remember who he was for a while.

The concierge quickly asked for instructions and said, "Then I'll ask them to leave now?"

Duan Qirui thought for a while and said, "Qinghai Ma Bufang? The son of Ma Gechen, the Western Army?"

The concierge didn't know how to answer, but he didn't know anything about these things.

Duan Qirui felt very strange. The Beiyang government did not have much tacit understanding with the Northwest Ma Family Army at that time. One reason was that the place was remote, and the other was that the Ma Family Army was not large at that time and there was no place worth noting. Why did the young generation of the Ma Family Army suddenly find this place today?

Although he has only asked about political affairs over the years and has refused many of his old subordinates' social engagements, he occasionally cared about domestic and foreign news and current affairs, and talked about entertainment, so that he would not do anything all day long. Because of this, he was very curious about the sudden appearance of the Ma family in the Northwest. After all, the two sides had little friendship before, and after he stepped down, he had no relationship. Which style of people brought these people to him?

After waiting for a while, the concierge asked inconspicuously: "Master, are you seeing each other? Or are you not seeing each other?"

Duan Qirui sighed slightly and said quietly: "It is not easy for him to come from afar. If he doesn't even see him, it will be inappropriate for both emotion and reason."

The concierge nodded and said, "I understand, I'll make arrangements now."

After a while, a housekeeper led Ma Bufang and others to the living room in the atrium. Duan Qirui slowly walked into the living room from the back corridor with a cane. When Ma Bufang and others saw Duan Qirui, they quickly stood up to salute. They were all respectful and sincere, which made Duan Qirui feel a little uncomfortable for a moment.

"You are guests entering the door and come from afar. I am not well served, so I hope Hai is willing to let you go. Please sit down." Duan Qirui said this politely, and then called Ma Bufang and others to sit down.

Ma Bufang once again formally reported to Duan Qirui's house and said some polite words.

Duan Qirui just listened with a smile, then shook his hand and said slowly: "Mr. Ma has been exaggerating. I have faded out of politics for a long time. I am just a fool in the countryside. The past has left the world free and unremarkable stories. Now there is no need to mention the old things again. Since Mass Ma is the son of the brother of the Pavilion, I don't know how good the Lord will be in the near future?"

Ma Bufang immediately replied: "Thanks to the Lord's concern, my father is well, eats well, and sleeps well. He is often still caring about President Yuan's kindness and Premier Duan's kindness."

Duan Qirui frowned slightly. If it was really a re-report of old things, he would not be happy and sighed, "It would be best if all is good, but I just won't mention old things anymore. Then, what is the matter of Mr. Ma coming from afar? Qinghai is not short of this journey, I really hope Mr. Ma will not be in vain for this trip."

Ma Bufang waited until the servants brought the tea and left one after another, and then said, "Don't you know what happened in the country during this period?"

Duan Qirui said leisurely: "Oh? Do you mean the war between China and Japan?"

Ma Bufang shook his head and continued patiently: "It's in Beijing."

Duan Qirui said "Oh", picked up the teacup and took a sip of the tea slowly, and then said carelessly: "I heard that it is nothing more than the head of state to rectify the officialdom."

Ma Bufang immediately said: "This is not just as simple as rectifying the officialdom. A few days ago, I had already sent someone to Beijing and met Lord Wang at Tieshizi Hutong."

Duan Qirui frowned slightly, and he asked, "Mr. Wang?"

Ma Bufang quickly explained: "It's Wang Pinqing and Wang."

Of course Duan Qirui had already guessed who this Lord Wang was. As one of the three heroes of Beiyang in the past, although the three heroes were already disloyal a long time ago, fortunately there was still a little news. Wang Shizhen has always regarded herself as a legitimate elder in the Qing Dynasty, opposing the Republic and the Republic of China, and has no hesitation to have conflicts with Yuan Shikai for this.

Later, Wu Shaoting took over the power of the central government and knew Wang Shizhen's temper well, so he simply had no intention of using the other party. He just nominally asked him to be responsible for some ritual work in the Forbidden City.

I heard that after he became the capital in Nanjing, Wang Shizhen lived in the former Iron Lion Interchange at the former site of the Marshal Lu Hai's Office, and changed the mansion of the Marshal Lu Hai's Office into a private house, which looked like a "gravekeeper". His frequent activities were to visit the former Qing nobles in the Forbidden City, or to fight birds and enjoy flowers with other Qing Dynasty veterans.

Although Duan Qirui is not interested in politics now, and Wang Shizhen is still constantly against him at the beginning, after all, he has been intimate since North Korea, and suddenly asked about this person's situation, he still remembers it. He has no serious things when he pacified Japan, and he also knows that Wang Shizhen is also leaving the country, so he just treats it as a revelation.
Chapter completed!