The revolutions in the southern provinces were not all smooth. At least, in Hubei, which was the first successful revolution in history, although the Tongmenghui also tried to launch a revolution, Hubei was managed quite tightly by Zhang Zhidong, although Zhang Zhidong is now under control. Even though they were transferred to the capital, Hubei is still not easy to shake. In addition, the Tongmenghui habitually failed to maintain confidentiality, so the uprising was sabotaged by the Qing government before it was even launched. At this time, the Qing court was also hurriedly discussing how to suppress the revolution. After the revolution broke out, the regent Zaifeng, the Queen Mother Yulong, and a group of important ministers discussed countermeasures. In their opinion, the best way is to let Tieliang lead the Beiyang Army to suppress the rebellious parties in the south. However, after the order was issued, the Beiyang Army was always unable to move. They first wanted the departure fee and the silver reward. After finally satisfying these, the Beiyang Army started to move. However, the Beiyang Army's movements were so slow, it was like a rich girl going out for an outing. On the tenth day after the Hangzhou Uprising, the Beiyang Army began to move south from Tianjin. It took ()() (novel) ten days, but the vanguard of the Beiyang Army had not yet reached Xuzhou. But the Hubei New Army moved much faster. Compared with Yuan Shikai, the Manchu nobles believed in Zhang Zhidong more, so Zhang Zhidong was able to return to Hubei to suppress the situation and prepare to lead the Hubei New Army to suppress the uprising in Jiangnan. In the Qing Dynasty, the Hubei New Army was a military force second only to Beiyang. In addition, Hubei is located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and with Zhang Zhidong in charge, the pressure on the revolutionary army immediately increased. ¡ The first person to feel this pressure was the Guangfuhui who had just taken control of Anqing. Before the ground forces of the Hubei New Army came over, the gunboats belonging to the Hubei New Army first followed the Yangtze River to the vicinity of Anqing, and shelled the original Anqing New Army camp, now the revolutionary army's camp. And there was an artillery battle with the Anqing New Army. In the artillery battle, the Hubei New Army also clearly showed higher tactical literacy. Their artillery fired faster and more accurately. During the exchange of fire, the revolutionary army suffered nearly a hundred casualties and lost five cannons. And this is almost all the artillery in the hands of the Anqing Revolutionary Army. After this, under the supervision of Zhang Zhidong, the Hubei New Army of about 4,000 people began to march towards Anqing. The situation suddenly became dangerous. After learning about the crisis in Anqing, several people directly in charge of the Liberation Association, including Tao Chengzhang and Qiu Jin, no longer cared about Chen Qimei and Shanghai. Tao Chengzhang went directly to the Pacific Bank in Hangzhou, hoping to get there Order a batch of weapons. This foreign company was founded by Chen Guang and other Chinese, and the real boss behind it was of course Macdonald. At the same time, Qiu Jin rushed to Anqing with the most direct troops of the Guangfuhui to stabilize the situation. "Mr. Tao, you know that according to general rules, we cannot sell weapons to countries that are in civil war." Who painted with Tao Chengzhang is the general manager of a foreign company. This young man is called Chen Ping, who is Chen Guang His grandson, as a third-generation Chinese who has done well, has very little Chineseness in him, including his appearance. Due to marrying Yang Ma for two consecutive generations, Chen Ping looks completely Caucasian, but he can also speak Chinese, but his Chinese is far less authentic than English. It can be said that apart from his name, there is not much Chinese flavor about him. "But to be honest, you also know that my grandfather started this foreign company to help the Chinese rebel. He has always hated the Manchu government. So, as long as it is a rebellion, we are always willing to help. But this is There is one more procedure to go through. We will register a company in Cuba, and then use this company¡¯s name to purchase weapons and sell them to you. This way we will not violate the U.S. government¡¯s principles on selling weapons.¡± Mr. Chen, is this too late? Moreover, it will take a lot of time to ship the weapons from the United States. Is there a faster way?" Tao Chengzhang asked. "Registering a company in Cuba is very fast. I send a telegram now. By night, it will be morning for them, and then we can register the company in one morning at most. To be honest, Cuban law is very difficult to register a company. There are very few restrictions in order to provide such convenience to companies in many countries. Of course, they will not do this for free. They need to collect money to help us bypass legal issues. You know, most of them come from Cuba. All re-exports can receive tax rebates, but arms sales to circumvent legal obstacles are definitely not included. Therefore, this batch of goods needs to pay a tariff for entering Cuba. Therefore, the price will be higher than usual. " "That's understandable, so when will the weapons arrive at the earliest?" Tao Chengzhang asked. "We will place an order immediately. According to the quantity you provided, the goods will be ready in the United States in about a week. Then if it is loaded in New York, passed through the Panama Canal, and then shipped to Shanghai, the whole process will take at least one month. After arriving in Shanghai, if it needs to be transported to Anqing, it will take about five days. "Chen Ping replied. "Is there a faster way? "About one and a half months made Tao Chengzhang feel a little slow. "If the goods are shipped from San Francisco, that is to say, the goods are sent to San Francisco by rail first, and then boarded from there, it can save a week and a half. If you can hire the latest fast free wheel transport, you can save about a week. In this way, we can deliver the goods within a month. Of course, if you do this, transportation costs will also rise a lot. " "Isn't it possible to be faster? "After about a month, Tao Chengzhang felt that it was still a bit slow. "It can't be faster. "Chen Ping said, "Under the current technical level, this is the fastest speed. However, Mr. Tao, if you are really anxious, there is actually another way. " "What solution? "Tao Chengzhang asked. "You can directly hire a group of mercenaries. Chen Ping replied, "There is a mercenary company in Cuba called the 'Protective Umbrella' company." They can provide mercenary services. " "Mercenaries? "Tao Chengzhang didn't think of this at the moment. "Yes, mercenary. Today, U.S. laws impose more and more restrictions on mercenary companies. Therefore, Blackwater's current business scope has shrunk a lot. Now it can basically only provide VIP protection and related training, and can no longer directly undertake foreign combat business. Blackwater's shareholders certainly don't want to see a loss of business. So they registered this ¡®protection. umbrella¡¯ company in Cuba, where the laws are relatively loose, specifically to provide the services previously provided by Blackwater. They have ready-made weapons, and if you hire them, you can go faster. And their combat effectiveness is also quite strong, because in fact, they are Black Water. Our old man was born in Blackwater. According to him, ¡®If we at Blackwater were to attack the US Army, we would be able to defeat at least three of them. ¡¯ So you don¡¯t have to worry about combat effectiveness. And as far as I know, some of this company's troops are now being hired by some companies in the Philippines. If you really need speed, then we can buy their remaining contracts from those companies in the Philippines and let them They came to Anqing to perform combat missions. "Chen Ping explained. Tao Chengzhang had never thought of using foreign devils to fight a war. "Is this okay to use foreigners to fight a war? " "There's nothing wrong with this. To be honest, there are very few wars in the world that do not involve mercenaries at all. Just like the ever-victorious army when the Manchu Qing suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, weren't they just foreign mercenaries? Of course, now that times have progressed, they are no longer called mercenaries in war, but called volunteers. For example, in this war, they can be called the Cuban People's Volunteers. In fact, these volunteer troops often help the Arab sheikhs fight the Turks one day, and help the Turks suppress the Arab sheikhs the next. There are even people who have received titles from both sides. The current situation is simpler. When publicizing to the outside world, they can completely claim that they are Cuban revolutionary patriots and are fighting to realize democracy around the world. Even if you need it, we can ask them to issue a statement in Cuba under the name of the International Association for the Promotion of Democracy or some other name that supports the Chinese people's pursuit of freedom and democracy and is willing to fight for it. Of course, this statement also costs money. " "Do these mercenaries have cannons? How many of them are there? What weapons are there? When can I arrive soon? " "Yes, Cuba's laws are relatively tolerant and allow private citizens to possess cannons. So they have big guns in their hands. But I don¡¯t know very well whether or how much those guys in the Philippines have. As for the price, you can only discuss this after contacting them. However, among today's 'Umbrella' mercenaries, there are more soldiers from Cuba. Their wages are lower than those of Americans, so the prices are naturally lower. In addition, the high price also needs to consider who the opponent is. Generally speaking, prices will be divided into four major levels according to different enemies, namely first-class powerful countries, second-class powerful countries, third-class countries, and uncivilized tribes. Britain, France, and Germany belong to the first class, Russia, Italy, Austria, and Hungary belong to the second class, Turkey is the third class, and Arabs and Filipino natives are the fourth class. I think the new Qing army should probably be a little weaker than the Turkish army. Let's bargain and see if it can be considered third-level weak or fourth-level strong. This shouldn't be too expensive. Of course, the final result depends on their quotation. As for the time, if you contact them immediately to start the negotiation, generally speaking, after negotiating the price and signing the contract, they will immediately leave the Philippines and arrive in Anqing in about half a month. "Chen Ping said. "Thank you, Mr. Chen. But I still need to discuss this matter with my comrades. "Tao Chengzhang replied.