On April 8, after the ancestor worship and tomb sweeping were completed, Wang Longzhong appointed Wang Zhenyu as the commander of the Jingzhou Prefecture's military preparedness office and the ninth brigade leader in the name of the Baoding Town Guard Commander. He led the ninth brigade to take up their posts. This move was also a deliberate one by Wang Longzhong, who knew that most of his senior officers had already been won over by Tan Yankai. Therefore, he sent his only trusted nephew to Jingzhou Prefecture, thereby distancing him from Changsha, which was a countermeasure against the current situation, although he himself did not have high hopes for its effectiveness.

  Jingzhou, in the autumn of the Warring States period, belonged to Chu, and during the Qin dynasty, it was part of Qianzhong Commandery. During the Han dynasty, it was part of Wuling Commandery's Langcheng County. From the Eastern Jin to the Southern dynasties, it was part of Wuyang County. During the Sui dynasty, it belonged to Longbiao County. In the eighth year of the Tang dynasty's Zhenguan period (634), it became Langxi County. During the mid-Tang period, the leader of the Tujia people living here self-proclaimed himself as the ruler of Chengzhou. At the end of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Yang Zaishi, the chieftain of Shiguan, occupied the land and claimed to be the governor of Chengzhou. In the early Song dynasty, it was a loose rein state. In the fourth year of the Yuanfeng period (1081), Chengzhou was formally established. The following year, Guanbao, a county in Xunzhou, was divided into Shiqi Yang County. In the second year of the Chongning period (1103), Chengzhou was renamed Jingzhou, and Shiqi Yang County was renamed Yongping County. In the third year of the Hongwu period (1370) of the Ming dynasty, it was promoted to Jingzhou Prefecture, but nine years later, it was demoted back to a state, with Yongping County being abolished and merged into the state, directly under the jurisdiction of the Huguang Governor's Office. This arrangement continued during the Qing dynasty.

  At that time, Jingzhou was not the same as today's Jingxian County. In fact, it included today's Jingzhou, Huitong, Tongdao and Suining of Shaoyang. Historically, a large-scale plague occurred in Jingzhou at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and the population was almost wiped out. A large number of people from Baoqing Prefecture moved to Jingzhou.

  However, these have little to do with Wang Zhenyu, what he is most concerned about is the current situation in Jingzhou. The young jingcha named He Jian whom he had recruited in Changsha had infiltrated Jingzhou Prefecture half a month ago and sent back extremely valuable first-hand information.

  Speaking of He Jian, it was also a coincidence when he returned from Nanjing and entered Changsha.

  At that time, He Jian was just a small police officer in the Civil Affairs Bureau of Changsha. He had always yearned to make a name for himself, but despite his family's wealth, he lacked strong connections and repeatedly failed to get into the Army Elementary School, eventually having to settle for enrolling in the Law and Politics Academy as a minor police officer. As a result, at 25 years old, he was still drifting through life, which made He Jian very discontented.

  So when he saw Wang Zhenyu entering the city with great fanfare at Xiao Wu Men, apart from feeling envious, he also had a startling thought - this young general might be worth following. He Jian didn't like reading books and even left behind a famous poem in history: Autumn is gone, how many autumns are there? Human life is short, how many years do we have? How long will it take to seek poverty and lowliness? How long will it take to become rich and noble?

  However, in reality, this person is quite intelligent and has a strong analytical mind. He graduated from the Law and Politics Academy and was able to deduce an astonishing conclusion from Wang Zhenyu's resume. This man named Wang Zhenyu is currently on a rapid rise. Moreover, according to He Jian's judgment, there won't be many useful people around this young general in a short period of time, let alone talented ones. And this, coincidentally, is the opportunity for him to join.

  So he was very bold and went to see Wang Zhenyu that night.

  He Jian was also confused, he went to see a lieutenant general of the army with just one small police officer, how could he be seen. But what is most difficult to explain in life are the two words "luck". Coincidentally, the officer on duty at the travel department that night, Captain Zhao Dongsheng, was also from Liling and his village was not far from He Jian's.

  Although it was a difficult situation, Zhao Dongsheng, who attached great importance to the face of his fellow countrymen and had a hot-headed brain, made an announcement for He Jian.

  It was originally a matter of courtesy, but unexpectedly, Wang Zhenyu agreed to meet as soon as he heard the visitor's name. Ridiculous, if Wang Zhenyu didn't even know the name of Hunan's Wang Hejian, his history would be truly in vain. And so, He Jian actually met with Wang Zhenyu.

  He Jian also calmed down after seeing Wang Zhenyu, realizing that he had been reckless, and was extremely grateful that such a big shot as Wang Zhenyu would condescend to see him, a small fry.

  Wang Zhenyu has now begun to show the demeanor of a superior, he no longer has the excitement and enthusiasm when he first arrived in this era and saw historical figures, he has set his sights on becoming the greatest person of this era, so naturally the plot of idolizing famous people has dissipated, who would go out of their way to worship their own opponent or subordinate?

  So he didn't get excited when he heard that He Jian wanted to follow him, but instead calmly analyzed it and thought it shouldn't be a trap. Who would use a small Jing as bait? So he asked He Jian to make a self-introduction like a modern interviewer.

  He Jin was also estimated to be facing this situation for the first time, but what made Wang Zhenyu amazed was that an extremely ordinary person would do extremely ordinary things. He Jian did not show any tension and calmly recounted his own experiences one by one.

  Wang Zhenyu looked at this celebrity who was as tall as Zhao Dongsheng, thought for a moment: "You stay by my side, first serve as a lieutenant colonel staff officer."

  He Jian thus became a formal officer of the Ninth Corps and played a very crucial role in the subsequent Changsha soldiers' uprising.

  After learning that the whole army was going to Jingzhou, Wang Zhenyu assigned He Jian his first task, organizing a group of people to enter Jingzhou Prefecture ahead of the main force and gather information about the local situation.

  Wang Zhenyu now holds in his hand the intelligence sent back by He Jian:

  Jingzhou Prefecture administered the directly-controlled state of Jing County, Huitong, Tongdao and Suining. After the outbreak of the revolution, the last governor of Qing Dynasty's Jingzhou, Su Zhao-kui, abandoned his post and fled, and the Baojing area came under the control of the Baojing Military and Political Division established by Jiao Da-feng.

  However, the Baojing Military Government Division established later was deceived by Tan Yankai on November 3, 1911, and "Military Governor of the Military Government Division" Xie Jieseng and Zou Yongcheng were imprisoned in Changsha. He appointed Tongmenghui member Tan Xinxiu as "Baojing Recruitment Envoy", ordering him to lead Mei Xing's battalion to go to Baoqing and Jingzhou to "recruit". The radical member of the Tongmenghui, Zou Dailei, was killed, and Baoqing fell into Tan Yankai's hands.

  As for the Jingzhou government, due to geographical reasons, Tan Xinxiu was in a hurry to lead his army back to Changsha, so he appointed Wang Dezhi, a local scholar of Jingzhou, as the acting governor.

  It's worth mentioning that He Jian infiltrated Jingzhou for only half a month, but he accurately and flawlessly delivered an important piece of information, which played a crucial role in Wang Zhenyu's subsequent development.

  This message is about the Xiangxi region: Jingzhou, Chenzhou, Yuanzhou all belong to the Xiangxi region. The forces here are very complex, with military forces such as Miao villages, bandits, Fenghuang pole armies, and divine soldiers. Politically, the actual control of Qing officials does not extend beyond the county seat, while clan and village forces are strong. More importantly, among the various forces, it is not the government that plays a coordinating and buffering role, but rather the four major merchant families of Zhang, Zhu, Liang, and Liu from Hongjiang.

  What surprised Wang Zhenyu the most was that He Jianming clearly told Wang Zhenyu that there were very few troops stationed locally, and the strongest military force was in the hands of merchants. The armed forces of the Chamber of Commerce itself were still worth looking at in terms of equipment.

  He suggested that Wang Zhenyu stabilize the situation through Chen Hongji, a well-known timber merchant in Jingzhou, in order to achieve a smooth transition of power.

  He Jian himself planned to go to Hongjiang with Wang Zhenyu after he took office in Jingzhou to understand the actual situation. As a graduate of Fazheng Academy, his intelligence analysis is very logical and excellent.

  On April 10, Wang Zhenyu led the three infantry regiments of the 9th Division of Xiang Army, the division headquarters, the training team, the special affairs company, the reconnaissance company, and the engineer battalion, with a total of more than 4,300 people, into Quyang, where Jingzhou Prefecture was located. All officials, merchants, and gentry in Jingzhou, from acting prefect Wang Dezhi down, came out of the city to welcome the new commander-in-chief.

  Wang Zhenyu first comforted Wang Dezhi, still letting him serve as the prefect of Jingzhou Prefecture, in charge of all major and minor government affairs. Only then did the various circles in Jingzhou finally breathe a sigh of relief. Next, it was only natural to kill pigs and send wine to entertain Wang Zhenyu's troops.

  Wang Zhenyu's first thing to do after the dinner party that night was to ask He Jian to secretly invite Chen Hongji to see him.

  Chen Hongji is a notable figure in Jingzhou Prefecture. He is not a native of Jingzhou, but rather a migrant from Baoqing Prefecture who came to Jingzhou to make a living due to the scarcity of land and overpopulation in his hometown. As a result, he rose from being a humble errand boy at a tung oil shop to becoming one of the largest bosses in Jingzhou today, with his business occupying nearly 20% of the local market. Moreover, he is known for his kindness and generosity, having built bridges and roads, earning him a great reputation and prestige among the locals.

  Of course, if following the later red education, a person with local influence like this should be directly shot as a counter-revolutionary, no need to say more, the local people will definitely be intimidated by this, and the prestige of the new regime will also be established in that one shot.

  Ke Wang Zhenyu wasn't interested in this, although he also received red education growing up. However, he had a perspective that was spontaneously formed: as Chinese people, shouldn't we talk about loving our compatriots? Is it glorious to kill our own kind with such enthusiasm?

  Chen Hongji is over 40 years old, not tall in stature, still dressing in the style of the previous dynasty, and his demeanor is even more that of an old-fashioned businessman. He was very polite to Wang Zhenyu because of He Jian's good work beforehand, so Chen Hongji answered all of Wang Zhenyu's questions.

  Wang Zhenyu wanted to know the key point, not Jingzhou, but the four major families of Hongjiang mentioned by He Jian in that intelligence, which was not mentioned at all in the history textbooks of later generations.

  According to Chen Hongji, the specialty of Jingzhou Prefecture is timber. This business is basically done by people from Baoqing, with an annual transaction value exceeding one million. However, in Hongjiang, timber only accounts for a small proportion. The two most profitable businesses are tung oil and opium.

  The annual trading volume of tung oil is almost 10 million, while that of opium is unclear, but it's estimated to be more rather than less.

  Tung oil business is currently monopolized by the four families of Zhang, Zhu, Liang and Liu. Among them, the Zhang family and the Zhu family come from Jiangxi and Anhui respectively, not local people, but have taken root in Hongjiang for decades, becoming a big family that can influence the entire Xiangxi.

  Tung oil business, the two families each account for 30%, and the expansion of the two families is also very tacit. The Zhang family expanded northward to Yuanzhou, Xuzhou direction, while the Zhu family went to Huitong direction. The first generation of the Zhang family, Zhang Jichang, has passed away, and now the third generation, Zhang Jingkun, is in charge of the Zhang Jichang Oil Company. Although it is no longer the number one among the eight major oil companies in Hongjiang, it still holds significant weight.

  The first generation of the Zhu family, Zhu Zhi, is still alive, but he is already over 70 years old and has become very old. His wealth is not worth mentioning, Chen Hongji mentioned to Wang Zhenyu a common anecdote about these two families:

  A fortune teller told Zhang Jichang that the wealth of his family would not last beyond three generations, and that his descendants would eventually starve to death on the streets. Zhang Jichang then went out and randomly selected 30 people, gave them money to start businesses, with the only condition being that when his own descendants came begging for food in the future, they would be given alms.

  Later, another fortune teller told Zhu Zhi'da that his family's wealth would also not last beyond three generations. To leave a way out for his future descendants, Zhu Zhi'da invested a large sum of money to build 360 shops and rented them out to merchants at no cost, with the condition being that when his family fell on hard times and his descendants were struggling to make ends meet, each shop would take turns providing them with food.

  When others used Zhang Jichang's story to talk about Zhu Zhi'da, Zhu Zhi'da surprisingly said something very philosophical: "If my descendants are stronger than me, what do they need money for? If they are weaker than me, what do they need money for?" This saying quickly spread throughout the entire Xiangxi business community.