The unique geographical environment of Fenghuang gave rise to the military, in this almost every household has a soldier place, there were two big families, one is Tian family, and the other is Shen family.

  The Tian family doesn't need to be mentioned, when I was in Nanjing, Tian Yingxun and I were good friends, good brothers, after a few meals, he told me all about the glorious history of his ancestors. In comparison, the Shen family is somewhat mysterious, but there is one person from the Shen family that I know, who later became the famous literary master Mr. Shen Congwen.

  Like the Wada family, the Shen family also rose to prominence in war. Shen Congwen's grandfather, Shen Hongfu, joined the Xiang Army during the Xianfeng period and fought against the Taiping Army in several provinces in Jiangnan, becoming a prominent military leader and eventually serving as the Provincial Military Commander of Guizhou. His father, Shen Zongxi, was a martial artist who traveled extensively throughout the country and learned excellent medical skills, at one point acting as the Provincial Military Commander of Guizhou.

  But now what's giving Wang Zhenyu a headache is none other than Shen Zongyi.

  Shen Zongsu, also known as Shaoxian. This son of a military family had been determined to learn martial arts and join the army since he was young. Later, he indeed became an officer, but unfortunately, he was assigned to follow Luo Rongguang to defend the Dagu Fort, which fell when the Eight-Nation Alliance captured Tianjin in 1900. After Shen Zongsu's defeat, his life's work and most of his property were lost.

  However, Shen Zongxi, although he lost his future prospects, was not willing to retire. In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution broke out, and Shen Zongxi colluded with the military families of Tian Yingquan (Tian Yingkui's elder brother), Zhang Shenglin, and Tang Shijun to launch an uprising in Fenghuang, seizing control of the city's military and political power. At this moment, he was holding 4,000 guns and occupying Fenghuang, playing a game of confrontation with himself!

  In a place that values martial prowess, if handled properly, it can become a source of troops for one's own expansion; but if not handled well, one might end up like the Liberation Army of later generations, spending three years here fighting and being fought, with no guarantee of who will emerge victorious. Moreover, Wang Zhenyu has a unique perspective on handling such messy affairs: never use force unless absolutely necessary. Because the local people are mostly relatives, their relationships are complex and intertwined; once fighting breaks out, casualties are unavoidable, and a single misstep can lead to deep-seated blood feuds. So this phoenix is quite hot to handle, Tan Yanqing really has a good calculation!

  Just then, Zhu Zikong came in to report that someone claiming to be Tian Yingkui had arrived, saying he was an old friend of the Town Guardian Lord and requesting an audience.

  Wang Zhenyu was overjoyed when he heard the news, and said "Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives." With Tian Yingkui's arrival, the problem with Feng Huang can be easily resolved.

  "Big Brother Tian, why didn't you send someone to inform me? It would be better for me to prepare and go out of the city ten miles to welcome you." Wang Zhenyu also couldn't care about his official dignity anymore, and hastily went out to welcome him.

  Tian Yingxu has also been unhappy recently, and the dispersal of Nanjing has basically been completed. The 21st Brigade was reduced to a regiment, and Tian Yingxu felt that it didn't make sense anymore, so he resigned and went home. As a result, as soon as he arrived in Changde, he heard that his good friend Wang Zhenyu had become the defender of Xiangxi Town in his hometown, so he didn't return to Fenghuang, but instead rushed to Hongjiang.

  To Tian Yingxu, Wang Zhenyu was naturally more casual. He bluntly told him that the troops from his hometown were now opposing him, and he said, "Look at my hair, it's almost all gone. This seed your father sowed, you as a son should help me clean up."

  Tian Yingxu burst out laughing after listening to Wang Zhenyu's grievances: "Haha, I thought it was something big, but it's just the Shen family's old man bullying them. Hmm, I'll go talk to them, my daughter and their third son have been childhood sweethearts since they were young, so we're related by marriage. This person is also reasonable. Besides, my older brother Tian Yingquan is a leader in their military government department, so it's easy to talk things through. However, Wen Zheng, our army aside from fighting, doesn't have any other skills to make a living, you need to give them a way out, otherwise even if I go to mediate today, who knows they won't cause more trouble tomorrow? Especially my relative, he has a strong desire for power but hasn't had the chance to succeed, still has some ability though. You take care of it."

  Wang Zhenyu nodded: "Alright, big brother, I'll take your younger siblings and you to visit the Phoenix, meet this relative of yours. This kind of background must be given to one person."

  Tian Yingxu originally thought it was not very safe, but due to his confidence in himself and the Tian family, he finally agreed.

  During this time, Wang Zhenyu's wife Ye Daxiaojie was in a bad mood. She felt that her life was very different from what she had imagined at first. Every day was dull and uneventful like water, and if it weren't for Xiaoyue coming from Wuhan, she wouldn't even have anyone to talk to.

  This is unbearable, so Wang Zhenyu was tragic. It's also unknown that the mouth of the Wei Shi team's bastard wasn't tight, and the good name of wife control quickly spread out.

  "Have you heard?", "Really, fake...", "You don't know this?", "Didn't seem like it..."

  Some mid-level military officers were having lunch at noon when such a voiceover was almost ubiquitous.

  Wang Zhenyu didn't care about this, he thought that what he did was indeed not good, and should take his wife on a trip or something to make her happy. Coincidentally, Tian Yingjiao offered to help with the mission to Phoenix City, so Wang Zhenyu thought of the ancient city of Phoenix, which is a great place for sightseeing and relaxation. Ye Zhiwen, who grew up in the city, must have never seen it before, so he decided on the spot to go there.

  The people who followed didn't bring much, but Zhao Dongsheng, Song Haomin, Zhu Cihuan and Wang Hu, Zhao Chong and other guards had to follow. Ye Ziyun only brought a maid named Xiaoyue, and none of the maids that Wang Zhenyu bought for him after marriage were brought. However, this maid Xiaoyue seemed to be not very qualified, she didn't follow her mistress according to the rules, but instead stuck with Deputy Officer Song Haomin from time to time. And Wang Zhenyu and Ye Ziyun also saw it as a good thing, so they pretended not to see it, so everyone could only envy them.

  Tian Yingzhao's side had only a dozen or so people, everyone riding on horseback, looking at the mountains and rivers while heading towards Feng Huang.

  When passing through Luyang, Wang Zhenyu unexpectedly met Ding Wenjiang and others. Ding Wenjiang was in charge of the geological surveying and mapping work from Luyang to Huitong, and when he saw Wang Zhenyu, he immediately mentioned his unexpected discovery: it turned out that there were also large amounts of limestone and clay on this side of Luyang, with reserves far exceeding those on the Jingzhou side.

  When Ding Wenjiang said this, Wang Zhenyu immediately moved his mind. Two 1 million ton per year cement plants, wouldn't he become China's cement king? To know that the current national total output is less than 200,000 tons. Unfortunately, Old Ye Zuweng went to Shanghai to take care of foreign affairs, otherwise this matter could be handed over and handled immediately. People are scarce when they are needed, this matter will probably have to send someone to Jingzhou to invite Mr. Cheng Zufu...

  Three days later, when everyone was almost tired of the mountains and rivers along the way, they finally arrived in Fenghuang.

  Shen Zongxi didn't have any airs, nor did he make a big show with knives and guns to welcome the guests. He and Tian Yingquan and three others brought a group of senior officials from the pole army, and they honestly ran to the city gate, lined up and paid their respects to the garrison commander. Meanwhile, thousands of pole soldiers under his command stood neatly on both sides, awaiting inspection by the garrison commander.

  It's not easy being a lord, Shen Zongyi didn't think so when he was leading troops before, but only after occupying the Phoenix did he have a deep understanding. In the past, many miscellaneous things were assisted by civil officials, taxes and supplies could be collected, and military needs were naturally not worried about. But once the Qing dynasty collapsed, this system became half-paralyzed, Shen Zongyi is now worried about the food and clothing of his subordinates every day, and is dismantling everywhere. If he can't find a way out, by next month, Shen Zongyi may disband his troops according to the request of Cheng Qian, the military governor of Changsha, hand over the city defense, and then go to Changsha to run for provincial assemblyman.

  Under a gloomy and depressing dark cloud, his own relatives came back, bringing with them the person who was supposed to be his superior.

  This was like a guiding light in the dark for Shen Zongyi, and he was overjoyed. If Tan Yanxin of Changsha knew that Shen Zongyi had this idea, he would probably not ask Wang Zhenyu to move the garrison headquarters to Fenghuang even if he were beaten to death, isn't this equivalent to increasing Wang Zhenyu's power?

  The negotiations with the Fenghuang Gun Army went exceptionally smoothly, and there was a great god like Tian Yingxie squatting here. With Tian Yingquan and Tang Shijun's efforts to promote it, both sides quickly reached an agreement.

  There are five in total

  First. Shen Zongxi handed over the troops and the defense of Fenghuang City, as well as civil affairs, which from then on belonged to the command of Wang Zhenyu, the garrison commander of Xiangxi.

  Secondly, Wang Zhenyu appointed Tian Yingkui as the deputy envoy of a vacant position in Xiangxi Town, and Tian Yingkui lived in Fenghuang.

  Third, the Chenyuan Administrative Office no longer governs Fenghuang, but instead sets up Yuanzhou and newly establishes a Mayang County under its jurisdiction. The Jishou Prefecture is established, with eight counties including Fenghuang, Longshan, Baojing, Yongshun, Sangzhi, Guchen, Huayuan, and Qiancheng, with a population of 12 million.

  Fourth. All the officers of the surrendered army will enter the military academy next month to study, and then be assigned according to their performance and ability. The soldiers will all be reorganized and distributed to various departments for three months of retraining.

  Fifthly, Wang Zhenyu will also recruit 5,000 young people aged between 16 and 26 in Fenghuang to join the army, providing a way out for local youngsters.

  Here is the translation:

  The details of this fifth article, Wang Zhenyu had calculated. If according to this agreement, Wang Zhenyu, who gained actual control over the Fenghuang region, would have jurisdiction over four prefectures and twenty counties, with a population of around 22 million people. With such a foundation, it wouldn't be too exaggerated to support nearly 30,000 field troops and more than 10,000 garrison troops. Moreover, what made Wang Zhenyu most satisfied was the quality of his soldiers. Historically, the quality of Fenghuang soldiers has always been considered one of the best in modern times, whether it was during the War of Resistance against Japan or the Korean War, soldiers from this region were famous for their fighting ability.

  Now that the lower-level personnel have been taken care of, what needs to be privately arranged is the personnel issue of the upper-level military officers.

  Tian Yingxu was given a nominal title of Deputy Commander-in-Chief, which was the result of his long-term opium addiction. He had lost all desire for power and wealth, and only wanted to enjoy life. However, his older brother Tian Yingquan Shen Zongyi was different. As the adopted son of Shen Hongfu, he had been educated from a young age to bring glory to the family. From historical records, it can be seen that this person was indeed a remarkable individual who gave up a life of luxury and spent his entire life striving for this goal. Considering his military talent, Wang Zhenyu nodded in agreement, and Shen Zongyi was appointed as the commander of the Jingzhou branch of the Security Protection General Team, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, which was considered a high position but low rank.

  Tian Yingquan is Tian Yingzhu's elder brother and also a very influential figure in Fenghuang, so he cannot stay in Fenghuang. Wang Zhenyu threw Tian Yingquan an actual vacancy, the deputy director of the Anti-Smoking Bureau under the Xiangxi Town Garrison Command and the commander of the Anti-Smoking Corps, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, which is considered a high-ranking but low-paying position.

  Cheung Shing-lin and Tong Wai-ki were assigned to the Department of Justice, one as Director of Public Prosecutions and the other as Secretary for Justice, no longer holding military posts.

  In short, one principle is to resolutely not let these people continue staying in Fenghuang.