Luo Yue was in Hefei, and it didn't surprise Yuan Shikai to arrive, because the military commander in Anhui this time was Luo Yue, and to Yuan Shikai's surprise, Li Jingfang was actually in Hefei, which was an unexpected joy.

Yuan Shikai took refuge under Li Hongzhang's door in his early years, and of course he knew Li Jingfang, but the two did not have a deep relationship, Bi Jing Yuan Shikai was still a small person at that time, and the identity gap between Li Jingfang was still very large, although Yuan Shikai also tried his best to tie up Li Jingfang, but Li Jingfang didn't look down on Yuan Shikai at all. After the First Sino-Japanese War, Li Hongzhang lost power and became the target of a thousand losses, while Yuan Shikai switched to Rong Lu's disciples, and also intended to draw a clear line with Li Hongzhang, so naturally he would not have any more dealings with Li Jingfang.

It is known that after the Gengzi National Revolution, Li Hongzhang actually regained his power, and also entered the military aircraft department, becoming a veritable Li Zhongtang. Yuan Shikai also regretted his own knowledge, originally thought that Li Hongzhang had no possibility of turning over, and he couldn't imagine that he could really come back to life, although Yuan Shikai was already soaring at that time, but compared with Li Hongzhang, he was still less qualified, so Yuan Shikai also hurriedly repaired the relationship with Li Hongzhang, on the one hand, he was very respectful in front of Li Hongzhang, and on the other hand, he often asked Li Hongzhang for advice on Beiyang affairs.

Although Li Jingfang really looked down on Yuan Shikai at that time, Capricious attitude of forces, but Li Hongzhang is much more sophisticated than Li Jingfang after all, at this time Yuan Shikai is already an important minister of the imperial court, and is in charge of military power, he is not the original Wuxia Ameng, and although he has regained power, but he is no longer the grand occasion of the year, and most of the old departments are carved zero, to put it mildly, just bearing the false name of the middle hall, in fact, it is an empty shelf, in this case, of course, there is no need to be an enemy with Yuan Shikai, and naturally it is even more important not to stiffen the relationship with Yuan Shikai. Moreover, Yuan Shikai's overtures are still good for Li Hongzhang, on the one hand, it proves that his prestige and influence are still there, and at the same time, he can also use Yuan Shikai's influence to further expand his influence in the court, so not only did he accept Yuan Shikai's overtures regardless of his previous suspicions, but also warned Li Jingfang that his attitude towards Yuan Shikai should not be rash.

Li Jingfang is also a smart person, after listening to Li Hongzhang's explanation, he also understands the truth, so he also changed his attitude towards Yuan Shikai, and not only responded to Yuan Shikai's overtures, but also intended to get close to Yuan Shikai, because the identity of the two has changed at this time, although Yuan Shikai's official position is much higher than Li Jingfang, but Li Jingfang has Li Hongzhang behind him, which is generally equal, so that the two are much more convenient to come and go, and when Li Hongzhang died, the relationship between Li Jingfang and Yuan Shikai was much closer than before. Of course, in Li Jingfang's heart, he still kept a certain distance from Yuan Shikai.

And after Li Hongzhang's death, Li Jingfang also completely resigned from the official position of the Qing court and switched to East China**, this time Yuan Shikai will not dare to slack off, although he did not meet Li Jingfang again, but every New Year's Day, he will send a gift to Li Jingfang, and a letter of greeting, in order to maintain the relationship with Li Jingfang. Therefore, Yuan Shikai was also very happy to learn that Li Jingfang was actually in Hefei, and it would be much easier to do if he finally had an acquaintance here.

So Yuan Shikai said: "It turns out that Brother Bo Xing is also here, that's great, Yuan and Brother Bo Xing are old friends, but they haven't seen each other for several years, it's rare to meet here, naturally I want to see him." Director Lu, you go and greet Brother Bo Xing, and say that Yuan misses Brother Bo Xing very much, and hopes to meet Brother Bo Xing, but Brother Bo Xing's official business is too busy to disturb, so I ask Brother Bo Xing to arrange time. ”

Lu Chengxiang listened, and also hesitated, although his mind is not as good as Yuan Shikai, but he is not a stupid person, he knows that this letter is not easy to transmit, because Li Jingfang can also be regarded as a demote of the Qing court, of course, he took the initiative to surrender, and the time from the dragon is also early, and there is the aura of Li Hongzhang's son, so now the status of the ** in East China is much higher than Lu Cheng, but whether it is active or passive, this identity is very sensitive, no matter what the personal relationship between Yuan Shikai and Li Jingfang is, it is by no means easy for the two to meet. What's more, when Yuan Shikai came to Hefei, Li Jingfang must have known, but when he came to greet Yuan Shikai, Li Jingfang didn't say anything, so Yuan Shikai claimed to be an old friend with Li Jingfang, and eighty percent of it was a lie, but it was not ruled out that Li Jingfang had other arrangements and didn't want to let himself know. But no matter which one, I am afraid it is not appropriate to speak for Yuan Shikai by himself.

What kind of person is Yuan Shikai, seeing Lu Chengxiang's face is embarrassed, he immediately knew that he had scruples, but this was already expected by Yuan Shikai, he was also prepared, stretched out his hand, put down two gold bars on the table, and said: "Director Lu, a little heart, not sincere respect, please also ask Director Lu to smile." ”

Lu Chengxiang was stunned, and immediately widened his eyes, he was an official in Hefei, although it was not considered a corruption or bending the law, but it was by no means a breeze on his sleeves. When I saw this yellow and clear golden woman, I was not moved.

Although these two gold bars are not big, but in Lu Chengxiang's eyes, it can be seen that this is a gold bar of 10 taels, the original Qing court did not have a fixed exchange rate between gold and silver, floating between 1:5-10, but after the Opium War, the Qing court was forced to integrate with the world and accepted the gold price that is now in use in the world, and the current price of gold is 1 pound equal to 7.32 grams of gold, and the ratio of pounds to silver is 1 to 6.1 taels of silver, that is, 1 tael of silver is worth 1.2 grams of gold.

The 1 tael is about 42 grams, and 10 taels is 420 grams, so 1 10 taels of gold bars is converted into silver for 350 taels, and the price of two gold bars is worth 700 taels of silver, and when converted into silver dollars in East China, it is about 1000 silver dollars, which is not a small amount of money. Lu Chengxiang served as the prefect of Luzhou, and generally received dozens of taels of silver at a time, and even if he could receive 100 taels of silver, he would be able to receive 6 or 700 taels in a year, and Yuan Shikai's shot was almost the silver that Lu Chengxiang received in a year.

After the Anhui flood, since the disaster relief in East China, Lu Chengxiang has not received extra money, and although he joined East China, he also knows that the rules of East China are different from those of the Qing court, although the salary is more than that of the Qing court, but there is no water outside, so after this village, there is no such shop, so Lu Chengxiang silently weighed it in his heart, and felt that helping Yuan Shikai pass a word to Li Jingfang did not have much impact on him, at least the absolute value of these two gold bars.

So Lu Chengxiang said: "It's not difficult to pass a word for Governor Yuan in Xia, but whether Master Li has seen Governor Yuan or not, I don't dare to guarantee it." ”

Yuan Shikai smiled and said: "That's natural, Director Lu only needs to pass the word on, how Brother Bo Xing arranges the time naturally has nothing to do with Director Lu." ”

Lu Chengxiang nodded and said: "That's the case, just pass the word for Governor Yuan, but it's just a trivial matter, not enough to worry about, so please ask Governor Yuan to take back this gold." As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and gently pushed the gold in front of Yuan Shikai by half a foot.

Yuan Shikai laughed and said, "Since Yuan has taken it out, how can there be any reason to take it back, Director Lu must accept it, otherwise it will not give Yuan face." As he spoke, he pushed the gold straight to Lu Chengxiang's side, and for a while, he used a little more force, and actually pushed the two gold bars down from the table. Lu Chengxiang hurriedly stretched out his hand and caught the gold bar, Yuan Shikai smiled: "Is this it?"

Lu Chengxiang took the gold bar, his expression was also a little embarrassed, but he still accepted the gold bar, and then said goodbye to Yuan Shikai, left the camp, and returned to Hefei City. After a short rest, Lu Chengxiang first reported to Luo Yue about arranging Yuan Shikai's work, and then went to Li Jingfang to relay Yuan Shikai's greetings and requests.

After Li Jingfang listened, he was not surprised, he received several gifts and greetings from Yuan Shikai every year over the years, knowing that Yuan Shikai had learned the lesson of cutting with Li Hongzhang after the First Sino-Japanese War, leaving room for himself, so he knew that he was in Hefei, Yuan Shikai was definitely going to come to visit, not to mention that now he was on the ** side of East China, for the strong side, Yuan Shikai could not ignore himself.

Although Li Jingfang is still a little resentful of Yuan Shikai in his heart, but now he has reached the age of knowing the destiny of heaven, and he has experienced ups and downs with Li Hongzhang, so he is also a lot more downset, not to mention joining East China now** , can be regarded as a greasy minister, and he doesn't have such a strong dissatisfaction with Yuan Shikai, but he looks at it with a normal heart, before Lu Chengxiang went to receive Yuan Shikai, Li Jingfang didn't say a word to Yuan Shikai, just to see what Yuan Shikai would do, if Yuan Shikai ignores himself, then there should be no such thing, if Yuan Shikai wants to meet with him, then it doesn't hurt to meet.

So Li Jingfang first asked Lu Chengxiang to go back to rest, and then went to see Luo Yue, reported to Luo Yue about Yuan Shikai's request to meet, and asked Luo Yue if he could meet Yuan Shikai. Although Huadong** agreed to give Yuan Shikai a passage, and also wanted to maintain a relatively good relationship with Yuan Shikai for the time being, but now Yuan Shikai and Huadong** are still hostile relations after all, and Li Jingfang was also a courtier of the Qing court, and the matter of meeting with Yuan Shikai is still very sensitive, so of course it is necessary to report to Luo Yue first, and get Luo Yue's permission, although Li Jingfang estimates that the probability of Luo Yue allowing himself to meet with Yuan Shikai is quite large, but this procedure still has to go.

Sure enough, after listening to Li Jingfang's report, Luo Yue immediately agreed to meet Li Jingfang and Yuan Shikai without the slightest hesitation. So after Li Jingfang returned to his residence, he immediately wrote a letter and sent a family member out of the city to send it to Yuan Shikai, in which he agreed to send someone to invite Yuan Shikai into Hefei City tomorrow to meet him.