So the countries first reported the plan to their own **, and after some exchanges and collusion, the ** of the countries also agreed to the ministers' suggestion, and authorized the ministers to implement, and the ministers after some consultations, and finally the British minister Zhu Erdian took the lead to take charge of this matter.

After getting the recommendation of everyone, Zhu Erdian immediately took action in two routes, one is to contact businessmen from various countries in the Yangtze River Basin, including Chinese businessmen, mainly to let them contribute, after all, to persuade Yuan Shikai to come to the south, he must come up with some practical benefits, otherwise why should he be moved, and in addition, if he wants to stand on his own feet in the south, he also needs sufficient funds.

Of course, Zhu Erdian himself was in Beijing, and it was impossible for him to go to the Yangtze River valley to gather businessmen from various countries for consultation, so this task was also entrusted to the French consul in Hankow, Fornan, because now Shanghai has been occupied by East China, although the consulates of various countries in Shanghai have not been abolished, but they are all under the nose of East China, and it is not easy to act. In the Yangtze River Valley, except for Shanghai, it is the largest concession in Hankou, but the Hankou concession is dominated by the French concession, so this matter can only be entrusted to the French consul in Hankow.

The other is in Beijing, on the one hand, to persuade Yuan Shikai to let him go to the south willingly to create a new situation; on the other hand, if Yuan Shikai agrees, he will also operate to let the Qing court send Yuan Shikai to the south, after all, the Qing court is still generally able to control the situation, Yuan Shikai cannot go to the south privately, unless he wants to rebel. Of course, these things are the responsibility of Zhu Erdian himself.

Anhui Governor Enming sent troops to openly intercept the fleet of East China ** in the Yangtze River, which immediately caused panic among foreign businessmen in various provinces, because Enming's reckless behavior is likely to trigger an armed conflict between East China ** and the Qing court, such a situation is what foreign businessmen do not want to see, in fact, although East China ** occupied Shanghai and confiscated a large number of merchants' industries, but because East China ** attaches importance to economic development, and the internal economic order is good, and vigorously carry out infrastructure construction,** The clean government and administrative efficiency are also high, so the environment for doing business and investment is much better than before, and businessmen from all over the world can still do business in Shanghai and earn a lot of wealth.

However, although foreign businessmen are willing to do business with East China, they do not want East China to control other provinces in the Yangtze River Basin, but it is better to maintain the current situation, although after East China controls other provinces in the Yangtze River Basin, businessmen from various countries can still operate and profit under the rule of East China, and even reap more benefits, as long as they obey the management of East China.

However, businessmen from various countries are unwilling to submit to the management of East China, to be precise, they do not want to give up the privilege of doing business in China. Merchants from various countries had special power over others in the areas under the jurisdiction of the Qing court, and even did not have them in their own countries. The Qing court generally could not enforce their management, and fairness only existed between foreign merchants, and when disputes between China and foreign countries occurred, nine times out of ten foreign merchants won. Under the rule of East China, foreign businessmen do not have any privileges, and many foreign businessmen do business in Shanghai, due to the habit of superiority, they have violated the laws of East China, and have been punished accordingly, and even the consulate negotiation is useless, so for businessmen from all countries, they would rather make a little less money, but they are not willing to give up the special power of superiority.

When Funan gathered businessmen from all over the world to negotiate a solution to the crisis, the businessmen were naturally interested, but Funan mentioned that if he wanted to support a strong ruler in southern China, he needed money from the businessmen, and no one responded loudly.

However, after East China sent troops to occupy Anhui Province, the attitude of the merchants also changed, after all, no one knew what the goal of East China was and was it just one Anhui Province? Moreover, the incompetence of the local officials of the Qing court also made the merchants realize that southern China really needed a strong and powerful ruler, so they did not need to be persuaded by Funan, and the merchants took the initiative to donate money, and also brought in many Chinese merchants.

In fact, most Chinese businessmen are not willing to rule in East China, although under the rule of East China, Chinese businessmen can obtain the same status as foreign businessmen, but this is not very attractive to Chinese businessmen, because behind Chinese businessmen, there is often official support, so in many aspects, there are also a lot of special powers, even if it is a game with foreign businessmen, you can also rely on the support of the government, there are contacts, and not vulnerable, these conditions are obviously not in East China. In East China, even if the patriarch is doing business, he must also respect the considerable legal system, and there is a certain amount of support for the economy and commerce, but support is not equal to privilege.

On the other hand, the land system in East China is also an important factor that discourages most Chinese businessmen. Because the Chinese are accustomed to a thirst for land, Chinese merchants are often equally large landowners, even though their income from commerce far exceeds the income from land. The land system of East China obviously infringes on the vital interests of these businessmen, and naturally does not want the rule of East China, but maintains the current situation, on the one hand, you can obtain a lot of wealth by doing business with East China, and on the other hand, you can still maintain your current status, family property, and land. And the occupation of Anhui by East China ** also made the Chinese merchants see the crisis, the Qing court obviously could not count on it, and the south needed a new, strong ruler to fight against East China ** and protect the merchants.

As a result, the Chinese merchants in the provinces of the Yangtze River valley also supported the minister's proposal and were willing to contribute to it. As a result, with the generosity of Chinese and foreign businessmen, more than 300,000 taels of silver were quickly raised, and the capital and material foundation was initially established.

And Zhu Erdian also started work in Beijing, he personally rushed to Tianjin to visit Yuan Shikai, persuaded Yuan Shikai to give up Beijing, to the south to create a new foundation, although now Yuan Shikai in Beijing can be regarded as a very popular minister, but as long as East China ** sent troops, the Qing court will inevitably perish, then all the capital in Yuan Shikai's hands will be in vain, so it is better to take advantage of the fact that the capital is still there, all transferred to the south, and start a new career, and East China ** After sending troops, attention will definitely be focused on the north, and Yuan Shikai can take the opportunity to integrate the southern provinces, and he can do some work, and as long as Yuan Shikai has this intention, the countries can provide support to Yuan Shikai.

After listening to Zhu Erdian's speech, Yuan Shikai couldn't help but be surprised and happy, in fact, he could also see that the general trend of the Qing court had gone, and it was only a matter of time before it perished, even Cixi was running Shanxi and Shaanxi, preparing to hunt south again, and Yuan Shikai of course would not be martyred for the Qing court, so he naturally had to find a way back for himself.

Yuan Shikai's first thought was to surrender East China **, Bi Jing's elders all regard themselves as descendants of China, which can be regarded as a state power established by the Chinese, and it is indeed much stronger than the Qing court in all aspects, so surrendering East China ** can be regarded as abandoning the dark and turning to the light from a large aspect, and from a small aspect, it is a very correct choice to seek good fortune and avoid evil.

It's just that although this idea is good, Yuan Shikai doesn't know what kind of attitude Huadong** has towards his surrender, to be precise, he surrenders Huadong**, what kind of treatment he will get. Although Yuan Shikai has not yet had substantive contact and negotiation with East China, to be honest, Yuan Shikai's confidence is not very strong. Yuan Shikai has always been quite concerned about the situation in East China, so he has a considerable understanding of the military and political system in East China, which is a system that separates military and government, which is very different from the system of the Qing court's governors and governors to grasp the military, government and financial power.

Yuan Shikai also made an assessment of his surrender to East China, believing that if he entered the administrative system in East China, he should serve as the governor, at least the mayor of the provincial capital, and in the army, he should be the commander of the field army. However, judging from the current situation in East China, this possibility is not large, because the current high-level positions in the military and political affairs of East China, the administrative officials at or above the prefecture-level city, and the commanders above the division level in the army, are basically appointed by veterans, while the presiding officials below the prefecture-level city and the officers below the division level, although they are also appointed to the positions of local naturalized people, they are basically cultivated by East China itself, not to mention the appointment of officials and officials of the Qing court, and even the gentry who submit to them. The local heroes have no share, at most they serve as the head of a department in the prefecture-level city, or the deputy position of the county-level chief official, which shows that the officials and gentry of the Qing court in East China are quite distrustful.

Of course, there were not many Qing court officials who surrendered to East China, at most they were officials at the county level, and it was not until East China captured Anhui that local officials at the level of governors and prefects surrendered, and there were even fewer officers. But Yuan Shikai didn't think that he would make a special case after surrendering East China, at least he had to make it clear before surrendering. But first, the Qing court can still hold out for one or two years, so the surrender is not urgent, of course, it can't be dragged on indefinitely, after all, the longer it drags on, the more unfavorable it is to yourself;

And Yuan Shikai also pointed out that his staff had tested the attitude of East China ** in private, but East China ** did not take this stubble, either because he didn't have this meaning, or he was waiting for Yuan Shikai to speak first, so although Yuan Shikai still maintains a close relationship with East China**, he has never taken this step.