These two Japanese advisers were also very conscientious in the Beiyang New Army, and they helped Yuan Shikai to compile codes and regulations, revise military discipline, and train soldiers, because there were still big differences between China and Germany, so the system of the German Army could not be completely copied, and some revisions were needed, and the Japanese Army had a lot of experience in this regard, and the two Japanese advisers also put forward some reasonable revision suggestions to Yuan Shikai, and after a long time, these two Japanese advisers were also quite valued by Yuan Shikai.

When the traversers began to carry out land reform in the area around Jiaozhou Bay, the two Japanese advisers reminded Yuan Shikai that the overseas Chinese seemed to be interested in seeking Shandong, and asked Yuan Shikai to be careful and vigilant and make preparations as soon as possible, and said that if Yuan Shikai and overseas Chinese clashed, the Japanese side was willing to provide support and help to Yuan Shikai. At that time, although Yuan Shikai also felt the threat of overseas Chinese to him, he had no intention of clashing with overseas Chinese, so he politely declined the kindness of the two, but after all, the two were thinking about themselves, and Yuan Shikai was still a little grateful.

A few days later, the two reported to Yuan Shikai that the property of some officers in the Beiyang New Army had been confiscated by overseas Chinese, so some officers even planned to lead the army in private, participate in the armed forces of the landlord organization, and make enemies of the overseas Chinese. And the two seemed to have no intention of speaking, but Yuan Shikai had the intention of listening, so he had the idea of giving overseas Chinese a try.

Now that Yuan Shikai thinks about it, he suddenly finds that this distinction is deliberately leading himself on this road. Yuan Shikai is such a shrewd person, he can't help but break out in a cold sweat when he thinks of this, isn't it clear that the Japanese want to provoke a conflict between themselves and overseas Chinese? This trick of little Japan is really a bad thing, and he still has entered the trap if it were not for the reminder of the overseas Chinese. On the contrary, it is as if overseas Chinese have already seen the fire.

At this time, Yuan Shikai could no longer hide it, anyway, he said it, and he had no scruples, so he told Qin Zheng about the two Japanese advisers.

After listening to this, Qin Zheng did not speak immediately, but after pondering for a while, he said: "Governor Yuan, are there any other Japanese who have settled in Jinan for a long time?"

Yuan Shikai nodded and said, "Yes, there are two Japanese-run firms in Jinan, and there are several Japanese-run factories in Yantai, all of which were set up after the First Sino-Japanese War. ”

Qin Zheng understood that after the First Sino-Japanese War, the Qing court and Japan signed the [Treaty of Shimonoseki], which humiliated the country, and most people only remember that it compensated Japan 200 million taels of silver and ceded Taiwan, which caused great harm to China, but ignored that there was another article that was no worse than compensation for land cession, that is, Article 6 of the [Shimonoseki Treaty], which allowed Japan to invest and set up factories in China's treaty ports.

Since each country signed a clause with the Qing court on "equal interests", this meant that Japan had obtained the qualification to invest and set up factories in China's treaty ports, so all other countries automatically obtained the same qualifications, and before that, countries could only open shops and sell goods in China, but could not open factories. In this way, not only did it seriously hinder the development of China's national capitalism, but it also escalated the economic aggression of various countries against China from the export of commodities to the high stage of capital export, and not only gradually controlled China's national economy, but also penetrated into all strata of Chinese society in an all-round way.

Although Shandong is a coastal province, but the opening of the treaty port is not much, in addition to the Jiaozhou Bay that was forcibly leased by Germany, there is only Yantai a place, in the old time and space, Jinan was only set up by the Qing court in 1905 as a self-opening commercial port, but due to the large amount of foreign capital into China, Jinan as the capital of Shandong, naturally it is difficult to spare, although countries can not invest in Jinan to build factories, but the opening of a commercial bank is still possible. However, Japan has been active in this regard, because the Shandong Peninsula and Japan face each other across the sea, and it has always been the target of Japan's hope, so Japan has used Yantai as a springboard and tried its best to penetrate into the interior of Shandong in the name of opening factories and commercial banks. While there are cases of collecting intelligence through trading houses in various countries, only Japan uses them as intelligence bases.

After listening to Yuan Shikai's introduction, Qin Zheng was basically sure that this matter must be inseparable from Japan, and it seems that Yuan Shikai was also put on the side by the Japanese, but fortunately, Lao Yuan's mind was still sober, so he did not start a full-scale war with the traverser. Of course, this step is enough, so Qin Zheng said: "Okay, thank you Governor Yuan for answering our questions truthfully, it seems that there are indeed a lot of misunderstandings between us, but I think these misunderstandings should be able to be eliminated now." ”

In fact, at this time, Yuan Shikai basically figured out the ins and outs of the matter, and naturally hated Japan in his heart, so he nodded again and again, and said: "Yes, yes, please rest assured that Political Commissar Qin will never have any more misunderstandings in the future." After a pause, Yuan Shikai said again: "Political Commissar Qin, brother has another idea, please think about it." ”

Qin Zheng thought in his heart, what did Yuan Shikai think, was it so difficult that he didn't give up on Shandong? If this was the case, then it was necessary for him to give Yuan Shikai a clear answer, so that he could die as soon as possible, so he said: "Let's hear it, what does Governor Yuan think?"

Yuan Shikai said: "Brother heard that the imperial court is appeasing the nobles, and intends to let the nobles to govern the land of Shandong, to be honest, although the brother is the acting governor of Shandong, but the brother is from the marching army, training and fighting may be able to avoid difficulties, but the management of Shandong Province, it is inevitable that it is inadequate, and the land of Shandong is the gateway to the capital, containing the Bohai Sea, sea and land defense, is still an important place, not such a talent as the nobles and can not be guarded." I wonder if you have any intention of Shandong?"

Qin Zheng couldn't help but be a little surprised when he heard this, he didn't know what Yuan Shikai meant by this, but since Yuan Shikai asked, he should naturally reply to him clearly, no matter what tricks Yuan Shikai had, he just had to attach it in a dignified manner, so he nodded and said: "Very good, in fact, we also hope to be able to settle down in the land of Shandong, and we are trying to apply to the imperial court, if the imperial court can really arrange it like this, of course it is no better." ”

Yuan Shikai smiled bitterly in his heart, the overseas Chinese were really unkind, and they were not tactful at all, but Yuan Shikai also understood that Qin Zheng did not answer, "Since the imperial court has arranged it this way, we should obey our fate", because he was afraid of being caught in the words, what if the imperial court changed its mind and divided the overseas Chinese to other places? Moreover, this also shows that the overseas Chinese are determined to win the land of Shandong and will never give in. So Yuan Shikai said: "Since the imperial court intends to make such an arrangement, my brother wants to ask your people to send an army to Jinan, distribute and garrison, understand the situation in Jinan, and be familiar with Shandong's government affairs. ”

Qin Zheng really didn't expect Yuan Shikai to make such a proposal to himself, if he sent an army to Jinan now, it would indeed provide a lot of convenience for the crossing group to take over Shandong in the future, but why did Yuan Shikai make such a suggestion, is there any conspiracy and trickery? Qin Zheng never believed in the good thing of pie in the sky, and in the old time and space, Yuan Shikai was recognized as a good hand at playing conspiracy, and the Qing court and the father of the country were all played by him, so he didn't dare to agree immediately, and said: " Okay, this proposal of Governor Yuan, we have to negotiate before we can reply to Governor Yuan. ”

In fact, if Yuan Shikai knew Qin Zheng's thoughts, it is estimated that he would have a feeling of lying down, this time he really didn't have any conspiracy, he just wanted to show favor to the traverser and take the opportunity to improve the relationship with the traverser. However, it was reasonable for Qin Zheng to propose to discuss, so Yuan Shikai also got up to leave.

After Yuan Shikai left, Qin Zheng asked Shang Qisong, "What do you think?"

Shang Qisong said: "I don't think what Yuan Shikai said is a lie, but I can't be 100% sure, after all, in the old time and space, Yuan Shikai was a famous hero, so it's best to wait for a few days to see what Yuan Shikai said in private before judging." ”

It turned out that the traverser had already placed a number of hearing devices and cameras in the residence assigned to Yuan Shikai, and set up monitoring points in other residences next to Yuan Shikai's residence.

Qin Zheng nodded and said, "Let's put this aside for now, what do you think Yuan Shikai asked us to send an army to Jinan?"

Shang Qisong said: "If what Yuan Shikai said before is true, then I think Yuan Shikai's suggestion is to show us goodwill, because we have shown an attitude towards Shandong region, and Yuan Shikai obviously has no idea of confronting us, or that he has no strength to confront us, even if this is the case, it is better to cooperate with us to do a good job in Shandong, after all, we are also a force now, and it will not be beneficial to Yuan Shikai to fight against us for a long time." On the contrary, it is more beneficial for Yuan Shikai to form a good alliance with us, Yuan Shikai is a smart person, and he will not understand the truth of this. ”

After a pause, Shang Qisong said again: "Of course the truth is true, but we can't all think about it from the good side, after all, we are not roundworms in Yuan Shikai's stomach, I don't know what he thinks, in the old time and space, although Yuan Shikai was shrewd, but in the end he still did such a foolish thing as being called the emperor, and as a result, all the achievements of Yuan Shikai's generation were destroyed, it can be said that if Yuan Shikai is not the emperor, then his status in Chinese history in the old time and space will be much higher, and he will not end up in the name of a thief." Therefore, we can't put all our expectations on Yuan Shikai, and finally wait for a few days to eavesdrop on Yuan Shikai's actual situation before making a decision. ”