After two days of surveillance and eavesdropping, the traverser can basically determine that what Yuan Shikai said is the truth, including asking the People's Army to send troops to Jinan Mansion, there is no conspiracy, it is indeed to show goodwill to the traverser, so he clearly replied to Yuan Shikai, wishing Tong to accept his suggestion, he will send an army to Jinan Mansion, and at the same time, a takeover team will be set up to accompany him and negotiate with Yuan Shikai on the handover of Shandong.

Yuan Shikai was also very happy, which meant that the overseas Chinese accepted his overtures, and the relationship between the two sides had indeed improved, but the two sides had not yet begun to discuss the details, and Li Hongzhang also arrived in Qingdao. However, after the general principle is determined, the details will be easy to discuss, and there is no need to rush to the next generation, so they will greet Li Hongzhang together.

Seeing that Yuan Shikai has a harmonious relationship with overseas Chinese, Li Hongzhang is also relieved, it seems that Yuan Shikai does have two sons, and he can reconcile with overseas Chinese so quickly, which also fully shows Yuan Shikai's ability. The ability to deal with interpersonal relations is very important, to a large extent, this is more important than the ability to deal with practice, because there is no ability to deal with practice, but as long as you are good at handling interpersonal relations, you can still mix in the officialdom, and even mix well, but officials who are not good at handling interpersonal relations, even if they have a strong ability to deal with practice, they will not be able to get along. And if you can take care of both, you can do something, Li Hongzhang is such a person.

In the past, Yuan Shikai's behavior proved his practical ability, and in terms of interpersonal relations, although Yuan Shikai also did some, it was still not enough in Li Hongzhang's opinion, and this time Yuan Shikai was able to rely on his own strength to resolve the contradictions with overseas Chinese, proving that he also has outstanding points in this regard, so Li Hongzhang is also quite relieved that he did not see the wrong person.

The traveler and Li Hongzhang are already very familiar with each other, so there is no need to be polite, and Li Hongzhang came to Qingdao with a major task, and the Qing court has successively issued orders to him, asking Li Hongzhang to negotiate a result with overseas Chinese as soon as possible, so that the Qing court can return to Beijing as soon as possible, after all, now that the war is over, it is not a long-term solution for the Qing court to remain in exile, and Li Hongzhang has no intention of being polite with the traveler, so the two sides quickly entered the topic. Li Hongzhang and Yuan Shikai together negotiated with Qin Zheng on the issue of letting the imperial court return to Beijing as soon as possible.

Li Hongzhang first said: "Qin political commissar, the imperial court has agreed that the land of Shandong can be assigned to the nobles to settle and self-govern, although in terms of name, it is still controlled by the imperial court, but the nobles can serve as the governor of Shandong, the political secretary, the envoy, the Taoist, the admiral, The list of officials and officials in various prefectures and prefectures is drawn up by the nobles and reported to the imperial court, and the imperial court can issue a decree to appoint them, but the political, financial and military powers of Shandong are all taken care of by the nobles, and they only need to pay money and grain taxes to the imperial court every year, and the imperial court does not interfere in the administrative affairs of Shandong. However, please also ask your people to withdraw their troops from Beijing and the surrounding areas, so that the imperial court can return to Beijing for resettlement. ”

This time, Li Hongzhang did not go around in circles with the traverser, and listed the conditions of the Qing court very bluntly, first, because the Qing court really did not have any bargaining chips; second, Li Hongzhang also basically understood the traverser's style of acting, and liked to be straightforward rather than beat around the bush, so the effect of speaking directly was better.

Qin Zheng also nodded, such conditions are of course acceptable for the Crossing Group, as long as there is the brand of the Governor of Shandong, so that the rule of the Crossing Group in Shandong will be legalized, and how the Crossing Group wants to manage Shandong, that is its own business? Yes, but we only have one request, our troops can all evacuate Beijing and the surrounding areas, to ensure that not a single soldier is left, but we need to set up an office in Beijing, stationed some personnel and a small number of security troops, responsibilities and powers are similar to the legations of various countries, of course, the imperial court also needs to designate the yamen that is connected with our office, the ministry can also be, and the yamen of the prime minister's office can also be, so that it can be convenient for us to communicate with the imperial court. ”

Li Hongzhang thought about it for a while and thought that this request made by overseas Chinese was also very reasonable, because in the future, overseas Chinese would exist as a special force, and their relationship with the Qing court would be roughly equivalent to that of vassals, but they would also be similar to those of Korea, Ryukyu, and Annam is a vassal state different, in terms of strength structure, overseas Chinese are more independent, but in terms of legal terms, it is a province under the rule of the Qing court, such a complex relationship is not only unique in the history of the Qing court, but also rare in all dynasties, and in a short period of time, the Qing court can not break the gap with overseas Chinese, so the court does need to have a relatively smooth communication channel with overseas Chinese, it is best to hand over to the Yamen of the Prime Minister's Office to manage this mess, not to hand it over to the Ministry of Officials. Of course, the two sides are only negotiating the general principles at present, and the details will be discussed in detail in the next step.

So Li Hongzhang said: "Okay, you can agree to this request." After a pause, Li Hongzhang said again: "But the imperial court also has a request, and I ask you to agree." ”

Qin Zheng said: "I don't know what the requirements are?"

Li Hongzhang said: "The imperial court hopes that the nobles can return Tianjin to the jurisdiction of the imperial court. ”

Qin Zheng frowned and said, "Zhongtang, Tianjin was taken from us from the Eight-Nation Alliance, and if the imperial court wants Tianjin, is it too difficult for a strong man." ”

Li Hongzhang also smiled bitterly, he also knew that it was very difficult to get back to Tianjin from overseas Chinese, but he couldn't do without it, because Tianjin's location was too important, it was Beijing's outlet to the sea, it could be said to be Beijing's throat, the Qing court was beaten twice to abandon Beijing and fled, and the enemy army landed from Tianjin, and then approached Beijing. Moreover, since the change of Cao to the sea, the money, grain and materials in the south have to be transported to Beijing, all by sea to Tianjin, and then transported to Beijing through the Haihe River route and railway, and the overseas Chinese control Shandong, it is equivalent to locking the Bohai Sea, if they continue to occupy Tianjin, it is like curbing the life and death of the Qing court, and they can drive straight into Beijing at any time, even if they cut off the Cao transportation, the Qing court can not stand it, so even if the Qing court returns to Beijing, it may be difficult to be stable, and it must be returned to Tianjin from the hands of overseas Chinese.

Li Hongzhang said: "Tianjin is indeed taken back by the nobles from the hands of the Eight-Nation Alliance, but the importance of Tianjin does not need to be said, the nobles should also be clear, and other old men will not say much, if the nobles are willing to return Tianjin to the imperial court, then the imperial court is willing to divide one or two more prefectures for the nobles in Henan and Jiangsu, which can be selected by the nobles." ”

However, the traverser will not give up Tianjin, in addition to being able to directly coerce Beijing, there is another important factor, that is, the economic interests of Tianjin, because Tianjin has now become an important port and material distribution center in northern China, so the customs tax and logistics economy is very considerable, before the Gengzi State Change, the annual income of Tianjin Customs can reach 4 million taels of silver, which is still based on the low tariffs of the Qing court, and after the traverser controls Tianjin Customs, the customs tariffs have been greatly increased, and so far, at the end of August this year, the tariffs collected have exceeded 5 million taels of silver。

And Tianjin in the management of the group, will certainly vigorously develop the logistics economy and light industry, so there is still a great room for growth, it is estimated that in normal years, Tianjin Customs in the management of the crosser, customs revenue can reach about 15 million taels of silver. In addition, there are other benefits, such huge economic benefits, which are by no means comparable to one or two prefectures, and the traverser will naturally not let it go.

In addition, because Tianjin is the key area of the Westernization Movement, it is one of the few cities in China that has a certain modern industrial base, and the traverser has made a large amount of basic investment in Tianjin, such as opening a textile factory and expanding the Tianjin shipyard, which cannot be abandoned.

Qin Zheng shook his head and said, "Li Zhongtang, we will not give up Tianjin, but we can jointly manage Tianjin with the imperial court." ”

After Li Hongzhang heard this, he said, "I don't know how your people plan to manage Tianjin with the imperial court?"

Qin Zheng said: "We can still return the old city of Tianjin to the imperial court for management, but the original concession area is still under our jurisdiction, and then divide other areas into other areas, but the operation of the Haihe River waterway, Dagukou, and Tianjin Customs all need to be managed by us, so that Tianjin is under the same management, of course, we can negotiate other details in detail, but this is our biggest concession." ”

Li Hongzhang thought about it for a while, and he could only do this, because looking at this situation, overseas Chinese were obviously determined not to give up Tianjin, so it was a very good result to be able to return to the old city of Tianjin, after all, the Qing court had no available bargaining chips in its hands, and the original Tianjin concession area was not considered the Qing court, so Li Hongzhang also nodded and said: "Okay, the requirements of the nobles, the old man will truthfully play the court, and the court will decide." ”

Qin Zheng said again: "But Li Zhongtang, I can't give up the old city of Tianjin in vain, and the imperial court also needs to make some compensation to us." ”

Li Hongzhang also understands that if he wants to take food from the mouths of overseas Chinese, it is not so easy, although as long as he comes back to half of Tianjin, it is impossible not to let go of a little blood, but he just hopes that overseas Chinese will not open their mouths, so he said: "I don't know what compensation you need." ”

Qin Zheng smiled and said: "Our requirements are not high, we just hope that there can be a place to operate in the Shanghai area, and the general authority can be the same as that of the concessions of various countries, of course, we can negotiate that piece of land." ”

Li Hongzhang was also stunned, he didn't expect overseas Chinese to put forward such a condition, and it was not enough to set up an office in Shanghai, but also wanted to have a concession land, of course, this requirement is not high compared with getting another mansion, after all, the leased land is only thousands of acres at most, and most of it is wasteland, and a mansion has a population of millions and a land dump, so Li Hongzhang nodded and said: "Okay, the old man will truthfully play the court, whether it is allowed or not, it is decided by the court." ”