After the traverser went through consultations, it was decided that Qin Zheng would come forward to meet Yuan Shikai and meet Yuan Shikai, firstly, Qin Zheng and Yuan Shikai were basically in contact with each other before, and the two should be familiar with each other; second, Qin Zheng was the governor of Shandong of the Qing court in terms of name, and Yuan Shikai was the representative of the Qing court, so it was naturally more appropriate for Qin Zheng to receive Yuan Shikai.

When the two met, Qin Zheng smiled and said, "Don't come to comfort." ”

Yuan Shikai hurriedly waved his hand again and again: "How dare you, how dare you, in front of Brother Qin, how dare Yuan dare to respect the handsome name, or call him a brother." ”

Originally, according to the rules of the Chunting, an official who became a governor could be respected as a handsome, and the name of the handsome was generally used as a table word, number, hometown, or other words that expressed respect. In that year, Zuo Zongtang pacified Xinjiang and was awarded the title of second-class Kejing Hou by the Qing court, so he was respected by his subordinates as "Lord Marshal"; Zhang Zhidong does not have a title, so he is named after the word Xiangtao and is respected as "Xiangshuai"; Of course, there is an exception, that is, Li Hongzhang has served as the governor of Zhili for many years, but he has never been respected as a handsome name, but Li Hongzhang has a higher honorific title than "handsome", known as Li Zhongtang, of course, he will not care about a handsome name.

And Yuan Shikai is now the governor of Zhili, of course, he can be called "handsome", and Yuan Shikai is called "comforting pavilion", so in the Beiyang New Army, he has been honored as "comforting handsome". Qin Zheng called him like this to show respect.

However, Yuan Shikai is self-aware, although he is the governor of Zhili, and Qin Zheng is only the governor of Shandong, not only is he inferior in terms of official position, but according to the official system of the Qing court, the governor of Shandong is controlled by the governor of Zhili, so Yuan Shikai is still Qin Zheng's direct boss in the name, but Yuan Shikai knows in his heart that behind Qin Zheng is an overseas Chinese, whether it is the actual power he holds, or the strength he has, he is far more than himself.

From the point of view of official positions, although the governor of Zhili is the head of the eight governors of the Qing court, but he is on an errand in Beijing, and in a place like Beijing, a district governor of Zhili is really not ranked, although Li Hongzhang and Rong Lu have served as governors of Zhili, but that is only a part-time job, Li Hongzhang's main post is the minister of Beiyang, as well as the minister of the navy yamen and the minister of the prime minister's office yamen; The five armies of Wuwei are in control, so compared with these two bigwigs, Yuan Shikai, the governor of Zhili, is really not on the stage. Although Qin Zheng was only the governor of Shandong, he actually divided one place, set up his own door, and fought against the Qing court, which was not comparable to Yuan Shikai at all.

Although Yuan Shikai still has a Beiyang New Army under his command, and Yuan Shikai controls the Beiyang New Army very firmly, almost becoming Yuan Shikai's private army, but the Beiyang New Army is still the army of the imperial court after all, and all the money, food, materials, equipment and weapons are controlled by the imperial court, so as long as the imperial court cuts off the military salaries and material supply of the Beiyang New Army, the Beiyang New Army will collapse immediately. And the size of the overseas Chinese army not only far exceeds that of the Beiyang New Army, but also the finances can be self-determined, and there is no need to look at the eyes of the imperial court. Yuan Shikai was a pragmatic person, so he naturally did not dare to put on the rank of the governor in front of overseas Chinese, so he proposed to be commensurate with Qin Zheng as a brother.

Qin Zheng laughed and said, "Isn't this a bad rule?"

Yuan Shikai hurriedly said: "There, there, Yuan and Brother Qin are also old acquaintances, and they have always admired the loyalty of the nobles, and they really really want to make friends with Brother Qin and the nobles. ”

Qin Zheng also admired Yuan Shikai a little, worthy of being a generation of heroes in the old time and space, although these words had the intention of pleasing the traverser, but also had to have a certain amount of open-mindedness, so he said: "Since Brother Weiting is not limited to hypocrisy, then I am not polite, if there is any offense, please bear with Brother Weiting." ”

When Yuan Shikai heard this, he couldn't help but be overjoyed, because he called himself "Brother Weiting" but it was more intimate than "Brother Yuan", but Qin Zheng didn't have a table and was a single name, so he couldn't use a closer and dense honorific title, Yu Wu laughed and said: "That's right, that's right." ”

The two laughed a few more words, and Yuan Shikai said: "Brother Qin, Brother Qin should know Yuan's intention, and your people have also issued a statement to denounce the Russian Youth Covenant, and the court also wants to hear your opinions." ”

Qin Zheng said: "This time, the imperial court must not agree to Russia's conditions, and should refuse it with stern words to show its determination." ”

Yuan Shikai nodded and said, "How can you see it?"

Qin Zheng said: "The [Treaty on the Settlement of the Three Eastern Provinces] has already been signed, but this time it is Russia's breach of contract for no reason, and all the new conditions are unreasonable demands, how can it be allowed! Not to mention that Russia has always been insatiable and extremely ambitious, so I will retreat and Russia will advance the crown, and we promise this time that Russia will have new conditions, and the three eastern provinces will eventually cease to be owned by us." ”

Yuan Shikai nodded again and again when he heard this, and said: "It's not a secret, Yuan also thought that he couldn't agree to Russia, but now Russia still occupies the land of the three eastern provinces of China, and his country has always been arrogant and rude. ”

Qin Zheng said: "Please rest assured that if Russia really dares to invade Shanhaiguan, we are willing to ask Ying to go to war, and we will teach Russia to repeat the mistakes of the past and defeat again." However, I think that although Russia is big, it is only a strong force on the outside, and it is menacing on the outside, but it is empty on the inside, so there is nothing to be afraid of. If Russia really had the heart to go to war, it would not have signed the [Treaty of Settlement of the Three Eastern Provinces]. ”

Yuan Shikai smiled bitterly in his heart, such words are only qualified to be said by overseas Chinese, and said: "But Russia is entrenched in the three eastern provinces and does not leave, what should we do?"

Qin Zheng said: "There is no need to worry, Britain, the United States, Japan and other countries will not sit idly by and watch Russia occupy the land of our three eastern provinces, and will definitely interfere and support the imperial court to recover the three eastern provinces." ”

Yuan Shikai nodded and said: "Brother Qin really looked at it, and did not hide it from Brother Qin, the ministers of Britain, the United States and Japan did send notes to the imperial court, asking the imperial court not to agree to Russia, and they all said that they would support the imperial court to recover the land of the three eastern provinces. ”

Qin Zheng laughed and said: "Isn't it very good! With the help of Britain, the United States, and Japan, the recovery of the three eastern provinces is just around the corner." ”

Yuan Shikai smiled bitterly and said: "It's just that Yuan really can't figure it out, why Britain, the United States and Japan want to help the imperial court, Japan is okay to say, because Korea belongs to itself and Russia is at odds, it is not surprising to help the imperial court, but Britain and the United States have no stakes, why do they want to help the imperial court? Not to mention that Russia also has an ally France, and it has always been friendly with Germany, with the help of these two countries, it may not be afraid of Britain, the United States and Japan, right?"

Qin Zheng said: "How can Brother Weiting see that Britain and the United States have no stakes? and how can he see that Germany and France will help Russia?"

Yuan Shikai was stunned for a moment, and immediately heard the meaning of Qin Zheng's words, so he arched his hand and said, "Yuan is foolish, and I also ask Brother Qin to give advice." ”

Qin Zheng smiled and said, "But this matter is a long story, because it is necessary to clarify the relationship between Britain, France, Germany, Russia, the United States, and Japan in order to relieve the confusion in Brother Ting's heart." ”

When Yuan Shikai heard this, he couldn't help but be very interested, to say that he also had a certain understanding of the relations between various countries, but he was still confused; for example, Britain and Russia, Germany, France, and other countries clearly had enemies, but they joined hands to organize an eight-nation alliance to invade China, and France and Russia were clearly allies, but France did not seem to have any support for Russia; France, Germany, and Russia had forced Japan to abandon the Liaodong Peninsula, but Japan had purchased warships from France and Germany. And now that he heard that Qin Zheng wanted to explain the relationship between countries clearly, Yuan Shikai naturally wanted to understand, so that he would have a bottom in his heart when dealing with various countries in the future. So he said: "I still hope that Brother Qin will teach me, and Yuan should listen to me." ”

Qin Zheng also nodded, and only then did he explain the general pattern of the world, the relationship between European countries, the Anglo-Russian contradiction, the Franco-German contradiction, the Franco-Russian alliance, the Anglo-Japanese alliance, the German-Russian relationship, the United States watching the fire from across the strait, and the connection between various relations, etc., all explained to Yuan Shikai in detail, almost for more than an hour.

And Yuan Shikai also listened to it, because he had also heard some of these relationships in European countries, but first, he didn't know everything, and secondly, he didn't consider these relationships together, so he felt confused, and he kept cutting and messing up, and Qin Zheng's speech gave Yuan Shikai a clear understanding of the relationship between countries, and all the seemingly unreasonable behaviors of various countries in the past also have their own internal truths.

So Yuan Shikai suddenly realized, and sighed: "Brother Qin, hearing your words, it is indeed better than reading for ten years." ”

In fact, Yuan Shikai was also a person with insight and knowledge of foreign affairs in the Qing court, but he, like all Chinese engaged in foreign affairs in this era, had huge limitations, and could only focus on this part of China, at most only expanding his eyes to East Asia, and was never able to judge the situation and make decisions from the overall pattern of the world, so the Qing court made many mistakes and misjudgments in previous decisions. And now Yuan Shikai finally has a little concept of the world pattern, which makes Yuan Shikai feel that this visit to Qingdao is indeed worth the trip.

After stabilizing his mind, Yuan Shikai said: "Although Russia is now unable to start a war, if the imperial court refuses Russia's request, Russia will not withdraw from the three eastern provinces. ”

Qin Zheng nodded and said: "This is natural, and if Russia does not withdraw from the Eastern Three, the first person to bear the danger is Japan, and Britain and the United States will fully support Japan in waging war against Russia in order to contain Russia, so there will be a war between Japan and Russia for one year at the latest, or three years at most." ”