Zhao Bingjun acted quickly, and it didn't take long, and Xiao Dezhang came.

He and Yuan Shikai often met, but they didn't do anything. Every time Xiaode Zhang saw Yuan Shikai, he looked very respectful, and Yuan Shikai was also very polite to him.

Compared with Li Lianying, Xiao Dezhang is much more handsome, but he doesn't feel as atmospheric as Li Lianying.

Yuan Shikai took everyone else away, and when he and Xiao Dezhang were left, he first told Xiao Dezhang about the general situation facing the whole country.

Xiao Dezhang should not be ignorant of these things, but it must sound different from the person who is in charge of the overall situation, he listens very carefully and seems to be interested.

"Grandpa Zhang, I really regret it, I didn't expect this to be big. The Qing Dynasty was made like this, if I don't come out, how good it is to live a leisurely and leisurely life, what kind of day is this, I don't dare to go out of the door, and I will be bombed when I go out. Play. Yuan Shikai spread his hands.

"Lord Yuan, our master knows that it is not easy for you, and he has said good about you behind his back." Xiao Dezhang is very good at talking.

"It would be nice if they all had the mind of the Queen Mother, but others don't think so. I, Yuan, have received the grace of the country in my life, as long as I can keep our big. Qingjiangshan, how much suffering I have endured and how tired I am, even if I give up this old life, why not? Who doesn't know, I, Yuan, and the revolutionary party are incompatible, if there is still a fight, can I not fight?

"Now, there are more than 400,000 troops, and there is a naval fleet with super combat power. asked for money, and the money that Sun Cannon brought back was said to be a terrifying amount. What about us? The Beiyang Army had only 100,000 people, and they wanted money or not, and they wanted no pay. What do I Yuan take to fight with others, I will definitely not be able to beat it.

"People can only do what they can do, I just think that through negotiations, the imperial court will automatically abdicate, so that I can strive for decent preferential treatment for the Queen Mother and the Holy Lord, as well as all the royal relatives and nobles, as well as everyone in the palace, so that everyone can continue to live a life of fine clothes and food. The problem now is that the Qing court refuses to abdicate, and the party is in a hurry, and there is really no way. ”

"Lord Yuan, can you tell the minions about the preferential conditions you want to get for the Qing court?" Xiao Dezhang asked.

It seems that during this time, Xiao Dezhang has not used his brains in this regard.

Yuan Shikai then said the conditions for preferential treatment of the Qing court that had been basically reached between the two parties.

"Slaves don't understand military affairs, but history still knows some. It is already difficult for a prince of a dead country to enjoy such preferential treatment. I just don't know, what does Lord Yuan mean by calling the slave to come and talking to the slave? ”

Yuan Shikai didn't speak, took out a silver ticket, and put it in front of Xiao Dezhang.

Xiao Dezhang looked at the number, and his eyes lit up, "What does Lord Yuan mean by this?" ”

"Queen Mother, please ......"

Before Yuan Shikai finished speaking, Xiao Dezhang immediately pushed the silver ticket back in front of Yuan Shikai.

I only heard him say excitedly: "The master is as kind to the slave as a mountain, and if he wants to harm my master, the slave will never do it." The slave is very poor, and I have never seen money in my life, but if you want me to harm the master, I will never do it, no matter how much I give, I will not do it, and I will not do it if I want the life of the slave. Lord Yuan took his leave. ”

Xiao Dezhang said and stood up.

Yuan Shikai hurriedly accompanied the smiling face, "Father-in-law, where is it, how can I harm the Queen Mother, even if you want to harm, you can't get by from me!" ”

"And what are you letting your minions do?"

"It's okay, you don't need to do anything, looking at the current situation, my father-in-law doesn't have much time to stay in the palace, in case it comes out, with all this silver, won't you and your family be able to live a similar life?"

"Lord Yuan, how can it not work, there is no merit, you also use money everywhere, how can I spend Lord Yuan's money?"

Yuan Shikai shook his head, "It's impossible to talk about merit, Yuan really has something to worry about here." ”

As he spoke, he pushed the silver ticket in front of Xiao Dezhang and motioned for him to sit down.

"I don't know what Lord Yuan told the minions to do." Xiao Dezhang was a little puzzled, but still sat down.

"It's very simple, it's to tell the Queen Mother about the current situation that I just talked to my father-in-law about, and when it's convenient. We all know that the Queen Mother trusts her father-in-law very much, and she may not believe what others say. ”

"Although the slave is in the palace, he also knows some things outside. Since Lord Yuan is dedicated to the good of the Queen Mother and the court, even if Lord Yuan does not command, when he is free, the slave must often talk to the Queen Mother. I'm afraid it's a military matter, and the words of a slave may not be of much use. ”

"Whether it can be useful or not, how useful it can be, it doesn't matter, my father-in-law just needs to say what he needs to say.

"It's our duty to do such a thing, this silver? ......" Xiao Dezhang looked at the silver ticket in front of him.

"A little heart, there will be more things to ask my father-in-law to help in the future." Yuan Shikai waved his hand.

"Then I will be respectful and disobedient." Xiao Dezhang carefully put away the silver ticket.

After some more gossip, Xiao Dezhang got up to say goodbye, and Yuan Shikai got up to see him off.

When he was about to arrive at the door, Yuan Shikai said: "There is another matter, please ask my father-in-law, if something happens in the palace that my father-in-law thinks Yuan should know, please tell my father-in-law in time." ”

Xiao Dezhang nodded hurriedly and agreed: "That's nature, that's nature." ”

Yuan Shikai's efforts on Xiao Dezhang were not in vain, and Xiao Dezhang declared to the Empress Dowager Longyu how grim the situation outside was: all provinces threw themselves into the chaotic party, and the power of the chaotic party became bigger and bigger day by day, and the soldiers of the imperial court were unwilling to fight, and they could not resist the attack of the chaotic party at all. If they do not agree to the demands of the rebel party, once the rebel party enters Beijing, their lives will not be guaranteed. If you automatically abdicate, you can get preferential treatment.

Yi Xuan was also above the court, creating a myth about how invincible the revolutionary party was. Once the Empress Dowager Longyu summoned the right, when he entered the palace, he told everyone the number of revolutionary party troops, and when he turned around and waited for the Empress Dowager Longyu to summon him, the number was much larger. It's just that no one asked him where he came from with so many revolutionary parties in such a short period of time, and how did he know about it.

The Empress Dowager Longyu was in fear every day, losing confidence more and more.

There was no news from Yuan Shikai's side for a long time, and the revolutionary party also lost patience.

On 22 January, Mr. Nakayama put forward five final proposals for peace, which amounted to an ultimatum.

1. The abdication of the Qing court is also possible by Yuan Shikai to inform the ministers of various countries in Beijing and telegraph to the countries **, or let the consul in Shanghai convey it.

2. Yuan Shikai must declare his political views and absolutely agree with republicanism.

3. After receiving the notice of abdication from the Qing court, Sun. Middle. Shan immediately resigned.

4. The Senate shall elect Yuan Shikai as interim president.

5. After Yuan Shikai was elected interim president, he swore to abide by the constitution set by the Senate before he could accept the power. He also seriously pointed out that if Yuan Shikai could not agree to the republic and did not have the sincerity to settle peacefully, then the preferential treatment of the royal family and the Manchurian and Mongolian conditions could not be implemented. Since then, the war has resumed, and the world has been bloodshed, and its guilt should be punished.

Middle. Mr. Shan ordered Wu Tingfang to convey this to Yuan Shikai, and it was published in major newspapers.

After receiving this telegram, although Yuan Shikai's desire to become president was reassured, it also immediately put him in a very embarrassing situation.

Originally, there were rumors that Yuan Shikai had all kinds of private transactions with the revolutionaries in the south for a long time, and now he has revealed the things that the two parties had secretly discussed. This provided cannonballs for the anti-Yuan Shikai forces in the Qing court.

The activities of the Zongshe Party became even more rampant, and they bitterly scolded Yuan Shikai as a rebellious minister and a thief, and Yang Yan, the first town in Beiyang, composed of royal relatives and nobles, wanted to send troops to attack Yuan Shikai. Some members of the Zongshe Party intimidated and carried out assassinations against Yuan Shikai and his followers. Someone also openly claimed that they had settled in Yuan Shikai's house, and the air immediately became extremely tense.

In any case, people are still very disgusted by this person with bad credit.

Some of Yuan Shikai's supporters also questioned his intentions, and some foreign envoys ridiculed him.

Yuan Shikai, who was embarrassed, hurriedly wanted to cover up. There is no money here for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue a proclamation, saying that he has never intended to be the president of the Republic of China, and let people spread that he is preparing to resign and return to Zhangde to retire.

Making public the secret talks between the two sides will also have a very bad impact on the revolutionaries. Especially the revolutionaries of the lower strata. I am fighting bloodily, the upper echelons are engaged in trading, and I feel betrayed.

Many revolutionaries have always regarded Yuan Shikai as a great enemy. The revolutionaries in the north, in particular, were suffering from Yuan Shikai's brutal suppression. After a half-day revolution, it was for the sake of Yuan Shikai, an enemy, to be the president, how can he accept it?

Middle. Mr. Shan's original intention should be to force Yuan Shikai so that he has no way out, and let the Qing court abdicate as soon as possible to complete the great cause of the republic. But the actual effect was not good, and even damaged his own prestige among the revolutionaries.

An important figure of the Southern Revolutionary Party once said fiercely because of this that he really wanted to send Sun to the West with the gun in his hand.

Yuan Shikai knew very well that the only way to do this was to force the Qing court to abdicate as soon as possible, but he thought of many ways and mobilized forces from all sides, but there was no substantial progress.

Hu Weide and others came back from the next court and brought back the latest news. Empress Dowager Longyu's opinion is still to try to negotiate with the south, and still convene a national conference according to the original proposal, no matter what the result is, she will accept it wholeheartedly, so that she can also give an account to the imperial family.

Yuan Shikai saw that he could only go into battle in person.