With the capture of Yanjing by the Han army and the suicide of Guangxu and Yehenara, there are still a few regional forces in China that are not controlled by the Han Kingdom, and one of them is Yuan Shikai, who commanded 12,000 Qing officers and soldiers stationed on the northeast border. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Shengjing (province), Tonghua City, Yuan Shikai's mansion

The news of the fall of the Manchu Qing Dynasty had reached Tonghua City, and Yuan Shikai, who was only thirty years old, had not eaten much food for several days, so he stayed alone in the house, not knowing what he was thinking.

The fall of the Manchu Qing Dynasty hit Yuan Shikai seriously, and the thirty-year-old Yuan Shikai had the current achievements, all of which were given by the Qing court, of course, there was also Li Hongzhang who valued Yuan Shikai, originally Li Hongzhang was ready to let Yuan Shikai serve as the commander of a town in the Beiyang Army, and finally let Yuan Shikai garrison the border to guard against the Japanese army.

At the beginning, he said that he used conspiracy and trickery to take away North Korea from the hands of the Manchus, and it was Yuan Shikai who led the troops to suppress the rebellion.

Yuan Shikai, who had less than 2,000 troops in his hands, could only retreat while fighting, and finally retreated to the northeast to confront the Japanese army on the front line of the Yalu River, and along the way, the death toll of the Qing army led by Yuan Shikai was much lower than that of the Japanese army, and the ratio of deaths on both sides could even reach one to two, which shows that Yuan Shikai's ability to command the army is indeed very strong.

Later, Yuan Shikai relied on the 12,000 Qing troops in his hands and nearly 30,000 Japanese troops to confront each other across the river, making it impossible for the Japanese army to move forward.

The Japanese army has always regarded Yuan Shikai as a serious danger and sent assassins to assassinate Yuan Shikai many times, but without success.

Now that the Manchu Qing Dynasty has fallen, Yuan Shikai has no backer, there is a big enemy in front of him, and there is a Han army pressing forward step by step, Yuan Shikai has not thought about tea and dinner for several days, just thinking about how to go in the future, whether to surrender to the enemy of the Han army, or to fight with the Han army as a whole army.

Surrendering to the Han army, Yuan Shikai had a grudge, but in a fight with the Han army, Yuan Shikai thought that his command of the army was excellent, otherwise he would not have fought the Japanese army like this, but Yuan Shikai also knew that the Han army was stronger than the Qing army, and from the day the Han army was born, the Han army repeatedly defeated several times the enemy.

At the beginning, Zuo Zongtang led an army of 150,000 troops, all of which were defeated in the hands of the Han army, although Yuan Shikai thought that he was excellent in commanding the army, but he did not have the arrogance to think that he was more powerful than Zuo Zongtang, so Yuan Shikai did not have any confidence to defeat the Han army.

Whether it is surrender or war, this question has plagued Yuan Shikai for a long time.

"My lord, the envoy from North Korea has already entered the city."

The sound of the subordinates outside the house woke up Yuan Shikai, who was still pondering, and Yuan Shikai rolled his eyes and decided to meet this envoy.

After freshening up, Yuan Shikai changed into an official uniform and came to the living room to meet the special envoy Zhu Tian Jinichiro, who was the minister of Zhu Tian in the court, and Yuan Shikai had also met with him a few times.

"Lord Yuan, the envoy came uninvited, and I hope you will forgive me." Takezoe Shinichiro said to Yuan Shikai first in his fluent Chinese.

Yuan Shikai: "You are a guest from afar, please take a seat." ”

Yuan Shikai and Takezoe Jinichiro sat down one after another, and Yuan Shikai asked quietly: "The envoy is here, what do you want to talk about?" ”

Shinichiro Takezoe: "This envoy came this time to talk to Lord Yuan about the cooperation between the two parties..."

"I'm working with you? Your Excellency, Special Envoy, you think too much, I, Yuan Weiting, almost died in the hands of you. Yuan Shikai pointed at himself and then at Takezoe Jinichiro, and said with a smile.

Takezoe Shinichiro: "Lord Yuan, I apologize on behalf of the government for the assassination of you several times before, it was completely a private action of the military, and the government has nothing to do with it, this time I am talking about cooperation with Lord Yuan on behalf of the government." ”

Hearing Takezoe Shinichiro's explanation, Yuan Shikai didn't speak, just picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea, and then motioned to Takezoe Shinichiro with his eyes to continue.

Takezoe Jinichiro: "Lord Yuan, I'm afraid you already know that the Han army has captured Yanjing City, the emperor and the empress dowager committed suicide by drinking poisoned wine, and the Great Liquidation is dead, but there is one thing Lord Yuan must not know, a few days ago, I said that I discussed with Britain, France, and Russia to form a four-nation alliance, and decided to start a war against this Han Kingdom. ”

Hearing Takezoe Jinichiro's last sentence, Yuan Shikai's action of drinking tea stopped, of course he didn't know about it, but as Takezoe Jinichiro said, once the four-nation alliance started a war against the Han Kingdom, the Han Kingdom would basically perish, Yuan Shikai's strength was very clear, weaker than the three countries of Britain, France, and Russia, just look at the weapons equipped by the Japanese army, it was worse than the Qing army under his command, and the combat effectiveness was not good, if it weren't for that, How could he, Yuan Shikai, lead 12,000 Qing troops to stop nearly 30,000 Japanese troops.

Although it is said that it is the weakest of the four-nation alliance, but Britain, France, and Russia are the top powers, and they cannot be compared with instinct, especially Russia, which borders on land, Russia can send hundreds of thousands of troops to attack the Han Kingdom, and the Han Kingdom will not be able to escape the fate of destruction at that time.

In an instant, countless thoughts popped up in Yuan Shikai's heart, and then, Yuan Shikai suppressed these thoughts again, wanting to hear what Takezoe Jinichiro would say next.

Seeing Yuan Shikai's expression in a trance for a while, Takezoe Jinichiro returned to normal, so he continued: "Our four-nation alliance will send 300,000 troops to attack the Han Kingdom, and the four-nation alliance will win this battle, and after the war, Shengjing and Ji Yan will become my sphere of influence..."

Takezoe Jinichiro paused, glanced at Yuan Shikai, and continued: "As long as Lord Yuan is willing to cooperate with us, this Shengjing and Ji Yan will establish a new country, and the ruler of this country is you, Lord Yuan. ”

For!

After listening to Takezoe Shinichiro's words, Yuan Shikai set off a storm in his heart: "I actually want me to become the ruler of Shengjing and Ji Yan, no, if I agree, I'm afraid I will only be a puppet at that time, and the power of life and death is all in the hands of Yue himself, and the ruler can be replaced at any time." ”

Thinking of these, Yuan Shikai was still calm on the surface, but in his heart he disdained himself, if he agreed to cooperate with him, he could easily enter the Northeast through the Yalu River, and it would be too late at that time.

Yuan Shikai pretended to ponder for a moment before he said to Takezoe Shinichiro: "The stakes are very high at this time, let me think about it for a few days." ”

Takezoe Jinichiro also knew that Yuan Shikai would not make a decision so quickly, and reminded Yuan Shikai before leaving: "Lord Yuan, the Han army will hit Tonghua City in a few days!" (To be continued.) )