In the 25th day of the first month of the lunar calendar in 1914, there was already a trace of warmth in the cold and steep of spring, after all, it was the weather in the south, and the first few days were still icy and snowy, and the wind was not as cold and hard as in the past few sunny days.

The construction of the Jianghuai Army gradually became regular, and Chai Dongliang was not as busy as before, and had some leisure time. In such a day, it is the most pleasant pastime to take his wife and children and domestic servants to the suburbs to fly kites and hunt, but unfortunately Chai Dongliang's life is not good, and he is busy with official duties, and he has to be sadly coded at a cramp-like speed.

After a night of sleeplessness, another 20,000 words were done, Chai Dongliang stretched his waist to soothe his tired body after sitting for a long time, and the week's update was done again. Touching the teapot next to it was already as cold as ice, and looking through the curtain, the soldiers on night duty outside had fallen asleep against the pillar. Chai Dongliang shook the thermos and made himself a cup of tea. The water is at most sixty or seventy degrees, the tea leaves are not fully soaked, so he swallowed the water and ate a biscuit, Chai Dongliang turned on the computer, but found that there was no one online in the book friend group, look at the wall clock on the wall, Chai Dongliang smiled dumbly, it was already more than five o'clock in the morning, this time is the sweetest time for everyone to sleep.

Yesterday, Chai Dongliang received a secret report, and the little fan Xu Shuzheng personally sent someone to send a hand-copied manuscript, the content of which shocked him, this is clearly a secret agreement between countries!

From the end of the 19th century to the end of World War I, it was an era of secret diplomacy, and what really surprised Chai Dongliang was the content of the treaty.

General Outline: Saying that the political axe of China and the political axe of China are mutually willing to maintain peace in East Asia as a whole, and to further consolidate the existing relations of friendship and good-neighborliness between the two countries, the following provisions are hereby stipulated:

As China recognizes that it enjoys a superior position in South Manchuria and Inner Mongolia in the east, the following terms are hereby agreed:

???? The term of the Lushun and Dalian leases, as well as the terms of the South Manchuria and Anbong railways, were extended to a period of 99 years.

???? It is said that in southern Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, the subjects of the country may obtain the right of lease or ownership of the land they need for the purpose of building houses and factories for commercial industrial use, or for farming.

???? It is said that the subjects of the country can live and travel in southern Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia as they please, and conduct various businesses such as commerce and industry.

???? The Chinese government allowed the mining rights in South Manchuria and Inner Mongolia in the east, and allowed them to be their subjects.

???? Hanyeping Company as a joint venture between the two countries; It is also agreed that without the consent of the national political axe, all the property belonging to all rights of the company shall not be disposed of by the Chinese political axe itself, nor shall the company be arbitrarily disposed of.

???? China's political axe allows all ports and islands along China's coast to be ceded or leased to other countries.

???? In the central government of China, it is necessary to hire Yue himself as a political, financial, and military adviser.

???? All hospitals, monasteries, schools, etc. in Chinese mainland are allowed to own their land.

???? The local police in China, as a joint venture between China and China, or the police stations in such places, are required to employ most of them......

???? China shall purchase a certain amount of ordnance from China, more than half of the ordnance required by China's political axe, or set up an ordnance factory in China to employ engineers and purchase materials.

Paragraph 5 China allows the construction of railways connecting Wuchang to Jiujiang and Nanchang, as well as railways along Nanchang, Hangzhou, Nanchang and Chaozhou.

Paragraph 6 provides for the establishment of railways, mines and seaports in Fujian Province, and when foreign capital is needed, it shall first be agreed with the country.

Paragraph 7: China allows its own people to have the right to preach in China.

???? The term of lease of Lushun and Dalian, as well as the term of the South Manchuria and Anbong railways, was extended to a term of 99 years.

???? It is said that the subjects of the country, in southern Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, can build factories for industrial use, or for farming, and obtain the right to lease or own the land they need.

???? It is said that the subjects of the country can live in South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia as they please, and engage in various businesses such as commerce and industry.

???? The Chinese political axe handed over the mining rights of South Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia to Yueben.

The above 16 articles are almost a copy of the 21 articles that happened in another time and space, except for the cession of Shandong's rights and interests. However, this is to implement this secret agreement, the military, government, and police are all in the hands of Yueben, and the economic lifeline is firmly controlled by Yueben??? China will become a colony of Yuben, or even go on the path of North Korea and be annexed by Yuben!

What made Chai Dongliang even more annoyed was that Yuan Shikai was angry with others, whether it was the Manchurian and Mongolian regions, the Hanyeping companies in Hubei and Jiangxi, and the Wuchang, Jiujiang, and Nanchang railways, all of which were under the rule of the Jianghuai Army. This secret agreement is tantamount to pushing the Jianghuai Army directly into a situation of all-out confrontation with Yuben!

Take Lao Tzu's knife and cut Lao Tzu's stick? Yuan Shikai is also a good calculation!

According to this secret agreement, Yuan Shikai can obtain a loan of 100 million yuan provided by himself, and within one month from the date of signing the contract, he will pay the first installment of 20 million yuan, which is equivalent to 13 million Chinese silver dollars, equivalent to 8.5 million taels of silver, and at the same time he will help Yuan Shikai establish a central bank and issue 100 million yuan in banknotes. It will provide Beiyang with 200,000 rifles, 300 machine guns, and 200 artillery pieces, and will also receive a large number of instructors and no more than three divisions.

From the information provided by the book friends, Chai Dongliang learned that as early as 1900, when the Gengzi Revolution occurred, Uchida Ryohei, a ronin, launched an espionage organization called the Black Dragon Society, which was named after China's Heilongjiang, and its intentions were obvious. Although the Black Dragon Society is nominally a non-governmental organization, it has a great influence on the official decision-making, and since its establishment, they have penetrated into Korea, Northeast China, Mongolia, Siberia and other places, and its activities include spying and collecting intelligence, secretly drawing maps, buying national scum, and instigating civil strife, such as the merger of Korea, the revolution in China, the co-optation of the Zonghe Party, and the instigation of the Manchu [***] Establishment, etc., there is no lack of shadow behind the Black Dragon Society.

Just recently, Ryohei Uchida, Toyama Mitsuru and others came up with the "Memorandum of the Black Dragon Society", taking advantage of the imminent war in Europe and the fact that the great powers had no time to look eastward, and taking advantage of the fact that China was not yet strong and isolated, to coerce China to accept the secret treaty, create the established fact of the "protectorate", hit Yuan Shikai's prestige, and support all anti-Yuan forces to promote civil strife in China; Support the restoration of the imperial system other than Yuan Shikai, so that China will be consistent with the Chinese government and create conditions for the future merger of China and China.

It is a pity that after the Xinhai Revolution, Uchida Ryohei, Toyama Mitsuru and others all came to China as friends of the Communist Party and became guests of the revolutionary party.

This memorandum has not been favored by the political bigwigs, Yuan Shikai has been in turmoil, does he still need to crack down? The Jianghuai army is aggressive, and it is unpredictable that Yuan Shikai can hold out for a few days. As for the issue of restoring China's imperial system, the bigwigs such as Youpeng in Shanxian County feel that it is not worth it, can the unity of the national system of each other make the Chinese have a good impression of Yuben? If that were the case, would there still be a Sino-Japanese War between China and Ben?

Ryohei Uchida's idea is simply ridiculous!

The "Memorandum of the Black Dragon Society" was shelved by Youpeng and others in Shanxian County, and it was at this time that Yuan Shikai, who was originally the target of the attack, threw an olive branch to Yue himself, and was willing to seek protection in one fell swoop.

Chai Dongliang looked at the manuscript sent by Yan Jing, and at first disdained it, because in another time and space, this twenty-one articles that once made Yuan Shikai infamous were actually abolished by Yuan Shikai in disguise. First of all, the content of the most ruthless control of political and military production was deliberately leaked to the United States by Lao Yuan, forcing him to cancel it. The other terms were also changed beyond recognition by him, and only 12 were left when the 21 articles were finally signed.

Even if there are 12 of them, almost none of them can be realized. As Yuan Shikai himself said: "When buying land and renting land, I told him that he couldn't buy an inch of land; Mixed dwelling, I told him that as soon as he stepped out of the annex, his life was in danger; As for the police adviser himself, although I use him, I just give him a few dollars a month, but as for ignoring it, whether to ask or not, the right is mine. For all the others, I have a way to destroy. ”

Later, he himself in the northeast once said: "We said that we are in the northeast, imprisoned in the boundaries of the dependent territory, and dare not leave the dependent territory for a single step"; As for the issue of buying and renting land from the Chinese, it is said that because Yuan Shikai secretly formulated regulations to punish state thieves and handed them over to local officials in northeast China, he could not buy or rent land at all. As for those who were hired, they also said: "We are called consultants, but in fact, no one cares about them, and no one asks about them." ”

In another time and space, not only that, but the lame Prime Minister Shigenobu Okuma also stepped down because he rashly proposed the "Twenty-one Articles" without the Imperial Council, which led to a diplomatic failure. Masayi Terauchi, who took over as prime minister, later had to admit: "The Okuma cabinet demanded '21 articles' from China, which aroused the resentment of all Chinese, but Yumoto had no real interests." ”

If Lao Yuan didn't have this means, then he wouldn't be Yuan Shikai anymore!

When Chai Dongliang got the manuscript, his first reaction was that it was the little fan Xu Shuzheng who was making a ghost, probably because he wanted to arouse the anger of the Jianghuai Army and take the opportunity to get rid of Yuan Shikai. Although it is Chai Dongliang's stated goal to overthrow Lao Yuan, it does not mean that he can let others fiddle with him.

But after thinking about it carefully, Chai Dongliang felt that it was not impossible for Lao Yuan to take refuge in himself, after all, the situation and another time and space had changed dramatically.

In the world that Chai Dongliang was familiar with, Yuan Shikai had basically unified the domestic military and government at that time, and was not under great threat from the country, and now the Jianghuai army has formed an encirclement of Beiyang from Manchuria, Mongolia, northern Jiangsu, and Huaibei, and the navy can also threaten Tianjin at any time. Yuan Shikai's reign was already in jeopardy, and in such a critical situation, it was difficult to say what choice he would make.

However, when there is an internal crisis, the external enemy will take the opportunity to invade, and the internal industry will not be safe, and the outside industry cannot be safe!

If it was before the crossing, Chai Dongliang would definitely not believe that Yuan Shikai would be willing to be a puppet for Xiao Yue, but after enjoying the feeling of being in power, Chai Dongliang did not dare to make up his mind easily. When he first crossed into this world, Chai Dongliang often planned to get a vote and go to the Shanghai Concession to be a public servant, but he moved his body and raised his body, and it was difficult for the superior to adapt to the life of ordinary people after a long time, even if he had a huge amount of money, he could not compare to the feeling of holding power. Chai Dongliang's position was obtained by virtue of two salted duck eggs, and he was reluctant to leave it every day when he was tired and half dead, not to mention Yuan Shikai's decades of ragged roads and ups and downs?

If this secret agreement is true, then the war of reunification against Beiyang is likely to turn into a war between the Jianghuai army and the Yue army, and it is obvious that the Jianghuai army is not ready for a full-scale war against Yue??? Yuan Shikai probably also saw this, so he threatened himself and respected himself!

Chai Dongliang originally planned to take advantage of the First World War, which was about to break out in five months, to make a lot of war money, and when the war was late, he had made enough money, and at the same time, the first phase of the Bethlehem contract was completed, the navy had eight dreadnoughts and twenty cruisers, and the officers trained by the Naval University had also graduated.

Three years, as long as I am given three years, I can completely leave the book behind??? But is there really three years?

If this secret agreement is true, Chai Dongliang's wishful thinking will be completely shattered, and if he attacks Beiyang now, he will face the danger of a full-scale war with Yueben, and if he is left alone, Yueben will have China's manpower and materials by virtue of controlling the Beiyang political axe, and his strength will also swell to the point that the world is shocked.

Besides, Chai Dongliang can't do it anyway, he can't give up the economic interests of Han Yeping and Manchuria, Jiangxi, Anhui and other places, right?

Even this could not satisfy Yue's appetite, could it be that the training of the Jianghuai Army, as well as the supply of arms, finance, and industry, should also be controlled by Yue?

Although the strength of the Jianghuai Army is extremely strong in the country, and its weaponry is not inferior to that of the Army, but it even has an advantage in firepower, and if it is urgently conscripted, it is not impossible to make up a million-strong army, and it may not suffer much loss if it really fights, but after all, the time is still too short, the foundation is not solid enough, and it is possible to have a certain advantage in a short period of time, and once it is long-lasting, it will lack stamina???? Moreover, once the war starts on the mainland, under the poison of the war, the industrial base and economy that Chai Dongliang has worked so hard to manage will be destroyed, and the dream of making a fortune by relying on the First World War will also be completely shattered!

The thin two pages in his hand made Chai Dongliang feel more and more heavy, believe it or not, this is a problem, if it is true, whether to fight or not, this is also a problem, if there is a war, how to fight, it is a serious problem!

(To be continued)