108231908 Far Eastern Maniac Chapter 342 Remedy

At first glance, he was an old-fashioned bureaucrat. Of course, Yuan Shikai didn't know that he was facing his old heart now! Since the news of the fiasco in southern Henan was confirmed, the Japanese and Russian ambassadors to Britain successively visited British Foreign Secretary Sir Grey, and the ambassadors of both countries suggested that "necessary measures" be taken to resolve the chaotic situation in China

What the Japanese want to do, the British government is very clear, but the British government is not worried that Japan will take unilateral action, because Japan still needs to play Britain's support, the British government is more worried about Russia, if Russia turns its attention to China, it will seriously weaken Russia's position in the strategy of countering Germany, although the possibility of such a strategic turn is very small, but the British government still decided to "persuade" Yuan Shikai to give up the idea of continuing to fight, return to the negotiating table, and stabilize the situation in China, His Majesty the conceited Tsar of Russia continued to focus his strategy on the European continent.

The method of "persuasion" was also very simple: first, the British immediately seized all the British arms that arrived in Hong Kong, and these arms were originally intended to be transported to Tianjin to equip the new units of the Beiyang Army; Second, Britain immediately notified all consortia and banks in China that all loans to China would be stopped until the British government gave the nod, and now the only destination for British loans was the Beiyang Group.

Under the "advice" of the British government, Yuan Shikai reluctantly gave up the idea of continuing the war, and finally agreed to resume peace negotiations with the United Front.

Of course, there was another very crucial factor influencing Yuan Shikai's decision, and just yesterday, Tang Xiangming, acting chief of the navy of the Republic of China, sent a telegram in Jiangyin, announcing the "uprising" and leading all the officers and men of the Jiangfang fleet and ships to join the united front, vowing to defend the National Assembly, defend the law, and formally break with Yuan Shikai's Beiyang clique.

Obviously, through the battle in southern Henan, many people saw clearly the essence of the strong and middle cadres outside the Beiyang, and they decided to choose a new allegiance, if this situation continues, the balance of power between the north and the south will change strongly.

Moreover, without the Jiangfang Fleet, the First Beiyang Army in the southeast region lost its mobility, completely lost its strategic advantage, and the situation in the southeast took a sharp turn for the worse, and even if Yuan Shikai wanted to continue to fight with the United Front, it would be impossible. He could only sit back at the negotiating table.

So, under Zhu Erdian's rush, Song Jiaoren led the southern peace delegation back to Beijing. We will hold peace talks with the Beiyang side and strive to end the situation of the division of the north and the south as soon as possible.

However, what Zhu Erdian did not expect was that when he accompanied Song Jiaoren to the main gate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China, the Beiyang government did not send anyone to greet him, and when the train arrived in Beijing, Zhu Erdian also made a special call to Yuan Shikai at the railway station to tell him that the Southern Peace Delegation had arrived in Beijing.

Obviously, Yuan Shikai is not Jiang Qi yet. I want to give us a pound of small horses on our behalf.

Fortunately, Song Jiaoren was very generous. I didn't mind this, and walked into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Zhu Erdian and sat down in the reception room.

Zhu Erdian and Song Jiaoren waited in the reception room for ten hours, and Yuan Shikai's foreign secretary Cai Tinggan was late, and there was no nonsense when they met, and after a few words of greeting, they led them to see Yuan Shikai.

Yuan Shikai met Zhu Erdian and Song Jiaoren in the Juren Hall of the Presidential Palace, his face was not good-looking, and the Beiyang generals next to him were also blue-faced.

Mr. Song worked tirelessly, tiringly, and exhausted himself to bridge the gap between the north and the south, and Yuan admired it very much. Mr. Song is also fully qualified to sit in the presidential position. ”

Yuan Shikai's words were with a gun and a stick, and his cronies understood the meaning of these words, and the face of Jin Xiaoxiao was even more ugly, and Zhu Erdian also understood, and his brows were also furrowed, as for Song Jiaoren. Just a faint smile.

"President Yuan has won the award, for the country and the people. That's what politicians should do. As for this president, Song is not qualified to do it now, besides, our United Front has already said that in this official presidential election, the United Front will not nominate candidates, and Song is a member of the United Front. I can't break my word. ”

This was said bluntly, and everyone listened to it, and their faces softened slightly, but they also all knew that if Beiyang did not show some benefits in this peace talks, it would not be possible to talk about it, after all, the winner of the war was the United Front of the people, not the Beiyang Group.

"In this North-South peace talks, Yuan is really willing to turn hostility into peace, but I don't know if there are any conditions on the United Front?" Yuan Shikai asked.

Song Jiaoren took out a few pieces of letterhead from his handbag and handed them to a secretary of the presidential palace beside him, who handed the letterhead to Yuan Shikai.

"This is what our side is talking about. Please ask President Yuan to look at it, if there is anything that is not clear or incomprehensible. I can explain to President Yuan. ”

Song Jiaoren said on the side, but Yuan Shikai twisted his brows and looked at those conditions, and the more he looked at it, the tighter his brows were twisted.

The conditions for the peace talks were too harsh, and the United Front not only wanted to take back the right to nominate cabinet candidates, but also wanted to further use this to amend the constitution and change the presidential system to a cabinet system, completely following the French political system.

"Now that the Constitution of the Republic of China has been promulgated, how can it be easily changed? How can the people be convinced? ”

Yuan Shikai threw the condition on the coffee table beside him. And for good reason.

Song Jiaoren was not surprised, this negotiation. Just pay attention to a bargain.

"It's okay not to change the presidential system, but the presidential term should be revised, and in addition, the National Assembly should not be moved to the north, preferably to Nanjing."

"What? Does the United Front still want to move the capital? ”

Without waiting for Yuan Shikai to answer, the British Minister Zhu Erdian asked first.

"It was not to move the capital, but to set up the government and the parliament in two separate places. Moreover, the United Front believes that the Beiyang Army stationed in the southeastern region should be handed over to the United Front for command and reorganization. ”

Song Jiaoren's words made Yuan Shikai furious. He patted the arm of his chair and stood up.

"Why don't you just go to Beijing by yourself! Defeat me, and this world is your united front! What is the Beiyang Army? You just want my head, and you don't have to! ”

Yuan Shikai's angry words made everyone present frown, and Zhu Erdian had a headache, and he was thinking about how to turn in a circle

The female member of the day struck Ju Rentang and handed over the telegram manuscript to Cai Tinggan, who hurriedly walked to Yuan Shikai's side and whispered a few words, and handed over the telegram manuscript.

Yuan Shikai glanced at the telegram a few times, and said with a sneer: "I knew that negotiation and negotiation were your delaying tactics!" Since you guys are going to fight. All the soldiers of Beiyang will accompany me to the end! ”

After saying that, he slapped the transcript of the telegram on the coffee table, then turned around and left, leaving Jurentang through the side door.

Everyone present looked at each other, Zhu Erdian walked over and looked at the manuscript of the telegram a few times, Song Jiaoren walked to his side, but saw that there were only a few lines written on the telegram:

"The southern army has advanced to the southern suburbs of Zhengzhou 20 miles, the armored train is moving with the army, and the aircraft has carried out several aerial reconnaissance of Zhengzhou City, it seems that there are traces of attacking the city, and I hope that the War Department will send reinforcements as soon as possible."

The telegram was carried by the Beiyang guard of Zhengzhou. Duan Qirui, acting chief of the Ministry of the Army, looked at it and handed it over to Yuan Shikai for decision.

"Mr. Song, how do you explain this?" Ji Erdian took the telegram and glanced at Song Jiaoren.

Song Jiaoren shook his head with a wry smile and said, "I am not a soldier, and I am not familiar with military operations. Nor does it have the right to meddle. However, since the troops of the United Front are advancing towards Zhengzhou, it must not be without reason. ”

"What reason?" Zhu Erdian put down the telegram.

"I don't know about that."

Although Song Jiaoren shook his head, he was not confused in his heart, he understood that this was of course the need for the United Front troops to take advantage of the victory to expand the results of the battle, and at the same time, it was also "to promote peace, and after this battle in southern Henan, Song Jiaoren understood a truth." For a military strongman like Yuan Shikai, the best negotiation language is force and the army, and Zhao Bei is right about this.

But Zhao Bei himself is also a military strongman. Other parliamentarians can cheer for the victory of the commander-in-chief and the chairman of the committee, but Song Jiaoren remains calm and sober about this, he knows too well the essence of a military strongman, if the history books record only a vague shadow, then the Civil War has depicted this shadow more clearly, for constitutionalist parliamentarians like Song Jiaoren. It was a huge shadow, and he didn't want to see the country overshadowed.

Therefore, Song Jiaoren decided to negotiate peace with Beiyang as soon as possible. Take advantage of the current balance of power between the North and the South to strive to transform the Congress from a rubber stamp into a real national weapon.

At this time, Cai Tinggan walked to Zhu Erdian's side. said: "Mr. Minister, President Yuan Da is invited." ”

Zhu Erdian shrugged his shoulders and pointed at Song Jiaoren. asked Cai Tinggan: "So, isn't Mr. Song going?" ”

Cai Tinggan said: "Mr. Song will go back to the hotel to stay for a while, and President Yuan has no intention of refusing peace talks. It's just that he was dissatisfied with the Southern Army's backtracking, so he was a little angry. ”

"Please tell the coachman to send Mr. Song to my villa in Xishan, the hotel near the train station is too noisy for a person of Mr. Song's status.

Zhu Erdian gave a few instructions, and then followed Cai Tinggan to Yuan Shikai's study.

When he arrived at the study, Yuan Shikai was pacing back and forth in the study with his hands behind his back, he was the only one in the room, and Zhu Erdian entered the study. Yuan Shikai didn't say anything, just handed a telegram to the Englishman.

"I don't know anything about the seizure of Beiyang's arms by the Governor of Hong Kong, and I will make a telegram to inquire about it. However, when it comes to the issue of arms, I probably won't be able to get involved. ”

Zhu Erdian glanced at the telegram, although he knew about it, but he didn't handle it, so he decided to pretend to be confused.

"Your minister can't interfere in the affairs of arms, so what about the finances?" Yuan Shikai asked.

"I can help with financial matters, but if the situation in your country cannot be stabilized quickly, it will be impossible for British consortia and businessmen to provide loans to Beiyang with confidence. I heard that the Bank of Communications in your country has been reorganized, so why don't you raise some private funds through this bank? Zhu Erdian cleverly steered the conversation to the other side.

"I also asked the Bank of Communications, but Liang Shizhi said that the Bank of Communications couldn't come up with the money, and now he is trying to figure out a way, and he doesn't know when he will be able to raise enough military salaries, and there is no military salary. The Beiyang Army could not fight. ”

Seeing that Yuan Shikai obviously didn't realize the more pressing problem, Zhu Erdian had no choice but to open the skylight and say something.

"As far as I know, yesterday, Mr. Sheng Xuanhuai took a telegram to Mr. Liang Shizhao, and earlier, there were more people in the financial circles who received Mr. Sheng Xuanhuai's telegram, and I think they may be discussing something."

"Oh? What does Sheng Xuanhuai want to do? Yuan Shikai raised his eyebrows.

"I don't know about that. However, in the morning, I received a telegram from the British Consulate in Mukden, saying that Mr. Xu Shichang, the Governor of the three eastern provinces of your country, had visited Mr. Stud, the U.S. Consul General in Mukden, yesterday. Zhu Erdian continued to make a statement, and his tone was so cold that Yuan Shikai's ears were very uncomfortable.

"Maybe it's talking about the railroad. Xu Juren is my second brother who will send me a telegram about everything, he is a person, I trust, Mr. Minister is too worried. ”

Before Yuan Shikai could finish speaking, his eldest son Yuan Keding walked into the study with a telegram and whispered a few words to Yuan Shikai.

Yuan Shikai's expression changed greatly, and his body shook a few times. Almost unable to stand, Yuan Keding hurriedly held him up and called a servant.

Zhu Erdian was very curious about what Yuan Keding said, but before he could ask, Yuan Shikai had already picked up the teacup on the table, and as soon as he moved forward, Cai Tinggan politely asked Zhu Erdian to leave the study.

Walking out of the presidential palace and entering the carriage, there was a "rumbling" thunder in the sky, and Zhu Erdian bowed to the sky, but saw lightning and thunder, pouring rain from the sky, and a cool breeze poured in from the window of the carriage.

Zhu Erdian closed the window, looked at the raindrops that slapped on the windowpane, and sighed helplessly.

This storm has come over.

And this storm is likely to bring to naught all the remedial efforts of the British government.

The balance of power in the Far East seems to be no longer maintainable.