September 23, 1915 was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the Japanese gave Zhang Zuolin a "big gift" in this traditional Chinese festival. The Japanese consulate in Mukden told Zhang Zuolin that the legitimate government of China was now the government of Sun Yat-sen, and asked Zhang Zuolin to recognize the situation and obey the orders of the new government.

And earlier, Zhang Zuolin had already gotten the news. Japanese troops stationed in Korea are concentrated on the border between China and North Korea, and they may break through the border and enter the northeast at any time.

"it!" As soon as he saw off the Japanese consul, Zhang Zuolin scolded in the house. The recent situation has made Zhang Zuolin suffer, and the fall of Beiyang is actually not too bad. If there were no other forces pressing forward step by step, and without the suppression of Yuan Shikai, a powerful figure, Zhang Zuolin would be able to take over the power of the Northeast. However, the People's Party had no intention of stopping, and after they eliminated the troops sent by Zhang Zuolin at Shanhaiguan, they assumed a posture of continuing to march.

But after only a few curses, Zhang Zuolin shouted at the trembling servants outside the door, "Go, call people to discuss matters!" ”

Although Zhang Zuolin in 1915 has not yet reached the glorious moment of 1925 in history, he is also now the Fengtian overseer and patrol envoy, and is in charge of the military and political power of the three provinces of Heijiliao. However, Zhang Zuolin's foothold was not stable after all, and the population of the Northeast was not large, and most of them were Manchus who fled from the famine or came after the fall of the Manchu Dynasty. If these people were willing to be soldiers, they would have gone to serve as soldiers a long time ago. The population of the three eastern provinces was originally small, and now that Yuan Shikai has expanded his army, the number of troops under Zhang Zuolin is less than 100,000. As for the generals, most of them are those officials of the former Qing Dynasty, and the number of real military cadets is very limited.

First explained the latest situation to these civil and military generals, Zhang Zuolin asked everyone what they thought. Of course, everyone has ideas, and the news of the Japanese is not the first to come. In early September, Duan Qirui, who had fled to Shanxi, sent an order to the northeast in the name of the deputy minister of the army, asking Zhang Zuolin, the governor of Fengtian, to accept Duan Qirui's rule. For this deputy minister of the army who fled to Shanxi in a hurry, these people in the northeast are extremely disdainful. They are optimistic that the People's Party will inevitably clash with foreign forces, and the reason why Duan Qirui abandoned Beijing so quickly and fled to Shanxi is not because he hopes that foreign forces will attack the People's Party in Beijing?

However, the next news disappointed them, and the People's Party not only did not fight with foreigners, but also marched out of Shanhaiguan and made a gesture of attacking the northeast. Just when the gang was terrified. The Japanese forced Northeast to recognize Sun Yat-sen's "legitimate government." The military generals of the Northeast were frightened and found ridiculous.

"What is Sun Yat-sen? President Yuan promoted him and gave him the title of vice minister of the Ministry of Railways. He dares to call himself the president now, if he really gives him three colors, he will dare to open a dye shop! Zhang Zuolin's iron buddy Tang Yulin said loudly.

Zhang Zuolin's brother Zhang Zuoxiang was not so optimistic, he said: "Now that Sun Yat-sen has taken refuge in the Japanese, this matter is no longer what Sun Yat-sen wants to do, but what the Japanese want to do." I see that the Japanese are trying to break into the Northeast. ”

Tang Yulin didn't reply directly, but just glanced at Zhang Zuoxiang not very enthusiastically. As Zhang Zuolin's life-saving benefactor and the old brother and comrade-in-arms of Babai, Tang Yulin has always believed that Zhang Zuolin will definitely reuse himself after becoming the overseer of the Northeast. I didn't expect Zhang Zuolin to be more constrained by himself. Originally, Tang Yulin thought that as a veteran of the Feng department, he should naturally become the commander of the 27jun army, but he didn't expect Zhang Zuolin to let his other brother Zhang Zuoxiang be the commander of the 27jun army. He also made Wang Yongjiang the director of the provincial security department, but he did not promote the big brother Tang Yulin. For Zhang Zuoxiang, Tang Yulin has always been able to talk less and talk less.

"What will happen to the Japanese if we ignore them?" Wang Yongjiang, director of the security department, asked.

"Since the Japanese dare to put forward this condition, they will certainly not give up on our laurels. As everyone knows, the Japanese troops stationed in Korea have reached the border, and our troops have now begun to organize defense. They certainly weren't so simple to scare a bit. Zhang Zuolin had long known that Japan wanted to annex Manchu and Mongolia, and even engaged in a "Manchurian and Mongolian movement".

Wang Yongjiang hesitated for a moment before continuing: "Then are the People's Party and the Japanese joining forces to deal with us? ”

This is very enlightening, because the military generals of Northeast China originally thought that both the People's Party and Japan had the intention of annexing Northeast China. There were wolves at the front door and wolves at the back door, and the turmoil of the situation made them all panic. Wang Yongjiang's words reminded everyone. Even if it is the same two threats, the northeast side is afraid that it will not be able to resist either side alone. However, whether there is a contradiction between these two forces is something to be done. But this optimism did not last long, and the attitude of the Japanese was very clear. Zhang Zuolin's group also has a relatively smooth surface communication channel with Japan. However, the People's Party did not establish any diplomatic relations or channels with Zhang Zuolin.

Even if they wanted to test the People's Party's intentions, Tohoku had no way to achieve them. In view of the difficult situation of the current situation, all the Northeast officials frowned. I can't see the ease at all when he first mocked Sun Yat-sen.

"If you want me to see, let's fight. Whoever enters the Northeast will be beaten! Tang Yulin said in a deep voice.

"President Yuan's million-strong army has been fighting for more than a month and has become like that, how many soldiers are there in our Northeast? How do you fight to win? Wang Yongjiang clearly objected to this blunt idea.

"President Yuan may not be able to defeat the People's Party, it's just that President Yuan died early." Tang Yulin said unconvinced. The People's Party strictly sealed the news, so the information of the Hebei campaign was only recently transmitted back to the Northeast, "Hebei has far more troops than the People's Party, and if President Yuan Da is not dead, the People's Party will not be able to attack the city of Beijing at all." ”

"Do you think Chen Ke understands demon law? After he wrote something, the Queen Mother and the President ...... "Zhang Zuoxiang is more superstitious, and more importantly, the people who came back from the news tried their best to exaggerate the fact that the People's Party was throwing leaflets from the sky."

There are not many people who are not superstitious in these years, and the more they have status, the more they are afraid of unknown forces when they encounter difficult situations. When Zhang Zuoxiang said this, everyone's faces became extremely ugly.

Tang Yulin was uncomfortable by this heavy pressure, he simply stiffened his neck and said, "How can Chen Ke understand demon law?" Let's find a few shamanic lamas with spells and let them cast spells, I don't believe that Chen Ke alone can withstand so many people? ”

Zhang Zuolin listened to Tang Yulin's more and more evil words, and couldn't help but scold: "What are you talking nonsense, the more you talk about it, the more outrageous it becomes!" ”

Regardless of Tang Yulin's unconvinced face, Zhang Zuolin said to everyone: "The People's Party is nothing more than trying to seize the Northeast. But there are only so many soldiers in us, and there was President Yuan Da to pay him when he was conscripted. Now we have the money in hand to pay these troops as before, and we will not be able to last for a few months. I mean, we've got to figure it out. Let's first find out what the BJP thinks. And this is about to enter winter, so it is impossible to fight this winter. Stabilize the People's Party first, and then delay it until next year. ”

No one objected to this opinion, and in fact, the civil and military generals in the northeast could not come up with any better way. In the end, it was decided to send someone to contact the BJP first to see what the BJP was going to do to the Northeast.

The next day, the negotiator had not yet been chosen. The Japanese consulate continued to find Zhang Zuolin and asked Zhang Zuolin about his attitude towards Sun Yat-sen's government. In his heart, he had already scolded the Japanese and Sun Yat-sen's ancestors for eighteen generations, Zhang Zuolin still said with a smile: "Whether this is Sun Yat-sen in Japan or not, we are not sure." If it's really Mr. Sun, I think it's better to invite him to come and talk to us. After all, some of us have seen Mr. Sun. It would be nothing if we were deceived, but if someone impersonated the Japanese side and deceived them, wouldn't it be a joke? ”

The Japanese side had long expected that Zhang Zuolin would do everything possible to shirk it, but he didn't expect Zhang Zuolin to find such a reason. If Zhang Zuolin's so-called "people who have seen Sun Yat-sen" deny that Sun Yat-sen is himself, Japan will not be able to prove that Zhang Zuolin is wrong.

"Zhang Jun! Are you trying to fight against our Great Japanese Empire? Consul En of Japan asked in a very threatening tone.

Zhang Zuolin said with a smile: "I'm definitely doing this for the good of Japan." Now that the president has just died, there are as many people as there are fishing in troubled waters. Everyone has to be careful. ”

After saying this, Zhang Zuolin suddenly slapped his head, "By the way, in fact, there are many people who have seen Sun Yat-sen in the Feng Guozhang overseers in Jiangnan, I think your country might as well let that Mr. Sun go to Jiangnan first, if Feng Guozhang overseers say that it is Mr. Sun Yat-sen, and is willing to accept Mr. Sun's government, I will naturally resolutely support it." ”

Listening to Zhang Zuolin's words of trying his best to push the trouble outside, the Japanese consul sneered, "Zhang Jun! Whatever you say is useless. As a friend of China, we in Japan have an obligation to support Dr. Sun Yat-sen's government in resuming administration of China. I think you should go with the flow and not go against the trend. That's not good for anyone! ”

The anger in Zhang Zuolin's heart almost ignited his hair, but he still had a smile on his face, "This is a big deal, you need to be cautious!" ”

"So how long will it take for Zhang Jun to get back to us?"

"It's almost the New Year, what do you think of next year?" Zhang Zuolin replied.

The Japanese consul was amused by this, and he laughed, "Three days, at most three days will give you three days." ”

After saying that, the Japanese consul got up and took his leave.

The people around Zhang Zuolin were angry or frightened, Zhang Zuolin didn't look angry, he just fell into deep thought.

"Dashuai!" Wang Yongjiang shouted softly beside Zhang Zuolin, "Are the Japanese really going to do it?" ”

Zhang Zuolin turned his head and said in a heavy tone: "I'm afraid that's the case." ”