The cherry blossoms of the legation of the Republic of China are blooming just right, and the streets of Tokyo are full of tourists dressed in kimonos, and a man in a suit and leather shoes is thirty years old and looks out the window with great interest.

"Kegong, please see, this woman has wide shoulders and short legs, only the delicate skin is still considerable, this kimono can just cover the ugliness, and the back of the neck is exposed when bowing and bowing, which is also quite moving." The middle-aged man said with a smile.

"Brother Runsheng is so interested, and Mrs. Sister-in-law doesn't care!" The man sitting on the sofa said with a smile while drinking sake, and his accent had a strong Hunan flavor.

"I don't care about him, if he likes this woman, he can marry him, it's a big deal that I will return to China with the child, Kegong, please drink a few more glasses!" A middle-aged beautiful woman laughed.

This bearded and Hunan dialect is none other than Huang Xing, who left Tokyo for the "Second Revolution", and the well-dressed man in a suit and leather shoes is Lu Zongyu, the minister of the Beiyang political axe stationed in Yuben. The middle-aged beauty is Lu Zongyu's wife Xu Jinfeng.

The two people from the hostile camp get along with each other and drink and talk happily, which is also very interesting.

Lu Zongyu is a native of Haining, Zhejiang, and the villagers called him a prodigy when he was a teenager. Married at the age of twenty, the bride Xu Jinfeng and the famous female revolutionary Qiu Jin were classmates, and they were also sisters. Three days after marriage, Lu Zongyu said goodbye to his wife and went to study at the Hubei Ziqiang School founded by Zhang Zhidong and did not return home for more than a year. Another year, he borrowed a sum of money from his wife's mother's family and went to study at Waseda University alone, and he went for another three years.

In the autumn of 1902, Lu Zongyu returned to China after completing his studies, and won the first place in law in the palace examination. In the winter of 1906, Lu Zongyu accompanied the five ministers on a visit to Europe and the United States as a third-class counselor, and traveled all the way to Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Russia, Italy, and other countries. They spent the longest time in Germany, not only inspecting modern legal systems such as the constitution and national law, but also studying the construction of new policies such as municipal administration and police administration. Returning to China in the autumn of the following year, Lu Zongyu wrote the results of his investigation into a treatise entitled "The Essentials of European and American Politics", according to which the imperial court formulated a new official system and abolished the imperial examination system, which had lasted for more than 1,000 years.

In 1907, Lu Zongyu was transferred to the general office of the Fengtian Foreign Affairs Bureau and in charge of salt affairs in the three eastern provinces, and went to Shenyang. At that time, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces used mules and horses to transport salt, and the carts could only pull a few hundred catties at a time, and it took one or two months to go back and forth from Changchun to Harbin, and there were seven or eight months of snow in a year that could not be transported, and tens of thousands of tons of salt were backlogged and could not be transported, while the common people in Harbin and other places could not buy salt to eat. Why don't you use the train to transport salt? The problem lies with the Empress Dowager Cixi, who has always been afraid of railways, fearing that building them will break the feng shui; In addition, the railway in the northeast was built by the Russians and himself, and his subordinates did not dare to use the train to transport salt. Lu Zongyu pretended not to know about this situation, and negotiated with the Russian road chief of the Zhongchang Railway, and soon the first batch of salt was shipped from the railway.

After being transported by rail, the freight per catty of salt has been reduced from one yuan to several cents, and it can be shipped at any time of the year. The transportation was smooth, but there was not enough salt to sell. Lu Zongyu started from the largest salt field in Northeast China - Yingkou Tianzhuang Tai Salt Farm, and ordered the county order to supervise all the salt workers to find back, open mines and quarry, build embankments and dams, first build sea ponds, and then build salt farms, and in less than a year, the salt works became very busy. He also invented the supplementary levy law to prevent officials from cheating and profiting, which was later extended to the whole country. During the three years that Lu Zongyu managed the salt affairs in Northeast China, he increased the salt tax by 930,000 taels of silver in the first year, and reached more than 1.6 million taels in the third year. When Lu Zongyu stepped down and left Shenyang, the people of Yingkou beat gongs and drums and sent a "Wanmin Umbrella" embroidered by the villagers in turn, expressing their gratitude and support for him. Since then, Lu Zongyu has also been known as a "business wizard".

After Yuan Shikai came to power, he appointed Lu Zongyu as a financial adviser to the Presidential Office, and in December 1913 he went to Yue as minister to Yue at the age of Chinese New Year's Eve.

"Kegong, President Yuan asked me to talk to Yue himself about this sixteen secret treaties, what do you think of this Sino-Yue Alliance?" Lu Zongyu asked.

Huang Xing didn't raise his head, drank sake and said, "What is Brother Runsheng going to do?" ”

Lu Zongyu smiled: "One word, drag!" How long does it matter, but it must not be signed by me anyway. ”

Huang Xing took a sip of wine and said: "If I am coerced, Yuan Shikai in China will not allow you to shirk it?" ”

Lu Zongyu smiled indifferently, opened the drawer of the filing cabinet, and took out a Browning pistol: "Isn't it just a death?" This treaty of destroying the country and exterminating the species, I, Lu Zongyu, will never sign it! ”

When Xu Jinfeng saw the pistol, he was startled, and rushed over to snatch it down: "You can't come from the surname Hu, what should you do if you die our orphans and widows?" ”

Lu Zongyu said with a smile: "I haven't reached that step yet, I think this political axe is not very concerned about this negotiation, and it is estimated that Yuan Shikai is going to be a villain in vain??? Kegong, I didn't contact your revolutionary party? ”

Huang Xing sneered: "It is said that the people on the side of the political axe have not come forward, but the head of the Black Dragon Society, Uchida Ryohei, has come to me, hoping that I will promote this Zhongyu Alliance, saying that after the matter is completed, they will support us with funds and weapons, the wolf's ambition is obvious, and I, Huang Xing, am not stupid enough to seek skin with the tiger!" ”

"Kegong is high and bright, do not abolish justice for the selfish interests of one party and one faction, Lu admires, come, you and I have a drink!" Lu Zongyu raised his glass to toast.

Huang Xing drank it all, and turned the bottom of the cup down to indicate that there was no trickle left.

"Kegong, what is Mr. Sun's attitude?" Lu Zongyu asked.

Huang Xing smiled bitterly but did not answer, picked up the wine glass and said, "Brother Runsheng, drink a bar." ”

Lu Zongyu shook his head and said: "Mr. Sun is still a little more utilitarian, not as calm as Kegong. ”

Huang Xing, who has been drinking alcohol, slammed the table and roared angrily: "I, Huang Xing, live for one day, and I will not allow this kind of treaty to destroy the country and exterminate the species. ”

This palm was too strong, the cups, plates and wine utensils on the table were shaken, and Huang Xing's palm was also red and swollen, but he didn't realize it, and his round eyes seemed to be a crazy tiger.

Lu Zongyu smiled and soothed: "Ke Gong is angry, I expect this secret agreement to be difficult to sign, I see the attitude of this political axe, it seems that I don't believe it, even the political axe is almost no one to agree with President Yuan, yesterday I received a secret telegram from the army chief Duan Qirui, asking me to delay as long as I can, Cai Tinggan, a senior military adviser to the presidential office, also sent me a telegram, saying that if I dare to sign, he will come to Tokyo to kill me, and then he will lead troops to fight guerrilla warfare with himself, Ke Gong, listen, the people around Yuan Shikai are all this attitude, Can this treaty still be signed???? President Yuan Da was really deaf, and he dared to agree to such a condition, if this treaty was really signed, his prestige would be completely ruined. ”

Although Lu Zongyu holds the salary of the political axe of the Republic of China, he has always been less interested in Yuan Shikai, but has a very close relationship with the revolutionary party. Sun Wen, Huang Xing and others fled to Tokyo after the failure of the "Second Revolution", Yuan Shikai instructed the legation to ask for the extradition of the political axe to extradite them, but they were disturbed by Lu Zongyu's ghost, and Okuma Shigenobu, who had just taken office as the prime minister, personally promised Lu Zongyu that he would never hand over Sun Wen and others to Yuan Shikai.

Huang Xing sneered: "The Jianghuai army is aggressive, Chai Dongliang is already ready to dominate the world, and Yuan Shikai is also desperate, and he is in a hurry to go to the doctor??? It's ridiculous, digging out the flesh in the heart and curing the sores in front of the eyes, even if he was lucky enough to escape this catastrophe through his own strength, what prestige does Yuan Shikai have to rule China? I dare to say that as long as the contract is signed, without Chai Dongliang's Jianghuai army attacking, Yuan Shikai will be overturned inside Beiyang! ”

Lu Zongyu smiled bitterly: "Why isn't this the case? In fact, I am afraid that I would not dare to expect to sign a treaty with such harsh conditions, and their purpose in doing so is more to undermine Yuan Shikai's prestige and tear China apart. What a sinister intention! ”

Huang Xing gritted his teeth and said: "If Yuan Shikai really dares to sign, I will immediately return to China to launch an uprising." ”

Lu Zongyu smiled bitterly: "I can't figure it out now, what medicine Yuan Shikai took wrong, what is there to talk about such conditions?" ”

At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, people who studied in Europe and the United States generally fell in love with Europe and the United States, while those who studied in Europe and the United States generally hated the book, and Lu Zongyu was an exception, he always liked the book. As a top student of Waseda University, Lu Zongyu was quite loved by Professor Yuben when he was in school, and he was also a well-known pro-Yue faction, but this time the sixteen secret covenants proposed by Yu himself were indeed beyond his bearing, and even a person like him who had a good impression of Yuben could not bear it, so much so that he prepared a pistol in the office, and if this treaty had to be signed, he planned to commit suicide by drinking bullets??? Anyway, as a negotiator, once this traitorous treaty is signed, even if he doesn't commit suicide, there will be countless people who want to take his head, so it is better to cut off how much of a good reputation he has.

Lu Zongyu knew very well that he was waiting for Yuan Shikai to repay the money on the spot because he was asking for a sky-high price, but unexpectedly, Yuan Shikai actually sent a secret telegram and accepted his conditions in full, which was too unbelievable.

Huang Xing sighed and said: "The European war is imminent, the Western powers have no time to look eastward, and I want to take advantage of the fire to rob, at this time of crisis, the people should have worked together to tide over the difficulties, but Yuan Shikai stooped down to serve the slaves for the honor of a family, it is really hateful!" ”

Lu Zongyu smiled bitterly: "What is Kegong going to do?" Send someone to assassinate Yuan Shikai? I think the reason why Yuan Shikai is like this is really because the Jianghuai army forced him too much, if Kegong can persuade Chai Dongliang to take a step back and publicly issue a statement in support of the political axe of the Republic of China and President Yuan Da, his conspiracy will be self-defeating! With my understanding of Yuan Shikai, if he can unify the military orders and government orders, he will definitely not be subordinate to himself! ”

Huang Xing smiled bitterly: "Don't you know that Chai Dongliang, this guy was only the governor of Anhui at the beginning, and when the strength was only 4,000, his guard captain dared to put a pistol to Lao Tzu's head and threatened to bombard the presidential palace with a warship, and now he plays the role of Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Jiangxi, Fengtian, Mongolia The six provinces of the land, under his command are more than 100,000 tiger warriors, it is when the spring breeze is proud, where will he listen to me?" Or, Brother Runsheng persuaded Yuan Shikai and let him take the initiative to let Xian? Based on my understanding of Chai Dongliang, if he can dominate the world, he will definitely go toe-to-toe with himself, and he will definitely not give up an inch of land and interests! ”

Lu Zongyu laughed: "Kegong is joking, if he is willing to do this, he is not Yuan Shikai anymore!" ”

Huang Xing also smiled helplessly: "Brother Runsheng is also joking, if Chai Dongliang is willing to listen to me, then he is not Chai Dongliang anymore!" ”

Lu Zongyu laughed for a moment, and his expression dimmed: "The people in power are so stubborn, they are unwilling to make the slightest sacrifice for the country, and the country will not be a country in the long run!" ”

Huang Xing couldn't laugh anymore, and sighed: "Brother Runsheng, what are you going to do with the current situation?" ”

Lu Zongyu smiled bitterly: "What else can I do?" I have sent someone to leak the contents of the secret agreement to the Western newspaper, hoping that Britain and the United States can force me to make concessions for their own interests! The country is in such a state of decline, and we can only do our best to obey the destiny of heaven! ”

??? Dividing line ???

Chai Dongliang carefully searched for information in the computer, selected useful content from the vast amount of information provided by book friends, and tried to find clues to solve the current situation.

Finally, an article caught his attention.

Yama Prefecture has always hated Shigenobu Okuma??? Masaki Terauchi has always coveted the position of prime minister???? It is said that the army is full of pro-Germans.

One by one, the information is like scattered beads, each of which makes Chai Dongliang feel something, but he can't figure it out when he is covered by clouds and fog, and he always feels that there is a lack of a rope to wear these contents.

Chai Dongliang's throat has been swollen for the past two days, and the situation does not allow him not to be in a hurry. The Jianghuai army has already made a general mobilization, more than 100,000 troops are waiting for the end, and more than 300,000 people, more than 200,000 mules, horses, and livestock have also been requisitioned. The soldiers are still in fire, and they are not fighting [***]. From Saibei to Jiangnan, whether it is the navy or the army, all the departments of the Jianghuai Army have made preparations for the battle of unification, and they are waiting for an order to enter Yanjing City and destroy Yuan Shikai.

But he said that he inserted a pole horizontally and smashed Chai Dongliang's wishful thinking.

To tell the truth, the current combat effectiveness of the Jianghuai Army is really not afraid of the Yueben Army, if the Yuejun Army dares to land, the Jianghuai Army will definitely not suffer a loss by virtue of its superiority in firepower and strong fighting spirit and the absolute support of the people, the battle in Fengtian City is an example, the elite Fifth Division meets Gu Nanshan's troops, and will not be beaten to the ground?

However, Chai Dongliang was deeply jealous of the combined fleet, and the Jianghuai army was not afraid of a head-to-head confrontation with Yue himself, but he was afraid of Yue Ben's sea guerrilla warfare, and if he made up his mind and kept harassing in the coastal areas, it would cause huge damage to China's economy and industry, which was a price that Chai Dongliang could not accept.

Chai Dongliang has never understood why this sixteen secret covenants were proposed at this time, if he said that he was like another time and space, waiting until the European war began and the great powers were already in the mud before forcing China's political axe to accept, wouldn't it be more advantageous?

Now, Europe hasn't started fighting yet!

Chai Dongliang stared at the computer screen in a daze, and suddenly he slapped his head and shouted: "Damn, I see, I understand!" Yuan Shikai, your end has arrived! ”

(To be continued)