"The Manchu Qing Dynasty has fallen, and war can be avoided for the time being." Feng Xu said. Although the old man is seventy years old, he is in good spirits. The residence of the People's Party delegation was the original palace of Prince Yi, and after Prince Yi was killed all over the house, the house was vacant. It was May 7, 1911, and the early summer weather outside the house was a beautiful day, and the large-scale martial law in the entire city of Beijing had not been lifted. As soon as the edict of the abdication of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was issued, the People's Party delegation was blocked in Prince Yi's palace and was not allowed to go out. After the fall of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the agreement reached between Yuan Shikai and Chen Ke had basically ended. For Yuan Shikai, more things are better than less, and he doesn't want any more variables in the Congress. Since the People's Party did not want to leak its intelligence network in Beijing, the delegation really did not receive the slightest outside information. This gives everyone time for gossip as well.

"We can't let Yuan Shikai be happy unilaterally, I think in the future, the liaison station of the People's Party will be placed in Prince Yi's mansion, what do you think?" Shang Yuan said with a smile. Killing Prince Yi's family, the Shandong troops of the People's Party contributed a lot, and Shang Yuan skillfully avoided Feng Xu's problem.

"Before I came, Wen Qing explained that the honeycomb coal plant he opened in Beijing in the past must ask Yuan Shikai for his return. This can't be cheaper Beiyang. Yan Fu also said playfully.

"What the hell do you mean, two?" Feng Xu has been here in the People's Party for several years, and the original bureaucratic spirit has subsided a lot, and when he heard the two people who came with him talk like this, he did not speculate, but bluntly questioned it.

Yan Fu saw that Feng Xu was really a little anxious, and he smiled: "Brother Feng, revolution is the process of eliminating the most backward ones one by one. The Manchus were the most decadent and backward of their time. After we have destroyed the Manchus, we will continue to eliminate the most corrupt and backward ones. There is no end to revolution. ”

After listening to these discussions, Feng Xu sighed slightly. He did not want to object to such arguments, but it was true that the attitude of the BJP was not easily accepted. The problem is that Feng Xu is far from being involved in the position and opportunity of the top echelons of the BJP. "Who's next?" Feng Xu asked.

"In the next stage, whoever tries to cling to the European and American powers will be our enemy." Shang Yuan replied neatly.

This answer is full of justice and reality, Feng Xu was still worried about whether the People's Party would adopt any radical policies a moment ago, after listening to Shang Yuan's answer, Feng Xu turned to praise, "That's good! That's how it should be! ”

"Who is our friend and who is our enemy, Wen Qing has never missed it until now." Yan Fu also smiled. The grasp of the strategic direction is the category of a strategist, and no one in the People's Party doubts Chen Ke's position as the No. 1 strategist.

Feng Xu was a little excited by this new strategic direction, "Then who will collude with the European and American powers?" ”

"Listen to his words and watch his deeds." Shang Yuan said with a smile. While he was talking, someone outside reported that Yuan Shikai had sent someone to invite the People's Party to attend tomorrow's National Assembly meeting.

On May 8, 1911, after several days of deliberation and discussion. After the fall of the Manchu Dynasty, the name of China was determined to be the Republic of China. Yuan Shikai was officially elected as the first president of the Republic of China. Yuan Shikai immediately appointed his old partner Prince Qing Yixuan as the prime minister of the cabinet, and Xu Shichang became the vice premier of the cabinet. Yixuan is 73 years old this year, and this appointment is entirely to reward the contribution of his old partner. The republic is a presidential system, and Yuan Shikai is still in power. The Beiyang MPs passed many basic laws at an astonishing pace, and it was not until May 8, when the number of MPs was nominally to be decided, that a delegation from the People's Party had to be invited to the meeting.

Compared to the last Congress, something has changed in a few days. President Yuan cut his braids, and a considerable number of parliamentary deputies also cut their braids. There are more people wearing suits in the entire Congress, and it looks quite refreshed. When the BJP delegation entered in high spirits, more members of parliament took the initiative to greet them. It seems that everyone has gradually accepted the change.

In fact, the number of legislators has been arranged for a long time, and the National Assembly first determined "Huaihai Province" as a formal provincial-level administrative unit through elections. According to the population estimates of the former Qing Dynasty, the People's Party was given some seats in four provinces. The BJP delegation then agreed. So everyone pretended to vote and went through the process. When Yuan Shikai took the stage after the vote, many parliamentarians thought that Yuan Shikai was going to say a few words.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's a good thing that China is not at war anymore. Let's talk about Gengzi's indemnity now. As soon as Yuan Shikai spoke, this content made the entire council silent. One of the functions of the National Assembly is to discuss the amount of taxes that each province should pay to the central government each year. Since the provinces are autonomous, the provinces are no longer prepared to have too many extravagant demands in terms of central power, and the provinces naturally do not want to give a penny to the only tax issue. Not to mention such a huge amount of Gengzi indemnity.

Yuan Shikai continued: "The national army should be unified, and since the People's Party is willing to join the republic, then there must be a charter for the discussion of military orders for the army. The north is fine, and the number of troops in the southern provinces must also be discussed. I propose to convene a peace conference in Shanghai to discuss the question of the armies of the provinces. And I also have to talk about the Gengzi indemnity. ”

At this moment, there was an uproar in the parliament as if it had been stabbed in a hornet's nest, and the army was the fundamental force for the southern provinces to protect themselves. Not to mention that Beiyang now has a large army, and the People's Party is even stronger. Although the autonomy of the provinces has been established, in the event of a fight, who will be the reason to go to? The southern provinces had absolutely no real trust in Yuan Shikai.

Fortunately, Yuan Shikai did not really want the southern provinces to show any real sincerity, and he immediately said that in the current period of violent turmoil, the country is mainly resting. At least until next year's Congress, the government will not collect taxes. However, the matter of Gengzi's indemnity is very involved, and Beiyang will negotiate with foreign countries, and invite the People's Party to discuss the matter together. If the provinces are willing to participate in the reparations, they can also participate in the Shanghai Peace Conference. The condition is that the provinces participating in the peace conference must bear an indemnity of one million a year.

It was naturally good to participate in the peace meeting, and the provinces were very concerned about what kind of conspiracy was in the discussion between the People's Party and the Beiyang Central Government. However, the ticket to participate was one million taels of silver a year, and everyone's enthusiasm immediately disappeared.

Immediately, some Guangdong legislators stood up and questioned why other provinces could not attend the peace conference. Without Yuan Shikai to speak, the Beiyang parliamentarian immediately retorted: "Since you don't pay taxes, what are you going to say in it?" If you don't work, you're still ready to dictate what you do? ”

"This has nothing to do with paying taxes or not, and of course we have the right to participate in the affairs of the state." The Guangdong representative made a tough statement. This attitude was echoed by many southern parliamentarians, "If we don't participate in such a major event as the army and Gengzi's indemnity, how can we know if there is anything that betrays China's interests in the peace talks." ”

Wang Youhong got up and said: "Now that the provinces are in financial difficulties, President Yuan Da is considerate of the provinces and has exempted taxes for one year, and we in Jiangsu Province are very grateful. However, the peace talks involve a lot of things, and if we don't listen, we don't know the bottom of our hearts. When the time comes, the Central Committee and the People's Party will have a big deal, and we will treat ourselves as dumb and never intervene. ”

This proposal was supported by the southern legislators, for whom it was not a matter of even thinking about paying money to the central government. But the major events that will determine the fate of the country must not be completely unknown to the provinces.

Yuan Shikai felt this awkward in his heart, the presidential system originally gave the president great authority. The power of the parliament has been weakened to the extreme, and it only has the power to elect the president, administer justice and discuss taxes. Now the provincial legislators have turned a deaf ear to this and are trying to meddle in important negotiations. Although it seems that the provincial legislators have no right to speak, just listening to it makes people feel as disgusting as eating flies. They don't talk in the negotiations, and God knows what they say outside the negotiations.

was upset, but Yuan Shikai saw Hunan Governor Cen Chunbei standing up and asking to speak. Yuan Shikai thought that he would also follow the crowd and say some nonsense about participating in state affairs, but he didn't expect Cen Chunbei to say loudly: "There is money for foreigners, but there is no money for disaster relief." President Yuan, do you think this should be done? ”

As soon as these words came out, there was an immediate uproar in Congress. Immediately, some parliamentarians shouted, "If you have money for foreigners, it is better to use this money for disaster relief." The Manchu Qing Dynasty lost power and humiliated the country, and when it arrived in the republic, it still lost power and humiliated the country? ”

"Isn't it just war? As long as the disaster is relieved first, the people are saved, and if the foreigners call, the people are naturally willing to fight to the death. What are foreigners to fear? ”

The noise is getting louder and louder, all kinds of irresponsible remarks are flying in the Congress, Beiyang parliamentarians can still maintain a little discipline, and after listening to it more, some people have begun to ridicule each other, "You don't have a backache when you stand and talk, and you say it well, when have you ever seen Sichuan stand up?" ”

Looking at the increasingly chaotic situation below, Yuan Shikai's face on the stage became more and more ugly.

In the evening, Yuan Shikai invited Yan Fu to dinner, and after first apologizing for the matter of house arrest for the People's Party for a few days, Yuan Shikai couldn't help but talk about the affairs of the Congress during the day.

"That's not a bad thing." Yan Fu said with a smile, "Xiangcheng, there is already a dispute between the provinces, but everyone didn't dare to say it so bluntly before. Moreover, the original provincial statements on state affairs were basically nonsense. What's changed now? However, Xiang Cheng is already the president, but he has to work hard. ”

"Brother Dao, can the guarantee that Wen Qing said a few days ago count?" Yuan Shikai is very concerned about this. The depletion of the country's finances almost drove Yuan Shikai crazy, and if Chen Ke was playing with Beiyang before, Yuan Shikai felt that he was not being president, but was roasted on a fire.

"We the People's Party have a plan for this. Since we are going to hold a peace conference, why don't we talk about it at the peace conference? Yan replied.

"Brother Dao, if Wen Qing asks you to ask me what I want, then you might as well say it directly, what is it to be so secretive?" Yuan Shikai said angrily, "I might as well tell the truth, if Wen Qing refuses to pay this time, I can only borrow money from foreign banks." When the principal and interest increase, I can only resist. Wen Qing is a junior, and I don't want to embarrass him as an elder, but I can only take out the memorandum we signed. ”

Seeing that Yuan Shikai was really forced to be anxious, Yan Fu smiled and said: "Xiangcheng doesn't need to be in such a hurry, we have already sent a telegram to Wen Qing, and I think there should be a result in the next few days." However, Wen Qing once asked me to tell me something, he ran a honeycomb coal plant in Beijing, and you have to return this to our People's Party. ”

Yuan Shikai's face became extremely strange when he heard this, he didn't expect Chen Ke to be so cautious, he still remembered such a little sesame mung bean five years ago so clearly. But since Yan Fu publicly said that this was what Chen Ke meant, Yuan Shikai couldn't refuse. He smiled: "I forgot this, it seems that I have greatly offended Wen Qing in this matter." ”

"Xiang Cheng really wants to return the honeycomb coal plant to Wenqing?" Yan Fu asked.

"Wen Qing's things naturally have to be returned to him, what else can this be fake?" Yuan Shikai asked strangely.

"Haha, Xiang Cheng, you are on the role of Wenqing." Yan Fu said with a smile.

Yuan Shikai knew that Yan Fu was by no means a person who would betray, but when he heard Yan Fu say this, Yuan Shikai was confused. What exactly is Chen Ke going to do? However, Yuan Shikai is a hero after all, and he will never make mistakes about interests. After calming down a little, Yuan Shikai said with a straight face: "Brother Dao, I don't understand the details of these things, and I don't have time to care." I only want to say one thing, Wen Qing can let the government get through this difficulty, and I will never let Wen Qing pay this money for nothing. If he wants to show his strength in the north, I will definitely not embarrass the People's Party in Beiyang. ”

At this point, it can be regarded as a thorough explanation. Yan Fu actually didn't want to dwell on it so much, "Since Xiang Cheng said so, I can reply to Wen Qing like this." ”

The next day, May 9, the BJP delegation set off for its base area. On the third day, May 10, Yuan Shikai received a telegram from Chen Ke that the People's Party had officially informed the British side that it was willing to guarantee half of this year's indemnity. But the conditions are simple, the central government is not allowed to collect taxes from the BJP.

On May 12, the British Embassy officially informed Yuan Shikai that it was calling for a tripartite meeting on half of the reparations to be paid by the BJP and the non-payment of taxes at the BJP-controlled port. Yuan Shikai believed that the People's Party had indeed begun to deliver on its promises.

On May 15, the People's Party's Honeycomb Coal Plant receiving team rushed to Beijing to formally demand that the People's Party take over its former property. Beiyang really didn't expect the People's Party to act so vigorously and resolutely, and specially sent people to Beijing for a small factory that had been closed and disappeared a few years ago. Matters concerning the People's Party are not trivial, and no one dares to make their own claims. As a last resort, the Minister of Industry and Commerce had no choice but to inform Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai is a smart person, and he knows what's going on as soon as he hears it. He said angrily: "Whatever the People's Party wants, as long as it is not excessive, you will give them anything." Do you want to ask me about this kind of thing again?! ”

This time, it was Xu Erba who led the team back to ask for the honeycomb coal plant. The large yard rented by the original honeycomb coal plant has long since been subleased to someone else. Xu Erba did not dwell on this matter, he directly asked for the original Fengtai camp station. In the "Horse Bandit Incident" at the end of 1909, the Fengtai camp was burned to ruins, and many people died. Except for some of the displaced people who have built some dilapidated shacks there, it is still a wasteland. Under some of the rubble that had not been cleaned up at all, a dig could find some corpse remains.

Xu Erba demanded the old land of Fengtai Daying at a rent of 10,000 oceans a year. Yuan Shikai has spoken, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Beiyang is not willing to make extraneous branches. Xu Erba paid the rent for five years, and the two parties signed a five-year contract. It is also clearly written in the contract that Xu Erba has a limited right to renew the contract. This is the case with the bureaucracy, where there are people at the top who speak up, and the opponents are tough, and the efficiency is as fast as ever. On the day the contract was signed, the People's Party's honeycomb coal machine equipment arrived. Anhui has long begun to popularize honeycomb coal, and the production of honeycomb coal machine is almost solved together with the brick machine. More than a dozen machines were shipped to Beijing, and they were very ostentatious at the railway station.

Beiyang did not dare to take the People's Party's actions lightly, because there were displaced people in the Fengtai camp, and there was no shortage of labor. And after all, this is Beijing, even if a few hundred displaced people make trouble, it is not so easy to move. Not to mention that the south of the capital is full of slums, what should the People's Party do if they incite the poor to rebel?

Xu Erba seems to be deliberately stimulating Beiyang's nerves, after the honeycomb coal equipment was transported to Beijing, a large number of new wheels were then transported. The BJP's trade quota agreement with Southeast Asia directly led to almost all Southeast Asian rubber entering the BJP's base areas. Polymer materials are plastics, rubber, coatings and adhesives. Rubber vulcanization and carbonization are the most basic knowledge in textbooks. In these years, there was no nylon cord cloth for the outer tire, and the metal wire drawing equipment imported by the People's Party made steel cord cloth. This is a high-grade cord fabric, which is used in high-end car tires in the 21st century.

Tubular axles, ball bearings, rubber pneumatic tires, wire wheels, steel rim wheels. As soon as the wheels of these rack cars arrived in Beijing, Xu Erba sent a heroic post and invited people who had previously cooperated with the People's Party and the leaders of Beijing's transportation industry to Fengtai Daying. What made Beiyang extremely puzzled was that the People's Party also invited five or six people from Beiyang to the Beijing Police Bureau and five or six from Beiyang to the director of the Credit Department of the Bank of Communications.

"Brothers, although I am from Anhui, I used to work as an errand in the Tianjin Machinery Bureau. It's also our Beijing-Tianjin meal. This time, I invite you to come here because I want to do some facts. Xu Erba said in high spirits.

The people who were invited, whether it was the official or the people, were very curious about what Xu Erba was going to do. Soon, they saw the purpose. With the new wheels, this thing is much stronger than the wooden wheels or the simple wheels that have a layer of leather wrapped around the wooden wheels. Whether it's a two-wheeled vehicle or a four-wheeled vehicle, it's light and fast.

Chang Siye had cooperated with the People's Party before, and he was quite strong, and even tried to pull a four-wheeled cart by himself. There were eight or nine hundred catties of big stones on the car, and on the forehead of Chang Siye's neck, how high the green tendons collapsed, but with his hard work, the four-wheeled car was actually moving forward slowly.

Everyone was stunned by the scene. The people in the capital have a good face, and as soon as Chang Siye behaves like this, there are other unconvinced people who immediately go up to try. It is still more difficult for one person to pull eight or nine hundred pounds of things, but two people work together, and the cart obviously goes briskly.

As for the rickshaw, it runs lightly and quickly after changing the wheels. Xu Erba asked the director of the Beijing Police Department and the credit department of the Bank of Communications to try it out. These people are used to riding rickshaws, and you can experience how different they are from previous rickshaws when you try them. Although it shook on the bumpy road, there was no vibration of stumbling.

After everyone finished trying, Xu Erba gathered everyone together and said loudly: "This car and wheels are not cheap, let you pay for it, and you can't afford to buy it." So we asked the gentlemen of the Bank of Communications to let them also see the quality of this car. If you want to buy it, you can ask them for a loan. If you can't afford the loan, or you are not at ease, you can rent a car at our car dealership and try to pull the goods first. ”

The loan commissioners of the Bank of Communications had already understood Xu Erba's thoughts, and the first thought of everyone was whether the People's Party was engaged in some kind of trap. But Xu Erba's next statement made the people in Beiyang even more confused, "What everyone is most afraid of is harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and it is impossible for the government not to collect taxes." So let's get to the end of the story, I asked you from the police station this time to ask them to set a price to set the number of taxes for the year by issuing licenses. The transport company pays enough money for a year, and as long as it has a license, then it does not have to pay taxes. If you don't have a license, we can't control it. ”

After some discussion and explanation, the police department also understood the key. If the police department has the power to issue licenses, then the people who join the transportation company run by Xu Erba will have to pay them how much money a year. Although I also think that this is a big trap in my heart. But it is absolutely impossible to say that these people in the police station are not moved.

Because the involvement was too great, neither the police nor the Bank of Communications dared to agree immediately. And this car is really expensive, a set of wheels down, more than hundreds of oceans, less than fifty oceans, these hard people who rely on labor to earn money haha naturally can't afford it. This matter involved the People's Party again, and even Chang Siye, who could come up with the money, did not dare to buy a car.

Yuan Shikai finally got a report that the Bank of Communications was a bank in Beiyang, and the police station was Yuan Shikai's confidant. Yuan Shikai asked casually, "How much can we earn in a year?" ”

The police chief and the commissioner of the Bank of Communications glanced at each other, and the chief of police gave the commissioner a few glances, and the commissioner of the Bank of Communications said hesitantly: "If you are in Beijing and Tianjin, two million silver dollars a year is still no problem." ”