The staff member standing next to him reminded in a low voice: "Dashuai, is Lord Xu still waiting for a reply?" ”

"Agree, what else can you do besides agree?" Yuan Shikai replied angrily. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

"This is obviously Yang Xingguo's trick for us, since we have stepped into it, we can only rush forward."

"Replying to Xu Shichang, I agree to give 3 million immigrants to the three northeastern provinces, including 500,000 of those captive families, and as for food, I will go out with the immigrants."

"When it comes to moving the imperial court, we need time. The imperial court has already sent a messenger to Mukden, and as long as his negotiations with the imperial court are successful, the old man will have a way to persuade the imperial court to open the border gates. ”

"In addition, by the way, tell Yang Xingguo that if the price is right, the old man wants to buy 50,000 rifles from him that he captured from our Beiyang Army. By the way, I will reply to the telegram as soon as there is a result. ”

After recording the contents of the telegram, a staff member in charge of the Beiyang Army's ordnance immediately asked: "What about the light and heavy machine guns and artillery captured by the Liaodong Army?" That's handsome, you bought it from abroad at a high price, and if you buy it again, you won't be able to get it without three or four million taels of silver. ”

"Don't think about those heavy weapons!" Yuan Shikai shook his head and replied helplessly.

"We are short of heavy weapons, and the Liaodong Army is also short of heavy weapons. Moreover, those heavy weapons are universal, even if we can afford the price, the Liaodong Army will not sell them. Don't forget, the Liaodong Army has now obtained the entire three eastern provinces, and the expansion of the army is imperative for the Liaodong Army, in this case, do you think they will sell us heavy weapons! ”

The staff continued to ask: "Then what about the heavy weapons we need to expand our army?" ”

"Re-purchased, but also to further strengthen the firepower of the troops. If possible, try to form one or two heavy artillery targets. Yuan Shikai replied without thinking about it.

Buying weapons means spending money, and half a year ago, the Beiyang Army expanded from the Six Towns Army to the Nine Towns, and it has used up all the activity funds that Yuan Shikai can use.

Although Yuan Shikai still has a lot of silver in his hand, it is Yuan Shikai's last capital just in case, and he will never move it unless he has to. Therefore, in the immediate expansion of the Beiyang Army and the restoration of pre-war strength, Yuan Shikai has almost no silver available.

Of course, as a generation of heroes, Yuan Shikai still reacted quickly.

After a pair of eyes shot out two sharp glances, he immediately decided, "I can't sit still like this anymore." The income of one Shandong province simply cannot meet the needs of 100,000 Beiyang troops. ”

"I decided that taking advantage of this time the imperial court was broken, my Beiyang Army took the opportunity to take Anhui and Henan provinces. Both places are large grain-producing provinces, and the grain tax alone can meet the military salary of 100,000 Beiyang troops in peacetime. ”

The greater Yuan Shikai's power, the more these staff around him will definitely rise with the tide.

As if it had been discussed, as soon as Yuan Shikai decided to exit, several staff members agreed one after another.

There was even a staff member who directly said how the Beiyang Army took control of the two provinces: "With the current control of the local government by the imperial court, as long as our department directly rebels, the imperial court will not take the initiative to attack us." ”

"In this battle outside the Guan, the imperial court made several governors in Jiangnan lose their troops. When the news spreads, those governors will no longer obey the imperial court as before, and the prestige of the imperial court will also be greatly damaged. ”

"All, as long as we control the two provinces by surprise, the imperial court can only stubbornly admit our control over the two provinces."

"Neither Henan nor Anhui has formed a new army, as long as we dispatch troops from the two towns and directly station them in the location of the yamen of the governors of the two provinces, and then step by step into the seat of the state capitals of the two provinces, then the two provinces will be ours."

The staff who was still thinking about the silver suddenly interjected: "Dashuai, even if we successfully win the two provinces." However, the two provinces are still three or four months away from the autumn harvest, and it will take at least five months to wait for all the grain taxes to be paid. Do we have to wait five months before we start buying weapons and equipment and expanding our troops? ”

"It has to start now. As soon as the officers who had been redeemed from Guanwai arrived, we restored the establishment of the Beiyang Nine Towns Army, and in addition, formed at least six more mixed associations. We are now behind the Liaodong Army, and we will definitely have a battle with the Liaodong Army in the future, and we must hurry up to catch up with the Liaodong Army. Yuan Shikai said categorically.

"The problem with the silver? Without silver, there is no way to buy weapons and equipment, and there is no way to even recruit troops! The staff continued to ask.

Seeing Yuan Shikai's brows furrowed quickly, another staff member next to him suddenly proposed: "Marshal, I have a solution to this problem right away, but it's just a little bit of a breach of the reputation of the Beiyang Army?" ”

"Say!" The higher the status and the larger the territory in his hands, the more Yuan Shikai could feel the importance of the army in this troubled era.

Therefore, in Yuan Shikai's thinking, no matter what method he uses, he must form an army, and it is still an army that is completely loyal to himself.

As long as you have the army in your hand, you can regain anything else you have lost through the army.

Facing Yuan Shikai's longing gaze staring at him, the staff hurriedly replied: "Didn't the Liaodong Army ask us for three million immigrants, since the marshal has agreed, we will definitely send the three million immigrants outside the customs." ”

"However, whether the property of the three million immigrants should be sent out of the customs together depends on the meaning of the marshal."

"Three million immigrants, an average of one or two silver assets per person, if all of them are intercepted, it will be three million taels of silver, or even more!"

Yuan Shikai immediately understood the staff's proposal, and replied very affirmatively: "Three million taels of silver, it will only be more, not less." ”

"You still have one of the most valuable things that you haven't counted, land, millions of people have emigrated outside the border, and there is no problem at all in vacating millions of acres of fertile land. According to the current price of land, it is three or four million taels of silver. ”

"Then we will expand the army, and the money to buy weapons is not enough! I didn't expect that I would compromise with the Liaodong Army and immigrate to the customs and send us so much silver! The staff member in charge of the military expenses of the Beiyang Army was very excited and said.

After glaring at this staff member fiercely, Yuan Shikai scolded angrily: "What do you know, these benefits are temporary. ”

"Two or three million immigrants, if they are done well, can create an income of three or four million taels of silver every year. What's more, three million immigrants can casually sign fifty or sixty thousand recruits without affecting production. Compared to the immediate income of a few million taels of silver, the permanent income they have created is much more than that! ”

Seeing that the atmosphere in the lobby quickly cooled down, Yuan Shikai changed his tone and continued: "Although the loss caused by this kind of thing far exceeds the income, these millions of immigrants must be sent out of the customs, so it is no problem to do this kind of thing temporarily." But after this incident, no one can think like this anymore. ”

"In addition, in order not to affect the whole transaction, the property of the families of the 500,000 captives cannot be touched by anyone, and all of them are left to be disposed of by themselves. We can't afford to lose too much for the sake of small. (To be continued.) )