As long as Yuan Shikai wants to exchange the silver for the captured officers, for the sake of the military and the loyalty of tens of thousands of soldiers to him, even if there is a cheaper redemption price, Yuan Shikai can only use the price that Yang Xingguo just said. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

More importantly, because there are precedents for redeeming oneself. As long as Yuan Shikai still wants to continue to be a commander, then Yuan Shikai must find a way to redeem these officers. Otherwise, the officers and soldiers of the Beiyang Army in the remaining towns in the pass will definitely think that Yuan Shikai is a heavy adviser and a light general.

Once this kind of thinking spreads among the Beiyang Army, it will also be a big blow to the morale of the Beiyang Army.

Thinking of this, Xu Shichang understood that Yang Xingguo in front of him was not only not as easy to deal with as he imagined, but also scheming.

There is a trap dug for Yuan Shikai in front of him, as long as Yuan Shikai jumps in, there is no way to jump out again.

Knowing that Yuan Shikai has and only one way to solve this problem, that is, after trading all the captives at the price quoted by Yang Xingguo. Xu Shichang could only say with a helpless face.

"Commander Yang, according to the price you just made, we need at least five million taels of silver to redeem all the captured officers. To tell the truth, now the military budget of the Beiyang Army is already very tight, and it is impossible to let the marshal come up with so much silver at one time! ”

"Nothing? There is no silver to use anything to top! It seems that Xu Shichang has long expected that he will say this, and Yang Xingguo blurted out without thinking about it.

Xu Shichang's desperate and helpless face immediately ignited a glimmer of hope, and he immediately asked, "Commander Yang, what do you mean?" ”

Yang Xingguo didn't hide it, and replied very quickly: "Immigrant, Lord Xu has been in Fengtian for so long, you should know that my Liaodong Army loves immigrants the most." ”

"There is so much land outside the border, and the population is sparse, it is not a problem to bring a few million immigrants, you can use the immigrants to offset the millions of taels of silver. There is also grain, Shandong and Gyeonggi controlled by the Beiyang Army are all major grain-producing provinces, and your marshal must have his own channels to get grain from Jiangnan, and you can also exchange grain for the prisoners in the hands of my Liaodong Army. ”

Seeing that Xu Shichang couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, Yang Xingguo changed his words and continued: "Of course, I don't want any immigrants. ”

"First of all, the families of all the ordinary soldiers in the captives, I ask you, Lord Yuan, that it should be easy to do it. After all, these soldiers turned out to be the Beiyang Army, and they were all recruited by your Lord Yuan locally. ”

"Also, if we find out that you are deliberately holding the families of these soldiers, then I'm sorry, we'll cancel the deal right away."

"We roughly calculated that more than 40,000 of the captives in my hands were willing to stay outside the border, and the families of more than 40,000 people should be about 500,000. You Lord Yuan are in a high position and power, and it should be easy for you to immigrate 500,000 people to Guanwai. ”

Xu Shichang immediately understood Yang Xingguo's intentions.

As long as these hundreds of thousands of people arrive outside the Guan, the more than 40,000 veterans trained by the Beiyang Army will suddenly become the Liaodong Army.

The marshal did not calculate after all calculations, and the Beiyang Army not only did not get any benefits when it went out of the customs, but also lost troops and generals, which increased the strength of the Liaodong Army, a potential opponent, in disguise.

At this time, Xu Shichang regretted it in addition to regret. But there is no regret medicine in the world, since it has been done, the evil fruit that I planted at the beginning can only be swallowed by myself.

However, Xu Shichang also had an idea at this time.

If the Liaodong Army wants to take tens of thousands of prisoners for their own use, so that they can work for the Liaodong Army with peace of mind, they must take the families of these captives outside the customs. Otherwise, no matter how high the Liaodong Army paid them, the hearts of these captives were also in the Guannei, and they would not give their lives to the Liaodong Army.

In this way, the importance of these hundreds of thousands of people to the Liaodong Army is not much worse than the importance of the official army to Yuan Shikai.

Since they are all very important, can I think of a way from these hundreds of thousands of family members to use these hundreds of thousands of migrant family members to top Yang Xingguo's asking price as much as possible.

Seeing that Yang Xingguo continued to stare at him calmly, Xu Shichang replied directly: "Hundreds of thousands of people can be sent outside the customs on behalf of Dashuai, but in terms of price?" I mean, ten taels of silver for one person, we will safely send hundreds of thousands of people to your army, and your army will also return thousands of officers to us! ”

"Joke!" Yang Xingguo immediately sneered.

"Even if I value the families of these captives, it's not worth so much silver. Five million taels of silver, if used well, is enough for me to raise nearly 100,000 elites in half a year, instead of these more than 40,000 captives. ”

"If you're not sincere, then don't talk about it. Nearly 50,000 prisoners, including officers, were sent to the mines, and in two or three years, I could earn at least five million taels of silver for the Liaodong Army. ”

Facing the scorching Yang Xingguo, Xu Shichang could only let go of his careful thoughts. Then he asked with a serious face: "The hundreds of thousands of family members of more than 40,000 soldiers are not ordinary people after all, and your army still has to spend money to find them." Since it is a negotiation, I will not treat you badly, two taels of silver per person, a total of one million taels of silver. ”

"The rest of the ordinary people, one or two pieces of silver per person, how much we want in the three eastern provinces. But we don't want ordinary people whose families are soldiers in the Beiyang Army and the official army. In addition, more than 40 per cent of all immigrants must be young and strong. ”

"Finally, there is another requirement, that the immigrants have food to eat when they arrive outside the customs. Therefore, among the five million taels of silver, we must be provided with a million taels of grain. ”

"In this way, you Lord Yuan only need to send 3.5 million people and 500,000 quintals of grain out of the customs. I, the Liaodong Army, will return all the captured officers of the Beiyang Army to you. ”

"Finally, if Lord Yuan can persuade the imperial court to appoint me as the governor of the three eastern provinces, affirm the actual control of the Liaodong Army over the three northeastern provinces, and open the border gates to allow free trade in and outside the customs, I am reducing the number of people by 500,000 to him."

Seeing that Yang Xingguo had already counted the Beiyang Army to death. Xu Shichang could only close his eyes in pain and replied with a solemn face: "I need to report to Dashuai to give you an answer!" ”

When the news reached Tianjin, Yuan Shikai was furious on the spot after learning that Yang Xingguo had dug a big trap for himself at the beginning, and he didn't notice it at all, and was very happy to jump in. Yuan Shikai, who rarely goes crazy in front of his subordinates! It only took five minutes to smash the office to pieces!

After smashing, I still can't get angry! Catching a few subordinates who bumped into him was a big scolding!

It took nearly half an hour for Yuan Shikai, who had a gloomy face, to slowly calm down. But a few staff members who know Yuan Shikai know that Yuan Shikai, who has gone crazy, will completely hate Yang Xingguo from now on.

No, it's not that I hate it now, it's that it's even more ruthless now, so ruthless that I want to directly divide Yang Xingguo's five horses. (To be continued.) )