From the beginning of 1905, Yuan Shikai began the second reorganization of the Beiyang Army, imitating the establishment of the Southern Revolutionary Army, changing the name of the army to army, division, brigade, regiment, battalion, company, platoon, and squad. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Divisions were integrated into the 1st Beiyang Army, the 4th, 5th, and 6th Divisions were integrated into the Second Army, and the newly formed 20th and 21st Divisions were integrated into the Third Army. This is also a change made in order to cope with the impact of more than 400,000 troops in the south, but the strength of the three armies is only about 140,000, which is difficult to compete with the southern army. Therefore, Yuan Shikai was anxious about the reorganization and training of the army, and led a large group of people to check the progress of the 20th Division.

"Let's work hard, scrape together, and finally get a strong army, then Lu Liang easily raised an army of 400,000, and it is well-equipped, the situation is very unfavorable to us!" Yuan Shikai took the rifle in the hand of a soldier, this is a German-made sleeve Mauser gun, replaced from the Sixth Division, take a closer look, the chamber is seriously worn, although the soldiers are well maintained, but it is still difficult to hide the old and backward equipment.

"My lord, we can't compare with the revolutionaries, the south is rich, and now there are factories everywhere, and they can be self-sufficient in guns, artillery, and ammunition, and they can raise as many troops as they want. Judging from the recent battlefield in Kyushu, they also have airplanes and armored combat vehicles, which are among the leading equipment in the world, and the British army does not have those things. Xu Shichang said, this is not to grow the morale of others and destroy their own prestige, everyone knows that in front of the southern army, the Beiyang Army is not majestic at all.

"The army is our lifeblood, and the stronger our army is, the more scruples he will have." Yang Du said, he didn't say anything at a deeper level, and he had to rely on those soldiers and ruffians to understand themselves. In fact, Yang Du had already set up a route for Yuan Shikai, and he was just waiting to bargain with the south.

"If you don't have a home, you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are. We have an army of more than 100,000 people, and the cost is too great. Take the heavy machine gun as an example, a machine gun The British asked for 2,000 taels of silver, and the bullet money had to be calculated separately, and only the First Army of our eight divisions was equipped with this kind of machine gun, and the number of machine guns in each division was more than twice as much as that in the south. So. If the equipment can't be compared, let's compare the quality of the soldiers, and give me the army to the death. ”

After going around the barracks, Yuan Shikai took Yang Du and Xu Shichang back to Beijing, and there were more important things waiting for Yuan Shikai to solve. On the issue of money, it was really unpleasant to be pinched by the imperial court, and Yuan Shikai was determined to hold the money bag in his hands.

"My lord, in fact, the problem of money is not isolated, and the contradictions between foreigners and the revolutionary party are very deep. Therefore, he opened up a loan to the imperial court, hoping to keep the north of the Yangtze River. The imperial court is in decline, but it controls the Daqing Bank, which is the only means to control us. If you think about it carefully, the foreigners put so much effort into it for the sake of profit, as long as their interests can be preserved, they don't care who controls the financial resources. Yang Du said.

"You mean we're going to take control of the Daqing Bank?"

"And that's not all. Adults, for foreigners. Our role is more than that of the imperial court, and what the imperial court can give, we can also give, and only we can block the spread of the revolutionary party. At present, foreigners are very optimistic about adults, and many things are directly communicated with adults, so why not put the imperial court aside? ”

"Tell me more about it." At this time, Yuan Shikai's ambition had swelled. But it has not yet reached the point of directly replacing the Manchus.

Yang Du just said in Yuan Shikai's heart: "The national fortune of the Manchu Qing Dynasty for hundreds of years should also be withdrawn, this world belongs to adults." There is no power within the imperial court to compete with Beiyang, as long as we go straight to the center and control the top. You can change the color of the sky! ”

Yuan Shikai pondered for a long time, calm on the surface, but in fact, his heart was turbulent, and he found that the position was already within reach, and his ambition began to burn, and he could no longer cool down.

"Is there a specific plan?"

Yang Du was overjoyed, it seemed that he had taken the right step in this step, for him, who was proficient in the emperor's mind and thick black mastery, it couldn't be easier to figure out Yuan Shikai's thoughts.

"My lord, the key is the foreigners, as long as the foreigners openly express their support for us, then the imperial court will have no choice but to retreat gloomily. We can test the attitude of the foreigners, and then come up with conditions to make them support us, and finally directly write to the court, asking the court to abdicate and change the national system. Even if the Manchu upper echelons did not agree, the situation would force them to compromise. In addition, the first town of Tieliang must be transferred out of the capital, even on the outskirts of the city, which is conducive to our control. Those ministers were accustomed to seeing the wind and steering, and they were very clear about the situation, and nearly half of them had already submitted to Beiyang. ”

Yuan Shikai listened and nodded his head constantly, it seemed that Yang Du was very thoughtful, but there was only one point, he didn't think of it: "Huizi, do you know that there is another point that you have ignored?" ”

"Please make it clear."

"Although we are monolithic in Beiyang, we can't ignore people's hearts, especially at this critical moment. Those people have followed me for many years, and they are not loyal to me, but they are afraid that they will not be tempted in front of high-ranking officials. Therefore, before the plan begins, we must buy off all the middle and lower-level officers in the army, especially to let them know that only by following me Yuan Shikai can I have countless money and unlimited power, and the Beiyang Army belongs to me Yuan Shikai alone, and whoever wants to be unfavorable to my Yuan Shikai will fight with them! "Ambition also brings suspicion, and for those who can threaten his power, Yuan Shikai is not stingy with his authority. Duan Qirui, Xu Shichang and others have great prestige in the army, and it is difficult to guarantee that some of these people want to be the second Yuan Shikai, so it is the safest to control the middle and lower-level officers.

"Your Excellency is wise, however, we only have five million taels of silver in our hands, which is still left for the purchase of weapons and equipment for the Third Army, and I asked Prince Qing for the allocation for the fourth quarter, but the prince has not yet replied clearly, and it seems that he is a little hesitant. If there is no appropriation after two months, not only will the plan not be implemented, but the army's salaries will also be in arrears, which is really not good for us. ”

"I'll go and say, Yixiao, this old Wang Ba, doesn't know what bad intentions he holds, eighty percent is Cixi's meaning, and he wants to hold us!" Decades of life in the sea have not changed Yuan Shikai's habit of speaking rudely, even if he is in a high position, Yuan Shikai will occasionally say a dirty word in front of his henchmen.

Yuan Shikai's visit shocked Yixiao's heart, it was broken, he patronized to make money, forgot about the military expenses of the Beiyang Army, and the silver in the Daqing Bank was invested in rubber stocks, what to do to deal with this plague god?

"Lord Gong Bao has nothing to do but go to the Three Treasures Palace, please tell me if there is anything." After the politeness, the two sat on both sides, picked up the tea, and finally got to the point after more than ten minutes of circling.

"Lord Wang, the next official is here for the military expenses of the Beiyang Army in the fourth quarter, and the soldiers below have begun to make a fuss, I can't do it as a commander to see that the soldiers have no money to support their families, this is not the prince's fate."

Fart! Can't you control the commotion of being a soldier, besides, maybe those military expenses will be divided between you and your subordinates, and don't you know the situation in the army? The first town of Tieliang is like that!

Scolding in his heart, Yixuan still has to find a way to get around, this Yuan Gongbao is no longer something he can handle, he holds the Beiyang Group in his hands, as well as the entire Zhili, and even the power near the capital, and it is also the biggest force in the central government, once it is not handled well and leads to rebellion, he is the sinner of the Qing Dynasty.

"Gong Bao, there is something I can't hide from you, do you know what happened in Tianjin recently?"

"Tianjin, what's going on?" Tianjin is Yuan Shikai's maiden home, the prototype of the Beiyang Army was formed there, and the small station training made the current Yuan Shikai, where he has a deep foundation. It's just that during this time, I have been supervising the reorganization and training of the army near Hebei and Henan, and I have not received any news from there.

"That's right, in Tianjin, an English man named Jason opened a rubber company, and raised funds through public shares, and now every ten shares have risen to 800 taels, from Tianjin to Shaanxi and Jiangsu, there are large people everywhere who raise money to buy stocks, and many people in Beijing are involved, and the group of people in Shanxi subscribed for 20 million taels worth of stocks. You haven't heard of such a big thing? ”

It's really not small, it can be said to be earth-shattering! It is a bit of a fantasy that the rubber company can attract so much money. Seeing that Yuan Shikai was puzzled, Zai Zhen beside Yixuan took over the conversation and carefully described the causes and consequences of this incident for Yuan Shikai, including the reasons for the rise in rubber stock prices, the benefits it can bring, and so on.

"That's why the Queen Mother asked Daqing Bank to take out the money to buy rubber stocks, and then take it out after more than half a year, that is, hundreds of millions of taels of income, and Beiyang's military spending can be increased several times!" Yixuan continued to flicker, but Yuan Shikai was thinking in his heart why such a good thing happened to the Qing Dynasty, it stands to reason that foreigners are not so kind, isn't it the same that they raise funds from China? Britain, France, the United States, Germany and Russia, which of them are all great powers, and people's money is no less than that of the Qing Dynasty! (To be continued.) )

PS: After the number of collections was submerged for two weeks and slowly dropped, today's strange contrarian trend has risen by nearly 1,000, thanks to the book friends' collections!