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After talking about business in the living room, Song Xiaofei kept Miss Fengxian to stay in Xi'an for a few more days, and Miss Fengxian said, "No, my lord is busy with official business." I still like to live in a quiet place in the countryside, with small bridges and flowing water, idle clouds and wild cranes. ”

Song Xiaofei saw that the Fengxian girl had made up her mind, and gave her 100 gold, but the Fengxian girl didn't want it, and said, "The silver that the adults gave us last time has not been spent." ”

At this time, Xu Shichang walked in with a telegram, saw them chatting, and said, "Brother, there is an old man visiting?" Then I'll go out and wait. ”

The phoenix girl got up and said goodbye, "You guys are busy, I won't bother." ”

Song Xiaofei asked Wang Shizhen to escort him, and instructed: "Now the bandits of the Shaanxi Elders' Association are rampant, you should be careful in everything." ”

Xu Shichang's telegram was sent by Li Hongzhang, asking Song Xiao to quickly return to Tianjin to discuss the affairs of the Federal Republic. Song Xiaofei stayed in the 2,000 new army, let Xu Shichang serve as the governor of Shaanxi and take charge of general affairs, and rushed back to Tianjin by warship.

In the living room of the Li Mansion, Li Hongzhang asked Song Xiaofei to ascend to the kang again, and first told him a good news, the Russian army pressed the border, Prince Gong did not want the Manchus to lose the last land, and had agreed to Manchuria, Mongolia, Tibet and other places to join the federal First Republic of China in the form of Manchukuo, but put forward a series of conditions:

1. The honorific title of the Manchu royal family remained unchanged, and the First Republic of China treated it as a gift to a foreign monarch;

2. The First Republic of China allocates three million taels of silver to the Manchu royal family every year;

3. The Manchu imperial family in Beijing and the surrounding temples and mausoleums were protected by troops sent by the First Republic of China;

4. The private property of the Manchu imperial family. Be protected.

When Song Xiaofei heard this, he smiled and said: "We can accept these points, so that we don't have to fight again, the people will suffer, and their lives will be ruined." The Manchu royal family was a hundred-legged insect that died but did not stiffen, and among some foolish and loyal squires, there was still some appeal, which we could use. Anyway, it's a hypocrisy, and the royal families of the Taixi countries also exist, just so they can engage in royal exchanges. ”

"It's not that simple." At this time, Li Hongzhang took out a copy of the "Memorandum of the Chinese and British Governments" and handed it to Song Xiaofei, saying: "This is the agreement sent by the British Minister to China, Zhu Erdian, you can take a look." ”

Song Xiaofei took it and saw that there were four unreasonable demands in the memo:

1. China should not be allowed to interfere in the "internal affairs of Tibet, Manchuria, and Mongolia";

2. China cannot be allowed to maintain an unlimited military presence in Tibet, Manchuria, and Mongolia;

3. Require the conclusion of an agreement on the basis of the above points as a condition for the recognition of the First Republic of China;

4. Until the agreement is concluded, all roads to Tibet, Manchuria, and Mongolia will be closed to the Chinese.

Song Xiaofei said: "Zhu Erdian's suggestion is too nonsense, and it is obviously interfering in China's internal affairs. If we want to plot against Manchukuo and infringe on China's sovereignty, we absolutely cannot agree to it. Liu Mingchuan's new army attacked the city all the way. You can take advantage of the victory to reach Lhasa. In less than three months, China will be able to consolidate the west forever! I accelerated the attack on Shengjing and tried to take Manchuria in two months. ”

Li Hongzhang said: "You have to remember that for a country, when the strength is not strong enough, learning to compromise is the first priority of politics and diplomacy!" You can't be like the Empress Dowager Cixi, who blindly declares war on the foreign powers. That's self-defeating. Now the British and Russians are eyeing Manchukuo, Russia's 170,000 army, and how many troops can we occupy? It is better to let the British zone counterbalance Russia. The old man had ordered Wu Tingfang and Zhu Erdian to sign this agreement, and ordered Liu Mingchuan to stop marching into Tibet. ”

Song Xiaofei still felt that this was a bit inappropriate, and said, "Our compromise at this time. It will leave a huge aftermath for the Federal Republic. ”

Li Hongzhang said angrily: "Our top priority is to let the Federal Republic be recognized by the great powers. Have you been carried away by the succession of victories lately? The British ** team and the Russian ** team are not vulnerable to the Eight Banners Army, don't forget what the old man often said, 'The road must be done step by step, and the meal must be eaten one bite at a time'. ”

This is the first time that Li Hongzhang has seriously criticized Song Xiaofei due to major differences for so many years, and Song Xiaofei said: "The teacher is right, let's do it and see." ”

Li Hongzhang said: "The old man is going to invite Prince Gong, Liu Kunyi, Zhang Zhidong and others to go north in February to Beijing to discuss the formation of a federal republic, what do you think?" ”

Song Xiaofei said: "In the matter of building the First Republic, the teacher can preside over the overall situation, and if there is anything that needs to be done by the students, the teacher can speak." After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the students still wanted to stay in Tianjin to train troops, and I wanted to train 100,000 new-style troops within three years. In addition, Luang Weili suggested that the Beiyang Naval Division purchase four more of the latest ironclad warships. ”

Li Hongzhang said: "The old man also has this intention. ”

When he was about to leave, Song Xiaofei spoke: "The student has a reluctant request, and he is apprehensive, and he doesn't know whether to talk about it or not?" ”

Li Hongzhang stroked his beard and said, "Between us, if you have something to say, you might as well say it directly." ”

Song Xiaofei said: "This time, the three provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Sichuan captured by the new army, please ask Xu Shichang, the eldest brother of the teacher, to be the governor of the three provinces and take charge of the affairs of the generals of the three provinces. Since the establishment of the Beiyang Military Academy, he has assisted students, overseen the whole army's copywriting and participated in secrets, and now it has been nearly ten years without any mistakes. Students in Shandong to implement the new policy, open commercial ports, borrow national bonds, build railways, and most of them were involved in the planning, he has the talent to go through the heavens and latitudes, and ask the teacher to be promoted and appointed. ”

Li Hongzhang used to know that Xu Shichang was born in the Hanlin Academy and was quite talented, but Li Hongzhang was not familiar with Xu Shichang, so he suddenly appointed him as the governor of the three provinces, which is equivalent to Liu Kunyi's level of the governor of Liangjiang, and said: "The position of the governor of the three provinces is more suitable for you to hold it." Does Xu Shichang really have such a great ability to control the three provinces? ”

Song Xiaofei knew that Li Hongzhang was afraid that Xu Shichang would have different intentions, and said: "The students want to focus on supervising and training the new army. Teachers can rest assured that Xu Shichang's appointment as the governor of the three provinces is equivalent to a student's position. ”

Li Hongzhang said: "Since you insist on asking, you should first bring him to meet the old man, the old man will talk to him, if he really has the talent you said, the old man will first let him act as the governor of the three provinces, you will serve as the governor of Zhili, supervise the training of 100,000 new troops in Tianjin, and the purchase of four warships by the Beiyang Naval Division, you will go to Sheng Xuanhuai when the time comes, the old man has put him in charge of the treasury." ”

Song Xiaofei said: "Thank you for the support of the teacher, I will go to Xu Shichang and ask him to come to meet the teacher." ”

After the news of Li Hongzhang presiding over the overall situation and preparing for the establishment of the First Republic of China came out, the whole country was jubilant, and many overseas Chinese left for China one after another to serve the motherland.

Zhang Qian, who was far away in North Korea, was excited, got up in the middle of the night and filled in a lyric, and sent a telegram to Song Xiaofei, asking if it could be used as the national anthem of the First Republic.

Towering Kunlun, gazing at the land of China

The surging rivers give birth to ancient civilizations

Li Min is the master of the house, and the emperor has left us

There are the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, and we must keep them in mind

In the era of Yao Shun, the ancestors admonished

There are five tribes among the people, and they cannot be separated

The world is for the public, and the people are valued over the king

Overkill, the development of agricultural workers

Culture and education are prosperous, and the people's morale is great

The country is peaceful and the people are safe, and the rivers are bright.