Xiao Yimin's talks with Wang Shizhen and Tang Shaoyi went very smoothly, and the three giants of the Sichuan army, Xiao Yimin, Bao Jiqing, and Wang Lingji, reiterated their political stance of supporting Premier Duan Qirui's administration and obeying the leadership of the central government, and not only promised to further strengthen cooperation between the two major military and political groups, but also kept silent about Duan Qirui's "Xiyuan loan" and did not raise any objections.

Wang Shizhen and Tang Shaoyi, who were shouldering heavy responsibilities, breathed a sigh of relief, but the quid pro quo proposed by Xiao Yimin was not something that Wang Shizhen and the two could make a decision -- they asked Duan Qirui and the Central Political Axe to authorize Xiao Yimin to set up the "Nanjing Xingying of the Central Military and Political Department" to fully control the military and political power of the provinces south of the Yangtze River Valley, and the post of military and political supervisor of Jiangsu Province was held by Xiao Yimin, vice minister of military and political affairs, for a long time.

This request put forward by the Xiao Yimin clique is not excessive, and this is one of the important conditions in the secret agreement of the "Duan Xiao Union", but this de facto division of the north and the south has never been made public.

Wang Shizhen and others knew very well in their hearts that although nominally the "Nanjing Camp of the Central Military and Political Department" was only an ad hoc organ of the Central Political Axe and was still under the full leadership of Duan Qirui, the Xiao Yimin clique had become the largest military and political force in southern China, and once it was agreed to set up the "Nanjing Camp of the Central Military and Political Department," the whole of China would be divided between the north and the south.

Moreover, Wang Shizhen and Tang Zhaoyi knew very well in their hearts that Duan Qirui was not unaware of the dangers of the division between the north and the south, but if he did not agree to Xiao Yimin's conditions, he would immediately lose the support of Xiao Yimin's group and the Chinese Mingzhu Party, without the full cooperation of the powerful Sichuan army and its alliance, and without the continuous financial support of the southern provinces, Duan Qirui may not even be able to control the northern provinces. Even if the "Xiyuan Loan" is successfully implemented, it will not be able to replace the status and role of Xiao Yimin's clique, let alone the extravagant hope of quickly unifying the southern provinces that have been divided for many years.

As early as the second half of last year, Duan Qirui, who had insight into the overall situation, saw the important surname and strong strength of the rapidly rising Xiao Yimin group, and through unremitting efforts, finally succeeded in obtaining the full support of the Xiao Yimin group.

As a result of Duan Qirui's unremitting efforts, a special session of the Central Government Council and the Senate and the House of Representatives finally passed an important bill on the establishment of the "Central Military and Political Department" in December last year, appointing Duan Qirui as the minister of military affairs of the Central Committee and Xiao Yimin as the sole vice minister of military affairs and vice premier of the state.

The new "Central Military and Political Department" has greatly increased its powers, not only placing the War Department and the Navy Department under its control, and assuming the responsibility of assisting and supervising the administrative decision-making of the provincial administration, but also having the power to appoint, evaluate, supervise, and dismiss the provincial military superintendents, and also placing the nation's munitions industrial enterprises, mines, and coal mines under its control.

Xiao Yimin is now the de facto supreme commander of southern China, and no matter what Wang Shizhen and Tang Shaoyi think, they do not dare to raise objections on the spot, otherwise, the Xiao Yimin clique, which has established a political alliance with Guizhou, Hunan, and Hubei and occupies half of the territory of Jiangsu and Jiangxi, is likely to turn its face on the spot.

Wang Shizhen and Tang Shaoyi finally saw Xiao Yimin's awesomeness, and at the same time saw the strong ambitions of Xiao Yimin's group, and knew that the other party must still have a variety of countermeasures behind the condition of "the Nanjing camp of the Central Military and Political Department", and once the other party's condition is not met, various blows against Duan Qirui's group will follow.

Thinking about the series of bloody retaliations launched by Xiao Yimin since his assassination, as well as the more than 100,000 Sichuan troops stationed in Sichuan and Hubei, Wang Shizhen and Tang Shaoyi shuddered, not to mention that those ministers from Europe and the United States who were unable to stop the "Xiyuan loan" and deeply felt that their own interests had been violated had already gathered in Nanjing, and British Minister Zhu Erdian made a statement on behalf of the legation two days ago: "We have already made contact with the military and political departments of Jiangsu, and we will soon go to visit General Xiao Yimin, the supreme military and political leader in southern China, who is gradually recovering. I wish him a speedy recovery! ”

Wang Shizhen and the others had just left, two black Ford cars passed the inspection, slowly drove into the Overseer's Mansion, and drove until the gate of the West Garden in the depths before stopping, and the five guests on the car saw Xiao Yimin, Bao Jiqing and Wang Lingji leading more than ten generals to wait in a line, and hurriedly got off the station in a row, and it could be seen that everyone seemed quite excited.

Xiao Yimin, who was wearing a straight military uniform, took the first step, stepped forward and shook hands with Zhang Jian tightly, with a smile on his face and a sincere attitude: "Ji Gong has worked hard!" Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry everyone, the whole Nanjing is already very lively, even the opposite and surrounding of the governor's mansion are full of Chinese and foreign reporters, Yiming can't go to meet him, and I beg Haihan to be in the slack! ”

Everyone showed a knowing smile, and their eyes were either young or deep, and they all watched Xiao Yimin's every move, even every expression.

Zhang Jian nodded to Bao Jiqing and Wang Lingji, and took Xiao Yimin's hand and came to everyone: "Look, this is the Yang Du Yang Huizi that you never forget, if it weren't for your father-in-law Zhao Cigong sending three letters in a row, I'm afraid that the old man would still ask Brother Huizi, haha!" ”

Everyone laughed, Xiao Yimin's eyes were shining, and his face was filled with joy: "Since the death of Yuan Dashuaixian, I haven't heard any news from Mr. Yimin inquired in many ways, only to know that Mr. lived in seclusion in the suburbs of Beijing and devoted himself to cultivation, and when Yimin entrusted someone to visit, Mr. had already returned to his hometown in Hunan." ”

Yang Du, who is forty-five years old this year, still doesn't understand the meaning of Xiao Yimin's words? From the first time he saw Xiao Yimin, he knew that it was worth it for him to go out of the mountain again, and at this moment, when he heard Xiao Yimin's respectful words, as well as the joy and expectation from the heart, Yang Du was quite moved in his heart, and hurriedly stepped forward to greet Xiao Yimin:

"Yang Du is already half a wasted person, where does he dare to work and be handsome again and again? As early as the beginning of Yuan Dashuai's unification of the country, Yi Shuai has been famous all over the world, but the situation is difficult, thousands of miles away, and now it is said that Fang has to see the dignity, it is really Yang Du's honor! ”

"It's good that the gentleman is here, it's good to be here!" Xiao Yimin was excited, without any polite words, he shook Yang Du's hand and shook it.

Zhang Jian smiled when he saw this, and then introduced Lin Baishui to Xiao Yimin.

Xiao Yimin has long been known to this Fujianese who obtained a double degree in law and journalism at Waseda University, knowing that he is the same age as Yang Du, and the two have a deep friendship, Lin Baishui was known throughout the country for his erudition and strong writing during his tenure as Yuan Shikai's confidential secretary, and his surname was upright and jealous of evil, daring to tell the truth and expose the truth, so he also made many enemies, Yuan Shikai quickly lost power after his death, like Yang Du, and was frequently attacked by those officials of the Beiyang faction who were ruthlessly exposed by him.

However, Lin Baishui did not sink because of this, but used his sharp pen to expose the shady scenes of warlords and officialdom, and won the strong support of the people and cultural circles and business circles throughout the country, and the style of the Yanjing "Gongyan Bao" he sponsored was bright and far-reaching, not only had a major impact on and promoted the domestic newspaper industry, but he himself also won the high praise of foreign and domestic news circles, and at the same time provoked two murders for him, and finally had to leave Yanjing to Shanghai to avoid trouble, and lived in seclusion in the home of Xu Weiyue, Xiao Yimin's senior brother and Chinese editor-in-chief of the Far Eastern Post.

Under Xu Weiyue's strong recommendation, Lin Baishui, who had been thinking about it for more than a month, finally accepted Xiao Yimin's invitation and came to Nanjing to serve as Xiao Yimin's senior staff and serve as the first president of the "China Times" that was being prepared.

Zhang Jian hadn't introduced the last young, handsome, and elegant handsome man to Xiao Yimin, and Xiao Yimin couldn't wait to stretch out his hands: "Brother Shaochuan, Yimin has been waiting for you for a long time!" ”

Gu Weijun, who was full of heaven and had a beautiful nose, was stunned for a moment: "Yi Shuai, Wei Jun just came to see first, and he hasn't made up his mind yet." ”

Everyone was taken aback, looking at the rookie in China's diplomatic circles in front of them, who was known as a beautiful man, Zhang Jian and Lin Baishui were secretly anxious, and they didn't understand why Gu Weijun, who had been dismissed from his post as minister to the United States and returned to Yanjing and was ostracized, suddenly became so frizzy.

Xiao Yimin smiled dumbly: "Shaochuan, although I am not a Longtan tiger's den here, but since you are here, do you still want to leave?" ”

When everyone heard it, Gu Weijun looked at Xiao Yimin with a serious face: "It seems that you are two years younger than me, right?" ”

"That's right, when Brother Shaochuan was studying at Columbia University in the United States, I was still a young man serving a teapot in a small teahouse in Chengdu, and I didn't even have a name, but it didn't prevent me from growing up step by step, although the price paid was a little bigger, but compared with the vast majority of the children of wealthy families and the 40,000,000 people in the world, I Xiao Yimin is undoubtedly lucky, at least now I can do something beneficial to the country and the nation, and I know what the 40,000,000 people need, and I also know what those wealthy children need." Xiao Yimin spoke very calmly, always with a gentle and confident smile on his face.

All the laughter had disappeared, and there was silence in front of the West Garden Courtyard, some people were contemplative, some people were excited, but no one's eyes left the faces of Xiao Yimin and Gu Weijun.

Gu Weijun took a deep breath: "Yi Shuai, China's diplomacy is very difficult to do, compared with Yanjing, Nanjing's diplomatic work is even more difficult, I think you also have a deep understanding of this." ”

Xiao Yimin nodded solemnly, he knew that this was Gu Weijun's temptation of himself, so he said his diplomatic principles very carefully:

"It's very difficult, there is a saying that 'weak countries have no diplomacy', and it is tantamount to a fool's dream to change China's difficult situation all at once, but no matter how difficult it is, you have to do it, and you may not be able to succeed if you do it, but you may leave a reputation for eternity, but if you don't do it, you will always lose the opportunity to succeed, you and I were born in this chaotic era, and we have favorable conditions that ordinary people do not have, we should always do something for our country and nation, right?"

Gu Weijun was deeply shocked, but he resolutely took it calmly and was extremely calm.

Xiao Yimin continued: "However, this does not mean that I agree with your point of view that although the current Nanjing is not as good as Yanjing, the center of power in China, in all aspects, it has an advantage that Yanjing does not have, that is, it does not have a heavy burden, and it is not contained by a large group of decaying and reform-minded vested interest groups that only consider the interests of their own factions and clans. "Moreover, Nanjing has a unity that Yanjing does not have, and has 300,000 troops that have won the country's brave championships and have modern military ideas and advanced equipment, and this army has regarded the interests of the country and the nation as its most noble fundamental interests since the day it was formed, which means that hundreds of thousands of soldiers can shed their blood for this lofty belief, including myself, because this noble belief was established by me Xiao Yimin himself! With this capital, isn't it as good as Yanjing, which is full of corruption and is said to be in the twilight of the West Mountain? ”

The words were full of strong self-confidence and domineering, which made the listeners all enthusiastic and shocked, even if they were as deep as Zhang Jian and Yang Du.

"How about it, Shaochuan, come and help me!" Xiao Yimin's eyes were full of expectation.

Gu Weijun looked around, and finally focused his head: "Okay!" ”

(To be continued)