The dinner went on very happily, although the content of the conversation between the guests and the host was some innocuous polite words, and did not involve any specific affairs, but on the whole, the atmosphere was quite harmonious, and Xiao Yimin, who strongly occupied Yichang as the host, behaved very personologically, politely and impeccably.

In the next two days, all parties spent the negotiations in open and covert battles, and Xiao Yimin, on behalf of the Sichuan Army and the Sichuan Provincial Political Axe, had open and frank talks with Feng Guozhang and Tanaka Yoshiichi.

Regardless of whether the two believed it or not, Xiao Yimin sincerely briefed the two of them on Sichuan's industrial and commercial development and army building, and took industrial and commercial development and education as the focus of the introduction, and clarified Sichuan's political stance of strictly abiding by neutrality.

Feng Guozhang, who was separated from Duan Qirui, could finally breathe a sigh of relief, and the "Yichang Sino-Chinese confrontation incident," which was of general concern to Chinese and foreign public opinion, was satisfactorily resolved, and the burden on Feng Guozhang's shoulders could finally be lifted, and as long as the results of the negotiations were made public, it would certainly bring a lot of reputation and prestige to the ambitious Feng Guozhang.

The whole negotiation process went very smoothly, and after Wang Lingji, deputy commander of the Sichuan Army, promised to "guarantee the safety and interests of the consulate and the overseas Chinese, collect tariffs in accordance with the original laws and regulations, and protect legitimate trade," he himself was also very interested in achieving his goal, and he no longer clinged to the "conventional" privileges he originally enjoyed in terms of trade policy.

Wang Lingji, who is in charge of the specific negotiations, will support Yichang's industry and commerce, expand the existing wharf facilities of the five measures and outline, said that within one year will expand all four large and medium-sized wharves and reservoir areas, the purchase of large passenger and cargo ferries to promote Yichang's north-south traffic, of which the two existing civilian wharves in Jiangbei, the newly built storage and transportation wharf in the south of the Yangtze River, and the large transit warehouses are all open to merchant ships and merchants of various countries, and the Yichang River Defense Force will provide services for merchant ships and commodity trade of various countries to promote the prosperity and development of Yichang.

Tanaka Yoshiichi met with Xiao Yimin again on the morning of the third day, and then, under the warm farewell of many Chinese generals, he left Yichang "happily" and sailed directly to Shanghai on a warship.

After sending him away, Feng Guozhang finally got the opportunity to talk to Xiao Yimin alone, and walked into the hall of the main building on Linjiang Street, which covers an area of five acres and has four three-storey European-style buildings, Feng Guozhang sighed at the luxury of the interior, and then quipped:

"Yiming, I didn't expect the Yichang business community to respect you so much, and I gave you such a large piece of industry just a few days after we met."

Xiao Yimin laughed, asked Feng Guozhang to climb to the third floor together, walked out of the wide and chic balcony, and had a panoramic view of the entire river section and the north and south banks.

"This wide yard was originally built by a French businessman, after the Frenchman had enough in China, he returned to his hometown, and the Yichang Chamber of Commerce bought this property, together with the freight wharf below, and exchanged a new wharf for this industry and the wharf below, and did not have the shame to receive this huge gift, and this yard and the wharf below will soon become the camp area of the Yichang River Defense Force, and the small wharf below will also be expanded into a special wharf for the River Defense Force, The younger brother planned to leave a few gunboats to maintain safety on the Yichang River. ”

Feng Guozhang was slightly surprised: "You really don't plan to hand over Yichang to Hubei Provincial Political Axe?" ”

"How so? As the saying goes, people have left a name and a goose have left a voice, and the little brother is not exempt from vulgarity! Xiao Yimin looked at Feng Guozhang happily, and Feng Guozhang also laughed meaningfully, as if he understood Xiao Yimin's good intentions.

According to the written agreement reached yesterday between the Sichuan deputies, the Hubei political deputies, and the central envoys, the Sichuan army has the right to be stationed in Yichang for five years, and 50 percent of the trade taxes and import and export tariffs in Yichang for five years will make up for the cost of the Sichuan army going out of Sichuan to quell the rebellion.

Anyway, the Sichuan army will not be able to drive away for a while, and instead of getting nothing after a stalemate, it is better to simply take a step back and reach a five-year agreement that is beneficial to both sides, and the nominal political jurisdiction is still in the hands of the Hubei political axe, and you can still get fifty percent of the import and export tariffs without worrying about anything, and this result is far better than fighting for it by force and may not get anything.

As for what the situation will be in five years, only God knows that the military and political officials in Hubei, including the overseer Wang Zhanyuan, care about their term of office and their immediate interests, and no one knows where they will be in five years.

The attendant quietly retreated after serving the two cups of tea, Feng Guozhang took a sip of the mellow tea, praised it twice, and raised his head to look at Xiao Yimin: "Yiming, what do you think of the current north-south dispute?" What's next? ”

Xiao Yimin held the teacup and thought for a moment: "It's messy!" To tell the truth, the younger brother is not used to the style of the south, otherwise he would not have responded to the central government's order and sent troops to Yichang.

"On the surface, our Sichuan army occupied Yichang and made huge profits, in fact, no one can understand the difficulties, Brother Huafu also knows that our Sichuan has offended the British and said himself, since the beginning of the year by the warships of these two powerful countries blocked out of the Sichuan waterway, Sichuan's pig bristles, tung oil and other native products exports have suffered a serious setback, imports have also been greatly hit, the entire Sichuan's import and export output value and tax revenue have fallen by nearly forty percent, so that friends from the industrial and commercial circles in central Sichuan have run to the little brother's house for three days and sighs, and the little brother is not at peace. To the outside world, they have to insist that the situation is very good, and keep saying some tough words and lies to appease the people.

"After thinking about it, in the end, the younger brother feels that only by occupying Yichang can the blockade of Sichuan be broken, so even if there is more silver, do more practical things for the people of Yichang, it is worth it for the development of Sichuan, and at the same time, it can also stimulate the development of Yichang, lay a solid foundation for the interconnection between Sichuan and Hubei provinces, and then improve the livelihood of the two provinces, as for other political influences, it is not important to the younger brother."

Feng Guozhang nodded slightly, thought for a while, and asked with a smile: "Yiming, it seems that you are still unwilling to send troops south to face the revolutionary party forces, right?" ”

Xiao Yimin explained sincerely: "Let's put aside the position and face, just talk about the situation in Hunan in the east of Sichuan and the cost of sending troops, Brother Huafu must have also seen the chaos in Hunan, your old friend Chen Eun is restless, he sometimes opposes the central government to join the Southern Revolutionary Party, sometimes accuses the Southern Revolutionary Party, refuses to obey the call, and also takes the opportunity to annex several local garrisons of the Hunan army, and now has been appointed by the central political axe as the Hunan overseer."

"Chen Eun originally brought a brigade from Zhili, and recruited a brigade in Hunan last year, and now his troops stationed in Hengzhou have reached 12,000 people, who does this force support? In addition, General Cheng Qian, the former colleague of the younger brother, has now also set up a team in response to the revolutionary party in Changda, plus a division of Zhao Hengti from the Beiyang lineage, as well as several original local armed forces in Hunan, the whole Hunan is now a powder keg that is about to explode! ”

Feng Guozhang lamented and agreed with Xiao Yimin's analysis:

"Yes, yes! Hunan is chaotic enough, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a powder keg, but with the strong strength of the virtuous brother, he should be able to share some pressure for the central government, right? ”

Xiao Yimin replied helplessly:

"The younger brother is more than willing and the strength is not enough to claim the Sichuan army nominally 150,000, but in fact there are only 120,000, stationed in Bashu all over the country to go half, the other 40,000 people have to control the vast Kang-Tibet region for the central government, the younger brother has repeatedly asked to expand the army, but can not get the support of the provincial government and the industrial and commercial circles, this time to send troops to Yichang is very reluctant, if it is not involved in the political axe tax and the vital interests of businessmen, I am afraid that no one in the whole Sichuan is in favor of the younger brother to send troops to Yichang, alas! Sichuan's political system, Brother Huafu also knows, just the fact that military spending is controlled and allocated by the political axe has captured the root of the younger brother's life, which is difficult to do! ”

Feng Guozhang laughed: "Aren't you all made these up?" In the past few years, the literati in all provinces across the country have responded in a bustling manner, jumping up and down and strongly demanding the implementation of the so-called open-boiled politics in Sichuan, which has made us in charge of the army everywhere have a headache.

"I heard that the Bashu business community has forced you to give up your own industry, and you are also preparing to introduce measures to control the business of military and political officials and their children, haha! It's not okay to go on like this, the national conditions are different, China is not a European and American country, the intentions of the virtuous brother are good, but it's a pity that it's too hasty! ”

Xiao Yimin was deeply touched: "Don't say it, just hold your breath." Brother Huafu, the younger brother will return to Chengdu tomorrow, and the next time I see my brother, I don't know when, I want to ask my brother for more help! ”

"Your brother, don't be polite, if you need anything from Brother Yu, just give me orders, this time I will get 5,000 German-style rifles and 50 heavy machine guns from you at a low price, and give Brother Yu 200 shell guns, Brother Yu will be kind." Feng Guozhang smiled, his half-closed eyes flashed, and he knew that the drama was coming.

Xiao Yimin said with a smile: "Brother Huafu, the younger brother wants Han Yeping." ”

"Boom Dang ......"

The teacup in Feng Guozhang's hand shook suddenly, the lid of the cup was almost shaken off, and the overflowing tea flowed all over his powerful big hand, Xiao Yimin hurriedly took out a handkerchief to wipe him.

Feng Guozhang put the teacup on the edge of the balcony, took the handkerchief and wiped his hands slowly, his mood had stabilized: "Yiming, please tell the truth to Brother Yu, do you really want to wade into this pool of troubled waters?" ”

Xiao Yimin nodded: "The younger brother knows the difficulty of this matter, and also knows how big the interests of all aspects involved in this matter are, although the mortgage of Han Yeping to Yue himself has been opposed by all walks of life across the country, but Brother Zhiquan They have always disregarded public opinion and perseverance, and said that I am determined to win at any cost to control the lifeline of my country's economy, and now it seems that Han Yeping is no longer just an iron mine, a coal mine and a steel plant, it has risen to the height of national self-esteem and national dignity, and its political influence far exceeds its own value. ”

"Then why are you so persistent? Listen to the foolish brother's advice, give up, Yiming, this matter is really too involved. Feng Guozhang sincerely thinks about Xiao Yimin, and he doesn't want to see Xiao Yimin, who has established a good cooperative relationship with him, fall into endless trouble.

Xiao Yimin smiled gratefully, stared into Feng Guozhang's eyes, and asked in a low voice: "Brother Huafu, if the junior brother said that he would get Han Yeping at all costs, would Brother Huafu do the younger brother a great favor within the scope of his ability?" ”

Feng Guozhang was stunned, hesitated for a long time, and finally agreed: "Although the military and political affairs in the Yangtze River basin and south of the Yangtze River are only nominally in charge of me, I think I can still say a few words on the issue of Han Yeping, but the key is not me, but Brother Zhiquan, in the central political axe, the remaining trouble is a few foreign shareholders, and the three-year contract I signed with Daye Iron Mine, these are not things I can manage, and the Hubei Provincial Governor's Office and the provincial political axe are not a problem." ”

Xiao Yimin raised his hand: "Thank you Brother Huafu for your care, after the matter is completed, the younger brother will be thanked!" To tell the truth, the younger brother of Han Yeping's shares in the hands of British and American businessmen has already obtained it, and what is lacking is the support of the Hubei Provincial Political Axe, as for Brother Zhiquan and the Central Political Axe, the younger brother is confident that he can settle it with money. ”

Feng Guozhang was taken aback: "This is a huge amount of money of more than fifteen million, Brother Xian must think clearly." ”

Xiao Yimin laughed: "No problem, the money is ready, as long as you get the help of your brother, your younger brother will have the confidence to take Han Yeping!" The people of the whole country and the vast number of patriotic young people will also become the greatest help to the younger brother. ”

Feng Guozhang was silent for a long time, and finally suddenly realized: "It turns out that you occupied Yichang to lay the foundation for taking Han Yeping......

(To be continued)