Yang Du since Yuan Shikai failed to claim the emperor, concentrated on retreat, a few years to see more and more thoroughly about the things in the world, in all fairness Duan Qirui in the stage of this period of time, North China still made a lot of development, especially after the First World War two years, the southwest sent some experts to help guide the development of the economy under the rule of Beiyang, mainly concentrated in Zhili and Jiangsu and Zhejiang and other areas with a good industrial base, the speed of economic development far exceeded the Yuan Shikai period, which is also the material basis for Xu Shuzheng to wave troops to recover Mongolia.

However, the more it developed, the greater the obstacle of the old forces, and the old bureaucratic system was not suitable for the needs of economic development at all, and this huge contradiction made a large amount of personnel and capital flow to the two lakes and Sichuan after the end of World War I, and integrated into the system of the southwest, which was tantamount to draining the blood of northern China, and Duan Qirui did not have the courage and ability to carry out thorough reform in the face of the deterioration of the economic situation.

The changes in the international situation are extremely rapid, and the rise of the majority of the party has made it more and more difficult for Duan Qirui, who was born in Beiyang, to adapt to this new world, so it has become inevitable to abdicate and make way for Xian.

"Duan Zhengzhi, you want to give up your position, from the bottom of my heart, I still admire Qiao Yu's means, which can make the peaceful transfer of power and avoid the country from losing its vitality, this is a great thing, but can you be willing among the Beiyang generals, such as Li Chun, the overseer of Jiangsu, and Cao Kun, the overseer of Zhili, they are all figures with heavy troops, and Wu Peifu, the commander of the third division, if these people don't agree, I'm afraid it will be difficult to do what you want, and Xu Youzheng, who is far away in Outer Mongolia, can you agree to hand over power?"

Yang Du's words are to the point, Duan Qirui is not alone, there is a huge Anhui group behind him, if the interests of this group are not dealt with, this right cannot be handed over, the most important of which is Xu Shuzheng, that is 100,000 elite soldiers, and it is in the sensitive area of Outer Mongolia, Yang Du is not worried.

"Mr. Huizi, I also know what you said, but I am really exhausted, there is no suitable person in Beiyang, Feng Guozhang's body is not as good as me, I was originally liked and Zheng, but his open-mindedness is not good, as for the means and strength, it is impossible to compare with others, if he forcibly occupies the position and does not let go, Qiao Yu can thwart the British, and it will not take too much to clean up these forces in the country, and it is better to take the initiative to hand over power than to be driven down by others!"

"I can see clearly in power, in fact, I have a proposal, I might as well invite Xu Juren, let him be the president, leave the position of prime minister to Qiao Yu, with Xu Laozhao, you can still maintain the team of Beiyang, and Xu Juren is a civilian official, it will not cause Qiao Yu's jealousy, so it is the best!"

Please come out of Xu Shichang? Duan Qirui's heart praised again and again, this is indeed a clever move, with Xu Shichang staring, Beiyang will not disperse, and those generals will be able to admit it.

"Mr. Huizi, can Qiao Yu agree? Can a prime minister satisfy his appetite? ”

As soon as Duan Qirui said this, he suddenly understood that Yang Du largely represented Qiao Yu, he was Qiao Yu's microphone, isn't it too stupid for him to ask like this.

"In power, Qiao Yu is not yet thirty years old, he is still too young, and he is not willing to be the president rashly, so let the chrysanthemum always take the top first, which is good for everyone!"

In fact, age is indeed a big problem, Qiao Yu is not yet thirty years old, once he reaches the top, he is very likely to be in power for decades, this is not something he can retreat if he wants to, he also has a huge force behind him, and the next few decades are the most critical moment in the game of great powers, Qiao Yu is not worried about others to lead China.

However, once a person is in a high position for a long time, he will often make mistakes, even unforgivable mistakes, and his ears and eyes will be blinded by those petty people, so it may be a good thing for Qiao Yu to postpone his ascent to the top for a few years.

"Mr. Huizi, you go and tell Qiao Yu, I agree to abdicate and make way for Xian, Xu Juren will go and say, as for how the Beiyang Su will be arranged, I hope he can come up with a charter, and then I will resign!"

As a soldier, Duan Qirui is also very decisive, since he has decided to resign, he will not delay for a moment, Yang Du also immediately telegraphed Qiao Yu and informed Qiao Yu of the negotiation.

After Qiao Yu knew that Duan Qirui was willing to abdicate, his heart was also a lot more relaxed, and he was finally able to avoid a civil war, and the people could suffer less, but the transfer of power was often the most troublesome, especially at this time, so Qiao Yu gathered all the civil and military officials under his command together, and said the matter of the upcoming prime minister, among the people present, except for a few people such as Jiang Baili, they were not clear about this matter, and now when they suddenly heard this, they were all overjoyed, The Sichuan system has finally changed from a local power to the master of the country, how can these old and important ministers not be happy.

But the joy has passed, and the next thing is the most critical thing, how to reward the merit is the most critical, in the new political axe, what positions can these people be assigned.

"Junzuo, if you want me to say that since we are strong and strong, the surname Suo will nominate you as president, why let that old guy Xu Shichang take advantage of it!" Han Yong spoke at this time, he was able to mix from a bodyguard to his current position, completely following Luan Feng and following the right master, and now he is looking forward to Qiao Yu being able to reach the top in one step, which is also the proposition of many people in the Sichuan system.

Qiao Yu shook his head and said: "Everyone, I want to ask everyone, are we really ready to take over the national power, not to mention that we have enough officials, not at all, rashly take over the national power, we also have to use those old-style bureaucrats, relying on them to implement the new policy has become a joke, in addition, the livelihood of the people in the north is withering, and we still need a lot of silver to recover, do we have enough economic strength now?" We still lack a lot of things, so letting Xu Shichang temporarily serve as the president is also to buy us a buffer time! ”

Qiao Yu is the most important to the bureaucratic problem, the key to governing the country is to govern the officials, only to create a suitable bureaucratic system, you can be able to govern people, the country can also develop rapidly, this is also the common feature of the founding emperors of China, they have one or several masters of internal affairs, often as long as the right prime minister is chosen, they can win the world.

But now this kind of relying on a few excellent talents is no longer feasible, the political axe to manage more and more things, but also more and more troublesome, the need for a variety of talents, this is not a two people can deal with clearly, so it is necessary to create an efficient administrative team.

This large-scale reform in the southwest is also a huge test for the administrative ability of the southwest, in this test, a lot of suitable talents have emerged, and various administrative regulations have also become mature, as long as it takes time, there will be a relatively mature system to be cultivated, which is also a time node for Qiao Yu to accept the national power.

"This buffer time does not require us to do nothing, the Unification Mingzhu Party must be strengthened, ready to become the ruling party of the whole country, and two things must be won into our hands, the first is military power, and the second is the wealth of the five southeastern provinces, we must tightly control both of these things!"

If you want to control a country, the most important thing is two things, one is the barrel of the gun, and the other is the money bag, as long as you control these two, you can sit firmly on the throne, which is what Qiao Yu wants to do most now.

"Brother Baili, this important task will be handed over to you, I will appoint you as the Minister of Military Affairs, oversee the work of reorganizing the army across the country, form a national defense force, and at the same time change the Southwest Frontier University into the National Defense University, and conduct rotation training for officers across the country.

Jiang Baili nodded, "Don't worry, I will do it well!" ”

"In addition to military power, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Anhui, these five provinces are in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, since ancient times are rich land, I am ready to take the five southeastern provinces as the next step to implement land reform areas, these areas have more people and less land, the business tradition is very strong, the atmosphere is also very civilized, not conservative, I think the trouble of land reform will not be very big, the key is to send the right personnel, I am ready to let Zhang Bailin as the governor of Jiangsu, Yang Shukan as the governor of Zhejiang, Qian Moyin as the governor of Jiangxi, Chen Jiongming has been appointed governor of Anhui Province, and Yu Peilun has been appointed governor of Fujian Province, and after you take over the southeast, you must immediately eliminate maladministration, rectify the rule of officials, and restore public order; at the same time, you must expand the influence of the United Kuomintang in various localities and establish party organizations! ”

Although Sichuan is known as the country of abundance, after all, it is deep inland, and the conditions for economic development are not as good as those of the southeastern coastal provinces, and it is obviously unrealistic to rely on the wealth of Sichuan to support the whole country, so it has become very urgent to swallow the five southeastern provinces and bring them under the control of the Sichuan system and become the source of wealth.

Qiao Yu also sent all his henchmen out, which was also a must-win, and the five people who were named also felt the heavy burden on their shoulders, and they all said that they would definitely be able to complete the trust.

Qiao Yu said: "This time the transfer of power, there are some local factions who do not know what to do, so it is necessary to have enough military strength to deter, Zhu Qinglan led the mobilization of five divisions, garrisoned Nanjing, and controlled the area of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Wang Huai led the second division of the Sichuan Army into Henan, Long Yun led the fourth division into Shandong, and Shi Yi led the fifth and twentieth divisions into Zhili. ”

Qiao Yu sent nine divisions of troops in one breath, which is the essence of the Sichuan army, obviously also after careful consideration, after arranging the overall situation, Qiao Yu drew up a cabinet list, in this list Qiao Yu decisively retained some Beiyang generals, Tang Shaoyi was re-activated and appointed as vice premier, Zhou Ziqi was appointed as Minister of Agriculture, Jin Yunpeng was appointed Minister of Public Security, Cao Kun was appointed as Deputy Minister of National Defense, Xu Shuzheng was appointed as the Mongolian Xinjiang Patrol Envoy, and concurrently served as Deputy Chief of General Staff!

Keeping these people in the cabinet, plus a big president Xu Shichang, the power of Beiyang has been greatly retained, this condition is already very favorable, you must know how many people in the Sichuan system want to rush up, Qiao Yu must leave enough places for them, for example, Zhang Lan was appointed Minister of Education, Li Zongwu was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs, Tang Yisheng became Minister of Industry, Wei Ruolan became the governor of the Central Bank, and Jiang Yonggui became the Minister of Finance, these are Qiao Yu's confidants, and they must not be treated badly.

After Duan Qirui received Qiao Yu's cabinet list, he still agreed, Beiyang basically occupies one-third of the cabinet share, which is also more consistent with Beiyang's strength, so Duan Qirui immediately announced his resignation from the ruling position, and Qiao Yu officially ascended the throne of the prime minister!

(To be continued)