At the door of the house in the Liangjiang Governor's Office, Xu Yifan was standing there in a military uniform, performing with his daughter-in-law and children.

Since the Hongyang Rebellion, several generations of governors, except for Li Hongzhang, have not been extravagant. And those who are officials also have the mantra of not repairing the official office, being an official in a different place, and repairing the inner house of the temporary eunuch to the sky, once transferred, it will be a cheap discount for others.

So when Xu Yifan moved in, except for the front yard office, which was a pile of garbage and deserted. The inner house is actually dilapidated. However, Miss Li Xuan and Miss Li live in the house of the Liangjiang Governor's Office, she is a person who is quite particular about the quality of life, of course, she has to be renovated.

Xu Yifan also knocked on the side to get to his fiancée's family, since she came back with Xu Yifan, she has 4.75% of the family business. You can only eat red, not resell. The 4.75 shares of the Li family in Java are not to be underestimated! A year to Li Xuan's name, there are also hundreds of thousands of taels of silver dividends. Xu Yifan was in tears at that time............ Speaking of which, he has been promoted so much, sitting on the land of China's anointing, but he has no income.

The imperial court gave him a fortune to support his integrity, and when he drove Ronglu out of North Korea, it all stopped. Han Lao's shopkeeper supposedly said that there was a molecule for him, and since the two parted ways, that molecule naturally had nothing. He supervises both two rivers, and wants to pay the people under him for salaries, who will pay him! Now that there are so many things going on, there is no time to make a special ordinance to decide how much money he should get every month as a leader. In the past, there was still a little expenditure in the public expense, but now the official team at the bottom is on the track, Tang Shaoyi of the Political Affairs Bureau, and Sheng Xuanhuai, who is responsible for the development of the industry, have stuck the funds to death. Even the monthly military expenses are no more than his hands, which are allocated from Tang Shaoyi. Several times from Jiangning City rushed to Tangshan to inspect the troops, and saw on the side of the road who carried the burden and sold firewood and dumplings, Xu Yifan came up greedily, touched his waist, and had nothing, or Pu Yang and Chen De helped him pay the bill!

All the expenses of the family now rely on Li Xuan. Xu Yifan ate soft rice to the letter. However, Li Xuan also has a little benefit, since she was driven out of the camp in North Korea by the gangsters, even if she supports the family, she will never take half a step towards Xu Yifan's office, but sometimes she is really bored, and she takes Du Juan Luoshi to play in Jiangning City in a carriage, and has a picnic in Houhu, at this point, Xu Yifan is not restrained by her.

- Or, Li Xuan, the little girl, is also the owner of the pocket money every month, and now she has become a little rich woman with Xu Yifan, simply enjoying the pleasure of spending money, but I didn't expect to say something in front of Xu Yifan with this...... The Xu family's household is supported by the Li family, and a smart person like Li Daxiong also knows that he must not say anything about this. Xu Yifan is such a smart person! Li Daxiong is not stupid, relying on the name of Xu Yifan as the fast son-in-law of the Li family is already an excellent help. If you go to Guan and say something, you will fall behind. Xu Yifan also knew that the Li family was a relative, and it was destined to rise to the top, but his original policy was to develop industry and support the acceleration of capital concentration and rapid industrialization, and the development of the Li family's power was not a deviation from his direction. Besides, his ambition is to be in the world, and when the world is all in his hands, the power of the Li family, compared with the power of the whole world, will not show anything at that time............ It is precisely because of these reasons that Xu Yifan's soft rice is now eaten with peace of mind............ Now, in order to fight for this face, I am considering accumulating private wealth and rectifying my own belongings, which is called useless.

After more than a month of hard work, Li Xuan threw out a lot of money, and the inner house of the Governor's Office has completely changed. Judging from the entrance of the inner house where Xu Yifan is standing now, the walls have all been replaced with marble, and the transplanted Nanyang evergreen trees are densely crawling all over the walls. The figures of the servants kept walking over beside them, everyone was wearing tweed uniforms, and the little maids even had a rabbit skin scarf, all of which were picked by Li Xuan, all of them were delicate and lovely, and the rabbit skin scarf was set off with a little blushing. Inside the inner house, everywhere is spotless, everyone is wearing soft-soled shoes, rising and falling silently, there is really a mansion atmosphere. The two Western-style gas lampposts at the entrance of the inner house are even more fresh things that are not available in Ningcheng!

Li Xuan stood at the door, sorting out the collar of his military uniform for Xu Yifan tenderly, pursing his lips and asking with a smile: "How many days will I go out this time?" ”

Luo Shi and Du Juan were fighting on the side, but no one dared to rush in front of Li Xuan. just took over the travel clothes and toiletries that Xu Yifan had sorted out from Nan Xinai's little girl, and handed them to Chen De and Pu Yang, the two leaders of Goshha.

There are a bunch of warblers and swallows in front of me, all of which are Lao Tzu's forbidden belly............ Needless to say, even Li Xuan is surprisingly gentle today.

When a man goes out to run errands, the girl bids farewell diligently, which makes the man full of ambition. Xu Yifan looked at Li Xuan's pretty face, turning over the New Year, Li Xuan is also nineteen years old, which is the most golden age for girls. The astringency has retreated a little, but it is not yet ripe. She was originally a country and a city, but now she has added a little gentle charm. Looking at the past from his current perspective, he can also see that the girl's pretty breasts are very pretty, although they are not as good as the cuckoo, they are also very impressive............ You can't think about it anymore, and if you think about it again, don't think about leaving. Xu Yifan secretly swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and swore in his heart that when he came back from this business trip, he would eat Li Xuan if he had a good idea! Such a big beauty has been by her side for so long, and she hasn't had a real PK with her, it's really tyrannical to say it............ He smiled and took the opportunity to hold Li Xuan's hand, Li Xuan's face was slightly red, and he let him grab it. Pu Yang and Chen De had already naturally turned around: "............ Business, don't ask, it's not a few days anyway. What, how are you going to spend the next few days? ”

Li Xuan glanced at him: "I don't care about you!" If you like to go for a few days, just one thing, go to Shanghai, don't bring someone back! I'm not going to let you in! In the past few days, I have a place to go, Yangshan Monument, Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, Niushou Mountain, there are many places to see the scenery! As soon as the snow falls, set up a large double-decker windshield tent, put a stove in it, and bring a lot of delicious food to watch the snow picnic, there is no such scenery in Nanyang! I really can't do it, I still have a yacht, I'll go to the Yangtze River to play...... I'm sorry of you! ”

Xu Yifan didn't want to leave in a few words, such a [***] life, or his fiancée pays, count me in............ Thinking about it for the last time, he gritted his teeth and stomped his feet: "I'm leaving!" When the big things are over, I will accompany you well, can it be done? ”

Li Xuan pulled out his hand with a smile, and slapped Xu Yifan lightly, with a little more tenderness in his eyes: "Pay attention to your body, do you know?" was so busy that he couldn't even come back to the inner house a few times, and Du Juan and Luo Shi pouted every day...... I know you've worked hard............"

Xu Yifan smiled, and his heart was slightly warm, these words of children's love can't be said anymore, and it will be endless. He nodded slightly towards Du Juan Luo Shi, who was standing half a step behind Li Xuan, and his eyes were full of concern, squeezed his eyes and smiled evilly, turned around and strode away. The three girls and even a pair of North Korean twin girls were at the door watching his tall back gradually drift away, with self-satisfaction in their hearts and a little grievance.

This is the man who wants to control the whole world! It's still theirs! It's a pity that I have too little time to spend with them............ Xu Yifan's figure disappeared in a blink of an eye, Li Xuan looked at it for a while, and then turned around, his little face was full of the old man's cunning expression, and announced loudly to Du Juan and Luo Shi: "The master is in Jiangning, we can't distract him, now he is leaving temporarily, and our 'fox catcher' operation has officially begun!" ”

Looking at the eager look on her face, I don't know if she was jealous or thought it was more fun. In fact, the most important thing is that Xiuning who appeared out of nowhere hurt Miss Li's self-esteem!

Xu Yifan didn't have time to accompany them, but he often talked to that Xiuning for an hour or two! Li Xuan is a very proud girl, and sometimes Xu Yifan can't do anything about her. was regarded as a goddess by a group of young men in Nanyang, and the foreign devil young man even proposed marriage without public office, and became the fiancée of Xu Yifan and became the treasure of the family, Xu Yifan was even more caring and tolerant of her............ Now this Xiuning, she has to see where it is sacred!

Cuckoo nodded heavily, she had brought it up first. But Luo Shi, the long-legged tall girl, is the most innocent and coquettish, don't look at her so tall, but her heart is the purest among the three girls, and she doesn't know what it means to compete for favor, Xu Yifan rarely goes back to the inner house, she feels that it is enough to be tired of being by Xu Yifan's side at this rare time, and the rest ............ Now there is food and clothing, everything is served, every day the house will send in so many new things, compared to when you have to be a female dart master to protect the house, you have to serve the sick father when you come back from duty, and you have to help my brother pay off his gambling debts with a little salary from the house............ It's already a son of heaven, so what's there to fight about?

She blinked her eyes wide, cowering and trying to hide back, but she couldn't hide her supermodel body. Li Xuan saw Luo Shi's uncompetitive appearance, so he didn't fight in one place: "Luo Shi, can you help me!" The cuckoo also pulled her: "Let's all say okay!" ”

Luo Shi asked pitifully: "The master really won't be angry?" ”

"Why is he angry? I didn't interfere with his official business! He's in Jiangning, and I can't bear to trouble that vixen, so I don't have to distract him from ............ big things. I'm a big house! I don't care about this, what else can I manage? If you don't go, I'll go by myself! ”

Li Xuan raised her delicate chin, she said the term big house, but she forgot that the responsibility of her big house has not been completed, and she is still an original yellow flower girl.

Du Juan was still talking about Luo Shi: "If you don't go, then I'll accompany Miss Li............ When the time comes, don't blame me for not talking to you! "Among the three girls, Cuckoo has the heaviest sense of crisis. Needless to say, Li Xuan's status is needless to say, there is a Wang Wu behind Luo Shi, and when it comes to intimacy, she is the weakest. Compared with serving the master in bed, she is not as delicate as Luo Shi, and she dares to fiddle with Xu Yifan's requirements for any tricks, even if she tries to keep up with Luo Shi, it is not as natural as this long-legged tall girl, and she can't wait to turn into Xu Yifan. But Cuckoo is the most stubborn of the three girls, and she has the ambition to grow up in a den of horse thieves, and she dares to do anything in order to stabilize her position in the inner house!

Two to one, not to mention the pair of North Korean twins behind Li Xuan who have already put on a posture like a great enemy. Luo Shi nodded aggrievedly: "Okay............ I'll just go............ I am angry, I want to be scolded, and we will be scolded by the master together. ”

Li Xuan suddenly smiled like a flower, jumped over and grabbed Luo Shi's hand: "Good girl, don't you like my Jingba, I'll give it to you............ Xu Yifan, hum, I'm not afraid of him! Who told him to hide from us to find this vixen first! ”

On the carriage, Xu Yifan sneezed violently. He rubbed his nose: "Who is talking to me behind my back?" Those foreign devils? ”

Outside the carriage, Pu Yang, who was sitting on the wheel, came in: "Dashuai, what's wrong?" ”

Xu Yifan waved his hand: "It's nothing............ Before leaving, did you go home to see your old sister? "Since Pu Yang returned from leave, he has lost a lot of the heartless and stunned green taste he used to have, and the whole person looks much deeper. The errand is also more careful and careful, but there is often a depressed color in his eyebrows, and he doesn't know what this kid is thinking. Xu Yifan felt a little indebted to this pair of flag brothers and sisters, but it was still the old saying, everyone's path was chosen by themselves, and there was no need to complain.

Pu Yang nodded with a straight face: "I've been to see the old sister, and I helped my subordinates pick up two clothes...... Does the marshal have any other orders? ”

Xu Yifan waved his hand, and Pu Yang lowered the curtain and returned to the wheel. Chen De sat on the other side of the carriage, glanced at his brother who was leaning on his arm, and muttered in his heart. Da Shuai asked about this kid's old sister again............ Does the handsome have to turn Goshha around him into a brother-in-law to rest assured?

Inside the carriage, Xu Yifan had already left those distracting thoughts behind. This trip to Shanghai depends on what good price I can repay............ The big thing here is decided, and the great cause of going north is within the schedule............ The information of the northern land has not yet been summarized, but he just has a hunch that the blood-colored dark clouds have shrouded the sky above Zhili, starting from Liu Kunyi's death, an unprecedented chaos, maybe just around the corner!

Time is of the essence............ It's time to wait. Unconsciously, Tan Sitong's face appeared in his mind, this scholar has now been praised by the times on the cusp.

Resurrection, resurrection, do you have this premonition? How will you respond? No matter what, don't involve the fifth brother! We two brothers owe him a lot!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ the British Consulate in Shanghai, there were already a few people sitting in the living room. Barnard M. Goldsmith, Consul of the British Empire in Shanghai, who used to be among the upper echelons of the Shanghai Concession, was a person who trembled when he stomped his feet, but at this time he stood straight aside, beckoning servants to come up and serve the guests. His eyes were focused on the humidor and the white wine glasses in the hands of the guests, and as soon as they were empty, they had to be filled quickly.

He was only the third son of a banker in the south of England, and his family had no property, and he still relied on his father to secure him a decent diplomatic position. Before he went to work, his father gave him 5,000 pounds, saying that all the help he had helped him was over, and what happened in the future was his own business.

The position of a colonial diplomat was quiet and comfortable, and Barnard, who was in his early forties, soon made a name for himself with his immaculate and impeccable gentlemanly demeanor in Shanghai's foreign social circles. The British Empire's current focus is not on the Far East, but in the Near East and South Africa, and there is no need for him to do anything about this consular position. But when that damn Xu Yifan sat in Liangjiang, and the diplomats of the empire suddenly focused their eyes here, they found that Mr. Barnard probably spent a little more time in horse races, balls, and card games, and did not provide enough information about the changes in the southern part of the Qing Kingdom.

And when that damn Xu Yifan expressed his intention to negotiate with the British Empire, he actually bypassed him and directly found the head of the British Minister to China, Uncle He, who had been in Tianjin some time ago!

According to his friends of higher status in Whitehall, it seems that the above are not very satisfied with his work. He is also not from a traditional political family, where can he find any backers! If he is transferred back to China, poor his luxurious colonial life has already made him quite indebted, how can he get it now! Could it be that when he returned to China, like the sons and daughters of those broken nobles, he relied on gambling to make a living?

At present, there are two people sitting in the living room, one is the dusty Minister to China, the other is the special envoy sent by Prime Minister Salisbury -- although the so-called special envoys of the Prime Minister, the special envoy of the Foreign Secretary, and the special envoy of the Colonial Secretary are flying all over the world at this time, the British Empire has too many responsibilities in the world. But if this envoy and Minister Uncle He were still in charge of inspecting his Barnard's performance, then he wouldn't be able to eat and walk away!

Barnard also felt a little strange, Xu Yifan had never appeared in the sight of the British Empire two years ago, although he knew that this person had caused a small trouble in Java. Even if he defeated Yuben in Korea, he was just an indigenous warlord of the decadent and backward Qing Empire. How can the prime minister be involved in sending a special envoy, and the minister He Bo also hurried over from Tianjin?

He Bo sat on the sofa with a little tiredness, he was an old man after all. The natural reserve of the English gentleman also kept him from having to say much to the Prime Minister's envoy, who was also said to be a young man from the Salisbury family, and only ate Thracian biscuits there over white wine.

From his personal point of view, he is inclined to the center of the Qing Empire. Diplomats have no personal position, but they are somewhat personal. I have been dealing with the Manchu center for so long, and those princes and ministers are really good people to deal with. and Xu Yifan, he is arrogant and reluctant to deal with it, even if he has done so many earth-shattering things in East Asia! The British Empire is too powerful, and such warlords in the Far East are far from enough. With regard to East Asia, the British Empire's attitude has always been to maintain the status quo and maintain the vested interests of the great powers. Xu Yifan's rise is to disrupt such a pattern, which makes him, an old diplomat, feel very troublesome, and he also has an intuition that Xu Yifan is a person who is more difficult to deal with than the Manchu Qing center.

If possible, he would prefer that everything on the East Asian continent move smoothly on the existing orbit, and that he could retire honorably at that time.

But no............ It is said that the Impertinent Empire bears global responsibility, and the whole world also has the interests of the Anglo-Saxons! When something happens in every corner of the world, there is a concern about the more or less interests of the Empire, not to mention that the Asian continent is still involved in the big gamble of the Anglo-Russian confrontation! The situation in East Asia has changed so drastically, how can Britain fail to deal with it!

Britain has too many responsibilities in the world, and it can say very little of the forces at its disposal in the Pacific direction. The centre of gravity is now entirely within the triangular region of the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Indian Oceans. This is the third time that Prime Minister Salisbury has formed a cabinet, that is, during his tenure, Britain has expanded its power to the limit, making great investments in building two great navies in Europe, conquering Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and Rhodesia in Africa, and is still brewing a war to purge those Dutch-born Boers out, and conquering Burma in Asia. Even at home, the demand for autonomy in Ireland was suppressed!

Germany had risen in Central Europe, Russia was on the rise in Asia, and the British Empire was feeling a little overwhelmed. Maintaining stability in this part of East Asia and maintaining a force to contain Russia is a top priority. You know, the Trans-Siberian Railway is already in full swing! Wait until the Trans-Siberian Railway is completed to make arrangements, and it will be too late.

In this First Sino-Japanese War, to be honest, Britain upheld an almost completely neutral attitude, it doesn't matter who wins, just support the stronger one left. Don't go to war in strong pressure, there is no need for that, and there is no energy, and it is better to let both countries ask for themselves. Anyway, there are still a few years before the opening of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and there is still time to complete the layout in the Far East. But the worst result happened, Yue Ben was crippled, and the Qing Empire collapsed, but a warlord named Xu Yifan took advantage of the situation to rise!

The situation in East Asia suddenly became chaotic, and the British Empire, which was waiting to clean up the situation, was also stunned.

In other words, which end of the camp can be supported to gain the most benefits?

The country seems to be more anxious than his minister, Xu Yifan expressed to him before the New Year of the Qing State that he was willing to negotiate and cooperate with the British Empire, and reported it to China. This prime minister's envoy, who was only in his thirties, and who was born in Oxford, came to find out what was going on in the country about the matter, and this guy actually talked about the recent weather in London -- he had served the empire in the Far East for forty years! Is this negotiation still dominated by this son-in-law?

That Xu Yifan will arrive in Shanghai tomorrow at the latest, but he still doesn't know the Empire's attitude towards how to deal with the situation in East Asia! Thinking of this, Uncle He couldn't hold back any longer, and put down the white wine glass in his hand: "Mr. Salisbury, do you know Xu Yifan?" ”

The Imperial Prime Minister's Special Envoy, Waters K. Salisbury, put down his glass in surprise and looked at Uncle Ho: "What do I need to know about this gentleman of the Qing Kingdom?" He just had to accept the British Empire's plan for the situation in East Asia! ”

(To be continued)