The spacious prime minister's office was frighteningly quiet, and Xu Shuzheng, Qu Tongfeng, Wang Shizhen, Wu Guangxin, Jin Yunju, and Yue Kaixian, who were sitting in a circle, didn't dare to speak when they saw Duan Qirui, whose chest was so angry that his chest was heaving, but Liang Qichao, who was old and qualified, still looked like he was still wiping his glasses unhurriedly.

"Shh.......h

Duan Qirui let out a long breath, put down the last secret report in his hand, slowly raised his head, and glanced at the full audience one by one, and only after a long time did he endure his resentment, and said leisurely:

"I really didn't expect that after years of hard work and humiliation, in the end, it would be to make wedding clothes for others, sad, lamentable! If it weren't for Wei Qing (Qu Tongfeng) to find out the truth in time, I'm afraid that I, Duan Qirui, would still be jumping up and down for others, and I would still be happy to be used as a gun. ”

"Dashuai!"

Xu Shuzheng interrupted Duan Qirui, who was in pain and blamed himself, with some worry: "If you want to blame us, you can only blame our subordinates, we are too proud and too negligent, which made Feng Huafu (Feng Guozhang)'s annihilation plan succeed!" No one thought that the highly respected Xu Buwu (Xu Shichang) would harbor such huge ambitions, let alone that his secret alliance with us was all a trick, and he had already been embarrassed by Feng Huafu, who was pretending to be sick and lying at home.

"This is indeed a huge lesson, but it's not too late to make amends, the more this time, the more we need to be calm, and we must not let Feng Huafu and Xu Buwu's conspiracy succeed!"

Qu Tongfeng hurriedly echoed: "That's right, Dashuai, although Xu Buwu's presidential qualification has been approved by the two levels of parliament, isn't this not yet an official inauguration ceremony?" Before that, it is possible that if there is any variable, the subordinates will think that if we can instigate the Senate and the two houses to support him to replace Feng Huafu, we can prevent him from officially becoming president. ”

"No, no! Time is running out. ”

Liang Qichao straightened his waist and shook his head again and again: "The major resolutions that have been passed by the two courts, how can they be changed overnight?" If we forcibly stop it, how will the people of the world view us? What do you think of Dashuai? What's even more troublesome is that the Beiyang armies will inevitably be completely split because of this, and even the situation that is barely maintained by the gods will no longer exist, so how should the marshal and you deal with yourself at that time? ”

When everyone heard this, they were immediately confused and sighed, but Duan Qirui looked at Liang Qichao with anticipation, knowing that since he proposed it, he must have a countermeasure.

Liang Qichao, who was bamboo-chested, leaned lightly on the back of the sofa and unhurriedly put forward a clever plan: "As long as the handsome man comes forward, he can personally visit Mr. Zhang Lan, the speaker of the House of Representatives, and ask him to add the word 'generation' in front of Xu Buwu's name on the resolution." ”

Duan Qirui was so excited that he got up: "High! ”

The rest of them reacted one after another, and stood up one after another in surprise to express their sincere respect and praise to Liang Qichao.

Although the strong alliance of Feng Guozhang and Xu Shichang, the two Beiyang fathers, attracted nearly half of the Beiyang army and turned defeat into victory and made a comeback, according to the provisions of the legislation, the "sick" Feng Guozhang's term of office as acting president did not end until the end of July, so although Xu Shichang, the newly elected president of the country who has not yet been announced, can take office immediately, as long as Duan Qirui is unwilling, he can still add the word "generation" to Xu Shichang's head through the two houses in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. Xu Shichang can only temporarily appear on stage in the name of acting president until the end of July.

It is now early April, and there are still more than three months to go, which is completely enough for Duan Qirui Group to make up for its mistakes and clean up the rivers and mountains, at that time, the acting president Xu Shichang, who has not yet sat on the hot ass, does not need to spend much effort at all, and Xu Shichang, who has not been officially appointed, is just a "passing king".

I have to say that Feng Guozhang and Xu Shichang's interest group were too earnest, so that a huge misjudgment occurred, before that, the secret alliance between the two of them and the series of schemes they implemented were amazing, not only successfully prompted Duan Qirui to be deceived and made mistakes again and again, but also used Duan Qirui's mistakes to pull Cao Kun, Li Yuanhong, Zhang Zuolin and other powerful factions and a large number of neutrals in the Beiyang army into their camp, vigorously weakening the strength of Duan Qirui's group, but also rapidly strengthening themselves and turning defeat into victory in one fell swoop.

However, the interest groups of Feng Guozhang and Xu Shichang still underestimated the tremendous destructive power of Yue himself, and like Duan Qirui, they have always relied on his own behind-the-scenes support and huge loans from Yue Ben to grow and develop.

Because of this, Feng Guozhang and Xu Shichang, under the persecution of Yue himself, acquiesced in the deliberate provocation of the war by his henchmen Li Chun, Ni Sichong, Chen Guangyuan and others, and suddenly launched a huge military attack on Xiao Yimin's clique that was gradually encroaching on Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces under the pretext of "aiding Jiangxi to quell the rebellion", and then disrupted the political situation in southern China in one fell swoop, so that all forces could fish in troubled waters or take advantage of the fire, contributing to the breakdown of the alliance between the biggest political enemies Duan Qirui and Xiao Yimin, and even expected to provoke a huge war between the two groups.

However, Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui, including Yue himself, did not expect that Xiao Yimin, who has always taken a tough stance and pursued a tooth for a tooth, would retreat, and there was no sign of counterattack except for shouting a few times at a press conference, preferring to bear the doubts of all sides in the north and south, and silently endure the abuse of young students and countless soldiers across the country in disappointment.

Only the envoys of various countries in China and the warlords of all sides can see it most clearly, and even see it shockingly, the sudden change in the political situation in the north and Xiao Yimin's abnormal performance indicate that an even greater disaster is coming, and it can be said that Xiao Yimin's sudden retreat and silence have shown a powerful deterrent effect.

The two military and political cliques in the north that have completely torn their faces and the person himself, who has been silently observing the evolution of China's political situation, are so panicked and unable to sleep at night that the power of their silence can be said to be incalculable, and even the two armies of Guangdong and Guangxi, which are fighting fiercely, have all stopped fighting and watched carefully.

Only three divisions of the Beiyang Army led by Li Chun and others were left in the whole of China, and they were still fearlessly attacking cities and plundering villages and wantonly killing on the land of Jiangxi, and it seemed that they would soon be killed by the Fourth Army of the Sichuan Army in southern Jiangxi.

If it is said that the Nanjing bombing case made Duan Qirui panic and began to self-reflect for this, then the "Jiujiang Incident" that suddenly occurred next finally made Duan Qirui Group see everything hidden in front of and behind the scenes, and made Duan Qirui and his subordinates wake up to the fact that in the face of the current difficult situation of internal and external troubles, Duan Qirui Group has no time to wait and no choice.

Therefore, after the henchmen sat down again, Duan Qirui finally made up his mind: "At this time, I'm afraid that it will not work if the establishment of the Nanjing camp of the Ministry of Military Affairs is not approved!" ”

"No! Zhiquan, this must not be done! I'd rather not have Xiao Yimin's cooperation, than raise a tiger to cause trouble and hurt himself, Xiao Yimin is too tolerant and terrible! ”

Liang Qichao was the first to jump out against it.

Xiao Yimin, who has never met Liang Qichao and has no contact with each other, because the Sichuan army has sabotaged Yuan Shikai and the Beiyang family three times and twice, so that Liang Qichao has never had a good impression of him, and the series of bloody revenge launched after Xiao Yimin's assassination undoubtedly deeply stimulated Liang Qichao's sensitive nerves and brought great fear to this conservative leader who claimed to be a veteran of the Three Dynasties.

Seeing Duan Qirui with a wry smile on his face, and seeing Liang Qichao so excited, everyone was silent for a while.

Xu Shuzheng coughed lightly: "Ren Gong, at this time, apart from making partial compromises and concessions, and continuing to maintain close cooperation with Xiao Yimin's faction, so as to gain the support of the powerful Sichuan Army and the Ming Boiler Party controlled by Speaker of the House of Representatives Zhang Lan, do we still have a choice?"

"If we refuse Xiao Yimin's request, I am afraid that the Great War between the North and the South will start immediately, and who will be able to resist the strong Xiao Yimin at that time? What is even worse is that the plenary meeting of the 'Revival Association', the largest political party in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, has made a decision to collectively join the China Ming Cook Party led by Xiao Yimin and Zhang Lan, which means that the political program advocated by Xiao Yimin for several years, the political system and economic policies implemented through Sichuan for more than six years, have won the recognition and support of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang consortiums and major political factions. ”

Liang Qichao finally fell silent, weakly returned to his position, and let out a long sigh.

Seeing that no one raised any more objections, Duan Qirui finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Tomorrow morning, I will personally attend a press conference at home and abroad, and in the name of the Central Minister of Military Affairs and the Prime Minister, I will order all armies in Jiangxi to immediately stop all military operations, withdraw to Hefei and Xuzhou in Anhui Province, and wait for further processing by the Central Military and Political Department; "Secondly, I will announce the removal of all military and political posts of Ni Sichong, the overseer of Anhui, and appoint Wu Guangxin as the acting overseer of Anhui;" Thirdly, on the grounds of immediately quelling the war in the southern provinces, continuing to carry out the operation of 'suppressing bandits and rebellion,' and rectifying the whole [***] team, the establishment of the 'Nanjing Xingying of the Central Military and Political Department' was announced, and Xiao Yimin, deputy minister of military and political affairs, was officially authorized to concurrently serve as the superintendent of Jiangsu. Ladies and gentlemen, there are different opinions that can be raised immediately. ”

Everyone agreed, and Xu Shuzheng quietly smiled at Wu Guangxin: "This time you can see your old friends often." ”

Wu Guangxin, who was full of joy, replied in a low voice: "I haven't seen Yiming for several years, and I don't know if this kid will forget my old friend!" ”

Only Liang Qichao kept shaking his head, but he couldn't raise any objections.

At this time, Liang Qichao was extremely depressed, and secretly regretted why he abandoned the neutral and objective Qingliu position in a daze, and joined Duan Qirui's camp in a daze, it was impossible to go back to the past, and if he broke with Duan Qirui again, he would only make his already damaged reputation worse.

At 10 a.m. on 8 April, Duan Qirui, Premier of the People's Republic of China and Minister of Military Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, solemnly announced in Yanjing:

1. Order all departments of the Beiyang Army entering Jiangxi to immediately stop all operations, and must evacuate Jiangxi and return to the original defense within a week, and the Prime Minister's Office, the Senate and the House of Representatives, and the Central Military and Political Axe form a joint investigation team to go to Anhui and Jiangxi provinces to deal with the aftermath; 2. Dismiss all military and political posts of Ni Sichong, the overseer of Anhui, and appoint General Wu Guangxin as the acting superintendent of Anhui; 3. The establishment of the Nanjing camp of the Central Military and Political Department is under the full responsibility of General Xiao Yimin, vice minister of the Central Military and Political Affairs, and the post of military supervisor of Jiangsu Province is concurrently held by General Xiao Yimin.

The news was sent to the whole of China and all over the world through more than 200 Chinese and foreign reporters who gathered in Yanjing, and the Chinese and foreign forces that had been waiting for a long time to hear the news were moved, and the already noisy and boiling public opinion was lifted again, and everyone's eyes were once again turned to Nanjing, to Xiao Yimin, who had been holding back, and to the powerful army led by him.

(To be continued)