"Don't quarrel, if you want to elect Yuan Shikai, you have to be willing, now Yuan Shikai is still the prime minister of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, we can't do without a leader, let's vote or decide!" Huang Xing stood up when the two sides quarreled, Huang Xing since the defeat in Wuhan, his morale has not been high, this time he thought that Sun Wen was elected as the provisional president is expected by everyone, but he knows that there are also a large number of people within the revolutionary party who support Yuan Shikai, Tao Chengzhang has been in opposition to the League, it is normal for him to come out to oppose it, but Song Jiaoren and the representatives of Sichuan and Hubei provinces can't help but Huang Xing does not pay attention to it.

A total of seventeen provinces, one vote per province, soon the results of the vote were announced, a total of seven votes against, one abstention, nine votes in favor of Sun Wen, Huang Xing saw this result and breathed a sigh of relief, after all, Sun Wen still became the interim president, but nearly half of the provinces opposed, although it was a secret ballot, but Huang Xing also clearly knew that the two provinces of Sichuan and Hubei were among them, whether Sun Wen could successfully command the south, Huang Xing's heart was also bottomless, and in history Sun Wen got sixteen votes, only one vote against.

The wheel of history is still moving forward according to the general trend, but there have been very different changes in the details, Qiao Yu also shook his head after receiving Wang Dongcheng's telegram, it seems that some things are not so easy to reverse, fortunately, the development of Sichuan is still very smooth, Wu Hengchang has negotiated with the United States, the United States will provide equipment and technology, help train skilled workers, and cooperate with Sichuan to establish the Yucheng Iron and Steel Plant, of course, the Americans also made a lot of profits, Sichuan will pay American businessmen two million taels of silver, Then he had to give half of the dividends for the next ten years to the United States, but fortunately, the Americans did not make other excessive demands, and Qiao Yu agreed to them all.

According to the plan, the annual output of Yucheng Iron and Steel Plant can reach 50,000 tons of steel, 300,000 tons of iron sand, as far as the whole of China is concerned, after the completion of the Hanyang Iron Works, it is the second largest iron and steel enterprise in China, but this scale does not need to be compared with the scale of 10 million tons and 10,000 tons in later generations, that is, it is less than a fraction of the same era compared with Europe and the United States, but this is already the maximum amount that Sichuan finance can bear, and the imported equipment is still second-hand goods in the United States, but it is such a small steel plant has also caused trouble.

The British consul general in Chengdu, Fu Shan, found Qiao Yu, who was a short and fat little old man with a big rosacea nose, who didn't look good, but this was an authentic Chinese expert.

"Governor Qiao, first of all, on behalf of the British Empire, I would like to congratulate you on becoming the master of Sichuan, and I hope that you will adhere to the policy of friendship with Britain!"

"I am very happy to be recognized by the British Empire, and I am willing to develop economic and trade cooperation between the two sides!"

"I'm very glad that Qiao Dudu can have this attitude, but your actions are not the same as what you said, I heard that you have reached an agreement with the United States to establish the Yucheng Iron and Steel Plant, and I also heard that you are ready to cooperate with Germany to transform the Sichuan Machinery Bureau!"

Qiao Yu secretly scolded the British in his heart for having a smart nose, how could he even know about the Sichuan factory, but since he knew, there was no need to hide it, so he smiled: "That's right, I have this plan, Sichuan wants to develop its own industry and have its own defense force, I think this is a normal demand, Britain will not interfere, right?" ”

Fu Shan's face suddenly became serious, and he waved his hand again and again: "No, this is not a simple matter, the arsenal is different from the civilian industry of textiles, which is related to the balance of the situation in China, and with all due respect, you should not get too close to Germany, this is a dangerous behavior!" ”

Qiao Yu can be regarded as seeing the so-called hegemonism, the current British are as good as the Americans in later generations, they are all the same domineering and rude, as long as they are unfavorable, they must oppose it, but Qiao Yu knows that he does not have the strength to turn his face with the British now, so he can only try to be friendly, so he suppressed the anger in his heart.

"Mr. Consul General, this kind of cooperation has absolutely no intention of targeting Britain, and I myself am very willing to cooperate with Britain, but whether it is a steel plant or a military factory, Sichuan must be established, but in order to show my sincerity in cooperation with your country, I am willing to cooperate with your country to establish such as explosives factories, fertilizer factories, machinery factories, etc.!" The prospect of our cooperation is very broad! ”

Fu Shan listened carefully, and after Qiao Yu finished speaking, he showed an unfathomable smile: "Mr. Governor, the establishment of the arsenal has violated the interests of the British Empire, of course I hope to carry out more cooperation, but we can't reassure us enough, I do have a suggestion, we can carry out financial cooperation, for example, our British Empire can provide a certain loan to the Sichuan political axe!" ”

As soon as Qiao Yu heard it, he knew that the rich and good in front of him could not be bought with petty profits, he was staring at the financial power of Sichuan, as long as he agreed to the loan, he would be able to control Sichuan's finance with the help of this, and he could also influence the finance in the name of supervising the use of loans, which can be said to put the lifeblood of Sichuan into the hands of the British to a certain extent.

However, Qiao Yu had this plan before, and now he will suffer a little loss, as long as he can lift the vigilance of the British, and then develop with peace of mind for a few years, as soon as the war arrives in the UK, he will not be able to control himself!

"Thanks to the generosity of the British political axe, I happen to be short of money, but I don't know what to use as collateral?"

"Sichuan's salt tax! Your Excellency the Governor, I think your salt reform has been very successful, ensuring the collection of salt taxes and at the same time reducing the price of salt, which is a great achievement! Therefore, we are very relieved to use the salt tax as collateral, but we need to send some people to supervise the use of the loan, and also to monitor your tax situation to ensure that your finances are functioning properly. ”

"Thank you Consul General for your kindness, I am ready to borrow 1.5 million pounds, as for the specific interest discount, I will send someone to talk to you, I hope to be able to carry out more in-depth cooperation with the British Empire!"

Fu Shan knew that the loan must be Qiao Yu's unwanted, but the latter two conditions are a bit harsh, there is no doubt that once he agrees to these, it is equivalent to putting the economic lifeline of Sichuan into the hands of the British, they can point fingers at will, what he didn't expect was that Qiao Yu actually agreed, so Fu Shan was overjoyed, he thought that from Qiao Yu's actions, he had a clear understanding of the world, but now he is not fundamentally different from those Manchu bureaucrats, but he is just more capable, It would be better for such a person to be able to pull the side of the British without paying too much attention.

Fu Shan got what he wanted, and he took his leave, Qiao Yu looked at the back of this guy and felt uncomfortable, but it is not too late for a gentleman to take revenge for ten years, and soon you will be unlucky.

"Lao Wu, the more humiliated you are, the more you have to try to be strong, steel is the backbone of Sichuan, and it must be developed, otherwise both the British and other powers will be able to bully us!"

Wu Hengchang knew that Qiao Yu signed the alliance under the city, and he was also very unhappy in his heart, he used his own resources to build a factory on his own land, and he had to look at other people's faces to act in the development of industry, and he had to pay protection fees, and the cruel reality was like a thorn in Wu Hengchang's heart.

"Don't worry, Governor, I will definitely build the steel mill well, and when our backbones are hardened, let the British taste this taste!"

"I'm waiting to use our steel and weapons made by our arsenal to smash the British, so that they can taste what it will be like to be bullied!"