Cheng Biguang and Duan Qirui arrived in Tongzhou on the same day, almost at the same time, the two waited together in the living room, and when they met each other, they knew that they were going to meet Song Biao together.

At this time, Song Biao had already announced the establishment of the Chinese Empire, and launched the imperial provisional cabinet Yanjing political axe, Tang Shaoyi served as the prime minister of the cabinet, Ouyang Geng served as the minister of foreign affairs, Zhang Kangren served as the minister of finance, Wang Chonghui served as the minister of justice, Cai Yuanpei served as the minister of culture and education, Shu Fangde served as the minister of defense, Tang Yuanzhan served as the minister of industry and commerce, and the other cabinet members were still vacant for the time being.

This situation is basically the same as Zhang Zuolin's Feng political axe period.

Only in such a moment can Song Biao appreciate the happiness of Jiang Zhongzheng and Yuan Shikai, he is actually more tragic than these two, because there are still half of the provinces that do not recognize his empire, Liangguang and Hubei are engaged in constitutional autonomy, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningbo continue to be under the control of the remnants of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Yunnan is one step ahead of the warlord secession, under the banner of the Restoration Society in the province of autonomy, Fujian, Jiangsu, Anhui are vacillating, fighting, Henan and Shandong are under the secret control of Yuan Shikai.

It's messy.

But it doesn't matter, Song Biao is confident that most of the provinces will be leveled within a year.

After drafting a telegram to Wang Zhaoming and transferring him to return to Beijing immediately, Song Biao personally went to the living room to meet with Cheng Biguang and Duan Qirui.

It should be said that these two are both old officers who are biased towards the republican faction, and there are many reasons why they are biased towards the republican faction, they have political thinking, and they still want to retain the military power in their hands, whether they are the new army in other provinces, including the old bureaucrats left in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, everyone understands in their hearts that once the Chinese imperial system is really determined, Song Biao will further control the military power of the whole country, exclude dissidents, and kick out all military leaders.

This selfishness was actually the main reason why China moved towards the era of warlordism after the end of the Qing Dynasty.

Accompanied by Jiang Zhengyuan, the accompanying adjutant, Song Biao, who was wearing the light blue military uniform of a special general, walked into the living room quickly, and saw these two sea and land heroes at a glance, the two were of similar age, Cheng Bi was nearly fifty years old, and Duan Qirui was forty-five years old.

The two of them also have some similarities in figure and appearance, they both look very stern people, with thin bodies and similar mustaches, and Duan Qirui has a little more goatee under his chin.

Song Biao saw them for the first time, and after Jiang Zhengyuan's introduction, Song Biao shook hands with them one after another, and then invited them to sit down again in the living room.

Song Biao is a fast-talking person, and as soon as he sat down, he said to the two: "I have always wanted to talk to you face-to-face, and I regret that you are not willing to come." Don't make excuses with me and talk about the reason, since you're here, let's get down to business. First of all, let's talk about the controversy between the Liberation Society and the League, that is, the struggle between the Liberation Revolution and the Republican Revolution. If we want to become a world power again, we must maintain unity and stability as soon as possible, and the foundation of national unity and stability is military unity and stability, and now many people are anxious to engage in republicanism, which is nothing more than hoping to maintain a loose central political axe, which is conducive to maintaining military power in their hands, and everyone has such selfishness, but such selfishness will kill China and us, a large nation with a population of 400 million. You two should not think that China's current situation is very good, we have 400 million compatriots to feed, the same area of arable land, the Americans only need to feed 70 million people, the population swells to the end can only be civil wars again and again, if there are still warlords in various places chaos, China can only face up to 50 years of internal strife, but can not be unanimous with the outside world, if we are unanimous with the outside world, there is no reason why China cannot win against foreign countries. Now, I have only one plea for you, please give up your selfishness, give me a chance to be Peter the Great, lead China to recovery and prosperity, I will control China's military, and the governance of the country will be handed over to the cabinet for 50 years, and after 50 years, it will gradually transition to a pure constitutional monarchy in the British style, in short, it will be like Germany, stable and self-reliant, and unified with the outside world. ”

What he said was that there was no room at all, and Cheng Biguang and Duan Qirui were also very embarrassed.

If what Song Biao said is not right, Cheng Biguang and Duan Qirui obviously don't need to be embarrassed, no one doesn't like power, especially military power, everyone likes to convince themselves and tell themselves that others can't, and it is beneficial for the country and the nation to control military power by themselves.

This is a fake and high-ranking person, such as Cheng Biguang and Duan Qirui, and more direct people ask for their surnames and think very simply, only with military power can they get other rights and enjoy wealth and glory.

After listening to Song Biao's words, Cheng Biguang hesitated for a while before saying: "Since Your Majesty said so, then I will retire on my own and please hand over the navy to Your Majesty." ”

Song Biao was silent for a moment, just as Jiang Zhengyuan dragged over the newly brewed pot of Huangshan Maofeng, Song Biao took this opportunity to pour tea for Cheng Biguang in person, and said: "It's early to call Your Majesty, I don't care about this kind of thing, the problem is that I don't have someone else who wants to be, even if everyone can't be, in fact, everyone sitting in their own territory is the emperor of the soil." At that time, what kind of republican politics is still talked about, it is nothing more than a bunch of bullshit, talking about it in the Congress behind closed doors, and it is bullshit when the government decree is issued in Beijing, we are soldiers, and what we say is the vernacular, vulgar and easy to understand. In this case, I also ask the two of you to join the Liberation Association to support me as emperor, and we will gather all China's military forces together, and whoever wants to be the emperor of the local area, we will send him a cannon to ensure the implementation of the cabinet responsibility system by force, the implementation of modern laws by force, and the rule of law management of the country. I can probably still be the emperor for 50 years, and after 50 years, we have done everything we should do, the unequal treaties have been banned, the occupied territories have been recovered, the country has been revived, the nation has become rich and strong, I have buried my eyes in the soil, my son is like Emperor Moto, he does not care about things, the military and the government are unified, and the political axe is axe, and I, the founding emperor, will be considered to have completed my merits and ascend to the Western Heaven Elysium as soon as possible. ”

It was Cheng Biguang who said: "What Your Majesty says is in the vernacular, but it is as deafening as an empowerment. ”

Duan Qirui refused to speak for a long time, and the thoughts in his heart were probably much more complicated than Cheng Biguang's, because he had to talk about some conditions for Yuan Shikai on this trip.

Song Biao was not in a hurry to be in Duan Qirui's thoughts, and continued to say to Cheng Biguang: "We had a ten-year plan when we developed the navy of the three eastern provinces, and at present, the development plan of the entire imperial navy has not yet been done, your qualifications are old, you will be the minister of the navy, responsible for formulating this plan, we will continue to do it step by step, and strive to build a world's top three Chinese imperial navy in twenty years, my plan is to fight a new war with Yueben, how much will we pay them in the past? Twice the price is counted as interest and is recovered. ”

Cheng Biguang was very excited, but after thinking about it, he still felt that he had been transferred out of the cruiser fleet and lost direct control of the navy, but after all, he was the minister of the navy of the imperial navy, and such a good position was suitable for him.

When he thought of this, he no longer hesitated, so as not to make a fool of himself, and immediately replied: "Thank you Your Majesty for your trust, but I don't know how to formulate the imperial etiquette on Your Majesty's side, and how it is appropriate for the ministers to meet you?" ”

Song Biao waved his hand indifferently and said: "There are no rules for the time being, let's talk about it later, anyway, it won't be as complicated as the Ming and Qing dynasties, it's roughly the same thing, I mean that on the one hand, we must continue the tradition of the Han royal family, and on the other hand, we must fully absorb the modernity of the British and German Empire." I've always advocated honoring the virtuous, but it's not this kind of ceremony, so it's not particularly important. ”

Cheng Biguang agreed: "Your Majesty must be an enlightened monarch, which is the foundation of China's constitutional monarchy. ”

Duan Qirui felt very disgusted when he heard this, he felt that Cheng Biguang's face changed too quickly, and he was clearly a wall grass, and he didn't think that this person was really trustworthy.

It is definitely not a way to keep not talking like this, Duan Qirui pondered for a moment before saying to Song Biao: "Your Majesty ......!" ”

When he said this word, Duan Qirui felt particularly awkward, the Manchu Qing Dynasty was overthrown, and there was actually a new emperor, but he had previously recognized the Chinese Empire in order to save the second town of the Beiyang Army from attack, and Cheng Biguang spoke again.

Hearing Duan Qirui speak, Song Biao turned his face to look at him, and he was quite curious to know what Duan Qirui could say.

Duan Qirui was stunned, and then continued: "As Your Majesty said, the Liberation Revolution is indeed the only feasible way for China to save itself and become strong, and we all agree, but it has been quite difficult since the establishment of the Beiyang Army, and it can be called the foundation of China's strong and stable foundation, and I also ask Your Majesty to leave a way for our colleagues in the Beiyang Army." ”

Song Biao replied: "The road is very simple, and it is organized." My current plan is to reorganize the new armies of all provinces into the Central Army of the Empire, the first and sixth towns of the six towns of Beiyang will be considered to be scattered, and the remaining second, third, fourth, and fifth towns will be reorganized into the 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th divisions of the Central Army. At present, it is under the command of the Fourth Army of the Chinese Revolutionary Army, and you can serve as the overseer of the Fourth Army, but I have one condition, that is, you must first truly accept the Liberation Revolution and become a member of the Liberation Society. The unification of the armed forces is first and foremost ideologically unified, and if there is no ideological and political unity, the civil war will certainly continue in the future, and even if we temporarily stop the civil war, we will still be able to allow foreign countries to bully each other, and we will not be able to unite with the outside world. I don't know if you want to talk about Yuan Shikai when you come over this time, whether you say it or not, I will ask you to bring a word to Mr. Yuan Shikai, if he wants to make a comeback, I welcome it, the position of the Minister of Communications of the Provisional Cabinet is reserved for him, but if he wants to continue to control the military power, take the military power to negotiate with me in exchange for benefits, and want to cut off the local power, I'm sorry, I will be the first to beat him. My bottom line now is that the empire must at least control the three eastern provinces, Zhili, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Huijiang, Jiangxi, and Huguang, and maintain control over Inner and Outer Mongolia. He hid behind him in a vain attempt to control Shandong and Henan, and that was the first target I wanted to eradicate. You bring my words in place and tell Mr. Yuan Shikai that he should not hide or hide, and that Ming people will not do dark things. ”

Duan Qirui hurriedly agreed: "Yes, yes, I will definitely bring these words." ”

Song Biao still has a little good impression of Yuan Shikai, after all, he helped him a little before, so he continued: "Mr. Yuan is still a very good person in my opinion, he is willing to come out and continue to do some work for the country and the nation, I must welcome it very much, but his thinking must change, after all, the times are different, we are now implementing a constitutional monarchy, pursuing the ideal of governing the country according to law, pursuing a modern constitutional system, and pursuing a rich and powerful modern country. It's like taking these tricks to the United States, and the result can only be eliminated by society. I hope he will come back, but at the same time, I hope that he can rationally pursue some new goals and participate in our great revolution of liberation. ”

Duan Qirui secretly laughed at Cheng Biguang just now, and at this time, he himself nodded yes.

People living in this world are to be restrained, not only ideals and selfish desires, but also to face the cruel reality, and the reality is that the other new armies combined can't beat Song Biao's Northeast Army, not to mention that Song Biao is actively expanding the Tenth Army recently.

In the big international environment, foreign countries also continue to choose to support Song Biao's northeast system, don't look at the British has been arguing with Song Biao on the issue of carrying Feng, but there is no special struggle on the big issue, Britain also recognized the Chinese Empire in writing, only when Song Biao officially ascended the throne and became emperor, he will send a special envoy to congratulate and submit the official credentials, and the customs revenue controlled by the British has also been transferred to the imperial provisional political axe as scheduled.

Song Biao had sufficient military funds in his hands, and he was producing non-stop in the four major arsenals in the three eastern provinces, and the arms trade with Germany, the United States, France, and Russia continued, and he continued to purchase firearms and artillery to supplement the shortage.

It's really going to be a civil war, and the Alliance's side is not Song Biao's opponent at all.

In the cruel reality, Song Biao used the most straightforward words to finalize the official joining of Cheng Biguang and Duan Qirui, and asked Cheng Biguang about the situation on the navy's side, the Qing Navy in 1896, 1897 two large-scale purchase of new ships, re-established a new navy, because the displacement of 4,300 tons of Haitian cruiser ran aground near the Zhoushan Islands and sank, there are only four cruisers at present, and there are more than 20 small ships and torpedo boats.

Song Biao had heard Song Wenhui, director of the General Coast Guard of the three eastern provinces, talk about the Haitian, of course, he didn't pay much attention to it, and Cheng Biguang happened to be here, so he asked: "Can this ship be towed back for maintenance?" ”

Cheng Biguang said: "At that time, there was no money to hire a foreign tugboat, and even if it was barely towed, there was nowhere to repair it, so it kept being thrown near the island and reef. Now that the wind and rain are blowing, the sea water is eroding and rotting, even if it is dragged back for repair, the cost is amazingly high, and it is definitely not less than half a ship. We do not have a suitable dock for maintenance at present, and if we tow it to the United States for maintenance, the intermediate haulage cost plus the maintenance cost is probably enough to build a warship. After all, it is a pity that this ship has not been repaired during the Qing Dynasty Axe. ”

Song Biao thought for a moment and said: "Or try your best to find a way to tow it back to deal with it, tow it to Ningbo Port for emergency treatment, and then haul it to Mawei Shipyard to see the situation. ”

Cheng Biguang said: "I'm afraid there are a lot of funds, and it takes a lot of money, so it's better to order it directly." ”

Song Biao said: "This is different, we not only have to find a way to buy warships, but also build our own warships, repairing warships is also a process of learning and development, the difficulties are a little bigger, we have to find a way to overcome, overcome, it is a growth for us, I am afraid that many things in it are not something we can buy with money, right?" ”

Cheng Biguang was quite inspired and agreed: "Your Majesty thinks about the long term, and it is beyond the reach of the ministers, then I will immediately contact this matter after I go back and see if I can deal with it as soon as possible, but the time is long, and the rust may be very bad, even if it is repaired, it is difficult to use it as a suitable warship without a real overhaul." As for money, money is even more of a problem, the navy's salary has been suspended for half a year, and I hope that Your Majesty will let people find a way to solve it as soon as possible. ”

Song Biao smiled: "When you become the Minister of the Navy, aren't you in charge of this matter?" What do you want me to do? Since you are here, then talk to Shu Fangde before you go back, he is now temporarily in charge of the work of the Minister of Defense, basically to deal with the issue of military salaries of various armies, how much military salaries the navy wants each month, you can talk to him about his surname once and for all, and then allocate funds on a monthly basis. ”

Cheng Biguang actually came here for this matter, everything else is secondary, he was naturally very happy to hear Song Biao's words, and immediately thanked him, and really wanted to go to the Ministry of Defense to get the money now.

The amount of this money is definitely not very scary, Song Biao didn't care very much, and continued to ask Cheng Biguang about some other things, which were roughly related to the purchase of warships.

Cheng Biguang didn't care at first, and only after answering a few words did he understand Song Biao's thoughts more and more, and he couldn't help but feel happy in his heart.

It's a real pleasure.

Doesn't he want to buy a big warship? I've dreamed of it.

After figuring out Song Biao's thoughts, Cheng Biguang strongly suggested: "Your Majesty, at present, it is still necessary to buy battle cruisers first, because the rapid development of the navy's technology makes warships fall behind other new ships as soon as they get out of the water." After the advent of the British Invincible-class battlecruisers, just like the special significance of the Dreadnought-class battleships, the other cruisers were directly outdated. It is still a little too early for us to install battleships, after all, we lack a lot of things in other aspects, but if we can order two battlecruisers with a displacement of 10,000 tons with Britain, it will also greatly improve our naval strength. ”

Song Biao asked with great interest: "How much do two battle cruisers with a displacement of 10,000 tons cost?" ”

Cheng Biguang said: "The cost of a single ship is about one million pounds, more than seven million taels of silver, if it is an invincible class with a displacement of 20,000 tons, it will cost at least 1.7 million pounds, we are purchased from the United Kingdom, and the price may be increased by about 30%, so at most, it is at the scale of 10 million taels of silver." ”

Duan Qirui originally didn't plan to participate in this kind of discussion, but when he heard this, he couldn't help but gasp and said, "Ten million taels of silver? That's enough for three divisions of our army? ”

"yes!"

Song Biao is also in the army, he looked at Duan Qirui with the same feeling and a little painfully, the two of them are generally clear-hearted, and they are both overwhelmed by the high cost of the navy.

This price is really cheating, and it can also be seen how tenacious they are in developing their navy.

It's not easy, it's really not easy.

The price of a battlecruiser is on the scale of 10 million taels of silver, which is also a big burden for Song Biao, he still thought about it for a while before he said to Cheng Biguang: "First buy two as flagships, and the rest will focus on the long-term training of naval officers and men, buy a few more destroyers of about 1,500 tons, first of all, to ensure the number of personnel in the navy, and then gradually develop towards quality." ”

Cheng Biguang said: "Your Majesty, the power of a warship lies in the scale, even if the power of a single ship is not as good as the opponent, if it can become a scale, it can also greatly deter the opponent, if the price is right, it is obviously more appropriate to buy four ships at a time." Of course, China's coastal defense line is long, and it is indeed more necessary to need second-class protective cruisers such as Haitian and Haiqi, and there are extremely large numbers, but in a real naval battle, such a second-class protective cruiser such as Haiqi is definitely not the top use, and the small ships are not of much use, and the weight of the navy is focused on deterrence, just as His Majesty attacked the Beijing Division, the first heavy artillery brigade and four railway heavy guns just arrived, and the Qing army collapsed without a fight, but the deterrence of the navy is far better than that of the first artillery brigade of the army. ”

When Song Biao heard this, he also bowed slightly.

Duan Qirui said: "Your Majesty, what General Cheng said is very true. Fortunately, the Haiqi and Haitian returned to China, and the two ships went south to Fujian to deter the Italian army, and the Italian navy did not dare to make a mistake, so it could only return to the country, and the power of the navy was indeed focused on deterrence, and the small ships were not scary, and the large ships could not force the enemy to dare not submit, and if they really fought, the small ships would be hundreds and not as good as the big ships. ”

Song Biao agreed, and said to Cheng Biguang: "You should contact various countries first, if the price is right, you can consider buying four battlecruisers, and four second-class protection cruisers, which will be purchased in installments of three years, and I will find a way to solve the financial problem." We have always had good contacts with the United States, so we can contact the United States first, and in addition, how do you plan to deal with the matter of the Navy Non-commissioned Officer School? ”

Cheng Biguang said: "If you want to build China's navy, the first choice is Fuzhou, to build a naval non-commissioned officer school in Fuzhou, first of all, we must control Fujian, you might as well build a non-commissioned officer school in the north and south, one in Haizhou and one in Fuzhou, Haizhou is dominated by American instructors, Fuzhou continues to be dominated by British and French instructors, and then set up ship schools in various places, and transfer the training of technician manufacturing to the ship school to be responsible, and the non-commissioned officer school focuses on training officers." ”

Song Biao nodded in agreement, but his heart was heavy, the price of four battle cruisers was a bit too outrageous, even he couldn't hold it.

He actually thought of taking the opportunity to pick up some bargains from Britain and France after the end of World War I, so he wanted to buy some small ships to train personnel first, but it was also a good thing to buy a few at this juncture.

(To be continued)