Nanjing, General Headquarters of the Northern Expedition.

On the evening of September 3, Xiao Zhenlei received a battle report from the front line, and he was overjoyed, and said to his secretary Xiao Gao: "Okay, the battlefield on the eastern front has finally broken the deadlock, Yuan Shikai made a mistake, and he lost all the games, sent a telegram to Cai Guodong, and ordered all departments to launch an offensive on all fronts, and dismantle the defense of the Beiyang Army with a ferocious offensive, telling him that the naval fleet has escorted the 22nd Division to the north, and it will soon arrive in Tianjinwei, as long as the 22nd Division sets foot on the land in the north, Yuan Shikai's group will definitely be in turmoil!" The Eastern Route Army must destroy the defense line of the Beiyang Army as quickly as possible, and then quickly move north to meet the 22nd Division! ”

Xiao Gao wrote down the content of the telegram and said, "Yes, president!" ”

After Xiao Gao left, Cheng Baguio walked in again and said, "The Japanese Minister to China, Hichiyi, is here!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei waved his hand and said: "If you don't see me, you just tell him that I have already gone to inspect various places, and I don't know when I will come back!" ”

Cheng Biyao sighed: "Rizhiyi has been here many times, and it is not a way for you to avoid him like this, if he spreads the word that you are avoiding him, it will not be good for us, and outsiders still think that we are weak and dare not face Japan!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei lit a cigarette and smoked, thought for a few minutes, and waved his hand to Cheng Baguio: "You go and ask someone to bring him to the No. 3 meeting room!" ”

"Good!" Cheng Biyao nodded and turned to leave.

Xiao Zhenlei knew very well what the Japanese minister to China Nichiyi had come to see him for, and he must have come to mediate the war in which the southern provinces formed an alliance and sent a coalition army to the north to attack Yuan Shikai, and the ministers of various countries in China came to him, among which Germany and the United States did not intend to intervene, because he had interests with Germany and the United States. The envoys of Britain, Russia, Japan, France and other countries came to him one after another, hoping that he and Yuan Shikai would sit down and negotiate. These foreigners believed that it would be beneficial not only for both sides but also for the great powers to sit down and negotiate. After all, these countries have their own interests in China, if the Beiyang government is defeated and the southern government is in charge of China, then for the great powers, this loss is definitely not small, after all, they have invested a lot in Yuan Shikai, and if Yuan Shikai is defeated, their investment is likely to be unrecoverable. For those envoys of the great powers in China, Xiao Zhenlei has tried all kinds of ways to send them away. He even invited Germany and the United States to intervene, and Britain, France, Russia, and other countries were pinned down by the interference of Germany and the United States, and did not come to him for the time being.

This time, Ri Zhiyi may have also received the news of the defeat of the Beiyang Army on the Eastern Front, so he ran impatiently, and the purpose was nothing more than to use his position as the Japanese minister to China to prevent the Northern Expeditionary Army from continuing to attack the Beiyang Army, so as to give the Beiyang Army a chance to breathe.

Sooner or later, he will have to face the Japanese, Xiao Zhenlei thought that since he couldn't hide, he would face it head-on, and he couldn't fall out with the Japanese at this stage. But you can't keep your voice down, this scale is a bit difficult to master.

After thinking about his countermeasures for a while, Xiao Zhenlei walked out of the office and walked towards the No. 3 reception room.

Come to Reception Room 3. I saw a bald head in a suit sitting on the sofa drinking tea, Xiao Zhenlei walked over, and Ri Zhiyi also put down the teacup and got up to meet him after seeing it. The two sides shook hands, and Ri Zhiyi said, "Governor Xiao." It's a pleasure to meet you! ”

Xiao Zhenlei nodded, and said with an ancient look on his face: "I am also very happy to see Minister Nichiyi. Have a seat! ”

"Thank you!" After thanking him, he sat down, his face changed: "Governor Xiao, I protest against your arrangement for us to meet in the No. 3 meeting room, as the Japanese minister to China, I can represent the Japanese Empire with full powers, but your side does not arrange for us to meet in the No. 1 meeting room, but arranges it in the No. 3 meeting room, which is a contempt for me and the Japanese Empire!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei smiled when he heard this: "Mr. Rizhiyi may have misunderstood, there is no difference between the No. 1 and No. 3 rooms, and the numbers for these rooms are just for the convenience of distinguishing, and now there are staff members in the No. 1 and No. 2 rooms who are cleaning and maintaining, so I can't receive you in these two rooms."

"Oh? Is that so? Rizhiyi was a little unconvinced.

"Of course, do you think it is necessary for me to treat foreign envoys differently?"

"Alright then!" Rizhiyi couldn't see anything on Xiao Zhenlei's face, so he had to give up, picked up the teacup on the coffee table next to him and drank it.

Since Rizhiyi is not in a hurry, Xiao Zhenlei is not in a hurry, both of them picked up teacups and drank tea, Rizhiyi secretly glanced at Xiao Zhenlei when he was drinking tea, and found that he had no signs of impatience at all, and it seemed that the strategy of patience would not work, so he could only get straight to the point, he put down the teacup and said: "Governor Xiao, in the past few months, there have been a series of major battles between your southern provinces and the Beiyang side, which has not only caused great losses to your domestic people, but also caused irreparable losses to the Japanese Empire, On behalf of the Empire of Japan, Governor Xiao and the Beiyang side can sit down and negotiate calmly, which will be beneficial not only to our Empire of Japan, but also to both of you! ”

Xiao Zhenlei drank tea and waved his hand and said: "Mr. Rizhiyi, you are not right, the war between our southern provinces and the Beiyang Group is an internal affair of our country, a family affair, and a dispute between brothers. ”

Rizhiyi is worthy of being a qualified diplomat, and he was not angry at all at Xiao Zhenlei's reprimanding words, he said calmly: "Governor Xiao, of course our Great Japanese Empire does not want to care about your so-called brotherly dispute, but the war between you has indeed had a great impact on our country's interests in China!" We can't let our interests in China suffer in vain, right? ”

Hearing this, Xiao Zhenlei asked rhetorically: "Oh? So what are the interests of Japan in China that have been damaged? ”

Rizhiyi didn't expect Xiao Zhenlei to ask this, but he still replied: "Of course, it is a matter of trade, due to the war between the two of you, the trade of many Chinese companies in China has to be stopped, so as not to lose the employees and property of our company!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei immediately said: "That's it, this is easy to do, isn't it okay for your Japanese company not to do business in China?" Then you will not suffer losses. Such a simple truth, doesn't Mr. Rizhiyi understand? You can go back and sue the Japanese companies. They could have gone and done business with the British, the French, the Americans, and other countries, so why hang themselves on this tree in our country? You say, don't you? ”

Rizhiyi's face became a little ugly when he heard this. Feeling that Xiao Zhenlei was completely suspected of being a scoundrel when he said these words, he said in a deep voice: "Governor Xiao, how can you say that you are also the governor of several provinces, how can you say such irresponsible words?" Many companies in our country have been doing business in your country for a long time, and with your few words, they will not do business in your country, and they will not do business? You know, they have investments here, and if they don't do business with your country, won't these investments be wasted? Who will bear this loss? So I beg to agree with you! ”

Xiao Zhenlei was not angry at all, and said with a smile: "Mr. Rizhiyi." There are many reasons why this business cannot be done, some are because of their own decision-making mistakes, some are stupid, and there are external unpredictable and irresistible factors of manpower, such as changes in the natural world, changes in the political pattern of the world, etc., these are irresistible factors of manpower. At present, the situation in our country is due to the political turmoil that leads to war, which is also an irresistible factor of manpower, so it is normal for businessmen in your country to lose their money. So. What prestige does our Government have to speak of? ”

"Governor Xiao is far from saying this, the interests of our merchants are related to the interests of our great Japanese Empire, and our government collects taxes from its own merchants to maintain its operation. The businessmen have no benefit, where does our government get the tax revenue. It may therefore be said that the war between your Southern Government and the Beiyang Government has had a serious impact on the interests of our country, and I hope that Governor Xiao will consider this carefully. If the interests of our government are harmed more than we can bear, then the Japanese Empire will never sit idly by! ”

Oh, I finally said cruel words, do you want to see the dagger? Xiao Zhenlei sneered in his heart, if it weren't for Lao Tzu's layout that hadn't been completed, Lao Tzu wouldn't have bothered to grind his teeth with you little devil here. Muttering like this in his heart, Xiao Zhenlei said: "Okay, I already know the attitude of the Japanese authorities, I still need to think carefully, and the war with the Beiyang authorities is unanimously agreed upon by our southern provinces, and I also have to negotiate with the governors of the provinces, if Mr. Rizhiyi has nothing else, I won't send it, if there is news, I will send someone to inform you!" ”

Of course, Ri Zhiyi also knew that it was impossible to have a good result just because of just one meeting, so he got up and said, "Okay, then I will look forward to the good news of the governor, farewell!" ”

After Rizhiyi left, Xiao Zhenlei smoked a cigarette in front of the window and thought, he thought that the Japanese are a people who will not stop until they reach their goal, what measures will Rizhiyi take after he goes back?

After thinking for a long time, Xiao Zhenlei walked to the telephone and picked up one of the phones and said, "Pick up the Internal Affairs Investigation Bureau!" ”

The phone was quickly connected, and Hu Weishan's voice came from inside, Xiao Zhenlei immediately said: "Send someone to keep an eye on the Japanese Minister to China, see who he has met, what he has done, and report it in time!" ”

"Yes, President!"

After putting down the phone, Xiao Zhenlei thought about it again, picked up another phone and said, "Let Jiang Baili come to me!" ”

After making the call, Xiao Zhenlei continued to stand in front of the window and smoke. Soon, Jiang Baili pushed the door and walked in, Xiao Zhenlei turned around and immediately said, "Brother Baili, I called you here because something happened!" ”

After the two sat down, Jiang Baili asked, "Oh, what's wrong?" ”

Xiao Zhenlei said: "Because of the defeat of the Beiyang Army, the envoys of the great powers in China have begun to mediate, asking us to sit down and negotiate with us, some countries can't help it, if we take power in the south, their interests will be damaged or even lost, and the previous investment in Yuan Shikai will also be wasted, of course, this is not what they are willing to see, today the Japanese Minister to China Ri Zhiyi came over again, looking at his posture, it is a little impatient, you know, With our current strength, I am afraid that we will not be able to compete with Japan, I have just thought about it for a long time, and I can only drag it with them now, and strive to drag it for two months, so our army must solve the Beiyang government within these two months, resulting in a fait accompli, otherwise if the time drags on for a long time, not only will we fall into an extremely passive situation diplomatically, it is very likely to cause dissatisfaction among all countries, and when the time comes, we will be in trouble, and the longer it drags on, the greater the burden on our logistics. Therefore, in the case of not being able to gain an advantage in politics and diplomacy, the only way to speak is to use the army's combat achievements to speak, and the Beiyang government must be removed from power within two months! ”

Jiang Fangzhen also felt that the matter was extremely tricky after listening to Xiao Zhenlei's words, he frowned and said: "According to what you say, we can only find a way from a military point of view, to solve the Beiyang government and Yuan Shikai before the great powers react, so that the hopes of the great powers will be disappointed, only in this way will the great powers find hope again!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei nodded and said: "Yes, this is what I want to say, although it is said that the war is a continuation of the government, but in the case of being trapped in the government, you can only pin your hopes on the military, I want you to make a plan to solve the plan of the Beiyang government within two months, and the logistics can be supplied in a timely manner!" ”

Jiang Fangzhen thought for a while and said, "In this way, we can only take the risk and give it a try!" ”

"Adventure, how adventure?" Xiao Zhenlei asked.

Jiang Fangzhen said: "The naval fleet has already entered the Bohai Sea, right?" In this case, the only way to order the 22nd Division to go straight to the capital after the landing of Tianjin Wei, to arrive at the capital as quickly as possible, and to take the capital before the Beiyang authorities have time to react, it is reported that the first division of Beiyang has been transferred to Chahar, and now there are only two armies in the Beijing division, one of which is Jiang Guidi's Yi Army, which claims to have 100,000 people, but in fact there are only more than 10,000 people, which is the size of a normal integrated division; Second, it is the Gong Guard Army adapted from Yuan Shikai's personal guards, there are also about 10,000 people, it is said that it is now Duan Zhigui as the commander, these two armies have not gone through a major battle since they were formed, with the 22nd Division is well-equipped, well-trained, and brave and resolute, I think they should be able to complete this mission! ”

Xiao Zhenlei heard this: "Okay, just do it, send a telegram to the 22nd Division, order Yao Chengcheng to lead the army to quickly disarm the local army after Tianjin Wei landing, and then control the telephone bureau and telegraph office to prevent the news from leaking, pounce on the Beijing Division as quickly as possible, and defeat the Gongwei Army and the Yi Army, although the 22nd Division does not have heavy artillery in its hands, but there are still grenadiers and mortars, if heavy artillery is needed, the Tianjin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau should have a lot, and Yuan Shikai purchased a large number of weapons and ammunition from the powers, Because there should still be a part of it stored in Tianjinwei, let them find a way to find this batch of weapons! ”

Jiang Fangzhen said: "In this case, I will arrange it immediately, I hope it can be successful this time, and let Yao Chengcheng bring the transmitter to contact at any time!" (To be continued......) R1292