Nanjing Pingkang Road is a branch of Zhongshan Road, the name of Nanjing Road imitates the Tang Dynasty, the name of the natural road area imitates the name of Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty, and there is a house on Pinggeng Road, the fame in Nanjing is not big or small, this house was the private residence of Jianghuai Salt Road, and now it is the private residence of the vice chairman, unlike most of the officials who rely on the political axe to rent a house, Yuan Shikai did not arrive in Nanjing, so he participated in the "fake property auction" to place this mansion with a large area.

Although the current "Yuan Mansion" is not as good as the Zhili Governor's Mansion in Baoding, nor is it as good as the Beiyang Minister in Tianjin, but even so, Yuan Shikaiyi still retains a private shogunate in the name of "Xixi", although many of his staff members are appointed to accept the ruling axe and serve as senior civil servants of the central political axe, but there are still some guests staying in the Yuan Mansion, which can be described as the most spacious "decoration" of the Yuan Mansion.

In the past, in Tianjin, Baoding, Yuan Shikai's most trusted guest, the lowest line, is a Suzhou person, named Zhang Yilin, is the second class of the Manchu Qing Dynasty Economic Special Branch, sent to Zhili, to the county supplement, and then Yuan Shikailuo into the scene, a month to send 60 taels of silver.

Although Zhang Yilin now works in the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, he still often goes in and out of Yuan's mansion, and when he was in Tianjin in the past, as long as people mentioned "Master Zhang" in Beiyang, they were in awe. Moreover, Yuan Shikai also trusted him, and many of the articles and regulations of the New Deal were entrusted to Zhang Yilin.

Although Zhang Yilin withdrew from the Yuan shogunate because the civil servant did not hold two positions in Nanjing, Yuan Shikaiyi often invited him to enter the government to discuss the affairs of the ruling axe agriculture and commerce, and to discuss the practical study of agriculture and commerce. At least his performance made the outside world breathe a sigh of relief, and the vice chairman of the committee finally understood the general situation and current affairs.

After returning to Nanjing from Liaodong, Duan Qirui's first thing was, of course, to go to the General Staff Headquarters to perform, and after making a written and oral report, he left the General Staff Headquarters, and waited until the evening when Duan Qirui changed into civilian clothes and went to Yuan's house on Pingkang Road.

To pay respects to the old Beiyang generals, Yuan Shikai had already ordered "Please come in"! But Zhang Yilin happened to be invited, so he took care of it slowly, and talked about it after talking to Zhang Yilin.

"Zhongren,"

Yuan Shikai called his alias and said.

"There is something entrusted today. I know you're busy, and you have an excuse to ask, so you shouldn't bother your god anymore, so it's better to think about it or please write a big pen. ”

"Yes."

Zhang Yilin was stunned.

"I don't know what the text is."

Yuan Shikai touched his head, and his shiny head reflected some light under the incandescent light.

"No, now except for Mongolia, the Northeast, the whole country is decided, I think it's time to prepare for a national referendum, I wonder, whether to hand over a request to the ruling or advisory office, please hold a referendum."

Listening to this Zhang Yilin's face is embarrassed, he really doesn't want to participate in this pool of water, he is the deputy minister of agriculture in the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, and now most of his energy is tied to the national land survey, compared to government affairs, he prefers to do "affairs", after all, Minister Liu is secretly in charge of the intention to implement the new land policy after the land survey, the end of the new national policy, because of this he is even more reluctant to wade into this pool of water, if in case of any trouble...... "Zhongren, you can barely make it difficult!" ”

Yuan Shikai's square face squeezed out a smile, and he clenched his fists and made a request.

Hearing what Yuan Shikai said, Zhang Yilin had no choice but to answer.

"Hey! I just tried my best. ”

"Please, please!"

Yuan Shikai clenched his fists and pleased.

"After I get out of the manuscript, you don't have to send it to me to read, and I don't understand it after reading it. Please hand it over to Zhang Xunzhi directly to polish the color! ”

Zhang Xunzhi is the former general office of the Zhili Official Newspaper Bureau, and the current director of the Telegraph Department of the Ministry of Posts, known as a good book, Zhang Yilin nodded and said.

"Okay!"

After speaking, wait a minute, don't wait for Yuan Shikai to speak, he will leave, when he is about to go out, he still shook his head helplessly, this vice chairman's mansion is really not good, I don't know what trouble will be caused that day, the current advisory office did not mention the preparation of official business, and the ruling office also did not mention, Wei Ting is the one who drank it today.

"People's hearts are scattered!"

After Zhang Yilin left the house, Yuan Shikai couldn't help but sigh, the embarrassment on Zhang Yilin's face made him understand more or less that his staff members were now like him, and they had already cast their hearts on the ruling axe.

After taking a sip of tea, Yuan Shikai remembered Duan Qirui, who had been waiting, and gave instructions to the messenger.

"General Duan, please."

There are always people who read the old ones, Duan Qirui got off the boat in Nanjing, and he wanted to come to the house to pay respects first, but he was no better than other staff, Yuan Shikai naturally understood that he was now holding his tail between his legs, and his attitude towards these Beiyang veterans has always been the most difficult place for Yuan Shikai.

If you don't see it, you will only be suspicious in power.

If so, how can the ruling be at ease?

After thinking about it before and after, Yuan Shikai sent someone to let Duan Qirui perform official duties first, and then come to the mansion after handling official duties. And he had to come openly, and even deliberately asked the messenger to ask the next Duan Qirui if he had come from Liaodong.

"Vice chairman, Qi Rui returned to Beijing from the Northeast and specially brought some local products, and I hope that the vice chairman will not refuse!"

Duan Qirui, who entered the house, was carrying a box in his hand, and inside the box was a pair of freshly sawn deer antlers.

"Shibaquan!"

Yuan Shikai squinted.

"This ...... As a public servant of the ruling axe, remember not to accept the gifts of others, although you and I have an old friendship, but tomorrow, I still have to go to the ruling axe to report, and I hope you can understand! ”

"It's really a Zhiquan Tang! Involve the name of the vice chairman! ”

After a simple politeness, the two began to talk about the Northeast. Yuan Shikai has always been very concerned about the war situation between Russia and Russia in the northeast, and naturally asked in detail, of course, he is most concerned about the outcome of the war, whether it is said that the victory is the victory, or whether Russia has the upper hand, or whether it is undefeated and undefeated, it comes down to the draw.

And Duan Qirui also returned from the Northeast Front, so he naturally knew the situation better than those newspapers.

"On the army side, it is generally said that Ben Sheng's grasp is good."

Duan Qirui, who was sitting upright, spoke.

"When Qi Rui returned to Beijing from the northeast, the army was planning to attack Liaoyang, however, the Russian army has built a large fortress position in Liaoyang in the past few months, if it is defeated, I am afraid that the army will not only have to fight hard, I am afraid that it will also lose a lot, but even if Liaoyang wins, I am afraid that the overall situation depends on whether the Russian army in Lushun can survive."

"What do you see?"

"It's hard to say. Lushun's fortifications are complete, the ground is dangerous and the soldiers are fine, when I came, the third army has launched a general attack, the death squads wave after wave, but the Lushun fortress is strong, the army casualties are very heavy, it is estimated that there is no two or three months of hard fighting, Lushun does not know the difference, and the victory or defeat of the army is still in the number of five or five. ”

Yuan Shikai nodded, his face was resolute.

"In my opinion, Nogi will definitely be able to capture Lushun."

"How far is the army from Lushun now?"

"The position closest to Lushun, five or six miles, is now attacking Laohugou. According to himself, if the tiger ditch can be captured, the situation will change. ”

Hearing this, Yuan Shikai got up and looked at the "Lushun Fortress Soldier Map" hanging on the wall, now he is still the vice chairman of the Military Committee after all, although this vice chairman is just a fictitious position, but it is also a matter of duty to care about military affairs, found the tiger ditch on the map, and saw the words "203 Heights", Fang Shi understood that this place is the highest point of the entire Lushun mouth.

"Yes! If the 203rd Heights can be occupied and the harbor can be seen from a bird's eye view, the remnants of the Russian warships will have no effect. ”

Yuan Shikai paused and turned his head to ask.

"How can we help him?"

"Fighting Lushun can't help, and the ruling side doesn't necessarily agree to use the elite of the Guangfu Army to fill Lushun."

"What about the Army?"

"It also depends on the opportunity. There is always something that can help them, but recently the offensive of the Volunteers in the east of the Liaohe River seems to have weakened, and I think the Volunteers are trying to mitigate their losses. ”

Yuan Shikai nodded and returned to his seat, staring intently at the map of the northeast, and spoke for a while.

"Before the war between Russia and Russia, I did not advocate neutrality, and I should help Russia fight if it was ...... Now we still have a chance, if the ruling party can give up its neutrality and join forces with Russia to attack Russia, the situation will be very different now. ”

"Please...... I would like to ask the vice-chairperson to teach. ”

"War, to put it bluntly, is gambling, the same as gambling money, said to be a banker, how many shares we put in it, now we can calculate how to dividends. Whether it was the loyal army we made back then, or the volunteer army in power, they were all helping the book, we are now like gangsters in the casino, watching the dealer's hand go smoothly, playing fans on the side, handing over towel handles, and saying a few funny words. When the dealer wins, stand up, grab a handful of money and give us a red meal, we have to thank him, but the big head still let him eat the dealer. If you are a partner as a bookmaker, of course, you will sit down and calculate your winnings, which is very different. ”

"Yes! Listening to the parable of the handsome, I completely understood. ”

Although he knew this, Duan Qirui nodded and patted his ass.

"A while ago, it wasn't Zhang Xiangshuai who had an excerpt and advocated that the West Union and the East Union said that it seemed to be remedy. And when I report to the General Staff today, the General Staff is also interested in getting involved! ”

"It's too late! It's useless, not to mention that from the "Lesitrogne" incident in Yantai, you can also see the attitude of the government, right? ”

Yuan Shikai waved his hand and said.

"We are now involved, but we don't welcome us, the overall situation of this family is about to be decided, I just hope that Ben has defeated Russia and can return the Northeast to China, which is already a good luck."

Hearing this, Duan Qirui took two steps and said in a low voice.

"Actually, it's not really, after all, the army doesn't have the advantage now, if an agreement is reached with the army before the battle of Liaoyang starts, I think the army will accept it, after all, the heart of the army is also beating drums! Whether or not Liaoyang can be defeated, Dashanyan himself has no confidence. ”

"That's what I said, but don't wait for me!"

(To be continued)