Yuan Keding hurried to the bedroom and saw that Yuan Shikai was leaning on the bedside and taking ginseng tea from the maid's hand and drinking, his face was much better than when he first fell ill, and he hurriedly called in a low voice: "Dad, are you looking for me something?" ”

Seeing him coming, Yuan Shikai put down the cup and waved his hand to let the maids go out, and said: "Keding, you are also the eldest person, and now we should bear it if we are in trouble." After he finished speaking, he pointed at Yang Du: "Huizi and Yang Qiu have met a few times, so I sent you with me and asked him and Song Yuchu to come to Tianjin to discuss state affairs. ”

Yuan Keding nodded in agreement and asked, "Why didn't you invite him to Beijing?" ”

As soon as he finished asking this sentence, Yuan Shikai glared: "Stupid!" Do you think Yang Qiu would choose Tianjin or Beijing if he was willing to come? Yang Shiqi saw that he was scolded and hurriedly explained: "Tianjin is the territory of foreigners, and everyone is not allowed to bring guns into it, and this meeting is initiated by the president, so it is possible to make both of them feel safe before they can go north." ”

Yuan Keding actually knew the meaning of choosing Tianjin, but when he saw that the old man was going to compromise again this time, he said angrily: "Daddy, I don't think there's any need to talk about it!" Last time, you invited Sun Wen and them to come, didn't they talk about anything? This time, I don't think it's better to plan directly. ”

"Nonsense! What is the system of national affairs starting at every turn? Besides, do you know how much silver you need in the event of a war? I'll tell you, this kind of battle can't move without 20 or 30 million soldiers. Now where are we going to scrape together the money? ”

Hearing that the old man was worried about money, Yuan Keding remembered Zhao Bingjun's words just now, and hurriedly said: "Didn't Wang Yitang say last time that the Japanese were willing to borrow money?" I think it's better to let Premier Zhao discuss with the Japanese minister, anyway, they also have an enmity with Yang Qiu, and if it is really impossible to borrow money for emergencies, they will use Han Yeping as collateral. ”

Yang Du listened uncomfortably. Han Yeping is a big deal, and Yang Qiu finally got it back. If you mortgage these people again, you don't know how many people will be poked in the back? What's more, this is related to the development of the country's heavy industry, and it is a major event that cannot be moved! Yuan Shikai didn't seem to hear his words, and waved his hand: "You don't need to worry about this matter." Yan Sun is already negotiating with the four countries about the aftermath of the big loan. Maybe we will be able to get it to Japan soon, so there is no hurry for the time being. ”

Yuan Keding finally breathed a sigh of relief, and after withdrawing with Yang Du, Yuan Shikai looked at his son's back and sighed: "Xingcheng, do you think they will come to talk?" The old man really doesn't want to fight. ”

Yang Shiqi understood that what he said was the opposite, but he had to invite the two of them to come because he had no money, hoping to delay it for a year or two by political means, and hurriedly said: "I don't know if they come to their humble duties, I only know that we will do our best to be benevolent and righteous when we use soldiers first, and no one will dare to gossip in the future." The president might as well recuperate with peace of mind and wait for news, and I will tell Yan Sun to press the third sum of money that Zhu Erdian gave us in his hand first. In addition, I think Sa Zhenbing should also go to the activities, although Liu Guanxiong was appointed as the chief of the navy, but most of the warships are in the hands of Yang Qiu in Shanghai, and we only have a Haiqi ship and a few small boats in our hands, which is really not reassuring. ”

"It's still Xingcheng thoughtful, the old man Sa is from Fujian, which can be taken advantage of. In addition, you first inform Zhiquan and let Li Chun serve as the commander of the 4th Division and transfer him to Huaibei to listen to it. Listening to his arrangement, even the navy thought of it, and Yuan Shikai also took this opportunity to arrange: "I am ready to let Chen Eun be the commander of the First Army." He commanded the 2nd Division, the 5th Division, the 7th Shaanxi Division, and the 19th Xinjian Division, and organized the Wuwei Army in Xinyang (the 25 Hubei patrol battalions formed during the Xinhai period) into the 8th Division and handed it over to Wu Peifu under the command, and then reorganized the 2nd Road Reserve Battalion in Baoding into the 8th Mixed Brigade, and the 2nd and 29th Mixed Brigades were all transferred to the first line of Shaanxi and Henan.

Then let Duan Zhigui serve as the commander of the Second Army and go to Xuzhou, and the 3rd and 4th divisions under the command of Cao San's madman were almost rebuilt, and Li Chun took over and transferred over, plus the 1st Mixed Association in Jining, Shandong, and the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Mixed Formation Associations in the new formation. Zhang Xun was transferred to serve as the Yangtze River patrol envoy, Ni Sichong was appointed as the deputy envoy, and the Jiang Defense Army and the Wuwei Right Army of the two cooperated with the Second Army to suppress the Jinpu line. The 23rd Division was transferred back, so that there would be 1st, 6th, and 23rd Divisions and several mixed divisions to defend Gyeonggi, 20 divisions outside Fengtian Pass, Zhang Zuolin's newly built 27th Division and two mixed associations, which could ensure safety outside the customs. Yuan Shikai's face turned a little pale after he finished speaking, and asked, "What does Xingcheng think?" ”

The meaning of the five divisions and three brigades against Yang Qiu and the two divisions and four brigades against Jianghuai can be clearly seen. It's not been a day or two since I thought about such a detailed deployment description, so Yang Shiqi had nothing to say, and nodded: "Very good." After the deployment was approved by this henchman, Yuan Shikai slowly closed his eyes, he was also a little tired after discussing it for so long, Yang Shiqi immediately got up and retreated when he saw this, and a long sigh came from behind him before going out.

Some people sighed and some people were stunned, Zhang Xiaozhun and Lan Tianwei next to the Shanghai Shiliupu Wharf were a little daze when they got off the boat and were a little daze by the new Jiangnan factory scene opposite, and they walked there with their suitcases. But when I arrived at the gate of the factory, I saw an American flag next to the five-color flag, and immediately stopped my steps.

After Wu Luzhen was killed, Lan Tianwei has been gathering soldiers outside the gate to wait for the arrival of the Northern Expeditionary Army, but waiting left and right in exchange for Yuan Shikai's upper position, discouraged and lazy to Nanjing to find an errand, but the Nanjing caretaker government is about to be dissolved, and if there is nothing to do, I want to simply go back to Japan to continue studying, and I happened to see Zhang Xiaozhun come to Shanghai to do business, so I went with him as a companion.

He had long heard that Yang Qiu had used the equipment of a mixed association to support Chen Qimei as the governor of Zhejiang, and added 1 million yuan to change the Gaochang Temple Manufacturing Bureau to Jiangnan Industrial Company, and this money was paid by him privately, which means that Jiangnan has become his private enterprise.

In today's China, it is not possible for ordinary people to play such a large shipbuilding enterprise by private individuals, Zhang Jizhi is rich, but it is really a small amount compared to him. Such a large factory, after obvious expansion and transformation, consumed enough money to feed several divisions, so he always thought that this money was exploited by Yang Qiu from the three provinces. Snorted coldly: "Loot the people's fat to start their own industry, hum!" This is also considered to save the country? ”

Zhang Xiaozhun was not as radical as him, shook his head and said: "Ji Hao (blue sky blue sky) don't be beaten to death with a stick, maybe it's really his own money." ”

"Own money? How can it be! Lan Tianwei pointed to the shipyard and said: "When we were in Japan, we also visited the Yokohama shipyard, how much did it cost?" He's an ordinary standard. How can there be so much money! ”

"Why can't there be?" While the two were still arguing, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind them. Turning his head, Jiang Fangzhen walked over in the uniform of a Colonel of the Wehrmacht with a straight face. The three of them are old acquaintances, especially Zhang Xiaozhun and he are classmates of Lu Shi in Japan, and hurriedly walked over to shake hands and said, "Baili, why are you in Shanghai?" ”

"Nothing to do on a business trip at public expense. The world went round and round. Why can't I come? Jiang Fangzhen glared at Zhang Xiaozhun, the two had a deep friendship, and they were not taboo when they talked about it, seeing him in a long shirt and laughing: "Why did you come back early in Germany?" I heard that you went to Bai Wenwei later, why didn't you wear a military uniform and change to a civilian position? ”

Zhang Xiaozhun glanced at the shipyard and took a deep breath: "It's no regret to come back and witness a big era with your own eyes." ”

Jiang Fangzhen knew his ability very well, and when he heard the tone of resentment, he asked in surprise, "What's wrong?" ”

"Don't mention it." Next to him, Lan Tianwei helped him introduce his experience during this time. It turned out that Zhang Xiaozhun immediately went to the Nanjing government after returning to China, and Huang Keqiang asked him to serve as a staff officer of the War Department. But later, the armies were disbanded and there was nothing to do, and I originally wanted to go back to my hometown in Hunan to contact Tan Yanhong, but the national defense force system was different from the Kuomintang, and the two factions were dislike at that time, so they simply returned to Anhui with Bai Wenwei.

Bai Wenwei is also a good use of people, and appointed him as a military and political staff officer, but Anhui is actually in charge of Hu Wantai and Sun Duosen, the two of them do not let go of the military and government, so there is no way to talk about military training, and he came to Shanghai to do something to do something afterwards and prepared to go back to his hometown in Hunan to retire, and happened to see Lan Tianwei so they walked together.

Lan Tianwei is known as the three heroes of the little non-commissioned officer. He still admired Zhang Xiaozhun, but he was not so polite to Jiang Fangzhen, who also caused a quarrel because of the article that belittled the Japanese Army as useless when he was training in Mukden, because he believed that the Chinese Army should learn from Japan in an all-round way, especially after the Russo-Japanese War. Remembering that he had defended Yang Qiu just now, he asked, "Wasn't Brother Baili appointed as the president of Hubei National Defense University?" And Beijing also awarded the rank of major general, why is there still a colonel? Have the leisure to help Yang Qiuguan Shipyard? ”

Jiang Fangzhen has a straight temper and a fiery personality, and after gradually getting to know Yang Qiu, he has already made up his mind to follow, because he thinks that Yang Qiu's set of things is right, so he heard Lan Tianwei sneering and sneering twice and said, "Let's go, I'll take you to visit." ”

Zhang Xiaozhun was afraid that the two would quarrel, and he also wanted to take the opportunity to go in to visit and resolve the conflict by the way, but he saw that the American flag on it was a little hesitant and asked: "Baili, how can there be an American flag here?" ”

"Quite simply, there's an American shareholder. And don't you think it's easy to carry a foreigner brand now? Jiang Fangzhen took the two of them into the shipyard as he spoke, and the guards knew him so they didn't stop him, not to mention that there were no secrets in the factory now. After walking into the factory, the two felt that it was fresh everywhere, and when they heard that Yang Qiu had invested 2 million US dollars, and the equipment here had only arrived at fifty percent, even Zhang Xiaozhun was surprised: "This is really Yang Qiu's private investment?" ”

Jiang Fangzhen didn't tell a lie, Yang Qiu did not demarcate public and private finances at the beginning, but Tang Shaoyi noticed this drawback after he came, and felt that there would be a great hidden danger if the public and private were not separated, so he began to rectify the private and public property of officials, and also prepared to establish an American-style official property supervision system, which was strongly supported by Yang Qiu ().

In this way, the funds he exchanged with Germany became a private business, but because the Southwest Bank lacked hard currency reserves, they were all stored in the bank and exchanged for RMB banknotes, and let his uncle manage the money. After buying the arms to Chen Qimei at market prices, the shipyard was naturally private, and the million-pound equipment in the deal with Germany offset the shares of the two industrial companies in Hubei and Sichuan, so he also held more than 60% of the shares in the two new companies.

In fact, Jiang Fangzhen didn't know about these things for a long time, and the Yangtze River Gang Reform Company was also paid by Yang Qiu, so even he was jealous, and joked that when he couldn't eat one day, he would come to rob the No. 1 rich man in Tianzi. Although he only said that he made millions of pounds from the most business with Germany, and did not mention the transaction, these were as uncomfortable as being slapped in Lan Tianwei's ears, and he exhaled angrily: "Let's talk slowly, I'll go buy a ferry ticket." ”

Looking at his back, Jiang Fangzhen asked, "Where did he go?" ”

"When I go back to Japan, I guess I'm going to find Mr. Sun." Zhang Xiaozhun defended him and said: "Actually, Lan Tianwei is a good person, but his temper is a little impatient, and Wu Luzhen's death hit him hard. ”

"It's so Japanese! I always feel that Japan is right, but I don't like it. ”

Zhang Xiaozhun smiled, he knew that Jiang Fangzhen didn't like Japan, so he didn't continue the topic, but he was very interested in Yang Qiu's implementation of the official property supervision system, and asked, "I'm afraid there will be difficulties in implementing it, right?" A lot of habits can't be broken. ”

"If you have a problem, you won't do it? If you can't change it in one year, it will be ten years, and if you can't change it in ten years, it will be a hundred years, revolution. Jiang Fangzhen rolled his eyes and pointed to his head: "It's not that the Manchu Qing Dynasty will be overthrown, nor will it be the establishment of a republic and run to Japan to be chic, but to completely reverse your thinking!" ”

Zhang Xiaozhun agreed with his words, but he was a little worried about the current situation, and asked: "The southwest has only been taken, and the three provinces have only been for more than a year, and it is the time to deepen the revolution, why do you want to stir up Yuan Shikai's nerves at this time?" I think it's very likely that he will turn his face, and it's another big battle if he doesn't get it right. ”

After a few workers who passed by walked away, Jiang Fangzhen nodded: "I don't know, this matter was promoted by Yang Qiu, why is it so He hasn't said it yet, but I think he is afraid!" ”

"Afraid?!" The actual controller of the six southwestern provinces and Xikang, with hundreds of thousands of troops in hand, are afraid? Zhang Xiaozhun felt a little ridiculous. But Jiang Fangzhen was extremely serious: "He is afraid of the split of the Beiyang!" Don't look at Beiyang, it seems that the tree is bigger and deeper, but these combinations are all driven by interests! Now seventy percent of the country's taxes are in the south, and Beiyang can't get this money now, and he is already very dissatisfied! In addition, there are only a few provinces in the north, Guanwai and Mongolia can't intervene, and no one in the northwest wants to go, so the distribution of power among so many people below has become a big problem. We recently got information that the attack on Xiangyang was actually not a decision made by Yuan Shikai, which shows that Beiyang is already faintly unstable! Think about it again, if this behavior of the Dian Army and Tang Jiyao happened to Beiyang, what would happen? ”

The two events of Guilin and Kunming have indeed reminded everyone how terrible it is to arm uncontrollably, and now Yuan Shikai can still stabilize, but once there is a change, hundreds of thousands of divided armies, it will take a few years to clean up and suppress it, and if the army is scattered and reckless, the entire north will be pulled away by them!!

"I think Yang Qiu's intention is to make it impossible for Beiyang to disperse through external pressure, and only in this way can the north not fall into secession to the greatest extent! Maybe the constant conflict will kill people and lose people, but his vision has gone beyond a city and a place, he thinks. Jiang Fangzhen took a deep breath, looked at the huge docks with deep eyes, and said slowly: "The smallest price in exchange for the change of the entire Far East pattern!" ”

Zhang Xiaozhun shook his shoulders.

Jiang Fangzhen is and others? To put it mildly, he is an arrogant and unruly maniac, but when he said the last sentence just now, his eyes were clearly convinced and fanatical, which is really surprising! Does Yang Qiu really have such a great charm? However, he also acknowledged that this was a good way to prevent the collapse of Beiyang and cause more damage, but he was a little worried about the KMT's side