In the direction of Xuzhou, the offensive of the Feng army is maintaining a steady rhythm, although the overall is not a rapid advance, it is impossible to say that it will completely break through the defense line of the Anhui army and conquer Xuzhou in one or two days, but once this kind of super-large-scale battle is fought, it is not a matter of one or two days.

The Anhui army in Xuzhou is not weak, and even if the Feng army is a qiēshun lì, it is not an easy task to take Xuzhou.

This battle of Xuzhou not only tested the combat effectiveness of the front-line troops on both sides, but also tested the ability of the entire military system of both sides to withstand the war.

In order to better support the front-line battle, Zhao Dongyun is still busy in the rear every day, in addition to leading military operations, Zhao Dongyun has also invested great energy in other aspects during this time!

At the beginning of October, Zhao Dongyun instructed the Ministry of Finance to start issuing the second phase of patriotic bonds to raise military funds for the front-line troops!

Since the issuance of the first issue of patriotic bonds, Xiong Xiling and other officials in the financial system felt the need to take advantage of the hot iron to continue to issue the second issue of patriotic bonds.

For this kind of occasion, Zhao Dongyun also occasionally appeared and personally went on the stage to have cordial and friendly conversations with the businessmen and industrialists.

However, there were more people who participated in public, and people began to find that there was one more person around Zhao Dongyun, to be precise, a woman, that was Yu Wanling.

This woman first appeared in the presidential palace as Fang Ruolian's translator, but this woman has a wide range of contacts in the diplomatic circles, and this woman can be like a fish in water in the diplomatic circles with a large number of foreign ministers and wives as best friends, which naturally has the ability to please Fang Ruolian and even Li Wan.

I don't know when it began, this woman frequently appeared in the social circle of high-level ladies in Beijing, and frequently went in and out of the back house of Ju Ren Tang, not only continued to serve as Fang Ruolian's secretary, but also got involved in many back house affairs in the presidential palace, such as helping Fang Ruolian prepare for a lady's cocktail party.

She often follows Fang Ruolian, and Fang Ruolian is Zhao Dongyun's decent wife, the first lady of the republic, but she needs to often accompany Zhao Dongyun to attend many public occasions, so this Yu Wanling often appears by Zhao Dongyun's side.

Especially in the recent public speeches and dances, in addition to the old face Li San by the side of Zhao Dongyun and his wife, that Yu Wanling also followed step by step, and even surpassed several first-class secretaries of the secretariat in public appearances.

And who is Zhao Dongyun? He is a pivotal politician in contemporary China, and his every move and the actions of those around him will receive great attention.

Among the leaders of all forces in the country today, Zhang Zhidong is a veritable leader in the Southern Federation, and his reputation can be said to be second to none in contemporary China, don't look at Duan Qirui and Zhao Dongyun, who are all powerful, and they have made a lot of trouble in recent years, but when it comes to prestige, in fact, let alone the two of them, even if the previous Wang Yingkai is counted, it is far inferior to Zhang Zhidong.

The prestige that Zhang Zhidong has accumulated over the past few decades is not so easy to negate, otherwise the Southern Federation would not be able to barely maintain itself after successive crushing defeats.

It can be said that now the Southern Federation can barely support under the joint attack of many warlords in Beiyang, because of the benchmark of Zhang Zhidong, his role is incomparable to several other powerful figures in the Southern Federation, such as Duanfang and Xiliang, they are also the real power faction of the Southern Federation, but they still have to raise the banner of Zhang Zhidong, otherwise few people will follow them to fight with Beiyang.

And Zhao Dongyun is incomparably more expensive in terms of fame, but his strength is obvious to all, Zhao Dongyun, who controls 200,000 Feng troops in his hands, is currently the leading warlord in China, and also controls the position of the leading boss of Beiyang, and is the president of the republican government in the contemporary Beiyang system.

In this way, he will naturally attract a lot of attention from outsiders, and the people who appear around him, whether they are officials or women, will greatly attract the attention of the outside world.

For example, this Li San, this person seems to be just Zhao Dongyun's entourage, but Li San's name is Zhang Zhidong, and he has heard of it!

Now this Yu Wanling has frequently appeared beside Zhao Dongyun and his wife in just one or two months, which has naturally attracted the attention of many people, but this attention is mostly negative.

An English-language newspaper hosted by the British in Tianjin even specifically mentioned this woman when it reported that Zhao Dongyun held a reception in the presidential palace, not only introducing this woman's early experience, but also boldly speculating that this woman had a private relationship with Zhao Dongyun, calling it Zhao Dongyun's second mistress, and this first one was naturally Li Wan.

And several gossip tabloids in southern Shanghai also came up with reports such as Zhao Dongyun's third woman.

Public opinion in the outside world is like this, and the officials in the high-level of the Beijing Division naturally have a lot of speculation in their hearts.

"I've heard that this woman has been in and out of Jurentang every day recently, and she often stays overnight, otherwise, how could she appear on this occasion as a woman!" At the reception, several Treasury officials in Western-style dresses were talking in low voices.

"This is not too strange, our handsome is a heroic man who has not appeared for hundreds of years, which attracts the woman's heart is not surprising, but if this woman is as good as Miss Li in the back house husband and children, it is nothing, but this woman is frequently exposed, and it also attracts the criticism of foreigners, which is not a good thing for our handsome's reputation!" Others also interjected, to be honest, he was still very unaccustomed to a woman like Yu Wanling appearing on an occasion like today.

If this woman appeared as an official's family member, or even as Zhao Dongyun's mistress, then it would be nothing, but she was not, she appeared as a staff member of the Secretariat of the Presidential Office.

Among the nearly 100 people who attended the reception today, there were many ministers and officials from various government ministries, and each of them also brought their female dependents, but she was the only woman who participated in the reception as a government official, Yu Wanling, which naturally caused a lot of criticism.

When these people were talking, they didn't notice that there was a young woman in a long Western-style dress behind the pillar!

Yu Wanling bit her red lip lightly, and the jade hand holding the wine glass was a little white because she grabbed it too tightly!

Although she knew that the outside world had a lot of criticism about her, those new-school people who supported the republic thought that she was a former Qing remnant, and those old and young people who were Manchu also scolded her for being the former Qing county lord, but she was shameless and mixed around Zhao Dongyun.

What's even worse is that almost everyone thinks they are entertaining people with their voices, and they think that they have some personal relationship with the president.

If she really has anything with Zhao Dongyun, then she will endure it, but the key is no!

Although Zhao Dongyun is not a decent gentleman, but to be honest, Zhao Dongyun is not a brain-dead person, if he meets a beautiful woman, then his Jurentang will not have to go out of the harem of three thousand. Although Zhao Dongyun admires Yu Wanling more, he mainly likes her social skills.

In these years, not every woman can walk in the upper echelons of politics with ease, let alone the wives of those diplomatic ministers.

For example, although Fang Ruolian, the president's wife, has an identity, it is actually difficult to support the important task of Mrs. Diplomacy, and with Yu Wanling to help her, then Fang Ruolian will be able to make it easier.

Speaking of which, in Zhao Dongyun's eyes, this Yu Wanling is just a subordinate staff member!

But that's not how outsiders see it!

The same thing can have a completely different impact on people with different identities.

Yu Wanling didn't continue eavesdropping, it was useless to listen too much, she couldn't be crazy on the spot like those female men, she needed to be decent.

She needs to maintain her elegant decency, she needs the president's wife Fang Ruolian to continue to value, and she needs today's opportunities and jobs!

Outsiders only saw her on the surface, wandering among the high-ranking ladies of the Republic, chatting with foreign ministers and wives, but few people went back to pay attention to how bad the situation was behind her.

Since the fall of the former Qing Dynasty, their family's life has plummeted, and it is difficult for the family industry to even maintain the lives of their mother and daughter, after all, her mother, her two sisters and herself are all from high class, even if the food and drink are saved, in fact, it is far more than ordinary people's families, at the beginning of this year, they sold part of their properties, and even some relatives and friends helped to barely maintain the dignity of an upper class.

And now after Yu Wanling was hired as the secretary of the Foreign Affairs Section of the Presidential Office Secretariat, because she often went in and out of Jurentang, she accompanied Fang Ruolian and Li Wan, the two wives of Zhao Dongyun, to help organize balls, afternoon tea, and contact the minister's wives and the like, and Fang Ruolian and Li Wan, the two women, lived luxuriously, and treated Yu Wanling well. In addition, when I learned that Yu Wanling's family of four women now depends on her salary, she often uses various excuses to give her various subsidies, gifts, etc., so the income is still very expensive.

This is able to maintain the living standards of their mothers and daughters in the past, otherwise if they want to live a good life and have no income on the right path, they can really only hang up the signboard of the former Qing county lord and open the door to guests.