After the conversation with Sun Wen, Xiao Zhenlei felt a lot of pressure, there were only two months, and in these two months, the problem of the Beiyang Group had to be solved, and the time was very urgent.

Before Xiao Zhenlei could breathe a sigh of relief, trouble came to the door again. The next day, the Japanese Minister to China, Hi Zhiyi, came to the door again, maybe this guy didn't achieve his goal in Sun Wen's place, so he turned around and found the right master, right?

Until this time, whether it was the domestic people, all walks of life, or foreign powers, they had realized that the real helmsman of the southern regime had become Xiao Zhenlei, and the words and deeds of this person had begun to influence and determine the future fate of China.

Xiao Zhenlei was quite disgusted and annoyed by the fact that Japan Zhiyi came to the door so frequently, but he couldn't help but see this person, he couldn't hide, Japan was no longer the Japan before the First Sino-Japanese War, and after the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, Japan was already one of the great powers, and in terms of military strength, except for Britain, Germany, and Japan, I am afraid that no other country is stronger than it.

The meeting with Ri Zhiyi was still in the No. 3 reception room, Ri Zhiyi was too lazy to entangle with Xiao Zhenlei on this issue, and after the two met, he went directly to the topic: "Governor Xiao, I came here a few days ago and said that I hope you will negotiate a truce between the north and the south, I don't know how you think about it?" ”

Xiao Zhenlei said: "Oh, Mr. Minister Rizhiyi, you are too anxious, what can you do in such a little time?" You see, this matter involves all aspects, and the forces in the south are not only on my side, but also on the Kuomintang and constitutional figures. There are even more people in power who have no political organizations to communicate with so many people. It takes a lot of time and is not something I can decide in a sentence or two. If I could decide with a word, I would not be a governor but an emperor! ”

Before coming, Rizhiyi had already been mentally prepared to be shirked or delayed, and now when he saw Xiao Zhenlei like this, he knew that Xiao Zhenlei was ready to delay time, he really didn't have time to play a game of hide and seek with Xiao Zhenlei, and now the situation in Beiyang is very dangerous, although Yuan Shikai still has a lot of military forces in his hands, but most of those military forces are deployed in Chahar, Suiyuan, Rehe, Northeast and other places, and those places also need to be stationed, and it is impossible to transfer all the troops to the south. Even if some can be sent south to fight with the Northern Expeditionary Army, it is not a moment and a half before it can fall into the pass, and now the Northern Expeditionary Army has killed the central part of Hebei and the northern part of Shandong, which is very close to the Beijing Division, the Beiyang Army has lost its elite until now, and the rest are newly formed troops, which are too far from the original Beiyang Six Towns in terms of combat effectiveness, and the original Beiyang Six Towns cannot resist Xiao Zhenlei's army, let alone these newly formed armies. If you go according to the current situation. I'm afraid that Yuan Shikai won't be able to withstand it for two months, but the Japanese have made a big bet on Yuan Shikai, and if Yuan Shikai is defeated and steps down, Japan will lose a lot of money. In any case, Xiao Zhenlei must be forced to order an armistice negotiations.

Thinking of this, Ri Zhiyi said: "Governor Xiao, I understand your difficulties. But you don't understand the difficulties of our Great Japanese Empire, and now our businessmen in China have complained to our government. They are reluctant to pay taxes, saying that the war in China not only did not make them money. Moreover, they have lost all their money, and our government has lost a lot of tax revenue because these people do not pay taxes, so the cabinet sent a telegram to me to tell Your Excellency that the Empire of Japan cannot tolerate the continuation of this state of affairs forever, either His Excellency the Governor General agrees to order an armistice negotiations, or the Empire of Japan can only declare that it will intervene in the war in China by force to safeguard the interests of the Empire of Japan in China! ”

Xiao Zhenlei was so angry when he heard this, his face suddenly turned blue, the blue tendons on his forehead burst out, and he stared at Rizhiyi and said in a deep voice: "Mr. Rizhiyi, are you threatening me?" ”

Ri Zhiyi's tone was very calm, which was worthy of a diplomat with rich experience in diplomatic work, and he said: "Your Excellency the Governor, I didn't say that, I am just expressing my country's position on this matter on behalf of my government, as for how you understand, it is not up to me to influence!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei was not born, but stared at Ri Zhiyi, and suddenly laughed a few minutes later: "Hahaha?????? Mr. Hizhi Yi is really a talent, in fact, I am not afraid of threats, but I am very curious, why do you Japanese like to support Yuan Shikai so much? What good can he give you Japan? You have to know that Yuan Shikai is already old, he can't live for a few years, if he dies suddenly in a few years, won't your Japanese bet on him be in vain? Didn't you, the Japanese authorities, consider cooperating with me? ”

In the first few questions, of course Ri Zhiyi knew the reason, but later Xiao Zhenlei said that Yuan Shikai's age is indeed a problem that cannot be ignored and cannot be avoided, and the last sentence makes him even more thunderous, Japan cooperates with Xiao Zhenlei? He had never thought about this problem, but now Xiao Zhenlei suddenly raised it, thundering him at the same time, it also made him start to think about this possibility, yes, Japan can't always hang himself on the tree of Yuan Shikai, right? In the past, Japan supported Yuan Shikai, a large part of the reason is because Yuan Shikai is the most powerful in China, although Sun Wen has a high reputation, but he has no military power, and the right to speak cannot influence the political situation, but now it is different, it is not only Yuan Shikai who has the ability to influence the political situation, the newly rising Xiao Zhenlei also has this ability, Japan can't put the treasure on one person!

Hichiki Yi was surprised: "Governor Xiao, you just asked us why the Great Japanese Empire didn't consider cooperating with you?" ”

"Yes, you don't have any problems with your ears!"

Hichiki frowned and said, "But haven't you always been hostile to my Great Japanese Empire?" ”

Xiao Zhenlei was very stunned when he heard this, and said, "Mr. Rizhiyi, why do you look at me like this?" Or is this what your entire Japanese government thinks of me? If that's the case, I don't think any of you in the Japanese Cabinet are qualified politicians, do you think I'll let my personal likes and dislikes influence decision-making on national affairs? Besides, Japan is not the only country that has caused damage to China, Britain, France, the United States, Germany, and so on have all caused harm to China, according to your logic, I should be hostile to these countries, but you also know that I have very good cooperation with Germany and the United States in the field of economy and trade, and I even sent students to study in Germany and the United States! ”

Thinking about it, isn't it? It seems that my views and research on Xiao Zhenlei are not deep enough, this is definitely not a person who decides on national affairs based on personal preferences alone, this person is very rational and will not let personal feelings affect judgment and decision-making, although this kind of terrible, but it is also easy to control, sometimes people who are very emotional are not easy to control.

Thinking of this, Rizhiyi's heart was in turmoil, and Xiao Zhenlei's mention was full of great temptation? Confused, Japan cooperates with Xiao Zhenlei? Now that I think about this possibility, it is really not impossible to realize, Yuan Shikai is an old fox, and Japan supports this person to prevent him from being kicked away by him after gaining power, but Xiao Zhenlei is a new rising person, this person is very young, and he should be better fooled than Yuan Shikai, an old fox, and the more he thinks about it, the more he thinks that it is feasible for Japan to support Xiao Zhenlei's East China Governor's Office and achieve the goal of controlling China.

"Okay, then Governor Xiao, why does Japan support you and cooperate with you?"

Xiao Zhenlei smiled: "Look, I can list many reasons. First, I am young, my Predator and the East China Governor's Office are an emerging force, and our background is very clean; Second, among the forces in the south, my East China Governor's Office has the greatest power, the largest number of troops, and the most stable political power. Third, we in the East China Governor's Office are vigorously carrying out the construction of urban and rural infrastructure, and we urgently need a large amount of money, and I think you Japanese businessmen will definitely be willing to participate. Fourth, China and Japan are both yellow countries, accounting for most of the world's population, but we yellow people have been oppressed and bullied by the white race. ”

These words directly stunned Rizhiyi, he had never thought about these problems, but the fourth reason that Xiao Zhenlei said made him think that it was very feasible, and he began to think and think in this direction involuntarily.

After Rizhiyi left in a daze, Cheng Biyao, who was sitting next to him and making notes, asked worriedly: "Do you really want to form some so-called strategic alliance with Japan and achieve a situation of common prosperity in Greater East Asia?" You must know that with our current strength, if we form an alliance with Japan, we will definitely be at a disadvantage, and the Japanese will try their best to strengthen their control over us, and they can use our huge population resources and land to achieve their ulterior purposes! ”

Xiao Zhenlei lit a cigarette and took a few puffs, and said, "Do you think I'm really so stupid?" I'm just delaying time and making a false shot, so that the Japanese can focus on this, and have no time to take care of my and Yuan Shikai's affairs, do you know why I attach so much importance to Japan? The other powers, including Tsarist Russia, now have no energy to manage our country's affairs, they are more or less contained by other countries, although the second Balkan battlefield has ended, but the distribution of interests is not even, the greater disaster has been buried, just waiting for the day of the outbreak, now all countries are secretly preparing for a big war, except for Japan, Japan has no one to contain in East Asia, Tsarist Russia is now focused on Europe, if the Japanese want to use force against our country, no one can stop it! ”

Cheng Baguio said: "What about the United States? Hasn't the United States been pinning down Japan? ”

"How far is the U.S. from here? If Japan sends troops to our country, will the United States really be able to make up its mind to confront Japan? You must know that the current American fleet is still far behind Japan! (To be continued......) R1292