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"A bunch of bearded, bandits, robbers, they actually dared to threaten me, it was like eating the heart of a bear and a leopard's gall. One shot and two scattered, one shot and two scattered, how could I be afraid of them! After Xu Shichang brought back the warning of the warlord, Yuan Shikai immediately burst into a rage.

In Yuan Shikai's view, he is the prime minister, in charge of the military and political affairs of the Qing Dynasty, and he is better than the emperor if he is not the emperor. But the group of bearded guys in Shengjing City actually dared to threaten him, how could he bear it?

Xu Shichang, Tang Shaoyi, Yang Shiqi and other major strategists, as well as Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen and other generals of the Beiyang Army, all lowered their heads one by one, waiting for Yuan Shikai to vent the anger in his heart before he dared to speak.

After a while, Yuan Shikai finally calmed down. That fat face was covered with sweat.

"Let's all talk about it, what are we going to do now? Do we want to let those beards blackmail and persecute us? ”

"My lord, we will send the army out of the customs and destroy them. Those guys are just a rabble. It only takes the strength of two towns to wipe them all out! Wang Shizhen immediately stood up and expressed his opinion.

Yuan Shikai frowned and did not take Wang Shizhen's opinion. Although, he really wanted to send troops to Shengjing and kill all four people: Ma, Wu, Feng, and Zhang. However, the world has not yet completely settled down, and it is not the time to send troops.

"No, now is not the time to use swords. According to the information we got, the four guys in Shengjing City have been desperately developing the army during this time. The total strength of the four of them is probably already sixty or seventy thousand! Yang Shiqi immediately objected. As Yuan Shikai's main strategist, he is the person who can best understand Yuan Shikai's thoughts.

"Sixty or seventy thousand people are just a rabble that has just been formed. I'm afraid you don't even have weapons and equipment yet, right? With bare hands, where can you confront our elite Beiyang Army? Duan Qirui also said. From the bottom of his heart, he looked down on the Feng army.

Of course, in fact, it is also as Duan Qirui said. Originally, there were more than 20,000 old-style troops in Mukden, which were not only poorly trained, but also poorly equipped, and could not confront the Beiyang Army at all. Although the scale has expanded a lot, the combat power has not only not increased, but has decreased. Of course, the two towns under Wu Xingquan are exceptions. With Wu Haoxuan's weapons and financial support, the training in these two towns was still very hard. After more than half a month, a little combat power has been formed in front of me. It's just that it's the elite, and there is still a big gap.

"It's better not to use force now. Although Gong Bao became the prime minister, what we can really control is only the three provinces of Zhili, Shandong and Henan. The rest of the places are still under the control of the powerful factions in various places. The next thing we need to do is to slowly get rid of all these people and replace them with our people. In particular, Duanfang, the governor of Liangjiang, and Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, must be replaced. Xu Shichang also said.

In the Beiyang government, after Yuan Shikai became the prime minister, Xu Shichang directly served as the vice minister of the prime minister, handling government affairs on behalf of Yuan Shikai. Among the Beiyang factions, he is almost the second person after Yuan Shikai.

Xu Shichang still has nothing to say, although everyone thinks that the Feng warlords are vulnerable, but if the expedition to Shengjing encounters a fiasco, this will undoubtedly be a fatal blow to the Beiyang government. Those local forces that have finally agreed with the Beiyang government are afraid that they will immediately turn against each other.

Even if the warlords of the Feng clan revealed the truth about the Shengjing Incident, the consequences would not be something that the Beiyang government could bear. These guys were born with a beard and don't care about domestic public opinion. However, the Beiyang government is different. This is very likely to become a lever for powerful factions in other places to attack Yuan Shikai and the Beiyang government. At that time, the Beiyang government is afraid that it will fall into turmoil again.

"Since we promised those mustaches at the beginning, and now that it has been done, it is better to keep our promise. In this way, it is good for all of us! Xu Shichang expressed his attitude.

"But if that's the case, will you raise a tiger?" Yuan Shikai was a little worried. Fengtian is only a few hundred kilometers away from Yanjing City. If Shanhaiguan is breached, it can directly threaten Yanjing City.

"This is not a worry, as long as a town is sent to Shanhaiguan, the warlords of the Feng family will not want to enter the city! Zhiquan, Pingqing, am I right? Xu Shichang looked at Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen.

"Lord Xu is right, as long as a town is stationed at Shanhaiguan, the enemy will not want to enter the pass!" Duan Qirui said directly.

Wang Shizhen also nodded, agreeing with this statement.

"Then, let's agree to their request and hand over the Northeast to them! In addition to the Northeast, we also promised them the establishment of four towns! As soon as he thought of this, Yuan Shikai felt a little painful. It takes millions of oceans to form a town, weapons and equipment plus others! The monthly military salary and other expenses cannot be sustained without 100,000 oceans.

Although, the Beiyang government has taken control of the central power. But the treasury has already been almost ruined by the Empress Dowager Cixi, and the provinces have withheld tax revenues, and they can't even untie the pot.

Besides, the Feng warlord is the enemy, how can Yuan Shikai spend money to strengthen the enemy? Isn't that asking for trouble for yourself?

"The establishment of the four towns, just give them a name. As for military spending, they prepare it themselves. Those beards aren't going to attack us because of that, are they? Xu Shichang thought for a moment and said directly.

"That's right, let them raise their own military expenses. The Northeast is barren, where is the Central Plains rich. If they die, they will be able to sustain an army of tens of thousands. After we take control of the Central Plains, especially the fiscal and tax areas in the south of the Yangtze River, we will have enough funds to raise more troops. If you want to pacify the Northeast at that time, won't it be easy? Yang Shiqi said.

This view was endorsed by Yuan Shikai and senior officials of the Beiyang government. At present, the total population of Northeast China is only more than 20 million. As for the economy, it is even more backward. If you want to feed a large army, it is simply impossible.

"Okay, then just give them the establishment of four towns, and let them raise their own military expenses. If it is compiled, it will be tentatively set as the 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th towns! Yuan Shikai said directly. From this, it can also be seen that Yuan Shikai's ambition. The four towns that are in charge of military expenses are already ranked above the 20th place. Once Yuan Shikai built all the more than 20 towns in front of him, it would be impossible for the Feng warlords to compete with the Beiyang Army.

Historically, the 27th and 28th towns were both regular formations of the Feng warlords. Among them, the 27th town is Zhang Yuting's, and the 28th town is Feng Linge's. It's just that in Feng Zhang's struggle for hegemony in the Northeast, Feng Linge failed. In the end, the 28th town was also taken over by Zhang Yuting.

Of course, although there were only at least two towns, the Feng army built up an army of as many as two or three hundred thousand in this way, which became a strong guarantee for the Feng warlords to dominate the world. Now, Yuan Shikai has given the Feng warlords the establishment of four towns, which undoubtedly makes the strength of the Feng warlords have been greatly improved.

"The formation of the army was arranged in this way. What about the division of the territory of the Northeast? What should I do? Yuan Shikai frowned.

At this time, the northeast included Fengtian Province, Jilin Province, Heilongjiang Province and Rehe Province in principle. However, among the four regions, Mukden Province is undoubtedly the most powerful and most populous. Jilin Province is second, Heilongjiang Province is again, and Rehe is in the last.

"My lord, I do have a Jianyì, if it succeeds, it can make the Feng warlord self-defeating!" Yang Shiqi laughed.

"Oh? What is a good way in Xingcheng, come soon! "Although the warlords of the Feng family are still very weak, Yuan Shikai has already regarded them as his confidants. When you don't have the energy to deal with these guys, if there is a way to make the Feng warlords break down, it will undoubtedly be the best. In this case, it will be much easier to recover the Northeast by force in the future.

"My lord, there were two peaches to kill three soldiers in ancient times. Well, we can do the same. In the northeast, Fengtian, Jilin, Heilongjiang and Rehe, there are fat and thin, Ma, Wu, Feng, and Zhang, who occupies which territory, we do not interfere, let them distribute it themselves. I think that in order to compete for the best territory, the four of them will definitely have conflicts, and even fight. If they get into a fire, it will be a great thing for us. You can even use the name of cleaning up the mess to take this opportunity to exterminate them in one fell swoop! Yang Shiqi said with a smile.

"Haha, that's a good idea. Those guys were originally bearded, and they were used to being selfish. If they are allowed to negotiate on their own, there will definitely be a big mess. In this way, we can reap the benefits! Xu Shichang laughed.

Yuan Shikai was also full of smiles, and he was forced by the warlords of the Feng family, which made him very angry. If you can take this opportunity to calculate the warlords of the Feng family, it can be regarded as a retrieval of a city. More importantly, this undoubtedly bought a seed for the recovery of the Northeast in the future!

It is foreseeable that Ma, Wu, Feng, and Zhang will inevitably have contradictions in order to compete for the northeast. Even if they are brothers, they will still put their own interests first when it comes to personal interests. The chaos in the Northeast seems to be just around the corner.

Yuan Shikai and the Beiyang government could sit back and watch the tiger fight, and take this opportunity to integrate the forces in Guannai. After the Guannai is settled, the Beiyang Army will be even stronger than it is now. When the time comes, it will be possible to wave the army out of the customs and pacify the Northeast in one fell swoop!