After the end of World War I, the peace conference was held, and the expansionists in Mukden realized that this was a good opportunity, and Lao Duan's diplomacy failed, his prestige was discredited, and the domestic public resentment boiled. Moreover, after Lao Duan took charge of Beiyang, he continued to weaken other factions, and the relationship with the direct family took a sharp turn for the worse, and the two sides were on the same footing. Coupled with the warlords of the southwest and Sun Wen's henchmen, the whole of China became a mess, and Wu Junsheng and others thought that the time had come to fish in troubled waters.

"Clumsy words, do things are easy first and then difficult, you are staring at the Russian Far East, and also sent troops to Hailan Bao, which will only offend the powers, don't look at this matter, the public opinion in the world holds you very high, what is the model of young soldiers, but you must know that Russia is a strong country in the end, their civil war is over, you are taking advantage of the fire to rob, can people not find the Feng army to settle accounts, according to my opinion, the safest way is to withdraw all the people and horses, and then go south with all their might, control the power of Beijing, and our Fengjun will also have a day when the king of the world!"

Zhang Jinghui said along with Wu Junsheng's words, but as he spoke, he felt that the atmosphere of the scene was a little wrong, and several pairs of sharp eyes were staring at him, which made Tofu Zhang's heart hairy for a while. He also felt that he had made a mistake in his words, and even directly accused Zhang Tinglan of sending troops to the Far East for the sake of false fame, this crime is not small, and it was pressed on Zhang Tinglan's head, which is equivalent to offending those who are close to Zhang Tinglan.

"Syria five, sending troops to the Far East, it was the marshal's consent, and you can't just think about offending the Russians." Sun Liechen said with a calm face on the side: "Where did we get so many machines and equipment, didn't they all come from the Russians, not to mention anything else, if we don't send troops to the Far East, can the Americans give us the production line of rifles and bullets?" Looking at China, which factory can produce hundreds of thousands of guns a year. Our Fengjun is well-equipped, the best in the world, all relying on humble planning, if anyone picks up the bowl to eat meat, put down the chopsticks and scold the mother, my Sun Liechen will not agree! ”

Sun Liechen's words were also heavier, but he knew that he had to say this, otherwise the trouble would be even greater, because when Zhang Jinghui opened his mouth, Zhang Zuoxiang was already standing on the sidelines. It's no wonder that Zhang Zuoxiang is angry. Other people's children worked hard for the army, but they didn't get a good word, and they were blamed, and anyone would be dissatisfied.

And it's not just Zhang Zuoxiang. Among the people present, Wang Yongjiang, Zhu Qinglan, Yang Yuting and others did not look good. They have a very close relationship with Zhang Tinglan. It has faintly become a faction, Zhang Jinghui questioned Zhang Tinglan, if it is not good, it will cause contradictions between the old and new factions of the Fengjun, and only Sun Liechen can stand up and ease the atmosphere.

Zhang Tinglan frowned on the side, and suddenly he stood up and bowed to Zhang Zuolin and everyone present. Then he said: "Dashuai, can you give me a chance to tell me all my thoughts?" ”

Lao Zhang nodded slightly, and Zhang Tinglan waved his hand. The map of the three eastern provinces was hung on the hall, and then he stood in front of the map, glanced at the audience, and then said: "Everyone, please see, the three eastern provinces are vast and rich in resources, and they are rare and good places, but our strategic environment is not good, there is Tsarist Russia in the north, and there are Japanese in the east, and the two empires surround us in the middle!" ”

Zhang Tinglan said and pointed to the Outer Northeast and the Ussuri River, and then pointed to North Korea, and then said: "You can see, the Outer Northeast and the east of the Ussuri River originally belonged to China, but they were occupied by the Russians, and they are not just for the resources here. But there are profound strategic considerations, as long as this place is occupied, the mouth of the sea in the north of the northeast will be blocked, and we are close to the end of the world with the Sea of Japan, and the tsar's hand has a very vicious strategic plan! ”

"Look at North Korea again, since the First Sino-Japanese War, this place was stolen by Japan, after the Russo-Japanese War, Luda was in the hands of the Japanese again, and our east was also sealed, especially after the loss of Luda, most of the sea outlets in the south of the three eastern provinces were also blocked, from the whole situation, we are actually in a cage, surrounded by knives and guns on all sides, and if we are not careful, we will be crushed!"

Regarding the strategic situation of the three eastern provinces, everyone present here has their own judgments, and it is very rare to be able to say it so clearly like Zhang Tinglan, Yang Yuting and others also nodded frequently on the side, agreeing with Zhang Tinglan's judgment.

"The general trend has been achieved, so far, although the strength of the Feng army has improved, but the pattern has not changed, we rush south, the great powers will definitely pull us back. And over the years, the great powers have avoided the emergence of a strong government in China that can unify the whole country, and they have adopted the method of divide and rule. After Lao Yuan came to power, they supported Sun Wen and his party, constantly causing trouble, and now after Lao Yuan is finished, they continue to support the contest between the north and the south. All of them have only one purpose, which is to plunge China into infighting and be at their mercy forever. ”

"In fact, the situation is very clear, if we want to unify China, we can't just compare our strength with the Beiyang government, which is meaningless, we should compare with the great powers, and we can't act rashly before we can't argue with the great powers. What should we do if we now send troops into the customs and take control of Beijing, and after the army goes south, the northeast is empty, and the Japanese are making trouble in the three eastern provinces? In addition, the great powers can also support the direct lineage, or they can support Sun Wen, so that they can continue to fight with us, if there is a rebellion in the south, do we need to send troops? ”

Zhang Tinglan asked two questions in a row, which made everyone present a little moved, and Yang Yuting said directly: "Dashuai, there is nothing wrong with what you said in your humble words, Yuan Shikai was so strong back then, he almost mastered the whole country, but Zuihou still ended up in disrepute, in the final analysis, our enemy is not the country, but the powers behind the scenes, and when we are not sure enough, we must not rush to send troops." ”

"Marshal, not to mention anything else, fighting a war is fighting for financial and material resources, the three eastern provinces have made great financial improvements in the past two years, but there are still a lot of deficits, there are more places to spend money, a large number of immigrants have not yet settled down, and the newly reclaimed land has not fully realized its potential, if we can wait for three or five years, all the work can be put on the right track, and then talk about the matter of mobilizing troops, maybe it will be better."

As the chief manager of the Fengjun, Wang Yongjiang also raised objections from his point of view, and Zhang Tinglan, Yang Yuting, and Wang Yongjiang were the representatives of the new faction of the Fengjun, and they opposed it together, and their influence on Lao Zhang was not small. Zhang Zuolin frowned and didn't say a word.

"It's over, it's too much!" Wu Junsheng shook his big tongue on the side and said: "Your opinion is too pessimistic, although the attitude of the great powers is very important, but we can't just think about working against the great powers, can we also take the initiative to communicate, let's sit down and talk about it, as long as we promise to continue to safeguard the interests of the great powers, they don't necessarily have to go against us." And what you say about the strength to compete with the great powers, this is easy to say. But it's hard to do, three years and five years, or ten or eight years, or even one or two decades, can we afford to wait? ”

Wu Junsheng's Hua Litou said a very important issue. That's the problem of years, Zhang Zuolin and they are not young. Around fifty or sixty years old. In this era, they are already considered old people, and if they wait for a while, it is not certain whether they will be able to survive, so they are eager to enter the customs in a big way, so that they can enjoy some of the treatment of the founding fathers!

Thinking of this, Zhang Tinglan was more worried about Lao Zhang's attitude. After all, if Lao Zhang is unwilling to continue to wait, then the situation will be really troublesome.

Politics is never as simple as right or wrong, it also depends on the angle from which the problem is considered, that is, which side the ass is sitting on. It's just that this kind of thing is all a heart-wrenching theory, and it can't be put on the table, so Zhang Tinglan can't help but be a little anxious.

The whole scene was very quiet, everyone didn't say a word, everything seemed to freeze.

Zhang Zuoxiang, who had not spoken, suddenly spoke: "Marshal, I understand what Wu Inspector said, in a word, it is to let you be Yuan Shikai's second, continue to safeguard the interests of the great powers, and to put it bluntly, continue to hold on to the defects!" This time, the faces of the great powers of the Paris Peace Conference have been exposed, it is a group of fierce beasts that eat people and do not spit out bones, negotiate with them, and when you arrive in Zuihou, you will inevitably end up with Yuan Shikai! ”

Speaking of zuihou, Zhang Zuoxiang stood up, bowed down and said, "Yuting, how to decide, it depends on your thoughts!" ”

After Zhang Zuoxiang finished speaking, he turned around and left the Tiger Hall, Zhang Tinglan also followed closely, the father and son both knew in their hearts that Lao Zhang did not clearly support their views this time, in fact, he acquiesced to the views of Wu Junsheng and others, and they were all a little disappointed.

The two of them returned to the mansion one after the other, Zhang Zuoxiang frowned, sighed and said: "Humble words, today we have finished saying everything that should be said, everything depends on how Yuting chooses, you don't have to worry too much!" ”

"Dad, Fengjun can have today, it is not easy to go all the way, I am really afraid that one wrong step will ruin the foundation of many years. Moreover, Wu Junsheng and Zhang Jinghui seem to reveal that they have a connection with the Japanese, and everything that has something to do with the Japanese will cause trouble! ”

Zhang Zuoxiang silently picked up the cigarette pouch, took a few puffs, and then said: "Actually, Yuting is not a stupid person, in the final analysis, he is suspicious of our grandfather, if he continues to devote Liliang to the aspect of Russia, continue to lie on the salary and taste the courage, and Taoguang is obscure, the power of the Feng army will be unbalanced, and the conflict between the old and new factions will be more serious." ”

Zhang Zuoxiang was scheming and calculating, and he immediately pointed out the key to the problem, and now the new faction of the Fengjun has jumped to a high position in the past two years, and its influence is getting bigger and bigger, and the border guards have faintly become an independent Liliang because of the problem of fighting against Russia, and if this continues for a long time, the factions of the Fengjun will be out of balance.

Zhang Zuolin is not unaware of the risks of entering the customs, in fact, he just wants to gamble, if he controls the central government, there will be more room for maneuver, and old-school characters can arrange more Haode positions, and a new balance can be formed.

In fact, Zhang Tinglan and Zhang Zuoxiang are also involved in this matter, and some things are really hard to say. The two of them are worried, and the same is true of Zhang Zuolin in the Shuai Mansion, the old and new factions have their own opinions, and how to choose is also a test of Lao Zhang's choice.

"Dad, there's a call from Beijing, it's a telegram from Liang Qichao!"

"Bring it and let me see it!"

Zhang Xueliang trotted a telegram to Zhang Zuolin, Lao Zhang took it and looked at it, and his eyes lit up, it turned out that in this telegram, Liang Qichao expressed a strong condemnation of Duan Qirui, and then strongly invited Zhang Zuolin to Beijing to discuss state affairs, and the research department was willing to impeach Duan Qirui in the Congress and oust Lao Duan from power. In the telegram, Liang Qichao also expressed his willingness to help Zhang Zuolin contact various other factions and reverse the section together!

"Although Liang Qichao is a scholar, he has a lot of energy and a high reputation, if he is willing to assist, there will indeed be a lot less trouble in Beijing." Lao Zhang glanced at Zhang Xueliang, and then said, "Little Liuzi, do you think Dad should take this opportunity to enter Beijing?" ”

Zhang Xueliang frowned slightly, and then said: "Dad, I am so opposed this time, I think he must have his own reasons, so it's better not to act rashly!" ”

"Don't always be clumsy, you have to have your own opinions, you say what you think, do you support it?"

Zhang Xueliang saw that his father was a little unhappy, so he could only lower his head, and only said after a while: "Dad, the child doesn't know, everything is up to your decision!" ”

Lao Zhang's nose snorted coldly, in the end, Zhang Xueliang was still a little resistant, but he didn't want to say it clearly, Lao Zhang walked around a few times with his hands behind his back, and then suddenly said: "Guo Songling has done a good job during this time, let's promote him, let him be the commander of the Fifth Division of the Eastern Three Provinces, the vanguard officer of the task force, you train the army with him, and prepare for battle!" (To be continued......)