Lin Yuan immediately contacted the railway branch in Lanzhou, and after a while, Shen Wanqing asked, "Is it connected?" ”

Lin Yuan shook his head silently and said: "No, I think the equipment is damaged, it seems that the peasant rebel army has also affected them, we have to go to Lanzhou as soon as possible to see what happened, I will go to the palace now, and tell Emperor Guangxu about the plan to follow Yuan Shikai to Lanzhou." ”

Lin Yuan came to the palace and said that he wanted to see Emperor Guangxu, and the little eunuch said: "It's unfortunate that Lord Lin has come, the Holy Lord is discussing big things with Lord Yuan inside." ”

Lin Yuan asked the little eunuch not to report it first, and listened to it through the crack of the door, which made the little eunuchs laugh, Lin Yuan only heard Yuan Shikai say with confidence: "My new army is all waiting for it, and it can be sent at any time, as for the matter of food and salary, let the local government worry more." ”

Emperor Guangxu said: "You don't have to worry about the grain, a batch of grain has been transported from the south of the Yangtze River, which is enough for you to use. It was convenient to carry, too. Lin Yuan was still listening, but he didn't expect that there was no sound in the room at this time, and it seemed that the voices of the two people talking had become smaller.

Lin Yuan saw that he couldn't hear anything, so he asked the little eunuch to go in to report, and soon the little eunuch came out of it and invited Lin Yuan to go in. ”

Yuan Shikai heard that Emperor Guangxu ranked his name in front of Lin Yuan, and glanced at Lin Yuan happily, Lin Yuan didn't notice this detail at all, and was still wondering why Yuan Shikai looked at himself so happily, Yuan Shikai was bored, and hurriedly said: "Shaanxi and Gansu have always had dangerous terrain, and the soldiers in the past have clouds: taking Shaanxi and Gansu as the difficulty, although it is small, it must be big, although it is weak, it must be strong, although it cannot be the hero of the world, it will also invade Yin and make a big decision, causing a catastrophe in the world!" It is the chaos of the land of Shaanxi and Gansu, which must be eliminated. ”

"My Wang Shi set off from the capital, from Taihang Bacheng to cross the Taihang Mountain can enter Shaanxi, and then along the Wei River to the west can reach Xi'an, at this time Xi'an is no longer the great appearance of the Han and Tang Dynasties, there are also a large number of people, enough to be the basis for the advancement, after passing through Baoji, into Tianshui, you can enter Lanzhou, the bandits are a plate of loose sand, is bound to collapse at a touch! It's just that the journey is thousands of miles, and the matter of grain needs to be considered very seriously. ”

After hearing this, Emperor Guangxu looked at Lin Yuan and asked, "Does Lin Aiqing have a high opinion?" ”

Lin Yuan smiled and said: "I just have one sentence: we have a railway, let's take a train, about two days, we can get to Xi'an, and there is also a railway from Xi'an to Lanzhou, but Lanzhou has fallen, I don't know if the road can be used, let's see when the time comes." ”

Emperor Guangxu laughed after listening to Ha Lu Ha Da and said to Yuan Shikai: "Yuan Aiqing, look at Lin Aiqing, you talk a lot, and they will be finished in one sentence!" ”

Although Yuan Shikai had a fire in his heart, he couldn't vent it, so he had to laugh a few times, Emperor Guangxu nodded and said: "It turns out that it would be so simple to send troops with a railway, and it was so right to listen to Lin Aiqing's words to build a railway!" ”

Yuan Shikai couldn't help but feel secretly annoyed when he heard Emperor Guangxu praise Lin Yuan, and then Emperor Guangxu asked, "What is the matter with Lin Aiqing's visit this time?" ”

Lin Yuan thought to himself: "It's time to get down to business." So Lin Yuan said: "Lanzhou has fallen, the railway department has lost contact with us, and I want to personally lead a railway construction team to Lanzhou to explore the situation of the railway." ”

Yuan Shikai was compared by Lin Yuan twice in a row, he was annoyed in his heart, and when he heard Lin Yuan's words, he wanted to make things difficult, so he said: "Lord Lin Yuan, why should you personally lead the railway construction team?" Just arrange for your subordinates. ”

Lin Yuan said with a smile: "Lord Yuan doesn't know, this railway is very important, when I was in Europe, I had discussed with the President of France to build a railway across Central Europe, Lanzhou is an important hub of this railway, so Lanzhou is not only Lanzhou, but also related to my prestige of the Qing Dynasty. How could I not go for such an important event myself? ”

Emperor Guangxu exclaimed: "Or Lin Aiqing has the overall situation in mind, I allow you to go, and go to the household department to get the money for a while, oh no, it is to go to the account of the household department of the Daqing Bank to transfer a sum of money as the fund of the road repair team." ”

Lin Yuan nodded and said, "But this is a long way to go, and I am afraid that there will be bandit infestation from Xi'an to Lanzhou, so I hope that the Holy Lord can let us go with Lord Yuan, and I hope that Lord Yuan can protect us more." ”

Emperor Guangxu frowned slightly when he heard this, and thought in his heart: "Yuan Shikai and Lin Yuan have always been at odds with each other, can Yuan Shikai be willing to protect Lin Yuan?" I still don't agree to this matter lightly, first ask Yuan Shikai what he means. Emperor Guangxu then smiled at Yuan Shikai and said, "Yuan Aiqing, are you willing to protect Lord Lin Yuan's railway construction team?" ”

What Emperor Guangxu didn't expect was that Yuan Shikai said happily without even the slightest hesitation: "It's my honor to protect Lin Yuan's railway construction team, and I'm willing to protect it!" ”

Emperor Guangxu thought to himself: "It seems that although Yuan Shikai and Lin Yuan usually have a lot of discord, they can still work together to protect my Qing Dynasty at critical moments, very good, very good!" Emperor Guangxu then said: "Okay, Yuan Aiqing, you have full authority to protect Lin Aiqing's railway construction team." ”

Unexpectedly, Yuan Shikai actually "pounced" and knelt on the ground, and said loudly: "Ask the Holy Lord to be the master of Weichen." ”

Emperor Guangxu saw Yuan Shikai suddenly fall to his knees, and asked in surprise: "What is Yuan Aiqing doing?" ”

Yuan Shikai said in a mournful voice: "Shengshang Mingjian, Lord Lin can win a hundred times over Weichen, this expedition, Weichen's decision-making in the eyes of Lord Lin will inevitably be full of loopholes, Lord Lin is famous for not rubbing sand in his eyes, and he will definitely command on my behalf when the time comes. ”

When Emperor Guangxu heard this, he thought: "It turns out that Yuan Shikai is worried that Lin Yuan will seize his command, this worry is also right, Lin Yuan's military talent is far superior to Yuan Shikai, and he can't stand up to Yuan Shikai's command, so it is inevitable that he will stand up and say a few words, which will not only shake the morale of the army, but also delay the fighter!" So Emperor Guangxu smiled and said: "Okay, the two Aiqing will understand, this expedition, the command is all Yuan Aiqing, and Lin Aiqing must obey his orders!" ”

Lin Yuan looked at all this coldly, nodded in agreement, and when he came back from the palace, Shen Wanqing asked, "How is it?" Did the emperor and Yuan Shikai agree? ”

Lin Yuan nodded and said, "Not only did he agree, but Yuan Shikai also enthusiastically said that he wanted to protect us!" ”

Shen Wanqing said in surprise: "Can he still protect us?" If he doesn't stab us in secret, we're going to burn high incense! ”

Lin Yuan said with a smile: "I also wondered at the time, and later Yuan Shikai raised the issue of command, and I understood his careful thoughts!" ”

Shen Wanqing asked, "What does Yuan Shikai have to think about?" ”

Lin Yuan said with a smile: "Yuan Shikai asked the emperor to hand over the command to him, and I will also listen to his command, then I will become his subordinate, and I will become a subordinate of the host!" How many little shoes will he throw over for me to wear? How much fault will it give me? Yuan Shikai has been bullied by me before, and this time he can be regarded as an opportunity to be angry! ”