Duan Qirui did not echo everyone's opinions: "Shuai, there is a question I want to ask Secretary General Yansun for advice!" ”

Yuan Shikai took a sip of ginseng soup and said, "Why should Zhiquan be so polite? Go ahead! ”

Duan Qirui asked, "I wonder what Secretary General Yansun plans to do after he catches Sun Baixi?" As far as Duan knows, although Sun Baixi inevitably made mistakes in the party's governance, he is not guilty of death, and he has a decisive influence at home and abroad. If you are a little careless in disposal, it is easy to ruin our reputation and lose the hearts of the people in Beiyang! ”

Everyone couldn't help but be stunned, and then they all nodded secretly: With Sun Yuanqi's great reputation, it is impossible to kill, and how to deal with it after capture is really a tricky problem!

Liang Shiyi smiled slightly: "Yingtai in the South China Sea is surrounded by water, the scenery is extraordinary, and Emperor Dezongjing lived there for ten years. Not long ago, Li Huangpi (Li Yuanhong) coveted the scenery there and moved over, but he felt a little lonely. If Sun Baixi can accompany him in the past, the two of them will talk about wine and talk happily every day, and they will definitely be able to solve their boredom. I wonder what Shiba Quan thinks? ”

Duan Qirui's expression did not move: "Since Secretary-General Yansun has made arrangements, there is naturally no need for Duan to rap." It's just that the marshal has now decided to send troops to arrest Sun Baixi and dissolve the parliament, so I'm afraid that the policy just said by the humble post is not very applicable, and the specific strategy needs to be carefully considered! ”

"Why do you say that?" Yuan Shikai asked in a deep voice.

Duan Qirui didn't seem to notice the change in Yuan Shikai's expression, and replied calmly: "The initial suggestion of 'encircling Wei to save Zhao' was based on the premise that the central pattern was basically immovable. The core of a strategy of confronting and restraining each other's local forces lies in the word 'encirclement'. The essence is to lead but not provoke, to oppress people with power, to force the central rulers to make concessions, and finally surrender without a fight. However, after the clever changes of Secretary General Yansun, it has actually become a force to make concessions by holding hostage the central power figures, that is, 'encircling Wei to save Zhao' has become 'capturing thieves and capturing the king'. It is conceivable that once Sun Baixi is captured. Jin Governor Zhao Xingzhi, Shaanxi Governor Zhang Yuhe, Gan Governor Cheng Huchen and others will inevitably raise troops to march eastward, if so, it will turn from the originally envisioned siege without fighting into a life-and-death war. Shouldn't we carefully consider the specific strategy and make appropriate adjustments? ”

Without waiting for Liang Shiyi to answer, Duan Qirui said: "When formulating a strategy, we should especially focus on considering the current armament situation of the two armies. As far as Duan knows, Sun Baixi actually only used the Second Division of the Hubei Army and some aircraft in the previous Southern Expedition, and the other departments were all feints, and there was basically no consumption of guns and ammunition. It can be said that the combat power of the troops has been preserved to the maximum. Moreover, behind them are the two major military enterprises of Beiping Iron Works and Hanyang Iron Works, which can be quickly replenished even if they are consumed. In contrast, are we ready for a big war?

"In order to ensure that there were no mistakes in the battle of the Southern Expedition, we had sent elite troops from Zhili, Shandong, Henan and other provinces to the south, and then stayed in Suwan and other places as garrison troops, and they have not yet been rebuilt. As a result, there was a shortage of troops in many places in Zhiyu. In the event of war, the situation is bound to be very worrying. But this is not the most urgent problem, the most urgent problem is that the reserves of firearms and ammunition in all departments of our army are seriously insufficient! The battle of the southern expedition exhausted the guns and ammunition available to the garrison troops, and after the war, due to the shortage of military expenditure, the vacancies in various departments were not filled. The figures of the War Department indicate. More than half of the troops in the four provinces of Zhizhi, Henan, Shandong, and Hubei have less than one base number of firearms and ammunition! ”

Yuan Shikai's face became gloomy as water: "Zhiquan, what you said, why doesn't the old man know?" It's just that now Sun Baixi is pressing step by step. There is no way back for us. You also know that our military spending is scarce, which makes us unable to buy arms, and Sun Baixi sits on two major arsenals; We live by borrowing from foreign banks in various countries, and Sun Baixi's industry is all over the world; We are trapped in the southeast of North China, and Sun Baixi not only occupies the northwest, southwest, and south China, but also extends his hand to Jiangsu, Fujian, and Zhejiang. Our strength is getting worse and worse, but Sun Baixi is getting stronger and stronger, and now there is still a three-to-five chance of winning in the rebellion, and in another two or three years, I am afraid that we will not be able to get a good death! Does Zhiquan think we should sit idly by? ”

Duan Qirui stood up: "Returning to the marshal, there is no such intention in the humble position, and it is not to shake the morale of the army, but the soldiers are fierce and dangerous, and they must be considered in advance." If you don't think about it and start things in a hurry, you will regret eating the umbilicus in the future! ”

Liang Shiyi smiled and said: "Chief Zhiquan has a heart!" However, if war breaks out, military expenses and firearms and ammunition will definitely be settled, which Liang can pack, and the marshal and everyone here can rest assured. ”

"Oh?" Hearing that Liang Shiyi was able to find a source of military spending, even Yuan Shikai was shocked.

The so-called "once the cannon goes off, the gold is ten thousand taels", if you really want to start a war, the cost is not a small amount, especially in modern warfare. Even a superpower like Midi was a little overwhelmed by the fact that it had fought local wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for several years, so it had to pull down its subordinates and ask for help from the European Union and mud bombardment. What's more, it was the government of the Republic of China that had just completed the "big loan for the aftermath" at this time? The previous "big aftermath loan" has basically mortgaged everything that can be mortgaged at home and borrowed everything that can be borrowed abroad, and now the government of the Republic of China is like an oil residue that has been boiled several times, and there is no oil and water to squeeze, who is willing to lend him money again? You must know that the great powers of all countries are demons who cannot afford to make profits, but they are not bodhisattvas who do good deeds!

At the same time, Yuan Shikai, Yang Shiqi and others have some hope in their hearts: Liang Caishen is not a waste of fame, since he said so, he may not be able to toss a lot of money!

"Liang Caishen" does not mean that Liang Shiyi has a lot of money, but that he is good at financial management, and he is one of the few experts in finance and finance in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. At that time, in order to prepare for the construction of the Jinghan Railway, the Qing Dynasty ordered Liang Shiyi and others to prepare for the establishment of the Bank of Communications, which was one of the two major note-issuing banks at that time (the other was the Daqing Bank). However, the Qing imperial family was extravagant and the country's finances were extremely tight, so they used the newly established Bank of Communications as an ATM and came to overdraft their funds every once in a while. Because Liang Shiyi always had a way to get money for the imperial court, the name "Liang God of Wealth" came from this.

Liang Shiyi leaned forward slightly, and said in a low voice: "Two or three years ago, the Tibetan Kashag and some monks took advantage of the rebellion in Wuchang and the Qing government was too busy to launch a rebellion, intending to expel the minister in Tibet, Lianyu. Sun Baixi, who was the governor of Sichuan at the time, brazenly sent troops to invade Tibet in two ways without informing the British government, and fought a big battle near Gyantse with the British army escorting Thubten Gyatso into Tibet at the turn of the summer and autumn of the second year of the Republic of China, causing more than 1,000 casualties among the British army, and finally had to abandon the armor and retreat to India. Mr. Zhu Erdian was furious about this and lodged a stern protest with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of our country. But because Sun Baixi was famous, and the British government asked him for medicine, airplanes, etc., he finally gave up.

Now Sun Baixi is plotting against Fujian again, but everyone knows that Japan has been coveting Fujian for a long time! As early as the Tongzhi period, where China and Japan formally established formal diplomatic relations, Japan set up a consulate in Fuzhou, which was one of the first two consulates established by Japan in China. In the last years of Guangxu, Fumio Yano, the Japanese minister to China, sent a note to Prime Minister Yamen, demanding that the Qing government issue a statement that it would not cede or lease Fujian's land to other countries, that is, Fujian would be included in Japan's sphere of influence in China. Although the Qing government explicitly rejected it at that time, Japan successively set up special concessions in Xiamen and Fuzhou, and Fujian had in fact become a Japanese ban. Now that Sun Baixi has taken it without telling him, how can Japan, which has always been eager to repay itself, give up? ”

Yuan Keding said hatefully: "Sun Yuanqi dared to offend the two powerful countries of Britain and Japan with a corner of the land, what a good dog's guts!" ”

Liang Shiyi said: "The eldest young master is extremely right, Sun Baixi has always been lawless and bold, but this is also his way to death!" The following means is to hold talks with the British Minister to China, Mr. Zhu Erdian, and the Japanese Minister to China, Mr. Enjiro Yamaza, and promise that once our Beiyang Army defeats Sun Baixi's subordinates, it will abide by the treaties and regulations of the former Qing Dynasty, and divide Tibet and Fujian into the spheres of influence of the two countries. However, the premise is that Britain and Japan must provide us with military expenses and guns and ammunition for the crusade against Sun Baixi's subordinates. That is, they do not need to send troops, as long as they provide military expenses and guns and ammunition, they can get it for nothing. With such attractive conditions, they will be very happy to think of it! ”

Unexpectedly, Liang Shiyi actually came up with such a bad idea, and everyone couldn't help but look at each other: Isn't this a traitor to seek glory? If you really do this, won't you be with Qin Hui, Hong Chengchou, Wu Sangui and others a hundred years later?

Yuan Shikai also looked a little displeased, and after coughing a few times, he said, "Yan Sun, this move is too much-"

Liang Shiyi said: "Dashuai, now Fujian and Tibet are in the hands of Sun Baixi, and our promise to make these two provinces the British and Japanese sphere of influence is just a generous gesture to others." If we can completely defeat Sun Baixi's subordinates and unify the whole country, the country will be strong and prosperous in the future, and it may not be impossible to defeat the powers and recover these two provinces under the command of the commander. At that time, others will only think that it is a last resort and expediency, and who will say anything else? If we stick to the rules, we are afraid of wolves and tigers, and let Sun Baixi sit big, and it will be difficult to protect our own lives in the future, what can we do with those false names? ”

Yuan Shikai was silent, obviously hesitating in his heart.

Liang Shiyi said again: "Dashuai, the so-called 'one who achieves great things, does not care about small shame; Those who have made great contributions, do not forgive', everything has the right to be experienced, why should you stick to the vulgar name? ”

Yuan Shikai clenched his fists suddenly, and then let go: "Let's plan what we want to do tomorrow first!" As for the discussion with the British and Japanese envoys, it will not be too late to wait until tomorrow. ”

Although Yuan Shikai used the "drag" trick, everyone here knew that in fact, Yuan Shikai had already agreed to Liang Shiyi's proposal in his heart! (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point (qidian.) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. For mobile phone users, please go to m.qidian. )