Song Jiaoren was slightly stunned: "Mr. Sun is really loyal to the country!" ”

These words seem like praise and ridicule, and it is difficult to tell which Song Jiaoren means. Welcome to reading // Maybe it's both, right?

Sun Yuanqi didn't think it was angry at all, and replied lightly: "It's not a public loyalty to the country, it's just that Sun knows what to do and what not to do." Since we are organizing a political party with a certain will, we must always remember the purpose of 'building the party for the public and ruling for the people'. Although a political party has the interests of a political party, if it blindly puts the interests of the political party above the interests of the state, regardless of right and wrong, no matter what contributions it has made in the past, it will have no value in existence now." ”

Song Jiaoren laughed a few times: "Song is teachable!" It's just that President Yuan's proposal to clarify military affairs is not only related to the interests of this association, but also to the republican form of government of the Republic of China. ”

Sun Yuanqi said: "Then how does Chief Song plan to fight?" ”

Song Jiaoren said: "Since General Sun and President Yuan both believe that military affairs should be clarified quickly, it is inconvenient to oppose them, but there are quite some discussions on the details. For example, President Yuan said that he wanted to divide the military and civil affairs, and that's okay! However, the governors and civil chiefs of each province must be elected by the provincial councils and cannot be directly appointed by the central government.

"Another example is the adjustment of military institutions, the military department of the Great Presidential Office is controlled by the Beiyang Department, and the commanders of the War Department and the Navy Department of the State Council are also descendants of Yuan Xiangcheng, so the chief of staff must be a member of our alliance.

"If we want to renew the military establishment, then well, we will give the army an average establishment according to the provinces, regardless of east, west, north and south, under the supervision of the Senate.

"Want to disband redundant armies. Okay, too. At present, there are more than 1.2 million soldiers in the country, including 600,000 in the Beiyang Department and 350,000 in our alliance. There are 100,000 members of the New China Party and 150,000 other troops. Let's abolish it according to the proportion, and the tripartite committee will supervise the implementation, starting with the Beiyang Department with the largest number of soldiers!

"As for the cessation of the purchase and shipment of firearms, it is necessary to have the War Department and the Admiralty uniformly complete the ordnance according to the national army establishment before the cessation of the operation. If any of them Yuan Xiangcheng disagrees. Whichever one is voided. What does Mr. Sun think? ”

Sun Yuanqi felt that Song Jiaoren was a little strong, and even difficult for a strong man.

For example, regardless of east, west, north and south, the army is given an average establishment according to the provinces. Can the distribution of forces be so evenly peppered? Like the land of Gyeonggi. In addition to keeping enough troops to defend them, it is also necessary to deal with the strong military pressure of Japan and Russia at all times, and it is impossible to do without heavy troops. In Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Anhui and other provinces, the army has nothing but ammunition and local pressure. There is hardly much pressure on national defense.

As for before the cessation of weapons. It would be almost nonsense for the War Department and the Navy Department to unify the armaments! It is said that it is to clarify military affairs in order to reduce military spending and reduce financial burden, and if Song Jiaoren said this, not only will the strength of the Southern Alliance rise against the trend, but military spending will also increase sharply. Do you really think that Yuan Datou is wronged?

Sun Yuanqi said noncommittally: "I only support the clarification of military affairs, as for the specific operation, it depends on your wits and courage at the State Council." As long as it can reduce military spending, reduce the financial burden, and get President Yuan to agree. Sun didn't have much of an opinion. Anyway, we have less than 100,000 troops in the four provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Jin, so we won't be able to reduce us to nothing, right? ”

Song Jiaoren got up and bowed slightly to Sun Yuanqi: "Thank you Mr. Sun for your strong support to the Alliance." Song thanked me in advance! ”

After sending Song Jiaoren away, Sun Yuanqi sat quietly in the study alone for a while, thinking back to what the two of them had just said, and suddenly thought of a crucial question: Song Jiaoren said that they had 350,000 troops, if this was true, then how would the alliance feed so many people?

Although the territory of Sun Yuanqi is not as large as that of the Alliance, and the taxes in Sichuan and Shaanxi are not as rich as those in Jiangsu, Guangdong and other places, the strength of the Sun family is also small, less than one-third of that of the Alliance, and Sun Yuanqi has huge industrial support. Even so, the monthly military expenditure of these 100,000 horses is as high as 1 million yuan, which still makes Sun Yuanqi feel painful.

How can the Allies be able to deal with such a huge amount of military spending?

Even if the spirit of the revolutionaries is noble and they do not pay their salaries, the basic problems of people eating and feeding horses, guns and ammunition, lodging and marching, headaches and fevers must always be solved, right? Even if the military expenses of the alliance are only half of the soldiers under Sun Yuanqi's command, then at least 1.75 million yuan will be needed every month! I think this is the fundamental reason why the Nanjing Provisional Government kept borrowing from foreign countries after its establishment and then collapsed so quickly, right?

In the past, when the Nanjing Provisional Government was still there, there may have been foreign banks willing to make venture capital. Now that people are gone, who is willing to lend money to the Alliance to solve the food, clothing, housing and transportation of those 350,000 people? It can be seen that clarifying military affairs is not only Yuan Shikai's top priority, but also the top priority of the Alliance, because neither of them can support the huge military consumption and may collapse financially at any time.

In this case, the alliance will still dare to call out Yuan Shikai, where is its confidence?

Sun Yuanqi felt that this was like two masters competing for internal strength, both sides were close to running out of oil, and the question of who couldn't hold it first was just that the internal force of the Beiyang Department and the Alliance was finance. There is a barefoot and unafraid of wearing shoes in the key alliance: Anyway, now the power of the country is in the hands of your Beiyang department, we are an opposition party, and the people can't scold us if the matter is big. We can pat ourselves on the ass and leave, but you must stay and clean up the mess!

With this horizontal energy that is not afraid of death, the alliance will have the confidence to call Yuan Shikai. Of course, if they can coexist, the alliance will not be stupid enough to have to break the jade. For example, just now, don't look at Song Jiaoren's unequivocal opposition to clarifying military affairs as soon as he came up, in fact, this is just a cover for him, the purpose is to introduce a revised version of the next five measures, and strive to get the New China Party to side with them.

The League's position is clear: clarify military affairs? Yes! But the key is that first, the interests of the alliance must not be damaged, and second, you go first.

One day later, according to the rules set by Tang Shaoyi, it was the day of the State Council. People at home and abroad who are concerned about China's political situation are concerned about this meeting, and the degree of concern is even greater than that of the establishment of the State Council the day before yesterday.

The day before yesterday, the first state council was held, and the late arrival of Wang Chonghui, minister of justice, and Song Jiaoren, minister of agriculture and forestry, and then Zhao Bingjun, minister of internal affairs, said goodbye without saying goodbye, which has already added a shadow to the current cabinet. If there is any further mistake in this meeting, I am afraid that the future of this cabinet is uncertain, and China's political situation will also make waves again!

Sun Yuanqi, Zhang Jian, Tang Shouqian, and the other three arrived at the State Council ten minutes ahead of schedule, and saw Tang Shaoyi sitting at the top of the conference room with an unbelievable expression. Seeing Sun Yuanqi and others entering the door, he hurriedly stood up: "Ji Zhi, Yu Xian, Bai Xi, you came so early!" The New China Party is worthy of believing in nationalism, and it really puts the country first in everything, and it deserves to be a national model! ”

As a veteran of officialdom, Zhang Jian naturally knew that Tang Shaoyi meant something, and he didn't talk about it, but just said falsely: "Prime Minister Shaochuan also came early!" ”

Subsequently, Lu Zhengxiang, Xiong Xiling, Duan Qirui, and Liu Guanxiong also arrived one after another, and even Wang Chonghui and Song Jiaoren rushed to the venue with time, but they never saw Zhao Bingjun, the head of the cabinet. After waiting for five minutes, Tang Shaoyi said: "Chief Zhi'an may encounter an emergency and can't catch up for a while, so let's have a meeting first!" When the meeting is over, send someone to give him the minutes of the meeting. ”

Everyone here understands that Zhao Bingjun's failure to attend the State Council is by no means an emergency. There is no doubt that this is Yuan Shikai's demonstration to the Alliance! If the alliance is not interested, it is very likely that Zhao Bingjun will never attend the state meeting of this cabinet, and even Duan Qirui, Liu Guanxiong and others will disappear from the conference room one by one.

Seeing that there was no objection from everyone present, Tang Shaoyi continued: "At the inauguration ceremony of the State Council the day before yesterday, the President proposed that the most important task at present is to clarify military affairs, including the separation of military and civil affairs, the adjustment of military institutions, the renewal of the military establishment, the disbandment of redundant troops, and the cessation of the purchase and transportation of firearms, so as to avoid fiscal deficits, reduce the burden on the people, and realize a complete democratic republican form of government. What do you think about this? ”

Without waiting for others to answer, Song Jiaoren took the lead and said: "Prime Minister Shaochuan, all the general ministers, Song is the youngest in the cabinet, and he is the last to accompany him, I would like to throw bricks and lead the way, and talk about Song's views on the five measures to clarify military affairs!" Born in 1882, Soong is now in his thirties, the youngest member of the cabinet. And another general director of the League, Wang Chonghui, was born in 1881, and he is terrible in his later life! Now when it comes to youth, Sun Yuanqi can only rank third.

After listening to what Army Chief Duan Qirui heard, he pouted his lips disdainfully: "Listening to what Chief Song said, I'm afraid that General Song has been engaged in revolutionary rebellion work and has never been a soldier and has never been paid, right?" ”

Song Jiaoren snorted coldly: "What? ”

Duan Qirui said: "It's because you haven't been paid as a soldier that you say so many layman's words!" For example, can the military establishment be averaged by province? If you want to talk about the establishment, you must first start with the unified number,...... "I immediately began to give Song Jiaoren a military lesson." Duan Qirui has studied at the Beiyang Military Academy in China, has also been gilded at the Berlin Military Academy in Germany, and has also participated in the Sino-Japanese First Sino-Japanese War.

Song Jiaoren had no choice but to ask: "If it is according to Chief Duan's opinion, then how should the army be updated?" (To be continued.) )