If Sun Yuanqi was also at the scene at the time, he would probably be surprised and asked: "Lord Yuan, have you also watched "Smiling Proud Jianghu"? ”

Because Sun Yuanqi clearly remembers that in "Smiling Proud Jianghu", when Ren Wuxing was surrounded by strong enemies in the Shaolin Temple, he said coaxingly: "The old man admires few of the masters in the world, and there are only three and a half in his heart." There are no pop-up windows to update quickly // There are three and a half, which the old man does not admire. Then he pointed out the heroes of the world with great pride, just like Cao Mengde and Da Er'er Qingmei boiling wine, and drawing everyone's conduct all over the world, how fast!

When Sun Yuanqi read this, he saw that he was arbitrarily commenting that the leader of the Sun Moon Divine Sect, Dongfang Undefeated, the abbot of Shaolin Temple, Master Fang Zheng, the old man of the Huashan faction of the Sword Sect, the head of the Wudang faction, Chongxu Daochang, and the head of the Songshan faction, Zuo Lengchan, but he felt that his blood was full of blood, and he admired Jin Yong's old man to the ground. But I never expected that this "three and a half" statement came from the "Let Me Go" hero-Yuan Shikai.

Since Yuan Shikai said this, there are many followers in the world, such as the "three and a half military strategists" and "three and a half chiefs of staff" in China. The famous scholar Qian Zhongshu is not exempt from vulgarity, and once said: "There are three and a half people in China, one from Guangzhou, one from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, one from Hunan, and half from Shandong, and the influence of Hunan people is particularly far-reaching." "As for Jin Yong's pen, it's just picking up people's teeth and using them skillfully.

Of course, Duan Qirui and the others present did not have Yaxing to verify the root of the "three and a half" mentioned by Yuan Shikai, but just asked: "I don't know who the handsome missed?" ”

Yuan Shikai said: "Sun Baixi! ”

"He? Is that the teacher sent by the imperial court to quell the chaos in Sichuan? Ni Sichong jumped out again, "What can he do?" Ten Sun Yuanqi are tied up, and they are not the ones of Lord Xu and Yang Wenjinggong! Xu Shichang is an important staff member of Yuan Shikai's training at the small station, and Yang Shixiang is also a close friend of Yuan Shikai, so Ni Sichong can't afford not to value it.

However, Duan Qirui was more steady, and asked in a deep voice: "Dashuai, is it Sun Baixi who led the 44th Mixed Association to raise an incident in Xi'an?" ”

Only then did Yuan Shikai turn over the telegram and hand it to everyone: "What Zhiquan said is not bad, but the situation is even worse. In the afternoon of today, Zhao Jingxing, the 44th Mixed Association Commander, and the 87th Bid Commander were in Xi'an, Shaanxi, and the 88th Bid Commander Yan Xishan and his department were in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. In the evening, the establishment of the Shaanxi Military Government of the Republic of China and the Shanxi Military Government were announced successively. As for Sun Baixi, he should have entered Sichuan by now. If he coerced the aftermath of the victory of the two provinces and merged with the Baolu Comrade Army, I am afraid that Sichuan will not be owned by the imperial court! ”

Duan Qirui hurriedly pulled over a map. The above analogy said: "Since the rebellion broke out in Wuchang on the 19th day of the eighth lunar month, it has been less than a month, and ten provinces, including Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shaanxi, and Shanxi, have announced the establishment of puppet military governments. Most of these provinces were rich lands, while Fengtian, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Gansu, Xinjiang and other places controlled by the imperial court were mostly vast and sparsely populated. If we don't quell the chaos as soon as possible, I'm afraid that the situation in the world will be worrying! ”

Yuan Shikai said: "Today, four provinces, including Jiangsu, Anhui, Shaanxi, and Shanxi, announced their recovery. It shows that the general trend of the "Revolution" Party has been achieved and cannot be stopped, but I am afraid that the remaining provinces and regions will also be stupid after learning the news. For the sake of today's plan, we must first ensure that the three provinces of Zhili, Henan, and Shandong are foolproof, and as for the other provinces, we can only slowly figure them out later. ”

The three provinces of Zhili, Henan, and Shandong are the traditional spheres of influence of the Beiyang Army, and they are also the foundation of Yuan Shikai's control of the world, so naturally there can be no mistakes. Duan Zhigui heard the string song and knew the elegant meaning. said the follow-up measures for Yuan Shikai: "Dashuai, since there have been rebellions in Shaanxi and Shanxi, we must prepare as soon as possible. Once they packed up their troops and went east to Henan and Zhili. cut off our rear road, so that there is a great river in front of our army, and it is difficult to advance suddenly; Later, there were rebellious armies and looted food and wages. I'm going to die! Therefore, we should leave a small number of troops to cooperate with the naval division to hold the banks of the Yangtze River, and the main force should withdraw to the front line of Wushengguan as soon as possible. In addition, it is necessary to transfer a mixed army from Zhengzhou to the west of Luoyang to capture Tongguan; From Zhengding, a mixed army was mobilized from Shijiazhuang to the west, and the camera captured Niangzi Pass. If you can get it, of course, it will be great. Even if it doesn't work out. and consume their forces, so that they have no time for anything else! ”

Yuan Shikai nodded, and said solemnly: "Order: First, from now on, all the armies entering Hubei will begin to shrink and rectify, and they will be ready to go north at any time, and the day of going north is to be determined." Second. After the military advisory office forwarded the telegram tomorrow morning, it was suggested that the imperial court send Zhao Kui to lead a Yi army to the west to seize Tongguan as soon as possible. Third, tonight, a telegram was sent to Wu Luzhen, the commander of the sixth town of the Zhengding Army, asking him to move to Shijiazhuang to wait for the order of the imperial court, and to be ready to capture Niangzi Pass along the Zhengtai line at any time. ”

Ni Si shouted: "Dashuai, what should we do after we go north?" ”

Although Ni Sichong is a rammer, this question is to the point. Everyone looked at Yuan Shikai, who was sitting firmly on the Taishi chair.

"The news came in a hurry, and I didn't have any good ideas about what to do after going north. Now that there's no one else in the house, why don't you all talk about it? Yuan Shikai only kicked the ball lightly and kicked the ball to everyone.

Whenever this time, it is always Ni Sichong who takes the lead, and he really throws bricks and stones: "Dashuai, the four provinces declared independence at the same time in one day today, which shows that the people of the world are backing, so the fall of the Qing court is just around the corner." According to the humble position, it is better to wait for our army to stabilize the defense line along the river, the main force will go north along the Luhan line, join the other brothers of the six towns to besiege the Beijing division, force the Qing emperor to abdicate, and let the marshal sit on the dragon chair first. Then the soldiers were divided into two routes, one was to go south from the Grand Canal, to recover the two rivers and two lakes, and one was to go up to Shanxi and outflank Bashu and Yungui. Such a big thing can be done! Even if things go wrong, the will of heaven is difficult to disobey, it is not a bad way to rule the river! ”

Although Ni Sichong is Qiu Ba, after all, he was a showman and a magistrate in his early years, but his stomach is not full of straw! is usually very arrogant, but it is just the appearance he makes. What I said just now undoubtedly spoke the minds of most of the people here. Therefore, as soon as the words fell, everyone praised one after another: "What Dan Chen said is extremely true!" ”

Yuan Shikai also had this intention in his heart, and when he saw Duan Qirui sitting there silently in the bustling crowd, his heart didn't move, stopped everyone's discussion, and took the initiative to ask: "Zhiquan, what is your opinion?" ”

Duan Qirui got up when he heard this, and arched his hand towards everyone: "What Brother Danchen said is a good policy. However, there are some foolish opinions below, and I want to say it and ask everyone to correct it. First of all, we need to recognize the domestic situation. Generally speaking, the whole country can now be divided into two parts: the imperial court occupies the north and the revolutionary party occupies the south. But if we look closely, we can actually divide it into five different factions: "The first is the imperial court, which includes the Manchu Eight Banners and the Han Chinese who are loyal to the imperial court in various places. Because it is still orthodox and occupies a prestigious position, coupled with the habit of two or three hundred years, it has extensive support throughout the country, and it can be described as 'a hundred-legged insect, dead but not stiff'.

"The second is our Beiyang, which is mainly based on the old brothers who are handsome and small stations to train soldiers. Although we are now subordinate to the imperial court, the imperial court's precautions against us are simply known to passers-by, but we are not on the side of the "revolutionary" party, so we are a separate branch. We have the advantage of having soldiers in our hands, and we are well-trained and invincible, and we have the largest number of troops in the country.

"The third is the Revolutionary Party. The "revolutionary" party I am talking about here refers to the real "revolutionary" party with the League as the core and respecting Sun Wenxue's theory. Their advantage is that their doctrine is very popular, and many young people who have not been deeply involved in the world devote themselves to it, forgetting their lives and deaths, and fighting for themselves. Since the turmoil in Wuchang, there has gradually been a trend of burning the prairie in the north and south of the river. But their shortcomings are also obvious, that is, Sun Wen is still abroad, the people who preside over government affairs are young people who are not familiar with the world, and the provinces do not communicate with each other, in fact, it is a loose alliance that is easy to break apart.

"The fourth is the constitutionalists, which are distributed throughout the country, and in the north there are calls for the reorganization of the imperial cabinet, the convening of the National Assembly, and the implementation of constitutional government; In the south, they colluded with the Revolutionary Party and the imperial bureaucracy to encourage the provinces to declare independence and autonomy. The two sides of the north and the south are in harmony with each other, and there is a tendency to become bigger.

"The fifth is Sun Yuanqi's department, which now occupies Shanxi, Shaanxi and even Sichuan. So far I don't know much about them, nor do I know their specific political leanings. A few years ago, Sun Yuanqi was just a scholar who relied on his ancestors to mingle in the officialdom, vigorously established education, and enjoyed a reputation at home and abroad; Later, he suddenly became a loyal minister and favored minister of the Qing Dynasty, actively shared the worries of the imperial court, and soon paid homage to Shangshu and entered the cabinet; Who knew that today he suddenly raised troops to rebel, which is really shocking. It seems that Sun Yuanqi himself has no objections to the imperial court, and he has no dealings with the [Revolution] party——"

Yuan Shikai interjected: "Zhiquan, you probably don't know yet, right? In fact, when I was recuperating in Zhangde, Sun Baixi sent his staff to visit me and took the initiative to make friends with me. ”

"Is there such a thing?" Duan Zhigui was a little surprised: "If you say that, then wouldn't Sun Yuanqi be a figure like Wang Mang?" ”

"Sun Yuanqi has soldiers and land in his hands, and he is quite prestigious among young people, and he has close contacts with the American minister, so he can be regarded as an independent force that should not be underestimated." Duan Qirui continued: "Among these five factions, the constitutionalist faction and Sun Yuanqi's department have all moved closer to the [Revolutionary] party, standing on one front, preparing to overthrow the imperial court. If we join forces with the imperial court, we can fight with them on a par. If according to what Brother Dan Chen said, we and the Qing court will add up the swords and soldiers, I am afraid that we will lose both, and let the [Revolution] order the party benefit! ”

Yuan Shikai thoughtfully: "Then with what you see, what should we do?" ”

Duan Qirui said: "Let's go north first and join forces with the Qing court to ensure that the court and the [Revolution] party are evenly matched." Then he secretly contacted the Revolutionary Party, the Constitutionalist faction, and Sun Yuanqi's department to see if he could join the camp. As long as the imperial court and the Revolutionary Party are in a stalemate for a period of time, we can meet left and right in the middle, waiting for the price to sell. Once an agreement is reached with the Revolutionary Party, we will quickly annex the Qing court. At that time, we were the dominant family, and whoever we formed an alliance with was sure to win. Isn't it much better than the fact that we are now fighting with the Qing court, and we are both defeated? ”

After hearing this, Yuan Shikai couldn't help but platter his palms and praised: "Zhiquan, my son Fang also!" ”！。