Sun Yuanqi said very easily, as if Zhu Rui, the governor of Zhejiang, was willing to offer a natural harbor at any time, but in fact, it was not at all. In the early Republic of China, in the era of "having a gun is the king of grass", the provincial governors attached the most importance to the territory, because only with the territory can there be soldiers, only then can there be food, only then can they have the confidence to speak, and only then can they have the strength to call out to the central government and the surrounding provinces, and they certainly do not want anyone to intervene in their own territory.

Those who dare to open their mouths to borrow land are not easy people, if they are generous and benevolent, it is okay, at most Liu Bei borrowed Jingzhou - there is no repayment of the loan; If it is an unruly master, borrowing land is likely to become a false way to destroy the enemy, so they must not be careless. And this opening is not easy to open, this time I borrowed it, will I borrow it next time? The east borrowed, the west borrowed or not? There are also brothers, comrades, division commanders, etc., three borrows and five borrows, but I am afraid that he, the governor of the provincial capital, will become a Taoist, then become a prefect, and then become a county order, and then he should go home and sell sweet potatoes! Therefore, whether it is the benefactor or the central government, it is best to avoid respect!

Sun Yuanqi spoke like this, mostly to comfort Jiang Zhiqing, the chief of the navy. Moreover, at the beginning of the third year of Xuantong of the former Qing Dynasty (1911), Zaixun was ambitious and wanted to revitalize the navy, in view of the fact that most of the country's good ports were leased by foreign countries, he had specially sent people to buy 4,000 acres of land and 600 houses in Xiangshan, Zhejiang Province for the purpose of military ports. But how to talk to Zhu Rui about this matter needs to be carefully considered, so as not to hurt the harmony.

If you want to know people's hearts, you have to count Yang Du. After sending Jiang Zhiqing away, Sun Yuanqi hurriedly sent someone to invite Yang Du.

After listening to the reason, Yang Du shook his head: "Although Zhu Jieren (Zhu Rui) is relatively close to us, he is an outsider after all, not a descendant. If you rashly borrow land from him now, it will inevitably make him feel guilty, and it will be easy for others to take advantage of it. Kai-shek also makes sense that Haizhou is located in the northern part of the Huai salt producing area, and the two Huai salt taxes are the bulk of the local wealth. Naturally, the Jiangsu provincial government will not let people get involved easily. But now that Cheng Xuelou (Cheng Dequan) has gone north to take up the post of chief of transportation, there is a vacancy in the position of Su Governor, and this matter is another matter!

"The importance of Jiangsu's status is not repeated by Yang. To the north, the Ludu Zhou Zihui (Zhou Ziqi) was a close confidant of Yuan Xiangcheng; In its west, the governor of Anhui, Bai Liewu (Bai Wenwei), was a revolutionary; In the south, Zhu Jieren, the governor of Zhejiang, has a little to do with us. Now the governor is vacant. Just in time, the situation between the north and the south is extremely delicate, and all parties are eyeing each other, so we have to fight for it. ”

"How are we going to fight?" Sun Yuanqi is not unaware of the importance of Jiangsu in the whole country, but his own strength is concentrated in the west, and it is really beyond the reach of Jiangsu on the eastern coast. - If only Zhang Jian hadn't betrayed the party, his influence as a champion in Jiangsu was unparalleled. If you want to fight for this governor, you will definitely be nine out of ten!

"How to fight? We can fight as much as we can, fight as much as we can, and do everything we can! Anyway, Jiangsu is the land of Baixi, and let's fight for it. Yang Du shook the paper fan and said leisurely: "For Yuan Xiangcheng and Sun Yat-sen, if you win Jiangsu, you will be strong, and if you lose Jiangsu, you will be weak, which is of great significance." Of course. It is also important to us, if we get Jiangsu, it is equivalent to planting a nail in the east, thus connecting with Zhejiang, forcing the Zhu Jiemen to get closer to us, and encircle Yuan Xiangcheng on both sides. ”

Sun Yuanqi smiled bitterly: "It is precisely because it will pose a threat to Yuan Xiangcheng that this matter is not easy to handle. If it was a corner abandoned by Yuan Xiangcheng and Sun Yat-sen, why was Sun so embarrassed? ”

Yang Du said: "If we get Jiangsu, Yuan Xiangcheng will feel threatened, and Yuan Xiangcheng will get Jiangsu." Does it also make us feel like we are stuck in our throats? It is precisely because of this matter that both sides are embarrassed that there is room for mutual discussion. Moreover, he is not yet an official president, and there are many places where he needs to rely on the New China Party; Your appointment has been approved by the National Assembly, and you will be appointed Prime Minister, and you will have a bargaining price with him. How can this kind of problem be actively retreated? In officialdom, there has always been only an inch, and there is no 'others respect me for a foot, and I respect others for a foot'! ”

Sun Yuanqi pondered for a moment. After carefully weighing the gains and losses, he replied: "You can fight, but the time is not right now." Since the assassination of Song Jiaoren, the Southern revolutionaries have been preparing to overthrow the central government by force, but they are only afraid that Yuan Xiangcheng will join forces with us to suppress it. This is still dormant. If we had a quarrel with Yuan Xiangcheng over the Jiangsu incident, wouldn't it give the revolutionaries an opportunity to take advantage of? ”

Yang Du laughed: "We are afraid that the revolutionaries will make trouble, but we are afraid that Yuan Xiangcheng is more afraid than us, and he is eager to win us over to fight against the south, so now is the best time to seek Jiangsu." Of course, with his own people, it is impossible for Yuan Xiangcheng to completely hand over Jiangsu to us, otherwise he will really go not far away! We have to negotiate with Yuan Xiangcheng with the situation of fighting for the whole province, and in the end, even if we don't succeed, we can end up in the land of one state and half a government; If he compromises and grovels to ask for Haizhou Port, Yuan Xiangcheng may not be willing to give alms. ”

After a pause, Yang Du asked again: "Baixi, do you want to join the Entente side after the war in Europe next year, start a war with Germany nearby, and take the opportunity to seize Qingdao, right?" ”

Sun Yuanqi sighed: "Whether we join the Entente or the Allied Powers can still be considered in the long run, but as the most important naval base of the Allied Powers in the Far East, Qingdao will undoubtedly become a battlefield for fierce battles between the two sides. In order to avoid suffering from the pond fish, we, the host, must not make some preparations in advance, so as not to suffer when the immortals fight and mortals. ”

Yang Du didn't believe it: "If it wasn't for the war against Germany, why would it be necessary to set up a military port in Haizhou?" Now that China's navy is so weak, if it really wants to avoid suffering from the fish in the pond, it should make the most of its strengths and avoid its weaknesses, and start defending by land, rather than by sea. Moreover, even if the Entente and the Allies went to war in Qingdao, it would not be too much of a problem for us, but would have a great impact on Yuan Xiangcheng, because Shandong had always been the territory of the Beiyang Army. Once a major war breaks out in Qingdao, resulting in the erosion of the whole province of Shandong, the most anxious person must be Yuan Xiangcheng: if there is some rescue, I am afraid that I will not be able to do it; Sitting on the sidelines, they are worried about losing their reputation. ”

What Yang Du said is not bad, Shandong is indeed Yuan Shikai's territory. As early as the winter of the 25th year of Guangxu (1899), Yuan Xiangcheng served as a feudal official for the first time, that is, as the governor of Shandong; Until the winter of the twenty-seventh year (1901), Li Wenzhong Gong (Li Hongzhang) died of illness, Yuan Xiangcheng took over as the governor of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang, he had been in charge of Shandong for two years, it can be said that the officials of Shandong are branded with the imprint of the Yuan family.

Seeing that Yang Du was obsessed with whether to start a war with Germany and the question of Yuan Shikai's interests, Sun Yuanqi had to reveal some "inside information" again, but it was also mixed with a lot of newly obtained spy reports from the intelligence system: "To be honest, Yuan Xiangcheng is not a bad person, especially in safeguarding national interests. It's just that now he is financially weak, and it is inevitable that he will be heroic and short of breath when dealing with ministers from various countries. According to a study by the China Institute of Policy Studies, if nothing else, Yuan Xiangcheng should soon declare neutrality in the event of a war in Europe.

"Germany is not the worst of the great powers, at least not as bad as Tsarist Russia and Japan, and it is surrounded by enemies on both sides, thousands of miles away from China. If a war breaks out in Europe, it will inevitably shrink its fronts and devote its energies and forces to European affairs, leaving less attention to its colonies in other countries. Moreover, Jiaozhou Bay only has thousands of troops in isolation, which cannot withstand attrition at all. If it is smart enough, it should offer the Chinese government that it is willing to return Qingdao, but the Chinese government will have to pay for the cost of building Qingdao in the early stage; If the Chinese government does not have the money, it can choose a suitable port for Germany in the future as compensation.

"Germany's return is not a disadvantage to itself, and if China can afford to pay huge reparations, it can use it to support the attrition of the European theater; If China can't afford to pay, then this move is the best way to delay the war, and it can take the opportunity to change the cage for the bird and the golden cicada to shed its shell. - The Chinese government naturally has no money, and in the future, it will be the best option to lease a port to Germany. ”

Yang Du thought for a moment and then nodded and replied: "If Germany adopts this plan, it will indeed be the most beneficial to them, and it is not too harsh for the Chinese government, and both sides should be more satisfied." That's the end of the Institute for Policy Studies report? ”

Sun Yuanqi shook his head: "Naturally, things are not so smooth, because there is a bad neighbor in the east of our country - Japan. Although Japan has invaded and occupied China's Luda, Taiwan, Penghu, and other places, it is insatiable and covets the superior conditions of Qingdao's good port. As early as the beginning of the German lease of Qingdao, under the cover of opening a photo studio, they set up an intelligence station in Qingdao, and spies often disguised themselves as Japanese businessmen and Chinese people to spy on Qingdao and along the Jiaoji Railway, and did everything possible to find opportunities to get involved in Shandong and Qingdao. Recently, the activities have become more frequent, and special agents have been frequently sent to Qingdao to investigate and spy on the movement and training of the German troops in Qingdao.

"Nowadays, Japanese spies are all over China, from the central authorities to the streets, and all secrets are unguarded for them. I am afraid that today Yuan Xiangcheng and Germany will hold secret consultations on the issue of returning Qingdao, perhaps Sun is not clear, and the information has already been put on the desk of the Japanese Prime Minister. How will Japan react when it finds out? The Chinese government will certainly be accused of undermining its neutrality and forging a private alliance with Germany. Our government has been frightened over the years, and Yuan Xiangcheng has also been defeated by the Japanese army several times, and he must have been terrified when he heard the news, and he was afraid of being burned, so he could only immediately end the negotiations with Germany.

"Once the Sino-German negotiations break down, it is inevitable that Japan and Germany will fight each other, and Japan has the advantage of geographical advantages and large numbers, and victory is also a sure thing. Moreover, Japan has always had the ambition of 'opening up thousands of miles of waves by force', and after the outbreak of war, it will certainly not be confined to the territory of the German leased territory, and it will only then be the real erosion of the whole province of Shandong! ”

Yang Du was stunned: "Baixi is preparing for war in Haizhou, is he preparing to deal with Japan?" (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. )