So the countries first reported this plan to their own governments. After some exchanges and communication, the governments also agreed to the ministers' suggestions and authorized the ministers to implement them. After some negotiation, the ministers finally recommended that the British Minister Jurden be the leader to be responsible for this matter.

After receiving the recommendation of everyone, Zhu Erdian immediately took action in two routes. One was to contact merchants from all provinces in the Yangtze River Basin, including Chinese merchants, mainly to ask them to contribute capital. After all, to convince Yuan Shikai to come to the south, some practical benefits must be taken out, otherwise why should he be persuaded? In addition, to be independent in the south, it also requires sufficient funds.

Of course, in Beijing, it was impossible for Juerdian to go to the Yangtze River Basin to recruit merchants from various countries to negotiate. Therefore, this task was also entrusted to the French Consul in Hankou Fernan, because now Shanghai has been occupied by the East China National Congress. Although the consulates in Shanghai have not been abolished, they are all under the eyes of the East China National Congress, and it is difficult to act. In the Yangtze River Basin, except for Shanghai, there is the largest concession in Hankou. However, the Hankou Concession is mainly the French Concession, so this matter can only be left to the French Consul Fernan, Hankou.

The other is in Beijing. On the one hand, he had to convince Yuan Shikai to be willing to go to the south to create a new situation; on the other hand, if Yuan Shikai agreed, he had to operate and let the Qing court send Yuan Shikai to the south. After all, the Qing court can generally control the situation now, and Yuan Shikai cannot go to the south alone unless he wants to rebel. Of course, these matters are under the responsibility of Zhu Erdian himself.

Anhui Governor Enming sent troops to openly intercept the fleet of East China's fleet on the Yangtze River, which immediately caused panic among foreign merchants in various provinces. Because Enming's rash behavior was likely to trigger an armed conflict between East China and the Qing court. This situation was something foreign merchants didn't want to see. In fact, although East China occupied Shanghai and confiscated a large number of merchants' industries, because East China's economic development attaches great importance to the development of the economy, and has good internal economic order, vigorously carried out infrastructure construction, and has high administrative efficiency. Therefore, the environment for business and investment is far from before. Businessmen from various countries can still do business in Shanghai and make a lot of wealth.

However, although foreign businessmen are willing to engage in business dealings with East China, they do not want East China to control other provinces in the Yangtze River Basin, but it is best to maintain the current situation. Although East China controls other provinces in the Yangtze River Basin, merchants from various countries can still make profits under the rule of East China, and will even gain more benefits as long as they obey the management of East China.

However, merchants from various countries are unwilling to obey the management of East China. To be precise, they do not want to give up the privilege of doing business in China. Merchants from various countries have special powers superior to others in the jurisdiction of the Qing court, even in their country. The Qing court generally cannot mandate them for compulsory management. Fairness only exists between foreign merchants. When a dispute between China and foreign countries occurs, foreign merchants are most likely to win. Under the rule of East China, foreign merchants have no privileges. Many foreign merchants violated the laws of East China due to their superior habits and were punished accordingly. Even consulate negotiations are useless. Therefore, for merchants from various countries, they would rather make less money than give up the special powers superior to others.

When Françon recruited merchants from all over the world to negotiate to resolve the crisis, merchants were naturally very interested. However, Françon mentioned that when he wanted to support a strong ruler in southern China, no one responded with the help of merchants. Bijing is not the most crisis time, and it is not that easy for merchants to pay for money.

However, after the East China *** occupied Anhui Province, the attitudes of the merchants also changed. After all, no one knew what the East China ** was the goal. Is it just an Anhui Province? Moreover, the incompetence of local officials in the Qing court also made the merchants realize that southern China really needed a strong ruler, so there was no need for Furnan to persuade them. The merchants took the initiative to give them away, and also attracted many Chinese merchants.

In fact, most Chinese businessmen are unwilling to rule the East China **. Although under the rule of the East China **, Chinese businessmen can obtain the same status as foreign merchants, this is not very attractive to Chinese businessmen, because there are often official support behind Chinese businessmen. Therefore, in many aspects, there are many special powers. Even if you are playing with foreign merchants, you can rely on the support of the government, and have come and go, not vulnerable. These conditions are obviously not available in East China **. In East China, even if you are a veteran doing business, you must respect a considerable legal system. ** will have certain support for the economy and business, but support does not mean a privilege.

On the other hand, the land system of East China is also an important factor that prevents most Chinese businessmen from looking for. Because the Chinese are accustomed to the desire for land, Chinese merchants are often big landlords, although their business income far exceeds the income of land. The land system of East China obviously violates the vital interests of these merchants, so naturally does not want the rule of East China. But maintains the current situation. On the one hand, if you do business with East China, you can obtain a lot of wealth; on the other hand, you can still maintain your current status, family property, and land. The occupation of Anhui by the East China also allowed Chinese merchants to see the crisis. The Qing court obviously could not count on it. The South needed a new and powerful ruler to fight against East China and protect merchants.

Therefore, Chinese businessmen from all provinces in the Yangtze River Basin also supported the suggestion put forward by the ministers and were willing to invest in it. As a result, with the generous donation of Chinese and foreign merchants, more than 3 million taels of silver were quickly raised, and the funds and material foundations were initially established.

Zhu Erdian also started working in Beijing. He personally rushed to Tianjin to visit Yuan Shikai and persuaded Yuan Shikai to give up Beijing and go to the south to create a new foundation. Although Yuan Shikai is now the most important minister in Beijing, as long as the East China ** sends troops, the Qing court will inevitably perish. At that time, all the capital in Yuan Shikai's hands will be gone. Therefore, it is better to take advantage of the current capital and transfer it to the south to re-start a new career. After the East China *** sends troops, its attention will be concentrated in the north. Yuan Shikai can take the opportunity to integrate the southern provinces and make some achievements. As long as Yuan Shikai has this intention, countries can provide support to Yuan Shikai.

After listening to Zhu Erdian's speech, Yuan Shikai was also surprised and happy. In fact, he could see that the general trend of the Qing court had gone, and destruction was only a matter of time. Even Cixi was managing Shanxi and Shaanxi, and was preparing to hunt south again. Of course, Yuan Shikai would not be buried with the Qing court, so he naturally had to find a way out for himself.

Yuan Shikai's first idea was to surrender to the East China **. The elders of Bijing regarded themselves as descendants of China, which can be regarded as a state regime established by the Chinese, and were indeed much stronger than the Qing court in all aspects. Therefore, surrendering to the East China ** can be regarded as abandoning the dark and turning to the light from a large perspective. From a small perspective, it is a very correct choice to seek good luck and avoid bad luck.

But although this idea is good, Yuan Shikai did not know what attitude the East China ** was about to surrender. To be precise, what kind of treatment would he get if he surrendered to the East China **. Although Yuan Shikai had not had substantial contact and negotiation with the East China **, to be honest, Yuan Shikai's confidence was not very strong. Yuan Shikai has always been very concerned about the situation of the East China **, so he has a good understanding of the military and political system of the East China **. The East China ** is a system of separation of military and political affairs, which is very different from the system of governors and governors of the Qing court to seize military and financial power.

Yuan Shikai also evaluated his surrender to the East China **, believing that if he entered the administrative system in the East China **, he should serve as the governor, at least as the mayor of the provincial capital; and in the army, he should be the commander of the field army. However, from the current situation in the East China **, this possibility is not great, because now, the senior positions in the military and political aspects of East China **, the prefecture-level and city-level and above administration officials, and commanders at the division level or above in the military, are basically

All of them were appointed by veterans, and although officials below the prefecture-level city and military officers below the division level also appointed local naturalized people, they were basically trained by the East China ** themselves. Not to mention the appointment of officials and officials of the Qing court, even the gentry who surrendered to them did not have a share of local tyrants. At most, they would serve as the head of a department in the prefecture-level city or the deputy position of the county-level city. This shows that the officials of the Qing court in the East China ** were quite distrustful.

Of course, there were not many Qing court officials who surrendered to the East China **, at most, officials at the county level. It was not until the East China ** captured Anhui that there were magistrates, and local officials at the prefecture level surrendered, and even fewer military officers. However, Yuan Shikai did not think that after surrendering to the East China ***, he would have to make a special case. At least he had to make it clear before surrendering. But firstly, the Qing court could still hold on for one or two years, so the surrender was not urgent, and of course he could not be delayed indefinitely. After all, the longer it delayed, the more unfavorable it would be for him; secondly, this kind of thing was not easy to communicate, and the most difficult thing was who would raise it first, because under normal circumstances, that side would raise it first means losing the initiative. Yuan Shikai hoped that the East China ** would first send an olive branch to him and propose a tour so that he could go with the flow, but the East China ** obviously did not have such intentions.
Chapter completed!