After receiving the reply from East China **, Yuan Shikai finally put down a big stone in his heart. Because only East China ** is willing to cooperate with his plan, this trip south was more than half successful.

Of course, during these few days, Yuan Shikai has not been idle all the time, waiting for the reply from East China ** and does nothing. Firstly, Yuan Shikai estimated that East China ** would agree to his plan. After all, this plan is also beneficial to East China **, and East China ** has no reason to refuse. Secondly, the appointment of the court has been made and it is basically impossible to change. Therefore, Yuan Shikai's journey south is also impossible to change. Of course, he must hurry up and prepare. After all, in addition to negotiating with East China **, Yuan Shikai and the court also have some fun.

Although Yuan Shikai was appointed by the Qing court in Liangjiang, he could not go to the south to take office without any help. He always had to bring some things, such as army, materials, money, grain, etc., but the Qing court would not easily distribute the army and grain to Yuan Shikai, and even fight with the court for another fight.

Yuan Shikai's conditions are mainly in three aspects: the army, money, and push people.

First of all, in terms of the army, when Yuan Shikai accepted the appointment of the Qing court, he proposed to lead the Beiyang New Army in two towns to the south, and to draw a part of the army from the Hubei New Army. In addition, he later asked that all the weapons and ammunition of the army to go south were supplied by the Hanyang Arsenal. This is also a very important matter. If there is no supply of weapons and ammunition, then no matter how many troops you take south, it will be useless.

The second was to ask the Qing court to allocate 2 million taels of silver for disaster relief. Although Zhu Erdian said on behalf of various countries that he would support Yuan Shikai, and had already raised 3 million taels of silver and also prepaid 200,000 taels of silver, Yuan Shikai also knew that the shortage of manpower and the money of others would be ordered by others. Therefore, he had to have a few money in his hand. Of course, he could only ask the court for this money. Of course, Yuan Shikai also understood that the Qing court would definitely not approve the 2 million taels of silver. This was left in advance to allow the court to reduce the price. To put it bluntly, it was asking for the price everywhere and repaying the money on the spot.

Finally, Yuan Shikai recommended Xu Shichang, the waiter of the Ministry of Revenue, to the Qing court, to be the Minister of the Military Affairs Office. Although Yuan Shikai had decided to go to the south to re-start his career, he had been operating in the north for many years and had many assets. He did not mean that he would give up just by giving up. Moreover, the Qing court is still there and has a lifespan of 1 or 2 years, so he could not completely ignore the Qing court. The ideal way is to leave a trustworthy person in Beijing and serve as a senior official of the Qing court, responsible for gradually handling Yuan Shikai's assets in Beijing, and also dealing with Yuan Shikai in the court, and notifying Yuan Shikai of the major events that happened in the court.

Of course, Yuan Shikai had long started to support his confidants in the court. After he entered the Military Affairs Office, he recommended his confidant Xu Shichang as the Minister of Dali Temple and was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Revenue one year later.

Xu Shichang and Yuan Shikai were close friends, had a deep relationship, and were also the person that Yuan Shikai trusted the most. Moreover, Xu Shichang was also very capable of handling affairs. He was promoted from Dali Temple Minister to Minister of the Ministry of Revenue within one year. Although he was taken care of by Yuan Shikai, it also had a lot to do with Xu Shichang's strong ability and practical things. Because the Ministry of Revenue managed the finances of the Qing court and was one of the most important departments of the six ministries. It was not possible to work in the Ministry of Revenue without two tricks. Moreover, Xu Shichang worked in the Ministry of Revenue for more than a year and had a very outstanding job and was well received. Therefore, Yuan Shikai decided to recommend Xu Shichang's entry into the Qing court before heading south, and was considered an agent who stayed in Beijing.

If the Qing court could not satisfy Yuan Shikai these things, Yuan Shikai would not have been ordered to go south easily.

After receiving these requests from Yuan Shikai, the Qing court also discussed it. The first thing that confirmed was the preparation of the army, because Yuan Shikai asked to lead the Beiyang New Army from two towns to the south, which was proposed when he accepted the order. The court also agreed to this request at that time, so now it is just a reconfirmation.

In addition, the Qing court also had its own plans. After Yuan Shikai trained into the Beiyang New Army, he had always been a heart-wrenching problem in the Qing court. It was not entirely because he was worried that Yuan Shikai would be self-respecting, but whoever had military power would become a confidant of the court. Moreover, when Yuan Shikai was training, he deliberately expanded his influence in the Beiyang New Army. The Beiyang New Army "only knows that Yuan is protecting the government, but not the court" was by no means a false statement. Moreover, the six towns of the Beiyang New Army, except for the first town, the other five towns were controlled by Yuan Shikai's confidant. The Qing court could not have any concerns about Yuan Shikai and demanded that the court have Yuan Shikai's military power. The Qing court always had voices in the Qing court.

During the Qing court's battle to attack the Henan base, a town in Beiyang was severely damaged; the three towns were almost wiped out. After the war, the Qing court finally dug the third town of Beiyang from Yuan Shikai with the famous proposal to restore these two towns, but Yuan Shikai still controlled four towns, and the Qing court still couldn't rest assured of him. This time, while Yuan Shikai went to the south, many people in the court planned to attack the new army of Beiyang. Although Yuan Shikai asked to lead two towns south, Bi Jing still left two towns. If the Qing court could dig these two towns, the court would control the four towns of Beiyang New Army, which would completely remove Yuan Shikai's military power. Yuan Shikai asked to draw some of the troops from the new army in Hubei, and the Qing court also agreed to coordinate one of the new army of Hubei to Yuan Shikai's troops, which could be regarded as agreeing to Yuan Shikai's request.

In fact, Yuan Shikai knew these plans of the Qing court. He asked to lead two towns to the south, but after careful calculations, the Qing court would not criticize them even if he wanted more. Once he left, the Qing court would definitely attack the two towns he had come down. However, Yuan Shikai also had his own plans. Although there were only two towns on the surface, when he set out, Yuan Shikai planned to draw one assistant from each of the remaining two towns. In fact, he led the army of three towns to the south. In addition, the new Hubei army was one assistant, and Yuan Shikai had the strength of two towns, three assistants, totaling about 40,000 people. Such troops were also quite considerable.

In addition, Yuan Shikai also planned to recruit new soldiers based on three associations and expand them into three towns. At most, in one year, he could control the army of five towns again. In the south, it was definitely the strongest military force.

After discussion, the Qing court decided to promote Xu Shichang to the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, but was not selected to the Military Affairs Office. The reason was that Xu Shichang's qualifications were too shallow, and it was too fast to be selected as the Minister of the Military Affairs Office. Although Xu Shichang had some ability, he did not make any great contributions after all. Even if he was selected as the Military Affairs Office, he would be difficult to convince the public. Therefore, he was promoted to the Minister of Revenue, even if he was viewed by Yuan Shikai's face.

In fact, Yuan Shikai also knew that the Qing court could not appoint Xu Shichang as the Minister of Military Affairs. The reason for this recommendation was to ask the Qing court for a huge price. The Minister of Revenue had met his expectations. Bi Jing Xu Shichang was indeed lacking in qualifications, and even if he was selected as the Minister of Revenue, he would not have much effect. It would be better to practice as the Minister of Revenue for a few more years first. Of course, if the Qing court could hold on until that time and the Qing court could not hold on, Xu Shichang could detour south and go to Liangjiang to find him and help him build a new foundation in the south.

However, among Yuan Shikai's requests, it was the most difficult thing to have money. It was not that the Qing court had no money now. In fact, although East China now occupies a lot of places, the Qing court's fiscal revenue in recent years is still good, with more than 80 million taels of silver every year, which is quite considerable. First, the Gengzi Reform, the Qing court did not lose more than 400 million taels of silver like in the old time and space. Second, East China focused on economic development and controlled Tianjin and Shanghai, the two largest customs, made it difficult for foreign goods to enter China easily, thereby protecting the development of national industries. The national industry within the Qing court also benefited. The development of national industries also drove the prosperity of the local economy, and naturally increased tax revenue. In this way, the Qing court also had income.

In addition, although the East China ** has broken the face with the Qing court, the Qing court's canal transportation is still under the responsibility of the East China **. The taxes and grains in the south are transported from various places to Shanghai to centrally load, shipped to Tianjin, and then transferred to Beijing by train. The transportation demand in the East China ** is very efficient and the price is fair. The Qing court can save a lot of manpower and material resources, and save hundreds of thousands of taels of silver a year. The Qing court still dares to completely get a bad deal with the East China **. Even the Beijing Office of East China ** dares not move. The grain transportation is controlled by the East China **, which is also an important reason. However, this has also become a strange phenomenon. A country's tax and grain transportation are actually transported by the enemy.

But no matter what, the Qing court's finances have been relatively relaxed in recent years. In addition to the annual expenditure, there are still a lot left. So far, at least 56 million taels of silver have been saved. Therefore, Yuan Shikai asked for 2 million taels of silver to go south to rescue disasters. Although it was a huge price, the Qing court could do it completely.

However, the Qing court now had too many places to use money, because Cixi had made plans to escape again after attacking East China. However, due to the experience of fleeing during the Gengzi period, Cixi had to make sufficient preparations in advance this time, so she should not be as embarrassed as last time. On the one hand, Cixi appointed Cen Chunxuan as the governor of Gansu and Shaanxi, and Wu Huai as the governor of Shanxi, which was actually to handle herself along the way. On the other hand, she had to repair the roads along the way, build palaces, and arrange food and food to change cars, horses, etc.
Chapter completed!