Holden waited in the side hall for almost half an hour, and the tea was cold. Yuan Shikai turned out from behind the screen in a marshal's uniform. He looked serious and said, "Sir, have been waiting for a long time."

Since Yuan Shikai refused the Deyou court several times and was recruited by the De court, he no longer wanted to have anything to do with the Qing court, so he did not wear the Qing court's official uniforms in the formal venue, but instead wore military uniforms. When Yuan Shikai was practicing the Beiyang New Army, he adopted the style of Western military uniforms and redesigned the Beiyang Army's uniforms. Therefore, he designed a set of marshal uniforms for himself in the style of the Beiyang military uniforms and wore them in the formal occasions.

Seeing Yuan Shikai appearing in a marshal uniform and having a serious attitude, Holden was slightly stunned. He was not a fool, and he immediately understood a little. It was probably different from before when he visited Yuan Shikai.

However, since Yuan Shikai had spoken, Horton could not help but stand up and said, "Governor General, come here to visit him with great slightest sense. Please forgive me."

Yuan Shikai waved his hand and said, "Where is there, the Consul, please sit down."

After the two of them sat down, Yuan Shikai said: "Mr. Consul is very busy with official business. I don't know what it takes to do when I come to see our mansion!"

Holden frowned, hesitated for a moment, and said, "I am here to discuss the current situation of the Southern War with His Excellency. At this point, will the Governor continue to persevere?"

Yuan Shikai said lightly: "What's wrong with the current situation of the Southern War? I don't understand what Mr. Consul said."

Horton said: "The current situation is very clear. After half a year of confrontation, the Governor's army is simply unable to break the current deadlock. If this long-term consumption is consumed, it will be quite unfavorable to the Governor. Our Britain is willing to mediate the previous conflicts between the Governor and Prince Gong at this time, promote reconciliation between the two families, and dealing with the north is also your common enemy." Although Pu Wei has already called himself emperor, since Yuan Shikai did not recognize Pu Wei's throne, Horton still called Pu Wei Prince Gong in front of Yuan Shikai.

Yuan Shikai said: "It would be too arbitrary to judge now that my army cannot break the current deadlock on the battlefield."

Holden was stunned and said, "Is there any good way for the Governor?"

Yuan Shikai sneered and said, "What's going on the battlefield is changing rapidly, who can tell me the truth! But it's not the first time that the Consul's consul has persuaded me to merge with Pu Wei, and the Consul's ex-command has also advised me to do the same."

Horton nodded and said, "Of course, Prince Gong is the heir to the Qing Empire, and the Governor is an old minister of the Qing Empire. Therefore, it is not natural for you to unite into a family! Besides, you still have a common enemy. The East China Government is an old saying from your country, and you share the same hatred of the enemy!"

Yuan Shikai smiled and said, "Mr. Consul, the Qing Dynasty has been completed, and the emperor Pu Wei does not count at all."

Horton was also stunned. Although Yuan Shikai had refused to merge with Deyou's court in the past, he was just making excuses. He had never been so openly said that the Qing court had perished and he clearly did not recognize Pu Wei's throne. He couldn't help but say, "Governor, your statement is incorrect. Your old saying is your country's old saying, "Eat the king's fortune and loyalty to the king. You have been ministers of the Qing Dynasty for generations. Now that the Qing Dynasty is in danger, Prince Gong is the royal family of the Qing Dynasty. It is natural to inherit the throne of the Qing Dynasty. As a Qing minister, you should recognize Prince Gong's throne. Working together with Prince Gong, and working hard to restore the Qing Dynasty is the right way."

Yuan Shikai said: "It seems that the Consul is very familiar with our Chinese culture, but I can also tell the Consul clearly that Pu Weizhi and I are absolutely impossible to merge, so please don't need to persuade me."

Holden was also a little surprised and said, "Governor General, don't act irritating."

Yuan Shikai sneered: "Mr. Consul, I am not trying to do anything. I defend my territory and have never taken the initiative to challenge Pu Wei. In these two southern wars, Pu Wei was the first to take charge of it. I could only resist, but there were also heavy casualties. How could I work with such a powerful and powerful man? Even if I am willing, my brothers and the soldiers who died may not agree."

In fact, in order to encourage Yuan Shikai and Pu Wei to join forces to deal with the East China Government, Britain was also worried, and both sides were not pleased. Yuan Shikai had to separatist one side and did not want to surrender at all. Pu Wei only wanted to conquer Yuan Shikai with force and did not want to be gentle at all. Britain coordinated in it, not only was it very laborious, but it was thankless, both sides offended, until the situation developed to this point.

However, Britain mainly supported Pu Wei, so among the two, they still favored Pu Wei, helping Pu Wei develop his army and buying Pu Wei's weapons. This Southern War has come to this point in the battlefield and the situation is stalemate. The UK believes that the opportunity to subdue Yuan Shikai has come, so Holden came to visit Yuan Shikai, hoping to persuade Yuan Shikai and Pu Wei to shake hands and make peace and unite. Then he knew that Yuan Shikai was not in a mixed relationship this time, so he tore his face torn apart.

Holden frowned. When Yuan Shikai said this, it was equivalent to having no chance of reconciliation with Pu Wei again. Britain's plan also failed completely. But now Britain's power in China has been greatly weakened. Frankly speaking, Yuan Shikai insisted on confronting Pu Wei, and Britain had no good idea. Therefore, Holden had to say goodbye and leave, return to the consulate to generate electricity for the country, and ask for instructions on what to do in China!

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"Old Yuan wants to buy a lot of things this time! 400 cannons, 800 grenade launchers, 100,000 grenades, and the number of shells is nearly 5 times higher than the normal amount. What is he going to do? He is not just a one-time deal. He won't pay for the goods after collecting them."

"He didn't dare to count, he dared not to owe us money. He had a few heads."

"I think Yuan Shikai is planning to fight, concentrate all his strength, and break through the Deyou Army's defense line."

After Yuan Shikai's new order was passed to Qingdao, the Executive Yuan was a little surprised because Yuan Shikai had to buy too many weapons and ammunition this time, but Yuan Shi did not ask for credit anymore. He still paid the deposit in the original way, and then paid the remaining funds after the East China government delivered the purchased materials.

Although the five giants have reached an agreement to force Yuan Shikai to surrender and send troops south to collect the southern land next year, this resolution is planned to be proposed at the year-end meeting at the end of the year and formally decided, so it has not been disclosed now. However, arms transactions originally require approval from the Executive Yuan, and the number of Yuan Shikai purchased this time has increased significantly compared to before, so the Executive Yuan also specially discussed it.

Jia Zhenzhao said: "How is it? Should we buy it for him or give him a discount."

Qin Zheng said: "Of course you have to buy it, and there is no need to discount it. As long as he can pay on time, he can buy as much as he wants. To make money, of course, the more the better. And let him fight with Pu Wei, and fight both sides will be hurt. In the future, we will send troops south and collect the southern land. Isn't it easier to save trouble!"

Xia Bohai also nodded and said, "You can buy it for him. Anyway, our production capacity is enough."

Lu Hong said: "I'm very interested. What can Yuan Shikai do to break through the Deyou Army's defense line? Now Yuan Shikai and Pu Wei have been fighting each other for half a year. I think the current situation is a bit like the trench confrontation of World War I. Because the defense of both sides is very tight, no one can break through the opponent's defense line from the front, so they can only continue to waste this way."

You Mingqian smiled and said, "I think it's really similar when you say that. It can be regarded as a miniature version of World War I!"

This immediately aroused the interest of everyone and discussed it. Because World War I was the most important historical event in recent times, and it had a far-reaching impact, it even directly determined the occurrence of World War II. The Executive Yuan also gave a special explanation of World War I to let the members of the Executive Yuan understand the historical process of World War I and the causes and consequences of the World War I. In this way, they knew it well when discussing major international affairs. Therefore, everyone is not unfamiliar with this war. Lu Hong and You Mingqian took the lead and immediately triggered this topic.

Ye Yanfu continued: "Yuan Shikai bought so many weapons and ammunition, obviously he wanted to do a big fight. I just don't know what kind of result he will fight, whether it will be a meat grinder battle like Marenhe, or a storm assault tactic. This is very exciting!"

Xiao Jianjun said: "After saying this, I really think I can send a military observation team to Yuan Shikai to see how Yuan Shikai fought this battle."

Xia Bohai also nodded and said, "Yes, this is the right one. You can make this request to Yuan Shikai. I don't think he will refuse. You can also explore Yuan Shikai's tone if you go there."

Xiao Jianjun also said: "We can also ask Yuan Shikai to build a simple airport on the front line, use aircraft to conduct air reconnaissance, understand the troops arrangements of both sides, and allow us to better grasp the progress of this war."

You Mingqian said: "It is not a big problem to send a military observation team, but it is a bit too much to ask Yuan Shikai to repair the airport."

Ye Yanfu smiled and said, "So what if it's too much? Now Yuan Shikai has something to ask for us, what else can he choose?"
Chapter completed!