When Yuan Shikai heard this, he was not angry, but laughed out loud, but his laughter seemed helpless and desolate.

Duan Qirui and others were confused by this sudden scene, so how could the President still laugh at this time?

"What did I say before? If we Beiyang is not united, the world will give in. Who has stopped? Who has listened to it? Now that you are so angry that you only realize the danger one by one. Now you are all coming to find me, the old man, are you going to push the mess on me, the old man?" Yuan Shikai smiled with anger and glared at Duan Qirui and Lu Jianzhang and the other two.

"This. President, if you say this, how can we deal with ourselves? We are also doing our best to the President, but the generals below are self-righteous. Now that we are facing such a dilemma, who is not anxious? Who is not heartbroken?" Duan Qirui said with a grievance.

"When you are good, you don't see me so concerned about coming to me. When you are bad, you have no idea. What do you expect, the old man, to do?" Yuan Shikai lay down again and said weakly. He really has no strength to turn the tide now.

"President, the Japanese are actually willing to unilaterally borrow money from us." Sun Baoqi asked carefully.

"Hmph." Yuan Shikai sneered, "This group of Eastern Japanese will only rob in fire."

Hearing this, Sun Baoqi quickly closed his mouth and said no more. He knew that the president would never joke about the country.

Duan Qirui and Lu Jianzhang looked at each other, and the two of them looked helpless. The stone pavilion suddenly fell into silence.

"Zhiquan." After a long and silent voice, Yuan Shikai spoke weakly.

"President?" Duan Qirui stepped forward and approached Yuan Shikai.

"Go and send someone to the south to talk to Wu Shaoting to see if you can have a comprehensive result. Wu Shaoting. This young boy is an ambitious guy, but he will not ignore the overall situation. Go and have a good talk with him and have a good talk." When Yuan Shikai said this, his voice and body trembled at the same time, and his old eyes actually felt a sadness of crying without tears.

"President, I understand." Duan Qirui nodded solemnly, but there was a strong sense of disappointment in his heart.

The three walked out of the presidential residence and walked along the corridor to the avenue in front of the courtyard to take a carriage.

Lu Jianzhang sighed and said to Duan Qirui in a silence: "Prime Minister Duan, do you really want to go to negotiate with the South? With the current momentum of the South, will they talk to us?"

Duan Qirui shook his head and said with a cold face: "If it were you, would you?"

Lu Jianzhang pondered for a while, and was puzzled for a moment, and said, "But the President seems to think that Wu Shaoting will have peace talks."

Duan Qirui remained silent and stopped until he walked to the gate of the palace. He turned around to look at Lu Jianzhang and Sun Baoqi, and said in a stern tone: "Wu Shaoting will talk to us. After the talk, the Southern Government will go north to unify China, and our Beiyang government will disappear from then on. You can tell me, is there any difference between such a result and whether to talk or not? What is negotiation? At least it is necessary to satisfy the interests of both of us. If we lose our Beiyang, what else can we talk about?"

Sun Baoqi said with a worried look, "Zhiquan, although that's what we said, Beiyang has been at the end of our lives. It would be a good idea to get a decent ending. This is exactly what the President said."

Duan Qirui snorted coldly and said, "Brother Mu Han, are you really naive and decent endings? If the people in the south are in power, do you really think we will be decent? What does it mean to turn around? What is the final word of feng shui? What is it that they have to say at that time? I am not afraid of ugly words ahead. The President is confused. Even if I lose the south of the Yangtze River in Beiyang, I still have half of the country in my hands. As long as I talk to the foreigners and let them continue to support us, there is a chance to turn the tables!"

Sun Baoqi was shocked and pointed at Duan Qirui and said, "You, how could you say such a ruthless thing!"

Duan Qirui sighed and said without showing any weakness: "Brother, I am not afraid of saying some harsh words. If I, Duan Qirui, did something sorry for Beiyang, I would rather hit and die under this stone lion. We cannot finish Beiyang, at least we can't finish it like this! Mu Han, the President is old, it's time for us to shoulder the great mission of Beiyang. If you think I have even a little selfishness, you can go and report to the President, I don't care!"

After he finished speaking, he acted in a righteous manner, with a firm and firm expression.

Sun Baoqi was very anxious and couldn't make up his mind at all. In the end, he could only sigh without saying a word.

Duan Qirui adjusted his tone and said, "You can follow up with the Japanese minister and see if there is room for bargaining. How can our dignified government of the Republic of China have no money at all."

Sun Baoqi was surprised again, and he hurriedly said: "Zhiquan, three years ago, when the Guangdong War was in a stalemate, Japanese Minister Nishi Yoshihiro submitted this memorandum to the President, and the President rejected it on the spot. Now Japan knows that our Beiyang is in a difficult situation and is really taking advantage of the situation. Three years ago, there were still five agreements. This time, the 21 agreements were proposed, and the 18th and 19th of them are."

Duan Qirui interrupted Sun Baoqi and said coldly: "I have read the "Twenty-One" and there is no need to emphasize anything to me. The reason why the Ministry of Foreign Affairs talks again is to win a more suitable price for our China."

At this time, the carriage parked on the road had already changed direction. Lu Jianzhang felt that he could not get in, so he simply said goodbye and got in the car. Duan Qirui didn't say much, and boarded the carriage with a meticulous look. Sun Baoqi stood alone in front of the gate of the presidential residence, looking very sad and at a loss.

In late July, with the end of the Battle of Hangzhou, the situation in China was almost settled.

Some remarks spread among the people, and I don’t know whether they were intentional or unintentional. The Beiyang government gradually lost its prestige in people’s hearts, and replaced them with names such as reactionary forces and dictatorial warlords.

Such public opinion atmosphere is not only in the south, but also in the northern region north of the Yellow River. Farmers heard that the agricultural policies in the south were good and were determined to hope that the government could unify China as soon as possible. Although merchants can still make money in the north, they must have a stable background that can be relied on. Obviously, the Beiyang government can no longer rely on.

Even political activists have begun to re-plan their futures. It is better to go home and guard acre of land when doing business in a government where they cannot even pay their wages. Seeing that the situation in the south is very good, they naturally have to consider going to the south to find an errand.

The embassies of the great powers in China can no longer be as ambiguous as last year, and only send some entourage members to test the details of the south. Starting from July 20, embassies of various countries have successively sent business counselors from the embassy to stay in a more formal way, and began to try to reach some kind of connection with the southern government.

Wu Shaoting is very clear that the government has gained a considerable high status in China. Even though many people still believe that the government lacks the significance of legal system, as long as the power exceeds the Beiyang government, the status of legal system will be a matter of time sooner or later. Of course, the government needs to gain international recognition, so Wu Shaoting arranged a dedicated person to be responsible for reception and contact with the business counselors sent by embassies of various countries.

Unfortunately, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not invited Tang Shaoyi yet, and has sent people to Shanghai for contact many times but has been politely declined. Although the situation is clear now, Tang Shaoyi is still patient enough to wait for the winner of the North and South to make a statement.

On the afternoon of the 22nd, at Wuzhou Railway Station, the government's military police guard set up a cordon inside and outside the station. However, the scene was not grand, and ordinary passengers could still enter and exit. With the sound of a whistle in the distance, a train from Guangzhou drove from far to near to the station.

Deng Keng, the General Office of the General Office of the General Secretary, and Li Xuanting, the representative of the Ministry of National Defense, were sitting in the station chief's office. After hearing the station attendants report that the train entered the station, the two immediately stood up and took several attendants out of the station chief's office to the platform.

"Mr. Deng, who is this person? Is it necessary for the Grand Consul to send us to welcome him so heavily?" Li Xuanting looked at the railway line east of the station and could already see the water vapor smoke emitted from the locomotive. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "There are many people from the north during this period, and the Grand Consul may not be as concerned as today."

"Haha, have you never heard of the name of the youngest principal of Baoding Military Academy?" Deng Keng said with a smile.

"I have been busy with local affairs before and have not paid much attention to the situation in the north. The youngest principal. This reputation is really not small." Li Xuanting said thoughtfully. Yunnan *** mostly recognizes the reputation of the military academy of Yunnan Military Academy. After all, it has the color of local protection, so it does not pay much attention to the situation in other provinces. Although he knows the influence of Baoding Military Academy in China, he doesn't take it too seriously.

"To be honest, I actually don't agree with this Lord Jiang. Two years ago, Wu Zhizheng was ridiculed by Lord Jiang when he was in Beijing. If it weren't for the strong recommendation of General Songpo, I really wouldn't think that Lord Jiang was a talent. I heard that after Lord Jiang resigned as the principal of Baoding Military Academy, he did not intend to go south, but only planned to live in Tianjin, or travel east to Japan to find General Songpo." Deng Keng said casually.

"Why did you suddenly go south again?" Li Xuanting asked in confusion, inevitably having speculation in his heart.

"I don't know very well about the specifics. I heard from General Songpo's aides that General Songpo wrote a letter to Lord Jiang when he first arrived in Japan, hoping that Lord Jiang could go south to help. After receiving the confidence that Lord Jiang went south, Wu was very happy. He also said in front of everyone that Lord Jiang could be called Xiao Songpo. I really don't know if this is considered to be a smug Lord Jiang." Deng Keng said with a wry smile and shook his head.

Li Xuanting was silent for a moment, then sighed slightly and said, "The Wu rule must have his own reason."
Chapter completed!