November 20, 1907, Beijing, Yuan Mansion.
Because of Yuan Shikai's meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion during the "Double Ten Incident", Cixi granted him the title of Crown Prince, Taibao, and Count.
Well, just these empty titles, nothing real.
The only good thing is that he will be reinstated and serve as Beiyang Minister again.
After much deliberation, the Qing government decided to let him retrain the Beiyang New Army and put down the rebellion.
Lafayette is very powerful when it comes to court fights, but for this kind of thing, he knows all the seven orifices and knows who else can use it without a big head.
Although everyone suspects that Yuan Shikai has evil intentions, they just doubt it.
After all, he has not shown it yet, and now the world is With wars going on everywhere, even drinking poison to quench thirst has to be done.
This time the Qing government had a big plan.
In addition to reorganizing the second and fourth towns, it also planned to reorganize six more towns, towns 11 to 16.
It was presided over by Yuan Shikai and assisted by Army Minister Tie Liang.
As a check and balance on Yuan Shikai, Tieliang also presided over the training of a new army composed entirely of bannermen.
They planned to select strong, loyal and brave people from the national bannermen to train 1 town guard and 2 army towns.
Town, 28 towns, plus the original No. 1 town, so there are 4 towns composed entirely of bannermen.
The "Double Ten Incident" was so terrible that the banner men in Sijiu City were frightened to death.
One town is not enough to protect the capital, so let's come to four towns.
This time it will be enough.
According to the ideas of the Eight Banners bosses, these four towns were stationed in Zhili during normal times to protect the capital.
In wartime, they could be sent out to monitor Han troops or serve as supervising troops.
On the further periphery, there are the Beiyang New Army in 11 towns, which is absolutely safe.
What a perfect plan.
"The imperial court has only allocated 1.4 million taels so far.
This is not even enough to replenish the second and fourth towns.
We still want to train 6 more towns and train a bird egg," Duan Qirui said angrily.
No matter what happens, it's not very friendly when money is involved.
The Qing government's plan was indeed perfect, but it was just a plan because they had no money.
In the past, each of the six towns in Beiyang required at least more than 2 million taels of silver.
Don't think it's too expensive, it's better to count on the less.
In 1906, the total cost of the new armies of each province plus six towns in Beiyang, 10 towns, and 21 mixed associations was close to 60 million taels.
Now the Qing government wants Yuan Datou to train six more towns.
Even if each town costs 2 million, that is 12 million taels of silver.
Plus the second and fourth towns to be rebuilt, it will cost 15 million taels at least.
But now the Qing court is very poor, and the treasury is so empty that it can run away with rats.
Where can it find 15 million taels, and the household department is moving around, and only 1.4 million taels are taken out.
But this little money is enough for wool.
Feng Guozhang also said: "Yes, the imperial court asked us to train the new army in six towns, but they only gave us 1.4 million taels.
They said they had no money, but the three-town flag army had 5 million taels in military expenses.
Such different treatment would be too humiliating.
All officers and soldiers are heartbroken."
The Beiyang generals all said something to each other, either complaining about poverty or suffering, which made Tie Liang, who came to attend the meeting, look embarrassed and his face turned blue and red.
Seeing that everyone was making a fuss, Yuan Shikai said slowly: "Ahem, everyone must not be rude.
The current national situation is difficult and the court has no money."
"Gong Bao, the imperial court has no money to give to Beiyang, so how come it has money to give to the Three Towns Banner Army?"
Duan Qirui looked at Tie Liang and sneered a few times.
"Hey, everyone misunderstood."
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Seeing everyone's eyes falling on him, Tie Liang couldn't sit still no matter how thick-skinned he was, so he had to stand up and explain: "This money is really not given by the court, but by the royal family.
The people they gathered together, even Lafayette paid 300,000."
Tie Liang did not lie.
The military expenditures for the Three Towns Banner Army were indeed paid for by the Eight Banners dignitaries.
The "Double Ten Incident" completely scared the shit out of them and made them deeply understand the truth about which is more important, life or money.
Therefore, they usually find it difficult to part with good money, but this time they gave money extremely readily and proactively.
In addition, Lafayette himself spent 300,000 of his own money as military expenses, who would dare to give away even a dime?
Yuan Shikai actually knew about this.
His good friend, Prince Yikuang of Youqing, told him a few days ago.
Yikuang paid 250,000 yuan this time, which made Cixi very happy.
She thought he was loyal to the country and praised him very much as a "virtuous king".
Therefore, he also said with a serious face: "Brother Tie, you are also the one who manages the army.
You have participated in the six towns of Beiyang from beginning to end.
You know very well how much the new army will cost.
Although we are determined to serve the imperial court, how can we train the new army in these six towns without money?
Now that the rebel parties in the south have occupied several provinces, we cannot save this money."
After a pause, he added: "If the court really can't come up with the money, brother, I have no choice but to give up this job, retire and return to my hometown, and let the court hire another talented person."
After the "Double Ten Incident", Yuan Shikai's attitude became much tougher because he also discovered the weakness of the Qing court.
Coupled with the electrification of the Southern Revolutionary Party, it further strengthened his waist.
Even Lafayette, who he was most afraid of before, doesn't seem so scary now, let alone others.
Tie Liang was sweating profusely after being talked about, so he had to bite the bullet and said: "Brother Weiting, I will go to the palace tomorrow and ask for money from the old Buddha.
I will put my face aside and get enough for the new army." money” After the meeting, several of Yuan Shikai's confidants stayed behind.
Everyone moved to the back study, and the servants served fragrant tea.
There was a national map spread on the desk.
Yuan Shikai looked at it and asked: "Xingcheng, what do you say about Wuchang?"
Yang Shiqi said: "They said over there that they definitely want Wushengguan, Pingxiang, and Xichuan.
There is no need to discuss it, but they also said that as long as the court does not mess with them, they will not attack other places for the time being
.
"
"Not for the time being, haha."
Duan Qirui curled his lips in disapproval.
Datou did not express anything, but said with some doubts: "Wusheng Pass is the throat of Hubei and has always been a battleground for military strategists.
Pingxiang is a coal mine.
Since they have occupied Hanyang Iron Works, of course they will not let Pingxiang go.
They want this Both places are easy to understand, but what do they want from Xichuan?"
"According to the news over there, they want to build a reservoir in Xichuan, and they have already started building roads in Xichuan."
Yang Shiqi also looked incomprehensible.
Duan Qirui said: "The actions of this Kyodo Society are really incomprehensible.
They also like to carry out large-scale construction projects.
They started to build the Yangtze River Bridge and the Han River Bridge some time ago, preparing to connect the three towns of Wuhan, and now they want to What kind of reservoir are they building?
Tell me what they are planning to do."
"Haha, there are rumors in the south now that wherever the Kyodo Society attacks, roads will be built and factories will be built.
Now the whole of Hubei has become a big construction site, and bridges, roads, and factories are being built everywhere, and they don't know Where did you get so much money?"
Wang Shizhen was also confused.
Feng Guozhang said: "It doesn't cost them much to do this.
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Last year there was a big flood in the Yangtze River, and there were victims everywhere.
As long as they were given a bowl of rice, they would do anything."
"Then you have to have so much food."
"These are nothing.
They even built the Sichuan-Hankou Railway.
A few days ago, they recruited 80,000 people to build the Hubei and Shaanxi parts of the Sichuan-Hankou Railway."
Everyone was talking a lot, but the more they talked, the more confused they became.
How much does this bandit love to build roads?
He just wants to build his own, but why does he even help build the railways of the Qing Dynasty?
At this time, Ruan Zhongshu said boldly: "The Sichuan-Hankou Railway is now in charge of Xingke Company.
Do you think there is any collusion between Xingke and Kyodo Society?
Otherwise, why would the bandits help them build the railway?"
Yang Shiqi laughed: "Brother Ruan, it's okay for you to say this here.
If Xiliang and Zhao Laosan hear it, they will definitely be anxious about you."
"Yes, that man whose Wen Desi is Lao Xi, how could he collude with the Revolutionary Party, not to mention that he is an American?
When have you ever seen such a wealthy Revolutionary Party?"
"Zhao Laosan was full of praise for Wen Desi, calling him the best businessman in the Qing Dynasty.
He was recommended in a brochure just a few days ago."
Everyone was disdainful of Ruan Zhongshu's suspicion.
They all believe that the revolutionary parties are all poor people, and who among the rich would go to make revolution?
As for the common society helping Xingke build the railway, the most is because it received money from Xingke.
Mr.
Wen has a lot of money, so he just throws it away.
It's normal to ask bandits to help him with some things.
Who would have trouble with money?
"Okay, okay, let's get down to business."
Seeing everyone leaning too far, Yuan Shikai couldn't help but knock on the table.
"Zhiquan, how's the matter with the weapons?"
Duan Qirui quickly took out a document and said: "Gong Bao, seven foreign companies have given quotations.
Among them, the American Sith Company has given the lowest price.
Similar weapons are only 70% of those of the German companies."
"I've never heard of Sith Mathematics," someone said.
"This is a new foreign company that has only been open for a month.
They are the agent of the American Cobra Arms Company," Duan Qirui explained.
"The caliber of their guns is different from that of Germany.
There are some logistical problems."
"It's nothing to worry about.
The Germans are too black and their things are extremely expensive."
Everyone began to argue about which weapon to buy.
Neijiang, the headquarters of Xingke Group.
"Mr.
Wen, are you really planning to sell weapons to Yuan Datou?
He is our enemy."
Gu Xiaolu didn't know what to say.
Wen Desi said with a smile: "Haha, an arms dealer who does not sell weapons to enemy countries is not a qualified arms dealer."
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Seeing that Gu Xiaolu's little face was getting greener and greener, and there were signs of going crazy, he quickly explained: "Well, Xiaolu, think about it, even if I don't sell it to him, other arms dealers will.
Could it be?
I can also prevent the arms dealers of the great powers from selling it to him.
This money is the wealth of China's people.
Rather than letting the great powers make money, it is better for me to use it for the people."
Gu Xiaolu is a smart person.
She just didn't turn the corner just now, but now that Wen Desi said it, she understood it immediately.
Wen Desi added: "Moreover, what we sold to them is just old weapons.
When it comes to climbing the technological tree, who else in this world can compare with us?"
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