What Yuan Shikai really cares about is mainly foreigners. All countries have sent people to persuade Yuan Shikai many times to make Pu Wei the king and fight against the East China Government together. But firstly, Yuan Shikai knew in his heart that Pu Wei and his group had always been inconsistent with him, and there was absolutely no good fruit to make Pu Wei the king; secondly, Yuan Shikai was also very clear that the East China Government would sooner or later, and Pu Wei and his group were definitely not opponents of the East China Government. Even if he added himself, it would be useless. He maintained his independence. The army of the East China Government came over, and at worst he would surrender. But if he made Pu Wei the king, it would be different, because Pu Wei's court was the inherited Qing court and was an irreconcilable enemy with the East China Government. Therefore, even if he wanted to make the new lord, he should be a minister who could still be a subordinate. What's the use of making Pu Wei the king?

But Yuan Shikai could not take Pu Wei to heart, but he could not underestimate the attitude of foreigners, because now foreigners are obviously on Pu Wei's side, which also puts a lot of pressure on Yuan Shikai. However, Yuan Shikai also knew that the world is different from the Qing Dynasty's rule. As long as the East China Government is present, foreigners cannot cover up the sky. Anyway, if you really have to force yourself to be too impatient, at worst, you can learn from Zhou Fu and take the initiative to surrender to the East China Government to see how the foreigners can do it. Therefore, while Yuan Shikai was preparing for the war, he also tried his best to maintain friendship with the East China Government. Anyway, it is not wrong to leave a way out for himself.

The East China Government is not as complicated as it thinks, but Yuan Shikai's request is not a trivial matter, because this involves the situation in the south. Although the East China Government has bought Yuan Shikai's weapons and ammunition twice, it is just a small fuss. This time, the number of arms that Yuan Shikai wants to buy is far more than the previous two times. Moreover, the situation in the south is tense and the war has begun. The East China Government naturally knows these situations. Therefore, whether to agree to Yuan Shikai's request for purchasing arms this time naturally needs to be discussed seriously.

So Xia Bohai said: "What do you think? Should we sell arms to Yuan Shikai!"

Qin Zheng said: "Of course, I want to sell it. First, let Yuan Shikai fight with Pu Wei. No matter who wins or loses, they don't have the energy to take care of the affairs of the north, and they can cause less trouble for us, so that we can save some attention and stabilize the north first; secondly, once the war starts, it will be less easy to stop, so that the south will be defeated, so that we will be much smoother when we move south in the future and collect the land of Jiangnan."

Ye Yanfu said: "You said that if this fight starts, then you will win! Is it Lao Yuan or Pu Wei."

Xiao Jianjun said: "Of course it's Lao Yuan. Although Lao Yuan's reputation was not very good in the old time and space, by conscience, Lao Yuan's ability is still quite strong. Whether it is political skills or the ability to manage and lead the army, he is basically the best in this era. Moreover, his army is based on the backbone of the six towns in Beiyang, well-trained, and his generals, such as Wang Shizhen, Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang, and Cao Kun, have two tricks. If we sell them weapons and ammunition to ensure the supply of the army's equipment, it would be no difficult for Lao Yuan to defeat Pu Wei."

You Mingqian said: "But Pu Wei is not a vegetarian. Although this kid has no sense of existence in the old time and space, he cannot be concluded that he is a waste. In the old time and space, he basically has no chance to show his performance. In this era, Pu Wei was able to join a group of royal families before the demise of Beijing, and also traveled thousands of miles to the south, occupying Sichuan and Hunan. Now even Yunnan has announced his loyalty to him. If he is really a waste, can he do so much? Now Pu Wei's territory, population, and military strength are far more than Yuan Shikai. Isn't the overall strength of fighting in war? At the same time, Pu Wei has support from foreign forces behind him, so I don't think it should be underestimated."

Qin Zheng smiled and said, "Of course it is not easy for Yuan Shikai to swallow Pu Wei, and foreign forces will not allow Yuan Shikai to completely destroy Pu Wei. But just in this war, Yuan Shikai's chance of winning is still great. First of all, Yuan Shikai has been in the south for more than two years. His rule in Anhui, Jiangxi and Jiangsu areas has basically stabilized, while Pu Wei occupied Sichuan for less than one year and has not stabilized at all. Moreover, Sichuan itself is a place with diverse and complex ethnic components. There is less than half of the areas that Pu Wei can actually rule. Hunan used fraudulent techniques to obtain it, and Yunnan only surrendered to Pu Wei in the famous discussion, so the strength gap between the two sides is not as big as the surface; secondly, it is the army. Old Xiao said the situation on Yuan Shikai, and I don't pay attention to it.

Moreover, although Pu Wei has a large number of troops, the army has just been formed. Not to mention the training level, at least the training time is insufficient. In the end, although Pu Wei has the support of foreign forces, the Yangtze River channel has been controlled by us. Foreign support materials, weapons and ammunition can only be transported from Guangdong to Hunan, or from Yunnan to Sichuan. Whether it is time or cost, it will increase a lot. In this way, from this war, Yuan Shikai is of course weak. However, even if Yuan Shikai wins this battle, he will occupy some territory at most, but it is impossible to completely destroy Pu Wei. First, Yuan Shikai's own strength is not enough, and second, if it really comes to that time, foreign forces will never sit idly by and will definitely interfere."

Li Sanjie said: "But after winning this battle, Yuan Shikai's territory will definitely expand, and with Yuan Shikai's ability, the gap between strength and Pu Wei will definitely narrow. In this way, one will gradually decrease and the other will increase. Yuan Shikai's strength will inevitably become bigger and bigger. If he gradually swallows and eats it, he may really destroy Pu Wei!"

Xu Jichao said: "If you give Lao Yuan 10 years, maybe he can really do it, slowly expand the vulgar development, and eventually completely destroy Pu Wei, but now there is not much time left for Lao Yuan. It only takes about 2 or 3 years to completely stabilize the situation in the north, and then he will go south. Yuan Shikai will not give enough time to develop."

Xia Bohai also smiled and said, "In fact, neither we nor foreign forces will give Yuan Shikai the opportunity to completely destroy Pu Wei, and there are many means to use. As for us, when necessary, we can cut off the support to Yuan Shikai and open the Yangtze River channel to various countries so that they can more conveniently transport the materials that support Pu Wei to Sichuan; even if we directly support Pu Wei, foreign forces also have a trump card, which is to promote the alliance between Pu Wei and Pu Jie, so that Yuan Shikai can attack Yuan Shikai, so Yuan Shikai has no chance at all."

Zhang Yuming laughed and said, "It seems that Old Yuan is really pitiful."

Wang Jun frowned and said, "That's how I see it. In fact, neither Pu Wei nor Yuan Shikai are our opponents. Even if they can unify the South, it will not be possible to stop our unified action. Therefore, from another perspective, if the South can be under the control of a force, maybe it will be better than war through negotiations? And if we intervene in the disputes in the South now, let the South form a balance of power, and thus fall into a long war, it will inevitably seriously damage the South's economy and society, as well as a large number of casualties. In this way, if we unify the South in the future, it will still cost a huge cost to restore and rebuild!"

Li Sanjie said: "Even if the south is not under the control of one force, we can still unify through peaceful negotiations! Let's talk one by one, and the weaker the power, the easier it is to talk about it!"

Wang Jun said: "I don't mean that. It's okay to talk one by one, and it's okay to talk to a unified force. I just think there is no need for us to intervene in the dispute in the south and deliberately maintain a balance of power, which will lead to the expansion of war and aggravate the destruction of the south. After we unify the south, we still need to invest a lot of manpower and material resources to rebuild it."

Qin Zheng shook his head and said, "The situation that is most favorable to us is that the south is destroyed. The war in the north is smooth. On the one hand, although our military strength is strong, and on the other hand, the Qing court itself is doing too badly. The entire north has been in constant wars and turmoil, the entire social contradictions are very sharp, and land annexation is serious. Our land policy is in line with the people, so we are invincible. There are basically no major wars and there are no repeated places. But the south is different, since Taiping

After the Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the south did not experience any war. It has developed peacefully for more than 30 years. Moreover, the south is relatively economically developed and land annexed is not too serious. In addition, the south has a complex and changeable terrain and many rivers and lakes. In the future, our attack on the south may not be as smooth as the north. If the war disrupts the south, it will be much easier for us to send troops to collect the south. As for post-war reconstruction, although it will consume more manpower and material resources, it will always be easier to knock down and rebuild than repairing."

Wang Jun said: "I am worried that in the future history, if we count the wars in the south on our heads, it will probably harm our reputation."

Wang Yunpeng said: "This battle was fought by Pu Wei and Yuan Shikai and others, and it was not a war we launched. What impact will it have on our reputation."

You Mingqian also said: "That is, history is written by the winners. As long as we ultimately unify China, isn't history written by us? How can it have an impact on our reputation? So this worry makes no sense. I agree with the political commissar to buy weapons for Lao Yuan, so that the more fierce they fight, the better."
Chapter completed!