Mongolia, Jiangsu, Li Zhiyuan?

Yuan Shikai thought intently. Although he was as smart as him, he still couldn't see the real intention of Li Zhiyuan to take this move. After finally grasping the three divisions, Li Zhiyuan was so generous and dared to send the troops to Mongolia. But... if it weren't for his sincerity, what else would he have planned?

Yang Du, who was toasting, saw the President looking focused and thoughtful, so he took the initiative to move forward.

"I don't know what the President is thinking about, but the old prime minister is here, so I might as well let the old prime minister take a closer look..."

After Yang Du said this, Yuan Shikai only felt a lit up and handed the telegram in his hand to Xu Shichang.

"Just, look..."

At that night, the original protagonist of the banquet, as this telegram became "Jiangsu" and "Mongolia", everyone was relieved. Yuan Shikai even took the opportunity to ask Xu Shichang for advice. Xu Shichang, who served as the first governor of the three eastern provinces, was good at border affairs, and naturally had the most say in this kind of thing, but Xu Shichang repeatedly stated that he just wanted to "get the plum blossoms and get drunk in Luoyang."

But he repeatedly expressed his gratitude to Yuan Shikai for his "kind hospitality" to him, and finally he had no choice but to spit out a word.

"drag!"

After the banquet, Xu Shichang left Yingtai, Zhongnanhai, but did not leave Beijing. Although Yuan Shikai was disappointed with the indifference of the banquet, he was not desperate. His youthful friend hovered in Beijing, which means that he might still have come out, especially the "drag" he said, which made him even more illuminate, and instead strengthened his mind to invite Xu Shichang out.

So, the second day of the banquet, he sent acting Premier Sun Baoqi to Xu Shichang's residence and continued to persuade him to come out.

When Xu Shichang saw the president's representative this time, he not only stopped talking about "and let's get drunk in Luoyang with plum blossoms", but also said some heartfelt words to the current situation. This made the president's representative smile.

It turned out that when the former Qing prime minister, Zhongnanhai, came back, he prayed devoutly to Lu Zu, who gave him some advice.

Xu Shichang firmly believed in Lu Zu, and had a history of more than 30 years. For more than 30 years, just like he eats, sleeps, wears and takes off clothes every day, he never neglects. He firmly believed that Lu Zu would "tell" his ups and downs of honor and disgrace. That was when he was 27 years old, and he and his younger brother Xu Shiguang went to Beijing to take the exam together. He heard that the Lu Zu Temple in Liulichang was very effective, so he went to ask for a signature. As a result, the signature was obtained as: "Guang is in front of the light, and Chang is in the main gate."

As a result of the exam, his younger brother won the 95th Juren, and he won the 125th Juren, responding to the words of "Guangqian": Four years later, that is, in the 12th year of Guangxu, he passed the entrance and responding to the preview of "Changdamen". From then on, Xu Shichang worshipped his Lu Zu, and he painted a statue of Lu Zu in an artificial brush in the Qing Dynasty. No matter where he went, he set up a quiet house, hung it in the center, placed an altar, set up an incense and candle, and prayed devoutly whenever he encountered any problems.

Now, although Lu Zu is located in Qingdao, he can still pray for a distance. Will the sincerity be effective? After returning from Zhongnanhai, it is already deeper. Xu Shilu still seldom opened Lu Zu's divine card with only the yellow paper with Lu Zu's name written on it. He rinsed his hands and prayed silently, and even asked for a sign of "Don't miss the opportunity". Xu Shichang frowned and pondered sometimes, and laughed.

"Since the old prime minister has a clear understanding of state affairs, he naturally has good plans for governing the country. It seems that the president's trust is really aware of pillars."

Sun Baoqi flattered Xu Shichang.

His flattery made Xu Shichang laugh.

"So, I'm still useful to the country?"

"It's not just a point of use, it's a pillar."

Sun Baoqi quickly praised.

"Okay, I'll come out and make a transition, and help Lao Peng."

Xu Shichang stood up, smiled at Sun Baoqi, and then said.

"But there are two things that need to be explained first: First, I will never accept the salary of officials who are struggling with the people; Second: I am a transition, so I must ask him to find someone else at any time."

"Everyone obeys the old prime minister's orders"

After completing the task assigned by the President, Sun Baoqi returned with satisfaction.

Xu Shichang accepted the Secretary of State and was willing to come out. Yuan Shikai was very happy and immediately arranged an office for him in the quietest Xiazhu Tower in the Presidential Palace, and repeatedly reminded all personnel of the Presidential Palace to respect Xu Yi as the "prime minister". Xu Shichang was just staying in Xiazhu Tower, and Yuan Shikai went to visit him in person, and at the same time, he sent 4,000 yuan to the ocean in the name of gifts from his old friend.

For pocket money, Xu Shichang accepted it calmly because it was not a salary.

After all, Yuan Shikai is a veteran in the officialdom. He has suffered a lot from the ups and downs of this path, and he understands his hardships. He often grabs the arm of the sleeve and asks "Is it true or not?" Since he wants to hire people, he must give it a try, so he took out what he encountered a few days ago in advance.

"Ju Ren, you said, this is Mongolian matter..."

Yuan Shikai said that when Xu Shichang listened, he also had an idea in his heart when he listened. When he became the governor of Northeast China, he had a lot of dealing with Russia and Japan, and had long been familiar with border affairs. However, he might have become embarrassed about this matter. When he decided to go out, he knew that this matter was probably the first thing that Lao Peng had done.

"The President, the Soviet telegram, is reasonable. The country has the concerns of the country. After all, the border affairs are large, and he is willing to send troops to recover Mongolia in the name of the Jiangsu Army. If Russia interferes during this period and the two armies fight, the country can make excuses on the grounds that the Jiangsu Army will be fine..."

After pondering for a moment, Xu Shichang continued.

"But with Russia's power, how can it be done by words?"

Yuan Shikai nodded first, then shook his head.

"But the Mongolian land involves China's territorial sovereignty. If the central government does not do it, it may only become a sinner for eternity!"

When he spoke up, Yuan Shikai looked helpless. In the past two years of negotiations between China and Russia on the Mongolian issue, he drafted a China-Russia statement document in November 1913, using Mongolian autonomy as the bottom line in exchange for the Russian government's recognition of the Republic of China government. This is already the biggest bottom line he can achieve.

If it were last year, the Jiangsu Army requested the recapture of Mongolia by force, he would probably nod immediately. However, now, on the one hand, although China and Russia have made statements ahead, but on the other hand, it is because they do not want to recapture Mongolia, but they cannot provoke the war with Russia intervening.

On the other hand, if you say something bluntly, you are afraid of being distorted and falling into an unfavorable situation.

Seeing Yuan Shikai's face, Xu Shichang, who is familiar with border affairs, wouldn't he know what was wrong with him? So he spoke. "The President, replying to Jiangsu's request is extremely simple. Such loyalty to state affairs should be given a reward. The Jiangsu Army has been reorganized last year for only September. The Army Department can allocate hundreds of thousands of yuan for its improvement of equipment and train troops in Jiangsu Province. The central government is now negotiating with the Russians. If there is no progress..."

"...It is commendable for the loyalty of the Soviet Union's officers and soldiers to the state's affairs... When it comes to foreign negotiations, when we were first established in the Republic of China, we should not use force without force. Although it starts with peace, we have to use force as a shield. If the negotiations fail, in order to maintain the unity of the country, we should use force decisively to perform unification..."

Recalling the telegram from Jiangsu Province, Chen Taoyi couldn't help but nod and said.

"The Strategy Commander, this President's telegram is beyond refutation!"

For Chen Taoyi, almost after the Jiangsu Provincial Army General Staff issued the telegram, he concluded that the central government would never agree. He had already prepared a power supply of thousands of words. As soon as the central government responded, the power supply would be issued by the Jiangsu Provincial Governor and the Deputy Commissioner of the Huaihai Strategic Inspector.

But now, when Yuan Shikai's telegram came, it was convinced that the negotiations were still in progress. I hope that when the Jiangsu Army forced to send troops, it would be a good challenge to the country. The central government would not turn back. Now, with the hat of negotiations first, Huaihai was speechless.

"Well, Han Wu was promoted to one level and was given the title of lieutenant general. This can be regarded as solving the problem of subordinates under the three divisions!"

Compared to Chen Taoyi's sigh, Li Zicheng really likes the "profit" obtained by that telegram. In fact, what he wants to compete for from Yuan Shikai is some "profit" in name only, and some "profit" in name only, and some "profit" in name only, will have unexpected gains when he makes a little work. Just like his Huaihai Strategic Instructor, others are "empty titles" without money or power, but who dares to say that he has no money or power when wearing this hat?

Although Han Wu's "rank of lieutenant general" is now known, it solves the problems that have existed in the Jiangsu Army. Among the discord factors that Yuan Shikai laid on the Jiangsu Army last year, one of them was that the three division commanders were all major generals, and the chief of staff of the Jiangsu Army in South Korea also served as the commander of the Third Division, which was only the rank of major generals. This caused two major generals to obey one lieutenant general, which was more or less a problem.

But now, Yuan Shikai helped him solve this unsolved problem.

"There is still 600,000 yuan in military expenses. Our President Yuan is quite generous. This 600,000 yuan can do a lot of things!"

Li Zicheng, who was asking for money from the "Central" for the first time, hesitated for a moment.

"Since the president is so generous, we cannot be stingy. We can allocate one million yuan from the government to the General Staff, and we will form the Jiangsu Army Air Force, and also transfer the Lianyungang Blue Sky Air Force to the Jiangsu Army!"

Compared to Yuan Shikai, Li Zicheng is undoubtedly more generous. After all, he is his own team. The Blue Sky Aviation Team founded by Feng Ru was originally a "seed" prepared for the establishment of the air force. Although it cannot establish an open air force now, it is reasonable to form an army aviation team.

As a future person, Li Zicheng knows better than anyone what the Air Force and the Blue Sky mean. Whoever controls the Air Force and the Sky will master the victory of future wars. Only by mastering the sky can he truly be "fareless", and only by mastering the sky can he master the future.

When thinking about the sky, Li Zicheng couldn't help but have a scene in the old documentary of World War II. A group of planes like vultures covered the sky and the sun. Suddenly, they dived down at an angle that seemed to be perpendicular to the ground, making a sharp and strange roar. The roar was like the whistle of death, tearing apart one defense line, and it would almost become synonymous with the enemy's nightmare. This is the sky, this is the future.

Thinking of this, Li Zicheng's lips raised slightly. Now he may not be able to create the world's earliest air force, but soon he will have the most powerful air force in the world! At that time, all enemies will tremble in front of it and immerse themselves in nightmare all day long!

"The Strategy Commander, you, we..."

The absent-mindedness of the strategy commander made Chen Taoyi anxious, and he hurriedly said.

"This regaining of Mongolia is a matter of benefiting the country and the people. If the Jiangsu Army can regain Mongolia independently, the reputation of the Strategic Envoy will be famous all over the country, and in the future, it will also..."

Since entering the Office of the Strategic Inspector, Chen Taoyi has always had an ambition deep in his heart, that one day, the Strategic Inspector will be able to enter Zhongnanhai as the president. In his opinion, the Strategic Inspector in front of him has this condition. Compared with financial resources and even military strength, what he values ​​is more that the Strategic Inspector is younger than everyone else. Now what he needs is reputation. What reputation can be able to defeat the "restoration of territory and territory"?

"Public rumor, just do what the President wants. Besides, we really need to prepare something, right? Don't worry, don't worry, prepare first, and prepare before you can succeed in the battle!"

Li Zicheng, who came to his senses, smiled. Now, he just needs to prepare everything. When he takes action, there is no reason, and he can create a reason himself!

"No conditions are needed to create conditions!"

Wu Qiliang, who is in Paris, France, looked at the unprecedented five-story, 33 meters high on the Ottoman Avenue, with 10 new Byzantine carved stained glass domes inlaid with gold-painted windows, staring at the Lefayette Department Store, which made the old Parisian look fresh. At this moment, only one thought was left in his mind.

"I want to run a department store here too!"

The moment this thought came out, it burned Wu Qiliang's consciousness like a flame. As the president of the French Chinese Chamber of Commerce, he has been active in the raw silk trading market in Lyon for the past six months. During the off-season of raw silk, as the manager of the French branch of the Chinese Foreign Trade Company, he also needs to be responsible for the sales of Chinese industrial products in France, but the sales are always unsatisfactory.

France is the fashion capital of the world. For any country, only when products successfully enter the French market can they enter the world market. As a Ningbo native, Wu Qiliang always imagined that his uncle Wu Jintang, who made achievements in France in Japan. He even felt that he could do better than his uncle, because when he went to Japan, the capital was only a thousand taels, but he had a company, or even half of the Chinese industry as a backing.

However, in France, when promoting Chinese industrial products, Wu Qiliang discovered what kind of market he was facing. In a mature industrial country, France can produce almost all commodities. From China's input to France, only a few of them are competitive with the French industry, mainly cotton yarn, toys, porcelain, electric lamps, pencils and a few manufacturing products.

In fact, in this era, the French believed that trade with China mainly involves France's trade in goods for East raw materials, commodities from China to France, and commodities from France to the East. The former uses raw materials and the latter mainly uses manufacturing products. Now, Chinese-made products are about to enter the French market. How difficult is this? How can the French accept industrial manufacturing products from "backward China".

"The key is to conquer these French people psychologically!"

"The nature of the French people makes them easily moved by some gorgeous or spectacular scenes, so we must try our best to find ways to give them an unprecedented sense of stimulation and soul shock, and then let them accept our goods..."

Thinking about the telegram the chairman gave him, the telegram did not tell him how to sell Chinese manufacturing, but he told him a very clear incident. After all, he had to start with the psychology.

Gorgeous or spectacular…

Speaking these two words, Wu Qiliang's eyes stared at the building in front of him that once caused a sensation in Paris with its luxurious decoration as a palace. He wanted to build a department store that could shock the entire Paris even more than here!

While walking towards the Lefayette Department Store, Wu Qiliang stared at the famous advertisement before entering the door.

"There's always new things to do in Lefayette!"

The latest news, Lefayette not only relies on his luxury, but also on his latest news to conquer the Parisians and attract them to shop here.

"The inferior Chinese manufacturing cannot enter Lefayette!"

Thinking of the confident words of the damn Jew when he was in contact with Theofell Bedel a month ago, Wu Qiliang showed a sneer on his face. Whether it was for one breath or to open up a Chinese-made market, he would have to set up a department store in Paris that could shock the entire France.

"But what should I use to shock the whole of Paris?"

Standing under the giant gold carved dome of Byzantine style, looking at the shadows of people coming and going, every guest is like going to a medieval party. Shopping here has become a real enjoyment. Although you are unwilling to admit it, Wu Qiliang has to admit a reality. There is almost no possibility of competing with Lefayette Department Store in a luxury department store. It is too luxurious and too extravagant. Byzantine luxury is most fully displayed here. It can be said that there is no possibility of competing with them in luxury.

Under the giant Byzantine carved gold-carved dome, Wu Qiliang was frowning in his mind, and walked by his side a series of well-dressed gentlemen or ladies dressed in costumes. They were like... as if they were attending a banquet, it seemed that this place was...

Suddenly, Wu Qiliang's eyes lit up, and he rushed out of Lefayette Department Store. The moment he walked out of the door, the scenery in front of him suddenly changed, and he turned back to Lefayette.

"The noble Lefayette belongs to only a few people, but where is the real market?"

Looking at the passers-by in ordinary clothes, the most ordinary French people are the real market! But how can we sell the goods to them?

Standing on the sidewalk next to Ottoman Avenue, Wu Qiliang was completely confused. At this moment, only one thought was left in his mind, how to sell Chinese products to ordinary people in Paris!
Chapter completed!