Chapter 121 Yuan Shikai’s thoughts (first update!)

"Opportunity to strive for success"

Putting down the newspaper in his hand, Yuan Shikai touched his bare head, and a smile appeared on his square face like an old farmer.

"Li Zhiyuan, Li Zhiyuan"

After sighing twice, Yuan Shikai felt happy again and looked up at Zhao Bingjun standing in front of him.

"Zhi'an, it seems that Li Zhiyuan has offended the Japanese a lot."

"Not only does it offend someone unclearly, it simply makes the Japanese hate them to the core. This is probably the first time since the Sino-Japanese War that the Japanese have had their teeth knocked out and forgotten to swallow them."

As the Minister of Internal Affairs, Zhao Bingjun naturally knows some of the inside stories.

"As soon as he arrived in Lianyungang, in order to set up a factory, he poached all the workers in more than a dozen Japanese factories in Dalian. I heard that he forced the president of Kawasaki Ship Canal to commit hara-kiri. As for Nakamura, he was even more annoyed..."

"I was so angry that I wanted to eat him alive, but..."

Yuan Shikai took over with a smile. Ever since he became the governor of Korea, he had not had a good impression of the ambitious Japanese people. Even now, he only entrusted them to the virtual snake.

"But I can't move him."

"President, it's strange to say, why do the Japanese care about him, Li Zicheng?"

At this moment, Zhao Bingjun pretended to be confused. In fact, the Minister of Internal Affairs who came from the police chief had already received some information, but it had never been confirmed.

"Humph, will the Japanese care about him?"

After smiling, Yuan Shikai shook his head again.

"What they are worried about is that the Morgan man in the United States can even flick his fingers and be thicker than his waist."

While talking, Yuan Shikai picked up the teacup and said.

"Last time, various countries refused to exchange Li Zicheng's check. In the end, Morgan Bank stood up and admitted it. Externally, Morgan Bank claimed that it was because Li Zicheng took out gold. But what did Li Zicheng bring when he came? Dozens of barrels.

Movie film, and later he chartered a merchant ship, which transported more than a thousand tons of lead ingots, hundreds of tons of copper ingots, and hundreds of barrels of movie film. At most, there was a wheelless one he designed.

The train, this person and that..."

With half-closed eyes, thinking of the previous conversation between Li Zicheng and himself, Yuan Shikai pondered for a moment before speaking.

"There is an inexplicable relationship between this man and Morgan..."

While talking, Morgan stopped talking, but held his hand on the edge of the cup, seeming to be thinking about something.

"President, do you mean that Morgan is his backer?"

Zhao Bingjun's heart tightened when he spoke. Others didn't know it, but he knew that Morgan Bank might not have much influence in China, but in China, foreign banks, big and small, with noses that could reach the sky, had no influence on the "little" Morgan Bank.

Bank manager, that's the ultimate compliment.

"Backstage, we may not be able to talk about it, but if we say there is no connection between the two, it would be confusing."

While speaking, Yuan Shikai suddenly raised his eyebrows.

"railway"

Then Yuan Shikai suddenly stood up and walked to a map. The map had just been hung up recently. Since the construction of the Longhai Railway began, as the president, he naturally paid "double attention" to it, and this map was his

He specially ordered people to hang it up, and the Longhai Railway was specially marked on the map, and the size of the land for each train station was even specially drawn.

Standing in front of the map, Yuan Shikai looked west along the railway, then he thought about it for a while, and finally frowned again.

"Zhi'an, do you remember the Russo-Japanese War?"

During the Russo-Japanese War, Yuan Shikai tried his best to advocate an alliance with Japan and war against Russia in order to protect the sovereignty of Northeast China and not lose the territory. Although in the end he failed to do so due to the weakness of the Qing government, Yuan Shikai also cooperated deeply with Japan and had extensive experience before and after the Russo-Japanese War.

Naturally, I pay more attention to the matter.

"Back then, when Japan and Russia were negotiating peace in the United States, the United States learned that Russia would transfer the South Manchuria branch line of the Middle East Railway to Japan, and planned to encroach on the northeastern right of way, which was the Japanese-US co-management plan of the South Manchuria Railway by American railway king Harriman. At that time

Harriman was one of the most powerful figures in the United States. In order to develop U.S. trade with Asia, he formulated a plan for a global transportation line under U.S. control. This was to extend the U.S. Pacific Railway to Dalian Port via a trans-Pacific steamship route, and connect it with Dalian Port.

The South Manchuria Railway was connected to the Middle East Railway, and through the Trans-Siberian Railway, it communicated with American ships at Lvov on the Baltic Sea coast, establishing a transportation line around the world. This plan was abandoned because the Japanese broke the contract."

With his eyes fixed on the map, Yuan Shikai's eyes moved back and forth between Dalian and Lianyungang several times. At the same time, Zhao Bingjun's eyes also focused on the two places. Finally, he seemed to have a sudden realization.

"President, you mean that Li Zicheng was sent by the Americans..."

Then he clapped his hands vigorously again.

"President, if that's the case, we've all fallen in love with Li Zicheng. No, it's probably Morgan. From the very beginning, the blast furnaces and stuff were all fake. Let me just say, Li Zicheng is only a second-year old.

At twelve years old, at his age, he can build a blast furnace worth hundreds of millions of taels of silver. Even if it is completed, Morgan will be stupid. According to my opinion, I still won't..."

Before he could finish his words, Yuan Shikai suddenly laughed, and his laughter was very loud.

"Americans, Americans..."

After saying this twice in succession, Yuan Shikai's expression became serious again.

"If he is really an American, I really am not afraid of him Li Zicheng. This American is no better than countries like Britain, Germany, France and Japan. The United States, Americans only have money in their eyes. Even if this railway is controlled by the Americans, it is not a big deal.

, not to mention that it is only a company participating, even if it is a government participation, the US government did not allow them to own a concession in China, let alone such a large area of ​​​​annex, the Americans are not scary, to be honest..."

Turning around, Yuan Shikai's expression still looked a little serious.

"I really hope that Li Zicheng will really do things for Americans."

Now it was Zhao Bingjun's turn to figure out what the president meant.

"Now, the situation in China is far more dangerous than before the Qing Dynasty."

With a slight sigh, Yuan Shikai's expression became extremely solemn. He walked back to his office and sat on the chair again. When he was about to touch the tea cup, his hand was half in the air. His movements and expressions showed the depth of his heart.

Tangled.

"Zhi'an, you know that in the past, in Manchuria and Outer Mongolia, we relied on the hostility between Japan and Russia to ensure that our sovereignty was not lost. But now, the "Japan-Russia Alliance Treaty" has been signed. In the past, Japan and Russia were opposed to each other and monitored each other's actions to invade China.

, is beneficial to our China. This is a major diplomatic principle established since Li Zhongtang’s meeting. But now that the Japan-Russia alliance is united and can work together to carve up China, it is a big disadvantage for China.

It is Britain that declares the right to move absolutely freely in Tibet. This Japan-Russia Alliance, the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, the Anglo-Russian Alliance, and the Three Kingdoms Alliance are not a big disadvantage to China. If we are not careful, let alone sovereignty.

Lost, the territory is incomplete, and it is even possible that the country will not be protected."

Seeing the president let out a heavy sigh, Zhao Bingjun was dumbfounded. He only knew that the diplomatic situation was tense now, but he had not thought that the country would be in danger.

"In the past, we relied on the equalization of interests of all countries and the open door opened by the Americans to prevent China from being divided by the great powers. But now, with our alliance and France's eye on the Southwest, the Germans are even more determined to win Shandong.

, if the three countries of Britain, Russia and Japan collude with each other, France and Germany will follow closely, I'm afraid..."

Before he finished speaking, Yuan Shikai closed his eyes. In China, he always believed that no one could see the development of the internal and external situation better than himself, and no one knew better than him how dangerous the current situation was.

"Kenuo is saying that the United States has meddling in the Long Railway Railway, and it is also for transportation around the world. In the future, the Longhai Railway will be built to Xinjiang and will be connected to the Russian Central Asian Railway. At that time, the United States will have interests in central China.

If other countries want to carve up China, the United States will definitely protect their interests."

"President, if the Americans want to fight with them..."

Before Zhao Bingjun finished speaking, Yuan Shikai shook his head and said.

"Among the other countries, only the United States has no territorial claim on China. On the contrary, if China is divided among various countries, it will be detrimental to the interests of the United States. Firstly, China's market will be divided among various countries. Secondly,

The Longhai Railway runs through China's east and west. Even if it is divided, the United States will fight to the death to ensure that the entire Longhai line is occupied by the United States. Britain and Russia will definitely not want the United States to get involved in Gansu and Tibet. Only then can we have a glimmer of hope."

At this moment, Yuan Shikai finally felt that he had figured out everything. Why did Morgan lend money to Li Zicheng? It was not about gold. Why did the United States withdraw from the six-nation loan? To get to the bottom of it, perhaps, this Li Zicheng was a member of the American business community and government.

piece.

No matter whether he sold the patent or not, at least one thing is that Americans must support Li Zicheng, and Li Zicheng will definitely give him something in return. As for what kind of reward? This is not known, but Yuan Shikai believes that no matter how big the reward is,

, is no bigger than the South Manchuria Railway occupied by the Japanese.

"Zhi'an, I remember that when we signed the contract, the government had the right to use the railway to transport troops, right?"

Although he said he was not worried, Yuan Shikai still asked at the last moment.

"When national defense needs it, the government can requisition locomotives and carriages on the Longhai Railway to transport troops at cost."

"Oh that's good, that's good"

Yuan Shikai nodded and finally felt relieved. With the right to transport troops, the right to redeem it at cost after twenty years, and the prohibition against mortgaging foreign banks, well, the Americans couldn't exploit that railway.

"Well, I'm relieved now, don't say..."

The relieved Yuan Shikai smiled.

"If it is said that Li Zicheng really got help from the Americans, maybe he can really help China, at least..."

Hand shook the newspaper.

"If this competitive machine is built, it will really make China look good. If the big steel plant he mentioned before can be built, China will be considered an industrial country anyway."

As he said this, Yuan Shikai rolled his eyes and forced a smile on his face.

"When the time comes, I'll give him another big gift from Li Zicheng as a reward"...
Chapter completed!