"Boom!"

After reading the report about the loan negotiations in the "Sunchon Times", Yang Du was upset and dropped the tea cup in his hand to the ground. The crisp sound of shattering porcelain resounded in the room.

"Think about it and marry someone else!"

Thinking of other people's comments about him, Yang Du couldn't help but smile bitterly. When he invited Li Zicheng to go to the capital, when his official business had not yet been carried out and all the roads in the capital were still dark, he ran up and down to help him.

He set up connections, originally thinking that he would "repay the favor", but who knew that in the end, Guan Mianjun took advantage of him.

What kind of railways, what kind of loans, this is simply putting yourself...

"Master, someone is looking for you."

The skinny Shi Laoqi stood outside the window, knocking on the window lattice and shouting in a half-male half-female voice that he was an old eunuch purged from the palace and was now working as a servant in this house.

"Which one to look for?"

Yang Du, who was upset, walked out of the door and asked.

Shi Laoqi said quickly.

"It's the eldest son."

Yang Du was stunned at first, and then smiled again. Is the eldest son Yuan Shikai's eldest son? His brother who changes posts.

Yuan Shikai! Yuan Shikai! After all, you still can’t live without yourself!

What a great opportunity!

Yang Du quickly straightened his clothes and walked out of the hall quickly. He saw a young man in luxurious clothes looking at him with a smile. When he saw Yuan Keding, Yang Du hurriedly raised his hands and said.

"Yuntai, it's so late and you're here in person. If you need anything, just come directly to someone else. It's really an unwelcome surprise."

"Where, where!" Yuan Keding also raised his hands.

"Brothers are older than elders, how can Ke Ding lose his etiquette!"

Yuan Keding was so respectful that it made Yang Du feel more comfortable, but he spoke quickly.

"I don't dare to accept it. The residence is simple and the furnishings are messy. I really don't dare to receive the eldest son. Since the eldest son has arrived, please come in and sit for a while."

Yuan Keding and he called themselves brothers, but Yang Du didn't dare to call him brothers.

When he entered the house, Yuan Keding was joking aside.

"Look at what Brother Xizi said, you can live here, why should I feel wronged!"

Yuan Keding entered Yang Du's house. Yang Du was not a well-kempt person, and now he was alone in Beijing, with no one to clean up the house. The room was very messy: books and ink were scattered on the desk, and the quilt was not folded on the bed.

He pointed to the only armchair in the room and said to the guest.

"Master, please sit down, please sit down."

After the guests sat down, he sat down himself. Although he had been rich for several years, some habits could not be changed in three days or two.

"On what day did Brother Xizi come to Beijing?"

"Arrived at twenty-eight."

When replying, Yang Du's brows jumped and he thought, don't you know that I arrived that day?

"Oh, it's been half a month!"

Yuan Keding nodded, and then said apologetically.

"Brother Xizi, please forgive me for being late for Ke Ding's visit."

Yuan Keding's apology made Yang Du stand up quickly and said he didn't dare.

"My eldest son, I am so busy with things that I dare not make any mistakes."

The eldest son's courtesy made Yang Du feel quite happy. This Yuan Keding actually had the demeanor that an eldest son should have!

"oh."

Yuan Keding hesitated for a moment, then looked at Yang Du and asked again.

"I wonder if Brother Xizi has read the newspaper?"

"I read the newspaper quite often."

Here we are, finally getting down to business.

"oh!"

Yuan Keding responded slowly again, glanced at the table, saw the newspaper on the table, and asked casually.

"Have you seen any news recently?"

“Today, I saw an article in the Sunchon Times and was thinking about it!”

"oh!"

Yuan Keding stood up, flipped through the "Shuntian Times" spread out on the table, and saw the front page with the words "Collusion between officials and businessmen: bribing officials to obtain road rights". Looking at this front page

Yuan Keding smiled coldly. Like his father, Yang Du did not read other newspapers. He only read the Shuntian Times, which has a large sales volume in Beijing. This is a Chinese-language newspaper run by Japanese. Since it is

Newspapers run by Japanese people naturally speak for the Japanese people.

This article talks about collusion between the government and businessmen. It is basically using public opinion to incite people who do not know the truth to oppose the government's borrowing from Liuhe Company. At its core, it is not just a cover for the banking syndicate.

"Brother Xizi, do you think this is the case?"

Listening to the eldest son's question, Yang Du smiled heartily: How could this eldest son Yuan ask this question? Outsiders may not know, but how could he not know that he was the one who invited Li Zicheng to Beijing in the first place.

"Maybe it is, maybe it's not. I don't know what's going on, so I don't dare to speak nonsense."

Yang Du replied cautiously, and at the same time used this sentence to express his attitude to Yuan Keding. It was not that he didn't want to say it, but that he "didn't need" to say it.

"oh."

With a slight response, Yuan Keding looked at Yang Du with a smile and said.

"Brother Xizi, I am here to ask you something."

As he spoke, he leaned forward slightly, lowered his voice and told Yang Du about the conditions offered by Li Zicheng.

"There are two 100 meters along the auxiliary area, 1000 meters on the four sides of the fifth-class station, 1500 meters on the four sides of the fourth-class station, 2000 meters on the four sides of the third-class station, 3000 meters on the four sides of the second-class station, and 5000 meters on the four sides of the first-class station.

, 10,000 meters on the four sides of the special station... Road police along the railway are all handled by the company itself. In order to maintain public security and order in the affiliated areas, special courts are allowed to be set up to deal with various criminal activities on the station land. Insiders in the affiliated areas shall follow the company's affiliated area regulations.

Management, the company has a fixed fixed tax burden, which shall be exempted from payment for three years on the land, and will not increase for five years. Government military and police are not allowed to be stationed in the auxiliary land along the line..."

After a pause, Yuan Keding looked at Yang Du, who was silent in thought, and continued.

"Look, this is a condition that Dun can't accept. That's why he sent me to see Brother Xizi in order to use Brother Xizi's wisdom to solve the current situation!"

Seeing that Yuan Keding had a clear understanding, and being surprised by Li Zicheng's courage to risk his life with the president, Yang Du hesitated for a while and knew that this might be another test for him by the president.

, so I muttered something in my heart.

"Li Zhiyuan, you are ruthless and blame me for being unrighteous!"

So after pondering for a moment, he looked up at Yuan Keding and said.

"My lord, actually this matter is easy to handle!"

"Brother Xizi, please give me a clear explanation!"

Yuan Keding asked anxiously, could it be possible that Yang Du's two sentences had a solution?

"Actually, the method is easy to find. It just depends on whether the president uses it or not!"

After hearing this, Yuan Keding stood up quickly and said.

"Brother Xizi, you are not hiding anymore. I came here to ask you for advice on my father's order. My father also knows that with my brother's talent, this matter will be a piece of cake. I hope that brother Xizi will

Tell me frankly!"

While Yuan Keding was talking, Yang Du stood up and walked to the window, looking at the empty courtyard under the night, which was full of fallen leaves of poplar trees. A gust of wind blew by, and more than ten dead leaves were rolled down.

"The autumn wind blows on the Wei River, and the fallen leaves cover Chang'an."

Although he was not in the right situation, he softly recited this famous line from the Tang Dynasty, and suddenly felt an inexplicable emotion in his heart. At the same time, he frowned and whispered softly.

"The borrowing is used, firstly, to stabilize the central government's finances, and secondly, to disband the provincial civilian armies, and among them, the most important thing is to disband the provincial civilian armies!"

"Why did he bring up this matter again?"

Listening to Yang Du's words, Yuan Keding felt strange and didn't understand what Yang Du meant.

"The civilian armies of the eight provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Fujian, and Guangdong alone have 400,000 people according to the number announced by the military government. According to the agreement with the south on the deployment of the civilian army, if the civilian army is disbanded,

, each soldier should be given six months of liberation pay. After each soldier surrenders his arms, he will be given a check for 60 yuan, and he can withdraw it from the bank. This alone requires 30 million yuan! This shows that the civilian army of each province has been demobilized.

, is actually the root of all financial crises!”

When he mentioned the People's Army, Yang Du showed a hint of sarcasm on his face. The so-called People's Army is an irregular army temporarily raised or launched by the revolutionaries. Most of the members of the People's Army are based on poor farmers and unemployed people who become bandits.

, and even threatened the demobilized people of the township regiments and defense camps to swarm them. Precisely because of this, the civilian army often staged riots in the southern provinces. Even Sun Wen was surrounded by the civilian army when he was the interim president.

presidential palace".

Although the militia played an important role in the recovery of various provinces, the militia was fragmented, good and bad, and had no unified leadership. After entering the city, they separated their territories and demarcated taxes. The militia, which was out of control, had already become a part of the military government.
To be continued...