The defeat of the Hunan Southern Expedition Army had more or less a certain impact on the *** side. Cao Kun went south from Hubei and made great progress in Hunan, and the situation was very good in the first ten days of attacking Guangdong. He didn't know that the Jiangxi Army had just advanced south, and the Southern Expedition Army had failed in succession of battles, and was defeated in a blink of an eye.

*** Xinhuamen Presidential Palace, Huairen Hall General Office today came with an informal guest.

Half an hour ago, after some thought, Yuan Shikai finally decided to receive the guest with informal etiquette. This person was Zhu Erdian, the British ambassador to China.

Johnnewelljordan (1852-1925), a British diplomat, was born in Ireland and a peasant family. He studied at Queen's College in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, with a master's degree in literature. In the second year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1876), he came to China and worked as an intern translator at the *** Consulate. He studied consular business at various ports and had a good understanding of the Chinese officialdom. In 1888, he was promoted to the librarian of the *** Embassy and became the Chinese president in 1891. In 1896, he became the Consul General of Seoul, and was promoted to the acting minister to China in 1898, he became the minister in charge of the handling in 1901, and became the minister in charge of the special order in China in 1906. After retirement in 1920, he attended the Washington Conference.

It is undeniable that Zhuerdian is an authentic Chinese master, and even knows two Chinese dialects. When the Qing Dynasty was still there, he often wore Hanfu in various occasions. It was not until after the founding of the Republic of China that Chinese culture was very integrated with the West that he wore the high-collar dress of an English gentleman again.

In the small hall of the General Office of the State Administration, Yuan Shikai even stepped down and met Zhu Erdian alone. Although it was a small hall, the venue area with more than 50 people still seemed very empty for the two.

"It is undeniable that your plan has been affected by Your Excellency the President. So far, our missions of the five countries have not yet been able to clarify how deep the fluctuations in the overall aftermath situation." After obtaining Yuan Shikai's permission, Zhu Erdian took out a cigarette from the exquisite metal cigarette box, lit it elegantly, and took a beautiful breath.

"I think you should check out the latest reports," Yuan Shikai moved his fat body, wearing a top-notch presidential dress, which made him feel uncomfortable when he sat down. His tone was majestic and impatient. He hated these foreigners the most in his bones. "Jiangxi has sent troops, and in just two days it easily defeated Guangdong's most elite first division. Speaking of which, the term elite is just a name for them by the Guangdong people themselves. In front of my Beiyang brigade, they are not worth mentioning, just like Hunan, Jiangxi and Jiangsu."

"It's all up to this day, so I'm naturally willing to believe what the President said. This is nothing to say." Juerdian took out his Beijing film and dragged his voice out, "But today I'm here to pay my respects to the President. The important thing is to explain to the President the latest views of our Western envoys on the Guangdong issue."

"Oh, is that right? I thought you came to me today to talk about the issue. Since that's the case, you can talk about it first." Yuan Shikai said with a gloomy face.

"The day before yesterday, I talked with the French Minister, and yesterday, with the two ministers of Germany and ***. Although everyone's analysis methods are very different, their opinions are still very clear and consistent. His Excellency the President predicted the pacification of state affairs before the general election on the loan contract. Our foreign friendly countries support and look forward to the arrival of a peaceful situation. However, since July, we have discovered that Guangdong Governor Wu Shaoting..."

"I need to interrupt. Wu Shaoting is an illegal governor. I was relieved of his position five months ago. This young man just threatened the Guangdong military government to serve him with a domineering means." Yuan Shikai interrupted loudly. Now he felt uncomfortable when he heard the four words "Guangdong governor".

He didn't care much before, but in recent months this feeling has become more and more obvious, and it is even more likely to add to his depression.

Zhu Erdian raised his eyebrows and smiled with a polite apology. He didn't care much about Yuan Shikai's words. In the eyes of envoys from various countries, even if a group of bandits dominated a city, he was a veritable leader. He used the ash from the cigarette to adjust his sitting posture and said, "President, please forgive me, I will remember this."

He paused for a moment and continued: "Wu Shaoting has been around for almost five months from July to today. The role he played in the so-called Second Revolution led by Sun Yat-sen, has changed a lot. This is the result we agree that the war has continued to this day, and Wu Shaoting's influence has even surpassed Sun Yat-sen. He took the initiative to provoke the battle between Guangdong and Guangxi, and continued to instigate Guangxi, Sichuan and even Fujian to respond to the Second Revolution, which is enough to make people admire him."

Yuan Shikai remained silent. He naturally realized this more than foreigners, which is why he was quite depressed recently. From the beginning, he only thought Wu Shaoting was a warlord who was good at commanding troops, and it was as worthy of appreciation as Cai Songpo. However, the war that could end in three months was delayed by the Guangdong province, pacifying Jiangxi, Jiangsu and Hunan, but Sichuan and Guangxi emerged, and Fujian were also very hidden dangers.

It is conceivable that Sun Yat-sen ignited the smoke of gunpowder in the first half, while Wu Shao-ting set off a huge wave in the second half. Strictly speaking, Wu Shao-ting is definitely more terrifying than Sun Yat-sen, because he was fighting from beginning to end, while Sun Yat-sen has no power or power in Shanghai.

Zhu Erdian simply smashed out half of the cigarettes and said comfortably: "After the end of the Guangdong-Guangdong War, Wu Shaoting had some problems in his finances. He did not plunder wealth from the people by issuing paper money without ***, and he seemed to be a leader who cherishes people's livelihood. I believe this is also an important reason why Wu Shaoting can "illegal" control Guangdong to this day."

When he said this, he couldn't help laughing, although he didn't really want to use illegal control to satirize Yuan Shikai.

Yuan Shikai saw the meaning of Zhu Erdian, his face looked even colder, and he said angrily: "Is that so? I hope you can tell the point as soon as possible and don't waste time on some irrelevant fine lines."

"Please forgive me. Guangdong's fiscal crisis did not affect Wu Shaoting, and he made some amazing measures. It is said that he actually unilaterally proposed a loan to Germany. Fortunately, the Germans were reluctant to delay the arrival of China's peace situation and rejected his request. The Guangdong military government issued public bonds again afterwards, which was not smooth at the beginning, but I believe that the war has been ongoing today and the public bonds have been sold out. In addition, Sun Wen and Song Jiaoren led the *** party members in Shanghai and actively raised funds for Guangdong. The Americans have confirmed that *** transferred 800,000 yuan to Guangdong through Citibank last month."

"I also know about this. Sun Yat-sen's purpose of taking the risk of raising funds for Guangdong is not simple. He just wants to preserve his status and is unwilling to escape from this revolution like this. He uses the money to inform the whole country that he is still the leader of this revolution." Yuan Shikai said with a cold smile. Sometimes he wonders, did Wu Shaoting see Sun Yat-sen's move?

"Your Excellency the President said very well. Of course, the reason why I say these words is to hope that You Youth President can clearly understand Wu Shaoting. He now has the appeal of no less than Sun Yat-sen, and has nearly 20,000 loyalists in his hands, and has full support from the revolutionary camp. This has posed a great challenge to Your Excellency the President's aftermath plan." Zhu Erdian said seriously, his expression and tone praised the atmosphere of disaster vividly.

Yuan Shikai snorted coldly in his heart: The foreign devil said at first that he was not sure how big the fluctuation was, but now he is here to scare me again. He said calmly: "Mr. Minister, please rest assured, everything is in my control."

Before Yuan Shikai's words were finished, Zhu Erdian shook his head and stressed: "no, no, no, no, you don't understand what I mean yet. The reason why I appeared here today is to represent France, Germany, *** and Russian envoys, expressing deep concerns to the President. We unanimously believe that this war should be completely over before the arrival of the Chinese New Year."

Yuan Shikai thought about it in his mind. It was mid-December and the Spring Festival of the 1911 year was mid-February. This time was sufficient for him. "Why, the Minister thinks that two months are not enough to deal with just Guangdong?"

Zhu Erdian smiled secretly and said, "We sincerely hope that the President will get what he wants. But..."

Yuan Shikai knew that Zhu Erdian would not be just a reminder to himself today. He asked calmly: "Mr. Minister, please speak out."

Juerdian said tentatively: "If the President, with the help of our British Empire, I believe that the war in Guangdong can be quelled before the New Year of the Gregorian calendar."

Yuan Shikai was not happy at all and asked, "Is that so? I believe you have additional conditions, Mr. Minister."

Zhu Erdian laughed and said, "Compared with President Yuan's great task of unifying the Republic of China, my conditions are not worth mentioning at all. As long as President Yuan can accept the diplomatic memorandum sent by me in the morning, our five British Empire warships in Hong Kong can go to Fujian, replace the military flag of the Fujian Navy, and cooperate with the Fujian Navy to attack Guangzhou. We will also negotiate cooperation with the people, and then the Japanese side will provide shells and fuel supplies to the Fujian Navy in Taiwan."

When Yuan Shikai thought of the diplomatic memorandum of just a few words, he was so angry that he could tolerate the title of a thief who steals the country, but he was absolutely unwilling to bear the reputation of a thief. As early as the beginning of the year, the British took advantage of the sudden chaos in the country and planned a series of thieves in the ***. In June, he ordered the central government to form a Sichuan-Yunnan coalition force to advance to the ***. Now the war is very smooth, and the rebellion in Lhasa will be quelled soon.

The British have threatened the *** government more than once by delaying loans and stopped losing troops to Lhasa. The so-called diplomatic memorandum proposed by Jurden this morning made four statements: (1) China is not allowed to interfere in the "internal affairs of the ***"; (2) China cannot be allowed to maintain a non-military army in Lhasa or the ***; (3) It is required that the agreement be concluded based on the above points as a condition to recognize the Republic of China; (4) All traffic to the Chinese will be closed before the agreement is concluded.

These conditions are extremely unreasonable and rude, and completely trampled on China's sovereignty.

At the beginning of the year, in order to successfully raise large-scale aftermath loans, Yuan Shikai had to slow down his military use against the ***. After receiving the first two periods of funds, on the one hand, he wanted to seek a good reputation in the country, and on the other hand, the British had several tragedies in the ***. Under the pressure of the ***, he had to disperse the revolutionary army forces in the four southwest provinces to prevent Sun Wen from causing a second revolution in the Yunchuan area, and he ordered his march to the ***.

After October, the British really delayed the third loan with the reason. Today, Juerdian came here in person, and after coercion, he used temptation to ensure that he had to do something safe.

After this series of twists and turns, although Yuan Shikai was disgusted, he was inevitably a little shaken.

A diplomatic memorandum is not a formal diplomatic letter, it does not require signing and does not have any restrictions on time limit.

Yuan Shikai planned to suspend the military service and concentrate on solving the problems of the Southern Revolutionary Party. Anyway, the rebels of the *** were vulnerable, and the British garrisons in the *** were not enough to threaten the progress of the recovery of the ***. This can be proved by the recent war situation of the Sichuan-Yunnan coalition forces. It is not too late to stabilize the southern territory and completely curb the hidden dangers of the revolutionary forces.

However, he did not plan to answer this question today. After all, the Jiangxi army has begun to attack Guangdong. The Guangdong army suffered a great loss in Nanxiong. The chances of pacifying Guangdong are obvious to all. Why should we rush to ask for foreign aid? What's more, foreign aid has a great influence in China, and it may not be a glorious thing.

Yuan Shikai laughed calmly and looked at Zhu Erdian and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Minister, I will seriously consider your suggestions. I will contact you as soon as possible if there is any information below."
Chapter completed!