Cheng Biguang and Duan Qirui arrived in Tongzhou on the same day, and they arrived at almost the same time. The two of them waited together in the living room and met each other before they knew that they were going to meet Song Biao together.

At this time, Song Biao had already announced the establishment of the Chinese Empire and launched the Beijing government of the Empire's temporary cabinet. Tang Shaoyi served as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, Ouyang Geng served as the Foreign Minister, Zhang Kangren served as the Finance Minister, Wang Chonghui served as the Minister of Law, Cai Yuanpei served as the Minister of Culture and Education, Shu Fang

De served as Minister of Defense, Tang Yuanzhan served as Minister of Industry and Commerce, and other cabinet members were still vacant. Anyway, the cabinet can only manage the three eastern provinces and Zhili areas at present...

This situation is basically the same as Zhang Zuolin's Fenglian government period back then.

Only at such a moment can Song Biao experience the kind of hardships of Chiang Kai-shek and Yuan Shikai. He is actually even more tragic than these two, because half of the provinces have not recognized his empire, and Guangdong, Guangxi and Hubei have committed constitutional autonomy.

Sichuan, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia continued to be the control of the remnants of the Qing Dynasty, Yunnan first entered the warlord separatist period, and under the banner of the Restoration Association, the province was autonomous, Fujian, Jiangsu, and Anhui were swaying and fighting.

Never stop, Henan and Shandong were under the secret control of Yuan Shikai.

Very messy.

But it doesn't matter. Song Biao is confident that he can settle most of the provinces within one year.

After drafting a telegram for Wang Zhaoming, he immediately returned to Beijing, Song Biao went to the reception room to meet Cheng Biguang and Duan Qirui.

These two should be said to be old officers who prefer the republicans, and there are many reasons why they prefer the republicans. If you have political thoughts, you still want to retain the military power in your hands. They are also good, and new in other provinces.

Well, the military, including the remaining old bureaucrats of the Qing Dynasty, everyone knew in their hearts that once the Chinese Empire system was really determined, Song Biao would further control the military forces across the country, exclude dissidents, and kick out all military leaders.

This selfish mentality is actually the main reason why China entered the era of warlord separatism after the late Qing Dynasty.

Accompanied by Jiang Zhengyuan, the accompanying adjutant, Song Biao, wearing a light blue military uniform of a special general, quickly walked into the living room and saw the two heroes of the sea and land at a glance, who were about the same age. Cheng Biguang was nearly fifty years old.

Duan Qirui was forty-five years old.

Both of them have similar figures and appearances. They both look very strict. They are thin and have similar beards. There is a little goat beard under Duan Qirui's jaw.

This was the first time Song Biao met them. After Jiang Zhengyuan introduced them, Song Biao shook hands with them one after another, and then asked them to sit down again in the living room.

Song Biao is a quick-talking person. As soon as he sat down, he said to the two of them: "I have always wanted to have a face-to-face conversation with you. I am very sorry if you don't want to come. Don't make excuses with me,

Let’s talk about the reasons. Since we are here, we will talk about the serious matters directly. First, we will talk about the dispute between the Restoration Association and the Tongmeng Association. That is, the dispute between the Restoration Revolution and the Republican Revolution. I have a thousand words here. China is too big and there are too many nations.

It is not as simple as a France or a Germany. If we want to become a world power again, we must maintain unity and stability as soon as possible. The foundation of national unity and stability is military unity and stability. Now many people are eager to establish republics, but they just hope to maintain a loose one.

The central government is conducive to maintaining the military power in its own hands. Everyone has such selfishness, but such selfishness will kill China and our nation with a population of 400 million. Don’t think that China is in good condition now, we

There are 400 million compatriots to support. With the same arable land area, Americans only need to support 70 million people. In the end, the population will only be repeated civil wars. If there is still chaos in warlords in various places, China will only face up to five years.

Ten years of civil strife, but not to be consistent with the outside world. If we are consistent with the outside world, there is no reason for China to defeat foreign countries. Now, I only have one plea to you, please give up your selfishness, give me a chance to be Peter the Great, and lead China to recovery

And prosperity, I will control China's military, and the state governance will be left to the cabinet government. This will be the case within fifty years. After fifty years, it will gradually transition to a British-style pure constitutional monarchy system. In short, it is to learn from Germany and be stable and self-reliant.

Unify the external side.”

He said nothing, and Cheng Biguang and Duan Qirui were also embarrassed.

If Song Biao is wrong, Cheng Biguang and Duan Qirui obviously don’t have to be embarrassed. No one doesn’t like power, especially military power. Everyone likes to convince themselves and tell themselves that others are not good. Controlling military power by themselves is beneficial to the country and the nation.

This is a fake noble person, such as Cheng Biguang and Duan Qirui. People who are more direct think simply are very simple. Only by having military power can you gain other rights and enjoy wealth and glory.

After hearing what Song Biao said, Cheng Biguang hesitated for a while before saying, "Since Your Majesty has said that, I will resign myself. Please hand over the navy to Your Majesty."

Song Biao was silent for a moment, and Jiang Zhengyuan dragged the newly brewed pot of Huangshan Maofeng over, and Song Biao took this opportunity to pour tea for Cheng Biguang himself, saying: "It's too early to call Your Majesty, I don't care about this.

The problem is that if I don’t take it, others want to be it. Even if everyone can’t, in fact, everyone is a local emperor sitting in their own territory. At that time, what’s going on with republican politics is nothing more than a bunch of bullshits, and they’re closed.

Congress talks a lot, and the government orders come out of the capital are bullshit. We are soldiers, and we are talking in plain language and easy to understand. Since that's the case, please ask you two to join the Restoration Association to support me as emperor. Let's work together to bring all the military forces of China.

With the gathering, whoever wants to be a local emperor in the local area will give him a shot, use force to ensure the implementation of the cabinet responsibility system, use force to ensure the implementation of modern laws, and ensure the rule of law of the country. I can be about fifty years

The Emperor, fifty years later, we have done everything we should do, the unequal treaties were banned, the occupied territory was taken back, the country was revived, and the nation was prosperous and strong. I stared at the ground with my eyes

In the middle, my son is as unrelated as the Japanese emperor and is unified in military and political affairs. Even if I, the founding emperor, have achieved merits and will soon as possible as the Western Paradise."

It was Cheng Biguang who said: "Your Majesty is speaking vernacular, but it is as shocking as if it was enlightened."

Duan Qirui refused to speak for a long time. His thoughts were probably much more complicated than Cheng Biguang, because he had to discuss some conditions for Yuan Shikai during this trip.

Song Biao was not in a hurry to be in Duan Qirui's idea and continued to say to Cheng Biguang: "We had a ten-year plan when we were developing the navy of the three northeastern provinces. At present, the development plan of the entire imperial navy has not been completed. Your qualifications

Old, you are the Minister of the Navy. Be responsible for formulating this plan. We will continue to work step by step and strive to build a top three Chinese navy in the world in twenty years. My plan is to fight again with Japan.

For the sake of the price we used to pay them back, we will recover the price twice as much as the interest."

Cheng Biguang was very excited. But after thinking about it, he still felt that he had been transferred from the cruiser and lost direct control of the navy. However, after all, he was a good position as the Minister of the Navy of the Imperial Navy, which was worthy of his position.

He no longer hesitated when he thought about this, so as not to be in vain. He immediately replied, "Thank you for your trust, but I don't know how to formulate the imperial etiquette on Your Majesty's side, and how do you pay me a visit?"

Song Biao waved his hand without caring and said, "There are no rules for the time being, let's talk about it later. Anyway, it won't be as complicated as the Ming and Qing dynasties. It's roughly the same thing. I mean, on the one hand,

To continue the tradition of the Han royal family, on the one hand, we must fully absorb the modern aspects of the British and German Empire. I have always advocated the upright rituals and respect for the wise, but this kind of rituals is not so important.

Cheng Biguang agreed: "Your Majesty must be an enlightened monarch, which is the foundation of our country's constitutional monarchy."

Duan Qirui felt very disgusted when he heard this. He felt that Cheng Biguang changed his face too quickly, and he was clearly a fence-bearer, and he didn't think that this person was really trustworthy.

It is definitely not a solution to not speak like this. Duan Qirui thought about it for a while before saying to Song Biao: "Your Majesty...!"

When Duan Qirui felt particularly awkward, the Qing Dynasty overthrew and a new emperor appeared. But he had already admitted that the Chinese Empire had preserved the second town of the Beiyang Army from attack. Cheng Biguang spoke again

forward.

After hearing Duan Qirui speak, Song Biao turned his face and looked at him, and was curious in his heart that he wanted to know what Duan Qirui could say.

Duan Qirui stammered and then continued: "As Your Majesty said, the restoration of the revolution is indeed the only feasible way for China to save itself and strive for strength. We all agree with it, but it has been quite difficult for the Beiyang Army to be established.

, It can be called the foundation of China's efforts to strengthen and stabilize. I would like to ask Your Majesty to leave a way for our Beiyang Army colleagues."

Song Biao replied: "The road is very simple, reorganization. My current plan is to reorganize the new army of each province into the Imperial Central Army, the first town of the six towns in Beiyang, and the sixth town were all dispersed, and the rest

The second town, the third town, the fourth town, and the fifth town are reorganized into the 12th Division, the 13th Division, the 14th Division and the 15th Division of the Central Army. Currently, it is under the jurisdiction of the Fourth Army of the Chinese Revolutionary Army, and you can serve as the

The governor of the Fourth Army, but I have one condition, that is, you must first truly accept the Restoration Revolution and become a member of the Restoration Association. The unity of the army is first of all ideological unity. If the ideological and political unity are not unified, then the future

The civil war will definitely continue. Even if we temporarily stop the civil war and everyone will be in control, they can only allow foreign bullying and cannot be united to the outside world. I don’t know if you come here this time to talk about Yuan Shikai. Whether you say it or not, I will let it go.

Please give Mr. Yuan Shikai a sentence, if he wants to make a comeback, I welcome it. The position of the temporary cabinet minister of transportation is reserved for him, but if he wants to continue to control military power, he will negotiate with me with military power in exchange for benefits.

Sorry, I'm going to beat him first. My current bottom line is that the empire must first control the three eastern provinces, Zhili, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hui, Jiangxi and Huguang areas, and maintain the inner and outer Mongolia areas.

Control, other provinces can slow down again and again. After all, this meal must be eaten one bite after another. He hid behind and tried to control Shandong and Henan, which was my first goal to eradicate. You put my words on this.

He brought it to the right place and told Mr. Yuan Shikai not to hide or hide, and that people in ignorance do not do secret things."

Duan Qirui hurriedly agreed, "Yes, yes, I will definitely bring these words."

Song Biao still has a little bit of affection for Yuan Shikai. After all, he helped him a little before and continued: "Mr. Yuan is still a very good person in my opinion. He is willing to come out and continue to do some work for the country and the nation. I am sure

It is very welcome.

But his thinking must change. After all, the times are different. We are now implementing a constitutional monarchy system, pursuing the ideal of governing the country according to law, pursuing a modern constitutional system, and pursuing a prosperous and powerful modern country. The political skills of the previous dynasty were in this era. It doesn't make sense. It's like taking these tricks to the United States, but the result is that they can only be eliminated by society. You must convey my words to Mr. Yuan. I hope he will make a comeback, but I also hope he can Reasonable pursuit of some new goals and participate in our great liberation revolution."

Duan Qirui secretly mocked Cheng Biguang as a fence-skinned man. At this time, he himself nodded submissively.

People must be restrained in this world. They have both ideals and selfish desires, and they also have to face cruel reality. The reality is that other new armies together cannot defeat Song Biao's Northeast Army, let alone Song Biao's recent The 10th Army is still actively expanding.

In the large international environment, foreign countries continue to choose to support Song Biao's Northeast System. Although the UK has been arguing with Song Biao on the issue of Zaifeng, there is no special fight on the major issues, and the UK also admitted in writing that it also After the Chinese Empire, when Song Biao officially ascended the throne and became emperor, he would send special envoys to congratulate him and submit a formal letter of nationality, and a lot of the customs taxes controlled by the UK were transferred to the Imperial Provisional Government as scheduled.

Song Biao had sufficient military expenditure and was constantly producing at the four major arsenals in the three northeastern provinces day and night. The arms trade between Germany, the United States, France and Russia continued, and the continuous purchase of guns and artillery was insufficient to supplement.

It's really going to fight a civil war. The Tongmenghui is no match for Song Biao at all.

In the cruel reality, Song Biao finalized the formal joining of Cheng Biguang and Duan Qirui with the most straightforward words, and asked Cheng Biguang about the situation on the navy. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1895, the Qing Navy twice in 1896 and 1897. A new ship was purchased on a large scale and a new navy was reorganized. Because the Haitian cruiser with a displacement of 4,300 tons was stranded and sunk near the Zhoushan Islands, there are only four cruisers at present, and there are more than 20 small ships and torpedo boats.

Song Biao had heard Song Wenyi, director of the General Administration of the Coast Guard of the Three East China Provinces, talk about the Haitian issue, but of course he didn't care much. Cheng Biguang happened to be here, so he asked: "Can this ship be towed back for repair?"

Cheng Biguang said: "At that time, there was no money to hire a foreign tugboat. Even if he could barely tow it back, there was no place to repair it, so he kept throwing it near the islands and reefs. Now, the wind and rain are blowing, and the sea water erodes and rusts. Even if he is dragged back for repair, the funds are amazing. , absolutely no less than half a ship is built. We do not have a suitable dock repair at present. If we tow it to the United States for repair, the intermediate towing cost plus the maintenance cost will probably be enough to build a warship. After all, it was calculated that during the Qing government It's a pity that this ship has not been repaired."

Song Biao thought for a moment and said, "It's better to try to find a way to drag it back for processing. Drag it to Ningbo Port nearby for emergency treatment, and then to the Mawei Shipyard to see the situation. If you can repair it, you can use it first. Once you use it, you will find a suitable place to overhaul it later.”

Cheng Biguang said: "There are probably a lot of funds, and it takes a lot of effort, so it's better to order it directly."

Song Biao said: "This is different. We not only need to find a way to buy warships, but also build warships by ourselves. Maintenance of warships is also a process of learning and development. If we have more difficulties, we have to find a way to overcome them. To us It’s just a growth, and many of the things in it are probably something we can’t buy even if we spend money, right?”

Cheng Biguang was quite inspired and agreed: "Your Majesty thinks about the long term, it is not within my reach. Then, after I go back, I immediately ask someone to contact this matter to see if I can deal with it as soon as possible. It's just that time is long and the possibility of rotten rust

It's amazing. Even after repair, it's hard to use as a suitable warship without a real major repair. As for money, money is even more of a problem. The navy's military pay has been suspended for half a year. I hope your Majesty can find a way to solve it as soon as possible."

Song Biao smiled and said, "When you become the Minister of the Navy, aren't you just in charge of this matter? What are you begging me to do? Since you are here, then you can talk to Shu Fangde before going back. He is temporarily in charge of defense.

The minister’s work is basically to deal with the military pay issue of each army. You can discuss with him clearly how much military pay is required every month in the Navy and make monthly payments in the future.”

Cheng Biguang actually came for this matter, and everything else was second-hand. He was naturally very happy to hear Song Biao's words and thanked him immediately. He really wanted to go to the Ministry of Defense to collect money now.

The amount of this money is definitely not very scary. Song Biao didn't care much. He continued to ask Cheng Biguang some other things, which were basically related to the purchase of warships.

Cheng Biguang didn't care at first. After answering a few words, he found Bai Songbiao's thoughts more and more, and he couldn't help but feel happy.

This is really happy.

Don’t he want to buy a large warship? He dreams of it.

After thinking through Song Biao's thoughts, Cheng Biguang simply suggested: "Your Majesty, if you want to buy battle cruisers first, the navy's technological leap has made warships fall behind other new ships as soon as they get. Britain's invincible class warfare

After the launch of cruisers, just like the special significance of the Fearless Class battleship, other cruisers were directly behind the scenes. It was too early for us to install battleships now. After all, we lack a lot of things in other aspects, but if we can order them with the UK

Two battlecruisers with a displacement of 10,000 tons can also greatly improve our naval strength."

Song Biao asked with interest: "How much does two battle cruisers with a displacement of 10,000 tons cost?"
To be continued...