Chapter 311 Yuan Shikai’s scheming (please vote for me!)

Beijing, President Zhongnanhai. The light in the spacious Jurentang Hall is a bit dim due to the lighting. Yuan Shikai is discussing peace negotiations with two confidants. In a few days, the Japanese envoy will arrive in the capital, and the two countries will negotiate

Final negotiations on the Jiao-ao conflict.

Suddenly, the door of Jurentang was gently pushed open, and Liang Shiyi, Secretary-General of the Presidential Office, who had just left here to receive the French and Russian ministers, walked towards Yuan Shikai with brisk steps.

"The President, the French Minister to China Conte, and the Russian Minister to China Kupenschi discussed with me the issue of our country's participation in the war. Their voices seemed quite eager!"

Liang Shiyi lowered his voice very low.

"The question of participating in the war!...?"

His words made Yuan Shikai startled. After being stunned for a moment, Yuan Shikai nodded again and said.

"No wonder, this is expected."

Unexpectedly, in Yuan Shikai's view, sooner or later, great powers like Britain and France will ask for help from China. After all, Germany is not an easy opponent. Judging from the report sent by the legation in France, the French are now losing a lot.

Although there is no doubt that the Allied Powers will win in the end, if the Allied Powers want to win, they will definitely pay a heavy price.

"The President is wise!"

Liang Shiyi's attitude was very pious.

"In your opinion, how should we respond?"

Yuan Shikai asked rhetorically.

This is Yuan Shikai's habit. Whenever he encounters a major problem, he first listens to the opinions of senior advisers around him instead of rushing to express his attitude. Although his mind has already been made up in his mind, he will still put on a show of listening and listening.

appearance.

However, as a politician and close minister, Liang Shiyi had a clear mind. Although he could clearly see the trend of the war situation, he had to say what he should say before the president made a final decision. He looked at the president with his eyes and understood clearly.

Talking eloquently after the voice:

"At the moment, there are three fronts in Europe: the Western Front, which extends from the North Sea to the Swiss border, and is fought by the British, French, and Belgian troops against Germany; the Eastern Front, which stretches from the Baltic Sea in the north to Romania in the south, is fought by the Russian army.

In addition, there is the Balkan front, where the Serbian army fights against the Austrian army. As far as the war situation is concerned, on the surface, which one is better between the Allied Powers and the Central Powers? It is difficult to tell, but in my opinion, Germany will lose."

At this point, he stopped talking and glanced at the president. He saw that the president looked deep in thought.

"War is complicated and unpredictable. The future situation of the war cannot be determined for a while. It is better to be cautious."

The reason why he said this is very simple. Yuan Shikai had his own concerns about sending troops to participate in the war. On the one hand, he hoped that sending troops would enhance his international status, while at the same time withdrawing military power, and even eliminate dissidents.

On the other hand, he was worried that sending troops to join the war would cause instability throughout the country, which can be said to be full of worries.

"At the beginning of the war, the President had the intention to send troops, but gave up because the Japanese were obstructing it. The Japanese were afraid that we would take back their privileges in Shandong after the war, but now this is no longer a problem, "Jiao'ao Incident"

After the war, it became clear that Japan was no longer able to intervene. The reason why the British were not enthusiastic about sending troops to us was because they were afraid that their privileges in China would not be preserved after the war. Until now, the war has started, and both sides have insufficient manpower. France is suffering the most at the moment. Therefore,

We should take advantage of this opportunity and send our people out. As long as our people arrive in Europe and France, they can use French loans to reorganize the arsenal and use French money to build a strong army..."

Liang Shiyi saw that the President's eyes were half closed, as if sleeping, so he stopped the topic. He thought to himself that the President did not have to think too much about sending troops at the moment. What he was most concerned about now was when the "Jiao'ao Incident" could be ended.

Then there is the question of how to prevent Li Zhiyuan from growing bigger. In the past, the Revolutionary Party was a thorn in the president's side. However, after the "Jiao'ao Incident", the reputation of the Revolutionary Party was completely ruined. However, Li Zhiyuan's growth has become a major thorn in the side of the President.

The president's concern is that he cannot but consider the threat from Jiangsu.

Even though he knew the president's thoughts, Liang Shiyi, who always kept a clear mind, knew clearly that the more this happened, the more firm he needed to be in order to push China to send troops to France, and the troops to go abroad and use French money.

To build a strong army.

"President, it's not too late. Sending troops to join the war can be said to be the best opportunity for our Republic of China to become a powerful country. Not only can it train a strong army, but it can also extend the repayment of the Geng money, and it can also obtain huge loans and repay the loans with orders.

Please also ask the President to make a decision as soon as possible!"

Another urge came out of Liang Shiyi's mouth. In the eyes of Liang Shiyi and many others, the outbreak of the European War, in a positive sense, can push the balance of power mechanism that the great powers have built in China for a long time to the verge of collapse, thus paving the way for China to pursue internationalization.

Equal treatment provides favorable international conditions. Although the old world order has collapsed and a new international system has not yet been established, this provides a historical opportunity for China to participate in the creation of a new order.

In a negative sense, because the warring powers have their own spheres of influence in China, as the war progresses, China will sooner or later be involved in the vortex of the European War. At this time, the newly emerged Japan regarded the outbreak of the European War as an opportunity to further invade China.

This provided a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Japan to take advantage of the great powers fighting each other in Europe and reduce China to its backyard when they had no time to think about anything else. Although China was poor and weak at that time, its determination to change and reform were the driving force behind the Sino-Japanese War of 1884-1894.

The huge undercurrent of China's social progress. This unstoppable torrent overthrew China's more than 2,000-year-old dynasty system and established Asia's first republic in China. Forge ahead, work hard, and be full of world vision and forward-looking awareness.

A new generation of people has replaced the scholars and scholars who studied the "books of sages" and become the leading force in the new society. The social elites are all determined to eliminate China's backwardness, poverty and weakness, and promote China to become an equal member of the international community.

It was against this background that the European War broke out, which led to China's first planned, strategic, and prepared initiative to participate in international affairs in modern times. This led to the initiative to seek to join the world war, but its heart was always the same.

He intended to seize the opportunity to regain Shandong and then regain the national sovereignty that had been continuously lost since the Opium War.

Japan, which was striving to seize the opportunity to become the hegemon of East Asia, tried its best to block China's plans to participate in the war and revive its plans. Japan's opposition and the "Jiao-ao Incident" caused by Jiao-ao greatly stimulated these social elites and also

Because of this, the new generation of politicians leading China's diplomacy are thinking about new strategies to think about China's diplomacy and help China strengthen ties with the Allied Powers to realize China's diplomatic grand strategy of participating in the international community and becoming an equal member. Send to the Allied Powers

The army was born out of this situation.

The person who first proposed this strategy was Liang Shiyi, because he asserted that Germany was outnumbered and could never win for a long time. Therefore, China could join the Allied Powers and declare war on Germany. This move could firstly recover Shandong, and secondly, help China join the post-war peace conference. Share

International forums to participate in the construction of a new international pattern. In short, participating in the war is beneficial to China's long-term development and grand strategy.

It was based on the above judgment that Liang Shiyi and his right-hand assistant Ye Gongchuo first sold the plan to send troops to Britain. As early as two months ago, as soon as the war broke out, Liang Shiyi contacted the British and proposed that China send 300,000 troops to Europe.

, these troops were commanded by British officers and rushed to support the European battlefield. To Liang Shiyi's disappointment, Britain was not enthusiastic about its plan to send troops to China. Especially when the Japanese opposed it and China might use its wartime contributions to regain its national rights and interests, Britain

Therefore, Liang's proposal was rejected.

However, the cold reception from the British did not make Liang Shiyi give up his plan. Especially after the "Jiao'ao Incident" broke out and faced with an unprecedented crisis, he immediately slightly modified the plan to send troops and contacted France instead.

After China bypassed Britain and made the decision to declare war on Germany, France also began to consider what kind of help this "new ally" could provide France. Compared with the United Kingdom, which first considers issues from the interests of the East, France looks more from France's interests.

The fundamental interests, that is, the interests of the French mainland are considered, but France has doubts about the combat effectiveness of the Chinese ** Corps. The top French army officials are more worried that if the Chinese ** Corps collapses on the battlefield, it may even cause the entire defense line to collapse.

Collapse, which is unacceptable to France, is why it was delayed.

As the "Jiao'ao Incident" progressed, the French were immediately moved after seeing the combat effectiveness of the Jiangsu Army on the battlefield. After observation and discussion, the French Army's top brass decided to accept Liang's proposal, and then

Telegraph ordered the embassy to discuss the dispatch of troops with China.

To the disappointment of the French, China did not reach an agreement on the issue of sending troops. Even the Ministry of War did not formulate a corresponding plan to send troops. It can be said that this was a decision Liang Shiyi made privately, so Kant came to Liang Shiyi.

The premise for negotiation, and after nearly three months of waiting, although Liang Shiyi did not change his intention to send troops to join the war, Liang Shiyi knew that the operation of this matter was far more difficult than he imagined. Even when the plan to send troops was just made by

When he proposed it, he ran into a lot of trouble. Some generals even went to the presidential palace and said that he was harming the country.

At this time, Liang Shiyi spoke to the president for a long time, saying that this move was related to the future and destiny of China. However, after thinking for a moment, Yuan Shikai still said with half denial and half approval:

"Shiyi, your analysis is very thorough. But you know our situation well. This army, well, if the army were that simple, why would I need to train a new army?"

Even when he was retraining the new army, Yuan Shikai was murmuring in his heart. First, he was afraid of causing "misunderstandings" and hurting everyone's "hearts." Second, he was worried that the new army would be controlled by the commanders of each division like the old army.

But the performance of the old Beiyang army in this conflict prevented him from reorganizing and training the new army. Fortunately, the "Jiao'ao Incident" gave him enough reasons and excuses to train the new army. Fortunately, Duan

Hefei, especially Xu Shuzheng's desire to annex the First Army, attracted the attention of others. As for the New Army, in their view, as long as it was not their army that was used to fight the Japanese, the New Army would be sent to the battlefield anyway.

Falling for cannon fodder.

"President, it is precisely for this reason that we need to send out troops to conquer Europe. Only in this way can everyone return to their home countries and use the expedition to foreign countries to transfer command to the central government and fight a powerful army. France is currently in a difficult situation.

, urged and urgent, this is our opportunity to take the initiative and not be controlled by others. No matter what the war situation is, it will have little benefit and little harm for China."

Liang Shiyi expressed all his thoughts.

"Moreover, sending troops to the European War can bring huge economic benefits to our country. All the materials and manpower required in the battlefield are allocated from within the country, so our country's exports to Europe will definitely grow rapidly in the future. If the remuneration of soldiers and laborers is totaled

As a result, our country can obtain huge amounts of foreign exchange support. This money can alleviate our country's financial distress, and can also be used for our country's economic development to increase national tax revenue. It can be said that sending troops to participate in the war actually has more benefits and fewer disadvantages for our country."

"This is a good idea."

Yuan Shikai nodded in agreement. He did not doubt this. In fact, as soon as the European War broke out, he was convinced by Morrison's twelve reasons for joining the war. But that was just to join the war, but now he is sending descendants.

However, he knew that Liang Shiyi had far-reaching plans and what he said was true.

When Liang Shiyi heard this, he quickly seized the opportunity and asked:

"How do I reply to the French Legation now?"

Reply to the French Embassy!

This made Yuan Shikai dumbfounded. How should he reply? He did not agree to send troops to participate in the war! At least not yet, even if it is a good thing to send troops to participate in the war, 10,000 troops are good, but only one of them is enough to offset the 10,000 good things - the army

!

If all the generals in the army objected to sending troops, and now they agreed to the French, they fell into a trap. What's more, in Yuan Shikai's view, none of those "favorite generals" and provincial generals who only have "strength" in their eyes

He had no objection, but he would be reluctant to send out only the trained new army.

"It's difficult..."

"It is difficult, but as president, no matter how difficult it is, there are still some things that must be done."

Liang Shiyi argued with reason.

"And many times, we do it just because it's difficult! If we don't do it, the problem will never be solved, President!"

Liang Shiyi's refutation made Yuan Shikai stunned. He looked at Liang Shiyi, and this time, he was really moved by his words. It was not for those benefits, but just because of the sentence "If you don't do it, the problem will never be solved.", many

Things are like this. The more worries you have, the more difficult it will be. If you worry too much, you will keep putting it off, and the result of procrastination is that the worries will only get heavier and heavier.

Now that I still have the power to suppress the army, it is the time when my power is still there. If I want to regain my military power, what more appropriate reason is there than to join the war?
To be continued...