Zhao Erxun shook his head and said rather dissatisfied:

"I just find it strange that you and I have such a close relationship, and we are even called brothers, but you can live up to Mr. Yuan's expectations and hide me so tightly that the Northeast has become so chaotic now?"

Xu Shichang did not apologize at all, but showed a look of admiration, "Brother, Mr. Yuan is a man of great talent and a great mind for the world. This is truly the only thing I have seen in my life. If the Qing Dynasty had not been seriously ill, with his talent, the Qing Dynasty would have been able to achieve great governance.

It’s not a difficult thing.”

Zhao Erxun nodded and joked:

"I understand this now. We old guys supported the constitutional monarchy a few years ago. We worked together to push him to power and drove away the regent. Weren't we deceived by what he showed?

?”

"It is a lie that he is a constitutional monarch, but it is true that he will sit on the throne in the future. He has planned it for a long time, and the people he wants to use must have been carefully examined. You, Yang Du, Duan Gong and others are all born in a poor family and live in a poor family.

Since he is in a high position, he must have been dissatisfied with the rich and powerful and wanted to change everything, so you two hit it off."

At this time, the maids brought the wine and food, put them on the table, filled the wine glasses for the two of them, and stood aside with their hands hanging down.

Zhao Erxun waved his hand and asked them all to go out.

Xu Shichang picked up the wine glass, but looked into the distance along the window lattice, with a look of reminiscence in his eyes, "At that time, Mr. Yuan was still the minister of Beiyang, so we were planning how to make the Qing Dynasty a true constitutional monarchy and get Mr. Yuan to come out.

Form a cabinet and then launch a grand plan."

"At that time, Gong Yuan thought that as long as he reorganized the cabinet and used his own talents, he could always revive the Qing Dynasty. However, when he became the prime minister, he discovered that the Qing Dynasty was in deep trouble and it was difficult to recover. Several huge treasuries were empty.

There is less than a hundred taels of silver, and there are piles of rats."

"At this time, everyone discovered that the previous dream was really just a dream. It was difficult for a clever woman to make a living without rice, so she opened her mouth to the Western powers, but they ignored them. Even if they could get a loan, it would be a drop in the bucket. As a last resort, Mr. Yuan only

To be able to speak to the Oriental island country that he least wants to talk to."

"Everyone knows that the Japanese island country is very ambitious and has very harsh conditions. But Mr. Yuan is waiting for the rice to be cooked, so he has to agree first."

"A drop of water penetrates a stone and freezes three feet. How can it be accomplished in a day?" Zhao Erxun sneered in response to Xu Shichang's excuse.

Xu Shichang ignored Zhao Erxun's expression and continued:

"Gong Yuan's determination to revitalize the Qing Dynasty is beyond the reach of our generation. After thinking hard for more than a year, he first divided the north and the south into self-governance. After the north was pacified and took a breather, he then conquered the east and west to unify the world."

Xu Shichang drank all the wine in one gulp.

"The talent of Mr. Yuan, who worked hard and worked hard, can rival Mr. Zeng and Li Zhongtang back then!" Zhao Erxun also drank the wine in one gulp and continued to tease.

"Brother, now that the general trend of the world has become increasingly clear, what are your plans for the three eastern provinces under the jurisdiction of your Zhao family?"

Xu Shichang went straight to the point, "The north and south of the world are autonomous, and a confrontation has formed. After several years of war, the people of the world have suffered. It is not an exaggeration to describe it with a sentence of bloodshed and floating oars. Whether the war continues to be raging, or the world is in great order, now it is in your Zhao family

It’s just a thought!”

Zhao Erxun smiled, picked up a peanut, put it in his mouth, chewed it slowly, and asked, "What do you think of my Zhao family?"

Xu Shichang said: "With the military and financial strength of the three eastern provinces, if we can sincerely join hands with Mr. Yuan, we can conquer Jiangnan in a matter of seconds."

"Then what?"

"The Zhao family can be granted the title of king with a different surname, regardless of hereditary succession, and can control the areas outside the customs for the Qing Dynasty forever. However, all civil and political officials outside the customs must be sent by the imperial court." Xu Shichang stated the conditions.

"All the powerful warlords in the world were wiped out in one fell swoop, leaving my Zhao family alone to fend for themselves in the cracks between Japan and Russia. Is this boiling frogs in warm water?" Zhao Erxun laughed.

Xu Shichang looked directly at Zhao Erxun and said in a deep voice:

"Brother, this is called temporary forbearance. Small impatience will ruin big plans. Who do you think Mr. Yuan hates the most? Dongyang people. At that time, he was ordered by Li Zhongtang to go to the aid of the Korean royal family. As a result, he ended up with Dongyang people.

After carrying it, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1898 broke out."

"He wanted to wait until the Qing Dynasty had taken a breath, and the country was strong and the people were prosperous, and then it would not be too late to argue with the Easterners and Westerners. Despite its current prosperity, it was actually just a house built on the beach. The Qing Empire was vast and rich in resources.

In the end, it’s not all over the place. If the two sides really want to fight, as long as a stalemate is formed, it will be difficult for the outside bandits to sustain it in a few years.”

Zhao Erxun sighed, stood up, and walked a few steps in the room, "Brother Buwu, you are wrong."

"Am I wrong? What did I say wrong? With your talent, can't you see this?" Xu Shichang asked strangely.

"You've met the wrong person." Zhao Erxun sat down again and said with a smile:

"You and I are getting old. The world belongs to young people, and you should go to Jiangnan and talk to Chen Tianhua instead of coming to me!"

"Of course I have to go to Chen Tianhua to argue with him, but your brother's side is very important. If you side with Mr. Yuan, it will be easy for me to go to Jiangnan to negotiate. Otherwise, it will be very difficult!" Xu Shichang told the truth.

Zhao Erxun laughed loudly, tapped Xu Shichang with his chopsticks, and said:

"You're really right about this. Chen Tianhua sees it more clearly than any of us. The current situation is not what he wants, so he put forward the eight-character policy of seeking common ground while reserving differences and unifying the foreign policy. He promised to help me clean up Northeast China.

Chaos, based on how he has dealt with the Japanese over the years, I trust him."

"As for what Mr. Yuan calls expedient measures and curves to save the country, I guess my generation will not be able to see it. Even my descendants will find it difficult to realize it. Therefore, it is difficult for me to say that I stand with Mr. Yuan."

"Besides, Jiangnan Chen Tianhua has developed to this point. Brother Bu Wu, you are called the Crystal Fox, but even if I agree to you, what will it do? It will only lead to more wars and chaos, and the country will become more chaotic.

The poorer the country becomes, the great powers in the East and West will benefit."

"Now Jiangnan has formed a huge power group. Even if Chen Tianhua does not want to unify, will his civil servants and military generals agree? These people are all from poor families. Almost no one can resist the temptation of being a founding hero."

For the first time, Zhao Erxun blatantly revealed Zhao's thoughts on siding with Jiangnan Chen Tianhua.

He knew that Xu Shichang's visit was a showdown, and as soon as Xu returned, hostility between the two sides had already formed.

It was impossible for the three eastern provinces to remain neutral, and they could not maintain neutrality. They had to rely on powerful allies to confront the increasingly expanding Japanese and Russian empires.

Xu Shichang took a breath of cold air.

They have always thought that the Northeast was just a chess piece of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, an aspect of Yuan Gong's complete layout.

I just found out today that this is not the case at all.

Nowadays, in the Zhao family, Chen Tianhua from Jiangnan has already occupied an absolutely dominant position.
Chapter completed!