Master Yuan, start!

"Qulin Taosen Jiazi, if you say this, how will the people of the world view us?"

"General Xian, what the people of the world want most is to live and work in peace and contentment, without the outbreak of war. At the very least, this war cannot spread to the four provinces south of the Yangtze River.

Yuan Shikai has now earned the reputation of being a hero in the fight against the French. He is extremely tough towards the French and seems to be in a great position. But what is the reality?

If we really have a falling out with the French, he can just pack up and leave on his boat. It will be our Jiangnan New Army that will have to face the French!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Lianyuan outside the door did not react much, but Kang Youwei's heart was pounding nervously. Was he about to get to know the specific content of the secret agreement?

Now the people of the world are encouraged by Yuan Shikai's telegram. If they make peace with the French normally, it will be fine. But if they pay compensation and cede land to the French, won't they be pointed at by the people of the world and called traitors?

Besides, Youbo Kang Guangren is still in the French Concession Prison. If the murderer is not caught for a long time, won’t the troublemaker be killed?

Liu Kunyi didn't know that Yu Lianyuan and Kang Youwei were already outside the door until Yu Lianyuan coughed and asked them to come into the house.

"General Xian, this is absolutely foolproof. I discussed this with the French last night. As long as we agree to their terms, they will agree not to send troops to attack the four provinces south of the Yangtze River, and they will not embarrass you in front of the world."

After entering the house, Yu Lianyuan bowed and reported, telling the whole story of the secret agreement he had discussed with the French last night.

After Liu Kunyi realized that Yuan Shikai was going to attack him, he did not sit idly by and also sought a solution.

At this time, his aide Yu Lianyuan proposed secret negotiations with the French to peacefully resolve the issue of the assassination of the French consul.

Historically, it was this person who contacted governors and governors-general in various parts of the south and signed the Southeast Mutual Protection Treaty with foreigners.

At that time, Empress Dowager Cixi declared war on the Eight-Nation Alliance, and Yu Lianyuan suggested that the southeast protect itself.

Now that Yuan Shikai was making harsh remarks against France and the country was on the brink of war, Yu Lianyuan inexplicably thought of this trick again.

It’s not the same time and space, but it’s the same way of dealing with it.

"What price are the French asking for?" Liu Kunyi asked tiredly, not as optimistic as he had imagined.

"Privately borrowed 5000 million francs at an annual interest rate of 5%, half of which was used to purchase French armaments to prepare for the Wehrmacht's southward advance.

Half of it was used to build the coastal railway from Xiamen to the north of Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, and at the same time, we were required to recruit laborers to build the Panama Canal.

In addition, it was also required that the French should not be restricted from setting up factories in the four provinces of Jiangnan, and should be treated similarly to the British. The public should not boycott French products. If such a boycott occurs, the government will immediately investigate and deal with it.

"5000 million francs, that's less than 1000 million taels of silver," Liu Kunyi calculated silently. "The annual interest rate isn't that high. To put it that way, the French are being quite generous for once."

"What do you mean?" Liu Kunyi frowned.

"The French said that the money for purchasing arms should go directly to French arms dealers and we have no right to interfere.

As for the construction of the railway, the entire process will be undertaken by the French company and there is no need for our people to intervene.

In addition, after the railway was completed, the French demanded full rights to the route, with only the operating rights being jointly managed by both parties.

"What?" Liu Kunyi barely managed to spit out a mouthful of phlegm.

He risked being despised by the whole world by owing interest to the French, but in the end he didn't see a penny of the money.

Instead, they gave away the right to roads and factory establishment. If we follow the French, then there's no need to sign any secret agreement. We can just start working right away!

Chapter 212 Wu Quxing comes down to earth to spend the night

"Commander Xian, although the conditions are harsh, the legal representative is willing to keep it confidential." Yu Lianyuan quickly explained:

"At most, we can pay some humanitarian compensation without ceding any territory. This is much better than Yuan Shikai clamoring for war."

Tao Senjia also advised at this time: "General Xian, Jin Shan and Yu Lianyuan are also for the benefit of the soldiers and civilians of the four provinces in the south of the Yangtze River. Yuan Xiangcheng's military forces are all in the north. If we make enemies with the French, they will definitely take advantage of the situation.

If Li Hongzhang makes any move in the south, we will be attacked from two or even three sides."

Seeing that the two people beside him had spoken up, Kang Youwei was not willing to be left behind:

"General Xian, since ancient times, victors have been kings and losers have been bandits. As the foreigners said, the victors are not to be blamed. Now we have the opportunity to defeat Yuan Xiangcheng, we must not miss it.

The world's hegemony lies in a single thought."

If Yu and Tao's words were somewhat evasive, then Kang Youwei's words were blatant.

Everyone knows that Liu Kunyi also wants to dominate the world, but after all, the title of "Qing minister" is still hanging on his mind.

Even if he was loyal only to the small court in Wuchang, and even if he disobeyed the imperial edicts from Wuchang, who could say that he was not a subject of the Aisin Gioro family?

But if this layer of skin is torn off, it is not certain how many people will follow the Governor of Jiangnan.

Liu Kunyi had thought about overthrowing the court and doing it himself, but Li Hongzhang in the south and Yuan Shikai in the north were both watching covetously, so he didn't dare to take the last step.

Perhaps the people of Sanxiang are Liu Kunyi's die-hard fans, but now the Governor-General's Office of Jiangnan is located in Jiangning City.

Although Jiangning City seems to have become the territory of Hunanese people nowadays and there seem to be several Hunanese restaurants on every street, if we talk about it, the people from the Three Wus, Jiangsu and Zhejiang are the mainstream of the four provinces south of the Yangtze River.

If they raise the banner of rebellion, they may not support the court, but they may not necessarily listen to Liu Kunyi.

However, Liu Kunyi did not expect that a Cantonese man would point out what he was worried about, which surprised Liu Kunyi a little.

Normally, as the Governor-General of Jiangnan, he only regarded Kang Youwei as an unofficial mouthpiece and never let him access confidential matters.

It was because Kang Youwei personally witnessed the entire assassination of the French that he was allowed to get involved.

Unexpectedly, Kang Youwei hit the nail on the head when he spoke.

He was just angry for a moment, but now that he has calmed down, he feels that what the three people said makes sense.

In Liu Kunyi's view, although the four provinces in the south of the Yangtze River are rich, they also face the greatest pressure.

Not only was he attacked from Guangdong and Guangxi and the north, but even Zhang Zhidong in Wuchang refused to be obedient even after being beaten once.

After all, the North occupies the orthodox position. Liu Kunyi has spent a lot of money to stabilize the officialdom of the four provinces in the south of the Yangtze River. He almost let these officials engage in corruption openly.

What's more, the top customs offices such as Jianghai Customs and Zhejiang Customs are all controlled by the Jiangnan Governor's Office.

It had already become difficult to sustain. Even if Yuan Shikai did not move south, Liu Kunyi was ready to take the initiative to attack, either to take Wuchang and compete with the north for the sake of righteousness, or to borrow money from foreigners to fight.

At the beginning, Liu Kunyi tried to borrow money from the British, but the British were unwilling to lend on the pretext of "the unification of the Qing Dynasty."

What Liu Kunyi didn't know was that the British refused to lend the money in order to maintain China's implicit division, and they also didn't want the North to be left empty and give the Russians an opportunity to take advantage.

Seeing that Yuan Shikai was about to march south and that there was no way to fight a war without money, Liu Kunyi decided to take advantage of the assassination of the French consul to contact the French and turn the crisis into an opportunity.

This is why Yu Lianyuan secretly negotiated a secret agreement with the French.

"Well, just as the French say, don't let the news of the secret agreement get out!"

Liu Kun immediately made up his mind to give it a try, as if he had already imagined the scene of his horse drinking water in Yanshan and walking on the snow outside the Great Wall.

...

July 1894th of the lunar calendar in .

Today is the Zhongyuan Festival, also known as the Ghost Festival in the traditional sense. It is the day for Chinese people to worship their ancestors.

Coinciding with the French Concession Incident, more and more people were tortured to death in prison.

"He Xiuzhu, a native of Wuxing, Huzhou, was born in the first year of the Guangxu reign and died in the twentieth year of the Guangxu reign at the age of 20. He was co-organized by the Shengxing Chamber of Commerce."

"Qian Mingzhi, a native of Kunshan, Suzhou, was born in the second year of the Tongzhi reign and died in the twentieth year of the Guangxu reign at the age of 31. He was a laborer at the Shanghai docks."

"Lin Feibai, a native of Rugao, Tongzhou, was born in the first year of the Xianfeng reign and died in the twentieth year of the Guangxu reign, at the age of 44. He was the doorman of the Sassoon Company."

...

The names of the deceased who were taken to the French Concession prison were published in the newspapers, gradually igniting the anger of the people of Shanghai.

In order to commemorate these compatriots, yellow paper was burned in the streets and alleys of Shanghai's Chinese area today, and thick smoke rose up, which almost choked people to the point of making it impossible to walk.

However, in the thick smoke, the streets were crowded with people, and no one left because they were choked to the point of being unable to open their eyes.

At this moment at Shanghai's Huajie Wharf, the people were not only angry, but also looking forward to Yuan Shikai's arrival.

British Minister to the British Concession, Eugene, led more than one hundred red-headed Indian guards from the British Concession to the dock for security.

The sailors from the Hailong and Haichao who had arrived earlier also disembarked to act as temporary guards.

The British did not know that Liu Kunyi was in secret contact with the French. They now felt that the most important thing was to prevent the war.

Whether Yuan Shikai went to war with the French or with Liu Kunyi, in their view, it would be an act that would damage the interests of the British Empire in China.

Outside the two circles of guards were more than a dozen Chinese and foreign reporters. Although there was the job of reporter at that time, there were no portable cameras, so there were no overwhelming flash lights like in later generations.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on Yuan Xiangcheng who was walking down the gangway, and Yuan Xiangcheng lived up to everyone's expectations and stopped in front of everyone to be interviewed by the onlookers.

The reporter from Hua Bao seemed unaccustomed to a provincial leader being interviewed in this way. Although he was crowded among the press corps, he did not dare to ask questions.

Until a Japanese reporter broke the deadlock with a nonsensical address: "Your Excellency Governor Yuan, what do you think of the assassination of the French consul?"

"I deeply regret the death of the French consul in Shanghai and am willing to personally provide full compensation to his family.

However, I want to point out that this is not an excuse for the French to arbitrarily arrest Chinese people and lynch them, or even lynch them to death!"

The first half of Yuan Shikai's sentence was full of tenderness, but the second half quickly became rude to the French.

"Mr. Yuan... Yuan, if the French declare war, are you confident that you can fight and win?" An American reporter squeezed into the crowd and asked the question in not yet fluent Chinese.

"Yes, I will!" Yuan Xiangcheng glanced at the dense crowd of people behind the group of seven reporters and said in a firm tone:

"Justice is in the hearts of the people. The 20 Tiger Soldiers of the National Defense Army have already been deployed in battle array, waiting for the French to attack. If the National Defense Army is defeated, there are still more than Jiangnan New Army; if the Jiangnan New Army is defeated, there are still the Lingnan New Army, the Sichuan Army, and the provincial training troops and militias.

China has 400 million people, how can we not stop the French with 10 million people?"

Before the reporter could ask again, the people around him cheered when they heard Yuan Xiangcheng's inspiring speech.

"Well, Master Yuan is right!"

"Master Yuan, the star of Wu Qu has descended to earth. There's no need for each province to train its troops. The National Defense Army will surely defeat the French!"

"That's right! Ten years ago, Lord Yuan captured the French general Courbet alive under the walls of Beijing. Now that the French are coming again, they're just repeating their defeat!"

The people, who were originally immersed in the emotions of the death and injury of their compatriots, rekindled their fighting spirit!

Chapter 213: A sinister person or a patriot?

Yuan Xiangcheng took in everything the onlookers said, although some things were not as simple as they thought.

It is just like how Yuan Shikai was able to defeat the French army ten years ago because he took advantage of the French army’s isolation and the scorching heat.

However, after hearing these words, Yuan Xiangcheng was generally quite relieved, after all, the people's hearts could be used.

Now that the goal has been achieved, let's go.

Without waiting for the reporter to ask again, Yuan Xiangcheng got into the two-person rickshaw prepared by the British ambassador, where someone was already sitting.

It was Ogene who suggested that Yuan Xiangcheng take the double rickshaw because he was afraid that someone would try to assassinate him again, so he arranged a personal guard on the rickshaw.

This time, Yuan Shikai came here to attend the four-party talks among Yuan, Liu, Ying and France. If something goes wrong, it will be a big trouble.