Master Yuan, start!

Who told me? Jasna was puzzled. No one had ever told him what territories France had. Yuan Xiangcheng asked a question that stumped him.

Oh, right, the treaty, the treaty stipulates it! Thinking of what the Foreign Ministry official had said, Jasna straightened up and shouted:

"The Chinese and French governments signed a treaty stipulating that this is French territory!"

"Good, a good treaty." Yuan Xiangcheng smiled instead of getting angry, and said to the new French consul again:

“Judging from your age, you must have experienced the Franco-Prussian War.

I don't know if you've ever heard of German Chancellor Bismarck's famous quote.

Yuan Xiangcheng spoke very slowly, almost one word at a time, but his momentum was getting stronger and stronger.

"No, I don't know what it means." Consul Jasna swallowed and couldn't help thinking in his heart.

Could it be that the Chinese not only connected with the British, but also colluded with the Germans?

When did this happen and how come I had no idea about it?

"The truth is only within the range of the cannon!"

Yuan Xiangcheng stared into the eyes of the French consul and uttered this famous saying which has been widely circulated in later generations.

"What do you mean, General Yuan? Are you threatening the French government?" Consul Jasna pretended to be calm and asked deliberately.

"It's not a threat. I just hope that France will realize that the East Asian continent is not the territory for the Gauls!" Yuan Xiangcheng sneered and waved his right hand back. Immediately, dozens of guard camp soldiers holding spears rushed up.

"Take down these Frenchmen and let's go to the French Concession Park!"

"Yes!"

The Wehrmacht soldiers acted quickly and controlled the French soldiers who hesitated and dared not shoot.

Afterwards, ignoring the shocked expressions of the people behind him, Yuan Xiangcheng took the lead and walked towards the park where the tragedy took place.

The Shanghai people from all walks of life in the team were first surprised, then puzzled. When they saw Yuan Shikai step forward despite the threats from the French, a blush appeared on their faces.

When will we Chinese be able to be so tough towards foreigners?

"Let's go, follow Master Yuan!"

Some young scholars immediately shook their fists and shouted loudly, completely ignoring the merchants and gentry who were still considering whether to offend the French and weighing the pros and cons.

"Soul return, soul return!"

When the scholars hurried to the park, they found that Yuan Shikai had already made preparations and was personally summoning the souls of the people who had died tragically in the French Concession.

The autumn wind is bleak, leaves are falling, and paper money is everywhere, mixed in with the yellow fallen leaves. The sky and the earth are a miserable scene.

"National Defense Forces, listen up, take off your hats, and observe a moment of silence!"

At Duan Qirui's shout, all the soldiers took off their military caps, put them in their hands, lowered their bald heads without braids, and saluted the tablet that had just been placed in the French Concession Park.

"Chinese and dogs are not allowed to enter?"

Yuan Xiangcheng looked at the infamous sign, tore it off and stepped on it.

With a "crack", the wooden sign was trampled into pieces.

Hearing the sound of shattering, the gentry behind Yuan Shikai, whether they were those who claimed to be loyal to the Qing Dynasty or those who wanted to rebel against the Manchus and restore the Han Dynasty, were completely subdued by his kick.

"It's so satisfying, so satisfying!"

This was the only thought in their minds at the moment.

Yuan Xiangcheng crushed the sign that Liu Kun ignored. Yuan Xiangcheng didn't care about the French, whom the imperial court didn't dare to offend.

At this moment, the bald hairstyles of the national defense soldiers were automatically ignored by people. They looked at the wooden sign at the foot of Yuan Shikai City that once humiliated the Chinese people with excited expressions.

Xu Shichang saw that most of the businessmen and scholars had red faces and clenched their fists secretly.

There were even elderly people who wiped their tears and sat on the ground, shouting, "Great revenge has been taken, thank you, Lord Yuan!"

"Weiting, the people's morale can be used."

Xu Shichang walked forward and spoke lightly to Yuan Xiangcheng.

Yuan Xiangcheng nodded, turned around, and spoke loudly to the people from all walks of life in Shanghai.

"My fellow countrymen, I, Yuan Shikai, am not afraid of foreigners or traitors. I only wish to ensure the eternal stability of our country and the end of all disputes.

Unfortunately, this is all Xiangcheng can do.

After I have conquered the French Concession and paid my respects to the people who died tragically, I will bid you farewell."

"Sir Yuan, are you going to lead your troops south immediately to recapture Guangdong and Guangxi?" A question immediately came from the crowd.

"Alas, that's not the case." Yuan Xiangcheng sighed heavily at first, then said helplessly: "The reason is really hard to explain."

What's the reason? What happened?

Hearing Yuan Xiangcheng's vague words, everyone's curiosity was aroused.

"Sir Yuan, are you worried about this telegram?" Another person in the crowd spoke up, holding a piece of thin paper and asked deliberately.

"What telegram? What telegram?"

"What is it? What is it?"

Before Yuan Xiangcheng could respond, the people around him started asking questions.

"Please wait, gentlemen. Please don't crowd. Let me read slowly."

Seeing the crowd surrounding him, the scholar quickly spread out the letter and read aloud.

"Hearing the victory news from Jiangning... Duan Qirui was appointed Acting Governor-General of Liangjiang, Feng Guozhang was appointed Governor of Northern Jiangsu, Sheng Fei was appointed Governor of Huaibei, and Governor of Northern Anhui.

Yuan Xiangcheng captured Jiangning and was promoted to Governor of the Four Eastern Provinces for his meritorious service to the state, and was also in charge of the Haidong Korean Province.

Return to Beijing to see His Majesty and depart immediately."

"what?"

After reading the telegram, everyone was shocked by the decision made by the court. They didn't even have time to think about how a mere scholar got this telegram.

What does the court mean by this?

Just when the army was victorious and was about to attack Lingnan and conquer the world, the capital decided to transfer the great hero back?

Is it the Qing Dynasty now, or the Southern Song Dynasty after crossing the river?

After Lord Yuan returned, was it Fengbo Pavilion or the three-foot white silk?

For a time, the story of Yue Fei being recalled from the Northern Expedition by twelve golden medals became a hot topic among scholars.

The remarks that "Manchus do not tolerate Han people" are once again rampant.

Chapter 281: Fighting for Justice

During the last three months of 1895, the situation in the North and the South fell into a sudden calm.

The court in Beijing sent several telegrams asking Yuan Shikai to return to Beijing to report on his work, but he repeatedly declined on the grounds that "the war is not over yet."

The imperial court refused to give up and simply sent people south to deliver the seals of the Governor-General of Liangjiang, Huaibei and Jiangbei to Jiangning, requiring Duan Qirui, Sheng Fei and Feng Guozhang to take office immediately.

Yuan Shikai, on the other hand, used the excuse of being ill to avoid seeing outsiders and avoided the ministers who were heading south.

Against this backdrop, Yuan Shikai did not stay in the house. Instead, he dressed in furs and strolled on the streets of Shanghai with a small number of guards.

In early winter, all things disappear. Looking around, the trees become bare, the grass has no green at all, and there is no one living.

In contrast, there is the port in Shanghai.

The battle between the National Defense Army and the Hunan Army ultimately affected the economic development of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas. Under the threat of war, many wealthy merchants sold their property and moved into the concession.

Since the National Defense Army took control of the two rivers, logistical supplies were no longer transported through the North Canal or land routes, but were sent directly to Jiangning, Shanghai and other places by sea vessels sailing directly to the mouth of the Yangtze River.

As a result, with the support of internal and external factors, Shanghai ushered in a wave of explosive commercial development.

Goods from the north and south, goods from land and sea, Chinese goods and foreign goods were all traded and sold here. The original trade markets in Jiangning, Suzhou and other places were gradually siphoned off by Shanghai in this wave of booming business and became sluggish.

However, after all, the war lasted for almost a year. Although Shanghai was prosperous, it could not withstand the drag of the protracted war. Local daily necessities were in extreme shortage after the war.

In addition, as winter was approaching and there was a shortage of warm clothing, various furs produced outside the Great Wall began to land in the southern market loaded onto 2100-ton cargo ships.

Common ones include gray squirrel skin, blue mouse skin, dog skin, sheepskin, etc., while precious ones include lynx skin, mink skin, wolf skin and even tiger skin.

From ordinary people to wealthy businessmen, basically everyone can buy affordable warm clothing.

"Incheon Bedding Factory should have quite a bit of surplus this year, right?" Yuan Xiangcheng felt quite gratified as he looked at the clothing stalls that could be seen everywhere on the dock.

Most of the winter clothes here come from outside the Great Wall, and whether they are cotton-padded clothes or leather clothes, they can bring in considerable profits.

The profit from selling it in Northeast China may only be 5-6%, but after being shipped to the south by ship, the profit can be doubled or even tripled.

The light industry outside the Great Wall gradually got on track with the textile industry as the entry point, and then based on the unique geographical conditions of the Northeast, it developed many fields such as oil pressing, rice milling, wine making, matches, leather making, etc.

After all, the consumption level outside the Great Wall is still relatively low, and consumers can only meet the basic necessities of life such as rice, flour, grain, oil and fire.

The layout of light industry in Northeast China coincides with the consumption level and consumption habits of consumers outside the Great Wall at that time.

Therefore, although the light industry is not large in scale, it has been able to generate its own blood and develop itself, and has escaped the situation of losses.

"The economic foundation has been laid firmly. Now, all that's left is a change in the ideological realm!"

Yuan Xiangcheng looked up and found that in addition to the vendors selling goods and dock workers carrying sacks, there were also people dressed as scholars and students gathered together, arguing about something.

Last year, although there was constant war in the Central Plains, the fighting did not spread to the Shanghai Concession or the areas outside the Great Wall.

Moreover, due to the wind of reform and new policies that blew after Guangxu returned to the capital, people from all over the country had long been discussing the direction of the Qing Dynasty.

In fact, everyone knows that the current business cannot be sustained, but everyone has their own set of rules in mind as to what to do in the future.

Some advocate imitating Britain, some advocate imitating Tsarist Russia, and some advocate imitating France and America.

It should be noted that at this time in the Qing Dynasty, many people still understood the position of "Generalissimo" of France and the United States as the "Khan" on the grassland. They did not know what a republic was and thought it was a rotation of the throne.

However, no matter how these people discussed it, they all "tacitly" skipped the question of whether the emperor should be a Manchu or a Han Chinese.

It was not until Yuan Shikai paid homage to the Mausoleum of Emperor Xiaoling that news of this highly politically significant act spread, and some scholars began to become bolder and began to openly discuss whether the Manchus should continue to sit on the throne.

Immediately afterwards, the Qing court sent a telegram, trying to recall the general using the same method as the Southern Song court, which had been reviled by the world for thousands of years.

This immediately ignited public opinion in Shanghai Shilin.

Young people who are not married always like to comment on world affairs. Yuan Shikai also took this opportunity to send people to infiltrate the student group to incite emotions and build up public opinion for anti-Manchuism.