After seeing off Zhu Erdian, Yuan Shikai was finally able to calm down. Bi Jing received a check of 200,000 taels of silver, which was not a small amount. Of course, what we had to deal with in the end was the relationship with East China **, so early the next morning, Yuan Shikai came to the East China ** Beijing Office and asked to meet Liu Ruijie, director of East China ** Beijing Office.

After the Boxer Rebellion, before the East China ** was officially established, an office was set up in Beijing to contact and communicate with the Qing court, and to inquire about various information about the Qing court's center, and to understand the dynamics of the Qing court. Later, the East China *** had a bad relationship with the Qing court, causing a war to turn against each other, but the Beijing office of East China ** has never evacuated, forming a very strange phenomenon.

In fact, in the Qing court, people have always asked to seize the Beijing office of East China and arrest the office staff to show that the Qing court and the East China are irreconcilable. The people who made this request were the royal family of the Qing court and the Manchus. But there were also a group of people who firmly opposed it. Their reason was that the Beijing office of East China was located in Beijing. Is it not easy to seal it? It was just a simple task, but keeping it was to avoid the Qing court and East China completely breaking up, and to maintain a channel of communication, so it was much better than sealing it. Those who hold this view were mostly honest and polite ministers.

Under normal circumstances, Cixi still tended to keep the Beijing office of East China for the time being. Cixi was naturally aware of it, not that she didn't understand the truth. However, when the Qing court attacked the Henan base in East China, the Qing court did plan to take action against the Beijing office of East China. As long as the Qing army gained an advantage on the battlefield, it was a pity that the Qing army was defeated by the Volunteers at that time, and the seizure of the Beijing office of East China would be left alone.

After the East China ** officially announced the goal of overthrowing the Qing court, there was a public opinion trend in Beijing again to search the Beijing offices of East China **, but at this time the Beijing office also spoke out. If anyone dared to touch the Beijing office, then the East China ** will enter Beijing in the future and settle the accounts after the autumn, the whole family will not be able to escape. As a result, most of the people who shouted fiercely suddenly stopped. On the contrary, many people came to the Beijing office, hoping that after the People's Army entered Beijing, they could ensure their own safety. After all, at this time, everyone knew that the Qing court would not last for a few years. Therefore, they had to find a way out for themselves. After all, there were only a few people who were really willing to bury the Qing court.

Of course, East China ** did not place the security of the Beijing office on its power and power over the Qing court. After all, in the Qing court, some people's life and death interests were firmly tied to the Qing court. They would not care about the power and power over the East China **. Therefore, as early as when the Beijing office was established, East China ** bought a piece of land near the Sifang Station in the southeast of Beijing and built a fortress facility, which was less than 5 kilometers away from Beijing. When the Qing court discovered it, the fortress had been built and a battalion of troops was dispatched to garrison. In addition to artillery and fire support troops, the total strength was about 850. Although the force was not large, it became a nail that East China ** was nailed to the edge of Beijing.

The People's Army's garrison outside Beijing was an imminent fact, and they could not drive away, and they dared not really tear them apart. Therefore, the Qing court could only recognize him and set up a military camp near Panjiayuan outside You'anmen Square in Beijing to monitor the People's Army's garrison. However, this is just a remedial measure. The existence of this People's Army posed a great threat to Beijing. Once a war broke out, the People's Army in Tianjin would march by train, and it would take only one day to arrive, which would threaten the Beijing city.

The Qing court has always had great relations with the search for the Beijing office in East China, and the existence of this garrison. On the other hand, after five or six years of development, the influence of the Beijing office in East China in East China cannot be underestimated. Now it has recruited more than 2,000 people in Beijing and operated in secret. In addition to other outside personnel, more than 5,000 people work for the Beijing office, almost all over Beijing, and even the government offices, the residences of the princes and the inner courtyards of the palaces, etc., are also known to the East China.

In addition, the Beijing Office has openly communicated with most of the Qing government offices and the embassy in Beijing. It can be said that any disturbances in Beijing could hardly be hidden from the Beijing office. It has also established three channels to escape from Beijing. Although it cannot be said that it is foolproof, the safety chance is indeed not low.

When Yuan Shikai was appointed as the governor of Zhili, he mainly maintained contact with the local governments and East China through Tianjin. However, after becoming the Minister of Military Affairs, he had been stationed in Beijing for more time, so he also strengthened his contacts with the Beijing office. Liu Ruijie, the current director of the Beijing office, was the third person in charge. He took office after the victory of the Far East War. When he took office, East China officially announced the goal of overthrowing the Qing court and completely broke up with the Qing court. Therefore, the situation he faced was much more difficult than the previous two terms.

But after Liu Ruijie took office, he changed his low-key style of his first two positions and had a tough attitude. "If anyone dares to touch the Beijing office, then the East China ** will enter Beijing in the future and settle the accounts after the autumn, and the whole family will not be able to escape." It was reported by him. Those who dared to raise concerns from the Beijing office will resolutely fight back and fight back, and they will never swallow their anger and calm down. Because of the situation at this time, low-key cannot solve the problem. It is better to declare high-profile and act tough, which is to bet that the Qing court will not dare to take the initiative to go to war with the East China **.

On the other hand, the garrison outside Beijing also held a second military exercise in a coordinated manner, and had a small-scale friction with the Qing army that came to take care of the mercy. As a result, the Qing army was defeated and more than 10 people were killed. The Qing court did not dare to really go to war with the East China **. Even though he knew that the East China ** had regarded the Qing court as an enemy, the Qing court was unwilling to provoke a war easily before the East China ** attacked Beijing, and it was possible to delay it for a while.

The Qing Dynasty royal family also did not dare to target the Beijing office in East China, because their families and property were all in Beijing, so they were of course unwilling to attract revenge for the crackdown on the Beijing office, so they only dared to make trouble in Anhui.

Yuan Shikai and Liu Ruijie only met twice, but they had contacted each other more than 10 times, but they were all with Yuan Shikai's aides, including the test of whether East China ** was willing to accept Yuan Shikai. This was also a common method used by Qing officials.

In fact, the East China ** is very clear about Yuan Shikai's test, but at this time, the East China ** is not suitable to accept Yuan Shikai. The main reason is that Yuan Shikai's asking price is too high. According to the evaluation, if the East China ** intends to surrender Yuan Shikai, at least he must take the position of governor in terms of administrative system; and in terms of military, he is at least the commander of the field army, but the current East China ** is still not affordable. Most of the veterans of Bi Jing have not yet reached this level, so why should he give a surrendered general? Moreover, Yuan Shikai's reputation among most of the veterans is not good.

But the price of the reduction was lower, and Yuan Shikai looked down on it. Now Yuan Shikai was in the Qing court and was extremely powerful. Now it was not a desperate time, so why should he reduce his value? Therefore, the East China ** simply pretended to be confused and ignored Yuan Shikai's temptation. Anyway, even if Yuan Shikai was in the Qing court, it would not have much impact. Although Yuan Shikai was indeed the most capable minister in the Qing court, the Qing court is now determined, and no matter how strong Yuan Shikai's ability is, he cannot make a comeback. Moreover, Yuan Shikai is not a talent to turn the tide. After the East China ** and the Qing court went to war, Yuan Shikai's bargaining chips were greatly reduced, and Yuan Shikai would also reduce his value by himself. At that time, both sides would have to talk about it.

It was obviously not suitable for the staff to come forward at this time, so Yuan Shikai came forward in person and came to the Beijing office.

Although the two did not meet much, they communicated with each other a lot, so they were not unfamiliar with it. After some politeness, Yuan Shikai said: "Director Liu has been appointed as the governor of Liangjiang by the court, and went to the south to be responsible for disaster relief, resettlement of disaster victims, and quelling disputes in the south."

Liu Ruijie said: "The situation in Jiangsu, Anhui and other places is complicated now. Lord Yuan goes to the south to take office at this time, and the burden is not light. Could it be that someone has put a trap on Lord Yuan?"

Yuan Shikai laughed and said, "Director Liu was joking. This is also the court's trust in Yuan. Moreover, the turmoil in the two rivers is second-hand. In the final analysis, it is related to the East China **."

Liu Ruijie also smiled and said, "Mr. Yuan is really talking, but since Mr. Yuan said that, we can't go around in circles. This time, we were completely out of kindness. We were all thinking that we were from the Yangtze River province, and were of the same lineage as the people in the Yangtze River province, so we were willing to let go of the conflict with the Qing court and put disaster relief first. In fact, this was also to solve the problem of the Qing court. However, the Qing court not only had no achievements in disaster relief, but it was several times.

We were polite to us. First, Anhui Governor Enming intercepted our transport fleet on the Yangtze River. Later, the Qing Dynasty's royal ministers colluded with Japan to attack the victim resettlement camp. Fortunately, we discovered it when we were extremely aware of it, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable. Therefore, we were really unable to bear it and had to counterattack the Qing court, and then we sent troops to capture Anhui. Although the turmoil in Liangjiang is indeed related to us, the turmoil in Liangjiang is not in our hands to resolve the turmoil in Liangjiang."

Yuan Shikai hurriedly said, "Director Liu misunderstood. Yuan visited today, not to blame East China **, but to hope that East China ** can put the overall situation of disaster relief first, and to put peace first."
Chapter completed!