After two days of surveillance and eavesdropping, the time traveler could basically confirm that what Yuan Shikai said was the truth, including asking the People's Army to send troops to Jinan Prefecture. There was no conspiracy. It was indeed just to show kindness to the time traveler. Therefore, he clearly replied to Yuan Shikai, hoping that Tong would send an army to Jinan Prefecture, and at the same time, a takeover team would be set up to negotiate with Yuan Shikai to hand over Shandong.

Yuan Shikai was also very happy, which means that overseas Chinese accepted their kindness and the relationship between the two sides was indeed improved. However, the two sides had not yet begun to discuss the details, and Li Hongzhang also arrived in Qingdao. However, after the general principles were determined, the details would be discussed, and there was no need to rush to live, so welcoming Li Hongzhang together.

Seeing that Yuan Shikai had a harmonious relationship with overseas Chinese, Li Hongzhang was relieved. It seemed that Yuan Shikai was indeed a little bit too much and could reconcile with overseas Chinese so quickly. This fully demonstrates Yuan Shikai's ability. In the Chinese officialdom, it is very important to have a long-standing and good at handling interpersonal relationships. To a large extent, this is more important than the ability to handle practical matters, because he does not have the ability to handle interpersonal relationships, but as long as he is good at handling interpersonal relationships, he can still survive in the officialdom. Even if he is not good at handling interpersonal relationships, he cannot survive even if he has the ability to handle interpersonal relationships. If he can do both, he can do something. Li Hongzhang is such a person.

Yuan Shikai's behavior in the past proved his practical ability to handle interpersonal relationships. Although Yuan Shikai did some, it was not enough in Li Hongzhang's opinion. This time, Yuan Shikai was able to resolve the conflicts with overseas Chinese with his own strength, proving that he had outstanding achievements in this regard. Therefore, Li Hongzhang felt quite pleased that he had not read the wrong person.

The Time Traveler and Li Hongzhang were already very familiar with each other, so there was no need to be polite. Moreover, Li Hongzhang came to Qingdao with a major task. The Qing court had issued a continuous edict to him, asking Li Hongzhang to negotiate with overseas Chinese as soon as possible to get a result so that the Qing court could return to Beijing as soon as possible. After all, the war has ended, and it was not a long-term solution for the Qing court to remain in exile. Li Hongzhang had no intention of being polite with the Time Traveler, so the two sides quickly got to the point. Together with Li Hongzhang and Yuan Shikai, they negotiated with Qin Zheng about the issue of letting the court return to Beijing as soon as possible.

Li Hongzhang first said: "The Qin political commissar, the court has agreed that the land in Shandong can be assigned to the people to settle autonomous region. Although it is still controlled by the court in the famous discussion, the people can serve as the governor, governor, inspector, Taoist, admiral, general and officials of various prefectures and prefectures. The list of officials is formulated by the people and reported to the court, and the court can issue an order to be appointed. However, the government, finance, military power, etc. in Shandong are all managed by the people, and they only need to pay money, grain, taxes and taxes to the court every year. The court will not interfere with Shandong's administrative affairs. The original local officials in Shandong can be slaughtered by the people, and they can be used if they are available, and if they are not available, they will be revoked. However, you are also asked to withdraw the army of your generals from Beijing and the surrounding areas so that the court can return to Beijing to resettlement."

This time, Li Hongzhang did not go around with the time travelers and listed the conditions of the Qing court very directly. First, the Qing court did not have any bargaining chips; second, Li Hongzhang also basically understood the style of the time travelers, and liked to be straightforward, but did not like to bend around the bush, so the effect of talking straightforward is better.

Qin Zheng also nodded. Such conditions are certainly acceptable for the time travel group. As long as the Shandong Governor is the only one, it is enough. In this way, the time travel group's rule in Shandong has been legalized. How does the time travel group want to manage Shandong is its own business? Therefore, Qin Zheng said: "Yes, but we only have one requirement. Our army can evacuate all of Beijing and surrounding areas, ensuring that no soldiers are left. However, an office needs to be set up in Beijing, some personnel and a small number of defense troops are stationed, and the responsibilities and powers are similar to embassies of various countries. Of course, the court also needs to designate a yamen to connect with our offices, the Ministry of Personnel and the Prime Minister's Office, so that it can facilitate our communication with the court."

Li Hongzhang thought about it and believed that the demand put forward by overseas Chinese was also very reasonable, because in the future, overseas Chinese would exist as a special force, and their relationship with the Qing court was roughly equivalent to that of vassal states, but different from vassal states like Korea, Ryukyu, and Annan in the past. In terms of strength structure, overseas Chinese have stronger independence, but from the perspective of legal and reputation, it is also a province under the rule of the Qing court. Such complex relationships are not only unique in the history of the Qing court, but also rare in all dynasties. Moreover, in a short period of time, the Qing court could not break the relationship with overseas Chinese. Therefore, the court really needs to have a relatively smooth communication channel with overseas Chinese, and it is best to hand it over to the Prime Minister's Office to manage this matter, not to the Ministry of Personnel. Of course, what the two sides are negotiating now is only a general principle, and detailed negotiation will be made in the next step.

So Li Hongzhang said, "Okay, you can agree to this request for me." After a pause, Li Hongzhang said, "But the court also has a request, so please let me agree."

Qin Zheng said: "I don't know what the requirements are?"

Li Hongzhang said: "The court hopes that your people can return Tianjin to the court for jurisdiction."

Qin Zheng frowned and said, "Zhongtang, Tianjin is something we took from the Eight-Nation Alliance. Is it too hard for the imperial court to want Tianjin?"

Li Hongzhang also smiled bitterly. He also knew that it was very difficult to return to Tianjin from overseas Chinese, but he could not refuse it, because Tianjin's location was really important. It was the sea outlet of Beijing, and it could be said to be the throat of Beijing. The Qing court was beaten to abandon Beijing twice and fled. The enemy landed from Tianjin and then headed straight to Beijing. Moreover, since the change of canal and sea transportation, the money, grain and materials from the south were transported to Beijing, all by sea to Tianjin, and then transported to Beijing via Haihe route and railway. Overseas Chinese controlled Shandong, which was equivalent to locking the Bohai Sea. If Tianjin continued to occupy it, it would be like curbing the life and death of the Qing court. They could go straight into Beijing at any time. Even if the canal was cut off, the Qing court could not stand it. Therefore, even if the Qing court returned to Beijing, it would be difficult to be stable. They had to go back to Tianjin from overseas Chinese.

Li Hongzhang said: "Tianjin was indeed taken back by the Eight-Nation Alliance. However, I don't need to say what is important to Tianjin. You should also know that other people will not say much about it. If you are willing to return Tianjin to the court, then the court is willing to divide one or two palaces for you from Henan and Jiangsu, and you can choose from it."

However, time travelers will not give up on Tianjin. In addition to being able to directly threaten Beijing, there is another important factor, which is to value Tianjin's economic interests. Since Tianjin has now become an important port and material distribution center in northern China, the customs tax and logistics economy brought is very considerable. Before the Boxer Reform, Tianjin Customs' annual income could reach 4 million taels of silver, which was based on the low tariffs of the Qing court. After the time travelers controlled Tianjin Customs, they significantly increased customs tariffs. So far, at the end of August this year, the tariffs collected had exceeded 5 million taels of silver.

Moreover, under the governance of the Time Travel Group, Tianjin will definitely vigorously develop the logistics economy and light industry, so there is still a lot of room for improvement. It is estimated that in normal years, Tianjin Customs can have a customs income of about 15 million taels of silver under the operation of Time Travelers. In addition, there are other benefits. Such huge economic benefits cannot be compared with one or two governments, and Time Travelers will naturally not let it go.

In addition, since Tianjin is a key area of ​​the Westernization Movement, it is one of the few cities in China with a certain modern industrial foundation. Moreover, time travelers have made a lot of basic investment in Tianjin, such as opening a textile factory and expanding the Tianjin shipyard, which cannot be given up.

Qin Zheng shook his head and said, "Li Zhongtang, we will not give up on Tianjin, but we can manage Tianjin with the court."

After hearing this, Li Hongzhang said, "I wonder how your people plan to manage Tianjin with the court?"

Qin Zheng said: "We can still return the old city of Tianjin to the court for management, but the original concession area is still under our jurisdiction, and then divide other areas by this. However, the operation of the Haihe Channel, Dagukou, and Tianjin Customs must be managed by us. In this way, we can jointly manage Tianjin. Of course, we can negotiate other details in detail, but this is our biggest concession."

Li Hongzhang thought about it and could only do this, because looking at this, overseas Chinese obviously were determined to give up Tianjin, so it was a good result to be able to return to the old city of Tianjin. After all, the Qing court had no bargaining chips, and the original Tianjin Concession area was not originally from the Qing court, so Li Hongzhang nodded and said, "Okay, for your request, I will report to the court truthfully, and it will be decided by the court."

Qin Zheng said again: "But Li Zhongtang, I can't give up the old city of Tianjin in vain. The court also needs to make certain compensation to us."

Li Hongzhang also understood that it was so easy to eat from overseas Chinese. Although he only had to come back to Tianjin, it was impossible not to let go of blood. He just hoped that overseas Chinese would not speak loudly, so he said, "I don't know what compensation you need."

Qin Zheng smiled and said, "We don't have high requirements. We just hope that there will be a local area in Shanghai, and the general power can be the same as the concessions of various countries. Of course, we can negotiate the land together."
Chapter completed!