After negotiation, the time traveler decided that Qin Zheng would come forward to meet Yuan Shikai and meet Yuan Shikai. First, Qin Zheng and Yuan Shikai were basically in contact with each other, so the two should be familiar with each other; second, Qin Zheng was the governor of Shandong in the famous discussion, and Yuan Shikai represented the Qing court, so naturally, it would be appropriate for Qin Zheng to receive Yuan Shikai.

When the two met, Qin Zheng laughed and said, "Well, please don't worry, Mr. Hui."

Yuan Shikai quickly waved his hands and said, "How dare you? How dare you? In front of Brother Qin, how dare you respect your general's name? It would be better to call each other brothers."

It turned out that according to the rules of the Qing court, officials who became governors could be respected as generals, and generally used the name of the generals, nicknames, hometowns, or other words that express respect. When Zuo Zongtang pacified Xinjiang, he was awarded the title of second-class Kejinghou by the Qing court, so he was respected as "Jiangshuai" by his subordinates; Zhang Zhidong had no title, so he was respected as "Jiangshuai" with his name Xiangtao; of course there is an exception, that is, Li Hongzhang served as governor of Zhili for many years, but he has never been respected as generals. However, Li Hongzhang had a higher honor than "Jiangshuai", and he was known as Li Zhongtang, so of course he would not care about a general's name.

Yuan Shikai is now the governor of Zhili, so of course he can be called "Shishou". Yuan Shikai's courtesy name is Weiting, so he was respected as "Shishou" in the new Beiyang army. Qin Zheng called him this to express respect.

However, Yuan Shikai was very self-aware. Although he was the governor of Zhili and Qin Zheng was only the governor of Shandong. Not only was he inferior in his official position, but according to the Qing court's official system, the governor of Shandong was controlled by the governor of Zhili. Therefore, in the famous discussion, Yuan Shikai was also Qin Zheng's direct immediate superior. However, Yuan Shikai knew in his heart that behind Qin Zheng was an overseas Chinese, and whether he had substantial power or strength, he was far superior to himself.

Judging from the official position, although the Governor of Zhili was the head of the eight major governors of the Qing court, he worked in Beijing. In places like Beijing, a mere governor of Zhili was really not in the position. Although Li Hongzhang and Ronglu had served as governor of Zhili, it was only a part-time job. Li Hongzhang's official position was the Minister of Beiyang, the Minister of Navy and the Minister of the Prime Minister's Office; Ronglu's official position was the Minister of Military Affairs, and also the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and the General Control of the Five Military Army of Wuwei. Therefore, compared with these two bigwigs, Yuan Shikai, the governor of Zhili, was really unable to be on the table. Although Qin Zheng was only the governor of Shandong, he actually had a separatist position, established his own family, and competed with the Qing court, which was not comparable to Yuan Shikai.

Although Yuan Shikai had a new Beiyang army under his command, and Yuan Shikai controlled the new Beiyang army very strongly and almost became Yuan Shikai's private army, the new Beiyang army was still the army of the court after all, and all the money, food, materials, equipment and weapons were controlled in the hands of the court. Therefore, as long as the court cut off the military pay and supplies of the new Beiyang army, the new Beiyang army would immediately collapse. The size of the overseas Chinese army not only far exceeded that of the new Beiyang army, but also had to self-determination in finance, so there was no need to look at the court's eyes. Yuan Shikai was a pragmatic person, so he naturally did not dare to act like the governor of Zhili in front of overseas Chinese, so he proposed to be brothers with Qin Zheng.

Qin Zheng laughed and said, "Isn't this a broken rule?"

Yuan Shikai hurriedly said, "Where, where, Yuan and Brother Qin are old acquaintances, and they have always admired the loyalty and righteousness of the nobles. They really want to make friends with Brother Qin and the nobles. If Brother Qin still wants to be an official position, it would be too disdainful to Yuan."

Qin Zheng also admired Yuan Shikai a little, and was worthy of being a hero in the old time and space. Although these words meant to please time travelers, they also had to have a certain sense of mind and energy. So he said, "Since Brother Weiting is not limited to false etiquette, then I am not polite. If there is any offense, please forgive me."

Yuan Shikai was overjoyed when he heard this, because he called himself "Brother Weiting" but he seemed more intimate than "Brother Yuan". However, Qin Zheng did not have the word "Preface" and was a single name, so he could not use a more close-know honorific title. Yu Wu laughed and said, "That's right, that's right."

The two of them joked a few more times, and Yuan Shikai said: "Brother Qin, Brother Qin should know about Yuan's purpose. You have also issued a statement to denounce the Russian Youth Agreement. The court also wants to hear your opinions."

Qin Zheng said: "This time the imperial court must never agree to Russia's conditions. It should reject them with harsh words to show determination."

Yuan Shikai nodded and said, "How can I see it?"

Qin Zheng said: "[Trade for the settlement of the Three East Provinces] has been signed earlier. This time, Russia breached the contract for no reason. All new conditions are unreasonable, so how can it be promised! Moreover, Russia has always been insatiable and has great ambitions, so I will retreat and Russia will make a move. We agree this time that Russia will have new conditions, and it will be endless. In the end, the three east provinces will no longer have them for me."

Yuan Shikai nodded repeatedly and said, "It's true that Yuan thought he could not agree to Russia, but now Russia still occupies the land of our three eastern provinces, and its country has always been arrogant and rude. If the court rejects Russia, or is embarrassed and angry, and continues to live in the northeast, what will happen? He sent Russia to send troops south, invade Shanhaiguan, and start a war. The court had just experienced the change of the Gengzi country, and the two palaces had just returned to the palace, so it was difficult to control it."

Qin Zheng said: "Please rest assured that if Russia really dares to invade Shanhaiguan, we are willing to volunteer to fight and will teach Russia to repeat the same mistake and defeat again. However, I think Russia is big, but it is just a strong outside and a strong man on the outside. On the surface, it is full of force, but the inner nan is empty, so it is not worth fearing. If Russia really wants to start a war, it will not sign the [Treaty of the Three East Provinces to settle the Treaty]."

Yuan Shikai smiled bitterly in his heart. Only overseas Chinese can say such words. He said: "But Russia only manages the three eastern provinces and does not leave, so what should we do?"

Qin Zheng said: "There is no need to worry about this. Britain, the United States, Japan and other countries will not sit idly by and watch Russia occupy the land of our three northeastern provinces. They will interfere and support the court to take back the three northeastern provinces."

Yuan Shikai nodded and said, "Brother Qin is indeed full of attention. I will tell you that the envoys of Britain, the United States and Japan have indeed sent a note to the court, asking the court not to agree to Russia, and they all said that they would support the court to take back the land of the three eastern provinces."

Qin Zheng laughed and said, "Isn't this very good? With the help of Britain, the United States, Japan and the United States, and the land of the three eastern provinces is just around the corner."

Yuan Shikai smiled bitterly and said, "But Yuan really can't figure out why Britain, the United States and Japan want to help the court. It's okay for Japan to come. Because North Korea belongs to it, it's not surprising that it helps the court. However, Britain, the United States and the United States have no interests. Why do they want to help the court? Moreover, Russia also has an ally France and has good friends with Germany. With these two countries helping each other, they may not be afraid of Britain, the United States and Japan, right?"

Qin Zheng said: "How did Brother Weiting see that there is no interest in Britain and the United States? How did he see that the two parliaments of Germany and France help Russia?"

Yuan Shikai was stunned for a moment, and immediately heard what Qin Zheng said, so he bowed and said, "Yuan is so stupid, please give me advice."

Qin Zheng smiled and said, "But this matter is a long story, because we must explain the relationship between Britain, France, Germany, Russia, the United States and Japan clearly to relieve Brother Ting's confusion."

Yuan Shikai was very interested when he heard this. He had a certain understanding of the relationship between countries, but he was still confused. For example, Britain, Russia, Germany and France and other countries clearly had enemies, but they joined forces to organize the Eight-Nation Alliance to invade China. France and Russia were clearly allies, but France seemed to have no support for Russia. France and Germany had forced Japan to give up the Liaodong Peninsula, but Japan purchased warships from France and Germany. Yuan Shikai didn't know this confusing sect at all. Now, when Qin Zheng wanted to explain the relationship between countries clearly, Yuan Shikai naturally wanted to understand. In this way, he would have a clear understanding of it in the future. So he said: "I hope Brother Qin will teach me, Yuan should listen carefully."

Qin Zheng also nodded, and then he told Yuan Shikai in detail about the overall situation of the world, the relations between European countries, the British-Russian conflicts, the French-German conflicts, the French-Russian alliance, the British-Japanese alliance, the German-Russian relations, the United States' cross-strait fire, and the connection between various relations, etc., and for about an hour.

Yuan Shikai was also fascinated by the fact that he had heard of these relations among European countries, but firstly because he was not fully aware of them, and secondly, he did not consider these relations, so he felt confused and kept cutting them up. Qin Zheng's remarks made Yuan Shikai sort out the relationship between countries. In the past, all the acts that seemed unreasonable in various countries also had their own internal truths.

So Yuan Shikai suddenly realized and sighed: "Brother Qin, I heard that you are really better than reading for ten years."

In fact, Yuan Shikai was also a person who knew about the Westernization Affairs in the Qing court, but like all the Chinese who were engaged in the Westernization Affairs in this era, he had huge limitations. He could only focus on China and only expanded his attention to the scope of East Asia at most. He could never judge the situation and make decisions from the overall situation of the world. Therefore, the Qing court made many mistakes and wrong judgments in its previous decisions. Now Yuan Shikai finally had a little concept of the overall situation of the world. This also made Yuan Shikai feel that this trip to Qingdao is indeed worth it.

After stabilizing his mind, Yuan Shikai said: "Although Russia is unable to start a war now, if the court rejects Russia's request, Russia will not withdraw from the three northeastern provinces."
Chapter completed!