Now Yuan Shikai asked the Qing court for money, and Cixi certainly did not want to pay the money, but Yuan Shikai insisted that if the Qing court did not pay the money, he would never leave to take office in the south. Moreover, Yuan Shikai's request was also very reasonable. No matter whether the Qing court sent Yuan Shikai to the south to rescue disasters or stabilize the situation, it would be impossible for Yuan Shikai to set out empty-handedly, and he had to give him some money.

Britain, France, the United States and other countries have also frequently put pressure on the Qing court, demanding that the Qing court let Yuan Shikai set off as soon as possible. Because the current situation in the south is extremely unstable, not only does Yuan Shikai need to arrive in Nanjing early, but also urgently need a piece of information that can calm people's hearts. Therefore, after careful calculations, the Qing court finally withdraws 800,000 taels of silver to Yuan Shikai for disaster relief, and then transfers all the taxes in Liangjiang this year to Yuan Shikai for use, so that it can be dealt with.

However, Yuan Shikai was very satisfied with the result. Although he offered 2 million taels of silver, he knew that the court's money now had to be used on the way forward, so it was definitely impossible to give him so much. In Yuan Shikai's estimate, 4.5 million taels would be a good result, and the court actually gave 800,000 taels, which exceeded Yuan Shikai's expectations. From the beginning, Yuan Shikai did not ask too much.

Of course, when the money fell into Yuan Shikai's hands, there were only 600,000 taels left. The 200,000 taels were exploited by the palace, the Military Affairs Department, the Sixth Ministry and other institutions, and plucked the feathers and cut them off. This was also the custom of the Qing court. Whoever had a silver was left, they had a share of the money they had and had equal benefits. Moreover, this was the money given to Yuan Shikai, and all institutions were still restrained. If someone else was replaced, they would be able to get 400,000 taels, thank God.

The matters in Beijing have been handled almost well, and Yuan Shikai finally began to plan his trip south. This time he went south, Yuan Shikai planned to take Wang Yingkai's troops in the second town and Wu Changchun's troops in the fourth town. In addition, he transferred Ye Changsheng's troops from the fifth town, and Lu Jianzhang's troops from the 11th troops from the 6th town, and accompanied the two troops of the escort the Beiyang New Army, and took a boat to the east to reach Nanjing.

The reason why I chose the second and fourth towns among the four towns I controlled was mainly because the troops of these two towns participated in the battle of the Henan base where the attacks the ** East China and had practical experience. Yuan Shikai understood that an excellent army cannot be built simply by training, but must be tempered by war. Therefore, under the same conditions, the side with practical experience must be stronger than the side without practical experience.

Yuan Shikai himself took Wang Shizhen, the commander of the 6th town, and a target army of about 2,500 people. Yuan Shikai's family, staff and others, as well as 500,000 taels of silver received from the court, crossed the territory of East China and headed south. The route of the family was to set off from Beijing, enter Anhui through Henan, and board a ship from East China in Hefei to Nanjing. At the same time, he also left 100,000 taels of silver for Xu Shichang who was staying in Beijing for his needs to do activities in Beijing.

On the night before departure, Yuan Shikai recruited Xu Shichang, Wang Yingkai, Wu Changchun, Wang Shizhen and others to gather in his mansion, held a banquet for everyone to practice, and also invited a opera troupe to entertain him.

After drinking for three rounds, and listening to a few more plays, Yuan Shikai asked the opera troupe to temporarily retreat, and then said to Wang Yingkai and Wu Changchun: "Yingkai, Changchun, you two will take a detour this time, and you will have a great responsibility. Don't be careless along the way."

Wang Yingkai said: "Please rest assured that we should do our best to comfort our coach and not let us down."

Yuan Shikai nodded and said, "I am relieved to do things for you two, but I can't feel at ease. This march is long and most of the places we pass through are living places. Therefore, military discipline must be more strict. We must not invade the places along the way, harm the people, and harm the name of our new army."

Wang Yingkai and Wu Changchun said in unison: "If you don't dare to marches with foreign countries, you must be strict with the military discipline, without any offense, and you will not lose the name of a new army."

In fact, at this time, the military discipline of the Beiyang New Army was still very good. When Yuan Shikai was training troops at the small station, he attached great importance to the military discipline. He did not rely on the strict military discipline, but also compiled military discipline into military songs and taught soldiers to learn to sing, so as to strictly restrain the new army. Of course, this also has a lot to do with the rich military salary of the Beiyang New Army and basically no harsh deductions. After all, the salary can be obtained and there are strict military discipline constraints. Of course, ordinary soldiers dare not violate it easily. Therefore, the military discipline of the Beiyang New Army is also unique, which is also something that Yuan Shikai is quite proud of.

However, after the establishment of the Beiyang New Army, the scope of activities was not large, and it was basically limited to Hebei Province. The attack on the Henan base of East China was the first time that the Beiyang New Army went out of Hebei Province to fight, but in fact it was not far. Generally speaking, the army would be more restrained at the base. After all, they were all fellow villagers in the villages and often had to meet each other, so of course it was not easy to do too much. Once they left the base, they had no scruples and could do whatever they wanted. As the marching was as if "bandits were like combs, and soldiers were like combs." This time, the Beiyang New Army would pass through several provinces such as Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hubei, etc. This was an experience that had never been seen before. Therefore, Yuan Shikai also had to give Wang Yingkai and Wu Changchun a special reminder.

Yuan Shikai turned to Xu Shichang again and said, "Brother Ju Ren, after I leave, I will ask you for the matter in Beijing."

Xu Shichang also nodded and said, "Don't worry, Weiting, go there. I'm here in Beijing, so you can be sure of everything." He paused and said, "It's Weiting, you're passing through the territory of East China ** this time, I'm a little worried."

Yuan Shikai's eldest son Yuan Keding also said: "Yes, Dad, what Xu Shibo said is right. Overseas Chinese have always been brave and unreasonable. You are also an important minister of the court. It is too dangerous to pass through their territory. I don't think you will be better than you follow the king and Wu to take a detour and lead the team to pass through the territory of overseas Chinese."

Wang Yingkai and Wu Changchun also said: "Yes! Wei Shuai is still a daughter-in-law, how can you take risks easily? Therefore, please think twice."

Yuan Shikai glared at him and said, "What do you know? I have been dealing with overseas Chinese for many years. Have you seen a few overseas Chinese? Do I know them?" He turned to Xu Shichang again and said, "Brother Ju Ren, don't worry, I know that although East China ** has always been brave and arrogant, it is definitely not unreasonable. On the contrary, they attach great importance to promises, always believe in their words and make promises. Since I have already negotiated with them, they will never harm me on the way. Moreover, the situation in Liangjiang is unstable now. I must arrive in Nanjing as soon as possible to stabilize the situation in Liangjiang. Only by passing through East China ** is the nearest way! So I have decided, and you don't have to persuade me anymore."

After hearing Yuan Shikai say this, everyone knew that he had made up his mind and would never change it, so they did not persuade him again.

In fact, Yuan Shikai insisted on passing through the territory of East China, not only to reach Nanjing in a short time, but also to have his own considerations. The Liangjiang area, including the turmoil in the entire Yangtze River Basin, can be said to have a direct relationship with the territory of East China. Therefore, Yuan Shikai chose to pass through the territory of East China, on the one hand, to show his courage. Bi Jing himself crossed the territory of East China to Nanjing. Who has such courage? On the other hand, he said that he has a good relationship with the territory of East China, and not only can he travel from the territory of East China, but also can use the ships of East China, so that others believe that only he can solve the crisis in the Yangtze River Basin.

In addition, although it was a territory that traveled through East China, Yuan Shikai did not choose to go to Wuchang first to join the new Beiyang army. Instead, he took a boat in Hefei, bypassed Wuchang, and went to Nanjing first, because he did not want to meet with French Consul in Hankou Fernan in Wuchang. Although Yuan Shikai's decision to go south this time had a lot to do with the support of various countries, Yuan Shikai also knew in his heart that the reason for shortage of manpower was not a person who was willing to be controlled by others. Even if he needed the support of various countries, Yuan Shikai still hoped that he could maintain considerable independence, rather than a puppet of various countries.

If Yuan Shikai had talked with Furnan in Wuchang first, there would not be much bargaining chips, and the two would definitely reach an agreement that would let Yuan Shikai be basically completely controlled. If Yuan Shikai went to Nanjing first and could control the situation in a short time and then talk to Furnan, then Yuan Shikai would have more confidence. After all, this time Yuan Shikai went south and not only brought 500,000 taels of silver received from the Qing court, but also the advance payment of 200,000 taels of silver after Zhu Erdian gave him, Yuan Shikai had already held 700,000 taels of silver.

Nanjing is relatively rich. Yuan Shikai estimated that although he was hit by the disaster this year, there should be tens of thousands of taels of silver in the Nanjing warehouse. At the same time, there are many wealthy businessmen in Nanjing. If you ask local merchants to raise some, you can raise at least about 100,000 taels of silver. Therefore, it can also be said that Yuan Shikai actually did not short of money in a short period of time, and it is not urgent to support him to various countries. In this case, if you meet with Fernan, Yuan Shikai will have some bargaining chips in his hands, and perhaps you can reach a relatively equal agreement with Fernan.

Of course, with Yuan Shikai's years of experience in dealing with East China, he believes that the danger of traveling from the East China territory is not very high, and this danger is worth taking. Naturally, others cannot understand that Yuan Shikai's heart only saw the danger of traveling from the East China territory, but did not see the benefits. Naturally, Yuan Shikai would not explain it to them in detail.
Chapter completed!