After receiving the imperial edict and sending away the eunuch who passed the imperial edict, Yuan Shikai sat in his study, feeling ups and downs, as if he had returned to that night in the Wuxu year. It was that night that Yuan Shikai made a decision that was enough to change his life, informed Ronglu and betrayed the reformist.

Of course, the failure of the reformists during the Wuxu period actually had little to do with Yuan Shikai's rumor. Even without Yuan Shikai's rumor, the reformists were doomed to fail. Therefore, it is not true that Yuan Shikai's rumor caused the failure of the wuxu reform. However, for Yuan Shikai personally, this rumor made him trusted by Cixi, and he has been promoted all the way. Although he was often beaten by Cixi, he was still rising and rising step by step.

However, at that time, it was not difficult to make a stealing choice, because at that time, anyone with a little bit of mind would choose between Empress Dowager Cixi and the Reformers. The Reformers had almost no chance of winning. Even if Yuan Shikai fully supported the Reformers, his chances of winning were minimal. Therefore, as long as a person with a normal mind would not turn to the side of the Reformers. The current results also prove that Yuan Shikai's original decision was correct.

But this time Yuan Shikai did not have that confidence, and he didn't know whether his choice was right or wrong this time. Therefore, Yuan Shikai's emotions were naturally difficult to calm down at this time.

Just when Yuan Shikai thought of being out of the way, his family came to report that it was the British Minister Zhu Erdian who asked for a visit.

After hearing this, Yuan Shikai couldn't help but feel excited and hurriedly said, "Please, please." As he said that, he asked his family again: "Take out the can of Huangshan thatched Point I have collected to make tea." After that, Yuan Shikai walked out of the study and came to the eaves at the door of the room to greet him.

Not long after, my family led the British ambassador to the Qing court, Juerdian. Yuan Shikai immediately walked down the steps, reached out to hold hands with Juerdian, and said, "What wind has blown the minister, Mr. Duel, has always been good."

At this time, Zhu Erdian had been in China for more than 10 years. Not only could he speak very fluent Chinese, but he had a good understanding of Chinese humanity, customs, historical allusions, etc., and could be regarded as an absolute Chinese master. At this time, he also smiled and said, "I ask Lord Yuan for his blessings, everything is safe, I will be in trouble."

Yuan Shikai laughed and said, "This is not a place to talk. Let's go to my desk and sit down and talk. I just got a can of good tea a few days ago. Please pay the Minister."

Zhu Erdian also smiled and said, "Oh! Then I'm going to bother Lord Yuan."

So Yuan Shikai took Zhu Erdian to his study, and the two of them sat down with their guests and guests. The servant brought tea. Zhu Erdian picked up the teacup and took a sip, and was amazed, "It's really a good tea."

Yuan Shikai smiled and said, "If the minister likes it, take some back later and give it a try."

Juerdian said, "How can you be so embarrassed?"

Yuan Shikai said: "It's just some tea, so what's the point."

Zhu Erdian said: "Even if Lord Yuan is kind, I will refuse it."

After the two of them had some polite conspiracy, Yuan Shikai waved his hand and asked everyone to withdraw. He arranged two confidant families to guard the door, and then said to Zhu Erdian: "Mr. I'm here to visit the humble house today, I don't know what to do!"

Zhu Erdian said: "I don't dare to take it when I see the church. This time I came to congratulate Lord Yuan, congratulations to Lord Yuan for transferring the Governor of Liangjiang and leaving this place of trouble. In your country's words, it is to 'break the jade cage and fly the colorful phoenix, open the golden lock and walk away the dragon'. From then on, Lord Yuan can 'leap with the vast sea and the fish leaps with the high sky'."

Yuan Shikai also laughed and said, "I'm going to borrow the auspicious words from the Minister. Actually, I would have to thank the Minister. If the Minister hadn't woken up me, I wouldn't have thought that this move would be the best way to leave."

Zhu Erdian smiled and said, "Shen Sheng died inside, Chong Er was at peace outside. In fact, with Lord Yuan's talent, how could he not think of this? I think Lord is just the one who is in the authorities and is confused."

Yuan Shikai also smiled and said, "Mr. Minister, are so polite." Then he turned his face and whispered: "I have been transferred from abroad now, but what about your country's promise?"

Zhu Erdian said: "I'm sure that Lord Yuan has made peace of mind. All countries have already arranged this. All countries have joined hands with merchants from various provinces to raise 3 million taels of silver. When Lord Yuan comes to Jinling, he will first provide Lord Yuan with 1.5 million taels of silver startup funds, of which 1 million taels are used for disaster relief. Merchants from various countries will also do their best to help the adults raise disaster relief materials; the other 500,000 taels are used for the adults to pay military expenses, and the remaining 1.5 million taels will also be paid to the adults in the future." As he said that, Zhu Erdian opened his briefcase, took out a check from it, and handed it to Yuan Shikai, and said: "This is a check of 200,000 taels of silver, which is considered to be paid to Lord Yuan in advance."

Yuan Shikai couldn't help but be overjoyed, and hurriedly reached out to take the check and said, "Thank you, Mr. Minister."

Zhu Erdian waved his hand and said, "Mr. Yuan doesn't need to thank me. I didn't pay this money. In fact, I can only be considered an intermediary. However, after Lord Yuan takes office in Jinling, everything needs to be welcomed by Lord Yuan."

Yuan Shikai nodded and said, "Natural, Natural, Yuan should do his best to ensure that Jiangnan is safe and sound."

It turned out that Cixi had a lot of plans, but there was a long secret. She only planned whether Yuan Shikai would turn to East China, but she did not expect that Yuan Shikai would collude with foreigners.

Of course, this cannot be entirely blamed on Cixi. Firstly, she is old and there will inevitably be omissions in her calculations. Secondly, after the Gengzi Reform, foreigners' behavior in China was much more restrained, no longer so arrogant and arrogant, and they were much more polite to the Qing court. Because after the Far East War, all countries frequently showed goodwill to the Qing court, helping the Qing court train troops, handle foreign affairs, provide funds, consult new policies, etc., which made the Qing court quite flattered. Although Cixi was still wary of foreigners in her heart, she still ignored the factors of foreigners when calculating Yuan Shikai's external transfer.

However, all countries show goodwill and provide help to the Qing court, of course, not out of kindness, but hope to boost the Qing court, because all countries know that if East China rule the entire China, it is definitely not a good thing for all countries. The losses of various countries in China's interests are estimated, regardless of the loss of geopolitical losses. Therefore, all countries hope that the Qing court can shoulder the important task of stopping East China's unification of China, and all countries are willing to provide necessary help to the Qing court. Even if the Qing court cannot stop East China's **, it cannot allow East China to smoothly control the entire China. At least it will cause some trouble for East China, and at the same time it can also be used as a bargaining chip for countries to negotiate with East China's ** in the future.

After the East China ** dispatched personnel to rescue disasters, Britain, France, the United States and other countries realized that the East China ** was taking advantage of disaster relief to win the hearts of the people, and at the same time expanding their power in various provinces in the Yangtze River Basin. Therefore, they also suggested to the Qing court that they should organize disaster relief as soon as possible to compete with the East China *** to compete with the East China **. After all, the Qing court is still an orthodox regime, and it still has certain advantages over the East China *** in this regard. If we can take advantage of the disaster relief opportunity, we can also harvest a group of people's hearts, and the Qing court's rule can be maintained for a few more years. This can also give countries more time to arrange solutions to deal with the East China **.

At the same time, countries also told the Qing court that they could provide the Qing court with low-interest loans without any conditions for disaster relief. Of course, the use of this loan needs to be supervised by various countries and used for special funds. Because countries know what the nature of the Qing court officials are, the disaster relief funds are in their hands. If they are not supervised, they may be plucked by the geese, and half of them can be put into real disaster relief, and they can thank God.

However, the Qing court was not interested in the suggestions of various countries. First, disaster relief is not an easy task, and it may not be a great contribution to the good work. If it is broken, it is necessary to take responsibility, and even if it is not a good deal, it is necessary to compete with the East China **; second, the Qing court is still quite alert to foreigners. Foreigners' loans are not so easy to obtain. Even if there are no other conditions, the loans must be paid. It is just that the foreigners designated to use them to rescue disasters, and it is not practiced.

In order to handle the Westernization Affairs Bureau, what will the Qing court pay for in the future? What's more, foreigners have to supervise the use of this loan and must be used for disaster relief, which has also made many officials who originally supported disaster relief feel cold. In addition, a group of officials believe that if they don't visit, they will let East China ** help the disaster relief to consume East China **, which is also beneficial to the Qing court. So why should the Qing court rush to rescue the disaster? Therefore, in the end, the Qing court politely declined the suggestions of various countries.

The attitude of the Qing court also disappointed all countries. It seemed that the Qing court was really unable to support the wall. So the ministers of various countries jointly conducted an assessment of the situation in China and unanimously agreed that the East China ** will start war against the Qing court next year, that is, in 1908, and attack Beijing, no later than 1909. With the strength of the Qing court, it could not resist the attack of the East China **. With the beginning of the war, the People's Army will inevitably conquer Beijing, and it is expected that it will occupy the entire northern region within 6-12 months.

In other words, the Qing court now only has 1-2 years of life left. Therefore, it is impossible to expect the Qing court to stop the East China National Security Bureau or cause trouble for the East China National Security Bureau.

However, because China's territory is too large, and the foundation of East China in China is not deep after all, after occupying the north, East China will inevitably stop attacking and first stabilize its rule in the north. All countries should use this period to restart their furnaces in southern China, support a regime different from the Qing court, and compete with East China, so that China can maintain a situation where the north and south are in conflict. This is the most favorable situation for all countries.
Chapter completed!