174 ambiguous Three Kingdoms

The morning sun is gorgeous.

Li Xiang said to the students at the flag-raising ceremony of the military academy: "... We Chinese soldiers also have one of the biggest problems, that is, we only know how to educate officials, and we don't know what the country is? What is doctrine? ... For example, if our own father did something wrong and violated our doctrine, we should also oppose him and take his life! ... You are the soldiers of the Republic of China. Of course, the president of the Republic of China is Yuan Shikai, but you must not think of it. I am Yuan Shikai's soldier, and Yuan Shikai is my president. What's more, we, as soldiers, we must obey the orders of the president! If you want to be so careful and completely use your personal feelings to make a revolution, then your revolution must not succeed, and," Li Xiang added, "Your personality has also been swept away!"

The soldiers cheered and were moved by the high opinion of General Li. They looked at the five-star red flag fluttering in the morning wind, and the soldiers applauded in the morning light.

Li Xiangyanked his face and walked down with a very iron-blooded style.

"How about a batch of new arms purchased from the United States?" Li wanted to see Zeng Gao coming, so he said.

Zeng Gaomei opened his eyes and said with a smile, "It's great."

"These are all imported American goods with original packaging. Hanyang's technology can't be made, which cost me a lot of foreign exchange. I won't discount the arms you want. Now you have to keep pushing forward my plan to strengthen the armed forces." Lixiang also said with a smile.

Zeng Gao put away his hippie smiling face and replied seriously, "Yes! Make sure to triple the strength of the regular army before the Shuangshi celebration, from 100,000 to 300,000.

Several people said as they walked and walked all the way to the lounge.

"All sit down." Li wanted to find a random seat to sit down. After watching the generals sit down, he smiled and said, "Next year, I will also publicly order conscription."

Li Xiang's voice fell, some people are happy, some people are worried.

Li Xiping always had a serious expression. After listening to Li Xiang's words, he raised his face and said, "We also have to openly deny Yuan Shikai's military restrictions on us?"

"Why choose next year?" Zeng Gao frowned and asked, "I'm afraid that Yuan Shikai will be ready for war next year, which will be even more difficult. We are not ready to break face with Yuan Shikai now, and Yuan Shikai is not ready to break face with us. When Li Liejun hardened in Jiangxi, Yuan Shikai became soft, didn't he? Today, the internal affairs of Yuan Shikai's government are due to the miscarriage of the aftermath of the big loan, and the diplomacy is difficult because of the conditions of Britain, Russia and Japan to destroy China! There is no better time for us to break face with him!"

Li Xiang smiled and said, "Well said. Premier Yuan Shikai Sanyi has shown his domineering, his autocracy and his dictatorship. But Yuan Shikai is still quite restrained. The Republic of China is still a republic. Yuan Shikai has not yet crossed the thunder pool. We don't need to talk about Yuan Shikai. Now we are going to do something like Li Liejun did in Jiangxi. Isn't it the same as Li Liejun's charge of being 'rioters'? So, the time has not come. As long as we are more patient, Yuan Shikai will naturally rot day by day.

Li Xiping's voice was sonorous and he said abruptly, "Why is the general so sure that Yuan Shikai will rot day by day and not become stronger day by day?"

This is not the first time everyone has heard such an argument. So people are curious. Why is Li Dashuai so sure that Yuan Shikai will rot day by day?

Of course, it is impossible for Marshal Li to tell them that he saw it in history textbooks.

It's also a chance for them. If they can really make up this country, why don't we do it? However, looking at the weakness of dealing with the independent incident in Outer Mongolia, don't have any hope. Lixiang smiled mysteriously and said, "Unto that time, extreme secrets must be kept."

Unexpectedly, as soon as the words fell, Li Xiping said again, "Yuan Shikai's secret agent is pervasive. How to keep extreme secrets?"

His words were like broken beads falling on the plate, crisp and loud. Lv Zhongqiu and Jin Zhaolong, who sat and listened, immediately turned white as paper. Li Xiping was shocked when he said something, and he was as silent as a barren temple for a moment.

Li Xiang's eyes flashed and glanced at everyone. He smiled for a long time and said, "It's time to sort it out."

His tone was as dull as white water, but they knew that the more angry Li Dashuai was, the more peaceful he spoke.

"Yes!"

Lv Zhongqiu and Jin Zhaolong seemed to tremble.

Li Xiang warned the generals again and said, "We must not let the words "General Staff Headquarters" appear in the newspaper, because this organization is not what a local government should have. From now on, the army's list of officers will no longer be released every quarter, so as not to leak the secret of the expansion to our enemy intelligence organization due to the large number of officers... We must not lose any documents, otherwise the enemy will use it for propaganda. What is conveyed verbally is unconfirmable; it can be relied on.

One by one, just nod.

Zeng Gao's eyelids drooped, and his eyes moved faintly. He thought for a moment and said, "Where's the navy?"

"It's the same," Li Xiang said without thinking, "You should keep your mouth shut like a bottle. You can't mention warships with a displacement of 25,000 to 26,000 tons, but only the improved 10,000-ton warships.

Because the Jiangnan Civil Shipyard is secretly for the Ezhou Navy, it has begun to build two 26,000-ton aircraft carriers (in fact, an airport moving by sea).

Recently, Tangxiangming has stored the skeletons and parts of 12 submarines in the Jiangnan Shipyard. He asked for permission for the navy to assemble six of them before the serious juncture of the Double Shi Festival.

"He obviously knows what I want to do." Li wanted to smile and said, "The construction of the submarine must be kept secret... When the situation requires the assembly, I will naturally tell him."

"Yes..." Zeng Gao added, "However, the new shipbuilding plan needs more money than his current funds, not to mention doubling the number of naval personnel."

Li Xiang waved his hand and said, "Tell him not to worry. In case of need, I will ask Tie Gongqi to allocate 10 million to 20 million rmb from the labor front for the navy, because this money will still be good for workers.

In this way, the membership dues paid by Ezhou workers were used by Li Xiang to fund the future naval expansion plan.

Li Xiang said, "There is also the pace of stepping up the establishment of the air force, and we can't stay in the air reconnaissance and nominally the scope of civil aviation. What is the aircraft carrier secretly built by Jiangnan Shipyard? It is used to stop bombers. Order Feng Ru to specialize in the design of military aircraft.

"There is no pilot," Li Xiping said, "The last time I did a fixed-point bombing test flight, Feng Ru piloted the plane in person. If it hadn't been for the 'parachute' you designed, he might have crashed and died."

"The training of military aircraft pilots began immediately under the convenient disguise of the Aviation Sports Association." Li wanted to say. We are preparing for war not only to deal with Yuan Shikai, but also to deal with Yuan Shikai without my own energy. Let's watch the changes in Outer Mongolia now. When Yuan Shikai can't cope with it and mess things up, we will fight fiercely with Lao Maozi.

......

When there was a lot of noise in Outer Mongolia, a Japanese noble tour group arrived in Beijing and first met two British and Russian consuls.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Katsura Taro, who made a secret contract between Japan, Britain and Russia in St. Petersburg, raised a toast to the British and Russian consul and said, "The eastern part of Inner Mongolia is related to the South Manchuria Railway. The geographical and administrative relationship of this part should be part of Southern Manchuria.

Katsura Taro walked to the map hanging on the wall, and his fingers slid across the map. He said greedily, "The dividing line between the two countries drawn by the first Japan and Russia should be extended: from the intersection of the Toro River and the 122 degrees east longitude, along the Wulongchuer River and the Mushi River to the Mujin River and the Haldatai River, and then the Heilongjiang River. The boundary line of the province and Inner Mongolia to the boundary line of Inner and Outer Mongolia; in addition, with the road from Zhangjiakou to Kulun as the boundary, Inner Mongolia is divided into two parts: east and west. The Japanese government recognizes that Russia has special interests in Inner Mongolia to the west of the demarcation line, and the Russian government is responsible for recognizing that Japan has special interests in Inner Mongolia to the east of the demarcation line.

The purpose of Japan's proposal is not only to control the eastern part of Inner Mongolia, but also to enter Zhili to gain a favorable strategic position that threatens Beijing and Tianjin.

Russia, like Japan, has ambitions for Inner Mongolia. It agrees with the partitioning principle proposed by Japan, but does not accept the proposal of the second part of the plan to take the avenue from Zhangjiakou to Kulun as the dividing line between eastern and western Inner Mongolia.

Kupensky said: "Kullen Avenue is the only way for Russian businessmen to enter Beijing and Tianjin. If it is included in Japan's sphere of influence, it is bound to cut off all channels for Russia to enter Zhili, which is equivalent to forcing Russia to give up the rights previously enjoyed according to the treaty, which is not in line with the principle of reciprocity between the two sides."

Because both Japan and Russia wanted to control this strategic channel, the conversation encountered obstacles at the beginning.

The Japanese government is eager to strengthen its cooperation with Russia. Katsura Taro softened it first. He said, "Japan has no intention to hinder the freedom and security of the current Kurun-Zhangjiakou business road, or damage Russia's treaty rights. Japan is willing to set the demarcation line to the east of the road, hoping that Russia can make specific opinions."

Kupensky also drew a line on the map and said: "The demarcation plan proposed by Russia advocates dividing the Beijing longitude line, that is, 116 degrees and 27 east longitude. Russia recognizes that Japan enjoys special interests in Inner Mongolia east of the above longitude, and Japan recognizes that Russia's Inner Mongolia west of the above longitude and this region. Chinese territory outside China enjoys special interests.

In addition to ensuring that Ku and Zhang Da Dao are included in the Russian sphere of influence, the Russian plan proposed by Ku Pengsky also attempts to include Ningxia, Gansu, Xinjiang and other vast areas west of Inner Mongolia into its sphere of influence.

Katsura Taro has no objection to the Beijing Meridian as the dividing line between the two sides, but opposes Russia's request for the western part of Inner Mongolia as its sphere of influence.

Katsura Taro told Kupensky: "It is not in line with the scope of Japan's original agreement to sign that Japan wants to recognize Russia's special interests in western China, which will have adverse consequences internationally, and Japan has to raise the issue of the special interests of Fujian Province accordingly, which complicates the problem in vain. Japan can only announce the suspension of this negotiation when it has to.

Kupengsky still wanted to keep this request in the form of a secret contract, but after being rejected by Taro Katsura, he was finally forced to withdraw, so that the negotiations could continue. Regarding the division of the sphere of influence of the two countries in the western three eastern provinces of China, it is basically according to the first point proposed by Katsura Taro; as for delimiting the respective spheres of influence of eastern and western Inner Mongolia, it is divided into a dividing line at 116 degrees and 27 degrees east longitude according to Kupensky's proposal.

Seeing that Kupensky and Katsura Taro seemed to have reached an agreement, the British minister Zhu Andian walked over with a smile.

Britain is another empire that is extremely concerned about Russia's expansion in the north and west of China. When the Anglo-Russian Agreement was negotiated in 1907, Britain refused to admit that Russia enjoyed special interests in Outer Mongolia, Xinjiang and other places at no cost, and strongly opposed them being put on the agenda. As a result, only Persia, Afghanistan and Tibet have reached a package of deals and bear some restrictive clauses on each other in the Tibet Special Provisions.

The situation changed when the Xinhai Revolution took place. Russia made Outer Mongolia's "independence" step by step, and under the pretext of protecting the Xinjiang consulates, it increased a large number of troops in Kashgar, Ili and other places (although it failed because of Li Madman's Hubei army to encourage the resistance); Britain was deeply disappointed and was unable to reverse the situation in Outer Mongolia and Xinjiang, in order to make itself China's aggressive expansion is not behind that of Russia. It believes that the restrictive provisions in the Tibet Special Provisions that are unfavorable to it must be abolished to recognize Russia's status in Outer Mongolia and Xinjiang in exchange for Russia's agreement to amend the Tibet Special Provisions.

Zhu Erdian raised his glass to Kupengsky and asked, "Britain hopes to maintain Tibetan autonomy under China's suzerainty and is ready to send a representative to Lhasa. Does Russia intend to relax the restrictive provisions of the Anglo-Russian Agreement · Tibet Special Provisions?"

Kupenski was mentally prepared to hear these words, but he wanted to ask for some compensation for Russia. He said, "Mongolia is outside the Anglo-Russian agreement, and I can't regard it as a reciprocity of Tibet."

It is clear that Russia does not intend to exchange the benefits it has gained in Outer Mongolia with the benefits that Britain intends to receive in Tibet.

Kupensky said to Zhu Erdian again: "His Majesty the Tsar is willing to clearly declare that Russia has no intention to take over the jurisdiction of Chinese Turkestan (in fact, because of the power of Li Madman, he is a little powerless now); there will be no problem for Russia taking action without notifying Britain in advance in any part of China's Xinjiang. As for Tibet," Kubinski's style changed, "As long as it is done in secret, it doesn't matter what Britain does in Tibet, but it can't make any changes to our contract."

Zhu Andian nodded with satisfaction.

Britain and Russia reached an ambiguous compromise in this way.