Beiyang 1917

Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng reached a temporary consensus on the appointment of Wang Geng, that is, Wang Geng of West Point is talented and courageous, and understands the ways of the world. Seeing that Wang Geng took the initiative to ask for his cronies, the two felt relieved. few.

Duan Qirui thought for a while, then rang the bell to call Duan Honggang, and ordered, "Make arrangements for Duan Tiezhu to choose two skilled and trustworthy guards from the guards, plus himself, to follow Wang Geng from now on." potency!"

"Hey, Hong Gang stopped by the concierge and sent a message for my San Xia, asking him to pick two skilled and trustworthy guards from my guard, plus him, and the three of them will serve as the supervisor of the war preparations from now on. They will still be paid over there."

Duan Honggang smiled and agreed to go, Xu Shuzheng turned to Wang Geng and said,

"The prime minister and I did not owe you anything. Tie Zhu is the vice-captain of the prime minister's guard, and Xia San is my nephew. The people assigned to you are all trusted people. You, Wang Geng, have a class of Ma Bian accompanying you in the blink of an eye. Serve me, when I first joined Quan Gong, I didn’t even send an orderly, and I had to do my own laundry in winter!”

"Hey, thank you, now we have a family atmosphere, Prime Minister, Brother Youzheng, don't worry, I, Wang Geng, will definitely treat them like family members." Wang Geng smiled and cupped his hands in thanks.

"Youzheng, Wang Geng told you about his up-and-down strategy, what do you think of this?" Duan Qirui returned to the topic.

"Mr. Quan, if you want to follow me, take the best policy. I told you earlier that Li Yuanhong is smelly and stubborn. This guy's ambition and ability are completely inconsistent. Why don't we just make an accident and let him disappear! "Xu Shuzheng snapped closed the folding fan in his hand, with a bit of anticipation in his tone!

"The lesson of Song Jiaoren's assassination back then is that Beiyang still has a lot of scapegoats? You two listen to me, as long as I am in power, you are not allowed to use this brain! I, Duan Qirui and the Anhui Department have not yet It has been reduced to the point where it is necessary to control China by assassinating political enemies!"

Duan Qirui scolded coldly, apparently to frighten the daring pair of subordinates in front of him.

"Yes, Mr. Quan, then take the middle strategy. I have thought of Wang Geng's middle strategy before. If it is done properly, it is a pretty good strategy! But this is a risky move..." Xu Shuzheng grinned , and focus on the middle strategy mentioned by Wang Geng, which is to use bitter tricks and counter-measures.

In fact, Xu Shuzheng had considered this plan in private earlier, but based on his understanding of Duan Qirui, I am afraid that Mr. Zhiquan would never take this risky move. Rice, but went to make a wedding dress for others.

"Prime Minister, brother Youzheng, I have a suggestion, how about letting the Chief Financial Officer Chen Jintao be the Huang Gai in this bitter plan?" Wang Geng said with a smile.

"Huh? How do you say that?" Duan Qirui asked with a frown.

Xu Shuzheng's heart moved, but he didn't show his expression. He thought to himself, where did Wang Geng hear the news?

"There are many rumors in the market that officials of the Ministry of Finance accepted bribes and corruption in the process of approving businessmen to open factories. Although we don't know whether it is true or not, it will not be groundless? Is there an opportunity to make this bitter plan come true? Countermeasures?"

Wang Geng said while looking at the expressions of Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng.

"Chen Jintao, the chief financial officer, may be used as Jiang Gan, but if he is to be Huang Gai, I'm afraid he doesn't have the courage!" Xu Shuzheng said coldly.

"Yezheng, although Lan Sheng is a bit greedy, he is still one of his own people, so don't do that!" Duan Qirui waved his hand, obviously he didn't want Wang Geng to see the internal discord within the Anhui Clan.

"Prime Minister, instead of being questioned by the Congress after being exposed by the media, it is better to plan ahead and deal with it first!" Wang Geng continued.

"Yezhen, how did you investigate the matter of the Ministry of Finance? Don't tell me that your own butt is not clean? During the meeting in the morning, Lan Sheng and you had strange eyes. Did you have any private transactions?" Duan Qi Rui turned to ask Xu Shuzheng:

In fact, regarding the corruption of the Ministry of Finance, the Anhui Department's earliest target was Yin Ruli, the deputy finance minister of the Kuomintang. For some reason, it was later discovered that Chen Jintao, the chief executive of the Anhui Department, seemed to have a clean ass. It was put on hold, and Duan Qirui had no choice but to ask what happened after Wang Geng said this!

Xu Shuzheng only scolded Chen Jintao for being cunning in his heart, accepting bribes from Zhang Xinghan, a businessman who applied to open a copper smelter. !

However, my new concubine, Ping Fangchun, was greedy for small things, and received a gift of [-] oceans sent by Chen Jintao. When the wind blew on the pillow, I saw that Chen Jintao had defected to the Anhui Clan. It's not good not to help him cover up one thing or two.

Of course Xu Shuzheng would not be so stupid as to tell Lao Duan directly that I accepted his gift, so I had to speak for Chen Jintao, knowing that Lao Duan had very strict requirements on himself and his family in terms of integrity, but he treated his subordinates and confidants openly. With one eye closed, the guy pondered for a moment, and said,

"There is a reason for the incident, and there is no factual evidence. However, the presidential palace seems to have heard some rumors. It is an opportunity to make bitter tricks and countermeasures. It's just that Wang Geng's plan is to find someone to go to the presidential palace to corrupt the prime minister and accept bribes. The risk is extremely high. , this matter still needs to be decided by the prime minister!"

Xu Shuzheng really didn't dare to think like Wang Geng that he planned to use the dignified prime minister as a pawn to attract the opponent's firepower, but if he couldn't bear the child, he would definitely not be a wolf, so he was in a dilemma, so he asked Duan Qirui to make his own decision!

According to Xu Shuzheng's strategy for Duan Qirui earlier, it was to invite the warlords to Beijing to force the palace, forcing the Congress and the president to order to join the war, but this is just a measure of rights and interests. good.

Using the position of the President to remove Feng Guozhang from the position of the Jiangsu Governor not only weakened Feng Guozhang's strength, but also used the pretentious position of the President to appease the direct generals. Wang Geng's idea had to impress Xu Shuzheng, so, Although the middle strategy of bitter tricks and anti-indirect tricks is risky, Xu Shuzheng still hopes that Duan Qirui can choose the middle strategy deep in his heart.

"Prime Minister, if the firewall is done well, even if the bitter plan and anti-indirect plan do not succeed, it will not harm the reputation of the Prime Minister. It will be nothing more than sacrificing one or two scapegoats. I believe there must be many comrades in the group who are willing to die for the Prime Minister. As long as the prime minister is in office, even if they are temporarily wronged, there will always be a chance to make a comeback."

Seeing Duan Qirui's hesitation, Wang Geng couldn't help adding another fire.

"Youzheng, although you don't say anything, I know that you are just like Wang Geng in your heart. Do you want me to take this middle strategy?" Duan Qirui still turned his attention to Xu Shuzheng.

"Quan Gong, what Wang Geng said is right, just use the warlord regiment to send electricity to subdue Li Yuanhong at most this time, and next time he will be mischievous, it is better to ask him to step down once and for all. Promise, I, Xu Shuzheng, dare to issue a military order, and if it doesn’t work, just use me as a counterweight! The Prime Minister just wants to be ignorant of everything!”

Xu Shuzheng thought over and over again, finally made up his mind, and volunteered to speak.

"Since you have this awareness, how can the old man cool the hearts of the two of you! This matter will be left to you to handle. Tonight, the President of the United States will speak in Congress. The United States may declare war within a week. I hope China will do the same within 20 days. The resolution to declare war on Germany can be passed! This is the decision!"

Apparently, all three people here understand that Wang Geng is not familiar with the head relationship when he first came, and only Xu Shuzheng in the Anhui Department is suitable to take on this burden. Besides, plotting tricks is Xu Shuzheng's strong point as a small fan military strategist!

"Quan Gong, since Wang Geng was appointed to supervise the preparations for the war, how should I explain Jin Yunpeng's return from Japan? It was originally agreed that when he returns from Japan, he will help me prepare for the war!" Xu Shuzheng said coldly. This stubble was brought up.

Xu Shuzheng and Jin Yunpeng ranked the top two among Duan Qirui's Four King Kongs. Jin Yunpeng has abilities, but his will is not firm. When Lao Yuan proclaimed himself emperor, he was one of the governors who jointly supported him as the governor of Shandong.

In April of last year, Jin Yunpeng saw that something was wrong, and he jointly sent a telegram to ask Lao Yuan to abolish the imperial system. Although he had a false name of "opposing the imperial system", he became a typical example of both ends of the first rat in the Anhui Clan and fell out of favor. Idle so far.

Fortunately, Duan Qirui was in the midst of employing someone, seeing that this guy had been hugging his legs tightly for the past six months, and Xu Shuzheng interceded with him again, so he sent Jin Yunpeng to Japan to inspect the military, and was going to come back to help Xu Shuzheng organize and train the army to join the war.

Obviously, Jin Yunpeng, who was once the second of the Four King Kongs of the Anhui Clan, was inappropriate to ask him to come back to be Wang Geng's assistant, so Xu Shuzheng brought this up.

"Then let him investigate in Japan for a while longer, and if he can't, he will be transferred to Japan as a minister to deal with negotiations with Japan!" Duan Qirui made a final decision.