Master Yuan, start!

The Military Commission was originally the Military Department of the Red Confucian Society, but was later reorganized into the Military Commission by Yuan Shikai.

The Military Commission is divided into three major parts: the General Staff Headquarters, the Political Headquarters, and the Quartermaster Headquarters.

As a senior general who led troops in battle when Korea was founded, Duan Qirui was qualified and experienced enough to serve as the vice chairman, and others had no objection to this.

Inside the big tent, everyone sat around a charcoal stove, discussing, arguing, and expressing their opinions on the domestic situation.

"As soon as the National Defense Army captured Xuzhou, the voices in the capital were calling for a decisive battle southward. The common people just followed the crowd, but even the officials of the six ministries started to stir up trouble."

Xu Shichang was worried about the situation inside the capital. It was natural that officials and people would be happy about this matter together.

Originally, Xu Shichang thought it was just an ordinary celebration, but it was not until the debate on "abolition of tariffs" came to his mind that he confirmed that someone seemed to be secretly pushing this matter.

Liu Kunyi contacted the French privately, hoping to use France's power to counter Yuan Shikai, which undoubtedly angered the British entrenched in the Yangtze River Basin.

They also changed their previous attitude of asking the two families to do their utmost to negotiate, and expressed their tacit approval and support for Yuan and Xiang Yu's march south.

But at this critical juncture, the imperial court had a dispute with the British and threw the hot potato to Yuan Shikai.

What's your intention?

"I'd say, Comrade Ju Ren, you're worrying too much." Ming Ye rubbed his hands against the stove and said disapprovingly, "These officials who are just sitting there doing nothing are no better than the common people. They're probably just following the crowd."

Mingye spent his youth in Korea, so he had no prejudice against Qing officials and therefore spoke more directly.

In addition, the reason why he showed some disdain was also due to his full confidence in the combat effectiveness of the National Defense Forces.

After all, he had witnessed with his own eyes the Wehrmacht's growth from a force of several thousand people to a behemoth of 20 people today.

"Shanxi has two garrisons, Lunan has 5 troops right under our feet, and there's Jin Weidong's Fourth Garrison at Shanhaiguan. Add to that the national defense forces outside the pass, and even if there's a problem in the capital, can they withstand these bayonets?"

Duan Qirui did not say anything to comfort the people, but simply moved out the military deployment near the capital.

Anti-Qing was no longer a secret among the Red Confucian Society and high-ranking generals of the National Defense Army, so they gathered together and talked without any scruples.

"With an army of 100,000, can they still kill the king?" Xu Shichang stood up anxiously when he saw Duan Qirui ignoring the situation in the world.

"Comrade Juren, you are a juren, you have studied." Duan Qirui pointed to his head and said with a smile: "I am different. I don't have those things in my head. The stories I heard most when I was a child in my hometown of Hefei were about killing the Nian rebels, killing the Taiping rebels, and getting promoted and rich.

If it weren't for this, I wouldn't have run to the border alone at the age of 20 to try to get rich.

It was the head coach who helped me succeed, so I only listen to him."

The Duan Qirui of this time and space was successful at a young age and did not experience a period of more than ten years of sedimentation. Therefore, compared with the original time and space, his personality is more straightforward.

"They haven't fallen out yet." Xu Shichang could only smile wryly, "People's minds are stable now. What we need to do now is to deal with Liu Kunyi first, and then deal with the Qing court. Don't show your cards so easily."

Yuan Xiangcheng looked at the people in front of him arguing with each other, and felt very conflicted.

Abolishing zero tariffs is something that must be done, but he is not ready yet. If he does it rashly, it may have a negative impact on the war of unification.

The reason why Japan was able to mediate with Britain and regain its tariff autonomy was because Britain itself had no economic interests in Japan, its consumer market was not large, and its resource content was not high. Rather than making the Japanese feel uncomfortable, it was better to give up.

Anyway, the Japanese also allowed British warships to dock in the port, which was not affected by tariff autonomy.

But China is different. Britain has a lot of colonial interests in China, and its exports of bulk commodities and imports of industrial products are huge. Any slight change in tariffs is enough to affect the economic interests behind it.

Due to its large population, China consumed nearly a quarter of the textiles produced in Britain. That is to say, if tariffs were raised, a quarter of Indian cotton production would have to be eliminated in order for British merchants to maintain sufficient profits.

The British obviously wouldn't accept that.

To take a step back, even if he wanted to take back tariff autonomy, Yuan Shikai wanted to take it back in his own hands rather than give this achievement to others.

"Weiting, the British attach great importance to tariffs." Seeing the continued debate, Ma Xiangbo said, "This is a critical juncture for our army's march south. If we rashly withdraw the land, the British country might change its neutral position and support Liu Kunyi, which would be more trouble than good."

"Yes, Mr. Mingqian is absolutely right." Xu Shichang immediately expressed his support.

This is what he was worried about. The National Defense Army's southward march has established a good situation and cannot be ruined because of the tariff issue.

Everything will be decided after we take over Jiangning City.

"That's exactly what I meant." Yuan Xiangcheng nodded in approval. Although he didn't know why Guangxu suddenly wanted to take back the tariffs, he would never be led by others.

"What's the response from the capital?" Tang Shaoyi, who had been silent for a long time, finally interrupted.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present, whether they took the matter seriously or not, frowned.

Yes, everyone knows how to do it, but how do we deal with it openly?

"Call back immediately and tell him that Your Majesty cares about the people and Xiangcheng will fully support him!" Yuan Xiangcheng stood up and said as if he remembered something.

“Do you really want to withdraw the tariffs?”

Xu Shichang's face was serious: "Why don't you call back and say we can discuss it after the war?"

"No, let's start talking right away!" Yuan Xiangcheng said firmly.

"But as far as I know, there are nearly 20 customs offices in China, and the tax rates at various checkpoints are not consistent, plus there are hundreds of different types of goods."

Yuan Xiangcheng thought of the lengthy trade negotiations in later generations, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "I have agreed with Mr. Hart that a few days is not too long for one commodity. With so many commodities, how long will it take to negotiate? That's hard to say."

"what?"

Everyone present looked at them in surprise.

What else can we do?

Red Confucian Society organizational structure diagram

As shown in the figure below, the internal organizational structure of the Red Confucian Society as of 1895.

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Some characters appear more frequently, while others may only appear briefly.

If you have any questions that are not clear to you, you can ask them in the comments and I will answer them.

The original characters in the above table are Ming Ye, Qu Nan, Han Bei, Li Siming, and Kuang Chunhua.

The rest are all well-known figures who have appeared in history.

Chapter 239: The British-Russian World Island Game D

Shanghai Dock, February 1895.

A ship spewing white smoke slowly approached the port and docked at its position under the guidance of the pilot. It dropped a heavy anchor and then tightly wrapped a rope as thick as an adult's arm around the mooring pole.

Before the ship even stopped, the top deck was already packed with people. This was a passenger ship departing from Hong Kong. There were wealthy white people in gorgeous clothes, as well as white adventurers who came to the Far East to seek opportunities.

Of course, there were more Qing Dynasty people on the ship with long braids on the back of their heads, but these people were not qualified to go to the top deck and could only look curiously at the scenery outside through the small windows.

At the dock, the red-headed Indian was already standing there with his guns and ammunition, ready to welcome the distinguished guests of this trip.

Unexpectedly, there was also a group of red-clad lobster soldiers on board. As soon as the gangway was put in place, they were the first to get off the boat and used their bodies to clear a passage.

"Sir Claude MacArthur, welcome to the Far East, a primitive and fertile land!" British Minister Eugene took off his hat and waved to Claude MacArthur who was walking down the gangway.

"Mr. Ogene, I thought this was a land of war." Dounale looked around and stretched out his right hand:

“I didn’t expect it to be any different from Victoria Harbour, with workers carrying sacks everywhere.”

"The battlefield is at least 500 kilometers away from here, and the northern army is still outside the defense line." Ogene smiled and began to explain the situation to his colleague from London:

"Also, even if the defense line is breached, there's no need to worry. This is a concession. Attacking here would be tantamount to provoking the British Empire."

"You're right, no one dares to challenge the British Empire!" Dounale, who came from the army, waved his arms heavily, moved half of his body aside, and introduced the entourage to Eugen.

"This is the 4th Hussars, specially dispatched from India by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to protect British subjects in Shanghai from the threat of war."

"It turns out they are the young men from the army." Ogene raised his eyebrows and a look of joy appeared on his face.

"Lieutenant Winston Churchill, commander of the 4th Hussars advance team, reports in!" A sharp voice sounded, attracting Eugen's attention.

"Mr. Minister, the follow-up troops of the 4th Hussars are currently getting ready in Bangalore and are expected to arrive in Shanghai within a month!" The young Churchill straightened his chest and saluted the big man in front of him.

"Churchill." Eugene looked the young man up and down when he heard the last name. "Is this the Churchill who eloped with the Prince of Wales's wife?"

"Yes"

When Churchill heard this, his upright chest suddenly shrank back. He didn't expect Eugen to ask such a direct question. His toes moved awkwardly under his leather boots.

"Hahaha, little Churchill, you see, I'm not the only one who thinks so, right?" Seeing this, Dounale patted Churchill's shoulder and laughed wildly.

"Oh, Sir Claude, did you ask the same question?"

"Of course. Young Churchill served as my temporary guard after boarding the ship in India. That was the first thing I asked him when I learned his last name."

It’s no wonder that Eugenie was so outspoken and deliberately brought up Churchill’s family scandal. It’s just that this surname has such a great news effect.

At the end of the 19th century, when most British people mentioned Churchill, they would think of a "royal anecdote" that they talked about with great relish.

The surname Churchill comes from John Churchill in the 16th century. Because of his outstanding performance in the War of the Spanish Succession, John was awarded the title of Duke of Marlborough by Queen Anne of England, and the title was passed down until the 20th century.

However, in the hundreds of years after John, the Churchill family had no decent talents. The descendants only knew how to squander their ancestors' property, and the family's fortunes gradually declined.

By the time of Churchill's father, his father had finally become the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the cabinet, and the family seemed to be showing signs of revival.

But Churchill's uncle, his father's brother, fell out with the Prince of Wales over a woman, which led to the end of Churchill's father's official career.

This woman's first identity is the prince's lover. In addition, she has another identity, that is, the wife of the Earl of Ellisford.

After all, the European aristocracy itself was not clean. Although it was rare for a countess to be the prince's lover, it was not a shocking event. The parties involved could just turn a blind eye and let it go.

But Churchill's uncle had an affair with the lover of the then Prince of Wales and later King George VII of the United Kingdom, and even eloped with him.

The key point is that when the woman eloped, her husband and lover were visiting India together.

Both the legitimate husband, the earl, and his mistress, the prince, became victims at the same time, and Churchill's uncle, the "mistress", successfully took the throne.

Such an elopement can be regarded as a top-level NTR.

No matter how chaotic the European aristocratic circles were, they had never seen such a situation. So once the news was reported, it immediately attracted the attention of all of London and even the entire European continent.

In order to save the Prince of Wales's reputation, the Prince's private secretary even proposed a duel with Churchill's father. The matter was even brought to the attention of Queen Victoria at that time.

In the end, in order to maintain the family reputation, Churchill's father chose to take his eldest brother to Ireland to avoid the limelight, and the rising political star's bright future was also interrupted.

After this incident, the term "Churchill the Lovelorn" became a proper noun in London in the late 19th century, used to describe those who were promiscuous and neglected their families.

"My Lords, business is most important."

Seeing that the two were very interested in the scandal and seemed to want to start a conversation, Churchill quickly changed the subject to serious matters.

"Young Churchill is right, Sir Claude MacArthur, let's go back to the consulate first." Upon hearing this, Eugene put away his smile and invited MacArthur to get on the rickshaw.

After getting off the car, the two went straight to the second floor, while Churchill arrived more than ten minutes later with a group of lobster soldiers, and stood at the door of the consulate to begin guarding.

"Mr. Minister, do you think that China's current situation requires London to send military forces to deal with it?" Dou Nale put away his smile, glanced at the person in front of him and said.