Master Yuan, start!

At this time, major banks are facing competition from thousands of small peers, and deposits are becoming increasingly scarce.

In the end, Citibank of the United States launched a powerful weapon, paying a certain amount of interest to anyone who deposited more than 10 US dollars in the bank, and then announced the end of this banking war.

Although this is to seize customers and deposits, various measures have to be taken.

However, once this move was implemented, small banks without strong financial strength gradually declared their death, and only banks supported by large conglomerates and large capital survived.

After Citibank used this tactic to dominate the United States, it quickly applied it to the East Asian market.

Seeing that Li Jingfang was hesitant and unwilling to take over, Liu Bingzhang said with a smile:

Wine and beer 0 Si Wu Liu Si [UU: "Why, you think it's not enough?

This is not the salary for the Lingnan New Army, but the allowance for the troops stationed at the junction of Hunan, Guizhou and Guangxi provinces.

Malaria is rampant in Guizhou and Guizhou, and last year alone, over 800 people died, and countless more have fallen ill. This silver is for buying medicine for them."

So that's how it is. Li Jingfang's eyes were vague, as if he was thinking of something else, but he still took a half step forward and took the bill of exchange.

"Uncle Liang, it's not that little, I'm just worried about another thing."

Liu Bingzhang's courtesy name was Zhongliang. Because Li Jingfang had been deprived of his position in the party, he was unwilling to call him the General Manager or the Grand Commander.

I only want to consider myself a junior, so I call him "Liang Bo"

"Oh, what's the matter?" Liu Bingzhang changed his sitting position, picked up a cup of green tea to help digestion and took a few sips.

Li Jingfang put the bill into his arms and said, "Zhongbo, when Yuan Shikai met with my father, he avoided the topic and was reluctant to accept federal autonomy. He insisted that Taiwan should set an example first.

I'm worried that the talks between Yuan Shikai and Xiang Yu were fake, but the use of force was real!"

"It shouldn't be necessary to resort to violence." Liu Bingzhang twirled his beard and said:

“If Yuan Xiangcheng wanted to resort to military action, he would have led his army south at the beginning of the year. Why would he need to go to Wuchang?

Judging from his words and deeds, he must have the people in his heart and could not bear to see the suffering of the people, so he was willing to meet with Marshal Tsuen.

But after much discussion, I was not satisfied, so I left Wuchang and went to Shanghai to relax."

In his original time and space, Liu Bingzhang was able to withstand the pressure from the Qing court and deal with foreigners in the Chengdu Church Incident. He was willing to be dismissed from his post as Governor of Sichuan in order to protect the people who destroyed the residences of British and American missionaries, church hospitals, and churches.

This is enough to show the simple patriotism in his heart.

This proves that he always puts the people and the country first in his heart.

In contrast, there were Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, who served as governors-general of Zhili.

Both were governors and faced pressure from the Qing court.

In order to abide by the Qing court's order of "not offending foreigners without authorization", Zeng and Li did not hesitate to stand against the people, raised their butcher knives against the people, and exiled officials.

In the original time and space, Liu Bingzhang, who also had the emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi above his head, never surrendered from beginning to end.

In this time and space, he is only half a point weaker than Li Hongzhang in terms of seniority, so he will not let others influence his actions.

Therefore, when Liu Bingzhang heard Li Jingfang flattering Yuan Shikai in front of him, he just pretended not to hear it.

After all, everything Yuan Shikai did over the years was always done out of public interest and with legitimate reasons, and not once for personal gain.

"Uncle Liang, you can't say that. If a man doesn't think ahead, he'll have immediate worries!" Li Jingfang was a little anxious. He quickly approached and lowered his voice:

“Although the Huaxing Party is powerful in the south, it has no roots in the north and cannot establish a local organization in a short period of time.

Uncle Liang, don't forget that Yuan Shikai used the eight military regions last year to limit the number of new troops in Lingnan and Sichuan, but my father has not agreed to it yet.

If Yuan Shikai relied on some false reputation to deceive the people of the world and became the official president of the republic.

After that, he will use the name of the official president to weaken the Huai Army. What should we do?

In my opinion, we should strike first.”

"The earlier you strike, the stronger the advantage?" Liu Bingzhang looked at Li Jingfang in surprise, with a look of disbelief in his eyes.

"Uncle Li Jingfang's words, you are also someone who has read historical books.

Not to mention the distant past, you must have heard about the incident in Tianjing City where the Heavenly King killed the Eastern King more than 30 years ago.

Now that Yuan Xiangcheng and I are both Han Chinese who have contributed to the restoration of our nation, it would be fine if we didn't get along well, but how can we fight each other and let the foreigners take advantage?!"

Liu Bingzhang changed his tone and said to Li Jingfang earnestly:

"The Sichuan New Army only has 10 men. One part will be sent to the border areas of Sichuan, one part to the south of Sichuan, and the rest will have to defend the four directions. We can't spare many troops.

Moreover, Bo Xing, do you know that the British are instigating the chieftains to cause rebellion in Sichuan? If the country is unstable, there will be no soldiers available on the plateau.

I am afraid that Chengdu will become the western border of China in the future.

Not to mention that the French were watching from the sidelines. Although they had reached an agreement with Marshal Quan and had been more well-behaved in Guangxi, they had always been eyeing Yunnan covetously.

If a war breaks out in this situation, wouldn't that be handing a knife to the foreigners? "

Liu Bingzhang's words made Li Jingfang look a little embarrassed, but he lowered his head and did not let Liu Bingzhang see it.

Li Hongzhang and Liu Bingzhang were old comrades-in-arms, and despite their disputes, they were able to put the overall situation first. However, Li Jingfang was different.

He originally regarded himself as the young marshal of the Huai faction, and believed that his father was the most important and he was second.

On weekdays, at the Lingnan Governor's Office, Ding Ruchang, Liu Buchan, Nie Shichao, Huang Xing and others were quite respectful to him, either because of their background or their qualifications.

Li Jingfang originally thought that the position of General Manager of Huaxing Party was within his grasp, but he never expected that Liu Bingzhang would snatch it away from him.

"No matter what, Uncle Liang, Yuan Xiangcheng must be guarded against!"

Li Jingfang clenched his fists and stubbornly repeated his views.

He just thought that Liu Bingzhang was half buried in the ground and didn't want to cause any more trouble.

But Li Jingfang realized that he was different. He was only four years older than Yuan Shikai and was in his prime.

How can Yuan Shikai be the president? Why can't I, Li Jingfang, be one?

According to the Sanlun family background, my father is the governor of the Qing Dynasty. Who is your father?

WHe is just a landlord and gentry in the countryside of Henan. How can he be compared with my Li family in Hefei?

After Lu calmed down, Li Jingfang bowed and said, "Uncle Liang, I have come to Sichuan this time to do something, which is entrusted by my father."

"What's the matter?"

Li Jingfang slowly raised his head and stated the ultimate purpose of his trip:

"Uncle Liang, can you please not use the one million yuan raised by the Sichuan Railway Company for now, so that we can prepare it for emergencies?"

Liu Bingzhang never expected that Li Hongzhang would be so bold and actually set his sights on the funds for the Sichuan-Hankou Railway.

"No, absolutely not!"

Liu Bingzhang didn't care about the tea spilled on his beard, and hurriedly shook his head and said, "Bo Xing, do you know that these 500 million taels of silver were saved penny by penny by tens of millions of people in Sichuan?

I was entrusted by the people to raise funds to build the railway. How can I go back on my word and make a living?

Besides, if the people in Sichuan knew that the money they spent on building the railway out of Sichuan was used for other purposes.

963101 Zero; September fee

That's a rebellion!"

In the second half of the sentence, Liu Bingzhang spoke in a low voice, but there was still a hint of blame in his tone.

There was no other reason, Li Hongzhang's plan seemed too crazy to him.

These 500 million taels were not from the treasury of the Governor's Office, nor were they taxes to be escorted to the capital.

This was money that the fundraising buddies from all over the country took out of the pockets of the people of Sichuan by using their eloquence.

The former is public money, while the latter is considered by the people to be personal property.

In the past, it was fine for them to embezzle the imperial court’s money, but if they wanted to rob the people’s money, it would really cause a civil uprising!

In fact, Li Hongzhang never thought so.

It was entirely after Li Jingfang heard that the Sichuan Railway Company had raised 500 million taels of silver that he volunteered to Li Hongzhang, saying that he wanted to raise money for the Huai Army.

Li Hongzhang secretly recruited soldiers and imported weapons, which really made the treasury of the Lingnan Governor's Office run out of money.

That's why he agreed to let Li Jingfang go north to Sichuan to test the waters.

However, it was just a test of the waters, and there was absolutely no intention to occupy all the funds for the Sichuan-Hankou Railway.

Find t: 7. Ke~ And that’s why Li Jing was so bold just now, asking for 500 million taels of silver.

“If you want to fight for orthodoxy, you should fight in an upright manner.

If Yuan Shikai were to break his promise and start a rebellion first, I would use all the money in the Sichuan Governor's Office and mobilize the people of Sichuan to join forces with General Quan to leave Sichuan and defeat the Northern Army.

But now, it hasn't reached that point yet, so why should we fight against each other?"

After saying that, Liu Bingzhang first sighed heavily, and then, not wanting to stay any longer, he stood up, tidied his clothes, and walked straight out of the restaurant's private room.

Only Li Jingfang was left with a gloomy look, looking at Liu Bingzhang's receding back, wondering what he was thinking.

Chapter 375: Internal and External Double Thorns (Part )

Liu Bingzhang left the table, unwilling to embezzle 500 million taels of road construction funds.

Li Jingfang knew that things had come to this point and there was no point in saying more, so he did not visit again in the following days.

He planned to use other methods to get the 500 million taels!

A few days later, in an inconspicuous little restaurant near Chaotianmen in Chongqing, Chen Jiongming and several young people with Sichuan accents were whispering to each other.

The door of the restaurant was closed and the inside was dark.

When I walked into the restaurant, the doors and windows were still closed. I looked inside carefully and saw a few people leaning against a table. They had lit a kerosene lamp for lighting in broad daylight.

There was a map on the table, and the young men sitting at the table were pointing at the map and discussing in a low voice. Judging from their attire, they were neither waiters nor diners.

"What virtue and ability does Liu Bingzhang have to occupy the position of General Manager?"

"Damn it! The young marshal called him Uncle Liang to show him respect. Since he doesn't give me respect, why bother being polite to him? I'll send him to hell with a bomb!"

"Brother Leng is absolutely right! I've been traveling with Liu Shiliang these past few days and have already gotten to know Liu Bingzhang's current situation.

Liu Shiliang was a weak scholar. Apart from being the assistant director of the Sichuan-Hankou Railway Company and being able to do accounting, he had no ability to command troops.

As long as Liu Bingzhang is eliminated, the blame can be placed on Yuan Xiangcheng. Then, taking advantage of the lack of leadership in Sichuan, we can temporarily use Liu Shiliang to take charge of the Sichuan-Hankou Railway Company's accounts."

"It's a pity that we can't get yellow high explosives in a short time.