"Master Wang, I am the master of Mr. Xu Yinggui, governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and I have been specially ordered to send you a letter, Mr. Wang." said.

Wang Guorui took a look at the letter. This letter was actually about a few of the imperial court's chief officials, Li Hongzhang, Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Xu Yingkui, Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, Liu Kunyi, Governor of Liangjiang, Zhang Zhidong, Governor of Huguang, Yuan Shikai, Governor of Shandong, etc. Wait, they hooked up together to discuss the war against China by the great powers. Seeing that the war was inevitable, several officials in the frontier region began to discuss how to ensure the interests of their territory. Especially those big officials in Xinjiang do not agree with Cixi's idea of ​​going to war against other countries. They are not as "confused" as Cixi, so they all obviously hope to live a stable life. As for them, they are also starting to prepare for collusion, so that everyone can implement the policy of local self-protection when necessary, and will not interfere in the struggle between the central government and foreigners.

"My lord, Taiwan and our Fujian and Zhejiang are one. At that time, we were still governed by the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang. But now that the center is fighting with foreigners, we certainly cannot accept this random order. Once the center and foreigners go to war, then we First of all, we must ensure the peace of our local people. The strength of the foreigners is too strong, especially this time when the eight countries come out to fight together. How could we be opponents, so we might as well sign an agreement with the foreigners, and then guarantee that our south will not be subject to war. The intrusion." Master Xu Yingku said.

Wang Guorui looked at the Southeast Mutual Protection Agreement, and it was actually very simple, that is, he hoped that the southeast region would not obey the orders of the central government, and then prevent the southeastern region from sending troops to support the central government. But the condition is that no foreigners can come to attack the southeast generation, and the southeast generation must guarantee the vested interests of the foreigners. This is actually an artificial disobedience to the dispatch of the central government. In fact, these officials in frontiers also hold local power. And the Central Chamber to fight against the court.

You must know that starting from Zeng Guofan during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, local forces have also continued to increase, and then competed against the central government. At that time, the old woman Cixi finally separated the local forces through various means, and many political means finally made them gradually reintegrate. Although they were not able to make them completely obedient, at least the big ones did not dare to resist. But now something like this happened. Once these southeast mutual guarantees are implemented, the authority of the central government will fall to the bottom again, and then the local power will increase again. At that time, the central government may not even be able to leave the capital with orders. I am afraid that we will really face a tragic result.

The political influence of Dongnan Mutual Insurance is long-term, and it has planted the root of the country's division.

"Our adults said that if the capital is lost, the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Mr. Li Hongzhang, will be appointed as the president to lead the country." Master Xu Yingku asked.

But Wang Guorui immediately asked: "It's such an important matter. Why didn't the terms be discussed with me, the governor of Taiwan, so it was finalized? You just took a condition that I didn't discuss with me, and then let me, the Taiwanese The governor's signature? You don't think much of me, the governor of Taiwan, do you?"

"Well, this..." Master Xu Yingku was speechless.

This time, these bigwigs really ignored the governor of Taiwan. They have not been with the governor of Taiwan, Wang Guorui, because of their class stance. But they thought that Wang Guorui was too young and did not have enough seniority in the officialdom, so they didn't think it was necessary for them to discuss with Wang Guorui. These old officials of the Qing Dynasty are still very particular about their qualifications. They won't even look at you if you don't have qualifications. So they subconsciously thought that Wang Guorui was from a donated class, and he was still so young. So they also subconsciously used the official methods of the Manchu Dynasty to measure him.

This kind of old bureaucrats used this kind of thinking to measure Wang Guorui, so they subconsciously ignored the strength of Wang Guorui's subordinates. They ignored that Wang Guorui's men were very powerful, not weak. And they still judge Wang Guorui by seniors and juniors in the officialdom, who are seniors and juniors. In fact, they are using this kind of thinking to judge Wang Guorui. Naturally, they look down on Wang Guorui. This made them all feel that they had made a decision negotiated by several "old seniors". Then Wang Guorui should abide by it.

"Also, what I'm most dissatisfied with is, why must Li Hongzhang be the president? Huh?" Wang Guorui snorted.

After hearing this, Xu Yingkui's master immediately said: "Master Li Hongzhang has the most seniority in the officialdom, and he is very popular. I think..."

"Oh? Then where do you put the army of our 20 Taiwan divisions and how many large fleets?" Wang Guorui asked again.

Master Xu Yingku immediately broke out in a cold sweat, this was simply a threat, Chi Guoguo's threat. Only now did Master Xu Yingku realize what a big mistake he had made. Wang Guorui's army of 20 divisions, no less than 250,000 people, plus the navy's major fleets, ranked among the naval ranks in the world. Top five. With such a powerful force, they actually want Wang Guorui to submit to Li Hongzhang, is this possible? Although Li Hongzhang is also the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, this governor is not the governor of the other. The power in the hands of the governor of Taiwan is much stronger than that of Li Hongzhang, so he didn't ask Wang Guorui's opinion, so he took the initiative to ask Wang Guorui to admit it. Be the so-called president. Isn't this making Wang Guorui succumb? With Wang Guorui's strength, would he succumb? Even if Wang Guorui succumbed, would the officials under Wang Guorui be able to succumb? Will they accept Wang Guorui as someone else's subordinate?

"Master Li Hongzhang is highly experienced after all, so..." Master Xu Yingku still wanted to defend himself.

"Seniority, I don't ask about qualifications now, I just ask how you can convince my army of more than 200,000 troops and the world's top five navy. If you can convince them, I have no objection!" Wang Guorui replied.

"..."

Master Xu Yingku felt like 10,000 muddy horses passing by. This Wang Guorui was obviously telling him that if he wanted to bypass Wang Guorui, he would support Li Hongzhang as president, but Wang Guorui refused. How much food does he have, Li Hongzhang is an old man whose strength is not even a fraction of Taiwan's, so why should Wang Guorui recognize him as president? So Wang Guorui made it clear that he wanted to tell him that Wang Guorui quit, and you played Southeast Mutual Insurance and wanted to support the president, so why should you let Li Hongzhang be the president? Is it just relying on Li Hongzhang's so-called "qualifications"? It's a pity that Wang Guorui doesn't look at qualifications here, and Li Hongzhang's so-called qualifications are nothing in front of Wang Guorui. Wang Guorui knew that he was inferior to Li Hongzhang and those bureaucrats in terms of seniority and age. But why did Wang Guorui give up his strengths to compare with others' weaknesses?

"Master Wang, we will continue to discuss things in the future. You might as well sign the terms of the Dongnan Mutual Insurance. This is considered complete." Master Xu Yingkui said.

Master Xu Yingkui thought to himself: "The foreigner has said that Wang Guorui must be included in the southeast mutual protection, so that the foreigner can feel at ease."

This foreigner also hopes to bring Wang Guorui into the southeast mutual protection, so that they can also invade Beijing with peace of mind. The condition of this southeast mutual guarantee is that the area that signed the treaty cannot send troops to support the central government. Once Taiwan signs this treaty, it means that it will not support the central government. In this way, the foreign devils also let go of this great enemy, and they can safely and boldly ravage the central government of the Manchu Qing, and then force the Manchu Qing to continue signing the traitorous treaty.

"Let me tell you, I won't sign this treaty. You asked me to sign a treaty that I didn't even participate in the discussion. I can't agree to this." Wang Guorui said.

But Xu Yingkui's master immediately said: "Master Wang, since this is the case, do you want to change the matter of the presidential candidate?"

Of course, Master Xu Yingku realized that what Wang Guorui was most dissatisfied with was the issue of the presidential candidate~lightnovelpub.net~ So Master Xu Yingku took the initiative to ask, if Wang Guorui could be made president, would Wang Guorui be willing to sign? But Wang Guorui gave a ridiculous answer.

"I, Wang Guorui, as a loyal minister of China, I will never do such a thing that splits the country and confronts the central government. If the central government is in trouble, I will do my best to support it. This is our important responsibility as a local government. .So as a local government, we naturally have to obey the orders of the central government, and we must support the central government when necessary. And you signing a treaty without authorization is tantamount to betraying the country. You guys, so disregarding national interests, so Ignoring the authority of the central government, isn’t this splitting the country? So I absolutely cannot do this kind of splitting of the country. You go, I will not sign.”

Master Xu Yingku felt like 10,000 grass mud horses passing by again in his heart, because what Wang Guorui said was so righteous, but here he said one thing and did another. He keeps saying that he will not split the country, but he is actually the governor of the Taiwan Special Administrative Region here. Isn't this saying one thing and doing another? Could it be that a special administrative region that only allows Taiwan to be used as something, can't our few governors be partially neutral?

However, Xu Yingku's master also knew about it. Wang Guorui did not agree to sign the Southeast Mutual Protection Treaty, and Xu Yingku's master also left soon. Since Wang Guorui didn't sign it, it's impossible for Xu Yingku's master to force it. (To be continued..) u