boyutpedia Chapter 145 Talks
Chapter 145 Talks
Cao Zhongqi glanced at Li Bingqing and said, "This matter needs to be decided as soon as possible. Not only should we quickly send reinforcements to support the front line, but we also need to think about how to deal with Fang Ji'an."
If the Northern government punished Fang Ji'an, it would certainly lose the support of some warlords. However, if Fang Ji'an was left alone, it would be a huge blow to the prestige of the Northern government.
Of course, how to deal with Francis Xavier is also related to how to adjust the deployment of troops later.
"Okay, now is not the time to deal with the warlords in various places. Let's also send an envoy to Nanshan." At this time, Yuan Shiting spoke.
Although he was very dissatisfied with Fang Ji'an, he could only endure it temporarily in order to overthrow Li Bingqing.
After Yuan Shiting spoke, no one else dared to say anything, after all, he was the former president.
Early the next morning, He Jingyuan found Yao Feng and Tao Yunong to discuss Fang Jian's joining the new army in the south.
He Jingyuan said: "Governor Yao, joining the Southern Government will bring you many benefits. Not only do we have the support of foreign powers, but we also control the largest port in the new country, the East China Sea."
"Whether it is the development of the economy, military, or people's livelihood, they all rely on materials. Only after joining us can materials flow into Nanshan Province continuously."
Although he didn't know where the supplies in Nanshan came from, He Jingyuan guessed that they must have been transported from the East China Sea.
What he meant was that if you join them, you can transport supplies to Nanshan Province through the East China Sea as much as you want in the future. If you don't join, forget about transporting supplies from the East China Sea in the future.
Of course, after this incident, he decided to advise Jiang Changkun to conduct a thorough investigation into Fang Jian's source of supplies.
Who was secretly transporting the supplies to him to build cement roads and ammunition? These supplies were not a small amount.
"We will not join the new southern army for the time being. The commander means that we can have some cooperation." Tao Yunong shook his head slightly.
Hearing that the other party had no intention of joining the Southern New Army, He Jingyuan said dissatisfiedly: "Without our Southern Government, the Northern Government would have invaded Nanshan Province long ago. Is there still a chance for you to sit here?"
Tao Yunong sneered: "Staff Officer He, even without your new southern army, the northern government still can't do anything to us."
"Besides, if we hadn't held back the Third and Seventh Armies in the North, you wouldn't have been able to achieve the results you have today in Sanjiang Province so quickly. In that case, you should thank us."
When talking about Sanjiang Province, a hint of imperceptible anger flashed in He Jingyuan's eyes.
The Sanjiang Province Campaign was led by Lin Zongde. Although the benefits of the battle nominally belonged to the Southern New Army, they had nothing to do with Jiang Changkun.
As Jiang Changkun's confidant, how could He Jingyuan not be angry about this?
It would have been fine if Jiang Changkun could have achieved great results in the battle of Heyuan Province, but he deployed two armies to Heyuan and ended up in a stalemate with the New Army from the North.
However, the battle in Sanjiang Province had already reached Linjin, the provincial capital of Sanjiang, for many days. How could one not think that Jiang Changkun was inferior to Lin Zongde?
He Jingyuan, who was already unhappy, raised his voice and said unkindly: "If we hadn't held them back, the Seventh and Ninth Armies of the Northern New Army might have sent in more troops to join the Nanshan Campaign."
"Officer He, there's no need to joke about things that are impossible to happen." Tao Yunong couldn't help but laugh.
"The battle in Sanjiang Province is in full swing. When did the Ninth Army, except for one division, enter Sanjiang? Moreover, even if the reinforcements entered Sanjiang Province, where were they stationed and what did they do?"
He Jingyuan couldn't help but blush, and at the same time he was cursing in his heart that the Ninth Army was a bunch of trash.
After such a long time, we should have provided support and severely attacked Lin Zongde's troops. This procrastination not only gave Lin Zongde an advantage, but also made his negotiations difficult.
He Jingyuan said nonsense without blushing: "You can't say that. The Ninth Army is not actively rescuing the Seventh Army now, but it is just afraid of our Southern Government."
"If it was a war with the Nanshan Army, I think the Ninth Army would definitely go to Sanjiang Province quickly."
The two sides argued for a whole morning without any substantial progress.
During lunch, a small spy came up to Tao Yunong and reported in a low voice that the northern government had sent an envoy.
Tao Yunong put down his bowl and chopsticks, and asked doubtfully, "Is this true?"
"It was indeed a telegram sent from there." The little spy nodded.
Tao Yunong gave Yao Feng some instructions and left with several intelligence agents. He Jingyuan asked, "Governor Yao, where is Director Tao?"
After spending the past two days together, He Jingyuan realized that although Yao Feng was the vice governor, Tao Yunong was in charge of the entire negotiation, which meant that Tao Yunong had a higher status than Yao Feng.
"Director Tao must have some important matters to deal with. Chief of Staff He, why don't we go shopping in Nanling together this afternoon?" Yao Feng laughed in response to the inquiry.
The talks made no progress, and He Jingyuan was upset, so he agreed to the proposal: "Okay, then I'll trouble Governor Yao."
He knew that the person in charge was not there, so even if he forced himself to continue the conversation, there would be no real progress. It would be better for him to go out for a walk and relax.
Tao Yunong came to Fang Jian's office, but Fang Jian was not there. He found Fang Jian in the backyard. After lunch, Fang Jian was feeding the carp in the fish pond in the backyard.
The headquarters was the former governor's office, with a spacious and luxurious backyard, but Fang Jian did not change any of the buildings.
"Commander, the northern government sent a telegram saying that they have sent an envoy, who is on the way." Tao Yunong came closer and reported.
Fang Jian was not surprised by this: "Come if you want, Yunong, you will still be the one to receive us then."
"Yes, Commander." Tao Yunong looked bitter, but did not dare to refute.
He no longer had a good impression of the Northern government delegation. Moreover, the Northern government was full of factions, and if he was not careful, he would fall into the schemes of other factions.
Just like the last diplomatic mission, on the surface it looked like Duan Chenglian was greedy, but secretly who knows if the Yuan faction was setting a trap for Li Bingqing?
If you are not careful when communicating with these people, you may fall into their trap.
This time, the northern government delegation came to Nanshan and it only took a few days to reach Changhuan, unlike the last time when it took a very long time to transport supplies.
In the afternoon, after several days of counting, the gold, silver and other supplies seized from these gentry and the bandits were finally summarized.
Tao Yunong found Fang Jian and reported: "Commander, the five major families and the property obtained from the bandit suppression have been counted."
"Oh, how many are there?" Fang Jian was still very interested in this.
Tao Yunong introduced: "We destroyed various bandit strongholds and seized a total of 800,000 silver dollars, more than 1,000 large yellow croakers, more than 8,000 small yellow croakers, 1,300 tons of rice, 1,100 tons of flour, 50 tons of bacon, and a number of sugar and salt."
"The five major families seized a total of more than 120 million silver dollars, more than 150,000 large yellow croakers, more than 1.3 million small yellow croakers, and countless real estate, antiques, calligraphy and paintings."
Of course, the land properties of the five families were not included and were all distributed by the local government.
"The five major families have hoarded 7.5 million tons of rice, 2.7 million tons of flour, 300,000 tons of bacon, and a number of other items, including sugar and salt."