Volume 2: China, The Beginning of Spring Chapter 006: The President's Worries

  Early spring in Beijing, the gloom of previous days is nowhere to be seen. Warm and radiant sunlight shines down on the people coming and going in Shi Daifu Hutong. Occasionally, someone will cast their gaze towards one of Beijing's most luxurious Western-style buildings, the "Reception Hall", which has now become the Presidential Palace.

  This guest house was built in the late Guangxu period to welcome the visiting German Crown Prince. After the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising, Yuan Shikai was reappointed as Premier of the Qing government's cabinet. To show a new atmosphere, Yuan Shikai set up the cabinet government inside the Guest House.

  Soon after, Yan's family also moved in, and it was here that he assumed the post of Provisional President of the Republic of China, with the Guest House naturally becoming the provisional presidential palace.

  Outside the Presidential Palace, armed guards stand in front of the gate, and outside the gate there are two white marble stone heads, like stepping stones, carved with fine craftsmanship, rounded edges, all showing the elegance of Chinese stone carvings.

  Whether it's the President or the Presidential Palace, from the outside, it looks like a symbol of power and prestige, but only those who stay in the Presidential Palace know that all the glory and power are just superficial.

  Yuan Shikai, who had gone through great hardships to become the provisional president, found that the disputes and discord between the northern and southern factions since he took office had repeatedly plunged the political situation of the Republic of China into crisis after the unification of the north and south. Therefore, this president's heart was not at ease either. He did not find his tenure as provisional president comfortable, and he was worried not only about the instability of the times but also about financial difficulties.

  "Alas... it seems that if we want to stabilize the situation, we must invite Sun and Huang to come to the capital!"

  Leaning back against the chair, Yuan Shikai let out a long sigh before speaking.

  "Although Sun and Huang are in the wilderness, they still enjoy high prestige, especially in the Provisional Senate, where the senators of the Alliance still look up to them. Now, to resolve the current North-South contradictions and conflicts, it is necessary to join hands with them on the surface and overcome the difficulties of the early days of nation-building together."

  But when he said this, Yuan Shikai was very clear about why he wanted to invite Sun and Huang. The current Premier Tang Shaoyi, although an old friend from his early years, had gradually drifted away from him since the North-South peace talks and his appointment as the first Premier. Whether it was the appointment of cabinet members or the implementation of policies, they were all at odds with Yuan himself. That's why he wanted to invite Sun and Huang to Beijing, actually to show off to Tang Shaoyi in some way, and on the other hand, also for the need to "tame the tiger".

  "What the President said is quite right, but now it's still not ripe!"

  Liang Shidi nodded in agreement.

  "Ah! That's right!"

  Yuan Shikai nodded in agreement.

  "Sun Yat-sen was reluctant to give up the position of Provisional President before he stepped down, and it pained him to hand over this post to me. If it weren't for the criticism from the revolutionary party that he was greedy for power, I'm afraid he wouldn't have been able to let go of the presidency. Later on, they came up with some sort of provisional constitution, trying every means possible to strip me of my powers as his successor and establish a cabinet system!"

  Yuan Shikai's face was full of regret and frustration.

  "The Grand President, the biggest problem in the cabinet now is money, no money. The Tang Cabinet can last for at most two or three more months, and by that time, this cabinet will still be under the control of the Grand President!"

  Looking at President Liang Shiyi, he raised a very critical issue. Not to mention that few people in China know about it, let alone the tens of millions of taels of silver needed to maintain the government every month. Now the government can't even get out hundreds of millions of taels of silver. On the other hand, Tang Shaoyi has been digging up all the places where silver can be dug up in order to keep the government running.

  "Money! The most crucial thing is money. If Yang Zirong can bring Li Caishen over, the problem of money will be instantly solved. With money, the Grand President can maintain the new cabinet. With money, it's easy to divide and conquer the revolutionaries. It can be said that the fundamental problem now is money! As long as the problem of money is solved, all other problems will also be solved!"

  "Silver!"

  He let out a sigh, and Yuan Shikai stroked his teacup, lost in thought. You don't know the value of firewood, rice, oil, and salt until you're the head of the household. Sun Yat-sen gave up the presidency because he had no money and no army, handing it over to himself. If he had no money, his troops would naturally disperse.

  "In order to raise funds for the Shaokuan, Zongli Yamen and the Six Nations Financial Group negotiated for over a month without making any progress. This loan cannot be borrowed, and it is difficult for the government to maintain itself, let alone get recognition from the powers. If we want to have any relationship with them and force them to recognize us, we can only think of ways on the issue of borrowing!"

  As soon as he mentioned borrowing money from Yuan Shikai, his eyebrows furrowed into a knot.

  Although the Six-Power Banking Consortium is still meeting in London, Yuan Shikai understands that once they reach an agreement, the post-war loan to China will likely be unfavorable. Although he makes this clear, he cannot help but look forward to the loan.

  "Yinzi, if we don't want the six nations to hold our necks with silver cards, we must solve the problem of silver first, at least partially!"

  Yuan Shikai put down his teacup and said with a deep breath.

  "Although Xiong Bing San is negotiating with the four countries... or should I say six countries to raise funds, now the treasury is empty and rats are running around. Once they find out that we don't have any silver in our hands, they will extort us in every way possible. At that time, who knows how much national power and interest will be lost? As long as we can solve the problem of silver, at least we can let the six countries know that even if they don't lend us money, we can still find a way to cope with it. In this loan negotiation, we won't be at a disadvantage..."

  After a moment of contemplation, Yuan Shikai continued to speak.

  "Last month, Xiong Bingzhen began to negotiate with the Four-Power Banking Consortium for a loan. On the one hand, they were negotiating the terms of a large loan, and on the other hand, they were seeking to pay out part of the funds in advance to meet urgent needs. The Four-Power Banking Consortium agreed to provide 11 million taels in advance to the government, with the condition that if the Chinese government needed to use funds urgently in the future, it would have to request them from the consortium first. At the time, Xiong Bingzhen was eager to obtain this sum of money and did not think it convenient to agree to this condition, but I had no choice but to accept it."

  Not only Yuan Shikai, but also Liang Shiyi sighed at this point, and that condition was almost equivalent to taking over China's financial power.

  "You also saw that, as a result of the negotiations between Tang Shaoyi and a Belgian financial group a few days ago, they signed a contract to borrow 10 million pounds with the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway as collateral. The Belgian financial group had already prepared the silver, but what happened? After the governments of England, France, Germany, and the United States heard about it, they protested to the Chinese government, accusing us of breaking our promise. The four countries' ambassadors jointly sent a note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, using the threat of not allowing the four-country banking group to negotiate loans with China to force us to abandon the contract with the Belgian financial group, and even to express our intention to abide by the previous promise. Now, they are doing this, if we really take the money from them, who knows what conditions they will come up with!"

  Holding this matter, Yuan Shikai's square and round face was full of chagrin.

  "But... we have no choice but to borrow, if we don't take out this loan, the government won't be able to operate, without this money in our pocket, how would the six nations recognize us!"

  "It's not that they don't know, Mr. President, these six countries have grasped this point thoroughly, which is why they are so unscrupulous. But we can't turn back now!"

  Liang Shidi's words also carried a sense of annoyance, but more so was the kind of helpless regret.

  "So, the key to solving the problem is him, Li Cai Shen!"

  A flash of sharp light appeared in Yuan Shikai's eyes.

  Li Caishen is now a nickname given to Li Zicheng by domestic newspapers. For this god of wealth with billions of assets, I don't know how many famous families want their daughter to marry him, not to mention others, even Yuan Shikai himself has such an idea. The problem is that the borrowed silver is not one or two million taels, but...

  "As long as Li Zongren is willing to take out the silver, at least for half a year or a year, we won't have to worry about the problem of silver. At that time, we can slowly and calmly negotiate with the Sixth Army and the Silver Corps. Whether they are willing or not, as long as we don't urgently need silver, in the end, national rights and interests will prevail, and they won't be able to take it away! Moreover, the silver still has to be lent to us according to the conditions promised to the Qing government!"

  "So..."

  This made Liang Shiyu finally realize why the President was preparing this "welcome party" in Beijing, it was just to get money from Li Zichen!

  "You must give before you can get!"

  Yuan Shikai wiped his shiny forehead and spoke again.

  "You can't put wolf skin on a child!"

  It was still uncertain whether Yuan Shikai would sacrifice the child to deal with this wolf, and he had no idea in his heart. He could only wait for Li Zicheng to arrive before making a final decision.