After Emperor Guangxu issued the "Edict on Resistance", Tang Jian also convened the inspectors of various southern provinces to hold a meeting in Fuzhou to discuss corresponding decisions.

Participants included Liu Kunyi, Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Zhang Zhidong, Governor of Huguang, Li Jingfang, Governor of Fujian, Sheng Xuanhuai, Minister of Railways, etc.

At the meeting, Tang Jian said to the inspectors attending the meeting: "I think everyone should know the reason for this meeting, right?"

All the governors nodded.

Tang Jian said: "Mr. Yan, tell you about the current situation!"

After Yan Fu saluted the inspectors present, he picked up a baton and walked to the huge map behind Tang Jian. Then he pointed to the marking on the map and explained: "Now on the Yangtze River, Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang each have 10,000 new troops stationed in Anqing and Wuhan."

Yan Fu moved his baton lightly and continued: "Similarly, there are tens of thousands of patrol teams from Governor Li to confront each other across the river in Jiujiang, Anqing and Wuhan. However, according to the information received, after becoming the Grand Marshal of the Army, Yuan Shikai mobilized a large number of troops from Liaodong, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan and other places respectively. It is estimated that 100,000 Beiyang New Army gathered in Jinan, Shandong. Of course, there are also continuous troops from various northern provinces, with a total force of less than 150,000!"

Liu Kunyi, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, said: "As far as I know, Yuan Shikai still has 50,000 new Beiyang troops in Zhili. These new troops are his direct descendants, well-equipped and high military quality. These 50,000 new troops are now only used to protect the capital. If all the troops are added up, there will probably be 200,000!"

The other supervisors took a breath after listening. They really couldn't have imagined that Yuan Shikai could mobilize so many troops in just over a month. Now it seems that Yuan Shikai has been planning for a long time.

Zhang Zhidong also said: "I thought about it carefully. Governor Li of Fujian has 50,000 patrol teams stationed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. As Mr. Yan said, most of the troops were deployed in Jiujiang, Anqing, Wuhan and Yuan Shikai's tens of thousands of Beiyang New Army confronted each other. My husband's troops in Guangdong and Guangxi were less than 30,000, and most of them were new recruits. Mr. Zhang's troops in southern Hubei and Hunan areas combined were about 20,000, and the forces in other southern provinces were only more than 120,000."

"Not bad!" Tang Jian stood up and said, "I have accurately counted the forces of our two sides. Now Yuan Shikai has 200,000 troops, and there will be more behind. And our eight southern provinces have only 120,000 total, and my 8,000 Beiyang Navy is only 130,000."

"I wonder how Lord Tang is preparing to face the challenge?" asked Fujian Governor Li Jingfang.

"Preserve the natural trenches of the Yangtze River, avoid its sharp edge, disturb its rear, play to its strengths and avoid its weaknesses, and specialize in weak brigades!" Tang Jian said his plan.

"Please ask Commander Tang to explain in detail!" Li Jingfang continued.

"Although Yuan Shikai has 200,000 people, don't forget that we have a strong maritime brigade like the Beiyang Fleet. Yuan Shikai cannot deploy all his troops north of the Yangtze River. The capital is in Zhili. His troops to defend Zhili will definitely not be too small. He is also afraid that the Beiyang Fleet will detour north and escort the army to land from Shandong and advance to Zhili!"

"Even so, Yuan Shikai's troops north of the Yangtze River will inevitably reach 100,000, and the troops in the eight southern provinces cannot be all deployed south of the Yangtze River. Our troops south of the Yangtze River will not exceed 60,000, or 100,000 to 80,000, and we will not have the advantage of military strength. At that time, there will be cruisers and destroyers of the Beiyang Fleet in the Yangtze River channel together with the army to guard the south of the Yangtze River, but we will not fight hard with Yuan Shikai, as long as we defend the front line of the Yangtze River."

"At that time, the two armies confronted each other on the front line of the Yangtze River. We could use the Beiyang Fleet's troop transport ship to Nanjing to transport a surprise soldier, from Nanjing to Xuzhou, and from Xuzhou to disrupt Yuan Shikai's rear."

"The last one, simply put, is to pick up soft persimmons and pinch them! Although Yuan Shikai's Beiyang New Army had 100,000, only tens of thousands were his elite troops. The other Beiyang New Army were mobilized from various northern provinces. The military qualities were uneven. We can specifically find weak soldiers to attack and erode his strength bit by bit!" Tang Jian revealed his plan.

Everyone was silent for a long time, thinking that they were considering the pros and cons of Tang Jian's plan.

Li Jingfang spoke first and said, "I support Commander Tang Jian's plan!"

As soon as Li Jingfang spoke, Zhang Zhidong and Liu Kunyi followed closely, and other independent inspectors also said that there was no problem.

"There is another thing, and I hope everyone can cooperate!" Tang Jian said again.

"Commander Tang, please tell me!" Sheng Xuanhuai said.

"Everyone also knows that although the eight southern provinces have a total of 100,000 troops, most of them are their own masters, and their governments are not unified. When wars come, they will definitely suffer losses!" Tang Jian said.

"What should Commander Tang do?" Sheng Xuanhuai asked.

"Reorganized into a single army and command in a unified manner!" Tang Jian said decisively.

"This?" Sheng Xuanhuai hesitated.

Tang Jian glanced at the audience, and most of the inspectors showed hesitation. In fact, Tang Jian also knew that the troops under the inspectors of each province were the political capital for them to speak, and everyone was not very comfortable when they suddenly handed over their military power.

After all, if you have soldiers in your hands, your own interests can be protected! Once you lose your military power, you will not even have the ability to protect yourself when the soldiers are defeated.

After scanning everyone, Li Jingfang frowned slightly, and immediately stood up and said, "I, Li Jingfang, are willing to hand over all my 50,000 patrol teams to Commander Tang for unified command!"

Everyone must have been shocked. Li Jingfang's 50,000 patrol team was the backbone of the southern provinces, and even he handed over his military power! Some people's hearts began to shake.

After looking around, Li Jingfang said loudly: "Sir, you all understand the truth that there is a complete egg when the nest is destroyed! Now we are all on the same boat. If Yuan Shikai wins, do you think that with his own little force, can you stop Yuan Shikai's military attack? It's better for everyone to work together. Twist all the power into one rope. Only then can we defeat Yuan Shikai!"

After hearing this, Zhang Zhidong burst into laughter and said, "Haha, it turns out that the tiger father has no dog son! Although there is always a gap between Lord Li and I, I have always believed in Commander Tang. In order to counter Yuan's plan, I handed over all the troops from both Huguang to Commander Tang!"

The other two adults with the largest number of troops in the eight southern provinces were willing to take out their military power, so the others had no worries and were willing to hand over their troops to Tang Jian.

Tang Jian smiled and said, "Hehe, thank you all. After the adaptation is completed, the new army will set up a wartime command center. You can also offer suggestions!"

"Oh, then thank Commander Tang!" Sheng Xuanhuai thanked.

Only Zhang Zhidong sighed in his heart that Tang Jian's methods were used. During the Feng Qingyun talk, he incorporated the troops of the eight southern provinces and set up a wartime command center to let the supervisors play a supervisory role and soothe the hearts of the supervisors.

One by one, one relaxed, one by one, one relaxed, and one by one! Tang Jian is indeed a talent. It seems that the future of China still depends on him. Haha, I was indeed not wrong when I was in Fuzhou. Zhang Zhidong sighed in his heart.

"Then you guys, let's go back and rest first. I will take out the adapted plan in the next two days!" Tang Jian said.

"Then there will be Commander Lao Tang, and the eight southern provinces will be handed over to you!"

After everyone said goodbye to Tang Jian, Li Jingfang came over and said, "Congratulations to Commander Tang!"

Tang Jian held Li Jingfang's hand and said solemnly: "Thank you, Lord Li! If you hadn't accepted the Beiyang Fleet, the Beiyang Fleet would have nowhere to settle down now. I'm really sorry, I've pulled Lord Li down too." Tang Jian was very grateful to Li Jingfang for accepting the Beiyang Fleet.

"Haha, Commander Tang, don't be polite. This is all my father's arrangement. I'm just doing it according to his wishes!" Li Jingfang said modestly.

"Oh, is it the Lord Zhongtang?" Tang Jian asked in surprise. Li Hongzhang has been alive for a long time, so how could he even know what happened after his death? Could he have predicted the future?

When Li Jingfang recalled Li Hongzhang, his eyes flashed with a deep sense of pain and then said, "Do you know why his father arranged Yuan Shikai in North Korea for more than ten years?"

Tang Jian shook his head, indicating that he didn't know.

"Haha." Li Jingfang smiled, "My father knew that Yuan Shikai was too ambitious. Although Yuan Shikai was talented, he had talent in the world, whether he led troops or hired people. But his father still arranged him in North Korea without giving him a high position. When Yuan Shikai was young, he had the ambition of "Daye Dragon Fangzhe, Central Plains Deer Zhengfei", and he was even more ambitious when he was under Wu Changqing's army. Yuan Shikai was under his father's disciple for many years, so he knew Yuan Shikai's temperament very well."

"My father's evaluation of Yuan Shikai was 'unfair talent'. It's a pity that he was not upright and had great ambitions!" Li Jingfang said with a smile.

"Then what is the connection with Lord Li's acceptance of the Beiyang Fleet?" Tang Jian asked.

"Haha, I'll talk about the reason for the follow-up. Commander Tang, don't worry." Li Jingfang said again: "My father has been working hard for decades for the Qing Dynasty, working hard to calm the rebellion, establishing the Westernization Affairs, and creating the Beiyang Navy. But what happened? The Qing Dynasty was defeated again and again. My father was ordered to take the blame for Cixi and signed dozens of unequal treaties with the great powers, so he was also criticized for his eternal infamy!"

"In recent years, my father has endured it alone, but during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the court watched the Beiyang Navy completely wiped out and refused to rescue him. In the end, my father had to bear all the ** of Ito Hirofumi in Maguan and sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki for Cixi."

"Since he came back from Maguan, my father has been vomiting blood. He was already disheartened to the Qing Dynasty. After being demoted to the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, my father has always supported the reform. It was at this time that Commander Tang, you appeared in the vision of my father."
Chapter completed!