On December 20, 1918, Qian Nengxun, premier of the State Council of the Beiyang Government of Anhui, voted to appoint Meng Enyuan, the former governor of Northeast China, as the vice president of the Republic of China, and the post of vice president, which had been vacant for three years, was finally elected.

At the same time, Meng Enyuan was still listening to a little song in the governor's palace in Changchun, and when Gao Fengcheng rushed over with a telegram, Meng Enyuan blamed: "Unproductive, not stable at all, what makes you so panicked?" ”

Gao Fengcheng trembled and took out a telegram and said, "The Beiyang government appoints you...... For the Vice President! ”

"Oh, Vice President." Meng En held the tea from afar, but he didn't react at first, and then jumped up tremblingly, the teacup in his hand shattered, and shouted, "Vice President? ”

"Yes." Gao Fengcheng also said in disbelief.

"This ...... This...... How is this possible. "Meng Enyuan stammered when he spoke, how can I say it, happiness came too suddenly, too suddenly, he was born in Tianjin, a fisherman called Meng Da Teapot, how can he become the vice president?" Quick, quick, call the Wuru to come, call the Wuru to come to me. Meng Enyuan hurriedly said.

In fact, Gao Shibin also learned the news, he was not sure at first, but the telegram written in black and white could never be wrong, but he sat in the office and pondered for a while, his uncle Meng Enyuan was the vice president, there must be something strange in this. On talent, on qualifications. In terms of relationship, Meng Enyuan is a very light one among the Beiyang bigwigs. And the wisest and perhaps most foolish thing that Meng Enyuan did was to hand over the territory and army to Wang Maoru and become the emperor. At that time, Meng Enyuan was confused by Wang Maoru's dream of being a president, not only Meng Enyuan, but also himself. When Wang Maoru conquered the Northeast and Mongolia, Meng Enyuan and others regretted it. Especially after the power was hollowed out, Meng Enyuan even hoped that Wang Maoru would die unlucky, and he would be satisfied to be a veritable king of the Northeast. But at this time, he was suddenly appointed as a candidate for vice president. How can you not leave them dumbfounded.

"A conspiracy, it must be a conspiracy." Gao Shibin said to himself, "But what kind of conspiracy? He rang out carefully. Suddenly, he slapped the table and said, "So that's it, it's like this." He took the initiative to run to Meng Enyuan's Metropolitan Governor's Mansion.

Meng Enyuan drove away all the actors, put on a serious marshal uniform of eight hundred, and the concubines on the side smiled and changed his clothes for him, and when he saw Gao Shibin walking in, Meng Enyuan smiled and said, "Wuru, do you know the news?" ”

Gao Shibin said: "You all go down, little uncle, I have important matters to discuss with my uncle." ”

Meng Enyuan's concubine was quite afraid of Gao Shibin. He hurriedly said: "Since you have important matters to discuss, it is not convenient for me to be a woman. Then he and his servants left, leaving Gao Shibin here, Meng Enyuan asked, "Why are you so cautious?" ”

Gao Shibin said: "Uncle, first congratulations on becoming vice president. ”

Meng Enyuan laughed. Said: "Hehe, sit, sit down and say." Seeing his cautious expression, he stopped smiling and said, "What? ”

Gao Shibin said: "The chain is calculated, and these two aspects are calculated by each other." ”

"What's going on?" Meng En walked from afar.

Gao Shibin said: "Uncle." You may not be comfortable sitting as vice president. ”

"Huh?" Meng Enyuan was surprised.

"Why would Duan Qirui let you do this vice president?" Gao Shibin analyzed, "He must be threatened by some kind of force, and the only one who can threaten him at this moment is Wang Maoru, and Wang Maoru must have asked his uncle to leave the Northeast in exchange for interfering with the army." In this way, there is no suspense that he Wang Maoru will succeed as the governor of the Northeast because of his identity as a hero of the European War, and he Wang Maoru has become a veritable king of the Northeast. And in addition to giving his uncle a vice president, he also fulfilled his uncle's wish and gained a good reputation, after all, you are his senior, and he made you vice president because he respected the rules of the predecessors and conformed to the rules of officialdom. ”

Meng Enyuan stroked his beard and nodded, "I also thought of this, Xiusheng did a good job." ”

Gao Shibin said: "After Wang Xiusheng sent you away, he became the real king of the Northeast, with heavy troops under his command, and promoted the development of the Northeast, and he was able to enter the Central Plains and dominate the world in a few years." And after he became the governor of the Northeast, the people of the Northeast will only know that there is Wang Maoru and no one else (Meng Enyuan). ”

Meng Enyuan was gloomy, in fact, it is now, and this Northeast officialdom only knows that there is a commander-in-chief but does not know that there is a metropolitan governor.

Gao Shibin said again: "Duan Gong will definitely not let Wang Xiusheng get the Northeast as the king of the Northeast, so Wang Xiusheng must have participated in the intervention army against Russia, and Duan Gong will inevitably have a hand." I guess Duan Gong meant that Wang Xiusheng led the army to Russia, and Wang Xiusheng won many battles, fighting against Tsarist Russia to seize the Middle Road, fighting Mongolia to open up the territory, and fighting Austria to win the Medal of Warrior. Once he enters Russia, then the war will be out of his control, and perhaps his intervention army and even Wang Xiusheng himself may die in Russia. Even if he did not die in battle, as long as he was defeated, coupled with domestic pressure, Duan Gong could remove Wang Maoru from his position as governor of the Northeast when he was in Russia. The most likely successor is Duan Gong's tall Xu Shuzheng, so Xu Shuzheng will definitely wait for Wang Xiusheng to make a mistake like a poisonous snake. ”

Meng Enyuan clapped his hands and said, "Duan Gong is also calculating, calculating." ”

"Which of these people is not a seven-trick exquisite heart." Gao Shibin sighed, "And my uncle is in Beijing, and he has no soldiers and no power, so isn't it up to Duan Qirui to handle it?" Although Duan Gong is no longer the prime minister, Prime Minister Qian Nengxun is only Duan Gong's head, and President Xu is also a kind person, and this public line is the power of the president. President Xu Juren (Xu Shichang Zi Juren) still has no rights, and uncle, you have no right to be vice president. ”

"What if I don't go?" Meng En walked from afar.

Gao Shibin smiled bitterly and said: "Uncle, if you don't go, won't you cut off your hands and feet, I think Wang Maoru will be appointed as the governor of the Northeast three days later, if you don't go, won't you still have to compete for the position of governor of the capital?" Isn't this a violation of the rules of officialdom? ”

Meng Enyuan sighed: "People are swords, I am fish and meat, so I have to do it." ”

As Gao Shibin expected, less than three days later, the State Council of the Beiyang Government appointed Wang Maoru as the governor of Northeast China, and the premier of Liaoning Province, Jilin Province, Heilongjiang Province, Mongolia Province, and Rehe Province, a total of five provinces, military, governmental, and civilian, Rehe Yi Army was under the command of the Northeast Frontier Army, and was reorganized by the General Staff of the Northeast Frontier Army.

Wang Maoru did not treat the Yi Army badly, and immediately appointed Jiang Gui, the commander of the Yi Army, as the governor of Rehe, and the Yi Army was reorganized into three armies as one division and two armed police brigades, one of which was numbered the Tenth Division, in order to fill the 10th Division of the White Russian mercenary army in Bereville, and the 10th Division was immediately transferred to Mongolia to assist in the defense of Mongolian security. Therefore, it shows that Wang Maoru's determination is not to fall into the Central Plains and not to compete with the Anhui system for the world.

After the Yi Army was reorganized into the Northeast Frontier Army, the commander of the 10th Division was served by Mi Zhenbiao, and the 28th Brigade, the 29th Brigade, and the 44th Brigade were under its jurisdiction, and the brigade commanders were Shu Hejun, Yin Gui, and Zhang Pengfei, the generals of the Yi Army, and Liu Shansheng, the commander of the supplementary regiment, Liu Hanjie, the commander of the baggage battalion, Chang Wanli, the commander of the machine gun battalion, the commander of the guard battalion, Mi Guoxian, the son of Mi Zhenbiao, the commander of the Rehe First Armed Police Brigade, Zhang Dianru, and the commander of the Second Armed Police Brigade of Rehe. It can be said that Wang Maoru, the reorganization of the Yi Army, did not mix with his own descendants, all the main generals were from the Yi Army, and he only sent officers and staff officers to assist in the reorganization, so the Yi Army reorganization did not cause a backlash from anyone.

However, the 100,000 Yi Army, known as the 100,000 Yi Army, will be reduced to 35,000 after the change, leaving only 23,000 men and two 6,000-strong armed police brigades. The General Military Affairs Office promised these eliminated veterans that they would be given wives in a few years, and all they wanted them to do was to build their own houses, cultivate their own land, and raise themselves and their wives.

Wang Maoru has gained great benefits, the army in his hands is more, and the strength is stronger, and the preparation for war is put on the agenda. At the end of the Harbin meeting, Wang Maoru first approached US Ambassador Rui Enshi to sign a loan agreement and cooperation agreement with him, borrowing from the United States the transportation resources of the Northeast Grassland Coal Mine as collateral, and borrowing a total of $100 million from the Morgan Bank, Citibank, Bank of America, and the National Bank of the United States in five years and then to invest in the construction of Northeast China. The U.S. side's borrowing basically confirmed Wang Maoru's identity as the spokesperson of the United States in China, and Wang Maoru's huge loan firmly tied the local government in Northeast China to the United States.

In the face of Japan's aggressiveness, Wang Maoru could only allow himself to become a "lackey" of another great power, at least at this stage, what the Americans value is not China's territory, but only money and interests.

Of course, all the investments required by the United States must be used for the development of non-military fields such as factory construction, local infrastructure construction, industrial development, people's livelihood development, and agricultural development invested by local governments in Northeast China.

The total value of the $100 million loan was divided into four tranches, one for each year, to be repaid after five years and over 30 years. The first instalment of the US bank was $30 million, which was lent to the Northeast Governor's Office on New Year's Day in 1919, $30 million in 1920, $20 million in 1921, $20 million in 1922, and neither in 1923 nor repayment. The loan was repaid in 30 years from 1924 and $10 million a year until it was repaid. In addition, Wang Maoru also signed two railway construction contracts with the Americans, one railway from Shenyang Prefecture to Tongliaofu Railway, the capital of Horqin Prefecture, and the other railway from Harbin to Jilin Prefecture, which can also be regarded as one of the mortgages.