Although Fang Zida is a son-in-law, he is only half a son in the eyes of Old Yuan. His weight will never be compared with Yuan Keding and Yuan Kewen. (_--) Perhaps, in a few years, when the child born by Yuan Sizhen grows up, Fang Zida will gradually integrate into the Yuan family and Yuan Shikai will be truly recognized from the heart. Now Fang Zida, in addition to appreciating, Yuan Shikai is just a way out for his Yuan family's political politics. How could he easily believe in someone?

In Fang Zida's heart, he actually understood this. Although Yuan Shikai was careful in his cultivation, his daily care was touching, but the two often lacked the kind of family affection between relatives. They were more polite than close, otherwise Yuan Shikai would not have been hidden in his conversation with Fang Zida.

Now that Fang Zida is currently unable to figure out the situation, it is absolutely inappropriate for Fang Zida to come forward directly. On the way back to the house, Fang Zida made countless ideas in his mind, and finally chose the method of the Yuan family's children to prevent all this from happening.

Fang Zida could be said to be half true and half false when he said from his heart that he was not willing to do this, but he finally made this choice. Seeing that Yuan Sizhen took the initiative to make a decision according to his own wishes, Fang Zida's smile was both joy and complacent, and also a little ashamed.

Fang Zida stood by and watched the next thing, waiting for the Yuan family to discuss the results. Although he used some means, it was worth it to get Fang Zida out of a dilemma.

Yuan Sizhen did not disappoint Fang Zida's hope. The next morning she found Yuan Kewen. Yuan Kewen was shocked when he heard the news and quickly asked Yuan Sizhen where he got the news. Because Fang Zida explained in advance, Yuan Sizhen only said that he had heard and guessed, and picked a few things to talk about. Although Yuan Kewen felt that Yuan Sizhen was a little too sensitive, after careful consideration, he felt that this matter did not seem groundless, especially the actions of the eldest brother Yuan Keding recently were indeed doubtful. To be cautious, he quickly found a brother Yuan Keliang, his mother's brother Yuan Shuzhen, and his elder sister Yuan Bozhen to discuss it, and decided to verify it.

This verification really made Yuan Kewen find clues. In shock, he scolded Yuan Keding for trying to put his father on the fire. Cao Kun had ulterior motives and tried to use this as a step to advance. As a son of man, although Yuan Kewen knew that the main reason was Yuan Shikai, he still did not dare to point the finger at Yuan Shikai directly. After discussion, he decided to persuade Yuan Shikai with his elder sister Yuan Bozhen.

Unexpectedly, when the two of them saw Yuan Shikai and just asked Yuan Shikai tentatively if he was determined to become the emperor, Yuan Shikai, who was smiling and kind-hearted, was immediately angry. Not only did he scold the children, but he also kept saying that there was no emperor in the Republic of China now. Yuan Shikai was born as the president and would never be called emperor. -- () Where did you hear nonsense? Can you believe such things? It was extremely confused. After the training, Yuan Shikai asked them to go back and think about their mistakes behind closed doors. They are so big that they still listen to the wind and rain, which disappoints him.

Yuan Kewen and the other two left discouragedly. Although they were a little embarrassed, they were still happy. Perhaps as Yuan Shikai said, he had no intention at all. Everything was misunderstood by themselves. This matter passed lightly in a blink of an eye. But strangely, just after Yuan Kewen advised Yuan Shikai, the eldest son Yuan Keding suddenly became much more honest. Even Cao Kun, who was hosting Fang Zida, stayed in Beijing for a few days and hurriedly left Beijing.

A storm disappeared like this. Although Fang Zida was glad, he knew very well. This was just a temporary peace. As long as Yuan Shikai, Yuan Keding and others had the intention to be emperor, no matter how they concealed it, they would eventually burst out one day.

The outsiders didn't know about this, and even Xu Shichang and others did not get any news. As the days passed, it seemed that it had never happened. But for a long time, Wang Shizhen officially served as the Chief of Staff of the General Staff, and Xu Shichang also replaced Zhu Qiuqian as the Chief of Internal Affairs with the approval of the Congress.

In that month, the Central Military Academy officially appointed Jiang Fangzhen, the former principal of the Baoding Army Officer School, as the principal of the Central Military Academy. All military academies in the former Beiyang system were merged into the Central Military Academy, and the former cadets of the military academies were also promoted to the Central Military Academy to study. At the same time, the Central Military Academy opened additional non-commissioned officers, Lu Xiao, Preparatory and other affiliated military academies in several provinces. Due to the participation of a large number of German instructors who stayed in the middle of the year, the Central Military Academy's teaching staff was unprecedentedly strong, and as the main funding of the Central Bank, Fang Zida also fully supported it.

After handling the official business, Fang Zida finally took time to go to Tianjin. The main purpose of his trip to Tianjin was to China Merchants Group. Although China Merchants Group's headquarters is in Shanghai, as the main port in the north, its scale and business are comparable to that of Shanghai Merchants Group after its opening.

Speaking of China Merchants, this is an official-supervised business-run enterprise established in the Qing Dynasty. China Merchants’ entire process is China Merchants’ China Merchants, headquartered in Shanghai, major ports in China, and branches in Nagasaki, Yokohama, Kobe and Singapore in Japan. The main business is shipping.

But if you only think that China Merchants Group is just a shipping company, it would be a big mistake. After decades of development, China Merchants Group not only operates with shipping business as its main means, but also plays a great role in other business areas. I am afraid that many people still don’t know that China’s first large coal mine, Kaiping Mining Bureau, the first steel and coal joint venture company, Hanzhiping Factory and Mining Company, the first textile company, Shang*hai Machine Weaving Layout, the first bank, China Merchants Bank, the first insurance company, the insurance China Merchants Group, and even the first railway, the first telephone line, etc., are all closely related to China Merchants Group.

It can be said that when China Merchants Group was glorious, it could be called half of China's business. However, more than ten years ago, China Merchants Group's operations have gradually fallen into trouble. Outside, there are obstacles from various countries and turmoil in the political situation of the country. Over the past ten years, the board of directors has been reorganized, but its operations have not improved. Otherwise, Fang Zida, who had spoken out loudly and asked Yuan Shikai for China Merchants Group, would have been so generous to give Fang Zida the management rights of the government in China Merchants Group to Fang Zida just after a little consideration.

When he was in Shanghai, Fang Zida went to the headquarters of China Merchants and attended the board of directors as the government's major shareholder in China Merchants and carried out a reorganization. Subsequently, Fang Zida served as the chairman of China Merchants and the central bank successively injected 3 million silver dollars to order ships for equity capital. Taking advantage of the outbreak of the European war, he planned to revive China Merchants' power.

"President, we're in Tianjin soon."

Beijing is not far from Tianjin, and he was sleeping in the train box. Not only were Zhang Huchen and several guards from the Central Bank who accompanied Fang Zida to Tianjin, he also brought Jiang Zhiqing with him, and just whispered to remind him that the person who arrived at the station was Jiang Zhiqing.

Nodded, got up and washed up briefly. When Fang Zida put on his coat, the train slowly entered the station. When he stepped out of the car, several persons in charge of Tianjin Investment and Merchants were already waiting on the platform and quickly came over.

"Are you Chairman Fang? I am Li Xinkai. I am the manager of Tianjin." The leader of the people who came to greet him was a man in his forties, looking shrewd and capable. He was of medium height and was wearing a navy blue suit, and enthusiastically reached out to hold Fang Zida.

"Manager Li, thank you for your hard work. These are all colleagues from the Investment Promotion Agency, aren't they?" Fang Zida smiled politely and turned his attention to the other people.

"This is Mr. Lian Jing Lian Zikang, my deputy. This is Mr. Zhang Ze and Zhang Xirun, who is mainly responsible for shipping, and this one is..." Li Xinkai introduced one by one, and Fang Zida shook hands with them with a smile and said thank you for your hard work.

As the manager, Li Xinkai had already made arrangements. When Fang Zida and others received the preparation, they went to one of the best hotels in Tianjin, Lishunde Hotel. When they walked into the room, they could see that Li Xinkai had specially redecorated the room. Fang Zida felt very satisfied and said thank you to him for such warm reception.

"It's good that you are satisfied. The chairman will have a hard time on the journey. Let's take a break early today. I'll pick you up at the hotel tomorrow and go to the Investment and Merchants Agency to take a seat."

"No." Fang Zida rejected Li Xinkai's kindness and smiled: "I slept on the train, but it was still early. Why not sit down with me and chat? This is the first time I have come back here in Tianjin. I have to ask Manager Li for many things."

"I dare not, since you have this intention, I will chat with you?" Li Xinkai said humbly.

"Haha, let's talk." Fang Zida nodded, pointed to the sofa and asked him to sit down, and asked someone to make a pot of tea.

"Do you smoke?" Fang Zida asked after taking out the cigar.

"Thank you!" Li Xinkai took it without hesitation and humility. He helped Fang Zida to order first before taking a sip.

"How many years have Manager Li worked in the Investment and Merchants Agency?" Fang Zida asked with a smile when she looked at Li Xinkai.

"I joined the China Merchants Association at the age of 15. At first, I helped on the boat, but later I became the manager step by step. Time flies so fast, and it's almost 30 years in a blink of an eye." Li Xinkai sighed.

As he asked and answered, Fang Zida chatted casually, and Li Xinkai slowly felt relieved. He felt that the chairman he met for the first time did not seem to be like the legendary evil spirit, and he was very proficient in talking about business. Although he could hear that Fang Zida was not from shipping, sometimes when talking about shipping issues, he often made a point of a word, which made him, the old shipping, admire him.

"Manager Li, how is the business in Tianjin recently?"

"The transportation in the north is not as developed as the south. Now I have 5 large ships and 3 passenger ships here. The main routes are Japan, and sometimes several northeastern routes will be opened. The capacity is about 19,500 tons, which is much less than the nearly 40,000 tons of the south." Li Xinkai replied confidently. Fang Zida shook his head slightly after hearing this. The transportation capacity of 19,500 tons is a lot to outsiders, but a northern port like Tianjin is actually such a small amount of transportation power, which is really lower.

“What about the overall business situation?”

"This... I'm not hiding this from the chairman. To be honest, there are only two words to describe it." Li Xinkai hesitated for a moment and said, "Oops!"

"Why?" Fang Zida was very satisfied with Li Xinkai's truth to telling him, and couldn't help asking again.

"It's hard to describe it! Chairman, if you are interested tomorrow, I can accompany you to the dock to take a look. You'll understand." Li Xinkai specifically kept it a secret. Fang Zida was confused. Can you tell the famous one by looking at the dock? What exactly did Li Xinkai want to tell himself? (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!