Something unexpected happened to Wang Zhenyu. Yuan Shikai seemed to have some regard for Cai E and himself, a local warlord who had been deceived into coming to Beijing, unlike some men in later generations who would take advantage of women and then abandon them without a care.

  The meeting at Rende Hall lasted a full hour, whereas the original plan was only 15 minutes, and this meeting took place on the second day of arrival in Beijing.

  Yuan Shikai was extremely surprised at Wang Zhenyu's youth, just a young man in his early twenties who defeated Lu Rongting, the powerful warlord of Guangxi. This indeed shows that "the world is full of talented people". But can such a person be used for oneself?

  "You are the one who defeated Lao Lu in Guangxi, Wang Wen Zheng" Yuan Shikai's tone was calm but still couldn't hide the slightest hint of arrogance and discontent.

  Facing such a majestic aura, Wang Zhenyu naturally looked terrified and bowed his head: "Your subordinate is indeed Wang Zhenyu"

  Wang Zhenyu avoided the topic of Guangxi, but Yuan Shikai was not very clear about what happened in Guangxi. Even if Lu Rongting were standing on stage now, Old Yuan would not have taken him seriously. So he still believed 90% of Wang Zhenyu's fearful sincerity.

  He took a closer look at Wang Zhenyu's expression and indeed didn't seem to be pretending. It seemed that he was not much different from his straightforward uncle, but had just caught a good opportunity. This preconceived notion helped Wang Zhenyu, but also harmed Old Yuan himself.

  However, at this time, Lao Yuan didn't think he was taking the lead. What he was thinking about was to take down Wang Zhenyu and Cai Xuan, these rising stars. Although these two people were already in his hands: "Wang Wen Zheng, I have something to ask you, you must answer truthfully."

  Wang Zhenyu immediately bowed and said: "The Great President is the common master of all people, if there are questions, I will report truthfully."

  Yuan Shikai nodded in apparent satisfaction and said: "Is Zhao Hengti, the commander of the first division of the Hunan Army, with you?"

  Wang Zhenyu lowered his head and listened to the name of this sworn brother, and his mind immediately went through a few rounds. He knew that Old Yuan was testing him, fortunately, he had been prepared early on.

  Only then did Wang Zhenyu lift his head, his face full of surprise, and say: "Your humble servant is guilty, your humble servant is guilty. Brother Zhao was indeed at my place, and he also mistakenly believed the rumors and strayed from the path. Although I detest Sun Wen's chaotic party, Zhao Hengti is my sworn elder brother. If I were to reject him for the sake of my own power, would I still be human? The great president is wise and enlightened, your humble servant dares not hide anything today, only begging to take his place in punishment to appease the great president's mighty anger."

  After finishing, Wang Zhenyu made a move that surprised Cai Gui and slightly despised him. He actually knelt down on both knees and kowtowed to apologize. At this moment, he knew in his heart that Wang Zhenyu was scolding: "Yuan Guangtou, you are afraid that I will not be able to bear your kowtowing."

  Yuan Shikai was also startled by this, it seems that the Republic has already been established. Wang Zhenyu's actions seem to be not quite in line with the rules, but doesn't this just prove that this person is a grassroots character with no great ambitions?

  Old Yuan, who was very satisfied with Wang Zhenyu's attitude, immediately stepped forward and helped Wang Zhenyu up, saying: "Wen Zheng, it's the Republic now, we don't follow the old Qing dynasty rules. Considering you're also a man of brotherly loyalty, and Zhao Heng's evil deeds are not yet exposed, I'll let this matter slide. Later, I'll issue an order to pardon your sworn brother."

  Wang Zhenyu hastily said: "Thank you, Mr. President, for your great kindness."

  Yuan Shikai took another look at Wang Zhenyu and suddenly changed the subject, asking: "Wang Zhenyu, there's one more thing - why did you want to cover up for Liu Guxiang and those rebellious elements?"

  Wang Zhenyu replied: "The students in front of the President do not know who is right and who is wrong, Liu Guoxiang indeed participated in the rebellion but did not join, when Sun Chuan and others made trouble, he was the commander of the 5th Army of Guangxi and did not respond. Later, he even triggered two military mutinies, his wife and daughter-in-law all died at the hands of the rebels. How could such a person be in cahoots with the rebels? This matter can withstand investigation by Your Excellency the President. If there is half a sentence of falsehood, I will be punished by Your Excellency."

  Yuan Shikai seemed surprised: "How could this be? What's going on between you and Lu Rongting? Why did your troops finally enter Nanning?"

  "President, this is a huge misunderstanding. I really want to say that it's not my fault, but rather General Lu's misunderstanding. He thought I was coming to take his territory and attacked me first. You may not know that the border between Hunan and Guangxi is all mountains. My troops were originally going to Liu Guoxiang to suppress the bandits, but when we encountered General Lu's attack, we had to defend ourselves. The issue wasn't a big deal at first, but unexpectedly, General Lu's troops were even weaker than the Guizhou bandits I eliminated in Jingzhou. When I received the report from the front line that his army was defeated, my generals asked for credit and took advantage of the situation to occupy Nanning. President, I won't hide it from you, I relied on the poor region of western Hunan to support my over 20,000 troops, which is really unsustainable. So, I also had the idea of expanding my territory and increasing revenue to support my army. However, now that I'm under your command, with just one order from you, I'll immediately withdraw from Guangxi's territory and think of another way to solve the problem."

  "It's easy to say, but if all the Beiyang generals had Wen Rong's mind, there would be no worries in the world." Yuan Shikai knew that it was impossible for one order to make Wang Zhenyu hand over Guangxi's territory. At least Xiong Xiling would be the first to object. But he still made a gesture of relief and patted Wang Zhenyu on the shoulder, chatting with him for a while longer. Yuan Shikai also felt that there was nothing more to talk about, so he had Xiong Xiling announce the appointments of the two men and then let them withdraw.

  Tsai Ao's appointment fully reflects Old Yuan's emphasis on this Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan Southwest King. A bunch of titles such as Political Conference Committee Member, Senate Senator, General of the General's Office, Business Officer of the Land and Sea Military Command, Director of the National Boundary Bureau, etc., were thrown at Tsai Ao's head without spending money, nor was he afraid that Tsai Ao's head was too small to hold them. However, in Wang Zhenyu's opinion, none of these titles have real power, especially the last one, the National Boundary Bureau Director, what is it for?

  It was later proven that Old Yuan was not entirely wrong, at least in his opinion, Cai E was a personal talent. Therefore, after this, he summoned him many times to discuss national affairs. Wang Zhenyu, on the other hand, gave Old Yuan the impression of being shallow and lacking in strategy during this meeting, and was ignored from then on.

  It can be seen from the arrangement of the position that Wang Zhenyu actually got an extremely high position, Senior Advisor to the Presidential Palace, General's Mansion, with a monthly salary of 300 yuan. Then, then there was nothing, and then there was no more.

  Wang Zhenyu's home was arranged in a siheyuan in Ganmian Hutong, about five miles away from the Presidential Palace of the Iron Lion Hutong. The previous resident of this place was none other than Wang Zhenyu's cousin, Wang Longzhong. To the east and parallel to Ganmian Hutong is the famous Lumi Warehouse Hutong, which was a place for storing official grain during the Ming and Qing dynasties. After the Manchu entered the pass, it became a place where the Eight Banners' soldiers received their salaries. The large carts carrying grain would come and go from the west hutong, causing flour to spill everywhere when the wind blew. As a result, people called the western hutong "Ganmian Hutong". Wang Longzhong previously lived in a large siheyuan with a narrow facade that could only accommodate three people passing through at a time. The entrance had no majestic stone lions, only a single stone bench for people to rest on. The monthly salary of a general was only 120 yuan, which was not considered high in Beijing where prices were skyrocketing. Adding to this, Wang Longzhong's family of six, plus servants and maids, totaling over ten people, had tight expenses for daily necessities.

  This time, Xiong Xiling stepped forward and made a substitution. Wang Zhenyu was tossed around and came to Beijing. Wang Longzhong, who had the title of Northwest Inspection Envoy, first received the appointment as Governor of Guangxi, but before he could take office, he was promoted to Hunan-Guangxi Inspection Envoy. Wang Longzhong's bitter days were over, but thinking that it was his nephew coming, he still felt uneasy in his heart, so he didn't hurry to leave and waited for Wang Zhenyu to arrive in Beijing to meet him before leaving.

  Wang Zhenyu didn't think there was anything wrong or uncomfortable about it, he and Wang Longzhong had a secret conversation in the study all night, telling his uncle that when he arrived at Anjiang, he should find someone to take care of things, then go to Nanning to preside over the situation. Although Wang Longzhong wasn't a clever person, the lessons of the past two years were too numerous, and he immediately understood what role he should play - being a loyal and honest puppet for his nephew to manage the household.

  Wang Zhenyu went to Wang Longzhong, who was not afraid of him. He thought that he could produce some different ideas on his own land. Firstly, Wang Longzhong is not a person with too much ambition. Secondly, on his own territory, apart from himself, there is no one else who can take charge and gather military, political, and economic powers.

  "Uncle, I believe that the control of the Beiyang government has already begun to decline. The future will definitely not be theirs. So when you arrive in Guangxi, your priority is to cooperate with the Luxembourgers to develop industry. The better it's developed, the brighter our Wang family's prospects will be."

  "Wang Longzhong thought for a moment and said, 'Wen Zheng, you've changed so much over the years that I'm getting more and more confused. But this time, Uncle believes in you, so just do it your way.'"

  The next day, Wang Longzhong took his family to Hunan to take office, while Wang Zhenyu formally took over the use of this large quadrangle courtyard in Ganmian Hutong.

  The so-called presidential advisor is just an advisor who is employed but not asked, so Wang Zhenyu doesn't have the problem of getting up early or punching in for work. Even if he sleeps until the sun is high in the sky, no one will bother him.

  But as a traverser, Wang Zhenyu was destined not to be a peaceful person

  The knocking sound of "Bang Bang Bang" at the study door started. Wang Zhenyu was studying Ming history and said, "Come in" after hearing the knock.

  The one who pushed open the door was Wang Chenhao. He said with a relaxed face, "General, the person you want to see has arrived. No one noticed."

  Wang Zhenyu glanced at Wang Chenhao and said, "Mm, I know. Please come in."