Bi Yongnian and Gongren got on a boat from Yokohama, arrived in Qingdao, hired a carriage from Qingdao, and traveled to Beijing day and night, and it was already night when they entered the city of Beijing. Gongren found that this place is more lively than the city of Guangzhou, the small market on the flyover is very lively, the shops, hotels, and restaurants on the street are next to each other, horse-drawn carriages, foreign cars, and small sedan chairs shuttle back and forth, and the dignitaries, poor people, foreigners, and ethnic minorities in fancy clothes are dazzled.

The two had no intention of wandering, so they went directly to the door of Tan Sitong's house. The janitor stopped and asked, "Where are the guests from?" Bi Yongnian said: "You just say to Tan Sitong, the old man is visiting." ”

After a while, a young man hurriedly stepped forward, and Lao Yuan arched his hand to greet him: "Brother, brother, brother is looking forward to you for a long time. Bi Yongnian also said politely: "Brother Tan, my brother misses you too!" Gong Ren thought, this Tan brother is Tan Sitong, I saw that he was young and handsome, articulate, sharp-eyed, and upright.

Tan Sitong (1865-1898), Han nationality, a native of Liuyang, Hunan, was 10 years old when he was 10 years old, and he was taught by Ouyang Zhonghu, a famous scholar in Liuyang. Under the influence of Ouyang Zhonghu, he became interested in Wang Fuzhi's thoughts and was enlightened by patriotism. He read widely, and he was able to talk about the knowledge of the world and the people, and he wrote very skillfully in his articles. He was very disgusted with the traditional Shiwen Bagu, and wrote the words "how can this be true" in the textbook.

In 1877, he made a permanent appointment with Tang Caichang in Liuyang, and he studied under Tu Qixian, systematically studied Chinese classics, and began to come into contact with natural sciences such as arithmetic and physics. After that, he went to Lanzhou and studied in his father's provincial office.

In 1884, he ran away from home and traveled to Zhili (now Hebei), Gansu, Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Henan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Shandong, Shanxi and other provinces, observing the terroir and making friends with famous people. He witnessed the anti-feudal fighting spirit of the people, broadened his horizons, and made his thinking full of fighting spirit. In 1888, under the guidance of the famous scholar Liu Renxi, he began to seriously study the works of Wang Fuzhi and others, absorbing the essence of democracy and materialist ideas in them, and at the same time extensively collecting and reading books that introduced Western science, history, geography and politics at that time to enrich himself. He advocated that the only way for China to become strong and prosperous was to develop national industry and commerce and learn from the political system of the Western bourgeoisie. He openly put forward the idea of abolishing the imperial examination, building schools, mining deposits, building railways, running factories, and reforming the official system. Wrote an article criticizing the Qing government's policy of betrayal and surrender. He admired those reckless heroes who hoeed the strong and helped the weak, and once befriended a "righteous man" in Beijing at that time, Wang Wu, and the two became unswerving friends in life and death. He also made friends with heroes like the Elders' Association, and became brothers with Bi Yongnian.

Tan Sitong saw Gongren, was slightly stunned, and asked Bi Yongnian: "This little brother is ......" Bi Yongnian said: "A confidant friend of mine, Gongren's brother, his own people, his own people." Tan Sitong nodded and said, "Your bosom friend, that is, my bosom friend, we will be brothers from now on." Then he arched his hand at Gong Ren, and the two knew each other from then on.

Gong Ren also hurriedly arched his hand at Tan Sitong, which was regarded as a return gift.

Tan Sitong was talking, holding Bi Yongnian with one hand and Gongren with the other, and went directly into the inner room. Entering the house, Gong Ren saw that the furnishings in the room were shabby, and the most conspicuous thing was that there was a book and a piano on the table, and a sword hanging on the wall. Gong Ren glanced at it again, and the title of the book said "Renxue". The piano is three and a half feet long, half a foot wide at the shoulder, four inches wide at the tail, it is a Luoxia style, with black lacquer, and the back of the piano (the axis of the axis of rotation on the stringed instrument) is engraved under the pond Wei Tishu "residual thunder", and the qin inscription is engraved under it, and the title is "Tan Si with the same work", and the belly section is engraved with "Liuyang Tan Si with Fushengfu in the sixteenth year of Guangxu". The sword is also extraordinary, seven feet apart, it seems that there has been a cold air attacking, it seems to contain bursts of shouting and killing, look closely, it is also bursts of white light flashing, piercing eyes, almost people dare not face it, the sword sleeve is written with the majestic "Fengju Sword" three words.

Tan Sitong glanced at a subordinate next to him, who offered three cups of tea and hurried out. Tan Sitong glanced at Bi Yongnian again, and he was still a little uneasy about Gongren. Bi Yongnian whispered: "Just say something, family." Tan Sitong then plugged in the door of the inner room.

Tan Sitong turned around and said anxiously: "It's urgent, what kind of drinking and catching the wind, what kind of greetings and reminiscings, all of them are exempted, please don't be weird?" Bi Yongnian smiled slightly and said: "Since you are far away, ask me to come to see you quickly, I'm afraid it's not a trivial matter, what's the matter, just say it?" ”

Tan Sitong said: "Recently, the situation has become more and more unfavorable to the emperor, the officials who changed the law have been dismissed one after another, and the Guangxu Emperor has been constantly reprimanded by the Empress Dowager of the West. How many righteous people have you brought with you this time? Bi Yongnian said: "A few places in Beijing, even if you bring 3,000 people, it is also a drop in the bucket, it is useless, it does not play a big role, but it is easy to do bad things when there are many people." If you need my help with anything, if I can do it, I'll do it. ”

Tan Sitong said: "In my opinion, without bloodshed, the reform of the law cannot be successful, and without violence, it is impossible to seize the power of the imperial court. As the head of the elder brotherhood, there are hundreds of thousands of brothers around him who have sacrificed their lives and forgotten their deaths. As he spoke, he clasped his fists and bent his legs, and he was about to kneel down for Bi Yongnian. The panicked Bi Yongnian hurriedly pulled him up and said, "No, no, I haven't heard about your plan yet, and my brother will also tell me about your plan, so I know in my heart." ”

Tan Sitong stood up, arched his hand and said, "Lord Kang Youwei recently befriended Yuan Shikai, the envoy of Zhili. In recent years, Yuan Shikai has trained troops at a small station and trained the new army of the six towns of Beiyang, which is different from the old-style army and has extremely strong combat effectiveness. Lord Kang tried in many ways, knowing that Yuan Shikai was quite effective and loyal to the emperor. The last time I looked for him, he promised very well, but he didn't do anything practical just by agreeing. We take into account that this Yuan Shikai is still afraid of Cixi and Ronglu, and on this issue, he is ambiguous and flattering left and right. Simply, it is inconvenient for Yuan Shikai to come forward in this use of force, since he is loyal to the emperor, why not borrow his troops for use. That old thing is going to go to the Summer Palace to enjoy the cool and enjoy the moon recently, as long as she enters the Summer Palace, we will send troops to surround her and kill them all. The Summer Palace was in chaos, the dragons were leaderless, and the ministers had to count on the emperor. At that time, the emperor is in power, are you still afraid that the law will not be changed......"

Bi Yongnian couldn't help but be happy when he heard this, and asked, "This plan is very good!" That's a great plan! I don't know who to send to complete the plan to persuade Yuan Shikai to borrow troops? And who will be sent to complete the heavy task of leading the troops to kill the old thing? ”

Tan Sitong said sonorously: "As for the people who borrow troops from Yuan Shikai, we have our own arrangements. If the person who leads the army to kill the old thing, he must be a general. This person must be brave and strategic, and he must also have experience in leading troops, and this person must also go to Yuan's mansion with the person who borrowed the army to get to know Yuan Shikai. We are just a group of scholars, waving flags and shouting, dancing and writing and making ink, if we really command thousands of troops and horses to fight and complete the great task of saving the country and the people, it will be difficult. When we think about it again, we think of a person, but we don't know if this person is willing to take on such a heavy responsibility? ”

Bi Yongnian asked, "I don't know who this person is?" ”

Tan Sitong suddenly knelt down, kowtowed deeply and said, "This hero is my brother!" ”

Bi Yongnian trembled, muttered for a long time, and said, "I didn't expect you to lift me up like this." Okay, then I'll give it a try......" said and gently picked up Tan Sitong.

Tan Sitong showed a look of surprise on his face, and said: "The important task of saving the country and saving the people is all entrusted to my brother." Time is tight, we really don't have time to delay any longer, so I'll arrange it. After Tan Sitong finished speaking, he arched his hand again, called his subordinates, arranged for the two of them to drink and eat in the house to rest, and went out in a hurry.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Gongren picked up Tan Sitong's "Renxue" and swept it through.

"Renxue" is divided into two volumes, about 50,000 words. In the first volume of "Renxue", it first preached benevolence as the first righteousness, breaking the world, breaking the famous teaching, and advocating equality. Secondly, it is said that benevolence is immortal, breaking the boundary between life and death, breaking treatment, breaking the distinction between relatives and relatives, advocating both love and promoting fraternity. The third is to propagate reform, emphasize innovation, deprecate luxury and frugality, demand movement against static, and propagate the bourgeois viewpoint. The fourth part is to oppose feudal ethics and morality, to break the feudal hierarchy and preach bourgeois democracy.

The second volume of "Renxue" first criticizes feudal absolutism and opposes national oppression, and then criticizes the evils of the Three Programs and advocates scientific democracy, which are two parts that promote bourgeois democracy. The third is to put forward the idea of using one's heart to save the fortune, which is an idealistic fantasy, but here it requires breaking the ego, breaking the boundaries between people and me, and having the idea of equality. Fourth, the talk of entering Datong is idealistic, but it contains the idea that everyone should be free.

Generally speaking, under the cover of the colorful and miscellaneous learning, the content of "Renxue" is to use bourgeois fraternity, equality, freedom, and bourgeois democracy to break away from feudal absolutism, national oppression, and the three outlines and five constants of feudal ethics, and use science to oppose the vulgar studies that pursue profit and serve feudal rule. Because Tan Sitong had a deep understanding of the darkness, stubbornness, and decay of feudal absolutism in the Qing Dynasty, and had a deep feeling for the poison of feudal ethics, he was extremely profound in attacking feudal absolutism and feudal ethics.

Gong Ren looked at the sword hanging on the wall again, admiring it carefully.

Bi Yongnian said: "Do you know whose relics this sword is? Gong Ren shook his head and said, "I don't know." Bi Yongnian said: "This sword is a relic of the famous Ming Dynasty scholar Wen Tianxiang. ”

Gongren was taken aback and asked, "I wish to hear it." ”

Bi Yongnian said: "These are two old things that Tan Si agreed to get from two extremely remote places: "Banana Yuqin" and "Fengju Sword", and he cherished these two treasures as much as his life. Since then, he left his original "Seven Star Sword" and Wen Tianxiang's "Jiaoyuqin" in his hometown of Hunan "Dafudi", and wore the "Fengju Sword" with him, never leaving an inch. ”

Gong Ren and Bi Yongnian drank heavily in their hearts, and Bi Yongnian said to Gong Ren: "Originally, we were overthrowing the Qing Dynasty, but Brother Tan asked us to assist the royalist faction to kill the Empress Dowager of the West and let Emperor Guangxu take power. What do you think of this? ”

Gong Ren ran out of ideas for a while, and thought about it: "Helping the royalists to mutiny and seize power is indeed inconsistent with our purpose. If you don't help the royalists, the Empress Dowager Xi, Ronglu and others will make China worse. In my opinion, it is better to help the royalists to change the law and make it stronger, than to let the Empress Dowager of the West and her ilk do evil. ”

Bi Yongnian nodded and said, "You think the same as I think, otherwise, how can I ask Sun Wen for a helper!" With that, he smiled bitterly.

After a while, Tan Sitong led a person in. When the man entered the house, he first arched his hand to Bi Yongnian, and then to Gong Ren. Gong Ren felt that this person was so familiar, and after thinking about it carefully, wasn't he the Liang Gong who was on the Wanghai Tower in Guangzhou! That Liang Gong couldn't help but be stunned when he saw Gongren, and said: "The face is familiar, the face is familiar, I don't know where I have met." Tan Sitong hurriedly introduced: "This is Liang Qichao, this is Bi Yongnian's brother, and this is Brother Gongren." ”

After Liang Qichao finished meeting Bi Yongnian, he said to Gong Ren again: "I remembered, I remembered, I saw it when I saw it upstairs, I didn't want to meet again today, I guess my brother must be a revolutionary party." Whether it is a revolution or a royalist, isn't it all about saving the country and the people, if we can unite, there will be hope for China. Gong Ren hurriedly said: "I hope so, I'm afraid that what we say and do in the future will be different." ”

Liang Qichao didn't pay attention to the stubbornness, and said to Bi Yongnian: "Mr. Kang is a big man, and it is inconvenient to come forward, so my brother will take a trip on his behalf." Although Mr. Kang and Yuan Shikai have long had a tacit understanding, and Brother Tan has also contacted Yuan Shikai, in order not to commit taboos, let's not pierce this layer of window paper. How about you two look like this? ”

Bi Yongnian nodded and said, "Everything is arranged by Mr. Liang." Gong Ren said: "When the time comes, we will talk less." Liang Qichao said: "Okay, without further ado, let's go, and the carriage is waiting outside." ”

The three of them got into the carriage and went straight to the Fahua Temple, where Yuan Shikai, the envoy of Zhili, now lives. Along the way, the three of them were silent, each thinking about their own thoughts.

When he arrived at Yuan Shikai's private house, Gongren saw two bright lanterns lit at the door, and because of the bright light, a large group of mosquitoes "buzzed" and flew non-stop. As the saying goes, in the middle of July and in the half of August, the mosquitoes were as fast as a drill, and they all pounced on the bare skin of the four New Army soldiers standing guard. The four New Army soldiers, dressed in brand-new uniforms and armed with bright German Mauser guns, stood intently, like statues. Gong Ren took a closer look, and dozens of mosquitoes fell on each soldier's face, biting their faces full of small bumps, but they all endured it silently, without even blinking their eyelids. Gong Ren thought to himself that these soldiers were not the same as those old-fashioned green battalions and patrols who specialized in bullying the common people, and if these soldiers supported the revolution, the revolution could accelerate its success, and if these soldiers opposed the revolution, the revolution would be even more difficult.

Liang Qichao reported his name, and after a while, an officer led the three of them to the courtyard, passed through a small courtyard, and entered the north room of the third courtyard. As soon as he entered the house, Yuan Shikai, who was dressed in military uniform, immediately stepped forward, arched his hand and said: "Disrespectful, disrespectful, Mr. Liang, I have already said, a glass of wine, please teach Lord Liang." This morning, I heard the magpie chirping in the tree, and I knew that it must be a happy event, and sure enough, I waited for Lord Liang to come. Hurry up, please take a seat! Hurry up, please take a seat! As he spoke, he enthusiastically gave up his seat and let the soldier serve tea. Liang Qichao also greeted Yuan Shikai, and then introduced Bi Yongnian and Gongren to Yuan Shikai, saying that these two were his brothers.

Yuan Shikai glanced at Gong Ren and said, "This little brother is also a little familiar, it seems that he has seen it somewhere?" Gong Ren hurriedly covered up and said: "Lord Yuan sometimes speaks to our students, and we also give flowers and salutes to Lord Yuan, Lord Yuan doesn't recognize us, we can recognize Lord Yuan." Yuan Shikai nodded, and Gong Ren prevaricated the matter of Guangzhou Wanghailou.

After a few words of family life, Liang Qichao said: "I came today and wanted to talk to Lord Yuan about some personal matters, I wonder if Lord Yuan is willing to appreciate his face?" As he spoke, he looked at the open door and looked at Yuan Shikai's two personal guards. Yuan Shikai let out an "oh" and waved his hand to the two guards, and the two guards went out. Yuan Shikai slammed the door with his backhand again, sat silently on the chair, and a pair of suspicious eyes swept around Liang Qichao's face.

There was silence in the room for a while, no one spoke, and after a while, Liang Qichao said: "Recently, the emperor is not in good health, and he often has nightmares, dreaming that there is a demon who often comes to the palace to commit evil and evil, and after making trouble all night, he then runs to the Summer Palace. If the emperor wants to send troops to protect him, should we, as ministers, share the emperor's worries? ”

Yuan Shikai said: "The emperor has a nightmare, and he should invite a wizard to go to the evil spirit." Sending troops doesn't work! ”

Liang Qichao said again: "The emperor works day and night for state affairs, sometimes he is irritable, and often says that he wants to go to the hunting ground to hunt and relax, but I heard that there are many thieves in the hunting ground recently, in order to protect the emperor's safety, if you borrow your soldiers for use, I don't know if Yuan Gong agrees?" ”

Yuan Shikai said: "The guards in the palace are like clouds, and the masters are like forests, how can you use these shrimp soldiers and crab generals of mine!" When the time comes, not only will it not help, but it will make the emperor angry! ”

Liang Qichao said again: "If the emperor suddenly suffers an incident and urgently needs Yuan Gong to send troops to rescue, I wonder if Yuan Gong is waiting for the relevant yamen to come here through the gates to give orders?" Or do you put the people of the country first and lead the troops to rescue them with righteousness and awe? ”

Yuan Shikai gasped, his eyes rolled, he didn't know how to answer for a while, he pondered for a while, and asked pretending to be surprised: "Liang Gong's words are really difficult for students to answer. Could it be that something really happened to the imperial court......"

Liang Qichao led up the road vigorously, but Yuan Shikai didn't go to the road, avoiding left and right, lest he stick to himself a little bit of shame, which made Liang Qichao feel irritable, and couldn't help but say: "If the emperor has a decree and orders his subordinates to act, I don't know if Yuan Gong is fully loyal?" Or is it indifferent and disobedient? ”

Yuan Shikai was a little embarrassed by this question, and quickly lowered his head, arched his hand and said to Liang Qichao: "Under the whole world, it is not the king's land, the shore of the land, it is not the king's minister, the king calls the minister to die, and the minister does not dare not die!" If the emperor has a decree, the ministers are all over the place, and they will not hesitate. ”

Liang Qichao had no choice but to show his hole cards and said: "It turns out that Brother Tan has come here and wants to call Lord Yuan to come forward, but after thinking about it, if Lord Yuan is really embarrassed, we will think of a way out for Lord Yuan, just want to borrow some soldiers for Lord Yuan, once something goes wrong in the future, it has nothing to do with Lord Yuan, and it will all be borne by us." ”

Yuan Shikai sighed and said: "You think that the affairs of the imperial court are so simple, whether I come forward or borrow soldiers, I can't get out of it, it's all a big rebellion." It would be nice if there was an emperor's decree. ”

Liang Qichao looked at Yuan Shikai, who was hesitant, and then at Bi Yongnian and Gong Ren next to him, and suddenly shouted: "That's good!" Yuan Shikai listened to the order-"

(If you want to know what happened to Yuan Shikai after receiving the emperor's holy decree, and listen to the next decomposition.) Thank you for your strong support, please collect, please comment, please vote, please vote, please move the gold finger, click on the top or step on it. ）