Following the reconquest of Johannesburg, the Transvaal city of Pretoria was also recovered, Johannesburg was not much damaged because it did not encounter resistance, and remained relatively intact as a whole, but Pretoria was extremely badly damaged by the stubborn resistance of the Boers.

A small group of cavalry slowly patrolled around the city, looking at the ruined and devastated city of Pretoria, and Kruger's heart was bleeding, because of the gold mining, the Transvaal was unprecedentedly rich, and invested a huge amount of money in the construction of the capital, but now it was all destroyed in the war.

"Take pictures!" His voice was as cold as the wind on the plateau, "Panorama, close-up, give me a careful shot, you must record the extent of the damage in Pretoria in full detail!" ”

Maputo, Qing army battalion, headquarters.

Yi Zhengxing carefully looked at the thick stack of photos in his hand, which included not only the ruined Pretoria, but also other destroyed towns, burned farms, destroyed railways, corpses abandoned on both sides of the road, and corpses strewn with battlefield ........

The cruelty and great devastation of the war were faithfully recorded in these photos, looking at the unbearable photos, his eyebrows unconsciously revealed compassion, and more shock.

"It would have been nice if these photos had been sent a few months earlier." Li Hongzhang said in a calm tone, he has been in Anxi Province for many years, and he has seen too many cruel scenes, but he is not moved at all.

Pretorius's gaze lingered on him for a moment before he said, "These pictures will not be of much use for negotiations, we just want to leave a witness, a testimony to a humiliating history." ”

After a pause, he continued: "This war has not lasted long and is not large, but the damage caused to our country is immeasurable, and we need huge funds to rebuild our homeland ........ ”

Is this intended to divide the war reparations? The trace of compassion on Yi Zhengxing's face disappeared and was replaced by vigilance, and before he could speak, Li Hongzhang preemptively said: "The north of our country is experiencing an extremely rare drought that has lasted for five years. However, when I heard that your country had been invaded by a joint attack by five European countries, I immediately sent troops and reinforcements on a large scale without hesitation.

Your Excellency may not know that under such circumstances, China's large-scale dispatch of troops and reinforcements across the sea is at great risk -- Yuanqi is risking the rupture of the capital chain and the risk of a serious financial crisis in China.

In my opinion, this is a war without a winner, your country has suffered huge losses, our country is on the verge of collapse, and at the moment it is in urgent need of huge funds to stabilize the country's financial economy. ”

Pretorius didn't expect the other party to refuse so simply, he was silent for a moment, he knew that what the other party said was the truth, but he couldn't tolerate a few years later to rebuild after the war, the Transvaal couldn't afford to wait, he couldn't wait, he was silent for a while, he spoke: "I'm going to Shanghai to visit the prince, I hope His Royal Highness can arrange it as soon as possible." ”

"Your Excellency the President is going to Shanghai, and I can arrange for a battleship escort immediately." Yi Zhengxing said without thinking, now that the negotiations have ended, it is not a bad thing for the other party to go to Shanghai to talk to the old man in person, anyway, he is also preparing to return to Shanghai.

Politely sent Pretorius to the carriage, and watched the carriage leave the courtyard gate, Zhao Liewen said in a sullen voice: "The big shopkeeper has always been easy to speak, and he has no strong will to ....... ”

"Sir, is you trying to take advantage of the opportunity to persecute?" Yi Zhengxing shook his head slowly, "The Boers are used to being poor, and they may not be able to fulfill Mr. wishes." ”

Shanghai, on the Huangpu River, a medium-sized steamer flying the sea soul flag slowly went up the river, on the deck, Huang Dianyuan, who had white hair, looked at the prosperous scene along the coast with emotion, some cloudy eyes, full of emotion, mixed with some memories of the past.

"President, the wind is strong on the river." Wu Mingsheng, vice president in his early forties, advised: "I'm going to dock soon, let's go back to the cabin first." ”

"I want to stay in Shanghai for a while longer." Huang Dianyuan said softly: "I've seen the big shopkeeper, you go back to Gropa first." ”

"Hmm." Wu Mingsheng responded obediently, and the old man's health deteriorated, and this was the last time he came to Shanghai.

The ship slowly approached the dock, and the passengers on the ship thought that they were tired of being at sea, and rushed to the dock, Huang Dianyuan boarded to the end unhurriedly, and then slowly stepped on the dock under the escort of several people, Yan Shikuan, who had been waiting on the dock, hurriedly greeted him, and said with a smile: "I've seen Mr. Huang." ”

"How dare you take the shopkeeper to pick it up in person." Huang Dianyuan returned the salute with a smile.

"Mr. Huang's words are going to be killed." Yan Shikuan said with a smile: "I haven't seen you for a few years, the big shopkeeper and the subordinates are all worried, if it is not inconvenient, the big shopkeeper will come to pick it up in person." ”

"The last thing the big shopkeeper likes is to usher in the send-off." Huang Dianyuan said with a smile, and then ordered: "I haven't seen Mr. Yan yet." ”

Wu Mingsheng hurriedly arched his hand and said, "Wu Mingsheng has seen Mr. Yan in the next." ”

"Mr. Wu doesn't have to be polite." Yan Shikuan saw that he was quite faced, and he didn't feel a little strange, but he didn't care, and stretched out his hand to politely say, "Mr. Huang, please——。 ”

Under Yan Shikuan's arrangement, he rested for an afternoon, and at five o'clock, Huang Dianyuan went to Zhennan Wangfu, Yi Zhishu specially set up a banquet for him to catch the wind and wash the dust, and he didn't invite others, only let Yan Shikuan accompany him.

Huang Dianyuan was very drunk when he was young, and he was also very good at wine, especially spirits, as he got older, the amount of alcohol also decreased sharply, because of physical reasons, the doctor strongly asked him to quit drinking, in recent years, he has rarely served a cup, easy to understand his situation, naturally did not dare to go on spirits, on the warm rice wine, the wine glass was deliberately replaced with a money cup, and the dishes were mainly Fujian cuisine.

The three of them have been friends for decades, there are no outsiders and there is no restraint, and they are not young, at the end of the wine glass, they opened the chatterbox, and the cups came and went, and before they knew it, they were already two or two drinks.

Huang Dianyuan said with a reminiscing face: "The scene when we first met is still vivid, and in a flash, they are all old. ”

Referring to the past, Yi Zhixiang also sighed, "Forty years is just a flick of a finger, but fortunately, it was not in vain." ”

Glancing at him, Huang Dianyuan poured himself a glass of wine, drank it in one gulp, and then said, "This year, it's time for a change, right?" ”

Yi Zhixiang smiled and said, "It's good like this." ”

Huang Dianyuan was stunned and said, "King Gong is still going to be re-elected?" ”

"No, it won't." Yi Zhishu said slowly: "It should be Su Xiang." ”

"Brother Guocheng is in his early sixties, right?" Huang Dianyuan said slowly: "Don't you really plan to be the prime minister?" ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled and said, "Isn't it better to do this now?" Why bother to suffer for yourself. ”

"I think it's okay now." Yan Shikuan interjected: "If you want to manage things, no one dares not to listen, if you want to be idle, you can leave it alone, the financial power is in hand, the military power is in hand, and the control is in public opinion, there is no need to be the prime minister." ”

After a silence, Huang Dianyuan said: "Just let the Qing Dynasty be ten thousand years?" ”

"A generation can only do the things of a generation." Yi Zhixiang sighed with emotion, then poured himself a drink, put down the glass, he lit a cigarette casually, and then said slowly: "China's 3,000 years of feudal autocracy, culture, tradition, and ideology are deeply rooted, although in the past 40 years, we have spared no effort to carry out the propaganda of constitutionalism and republican thought, and spared no effort to popularize education, but if we want to implement a republic, our country still has a long way to go.

Each generation has its own mission, each generation has limited energy, limited time, and at the same time will be limited by the times, not that I don't want to overthrow the Manchus, but the time is not right.

The mission of our generation is to sow the seeds and lay a solid foundation, and as for the overthrow of the Manchus and the abolition of the constitutional monarchy, that is the mission of the next generation. ”

Huang Dianyuan said a little depressed: "I don't care if it's a constitutional monarchy or a republic, what I care about is the overthrow of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. ”

"Now that the monarch has established a constitution, what is the point of changing the dynasty?" Yi Zhixiang smiled, paused, and continued: "If I can be born a hundred years earlier, I will not hesitate to change the dynasty." But now, sincerity is not necessary.

Although our country has a long era of feudal monarchy, it frequently changes the dynasty through peasant uprisings, that is, the emperor takes turns to sit as the saying goes.

Therefore, for our country, the constitutional monarchy system cannot exist for a long time, even if it is a Han emperor, even if it is a hypothetical monarch, it is difficult to last for a long time, in this case, why should I bring trouble to future generations? ”

Speaking of this, he slowed down his tone and said, "And the most important point, if I am the emperor, can I still be a hypocrisy?" ”

Hearing this, Yan Shikuan smiled and said, "That's definitely an absolute monarchy!" And it's arbitrary! ”

"Actually, I don't want to be prime minister because of this concern." Yi Zhishu said in a relaxed tone: "If I am the prime minister, I will definitely empty the parliament, just like this declaration of war to the five countries, if it is submitted to the parliament for discussion, it will not be passed!" ”

Huang Dianyuan said: "Therefore, the national conditions of our country still have to be dictatorial!" ”

"The so-called dictatorship of cadres is dictatorship." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "Although the dictatorship does not conform to the trend of history and the trend of the times, it can be appropriately adapted and changed from one family to one family as a political party." ”

Hearing this, Huang Dianyuan relieved himself, this is equivalent to saying that the constitutional monarchy will be overthrown in the end, that is to say, the Manchu Qing will still be overthrown, even if he may not see that day in his lifetime, but at least he can rest assured.

The next morning, at eight o'clock, Huang Dianyuan took Wu Mingsheng into the long study house on time.

Although Wu Mingsheng is the vice president of the South China Association, he has been traveling to Europe and the Americas all these years, this is the first time he has seen Yi Zhizhi, and he is inevitably a little nervous, he knows very well in his heart that although the other party is not the supreme emperor of the Qing Dynasty, but his power is above the emperor and the prime minister, after bowing respectfully, he will stand behind Huang Dianyuan.

Yi Zhizu looked at him twice and said with a smile: "Don't be restrained, President Huang has mentioned you many times in his letters. ”

Huang Dianyuan added, "The promotion of you to vice president is also a proposal from the big treasurer. ”

Hearing this, Wu Mingsheng hurriedly bowed down and said, "The subordinates will definitely live up to the trust of the big treasurer." ”

The South China Society has now grown into the world's largest Chinese gang, with businesses all over the world, and is one of the most important sources of funding for Yizhifen, and Huang Dianyuan brought him to Shanghai this time to prepare for the abdication of Xian.

"Forty years ago, because of the ban on smoking in our country, England did not hesitate to use force to open the door of our country." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "Now that my country is giving back to the other in the other way, it is inevitable that it will also be banned by Western countries, so we must take precautions."

The South China Association cannot go all the way to the black, nor can it put all its eggs in one basket, and must allocate part of its energy to other legitimate businesses. ”

"Subordinates obey." Wu Mingsheng said without hesitation.

Yi Zhishu said slowly: "The conflict in South America may get bigger and bigger, this is an opportunity, pay more attention." ”

"My subordinates understand."

Yi Zhishu looked at Huang Dianyuan and said with a smile: "It's rare for Brother Rong to come to Shanghai, so I'll stay for a while more this time, it just so happens that I am also idle during this time, and I have time to accompany you more." ”

Huang Dianyuan smiled and arched his hand: "I also have this intention in the next, so it is better to be respectful than to obey my fate." ”

Suzhou Creek Park.

The park in the day is quite lively, you can see old people playing cards and chess everywhere, walking birds and drinking tea, and there are also many storytelling and practicing stalls, but the audience is basically some old men and old ladies, and it is rare to see children and young people, of course, holidays are another scene.

Su Shun and Xie Xiuyuan, who were dressed in long robes, walked side by side, strolling all the way and talking softly, the negotiations were over, and neither of them was in a hurry to return to Beijing, but stayed in Shanghai and waited, waiting for the imperial court to relieve the will of Prince Yiyun, the commander of the Shengjing Military Region. This matter is not only about the Northeast, but also about the stability of the Beijing Division, and Su Shun does not want to come to Shanghai again after returning to the Beijing Division.

Suzhou Creek Park is not very famous in Shanghai, nor is it a well-known attraction, but it is a gathering center for the elderly in Shanghai, especially retired workers and staff.

Su Shun came on purpose, mainly to learn about the retirement and pension system, for Yuanqi's ingenious system, the court officials are quite criticized, the reason is very simple, the court officials do not have pensions, but Yuanqi's staff and workers have, and their hearts are naturally unbalanced.

The two of them turned around, casually found some old men and old ladies to chat, and after a general understanding of the situation, they sat down on a relatively secluded wooden bench by the river to rest, "The longer the time, the greater the amount of pension that needs to be paid, what does Yuan Qi think?" ”

Xie Xiuyuan looked at the river and thought for a while before he spoke: "As early as the beginning of the creation of Yuanqi, the big shopkeeper seemed to have a preliminary idea of a retirement system and pension, but it was reflected in the way of a top stock at that time, and it should have been promoted in the factory after seeing good results." ”