Guanghou's yang rice is scorching and dazzling, and Wen Ban has risen to the highest, and people standing in the house armor will sweat quickly.

There is an electric fan in the study, which is blowing vigorously, and several servants in shorts and shorts are sweating and tidying up the study, tidying up the desks and wiping the four treasures of the study, and even the sandalwood screen that is clean and clean is wiped around by a servant with a silk handkerchief.

At this time, the English-made table clock struck the hammer, and it was already two o'clock in the afternoon.

Hearing the bell, the servants sped up, cleaned up within two minutes, and then stood at the door of the study, looking at the nose and the nose and heart.

A few minutes later, a butler walked into the study. With his hands behind his back, he carefully examined the desk and screen. Then, with a wave of his hand, he took the servants away, while the Shruga himself stood up straight at his desk. He also stood with his hands down, facing the door, staring ahead with his eyes, looking calm and relaxed. On the wall behind the housekeeper, there is a plaque with four big characters written on it: "The First Idler"

After a few minutes, the figure at the door flickered, Zhang Han walked into this study, since he became the vice president of the Republic of China, his work and rest are very regular, and he always has to sit in the study after lunch every afternoon. But most of the time there is no official business to do, very idle, in fact, the plaque hanging on the wall on the "first idler" is his handwriting.

This courtyard is Zhang Sai's palace in Beijing, although he is the vice president, but as a person. The "idler" his apartment is not eye-catching, but it is just a deep mansion compound, but there are more guards.

"Master, how about taking a lunch break?"

Seeing Zhang Sai come in, the housekeeper hurriedly took a few steps, greeted the master according to the rules, and moved the electric fan behind the door to the desk.

"I don't need you to serve here, you go down, my lord, I want to be alone and quiet."

Zhang Xiao waved his hand, and the housekeeper exited the study with interest, but he didn't go far, and sat down on the railing of the cloister next to him, facing the direction of the study.

After the butler was gone, Zhang Sai sighed, sat down at the desk, and picked out a few items from the stack of papers. Unhurriedly flip through it.

As the vice president of the Republic of China, although Zhang Xiao has no real power, he is not the slightest bit concerned about government affairs. The current water conservancy work of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is actually under the guidance of Vice President Zhang, since the Qing Dynasty. Zhang Sai began to pay attention to the water conservancy cause, but the Qing court had no time to take care of the water conservancy work, and Zhang Xiao could only talk on paper, and now, the Republic of China government has carte blanche to entrust Vice President Zhang to preside over the national water conservancy work, which can be regarded as a trust in him. But at the same time, it may not be one of the conspiracies of Mr. President, perhaps he wants Vice President Zhang to be divided by government affairs. In that case, the NLD would have no time to focus on more political struggles.

Zhang Sai is not only the vice president of the Republic of China, but also the leader of the only opposition National League in the National Assembly. It was a wise choice, of course. This is also inseparable from the support of the center, especially financial and technical support, without funds, the Yellow River embankment, the Yangtze River embankment is impossible to talk about, no technology, just rely on a champion industrialist busy before and after, I am afraid that it is also doing useless work.

Now, the center has decided to build a large reservoir in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, which is a large-scale water conservancy project integrating flood storage, electricity, irrigation and sand discharge. Some time ago, the surveying and mapping work was completed, and the drawings designed by American engineering experts have also passed the review of the Ministry of Heavy Industry. Determination of large-scale water conservancy projects, but as a necessary procedure. The construction plan was transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. and then transferred to Zhang Han.

"To be honest, in his opinion, this project is indeed very ambitious, but at the same time it is very risky, because so far, the survey of the whole basin of the Yellow River has not been completed, and a comprehensive reservoir project is suddenly launched at this time." In the past two years, the Ministry of Heavy Industry and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry have jointly completed several small hydropower station projects, the benefits are very good, and the investment results are fast, which makes people forget the sweetness of tasting it, so although the draft of this large-scale reservoir construction design has been sent for two days, Vice President Zhang has not yet made instructions, and he is still hesitating. Because the cost of this project is staggering. The construction period is also too long, and it is unclear how much it will help the flood control work of the Yellow River.

Zhang Han is now more concerned about China's alliance with Germany than with this project, as a leading figure in the backbone of the opposition to the Sino-German alliance. Vice President Zhang was pushed to the forefront again this time and confronted Mr. President, which made him feel a little emotional.

Fortunately, Mr. President seems to be very cautious about the Sino-German alliance, although he let his cronies create public opinion in the Congress, but in the end he did not come hard. No one knows how this situation will unfold, and the key is to see the attitude and practices of the strongman president.

In the turmoil of the Sino-German alliance, Zhang Han once again tasted the taste of betrayal, and the senior senators in the Congress had sworn to Vice President Zhang that they would definitely support the position of the National League in the debate in the Congress, but when the matter came, the senior staff members immediately changed their faces, Yang Wangpeng, Wang Zhanyuan, Jiang Guidi, Zhao Wei, and Ruan Zhongshu, all of whom appreciated the proposal of the Sino-German alliance, and Zhang Sai understood with his toes that these people were probably bought by the president.

But then again, for the exaggerated performances of the congressmen, Zhang Yu always felt that it was deliberately arranged, so as not to cook to show others, and then contact the presidential palace chamber to lead Shen Biyi to the actions in the Congress. I'm afraid this whole thing was planned by the president, and as for what his intentions were, it is difficult to figure out.

Just as Zhang Xiao pondered the recent strange behavior of the congressman, the voice of the butler came from outside the house.

"Sir. Mr. Yan Fanmu asked to see him. ”

Knowing that Yan Xiu was coming, Zhang Sai gathered his mind and instructed the housekeeper to invite Yan Xiu to the study to meet.

After a while, Yan Xiu followed the housekeeper into the study, holding a scroll in his hand, judging from the width. It seems to be a painting.

At that time, Zhang Xiao and Yan Xiu were under the curtain of Yuan Shikai, although they did not work together for a long time, but both of them were born in the taxi and had a common language, and now both of them live in Beijing, which is also often moving around each other, entertaining themselves with calligraphy and painting, Yan Xiu even received a pass, which can easily enter and exit the presidential palace, of course, now Zhang Xiao is in the need center, Yan Xiu does not even have to accept the interrogation of the guards.

"Brother Ji. Do you know whose painting I have in my hand? ”

Seeing Zhang Xiao's face, Yan Xiu was not polite, put the scroll painting on the desk, pointed to the painting and asked Zhang Sai.

"Fan garlic. I'm not a fortune teller on the street, you don't unfold the picture. How can I guess it's the Fang family's handiwork? ”

"It's fine. I'll show you the painting first, but you can't see the inscription and the inscription, and you can't see the seven-word poem. ”

Yan Xiu smiled and slowly unfolded the scroll. But it is a picture of four bamboos in ink and wash, although he has words first, but Zhang Cha still can't help but glance at the seven-character poem inscribed at the head of the painting.

"Poetry wine base is tired of the rivers and lakes,"

Zhang Wu read the seven-word poem. This made Yan Xiu a little crying and laughing.

"Brother Ji Zhi, you are not authentic, reading this poem, isn't it equivalent to reading the payment?"

Zhang Xiao smiled faintly, took the scroll, unfolded it completely, and looked at the payment, as expected, this painting was made by the "Water Bamboo Post Man".

"Shuizhu Post Man" is Xu Shichang, the former president of the Republic of China, who is very accomplished in calligraphy and Chinese painting, and like Yan Xiu, he has entered Shijidi and Hanlin background, plus he has entered Yuan Shikai's mansion, and the relationship between the two is also very close.

"This is a painting given to you by Xu Juren? When did you go to Wuhan? ”

Zhang Wu is a little strange, Xu Shichang has been living in the Hankou Concession for the past two years, running a textile factory, and Yan Xiu is in charge of education in Beijing, so he has this question.

"It's not that I went to Wuhan, it's Brother Juren who came to Beijing. I just arrived yesterday, and he originally wanted to sit in your mansion and see his old friends, but it suddenly rained last night, and it didn't come to pass, so he planned to come over today. But he was invited by a group of students. I had to find another time to meet Brother Ji. ”

"Brother Juren has arrived in Beijing? What did he come to Beijing for? ”

"I heard that it is for the imitation weaving association, and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce plans to invite him to be the meeting of the imitation weaving association

Zhang Xiao was stunned. Nodding, he took a closer look at the painting. Then he sighed.

"Although Brother Juren's seven-word poem is neatly done, there is a sense of seclusion in the poem, and he, the president of the imitation weaving association, may not be able to do it for a long time."

"Brother Ji Zhi is really amazing! Yes, this time I came to Beijing, Brother Juren is not here to be the president, he is here to insist on the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, he has already taken a telegram, but the Ministry of Industry and Commerce does not seem to understand that he is not modest, so he simply came over in person, and told the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to understand, he will make up his mind to be a common man in the future, not an official. ”

Yan Xiu praised again and again, and between his words, he appreciated Xu Shichang's approach.

"Paradigm. You are wrong, the president of this imitation weaving association is only an honorary title, not an official. In fact, in my opinion, the reason why Brother Juren is reluctant to go out of the mountain. I'm afraid it's because of his dissatisfaction with the center, but I've heard about the "new culture movement" he advocated for the center. Very not

"So what? Now that speech is about freedom, the center can advocate a new culture, and naturally others can also adhere to the old culture, if only the new culture is allowed and the old culture is not allowed, then what is the difference between it and Qin Shi Huang's book burning and Confucianism? ”

"I don't argue with you about that. You didn't come here today just to show off this chrysanthemum brother's ink treasure to me, right? ”

"Naturally not. I have a letter here, a letter of protest from the American consul, and the center snatched a group of international students from Tsinghua Park a few days ago. I was sent to study in Germany at public expense, and now the Americans are very annoyed, and it is inconvenient for them to protest directly with the center, so they handed me the protest letter, but I read the contents of the letter. The U.S. consul seemed to want to reveal the contents of the letter to the president, so I thought about it and simply asked the vice president to pass it on to the president. ”

Hearing Yan Xiu's true intentions, Zhang Xiao couldn't help but smile bitterly, "Heng said: "Why do American politicians always do things like this, could it be that Americans are so natural?" ”

Yan Xiu shook his head and said, "This has nothing to do with national character, only about diplomacy." In my opinion, the United States now seems to be dissatisfied with the growing proximity between China and Germany, but it is only because of the close commercial and trade relations between China and the United States, and it cannot block the prosperity head-on. ”

“

"Here."

Yan Xiu handed over the letter, but he didn't wait for Zhang Sai to take out the letter. The butler's voice came from outside the door again.

"Sir. Mr. Tadajiro Nomura asked to see him. ”

"Tadajiro Nomura? What am I doing here today? ”

Zhang Xiao hesitated for a moment, and then ordered the housekeeper to bring people over, and Yan Xiu obviously did not plan to stay in the study for a long time, so he hurriedly said goodbye and left the study of the "first idler" with the housekeeper.