When Yan Fu mentioned Yuan Shikai's invitation to Chen Ke, Yuan Shikai, who was far away in Beijing, neither sneezed because of telepathy, nor did he suddenly feel a chill. On the contrary, Yuan Shikai looked at Chen Ke's name written on the paper, and only felt a sense of fiery anger from his heart.

In 1906, in order to avoid all kinds of political attacks on himself, Yuan Shikai took the initiative to hand over the military power and let the War Department directly control the first, third, fifth and sixth towns of the Beiyang Army. This is an attitude of loyalty. Therefore, not long ago, he suppressed Pang Zi's "rebellion" military operation, and he only sent a cavalry battalion from Texas. And this military operation was far from going as smoothly as expected. Pang Zi's troops actually had heavy weapons, including machine guns, and the cavalry battalion in Texas suffered more than 40 casualties in this battle. Not only that, although Pang Zi's troops were defeated, Pang Zi himself fled without a trace, and still escaped from the battlefield. The "remnants of Jing Tingbin" were not completely exterminated.

To make matters worse, two officers of the new army, including the deputy leader, were assassinated after the battle. It is said that their assassin was an old man who brought tea and water to them. This kind of thing made Yuan Shikai very unhappy. And it also gave Yuan Shikai's political opponents an excellent excuse. At that time, some people questioned that Yuan Shikai was not strict in governing the army, and the new army was unbearable. To make matters worse, Xingtai was not far from Beijing, and some people instigated the subordinate inspectors to impeach the New Army in the name of "killing the good and risking the merits" of the New Army.

The evidence here is really not fabricated, and in retaliation for the assassination of its commander, the new army arrested and killed the remaining "villagers" in Gaojiazhai. And these "villagers" are actually local landlords, because they can't let go of their family business, they haven't left. They also have some official backgrounds, and this complaint made Yuan Shikai very passive.

Yuan Shikai originally felt that this anti-bandit operation was very bad, he was good at the army, and as soon as he brought it up to report, he knew that he had encountered a very unusual bandit. Pang Zi is really a typical example. Therefore, the combat effectiveness of Pang Zi's subordinates is not very bad. On the one hand, there was dissatisfaction with the New Army, and on the other hand, disgust with political opponents. The combination of the two emotions, coupled with Wang Shizhen's personal visit to Xingtai to investigate, and after the investigation report was submitted, Yuan Shikai finally became a little annoyed.

"That Chen Wenqing is actually involved with Pang Zi?" Yuan Shikai asked.

"Yes. I copied out some letters at Pang Zi's house. Not only Pang Zi, but also Wu Xingchen and Chai Qingguo, who are the remnants of Jing Tingbin, are all related to Chen Ke. I specially took the pictures of that year for the countryside to recognize. The people in the countryside recognized them. They and Chen Ke had both stayed at Pang Zi's house the year before last. Not only that, but there is another person, that is, Chen Tianhua of the Huaxing Association not only accompanied Chen Ke in the capital for a few months, he stayed with Pang Zi until the new army went to exterminate Pang Zi before escaping. "There are very few outsiders in the countryside, and the villagers remember these outsiders very well. One by one, Wang Shizhen's investigation is quite clear.

"Yan Jidao actually recommended a chaotic party to us? No wonder Chen Ke refused to ask to come to my door to be an official. Yuan Shikai was already quite annoyed when he said this.

Regarding this evaluation, Wang Shizhen did not interject. From the beginning, he felt that Chen Ke was very wrong, and when others saw Yuan Shikai, they all sharpened their heads to find an errand. And Yuan Shikai also takes good care of these "juniors", as long as he is willing to be obedient and can endure hardships, this errand will never be less. And Chen Ke didn't have this attitude at all, not only that, although Chen Ke abided by the etiquette of his juniors, he had a subconscious spirit of fighting against Yuan Shikai. Originally, Wang Shizhen still felt that Chen Ke was just a teenager with a young heart, and he didn't know how thick the sky was. Now it seems that Chen Ke did not take Yuan Shikai as his own from the beginning.

"Since the honeycomb coal yard run by Chen Keban was destroyed by Shanqi, the people there have actually gone to Shanghai. I've already sent a letter to Shanghai, and the letter from Shanghai is not very good. A year ago, there was a big uproar in Shanghai about the trial of the public party, and a non-governmental organization called Huangpu Publishing House was inseparable. This Whampoa Book Society was founded by Chen Ke. ”

After hearing this, Yuan Shikai simply pushed the report in front of him away and couldn't help laughing. "To make the secretary pay so much attention, it seems that Chen Ke is definitely a chaotic party. Where is he now? ”

"Now nowhere to be found. According to the news in Shanghai, it is likely that Chen Ke robbed the people arrested in the case of the trial of the public party, and then these people ran away without a trace. Some said he went to Guangdong, some said he went to Japan, and some said he went to Anhui. But it's not credible. ”

"Isn't Anhui causing a disaster? If Chen Ke is really so bad, there should be news these days. Yuan Shikai said with a smile.

"Yes. If Chen Ke was really rebelling, there should have been news by now. Since there is no news from Anhui, he should not have gone to Anhui. Wang Shizhen agrees with Yuan Shikai's judgment, "However, this person's books have been very popular in recent days, and there are a large number of reprints in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou." If Yuan Gong encounters this person in the future, he must not be unguarded. ”

Yuan Shikai had already suppressed his smile, and said with a straight face: "Pingqing is about to become the governor of Jiangbei, and after you take office, check this person well." I wrote to Yan Jidao a few days ago, asking him to take Chen Ke into Beijing. I don't dare to come to see me when I think of Yan Jidao, when I am passing by Shanghai, I might as well go and meet him and listen to Yan Jidao's explanation of this matter. ”

Wang Shizhen nodded yes, but this is all for later. He was more concerned about the current matter, "Yuan Gong, this crackdown on bandits is a warrant from you personally. That's why those envoys are so hard to make a fuss about this matter. I thought it would be better to leave the matter to the War Department. Don't meddle in this matter again. Otherwise, you will deal with it heavily, the New Army of Texas will feel wronged, and if you deal with it lightly, the imperial envoys will definitely not give up. ”

Yuan Shikai was reluctant to let go of this matter easily, but what Wang Shizhen said was very reasonable, since this matter has made trouble, and it has been clear that someone is fanning the flames behind his back, no matter how Yuan Shikai deals with it, there will be no good result. And if Yuan Shikai blindly fights, it seems that he is unwilling to let go of military power. The Beiyang New Army has long been considered to be Yuan Shikai's private soldiers, and even Cixi already has a faint sense of dissatisfaction, and temporarily retreating in this matter is also a clever trick to protect herself.

"As the secretary said." Yuan Shikai finally agreed.

The Manchu court in 1906 can also be said to have made great moves, since the Wuxu Reform, Cixi killed the six gentlemen and imprisoned Guangxu. However, there was no relaxation in the new policy. The old woman knew that she had made a big mistake, and knew that as soon as she relinquished her power, she would be killed immediately. In order to stabilize the situation, she worked hard to run the country with her own knowledge. For the new policy, Cixi's feeling is that she must not stop. This is not only because it is said that the New Deal can enrich the country and strengthen the army, but also because the princes and ministers in the court who are still alive are very supportive of the New Deal. Even because of this, Cixi could not abandon the New Deal.

When Yuan Shikai was discussing how to close the case of suppressing bandits, Prince Su Shanqi was visiting Cixi. Shanqi is very hearty, with a long face, a mustache, and looks very majestic. Cixi didn't like Prince Su Shanqi very much. It started with one thing. The Chongwenmen superintendent can not only accept bribes, but also collect part of the taxes, and in a year, the superintendent can get tens of thousands of taels of silver, which has always been recognized as a fat shortage. During the Gengzi Incident, the Suwang Mansion located in Dongjiaomin Lane was destroyed in the war, and the Qing court ordered Shanqi to serve as the superintendent of Chongwenmen, including the intention of letting him get some income from the tax "commission" and build another palace. After Shanqi took office, he didn't receive this favor and paid all the taxes. In this regard, the Empress Dowager Cixi not only did not praise it, but said: "If you do this according to King Su, who else will be willing to be the overseer of Chongwenmen in the future!" ”

Cixi is a woman, and she also has the roundness that is unique to women. She knew how to strike when she had to do it, it was just an instinct that had to be mastered in the court. But politicians need that kind of magnanimity, that kind of courage to be able to be inclusive, and Cixi did not have it. She can endure it, but she can't accept it. For Cixi, using all kinds of relationships is what she is good at, and as for creating a certain political situation, and cultivating and developing it wholeheartedly, this is not what Cixi is good at. The old lady in this deep palace does not have this ability. Prince Su's seemingly incorruptible style will give later people an excuse to cause disputes, as Cixi said, "If you do everything according to King Su, who else will want to be the overseer of Chongwenmen in the future!" If the latter continue to make money for themselves, their political opponents will definitely use Shanqi's practices as an example to impeach their successors. That would only lead to all sorts of disputes. But the Chongwenmen overseer should be fished out. Rather, we cannot continue the model of incorruptibility, and let people use the excuse of incorruptibility to cause trouble. Cixi did not think this was the right thing to do.

So Cixi didn't like that kind of radical political ideas, radical things can easily get out of control, she once let Guangxu take power, and even tolerated Guangxu's radical measures. As a result, Guangxu was preparing to send troops into Beijing to kill Cixi and the Hou Party. The impact of this incident on Cixi was very profound.

"Queen Mother, now the constitution is ready to be issued. Many people in the imperial court thought that the constitution should be slowed down, but it was a big mistake. Whenever you do great things, you must move forward, so that even if there is a dispute, no matter how much you quarrel, it will be a quarrel about how well these things are done, but it will not change the direction of the great thing. If you go slowly, all kinds of trivial things will be taken out. This is a great thing that cannot be done. Shanqi worked hard to persuade Cixi.

Cixi listened quietly, but couldn't help but think in her heart, didn't Shanqi think of the lesson of serving as the overseer of Chongwenmen?