Wang Simiao is the only one in the Beijing Party group who has not been put into practice, and his father is a Jinshi in the Tongzhi Nian. Wang Simiao has been studying under his father's strict orders since he was a child, and when the imperial examination was abolished by the imperial court, he was only admitted to the show. This is not that Wang Simiao's books are much worse than others, but because he doesn't like to practice calligraphy, and the imperial examination at the end of the Qing Dynasty doesn't read much articles, and whether the writing is good is the key factor. In order to practice calligraphy, Wang Simiao has been beaten since he was a child, and under such high pressure, Wang Simiao's dislike for the Manchu system is deep-rooted. Therefore, if the imperial examination failed, Wang Simiao did not want to be an official, but relied on the relationship of officialdom to do some speculative trading in and out.

These days, as the political situation of the imperial court has entered a stalemate, Wang Simiao is full of thoughts about how to benefit from this situation. After thinking about it but unable to find a way, he had no choice but to pull down his face and go to Zheng Wenjie for advice. After all, the two have now reached a preliminary small alliance, and in exchange for the benefits of sharing the intelligence system, Zheng Wenjie always has to give Wang Simiao advice.

After listening to Wang Simiao's thoughts, Zheng Wenjie asked with a smile: "Brother Wang, how do you want to get a handful?" ”

When Wang Simiao heard this, he felt unhappy for a while, if he already knew how to make a profit, why did he come to Zheng Wenjie to ask for a way. Zheng Wenjie's condescending and habitual attitude has always been unpleasant, Song Wenjie is a very power-loving person in the eyes of everyone, and since joining the Beijing Party Group, Zheng Wenjie has been committed to gaining a leadership position. He squeezed out Chen Ke and drove Chai Qingguo away. After Chen Ke, Shang Yuan and others left, Zheng Wenjie let go of his actions. Everyone is from officialdom, where do they not understand Zheng Wenjie's thoughts. Many people, including Wang Simiao, instinctively resisted Zheng Wenjie.

But Wang Simiao had to admit that Zheng Wenjie was genuine. When it comes to politics, Wang Simiao never thinks that he is worse than others, and he firmly believes that his failure to be admitted to the promotion is only due to the system. At least in the Beijing Party Group, Wang Simiao felt that he could definitely send the top three. It wasn't until he saw Zheng Wenjie's performance with his own eyes that Wang Simiao had to admit that he was not as good as he imagined.

After receiving the news of Chen Ke's success, there was no unified view in the Beijing party group. Even Wang Simiao himself thought of establishing an "intelligence communication line" with Chen Ke only because of business. At this time, Song Wenjie did not sway from side to side at all, and after discussing with Wang Simiao in private, he almost semi-forcibly made Wang Simiao agree not to make the matter of the communication line public for the time being, and the two temporarily monopolized the exchange of information with Chen Ke. Such a resolute and resolute approach is truly admirable.

"Brother Zheng, do you have any good plans?" Wang Simiao held back the unhappiness in her heart and said with an expression of seeking advice.

Seeing that Wang Simiao was so keen to make a profit, Zheng Wenjie had to persuade kindly: "Brother Wang, it's not that I refuse to help you. Now that the situation is chaotic and unclear, unless you are willing to stand on the cusp, where is the opportunity? It's right to ask for wealth and danger, and one party has to win. I don't think either side can win now. Why should you be in a hurry? ”

Zheng Wenjie's words are really heartfelt, he has already made a plan to exclude Wang Simiao from the "intelligence line", and only needs to wait for an intelligence agreement with Chen Ke to start the exclusive intelligence line plan. So at this stage, you have to hold on to Wang Simiao no matter what, and you can't let him have an accident.

Wang Simiao is prejudiced against Zheng Wenjie, Zheng Wenjie said that he can't easily get involved in the recent chaotic political situation, Wang Simiao's understanding is that Zheng Wenjie is ready to monopolize interests. He couldn't help but knock and said, "Brother Zheng, now that the interests in front of you are so big, can you monopolize it alone?" If we're working together, why shouldn't we be honest with each other? ”

Zheng Wenjie was startled by these words, and he thought that Wang Simiao had already figured out the vast future benefits of cooperating with Chen Ke. At this time, Zheng Wenjie had to deal with it with ambiguous words first, "People say that the praying mantis catches the cicada and the yellow finch is behind, and the bet must always be on the yellow finch." But where is this yellow finch so easy to find? ”

Wang Simiao stared at Zheng Wenjie, since he agreed with Zheng Wenjie's political vision, Wang Simiao believed that Zheng Wenjie had chosen the final winner, hearing Zheng Wenjie say this, Wang Simiao couldn't help asking: "If Beiyang and Qingliu can't win, then who is the final winner." Please also ask Brother Zheng to tell the younger brother about it. ”

Zheng Wenjie saw that Wang Simiao's expression was so serious, and he immediately understood what Wang Simiao's words to beat himself meant. It turned out that Wang Simiao didn't count Chen Ke into the category of yellow sparrow at all, and his mind was full of thinking about how to get benefits from the current situation in front of him. Thinking about this, Zheng Wenjie couldn't help but make a judgment to Wang Simiao. ”

Even in Beiyang, Zheng Wenjie is a radical. Zheng Wenjie is also a talent, and the reason why he didn't continue to take the exam was because he felt that he couldn't pass the exam, so he didn't think about it at all. After taking the test to show his fame, Zheng Wenjie simply defected to Beiyang. Although the Beiyang clique relied heavily on Prince Qing, the struggle between the Beiyang clique and the Manchu diehards was quite fierce. After the south had already demonstrated its limited disobedience to the imperial court through the "self-preservation of the southeast", the Beiyang clique, with Zhili as its core foundation, hoped to eventually gain the leading power of the court by suppressing the Manchu clique.

Zheng Wenjie followed Wang Shizhen to run around, saw many things with his own eyes, Zheng Wenjie was more radical than most people in Beiyang, and he firmly believed that the Manchu Qing would not survive. From a historical point of view, it was only a matter of time before the Manchu ruling class was able to inflate the Beiyang clique to such an extent.

The reason why Zheng Wenjie bet on Chen Ke is that he has seen one thing clearly, the Beiyang Group does not recognize the situation at all, and the idea of most high-level officials is to seize the dominance of the government, rather than replace it. Chen Ke, like Zheng Wenjie, firmly believed that the fall of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was imminent. So when Chen Ke didn't have a few people in his hands, he dared to make up his mind to overthrow the Manchus. In contrast, the Beiyang Group has shown an obvious twilight.

Seeing that Wang Simiao, like the people in Beiyang, was full of struggles in the court, Zheng Wenjie was relieved. Wang Simiao will never compete with herself for the opportunity to cooperate with Chen Ke. Since Wang Simiao is so uncompetitive, Zheng Wenjie thinks that there is no need to save Wang Simiao. He smiled and said: "Brother Wang, think about it, Beiyang is no longer treated by the Queen Mother, so Cen Chunxuan will not win either." The Queen Mother is old, and she always has to think about what happens after her death. Brother Wang has read history books, do you see what was done at this time in history? ”

Wang Simiao's book is not very good, and he has a headache when he looks at most of the history books. After listening to Zheng Wenjie's words, Wang Simiao simply asked straightforwardly: "Brother Zheng might as well say it clearly." ”

"Brother Wang, if you want to find that yellow finch, you don't care how you sing on stage. You will find someone that the Queen Mother will eventually trust after the dust settles. ”

"The Queen Mother's trusted person?" Wang Simiao was a little puzzled.

"It's not someone the Queen Mother trusts, but someone the Queen Mother will trust in the end." Zheng Wenjie said with a smile.

Zheng Wenjie's words were very mysterious, and Wang Simiao didn't understand them at all. The people in the court, whether it is Yuan Shikai or Cen Chunxuan, look like they are all trusted and relied on by Cixi. And which of the other powerful ones is not trusted by Cixi? If you want to find out who Cixi ultimately trusts from the middle, it is really difficult to judge.

"Please also ask Brother Zheng to be more clear." Wang Simiao asked eagerly.

"In the end, the Queen Mother did not trust the constitutionalists or the royalists. Those who can only gain power by supporting the Queen Mother are the people that the Queen Mother ultimately trusts. Zheng Wenjie simply made his words clear, "These people on the stage now want the support of the Queen Mother." They are not actually the Queen Mother's people. If the Queen Mother returns to heaven, the emperor will be in power, and the Queen Mother will still be able to stand on their own feet in the court. Do you think the Queen Mother can really trust these people? Now that there are people in the court who are unwilling to make any more waves, then Cen Chunxuan, who has made such a big incident, will definitely have no chance. And since the Queen Mother can attack Lord Yuan, she will naturally not let Lord Yuan continue to be so beautiful. Therefore, since Brother Wang wants to bet, let's go to the back party. ”

This analysis is very reasonable, the problem is that Zheng Wenjie overestimated Wang Simiao's ability, and after thinking for a while, Wang Simiao still asked the question he was most concerned about, "Brother Zheng, which adult do you think I should follow." ”

If others had asked like this, Zheng Wenjie would have said the unpleasant things a long time ago. Wang Simiao is now holding the original intelligence line, Zheng Wenjie really can't do this. He smiled and said, "Brother Wang might as well try to see Prince Alcohol Zaifeng." This time to investigate Yang Cuixi's case, the Queen Mother hand-picked Zaifeng. It can be seen that the Queen Mother thinks that this person can be reused. Although Zaifeng does not understand government affairs, he knows how to advance and retreat. After investigating Yang Cuixi's case, he jointly signed the paperwork, and then resigned. It can be regarded as daring to do anything, and it is generally knowledgeable. In addition, Zaifeng is young and has no wings of his own, and Brother Wang will definitely gain if he follows his path. ”

Wang Simiao never expected Zheng Wenjie to recommend Zaifeng. Zaifeng is only twenty-four years old this year, and he has no hope at all. If you go to Zaifeng, when will you have a future? "Brother Zheng, do you have any other recommendations?" Wang Simiao was very unhappy with this recommendation.

"Brother Wang, you came to me because you trusted me, and I am very grateful for this kind of weight. If you can trust me, why should I deceive my brother? You think, other people are in high positions and power, even if you go, Brother Wang, you won't be taken seriously. Zaifeng is so young and suddenly gets someone to run away, how do you think he will treat him? ”

Wang Simiao was still reluctant, and asked Zheng Wenjie to give individual suggestions. But Zheng Wenjie also insisted on Zaifeng. He doesn't recommend anyone else at all. Wang Simiao couldn't screw it out, so she had to give up.

And the change of events once again proves Zheng Wenjie's foresight. Wang Simiao has been specializing in Zaifeng since the end of May. At this time, Zaifeng had already assumed the post of commander of Zhenghongqi Manchuria, responsible for the affairs of the Jianrui Battalion. Although this position is very high, it is only a matter of internal affairs of the Manchus themselves. In this era when the imperial court built a new army, adjusted the official system, and prepared for the constitution, everyone believed that the power of the Manchurians was destined to be greatly limited. Although these official positions and power look high, they are just embroidered pillows.

After Wang Simiao defected to Zaifeng, he got quite courtesy. On June 19, not long after the subordination of the two sides was confirmed, Cixi suddenly appointed Zaifeng to "walk at the military plane." This young man, who was only twenty-four years old, suddenly intervened in the center of power in the Manchu Qing Dynasty and became a hot upstart. In addition, Wang Simiao's political speculation was also a great success.

Because he followed the right master, Wang Simiao immediately got busy. Zheng Wenjie also fell quietly. By this time, his cousin had already brought back news of Chen Ke, and Chen Ke had sent people to Beijing to set up a liaison station. In the future, Zheng Wenjie only needs to hand over the latest information collected directly to the liaison officer in Beijing. There is no need for Chen Ke to specifically explain, Zheng Wenjie already understands that the intelligence line reached by Chen Ke and Wang Simiao has become a less important line. Zheng Wenjie was very satisfied, and he not only reached a tacit agreement with Chen Ke. And he was also able to get information that he couldn't get through Wang Simiao's line before.

Wang Simiao had a handle in the hands of Zheng Wenjie, and he didn't dare to touch Zheng Wenjie. As long as Chen Ke's power is not devastated, Zheng Wenjie himself already has an unbreakable position.

The Beijing Party Group is no longer the same organization that Chen Ke was in, and Chen Ke wanted to gather comrades who were willing to carry out revolution in person, and he had already made it clear that "if you don't have the consciousness of starting from farming without a head or a belt, then you don't really want revolution." This is also the real reason why Zheng Wenjie is dissatisfied with Chen Ke. Zheng Wenjie doesn't want to practice in this era at all, Zheng Wenjie clearly knows that this is not what he is good at.

Seemingly obscure in the operation of an intelligence organization, although the reputation is not prominent, but it is hidden behind the curtain of history, manipulating the entry of history into the city, this is the position that Zheng Wenjie hopes to have in this era. Whether it is the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Beiyang, Chen Ke, or any force in the future. What Zheng Wenjie wants is to see them run under the manipulation of his own intelligence. This feeling, this kind of self-awareness is what Zheng Wenjie needs.

After Chen Ke established a special intelligence line for the People's Party, news from within the Beijing court spread unimpeded to Anhui. These materials show Chen Ke a large part of the "Ding Wei political tide" that determined the fate of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Chen Ke had no idea of such a political struggle, and now he got the news only two days later than Beijing.

Since the dismissal of the imperial envoy Zhao Qilin, the reaction of the Beijing imperial court has been the strongest. The special issue of "Beijing Daily" sponsored by Qu Hongzhen's protégé Wang Kangnian released the news: "The official conference was held in the Songshan Thatched Cottage, and the joint title was joined to sue Zhao Yushi for support. On May 19, Zhao Binglin, the imperial historian, said that it was not appropriate for the official to be convicted, and the way was not to be stopped, and he protested by resigning with the crown. Yushi Yun Yuding also planned to "say that officials should not sit back" and opposed the dismissal of Zhao. On May 23, Jiang Chunlin played again, analyzed in detail all kinds of doubts in the recital of Zaifeng and Sun Jianai, and asked the imperial court to overturn the case and re-investigate.

But these attacks are at the end of the crossbow, and the position of Yixuan and others has regained stability. In the turmoil of the political tide, Yixuan and others were able to get out of adversity, in addition to Sun Jianai, Xu Shichang, Chengxun and others said that Xiang exonerated him, there were two more people who were very important. One is Shi Xu, the minister of military aircraft of the university, who had a close relationship with Yi and Yuan, and was worried that Qu and Cen would be useful, "in vain old Qingyi, and it will not be beneficial to the Manchurians", so when he was alone one day after the "Yang Cuixi case", he said something to break the "long-standing grudge" between Yixuan and Chunxuan, so that "the kindness can be solved a little". The other is Si Gege, the daughter of Yixuan, who is Cixi's pet and "weeps for her father and brother day and night". Of course, more importantly, the strength of the Beiyang faction far exceeded that of the incorruptible faction, and Cixi did not finally make up her mind to abandon Beiyang.

The third phase is from May 27 to August 21. After the Beiyang faction broke up the offensive of the incorruptible faction, they began to organize a counterattack.

At the beginning of Cen Chunxuan's arrival in Beijing, Cixi allowed him to enter at any time, and Cen did not refuse, repeatedly asking for a meeting or playing a sparse performance, and spoke freely, which made frequent waves in the government and the opposition, and Cixi gradually had the "meaning of tiredness". Yi and Yuan took the opportunity to display their strategy, so that Zhou Fu, the governor of Liangguang, and Song Shou, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, successively telegraphed Raoping, Huanggang, Qinlian and other places to "work together to rob" them, and it was difficult to pacify. On May 27, Yixuan "went to Cixi" and tried his best to exaggerate the military situation of Liangguang, claiming that Cen Chunxuan could not be pacified, and proposed to let Cen be the governor of Liangguang, which was agreed by Cixi. Cen Qu didn't know what was going on and couldn't take countermeasures. Immediately, Cen Chunxuan served as the governor of Guangdong, and Cen Chunxuan, who had only been the secretary of the Ministry of Posts and Communications for only 25 days, was expelled from Beijing. Cen was shocked and angry, and shouted: "The court employs people like this!" If there is today, why should I move Yunnan and Shu at that time?" Immediately folded up, and was reluctant to go to the post under the pretext of illness. On the 23rd, the Qing court again ordered him to take up his post. Cen wanted to meet the two palaces to redeem himself, but he was also hurriedly dismissed by Cixi in a few words, Cen knew that the capital no longer allowed him to exist, and he was unwilling to endure his anger to go to Guangdong, so he had to play the old trick again, and repeat his visit to Shanghai in the name of recuperation.

The two coaches of the incorruptible faction went to one of them, and their strength was greatly reduced, and the Beiyang faction made persistent efforts and aimed the spearhead at Qu Hongzhen. On May 23, Yu Shi Yun Yuding, who was once inclined to the incorruptible faction in the political tide, went to Tianjin to discuss with Yuan Shikai for the Beijing-Tianjin railway, during which he was courted by Yuan and accepted a bribe of 18,000 gold, willing to be a substitute gunman. On June 16, Yun presented Yang Shiqi, the right attendant of the Ministry of Agriculture and Industry and Commerce, who had prepared a recital of Qu Hongzhen, and the next day, Qu was dismissed. The Yun Clan's Bullet Seal charged Qu An with four crimes: one secretly informing the hall, the second instructing the official, the third yin forming foreign aid, and the fourth distributing party henchmen. The great military plane, without verification, was quickly reprimanded, causing people to be suspicious. Lin Shaonian, another important figure of the incorruptible faction, publicly defended after the order, "How can this be enough to convince people?", and when he was on duty with the class, he urged the dispatch to investigate, but Cixi could not shirk it, so she had to let Sun Jianai and Tie Liang investigate the matter, but also declared, "Lin wants to investigate, I don't know how to investigate the law?" Sun Jianai asked for the original bomb, but Cixi actually replied: "You check yourself, why bother to fold it?" Sun and Tie naturally won't be bored with themselves, and Qu's case can't be resolved.

The incorruptible faction lost power, but Cen Chunxuan still held the post of governor of Guangdong, and besides, this prince was quite unwilling to be lonely, and before leaving Beijing, he connected dozens of concerts and folds to discuss the government and politics. In order to completely eliminate the arc trouble, Beiyang Cen fell into the well again. On 1 June, a member of the Beiyang party learned that Cen was going to Shanghai, so he sent a secret telegram to the governor of Liangjiang: "Xilin Cen Chunxuan will leave Beijing as soon as his leave expires, and he has no other intentions and does not tolerate his sidelines." On July 8, Chen Qinggui, the imperial historian, participated in the performance of Cen "repeatedly refusing to go, and the competition was illegal, which was rare for more than 200 years". The attached film lists Cen's four major crimes of "greed, violence, arrogance, and bullying", and there are many places that implicate Sheng Xuanhuai, saying that Cen and Sheng rely on power to operate a joint venture. The compromise also mentioned that Cen had a relationship with the "anti-party" Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, Mai Menghua, etc., and repeatedly "recruited" Mai Menghua to "praise the shogunate". But after folding, Cixi only took out the two words of Sheng Xuanhuai and secretly checked that Sheng Xuanhuai was in Shanghai at the end of the meeting, and left the content of the impeachment of Cen in the middle. Beiyang saw that he couldn't fundamentally shake Cixi's trust in Cen, so he took a more powerful kill. There are quite a lot of accounts about the specific details of this "killing" at the time and later generations, but there are different opinions. The more popular theory is that the so-called "fake photo incident" was planned, namely Jiang

Through Cai Naihuang, a member of the Yuan clan, Duanfang forged a group photo of Cen with Kang, Liang, Mai Menghua and others in front of the "Times" building, and handed it to Yi and Yuan, who presented Cixi in front of him when he was alone, and Cixi was shocked and frightened after seeing it, and immediately dismissed Cen from his post.

Chen Ke couldn't help but shake his head again and again when he saw that Beiyang actually provided a "composite photo". He regretted very much why he didn't bring his notebook when he crossed over to buy something. The composite photo with PS software is definitely much more realistic than the composite photo in 1907.

But it didn't take long for new news to arrive. Chen Ke is like a butterfly that suddenly flew into this era, and the butterfly effect will eventually appear. Suddenly, someone made the relationship between Chen Ke and Yuan Shikai public, and "the court shook".