Xu Shichang stood behind the desk, and the housekeeper Lao Cai hurriedly picked up the brush with both hands, then straightened his waist, hesitated, and still asked.

"Master, this man has arrived at the door, and threatens to see him if the master does not see him. He stayed at the doorhill and did not leave. Master, do you see it? ”

After asking twice, Xu Shichang came back to his senses, pondered for a moment, raised his finger and pointed to the floor under his feet, and said: "Bring him over, go to this study, and when he comes, you stay outside the door, no one is allowed to come over without orders." ”

The housekeeper Lao Cai answered, turned around, Xu Shichang didn't call anyone, cleaned up the desk by himself, then pulled a stool and sat by the window, picked up the book "Zizhi Tongjian" and pretended to look at it.

After a while, the housekeeper Lao Cai led the two into the study, Xu Shichang looked up, and saw that the guest who followed Lao Cai was the Beiyang politician Sheng Xuanhuai who was approved by the Republic of China government because of the "Congressional Liquidation Case", as for the guest who followed last, it was not a stranger, but Yuan Shikai's eldest son Yuan Keding.

Yuan Keding actually came over with Sheng Xuanhuai, which made Xu Shichang a little surprised, because if it wasn't for Sheng Xuanhuai, Yuan Shikai, the "inverted Yuan Group", probably wouldn't have been so angry that he would have died, it is said that Yuan Dagongzi should not share the genius with Sheng Xuanhuai's gang to the Yuan faction, but now it seems that the relationship between the two seems to be good, and they actually came to meet the former president of the Republic of China together.

Although it is strange in his heart, this necessary etiquette is indispensable, Xu Shichang and Sheng Xuanhuai are subordinate and subordinate courtesies, while Yuan Ke is a junior salute to Xu Shichang.

After a slight greeting, the two sides sat down, and the housekeeper Lao Cai served tea and snacks, then exited the study, closed the door, and then stayed outside the door.

Only Xu Shichang, Sheng Xuanhuai, and Yuan Keding are left in the study, and they can have secret discussions.

"Brother Xing Garlic, now you are a criminal wanted by the government of the Republic of China and on the run, you came to see me today, I don't know if you are here to surrender? If so, I can intercede with you. ”

Xu Shichang got straight to the point, but he didn't save any face for the other party.

Sheng Xuanhuai smiled bitterly: "Juren, when did you learn to be witty?" Surrender? Sheng has been in the officialdom for half his life, how could he be willing to go to that prison to suffer and suffer? Today's visit is just to discuss things with the chrysanthemum people. ”

Xu Shichang was stunned and said, "What are you discussing with me?" Do you want to invest in industry? Now I'm a businessman, not a politician, not a bureaucrat, I'm only interested in business, I'm not interested in politics at all. ”

Seeing that Xu Shichang would die as soon as he came up, Sheng Xuanhuai was not reconciled, raised his finger and pointed at Yuan Keding, who was sitting beside him, and said: "Actually, if it weren't for Yuan Gongzi, I wouldn't have come to Wuhan, and the matter we discussed with Juren today is also extremely confidential." ”

Xu Shichang glanced at Yuan Keding and said coldly: "Yuan Gongzi, you are now a member of the House of Representatives, this is the Congress's affirmation of Yuan Xiangcheng's contribution to the "establishment of the republic", and it is also the people's trust in your ability. It seems a little inappropriate for you to come to Wuhan instead of staying in Beijing and participating in congressional affairs now. ”

In fact, this is to put it mildly, a congressman and a fugitive who was compiled by the government got together, this is too unusual, although he has long figured out the nature of this Yuan Gongzi, but Xu Shichang still feels sad for Yuan Shikai, and they all say that the tiger father has no dog son, but in this Yuan Gongzi, Xu Shichang can't see this.

Where can Yuan Keding guess the true meaning of Xu Shichang's words? He also thought that Xu Shichang was worried about his future.

"Thank you Xu Xiang for reminding me, but the juniors came to Han this time and went to the Congress to ask for leave, and Speaker Li and Speaker Tang both approved it, so others naturally couldn't catch the pigtails of the juniors."

Yuan Keding first said a few polite words, and then changed the conversation and said the real purpose of his visit to Xu Shichang.

"This time I came to Han, and the younger generation came to ask Xu Xiang for advice. A few days ago, the younger generation heard rumors that President Zhao Da was planning to sign a secret agreement with the Russian government, but the National Assembly knew nothing about the matter, although both Speaker Li and Speaker Tong flatly denied that the government was conducting secret negotiations with the Russian government. But the news that the younger generation got was very accurate, and it didn't seem to be groundless, therefore, the younger generation was a little undecided, remembering that Xu Xiang had taken refuge in Wuhan, so he came over, and wanted to ask Xu Xiang for a plan, and met Mr. Sheng Xingcheng on the road, and told him about it, so we simply came over together, and went to Han today, first to visit Xu's house, but the next person said that Xu Xiang went to the dock, so we rushed to the dock again, and didn't want to meet Xu Xiang's carriage halfway, so we followed Xu Xiang back

"It turns out that there are two people who are following Xu? No wonder the person who greeted him looked familiar, it must be a descendant of the Sheng Mansion, right? If that person had a fierce face, Xu would have thought that he was being targeted by gangsters.

Xu Shichang deliberately made a look of sudden realization and sighed a few words, but he was very good at the essence of "taking care of it".

But how shrewd Sheng Xuanhuai was, he was naturally unwilling to let Xu Shichang go, he was older than Xu Shichang. He has always been a member of the Beiyang Group, and now he is vengeful, of course, he wants to pull Xu Shichang into the water, trying to rely on Xu Shichang's appeal to win over a group of politically frustrated politicians and set off a political turmoil.

"Brother Juren, two years ago, you were ousted by the United Front with despicable tricks, and now, the leader of the United Front, Zhao Yuan, plans to sign a traitorous treaty with the Russian government, this is a great opportunity for you to take revenge, how can you miss it? If we take this opportunity to launch an impeachment case in Congress, even if we can't oust Zhao Bei from power, at least it will be able to seriously damage the vitality of the United Front, and when the time comes, the National League will be able to grasp the hearts and minds of the people, and then control the Congress, and it may not be able to elevate you to the presidency again. ”

Sheng Xuanhuai's words are quite straightforward and quite explicit, compared to the immature Yuan Keding, this old Beiyang politician is worthy of being an old fox in the officialdom, as soon as he came up, he made his words clear, and directly took out the benefits, wanting Xu Shichang to take the bait.

But what Sheng Xuanhuai didn't know was that the current Xu Shichang had lost interest in politics at all, and since he was not as interested in the United Front as Sheng Xuanhuai, he naturally wouldn't focus on the pigtails of the United Front

"Brother Xing, as I just said, I am now a businessman, not a politician, and I am not interested in politics at all, let alone electing me as president, or electing me as emperor, I will not do it. Besides, it is doubtful whether the information you have received is accurate, and I do not believe that with the joint calculation of the line and the means of President Zhao Da, they will leak the secrets of the secret negotiations between the government and Russia.

Seeing that Xu Shichang seemed to be a little uninformed, Sheng Xuanhuai had no choice but to show "sincerity." He said: "Brother Juren, this source is reliable, because this is not from the central government, but from Russia, it is news from Li Jigao

"Li Jigao?" Xu Shichang was slightly surprised.

Li Jigao is Li Jingmai, the second son of Li Hongzhang, a former Qing minister, who served as the Qing court's minister to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At the time of the explosion, he was ordered to return to China to report on his work, borrowing the Trans-Siberian Railway, but before returning to China, the Qing court fell, Yuan Shikai appointed Li Jingmai as the minister to Russia, and after the United Front seized power, he was not recalled to China, so now Li Jingmai is still the Chinese minister to Russia, he is very familiar with the Russian upper echelons, and from them you can often get some news and intelligence that ordinary people can't get.

"If it is news from others, it may not be reliable, but the news from Li Jigao, this is nine points certain. Brother Chrysanthemum, you are an old man in Beiyang, you can't watch Beiyang disappear like this, right? Defeating the United Front is the time for us to make a comeback in Beiyang

"You don't have to say it. Brother Xing Garlic, haven't you understood? Our Beiyang has long disappeared! Don't look at the fact that there are still a group of people who claim to be the relics of Beiyang, but they can't support the wall in the mud, they oppose the United Front, that's because they have not been entrusted with important responsibilities and have not become officials, do you think there are really so many people who have not forgotten Beiyang? Besides, do you think that when the United Front used Congress to impeach me, they would allow others to impeach them today? You are wrong again! And how wrong! Today's united front, the forces have been densely spread in the center and the locality, if you want to play with them, they will play with you in the dark, you play with them in the law, they will play with you guns, back then, they even dared to kill their own people, do you think, they dare not kill you? ”

Seeing that Sheng Xuan was obsessed and obsessed, Xu Shichang had no choice but to break the layer of window paper to make the other party sober up.

But Sheng Xuanhuai was completely fascinated by hatred, he couldn't listen to Xu Shichang's words at all, and in Xu Shichang's words, he only noticed what he was interested in.

"Brother Juren, you said that the United Front even dared to kill its own people, but did you mean the assassination of Tao Chengzhang? However, Tao Chengzhang was the leader of the Kuomintang at that time, and the United Front had not yet been established. Sheng Xuanhuai asked.

Xu Shichang was stunned for a moment, and then realized that he was a little confused, the assassination of Song Jiaoren has always been a confused case, and who is the mastermind behind the scenes has not been determined, Xu Shichang personally speculated that this case may be related to the power struggle at the upper level of the United Front, but this is just his speculation, if he really wants to show evidence, he can't come up with it.

"Don't say it, don't say it. Apricot is called brother. I advise you, don't get involved in this matter again, you'd better go abroad as soon as possible and go to Nanyang to avoid the limelight. Keding, I also advise you, don't be used as a gun, today's political arena is very different from the former Qing Dynasty, even I dare not say that I can gain a firm foothold in the political arena, but where do you get your confidence? ”

Xu Shichang waved his hand, he was not so confused that he would go around into this political whirlpool, now he just wanted to get out of this political whirlpool as soon as possible and hide far away.

Seeing Xu Shichang pick up the teacup and raise his eyebrows, Sheng Xuanhuai knew that the other party refused to get on the thief ship, so he had to stand up stupidly. and Yuan Keding were very unwilling to say goodbye.

Xu Shichang didn't get up to send him off, these people themselves are going to die, of course he has to draw a line with them, so as not to be liquidated and suffer from the pond fish, to be honest, he is very satisfied with his current life, very content, contented people are always happy, and he wants to pull him to fight against the United Front, which is a pipe dream.

The housekeeper Lao Cai sent Sheng Xuanhuai and Yuan Keding out the door, and soon after turned back to the study, bringing a few newly published local newspapers.

"Master, Sheng Xuanhuai is here, should we go to the Wuchang Police Station to say something, so as not to be framed by someone when the time comes." Lao Cai said.

"It's fine. You go to the police station, but you only say that Sheng Xuanhuai is here, Yuan Gongzi's matter, if the other party doesn't ask, you don't have to say it, otherwise, Yuan Xiangcheng Jiuquan will also complain about me

Xu Shichang nodded, picked up a newspaper, glanced at it, and the headline on the front page of An Xian was particularly eye-catching, but it was a report on the abolition of the "town guard envoy" in the three eastern provinces, according to this report, several powerful figures in the three eastern provinces, Zhang Zuoshuang, Feng Delin, Wu Junsheng, and Ma Longtan have all been appointed as division commanders by the 6th Military Department, and have completely lost the right to manage civil affairs and financial issues.

Xu Shichang has been the governor of the three eastern provinces, of course he knows what kind of characters Zhang Zuoshuang, Feng Delin, Wu Junsheng, and Ma Longtan are, these people have always only believed in strength, and only obeyed those who are stronger than themselves, Xu Shichang failed to subdue them back then, but now, obviously, President Zhao has subdued them.

Against a military strongman like Zhao Bei, Xu Shichang broke out in a cold sweat when he thought about it, but now, there are a group of frustrated politicians, gentlemen, rich people who have been robbed of their homes, and the congressional opposition who does not deal with the United Front want to compare with President Zhao and Commander-in-Chief Zhao.

The United Front came to power with the banner of the "Constitution", but this does not mean that they will abide by the Constitution, especially after they have fully grasped the central power, they will not pay attention to the law, they believe in the strength in their hands, at least Xu Shichang has seen this.

But what if you understand it? There is a good saying, "It's rare to be confused", and now Xu Shiying takes this sentence as his motto.