"Brother Zheng, are you sure Chen Ke is in Xuzhou?" Yuan Keding poured wine for Zheng Wenjie and asked seemingly casually.

Since Yuan Keding had to pretend to be casual, Zheng Wenjie had no choice but to cooperate. "I've just heard about it." Zheng Wenjie said in a vague voice that seemed to be drunk. It's not all pretended, this flower wine has indeed been drunk for a long time, and Zheng Wenjie also feels a little drunk.

"Yuan Gongzi, if you want to know where Chen Ke is, wouldn't it be more convenient to ask the president. That Chen Ke's whereabouts are erratic and difficult to determine. Zheng Wenjie smiled.

After listening to Zheng Wenjie's words, Yuan Keding's face was cloudy, and he finally stabilized his emotions, Yuan Keding replied in a disguised very good joking voice: "Alas, my father has always distinguished between public and private, and he will not say such things. ”

"The president has always been a role model for us, and he has nothing to say about big and small things." Zheng Wenjie said with a smile, drinking the wine in the cup as he spoke.

"The eldest prince is also the dragon and phoenix among people, the pride of the sky. It's really the right hand of the president. "It was not only Yuan Keding and Zheng Wenjie on the table, but also many other people. Yuan Keding's doorman has taken the opportunity to start touting Yuan Keding.

Although he was smiling on his face, Zheng Wenjie scoffed at such comments in his heart. The Yuan family is prosperous, everyone knows this. But except for Yuan Shikai, the Yuan family has no one who can handle it at all. This is also the consensus of Beiyang Group in private.

Yuan Keding is Yuan Shikai's eldest son, 33 years old this year, and was born to Yuan Shikai's original wife, Mrs. Yu. Compared with Yuan Shikai's five short stature and the appearance of a martial artist, Yuan Keding is more like his mother. has a slender body and a quiet appearance, and can probably be said to be dignified. In the Yuan family, as the eldest son of the main house, Yuan Keding's status is naturally very high. Yuan Shikai was busy with official business when he was young, and he had many concubines after his career. His second son, Yuan Kewen, is now only 21 years old. is a full 12 years younger than Yuan Keding.

Yuan Shikai also had great expectations for Yuan Keding, although he didn't like his main room, Yu, but he had to take his eldest son with him wherever he went. Whether Yuan Shikai was stationed in North Korea or a small station to train troops, or the governor of Shandong and the governor of Zhili, Yuan Keding never left a step.

Zheng Wenjie followed Yuan Shikai in the late stage of military training at the small station, and later followed Yuan Shikai to Shandong. and Yuan Keding are also familiar with each other. Acquaintance did not make the two become irreversible friends. Zheng Wenjie's attitude towards Yuan Keding is "envy" and "contempt".

Envy is naturally envious of Yuan Keding having a good father, and others need to do everything possible to get through the merits, Yuan Shikai appointed him to do it in order to hone Yuan Keding. Military affairs and government affairs have teachers of senior officers, and they are also Yuan Keding's teachers.

Looking down on Yuan Keding himself did not show the same ability as his father Yuan Shikai. Zheng Wenjie was studying recently, and he found that the original meaning of the word "unscrupulous" was not to say that the son was not filial, but to mean that the son was not like the father. "Unworthy descendants" is indeed an appropriate metaphor for Yuan Keding.

Not only did the people in Beiyang think that Yuan Keding was "unscrupulous", but Yuan Shikai also found that his eldest son did not have the qualifications to become the leader of one party. Since Yuan Shikai began to seize power, he has excluded the people of the Yuan family, including Yuan Keding, from the leadership circle. If it is said that "there is a clear distinction between public and private", Yuan Shikai's actions are still very admired by the cadres in Beiyang.

Listening to Zheng Wenjie's doorman touting how capable Yuan Keding was, how talented he was, and how he was Yuan Shikai's right-hand man, Zheng Wenjie was very disdainful in his heart, but he showed a kind smile on his face, and he didn't answer this question at all. The people who came to the banquet this time were all young Zhuang factions in Beiyang, and most of them were not able to take charge of one side like Zheng Wenjie, but they were all middle-level backbones. Some people seem to have a different view of Yuan Keding than Zheng Wenjie, but they hope to be able to climb the big tree of Yuan Keding and become Yuan Shikai's confidant. As soon as Zheng Wenjie's doormen blew it, they also touted it.

Looking at this situation, Zheng Wenjie regretted a little, he thought that Yuan Keding's invitation would have something serious, but he never expected that Yuan Keding wanted to win over some people, and Chunpan just wanted to invite everyone to drink flower wine. In fact, among the people invited this time, there are also Yang Du and Jiang Baili, the young Zhuang faction that Yuan Shikai fancies. These people didn't come to the feast at all. In such a boring situation, it seems that not going to the banquet is indeed a smart choice.

In the face of praise, Yuan Keding was not humble at all, and he said with a straight face: "Everyone, my father has always had a clear distinction between public and private, and he never let his family interfere in politics. As a son, I naturally have to obey my father's public heart, but now the world is uncertain, there are foreigners outside, and there are chaotic parties inside. My father struggled to support the republic, and watching him work day and night, my heart as a son was also quite anxious. ”

Zheng Wenjie was originally asking the girl next to him to pour himself wine, but when he heard this, he put away his smile and gently pushed away the girl who was leaning beside him.

"You go out first." Yuan Keding said to the girl who accompanied the wine.

"Yes." These girls had seen many such scenes, and at this time, they would be asking for their own hardships if they did not leave, so they obediently got up and left.

When there were only a few guests left in the house, Yuan Keding continued: "At present, Chen Ke of the People's Party is acting wantonly and attacking Qingdao without authorization. The Germans were demoralized and had already threatened to declare war on China several times. As the president of the republic, my father naturally took this responsibility on himself. Then Chen Ke is harming people. ”

No one answered this, and everyone didn't care if Chen Ke was harmful. Anyway, everyone here has no ability to compete with Chen Ke, and if the People's Party army hits the city of Beijing, no one thinks that the Beiyang government will have any chance of winning.

"Capture the thief and capture the king first, the People's Party was founded by Chen Ke. If Chen Ke died, the People's Party would naturally be in chaos. We united with the great powers to exterminate the BJP, which was able to calm down the incident and stabilize the country. What do you think? Yuan Keding said a little impassioned.

Zheng Wenjie has completely regretted that he was invited to drink this flower wine, although Yuan Ke must be Yuan Shikai's own son, but listening to his meaning, he actually wants to assassinate Chen Ke! Such a great thing could not be done so easily. Not to mention how unreliable this idea is, just because the diagram is so clear, it can't help but say that Yuan Keding is too naïve.

Thinking quickly about how to deal with it, Zheng Wenjie found that he had no other way but to pretend to be stupid.

Yuan Keding's disciples naturally would not stay out of the matter, and they also talked a lot about how the People's Party was a wolf and how Chen Ke was a great scourge to the country. No one in Beiyang likes the People's Party, and scolds Chen Ke for "political correctness", so there is no need to worry about any bad results. So the words of denouncing Chen Ke flew in the room, as if Chen Ke was almost dragged out with a thousand knives to thank the world for such a final step.

"Brother Zheng, we have the highest official position here. Chen Ke is so reckless, don't you have an opinion? Yuan Keding asked.

"I'm an official the size of a sesame seed, what kind of official position are I talking about. In my position, being able to do things without doing anything wrong and not being reprimanded by my boss is a good luck. I've got to be good at everything. Zheng Wenjie hurriedly cleared himself up. Now he would prefer to leave immediately if he could.

"Brother Zheng, when you led the cavalry to sweep the boxers, you were so heroic. Why are you so timid now? Yuan Keding did not mean to let Zheng Wenjie go.

"This time, that time. At that time, I was young, and I was not afraid of death. Now that the president is in power, I also have a lot of wives and children, listen to the president's words, live a good life for a few days, this is what I asked for back then, and now I am mixed in this position, it is too late to enjoy, where is there any pride and ambition. Haha" Zheng Wenjie replied very easily.

Yuan Keding listened to Zheng Wenjie, a big president on the left and a big president on the right, and already understood what Zheng Wenjie meant. He was already a little unhappy, "Brother Zheng, my father has ordered me to send an envoy to Germany. The matter was discussed with the Kaiser, and the ministers of various countries were already dissatisfied with the misdeeds of the People's Party, but now there were many changes, and many people in the government thought that it was time to put things to rest for the time being. However, if the People's Party blindly waits for them to expand from Anhui to the four provinces now, I am afraid that the more we wait, the more we will be unable to do it. ”

Zheng Wenjie listened and nodded slightly, he finally understood why Yuan Keding dared to be so arrogant, it seems that he has found a backer. Zheng Wenjie is not from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, so he is not very clear. Listening to Yuan Keding's teasing, he is much clearer about the current situation, and some things can be taken care of before and after.

The other day, the War Department began to discuss the topic of unifying military orders. At that time, Zheng Wenjie did not know who made the suggestion. Beiyang itself is far from talking about such things as unifying military orders, and the Beiyang Army has not deviated from Germany at all, so which military order will be unified? As for the southern provinces, Zheng Wenjie didn't care, they were financially tight, and each province was already complaining about maintaining seven or eight thousand new troops.

The only thing that has the value of a unified military order is the army of the People's Party. Sources from all sides confirm that the size of the BJP's army is close to half a million. The People's Party has just attacked Qingdao, and such a 500,000-strong force is indeed a formidable force. However, when it comes to the unification of the military order, whether it is the military order of the Beiyang Government to unify the People's Party or the military order of the People's Party to unify the Beiyang Army. When it comes to discussing this issue, it's really a bit impossible to talk about. Now that I have listened to Yuan Keding's words, it seems that there are many forces operating behind this issue.

"And what does the president mean?" Zheng Wenjie didn't like Yuan Keding at all, and none of them firmly grasped Yuan Shikai's attitude. Since he mistakenly participated in this flower wine party, even if he is wrong, he can't continue to make mistakes in such key matters.

Yuan Keding didn't answer, but just crossed Zheng Wenjie with his eyes. A few other cadres in Beiyang also understood at this time. Looking at it now, everything Yuan Keding said cannot represent Yuan Shikai, but Yuan Keding's own idea. The purpose of inviting flowers and wine this time is to let these Beiyang cadres speak up, at least when Yuan Keding stirs up things, help Yuan Keding speak. That's. Yuan Shikai is a very well-behaved person, and if his subordinates do something wrong, Yuan Shikai can still be tolerant. But subordinates and Yuan Shikai are not of the same mind, and Yuan Shikai will never be soft. "Holding money in one hand and a knife in the other" is by no means just a strict management of the army and a mountain of military orders. What Yuan Shikai hated the most was his subordinates who didn't understand the rules.

At this point, the position was quickly clarified. The cadres in Beiyang said that they absolutely listened to President Yuan Shikai, and it was right to say so. However, what was not said directly was that everyone would never switch to Yuan Keding's disciple because Yuan Keding was Yuan Shikai's eldest son.

Now that the situation has become like this, the wine is naturally meaningless. It didn't take long for the stalls to disperse.

Zheng Wenjie was amnesty, and on the way home, he scolded himself for his stupidity in his heart, and couldn't help but admire the cleverness of Yang Du and Yuan Shikai's newly promoted attendant Jiang Baili. They understood the crux of the matter early on, and they actually had to see it with their own eyes and hear it with their own ears before they knew what was happening.

After a period of self-criticism, Zheng Wenjie's thinking gradually returned to ruminating on the information he had obtained today. Yuan Ke was going to send an envoy to Germany to explain the Qingdao incident, and the ministers of various countries hoped to contain the People's Party. Behind this seemingly noisy incident, there is a piece of news that at this stage, neither Chinese and foreign forces want to make things out of control.

Originally, Beiyang once thought that after the People's Party conquered Qingdao, the foreigners would be furious and raise troops to fight. I didn't expect President Yuan Shikai to be able to mediate things to such a point, Zheng Wenjie really admired. Regarding his firm attitude today, Zheng Wenjie felt that he had not made a mistake at all.

Yuan Keding went home depressed. The upper echelons of the Beiyang government are all his elders, and he is not confident that he can get these people to support him. Yuan Keding once thought that he would be able to find followers in these Beiyang middle-level who had known each other before. As it turned out, he was wrong. Beiyang is a subordinate of Yuan Keding's father Yuan Shikai, but this does not mean that Yuan Keding can naturally get the support of these people as a "prince".

Since beating Yuan Shikai and seizing the central government, Yuan Keding has a dream. Those who overthrew the previous dynasty naturally inherited everything from the previous dynasty. Yuan Shikai overthrew the Manchu Qing Dynasty, so Yuan Shikai should naturally be the emperor. Then Yuan Keding is the prince. This kind of imagination once made Yuan Keding so excited that he couldn't sleep for a long time. However, things are far from being like this, Yuan Shikai became the president, but failed to become the emperor. In terms of treating Yuan Keding, Yuan Shikai almost took the meaning of exile. In the past, Yuan Keding still had some tolerances to do, but now he has been thrown aside by Yuan Shikai.

Seeing that other people had obtained high-ranking positions, Yuan Keding felt as if he was on fire.

Yuan Keding does not believe in what Yuan Shikai said about "clear distinction between public and private", this kind of thing is for others to hear, where is there a place to put his own son without it, but to use other people's truth. Then the only problem is that Yuan Shikai can't be called emperor now. As long as Yuan Shikai can be called emperor, then everything will become logical.

Yuan Shikai set up the National Library and the Great Museum, and recruited many former Qing celebrities who were unwilling to become officials. Yuan Keding has no errands now, and he has a good deal with these former Qing Dynasty scholars of the Hanlin Academy and some so-called old Confucians who are "proficient in the emperor's mental arts". He had also heard them talk about royal matters. It is recognized that the prince is not easy to be. Why is it not good, everyone has different opinions. There is a saying that is very right for Yuan Keding's appetite.

"The prince is not easy to be, this is because the prince is the prince on the one hand, and he is the heir to the unification of the world. But the crown prince is not a monarch, and he also has to do things. As long as he does things, he will be discussed, which will damage the prestige of the prince. ”

Yuan Ke knew in his heart that he couldn't do anything, but he absolutely refused to admit it. After receiving this explanation, he thought that his father was actually paving the way for himself. Detached from specific affairs and errands, as long as Yuan Keding accumulates prestige and connections, he will be able to secure the position of the prince.

Of course, Yuan Keding also knows the reality of the situation. There is actually only one enemy to prevent Yuan Shikai from becoming emperor, and that is Chen Ke, the chairman of the People's Party. The People's Party's unequivocal opposition to the imperial system, coupled with their strong military power, is the biggest obstacle to Yuan Shikai's inability to become emperor.

Yuan Keding naturally did not have the ability to defeat the People's Party with his own hands, so his thinking naturally turned to another line of thought. It is to get rid of Chen Ke, the representative of the People's Party. Yuan Keding was extremely disgusted with Chen Ke, not only because Chen Ke blocked Yuan Shikai's path to becoming emperor. In daily words, Yuan Keding's father Yuan Shikai has a lot of respect and appreciation for Chen Ke, the biggest political enemy, and can be described as "giving birth to a son and giving birth to Chen Wenqing".

This kind of appreciation was something that Yuan Shikai had never shown to Yuan Keding. This is also what Yuan Keding hopes to get from his father Yuan Shikai the most. Therefore, in public and private, Yuan Keding regarded Chen Ke as his enemy.

A few months ago, Chen Ke actually dared to visit Yuan Shikai in person, and Yuan Keding met Chen Ke for the first time. This legendary rebel party is not a fierce face, the appearance of a roe deer. In addition to being tall and well-proportioned, in addition to being quite similar to Yuan Shikai's martial artistry, Chen Ke also has a sense of elegance and calmness unique to a scholar.

At that time, one of the things Yuan Keding wanted to do most was to find someone to rush in and kill Chen Ke. However, it is definitely not a glorious thing to kill a guest who comes to visit. What's more, even Yuan Keding, who was boiling with jealousy and hostility in his heart, knew it. If he killed Chen Ke like this, his father Yuan Shikai's reputation would be turned into water.

What dissatisfied Yuan Keding the most was that he had hinted to his father Yuan Shikai afterwards whether he had assassinated Chen Ke. If you find a good scapegoat, this matter can be completely removed from Yuan Shikai.

As a result of these words, Yuan Shikai got up angrily and scolded Yuan Keding, and he didn't see Yuan Keding for half a month. Even later, under the mediation of the Shen family, Yuan Keding finally found an opportunity to kowtow to Yuan Shikai and admit his mistakes. This matter can be regarded as barely revealed. Since then, Yuan Shikai has become even more estranged from Yuan Keding.

"Chen Ke, I must kill you!" Yuan Ke must have made up his mind completely. No matter what means are used, as long as there is the slightest opportunity, Chen Ke will be killed.