Chapter 442: Backbone

When the wheat will be yellow, the climate of the land of Yanzhao suddenly becomes abnormal, for several days in a row, it is either a strong wind or a torrential rain, the temperature rises sharply for a while, and it is hot and cold for a while, which makes people at a loss, and has to complain!

After tossing and turning like this for many days, at dawn, a gust of wind swept up a few thick clouds, and in the blink of an eye, hail fell from the "ping pong", the size of eggs, walnuts, grapes, and ice balls mixed with the rain pillars, and smashed into the earth. At the end of the meal, the leaves were lighted, the crops were lighted, and even the birds died. In other places, houses in villages have been smashed, people and animals have been destroyed, and the wilderness has become a mess, and the faces of men, women and children have been clouded.

Someone said, "It's a sin!" ”

Someone said, "It is the iniquity of man that provokes the heavens!" ”

Someone said, "Hey, let's quickly reunify peacefully, otherwise everyone will be robbed!" ”

An earth-shattering disaster, for Xu Shichang, who was stuffed in a private house in Tianjin, there was no alarm, he felt that he had already lived in such weather.

One day, when Xu Shichang was sitting in meditation in front of the statue of Lu Zu and practicing qi, his cousin Xu Xu Shizhang came again. With Xu Xu Shizhang, there was also a young man. Xu Xu Shizhang asked the young man to sit in the small living room for a while, he walked into the meditation room alone, and called "Fifth Brother" softly to Xu Shichang, who was meditating, and then said: "The thing I said a few days ago, people came and waited in the small living room." ”

Xu Shichang's eyes flashed, and he faced his cousin and said, "Did you bring something?" ”

"Brought." "Have you tested it?" "I saw it, yes."

"The real thing?"

Xu Xu Shizhang nodded.

Xu Shichang closed his eyes again and passed silently for a while. It was about the time when the scriptures had not yet been recited before he stood up and led his cousin out.

It turned out that a few days ago, Xu Xu Shizhang saw a young man selling his family treasures in the Quanye Field. Xu Shizhang looked at it and thought it was genuine, so he asked the price, and was surprised: the price that the young man asked for was only 300 yuan. Originally, Xu Shizhang thought it was genuine, but this asking price made him suspicious: "Authentic Duan Yan, the asking price is three hundred, isn't it too low!" ”

He said to the young man: "Young man, I'm afraid that this inkstone is a good product. ”

"How so?" The young man asked rhetorically.

"Such a price is too unwarranted!"

"So, the gentleman is not a scholar." The young man said unceremoniously, "At best, the gentleman is a businessman." ”

"How so?" Xu Shizhang asked rhetorically. "By your money, you will be witnessed. Can you talk about the strengths of Duan Yan? ”

"Did you understand?"

"You can try."

The young man looked at Xu Shizhang again, and felt that it was also elegant and kind. So he said: "This inkstone is my ancestral heirloom, my grandfather once served as the prefect of Duanzhou, he brought it from his office and passed it on to his grandfather; Grandpa treasures it; Grandfather passed it on to father, and it is also regarded as a treasure."

"Why is it so contemptuous in your life?" ”

"The family has suffered a catastrophe and has nothing left." The young man said: "There is an eighty-year-old mother in the family, and in order to make a living, I have to sell the heavy things in the world of this Duanzhou stone inkstone cheaply. To tell you the truth, in order to sell this inkstone, my mother and son have hugged their heads and cried a few times."

Seeing this situation, Xu Xu Shizhang was moved: "Young man, we are also the same fallen people at the end of the world, I bought this inkstone." Three days later, you come here, and I'll take you to get the money. ”

Xu Shizhang told his cousin about this, and he knew that his cousin was fond of inkstones, and he would definitely pay for it. Xu Shichang also agreed very smoothly. As a result, today's young people came to the door with an inkstone Xu Shichang walked out of the meditation room, his brows tightly locked, "Now that I have no official to sit, all expenses must come from savings, and I can save a penny, so why not take advantage of this to reduce the price again." He said to his cousin, "Can you ask the young man for another bargain?" “

"That's already the price of scrap." Xu Shizhang said: "Fifth brother look at the inkstone." If it's genuine, it's worth 300 oceans! ”

"Alright then, I'll see."

Xu Shichang came to the small living room, exchanged a few words with the young man, and then asked to pass the inkstone, held it in his hand, up and down, left and right, while looking and touching, and put it on the table to grind and try, I felt that it was a genuine product, the stone was solid, fine, the ink was not damaged, and the carving was exquisite. Xu Shichang loves inkstone, knows inkstone, knows that it is a treasure, and likes it very much, and can't help but chant a poem: "Duanzhou inkstone is as skillful as a god, stepping on the sky and sharpening the knife to cut the clouds." Good inkstone, good inkstone! ”…,

The young man smiled and said: "The poems recited by Mr. are the sentences of the great poet Li He and Li Changji of the Tang Dynasty. Xu Shichang nodded, but still said: "There is no doubt that the student is holding an inkstone." But it is not the middle and upper grade of the inkstone. Excuse me, can the price be dropped again? ”

The young man then said: "The students are only forced to sell inkstones to understand their urgent needs." If it is nothing to do, if this inkstone is sent to the former president Xu Shichang, the student will not bid, but I am afraid that it can be sold for thousands of yuan! ”

Xu Shichang was shocked: "Young people also know that I love inkstone? In this way, the surname should never be revealed. Otherwise, there is no counteroffer. So he said, "Young man, this way, I will leave the inkstone, how about I give you two hundred and eighty oceans?" ”

The young man looked at Xu Shichang again and said, "Seeing that you are also a knowledgeable family, and you have the owner of things, it is finally a good thing." Although the students are poor, they don't have to worry about the twenty or thirty yuan. In this way, Mr. wants to reduce the price by 20 oceans, and I will reduce the price by another 30 oceans, which is considered a little favor for Mr. Sir, give me two hundred and fifty oceans. I hope that Mr. can cherish this thing! ”

Xu Shichang finally bought a treasure from the trapped young man for 250 yuan.

But the young man's slight smile when he left made Xu Shichang not know why he was a little worried

Xu Shichang rarely asks about family affairs, even if he lives in the wilderness, he doesn't ask about family affairs. Recently, there was an incident that gave him a headache, he had to come out of his head, and made an unexpected decision One day, his younger brother Xu Shiguang suddenly came to Tianjin from Qingdao. The brothers haven't seen each other for a long time, of course, they are very affectionate, and after talking about family affairs and family affection, Shiguang suddenly said: "Brother, there is another thing, which is very important, and I have to ask you to be the master." “

Since Xu Shichang was going to be Yuan Shikai's secretary of state, Shiguang did not listen to his persuasion, and the two brothers rarely talked face-to-face. "Don't speculate more than half a sentence!" Today, Shiguang suddenly came to the door, and Xu Shichang was a little surprised. He looked at his younger brother in front of him and said thoughtlessly, "Is the Qingdao family okay?" “

Xu Shiguang nodded in response: "Okay." “

The two brothers were relatively silent for a moment, and then Xu Shiguang said, "Is my brother's body good?" Xu Shichang also nodded in response: "Okay." “

Xu Shiguang said: "I don't know if my brother still remembers something, I came here for this matter." "What's the matter?" Xu Shichang asked.

"Our family once married Yuan Xiangcheng." Xu Shiguang said: "I can't remember this anymore. The day before yesterday, Aunt Wu of the Yuan family asked Sun Baoqi to come to Qingdao and said that when the eldest brother was the Minister of Finance, he had married the newborn girl as a baby, and promised to marry Xiangcheng as a family. Now that the children are older, they want to discuss a date for regular marriage. “

Xu Shichang suddenly frowned, pondered for a moment, and said, "There is such a thing, it is the tenth son born to the third aunt of Xiangcheng, Tai Wu, named Kejian. As for getting married?"

When Xu Shichang was leisurely in Tianjin, great changes had taken place on the land of China, the Northern Expeditionary Army had approached Beijing, and the Japanese, who were unwilling to be defeated, were also stupidly trying to move there at the same time.

Xu Shichang's friend Cao Rulin suddenly came to Tianjin. As soon as this veteran diplomat who was 22 years younger than Xu Shichang entered Xu's house, he respectfully shouted: "Brother Juren!" ”

Xu Shichang saw that it was Cao Rulin and was surprised: "Runtian, where are you from?" ”

Cao Rulin smiled faintly and said, "If there is nothing to do, it is naturally better to live in hibernation." So, it disappeared. “

This student who studied in Japan from 1911 as the vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Qing Dynasty was a natural pro-Japanese faction, and when he was the vice minister of foreign affairs of Yuan Shikai's government, he was ordered by Yuan to negotiate with Lu Zhengxiang with Japan, and finally signed the "Twenty-one Articles" that lost power and humiliated the country; During the Paris Peace Conference, President Xu Shichang was forced to dismiss him, Lu Zongyu, and Zhang Zongxiang from his posts on June 19 because he wanted to sign the "Paris Peace Treaty" and was opposed by students across the country.

Cao Rulin came "something", so he was naturally unwilling to "silence it". He said, "Brother Kikuto, what do you think of the current situation? I heard that there have been signs of interference by the Japanese recently. ”

Xu Shichang blurted out: "No matter what the situation in Shichang is and what the situation in China is, China's affairs still have to be handled by the Chinese, and foreigners, especially the Japanese, cannot interfere." ”…,

Cao Rulin is pro-Japanese, which Xu Shichang knows. Although Xu Shichang made an impromptu confession, Cao Rulin felt uncomfortable when he heard it. Busy said: "You and I are both old ministers of Beiyang, is it just the end of watching Beiyang?" I think that the Japanese have to come forward in this matter, and Beiyang will have room to save it! ”

When Xu Shichang heard this, he understood in his heart: it turned out that this student studying in Japan was here to be a lobbyist for the Japanese! Ben: said, "The affairs of your own family are still handled by your own family!" ”

Cao Rulin and Xu Shichang have been together for many years, and they know that this person values profit over righteousness, as long as it is profitable, he will do anything. So he said: "Brother Kikuto is a person who has been a great president." It has a great impact, if we can go out of the mountain and sign a goodwill treaty with Japan, Japan will naturally save our Beiyang. ”

Xu Shichang didn't answer, only turned his back gently.

Speaking from his heart, Xu Shichang did not completely die of the heart of being an official, he dreamed of making a comeback, but he had not yet met a strong backer. Now, Cao Rulin has provided him with a chance, as long as he is willing, he will still have the years of "calling and hugging". However, after all, Xu Shichang has received a strict traditional Chinese education, and he knows how to be a man of etiquette, righteousness and shame:

"The Chinese are in a big scuffle, that is for power and profit, brotherly chess wall, who rises and who declines, just look at what has been done for the people and the country after taking power? Whether it is a successful prince or a failed rogue, they are all Chinese, and they are all family affairs. And the Minyuan brothers who do things for the Japanese and oppress themselves for the invaders are the sinners of the Minyuan people through the ages! ”

He said to Cao Rulin: "Runtian, I'm old, my strength is weak, I'm tired, I've forgotten everything, and I'm often incontinent even when I have a big or small bowel movement, how can I take care of a party's political affairs again?" Please choose another master! ”

"Brother Chrysanthemum" Cao Rulin also wants to persuade with interests. But Xu Shichang had already raised his hand to prevent him from talking. "If nothing else, please go back."

Xu Shichang issued the "eviction order" for the first time in his private residence! ”

Cao Rulin left listlessly.

Xu Shichang still felt uneasy, and specially explained to the porter: "When Sheng Runtian comes back in the future, he will say that I am not at home." No need to talk back! ”

This is the backbone of a Beiyang soldier!

It doesn't matter if brothers fight, but definitely don't be a dog on the side of foreigners! (Lying on the bear_ provided by no beginning)