Cai Ye heard Yang Shuoming's heart, and his eyes became solemn and focused.

"What is Songpa most worried about now?"

"I remember you told me more than once that we in China, now that we are republican, there is no turning back." Cai Ye said, "But now the president wants to restore the imperial system, and he is going back." ”

"On the issue of the national system, I have talked with Yang Huizi many times, in fact, I also admit that the monarchy and constitution are more beneficial to our country than the republic, but our people are bent on seeking innovation and entering the republic, and it is impossible to enter the monarchy from the republic. Yang Huizi insisted that he had seen it and had to give it a try. Yang Shuoming said, "What kind of national system is more suitable for our country, what everyone says makes sense, but no one can go to the front to see which road is more suitable, because now we are groping forward, which will inevitably experience a lot of pain, and what I want to do now is to make this process of groping forward more gentle, and no longer like the cycle of chaos like history, pay the price of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood." ”

"Yes! In our China, every change of dynasty is a disaster that destroys the surname. Cai Yi sighed and said, "The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Boxer Rebellion are not far away, and my generation can't help but be vigilant because of this." ”

Seeing that Cai Ye had woken up, Yang Shuoming's eyes showed appreciation.

"As for the restoration of the imperial system by the president, it can be regarded as an attempt to realize constitutional politics in China, as for the effect, whether the people can accept it, public opinion and legal principles have their own opinions, we can wait and see." Yang Shuoming said, "Our generation of soldiers, to protect the family and defend the country as their duty, the muzzle of the gun, can only be external, not internal. What does Matsupa think? ”

"What Han Zhi said is deeply in my heart." Cai Yi nodded, and seemed to have finally completely untied the knot in his heart, "My generation of Chinese soldiers only knows how to protect the family and defend the country, since ancient times, the interference of martial artists in politics is the source of the country's troubles, and the damage is deep. I only hope that in the hands of my generation of new soldiers, this cycle of evil surnames can be ended. ”

"Watching the changes does not mean that we will do nothing," Yang Shuoming continued, "If there are two or three careerists who want to take advantage of the time to make trouble, take advantage of the fire, try to ascend to power, and trap the country in turmoil, I will do my best to stop them." ”

"Listen to you." Cai Yi's face relaxed, he smiled, and stretched out his hand to Yang Shuoming, Yang Shuoming understood what he meant, smiled and stretched out his hand, and the hands of the two were tightly clasped together.

In March 1917, Yang Du and others initiated the "Preparatory Security Council" to send representatives to Beijing to "discuss the national system" by sending representatives to Beijing to "discuss the national system", and immediately announced that they "unanimously advocated a constitutional monarchy". Beiyang military and political dignitaries, local officials Duan Zhigui, Yuan Naikuan, Liang Shiyi, Zhu Qichao, Zhou Ziqi, Ni Sichong, Wang Zhanyuan, Long Jiguang, Li Chun, etc., all telegraphed in favor of the imperial system and supported Yuan Shikai as emperor. On March 17, Yuan Shikai said that the change to the imperial system was "inappropriate". Liang Shiyi and other organizations and the "National Federation of Petitions" appealed again, but they were not approved.

On April 6, 1917, the Senate convened the "National Congress" in the name of "respecting the will of the people". The provinces elected their representatives to the "national ballot", which resulted in a majority "in favour" of the constitutional monarchy and the presumption of the Senate as the general representative of the National Assembly. On April 10, in the name of the general representative, the Senate issued a letter recommending Yuan Shikai as the emperor of the "Chinese Empire".

On June 10, 1917, Yuan Shikai announced the abolition of the republic, changed the name of the Republic of China to "Chinese Empire", the year name "Hongxian" (taking the meaning of "promoting constitutionalism"), and took the five-color "X" flag as the national flag (taking the meaning of "five ethnic groups wearing a monarch", the pattern is similar to the Russian St. Andrew's flag), changed the presidential palace to Xinhua Palace, and sealed hundreds of officials.

The next morning, Yuan Shikai received congratulations from hundreds of officials and envoys from various countries in the Juren Hall in Zhongnanhai, and the civil officials all wore red Han-style dresses, and the military attaches wore gray-blue military uniforms. Yuan Shikai wore the generalissimo's military uniform, wore a sword and a staff, and stood on the dragon throne to accept the congratulations of hundreds of civil and military officials. After the congratulatory ceremony, the new emperor feasted the ministers and friendly envoys in the Xinhua Palace.

"Father-in-law really wants to help me straighten out the Sichuan-Han Railway Company?" Yang Shuoming looked at the old man with gray hair and said a little unbearably.

"The drama of the Sichuan-Han Railway is not good to sing, or it is better for me, a 'yellow pickpocket', to deal with them." Huang Shiyao said, looked at Yang Shuoming, and there was a rare trace of excitement and excitement in his eyes, "It's good to give you little ones a bottom." ”

"It's too dangerous, Dad, you'd better not go." Huang Yunzhi knew that her father had made up her mind, but she still couldn't help but persuade her, "Those people are ruthless and vicious, and they actually sent someone to assassinate Hanzhi last time, in case it ......."

"They didn't know how I was 'yellow pickpocket'." Huang Shiyao smiled and waved his hand, interrupting his daughter's words, "This is a matter of black eating black, look at who is black, if they know that I am darker than them, they will not dare to do anything to me." ”

After listening to Huang Shiyao's words, Yang Shuoming did not persuade again, but in his heart, he had already made arrangements on how to protect Huang Shiyao from entering Sichuan smoothly to rectify road affairs.

Huang Yunzhi looked at Yang Shuoming, as if waiting for his persuasion, but Yang Shuoming did not continue to talk about this issue, but changed the topic to another aspect.

"Have you seen the Queen?" Yang Shuoming looked at Huang Yunzhi and asked.

"Not only the queen, but also a large number of concubines have worshipped."

Huang Yunzhi, who won the reward of "Lady of Command", returned home after entering the palace to congratulate the empress, only to see a large photo of Yuan Shikai wearing a dragon robe and holding a ceremony to worship the heavens published in the newspaper, and said to Yang Shuoming with some dissatisfaction, "You gave him four million silver dollars, only in exchange for a first-class marquis, this Emperor Yuan is too stingy." ”

"The officials who give it are too big, I'm afraid it may not be a good thing." Huang Shiyao, who was sitting next to Yang Shuoming, said in a deep voice, "He, Yuan Xiangcheng, the emperor, may not be able to sit firmly for a long time. ”

"Who doesn't know what those so-called 'public opinions' are all about." Wu Jie smiled faintly, "These are all old-fashioned tricks." ”

"By the way, what kind of official did General Cai Songpo appoint?" Huang Yunzhi asked.

"Like me, I'm also a first-class marquis." Yang Shuoming took a political axe communiqué and handed it to her, "I thought he could be above me." ”

"It's good to be a first-class marquis," Zhao Xia looked at the communiqué with Huang Yunzhi on the side, and said with a smile, "Although it is said that it is one level away from the prince, but these first-class kilometers, several people are dead." ”

Huang Yunzhi saw that in the name of the "first-class public" column, the names of Zhang Xun and former Premier Zhao Bingjun were prominently listed, and she couldn't help but stick out her tongue naughtily.

In ancient Chinese history, no matter which new dynasty was established, after the establishment of the "place of residence, correction of Shuo, change of color, change of sacrifice", for Yuan Shikai's Hongxian Dynasty, this "sacrifice" sacrifice or something does not matter, the national capital Yanjing is hard to win, so the "migration place" is not necessary; However, in terms of "correcting Shuo", Yuan Shikai's advisers still need to make a fuss, that is, to change the sixth year of the Republic of China in 1917 to the "first year of Hongxian", and the calendar is also changed to "Hongxian First Year Calendar"; As for the "easy to dress color", according to the "Xia Hei Shang Bai Zhou Chi" of the Book of Changes, the Hongxian Dynasty should advocate red, so the civil officials' clothing colors are all red, and the middle of the national flag is also a big red cross, and even the pillars of the three major halls used to ascend the throne have been painted red, and the temple tiles have all been replaced with red tiles to show joy.

In addition, the new emperor ascended the throne and had to reward the meritorious ministers with the title of king, and the benefits were even, but there was also a small problem here, that is, the old friends and old friends before used to call brothers and sisters equals, and Emperor Yuan was embarrassed to let them bow their heads and call them ministers, so he came up with the idea of including "old couples" (including Zaifeng, Yixuan, Shixu, Natong, Xiliang and several other people, all of whom were former Qing princes or governors and other feudal officials), "old friends" (including Xu Shichang, Zhao Erxun, Zhang Jian, Li Jingxi, that is, the later "Songshan Four Friends"), " Seniors" (Wang Minyun, Ma Xiangbo, etc.), all these people who are listed in these three categories can enjoy the gift of disobedience. Like the original vice president Li Yuanhong, he was named a "Prince of Wuyi" (it sounds similar to the "one-word side by side king" that appears at every turn in the novel), as for the provincial generals, patrol envoys, escort envoys, town guard envoys, division and brigade commanders and above, etc., they were respectively divided according to the five-class titles of "duke, marquis, uncle, son, and male", and those who saw it had a share, and 128 were sealed in one go, and even the late An Zheng general Zhang Xun and former premier Zhao Bingjun were also posthumously awarded a first-class duke.

For example, at the new emperor's congratulatory ceremony, Duan Qirui, the former army chief and Yuan Shikai's old subordinate, and former vice president Li Yuanhong (Yuan Shikai became the emperor, Vice President Li of course became the former vice president) did not come. Although Yuan Shikai gave Li Yuanhong the title of "Prince of Wuyi" in order to show his favor, the former vice president resolutely refused and refused to accept it. For this reason, Yuan Shikai had to publish the words "Li Yuanhong, the former Prince of Wuyi, is not allowed to resign" in the political axe bulletin. As soon as the matter came out, such a nursery rhyme appeared among the people: "Good country, if you can't do it well, no one wants the prince to give it away!" ”

"He Yuan Xiangcheng thought that this victory over Yu Ben would make him the emperor, but the foundation in the south is unstable, and the overseas revolutionary party is ready to move, and he is still planning to participate in the European war, which can be said to be putting the cart before the horse," Huang Shiyao looked at Yang Shuoming, and there was not the slightest happy look on his face, "Then Li Yuanhong is resolutely not the prince, there is his consideration, you should also learn from him and leave yourself a backhand." ”

"I understand. Father-in-law is relieved. Yang Shuoming nodded, "In a short time, when the situation changes greatly, as long as you are not in the center of this storm, there will be no problem." ”

"Don't you have itchy hands and want to volunteer to go to war in Europe, right?" Huang Yunzhi heard what he said and immediately asked.

"How could you have such an idea?" Yang Shuoming looked at his beloved wife with some amusement, "When did I say I was going to Europe?" Don't forget, I'm a civilian now, and I've been without troops for a long time. ”

"Where do you want to go?" Huang Shiyao understood his daughter's thoughts, he looked at his daughter, who had become a mother, and a trace of love flashed in his eyes, "Lao Yuan will never send Hanzhi to lead the army to Europe, if he wants to send it, it will also be his son." ”

"Old Yuan is willing to send his son to the battlefield across the ocean?" Huang Yunzhi asked puzzled.

"The reason is very simple, now it is the imperial system, Lao Yuan will definitely pass on the throne to his son in the future, and his son will be the emperor in the future, if he doesn't have some military exploits, how can he control those Beiyang generals?" Huang Shiyao explained, "If you send your son to be gilded now, you can stop the mouths of people above and below in the future." ”

"I see." Huang Yunzhi nodded, "However, the European battlefield is very dangerous after all, isn't he afraid that his son will have any accidents there?" ”

"It is up to man to plan things, and it is up to heaven to make things happen." Huang Shiyao smiled and said, "If he wants his son to sit firmly in the country, he must take this risk." ”

Listening to the conversation between his wife and father-in-law, Yang Shuoming couldn't help but think of the history that happened in later generations, and let out a deep sigh.

In that dynasty where the red flag was flying, didn't the great founding leader who glowed with golden light also send his son to the Korean battlefield to be "gilded", but he didn't expect that the future "Red Prince" would be buried in a foreign land?

For Red China, it was a moment that could change history.

If Emperor Taizu of the Red Dynasty had not made this decision, and after his death, the Red Prince would have successfully ascended the throne as Red Taizong, then China in later generations, after experiencing many dead and alive movements such as the "Great Leap Forward", "Natural Disasters" and "Ten Years of Turmoil", might have been drawn deeper into the abyss, just like the "Kim Joseon" that has been passed down for three generations.

History is here, and there is a certain coincidence unexpectedly.

Yang Shuoming imagined that once Yuan Shikai knew about his son's death, would he be the same as the Taizu of the Red Dynasty, gritting his teeth and writing the poem "Qingshan buries loyal bones everywhere, why bother to return the body of the horse leather", and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but show a strange smile.

"Tomorrow's big military parade, is there anything you can do?" Huang Shiyao didn't notice the strangeness of Yang Shuoming's expression, and at this time, his attention was completely focused on the current situation.

"There should be nothing left except to watch the ceremony," Yang Shuoming thought for a while and replied, "The formation of the generalissimo's mansion ironclad convoy has been completed, and the required personnel and equipment are in place, so they shouldn't need me to do anything more." ”

"I've heard that many of your guards have been transferred to the war army, right?" Huang Shiyao pondered for a while and asked again.

"Yes, Xiang Xiao Yi went to the ironclad convoy of the participating army." Yang Shuoming nodded, a harmless smile appeared on his face, "The treatment of the army is good, it is a double salary, and the promotion is fast, they are more promising to go there than to follow me as a guard, so I also support them." ”

Huang Shiyao stared closely at the eyes of this door-to-door son-in-law, as if he wanted to see clearly whether he really didn't understand the stakes or was deliberately pretending to be stupid.

"I just said that he shouldn't let Captain Xiao go." Huang Yunzhi pursed her lips and said, "Even the captain of the guard was poached, and he didn't care at all, and he didn't know what he thought." ”

"Don't be like this, Captain Xiao told me before that if he wants to make a career outside, he is a person with ideals and ambitions, and he has already made up his mind, how can I stop him? It's too late to rejoice in him. Yang Shuoming said, "If he is developed in the future, won't we be able to borrow light?" ”

After listening to Yang Shuoming's last words, Huang Shiyao immediately understood, and a hint of appreciation flashed in his eyes, but in front of the juniors, he still maintained his original expression.

"Is there a suitable candidate for the replacement captain of the guard?" Huang Shiyao asked, "I heard that you encountered an assassin some time ago, and your personal security must be tightened and you must not relax in the slightest. ”

"It's already arranged, it's Captain Long Yonghua, the son of the boss of our Shuanglong Town." Yang Shuoming replied.

"I heard that Shengyun and Shengxiang are getting along well with General Cai Songpo?" Huang Shiyao asked in a different topic.

"Yes, I've been promoted to the General Staff." Yang Shuoming said, "Shengxiang entered the War Department as an errand boy. ”

"I've been in the capital for a few days, and these two little rabbit cubs have set up a shelf, and they don't come to see Daddy." Huang Shiyao's face showed a hint of relief, and he scolded with a smile.

"The two sons have always been clever, maybe they saw that the air was not right for a while, and they wanted to avoid suspicion, so they didn't go to the Hanzhi Mansion." Wu Jie smiled and said.

While a few people were talking, Xi Xue walked in from outside, handed a note to Yang Shuoming, and then stood aside with his head down, Huang Shiyao looked at this peerless beauty with some surprise, and cast an inquiring glance at his daughter.

Huang Yunzhi looked at his father and smiled slightly, shook his head, and signaled that it was okay, Huang Shiyao glared at Yang Shuoming angrily and did not speak.

Wu Jie noticed that Yang Shuoming's face seemed to become a little solemn, and couldn't help asking, "What happened?" Hanzhi? ”

"It's okay," Yang Shuoming's face returned to calm, "It's Mr. Keqiang's telegram, he said that he will not return to China for the time being, and will go to Europe to inspect the military." ”

Listening to Yang Shuoming's answer, Huang Shiyao was obviously stunned for a moment, and seemed to be very surprised.

"That is to say, he is not willing to be Yuan Xiangcheng's subordinate." Wu Jie smiled and said, "He went to Europe, I'm afraid he had another purpose." ”

"That's fine." Yang Shuoming seemed to guess why Huang Xing went to Europe at this time, and showed a strange smile.

On June 12, 1917, Yuan Shikai held a grand military parade at Xinhuamen, and the envoys and military attaches of various countries in China gathered to watch the ceremony and spoke highly of the performance of the Chinese [***] team.

Amid the surrounding hustle and bustle, Daisaku Kawamoto, the military attache stationed in China, looked at the "multi-turret temple" with a terrifying dragon head pattern painted on the body of several rumbling cars, and a face that was already very open seemed to be stretched longer, as if it was about to be dragged to the ground.

(To be continued)