"Greedy for ink and military salary", Yuan Shikai disdained this crime, which general was not greedy for ink in these years? The Great Qing Kingdom is a pitch-black dye vat, if you go in, there is nothing that is not black, if you are not black, others will force you to be black.

"The wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it; Walk above the multitude, and the multitude will destroy it. ”

In the officialdom, if you can't be with the light, then wait to be excluded.

"Arbitrary and arbitrary killing", this crime is even more ridiculous, since ancient times, "mercy does not lead soldiers, righteousness does not guard money", if you want to train a strong army, it is not possible not to kill people, killing people is to establish authority, is to make subordinates obey superiors.

Holding a big knife in one hand and Yinyang in the other, this is Yuan Shikai's only way to train the Beiyang New Army, and it is also the secret of his winning the hearts of the Beiyang people.

Whenever he thinks of the charge that the court pressed against him, Yuan Shikai wants to laugh out loud, those banner people are so high-minded and low-handed, so forward-looking, no wonder they will be frightened by a group of foreign rebels.

If you want to make a career in troubled times, you must have that kind of decision! There is no such resolute bannerman, but he Yuan Shikai has it, and the revolutionary party also has it!

Seeing Yuan Shikai lying on the warm chair pondering, Yuan Kewen walked to the desk with interest and picked up the words, but saw a Chinese newspaper spread under the paper, the most conspicuous place was the news about Wang Zhanyuan and Lu Yongxiang telegraphing to support Yuan Shikai as the commander of the republic, and there was a short comment from a commentator behind it, asking why the Qing court could not use Yuan Shikai to deal with the crisis in the south, and a person named "Zhao Zhenhua" was written in pencil in the blank space next to the newspaper, which was Yuan Shikai's handwriting.

"Zhao Zhenhua" is Zhao Bei, Yuan Kewen knows, he looked at the words written by Yuan Shikai, and said in his heart: "Could it be that the Yuan family is really the heart of the world now?" "Because Zhao Bei supports Yuan Shikai as president, there is now a saying circulating in Beijing and Tianjin that Zhao Bei is Yuan Shikai's long-lost son, and Yuan Kewen certainly knows that this is nonsense.

When Yuan Kewen was distracted, Yuan Shikai stood up, walked to the desk, pointed to the letter, and said, "Don't frame this character first, put it away and put it in the box." ”

Yuan Kewen restrained his thoughts, saw Yuan Shikai lift his cane, hurriedly snatched it, and put the bearskin coat on Yuan Shikai.

"Kewen, you're busy with your business, I'll go around the garden." Yuan Shikai got up and walked out of the study, and the two relatives accompanied him to enjoy the snow in the garden, until the eldest son Yuan Keding came back, and then walked back to the study.

When Yuan Shikai returned to the study, there were already several people standing in the room, all of them in Tsing Yi and small hats, and when they saw Yuan Shikai, they all bowed.

Yuan Shikai instructed everyone to stand up and said, "You don't have to kneel, I'm a cloth cloth now, not an official of the imperial court." How did you get here? Could it be that the army is so idle? ”

Several people looked at each other, and one said: "Old handsome, now that I am white, I have already been robbed by the flag man." The eldest prince sent us a letter, we knew that the old man took refuge here, so he ran together, no matter what, he had to follow the old man, and he couldn't do the co-unification and standard, and we were also the old handsome's horses. ”

"Huh?" Yuan Shikai glanced at Yuan Keding, who was standing behind the door.

Yuan Keding's face sank like water, and said: "Since my father left, the banner people in the capital have gone crazy, holding the regent to seize the military power, the regent and the queen mother have not made up their minds, but later Wang Zhanyuan and Lu Yongxiang's telegram came out, the queen mother panicked, afraid that the generals of the Beiyang Army would come to support her father as the commander, the queen mother and the regent held several imperial meetings, although King Qing and Natong opposed it, but the regent and King Gong and King Su joined forces to say that the Han generals were unreliable, and the excuse was not in order. Dozens of standard commanders and co-commanders were withdrawn in one breath, and they were replaced by banner people to unify the army, and now the people in Beiyang are panicking, and just now my son got the news, and Yang Shishu was also taken by the imperial court, accused of 'greedy ink and lawlessness'. ”

"Yang Shixiang was taken by the imperial court? When was this? Who is in charge of Beiyang now? Yuan Shikai looked at the people in front of him.

One person replied: "Lord Yang was taken yesterday, and the person who replaced him was Cen Chunxuan, and as soon as he took office, dozens of impeachment folds went up, and Beiyang changed overnight, and they were replaced by Cen Chunxuan, King Su, and King Gong." ”

"They're pretty fast." Yuan Shikai touched the German-style mustache on the corner of his mouth, and said to Yuan Keding: "Keding, take you brothers down to rest and settle down." ”

Yuan Keding took a few people down, and after a while, he ran back and said, "Father, Yang Huizi is also here, and Duan Xiangyan is also here." It's inconvenient to meet, isn't it ...... now?"

Yuan Shikai nodded and said, "Bring them over." ”

Yuan Keding quickly led the two to the study, one was Yang Du, and the other was Duan Zhigui.

As soon as he saw Yuan Shikai, Duan Zhigui knelt down with a "porphyr", hugged Yuan Shikai's legs, and howled: "Godfather, Zhigui thought that his godfather was murdered by those banner people, and cried for a few days and nights, but fortunately, the eldest prince went to deliver the letter, so he sighed, it is really auspicious people have their own natural appearance, Zhigui has long said that Godfather is a person who is blessed with great life and great creation, how can he be easily murdered?" If the godfather is gone, how can the chaos in the world be cleaned up? ”

This Zhigui is a native of Hefei, Anhui Province, the word Xiangyan, born in the Beiyang Military Training Academy, and later studied in Japan to study military, after returning to China, he served as a teacher in the Beiyang Army Lecture Hall, and was alert and flexible, and was an old man when Yuan Shikai was training at a small station, plus he was good at greeting, and won Yuan Shikai's heart, and was protected by the Taoist step by step to the governor of Heilongjiang, but last year because of the "Yang Cuixi case" East Window incident, he was robbed of his official position, and was recommended by Yuan Shikai to Ma Yukun after a period of leisure, and had a meal in the Yi Army. Because Duan Zhigui once worshipped Yuan Shikai as his father-in-law, he was called "His Royal Highness", and when he saw Yuan Shikai's face, he did not call him "old handsome", but "godfather".

"Crying and crying, what kind of system has it become? Get up! Yuan Shikai said.

Duan Zhigui stood up, wiped his tears, and choked up: "Godfather, Beiyang is almost over, and the Beiyang Army is almost over!" When I came, I heard that Yang Lian's Mansion was taken by the imperial court, and Xu Ju Lao (Xu Shichang) sent a telegram over, saying that his position as governor of the three eastern provinces was no longer guaranteed, and the imperial court used the excuse that the military discipline of the third town of Beiyang in Changchun was not strict, and Cao Kun's top was also taken away, and now the third town has become an iron good. Godfather, if you don't think about it, the Beiyang Army you have trained will become a banner man! ”

Seeing Yuan Shikai's face turned blue, Duan Zhigui stopped his mouth with interest, and turned his gaze for help to Yang Du on the side.

Yang Du hesitated for a moment and said, "Gong Yuan, the matter has come to this point, and there is no way out. Rather than sit back, it is better to fight against the water. The court is dim, can't see the general trend of the world, the banner people are greedy, they can't see the people's suffering, the great changes in the world are just around the corner, if I want to avoid the fate of Lu Shen, I only see how Yuan Gong chooses. Yuan Gong, making contributions is at this time! You are China's Napoleon, China's Washington; Defeat is just going away and flying high, but it can leave a brave loyalty in history! ”

Yuan Shikai raised his head, looked at Yang Du, and asked expressionlessly, "Then in your opinion, how should I act?" ”

"Soldier!" Yang Du squeezed out two cold words from between his teeth.

For a while, the study was eerily quiet, Yuan Shikai blushed and did not reprimand Yang Du, Yuan Keding looked at Yuan Shikai's face nervously, Duan Zhigui pinched the melon skin hat in his hand, held his breath, and didn't even dare to come out, as for Yang Du, he still had that pampered and unsurprised look, as if the rebellious words just now were not what he said at all.

Yuan Shikai sighed and said, "Fang Cai Xiangyan said that the Beiyang Army is over. Soldiers? Where to start? Besides, Yuan Moushi received the favor of the country, how could he do such a thing that was like complicity and rebellion? ”

Duan Zhigui saw Yang Du's eyes, hurriedly knelt down again, kowtowed, and said: "Godfather, the Beiyang Army is still Godfather's Beiyang Army, the banner people think that changing a few co-commanders and standard commanders will take away the military power, that is their dream!" Over the years, who in the Beiyang Army has the imperial court in their eyes? They ate the food rewarded by the godfather, wore the clothes given by the godfather, and carried the guns issued by the godfather, what did the court give them? Except for a few crowns, the court didn't give anything! The Beiyang Army is up to the generals, down to the soldiers, but the godfather is the first to look forward! They only know the godfather, not the court! ”

"Fart!" Yuan Shikai glared at Duan Zhigui. "If there is no silver allocated by the imperial court, where will the Beiyang Army get the food and clothes? Don't tell outsiders what you say, you're afraid of someone poking your backbone. ”

Duan Zhigui was stunned, so he had to cry loudly: "I don't care so much!" In a word, we are up and down in Beiyang, the people who are alive are godfathers, and the dead are godfathers' ghosts! Godfather, you sold your life for the court, but what did you get in the end? If you hadn't gone fast, I'm afraid you would have been murdered by those bannermen! Godfather, you still haven't understood? Now this court is the court of the banner people, not the court of our Han people, no matter how well our Han people do, they are also the servants of the banner people! Godfather, the tree lives a skin, and the person lives in one breath, and now the flag people are bullying people too much, if we don't resist, I'm afraid that there will be no place to bury it if we die! As long as the godfather gives an order, we will follow the godfather up and down in Beiyang, and we will do what the godfather tells us to do! Godfather, if you do this, you will be the great hero of our Han people in China! When the time comes, the world will return to the heart, even if you can't be Liu Yu, you can be the king of Zhou Wen! ”

"Presumptuous!" Yuan Shikai patted the desk behind him, and was about to have a seizure, but saw Yang Du and Yuan Keding in front of him kneeling down together.

"Yuan Gong! Look no further! The flag man seized power and affected the hearts of the army, and we were not the only ones who were dissatisfied? The imperial court sent the Beiyang Army to fight the revolutionary army, just to do the story of 'Bian Zhuang Thorn Tiger', and want to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight! When the time comes, you will lose both, and if you want to launch it again, it will be too late! What if the imperial court draws the revolutionary army? Isn't it a loss of power, humiliation of the country, and willingness to be a lackey of foreigners? Yang Du shouted.

"Father! The flag man is going to kill all my Yuan clan, and if he doesn't do it, it's 'man is a sword, I am a fish and meat'! Even if you don't think about your son, you should think about the aunts who are imprisoned in the prison in the capital! Yuan Keding cried and said.

"Yuan Gong, now that the Southern Revolutionary Army has elected Yuan Gong as the commander, if Yuan Gong acts at this time, the hearts of the people in the world will be on Yuan Gong's side! And what about the revolutionary army? Without Yuan Gong's righteousness, they would be a dead end, and sooner or later they would be exterminated by the imperial court. The first hero who saved Li Min is none other than Yuan Gong! "Yang Du struck while the iron was hot.

"Alas. You guys...... You're trying to force me to rebel. Yuan Shikai sighed and sat down.

The study was quiet again, and after a long time, Yuan Shikai said lightly: "Xiangyan, Huizi, let's talk about it, this is a soldier's advice, not collusion with the revolutionary army, we are still courtiers of the Great Qing Kingdom." The revolutionary army did not have a good intention of electing me as the commander of the republic, but if it followed their wishes, it would have promoted them. ”

Yang Du was slightly stunned, unable to understand Yuan Shikai's intentions, so he had to say: "Yuan Gong is righteous, I will be convinced." This military admonition is not to echo the Southern Revolutionary Party, but the helpless move of the Qing courtiers to clear the world, clear the monarchy, and eliminate the war, in order to urge the imperial court to quickly establish a constitutional government! ”

Yuan Shikai stood up, paced around with his hands behind his back, stopped in front of Duan Zhigui, took out a booklet from his cuff, handed it to Duan Zhigui, and asked, "Xiangyan, do you remember this booklet?" ”

Duan Zhigui glanced at the booklet and said: "Zhigui remembers, this is a special code book, when Japan and Russia went to war and the country was in danger, my godfather gathered more than a dozen old people from the small station and sent one of us a copy, saying that in case of extraordinary changes, we would use this password to contact each other." Zhigui was trusted by his godfather and was rewarded with a password. ”

"Remember the contact hours?" Yuan Shikai asked again.

"Remember, contact at seven o'clock in the afternoon every day." Duan Zhigui said.

Yuan Shikai said: "You go to the telegraph office, and when the time comes, you will contact those people by telegram, probe the mouth, and see what they mean." ”

"Don't worry, godfather, Zhigui will contact you. In fact, the godfather doesn't have to be so careful, since the banner man seized power, everyone has been holding their breath, and no one wants to hand over the military power to the flag man. Duan Zhigui chattered a few words, and hurriedly said goodbye and left.

Yuan Shikai paced a few more steps and said to Yang Du: "Huizi, you have to go to southern Jiangsu to find Zhang Jizhi, since we want to urge the imperial court to establish a constitution, we can't do without these constitutional pioneers." ”

Zhang Jizhi is the famous late Qing Dynasty champion industrialist Zhang Jian, who worked with Yuan Shikai and was Yuan Shikai's teacher, although the two had not been in contact with each other for more than ten years because of different political views, but since Yuan Shikai's governor Beiyang advocated the new policy, Zhang Jian took the initiative to write a letter to reconcile with Yuan Shikai, because of many times in Beijing to express his feelings, now Zhang Jian has become the leader of the constitutionalist faction in several southeastern provinces, and has also placed high hopes on Yuan Shikai.

Yang Du said: "Yuan Gong is polite, as long as the imperial court can establish a constitution, let alone go to southern Jiangsu, even if Yang asks him to go to the sword mountain and go down to the sea of fire, he will not hesitate!" ”

Yang Du said to go, and after a while, only Yuan Shikai and Yuan Keding were left in this study.

"Keding, you will go to the Bureau of the Ministry of Industry of the Concession, the liaison of the British Minister Zhu Erdian is there, after you go, tell him, just say that I accepted Mr. Zhu Erdian's suggestion, and I hope he can keep his promise." Yuan Shikai paused, and then said: "If Zhu Erdian changes the hexagram, don't stay, come back and tell me immediately." ”

Yuan Keding looked a little excited, and asked, "Father, do the British also support us?" ”

Yuan Shikai waved his hand and said, "Don't ask so much, go and come back quickly." In addition, summon all those Yuan Mu assistants who fled to the concession to discuss the overall situation of the world. ”

After Yuan Keding left, Yuan Shikai walked to the window, opened the curtains, and pushed open the double-glazed window, and the cold wind greeted him, making his frowning brows stretch.

"It's cold, and it's going to snow again."

Looking at the haze in the sky, Yuan Shikai smiled faintly, turned his gaze to the street, and two pedestrians caught his attention.

It had just snowed two days ago, and the snow was thick on the streets, and there were not many pedestrians. A carriage passed, and the two pedestrians stopped at the corner of the street, facing the window where Yuan Shikai was standing, and Yuan Shikai could clearly see the two of them dressed.

One of them was tall and wore a long gown, a small jacket on his head, and a warm hat on his head, and he was dressed like a showman, while the other was short, and he wore no hat on his head, but only braided his hair, and dressed as a coolie.

At this time, the two of them were looking left and right, and when they looked up, they also saw Yuan Shikai behind the window.

"That fat man is watching us." The short man said to the tall man.

"From such a distance, he can't hear us, so ignore him." The tall man said, but in the end he pulled the short man around.

"I think this British concession is good, business is prosperous, and all major foreign banks have opened branches here, so let's just set up an intelligence station here." The short man said.

"The Japanese concession is also good, there are many three religions and nine streams, and it is suitable for work." The tall man disagrees with the other person.

"In this case, let's just go to the Japanese Concession and stay in the British Concession and establish two contact points." The short man suggested.

"This seems inappropriate, we came all the way from Wuhan along the Jinghan line, but we have never acted separately, even on the train, we sit in the same carriage, in case there is a mistake, there is no response."

"You show talent and are just timid. Well, take a telegram to the commander-in-chief and see what he arranges. ”

"It's called prudence. It's okay, two more days will be the prescribed day of contact, and then I'll take a telegram back and see what the commander-in-chief has to say. In addition, remember, from now on, our code name will be set, I am 'Tieqiao', you are 'Peach Tree', you usually use your real name when you are active, use your code name when you shoot telegrams, and add a 'Gong' surname to your payment. ”

The two of them muttered a few words, turned around and glanced at the window again, and then walked east along the side of the street, and after walking a few steps, one of them looked back at the window, but saw that the man behind the window was closing the window, so he said to himself: "Strange, why does that fat man look so familiar?" I think I've seen it in newspapers or photos. ”

However, he did not pay attention to this detail, and soon disappeared with his companions at the end of the street.

In this way, the two IRA intelligence officers missed the opportunity to get to know Yuan Shikai.

Of course, whether Yuan Shikai is willing to meet them or not is another matter.