Yuan Shikai waved his hand and signaled that he should not talk about it anymore, he should not bring up this topic. The stock matter itself has also suffered heavy losses, and the entire Beiyang Army has no military spending, if the British had not taken the lead in providing loans again, Beiyang would have collapsed long ago, and it is by no means what it is now. Even so, Yuan Shikai is just struggling to support, he is waiting for an opportunity, this time is for Lu Liang to open peace talks between the north and the south, so that he can not only protect Beiyang, but also throw the mess to Lu Liang.

"In any case, this is a good opportunity, we must let Song Sheng handle this matter well, it is best to use Rong Hong to meet Lu Liang directly, and expressing our meaning through Rong Hong is also the second choice. In short, we can't wait any longer. After Yuan Shikai said this, there was silence in the house for a while, everyone knew what the north was rotten like now, and the imperial court from top to bottom, from the prince to the county order, was desperately trying to make money, trying to recover the loss of stocks. It is very appropriate to describe the people's lack of livelihood, and as for the drought in Henan, this matter is not on the agenda at all.

"My lord, in my opinion, we can't just wait for Lu Liang to send a signal, we have to take the initiative to do something, so that Lu Liang understands!" Yang Du said shyly.

"Oh, didn't we send Liang Dunyan to the event, do you want me to publicly state that I am willing to negotiate peace? How is that different from surrender, and when it comes to real negotiations, what do we use to fight for benefits? ”

"No, my lord, I mean the imperial court. After the death of the Queen Mother, the court was scattered, and those Manchurians were just waiting for death, why didn't we push him and just let him quit? Yang Du's words were astonishing, this idea surfaced in everyone's troubles, but was immediately driven away by words such as "great rebellion", the literati attached the most importance to integrity, even if they belonged to the Beiyang group, they would verbally say that they were loyal to the imperial court.

Unexpectedly, this last sentence was said by the so-called "master of Chinese culture" Yang Du. One can't help but be surprised. After a temporary silence, someone noticed Yuan Shikai's subtle expression, and immediately reacted, this Yang Du is a smart person! He simply said this for Yuan Shikai!

So the second staff member spoke: "What Huizi said is extremely true, once we force the Qing court to abdicate, then there will be adults in the north who are completely in charge. No one else is behind the scenes. In the past, what the south was afraid of was nothing more than the attitude of the imperial court after the peace talks with us, so it seems that this move is greatly conducive to the peace of the country, and it is a move that benefits the people, please agree to it! ”

After that, the room immediately became lively, some people analyzed it from the perspective of the overall strategic situation, some people analyzed it from the perspective of history, and more old scholars chewed words, shook their heads, and quoted scriptures. Taken together, it will be found that the Qing court's failure to abdicate is a heinous crime, and some people even used the word "Conglong" to test Yuan Shikai's attitude, but was immediately stopped by Yuan Shikai.

To be an emperor, who doesn't want to, of course Yuan Shikai also wants to, but it's just a matter of thinking, he is willing, and his subordinates are willing to take care of it. Why don't you ask the 500,000 troops in the south if they are willing?

"The old man is the pillar of the country, with Yiyong Marquis (Zeng Guofan) and Li Zhongtang as examples. Since the beginning of North Korea, the imperial court has treated me well, so don't you trap me in an unkind and unjust situation? This matter must be mentioned again! Although he said so, everyone could see the smile in the corner of his eye.

"My lord's loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness are unparalleled in the world, and we admire them. However, those who know the times are Junjie, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty has long been unable to rule the world. For the sake of all the people, please think deeply! Saying that, Yang Du knelt on the ground, and almost didn't say that "the emperor" was coming.

The rest of the people also knelt down, Yuan Shikai smiled and helped them up one by one, and said, "This matter is very important. Let's think about it first, wait for the end of the drinking party on Liang Dunyan's side, and see what the attitude of the south is. ”

This is to let his subordinates start to make plans to prepare for the abdication of the Manchu Dynasty, and everyone is overjoyed. When the Manchu Qing abdicates, the country cannot be left without an owner for a day, there must be an emperor, Yuan Shikai is the emperor, and he and others are not the ministers around him! As for the president, that thing is called by foreigners, what is the difference between it and the emperor, or is the emperor good, we have been called the emperor in China for thousands of years, how can the tradition be easily changed?

Three days later, Liang Dunyan took Yuan Shikai's earnest entrustment and happily went to Shanghai Ziqiang Chain Hotel. In Yuan Shikai's secret telegram, it was slightly revealed that he was forcing the Manchu Qing to abdicate, and Liang Dunyan agreed to this matter, but Yang Du's secret telegram sent together made Liang Dunyan unable to agree, although Yang Du's meaning was vague, but it could also be understood that after the Manchu abdication, there must be another emperor to lead the country.

Bullshit! A master of Chinese studies who daydreams about the emperor all day long, is this era the era of the emperor? Look at the high-rise buildings on the streets of Shanghai, the cars and trams running all over the ground, the giant ships swimming in the river, and the countless large-scale factories in the suburbs, those people are like frogs at the bottom of the well, closing their eyes and ignoring the changes in the outside world, indulging in the world they weave, sitting on the beautiful dreams of the emperor's ministers!

What makes people pessimistic is that it seems that his master, Yuan Shikai, also has such a plan, which makes Liang Dunyan feel that he is a pearl and a dark future, and he may become a prisoner of Huaguo at some point. Recalling that he had gone to Wuhan with Yang Du in September 1904 and talked to Zhang Taiyan, and after returning to no avail, Yuan Shikai ordered himself to be stationed in the south, preferably in direct contact with the upper echelons of Huaguo, or even directly with Lü Liang, to seek a way to keep the Beiyang group. But the longer I stay here, the more I feel that this is impossible, and the more I feel that this is the hope of the country.

Putting aside the messy thoughts, the most important thing now is to attend that drinking party and see if there is a chance to convey the method of peace talks to the upper echelons of Huaguo. After all, he has followed Yuan Shikai for many years, if it weren't for him, he might have lost his future like many young children in the United States, not to mention being in a high position, and even eating was very difficult.

"Songsheng, welcome, welcome, just waiting for you!" Zhang Kangren had already greeted him at the door, and when he saw Liang Dunyan, he immediately led him to the hall where the reception was held.

After greeting all the way, after arriving at the door of the hall, two waiters pushed open the door for him, and the scene inside made Liang Dunyan a little dazzled, and in a trance, he was pulled by many people, and all kinds of greetings lingered in his ears.

They are all young children who studied in the United States that year, and it is estimated that there are more than 70 people in the hall, and they have not seen each other for many years, and many of them have been full of hair, although they are middle-aged, they can still see the hardships of survival. When an old man in his seventies came over, Liang Dunyan finally woke up from his trance, and hurriedly went up and bent down to greet everyone, it was everyone's husband - Rong Hong.

"Sir, have you always been in good health? I haven't seen him for many years, and Song Sheng misses it very much. ”

"Come and sit down, it's been decades, and the old man misses you dolls too. I thought that while this old bone could still move, let Kang Ren organize it, see if I could find you all, and then let the old man and me take a look, and my heart would be satisfied. Hey, speaking of which, the old man is sorry for you, he failed to prevent the court from sending you back to China, not to mention that he has not succeeded in his studies, and he has not been properly settled, which has delayed your future, and I feel sad when I think of this incident. Rong Hong said that the young children who studied in the United States were forced to interrupt their studies for some political reasons in the seventh year of Guangxu, and were despised after returning to China.

"Mr. doesn't have to blame himself, Songsheng has always been very grateful to Sir."

Recovering from the excitement, the cocktail party began, and the self-service format of the cocktail party allowed Liang Dunyan to walk around and communicate with everyone at will, this free and easy way reminded him of his decades of restrictive officialdom in the United States, which made him forget this feeling, and now it seems that it feels very good!

However, there is one thing that makes him very awkward, that is, everyone except him did not keep braids, and his classmates also cut off their braids when they were in the United States, but most of them kept them after returning to China. So are they all working for Huaguo?

"How's it going, Songsheng, it feels okay!" Zhang Kangren was busy for a while and then came to Liang Dunyan's side and asked.

"Kangren, this drinking party was organized by you, let me ask you, are all of them young children studying in the United States? Do they all serve Huaguo? ”

"Hehe, Song Sheng didn't know that we were forced to interrupt our studies, and after arriving in Shanghai, we were locked up in a school, and we were not even allowed to go out during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the final work arrangement felt incredible. We were victims of the battle in the temple, and I went abroad again with the help of my brother, but it didn't end well. People in China should know that people like you, Zhan Tianyou, Tang Shaoyi, Cai Shaoji and others are useful in their studies and are in high positions, most of them are struggling at the bottom of society, even if they work in the imperial court railway department, mining department, transportation, foreign affairs, military and other departments, it is difficult to show their strengths, and most of them have ups and downs in the officialdom struggle. ”

"Things changed at the end of 1901, when the current president of China, Mr. Lu Liang, sent a secret team to contact us, and later after the Northern Expedition, China was established, and many young children in the south who were studying in the United States entered the Chinese system and worked in their respective fields." (To be continued.) )