Just after receiving Yun Da, the boss of Zhongxing Commercial Bank, Xu Ming collapsed on the sofa. These days are enough for him to be tired, and he is forced to be happy every day, "picking up" more than ten groups.

In addition to "picking up guests" at home, he also has to go out for activities, and tomorrow, he received an invitation from Zhang Qian to play chess guidance for Duan Qirui.

In the Duan Mansion in Shanghai, Duan Qirui was surrounded by a group of people such as Zhang Qian, Liu Xiangcheng and his son Duan Hongye, and he was talking enthusiastically, and Duan Qirui's hearty laughter came from time to time in the Water Pavilion Pavilion. At this time, a porter walked over gently and skillfully and said softly in front of Lao Duan. Duan Qirui laughed, turned his head to Zhang Qian and said, "My little fellow chess saint is here..."

It is not the first time that Xu Ming and Duan Qirui have met, and they were invited to play chess half a year ago. At that time, Xu Ming deliberately lost a game in the process of playing chess. Not for any other reason, but simply because he was sick—pitiful and pitiful for him.

Because Xu Ming had just entered the Republic of China at that time, his concept of Duan was not good. For example, in Lu Xun's "In Memory of Liu He Zhenjun", it is written that Duan Qirui slaughtered dozens of students! His famous sentence: "A real warrior, dare to face the dripping blood..."

From then on, Lao Duan was put on the hat of a reactionary warlord! At least Xu Ming doesn't approve of this fellow.

Gradually going deeper into this era, Xu Ming discovered that Lao Duan's reputation is not very good in this era! Almost everyone believes that Duan Qirui's quality is the best among the previous heads of the Republic of China, and his six no-doctrines of not prostituting, gambling, smoking, drinking, greedy, and occupying are deeply admired, even if his political enemies throughout his life are deeply impressed.

And the loan of Duan Qirui Xiyuan, which was criticized in the later period, is not a traitorous act, on the contrary, the loan of Nishihara Kamezo and Prime Minister Masashi Terauchi led by Nishihara Kamezo and Prime Minister Masashi Terauchi is called a traitor in Japan!

Duan Qirui borrowed more than 100 million yen from the Japanese government during his administration (some say more than 200 million, more than 300 million, or even 500 million, the real borrowing figure is a confused account!). The yen at that time was not as worthless as it was half a century later, when a yen was worth no less than a dollar. So what did Lao Duan do with this money?

He mainly did three things: paying salaries to civil servants, spending on daily affairs, and sending troops to recover military expenses for the recovery of Outer Mongolia. All of these three things are beneficial to China. This has also become an important reason for Duan Qirui's high prestige! It is said that once a diplomat said in public that the government was inferior to Beiyang, and Beiyang would never owe diplomats salaries...... Lao Jiang was ridiculed in person. Xu Ming estimated that there might be 10,000 sentences of Niang Xi surging in the heart of a certain bald head.

Then don't you want to pay back borrowing so much money? Lao Duan wanted to say "hehe". He really didn't plan to repay the money he borrowed, and he once told Feng Guozhang in person: "We are using Japan for a while." Who plans to repay these loans! By the end of the stare it was over. （1）！ The West Garden loan has become the biggest bad debt in the history of Japan! Duan Qirui set a large number of uncashable collateral in the loan conditions, and the interest rate is very low!

These evaluations also inevitably affected Xu Ming, who is now truly full of respect for this once dominant Beiyang giant.

In just half a year, Duan Qirui's figure has lost a lot of weight. Originally, he "just" had a bad face, and now Duan Qirui is even more unattractive due to long-term stomach ulcer torture.

But Duan Qirui always looked calm, and his cultivation determined that he attached great importance to etiquette at all times, and the process of playing chess was meticulous and serious. Although Xu Ming found that Duan Qirui's thinking had shown confusion in the chess game.

However, Xu Ming has taught chess a lot in his previous life, and he has such a ability: no matter how good you are, Xu Ming can be inseparable from him. Moreover, the instructed person definitely couldn't see Xu Ming's concessions.

"I didn't expect that Duan Lao, you haven't seen you for a few days, and you actually played chess!" , Xu Ming said on the one hand, and on the other hand, he used tesuji (2) on the plate to induce Duan Qirui to resist fiercely. Sure enough, the hard work paid off, and after 5 sets, Lao Duan won an excellent record of one loss, three wins and one draw. A flat game is a three-catastrophe cycle with a probability of 1 in 10,000, and Duan Qirui used the tesuji of the inverted boots (3) in the winning game: Duan Qirui played Go for decades and applied it in actual combat for the first time! He screamed like a child! The others quickly shouted praise.

"Zhi Lao Bao Knife is not old......"

"Zhigong's road is so clear..."

"Chisato, you're in trouble this time...."

The chess game has ended, and in the living room in the Duan Mansion, Xu Ming respectfully talked about the training and suppression of bandits in Qiyang during this period of time and the recent changes in the political situation in Hunan, Xu Ming said very slowly, and was very careful not to put forward the views of future generations, because this would cause Duan Qirui to misunderstand.

Xu Ming's respect is from the heart, Xu Ming is three streets ahead of Lao Duan in Go, but in terms of political understanding, Duan Qirui threw Xu Ming 108,000 miles!

After listening, Duan Qirui stood up, and Duan Hongye and Xu Ming hurriedly stepped forward, expecting to help him. Lao Duan's nose crooked, revealing a dissatisfied gesture. Those who are familiar with Duan Qirui know that he is a little angry. As an extremely strong man, he could not stand anyone's contempt or sympathy.

Duan Qirui walked around the room, Duan Hongye, Xu Ming, Zhang Qian and others stood solemnly. Although Lao Duan has not been a big brother for many years, he can occasionally exude the atmosphere of looking down on the world back then.

After a long time, Duan Qirui walked to the desk, gently rolled up his sleeves, Duan Hongye and Zhang Qian hurriedly waited for one left and one right, Duan Qirui inhaled for a moment, and then waved it.

"Standing in Faith"

Xu Ming said respectfully: "Please make it clear to Zhi Lao."

Duan Qirui said: "Since the beginning of the Republic of China, political affairs have been complicated, Xu Ming, you are still young, and you should not know the past. But when you are in Hunan, you can know the changes in Hunan. “

Xu Ming replied: "Since Tan Yanmin mastered Hunan Province, it has been uncertain through the changes of Tang Qianming and Zhang Jingyao; to Zhao Hengxi United Provincial Autonomy; to Tan Yanmin, Cheng Qian, and Tang Shengzhi standing side by side; and He Jian's family dominates ....... Xu Ming is well aware that the political and military changes in Hunan Province are the most complex among the provinces of the Republic of China. Zhang Xun's restoration, the battle of the palace, the war to protect the country, the war to protect the law, the struggle for hegemony in Anhui, to the recent Northern Expedition Revolution and the Chiang-Gui War. Almost every major event in China Hunan is an important part, and he can't figure out the inside story of the changes at all, let alone dare to make an axe in front of Duan Qirui, who once single-handedly planned or directed China's political situation. So Xu Ming simply only said a general experience.

Xu Ming's words are problematic, the Protectorate War and the Protector War are for the Nationalist governments of Sun and Zhongshan, and they can't be said for Duan Qirui, who was once in charge of the Beiyang government, but fortunately, Duan Qirui did not pursue it.

Duan Qirui nodded and continued to induce: "Then what are the characteristics of them?" “

Xu Ming thought for a moment and said: "The government is very short-lived, the strength is not strong, and it is in a remote place, and it occasionally gets involved in the central government, but it is quickly defeated and lost. “

Duan Qirui agreed: "Since modern times, China has been ruling from both the north and the south, and there are few places such as Hubei and Hunan. Why? The south has the support of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong, and the north has Pingjin as the support. The two lakes are congenitally deficient and difficult to lead the country. “

Duan Qirui gave a few more examples: Zhao Hengxi hoped to expand his sphere of influence in Hubei and expel Wang Zhanyuan, but as a result, stealing chickens and rice was not broken, but Wu Peifu took Yuezhou; Cheng Qian's reliance on the Gui system, Tang Shengzhi's reliance on Jiang, and Kai-shek's reliance were all used, and their strength was lost.

Xu Ming thought for a while and said: "The land is not a place to fight for hegemony, and the time is not a time to fight for hegemony. “

Duan Qirui was very happy to see that Xu Ming understood what he meant, and added to him: "You are not a person who fights for hegemony. ”

Xu Mingran was stunned, Duan Qirui was right. The current era is no longer the era of hegemony, and China's biggest trend is to resist Japan and save its existence. If this theme is violated, the greater the ability of a person, the greater the harm it will bring to China.

This is Duan Qirui's most important advice, which makes him understand that all future goals must revolve around this theme. Otherwise, you are not only doomed to failure, but also infamy. This choice of direction is more important than personal ability and political maneuvering.

After talking about the strategy, Duan Qirui explained the meaning of these four words to Xu Ming in detail.

Trust, including trust in subordinates, must be given enough trust in the employment of people. Suspicious people should be used, and people should not be suspicious! Suspicion of subordinates is the best way to lose. The positive example he gave was Zhang Zuolin! A bandit can lay the foundation of the Feng system in such a complex environment, which is inseparable from his belief in Zhang Zuoxiang, Yang Yuting and others. And in the case of losing the basis, Zhang Xueliang can still eat his father's old book, which shows that the Fengzhang Group has a strong cohesion. As for the negative example, he cited Yan Xishan. Yan Laoxi's foundation is better than anyone else's, and he is trapped in one place according to the mountains and rivers on the surface, why not? Does Yan Xishan have no money? Shanxi has been rich since ancient times, and the Jin merchants have accumulated countless wealth since the Ming and Qing dynasties. Don't have resources? Shanxi is extremely rich in coal, which can provide a great boost to industrialization. Then why did Yan Xishan fall into the disadvantage in all the battles for hegemony: he couldn't beat Wu Peifu, he couldn't win Zhang Zuolin, and he was even more beaten against Jiang Jie and Shi Zuo. The fundamental reason is that Yan Xishan is narrow-minded and cannot employ people. Shang Zhen was restrained as soon as he was brilliant, and Fu Zuoyi was afraid of hindrance when he made a little military exploit. Duan Qirui also concluded: "How big your mind is, how successful you are." ”

Then Duan Qirui explained the second meaning of the letter.

Faith, including faith. It is impossible for Chinese soldiers not to talk about politics, and political beliefs can only be chosen once! You can't do it on both sides, left and right! The positive examples given by Duan Qirui are Chiang and Kai-shek. Since the failure of stock speculation, Lao Jiang has hugged Mr. Zhongshan's thigh and never wavered. Even in the face of hardships and dangers, he would rather go into the wilderness than rebel. As soon as he came to power, he immediately became the banner of the Kuomintang and regained the peak of power. During this period, Hu Hanmin, Wang, Jingwei and others desperately wanted to replace him, but they couldn't.

What about the negative example, as Xu Ming guessed, Duan Qirui was talking about Feng YX.

"At the beginning, the Russians supported Mr. Zhongshan with a little weapons and funds, but Feng YX got more equipment and rubles! Sun and Zhongshan founded the Whampoa Military Academy, and Feng Huanzhang established the Fenyang Military Academy! Jiang Jie and Shi Qi are only a few student soldiers, while Feng YX is deeply trusted by Cao Kun and Wu Peifu and has his own arms! Jiang Jie, Shi in the Northern Expedition in Guangzhou, Feng YX swore in Wuyuan!

Duan Qirui admitted that Feng YX had considerable military management and command skills, which was definitely no less than Jiang Jie and Shi. Then why was Fengbu, who once owned the five northwestern provinces, defeated almost in a battle, and there was no sign of turning over. The most important reason for this is that Feng is an army without faith, and his subordinates are also subordinates without faith. In the Central Plains War, Shi Yousan cut off his back road, and Han Fuqu gave him the most ruthless knife. Moreover, everyone else has a chance to make a comeback after failure. Li Bai retreated to Guangxi to recuperate after his defeat, Yan Xishan retreated to Shanxi to recuperate after his defeat, and Zhang Zuolin fled back to the northeast to accumulate strength after his defeat. Only he Feng YX, after the defeat, collapsed. The 400,000 Northwest Army collapsed!

Xu Ming listened quietly, he knew why Duan Qirui hated Feng YX so much, because Feng killed his most beloved general, Xu Shuzheng. There are too many grievances and hatreds between Duan and Feng. But one thing Duan Qirui said is right, when you choose to constantly betray, you don't expect your subordinates to be absolutely loyal to you, every time you change your political beliefs, your team cohesion will drop by one level.

A letter, Duan Qirui spoke for almost two hours. Seeing that he was a little tired, Xu Ming tried to let him rest for a while, but was stopped by Duan Qirui with a stern gaze.

Duan Qirui has been fasting and reciting Buddha all day since the March 18 tragedy, regardless of political affairs. But today, for some purpose, Xu Ming was carefully taught. Even Xu Ming himself didn't know why, only his son and Zhang Qian saw the clues.

Next, Duan Qirui explained in detail the meaning of the word "Heng". Xu Ming listened to the old man's earnest teachings with gratitude. This is a summary of Duan Qirui's life, not only the experience of being in politics and the army, but also the belief in being a man. And now, he taught Xu Ming without reservation.

Duan Qirui did not tell Xu Ming what he should do in Hunan, but Xu Ming knew that as long as he reached the realm of perseverance and enterprising and courage to do things, then there would be a way to solve everything.

At the time of parting, Xu Ming bowed deeply to Duan Qirui, he had no other way to repay, but to write some chess game explanations of Danghu ten games (4) in his spare time, which could be regarded as a last consolation for this lonely old man.

Xu Ming turned to leave, Duan Qirui watched at the door, and the back image was very young Xu Shuzheng. In the end, Xu Ming went farther and farther, and then there was no trace.

Remark:

(1) Yun Baohui's memories of Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang's conversation.

(2) Local skills of Go.

(3) The famous local tesuji of Go is extremely difficult to play in actual combat.

(4) The highest level of Go duels in ancient China.