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When Song Xiaofei saw Li Hongzhang again, Li Hongzhang was lying on the sickbed, and two gray-bearded old imperial doctors Lu Yongbin and Zhou Jingtao stood next to him, taking his pulse. Liu Mingchuan, Sheng Xuanhuai, Wu Tingfang, Zhang Peilun, Liu Shutang and other senior generals and governors of the Huai Army were all there, and Li Jingfang and Li Jingshu were all kneeling on the ground, their heads on the ground. When Li Hongzhang saw Song Xiaofei, he struggled to sit up, his face was full of red light, and he looked like he was returning to the light.

Song Xiaofei asked Lu Yongbin, "How is the president's pulse?" ”

Lu Yongbin sighed and replied: "The president's pulse is weak in the left ulnar vein, the right guan pulse is stringy, the kidney water is insufficient, and the spleen and soil are out of balance. ”

Song Xiaofei persuaded Li Hongzhang: "Teacher, why don't you go to see Western medicine, Chinese internal medicine and Western medicine are very different, maybe you can give it a try." ”

As early as the fifth year of Guangxu, that is, in 1879, Li Hongzhang's aunt Mohs fell ill and could not be cured by traditional Chinese medicine. But at this time, Li Hongzhang struggled to sit up, stopped his hand and said to Song Xiaofei: "Seventy and do what you want, the old man is now seventy and two, and he doesn't want to suffer from Western medicine and surgery anymore." You sit at the head of the bed, and I have something to say to you. ”

Song Xiaofei sat on the sickbed, and Li Hongzhang asked Li Jingshu to come forward and put his son's hand on Song Xiaofei's hand. said: "The old man has long hair in his life. There are no regrets about cracking down on thieves, doing foreign affairs, rejuvenating water divisions, and building a republic. Killed a lot of people and did a lot of wrong things, especially the last attempt at a constitutional monarchy, which almost split the country and ruined the lives of the people. ”

Song Xiaofei comforted Li Hongzhang and said: "Opening up a republic and establishing a constitutional monarchy are both roads that China has not seen for 3,000 years. It is inevitable that you will take the wrong path and take a detour, and the teacher does not have to care. ”

Li Hongzhang said to Song Xiaofei: "The old man has nothing to worry about, the only thing is that this filial son Zhong Peng can't rest assured, although he is not a few years younger than you, he is wooden by nature, he is an honest man, and he is not good at dealing with people." In the future, after the old man dies, I am afraid that it will be difficult to gain a foothold in this stormy and turbulent world, and the old man entrusts him to you. He's not a politician. But he is my biological son Li Hongzhang, and it is inevitable that he will be involved in politics in the future, and you have to keep him and the Li family safe and sound. ”

Song Xiaofei looked at Li Hongzhang's deathbed and said, "Don't worry, teacher, you are letting Brother Zhong Peng be the president, and the students will do their best to assist." ”

Li Hongzhang shook his head. said: "The president is no better than the emperor, and he can succeed the father and the son." Besides, the old man has been in officialdom all his life, and he knows the sinister nature of officialdom, and Zhong Peng is not a material for politics. As for the next president, I nominated you, Vice Presidents Jang Zhidong and Yoo Kun-il, and let the members of Congress vote when the time comes. You have made great achievements, and you are young and strong, and I am confident that parliamentarians will make the right choice for the sake of China's future. ”

Song Xiaofei nodded and said, "As long as there is the support of the teacher, the students believe that we can inherit the cause of China's republic." ”

Li Hongzhang said: "A generation has a generation's task, I, an old monk, can be regarded as having finished hitting the bell, and next, it depends on your younger generation." ”

Liu Mingchuan, Sheng Xuanhuai, Wu Tingfang, Zhang Peilun, Liu Shutang and others saw Li Hongzhang's statement and expressed their support for Song Xiaofei as the president of the First Republic of China. Li Hongzhang said: "I have been in China for 5,000 years, experienced the prosperity of the Han and Tang dynasties, and closed the country to lead to today's national strength is not strong, I hope you can take on the great task of national rejuvenation." ”

Song Xiaofei said: "Teacher, the student has an idea and has wanted to communicate with you for a long time, but I don't know if you agree with it." ”

Li Hongzhang said: "You say." ”

Song Xiaofei said: "Looking at the tide of the world, the party politics of Taixi countries has become the trend of the times. Although our Huaijun Group is all over the world, it is a local organization after all, and its organization is not strict and its cohesion is not strong. Therefore, the students want to form a Baath Party throughout the country and shoulder the heavy responsibility of national rejuvenation that you just mentioned. ”

Li Hongzhang sighed with emotion: "The boy is terrifying! The old man had this idea before, but he never did it, so you can do it. But what kind of government are you going to adopt in the future? ”

Song Xiaofei said: "The constitutional monarchy has now been stigmatized by the Fumin Party, and only the republic is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so students will still take the road of republicanism." Although democracy and freedom are the general trend of the world, and it is very easy to deceive people's minds, but if China is rashly westernized in an all-round way, China will inevitably not adapt to the soil and water, and the students are ready to take a republican road with special characteristics, for example, it can be called a people's democratic republic, and all other parties, except for the Fumin Party, which has been banned, will, under the leadership of our renaissance, first develop the people's livelihood, and then engage in democracy, and work together to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. ”

Li Hongzhang nodded, showing a relieved smile again, and he said the last sentence to Song Xiaofei, "I will hand over the Beiyang Navy Division and the Huai Army to you, I can rest assured!" ”

After saying this, the president of the First Republic of China, who was regarded by former Japanese Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito as "the only person in the Qing Empire who has the ability to compete with the world powers", and Bismarck, the iron-blooded chancellor of the German Empire, and Grant, the first president of the United States to graduate from the West Point Military Academy, closed his eyes and passed away at the age of 72!

From the presidential palace in Beijing to embassies around the world, there was mourning. The embassies of the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil and other countries lowered their flags at half-mast to pay tribute to this great man of China and pay a moment of silence.

At this time, after more than 30 years of Westernization Movement, China's annual financial revenue reached 90 million taels of silver, and it already has a considerable industrial base and scientific and technological strength, especially the military industry, although many people do not know for some reason, they are unwilling to admit it, taking the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau and the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau as examples:

In 1884, the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau for the first time manufactured a movable wheeled 37mm caliber breech gun, which was made of ordinary steel or manganese steel, which improved the strength of the barrel; The shells were also changed from spherical to elongated, with a cartridge belt, which improved the rate of fire and accuracy of the cannon, and was put into mass production. In 1884, the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau began to manufacture the American-style Gatillin reincarnation machine gun, commonly known as ten cannons, the caliber of the gun is 11 mm, the barrel has 12 riflings, equipped with 6 to 10 barrels, can be rotated on a fixed central shaft to load and fire sequentially, can shoot 350 bullets per minute, the firing range is up to 2000 meters. In 1886, the Jinling Arsenal manufactured the Type 24 Makqin heavy machine gun.

By the Chinese government, the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau allocated 20% of the Shanghai customs tax as a perennial fund, employing 2,000 workers, and by the 80s, it had successively built a shell factory, a mine factory, a steel mill, a maroon gunpowder factory, and a smokeless gunpowder factory. In June 1893, the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau tested the newly made artillery, and Liu Qixiang, the general office, specially invited a large number of Chinese and foreign people to come to watch. At that time, a total of two guns were tested, namely the 800-pound breech-loading cannon and the 40-pound all-steel gun, of which the 40-pound all-steel gun was an imitation of the caliber rapid-fire gun. The results of the test guns were very successful, and "Chinese and Western spectators sighed and sighed", and from 1892 to the beginning of the First Sino-Japanese War, the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau produced a total of 12 rapid-fire guns.

Li Hongzhang left Song Xiaofei with 100,000 new troops, as well as the Beiyang Fleet, which ranks first in Asia and sixth in the world, and has 24 ironclad warships of more than 1,000 tons, such as "Dingyuan", "Zhenyuan", "Jingyuan", "Laiyuan", "Jiyuan", "Zhiyuan", "Jingyuan", "Suzhou", "Dongting", "Yangwei", "Chaoyong", "Guangyi", "Guangbing", "Guangbing", "Guangbing", "Longji", "Huwei", "Feiting", "Cedian", and other 8 "mosquito ships", "left one", "left two", "left three", "right one", " Fifteen torpedo boats, including the second from the right, the third from the right, the third from the right, the Fulong, the first and the second from the right, the first in the town, the second in the town, the first in the town, the second in the town, the first in the middle, the first in the right, and the second in the middle, have a total tonnage of 60,000 tons and more than 6,000 officers and men. At the Beiyang Military Academy, the enrollment scale at this time was expanded to 4,000 army officers and 2,000 naval officers per period.

Song Xiaofei established the Renaissance Party on the basis of the Huaijun clique, and still respected the deceased Li Hongzhang as the honorary chairman of the Baath Party, with himself as chairman, Liu Mingchuan and Sheng Xuanhuai as vice chairmen, Zhang Peilun as the secretary general of the Baath Party, and Li Jingfang as the deputy secretary general of the Baath Party. Li Jingshu inherited the family business of the Li family and gave Li Hongzhang filial piety.

On that day, the sky was also lovely, the sky was drizzling, Song Xiaofei held a grand state funeral for Li Hongzhang, Song Xiaofei and Liu Mingchuan, Sheng Xuanhuai and others personally carried Li Hongzhang's coffin.

At Li Hongzhang's funeral, Song Xiaofei wore a big white flower on his chest, in front of 10,000 people, his tone was choked, he read Li Hongzhang's eulogy, and gave him a coffin: "Mentor Li Hongzhang, although he made the mistake of re-taking the imperial system in his later years, it was also for China to find a path suitable for national conditions, the constitutional monarchy itself is not wrong, the fault is not suitable for the current China!" His life is a life of struggle, from his hometown in Hefei's countryside, with his own efforts, to gain fame, his life, hosting foreign affairs, making the country rich and strong, he mediated with the great powers, to maintain the dignity of China, he built a sailor, advocated sea power, he chose the republic, his merits are the first! His life, noble people, will shed tears! He will still be revered and loved by the 40,000,000 Chinese people, and the great cause of national rejuvenation that he hopes will be inherited and accomplished by our younger generation of renaissance party members! His name will be immortalized in Chinese history! ”