In the evening, Zhang Zhidong was still pacing back and forth in his office on the fourth floor of his State Council office building. Some gray light seeped in from the window behind him, reflecting on his face with deep forehead lines, which seemed to be covered with a shadow, only the long white beard was whiter by the sun.

Zhang Zhidong is sixty-eight years old, although his body seems to be quite good and strong, but when he paces, his slow steps do not have much strength, whether it is his appearance or appearance, he has already shown the old state of an old man.

Although he was the Prime Minister of the Empire, his office room was not large, and unlike other civil and military officials, most of the rooms were furnished with Western-style desks and chairs, and the office furnishings in this room were all traditional styles, and many of them were even brought by him from Hubei. The only Western-style furnishings in the room are a set of comfortable but not luxurious leather sofas. An ordinary mahogany desk sits against the wall. As the Prime Minister of the Empire, whether it is a middle school or a Western study, he is always learning some Western things.

On the wall behind the desk hangs a bust portrait of His Majesty, which is almost an official decoration in China, and busts of His Majesty are hung in political axe departments, schools, and most people's homes, some are required by government decrees, some are a way to express loyalty to the emperor, and on the opposite wall of the desk, there is the "Gubeikou Great Wall Map" that has accompanied him for decades.

Somewhat unusual from most senior officials, he does not have a telephone in his office. The purpose was to prevent unnecessary interference, and he had to be consulted only with the permission of his Secretary-General before knocking on the door of his office. Most of the time, he was often alone in his isolated office, reading official documents and letters, or pacing back and forth in his room, pondering important questions.

This is how he is in charge of the government affairs of this huge empire, the more and more professional division of labor and most of the time, the emperor directly listens to the report, so that he, the prime minister, does not have much to do, of course, he also understands that the military war, even the emperor only has the right to make suggestions, let alone him, the prime minister. As for industrial, economic, and legal matters, he was a layman, and his purpose as prime minister was to maintain the normal functioning of this half-new, half-old imperial bureaucracy, and finally to bring about a great change in the political system of three thousand years.

And in the twilight of this late spring, when it was time to get off work, he did not rush back to his private mansion that His Majesty had given him, but paced back and forth in the room with a solemn expression, and he felt in a trance that a trace of uneasy shadow passed over his heart, but this shadow was so fluttering and fleeting that he was uncertain.

Just ten minutes ago, he saw a report submitted to him by the Imperial Bureau of Investigation and the General Directorate of the Imperial Police, which confirmed that the Republicans were involved in the "Shanghai Rebellion", and that the Deputy Minister of Justice had approved an unprecedented arrest warrant and search warrant because of the visit of the Minister of Justice.

"3,859 people!"

Muttering this number, looking at the lists, Zhang Zhidong seems to see the repetition of history, but hundreds of years ago, Emperor Hongwu was involved in the Hu Weiyong case, but now, it is ...... - what is going on?

Does Your Majesty know all this?

Since yesterday's "Shanghai Rebellion," what he was most worried about was an unprecedented political turmoil, and then similar news poured in, with republican newspapers and clubs being closed down in various localities, and a large number of people involved in the "Shanghai Armed Rebellion" incident arrested.

It was based on the list and letters copied from the homes of the rebel leader Mei Enping and other people involved, and there were more than 1,000 people at that time, and as he feared, the arrests have expanded again today.

Even Yang Du, Sun Yat-sen and others are on the list! Could it be that His Majesty really wants to use the case of Shanghai's collaboration with the enemy and armed treason to impose an iron fist?

As soon as this thought came to mind, His Majesty's words appeared in front of Zhang Zhidong's eyes.

"Give people the dignity of being human! This is the ideal country I am after! ”

"The most basic premise of the so-called dignity of being a human being is freedom! Free speech brings free will, and in the end, free will brings the progress of the nation! ”

No, it won't! Your Majesty is by no means that kind of person! He will not take the opportunity to liquidate the republicans and constitutionalists, when he said this, Zhang Zhidong himself doubted all this in his heart, he has been an old bureaucrat, of course he knows that people will change, especially in the face of the temptation of power.

What could be more tempting than the supremacy of imperial power? Now that there is such a good opportunity, who will let it go?

"Dangdang Dang"

There was a knock on the door, and then his secretary opened the door and walked in.

"Xiangye, Minister Yuan is here!"

Yuan Xiangcheng?

"Quick! Invite him in. ”

Now Zhang Zhidong is not as contemptuous of Yuan Shikai's non-study as in the past, and now the two of them can be said to have a deep friendship, both of them are royalist leaders, and they must get along in harmony whether they are public or private, not to mention Yuan Shikai's deliberate sincerity.

After his words, Yuan Shikai, who was slightly obese, walked in and saw Zhang Zhidong's slender figure in the gray light of the window.

"Wei Ting, I'm looking for you!"

Zhang Zhidong warmly invited Yuan Shikai to sit down, he really had to listen to Yuan Shikai's opinion on this matter, he was better at figuring out His Majesty's mind than himself.

"Wei Ting, know that the Ministry of Justice ...... today"

"Zhang Xiang, do you mean the arrest warrant signed by the Ministry of Justice?"

Yuan Shikai asked, in fact, he came here for this matter.

"I'm afraid that tomorrow, there will be a big mess in the whole country, Weiting, at this time is the critical time of rejuvenating the country, I'm afraid...... Fear....... ”

The rest of Zhang Zhidong is really not good, although he vaguely guesses that this may be His Majesty's intention, but how can a minister speculate on the holy will, not to mention that His Majesty said very clearly yesterday that the judiciary should handle this matter, and even suggested that the Council should set up a Reading Power Investigation Committee to investigate the crime of collaborating with the enemy in the armed rebellion in Shanghai.

"Zhang Xiang, are you worried that this is what Your Majesty meant?"

Yuan Shikai looked at Zhang Zhidong and said what he wanted to say but didn't say, as the Minister of the Interior, of course he knew the arrest warrant signed by the Ministry of Justice, after getting the report from the police headquarters, he began to guess the shadow behind this matter in his heart, but the final result made him break out in a cold sweat.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty is a holy monarch, and you will never use this to ...... I'm afraid that some people will only increase the trouble in the name of Your Majesty! ”

Although Yuan Shikai said what he wanted to say, Zhang Zhidong still pulled the courtiers and workers out of the way and wiped His Majesty clean, which is what a minister should do.

"In the name of His Majesty? …… Zhang Xiang, you mean the Investigation Bureau? ”

admiring Zhang Zhidong's old way in his heart, Yuan Shikai was taken aback by his words.

"The Intelligence Bureau, the Investigation Bureau, can be described as His Majesty's ......"

Zhang Zhidong wanted to say but didn't say that there were two factories in the east and west, this is the evaluation of these two departments in private.

"The case of Shanghai's treason with the enemy should naturally be punished, but ...... More than 1,000 were arrested yesterday, and nearly 4,000 today! ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Zhidong couldn't help but sigh.

"In addition to the culprit Mei Enping, You Lie, Yang Du, Sun Yat-sen, but all well-known constitutionalists and republicans are all on the list, I am worried that if we continue to be caught like this, sooner or later there will be chaos!"

Worried, Zhang Zhidong stood up.

"It seems that I must ask about this matter!"

Zhang Zhidong began to pace around on the carpet again, and there was a hint of melancholy on those old faces.

"In the past, I didn't understand many things, such as industrial planning or something, so I didn't ask, and I, the prime minister, was the relaxation of the old and new bureaucracy in the empire...... Well, a cornerstone of the stability of the Empire's polity"

Zhang Zhidong said His Majesty's words, and he was happy to do so, when he was running an industry in Hubei, he interfered indiscriminately, and as a result, he wasted countless national crossbows, and now His Majesty treats every penny as a few pennies, so he naturally doesn't dare to let go of him to toss, so he knows that the safest way is to be this buffer and run in the old and new official bodies.

Although this seems to be a duty without power or responsibility, he doesn't know that this is related to the stability of the empire for thousands of years in the future, and its change from the political system of more than 1,000 years since the Sui Dynasty may be the last and most important thing he can do in his life.

That's why he didn't have any complaints, but now that he felt that the prime minister, he had to come forward and ask.

"However, Zhang Xiang, if the evidence is not conclusive, the Ministry of Justice will not sign the arrest warrant...... Moreover, as you can see, now the people are angry, and everyone is shouting and beating those who collaborate with the enemy and traitorous rebels! Will it be ......"

Yuan Shikai said so, but he quietly stretched it out as soon as he said it, this is an opportunity for Zhang Zhidong to refute himself and also strengthen his "heart for the country and the people", what Yuan Shikai is worried about is not what chaos will be caused by arresting those people, what he is worried about is whether it will involve himself.

"Alright! Wei Ting, let's not argue. If you are the prime minister and don't go to your majesty to know how powerful it is, how can this be done by a minister! ”

As Yuan Shikai expected, Zhang Zhidong decisively interrupted his dissuasion.

"Your Majesty is surrounded by a group of young and inexperienced ministers, how can they understand that such a big move will hurt the national body."

For a long time, Zhang Zhidong has been quite complaining about His Majesty's appointment of young people, the army is like this, and the political axe institution is like this, those young people are in prominent positions without tempering, and naturally they are young and vigorous and easy to cause trouble, and now this is not the case!

"Zhang Xiang,......"

Yuan Shikai still tried to dissuade Dao again, he always has to do everything.

"Alright! Celestial! ”

Zhang Zhidong showed a smile on his face without hesitation, as if comforting Yuan Shikai, and said earnestly.

"This time, I must inquire into this matter, otherwise the chaos of the country will start from now on, Wei Ting, the old man is already old......"

"Zhang Xiang, you ......"

Waving his hand to interrupt Yuan Shikai's words, Zhang Zhidong looked at the "Gubeikou Great Wall Map", and then adjusted the Han-style dress on his body, which may be the biggest difference between him and others, even when he is not a big ceremony, he wears Hanfu instead of new clothes.

"But you are still young, if you ...... I'll leave it to you! ”

Zhang ...... Zhang Xiang, you ......"

Listening to these words, Yuan Shikai stood up and saluted Zhang Zhidong.

"Old Xiangguo, you ......"

"Okay, Wei Ting, you go back!"

Zhang Zhidong waved his hand, and before Yuan Shikai walked out of the office, he walked out of the office, but after he left, Yuan Shikai shook his head helplessly.

"I hope the old minister can persuade Your Majesty!"

After dinner, Chen Moran did not go for a walk in the garden after dinner as usual, or in the past two days, he was not in the mood to go for a walk at all, the Shanghai incident exceeded his expectations, although he had acquiesced to all this in his heart, but the final evolution was beyond his expectations.

"32 dead, 159 wounded......"

Nearly 200 civilians died in the rebellion, all because of the participation of the expatriates in Ben, Ben, Ben!

When he thought in his heart that he must give this book some color, Yu Guang saw the report on the table, and fell into deep thought again. Wisps of pale blue smoke floated in the book room, for the past hour or so. Chen Moran had smoked several cigarettes in a row.

He sat on the circle chair, leaning on his hand and smoking a cigarette in contemplation. On the desk in front of me was a report from the Bureau of Investigation, which had compiled a list of arrests.

If all of them were arrested, they would be wiped out and constitutionalism would be re-established, and then there would be no one in the country to oppose them, and all those who opposed them would be ruined, imprisoned, and even had a prison prepared for them somewhere.

At that time, he will monopolize power, his will will become the will of the country, and he will become the embodiment of the empire, thinking of all this, Chen Moran found that he did not have the excitement that he had imagined when all this came, but instead had a sense of guilt.

…… Why is that?

Isn't that exactly what you want?

Why do you feel ashamed? They brought it on themselves, didn't they? They betrayed the country, betrayed the ...... Just a handful of people!

At this time, a voice suddenly appeared in his heart.

Is this really what you want? What are you after?

When thinking about these questions, as if to exonerate himself, he thought about his own merits in his heart.

I'm doing the right thing, it's for stability, and I'm doing it well.

In my university, there is academic freedom, whether it is national or private, the university is autonomous, the professors run the school, and the academic freedom is absolutely free. If the professors feel that the president is not good, they can be expelled together. Professors in universities, even if they go by themselves, can ignore them, talk whatever they like in class, and never worry about being expelled for reasons other than academics, that is, the Ministry of Education, or even themselves, has no right to fire professors.

Public opinion is also free, they can write whatever they want, the political axe will not interfere with them, reporters want to scold, they will scold, and even scold themselves, don't they laugh it off?

Academic freedom is to promote the education of the country, without academic freedom, there is no freedom of thought, and without freedom of thought, there will be no scientific and technological progress. The national territory can be unified, but the ideology and academic are unified, and the country's innovation ability will be rooted.

The purpose of freedom of public opinion is to supervise the political axe, and if the political axe is not supervised, it will act recklessly, and if officials do not supervise, they will prey on the people, and if the law does not supervise, it will ...... He gave them power that they never thought of in the past, although it was an imperial system, but what he gave was by no means their past, or even ...... Is it wrong to do it yourself?

That's right!

Those people are different from professors, different from journalists, whose academic freedom is for the future of China, and whose freedom is for the sake of supervising the exercise of political power, but what about those people? Those people only know how to sacrifice national interests for the sake of ambition, and they only see political differences in their eyes, but not the general interests of the country.

I was right!

When he was thinking like this, Chen Moran flipped through the long list again, and at the same time picked up a pen and looked at the list one by one, each one for fear of missing out.

"History, history will prove that everything I did today is right!"

When writing a few sentences on this list, Chen silently said to himself in his heart, history, history will eventually prove everything, and in a few decades, perhaps, the people will appreciate what they have done today, and they will understand how necessary and helpless their choice today is.

In any country, the monarch sees the state as "his own", but, on the other hand, this tradition also means that the king must "love his people" and love his people as his family, because it is the king's duty to ......

"If that day does come, it may be because you abandoned them in the first place, and when you no longer love them, they will naturally stop loving you!"

Ji Li's words suddenly rang in his ears when Chen Moran signed the list, hanging the pen, Chen Moran's eyes stared at the list.

"Your Majesty, the Prime Minister asks to see you!"

The attendant's report made Chen Moran quickly sign a few words on the list, and these few words may indicate his attitude.

"Let him in!"

"Your Majesty!"

When he saw His Majesty, Zhang Zhidong immediately bowed deeply, and although Chen Moran said no courtesy, he still did not straighten his waist.

"Zhang Xiang, what's the matter?"

"Your Majesty, please give an order immediately to stop ......"

Without waiting for Zhang Zhidong to finish speaking, Chen Moran spoke.

"Zhang Xiang, the law is not allowed to interfere, even I am not allowed to interfere with the arrest warrants issued by the Ministry of Justice based on the framework of the law, I think whether they are guilty or not, there will naturally be a conclusion in the end!"

"But Your Majesty, aren't you afraid that such a big move will damage the national body?"

"I'm even more afraid that after the judiciary is interfered with, fairness will not be there!"

When he said this, Chen Moran smiled bitterly in his heart, is it really fair?

(To be continued)