The empire is so powerful!

For Zhang Kangren and Ouyang Geng, who are about to succeed as the third term prime minister of the empire, their task is no longer to stabilize the order of the empire and the smooth transition of dynasties like Tang Shaoyi, but to actively and strictly implement the spirit of the rule of law, promote the reform of new culture, promote the rise of the new economy, carry out the real liberation revolution, promote a stronger new diplomacy, and promote a more magnificent new construction.

They should be grateful for the invaluable legacy of a smooth transition during Tang Shaoyi's tenure, and they should also be proactive and seek greater breakthroughs.

In fact, there is another person who is a more suitable candidate, that is, Song Jiaoren, who Song Biao has always been more favored, but on the basis of the Liberation Party's control of most of the cabinet seats, it is impossible to put forward a candidate for prime minister of the Ming Cook Party in any case.

……

In the middle of September 1920, in the golden autumn season, Song Biao took the train back to Yanjing, but this time he did not return to Zhongnanhai, the central palace of the imperial court has been completed in the construction of ten years, the central political axe to the general administration of the inner court every year is only four million yuan, not enough for the construction of the central palace of the imperial court, all expenses are almost all by the business people and the people of the fundraising, as well as the internal allocation of the imperial property.

The original site of the Central Palace was in the Yungang area, Zhang Binglin deliberately found several feng shui masters, and finally there was a proposal to relocate in Qinglong Lake according to the official name of the "Central Palace", Song Biao later went to see the terrain in person, and felt that it was more suitable to build at the northeast end of Qinglong Lake, and purchased 20,000 acres of land in the surrounding area in the name of the inner court, and after the tax was modified to the royal building land, the Central Palace was rebuilt in this area.

There are two chief designers of the Central Palace, one is the famous Russian Jewish designer Rosen, the other is the seventh generation descendant of the Manchu imperial court chief builder Lei Tingsheng, some other famous domestic garden masters, and some famous Russian and German designers in China have participated.

The basic layout is the foundation of the Western-style structure, including the sewers of the palace, the refuge and the framework of the overall situation from Russia, the collocation of architectural styles, the layout of the building, the design of the garden, and the choice of decoration are generally responsible for the great craftsmen in China, and the characteristics of the Old Summer Palace are very similar to the whole design process, and many aspects refer to the Orthodox Church of Hagia Shay.

Considering some special circumstances in the past two years, the Shenwu Imperial Ancestral Hall was renovated on the basis of the original palace building in Yungang, which is the real first temple, allowing the people to go to this place to worship incense and the like, the Shenwu Imperial Ancestral Hall has no clear religious characteristics, it is the most traditional family ancestral hall pattern, which places the immortal position of the emperor and the empress, and the royal family has also appointed an inner attendant to be responsible for management, which can be regarded as thanking the blessings of the people.

When the emperor really dies, this is really a place for everyone to come to worship.

The area of the central palace is very large, the architectural pattern is also very magnificent, there are Chinese-style, there are Western-style, most of them are still more typical imperial style, the so-called imperial style has a very strong Qin and Han Dynasty characteristics, but also retains the heavy eaves of the palace roof structure that has been retained from the Yin Shang period.

During the Republic of China, many official buildings have the roof structure of the palace, the key lies in the number of heavy eaves and heavy eaves, the main hall of the central palace is the Huangji Palace, compared with the Taihe Palace, the top of its palace is steeper, the curvature is greater, the four eaves are obviously warped, but the bottom of the three-layer white marble base, the three-story building with the three-layer heavy eaves.

Therefore, the Huangji Hall is not only larger in scale, but also higher, the momentum is very magnificent, all using white marble stone pillars, to a certain extent, referring to the ancient Greek architectural style of the Athenian Temple, the whole carving style has changed to more realistic and modernist, and the subject matter is not only around the dragon to make a fuss.

In addition to the Imperial Palace, the other places as a whole are relatively similar to the Xuanzheng Garden period, especially in the setting, but unlike the center of the city deep in Zhongnanhai, the Central Palace is relatively in a relatively remote place, and the surrounding land belongs to the royal building land, which is forbidden for outsiders to enter.

After the merger of the entire Fangshan County and Daxing County into Kyoto County, it is also a large garden, the Central Military Department is in the area of Fangshan New Town, all the way to the Phoenix Pavilion area, the north is the royal garden and the palace area, the west side of the Yongding River to the new town is the seat of the Central Cabinet and the Congress, some national hotels are scattered around, convenient for entertaining during the Congress, as well as entertaining reporters and reporting teams, Daxing County has been set up from the beginning as the location of the Central Imperial University, the Central Military Academy, and the University of Science and Technology of China, Including some other central research institutions, such as the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Central State Bank, the Central Bureau of Foreign Experts, the Central Academy of Social Research, the Central Political Research Bureau, the Central Academy of Sciences, and the Central Academy of Engineering, the State Intelligence Administration is located on the west bank of the Yongding River, across the river from the Central Investigation Bureau, the Central Military Intelligence Department is located in the Phoenix Pavilion, and the Central Secret Bureau is located on the south side of Qinglong Lake.

It took ten years for the central government and the imperial court to move to Kyoto Prefecture on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the empire, completely getting rid of the restrictions of the inner city of Yanjing City, which was also good news for the citizens of Yanjing, at least the land price fell a lot.

The total population of 14,000 people, including their wives and children, was gradually relocated over a period of three years, and the original residents of Kyoto Prefecture were transferred to other prefectures about three years ago.

After such a major adjustment, Kyoto Prefecture is very quiet, tourists are not allowed to mess around, 40% of the entire prefecture is not allowed to pass freely, the roads are very wide, but there are basically not many people.

This is the central political center of the 18.9 million square kilometers of the Chinese Empire, the capital of the empire is in Xi'an, Xianning County in Xi'an was renamed Xijing County, and the entire construction plan will be gradually improved in the future.

At this time, Song Biao also officially returned to the Central Palace for the first time, and he came back with the royal family.

Compared with the Xuanzheng Garden, the Central Palace is definitely more luxurious and splendid.

He is also at ease, he is not the president of the country after all, he does not rely on taxes to get by, the royal family has its own property, it is not stolen, let alone robbed, and he does not need to make a pretentious gesture, pajamas do not need to be mended and mended, but he still lives in palace-like special villas everywhere when he goes out.

Not necessarily.

The layout of the central palace is a typical combination of Chinese and Western, and it is also the first time that the castle is used in the Chinese garden, and the normal place for the royal family to live and work is the Xuanzheng Palace, which is a very typical combination of Chinese and Western office buildings, the architectural style is very special, very much like a courtyard, but it belongs to the building-style courtyard, which is a bit like the characteristics of Buckingham Palace, with a single eaves on the top of the palace.

After returning to the Central Palace, Song Biaozhen spent a few days getting used to this new place of residence and palace, and also traveled everywhere, because the gardens of this Central Palace are very distinctive, almost a combination of the characteristics of the north and south of Chinese gardens, and also absorb many characteristics of foreign gardens and classical architecture.

Therefore, from the beginning of the construction of the Central Palace, it was called the Old Summer Palace in the imperial era.

It's beautiful.

Elegant world, resplendent gold.

In a way, it symbolizes this era of the empire.

After a few days of adaptation in the Central Palace, Song Biao summoned Tang Shaoyi, Ouyang Geng, and Zhang Kangren in the new office, why summoned them, because the third cabinet of the empire was formally determined during this period, before October, the next prime minister will pass the election of the National Assembly, and finally approved and confirmed by the emperor here, before December, the prime minister will submit the list of all cabinet ministers, and by January next year at the latest, the prime minister will take office, and in March next year, the prime minister will lead all the cabinet members to accept the emperor's first training, and attending the highest state banquet presided over by the emperor.

As a stable Mingzhu country, this itinerary must be very stable, one link is messy, and the rest will be messy.

During Song Biao's time in Lushan, Ouyang Geng and Zhang Kangren have been canvassing for votes, and they first have to rush through the party election, because the election of members of the National Assembly has ended, and the China Liberation Party occupies 284 seats out of 377 seats in the Central Congress, which is almost enough to amend the constitution.

Song Biao has actually made adjustments and appointed a large number of congressmen from the Mingzhuo Party and other parties, but the Guangfu Party has indeed done a very good job under the leadership of Tang Shaoyi, and the local support is very strong, including the party's level in the competition for local elections, which is indeed higher than that of other parties.

How much influence did the predecessor of the Chinese Ming Cook Party have during the League period, and now it still relies on Song Biao's balancing strategy to maintain 32 seats, and the level of decline in the Restoration will be the fastest, and now it is not surprising that Liang Qichao and the Restoration Progressive Party will definitely not give it to him in the next term of the Minister of Culture and Education, there is no value in coalition government, only Liang Qichao is a member of the National Assembly.

The problem now is that the number of votes within the Guangfu Party to support Ouyang Geng and Zhang Kangren is about the same, Zhang Kangren is a typical backbone of the imperial party, and he has done a very good job in economic and financial work, which is obvious to all, and Ouyang Geng is also shining in diplomacy, especially on the issue of the Sino-Soviet war this time, and his position is very beautiful.

They and Tang Shaoyi were both born in the United States as young children, Ouyang Geng also finished Yale University's law major, and Zhang Kangren graduated from Columbia Law School, also majoring in law.

The competition is still fierce.

Because they are about the same age, both of them are exactly around sixty, the empire is now seeking stability, as long as the prime minister does not make a big mistake, he can basically serve two terms, and he will be 70 years old at the end of the two terms, no one can afford to wait, whether he can live to be 70 years old is still a question, even if he lives to 70 years old, the following group of people actively rushed up, Ouyang Xi, Zhang Qixu, and Yang Zhaolin are not fuel-efficient lamps, and even Song Jiaoren, Sun Yat-sen, and Liang Qichao also have the heart to win the throne.

If you don't fight now, when will you fight?

The key is that the emperor did not express his position, the palms and backs of the hands of the two people were full of meat, and no one was willing to give up.

But this issue really can't be put off any longer.

After returning to the Central Palace, after a few days of rest and adaptation, Song Biao recruited all three people to his office this morning, ready to talk to them, try to decide internally, the current empire does not have a very mature boiling mechanism, and it can't be caused by infighting and division because of this kind of overly fierce election.

After the three of them entered the office and bowed, Song Biao asked the three of them to sit and allowed them to sit at their desks.

Song Biao didn't rush to speak, he glanced at them a few times first, and unconsciously they were all elders over sixty years old, thinking that when they first met, they were still in their prime, and they were the most prosperous middle-aged years in their lives.

Time passed leisurely, it was fair to everyone, and he himself became a middle-aged uncle in a trance.

Thinking of this, Song Biao couldn't help but sigh in his heart, and felt that life was really like a trance like Nanke's dream.

After thinking about it for a while, he first said to Tang Shaoyi: "The prime minister has done a very good job in the past two terms, the people are satisfied, and I am also satisfied, but the constitution is like this, the maximum term is two consecutive terms, and the maximum term shall not exceed three terms, and you have to leave office now no matter what." ”

Tang Shaoyi said: "Governing the country according to law, the ministers should obey the constitution, the past ten years have passed in a trance, thinking about the past, reflecting on the past, the ministers also feel worthy of their hearts, and now they are retired as prime ministers, and there are not too many regrets in their hearts, thank the emperor for their support and funding in the past ten years, and his ministers are grateful." ”

Song Biao was very happy that he could have such a gesture, and said: "You have worked hard for me to govern the country, and of course I want to support you fully." Although during the Sino-Soviet War, whether you were intentional or unintentional, you more or less gave me some problems in the position of prime minister, but after all, it was all in the past, and I didn't want to mention it again. In a constitutional monarchy, the dispute between the monarch and the prime minister is also a manifestation of the boiling, each doing its job, and since the matter has passed, there is no need to hold each other accountable. I am open and honest with you about this matter, and I also hope that you can understand some of my thoughts, I know that you now attach great importance to the position of chairman of the Liberation Party and speaker of the National Assembly, with your prestige, it is indeed more suitable, I have no objection to this, but I hope that you can set a precedent, and form a practice from you, that is, after the prime minister retires, he will start to serve as the president of the Central Imperial University. You and I are very clear about the significance of education to China, and the weight of the Central Empire to the empire. ”

He said very frankly, now thinking back to the Sino-Soviet War, Tang Shaoyi's non-cooperation in some things did make him unhappy, but the prime minister also has his own difficulties, after all, the political axe that goes down every year can't be carried for long, and Tang Shaoyi doesn't want the empire to be defeated, but hopes that the empire will accept it when it sees it.

To say that the meaning of punishment is still a little, but it is not necessary to show it very clearly, maybe when the third political axe is not done well, Song Biao will have to ask Tang Shaoyi to come back to save the scene.

Tang Shaoyi also knew these things in her heart, and the principal of the Central Imperial University could be regarded as a very good arrangement.

In the era of the Republic, the president of the university was just a piece of shit, a department-level cadre at the department and bureau level of Sesame University, who had no power or power in his hands, and those who could be mixed up were academic hooligans, and the hooligans were true and academics were fake.

In this imperial era, it still retains many characteristics of traditional Chinese culture, and also has the familiar flavor of the Republic of China, you can be a university president, it will be like the head of the Hanlin Academy, the head of the Yueyang Academy, that is also a very great social status, especially the Central Imperial University.

At the beginning of the establishment of the Central Imperial University, Song Biao wrote a motto for the Central Imperial University as the emperor, which was very famous in the imperial era at this time, that is, "determined to self-cultivation and govern the country, with all things in the world in mind", and the motto of Aurora University is "Gather the world's elites and create a new life", so these two universities also cultivate the most cutting-edge and intelligent talents in the empire, and the imperial university has a stronger surname, such as the school of finance and economics, the school of political science and law and the school of foreign Chinese of the imperial university, which can be said to be specially designed to cultivate first-class politicians in the empire, judges and diplomats.

Emperor University is different from Aurora, in addition to historical results, Emperor University usually does not pay much attention to the students' written test scores, recommendation scores, interview scores, and written test scores account for 1/3 each, and the students who can study at Emperor University are basically activists in various public and private high schools and preparatory departments, and they are all young people who are naturally interested in political and social activities.

Since the emperor's request is to form a convention, not a prime minister, Tang Shaoyi is inconvenient to resign, and this position should be said to be very enviable, it can be called the mentor of the future elite of the empire, but it is much worse than the position of chairman of the Liberation Party and speaker of the National Assembly.

Tang Shaoyi weighed it in his heart, and replied to Song Biao: "Your subordinates must live up to the emperor's trust, be a teacher, and train the essence of the country, which is a great honor for your subordinates." ”

Song Biao thanked him: "I am still very happy that you can think like this, because your credit is difficult for the prime minister behind to catch up, as long as you can set this precedent, it will be easy to do later." The position of the Central Imperial University is not vacant, you can also go to the University of Science and Technology of China and other universities, the prime minister is like this, other cabinet ministers and provincial governors are also easier to arrange in this way, your social resources are strong, the biggest advantage of being a president is to be able to use your political prestige to raise funds, education can not rely on the political axe alone, especially to run a university, because the political axe's education funds and appropriations are still more inclined to compulsory education, even if it is a public university, then you must absorb as much social donations as possible. Therefore, I very much hope to form a social atmosphere and practice in this matter, and the high-level officials who retire should take it as their responsibility to actively participate in education, and take it as an honor, even if they go to the past to sell their reputation, as long as they can bring social sponsorship and benefits to the university, we will support it more. ”

Tang Shaoyi sighed, feeling that his life was miserable, but he still replied: "The emperor is wise and martial, thinks about the long-term, and has a long history. ”

Now it's too late, Song Biao really didn't plan to let him guide this trend and precedent.

After arranging Tang Shaoyi's retreat, Song Biao said to Zhang Kangren and Ouyang Geng: "The following is the matter of the two of you, since it is a constitutional monarchy, as for which of you is the prime minister, I naturally don't need to ask as a monarch, and there is no need to ask, you actually know in your hearts that no matter who comes to power between the two of you, the meaning to me is the same." As far as I am concerned, Wang Yongjiang, Minister of Agriculture, Zheng Tingxiang, Minister of Industry, Yuan Shikai, Minister of Transportation, Song Jiaoren, Minister of Land and Resources, Ouyang Xi, Minister of Taxation, and Liang Qichao, Minister of Culture and Education, can be said to have done a very good job, but you are on a shining stage, and all the achievements have been seen by everyone. Wang Yongjiang has offended a lot of people in recent years, and Zheng Tingxiang is still underqualified in the cabinet, so he has not been nominated too much in the party. What I want to say to you is very simple, who comes first and who comes next is not a very important issue, and the position of prime minister is not an important issue, the key is the responsibility of each other. Considering that the next central political axe is facing relatively large international pressures, diplomacy is tricky in domestic affairs, the country's territory is larger, and there are more disputes with foreign countries, it is not only necessary to safeguard national interests, strive for a more relaxed development environment for the empire, but also continue to explore the empire's interests overseas as much as possible, these things are really not easy, so I suggest that you have an internal consultation, and the next prime minister will focus on diplomacy. ”

As soon as Song Biao said this, Zhang Kangren was naturally very sad in his heart, the empire can have today, Zhang Kangren is indispensable, Zhang Kangren himself also feels that he trusts the position of prime minister of the cabinet, and he has always remained neutral in the struggle between Tang Shaoyi's faction and the Zhongjun faction, and Ouyang Geng has always been Tang Shaoyi's faction before.

Ouyang Geng was happy in his heart, but he didn't dare to show it, so he only said: "Your Majesty, if your subordinate becomes prime minister, when you visit Europe, you should re-establish close diplomatic cooperation with Germany, and at the same time continue to strengthen the Sino-French alliance, and try your best to counter the suppression and containment of the British alliance, maintain appropriate peaceful exchanges with Britain, and visit the United States again to win the support of the United States." In addition, His Majesty should send a vice-minister of foreign affairs to Soviet Russia to maintain trade between the two countries, and strive to take advantage of the blockade of Soviet Russia by various countries to expand the interests of the empire in Soviet Russia, and then continue to consider strengthening the suppression and blockade of Soviet Russia when the empire is stronger. In addition to diplomacy, it is pro-French and American, but secretly understands Germany and Russia, checks and balances Britain and does not confront, strives to protect the interests of the empire in the Middle East, Central Asia and the South Seas, maintains cooperation with other countries first, and leads Asia to counter Britain and Russia last. ”

Song Biao bowed his head slightly and asked, "What about internal affairs?" ”

Ouyang Geng replied without thinking: "Without him, only the rule of law is the rule." ”

Song Biao continued to bow his head.

Ouyang Geng has only shown the characteristics of a hardliner in politics in the past two years, this person himself is also relatively powerful, very scheming, when he was the consul general of San Francisco at that time, the Qing political axe asked him to refuse to approve Sun Yat-sen's visit to the United States, but he still forcibly did this thing.

Especially in the matter of World War I and the Sino-Soviet War, his tough posture was also very praised by everyone, especially Song Biao was very appreciative, this is also because the strength of the empire has risen, and the person in charge of diplomatic work must be keenly aware of the attitude of countries to make concessions to China.

Ouyang Geng supported the empire to increase the scale of troops during World War I, he said a very interesting thing at that time, he said, "In the past, we were afraid of everyone, we were afraid that others would find fault and bully us, but now it is different, we have to let others be afraid of us, they are not afraid, we have no way to safeguard the interests of the country", his words had a very direct impact on the entire Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and basically represented that the imperial diplomacy after 1917 gradually became a hardliner in style.

Regarding internal affairs, Ouyang Geng doesn't have many ideas and things to consider, but after all, he is an imperial party, and he has more time and opportunities by the emperor's side, so he generally knows what the emperor thinks.

Now that the empire may not have a major war within 20 years, the transition period of the previous ten years has also come over, the national strength is getting stronger, and the military and political stability are stable.

Song Biao thought about it for a while, and felt that what Ouyang Geng said was very right, but it was too simple, so he asked, "Where to start?" ”

Ouyang Geng thought for a while and replied cautiously: "Your Majesty wants to start with the Ministry of Communications and Customs. ”

Song Biao immediately approved: "Yes, it's time to do it." ”

Yuan Shikai did a very beautiful job in the position of Minister of Communications, which is obvious to all, and the overhaul of the Guangdong-Hanzhou, Yellow River, Northern, Xinjiang, Sichuan-Han, Chengtian, Fujian, Zhejiang-Jiangxi railways are all things that Yuan Shikai has done in the past ten years during his tenure, which can be described as vigorous and resolute and amazingly efficient.

But after all, Yuan Shikai was born in the old-fashioned Manchu bureaucracy, and his skills and actions were the style of the Manchu court officials, and the logic of doing things in some places was illegal, after all, the empire was in a hurry at that time, but Yuan Shikai held a lot of power, and many places were not clean.

For example, he knew that every railway route would always arrange for his family and friends to buy land in advance to make huge profits, and he had made a lot of money in the past few years, and he also privately funded newspapers to gain reputation and heated discussions for himself, and wanted to become prime minister by this kind of skill.

Yuan Shikai was originally in the New Deal Strong Congress, and later took the initiative to withdraw from the Congress, in fact, he wanted to join the Liberation Party, but he was unsuccessful, so he had to join the Constitutional Party, Zhang Jian had some problems in the first Minister of Industry, and the second term was replaced by Zheng Tingxiang, so that Yuan Shikai gradually replaced Zhang Jian's position in the Constitutional Party.

Yuan Shikai still has a great influence on the New Deal and the National Congress, and he originally hoped to use the joint support of several parties to promote himself as prime minister by showing loyalty to the emperor, but with the great success of the Liberation Party in the election of this Congress, the matter can only be closed.

During this period, some newspapers also commented that Yuan Shikai was seeking personal gain as Minister of Communications, but Yuan Shikai did not take it very seriously, but it was only a few years of restraint.

On the customs side is Liang Shiyi, this person's ambition is not small, and Yuan Shikai can be called embarrassed, and he does similar things.

Now that the empire's foreign affairs are over, and now that the internal affairs are cleaned up, it is obviously impossible for them to continue to be free, although Song Biao has not made a clear statement, but he hopes that this matter will not only be investigated, but also strictly investigated, and the Central Investigation Bureau has been staring at it, the "Anti-Corruption Bill" formulated by the empire before is harsh, and the current evidence is enough for these two people to squat in prison for 20 years, but they themselves feel that they are high and powerful.

Since Ouyang Geng said so, Song Biao didn't ask any more, and said to Zhang Kangren and Ouyang Geng: "The matter of electing the prime minister is decided by your own party, and I don't want to say my opinion to the outside world, so as not to affect other people's decisions, just understand it in your own hearts." I still say the same thing, don't take the position of prime minister too seriously, the empire is the most important thing. ”

At this point, Zhang Kangren and Ouyang Geng also understood what the emperor meant.

No matter who the fourth prime minister is, the third one will let Ouyang Geng, the foreign minister, come to power first, and deal with the various diplomatic risks that the empire is currently facing as much as possible, and then talk about it later.

After talking with Tang Shaoyi, Zhang Kangren, and Ouyang Geng for a morning, Song Biao basically sorted out this matter, and it was estimated that there would be no too unexpected situation in the future, so he personally got up and sent the three of them away.

After returning to the office, Song Biao, who was standing in front of the window, felt a lot of emotion in his heart.

The world situation is turbulent, and it is difficult for him to figure out where the future world will eventually go, and under the "Treaty of Versailles" and the "Sino-Soviet Armistice Peace Treaty", the arrival of World War II is only a matter of time.

The problem that really worries Song Biao is that the Soviet-German alliance is unavoidable, because the relationship between the Sino-French alliance cannot change for a long time, and if the Soviet Union and Germany do not form an alliance, it is impossible for the Soviet Union to counterattack China and Germany to counterattack Britain and France, and the leaders of the two countries will inevitably join forces no matter how crazy they are and no matter how much they hate each other.

This is really a combination of two talented countries, and the world will be completely dark.

The navy of Ben and the army of the Soviet Union have joined forces, and the empire is in danger!

At this time, the Chinese Empire is at its peak, where will the future be?

For Song Biao, in addition to military worries, the most important thing he needs to consider is how to ensure that there is a prime minister who is strong enough to support the internal affairs and diplomacy of the empire, and cooperate with him to conquer the world in that dark era of war!

He is 34 years old this year, and he will be 54 years old in 20 years, which is the golden age of being the supreme commander of the military, and what about the prime minister?

(To be continued)