Chapter Seventy-Three: The Little Emperor, The Big Deal Seven

Tianjin, Public Concession, Cambridge Road, Xiao De Zhang Mansion.

"Mr. Meng, the affairs of the imperial court are definitely on the road. However, your little brother also has to be reasonable, right? The restoration was handled by Zhang Shaoxuan, and the imperial court was also forced to be helpless, which even President Feng (Feng Guozhang) and Commander-in-Chief Duan had already recognized. Why do you Red Brigade insist that the emperor is the culprit of the restoration? The emperor is only 12 this year, what can he do at the age of 12? Do you deserve to be the culprit? You are obviously kidnapping and blackmailing, but you have to use the name of the revolution, this is to get cheap and sell well, thinking about fame and fortune! But your asking price is too harsh, isn't it? Two hundred and fifty thousand taels of gold! Don't give up a single point...... Isn't this ruthless? Aren't you afraid that people from all over the world will point at the backbone of your red brigade and scold your mother? ”

It was Zhen Beile who spoke, the son of Prince Qing Yixuan and the leader of the Manchu remnants in Tianjin, who was a neighbor of Xiao Dezhang and lived on Cambridge Road. After Xiao Dezhang placed Meng Li, a red revolutionary who came to ask for money, the first thing he notified was the Qingwang Mansion, and Zhen Beile was entrusted with the important task of "chief negotiator" by the prince of alcohol in Beijing to bargain with Meng Li.

The current "Xuantong kidnapping incident" is not a simple "kidnapping and extortion" incident, whether in the eyes of the old and young people of the Manchu Qing Dynasty or the ordinary people in Beijing and Tianjin, but it has nothing to do with the revolution at all. It's just that this "Chief Negotiator of the Red Brigade" Meng Li's expression is really a bit too ...... The righteousness is awe-inspiring!

As soon as they met, on behalf of the Chinese people, they strongly condemned the heinous crime of the "Xunqing court" in conspiring to subvert the Republic of China and provoking a civil war, and characterized the kidnapping of Puyi by the Red Brigade as a "revolutionary action". And it is obviously extorting money, and it has to be said that it is to repay blood debts on behalf of the Chinese people! It was as if the two hundred and fifty thousand taels of gold were not going into the pockets of the Red Brigades, but were to be distributed among the whole people.

As for the bargaining, there is no door! Eh, that's what, that's to pay off the blood debt for the Chinese people! How can you bargain? Not charging interest is already benevolent and righteous, do you still want to lower the price? Comrade Meng Li's cruel words were put down at that time: "Just wait to collect the body of the little emperor!" ”

As for public opinion or something, Meng Li didn't take it seriously at all, and said eloquently: "You Eight Banners entered the customs, Yangzhou ten days, Jiading three massacres, how many Han people have been killed?" It has also oppressed us for more than 200 years, and the looted people's fat and ointment are not more than billions of taels of silver? It also signed a large number of humiliating treaties with foreign powers, which made it difficult for the current country...... Now that the Red Brigade has recovered less than one-ten-thousandth of what you have taken from the people on behalf of the people, who is the side of justice and justice? ”

As soon as these words were put down, Zhen Belle's head was bigger, and these red brigades were not reasonable at all! Since it's unreasonable, then you should always talk about some morality, right? So, Zhen Beile and Xiao Dezhang posted a post and invited several leading bosses of Hongmen Hall on the ground in Tianjin to come forward and say yes.

But what made Zhen Beile and Xiao Dezhang helpless. Although Meng Li saluted several Hongmen dragon heads in terms of face, and called them brothers and sisters as if they were very face-saving, but when it came to this condition, Meng Li just didn't let go! Two hundred and fifty thousand taels of gold, not a penny less!

On the side of Beijing's Alcohol Palace, there are seven or eight urgent telegrams a day, and Zhang Xun's restoration is even more obvious that it will not last long, and there are rumors on the market that Duan Qirui wants to cancel the "Preferential Treatment Regulations for Qing Rooms". Zhen Beile's heart was also up and down, and today, he finally couldn't suppress his anger and quarreled with Meng Li in Xiao Dezhang's mansion.

……

On one side, they are fighting with each other, and on the other hand, they are drinking and talking, and they are in harmony.

On January 25, 1917, Duan Qirui's henchman Xu Shuzheng secretly arrived at the headquarters of the Changrui Youth Model Regiment in the south of Beijing, the Shanglin Immortal Pavilion in Shaanxi Lane. At the same time, Beijing's Zhengyang Gate, which had been closed for several days, suddenly opened a "crack", and a Western carriage with the mark of the British Legation quietly drove out, passed through the front of the two armies, and also drove directly to the back door of the Shanglin Immortal Pavilion. Getting off this carriage were none other than Wang Shizhen, the "Dragon of the Beiyang," and Zhu Erdian, the British minister to China.

Xu Shuzheng and Chang Ruiqing personally welcomed the distinguished guests into the elegant seat on the second floor of the Shanglin Immortal Pavilion, and then there was a banquet personally led by the master of Zhengyang Building and Quanjude, and on the table were Xu Shuzheng, Wang Shizhen, Zhu Erdian, and even Chang Ruiqing and Chang Da could only wait at the door, but what was said inside, Chang Ruiqing listened clearly with his ears pricked up.

"Again, to be fair, this time it was indeed Zhang Shaoxuan who acted recklessly and caused such a big storm. But that's also because he thinks about his old master, which is understandable...... These people in Beiyang have more or less received the emperor's favor, and they can always understand and tolerate Zhang Shaoxuan's actions, right? ”

It was an old man's voice who spoke, probably the Dragon of Beiyang, Shizhen. Chang Ruiqing shook his head in his heart, this master is really a good gentleman, Zhang Xun is about to dismantle the Beiyang platform, and he is still there to speak for him!

"Although the crimes of General Xu and General Zhang Xun cannot be forgiven, the safety of the lives and property of the millions of Li people in Beijing and the overseas Chinese of friendly countries has to be considered. During this time, due to the fierce battles between the Dingwu Army and the Model Regiment of the 13th Division, the merchants of the British Empire had suffered losses of hundreds of thousands of pounds...... The British Empire did not wish such turmoil to continue, and believed that a peaceful solution to the incident was the only viable solution at the moment. ”

Speaking fluently in Beijing films, it should be the British Minister Zhu Erdian. He has been a diplomat in China for dozens of years, and he speaks more Chinese than English. But there is no truth to this statement! Zhang Xun staged a military coup d'état to restore the Qing Dynasty, and such an act was undoubtedly treason! If such an act can be stopped, what authority will the Beiyang Central Committee have in the future? Even the disaster of a military coup to overthrow the government can be forgiven, so what is the matter of supporting the army and fighting against the central government?

After the two "peacemakers" finished speaking, there was a long silence in the room, as if Xu Shuzheng was doing something ideological struggle. However, Chang Ruiqing, who was waiting outside, knew that a group of bureaucrats in Beiyang had become addicted to protecting each other! No matter how big the matter is, you always have to do your best to be thoughtful, and there are really few people who are willing to be wicked. Even Xu Shuzheng, a famous villain in history, is estimated to be unable to twist such a general trend.

After a while, Xu Shuzheng's Xuzhou accent came out of the room: "Hire the old man, Mr. Zhu Erdian, this time Zhang Shaoxuan's actions are indeed a bit excessive...... Although it is understandable that it is a concern for the old master, after all, it has caused a military disaster, and if it is not punished, how can the central government serve the public in the future? What we mean by Zhi Lao is that we must always be able to account for it now. The thousands of Dingwu troops in Beijing will definitely be disarmed, and the culprits who participated in the restoration will definitely be arrested...... As for not being able to hold it, it is also a helpless thing, and the matter of amnesty will pass in the limelight in the future, and the government will naturally arrange it. ”

"What about the wealth of Zhang Shaoxuan and all the participants in the restoration?" Wang Shizhen did not dwell on the disarming of the Dingwu army, but turned the topic to the private property of Zhang Xun and others.

"If it doesn't hurt my family, of course it won't affect my family." Xu Shuzheng replied. Everyone knows that it is a taboo to seize people's property, and these Beiyang warlords are all rich people. And Zhang Xun's own property is as much as tens of millions of silver dollars, if all of them are confiscated, at least one division can be equipped!

"What about the preferential treatment regulations of the Xuantong Emperor and the Qing family?" Wang Shizhen asked.

"Of course, the preferential treatment regulations of the Qing family remain unchanged, after all, Emperor Xuantong did not participate in this restoration turmoil at all!"

"But Emperor Xuantong has now been kidnapped by robbers! I don't know how Elder Duan Zhi is going to deal with this matter? ”

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