In the early morning of June 6, 1916, Tang Daodao came to the small office of the War Department early as usual, pushed open the window facing east, lit a cigarette and quietly looked at the rising sun.

"That person, it's time to leave today!" Tang Zhidao twitched his eyes and silently thought that maybe someone would inform him of this amazing news soon.

"Brother Tang, Brother Tang!" Zeng Lu still didn't change his anxious personality, and ran in panting.

"President Yuan is dead, President Yuan is dead!" Zeng Lu gasped and said, "As soon as I arrived at the office, I listened to my colleagues talk about this matter. ”

"I already knew!" Tang Zhidao didn't look back and just said lightly: "I even know the time, it's 3:42 in the morning!" ”

"Your news is so fast!" Zeng Lu was a little surprised when he saw that Tang Daodao already knew, but he still said happily: "Brother Tang, you are finally free!" ”

"Maybe!" Tang Zhidao still said lightly, in the eyes of outsiders, he should be very happy to hear this news, at least a big stone has landed. But he couldn't get excited, because Yuan's death marked the beginning of a new era, and he was far from ready to adapt to it.

"Colleagues privately said that Yuan died of excessive drinking, and said that he also kept the four daughters at night during his illness, and he did it until he died!" Unlike the senior Beiyang generals who started from military training in small stations and held high positions, these middle- and lower-level officers who later graduated from military academies or returned from studying in Japan did not have much affection for President Yuan Da, on the contrary, because Yuan Shikai's title of emperor was disgusted with him, so there were many ridicules in private.

"How did I hear that it was the sixth gentleman who was sick, and ordered to send Erchen soup." Tang Zhidao was amused by the gossip of these young officers, and President Yuan Da was not so ridiculous.

"The six gentlemen who are sick will be ordered to send Erchen soup." Zeng Lu's eyes lit up, and then he gave a thumbs up and said, "Brother Tang, you are so talented!" ”

"Six Gentlemen from the Sick" can be imagined by anyone with a discerning eye, "Six Gentlemen" was originally a noun for representative figures, and has been seen many times in the history books, but the most famous is the last two batches, namely Tan Sitong, Lin Xu, Yang Rui, Liu Guangdi, Yang Shenxiu, Kang Guangren and other six gentlemen in the Wuxu Restoration of the Guangxu Dynasty, as well as the six gentlemen headed by the legendary Yang Du in the Hongxian Imperial System. What is more interesting is that these two "six gentlemen" are related to Yuan Shikai, Yuan Shikai betrayed the New Party in the year of Wuxu and exchanged the heads of the six gentlemen for his wealth, so that he was able to gain the favor of Cixi, grasp the military and political power in the late Qing Dynasty, and finally take over the world; In the 4th year of the Republic of China, he promoted the imperial system because of the six gentlemen of Hongxian, and finally rebelled against his relatives because of the emperor, and the 83-day emperor dreamed of losing his life. Later generations commented on Yuan and said that he started as a "six gentlemen" and died as a "six gentlemen".

But "Sending Erchen Soup" has to think a little more.

President Yuan Da has always been in good health, and he eats a lot on weekdays, especially he likes to eat Henan roast duck, and he wants to drink a glass of ginseng wine before going to bed every night, and he is only 58 years old this year, and there should not be the possibility of sudden death. There are different opinions about what kind of disease he suffered, and the later "Government Gazette" said that it was urine poison, but it was not confirmed by Western medicine. When he was critically ill, he mixed Chinese and Western medicines, and herbalists such as Luo Blind and Wang Shenxian also came to offer medicine. Because when Yuan fell ill, he met Chen Shufan, the town guard envoy of southern Shaanxi, Chen Yan, the general of Sichuan, and Tang Qianming, the general of Hunan, successively called for independence, but these three people were extremely trusted by President Yuan, and the blow to President Yuan Da from their independence was fatal. Therefore, Tang Zhidao has the saying of "life to send Erchen Tang", and "Erchen Tang" is the name of Chinese medicine.

Chen Eun in "Erchen Tang" was not an old person from Xiaozhan, but a newcomer recommended by Li Yuanhong to Yuan Shikai, although Yuan Shikai trusted him far more than ordinary old people from Xiaozhan Town, not only handed over the entire southwest to him to take care of, but also asked his eldest son Yuan Keding to worship him. When Yuan Shikai sent Chen Eun to lead the troops into Sichuan, Chen Eun used the etiquette of the minister to see the emperor to Yuan Shikai before leaving, and said to Yuan Shikai: When His Majesty ascended the throne and became the emperor, the minister may not be able to participate in Sichuan in person, so he saluted you in advance, and then learned the highest salute of the living Buddha by the lama, "three sniffs the foot of the city and retreats." In this way, when a person saw that the situation was wrong, he immediately turned his gun and declared independence. Therefore, when Yuan Shikai received the telegram from Chen Eun announcing the independence of Sichuan, he was silent for a long time, Yuan Shikai did not have any ideological preparation for this, and Chen Eun's defection annoyed him the most. …,

A week after Chen sent a telegram against Yuan, Tang Qianming, a Hunan general on whom Yuan Shikai relied on, declared that Hunan was seeking Yuan's independence. At that time, Tang Qianming was one of the most powerful local officials in advocating the imperial system, and he recruited a group of talented literati in Hunan, and put them under house arrest in a luxurious house, equipped with famous liquor, famous cigarettes, and prostitutes. Let these people forge a letter of persuasion from the people of Hunan to support President Yuan Da as the emperor, write it in neat fly-headed small letters, and the words "Hunan Jingwu General Tang Qianming Plays Carefully" were annotated at the end of the text. Then put it into the small wooden box of Jin Sinan, and send a special envoy to Jinjing. is such a hardcore cronie, who also raised the banner of anti-Yuan at a critical moment.

During the period when Chen Eun and Tang Qianming declared independence and fought against Yuan, Chen Shufan, the envoy of Zhenning in southern Shaanxi who had been loyal to Yuan Shikai, openly expelled the officials appointed by Yuan Shikai, and declared Shaanxi's independence from Yuan on May 26.

In addition to "Erchen Soup", there is also a big "hero" who is angry with Yuan Shikai, and the efficacy of this person is even better than that of "Erchen Soup"! This person is Yuan Shikai's long-time friend Tang Tianxi. He and Yuan Shikai are fellow villagers, originally sang Xiaodan in the drama troupe, and he looks very good, and he has been working by Yuan Shikai's side since he was a teenager for 30 years. Before the Hongxian Empire, Sister Tang, as a brigade commander, was mixed with the fat shortage of the commander of the northern section of the Jinghan Railway. After the abolition of the imperial system, there were still sporadic battles on the front. Tang Tianxi took the initiative to ask for war, crying and begging in front of Yuan Shikai: "Tianxi has been cultivated by President Da for 30 years, and there is no way to repay it, now is the time to employ people, please send me to the front line to fight." ”

Tang Tianxi's move made Yuan Shikai's desolate state of mind feel a little comforted, and he felt that Tianxi finally lived up to his kindness. So, Yuan allocated firearms to others, and after cherishing his words, he separated according to them. But Yuan Shikai never expected that when Lao Tang arrived in Hunan, he was bribed by Zhao Hengti for 300,000 taels of silver, rebelled, and attacked Ma Jizeng's troops that he was supposed to go to reinforcements that night. The horse department was caught off guard, the whole army was in chaos, and in a hurry, Ma Jizeng raised his gun and killed himself. Tang Tianxi's move brought the war on the front line to a sharp turn for the worse. It is rumored that Yuan Shikai received an urgent telegram from Tang Tianxi to defect, almost crazy, and muttered all day long: "Tang Tianxi is reversed...... He also reversed ......"

Yuan Shikai's history has come to an end, he has no problem being a hero, one of the few trendsetters in the magnificent era of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, but he is also the most tragic figure of this era.

No one remembers his struggle in Korea to support and maintain the crumbling suzerainty of the Qing dynasty; No one remembers that he created the first modernized army and the first modernized police force in modern Chinese history; No one remembers the drastic reforms he carried out in the position of governor of Zhili; No one remembers his pivotal role in the Xinhai Revolution; No one understands his trembling in his negotiations with Japan during World War I.

Almost everyone remembers that he once deceived Tan Sitong, betrayed Emperor Guangxu, and dyed the crown on his head red with the blood of the six gentlemen; Almost everyone remembers the Qing court that bullied orphans and widows at both ends of the Xinhai Revolution, deceived the young and ignorant revolutionaries, and deceived the president of the Republic of China from the great man Zhongshan Qiao; Almost everyone remembers that he did not hesitate to betray national sovereignty in order to become emperor and promised Japan the "21 Articles" of losing power and humiliating the country; Almost everyone remembers that as the president of the Republic of China, he buried the Republic of China with his own hands, and finally died a miserable death in the midst of the betrayal and embattlement.

In a simple sentence, no one remembers the good things he did, but the bad things he did are engraved on the pillar of shame in history.

After chatting about Yuan Datou, it was natural to talk about his successor, and Zeng Lu and Tang Daodao had a disagreement about this.

"As soon as President Yuan Da dies, his position should be taken over by Premier Duan!" Zeng Lu said excitedly: "In this way, the post of Minister of War that he left behind should be taken over by Vice Minister Xu!" "Duan Qirui, who has been in the center for a long time under Yuan Shikai, is undoubtedly the most prestigious, and he may be the only acceptable candidate in the entire Beiyang system. …,

"Not necessarily!" Tang Zhidao shook his head and said: "The president is gone, isn't there still a vice president, according to the provisional law The president died in office, and the vice president succeeded him!" ”

"Vice President? Li Bodhisattva? Zeng Lu sneered: "No one will choose him!" How can a vice president who was caught from under the bed by the revolutionary party serve the public! ”

"The president is not just the president of the Beiyang family, he is the president of all Chinese!" Tang Zhidao said with a smile: "Premier Duan is naturally expected to be in Beiyang, but the six southern provinces may not buy it, and if it is not good, it will be another civil war!" ”

"Then the minority must obey the majority!" Zeng Lu retorted: "In my opinion, Premier Duan, the great president, is decided, who wants to ride on his head with a wreck." ”

"It is precisely because Li Bodhisattva has no power in the capital that it is possible to let him be the president!" Tang Zhidao analyzed: "Premier Duan is not the kind of person who covets fame, and manipulating the power of the central government as the prime minister of the responsible cabinet is not necessarily worse than the identity of a president." ”

"Why don't we make a bet!" Zeng Lu was still not convinced, and said playfully: "How about betting on who will take over the position of this big president?" ”

"Haha, what's the stake?" Tang Zhidao laughed and said, "You are bound to lose." ”

"Forget the money, it's exciting!" Zeng Lu smiled evilly and said, "If I win, you will accompany me to visit the Eight Great Hutongs for a month!" ”

"Good! If you lose, you won't be allowed to step into the half-big alley for half a year! "I'll give you some ruthlessness, and I'll see if I can suffocate you when the time comes.

"A word is a certainty, high-five and swear!"