Sure enough, when the five giants met again the next day, Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing's attitudes changed, avoiding talking about Song Jiaoren's appointment as prime minister, and instead strongly recommended Zhao Bingjun. Free eBook Download //

After returning last night, Sun Yuanqi also talked to Chen Xunen, Yang Jie and others about Yuan Shikai's generosity in gifting the post of prime minister to the League. As bystanders, they quickly came to the unanimous conclusion that at a critical juncture when the League was busy with a reshuffle and the National Assembly University was approaching, it was impossible for Soong Jiaoren to become prime minister. Yuan Shikai had long expected this, so he dared to do such a generous act".

If Song Jiaoren refuses to come out, then who is the most suitable to be the prime minister? In other words, who is the prime minister who is most in line with the interests of the Sun faction and the New China Party?

Yang Yongtai's opinion was to do everything in his power to elect Sun Yuanqi or Tang Shouqian to the top positions, and then use the financial resources of Bloomage Bank to set up several influential political projects, and then through the careful packaging and hype of the media such as China Broadcasting and "Political and Economic Daily", it is guaranteed that the New China Party will be able to achieve huge gains in the congressional elections at the end of the year.

Chen Xunen completely disagrees with Yang Yongtai's view, in his opinion, the closer the general election, the more the whole party should remain calm and not let people grasp the handle of attack. In particular, he can't be the most risky prime minister, because the prime minister has a lot of opportunities, and naturally he will do more and make more mistakes; If you don't do things, you will be criticized for being incompetent. In short, it's wrong to do and not to do! In this case, it is better to do your job honestly. As for the current position of prime minister, you might as well give it to Zhao Bingjun, anyway, the Beiyang department does not have its own political party. No matter how much you show off, you will not steal the votes of the New China Party in the congressional elections.

Yang Jie's views are different from the previous two. He believed that the previous cabinet structure was most suitable for the New China Party to play its role, that is, Tang Shaochuan, who had a mediocre and upright attitude, dominated the cabinet, and the Beiyang faction, the New China Party, the League, and people without party affiliation were divided into four parts of the cabinet in the cabinet. Everyone is on equal footing. No matter what motion one faction wants to pass, it must first win the approval of other forces, and the New China Party is virtually in a detached position. Now, whether Song Jiaoren or Zhao Bingjun is premier, this balance will be upset, and the position of the New China Party in the cabinet will gradually weaken. Therefore, the New China Party should maintain the current pattern as much as possible. The specific method is to elect former foreign minister Lu Zhengxiang as premier.

Lu Zhengxiang was born into a Christian family, and his family was poor when he was a teenager, and he studied at the Shanghai Canton Dialect Museum and the Beijing Tongwen Museum sponsored by the Prime Minister's National Affairs Yamen. Because these schools not only waive all tuition and miscellaneous fees, but also have a certain amount of silver subsidies every month. He was gifted, studied hard, and excelled in his grades. He is especially proficient in Russian. After graduating, he was elected as the fourth secretary and interpreter of the Qing Imperial Embassy in Russia.

After graduation, he was a civil servant, and he was also stationed in an embassy or consulate abroad, which now seems to be a good errand of the first class, but at that time, it was a job that was not in the eyes of orthodox scholars, and everyone was afraid to avoid it. Lu Zhengxiang was not afraid of rumors, conscientiously studied diplomatic business, and a few years later he was promoted to counselor because of his outstanding ability and performance, and then served as China's minister to the Netherlands and Russia. After the Wuchang Uprising. Lu Zhengxiang once united with some envoys stationed abroad to ask for a clear position.

Because he has many years of experience as a minister abroad. He was familiar with Western foreign affairs, and did not participate in any faction, and had a good reputation, so when the peace talks between the north and the south were successful and Tang Shaoyi formed a cabinet, Yuan Shikai strongly invited him to return to China to serve as the chief foreign minister. Judging from his work in China in the past few months, we must first affirm that he is a diplomatic officer who has made important contributions to the reform of diplomatic institutions and the construction of the diplomatic system of the Republic of China, but his shortcomings are also obvious, that is, his cowardly character and indecisiveness.

Such a person can also be the prime minister of the cabinet?

Sun Yuanqi expressed strong skepticism.

Yang Jie believes that Lu Zhengxiang is skilled in diplomacy and can skillfully handle the current north-south contradictions; Humble in character, can unite the four major factions in the cabinet; is indecisive, and everything needs to be consulted by the Great Presidential Palace, which is exactly the result that Yuan Xiangcheng wants most. Moreover, this cabinet only has a short lifespan of a few months, no matter how cowardly and incompetent he is, it is still no problem to support this time.

Sun Yuanqi secretly thought to himself that if Zhao Bingjun was allowed to serve as prime minister, Yuan Shikai, the great president, would undoubtedly be like a fish in water, and he could do whatever he wanted, and he believed that his ambitions would also swell, which he did not want to see. If you want to be the prime minister, frankly speaking, you really haven't been tempted, but after weighing it again, you finally gave up. Because he is not familiar with military and political affairs, and he is not interested, it is difficult to integrate the identity of a politician into his life; Second, the foundation of the New China Party and the Sichuan-Shaanxi forces is too shallow, and if they jump out to become prime minister now, they will easily become the target of public criticism; Third, Yuan Shikai is just talking, and there is not much sincerity at all.

As for Song Jiaoren, although he has outstanding talents and extremely high political talent, he is still too young after all, and he will inevitably have some sharp and youthful problems, which need to be honed and honed. After thinking about it, I still feel that Lu Zhengxiang, who has a gentle personality, is more acceptable. Therefore, Sun Yuanqi secretly made up his mind to promote Lu Zhengxiang in his heart.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the meeting began the next day, Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing turned against each other and strongly recommended Zhao Bingjun as prime minister. Of course, Yuan Shikai will not oppose himself, Li Yuanhong, a "loyal elder", is now everything, but Yuan Shikai is the first to look forward. Four of the five giants have supported Zhao Bingjun, seeing that the overall situation has been decided, Sun Yuanqi felt that he was weak to return to the sky, so he had to let the idea of promoting Lu Zhengxiang be stillborn, and turned to support Zhao Bingjun.

In this way, Zhao Bingjun became the second prime minister of the Republic of China government with the unanimous consent of the Big Five.

The replacement of the prime minister of the cabinet was a major event in the political life of the first year of the Republic of China, and it quickly became the front page headline of radio and newspapers. Even in the Sichuan Governor's Mansion in Chengdu, Jiang Zhiqing also talked to Yang Du about this topic: "Zhao Zhi'an is just an eagle dog of Yuan Xiangcheng, and now he has become the prime minister of the cabinet. It's ridiculous! ”

Zhao Bingjun failed to pass the Xiu exam in his early years, so he joined Zuo Zongtang's Chu army to serve. Go to Xinjiang to quell the Agubo Rebellion. Although he was a scholar, he fought bravely and performed many miraculous feats. Therefore, after the war, he was awarded the post of Xinle County Classic History. The so-called "classic history" is the head of the government officials in charge of arrests and prisons under the county, and there is no rank, and it can only be regarded as a career editor one level higher than that of temporary workers.

Maybe Zhao Bingjun really has a relationship with the police. First of all, he has a lot of talent as a criminal policeman, and when he served as the history of Xinle County, he was famous for being "good at arrests". Secondly, his several developments are inseparable from the police. For example, he was able to get acquainted with Yuan Shikai because he was training at a small station and heard about Zhao Bingjun's outstanding detective ability; won Yuan Shikai's appreciation and embarked on a career because of his meritorious efforts in arresting the Boxers; Let him be famous for his meritorious deeds. It is to draw up police regulations, create police schools, train new police officers, and establish a modern police system. It is precisely because of this that this big man, known as the "father of the Chinese police", was ridiculed by Jiang Zhiqing as the "head of the government service".

Yang Du shook the paper fan and said leisurely: "Although Zhao Zhi'an is from a humble background, he has an extraordinary bearing and should not be underestimated. Even if he is only a government leader in his life. That will also be a heroic figure like Song Gongming! ”

"Oh? What do you mean by that? Seeing that Yang Du admires Zhao Bingjun so much. Jiang Zhiqing hurriedly asked curiously.

Yang Du said: "It is said that although Zhao Zhi'an was not named in his teenage years, he was full of arrogance, if you asked his surname, he would reply that 'the first surname in "Hundred Family Names" ("Hundred Family Names" begins with "Zhao Qian Sun Li", and Zhao ranks first); If you ask him for his name, he will reply, 'The first man at the foot of the Son of Heaven' (Bingguo Zhijun, i.e., Prime Minister), and if you ask him for his character, he will reply, 'The ovary is a first-class person' (The ovary is Zhang Liang. Kong Ming is Zhuge Liang, and he is a famous resourceful person; Zhao Bingjun Zi Zhi'an); If you ask him about his ranking. It's the boss; If you ask him about his birthday, it is the first day of the year and the first day of the year (he was born on the first day of the first month of the first month of the year of Jiazi). The rest is visible! ”

"Could it be that he was really born on the first day of the first month of the first month of the year of Jiazi?" Jiang Zhiqing's eyes widened.

"!" Yang Du burst into a foul mouth, "All of this is made up by himself!" In fact, he was an orphan, his parents died when he was a child, and his real name, true place of origin, real age, etc., were taken to the grave by his parents long ago. By the time he has a memory, he has been a scholar in Linru County, Henan Province, how can he know what his birthday is? ”

"Ahh It turned out that he was so good-looking in his coffin, I thought it was really that magical! Jiang Zhiqing couldn't help but take a sip.

Yang Du continued: "Although Zhao Zhi'an has an element of hypocrisy and exaggeration at this point, he does have something extraordinary. When he was young, he first worked as a scholar for others, but he took the opportunity to study the Four Books and Five Classics, and then tried to take the Xiucai exam; Later, he went to work as a clerk in the shop, but he had no teacher, and helped the passing officials repair the table clock, which was appreciated and respected by the officials, so he left his hometown and wandered around; then participated in the Chu army to quell the Agubai Rebellion, as a result, he repeatedly performed miraculous feats, and was buried by the wind and snow in the Gobi Desert for three days, fortunately not dead; After quelling the rebellion, he was appointed as the canonical history of Xinle County, but he was willing to be in the company of the government officials and servants, and finally became famous in the officialdom for being 'good at arrest'...... In this way, it is like a pearl falling in the dust, but people can always find his brilliance and pick him up. Isn't this kind of person worthy of admiration? ”

Jiang Zhiqing's expression was full, and he said: "I didn't expect Zhao Zhi'an to be so powerful, it is Jiang who underestimates the heroes of the world!" However, although Zhao Zhi'an is outstanding and capable, he has held a lowly position before this, and everything he has done is treacherous, and now he has suddenly become the prime minister, I am afraid that it will be difficult to meet the expectations of the public, right? ”

Yang Du shook his fan and said: "Now that the Republic of China has been established, there are few people who are suitable to serve as prime ministers. Like Song Dunchu, who is now busy with the congressional election at the end of the year, and wants to dominate the Senate and the House of Representatives, and rightfully enter the cabinet, he naturally disdains the current provisional government; Like Huang Keqiang, now he has no soldiers, no money, Sun Yat-sen and Song Jiaoren in the party, and Yuan Xiangcheng and Li Huangpi outside the party who are hostile, and they can't do anything they want, so they have to stand by and watch; And Duan Zhiquan"

"What about Mr. Sun? In terms of qualifications, Mr. Sun was a scholar and cabinet minister in the former Qing Dynasty; In terms of fame, he is regarded as a 'contemporary saint' by students all over the country, and foreigners also worship him; in terms of ability, he has achieved fruitful results in study, business, and politics. Isn't it the prime minister's choice? Jiang Zhiqing interjected.

Yang Du said: "Our Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Jin and the New China Party have not been deeply rooted, and now they have three seats in the cabinet alone, and if they seek the position of prime minister again, they are afraid that they will be in danger of overturning." Sun Baixi can be well versed in the way of profit and loss at this time, and he can stop under the temptation of high-ranking officials and Houlu, which is really good and good! ”

Jiang Zhiqing pondered for a long time before saying: "It is good for Zhao Zhi'an to take over the post of prime minister, at least there can be a pause between the government and the house for a while, and we can also concentrate all our efforts to prepare for the upcoming parliamentary election and strive to occupy more seats in the two houses of the Senate." ”

Yang Du shook his head: "Stop for a while? I'm afraid that even greater calamity is yet to come! (To be continued......)