Surrender to constitutionalism in the southeastern provinces? Wu Ren and Zhang Shengzao secretly realized that this method seems to be good, and now the imperial court is beyond the reach of the southeastern provinces, and it is easy to know that if you can try constitutional government in the southeast, it will not be a good thing for the imperial court.

But when Yi Yan heard this, his face was a little ugly, although Yuan Qi had formed a trend of secession of the southeast, but after all, there was no open secession, although the officials claimed to be elected in the south, after all, they were also appointed by the hands of the imperial court, and more importantly, taxes, the annual taxes of the southeast provinces were paid as usual.

If Yi Zhixin insists on implementing constitutional government in the southeastern provinces, then the last step of separating the southeast will inevitably be taken, and the imperial court will not only lose the taxes in the southeast, but also form a situation of confrontation between the north and the south.

From this point of view, Yuan Qi is bound to implement the constitution, thinking of this, he couldn't help but sink in his heart, and turned to say: "I don't know what the king of Zhennan thinks about preparing for the constitution?" ”

"Preparing for the constitution is preparation after all, not to mention that the preparation period proposed by King Gong is nine years, which is really too long." Yi Zhizhi said without thinking: "Although it took a lot of time for the constitutions of England, the United States and other countries, the Qing Dynasty has ready-made examples to follow, and there is no need to make a long exploration attempt, three or five years is enough." ”

Hearing that the other party was not resistant to the preparation of the constitution, but only had objections to the preparation period, Yi Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and said: "The east and the west are different from the country, and the implementation of constitutionalism cannot completely copy the constitutional system of England, and the nine-year period is not too long, and the implementation of constitutionalism in England and the United States has also carried out a preparatory period of more than ten years. ”

Listening to the change in Yiyi's tone, Wu Ren also reacted, and immediately echoed: "The political system of a country must conform to the actual national conditions of a country's cultural traditions, religious beliefs, etiquette and customs, etc., and the constitution of Xiyi cannot be in line with the national conditions of our Qing Dynasty. ”

Yi Zhizu put on this posture, which was nothing more than to promote the imperial court to accept the preparatory constitution, and he did not disdain to do a war of words, but looked at Yi Yu and said: "This king has an important room here, and the king of alcohol may wish to call the Jingshi and ask for another talk." ”

This is quite polite, but Yi Yan can't care about it, he really can't be the master of this matter, and he doesn't dare to annoy the other party, when even the head of the jaw said: "So very good." ”

Yi Fang and Zhang Shengzao followed Lin Meilian to send a telegram to ask for instructions, but Wu Ren did not leave, and sent Yi Yan out of the room, he slowly turned around, hesitated for a moment before speaking: "Why does the King of Zhennan have to implement constitutional government?" Privately, the current Qing Dynasty is really not suitable for constitutional government. ”

For Wu Ren, Yi Zhizhi was a little displeased in his heart, but he still maintained a little respect, the other party was not only the minister of Nanyang, but also an honest and honest official, although the thought was stubborn and conservative but patriotic, after reaching out to ask for a seat, he said: "In the opinion of Brother Genfeng, the Qing Dynasty is not suitable for constitutionalism, not suitable for republic, but only suitable for imperial autocracy." ”

Wu Ren said with a wry smile: "The imperial power has been autocratic for thousands of years, and it will never be useless, although the Xiyi constitution is good, it will never be flawless, and the solid republic of the United States will not also lead to the outbreak of the Civil War?" The French monarchy, constitutionalism, and republic, are exchanged like a marquee, and it is not very revealing, why should the Qing Dynasty toss at present? ”

To be fair, Wu Ren's words were quite insightful, and the tone was also sincere, Yi Zhizhi slowly lit a cigarette, and then said slowly: "I don't want to toss, the constitutional republic is the trend of the times, which is the same as the development of industry, in this era if you don't develop industry, you will fall behind, backward will be beaten, and you will be beaten by Western countries."

In just over 20 years, the Qing Dynasty experienced two foreign invasions, and if it were not for Yuanqi's development of industry, the establishment of military industry, and the creation of a new army, the Qing Dynasty would have followed in the footsteps of India and fallen into a British and French colony.

The same is true of a country's form of government, which is now an era of constitutional monarchy and democratic republic, and if we blindly cling to the defects and do not know how to change, it will greatly curb the development of industry and commerce, curb the development of the country, and inevitably cause the backwardness of the country.

This is caused by the times, not that I have to toss! As the so-called skin does not exist, the hair will be attached. Yuan Qi is Mao, the country is the skin, is the foundation of Yuan Qi's foothold, not to mention for the sake of the country, even for the sake of Yuan Qi's future, I must also be responsible for urging the imperial court to implement the constitution. ”

Wu Ren was unmoved, "Has the king of Zhennan thought about it?" The implementation of constitutional government will inevitably lead to the collapse of etiquette and the destruction of traditional culture and etiquette. ”

"I didn't say that I would copy the constitution of the West." Yi Zhizhi said: "We can proceed from the actual situation of the Qing Dynasty and formulate a constitution suitable for the national conditions of the Qing Dynasty, which is why I agree to prepare for the constitution for three to five years."

Brother Gen Feng insists on maintaining traditional culture and etiquette, which I do not object, each of us has the responsibility and obligation to maintain the traditional culture and etiquette of three thousand years, but we cannot prevent the progress of society and the development of the country under the guise of maintaining traditional culture and etiquette and under the banner of patriotism.

There are priorities and priorities, and the top priority at the moment is to strengthen the country and the army, to popularize education and to develop industry, and cultural etiquette must not only be maintained as much as possible, but also appropriately adapted according to the current situation, and nothing is immutable. ”

Hearing this, Wu Ren couldn't help but be silent, his original intention was to start from the maintenance of traditional culture and etiquette, to understand the emotion and reason, to dispel the idea of easy contentment to implement the constitution, he knew very well that the other party was not an unreasonable person, but after listening to these words, he knew that this was simply delusional.

Immediately, he changed his head, "If the imperial court implements the constitution, does the prince have plans to form a regent?" ”

What does that mean? Was it Ci'an who told him to tempt? Or was he himself tempted in private? Yi Zhishu glanced at him and said, "Brother Gen Feng, is he thinking too long-term?" It will take at least three or five years for the constitution to be established, and at this time it will start to think about the regency after the constitution is established? ”

Wu Ren said in a sincere tone: "If the constitutional government is implemented, the regent who will form the cabinet is none other than the prince, and looking around the Qing Dynasty and the opposition, no one is more suitable than the prince." ”

Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, "The regent's cabinet may not be as comfortable as me, the king of Zhennan, besides, I am still tired of this king of Zhennan, but I am not interested in asking for hardship." ”

Yi Zhishu is quite reckless, or rather lazy, which Wu Ren knows, and when he said this, he couldn't help but shake his head, "It seems unreasonable for the prince to want to implement constitutional government and not want to take on heavy responsibilities. ”

"There are more people who like to take on heavy responsibilities." Yi Zhizu quipped: "I don't know how many people want to form a regency with their heads sharpened, in this regard, Brother Gen Feng doesn't need to worry." ”

Speaking of this, Wu Ren also knew that there was no need to talk about it anymore, so he immediately got up and bowed and retired, watching him step out of the courtyard door, Zhao Liewen, who had been sullen like a gourd, said: "The big shopkeeper seems to be quite polite to this prime minister. ”

"Although this person is stubborn and old-fashioned, his character and official character are still good, and this is worthy of courtesy." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "In addition, this person has been in the Prime Minister's Yamen for many years, knows the West, is familiar with foreign affairs, and is conservative in his thoughts, so he should have a great possibility of being reused, and it is good to influence him more." ”

There are also long-term considerations in this regard, Zhao Liewen knew that he was very accurate in judging people and things, but when he thought about it, he felt that there was another deep meaning, and he immediately tried to say: "What does the big treasurer mean, the emperor wants to cultivate power?" ”

Yi Zhizu nodded slightly, "King Gong is sharp, Su Shun is arrogant, after experiencing the constitution, the queen mother will inevitably vigorously cultivate forces to prevent being hollowed out and prevent the preparation of the constitution from changing again." ”

After a slight sigh, Zhao Liewen said: "If the Queen Mother does not insist on opposing the preparation of the constitution, will the big treasurer really implement constitutional government in the southeast?" ”

"At present, there are no conditions and foundations for the implementation of constitutional government, even if the Queen Mother can understand this, she will definitely not dare to gamble." Yi Zhicontent said with a smile: "The imperial court will not be willing to lose the taxes in the southeast, and it is even more unwilling to have a confrontation between the north and the south, so she does not dare to take risks, so she can only agree to prepare for the constitution, and there is no opposition." ”

Yi Zhi's judgment was not bad at all, but after more than half an hour, Yi Yan hurriedly returned, and after entering the house and sitting down, he said: "The Empress Dowager has sent a decree that the imperial court can implement a preparatory constitution, but the nine-year preparatory period cannot be changed, and I hope that the king of Zhennan will focus on the overall situation." ”

Yi Zhicontent said unceremoniously: "This king has always focused on the overall situation everywhere, otherwise with Yuan Qi's strength, it would not be the current situation." ”

Yi Yan was really choked by these words, and immediately squeezed out a smile, "The emperor is young, and he has not long succeeded to the throne, and the queen mother also has many difficulties in supervising the country, and I hope that King Zhennan can be more compassionate." ”

Seeing Yifang so low-voiced, Zhang Shengzao couldn't help but secretly speak, although this seventh master is not as strong as King Gong in Beijing, he can also be regarded as a celebrity in front of the queen mother, how could he have been so low-voiced, they all said that this is the king of Zhennan, today can be regarded as seeing the real chapter, thinking of the tone in which he spoke to the other party before, he couldn't help but be a little more careful, if the other party is a character who will repay him, he is afraid that there will be trouble.

Seeing Yi Tong said this, Yi Zhi's content tone also softened, "The implementation of constitutional government is actually to extend the Qing Dynasty, the imperial court should not resist, not only should not resist, but should actively support and promote, if you don't know how to be flexible, blindly adhere to the imperial autocracy, you say that after 50 years, 20 years or even 10 years, the Qing Dynasty will have the worry of losing the country."

I'm not alarmist, constitutionalism and republican, obviously the republican system is superior, if the imperial court does not take the initiative to establish a constitution, and wait for the bottom-up trouble, it will not be a constitution, but a republic, such as the United States without a monarch republic, it will be a disaster for the emperor and the queen mother, the princes of the clan and the Manchurians. ”

After a pause, he continued: "The nine-year preparation period is indeed longer, but since the queen mother has difficulties, we as courtiers can't be inconsiderate, or so, nine years is nine years, and it is not prudent to step by step." ”

Let's be courtiers! Zhang Shengzao secretly slandered himself, which courtier dares to speak like this, there is no monarch and a republic, this is tantamount to bluntly saying that he wants to raise troops to rebel!

Listening to the republic, Yi Tong's heart is also shocked, for the constitutional republic, he has also carefully studied this time, not only him, almost all the people who care about state affairs in the government and the opposition have been carefully studying the constitutional republic during this time, to be precise, China itself has the tradition of the emperor taking turns to do it, for the officials, gentlemen and business classes, the republic is indeed more attractive than the constitution.

It seems that after going back, you have to report to the Queen Mother in detail, and it is indeed necessary to change your attitude towards the constitution, otherwise Yuan Qi may lead the Qing Dynasty to a republic!

The Empress Dowager Ci'an agreed to prepare for the constitution in every helpless situation, and there was no resistance to the implementation of the preparatory constitution by the imperial court, and Wang Gong Yixun and Su Shun were both vigorous and resolute characters, and the imperial court also wanted to calm down the constitutional dispute as soon as possible to stabilize the court situation, so only three days later, the imperial court issued an edict in the name of the little emperor Qixiang, announcing the preparation of the constitution.

As soon as the edict came out, the Qing Dynasty and the opposition were boiling, from the capital to the local area were all discussing constitutional matters, the vast majority of people did not expect that the imperial court would so easily agree to the constitution and quickly announce the preparation of the constitution, for a time the provincial newspapers of all sizes published articles, the imperial court praised this move, rave reviews, of course, there are also discordant voices, several newspapers in the north have articles against the constitution, however, soon by all kinds of praise articles.

The diplomatic ambassadors of various countries in China also sent the news back to China as quickly as possible, and the implementation of constitutional government by such a huge empire of the Qing Empire is definitely a major event that is enough to change the world pattern!

The announcement of the preparation of the constitution by the imperial court will undoubtedly greatly promote the process of promoting the constitution, although there is a nine-year preparatory period, but the attention of the whole country to the constitution will rise sharply, Yuan Qi slightly guided, it will not take three or five years, the Qing Dynasty will have the foundation and conditions for the constitution.

However, in this way, he was somewhat busy, and Yixun and Su Shun both called one after another, urging them to ask what measures should be taken after announcing the intention to establish a constitution in order to promote and improve the basis and conditions for the constitution as soon as possible.

At the end of the year, the two sides fought the Battle of Fredericksburg - 120,000 troops of the Northern Army and 75,000 troops of the Southern Army, and the final result of the battle was the victory of the South, with nearly 20,000 casualties of the Northern Army.

In January 1863, the Battle of Murfreesboro was fought between the North and the South. The 50,000 people of the Northern Army aimed the spearhead of the attack at the throat of the southern railway traffic - Chattanooga, and the 40,000 people of the Southern Army blocked it, which was a tragic battle since the outbreak of the war, with 15,000 casualties on both sides, and the offensive of the Northern Army was frustrated, all deployments were disrupted, and they had to stop fighting and adjust.

The war in the Northern Union is unfavorable, resulting in the price of cotton in Europe falling from a high level, but because the market is still in a state of shortage of cotton, although the price of cotton has fallen, but the magnitude is not large, but the market's expectations for cotton prices are generally bearish.