On the morning of August 10, 1915, Wang Shizhen and the depressed Duan Qirui met outside Yuan Shikai's mansion. Just by looking at Duan Qirui's expression, you can guess that Duan Qirui and Xu Shichang's efforts to beg the ministers of various countries have completely failed.

Seeing Wang Shizhen, Duan Qirui stepped forward depressedly and asked, "Brother, how is the president?" ”

"When the president woke up yesterday, Premier Xu recommended his younger brother to the president, but the president sternly refused." Wang Shizhen replied in a flat tone.

Duan Qirui was not as well-cultivated as Wang Shizhen, and his face became even more ugly. Without waiting for Duan Qirui to come out, Wang Shizhen continued: "I heard that some people in the Yuan family want to use Western medicine and some people want to use traditional Chinese medicine, and they have been arguing for a few days. ”

Duan Qirui had heard a little bit of these two news, he originally thought it was hearsay, until Wang Shizhen personally confirmed these two pieces of information, Duan Qirui's face turned gray. In the past few days, he has been quietly contacting the ministers of various countries, and without waiting for Duan Qirui to ask for help, the ministers of various countries first scolded Beiyang's incompetence, and then asked the Beiyang Army to do their best to protect the safety of the envoy area first. Finally, when Duan Qirui talked about asking for help from various countries, the ministers' already extremely ugly faces became even more difficult to look at. They immediately and mercilessly rejected Duan Qirui's request.

Wang Shizhen couldn't help but murmur something when he saw Duan Qirui, he vaguely listened to it, Duan Qirui seemed to have said the words "dragons have no leader".

Seeing that Duan Qirui did not scold the uselessness of the Yuan family's children, Wang Shizhen already had some score in his heart. He said to Duan Qirui: "Zhiquan, I want you to do something. ”

"What do you command?" Duan Qirui has always respected Wang Shizhen, especially at this time, Wang Shizhen must order important things.

Wang Shizhen hesitated, Duan Qirui is not a fool, as long as some words are said, Duan Qirui will definitely be able to understand the meaning. So Wang Shizhen had to think about it for a moment before saying: "Zhiquan, the city is in chaos like this, I want you to send reliable troops to guard the National Library, the National Museum, the National Archives, and the Imperial Palace." No one should be allowed to take advantage of the fire. Cultural relics, in particular, must not be allowed to have an accident with them. ”

Duan Qirui was really as Wang Shizhen expected, he was surprised by this order at first, and soon Duan Qirui's brows furrowed, he looked left and right, and simply pulled Wang Shizhen into his carriage. Sure that no one outside could hear it, Duan Qirui said anxiously: "Brother, do you think Beijing can't hold it?" ”

"What is the way Zhiquan can defend Beijing?" Wang Shizhen asked calmly.

Perhaps because he was captured by the People's Party, Duan Qirui was not as excited as Wang Shizhen thought, "We have fought so many battles with the People's Party, brother, you are the Minister of the Army." ”

Wang Shizhen sneered, he looked outside Yuan Shikai's mansion, "Now it is Yuan Kewen's model regiment that is guarding outside, this kid doesn't think that the big president is the big president of Beiyang at all, he thinks that the big president is a member of his Yuan family." Premier Xu dared to let his younger brother be this doctor, but the president didn't believe it. The Yuan family would rather make a lot of noise than decide how to treat the disease. What does this look like? ”

Duan Qirui looked at the soldiers of the model regiment outside the Yuan Mansion with great malice, paused for a long time, and said viciously: "Brother, since the president is unwell, the people of the Yuan family will not let us escort the president away. Then let's break through. The military capital is in our hands, and we will take the team to Shanxi. Xu Shuzheng is now stationed in Inner and Outer Mongolia, and Shaanxi is also our person at the moment. As long as the troops of Xingtai and Handan are ordered not to return to Beijing, they will go directly to Shanxi. If we occupy the northwest, there will definitely be a time to make a comeback. ”

Wang Shizhen looked at Duan Qirui with a little relief, this was the best choice that the Beiyang Army could take. Duan Qirui, the old brother, is a utilitarian man with a strong desire for power, and when there is a big thing that cannot be solved, he comes to trouble Wang Shizhen to find a way, which often makes Wang Shizhen feel very impatient. However, in terms of military accomplishment, he is indeed an outstanding figure in Beiyang. During this period of Duan Qirui's absence from the War Department, the War Department also discussed the situation many times, and various plans for stubborn defense or sneak attacks emerged one after another. But there is no one who can decisively formulate a strategic shift according to the current situation.

However, in this relief, Wang Shizhen remembered another thing, when did Duan Qirui start to make this plan?

"What are you going to do about the food?" Wang Shizhen asked.

Listening to Wang Shizhen's question, Duan Qirui was overjoyed, "Brother, you go with me." Wherever your brother points out, I'll hit you. With my brother here, there will be no problem with this grain matter, and our brothers in Beiyang also have the backbone. ”

This is what Duan Qirui will say every time he encounters a major problem, although Duan Qirui's intentions are extremely sincere, and he has indeed done what he said. However, for Wang Shizhen, who always has to work hard to solve problems, this is trusted, and having to take on things that are not Wang Shizhen's job at all will definitely not make him feel good.

"Zhiquan, let's go. Brother, I am old, and this Beijing is my burial place. Wang Shizhen replied lightly, he raised his hand to stop Duan Qirui's attempt to persuade him, "This is already the situation in Beijing, if you take the troops away, it will be even more chaotic." Thanks to the brothers of all the families, I can't leave. If it can't leave a basically chaotic situation for the People's Party, God knows how Chen Ke will be angry with his brothers who remain in Beijing. ”

Obviously, Duan Qirui did not agree with Wang Shizhen's idea, he said: "Brother, if Beijing is in chaos, it will take a lot of time for the People's Party to clean up the mess. It's good for us! ”

"If it's another city, it's fine, if it's a big mess in Beijing, it's not an ordinary mess. If the People's Party simply allows Beijing to continue the chaos, and they send troops to pursue it, it will not be easy for you to do it. On the contrary, Beijing is not chaotic, and the People's Party will not pursue it for the sake of saving face. Not to mention that the embassies of various countries are all in Beijing, and they are afraid that the foreign troops in Beijing will do it, and on the other hand, they do not want the foreign ministers to look down on them, so they will definitely leave a large army to garrison Beijing. It will be easier for you to retreat to Shanxi. ”

After listening to Wang Shizhen's explanation, Duan Qirui fell silent. What he wants most is the support of the British, if Beijing is completely messed up, what impression will Duan Qirui leave on the British? One day he will be able to make a comeback, and it will be too difficult to get the support of the British.

Thinking of this, Duan Qirui felt as usual. Wang Shizhen can always let Duan Qirui, who is inevitably a little reckless in doing things, see the most suitable choice. "Brother, you'd better come with me. Our Beiyang Army can't do without you! ”

Wang Shizhen shook his head slightly, "Zhiquan, I still say the same thing, Beijing is my burial place, and I won't go anywhere." My brother is 64 years old this year, and I don't have a few days to live. This old bone is left in Beijing, so that he can protect the brothers of Beiyang. Zhiquan, you're only 50 years old this year, and you're still able to fight. The millions of brothers in Beiyang follow you, and it all depends on you. Moreover, I have already started to mobilize food, but at most this grain can allow the Beiyang Army to withdraw to Shanxi. I had to stay in Beijing and drag the People's Party. ”

Every time Duan Qirui encounters something big and can't do it, he will go to Wang Shizhen. So after listening to Wang Shizhen's tone, Duan Qirui knew that he couldn't persuade Wang Shizhen to change his mind no matter what this time. And with Wang Shizhen presiding over the situation in Beijing, Duan Qirui really felt relieved.

After deciding on his thoughts, Duan Qirui glanced at Yuan Shikai's mansion again, and then turned back to look at Wang Shizhen, "I'm afraid that this kind of thing has to be decided by the president." ”

Wang Shizhen replied calmly: "The War Department is responsible for the war, and since the president can't be a director at the moment, I will take this matter first." If the President recovers, I will naturally explain this time to the President. ”

Duan Qirui naturally understood that Wang Shizhen was taking all the responsibilities. If Wang Shizhen did not preside over the overall situation, Duan Qirui alone would be able to pull away his own cronies at most. Now with Wang Shizhen's help, most of the army will follow orders.

"Then who are these civil officials taking away?" Since Wang Shizhen resolutely refused to leave, Duan Qirui was the commander-in-chief of the Beiyang Army that withdrew westward. He didn't want the civil servants to do it on their own. However, if there is no civil official to fill the façade, Duan Qirui alone will lack enough appeal.

The words fell, but he saw a carriage stopped at the gate of Yuan's mansion, and Xu Shichang got down from it. However, the people guarding Yuan's Mansion did not let Xu Shichang go in to visit. Xu Shichang negotiated with the Yuan family at the door for a while, and finally returned to the carriage and left.

Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen glanced at each other, and the only candidate for civil officials was the current Prime Minister Xu Shichang. However, Duan Qirui was a little worried, Xu Shichang had great influence in the Northeast, and Xu Shichang might not agree to retreat now, but it was difficult to say where Xu Shichang hoped to retreat in the end.

However, there is not much to discuss on this issue, and at the moment the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway has been cut off by the People's Party, and there is no other choice for the direction of retreat except Shanxi.

"Then brother, when is the time for the withdrawal of troops?" Duan Qirui asked.

"The sooner the better. If the president is gone, we will still stay in Beijing. There is no need for the People's Party outside to attack the city, and our own people are afraid that we will have to make a big mess first. Speaking of this, Wang Shizhen, who had always been quite calm, finally couldn't help but sigh. Beiyang was completely pinched up by Yuan Shikai, and no matter who took over the power, it was impossible to convince most people. The People's Party will not let Beiyang leave time for internal rectification. This time, the People's Party rushed to the city of Beijing almost desperately, seemingly taking a great risk, but it seized the opportunity of Yuan Shikai's illness.

Wang Shizhen is not superstitious, but he can't help but wonder if there is a providence in the dark to manipulate this matter?

Duan Qirui is an extremely decisive person, and the current situation has reached such a point that if Yuan Shikai dies of illness, he will not be able to leave if he wants to. Not to mention that Duan Qirui saw an opportunity, Duan Qirui's own opportunity to become the leader of Beiyang. This opportunity is almost fleeting, needless to say, even if Beiyang retreats after Yuan Shikai's death, it will be extremely difficult for Duan Qirui to take charge of the power. Only now, Duan Qirui can choose his own people and take away most of the Beiyang Army and the money that he can take away now.

Showing his resolute and decisive skills, Duan Qirui, with the assistance of Wang Shizhen, rectified the cadres and officials of Duan Qirui's faction in Beijing at a frantic speed, and the commander of the First Army was Duan Qirui's brother-in-law Wu Guangxin, who was naturally extremely relieved of Duan Qirui of the First Army.

On the morning of August 11, 1915, two divisions of the First Army took over the defense of the treasury and banks in the name of suppressing the unrest in the city. Then the troops will carry all the gold and silver that they can carry.

On the 12th, under the pretext that the People's Party was attacking the capital of the Changping army, the First Army marched into Changping with a large amount of equipment, ammunition and food, and began to secretly march to Shanxi. The remnants of Lu Jin's Second Army, as well as the police, were ordered to take over the defense of Beijing.

At two o'clock in the morning on August 13, 1913, Yuan Shikai woke up from a coma for the last time. At this time, even the people of the Yuan family understood that Yuan Shikai was returning to the light. Yuan Shikai briefly inquired about the situation, and ordered the family members guarding him to invite all the Beiyang ministers. Surrounded by a group of pale ministers of Beiyang. Yuan Shikai calmly announced that the next president would be succeeded by Xu Shichang. At the same time, all the northern departments of Beiyang were ordered to go all out to help Beijing, and the southern departments made efforts to attack the People's Party in order to hold back the People's Party to the greatest extent. Yuan Shikai also told Xu Shichang that he must do his best to get the Entente to send troops to fight the People's Party.

After saying this, Yuan Shikai soon fell into a coma. At four o'clock in the morning, Yuan Shikai stopped breathing in a coma.

Duan Qirui, who had already received the news, only gave up his plan to take Xu Shichang to the west after receiving the order to succeed him as president. At three o'clock in the morning, he ordered the last troops of the First Army to pull out the camp and march to the west of Fashan.

Xu Shichang didn't expect Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui to play tricks behind their backs, and it wasn't until the afternoon of the 13th that Xu Shichang knew that Duan Qirui's army had left the military capital and went to Shanxi. Xu Shichang, who was shocked, immediately sent someone to issue an order to Duan Qirui in the name of "the great president", ordering the entire First Army to return to Beijing. He himself broke into the War Department to find Wang Shizhen.

Wang Shizhen calmly listened to Xu Shichang's angry narration and angry scolding, and then slowly said: "If we don't go to Shanxi, where else will we go?" Even if Brother Juren gathers the Beiyang Army in the north, what will everyone eat? ”

Xu Shichang was stunned at that time, he subconsciously pointed at Wang Shizhen, and only after a long time did he speak, "Pingqing, you know about this!" You ......, you already knew about it! ”

"Brother Juren, we in Beiyang can only survive like this. There is no other way. Wang Shizhen answered this question coldly.

Xu Shichang didn't wake up from the shock at all, he stammered like a gramophone that had a problem: "You already knew about it!" You...... You already knew about it! ”

watched Xu Shichang, the "current president" who may be called the No. 2 person in Beiyang, behave so gaffe. The last burden in Wang Shizhen's heart was finally lifted. If Xu Shichang really takes over the power, Beiyang will definitely face a brutal infighting first. Such infighting has only one result, which is to pull Beiyang into the abyss of complete annihilation.

Wang Shizhen's heart was completely relaxed, no matter what later generations said about Wang Shizhen, this effective loyalty to Yuan Shikai and loyalty to Beiyang. For these two allegiances, Wang Shizhen has a clear conscience. Regardless of Xu Shichang's performance, Wang Shizhen stood up and strode out of the office. The next thing to do was piled up, and he didn't have time to waste this precious time with Xu Shichang.

The remnants of Lu Jin's Second Army numbered less than 30,000, and the police force was not enough to defend the city of Beijing. Although the police did not dare to say anything loudly, they invariably recalled that a few years ago, when horse bandits were raging, the police force was also sent to guard the city. Not long after that siege, the Manchus fell. The situation is worse now than then, and there is nothing in the whispers of the police force that is disillusioned about victory.

At 12 noon on August 13, 1915, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army began to attack the city of Beijing. The loudspeaker shouted in a loud voice to the city of Beijing: "Yuan Shikai is dead, brothers in Beiyang, lay down their arms and surrender!" The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army gave preferential treatment to prisoners. "The leaflets for emergency use by the Air Force are all handwritten by the soldiers, and the fluttering paper has various sizes and styles written on it, but the content is exactly the same, "Yuan Shikai is dead, the brothers of Beiyang put down their arms and surrender!" The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army gave preferential treatment to prisoners. ”

Most of the Beiyang Army heard the news for the first time, and although they were suspicious, they still resisted stubbornly. At about four o'clock in the afternoon, the news that the First Army in Changping had run to Shanxi finally reached the defending troops. The morale of the defending troops completely collapsed. First, the police force ran to her home in Beijing. And the soldiers who lived in Beijing also deserted. The collapse of morale led directly to the collapse of the military, and some people ran away with these deserters in a daze. Some just stayed on the battlefield in a daze.

First at the South Gate, then at the East Gate and then at the North Gate, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army entered the city of Beijing without much resistance.

"The Presidential Palace", "Prime Minister's Office", "War Department" and other important places have been lost. Wang Shizhen fulfilled his promise, and the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army successfully took over the defense of the National Library, the National Museum, the National Archives, and the Imperial Palace. Pu Guanshui, who had been worried, breathed a long sigh of relief after getting the news. Beijing City can't be beaten in one day, but it can be fought for two days. But once these precious materials and cultural relics are destroyed, they really can't be saved.

By August 14, the main force of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had tightly surrounded Dongjiaomin Lane and the foreign garrisons. The cannons of the captured Beiyang Army's garrison troops were also mobilized together, the muzzles of the black holes were fully opened, and all the firing units were fixed in the direction of the foreign garrison. Other troops were nervously gathering the defeated troops in Beiyang and arresting Beiyang officials. To appease the people of Beijing.

The damaged telegraph line could not be restored for a while, and the report was transmitted to the rear by the Air Force after an emergency takeoff.

On August 15, the Party Central Committee in Wuhan finally got the long-awaited news.