All the courtiers ran in front, but Xu Shichang lagged behind. Compared with King Qing's Mansion, Langrun Garden is more than thirty miles away from the capital, and when King Qing Yixuan received Yuan Shikai's secret guarantee, the person who sent him the letter was still running wildly on the road. He wanted to slow down, but now that this matter is so big, how can he slow it down? So he had no choice but to send someone to the capital to report the news while rushing to the Summer Palace. He is actually also thinking about how the Beiyang family should deal with itself after the change, and now that Guangxu has decided to go out of the mountain, what he can do is to quickly control the situation in Beijing and open the parliament immediately.

Leshantang's Guangxu had woken up, but being in Leshantang made him very uncomfortable, and it wasn't until the ministers knelt in front of him and kowtowed and shouted long live that he woke up, he is now the emperor, the real emperor! Never eat cold food again, never live in a cell again......

The ministers knelt in front of Guangxu for a long time, but they couldn't hear the emperor say to get up, so they waited outside for another person to crawl around, "Your Majesty...... The emperor ......", this embarrassing silence was broken, the person who came was the prince of alcohol, Zaifeng, on the way to the Summer Palace, he sent someone to find him, he and Guangxu are half-brothers after all, as soon as they arrived in front of Guangxu, they hugged Guangxu's feet and cried. Although Zai Ze, who was kneeling in the front, felt that he was not wrong, but he was very taboo about their brothers' feelings, Guangxu supported Zaifeng who was crying for a while, and saw the courtiers who were still kneeling in front of him, and said, "Get up." Get up. Seeing that everyone still didn't dare to get up, he said: "The queen mother suddenly suffered an accident, and the queen was also disturbed, all in Wanshou Temple at the moment, I want to go to Wanshou Temple, so as to help the queen mother keep the spirit." ”

See the Emperor speak. The ministers are all low, praising the emperor for filial piety, but waiting for everyone to finish praising him. Tie Liang's voice rang out, "Your Majesty, now that the assassin has not been arrested, you must not go at this time!" As soon as he said this, all the ministers also agreed, but they didn't want Tie Liang to change his words, and then said: "The matter of the queen mother today." It is very likely that it was the Yuan thief, who deceived the trust of the Queen Mother by doing things since Wuxu. was able to steal a high position, and now he has a heavy army, with ill intentions, and was reprimanded by the Queen Mother a few days ago. Only then did he return to Tianjin. This time, the queen mother had an accident, and nine times out of ten it was done by Yuan thief, and asked the emperor to order the arrest of Yuan thief to avoid future troubles! ”

Tie Liang's heart-wrenching words made Xu Shichang's heart beat when he heard it, but everyone knew that he was close to Yuan Shikai, and if he was defending Yuan Shikai at this time. Don't say it doesn't work, maybe it's going to be taken down right away. He was in a state of worry. Na Tong spoke, he had a good relationship with Prince Alcohol, and he also had a good relationship with Prince Qing, and he was a Manchu nobleman, so he could speak, "Your Majesty, this must not be!" Yuan Shikai is now in charge of the six towns of Beiyang, once he is arrested, something big will happen. Besides, this assassination has always been a trick of the revolutionary party, and there were already two of them last year, and this time it was also their doing. Now that it has undergone such a big change, it is better to quickly summon military aircraft to discuss. ”

Na Tong's heart is still biased towards King Qing, the method seems to be safe, as soon as he said this, he should be safe, or Yuan Shikai has a good impression of the world, the Ministry of Commerce Shangshu Zaizhen, and several other ministers who have received Yuan Shikai's small favor and immediately echoed. Everyone knows very well that although Guangxu is out of the mountain, such a puppet emperor who has been locked up for nearly ten years can shake the situation of the dynasty, and it is not clear whether it is possible, and even if Yuan Shikai is punished in the future, today's discussion is also a safe policy.

Tie Liang's proposal is actually very much in line with Guangxu's meaning, but although he was imprisoned, he also knew that the six towns of Beiyang were still in the hands of Yuan Shikai, and rashly killing Yuan Shikai would only provoke him to rebel. Of course, he can also ignore these, but thinking that he is still unstable, he feels that it is most important to stabilize the throne first, and now he sees that the ministers want to invite the minister of military aircraft to come to discuss, it is not impossible. At that moment, he said: "Then send someone to summon all the military planes." ”

In the afternoon, the commotion in the guard camp caused by the assassination of Changchun Bridge was soon transmitted to the capital, if Zhao Bingjun, who has been paying close attention to the movements in Beijing, was the first to know, then Prince Su Shanqi, who was in charge of the robbery camp, was the second to know, but this robbery camp has always paid attention to the affairs in the capital, and it is not as sensitive to external things as Zhao Bingjun.

The person who came was Zhang Yilin, who was Yuan Shikai's guest, because this time Yuan Shikai offended many officials, he left Beijing in a hurry, so he left him in the capital to appease the officials, and now he suddenly suffered a sudden change, and he could only let him come in the capital.

Prince Su didn't know what was going on in Wanshou Temple, so he only invited Zhang Yilin to the living room to talk, Zhang Yilin knew that what he said was a top secret matter, but he couldn't figure out King Su's hole cards, so he could only chat with him about the compilation of the official system, and then mentioned Xiaogong Wang Fu Wei, and finally euphemistically said that the Beiyang family was willing to support King Su as the prime minister of the cabinet. Shanqi's first reaction when he heard the words was not to believe it, when Zhang Yilin was about to go down, he heard that someone was visiting, and Shanqi heard that someone was coming, and then he served tea to the guests, Zhang Yilin knew that the matter was serious, so he had to bow and leave.

Shanqi came to the study, saw Wang Zhao's face full of tears, and said: "Xiaohang, you are ......" Wang Zhao is the informant between Prince Su and the Restoration Party, he used to be the head of the Ministry of Rites, supported the change of law and was wanted, a few years ago the Qing court granted amnesty to the Wuxu Party, he returned to the capital, specifically asked to see Prince Su and Prince Alcohol, and asked them to rescue Guangxu, but to no avail.

Seeing Prince Su ask, Wang Zhao cried before he could speak, and then said while crying: "Lafayette has died......"

"What !!" Shanqi was shocked, grabbed Wang Zhao and said, "Where did the news come from?" ”

A student said, "The year before last, the Qing court granted amnesty to the reformers, although there was an order to restore Wang Zhaokai's title, but Wang Zhao did not become an official, but only opened the official alphabet of the school. "It is said that the Wanshou Temple is in chaos, and the camp is full of assassins. I went to the palace of Prince Alcohol again, but I said that Prince Alcohol had gone out of the city. ”

In fact, Wang Zhaoyi said that Shanqi believed it, but the matter was too big for Shanqi to ask twice, especially the words that Zhang Yilin said just now are proof, although the time is short, he did not say everything, but the meaning Shanqi can still grasp. Speak from the heart. The royalist is safe, but the more important thing than the royalist is to protect the country. Even if Guangxu Ye goes out of the mountain, can the country be cured after he comes out? Qing Yuan is greedy though. But they are sophisticated, and they are not confused about big things, and those people around Guangxu have no other ability than to instigate public opinion, once they come to power, the country will ......

Shanqi couldn't make up his mind after thinking about it, and Wang Zhao was excited for a while. Seeing that Prince Su was only walking back and forth in the study, he didn't know what he was thinking, and he wanted to speak. was stopped by Shanqi raising his hand. Shanqi walked for a while, and still felt that this Yuan Shikai was an outsider after all, if he really did what he said, he would abolish or kill Guangxu. Even if Xiao Gong Wang Fu Wei is on the throne. The world is afraid that it will also be a big chaos; Even if you don't kill it, you will be imprisoned as before, and the matter of this Lafayette returning to heaven will not be hidden after all, and when the time comes, Kang Liang and others will stir up public opinion, what should they do if they want Guangxu to go out of the mountain?

Thinking of the "turbulent public opinion", Shanqi suddenly had an epiphany, and now that Guangxu is out of the mountain, he is surrounded by either the old ministers of Lafayette, or the people of Prince Alcohol. But there is not half a Restoration! If I win over Kang Liang and others, then wouldn't this public opinion be of my own use......

"Xiao Hang. I have to inform Zhuo Ru about this! Shanqi thought for a moment, made up his mind, and stopped.

"Lord Wang, I want to too. But now the telegraph office is down! "Zai Ze entered the city to inform Prince Alcohol Zaifeng, and also asked people to stop the telegraph office, and the telegraph office was taken over to the official office after Gengzi, and it was just a sentence on the official face to say that it was stopped. Wang Zhao went to the telegraph office and found that after the door was closed, he could only turn back to Prince Su, and he knew that Prince Su had a way.

"There's no hurry. I went to the Japanese legation and asked them to send a telegram to Zhuo Ru. Shanqi said that the government-run telegraph office said that the closure was only for the small people, and the legation and the Forbidden City were still open.

The news is more deadly than the other, stay until midnight, all the news is summarized, Yuan Shikai's hope that he finally mustered up is slowly shattered, Qingwang Yixuan called back very little, and did not give any planning, Xu Shichang only gave the news that he and the people from the bureaucratic bureau went to the Summer Palace to face the saint, and then later, it was Qingwang Yixuan and other military ministers who went out of Beijing overnight to Wanshou Temple, as for Prince Su Shanqi's side, Zhang Yilin went once in the evening, and went again in the evening, only saying that the prince rested and no longer saw guests. This... When was it, he didn't believe that the good old man could sleep.

"What to do? Now there is no good way......" Yuan Shikai stayed up in the middle of the night, under the electric light, his face turned gray again, he only felt that the good elderly did not let go of the door, and the patrol police in Tianjin were afraid that they would not be able to enter Beijing, so there was no way to talk about this best policy; And the middle policy, no matter how fast the opening of the Congress is, it will take half a year and a year, during this period, a holy decree comes down, then his head will fall, do you want to do that policy?

Yang Shiqi is also full of solemnity, although he has three strategies, but he is in a hurry, and may not be able to withstand scrutiny, now Shanqi's position is clear, if you want to control the capital, I am afraid it is not easy, "Gong Bao, let's find Zhu Erdian first." ”

"Juerdian?"

"yes. Now the situation is undecided, as soon as Guangxu comes out, all the ministers go to meet him, even if there is any discord in a short time, they can't see it, as long as it takes a long time, those people themselves will be in chaos. If King Su doesn't go all the way with us, then it is impossible to go all the way with Prince Alcohol Zaifeng and them, as well as Zai Ze, judging from the news from the East China Sea, he was the first to fight with Guangxu out of the mountain, and at that time, he and Tie Liang and others are factions, and with this protection, it is uncertain whether they will ignore Qu Zijiu's gang of Qingliu at that time. In this way, the four factions in Beijing, once Guangxu does not control it well, then they will fight on their own. ”

Yang Shiqi saw it thoroughly, but Yuan Shikai touched his head and said: "If they fight them, they will fight, and that is also after Guangxu took care of me." ”

"So, at this time, we have to find Zhu Erdian first, and then rely on the British to intercede, pass the current level, and wait until the limelight passes, and they decide that there is no threat here, then they will naturally fight."

The relationship between Yuan Shikai and the British was established in the year of Gengzi, the northern provinces, only Shandong was to kill the Boxers, and did not send troops to the north when he wanted to be the king of Qin, and after Xin Chou, Yuan Shikai did not take Li Hongzhang's pro-Russian line, but on the contrary, pro-British, its acceptance of Tianjin and the recovery of the railway inside and outside the Guanxi were supported by the British, and also gave up a lot of interests, especially the British could actually influence the appointment of some officials within the Zhili [Note 1], and then Russia refused to withdraw troops, and the Russo-Japanese War began, Yuan Shikai also completely sided with Britain and Japan, providing all kinds of help to the Japanese army. It cannot be said that Japan won the war because of Yuan Shikai's help, but his help played a great role in the victory of the Japanese army. But now that Guangxu is out of the mountain, then he will never be able to go out of the mountain in the future. Will this Englishman still protect him?

Yuan Shikai's face was uncertain, and he thought about the six towns of Beiyang, the first three towns were stationed in Baoding, and the fourth town was in Machang, Qingxian County, Zhili, and the fifth town was in Shandong. Others, like Ma Longbiao, the second town of control, and Fengshan, the first town, may not be completely with their own hearts, especially Guangxu out of the mountain, and he has no reason to raise troops.

Yang Shiqi looked at Yuan Shikai's appearance. I roughly guessed what idea he was playing, but at this time he didn't dare to speak, the strategist just provided a strategy, and the one who really wanted to get the idea was Yuan Shikai.

"Let's take it one step at a time. Let Zhongren (Zhang Yilin) go to the British Legation first early tomorrow morning. Let's go to King Su's Mansion again. Yuan Shikai's face was very calm at this time. He couldn't see any waves, so he said after he finished instructing: "Also, call Wu Fengling over." ”

On the night of June 6th, many people couldn't sleep, of course, Yang Rui didn't sleep, the conference held for seven days, and after determining the direction and strategy of the next step, the representatives of the provinces went back, and he kept looking through the reports sent below. There are Shandong, Shaanxi, Fujian, Sichuan, anyway, all provinces in the country have more or less detailed or brief reports sent over; And what's inside. It is all related to the countryside, or agricultural technology, or land rent, or yield, or land ratio, all kinds of things, there are all kinds of things, the most detailed of which is a rural work report written by Lu Wan in Shandong, this person is sent by the management training class in Shanghai, and he is also from Shandong, and he is responsible for immigration work over there, and he is familiar with the place, the people are smart, and the things he learns are also solid, so the report handed over not only analyzes the land and economic situation in the countryside, but also investigates the clan, religion, and ideology. Yang Rui's eyes were opened, and there was a dialogue between him and the people that was very interesting:

Q: How was the heavens made?

A: I don't know, but everyone says it was made by the Jade Emperor.

Question: Where did the land and the people come from?

A: I don't know.

Q: Why do people live?

Answer: Because people eat.

Q: But when people get old, why do they die?

Answer: People's longevity (life) is set by the Jade Emperor, and everyone will not live beyond the time limit set by the Jade Emperor

Q: Does rain have energy?

A: Yes

Q: Who gives energy to the rain?

Answer: The rain was sent by the Jade Emperor to the Dragon King, and there was the mana of the Dragon King in the rain

Question: Why does it rain on the Dragon King?

Answer: There is no water and nothing, and everyone can't live, so the Jade Emperor asked the Dragon King to rain to save the people[Note 2]

The dialogue is simple and unpretentious, but it can make people understand very well what the farmers are thinking and what their concepts are, Yang Rui closed the report, not wanting to read it all at once, but he thought that it would be better to let the member named Lu Wan come to Shanghai to talk in person for a while, after all, many things in the report are dead. Thinking of this, Yang Rui began to write a note - because everyone works during the day, and he is the only one who likes to do it at night, so if he has any requirements, he can only write a note and ask the clerical office to do it.

When Yang Rui had just finished writing the note, Wang Jitong came.

"Something big!" Wang Jitong's first sentence was this, and then he said: "Cixi is dead!" ”

"What?!" Yang Rui was taken aback when he heard this, didn't this old witch hang up until 08? "That's... What about Guangxu? He remembered that Cixi and Guangxu died together, and now that Cixi is dead, is Guangxu also returning to heaven with him.

"I don't know!" Wang Jitong shook his head, although the telegraph office in the capital is no longer open for business, the news from Beijing can still reach Tianjin, and Tianjin Fazheng University has a high-power telegraph station, and the information can soon be transmitted to Shanghai. "Weisheng said that today's Bada Hutong came to return the guests earlier, but in the evening there was no one, and several relatives and nobles who had already stayed in also ran away, only to hear the person who told them to leave that Cixi was stabbed and was dead."

Yang Rui was a little excited at first when he heard this, but when he heard this, he slowly sat down and said regretfully: "This should be done by the two of them." ”

Wang Jitong also guessed that the two of them did it, but he and Yang Rui thought differently, but said: "I don't know what their situation is now, Weisheng is asking if the assassin has been caught." ”

"Let him stop checking and just keep an eye on it. This is not like killing a few ministers, this is killing Cixi. Yang Rui shook his head and said, and said aggrievedly after a while: "Are they ...... How can they ...... That's it! Who told them to do it! Sun Wen? ”

As soon as Cixi died, the rest of the history was all messed up. What will happen in the future Yang Rui is simply bottomless, what he is most afraid of as a traverser is historical changes, where can those technologies, knowledge, and ideas compare to the insight into known history? He grabbed his hair, only feeling that his life was ruined by a woman - for the sake of a woman in college, skipping classes too much annoyed an associate professor, and his grades were not enough, and Baoyan was no fun. Later, he was dismissed from his post under the stimulation of a breakup, and only thought about doing business to make money, and then crossed over in a daze; A woman I met in the Northeast. couldn't control the lower half of his body, thinking that he was crossing welfare, and he almost took his life; And now this, you love me. But good history is a mess. How can this life be changed?!

Wang Jitong rarely saw Yang Rui go crazy, and thought that he was trapped by love, and it was not easy to talk on the side, so Yang Rui calmed down after a while before he said: "Actually, Beijing will save people first, and we will have to deal with it here, at least we have to judge what the future form will be, I don't know if Guangxu is dead or not." If Guangxu hadn't died, the situation would have been difficult. ”

"Okay. Let's let everyone know that the meeting is open. Yang Rui grabbed it wildly, and his heart calmed down.

At three o'clock in the middle of the night, except for Mr. Hua Feng, the other two people gathered over, and the topic was to discuss Cixi's death, but there was another question mixed with this, whether Guangxu died or not? If he died, then it was okay, if he didn't die, then the rule of the Manchu Qing Dynasty might be more solid, of course, Guangxu's immortality led to another question, Yuan Shikai or not? If it is the other way around, when the world is in turmoil, will the revival society take advantage of the chaos to take a piece of land for development first, and then look at the shape after Yuan Shikai destroys the Qing Dynasty, or lie to the truth, or look at the wind.

"According to our statistics, Beiyang's loyalty to Yuan Shikai is actually not as high as the Manchurians say. The reason why they said this was to take the military power from Yuan Shikai. Wang Jitong's first sentence refuted the so-called Beiyang in the newspaper as Yuan Shikai's private army - he has the intelligence line of the person in charge, although these things are slowly being handed over to Yang Rui, but the previous information is still on his side, and Beiyang is the focus of the revival meeting, so I still know a lot about the situation inside.

At the beginning of this year, it is said that because Yuan Shikai could not take out four million taels of silver to pay the military salary, the troops almost mutinied, and the Times said that Beiyang's living conditions, diet, and hygiene were extremely bad', and Li Zhuohua, the imperial history, also deliberately participated in the Beiyang Army because of the abuse of soldiers, causing a large number of soldiers to desert. It can be seen that the soldiers are not Yuan Shikai's diehards. As for the officers, the treatment may be better than that of the Huai Army, the command of the six towns, the first town Fengshan is a banner person, the second town Ma Longbiao is from the Huai Army, and the sixth town Zhao Guoxian is also from the Huai Army, these three people are unlikely to rebel with him, only the third, fourth, and fifth towns are his people, Duan Qirui is not counted, Wu Fengling and Zhang Huaizhi were both promoted by him from the small soldiers, especially Wu Fengling is said to be the son of his family, and he is very loyal to him.

However, even if these three towns want to rebel, the troops are not enough, although Zhang Huaizhi's fifth town is full, but in Jinan, it can't help much; And Duan Qirui's third town, because of the Russo-Japanese War, there is a mixed association has been transferred to Jinzhou, and only one association is left in Baoding, but Baoding has the first town of Fengshan and the second town of Ma Longbiao, two towns against half a town, which has no chance of winning; Finally, there is the fourth town of Wu Fengling, which is stationed in the horse factory of Qingxian County, but even if it is driven to the capital, the more than 10,000 people are not the opponent of the Manchu Qing troops in the capital, and the sixth town and the Praetorian Guard add up to more than 30,000 people. ”

Wang Jitong just analyzed according to the commander, and when Yang Rui was about to ask what would happen if the commander was killed by the subordinate commander, he took out a list of officers in the six towns of Beiyang, the standard commander, and the battalion management band, and the officers of the second and sixth towns were analyzed, and Yang Rui believed what he said, "Beiyang's allegiance to Yuan Shikai is not as high as the Manchus say". And soldiers, troops without political commissars, if the soldiers are completely loyal to the commander, unless they have fought in the war, or if they are like the Hunan army and the Huai army are all fellow villagers and clansmen, otherwise the reliability will be questioned.

Zhang Taiyan didn't speak, he had been listening to Wang Jitong's analysis, and only after Wang Jitong finished speaking did he say: "China's war has always been dominated by coercion, as long as it has a name, under the excitement of the people, it will be created." Guangxu didn't die and Yuan Shikai wanted to rebel, the biggest headache was that the division was unknown, and Guangxu's reputation was much better than Cixi's, so it was still difficult to raise troops into Beijing. However, Cixi Guangxu died together, and at the same time there was no arrangement for who would inherit the throne, and if there was chaos in Beijing, he could enter Beijing to protect the new emperor in the name of King Qin. What I am most worried about now is that Guangxu is not dead, and then the ministers of the court will protect him from the mountain, so that the hearts of the people of the Manchu Qing Dynasty can be gradually harvested, which is not good for us. Guangxu is not dead, we still have to find a way to force Yuan Shikai to rebel. ”

Zhang Taiyan's thoughts are different from Yang Rui's, he just thinks that the more chaotic the country, the better, and then the revival will take advantage of the chaos to make a move, and the Manchus will step down, while Yang Rui thinks that before he is ready, the Manchus should not be chaotic, so that he doesn't want to fight a warlord like a warlord and then fight a warlord, it is not difficult to fight a warlord, but there are often foreigners behind the warlord, and it is very troublesome to involve them. Imagine Xinhai in history, a revolutionary flag can recover a county town, but if the warlords are fighting, the cost of unification will be high.

"Yuan Shikai, it's better not to force it." With such thoughts, Yang Rui said: "Before we get ready, there is nothing wrong with the Manchu Qing on the dragon chair. Once the whole country is in chaos and the great powers divide up, I am afraid it will be very difficult for us to clean it up. ”

"But in this way, the Manchu Qing can step down early." Cai Yuanpei said, he is polite, but he is an angry young man, especially Zou Rong's death made him hate the Qing court even more.

"It's been five years early, and there are some things we can't rush about." Yang Rui said. Cai Yuanpei initially believed in democracy, but now he also understands that it is necessary to blindly be democratic in the revolution, but his hatred of the Manchus is getting deeper and deeper. "If the Manchu Qing Dynasty falls, the governors of various places are equivalent to being kings, then it will be a warlord melee, similar to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and then the foreigners will support the warlords from all walks of life in the back, instigating everyone to fight, and in order to fight the war, the foreigners will support it, and they will continue to sell the country, and there will be nothing left after the sale."

"If that's not the case, when Guangxu sits on the throne, it may be impossible to say when the Manchu Qing Dynasty will fall." Cai Yuanpei said again, he is still very persistent.

As the power of the revival society grew, there were more and more arguments that it would be done sooner, and although the madness of the gentry against the constitution had frightened them a few days ago, now that chaos was about to break out, such thoughts arose again. This kind of behavior, according to the later revolution, is called left-leaning opportunism, and Yang Rui should be called right-leaning capitulationism.

"There is indeed such a possibility, I'm afraid that Guangxu will sit firmly in the country." Zhang Taiyan also said. Guangxu's reputation is much higher than Cixi's, and the revolutionary party often speaks ill of Cixi, and the princes and ministers speak ill of it, so that Guangxu is scolded by him as 'not distinguishing wheat', and no one else criticizes it at all. There was a sympathetic attitude towards him, which was really detrimental to the revolution. (To be continued......)

PS: Note 1: For example, Li Hongzhang's old department Mei Dongyi was dismissed, but the British believed that Mei had protected the lives and property of the missionaries in the year of Gengzi, so they put pressure on Yuan Shikai, and the final result was that Mei Dongyi was still in office.

Note 2: Excerpt from Culture, Power and the State: Rural North China, 1900-1942, p25