Hearing Zhang Tinglan's excited tone, everyone present was a little surprised, you must know that Lao Yuan ascended the throne as emperor, and his reputation has already stinked, at this time, it is not good to praise Yuan Shikai so vigorously, in case he is deducted by those scholars to control the remnants of God, it is not good for reputation.

"Clumsy words, won't it be because Yuan Shikai sent you a word at the beginning, and now you have to repay the favor, right?" Lao Zhang said with a smile.

Zhang Tinglan also saw the expressions of everyone present, and knew that they definitely didn't understand what it meant to respect Yuan, so Zhang Tinglan said with a smile: "There is indeed such a reason, of course, I have a more important reason, we must help Yuan Shikai earn the greatest honor, and continue to publicize Yuan Shikai's achievements, which is incomparably good for us!" ”

Zhang Tinglan has always been targeted, he said it so important, everyone couldn't help but think in their hearts, Yang Yuting said on the side: "Paying tribute to the dead, in fact, is it a living person, does it mean to show goodwill to Beiyang?" ”

As soon as everyone heard Yang Yuting's words, they also nodded one after another, because Meng Enyuan was forcibly driven away, there was already a contradiction between Zhang Zuolin and Duan Qirui, and Lao Duan had already started to arrange it to restrict the development of the Feng army.

If there is a funeral diplomacy at this time, the old people in Beiyang will definitely remember Zhang Zuolin's goodness, and the two sides will be able to ease up a lot, which is indeed a good thing for Fengjun.

"Lingge, this alone is not enough to use the word incomparable. Yuan Shikai is the first official president after the abolition of the imperial system, this kind of thing can be called groundbreaking, as long as the country name remains unchanged, the successors of the future will have to lift Yuan Shikai high, otherwise how to ensure the legitimacy of the rule? ”

China is an ancient civilization of 5,000 years, and the Taoist system is endless, and it has a very special set of historical logic, although it has changed dynasties many times. But it is not a casual thing to do every time, and it is necessary to ensure the legitimacy of one's own regime.

In the Xinhai Revolution, Yuan Shikai led the Beiyang generals to force the palace, forced the Manchu Emperor to issue an edict of abdication, and achieved a change of regime.

If Yuan Shikai is stinky, the legitimacy of other successors. It is also to be questioned, and it is for this reason that all Chinese dynasties have infinitely elevated the founding emperor. And Yuan Shikai's situation is still a little special, because there is still Sun Wen, if you don't respect Yuan Shikai. Sun Wen's party members will take advantage of the weakness and raise the cannon. The legitimacy of the entire Beiyang will be questioned.

And this is exactly what happened in history. The official president did not work as a temporary worker for a few months, and the name of the father of the nation fell to Sun Dacang. After the entire Beiyang disappeared, the Beiyang warlords represented by Lao Yuan were labeled as calamities to the country and the people, and entered the book of shame in history.

This is also a manifestation of the ignorance of Beiyang Takeo, not only did they not figure out Shijie. Without even studying China's 5,000-year history, it's no wonder that they turned a good hand into that virtue.

Zhang Tinglan is now a member of the Great Beiyang faction, and when he thinks of the historical situation, he is also a little sad. Now that there was an opportunity for change, he couldn't help but speak. Among the people present, Wang Yongjiang, who has the highest level of education, was the first to realize the meaning, so he said: "Dashuai, what you said is indeed true, there are many benefits of respecting Yuan, and there are endless disasters if you don't respect Yuan, and people often say that people don't hold grudges when they die, and now that Yuan Shikai is dead, we should pay tribute to this president." ”

"Min Yuan, fight the world and sit in the world, if we have the ability to win the world, why care about Yuan Shikai, if we can't win the world, what's the use of respecting Yuan!" Lao Zhang is obviously still a little unimpressed.

Wang Yongjiang smiled bitterly and said: "Dashuai, ordinary people can't just pay the money to buy a house, but also change the name of the house deed and title deed. The same is true of the change of dynasties, take the Han Dynasty as an example, after Liu Bang conquered the world, and experienced the rule of Wenjing, the country reached its peak, but Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty still had to follow Dong Zhongshu's advice and revise the calendar, just to get rid of the shadow of the Qin Dynasty and prove the legitimacy of the rule of the Han Dynasty. ”

"That's right!" Zhang Tinglan took over the words again: "In the future, each dynasty will revise the history books of the previous dynasty and cover the coffin, in addition, the system of the founding emperor should be regarded as an insurmountable ancestral system, which is a means to prove its own legitimacy, and this is the problem that is justified." ”

With Lao Zhang's cultural level, there may be no way to understand the deep meaning, but fortunately, Lao Zhang is a person who follows the advice, since Wang Yongjiang also agrees, and can ease the relationship with Beiyang and respect Yuan, there is nothing wrong with it.

Lao Zhang thought for a while and said: "Since this is the case, let Jinghui go to Beijing on behalf of me as a representative to mourn Yuan Shikai!" ”

Zhang Jinghui is Zhang Zuolin's sworn brother, his qualifications are sufficient, and he is relatively leisurely, let him enter Beijing, it is a very haode choice, and at the same time, Lao Zhang issued a telegram, suggesting that Duan Qirui hold a state funeral for Yuan Shikai, and all provinces should send representatives to form a funeral committee to jointly handle Yuan Shikai's funeral.

Fengtian's positive action soon had an impact, and those old people in Beiyang who still had Yuan Shikai's benefits in their hearts stood up one after another, asking for Yuan Shikai to be given enough mourning, so they did it according to Zhang Zuolin's idea, Zhang Xun and other Beiyang feudal officials also sent special representatives, all of whom went to the capital to mourn Yuan Shikai.

However, these are concentrated in the northern provinces, and the provinces controlled by the southern Protector Army are diametrically opposed, not only do they have no mourning for Lao Yuan, but on the contrary, they also use various propaganda tools to attack Yuan Shikai on a large scale, accusing Yuan Shikai of perverse behavior, cruelty to dissidents, abolishing the republic, implementing the imperial system, and being the biggest thief in the world.

The other 21 issues, the issue of Song Jiaoren's case, and even the betrayal of Emperor Guangxu by Yuan Shikai have all been brought out, not only in the southern provinces, but even most people in the academic circles are no exception, and they have waved a large pen, scolding Yuan Shikai, having no respect for the deceased, on the contrary, they are so wanton insults, thinking that the old Yuan died late.

Not only Yuan Shikai, Zhang Zuolin took the lead in putting forward the slogan of respecting Yuan, and even wanted to win the title of the father of the nation for Yuan Shikai. was also scolded by the academic community, calling Zhang Zuolin a remnant of the imperial system and demanding that Lao Zhang be dismissed. Tang Jiyao, Cai Yi and others also took this opportunity to publicize that they would continue to fight against Yuan, although Yuan Shikai died, but there were still a large number of Yuan Shikai's remnants, and they were also unpunished.

Sun Wen's party members were not willing to be lonely, and jumped out one after another, and public opinion was full for a while. Duan Qirui also became extremely troubled, what to do, he had no idea, so he could only find Yang Shiqi over and wanted to hear his opinion.

Since Lao Yuan's failure. Yang Du and others were all listed as the culprits of the imperial system and were facing wanted. Only Yang Shiqi has been by Yuan Shikai's side. Loyal and loyal, seeing that Lao Yuan has come to this day, Yang Shiqi is also heartbroken.

"Prime Minister, Zhang Zuolin is a person with a heart, in fact, the president is also suspicious of him, but after he dies. can see the sincerity, Zhang Zuolin can take the lead in the book and ask for the president to be treated favorably, which is really rare! ”

"Mr. Xingcheng. I am also deeply favored by the palace guard, and I am also moving towards the burial of the palace guard, but now the revolutionary party and the national protection army are not relenting, and the academic community has jumped out and scolded the palace guard, what to do, I have no idea. ”

"Yang has only one sentence, without Yuan Shikai, there would be no Beiyang today, whether you admit it or not, this is the case!"

After Lao Yuan's death, Yang Shiqi was disheartened and had no interest in participating in politics at all, so he didn't care about speaking, and directly pointed to Duan Qirui's death hole, you can have today, it's all Yuan Shikai's gift!

While they were discussing, Xu Shuzheng suddenly walked in again, as Duan Qirui's most trusted person, Xu Shuzheng went in and out of Lao Duan's study without any instructions, he hurriedly sent a newspaper to Duan Qirui.

"Zhion, this is the latest article published by Fengtian, it is to commemorate the president, you can take a look." As he spoke, he handed it to Duan Qirui.

Lao Duan was originally just an ordinary article praising virtues, but at first glance, he was also attracted. This article was written by Zhang Tinglan, he didn't use any flowery rhetoric, and even the whole article was a little dry, but in it listed Yuan Shikai's four major achievements, each of which is real and convincing.

Yuan Shikai, as the first official president of the Republic of China, under his efforts, the Manchu Dynasty was brought to an end, the era of absolute monarchy ended, and China entered the republican era. It is particularly worth mentioning that this regime change was basically peaceful, without excessive bloodshed, and after the abdication of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, there was no large-scale counteroffensive and reversal, but the implementation of the republic of the five ethnic groups avoided large-scale bloodshed and sacrifice, which can be called Yuan Shikai's first contribution.

The Republic of China was created, the country was in chaos, the provinces became independent one after another, and the whole country had the potential of the late Han Dynasty and the late Tang Dynasty. Moreover, the situation at this time is not comparable to the end of the Han Dynasty and the end of the Tang Dynasty, when there was only internal strife, and now there are external troubles, China is divided, the great powers will definitely intervene, and the catastrophe of partition is just around the corner. Yuan Shikai turned the tide, bridged the differences between the provinces, established a unified country, quickly extinguished the White Wolf Uprising, and the second revolution of Sun Wen and others, and prevented the country from falling into chaos.

During the Xinhai period, the country alternated between the old and the new, and Outer Mongolia, Northeast China, and Tibet were all ready to move, in a vain attempt to split the country, and the revolutionaries even proposed the establishment of 18 provinces, and the border provinces were full of wolves, and the huge territory was on the verge of collapse. Duke Yuan gave preferential treatment to the Qing court, inherited the territory and sovereignty of the Manchu Qing Dynasty completely, and tried his best to maintain the stability of Mongolia and other places, and after the Xinhai Revolution, China's territory was not lost.

Since the reign of Princess Yuan, she has developed industry and commerce, promoted educational progress, reformed the state system, made clear the shortcomings of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and established a modern state system. The Organic Law of the National Assembly has been enacted, the democratic election mechanism has been introduced, the Civil Code and the Criminal Code have been promulgated to establish the judicial system and establish the foundation for governing the country according to law. single-handedly create a new type of army, train military personnel, and develop the military industry...... The foundation of China's transition from the old era to modernization was all built by Yuan.

All of these are the great achievements of Yuan Gong, which cannot be erased, although there are some mistakes, they are also flawed. As for the imperial system, it can be called the biggest mistake of Yuan Gong's life, but the Hongxian imperial system is also different from the absolute monarchy of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but imitates the constitutional monarchy of Britain and Germany.

It is undeniable that he stepped into the new era with one foot and opened the door to China's modernization, but one foot stayed in the past, and it is still inevitable that he will make mistakes, but this mistake is not the mistake of Yuan Gong alone, but the mistake of the times!

The alternation of the old and the new is repeated and difficult to achieve in one step, as is the case with the British and French powers, and it should be viewed with a tolerant eye. The Si people have gone, the merits will last forever, and the people of the younger generations can only take over the unfinished business of Yuan Gong, work hard, and realize the prosperity of the country and the strength of the army.

After reading it, Duan Qirui slapped the table excitedly and said loudly: "This report is going to trigger the whole country, let everyone see it, and let them know how to evaluate the palace guard!" (To be continued......)

PS: It is indeed difficult to evaluate Yuan Shikai, I wrote a little bit of my own opinion, in fact, I also look at it from Zhang Tinglan's point of view, as for the historical truth, I am afraid it has long disappeared......