On the first day of 1916, the Forbidden City Cining Palace, the sky was overcast and slaughtered, the white flags in the courtyard fluttered, the sound of chanting Buddha in the main hall was not stopped, the people who came and went were all sad, and several men and women who were wearing filial piety kneeling in front of the Zi Palace in the hall could not hold back tears.

Three days ago, the Empress Dowager Ning passed away at the age of forty-two, as soon as the news came out, the whole country mourned, and the condolence messages from all sides piled up like snowflakes in the reception office of the palace house, but it was not enough to relieve the grief of the filial piety of the palace and the filial piety of the women.

In the side room behind the palace, the empress Liu Qianhua, who had just finished participating in the memorial ceremony, had just sat down and gasped for breath, and the female official Ye Jingying had already stepped forward to report: "Your Majesty, Premier Yang is waiting outside." ”

"Ask him to come in."

After a while, Prime Minister Yang Zhengjin, who was dressed in a black suit and wrapped in a black veil on his left arm, walked in with his eyes wiped and knelt down on one knee to worship Ruyi.

Qianhua stepped forward to help him up, and at the same time instructed Ye Jingying: "Give Premier Yang a seat." ”

Yang Zhengjin thanked him, sat down with heavy steps, and after a reassuring words such as "the emperor's day condolences by the way", he asked about the funeral.

"According to the custom, this spirit has to be guarded for 7749 days, but now that the emperor is personally presiding over the base camp, he can't leave, and it is not very appropriate to work in front of the spirit, is this good? The last time the cabinet made a mistake, it was regarded as the ministers who forced the emperor to violate the system, so that public opinion would look better......"

"No need." Qian Hua didn't think about it, or rather, shook her head with a plan.

"That ......"

Yang Zhengjin's face "can't understand".

"I want Premier Yang to lead the base camp, that is, to concurrently serve as the chief of the general staff as the prime minister and realize the integration of military and government, I wonder if Premier Yang thinks it is appropriate?"

"This ......"

Yang Zhengjin was obviously taken aback and was speechless for a while.

Qian Hua took a sip of tea to moisten her throat, didn't mind or didn't care about Yang Zhengjin's reaction, and continued to take care of herself: "Premier Yang is highly respected and has always been a recognized spiritual leader of the military department. ”

Yang Zhengjin was stunned for a while, suddenly clapped his hands on his knees, leaned forward, lowered his head and solemnly stared, and said word by word: "Thank you that the emperor still trusts the old minister so much, is it really so...... From now on, I can do whatever the emperor tells me to do. ”

Qianhua sighed lightly, shook his head lightly and said: "Premier Yang's words are serious, I have always regarded you as the most reliable head of the important ministers, and concurrently serving as the chief of the general staff is just an extraordinary move in extraordinary times, from the day I announced that I would personally preside over the base camp, there is not a day that I don't want to return to normalcy and calm people's hearts. ”

Yang Zhengjin nodded again and again with gratitude and shame: "The emperor can always do what others don't do, the old minister admires it very much, to be honest, the old minister has always had some prejudice against the emperor before......"

Qian Hua interrupted him quickly: "It's all in the past, and no one is allowed to mention it again." From today onwards, this war will be entrusted to Premier Yang, and I will do my best to support you in the future. ”

Yang Zhengjin lowered his head all of a sudden: "Emperor Xie ......"

"By the way, do you have an idea of what I asked Premier Yang to consider that day?"

Qianhua couldn't wait to ask, as if this was what she wanted to know the most.

Yang Zhengjin was suddenly shocked, his eyes blinked unnaturally a few times, and he raised his head and responded: "That matter, I think I have thought about it, the concept of citizen imperialism, the old minister agrees with it in his heart, but if you really want to start that kind of political leap forward in wartime, the risk is really ......."

"That's not what Premier Yang didn't think when he was young, right?"

"It is precisely because Lao Chen has experienced so much that he knows that the politics of the Dao is a double-edged sword, which may create a new era or leave only a ruin." Yang Zhengjin looked calm and sat firmly.

Qianhua shook her head slowly: "I don't want to destroy anything, I just want to push forward the young people who have the same idea as me, vigorous and determined, and let them take the lead in mobilizing and organizing the vast middle and lower classes deep into the soul, refreshing politics, ensuring victory in the war, and laying the foundation for comprehensive reform after the war." Moreover, they are not completely devoid of practical experience, they are doing the most ordinary work at the grassroots level within the system, and they are full of enthusiasm for innovation in their profession, but they are suppressed by the old bureaucratic system, and it is difficult to express their aspirations, and they have exhausted their enthusiasm in the tedious and complicated official exchanges and struggles, and they have been contaminated with sophistication, assimilation, numbness, and at the worst, they will devour the next group of young people. ”

After a pause, he took another sip of tea, raised his eyes and continued: "Yes, they are in our system, maybe by your side and me, but the cumbersome bureaucratic affairs and the brutal struggle for power and profit have left many high-ranking people with no time to pay attention to them and guide them. I have only made a little use of the resources available to me, gathered them, guided them to establish the ambition that will best burn them, cultivated the ideas that must be upheld to achieve this ambition, and then gave them the necessary training to realize them. What we have to do is not to blindly teach and drive the 500 million people here, but to let them burst out of the spiritual depths of constructive self-consciousness, and then in turn transform the country, and finally realize the high degree of overlap between the national consciousness and the national consciousness, and the vitality and power that erupt from it will surely promote the Chinese civilization to become the top civilization in the world, and in this way, unify the world......"

Yang Zhengjin couldn't help but interject: "The old minister is presumptuous, it's not that he can't understand the emperor's desire to promote that kind of innovation, and I personally very much hope to see the realization of that ideal civil society as soon as possible, but I always feel that the time has not come, after all, it is still a peasant society, and the remnants of various old systems and old ideas are still ......."

Qian Hua unceremoniously interrupted him in turn: "Why can't a peasant become an ideal citizen? It is precisely because the remnants of the old system and old ideas have accumulated over the years that if they are not thoroughly renewed, how can victory in the war be ensured? To tell the truth, I am not very sure how powerful that kind of movement will be able to erupt once it has developed, but even if it is estimated by the most conservative development trend, it will not be a problem to win the war according to the minimum requirements of the original plan, and if the situation develops to the most ideal point, it is not absolutely impossible to reach a state like the French ** sweeping through Europe or the Bolsheviks ** sweeping the world. ”

Yang Zhengjin's eyes trembled, the tense muscles on his face loosened slightly, he thought for a while, got up and bowed: "Please let Lao Chen think about it again - he is busy with official business, and Lao Chen will leave first." "Ben o~o