He tore off the calendar page for September 22, revealing a new page for September 23. Yang Du picked up "Ta Kung Pao" and "Declaration", turned two of the pages to the front, and then walked out of his office.

During the Reform Movement of 1898, Yang Du accepted the reform ideas of reformists such as Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, and opposed imperialism. In the 32nd year of Guangxu (1906), he edited "China News" and published "Jin Ironism Theory", advocating constitutional monarchy. In the same year, Yang Du also wrote two articles, "The Outline of Chinese Constitutional Government Should Draw on the Strengths of Eastern and Western Countries" and "Implementing Constitutional Government Procedures", which were submitted together with Liang Qichao's "Comparison of the Constitutional Governments of Eastern and Western Countries".

Confirming that Yuan Shikai really wanted to unify China in a short period of time, Yang Du immediately defected to Yuan Shikai wholeheartedly. Yuan Shikai also transferred Yang Du to serve in the Presidential Palace.

Yang Du's office is located in a brick-and-wood structure building complex imitating European classical style. This is where the Army Department and the Navy Department, the highest military command of the Qing Dynasty, were designed. In 1906, it was designed by Shen Qi, a Chinese architect who studied in the UK. The funding for the construction came from The remaining money spent on the construction of the Summer Palace by Empress Dowager Cixi.

After the founding of the Republic of China in 1912, Yuan Shikai moved the Presidential Palace and the State Council here. 12 of the 13 talks he had with Sun Yat-sen were held here.

It is a Western-style building in the Victorian eclectic style, with exquisite brick carvings all over the building. It is very beautiful. Yang Du walked through the Presidential Palace building and walked to a small western-style building in the back.

The second floor of one of the small foreign-style buildings is Yuan Shikai's study. Yang Du stood outside the door and was about to ask his attendant to report. Yuan Shikai's voice came from the study, "Xizi, come in."

Although it is a Western-style building, the layout of the room is completely Chinese. Different from what the outside world imagines, except for the master's calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall and the pens, inks, paper and inkstones on the desk, Yuan Shikai's study is very simple and elegant. It is full of books. The bookshelf is next to the white wall, there is a table and four chairs for entertaining guests, and there is no other furniture.

Yuan Shikai had gray hair and beard, but his eyes were still sharp and focused. When he saw the newspaper in Yang Du's hand, he snorted contemptuously, "Apart from flattery articles and articles scolding me, is there any news that Xizi cares about?"

Yang Du quickly replied: "Mr. Yuan, two newspapers published a joint interview with Siping Governor He Rui."

"He Rui? Is he the guy who asked Japan to withdraw its troops from Changchun?" Yuan Shikai said and took the newspaper.

After seeing the first paragraph of the news, He Rui publicly expressed his opposition to Yuan Shikai's proclaimed emperor, Yuan Shikai looked very disdainful. As his eyes passed over the second paragraph, Yuan Shikai's expression became serious.

He Rui frankly raised a question, "...Yuan Gong may have a question. Back then, the Manchus built the Beiyang Navy, trained the new Beiyang Army, and built a garden for Cixi, so the finances were still affordable. But Yuan When Gong became the president, even the Beiyang Army could no longer afford it. Isn't this strange...'

Yang Du saw that Yuan Shikai's reading speed had obviously slowed down, so he picked up the tea brought by the guard and waited patiently.

Yuan Shikai read it slowly and carefully. After reading it once, he went back and reread the part he was interested in. Then he stood up and walked back and forth in the study with his hands behind his back and an angry look on his face.

Yang Du stood up and said bluntly: "Mr. Yuan, what He Rui said about the current situation of the country's division is very true. Although He Rui made it clear that he does not support the president's provocation of emperor, this person firmly supports reunification and can be a help to Mr. Yuan. "

Yuan Shikai stopped and asked, "How do you think Xizi should use He Rui?"

"In the name of the President, He Rui is authorized to go outside the customs and confer troops. Let's see how He Rui reports."

"Xizi. The situation has become so chaotic that the Beiyang people have made up their mind. Expanding power to He Rui will only give those who are deliberately provocative an excuse. It would be better to remain silent now."

Yang Du still refused to give up and continued to suggest: "In that case, let He Rui go to Beijing and serve as an inspector at the Baoding Army School."

Yuan Shikai knew what Yang Du was thinking. Nowadays, the old Beiyang troops all support their own troops. Although each Beiyang army is a subordinate of Yuan Shikai, each Beiyang army is no longer a subordinate of Yuan Shikai. The only ones who can be directly mobilized are probably

Those young officers at the Baoding Army Officer School.

Although he knew Yang Du's loyalty, Yuan Shikai couldn't help but laugh and said: "Back then, I went to North Korea alone and dealt with Japan, Russia and various forces in North Korea. I was not afraid. Why am I afraid now that I am older?"

Seeing that Yang Du wanted to continue to make suggestions, Yuan Shikai waved his hand and said: "You go down first."

Seeing Yuan Shikai's firm attitude, Yang Du had no choice but to retreat.

After Yang Du left, Yuan Shikai picked up the newspaper again, read it for a moment and suddenly felt sad. He never expected that the person in Beiyang who truly understood him would be such a junior.

When signing the "Four Civil Treaties between China and Japan", Yuan Shikai said that as long as a unified country could be rebuilt, Japan would be insignificant after several years of construction. However, no one cared about this. Instead, it became an excuse for others to attack Yuan Shikai.

Yuan Shikai had long discovered He Rui's views on the division of the country and the politicization of the Beiyang Army in the interview. However, Yuan Shikai could not say it out loud. Everyone could still get along with each other tacitly. If he said it out, it would definitely trigger an internal conflict within Beiyang.

The bloody storm.

At this critical juncture, only He Rui in Beiyang spoke frankly about Yuan Shikai's thoughts. On the other hand, the other old brothers in Beiyang were either harboring evil intentions or being incompetent. No matter how Yuan Shikai told the reasons and necessity of becoming emperor, these people were completely confused.

I don’t believe it. Even if I know it, I don’t consider Yuan Shikai’s ideal of rejuvenating the country at all, and only consider their personal reputation after death.

At this moment, all his depression turned into anger. Yuan Shikai couldn't help cursing in his heart, Feng Guozhang, hateful! Wang Shizhen, hateful! Duan Qirui, especially hateful!

At this critical moment when it’s time to contribute to the country, none of these people can be relied upon. It’s really abominable!

At this moment, following the sound of footsteps, Cao Kun's voice came from outside the door, "Please report to the President, Cao Kun wants to see you."

Cao Kun entered the study room with the newspaper. When he saw the same newspaper on Yuan Shikai's table, he loudly said: "President, I don't know why He Rui was so blinded by lard that he dared to slap his nose on his face.

Brother who is provoking Beiyang! Ask the President to order Zhang Xiluan to kill this bastard!"

"Kill He Rui? Okay. Zhong Shan, why ask Zhang Xiluan to take action? You take Wu Peifu and Wu Ziyu to wipe out He Rui."

Although Yuan Shikai's tone was relaxed, Cao Kun saw a sneer on Yuan Shikai's face. He knew that he was flattering, so he quickly laughed and said: "President, I feel that He Rui's nonsense at this time is a disaster for Beiyang.

.”

"Is it a disaster? I think He Rui is our hero in Beiyang, and the future of Beiyang depends on him."

Cao Kun was anxious and said quickly: "The president's two sons are the future of Beiyang. Who is He Rui?"

"Zhongshan, I know what those sons are like. If I die, if the old brothers can remember our brothers, they can be arranged to return to their hometown, let them give birth to a son and a half, and continue the bloodline of my Yuan family.

.It’s just that the old brothers are worthy of me.”

After hearing what Yuan Shikai said, Cao Kun knew that the topic had been exhausted and could only stand up and leave.

At this critical juncture, people everywhere were inquiring for information. Duan Qirui had asked to see Yuan Shikai five times, and the first three meetings between the two parties were extremely unpleasant. The next two times Duan Qirui asked for an interview, Yuan Shikai did not see Duan Qirui at all.

Duan Qirui also resigned directly.

But Duan Qirui's resignation does not mean that he has withdrawn from the center of power. Only half a day after the incident, Duan Qirui's staff came to report it. Cao Kun saw He Rui's interview in the newspaper and angrily went to see Yuan Shikai. Finally,

But it ended without any illness.

Cao Kun often said: "I'm just a rough guy, I don't understand anything."

This is Cao Kun's own words, and no one in the upper echelons of Beiyang believes it. There is no way that a big boss can sit in Cao Kun's position at this time. But Duan Qirui knows that Cao Kun is really a 'big boss' in his actions.

Fan'er will never give up easily.

Since Cao Kun said nothing about killing He Rui after coming out from Yuan Shikai, there is only one possibility: Yuan Shikai stopped Cao Kun.

After closing the newspaper where the interview had been published, Duan Qirui stood up and ordered the orderly: "Grind the ink."

The staff member was the one who was ordered to help He Rui go through the formalities. He asked: "Chief, is He Rui up to something bad?"

Duan Qirui chuckled lightly, "He Rui is indeed a boy who can take away ten thousand yuan from me. I'm afraid he won't die this time."

After finishing speaking, he wrote a letter. The beginning of the letter read: Brother Jinpo Junjian...

At this time, Yang Du was chatting with the British reporter George Ernest Morrison about the support of various countries for Yuan Shikai. Of course, Yang Du knew that Cao Kun went to Yuan Shikai to kill He Rui.

He didn't think this had anything to do with him. He just exchanged ideas with George Morrison, Yuan Shikai's foreign staff, on the issue of how much support the great powers would have.

At that time, The Times was so influential abroad that the newspaper's foreign correspondents were often regarded as second ambassadors. George Morrison published many articles about East Asia in The Times, because the Far East was

It was not a focus of British politics, and The Times was too lazy to send a full-time resident reporter, so it made him a part-time job. After Morrison arrived in China, he dealt with the scholar-bureaucrats who were famous for their Westernization. At this time, he joined Yuan Shikai's account. Because he was doing China

Yuan Shikai valued his role as an intermediary between the people and the great powers.

After hearing what Yang Du said about the support of the British government, Morrison did not answer immediately. After Yang Du finished speaking, Morrison replied: "Mr. Yang, have you ever heard of He Hexun supervising the army?"
Chapter completed!