the world is at stake

It is only recognized by the Chinese people, but Yuan Shikai does not.In a sense, he also colludes with compradors inside and outside. If foreigners are not tough enough, he is worthless.

The fishing was not successful, but the telegraph office at the station sent someone to send the news.A personal guard grabbed the telegram and rode over to deliver the letter.

Yuan Shikai was losing his temper. Seeing a telegram, he asked the housekeeper to get it quickly.It's just that the butler read the telegram first, but hesitantly wondered whether he should show it to the master.

"You are hiding something, what can't you say?" Looking at the behavior of the housekeeper, Yuan Shikai knew that there was no good news.He snatched the telegram with his hands and began to watch it.

The first news came from overseas. U.S. President Marcos expressed his willingness to follow the example of the Kaiser and consider negotiating with China to abolish the provisions related to the United States in the "Xin Chou Treaty".

'consider'?In fact, it is fishing. There must be conditions behind it. It depends on whether the fish is hooked or not?

But Chinese people will definitely ignore this word after reading the news, and regard "consideration" as a fact, thinking that after Germany withdraws from the foreign trade, the United States will also give up.

No need to think about it, the official media will definitely use this as a diplomatic victory to promote a wave of publicity, which will greatly boost the morale of the people and strengthen the authority of the central government.

"How did this happen?" Yuan Shikai wanted to scold, "The Germans have become idiots, and the Americans have followed suit. What happened? These foreign devils have made such a big change."

The Eight-Power Allied Forces entered Beijing, but it was only ten years ago.

"Xin Chou Treaty", "Gengzi Indemnity", 5000 million taels of silver, requiring each Chinese to pay the great powers one tael of silver.

Such shame and humiliation directly triggered the strong national self-esteem of the Chinese people, which is also the root cause of the '[-] Revolution'.

But now, the foreigners took the initiative to rescind the contract.The face of the central government has greatly increased, President Xiao Jinlang's reputation will definitely increase, and the resentment of the people against the government will be greatly eliminated.

If you don't understand, you simply don't want to.

Yuan Shikai was going to ask his men to go to the imperial capital to inquire about news, such as asking the German envoy what happened?He looked at the second telegram again, it was from Duan Qirui.

After Yuan Shikai read a few words, his expression changed drastically, his face was stern, and his fingers trembled with extreme anger.The concubine and housekeeper next to him dared not speak out, for fear of being hurt by the fish pond.

After reading the telegram, Yuan Shikai's face turned blue.He stomped his feet heavily and cursed loudly: "The surname Xiao is so courageous, he dared to poach my corner in Beiyang.

Duan Zhiquan, Duan Zhiquan, this kid's wings are stiff, and now he is going to fly out of my palm.He came to ask me how to deal with other high-ranking officials digging him out?Really damn it! "

The wooden fishing boat was by the river, Yuan Shikai threw away the telegram, jumped ashore angrily, and walked endlessly.He was also an elderly person, he didn't pay attention to his feet, and fell on the spot.

The housekeeper and his concubine were in a panic, and hurried up to help, but Yuan Shikai pushed them away angrily.The literate servants on the boat saw the telegram floating on the river, picked it up and looked at it.

The news from the United States was incomprehensible, but Duan Qirui's telegram was unmistakable—the central government used his position as commander of the Guangdong Military Region to lure him south.Instead of flatly refusing, he sent a telegram to ask.

What's the point of this question?

If Yuan Shikai obstructed him, he would appear to be ungrateful. Not only did he block Duan Qirui's path, but he also blocked the promotion path of the entire Beiyang military officer corps.Everyone in Beiyang must resent.

If Duan Qirui was loyal, he should have voluntarily rejected this appointment and asked the central government to invite Yuan Shikai to come out.But the meaning of his telegram was clearly that he had moved his heart and asked Yuan Shikai to step aside.

Several servants met and read the telegram, and understood the reason for Yuan Shikai's fury. They all shook their heads and sighed: "It's so poisonous, this plan is very poisonous. The person who came up with such a poisonous plan lacks virtue."

Chapter 07

Around 1909, Yuan Shikai gifted Duan Qirui a house in Xue Hutong, Imperial Capital.The residence is at the east entrance of the Hutong, No. 36, just a back door away from the Army Department.

Duan Qirui's original wife, Mrs. Wu, died, and Yuan Shikai married his adopted daughter Zhang Peiheng to Duan.Yuan has a kindness to Duan for knowing him, and after marrying his daughter, he becomes closer as a family.Duan regards Yuan Ru as a benefactor and has always been respectful and obedient.

It's just that this kindness has been shaken and deviated under the test of power.

Zhou Qingfeng went to the camp of the Sixth Division of the Army a few days ago, and then visited five other divisions near Gyeonggi and Zhili within a week.

Every time he went to a place, Zhou Qingfeng would do the same trick once. First, he would mobilize the company to conduct an armed drill, then he would scold him severely, and finally he would perform the trick of raising a mountain cannon that no one could match.

Before the six main divisions of the army got their hands, the top soldiers of the six divisions had already started calling Zhou Qingfeng "Zhou Shanpao".

There is nothing disrespectful about this title, it's just because everyone who has met Zhou Qingfeng basically doesn't remember what he said, and the deepest impression in his mind is the moment when this old man raised the mountain cannon with his two arms.

In the army, who has always been strong and subdued, Zhou Qingfeng has been so strong that it is unbelievable, it is too unreasonable.Those who saw it with their own eyes were convinced, while those who heard the rumors were full of suspicion.

In the current era of blocked information and low national self-confidence, the whole society needs an iconic figure to unite people's hearts.In order to give full play to Zhou Qingfeng's image advantages, the 'Holy Light' team specially sent someone to shoot a promotional video for him.

The simplest black-and-white silent film, the screen jumps and jumps, and the projection still has light spots and miscellaneous lines.The title of the movie is "President's Special Envoy Zhou Qingfeng Inspects the Army", and it begins with Uncle Zhou wearing a military uniform to inspect the troops.

During the inspection, Beiyang's queue was still good. The so-called "one move of one foot, all hands are fired together, one movement of guns is all guns fired at the same time, walking like rushing waves, standing like a straight tree" seems quite intimidating.

After the inspection, there was a live-ammunition drill. The shots of shooting and firing lasted for about ten minutes, and finally the main topic-hundreds of men practiced bare-chested in the snowstorm, and the tallest and strongest one raised the cannon like a devil.

Not to mention being a supporting role, even the film crew of "Holy Light" felt like hell—this industry is really too deep, and such an exciting movie is released, how can the common people hold on to it?Definitely gotta be excited.

This showed off their muscles and released high-ranking officials. The bait had already been thrown out, and the middle and senior officers of the six main divisions were all shocked.But no one dared to make any noise, they all watched Duan Qirui's reaction.

Duan Qirui once served as the general office of various schools of the Wuwei Youjun, the chief envoy of the military commander of the military training department, and the supervisor of the army camp officer school.Like Feng Guozhang, he has many disciples and old officials in the Beiyang system.

The advantage of having a wide network of contacts is that the central government does not dare to move casually, and the disadvantage is that a bunch of people at the bottom are counting on Duan Qirui to be the boss to support them.Once this is not beneficial, or if the treatment is unfair, the opposite of having a large network is a large number of opponents.

Duan Qirui's first reaction when he received the appointment from the Ministry of Defense was to decline.He still wanted to push Yuan Shikai out and assist him himself.But the Ministry of Defense didn't respond at all.

The Beiyang military officer corps also wanted to shake hands with the central government, and could not lose Yuan Shikai's banner.After all, there are also contradictions within the officer corps, and Yuan Shikai is needed as the core.

If the Sixth Beiyang Division could not act as a collective, the power of each division would be weakened.Moreover, the Ministry of National Defense not only wants to weaken, but also to gather military power.This is unacceptable to the Beiyang military officer corps.

But then Germany and the United States suddenly expressed their willingness to talk to China about quitting the foreign trade.Germany's sincerity was very high, and three days after the news was released, it officially gave up control of the concessions in Tianjin and Hankou.

Locally this is very exciting.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the imperial capital turned its propaganda machine to full capacity, saying that it was discussing with the German side about the joint education and the selection of overseas students, and the German side will use the proceeds of the "Boxer Indemnity" to promote multi-level exchanges between the two sides.

For example... China has not yet had a qualified university of science and technology, and all science and technology talents are trained by studying abroad, and the number is very small.

The primary task of the Ministry of Education of the 'Holy Light' is to establish [-] full-time primary schools, [-] middle schools, [-] specialized schools, and a comprehensive university throughout the country within three years.

It is such a simple goal that China can't find enough teachers.

Teachers in primary and secondary schools can still do it, but universities can't do it.At that time, more than 2000 members of the "Holy Light" team will have to take turns to work as teachers in universities.

The Ministry of Education wants to build schools, and other departments also want to build schools.The Ministry of National Defense needs military academies, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology needs technical schools, the Ministry of Health needs medical schools, and even Martha’s Ministry of Internal Affairs needs specialized training institutions.

This requires at least [-] to [-] teachers, but there is no 'Holy Light' at all, and the solution can only be recruited from abroad.One is to find high-level intellectuals from overseas Chinese groups, and the other is to obtain them from foreign powers.

Bazel I is willing to help, and Tongji University can expand its scale.Zhou Qingfeng had to express his gratitude for this, and made many promises to the other party, and immediately started the trade of goods in short supply between the two parties.

For example, Germany needs tungsten ore, silk, leather, bristles, tung oil, and rubber. China must find a way to supply them in exchange for high-level German teachers and industrial equipment.

Elan is in charge of the Ministry of Commerce. According to rough statistics, cooperation with Germany can increase the development speed of the Republic by two to three times.Because what is most lacking in China is not industrial products, but ordinary talents.

In addition, President Mark Marcos of the United States also expressed his intention to strengthen contacts with China.Regardless of whether the other party's "consideration" is true or not, American businessmen are very excited and very much hope to expand trade with China.

These days, the American consortium has not been cleaned up by President Roosevelt Jr.All of them are daring, as long as they can make money, they can sell anything and dare to do anything.

The U.S. government doesn’t even have many troops, it’s a true small government.But the American chaebol has a private army, and they can use armored vehicles to deal with strikes.

President Marco's decree is also in Washington.Outside of Washington, who would like him?

Using the platform of the Ministry of Commerce, Yilan sent letters to major European and American banks and commercial banks in the form of national procurement to coordinate import and export trade.Her mission is to bring order to the chaotic business practices and thereby regain control of customs.

Against such a background, Duan Qirui found that his importance as an army commander was declining, and his role as a link between China and foreign countries dropped to zero.

Mid-level officers like Li Chun moved around like fleas in an attempt to influence Duan Qirui's decision--Yuan Shikai was already an extremely powerful minister, if he continued to follow him, how would the people under him be promoted?

Unless Yuan Shikai becomes the emperor, the chief soldier will always be the chief soldier.

Only when Yuan Shikai falls and Duan Qirui is promoted to a higher level can the subordinate Beiyang lineage be promoted accordingly.Such a simple truth, even a fool can understand it!

Besides, Guangdong is a famous world of flowers and flowers, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, so you can do whatever you want?The brothers have long wanted to see the world.

At this moment, Duan Qirui was sitting at the head of the flower hall of the house, surrounded by a dozen middle and senior military officers.As long as Duan Shuai is willing to go to Guangdong, everyone has discussed the official position in private.

It's just that next door to the flower hall, Madam Duan Zhang Peiheng was crying, scolding Duan Qirui for being ungrateful and wolf-hearted.

Li Chun and the others discussed in low voices, waiting for Duan Qirui to speak.

From time to time, the soldiers in the mansion would come in and out to deliver news, and soon someone would come in to report that the Ministry of National Defense had also offered Feng Guozhang a price—either Zhejiang or Shanghai, he could choose any place to serve as the commander of the foreign military region.

Duan Zhigui, the commander of the third division, yelled: "Shanghai is good. It is a place of prosperity. If you want me, I will choose Shanghai. Since both Zhiquan and Huafu can have good jobs, I should be able to go out, so I will choose." Zhejiang is fine."

The people below were clamoring and echoing one after another, their voices getting louder.

Duan Qirui raised his hand to slap the table, when another soldier hurried in from outside the flower hall, and yelled before entering the door: "Master, it's not good. Henan called and said that the commander failed to catch the fish and fell off the boat when he got off the boat." Falling down, the pain was unbearable, and I was bedridden."

Ah... so unfortunate?

The Beiyang generals and officers in the hall were all happy.Even Duan Qirui heaved a sigh of relief.His wife ran out from the side of the flower hall in a panic, first complained to her husband, and then was busy going to Henan to visit her adoptive father.

It's just that everyone knows well that the wrestling at this juncture is too fake. It can be regarded as a step down for both parties, so as to save their own face and prevent Beiyang generals from resentment.

It can only be said that Lao Yuan has indeed lost his control over Beiyang.

Duan Qirui felt guilty but heaved a sigh of relief.He casually picked up the teacup at hand, twisted the lid and dialed out the tea.The people below understood one by one, and they all left with happy faces.

As soon as the people left, Duan Qirui put down the teacup in his hand again, his face sank like water, and he sat still.He didn't know that the central government wanted to regain military power, and he knew that this move would anger Yuan Shikai.

But when people talk about irrelevant interests, they can always have a long-term view, but when it comes to their own interests, they will be short-sighted.

For example, Duan Zhigui, he had been released a few times before, and he didn't want to continue working in the army that was tired, bitter, and oilless.People just want to be a high-ranking official by themselves, plus controlling an army as a support.

This kind of army corrupts very quickly. Everyone wants to exchange their power for land and money women, and no one wants to fight.This was the case when the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs, and a few years of hard work turned the teams that were able to fight well into soft-footed shrimps.

But Duan Qirui really couldn't stop him, he didn't understand that this was a chronic disease of the modern army, he only knew that his brothers all wanted to get promoted and get rich.An army without a soul will not have long-term planning, let alone a sense of crisis.

Realizing power is the inevitable path for the officer corps.

On January 1, the Beiyang Military Officer Corps headed by Duan Qirui accepted the transfer order of the central government.He took 10 yuan as the starting fee, and took away a main force group, and took a large number of cronies to the south by train, preparing to become the commander of the Guangdong Military Region.

Feng Guozhang chose Shanghai, Duan Zhigui chose Zhejiang, Cao Kun went to Hunan, and the middle and senior officers of the five Beiyang divisions went to each other.Only the first division was left behind, all establishments were dismantled, and troops were replenished to other divisions to fill the vacancies.

The first division was dominated by bannermen, with poor combat effectiveness, and was not in the same group as the other five divisions, and was bullied by Zhou Qingfeng.After being dismantled, the [-]st Division will be retrained by workers recruited by the Ministry of Defense.

Many bannermen did not want to be filled in other divisions, and most of them simply applied for discharge.The Ministry of Defense, unwilling to be troublesome, acquiesced.

On the 10th, there was another major event that really changed the national structure. 'Holy Light' needs to be transformed, and a plenary meeting is held to prepare for the establishment of the party and establish a political party that represents the interests of the proletariat.

Chapter 08 Party Building and Rectification

"Comrades, please allow me to read an excerpt from the original text of the Communist Manifesto here."

In the small auditorium of the "Shengguang Building" in Zhongnanhai, more than 200 party representatives gathered together to sit and listen to the speech of General Secretary Xiao Jinlang.

"The bourgeoisie has drawn all nations, even the most barbaric, into civilization. Cheap commodities have become the heavy artillery to subdue the xenophobia of the savages.

The productive forces created by it in less than 100 years of class rule are greater and greater than all the productive forces created by all previous epochs.

It compels all nations to adopt the bourgeois mode of production or perish; it compels them to practice what is called civilization, that is, to become bourgeois.In a word, it creates a world in its own image. "

After reading a paragraph of text, Xiao Jinlang raised his head and said in a deep voice: "Comrades, our enemy is not some big country or some ignorant society, but the extremely powerful bourgeoisie.

The conquest of natural forces, the adoption of machinery, the application of chemistry, the driving of ships, the passage of railways, the use of the telegraph, and even the reclamation of entire continents, never before in human history has such a powerful force!

In China, where society is divided and extremely poor, we must fight against such a terrible enemy. We must mobilize hundreds of millions of people to work together, and we must develop stronger productivity in a higher dimension.

We have no choice but to take the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics.We must liberate all oppressed, exploited, and humiliated nations and groups around the world, and only by uniting all human beings can victory be possible. "

Xiao Jinlang spoke impassionedly, raised his arms and shouted, and the representatives of the audience responded with warm applause, which lasted for a long time.

The development of a country needs theoretical support. What path to take, which group to rely on, and which problems to face all require clear guidance from the leadership.

The ancient government's management ability was low, and it never thought about this problem.Social development is following the trend and governing by doing nothing.The development of industrial civilization poses new problems to modern countries—a development path must be theoretically designed.

That's what political parties do.

The traversers want to establish the vanguard of the working class to realize the revival of the great nation.On this earth-breaking, solemn and solemn occasion, troublemakers appeared.

Zhou Qingfeng in the audience raised his hand and said, "General Secretary Xiao, are we really going to liberate all mankind? This burden is too heavy."

Old Xiao was so angry that his eyebrows were trembling on the stage, he thought to himself: "Why do you interrupt at this time, you unlucky boy? Can't you let me finish my beautiful words before talking nonsense?"

But Zhou Qingfeng did not stop, and continued: "I have no doubts about the liberation of the whole of China, but for the ethnic minorities, should they be assimilated, or should they retain their languages ​​and characters, or even create characters for them for political correctness, which will increase the difficulty of management?"

Before saying this, more than 200 representatives in the auditorium thought that Zhou Qingfeng was going to attack.Even Qin Qing wanted to pinch him hard, telling this guy not to talk carelessly.

But when Zhou Qingfeng asked the first question, everyone fell silent again—only this master can say anything that is not politically correct, and no one else dares to touch it.

Old Xiao understood that this kid just wanted to set the tone during the meeting, so as not to make a patch in the future if he suffered a loss.He pondered for a while and said:

"We must implement the policy of ethnic equality. There is no doubt about it. But we must also learn from historical lessons. Creating some ethnic groups and languages ​​is not beneficial to the country. Chinese people have to speak Chinese."

This was much more meaningful than the empty talk before, and there was even warmer applause at the scene——When the team selected people, Zhou Qingfeng categorically demanded that they must be of a single ethnicity, and don't make trouble for yourself.

Zhou Qingfeng continued: "In the process of development, will we promote ideology and provide free assistance?"

This is another problem that cannot be avoided. The Soviet Union did not follow the economic laws and provided foreign aid freely, resulting in a large number of white-eyed wolves.

Not only did it not end well, but it was complained about.

China has done this too.

There are still a large number of abandoned bunkers in Albania, all of which are built with cement donated by China for free. They are not grateful at all, but feel that China has given too little and too stingy.

Xiao Jinlang curled his lips, "We can't engage in big country chauvinism and force other countries to obey, but we can't hope to make friends through bribery. The exchanges between different countries should be sincere, and we can't always think about taking advantage."

As expected of an old man in the officialdom, he speaks at a very high level.It looks like he didn't say anything, but in fact he said everything.But if you have to study it carefully, you will find that you really didn't say anything.