Chapter 18 3. Yuan Shikai kept in mind his father's teaching: officialdom is like a theater, and the greatest skill lies in the fake workmanship skills

Because Liang Qichao mentioned Yuan Shikai's donation of five hundred taels of silver, Yang Du suddenly remembered an incident three years ago. In early spring, Beijing was still very cold, and a group of young students who were burning with patriotic passion gathered in Songyun Nunnery, talking loudly and impassionedly.When it comes to the failure of the war, everyone burst into tears.When it comes to the decline of the country, they are all filled with grief and indignation.One of the scholars proposed to make an alliance with blood and pledge to serve for the prosperity of the Qing Dynasty, and everyone agreed.So I made a fuss about going to buy wine and meat, and have a lively dinner together.But most of these movers are children from poor families, and they don’t have much money on them. There are a few children from rich families who are willing to pay more, but they don’t bring it with them for a while. If there are hundreds of people gathering, there is no money that can’t be dealt with.When he was in trouble, Yang Du quickly took off the fox fur robe he was wearing and said, "Think of it, you won't need it in a few days!"

The few candidates around him were hesitating, trying to persuade him not to be the one, but he didn't want a heavy-handed Henan candidate to come up behind him, stretched out his hand and grabbed the leather robe and said, "Good job, five-flowered horse, Qianjinqiu, Hu'er will come out soon!" In exchange for fine wine, I will sell the eternal sorrow with you." Then he ran out. After a while, a group of seven or eight people who carried wine, vegetables, and chickens and ducks followed the Henan Juzi into Songyun Nunnery.Henan Juzi threw a handful of broken silver towards Yang Du and said, "There are still a few taels left, put it away!"

Yang Du pushed the broken money and said: "You do everything you can, use up the money to buy dozens of firecrackers of the 4D mark, let them shake the earth, and let us Chinese people breathe a sigh of relief!" Amidst the sound of firecrackers shaking the sky and the earth, a hundred or so provinces clashed with each other with their hearts and hearts, and the palace courtyard was filled with heroic words, and the patriotic enthusiasm boiled down to the cold wind and cold rain.Yang Du felt that he had never had such a boozy drink in his life!He was so drunk that he returned to the Changjun Guild Hall with the help of his friends, and still slept soundly at noon the next day.

"Xiezi, wake up, someone is meeting you outside!" A friend pushed him hard a few times. He opened his eyes and asked, "What's the matter?" "Someone wants to see you!" Yang Du hurriedly got up, dressed and washed his face, and came outside the hall.A strong man in his twenties stepped forward and asked, "Are you Mr. Yang Du?" Yang Du nodded, and the man took a bag from his back, held it in both hands, bowed to Yang Du, and said respectfully: "Mr.'s behavior in Songyun Nunnery yesterday is greatly admired by my family, and the special order is for you." Someone went to the pawnshop to redeem Mr.'s fox fur robe and delivered it in person. It is cold in the capital, and if you take off your fur robe suddenly, you will catch a cold. May you cherish your health for the country."

Yang Du took the bag, opened it and saw that it was the fox fur robe he took off yesterday, and asked gratefully, "Who is your lord?" "Yuan Weiting, a Daoist from Wenchutai, Zhejiang Province, who came back from North Korea last year." Yang Du was still surprised while holding the leather robe, but the man had already turned and left.A gust of north wind blew, and Yang Du, who had just woken up from intoxication, shivered suddenly. He quickly put on the leather robe, thinking: Thanks for redeeming it, otherwise he would really get sick from the cold! Walking into the room, he felt strange in his heart: Isn't Yuan Weiting the famous Yuan Shikai?This person has been in North Korea for many years, and he has done great things, but there are also a lot of gossips. Some people say that the naval battle last year was caused by him offending the Japanese, and I heard that he is very enthusiastic about the reform. Notable people.But he had never met him before, so why did he show such kindness?Besides, yesterday's gathering in Songjun Nunnery was all young people, and Yuan Shikai didn't participate, so how did he know that his peeling robe was used as wine and meat?Yang Du was puzzled, and felt that he should go to Yuan's house to thank him, but he didn't know where he lived.After discussing with Xia Shoutian, Xia Shoutian said: "Ask Liang Zhuoru, he is the initiator of the Songyun Temple assembly, he may know."

After seeing Liang Qichao two days later, Yang Du asked about it.Liang Qichao said: "Yuan Shikai is one of the officials in the capital supporting the reform. He himself has participated in several state affairs seminars and donated five hundred taels of silver. As for where he lives, I don't know. He is from Xiangcheng, Henan. People, you might as well go to the Henan Guild Hall to inquire about it, there must be someone in the Henan province who knows his residence." Liang Qichao's words reminded him, so he rushed to the Henan Guild Hall, and after inquiring, there were actually candidates from Xiangcheng.The concierge took him to find him.When they met, they were pleasantly surprised by each other.It turned out that this Xiangcheng Juzi was the man who pawned the leather robe for him that day.After explaining his purpose, the man smiled and said, "I pawned your fur robe, and Yuan Weiting redeemed your fur robe. It's very interesting. I know everything about Yuan Weiting and his family. You treated me that day, Today I am the host, let's go to a hotel and have a good chat!"

In a small hotel next to the Henan Guild Hall, Xiang Chengji's Juzi told Yang Du all the stories he knew about the Yuan family in detail. The Yuan family is a big family in Xiangcheng.Yuan Shikai's great-grandfather, Yuan Yaodong, was a poor student. Because he studied too hard, he died of illness before the age of forty, leaving behind four sons, all of whom became talents under the education of his wife Guo.The eldest son, Shusan, was born in Gonggong, the third son, Fengsan, and the fourth son, Chongsan, were born in Xiang. The second son, Jiasan, had the highest fame and status.Yuan Jia, with three characters Wuqiao, was a Jinshi in the fifteenth year of Daoguang's reign. He successively served as the head of the Ministry of Rites, Zhang Jing of the Military Aircraft Department, the supervisory censor of Jiangnan Road, and the Minister of the Ministry of War, and finally became the governor of water transportation.From the third year of Xianfeng to the second year of Tongzhi, he led troops on the front line to fight against the Taiping Army and the Nian Army. When he had the greatest power, he supervised the military affairs of Anhui, Henan, and Jiangsu provinces.Yuan Jiasan amassed a huge fortune for the Yuan family and won a high reputation.His eldest son Yuan Baoheng, the editor of the Hanlin Academy, his second son Yuan Baoling, and his nephew Juren Yuan Baoqing all fought with him and made military achievements.Later, Baoheng became a minister, Baoling went to Zhongshu, and Baoqing went to Taoist.The Yuan family became the most prominent official family in Xiangcheng.

The brothers were all fighting outside to serve as officials, so the housekeeping was presided over by Shu San's eldest son, Baozhong, as the eldest grandson.Baozhong donated an official title of Tongzhi, but he never served as an official for a day.In order to deal with the Taiping Army and the Nian Army, he built walls and dug mosques in his hometown, built a castle named Yuanzhai with four gun towers, and placed himself and nearby neighbors in it.In the autumn of the ninth year of Xianfeng, Baozhong's concubine Liu Shi gave birth to a son in Yuanzhai, named Shikai, and named Weiting.This son is ranked fourth. Before him, his wife Liu has two sons: Shichang and Shidun, and he also has a brother Shilian from the same mother.Not long after Shikai was born, Niu Shi, the wife of his uncle Baoqing, also gave birth to a son, but this son died soon. Shi regards Shikai as his own.Yuan Shikai was born in a fortress and grew up with soldiers and horses fighting. Every day he saw swords and guns fighting, and heard the sound of drums and cannons. From an early age, he exercised his extraordinary courage and strong character.When he was five years old, the adults took him to play on the city wall. At this time, a group of Nian troops came to Yuanzhai, fired guns and attacked the suspension bridge. The adults were terrified and hid everywhere.Yuan Shikai still stood on the top of the city wall without fear, and picked up a small stone and threw it down.His father was amazed when he found out.

Yuan Baoqing was over forty years old and still had no children, so his elder brother adopted his fourth son to him. Yuan Shikai was only seven years old at that time.Soon, Ma Xinyi, governor of Liangjiang, took a fancy to Yuan Baoqing and transferred him to Nanjing to serve as Jiangnan Yanfa Road.This is a fat job, and there is a steady stream of money other than salary.Nanjing is also a well-known ancient capital, with its beautiful scenery and rich humanities. Yuan Shikai lived here for six years and spent a very wealthy and colorful boyhood.Yuan Baoqing hired a juren with both civil and military skills as a tutor for his heir.Yuan Shikai is not interested in the Four Books and Five Classics, but he is obsessed with dancing spears and sticks, riding horses and archery, and his martial arts are very good.At that time, although the Taiping Army and the Nian Army had calmed down, the war in the northwest was still fierce. The country was not stable, and military personnel were needed.Seeing that his heir's ambition was to serve in the army, Yuan Baoqing stopped forcing him to compose poems and compositions.Yuan Shikai grew up on Niu's milk, and Niu loved him very much.Baoqing's concubine, Mrs. Jin, also treats him very well because she has nothing to do.The Niu family and the Jin family were at odds, and there were occasional quarrels, which caused Baoqing a headache, but Yuan Shikai was able to use the favorable conditions that both Niu and Jin liked to reconcile and resolve their hatred.From this, Bao Qing saw his son's talents in personnel affairs, and knew that he could be an excellent smooth bureaucrat when he grew up.Yuan Baoqing often told Yuan Shikai his experience in officialdom, and cultivated it deliberately.Yuan Shikai learned a lot of useful knowledge that had never been seen in books.There is a passage that he remembers most clearly.

It was the day of Yuan Baoqing's forty-eighth birthday, and the Yamen of Yanfa Road held a banquet, and invited famous actors from Jiangning to perform.Fourteen-year-old Yuan Shikai sat beside his stepfather and watched a play with him.When the play reached its climax, Yuan Baoqing suddenly asked his heir: "Kaier, do you want to be an official when you grow up?" The officialdom is like a theatrical theater. The loyalty, filial piety, righteousness, life and death that you staged in the stands are so vivid that we are moved to hear them and weep when we watch them, but all of them are fake. True. A good actor, that’s where his skills come in. The same is true in the officialdom, where the greatest skill lies in his fake workmanship skills. If he doesn’t have this skill, or if his skill is not good, he will not only be ridiculed by the actors, but also looked down upon by the common people. And I won't be able to get along in the officialdom. Kaier, you must firmly remember what I said today, so that in the future you will be able to have both sides in the officialdom and rise up step by step." Yuan Shikai stared at his two round and bright eyes, My father's adage that the situation is born is deeply engraved on the bone.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the birthday banquet was demolished, Yuan Baoqing contracted cholera and passed away.Yuan Shikai followed his stepmother back to his hometown in Xiangcheng.In the second year, Yuan Baoheng went home from the northwest front to visit his relatives. Seeing Yuan Shikai's extraordinary appearance and his ambitious speech, he liked him very much. He wanted to carve him into a great tool, so he took him to the northwest.Soon, Yuan Baoheng was transferred to Beijing, and Yuan Shikai also came to Beijing.Yuan Baoheng donated a supervisor to his nephew, hoping that he would pass the imperial examination and enter the officialdom, so he invited two Juren and a Jinshi to teach his nephew and nephew at home, but Yuan Shikai's temper could not calm down, and his poetry and prose did not improve much.When I was seventeen, I went back to Henan to take the provincial examination, but failed.This winter, he married Yu Shi, who was two years older than him.In the spring of the following year, he went to Beijing to study again.In winter, there was a severe drought in Henan, and Baoheng was ordered to go to Kaifeng Mansion to provide relief, with Yuan Shikai accompanying him.Unfortunately, Yuan Baoheng died of illness during the relief, and Yuan Shikai returned to Xiangcheng. Yuan Shikai was born into a wealthy family, and since he was a child, he has seen the big world, and developed the habit of being generous and straightforward, spending money like water.A few poor scholars in Xiangcheng wanted to set up a poetry club, but they had no funds. After Yuan Shikai learned about it, he generously funded it, and the poor scholars rewarded them with the title of president.Yuan Shikai did not write poetry, but because of this, he became the president of two poetry clubs, Lize Shanfang and Wuju Shanfang, and suddenly became a celebrity in Xiangcheng. One day, a young scholar came to visit.This person's name is Xu Buwu, whose style name is Juren, from Tianjin. Because of his poor family, he worked as a school teacher in Chenzhou Prefecture after winning the exam.Xu Bu was handsome and personable, and Yuan Shikai hit it off with him.At the time of the meeting, Yuan Zhi Xu Neng was good at writing and poetry, and had profound knowledge, so he must be the winner in the examination field.Seeing that Yuan Qi is a dignified man with a noble family background, Xu knows that Yuan is by no means someone who has been under others for a long time.The two talked more and more speculatively, so they exchanged posts and worshiped brothers.Xu was four years older, and Yuan called him brother; Yuan was rich and powerful, so Xu changed his name to Shichang according to Yuan's family name.At that time, Yuan's eldest brother Shichang had been dead for many years, so Xu changed his name to Shichang, just to fill the gap.Yuan Shikai immediately took out two hundred taels of silver and gave it to Brother Ba, asking him to leave the library and concentrate on preparing for the next year's examination. Xu was very grateful.In the spring of the second year, Xu Shichang really went to high school in one fell swoop, ordered Hanlin, and the relationship between the two became closer.Yuan Shikai didn't want to die of old age in the countryside, and it was very difficult for him to take the imperial examination, so he simply abandoned literature and turned to martial arts, and took a group of brothers to join the army.He voted for Wu Changqing, the commander of the Huai Army who was stationed in Dengzhou to assist in coastal defense. Wu Changqing had an unusual friendship with Yuan Shikai's stepfather, Yuan Baoqing.That year, Wu Changqing's father, Wu Tingxiang, held a group training in his hometown of Lujiang, Anhui.Once, the Nian army surrounded Lujiang City, and the situation was very critical.Wu Changqing came to Suzhou by his father's order and asked Yuan Jiasan to send troops to rescue him.Yuan Jiasan was also in a predicament at the time, hesitating whether to send troops or not, so he asked his nephews around him for their opinions.Yuan Baoheng believed that the Nian army surrounding the Lujiang River was powerful and in danger, so they could not send troops.Yuan Baoqing believed that Wu Tingxiang ran regiment training as a gentleman, and he was commendable for his loyalty, so he insisted on sending troops.Both sides had their reasons, and the dispute could not be resolved, and Yuan Jiasan could not make up his mind for a while.By the time Yuan Jiasan decided to send troops the next day, Lujiang City had been destroyed and Wu Tingxiang was killed.Because of this, Wu Changqing hated Yuan Baoheng to death and broke up with him. At the same time, he was very grateful to Yuan Baoqing and kowtowed to him as a brother.Later, when Yuan Baoqing died of illness in Jiangning, Wu Changqing was stationed in Pukou with his troops. He took care of the funeral and told Yuan Shikai that he could come to him if there was anything to do in the future.Because of this sentence, Yuan Shikai came to Dengzhou from Xiangcheng. Wu Changqing was willing to take care of the old man's son, but he was very angry at Yuan Shikai's reckless behavior of bringing a group of people.He sent away all the people who came with him, leaving only Yuan alone.Seeing that Yuan Shang was young, Wu still hoped that he would go on the right path in his studies, so he asked Zhang Jian, the tutor at home, to guide him in studying.This Zhang Jian will be Zhang Zhuangyuan of Nantong who will be the top of the world in the future, and he was only 27 or 28 years old at that time, and he didn't even win the Juren.Zhang Jian asked him to write stereotyped essays, but he didn't do it, and asked why he didn't do it. He said that a man should serve the battlefield, keep the inside and fight the outside, how can he be so dirty and sleepy in pen and ink for a long time to waste his time.Zhang Jian is an ambitious scholar. After hearing this, instead of being angry, he admired his spirit, so he arranged for him to do a few practical things in order to observe.Yuan Shikai did these things in an orderly manner, and Zhang Jian saw Yuan Shikai's ability here, and said to Wu Changqing: "Wei Ting is not a material for studying, but he is a good hand at handling affairs. It is better to let him participate in military affairs as soon as possible to gain experience. " Coincidentally, civil strife broke out in North Korea at this time.King Lee Hee of Joseon succeeded Datong as a side branch, and his biological father Daewonjun Lee Gangying was in power when he was young.After becoming an adult, Li Gang should return to him.After Li Xi came to power, the power fell into the hands of Concubine Min's group. Li Gangying was very dissatisfied, so he used the opportunity of soldiers to fight for pay to launch a mutiny and regain power.Li Xi asked the Chinese government for help.At that time, North Korea was a vassal state of China, and China had the responsibility to maintain the political stability of North Korea, so it decided to send Admiral Ding Ruchang with three warships, and Wu Changqing with the sixth battalion of the Huai Army to quell the chaos. The dispatch of troops was imminent, and all kinds of preparations were really complicated. Wu Changqing accepted Zhang Jian's suggestion and asked Yuan Shikai to handle it, and he was limited to six days to complete it.As a result, Yuan Shikai only took three days to get everything ready, and Wu Changqing was amazed.When the ship arrived at Nanyang Port in North Korea, Wu Changqing ordered Liu Zhencun, the first battalion officer, to be the vanguard and landed the next day.Liu asked for a moment.Wu Changqing dismissed his post and ordered Yuan to act as the battalion officer.It took only two hours for Yuan to deploy, and he landed immediately.After the Qing army entered Seoul, many soldiers looted the people's food. Yuan killed seven leading soldiers and quickly stopped the looting.Ding Ruchang and Wu Changqing designed a Hongmen Banquet and asked Yuan to serve as a guard.The Lord of the Courtyard didn't know what to do, so he came to the banquet, Yuan stopped the Lord's guards outside the door with wine and meat.At the banquet, Ding and Wu arrested Lord Dayuan and escorted him to China. The mutiny quickly subsided and Li Xi returned.Yuan performed very well in the process of countering the rebellion. At the request of Wu Zuo, Yuan was able to make up for it and reward Dai Hualing.Li Xi was also grateful to him, and gave him three beauties at once, and he took them all as concubines.After the rebellion subsided, Yuan helped Li Xi to reorganize the army and train soldiers.Later, Wu Changqing was transferred back to China, leaving the third battalion in Seoul, under the leadership of Wu Zhaoyou, the registered admiral, and Premier Yuan's battalion affairs office, which will handle North Korea's defense. The political situation in North Korea is not completely stable.There was a faction that advocated breaking away from China and seeking refuge in Japan. Yuan persuaded Wu to take the initiative to attack, defeated the Japanese troops stationed in Korea, and eliminated the pro-Japanese faction.This battle further enhanced Yuan's prestige in North Korea, and at the same time fueled his arrogance to interfere in North Korea's political situation.Yuan wanted to monopolize the military power of the Qing court in North Korea, but fell out with Wu Zhaoyou, and Wu suppressed him everywhere.Yuan was disheartened and went back to China for vacation.He climbed up to Li Hongzhang through the relationship of his cousin Yuan Baoling, reported the situation in North Korea to Li, and put forward his own opinions on how to deal with it.Li admired Yuan's talent very much, appointed Yuan as the North Korean business commissioner, and escorted Daewonjun back home.After Yuan Zhong arrived in North Korea, he mediated the relationship between the king and the Daewon Lord, and was even more highly regarded by Li Hongzhang.Yuan Shikai has been living in North Korea, handling various relations between China and North Korea as a representative of China.In the nineteenth year of Guangxu, Yuan had been promoted to a Taoist priest in Wenchutai, Zhejiang, with the title of second rank. He was only thirty-four years old at that time.This year, the Donghak Party incident occurred in North Korea, and Japan and Russia took the opportunity to intervene in North Korea's internal affairs.Yuan Shikai first underestimated Japan's ambitions, but after he found out, he could no longer contain them.On the eve of the Sino-Japanese War of Sino-Japanese War, Japan took control of the political situation in North Korea, and Yuan Shikai was in a difficult situation, so he sent urgent telegrams to the court many times requesting to return home.At that time, China and Japan were about to go to war, and the imperial court agreed to his request, so Yuan Shikai changed clothes and mixed it with Pingyuan, and returned to Beijing after a tragic end to his 12-year career in North Korea.Immediately after the naval battle broke out, China suffered a crushing defeat, and Yuan Shikai was greatly stimulated.He clearly realized that China must reform the law, so he sympathized with Kang Youwei's reform activities, joined the Strong Society, and donated money, which was very prominent among high-level officials. Xiang Chengji Juzi narrated for more than an hour, proud of the fact that such a young, promising and knowledgeable person came out of his hometown, but unfortunately he had never had any contact with Yuan Shikai himself, and he did not know Yuan Shikai Where.Soon Yuan Shikai was ordered to go to Tianjin Xiaozhan to train troops, and later Yang Du also left Beijing, and finally he never met.For such a legendary figure, Yang Du is very willing to get acquainted, and he should thank him face to face for his kindness three years ago.Whether it is public or private, this small station is a must.But Xia Shoutian persuaded him not to go, there are only ten days before the examination, it is really a time when every inch of time is precious, how can he spend it on such things?Yang Du didn't take it seriously, he was full of confidence in the high school exam, coming and going, at most three days, it wouldn't have much impact.At noon the next day, Yang Du boarded the train to Tianjin.