Chapter 65 3. The son's lover suddenly became Lao Tzu's concubine

It has been more than four years since I left the capital. When I stepped into this ancient capital again, the first thing Yang Du felt was its oppressive and dull air. Not to mention compared with the energetic Tokyo, it was compared with Shanghai, Wuchang, and Changsha. In comparison, this place seems to be another world.This scene is quite like the climate arranged by God. At this time, the south of the Yangtze River is already a scene of early spring when spring grass sprouts and spring tide surges, but here is still a severe cold season when everything is frozen and covered with ice and snow.

The constitutional and political compilation and inspection office is located in the old house of Abandoned Baylor in Epiphyllum Hutong, Xidan.There are forty or fifty houses, large and small, broken windows everywhere, spiders spinning webs, walls covered with green moss, and tile cracks with weeds growing everywhere due to years of disrepair.This century-old mansion is as dilapidated and dilapidated as the descendants of its owner. The minister in charge of the constitutional and political compilation and inspection office is Zhen Guogong Zaize, the head of the five ministers who went abroad for inspections. Together with the predecessor of the office, the political inspection office, he has been in office for more than a year, but he has not been to the office once.Occasionally discussing matters in the library, he only called relevant personnel to his luxurious mansion, and he didn't know whether the gate of the compilation office was facing south or north.

This gate is guarded by an old eunuch surnamed Shi all the year round.Eunuch Shi ranked seventh in the family, and everyone politely called him Shi Qiye.Shi Qiye entered the palace cleanly at the age of six, and worked in the palace for more than 50 years. He was old and unable to move, so he was sent out. He lived in Longshu Temple for half a year and was introduced to the compilation office. .Shi Qiye was very devoted to his duties, and ordinary people were not allowed to enter, so the hall seemed even more deserted.There are more than 20 people who are registered at the Constitutional Government Hall, most of them only receive salary and do nothing. There are only seven people who often sit here on duty: two directors and deputy directors of the Bureau of Establishment, two directors and deputy directors of the Bureau of Statistics, and one person from the General Affairs Department , one member of the library department and one translator of the translation department.

At the same time as Yang Du, there was another person called Lao Naixuan who was transferred to Beijing.This person was originally a Taoist priest in Zhejiang Province. He was ordered to come to the Xianzheng Hall as a third-rank Jingtang to serve as the Zuo Ti Diao, above the right Ti Tuo Yang Du.He came to Beijing half a month earlier, and Yang Du met him on the first day he entered the museum.He told Yang Du that everything here is not on the right track. The second bureau and three divisions under his jurisdiction have all the organizational systems, and the officials have been sealed, but there is nothing to do.Yang Du asked him if he wanted to visit Zai Ze, but Lao said no.On the first day he entered Beijing, he was in a hurry to see Zai Ze, and waited at the gate for a long time. The concierge came out with a message, saying that the Duke of the State was busy with the guests, and he was gone today. Let's take a rest first, and see you at the next meeting. .Half a month passed, and there was no sound at all.Lao Naixuan said to Yang Du: "It's good if you come here. I don't know anything about constitutionalism. You are an expert in constitutionalism. You can arrange things here. My "Yili Fawei" is not yet finished. There are still more than half a year of hard work. Here I am above you in name, but in fact it is all up to you."

Yang Du looked at the scene of the Xianzheng Pavilion and listened to Lao Naixuan's introduction, most of the heat in his stomach was washed away. There were many empty houses in the Xianzheng Pavilion, so Yang Du picked a better house and settled down.With nothing to do and the atmosphere too deserted, he often went to chat with his old friend Xia Shoutian. Xia Shoutian is already a bachelor of the Imperial Academy with the rank of fourth rank.Hanlin Garden was originally a place to store talents and raise hope, so it was leisurely and leisurely, with few things to do throughout the year.Xia Shoutian was nearly forty years old, already put on weight, white and fat.Living with him, apart from his original partner, there is also his wife, Yue Shuang, from a brothel.Yue Shuang is good at playing the piano and singing, and can draw a few strokes, which is very similar to Xia Shoutian's temperament. He dotes on Yue Shuang, so there are often quarrels between his wives and concubines, and the family is not very harmonious.Fortunately, Xia Shoutian has a cheerful and calm personality, he doesn't care about housework, and he does what he likes to do all day alone: ​​reading, writing poems, writing, and admiring antiques.Hanlin's salary is not high, but his father has accumulated a lot of property for him, so he doesn't have to worry about making a living.Because of the money, although the two wives often quarreled, they still lived in peace after the quarrel.

Xia Shoutian smiled and said to his old friend: "My life as an official in Beijing for the past ten years has been like this. Sometimes there are a little bit of trouble, but it is mostly when the weather is calm." Yang Du said: "It's still your good fortune, Qing Fu Yan Fu, you can enjoy it all." Xia Shoutian said: "It's just that there is no Hongfu, and the official luck is not good." Yang Du said, "It will be there in two years!" Xia Shoutian asked, "When will Mrs. Sister-in-law pick you up?" Yang Du said: "Let's talk about it later, it's not easy to live in Chang'an Mizhu Salary Gui!"

Xia Shoutian said: "It's good to pick it up after you've settled down completely. Before my wife came, you often came to my house for dinner, so don't be polite." Yang Du smiled and said, "Okay, I'll book a long-term stay at your house!" Xia Shoutian said: "I still have an empty room here, and I have prepared a set of bedding for you. If you are too lazy to leave at night, you can build a bed here." Yang Du laughed loudly: "You're going to fulfill me with one shot!" So Yang Du often went to Xia Shoutian's house to eat and sleep, just like his own home.From Xia Shoutian, Yang Du knew a lot of inside stories about the political arena of the capital, and he also had a deeper understanding of Zhang Zhidong and Yuan Shikai who would play him in Beijing.

A few days later, he went to visit Zhang Zhidong in Xila Hutong, and gave Zhang the mounted poem of Wang Kaiyun.Zhang looked at it and put it aside casually.Although Zhang Zhidong was from Hebei, he had been an official in the south for decades, but he couldn't adapt to the severe cold in the north.Asthma attacks these days, coughing and spitting all day long, people look thinner and lifeless.I was very happy to see Yang Du, said some words of encouragement, and asked Wang Kaiyun how he was.He also said that the two had a good relationship back then, one was good at learning, the other was good at poetry and prose, and the combination of the two could be the number one scholar in the examination of erudite CI.After saying a few more words, Zhang Zhidong coughed again, looking very ill.It was inconvenient for Yang Du to sit for a long time, so he said his goodbyes and went out, thinking to himself: How can this senior scholar and military minister be so weak to deal with state affairs?

When Yang Du was going to pay a visit to Yuan Shikai, Shi Qiye told him not to go for a few days, Yuan's house was holding a wedding, and Yuan Gongbao became the bridegroom's official again.Yang Du was very surprised when he heard this: Yuan Shikai already has one wife and seven concubines, so why should he ask for a concubine? Shi Qiye was right, Yuan Shikai's eighth concubine entered the gate of Yuan's mansion recently. Yuan Shikai's personal life is actually not too luxurious, even a bit rigid.Years of military career has cultivated him a very regular daily routine.No matter winter, summer, spring or autumn, he wakes up at six o'clock every morning, works at seven o'clock, rests at twelve o'clock, eats lunch, takes a nap at one o'clock in the afternoon, sleeps only for one hour, and works again at two o'clock to meet customers until six o'clock.After dinner, I go for a walk and chat with my wives, concubines and children, and go to bed at nine o'clock in the evening.

His diet is also very fixed.The dishes on the table are rarely changed throughout the year, so the cooks who buy vegetables don't have to worry about it.He likes to eat stewed duck, braised pork, fried leeks with shredded pork, and cabbage heart, so only these few dishes are placed on the table every day.The staple food is a steamed bun, a bowl of rice, and a bowl of millet porridge. In summer, it is changed to mung bean paste, which is loved by Henan people.In the morning, there is always a bowl of chicken noodle.What he eats is so monotonous that even the position of the dishes on the table never changes: the duck is always in the middle, the shredded pork and leeks are placed on the east, the braised pork is placed on the west, and the cabbage hearts are placed on the north.Usually wives and concubines don't eat with him unless he greets them.He generally doesn't eat delicacies from mountains and seas, but he chews velvet antler and ginseng slices in his mouth for many years to refresh himself.

He is very casual about dressing, taking comfort without emphasizing appearance.In terms of playing, I was debauched when I was young, but as my status improved, I had to maintain my dignity in front of my subordinates, and because I didn't have time, I basically stopped playing. He has only two hobbies in his life: power and women.He grabs power by any means while taking concubines one after another.As early as the age of seventeen, Yuan Shikai married the daughter of Yu Ao, a local rich man, in his hometown Xiangcheng.Although Yu's family is rich, she is illiterate, not pretty, and two years older than her husband.One day, Yuan saw that Yu Shi was wearing a pair of red embroidered satin trouser belt, and said with a smile: "Look at you, you look like someone who came out of a kiln." Yu Shi was very angry when he heard this, crying and shouting, saying: " I am innocent, why do you scold me like that. Can someone who comes out of a brothel still be a big wife, only a concubine." Unexpectedly, this sentence hurt Yuan, because Yuan's biological mother was a concubine.He was so angry that he slapped Yu Shi, and never had sex with Yu Shi again.Therefore, Yu Shi had no children except Keding. After a few years, Yuan Shikai went out to seek work.I went to Chaozhou, Guangdong first, and then went to Shanghai, both of which were not satisfactory.Shanghai was originally a place of romance, and Yuan Shikai, who lived alone in a hotel, was very lonely, so he went to a brothel, where he met a prostitute named Shen.The Shen family from Suzhou is not only beautiful, but also has good eyesight.Seeing that Yuan is handsome and comes from a family of officials and eunuchs, she definitely won't be down for too long.Shen encouraged him to cheer up, and said that a man should be honored for his fame, and he should go to the military camp. She also said that as long as Yuan Zhengqi, she can help him, and she will redeem herself from the brothel, waiting for him.When Yuan Zai heard this, he was very moved and regarded Shen as his confidant.Later, after Yuan established his foothold in Seoul, he took Shen over there and became his first concubine. Yuan Shikai helped the king put down the rebellion in North Korea. The king of North Korea appreciated him, so he betrothed his cousin Jin to him, and married two maids, Wu and Min.Yuan Ze took the three women together as concubines. According to their age, the Wu family was designated as the second concubine, the Jin family was designated as the third concubine, and the Min family was designated as the fourth concubine. They were all disciplined by the eldest concubine Shen.Shen met three rivals in love at once, and she was jealous.She obviously didn't dare to vent, so she used the opportunity of discipline to abuse the three North Korean women.The three Korean women were very distressed, especially the Jin family, who was originally a relative of the emperor and thought she was the wife of Yuan, but now not only became a concubine, but her status was also lower than her own maid. Shen never had a child in her life. When Jin gave birth to Yuan Shikai's second son, Yuan Kewen, Yuan Shikai adopted Kewen at Shen's knee to thank Shen for his kindness to him back then. Yuan Shikai married his fifth concubine Yang when he was governor of Shandong.The Yang family was born in a small family in Yangliuqing, Tianjin, and won Yuan's love with a pair of three-inch golden lotus.Yang is eloquent and has the ability to handle affairs. Yuan entrusted her with all the housekeeping, and even entrusted her confidential property to Yang for safekeeping.Not only that, but she later replaced Shen's position and disciplined the concubine who came in afterward.During his tenure as the governor of Zhili, Yuan Shikai married the sixth concubine Ye Shi and the seventh concubine Zhang family. It seems that whenever there is a change in the field of power, Yuan Shikai would marry a woman as a symbol or commemoration. Yuan Shikai, who went to Beijing to become Minister of Military Affairs and Minister of Foreign Affairs, recently married a woman surnamed Guo as his eighth concubine. .The people in Yuan's mansion had long been used to seeing Mr. Gongbao's addition of houses and children, and they didn't regard it as a big news.Only a few people in the mansion know that there is a rare story behind this Guo family. The second son Ke Baocun, nicknamed Hanyun, was the most intelligent among Yuan Shikai's many sons. He had an unforgettable memory, was good at poetry, calligraphy and painting, and was deeply loved by his father.Yuan often recruited Kewen to accompany him to dinner, and often rewarded him with some rare antiques.These are preferential treatments that other sons, including the eldest son Keding, cannot enjoy.Kewen's biological mother Jin naturally loves him, and he gets more love than others, that is the doting of his stepmother Shen. Because Shen has no family and only Kewen is an heir, he regards Kewen as his lifeblood.Indulging Kewen in every possible way, whatever Kewen wanted, Shen tried her best to satisfy him.Under Shen's habitual pampering, Ke Wen was dissolute and self-willed since he was a child. He often spent the night outside when he was fifteen or sixteen years old, and sometimes he didn't go home for several days in a row.The whole family, including the biological mother Jin, dare not speak of him. Yuan Kewen met Li Lianying's nephew Li Fukun outside.Li Fukun relied on Li Lianying's influence to become a tyrant in Tianjin, and everyone was afraid that he would let him.After Ke Wen made friends with Li, he followed Li to the theater and went to brothels, where he ate, drank, prostituted, and gambled.Ke Wen is smart, and after entering the theater a few times, he can hum the opera.Later, he simply learned to sing from a famous actor in the chrysanthemum circle, and he sang so well that he could perform a cameo on stage. When he was seventeen, Yuan Shikai took him to Beijing to visit the Empress Dowager Cixi in the Summer Palace.Cixi liked Kewen very much when she saw Kewen's handsome face and eloquent teeth.Said to Yuan: "Your second child hasn't made a kiss yet, I have a cousin who is about the same age as him, so I just told him." The Empress Dowager's niece from her natal family married a Han Chinese. This is really a mighty grace of the emperor, which makes many people elusive!But the shrewd Yuan Shikai had already seen the decline of the royal family, but he was unwilling to marry the royal family, so he kowtowed and said: "Please be angry with the queen mother, the dog has already agreed to marry." "Oh." Cixi was a little disappointed, and asked casually, "Which family is the girl from!" Yuan Kewen didn't say anything about his relationship at all, and the performance just now was purely a lie, how to answer this question?Cold sweat broke out on Yuan's back for a moment, he collected himself, and answered casually, "It's a girl from a family named Liu in Tianjin." Cixi stopped asking questions, and Yuan hurriedly took his son to leave.As soon as he returned to Tianjin, he asked people to marry Ke Wen in private. There were only two conditions: one was that the surname was Liu, the other was that the girl was a good person, and other things such as family status and wealth were ignored. The surname Liu is a common surname, and there are no less than 20 or 30 households in Tianjin, where there are only palace gentry surnamed Liu, so it was quickly agreed upon the daughter of Tianjin Daoist Liu Shangwen's family, and a wedding was held hastily.Mrs. Liu is three years older than Kewen, and has a bad temper. Kewen doesn't like her.Less than a hundred days after Liu's marriage, Kewen started to talk about marrying a concubine.When Liu found out, she cried and made noises, but Ke Wen ignored her, so she went to her father-in-law to complain. How can a father with many wives and concubines stop his son from taking concubines?This is also Liu's dizziness.Sure enough, Yuan Shikai was very displeased with his daughter-in-law's crying, and scolded: "Only a capable man can have three wives and four concubines. You should be happy for your husband's ability, and don't be jealous." Seeing that her father-in-law did not support her, Mrs. Liu had to swallow her anger.But Yuan Kewen was romantic by nature, and the concubine got tired of it not long after she got married, so she asked for a new love.Although he is only eighteen years old, he already has one wife and two concubines in his family, and the second son Yuan is often seen in brothels in the capital. Two months ago, he was ordered by his father to go to Suzhou to check an old file of the Suzhou Weaving Bureau.Ke Wen had heard about the beautiful women in Suzhou earlier, so when he arrived in Suzhou, instead of going to check the case files, he walked the streets and alleys in search of stunning women, and finally found a prostitute named Guo in the Wu Wa Courtyard.Guo's beauty is both beautiful and artistic, and she is delicate and charming, which wins Ke Wen's favor.After lingering in Suzhou for more than 20 days, Ke Wen was going back to Beijing to return to his command.Before leaving, he made an alliance with Mrs. Guo: one month later, someone will be sent to pick her up to be his wife in Beijing.Mrs. Guo presented her own jade photo to Mr. Ruyi.Ke Wen put the photo in the pocket of his mandarin jacket and often took it out to look at it along the way. Yuan Shikai's family rules: When sons are sent out on errands, they must first report to him when they return home, and then they can return to their rooms.As soon as Kewen entered the mansion, he hurried to his father's signing room to report.Kneeling and kowtowing in front of his father, he forgot for a moment that Mrs. Guo's photo was in the small pocket on top of the mandarin coat. As soon as his head touched the ground, the photo slipped out of the pocket. "Hmm! What is that?" Yuan Shikai asked sharply. All of Yuan Shikai's sons feared their father like a tiger.Ke Wen was anxious and frightened at this time, but the matter had been exposed and could not be covered up, so he had to bite the bullet and hand over the photos. "You worthless fellow, which brothel woman have you taken a fancy to?" Yuan Shikai reprimanded his son with a stern face, and at the same time carefully looked at the photo: This woman has phoenix eyes and moth eyebrows, thick hair and a small mouth, so beautiful!What particularly tempted him was the coquettish look in the woman's eyes, which he didn't have in his monogamous wife and seven concubines!Slowly, his face softened, and a smile appeared from the corner of his eyes. Yuan Kewen's heart was beating non-stop. He peeked at his father's expression and knew that his lustful father had also taken a fancy to Guo Shi.Ke Wen is a person who is easy to empathize. He thought, although Guo Shi is beautiful, there are still people who are as beautiful as Guo Shi. It is better to give her to his father as a gift, so that he will be more favored by him in the future.So he said: "My lord, this is a beautiful woman that my son found for you in Suzhou. I don't know if you like it or not, so I bring you a picture of her." Yuan Kewen's words reached his father's heart, and he hurriedly said: "Well, this girl wants to win again, it's rare for you to have such filial piety!" After asking about the address of the Guo family in detail, Yuan Shikai rewarded his son with a bronze Yi vessel from the Western Zhou Dynasty, and sent someone south to Suzhou to pick up the Guo family the next day. Seeing people coming from Yuan's residence, Mrs. Guo thought it was Kewen Jiannuo who came to pick her up, so she dressed up in bright makeup and followed them to Beijing.On the night of entering Beijing, there were flowers and candles in the bridal chamber, and when the headscarf was removed, Mrs. Guo was dumbfounded: the person standing in front of her was not a handsome young man, but a potbellied half-old man.After asking about the situation, Guo burst into tears, regretting being fooled by Bo Xinglang.Since Yuan Shikai had accepted her openly, he had no reason to return her to his son.Guo had no choice but to lament her fate and endured the humiliation to become Yuan Gongbao's eighth concubine. Yang Shixiang, the former feudal official who was promoted to the governor of Zhili by Yuan Shikai's strong recommendation, heard the news, and personally went to Beijing to present a 100,000 silver note as a congratulatory gift, and reported to him that he was stationed in the second town and fourth town of Zhili. Brothers in the town always remember the kindness of Master Gongbao's cultivation, and are willing to work for Master Gongbao at any time. The newly acquired concubine, who is as beautiful as flowers and jade, and the unyielding loyalty of his bureaucrats, Yuan Shikai, who was once a little uncomfortable because of being hit by a bright rise and a dark fall, was greatly inspired.A bold idea even sprouted in his mind: In case the queen mother dies one day, if the royal family is not polite, I, Yuan Shikai, can also do the career of Cao Cao and Sima Yi! He made a calm analysis of his situation: Although the provinces across the country claim to have formed 20 towns of new troops, in fact most of them are in name only, and the real combat effectiveness is the six Beiyang towns he trained.The officers above the central management level in these six towns were all selected and appointed by themselves. Soldiers are the most loyal, so they will not be ungrateful so soon.Although the Beiyang New Army is not under its own jurisdiction in name, Yang Shixiang’s two towns and Xu Shichang’s one town and two associations are actually not much different from his own. Although the leaders of the other towns have changed, the Xietong It is absolutely impossible to change all the belts, standards, and battalion management belts.This is where the power lies. Right now the people are full of unpopularity, and the revolutionary party is going to be full. Once they gain power, they will undoubtedly be excluded together. Of course, they cannot support it.The Junxian faction advocates the establishment of a parliament, the establishment of a constitution, and the establishment of a cabinet system, which is not only in line with the world trend, but also accepted by the queen mother, and should be supported.If you control this faction of political power in your own hands, you will control both civil and military forces in the country, and who will be the prime minister of the cabinet in the future!Even if you are forced to do Cao Cao and Sima Yi one day, it will be more logical to do it. The number one leader of the Junxian faction is Liang Qichao.But Liang still has hatred in his heart, and it is difficult to win over.Yang Du is the most vicious and famous person overseas under Liang. Since he has been transferred to the capital with Zhang Zhidong, why not take this opportunity to cage him firmly and use him to cooperate with Jun Xian? To establish close ties with factions, and further achieve the goal of controlling this faction's political forces? Yuan Shikai called his eldest son, Keding, and said, "Send someone to the Xianzheng Hall to find out if Yang Du from Hunan has come to Beijing. If so, you can personally pick him up. I want to see him." Yuan Keding is 30 years old this year, except that he is taller than his father, everything else is the same as his father, especially those big round eyes and those thick lips, which are almost like a mold.Like every Chinese father, Yuan Shikai placed high hopes on his eldest son, not to mention that this son was the only heir.Because of this, Yuan Shikai's attitude towards Keding is different from that of other sons. When Yuan Keding was four years old, and Yuan Shikai had just arrived in North Korea, he thought about his son's education. He took his son from his hometown in Xiangcheng to Seoul, where he was raised by the Shen family, and hired a learned Chinese to enlighten Keding.When his son was ten years old, Yuan Shikai personally taught him to read "Zeng Wenzheng Gong's Family Instructions", completely adopting Zeng Guofan's method of teaching Keding to educate Keding, hoping that he would become a talent like Zeng Jize and Zeng Jihong.After the age of fifteen or sixteen, in addition to studying, Yuan Shikai often let his son watch him do things, and sometimes let him do something, deliberately training his ability to do things.Yuan Shikai himself is not very good at reading, so he is not strict with his son's reading of the Four Books and Five Classics, but pays attention to his practical ability to do things.Under the long-term influence of his father, Keding has also developed a character similar to his father: keen on politics, with a strong desire for power, and at the same time familiar with the hypocrisy, ingenuity and fraudulent style of officialdom since childhood. Yuan Keding is quite self-respecting.He understands his status in the family and pays attention to check.He is respectful in front of his parents, even to the four concubine mothers in the Joseon Dynasty, and he also treats his younger brothers and sisters with a smile, caring and loving.Therefore, the eldest son has a high prestige in the Yuan family.Yuan Shikai valued him very much and believed that he could become a great tool in the future. When encountering some difficult things, he often discussed with him, and sometimes he could indeed come up with some good ideas.In order to tighten the relationship with Yikuang, Yuan Shikai asked his son and Zai Zhen to worship as brothers.Zai Zhen was then Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, so he bestowed the post of You Cheng on Brother Ba.Keding seldom worked in the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, and his main position was still his father's personal representative and confidential counselor. "Father." Yuan Keding asked for instructions respectfully, "Yang Du is just a small Beijing hall with a fourth-rank title, is it worthy of your personal interview?" "Don't underestimate this fourth-rank little Jingtang." Yuan Shikai stroked the bushy mustache around his mouth, and his movements were very crisp. This is his habit, just like his speech, concise and clear, never sloppy . "Although Yang Du is young and humble, he is the leader of a political faction and should not be taken lightly. Just do what I say!"