Chapter 69 7. Seeing the inscription on the title page of "The Secret History of the Great Zhou Dynasty", Yuan Shikai intends to fulfill Yang Du

As soon as Yang Du returned to the city, he sent Mr. He to send a letter to Yuan Keding. Although Yuan Keding held the position of the right minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, he had no interest in agriculture, industry and commerce at all. It was rare for him to go to the Ministry once or twice a month. His interest was in politics. One day, Yuan Keding went to Huai'an Hutong to chat and asked about Wang Kaiyun.Yang Du talked with Mr. Yuan about his teacher.It tells how the teacher worked as a school teacher in Sushun's family, how he persuaded Zeng Guofan to establish himself as emperor, and how he passed on his emperor's knowledge to himself in his later years.Yang Du was in high spirits that day. He not only talked about the rise and fall of the dynasties, but also told the story of visiting Taoist Hu in Mawang Temple.It was said that Mr. Yuan admired the study of emperors so much that before leaving, he went to the "Secret History of the Great Zhou Dynasty" again.He closed the door and watched it at home for three days, feeling that he had benefited a lot.After that, Yuan Keding often went to Huai'an Hutong to talk with Yang Du about the constitutionalism of various countries in the East and the West.Yang Du eloquently talked about the study of constitutionalism, from the thought of Datong in ancient China to the Meiji Restoration in Japan, sometimes in Chinese, sometimes in Japanese, and sometimes he brought out books in hard-shelled foreign languages ​​thick as bricks, and skillfully used them for his own ideas. Find evidence for an argument.Mr. Yuan really admired brother Ba's knowledge and eloquence.

Hearing that the second younger brother took a fancy to the elder brother's lover, this is really an interesting thing, Yuan Keding smiled and said to Yang Du: "It doesn't matter, don't worry, the younger brother and daughter-in-law will return to sister-in-law!" Yuan Keding saw things too simply.When he talked to his second younger brother, explaining that Yizhu has long been in love with someone, and he might as well give up, Ke Wen didn't listen at all.He wanted his elder brother to speak for him and persuaded Yang Du to give up.Ke Ding put on his identity as the eldest son to teach his second brother a lesson, but Ke Wen didn't buy it.Speaking of later, the two brothers quarreled and broke up unhappy.

Yuan Kewen knew the importance of his elder brother in his father's eyes, and guessed that he was no match for him, so he went to find his stepmother, Mrs. Shen.Shen is the eldest concubine, and she has shared hardships with Yuan Shikai, and her status in Yuan's mansion is second only to his wife Yu's.Shen's always indulged Ke Wen, she comforted her son: "It doesn't matter, Mom will make the decision for you, you can't marry the girl you like, so you are still the second son of the Yuan family?" Taking advantage of the opportunity of staying overnight, Shen blew the pillow wind to Yuan Shikai, saying how much Kewen liked that girl, and that a father should help his son.

Yuan Shikai listened to it, but did not make a sound.Kewen's lover became the eighth concubine of the Yuan family, and the father felt that he owed his son something.Now that Ke Wen has his eyes on another girl, of course he should fulfill it, and is willing to take this opportunity to give some more treasures to make up for his previous mistakes.But this girl happened to belong to Yang Du, Yuan Shikai was a little hesitant. The next day, Keding really came to report to his father, and asked his father to order his second brother to take back the dowry, so that Yang Du and Yi Zhu's good deed would be fulfilled.

"You know Ke Wen's temperament, how could he give up?" Yuan Shikai had a piece of ginseng in his mouth, and he chewed it slowly while talking.This ginseng is a gift from Duan Qirui, the general manager of Baoding Military Academy. It is a real Changbai Mountain wild ginseng. Experts have identified that this ginseng has grown in the mountains for at least 500 years and weighs less than a catty. Duan Qirui spent it Two thousand taels of silver.Yuan Shikai added another concubine, just in need of this thing, and during this time he never left his mouth. "Father, the second brother is very self-willed in this regard, and he has reached the point of nonsense." Yuan Keding stood by with his hands down. The eldest son who grew up under the teachings of "Zeng Wenzheng Gong's Family Instructions" paid great attention to the etiquette of superiority and inferiority. He and his father and biological mother Yu never sat down when he was talking, but stood up no matter how long he spoke, without showing a trace of tiredness. "You may not know that he married two concubines in less than four months after he came back from Suzhou. The first concubine was sent out after more than a month. The second one didn't have two concubines with him Yue, just because he fell in love with this Yizhu, he clamored to send her out. He likes Yizhu now, so he hired him with a thousand taels of silver, and after two months of freshness, he would not let her go. Isn't this a crime? "

Because of living with his father, Yuan Kewen reluctantly lost the Guo family who was in the heat. He learned this lesson and bought a house in Dongtiao Hutong on the pretext that the house in the Beiyang Office was not enough. His wife Liu and his concubine Sun lived there, so Yuan Shikai didn't know about his marriage and dispatch of concubines.Of course, everyone else knew it, but they didn't dare to tell Yuan Shikai because they were afraid of offending Kewen and the doting Shen family.Keding wanted to help Yang Du, but he was also annoyed at his second brother's absurdity, so he had to expose the matter.Yuan Shikai was really angry.

"This bastard, how can he act like this? One day I will whip him a hundred times!" For the son who committed the crime, Yuan Shikai often beat him with a whip himself.When he was angry, he even whipped dozens of times in a row, his son was covered in blood, and he rolled on the ground and howled, but he didn't show mercy.Because of this, the son saw him like a mouse seeing a cat.Among his more than ten sons, the only one who has never been whipped is Keding. "Which girl does he like? If he wants to come here, it's all right to live with her wholeheartedly. How can the family approve of such a change of people like now? What's more, Yang Xizi and this girl have already made up their minds, and spent a lot of money to redeem her. Come out, the second brother is happy and lost in two months, but Xizi will suffer for the rest of his life, it is too unreasonable!"

What Yuan Keding said makes sense.Yuan Shikai nodded slightly, and asked: "You have been in contact with Yang Du during this period, does this person have real talents and learning, is he the kind of fake celebrity with a false name?" "Father, my son is about to report to you. This Yang Xizi is a very talented person." Yuan Keding reported to his father about the constitutional government talks with Yang Du in Huai'an Hutong.Yuan Shikai touched his stiff mustache from time to time and listened carefully. "Father." Yuan Keding lowered his voice, bent down and said into Yuan Shikai's ear, "Yang Xizi has learned from his teacher, Mr. Renqiu, the true teaching of the emperor's learning. According to my son, he has a bit of Fang Xuanling's legacy."

"Is it true? How can you tell?" Yuan Shikai turned his face and asked, he was very interested in what his son said. "One day, his son asked him what Wang's theory of emperors was. He talked about it from the afternoon of the first day to the early morning of the next day. He explained his master's theory of emperors so wonderfully that his son was shocked and thought about Fang Xuanling today. It has come to the world, but it is a pity that Tang Gaozu has not been seen." On the surface, Yuan Keding is respectful and courteous, like a gentleman, but in fact he is very ambitious.Six years ago, Yuan Shikai hired Fang Dishan, a native of Yangzhou, as a tutor for him and Ke Wen.This person was a scholar at the age of ten, and he was an early prodigy, but he was unsatisfied in the examination field and was not successful in the examination, so he entered the Beiyang Military Academy as a teacher, and at the same time wrote articles for Tianjin's "Ta Kung Pao".Fang Dishan's articles were well written, and his name became bigger and bigger, and Yuan Shikai finally took a fancy to him and extended him to be a teacher.Fang Dishan has read classics and epics a lot, and thinks himself extremely high, but he is very accustomed to being a literati.On the one hand, he claims to be the talent of Zhuge in wind and music, on the other hand, he is also a romantic poet, wine, and bohemian.These two aspects of him profoundly affected his two half-students with very different temperaments.His unrestrained style was passed on to Ke Wen, and his political ambition infected Ke Ding.Once, he once said to Keding very seriously: "I have studied the history books and observed the world silently. I deeply feel that today's Tianjin is the Taiyuan of that year. The Lord Gong Bao is Tang Gong Li Yuan, and the eldest son is Qin Wang Shimin. I wish to do it for myself." .” These words were kept firmly in Keding’s mind.Seeing his father's career becoming more and more prosperous, he also believed in the teacher's prediction more and more, and secretly expected Li Shimin himself.Of course, this kind of expectation can only be hidden deep in his heart, including his father, he has not revealed it to anyone.Inspiration came suddenly today, and he intentionally leaked a few words in order to get a glimpse of his father's attitude.After Yuan Keding finished speaking, he looked at his father.

Yuan Shikai stopped chewing, his eyes shone brightly, and he squeezed his thick chin tightly with one hand. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly stood up, stared at his son and shouted sharply: "Who says there is no Tang Gaozu, the time is not enough!" That's all!" Yuan Keding replied with surprise and joy: "Father is right, as long as the time comes, the sky will descend on Tang Gaozu, and the people will support Tang Gaozu." Yuan Shikai took two steps in the study, sat down again, and said to his son: "From ancient times to the present, there have been people who have the ability to establish a foundation and build a country. , so there are characters who come out in accordance with the times. Tang Gaozu, Song Taizu and others are certainly dragons among men, but they are not so unattainable. When you read history books, you have to work hard from these principles. Of course, today is our Father and son talk privately at home, you can't talk nonsense to the outside world. Do you understand? Hmm!"

The word "Do you understand?" is often the ending of Yuan Shikai's lectures to his subordinates, and sometimes the word "um" is added after "Do you understand".Whenever this kind of words are said, the listener must not have the slightest doubt, and must implement it firmly.Keding is familiar with his father's temperament and understands the weight of this sentence.He replied tremblingly, "My son understands." "Do you know that Wang Renqiu's study of emperors is a study that has not been successful?" Yuan Shikai took out another piece of ginseng from his pocket and put it in his mouth. Yuan Keding picked up the black jade cup from the desk and handed it to his father with both hands.Yuan Shikai took a sip and put the cup on the tea table beside him. "Wang Renqiu's son lobbied the princes in his early years, and his son knew a little bit about it. He also asked Yang Xizi the other day. He said that his teacher's study of emperors was remarkable as a science, and indeed as a career. No success. The reason is not the theory itself, but the failure to meet the right person. Neither Sushun nor Zeng Guofan are worthy of assistance." "Huh!" Yuan Shikai burst out a word from his nostrils, like a sneer or a sarcasm. "Will Yang Xizi follow Naishi's theory now and meet someone worthy of help?" "Yang Xizi said to his son that his study of emperors was more developed than his teacher's, and he added the constitutional monarchy created by foreigners into it. He said that changing the dynasty and surname was an earth-shaking change, and there was no major change. Natural disasters and man-made disasters are difficult to succeed in the background. He does not advocate revolution, and believes that China does not have the conditions for revolution at present. The prime minister is actually the lord of a country, but he has not changed dynasties in name. Yang Xizi said that it is a pity that when his teacher was young, the theory of the monarchy and constitution was not introduced to China. If the prime minister had used the cabinet prime minister to lobby Sushun and Zeng Guofan, he would have succeeded, because they could Therefore, Yang Xizi said that his theory is Wang’s theory of emperors plus Western monarch’s constitutional theory, which can also be called the new theory of emperors, and this new theory of emperors is worthwhile in today’s imperial court. assistants." "Who did he say specifically?" "No." Keding knew what his father was thinking, but Yang Du didn't say the word "Yuan Gongbao", so he couldn't fabricate it either. "Father, Yang Du also has a strange book that he got from a fortune-teller called "The Secret History of the Great Zhou Dynasty". I have read it and benefited a lot. My son wanted to recommend this book to his father, but seeing that his father was always busy, he didn’t mention it.” Yuan Shikai has always been advocating hard work and does not spend too much time on reading, but he is by no means a martial arts reckless man who came from a scholarly family.When he was a child, under the strict supervision of his father and grandparents, he also carefully read the Four Books and Five Classics, and practiced regular script, fluent articles, and well-regulated poems.Therefore, he also values ​​scholars, especially those who have economic skills.He also occasionally reads books that are useful in military affairs.Yuan Shikai has a strong interest in Wu Sangui, a historical figure, especially the secret history written by people around him. There must be many things outsiders don't know.Yuan Shikai was in need of this kind of book, and he expected his son: "Go and get it, and I will look through it." Yuan Keding brought "The Secret History of the Great Zhou Dynasty" from his room and presented it to his father with both hands.Yuan Shikai took it, looked back and forth, and turned the inside pages to look carefully. "This is a book with a long history." He concluded in an expert tone, and then solemnly opened the first page, and saw a short article on the title page: Yuan Shikai laughed and said: "Yang Du doesn't follow others' opinions, but it's rare. It seems that this book has some records about Wu Sangui that have been handed down differently. I'll look through it." Yuan Keding said: "My son sees that Yang Xizi has extraordinary knowledge, and he may become Fang and Du by his father's side in the future." Having said that, he glanced at his father, and saw that the corner of his father's mouth twitched obviously.He was very happy, and hurriedly returned to the topic: "The son thought, the father might as well sell him a favor and order the second brother to take back the dowry to fulfill his good deed. I know the character of the second brother, he will be sad for ten days and a half months at most. When I meet another beautiful woman, I will forget everything, but Yang Xizi will be grateful for the rest of my life. What do you think?" "Okay!" Yuan Shikai no longer hesitated. "You go and tell Ke Wen that other people's women cannot be forced." "Yes!" Keding happily agreed, and was about to turn around and leave the study when his father stopped him again. "You still have to tell him that from now on, you must study honestly and learn how to do things. If you continue to change wives one by one today and tomorrow, see if I don't break his back! Do you understand? Hmm!" "Son, go and tell the second brother!"