Chapter 99 10. Yuan Shikai, who is good at dealing with things, doesn’t know what to call Zhou’s mother.

When the train slowly entered Qianmen Station, the welcome crowd who had been waiting in the VIP room walked onto the platform.Naturally, Wang Kaiyun's two high-level disciples, Yang Du and Xia Shoutian, were indispensable among them, as well as two other dignitaries, the eldest son Yuan Keding and the chief internal historian Ruan Zhongshu.In addition, dozens of Xiangqi old man's poetry friends and students in Beijing, as well as celebrities from all walks of life who came here to see the elegant demeanor, crowded the spacious platform to the brim. Zhou's mother helped Wang Kaiyun, who was in low spirits, to get off the train. Yang Du and Xia Shoutian hurriedly went up to ask the teacher for peace.

Wang Kaiyun happily asked Yang Du: "Xizi, how big is your career now?" Yang Du didn't know how to answer for a while, so he just smiled and said: "You have to wait for your old age to do your career, and I can only be a helper." Wang Kaiyun laughed and said, "I'm eighty-three years old, what else do I do!" Turning to Xia Shoutian again, he said, "Wu Yi, your current position was a cabinet bachelor from the second rank a few years ago." Xia Shoutian said with a smile: "I only do some errands for the president to spread the word. How can I have such a high official title."

At this time, a short, thin, middle-aged man was walking towards him at a brisk pace, his right leg was obviously limping.Yang Du hurriedly introduced to the teacher: "This is Mr. Yuntai, the eldest son of President Yuan Da." "Oh, oh." Wang Kaiyun nodded his head in greeting. "I have admired Mr. Wang's name for a long time. It is a great honor to meet you in Beijing today." Yuan Keding said, stretching out a right hand with a snow-white glove. Wang Kaiyun has never been used to shaking hands, he usually uses the gesture of clasping his fists with both hands.Especially seeing Yuan Keding shaking hands with gloves on, he was quite disgusted and thought: Do you think my old man's hands are dirty?Thinking of this, there was no smile on his face, he held his hands loosely, lifted it casually, and said, "Forget it, get it out!"

Wang Kaiyun's behavior in front of everyone made the eldest son quite embarrassed.Seeing this scene, Yang Du hurriedly introduced Ruan Zhongshu: "Master Xiangqi, this is the representative sent by the President, Mr. Ruan Zhongshu, chief of internal history." "Under the order of the President, Zhongshu is here to wait for Mr. Wang." Seeing that Wang Kaiyun did not shake hands with Yuan Keding, Ruan Zhongshu switched to clasping fists. Wang Kaiyun saw that the head of the internal history in front of him had a black face and was as thin as a stick, and felt very uncomfortable. He thought to himself: How could Yuan Shikai use such a person as the head of the internal history!He hummed casually in his mouth: "Okay, okay!" He didn't even raise his hand, but his eyes were looking for the old friend among the welcoming crowd.

At this time, a fat old man in his fifties squeezed through the crowd and shouted, "Old Ren, Old Ren!" Wang Kaiyun looked at the prestige, his face was full of smiles immediately, he ignored the eldest son and the head of the internal history, walked over with long steps, and shouted: "Cui'an, you are here too!" Ku'an is the name of Yi Shun Ding.Yi Shunding is a native of Longyang, Hunan. His style name is Shifu.Ku'an was a poet who became famous very early. He could do very well in poetry when he was eight or nine years old. At the age of thirteen or fourteen, he was famous in Sanxiang, and he was equally famous with Zeng Guangjun.Wang Kaiyun admired them both very much, saying that Zeng was a child prodigy and Yi was a child fairy.Ku'an is full of talent, not only led the poetic world of the capital together with Fan Fanshan, but also became the leader of the fancier association of the capital together with a group of noble sons.He likes to hold famous roles, especially Kun roles.Whenever a beautiful and good singer appeared on stage, he would shout and applaud loudly in the theater.Those who know, say he is an old wit who doesn't stick to any form; those who don't know, say he is an annoying old maniac.

Yi Shunding panted and came to Wang Kaiyun's side and said, "Mr. Ren, I'm finally looking forward to you. Tomorrow I will be the host of Cuihua Building, and I have invited Fan Fanshan, Xian Lingzhi and other people to accompany me. Your old man It must be appreciated." "Who is Xian Lingzhi?" Wang Kaiyun knew Fan Fanshan's name, but he had never heard of Xian Lingzhi. "Fresh Ganoderma lucidum is the most famous name in the capital today, Kun, who is beautiful and can sing well in operas." Yi Shunding said happily, "I call her Ganniang, she calls me Master, and the two cancel each other out."

Someone in the crowd laughed. "How old is she, you call her godmother!" Wang Kaiyun asked with a smile. "Twenty-five years old, twenty-five years old." Yi Shunding said twice. "You bastard, you are really old, you call a twenty-five-year-old woman a godmother!" Wang Kaiyun patted Yi Shunding's shoulder heavily and then laughed.In fact, he really likes the refined character of this wit and lunatic. Yi Shunding grinned and said, "Mr. Ren, all the ingredients in the restaurant in the capital are good, but the soy sauce is not good. Xiangtan soy sauce is the best in the country. Did you always bring soy sauce?"

Wang Kaiyun said: "I didn't bring anything else, but I brought a jar of soy sauce." "That's good, that's good." Yi Shunding came up with inspiration for a moment and said, "Old Ren, I give you four words: Sauce from Xiangtan. But this sauce is not that general." Wang Kaiyun immediately picked up: "Cui'an, I also give you four words: Longyang's appearance. But this appearance is not that appearance." Yi Shunding was taken aback for a moment, and then burst out laughing: "Old Ren, you are so powerful, I haven't seen you for many years, and you always scold me when you meet."

Following Yi Shunding's laughter, many people in the crowd also laughed.Some people still couldn't figure out what they were laughing at.It turned out that Wang Kaiyun used an allusion to tease the old urchin. During the Warring States period, the king of Wei had a male favorite, who was named Lord Longyang.People have another name for male pets: Xianggong.Yi Shunding was from Longyang, so Wang Kaiyun said that "Longyang is a prime minister", but this "phase" is the "phase" of the minister, not the "phase" of the prime minister.He was confronting Yi Shunding's "sauce" but the "sauce" of soy sauce and not the "general" of generals, and scolded him even more sharply.

An old man in his eighties was so quick and quick to respond, which amazed all the welcome people on the platform. Ruan Zhongshu took a step forward and said: "Mr. Wang, President Yuan cannot come in person because of important matters. He has sent his car here to pick you up. Please get in the car!" Following the direction Ruan Zhongshu pointed, Wang Kaiyun saw a shiny black car parked there.Everyone showed envy for the special courtesy the president gave him, but Wang Kaiyun turned around and asked Yang Du, "Xizi, did you come in a sedan chair or a carriage?" Yang Du replied, "I came by carriage."

Wang Wenyun said to Ruan Zhongshu: "Master Ruan, I'm not used to this foreign car, I'd better go to the apartment in Xizi's carriage, and I'll trouble you and the eldest son to drive the car back, and tell Weiting, saying that I appreciate it, he is busy, I will visit him another day." Ruan Zhongshu felt rather embarrassed: How could he return with an empty car when he came here specially to meet him?Yuan Keding already knew a little about the old man's eccentric temper from many Beijing officials from Hunan, so he said: "Everything is up to you, we will not force it. My father said that we will hold a banquet at the Presidential Palace the day after tomorrow to cleanse you." Wang Kaiyun turned his head and said to Zhou's mother standing behind him, "Do you know where the presidential palace is? It's in the palace." Mother Zhou said excitedly: "Then we can see the palace the day after tomorrow!" "Yes, you can see the imperial palace." Wang Kaiyun smiled, and said to Yuan Keding solemnly, "Mr. Yuntai, please tell your father that when you invite me the day after tomorrow, you must allow me to bring my crutches in." Yuan Keding didn't understand what he meant, and said, "It doesn't matter whether you wear crutches or not, I will arrange someone to help you." "Don't bother you to arrange someone, I have my special crutch." Wang Kaiyun pointed to Zhou's mother and said, "This crutch is her." At this moment, Yuan Keding noticed a short, fat, ugly and ugly old woman standing behind the old man, and he was dumbfounded.Many welcomers on the platform roared with laughter at the same time. Wang Kaiyun and his party were arranged in No. 2 Wugongwei, Xidan Pailou, which is a large courtyard. The next day, Yang Du accompanied his mother and uncle to visit the teacher.When Dai Yi saw his uncle coming, he was very happy. He brought out all the local products from Xiangtan, and took out the shawl with peacock feathers.Uncle Ji didn't seem to notice Dai Yi's hospitality. She only talked to her father-in-law and was indifferent to others, including Dai Yi.Dai Yi was very sad.After dinner, Mrs. Li got up to say goodbye, and my uncle also got up.Everyone advised her to stay here instead of going to Huaian Hutong.Uncle Ji firmly refused. Seeing this scene, Wang Kaiyun knew that the rift between his son and his wife was deep and had to be healed slowly, so he said to his uncle, "Okay, Dai Yi will visit you in a few days." Dai Yi handed Uncle Ji a large bag of local products, but Uncle Ji didn't take it, but took the shawl away.Dai Yi watched his uncle and her party go away, feeling empty in his heart. In the evening, someone from the presidential palace posted a post.The post said that at noon tomorrow, the President would greet the old man Xiangqi at Ju Ren Tang, and there was no mention of Zhou's mother. Zhou's mother said to Wang Kaiyun: "Old man, you can go alone tomorrow, I won't go." "Why?" Wang Kaiyun asked. "President Yuan didn't invite me!" "It doesn't matter. It's his business to please, it's my business to take it or not." At ten o'clock the next day, Zhou's mother helped Wang Kaiyun to go out.He doesn't wear Hanlin official uniform, nor does he wear a guest dress, but he still looks like a daily home: he wears a green cloth cap, a black cloth gown, and a pair of round-cut platform shoes.Relying on his familiarity with the imperial palace back then, the old man asked no one to send him off, so he called a carriage by himself, got in the carriage and went straight to Jingyun Gate.In the former Qing Dynasty, foreign officials usually entered the palace through this gate. When the carriage came to Jingyun Gate, the two palace gates were tightly closed.It turned out that this door had been sealed, so I had to find another door.After finally finding a gate, several large green sedan chairs were parked at the gate, and several soldiers with guns stood guard there.Wang Kaiyun knew that this was the place to enter the presidential palace, so he took Zhou's mother's hand, a man and a woman, one tall and one short, one thin and one fat, and walked inside with their heads held high. "Stop, what are you doing!" A tall man with a Shandong accent among the guards shouted loudly. "Get out, get out, do you know where this is? It's Hu Chong!" Another small soldier who spoke a Beijing dialect also came over and gave the two uninvited guests a blank look. "You are the country folks who came to Beijing for the first time. You just walked around without asking. If you didn't see that you are old people, you would have been arrested." Beijing Xiaomin has always been verbose, and this little Beijing soldier even yelled at people. Wang Kaiyun was not angry, and said with a smile, "You don't know who I am? Didn't the commander on duty tell you? I am a guest invited by your president and my nephew." The two guards didn't know what to do when they saw the old man talking about the call with a smile.The little man was more intelligent, and said: "Whether it is true or not, first treat them well. If it is true, if you neglect it, then it will be difficult to explain." The big soldier said, "You are right." So the two guards changed into smiling faces, invited Wang Kaiyun and Zhou Ma into the concierge, and poured them two more cups of tea. The little soldier said: "You sit wide, I'll go inside and ask." Wang Kaiyun crossed his legs, sipped tea carefully, and chatted with Zhou Mama in Xiangtan dialect.The big soldier stared at them, unable to understand a word, thinking: 80% of it is fake, the president is from Henan, and people from his hometown sometimes come, so most of what he said is understandable.I couldn't understand a word of what these two people said. How could they be relatives of the president's hometown? After about half an hour, I saw Xia Shoutian striding out, and asked the big soldier loudly, "Where is old man Xiangqi?" Seeing that Xia Neishi came out to pick him up in person, the big soldier knew that it was indeed a guest invited by the president, so he hurriedly walked into the concierge respectfully, gave a military salute to Wang Kai, and said, "I was slow just now, please forgive me, old man." At this time Xia Shoutian also came in and said, "Master Xiangqi, why did you come here by yourself? Xizi came here specially to pick you up." Wang Kaiyun said: "More than 50 years ago, I have been to the palace no less than ten times, but now it has changed, and it is almost impossible to enter." Xia Shoutian said: "Don't say it was 50 years ago, even if it is compared with five years ago, it is very different." Wang Kaiyun said again: "What is the rule now? The president treats guests, but the guards don't know. When the guests invited by the emperor got out of the sedan chair, the supervisors knelt on the ground to greet them. It's really not as good as it used to be." Xia Shoutian thought to himself: If you always come in a foreigner's car or a big green sedan chair, they will be more polite.He said in his mouth: "They are not sensible, you old Mo care about them." Seeing Zhou's mother at the side, he greeted her and thought to himself: Teacher is really confused.The president's treat is not a private visit to relatives and friends, even if the wife is not invited, he can't bring it, let alone such an old lady who is on the kang!Bringing this kind of person into Zhongnanhai, wouldn't it spoil the red walls, green tiles, jade pillars and tanchi here?It was hard for him to say anything, so he had to say to Wang Kaiyun, "You always go in!" After entering Zhongnanhai, Zhou's mother was very curious about everything in front of her. She kept tugging at the corner of Wang Kaiyun's clothes, pointing and asking questions.Wang Kaiyun told her tirelessly.The questions were answered with great interest, as if traveling in mountains and rivers, completely ignoring the majesty and solemnity of the presidential palace.The officials passing by all looked at them suspiciously, pointing at them from a distance and whispering.Xia Shoutian saw it, and although he felt it was inappropriate, there was nothing he could do about it. After entering Jurentang, drink tea in the tea room first.After a while, Yang Du hurried in, and he couldn't help laughing out loud when he heard the old man talk about the funny things about entering the door.Amidst the laughter, Liang Qichao and Cai E came in neatly dressed.They also received invitations to accompany Wang Kaiyun. It was the first time Wang Kaiyun saw Liang Qichao, and he seemed very affectionate, and he kept praising him for being young and promising, and for his hard work.He also asked about Kang Youwei's situation, and expressed his earnest concern.The hatred of Kang Liang tampering with Confucius' advocacy of civil rights more than ten years ago seems to have disappeared.Wang Kaiyun also praised Cai E as a young hero who achieved fame early.In front of Liang Cai, this old man is clearly a good teacher who generously rewards the younger generation. While talking, Xia Shoutian quietly told the teacher: "The President is here." Yuan Shikai, wearing a German-style yellow woolen military uniform and a pair of black leather long riding boots, walked in with a "thump, thump, thump".Xia Shoutian, Yang Du, Liang Qichao, and Cai E all stood up to welcome them.Seeing this scene, Zhou's mother panicked and was at a loss. She couldn't stand or sit, her buttocks twitched, and she was very uncomfortable.Wang Kaiyun was still sitting leisurely, until Yuan Shikai was about to walk in front of everyone, he slowly stood up. Xia Shoutian came over and introduced to Yuan Shikai: "President, this is Mr. Wang Renqiu from Xiangtan." "Oh, oh." Yuan Shikai smiled, stretched out his hands, and said politely, "Old Wang Ren, you have worked hard all the way, please forgive Yuan for not coming to the station to meet you in person." Wang Kaiyun thought that Yuan Shikai would affectionately call him Uncle Nian and call himself his nephew as soon as he came in, but he only called him "Old Wang Ren" and called himself "Yuan Mou". He became a little unhappy and said, "The President is busy , Wang is just an old tongue farmer in the country, how can he dare to work for the president to greet him." Yuan Shikai didn't notice the sarcasm in his words, and said: "Today, Yuan specially invited Mr. Wang Ren to come to the mansion for a talk, and invited Mr. Liang Zhuoru, Mr. Cai Songpo and two of your students to accompany him." "I disturbed the President." Wang Kaiyun said.Looking down, she saw that Zhou's mother was still sitting on the sofa with an embarrassing expression, and she was extremely at a loss, so she had a quick wit and rescued her. "Mother Zhou, didn't you say you want to take a good look at President Yuan? This is the President himself." Zhou's mother hurriedly stood up, not knowing what to say, she just grinned widely, showing her two oversized front teeth. Yuan Shikai has been in the officialdom for nearly forty years. He has seen thousands of wives and ladies of Chinese and foreign dignitaries, and he can handle any complicated situation. He didn't know how to deal with it.Who is this?Today, no matter whether the host or the guest accompany the guest, she will not be there.What identity?If it's a maidservant, she shouldn't introduce it face to face; if it's not a maidservant, why does the old man give her such face?Yuan Shikai thought about it, not knowing how to greet her properly. Yang Du and Xia Shoutian were also anxious, of course they knew the details.But can an old woman on the kang be mentioned in front of the president?The teacher brought an old woman on the kang into the presidential palace, and had to eat at the same table with the president. Isn't this a blasphemy against the dignity of the president?The two brilliant talents were also stumped by the scene in front of them. But Wang Kaiyun didn't care at all, and said to Yuan Shikai with a smile: "She is called Zhou Ma, and she is my crutch. I must take her with me wherever I go, otherwise it will be difficult for me to walk." Then he turned to Zhou Ma and said, "From Xiangtan to Beijing, I always said that I wanted to see what President Yuan looked like. Now I have a good look at what makes President Yuan different from ordinary people." Zhou's mother gave Yuan Shikai a hard look and said, "President Yuan's head is so big, it's no wonder that the sky is full of blessings." Wang Kaiyun laughed.Yuan Shikai didn't smile, but frowned.Liang Cai and others next to him wanted to laugh but dared not. After a while, Yuan Shikai suppressed the anger in his heart, forced a smile on his face, and said to Wang Kaiyun, "Mr. Wang Ren, please sit down." Then he said to the crowd, "Everyone, sit down!" Wang Kaiyun was not polite, and sat upright, Zhou Ma sat down next to him, and the others also sat down after a little humility. Dishes came up one after another, most of which were famous Henan dishes, such as Yellow River red carp, Funiu Mountain Hericium, Songshan Weicai, Zhumadian pheasant and so on.Zhou's mother thought that this was the imperial banquet, and she couldn't let it go easily, so she ate it desperately, chewing it in big mouthfuls, but she didn't feel any special taste.Wang Kaiyun ate with great relish, without any signs of aging. Liang Qichao said: "Teacher Tai, your appetite is so good that we as juniors admire you." Wang Kaiyun said: "After 80, the difference is much worse. Before 80, you can compare your appetite with young people." He also said to Yuan Shikai: "Forty years ago, when your lord was in the Jiangnan Yanfa Road, I drank with him one night, and the two of us drank ten cups of Gujing tribute wine without getting drunk. You went that time too, and you still Only twelve or thirteen years old, remember?" "I remember, I remember." Yuan Shikai nodded. "My father asked you to be called Uncle Nian, but you were so obedient back then, you even called Uncle Nian twice, do you remember this?" Yuan Shikai also remembered the matter of being called Uncle Wang Kaiyun, but he said, "I can't remember that." Wang Kaiyun became unhappy again, and said, "Call me Uncle Nian. I can be worthy of it. I am two years older than your father. But now that you are the president, I don't want you to call me Uncle Nian in front of everyone. " After finishing speaking, he burst out laughing, and everyone laughed too, Yuan Shikai felt embarrassed. After the meal, Yuan Shikai invited everyone to drink tea in the tea room. He drank ginseng and wolfberry soup as usual. "Old Wang Ren, I invite you to Beijing this time because I want to use your name to run the Museum of National History of the Republic of China well, and I feel sorry for you as the director of the museum." Yuan Shikai mentioned the matter of the curator at the beginning, which made Wang Kaiyun uncomfortable.What he hopes is to invite him to Beijing in the name of the curator of national history, and then entertain him with the etiquette of the emperor's teacher.After eating, Yuan Shikai should ask him about state affairs alone, just like the previous emperors met the prime minister alone.But now, in front of so many juniors, casually talking to him about the National History Museum, it was clearly far from his own thoughts before he came to Beijing, so he said, "I'm old, and I can't be the director of the museum anymore." Yuan Shikai said: "The National History Museum only collects some historical materials and preserves them. If any old man has passed away, find out and make a biography for him. It's all right. You don't need to do it yourself. You can make a list and give it to you. With a few assistants. Let them do things, and you just keep them at home." I have nothing to do, what do you want me to do?Come to Beijing to retire?Wang Kaiyun was holding his breath.On the train from Hankou to Beijing, Wang Kaiyun recalled Wang Jinyu's words and felt that her words made sense.I should point out Chen Shikai to Yuan Shikai in the capacity of Jiang Ziya, and propose a whole set of national policies.He thought a lot about national policy. In addition to Wang Jinyu's idea of ​​ending party struggle and benefiting the people's livelihood, he also thought of strengthening the army, rewarding farmers and mulberry, promoting education, and reducing taxes. Proposed.However, the old nephew who is now the great president doesn't seem to treat him as a national teacher at all, but just supports him as a great literati in Beijing to increase the value of the National History Museum. "If the weather is fine and you are in good health, just ask Xizi and Wu Yi to tell me where you want to go, and the money will be spent from the funds of the National History Museum. If you feel uncomfortable, there are doctors in the presidential palace. There are all Chinese ones, you can ask Wu Yi to arrange for them to go..." Yuan Shikai kept offering preferential terms as a gift to receive the old celebrities, but the old celebrities who were old and ambitious became more and more annoyed by the hearing, and their eyes slowly closed. Seeing that Wang Kaiyun had dozed off, Yuan Shikai stopped talking.He himself has to take a nap every day, and usually does not break this habit, not to mention that in the afternoon, there are German and American envoys to meet, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy has important military affairs to discuss. These are more important than chatting with the curator of national history. Ten times a hundred times.He got up and said to everyone: "Wang Ren is getting old, after all, he is exhausted. You help him to the guest room to rest, and I also went to take a nap." He also specially said to Yang Du: "Wang Ren is getting old, and I am also very busy, so I can't ask too much. For the affairs of the National History Museum, let's go wherever we can!" Saying "Deng Deng Deng", he left the tea room. When everyone sent Yuan Shikai out and returned, Wang Kaiyun had already opened his eyes.Cai E stepped forward and said, "You are always awake, the President just left." Wang Kaiyun said: "I just slept for a while and had a dream. Guess who I dreamed of?" Yang Du asked: "Who do you always dream about?" "I wanted to dream of King Wen of Zhou, but it was Song Xianggong that I dreamed of." Everyone didn't quite understand the meaning of Wang Kaiyun's words. Only Yang Du understood that the teacher was dissatisfied with Yuan Shikai. In the teacher's mind, Yuan Shikai was not King Wen of Zhou who treated Jiang Ziya courteously, but the self-righteous Duke Xiang of Song.But Yang Du believed that the teacher would change his view of Yuan Shikai after living in Beijing for a period of time.What's more, his grand plans and great cause have not been properly stated to the teacher. If the teacher in his twilight years knows that his ideal of striving for a lifetime is about to become a reality, wouldn't he still fully support his disciple's actions? Agitated by the brilliant tomorrow, Yang Du is determined to use his entire life as the price to carry out his great cause in the Chinese political arena without hesitation!