Chapter 20 20. Wang Shizhen, an old man

When Yuan Shikai was governor of Shandong in the Gengzi year, he invited the German governor in Jiaozhou to watch the exercises.After a round of inspection, the Germans admired the new army with leaping dragons and tigers and neat military appearance. He raised his horsewhip and pointed to Wang Shizhen, Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui who were supervising the operation in the queue and said: "They are really outstanding. General!" The Germans should probably know that Yuan Shikai's newly built army imitated the German drills and hired many German instructors for training. This army has a lot of roots with Germany.For example, Duan Qirui, a general in the army, had studied military affairs in Germany for several years and had an internship at the Krupp Gun Factory. When Li Hongzhang was running the Tianjin Armed Forces Academy, Yin Chang, the general manager, also returned from Germany after studying in Germany.

The Qing government sent many batches of military students to study abroad. For example, most of the officers and men of the Beiyang Fleet had studied in the UK. Unfortunately, most of these people died in battle or committed suicide in the Sino-Japanese War of 1898-1898, which was extremely tragic.After the Gengzi year, the Qing government sent a large number of foreign students to Japan to study the army, but it was difficult for these people to gain a foothold in Yuan Shikai's army after returning to China, because Yuan Shikai believed that the Japanese army was learned from Germany, and his troops were directly Use the German method; in addition, the students studying in Japan are messy and have impure ideas, so they cannot be reused.Later, after the Regent Zaifeng pushed Yuan Shikai away, the Military Advisory Office (equivalent to the General Staff Headquarters) promoted a large number of non-commissioned officers studying in Japan to middle and lower ranks in the new army, which became one of the most direct reasons for the collapse of the Qing court.

After being highly praised by the Germans, the reputation of Wang Shizhen, Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui as the "Three Heroes of Beiyang" spread like wildfire and gradually became known to the public.Later, someone gave these "Three Heroes" different nicknames - "Dragon, Tiger, and Leopard": Wang Shizhen "Dragon of Beiyang", because he is the most talented, he comes from the center, and he appears and disappears like a dragon. Duan Qirui is "Tiger of Beiyang" because he has a blunt temperament, bad temper, and self-willed; Feng Guozhang is called "Leopard of Beiyang" because the soldiers he trains are fast and powerful in combat.However, Feng Guozhang also has another nickname called "Beiyang Dog" which is not very elegant.Because Feng Guozhang looks a bit dog-headed, has a nice smile, and likes money, he got such an indecent nickname.

Readers may be wondering, since Wang Shizhen is called the "Dragon of the Northern Ocean", why does the author call him an "Old Man of the Earth"?It's a long story.Wang Shizhen, courtesy name Pinqing, was born in Niujiazhuang, Zhengding County, Hebei Province. He was born in a farming and studying family. When he was young, he joined Ye Zhichao, the commander of the Huai Army, and was recommended to study in the Artillery Department of Tianjin Armed Forces Academy. A group of students. After graduating from the Armed Forces Academy, Duan Qirui was sent to study in Germany, while Wang Shizhen and Feng Guozhang went to Japan to study.Soon, Wang Shizhen returned to Ye Zhichao's army and served as the general manager of the Shanhaiguan Armed Forces Academy.Warlords who later became governors of various provinces, such as Lu Yongxiang (later governor of Zhejiang), Bao Guiqing (later governor of Jilin), and Tian Zhongyu (later governor of Shandong), were Wang Shizhen's students.

After the Sino-Japanese War broke out, Wang Shizhen led the artillery team to the Korean battlefield. In the Battle of Pyongyang, Wang Shizhen led the student team to fight the enemy bravely. The ring finger of his left hand was blown off in this battle.After the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, Ye Zhichao, the chief general of the Qing army, was convicted of death. Wang Shizhen lost his backing, and later switched to Nie Shicheng's command, and was recommended by Yin Chang, the general manager of the Beiyang Armed Forces Academy, to join Yuan Shikai's new army. Wang Shizhen is known as the "Dragon" of Beiyang and the head of the "Three Heroes". This is not accidental, but he is indeed capable.Wang Shizhen's father was born in a scholar, and he himself liked reading since he was a child. Therefore, he was not only good at planning, but also very capable in handling affairs during military training, which won Yuan Shikai's trust.Once, Rong Lu, Governor of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang, came to inspect the newly-built army, and Yuan Shikai sent Wang Shizhen to meet him.At that time, Wang Shizhen was the general office of the Engineering Soldiers School and the supervisor of the Engineer Battalion. He led the students to lay a special canvas bridge on the frozen Haihe River for Ronglu's team to pass through.After the inspection, the weather turned warmer. When Rong Lu returned, he saw that Wang Shizhen was still erecting the canvas bridge on the Haihe River, so he was a little hesitant, worried that the ice would change.At this time, Wang Shizhen stepped forward and said: "Your Excellency, don't worry, the ice will not be thawed until three days later, please feel free to pass." After Rong Lu passed through, he sent people to investigate three days later. I was deeply impressed by Wang Shizhen's shrewdness and ability.

At the end of 1899, Yuan Shikai acted as the governor of Shandong. Wang Shizhen accompanied him into Shandong and served as the general office of the General Staff Office, becoming Yuan Shikai's most important confidant. In June 1900, when the Boxers were "legalized" by the Qing government, the leader of a certain Boxer Regiment came to Shandong with an arrow sent by Prince Duan Zaiyi of Qiu Yang's sect, and asked Yuan Shikai to allow the Boxers to set up an altar to practice.Yuan Shikai always regarded the Boxers as bandits, but he hesitated because of the Qing government's policy of supporting the Boxers at that time: because if he agreed to set up an altar, the Boxers, which had been finally wiped out, would rise again; Ling suspects and will face retaliation in the future.

Just when Yuan Shikai was in a dilemma, Wang Shizhen understood the leader's mind, and he took the initiative to stand up and said, "My lord, don't worry, leave this matter to me!" He was tied up, and then pushed out of the gate and hacked in the name of "stealing Prince Duan's order". When Wang Shizhen returned to the camp, Yuan Shikai's meeting had not yet ended. Seeing Wang Shizhen's return, Yuan Shikai asked, "Can you arrange this person?" Shocked, she asked, "Why did you kill this man? What if Prince Duan blames him, what should we do?" Wang Shizhen said, "It's easy to handle. You just need to seal the arrow and call it 'someone has stolen', and return it to Duan. The prince will do." Yuan Shikai suddenly came to his senses, and praised Wang Shizhen for his decisiveness.

During the Gengzi period, when missionaries, foreign businessmen, and religious people from various provinces took refuge in Shandong, Wang Shizhen was ordered to protect them. He ordered his soldiers to form a plainclothes team. .When the Eight-Power Allied Forces occupied Beijing and raided the Beijing-Tianjin area, Wang Shizhen ordered people to write large characters with white ash on the walls on the border with Zhili: "This is the Shandong border!" Strange to say, the Eight-Power Allied Forces saw In the end, it really stopped there, and Shandong Province was not violated in the Gengzi Year.

After Li Hongzhang's death, Yuan Shikai succeeded as governor of Zhili and minister of Beiyang, and then took on major tasks such as military training.Fortunately, at this time, Wang Shizhen was there to assist Yuan Shikai, who could help Yuan Shikai share a lot of military affairs.According to Yuan Shikai's aides, Yuan Shikai had to let him read all the performances or manuscripts related to military training. Therefore, Wang Shizhen was jokingly called "Dragon Eye", that is to say, he acted as Yuan Shikai's "eyes".After Yuan Shikai was promoted to be Minister of Military Aircraft in the capital, Wang Shizhen was also promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Army. This was the highest official position among Beiyang generals at that time, which shows that Yuan Shikai attached great importance to Wang Shizhen.

It is a pity that the good times did not last long. After Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi passed away one after another, Yuan Shikai was kicked back to his hometown by the regent Zaifeng, and the forces of the Beiyang faction were greatly shaken.At this time, Wang Shizhen was serving as the admiral of Jiangbei. He took advantage of Ding You's occasion to ask for a vacancy. After asking twice, he was approved, to show that he and Yuan Shikai shared difficulties and advanced together.After the Wuchang Uprising, Yuan Shikai came out again. He first sent someone to find Wang Shizhen from his hometown, and immediately appointed him as Minister of the Ministry of War.

But the subsequent development of the political situation surprised Wang Shizhen. Yuan Shikai did not follow the intention of the Qing court. Instead, he attacked at the front line and negotiated for a while.It wasn't until Duan Qirui, the main front-line general, suddenly issued a "republic power-up", that Wang Shizhen realized that Yuan Shikai had abandoned the Qing court.Afterwards, Wang Shizhen was extremely angry, and he immediately sent a message asking Duan Qirui, "The emperor's kindness is so great, how can we do this?" to vent his dissatisfaction. After the abdication of the Qing emperor, just when the people of the Beiyang family were cheering and thinking that the opportunity to be promoted to the rank had come, Wang Shizhen, who was considered by everyone to be the number one "red man" around Yuan Shikai, suddenly resigned due to illness, making everyone around him confused. Foggy water.Yuan Shikai also felt very strange, so he asked him why he refused to continue to assist him.Wang Shizhen angrily threw down the next sentence: "The country raises troops for thousands of days and uses them for a while. The people rebel and instead of sending troops to conquer, they want to negotiate peace. This is really an unprecedented anecdote!" After saying that, Wang Shizhen went back to his hometown of Niujiazhuang in Zhengding County to live in seclusion like many old and young.During his retirement, Wang Shizhen still claimed to be a citizen of the Qing Dynasty. Not only did he keep the pigtails on the back of his head, but he even wore clothes in accordance with the rules of the former Qing Dynasty.In the center of the hall of his house, there is always a picture of "Fu" bestowed by Emperor Guangxu. Every time the juniors come to pay him New Year's greetings, Wang Shizhen has to wear the official uniform of the Qing Dynasty, and let people visit the "Fu" in the hall first. Words to express not forgetting the grace of the former emperor.During this period, Wang Shizhen built two ancestral halls in his hometown to worship his biological parents and adoptive parents respectively.When a friend came to see him and persuaded him to leave the mountain, Wang Shizhen always refused, saying that he would study at home and not care about world affairs. Although Wang Shizhen is a soldier, he believes in traditional Chinese culture and morals very much, which is rare among those stalwart warriors of the Beiyang family.In normal times, Wang Shizhen has always been taciturn and thoughtful. He doesn't speak much and speaks very slowly, so he has to be patient when talking to him.Judging from his appearance, Wang Shizhen doesn't look like a soldier at all, because he is usually dressed in a long robe and mandarin jacket, wearing a cap, just like an old country pedant.Moreover, he doesn't like to deal with soldiers, but has a close relationship with literati, such as Chen Meisheng of the Imperial Academy in the late Qing Dynasty, Jinshi Shang Binghe and others are all his literary friends. Wang Shizhen's life in seclusion was not long, because Yuan Shikai urgently needed him to balance the power of another general, Duan Qirui.After suppressing the "Second Revolution", Yuan Shikai sent his eldest son, Yuan Keding, to invite Wang Shizhen out of the mountain, and issued a death order. If Wang Shizhen was not invited, he himself would not come back.Under Yuan Keding's persuasion and coaxing, Wang Shizhen had no choice but to agree to go to Beijing to see her old friends.However, as soon as Wang Shizhen arrived in the capital, Yuan Shikai appointed him as a clerk in the Command Office of the Army and Navy. In essence, he still hoped that he would serve in military affairs.In desperation, Wang Shizhen had no choice but to be Feng's wife again and continue to assist Yuan Shikai.There is only one thing, that is, the little braid on the back of his head has always been kept, and someone persuaded him to cut it off. Wang Shizhen said seriously: "The three-year system is not yet full!" It was not until 1915 that Wang Shizhen reluctantly cut it off. That baby braid. After Yuan Shikai's conspiracy to proclaim himself emperor was exposed, Duan Qirui was removed from the post of army chief because he opposed the imperial system, and was replaced by Wang Shizhen.Although Wang Shizhen was unhappy, she still went to work as usual to maintain Yuan Shikai's prestige.After Yuan Shikai's death, Wang Shizhen still served as the chief of the army. After Prime Minister Duan Qirui fell out with President Li Yuanhong and went to Tianjin, Wang Shizhen was appointed by Li Yuanhong as the commander-in-chief of the Gyeonggi garrison. During Zhang Xun's restoration in 1917, Wang Shizhen was very excited.At that time, it was Wang Shizhen, who was the chief of the army at that time, who put Zhang Xun's braided soldiers into the capital.Some people say that he was coerced by Zhang Xun, but in fact, he has nothing to do, because for a person like him who has received traditional education and received favor from the court in the late Qing Dynasty, he still has certain feelings for the former Qing Dynasty.In terms of beliefs and feelings, Wang Shizhen and Zhang Xun had quite a common language. Therefore, he not only entered the palace with Zhang Xun to worship, but also actively participated in other affairs.Among the six "ministers of state affairs" proposed by Zhang Xun, Wang Shizhen was also given a good position; Master admiral. Speaking of Zhang Jingyao, he was the commander of the Seventh Division at the time, and the troops were stationed in Luoyang. After Zhang Xun was restored, Wang Shizhen immediately called him and asked him to lead troops to reinforce Zhang Xun.After Zhang Jingyao got the order, he personally led a brigade to Beijing, one of which was stationed in Yongdingmen and the other in Fengtai.Under Wang Shizhen's recommendation, Zhang Jingyao met with Zhang Xun and Prince Jin Zaifeng respectively, and Zaifeng also gave him a set of court clothes so that he could go to the palace to pay homage to the young emperor Puyi. Zhang Jingyao also made a big joke about this set of court clothes, because the trousers sent by Zaifeng were too long and the boots were too small, and there was no time to mend them in a hurry, so Zhang Jingyao had to wear court clothes on his upper body, military trousers and military boots on his lower body to worship in the palace the next day , The appearance is neither fish nor fowl, and it was passed as a joke for a while.Fortunately, after Duan Qirui announced the rebellion, Wang Shizhen saw that the situation was not good, and quickly informed Zhang Jingyao to leave alone immediately. After Zhang Jingyao got the letter, he immediately notified the adjutant to lead the team back, and he quietly returned to the Luoyang station first, so as not to be held accountable later. . During this special period, there was a joke about the "loyal ministers of the two countries" in the capital. It said that there were two big men who attached themselves to the Qing Dynasty and financed the Chinese army at the same time; , and when the Tianjin side sends people to approach them, they will change into the large dresses of the Republic of China, just like an actor performing on stage. After a performance, changing clothes is a joy.Someone asked why they did this, and the two big brothers said: "I can't bear to see the capital corrupt, so I have to sacrifice my personal reputation and run between the two, hoping for a peaceful settlement." You really deserve to be a loyal minister of the two countries!" A big man said coyly, "I am not a loyal minister of the two countries, but a peacemaker between the two parties." One of these two "loyal ministers of the two countries" is Wang Shizhen (the other is Jiang Chaozong, the commander of the infantry).However, after the failure of Zhang Xun's restoration, Wang Shizhen and others were not only not guilty of rebellion, but also contributed to "maintaining order in Beijing".After the farce ended, Wang Shizhen felt shameless and wanted to go back to his hometown of Zhengding to live in seclusion, but Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang rushed to comfort him and persuaded him to focus on the Beiyang group and continue to serve as chief of staff.Since the old friend's kindness is difficult to refrain from, Wang Shizhen had no choice but to resign herself to it. As a colleague and friend for many years, Wang Shizhen really couldn't save face with Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang.When President Feng Guozhang had a conflict with Prime Minister Duan Qirui, Duan Qirui was dismissed by Feng Guozhang, and then he found Wang Shizhen as a substitute.It is true that Wang Shizhen and Feng Guozhang are old buddies, but this "Duan went to the king", Wang Shizhen felt sorry for Duan Qirui when he became prime minister, and he was suspected of betraying friends; Can you bear to see my joke?" There was no way, Wang Shizhen couldn't shirk it, so she had to reluctantly do it again.However, it was not easy to be a prime minister in the early years of the Republic of China. Once, Feng Guozhang wanted him to send someone to Guangxi governor Lu Rongting to mediate the North-South conflict, but when Wang Shizhen asked for instructions on how to spend Sichuan funds, Feng Guozhang refused to pay the sum. money, but let the State Council solve it by itself.After Wang Shizhen heard this, she lost her temper in private. He said angrily: "It's not because of him, and I don't want anything! I am like a dog all day long. Who is it for? This point Money, he still doesn't take it out!" Due to the strong influence of Duan Qirui's Anhui faction, Wang Shizhen stepped down automatically before serving as prime minister for three months.Soon, Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui also retired respectively, and Xu Shichang became president instead. Among the "Three Heroes of Beiyang", Feng Guozhang was the oldest and the first to complete his journey (died in 1919).Wang Shizhen, on the other hand, did not care about politics after resigning as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, and retired willingly. In 1926, after Zhang Zuolin became the commander-in-chief of the Anzhong Army and took control of the northern regime, he sent Bao Guiqing to ask him to come out to form a cabinet, but he firmly refused.Later Zhang Zuolin came to invite him in person, Wang Shizhen knelt and kowtowed in desperation and said, I can't do it anymore, please forgive me!Zhang Zuolin had no choice but to go back and mocked others, why did the old man suddenly become confused! In 1930, Wang Shizhen died of illness in Beijing at the age of 70.Wang Shizhen had no son, only two daughters. Before his death, he had two properties and more than ten hectares of land. His real estate in Beijing was bought for him by students Bao Guiqing and Lu Yongxiang.Generally speaking, Wang Shizhen's life was a clean and honest official, without extravagance, which can be regarded as getting out of the silt of warlords without being stained.