Chapter 5 4. The wild old man bears the armor in his chest, and the little prince in the eyes of the fisherman

Besides, after Yuan Shikai was expelled from the imperial court, he was both ashamed and angry, but the situation at that time could no longer allow him to think about it, so he could only leave Beijing with resentment and aggrieved with his family in a desolate and panicked way. It stands to reason that Yuan Shikai should go back to his hometown Xiangcheng, Henan, but he can't go back at this time.It turned out that Yuan Shikai had severely suppressed and killed the Boxers when he became the governor of Shandong in the year of Gengzi. Because of his ruthless attack, those in power in the imperial court who supported the "righteous people" against the foreigners were very dissatisfied with Yuan Shikai, and the result was impeachment.In order to quell public anger, Yuan Shikai had no choice but to take out his elder brother Yuan Shidun, who was the battalion officer at the time, as a crime, saying that he "disturbed and harmed the people bravely", and was finally dismissed and deported back to his hometown.As a result, Yuan Shidun, who was originally a supplementary magistrate, had his excellent official career ruined by his younger brother.

In this matter, Yuan Shikai went too far.Anyone with a discerning eye can tell at a glance that this is actually what Yuan Shidun received on behalf of his brother and Yuan Shikai abandoned his brother to protect himself. Yuan Shidun became Yuan Shikai's scapegoat.After Yuan Shidun returned to Xiangcheng's hometown in disgrace, he couldn't help but hold grudges in his heart. A few years later, Yuan Shikai's biological mother Liu died, and he hoped to bury her in the main cave of his ancestral tomb (although Liu is a concubine, it has been righted for many years).At that time, Yuan Shikai was very popular in the imperial court. It can be said that "you want the wind to get the wind, and the rain to get the rain", but his request was firmly rejected by Yuan Shidun (from the original spouse), who was the patriarch, on the grounds that the concubine was not allowed to be buried in the palace. positive point.The reason why Yuan Shidun didn't give his younger brother face seemed to be to uphold the family rules and the difference between his concubine and his concubines, but the real reason was probably the old things. A bad breath.

As a result, the two brothers fell out completely, and Yuan Shikai, in anger, vowed never to return to his hometown in Xiangcheng. Yuan Shikai, who had fallen from a high position, was extremely lost at this time. Beijing could not accommodate him, and Xiangcheng was too embarrassed to return to his hometown. Later, he had no choice but to buy a house on the north bank of Huanshui River in Zhangde, Henan, and temporarily settled here in seclusion.Huanshui is also known as Anyang River. It is said that more than 2,000 years ago, Su Qin, a well-versed debater, once proposed that "the generals and ministers of the world should meet on Huanshui", which is what he said.The reason why Yuan Shikai chose this place was not because of Su Qin's prophecy, but because of the extremely open scenery here, "the front faces the Huan River, and the left side embraces the Taihang".The house Yuan Shikai bought was originally built by He Bingying, a salt merchant in Tianjin. Later, he felt that it was too stingy, so he expanded and rebuilt it on a large scale.A year later, this place became the giant house of "Huanshang Village".Different from the surrounding low houses, Yuan Shikai's house is surrounded by tall walls and several majestic forts.In addition, there are two battalions of fully-armed guard horses at all times, which makes this peculiar building not like a hermitage, but like a medieval castle in the wilderness.

Although Yuan Shikai's house is majestic outside, the style inside the walls is quite different.After careful renovation, the pavilions, terraces and pavilions in the house are well arranged, which looks like a garden; in addition, Yuan Shikai specially ordered people to dig a small canal outside the courtyard to introduce Huan water, so that the small bridges in the courtyard flow water, and springs jingle everywhere. , but also quite interesting.The most pleasing thing is that a large pool has been dug in the garden. In spring, the peaches and plums beside the pool are fragrant, competing for freshness; On that day, Yuan Shikai and his relatives and friends went fishing, enjoying themselves leisurely.

Yuan Shikai named this well-built garden "Yangshou Garden", which means to retreat here and live in seclusion (Yuan Shikai was just in his early fifties at this time).During his seclusion in Zhangde, Yuan Shikai's daily life was very regular: he went out for a walk early in the morning, and then played chess with relatives and friends; or he sang poetry and wine with some visiting literati to pass the lonely time. Yuan Shikai, who has always been poor in writing, wrote a few interesting poems at this time, let's pick up a few sentences for a reward: "I am not concerned with gains and losses when I cast bait, but I have grievances and enmity if I swallow the fish; how many things happened in the Central Plains when I look back, I will reveal it." I have to laugh and rest", which is somewhat self-deprecating; "One hundred years of worry is always long, and the ambition is not rewarded at the time", which seems to be unwilling; "The dragon in the big lake is stinging, and the deer in the Central Plains is fat", after all, it is hard to hide the ambition; The most amusing thing is this sentence, "Spread the end of the world and go from now on, smoke and rain cover a fishing boat".

For this reason, Yuan Shikai also deliberately published his famous "fishing in cloaked capes" in "Oriental Magazine" to express his intention of returning to the mountains and forests.However, judging from that picture, although Yuan Shikai was wearing a bamboo hat and holding a fishing rod, he seemed to be resting with his eyes closed, as if he had broken away from his official career; Yuan Shikai is Yuan Shikai after all, since he wants to catch big fish, he should catch big ones. Anyway, it is the volunteers who take the bait, so I am not moving.Not far from Yuan Shikai's living room, there is an inconspicuous small room, which is the most modern and core place in this house: the telegraph office.When leaving the capital, Yuan Shikai intentionally brought back a small radio station, and his intention is self-evident.

After "retiring", Yuan Shikai seemed to have nothing to do with the world, lingering among the mountains and rivers, but in fact he was always watching the movements of Beijing.Through the telegraph office, Yuan Shikai's relatives and old friends, the subordinate generals of the Beiyang Army, and his confidants who had been placed in important political departments could keep in close contact with him in a timely manner and report to him all the details of the outside world.Through this channel, Yuan Shikai knew the affairs of the world without leaving home. He was not in court but everything was under control.

It is said that Yuan Shikai could not stand his loneliness for a time, so he asked a famous local blind man to tell his fortune.After the news of the Wuchang Uprising arrived, the opportunity really came. After all, Yuan Shikai was born in military training and had a good eye. He knew that this incident was no small matter. It was by no means comparable to the peasant uprising like Hong Xiuquan and the party attack of Sun Yat-sen and other revolutionaries—the new army was equipped with modern armed forces with powerful firepower , fully capable of destroying the Qing Dynasty, once out of control, the consequences would be disastrous.

Sure enough, with the flag of righteousness in Wuchang, Shanxi, Hunan and other provinces responded one after another. The alarms from the governors of other provinces also flew directly to the court like snowflakes, asking for more troops to prevent accidents.After the regent Zaifeng received those alarms, he became at a loss and had to hastily summon a group of ministers from the cabinet to discuss.These people in the royal family cabinet, old and young, eat, drink, talk and laugh when they are free; if they want to get serious, this is good, one by one you look at me, I look at you, looking at each other, helpless.Seeing such a scene, Prince Regent Zaifeng was so angry that his hands and feet were cold and he almost burst into tears.

Prince Qing Yikuang was the oldest, so he had to come out to break the awkward silence.Lao Qing said that if he wanted to sponsor someone, he would definitely be able to deal with the Revolutionary Party.If Lao Qing doesn't say anything, he will talk about Zaifeng's sore feet: Who do you think he is protecting?Could it be that Yuan Shikai who was driven back to his hometown! After listening to Lao Qing's words, Zaifeng was silent for a long time, hesitantly did not answer. Lao Qing was anxious and said, "If Yuan Shikai is not used, I am afraid that the Qing Dynasty will be over."

Hearing the word "It's over", Zaifeng couldn't help being shocked.In desperation, he had the cheek to send someone to invite Yuan Shikai. Three days later, Yikuang's personal letter was delivered to Huanshang Village, offering Yuan Shikai the post of governor of Huguang.Yuan Shikai's answer to the question of going out of the mountain is yes, but when to go out of the mountain is another question.Yuan Shikai pondered for a long time, and finally decided to keep his face and test the bottom line of the Qing court. Therefore, Yuan Shikai put on airs, saying that he "has suffered from an old foot disease, which has not been healed so far", and said that he had recently "sudden cold in autumn, and the old fever with phlegm and wheezing, benefiting from dizziness, heart palpitations, and trance" as an example. Therefore, the Qing court's offer was rejected. Yuan Shikai's excuse can be described as high-sounding: Didn't you, Zaifeng, drive me out of the capital in the name of "foot disease" back then?Alright, now I'll give you a "treat the other person in the same way", let's get out of the bad breath first. To be honest, the little fish of the governor of Huguang really didn't have much attraction to Yuan Shikai.You know, Yuan Shikai was the governor of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang ten years ago, so what is the little governor of Huguang?According to Yuan Shikai's asking price, it should at least be the position of prime minister in the cabinet that he deserved a few years ago. The emperor is not in a hurry and the eunuchs are in a hurry. The situation is different now. Yuan Shikai has enough capital and time to wait slowly.But the Qing court couldn't do it. The regent Zaifeng looked around, the military counselor Zaitao, the navy minister Zaixun, and his two younger brothers were young relatives, so how could they have the ability to clean up the current situation.As for the Army Minister Yin Chang who was ordered to counter the rebellion, although he had studied in Germany and knew a little about military affairs, he had never commanded an army, let alone fought a war. It is said that when Yin Chang led the army to Hubei, he was wearing long robes and horse jackets, but he wore military boots on his feet.At this time, someone next to him congratulated him on his great mission, and Yin Chang frowned: "Hey, I don't have a single soldier under my command. The imperial court asked me to go to Hubei to fight in the army. Tell me, I'm going to fight with my fists or with my feet." Go kick it?" Yinchang was quite foresighted. Most of the Beiyang Army was Yuan Shikai’s old troops: Needless to say, Feng Guozhang, the commander, Li Chun, the commander of the sixth town, Wang Zhanyuan, the commander of the third association of the second town, and the eighth association of the fourth town. The commander, Chen Guangyuan, refused to use his life, and Yinchang, a poor commander, could not command well. With the military situation in such a hurry, Zaifeng had no choice but to send Yuan Shikai's old friend and cabinet assistant minister Xu Shichang to Huanshang Village in person to see what kind of medicine Yuan Shikai was selling in his gourd.Since they are acquaintances, Yuan Shikai didn't talk too much nonsense, and immediately put forward six demands: 1.Congress will be held next year; 2.Organize the responsible cabinet; 3.Forgiveness to all those involved in this event; 4.Lift the party ban; 5.Yuan Shikai must be entrusted with the command of the land and water armies and the full authority over the establishment of the army; 6.It is necessary to share with Yuan Shikai a very sufficient military expenditure. Yuan Shikai also particularly emphasized that all of these six conditions are indispensable, otherwise he would never leave the mountain. As soon as Xu Shichang returned to Beijing and announced the news, all the relatives and nobles in the court jumped up and cursed Yuan Shikai for asking prices, scolding Yuan Shikai for taking advantage of the fire and robbing, which is shameless.However, Yuan Shikai could neither hear nor care about these people yelling at the court. Anyway, he couldn't change a single word of his conditions, and he didn't care whether he wanted to do it or not. When Beiyang general Feng Guozhang passed by Zhangde and asked for a face-to-face instruction, Yuan Shikai asked him to sit on the sidelines temporarily, "Go slowly, and wait and see." Yinchang had to be recalled according to Yuan Shikai's request, Feng Guozhang was reassigned as the president of the first army on the front line, and Duan Qirui was the president of the second army.Subsequently, the Qing court appointed Yuan Shikai as the imperial envoy and granted all military command powers on the front line. After the military power was in hand, Yuan Shikai reluctantly set off from Zhangde, Henan, to the governor of Hubei.