Chapter 89 first quarter

The British have a special worship: the worship of "nobility".This "nobility" is not simply a person with power, power, wealth and reputation, the key is to have a "family background"; that is to say, it must be a "superior person" who has been superior to others for many generations, and this is called a nobleman .Without this family background, no matter how majestic you are, you can only be called an "upstart". The British respect you on the surface, but look down on you in your heart. What is worthy of admiration for nobles is that how many generations of pampering and pampering can make people form a temperament that is completely out of common people's habits-the so-called "nobility".This noble temperament comes from money, power, and status, but it is also the precipitation of time and history.The conditions for the formation of a true nobleman are very harsh, so it is often said that it takes at least three generations to develop a true nobleman.

Great changes have occurred in China since the late Qing Dynasty. In the field of power, how can you spare three generations to cultivate nobles?Those who are really qualified to be called nobles are of course Pu Yi and his royal family first, but the 1911 Revolution turned this real noble into a dog in the water, and all the style and demeanor were exhausted; secondly, the family of important ministers in the late Qing Dynasty, However, after the establishment of the Republic of China, the power and resources of the country were transferred to a group of warlords, who also lost their power, and the way to cultivate nobles was interrupted; during the Republic of China, a group of upstarts appeared politically and economically, but this The life of criticizing the upstarts is even worse - the Republic of China fell in just 38 years. Needless to say, the fate of the nobles of the Republic of China who stayed on the mainland, all previous political campaigns took pleasure in insulting and destroying them, and they were treated so that they were not even human. , but also talk about "nobility"?

In the late Qing Dynasty, there were two important ministers successively, namely Li Hongzhang and Yuan Shikai.Those who began to live in the Republic of China, Li Hongzhang's family was the grandson's generation, and Yuan Shikai's family was the son's generation. After Yuan Shikai had been the president of the Republic of China for four years (83 days of which were the "Emperor of China" emperor), after his death, there were basically no outstanding achievements among his sons.The ambitious eldest son, Yuan Keding, inherited a large sum of money after his father died, including 400,000 yuan in cash alone, which was squandered by him in a short period of time. By 1949, he was almost destitute and had to rely on relief. .The second son Yuan Kewen, who claims to be a "celebrity", can be regarded as a calligrapher and painter, but he also spends money like water, and the property under his name has not lasted for many years. Later, he often sells calligraphy and paintings; He became an "old man" with a very high generation, took drugs and prostitutes, and did everything until he died of illness at the age of 42 in 1931.

However, Yuan Shikai's grandsons are very promising.Both Yuan Jiahua and Yuan Jialiu are famous scientists. Yuan Jialiu's wife, Wu Jianxiong, is a great physicist known as "China's Madame Curie".Of course, this is already many years after the Republic of China entered history. Let us look at the fate of the declining nobles in the Republic of China from the experience of Li Guojie, the eldest grandson of Li Hongzhang. Li Hongzhang's family can be called the first family in the late Qing Dynasty.He was the pillar of the Qing Dynasty in the ups and downs and had a great influence on Chinese history. On November 7, 1901, the man from Hefei, Anhui Province, who attracted numerous criticisms for his establishment of foreign affairs and presiding over diplomacy, passed away. He was in tears at the end of his life. One death is difficult. For three hundred years, the country has been harmed, and the people have been hanged eight thousand miles away. The autumn wind, the sword, the tears, and the setting sun, the flag, the general's altar.

Li Hongzhang had no children in his early years, and he had the sons of his fourth younger brother as his heir, and later had sons Li Jingshu and Li Jingmai.Li Guojie is the eldest son of Li Jingshu. Because of his grandfather, Li Guojie was deeply loved by the Empress Dowager Cixi, and was awarded the second-class bodyguard at the age of 12; after Li Hongzhang died, Li Guojie went to see the Empress Dowager Cixi. In 1906, 25-year-old Li Guojie was appointed as the deputy capital of Guangzhou, and in the next year he was transferred to the deputy capital of Mongolia in Xianghuang Banner. In 1908, he was appointed as Zuo Cheng of the Ministry of Agriculture and Industry; Yi Dafu, General Jianwei, and the first-class Marquis Su Yi were appointed as envoys to Belgian ministers.

In the last 10 years of the Qing Dynasty, Li Guojie made rapid progress all the way at the same speed as sitting on a startling horse, but it has not been revealed whether he has the same talent as his grandfather.I only know that in 1909, when the Empress Dowager Cixi was buried in Putuo Valley in Dongling, Li Guojie saw wires on the trees in the mausoleum area, and someone took pictures along the way by the coffin. Duan Fang was dismissed. During his mission to Belgium, Li Guojie was very famous in Brussels for his extravagance. A gang of Belgian scoundrels surrounded him, encouraging him to spend a lot of money and profit from it. After the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, Li Guojie stayed in his post. After a few years, he spent a big hole in public funds and was unable to pay for his duties. Fortunately, Yuan Shikai was in power in China at that time—Yuan was his grandfather Li Hongzhang. Naturally, he was kind to his benefactor's grandson, and he allocated 40,000 silver dollars in the past, and Li Guojie returned to China.

After returning to China in 1914, Li Guojie worked as an "apartment" in Shanghai, that is to say, he lived leisurely with his grandfather's huge inheritance.It cannot be said that Li Hongzhang has not worked hard for the country, but he is obviously not the same as Bao Zheng of the Northern Song Dynasty who is also from Hefei: when Li Hongzhang died, his inheritance was worth 10 million taels of silver. At this time, the Qing emperor had abdicated, but Li Guojie still had feelings for the Qing Dynasty.He asked Yuan Shikai if he could enter the palace to meet the queen mother.Yuan Shikai was a little displeased, so he said emotionally: Yes, who are you?Lord Hou!Others can't, can't you?Li Guojie really went to the Forbidden City to meet the Queen Mother Longyu.Longyu, who lost his power, was deserted in the palace. Seeing that Xiao Li had such a conscience, he talked to him with tears in his eyes; Taking charge of Beiyang, so that the emperor and queen mother fell like this!

After Li Guojie's palace, Yuan Shikai's good friend Xu Shichang called him and said that if your boy hadn't been the grandson of Mr. Zhongtang, his head might not be on his neck now.Li Guojie was shocked and asked why; what did Xu Shichang say you were talking about in the palace?Li Guojie was even more surprised, and asked how do you know?Xu Shichang said don't say it's you, I know what you eat for lunch! Yuan Shikai was beginning to dream of being an emperor at that time, and Li Guojie, who came after this famous family, also had his influence.Both Yuan Shikai and Li Hongzhang were important ministers of the Qing Dynasty. If Yuan Shikai himself wanted to be the emperor, but this Li Guojie of Li Hongzhang's family stood loyally on the side of the old royal family, in contrast, what is Yuan Shikai if he is not a thief?Therefore, Yuan Shikai wanted to deal with him.

Let Xu Shichang come forward to give a stern warning first, and then let him be soft. In 1914, Li Guojie was drawn into the Senate to participate in politics, and received a monthly salary of 500 oceans; then, Yuan Shikai asked someone to be a matchmaker and let his son Yuan Keyi marry Li Guojie's eldest daughter.In this way, the families of Li and Yuan, the two important ministers of the former Qing Dynasty, became one family. In 1918, Li Guojie served as a member of Duan Qirui's Anfu National Senate, which was also an idle job. In 1924, he returned to Shanghai and served as the chairman of Shanghai Shipping Merchants Bureau.

Shanghai Shipping Merchants was founded by Li Hongzhang in 1872. It was a large enterprise established during the Westernization Movement and was as famous as Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau.Shanghai Merchants Steamship Co., Ltd. takes water transportation as its business. After its establishment, under the management of Sheng Xuanhuai, a shrewd man who was called "a gentleman on the outside but a villain on the inside" by the famous businessman Hu Xueyan, he quickly opened up routes to Japan and Malaya. , the Philippines, Singapore and other places, which aroused the envy of foreign shipping companies; after several competitions, China Merchants Shanghai Steamship Co., Ltd. not only survived, but also became one of the three major shipping companies alongside British Jardine Matheson and Swire Pacific.

By 1900, the Shanghai Merchants Shipping Bureau, in addition to navigating the whole country, purchasing a large number of real estate and building warehouses and wharves in various places, added more than 20 ships, invested in the development of coal mines in Tangshan and other places, and established the Commercial Bank of China.Under normal circumstances, Shanghai Steamship Merchants can get 300,000 taels of silver in net profit every year, becoming a behemoth in the industrial world. This enterprise was first run jointly by the government and businessmen, and then it was run by the government supervisors and businessmen, but the highest power was in the hands of Li Hongzhang, and Li Hongzhang had the final say on important personnel appointments and dismissals.The China Merchants Shipping Bureau of Shanghai Steamship was Li Hongzhang's proud work of Westernization. He said in a letter: "China Merchants Steamship is actually the most handy writing in the past 40 years of Westernization." Foreign countries are also very envious of this achievement. At that time, a Japanese official After visiting the wharf and ships in Shanghai, he said sourly to Sheng Xuanhuai who was in charge of the actual work: "With this Ship Merchants Bureau, you finally have two new desks in the wind and rain of the Qing Dynasty." After entering the Republic of China, this large and wealthy company was still in the hands of former Qing officials and their children; for a long time, the general office (general manager) in charge of business was held by people in Sheng Xuanhuai's circle. In 1916, Sheng Xuanhuai passed away, and Li Guojie filled his vacancy and became a director; in 1924, Li Guojie, the major shareholder, was elected chairman. Li Guojie was proud of the spring breeze in the late Qing Dynasty, but he has never done any real work since the Republic of China.Now I finally got a good position with both status and benefits, and I am full of joy.Unexpectedly, the current situation changed, and before his profligate nature had time to indulge, he found that the chairmanship of this chairman was very different from that of his predecessor. In the early period of the Republic of China, the Beiyang government in Beijing could not manage this enterprise in Shanghai in the south during the melee of warlords, and let the bureaucrats of the former Qing Dynasty and their children manipulate it. The good times are coming to an end.The National Government announced that it would "clear up the bureaucratic assets of the late Qing Dynasty", and in the name of "taking back the navigation rights and state-owned the shipping industry", it carried out "restructuring" on Shanghai Merchants Shipping, the country's largest shipping company.After the restructuring, the general office was appointed by the government, and China Merchants' operation, personnel, and administration were all in charge of the general office. The board of directors became a decoration, and the chairman was also in name only. Of course Li Guojie was very angry, but he knew that he couldn't squeeze the KMT's thigh. Before that, his hometown Anhui had forced him to pay 600,000 yuan in military pay, and his grandfather, who had been dead for more than 20 years, would no longer be able to work.On the surface, he agreed to government supervision, but secretly coveted the position of the general office with real power. The general office appointed by the national government is Zhao Tieqiao, who has returned from studying in Japan and is quite scholarly.As soon as Zhao Tieqiao took office, he monopolized all the power, and he didn't take Li Guojie, the chairman, seriously; his grandfather was Li Hongzhang, and others gave him face, but in Zhao Tieqiao's eyes, he was nothing. "Clearing bureaucratic assets before checking" is in progress. In 1929, the Shanghai Special Municipal Government announced: According to the National Government Order, Sheng Xuanhuai, an old official in the former Qing Dynasty, eroded public coins. Wait, report the Sheng family's inheritance according to the facts.The power of the Sheng family in Shanghai Shipping Merchants immediately collapsed. Although Li Guojie was not as miserable as the Sheng family, he was not lightly suppressed by Zhao Tieqiao.The friction between the two continued, and Li Guojie was left alone. Although he gave in everywhere, Zhao Tieqiao unceremoniously found out that he was in the process of borrowing money from HSBC Bank. The expenses and remuneration are more than two hundred thousand taels." Zhao Tieqiao bluntly criticized that "part of it was his own income." Li Guojie not only wants to take the position of the general office with real power, but also wants to avenge Zhao Tieqiao's bullying of him.The solution he thought of was the simplest: find a killer to get rid of this nasty Zhao Tieqiao!