Chapter 25 Section 25

The "Sino-Japanese New Covenant" was finally agreed upon, with three main articles and twelve additional articles.It was less than a month before and after, but according to the date of the meeting, it was considered smooth. For the last meeting, Yikuang naturally had to attend, sign and finish, and take pictures as souvenirs.The next day, Yuan Shikai held a farewell banquet for the small village at the Beiyang Palace. Cao Rulin, who was the last seat, happened to sit next to Yuan Shikai who was the host, and he naturally became the tongue-in-cheek between the host and the guest.His fluent Japanese, as well as his phrasing, attracted Komura's attention. Therefore, after Xi San, he made a special request to his master, hoping to have a talk with Cao Rulin.

Of course Yuan Shikai agreed, and he purposely set aside his special reception room for them to talk alone. They were really alone, and there was no third party present. "I came here with great hopes this time, so I tried my best to make concessions at the meeting." Komura said, "I'm disappointed." The so-called "concessions" are comparatively speaking. Compared with the Treaty of Shimonoseki, the "Sino-Japanese New Treaty" this time is considered very polite in Japan, but it is still a bargain, which is always true.Cao Rulin didn't want to argue with him on this point, but asked, "May I ask your minister, what is the great hope you have here?"

"I originally thought that Yuan Gongbao must have far-sightedness and foresight. After the meeting, I wanted to further discuss with him how to form an alliance between the two countries, but I knew that Yuan Gongbao was too conservative. At the meeting, he only paid attention to the details of words, haggling over every detail, and it was a waste of time. .” "The alliance between the two countries?" Cao Rulin asked: "Naturally, it is against Russia?" "Yes!" Komura's expression was dignified and worried, "Russia's ambitions are huge. I saw it when I was negotiating peace in Portsmouth. Russia will definitely make a comeback in the future. If it is expensive for our two countries, it will not be early. If they are prepared, they will suffer from it together. If they can unite with each other, reorganize their armies and strive to strengthen themselves, the two countries may be spared from its harm."

"Since this is the case, why didn't your minister directly raise this point to Yuan Gongbao?" "Yuan Gongbao doesn't focus on the big picture. It's inappropriate to express the intention of the alliance at this time, so as not to arouse his suspicion." "Then," Cao Rulin asked, "Do you want me to convey what your minister means?" "Yes! If you have the opportunity, please convey it. If Yuan Gongbao wants to discuss it, I can come here specially." "Okay! I will try to convey it. However," Cao Rulin thought for a while and said, "I heard that the government also has suspicions about Yuan Gongbao. At this level, the noble minister can probably see it at the meeting table. About As far as the alliance is concerned, even if Yuan Gongbao also feels the same, I am afraid that it is not convenient to speak to the government for a while. This is my personal opinion, and it is for your minister's reference, fortunately, please don't tell outsiders!"

Hearing these words, Komura was silent for a while, and finally sighed and said: "I didn't expect that there are contradictions within the Chinese government!" After Xiaocun resigned, Yuan Shikai naturally asked Cao Rulin about the content of the conversation.Cao Rulin told Xiaocun what he meant according to the facts, and only concealed what he himself said to Xiaocun. "Alas!" Yuan Shikai sighed, just like Komura, "What can I do? Had to live up to his kindness. " "Outsiders have different opinions." Cao Rulin said, "Don't say that the Japanese are ignorant of the inside story. Even outside of Beijing, who doesn't think that your lord is respected and trusted by the imperial court, obeys his words, and has done something great? But that's not the case."

Yuan Shikai was silent for a while, and then said: "The more everyone is like this, the more difficult my situation will be!" He always felt that something should be said, but at this point, he thought that the method of retreating into advance had to be used.So when he returned to Tianjin, he secretly notified Zhang Yilin to prepare a memorial for him, "please go to various errands". Zhang Yilin already had a deep understanding of Yuan Shikai's way of dealing with people and his intentions, so this memorial was written in a high-sounding manner, but he didn't have the intention of expressing his merits.Yuan Shikai was very satisfied, but he hadn't asked for it for a long time, and wanted to choose the most suitable day.

After several consultations, Yang Shiqi's opinion was accepted, and it was released one day before the seal.Because on the surface, the memorial of this resignation has arrived at the imperial court, after it has been sealed, if the invitation is allowed to go to various part-time missions, then the seal will be opened, which is naturally an excellent time limit for handover.As for the actual situation, the fewer people who know about it, the better. Anyway, this memorial is for the Empress Dowager Cixi to read alone. If you think there is a need to keep it, you can just issue a condolence letter.During the sealing period, if this important case is dropped, no one will pay attention to it, so it will not be affected in any way.

When the memorial was up, the Empress Dowager Cixi was quite surprised, and when she summoned the military plane, she asked, "Why is Yuan Shikai so well-behaved, and suddenly wants to resign?" Yikuang knew about this, but deliberately pretended to be surprised and replied, "Yes! The slaves are also inexplicable! " "Think about it, there must be a reason, right?" This is Qu Hongji's answer: "Yuan Shikai has a lot of concurrent errands, because he can't take care of him, so there are inevitably negligence, and there are annoying words in his speech. I think Yuan Shikai came here for this reason, so he shows tiredness."

"Then it's no wonder he." Empress Dowager Cixi asked, "Look, what should we do?" Because of the words "no wonder him", Qu Hongji saw the intention of the Empress Dowager Cixi, and he felt that it was not yet time to bring down Yuan Shikai, so he said wisely: "When it comes to talents, Yuan Shikai is naturally good. He is indispensable for many errands! If there is no order, please stay, or send a few errands as appropriate?" "If you want to stay, you don't have to do even one errand." Empress Dowager Cixi said, "I don't have any prejudices. I just think that the saying, "Don't use people who are suspicious, don't use people who are employed" is not wrong at all. There is a suspicion in it, so there is no need for it!"

"Yes!" Qu Hongji reluctantly agreed. "What does the emperor have to say?" What can the emperor say?Answer as usual: "Everything is up to the Empress Dowager." So decided to stay.The decree was drafted by Zhang Jing of the Military Aircraft: "Yuan Shikai's performance is part-time. Now the current situation is difficult, and the capital is being rectified. The governor is loyal, and he is still making overall plans. He is a proper manager and appointed as a deputy. The request should be undisputed. .” The manuscript drafted by "Dalami" was "presented" for approval as usual, and Qu Hongji changed the last sentence to "no solid words".It turns out that "there is no need to discuss what you ask" means that the speech is poor, and there is no need to talk about it. Now it is changed, and the meaning is quite different. The word "solid" means that the speech is already good, but there is no substitute for it. hand, we have to temporarily maintain the status quo.These inconsistencies in tone were very particular about the Empress Dowager Cixi in her early years, but now, as Qu Hongji said to Yuan Shikai, "if you can't take care of your energy, you will inevitably be negligent", and you don't see the meaning of "suspect".

As soon as Di Chao sent it, Yuan Shikai received the telegram in Tianjin, and he took it to heart, but the last sentence was a big surprise, and he couldn't help being stunned. When he found out that this sentence was changed by Qu Hongji, Yuan Shikai thought of the idiom "When a leaf falls, you will know the autumn of the world", and knew that he was incompatible with this person!