Chapter 31 Section 31

The Zhangde parade was held for four days.On the first day, the cavalry was drilled, on the second day the North and South armies "encountered", on the third day the soldiers' combat skills were tested, and on the fourth day they were paraded.At noon, there was a grand banquet for Chinese and foreign visitors and generals of the two armies. On the fifth day, Yuan Shikai returned to Tianjin. As soon as they arrived, they received a report that Zai Zhen and Xu Shichang were ordered to go out to "investigate the incident".It turns out that the three eastern provinces have a large land and abundant resources, have always been rich, and have levied a lot of miscellaneous taxes. Since they were taken over by Japan and Russia, and Zhao Erxun was appointed General Fengtian, he appointed Shi Nianzu, a native of Yangzhou who was once the governor of Guangxi and is well-known for his exquisite carvings, to rectify the taxes. .As a result, the corrupt officials who worked together felt very inconvenient, so they instigated an engineering department to write a book for Zhang Shipei in the matter, but there was no outrageous attack. They only said that Fengtian's taxation was tedious, and the business people felt that it was a pain.At that time, it had been decided that the three eastern provinces would be diverted, leaving Zhao Erxun as the first governor by default, but now that there was such a report, the Empress Dowager Cixi decided to send someone to have a look.Yikuang does not avoid relatives, and advocates sending Zaizhen to investigate and deal with it. Because of excessive taxes and sick merchants, it is related to the Ministry of Commerce.What's more, what is being investigated is the big official of the frontier. As a rule, he either sends a scholar or a relative, and Zai Zhen's identity is also consistent.

However, Zaizhen had nothing to do after all, and had to send an old adult as an assistant, and Xu Shichang saw that once the new official system was implemented, there would be major changes in the military aircraft department, and he might not be able to keep his current seat, so he might as well go out Let's see what the opportunities are.So Xiang Yikuang volunteered, and Qu Hongji did not object, and the matter was settled. Receiving imperial envoys is a major event for local officials, not to mention that Zaizhen is a brother-in-law. Yuan Shikai felt that he must be extra dedicated in both public and private affairs, so he appointed Duan Zhigui, the chief of the staff office of the Supervisory Office, to run the mission for Zaizhen.

Duan Zhigui has no other specialties, but is good at serving the nobles.Yuan Shikai knew that he was a rich man in Tianjin's sensual scene, and everyone knew that Zai Zhen was the number one hakama.But what is the mission that Duan Zhigui was sent to Zaizhen?It is also a tacit understanding of each other. So, Duan Zhigui deliberately went to find a friend.This person is a salt merchant in Changlu, who donated the official title of a military candidate. His name is Wang Xiying, and his style name is Yisun. He plays with Duan Zhigui and becomes good friends who share similar tastes and use each other.At that time, he explained the task assigned by Yuan Shikai in detail, and asked Wang Xiying: "Is there any good idea that can make Zhen Beizi have a good time?"

"What does Zhen Beizi like?" "Him?" Duan Zhigui suddenly remembered, "There used to be Xie Shanshan, did you know?" "Aren't you a joker?" Actors have always been male characters, commonly known as "Xianggong", also known as "Xianggu".After Hong Yang, there began to be female actresses, which originated in Shanghai and were called "Shang Erxi".Xie Shanshan is from Suzhou, she is an actress and a prostitute, she was very popular in the capital three or four years ago. "Not bad!" Duan Zhigui said, "Xie Husan has sung in modern operas, and even played with Zhen Beizi."

"Go!" Zheng Xiying slapped his head suddenly, "Why can't I remember this kind of thing?" What he remembered was a piece of news that came out in Yuyuan, Dongcheng, Beijing three years ago.Yu Yuan was originally the same family as the Empress Dowager Cixi. It was the former residence of Ruilin, who was the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. The Gengzi Rebellion was devastated, and it was abandoned. After returning to Luan, the market gradually recovered. The prosperity was better than before, so someone bought Yu Garden, repaired the buildings, replanted flowers and trees, and opened a big restaurant.Zai Zhen is a frequent visitor to Yu Garden, and he often lingers there all day long, and often invites a group of young relatives to play there. "Five Masters of Dong" Pu Tong and "Seven Masters" Zai Tao's play is admired by even experts .Every color show, there are often famous actors who come to the stage. If Prince Su Shanqi appears on the stage, it will be even more lively. At least four or five famous actors will come to the backstage to "serve".

Seeing that the commotion was too much, some people expressed their indignation among Taiwan's remonstrance. It happened that Zai Zhen and Xie Shanshan co-starred in a show, and there was a "Master" Zhang Yuanqi who participated in the impeachment, and ordered Zai Zhen to check himself.Yu Yuan's romance suddenly disappeared, Xie Shanshan didn't know where he was going, and every time Zai Zhen mentioned it, there was always regret that couldn't be explained. "Zhen Beizi doesn't like Xianggu, that's easy!" Wang Xiying said, "I've already set my sights on someone, but I'm afraid that you, Second Master Duan, will find it unpleasant."

When he said this, Duan Zhigui knew who he was referring to, and retorted with a smile: "Could it be that you don't feel sore in your heart?" It turns out that Duan and Wang both favored a Kunling named Yang Cuixi.This Yang Cuixi is from the Wen'an family in Jinan. Both of her parents died when she was young. She was sold to a family surnamed Yang by her uncle as an adopted daughter, and she was named Yang Cuixi.This person surnamed Yang is "Wen Chao" in the opera troupe. In fact, just when the fashionable children's opera became popular, he sent Yang Cuixi to learn opera, so he should be in Huadan's career.

At the age of sixteen or seventeen, Yang Cuixi came out and settled into a beautiful pavilion, with beauty better than art.Those who like to listen to fashionable operas put more emphasis on choosing colors than singing songs. Therefore, Yang Cuixi became popular after a few appearances in Tianxian Tea Garden in Tianjin.There are not many guests who praise her, but Duan Zhigui is the most expensive one, and Wang Xiying is the richest one.With these two guardians, others have no choice but to stay away. Although Duan and Wang both admire Yang Cuixi, they are not jealous. This is because Yang Cuixi was taught by her adoptive mother to be very clever. Whoever feels wronged, but always has the thought of being close to Xiangze sooner or later, can live in peace.

Because of this, Duan Zhigui won't feel sore when Wang Xiying came up with such an idea.However, he is not willing to "sell" the habitable "rare goods" easily, thinking about seizing this opportunity and getting a lot of benefits from Zai Zhen. "Second Master Duan, we businessmen only get promoted when we get rich. If you are always a nobleman, you have to be promoted to get rich. Why don't you get a governor to do it?" Duan Zhigui thought that Wang Xiying was a businessman after all, and he didn't know much about his official career.It's a dream for an alternate Taoist to become governor in one fell swoop!Even if there is a shortage of Taoist priests, they have to be transferred to the governor first, and then transferred to the governor. After the "supervisor" stage, there is hope of being promoted to governor.

Of course, you don't need to tell him this, just put it aside, and just talk about how to serve Zhen Beizi to his heart's content. Just the day before Zai Zhen and Xu Shichang arrived in Tianjin, the case of the new official system was officially published.In advance, there was a telegram notice, so Yuan Shikai took care of it. As soon as the telegram arrived, he would translate and send it immediately.Since this was an unprecedented move since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, at least since the establishment of the Military Aircraft Department in the seventh year of Yongzheng, the imperial edict was 3,000 words long, and it took a lot of time to copy and translate the text, so it can only be sent paragraph by paragraph.

This edict is divided into two parts. The first part is the convocation of Yiqiu, Sun Jianai, and Qu Hongji approved by the general secretary. The empress dowager and the emperor tried their best to rescue the difficult times, adapting to the best intentions of the people, leading the officials and ministers, and praised in one voice: the key to turning China from weakness to strength. , never dare to do it hastily, and dare not be perfunctory. For more than a month, Zai Ze, the official system minister, has successively sent drafts, and the ministers have carefully reviewed them and discussed them repeatedly. If there is no agreement, the order is changed. Officer, it's over now." Immediately afterwards, he talked about the criteria for reforming the official system and the lack of the current official system: "The reform of the official system this time is not only the basis for preparing a constitution, but also the principle that the official system is similar to constitutionalism. According to the official system of a constitutional state, legislation, administration, and judiciary The three powers stand side by side, each has its own exclusive rights, and they complement each other. The intention is beautiful and the law is good, so the so-called decree clarifies the accumulated evils. Therefore, there are almost three ends: one is that there is no division of powers. If the administrative officer has legislative power at the same time, then there must be in the name of administration to create unfair laws to harmonize public opinion; if the executive has judicial power, then There are those who favor or dislike in ordinary times, change certain laws, and use their opinions as their entry and exit. If a judicial officer has legislative power at the same time, he must have the convenience of seeking hearing and judgment, and make strict laws. Its original intention is to elevate the rights and lives of the people, thus hindering the invisible. There is no division of authority, and the responsibility cannot be determined. One job is unknown.Politics is managed by division of duties, and planning is made by full-time duties.Today, there are six officials in one hall, and several people share the same position. Half of them are redundant.If several people are divided into one post, the house will be built and the road will be conspired, and the disadvantage is playing; if one person has several jobs, there will be no time to give, and the disadvantage will be waste of work.That's why the wise are tired of being restrained, and the unworthy are content with prevarication.It is because the duties are unknown and the responsibilities cannot be determined. " The first telegram sent here ends here.Yuan Shikai and Zhang Yilin each deliberated for a long time, and believed that the first part of the "individual authority" and the independence of the judiciary may be approved, but the second part of the "unclear position" is hard to say. Obviously, if it is said that "there are six officials in one hall, half of them are redundant staff", then half of the Manchu and Han ministers and four ministers will be cut off, and many people's jobs will be knocked out. There will be no descendants?" Yuan Shikai regretted advocating the reform of the official system in one fell swoop. The telegram sent for the second time follows Daduan No. 3: "One is not worthy of the name. It is called the Ministry of Officials, but it does not have the right to weigh the affairs of the lottery; There is no authority over ceremonial affairs; it is called the Ministry of War, but it does not have the right to control matters concerning the military registration of the green battalion and the promotion and transfer of military positions. There are three accumulated disadvantages, so the determination of the official system refers to "clearing the accumulated disadvantages and determining the responsibility".The first is "separation of powers to define limits". In addition to the provisional establishment of the Legislative Council, the division of administrative and judicial powers is: "Administrative matters are exclusive to the ministers of the cabinet. The cabinet has a prime minister, and the ministers are also cabinet government affairs. Ministers, so they are divided into various ministries, and all of them are the government, and there is no barrier between them. When they enter, they will participate in the cabinet discussion, and when they leave, they will manage the affairs of the ministries, and things can be connected. If so, the trend of centralization will be achieved, and the effect of policy unity will be achieved.Judicial power belongs exclusively to the Ministry of Justice.The Judgment is held by the Dali Yuan, and the Ministry of Justice supervises it. They all confront the administrative officials and are not restrained. This is the outline of the separation of powers.In addition, there is the Court of Senior Citizens to uphold public opinion, the Metropolitan Procuratorate to make corrections, and the Audit Court to investigate excessive expenses. They are all independent, not controlled by the cabinet, but transferred to supervise the cabinet ministers. This separation of powers is very large. To also. " Sure enough, the judiciary is independent, and it seems that the imperial edict will definitely approve it, but the cabinet system is still in doubt. Yuan Shikai was eager to know the result, but he had no choice but to read the two articles of "rectification of name for verification" and "separation of duties for full-time work", so he had to read it patiently: "The second rectification of name is for verification. Department. The Ministry of Households will integrate the wealth of the world, and it is proposed to be renamed as the Du Branch, which will be merged with the Finance Department and the Taxation Department. Temporarily affiliated to Yan. Since the Ministry of the Army was established, the Military Commander of the Military Training Department was proposed to be renamed the Military Counselor Office to hold the key points of the country's military administration. The Ministry of Punishment was the administrative office of the judiciary. The new name is the Ministry of Law. The Ministry of Commerce is also in charge of agriculture and industry, and it is proposed to be renamed the Ministry of Agriculture and Industry. The Lifan Academy is the Lifan Department. The half of the Ministry of Industry has been divided into other departments, and Lunlu Post and Telecommunications has been merged, and it is planned to be changed to the Post and Communication Department. This is the main point of the name verification. Sub-division to full-time.The law of division of duties, all the old yamen that have nothing to do with administration can be tailored to the matter, the first Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the second Ministry of Civil Affairs, the second branch branch, the second Rites Department, the second Academic Department, the second Army Department, the second Law Department, and the second Agricultural Industry and Commerce Department Ministry, Ministry of Postal Communications, and Cili Fanyuan.In the full-time method, all ministers in the cabinet are equally responsible, except for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is stipulated in the agreement, and the rest must not fill in the burdensome gaps.There is only one minister in each department, and only two servants, all of whom belong to the same. As for the newly established Chancellor, the power of affairs is unclear, and there are still many obstacles.Therefore, a Chengzheng Office is specially set up to make the left and right ministers, and any one of them will gather together.Set up a council hall, so that the left and right can participate in the consultation, and any department can discuss matters.Among the doctors, Yuanwailang, and below the principal, depending on the complexity of the affairs and the amount of quotas, the responsibilities should be dedicated, and the officials should not be set indiscriminately.The main point of this division of duty is also full-time. " After reading these two articles, Yuan Shikai couldn't help feeling chills running down his spine, knowing that his family's suspicions and Qu Hongji's deliberate antagonism were not rumors, but signs of belief. The so-called "Except for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is stipulated in the agreement, the rest must not fill the heavy gaps" clearly means that, except that he himself can still be the Minister of Military Aircraft, the rest cannot walk on the Minister of Military Aircraft as a minister.It was inevitable for Xu Shichang to send out a military plane. In fact, Yuan Shikai believed that it was to cut off his wings.And the article of "rectification of name for verification" was specifically pointed at him. He calculated that besides the vacancy of Governor of Zhili, he still has nine titles, most of which are lost now.The military training department was merged into the Ministry of War, of course, there was no longer the title of "Minister of General Affairs", and a new post department was established, and the post and telecommunications were merged into the post and telecommunications. Supervising Minister" title.The most worrying thing is that if the Ministry of the Navy is temporarily under the Ministry of War, the names of the Ministers of the North and South Oceans may all be abolished. Thinking of this, my heart was in a mess, so I had to put it aside for the time being and read the following. The following is the edict.It still starts with "Qinbi Yizhi". First, it talks about the Military Aircraft Department, saying that it is the "administrative general assembly". During the "Yongzheng period, it was originally established by the cabinet". The title of "Minister" was tit-for-tat and tightly wrapped, and Yuan Shikai's heart became even colder. The hope of relying on the new official system to succeed Yikuang and become a single-handed minister has been confirmed at this point, and it has completely failed! Sure enough, the imperial edict clearly stated that the Military Aircraft Department "has been passed down to the present, and there has been no malpractice, so there is no need to reorganize the cabinet. All the regulations of the Military Aircraft Department are as usual. All the ministers of its ministries are written as ministers of state affairs, and they are on duty every day to listen to the affairs. " What made Yuan Shikai most dissatisfied was: "Except for the lack of officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the officials in each ministry will be replaced by one minister and two servants, regardless of Manchu and Han." In addition, there are five related edicts: the first : "The official systems of all provinces and provinces will be edited one after another as soon as they are published, and they will be approved and played." The second way: "The officials who are vacant this time will all write the original food and salary, and they will be used briefly." The third way: "In this reform of the official system, except for the ministers of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, and the ministers, there is no need to replace them. The Minister of the Ministry of Officials is still awarded by Lu Chuanlin; Supplementary award by Liang; Supplementary award by Tie Liang, Minister of the Ministry of Army; Supplementary award by Dai Hongci, Minister of the Ministry of Law; Supplementary award by Zhang Baixi, Minister of Post and Communication; Supplementary award by Shouqi, Minister of the Ministry of Lifan; Supplementary award by Lu Baozhong, the imperial censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate Professor." The fourth said: "Lu Chuanlin, Rong Qing, Xu Shichang, and Tie Liang all wrote to the Minister of Military Aircraft, who is in charge of departmental affairs." The fifth way: "Prince Qing Yikui and co-organizer Qu Hongji, Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the University, are still the Minister of Military Aircraft; the University Scholars continue to write and award the Minister of Military Aircraft." At that time, quite a number of aides gathered in Yuan Shikai's signing room, passing around and watching the edicts one after another. After Yuan Shikai finished reading, everyone finished reading it immediately, looking at each other with serious expressions. Everyone seemed to have a piece of lead pressing there. It was uncomfortable as if I couldn't breathe. "The power of the Qing Dynasty, I'm afraid it's about to run out!" Yuan Shikai's voice was low and hoarse, "I never thought that the official system would be changed to this!" "The reform of the official system is to prepare for the establishment of a constitution. The most important thing is to establish a responsible cabinet system. If this cannot be realized, the spirit will be lost." Jin Bangping said angrily: "We are all used by others." "Yes." Yuan Shikai said: "We have been used by others. And those who use us have been used by others! They only want to protect their own positions and ruin the way for the Han people to make progress. I am afraid that the world will be troubled from now on." !" Everyone more or less understood that he was referring to Qu Hongji.Only he himself understands the grievances and grievances, and others have no way to comment on them. They only think that what he said, "broken the way for the Han people to make progress", is worthy of attention. "Look, on the surface, the twelve ministries seem to be equally divided between Man and Han, but in fact they are not. First, the Prime Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, King Qing, and the Minister of the Council, Na Qinxuan, are in a two-to-one ratio with the Minister, so the actual The ratio of the Manchu and Han ministers in the upper palm is eight to six. In the second and twelfth ministries, the Du Branch and the Army Department are all bannermen, and even the two ministers of the Army Department are bannermen! Financial and military power are all bannermen. Now it is in our hands, and the banner people have the upper hand in diplomatic power, and the Han people are dwarfed everywhere. If there is injustice, there will be a cry, and if there is no call, it will be over!" Yuan Shikai shook his head, as if he couldn't bear to speak. "These two surnamed Pu are probably from the clan?" Jin Bangping asked. "Yes." Zhang Yilin replied: "Pu Ting, Minister of the Du Branch, named Zhonglu, belongs to the Xianghong Banner; Pu Liang, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, is the younger brother of Emperor Gaozong and the queen of the prince, named Yucen, and belongs to the Zhenglan Banner." "Including Zhenbeizi, Qingui occupies three departments, which is a rare thing!" Jin Bangping also sighed: "The relatives are doing things, and the relatives are young and do nothing. This is not a good phenomenon." "The Han people have suffered a lot from the reform of the official system this time!" Zhang Yilin said calmly: "It's not as good as the previous system. The Han Dynasty has six halls, and the number is evenly divided. At present, the number of ministers and ministers is still the same, but it will be hard to say in the future. If the flag People are jealous, and the imperial court intends to take power, so it is inevitable that there will be more officials in all ministries than Han people, and it seems that the number of relatives and nobles will increase. All these abuses are unexpected, and now It’s going to be difficult to talk about remediation.” "The overall situation is frustrating!" Yuan Shikai looked at him and said, "Zhongren, please check it out. How many gaps are there that I shouldn't be doing concurrently? Please draw up a manuscript and play it electronically as soon as possible, lest people say that I am taking power." Love stack."