Chapter 85 Section 84

Zaifeng's serious gaffe became the most popular talk in Beijing. Many people believed that this was a sign that Qing Zuo would not last forever, thus fueling various rumors, and Yuan Shikai was the most talked about. Almost at the same time as the mourning edict was issued, it was rumored in Beijing that the regent had secretly executed Yuan Shikai to avenge his brother. Therefore, according to Yikuang's plan, Yuan Shikai was invited to accompany the regent to attend the meeting with foreign ministers stationed in China to refute the rumors. .But the effect is not great. The theory of execution is self-defeating, but there is another saying: if Yuan Shikai can save the leader, he will be counted as lucky, and it will be a matter of time before he is dismissed and investigated.

There are many people who want to overthrow Yuan.When the emperor died, the royalist party took the lead in launching the attack. Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao’s younger brothers sent telegrams at home and abroad to say that Yuan Shikai was the chief culprit of the catastrophe in the two palaces.He also pointed out that the collapse of Guangxu was caused by Yuan Shikai's poisonous hands.Kang Youwei also told others: Wang Renxie told him personally in London that Yuan Shikai had used 30,000 silver to mobilize Lijun. When asking for the emperor's pulse, he took the opportunity to poison him.

This appalling attack and legend did not arouse disgust in the court, because saying that the emperor was poisoned to death was a taboo at all.However, Su Wang Shanqi, whom the royalist party relied on to overthrow Lord Yuan, was well aware of the inside story and did not think that Yuan Shikai should be responsible for the emperor's collapse, so he did not take action for a long time. In fact, Shanqi's influence is not enough to overthrow Yuan, he must contact Zai Ze, and Zai Ze's main goal is to overthrow Qing.The one who took the opportunity was Sheng Xuanhuai. He had already followed the path of Zaize, but his ambition was to become a minister of the postal department, so it was Chen Bi who was going to fall. Chen Bi relied on Liang Tuyiru, the director of the railway department, as Sheng Xuanhuai's first No. 1 is a deadly enemy, so it is necessary to reverse Chen and Liang.

Due to the complexity of the situation, it is not a matter of three or five days if the plan is made and then the action is made.Therefore, Yuan Shikai would not waver for a while, and secretly calculated that as long as Tang Shaoyi's visit to the United States was successful, it would be enough for Austrian aid. The diplomatic relations between China and the United States, which had once been rifted by the American exclusion of China, have reconciled, and the United States has decided to refund part of the boxer indemnity, which will be used as funds for China to send students to the United States.In order to repay the kindness of the United States, the imperial court will send Tang Shaoyi, the governor of Fengtian, as a special envoy in June, and will be given the title of minister to visit the United States to express his gratitude.This is a superficial article. In fact, Yuan Shikai has already told the Empress Dowager Cixi that he has decided to be pro-American in diplomacy, hoping to borrow a huge amount of American money to take back the railways in the three eastern provinces, and at the same time to conclude a tripartite alliance between China, the United States and Germany.Tang Shaoyi went to the United States with these two missions. In addition, he also inspected the Minister of Finance and went to various countries to negotiate treaties free of fees and tariffs.

According to Yuan Shikai's thinking, if Tang Shaoyi's two major tasks of negotiating in the United States have any hope of success, his position will be as secure as a rock, and I will be the prime minister in the future.In fact, this is true. Since the establishment of the Prime Minister's Office and the administration of Western Affairs, people and diplomacy have been inseparable. Since Yuan Shikai advocated pro-American diplomacy, as long as the United States is pro-China, Yuan Shikai will not lose power for a day.Otherwise, the imperial court will regard it as a breakdown of pro-American diplomacy and absolutely refuse to make such a move.

It is a pity that Tang Shaoyi left late. When he arrived in Tokyo on September 17, the Japanese special envoy Gao Ping had already started negotiating interests in China with the US Secretary of State in Washington.When Tang Shaoyi was on his way from Tokyo to the west coast of the United States by mail, he received news that the two palaces had passed away one after another. As soon as he landed on the ship, a telegram from Beijing was waiting for him: Tang Shaoyi should be renamed Tang Shaoyi, because the word Yi offended the new emperor. Taboo. Although on the way to the United States, you must obey the etiquette and dress.There is a strict rule in the service system that one cannot shave her hair within a hundred days, and she also cannot shave her beard, so when Tang Shaoyi went ashore, her face was full of thoughts.When I transferred to the transcontinental train and arrived in Washington, the American protocol officials who came to greet me were astonished. The diplomats sent by China looked like flying capes, with green cloth and old robes. Why were they so embarrassed?Tang Shaoyi looked at herself in the mirror, and felt that she had never seen such a bad luck!

Unfortunately, on the day he arrived, Japan and the United States exchanged notes, declaring that they would maintain China's independence, preserve China's territory, equal opportunities, and maintain the status quo.These last two points negate the possibility of the United States lending money to China and taking back the railways in the three eastern provinces. At the same time, because of the changes in the political situation in China, the United States is unwilling to engage in any further negotiations.However, Tang Shaoyi also met the President of the United States. Yuan Shikai believed that the hope was not lost, and there was still something to do.

In Tang Shaoyi, she also felt that it would be embarrassing to return home empty-handed after a long journey, so she really wanted to catch a topic temporarily and reach an agreement, which is more or less an achievement.Therefore, some people suggested that since China and the United States have a proposal for further repairs, the status of the envoys of the two countries should not be raised, and the ministers should be upgraded to ambassadors.Tang Shaoyi thought so, and tried privately with the U.S. government, and got a good response. Tang Shaoyi immediately sent a secret message to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asking for instructions.

At this time, the funeral has come to an end, and the government is planning to change. A "brain trust group" has appeared around Zaifeng, headed by Zaize, and Zaifeng's younger brother Zaitao is also very happy to speak. At the gathering in the mansion, we talked casually, and slowly the results came to fruition, and we decided to do two major things. One is Zaize's claim that the financial power of the whole country should be controlled by the central government, in other words, it should be fully dispatched by the Du branch. This matter has been going on since the Sino-Japanese War, but none of the governors of the provinces is willing to support it, so the results are not obvious.Zai Ze believes that there were many resistances at the beginning because of the deep-rooted forces of Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, and Liu Kunyi. Even the Empress Dowager Cixi had to pretend to be an important minister with words. , the New Deal should be implemented, the name is justified, and no one would dare to stand up against it.

This sounded reasonable, and Zaifeng agreed.However, according to Zaize's plan, to set up the financial departments of each province, we must first formulate a set of clearing methods, and the situation is different in different places, depending on the income and expenditure. A simple set of methods may not be applicable to all.In short, this is a big matter, and we must make a decision before moving, and there is no need to rush. The other was proposed by Zai Tao, and based on the suggestion of Liang Bi, who was a Japanese non-commissioned officer, to train a Imperial Guard Army as the beginning of the right to withdraw troops.Zaifeng's words scratched the itch even more, because when he went to Germany to apologize, the Kaiser told him that if the royal family wants to maintain power, it must first control military power.Zaifeng was deeply impressed by this advice, so when Zaitao mentioned it, he felt deeply in my heart.

So Zaifeng told Liangbi to draw up a preliminary plan, and at the beginning of December, he issued an imperial edict: set up a Imperial Guard Army, which would be under the command and dispatch of the regent of Jianguo.He also sent Baylor Zaitao, Yulang, and Tie Liangchong, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, to train the ministers of the Imperial Guard. But as soon as he had a project, Zaifeng had an illusion, thinking that he had a strong army in his hands and was confident, so naturally his voice became louder and he made a decision quickly.On the surface, it is no longer as indecisive as before. However, summoning a military plane to handle affairs does not mean that things will go smoothly because he is more airy than before.When it comes to cleaning up the finances, Yuan Shikai talked a lot about the difficulties of the governor, and when it comes to training the imperial guards, based on his experience, he will have many disappointing words.Therefore, the words "Yuan Shikai should have been killed a long time ago" were heard from time to time in the upper room of Beifu. Tang Shaoyi's telegram was sent to the regent. He didn't understand the difference between a minister and an ambassador, but he didn't ask the Minister of Military Aircraft. He only approved one and sent it to the Ministry of War for investigation. No one understood Zaifeng's intentions as to why he did not hand it over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but to the Ministry of War. Some people said that this meant that he trusted and valued the Ministry of War the most, not the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.This is not entirely true, Zaifeng trusts and values ​​the Du branch the most. The military training must be paid first, and the New Deal has nothing to do with money. The duty of the Du branch is even more important, and Zai Ze's power is even greater, and his arrogance is even higher! "Financial management, I have a solution! But, you have to listen to the big brother!" Zai Ze said to Zai Feng: "First, don't let Lao Qing get involved in important matters; second, don't let Zhang Xiangtao come up with random ideas. Li Shaoquan once said that he Serving as an official for decades, it’s still a scholar’s ​​opinion’, that’s right. People say that Li Shaoquan’ lies down with his eyes open’ and Zhang Xiangtao ‘walks with his eyes closed’, just look, I’ll ‘walk with his eyes open!’” “Okay Big tone!" Zai Tao said with a smile, of course with a bit of sarcasm. Zai Ze looked at everything, but when he met this innocent cousin, he had no choice but to keep silent. "You talk about Zhang Xiangtao's views as a scholar. I think he is willing to tell the truth and has a long-sighted vision. Financial management is nothing more than increasing income and reducing expenditure. We, banner people, receive money and food every month, and do nothing serious all day long. Walking birds and playing Playing with antiques has become useless. Therefore," Zai Tao said with emphasis, "I agree with Zhang Xiangtao's idea of ​​changing the flag system." "Sure enough, it is a good thing that we can find a way out for the bannermen so that the country's money and food will not be wasted." Zaifeng frowned and said, "I'm afraid it won't work!" "Why can't it work?" "We banner people will object!" "As long as the method is good, there will be no objection! This matter must be done, otherwise the Han people will not accept it. They are all the people of the Qing Dynasty, why should the banner people get something for nothing? Fifth brother, you want to be the regent of the country. , you have to show some courage." After speaking, Zai Tao got up and left. "Look, old seven!" Zaifeng smiled wryly. "You have to take care of him!" Zai Ze said with a sullen face, "Lao Qi is too ignorant! He often builds up the ambitions of others and destroys his prestige..." Before he finished speaking, Zai Tao came out and came back in. Seeing Zai Ze's sullen face and not speaking, he retorted bluntly: "You said that I have aspirations for others, that's right! We only blame ourselves for not being up to date. I'd like to ask for advice, Zhang Xiangtao's 'Conference Currency System Talk' Why did you refute him?" Zhang Zhidong had long advocated the recasting of one or two silver coins, and tried it in Hubei four years ago.In the spring of this year, a post was formally drawn up, and the judge was invited to play, advocating the casting of four silver coins of one tael, five coins, one coin, and five cents.The first two are called main coins, and the latter two are called auxiliary coins.After the discussion, the Jiaodu branch listed various reasons for the inconvenience and denied Zhang Zhidong's claim.At this time, Zai Tao brought up the old matter again, and he didn't know what his intention was, so Zai Ze stood there in a daze, unable to answer. "Big brother probably doesn't know, then, let me tell you, one tael of silver coins is minted, and one tael is one tael. There is nothing to say. If the silver coins of seven cents and two cents are still minted, the provinces will pay the capital to the Ministry." ', 'Complementary color', equivalent to two silver calculations, can make a lot of benefits. Otherwise, where does your "food silver" come from? In fact, the "food silver" is limited, and the people below you make troubles from it, and earn more money than you The income is more than ten times more. Just for my own benefit, I have to strike down a very good reform, and even send a lot of people! I refuse to accept this!" After finishing speaking, Zai Tao came out again, and Zai Ze was so angry that he sat there, unable to move for a long time. "Forget it, forget it!" Zai Feng persuaded: "Kid, ignore him." "Where is the child?" Zai Ze yelled, straightening his neck: "Speaking so aggressively, it's not enough to accomplish anything, and it's more than a failure. Let me say something here first. According to this, if you want to build a new house in Xiyuan, I don't have it." Fa'er is raising money for you!" It turns out that the court discussed the etiquette of the regent, and there have been results. There are 16 items in the general list, and they are scored: "Reporting to the temple, edicts, titles, ceremonies on behalf of ceremonies, military aircraft, classics, frequency of court meetings, seats at court meetings, signatures on seals, and styles of documents. , Acting on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, diplomacy, public service and security, expenditure of funds, mansion, restoration of government", submitted to the Empress Dowager for imperial review, and handled as discussed.The Prince Regent's residence was stipulated to be built in Jilingyuan, west of Zhonghai. In the Ming Dynasty, this place was a place where palace people raised silkworms. There is also a Yunji Temple with looms inside. It was abandoned in the Qing Dynasty for a long time.This area is very large, and it is between the forbidden garden and the folk houses. It is quite suitable to be built as the Prince Regent's Mansion. It has been renamed Jilingyuan, and the drawing has already started. The one who is most interested in building this new mansion is not the regent Fujin, but Belle Zaixun, who was also crowned the county king at the same time as Zaitao. There are two reasons for this. First, the Prince Regent moved into the new mansion, and the "Northern Mansion" naturally belonged to his younger brother, and Zai Xun was older than Zaitao, so he took priority; Zai Xun is the manager.The cost of the project is at least five or six million silver.Conventionally, only 20% of the "big workers" came to work, and the remaining 80% were profited from the princes and ministers who were estimated to oversee the work to Su La in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.If it is beneficial for Zai Xun to preside over this project, he will naturally raise a large share, and it is not surprising that he will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars. For this reason, Zai Xun approached Zai Ze twice in three days and asked him to try to raise funds.Zai Ze was half in trouble, half in trouble, so far no definite answer.However, things always have to be done, so you might as well use this as a threat at this time.Zai Feng had to say a few good words to accompany him, promised to clean up the finances, all according to his idea, and promised to warn Zai Tao not to speak rashly in the future.Zai Ze finally calmed down, and promised to try his best to raise funds for the construction of the mansion.