Chapter 92 Section 91

Not long after Yuan Shikai left Beijing, Zhao Bingjun, Minister of Civil Affairs, was dismissed from his post. This was expected. After the seal was sealed, it was also expected that Supervisory Censor Xie Yuanhan would impeach Chen Bi, Minister of Postal Affairs. This excerpt is very fierce.The grounds of the case are "empty the state's money, accepting bribes for personal gain", and the article mentions bad deeds, such as ordering and borrowing foreign money, secret distribution of profits;Of course, it also involves Liang Shiyi, known as the "Five-way God of Wealth".However, he was not too worried, because Sheng Xuanhuai had all the handles in his hands when it came to the railway's private fraud.At the same time, he negotiated with all his strength to take back the right of way of Jinghan Road from Biguo. Although the imperial court did not praise him a word, Lian Zaize could not but admit that his action had contributed to the country. Sheng Xuanhuai wanted to believe in this opportunity to attack him. In his opinion, it may not be possible to do so.

To participate in a case like this, it is natural to send high-level officials to investigate; one is the respected Sun Jianai, and the other is Natong.Sun Jianai is no longer in charge, Na Tong is in charge of investigating the case, and as long as Na Tong brings money to his door, no matter how it came from, he dares to accept it. He calls himself an "unscrupulous widow" and "steals a man" and doesn't care anymore.Therefore, Liang Shiyi was not worried, and found his generals Guan Mianjun, Guan Genglin, and Ye Gongchuo, and had something to say. "The two palaces are up and down, and the octaves are dense. There is nothing fun in the next year. It is better to ask colleagues to work overtime and get an extra allowance. On the one hand, it helps the public, and on the other hand, it saves the expenses of the next year. In addition, there is income, which is a rare opportunity to save money, and I advise everyone to buy some railway stocks.”

Two customs and one leaf, as promised, so the income and expenditure accounts of the railway department of the Ministry of Posts and Communications have been sorted out clearly before the imperial envoys send personnel to check. On New Year's Eve, because the national mourning was less than a hundred days old, the Zi Palace was temporarily housed in the palace, so the big fences and the eight alleys, which were usually noisy with singing and singing, were unusually quiet.As for posting Spring Festival couplets and setting off firecrackers, those tricks that can best exaggerate the taste of the New Year are not allowed.Nine Cities is silent, almost desolate.

However, behind closed doors, family reunion is another scene.The house in Jinyu Hutong is full of people who come to say goodbye. At dusk, the door is closed, and any visitors are blocked. There is only one group of guests to invite. This group of guests is called "little friends" in the writings of famous scholars. They are all famous actors in the troupe, and most of them are dan roles.Na Tong didn't invite them here for the sake of a play or a cappella, but because when there was a national funeral, the theater troupe would immediately stop performing, and the livelihood of the actors would be greatly threatened.Under the pretext of eating New Year's dinner, Na Tong invited a group of "little friends" he knew well to share the New Year's money.Of course, depending on the level of fame and the depth of friendship, the size of the red envelope also varies, ranging from four hundred taels to forty taels, and the same as the bag, it is four taels of silver a piece.

After arriving at ten o'clock, more than half of this group of "little friends" dispersed, but there were still seven or eight left, who were pestering Natong in the living room, asking him to try to break the ban and get ready to play in the name of maintaining the market. When the team kicked off early, a report came from the door: "Master Liang from the postal department is here!" It has been informed that all guests will be blocked, and the door servants dare to disobey the order to report, naturally it is because they have already got an adult's door bag.Natong is the most shrewd and kindest in this matter. In order to let the doorman accept the door bag with peace of mind, he nodded and said: "Please come in!"

"On New Year's Eve, the God of Wealth is here!" Wang Yaoqing said with a smile, "The next year in Zhongtang must be a good one." "By the way!" Natong seemed to be reminded, "The God of Wealth is here, don't miss the opportunity! Turn around and look carefully." The servant who was waiting on the side heard this and went to prepare quietly.On such an occasion, it is natural to either push Pai Gow or shake the stall, so the table is set up, lights are added, and two sets of gambling equipment are prepared for standby. At this time, Liang Shiyi had already arrived in the hall, wearing cloth robes and shoes, and holding a wooden box in his hand. He seemed quite surprised to see these famous actresses present, but he still calmly saluted the host and greeted everyone. He raised the wooden box and said, "I got a box of cigars for the Kaiser, and I specially brought them to Zhongtang to keep them for guests."

He neither said to open it and taste it, nor personally presented it to the owner, but handed the tightly sealed box of expensive cigars to the servant of the house, and of course Natong understood. "I don't smoke cigars. Xun Belle likes cigars the most." Natong told the servant, "Keep it in my study well, and I'll give it away." "Yes!" The servant was ordered to go inside cautiously, holding the box of cigars. "This year, it will save a lot of trouble." Na Tong pointed to the actors and said, "It's hard for them." "It's something that can't be helped, but with Zhongtang here, they won't suffer there."

"Zhongtang is not as good as the God of Wealth! Yansun," Na Tong said with a smile, "You come to release the relief?" "This," Liang Shiyi flinched slightly, "is it all right?" "At Zhongtang Mansion, what are you afraid of?" Saying that, Wang Yaoqing came to pull Liang Shiyi. Both Na Tong and Liang Shiyi arrived in the small living room, and sat down facing each other at a mahogany table, and the host said, "Naturally, the God of Wealth has the upper hand, what are you playing?" "Please tell Zhongtang. Anyway, you can't play mahjong."

"What do you think?" Natong looked around and asked, "Do you want Mr. Liang to make a fan stall for you?" "It takes someone to match the stall." Cheng Jixian, who sang Xiaosheng, said, "Counting the chess pieces in the fan stall is more troublesome. It's better to turn over the Pai Gow that stares at you twice." "Okay! It's Pai Gow." Liang Shiyi said, "Please pass me the chips." That house's chips are very particular.The chips in other places are all long ivory chips, but their ivory chips are round like foreign money, with a hole in the middle, which can be passed through the copper stick, and the palindromic Chinese character "Shou" is carved out on the edge, filled with colored, golden The most expensive one is five hundred taels, followed by red one hundred, yellow fifty, and green ten taels.Liang Shiyi arranged four stacks of chips on the table, and handed over the rest to the owner for safekeeping.

"Come on! One for each." He picked up eight golden chips and flicked them out. "Come on! You're welcome." Na Tong acted as a "wealth spreading boy" and stuffed the chips into the hands of "little friends" one by one. "There are still six thousand silver coins," Liang Shiyi pointed at the chips and said, "I'll let you all win." "Did you hear that?" Natong handed the chip to Wang Yaoqing: "It's yours to manage the treasury, you have to be careful, you can find it, don't make a mistake." So Liang Shiyi rolled up his sleeves and pushed the dealer, his luck was steady, and he played for an hour, when suddenly his luck turned bad, and he lost three times in a row, leaving only two thousand silver, but the downwind became more and more gambled, and the golden chips appeared on the bank. The stakes are on.

"Slow down! The dealer only has two thousand silver." Na Tong said, "I think it's too much, and it's not too much." "Why don't Zhongtang bet on me?" Liang Shiyi looked at Natong and said, "The risk is limited!" "Okay! I'll bet on you." Na Tong withdrew his bet and became a temporary shareholder of the dealer. Playing dice to divide the cards, two points for the upper door, eight points for the Tian door, and four matching cards for the lower door, all red, but only three points, someone said: "The 'odd and double' card is more ominous!" Liang Shiyi clasped the two cards together, touched them with his middle finger, and said loudly, "Allow!" Speaking of moving the cards to Na Tong, he also touched them, a land card, a Mo Ding, it really is "odd and double" to take the upper and lower door cards.Of course, there is no need for people to see these two cards, and they messed up them casually, and they lost more than a thousand silver at the checkout. "Zhongtang lost a bet on me!" As he spoke, Liang Shiyi took out a ten thousand silver note and handed it to Wang Yaoqing. "The risk is limited." Na Tong replied. When the guest resigned, Natong went to the study to open the box of "Kaiser's imperial use" cigars. There was a "slip" in it. Liang Shiyi had already deposited 50,000 silver in Natong's HSBC account. On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month of the first year of Xuantong, Sun Jianai and Na Tong wrote a reply to the case of Xie Yuanhan's impeachment of Chen Bi. There were more than 5,000 words, and the conclusion was: "The minister, Chen Bi, was talented and courageous, and he was very famous. Virtue does not outweigh talent, often loses care, public opinion is not harmonious, and reputation suddenly decreases, which leads to a lot of slander. This time, the participation in private affairs may be exaggerated, but it is a waste of public money and private use. Check this It is unavoidable to have an official record. It is unavoidable to see what is good for others, and it is very ashamed of public loyalty, and it is difficult to relinquish responsibility for deficiencies in duty." According to the order, the Ministry of Communications strictly discussed and dealt with it, and finally dismissed him.Liang Shiyi, Ye Gongchuo, Guan Mianjun, and Guan Genglin that Xie Yuanhan accused were all safe and sound. At that time, Xu Shichang, governor of the three eastern provinces, knew that the "Yuan Dang" was too colorful, and he wrote flawed details in memorials, and issued an edict to admonish him.Yikuang knew that he couldn't settle for an outside job, and his young relatives were worried that he would be sent back to the frontier. It happened that there was a vacancy in the Ministry of Postal Communications, so he was guaranteed to succeed him, and Xiliang, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, was transferred to be the governor of the three eastern provinces. As a result, Yang Shixiang, another "Yuan Dang", became even more panicked. When drinking and playing cards, he would often say out of the blue: "I, Yang Laosi, am not Yuan Dang!" If you fall, why are you afraid of him?Zhili has something to look down upon, so attack as much as possible. So Li Deshun, the general manager of the northern section of Jinpu Road who hated the people of Zhili, Gao Runsheng, made an attack and took a hard copy.Of course, Lu Haihuan, the Minister of Jinpu Road, was involved, but it was Yang Shixiang who was secretly attacked.Because Li Deshun's mission was recommended by Yang Shixiang, and the relationship between the two is very close. It can be said that Yang Shixiang's success today is half due to Yuan Shikai and half due to Li Deshun. Li Deshun is a Cantonese with a humble background, but he married a German woman and has been hanging out in the Qingdao area.After Gengzi, Yang Shixiang took off to become the acting governor of Shandong in two years. However, due to Li Deshun's contribution, a new situation has opened up. It turned out that the imperial court paid great attention to diplomacy with Germany at that time, and Shandong was the sphere of influence of Germany. Therefore, Yang Shixiang's first major task when he was the governor of Shandong was to deal with the Germans well.By the way, Li De planned for Yang Shixiang, secretly using the treaty made in the 24th year of Guangxu for the Jiaozhou Bay incident, which promised to Germany but not fulfilled, such as mining rights, etc., to be transferred to Germany. Buy back the barracks built by Germany for 280,000 silver dollars.The imperial court thought that Yang Shixiang was good at handling diplomacy, and greatly rewarded him. At the same time, Li Deshun often accompanied Yang Shixiang to Qingdao to establish friendship with German officials stationed in China.Besides, every trick that can please Germany is thought of.Therefore, German newspapers often compliment Yang Shixiang, and German ministers and consuls, as long as they have the opportunity, all praise Yang Shixiang.For this reason, Yuan Shikai called in and Bao Yang succeeded him, so he was able to act immediately. Li Deshun was originally an interpreter for the Beiyang Western Affairs Bureau and lived in Tianjin for a long time. Of course, he made a comeback with Yang Shixiang at this time.At that time, Lv Haihuan, the supervisory minister of Jinpu Road, was a minister in Germany, but did not know German. Jinpu Road was built with funds from Britain and Germany.Due to the language barrier, Lu Haihuan was unable to deal directly with the German chief engineer in the northern section, and the interpreter was not very effective, which made him feel bitter.So Yang Shixiang happened to recommend Li Deshun, and after Lu Haihuan agreed, he was sent as the general office of the northern section of Jinpu Road. Therefore, Li Deshun relied on the direct supervisor and recruited guest ministers to seize Lu Haihuan's power. Not only did he control the funds, but even the people sent by Lu Haihuan may not be acceptable to Li Deshun.As for the construction, from the expropriation of the people's land to the purchase of materials and labor, all kinds of malpractices are used, and the most unbearable thing is that they deliberately flatter foreigners, and they hardly know the word "country".Originally, when Sheng Xuanhuai was the supervisory minister of the Railway Corporation, as long as he got a loan, he would not hesitate to hand over the right of way to others.Therefore, there is no restriction on the borrowing of Jinpu Road, except that the north and south sections each use a British and German chief engineer. Li Deshun not only deposits public funds in Dehua Bank, but also cleverly creates names such as assistant engineer, secretary, and medical officer. A German with nothing to do and a salary.In the end, it was planned to locate the Tianjin Terminus on Jinpu Road at Nanguan in the south of the city, but it made the "brothers of Tianjin Wei" angry! The markets of Chinese merchants in Tianjin are all located in the east and north of the city, and since the main railway station has a great effect on the prosperity of the area, it should be located in Hebei, where both water and land are convenient.As for Nanguan, the depressions are barren and not close to the canal. At the same time, Jinpu Road connects Jingfeng Road to Beijing, and the new station is in Hebei. If you go from north to west and south, it is not convenient to transfer.Therefore, it was decided to set up a terminus at Xinzhuang in the west of the new station, and the ground has been broken.This was the result of Yuan Shikai's refusal of Germany's request and his single-handed presidency during his tenure as minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.When Yuan Shikai was expelled, Li Deshun overturned the original proposal and abandoned the north to the south. To put it bluntly, it was nothing more than flattering others and seeking personal gain. It turns out that to the east of Nanguan is the concession of various countries. Germany has already requested to set up another station near the Haihe River in the German concession. As for Li Deshun's private business, the means are very ingenious and clumsy. He and a man surnamed Cao jointly set up a company and bought a large amount of land at a very low price at the place where Nanguan was scheduled to be built as the terminus, but reported it to the agricultural industry and commerce. Registered with the Ministry of Finance, the price quoted is 650 taels per mu. In the future, the price will naturally be paid according to this.It is estimated that there will be a sudden profit of 500,000 silver in a change of hands, but if the plan fails, it will be even more difficult to get rid of this large flooded depression. As a result, the gentry in Tianjin and Zhili were in an uproar.When Gao Runsheng was in trouble, the imperial government sent Zhili to investigate thoroughly, and Yang Shixiang was trying to clean him up. The gentry in Zhili province aroused public outrage and held a meeting in Tianjin. But part of it came from Zhili, Shandong, Anhui, and Jiangsu provinces who increased the price of salt. Therefore, Jinpu Road is a national railway, but it is also a railway for the people of the four provinces. Li Deshun is not allowed to steal sovereignty and embezzle himself. The shortcomings of the "Beijing Enterprises" are prepared. Seeing the anger of the crowd, Yang Shixiang agreed to move the main station back to Xinzhuang.But the public indignation was still unabated, and Sun Baoqi, the deputy minister of Jinpu Road of the new faction, also advocated strict punishment, and all the newspapers criticized it unanimously, which made Yang Shixiang anxious and angry.On April 28th, Li Deshun was brought in, scolded severely, and his anger still remained, and then rushed to the new station to meet the imperial envoy. The imperial envoy was Dai Hongci, Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice, who was sent to thank Russia for sending an envoy to pay homage to the country. He went abroad from Beijing and passed through Tianjin. According to regulations, when imperial envoys pass through the border, the governor must "invite Shengan". Kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times, saying hello by name, the imperial envoy replied on behalf of the emperor: "I'm safe!" If the imperial court leaned on the pillar of the governor, and the gift was special, he would add another sentence: "Qing An?" The ceremony counts without waiting for an answer. Finish. With a train, St. Ann's is of course at the station.The train arrived, the driver's skills were very good, the car stopped steadily, and the entrance and exit of the imperial envoy's float happened to be facing the red carpet that was being laid on the platform.Dai Hongci's expression was solemn and the underground station was ready, so Yang Shixiang took the lead to salute, and said in his mouth: "Minister of Beiyang, Zhili Governor Yang Shixiang, lead the subordinates, and respectfully greet Sheng An!" The word "An" has not yet been uttered, and the person is wrong, but seeing the hands and feet touching, the mouth and eyes are all slanted, and he fell headlong on the red carpet.Immediately, someone shouted in panic: "It's not good! The commander-in-chief has had a stroke!" Then there was a commotion, and the imperial envoys were not greeted, so they hurriedly sent Yang Shixiang back to the Yamen, and Qu Tinggui, the general manager of the Health Bureau, invited doctors from Germany and France to consult each other. His life was temporarily saved, but his body was paralyzed, his mind was confused, and he was crying and laughing. impermanence.So Cui Yongan, the feudal official stationed in Baoding, rushed to Tianjin overnight to take care of him. Yang Shiqi also came to visit from Beijing, and Yuan Keding was also with him, who came to "watch the changes". Yang Shixiang's illness is neither bad nor bad, but even if he can save his life, he will be sick and prolong his life, and the governor must be absent. Therefore, those who think they are qualified to be the governor, all of them wanton activities, especially Yuan Shuxun, the governor of Shandong , It is said that he sent his son to bring 400,000 silver to Beijing to find a way. On the evening of the ninth day of May, Yang Shixiang's condition changed suddenly and he finally died.The funeral was presided over by Yang Shiqi, and a couplet written by Yang Shixiang was hung before the funeral: "I like to read the biography of the knight-errant in my life; I don't know Qiluoxiang until I die."Mrs. Yang is very jealous. Yang Shixiang only took one concubine in his life, and she was Mrs. Yang's dowry girl, so he couldn't tolerate it.When Yang Shixiang talked about it, his expression was depressed, and he said that he made up his own elegiac couplet, which is the one hung in the funeral.Some people think that it is "unrealistic" to say such indecent words about closing the border, but Yang Shiqi has an excuse, saying that it is "like a brother's ambition". When Yang Shixiang died, the direct governor was vacant, and the governor of Liangjiang, Duanfang, was sent to succeed him. It was quite confusing, because just a few days ago, the censor Hu Sijing participated in the twenty-two items of the ten crimes of impeaching Duanfang, and specially ordered Zhang Renjun, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, to investigate. I don't want to be transferred to the direct governor of the leader of the border officials instead! Naturally, there was a big transfer. Zhang Renjun was transferred to Liangjiang; Before the new direct governor, Duanfang, could have sent a feudal secretary to act temporarily before he took office, but due to the serious internal situation in Zhili, except for the case of Li Deshun, the previous two terms still had a huge shortfall.When Yuan Shikai left office, he was short of public funds of six to seven million yuan, and asked Yang Shixiang to make up for it, which was one of the main conditions to ensure his promotion from Dongfu.But Yang Shixiang had no such means, and because of his lack of qualifications, the elders in Beijing did not dare to offend, so anyone who asked for a job with the eight-line script would be rewarded, so that there was a lot of redundant staff.It was a lot of entertainment to welcome and send, so not only could not make up for Yuan Shikai's omissions, but he lost three to four million yuan, a total of no less than ten million yuan, which could not be cleared without sending high-level officials. When he resigned from Beijing, the regent Zaifeng made the investigation of Li Deshun and Yuan and Yang Kueikong the main tasks of Natong's departure.