Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Minions are the real talents

Autumn in Beijing is always windy; the wind in Beijing always spins up diffuse dust and sand, like a yellow and gray net stretched from the ground to the sky, and even the sun is like a round ball, Slowly and orderly slid from east to west, and after falling into the western mountain, the day ended.The change of officials in the court due to the death of the emperor and Cixi has continued.The trembling ministers are still trembling; the self-proclaimed noble bannermen—especially those princes, are still fighting for power and profit.The eyes of these people gradually turned to the Ministry of Postal Communications, and public opinion also turned to the Ministry of Postal Communications:

"The Ministry of Posts and Communications is the economic lifeline of the imperial court. How can a Han person be in charge?" "How was the former Shangshu Chen Bi dismissed? The money and power are too great, so I forget about it!" Three provinces, let him be in charge of the postal department, wouldn't the court be impoverished soon!" The Ministry of Posts and Communications is a ministry that was only added in the 32nd year of Guangxu (1906). With Shangshu and Zuoshi Lang as the main officials, it supervises the implementation of government orders related to roads, aviation, post, and telecommunications. Transportation administration, shipping administration, investment promotion, taxation department, railway telegraph, etc. are managed in a unified manner, and it is a practical and beneficial gold and silver unit.The entire court, civil and military officials, all set their sights there.Xu Shichang, who returned from the Northeast, had yet to sit firmly on the chair, but the rumors had already rang. He was secretly surprised: "I am going to be the target of public criticism?" Xu Shichang is a person who likes to live a peaceful life. Bafang has a smiling face, so why is he willing to dive into the whirlpool? So, after discussing with his confidants, he decided to hand over a resignation letter to Zaifeng, not to be the Minister of Postal Communications.Though all his confidants, no one agreed with him to do so.Liang Shiyi, who was in charge of the Road Bureau, said a little angrily: "Ju Shuai, how can you think like this? When the Han people are all in decline, it is a great fortune for the Han people to be able to have the postal mission, and the fight must be won." , how can you resign?"

Ye Gongchuo, who will be Liang Shiyi's deputy, also said: "Ju Shuai, the minister of the Ministry of Postal Communications can't quit. What everyone looks at shows that postal transmission is important. What's wrong with letting them all admire you?" Liang Shiyi said again: " It’s not terrible to be targeted by the public, but the terrible thing is that there is no one to back it up. Let me see, right now..." He put his mouth on Xu Shichang's ear, whispered his "tricks and tricks", and then said: " There is no other way, but this is the only way out." Xu Shichang frowned and pondered for a moment, then nodded and said: "But it's still a move, or the whole game can be played."

In the middle of the night, Xu Shichang came to the home of Zai Xun, the Minister of the Navy and King Zai Xun in a micro-dress, and was immediately warmly received by Zai Xun. My dear brother, he will gain power as soon as he sees it.However, this person's popularity is not good, and the family has long been neglected.Xu Shichang, a great official in the frontier, was visited by the Minister of Post and Communications, which surprised him ten people. Xu Shichang spoke first: "Your Majesty, Shichang is going to the postal department, how to carry out his work? Please enlighten me, Your Majesty."

When Zai Xun saw Xu Shichang's late-night subdued visit, he understood that he was not here for business, and "listen to enlightenment" was obviously an excuse.Therefore, he smiled and said: "Master Xu has also been in the Imperial Academy for many years. He is naturally aware of the affairs of the court. Since you are here, if you want to have something, you can just say it. As long as I can do it, I will do my best." Do your best." Seeing this situation, Xu Shichang stopped beating around the bush, and said, "Shichang has always admired the prince's character; Shichang knew the prince's life a long time ago, and he wanted to be filial a long time ago, but he just had more than enough heart. Now, thanks to the court Great love, in charge of postal transmission, the first thing Shichang thought of was to tell the mansion of Qianda Dai Qu Erterong. From now on, Xichang will be the helper of Lord Qian when he brings the coffin, so I hope the prince will accept it."

When Zai Xun heard that Xu Shichang came to flatter him, he was naturally happy.But on the surface, he still pretended to be surprised, and immediately refused. "Master Xu's kindness, I accept it. I am deeply grateful for your kindness. I dare not take such a gift!" "Please don't get me wrong, my lord," said Xu Shichang, "what Shichang did was all from his salary, and he never dared to take it from the treasury. Please clear up your doubts, my lord!" "I can still get by, so I don't need to." "Talk about your heart, there is no hope!"

Although Zai Xun shook his head slowly, he stopped talking. Xu Shichang felt relieved, and hurriedly bid farewell—afterwards, from the day he took office, he secretly sent Zai Xun 15,000 yuan a month "for pocket use".Not only Zai Xun, but in fact, Zai Feng, Yi Xu and other important members of the royal family almost all have the same gift; even Na Tong has a gift every now and then.With this move, everything went smoothly for Xu Shichang in the Ministry of Posts and Communications, and the people he wanted to arrange were immediately accepted as soon as he was recommended. His cronies Ye Gongchuo, Long Jianzhang, Liang Shiyi, Zhu Qiqian, etc. soon became the masters of important departments of the Ministry of Posts and Communications .

Xu Shichang has taken up a post in the Ministry of Posts and Communications. He is very confident that he can take on this role well. He has dealt with almost all the princes in charge, and all the important departments of his subordinates have been replaced by his own people. What? The only one who can't let go of his heart is his young friend Yuan Shikai who "returned to his hometown to recuperate his illness". "He shouldn't have left Beijing, he shouldn't have left the central government!" After all, Yuan Shikai had left the field, and although the army he had trained remained unchanged, it was no longer under his control.Xu Shichang was aggrieved.At this moment, he suddenly thought of Duan Qirui, "Yes, we should discuss it with Hefei (Duan Qirui is from Hefei)." He hurriedly wrote a secret letter and sent it to Duan, who was in charge of the third town of the Beiyang Army. Qirui, I hope he "come to Beijing to discuss important matters quickly."

Before Duan Qirui arrived in Beijing, Prince Qing Yixu hurried to the Ministry of Posts and Communications, and secretly sent a favor to Xu Shichang, telling him that the cabinet planned to appoint his younger brother Shiguang as Shanghai Governor, and he would soon take office. Shanghai Road, but the world is rich and vacancies, many people have retaliated and retaliated, and sent them to the door, which is unusual.Xu Shichang understood that this was the "retribution" obtained by "burning incense".However, he made a murmur-- Changing from Northeast Governor to post office, the ruling and opposition parties have been discussing a lot. So far, Xu Shichang has not figured out what attitude the Regent has towards him, and what will be his final destination? Prince Qing will not harbor malice, but after all, he In a situation where everyone is criticizing, will someone take the opportunity to make a big fuss and lose himself because of "Shanghai Road"!Xu Shichang never dared to sleep on his back. He knew very well that the officialdom was dangerous, and he was always thinking of ways to protect himself; besides, the ministers who stayed in the center were all cautious in dealing with others.A few days ago, the cabinet planned to send Zhang Quan, the son of the newly appointed Minister of Military Aircraft Zhang Zhidong, to the United States as the imperial envoy. Zhang Zhidong politely declined because "the son's qualifications are too low". In the end, he only appointed a counselor to go abroad.Afterwards, Xu Shichang asked Zhang Zhidong face to face, "Why didn't you let your son be an imperial envoy?" Zhang Zhidong said earnestly, "I've already attracted enough attention. My son has committed crimes against me! Remember, the heights are extremely cold!" Xu Shichang was greatly shocked, and he did not want his younger brother to be punished for his crimes, and he did not want his younger brother to be punished for his crimes. Tell him, "Brighten the front and enrich the back, and make his family prosperous." "With me, a great official in frontiers and an important minister in the court, Xu's family is glorious enough. There is no need to drag a younger brother into the whirlpool." So he prepared a generous gift and went to Prince Qing's mansion to express his sincerity. He resigned from his post in Shanghai for his younger brother Shiguang.Yixu understood Xu Shichang's intentions well, and said along the way: "Since your brothers are so modest, I don't have to force myself to do it."

Duan Qirui came to Beijing in secret, instead of going to the post office, he only went to Xu Shichang's private residence.Xu Shichang didn't entertain him with flamboyance, but only had a short chat with him in his private house-- Both Duan and Xu were Yuan Shikai's confidantes, but Yuan ordered them to obey.Yuan Shikai went to the field, but Yuan Shikai's "ghost" lingered; the team Yuan Shikai cultivated was still his.Xu Shichang asked about the situation of the team, and said to Duan Qirui: "Zhiquan (Duan Qirui's name is Zhiquan), now is a special period, and Weiting has been deposed, and Zhaoping is not forever. Things should still be informed to him in time. There are many eyes and ears in Jingzhong, and there is fear of accidents. The connection with Weiting will be based on you in the future. Naturally, I will inform you in time of the situation in Jingzhong. What advice does Weiting have? Let me know in time."

The relationship between Duan Qirui and the Yuan family was even more unusual. He had already been aggrieved when the court deposed Yuan, but he was only weighing his interests, so he was inconvenient to act rashly.He naturally understood Xu's instructions. "Ju Shuai said that Zhiquan had the same feeling for a long time ago. As for the contact with Weiting, I have already arranged it." He also said: "There is no one in charge of the army except Weiting. The generals are still in charge. To comfort the court is to follow. However, when will it get better in this situation? Zhiquan is very anxious!" "National affairs, you must not be complacent." Xu Shichang said: "When it is time to swallow, you must swallow and wait for changes. I think , things are bound to change, it’s just that things come sooner and come later. Once things change, Wei Ting will definitely come back. By then, everything will be as it should be.” What Xu Shichang said "things are bound to change" is not groundless. Li Shi, a revolutionary party member, had informed him of the "incident" in Shenyang. I am always panicked, thinking that Mr. Sun's proposition is still very confusing.Therefore, he once made it clear to Li Shizeng that he would not be an enemy of the party members.Now, based on this, he concluded that "things must change" in the country. The two talked secretly for a while, and finally agreed on a way to communicate with Yuan. Duan Qirui repeatedly stated that he would deal with him back and forth.Parting, Duan Qirui left a state-of-the-art military radio station to Xu Shichang.Since then, although the situation in the court and the army has changed from day to day, Yuan Shikai, who is still in Henan, knows everything well at all times and still gives orders at any time. Xu Shichang's Postal Department is gradually favored by relatives and nobles. They all think that Xu Shichang is a person who can do things. The political situation is turbulent and financial constraints. Xu Shichang can not only provide considerable financial resources for the court, but also sincerely and considerable Expressing "loyalty" and making them happy one by one, this should be a very rare situation.Therefore, Xu Shichang's "capable man" image was established in the court. When Xu Shichang was appointed Minister of the Postal Communications Department, there was also a discussion about entrusting a scholar of Tirenge to concurrently serve as an assistant minister of the cabinet.The discussion has been discussed, and the decision has generally been decided, but it has not yet been written and implemented.The reason is that the Regent has not yet finally "drawn a circle". Zaifeng, Prince Jin, was originally an insignificant figure in the court. His father, Yihui, was the seventh son of Daoguang (Manning), the sixth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and his biological mother was a nobleman named Wu Ya.In the beginning, Yishi's life was easy. After several times in Xianfeng and Tongzhi, in the Guangxu period, Cixi listened to the government behind the curtain, and Prince Jin gradually fell out of favor.Originally, Cixi used him and Prince Gong Yixu to kill Sushun, and then married his younger sister Ye He to Yisu.After Ye He's death, the relationship broke down.It is said that it was because Cixi suspected that her sister died abnormally, and insisted that all the best jewels and rings in the palace be put into her sister's coffin, so as not to leave any good things for them. Zaifeng is the second generation of Prince Chun, born in the ninth year of Guangxu, and inherited the title of Prince Chun at the age of 8.This is a person who lacks forethought. He has been lazy since he was a child. In his study, he wrote the couplet "There are books, there is wealth, and there is nothing to do with little gods". Send this body in the middle. Follow the rich and the poor and rejoice, not laughing is an idiot" as self-encouragement.Although the imperial court later gave him many prominent official positions, such as Minister of Military Parade, Chief Patriarch of Zhenglan Banner, Commander of the Han Army of Zhengbai Banner and Minister of Military Aircraft.But he is still greedy for the life of a "nothing little fairy".Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi died successively, and his eldest son Puyi became emperor (Xuantong), and he was appointed as the director of the regent of the country.This 27-year-old prince who has been a "nothing little fairy" in his life has suddenly supervised the country's regent, and it really feels like "I don't know how to use power".So, be careful and don't take a big step.Therefore, Xu Shichang's bachelor and assistant minister of the cabinet coldly let him go.Now, the "political achievements" of the Ministry of Post and Communications are outstanding, and the princes who have received generous gifts gradually want to repay Xu Shichang.First, Prince Qing Yixu, who was the prime minister of the cabinet, said to Zaifeng in the tone of an elder: "Xu Shichang is a very virtuous person, and he is also a person who can shrink and stretch. He has been sitting on the bench for many years and has not been discouraged. He has devoted himself to heavy responsibilities Do your best and be a man of great responsibility." Zaifeng also wants to do something to supervise the country, as long as he doesn't know how to oppose him, or is not someone who is sincerely against him, he still wants to draw his subordinates to use for him.As for Yuan Shikai, he was out of helplessness, because his power (especially military power) was too great.Zaifeng was afraid that he might deceive the Lord if he became powerful, so he drove him away.Xu Shichang is different, he is a man without military power, but also a man who is still loyal to the court, he wants to use him.Besides, his younger brothers Zai Xun, Zai Tao, and Na Tongping all said a lot of good things about Xu Shichang in front of him recently, and Zai Feng had already had a "good" impression in his mind.After Yixu said this, he asked casually: "It seems that Xu Shichang's matter has been discussed, so don't you have an opinion?" "Yes." Yixu said. "How did you decide?" "Bachelor of Tiren Pavilion, and Assistant Minister of the Cabinet." "Xu Shichang's..." "He was a Jinshi in the Bingwu Division in the twelfth year of Guangxu." Yixu said, "After entering the Imperial Academy for three years, he was appointed editor." "Hmm!" Zaifeng counted with his fingers, and said, "So, Xu Shichang has been walking around in the inner court for more than 20 years." "Yes." Yixu said, "Over twenty years of hard work and diligence, especially the three northeastern provinces, although the time is short, they have made a lot of achievements; since he took charge of the Postal Communications Department, he has made bold moves and extraordinary talents." "Okay, you will Grab the post of (Bachelor, Associate Minister)." So, less than half a year after Xu Shichang arrived at the post department, he was promoted again and again. Xu Shichang, who returned to Beijing from the Northeast, not only did not feel any danger, but he was promoted again and again. ", with money in his hands, Xu Shichang felt a little confident.Therefore, he no longer cared about the contacts between Wu Jisun, who was his vanguard, and the revolutionaries. That day, Wu Jisun came to Xu Shichang's small living room and wanted to report to him in detail about his contact with Li Shizeng—he found the member of the alliance, and he told him what Xu Shichang meant.Li Shi once said frankly to Wu Jisun: "I know that Brother Ju is a visionary. He can see the influence and future of the Revolutionary Party and is willing to leave a way out for himself. We welcome it very much. We very much hope that Brother Ju will I can do what I can do for the Revolutionary Party, and I would like to hear his frank opinions on the Revolutionary Party. If there is a request, we will definitely do it." Finally, Li Shi once told him that "I want to talk to him again in Beijing-I hope things can be resolved." Move forward." "Since Mr. Li has told the truth, Ju Shuai should express his attitude." "How do you explain?" Xu Shichang hesitated. "Now, the situation in Beijing has changed, much better than expected, we have to..." What Xu Shichang said "the situation in Beijing has changed" clearly refers to the successive promotions of the imperial court.Therefore, he didn't want to take the risk to find another way.Wu Jisun understood and grasped his thoughts at this time, so he tentatively said: "In this way, we can discard Li Shizeng's place. In this way, we can avoid worrying about it." Wu Jisun wanted to throw it away. Despite Li Shizeng's attitude, Xu Shichang remained silent for a moment--Xu Shichang had another contradiction in his heart: the court's high regard for him made him feel that he had a backer and a sense of security, and he didn't want to ask for danger; however, Li Shizeng's words It weighed heavily on his heart again; the trend of the world, the situation in China, and the "internal organs" of the Qing Dynasty made Xu Shichang dare not be completely at ease. How can he do it without regressing? Thinking about it this way, he couldn't make up his mind to make a clean break with Li Shizeng.When he was silent, he said again: "You should avoid these days, and don't have contact with Li Shizeng for the time being." "You haven't seen him?"-Wu Jisun told Li Shizeng, and he said, "Xu Shichang wants to see him." Li Shizeng also agreed, just waiting for Xu Shichang to set a time. Xu Shichang shook his head and said, "I don't see him. You don't see him either. The capital is not in the Northeast, and the imperial court has many eyes and ears. Word spread that there was a collusion and rebellion. We can't afford it." "I've made a deal with Mr. Li," Wu Jisun said, "He said that he would go back to the south to see Mr. Sun Yat-sen in the near future, and in order to wait for you, he had to wait for you, so he went south for a reprieve. Can't see you...how about it?" Xu Shichang frowned-- The world at the end of the nineteenth century was an era of democratic progress, and the deep-rooted Chinese feudal society was also greatly impacted.The great revolutionary pioneer Sun Yat-sen wrote to Li Hongzhang as early as 1894, proposing innovation ideas.His proposition was rejected by the rulers of the Qing Dynasty, so he organized the Xingzhong Society in Honolulu and set up agencies in Hong Kong to prepare for an uprising.The Guangzhou Uprising failed, and Mr. Sun sent people to Sanzhoutian, Huizhou in 1900 to launch an uprising; the uprising failed again, and Mr. Sun had to go overseas. In 1905, he led the Rejuvenation Association in Japan to unite with the Huaxing Association and the Restoration Association to form the China Tongmenghui and continue to carry out revolutionary activities.Although the revolution of the Tongmenghui was just a spark, it caused a great shock in the ancient and backward China. People of insight in China gradually fell in love with the revolution and left for the revolution.As a result, a raging revolutionary fire ignited from the south to the north of China! Faced with this ferocious fire, the Qing Dynasty was shocked by the ruling and opposition parties, and the revolutionary fire and the shock of the ruling and opposition parties were expanding day by day.At this moment, Xu Shichang was in a dilemma and decided to step on two boats.Now, although the imperial court valued him, the tide of revolution still shook him. While he was loyal to the imperial court, he had to take a step back for himself.Therefore, he couldn't make up his mind to sever ties with Li Shizeng, but he was afraid that the court would blame him.After thinking for a long time, he said: "Well, if you have to, you can talk to Li Shizeng alone. All matters are just your personal opinions. He asked about me, and you told him that I was too busy with business, and I couldn't get away for a while. If I get the chance, I will visit him." Wu Jisun understood that this was Xu Shichang's "eight-faced light" technique. Sure enough, one day things failed, and he, Wu Jisun, was the scapegoat;However, as an assistant to others, Wu Jisun had no choice but to take risks. "Ju Shuai, don't worry, I'll try my best to handle this relationship well." Xu Shichang returned to Beijing from the Northeast. Although the sky is rising, he has a lot of things on his mind, especially the postal department.Therefore, he entrusted Liang Shiyi, Ye Gongchuo, Long Jianzhang and others to do most of his ministry affairs; especially he trusted Ye and Long very much and relied on them for everything.Therefore, people at that time joked that "the Ministry of Postal Communications is the Ministry of Dragon and Tiger" (dragon, the surname of Long Jianzhang; tiger, the name of Yuhu, Ye Gongchuo).Xu Shichang focused his energy on setting up a monument for himself - he wanted to write down his performance as the governor of the Northeast in writing, and write a decent book "The Political Strategy of the Three Eastern Provinces".In order to complete this masterpiece, he drew his idle literary friends Wang Shucao, Fu Zengxiang, Wang Shitong, Min Erchang, Ke Shaozhi, Wu Tingxie and others to his side, day and night.In addition, he discussed with these literary friends that after the completion of "Politics of the Three Eastern Provinces", he would also preside over the writing of "A Case of Confucianism in the Qing Dynasty" and "Biography of the Great Qing Jifu Sages". Cunbian", "Yan Li Shi Cheng Ji" and "Shu Gu Quotations".It seems that he wants to use Confucianism to occupy the style of the late Qing Dynasty.Ordinarily, Xu Shichang is still qualified to compile these books. He has passed the Jinshi, edited the Imperial Academy, and also assisted in the National History Museum and the Wuying Hall. They are all high-level civil servants.What's so hard about writing a few books?However, Xu Shichang is really a person who lacks practical knowledge in his chest, so he has to pull a group of swordsmen.One night, Xu Shichang invited Wang Shulou and Wang Shitong, who edited and edited "The Political Strategy of the Three Eastern Provinces", to his small study room, and specially prepared Biluochun tea from Dongting Dongshan.Xu Shichang dressed casually in a small hat, with a happy face, poured tea himself, and said cheerfully: "A friend came from Suzhou and brought a genuine Biluochun from Dongting Dongshan. I know that the two of you have studied the Chinese tea ceremony, and suddenly moved. I want to use tea to talk about Taoism and increase my knowledge. I hope you two can see and teach more." When the two kings heard that they wanted to "taste tea and discuss the Tao", they suddenly became a little flustered-it turned out that they were all neglected in this way, and they didn't like tea, and they couldn't even tell the difference between tea.Discussing the Tao outside the door is not the style of Confucianism.Therefore, Wang Shuxian opened his mouth first: "To tell you the truth, when it comes to tea, both of us are laymen. At best, we can tell the difference between clear tea and fragrant tea. I really want to increase my knowledge in front of Ju Shuai." Xu Shichang smiled and shook his head. "So, I'm trying to force the two of you. However, you don't have to force me. I'm also a person who hasn't made friends with tea. It's just that the friend who delivered the tea knows a lot about tea. He just heard a thing or two." "Listening is also one of the sources of knowledge." Wang Shucao said in a somewhat flattering tone: "The ancient people found out the news mostly by listening. There is a saying in "Gou Zi·Yi Bing": In a country of a thousand miles, there will be a hundred miles of listening. The sound of the drums is all based on listening. There is a saying in Li Shangyin's poem that you should listen to the drums and go to the officials. Go to Malantai and turn to Peng. During the reign of Lord Xianfeng in this dynasty, some people compiled the customs and systems of the Eight Banners, the official system, and the imperial examinations into a collection. Twelve volumes are named "Listening to Yu Cong Tan". It can be seen that listening to it is by no means ordinary." Wang Shuxiang was very bookish, and he kept a lot of "Four Books", "Five Classics" or poems in his stomach.However, when I read books by myself, most of them are like ducks eating snails, eating without knowing the taste.Even he himself didn't know whether this flattery was proper or not. Coincidentally, although Xu Shichang was successful in the imperial examinations and had been in the Imperial Academy for many years, his experience in this area was too far away. He heard Wang Shujian say a series of things related to "listening", and they all regarded it as a compliment to him. flatter.So he smiled and said: "I dare not compare with the ancient sages. The reputation of Mr. Xiang is too high." Eyebrow flashed again. "Come on, come on, how much ink is in the belly, can you hide Jushuai, what a master Jushuai is! It's tolerant not to blame my generation. I really want to hear about the famous tea Biluochun fun." Xu Shichang's drunkard's intention was not to drink. His purpose of inviting the two to taste tea was not to make Biluochun famous, but to confess that he should write "Political Strategy of the Three Eastern Provinces" better and don't treat himself badly.However, since the topic of Biluochun was brought up, Xu Shichang naturally had to tell a few things about Biluochun that he "heard", such as the place of origin, the method of harvesting, why it was named and related anecdotes.When it comes to happiness, people will get to the point: "This tea is harvested with superb skills. One is to pick it early, the other is to pick it tenderly, and the other is to pick it clean. It is picked around the spring equinox every year, and it ends around the grain rain. The quality of Ming tea is the most precious. Usually, one bud and one leaf are just unfolded, the buds are 4 cm to 6 cm long, and the leaf shape is curled like a scorched tongue. Ye buds. It can be seen that the leaves are young and tender, and the picking skills are deep." Xu Shichang wanted to talk about the legend about Biluochun, but suddenly thought of the time and the "Political Strategy of the Three Eastern Provinces" he was writing, and quickly changed his words: "Don't believe in the sun anymore. Well, when it comes to tea, I'm a layman after all, and to be honest, I'm afraid I have to ask you two for advice! Let's talk about something else." When Xu Shichang asked for tea, the two Mr. Wang had a glimpse of what he meant. Talking about tea is naturally a matter of looking around.Wang Shitong, who had been silent all this time, felt that it was time for him to speak, so he put down his teacup, smiled faintly, and said, "Ju Shuai, you have been too busy these two days, we also want to talk to you about something, for fear of affecting all of you." It's rare for you to have a little leisure to chat today, so just talk about it." "The trifles are too long. Please forgive me for not treating the two of you well." Xu Shichang always showed a respectful and corporal attitude. "You two have something to say, please speak." Wang Shitong said: "Of course it's a matter of political strategy. There are two historical facts, and I'd like Ju Shuai to explain them clearly." "Speaking." "First, regarding the casting of silver dollars and the issuance of banknotes in the Northeast, I hope that Ju Shuai will inform him of his background and intentions;" Wang Shitong said: "Second, regarding the road rights and road management issues of the Nanman Railway and the Anfeng Railway, I also want to understand the relationship with Japan and Russia because of this, or how Ju Shuai will contend with these two invaders after he takes office?" Wang Shitong posed a question, Xu Shichang frowned-- Xu Shichang edited and usurped the "Political Strategy of the Three Eastern Provinces" with two intentions: one is to show his literary talents without losing his status as an old Hanlin; the other is to show his political achievements in the Northeast.However, the purpose of this book is to record the compilation of his office as the governor of the three northeastern provinces. In addition, the treasury of the Northeast has been exhausted, and the people are in dire straits; he wants to unite the United States to boycott Japan and Russia, but it is just fantasy; the competition for railway rights is also ineffective. "Political strategy" involves the issue of railways, so it is difficult for the author. Xu Shichang frowned for a while, and then said: "You two should understand that all history is written by the victors, regardless of Qin, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties. In my opinion, the key is the writer. Of course, the times are advancing, and this dynasty is extremely powerful. Shengming, not posthumous posthumous beauty for relatives, is the rule that history writers should follow today. When it comes to the coinage of the three eastern provinces, I can only say that it was a decision made by the imperial court, and I just obeyed and fulfilled my duties, or that I was more than serious about carrying out the sacred order.I am alone in the matter of the railway.The power has been invading for a long time. Although the state has not been recovered so far, it has regained a lot by using its power. The Japanese and Russian military and police forces on both sides of the railway have also gradually shrunk.In this way, it should still be regarded as a glory for the country!" When the two kings heard it, they understood.He hurriedly said: "Ju Shuai's words are very true, very true! This can be said to be an outline for usurping! We will practice it." Xu Shichang looked up and laughed loudly, then held up his cup, and while serving tea, he uttered two lines of poems rhythmically: The river mouth of the Penjiang River is a slave family, and Lang Ruo comes to have tea in his free time.Wang Shitong was stunned, and looked at Wang Shujian.Wang Shuzhi nodded understandingly, and frowned slightly, knowing that Xu Shichang used the first two sentences of the "Zhuzhi Ci" about tea in "Fifteen Poems of Ink Traces" by Zheng Xie (Banqiao), a calligrapher and painter of this dynasty.So, holding up his cup, he smiled and said, "Ju Shuai started, and I'll follow closely. I just added the whole sentence of Mr. Banqiao." As he spoke, he also uttered two sentences rhythmically: There is a thatched house with walls built of loess, and there is a redbud tree in front of the door.The three smiled at each other, then drank tea on their backs.