Years of the Republic of China 1913

Hearing from Yuan Keding that Yuan Shikai's health has recovered a bit, Fang Zida, who had finished talking with Yuan Keding, planned to go over and have a look. Unexpectedly, Yuan Keding stopped him and signaled him to go later.

"Is it inconvenient now?" Fang Zida asked wonderingly

"Bao Cen came back last night," Yuan Keding said with a smile

Fang Zida suddenly realized, and asked anxiously: "So, Bao Cen's business is done?"

Nodding his head, Yuan Keding teased the bird in the cage, and said with a light smile, "Of course it's done, the old man is talking to them now, otherwise why am I staying in the yard?"

"Hehe, that's true. It's a little disturbing to go now. Brother, you rest, I'll go to the back first." Fang Zida said understandingly, and went to Yuan Sizhen's side in the backyard to accuse him, and planned to go later See Yuan Shikai

The Baocen mentioned by Yuan Keding just now is none other than Yuan Kewen's characters. Since Xu Shichang returned, Yuan Shikai had the idea of ​​inviting Wang Shizhen back. Resigned from office, retired to his hometown Zhengding City, thanked guests behind closed doors, kept a low profile until now, in the past two years, Yuan Shikai invited Xu Shichang and him to come out of the mountain several times, but was politely declined. Xu Shichang returned to the center only at Fang Zida's invitation, and at Xu Shichang's suggestion, Yuan Shikai planned to invite Wang Shizhen again. In order to show his sincerity, he not only asked Xu Shichang to write a personal letter, but also sent Yuan Kewen as his representative , specially invited him to come to Beijing

It seems that Yuan Kewen has done a good job on this errand. Wang Shizhen, who has never heard of worldly affairs, has actually come back. Some old friends who haven't seen each other for many years now meet, and Yuan Shikai must have some private words with them. Fang Zida really came today by accident. It's really not the right time

Arrived in the backyard and talked with Yuan Sizhen who seemed to be feeling a bit unwell for a while, the time passed quickly, after a short chat, the sky gradually darkened, Fang Zida was planning to go back to his home with Yuan Sizhen, and come back tomorrow But at this moment, a servant rushed over and said that it was Yuan Shikai who heard that Fang Zida was at the mansion and asked him to go there now

When Fang Zi arrived at Yuan Shikai's side, he entered the room and saw three people talking and laughing around Yuan Shikai, one of them was Xu Shichang, and the other was nearly sixty years old, and the thin old man with piercing eyes was probably known as the Dragon of Beiyang. As for the imposing soldier wearing a general's uniform, Fang Zida didn't recognize him because he only saw his back.

"Hehe, Zhang Ming is here, come here, this is your Uncle Employed Qing Shi, this is Master Cao of the Third Division"

Yuan Shikai's spirit was indeed much better than before. Seeing Fang Zida entering the door, he extended his hand to greet him. After listening to the introduction, Fang Zida suddenly realized that this general was none other than the famous Cao Kun.

According to etiquette, after meeting Yuan Shikai first, Fang Zida saluted Xu Shichang and Wang Shizhen one by one, but when it was Cao Kun's turn, the handsome Cao stood up in a hurry and dared not say anything.

"It's not an outsider, you don't need to be polite, just sit and sit." Yuan Shikai pressed his hand with a smile, Fang Zida and Cao Kun looked at each other and smiled and sat down together

"The great president's son-in-law has been famous for a long time, and he is indeed a good-looking talent when I saw him today." Wang Shizhen stroked the beard under his forehead, and nodded kindly to Fang Zida

"Uncle Miao Zan, Zida is terrified..." Fang Zida got up very low-key and said modestly

"Hehe, why is my nephew Zhang Ming being so polite today? Although you met Pinqing for the first time, Pinqing is just like the old man. He is a friend of Brother Wei Ting for many years. As for Zhongsan, it goes without saying. Put away the little tricks." Xu Shichang joked on the sidelines, pointing at Fang Zida with his finger

Fang Zida smiled embarrassingly: "Last time I heard what Ju Lao said last time, my nephew has benefited a lot, not to mention that everyone here is an elder, there is a way of etiquette that cannot be discarded."

Xu Shichang was stunned for a moment and laughed dumbly: "Well, you kid, are you trying to annoy the old man on purpose? Hahaha"

Seeing Xu Shichang's face turned and he suddenly laughed again, even Yuan Shikai seemed to find it interesting. Wang Shizhen, who didn't understand, asked Xu Shichang quietly, and Xu Shichang didn't hide it from him, but just mentioned Fang Zida a while ago. It was too reckless for China and Germany to return Qingdao Island. After he and Yuan Shikai beat Fang Zida for this, Wang Shizhen suddenly realized and couldn't help laughing

Xu Shichang and Wang Shizhen were talking quietly on one side, while Cao Kun on the other side was still sitting upright, not looking sideways. Yuan Shikai's true confidant is different from Fang Zida who is his son-in-law, and it is also different from Xu Shichang and Wang Shizhen, who are both subordinates and close friends with Yuan Shikai. Cao Kun has always been loyal to Yuan Shikai, and it can even be said that As long as Yuan Shikai utters a word, Cao Kun will go through fire and water without frowning

However, Cao Kun is not as close-minded as Xu and Wang. He was born as a soldier, and he has a strong aura of recklessness when he comes up step by step, and his brain is a bit stubborn. It's just that Cao Kun is a bit stupid in doing things. I think that Yuan Shikai deliberately set up a trick of fake mutiny soldiers to raise wages in private in order to negotiate with Sun Wen. The purpose was to scare these revolutionaries who only know how to talk. The specific executor of the matter was Cao Kun. Everything was well arranged and things were proceeding according to Yuan Shikai’s schedule. When he was meeting with Sun Wen and others, he suddenly broke in, and without looking at the situation, he yelled loudly, "I helped you accomplish the mutiny that your old man asked me to do."

Just like that, Yuan Shikai, who was dizzy and blinded by this scene on the spot, jumped up at Cao Kun and yelled at him, telling him to "get out" immediately. At this time, Cao Kun saw clearly that there were those people present, and was dumbfounded. He also realized that he had said the wrong thing again, his old face turned pale with fright, and he ran away in a panic without daring to make a U-turn

For this matter, the Beiyang system has often been teased by outsiders. The wise and calculating Yuan Shikai I became a wise man who picked up a stone and smashed his own foot because of this. He almost lost his official position because of this matter. If Yuan Shikai hadn't tried his best to keep him because of his loyalty, he wouldn't have his current position as the commander of the third division.

Fang Zida came, and several people continued to talk about what they just said. Fang Zida listened for a while and understood that Yuan Shikai originally planned to let Xu Shichang be the chief of staff, but Xu Shichang thought that Wang Shizhen was more suitable than himself for this position. Therefore, Wang Shizhen was specially recommended to take up the post. As for Wang Shizhen, since she has been away from the center for a short period of time, it feels a little inappropriate to suddenly occupy this high position after returning. Before Fang Zida came, the two sides were discussing this issue. Persuade Wang Shizhen

"What do you think of Zhang Ming?" Yuan Shikai really wanted to reuse Wang Shizhen in his heart, not only because he valued his talent, but also because the struggle for power between Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang had become sharper, whether it was due to As the head of state, the president, or the head of the Beiyang faction, Yuan Shikai didn't want to see his two generals getting more and more violent. Over the years, his health has not been as good as before, and his body problems are also up and down. Insufficient strength, there must be someone to help me suppress them, and the best candidates are two, one is Xu Shichang, and the other is Wang Shizhen

Compared with Xu Shichang, the advantage of Wang Shizhen as chief of staff is obvious. One of the obvious advantages is that Wang Shizhen is the head of the Beiyang Three Heroes. Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang both shouted to Wang Shizhen. Yuan Shikai is almost on par with Xu Shichang, and this reputation is so high in the army that it can overwhelm the two of them. Second, Wang Shizhen is different from Xu Shichang. He served as the Minister of the Army and the Chief of the General Staff at that time, and now he is the Chief of the General Staff of the Republic of China as a matter of course, and no one will raise any objections

"My father-in-law said that, and my son-in-law thinks so too." Fang Zida nodded and said, "Now that the Ministry of National Defense has been established, the candidates for the General Staff Department are especially important. If Uncle Shi takes up this position, not only will no one in the army object to it." opinions, even zheng fu’s side is acceptable”

"Let me just say, nephew Zhang Ming must agree with this." Xu Shichang smiled from the side, and said to Wang Shizhen who was still a little hesitant: "Pin Qing, don't hesitate. If you say it again, you are not worried about Zheng. Can't you get through with fu? Now that Zhang Ming has made such a guarantee, I'm afraid you don't know about his friendship with Song Dunchu? With his help to talk about Xiang, you can take office boldly."

After thinking about it carefully, Wang Shizhen nodded: "Okay, I promise to do this."

Wang Shizhen finally agreed, and Yuan Shikai was relieved. We chatted for a while, because Yuan Shikai was not in good health, and several people got up and asked to leave. Yuan Shikai was not reluctant, so he asked Fang Zida to send everyone out for him.

"Brother Zhang Ming, my old Cao wants to have dinner with you tomorrow, can you do me a favor?" On the way out, Cao Kun intentionally lagged a few steps behind, and smiled and extended an invitation to Fang Zida

"Tomorrow?" Fang Zida thought about the arrangement, nodded readily and agreed, "No problem, I'll listen to Zhong Sanxiong."

"It's so refreshing." Cao Kun patted Fang Zida's shoulder very happily, then set the time and place, went out the door, cupped fists at Fang Zida, turned around, and strode away

"All gone?" Back in the room, I saw Yuan Shikai sitting in a chair playing with a teacup and asked

"Yes"

"Come and help me go for a walk in the courtyard..." Fang Zida hurriedly stepped forward to help Yuan Shikai, who was a bit inconvenient, and slowly helped him out of the house

The sky has just darkened, and the cool autumn wind blowing on the body makes people feel very comfortable. Due to the recurrence of his illness a while ago, Yuan Shikai's footsteps are a bit heavy. Shi Ting, signal Fang Zida to take him over there

"I'm getting old...I didn't expect to get old so fast..." Sitting in the pavilion, Yuan Shikai lightly beat his sore legs and couldn't help sighing.

"The doctor said that you need to take care of your illness slowly. You can't rush it. Since the medicine is effective, you have to continue to drink it. After about half a year, you will be the same as before," Fang Zida comforted.

"Hehe, how can it be so easy?" Yuan Shikai shook his head with a wry smile, "Even if he recovers from his illness, his body will not be as good as it used to be. Thinking back when I was young and in North Korea, I was allowed to gallop three thousand miles, how high-spirited I was..."

"You are now the president of the Republic of China, which is much better than when you were in North Korea."

"It can't be compared... It can't be compared..." Yuan Shikai was slightly taken aback, and he said something that didn't make any sense, and Fang Zida couldn't guess what was not comparable, and what was not

For a while, both of them fell silent, Yuan Shikai looked into the distance and didn't know what he was thinking, Fang Zida didn't speak but just sat beside him, it was not until a long time later that Yuan Shikai sighed again

"Shang Ming, you've done a good job recently. I've read the report from zheng fu. In the past few months, zheng fu has achieved remarkable results in terms of financial situation and industrial and commercial development. What do you think next? Or what are your plans? "

"Not yet." Fang Zida's answer was somewhat unexpected. Seeing Yuan Shikai looking at him, Fang Zida explained: "The country is hard to come back, and all industries are waiting to be developed. It is definitely not a matter of one or two days to change, although many jobs are now available. It has achieved some results, but this is only preliminary, let alone other things, such as the reform of the national currency, it is far from meeting my expectations.”

"Oh, what are your expectations?" Yuan Shikai asked with interest <fu did not unify the whole country, and the finances were facing bankruptcy. The state of these provinces, because the central government has not yet fully controlled military tickets, bank notes, Tongbao from the former Qing Dynasty, and coins from various countries are all in circulation, and the credit of zheng fu among the people is just a blank sheet of paper, even if they want to change it, there is nothing they can do. But now it is different The reorganization of the Ministry of National Defense and the National Defense Forces has achieved results, and the local military, government, and civilian administration have begun to separate. If there is no accident, it is estimated that the whole country will be truly unified in one or two years, and the central and yang government orders can also reach everywhere. Therefore, the current currency system must be changed accordingly. "Fang Zida tried his best to explain in words that Yuan Shikai could understand, but when he finished speaking, Yuan Shikai still didn't understand.

"Isn't the current circulation of silver dollars good? Why do you need to change them?"

"The purpose of minting coins is only to establish the credit of the central government's finances. From the perspective of financial means, a large number of minting coins is only an expedient measure." Fang Zida explained: "China has a vast land and a large population. If we follow the current development Calculating, the amount of coins required for market circulation in three to five years is unimaginable. Firstly, it is inconvenient, and secondly, it is a great waste to cast a large amount of silver coins. You probably don’t know it yet. A branch recently reported that silver dollars are not only used domestically, but also circulated abroad in large quantities. In some countries, such as Japan and other countries, expatriates even carry a large amount of silver dollars privately when they return to the country to meet the industrial needs of various countries. This situation is really worrying”

Nodding slightly, Yuan Shikai expressed that he understood.

"So, after Zheng Fu's credit is established, I plan to gradually reduce coinage, change currency into banknotes, and carry out the second financial reform. In addition, the war that is breaking out in Europe now also brings us this opportunity. The silver standard has always been used in the past. If possible, when the reform reaches the second step, our central yang bank will try to change to the gold standard and issue legal notes. If this reform can be successful, it will bring more benefits to the country. to great benefit”

Yuan Shikai closed his eyes and thought for a while, then asked directly: "How sure are you?"

"If it's conservative...it's estimated to be seven to eight points," Fang Zida said cautiously

Nodding his head, although Yuan Shikai didn't ask again, Fang Zida knew that Lao Yuan had already acquiesced in his heart.

"I know you are busy on weekdays, but no matter how busy you are, you have to think about your family. These days, please take care of Sizhen." Yuan Shikai suddenly said such a sentence. Although Fang Zida was puzzled, he nodded quickly in agreement.

Seeing that Fang Zida seemed a little embarrassed, Yuan Shikai smiled and said, "I'm not looking for excuses to scold you, but there is something you may not know yet."

"What's the matter?" Fang Zida asked strangely

"You boy, Sizhen is pregnant"

"what"

Fang Zida was stunned, and his heart was filled with ecstasy. When did this happen?Didn't he talk to Yuan Sizhen just now?Why didn't you listen to her?

"Sizhen felt a little uncomfortable at noon today. Her mother asked a doctor to come over to have a look, and she confirmed that she was pregnant." Yuan Shikai said with a smile. of

Fang Zida was so happy for a while, he couldn't help standing up and walking around there. After walking around for a few times, he suddenly remembered that Yuan Shikai was still sitting, and quickly turned around and apologized sheepishly.

"Okay, I'm like this when I'm a first-time father. I think I was not much different from you at the beginning." Yuan Shikai smiled very considerately, and then said: "Yang Ming, I know that your ability is not small, and your talents are first-rate. Yes, talents are rare, and I gave Sizhen to you out of this consideration, and you did not disappoint me, but you still have to think carefully when doing things, and know how to think, after all, you are not alone now, you have family, has a wife, and will soon have children. The Fang family and the Yuan family will be one in the future, understand?"

"Little son-in-law understands," Fang Zida replied respectfully. Although Lao Yuan valued himself, he still didn't forget to beat himself. Fang Zida naturally knew Yuan Shikai's concerns, but he couldn't say some things directly, he could only bury them in his heart (to be continued)

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