Years of the Republic of China 1913

It was Yuan Keding's repeated confession to stop people from entering the courtyard. Although they were facing the second son of Yuan Keding, these two loyal subordinates of Yuan Keding were willing to offend him and dare not let people in.Seeing Yuan Kewen swearing and swearing over there, they finally breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts. As long as no one enters the hospital, it's fine. As for the rest, they didn't dare to go too far, and quickly apologized with a smile on their faces. Make tea and get busy outside the courtyard.

Sitting down on the stool he moved, Yuan Kewen, who hadn't extinguished the fire yet, held a teacup in one hand and pointed at the two guys' noses, and began to curse. The actor sounded like he was going to be strong, which made the two of them look at each other, dumbfounded.

After scolding for a long time, the dry-mouthed Yuan Kewen picked up the teacup and drank it down in one gulp. He asked one of them to make tea again, and ordered the other to come over and pinch his legs and knock his back. The second young master, they had no choice but to do as he wanted, and begged their grandpa to tell nainai that Yuan Keding would come back sooner and send this great god away as soon as possible.

But no one knew that when Yuan Kewen was making a scene in front of the courtyard, Fang Zida took the opportunity to slip in quietly.Although the small courtyard where Yuan Shikai lived was called a small courtyard, there were courtyards within courtyards, and the scale was not small.After passing through the long corridor, Fang Zida soon came to the house where Yuan Shikai lived, stood at the door to gather his composure, and knocked lightly on the door.

"Yuntai? Come in."

Yuan Shikai's voice sounded in the room, Fang Zida opened the door and entered, and saw Yuan Shikai lying on the collapsed bed at a glance.

I haven't seen Yuan Shikai for some days.He seemed to be much older, and lying there had lost the vigor of his early years, like an ordinary seriously ill old man.

"Father-in-law."

"Oh...it's Zhang Ming, come here. Sit here." His squinted eyes gradually opened, and Yuan Shikai smiled and patted his side to greet him.

Fang Zida approached quickly, and sat down next to Yuan Shikai.Looking closely, one can see that Yuan Shikai's hair is almost half white, his chest rises and falls slowly, and he looks old and weak.

Seeing that Yuan Shikai was about to lie down, Fang Zida hurriedly took a pillow to help him under it.He poured a cup of tea from the table and helped Yuan Shikai drink it slowly.

"Shang Ming, what have you been up to these past few months? Why haven't you come to see me?"

"Back to my father-in-law, after the signing of the China-Russia and China-Germany business agreements, a lot of work needs to be arranged, and my son-in-law made a special trip outside the customs for this. In addition, the matter of the military observation team is also important, and I need to come forward to coordinate many aspects. I have been busy until today. I didn't bother to come to see you, so I asked my father-in-law to punish me."

Fang Zida did not say that Yuan Keding deliberately blocked the news and prevented them from seeing Yuan Shikai, but only said a few words for work reasons.Yuan Shikai didn't care after hearing this.He smiled and said: "It's okay, it's important business. Of course. Although the old man is sick now, there will be no serious problems for a while. If you can come today, you have a heart."

"Thank you, father-in-law, for your understanding." Fang Zida quickly stood up and saluted.

Squeezing his hand, he asked Fang Zida to sit down, and Yuan Shikai asked some business about what Fang Zida said just now, Fang Zida did not hide anything, and reported the recent situation to Yuan Shikai one by one.After listening, Yuan Shikai asked more about the situation in the Northeast, and Fang Zida picked some things to talk about.

"You did a good job. The two business agreements have brought me a lot of benefits for China, but there are some things that cannot be prevented. Especially in the Northeast, the Japanese are ambitious and have been eyeing our country. After World War I between Japan and Russia, Japan has also obtained Part of the right to garrison troops in the Northeast is a serious problem. Fortunately, the construction of the National Defense Force of the Republic of China has achieved initial results. After a few years, our country will have a battle with Japan, and the battlefield will be in the Northeast. Ah, the old man knows that you are wary of Japan, which is a good thing, but you can’t just focus on the short-term when doing things, you have to have a broad vision and a long-term perspective! Those who don’t plan for everything can’t plan for a moment. Those who don’t plan for the overall situation can’t plan for a region. Do you understand?”

"My son-in-law, thank you, father-in-law, for your teaching." Fang Zida nodded again and again. It seems that this old Yuan has not yet reached the point of ignorance, and his strategic vision is still vicious, but how could he be fooled by Yuan Keding?

Yuan Shikai smiled, and said again: "I know that you were overseas for a long time in the early years, and you didn't read much about the books of the philosophers, but now you have a different status, and you are the deputy finance minister of the Republic of China. The West is better than the West, but I also have the Chinese. Sometimes it is not feasible to do Western things, remember to read more books of sages and sages when you go back, and you may gain something.”

"Yes, father-in-law, my son-in-law will definitely read these books when he returns home. However... my son-in-law has been reading Western biographies recently, and he has gained something, so stones from other mountains can be used to make jade, and some things are not the same."

"Of course, it's good to read more books." Yuan Shikai nodded and asked with interest, "Where are you reading Western biographies recently? Are they chronicles or history books?"

"Both of them." Fang Zida said, "But there are two books I read the most, one is "The Biography of Napoleon" and the other is "The Biography of Washington."

"Napoleon, Washington...hehe, I know about these two people." Yuan Shikai asked with a smile, "After reading it, what do you think?"

Fang Zida said: "Napoleon started as a soldier, went through hundreds of battles, and later created the French Empire, and even almost wiped out Europe. He can be called a genius statesman and military strategist in Europe once in a millennium. It's a pity that his success fell short in the end. It can be said that it is a pity that he was defeated and captured, and his once-mighty French Empire also fell."

"Yes, Napoleon is ambitious and can be called a British lord. His French Empire has swept the world and has few rivals. If he was not defeated by the severe cold of Tsarist Russia, he might be able to unify Europe. Unfortunately, it is too It's a pity. But then again, Napoleon's defeat was due to his arrogance. The so-called arrogant soldiers must be defeated, and it is inevitable. If he can calm down and manage well, the history books may be different." Yuan Shikai endured I couldn't help sighing, and made some comments on Napoleon.

Fang Zida echoed a few words in agreement, and then talked about Washington.

"Compared to the French Emperor Napoleon, my son-in-law thinks Washington is better."

"Oh, why such an opinion?"

"Back to my father-in-law, my son-in-law thought that Washington led the Continental Army to fight against Britain, the most powerful country in the world at that time, and finally won the victory of the United States after going through all kinds of hardships. The commander-in-chief, he did not follow the advice of others to ascend to the throne. On the contrary, he took the lead in proposing min zhu and the constitutional system. As the father of the nation, it can be seen that his military achievements may not be as good as Napoleon's, but his greatness is still higher than Napoleon's."

After Fang Zida finished speaking, he felt a little nervous and stared at Yuan Shikai.Yuan Shikai's eyebrows trembled slightly, and he didn't speak for a long time.

After a while, Yuan Shikai looked at Fang Zida with his cloudy eyes, and a faint smile hung on the corner of his mouth: "Today, do you have a deep meaning when you talk about these two people?"

"Yes! Father-in-law." Fang Zida replied without hesitation.

Nodding slightly, Yuan Shikai is such a smart person, how could he still not understand Fang Zida's intention: "Shang Ming, don't you think it's a good thing for me to be in the top position?"

"Please excuse my son-in-law's harsh words, my father-in-law is famous for a lifetime, but once he takes this step, he will be forever lost!"

"Presumptuous!" A murderous look appeared on Yuan Shikai's face, and all the pores of Fang Zida's body stood up, and he quickly got up and knelt down and said, "Father-in-law, it's not my son-in-law who is lying. Those who turn back the wheel of history will be reviled by thousands of people, and will be stigmatized for thousands of years! Father-in-law, you built the new Beiyang Army, forced the Manchus to abdicate, and created the Republic of China. The local government has been separated from the military and the civil administration, and industry and commerce have been vigorously developed. Now the whole country is booming, and the hearts of the people are gradually gathering. However, if you take over again, the consequences will be unimaginable, and it will inevitably cause chaos. Instead of being a failed Napoleon when the time comes, why not learn from it? How about learning from the successful Washington? As long as you don’t take that step, history books will definitely respect you as the father of the Republic of China in the future, and you will live forever!”

Yuan Shikai's face was uncertain, and no one knew what he was thinking at this moment.

"My son-in-law has the guts to ask my father-in-law." Fang Zida said again.

"Say!"

"These days, my son-in-law doesn't know who said something to my father-in-law, and I don't want to know what my father-in-law is thinking, but I dare to ask my father-in-law, have you been in contact with the outside world since you recuperated?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Fang Zida raised his head and said: "Some things are better than what they have seen and heard with their own eyes. My father-in-law has gradually cut off contact with the outside world since he recovered from his illness. There may be deviations in many aspects of the news. My son-in-law dares to ask my father-in-law to temporarily press the button." For that idea, you can go out more and get in touch with outsiders more. If you listen to it, you will understand it. It’s not too late to make a decision. Besides, it’s not a good thing for you to lie down and recuperate. It’s true that this disease needs recuperation, but it’s also You need to relax a lot, why not..."

"Stop talking..." Yuan Shikai interrupted Fang Zida's words with a wave of his hand, and asked quietly: "If the old man insists on taking this step? How will you, Fang Zhangming, deal with it?"

"This..." Fang Zida hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth and said, "Then I can only forgive my son-in-law for being unfilial."

Yuan Shikai slowly closed his eyes, waved his hands and said, "I'm tired, let's go..."

"My son-in-law is leaving."

After leaving Yuan Shikai's room, Fang Zida gently closed the door for him. At this moment, his back was completely wet with sweat.When I met Lao Yuan today, he said what he wanted to say, and he did what he could. Of course, he still had one final step to take, but no matter whether it was public or private, he didn't want to take this last step. (To be continued..)

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