Years of the Republic of China 1913

() "Xu Shuzheng is dead?"

"Yes, he committed suicide when he entered the door. Because the incident happened suddenly and the distance was about ten meters away, so there was no time to stop it." Zhou Yuanliang bowed his head and replied in shame. He took people to the Ministry of National Defense and found Xu Shuzheng. He was already ready to commit suicide. The moment he broke in and was about to announce his arrest, Xu Shuzheng, who was sitting in the chair, had put the gun into his mouth, and smiled bitterly at him. Responding, he firmly pulled the trigger.

Swallowing a bomb to commit suicide, not to mention Zhou Yuanliang, even Fang Zida was shocked when he learned about it. He inquired about the situation carefully, and then took a piece of paper from Zhou Yuanliang, which was stained with blood. , the handwriting on it is Xu Shuzheng's last handwriting.

The content is very simple. Xu Shuzheng admitted in his last pen that he was the mastermind behind the whole incident, whether it was to assassinate Song Jiaoren, to stir up conflicts between KMT and the Revolutionary Party, to disrupt the political situation secretly, or to bribe Wu Guangxin later. The poisoning and killing of Qu Tongfeng and so on were completely manipulated by him, and had nothing to do with others.After the incident, in order to avoid ruin and humiliation, Xu Shuzheng decided to thank the world with his death.

"Although Xu Shuzheng has many faults, he is still a reputable man!"

After silently reading this must-write, Fang Zida sighed and put it down.He naturally understood Xu Shuzheng's intentions in doing this, but he was able to resolutely apologize with death and take all the charges, which is absolutely impossible for ordinary people. courage.

"Sir, now that Xu Shuzheng's death has cut off the clues, will the investigation of the Ministry of National Defense continue as originally planned?"

"Forget it, the dead are the big ones, and once they die, it will be our fault." Fang Zida shook his head and said, his original plan was to use Xu Shuzheng as a breakthrough point to force Duan Qirui to make concessions, and it would even be better to win the other party in one fell swoop. , so that the Anhui Department problem can be completely resolved.Unexpectedly, Xu Shuzheng committed suicide in order to keep Duan Qirui.If he died like this, if he insisted on investigating this matter further, it would not be of any benefit to Fang Zida, and it would even arouse strong opposition from the Beiyang Department.Now the Anhui Department has lost three generals in a row, especially Xu Shuzheng, who was regarded as Duan Qirui's right-hand man, died.This result dealt an extremely heavy blow to the Anhui Department.Thinking about it, even if Duan Qirui is kept temporarily, the Anhui Clan will no longer have the same glory as before.

Therefore, after consideration, Fang Zida decided to close the case, with Xu Shuzheng's last words.Then take Wu Guangxin's confession, and on the surface, it can also draw a perfect end to this big case.

It was already late at night, but Duan Qirui still didn't leave the office. When he heard the news that Xu Shuzheng committed suicide by drinking a bullet, he was stunned on the spot, and then sat at his desk for a long time, speechless.Two lines of old tears fell down involuntarily.

It was already getting dark outside, Duan Qirui didn't turn on the lights in the darkness, the silence in the room made people feel suffocated.The adjutant in the outer room has been watching quietly. Although he is worried about Duan Qirui, he dare not go in, so he can only wait patiently outside.

It wasn't until midnight that there was finally movement in the room. The adjutant stood up quickly, and after a while, the door slowly opened.Duan Qirui's figure came out in the dim light.

"Old Zhi... you..."

"It's okay...go back..." Duan Qirui said in a hoarse voice after waving his hand.

"Yes……."

As usual, the adjutant accompanied Duan Qirui downstairs, but today Duan Qirui's steps were obviously much heavier, his expression was in a trance, and he almost missed the stairs when he went down the stairs.Fortunately, the adjutant who had been paying attention to him quickly gave him a hand.

"Hehe, the old man can't even go down the stairs..." Duan Qirui smiled bitterly, in just a few hours.He seemed to be a few years older, and his waist, which was usually straight, was a little bent.Seeing Duan Qirui like this, the adjutant's nose couldn't help sore, and tears almost fell down.

On the afternoon of the second day after Xu Shuzheng's death, a case-closing report jointly signed by the Secret Service and the Ministry of Justice was presented at the cabinet meeting. For this sensational case, the curtain had come to an end.

Xu Shuzheng's role as the mastermind behind the whole incident is already confirmed. There are not only his own last words as evidence, but also Wu Guangxin's later confession.As for Qu Tongfeng's death, the truth came to light. According to Wu Guangxin's account, due to Xu Shuzheng's instructions, Wu Guangxin secretly brought in the poison, bribed the warden, and asked his confidants and the warden to put the poison in Qu Tongfeng's body when no one was paying attention. Qu Tongfeng died of poisoning.

After Qu Tongfeng's death, Wu Guangxin and the warden put on a good show together on the spot, instructing the old gangster in the prison to manipulate the autopsy in an attempt to get away with it.Unexpectedly, after the praying mantis catches the cicada and the oriole, this big-handed director's good show was finally ruined. All the protagonists and supporting roles were controlled by Zhou Yuanliang at the first time. When the news of Xu Shuzheng's suicide came later, despair Wu Guangxin had a complete psychological breakdown and confessed without much effort.

These, together with the result of Xu Shuzheng's suicide and death, can be said to be a thorough understanding of the case.But all the cabinet members present were not ordinary people. Looking at this thousand-word report, they all smelled something different in it.

When Song Jiaoren asked everyone's views on the case or had any objections, no one answered the question, because an important person was absent from the cabinet meeting today, and it was none other than Defense Minister Duan Qirui.The reason for Duan Qirui's absence was that he was unwell, but everyone present knew the real reason for it, they just didn't say it out loud.

Fortunately, the Beiyang department was fortunate that Song Jiaoren did not seize this matter and pursued it fiercely, and only closed the case with Xu Shuzheng's death.While this made many people breathe a sigh of relief, they also felt sad for Duan Qirui.In the eyes of many people, Duan Qirui was a hero for the first time. He never thought that he would be implicated by Xu Shuzheng at this time.Although he is still in office as the Minister of Defense for the time being, people with a discerning eye can see that after this incident, without Xu Shuzheng's plan, he may not be able to hold this position for long.

"Zhang Ming, please stay!"

At the end of the meeting, the cabinet unanimously approved the case.After the meeting ended, Fang Zida had just walked out of the meeting room when a familiar voice called him from behind.

"Hire an old man!"

Wang Shizhen walked up to Fang Zida, pulled him aside and said softly, "Although Zhiquan was at fault, I can assure you that Xu Youzheng's matter has absolutely nothing to do with Zhiquan, so I invite Zhang Ming..."

"Mr. Employment, I understand what you mean. In fact, I closed the case like this because of this consideration." Fang Zida said, after thinking for a while, he said: "There are some things that I didn't want to say at first, but Mr. Employment just happened to say How about I say a few words with all my heart?"

"It doesn't matter, Zhang Ming has something to say."

"Speaking of this case, Xu Youzheng took the blame for himself, and death is not a pity. But although Mr. Zhi did not participate in it, as Xu Youzheng's old boss, the responsibility for a failure to investigate cannot be escaped. Of course, we Chinese pay attention to death. Xu Youzheng shouldered all the responsibilities again. It would be inappropriate to pursue Mr. Zhi's responsibility, not to mention that Mr. Zhi is an important member of the government, a veteran in the army, and the elder of Zida, so let's let it go. However, Zida Da recently heard that the atmosphere in the political circles in Beijing and China is very bad. Some political officials, congressmen, etc. form gangs in the name of their fellow countrymen. This behavior has seriously violated the law. If you want to form another party, you can directly apply to Zheng Fu. Why do you have to do this in private? Is the constitutional government just talking about it? Isn’t this a joke? Do you think so, Mr. Employment?”

Wang Shizhen was silent for a long time, and nodded for a long time: "I understand what Zhang Ming means, and I will naturally investigate this matter myself. However, I still hope that for the sake of Beiyang's lineage, some things are almost the same. That's fine, you don't have to hurt everyone's peace."

"Hehe, I'm just joking about hiring the old man. Naturally, I, Fang Zida, will not do things that hurt my peace. But if someone wants to ride on my head and make some small tricks behind my back, I, Fang Zida, will not be swayed by others." Flattened mud. When Xianyue passed away, he told Zida to maintain Beiyang’s internal stability and live in harmony no matter what. I am not talented, but I have always kept this in my heart and never dared to forget it. However, if someone refuses to give Zida a way out, Zida will not stretch his neck to be slaughtered like a fool, do you think this is the reason for hiring the old man?"

Fang Zida's words were very serious, and he expressed his tough attitude by making insinuations. After listening, Wang Shizhen was stunned for a while, and nodded slightly.

"The kid is talking nonsense for no reason today. Some things may have been said too much, but he didn't dare to hide it before hiring the old man. First, because the old man is hired by his elders, and secondly, he is a trustworthy person. I think the old man should be hired." I can understand Zida's heart."

In the end, leaving this sentence in exchange, Fang Zida bowed, turned and left.Looking at the back of Fang Zida's striding meteor, Wang Shizhen suddenly felt that he was old. He thought that he was not like this back then. He was young and heroic, full of vigor, and decades passed in a blink of an eye. Being able to tell myself these things did not treat him as an outsider, but he also wanted to use Wang Shizhen's mouth to remind Duan Qirui and even Feng Guozhang.It seems that these Beiyang old men are exhausted. After Yuan Shikai's death, it should be time for their generation to withdraw from this big stage.

The eyes are full of vitality and transformation, and the workers of the sky strive for innovation.

Advance 500 years of new ideas, and feel old again when the millennium arrives.

Li Du's poems have been passed down in thousands of mouths, but they are not new.

Talented people come out from generation to generation, each leading the way for hundreds of years...

Reciting this poem softly, Wang Shizhen shook his head with a wry smile, and sighed: "Brother Weiting, brother Weiting, you really found a good son-in-law!"