The Republic is so violent

Chapter 148: Born to be a monstrous evildoer who disrupts China (1)
01 Questions are more important than answers
It is no exaggeration to say that the heyday of the Republic of China was ruined by Yuan Shikai proclaiming himself emperor.It was precisely because of Yuan Shikai's frantic reversing of history that the final hope of the Republic of China was destroyed.

When it comes to this period of history, every history book is asking: Why did Yuan Shikai, a fat man, proclaim himself emperor?

Each book asks the same question and gives the same answer.

But in fact, the question is wrong.

What kind of wrong method?

That’s right, historical research is a part of scientific research, and the first job a researcher does is to ask the right questions. If the questions are asked wrong, the research will go astray.No matter how self-justified the result is, its value is equal to zero, that is to say, it is of no benefit to our ideological progress.

Defining a problem is the first step in scientific research.If you make a mistake in this step, it will be difficult for you to get it right in the future.For thousands of years in ancient China, mature scientific thinking has never been derived. An important reason is the wrong definition of the problem.In other words, the Chinese have never figured out how to ask questions, how to ask questions, and how to get answers?

How to ask questions correctly is the first step in professionalism.All scientific theoretical systems are based on the initial hypothesis, and this hypothesis is the first question.If this question is wrongly asked, there will be no way to talk about the scientific theory system.

To put it simply, a correct question must have three basic characteristics:

The first one is scientific, which can also be called professional.To make it clear, the question must be professional and expert. The more sincere the attitude of the question raised by the layman, the more it can kill the expert.

The second is independence, which can also be called objectivity.That is, the formulation of the problem must be simple, direct, and filter out subjective factors. It cannot be mixed with a priori things, let alone set more than two assumptions in the problem.

The third is regularity, which must conform to the law of the development of things, and cannot twist with the law.For example, the question of why Yuan Shikai wanted to be emperor is a typical struggle with the law. The raising of the question not only violates the most basic human nature, but also does not meet the most basic desires in people's hearts, so the answer becomes a rambling .

Why is this question not in line with human nature?
Because human nature is self-centered and defines the world from the perspective of self.In the observation of the world, people consciously or unconsciously regard themselves as emperors, taking whatever they want and arranging everything.People naturally think that they are right, great, and reasonable, and they are eager to impose their fantasies on the world.This is the most basic human nature. Although it is not so pure, the law is the law, and it has no moral attributes. It is useless for you to complain.

History, on the other hand, is a record of human progress.It must be the eternal human nature that dominates the progress of mankind.The laws of human nature are the laws of history.And vice versa, the laws of history are the laws of human nature.

Since the law of human nature is the law of history, when we ask questions about historical figures, we must conform to this law. Whenever we ask questions that do not conform to the law of human nature, our brains are flooded and we go astray. Deduce the correct theoretical system.

In Yuan Shikai’s era, even though history had entered the period of the Republic of China, Great China was immersed in imperial autocracy for thousands of years after all. .

To put it bluntly, people's thinking at that time was still stuck in the era of imperial autocracy.The characteristic of this era is that everyone wants to be an emperor, and the characteristics of thinking are still centered on imperial power. No matter who, as long as they have the opportunity, they will quickly advance towards imperial power.This is the most typical human nature. We cannot ask Yuan Shikai to be exempt from common customs and lose this most basic human nature.

Therefore, asking Yuan Shikai why he became emperor is a wrong question in itself, and it will inevitably lead us into a wrong theoretical system, and ultimately make us lose the opportunity to recognize human nature and interpret laws.

So, what should the right question be?
The correct question should be: Why didn't Yuan Shikai become emperor?
This question is very simple to express, but it has surpassed the thinking scope of the Chinese people at that time.The Chinese at that time did not have the ability to ask this correct question.

It is not easy for foreigners to ask the right question, because foreigners do not pay much attention to China.The only ones capable of asking the right questions are the Germans who are the most formal, the most rigid, the most disciplined, and therefore the closest to scientific cognition itself.

In fact, this question was raised by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.

02 The emperor treats you to dinner
In 1912 AD, the first year of Dingding in the Republic of China, when the Qing Dynasty was wiped out.In Henan, in Zhangde, and in Huanshang Village, Yuan Shikai's eldest son, Yuan Keding, was galloping with great vigor.Suddenly the broken horse flew upside down in the air, Yuan Keding didn't notice, and fell off the horse with a sound of ah.He fell off the horse, but one leg was still in the stirrup.The broken horse didn't say stop quickly, dragging Yuan Keding all the way wildly, stirring up smoke and dust in the sky.

After a while, the horse got tired of running and had enough fun, so he stopped to graze by himself.Yuan Keding desperately wanted to get up, but found that he couldn't do it because his leg was seriously injured.

If you're hurt, let's heal.

After a year of treatment, there was no improvement.The current Yuan Keding is limping when he walks, making endless troubles.How to do it?At this time, Liang Dunyan, the Chinese ambassador to Germany, ran over and said, "Xiao Yuan, look at your leg, which is crippled. Do you want to go with me to see a doctor in Germany? Now the Germans have the highest level of medical care." .

So Yuan Keding went to Germany and saw a doctor for treatment for a few days, and he really got better.Yuan Keding was overjoyed, and immediately had a strong and favorable impression of Germany.Besides, Yuan Keding is an extremely smart child with a language talent beyond ordinary people. Within a few days after arriving in Germany, he has mastered seven or eight languages ​​in one go, among which German and English are the most fluent, which is easy for foreigners to understand. Very depressed.

Later generations recalled that Yuan Keding, like his father, had no bad habits, neither smoking nor drinking, neither playing cards nor mahjong.I have never had an earth-shattering love for a woman. It was just a little girl crying and asking to be married. If she gets married, she will marry her. It's just adding another concubine to the family. I just like to read and think.

So Yuan Keding studied in Germany.He dabbled in a wide range of subjects and read everything, including history, humanities, science and technology, miscellaneous, and read whatever he caught.Just as he was fascinated by the reading, Liang Dunyan, the ambassador to Germany, came: Xiao Yuan, are you busy recently?If you are not busy, there is a dinner tomorrow.

Yuan Keding said: Oh, it's dinner again, who is taking advantage of this time to treat guests?

Liang Dunyan replied: This person who has been taken advantage of has a lot of weight. It is the German Emperor Wilhelm II.

It turned out that the emperor of Germany was the guest, Yuan Keding was puzzled, so he asked: Serena, why did he invite me to dinner?
Liang Dunyan explained: This is what happened.If you look at the international situation, it looks like this. Now the European powers are vying to conquer the world. At present, Germany and the United Kingdom are the most powerful.Germany and the United Kingdom are not dealing with each other. You think I am not pleasing to the eye, and I think you are not right. In short, the hostility is very strong.In this way, both sides have to recruit people to join the gang, and the Germans want to recruit a few horsemen to repair the British.As for the UK, of course, they also need to pull a few horsemen to repair the Germans.The manpower on the European side has been recruited, so both companies went to Asia to recruit people.Japan was the first to rise in Asia, but the British were the first to strike first, and they had pulled Japan over and formed an alliance with Japan.When the Germans came to Asia, they looked around and could only recruit China. Therefore, the German Emperor Wilhelm II was very concerned about China's political situation and invited you to dinner for this reason.

That's right.Yuan Keding said: You tell Serena, I will definitely go when the time comes.

On the day of the dinner, Yuan Keding took a classic car and arrived at the German Imperial Palace, where he saw that the guard of honor was lined up in front of him.The salute was fired indiscriminately, and the military band played passionate military music, and then Yuan Keding was invited to mount his horse to review the guard of honor.

Speaking of the German guard of honor at that time, it was unique in the world. The guards of honor were all handsome young men, riding tall horses and wearing classical costumes, majestic and royal, which opened Yuan Keding's eyes.

After reviewing the guard of honor, the Kaiser invited Yuan Keding to the main hall, and onions, salads, and potatoes were put on the table like a stream of water... Germans are not very professional in food, so there is no way to deal with it.

Yuan Keding had no choice but to bite the bullet and gnaw onions, and then the Kaiser said: Mr. Yuan, look at our Germans, are you very arrogant?Very powerful, right?But let me tell you, Germany was not like this in the past. Germany in the past can be described in two words: miserable!Tragic, really tragic.

Is there such a thing?Yuan Keding's eyes widened, expressing doubt.

have!The Kaiser said: Do you know that there is a great writer in our country named Goethe?Goethe, the one who wrote "The Sorrows of Young Werther", the one who wrote "Faust" who sold his soul to the devil.He once said sadly: When I think of the German people, I often feel sad.As individuals, they are all precious; as a whole, they are so pitiful.Xiao Yuan, the great writer Goethe meant that we Germans, one person is a dragon, and a group of people is a worm, and a mess is scattered and slaughtered.

so poor?Yuan Keding was dumbfounded.

Worse than this!The Kaiser continued: Know who is in our country, that Franz Schnabe, the famous historian.Guess what he said, he said: Among all the nations in Europe, the Germans have become the nation with the heaviest burden due to the geographical conditions of their living space.

What about the heavy burden method?Yuan Keding couldn't understand.

Want to know how heavy it is?Xiao Yuan, listen to me!Kaiser Wilhelm II stood up and chanted loudly:
The French and the Russians took possession of the land,

The seas belong to the British.

Only in the air kingdom of dreams,
The power of the Germans is indisputable.

After reciting the poem, the Kaiser sat down slowly with tears in his eyes and trembling body, and explained to Yuan Keding: This poem was written by the great poet Heine.

What happened?Why do German poets who write poems and books who write books all express such grief?
This is because of the 30 Years War.The Kaiser told Yuan Keding: 100 years ago, that is, in 1414 A.D., the Pope held the most terrifying meeting of the Gods in history in the city of Constantine. There were 75000 participants. The meeting lasted for four years, and many representatives did not have their turn to speak.What if it's not your turn to speak?The delegates were all in a hurry, and they started to make a fuss, saying that with so many delegates, it would be impossible not to let them speak, and it would be impossible to let them all speak. Instead, we should just change the method and see where there is open space and start a war.The representatives looked around, um, Germany is a good place, don't pick and choose, just go to Germany to fight.As a result, European countries swarmed into our Germany and started fighting. This fight lasted for 30 years, and it was called the 30 Years War in history.

The 30-year war, the Kaiser stood up and said excitedly, the 30-year long war has literally crippled our Germany.No matter how strong your country is, no matter how hard you work, it will not be able to stop the neighbors with malicious intentions from throwing and smashing your house for 30 years.

Yuan Keding didn't understand: Then why do Europeans come to Germany to fight?
The Kaiser glanced at him: Didn't I already tell you?We Germans, one person is a dragon, and a group of people are worms. If we are not united, of course we are at the mercy of others.

So why are you united now?Yuan Keding is most concerned about this issue.

monarchy!The Kaiser told Yuan Keding eloquently that it is precisely because Germany has implemented the imperial system, unified thinking, unified understanding, and unified actions, so we Germans have stood up, and the days when Germany was bullied and slaughtered by others are gone forever. Come back!
03 It's just that the mind is not enough

Hearing that Germany was strong because of the imperial system, Yuan Keding's heart couldn't help beating wildly.At this time, the Kaiser approached and said: Your Excellency, China's current democratic republic is not suitable for China's basic national conditions.China must follow a path with its own characteristics, and if it wants to become strong, it must follow the imperial route.You don't even have an emperor, how powerful are you?When you get home, you must tell your father that China must implement the imperial system, and if it does not implement the imperial system, is China still called China?If you come back from the wrong path of democratic republic and return to the correct path of imperialism, then I can guarantee that Germany will fully support you.

The Kaiser's words had a decisive psychological impact on Yuan Keding.

Then again, why does the German Emperor Wilhelm II care so much about China and insist on forcing the Chinese to take the road of imperial rule?
This question is also quite boring.Because in Qingdao, China, there is Germany's sphere of influence, that is, the concession, but as the Japanese power continues to expand in China, Germany and Japan have formed a state of hostility at this time, so the Germans are very nervous and want to find a better place quickly Son's way to make China stronger.

Once China is strong, it is bound to form a conflict with Japan if it is equal to Japan.Therefore, only a strong China can effectively check and balance the power of the Japanese. This is the idea of ​​Kaiser Wilhelm II.According to Liu Chengyu's "Hong Xian Chronicle Poems and Notes", in order to make China stronger and realize the monarchy quickly, Kaiser Wilhelm II wrote a very long letter and entrusted it to Yuan Shikai in secret .The letter said: Hurry up, for China, for your Chinese nation, you hurry up to become emperor, the opportunity is fleeting, if you don't hurry up to become emperor, China will be over.Lao Yuan, you sure don't want China to come to an end, do you?Surely you don't want the Chinese nation to be expelled from the earth, right?Then why are you hesitating... and so on, in short, this is what it means.

At the same time, the enemy of the Germans, the Japanese, is also considering the question of where China is going.As a result of the consideration, Hikimashi, the Japanese Minister to China, came to China's Deputy Foreign Minister Cao Rulin: Is Lao Cao busy?Don't be busy, let's set up the Longmen array.

Cao Rulin asked: Why did you think of asking me to set up a Longmen formation?

Hikimasu said: That’s what happened. A few days ago, I had nothing to do to read the newspaper, and I found such a thing. In the early years, our Japanese Ministry of Education issued regulations on the management of international students, and the international students were very dissatisfied.So the League led by Sun Wen called on foreign students to go on strike and return to China.According to the records I read, it was nothing more than a strike by foreign students at that time, and they shouted loudly when they returned to China, but when they really wanted to return to China, they all hid, only you, Lao Cao, silly haha Dizhen is back, what did you think at the time?
Cao Rulin said: You still have to ask this question, my old Cao is stupid and short-hearted.When people say to strike, I will strike, and when people say to return to China, I will return to China. I didn’t expect that people were just talking, but I, Lao Cao, took it seriously. I really came back, and my studies were delayed. It’s really depressing.

Oh, it turns out that you, old Cao, are short-hearted.The Japanese envoy nodded and said: "That's weird. Others have so many eyes, but you, Cao Cao, are not enough. How did you become the deputy minister of foreign affairs in the end? Haven't made a name for yourself?
Cao Rulin said: "Well, this is the case, there is a reason for this."What's the point?It's just that you shouldn't be too refined in your life. If you are too refined, you will count yourself into it.Because those people only care about calculating people, but I only think about things. In the end, I was calculated by them and came back to China.After returning, it happened that the Empress Dowager Cixi wanted to implement constitutionalism, but the people in China didn’t know what constitutionalism was. The overseas students knew a little bit, but they were too busy to plot people abroad and had no time to come back.It was just me who knew a little bit and came back, so the Empress Dowager Cixi invited me to dinner to discuss constitutional affairs.Before the dinner, Yuan Shikai came to me and told me two small things, which made me grateful to him for the rest of my life.

What's the matter?asked the Japanese envoy.

Cao Rulin said: "It's like this. At that time, Yuan Shikai came to me and told me that when he saw the Empress Dowager Cixi, he would kneel down. When the old lady talked about state affairs, her eyebrows were beaming, and it was not uncommon for her to talk about it for three or four hours. , so hurry to Liulichang to buy a good set of knee pads, don't break your knees.This is the first little thing.The second trivial matter is that Yuan Shikai told me that one must be careful when entering the palace, because the eunuchs in the palace are very mean-spirited.When you come in to meet the Empress Dowager Cixi, the eunuchs are responsible for lifting the door curtain. They will deliberately put down the door curtain suddenly, knocking your crown crooked, making you ashamed in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi, affecting your mood and even your future. .Because of Yuan Shikai's reminder, I was very careful when entering the palace gate. When the eunuch was about to play tricks, I had already swished in, haha, I missed...

The Japanese envoy said: You Chinese people really have enough minds, you have to calculate every time you enter a door.It is not easy to survive in China.By the way, Lao Cao, although you are a little careless, but now you are the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, how do you think about China's future?

Where does China go from here?Cao Rulin was stunned, this question is too big, right?

The Japanese envoy nodded: It is not small, but isn't this what you should consider?

Cao Rulin: How should I think about it?

How else can you think about it?The Japanese envoy slapped the table and stood up: the imperial system, of course it is to restore the imperial system.This will not only be of great benefit to China, but also have a positive demonstration effect on us, Japan.Now, on behalf of the Japanese government, I make solemn representations to you, asking China to restore the imperial system immediately, and the Japanese side will give full support and assistance to this.

This... is too ridiculous?Cao Rulin was stunned.

04 Redbeard is coming from the Northeast

(End of this chapter)