Master Yuan, start!

Although many people saw Yuan Shikai raising the national flag in front of the Taimiao that day.

However, there are still a large number of people in Beijing who have never seen the "Heavenly Face" with their own eyes.

They heard that there has been a change of dynasty and it has become a republic.

When the new emperor, no, the president was traveling, others did not need to avoid him, so they all came out of their homes and rushed to the bell tower.

The people followed Yuan Xiangcheng's security team, standing under the bell tower and looking up at the President.

At this time, Yuan Xiangcheng was standing on the platform of the bell tower, holding the railing and looking down at the entire city.

The Bell Tower is the tallest building in Beijing, about 48 meters high. If we calculate based on the 3-meter height of a first-floor house in later times, it has 16 floors.

He opened his arms and welcomed the spring breeze blowing from the Pacific Ocean. The corners of his clothes rustled in the wind and he felt extremely comfortable.

The boredom of the past few days was also swept away.

The top management of the Red Confucian Society has been discussing these days whether to adopt a strategy of focusing on the inside first and the outside second, or on the outside first and the inside second.

Some people thought that after China taught the Russians a lesson, it would temporarily cease hostilities and free up its hands to deal with the governors and governors-general at home.

Some people, however, wanted to eradicate all evil, deal with the Russians first, and then turn around to deal with the domestic situation.

The anti-foreign faction believed that the people were determined to resist Russia, and that if they negotiated for peace, it would discourage the people.

The internal pacification faction felt that it was too unsafe to fight a protracted war with the whole of Russia with half the country's strength. It would be better to unify the country first and then integrate the country's strength to fight Russia.

Each side had their own reasons and their own insistence, and the two sides argued for several days.

However, all this depends on the development of the war.

For example, additional personnel were temporarily dispatched to the Eastern Front against Russia, switching from the planned defensive position to an offensive one.

If the Northeast battlefield is fought well, then the "pacify the country faction" may not necessarily turn into the "resist foreign aggression faction"

Therefore, Yuan Xiangcheng felt that this was not a big problem.

It was a rare day with clear skies, so he took the lead to walk out of the office and climb up to look into the distance.

"It's a pity that Yu Dafu, the author of Autumn in the Ancient Capital, only worked as a university lecturer in Beijing for eight months before hurriedly heading south after the New Year."

Looking out over the panorama of Beijing from the bell tower, Yuan Xiangcheng tightened his clothes and murmured softly, "If he could stay in Beijing until spring, would he write a poem about spring in the ancient capital?"

"What? Lonely Qiu, Doctor Fish?"

Xu Shichang was half a step behind Yuan Xiangcheng. After hearing his sigh, he was a little confused for a moment, so he asked tentatively:

"Weiting, the Doctor Yu you're talking about is the Seoul Prefect Yu Yunzhong?"

After hearing Xu Shichang's reply, Yuan Xiangcheng realized that he had let the cat out of the bag. He waved his hands and laughed: "Brother Juren, this Doctor Yu is not that Yu Dafu."

After saying that, Yuan Xiangcheng changed the subject and asked with purpose: "Speaking of which, Brother Juren, are the original six ministries' offices sufficient for work?"

"It's enough, but..." Xu Shichang replied, then hesitated.

"Just nothing."

"Although it's enough now, it will inevitably be insufficient in the future. After all, when all the institutions and entourages outside the Great Wall move in, I'm afraid the housing will be a bit stretched."

"Are you short of housing?" Yuan Xiangcheng thought for a moment and then asked again, "Brother Juren, what do you think of the city of Beijing?"

"What do you think of the capital?" Xu Shichang frowned slightly when he heard this.

After careful consideration, he slowly said, "The capital city values ​​antiquity and uses the noble to contrast with the ancient.

Although the city lost some of its enterprising spirit under the oppressive rule of the Qing Dynasty, it remained the largest city in the northern inland area after the relocation of the Eight Banners.

"Yes," Yuan Xiangcheng sighed, then turned his head and looked at this ancient and slightly dilapidated city. "Starting from Dadu in the Yuan Dynasty, through the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it has witnessed too many rises and falls as the capital of a country."

"What Weiting said reminds me of some interesting things." Xu Shichang suddenly grinned, a smile appeared on his face:

"These past few days, I've been working in the former six ministries, handling the relocation of the Eight Banners, the transportation of food and fodder, and the reconstruction of the capital.

Sometimes I am busy until the early morning, and when I wake up in the morning I want to have a bowl of porridge. I always hear some so-called secrets from street vendors.

"Oh, what secret?"

Xu Shichang took a half step forward and pointed to a wall at the end of his sight. He said, "According to the people, this wall was built during the Yuan Dynasty. And according to the clerks in the government office, that river was dug during the early Ming Dynasty."

Without waiting for Yuan Xiangcheng to reply, Xu Shichang pointed to the Forbidden City in the south and said:

"Also, when counting the cultural relics and jewellery in the Forbidden City, some eunuchs and palace maids told the experts

The old gentlemen were all shocked by the number of princes who had died in a certain palace and the number of emperors who had been born in a certain palace.

Hearing this, Tang Shaoyi, who had been following behind him in silence, could not help but sigh:

"This kind of palace secrets really opened my eyes."

When Yuan Xiangcheng heard the common people in the capital telling so many wild and historical stories, he was stunned and didn't know how to comment for a moment.

He held onto the railing and said helplessly, "The people of the capital really are...really...bored enough."

In the words of later generations, every blade of grass and every tree in the capital is of great historical and cultural value; any pot, pan, or bowl is a treasure that is "widely opened".

However, can these things, which have extremely high historical and cultural value in peacetime, withstand transformation and destruction in today's chaotic world?

"Chief Instructor, don't you want to make Beijing the capital?" Yan Fu listened quietly behind the two of them and heard the hidden meaning in Yuan Xiangcheng's words.

After Yan Fu finished speaking, Zhang Jian also bowed and asked:

"In the past 500 years, the only other capitals besides Beijing have been Nanjing and Jiangning City. Could it be that Weiting wants to move the capital to Jinling?"

Among the five people present, Xu Shichang and Yuan Xiangcheng were from the north, and the remaining three were from the south.

Among them, Zhang Jian was born in Nantong, Yan Fu was born in Fuzhou, and Tang Shaoyi was from the southernmost part, a native of Xiangshan, Guangdong.

Yan Fu and Tang Shaoyi knew that the capital could not be located in Fujian and Guangdong, so they did not make any suggestions.

On the contrary, it was Zhang Jian who, because of his "homesickness", wanted to move the capital to Jiangning City.

However, he did not give a direct suggestion, but asked it in the form of a rhetorical question.

"That's not right. Nanjing seems to be cursed with a short-lived dynasty!" Xu Shichang quickly spoke out to dissuade them.

"If the people in the north and south start to riot over this, how will it end?"

Seeing that the two were about to argue about the capital, Yuan Xiangcheng quickly reached out to stop them.

"What if I want to, what if I don't? Given the current situation, is it possible to move the capital in the short term?" Yuan Xiangcheng smiled and shook his head, saying:

"Before the war with Russia ends, the capital will remain the capital. Inviting you to visit the bell tower today is just a rough idea.

In the future, the location of the capital will still need to be put to a vote at the decision-making committee. Right now, it's just idle chat and shouldn't be taken seriously."

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, where will the capital be located? Will it continue to remain in Beijing?

You can stay or not.

Beijing, an ancient and towering city, is the only choice for the capital of any feudal dynasty that wants to control Manchuria and Mongolia.

For more than 700 years, the rulers of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties have been steadfast in practicing this truth.

However, "truth" is only the correct answer within certain standards, not absolutely correct.

Just as Newton could never have imagined that the law of universal gravitation, which had been tested thousands of times by numerous European scientists, would fail at the microscopic scale.

Under the productivity conditions of the feudal era, if one wanted a stable Northeast and Inner and Outer Mongolia, the capital could only be established in the north.

If the capital is to be located in the north, the city of Beiping in the south of Yanshan Mountain is the only choice.

But times have changed.

A city like Beijing, which is purely for consumption, has no production, and is not located on a major sea transportation line, is really not suitable to be the capital.

This is not because of concerns about the feudal remnants in Beijing. After all, the Eight Banners of Manchuria will gradually move away, and only the Han people and the Han army banners who consider themselves Han people will remain in the capital.

Things like the "Six Silks Like Er Jiao" of the Zhenghuangqi Big Bar are unlikely to happen.

However, the future focus of the Red Confucian Society should not only be on the 18 provinces in the Han area, but also on the Northeast, North Korea, and even the East and West Siberia regions and Southeast Asia.

After all, a capital on land does not have the convenience of a capital near the ocean.

To revitalize maritime transportation, what more powerful measure could be taken than to place the capital in a coastal area?

The annual transportation volume of the China-Europe Railway in later generations could not compare to the monthly throughput of Shanghai Port.

There is no doubt that the ocean is the direction of future development.

However, choosing where to locate the capital is a difficult decision.

...

Thinking of this, Yuan Xiangcheng felt really troubled and simply stopped thinking about it and decided to solve the current urgent matters first.

Communication 975*7+42+4]

"By the way, Shaochuan, courtesy name Tang Shaoyi, you said a few days ago that the British ambassador delivered an invitation on behalf of the Greeks?"

"Yes, the Greek royal family sent an invitation to the Qing Dynasty, saying that they were inviting China to their capital to participate in the Olympic Games.

At that time, the National Defense Army was fighting in the south and Guangxu was unconscious, so the Regent Yixun put the matter aside.

After Yi X died and Yi D came to power, he had no time to deal with this matter, so it has been delayed until now."

"Okay, Shaochuan, tell the British that China will definitely participate in this Olympics!"

"Participate?" Tang Shaoyi showed a worried look on his face. He took a deep breath and said:

"Head Instructor, when I was studying in the United States, I heard about this foreign Olympics.

This kind of event is for all the countries in the world to select the fastest and strongest people in their countries to compete for the first place.

We are completely unprepared. If we send people there at random and get defeated by the foreigners, wouldn't it be a disgrace to China if the Chinese people started to talk about it?"

"Shaochuan, Shaochuan, you are so educated in the United States, but how can you behave like such a corrupt scholar?" Yuan Xiangcheng shook his head helplessly when he heard this.

"The foreign Olympics aren't life-and-death battles; they're just unarmed people competing against each other.

In a word, participation is what matters. Winning is great, but if you don't win, even if you lose, you still have an honor!"

"Is this...is this a bit..." Tang Shaoyi took a half step back, a little hesitant.

"Okay, just do as I say!" Yuan Xiangcheng patted Tang Shaoyi on the shoulder and comforted him:

"As long as we explain clearly in the newspaper what the Olympics are, the Chinese people will not blame us for this."

Retracting his right hand, Yuan Xiangcheng turned his head and said, "Ming Ye."