Master Yuan, start!

I thought that after a few days of rest, the two would start talking and discussing mainland business, but unexpectedly, Zhang Zhidong came to my house one morning to ask me to leave the city.

When they arrived outside the city, they found that a guillotine had been set up at some point, and Li Hongzhang was waiting there.

But it was obvious that this was not a good place for conversation.

Because Zhang Zhidong was reading out his manifesto denouncing the Tartars with great passion.

"In the year Jiashen, the Tartars were rampant, invading our territory, killing our compatriots, and destroying our homes. This is intolerable to heaven and earth, and is condemned by both humans and gods.

The heroes of the north, fight together for the national crisis, the sons and daughters of the south, drive out the traitors

Fortunately, the country has been restored and the people are safe and sound."

After reading out the charges against Cixi and Emperor Baoqing in front of everyone, Zhang Zhidong waved his right hand.

A group of Taoists and monks slowly walked out from the crowd, each holding a black soul flag with a place name written on it.

The first two are written with "Jiading" and "Yangzhou", the middle ones are "Jiangyin" and "Wuxi", followed by "Datong" and "Jinan". There are nearly a hundred black soul flags.

The monks and Taoists slowly approached the guillotine and inserted the soul flags one by one deeply into the ground.

Seeing this scene, reporters from all over the country were already prepared and recorded it one by one with their cameras.

Soon, hundreds of soul flags surrounded the guillotine.

At this moment, a strong wind suddenly blew on the river, making the soul flag flutter.

The monks and Taoists took out paper money from their pockets and scattered it all over the sky, shouting:

"The chieftain of the barbarians will surrender his head, and the Han people will not be enslaved!"

"The land of China will be unified once more, and the people will be clothed in their proper attire again!"

“The spirits of our ancestors may rest in peace!”

Blown by the strong wind, soon the entire riverside was filled with flying paper money.

Zhang Zhidong looked towards Cixi, his eyes showing no trace of reluctance.

"Execution!"

"Execute!" the executioner repeated loudly.

After Liu heard the orders from the governor and the chief executioner, a burly strong man next to the guillotine stretched out his powerful hands, grabbed Cixi and put her into the groove inside the guillotine.

"Falling knife!"

The four strong men untied the ropes tied to the wooden frame, and the slanted blade, which was several feet high just now, fell heavily under the action of gravity in an instant.

First there was a "click", a sound like flesh and bones breaking, crisp yet faint.

Then, there was a "bang" and the sound of the blade falling into the groove.

In front of tens of thousands of people on the river bank, on the city walls, and on the boats on the river, Cixi was beheaded on the spot without saying a word.

Soon, the young Emperor Baoqing followed suit, and his head was separated from his body on the guillotine.

While everyone was still immersed in the shock of the beheading, Zhang Zhidong glanced at Yuan Xiangcheng and Li Hongzhang beside him and said:

"Grand President, Grand Commander, you two are both heroes to the country.

Now is the era of the Republic, the chieftain of the Tartars has surrendered, and the last trace of evidence of the Tartars' dominance over the world has disappeared.

We are all Han Chinese, so why should we confront each other and fight against each other?"

After Zhang Zhidong watched the entire execution scene, Yuan and Li, who had different expressions on their faces, were also sweating in their hearts.

He originally planned to keep Cixi and Emperor Baoqing for a while before bringing them out for execution.

However, with Yuan Shikai's move south and Li Hongzhang's move north, the situation between the north and the south not only did not cool down, but became increasingly tense.

Moreover, there is a subtle trend of sending troops to Hubei.

Li Hongzhang continued to win over the Hunan gentry, and Yuan Shikai also infiltrated Xinyang through his family power.

Zhang Zhidong knew that if the North and the South refused peace and a conflict broke out, he would most likely be the one sacrificed.

After all, the Governor-General of Huguang above him was appointed by the Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, as a last resort, he decided to perform a guillotine in front of the people of the world and Yuan and Li.

975874er4 Five old men teach flow

A man who used a guillotine to chop off the heads of the Empress Dowager and the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, in any case, possessed a natural sense of righteousness in this era.

He wanted to use the lives of the Qing Dynasty's false emperor and empress to create an indestructible golden body for himself.

A golden body that no matter who unifies the world in the future, cannot be ignored.

Chapter 368 Who are the people?

Facing the whistling river wind on the shore, Yuan Xiangcheng bowed and responded to Zhang Zhidong's recent remarks about fratricide.

"This is wrong.

Xiang Weng invited me to go south with the intention of stopping the war. How could I refuse Xiang Weng's kindness?

However, the revolution has not yet succeeded, and comrades still need to work hard. My only wish is for China to be strong and prosperous."

Yuan Shikai did not take advantage of his title of provisional president to call Zhang Zhidong by his real name. Instead, he used one of his "zi" or "hao" and added the character "Weng" to address him.

Zhang Zhidong glanced at Yuan Xiangcheng and was about to continue speaking, but Li Hongzhang beside him suddenly exhaled and said with a smile:

"The revolution has not yet succeeded, comrades still need to work hard.

I just don’t know to what extent the revolution that Wei Ting is talking about will go?

And who can be called a comrade?"

Yuan Xiangcheng said calmly: "Of course, the revolution will only be considered over when the people of the world live and work in peace and contentment."

Li Hongzhang continued with the tone of a veteran, "Weiting, the country has just been established, so it is time to recuperate and be kind to the people.

However, look at the issue of dividing flag land and clan land that has caused a lot of controversy in the three provinces of Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu since the founding of the Republic.

Is this the atmosphere that a new dynasty should have?

To stop fighting and support the people is the right path."

In fact, Li Hongzhang was not completely unaware of Yuan Shikai's land reform in Anhui, which was to divide clan land.

On the contrary, he knew it early on. After all, the Li family was a wealthy landowner in Hefei. After suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Nian Army, Li Hongzhang purchased a large amount of land in Hefei in the name of the Huai Army.

It was just that Yuan Shikai was so powerful at that time that he did not react.

However, as the scale of disguised land reform continued to expand in Henan, Jiangsu and other places, the landlords whose land had been seized were not reconciled.

They gradually formed a definite force and began to use various channels to voice their opposition to the land reform, using both soft and hard tactics.

Li Hongzhang naturally became their chosen mouthpiece.

Therefore, Yuan Shikai was not actually fighting against Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan and Guizhou, but was fighting against part of China's landlord class.

If he handles the situation improperly, it could even turn into a struggle against the landlord class across the country.

"Stop fighting and support the people?" Yuan Xiangcheng frowned, then laughed out loud.

Li Hongzhang's words were so straightforward that he understood them without thinking.

Yuan Xiangcheng thought, no wonder Li Hongzhang wanted to negotiate with him at this time, it turned out that he had gained the support of the landlord class.

If you really want to support the people according to your method, I'm afraid that what you are supporting are not ordinary people, but the evil gentry who lie on their heels and suck their blood!

As for stopping the war, that is even more nonsense.

You, Li Hongzhang, want to play the trick of "the revolutionary party rises, the revolutionary army disappears". Do you think I am a fool who doesn't understand politics?

"Weiting, Brother Shaoquan, please don't hurt the harmony."

Zhang Zhidong glanced at Yuan and Li, then bowed and said, "The wind is strong here. Why don't we go into the city and talk in detail?"

"Okay, that's exactly what I meant." Li Hongzhang waved his sleeves and turned to walk down the stage.

Yuan Xiangcheng turned his head and looked carefully at Zhang Zhidong, the Governor of Huguang, whom he had met once before.

According to historical experience, this man remained a loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty until his death.

At least that's the case on the surface.

But in fact, Zhang Zhidong was an obvious opportunist.

Historically, during his 1889-year tenure as governor of Hubei from 1907 to 19, Zhang Zhidong did many inconsistent things in order to maintain his power.

In order to vent Guangxu's anger, he sent his favorite student Yang Rui to deeply participate in the Reform Movement of 1898. In the end, not only did his disciple pay the price with his life, but he also indirectly offended Cixi.

After the Hundred Days' Reform, seeing that Guangxu's situation was hopeless, he turned around and hunted down local reformists and showed goodwill to Cixi.

Later, when Cixi decided to declare war on all nations during the Gengzi Year, he took the lead in contacting the then Guangdong Governor Li Hongzhang, Fujian Governor Xu Yingyi, and Shandong Governor Yuan Shikai, advocating "Southeast Mutual Protection", publicly defying Cixi's wishes.

Zhang Zhidong's strategy of jumping back and forth allowed him to remain standing in the late Qing Dynasty and grow old peacefully.

But who in the Qing Dynasty's central government at that time could not see what Zhang Zhidong was planning?

When Zhang Zhidong finally died of illness, Zai Ze, who was in power, pretended to give him the posthumous title of "Wenxiang".

Zuo Zongtang's posthumous title was Wenxiang, and Zhang Zhidong's posthumous title was also Wenxiang.

But when comparing the two Wenxiangs, the difference is obvious.

Needless to say, the first character of the posthumous title is the literary one.

The meaning of the second word "Xiang" is somewhat intriguing.

The one who conquers the land with virtue is called Xiang, and the one who wears armor with hard work is called Xiang.

In terms of land reclamation achievements, no one in the late Qing Dynasty could match Zuo Zongtang.

Zhang Zhidong not only failed to recover the country, but he also didn't participate in many wars.

This Wenxiang clearly has other intentions.

When talking about Zhang Zhidong's Wenxiang, one has to think of Zuo Zongtang's Wenxiang. When thinking of Zuo Zongtang's Wenxiang, one feels that Zhang Zhidong's Wenxiang is somewhat unworthy of the name.

In this way, the purpose of praising in public but criticizing in reality is achieved.

It’s just like on the Internet in later generations, if you agree with someone’s point of view.

One word "yes" means agreement.