In July, it is already midsummer in the capital. During the day, the capital is as hot as an oven. The towering city walls block some of the cool breeze outside the city, making the city like a furnace during the day.

After the night, the furnace-like heat became a little better.

At night, there was a small breeze in the shadows of stars and leaves. In the pavilion in Yingtai, Zhongnanhai, Yuan Shikai raised his head, looked at the distant Milky Way, and sighed. Compared to the heat outside, the weather in Zhongnanhai is cool.

, but despite this, Yuan Shikai still felt that there was not enough air, and his chest was very tight.

Yuan Shikai's Yuan Shikai, who was wearing a cotton Jiangshan shirt, had a rounder face, but his face was full of a haggard look, sallow and not much blood, and it was those eyes that had made many people afraid.

The spirit of the meeting has also dimmed a lot.

As I get older, my body becomes useless!

Although he doesn't want to admit it, his body has been getting worse every day since the Chinese New Year this year. He may be able to hide this from other people, but he cannot hide it from Yuan Shikai himself. Yuan Shikai is far more concerned about his body than others.

More understanding.

The time has come!

Death, what a terrible word!

Yuan Shikai spent most of his life and finally climbed to the top of power. Yuan Shikai always refused to admit defeat and did not believe in evil. He worked hard all his life until he sat on the throne of the President of the Republic of China. But no matter how great a hero is, he can't defeat God and man.

He is always going to die. What really scares Yuan Shikai is that he can actually count his days. He is now fifty-eight years old. According to the curse that has entangled three generations of the Yuan family, he can only live for two more years at most.

.

But now, he feels that God may not even give him two years!

If God gives me another two years... But will God give him two years?

As long as there are two more years, Yuan Shikai believes that he will be able to turn China into a big country. Now China has become a big country. The victory of the expeditionary force in Europe has paved the way for the revision of the New Testament and the search for equality among all countries.

, the external conditions are so good, and on the other hand, with this great victory. Not only did the French hope that the expeditionary force would play a larger and more important role, but the British also stood up and hoped that China could send

More expeditionary forces, and the French seem to be afraid that the British will take away the expeditionary force. Prime Minister Briand even expressed through Kant that "he expects that the Chinese Expeditionary Force will play the same role as the British Expeditionary Force in the future." What does this mean?

This means that the French recognized the role of the Chinese Expeditionary Force.

On the Ministry of War, the Ministry of War has formulated a plan to train an expeditionary force of two million people. Once the plan is achieved, the provincial armies of local provinces will be "emptied out". After the European War, the provincial armies will

It was completely disintegrated, a mixed expeditionary force was sent out, and what returned home would be a brand new Central Army.

Without the support of the army, what power can there be to challenge the central government? Even if it still has some troops, it will have no power to resist in the face of two million strong troops.

"The internal and external troubles will be cleared away in one day!"

Just as Li Zhiyuan originally expected, when the expeditionary force returned to the court after victory, it would be the time when the Republic of China's external and internal worries were resolved, but... God still didn't give him two years after all!

Thinking of this, Yuan Shikai's sallow face changed slightly, and he let out a long sigh.

"Uncle, you are worried about Li Zhiyuan again!"

At this time, sitting opposite Yuan Shikai was his eldest son Yuan Keding. He suddenly interrupted Yuan Shikai's thoughts, but Yuan Shikai said nothing. How could he say anything in front of his son, worrying about his own safety?

Body?

Ever since, both father and son were silent, and Yuan Shikai's brows were furrowed more tightly than before...

Li Zhiyuan!

The name mentioned by Yuan Keding always brings various emotions to Yuan Shikai's heart. Yuan Shikai has never been able to figure out how he feels about Li Zhiyuan.

On the one hand, the elite army in Li Zhiyuan's hands was a thorn in his side, so he would breathe a sigh of relief after the expeditionary force suffered heavy losses. On the other hand, Li Zhiyuan's talent in governing the country amazed Yuan Shikai.

, they are extremely cooperative with their needs and completely let them do whatever they want.

"Perhaps, no one can dislike him, but no one can live without him!"

Thinking about the current evaluation of him by people from all walks of life in Beijing, Yuan Shikai couldn't help but sigh, he couldn't live without him!

Last year, when Li Zhiyuan first came to Beijing to take office, Yuan Shikai even formulated a strategy of using Liang Shiyi to secretly fight with him and take the opportunity to balance the situation. But now, Yuan Shikai himself has asked Liang Shiyi to cooperate more with the State Council more than once.

The reason why Yuan Shikai gave up his original plan was very simple. He could not do without Li Zhiyuan. Li Zhiyuan was not only adjusting the economy and rectifying finances, but was incompetent in China, but more importantly, Li Zhiyuan was in power struggle between the central and local governments.

Zhiyuan's flexibility in soft and hard skills is also difficult for others to deal with.

Using the economy as a bait, using finance as a means, supporting the law, and acting on national needs, all these methods made Yuan Shikai not only admire him, but also sigh, Li Zhiyuan has never been used by him, but he did

The fairness of the incident made Yuan Shikai feel pity in his heart more than once.

The reason why Yuan Keding mentioned Li Zhiyuan is very simple - to buy the morale of the military, he has a bad intention!

After Lin Baoren proposed the national cemetery, the whole of China was like a boiling pot. The establishment of a national cemetery was like a wave, affecting all strata of China: workers, farmers, students, businessmen, soldiers, military officers, local officials,

Celebrities and gentlemen were also involved. On the one hand, they agreed, and on the other hand, they called for the cemetery to be built in the province. Overseas Chinese from various parts of Southeast Asia were extremely active. In just two weeks, they donated hundreds of thousands of dollars.

million.

Ever since Li Zhiyuan attended the celebration party in mourning attire and said the words "What can I do in return for their blood?", the whole country was in a state of excitement. While all walks of life in the country expressed their approval and donated money to build a national cemetery, in Europe

, there are several people in the expeditionary force who do not know what Li Zhiyuan said in Congress - "Whoever brings him here will take him home."

For the Chinese who value "the fallen leaves returning to their roots", what they value most is "the soul returning to their hometown". For the expeditionary officers and soldiers, what they are most worried about is probably that someone will be "buried in a foreign country" behind them. Now... they

There is no need to worry. Yuan Shikai can guess how grateful he is without having to report it to France.

This is to win over the morale of the army!

Thinking of this, Yuan Shikai became anxious. He only saw the benefits brought by the expeditionary force's victory and never thought of "making a fuss" about the dead. Then Li Zhiyuan was a "famous" person who never missed anything.

What an opportunity!

In the past, he wanted to seize his reputation and let him arrest him. But now, he wants to seize the morale of the army. How can this make Yuan Shikai feel at ease?

On the other hand, Yuan Shikai also did not expect that the Chinese people would have such high patriotic enthusiasm. It was just an architect's suggestion, but it could get a nationwide response in just a few days, and even cause the whole country to be in a state of excitement.

!

When did Chinese people become so patriotic?

Yuan Shikai didn't understand, and what made him even more confused was that Li Zhiyuan was making a fuss about dead people. It was more successful than him, a great president, making a fuss about living people by conferring honors and promotions!

Now, the State Council is not arguing bit by bit with the Ministry of War over the "Code of Honors and Ceremony". According to that charter, those soldiers are extremely glorious. It is the funeral honor that only generals can enjoy, but Li Zhiyuan insists on demanding that every soldier

All should “enjoy the same glory”….

"Soldiers and generals are equal after they sacrifice their lives for the country. Soldiers should also enjoy the same honor and sorrow as generals."

The most direct result of this persistence is that under the guise of "press freedom", it was first reported by newspapers, and then spread to Europe through radio and broadcast, and reached the military camps of the expeditionary force. According to the newspaper, those

After hearing what Li Zhiyuan said, all the sergeants burst into tears.

"What's the human heart! What's the human heart?"

First sighing, then questioning, Yuan Shikai suddenly felt that he was too lonely. He thought of Duan Qirui, of Feng Guozhang. He thought of Wang Shizhen, and of the civil servants and generals he had promoted since his childhood training. Finally, he thought of Li

Zhiyuan, thinking of this young man who seemed to be holding a bad hand, but was able to win the game back bit by bit.

"Hey, what if..."

Looking at his son beside him, Yuan Shikai, who had been silent for a long time, thought about Li Zhiyuan, who was not as old as his son. The disappointment in his heart became stronger for a moment. If...if Li Zhiyuan was his son, then...

…

Son...in-law, Yuan Shikai's eyes suddenly brightened up, and then his eyes dimmed again. Although he, Yuan Shikai, had several daughters, and some of them were pretty good-looking, he knew that this matter would never happen -

That kid Li Zhiyuan had "cut off" this road a long time ago. He worshiped him as his elder brother. In this world, there is no uncle who marries his niece. If he really did this, I'm afraid...

I'm afraid that the whole of China will see Yuan Xiangcheng's joke.

"What a pity..."

At this moment, Yuan Keding obviously didn't know about his father's thoughts. Since two years ago, Yuan Keding has been waiting ambitiously. Ever since he learned that the presidential election law was revised at the suggestion of his father, he has become even more ambitious.

Increase. According to the provisions of that law, the new president must be elected from among the three candidates proposed by the original president. His father is the president. One day his father can no longer work, and he still has the right to nominate. Don’t say

If he mentions three, even if he mentions one, it has to be Yuan Keding. Therefore, he, the "Crown Prince", is self-sufficient.

"Help me conquer the world today, and tomorrow it will be mine!"

Naturally, he was well aware of the old man's good intentions, so he naturally redoubled his efforts and wholeheartedly tried to complete the various tasks that his father had asked him to do.

When father and son were sitting across from each other in the pavilion in Yingtai, Yuan Keding understood everything from his father's low mood and spoke before his father asked:

"Uncle, you don't have to worry about Li Zhiyuan. This battle was a great victory, but it also deprived the Jiangsu Army of its essence. Without the Jiangsu Army, Li Zhiyuan can be said to be like a rabbit's tail - it won't grow.

!”

Thinking about the details of the battle situation on the front line that he learned from the Ministry of War, Yuan Keding admired the old man to the core. This trick of killing people with a borrowed knife was extremely clever. Then Li Zhiyuan attended the celebration banquet in mourning clothes for "

The officers and soldiers who died in the battle were held in mourning", which was obviously for himself.

But when Yuan Keding said this, he was obviously too clever to be fooled by his cleverness. Yuan Shikai was very confused in his heart. He originally wanted to find his son to talk to him about the situation. But when his son said this, Yuan Shikai frowned.

His wrinkled, slightly sickly and sallow face showed some dissatisfaction. His son, let alone compared with Li Zhiyuan, was far behind even compared with himself.

Does Li Zhiyuan really look like he is a rabbit tail?

In his heart, he was annoyed that his son was incompetent and didn't even notice such an obvious thing. Yuan Shikai glared at his son, and then said in a stiff tone:

"Rabbit tail?"

After asking first, Yuan Shikai was silent again. Who is the rabbit tail? Li Zhiyuan is younger than him and in better health than him. In comparison, God did not give him Yuan Shikai time!….
To be continued...