"Zhiyuan, please!"

At the end of the night banquet, Yuan Shikai once again took Li Zicheng's hand. Surrounded by the accompanying officials, he walked slowly to the presidential living room under the psychedelic lights. After sitting down opposite each other, the waiter on the side immediately served tea to Li Zicheng.

For Yuan Shikai, the only reason for inviting Li Zicheng to Beijing was to borrow "some" money from him to alleviate the government's financial crisis and stabilize the current situation.

When you ask for something, you must first give to others, you must first be polite to others, and you must speak to others.

Yuan Shikai, who has been ups and downs in the officialdom for decades, has always been known for knowing and employing people. He is deeply aware of the mystery of this. Therefore, his full facial features, his kind face, and his bright eyes are always blooming.

With burning enthusiasm and a smile, speak in a respectful and slightly authoritative tone.

"Zhiyuan, you have lived overseas for many years. In addition to your expertise and knowledge, you must have broad knowledge. You have seen the appearance of many powerful countries with your own eyes and experienced the national policies and systems of powerful countries. You must have clever strategies for governing the country. Please sir.

Give me some advice and let Yuan listen to me."

Although he explained that he knew it was Yuan Shikai's modest words and compliments, Li Zicheng, who was already a little drunk at the banquet, drank several glasses of strong wine, and immediately started talking.

"I dare not give you any advice. As the president said, although I am young, I still have some experience of the economic prosperity of a powerful country."

Although he was a little drunk, Li Zicheng knew that this was an opportunity for him, an opportunity to express his wishes to Yuan Shikai.

"Oh! Zhiyuan, tell me quickly."

Yuan Shikai immediately seemed impatient.

"Overseas, any country that is rich and powerful has roads extending in all directions; any prosperous land has transportation extending in all directions. This is true for both China and foreign countries. Convenient transportation is conducive to people's exchanges and merchants' trade. This country is rich and strong.

It is inseparable from transportation! As the saying goes, if you want to get rich, build roads first!”

"Yeah! Not bad, Zhiyuan has good insights!"

Yuan Shikai nodded and praised.

Yuan Shikai's praise made Li Zicheng full of confidence in the following conversation. The reason why he emphasized the road was just because he needed a railway. He needed that railway to build a factory and realize his dream, so he had to instill in him a sense of awareness first.

, a consciousness that there is no way to get rich.

"Roads are railways, and railways are built of steel. So Zicheng returned to China this time and is planning to invest in the steel industry. Firstly, the country will not be strong without steel, and secondly, without steel, there will be no roads!"

"Not bad!"

Yuan Shikai just nodded and didn't say anything else. In the national power equation, the importance of steel as a base was beyond his imagination, but of course he knew that it was true that one would not be strong without steel.

Although he was drunk, Li Zicheng was so moved by Yuan Shikai's enthusiasm that he didn't know what to do. In the past, he had heard from history books and TV that Yuan Shikai was very cunning and cunning. After entering Beijing,

When they met, I actually felt a little aggrieved for Yuan Shikai.

"Perhaps history has really wronged him!"

Although this thought was only fleeting, it also gave rise to a desire to test Yuan Shikai's views on governing the country. Sometimes some views can distinguish a person.

"President, you are the elder. In training troops, everyone knows your reputation. In employing people, everyone knows your reputation. In planning, everyone knows your reputation of helping. I, the junior, also want to give me some advice on how to make the people rich and the country strong. The juniors are all listening to President Yuan.

High argument."

Yuan Shikai had already made up his mind. He first followed Li Zicheng's interest and slowly led the topic to where he wanted it. He kept listening to his talk. When he saw Li Zicheng, he asked for advice. Of course, he stopped refusing and immediately told the truth.

Tell the truth.

"For a country to be strong, the key lies in the strength of the army. There can be corruption in local areas, but the army must not be corrupt at all. The so-called local corruption is the kind of corruption where there is no fish in the water. Governing a country is the same as governing a family. Honest officials

It’s difficult to decide between household affairs. You can’t tell the difference between the inside and the outside. But as long as it’s good for the overall situation, then you can only focus on the side that is useful for stabilizing the overall situation.”

It felt like Yuan Shikai was defending himself, but Li Zicheng still nodded in agreement. He was telling the truth. Sometimes as a leader, for the sake of overall stability, he only favors one side, and Yuan Shikai went on to say.

"If a country's military is corrupt, then no matter how rich the country is, it is still falsely rich. It is like a gorgeous pavilion without pillars. Once something unexpected happens, the house will collapse in an instant. Then again, a rich country

, if there is no strong military to protect and escort, once it encounters a war, all the wealth of this country will become the meat of others. Only if the military is strong, the economy and culture of this country will be prosperous, and it will truly belong to this country, otherwise

, just making wedding clothes for other countries..."

Li Zicheng was shocked by Yuan Shikai's views. He had thought that Yuan Shikai was just a cunning person. However, he did not expect that Yuan Shikai would use such exquisite words when talking about things, and his views on governing the country were also very practical. He wanted to be strong first and then get rich.

Whether to get rich first and become strong first is still a matter of debate even a hundred years later. But in troubled times, people in troubled times always have choices.

Obviously what Yuan Shikai chose at this time was to become strong first and then get rich. Yuan Shikai, who had experienced the defeat of Sino-Japanese War and the shame of Gengzi, would naturally choose to become strong first and then get rich. Without the ability to strengthen a country, there would be no ability to maintain wealth. He has not experienced these painful histories.

People simply cannot understand their generation, or what is the best choice for this era.

Looking at Yuan Shikai and listening to his words, Li Zicheng, who was lost in his thoughts, thought about it in his heart again. If it was because of his enthusiasm that he was touched before and made himself feel a little fond of him, then now, just

It was his words that almost made me think that history had really misunderstood Yuan Shikai.

But has history really misunderstood Yuan Shikai?

Doubt! Who among the political history books is real? Maybe I should abandon the influence of history, but... look again, look again...

Seeing that Li Zicheng was amazed by his lofty words, Yuan Shikai was even a little absent-minded. Even though it was a late spring night and his body was already strong, he suddenly felt hot. After taking a sip of tea, he continued.

"However, to build a strong army, local finances are needed to feed the land. So, only when the local economy is prosperous and the national treasury is abundant can the country's military be strong. This is because military power and economy complement each other. If there is no strong

Without the economic support, rashly raising and expanding the army is going militancy and will eventually bring down the country. Therefore, the first thing I hope to do and what I will do in the future is to stabilize the national situation and, if the country's financial resources allow it,

Strengthen the military force to the maximum extent within the scope, so as to protect the country from being bullied by the big powers. In the future, when the country becomes strong, the tariffs will be recovered. If the tariffs are not recovered, the domestic industrialists will have difficulties.

It’s promising…”

When Yuan Shikai was speaking, Li Zicheng had been listening attentively. He had to admit that even though Yuan Shikai's words were well-prepared, the speaker meant it and the listener did not mean it unintentionally. Just based on his words alone,

In any case, one thing is certain: at least, to some extent, history has misunderstood Yuan Shikai.

Looking at Yuan Shikai, Li Zicheng couldn't help but have a lot of thoughts.

If you say that experiencing enough humiliation will make you numb, I believe it. But if you say that Yuan Shikai will become numb, I don't believe it!

At this time, Yuan Shikai looked at Li Zicheng with piercing eyes. When he said this, he moved closer to Li Zicheng and took Li Zicheng's hand again. The movement was as cherishing as stroking his own heart.

"Zhiyuan! This weak country has no diplomacy! I guess you must have experienced it deeply overseas. The overseas Chinese have really suffered. Although I, Yuan, am not as humiliated as Zhiyuan by the weak country abroad, I often communicate with the envoys of the great powers.

After dealing with each other, I know that if a country is not strong, it will be difficult in diplomacy! However, it is better now, now that it is a republic, the country will become stronger day by day..."

When Yuan Shikai was talking, Li Zicheng looked at Yuan Shikai and couldn't help but feel sympathy for this "big thief" in his heart. After so many years, a whole hundred years later, no one seemed to understand him!

Looking at him, looking at that face that looks like an old farmer, maybe, for him, his purpose is not to lead this country to become stronger?

It's just that... nature plays tricks on people!

(Historical evaluation of Yuan Shikai is extremely complicated. In short, even until now, there is no real conclusion about this person. Maybe history is like this. Wuyu has no intention to argue about anything here. Wuyu is just thinking, maybe this is
Chapter completed!