Hearing Zhang Tinglan's excited tone, everyone here was a little surprised. You must know that after Lao Yuan ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, his reputation was already bad. There is no benefit in praising Yuan Shikai so much at this time. What if those scholars accuse him of being a god?
A hat is not good for your reputation.
"I'm sorry, it's not because Yuan Shikai sent you a letter and now he wants to reciprocate it, right?" Lao Zhang said with a smile.
Zhang Tinglan also saw the expressions of everyone present, and knew that they must not have understood what it means to respect Yuan, so Zhang Tinglan said with a smile: "There is indeed such a reason, of course I have a more important reason, we must help Yuan Shikai
To earn the greatest honor and honor, we must also continue to publicize Yuan Shikai’s achievements, which is of unparalleled benefit to us!"
Zhang Tinglan always had a clear target. What he said was so important that everyone couldn't help but think in their hearts. Yang Yuting said from the side: "To pay homage to the dead is actually to see a living person. Is the meaning of my humble words to show goodwill to Beiyang?"
Everyone nodded after hearing what Yang Yuting said. Since Meng Enyuan was forcibly driven away, there was already a conflict between Zhang Zuolin and Duan Qirui, and the old Duan had already made arrangements to restrict the development of Fengjun.
If funeral diplomacy is carried out at this time, the old people in Beiyang will definitely think of Zhang Zuolin, and the two sides will be able to relax a lot, which is indeed a good thing for Fengjun.
"Linge, this alone is not enough to use the word "unparalleled". Yuan Shikai was the first official president after the abolition of the imperial system. This kind of thing is groundbreaking. As long as the country's name remains unchanged, subsequent successors will regard Yuan Shikai as
Lift it high, otherwise how can we ensure the legitimacy of our rule?"
China is an ancient civilization with a history of five thousand years. Its orthodox traditions are endless and it has a very special historical logic. Although it has changed dynasties many times, it is not a casual matter every time. It is necessary to ensure the legitimacy of its own regime.
During the Revolution of 1911, Yuan Shikai led the Beiyang generals to force the Manchu emperor to issue an abdication edict and achieve regime change. It was Yuan Shikai who gave Beiyang a legitimate orthodoxy. In the future, successors from the Beiyang system were all
To inherit Yuan Shikai's kindness, even Zhang Zuolin is no exception.
If Yuan Shikai is discredited, the legitimacy of other successors will also be questioned. It is for this reason that all Chinese dynasties have infinitely promoted the founding emperor. Moreover, Yuan Shikai's situation is somewhat special because Sun Wen still exists.
If you don't respect Yuan Shikai, Sun Wen's party members will take advantage of the situation and raise the cannon. The legitimacy of the entire Beiyang will be questioned.
This is precisely the bad situation that occurred in history. The official president had never worked a temporary job for a few months, and the title of the founding father fell on Sun Dapao. After the entire Beiyang disappeared, with Lao Yuan as the
The representative Beiyang warlords were labeled as having caused harm to the country and the people, and entered history's book of shame.
This is also a manifestation of the ignorance of the Beiyang warriors. Not only did they not understand the world, they did not even thoroughly study China's five thousand years of history. It is no wonder that they played a good card into that virtue.
Zhang Tinglan is now considered a member of the Great Beiyang Faction. Thinking of the historical situation, he feels a little sad. Now that he has the opportunity to change, he has to speak. Among the people present, Wang Yongjiang, who has the highest level of education, was the first to realize the meaning, so
Said: "Commander, what I said is indeed true. There are many benefits to respecting Yuan, but there are endless disasters to disrespecting Yuan. Moreover, people often say that people do not hold grudges after death. Now that Yuan Shikai is dead, we should pay tribute to the great president."
"Min Yuan, conquer the world and sit on the throne. If we have the ability to conquer the world, why should we care about Yuan Shikai? If we can't conquer the world, what's the use of respecting Yuan!" Lao Zhang obviously still disagrees.
Wang Yongjiang smiled bitterly and said: "Commander, when ordinary people buy a house, they can't just pay the money. They also have to change the names on the house and land deeds. If you don't do this work for a moment, you won't care if you already live in it."
Inside, this house is not yours. The same goes for the change of dynasties. Take the Han Dynasty as an example. After Liu Bang conquered the world, he went through the Wenjing rule. When the country reached its peak, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty still had to obey Dong Zhongshu.
It is suggested that the calendar be revised in order to get rid of the shadow of the Qin Dynasty and prove the legitimacy of the Han Dynasty's rule."
"That's right!" Zhang Tinglan took over the words again: "In the future, each dynasty will revise the history books of the previous dynasty and seal the coffin. In addition, the system of the founding emperor must be regarded as an insurmountable ancestral system.
It is a means to prove one's own legitimacy, and this is the problem."
With Lao Zhang's cultural level, he may not be able to understand the profound meaning, but fortunately Lao Zhang is a person who is willing to give advice. Since Wang Yongjiang agrees, and can also ease the relationship with Beiyang and respect Yuan, it is also
Nothing is impossible.
Lao Zhang thought for a while and said: "In that case, let Jing Hui go to Beijing on my behalf to mourn Yuan Shikai!"
Zhang Jinghui is Zhang Zuolin's sworn brother. He has sufficient qualifications and is relatively free. It is a good choice for him to go to Beijing. At the same time, Lao Zhang issued a message and suggested that Duan Qirui hold a state funeral for Yuan Shikai and that all provinces should send
Representatives formed a funeral committee to jointly handle Yuan Shikai's funeral.
Such positive actions by Fengtian soon had an impact. The old people in Beiyang who still had Yuan Shikai's benefits in their hearts stood up one after another and demanded that Yuan Shikai be given adequate honors and honors. They followed Zhang Zuolin's idea. Zhang Xun and other Beiyang feudal lords
The officials also sent special representatives to the capital to mourn Yuan Shikai.
However, these are all concentrated in the northern provinces. The provinces controlled by the Southern Guardians are completely opposite. Not only do they show no condolences to Lao Yuan, but they also use various propaganda tools to criticize Yuan Shikai, accusing Yuan Shikai of being perverse and harming dissidents.
To abolish the republic and implement the monarchy is the biggest thief in the world.
The other 21 issues, the Song Jiaoren case, and even Yuan Shikai's betrayal of Emperor Guangxu were brought up. Not only the southern provinces, but also most people in the academic world were no exception. They waved their pens one after another to express their pain.
He scolded Yuan Shikai and showed no respect for the deceased. On the contrary, he abused Yuan Shikai profusely and thought that Yuan died too late.
Not only Yuan Shikai, Zhang Zuolin was the first to put forward the slogan of respecting Yuan, and even wanted to fight for Yuan Shikai to be the father of the country. He was also scolded by the academic circles, saying that Zhang Zuolin was a remnant of the imperial system, and demanded that Lao Zhang be removed. Tang Jiyao, Cai E and others
I also took this opportunity to spread the word and continue to fight against Yuan. Although Yuan Shikai died, there were still a large number of Yuan Shikai's remnants who were equally guilty.
Not to be outdone, Sun Wen's followers jumped out one after another, and public opinions abounded. Duan Qirui also became extremely troubled. He had no idea what to do, so he could only call Yang Shiqi over and wanted to listen to him.
opinions.
Since Lao Yuan's failure, Yang Du and others were listed as the main culprits of the imperial system and were wanted. Only Yang Shiqi has been by Yuan Shikai's side. He was loyal and heartbroken when he saw Lao Yuan go where he is today.
"Prime Minister, Zhang Zuolin is a man with good intentions. In fact, the President is also suspicious of him, but his sincerity can only be seen after the person is dead. It is really rare that Zhang Zuolin can take the lead in writing a letter asking for favors to the President!"
"Mr. Xingcheng. I have also been greatly favored by Gong Bao, and I also want to let Gong Bao be buried in glory. But now the revolutionary party and the guardians are not willing to let go, and the academic circles have jumped out and scolded Gong Bao. After all,
I have no idea what to do."
"Yang only has one sentence: without Yuan Shikai, Beiyang would not be what it is today. Whether you admit it or not, this is the fact!"
After Lao Yuan's death, Yang Shiqi was disheartened and had no interest in participating in politics anymore, so he didn't take it into account when he spoke. He directly pointed at Duan Qirui's Achilles' heel. You are here today because of Yuan Shikai's gift!
While they were discussing, Xu Shuzheng suddenly walked in again. As Duan Qirui's most trusted person, Xu Shuzheng went in and out of Lao Duan's study without asking for permission. He hurriedly delivered a newspaper to Duan Qirui.
.
"Zhiweng, this is the latest article published by Fengtian. It is in memory of the president. Take a look." He handed it to Duan Qirui.
At first, Lao Duan only thought it was an ordinary article praising virtues, but at first glance, he was also attracted. This article was written by Zhang Tinglan. He did not use any gorgeous words, and even the whole article was a bit dry.
, but it lists Yuan Shikai's four major achievements, each of which is real and makes people feel sincerely convinced.
Yuan Shikai was the first official president of the Republic of China. With his efforts, the Manchu dynasty was overthrown, the era of monarchy ended, and China entered the republican era. What is particularly worth mentioning is that this regime change was basically peaceful, and there was no
After excessive bloodshed, after the Manchus abdicated, they did not launch a massive counterattack. Instead, they implemented a republic of the five ethnic groups and avoided large-scale bloodshed and sacrifice. This can be regarded as Yuan Shikai's first achievement.
In the early days of the Republic of China, the country was in chaos, with various provinces becoming independent one after another, and the country was at odds with each other. The whole country was like the late Han Dynasty and the late Tang Dynasty. Once it fell into the endless warlord melee, the people would be devastated and the country's vitality would be greatly damaged. Moreover, the situation at this time was still unclear.
Compared with the late Han Dynasty and the late Tang Dynasty, there were only civil strife at that time, but now there are foreign invasions. China is divided into pieces, and the great powers will definitely intervene. The catastrophe of partition is just around the corner. Yuan Shikai turned the tide, bridged the differences among the provinces, established a unified country, and quickly put out the White Wolf Uprising.
, as well as the second revolution of Sun Wen and others, which prevented the country from falling into chaos. Yuan Gong took great credit.
During the year of 1911, the country changed from old to new. There were forces in Outer Mongolia, Northeast China, and Tibet that were ready to split the country. The revolutionaries even proposed the founding of eighteen provinces. The border provinces were in turmoil, and the huge territory was on the verge of collapse. Yuan Gong treated the Qing Dynasty favorably.
The imperial court completely inherited the territory and sovereignty of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and also tried its best to maintain the stability of Mongolia and other places. After the Revolution of 1911, China's territory was not lost.
Since Princess Yuan came to power, she has developed industry and commerce, promoted educational progress, innovated the national system, clarified the long-standing abuses of the Qing Dynasty, and established a modern national system. She formulated the organizational law of the Congress, promoted the democratic election mechanism, promulgated civil and criminal laws and other laws, established the judicial system, and established a
The foundation for governing the country according to law. Creating a new type of army, cultivating military talents, and developing the military industry... The foundation for China's transformation from the old era to modernization was all created by Yuan.
All these are the great achievements of Yuan Gong and cannot be ignored. Although there are some mistakes, the shortcomings cannot be concealed. As for the imperial system, it can be called the biggest mistake of Yuan Gong's life. However, the Hongxian monarchy is also different from the monarchy of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. It emulates The constitutional monarchy system of Britain and Germany is implemented by most of the powerful countries today. It is understandable that Mr. Yuan would like to imitate it.
Mr. Yuan can be called the last man of the old era and the first man of the new era. It is undeniable that he stepped into the new era with one foot and opened the door to China's modernization, but stayed in the past with the other foot. It is still inevitable that he will make mistakes. But this mistake is not the fault of Mr. Yuan alone, but the fault of the times!
The transition between the old and the new is inherently repetitive, and it is difficult to achieve it in one step. This is true for the British and French powers. It should be viewed with tolerance. The man has passed away, but his achievements will last forever. The next generation can only take over what Yuan Gong left unfinished. Career, work hard, and realize the prosperity of the country and the military strength.
After reading it, Duan Qirui pounded the table excitedly and said loudly: "This report will trigger the whole country, let everyone read it, let them know how to evaluate Kung Pao!" (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, The novel is better and updated faster!
ps: It is indeed difficult to evaluate Yuan Shikai. I wrote a little bit of my own opinions. In fact, I looked at it from Zhang Tinglan’s perspective. As for the historical truth, I’m afraid it has long since disappeared...