Long before coming to Beijing, Zhang Tinglan and Lao Zhang analyzed Yuan Shikai's ambivalent mentality. Zhang Zuolin deeply believed it, so how to behave became a problem. For a submissive, Lao Yuan would think that he was not worthy of being reused. Even those in Beiyang
People will also jump out and step on them a few times.
It would be no good if he was too tough and made Lao Yuan Xinsheng afraid. After some consideration, Lao Zhang found that it was best to show enough strength and at the same time deliberately expose some character flaws to make Yuan Shikai mistakenly think that he is easy to control.
Therefore, during the interview, Lao Zhang would say that even the King of Heaven and I should not get involved in Fengtian. This was a slap in the face of Yuan Shikai. If you send someone to Fengtian casually, you have to see if Lao Zhang agrees. In addition, Zhang Zuolin showed off from time to time.
The recklessness and greed of reckless people.
For example, he beat up the tax collector of Chongwenmen, he had a conflict with Liang Shiyi, and he had that pocket watch. Since Zhang Tinglan made a lot of troubles, the Twenty-seventh Division has very abundant funds on its books, and Lao Zhang also has millions of deposits in Daosheng Bank. He will
Do you care about a pocket watch?
However, Lao Zhang found a shiny golden pocket watch among a pile of rusty bronzes. As if he was afraid that others would not know about it, he pretended to be attracted. As expected, Lao Yuan gave him the pocket watch after he came in.
.
Lao Zhang is also a superior, and he understands very well that this is just a small way to win people's hearts, and it is also a test to see if he is greedy for money. After returning to the Six Nations Hotel, Lao Zhang casually threw his pocket watch on the sofa without caring at all.
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On the contrary, when Zhang Xueliang saw his father throwing a shiny golden object casually, he quickly took it and saw that it was an exquisite pocket watch, so he started playing with it.
"Seventh uncle, President Yuan is too stingy. We gave them so many things to the Yuan family, and he just returned the gift with a pocket watch. It's not appropriate!"
"President Yuan doesn't see it that way. This is a reward from the future Lord Long Live, a royal thing. When Old Yuan becomes emperor, we will get a memorial tablet and offer this thing as a family heirloom."
Lao Zhang picked up the tea cup, drank a few sips, moistened his throat, and then said: "Tinglan, Lao Yuan also heard about your contract with Zhu Erdian, and he fell in love with you, and wants to keep you in Beijing for training."
Zhang Xueliang, who was playing with his pocket watch on the side, heard this, and his little eyes suddenly widened. He put the pocket watch aside and said angrily: "Dad, Yuan Datou wants to exchange a gold watch for Brother Tinglan.
It's just wishful thinking. Brother Tinglan is a golden man from head to toe, pure gold!" Zhang Xueliang was also worried.
Zhang Tinglan knew better in her heart that although Yuan Shikai was now extremely powerful, the sun was already declining and he was dying. On the contrary, Zhang Zuolin was the sun at three o'clock, with huge development potential. Zhang Tinglan would never stay in Beijing to be buried with Yuan.
Moreover, today's Beijing is full of old bureaucrats vying for power, and nothing serious can be done. There is nothing like Fengtian, who is free and unrestrained and can exert his will.
"Seventh uncle, Lao Yuan has never had much money. Moreover, he has to be an emperor and everything costs money. He doesn't really want to keep me, he just wants to make some money to spend."
"That's right. Do you have the ability to get money for him?"
"No!" Zhang Tinglan answered very simply: "If you want to make money, you have to show the courage to do things. If we want to do something in Fengtian, we have to confront the Japanese, especially in Beijing. But Lao Yuan
Our subordinates are deeply entangled, and the great powers are eyeing us. If we want to do anything real, the obstacles are huge. Beijing is a quagmire. If you get stuck in it, you can’t even think about getting out."
"Although Lao Yuan didn't say it clearly, he already had this idea and asked me to take you to the Presidential Palace. If Lao Yuan insists on keeping you, I can't refuse!"
Of course Zhang Zuolin didn't want Zhang Tinglan to stay in Beijing, but he couldn't refuse Lao Yuan directly. If Yuan Shikai was offended, his work in Beijing would be in vain.
Zhang Tinglan also knew the importance of it. He rolled his eyes and carefully considered the countermeasures.
"Seventh uncle, what do you think of this idea if I cause some trouble so that Lao Yuan doesn't dare to leave me in Beijing?"
Causing trouble? During this period, Lao Zhang learned Zhang Tinglan's ability to cause trouble. He provoked various forces in Fengtian. When he arrived in Beijing, he provoked Liang Shiyi. But I don't know who this kid is planning to provoke?
"Tinglan, Beijing is not as good as Fengtian. You kid, don't cause trouble. I think you should just pretend to be sick and just say that you are not acclimatized. I will send someone to take you back to Fengtian overnight. I guess Lao Yuan has nothing to say."
Lao Zhang proposed the safest way. Zhang Tinglan thought for a while and said: "Seventh uncle, although this is safe, it will also put a thorn in Yuan Shikai's heart and is not appropriate!"
"Okay, now that you have an idea, go ahead and do it. I'll take care of it if anything happens!" Lao Zhang also knew that Zhang Tinglan was actually very stubborn. Once he had an idea, he would stick to it, so he simply didn't care.
Still very confident.
Zhang Tinglan returned to his room, thinking constantly in his mind. This time when he went to Beijing, in addition to helping Zhang Zuolin run for office, he also wanted to recruit several available talents, especially those who knew about industry and mining.
The three northeastern provinces are among the most prosperous places in the country, with rich mineral resources. If you want to develop the economy, you must develop all these minerals. However, this requires specialized talents. Nowadays, college students are not everywhere.
In the future generations, there will be no scientific and engineering talents capable of taking on big responsibilities in Fengtian.
Zhang Tinglan had no choice but to look to Beijing, hoping to recruit a few professionals who knew about industry and mining from universities. Since he wanted to recruit talents, he had to deal with literati and scholars.
It was at this time that Zhang Tinglan truly understood the preferential treatment given to these literati. They enjoyed a salary of three to four hundred oceans a month. This price was fifty times or even a hundred times that of ordinary workers. In slightly more remote areas, ordinary people
They don't even get a few dollars a year, and a university professor's salary is thousands of times theirs.
This is not a dark apocalypse, it is simply a paradise for literati!
In later generations, the monthly salary of an ordinary university professor is rarely more than 10,000 yuan, while the monthly salary of a dishwasher is only 2,000 to 3,000 yuan. The difference is only three to five times. No wonder the disciples and grandchildren of later generations are desperately trying to recall the Republic of China. They are so far behind their predecessors.
Far.
But they have never thought about whether the preferential treatment given to literati during the Republic of China was normal. If the wage gap of three to five times motivated people to work hard and make progress, then the income gap of dozens or hundreds of times intensified social conflicts and caused hatred.
On one side, ordinary people are starving and starving; on the other side, literati hug ladies, ballroom dance, and enjoy a luxurious life. As a result, these people continue to write articles, lament social injustice, criticize traditional culture, and self-indulge.
Claiming to be representatives of spreading new ideas, little do they know that their existence itself is a serious injustice.
Of course, only Zhang Tinglan dares to think this way at present. Even Yuan Shikai is very afraid of these literati. He allows them to publish articles in newspapers and has no way to do anything about them.
Before coming to Beijing, Zhang Tinglan told Wang Yongjiang about the idea of recruiting talents. Wang Yongjiang also supported it. Fengtian did need talents. When he went to Beijing a few years ago, he also made a friend named Kuang Rongguang.
He was one of the first batch of children to study in the United States. He studied mining and metallurgy. He also discovered the Xiangtan Coal Mine in Hunan, which made him famous all over the world. He is now teaching at Peking University.
Zhang Tinglan also knows that young children studying in the United States are a golden sign. A large number of talents have emerged among this group of people, including Prime Minister Tang Shaoyi, railway engineer Zhan Tianyou, etc. This Kuang Rongguang seems to have been heard about in later generations. He is indeed a talent.
Since Wang Yongjiang recommended him, Zhang Tinglan wanted to find an opportunity to recruit him to Fengtian to help find mines and develop mineral resources.
Now, as soon as Zhang Tinglan heard that Lao Yuan wanted to recruit him, and could not refuse it explicitly, he thought of a way, which was to use the opportunity of recruiting Kuang Rongguang to stir up a hornet's nest, compete with the literati of this era, and intensify the
Public opinion made Lao Yuan afraid to leave him alone.
Now that he had thought of this idea, Zhang Tinglan went straight to Peking University the next day. The campus of this era was still full of classical style, elegant architecture, red bricks, green trees, pavilions and waterside pavilions. Under the guidance of the guide, Zhang Tinglan quickly found
There is a specially built professor's villa area, which is full of new-style western-style buildings with unique designs. Electric lights, telephones, hot and cold water are all available.
The environment is so good that it is simply enviable. It is in sharp contrast to the low and dim houses of the people outside. It suddenly seems that this is not China, but the developed West.
However, the Kuang Rongguang he was looking for was not arranged in the villa area. There was an unused compound not far from the villa area, which was Kuang Rongguang's residence. It was spacious and regular, but it was incomparable with those glamorous villas.
Zhang Tinglan quickly found this place, and from a distance he saw several people in the yard who seemed to be arguing.
A middle-aged man in an Oriental silk and satin coat was holding his hands behind his back and speaking loudly: "Mr. Kuang, this is the campus, a pure and holy place. The jingles and noises here are just like a vegetable market. Why don't you let me know?"
What do outsiders think of us? It’s so embarrassing!”
"What's there to be ashamed of?" A young man in his early twenties walked over quickly. His hands were still stained with black engine oil, and there were some scattered parts on the side, the so-called ding-dong-dang.
The sound was probably produced by him playing with these things.
"It's a university campus, but there is no dedicated operation laboratory. I can only work here. Although I am not from this school, I want to say that students pay the most attention to the integration of knowledge and action. Only through practical operation can they better master
The knowledge learned, this is your school’s dereliction of duty!”
"Humph, I want you to go to a technical school and become a libaba. No one will stop you. This is a place for studying knowledge. You can't disturb the peace and quiet."
At this time, a little old man in his fifties said: "Professor Yang, Yunhua is still young and ignorant. He made a lot of mistakes. They are all my fault. Don't take offense."
"Professor Kuang, you and I are both scholars. We should pay attention to dignity. Studying and learning is our duty. As for other workers, it is enough. Why should we lower ourselves!"
This chapter has been revised several times, and I apologize for the slow writing.