There is one of the tallest buildings on the west bank of Zhongnanhai Xiyuan. The whole and external auxiliary decoration of this building have obvious style differences with the surrounding building community. Perhaps it is because of its outstanding appearance and European and graceful interior furnishings.

In the judgment of many children in Zhongnanhai, it is the most luxurious and beautiful building.//www.//

What originally stood here was a group of original Chinese traditional-style palace complexes. It was the Yiluan Hall where Empress Dowager Cixi stayed after she "returned the curtain and returned to power." This group of buildings is based on the two-volume Yiluan Hall.

In the center, there are three entrances, front and back, facing south. There is a glazed screen wall in front of the main hall.

During the Gengzi period, after the Eight-Power Allied Forces entered Beijing, they used Zhongnanhai as a garrison camp. The coalition commander, Wade West, set up the headquarters in Yiluan Hall, which was occupied by the Japanese army. On the night of April 17, 1901, in the courtyard of Yiluan Hall,

A fire broke out in the German kitchen, and the main hall and auxiliary halls were burned down.

After Cixi returned to Beijing, she accepted the suggestion of foreign envoys and built a Western-style building at the Yiluan Palace site for reception and banquets with foreign female guests as a sign of reconciliation with the great powers. So, construction work was rebuilt on the ruins, costing more than 5 million taels of silver.

Build a building similar in size to the original Yiluan Palace.

However, Cixi did not want to imitate foreign-style buildings built in the Royal Forbidden City because she felt it was inappropriate. She preferred to imitate the Haiyan Hall of the Western-style Building in Yuanmingyuan. In fact, the effect was the same. In 1904, the Haiyan Hall was built. Cixi held the Haiyan Hall in Zhongnanhai.

I have attended 5 diplomatic events and met the wives of foreign ministers.

However, Haiyantang did not bring the prosperity of the world to the declining late Qing Dynasty. The Spring and Autumn Period was different, and the Manchu and Qing Empire came to an end in the gunfire of 1911. Yuan Shikai, the first president of the Republic of China, after he took office as the president,

He moved into Zhongnanhai and used Haiyantang as his office and reception place, and renamed it Jurentang.

Unlike Cixi who only received and held five diplomatic events in Haiyan Hall, since Yuan Shikai moved into Jurentang, foreign affairs events have been held here every day and every month. It is not only the place where foreign affairs activities are held, but also Yuan Shikai's office.

, it is also the place where he meets with subordinate officials.

"Li Zhiyuan is playing chess again!"

After Li Zicheng left Jurentang, Yuan Shikai, who was sitting in the small Western-style living room, whispered to his lips.

In the past two months, Li Zicheng has been playing a lot of chess. From the Ministry of Finance's attempt to bring the customs under the management of the Ministry of Finance, to the personnel reform of the customs, it directly led to the current stalemate between the State Council and the customs. When the two sides were in a stalemate, Li Zicheng

He even bluntly told the British Minister that if Anglian did not agree with the Ministry of Finance's document, then the General Taxation Department must be replaced.

In this regard, Yuan Shikai did not make any response. Even when Zhu Erdian asked him for help, he only said that "the Ministry of Finance is subordinate to the State Council." Naturally, he had no right to interfere, but this statement was an endorsement on the other hand.

Li Zicheng’s first move.

But in the meeting just now, Yuan Shikai didn't mention customs or even a word about it. Yuan Shikai, who was proficient in officialdom, knew when to express something and when to remain silent. At this time, he was interfering, which made it more obvious that he was concerned about the customs.

Li Zicheng did not trust him enough. Similarly, Yuan Shikai also hoped to test the British's bottom line through this move.

For Yuan Shikai, who had already formulated the plan of "alliance with Britain and the United States to resist Japan and Russia", he would never offend Britain and the United States unless he had to, but testing their bottom line was acceptable. The presidential palace's "neutrality", in fact,

It just leaves room for things to ease.

But now, when he thought that Li Zicheng had already laid out the chess game and was ready to play this game, Yuan Shikai became very uneasy. Almost as soon as Li Zicheng left, he moved Liang Shiyi and Yang Du

He pointed to the report he just received and asked:

"Look, Li Zhiyuan has started to take action. Can you see if he has any back-up moves?"

Liang and Yang read the report and were speechless for a moment. Both of them were also in extreme shock. The rumors that had been circulating in these forty-nine cities for many days were finally confirmed. Li Lianyun, no, you can no longer call him Li Lianyun.

, he should be called Li Zhidan, Li Zhidan began to challenge the great powers. Very

However, what made them feel at ease was that Li Dangdang did not lose his basic sense like Cixi. He put everything on diplomacy, trying to force countries to make concessions diplomatically, and thus agreed to the "revision"

New Testament".

"Li Zhiyuan is really courageous. I, Yuan, have been dealing with foreigners for decades. When I was in North Korea, I fought against a country by myself and never lost. But Li Zhiyuan's courage..."

Thinking of the decision he made when he was in North Korea, Yuan Shikai's face showed a trace of helplessness. He was stationed in North Korea several times for twelve years. In the increasingly difficult situation, he tried his best to safeguard the interests of China.

It was his experience in the Korean peninsula that made him a rising star in the officialdom at that time. The world said that "small station training" made him stand out, but in fact, his overseas experience that fulfilled his mission was what made him a leader.

The fundamental reason why it came into the eyes of the Empress Dowager Cixi.

However, that memory was unpleasant. Although he tried his best to safeguard China's interests, in the beginning of the competition between the Qing Dynasty and Japan in Korea, he prevailed due to his decisiveness. Japan had been deliberately planning against Korea for a long time, and the Qing Dynasty

His policy towards North Korea was wavering, so although he had the upper hand in the Jiashen Incident, it could not completely solve the problem.

International issues require strength. When Japan was at a disadvantage in Korea, it made active arrangements and successively increased its troops. At the same time, it protested to the Qing government, accusing it of starting a reckless provocation and being responsible for the Jiashen incident.

At that time, because the Sino-French dispute had not yet been resolved, the Qing government did not intend to cause any more trouble with Japan. However, since he was a junior official, the incident in Korea was not reported to the court in advance, so he was not very understanding of Japan.

After the government protested to the Qing court, the Qing court sent Wu Da and Xuchang as special envoys to Korea to investigate.

Wu Da thought that he had started the provocation lightly, so he planned to put the responsibility entirely on him and apologize to Japan before setting off.

Since the Qing government gave half of its suzerainty over Korea to Japan, this completely ran counter to Yuan Shikai's plan to further control Korea. And he, Yuan Shikai, became the chief culprit of this incident, and everyone blamed him.

In his body, he saw the situation in North Korea at the mercy of others, and was very sad. But there was no use in being sad. At that time, his mother Ding was worried, so he had to leave North Korea. When he returned to North Korea again, he was unable to return.

Oh my God!

Thinking about the past events when he was supervising North Korea, I think that the fundamental reason why he was unable to make a comeback was that the Qing government had neither principles nor goals in controlling North Korea. In addition, it was weak and could be bullied, so even though he was weak and could be bullied,

There are great ambitions, but in the end it only ends badly.

"President, this is a good thing."

When the President mentioned North Korea, Liang Shiyi, who had learned about the President's experience from others, immediately realized that the President resonated with Li Zhiyuan on the matter of "national power." In fact, if Yuan Shikai put aside his prejudices,

It is somewhat similar to Li Zicheng.

Both of them were young and successful. The president started out in the army, but he seized the opportunity. At the age of 24, he became the governor of North Korea. He used his own power to defeat the power of a country. Li Zhiyuan became an entrepreneur and used his own power to resist the invasion of a country.

, became the Prime Minister at the age of twenty-five, and now, perhaps the President really feels sympathy for each other!

"If it's done well, it's definitely a good thing!"

Although he said this, Liang Shiyi was thinking about it in his heart. At first, when Li Zicheng attacked the management and employment rights of the customs, he didn't quite understand Li Zicheng's intention, but now, he

But I understood that Li Zicheng's attitude toward the customs was basically Xiangzhuang's sword dance, which was aimed at Pei Gong, and the drunkard's intention was not at drinking.

Originally, Liang Shiyi proposed the dual central bank. On the one hand, it was to expand the influence and financial power of the Bank of Communications, but on the other hand, it was to cut off the financial power of the Ministry of Finance. In the past two months, it can be said that the results have been remarkable, especially the president.

He has been praised on this matter more than once. Sixty percent of the monthly central income tax flows to the Bank of Communications.

But now Li Zicheng sincerely wants to take action against the customs. Obviously, it is not just about personnel rights and simple customs duties. Guan Yu is the biggest culprit. Not to mention Li Zicheng, even Liang Shiyi has fought against customs and customs duties more than once.

Thoughts, but he had neither the courage nor the courage.

However, Liang Shiyi, who knew Yuan Shikai well, knew that although Yuan Shikai liked to act dictatorially and was good at officialdom, on some issues, he would give support to even political opponents. From the time Yuan Shikai became the Minister of Beiyang, Liang Shiyi followed him. At that time, Yuan Shikai

He was the first among the high-ranking officials in the Qing Dynasty who tended to reform and progress. His series of reforms had a far greater impact on China than the reformists. It can be said that Yuan Shikai's contribution to China's modernization is still higher than that of Li Hongzhang, regardless of his emerging role.

During his career in Korea, he still organized and trained the "New Army" at Xiaozhan. During the late Qing Dynasty, he served as Minister of Beiyang and Governor-General of Zhili. He showed due agility and courage. In the last ten years of the late Qing Dynasty, he laid the foundation for modern China.

All basics.

In this process, for the sake of national interests, he cooperated with his political opponents more than once. If he intervened casually at this time, it would only make Yuan Shikai unhappy and angry. Instead of doing this, it is better to be calm, Liang Shiyi said

He said it very tactfully:

"The current situation in China, in fact, we are fully capable of renegotiating new treaties with other countries. Didn't Japan also defeat us to make the great powers face up to them and abolish concessions and extraterritoriality? We have defeated Japan, no matter what

, The national power that can be taken back must be taken back, otherwise, when you die in the future, you will not be able to see your ancestors!"

Liang Shiyi's words only made Yuan Shikai nod.

"President, since the State Council is going to handle this matter now, the Presidential Office should give its full support, and the State Council will come forward, which does leave some room for reciprocity between us and the great powers."

Liang Shiyi's words made Yang Du so shocked that he almost dropped his jaw. Why did Liang Yifu change his gender now? When he was confused, he heard Liang Shiyi say again.

"However, as far as the customs matter is concerned, if the State Department continues to quarrel with the British because of this, and the lottery is deadlocked, it may not be a good thing. In fact, the president has no need to affect the overall situation because of this matter. He has to eat every mouthful.

Eat, in fact, if the autonomy of customs duties is taken back, customs management and human rights will not all be the same. By then, a single official document will be taken back, and there will be such a tense situation there now.

"

Liang Shiyi said it very tactfully, but he was the only one to understand the underlying reason. Tariff autonomy does not necessarily mean the autonomy of customs management rights, personnel rights, and even tax management rights. As long as the General Taxation Department does not hand over tax management rights,

If the Bank of China has no tax rights, then the ownership of its acting treasury will only be on paper. Without the treasury, the Ministry of Finance will still be the Ministry of Finance!

“Secretary-General Liang’s words are true, there is no need to lose big for small things.”

Yang Du echoed from the side. Although Liang Shiyi did not elaborate, he still vaguely guessed Liang Shiyi's thoughts. He was not opposed to the revision of the New Testament, but he was opposed to the State Council's intervention in customs. Why was he opposed? I'm afraid it still couldn't be separated from "silver".

"Oh I see."

When Jing Liang and Yang said this, Yuan Shikai immediately figured out that Liang Shiyi opposed the State Council's intervention in customs because of tariffs and because he was afraid that the State Council would get tariffs.

Although he was silent on the surface, he was both relieved and depressed in his heart. He was pleased to know that Liang and Yang were his people, and they were working for him, even at the cost of abandoning their country, which was gratifying.

But the annoying thing is that they are willing to abandon the national interests for Yuan Xiangcheng, but what if it is for their own personal gain in the future? By then, will there be any national interests in their eyes?

Can such a person be worthy of the country?

When this question arose in his mind, Yuan Shikai once again saw Li Zicheng in front of his eyes. Comparing Li Zicheng with the two people in front of him, his superiority immediately became apparent, and he compared the difference between Li Zicheng and everyone around him.

, but Yuan Shikai sighed in his heart, how wonderful it would be if Li Zicheng was his.

Picking up the report and reading it again, Yuan Shikai frowned and said:

"According to Zhiyuan, the customs matter is just to test the bottom line of the British. You don't need to get involved in this matter. See how Zhiyuan deals with the British. However, we cannot relax about the customs, especially the tariff.

Think about it, do you have any good ideas to deal with it?"

Although Liang Shiyi's scheming was quite thorough, his scheming was far inferior to that of Yuan Shikai. How could he guess what Yuan Shikai had in mind! When he heard what the President said, he thought he had heard the meaning of his words, and his face

A faint smile suddenly appeared on his face.
To be continued...