Years of the Republic of China 1913

In the presidential palace, Li Yuanhong, the president of the Republic of China, nicknamed Li Bodhisattva, who usually has a simple and honest smiling face, looks like an Amitabha Buddha. Now his face is so gloomy that he can wring out water. The beard even trembled slightly.

Just a few minutes ago, Prime Minister Fang Zida had just left, and the Prime Minister suddenly came to visit in person, which is a rare event in the presidential palace.You must know that since Yuan Shikai's death, Fang Zida has stepped here only a handful of times. Except for the important business needs of Li Yuanhong's signature and seal on official documents, he seldom walks around.

To put it bluntly, Li Yuanhong, the great president, cannot be compared with Yuan Shikai at all. Yuan Shikai has great prestige and real power, and can compete with the State Council. Do it, because he clearly knows that without Yuan Shikai's nod, many government orders cannot be implemented at all.

After Yuan Shikai's death, most of the Beiyang Department was taken over by Fang Zida. Duan Qirui, who tried to take advantage of this opportunity to rise to power, ended up in disgrace and even lost his position as Minister of National Defense.As for Prime Minister Song Jiaoren, with the support of Fang Zida, he really exercised the power of the government, and the position of the President has become a vain position that is respectful but not powerful, high in name but not in line with reality, and insignificant in words.

Apart from being the nominal head of state and the corresponding treatment, the real power in Li Yuanhong's hands can be said to be extremely small, even incomparable to any cabinet member.In this case, what else can he do if he does not become a Bodhisattva?It also confirmed his famous nickname.

Li Yuanhong was greatly surprised by Fang Zida's sudden visit today, but as the president, he still warmly received this nominal subordinate, the actual top decision-maker of the Republic of China.After the two sides met, Fang Zida chatted happily with Li Yuanhong, talked about the recent government situation, and politely asked him if he could criticize and guide the work of the government as the president.

Of course Li Yuanhong would not take these polite words seriously.How could he, Fang Zida, allow the presidential palace to intervene in political affairs?Unless your brain is flooded.He laughed very modestly, and casually praised the State Council, but Li Yuanhong refused to give any advice, and kept talking nonsense like good or very good.At the same time, the big president was secretly guessing Fang Zida's real intention behind his smiling face. Based on what he knew about Fang Zida, it was absolutely impossible for him to be full and idle.He came to the presidential palace and said these messy things.

As expected, after rambling on, Fang Zida turned to the sensational Wang Yaqiao case a while ago, and seemed to discuss it with Li Yuanhong with great interest.As the president, Li Yuanhong must of course agree with the government, and some of his words are watertight, and he said that such abominable criminal cases must be tried strictly to prevent such incidents from happening again.

As soon as Li Yuanhong finished speaking, Fang Zida applauded.Throwing flattery on each other's heads like they don't want money, such as loyalty to the country, hatred of evil, role model of the country, pioneer of constitutionalism, etc., made Li Yuanhong dizzy, and at the same time his heart improved even more. Be vigilant, lest there be some ulterior motive behind Fang Zida's flattery.

As expected, Fang Zida changed his expression after touting what he was afraid of, and told Li Yuanhong solemnly.After investigation, the case behind Wang Yaqiao is complicated, with shadows of various factions.Among them are the revolutionary party that has disappeared, the opposition party that is dissatisfied with the government in the country, and even a series of connections between Lao Maozi, the Japanese and the British and French.In this regard, Fang Zida implored the Presidential Palace to support the State Council to thoroughly investigate the case, catch all the black hands behind the scenes, and safeguard the dignity of the law.Ensure social stability, and return the country to a bright future.

The smile on Li Yuanhong's face faded the more he heard it. Although Fang Zida discussed every word with himself from a standpoint of justice, some tone and words vaguely revealed that besides the news on the surface, there were other things that were not for outsiders. known information.Especially when Fang Zida got up to leave after talking about Wang Yaqiao's case, he suddenly asked Wu Zhaolin about Wu Zhaolin's recent situation before leaving.This suddenly made Li Yuanhong break out in a cold sweat, and the smile instantly froze on his face.

After Fang Zida left, Li Yuanhong's heart sank to the bottom, his face was gloomy and his hands trembled slightly, and he sat motionless in the study for a long time.

After a while, he asked for Wu Zhaolin to be called immediately, and an hour later, his old partner, old subordinate, army general, and councilor of the presidential palace, Wu Zhaolin rushed over.

"Brother Song Qing, what do you want from me?" Upon entering the door, seeing Li Yuanhong sitting motionless on the sofa, Wu Zhaolin asked casually as he took off his coat and handed it to the attendant.

Making a gesture to close the door, Wu Zhaolin waved his hand to let the attendant go out and close the door. When the door was closed, before Wu Zhaolin approached, Li Yuanhong, who was sitting on the sofa, suddenly jumped up. He grabbed the books on the table and threw them hard at the opponent.

"Wu Weisan! You! You are going to kill me!"

Thanks to Wu Zhaolin's background in the army, even though he managed to be an admiral, he still managed to dodge the "hidden weapon" in a panic, and he didn't care that his shiny hair was messed up like a hen's coop, so he hurriedly shouted: "Brother Song Qing... ...why is that? why is that?"

"Why? You...you still have the face to ask me? If it wasn't for your good deeds, I...I..." Li Yuanhong panted heavily and pointed at Wu Zhaolin with an anxious and angry expression.

"Brother Song Qing, you and I have known each other for decades. You know what kind of person I am, Wu Zhaolin. Even if you want to fight or kill, you have to let me know? What happened to you today? Why are you so angry?" The monk was puzzled, and still can't figure out what's going on.

"Let me ask you, did you mention to me about expanding the powers of the presidency?"

"Yes."

"Did you say that there was a chance that Congress would pass a change from a prime minister to a president?"

"That's right!"

"Did you also say that after the death of Sun Wen, the revolutionary party has no leader, which is a good time to win people's hearts?"

"Of course, although the Revolutionary Party failed under Sun Wen, there are still many talents in it that can be used by us. Taking advantage of the opportunity to gather a group can also improve the strength of our Progressive Party."

"You... have you been in private contact with people from the Revolutionary Party?"

"This……."

"Yes or not?"

"I have been in contact with it! So what? Didn't kmt also recruit a group of revolutionary party members? Could it be that we can't do it if they can do it! You must know that our Progressive Party is also a member of Congress!" Wu Zhaolin replied very unconvinced. Coming here is not a big deal at all. All parties in the Republic of China have me among you, and you among me.Who didn't carry the credentials of several parties at the beginning?It was only after kmt adopted a policy that it could not cross the party, which gradually reduced such situations among the parties.

"How about it? How about it?" Li Yuanhong jumped and cursed: "When did I promise you to do this? Ah!"

"I..." Wu Zhaolin was speechless, and cursed secretly in his heart: "Yes, you didn't agree, but you didn't say you didn't agree when I talked to you at the beginning. Isn't this a sign of acquiescence? Now To actually bring up this matter again. Do you want me to be blamed? Blame? Not good!"

Thinking of this, Wu Zhaolin's face suddenly changed drastically, and he finally realized that it was because the secret contact between him and the Revolutionary Party came to light?Something is wrong?

"Understood? Got it? You... you, you!" Li Yuanhong nodded to Wu Zhaolin, and Li Yuanhong sat back on the sofa angrily.

"Brother Song Qing, what's going on? What's going on?" This time, Wu Zhaolin came up to him in fear and asked, and after glancing at this loyal old subordinate, Li Yuanhong shook his head and let out a long sigh.Slowly told him about Zida's visit just now.

Following Li Yuanhong's narration, Wu Zhaolin's face became more and more ugly, and in the end he was so frightened that he broke into sweat.Wu Zhaolin is very clear about Fang Zida's style and conduct. Don't look at him who is usually very pleasant when he speaks the truth, and puts the country's system first in his actions, but once he makes a move, everyone is afraid of him. Was Mr. Yuan very good back then?Fang Zida got him abroad and hasn't come back yet. Does Duan Qirui hold the power?Now he is just a farmer who thinks behind closed doors.Former Prime Minister Song Jiaoren held the power of the government as the leader of the KMT party.In this way, Fang Zida made him feel ashamed and finally went abroad... This series of events does not include the black hands he did when he took over the Nanjing Eighth Division and solved the Revolutionary Party and the reorganization of the National Defense Forces. Even Xu Shuzheng's death It was also forced by him.Although Wu Zhaolin is a general.But for a general who has already stood aside, in terms of power in his hands, Xu Shuzheng had to beat him by several blocks, so how good would he be if he fell into Fang Zida's hands?

"Song Qing, Song Qing, save me! That's right, I have seen Chen Shaobai and others. But I didn't let them kill people! I can swear to God! Song Qing!" The more he thought about it, the more afraid he became, Wu Zhaolin let out a thud Kneeling in front of Li Yuanhong, hugged his thigh and begged bitterly.

Li Yuanhong looked at him helplessly, thought for a while and asked earnestly: "You really only got in touch with him, and you didn't do anything stupid?"

"No! Absolutely not! If I talk nonsense, it will be thunderous!" Wu Zhaolin burst into tears and snot, and patted his head to assure.

"That's good... that's good...." Li Yuanhong could still trust Wu Zhaolin's words, and he was finally relieved, at least the result was not as serious as he imagined.

"Song Qing, can you explain to Fang Zhangming..." Seeing Li Yuanhong's tone softened, Wu Zhaolin's heart was hanging in the air and he put it back halfway. After thinking about it, he hesitated to suggest something.

"Confused! Explain what? How to explain? Could it be that we can't be caught?" Li Yuanhong became angry when he heard it. Wu Zhaolin usually has a flexible mind, so why has he lost his mind today?This kind of explanation can go to take the initiative to say it?Simply childish.

Looking at Wu Zhaolin who was in a state of panic again, Li Yuanhong sighed, and comforted him: "In my opinion, Fang Zida didn't really want to pursue the responsibility. If he really wanted to do something, he might just call the Security Bureau to find you, and he wouldn't come here." The Presidential Palace talked nonsense to me. Now... you just pretend that this has never happened, and don’t mention it no matter who asks. In addition, if someone from the Revolutionary Party contacts you, you should report it directly to the Security Bureau. They will deal with what comes down."

"Is this okay?" Wu Zhaolin asked dumbfounded.

"What's okay? That's it!" Li Yuanhong said decisively, and after a pause he reminded: "Recently, don't do other things, and you don't mess around inside and outside the party, let me cultivate at home, understand No!" (To be continued...)