Jagged Warlord

Luo Guorui and Zhan Tianyou are classmates and good friends, so Luo Guorui can go out to build the railway again, and Zhan Tianyou is happy for him.At this time, Zhan Tianyou was in charge of the Guangdong-Han Railway project in the south, and he couldn't escape, so he sent a group of capable assistants to Shandong to help Luo Guorui.

These personnel are excellent engineers and technicians who worked together with Zhan Tianyou during the construction of Guanwai Railway and Jinlu Railway. They are: Su Yizhao, Hu Zhaorong, Zhou Fenglu, Zhao Jie, Liu Deyuan, Zhang Junbo, Li Hongnian, Geng Ruizhi, Zhang Honggao, Xu Shiyuan, Yu Miaoyuan , Wang Guixin, Zhang Keming, Shao Shanchang, Ma Liansheng.In addition to Kuang Jingyang who was later transferred from inside and outside the pass and Yan Deqing who was transferred from the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway, Zhan Tianyou almost sent the most important railway technical elites in China at that time.

Luo Guorui was very moved, and he sent several telegrams to Zhan Tianyou to thank him, and then hung up the signboard of the Jiaodong Railway Office, and started working officially.

Like some major projects in later generations, the construction of railways in the Republic of China also involved such things as land acquisition, grave relocation, and demolition of private houses.However, after the large-scale raids by the SS, the power of the gentry among the people in Shandong was greatly weakened.Moreover, the SS's methods of suppression were very severe, even if they felt a little reluctant in their hearts, they did not dare to make trouble at all.In addition, the compensation provided by the government is quite high, and most of the gentry and common people are willing to cooperate.

As the chief engineer, in addition to coordinating the deployment of engineering and technical personnel in all aspects, Luo Guorui also has to solve various specific technical problems and face the implementation of various specific projects.In this process, the process of dealing with those subcontractors is a test of his wisdom.It's just that Luo Guorui, who has a westernized personality, is not good at this. Fortunately, with the help of Su Yizhao, his assistant sent by Zhan Tianyou, he can deal with it calmly.

During the subgrade paving and gravel project on the Penglai-Longkou section of the railway, a contractor named Duan Guotao found Luo Guorui's residence one night, and he introduced himself: "My name is Duan Guotao, and I am a member of Lord Duan Qingxi's clan in the Governor's Mansion. , according to the ranking, my name is Master Duan and fourth uncle."

Luo Guorui looked at him and said, "Lord Duan is a popular man under Governor Li, but I have no friendship with Lord Duan, and we haven't even met a few times."

Duan Guotao chuckled and said, "Isn't it? My fourth uncle is usually very busy. It's not easy for us juniors to see him."

Luo Guorui asked Duan Guotao, "Mr. Duan came to the humble house, is there something for you?"

Duan Guotao said: "It's like this, because I usually take over some projects on the Luhan Railway. I heard that your Jiaodong Railway is now contracting out related projects, so I came to visit you and see if you can take care of me. I will take over the gravel project for the roadbed from Penglai to Longkou?"

While speaking, Duan Guotao took out a 5000-yuan Huashang check from his sleeve and presented it to Luo Guorui, and said: "Although this is the first time I meet Mr. Luo, please don't be too short. , You can also come and go, once you are born and you are familiar with the second time."

Luo Guorui understood it at a glance. He grabbed the phone at hand and called Su Yizhao.Su Yizhao understood what was going on as soon as he entered the room.He has followed Zhan Tianyou for many years, and it is not uncommon for this kind of contractor to go out of his way.

Su Yizhao said: "Just right, I just received a call from Mr. Duan. He said that he would come to inspect the construction site in a few days. Since Mr. Duan is a relative of Mr. Duan, he won't see him very often on weekdays. Why don't you go away?" , how about taking this opportunity to have a family relationship with your fourth uncle?"

Duan Guotao panicked when he heard this, and hurriedly said: "No, no, my fourth uncle doesn't like us to use his name to solicit business outside. Let's talk about it and break up. If you can contract it, you can help me. If you can't contract it Me, you just find someone else, I don’t want your project anymore, you’re so precious.” After saying that, Duan Guotao grabbed the check and ran away as if flying.

Su Yizhao looked at Duan Guotao's fleeing back, and said with a sneer, "When Mr. Zhan and I were stationed engineers on the Guanwai Railway, we often encountered various contractors. As the saying goes, flies don't bite seamless eggs. If the person in charge doesn't Greed, no matter whether it is a relationship introduced by a superior or a profiteer who wants to buy people with money, it is difficult to get what they want. These liars are very greedy people. If he bribes you with a tael of silver, they must It will be taken back from the project ten times and a hundred times.”

Luo Guorui smiled and said: "All businessmen come here for profit. When I was studying in the United States, I knew that Americans also value profit, but their profit is clearly stated. In China, it is different. Everyone says clearly Not for profit, and there is no place in the dark that is not for self-interest."

Eliminating interference from all parties, Luo Guorui led a group of Chinese railway elites to start building the Jiaodong Railway.In order to exercise the civil engineering capabilities of the troops, Li Mohan also ordered to send troops to the railway construction site in rotation on a regular basis to participate in the construction.Just as the construction of the Shandong railway was in full swing, the dispute between the government and courts in Beijing also began to intensify.

After Li Yuanhong took office as president, he appointed Duan Qirui as prime minister. This was Duan's third cabinet formation.When Duan formed the cabinet, there was an old problem, that is, to appoint Xu Shuzheng as the Secretary-General of the State Council. Li also firmly disagreed. Duan asked Zhang Guogan to explain this to Li. Before Yuan died, Duan also asked Zhang Guogan to ask Yuan to appoint Xu as Secretary-General. And was rejected.Zhang knew that Li would not agree to it, but he had to say it, so he mentioned it to Li, and Li said with a sullen face: "Please tell the Prime Minister, I will obey him for ten thousand things, but I can't do this one thing." Yes." Zhang couldn't tell Duan what he said, so he went to ask Xu Shichang for advice. Xu was afraid that Li and Duan would become stiff, so he went to see Li himself and said, "I thought you could disobey him in ten thousand things. You must obey him in this matter, don't be afraid of being domineering again, Zhiquan is already domineering enough, and one more domineering will not make much difference." Xu Shichang's words were not wrong at all, and in the situation at that time, it made no difference whether Duan had Xu Shuzheng or not. , Li Yuanhong was not in his eyes at all.

When Li agreed with Xu Shuzheng to be the Secretary-General of the State Council, there was a reserved condition, which was to stipulate that when the Secretary-General of the State Council came to meet with the President Chen Shi, he must first notify the Secretary-General of the Presidential Palace to attend the meeting together.This regulation is also puzzling. It turned out that after Li became president, Duan never went to see the president as the prime minister, but the Secretary-General of the State Council went there.When Xu Shuzheng met Li, he didn't respect him either. When Li sometimes asked about a certain official business, he always said this: "Now it's a responsible cabinet system. The prime minister is in charge, so the president doesn't have to ask more questions."

Xu Shuzheng is talented but self-willed, Duan Neng trusts Xu Shuzheng, it is really rare, but Xu Shuzheng's shortcoming is domineering, it is difficult to work with others.

Xu Shuzheng not only confronted the Secretary-General of the Presidential Palace, but also caused great trouble in the State Council.During the first cabinet meeting, Sun Hongyi, Chief of Internal Affairs, quarreled with Xu Shuzheng.According to the law, the Secretary-General of the State Council can only attend the cabinet meeting and has no right to speak. In that cabinet meeting, the dispute between Li Liejun and Long Jiguang in Guangdong was discussed. , Sun advocated calling for reconciliation, and other cabinet members agreed with Sun's proposal, but for the sake of Duan's face, he did not stop Xiao Xu from speaking. After the cabinet meeting, Xiao Xu sent a telegram to suppress Li Liejun. It wasn't until the cabinet members found out about it that Sun Hongyi accused Xiao Xu at the cabinet table, and Xiao Xu also retorted.

After the division of powers between the President and the State Council, the State Council's power was almost entirely concentrated in the hands of Xu Shuzheng. Not only Sun Hongyi was dissatisfied, but other cabinet members were also dissatisfied. Soon after, the appointment of Guo Zongxi as Governor of Jilin Province and the investigation of the case of Governor Hu Ruisen of Fujian Province made the cabinet's gunpowder atmosphere close to exploding.These two cases were decided by Xu Shuzheng arbitrarily, and Duan agreed to handle them. They had not been reviewed by the cabinet, and had not been signed by the Deputy Minister of the Interior. Xu then consulted the Congress in the name of the State Council.Sun Hongyi thought that Xiao Xu had no regard for the Chief of Internal Affairs at all, and Duan didn't respect him, so he asked Duan face to face: Does the Chief of Internal Affairs have no right to intervene in issues related to the civil affairs chiefs of various provinces?Does the Secretary-General of the Academy have the right to handle it without authorization?

Duan Qirui was speechless to answer, and only said: "It's ridiculous again." He was ordered to recover the statement on Hu Ruisen's case, but the Congress had already issued it and could not recover it. Sun Nai angrily resigned on August [-]. .

The matter got so bad that it couldn't be cleaned up, so Xu Shichang, known as the crystal fox, came forward to mediate. Xu Shichang went to the government to propose a way to balance the prestige of the government, that is, both Sun Hongyi and Xu Shuzheng were dismissed at the same time, and Zhang Guogan was recommended to succeed the secretary general of the academy.He believed that Zhang Guogan had previously served as the Secretary-General of the government and was also a cabinet member of Duan's cabinet. Such a person who had a good relationship with both parties would succeed as the secretary-general, and he would definitely be able to harmonize the relationship between the government and the court.

In the end Li Yuanhong accepted Xu Shichang's suggestion, and Sun Hongyi and Xu Shuzheng were dismissed at the same time.Most people think that the dispute between the government and the court ended with Li Yuanhong's resignation, but they didn't know that there would be another wave of unrest. The struggle between the two sides became more intense on the issue of whether to participate in the First World War and declare war on Germany.

In World War I, the unrestricted attack by German submarines aroused great dislike in the United States, and on February 6, 2, the United States officially announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Germany.Gu Weijun, Chinese Minister to the United States, telegraphed President Wilson's decision to Beijing. At this time, Beijing's foreign envoys in China were actively fighting for China. Before that, China had insisted on neutrality. On February 3, the United States sent a note to the governments of neutral countries, welcoming the neutral countries and the United States to take concerted actions.U.S. Minister to China Rui Enshi tried his best to persuade the Chinese government to respond to the call of the United States to strengthen Sino-US cooperative relations.Foreign Minister Wu Tingfang advocated following the American line in order to win the United States to assist China economically and politically, to resist Japanese aggression, and to have a say in the post-war international peace conference.Li Yuanhong was very moved by these interests.However, Duan Qirui has always been pro-German. He usually takes western medicine and does not take non-German medicine. At the same time, he firmly believes that the German army is invincible in the world, and the final victory must belong to Germany.However, Duan was getting closer to Japan at this time, and Japan had declared war on Germany, so Duan wanted to hear about Japan's intentions.