Zhang Jian (1853-1926) and Yuan Shikai (1859-1916).
In 1882, Yuan joined the army, and the teacher was Zhang Jian.
One
In the thirtieth year of Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, in 1904, Yuan Shikai, then the governor of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang, received a letter. The handwriting looked familiar to him, but it felt unfamiliar, and after reading it carefully, the picture of him in North Korea twenty years ago came to his mind. At that time, he was young and vigorous, and he was in the limelight, although he was the mainstay, but his popularity also declined. Later, he received a weighty joint letter, in which he first belittled his academic qualifications, then satirized his style, and finally directly denied his character, and also ridiculed him as "Sima". In that era when he only used a brush to write letters, the 3,000-word denunciation book almost became a personal insult and a contempt for dignity, and he still remembers it vividly.
Now, seeing the first letter in the past twenty years, Yuan Shikai sighed, this Zhang Jian.
II
Twenty years ago, there was a coup d'état in North Korea, and the Yuan family became a celebrity in the pacification and chaos. At this time, he was a little inflated, he used to be respectful in front of Zhang Jian, a teacher Zhang, but now he feels a little unspeakable, and he either calls someone someone vaguely in his words, or calls him a brother. At this time, Zhang Jian was far away in Jinzhou, Northeast China, and if the two met head-on in North Korea, it was possible for Yuan to pat him on the shoulder and shout Lao Zhang. In short, Mr. Zhang felt that his student was "becoming more and more unruly".
It wasn't until Yuan was promoted to the governor of Zhili that they spent a long period of severance that Zhang Jian teasefully ridiculed Yuan"The past and the present are still a person's ears, and the titles of teacher, husband, a certain Weng, and a certain brother are becoming more and more strange, and I don't understand the reason," "The higher the official position under the feet, the smaller the contemptible title." ”
This is obviously not the main reason, Zhang Jian will not be so stingy, the problem lies in North Korea. After the Yuan Jing Change, he showed absolute leadership everywhere, and in the Huai Army stationed in Korea, the limelight directly overshadowed his boss Wu Zhaoyou. Sometimes King Han and Concubine Min were invited to a banquet, and they inadvertently put Mr. Wu's office aside. This made the thirty-year-old Wu lose face, so he poured out his grievances to Zhang Jian in Jinzhou, Liaoning.
After all, Zhang Jian is the general staff of the Huai Army and Yuan's debut mentor.
Zhang Jian also heard these rumors in China, and after Wu Yi said that, he became more and more dissatisfied with Yuan Shikai's behavior. So, Zhang Jian, together with Zhu Mingpan and his brother Zhang Jing, wrote a letter to Yuan. The letter said that he was arrogant and ungrateful, had a new boss Lao Li (Hongzhang), forgot the old leader Lao Wu (Changqing), and advised him to be down-to-earth, not to think that he was very smart, everyone else is two hundred and five, let himself live so tired, and so on. What made Yuan's ears even more hot was that Zhang Jian directly called him "Sima" in the first sentence of the letter. Sima is an official name in ancient times, which is equivalent to the five products of the Qing Dynasty, which is the official title of Yuan Shikai. That's right, Mr. Zhang's doing this is to remind him to "don't forget your identity", a five-grade petty official, what a cow.
Wu Changqing (1829-1884).
Subsequently, Mr. Zhang picked up Yuan's academic performance and said something"Uncle Ling Duanmin Gong, Ling Tang Uncle Wencheng Gong Jinshi, Zun Gong and Ling Tang Uncle Zi Jiu observe and raise people, why can't Sima show off his talents, and he is greater than this, why not be ashamed of this, and boast about it. ”Your uncle, your father, and your two cousins, they are either jinshi or lifters, why did they come to you and not even be able to pass the exam? It's still bullish every day, not ashamed, but proud. It was already ruthless enough, and Mr. Xinao Zhang said again, why didn't I call you Weiting as usual, your image in everyone's hearts has changed from a good student three years ago to the point where you are now, you have ambition and no popularity, what is the reason, you think about it slowly at home.
Zhang Jian appealed to the dissatisfaction and ridicule in his chest, and this letter was also full of force, with a pertinent and honest appearance, but in fact the words were sharp and hidden. himHe wrote nearly 3,000 words in one go, and used 61 "Sima" before and after, its sarcasm and sarcasm are a must, and it deserves to be the material for being a champion.
When it comes to this, not only is the friendship between teachers and students gone, but even friends have nothing to do.
It was at this time that the two began to tacitly break off contact and began a twenty-year breakoff period.
The original story of the matter, Yuan Shikai made it clear in his letter to his cousin Baoling:"My nephew was recommended by my uncle, and I got to know Wu Junmen in Jinan, and this time I went to South Korea with the battalion, only to repay the kindness of the acquaintance, and saw that the camp rules were not in order, and my nephew made a new chapter for it; Seeing that the drill style is outdated, the nephew has changed the new method for it; The old and weak of the soldiers are eliminated, and the stubborn officers are eliminated. If you are in a hurry, you will inevitably be suspected of overstepping your bounds, which is undeniable. Soyun wants to claim sovereignty as his own, and the rumors come from the Koreans. In this rebellion of the pacification compound, the Koreans are all cloudy, 'Gou has no Yuan, we will fill the ravine early.' 'The military gate learned what he said, quite suspicious, only said that his nephew had the intention of seizing power, intended to marry Han Min, and proved that he had made official rules and changed the law, and exceeded his authority. And the nephew confessed in his heart, and he still blindly served with loyalty and bravery. Uncle Fu prayed that Uncle Wu would send a letter to stop and ask him to quickly relieve his doubts and not to believe slander. ”
In a word, it's all the fault of fame. Who made him so dazzling as a young man with no fame and three years of military experience?
Three
In fact, at the beginning, Yuan Shikai saw Zhang Jian's name on the envelope, but he felt unbelievable. Although the two sides have not been in touch for a long time, they are like a pair of most familiar strangers, but the moment they received the letter, they have tacitly released their suspicions.
They are all people with a big picture, and they should be like this.
In the past 20 years, Yuan has been stationed in North Korea to turn the tide, to do everything in a small station, to make outstanding achievements in Baoshan, and to lead the country in the new policy. Zhang Jian is no longer a supernumerary staff member of the year, as early as ten years ago, he was already a big man in the world, and was appointed by Guangxu as the first champion of Jiawu Enke. After that, Zhang Jian faded out of the ** and founded Dasheng Group in his hometown in Nantong, becoming a proud man in the business world on the same level as Zhou Xuexi"South Zhang North Zhou".Famous.
Zhou Xuexi (1866-1947).
As early as the year of Wuxu, Rong Lu entered the military aircraft department, and the thirty-nine-year-old Yuan was temporarily appointed governor for the first time. Zhang Jian was not pleased with the performance of his former students, but sighed angrily"Hearing that Yuan Shikai protects Beiyang, he can be a thief and will bring disaster to the world. How! ”Now that Yuan has officially become the governor of Zhili, why did Mr. Zhang take the initiative to reconcile with him? Obviously, Zhang Jian did not curry favor with Yuan, but had a complex process of ideological transformation.
In 1903, when the Osaka Quanye Exposition was launched, Zhang Jian was invited to visit Japan for two months, and was amazed by Japan's take-off, realizing that economic development was inseparable from political support. After returning to China, he found Wei Guangtao, the governor of Liangjiang, and Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, to discuss, and suggested that the matter of constitutionalism should be mentioned to the imperial court. Zhang Zhidong said, you have to find Yuan Xiangcheng, he has a heavy army, the governor is directly subordinate, the new policy of Beiyang is so successful, if he leads the constitution, the possibility of realization will be much greater. Zhang Jian felt that Lao Zhang's words were reasonable, not to mention that since North Korea, he found that Yuan's family was not just a villain as he said back then, but he had real skills. With the same thoughts and concepts, Zhang Jian found that he once again had a common language with Yuan Shikai.
Since Yuan's name for Zhang Jian changed, his teacher seems to have become accustomed to those names, and he is no longer psychologically condescending, and he is also "on an equal footing" with the former student. After all, time has passed, and Yuan is no longer what it used to be.
Later, Yuan Lixian was blocked, and Zhang Jian sent a letter of condolences, saying that Yuan was like the "father of Japanese constitutionalism" Okubo Ritsu, blaming himself for being impulsive and underestimating him in Wu Mu back then. In 1909, Zhang Jian visited the Zhili Hall of the Nanyang Industry Association, which was called"Yuan Shikai was transferred to the governors".。In addition to admiration, he also wrote a diary"I feel that Yuan is a direct governor who can do anything, this person is different from others after all. The craft is very good, and Jiangsu is not as good as it." Later, Zhang Jian traveled to Tianjin, "looking around the road, and then to the setting of the library", and sighed"If the court is extraordinary, but the air is a little rough, and the world will supervise it, who can match it? ”By the time Yuan lived in seclusion, Zhang Jian already thought"Yuan Zhiyi regarded the great progress twenty-eight years ago, far above the princes".Finish. When Yuan died in 1916, Zhang Jian felt deeply sorry after hearing about it and commented on him as a student"Thirty years of more talent, three thousand years of unprecedented meeting, can become the first rate of people, and defeat the hands of the small."。At this point, the intersection of Yuan and Zhang came to an end.
With a new understanding of the former students, Zhang Jian wrote down a thousand words that he had not seen for a long time:"The public is now taking over the world's heavy troops, shouldering the world's heavy responsibilities, and it is appropriate to have a friendship with the country. Gu also knows the danger of the country, and the income of the husband Jiawu and Gengzi is analogous. The unchanged form of government, the remedy of the trivial things is useless, and before the overall situation of Japan and Russia is decided, the roundabout plan to change the form of government and save the fire is not enough. ......The victory or defeat of Japan and Russia, and the victory or defeat of the constitution. Who cares about the world's complete ** country today? A ** public constitution, fortunately? The people of Ito and Itagaki in Japan have formed a constitution together, and they have become a great achievement of respecting the lord and protecting the people, and they are very good! ** Talent will not be under others, that is, go down to ask yourself, and your ambition will not be under others. ”
Yuan finished reading it and replied immediately"May be the precursor", but "it still needs to be delayed".。In July of the following year, he joined forces with Zhou Fu and Zhang Zhidong to petition the Qing court"Jane sent relatives and nobles, went to various countries, inspected politics, and thought that he would change the government.", this is why there was a sensational five ministers going abroad for inspection.
One China, One Dream. Because of this sentence, a pair of teachers and students who have been separated for 20 years have now come together again.
IV
Photograph of the outline of the King James Constitution
In fact, even if Zhang Jian didn't mention it, Yuan Xiangcheng also advocated constitutionalism, but he had to wait for the opportunity.
After the Russo-Japanese War, a revolution broke out, and the regime of Nicholas II was in jeopardy. At the same time, Chinese students studying in Japan also called for the Qing court to establish a constitution, and this voice quickly spread to China and became a popular trend of the times. In Japan, its supporters were mainly represented by Kang and Liang's royalist associations, and they were opposed by Sun Yat-sen's confederacy, and their ideas were republican, and the two sides used "Xinmin Cong Bao" and "Min Bao" respectively as propaganda positions, and fought fiercely. In addition to the Royalist Society, before the reorganization of the Alliance, there were also the Huaxing Society of Huang Xing, Song Jiaoren, Liu Kuiyi and others, and the Guangfu Society represented by Cai Yuanpei, Tao Chengzhang, Zhang Taiyan, etc. In August 1905, Sun Yat-sen's Xingzhong Society merged with the Huaxing Society and the Guangfu Society to form the Alliance in Japan.
In addition, there were several factions within the Qing court, and in general, there were both for and against. Among those who praise the establishment of the constitution, there are those who are really willing to learn from the West and Japan and seek national self-improvement through the implementation of constitutional government, and there are also those who exclude Han ministers in the name of constitutionalism. The rest of them are those who don't know what the "Constitution" is, and simply follow the indiscriminate behavior of others.
No matter what the purpose, the call was shouted, and under the world situation and domestic **, the Qing court had to express something. But the decision-making level still thinks that it is okay, but the principle cannot be changed, and the country that Aixin Jueluo's ancestors have worked so hard to fight must not be handed over to others casually. Don't mention the republic of Sun Yat-sen's group, it is not a reform at all, it is a revolution, whose life is the revolution? Needless to say? Just listen to the phrase "carry a three-foot sword and cut off all people's heads" to understand. Therefore, compared with the threat of the republic, it is better to be constitutional.
When the "Minbao" and the "Xinmin Cong Bao" were arguing with each other, the revolutionary party shouted that it would "cut off the heads of the Manchurians" and "sell Manchuria" and even put forward the idea of "protecting the foreign and destroying the Manchurians".Liang QichaoIt shows the extraordinary ethics and calm cognition of a high-level intellectual. Regarding the controversy over the national question, he said:"Those who speak ethnicity in China should advocate big nationalism in addition to small nationalism. Little nationalist Ho? The Han nationality is also for other ethnic groups in the country. Great Nationalist Ho? The subordinate ministry of the United Nations is also for the foreign tribes. ”
What a positive three views, what a grand bosom and pattern, how lofty insight and vision, even today, more than a hundred years later, it is still deafening.
At this point, the radical nationalists can be silenced.
The battle over narrow nationalism can be easily resolved.
The voice of the government and the opposition constitution was in full swing, and the time bomb buried under the foundation of the Qing Dynasty was completed. Now it is only up to the Wuchang New Army to light this fuse at the right time, and a person named Yuan Shikai will be responsible for completely detonating it.