Chapter 9: Long Live (Part 1)
On the way back, Song Jiaoren was scolding Fang Zidao severely. How can national affairs be treated so lightly? Once his outrageous remarks spread out, he would become a laughing stock and even Song Jiaoren's intervention could not save him. As he spoke, Song Jiaoren shook his head repeatedly, deeply regretting bringing Fang Zidao to meet Yuan Shikai today.
A complaint to Song Jiren, Fang Zida didn't mind at all, as if he had just done something insignificant, sitting in the car with a smile. Until Song Jiren said something that made him angry, he calmly asked Song Jiren back, if he officially took over as Premier after the current situation, whether he would have a good way to solve the problem of the government's financial collapse. Song Jiren's anger was immediately extinguished, and he frowned without saying a word.
Song Jiaoren is a politician with a conscience and a sense of responsibility, but he is not a mature and seasoned politician. At least for now, he is still quite naive, which Fang Zhiwu sees very clearly. In reality, Fang Zhiwu does not actually support Song Jiaoren taking over the government immediately. Once the National Assembly election is completed and he becomes Premier, Song Jiaoren will suddenly find himself in a precarious position. The financial situation of the Republican government is currently extremely dire, as attested to by Zhou Xuexi and others today. Moreover, the various military governments are divided into factions, and Sun Wen and others are stirring up trouble in Japan, hiding underlying turmoil beneath a calm surface. Once he takes over, this hot potato will fall into Song Jiaoren's hands.
At this point, Fang Zidao had already anticipated something earlier, and after meeting with Yuan Shikai today, he was even more convinced. The government's large loan, this topic is extremely heavy, as the president, Yuan Shikai must grasp this lifeline whether publicly or privately, which is also an unavoidable pass for the current government. But everyone knows that no matter what the intentions of those involved are, whether it is for the country or for personal gain, once the contract is signed, selling out national interests is something that cannot be escaped. Being able to avoid getting entangled in this vortex as much as possible and going into battle lightly, this is the only thing Song Jiaoren can do.
It was for this reason that Fang Zidao deliberately intervened, making outrageous remarks to disperse the crowd. However, he wasn't shooting arrows without a target; those words not only had the intention of helping Song Jiaoren out of trouble but also had another purpose in mind. Regardless of the outcome, it would absolutely bring no harm to himself.
When he returned to his residence, Song Jiaoren had also calmed down and thought it through. Although he didn't say anything out loud, he was a bit moved in his heart. He grasped Fang Zidao's hand tightly and made some arrangements for the next day. After they parted ways, Fang Zidao went to the newly purchased mansion, where Marcos had been waiting.
The new house was simply tidied up, and Zhou San'er helped find a reliable old man to serve as the gatekeeper. Although many pieces of furniture and household items still needed to be added, it was now habitable. The long suite at Liu Guo Restaurant had been lent to Marcos for temporary use, and Fang Zida moved in directly, after all, it was much more convenient to meet and discuss matters here than anywhere else.
After closing the door, Fang Zidao and Marcos stayed in the house for more than three hours. No one knew what they were talking about. When Fang Zidao sent Marcos away from the back door, he saw that Marcos' serious expression was accompanied by a hint of excitement, and he quickly left under the cover of night.
Yuan Shikai's presidential decree came down quickly, and with his support, Song Jiaoren promptly began preparations for the convening of parliament. Meanwhile, Premier Zhao Bingjun also actively cooperated with him to gradually transfer power. Of course, at Fang Zidao's reminder, Song Jiaoren did not immediately take over all government work. With the opening of parliament imminent and constitutional governance being the top priority, he only slightly participated in the premier's affairs. After all, for the government, Premier Zhao was still the legitimate prime minister, and Song Jiaoren was only acting speaker before the formal election by parliament; it wasn't proper to do otherwise, and no one could find fault with this approach.
The first National Congress was convened, which was a big deal for the Republic of China and also the first step towards constitutionalism. Song Jiaoren sent many people to work together in the north and notified the Nanjing Senate and House of Representatives to officially relocate to Beijing starting from that day. He also gathered members of the Senate and House of Representatives in Beijing to form a preparatory committee. Every day was busy, even Fang Zidao, who had no interest in the National Congress, was pulled by Song Jiaoren to help with some work. Fang Zidao spent his days running between several meeting venues, dealing with trivial matters that made him dizzy. Moreover, some people somehow found out that Fang Zidao, a stranger, was actually Song Jiaoren's private assistant, which attracted those political speculators who were eyeing certain positions in the National Congress and government jobs to come to him one after another, like annoying flies buzzing around him that couldn't be shooed away. There were countless tactics such as flattery, treating him to meals, sending gifts, drinking wine, and claiming to be from the same hometown. What made Fang Zidao laugh and cry was that there were several old men who seemed to have one foot in the coffin, and every time they met him, they would praise Fang Zidao for his youth and talent, and each of them would try to sell him their daughters, nieces, granddaughters, or great-granddaughters who were still unmarried.
"It's great to be an official, no wonder so many people want to be officials..." Fang Zida couldn't help but sigh in his free time. This person who didn't even have half a hat on his head became a celebrity in the capital because of Song Jiaoren. In these ten or so days, he met almost more people than he had in the past six months, and many strangers would greet him with "Brother Fang" as if they were long-lost brothers, treating him with great warmth.
The National Assembly is preparing for the event, and the negotiations between the government and the five-nation banking group are also ongoing. It's unclear whether it was due to the influence of Fang Zidao's extreme words or other reasons, but Premier Zhao, Foreign Minister Lu, and Chief Justice Zhou suddenly proposed a request to increase the loan amount to the five-nation banking group. Although they were immediately rejected by the British, French, and Japanese banking groups, strangely, the German and Russian banking groups showed an ambiguous attitude, not directly accepting the proposal but showing some interest. This change made the three members of the negotiating team overjoyed, and they quickly passed on the message to Yuan Shikai. Upon receiving the news, Yuan Shikai immediately instructed them to take advantage of the situation and try to win over the German and Russian banking groups in order to increase the loan amount.
The subsequent negotiations once fell into a stalemate, especially with Japan's Yokohama Shokin changing its attitude towards Germany and Russia, which was extremely dissatisfied. After several unsuccessful coordinations, it even splashed at the internal meeting of the banking group, threatening to withdraw. Unfortunately, the Japanese miscalculated this time. In the five-country banking group, Japan's Yokohama Shokin was the last to join, and its capital strength and fundraising amount were far inferior to those of the other four countries' banking groups. Since the Meiji Restoration, Japan, an Asian island nation, has rapidly risen, shouting out the slogan of "leaving Asia and entering Europe". After Japan barely won the war against Qing with national strength during the Jia Wu years, it cleared its huge foreign debt of 50 million pounds by relying on reparations, becoming a strong power in Asia. Eight years ago, after the victory of the Russo-Japanese War, Japan finally joined the ranks of the strong powers.
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