Volume 1 Turbulent Era Chapter 22 The Wind Rises (Part 2)

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  Rushing to the Presidential Palace by car, he unexpectedly ran into Song Jiaoren, who had also come to see Yuan Shikai, at the gate. As soon as he saw him, Zhao Bingjun hurried over and grabbed Song Jiaoren's hand, complaining: "Song Jiaoren, you'd better take over as Minister of Internal Affairs quickly, I really can't hold on to this position anymore!"

  "What made you say that, Brother Zhi'an?" Song Jiaoren asked in surprise: "Brother Zhi'an is the officially appointed Minister of Internal Affairs, how can he say such things?"

  "Stop joking, brother. I really can't continue as the Minister of Internal Affairs for even one more day. You'd better take over, or let me go back to working in the police system, that would be more suitable."

  Song Jiaoren shook his head and sighed, "Zhiyuan brother, it's not that I'm unwilling, but really can't do anything about it! You also know that my greatest wish in this life is for a constitutional government. A constitutional government must have rules and regulations, how could I go back on my own words? Moreover, the position of Premier cannot be passed between brothers like some kind of feudal inheritance. Now that the National Assembly's work is proceeding smoothly, the next step will be the formal elections. Zhiyuan brother, if you can just hold on for a little while longer and wait for the election results to come out before stepping down, it won't be too late!"

  "This... I'm afraid by the time I step down, my old bones will be exhausted!" Zhao Bingjun's mouth was bitter, and his heart ached as tears almost fell from his eyes.

  "Haha, how can this be?" Song Jiaoren hastily comforted: "Don't be so pessimistic, Brother Zhiyuan. Acting like a daughter will only make people laugh. Let's not discuss the matter of resigning as Premier for now. For the sake of the country's overall situation, no matter what, I, Song Jiaoren, will definitely help you!"

  "Can this be true?" Zhao Bingjun's eyes lit up and he hastily asked.

  "Of course!" Song Jiaoren said with a serious face: "What is your and my ideal? Isn't it to hope that the country will become rich, strong, democratic, and achieve constitutionalism? So, no matter what position you and I are in, can we not contribute when the country is in trouble? Heaven and earth can witness, in my heart, Song Jiaoren only has the two words 'justice', nothing else! Please take good care of your body, Zhìyǎn brother, the country really cannot do without you!"

  "Thank you, thank you, now that you've said that, I feel much more at ease. Right, it's getting late, the President is probably waiting anxiously, let's hurry in." Zhao Bingjun felt deeply grateful in his heart, and those worries surrounding him seemed to have vanished all at once. He straightened up his chest and walked quickly into the Presidential Palace, while behind him Song Jiaoren first smiled slightly, then his face turned unusually solemn, and he also followed in.

  The Grand Presidential Palace, today almost all the important government figures have arrived. When Song Jiaoren entered the room, Army Chief Duan Qirui, Navy Chief Liu Guanxiong, Finance Minister Zhou Xueqi, Justice Minister Xu Shiyin, Transportation Minister Zhu Qipeng and Foreign Minister Lu Zongxiang were already seated at the lower end of the table. Even Commerce Minister Liu Kuanyi and Agriculture Minister Chen Zhenxian were among them.

  As Song Jiaoren and Zhao Bingjun entered, everyone in the room was stunned, casting their eyes on Song Jiaoren who walked behind Zhao Bingjun. Today, Yuan Shikai summoned everyone, and they all knew what it was about, but at this time, as the director of KMT, why did Song Jiaoren come over? Was he here to deliberately show off to President Yuan under the pretext of student unrest?

  "This is a special guest I've invited." Yuan Shikai explained with a smile, and then beckoned to Song Jiaoren and Zhao Bingjun to take their seats.

  "What about the students outside?" As soon as the servant who served tea left, Yuan Shikai asked Zhao Bingjun while glancing at Dong Hongyu.

  Dong Hongsheng suddenly sat like a pin cushion, and didn't dare to raise his eyes to look at Yuan Shikai. He took out his handkerchief and continued to wipe the sweat beads on his forehead.

  Zhao Bingjun sighed and reported the situation, saying that he would try to calm things down as soon as possible. Yuan Shikai understood Zhao's difficulties and did not blame him too much, but only reminded him to pay attention to the way of solving the problem, with persuasion as the main approach, and never to be overly impulsive.

  "Your Excellency can rest assured, I have already instructed everyone to go out and persuade them separately before Song Jiaoren came. It seems that the student affair will be settled soon. Please don't blame these young students too much after this." Song Jiaoren interjected at the right moment, Yuan Shikai immediately showed a smile, nodding his head in approval.

  "It's still early days for them! Ah, these young students are just too inexperienced and easily taken advantage of. I won't blame them, after all, who didn't have a passionate youth? In my opinion, once this matter settles down, the Ministry of Education should step in, organize the schools to rectify their academic atmosphere, and let these kids recognize their mistakes."

  Zhao Bingjun let out a sigh of relief, lowered his head and whispered to Song Jiaoren beside him: "You didn't tell me about this earlier, making me worry for nothing."

  "Hehe, didn't I just say that? Whether in public or private, I will definitely help Brother Zhìyáng." Song Jiaren replied softly.

  At this time, Duan Qirui spoke up and said: "Mr. President, the four governors of Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangxi and Anhui jointly sent a telegram to pressure the central government. The central government cannot ignore it. I have a copy of the telegram here, which is jointly signed by the remaining 17 governors, expressing their support for the central government, supporting you, Mr. President, and the good loan."

  After finishing, Duan Qirui stood up and handed a telegram to Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai carefully looked at it and then handed the telegram to Zhao Bingjun, letting everyone pass it around to read.

  "This is great! It shows that the people's hearts are still with the President." After reading the telegram, Zhao Bingjun said with joy, and the others also nodded in agreement after reading it.

  "What you gentlemen have said is quite right, but the current situation is not optimistic." Duan Qirui worriedly said: "The governors of the four provinces are in cahoots with each other, and there's also Chen Qimei in Shanghai and...". As he spoke, Duan Qirui glanced at Song Jiaoren: "And Sun Wen in Japan have been secretly colluding, according to information from the Ministry of War, Li Liejun from Jiangxi has recently arrived in Shanghai and is secretly plotting with Chen Qimei and others. They claim that the President is the murderer behind Huang Xing's case, saying that the President is doing this to become a dictator and emperor."

  "Yes, Mr. President, the Southern Party's heart of rebellion cannot be prevented, once they make trouble, it will be a big deal, please make an early decision!" Liang Shidong advised on the side.

  Liáng Shì Gōu raised his head, and the majority of people in the scene expressed their approval. Only a few people temporarily did not speak up, including Sòng Jiào Rén.