Chapter 1 Beijing in 1914

  This morning's Beijing seems to be getting more and more uneasy, although the Republic has been in existence for over two years, but the newly born government of the Republic of China can't give anyone a sense of security. From the overall situation, Beijing is gradually having an atmosphere of being targeted by all. Since Sun Yat-sen was replaced by Yuan Shikai as the provisional president of the Republic of China, some voices across the country have changed, and it feels like there's no longer that solid taste of the past.

  But anyway, the common people with shaved heads would not care about changes in central government policies during their hard and bitter years. Whether it was the Qing dynasty or the Republic of China, the most obvious difference to them was just one more braid or one less braid. At most, they no longer had to give face to Manchu banner people, but on the contrary, many Manchu banner people had to give face to Han people.

  On the main streets of Beijing, one can see everywhere are well-dressed suits, shiny leather shoes and elegant wide-brimmed hats. Rickshaws and cars crisscross each other, people's dull faces all indicate that even though it is now a republic, they still have to be busy for survival. Only some arrogant foreigners and soldiers carrying guns all day would occasionally stroll leisurely on the streets.

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  Xu Shaowen stood at the intersection of the alley and took a look at the gradually departing student officer petition team, finally feeling relieved in his heart. In fact, he was also a student officer, and even the clothes he wore now were all military uniforms from the Army Officer University, but for the Army University's recent days, three or five times to hold a petition team to support President Yuan Shikai's promulgation of the new "Constitution of the Republic of China", he felt utterly ridiculous and disgusted.

  At the beginning of the year, Yuan Shikai ordered the dissolution of Parliament. Now, five months later, he is about to abolish the original democratic nature of the "Constitution of the Republic of China" on the pretext that "the people are abusing democratic freedom and their political awareness is still in its infancy". He has decided to change from a cabinet system to a presidential system, stipulating that the president will have an unlimited term and the new president will be appointed by the outgoing president. From these provisions, it can be seen that Yuan Shikai is almost ready to assume the title of President and exercise imperial powers.

  Of course, the abolition of the Constitution of the Republic of China has not happened yet, and it is not something that ordinary people can predict. That's why Xu Shaowen is not an ordinary person. Half a year ago, he was still a student at the 21st Century Central Police Academy, but due to an accident, he crossed over to the Republic of China in 1913 and possessed the body of a student named Xu Shaowen at the Army University.

  It has been half a year now, the time is May 1914, that is, the fifth month of the third year of the Republic of China. For this wonderful crossing, Xu Shaowen can only adapt with a hard scalp.

  The predecessor of the Army University was the Army Officer Class, which was later established as the Guizhou Academy due to Emperor Guangxu's attempt to monopolize the new generation of military officers. However, Yuan Shikai was very dissatisfied with this and, without hesitation, transformed the Army Officer Class into the Army Mobile Military Officer School.

  The original Army Officer School was established in Baoding with the famous Baoding Military Academy, but after the outbreak of the revolution, Yuan Shikai moved it to Beijing and renamed it the Army University, appointing his trusted aide Duan Qirui as its director.

  Yuan Shikai always regarded the Army University as his own private property, from the president to the teaching staff, all were appointed by his trusted subordinates, thus instilling in the students a loyal idea to the Beiyang government. However, Yuan Shikai absolutely did not expect that among the more than 3,000 students trained by the Army University since its establishment and collapse, nearly half of the generals later became useful for the Kuomintang.

  During this period, the teaching staff of the Army University organized students to march from Xizhimen Street to the east gate of the Presidential Palace for the third time to petition in support of Yuan Shikai's reforms. Many students had accumulated dissatisfaction during this process. What they did was not truly out of their own volition. What is the difference between such a petition and fraud?

  However, dissatisfaction cannot be shown on the face. After all, in this turbulent era, it is not easy to become a student of the Army University. In the early years of the Republic of China, almost all military-related schools were considered "iron thresholds", but once entered the military academy, it also means having an "iron rice bowl". Especially like the Army University, which belongs to the high-end staff officer talent training base of the Beiyang government, after graduation, there is a great opportunity to enter the Central Staff Department or local military and political system.

  For this, all the students can only put their discontent in their hearts, and still have to hold up the petitioning flags in their hands, and shout slogans praising President Yuan on their lips.

  But Xu Shao Wen was not that kind of person, after all, a person who had been influenced by the true democratic and free thoughts of the 21st century would have a sense of rejection towards some outdated things. So just now, he quietly took advantage of the Dean's inattention and escaped under the cover of several good friends.

  Studying in a military school is not like studying in an ordinary school, where you only have a few days of vacation all year round. Now that there's such an opportunity to relax, how can we not cherish it? However, the only price to pay is that when returning to school in the afternoon, I must find a way to bring in several boxes of Hademen cigarettes, which is what some classmates who skipped out of line asked me to do.

  But this is not difficult to handle, Xu Shao Wen's pockets can hide several bags, and it's easy to avoid the gatekeeper's inspection. At most, you can buy several bags of Hadamard for more than one yuan.

  After seeing the petition team disappear at the end of Xizhimen Street, Xu Shaowen took off his military uniform jacket and wore only a white shirt with military trousers and long leather boots. As a student officer, he had no shoulder badges, and he was worried that if someone familiar saw him, they would go to the dean's office to tattle on him. Of course, this outfit could also easily make others mistake him for a formal military officer.

  Fortunately, Beijing in April was only slightly cold. After spending some time in Beijing, Xu Shaowen didn't feel it was a big problem. He casually slung his military uniform jacket over his arm and walked along the small alleyway towards another exit.

  Xu Shaowen is not a native of Beijing. In his memory, his hometown is Anyang, Henan Province. He studied at the Advanced Academy in the county town from an early age. Later, because he met the requirements for both academic performance and physical fitness, he was selected to attend Nanjing Army Middle School. Originally, after graduating from Army Middle School, he was assigned to enter Baoding Military Academy for further study as a recruit.

  Yuan Shikai selected a batch of outstanding students from the list of new students at Baoding Military Academy to study at the Army University, in order to win over more young talents after the outbreak of the revolution. As a result, Xu Shaowen missed the famous Baoding Military Academy and came to the Army University in Beijing.

  However, to be frank, although Baoding Military Academy is a famous school in China's modern history, cultivating nearly 6,000 famous generals, including Wu Peifu, Sun Chuanfang, Ye Ting, Chiang Kai-shek and Bai Chongxi, who are all well-known figures in the world. However, Baoding Military Academy only cultivated mid-to-low-level military officers, while the Army University cultivated high-level staff officers. In the early years of the Republic of China, if you wanted to get a good job, the latter was more attractive.

  Xu Shaowen was a regular student of the fourth term at the Army University. He had been studying in the military academy for nearly half a year, but after being closed off from the outside world for so long, this vast city of Beijing still felt unfamiliar to him. He wandered around this nameless alley for a while, looking at the rows of small food stalls that lined the streets, and feeling the authentic atmosphere of the Republic of China era.

  Just as I was walking out of the alley, a sudden commotion came from in front of me, and it seemed that a dispute had broken out among the crowd.

  Xu Shaowen looked out towards the street outside the alley, following the noise, and saw two young men wearing cloth jackets, entangling an old man over fifty years old. At their feet were scattered a large number of porcelain shards, from which it could be seen that a piece of porcelain had been smashed not long ago.

  "I'm telling you, old man, your walking skills are not too impressive, are they? My brother and I finally managed to sneak out of the house with this precious thing, and we were just about to sell it at the pawnshop for a good price. Now look what's happened! You've ruined everything with one careless move! Today, you have to give us an explanation!" One of the two young men wearing cotton robes said with a sly expression, the older one who was also wearing a cotton hat.

  "Old man, look at you, still dressed up and looking good. We're just poor guys, but that porcelain you broke is from the Qing royal family, it's a reward my old man got after working hard for half his life." Another one of them in a coarse coat said with a harsh tone, "So, let's just consider ourselves unlucky, and you can just forget about the 200 yuan."

  Some onlookers nearby were shocked when they heard the price.

  In the early years of the Republic, Yuan Shikai reformed the currency system, replacing the old eagle dollar and dragon dollar with the new yuan, also known as the "Yuan Big Head" in the 21st century. One unit of the Yuan Big Head is called a circle, which can also be referred to as one block of money or one yuan. Generally speaking, a family with a monthly salary of over ten blocks of money was considered to have a very good income. Two hundred blocks of money at that time could be considered a sky-high price.

  As for this point, Xu Shao Wen is still very familiar with it. As a student of the 21st Century Central Police Academy, his basic coursework and amateur historical hobby have made him not very unfamiliar with this era.

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  New book is online, hope everyone can support it, although progress is slow, but I believe it will meet the taste of many Republic of China enthusiasts.