Chapter 86 7. Yang Du and Wang Jingwei jointly launched the National Freemasonry

For three nights in a row, Yang Du accompanied Wang Jingwei to the Yuan Mansion on time, began to talk about the democratic republic, and left on time at eleven o'clock.Wang Jingwei was most fond of long speeches, but also full of passion, he said that the democratic republic is perfect and perfect, and sprinkled his beautiful ideals to the three audiences like a goddess scattering flowers. Yuan Shikai listened carefully and rarely interrupted. He smoked cigars one after another, and never closed his big round eyes.The eldest son seemed a little absent-minded, and often went out to order the servants to do things.He seems to be the chief executive of the mansion, he can't be without him for a moment, sitting here and listening to lectures is purely because of obeying his father's order.Yang Du sat on the chair motionless and listened.Nothing Wang Jingwei said was new to him.He knew a lot about democratic republics.In the process of listening to the lecture, he found that Wang Jingwei was a bit exaggerated and exaggerated.Sometimes it doesn't seem to be solving China's real problems, but focuses on painting an extraordinary and wonderful grand picture.In comparison, the democratic republic theory of Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing, Liu Kuiyi and others is much simpler.Yang Du even felt that Sun and Huang were the real pragmatic revolutionaries, while Wang Jingwei was too talented and poetic.

At the end of the third night, Yuan Shikai said to Wang Jingwei, if you don't mind, you and Keding should change posts.Wang Jingwei didn't expect Yuan Shikai to have such a skill, and it was inconvenient to refuse in a hurry, so the two became sworn brothers.Keding's head, Wang Jingwei, was five years old. Wang called him the eldest brother according to the ranking of the Yuan family, and Keding called Wang the fourth younger brother according to the ranking of the Wang family.Yuan Keding immediately brought out a plate-sized Ganoderma lucidum for the fourth younger brother, and a piece of refined mink fur Daqing for the fourth younger brother and sister.Wang happily accepted.

Yuan Keding quietly told Yang Du that his father's handling of the war was based on the word "harmony".He also said that he was willing to exchange the democratic republic and the president, and asked Yang Du to disclose this to Wang Jingwei. After receiving this mission, Yang Du himself made a deep thought.A democratic republic is not bad. In fact, there are countries in the world that have successfully practiced democratic constitutionalism. The United States and France are obvious examples.But China does not have the conditions of the United States, France and other countries. The country is poor, has a large population, and nine out of ten people are illiterate. Moreover, they have been accustomed to living under an autocratic system for thousands of years, and they suddenly changed to democracy overnight. How does democracy work?The result must be that everyone wants to be the master, but in fact without the master, the country will be torn apart and scattered.What's more, in China, the Manchu, Han, Mongolian, Tibetan, and Hui tribes coexist, and they can only be united by a real dragon emperor. If there is no emperor, who will become the core of unity?Once these four clans were separated from the central government, the Manchus would vote for Japan, the Tibetans would vote for Britain, and the Mongols would vote for Russia, and China would be truly engulfed by foreigners.Democracy and constitutionalism are beautiful to say the least, but once they are put into practice, there will be hidden dangers everywhere. But can we oppose this proposition of the revolutionaries now?Not to mention that the ideas of the revolutionaries are widely supported by the common people. The fact is that most of China has turned to the revolutionaries. If we really want to implement a constitutional monarchy, we have to rely on Yuan Shikai to quell the rebellion and restore the situation. This is really unrealistic up.

First of all, the fake constitutionalism of the Manchu court in the past few years has discouraged most constitutionalists.From Jun Xian's point of view, Zai Feng is really Liu Adou who cannot be supported.The mentality of the Han people to hate Manchurians and reject Manchurians has been formed, and the Manchu emperor can no longer become a symbol of the Yamato nation like the Japanese emperor.Secondly, if we want to implement the monarchy constitution, we must fight against the revolutionary party that implements the civil constitution. The result is that the country and the people suffer.Yang Du, who does not advocate violence, does not want the reality of bloodshed to continue.Finally, and fundamentally, those who are truly capable of implementing the monarchy constitution in China do not want to implement the monarchy constitution, but turn to support the people's constitution.Now, if you want to uphold the constitution of the monarch, there is only one way for Yang Du to go, which is to leave Yuan Shikai and become a clean and self-sufficient commoner who maintains his beliefs.

But Yang Du can't go this way, he can't break away from Yuan Shikai.Whether it was Yuan Shikai's kindness towards him personally, or the close friends he had formed with the Yuan family over the years, he could not leave Yuan Shikai.Especially in these days, he saw from Yuan Shikai's magnificent aura of comeback and his power to dominate the world that this person greatly surpassed those ministers who came back in history. Yang Du never forgot for a single day that Master Xiangqi had taught him the Emperor's Learning, which was deeply rooted in his heart.Yang Du is unwilling to be lonely, and he can't bear loneliness. If he is a commoner in loneliness, he, Yang Xizi, might as well die.Since Yuan Shikai wants to be the great president, if he assists him to achieve this career, wouldn't the teacher's learning of emperors succeed in his own hands?

Thinking of this, Yang Du's blood was already boiling.There is no other way to go, and there is no need to take another way. Right now, following Yuan Shikai and helping Yuan Shikai achieve great things is a road full of glory and achievement!Yang Du's blood was surging, he jumped up, and wanted to go to Wang Jingwei immediately. As soon as he got up, he thought again, whether China implements the constitution of the monarch or the constitution of the people is the most important matter concerning the national system, and it should be appealed to the public opinion of the people.How to resort to it?He scratched his head and thought for a long time, and finally came up with a way: start a group.This group is composed of Junxian and Minxian, each of which recruits members to participate.The Junxian Party petitioned the imperial court, and the Minxian Party petitioned the Wuchang military government. The two sides first ceased fighting, and then the National Assembly was held, and the National Assembly decided on the state system.

He thought the idea was very good, and he acted as the representative of the Junxian Party, and Wang Jingwei as the representative of the Democratic Constitutional Party, and immediately announced it publicly in the newspaper.Yang Du pondered that those who advocate a civil constitution will be in the majority, because there are fourteen independent provinces and only eight non-independent provinces, and the representatives from the fourteen provinces must exceed the representatives from the eight provinces. From the constitution of the monarchy to the constitution of the people, it is reasonable and dignified from the inside to the outside.

The more Yang Du thought about it, the more complacent he became. He came to Jingzhu's room and told her his idea. In the past year, Jingzhu's illness has improved greatly, and she no longer needs crutches to walk in the yard.Yimei gave birth to a boy last year, and there was no maid in the family, so she and Yizhu took care of the two children together.In Jingzhu's mind, the two children, a boy and a girl, are just like her own.Seeing their childish laughter and listening to their cries, she felt a joy of life from the bottom of her heart. Xizi did not live up to her expectations, she really had a lot to offer.Friends who come to the house, who doesn't praise Xizi's talent!She also often read Xizi's articles in newspapers.Most of these articles were about constitutionalism, which she couldn't quite understand.She likes the poems and songs published by Xizi occasionally.She seems to be inspired by this kind of writing, it looks pleasing to the eye, and it is pleasing to read.When her father was alive, she made some poems under his guidance.After her father passed away, she fell into prostitution, and she no longer had the mood to chant.In the past two years, she often has a poetic feeling.After writing it out, Xizi polished her a little bit, and she looked very good.The life is so peaceful and interesting, the hard-working Jing Zhu is already very satisfied.

But Yizhu always feels that she owes a big debt to Jing Jie. This happy family originally belonged to Jing Jie, so she feels a bit like a magpie's nest.She told Jing Zhu many times that she wanted to arrange for Xi Zi and Jing Zhu to get married with her own hands.Every time, Jingzhu shook her head and refused.A few years ago, Jingzhu still had this idea, once she recovered from her illness, she would consummate the marriage with Xizi, making the ideal that she had dreamed of for many years become a reality.Over the past two years, she has gradually dispelled this idea.First of all, she thought about the elder sister Huang who was far away in her hometown in Hunan.It is not easy for the eldest sister to serve her mother-in-law and raise her son at home.Yizhu has already divided her love, if there is another one, why don't you share it again?As a woman, Jingzhu knows that no woman is willing to part with a complete love that belongs to her. The eldest sister Huang agreed that Yang Du should marry Yizhu in the capital. .Jingzhu felt that the three generations of grandparents and grandchildren from the countryside of Shitangpu should be brought to the capital to live together as soon as possible.There is also the family of the uncle Ji, it would be even better if they could come together.Sister Shuji can learn well, and she will be a good teacher for me.After they came, it would be more natural for me to get along with the whole family as Yizhu's sister instead of Xiziru's wife.

Furthermore, Jingzhu also thinks about herself.She knew that she would probably not have children in the future.A woman who has a husband but cannot have children will feel even more uncomfortable, and will also be ridiculed by all parties. It is better not to marry at all, but her heart will be much quieter.In this way, Jingzhu persuaded Yizhu to ask Xizi to bring the eldest sister Huang's mother and son to Beijing. Jingzhu is more knowledgeable than Yizhu, and also cares about national affairs.Yang Du often discussed many things with her and listened to her opinions, and she would indeed give him some help.It is very troublesome to formulate a constitutional government for the imperial court. Most of the colleagues in the constitutional government hall are boring people, and Yang Du is often upset.Jingzhu persuaded him, asking him to look at the bricks and think about Princess Miaoyan's perseverance in worshiping Buddha.Yang Du can often gain strength because of this.

When Yang Du shared his idea of ​​organizing the National Freemasonry, Jing Zhu laughed: "Isn't this a nerd's business? The war has killed you, so how can you have the mind to hold the National Assembly! Besides, even if it is held, it must be held." Yuan Gongbao and Huang Keqiang initiated the initiative, and you and Wang Jingwei have no military power, so who will listen to you when you initiate this meeting?" Yang Du said: "Wars are wars. It's okay for a province to push a few representatives to hold a meeting. As for the initiators, of course outsiders are suitable. Yuan Gongbao and Huang Keqiang are both in the bureau, so they are not suitable to be initiators." Jingzhu said: "You and Mr. Wang's representatives of the two parties are all self-proclaimed. Will others admit it?" "Who said he was self-proclaimed!" Yang Du said solemnly, "Jingwei is an important member of the Tongmenghui, also known as Mantianxia. Isn't he qualified to be the representative of the Democratic Constitutional Party? I advocated the Junxian for six or seven years, and my constitutional government The Junxian faction in every province regards the program as a guide. I am the representative of the Junxian Party, so who has any objection!" Jingzhu burst out laughing: "I said Xizi, I am not trying to pour cold water on you, nor am I saying that you are not qualified to represent the Junxian Party. I hope your idea can get the support of the majority of people. It's just that the current situation Meetings and petitions probably didn't work. Don't you remember the petitions in the first half of the year, which ones came to fruition!" What Jingzhu said was good, but she couldn't understand her deep intentions.Do it first, and then talk to her slowly in the future! Yang Du went to Xiaoyangjiao Hutong again to find Wang Jingwei and revealed Yuan Shikai's thoughts to him. Wang Jingwei said: "Yuan Xiangcheng supports the ideas of the revolutionaries and runs a democratic republic. That would be the best thing. It's just that he wants to be the president of the Republic of China. I don't know if the revolutionaries can pass it." Yuan Xiangcheng is Yuan Shikai. It is an expression of respect for a person with status and reputation to call him his hometown instead of his name. Yang Du said: "I know it's not easy, but if the revolutionaries don't let the president go, how can Yuan Xiangcheng support the democratic republic?" Wang Jingwei said: "That is also true. However, the country won by the bloody struggle of the revolutionaries has a Manchu Qing prime minister as the president. This is always emotionally unjustifiable." "There is nothing unreasonable about this." Yang Du said, "Isn't Li Yuanhong, the governor of Hubei's military government, the Xietong of the Manchu Qing? Apart from Chen Qimei in Shanghai, which independent province's governor is not a former high-ranking official? Jiao Dafeng in Hunan is because If the seniority is too low to sit still, Tan Yankai, the speaker who was born in Gongyuan, has to do it. It seems that the president of the Republic of China can only be held by Yuan Xiangcheng, and other people don't have this prestige for the time being. This Brother Jingwei, please explain the truth clearly to the comrades in your party, and first write a letter to Huang Keqiang to convey the message, asking him to come forward to negotiate within your party." Wang Jingwei has received a lot of benefits from Yuan these days, and seeing Yuan's attitude of sincerely supporting the constitution of the people, he has a good impression of Yuan.At the same time, the reality is that Yuan is also the most suitable candidate for the president.So he agreed to write to Huang Xing. Yang Du discussed with Wang Jingwei about jointly launching the National Freemasonry.Wang immediately realized that Yang Du wanted to use this meeting to show that he was the leader of the Junxian Party. In the future, he would turn to support democracy.Since he can use this to establish his leadership, why don't I also use it to show my leadership in the Democratic Constitution Party?So he agreed. A few days later, a copy of the "National Masonic Manifesto" drafted by Yang Du and slightly revised by Wang Jingwei was published in Jingwei Daily. The manifesto states that when China has its own constitutional issue, the country is divided into two parties, the constitutional monarchy and the constitutional democracy.The Constitutional Monarchy Party believes that China is established by the five ethnic groups of Manchu, Han, Mongolian, Hui and Tibetan. The ability of the Mongolian, Hui and Tibetans to live under the same government as the Han people depends entirely on the control of the Manchu monarchy. Mongolia, Hui, and Tibet will be separated immediately, and foreigners will take the opportunity to carve up China.If China is not to be partitioned, the name of the current monarch must be preserved.The Democratic Constitutional Party believes that other countries can have a constitutional monarchy, but China cannot.It does not mean that the monarch is a Manchu and must be excluded on the basis of racial hatred, but because the monarch and the people are of different races, the rights of the people must be swallowed up by the monarch.Therefore, if the monarch does not go for a day, the constitutional government cannot be established for a day. The manifesto also stated that the two parties compete on the point of democracy and the monarchy, but other aspects, such as the implementation of constitutional government, the exercise of civil rights, the inability of the country to be divided, and the fact that the Manchus, Hans, Mongolians, and Tibetans must be under the same government, etc. are common.The ultimate goal of the two parties, that is, to establish a constitutional state to save the nation and survive is the same. The declaration went on to say that now that the revolutionary army is booming and the southeast is responding, the Beijing government and the Wuchang military government are fighting each other with heavy troops.If the whole country is shed with blood for the purpose of protecting a monarch, the Monarch Party members cannot bear it.If the whole country is shed for the purpose of preserving democracy, the Democratic Constitution Party cannot bear it.Neither party wants to see the consequences of North and South fighting to the benefit of outsiders. At the end of the manifesto, it says that the political opinions of the two parties are not determined by the two parties themselves, but must also be appealed to the public will of the people.Therefore, the two parties jointly launched the National Freemasonry, aiming to solve the issue of democracy and the monarchy peacefully instead of using weapons.No matter what the decision is, both parties must abide by it, and those who do not obey are public enemies.When implementing the purpose of this association, its actions against the Beijing government shall be in charge of the Constitutional Monarchy Party; its actions against the Wuchang Military Government shall be in charge of the Democratic Constitutional Party. After the manifesto, a pamphlet of the National Freemasonry is attached. The day after the declaration was published in the newspaper, Fang Biao came to Yang Du's house and expressed his willingness to join the association.Yang Du was very happy, and immediately appointed him as an officer, took out five hundred silver dollars, and told him to rent a house in the downtown area of ​​Tianjin and list it for office.Since Yang Du left Hunan, Fang Biao has almost become an unemployed person with no source of income.It's all right now, with five hundred oceans in his arms, he happily went to Tianjin to take up his post. Wang Jingwei was not enthusiastic about this matter at all. He had a lot of things to do. After it was published in the newspaper, he stopped asking. Yang Du hopes that many people will come to participate in the National Freemasonry and make this meeting lively.He also drafted a letter of petition to the Zizhengyuan, asking the Zizhengyuan to discuss and present a request to convene an interim national assembly to resolve issues of democracy and the monarchy.He also drafted a letter of petition to the cabinet representative, asking the cabinet to act on behalf of the emperor, to issue an order to cease fighting and to hold a national assembly. Unexpectedly, seven or eight days later, Fang Biao sent a letter from Tianjin, saying that no one from the Tianjin Association came to apply for membership, and asked how the progress in Beijing was.After Yang Du saw this letter, he could only smile wryly.Although there are people who visit his door, they are not coming to join the association, but to criticize him.Accusing him of why he proclaimed himself a representative of the Monarch and Constitutional Party, and ridiculing him for grandstanding and wanting to show off, what is the use of this manifesto in the current situation?Zhang Jian, Tang Hualong and others called to say that they used to be the ruler of the Constitution, but now they have already worked with the Democratic Constitution Party, and advised Yang Du to change course.Next, the Zizhengyuan did not hold a meeting to discuss his petition at all, and the cabinet did not act on his behalf.The lack of cooperation from all walks of life in the society disappointed Yang Du greatly. Wang Jingwei came to Huai'an Hutong and told Yang Du that Wuchang opposed his declaration very fiercely. A group of old comrades from the Tongmeng even cursed him for being bought by the court after he was released from prison.Comrades criticized him, saying in the manifesto that "the purpose of removing a monarch is to bleed the whole country, which is unbearable for the Democratic Constitution Party." revolutionary purpose?To overthrow the Manlu king, blood must be shed. If there is no bloodshed, will the little Manlu emperor abdicate automatically?The revolutionaries wanted to arouse the awakening of the people by shedding blood and sacrifice to expel the Manchu king and his running dogs, big and small. Only after a period of bloodshed will China have a new life.Regarding the matter of the state system, there is no referendum or non-referendum.The common people are ignorant of the long-term monarchy system and don't know what democracy is. Many people only support the monarchy and not democracy.Revolutionaries are foresight, and should be educated to know later.Some people doubted that Wang Zhaoming would have done this, because Yang Du had embezzled Wang Zhaoming's name. ! So Wang Jingwei said to Yang Du, forget about canceling this meeting.Yang Du said to have a look.After another seven or eight days, no one joined the club, and more and more sarcastic remarks were made.It seems that the National Freemasonry Association is absolutely not a name for Freemasonry, Yang Du has no choice but to order Fang Biao to delist and return to Beijing.He himself wrote a short disbandment declaration, saying a few words: "Today, Wuhan is bleeding blood, military affairs are flourishing, and the difficulty of a peaceful solution has been seen by all. But the sad people all over the world can learn from each other" and such words were handed over to the "Democracy Daily" for publication. Yang Du thought: Since the Junxian Party members are unwilling to cooperate with him to help the state affairs, and he will follow Yuan Shikai to switch to democratic constitutionalism in the future, they have no right to accuse him of abandoning doctrine.Although the public purpose has not been achieved, the private purpose has been achieved. Beijing's mutual assistance in national affairs did not produce any results, but Wuchang made an unexpected acceptance of Yuan Shikai. The 14 independent provinces all have a common desire to form a provisional government as soon as possible in order to jointly deal with the Qing court.This suggestion was first put forward by Li Yuanhong, the governor of the Hubei Military Government, who telegraphed to invite representatives from all provinces and regions of the Revolutionary Army to come to Wuchang for discussion. Due to the chaotic traffic at the time, the telegram did not reach Shanghai until eight days later.As early as six days ago, the governors of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces had jointly called Chen Qimei, the governor of Shanghai, suggesting that an independent provincial congress be held in Shanghai to discuss the issue of organizing a unified national organization.Representatives from Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces arrived in Shanghai the next day and called the provinces to send people to Shanghai for a meeting.Soon, representatives from various provinces arrived in Shanghai one after another, and passed the organizational outline of the congress, stipulating that each province should send two representatives of the province, one of whom was designated by the governor and the other by the Consultative Council.After Li Yuanhong's telegram arrived in Shanghai, all provinces respected Wuchang's status as the leader of the uprising, and recognized Wuchang as the seat of the central government. One of the two representatives from each province went to Wuchang to attend the meeting, and the other stayed in Shanghai for liaison. After the representatives arrived in Hankou, it was at a time when the war was raging in Wuchang, so they held the first representative meeting of independent provinces and regions in the British Concession of Hankou Shunchang Foreign Firm, and publicly elected Tan Renfeng as the speaker.Tan Renfeng has a close relationship with Huang Xing, Liu Kuiyi, Song Jiaoren and others.After Huang Xing received the letter that Wang Jingwei entrusted from Beijing, he discussed with Tan, Liu, Song and others.Everyone believed that in terms of strength, the People's Army was far inferior to the Beiyang Army. If the war continued, it would be extremely detrimental to the Revolutionary Party. An armistice and peace talks were the best way.In particular, Yuan Shikai was in favor of a democratic republic, which is even more rare.Tan Renfeng was a little skeptical of Yuan's sudden change of position, while Huang Xing and others pointed to Yuan's loss of sincerity to the Tokyo Revolutionary Party two years ago as proof that Yuan had long been inclined towards democracy.As for Li Yuanhong, he felt that Yuan's leadership of the revolution was more to his liking than anyone else in the revolutionary party, and he strongly advocated Yuan Shikai to be the future president.Huang Xing and others believed that it was possible for the president to give Yuan Shikai, but there must be conditions.The current highest goal of the Revolutionary Party is to overthrow the imperial court, and Yuan Shikai wants to overthrow the imperial court as a prerequisite for becoming the president.Tan Renfeng agreed to submit the matter to the Congress for discussion. At the same time, Yuan Shikai, through the British minister Zhu Erdian, instructed the country's consul in Hankou, Ge Fu, to exert pressure on the representative. As early as when Yuan Shikai was the Minister of Commerce and Industry in North Korea, Zhu Erdian was the British Consul in Seoul.Since then, the two have formed a friendship.For more than 20 years, Zhu Erdian has been supporting Yuan Shikai as a British representative, which is also an important reason why Yuan Shikai became popular in official circles.Graves was ordered to convey to the conference delegates the two peace proposals proposed by the North.One is a national peace plan, which is negotiated by the Yuan cabinet on behalf of the Qing government with an organization that can represent all independent provinces and regions.One is a partial truce plan. Feng Guozhang, the supreme commander of the Beiyang Army in Wuhan, and Li Yuanhong, the governor of the Hubei military government, will conduct truce negotiations limited to the Hubei area. After conveying the two peace plans, Ge Fu revealed the view of the British government on the war in China on behalf of Zhu Erdian: he hoped that the war would cease as soon as possible and Yuan Shikai would properly handle the aftermath. Britain clearly supported Yuan Shikai, which put a lot of psychological pressure on the delegates.Since the core figures of the Revolutionary Party also agreed to cease fire and agreed to Yuan Shikai as the president on the condition of overthrowing the imperial court, the representatives of the provinces who participated in the meeting did not want the flames of war to end early and a new government to be established as soon as possible so that the central government or the provincial government Get an important job?Then unanimously passed the resolution of "vacating the interim presidential seat to wait for Yuan Junshikai to return anyway". Huang Xing personally sent someone to send the resolution to Beijing for Wang Jingwei's review. Wang immediately forwarded it to Yang Du, and Yang told Yuan Shikai overnight.Yuan was naturally very happy.But this is a very big issue, and there are still many specific things to consider and discuss.The independent provinces and regions promoted Wu Tingfang as the plenipotentiary representative for the peace talks, and Wang Jingwei as the counselor. Wu Tingfang is a native of Xinhui, Guangdong. When he was young, he went to study in the UK and obtained a doctorate in law.After being recommended by Zhang Zhidong, he served successively as imperial envoys to the United States, Spain, Peru and other countries.Wu Tingfang has been influenced by Western culture for a long time, and he admires democracy and constitutionalism, and is respected by revolutionaries.It just so happened that he returned to China after the expiration of his three-year imperial envoy, and was lucky to take on the important task entrusted to him by history. Yuan Shikai appointed his old friend Tang Shaoyi as the general representative, and asked Yang Du to act as Tang Shaoyi's secret assistant to secretly mediate the peace talks between the North and the South.