Chapter 92 3. Yuan Shikai cleverly forced Xiong Xiling to countersign the order to dissolve the Kuomintang

First, there was a disagreement between Prime Minister Tang Shaoyi and President Yuan Shikai over the appointment of Wang Zhixiang as the governor of Zhili.Yuan Shikai originally agreed to Wang as the direct governor.Later, thinking that Wang was a soldier close to the Tongmenghui, he was worried about letting him take over the military power in Zhili, so he was appointed as the comfort envoy of the Southern Army. The comfort envoy is a nominal official position.Yuan Shikai wanted to win over important figures of the Revolutionary Party, but he was unwilling to give them real power, so he set up official posts such as envoys for propaganda and consolation, envoys for planning borders, envoys for reclamation, and envoys for economic strategy.Zhang Taiyan also got the post of Northeast Frontier Envoy.He was a scholar-revolutionary who didn't understand Yuan Shikai's tactics, so he took this position very seriously, and went to the Northeast with grand plans.Unexpectedly, the official circles in the three eastern provinces did not buy him at all.None of the people he wanted to summon came to see him, and he was so angry that he yelled: "This envoy is a high-ranking government official. If they refuse to come to see this envoy, they are without this envoy; without this envoy, they are without government." .” It was passed as a joke in the new official circles.

Seeing Yuan Shikai backtracking, Tang Shaoyi couldn't help complaining a few times, and there was a lot of trouble between the two old friends.Yuan revealed that unless Tang resigned, it would be difficult for the president and the cabinet to coordinate.Tang Shaoyi knew Yuan Zhi was a man, so he had no choice but to resign as prime minister.Tang Shaoyi served as prime minister for less than three months from her tenure at the end of March to her resignation in mid-June.The people of the Republic of China were surprised that the term of office of the first prime minister of the Republic of China was so short.

Lu Zhengxiang took over.After Lu became prime minister, he proposed a supplementary list of six cabinet members for review by the Senate.When the councilors saw that Lu could not put forward any political opinions during his speech, and said that adding cabinet members was like opening a new menu, they concluded that he was a mediocre person.All six cabinet candidates he put forward were rejected.The diplomat Prime Minister was so frightened that he was admitted to the hospital and refused to come out again.Or Yuan Shikai has a way.He instructed Beiyang Paoze to send telegrams, write anonymous letters, make phone calls, distribute leaflets, and use various methods to threaten the congressmen.These literati-born councilors are not afraid of literature, but of martial arts, and they panicked when the soldiers made such a fuss.The six cabinet members proposed for the second time were all approved.The people of the country can see from this that the so-called democracy is actually a fake, and the real power that controls China's political arena is the barrel of a gun.

During this period, there was another political conspiracy murder case in which Li Yuanhong borrowed a knife to kill someone. When Li Yuanhong was pulled out from under the bed by the revolutionaries, he tremblingly became the leader of the Shouyi.Unexpectedly, the prosperity of the sky and the Wuchang Uprising succeeded. In just over a year, he served as the interim vice president for two consecutive terms.Li Yuanhong is modest and doesn't put on airs. Everyone has a good impression of him.When it was time to contemplate a formal president, he published another telegram, saying that he would never be the president.Yuan Shikai, Sun Yat-sen, and Huang Xing can do the post of president, and he compared the three of them with himself one by one: "Shen Ji is silent, wise and brave, and Hong is not as good as Yuan Xiangcheng; Hong is not as good as Sun Yat-sen; he is utterly arduous and determined to go his own way, Hong is not as good as Huang Shanhua."

This telegram was praised at home and abroad, saying that Li Yuanhong had no ambitions to retreat.In fact, Li is not a humble and sincere gentleman. He is wearing the laurel crown of a revolutionary hero, and he knows that he is ashamed.When he saw those real heroes proud of their merits in front of him, he felt a great sense of oppression.The one who gave him the most pressure was Zhang Zhenwu. Zhang Zhenwu, the 29-year-old former leader of the Wuchang Gongjin Association and the current deputy director of the Military Affairs Department of the Wuchang military government, has always looked down on Li Yuanhong and often despises him in public.Li Huai held a grudge and came up with a plan.Li asked Zhang to go to Beijing, saying that the central government had appointed him to an important position.When Zhang excitedly led several people into Beijing, Li sent Yuan Shikai a secret telegram, saying that Zhang was instigating the army in Wuchang, and asked Yuan to arrest Zhang in Beijing and execute him on the spot.Yuan was worried about the leader of the Revolutionary Party, and Li's telegram hit his heart.

After Zhang entered Beijing, Yuan ordered the senior generals of the Beiyang Army to host a banquet in turn for Zhang, and personally hosted a banquet for the revolutionary leaders in Beijing at the Liuguo Hotel. Zhang Zhenwu was also invited to attend.Unexpectedly, in the early morning of the next day, the military and police department arrested Zhang Zhenwu and a group of people.He was interrogated on the same day, sentenced on the same day, and executed on the same day.The speed is unbelievable.When Li Zheng was thankful that Yuan had quietly removed his adversary for him, Yuan publicly announced that this move was done according to Li's secret message, which put Li in great embarrassment.

Not long after, Beijing became lively again.It turned out that three big figures well-known at home and abroad: Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing, and Liang Qichao entered Beijing one after another. Liang Qichao returned from Japan half a month ago.Two years ago, when Zaifeng was still in power, Yang Du gave Zaifeng a discount, saying that when preparing for a constitutional government, talents should be used; Its talent.He also said that if Liang Qichao did something detrimental to the country after being pardoned, the emperor asked the emperor to kill him as a commandment of disloyalty.Unexpectedly, not only did Liang Qichao not be pardoned, but even Liang Qichao himself was almost arrested.Liang Qichao supported a democratic republic. Seeing that Yuan Shikai became the president of the Republic of China, he put aside his past suspicions and went to Beijing at Yuan's invitation.

Yuan Shikai treated Sun, Huang, and Liang with the etiquette of heads of state. He greeted them in the golden lacquered carriage with red wheels decorated with yellow satin, and opened the Zhengyang Gate to let them enter the city.Thousands of Beijing citizens went to pay their respects to their magnificence.Yuan Shikai was even more courteous, and he performed the best plays he has always been good at to the fullest and impeccably.Sun, Huang, and Liang all had great affection for him. At this time, the Tongmenghui, the National Communist Party, the National Gongdang, and the Republican Progressive Association joined together to form a large party, named the Japanese Kuomintang, and elected Sun Yat-sen as the prime minister and Huang Xing as the assistant.Huang Xing invited Yuan Shikai to join the Kuomintang, and repeatedly mobilized Yang Du to join.

Yuan Shikai felt that Huang Xing was really innocent and cute, so he smiled and asked Yang Du, "Xizi, do you think I look like a revolutionary?" Yang Du looked at Yuan Shikai and smiled, not knowing what to say. Yuan Shikai put away his smile and said, "The Kuomintang advocates a party cabinet, and I firmly disagree. Gentlemen do not belong to the party. As a president, I regard the world as the public, so how can I form a party for personal gain? Xizi, I advise you not to join the Kuomintang either." When Sun Yat-sen persuaded him to join the League, he refused.Now he is working with Yuan Shikai. Yuan is against party politics, so naturally he cannot join the Kuomintang.He said to Huang Xing: "Unless you give up the party cabinet, I will join the Kuomintang."

Huang Xing was very dissatisfied with Yang Du's conditional attitude towards joining the party, so he stopped bringing up the matter.But Yang Du's words angered a person, that person is Song Jiaoren. Thirty-one-year-old Song Jiaoren is a passionate and talented political activist. He is obsessed with the French party cabinet system. Not as good as Sun and Huang, he can only sit in the third place.In fact, he is the real leader of the Kuomintang.He envisioned that the Kuomintang would obtain a majority in the parliament, and then form an all-KMT cabinet. He himself would serve as prime minister, remove President Yuan Shikai, and implement his set of governance plans throughout the country.Therefore, he lobbied everywhere with extremely high political enthusiasm, and unscrupulously advocated his party cabinet plan.Song Jiaoren's eloquent eloquence and excellent organizational skills won the understanding and support of many people for his party and cabinet system.However, because of this, he became Yuan Shikai's archenemy.Yuan Shikai felt that Song Jiaoren was threatening his supremacy, and Song must be pulled out!

In this way, Song Jiaoren delivered campaign speeches successively in Changsha, Wuhan, Nanjing and other places. When returning to Beijing via Shanghai, he was suddenly shot at the Shanghai Railway Station and died on the third day.At that time, the prime minister of the cabinet had been replaced by Zhao Bingjun from Lu Zhengxiang.The killer was caught shortly after.After interrogation, the matter involved Zhao Bingjun and Yuan Shikai.But the Song case was never resolved, and the Kuomintang has since forged a sworn feud with Yuan Shikai. Immediately, Yuan Shikai dismissed Jiangxi governor Li Liejun, Guangdong governor Hu Hanmin, and Anhui governor Bai Wenwei from the Kuomintang.Li Liejun refused to accept it and organized a campaign against Yuan Jun in Jiangxi, and Huang Xing then organized a campaign against Yuan Jun in Jiangsu in Nanjing.Yuan Shikai sent troops to suppress, and soon beat down Yuan Jun from all walks of life.As a result, Yuan Shikai's status was unprecedentedly consolidated, and many people regarded Yuan Shikai as China's real savior. Because of the Song case, Zhao Bingjun couldn't do it anymore, and the post of prime minister fell to Xiong Xiling.Xiong Xiling was the backbone of the Progressive Party at this time.Since the establishment of the Kuomintang, other members of the Senate have discussed forming a large party.Compete with each other and supervise each other like the two parties in the Western House of Representatives.In this way, the Republican Party, the Gathering Party, and the Democratic Party united to form a party called the Progressive Party, electing Li Yuanhong as the chairman, and Liang Qichao, Zhang Jian and others as directors.Xiong Xiling became the prime minister of the cabinet, and Liang Qichao actively advised him. Xiong Xiling is ambitious and wants to form a first-class talent cabinet.He asked Liang Qichao to be his chief financial officer, Yang Du to be his chief minister of transportation, Wang Daxie, the former Qing minister to Britain and Germany, to be his chief minister of education, and Zhang Jian to be his chief minister of agriculture, industry and commerce.Liang, Yang, Wang, and Zhang are all first-class talents in the country, and Xiong Xiling believes that his cabinet will be a veritable cabinet of first-class talents.But Yuan Shikai didn't think that Liang Qichao was the right chief of finance. He could only be the chief of justice, and Zhou Ziqi should be the chief of finance.The Progressive Party is unwilling to give up the post of finance minister, so they figured out a way to let Xiong do it himself, so that others have nothing to say.Zhou Ziqi will be the director of transportation, and Xiong Xiling wants Yang Du to be the director of education.The Ministry of Communications is a very powerful ministry, and Yang Du wants to use it to display his ambitions.He was very unhappy to lose this chief. Xiong Xiling persuaded him: "Xizi, just help me change my job." Yang Du replied casually, "I'm not helping out." Because the director of transportation is a busy job, and the director of education is a idle job.After this witty remark spread, everyone praised Yang Du for his tact.Yuan Shikai saw that Yang Du failed to join the cabinet for the second time, so he specially appointed him as a member of the political council. At that time, the Presidential Palace had been moved from Iron Lion Alley to Zhongnanhai.Yuan Shikai carefully arranged for Yang Du to live in Chunyizhai near his office building, Jurentang, so that he could discuss things with him sooner or later.Yang Du lost his position as the Chief of Communications, but lived in Zhongnanhai, which made Beijing officials envious. Some people even thought that he was the real Prime Minister. Yuan Shikai has been the interim president for more than a year, and he is quite dissatisfied with the word "interim".However, the interim constitution that replaced the constitution at that time could only produce an interim president. To become an interim constitution, the National Assembly must first formulate a constitution, and then elect a president according to the constitution.The enactment of the constitution does not happen overnight, so some people suggested that the presidential election law should be enacted first, the official president should be elected, and then the constitution should be enacted.This proposal was of course in line with Yuan Shikai's wishes, and the Presidential Election Law was soon enacted. After three rounds of voting, Yuan Shikai was barely elected, which is very different from the year when seventeen ballots were cast for him.Yuan Shikai was disappointed with the parliament.He wanted to take advantage of the fact that the Kuomintang organized a discussion with Yuan Jun to confront him a few months ago, and ordered the dissolution of the Kuomintang.Once the Kuomintang is disbanded, the members of the Kuomintang are illegal, and without the members of the Kuomintang, the parliament will exist in name only.He asked for the opinion of Prime Minister Xiong Xiling on this matter, and Xiong felt quite embarrassed.Because for the president of a democratic and constitutional country, he has no right to dissolve a legal political party.After Yuan Shikai found out Xiong Xiling's mind, he remained silent, and he summoned him again a few days later. Xiong Xiling walked into the living room of Ju Ren Tang, Yuan Shikai received him politely, and the two sat down to talk.Just after saying a few words, a person came in and reported: "British Minister Zhu Erdian came to submit his credentials." Yuan Shikai said to Xiong Xiling: "Zhu Erdian is an old friend of mine. He wants to deliver a letter from the King of England. I have to receive him. You go to the next room and sit down for a while. Zhu Erdian will leave soon, and we can continue talking." " Xiong Xiling stood up and said, "It doesn't matter, the president will meet with the British envoy first!" A guard led Xiong Xiling into the small room next door.Xiong Xiling looked around the room and saw that it was furnished in a simple and elegant way. His eyes were attracted by an envelope on the table.When I took a closer look, the envelope read: Presented to the President for reading.In the upper left corner, there are two words written by Yuan Shikai himself: top secret.What is so "top secret"?Out of curiosity, Xiong Xiling picked up the envelope and pulled out a piece of paper from it.When Xiong Xiling saw it, his face suddenly changed.It turned out that it said: Participate in the impeachment of Xiong Xiling for stealing the treasures of the Rehe Palace.Xiong Xiling hurriedly read a few lines.The article of impeachment revealed that Xiong stole a large number of secret treasures in the palace, especially calligraphy and painting antiques.Looking at it, Xiong Xiling's hands trembled, and finally he dared not read any more. He stuffed the paper into the envelope tremblingly, and sat on the sofa in a daze. It turned out that before Xiong Xiling became the prime minister, he was the governor of Rehe, and the Rehe palace was under his jurisdiction.The Rehe Palace is the summer resort for the emperors and empresses of the Qing Dynasty. Emperor Jiaqing and Emperor Xianfeng died here.There are countless national treasures in the palace. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the management personnel here were changed, and the original set of palace restrictions was destroyed. National treasures were often stolen in the palace.According to analysis, most of them were self-stealing. When Xiong Xiling was the governor of Rehe, he intended to reorganize the palace.He personally inspected the palace and made many rules.After living in the palace for half a month, he set off to return home.Back in the Dutong Mansion, Ma Bian brought a wooden box, saying it was a local product from the palace, but Xiong Xiling didn't care.In the evening, when Mrs. Zhu opened the wooden box to look, besides jujube pears and other local products, there was also a pack of scrolls wrapped in oiled paper.After removing the oil paper and unrolling the scroll, it turns out that there are three paintings and calligraphy of the Northern Song court, which are the works of Song Huizong, Huangshan Valley, and Minangong.Xiong Xiling, who was born in the Imperial Academy, is very fond of the calligraphy and paintings of the former sages. He carefully played with these three works, and he was really full of joy and couldn't put it down.He knew that this must be the authentic work hidden in the palace, and that the guards of the palace bribed him.I wanted to go back, but I was too reluctant to part with it. After struggling in my mind for a long time, I finally accepted the offer quietly.Of course, since then, the regulations for rectifying the palace have become empty words.Sometimes when Xiong Xiling thought of this, she felt a little guilty, but she quickly let go of it.Unexpectedly, this heart disease was exposed by someone, and a lot of untrue words were piled up on him, and he even sued the president. Xiong Xiling, who had a ghost in his heart, was so frightened that he broke out in a sweat and turned pale. At this time, the guard came in and asked him to go out, saying that the British envoy had left and the president wanted to continue talking with him. When Xiong Xiling walked into the living room again, Yuan Shikai immediately asked with concern: "Bingsan, what's the matter with you, you don't look right, what's wrong?" Yuan Shikai's question made Xiong Xiling even more flustered, and hurriedly answered: "Nothing, nothing!" Yuan Shikai brought him a glass of water himself: "Drink some water, I kept you waiting just now." He said and handed over a piece of paper: "Bingsan, take a look at this, if you have no comments, please countersign." Xiong Xiling saw that it was the disbandment of the Kuomintang that was mentioned two days ago, and Yuan Shikai had ordered someone to draw up a dissolution order.At this time, Xiong Xiling no longer had the courage to argue with Yuan, and signed her name crookedly before reading it. Yuan Shikai immediately issued an order to abolish the Kuomintang and confiscate the certificates and badges of all members of the Kuomintang, even those who had declared their separation from the Kuomintang and cross-party elements before Li Liejun's uprising.These councilors must leave Beijing within a time limit, and they must provide bonds of more than five people, guaranteeing that they will not oppose the government after they leave Beijing.Soon, Yuan Shikai officially ordered the dissolution of the National Assembly, and this order was also countersigned by Xiong Xiling. One morning, after Xiong Xiling got up, he casually flipped through the newspaper, and suddenly saw that the impeachment had been published in the newspaper.Xiong Xiling could no longer be silent, and he asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to inform the Police Department to investigate the matter.The Police Department did not investigate and transferred the original letter to the Rehe District Prosecutor's Office.The Jehol Prosecutor's Office actually approved Xiong Xiling's letter with the words "the complaint was filed, but the original was returned".A local prosecutor's office dared to be so rude to the prime minister. Xiong Xiling finally realized that he was actually a powerless puppet, so he had to resign.Yuan Shikai sent his in-law Sun Baoqi to act as prime minister, and the Celebrity Cabinet was disbanded accordingly.The lifespan of the fourth cabinet of the Republic of China is only half a year. In the two years from March 1912 to February 1914, the newly established Republic of China changed four cabinets like a revolving door.As a result, Chinese people shook their heads and sighed when they mentioned the democratic republic, and they unconsciously missed the former Qing Dynasty.Many knowledgeable people have said: China's national conditions are probably not suitable for democracy, or autocracy is more suitable, because Chinese citizens, whether they are ordinary people or officials, lack the qualities of a democratic republic. Yang Du saw the country's turbulent political situation and people's sighs and disappointments. He often thought about a question: Did the reality of the past two years prove that the Minxian system is not suitable for implementation in China? Perhaps it is China's road to stability and prosperity? On this day, Yang Shiqi came to Chunyi Zhai and chatted with Yang Duxian. "The constitution will be promulgated soon, and the president will abolish the State Council in accordance with the new constitution and set up a political affairs hall." Yang Shiqi is the younger brother of Yang Shixiang, who succeeded Yuan Shikai as the direct governor in the former Qing Dynasty.In the past two years, he has not served in the cabinet. He has only been active in the political arena as Yuan Shikai's personal adviser, which is somewhat similar to Yang Du's situation.He knew that the purpose of abolishing the State Council and setting up a political affairs hall was to centralize power.The Zhengshitang is not responsible to the Congress, but only to the President personally, just like the Military Aircraft Department in the former Qing Dynasty.Because of this, the secretary of state in the political affairs hall can use private persons.In terms of personal relationship, both he and Yang Du are old friends of Yuan Shikai, and both may be candidates for the Secretary of State.Yang Shiqi yearned for this position wholeheartedly, so let's test Yang Du's tone first. Yang Du also wanted to be the Secretary of State, but in his recent contact with Yuan, he hadn't heard Yuan's intention to let him be the Secretary of State.He didn't guess Yang Shiqi's inner activities, because in his eyes, Yang Shiqi's talent was not enough to serve as the foreman of the "Military Aircraft Department" of the Republic of China. Yang Du replied casually: "Yes, I don't know who will be the Secretary of State." "Xizi, let me tell you the truth!" Yang Shiqi showed a look of sincerity on his thin face. "When there was a revolution in the south in the year of 1911, I could tell that Xiang Cheng was not loyal to the Qing Dynasty. His family background was favored by the state, so it was inconvenient to directly take power from the Qing Dynasty. His plan was to use the power of the League and the Revolutionary Army to overthrow the Qing Dynasty. .As soon as the Qing Dynasty was overthrown, the cooperative relationship between Xiangcheng and the Revolutionary Party lost its bond. With his character, he would inevitably reject the Revolutionary Party and dominate the world. Therefore, in the past eight months, the governors of Jiangxi, Anhui, and Guangdong were dismissed, and troops were dispatched to Ningjiang. Dissolution of the Kuomintang and the dissolution of the National Assembly are all expected. Now that Xiangcheng's goal has been achieved, he can handle affairs and administration without any constraints. Currently, there are two roads before Xiangcheng, one is reform and the other is old-fashioned .Reformation requires new people to carry out the new policy. Conservation means finding out the old bureaucrats and restoring the old system. You are the leader of the new people in Xiangcheng's pocket. I think the possibility of Xiangcheng's reform is higher. If you want Prepare early and take on the big responsibility.” Yang Du recalled that Yuan Shikai had always been the leader of the reformist faction in the former clean official circles since Jiawu and Yiwei. Now that he is the president, he will undoubtedly carry out the New Deal.Since the New Deal is implemented, new talents must be employed.Yang Shiqi was right, he was the leader of the new talents of course, so he should have prepared early.He said excitedly: "Brother Xingcheng, if Xiangcheng asks me to be the Secretary of State, I will definitely ask you to be my Zuo Cheng." After Yang Shiqi heard this, his heart was sour, and he said in his stomach, this overconfident Yang Xizi, he really thought that the Secretary of State was his, don't dream too early, but he said: "Well, brother Xizi, if you can afford it I, of course I will do my best to help you." Yang Du got up, packed up the documents and said, "That's it. I have something to do tonight, let's talk tomorrow!" The next day, Yang Shiqi took the initiative to talk to Yuan Shikai about the candidate for the Secretary of State. Yuan Shikai was also considering this matter and wanted to hear the opinion of this wise man.Yang Shiqi said that the secretary of state is nothing more than selected from the reformers and the conservatives. It is only reliable for people who are wise, mature and prudent to take up this important position. In view of the turmoil between the Kuomintang and the Congress, Yuan Shikai was very disgusted with the new figures.Yang Shiqi's words were exactly what he wanted.He ignored Yang Shiqi's intentions behind it, but chose a person with the highest status and the deepest relationship with him from the conservative faction to serve as the Secretary of State.This person is Xu Shichang, the former Qing cabinet assistant minister who has been living in seclusion in Qingdao since the National Revolution. Er Yang's dream has come to nothing.Although Yang Shiqi didn't become the Secretary of State, he got a Zuo Cheng as a way of comforting himself.Yang Du found nothing. For the reunification of the North and the South, Yuan Shikai made great contributions to winning the President of the Republic of China. However, from the Tang cabinet to the Sun cabinet, none of the five cabinets took up a seat. Seeing that the most suitable post of Secretary of State was taken by Xu Shichang who had nothing to do with the Republic of China After taking it away, Yang Du was extremely depressed.Could it be that this life is only worthy of making ideas behind the scenes, and cannot personally take charge of the country?Could it be that the learning of emperors taught by Master Xiangqi will come to naught again in the generation of students?Yang Du fell into deep distress.Boring, he picked up the "Secret History of the Great Zhou" that had not been read for a long time, trying to get the answer from it.It seems that after looking around, there is no gain. After Shu Ji arrived in Beijing, she was quickly fascinated by the beautiful singing of Peking Opera.The rift between her and Dai Yi is getting deeper and deeper. She came to Beijing mainly to leave Dai Yi, so listening to opera is the best way for her to spend her days.She not only went to see it by herself, but also often invited Jing Zhu and Yi Zhu to watch it together.Mrs. Huang went there once because she didn't understand.Yang Du, who had nothing else to do, simply joined them, and often went to Sixi, Chunhe, Tianqiao, Jixiang and other major theaters with them. They admire it.The elder brother who is depressed about the future, and the younger sister who is depressed about marriage, all find temporary comfort in the elegant and refined Peking Opera art.