Chapter 17 Seventeen, Li Yuanhong was humiliated in the ups and downs of officialdom

Li Yuanhong is Yuan Shikai's son and daughter in-laws (Li's daughter married Yuan Shikai's ninth son Yuan Kejiu). One day Yuan Shikai joked to him: "I am today for the sake of you in the future. Many people praise my talent, I think it is not as good as Your blessing." Li Yuanhong, who is known as the "Bodhisattva", is indeed lucky. Whenever he is in danger, he can always turn danger into safety, turn danger into safety, and he is promoted steadily.Li Yuanhong's father, Li Chaoxiang, joined Bao Chao's "Tingjun" in his early years, and was later promoted to a guerrilla (military post from the third rank). Hanyang, and used the severance pay to build a house, half of which was for the family to live in, and half of which was rented out in exchange for some living expenses.Li Chaoxiang originally planned to spend his life as an ordinary citizen, but unfortunately, a tenant who rented the house of Li's house was arrested by the government for suspicion of treason.

In desperation, Li Chaoxiang had no choice but to resume his old career, and went to Beitang, Tianjin to join the army again, and lived among the ranks again.In the first few months, the Li family was in a predicament. Fortunately, Li Chaoxiang sent the salary from Tianjin at this time, which relieved the family's worries about food and clothing. In 1877, 14-year-old Li Yuanhong was suddenly seriously ill. After hearing the news, Li Chaoxiang hurried back from Tianjin to visit him. After Li Yuanhong recovered from his illness, Li Chaoxiang thought twice and decided to move his family to Beitang, his residence, so as to avoid similar worries from happening again.Under the influence of his father, Li Yuanhong often went to his father's barracks to watch drills while studying, so he also abandoned literature and joined the military. In 1883, he was admitted to the Beiyang Naval Academy to learn ship operations and naval tactics.Unfortunately, Li Chaoxiang died suddenly in his prime of life the following year. Fortunately, Li Yuanhong had a generous stipend for his studies in the Naval Academy.In order to save money, Li Yuanhong walked back and forth every time he went home to visit, and he had to walk nearly a hundred miles back and forth, just to save a Guangyang's travel expenses.

In 1888, after graduating from the Naval Academy, Li Yuanhong was sent to train on the "Laiyuan" ship. The "Laiyuan" ship was the latest armored cruiser in the Beiyang Fleet at that time (it was a sister ship of the same level as the "Jingyuan" ship), and it was custom-made by the German Vulken Shipyard and was just launched in 1887.After more than a year of probation, Li Yuanhong was sent to serve as the third engineer on the "Guangjia" ship because the Guangdong Navy was in urgent need of talents.After the Sino-Japanese War broke out, the Guangdong Navy's "Guangjia", "Guangyi" and "Guangbing" ships also participated in the battle with the Beiyang Fleet.During the Battle of the Yellow Sea, because the "Jiyuan Ship" formed with it withdrew from the battlefield without authorization, the "Guangjia" ship fled with it under the leadership of Wu Jingrong, the commander, and finally ran aground near Sanshan Island in Dalian Bay in a panic.Worried about being discovered by Japanese ships, the "Guangjia" ship eventually self-destructed to avoid becoming an enemy, while Li Yuanhong and others jumped into the sea to escape and returned to Lushun.

In the Sino-Japanese War, the entire Beiyang Fleet was annihilated, and the Guangdong Navy also suffered heavy losses. Most of the admirable admirals were also dismissed by the court. Just when Li Yuanhong lost his job and was at a loss, Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Liangjiang, was currently in Nanjing. Set up Yancai Hall to recruit military personnel.After Li Yuanhong got this information, he rushed to Nanjing to seek refuge. Due to the shortage of modern military personnel at that time, Zhang Zhidong admired Li Yuanhong a lot, so he appointed him to supervise the repair of the forts outside Nanjing.As a result, Li Yuanhong abandoned the water and went ashore, transforming from a naval officer into an army general.

In 1896, Zhang Zhidong was transferred to be the governor of Huguang, and Li Yuanhong also returned to his hometown in Hubei and continued to serve.After the Sino-Japanese War, in view of the poor performance of the old-style army, the imperial court subsequently issued a policy of building and training the new army. Among them, there were two pilots in the north and the south.As a result, Li Yuanhong received great attention from Zhang Zhidong, and he was ordered to go to Japan three times in 1898, 1899 and 1901 to investigate and study the army training and military industry of the neighboring powers.

Zhang Zhidong, governor of Huguang, appreciated Li Yuanhong very much. He once presented Li Yuanhong with a banner of "Wisdom, Courage and Profoundness", and told the court that he was "loyal, brave and reliable, worthy of a heavy responsibility".As a result, Li Yuanhong's official career prospered, he was promoted from the assistant to the supervisor, to the general manager, then to the garrison, the capital division, and then he was promoted to the deputy general, becoming a second-rank military officer. In 1906, the Qing government planned to train 36 new army towns across the country. The planned task in Hubei was two towns. At that time, the eighth town and the 21st mixed association (equivalent to the brigade) were temporarily trained. Biao served as the commander, and Li Yuanhong served as the commander of the latter, and Li Yuanhong became the second person in the military circles of Hubei.

Li Yuanhong is a soldier of the new faction, and the soldiers under him are not bad, but his official career has been smooth, so he didn't have a good impression of the Revolutionary Party.According to Cao Yabo's "True History of the Wuchang Revolution", after the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising, Li Yuanhong personally took charge of the 41st Biao and ordered the gates of the camp to be closed, prohibiting soldiers from going out to participate in the revolution.During this period, a revolutionary soldier named Zhou Rongtang climbed over the wall and came to 41 Biao to contact the uprising, but was unfortunately captured. In order to prevent the morale of the army from being shaken, Li Yuanhong ordered the execution immediately.Until midnight, the revolutionary party bombarded the 41st Biao with cannons on Snake Mountain and Chu Watchtower. Li Yuanhong knew that the situation was over, so he had to open the gate of the camp and escape separately.

After Li Yuanhong escaped from the camp gate, he took temporary shelter at the home of Muyou Liu Wenji.In the panic, Li Yuanhong felt that a catastrophe was approaching. He said incoherently to Liu Wenji: "I am in the Xietong, and now my subordinates have mutinied. If you die, you will die. If you don't die, you will die. If the revolutionary party fails, the court will definitely punish me severely; If the Revolutionary Party succeeds, I'm afraid I will lose my life, so what should I do now?" Liu Wenji comforted him and said, "Now that the situation is unclear, it's better to wait and see, maybe there will be unexpected results."

Liu Wenji really had the foresight. After a night of fierce fighting, although the Revolutionary Party had already won, there was a thorny problem before them. The leader of the revolutionary party disappeared again, and the revolutionary soldiers fell into a leaderless situation. The change of fate may be inadvertent.While Li Yuanhong was in panic, the revolutionaries had found out his whereabouts and decided that he would be the governor of the military government.Li Yuanhong was very frightened by this, and even said: "Don't harm me, don't harm me!" The revolutionary party has so much control, and with a flick of a pen, he signed Li Yuanhong's name on the military government's announcement... Overlord insisted on bowing hard, he couldn't do it if he didn't want to.

Three days later, Li Yuanhong also figured it out. Anyway, the reputation of the "Governor of Li" has spread all over the country, and it makes no difference whether he recognizes it or not.As a result, Li Yuanhong actively devoted himself to the revolutionary cause, became the leader of the righteous, and then became the vice president of the Republic of China. During Yuan Shikai's period, Li Yuanhong was wise and did nothing to protect himself, but when Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor and named him "Prince Wuyi", he was able to firmly stand on the republic and refused to be granted the title, which also preserved his political capital.After Yuan Shikai's death, Li Yuanhong successfully succeeded as the President, which is exactly what Yuan Shikai said: "I am today, for you in the future!"

However, although Li Yuanhong is the president, the prime minister Duan Qirui is the real power figure.Due to repeated conflicts on many issues, Li Yuanhong finally angrily removed Duan Qirui from the post of prime minister, which set off a bigger political wave.When the warlord of the Beiyang faction claimed independence, Li Yuanhong had no choice but to ask Zhang Xun to come to Beijing to mediate. Unexpectedly, Zhang Xun was secretly pregnant, which led to a restoration scandal. Tianjin for five years. There is an old saying in China, "Feng Shui turns, come to my house this year". After the Zhifeng War in 1922, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity came.It turned out that Cao Kun and Wu Peifu, the big bosses of the direct line, forced Duan Qirui and Xu Shichang, the veteran of the Beiyang, to leave. In order to support Cao Kun as the president, they needed someone to make the transition. "The name found Li Yuanhong's body. The so-called "legal authority" refers to the fact that Li Yuanhong resigned as president during the extraordinary period of Zhang Xun's restoration. Because he was coerced, he should not be regarded as resigning automatically. He should be welcomed back and fill up his term of office. Then re-elect the president; the first Congress was also illegally dissolved by Zhang Xun, so it should be restored again, to the effect. Li Yuanhong also knew in his heart that these people did not really support him on the stage.Therefore, at the beginning, he didn't want to go into this muddy water, but directly said to those who invited him out of the mountain: "If you just elect Mr. Cao as the president, it will be over. Why make it so complicated?" However, since the big show of support has already started, Li Yuanhong has no choice but to not participate.After Li Yuanhong refused, Cao Kun and Wu Peifu strengthened the invitation, and they sent representatives from various walks to Li Mansion to invite them warmly.Under the instigation of Cao Kun and Wu Peifu, the governors of various provinces also issued telegrams one after another, asking Li Yuanhong to put state affairs first and come forward to save the crisis. The words were righteous and sincere. My heart is moved... Since it is what everyone expects, then I will reluctantly go out for a while to see the scenery! Of course, Li Yuanhong didn't want to be manipulated at will, so he put forward the condition of leaving the mountain, that is, the governors of the provinces should immediately remove their military power and return the government to the country, otherwise he would never be this inexplicable president.Cao Kun was very annoyed when he learned about it, and cursed: "Ask him to be a ready-made president, and he even put forward conditions to others! We praised him to come to power, but he asked us to step down! It's really a dog biting Lu Dongbin, and he doesn't know good people." , How can there be such a reason, how can there be such a reason!" Although Wu Peifu was also very angry, he advised Cao Kun not to be impatient, and let Li Yuanhong be perfunctory.Therefore, under the suggestion of Cao Kun and Wu Peifu, the direct provincial governors such as Xiao Yaonan and others also hypocritically echoed, expressing their willingness to obey orders.Unexpectedly, Li Yuanhong made an inch of progress at this time. He sent representatives to Cao Kun and Wu Peifu to ask for practical guarantees, and asked to wait until all the military governors had telegraphed their support before resuming the presidency.Cao Kun's subordinates were so angry that they kept yelling to kick Li Yuanhong away. Wu Peifu suppressed his anger and said to Li Yuanhong's trusted representative Jin Yongyan: "If Huangpi wants to put on airs again, I can't do anything. You go back to Tianjin Finally, ask him to say something sweet!" After discussing with his staff, Li Yuanhong felt that the steps were almost set up, and he might not be able to get off the stage if he continued, so he might as well take advantage of the situation and return to the presidency.Therefore, after five years away from politics, Li Yuanhong once again became the president of the Republic of China. Since Cao Kun and Wu Peifu just wanted Li Yuanhong to make a temporary transition, after Li Yuanhong became president for more than half a year, they kept hinting that he would take the initiative to retire in order to make room for Cao Kun.When Li Yuanhong refused to submit, these people simply abandoned literature and went to military affairs, and sent Feng Yuxiang, the army inspector, Wang Huaiqing, the commander of the Beijing-Tianjin garrison, Nie Xianfan, the commander of the infantry, and Xue Zhiyan, the police chief, led more than 300 officers to the presidential palace to demand payment. , Then another "citizen group" went to the presidential palace to make trouble, and then the police in Beijing went on strike and went to the presidential palace to petition, the purpose is to let Li Yuanhong step down automatically. Regarding these people's nonsense, Li Yuanhong was quite determined. He said to the staff around him: "In the sixth year of the Republic of China (that is, in 1917), I was coerced by the Warlords and Zhang Xun, and I illegally dissolved the National Assembly, which led to a big war. This time, since I came according to the law, I should leave according to the law. I can’t be confused again. My term of office should be decided by Congress. If Congress thinks that my term of office has expired, I will not be in love for a day. However, if someone wants to use force to force me to resign, then I must maintain discipline and law for the country, and must not repeat the same mistakes and harm the people." Li Yuanhong's integrity is certainly admirable, but the means of people like Cao Kun and Wu Peifu are endless.First, the chief of the cabinet resigned, then the Beijing-Tianjin garrison commander, the infantry commander, and the police chief all resigned one after another.Then, the water, electricity and telephone of the Presidential Palace were also cut off. Li Yuanhong could no longer gain a foothold in Beijing, but he did not want to surrender to the Zhili, but decided to leave Beijing and go to Tianjin. After forcing Li Yuanhong away, Wang Huaiqing and others who had resigned were immediately reinstated, the police officers who were on strike were immediately put on duty, and the citizens' group disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.When these people happily came to the presidential palace to receive it, they found that the president's seal was missing, so they immediately called Zhili Governor Wang Chengbin and asked him to detain Li Yuanhong's special car in Tianjin and ask for the seal. Li Yuanhong had long expected that these people would use this trick. Before he left Beijing, he gave the five main seals to Mrs. Ru Li Benwei, and Li Benwei had already hid in the French Hospital in Dongjiaomin Lane.Therefore, when Wang Chengbin and Tianjin Police Department Director Yang Yide led the guards to stop Li Yuanhong at Yangcun Station, they did not find the president's seal. At first, Wang Chengbin asked in a serious manner: "Is the President's trip to Beijing this time a business or a private matter?" Li Yuanhong replied: "I can't perform my duties in Beijing, so I have to move to Tianjin to work." Wang Chengbin then asked: "Since I have been working in Tianjin, where is the seal of the president?" Li Yuanhong said angrily: "Who are you? How dare you ask the president for his seal?" Wang Chengbin sneered and said: "I advise the President to hand over the seal letter, so as not to hurt the peace." Li Yuanhong stood up and said, "I won't hand it in, what can you do to me?" Wang Chengbin snorted, pouting at Yang Yide, Yang Yide waved knowingly, and then rushed into dozens of Qiu Ba masters, each holding a short gun, standing around arrogantly and arrogantly, Li Yuanhong and his entourage suddenly turned pale with fright, thinking that These people are going to get rough.At this moment, Wang Chengbin took a step forward and asked forcefully, "The president should hurry up and hand over the seal, I don't have time to chat with you!" Li Yuanhong's entourage saw that the situation was not good, and hurriedly said: "Governor Wang, don't get angry, it's printed in the presidential palace, and it was never brought." Wang Chengbin said sharply: "Don't play dumb with me! Beijing has already called, and the presidential palace only has ten irrelevant seals. Where are the other five?" Seeing that Li Yuanhong remained silent, Wang Chengbin ordered people to remove the engine of the locomotive, and dispatched another battalion of troops to surround the locomotive, neither entering nor exiting, until Li Yuanhong handed over his seal. After a stalemate for more than an hour, Li Yuanhong realized that if he didn't hand in the seals, he would never leave here, so he had to write a note and send it to Mrs. Ru Li Benwei, asking her to hand over the five seals.Wang Chengbin said: "It's too troublesome to go back and forth, so I'd better ask the President to make a phone call in person!" In desperation, Li Yuanhong could only go to the telephone room of the station under the supervision of Wang Chengbin and others to call Mrs. Ru and ask her to hand over the seal to the Senate President Wang Jiaxiang.Just handing in the seal was not enough. Under the instruction of Cao Kun and Wu Peifu, Wang Chengbin drew up another telegram for Li Yuanhong to sign, which roughly meant "announcement of voluntary resignation, and the State Council will take over the powers of the president".After this back and forth, Li Yuanhong finally returned to his private residence in Tianjin after two o'clock in the morning. Later, when Cao Kun was in full swing to bribe elections, Li Yuanhong wanted to fight one last time.At that time, Zhang Zuolin, Duan Qirui, Lu Yongxiang, and Sun Yat-sen called on anti-straight members to go south to Shanghai to hold a special congress in order to undermine Cao Kun's election bribery.Lu Yongxiang also sent a telegram inviting Li Yuanhong to Shanghai to reorganize the government. But after Li Yuanhong arrived in Shanghai, he found that although the "Anti-straight Alliance" welcomed him, no one wanted him to form a government. Even the telegram from Lu Yongxiang was fabricated by Anfu politicians.It was only then that Li Yuanhong realized that this time he had fallen into a political trap again. These people did not really support him, but just used his fame to boost their reputation. After Cao Kun succeeded in bribing the election, Li Yuanhong completely gave up on the re-elected president and never interfered with politics again. On June 3, 1928, Li Yuanhong died of illness in his apartment in Tianjin at the age of 65.On the day of the memorial ceremony, Duan Qirui, who had had a big conflict with Li Yuanhong, also went to express his condolences in person, and "bowed three times before retreating to the portrait, seemingly with infinite emotion."