Chapter 23 23. Behind the "May 4th" Hurricane

At about one o’clock in the afternoon on May 4, 1919, more than 3,000 students from more than a dozen schools in Beijing gathered in Tiananmen Square from all directions. A huge couplet was erected under the two Chinese watches in front of the Jinshui Bridge, which was particularly eye-catching: On the other side of the couplet, the blood book written by Peking University students biting their fingers the night before is also hanging there. The four big characters "Give me back Qingdao" fluttered with the anger of the students. After a brief assembly, the students then proceeded to the embassy area in Dongjiaomin Lane.On the way, Yuan Xitao, the deputy minister of education, Li Changtai, the infantry commander, and Wu Bingxiang, the police chief, arrived after hearing the news, but none of them could stop the students from advancing.After arriving at Dongjiaomin Lane, because it was a holiday, the minister was not at the envoy, and the patrol room refused to let them go without an order. As a result, thousands of young students were delayed for more than two hours in the routine of coming and going, and finally failed to pass.

After the petition in the embassy area was blocked, the students were very angry, and then decided to divert to the house of the traitor Cao Rulin to demonstrate.Fu Sinian, the overall leader of the parade, was worried that there would be accidents on the way, but he was unable to stop the torrent of student movements. At noon of the day, Cao Rulin and Zhang Zongxiang went to the Presidential Palace for a banquet at the invitation of President Xu Shichang. After the news of the student parade came, someone advised them not to return to the residence for the time being, but Cao and Zhang disagreed.Around three o'clock, Cao Rulin and Zhang Zongxiang returned to Cao's house at the west entrance of Zhaojialou Hutong.Soon, Ding Shiyuan, Director of Aviation of the Ministry of Army, and a Japanese reporter named Nakae Choukichi visited. Although they had already received news that the students were coming to Zhaojialou, there were hundreds of policemen outside Cao’s house to protect them, so they also don't care.They felt that the students would not do anything good, and even if there were violent acts, they could be dispersed by the police.

Around four o'clock, a large number of students came to the gate of Cao's house, and the situation changed immediately.Although the police were on the alert, thousands of students chanted "Down with traitors" like an overwhelming sound, which was enough to make the people in the house tremble with fear.Soon, some students shouted: "Cao Rulin, the traitor, come out to meet me!" and slammed into the gate of Cao's house violently, and the situation began to get out of control.When the police were trying to dissuade the students, conflicts broke out between the two sides. In the midst of the chaos, some students walked around the house, looking for another entrance. A few minutes later, with a sudden "wow", the door of Cao's house was opened, and the students outside suddenly They broke through the police's obstruction, and they swarmed in and looked for the traitor Cao Rulin everywhere.

The first thing the students discovered was Cao Rulin's father and concubine, but instead of doing anything to them, they let them go and continued to look for Cao Rulin.But the students searched for a long time, but did not find any trace of Cao Rulin... Where did those people go? Many people thought that Cao Rulin escaped when the gate was broken, but this is not the case.According to Cao Rulin's recollection, after the students broke into the gate, he hastily hid in a box room between his wife and daughter's bedroom, but the students did not search carefully, but just smashed the glass of the door and window, and then threw Porcelain in the house, after making a fuss for a while, they went out again.

At around 4:30, Cao’s house suddenly caught fire, and Zhang Zongxiang, who was hiding in the boiler room, rushed out. Because Zhang Zongxiang was wearing a uniform, he was recognized immediately, but he was blocked by the back door and beaten by students (students thought he was Cao Rulin), a student hit Zhang Zongxiang on the head with an iron rod, and Zhang Zongxiang fell to the ground. The students thought he was beaten to death, and some shouted "Cao Rulin was beaten to death" and ran away.After hearing the news, some other people came to see it one after another, wanting to confirm the news.

Taking advantage of this gap, the Japanese Zhongjiang Chouji rushed over (he also had a long history with Zhang Zongxiang), supported Zhang Zongxiang, dragged him out of the back door, and pushed Zhang Zongxiang into the oil and salt store opposite. .Seeing that "Cao Rulin" was not dead, the students would not let it go. They followed up and tried to drag "Cao Rulin" out and beat him, but the Japanese tried his best to protect him. He was beaten badly.Fortunately, Zhongjiang Chouji kept speaking unproficient Chinese during the beating. The students knew that he was not Chinese, so they showed mercy.

After the fire broke out, a large number of patrolmen arrived, and finally dispersed the students and spectators, and arrested 32 people on the spot (the famous Xu Deheng was among them).Later, the fire brigade rushed to the scene to put out the fire, but at this time Cao's house had been burned down to only the concierge and a part of the west courtyard.Fortunately, Cao Rulin and his family also sneaked away while the fire broke out, and there were no casualties (except Zhang Zongxiang and Zhongjiang Chouji who were beaten). The "burning of the Zhao family building and the beating of Zhang Zongxiang" was the climax of the "May 4th Movement". Many people thought that the burning of the Zhao family building was only caused by the righteous indignation of the students, but this was not the case.According to the memories of the participating students, this operation was prepared long ago, but only within a very small range.

Who set the fire?According to the memories of the students who witnessed the incident, this person was Kuang Husheng, a student of Beijing Higher Normal School (the predecessor of Beijing Normal University).When the students were looking for Cao Rulin everywhere, Kuang Husheng took out the matches prepared in advance and prepared to set fire.At this time, Duan Xipeng, another person in charge of the parade, hurriedly stopped him and said, "I can't bear this responsibility!" Kuang Husheng said, "Who wants you to be responsible! You really can't bear the responsibility!"

Another eyewitness recalled that he saw two students in long gowns take out a flat iron pot containing kerosene from their side, they said "set fire" in a low voice, and then entered the north room of the courtyard, lifted the carpet and folded it. Pour kerosene on the square table and light it with a match, thick smoke rises instantly.The eyewitness was named Xiao Lao, and he followed the two long-sleeve students who witnessed it with his own eyes, and he also recognized the two as students of Beijing Higher Normal School. Apart from Kuang Husheng, the two students of Beijing Higher Normal School also had a student named Zhou Yutong.Before the "May 4th" parade, they even planned to get a pistol and kill Cao Rulin, but unfortunately they failed.On the night of May 3, Kuang Husheng and others secretly summoned more than a dozen members of the Engineering Society, and decided to bring iron tools, small jars of kerosene, and matches to go, ready to destroy things and set fire to them.Kuang Husheng and Zhou Yutong also wrote a suicide note, preparing to sacrifice.Zhou Yutong later recalled that the parade commanders Fu Sinian and Duan Xipeng had no knowledge of their secret operations.In fact, it was Kuang Husheng and other people who opened the gate, and they entered after breaking through a window hole in the wall surrounding Cao's house.

Someone may ask, why do the students hate Cao Rulin, Zhang Zongxiang and Lu Zongyu so much?What on earth did they do?It's a long story. In 1897, two German missionaries were killed by a group of unidentified people in Caozhou, Shandong. Germany then sent the Far East Fleet straight to the Shandong Peninsula and forced the Qing court to sign the Sino-German Jiaozhou Lease Treaty. Germany obtained the lease of Jiaozhou In 1999, the right to lay the Jiaoji Railway and the right to develop minerals within 30 miles along the railway line, Shandong has thus become Germany's sphere of influence.

After the outbreak of the First World War, Japan declared war on Germany under the pretext of taking over the Qingdao and Jiaoji Railways, which had been operated by the Germans for nearly 20 years, and pretended to be its new owner.Before the Hongxian monarchy, Japan suddenly threw out the "Twenty-One" and forced Yuan Shikai to admit that Japan had inherited all the rights and interests of Germany in Shandong. At that time, it was Cao Rulin, Zhang Zongxiang and others who participated in the negotiations with Japan. .In addition to Yuan Shikai who should bear the main responsibility, these diplomats can also be said to be the creators of the "May 7 National Humiliation". But it was not the "21" negotiations that directly triggered the frenzy, but the complete failure of the Chinese delegation at the Paris Peace Conference.At that time, the representative of Japan exchanged the "Jishun Gaoxu Railway Loan Contract" in the "Nishihara Loan", which clearly recorded the reply of Zhang Zongxiang, the representative of the Beijing government. gladly agree". The truth of history often lies in the scrutiny of details. What is the exchange of the "Jishun Gaoxu Railway Loan Contract"?What is Japan's suggestion?Why did representative Zhang "graciously agree"? The Jishun Gaoxu Railway is a branch of the Jiaoji Railway. After the Germans forcibly leased Jiaozhou Bay, a new city (Qingdao) was built here and a railway from Qingdao to Jinan (Jiaoji Railway) was built. .It is true that the Jiaoji Railway was invested and built by the Germans, but the right of way of the entire railway and the mining development rights along the line were also seized by the Germans. This investment is privileged.After the Japanese beat the Germans away, from the perspective of international law, the previously signed "Sino-German Jiao-Australia Lease Treaty" is actually invalid, and if Japan wants to inherit the rights and interests of Germany, it must sign a new treaty, otherwise there is no direct legal reason Basis (Even if Japan coerces China to admit that Japan has inherited all the rights and interests of Germany in the "Twenty-One", there is still no treaty between China and Japan to prove it). Therefore, the Japanese set up a small trap, which is the "Jishun Gaoxu Railway Loan Contract".On the surface, the Chinese government borrowed 20 million yen from the Industrial Bank of Japan, the Bank of Taiwan, and the Bank of Korea to build the two branch lines from Jinan to Shunde and from Gaomi to Xuzhou.During the negotiation process, the Chinese side proposed that the Japanese troops along the Jiaoji Railway be withdrawn to Qingdao. Japan agreed to withdraw, but a small part must be left in Jinan, and the rest should be mobilized to Qingdao; The headquarters and other departments must employ Japanese; after the ownership of the Jiaoji Railway is determined, it will be jointly run by China and Japan. Duan Qirui's cabinet, who presided over the matter at the time, felt that the loan provided by the Japanese was quite favorable, and he also agreed to withdraw the Japanese troops along the Jiaoji Railway to Qingdao (the railway and Qingdao were both controlled by the Germans before), which he thought was a double win. It's a good thing, and although Qingdao is controlled by the Japanese, they have declared that they will return it after the war is over, so Zhang Zongxiang replied "with pleasure". But what Duan Qirui and others did not expect was that the Japanese actually used borrowed money to withdraw their troops as a bait in exchange for China's tacit approval of Japan's occupation of Qingdao and the inheritance of German rights and interests in official documents...Since Duan's cabinet "graciously agreed" to the Japanese army Withdrawing from the Jiaoji Railway to Qingdao, doesn't that mean that Japan's control of Qingdao has been recognized by the Chinese official document?Although Japan has in fact controlled the Qingdao and Jiaoji Railways, there is no textual evidence before, so this is good, and it has been recruited. On April 22, the giants of Britain, the United States, and France invited Lu Zhengxiang and Gu Weijun to announce the plan they had reached a consensus with Japan.U.S. President Wilson first complained that China had the "Twenty-One" in 1915, and then there was an exchange of notes of "gracious agreement" in 1918, and then persuaded China to accept their "best plan": "Japan obtained the leased land of Jiaozhou and China Japan will return all the rights and interests stipulated in the German treaty, and then Japan will return the leased land to China, but after the return, it still enjoys all economic rights, including the Jiaoji Railway.” When Gu Weijun retorted that the 1915 treaty was the result of coercion, while the 1918 exchange of letters was based on the former treaty, Wilson retorted disapprovingly: "Although the former treaty was coerced, Japan did not coerce in the latter treaty. Why do you 'agree with pleasure'?" Gu Weijun was at a loss for words for a moment... This is the consequence of drinking poison to quench thirst caused by coveting a loan of 20 million. On April 30, the highest body of the Paris Peace Conference made a final ruling on the Shandong issue without the approval of the Chinese representative, recognizing that Japan had inherited all the rights and interests of Germany in Shandong (that is, Articles 156, 157, and 158 of the "Versailles Peace Treaty") strip).As for the issue that Japan must return the rights and interests of Shandong to China, the Japanese side is only willing to make verbal promises and opposes express provisions in the peace treaty. Therefore, these three clauses are extremely unfavorable to China. After learning of the final ruling, the Chinese representatives lodged a strong protest to the peace conference on May 4: "In order to maintain the peace conference and not break up, the three-nation conference actually used China as a funeral object. The fate of China is to join the League of Nations. Instead, it will become an exchange of interests for the League of Nations. This kind of unbelief and unrighteous treatment is really hard to admit!" The great powers turned a deaf ear to China's protests, and they announced the Treaty of Versailles on May 6 as originally planned.Since joining the newly established League of Nations at that time had to sign the Treaty of Versailles, this meant that China had to make a choice between two dilemmas: if it wanted to join the League of Nations, it had to sign; if it did not sign, it could not join the League of Nations.As a result, China's diplomacy at the Paris Peace Treaty has been declared a complete failure. "Peace conferences are still based on combat power. How can justice be against power?" As a victorious country, China was treated as a defeated country at a peace conference that flaunted "axiom and justice". Basin of cold water.To put it bluntly, the fiasco of China's diplomacy at the Paris Peace Conference can only illustrate one problem, that is, "a weak country has no diplomacy."The strength of a country's voice at the negotiating table is often determined by the hardness of its fists. If you are a poor and weak country, even if your throat is broken by shouting, who will talk to you? After learning of the failure of China's diplomacy, Chen Duxiu, editor-in-chief of "New Youth", published a short article titled "Two peace conferences are useless": "The Shanghai peace conference (North and South warlord negotiations at the time), both Party rights, such as disarmament and abolition of supervision, are just talking about it and trying to save face, but in fact they can't do it. The peace conference in Paris, all countries focus on their own rights, what is axiom, what is permanent peace, what is President Wilson's The 14-point declaration becomes worthless empty words”; “these two spoils conferences are separated from the eternal peace of the world and the true happiness of mankind by more than a hundred and eight thousand miles!” Xu Deheng, a prominent figure in the May 4th Movement and a Peking University student, once recalled that in the six months after the end of the "First World War", "the students were so excited that they were crazy, and all kinds of celebrities were also diligent in giving speeches", "righteousness defeated power" The slogan "struck the heartstrings of every young man, thinking that China has just turned around so cheaply." However, things in the world are often like this, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.After the opening of the Paris Peace Conference, as various bad news continued to come, the enthusiasm of the Chinese people returned from the brilliant spring to the bleak winter, and all kinds of hopes were like colorful soap bubbles blown by the wind. It fell to the hard ground and shattered cruelly. On May 2, Lin Changmin, chief of affairs of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Presidential Palace, published an article in Beijing's "Morning News", officially announcing the failure of China's diplomacy at the Paris Peace Conference. On the afternoon of the 3rd, the National Diplomatic Association (including Xiong Xiling, Liang Qichao, Cai Yuanpei and other celebrities) held a meeting composed of celebrities in Beijing's political circles, and decided to hold a meeting on May 7 (that is, Japan's "21" negotiations in 1915) The day of the current ultimatum) held a National Assembly in Central Park to protest this peace meeting of the powerful. Compared with the gentlemen of the People's Diplomatic Association, the students in Beijing no longer have this patience.In the afternoon of the same day, student representatives from various schools in Beijing decided to hold an all-student meeting at 7:00 p.m. Students from 13 schools including University and Chaoyang University. That night, Peking University students and student representatives from other schools gathered in the law hall of Peking University. At the meeting, Ding Zhaoqing, Xie Shaomin, Zhang Guotao, Xu Deheng, and Xia Xiufeng, a representative of other schools, spoke passionately. Xie Shaomin was even more indignant. With the middle finger, he tore off the front of his shirt, and wrote "Return me Qingdao" in blood on it! At this moment, the entire auditorium was boiling, and the applause, cheers and excited tears of the young students complemented each other. Some students hugged each other and wept, while others clenched their fists tightly and sighed to the sky. Full of tragic and desolate atmosphere.At this time, a student jumped onto the rostrum and shouted: "What's the use of crying! We have to act! Students, let's collect donations now and go to Tiananmen Square tomorrow!" After hearing his words, the students in the venue donated their silver dollars, copper coins, watches, rings and even hats.Afterwards, the students prepared separately, some made the parade route, some made slogans and banners, and some went out to contact other schools.This night, how many young friends were sleepless all night. Luo Jialun drew up a declaration, "Now Japan is demanding to annex Qingdao and manage all rights in Shandong at the Peace Conference of All Nations, and it will succeed! Their diplomacy has won a great victory, and our diplomacy has failed! Once the general trend of Shandong is gone, it will destroy China's Territory! If China’s territory is destroyed, China will perish! Therefore, our academic circles lined up at various embassies today to demand that countries come out to maintain justice. We hope that all business circles across the country will rise up and try to hold a national assembly to fight for sovereignty outside and eliminate national thieves inside. China Survival is a matter of one action! Today, we have established two creeds with our compatriots all over the country: China's land can be conquered but not destroyed! The Chinese people can be killed but not bowed down! The country is destroyed! Compatriots, rise up!" Xu Deheng's plan was much more radical: "Is there any compatriot who can't bear the suffering of slaves and cattle and horses, and desperately wants to save them? It is necessary to hold a national assembly, give speeches in the open air, and insist on telegrams. Even those who are willing to betray the country and wantonly Adulterers are dealt with as the last resort, pistols and bombs are the ones to deal with! When a crisis strikes, we are lucky to have a plan together!" Having said that, the organizers of the movement at that time did not want any drastic actions. According to a reporter’s report on the 4th, the infantry commander Li Changtai learned that the students had gathered in Tiananmen Square, and the student representatives explained to him: “Today we went to the legation, but It means to show our patriotism. We must be cautious in all actions, and the seniors can rest assured." Commander Li was also speechless, took off his glasses, read the leaflet carefully, and said to the crowd after a while: "Then, would you rather leave? , However, you must be careful not to cause any international negotiations." After speaking, he ordered the police officers to say a few words, and then left by car, and all the students also headed south. What is ironic is that after "burning Zhao's house and beating Zhang Zongxiang", those students went back to rest, while the few who stayed behind to maintain order, sporadically left behind or watched were arrested by the police (burning Zhao Behind the house, the police chief and the infantry commander came to supervise the formation in person). According to Liang Shiqiu’s recollection, Zhang Zongxiang’s son was in the same dormitory as him at the time, and had already fled after the May 4th Movement, but angry students still rushed into his dormitory and destroyed everything inside, which made Liang Shiqiu very dissatisfied.On May 19, after Peking University students began to give speeches, Liang Shiqiu also entered the city with Tsinghua students, but on the way, angry students smashed up a car that was honking indiscriminately. Liang Shiqiu reflected on this: "I felt Everyone is just angry and doesn't know where to vent. They hate the incompetence of the government and the betrayal of the officials. This hatred can only be vented on the street. In this torrent, no one can keep calm. This is called the masses. psychology." Kuang Husheng, the protagonist of "Burning Zhaojialou", also said with emotion about the subsequent movement after graduation in the summer: "After July, the pure mass movement gradually became a way for speculators to show off and lose the public's faith. If you know how to deal with it, you can’t repeat the same old tune!” As for the young people who actively participated in this movement, some of them took the road of revolution, such as Xu Deheng, Zhang Guotao, Deng Zhongxia, etc.; Fu Sinian, Luo Jialun, Duan Xipeng, Wen Yiduo, Luo Zhanglong, Luo Longji, Zhang Shenfu, etc. took the relatively moderate path of "academic salvation of the country".Regardless of parting ways or going the same way, the blood of young people is hot after all, and their eventful years have left an indelible mark on the historical monument.