Chapter 24 24. The big wave after the "May 4th Movement"

After the "burning of Zhaojialou", some Anfu politicians were very dissatisfied with Cai Yuanpei, the president of Peking University. They believed that the reason why the students made troubles was mainly because Cai Yuanpei had encouraged students to participate in social activities before, which triggered the outbreak of the "May 4th Movement".In the eyes of these people, Cai Yuanpei, the old revolutionary party, "the old man talks about being a teenager"... He is so wicked! Under pressure, Cai Yuanpei tendered his resignation three days after the students were released, and quietly left Beijing.At the same time, Fu Zengxiang, the Minister of Education, was also criticized. He was forced to resign because he also encouraged students to participate in the celebrations after the "World War I". Tian Yinghuang, a politician from the Anfu Department, proposed to be the Minister of Education.

After the news of Cai Yuanpei's resignation came out, Peking University students used the method of "suspending classes to punish them" that night to retain the principal they admired.Subsequently, the principals of various colleges and universities in Beijing also announced their resignation, united, and marched forward and backward with Mr. Cai.At this time, Guo Qinguang, a Peking University student who actively participated in the "May 4th" activities, died of illness due to anger. Later, because of mourning for his classmates, a general strike by students above middle schools in Beijing was triggered on May 19, with more than 25,000 participants.

This general strike is much more mature than that of the "May 4th Movement". The students clearly put forward demands such as "refusal to sign the peace treaty with Germany, punishment of traitors, retention of Chief Fu Zengxiang and Mr. Cai Yuanpei". Quan, punish the country's thieves!" Students from Shanghai, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Nanjing and other places also took to the streets to express their solidarity with the actions of Beijing students, which intensified the wave of school strikes across the country.However, Chinese people always want face. If the Beijing government easily agrees to the students' request, where will their face be saved?So Prime Minister Qian Nengxun replied to the question of "punishing national thieves": "If the students have evidence of their treason, the government should punish them according to law; if it is just empty words, the government can't do it."

On the 20th, Yuan Xitao, the deputy minister of education, went to Peking University in person to hold a meeting of principals of schools above junior colleges, but none of the principals of government schools attended the meeting.Not only that, the students also carried out more active activities. They organized a large number of lecture groups (groups of ten, sometimes called "groups of ten") to publicize on the streets. There are figures of students. The speeches given by the students won warm welcome from the citizens, and a large number of people came to listen to each speech. When they heard the indignation of the imminent subjugation of the country, many people followed the students to wipe their tears and sigh; They sent tea and water, and even donated money and goods on the spot to show their support for the students.

Not only that, the students also set off a movement of "boycotting Japanese products and promoting domestic products". At first, Peking University students took out all the Japanese products from the consumer agency on campus and burned them in a centralized manner in the playground of the University of Arts; later, Tsinghua University and other schools also adopted similar measures. action. On May 18, students from various technical secondary schools in Beijing took the Japanese goods they had bought to Xiannongtan and burned them together.The actions of the students aroused the anger of Japan. They sent warships to Tianjin, Wusong and other places for military intimidation, and even sent Japanese ronin to sabotage the students' speeches.When Chinese students studying in Tokyo staged protests, the Japanese military and police brutally suppressed them and arrested many students.

Due to the growing unrest of the students and the pressure from Japan, the Beijing government sent military police and cavalry to disrupt the students' speech activities. When they saw the students gathering, they used the cavalry to attack, dispersed the onlookers and confiscated the students' flags , leaflets, etc.In addition, they used methods such as early holidays and examinations for civil servants, diplomats, and judicial officers to divide the movement, which made some students withdraw from the movement, and the student movement at this stage came to an end. Unexpectedly, on June 1, the Beijing government issued two inappropriate orders at an inappropriate time. One was to defend and persuade Cao Rulin, Zhang Zongxiang, and Lu Zongyu to stay; All street activities are banned and classes resume immediately.

"Patriotism is a crime, betraying the country is meritorious." One stone caused a thousand waves. The students are all passionate patriotic youths. How can they bear such treatment?They immediately resumed street speeches on June 3, and on this day, the military and police in Beijing were also in full swing. If you come, I will catch one, and if you come two, I will catch a pair. Thunder and thunder rumbled, sand and stones flew on the ground, black clouds billowed, and the sky was not visible. It was a gloomy and bleak scene of hell on earth! According to statistics that night, more than 170 students were arrested, most of whom were Peking University students, and there were also Tsinghua School, Higher Normal School and other schools.Because of the large number of students, these students were not sent to the detention center, but were collectively locked up in the lecture hall of the Peking University Law Department. From morning to night, the students were not even allowed to drink saliva.

However, government officials obviously underestimated the ability and perseverance of the students. On the second day, more students walked out of the school quietly. The masses began to speak.On this day, there were more soldiers and police than in the past. When they saw a crowd gathering, they let their horses over and dispersed the audience first. Then, like an eagle catching a chick, two strong police officers carried a weak student The baby was sent to Peking University and detained. On the 4th, more than 700 students were detained. In the end, Peking University's law department couldn't accommodate them, and they were sent to the science dormitory of Mashen Temple as a temporary prison. On the 4th, the weather was also very bad, with strong wind, heavy rain, heavy thunder and heavy dust. A pair of students were taken in, while teams of military police set up camp along the Beihe River. The 9th Division of the Army sent a With the strength of a regiment and a battalion, it turned a dignified school into a barracks.

What a good place in Beijing, the most benevolent place, was turned into a dark world in the end, is it God's will?Or is it God's condemnation? The ferocious military police did not intimidate the students. On the 5th, more students packed their luggage and even prepared toothpaste, toothbrush and bread. On this day, they set off in a large group and gave lectures in separate directions. The number reached more than 2,000.At the same time, they sent telegrams to various places, asking for support.According to a reporter from "Weekly Review": "On the morning of the 5th, the reporter passed by the front door and saw three students standing on the side of the road giving a speech. Several policemen came, like Hades of the Town God's Temple, and arrested the three students one by one. Although the three students were caught by them with both hands, they kept talking, and countless people who listened to them shed tears. Outside the back door, there were two groups of students, one going west and the other going east. There are only a dozen or so students in this place. A policeman went to the east to drive people away, and the west side started giving speeches; when he went to the west to chase people away, the east side started to give speeches again. After a long commotion, everyone who listened clapped their hands, and the few policemen didn’t dare to do anything.”

Another reason why the police dare not do anything is that there are more and more students, and there will be no place to lock them up if they arrest them again.It's not fun if you are careless and kill someone. What is touching is that many students brought their own luggage and came to the law department of Peking University to ask for detention. After the students who were banned found out, they boarded the law building and waved their flags in anger. helpless.Even the female students took action. They organized the Federation of Fifteen Schools and collectively petitioned the presidential palace, demanding the release of the imprisoned male students.

The principals and teaching staff of the schools were also extremely angry. They not only ran up and down to rescue the students, but also issued a joint telegram to accuse the government: "Treat the students as bandits, use the school buildings as prisons, trample on education, undermine the judiciary, and the future of the country, how can we imagine it? "Organizations from all walks of life in Beijing also expressed sympathy for the students' detention, such as the People's Diplomatic Association, the Beijing Education Association, and the Red Cross, all went to condolences to show their support for the students. After the news that a large number of Beijing students were arrested and arrested, the people of the whole country were shocked. On June 5, in order to support Beijing students, people from all walks of life in business and academia in Shanghai, for the first time, realized the joint action of "strike, market strike, and class strike".Before, Huang Sunkui and other Beijing student leaders came to Shanghai to carry out activities. After the Beijing students were detained, the Shanghai students also took action immediately. They took leaflets and went door-to-door on the street to publicize, mobilizing businesses to implement a strike on June 5.During the mobilization on this day, some students even adopted the method of "kneeling and begging along the street" to beg, and many pedestrians and businesses also promised to support the students' actions the next day. After the news of the "strike and strike" came out on the 5th, the workers in Shanghai were the first to respond.Moved by the enthusiasm of the students, some workers in Japanese companies such as the No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 Cotton Mills in Japan first went on strike in the morning, followed by workers from the Rihua Cotton Mill and the Shanghai Cotton Mill. , Then workers from the Commercial Press, Zhonghua Book Company, Shanghai-Nanjing Railway, Hangzhou-Ningbo Railway and other places went on strike. On the morning of the 5th, various businesses also went on strike as agreed. The bustling streets soon became deserted. Most of the businesses closed their doors and stopped doing business. Dumen also thanked the guests.On the street, only college and middle school students were running up and down, distributing leaflets, while policemen were patrolling the street to prevent people from making trouble. When the news of the "Three Strikes" in Shanghai reached Beijing, the authorities realized that the situation was serious, so the military and police who surrounded the campus of Peking University withdrew that night, and the detained students were freed again.However, the resulting trend did not stop. Six days later, the "Three Strikes" in Shanghai not only did not stop, but also increased in scale. A market strike was implemented, except for a few businesses that bought breakfast and opened their doors half-closed, selling some pastries to passers-by for convenience.The Shanghai authorities sent police to intervene and force the opening of the market, but the merchants replied "freedom to buy and sell", and the police officers could do nothing. After the "Three Strikes" were implemented in Shanghai, Tianjin, Nanjing, Anqing, Wuhan, Jinan, Jiujiang and other places followed Shanghai as an example and implemented "strikes, strikes, markets, and classes", and the "May 4th Movement" became the "June 3rd Movement". ", the former took the students in Beijing as the forerunner, but the latter took Shanghai as the lead. Merchants have always been considered to be profit-seeking, but in this campaign, the merchants showed impressive patriotic enthusiasm: first, some large commercial companies took the initiative to strike, and then all small and medium-sized shops also closed their doors to thank customers. A slogan was posted on the gate, "All people are united, appeal with one voice, resist the traitors, and wake up the government." Even the barber shop posted a slogan "This is the state affairs, I have no intention of plastic surgery, please don't patronize."As for those entertainment venues, they also stopped selling tickets and no longer entertained.Some storytellers have even initiated voluntary storytelling, donating all proceeds to the student union. Du Mu, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, once said, "Business women don't know the hatred of the subjugation of the country, and they still sing flowers in the backyard across the river." Come out, print leaflets at your own expense, and call on compatriots in the flower world to donate to the Student Union.When students held parades and publicity activities, these female compatriots set up tea breaks at intersections to show their support for patriotic students. Under pressure from all walks of life, the Beijing government had no choice but to dismiss Cao Rulin, Lu Zongyu, and Zhang Zongxiang on June 10.After the goal of "punishing national thieves internally" was achieved, the wave of "strikes and strikes" in various places came to an end. Immediately afterwards, whether Chinese representatives should sign the peace treaty with Germany at the Paris Peace Conference became the focus again. Students and social groups from all over the country sent representatives to Beijing to petition the presidential palace, demanding that the government promise not to sign the peace treaty.As a result, the third stage of the May Fourth Movement, that is, the "Refusal to Sign the Peace Treaty Movement" was carried out in full swing again. At this time, Duan Qirui, who had been silent on the student movement, suddenly expressed his opinion. He said: "Students have patriotism, which is gratifying. But there is a word of advice, study hard, become a talent, and reform politics and business in the future." Industry, so that the country can be strengthened." At this point, Duan Qirui changed the subject: "If you are fooled by others, it will only encourage the arrogance of some people, and it is wrong to harm yourself and the country." What Duan Qirui probably meant was to agree to sign the peace treaty, because if China does not sign the peace treaty, China will not be able to join the League of Nations. At that time, some favorable conditions will not be guaranteed. The two evils are equal to each other. Students should not continue to exert pressure on the government on the signing issue. .Old Duan’s words were not only refuted by the students, but even his political opponents attacked him one after another. For example, the direct general Wu Peifu publicly telegraphed support for the students and said: "The great rivers and mountains are at the mercy of others. If there is a little support, who has no righteous indignation?" In fact, the Chinese representatives in Paris were not reconciled to signing this. They first proposed a plan of "retaining the signature", that is, China signed the peace treaty, but they had reservations about the solution to the Shandong issue and could not recognize it.However, this plan was also rejected by the peace conference. At that time, the Chinese representatives had no choice but to sign unconditionally or refuse to sign. The Beijing government was inclined to sign at first, but under the opposition from all walks of life, it had no choice but to kick the ball to the special mission, saying: "The domestic situation is tense, the people want to refuse the visa, and the government is under great pressure. The signing of the matter should be done by Director Lu himself. Decide." At 3 pm on June 28, the Paris Peace Conference held a signing ceremony for the peace treaty with Germany at the Palace of Versailles.On this day, the Chinese delegation wrote to the chairman of the peace conference, stating that China would not send a representative to attend, that is, to refuse to sign the peace treaty.On this day, from the morning, the outside of the residence of the Chinese delegation was surrounded by Chinese students and laborers. They openly declared that if the delegation went to sign, a "deadly action" would be launched. This is the case, but there is no need to criticize the diplomats.After all, in a powerful society where "power is king", if the national power is not comparable to others, it is inevitable to be humble.In this way, it is even more difficult to be a diplomat in a weak country! In any case, "refusal to sign the peace treaty" can be considered to have completed the goal of "struggling for national power abroad", while "removing the three thieves" has completed the task of "punishing the national thieves internally".However, the Shandong issue was not resolved. It was not until the Washington Conference held at the end of 1921 that the Japanese army finally withdrew from Shandong and returned it to Qingdao. Later, the "Jinan tragedy" during the Northern Expedition laid the groundwork. 1919 was a year of turmoil, one of the manifestations of which was the awakening of the people, especially the young intellectuals, who quickly became a new political force rising on the Chinese stage.Some student leaders in the May 4th Movement, such as Zhang Guotao, Zhou Enlai, etc., as well as intellectuals in the New Culture Movement such as Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, etc., and even the newly rising second-generation Beiyang figures such as Wu Peifu, etc., they will be in the future. Shine brightly in the political process of China, and students, as a new group, will also change the course of China's history to some extent. On the contrary, the traitors "Cao Rulin, Lu Zongyu, and Zhang Zongxiang" who were named by the students to be killed shouted their innocence. For example, after Cao Rulin's house was burned, he defended himself for what he did in the past. ; and Lu Zongyu was also full of complaints, "I can't think about it for a reason"; Zhang Zongxiang, who was beaten for no reason, submitted his resignation, saying that "all handling matters of Sino-Japanese negotiations are strictly in compliance with government orders, and the exchanges of texts and , there is a record”—the three of us are just the principals, how can the hat of “traitor” fall on our heads? If you take a look at the life histories of Cao, Lu, and Zhang, these three can be regarded as standard "returnees".The three of them are not only close in origin, but also have similar life experiences.For example, Cao Rulin, who was originally from Zhejiang and was born in Shanghai, went to Japan to study in the late Qing Dynasty and graduated from the Department of Law and Politics of Chuo University in Japan.After returning to China, Cao Rulin participated in the foreign student examination and won the second place, and was appointed as "Foreign Hanlin".As a result, Cao Rulin's official career went smoothly, and he became Yuan Shikai's confidant.Lu Zongyu, a native of Haining, Zhejiang Province, went to Japan to study in the late Qing Dynasty. He graduated from Waseda University.Lu Zongyu once went abroad with Zaize to investigate the constitutional government, and was appreciated by Xu Shichang, and later became a member of the Beiyang School.Zhang Zongxiang, a native of Wuxing, Zhejiang, graduated from Tokyo Imperial University when he was studying in Japan. After the fall of the Qing court, Cao Rulin, Lu Zongyu, and Zhang Zongxiang all served as important officials under Yuan Shikai or Duan Qirui, and they also participated in traitorous behaviors because of their positions. Lu Zongyu was the envoy to Japan when the "Twenty-One" was signed; Zhang Zongxiang was the handler of the "China-Japan Military Secret Exchange" and was the envoy to Japan at the time.There is an injustice and a debtor. If the students don't look for you three, who will they look for? The most amusing thing is that both Zhang Zongxiang and Lu Zongyu were expelled from their hometowns during the "May 4th" movement, and became people with "no native place" in China.Of course, Zhang Zongxiang was the most troublesome among them. When he set off from Japan to return home in mid-April, many Japanese politicians and diplomatic figures stationed in Japan went to Tokyo Railway Station to see him off. Unexpectedly, many Chinese students came. Zhang Zongxiang I thought they were also here to see them off, but who knew that these people threw the white mourning flags with words such as "traitor" and "disaster for the country" into the car, and shouted: "Zhang Zongxiang, Minister Zhang, you like to betray the country , why don't you sell your wife?" Hearing this, Zhang Zongxiang immediately blushed like a pig's liver, and Mrs. Zhang was so angry that her flowers were trembling and tears were streaming down her face. Later, Cao Rulin frankly stated in his memoir "Memories of a Lifetime": "This incident happened more than 40 years ago. In retrospect, it is also good for oneself and others. Although the three of us were sacrificed in an unclear way, But it aroused the patriotism of most people, and it finally paid off.” It is true that when dealing with treasonous affairs, there are well-documented telegrams. After all, treachery is a big matter, and it is not something the "three thieves" can sell privately.However, after a period of silence after being dismissed from office during the "May 4th Movement", these three people took up different pseudo-posts during the Japanese invasion of China.From this point of view, the words "traitor" really did not wrong them.