Chapter 50 50. The Various States of the Republic of China in Essays and Anecdotes

After the founding of the Republic of China, everything in Chinese society was renewed. However, "the old has not gone, and the new has not been established", "the old is in the new, and the new is in the old". After the impact of the Revolution of 1911, the most notable change is the braid on the back of the head.The Nanjing Provisional Government issued the "Braid Cutting Order" in the No. 29 Bulletin: on the date of the order, all people must cut their braids within 20 days, and those who do not comply will be regarded as illegal.As soon as the decree came out, the people responded one after another, and the streets were full of braids that had been cut and discarded.However, there are also a small number of people who stick to tradition or have doubts about the new regime. They secretly hide their braids in their hats and sneak into the streets. The hat was pulled out, and with a "click", the braid was cut off.If it was an old man from the Qing Dynasty, he would have cried and cursed in the street, grabbed the ground with his head, and even fainted on the spot. The braid-cutting event at that time caused a lot of controversy and even led to several bloody cases.

"Little Record of Dumen Knowledge" records some interesting political events in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. One day, when the author was drinking at the Houdefu Henan Tavern in the Dashilan business district of Qianmen, Beijing, he heard two people chatting next to each other.A said: "Recently, the newspapers have blatantly slandered and vilified the government, but the government has tolerated it. It's really Lou Shide's demeanor. If I were in power, I would have found an excuse to ban all these newspapers. It’s gone.” B laughed and said, “That’s why you can’t be in power.” A asked why, and B said, “To be an official, you must know the rules of being an official, so that you can be favored, promoted, and rich. There are twelve characters in the door, the so-called "Let him laugh and scold, I will be a good official", remember it!" After hearing this, A realized and laughed.

After a while, A made another comment: "The Du branch's last request to 'reward real officials' was due until the first day of February this year, and now it suddenly requests an extension. The original intention may be that it is worried about losing a large source of profit. If this time It would be too childish to extend the limit again after the expiration of the period." Yi laughed and said, "The Du branch has great powers. If you want to play, please start the mouse and donate it." The two chatted for a while, A looked out of the window, and suddenly complained: "Inside and outside the capital, in the streets and alleys, in front of and behind the government offices of various ministries, there are mule and horse manure everywhere, and when it rains and snows, these manures are mixed into mud. The smell is unbearable, and the city of Beijing is like a big dung field!" B laughed and said, "You know that the ground in Beijing is like a big dung field, but do you know what is in the belly of such a senior official?" A He was raising his glass, and when he heard B say such a sentence, he couldn't help spouting alcohol to fill the case.

In Yuyang, there was a grassroots man named Li Chibi, who had been farming for generations and could not read or write.When he was young, he heard people say that "officials are too greedy for ink", so he hated officials the most. Every time he met officials on the road, he would point at them and yell: "Corrupt officials! Corrupt officials!" After growing up , this man was also fond of drinking, and eventually became a distiller's nose due to excessive drinking, so he was nicknamed "Li Chibi".When Li Chibi was drunk, he liked to scold officials the most, and he scolded officials even more than before.He scolded a lot, and once he was arrested by the government. After being slapped a few times, he was asked: "Why do you scold the official? Does he have any grudge against you?" Li Chibi said: " I don't know either, but I just heard people say that 'officials are greedy for ink', so I hate it."

Soon, the Wuchang Uprising broke out, and all provinces responded one after another. Li Chibi asked his father, "Why didn't our family revolt?" His father said, "What a stupid son! We country people, farming is our duty. You want Rise from the rebels, be careful not to leave your head." Li Chibi was furious, and cursed: "Coward! Coward!" Then he ran to a certain scholar's house and asked how to write the word "revolution", and the scholar wrote the word "revolution" to him.After Li Chibi came back, he tore off a piece of white cloth, pasted the words "revolution" on it, took a bamboo pole and hung it outside the door, and stood proudly underneath. He stopped the family and said: "Our family is in rebellion!" Everyone passing by laughed.

When a certain man heard about it, he sighed and said, "What a pity! Chibi only knows the word 'revolution'. If he has read the book, wouldn't he be a revolutionary great man who is rampant all over the world?" The story of Li Chibi is unavoidable. Ah Q... Presumably Ah Q was such a revolutionary back then.But having said that, most of the Ah Q who dared to rise up were ignorant, and even more Ah Q who dared not rise up were even more ignorant. This is probably the truth about the people and the Revolution of 1911. Feng Yuxiang described some of these "young revolutionaries" in his memoirs, saying, "Driven by enthusiasm, they were dissatisfied with the current darkness. They really had great ambitions and wanted to do something for the country and society. But soon because of their revolution, they Or when talking about revolution, after suffering a little setback and suffering a little, they immediately become discouraged and become pessimists. Some instead scold the revolution all day long, and some even surrender to the darkness, using the revolution to get promoted and get rich. As far as I know, there are many young people with lofty ideals, some are hard-working, sincere and meticulous, and they really dedicated themselves to the revolution with religious piety, but after a blow, they become another person, buried in the Eight Great Alleys all day In China, they indulge in pleasure and enjoy themselves, and never mention revolution again. Some are enthusiastic, usually talk loudly, slap the table and stamp their feet, and burst into tears. They are really good-looking revolutionaries, but they don’t have much time in Beijing society. , It changed, playing cards, drinking, smoking opium, and wandering alleys all day long, and the former revolutionary patriots immediately became masters of eating, drinking, whoring, gambling and bragging.”

What's even more amazing is that at that time, an old Mr. Li Liugeng was extremely worried and angry when he saw these situations. Every morning, he carried a gong and went to Bada Hutong to beat the sixth watch, shouting: "You young revolutionaries, are you still awake?" , the country is about to end!" Sometimes in broad daylight, his old man was running up and down the street with a lantern on, and when people asked him what he was doing, he would say with tears in his eyes, "I'm looking for someone! I can't see anyone all day long. , This place is full of ghosts!" Later, this old Mr. Li became insane and died of grief and indignation.Another revolutionary named Zou Yongcheng was extremely desperate after Yuan Shikai became the president. He wrote a desperate poem and then threw himself into the Huangpu River.

Shen Peizhen, a strange woman in the early years of the Republic of China, initially pursued the revolution, but after the Tongmenghui and the Revolutionary Party lost power, she took refuge in the Beiyang faction. Later, he recognized Duan Zhigui, the popular "Yu Gan'er" at that time, as his "uncle" and worked for the imperial movement.Ms. Shen Peizhen has a bold and unrestrained temperament, so the relationship between "father and daughter" and "nephew and uncle" is naturally a bit unclear.With the introduction of these two bigwigs, Shen Peizhen later claimed to be a "president's protégé" and transformed into a female pioneer advocating the monarchy.

There is a "Shenzhou Daily" in Shanghai. The editor Wang Pengnian was stranded in Beijing because of the election of members of the House of Representatives. As a last resort, he directed the report from Beijing.Because Ms. Shen Peizhen's style has always been bold and unrestrained, she was published in "Shenzhou Daily" for three consecutive days about her affair in Xingchunju. joke.Shen Peizhen was furious when she learned about it, and immediately asked Wang Pengnian to buy wine and confess to the newspaper. Instead of listening, Wang Pengnian continued to expose his secrets in the newspaper, and even involved important people such as Jiang Chaozong and Duan Zhigui.Shen Peizhen was not a vegetarian either, and she led more than 20 "women with lofty ideals" Liu Si, Miss Zhu San, and more than 20 people, plus the guards sent by Jiang Chaozong, and many people went to Wang Pengnian's residence to show power.

Wang Pengnian got the news in advance and hid outside. When Shen Peizhen and others arrived, the "women with lofty ideals" swarmed up, smashed all the bottles and jars in the Wang family hall, and then beat the table and cursed. Peng Nian waited to settle accounts with him.At this time, Guo Tong, a Jiangxi member who was then a member of the Senate, happened to be living in the study of Wang Pengnian's home. He saw Shen Peizhen and his gang playing wild in Wang's house, so he came out to argue with these people.Shen Peizhen was worried that she couldn't find someone to vent her anger on, so she led the heroines into the study where Guo Tong lived, making a mess all over the place.

Guo Tong was furious and yelled at these people, but Guo Tong was only a literati, and he was no match for the fists of many heroines.I saw this group of people swarming up, some grabbed Guo Tong's hair, some grabbed Guo Tong's ears and even his nose, and some twisted Guo Tong's hands and hugged Guo Tong's legs. , Shouting "Get out", Guo Tong was thrown into the altar in the yard, and even his belt was broken. At this time, Wang Pangnian's friend, a congressman named Liu, who once threw ink cartridges in the parliament, happened to pass by. He saw Shen Peizhen and others messing around here, so he grabbed Shen Peizhen and asked: "You people, don't pay attention to the influence, Why are you playing the ugly scene of Wang's mother cursing the streets here?" Shen Peizhen said: "You are a decent person, let me tell you, Wang Pengnian published in the "Shenzhou Daily" that we were waiting to drink at Xingchunju, and deliberately treated us. Spreading rumors and smearing seriously damaged our reputation." Liu asked: "Then why are you beating Guo Tong?" The fourth grandma Liu, who participated in the drinking order, squeezed over and said: "Wang Pengnian hid, Guo Tong came out to cover the bag, don't beat him, hit who?" At this time, Huang Zhenxiang, the team leader sent by Jiang Chaozong, also said: "If Wang Pengnian does not show up tonight, we will never leave this place." , Commander Jiang will be punished." After a while, Jiang Chaozong really called: "Wang Pengnian is not at home tonight, come back tomorrow." Presumably Wang Pengnian had sent someone outside to warn Jiang Chaozong, so he So it was withdrawn, but the "Shenzhou Daily" still asked the "Shenzhou Daily" to invite wine and publish the newspaper as an apology, and the matter was settled. After the matter was delayed for many days, Guo Tong complained to the capital local court for the collective violence of Jiang Chaozong and Shen Peizhen, and Wang Pengnian and Liu who caused the incident were both listed as witnesses.After the case was published in the newspapers, those who knew it laughed and said: "Guo Tong was beaten, Wang Pengnian was the victim, but he became a witness; Liu was a book boy who accompanied Mr. Wang to the garden to study." "Shanghai Times" A "Xinhua Bamboo Branch Poetry" was published on the Internet and satirized: "The most naughty Wang Shouchen (that is, Wang Pengnian), Xingchun sniffs the footnotes to be true; who dares to hit the Shenzhou Daily? Shen Peizhen, a protégé of the president." Guo Tong sued the local office; Liu Mazi was disturbed in the meeting place, and he was a witness in a daze." In addition to "Zhu Zhi Ci", "Shanghai Times" also has poems such as "A car at the entrance of the city, and Miss Zhu San is in the limelight".The so-called "Miss Zhu San" refers to the daughter of Zhu Qiqian, the former chief of internal affairs and the current director of preparations for the enthronement ceremony, who also participated in this grand event at that time.Yuan Shikai was quite furious when he learned about it, and said, "It's really inappropriate to be so bad as a woman." So he ordered Suzheng Shi Xia Shoukang to rectify the morals of the boudoir, and ordered Zhu Qiqian to strictly restrain the girls, and to punish them severely. Shen Peizhen. Seeing that Yuan Shikai lost his temper, Jiang Chaozong and others did not dare to show up to defend him, and Yin Chaozhen, the head of the local court, did not dare to backlog, so the trial of the case began.Beijing's "Shuntian Times" sent a special reporter to write about the incident, and published the article "Records of the Investigation of the Shenzhou Daily Case", which is quite hilarious: "Shen Peizhen led men and women to attack the "Shenzhou Daily", Wang Pengnian fled, Guo Tong sued the local court, amassed witnesses, and held a trial in the criminal court. The capital's various ministries and officials, as well as dozens of social celebrities, all sat in the building. Observe the trial. Yin Chaozhen came to the court for trial, first passed Guo Tong, second Shen Peizhen, etc., second witness Wang, and second witness Liu. Yin said to Liu: "First take an oath and testify according to the facts." " "Liu said: 'According to the facts, men and women scolded each other that day, the state was ugly and unbearable, just tell the truth, breaking the law or not breaking the law?' The people on the arcade shouted loudly: 'No breaking the law! Not breaking the law! Tell me quickly !' Yin Nailing took the oath, and Liu made a statement based on the facts; Yin felt that what Liu said was too ugly, and he had a painful expression that he couldn't bear to listen to. Breaking the law.' The people on the arcade were listening with gusto, and they shouted again: 'Speak up, keep talking, you won't break the law!'..." In the end, the court ruled that Guo Tong won the case, and Shen Peizhen was fined and imprisoned for half a year.After the verdict was pronounced, Shen Peizhen cried loudly: "Others told me to fight the "Shenzhou Daily", but I suffered here!" In the Republic of China, there were not a few cases of reputation disputes caused by running newspapers. For example, a newspaper in Yangzhou published an advertisement for a certain female doctor, which caused incidents.The advertisement said: "Ms. Zhao Jingxiong is the daughter-in-law of the late Mr. Xiaolian Hanqing. She graduated from the Shanghai Obstetrics Specialized Hospital. Experience.... Now that I have graduated and returned to the hospital, I will return to the hospital in the second half of the year to take up important positions in the hospital. After hearing about it, my colleagues thought that I would like to be an expert in obstetrics. The township is a blessing. Therefore, I do my best to ask her to go on the road. The lady agreed with her kindness to retain her. From now on, a clinic will be set up to wait for treatment in the house of Huashen Temple Lane. Anyone who has childbirth and other internal and external diseases, please do not I lost it by crossing my hips. Sincerely, Wang, Zhang, Zhao and others." When Ms. Zhao saw that the word "arm" in "fortunately not to cross arms" was mistaken for the word "hip" in the newspaper, she was so angry that her face was flushed, and then she took her seven aunts and eight aunts to report to the manager of the newspaper. Wang questioned.After investigation, it was found that the chief writer and manager of the newspaper were both run by the same person. The first typesetting sample was the word "arm", but later changed it to the word "hip" in red and black water for unknown reasons, and the third school was self-edited by Wang.It turned out that Wang had proposed marriage to Ms. Zhao, but was rejected, so love turned to hatred. This move was intentional molestation.Later, Zhao sued Wang and the newspaper in court, and ended up paying several silver dollars to settle the matter. After the imperial examination was abolished at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the qualifications of officials and the system of appointment and removal were disconnected. Therefore, the Beiyang government held four county magistrate examinations in the early years of the Republic of China. Because it was a new thing, there were inevitably various panics and absurdities. This is recorded vividly in "Interesting History of the Republic of China". The governor's examination is divided into two parts, one is a written test and the other is an oral test.The first thing to do is the written test. According to the regulations, candidates will arrive at seven o'clock, roll call first, and then test papers will be distributed.After entering the arena, the examinees sat down, and everyone looked at each other and speculated on the experience and qualifications of their opponents: some were half-flattering and half-respectful, and they could be recognized at a glance as former Qingfu county officials because they had held hands and had experience as officials; Those with a shabby air, we can tell that they are former Qing officials, because the officials in the capital are poor, and they have not yet been purely bureaucratic; those who behave frivolously and triumphantly are mostly new graduates, because they do not know the difficulty of the exam; Those who are supercilious and proud must be members of the two houses, and they seem to have the tendency to throw ink cartridges at the Speaker; Over time, the cuffs will inevitably wear out holes. At this time, a police officer came in and saw him walking back and forth in the examination room holding a big card in his hand, on which were clearly written the words "Strictly search the bag" to prevent candidates from cheating.As soon as the test questions were distributed, another test committee member ran in and said loudly: "In yesterday's test, there were as many as 17 candidates who found the pockets. You are all useful talents. Don't let such things happen again, and ruin the exam. If there is a bag, once it is found, it will be deducted from the test, and you must be careful." Not long after, a member of the supervision field suddenly shouted: "This person has a pocket, fasten his paper, and get out!" After hearing this, everyone hurriedly looked up and saw an old man from the south picking up the cheat sheet. He was watched by the surveillance field.Seeing everyone looking at him, the old gentleman forced a smile on his face at first, as if he didn't understand what the supervisor said.But soon a police officer came outside the court, buckled his paper clip bag, and huddled him out. Only then did the old man realize the serious consequences, so he had to leave with tears in his eyes. Due to the abolition of the imperial examination for a long time, the examinees are neglected in the examination room, so when they are struggling with writing, they will inevitably pull out books such as historical treatises or township examinations from their cuffs or coats to help inspire inspiration.However, the proctors are also very strict in patrolling. In one exam, more than 20 people were detained for being involved in the exam, including the two current governors. After being arrested, they were ordered to come out.What's even more ridiculous is that in a certain exam, a person borrowed the toilet to peek at the cheat sheet, and was spotted by the invigilating police.This person was extremely wise, he threw the entrainment into the urine bucket, and touched it to the bottom with his hands, his hands were dripping, and the stench was tangy.The policeman was afraid that he would be stained with urine, so he let him run away. During the oral exam, there are more jokes.Before entering the arena, everyone said that the oral test should pay equal attention to "knowledge, experience, and equipment". Therefore, older people try to make themselves younger, while some students who are under 30 years old reserve An inch or so short beard, in a popular Western style, to appear more mature.After the first oral test, the candidates found that those who were dressed in gorgeous clothes, although they answered the questions fluently and were proficient in business affairs, they were not selected.Therefore, the candidates at the back hurriedly changed into the commoner clothes with wide robes and large sleeves, pretending to be mature and steady, in order to cater to the psychology of the chief examiner, and the front of the examination room turned into a shabby atmosphere. Oral exams are generally regular, with the longest ones being about five minutes and the shortest ones being only one or two minutes.Generally speaking, candidates who have served as county magistrates and local government officials will ask more questions. Those who have only graduated from a school or only served as an official in the central government will generally have short questions.For example, in an oral exam, the chief examiner was Zhu Qiqian, Minister of the Interior, and a member of the House of Representatives came to take the exam. Although his application history did not indicate his identity as a member of the assembly, Zhu Qiqian said when he saw him: "Are you a member of parliament?" Said: "Yes." Zhu asked again: "Are you a member of the House of Representatives or a senator?" A certain gentleman replied: "A member of the House of Representatives." Zhu Qiqian asked again: "Have you ever handled administrative affairs?" A certain gentleman replied: "No. " Zhu Qiqian stopped asking and asked him to go to the examination room. There were three examiners in the oral examination room, and the chief examiner also asked: "Have you ever been a member of parliament?" A gentleman said: "That's right." The examiners shook their heads and asked again: "Have you never been an official before?" A certain gentleman replied "No." The examiners shook their heads again and asked: "When did you graduate from Dongyang and when did you return to China?" A certain gentleman replied: "I graduated in Xuantong three years ago and returned to China in July of that year." The examiner asked again "How many years have you been in Dongyang?" A certain gentleman replied: "Six years." The examiner asked again: "What did you do when you returned from graduation?" A certain gentleman replied: "I used to be a member of the House of Representatives in Nanjing. "The three examiners looked at each other, shook their heads and said: "The question is over, please go." Seeing that the situation was not right, a certain gentleman had to cover his nose and retreat. After the announcement of the first governor's exam, most of the newly graduated students failed.A student angrily wrote a letter to the chief executive, Zhu Qiqian, titled "For Petition to Delete and Amend the Examination Qualifications to Compassionate the Situation", saying: "Stealing the interim promulgation of the Governor's Examination on December 2, the second year of the Republic of China, issued by the President's order to all the State Councilors. The qualifications for the examination stipulated in Article 2 of the Regulations are those who have graduated from law and politics within three years. The first item is listed in the first item. The emperor’s decree is clear to the eyes and ears of the people. Those who commented all said that the government sincerely seeks talents and reforms politics, so there are only a lot of students who come to the examination. The first test and the second test were announced, and they were among the best. It is said that the government has never been sincere. After the oral test, the previous case was completely reversed. All the applicants were experienced old people... The government should remind students to come to Beijing from afar It's not easy. Among them, the poor and poor people live in eighty-nine out of ten, and most of them wear classic clothes and sell land. Only then can they gather Sichuan funds and come to Beijing to take the exam, and they are deceived by them. The new policy is that graduation qualifications should not be stipulated. If the current regulations are the same, but if the exams are like this, how can they be trusted by the world? The government only wants to make jokes and cheat, and people who don't know the world can't bear it! For this reason, I ask the government to be merciful, and delete the first qualification, so as not to be deceived by it again. The poor are lucky! The students all over the country are lucky! I would like to submit it.” The students were not admitted because of the exam, and the writing was very angry. In fact, the number of people who have been ranked in the imperial examination has always been a small number, and the county magistrate exam in the Republic of China is also the same.It is said that after the exam, more than 5,000 people returned frustrated, so that the Beijing-Hanzhou-Tianjin Railway was so congested these days that the railway department took advantage of it... This happened in the early years of the Republic of China.