Chapter 12 11. There are many disputes over the establishment of the capital, and who advocates the sudden mutiny?

After the Qing emperor's abdication was settled, Yuan Shikai, satisfied with his heart, sent someone to send a telegram to the Southern Revolutionary Party, claiming that the republic is the best form of government, which is not easy to come by.After receiving the telegram, Sun Yat-sen naturally understood the meaning of Yuan Shikai's words, and submitted his resignation to the provisional Senate the next day, and recommended Yuan Shikai as the provisional president to fulfill his previous promise. However, when Sun Yat-sen offered to resign, he also put forward three prerequisites, namely: first, the interim government must be located in Nanjing; second, the new interim president must go to Nanjing to take office; Formulate and promulgate all laws and regulations.

The reason why Sun Yat-sen insisted on establishing the capital in Nanjing and asked Yuan Shikai to take office in Nanjing was not to do so, the purpose was to restrict Yuan Shikai, because Yuan Shikai's influence was mainly in the north.However, what kind of person is Yuan Shikai? He has been up and down in the officialdom for more than 30 years, and he has never seen any big storms. How could he fail to see Sun Yat-sen's intentions?Furthermore, the north is Yuan Shikai's lair, how can he go south alone and become a puppet of the Southern Revolutionary Party?The outcome of the proposal to establish Nanjing as the capital is not known to the wise.

Sure enough, as soon as Yuan Shikai's telegram was released, public opinion from all sides expressed opposition to the establishment of Nanjing as the capital. For example, eight associations including Minshe, Minli Daily, and National Association issued a joint statement, claiming that "the establishment of Beijing as the capital is the key to the domestic and foreign affairs of the Republic of China." , if we give up the north and take the south, the imperial party will inevitably resurgence, and the powerful enemy will also take the opportunity to invade”; and the revolutionary veteran Zhang Taiyan even jumped out and sang the opposite. He declared that Nanjing is biased and has “five evils” (from history From the looks of it, Nanjing is indeed an ominous capital), and publicly accused Sun Yat-sen of deliberately provoking trouble.

Under the instigation of public opinion, the governors of various provinces and representatives of gentry and merchants also called the Nanjing Provisional Government to express their objections to the establishment of Nanjing as the capital.Even Li Yuanhong, who had always advocated the establishment of Wuchang as the capital, changed his tune to support Beijing's establishment of the capital at this time, "so as not to cause serious trouble."Many generals in the Southern Revolutionary Army, such as Zhu Rui, commander of the Zhejiang Army, Yao Yuping, commander of the Guangdong Army, and Bai Wenwei, commander of the First Army, also issued telegrams, advocating that the provisional government should be established in Beijing.

What Sun Yat-sen did not expect was that the members of the provisional Senate were not very determined about the establishment of Nanjing. Perhaps they thought that Sun Yat-sen's ideas were too naive, or they were eager to maintain the hard-won peace. As a result, they quarreled over the establishment of the capital. In the end, it had to be decided by voting.The results of the voting were unexpected. There were 20 votes for the capital Beijing, but only five votes for the capital Nanjing, and two votes for Wuchang and one vote for Tianjin.After Sun Yat-sen learned of this result, he called a meeting of members of the Tongmenghui that night and asked them to unify their positions. As a result, the Provisional Senate met again the next day to discuss the issue of establishing the capital.

In order to ensure the reconsideration and reversal of the case, Huang Xing came to the scene the next day and declared that if Nanjing was not the capital, he would lead a military police team into the Senate to tie up all members of the alliance membership.After intensive consultations by members of the alliance Wu Yuzhang and others, the provisional Senate voted again, and finally decided to establish Nanjing as the capital with a result of 19 votes to 17 votes. In order to urge Yuan Shikai to take office in Nanjing as soon as possible, Sun Yat-sen decided to send a special mission to Beijing to welcome Yuan Shikai to the south.The special mission was headed by Cai Yuanpei, Chief Education Officer of the Provisional Government, Wei Chenzuo, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Liu Guanxiong, Adviser of the Navy, Niu Yongjian, Deputy Chief of Staff, Song Jiaoren, Director of Legal Affairs Bureau, Wang Zhengting, Director of Hubei Foreign Affairs Department, and Wang Jingwei, former Yi and Counselor, as welcome members. The lineup is not too strong, and the ceremony is not too grand.Accompanied by Tang Shaoyi, Yuan Shikai's negotiating representative, the special envoy to welcome Yuan set off from Shanghai on February 21 and rushed to Beijing to meet the President.

Yuan Shikai heard that the Southern Special Mission had already set off, but he was not in a panic. He just told them to treat them well along the way and not to neglect the southern guests.When the mission was about to arrive in Tianjin, Yuan Shikai sent his eldest son, Yuan Keding, to meet him in person in Tianjin to show his importance.After arriving in Beijing, the special mission was arranged to rest in a specially prepared embassy.The next day, Cai Yuanpei, Song Jiaoren, Wang Jingwei and others went to Yuan's mansion to discuss the matter of going south. Yuan Shikai never neglected and went out to greet him in person.After the two parties saluted, Cai Yuanpei handed over to Yuan Shikai the official resolution of the Senate voting on Yuan Shikai's appointment as interim president and Sun Yat-sen's letter, and explained his intention.

Yuan Shikai glanced at the official document, frowned deliberately and sighed: "I think I retired to the mountains and forests four years ago. Unexpectedly, last year, the country's affairs changed dramatically. I had no choice but to come back out of the rivers and lakes to relieve the people's difficulties. Now that the republic has been established, we I just want to be a peaceful commoner, so why do the princes in the south insist on choosing me and urging me to go south? Could it be that in this great China, there is no more suitable talent than me?" After hearing this, Cai Yuanpei, the person in charge of the special mission, said: "Why should President Yuan be humble? Now that the Qing emperor has abdicated and the Republic has swept away the thousands of years of autocratic system, President Yuan has done a great job. The Nanjing Provisional Senate elected the old man as the interim president. It is indeed what everyone expects, and I hope that President Yuan will put the overall situation first and go to Nanjing to take office as soon as possible, so as to comfort the wishes of all parties, and the cause of the Republic will be very lucky!"

Yuan Shikai pretended to be in trouble, and said: "The people in the south want me to go south as soon as possible, and the people in the north are trying hard to keep me in Beijing, but I don't have the ability to separate myself. How can I make it work? I want to go to Nanjing to take up a job, but the situation in the north is not stable now. , I am afraid the situation does not allow it!" After hearing this, the young and energetic Song Jiaoren retorted: "President Yuan's words are wrong! The overthrow of the imperial system this time was caused by the Wuchang uprising and Nanjing's success. What's more, Nanjing has set up a provisional Senate and a provisional government. Now that President Sun has resigned, the When public opinion is the most important thing, why is it so slow to go south to take office, hindering the great cause of the republic?"

Yuan Shikai was about to refute, when Tang Shaoyi, the peace representative who came back from Nanjing yesterday, came in to help him out: "Brother Song! You are making a big talk here again! Now everyone is here, but please come to Yuan Gongnan, why bother?" Too much talk? As for Duke Yuan’s concern, it’s not unreasonable, as long as the situation in the north calms down a little bit, then we should take the time to set off and live up to the kindness of the south.” Yuan Shikai smiled slightly after hearing this, then got up and said: “What you said is very true, since The lords of the south are kindly inviting me, and I will do my best to go south as soon as possible."

Yuan Shikai's words full of sincerity made everyone in the special mission feel at ease, and the tense atmosphere changed instantly.Yuan Shikai was also good at seizing opportunities, and then he ordered a banquet to entertain distinguished guests from the south, and recommended Cai Yuanpei to sit at the head, Yuan Shikai himself as the head, and Tang Shaoyi also accompanied him.I saw that between cups and cups, the host and the guest had a pleasant conversation, but they no longer talked about state affairs. After returning to the embassy after the banquet, the members of the special envoy were three-point drunk, but still seven-point sober.To be honest, although they were satisfied with the outcome of the negotiation, they were not very sure whether Yuan Shikai would really go south to take office.That night, when the members of the special mission were discussing countermeasures, suddenly several cannons were heard from the north of the city, followed by people screaming, as if something had happened.Cai Yuanpei and others were extremely confused. They went to the window and pushed it open, but they saw that there was already a big fire not far away, and several houses were burning in the flames. In the afterglow of the fire, the members of the special envoy found groups of soldiers suddenly appearing on the street not far away. These gun-wielding Master Qiu Ba kept firing into the sky, and the bullets had long bright lights , constantly tearing at the originally quiet and peaceful night sky.The crisp gunshots didn't sound so friendly. What's worse, the group of rebels shouted and drank, set fire and looted along the way, but they seemed to be heading towards the building. The envoys and others were terrified, and when they were about to discuss what to do, a stray bullet suddenly flew in through the window, smashed a hole in the wall of the room and refracted it out.Wang Jingwei yelled: "It's terrible! Fortunately, the bullet didn't hit anyone, otherwise it wouldn't have killed him!" Cai Yuanpei said: "No, I'm afraid this is a mutiny!" Song Jiaoren was still calm, and immediately To the point: "This must be Yuan Shikai's method!" Before Song Jiaoren finished speaking, a group of rioting soldiers held up torches and slammed on the door of the building with a "bang bang bang". Brothers, don't disturb!" After hearing this, the soldiers yelled loudly: "What special envoy is not special envoy! The more special envoy, the more we will hit him!" Afterwards, the rebels fired more than a dozen random shots, and the bullets "swish" from the envoy. The members of the regiment roared past the windows of the rooms where the members lived, shocking Cai Yuanpei and others into a cold sweat. Under the critical situation, Cai Yuanpei said to the other members of the special envoy: "The situation is not good. It seems that these rebels seem to be coming for us. We don't want to send our lives here for nothing without completing our mission!" Wang Jingwei said: " It's useless to talk too much, we can't sit here and wait for death, why don't we find a way out from the backyard!" After hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement, and at that time they didn't have time to pack any documents and clothes, so they went downstairs and ran towards the backyard together. Before reaching the backyard, the rebels in front had smashed several big holes in the gate, yelling to rush in. When Cai Yuanpei and others heard it, they were as anxious as ants on a hot pot, wishing they could grow wings and fly over the wall outside.The backyard of the embassy building is not that high, but due to the black lights and blind lights, and the members of the special envoys are all gentlemen, they couldn't get over it for a while.Fortunately, someone touched a bench from the room later, and the members of the special mission group escaped through the wall. After leaving the embassy, ​​the special envoy saw that the streets were already in chaos, so they decided to act separately. Some people hid in a nearby church. Cai Yuanpei, Song Jiaoren, and Wang Jingwei originally wanted to go to Yuan Shikai's mansion to question, but the situation that night It's really confusing and unsatisfactory.Fortunately, Cai Yuanpei and Wang Jingwei were fairly familiar with Beijing, and finally escaped to the Liuguo Hotel in Dongjiaomin Lane without any danger. In the early morning of the next day, other members of the special envoy such as Wei Chenzui, Wang Zhengting and others also rushed to the Liuguo Hotel one after another. Everyone looked at each other and couldn't help laughing: I saw that some of them were not wearing coats, and some were wearing clothes. Those who had shoes but no socks, and those who wore socks but no shoes, the situation was extremely embarrassing, but fortunately no one was injured. After Yuan Shikai learned that Cai Yuanpei and others had fled to the Liuguo Hotel for refuge, he sent people to come to condolences and took them to the mansion to suppress the alarm.When Cai Yuanpei and others arrived at Yuan's mansion again, Yuan Shikai also had a sleepless night, and had already changed into breeches, riding boots, and military attire.Regarding what happened last night, Yuan Shikai seemed to be at a loss as well, and was hastily ordering people to investigate around to find out who took the lead in making trouble and what it was like. Soon, spies from all walks of life reported that the mutiny occurred in Beiyang No. 3 Town under the control of Cao Kun. They were originally stationed outside Beijing, but for some reason suddenly rushed into the city, ran to Dongcheng and Qianmen, looted wantonly, burned all the way, and ran away. Go to the cinder alley where the special mission lives.In the second half of the night, the mutiny continued to expand, and riots broke out in the west city and the north city. Local bandits took advantage of the news and took advantage of the fire to loot, and some policemen also joined the ranks of robberies.By early morning, thousands of shops, banks, and residential houses had been smashed and robbed, and hundreds of houses had been burned, as if to cover up the traces of the looting. Whether this mutiny was directed by Yuan Shikai, there is still no conclusive evidence.However, there is a rumor in the market that Yuan Shikai's eldest son, Yuan Keding, had discussed with several generals of the Beiyang Army, saying that if my father went south to take office, someone else would take over the governor of Zhili, and the Beiyang Army might be abolished by then. , It is very detrimental to everyone; if you want to prevent my father from going south, the first thing to do is to drive away the southern special mission. After Cao Kun and others heard this, they were very annoyed, and they said: "This matter is not difficult, as long as we let the brothers surround the residence of the special envoy at night and shoot twice to scare them away." Yuan Keding was very satisfied after hearing this, and said: "As long as you make trouble, it will be easy. Even if the special mission does not run away, the diplomatic mission in Dongjiaominxiang will come out to protest. At that time, my father will not be able to leave." Others said that on the second morning of the mutiny, when Tang Shaoyi was reporting the situation to Yuan Shikai, Cao Kun suddenly pushed in and reported to Yuan Shikai: "Yesterday, according to the secret order of the President, the mutiny has been completed!" Yuan Shikai Seeing that Cao Kun had slipped his mouth, he got up and cursed: "Nonsense, get out!" What is strange is that during the mutiny that night, Yuan Shikai’s cronies in charge of public security in Beijing did nothing. For example, Lu Jianzhang’s Law Enforcement Office did not intervene in the mutiny, and Zhao Bingjun, who was in charge of the police administration, ordered the entire city’s patrol police to withdraw that night. Post, not to interfere, so that many patrolmen themselves participated in robbery activities.However, what is strange is that although the robbery was large-scale, the mutiny basically did not kill or hurt anyone. It seemed that it was aimed at rich places, especially the banks in the city, which were the hardest hit. , Even the government's depository was robbed.According to later statistics, during the riot that night, the rioters stole at least 3 million taels of silver. Regarding the mutiny that night, Yuan Shikai was not very alarmed. He instructed several generals in Beijing, such as Jiang Guiti, not to fight those rebellious soldiers without authorization, so as not to make things worse.In fact, when Yuan Shikai learned that the rebels were robbing the bank, he felt a little relieved, because he had no money to pay the army at that time. Since the soldiers under him were "self-reliant", then let him go! In the morning, the mutiny basically subsided, and the rebels took the "trophies" they had grabbed that night and retreated outside the city one after another. Just when Yuan Shikai and the envoys were relieved, Tianjin and Baoding also sent telegrams saying that There was also a mutiny that night, and countless merchants and people were robbed. The situation was completely similar to that in Beijing.From this point of view, it is a bit unreasonable to say that these mutinies have nothing to do with Yuan Shikai. After the mutiny in Beijing, the foreign missions in Dongjiaomin Lane really responded quickly. They protested strongly to Yuan Shikai on the grounds that foreigners had also been robbed, and at the same time mobilized guards from Tianjin and other places to Beijing to strengthen patrols in the embassy area. alert.Not only that, but the envoys also threatened that if China did not immediately form a republican government and restore good order, they would mobilize more troops to enter Beijing, which would repeat the posture of the "Eight-Power Allied Forces" invading China. After a brief briefing on the mutiny, Yuan Shikai invited the southern envoys back to the Liuguo Hotel.In the next two days, Yuan Shikai no longer met with them, but sent people to send telegrams about incidents in various places to Cai Yuanpei and others to read from time to time, and his intention was self-evident.The envoys saw all the bad news in the telegrams from all over the country, and the local newspapers in Beijing all asked Yuan Shikai to stay in Beijing to stabilize the people's hearts and prevent the situation from deteriorating further and causing foreign forces to interfere; some newspapers even accused Yuan Shikai of It was the arrival of the special mission that made people's hearts unstable and led to the mutiny. Under the pressure of strong public opinion, Cai Yuanpei and others also felt pessimistic about the situation. They sent a telegram to Nanjing, saying: "After the mutiny in Beijing and Tianjin and other places, anarchy caused great harm, and outsiders seemed to interfere. Members of the mission met several times to discuss, and all members agreed that the purpose of our visit to Beijing must be sacrificed to preserve the critical situation.” Although Nanjing agreed to Yuan Shikai's inauguration in Beijing, it then asked Yuan Shikai to send a representative to make an explanation to the Provisional Senate.Now that the goal has been achieved, Yuan Shikai was of course very happy, and the next day after receiving the telegram, he sent two special envoys, Tang Zaili and Fan Yuanlian, to Nanjing to explain the situation. In fact, Yuan Shikai had secretly managed most of the members of the Provisional Senate, so Tang Zaili had just read the beginning of the draft of the situation statement in the conference hall, and there was already thunderous applause, expressing his understanding that Yuan Shikai did not need to go to Nanjing to take office.Subsequently, the Provisional Senate of Nanjing decided to allow Yuan Shikai to take office in Beijing, as long as the oath was telegraphed to the Provisional Senate and announced to the whole country. On March 10, Yuan Shikai was sworn in as the interim president of the Republic of China in the Diplomatic Building in Beijing (formerly the Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Qing Dynasty), wearing a tuxedo.On that day, the old bureaucrats of the former Qing Dynasty also lined up to congratulate the new president according to the practice of the former dynasty. Even Cai Yuanpei and others had to be among them, bowing and celebrating.At this point, the battle for the capital and the inauguration turmoil came to an end, and Yuan Shikai won a complete victory.Such an ending is like a folk song circulating at that time said: "Consult horizontally, discuss vertically, and others will taste the fruits of the pluck; let it be today, and let it be tomorrow, and the man-eating old ape will be the king!" After Yuan Shikai became president, some revolutionaries, such as Liu Kui, turned to seek refuge and change, while a few were pessimistic and even desperate, such as Zou Yongcheng, who threw himself into the Huangpu River after writing a desperate poem. Forgive the ape and monkey somersault, and I will die when the republic becomes a dream..."