Chapter 19 18. Yuan Shikai's "The History of the President"

After the "Second Revolution", Yuan Shikai's power temporarily reached its climax, but at that time there were still two important issues that had not been resolved. One was to formulate the official constitution of the Republic of China, and the other was to elect the official president of the Republic of China.After Yuan Shikai struggled for a long time, he realized that he was actually just a temporary president. Yuan Shikai didn't want to pay attention to the fact that the constitution was not a constitution. He believed that the most urgent task was to convert this temporary president into a formal president.The word "temporary" sounds awkward no matter how you hear it, not to mention that Sun Dapao, who was driven to Japan, also stayed in this position for three months.Therefore, after suppressing the resistance of the revolutionaries, what Yuan Shikai was most anxious about was self-righteousness, from the interim president to the full-fledged president.Although the days to come are still long, the key steps must be taken well.

Members had two opinions at that time, one was to formulate the constitution first, and then elect the president;The former view holds that the chicken comes first and then the egg. Without a formal constitution, where does the official president come from?At first, this view dominated. However, the latter point of view sounds good, because constitution-making is a long and prudent process, like a century-old project, and a decision cannot be made hastily by patting the head; however, the current situation requires an efficient administrative system. The president is an imminent matter, not to mention that now because there is no official president, it is inconvenient for countries to recognize it-the Republic of China has been "the second year of the Republic of China", and it has not yet obtained an official football membership in the world.

Before the "Second Revolution", the views of the two factions were evenly matched, but after the "Second Revolution", the situation was quite different.Yuan Shikai, who has a strong army and a wealth of money, is not what it used to be, and his power has increased sharply. If he wants to care about the president's conversion, the members of Congress cannot be too enthusiastic about the formulation of the constitution.Therefore, in the end, the councilors succumbed to Yuan Shikai's opinion, first elected, then made the constitution, and first straightened Yuan Shikai.

It stands to reason that the "Presidential Election Law" was originally a part of the constitution, but now that President Yuan is in a hurry, the congressmen have no choice but to concentrate on this part first. On October 4, 1913, after the approval of both houses of Congress, the Constitution Drafting Committee announced the newly released "Presidential Election Law", preparing for the presidential election two days later. Why a presidential election two days later?It turns out that in a few days it will be the birthday of the Republic of China, which is the Double Tenth National Day.Yuan Shikai hoped that the official inauguration ceremony of the President would be held on this day, which would not only facilitate the recognition of the Republic of China by European and American countries, but also make good things come in pairs, icing on the cake. Wouldn't it be beautiful?

Long before the "Second Revolution", Yuan Shikai was already planning this matter.Given that the Kuomintang was the largest party in Congress at that time, with a large number of people, it would be troublesome if it fought against each other in the election.After all, the Republic of China was established, it was both a republic and a democracy, and Yuan Shikai at that time had to put on a show after all.Although it is simple and easy to use force to solve problems, it is a bit naked after all, and it will lose face. Liang Qichao supported Yuan Shikai's enlightened autocracy at that time, which made Yuan Shikai very satisfied. Later, he allocated a special fund of 1.6 million yuan from the aftermath loan, and asked Liang Qichao to plan the merger of several other political parties in the Congress. against the KMT.After Liang Qichao arrived in Beijing, he actively negotiated with the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, and the United Party, preparing to merge into a large political party to fight against the Kuomintang.

In fact, the political parties in the early years of the Republic of China did not have a very principled position. They heard that Liang Qichao took more than one million yuan in activity funds, and Yuan Shikai supported them. In addition, Liang Qichao was such a famous person. Why not merge and form a party?After obtaining preliminary intentions, Liang Qichao held a symposium in the name of Li Yuanhong, chairman of the Republican Party, and invited members of the three parties in Congress to a dinner to exchange feelings.At the three-party symposium, Liang Qichao gave a very wonderful speech. He pointed out: "At present, the three parties of the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, and the United Party cannot hold a majority in Congress. This phenomenon is extremely worrying. Regardless of whether it is for the consideration of the three parties or the opposition party, the three parties should be merged so that China can gradually face a confrontation between the two major parties, so that party politics can gradually get on the right track." Regarding Liang Qichao's political conception of "two-party competition", Tang Hualong, Sun Wu and others expressed their support one after another, and the merger of the three parties went very smoothly. On May 29, the three parties held a merger meeting in Beijing. At that time, more than a thousand party members attended the meeting, and the scene was quite spectacular.At the meeting, the representatives of the three parties announced that they would formally merge into the "Progressive Party." Zhou Ziqi, Xiong Xiling, Zhang Shaozeng, Yan Xishan, Hu Jingyi, Yin Changheng, Cai E, Tang Jiyao, Lu Rongting, Zhang Zhenfang, Yang Zengxin, Cheng Dequan, Zhu Rui and more than 20 celebrities, and more than 100 councilors, the lineup can be described as strong.

In fact, the leaders and backbone of the merged Progressive Party were former Constitutionalists in the late Qing Dynasty.Under the influence of Liang Qichao, the Progressive Party's political stance tended to support Yuan Shikai's government, and its main role was to oppose the Kuomintang in the Congress and support Yuan Shikai's centralization of power.Of course, this is not out of the category of party politics, needless to say. Yuan Shikai was still not at ease, and also instructed Liang Shiyi, the Secretary-General of the Presidential Palace, to come forward and buy some other members of Congress, such as Li Qingfang, Mei Guangyuan, Kang Jiachen, Lu Mengxiong, etc., with a monthly subsidy of 200 yuan, and then gathered to sneak in. Small groups such as the Society, Jiyi Society, and Members' Comrade Association, and established the Civic Party before the election (September 18).The Civic Party does nothing else, and its only purpose is to help Yuan Shikai to the throne of the President.

After defeating Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing and others by force, Yuan Shikai relied on the power of victory, thinking that the presidential election should be no problem now.Even if there was a problem, Yuan Shikai also set up a plan. On October 6, 759 members of Congress came to the election venue to formally elect the first official president of the Republic of China.According to the newly promulgated "Presidential Election Law", the election of the President requires two-thirds of the members to be present, and the election is conducted by secret ballot. Candidates must obtain more than three-quarters of the votes to be elected.Although the Kuomintang members held the majority in the Congress at that time, they did not propose candidates because they were implicated by the "second revolution"; as for others, they were just accompanying the prince to study and helping Yuan Shikai to decorate his appearance.

At the beginning, the election was normal.After the first ballot, according to statistics, Yuan Shikai got 471 votes, Li Yuanhong got 154 votes, and several other candidates got only sporadic votes.Although Yuan Shikai got the highest number of votes this time, because some members cast invalid votes, Yuan Shikai's votes still did not reach the statutory three-quarters majority, so another vote was needed. At this moment, thousands of irrelevant people who looked like soldiers suddenly came outside the election venue. They came to watch the election under the banner of "citizens' group".After hearing that Yuan Shikai had not been elected, these "spectators" strode into the venue neatly and solemnly. The members who were voting were immediately surrounded by three layers of them inside and outside, making it difficult to fly.

When did the congressmen see such a "democratic" posture, they had no choice but to push the speaker to negotiate, asking these people to leave the venue and not to interfere in the election.Unexpectedly, after the group of people heard this, they yelled loudly: "We are all civic groups. Today's election of a president is of great importance. If you elect a president who lives up to everyone's expectations, we will not agree! Our ugly words are up front. If you choose someone who is not human, you will not be able to walk out of the venue today!" In such a situation, the congressmen also understood seven points.But don't tell me, the congressmen at that time still had some backbone. Under such high pressure, they refused to vote for Yuan Shikai.

After the second election, although Yuan Shikai won 497 votes, Li Yuanhong also got a few more votes (162 votes), and Yuan Shikai still did not reach the required majority.From the effect point of view, the "citizens' group" approach is actually adding to the chaos. The few votes that Li Yuanhong won are likely to be voted by Kuomintang members, although they may not support Vice President Li. Since the voting process was not very proficient at the time, it took about 4 hours to complete the process from invoicing, filling in votes, voting, counting votes, and counting votes. Therefore, the congressmen were hungry and planned to hold a third election tomorrow.But these "citizen groups" did not agree. They had already surrounded the venue, allowing people to enter and not allowing them to leave. Even the surrounding walls were full of military police. When it was night, the congressmen were so hungry that they wanted to break out the gate to find something to eat, but that didn't work.Before the congressmen reached the door, they were grabbed by members of the "Citizens Corps". They yelled at the slightest and punched them hard, and fled back to the venue in embarrassment.The most ridiculous thing is that some councilors like to smoke opium, and they can't replenish their addiction for a while. This group of people yawned in the venue, their noses were not snot, and their tears were not tears. Citizens Corps" joke. There are also meals delivered.For example, when the Citizens' Party, which supported Yuan Shikai, brought meals to their congressmen, the people from the "Citizens' League" let them go straight in.The Progressive Party also sent people to deliver food, but these vicious "citizen groups" didn't let them in casually. People from the Progressive Party hurriedly said: "We support President Yuan!" The citizen group smiled and waved their hands. Said: "Then go in quickly!" The Kuomintang sent someone to deliver food, saying: "We belong to the Kuomintang, and we will deliver food to the congressmen!" !" Seeing that they were not allowed to go out unless the election continued, the MPs had no choice but to swallow their anger and proceed to vote for the third time.According to Article 2 of the "Grand Presidential Election Law": "When no one is elected in two ballots, the two who get the most votes in the second round will be elected, and the one who gets more than half of the votes will be elected."In other words, this time only one person can be elected between Yuan Shikai and Li Yuanhong, and only a majority can be elected. When the ballots were distributed to the congressmen, members of the "citizens' group" shouted again: "Elect President Yuan!" "Whoever doesn't vote for President Yuan, don't even think about going out!" "Whoever doesn't vote for President Yuan, don't even think about eating! "Under this sound, the hungry Kuomintang MPs have already become weak and dizzy.But even so, there are still some hard-core members who crossed the ballot papers in protest.When the voting ended, Yuan Shikai won 507 votes, which was more than half of the votes, and was elected as the first official president of the Republic of China. In fact, there was no suspense about Yuan Shikai's election as the first official president. The behavior of the "citizens' group" was really self-defeating. The voting that should have ended in the afternoon was not ended until ten o'clock in the evening, and they were almost hungry. Kill a few people.When the results of the vote were announced, those congressmen were either dizzy from hunger or fainted from suffocation. They didn't have the energy to applaud and congratulate the new president on his election. After hearing that Yuan Shikai had been elected, those members of the "citizen group" were elated. They shouted "Long live the President" a few times, and then rushed away, presumably going to the designated place to receive the reward.I only feel sorry for those Kuomintang congressmen who have been hungry for more than ten hours. In the chaos, they leaned on the wall and walked out the door tremblingly-don't say anything, go straight to the noodle shop! At this time, the presidential palace was extremely lively, with firecrackers blasting inside and shouts of long live, the people who came to warmly congratulate almost broke through the threshold.Thus, the election scandal directed by Yuan Shikai finally came to an end. Alas!Ladies and gentlemen, if President Yuan is acting like this, do you think China's road to democracy will be smooth?Who can predict how many ugly dramas of deception and rape of public opinion will be staged in the future?Such a bad precedent, Yuan Shikai who initiated it, can he absolve himself of the blame? The next day, the congressmen continued to elect the vice president, but this time the people from the Citizens League did not come to support, and the venue was sparse, and the number of people present was much smaller, but Li Yuanhong was barely elected.After Li Yuanhong learned that he was elected vice president, he was neither surprised nor happy, and his mind was as calm as water. He also felt that there was nothing to congratulate when others congratulated him. On October 10, 1913, Yuan Shikai finally got his wish and became the official president. He deliberately put the inauguration ceremony together with the National Day, and borrowed the Hall of Supreme Harmony from the Qing Dynasty merchants to hold this grand ceremony.This should be the most glorious moment in Yuan Shikai's life. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is grand and imposing. It was originally used by the former emperors to hold enthronement ceremonies. Although weeds have grown here after the Qing emperor abdicated, after careful cleaning by the staff of the Presidential Palace, it is clean and tidy. Gorgeous, just waiting for President Yuan to come to take the oath. At ten o'clock in the morning, all civil and military officials and ministers from various countries have arrived.Under the guidance of the chief ceremony officer, President Yuan, dressed in a brand-new marshal uniform, strode in. At this time, the Chinese music was played, and the salute was also set off outside. A total of 101 shots were fired, and the atmosphere was very solemn. After the salute was fired, the attendant delivered the presidential oath, and Yuan Shikai read it accordingly.Under the guidance of the chief ceremonial officer, all the officials below bowed to the president three times, and President Yuan also bowed back.At this time, the Chinese music played again, and President Yuan slowly left the stage amidst the sound of the music, and went to the rest room to take a rest. After the envoys from various countries had arrived at the auditorium and waited, President Yuan went to meet them again under the guidance of the chief ceremonial officer.After the Chinese and foreign sides bowed and saluted each other, the British minister, as a representative of the mission, read out the eulogy, and an interpreter was there to translate it. It was the same when President Yuan replied.At this point, even if countries recognize the ROC's citizenship, there is a new republic in the world. After Yuan Shikai finished exchanging greetings with the ministers of various countries, Duan Qirui, the army chief in uniform, walked in and reported to President Yuan that the military parade ceremony was ready, and invited President Yuan to go to Tiananmen for the military parade.This should be regarded as the beginning of China's military parade.President Yuan invited ministers from various countries to watch the ceremony together. Under the leadership of the president, all civil and military officials and ministers from various countries came to Tiananmen Square. At this time, in Tiananmen Square, more than 20,000 Beiyang soldiers were waiting for orders. They lined up in a square formation, and the guns in their hands had been cleaned. Fang Bu, showing off in front of the President (probably many of them are members of the "Citizens Corps").When President Yuan saw the long faces of the troops he had trained by himself, and heard the flattery and praise from the ministers of various countries, he was naturally overjoyed and beamed with joy.When he was happy, President Yuan also rewarded and awarded medals to all the meritorious ministers: the three most meritorious, and one was awarded an honor, namely Xu Shichang, Zhao Bingjun and Shixu——Shixu was originally a representative of the Qing Dynasty, and he was not here. As an official in the Republic of China, I don't know why he was awarded; the governors of each province awarded two honors, namely Zhu Rui, the governor of Zhejiang, Cai E, the governor of Yunnan, Yan Xishan, the governor of Shanxi, and Tang Jiyao, the governor of Guizhou; There are three, four, and five honors awarded—anyway, this thing doesn’t cost money, and it’s not worth much, so it’s okay to issue a few more.Not only that, President Yuan also specially ordered the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and the Ministry of Communications to issue a notice that all public entertainment venues will be open for three days. As I write this, I would like to remind everyone that at this time Yuan Shikai took office as president. Except for the revolutionaries who fled overseas who gritted their teeth with hatred, it was completely expected by the people at that time. "Woolen cloth! To be honest, in this thriving atmosphere, everyone hopes that under the leadership of President Yuan, the Republic of China can become prosperous and strong, sweeping away the humiliation and sorrow of the past, but who would have expected that Yuan Shikai would mess around and make a fool of himself? To get the fame of this life is to pay for it.Is it a pity that a hero becomes a clown?What a pity?Poor?History is so absurd and cruel, which makes people sigh.