Chapter 20 19. The Kuomintang was dissolved, and the Congress was also dissolved

During the "Second Revolution", some determined members of the Kuomintang, such as Zhang Ji, the chairman of the Senate, abandoned their seats and left Beijing to go south. However, after all, the majority were greedy for fame and fortune. Most (Of course, should abandoning seats without authorization and giving up legal struggle should be encouraged, or sticking to one's duty and striving to the end should be advocated, it is naturally a matter of benevolence and wisdom for the beholder). Yuan Shikai was also very troubled by these "troublesome" Kuomintang members, but before the time came, he had no choice but to hold back.When Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing and others blatantly "rebelled" in the south, some of Yuan Shikai's eager subordinates suggested that the KMT be disbanded immediately, and some even volunteered to lead troops to arrest these "rebellious parties".Yuan Shikai was furious after hearing this, and reprimanded him: "Don't do anything foolish!"

Does Yuan Shikai really want to respect party politics?of course not.Yuan Shikai did not take the opportunity to dissolve the Kuomintang at that time because the Congress had not yet elected him as the official president.If the Kuomintang is disbanded, the Congress will not be able to meet, and the election of a president will not be possible, and it will be troublesome. As the saying goes, "it's not that we didn't report, it's not time yet." After Yuan Shikai got the official president, he will find fault with Congress.The first problem Yuan Shikai found was the "Presidential Election Law".You may find it strange, didn't Yuan Shikai ascend to the official presidential throne according to the "Presidential Election Law", so what's wrong with this law?

It turned out that Article 30 of the "Provisional Constitution" stipulated that the interim president has the right to "promulgate laws". It was announced directly without Yuan Shikai's hand (members thought, Yuan Shikai must have no objection).Yuan Shikai kept this incident in his stomach at the time, but he was eager to become a regular at the time, so he temporarily forbeared it. A few days after becoming the official president, Yuan Shikai ordered the presidential office to send a message to the Congress, saying that the formulation of laws in the Republic of China should be divided into three processes: "proposal, resolution, and announcement". The Presidential Election Law, this is not only a contempt for the authority of the President, but also a violation of the President's right to announce and a violation of the Provisional Constitution. If this matter is not explained clearly, the impact will be extremely bad.At the end of the message, Yuan Shikai also asked members of Congress to give a reasonable answer immediately.What makes people happy is that Yuan Shikai quoted scriptures and classics in his speech, and quoted the "Provisional Agreement", which is really clear and clear, and it is not ambiguous at all.

At this time, members of Congress are busy discussing and considering the draft constitution of the Republic of China, and there is no time to hold a special meeting to discuss President Yuan Da's speech. Department and so on.It can be seen from this that the drafting of the Provisional Contract was too hasty, coupled with the limited skill of the drafters and selfishness, resulting in many ambiguous, unrealistic and even contradictory provisions, which Yuan Shikai caught.Originally, it is true that the legislature does not need the counter-signature of the executive head to promulgate laws. Why add a clause that the president has the power to "promulgate laws" in the Provisional Constitution?

Of course, Yuan Shikai did not really want to defend the Provisional Constitution in his speech. On the contrary, his real motive was not only to find fault with the Congress, but also to find fault with the Provisional Constitution.As mentioned above, the system stipulated in the "Interim Constitution" is a responsible cabinet system. The president is basically a vacant post. The legislative power is in the Congress, while the executive power is mainly in the cabinet. This is what Yuan Shikai is most dissatisfied with.You think, Yuan Shikai managed to win the country from the Qing Dynasty and the revolutionaries, how can there be any reason to sleep on the side of the couch after the country is captured?

Two days later, Yuan Shikai was very angry when he saw that the National Assembly had no official reply to the speech, and his moves seemed to have disappeared without a trace.Subsequently, Yuan Shikai ordered the State Council to send Shi Yu and other eight members to the Congress to interfere.Shi Yu and the others were naturally high-spirited after receiving the President's decree, and then they marched into the gate of the Congress with arrogance and arrogance, wanting to ask for an explanation for the President. When the eight committee members came to the Congress, it happened that the Constitution Drafting Committee was reviewing the first reading of the draft constitution of the Republic of China. Seeing these eight people suddenly broke in, they were not surprised.The eighth committee member was proud, and handed over a new message to the speaker.In this message, Yuan Shikai, in addition to stating the content of the previous message, also proposed that the State Council should be notified in time when the Congress meets in the future, so that people can be sent to attend the statement at any time.This time, Yuan Shikai's fox tail finally showed. This is the act of the executive power interfering with the legislative power.

After circulating the message, the members of Congress were very surprised, and replied to the Eight Committee members: "The legislative power of the Republic of China is in the Congress, and it is not subject to administrative interference. It is illegal for you to come to the Congress. Please go back and tell the President to take back the order. it is good." The Eighth Committee didn't care about your legislation, administration, etc., and then took out a document and handed it to the speaker, saying: "The President still has a message, and you will understand after reading it."

Things have become clear here.After the members circulated it, they saw the following clearly written in black and white on this document: 1. Change Article 33 of the "Provisional Constitution": "The interim president may formulate official regulations, but they must be submitted to the Senate for resolution" to "The president formulates official regulations"—the administrative system and regulations are not the same as those of the Senate and the House of Representatives. What's the matter. 2. Change Article 34 of the "Provisional Constitution": "The interim president may appoint and remove civil and military personnel, but the appointment of state officials and diplomatic ambassadors must be approved by the Senate" to "the president appoints and dismisses civil and military personnel"—personnel power and Senate It doesn't matter the House or House.

3. Change Article 35 of the "Provisional Constitution": "The provisional president, with the consent of the Senate, may declare war, negotiate peace and conclude treaties" to "the president declares war, negotiates peace and concludes treaties"——For national events such as foreign wars and diplomacy, It's all under Yuan Shikai's control. In addition, Yuan Shikai also proposed in his speech that in the extraordinary period of "public security, defense, and disasters," the president should have special powers of punishment and enactment of laws, which only need to be recognized when the Congress is in session.

The congressmen were quite surprised when they saw it. Yuan Shikai's proposals were completely stipulations of the presidential system, even similar to the constitutional monarchy, which was almost completely different from the responsible cabinet system advocated in the current draft constitution.Do you think that now that the Constitution Drafting Committee has almost drafted the draft constitution, how would they give in to President Yuan's request? At that moment, the MPs said to the Eighth Committee members: "We are drafting the constitution, and we can only be attended by members of Congress. You should not come here; as for the statement of the president on behalf of the president, it is even more inconsistent with the statute. Please respect yourselves."

After all, the congressmen left the eight committee members and went to review the draft constitution by themselves.The Eighth Committee members came here on the order of the President, and they didn't want to come here in high spirits. They returned in a disappointment, and they would be annoyed when they returned. After Yuan Shikai heard the report from the eight committee members, he was expecting it, but he remained calm and said calmly, "Don't worry, I have my own solution." Besides, the Congress, after being persecuted by Yuan Shikai, accelerated the review process of the draft constitution, and within a few days the draft constitution entered the stage of second reading.After Yuan Shikai learned through various channels that there was not much difference between the draft constitution and the "Interim Constitution", he immediately sent a few secret telegrams and arranged it secretly. A few days later, telegrams from the provincial governors, civil affairs chiefs, and Beiyang generals came in like snowflakes, each of which supported Yuan Shikai's "reasonable demands" and accused "the autocracy of the Congress"; It is proposed to abolish the Constitution Drafting Committee, revoke the constitution, dissolve the Kuomintang, and dissolve the Congress. Let everyone disband. When Yuan Shikai received these telegrams, he was naturally overjoyed, thinking that the Congress would just give in.Unexpectedly, at this time, there are still some hard-headed members of the Congress. Despite the pressure from the outside world, they insisted on passing the third reading procedure of the draft constitution on the afternoon of October 31, and are preparing to submit it to the Congress for publication.Since this draft constitution was drafted mainly in the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest in the Temple of Heaven, it is also known as the "Constitution Draft of the Temple of Heaven". This draft constitution mainly upholds the spirit of the "Provisional Constitution", with 10 chapters and 113 articles. It advocates a "responsible cabinet system" and strictly limits the power of the president and the State Council. Some people call its political system a "super-parliamentary system "—It is self-evident that the power of the parliament is too great and the power of the president is too small, how can there be no conflict. Seeing that the Constitution of the Temple of Heaven was about to be promulgated, Yuan Shikai couldn't hold back any longer, and he resorted to the last ruthless move...to disband the Kuomintang. I want to insert a sentence here.After Song Jiaoren was assassinated, Prime Minister Zhao Bingjun resigned to avoid suspicion, claiming to be ill. At that time, Army Chief Duan Qirui temporarily took over as Prime Minister.After Yuan Shikai suppressed the "Second Revolution", the Progressive Party pushed Xiong Xiling to form a cabinet on September 11.Xiong Xiling used to be the chief financial officer in Tang Shaoyi's cabinet. This time he took advantage of the power of the Progressive Party and recruited Liang Qichao, Zhang Jian, Wang Daxie and other celebrities to form a "first-rate" talent cabinet. Be willing to bow down. In order to get rid of the Kuomintang, Yuan Shikai deliberated and decided that it would be more legitimate for Xiong Xiling to come out.Some people may ask, Xiong Xiling is a progressive party member. After all, he is not a member of the Beiyang Group. How could he bow to Yuan Shikai?Speaking of this matter, there is such a rumor that when Xiong Xiling resigned as the chief financial officer, Yuan Shikai specially appointed him as the governor of Rehe in order to win over him, as a show of respect. Everyone thinks, what kind of place is Rehe?It was the summer resort of the former Qing emperors, so after Xiong Xiling arrived in Rehe, he also moved the office into the Chengde Mountain Resort.However, doing business in the former emperor's palace, there are too many treasures in the palace and have not been cleaned up, it is unavoidable that there is a suspicion of melon fields. It is said that once Yuan Shikai's confidant Jiang Guiti visited, Xiong Xiling secretly gave Jiang Guiti a folding fan of Emperor Qianlong as a personal gift when he was parting.Jiang Guiti was a vulgar person who didn't know good and bad. In order to flatter Yuan Shikai, he passed this folding fan to President Yuan after returning to Beijing.Yuan Shikai sent people to investigate secretly, and found that many treasures had been stolen from the Summer Resort. As a result, Xiong Xiling was caught by Yuan Shikai. After Xiong Xiling learned that Yuan Shikai asked him to order the disbandment of the Kuomintang, she felt sad because Xiong Xiling had always followed Liang Qichao, who advocated party politics, in terms of political stance. If the Kuomintang is disbanded today, who can guarantee that the Progressive Party will not be disbanded tomorrow? Woolen cloth?However, Yuan Shikai's reason was also high-sounding. "The police headquarters seized secret messages between Li Liejun, a rebel party member, and Xu Xiujun, a member of the Kuomintang, in an attempt to split the country." Therefore, the Kuomintang cannot absolve itself of the blame; The reason for signing the order to disband the Kuomintang may be that the Ministry of Internal Affairs investigated the stolen treasures of the Jehol Palace. If this person's vitals are caught, it's like pinching his testicles, it's really hard to say. As soon as Xiong Xiling signed the order, more than 300 military and police officers there had already made preparations, and then they went straight to the Beijing branch of the Kuomintang in Guang'anmen Inner Street. Not only the acting chairman Wu Jinglian was arrested on the spot, but other staff All of them were also locked up and were not allowed to go out.After getting the address of the Kuomintang MPs, the military and police followed suit that night and broke into the homes of each Kuomintang MP in batches. The first thing they did was to confiscate the badges and certificates of the MPs.If the councilors have any doubts or resistance, the gang of Qiu Ba masters will draw out their pistols, and put them on the heads of the councilors viciously, threatening them.When a scholar meets a soldier, there is no reason to speak. By midnight, the military and police had handed over more than 350 badges and certificates of Kuomintang congressmen, and when they were about to go to the presidential palace to ask for credit and rewards, Yuan Shikai issued another strict order to let them continue to search and confiscate the "Second Revolution" The certificates of members who have left the party and crossed the KMT must be completed that night.There was no other way, these hawks had no choice but to continue searching from house to house in the early hours of the morning, which made the whole city of Beijing fly wild and restless. By dawn, more than 80 pieces were finally confiscated. It turned out that Lao Yuan had done an arithmetic problem: if only 350 KMT congressmen’s certificates were collected, the remaining congressmen would still have more than half of the congressmen, and they might continue to hold meetings; now more than 80 party and cross-party congressmen have been deprived of their qualifications , Now most of the members of the lower and lower chambers have left, and the Congress will not be able to convene! On the next day, the members went to the Senate and the House of Representatives for a meeting. At the door, Mr. Qiu Ba, who had already been armed with live ammunition, was standing guard here with a list. Anyone who entered had to check the certificates of members. Our certificates were confiscated by these people last night, where can we still get in? Ladies and gentlemen, there was a nickname in Congress at that time called "Eight Hundred Arhats", which meant that there were 820 people in Congress, but the number of disqualified people reached 438 last night. meeting?Now that the Congress is paralyzed, all the affiliated committees, especially the Constitution Drafting Committee and the Constituent Assembly, will naturally be delayed indefinitely. The remnants of congressmen were aggrieved and wanted to protest to the presidential palace, but they were quickly scolded by Lao Yuan: "Your Congress can't even hold a meeting, so where is the protest?" Before these people made trouble again, Yuan Shikai simply On the 10th of January 1914, he issued an order of thousands of words to dissolve the Congress and all the members were sent home.Lao Yuan's reason is also high-sounding: Since the Congress can no longer hold a meeting, how can the Republic of China pay you any more wages?Even if the Congress is to be held again, it will have to be reconvened. As a result, the first Congress of the Republic of China came to an end after completing the official business of electing Yuan Shikai as the official president. Congress is a great thing, but its greatness only shows its value when it is lost, and when it exists, it is often ridiculed and ridiculed by people.Seeing that it was done, this group of councilors could only admit that they were unlucky, and lost their positions with an annual salary of 5,000 yuan for nothing. In the end, under the intimidation of those Qiuba masters, they only had to receive a few dozen yuan in Sichuan funds to go back home. It's really bad luck. Seeing this, most people thought that Yuan Shikai was about to engage in naked dictatorship, but Lao Yuan was not so simple-minded.He disbanded the Kuomintang and the Congress, not because he wanted the Congress and the Constitution, but on the contrary, he wanted a "Congress" and "Constitution" that met his own wishes. This was the political conference established outside the Congress and the later ROC Constitution. Something else. After dissolving the National Assembly, Yuan Shikai still had more to say, and ordered the dissolution of the local councils as well.For this point, the governors of the provinces are very happy to do it, and no one wants to be restricted by the parliament.However, Prime Minister Xiong Xiling couldn't stand it anymore after being coerced many times. After signing the order to dissolve the local council, he submitted his resignation to Yuan Shikai. Resign. Yuan Shikai saw that Xiong Xiling had made up his mind to go, so he stayed for a while and submitted it for approval, and Sun Baoqi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, acted as the Premier of the State for the time being.The talented Hunan scholar Xiong Fenghuang has been visiting his chancellor for less than half a year, and he has basically done nothing except being a spearman for Lao Yuan.That's not counting, Xiong Caizi ended up with a whole body, it really ruined his reputation and made him feel miserable.After suffering this setback, Xiong Xiling also gave up his official career, bid farewell to the political arena, and turned to charity and education.This is what he should do. From this point of view, neither the revolutionary party nor the scholar is Lao Yuan's opponent.This old Yuan is not only good at military affairs, but also very tricky in politics, and even in law, he is also disciplined and does not fall behind.If you want to say that he is not a hero, who is a hero? Having said that, the constitution-making process after the establishment of the Republic of China was not perfect.For example, the "Provisional Constitution", because it wanted to limit Yuan Shikai's rights, was published in a hurry before Yuan Shikai became the interim president. The entire constitution-making process took only one month, and the use of a standing vote in the third reading procedure cannot be called hasty. In the Constituent Assembly, on such a major issue as whether to implement the cabinet system or the presidential system, only 6 members made brief speeches and voted in less than 4 hours. This is really too rash.You must know that the debate on whether to implement a presidential system in the 1787 Constitution of the United States lasted for 10 days.As a national law of a new republic, how can it reconcile the interests of all parties, help the new regime to transition smoothly, and promote the development of the country and the happiness of its citizens with such a rapid speed and the selfishness of the framers? The "Temporary Constitution" has two major flaws. One is that it ignores the judicial power in the separation of powers, which often leads to the lack of a check and balance force when the legislative power and executive power conflict. out of regulations.In the "Temple of Heaven Constitution", these two defects have not been well corrected, and other defects have been added, such as the establishment of a congressional committee to act on behalf of the congress, and the parliament has the power to interpret the constitution, etc. Powers are more strictly limited.This "parliament is too strong and the president is too weak" model has completely fallen into an imbalance in which legislative power greatly overwhelms or even infringes on executive power. This is obviously worth discussing and exploring. From Yuan Shikai's point of view, he did not blindly oppose the National Congress and the Constitution at the time. At least during the three and a half months of formulation of the "Temple of Heaven Constitution", the Constituent Assembly did not receive too much interference, and the funding was also obtained. Sufficient guarantees have been provided, as evidenced by the smooth introduction of the draft constitution.In fact, Yuan Shikai did not understand constitutional democracy, and his political stance tended to be pragmatism. Yuan Shikai felt extremely painful about the restraint of administrative power in the "Temporary Constitution" and the subsequent "Tiantan Constitution" and tried to There is a remedy. But after Yuan Shikai's request for constitutional revision was rejected by the Constitutional Assembly, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.In fact, the amendment proposed by Yuan Shikai is similar to the current French semi-presidential system, that is, the power of the president is expanded and the power of the parliament is appropriately reduced, because the power of the parliament in the French parliamentary cabinet system before World War II was too great, and the parliament frequently "inverted". Cabinet", leading to political chaos, this may not be a good system. Facts have proved that the semi-presidential system in France has not only created a relatively strong president, but also produced a relatively stable and effective cabinet. This balance of power is more realistic than the pure cabinet system and presidential system.If the Constituent Assembly had carefully considered Yuan Shikai's opinion at that time, the Republic of China might have taken the lead in developing a French-style semi-presidential system, which would be a good thing for the country and the people. It is a pity that the members of the Constituent Assembly obviously lack political experience and a sense of compromise. They tried to formulate a beautiful blueprint for a constitution according to their own understanding of a democratic republic, without considering the interests of the most powerful Beiyang military and political group at that time And demands, how can such recklessness not fail?We must know that the true meaning of democracy is compromise, which requires repeated balanced games in a graceful confrontation to form an institutional arrangement acceptable to all parties. Those members of the Constitutional Convention were too young and too inexperienced in politics.Among the 71 members of the Constituent Assembly, 94% are under the age of 40, and 68% are under the age of 35. Many of them only have the experience of studying abroad or revolution. Even the general social experience is seriously lacking.These people formulate the constitution according to textbooks in a closed state. Even if the constitution is perfect, it does not conform to the actual situation and is not operable. What is the use of this?Therefore, dogmatism will not only kill people, but also kill generations! After the National Assembly was dissolved and the "Temple of Heaven Constitution" was shelved indefinitely, not only the constitution-making activities of the National Assembly were interrupted, but even the skin of the National Assembly disappeared.As a result, when the Republic of China entered the third year, it began to enter the period of Yuan Shikai's authoritarian rule.