Chapter 24 23. Goodnow: Foreign monks like to chant sutras

As mentioned above, Yuan Shikai became the lifelong president, not to mention that he also changed the presidential election law, so that he can pass on both sons and wives. A crown, a title.But Yuan Keding was still not satisfied, and urged the old man to continue to move towards the monarchy. Yuan Shikai was moved by this back and forth. At this time when "everything is ready, only the east wind is needed", Professor Goodnow, the American adviser to President Yuan Da, published a grand theory from the other side of the Pacific Ocean, which was just in time for the east wind, and inadvertently opened the way for the restoration of the imperial system. prelude.

Speaking of Professor Goodnow, an expert on American constitutional law, he was born in the same year as President Yuan. His elder brother was originally the dean of the Law School of Columbia University in the United States. He was also a great authority in the field of constitutional theory in the world at that time. It is from his sect.Goodnow was originally an old scholar who had been teaching at Columbia University for thirty years.Speaking of his theoretical level and teaching level, of course, there is nothing to say, but he has lived in an ivory tower all year round, ignorant of the dangers of Chinese affairs, and ended up on a pirate ship by mistake, ruining his own future in the local area.This matter is a long story, and let the author slowly narrate it.

After the Revolution of 1911, the Republic of China was in a period of transition from autocracy to rule by the people. After Yuan Shikai became the president of the Republic of China, he suffered from his own lack of theoretical level, and secondly, he hired two constitutional officials from foreign countries for the sake of appearance. Experts, one is Nagao Arigao from Japan, and the other is Professor Goodnow.With Goodnow's level at that time, it was of course not a problem to be the legal adviser to the President of the Republic of China. After receiving the letter of appointment, he readily took up the position and received an annual salary of 25,000 silver dollars, which was considered high in the world talent market at that time. Very few well-paid people.

It is very likely that Gu Weijun, his Chinese disciple, contributed to Professor Gu's coming to China.After Gu Weijun returned home after graduating from the United States with a Ph.Although the father-in-law later fell out with Yuan Shikai, Dr. Gu was still trusted by Yuan Shikai and served as a confidential secretary. Professor Gu signed a three-year contract with the government of the Republic of China, but less than a year after he and his wife came to China in May 1913, Johns Hopkins University, a famous American university, sent him a letter of appointment as the president. Professor Gu was inevitably moved. So after negotiating with the Presidential Palace, he concurrently held two positions.Goodnow returned to the United States in August 1914 to assume the post of president. His consulting affairs in China were temporarily entrusted to others, but he was still in charge of the leadership.Goodnow came to China again when American universities were on summer vacation the following year, and the six weeks he stayed this time was a sensitive period of the struggle between republican politics and imperialism in the Republic of China.

Goodnow is a world-class constitutional expert, but academic "politics" is completely different from real-life political struggles. His old master didn't know what to do, and he fell into a dangerous political whirlpool.When Goodnow came to China for the first time, the "Second Revolution" broke out. As a generation who grew up after the American Civil War, Goodnow naturally stood on the side of Yuan Shikai's central government and regarded the southern revolution as a rebellion. This may be one of the reasons why Professor Gu is hated by others. From a standpoint, Goodnow is inclined towards the presidential system. During the revision of the Constitution of the Temple of Heaven in the first Congress of the Republic of China, he also drafted a draft constitution for Yuan Shikai, but the content was quite different from the "Constitution of the Temple of Heaven" because He thinks that China is too big and the regions are not stable. It is not beneficial to implement the responsible cabinet system. At that time, the members of the Congress had too much power, which not only made the president who should be parallel to the Congress look like a rubber stamp, but also greatly damaged democracy. The balance of "separation of powers" in the political system is actually a kind of parliamentary dictatorship, which ultimately leads to the country's inability to achieve anything.Therefore, Goodnow suggested to Yuan Shikai that China should implement strong centralization, and the presidential system is the most suitable choice.

Goodnow's views and opinions naturally had a great influence on Yuan Shikai, and Goodnow also inadvertently became the best defender of Yuan Shikai's implementation of the presidential system.This foreign monk likes to recite scriptures. Although the revolutionaries are unwilling, they are indisputable about Goodenough as a "reactionary academic authority". Yuan Shikai later canceled the "Tiantan Constitution", dissolved the Kuomintang, and dissolved the Congress. up. Goodnow highly praised Yuan Shikai's "Constitution of the Republic of China". In his keynote speech, he praised Yuan Jiyue's change to the presidential system, and he was very excited that "I can do it".

During Goodnow's second visit to China, President Yuan Da asked Advisor Gu to write an article on the title of "The Constitution of the Temple of Heaven" on the topic of reviewing the current state systems of various countries and the advantages and disadvantages of the republic and the imperial system, so as to provide reference for the government of the Republic of China to implement constitutionalism.For such operations, Goodnow has long been well prepared, because this is the job of legal counsel.Entrusted by others, loyal to others, Goodnow is such a dedicated person, and President Yuan is also a corporal, so he did what he has learned in his life and wrote a ten-thousand-word statement for President Yuan's reference. Report the kindness of encounter.

Although Goodnow has repeatedly claimed that he made suggestions on China's constitutional issues from a purely academic perspective, given Professor Gu's position in the academic world at that time, the impact of his article on the later political situation was far beyond his imagination, and it was not what he expected. I can control it.Those monarchist politicians who are ready to go have no interest in Professor Gu's theoretical derivation. What they want is the vigorous propaganda of presidential system and centralization in the article, and what they want is the words about "monarchy is better than republic" Among them, Yang Du, the vanguard, even picked up a chicken feather as an arrow, and he was like a treasure. Then he translated Professor Gu's article into Chinese as "On the Republic of Monarchs", and handed it over to major media for wide dissemination. Xiansheng added a fire.

Some people may ask, what did Goodnow say in that eloquent masterpiece?In detail, Professor Gu's article is really not bad.It's a pity that modern historians, after labeling Professor Gu as a "reactionary academic authority", have hastily dismissed such a good article without seeking a deep understanding, which is a pity. In short, Goodnow's main point is that there is no natural and absolute distinction between the various political systems of various countries, such as the monarchy, such as the republic, and the key lies in the recognition of the system by all countries and ethnic groups. , whether it is applicable is the right way.In other words, it may not be a good thing to blindly copy and copy and completely Westernize.Of course, Professor Gu's theory is quite close to the philosophical point of view of "starting from reality", and it is a universally applicable truth, so he also deduces it based on the history and national conditions of various countries.

For example, the United Kingdom was actually the first country to overthrow the monarchy and establish a democratic republic, and even cut off the head of the emperor (Charles I), but after the revolutionary leader Cromwell established the British Republic and became a "prison country", But it is also autocratic.What's more troublesome is that under the "supervising the country" system, the problem of successors cannot be solved (there is no precedent in the history of how democratically elected leaders arrange succession at that time), and when Cromwell was about to die, he let his own His son came to power, but this young Cromwell had no prestige since he had not gone through the war, and was quickly dismissed by the MPs.Cromwell's son can't be a prisoner of the country, and others don't have the prestige. In the end, the congressmen discussed and discussed. It is better to invite the deposed prince (Charles II) to be the emperor. At least it is justified... After all, it is hundreds of years of royal blood!

As a result, the British Republic became the British Empire again. Even after the "Glorious Revolution", it was only a change of emperor, not a change of state system.The British Empire is still the British Empire, but the emperor is no longer the emperor of the time of Charles I, but is strictly restricted by the Parliament, which is the so-called virtual monarchy.The United Kingdom is the most typical constitutional monarchy in modern times. Although the emperor is retained, it is an authentic democratic parliamentary system. This is very different from the constitutional monarchy practiced in Germany before World War I and Japan before World War II, because the Kaiser and the Emperor still have Sovereign power, so their system is actually a pseudo-constitutional monarchy, which was actually imitated when the constitution was prepared in the late Qing Dynasty. A constitutional monarchy, unfortunately too late. As for the republic, there were two typical models in the world at that time, one was the United States with a presidential system, and the other was France with a responsible cabinet system.From the effect point of view, the United States is relatively successful, but the example of the United States cannot be replicated, because the United States is an immigrant country established less than 300 years ago, and they have no autocratic tradition and royal power; more importantly, the United States at that time The population is sparsely populated, as long as everyone is willing to work hard, everyone can have good opportunities for development. This is not comparable to other countries. This is the so-called "American particularism" in the academic circles.Of course, another important reason is that Washington, the founding president, never gave birth to a son, and there is no second generation to pass on, nor can he pass on. France, on the other hand, went back and forth from the monarchy to the republic, and from the republic to the monarchy, which was worth learning from the Republic of China at that time.The French Revolution most pursued freedom and democracy, so it was extremely cruel. Not only did the heads of the king, nobles, and high priests be beheaded, but in the end, the heads of the revolutionary leaders were also beheaded.In the end, there was nothing to cut, and everyone hated the great chaos of this precarious democratic republic. As a result, Napoleon was born, and he was crowned emperor under the brilliant martial arts.However, the Napoleonic monarchy based on the military was equally unstable, and France has been vacillating between the monarchy and the republic for a hundred years after the revolution.If France is used as a reference point, one can know that China's road to republic will never be smooth sailing.What's more worth mentioning is that the French republic did not bring strength to France. As for the Latin American countries, they are simply the worst examples of democratic republics. Those countries that got rid of the colonial rule of Spain and Portugal, such as Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Brazil, etc., have also adopted democratic republics under the influence of the United States and France. republic, but because they seriously lack the social, economic, cultural, educational and other conditions necessary for a republic, the result is that drawing a tiger is not an anti-dog, and the republics also gradually become oligarchic dictatorships. Once these dictators die, In addition, there is no fixed heir, and there are often many heroes in the country, the whole country is in chaos, and the people are in dire straits. In the article, Professor Gu specifically cited the Mexican dictator Dias as an example. Dias ruled Mexico for more than 30 years. At first, there was no problem. Dispute, the country will not be the country.Therefore, Professor Gu pointed out that instead of creating an oligarchic regime of personal dictatorship, it is better to directly implement the dictatorship of the emperor, because the imperial system still has a legal system to continue, unlike the oligarchic regime of personal dictatorship, once the old oligarch dies, many small oligarchs must fight to survive. Succession.Therefore, it is better to practice a real monarchy than a fake republic, so that the chances of the country's peace and prosperity are greater. Professor Gu finally concluded that the monarchy and the republic are the same thing, but each has its own advantages.According to China's current social, economic, political, educational, and cultural conditions, a constitutional monarchy is a relatively suitable choice; if a republic is to be implemented, the power of the executive branch should be increased, and the power of the parliament should not be highlighted like France (the French cabinet The frequent downfall of China is a lesson); given China's current inability to implement universal suffrage, limited representation and a unicameral legislature are quite feasible. Regarding the reversal of the imperial system (a constitutional monarchy rather than an autocratic monarchy), Professor Gu did not comment, but he reserved three provisos, that is: first, there must be no turmoil against the slightest opposition; second, the great powers ( Especially Japan) has no objection to the restoration of the imperial system; the third is to implement a specific plan for a true constitutional monarchy, and the three are indispensable.Regarding this view, Liang Qichao, who was devoted to constitutional politics, also mentioned it in his later article "Oddly, the So-called State System Problem", which will be described later. From this point of view, Professor Gu is only a theoretical derivation. If you look at it from today's perspective, you have to admit that the old man's views are objective and wise and praise him.The article should be a good article, but it is a pity that it was published at the wrong time and place. As a result, it was deliberately used and maliciously misinterpreted by those shameless and obscene imperialists. Professor Gu clearly said that "a republican monarchy, each has its own suitability", but it became a novel in Yang Du's writing. Insisting that "a republic is not as good as a monarchy", this can be said to have ulterior motives and endless disasters. Goodnow's second visit to China was only six weeks old, but he was inadvertently carried out to sing a big show, and the last one was "Dumbs Eat Coptidis", which was a big scapegoat for China.Goodnow later found out that the wind was in the wrong direction. He was not willing to be used by the imperial faction, so he entertained Chinese and foreign journalists on August 17 to explain the truth; on the other hand, with the approval of President Yuan, he published his article in The English version of the newspaper, to set the record straight, but it was too late.The imperial faction just used Professor Gu's article as an introduction to pave the way for the future implementation of the imperial system. The big drama is still to come, but the protagonist is no longer Professor Gu. Moreover, the Hopkins University on the other side of the ocean is about to start school, and President Gu has no time and energy to get entangled in this pen and ink lawsuit. After he returned to the United States, Yang Dufan became the spokesperson of Professor Gu's "junxian to save the country". Sha old ancient also.The worse thing is yet to come. After Yuan Shikai failed to implement the imperial system, not to mention his own ruin, he also implicated Professor Gu who was far away in the United States.Originally, when Goodnow became the president of Hopkins University, his reputation was no less than that of President Wilson of Princeton University. At that time, the Republican Party also intended to nominate Goodnow as the presidential candidate to compete with Wilson. Unexpectedly, some people suspected that He took bribes to write, and he was actually Yuan Shikai's imperial literati. As a result, Principal Gu couldn't argue with his mouth. Hold grudges for life. As for another Japanese consultant, Nagao Ariga, although he is not as famous as Professor Goodnow, he is not an ordinary person.Nagao Ariga is not only an expert in international law, but also organized the Progressive Party with Japanese Prime Minister Shigenobu Okuma and founded Waseda University.At the same time when Professor Gu published "Republican Monarchy", Nagao Ariga also published an article called "On the Three Elements of a New State". Unfortunately, his view of advocating the monarchy is too vague and not enough to attract attention, so it is not for the monarchy school happy. However, after the imperial system entered the implementation stage, Nagao Ariga did real work behind the scenes. He presented Yuan Shikai with a copy of the "Imperial Family Model" based on the model of the Japanese royal family. The main contents include: 1. The traditional descendants of the Great Emperor of the Chinese Empire will last forever; 2. The eldest son of the great emperor is traditionally the crown prince, and the crown prince has a reason to pass on to the eldest grandson; 3. The great emperor of the Chinese Empire is the great emperor of the Han, Manchu, Mongolian, Hui and Tibetan clans. Princesses and princesses are allowed to marry subjects of the five clans; 4. The royal family is from the prince down, and as for the imperial family, crimes are punished by the same law as the common people; 5. Princes and county kings may be officers of the navy and army, and shall not form political parties or be important political officials; 6. Permanently abolish the eunuch system; 7. Set up female officials in the palace, and permanently abolish the system of selecting palace ladies; 8. Permanently abolish the system of tributes presented by all parties (except for the annual pilgrimage tributes of the princes and dukes of Manchuria, Mongolia, Huizang, and Tibet); 9. The affairs of royal ceremonies shall be handled by the Minister of the Palace; 10. All relatives of the emperor are not allowed to engage in business and compete with the common people for profit. After Yuan Shikai implemented the Hongxian Monarchy, these ten royal models of He Changxiong were also applied (there are also improvements and references).The strangest thing is that among the foreigners at that time, He Changxiong was the only one who called himself a "foreign minister" to Emperor Yuan. Although he was loyal, he was a bit disgusting.No, Nagao Agara’s behavior aroused great anger among Japanese overseas Chinese in China. They believed that Nagao Agara had “sullied the decency of the Japanese” and announced that Nagao Agara would be removed from the Japanese register. "Are. However, He Changxiong didn't care about this. After Yuan Shikai's death, he successively served as legal advisers to three presidents, Li Yuanhong, Feng Guozhang, and Xu Shichang, until he died of illness in 1921. It can be said that he devoted himself to death.It seems that Youhe Changxiong is really a good friend of the Chinese people.