Chapter 26 25. There is no turning back arrow when opening the bow, even if the emperor is wrong

On September 3, 1915, the "Beijing News" published a long article called "Oddly, the so-called national system problem", which immediately caused a sensation. At that time, the newspaper was sold out as soon as it came out. Unable to buy a newspaper, he even copied it to those who had already bought it. The next day, the "National Gazette" reprinted this article, but it still couldn't meet the demand. It almost became the grand occasion of Luoyang paper expensive, and "National Gazette" also created its highest daily circulation.Not only that, the newspapers across the country also responded after hearing the news, and it spread all over the country at once, almost everyone had a copy, and it was widely recited.

This is a strange thing. In the early years of the Republic of China, information was considered free and developed. At that time, there were many newspapers and newspapers, and there was no time to compete with each other.Presumably the author of this article must have a strong background.Yes, this person is Liang Qichao, who has become famous since he was young, a great talent of Liang. Liang Qichao is a native of Xinhui, Guangdong. He was elected at the age of 16. Later, he joined Kang Youwei's school (Mr. Kang hadn't won the exam yet) to learn new learning, and then participated in the reform reform in the 1898 year. Still insisting on the royalist stance of a constitutional monarchy, he once had fierce debates with writers of the Tongmenghui in their respective newspapers in Japan. Although Wang Jingwei, Hu Hanmin and many others from the Tongmenghui fought at the same time, Liang Qichao was alone and never lost.After the founding of the Republic of China, Liang Qichao once cooperated with Yuan Shikai and formed the Progressive Party to compete with the Kuomintang. When Xiong Xiling formed the cabinet, Liang Qichao also served as the Chief Justice. It's over.Although Yuan Shikai later invited him to serve in the Senate to participate in politics, Liang Qichao felt that the party politics he believed in was useless, so he declined and went to Shanghai.

At a time when the imperialists were in full swing, Liang Qichao's article "Oddly, the So-Called Problems of the National System" can be said to be resounding, and gave these clowns a head-on blow.Liang Qichao pointed out in the article: "The reason why the monarch is valuable mainly depends on the concept of a demon-like demon in historical customs to maintain his dignity. This dignity must not be desecrated. Once desecrated, it is bound to be impossible to maintain. For example, puppets and mud If an eagle is placed in a temple for people to worship, it will be effective, but if suddenly a madman pulls it down and tramples it, and throws it into a pigsty, even if it can be repaired and placed in the hall again, it will not be used again. It doesn’t work anymore. Today’s monarchy and the republic are also the same. Once the republic is established, the monarch no longer has the supreme dignity. In addition, the revolutionaries slandered the monarch day and night, and the monarch has no sacredness in the hearts of the people. If you return Didn't the imperial government retrieve the puppet clay sculpture from the pigsty? Failure is inevitable."

Later, Liang Qichao ridiculed Yuan Shikai's inconsistency in his words and deeds, and his indeterminate behavior: "From August 1911 to now, it is less than four years. Suddenly Manchuria established a constitution, suddenly a republic of five ethnic groups, suddenly a provisional president, and suddenly a formal president. , Suddenly convene the Congress, suddenly dissolve the Congress, suddenly the cabinet system, suddenly the presidential system, sometimes the president for a term, and sometimes the president for life, sometimes replace the constitution with a constitution, and sometimes urge the formulation of the constitution. Every time a system is promulgated, it will be overthrown within half a year. , causing the people of the whole country to hesitate and bewilder, unable to know what to do, and the prestige of the government has been completely wiped out.”

Liang Qichao's laughter and cursing not only brought the reputation of Yang Du and others to the bottom, but even Yuan Shikai, the candidate for the emperor, was beaten into a dingy, almost faceless face.Although Yang Du is an "outstanding talent", President Yuan's knife and pen official cannot do anything like the great writer and theorist whose pen is full of emotion.It is said that Yuan Shikai also knew that Liang Qichao had this majestic essay before, and once sent someone to buy it at a price of 200,000 yuan (it can be seen that the chip security meeting is not worth much, and it is not as good as an article by Liang Dacai), and he was not allowed to publish it (if it is sold, presumably is the most expensive article in history), but was also declined by Liang Qichao.When President Yuan read this majestic article, he really wanted to draw his pistol and send him a few peanuts to help him die.

In fact, Liang Qichao did not completely oppose the imperial system. He pointed out in the article: "If China wants to return to the imperial government, there are only two ways. To study martial arts, to taste courage and pay for one's salary, and to win a battle when there is an opportunity, with great merit (such as Napoleon in France), and to be persecuted by billions of trillions, so that you can receive this great treasure and pass it on to your descendants; secondly, after the second chaos, The whole country is boiling, and the heroes are divided, and they are cut off, but they are settled in one."

In this regard, Liang Qichao's thought is similar to Professor Goodnow's, but the question is, were Professor Gu's proviso and the conditional approach listed by Liang Qichao ever available at that time? In any case, being so disturbed by Liang Qichao's article, the rapid march of the imperial movement would inevitably be stopped. On September 1, when the Senate was about to discuss the mountain of petitions to change the state system, President Yuan suddenly sent Yang Shiqi, Zuo Cheng of the political affairs hall, to the Senate. Before speaking, he almost slapped his hands red.Unexpectedly, Yang Zuocheng took out a manifesto written by the President, and after reading it respectfully, it probably meant that "the President has the responsibility to maintain the overall situation, and changing the national system is out of date; the public petition of the people must seek the public opinion of the majority of the people, There must be a proper way to go" Yunyun, this is a pouring of cold water for the imperial figures.

Li Yuanhong, President of the Senate Council, was at the meeting that day. He took Yang Zuocheng's words and said, "The President's declaration is indeed the most reasonable." Unexpectedly, Liang Shiyi stood up and said loudly before the word "reasonable" fell. : "The President's intention is nothing more than to solicit the public opinion of the majority of the people. Now that the people are petitioning, the public opinion tends to be towards the monarchy. This court advocates that the public opinion should also be respected." He retorted, but the people from the imperial faction below clapped their hands vigorously, shaking the whole courtyard, so embarrassing that Dean Li had to quietly retreat to his original seat and continue to be his Bodhisattva Li.Later, the Senate Council held a meeting again, and he also said that his illness was gone.

In fact, President Yuan's manifesto has something to say in his words. You think he is not a fool. How could he not know these petition tricks by Liang Shiyi and others?Therefore, such petitions can only be used as a prelude, not as a main event.If it is necessary to engage in support, it should be the general will of the majority of the people, and a national assembly should be called to show that it is justified.Besides, when Yuan Shikai forced the Qing emperor to abdicate and blackmailed the revolutionaries, he also used the national public discussion as an excuse. Now that he wants to return from the presidential system to the imperial system, he can also use the national assembly to eliminate his moral guilt.

To put it more bluntly, the method of petitioning for support is inappropriate, but if it is passed through a referendum by an institution such as the "National Assembly" or "National Congress", then the president can consider being crowned emperor. After Liang Shiyi and others had figured out what President Yuan was thinking, the monarchy movement continued to push forward, and the Senate quickly worked out the method for electing national representatives. And the election method will be sent to the provinces for handling.In order to speed up the progress of the imperial system, national representatives voted directly in the provinces to determine the state system, and there was no need to come to Beijing to hold a national meeting.

It is said that there have been several elections before, and various places should have accumulated a lot of experience, but this time the election method is quite different from the past, because most of these "national representatives" have already been appointed, first of all, the military and political personnel in Beijing accounted for the election. Most of these people, of course, supported Yuan, but this time they were divided into provinces according to their origins to vote.As for the places reserved for each province, it is also determined by the generals and patrol envoys of each province. The method is that each county magistrate elects an elector to report to the place designated by him, and before voting, the staff will first entertain the elector. , to test their attitude towards the monarchy, and if they met with hesitation, ambiguity, or outright opposition, then a secret order was sent to the former county magistrate, accusing him of ineffectiveness and restricting the re-election of electors. In this way, 1993 national representatives were finally elected across the country, and on the polling day of each province, under the supervision of the provincial generals and patrol envoys, the provincial representatives voted by name.Prior to this, the four characters "Constitutional Monarchy" had already been printed on the ballot papers. Representatives only needed to write "Agree" or "No" in the blank space below, and then sign their names to vote. Before voting, each representative received Sichuan funds and public funds of 500 oceans. In addition, it was a registered ballot. Whoever writes indiscriminately is guaranteed to be unable to eat, so the voting results can be imagined: 1993 ballots are all clear. Chu, the word "Agree" was neatly written on it. In the subsequent election of the emperor, the procedure was exactly the same as that of the national vote, except that the words "Elect Yuan Shikai as the emperor of the Chinese Empire, to be passed on forever as the emperor with the highest and complete sovereignty of the country" were printed on the ballot paper, and "agree" or "Against", then sign the vote. The final voting results were spectacular. The 1,993 national representatives across the country voted in favor of the monarchy and respected Yuan Shikai as emperor. There were a total of 1,993 votes, and there was neither a single invalid vote nor a single negative vote.Compared with this perfect election, the election fraud of the latecomers is nothing to mention. Now that the comedy has started, it's too late to stop. On December 11, 1915, the Acting Legislative Yuan of the Senate convened a meeting of all political parties. After reviewing the votes of the national representatives, the Senate decided to endorse President Yuan as the emperor of the Chinese Empire in the name of the general representative of the country.The secretary in the secretarial office had already made up his mind, and within ten minutes he drafted a letter of eight or nine hundred words, and it was done in one go, so it was no problem to pass it. In the afternoon of that day, when the Senate sent the big red news of persuasion letter to the presidential palace, although President Yuan was already very happy, he had to imitate the sages' "three bows and three concessions" to show humility.After the first letter of persuasion was returned, the Senate was not discouraged, and then ordered the Office of the Secretary to draw up a new letter of support.Surprisingly, the secretary in the secretary office actually drafted a 2600-word new persuasion letter within fifteen minutes. If he hadn't prepared in advance, he would be an unrivaled super talent.Originally, "three bows and three concessions" should be three procedures, but for some reason, President Yuan actually omitted the second one in the middle, and he hastily accepted it the day after the second letter of support was delivered. It made the adults in the Senate feel that there is still more to say-the third letter of persuasion has not yet been written.So far, after more than three months of hard work, the imperial faction is finally done. After acknowledging the monarchy, Yuan Keding urged the old man to hold the enthronement ceremony as soon as possible to avoid long nights and dreams. However, Yuan Shikai believed that the enthronement ceremony was of great importance, and he should choose an auspicious day in accordance with Chinese traditional habits, so that he could prepare calmly, so as not to act hastily and lose face .Subsequently, Yuan Shikai appointed Zhu Qiqian as the director of the Grand Ceremony Preparatory Office, and planned to officially ascend the throne on January 1, 1916. Before officially ascending the throne, Yuan Shikai decided to hold a congratulatory meeting for all officials and asked Yuan Keding to choose a good day.Yuan Keding was impatient and said, "Just tomorrow, December 13th is a good day!" "13" is not a good number in Western society, and December 13th was the beginning of the Nanjing Massacre.But this Yuan Keding is really thirteen. On the morning of December 13, Yuan Shikai held a congratulatory meeting for all officials in Zhongnanhai.Due to the rush of time and no preparations in advance, the officials who came to congratulate only included officials in Beijing, and none of the local officials participated.What's even more funny is that there was no uniform attire for this pilgrimage. Some wore robes and mandarin jackets, while others wore suits and dresses. The ceremony was presided over by Duan Zhigui, Emperor Yuan's imperial cadre. What puzzled him was that the emperor ordered three bows during the court congratulations, and the three kowtows and nine bows he imagined could not be performed. At 9:00, under the guidance of four military officers, Yuan Shikai came to Jurentang in the military uniform of the Generalissimo, instead of the million-dollar dragon uniform and crown that everyone had guessed.On this day, Yuan Shikai didn't even wear a hat (because he always hated the marshal's cap with feathers), which made his big head shiny and shiny, as if the purple air was coming from the east, and the sky was full of blessings. Although the civil and military officials have been divided into shifts, because the imperial cadre, Duan Zhigui, is a warrior and doesn't know the rules of the master of ceremonies, he bowed before Emperor Yuan took his seat, and the others also paid homage because there was no one to direct them. It was a mess, some bowed, some prostrated, and some shouted "Long Live the Emperor", all of which were uneven, so that Emperor Yuan couldn't sit or stand, hesitating for a long time, just holding the throne dragon chair with his left hand, and holding the dragon chair with his right hand. With palms up, he nodded frequently to those who bowed and kowtowed; when he met an elderly and high-ranking person, Emperor Yuan stepped forward to help him to show his humility. After the congratulatory ceremony was over, Emperor Yuan asked everyone to disperse and went back to work, and he didn't even invite everyone to a banquet.After everyone walked out of Jurentang, they came back to their senses: this morning celebration ceremony is too simple, too frugal society!Just like usual, it seems to be the emperor behind closed doors, sneaky and shady.What's the matter?The members of the imperial faction who have been enthusiastic about this matter are very dissatisfied with the Yuganer Duan Zhigui who presides over the ceremony. Since they have not had enough addiction, this group of people almost want to fight hard when they see the Yuganer. In any case, although Yuan Shikai did not hold the enthronement ceremony, he was considered the emperor's enthronement.The new dynasty, of course, has a new look. For example, the audience ceremony was changed from kneeling to bowing, which is a big improvement. Back then, the Qing Dynasty fought with the big powers over this issue, and in the end even the Old Summer Palace was burned to others. up.In addition, according to the opinion of the foreign minister Yuga Changxiong, the eunuch system and maid system in the palace will be abolished forever, and female officials will be replaced, which can be regarded as a clear line with the previous dynasty. In ancient Chinese history, after the establishment of a new dynasty, it was necessary to "relocate, correct, change clothes, and change sacrifices." Therefore, there is no need to "relocate to a place of residence"; but it is still necessary to make an article on "Correcting Shuo", that is, after 1916, the five years of the Republic of China were abolished and the first year of Hongxian was changed, and the calendar was also changed to the "Almanac of the First Year of Hongxian". ; As for "easy-to-wear color", according to the three-system cycle theory of "Xia Hei Shang Bai Zhou Chi" in Jinwen Jingxue, the Hongxian Dynasty should advocate red, so the pillars of the three halls of the enthronement should be painted red, and the tiles should also be red. Replace it with red tiles to show celebration. In addition, when the emperor ascended the throne, he had to confer titles on meritorious ministers, and the benefits were shared, but there was also a small problem here, that is, the old friends from before, and Emperor Yuan was embarrassed to let them be ministers, so he wanted to stand out Old lovers (including Zaifeng, Yiqiu, Shixu, Natong, Xiliang, etc., all of whom were princes or famous governors of the former Qing Dynasty), old friends (including Xu Shichang, Zhao Erxun, Zhang Jian, Li Jingxi, and later The "Four Friends of Songshan Mountain"), Qishuo (Wang Kaiyun, Ma Xiangbo, etc.), these people can enjoy the gift of not being a minister. As for other princes, marquises, uncles, sons, and men (divided into three classes), there are many people who are entrusted with the title. Generally speaking, generals, patrol envoys, guard envoys, guard envoys, and division and brigade commanders and above from all provinces, see 128 were sealed in one go, and even the late former Prime Minister Zhao Bingjun was posthumously named a first-class official. In these happy days, there are also discordant sounds. For example, at the ceremony, former army chief Duan Qirui and former vice president Li Yuanhong (Yuan Shikai became the emperor, of course, vice president Li became the former vice president) He never came, and this time, Duan Qirui was also not on the list. The reason for this will be discussed later. Let me talk about Li Yuanhong first.Li Yuanhong was only a coordinator in the former Qing Dynasty. In terms of official rank, he was several grades worse than Yuan Shikai. He was forced to be the governor of Hubei during the Revolution of 1911, but he got lucky. Vice President of the Republic of China.Emperor Yuan originally looked down on such a character (just grabbing one of his generals would have a higher status than Li Yuanhong), but considering that Li Yuanhong was in the position of vice president after all, it was not good to be too harsh on him. After proclaiming himself emperor, Emperor Yuan decided to confer Li Yuanhong the title of "Prince Wuyi" and sent someone to send the completed prince's clothes to "Prince Li". Accepted, Jiang Chaozong, the commander of the infantry who went to deliver the clothes, almost came to his door, but Emperor Yuan ordered him to stay temporarily, and Li Yuanhong stayed behind closed doors (before Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor, Li Yuanhong had already moved out of Yingtai), suffering at home. Practice calligraphy. The fact that Vice President Li refused to accept the canonization spread quickly throughout the capital, and a nursery rhyme spread like wildfire: "A good country can't be jailed; a good country can't be jailed; no one wants a gift from the prince!"