Chapter 31 30. "The battle between the government and the courtyard": a new battle has begun

Li Yuanhong encountered the first trouble after taking over as president, that is, should the legal basis for his succession be the "Provisional Constitution" formulated in 1912, or the constitution of Yuan Shikai's period in 1914? In the telegram of the State Council on June 6, Duan Qirui stated that "Vice President Li Yuanhong acts as the President of the Republic of China." When the event occurs, the vice president will act as the president, but the time limit is only three days and he cannot succeed. After Yuan Shikai's death, Duan Qirui claimed to be the successor of the Beiyang Department. Of course, he did not want to step on Yuan Shikai to the end, because too much suppression and denigration of Yuan Shikai would damage his own legitimacy.In order to show that he inherited the mantle of Yuan Shikai's Beiyang family, Lao Duan had to carry Yuan Shikai's brand to build his prestige when necessary, which is why he insisted on Yuan's contract.

Of course, the Southern National Defense Army cannot accept what the old paragraph said.They believed that Yuan Shikai's imperial system had long since lost its legitimacy, and the treaty formulated by Yuan Shikai was also a tool for him to proclaim himself emperor, and it definitely could not be the basis for Li Yuanhong to take over as president.Therefore, Li Yuanhong's succession to the presidency should be in accordance with the "Temporary Constitution" of the early Republic of China, not some "acting on behalf of". The defense army refuted Duan Qirui's statement, and more than 200 former congressmen who gathered in Shanghai also expressed their agreement. The term of the successor Yuan Shikai, the former president, ended in October of the seventh year of the Republic of China (that is, October 1918).The reason why members of Congress insisted on handling the issue of presidential succession according to the "Provisional Constitution" is that there is another important reason: if Yuan's Convention is followed, the restoration of the first Congress will be indefinitely; The first Congress, which was dissolved by Yuan Shikai, will be reinstated, and members of parliament can once again exercise their powers.

It can be seen from this that the so-called legal basis for taking over as the president, from a small point of view, is related to the vital interests of Li Yuanhong, Duan Qirui and the congressmen; from a large point of view, this is a big issue related to the future political direction of the Republic of China. Li Yuanhong, who was on the cusp of the storm, hesitated at the moment, and neither side dared to offend, nor did he dare to express his position easily.From an emotional point of view, Li Yuanhong is willing to accept the South's statement, because according to the provisions of the "Temporary Agreement", he can justifiably succeed the president, and the term of office is more than two years; Although he has become the de facto president, there is no guarantee that Duan Qirui, who is in control of the real power, will change his mind midway.Surrounded by the Beiyang faction, it was difficult for Li Yuanhong to publicly respond to the opinions of the South, so he could only pretend to be deaf and dumb, and wait and see what happened, in exchange for Duan Qirui's support.

Under the pressure of all parties, Duan Qirui didn't want to make this issue too clear. He would say that Li Yuanhong's succession as president was "acting in place", and then he said it was "succession", or he would use a neutral The word, "take over", is an attempt to get away with it.But the more guilty Lao Duan was, the more the South would hold on to him. All kinds of questions, questions, and even protests were sent to the State Council like snowflakes, and they had to ask clearly about the two agreements. In fact, whether it is the "Temporary Agreement" in the early Republic of China, or the later Yuan's Agreement, Lao Duan actually doesn't like it.Because according to the contract of the early Republic of China, although the power of the president is virtual and the power of the prime minister is real, the power of the Congress is too great, and both the president and the prime minister must be strictly supervised and greatly restricted by the Congress; according to the contract of the Yuan Dynasty, The power of the president is too great, and the prime minister is only the role of the president's executor.

Therefore, Lao Duan proposed a solution of his own, which was to imitate the convening method of the Provisional Senate in the early Republic of China, and send three representatives from each province to Beijing to form a "Contract Amendment Committee" to formulate a new constitution and issue it for implementation.In this regard, both the Southern National Defense Army and the MPs in Shanghai have expressed their opposition.You must know that the orthodox status of the South National Defense Army, and the legislators want to restore the Congress. The so-called "Contract Amendment Committee" thrown by the old paragraph is not painful and does not take into account the intentions and interests of these people at all. How could they agree so easily.

Don't say that the Southern National Defense Army and members of parliament disagreed, even the Beiyang faction didn't take it seriously. For example, Feng Guozhang, who was as senior as Lao Duan, didn't quite agree.While all parties were arguing over this matter, an unexpected event broke the deadlock, which was the intervention of the Navy. On June 25 of that year, Li Dingxin, Commander of the Navy stationed in Shanghai, Lin Baoyi, Commander of the First Fleet, and Zeng Zhaolin, Commander of the Training Fleet, issued a joint declaration, declaring independence and calling for a congress to be convened in accordance with the provisions of the early Republic of China.Since the Chinese navy at that time was divided into the first fleet, the second fleet and the practice fleet, and its main force was in the first fleet, the second fleet was just some small gunboats patrolling the Yangtze River, so this incident was equivalent to the collapse of the entire navy. to the south.

Since the Songhu area was Feng Guozhang's territory, he was afraid that the navy would make trouble behind his back, so he put pressure on Duan Qirui to quickly resolve the contract issue.With the South pressing harder and the Beiyang internally cracked, Lao Duan had no choice but to make a major concession. Four days later, he announced the compliance with the "Interim Constitution" by presidential decree and continued to convene the Congress. As a result, the first turmoil after Yuan Shikai's death finally subsided, and Tang Jiyao then sent a telegram to the whole country on behalf of the Southern National Defense Army, announcing the abolition of the Military Affairs Council, and the end of the military confrontation between the North and the South.

After announcing compliance with the Provisional Constitution, Li Yuanhong once again re-appointed Duan Qirui as Prime Minister and entrusted him to form a cabinet in the form of a presidential decree. As a result, the new government of the Republic of China after Yuan Shikai was officially in operation. On June 30, Duan Qirui submitted the cabinet list: Foreign Minister Tang Shaoyi, Internal Affairs Xu Shiying, Finance Chen Jintao, Judicial Zhang Yaozeng, Education Sun Hongyi, Farmer Zhang Guogan, Transportation Wang Daxie, Navy Cheng Biguang, as for the Chief of the Army, or the old Duan himself... Whether it is Because military arrogance is still out of the consideration of controlling real power, Lao Duan has always done his part to the position of army chief.

As for Lao Duan's arrangement of forming a cabinet, Li Yuanhong accepted all the orders, and the two cooperated tacitly and got along fairly well.Even if Li Yuanhong put forward some opinions of his own, Lao Duan could make adjustments to show respect. For example, when Zhang Guogan and Wang Daxie refused to resign, the cabinet members were replaced by Xu Shiying as the chief of transportation, Sun Hongyi as the chief of internal affairs, and Fan Yuanlian as the chief of the cabinet. The Minister of Education and Gu Zhongxiu were appointed as the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, while Tang Shaoyi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, was unable to take up the post, and Wu Tingfang took over.

Duan Qirui's new team is composed of people from both the north and the south, which is quite a sign of unity, but a discerning person can tell at a glance that a major feature of the Li-Duan system is "Li's emptiness and Duan's reality." There are a few places, but the real power is still in the hands of the Beiyang faction headed by Duan Qirui.As for President Li Yuanhong, he also tried his best to mediate between the North and the South, reconcile the conflicts between them, and strive for the normal operation of the new government.With the efforts of all parties, although the new team cannot talk about the renewal of Vientiane, they understand it and fulfill their responsibilities.

Behind the harmony, differences between the North and the South still exist.Not long after the establishment of the new team, Nanfang proposed to punish the culprits of the imperial system, and submitted a list of thirteen members.Seeing this, readers may find it strange that when it comes to the culprits who pushed Yuan Shikai to proclaim himself emperor, there should be no less than dozens of people, including the military governors who are currently entrenched in various provinces, but why are there only thirteen people? This list is mysterious.Among these thirteen people, the six gentlemen of the Chouan Society (Yang Du, Sun Yuyun, Yan Fu, Liu Shipei, Li Xiehe, Hu Ying), who were the first to advocate the monarchy, these unarmed literati, naturally made the list without any suspense.In addition, it was the "seven evil men of Hong Xian" who caused the most trouble during Yuan Shikai's restoration, that is, Liang Shiyi, Zhu Qiqian, Duan Zhigui, Zhou Ziqi, Zhang Zhenfang, Lei Zhenchun, and Yuan Naikuan, which together happened to be the "Thirteen Taibao".As for the others, either they hold real power and are not easy to offend, or they are Xiao Xiami, so let's let it go. Regarding the punishment of the culprits of the imperial system, Lao Duan did not agree at first. After all, some people in the "Thirteen Taibao" were old friends. The revolutionaries arrested during the second revolution were pardoned together, and everyone would be happy if it was a joke? Nanfang was extremely dissatisfied with Lao Duan's attitude of trying to make peace with each other, and Li Yuanhong was respected as a leader by Nanfang at this time, so he had to stand up and persist to show respect for principles.Considering Li Yuanhong and the southern forces behind him, Lao Duan had no choice but to make some concessions. After many negotiations and transactions, he finally drew up a list of eight culprits, namely: Yang Du, Sun Yuyun, Liang Shiyi, Zhu Qiqian, Zhou Ziqi, Gu Ao (former director of the Legal Affairs Bureau), Xia Shoutian (internal history, drafter of the imperial system), Xue Dake (manager of "Asian Newspaper", advocate of the imperial system), known as the "Eight King Kong". This new eight-person list excludes a few old friends from the Beiyang Department, and adds a few pen-wielding literati, which is even more nondescript.The most wonderful thing is that before the order of punishment was issued, these people had already heard the news and rushed out of the gate of Beijing to escape.Only Gu Ao, the former Director of the Legal Affairs Bureau, moved a little slower, and was caught when he was driving out of Beijing, but in the end it didn't matter. Punishing the culprit of the imperial system was the first disagreement between Li Yuanhong and Duan Qirui, and it was also the beginning of their struggle.To be honest, Lao Duan didn't think highly of Li Yuanhong.In his eyes, what was Li Yuanhong?A defeated general who abandoned the sea?A new army general who became a monk halfway?You know, Lao Duan was born in the army and studied in Germany, and Li Yuanhong originally studied the navy. Even though he has visited Japan three times, how can Japan compare with the world's number one German army at that time?Japan originally learned this from Germany. Therefore, in Lao Duan's mind, he is the one who understands military affairs the most and is the most authentic in all of China, and the others are no problem at all (not to mention Li Yuanhong, so what about Wang Shizhen and Feng Guozhang? Humph). Lao Duan has this capital!During the Wuchang Uprising, Li Yuanhong was just a small Xietong (brigadier commander), while Duan Qirui had been in charge of the six Beiyang towns a few years ago.When the Qing court transferred Duan Qirui to suppress the Wuchang Uprising, the old Duan who was serving as the admiral of Jiangnan was immediately appointed as the governor of Huguang, which was higher than Li Yuanhong.Besides, at that time, the northern and southern armies were at war, and the Beiyang army beat Wuchang's revolutionary army to the brink of death. You, Li Yuanhong, were the generals of the defeated army. Although luckily you were lucky enough to be elected president, how dare you show your prestige in front of my old Duan? ?What's more, after the Republic of China, Li Yuanhong, who was the vice president in Wuchang at that time, was still forced to come to Beijing by the old Duan, which made the old Duan look down on Li Yuanhong even more. Lao Duan was born in a military family. His grandfather Duan Pei served as the commander of the Huai Army because of his meritorious service in suppressing the Nian Army in his early years. He and Liu Mingchuan, Zhang Shusheng, Zhou Shengbo, Zhou Shengchuan, etc. Down.Duan Qirui was born in 1865 in the Duan family's old house in Taipingjibei, Lu'an County, Anhui Province. His father, Duan Congwen, lived up to his name (perhaps it was arranged by Duan Pei). He never went to war but stayed at home.When Duan Qirui was 5 years old, his father Duan Congwen bought a hundred acres of fertile land in Hefei, and then his family moved, so Duan Qirui was also called "Duan Hefei". Duan Qirui was mainly influenced by his grandfather when he was a child. He was taken to his barracks in Suqian by his grandfather Duan Pei when he was 7 years old, and he was influenced by military life.Although his grandfather found a private school for Duan Qirui to study, Duan Qirui liked to dance with knives and sticks the most when he was a child, and he only liked to read military books such as platooning and deploying troops and Qimen Dunjia (no wonder Yuan Shikai admired him) .During those days, as the young master, Duan Qirui lived very comfortably. However, Duan Qirui's good life came to an abrupt end when he was 14 years old, because his grandfather Duan Pei died suddenly in Suqian.Xiao Duan, who lost his asylum, had no choice but to take his grandfather's coffin to his hometown in Hefei for burial in the military camp.Soon, Xiao Duan walked more than 2,000 miles alone. After dozens of days of travel and dust, he finally rushed to Weihai, Shandong Province to join his cousin Duan Congde, and became a soldier under his command.This year, Duan Qirui was only 16 years old. Misfortune ensued.In the second year when Duan Qirui came to Weihai, his father, Duan Congwen, was killed by robbers on his way home after he rushed to Weihai to visit his son (only thirty miles away from home), and he was kidnapped and robbed. 39 years old.After the bad news spread to Weihai, Duan Qirui asked for leave to go to the funeral but was not approved.Eight months later, Duan Qirui's mother also died due to excessive grief.Within a year, both parents died, and Duan Qirui was only allowed to go home for the funeral this time. The changes in the family and the burden of supporting the family made Duan Qirui worried and frowning.As an ordinary soldier, Duan Qirui could not see the hope of life.However, what happened was that Li Hongzhang founded the Tianjin Armed Forces Academy in 1885 and planned to recruit students from the Huai Army.Duan Qirui was overjoyed when he heard the news. He was determined to seize this great opportunity to change his destiny, so he immediately signed up for the recruitment and ranked among the best in the exam, and was finally selected to study in the artillery department. Tianjin Armed Forces Academy is the first army academy in modern Chinese history. At that time, some German military instructors were hired, and the military courses and weapons they learned were all from Germany.During the two-year study period, Duan Qirui studied new courses such as astronomy and geography, Gezhi military weapons, surveying and mapping algorithms, fort barracks, and marching formations. He also studied traditional Chinese culture such as classics and history. In 1887, Duan Qirui graduated from the school with an "excellent" grade and became the best among the first batch of students. After graduation, Duan Qirui did not go directly to the company to lead the troops, but was first sent to Lushun to supervise the fort. In the winter of 1888, Li Hongzhang asked the imperial court to select military students to study in Germany, and Duan Qirui was selected again. In the spring of 1889, under the leadership of school inspector Yin Chang (Yin Chang was a Manchu who had studied military affairs in Germany before), Duan Qirui went to Germany for further studies with five alumni including Shang Dequan. After arriving in Germany, Duan Qirui and others entered the Berlin Military School to study.After the others had completed their studies and returned to China, Duan Qirui was assigned to go to the Krupp Arsenal for an internship to familiarize himself with and learn the manufacturing and use technology of the world's most advanced artillery.It was not until the end of 1890 that the 25-year-old Duan Qirui returned to China. Not long after entering the Beiyang Ordnance Bureau, he was transferred to Weihai Suiying School as a teacher. It is a pity that the Qing army at that time did not pay much attention to these graduates of military schools. Most of them were entrusted with idle positions such as teaching, and failed to enter the barracks as military commanders.In the military atmosphere at that time, most of the old-school military officers who came from the army looked down on graduates from military academies. They believed that these child soldiers had no actual combat experience and could not be entrusted with important responsibilities. The exclusion of officers. It wasn't until the First Sino-Japanese War that the opportunity for Duan Qirui and others finally came.Due to the clumsy performance of the old Xianghuai army in the war, the Qing government decided to train a new army according to Western-style military tactics. This was Yuan Shikai's "small station training".Due to the extreme shortage of military talents, Yuan Shikai then asked Yin Chang, who was then the general manager of the Tianjin Armed Forces Academy, to recommend talents, and Duan Qirui became one of the lucky ones. Yuan Shikai's new army is a new type of army with infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineers and other arms, of which there are nearly 2,000 artillerymen.After Duan Qirui joined the new army, he was appointed as the commander of the artillery team, and received great attention from Yuan Shikai.At that time, the artillery team led by Duan Qirui consisted of 60 rapid-fire guns, heavy artillery, etc., and nearly 500 horses. This is also the first regular artillery unit in modern Chinese history. A commander of artillery (artillery is the king of modern warfare!). In the process of training the new army with Yuan Shikai, Duan Qirui not only personally led the troops, but also successively served as the instructor or the general manager of the accompanying school. The situation of warlord separatism has had a major impact, which is a later story (so is Feng Guozhang). It is said that Yuan Shikai was not at ease with Duan Qirui, who directly controlled the military power.At the beginning, Duan Qirui was the commander of the third town of Beiyang. When he made the third town decent, Yuan Shikai transferred him to the fourth town as the commander, and then he was transferred to the sixth town. .Yuan Shikai's original purpose was to prevent Duan Qirui from staying in a certain army for too long, so as to cultivate his cronies, but the result of transferring Duan Qirui was that half of the troops in the six towns of Beiyang became successful. The old Duan's subordinates.As a result, Duan Qirui became the first person in the Beiyang Army after Yuan Shikai, and he can also be called the deputy commander of the Beiyang Army. With the continuous expansion of Yuan Shikai's influence, Duan Qirui, Wang Shizhen, Feng Guozhang and others were promoted step by step, and the Beiyang faction had begun to emerge in the political situation in the late Qing Dynasty.Although Yuan Shikai was driven back to his hometown by the regent Zaifeng in 1908, Duan Qirui and others still held heavy troops and secretly communicated with Yuan Shikai, which was also the biggest capital for Yuan Shikai to come out again. After the Wuchang Uprising, Duan Qirui, who was supervising the battle on the front line, sent a telegram to force the palace at the behest of Yuan Shikai, which eventually led to the abdication of the Qing emperor.Yuan Shikai, who seized power, of course did not treat Duan Qirui who made great contributions badly. In the case of repeated changes in cabinet members, only Duan Qirui's position as chief of the army remained unchanged.Duan Qirui in the early years of the Republic of China was indeed loyal to Yuan Shikai and obeyed his words. In addition, Duan Qirui married Yuan Shikai's righteous daughter again, and the relationship between the two was very harmonious. Until later, Yuan Shikai suddenly developed an ambition to become emperor, and the relationship between the two took a sharp turn for the worse.Because of Duan Qirui's leading power, he could not accept another emperor...not even Yuan Shikai. Think about it, if it is a republic, when Yuan Shikai dies, Duan Qirui will have a chance to become president, but if Yuan Shikai engages in a "home world", then there is no chance at all; besides, Duan Qirui opposed the monarchy before , and now he supports Yuan Shikai to proclaim himself emperor, what kind of thing is he?After many bitter remonstrances, Duan Qirui saw that Yuan Shikai could not change his mind, so he had no choice but to say that he was not sick, and the relationship between the two became stalemate. Due to years of kindness and relatives, Duan Qirui did not publicly stand up against Yuan Shikai's proclaiming emperor, but just hid himself and sulked.After the outbreak of the War to Protect the Nation in 1916, Yuan Shikai fell into a situation of betrayal, so he had to find Duan Qirui again to help.It is a pity that at this time, the old Yuan was not long gone. Before his death, Yuan Shikai entrusted the state affairs to Duan Qirui, and the old Duan also claimed to be the successor of the Beiyang Department. As a result, Yuan Shikai made troubles in the imperial system for a long time, and instead of being held accountable after his death, he was treated as a "state funeral". This cannot but be attributed to Duan Qirui.Even Yuan Shikai's eldest son, Yuan Keding, the "prince" who was in conflict with Lao Duan during the imperial system, thanked Lao Duan many times and said sincerely: "Thanks to the Prime Minister!" The era of Yuan Shikai was over, and Duan Qirui, who became the prime minister, reached the pinnacle of power and took over all the military and political power of the central government.But there is one thing that Lao Duan is reluctant to do, that is, Li Yuanhong, who is not from the Beiyang family, took over as the president according to law.Fortunately, this nominal head of state does not have a single soldier in his hands. It may be more difficult for him to compete with Lao Duan and his intricate Beiyang faction.