Chapter 34 33. The "Legion of Warlords" rioted in the presidential palace

On the issue of severing diplomatic relations with Germany, Duan Qirui easily handled President Li and the National Assembly, but when it came to joining the war, his first consideration was the opinions of the provincial governors entrenched in the region.For this reason, Lao Duan specially invited the governors of various provinces to Beijing in the name of holding a military meeting, the purpose of which was to win their support on the issue of participating in the war. As for whether they should participate in the war, most of the military leaders in these places have simple ideas. They think that if they participate in the war, they will probably have to mobilize their own troops, which will affect their own power. Therefore, most people are opposed to it at first.For example, Ni Sichong, the governor of Anhui, made a big talk before he left Bengbu, saying that China could not participate in the war. It is a "subjugated cultural demon", who wants to trap the country in ruins and so on.

Although Lao Duan felt very upset about Ni Sichong's remarks, he still attached great importance to them.Therefore, as soon as Ni Sichong arrived in Beijing, Lao Duan visited him personally, and explained to Lao Ni the reasons and benefits of joining the war.After the old Duan pointed out the mystery of "you don't need to send troops to join the war", Ni Sichong suddenly realized, and immediately made a 180-degree turn. He waved his hands and shouted: "Join the war! We must declare war on Germany. The sooner you join the more it is good!" In addition to Ni Sichong, governor of Anhui, Cao Kun, governor of Zhili, Yan Xishan, governor of Shanxi, Zhao Ti, governor of Henan, Zhang Huaizhi, governor of Shandong, Meng Enyuan, governor of Jiangxi, and Tian Zhongyu, governor of Chahar, also came to Beijing at that time. The warlord who came also sent his own representative.The only thing that makes Lao Duan feel regretful is that Feng Guozhang, who is also the "Three Heroes of Beiyang" and the strongest among the governors of the provinces, did not come.According to Jin Yunpeng, the special envoy he sent, Feng Guozhang seemed to be ambiguous about joining the war and didn't quite agree with it, which made Lao Duan a little unhappy.

Before the meeting was held, Lao Duan and several of his cronies Fu Liangzuo, Qu Tongfeng, and Jin Yunpeng (these three had a teacher-student friendship with Lao Duan, and together with Xu Shuzheng were called Duan Qirui's "Four Diamonds") went up and down Activities, multiple visits, trying to gain the warlords' understanding of the issue of participating in the war.Especially Fu Liangzuo, who was most valued by Lao Duan after Xu Shuzheng was sent to Europe to inspect the military, and he also obeyed Lao Duan and spared no effort. After some hard work, the atmosphere of this military meeting was both harmonious and enthusiastic. The governors of all provinces fully agreed with Lao Duan's idea of ​​participating in the war. It can be called a successful meeting and a united meeting. The first year is very rare.

After the meeting, the warlords were still unsatisfied, and then they went to visit the envoys of the Allied Powers in Beijing with great interest, and expressed their strong willingness to join the war; and the envoys of the Allied Powers couldn't wait more, they hosted a banquet again, It was a ball again, and the Warlords were extremely warmly received.In this interaction between China and foreign countries, all parties enjoyed themselves together, reaching the climax of China's diplomacy in modern times. Soldiers collectively called on foreign envoys, which was an unprecedented rare event in the diplomatic circles, and it could be regarded as a foreign affair.The public opinion at the time was quite critical of this, but those military leaders are now in high spirits, and they don't care about the nonsense written by literati.No, on May 1st, Lao Duan was holding a cabinet meeting to discuss the plan to join the war. After hearing about it, these warriors ganged up to watch... The governors of the provinces want to see how this democratic discussion works. In their view, since it is a democratic republic and everyone is the master of the country, it is only natural for them, as representatives of the provinces, to participate in politics!

This time the cabinet meeting was not very crowded, because the post of Minister of Internal Affairs Sun Hongyi has been vacant since he was dismissed, Minister of Education Fan Yuanlian is on vacation, Minister of Finance Chen Jintao and Minister of Transportation Xu Shiying are avoiding because of their involvement in bribery cases, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wu Tingfang Because he submitted his resignation, it is inconvenient to attend the cabinet meeting at this moment.Therefore, in addition to Prime Minister Lao Duan, the only participants in the meeting were Cheng Biguang, Chief of the Navy, Zhang Yaozeng, Chief of Justice, and Gu Zhongxiu, Chief of Industry and Commerce.

After the governors from various provinces broke in, the originally deserted meeting room immediately became lively and lively.It stands to reason that the provincial governors should not attend cabinet meetings without invitation, but most of these guys are old colleagues or old friends of the old Duan. Since the prime minister does not speak, it is difficult for others to say anything. Ni Sichong and Lao Duan are fellow villagers, and they have worked together for many years. He was always outspoken and the first to speak: "The European War is coming to an end, and we don't need to send out men and guns. Now hurry up and join the Allied Powers. Discussed!" Several other warlords also echoed: "Yes! Yes! Otherwise, it will be too late!"

After hearing the words of these old friends, Lao Duan felt very at ease, so he looked at the other cabinet members, hoping to hear their opinions.Among these cabinet members, Cheng Biguang, chief of the navy, was an admiral in the Sino-Japanese War, Zhang Yaozeng and Gu Zhongxiu were talented students who studied in Japan. These three people lean towards the revolutionary party. They were not members of Duan Qirui's faction, but the old Duan was forming a cabinet. At that time, he hoped to gain the reputation of "cabinet of talents", and was also invited to join the cabinet in order to obtain the support of the south.Before these three people could speak, Zhang Huaizhi, the governor of Shandong, rushed to say: "It is not too late to join the war. Our people in Shandong hate the Germans to death. If the government doesn't make a decision, I will not be responsible for any riots in the local area! "After listening to Zhang Huaizhi's words, the other warlords talked to each other, half of them were agitation, half of them were threats, and the words of the three cabinet members were held back.

Duan Qirui saw that the meeting was here, so he summed up smoothly: "How about we join the war?" Before the other cabinet members could respond, the warlords pounded the table and stomped their feet, shouting loudly: "Join the war!" Join the war! Don't say any more!" Cheng Biguang and the others saw that these people were really out of place, but they also knew that they couldn't be held accountable, so they had to acquiesce in the approval of the case of joining the war. When the matter was settled, the old Duan personally sent the old friends to the door. After expressing his gratitude to them, he couldn't help but said with a little worry: "Our cabinet side passed it smoothly, but I don't know how the presidential palace is. Last time, I had an unpleasant quarrel with President Li because of the severance of diplomatic relations with Germany!" Ni Sichong patted his chest and said loudly: "Don't worry, Prime Minister, this matter is on our shoulders, and President Li will definitely have nothing to say!"

Three days later, the governors of the provinces happily appeared in the presidential palace again, trying to persuade President Li.This time it was still Ni Sichong who took the lead. In front of Li Yuanhong, he kept playing the old tune of "China must participate in the war, otherwise it will not be able to gain a foothold on the international stage", without paying any attention to the expression and reaction of the person he confides to.When Ni Sichong said that "the minister of a certain country also agreed with China's joining the Allied Powers", President Li, who had been holding back for a long time, couldn't hold back any longer. Sir, why did you leave your post without authorization and come to Beijing?! You are soldiers, how can you negotiate with diplomatic missions without authorization? It is really unreasonable to break into the State Council to interfere in state affairs!"

In the eyes of the warlords, Li Yuanhong has always been a "Bodhisattva with low eyebrows". Unexpectedly, he suddenly had a "King Kong's glaring eyes" today, and he was really uncomfortable for a while.Think about it, these warriors had never been reprimanded like this when they were in Yuan Shikai, and their arrogance immediately fell short.Meng Enyuan, the governor of Jilin, wanted to make some excuses, but seeing President Li's angry face, he had no choice but to retreat obediently with everyone. After the warlords left, the people in the presidential palace were very happy and said: "The president lost his temper today, and now those people will never dare to bully our president again!"

Those warlords don't think so anymore. After they left the presidential palace, they felt that Li Yuanhong was simply inexplicable and unreasonable. Don't think about it. When I was in the Qing Dynasty, I was already in control. You a little What kind of fart is the little association?It's just a shit luck to become the president, how capable do you think you are?Now it’s terrible, dare to fight against our Beiyang Department, hehe, I have your good fruit to eat! After the lobbying by the warlords was fruitless, Duan Qirui had no choice but to take the cabinet members to the presidential palace in person and asked Li Yuanhong to stamp the declaration of war on Germany submitted to the Congress.Although Li Yuanhong reprimanded the warlords, he still had no confidence in front of Duan Qirui, but when he handed over the declaration of war to Tang Haozhen, the superintendent of seals, Tang Haozhen pushed it aside, saying : "I can't cover this seal." In the presidential palace, Tang Haozhen not only opposed joining the war, but he was also Li Yuanhong's in-laws (his daughter betrothed Li Yuanhong's eldest son), so it was not easy for President Li to force him.Tang Haozhen refused to seal, and the people from the State Council refused to agree. First of all, Fan Yuanlian, the Chief of Internal Affairs who had just returned from leave, jumped up. He pointed at Tang Haozhen's nose and cursed: "What are you? If you say you can't seal it, you won't cover?" After a few minutes of stalemate between the two sides, Duan Qirui suddenly stood up and walked out without saying a word.Fan Yuanlian was so angry that he couldn't speak, and then he slammed the door and left, even the glass on the door was shattered.After the other cabinet members left, President Li felt scared again. He was worried that Premier Duan would leave Beijing again, so he had to personally stamp the declaration of war on Germany, and then sent someone to the State Council. In this battle, Li Yuanhong backed down again, but he still hoped that Congress could block the passage of the war entry.On the other side, Duan Qirui and the provincial governors are also actively running, lobbying the government's foreign policy to members of Congress. On May 8, Duan Qirui invited representatives of the major parties in the Congress to the State Council and explained to them the reasons for declaring war on Germany: 1. China will not participate in the war in Europe after declaring war, and there is no need to send troops; 2. Germany has already switched to attack In order to defend, the decline is becoming more and more obvious, and failure is already within reach; 3. Russia continued to fight against Germany after the revolution, and the Russia-Germany peace talks were non-existent. The lobbying activities of Duan Qirui and others should be said to be normal, but two days before the Congress voted on the case of joining the war, some discordant phenomena suddenly appeared. For example, many self-proclaimed "citizens", " They marched in front of the Congress with small flags of various colors, and strongly demanded to declare war on Germany; at the same time, many "people's organizations" who claimed to be from other places also sent telegrams, asking Congress to pass the war as soon as possible. case. When Yuan Shikai forced the Congress to elect him as the president, he once used the military to engage in the "citizens' group". There is no doubt that the "citizens" and "representatives" this time are also acting suspiciously.What makes people laugh out loud is that when a few clever newspaper reporters searched for these so-called "outside" telegrams, they found that they all came from the Beijing Telegraph Bureau without exception. It turned out that all of this was a trick played by Fu Liangzuo, Duan Qirui's first disciple. The drama also reached its climax on May 10, the day Congress voted on entry into the war.When the congressmen came to the House of Representatives to vote, they saw thousands of "citizens" and "representatives" surrounded by thousands of "citizens" and "representatives". There are "military petition groups", "academic petition groups", "business petition groups" and so on. There are everything from all walks of life. When congressmen pass by their ranks, these "citizens" and "representatives" will forcefully hand them "petitions" and even "warning" leaflets. If anyone dares not take it or takes it slowly, they will lightly reprimand them For example, more than a dozen congressmen including Zou Lu were punched and kicked by these ferocious "citizen representatives", and as a result, they walked into the venue with blue eyes and bruised noses. . Just as the councilors were about to vote, the "citizen representatives" suddenly claimed that in order to ensure the fairness and transparency of the vote, they would enter the scene to watch and monitor it.After the request was rejected, these people forced their way into the venue. As a result, the order inside and outside the venue was in chaos, and voting could not be carried out at all.Speaker Tang Hualong saw that these people were making a scene, so he made a decisive decision and changed the secret ballot to an open meeting, and called Duan Qirui and the relevant chief ministers, asking them to come to the House of Representatives for questioning. It was delayed until 5:00 p.m. when Acting Chief of Internal Affairs Fan Yuanlian arrived at the House of Representatives.After Mr. Fan came, he was very surprised by the chaos inside and outside the venue, but he couldn't control the order of the venue, so he had to call Duan Qirui and ask him to come to the venue to clean up the situation. At 7:30 in the evening, Duan Qirui drove to the House of Representatives, and the chaotic "citizens' group" calmed down, and immediately formed two teams to welcome Premier Duan's arrival.Amidst the flag-waving shouts of the "citizen representatives", Duan Qirui walked into the venue with a smile on his face, but as soon as he entered the Congress, Duan Qirui was immediately besieged by the congressmen, who questioned Duan angrily: What is going on with the "citizens" besieging Parliament?It's outrageous! But having said that, Duan Qirui really didn't know about the "citizens' regiment" beforehand, just like the sudden mutiny when Cai Yuanpei and others went to Beijing to welcome Yuan Shikai to the south to be the interim president.These so-called "citizen representatives" are actually mostly beggars and hooligans, and the secret organizers are Duan Qirui's disciples Fu Liangzuo, Jin Yunpeng and other Beiyang soldiers. Under the strong request of the congressmen, Duan Qirui had no choice but to order the police chief Wu Bingxiang to disband the "citizens' group".Wu Bingxiang saw that the "Citizens' Corps" had a large number of people, so he had to ask them to send representatives and retreat after making demands. The requirement of the "Citizens Corps" is very simple, that is, the case of joining the war must be passed that night, otherwise the House of Representatives will be destroyed, "indignation of the people"! When Wu Bingxiang went back to report, the "citizen representatives" were already waiting impatiently outside the venue. Some of them then clamored and picked up broken bricks and rotten tiles on the ground and threw them into the parliament. The order was once again in chaos; while in the House of Representatives, Duan Qirui was forced into the lounge of the Congress by angry MPs, forming an infield siege of the Prime Minister. In the chaos, the foreign journalists who came to report the news also suffered. A Japanese reporter was smashed to death by bricks thrown by the "citizen representatives".After the news came, Duan Qirui was worried that it would cause international disputes, so he ordered Wu Bingxiang to expel these fake "citizen groups" immediately by force.Subsequently, Wu Bingxiang transferred the Mounted Police Force to attack these "citizen groups" with horse troops, and finally dispersed the troublemakers.And it was already eleven o'clock in the evening, so the voting on the case of participating in the war naturally couldn't be carried out. Afterwards, it was found out that the so-called "citizens' group" were actually unemployed vagrants hired by people like Fu Liangzuo. They waved their flags and shouted under the organization of the Beiyang soldiers. They originally hoped to help Lao Duan pass the case of joining the war in one fell swoop, but they didn't want to perform. In the end, it turned out to be self-defeating, which not only ruined the war participation case that should have been passed smoothly, but also made Duan Qirui fall into an extremely passive situation. The so-called "little people are not enough to plan", success is not enough to fail, it is true! After this turmoil, public opinion was in an uproar, and Lao Duan's political opponents sent power or severely condemned him in newspapers.Under strong pressure, former KMT chiefs such as Wu Tingfang, Cheng Biguang, Gu Zhongxiu, and Zhang Yao offered to resign one after another. Even Fan Yuanlian, who was closest to the old Duan, had to submit his resignation to protect his political reputation. On May 12th, the State Council was supposed to hold a regular meeting on this day, but because Wu Tingfang and others had submitted their resignations, they no longer attended the meeting; and the Ministers of Finance and Communications were also suspended pending investigation due to the bribery case, leaving only Premier Duan in the cabinet Alone, facing the empty seats, he became a real "polished prime minister".However, although Lao Duan has become a loner, he is still very dedicated and goes to work in the State Council every day as usual. Ladies and gentlemen, Prime Minister Duan goes to work in the State Council alone. Don't think that the author is joking or telling stories. This is absolutely true, and it really happened.You must know that our stubborn and self-willed Prime Minister Duan was born in the military, and the military is the most responsible.No, although the "one-man cabinet" is a bit unaccustomed, but the old Duan still never forgets his case of participating in the war. Hope seedlings also. It's a pity that Premier Duan's feelings were not understood by the MPs.After the National Congress received Premier Duan's message, members of the Congress debated a lot, saying: "The State Council issues a message, which should be decided by the State Council. Now that there is only Premier Duan left in the cabinet, how to hold a State Council? Since it has not been discussed by the State Council, the State Council should If it is invalid, it is not too late to wait until after the cabinet is reshuffled." At this moment, Lao Duan is eagerly waiting for the Congress to review the case of joining the war. His anxiety can be described as "hoping to see through", but the reply of the Congress poured cold water on him, and his desire to declare war immediately disappeared.Lao Duan was originally a soldier, and he always acted vigorously and vigorously. Now that he is a prime minister, he is always restrained by the Congress and the presidential palace. How can he not be annoyed? Old Duan was not the only one who became angry from embarrassment. After being reprimanded by Li Yuanhong, the warlords were also dissatisfied. They then jointly hosted a banquet for members of Congress at the Foreign Affairs Building. Who knew that after the "citizens' group" made trouble last time, the members of Congress were obviously indifferent to these people There are many, and it is impossible to support the case of joining the war. Under the cold reception, the warlords did not do anything, and did not stop. They simply did not mention the case of participating in the war. They hired someone to write an eloquent article, accusing "the law is not a good law, and the Congress is the only power", and asked to review the Constitution or simply dissolve the Congress never mind.When Duan Qirui got this good article, he was naturally overjoyed, and immediately ordered someone to send this letter with the signatures of 22 military governors and representatives to the presidential palace to see how President Li reacted. Li Yuanhong was very pleased to see that Lao Duan was in such a state of embarrassment these days, and his staff members were also very happy. They thought that Lao Duan's one-man show could not continue, and it happened to be a good time to "turn the stage".At this time, Lao Duan sent a message from the Warlord Army Corps, saying that his "ally" Congress would be dissolved, how could Li Yuanhong be easily fooled!So the message was just left in the presidential palace, just like the old practice of "staying in China and not sending it out", which made Prime Minister Duan feel in a dilemma. Li Yuanhong wasn't too afraid of Duan Qirui, but he was a little uneasy about the warriors of the warlord regiment.After all, although Lao Duan is now the Prime Minister, he relies on the prestige accumulated over the years in the Beiyang faction. Currently, except for a battalion of guards, he does not hold substantial military power, but those governors who dominate the provinces It's different, most of these people hold heavy soldiers, and they are the real local power faction. When someone asks, what if the Overseer insists on dissolving the Congress?Li Yuanhong thought for a while, and said: "I have a nine-character idea, which is not illegal, not stamped, and not afraid of death!" Having said that, if the Overseer Corps really wants to get rough, President Li's "Three No's Principle" is just and strict, but I am afraid it is not the opponent of those warriors.When a scholar meets a soldier, he can't explain why he is justified. Let alone the "three nos", what can he do with the "ten nos"?