Chapter 38 37. The president takes turns to do it. This year, he will come to my house.

It took less than a month from Zhang Xun's entry into Beijing to the failure of the restoration, but the political situation in Beijing has undergone earth-shaking changes.First of all, Duan Qirui, who was dismissed, turned around and made a comeback. He not only restored the position of prime minister of the cabinet, but also transformed himself into a great hero of the "three republics".On the day Premier Duan returned to Beijing, the masses lined the road to welcome him. Compared with the warm scene when he left Beijing sadly a month ago, the difference was far and wide. As for President Li, the past month has been a roller coaster ride. Not only has he fallen from the peak of happiness to the bottom of despair, he has also tasted the taste of both ice and fire.After escaping from the presidential palace, Li Yuanhong hid in the embassy area and never showed up until the restoration failed (he was not afraid that Zhang Xun, the new guest in the embassy area, would come to settle accounts with him).

After Duan Qirui returned to the capital, he sent someone to the Japanese embassy to find President Li, hoping that he could return to the presidential palace.Li Yuanhong's mood at this moment is like knocking over a five-flavored bottle, full of ups and downs, mixed flavors, how can he have the face to face Duan Qirui again... how about this Prime Minister Duan who was dismissed by him and now has come back strongly? People are not sages, who can be lifeless?In fact, Li Yuanhong also knew in his heart that Duan Qirui was just superficially polite, and he might not be willing to continue in the position of president in his heart. How could old Duan not be concerned about the dismissal order a month ago?Besides, Li Yuanhong personally disbanded the National Congress that could have been relied on, so what is he going to use to fight against Lao Duan now?Keep going, it's not making yourself happy.

When you stop and stop, you will be subject to chaos. Let it go, everything will stop. Thirty-six strategies, the best strategy is to go.As a result, Li Yuanhong solemnly issued a statement, saying that he had made up his mind to resign, and there was no need to return to the presidential palace. Li Yuanhong still has self-knowledge, otherwise he would really bring shame on himself.It is said that the night Duan Qirui returned to Beijing, he discussed the future president with the people around him. When Zhang Guogan, Secretary General of the State Council, proposed to reinstate Li Yuanhong, Duan Qirui's face sank and he said, "What? Working with him? It's impossible!"

When Duan Qirui made such a statement, several warriors around him immediately drew out their pistols and threatened: "This matter still needs to be discussed? From now on, who will be Li Yuanhong's lobbyist and act as a military judge!" However, Li Yuanhong was still the president after all, and after Zhang Xun was driven away, it would not be a problem for him to stay in the Japanese embassy.Therefore, Duan Qirui asked Jiang Chaozong to take people to pick up Li Yuanhong, but Li Yuanhong only asked them to send him to his private house, but refused to go to the presidential palace.

On July 14, Li Yuanhong issued a telegram, officially announcing his resignation from the presidency.During the power-on, Li Yuanhong was quite brave enough to take responsibility, saying that he mistrusted Zhang Xun's nonsense, which led to the unmanageable situation. Since then, he has retired from politics and retired, and does not ask about political affairs.At the end of the telegram, Li Yuanhong placed high hopes on Feng Guozhang's succession as president, and hoped that he could reorganize the country and benefit the people of Li. Li Yuanhong's resignation telegram was written with sincere emotions, neither blaming others nor greedy for high positions, and was generally appreciated by the public opinion at the time.However, although Li Yuanhong's high-profile retirement won applause, Duan Qirui felt a little unhappy, because Li Yuanhong strongly recommended Feng Guozhang as his successor before retiring, but this was not the candidate Duan Qirui hoped for.

Who is Lao Duan's most hopeful candidate?Xu Ge old Xu Shichang is also.Xu Shichang followed Yuan Shikai very early, was born as a Jinshi of the Eight Classics, and also studied at the Imperial Academy. He can be said to be the most educated in the Beiyang Department.In the former Qing Dynasty, Xu Shichang's official rank was second only to Yuan Shikai, and he was Yuan Shikai's full-power agent of Beiyang after he was kicked back to his hometown by Zaifeng. Therefore, Xu Ge's high prestige in Beiyang was unmatched by others. Of course, all of this is the old emperor's calendar. What Duan Qirui cared most about at the time was...Xu Shichang was a civil servant.

Feng Guozhang is different.This dude ranked low among the "Three Heroes of Beiyang" back then, but he was the oldest. He was 2 years older than Wang Shizhen, 6 years older than Duan Qirui, and the same age as Yuan Shikai...but half a year older .Feng Guozhang, courtesy name Huafu, was born in Shijing Village, Hejian County, Zhili in January 1859. It is said that his ancestors were the descendants of Feng Sheng, the founding father of the Ming Dynasty. Instead, there should be a president of the Republic of China. The Feng family has not been considered well-developed for several generations. Although there are occasional people who go out to be officials, they are still a traditional farming and studying family on the whole.At the time of Feng Guozhang’s grandfather, the Feng family was still well-off, but after Feng Guozhang’s birth, the family’s fortunes began to decline, and the inheritance of farming and reading became mainly based on farming, supplemented by reading, and it was not easy to maintain their livelihood.Feng Guozhang entered a private school when he was young, and his grades were pretty good. When he was old, he went to the most famous Lotus Academy in Baoding to study, but later he had to give up his studies because of his family's poverty and went back home to work in agriculture.

In 1884, when Feng Guozhang was 25 years old, he joined the Zhili Admiral Nie Shicheng and started as a cooking soldier.Among those clumsy soldiers who didn't know a lot of characters at that time, Feng Guozhang could be regarded as an intellectual, and his years of study experience also made him very alert and intelligent, standing out from the crowd.Therefore, the battalion management team soon discovered that Feng Guozhang was a talent, and immediately promoted him to be an orderly by his side. Coincidentally, in the second year of Feng Guozhang's enlistment, Li Hongzhang founded the Beiyang Armed Forces School in Tianjin. The first batch of students were mainly selected from the outstanding soldiers recommended by the officers of the Huai Army battalions.Undoubtedly, in this election, Feng Guozhang's cultural level helped him again, and he successfully entered the first phase of infantry studies (Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui were both artillery subjects).

During his studies, Feng Guozhang was still obsessed with fame. Later, he went back to his hometown to take an exam and was selected as a scholar. Later, he returned to school because he failed the provincial exam.Of course, Feng Guozhang's behavior was tacitly approved by the leaders, because at that time most military people did not pay attention to cultural learning, and Feng Guozhang could set an example if he was selected as a scholar. After graduating from the Armed Forces Academy, because of Feng Guozhang's excellent academic performance, the general manager Yinchang kept him as a teacher in the school.Because the Huai army did not pay much attention to military school graduates at that time, and Feng Guozhang was eager to make military achievements and be promoted. Later, he joined Nie Shicheng's army again and participated in the Sino-Japanese War, during which he performed very well.After the war, Nie Shicheng was recommended to go to Japan as the entourage of Yu Geng, the Chinese ambassador to Japan. From this, he paid attention to inspecting the Japanese military, and wrote several volumes of military books, which were dedicated to Nie Shicheng after returning home.It's a pity that Nie Shicheng was an old man with limited understanding of modern military affairs, so Feng Guozhang's achievements were not taken seriously.

After training at Yuan Shikai's small station, Feng Guozhang was recommended by the old principal Yin Chang to serve as an instructor, so Feng offered books again.After Yuan Shikai read the book, he felt like a treasure, and repeatedly praised Feng Guozhang as "the number one student in the army". Therefore, Feng Guozhang also received great attention from Yuan Shikai, and he took on important tasks in the new army.During this period, the footwork exercises of the Xiaozhan New Army were all written by Feng Guozhang, and Feng Guozhang found a good place to display his skills. As Yuan Shikai's power continued to expand, Feng Guozhang was also promoted step by step, and successively served as the general office of various military schools and the director of the Military Science Department of the Military Training Department. In 1903, Empress Dowager Cixi visited Baoding to inspect the new army. Feng Guozhang was promoted from the third rank to the second rank military officer because of his meritorious service in military training. In 1905, Feng Guozhang, Tie Liang and others went to Japan to inspect the military again, and their status in the domestic military circle became increasingly important.

After the Wuchang Uprising, Yuan Shikai came out again and supervised the army to go south. Feng Guozhang immediately led Li Chun, Wang Zhanyuan, Chen Guangyuan and other troops of the first army to storm Hankou and occupied it after four days of fierce fighting. Feng Guozhang was also awarded the second-class baron by the Qing court. .It is said that Feng Guozhang was so moved that he burst into tears when he learned that he was a knight, saying that he was a poor boy, and now he is a knight. No joke. It can be seen from this that Feng Guozhang's personal letter to Zhang Xun after Yuan Shikai's death was not a sudden act, and Zhang Xun's belief that Feng Guozhang was in favor of restoration must also be the result of "observing his words and observing his actions".After the capture of Hankou, Feng Guozhang asked Yuan Shikai again and again for orders to capture Hanyang and Wuchang in one fell swoop and establish immortal feats, but what he didn't expect was that Yuan Shikai's vision at this time had surpassed that of Wuhan. During the war, Feng Guozhang was transferred back to the capital because he did not understand Yuan Shikai's intentions, and served as the commander of the imperial guards. At the critical moment of the North-South negotiations, Yuan Shikai's transfer of Feng Guozhang to the commander of the imperial guards was carefully considered. At that time, most of the officers of the imperial guards at all levels were his students or subordinates, which was also conducive to Yuan Shikai's control of this special army through the hands of Feng Guozhang. At that time, the Imperial Guard had two infantry associations (i.e., infantry brigades), and each association had two infantry regiments (infantry regiments), as well as artillery, horse, and engineering battalions.Among them, except for the fourth standard of the infantry, which is composed of Han soldiers, the others are all bannermen, and the former commander Liang Bi is one of the well-known leaders of the Zong-Social Party, and his attitude of defending the Qing Dynasty to the death also made Yuan Shikai feel very embarrassed, because this Once the army is unstable, it is very likely that the capital will be in danger, or the Japanese and the Zongsha Party will fall into the trap of escorting the Qing emperor out of the capital and establishing an independent Manchukuo. This will cause China to split and the three eastern provinces will eventually It fell into the hands of Japan...the so-called "expulsion of the Tartars" also ended here (so the Eighteen-Star Banner of the Revolutionary Party does not include Manchuria, that is, the three eastern provinces). When Feng Guozhang had just made illustrious military exploits, Yuan Shikai's transfer of him to the commander of the imperial guards was not only justified, but also had the effect of "killing two birds with one stone".Fortunately, Liang Bi was expelled from the Imperial Guards and was killed by a revolutionary Peng Jiazhen soon after. Yuan Shikai also strengthened his control over the Imperial Guards through Feng Guozhang.Without the Guards, the tricks of the Zongsha Party and the Japanese would not be able to be carried out. Of course, one of the main reasons why the imperial guards obeyed Feng Guozhang at that time was that they felt that Feng Guozhang was loyal to the imperial court. For example, after Duan Qirui issued a telegram in favor of the republic, Feng Guozhang's initial reaction was incomprehensible and did not agree. .According to the recollection of his aides, after reading the telegram, Feng Guozhang was very angry and said: "Why did Zhiquan send such a telegram? He is now in Baoding. Is this telegram fabricated by someone or is it his original intention? I must Ask." It wasn't until later that Duan Qirui sent Jin Yunpeng to explain to Feng Guozhang in person, and revealed that this was what Yuan Shikai meant, so Feng Guozhang remained silent for a long time and dropped the matter. After the Qing emperor accepted the preferential conditions and agreed to abdicate, Feng Guozhang encountered a difficult problem, that is, how to explain and appease the officers and soldiers of the Imperial Guard.Most of the imperial guards were Manchus. First, they were loyal to the Qing court, and second, they worried that the army would be disbanded after the Qing emperor abdicated, which would affect the livelihood of themselves and their families.Therefore, if Feng Guozhang does not handle it well, it is likely to trigger a mutiny, and even affect the process of the Qing emperor's abdication and the stability and security of the capital. One day in early February 1912, when the officers and soldiers of the Imperial Guard were discussing a lot, Feng Guozhang came to the station and ordered the trumpets to be assembled.After the trumpet was blown, all the officers and soldiers gathered in the playground. There were three large square tables in front of the playground, one of which was stacked on top, and a chair with legs was placed beside it to temporarily build a high platform for Feng Guozhang to speak to the officers and soldiers. After the officers and soldiers of the whole town lined up in the order of infantry, horses, artillery, engineering, and supply battalion, Feng Guozhang came to the stage with a scroll.He glanced at the officers and soldiers lined up first, and then began to speak: "I am here today to talk to you about an important matter. As you all know, Premier Yuan advocates a constitutional monarchy, and I have always been in favor of a constitutional monarchy. But now the independent provinces are too If there are too many, there will be a fight, the army is not enough, the military salary is not available, and foreigners are unwilling to lend us money. Now the Empress Dowager Longyu has issued an order, saying that the issue of the national system will be handed over to the National Assembly for a referendum, but the current situation It is already extremely dangerous, even if the officers and soldiers of our imperial guards fight with their lives, who will be entrusted with the responsibility of guarding the palace and the capital?" After seeing the movement below, Feng Guozhang quickly took out the scroll and began to read: "Now, the prime minister has negotiated preferential treatment conditions with the militia: the honorary titles of the empress dowager and the emperor, the treatment of Manchus and Mongolians, and our imperial guards. Everything in the army will not move..." When Feng Guozhang read "The Emperor of the Qing Dynasty resigned", there was already a lot of commotion in the team. Although some bannermen didn't say anything, they undoubtedly had expressions of surprise and astonishment on their faces; People simply wiped away the tears.As Feng Guozhang continued to read, the commotion in the team became more serious. Many officers and soldiers had already left the neat queue and began to discuss with each other and express their opinions, some of which were angry.The only thing that stood still was the fourth mark of the team composed of Han people. They still stood neatly in line, unmoved at all, showing an indifferent expression. After Feng Guozhang finished reading the conditions of preferential treatment, he saw that the team was in disarray, so he announced loudly: "What I said just now, no matter what you want to say to me, whether you are an officer or a soldier, you can choose a few representatives. For the first five steps, they will express their opinions on behalf of everyone." After a while, several representatives walked out of the queue. They asked two questions. One was the safety of the empress dowager and the emperor. Could President Feng (the commander of the imperial guards was called the president at the time) be able to guarantee it?The second is that the Imperial Guard will be organized by the Ministry of War in the future. Will it be cancelled?Can President Feng take full responsibility for this? After Feng Guozhang heard this, he immediately went to the stage and replied: "I, Feng, dare to guarantee the safety of the two palaces with my family and life! Moreover, I dare to guarantee that the two palaces will never leave the palace and will still be guarded by our imperial guards as usual. As for our imperial guards , no matter what position I am transferred to in the future, and where I go, I will never break away from you!" After the representatives returned to the team, the commotion in the team still has not completely subsided.At this time, Feng Guozhang was quick to gain wisdom. He jumped onto the high platform again and said loudly to the people below: "I still have something to tell everyone!" After the team stabilized a bit, Feng Guozhang said loudly: "Now, no matter whether you are a soldier or an army, quickly select two people, give them each a pistol today, and follow me from now on, In the future, no matter whether I am at home or out, as long as I am found in collusion with the revolutionary party, I will be allowed to beat me to death immediately, and my family members will not be allowed to retaliate.” After hearing this, the flag soldiers elected two people on the spot. Both of them were the head of the team (i.e., squad leader). One was named Fuxi and the other was named Delu. When the two came to Feng Guozhang, Feng Guozhang said to his entourage and staff: "I will go to the town headquarters today to draw up two orders, appoint these two people as adjutants of this office, receive two pistols, and pay 50 taels of silver per month." After this matter was done, the team calmed down, and Feng Guozhang was relieved.After he returned to the town headquarters, he sat down on the sofa, heaved a long sigh and said nothing.Forced by the situation, Feng Guozhang's mood at the time was that he felt sorry for the Qing court, but also had to be Yuan Shikai's taming tool... Yuan Shikai was also kind to him! In an atmosphere of silence, Feng Guozhang then left the town headquarters.From then on, there were two more flag soldiers with pistols beside Feng Guozhang. They not only followed Feng Guozhang back to his private house in Cinder Alley, but also followed Feng Guozhang wherever he went. This situation lasted for a long time. It is said that the morale of the imperial guards was indeed unstable at that time, especially when the preferential conditions were announced, the flag soldiers felt that they had reached the point of life and death. If it were not for Feng Guozhang's inspiration, it would be hard to say what happened at that time. (The above narratives are all from the memories of Yun Baohui, Feng Guozhang's staff at the time) After the abdication of the Qing emperor, Feng Guozhang cherished the official uniforms and hats of the previous dynasty very much. His official hat was still hung on the four-legged hat stand in the living room. In order to prevent dust from falling, he also specially made a hat burden Covered on the official hat.The pigtail behind Feng Guozhang was also cut off when he went to Tianjin to take office as the governor of Zhili in August 1912.This may have been done intentionally to maintain the morale of the imperial guards, but until Feng Guozhang's death, the imperial guards did not break away from Feng Guozhang, this is a later story. During Yuan Shikai's period, Feng Guozhang took on important responsibilities successively, and personally led his troops to the south during the "second revolution" to suppress the revolutionary party.Later, Feng Guozhang became the governor of Jiangsu and became the overlord of the Jiangnan.When Yuan Shikai restored the monarchy, Feng Guozhang opposed it, but he was not as direct as Duan Qirui, but secretly obstructed it.The reason why he couldn't get along with Yuan Shikai was because of Feng Guozhang's character, and because Feng Guozhang's stepmother was Ms. Zhou, the governess of Yuan Shikai's family, Feng Guozhang couldn't easily fall out with Yuan Shikai. A few months before Yuan Shikai's death, Feng Guozhang also held a meeting in Nanjing to discuss the future development of the political situation, but due to the interference of Ni Sichong and others, it finally fell through.After Li Yuanhong succeeded to the presidency, Feng Guozhang also mediated the "controversy" between Li and Duan. I thought Feng Guozhang was also a restorationist. After Li Yuanhong resolutely resigned from the presidency, Feng Guozhang, then acting president, became his legitimate successor.But at the very beginning, Feng Guozhang also had mixed feelings of joy and sorrow: the joy was that he could finally reach the pinnacle of his life...becoming the president of the Republic of China (Yuan Shikai did it, and my old Feng did it too!); the worry was the place in Beijing It's not his own sphere of influence. If he is a polished president like Li Yuanhong and is subject to other people's constraints everywhere, he might as well be a Jiangsu governor to feel at ease. When Feng Guozhang was in a dilemma, Duan Qirui sent him a telegram saying: "Fourth brother, come quickly!" After Feng Guozhang received this telegram, he pointed to the telegram happily and proudly and said to the people around him: "Look, Zhizhi Izumi is a brute! Zhiquan is a brute!" However, the people around Feng Guozhang were divided into two groups of opinions at that time. One group believed that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and hoped that the old man would immediately go to Beijing to become the president; That's good, so I don't have to go to Beijing and be restricted by others. Feng Guozhang was also very distressed about this. Firstly, the temptation to become president was too great, and secondly, he was afraid that the tiger would leave the mountain and fall into Pingyang, and lose his territory instead.Duan Qirui saw that Feng Guozhang never made a statement, and the post of president could not always be vacant, so he sent Jin Yunpeng to Nanjing to persuade Feng Guozhang to take up the post of president. After Jin Yunpeng came to Nanjing, he said something like this: "The overall situation in the north is like a censer. This censer has three legs. The president is like one leg of this censer. The prime minister and Donghai (Xu Shichang) are the two legs. With three legs like this, are you afraid that the incense burner will not be able to stand stably?" Feng Guozhang was moved by Jin Yunpeng's "Three Legs Theory of Censer", and he finally decided to choose a date to go north to take office as president.However, before going, Feng Guozhang put forward three conditions, that is: 1. Anyone except Xu Shuzheng can agree to the candidate for the Secretary-General of the State Council; The vacant position was replaced by Chen Guangyuan; 3. Feng Guozhang sent people to serve as the supervisor of Chongwenmen and the salt transportation envoy of Lianghuai (both positions are fat vacancies for collecting money and taxes, and Feng Guozhang is mainly worried that there will be no financial security after becoming president) . After Duan Qirui received Feng Guozhang's conditions, although he was a little unhappy, he still readily agreed.After all, Duan Qirui was more anxious. He urgently needed Feng Guozhang to help him solve the political crisis in the absence of the president. After Feng Guozhang came to Beijing, the former president Li Yuanhong insisted on leaving Beijing (one city cannot accommodate two presidents), but Duan Qirui considered that there were still voices of "supporting Li" in the south at that time, and he was afraid that Li Yuanhong would be used by others after he left Beijing. So he insisted on staying and refused to let Li Yuanhong go.At this moment, a bizarre murder case suddenly occurred in Li Yuanhong's private house in Dongchang Hutong: a soldier of Li Yuanhong's guard suddenly went mad, stabbed the captain of the guard and two soldiers to death with a bayonet, and escaped from the door. He was shot dead by other guards who caught up. After the murder, Li Yuanhong's private house became a haunted house, and Li's family members fled to Tianjin one after another.At this time, Feng Guozhang had already arrived in Beijing, and Duan Qirui agreed to Li Yuanhong's relocation to Tianjin.As a result, Li Yuanhong has become a commoner in Xiying Jinmen, and his story has come to an end for the time being... Will he be able to stand up again? The world is changing, and the future is uncertain, let's wait until five years later!