Chapter 39 38. The land of Sanxiang rises again

On August 1, 1917, Feng Guozhang took office as the acting president in Beijing, which also marked the end of the short-lived "Li and Duan" system, and the Central Political Bureau of the Republic of China entered the period of the "Feng and Duan" system. Without the constraints of Li Yuanhong and the Congress, the issue of declaring war on Germany was easily solved. On August 14, 1917, the Beijing government issued a notice officially declaring war on Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and announcing that all treaties and agreements signed with Germany and Austria were null and void.In other words, the German and Austrian concessions and their privileges in China were all taken back, and the Boxer indemnity no longer had to be paid.

It's really a great thing that pleases people's hearts. Then some people would say, since they participated in the war, they should form an army to go to Europe to participate in the war, right?The pie in the sky is unreliable after all.It is worth congratulating that this kind of thinking was really too much to worry about at the time.Although China announced its participation in the war, it did not send a single soldier to join the battlefield, nor did it see German and Austrian soldiers come to retaliate. Of course, China still sent some laborers to France, Russia and other countries of the Allied Powers, because at that time, after several years of war in Europe, young people went to the battlefield, and there was an extreme shortage of labor force in the rear, so they asked China to send some laborers to Europe, Helping them do what they can do in the rear, such as the transportation of military depots, the excavation and construction of fortifications, etc., can be regarded as indirectly participating in the war on behalf of the Chinese army!

Although Feng and Duan achieved diplomatic success, they encountered serious troubles in internal affairs.It turned out that after Duan Qirui refused to resume the Congress, some MPs came to Guangzhou and held an "extraordinary Congress" on August 25.The so-called "extraordinary" means that the number of people is less than the quorum of attendance.As a rule, the Congress usually has "800 Arhats", and more than half of them can hold a meeting. When the members of the current Congress have been elected for nearly 5 years, and some members are old, sick, dead or retired, it is already difficult to make up 800. The parliament that was disbanded by Li Yuanhong just passed half of the majority.This time, there are more than 150 members of the "extraordinary parliament" in Guangzhou, which is not easy.

After the "extraordinary meeting" of the "extraordinary parliament", Guangzhou organized a military government with Sun Yat-sen as the generalissimo. Tang Jiyao and Lu Rongting from Guangdong and Guangxi, these two big men were also elected as marshals. The self-proclaimed orthodox President Feng Guozhang was very angry when he learned that Guangzhou had established a new central government. While accusing Guangzhou of illegally holding an "illegal parliament", he also ordered that all members of the Guangzhou military government be arrested and dealt with severely.Premier Duan came more directly. He announced aggressively that he would dispatch troops to wipe out the southern army, and he would never forgive him.

Under the intimidation of the North, the South was not to be outdone. After the meeting, Lu Rongting put forward four proposals: one is to welcome Li Yuanhong back to his post, the other is to restore the National Assembly, the third is to remove Duan Qirui, and the fourth is to remove Fu Liangzuo, the governor of Hunan. The Beijing government refuses to agree, hehe, they also want to conquer by force. In this era of warlords whose fists are thicker than anyone else's, it is very common, and it is not very common. Where did so much attention come from! Lu Rongting's first three conditions, namely "welcome Li Yuanhong's reinstatement, restore the National Assembly, and remove Duan Qirui", any reasonable person knows that this is absolutely impossible. If these three conditions are met, then it is better to invite you Lu Rongting to go to Beijing Become president and reorganize the government.Obviously, this is not a friendly way of negotiating, nor is there any sincerity in negotiating.North and South, each other.

Speaking of the fourth condition, the removal of Fu Liangzuo, the governor of Hunan, was the direct cause of the conflict between the North and the South.It turned out that after the Revolution of 1911, the Hunan Revolutionary Party promoted Jiao Dafeng, who was only 26 years old, as the governor of Hunan, but he was stabbed to death within ten days. Tan Yankai, a well-known constitutional party member who was born as a Jinshi, succeeded him as the governor. Tan Yankai was born in 1880. His father, Tan Zhonglin, served as governor of Shaanxi-Gansu, Fujian and Zhejiang, and Guangdong and Guangxi.Tan Yankai was smart and eager to learn since he was a child. The emperor Weng Tonghe once called him a genius. In the past 200 years or so, there has been no Huiyuan blank in Hunan.And this time, it is also the last imperial examination in China.

After Tan Yankai became the governor, due to the relatively strong power of the Hunan Revolutionary Party, Tan Yankai also leaned towards the revolutionary camp in the early years of the Republic of China and joined the Kuomintang.In the "Second Revolution", Tan Yankai was forced to leave by Yuan Shikai because he tried to maintain neutrality between the North and the South, and Tang Xiangming, Vice Minister of the Navy, was appointed as the governor of Hunan. Tang Xiangming was from Hubei, and his elder brother was Tang Hualong, a famous constitutionalist leader in the late Qing Dynasty.Tang Xiangming once won the Juren, but later changed his navy and studied in Europe for five years.After returning to China, Tang Xiangming entered the navy and served as the chief of staff in charge of Sa Zhenbing.During the Revolution of 1911, Tang Xiangming led the fleet to revolt, and was later appointed by Yuan Shikai as the Deputy Chief of the Navy. After the "Second Revolution" broke out, Tang Xiangming put on his battle robe again, led the fleet to Jiangxi and Hunan to assist, and thus took over as the governor of Hunan.

In the Hongxian Monarchy, Tang Xiangming took the lead in persuading Yuan Shikai to advance, and Yuan Shikai was overjoyed, and then named him a first-class marquis. Unexpectedly, the National Guard Army rose up, and the situation changed drastically. Tang Xiangming declared independence hastily under his brother's persuasion.When Yuan Shikai learned that Tang Xiangming had defected, his condition worsened due to anger, which is the so-called "death to Er Chen Tang" ("Er Chen" refers to Chen Shufan from Shaanxi and Chen Huan from Sichuan). Although Tang Xiangming was angry with Yuan Yougong, he was an active member of the imperial movement after all. He was eventually tolerated by the Hunan people and was forced out of Hunan. Tan Yankai made a comeback and became the governor and military governor of Hunan.At the beginning of taking office, Tan Yankai moved out a slogan in the early years of the Republic of China, called "Hunan people rule Hunan", in fact, he once again sold his magic weapon of "strictly keeping neutrality" to prevent other forces from coveting the land of Sanxiang.

Speaking of slogans or ideas in the early years of the Republic of China, there are too many to enumerate.Take "Hunan people governing Hunan" and "Hubei people governing Hubei" as examples, which means that people from this province govern the province. The specific embodiment is that people from this province are the governor of the province, such as Li Yuanhong as the governor of Hubei (Li Wei Huangpi, Hubei), Yan Xishan was the governor of Shanxi (Yan was from Wutai, Shanxi), Li Liejun was the governor of Jiangxi (Li was from Wuning, Jiangxi), Tan Yankai was the governor of Hunan (Tan was from Chaling, Hunan), and Lu Rongting was the governor of Guangxi ( Lu is from Wuming, Guangxi), Hu Hanmin is the governor of Guangdong (Hu is from Panyu, Guangdong), and so on.

In the early years of the Republic of China, the Southern Democratic Party recommended Wang Zhixiang, the former Guangxi chief envoy who participated in the revolution, as the governor of Zhili. As a result, a conflict was triggered between President Yuan Shikai and Tang Prime Minister Shao Yi. In the end, Prime Minister Tang was forced to resign. , may not be caused by the thought of "straight people rule straight".The reason for the Southern Democratic Party's recommendation is very simple. Wang Zhixiang is from Tong County, Zhili, so it is natural for him to be the governor of Zhili.Tang Shaoyi had already agreed to this, but where is Zhili?How could Yuan Shikai tolerate a revolutionary party as the governor by the side of his couch?The matter broke up unhappily and did not wait for a wise man to know it.

"Hunan people governing Hunan" and similar concepts are actually the primary stage of provincial autonomy, and later expanded into the advanced stage of "inter-provincial autonomy". An equally famous concept similar to "Xiang people governing Hunan" is "separation of military and civilian rule".The so-called "military-civilian separation" is to separate the military and civil affairs of each province, firstly to prevent warlords from monopolizing power, and secondly to improve efficiency.In the former Qing Dynasty, the governors and governors of each province were in charge of military, civil, judicial and prison administration. Later in the late Qing Dynasty, the military power was unified and the military power of the governors and governors of each province was taken away. As a result, the governors and governors could not control the new army in each province. This is actually the case of the Qing Dynasty a major cause of its downfall. Theoretically speaking, there was nothing wrong with the policy of unifying military power at the end of the Qing Dynasty. The mistake was that it was too hasty. As a result, when the Revolution of 1911 broke out, the new troops in each province went their own way, driving out the old governors and governors, and acting as military governors themselves.Don't you see, how young were the upstarts in the provinces in the early years of the Republic of China, and how young were the generals of the new army, such as Cai E, Li Liejun, Yan Xishan and other governors, and they were only in their early thirties at the time. Such an incredible thing?With their knowledge, experience and ability, what virtue and ability can they have to govern a province with a population of tens of millions?People like Yan Xishan are really rare. After the founding of the Republic of China, the power of each province was concentrated in the hands of the governor, which was naturally unfavorable to the central government's unified decree.Therefore, the Yuan government also took over the policy of the former Qing Dynasty and played the banner of "dividing the army and the people" to separate the powers of the governors of each province. For security, there is a division of labor and cooperation with each other, and there are some restraints, and the central government can also use it to unify government orders and prevent the harm of local warlords. Whether it is a slogan or a concept, "Hunan people governing Hunan" and "dividing the army and the people" can be said to be good things, but the problem in China often lies in that things are good things, but they are out of shape when implemented. Where?The key is that people's selfishness is mixed with it. In the end, good ideas and good policies will become crooked. No, Tan Yankai said that "the people of Hunan govern Hunan", and Duan Qirui proposed "separation of the army and the people". The reason is that Tan Yankai was born as a scholar and did not understand military affairs. Fu Liangzuo, the deputy minister, came to take up the post.Fu Liangzuo was originally a student of Duan Qirui and a confidant who had followed him for many years. This time he was able to serve as the governor of Hunan. Old Duan explained that Fu Liangzuo was from Gancheng, Hunan. And the perfect combination of "military and civilian division"?A single stone stirred up waves, and Tan Yankai was completely unwilling, because everyone knew that although Fu Liangzuo was originally from Hunan, he was born and raised in the north. He spoke the northern dialect and ate the northern food. I know he is from Hunan.Therefore, it is too far-fetched to say that Fu Liangzuo returned to his hometown to be a military governor because "Hunan people ruled Hunan".However, Tan Yankai could not openly defy the central military orders, so he could only pin his hopes on the Southwest Warlords.Of course, the bigwigs in the south, Lu Rongting, Tang Jiyao and others, are well aware of the old Duan’s purpose of sending Fu Liangzuo to supervise Hunan. Duan Qirui's dream of "unification by force" has been realized. In the face of danger, the warlords in the southwest immediately united. They held a military meeting and decided to send troops to Hunan to support Tan Yankai.However, the Southwest Warlords are high mountains and far away, and their interior is not very unified. Although they want to send troops, they only hear the loud thunder, but no raindrops. But Duan Qirui moved quickly. First, Fu Liangzuo set out to go south in late August. , ready to go to Hunan to take office.Ordinarily, going to Hunan should have taken the Beijing-Han Railway, but Fu Liangzuo detoured Jinpu Road, first went to Nanjing to meet Li Chun, the governor of Jiangsu, and then went up the Yangtze River to visit Wang Zhanyuan, the governor of Hubei, in Wuhan.Obviously, Fu Liangzuo's move was to win the support of the Zhili warlords. Speaking of the warlords in the Beiyang period, there are really many names, which is a headache for historians and readers.But generally speaking, after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, except for Yan Xishan, a former general of the new army, in the north who was entrenched in the Zibaomen of Shanxi, the north of the Yangtze River was basically under the control of the Beiyang Clan, and the south of the Yangtze River was the sphere of influence of the Democratic Party. The party also has factions, which can be divided into revolutionary parties (such as Hu Hanmin in Guangdong, Li Liejun in Jiangxi), former generals of the new army (such as Cai E in Yunnan, Tang Jiyao in Guizhou), old factions (such as Tan Yankai in Hunan, Lu Rongting in Guangxi); after the second revolution, the forces of the Beiyang faction expanded to the south of the Yangtze River, and included Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Fujian into the scope of Beiyang, while the five southwestern provinces (Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan) also remained silent. Submitting to Yuan Shikai's power... The years when the Yuan family ruled the country were also a rare period of unification during the Republic of China. After Yuan Shikai's death, warlords at all levels became active again. First, the five southwestern provinces took advantage of the remaining prestige of the National Guard Army and despised the Duan Clan Central Committee; Seize the province and seek self-development; Xinjiang warlord Yang Zengxin has been living in a remote place since the Revolution of 1911, ignoring the Central Plains, and the situation in Inner Mongolia and Tibet is also uncertain due to the repeated actions of the Beijing government. To make matters worse, there was also a split within the Beiyang faction. First, Zhang Xun messed around and killed himself, and then Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang quietly formed two factions. .The so-called Anhui faction is a group of military leaders headed by Duan Qirui, named after Duan Qirui is from Anhui.In the initial stage, Duan Qirui did not have his own territory and army, but he became a leader by virtue of his prestige and the subordinates or disciples he had maintained for many years.It was not until the formation of the participating army and the Northwest Army that Lao Duan truly possessed his own military power, which triggered the subsequent Zhiwan War. The direct lineage is relatively complicated and can be divided into the old direct lineage and the new direct lineage. The old direct lineage is headed by Feng Guozhang, which also includes Li Chun, the governor of Jiangsu, Chen Guangyuan, the governor of Jiangxi, Wang Zhanyuan, the governor of Hubei, and Cao Kun, the governor of Zhili, and others.Feng Guozhang’s direct lineage did not last long, and what was later called the direct lineage was actually a warlord force headed by Cao Kun (Wu Peifu). Because both Feng Guozhang and Cao Kun were from Zhili, the direct lineage can also be divided into two stages, old and new. This is something. Duan Qirui asked Fu Liangzuo to go to Hunan. It was actually a well-thought-out strategy that killed two birds with one stone: first, he could occupy the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and invade Feng Guozhang's forces in Jiangxi and Hubei;As the saying goes, to fight against the outside world, we must first secure the inside. It is true that a foreign war can be declared but not fought, but a civil war is imminent and imminent. Before Fu Liangzuo arrived in Hunan, Tan Yankai used Liu Jianfan, the former 1911 Revolutionary Party, as the guardian of Lingling, and moved Lin Xiuhai, the second brigade of the First Division of the Hunan Army, to Hengshan.On the surface, Tan Yankai was waiting for Fu Liangzuo's vacancy, saying that Changsha was not fortified, but in fact, in order to preserve his strength, he made preparations first. Old Duan himself was a soldier, and he knew in his heart that without the support of the army, Fu Liangzuo would have achieved nothing in Hunan.Therefore, he then dispatched Wang Ruxian's Department of the Eighth Division of the Beiyang Army and Fan Guozhang's Department of the 20th Division to follow Fu into Hunan to help control Hunan.Under the pressure of the Beiyang Army, Tan Yankai had no choice but to go back to his hometown Chaling to visit relatives under the pretext of leaving without saying goodbye. On September 9, 1917, Fu Liangzuo took his guard battalion to Changsha and took office.At the beginning of his new official position, Fu Liangzuo gave the small warlords in Hunan a big blow. He first removed Lin Xiuhai's brigade commander and reassigned his entourage, Zou Xubin; Mausoleum guardian envoy.Lin Xiuhai and Liu Jianfan were also small warlords with guns in their hands. How could they be caught without a fight and buy it easily, and then the two declared independence in Hengyang and Lingling at the same time.Thus, war broke out. Fu Liangzuo had expected and prepared for the independence of Lin and Liu for a long time, and then he asked to transfer the Eighth and Twentieth Divisions of the Beiyang Army to the Qing Dynasty.The war started on October 6. Due to the weak strength of the Hunan Army, the Beiyang Army basically did not encounter any major resistance, so they captured Hengshan, Baoqing and other places one after another. After winning the first battle, Fu Liangzuo was overjoyed, and immediately sent a telegram to his teacher Duan Qirui to announce the good news.After hearing this, Lao Duan was also very happy. Not only did he send telegrams to encourage them, but he also ordered people to purchase bulk items and send them to the front to encourage them to take advantage of the victory and go south to pacify the Southwest in one fell swoop. But just as Lao Duan was happily pinching his fingers to count the date of victory in Beijing, a telegram came from ahead: Wang Ruxian and Fan Guozhang actually demanded a truce and peace talks! What is going on here?