Chapter 42 41. The European War is over, and it is time for peace negotiations between the North and the South

On November 11, 1918, on a train in the Compiègne forest in northeastern France, representatives of Germany and France signed the armistice agreement, ending the First World War.In these short four years, the political situation in Europe has undergone drastic changes because of this tragic war: a revolution broke out in Russia, the Tsar was overthrown; Germany surrendered, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated; the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed; But his vitality was greatly hurt... But no matter what, the cruel war is finally over, and people all over the world are immersed in peace and joy... The Chinese people are no exception, because we are also a "victorious country"!Unprecedented first time!

The first thing after the victory was to tear down the huge Klinde monument on Dongdan North Street.Klind was the German minister who was unfortunately killed in the chaos of the Gengzi Year. After the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China, the Qing court was forced to send Prince Chun Zaifeng to Germany to apologize in person and built this archway for it.On the third day after Germany announced its surrender, the archway was overthrown by the excited Chinese people, and the three inscriptions written in German, Latin, and Chinese on the monument were erased and later transported to Central Park (formerly Sheji) The altar, now Zhongshan Park), was rebuilt and engraved with the four characters "Justice Victory" to show the pride of the Chinese people (in 1952, it was changed to "Defend Peace").

Xu Shichang also really caught up with the good luck. Just one month after he took office, he encountered such great good news.Although China only sent some laborers to Europe to help, the victory was a bit cheap, but it finally squeezed into the ranks of the victorious countries, and they can follow the squad. . According to the records of the people at the time, the streets of Beijing were filled with flags and people were overcrowded. All parties cheered and celebrated, and there was a sound of singing, dancing and peace.Starting from November 14th, the Ministry of Education specially ordered all schools in Beijing to have a holiday for celebration, which was extended from half a day to several days.In the afternoon of the same day, Beijing academic circles held a street parade, and the director of education specially arranged to build a high platform near Tiananmen Square for review and speech.

Because the parade was very good this time, Cai Yuanpei, the president of Peking University, was excited and applied to the Ministry of Education for a two-day extension of the class, and hoped to borrow the temporary high platform in Tiananmen Square during these two days for Peking University professors to publicize. speech.During these two days, Mr. Cai gave a speech every day, and other professors of liberal arts and sciences also came to the stage one after another, and gave speeches to the public in the severe cold wind until his throat became hoarse. On November 28, the Presidential Palace decided to hold a military parade in Tiananmen Square to celebrate the victory of the European War. After the military parade, a speech conference was held in Central Park. The conference was presided over by the Speaker of the House of Representatives Wang Yitang. Qian Nengxun, Duan Qirui, the war supervisor, and others also attended the meeting and delivered speeches.There were tens of thousands of people in this conference, and every time the climax of the speech was reached, the audience cheered again and again, and the atmosphere was unprecedentedly warm.

Under the influence of this excitement, Xu Shichang decided to hold a city-wide lantern parade on the 30th.Probably inspired by the last parade, the Ministry of Education was even more elated this time. They issued a special order for all students to participate in the Lantern Festival on the 30th.It is said that there were more than 60 schools participating in the celebration parade that day, and there were tens of thousands of students alone.When President Xu Shichang's carriage entered Tiananmen Square, the citizens and students onlookers applauded and cheered, the occasion was unprecedented.

In the international arena, all kinds of good news are also pouring in. First, US President Wilson proposed a fourteen-point proposal, calling for the establishment of a program for world peace;Under the influence of the international peace trend, Xu Shichang also took advantage of the trend to issue a peace order in order to seek a truce between the North and the South to negotiate a peace and return to unity. When the First World War was in full swing, the European and American powers had no time to take care of East Asia. Once the war was over, they immediately returned to the Far East. However, they were very dissatisfied with the split between North and South China at that time, because it seriously affected their commercial interests.Under the leadership of the British Minister Zhu Erdian, the ministers of various countries have euphemistically expressed their expectations for China's peace and stability to the Beijing government. At this time, the Japanese Temple Cabinet, which supported Duan Qirui's "unification by force" policy, collapsed, and the newly appointed Hara Kyoshi Cabinet also took office. He didn't want to risk the disgrace of the world, so he turned to support China's North-South peace talks.

In December 1918, the envoys of Britain, the United States, France, Italy, and Japan made a joint recommendation to the North and South, urging China to resolve the North-South conflict peacefully.Under such circumstances, the forces of the Anhui faction represented by Duan Qirui could not advocate too much unification by force, and the Southwest Warlords also expressed their support for Feng Guozhang's peace decree. A wise move that the people are happy to see and place high hopes on.Fortunately, after the five southwestern provinces pushed Sun Yat-sen away, Cen Chunxuan, a former Qing bureaucrat, was appointed as the chairman of the military government. Xu Shichang and Cen Chunxuan had an old friendship, which was of great help to the organization of the North-South peace talks.

After some disputes and compromises, on February 20, 1919, the North and the South finally formally held the North-South Peace Conference in Shanghai. This was also the second North-South peace talk in modern Chinese history (the previous one took place during the 1911 Revolution).Due to the large number of representatives from the North and the South participating in this peace conference, the relationship is complicated, and the interest representatives behind it are even more intricate and entangled. It is really hard to say whether some real results can be negotiated. Let’s first look at the list of representatives from both sides: Zhu Qiqian (representing Xu Shichang), the general representative of the North, Fang Shu (anfu department), Wu Dingchang (anfu department), Jiang Shaojie (anfu department), Shi Yu (direct line), Wang Kemin (direct line), Wang Youling (Department of Transportation), Liu Enge (Department of Feng), Li Guozhen (Department of Research), and Xu Fosu (Department of Research), a total of 10 people;

Southern General Representative Tang Shaoyi (Guangzhou Military Government), Zhang Shizhao (Cen Chunxuan's Political Society), Hu Hanmin (KMT), Miao Jiashou (Yunnan), Zeng Yan (Guangxi), Guo Chunsen (Political Society), Liu Guanglie (Sichuan), Wang Boqun ( Guizhou), Peng Yunyi (Hunan), Rao Mingluan (Fujian and Navy), Li Shuying (Shaanxi), a total of 11 people. Although the negotiating teams of the two sides were strong, they were neither united nor united. People at the time called it "the South and the South are at odds, the North and the North are at odds, and the North and the South are at odds."

In fact, the negotiating team in the north is mainly controlled by politicians from the Anfu faction. They represent the interests of Duan Qirui and the Anhui warlords. The delegation was even more scattered. They represented the local forces in their own provinces, and they often had their own little calculations. Only on the issue of opposing Duan Qirui did they work together and agree. To be honest, President Xu Shichang and Prime Minister Qian Nengxun hoped that the peace talks would be fruitful, but those who led the peace talks were those guns. They were caught in the middle, and no one dared to offend. The matter was really difficult. .No, at the beginning of the peace talks, the General Representative of the South made a request to withdraw Chen Shufan, the Shaanxi Governor.After listening to the representative from the north, he was quite surprised. Which one is this singing?

It turned out that after the banner of "protecting the law" was set up in the south, Yu Youren, a former Qing Juren, old member of the League, and bearded calligrapher, responded to the call and sneaked back to his hometown in Sanyuan, Shaanxi to plan an army with his comrades Jing Wumu, Hu Jingyi, Zhang Yu and others , Raised the banner of the Shaanxi Yasukuni Army.Chen Shufan, the governor of Shaanxi, could not allow the revolutionary party to run wild on his own territory, and then came to attack in the name of "suppressing bandits". I went back... General Yang Hucheng, who became famous all over the world in the later "Xi'an Incident", was only twenty-five years old at the time. Chen Shufan is a general of the Anhui clique, Duan Qirui of course could not just sit idly by, so other friendly troops marched into Shaanxi to help "suppress the bandits". This question was raised first... Since it is a peace talk, how can it be allowed to continue over there?The atmosphere is too discordant! The representative from the north also thought it was reasonable. He couldn't see the flames of war and the smoke, while the gentlemen on the other side pretended to be peace talks, right?This also seems too insincere.Therefore, the North and the South accepted the opinion of the mediator, Li Chun, the governor of Jiangsu: the troops of both sides in Shaanxi stopped advancing, and the reinforcements were withdrawn. After the temporary truce in Shaanxi, the peace talks between the North and the South came to the fore. The northern representatives proposed that the southwestern provinces abolish the military government and the whole country be unified; while the southern representatives proposed issues such as stopping the loan for participating in the war, canceling the participating troops, and announcing the secret treaty between China and Japan.From a legal point of view, the northern representative’s proposal is justifiable. After all, they have a large number of people, they occupy Beijing, and there is a decent parliament, so it is reasonable to let it unify.But from a moral point of view, the south plays the banner of "protecting the law", and we should support the revolution and "protecting the law". This is really a dilemma. The northern representative’s proposal was relatively general, but what they were fighting for was the rule of law. As Confucius said, “the name is just and the words are right.” The three specific and direct requirements of borrowing money to participate in the war, canceling the participating troops, and announcing the secret treaty between China and Japan are enough for the old Duan to drink a pot. Zhu Qiqian, the general representative of the North, was initially quite amiable. He agreed to accept these requests and turned to the Beijing government for instructions.The representatives of the Anfu Department jumped up immediately after hearing Zhu Qiqian's statement. They accused Zhu Qiqian of being too weak and threatened that if the general representative continued to be so accommodating, he might not be able to continue to represent the North. After Duan Qirui heard the "unreasonable" request from the representative of the South, he was also very angry.He thought, China can become a victorious country, and he can be said to be the number one hero, but now in the eyes of the south, how could his previous actions become sins?What's the point?Annoyed, Lao Duan secretly instigated Chen Shufan to continue attacking the Shaanxi Yasukuni Army as a warning. After the flames of war resumed in Shaanxi, the representatives of the South angrily accused the North of having no sincerity in negotiating, so on March 2, the talks were terminated by telegram, and the North-South peace talks came to an impasse.At this time, the foreign ministers were also very anxious after seeing it. They once again jointly advised the Beijing government, and all walks of life who had been paying attention to the peace talks also called for the rescue of the peace conference, and urged both parties to take a step back so that the North-South peace talks can continue. Under pressure from all sides, Shaanxi again ceased fighting on April 1.A week later, the representatives of the North-South peace talks sat together again, and everyone continued to negotiate.This time, the representatives from the South still raised the previous issues, while the representatives from the North avoided their sharp edge and raised relatively noble issues such as the reduction of the army, the separation of the military and the people, local autonomy, and economic development. The two sides seemed to have no common interest topics. Deadlocked again. In fact, to put it bluntly, the request of the Southern representative is indeed a bit too much... It hits the old Duan's vital point!The so-called "uncompromising is tyranny, intolerance is also violence", negotiation is a graceful confrontation, if you don't leave room for others, how can they give you concessions?If it takes everything, what kind of negotiation is it? As for the demands put forward by the representatives of the North, just like the "Fourteen Points Proposal" of US President Wilson, although it sounds pleasant to the ear, to be honest, they are all high-sounding and cannot be implemented in practice.For example, "reducing the army", is this a good thing?very good!But someone can choke you to death with one sentence: "You come first!" Warlords, what kind of warlords are you without guns? Since the words are not speculative, let's change the subject and talk about the issue of Congress.As mentioned earlier, the North and the South each have a Congress. The South's "Extraordinary Congress" was originally composed of some members of the first Congress, but the number was much lower than it should have been, so the South proposed to restore the old Congress; and the Anfu Congress in the North Although the National Congress is called the second Congress, it does not have representatives from the southwestern provinces, and of course it is not recognized by the South.However, if the Anfu National Assembly is not recognized, the great president Xu Shichang who convened the North-South peace talks has no place to live! In the dispute between the two sides, the negotiations have made no progress, and the time has passed in May.As we all know, the "May 4th Movement" that shocked China and the world broke out afterwards, which added a lot of variables to the North-South peace talks at that time.At the eighth official meeting on May 13, Tang Shaoyi, the general representative of the South, put forward eight conditions: 1.The conditions for the Shandong issue proposed by Europe and the Club will not be recognized; 2.All secret treaties between China and Japan shall be declared invalid, and those who made the secret treaties shall be severely punished to thank the people of the country; 3.Immediately abolish the participating troops, national defense forces, and border guards; 4.Governors who have notorious deeds and are not in harmony with the people's sentiments will be replaced immediately; 5.6. The Yuhehui announced that the former President Li Yuanhong's order to dissolve the National Assembly on June 30, 2006 was invalid; 6.7. Set up a government affairs conference, which will be organized by the peace conference to promote the organization of the country's high-level hopefuls, to supervise the fulfillment of the conditions of the peace talks and to unify the organization of the cabinet; 7.Other cases that have been negotiated and submitted for trial or proposed separately shall be sorted out and decided separately; 8.Xu Shichang was recognized by the peace conference as the interim president, who will perform his duties until the day when the official president is elected by the Congress. Representative Tang’s eight conditions were like an ultimatum, each of which was a blockbuster. Representative Zhu also became angry when he heard it. The two first debated on the fifth issue, which is to restore the old Congress, but this But it is the most core one related to the rule of law... Who will give in?Who will give in? In the end, Zhu Qiqian said: "If your representative absolutely advocates the restoration of the old Congress, then the north has no room for maneuver regarding the current situation"; while Tang Shaoyi stated: "If Article 5 cannot be resolved, then there is no need to discuss other cases. .” Talking like this, without compromise, without innovation, without strategy, is a waste of time. It is said that Tang Shaoyi’s eight demands were not known to some representatives in the South in advance; and Tang Shaoyi’s meaning seemed to be that there was no hope for the peace conference to continue, and it was better to propose an ultimatum to find out the bottom line.In this regard, the Beijing government is very dissatisfied. Except for the first article, which still has room for discussion, they do not need to discuss the other seven articles.For this reason, President Xu Shichang telegraphed the resignation of the northern representatives and ordered them to leave Shanghai and return to Beijing to show a break. The South did not allow the representatives to resign, but after several twists and turns, the North sent Wang Yitang, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Anfu National Assembly, to Shanghai to continue negotiations as the general representative, which aroused their anger.Think about how bad Wang Yitang's reputation is in the south. "Pioneer of the imperial system", "election bribery master", "representative of betraying the country", all the titles can be put on his head.In the end, the representative from the South refused to talk to him at all, and Wang Yitang, who came here on a whim, originally rented an apartment in Shanghai's Hardong Garden (now the Shanghai Exhibition Center) and was going to do a lot of work, but he was rejected by such a closed door. After the talks broke down on May 13, both sides lost a lot of confidence, and most of the public's attention was attracted by the "May 4th Movement" set off by the students. It's over.Wang Yitang, who had been doing nothing in Shanghai for a few months, in order to find a way out for himself, is said to have sent someone to plant a bomb in the Hartong Garden where he lived in mid-October, and then the thief shouted, "Stop the thief", shouting that someone is going to assassinate him, etc., and then took the opportunity to die. Returned to Beijing. After this comedy scene was over, the North-South talks officially came to an end. During the North-South peace talks, the "Weekly Review" once published an article sarcastically saying: "This meeting is titled "North and South" everywhere. Is it really a meeting between the public opinion of the South and the public opinion of the North? It is only a small number of special forces. It's just the division of power among the warriors. As far as the warriors are concerned, the south and the north are like raccoons on the same hill!... The national benefit and the people's well-being, how can this spoils conference be able to take care of it!" To be fair, the criticism of the "Weekly Review" is still biased, because the North-South peace talks are actually mainly a dispute over the rule of law, and they are not up to the level of a spoils conference... because there is no spoils to divide! Regrettably, maybe there are too many conflicts of interest, maybe the Chinese really don’t know how to compromise, or it’s simply the Chinese’s national inferiority. There has never been a truly successful peace negotiation in Chinese history... a person who believes too much in the barrel of a gun Philosophical nations, what is there to talk about? The North-South peace talks are not considered a spoils-sharing meeting, but the famous international conference that was held almost simultaneously with it was the real spoils-sharing meeting.Everyone, let's get to know each other!