Chapter 56 55. Remnants of Beiyang after Duan Qirui's resignation

After the Battle of Nankou, the scuffle between the warlords came to an end for the time being, but here is a supplementary account of the changes in Beijing's political situation.As mentioned above, during the fierce battle between the Zhishan coalition forces and the national army at Dagukou in Tianjin, the national army blocked the sea around Dagukou for their own safety, which aroused strong protests from the big powers.Among them were one or two big powers who did not believe in evil. They dispatched warships to force their way into Tianjin Port. As a result, they clashed with the Nationalist Army, which led to a political tide in Beijing.

On March 14, two Japanese destroyers sailed to the waters of Dagukou to provoke. As a result, they exchanged shelling with the National Army, and both sides suffered casualties.Seeing that they couldn't get a bargain, the Japanese ship withdrew from the sea at Dagukou, and the Japanese diplomatic authorities protested to Duan Qirui's government, demanding severe punishment for the Chinese perpetrators and compensation for Japan's losses. Japan's unreasonable behavior naturally aroused strong protests from the Chinese people. At this time, the National Army and the Fengzhi Allied Forces were fighting fiercely.What made it even more difficult for Lao Duan was that at that time, the popular movement in Beijing was rising again, and its scale was no less than the May Fourth Movement.

You know, what the great powers rely on this time is still the most famous unequal treaty "Xin Chou Treaty".In the previous year, the "May 30th Massacre" that shocked China and the world took place in Shanghai. Now that the blood is still fresh, imperialism once again oppresses the Chinese people. Is it tolerable or unbearable? On March 18, planned by underground activists, more than 20,000 high school students and citizens held a national demonstration against the Eight-Power Ultimatum in Tiananmen Square. More than 2,000 people went to the Duan Qirui Executive Government in Iron Lion Alley to petition.Since there was a bloody conflict between the petition representative and Duan Qirui's guards the day before, the parade that came this time has a large number of people and agitated emotions. Therefore, the guards have also added personnel, and everyone is armed with live ammunition and ready to fight. .

It is undeniable that unorganized or even organized popular movements are extremely easy to get out of control or be used by bad guys, and this time is no exception.After the request to meet Duan Qirui in power and acting Prime Minister Jia Deyao was rejected by the guards, the radicals in the parade obviously lost control of their emotions. It is only natural for these unarmed young people to vent their anger on the guards. It is a pity that it is these people who made mistakes and were sacrificed. Whether it is the strong or the weak, the Chinese obviously lack the basic awareness of demeanor and confrontation. The strong are unwilling to compromise, and the weak are unwilling to tolerate. Violence, there will be revolution after revolution, the cycle of autocratic structure will continue, and violent rule will continue.One murder after another is nothing more than adding a new footnote to this culture of intolerance and uncompromising violence.

Obviously, the leaders of the guards of the ruling government lacked the experience and ability to deal with such crises, and they did not have riot control tools such as high-pressure water taps and tear gas at that time. The uncontrollable event eventually turned into a shocking murder. At least what is known so far is that Duan Qirui was not the direct orderer who caused this tragedy, and the direct orderer did not really want to shoot at the people, but those guards who were too nervous gave the order to "shoot into the sky" The killing as a "flat shot" is accidental and inevitable in a situation where human emotions are turbulent.It is undeniable that shooting at unarmed people is an extremely stupid behavior anyway, and Duan Qirui's ruling government's crisis management ability to deal with popular movements really needs to be improved and there is room for improvement.

According to statistics afterwards, the "March 18 Massacre" killed 47 people and injured more than 200 people. Mr. Liu Hezhen, who was commemorated by Mr. Lu Xun, a little girl from Beijing Women's Normal University, died with those innocent and radical companions. in this tragedy.Back then, Liu Hezhen was not yet 22 years old... Alas, whose fault is it? What is little known is that when Duan Qirui learned that the people had come to protest at the gate of the ruling government, he once said angrily to the people around him: "These bandit students!" But after learning that the guards had shot and killed a large number of students, he Immediately he paused and sighed: "I will be famous for a lifetime, but I will be destroyed once!" Immediately, Duan Qirui rushed to the scene and knelt down in front of the deceased.

After the massacre, the whole country was shocked, and all kinds of angry public opinion poured into Duan Qirui's government almost like a mountain.To ease its own pressure, the Beijing government blamed the tragedy on the instigation of someone behind it.It is undeniable that in the public movements such as the student movement and labor movement in the Republic of China, although there were "bad people" from various factions who secretly provoked them, the patriotic indignation of most young people was genuine.It's a pity that there are as many tragedies in life as there are life tragedies caused by love and hate, and how many tragic histories of misusing the country because of patriotism. Similar movements and tragedies happened before, and there are many more behind.

With the occurrence of the tragedy and the changes in the war situation, Duan Qirui's government is already in a precarious situation.As the Fengzhi coalition forces approached step by step, Duan Qirui's subordinates tried to win over the Tang Zhidao division who originally belonged to the Wu Guangxin and Old Department of the Anhui Clan, and joined forces with Fengjun to drive out the national army in the city.The change of Duan's troops immediately aroused the vigilance of Lu Zhonglin, the Gyeonggi garrison commander of the National Army. They took the lead in surrounding Duan's mansion on April 9 as a warning. After being threatened, Duan Qirui temporarily went to Guile No. Building dodge.Two days later, Lu Zhonglin released the former president Cao Kun, and tried to win Wu Peifu to deal with the Feng faction, but Wu Peifu flatly refused. On the 13th, the national army withdrew from Beijing and retreated to Nankou, while the Feng army, the Zhilu coalition army, and the Wu army entered the capital one after another.Duan Qirui also returned to the executive government and announced his reinstatement.

However, Wu Peifu has not allowed Duan Qirui to continue to be in power at this moment, and the Feng Faction has no interest in Lao Duan. On April 20, Duan Qirui announced his resignation after appointing Hu Weide to act as the prime minister of the cabinet and take over the ruling power. This was the last time he resigned.In the afternoon of the same day, Duan Qirui and other members of the Anfu faction, such as Liang Hongzhi, Zeng Yujun, Xu Shiying, and their trusted subordinates Wu Guangxin, Qu Tongfeng, etc., left Beijing under the "gift" of the Zhilu coalition forces, and bid farewell to the Republic of China forever. political arena.

When the train passed Langfang, Duan Qirui ordered the train to stop for ten minutes.More than four months ago, his favorite Xu Shuzheng was killed here.It turned out that after Duan Qirui became the interim ruling, Xu Shuzheng, who had been traveling abroad, returned to China at the end of 1925 excitedly, and then went to Beijing to carry out activities in an attempt to come out again. However, Feng Yuxiang did not forget that Xu Shuzheng killed his mentor Lu Jianzhang seven years ago. At that time, the National Army controlled the Beijing-Tianjin area, which was very unfavorable to Xiao Xu.Duan Qirui also seemed to feel something, as soon as he saw Xu Shuzheng, he said, "What are you doing back now?" After speaking, the old Duan drove him away quickly.

But Xiao Xu didn't take it seriously. He stayed in Beijing for nearly half a month before preparing to go south to Shanghai via Tianjin, but on the way to Tianjin, Xu Shuzheng was assassinated at Langfang Station.According to the National Army, it was Lu Jianzhang's son Lu Chengwu who avenged his father, but the real situation is probably only clear to the National Army itself. After the train restarted, Duan Qirui still opened the window and looked west, refusing to leave for a long time.At this time, he looked so old, this Beiyang tiger no longer had the majesty of the past. After resigning this time, Duan Qirui really stayed away from the complicated and ever-changing political vortex. He only ate fast at home, chanted Buddhism, played chess, wrote and wrote, and never cared about worldly affairs. After the "September 18th" Incident in 1931, the Japanese extended their aggression to North China and tried to win over Duan Qirui as an agent.In order to prevent Duan Qirui from being used by the Japanese, Chiang Kai-shek sent someone to take Duan Qirui from Tianjin to Nanjing on January 21, 1933. When he was crossing the river by boat, Chiang Kai-shek led a group of senior generals to meet him personally and execute him. Disciple ceremony (before Chiang Kai-shek went to study at the Japanese Non-commissioned Officer School, he was sent by the Beiyang Rapid Armed Forces School, and Duan was the school's supervisor).Later, Duan Qirui settled in Shanghai. On November 2, 1936, Duan Qirui died of hemorrhage caused by gastric ulcer at the age of seventy-two.Duan Qirui's illness may be related to his long-term vegetarian diet, but when doctors and relatives suggested that he eat some meat to improve his resistance, Duan Qirui resolutely refused and said: "People can die, but meat can't be eaten!"...It shows that Old Duan's stubborn character. Before he died, Duan Qirui wrote his own will and earnestly warned future generations: "Although the country is dangerous and weak, there must be hope for revival. The road to revival is also very simple. Don't lighten up political disputes because of my opinion, and don't believe in radical claims. Shake the country itself. Those who talk about diplomacy should not abandon the inherent ethics, and those who seek scholars should not focus on the splendor of fashion. The so-called self-reliant is here, and this is also where the weak become strong." Because Duan Qirui believed in Buddhism during his lifetime, his funeral was also simplified according to his will.Among the condolences of celebrities from all walks of life, there are several elegiac couplets that are particularly conspicuous. One is Feng Yuxiang's: "The white-haired villagers have nothing to cry, and the yellow flowers still want to make meritorious deeds"; the other is Wu Peifu's long couplet: After Duan Qirui's death, because his eldest son Duan Hongye insisted on sending his coffin to Beijing for burial, but because of the changes in the current situation caused by the Japanese invasion of China, it was impossible to find a suitable burial place for more than ten years, and finally he could only be buried hastily in the The cemetery that Duan Qirui's third brother bought before was located next to the avenue.In this regard, Duan Qirui couldn't help sighing some of his past life: "Unexpectedly, the old man lived a vigorous life without a place to bury him after death!" It was not until 1963, with the efforts of Duan Qirui's former friends Zhang Shizhao, Li Sihao, Zeng Yujun and others, that Duan Qirui's remains were finally exhumed and reburied in Wan'an Cemetery near Xiangshan in the western suburbs of Beijing. The story of Duan Qirui ends here, and I will talk about the released former president Cao Kun later.Cao Kun originally thought that Duan Qirui had resigned from the field and he had regained his freedom, so he should come out and continue to be his president, but the reaction from all parties was indifferent to this. A ladle of cold water, so I had to die this idea. After the Northern Expedition, Cao Kun saw that Wu Peifu and the group of people from that year were no more than yesterday, so he gave up the fantasy of coming back and went back to Tianjin to live in seclusion.After Japan invaded and occupied Northeast China, Japan also asked Cao Kun to come out of the mountain to take up positions many times, but he was always rejected by Cao Kun. On May 17, 1938, Cao Kun died of pneumonia in Tianjin at the age of seventy-six. Under the negotiation of Zhang Zuolin, Wu Peifu, Sun Chuanfang and other giants, the former Yan Huiqing's cabinet was reinstated and assumed the presidency.But after so many political upheavals, coups and warlord melees, the legal authority of the central government in Beijing has long been lost. Whether this so-called executive cabinet is a presidential system, a cabinet prime minister system, a ruling system, or something else, no one knows. No one was interested, because Yan Huiqing and his subsequent cabinet premiers such as Du Xigui, Gu Weijun, Hu Weide, and Pan Fu, during the upcoming Northern Expedition, these incomplete cabinets were neither necessary nor necessary in this precarious time. No longer valued by people. This was originally the period of the warlords, and the climax and end of the carnival has come... What are the Constitution and the Congress, the Cabinet and the Legislature? In August 1926, when the Fengzhi Allied Forces achieved a decisive victory over Feng Yuxiang's National Army in Nankou, the situation in the south changed suddenly.Just a month ago, the Nationalist Government in the south announced the Northern Expedition, and then entered Hunan from Guangdong and Guangxi. For a while, like a storm, it quickly occupied the entire territory of Hunan and approached Hubei.After Wu Peifu learned about it, he hurriedly led his troops back to the south. When he arrived in Hankou, the Northern Expeditionary Army had already approached Tingsi Bridge, the frontier of Wuhan, and a fierce battle was about to begin. This is not Wu Peifu's war alone, but the beginning of the decisive battle between the old warlords and the Northern Expeditionary Army, which is also destined to become a node of an era. Looking back on the land of China in 1926, there were disputes and wars everywhere.In the north, there are continuous battles by the Feng Army, the Zhi-Shandong Allied Army, the Wu Army and the first, second, and third armies of the people, while the south is not peaceful. In Hunan, there are Zhao Hengti and Tang Shengzhi who are fighting bloody heads. In Guangxi, there are new warlords Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi of the Guangxi Clan. Waiting for the rise of others, the Guangdong Nationalist Government is also full of contradictions, fighting from east to west, not to mention the big and small warlords in Sichuan, they have not had peace since 1911. In the vast China, from north to south, from west to east, only the sound of gunshots can be heard everywhere, and the rumble of cannons is heard everywhere. I only feel sorry for the common people, tossing and turning, their families destroyed.The so-called melee between warlords was probably a condensed climax in 1926.At this time, China is no longer a country, but a field of soldiers and horses where heroes compete for the throne and a field of Shura where innocent people suffer. From the perspective of the overall situation, there are four major forces in the north. One is Zhang Zuolin and his affiliated Zhang Zongchang, which controls the three eastern provinces, Beijing, Tianjin, Zhili, Shandong and other places, and is the most powerful; the second is Feng Yuxiang's National Army , although suffered a big defeat at Nankou, Feng Yuxiang was still able to pack up the remnants after returning from the Soviet Union, and fought again with the help of the Soviet Union and the Northern Expeditionary Army; the third was Wu Peifu. There are not many troops. After the Battle of Nankou, it was at the end of its strength. The fourth was Yan Xishan's Jin army. This "local tyrant" in Shanxi was originally a grasshopper. How to change, Yan Laoxi's secret is "there is no permanent enemy, and there is no permanent friend". As long as I can guard my old lair in Shanxi and let it blow and rain, I will be at ease. In the south, various forces are also beginning to take shape after being divided and combined.First of all, Sun Chuanfang's forces dominate the five southeastern provinces. He is sandwiched between the Feng faction in the north and the Northern Expedition in the south. He is destined to not last long; The government was initially unified, including the new army of Chiang Kai-shek, Li Jishen, Li Zongren and others. Later, they were called the Northern Expedition Army together with the army of Tang Shengzhi and others, and became the most powerful force in the south. Under the call of common ideals, They are about to sweep across the Central Plains and completely bury the older generation of warlords. In addition to these forces, there are also some frontier warlords who guard the southwest and northwest. When the Central Plains has no masters, they often occupy one side, dominate the king, or fight each other and kill each other. But once the hegemony of the Central Plains rises, These small army leaders will naturally return to unity, and it is no problem to surrender and become ministers.This is a common occurrence in Chinese history. If it is further subdivided, the North-South confrontation after 1926 was actually the final decisive battle between the Kuomintang forces headed by Chiang Kai-shek and the Fengzhang forces in the north.Chiang Kai-shek in the south, after inheriting the mantle of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and his policy of "union with Russia and the Communist Party", gradually obtained the legal system of the new regime. Also had to worship under his door.In the north, Zhang Zuolin, as the unifier of the old warlords, was the only one who went south to clean up the situation when Wu Peifu, Sun Chuanfang and other allies were beaten to pieces. On December 1, 1926, when the Northern Expedition had swept half of China, Zhang Zuolin took office in Beijing as the commander-in-chief of the Anguo Army.This time, some politicians in Beijing persuaded Zhang Zuolin to become the president of the Republic of China to win the rank of promotion, but Zhang Zuolin only wanted to bear the name of "Commander-in-Chief of the Anguo Army"... The country is not safe, how can the president Come? Although Lao Zhang rejected the post of President, he clearly regarded himself as the head of state when he entered Beijing this time.When Zhang Zuolin's special car arrived at Qianmen Station, from Qianmen to West Chang'an Avenue, and then to Shuncheng Palace in Xicheng, where he was stationed, the road was paved with yellow sand and sprinkled with clean water, just like the emperor of the previous dynasty. However, after more than ten years of war, although the people's hearts are determined, but the country is so depressed, can Zhang Zuolin, the commander-in-chief of the Anguo Army, be able to settle down?In the confrontation between old and new against the Northern Expeditionary Army, what chance does he have of winning? The clock of history turned to 1927 A.D., and the autumn wind swept away the fallen leaves. The winter of the warlords was finally coming.