Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Cheers, for the Republic of China

After the Wuchang Uprising, everyone had their own revolution, self-independence, and self-proclaimed governor. They were so busy that no one remembered Mr. Sun who was far away on the other side of the ocean. But as the dust gradually settled in various places, everyone discovered that a "big brother who takes the lead" is needed.Since Wuhan and Shanghai are not convinced by anyone, let's go to Nanjing to organize a government. Wuhan and Shanghai snipe and clam competed, and the fisherman in Nanjing benefited and became the final winner. On December 14, representatives of various provinces held a meeting in Nanjing to select leaders. Li Yuanhong and Huang Xing competed fiercely, and it was difficult to distinguish who was superior, and they refused to give in to each other.

When the revolutionary army in the south was in distress, a man came from overseas and just solved the problem. This man was Sun Yat-sen. At the time of the Wuchang Uprising, Sun Yat-sen was working in a restaurant in Colorado, USA, to raise money for the revolution. His specific occupation was washing dishes. It is said that when he was washing the dishes, he saw a newspaper with news about the Chinese Revolutionary Party rioting in Wuchang written on it. No one asked for instructions before, and no one reported after that, but Mr. Sun was still encouraged by this rare victory, and actively raised loans, food and supplies for the rebels in various countries. Arrived.

On December 25, 1911, Sun Yat-sen arrived in Shanghai. Just as he was raising his top hat and paying tribute to the welcoming crowd, an unknown reporter rushed forward and immediately asked, "Mr. Sun, how much money did you bring back this time?" Sun Yat-sen didn't expect the other party to be so shameless, and said in a daze, "I didn't bring a penny with me. What I brought back this time is only the revolutionary spirit!" So, under the attention of all the people, the penniless Sun Yat-sen came to Nanjing with a revolutionary spirit. Although the Tongmenghui had been split, the lean camel was bigger than a horse. It was still the largest revolutionary party organization in the country at that time, and many other organizations were also split from the Tongmenghui.Although Sun Yat-sen did not have absolute authority in the Tongmenghui, no one had more authority than him.

After tumultuous discussions in the revolutionary camp, the result of everyone's compromise was that Sun Yat-sen, who was the oldest and most famous in the revolutionary circle, was elected as the "leader brother". By the way, didn't the Revolutionary Party say they wanted to elect Yuan Shikai as president? Why are they so unfaithful? It turned out that although the North-South peace talks were going on, the revolutionary party's plan was to use the peace talks to hold Yuan Shikai back, and then cook the republican uncooked rice in Nanjing first.In this way, on the one hand, Yuan Shikai can be hit, and on the other hand, he hopes to use Sun Yat-sen's reputation in exchange for the recognition and support of Western countries, and see if it is possible to put aside Yuan Shikai and go it alone.But the Revolutionary Party did not expect that the great powers did not buy their account.

From this point of view, revolutionaries are not simple.Maybe it's because everyone is a politician.Engaging in politics is not a simple matter. Political games are often complicated and cruel, and cannot be judged simply by moral standards. On January 1, 1912, Sun Yat-sen was sworn in in Nanjing as the interim president of the Republic of China. The iron and blood curtain of the Republic of China has opened! Yuan Shikai, who was waiting for a letter from the Revolutionary Party, became anxious when he heard the news that "Sun Yat-sen was inaugurated as president".I tried my best to play with the balance between the revolutionary army and the imperial court, and I was about to accomplish it, but Sun Yat-sen appeared on the way and completely disrupted the plan.It is tolerable, what is unbearable!If the tiger doesn't show its power, you still think I'm a sick cat.Since your revolutionary party doesn't keep its promises, then I don't need to keep my promises!

Yuan Shikai immediately retaliated, and this move consisted of three telegrams. The first telegram was to Feng Guozhang—you quickly contacted and organized a group of your own people, and issued a statement in the name of the collective. I have already thought out the content for you, that is, "If you adopt a republic with a minority opinion, you will resist to the death." ". The second telegram was to Wu Tingfang—your Southern Revolutionary Party violated the contract, and all agreements signed before are invalid. If you have anything to do in the future, you can directly discuss with me by telegram, and you don’t need to engage in those troublesome negotiations.

The third telegram was to Sun Yat-sen - the national system has not yet been confirmed by the National Assembly, so it may be too early to form a provisional government for a republic! After sending these three telegrams, the depression in Yuan Shikai's chest finally eased a lot. But Yuan Shikai, who had done all this, did not stop.His brilliant move is yet to come, and to complete this brilliant move, he has to go to the palace.He is now waiting for a special prop, with which he can perform to his heart's content. The props have finally arrived—the telegram issued by Feng Guozhang and fifteen powerful generals, the content of which is of course what Yuan Shikai explained earlier.

Yuan Shikai took this telegram to the palace to express his loyalty to the Queen Mother Longyu: "Queen Mother, you can see how loyal they are to you, Queen Mother, but they are not paid enough for soldiers, lack guns and ammunition, lack food and clothing, and only have a passion. They cannot defeat the Revolutionary Party. What do you think should be done?" Empress Dowager Longyu said: "It's okay, I still have three million treasuries of silver, all of which will be used to let them fight hard." Not only defrauded the military expenditure, but also emptied the national treasury, so that the Empress Dowager Longyu who had no money had to obey her words in the future.

Killing two birds with one stone, Yuan Shikai is indeed a master of politics. But in fact, Yuan Shikai did not have the money to pay the soldiers' wages or buy weapons and ammunition before defrauding the Empress Dowager Longyu of her money.But from now on, Yuan Shikai, who has food and soldiers in his hands, has the ability to completely control the situation between the north and the south. In fact, Yuan Shikai was not the most needy person, but Sun Yat-sen's Nanjing government was the most needy.How lacking and distressed? According to Comrade Hu Hanmin's recollection, once an Anhui special envoy came to Nanjing to ask for military expenses, and Sun Yat-sen gave 200,000 yuan with a stroke of a pen.When Hu Hanmin took the approval slip to the Ministry of Finance, he found that there was only ten foreign dollars in the treasury.

Why is the Nanjing government so poor? At that time, the country's industrial foundation was weak, and agriculture depended on the weather, so there was no guarantee of harvest. Therefore, the main income of the country's finances came from two major tax revenues: customs duties and salt taxes. As has been said before, most of the customs duties and salt taxes were used as collateral for reparations.In other words, the annual tax revenue is held in the hands of the imperialists, and the Qing government could not get a few cents, let alone the Nanjing government that did not rule the world.

Can't the recovered provinces support the Nanjing Provisional Government? You are thinking too much.Those governors, large and small, each occupy one side, earn their own expenses, and the provisional government can't control them at all. Let alone asking them for money, it would be good if they didn't ask the provisional government for money. That being the case, there is only one way left: to borrow money. Sun Yat-sen began to seek help from Western powers such as Britain and the United States.What Sun Yat-sen did not expect was that both the Americans and the British rejected his request and openly expressed their support for Yuan Shikai. The big powers are all sensible people, and they are not optimistic about Sun Yat-sen’s Nanjing government at all. Banks are not charitable organizations. You don’t have a strong army and your territory is not stable. No one will lend you money if you use it as a mortgage or as a guarantee! Just when Sun Yat-sen needed money the most, the Japanese extended an olive branch.In order to maximize their interests in China, the Japanese have sharp noses like dogs, and they will pounce on them whenever they smell something to take advantage of. Faced with the "good intentions" of the Japanese, Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing, who were "poor and crazy", had no choice but to use the name of the "Government of the Republic of China" to plan to mortgage the Hanyeping Company to borrow 5 million yuan, and to lease Manchuria and Japan to borrow 10 million yuan. (Yang Tianshi's "From Monarchy to Republic—Historical Events before and after Xinhai"). Many people felt sorry for Mr. Sun: Mr. Sun was a wise man all his life, so why did he have such a stain? No matter what, he should not accept the terms of renting Manchuria. Fortunately, at the critical moment, someone stepped forward to rescue Mr. Sun. A reporter reported in the newspapers that the Nanjing government had exchanged Hanyeping's sovereignty for a loan.Domestic public opinion was in an uproar.The Qing Dynasty has been bullied by Japan for many years, but now the government of the Republic of China uses the iron ore of Hanyeping Company, which is extremely scarce in Japan, as a mortgage to borrow money, which is really detrimental to the national interest! Just when Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing were very embarrassed by public opinion and public criticism, another "savior" - a Japanese devil stepped forward. This person is Ishimoto Shinroku, Minister of the Japanese Army.The kid said: "During the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars, Manchuria was the place where the Japanese shed their precious blood. We fought it down and deserved to enjoy all the power without buying it with money." What the little devil means is: Manchuria is no longer yours in China, and you still want to sell it for money?no way. Fortunately, the loan was not negotiated, otherwise history would have been different. Without money, it is difficult to travel! Now, the nearly 300,000 civilian troops gathered in Nanjing have no military pay and no food to eat. If they don't rebel, they will be Amitabha, let alone buy weapons and ammunition for training and preparing for war.An army without money cannot fight. Now, the administrative and office expenses of the Nanjing government have not been paid, and a government without money cannot function. Sun Yat-sen was very sad. Could it be that the position of President must be handed over?Could it be that I, Sun Wen, really want to put the future of the country in the hands of Yuan Shikai, a bureaucrat of the Qing Dynasty? Rewind time to two months ago. It was a day when the autumn wind was blowing. On that day, hundreds of people in Beijing eagerly waited to see Wang Jingwei, a beautiful man released from prison, in front of the criminal department. As I said before, one of the conditions Yuan Shikai proposed for leaving the mountain was to "release the political prisoners in custody", and Zai Feng followed suit.Wang Jingwei was among those who were released. The sun shone on Wang Jingwei's pale and haggard face, and the handsome man remained unabated. Between his face and hairline, there was an indescribable, tragic, and sublime beauty. This moment is the most brilliant and glorious moment in Wang Jingwei's life. Finally came out, how to go next?This thought flashed through Wang Jingwei's mind. Don't think about it yourself, someone has already thought about it for him, and this person is Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai asked him to talk about it. When the two met for the first time, Yuan Shikai was 53 years old and Wang Jingwei was 29 years old. Wang Jingwei, a younger generation boy, and Yuan Shikai, who are quite old, met each other late. It is said that the two talked for several days until late into the night. What was the topic that made them so excited? There is definitely no way to reproduce the specific details, but the core topic should be inseparable from the following possibilities. Possibility one, Wang Jingwei took a fancy to the power in Yuan Shikai's hands, so he tried his best to persuade Yuan Shikai to oppose the Qing Dynasty and support the Tongmenghui's idea of ​​establishing a republic. Possibility 2, Yuan Shikai took a fancy to Wang Jingwei's position in Sun Yat-sen's heart and his reputation in the Tongmenghui, and wanted Wang Jingwei to act as an envoy between him and the revolutionary party to facilitate the peace talks between the North and the South, support the establishment of a constitutional monarchy, and support himself as the "leader brother". Possibility three, both, trying to persuade the other to accept each other's political views. After a few days, it is not easy to say whether Wang Jingwei and Yuan Shikai reached a consensus on the political system. It should not have been, otherwise there would be a series of disputes afterwards. But no matter what, they got along very well.Wang Jingwei even married Jinlan with Yuan Shikai's eldest son Yuan Kejie. In this way, Wang Jingwei became the matchmaker between Yuan Shikai and the Southern Revolutionary Party, laying a harmonious emotional tone for the subsequent North-South peace talks. When the North and the South were negotiating peace, Wang Jingwei returned to the south and was a member of the southern negotiating delegation. After Sun Yat-sen returned to China, he returned to the old leader's side. The topic returns to the dilemma of the Nanjing government. At this time, the revolutionaries in Nanjing really felt the difficulties of internal and external difficulties.First, they saw that Yuan Shikai ended the peace talks with a tough stance, and worried that the war would resume.Second, they knew that the administrative system of the Nanjing government was almost paralyzed. Due to financial difficulties, the Nanjing government could not even pay the salaries of civil servants and soldiers. Therefore, they were very flustered and put pressure on Sun Yat-sen to respond quickly, giving Yuan Shikai an attitude of "waiting for the seat". Huang Xing was in a hurry, Wu Tingfang was in a hurry, Hu Hanmin was in a hurry, Wang Jingwei was also in a hurry... no one was not in a hurry! Huang Xing himself had signed the draft treaty of the peace talks between the North and the South, promising that the Qing emperor would abdicate and push Yuan Shikai to become the president.Therefore, he went to see Sun Yat-sen in person and persuaded him with all his heart so as not to break his promise. Regardless of his age and health, the old man Wu Tingfang spared no effort to avoid hardships and complaints. He worked closely with Tang Shaoyi to avoid war between the north and the south.Therefore, he was very annoyed by Sun Yat-sen's "not going to be in love", and angrily accused Sun Yat-sen of making him lose his trust in the world! Hu Hanmin was also anxious. He was worried that Yuan Shikai would become Zeng Guofan in a hurry, and he would do his best to extinguish the revolution just like he did when he fought the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In fact, these people still do not understand Sun Yat-sen.Sun Yat-sen may not have much affection for the title of President.But the crux of the matter is that he is very unwilling.His original intention was to gather the power of the Southern Revolutionary Party, directly destroy the North, rule the world, and establish a brand new Republic of China!Now you want him to pin his ideals on a person he has never met, no one will be willing. In the end, Wang Jingwei, who had been a staunch supporter of Sun Yat-sen for many years, stepped forward to settle everything. Wang Jingwei said earnestly: "Sir, Yuan Shikai is determined to win the head of state. Only in this way can the Qing emperor abdicate and the republic can become a reality." After hearing this, Sun Yat-sen was not convinced, and said stubbornly: "Our generation of revolutionaries should uphold the spirit of sacrifice, and never retreat!" Wang Jingwei, who had been following Sun Yat-sen for many years, suddenly became angry and asked with a red face: "You don't agree with the peace negotiation, is it because you don't want to be the president? Do you want to be Hong Xiuquan's second? Do you want to close the door in Nanjing?" Be the emperor? Are you going to break the oath you made to 'drive out the Tartars'?" Sun Yat-sen's expression changed and he was displeased. Wang Jingwei burst into tears and continued to persuasion patiently: "We show our favor to Yuan Shikai for the sake of the country's righteousness, not to surrender to him for peace. If you, sir, are upright and upright, follow the example of Yao and Shun, make China win the republic without fighting, and avoid the civil war of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. , the history of later generations will judge Mr. Gong as a great man of a generation!" At this point, Sun Yat-sen had no choice but to agree. He could not agree. In Nanjing, most of the revolutionaries around him, including close friends like Huang Xing and die-hard fans like Wang Jingwei, all expressed their voices of compromise.The reaction of the comrades really made Sun Yat-sen, who was trying to lead China's reform, feel powerless. Sun Yat-sen had no choice but to follow the "public opinion" and sent a telegram to Yuan Shikai saying: Brother Yuan, you are a contemporary hero. As long as you can overthrow the monarchy and realize the republic, then you must be the president! It would be an absolute lie to say that Yuan Shikai was indifferent to the president who was handed over by the Southern Revolutionary Party.But if Yuan Shikai was asked to choose between a democratic republic and a constitutional monarchy, Yuan Shikai's answer from the bottom of his heart, from beginning to end, should be a constitutional monarchy. This is not just nonsense. Four years later, Yuan Shikai will use practical actions to make a perfect annotation for this answer. But for now, if Yuan Shikai chooses a constitutional monarchy, it does not seem to be a wise choice.The reason is simple, no political force wants him to implement a constitutional monarchy or let him lead the constitutional monarchy. This reason is rather convoluted and difficult to understand, so I will explain a few more words here. First of all, the revolutionary party's attitude is extremely tough, and it is absolutely impossible to agree with Yuan Shikai's constitutional monarchy, and the reasons will not be repeated.The Revolutionary Party even organized the provisional government of the Republic of China out of fear of Yuan Shikai's constitutional monarchy, turned the democratic republic from raw rice into cooked rice, and cut off Yuan Shikai's retreat. Secondly, the constitutionalists did not want Yuan Shikai to choose a constitutional monarchy. The bearded celebrity Marx said a very reasonable saying, to the effect that all things are changing and developing, and contradiction is the fundamental driving force for the development and change of all things.This sentence can only be applied to the constitutionalists. The constitutional faction was originally the main force supporting the constitutional monarchy, but because of Zaifeng's perverse actions and irreconcilable conflicts with the royal family, they turned to support the democratic constitutionalism (democratic republic) of the revolutionaries. However, although the views of the constitutionalists have changed, and perhaps their views will change in the future, they also have a relatively stable feature. If described in textbooks, this characteristic of the constitutionalists is called the weak compromise of the big bourgeoisie or the unstable revolutionary stand. To explain this feature in simpler terms, the constitutionalists have always advocated "If the goal can be achieved by peaceful means, then do not use force." In short, they hope to win a peaceful and stable development environment with the least cost, and they hope to gain prosperity for the people and a strong country with the least cost. Therefore, the constitutionalists now advocate "ending the North-South division as soon as possible, so as not to give the great powers an opportunity", and hope that peace will be ushered in as soon as possible without the use of force. But how can the division between North and South be ended?How can we achieve the least cost? The constitutionalists see the current situation very clearly. Although the Southern Revolutionary Party is weak, their republican attitude is very firm, but Yuan Shikai is different.Although Yuan Shikai was powerful, he did not insist on a constitutional monarchy like the revolutionaries. To persuade Yuan Shikai to change to a democratic republic, it seems that the resistance mainly comes from Yuan Shikai's conscience. He couldn't bear to attack widows and orphans, and he couldn't bear to force the Qing family to abdicate. However, if a constitutional monarchy is to be implemented, the Revolutionary Party will definitely not do it. It will be inevitable that the war will resume and the North and South will be divided. Therefore, in comparison, the cost of persuading Yuan Shikai is relatively small. Therefore, in early January 1912, Zhang Jian, the leader of the constitutionalist faction, sent Yuan Shikai a telegram, pointing out a way for Yuan Shikai: retreat from Manchuria to take power (one day Manchu retreats, second day embraces the public, southeast all parties, everything passes. ——Zhang Yizu's "Nine Records of Zhang Jizi"). The constitutional faction was already strong, but after the Revolution of 1911, the constitutional faction became even stronger.Among the governors of twenty-two provinces across the country (Taiwan is not counted), fifteen are soldiers and seven are gentry.The constitutionalists were such a powerful political force that Yuan Shikai could not ignore their positions, not to mention that Yuan Shikai always regarded himself as a good buddy and spokesperson of the constitutionalists. Therefore, Yuan Shikai, who had previously supported a constitutional monarchy, turned to a republic. Yuan Shikai's change was noticed by a group of people. This group of people came from the royal family of the Qing Dynasty, and most of them were young and powerful aristocratic princes. They could not accept Yuan Shikai's behavior of exchanging the fate of the Qing Dynasty for the president. They could not accept the withdrawal of the Qing Dynasty from history. In this context, on January 12, 1912, the anti-Yuan alliance "Zongshe Party" was established.Its core members are relatives such as Liangbi, Tieliang, Yoshiko Kawashima and her father Shanqi mentioned earlier. The goal of this organization is to uphold the constitutional monarchy, prevent Yuan Shikai from negotiating peace with the Southern Revolutionary Party, and kill the Southern Revolutionary Party in the court. The "internal response" Yuan Shikai. That is to say, the men of the Socialist Party intend to get rid of Yuan Shikai and go it alone, relying on their own strength to implement the constitutional monarchy. However, because Yuan Shikai's security team did a relatively good job, the Zong-Socialist Party has never been able to seize any good opportunities, and the Zong-Socialist Party's several forced shots have all failed. However, the counterattack of the Clan Socialist Party strengthened Yuan Shikai's determination for the republic, who originally thought of the good of his old club but his mother-in-law couldn't bear to do it. At this time, an assassination case broke the final balance in this historical struggle. The protagonists of this assassination case were Peng Jiazhen, the military minister of the Beijing-Tianjin League, and Liangbi, the ace of the Zong-Socialist Party. "Brother Ace" Liangbi is the core figure of the Clan Socialist Party, a rare general in the royal family who is proficient in military affairs, the spiritual leader of the imperial family's sharpest military force - the imperial guards, the main force insisting on constitutional monarchy, and the hope of the royal family where. On January 26, 1912, with great courage, Peng Jiazhen used herself as a human bomb, killing Liangbi and ruining the last hope of the royal family. Afterwards, Comrade Yuan Shikai and the Revolutionary Party decided in time to use Liang Bi's death to carry out news and propaganda work. Due to the excellent propaganda work, rumors spread everywhere in the capital, and people panicked. Gossips that the Revolutionary Party had entered the city were spread everywhere. The able relatives took their families and hid in the concession, while the incompetent rented a room at the Liuguo Hotel in the embassy area of ​​Dongjiaomin Lane to enjoy the glory of foreigners. Liang Bi lost his braids, relatives and nobles fled, the resistance of the republic was greatly reduced, and the resistance of abdication was greatly reduced. Yuan Shikai, who received the full support of the revolutionary party and the constitutionalists, the next thing to do was to force the Qing court to abdicate. The Qing Dynasty is over. At this time, the empress dowager Longyu was most frightened, she couldn't go out anywhere, she could only stay in the Forbidden City, sighing and crying every day. To say that the only one who was not affected at that time was the seven-year-old Emperor Puyi. He was still playing carefree in the palace as usual, playing with eunuchs and court ladies, unaware of the fate of the impending doom of the country. In order to let Longyu and Puyi abdicate as soon as possible, Yuan Shikai decided to act out another scene based on the principle of "being a man with room for it", so that the Empress Dowager Longyu completely collapsed and abdicated automatically. Comrade Yuan Shikai has acted in many scenes in his life, but there is reason to believe that this is the most uncomfortable one he has acted in. Foreplay is still the old routine, both hard and soft. Yuan Shikai first found old customers—the eunuchs and maids around the Empress Dowager Longyu, and asked them to keep threatening the mother and son of the Empress Dowager.Later, he ordered the Beiyang generals to send a telegram to the Qing government: Ming issued an edict, swore an oath to China and foreign countries, and established a republic. This time it was Duan Qirui's turn to play in friendship with fifty Beiyang colleagues.After all, Feng Guozhang has acted "Sworn to the Death against the Republic" before, and if Feng Guozhang is allowed to take the lead in "Against the Monarchy", it will not be very convincing. These two things were successfully completed. Yuan Shikai counted the time and felt that the fire was almost ready.So he stood up and begged to see the Empress Dowager Longyu, and told Longyu in a sad and helpless tone: "If you agree to the Revolutionary Party's abdication now, you can still get preferential treatment. If you don't go to the inn and anger the Revolutionary Party, not only will you lose the preferential treatment, you may lose your life." .” The Empress Dowager Longyu is also a housewife with ordinary EQ and IQ, and she is a housewife who does not go out of the door. Lafayette's two brushes. After listening to Yuan Shikai's words, the Empress Dowager Longyu was very scared. She was particularly afraid that she would be beheaded by the revolutionary party, so she begged Yuan Shikai: "We must save the lives of our mother and son, and we must also provide enough living expenses." The scene was so miserable that even Yuan Shikai was moved, and accompanied Empress Dowager Longyu to wipe away several sad tears. Bullying orphans and widows like this is really not a hero.Yuan Shikai himself felt ashamed, so after the scene ended, Yuan Shikai never saw the Queen Mother Longyu again.I am ashamed to see you. Next, Yuan Shikai really satisfied Longyu's request, and he did not hesitate to threaten himself not to be the president, and talked to various forces, and finally won preferential treatment for Longyu's mother and son-the living expenses of 4 million yuan per year, and still You can live in the palace. Longyu felt that he could still be the Supreme Emperor in the Forbidden City in the future, with no worries about his life and security of life, which seemed to be the same as before.So he made up his mind to abdicate. On February 12, 1912, Empress Dowager Longyu issued an abdication edict, announcing the abdication of the Qing emperor and agreeing to a republic. The Qing Dynasty, which lasted for 268 years, and the imperial system, which lasted for 2,132 years since Qin Shihuang ruled the world, perished like a rotten one. The Qing Dynasty began with the entry of the Regent Dorgon and the establishment of the capital in Beijing, and finally ended with the Regent Zaifeng. It seems that there is God's will in the dark. Here I specifically quote a poem to congratulate the demise of the Qing Dynasty: By the way, the author of this doggerel is the "King of Secret Love" - ​​the famous talent Jin Yuelin, and the woman he has a crush on is named Lin Huiyin.