Chapter 11 Chapter Eleven "The Second Revolution"

On March 21, 1913, Sun Yat-sen, who was inspecting the railway in Nagasaki, Japan, received a telegram from China: Song Jiaoren was assassinated at Shanghai Railway Station. Cruel facts can educate people best. Sun Yat-sen finally woke up from the railway dream, immediately booked a return boat ticket to Shanghai, and arrived in Shanghai four days later. That night, the top KMT officials held an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures. Sun Yat-sen spoke angrily first: "Yuan Shikai must have done this!" After a pause, he continued, "This time, it will definitely be resolved by force. You organize two divisions for me, and I will fight to Beijing myself." Find Yuan Shikai to settle accounts!"

Huang Xing didn't wait for Sun Yat-sen to finish speaking, and said loudly: "This matter is absolutely impossible. The Republic of China was established in the early days, and people's minds are determined. The current trial of the case is beneficial to us. We should first consider legal settlement. And now there is no evidence that Yuan Shikai If you do it, if you raise troops to challenge Yuan, it means the local government is rebelling against the central government, and the name is not right and the words are not right." In fact, the progress of the assassination trial is very slow.The main reason is that the relevant personnel could not appear in court: Samurai Ying died suddenly, Hong Shuzu fled, Zhao Bingjun was "ill"...how to try!The only good news is that under pressure, Yuan Shikai approved Zhao Bingjun's resignation, and Duan Qirui replaced him as Prime Minister.

Now that the two giants are fighting, the intensity of the meeting will naturally escalate.But each has its own reasons, and no one can convince anyone, and everyone broke up unhappy. The next day, the governors of the three powerful factions of the Kuomintang—Li Liejun, the governor of Jiangxi, Bai Wenwei, the governor of Anhui, and Hu Hanmin, the governor of Guangdong, also telegraphed Sun Yat-sen, saying that they had absolutely no strength to become independent. Here I will focus on introducing Li Liejun, who will play a relatively important role in the next revolutionary process, and he is one of the very few people who can always follow Sun Yat-sen.

Li Liejun, courtesy name Xiaru, nickname Xiahuang, also known as Xiehe, was born in Jiangxi in 1882 and was born in the 1980s in the 19th century. Li Liejun was born in a glorious revolutionary family, and his father was a glorious Taiping Heavenly Kingdom soldier. Therefore, Li Liejun inherited some of his father's revolutionary genes—very passionate in his bones, very loyal, and good at interpersonal relationships. The revolutionaries in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China had similar experiences before participating in the revolution—good grades in exams, and then went abroad to start their own businesses.

It seems that the experience of the revolutionaries in their youth was not exciting enough, but there is no way. The children of the rich use money to shop for education, and the children of the poor rely on education to get rich. Li Liejun is no exception.His academic performance is relatively good, and he went to study in Japan after the exam, and joined the Tongmenghui during his stay in Japan.After returning to China, he went to the Yunnan Lecture Hall of a famous military academy as an instructor, and thus began his career of accumulating revolutionary capital.After the Wuchang Uprising broke out, Li Liejun hurried back to his hometown of Jiangxi, joined the army of the Qing Dynasty, and served as the governor of Jiangxi with his prestige and qualifications accumulated over the years.

The topic returned to the moment when Sun Yat-sen learned that Li Liejun and others did not agree with his use of force. Sun Yat-sen was very angry. He didn't expect that everyone would not listen to him.But he can't help it. If he wants money, there is no money, and if he wants people, there is no one.what to do? We can only wait until Yuan Shikai makes a mistake. Soon, the opportunity Sun Yat-sen was waiting for arrived. When the "Assassination of the Song Dynasty" came to a standstill, Yuan Shikai was busy with a major event.He is planning a big event, which is the issue of "big aftermath borrowing" that has been discussed for more than a year.

Due to the undecided situation of the new establishment of the Republic of China, most of the taxes that should have been paid were not collected normally, and even if they were collected, the localities refused to turn them over to the central government.Of course, the local government said that it's not that they don't want to hand in the money, but they can't. They want to support the militia and appease the people. But the problem is: if the local government does not pay taxes, the central government will have no money. No matter what the circumstances, the country cannot do without money.What's more, in the early days of the Republic of China, there were too many places where money was needed - abolishing the militias in Nanjing, Guangdong and other places, repaying indemnities for unfair treaties, paying government office expenses, and fulfilling promises to Longyu and Puyi...

In short, in order to solve various problems arising from the revolution or left over from history, at the end of February 1912, Yuan Shikai began to ask the cabinet to apply for loans from banks of western powers. Experienced comrades all know that finding a bank loan is not an easy task, not to mention that the weak and weak Republic of China borrows from the Western powers, which involves too many interests.Therefore, the first two cabinets of the Republic of China failed to settle this matter. After more than a year of bargaining, the loan matter was finally completed by Zhao Bingjun's cabinet.

On the evening of April 26, 1913, Zhou Xuexi, Minister of Finance, and Lu Zhengxiang, Minister of Foreign Affairs, held final negotiations with representatives of the Bank Group of Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and Japan at the HSBC Building in Beijing. Negotiations were very difficult, and the representatives of the two sides talked until the early morning three days later before agreeing on various specific terms. Although the loan was not much, only 25 million pounds, Huang Shiren was still very authoritative in front of Yang Bailao, and many conditions were attached to the "big aftermath loan".

First of all, China's salt tax and customs tax must be used as guarantees. Secondly, the bank consortium enjoys various priority rights, supervision rights, review rights, and employment rights, etc. The people at that time did not understand any international accounting principles, and exclaimed that these clauses were "traitorous", which was absolutely unacceptable. It's fine for ordinary people to think so, but if the Kuomintang headed by Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing also think so, then something bad will happen. Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing and others sent telegrams reprimanding Yuan Shikai for borrowing illegally, despising the legislature, and intending to expand the army and prepare for war.

Sun Yat-sen, in particular, said some words to stimulate Yuan Shikai, such as, "The public has no other choice but to resign today", "We must use the determination to oppose the monarch last time, and oppose the public alone, and there is no turning back." In fact, after rational thinking, most people will know that borrowing is inevitable to get out of financial difficulties, but the Kuomintang does not think so. After Yuan Shikai saw the telegram sent by the Kuomintang, he was very annoyed.Recently, from the cabinet party struggle to the assassination of Song Jiaoren to the aftermath of borrowing money, the KMT really did not give him face.Therefore, facing the questioning by Sun Yat-sen and others, he simply tore his face. Yuan Shikai not only ignored the protests of the Kuomintang members, but instead aggressively reprimanded Sun Yat-sen: "I have seen through it now. You people are making trouble on the left and on the right. You have no other skills except making trouble. What's the matter?" Gongshe resigned today , there is absolutely no other way', you are really determined to do it with me! I can tell you that I, Yuan Shikai, cannot listen to other people's troubles. If you, Sun Wen, dare to use guns and cannons, or organize another government, I will send troops to conquer. room." The Secretary-General of the Presidential Palace, Liang Shiyi, who was drafting the draft, hesitated for a moment and said, "President, isn't that a little too straightforward?" Yuan Shikai replied angrily: "Just say that, and I am responsible for it!" This verbal quarrel caused by "aftercare loans" marked the official break between Yuan Shikai and Sun Yat-sen. It took less than a year for the two to shake hands and say goodbye to each other. Now that there is a complete break, the only option is to fight each other. It is better to strike first, and to suffer later. Yuan Shikai took the lead.He first took back Huang Xing's rank of general in the army, removed Li Liejun, Hu Hanmin, and Bai Wenwei, the three powerful Kuomintang governors with military power, and then wanted Chen Qimei all over the world. Why did Yuan Shikai "entertain" Chen Qimei in a special way? Did he know that Chen Qimei had done no good in the "Assassination of Song Dynasty"?The real reason is unknown. As a result, the Kuomintang people in the south can only rise up and fight. On July 13, Li Liejun established the Jiangxi Dispute Yuan Army and issued a call for Yuan Yuan, announcing Jiangxi's independence. As a result, the "Second Revolution" officially broke out.Because this year is the year of Gui Chou, this battle is also called "Battle of Gui Chou". Two days later, Huang Xing rushed to Nanjing and immediately organized a war against Yuan Jun on the basis of the eighth division, the elite unit he reorganized last time.Subsequently, Huang Xing drove away Cheng Dequan, the governor of Jiangsu, occupied Nanjing, and declared the independence of Jiangsu. Bo Wenwei, the governor of Anhui, also subsequently declared independence. As a result, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Jiangxi formed a corner, facing the Beiyang forces directly. With Li Liejun, Huang Xing, and Bai Wenwei as examples, Guangdong declared its independence. Shanghai Chen Qimei, Fujian Xu Chongzhi, and Sichuan Xiong Kewu also swore against Yuan. On the surface, the anti-Yuan activities are very impressive, but in fact, after careful analysis, it will be found that the anti-Yuan alliance is very fragile and vulnerable. One, no money. This is a big problem. Without money, the guns will have no ammunition, the soldiers will have to starve, and the fighting will not continue. Two, unpopular. After the founding of the Republic of China, opposition to solving problems by force has become the general public opinion in the country at that time.I would rather be a dog of peace than a person in troubled times.The common people in the market don't understand the revolutionary righteousness, they just hope to live a peaceful life for a few days. Therefore, most Chinese people do not understand or support the civil war triggered by the most determined Kuomintang members under the pretext of "assassination of the Song Dynasty" and "big loans". Cai E, the governor of Yunnan, who has always been open-minded, also stood up and opposed: "If the president commits an act of treason, he should be impeached by the Provisional Senate; if he has a political fault, the State Council will be responsible. The use of force is a rebellion, and it is a public enemy of the state." 3. The strength of the revolutionary army is scattered, and there are strong enemies around each of them, so they cannot support each other. For example, Chen Qimei has to deal with the attack of Zhu Rui, the governor of Zhejiang, Guangdong has to deal with the attack of Lu Rongting of Guangxi, and Xiong Kewu of Sichuan is small and remote, which has little impact on the overall situation. Fourth, the internal quality of the revolutionary army was uneven, and the thinking was not uniform. Officers defected to the enemy and mutiny occurred frequently.With this level of combat effectiveness, it would be a strange thing to win a battle. The Kuomintang does not have an advantage in many aspects such as financial resources, military strength, and public opinion. The result of the "second revolution" can be imagined. Yuan Shikai's military arrangement was like this-the Beiyang Army divided into two routes, one route used Hubei as the base to attack Jiangxi and Hunan; the other route used Xuzhou as the frontier to march towards Anhui and Jiangsu.Tang Xiangming led the navy to respond along the Yangtze River. The progress of the battle is completely in line with the previous judgment, and the balance of victory is tilted to one side. Li Liejun's Yuan army was the first to be defeated.One month after the uprising, Nanchang fell, and the Jiangxi battlefield had nothing to do with the Kuomintang. Huang Xing's Eighth Division was very embarrassed under the pincer attack of the Beiyang Army, and it only lasted a few days longer than Li Liejun.Huang Xing saw that there was nothing he could do, so he left Nanjing by boat one night and walked away.As soon as Huang Xing left, other senior generals also fled.The situation in Nanjing fell into chaos. Nanjing no longer has any generals to fight, and it seems that the situation is irreversible. However, as the slogan of a certain sports brand says, anything is possible. Like the Wuchang Uprising, in the absence of senior generals, it was revolutionary soldiers who took the initiative to stand up.Under the leadership of the interim leader He Haiming, the Nanjing Defenders fought fiercely with the Beiyang Army. The main force in the siege was Zhang Xun's braided army.During the Revolution of 1911, Zhang Xun, who defended Nanjing, lost to the revolutionary army who attacked the city. This time, he tried his best to get his place back. In the first few days, the Nanjing Revolutionary Army did not obviously fall behind.However, due to the great difference in strength between the two sides, the revolutionary army finally couldn't hold on after holding on for more than 20 days, and Nanjing fell. After the city of Nanjing was broken, Zhang Xun quickly transformed into his predecessor, Zeng Guoquan, and carried out the killing and setting fire to the city to the end.The braided soldiers ransacked the city for three days, raping and looting wantonly. God knows what you did.If you do too many immoral things, you will always be punished. During the raging process, the braided soldiers accidentally killed several Japanese, which accidentally triggered an international diplomatic incident. Because of this, Zhang Xun, who had won the position of Jiangsu governor in exchange for the capture of Nanjing, was forced to hand over the governor to Feng Guozhang without his butt sitting hot in the position of Jiangsu governor.This made Zhang Xun half dead with anger. Next, the Yuan army in Anhui and Shanghai was defeated one after another, and the "second revolution" failed completely. It's only two months from the incident to the failure. Strictly speaking, two months is not accurate enough, because one team lasted for a year. This team is a group of bandits from Henan, nicknamed "White Wolf". Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing have never been unrepentant revolutionaries, and they always unite all forces that can be united for revolution.Therefore, at the beginning of the second revolution, they also greeted the White Wolf: Let's kill the great dictator Yuan Shikai together. The white wolf is really impolite. He proclaims himself the "Governor of the Republic of China to help the Han against Commander Yuan", and according to the characteristics of the enemy outnumbered, he avoids the real and attacks the false, and uses guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare against the government army. Yuan Shikai's cousin, the governor of Henan, Zhang Zhenfang couldn't stand it at all. For a time, the white wolf's bandit army was unstoppable, and they fought in the four provinces of Henan, Shaanxi, Anhui, and Gansu, besieging cities and killing officials with great momentum. Yuan Shikai saw that the Henan fellow White Wolf was doing better and better in the rebellion project, so he urgently ordered the Beiyang ace Duan Qirui and the guard commander Lu Jianzhang: "You set off immediately and replace Zhang Zhenfang. I don't care who you are blocking and who is chasing after. Exterminate the white wolf as soon as possible." The two sides in the fight are not at the same level of strength. Half a year later, that is, in August 1914, when the exhausted White Wolf bandit army returned to its old nest in Henan, the entire army was annihilated in an ambush. After this battle, the one who gained the most was Lu Jianzhang, who became the commander of the Shaanxi Provincial Military Region-the Shaanxi Governor. To mention a word, there is a fierce general under Lu Jianzhang's command, who once appeared as a part-on in "Luanzhou Military Admonition". This man is a big man, and he is also his nephew and son-in-law, named Feng Yuxiang. After the failure of the "Second Revolution", Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing, Chen Qimei, Li Liejun, Bai Wenwei and others had no choice but to start their life in exile again. Exile is not painful, but loss of heart is painful. Their revolutionary actions were not understood and supported by the people of the country. Some people even accused them of using anti-Yuan as an excuse to fight for power, and accused them of kidnapping the people of the whole country in the name of revolution. The so-called "second revolution" did not deserve to be called a revolution at all. It is painful to lose people's hearts, but it is not painful to make wedding clothes for Yuan Shikai. This war not only seriously weakened the Kuomintang's power in Guangdong, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu and other provinces, but also gave the Beiyang Army a steady stream of precious opportunities to enter the southern provinces.After the war, except Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Yunnan, all other provinces have been brought under the control of the Beiyang Army and its affiliated armies. What's more serious is that this war completely destroyed the party politics that had just taken shape in the Republic of China, and China's path to constitutionalism was gone forever. The arguments for this conclusion are as follows: Argument 1, military power took advantage of the opportunity to grow, and military politics began to take shape. When Beiyang's division commanders arrived in the locality, they became governors, controlled the military and government of a province, and became a semi-separatist force, not to mention the local emperors like Yan Xishan and Zhang Zuolin who cling to the territory and the army.Political power came out of the barrel of a gun. In the next three decades, political parties and gentry began to attach themselves to the soldiers stationed in various places, and military intervention in politics became the norm in political life. Argument 2, the "Provisional Agreement" has become empty shelf. Before the "Second Revolution", Yuan Shikai never dared to openly violate the "Temporary Agreement" that was cast on Yuan Shikai's head. In the next time, all the restrictive systems against him in the "Temporary Contract" were easily dismantled one by one. From this point of view, it seems that Yuan Shikai won the final victory. But did he really win?The answer will be revealed shortly. After finally driving away the Kuomintang, which disagreed with his own political views, Yuan Shikai began to worry about another problem-the contradiction between the local provinces and the central government. After the disintegration of the Qing Dynasty, the local provinces set up their own hills.Starting from their own interests, they hope for decentralization, especially the independence of local finance (financial power) and local administration (personnel power). The central government represented by Yuan Shikai hopes to centralize power and implement the "eight major policies of the Sun, Huang, Yuan, and Li Agreement" to solve the problem of self-respect of local troops and the financial difficulties of the central government.Only by reducing the army to eliminate the source of chaos, and only by collecting local taxes into the central finance, can Yuan Shikai have enough ability to clean up the mess, and then enrich the country and strengthen the army. This contradiction is not easy to reconcile. Comrade Yuan Shikai and his team thought hard for a long time before they came up with a solution with serious side effects: gradually centralize power in the central government.To be precise, it is the centralization of power in the hands of the President. Well, let's take a look at how Comrade Yuan Shikai operates this matter.