Chapter 12 Chapter 12 Carrying out the dictatorship to the end

Stability trumps everything. Although Yuan Shikai defeated almost all the enemies, looking around, there was no opponent in the world, but the Kuomintang still controlled the Congress, and the south was not completely pacified. Therefore, in order to stabilize the political situation, Yuan Shikai took great pains to create a plan acceptable to all forces. A cabinet that listens to him. The cabinet members are mainly from the Progressive Party, such as Prime Minister Xiong Xiling, Chief Justice Liang Qichao, Chief of Agriculture and Commerce Zhang Jian, Chief of Transportation Zhou Ziqi (the first president of Tsinghua Academy)... They are all influential celebrities, so this cabinet is also Called the "Cabinet of Celebrities".

As the celebrity cabinet began to operate, the Beiyang forces gradually stabilized, and the country was relatively peaceful. President Yuan could finally sit back and relax. However, Yuan Shikai also has troubles: he has been struggling for more than a year, and he has not yet obtained a formal and legal status. He is still a temporary worker-the interim president. In fact, there was no suspense about Yuan Shikai's election as the first official president.The leaders of the Kuomintang are all wanted by him all over the world on endless charges. Li Yuanhong is obedient, and he basically has no strong competitors.

But even so, he was still worried.Therefore, in order to prevent the parliament with a majority of Kuomintang members from preventing him from being elected president, Yuan Shikai used his brain again. On October 6, 1913, members of Congress came to the election venue, preparing to elect the first official president of the Republic of China. Just when the congressmen were enjoying themselves in the election, thousands of vicious people who looked like military police suddenly came outside the election venue. They came to watch the election under the banner of "citizens' group".

Amid the cheers of the "citizens", Yuan Shikai was finally elected as the first official president of the Republic of China, and Li Yuanhong was elected as the vice president. After hearing Yuan Shikai's election, the "citizens' group" was extremely excited. After shouting "Long live the President" several times, they rushed away, presumably to the designated place to receive the reward. October 10, 1913 - Double Ten National Day (the day of the Wuchang Uprising was set as the National Day in the Republic of China), President Yuan Da, who got his wish, held an inauguration ceremony in the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Qing Palace.

At this time, the government of the Republic of China was like a big tree full of monkeys. The monkeys at the top saw smiling faces, and the monkeys at the bottom saw their buttocks.Naturally, Yuan Shikai climbed to the top, followed by Vice President Li Yuanhong.So the monkey Li Yuanhong only needs to look at Yuan Shikai's ass. Li Yuanhong held 30,000 elite soldiers (expanded from the New Army after the Wuchang Uprising), and was elected vice president twice in a row, making him the first person under Yuan Shikai. Although Vice President Li mostly chose President Yuan Da when choosing a team, President Yuan Da was still not at ease with him.

It is impossible to be reassured by the power that is not under one's control. Therefore, the first thing President Yuan had to do after he became a full-time official was to conquer a man—Vice President Li. But this matter is not easy to handle. Everyone in the circle knows that "you have power if you have soldiers, and you have power if you have territory." Only when you can control the territory can you consolidate power.Therefore, the ordinary strategy of diverting the tiger away from the mountain is not feasible. Sure enough, President Yuan invited Vice President Li, who had his office in Wuhan, to come to Beijing for office several times.President Yuan was very angry, so he made up his mind to give Li Yuanhong the most ruthless move: the overlord bows hard.

Yuan Shikai formally issued an order to invite Vice President Li to come to Beijing to take office, and Duan Qirui to take up the post of governor of Hubei.However, this order has not been made public for the time being, and the miraculous effect can only be achieved if Li Yuanhong is caught off guard. Duan Qirui took the secret order issued by President Yuan Da, led the number one confidant Xu Shuzheng and the powerful army, and came to Wuhan by special train. One of the only two pairs of gold medal partners in the Beiyang system: Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng, entered everyone's field of vision.As for another pair of partners, they will also appear in the near future.

Briefly introduce Xu Shuzheng. Xu Shuzheng, Duan Qirui's chief of staff at the time, was born in Anhui, born in the 1980s in the 19th century. This person is a 7-year-old Nengshi, a 13-year-old scholar, and a 30-year-old graduate of the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer Academy. He is an outstanding talent who combines Chinese and Western.He is good at calculation and has strong business ability. Five months later, at the age of 34, he will become the youngest senior deputy minister (undersecretary of the Ministry of Army) of the Republic of China. In addition, he has a very prominent character trait: arrogance.Everyone will soon have the opportunity to grasp the true meaning of arrogance from him.

It is said that after Duan Qirui arrived in Wuhan, Li Yuanhong gave Duan Qirui a very high reception, but Duan Qirui was not moved by it. He directly showed President Yuan Da's order to Li Yuanhong, and emphasized: "The President In many cases, it is necessary to discuss important matters with the vice president, and the vice president should work in the capital, please go north immediately." Li Yuanhong was not stupid. He knew that he might not be able to escape this time, but he still used his brains and came up with an idea to fight hard: "The President has invited me to Beijing many times. It is really hard to turn down the kindness, but the Hubei Revolutionary Party is very grateful." Rampant, I can’t leave for a while. Since Chief Duan (Chief of the Army) is taking over, why don’t I go to Beijing after I stay in Wuchang to assist you in completing your work?”

Li Yuanhong wanted to buy time to find another way, but Duan Qirui was not a fool, how could he make him happy, and immediately cut off Li Yuanhong's hope: "Vice President Li, don't worry, the President is in a hurry, you can go tonight, the special car It's ready for you." Of course Li Yuanhong didn't want to go north, but after a moment of hesitation, Mr. Xu Shuzheng's gun was already pointed at his head. In terms of age, seniority, position, and military rank, Li Yuanhong would beat Xu Shuzheng by a few blocks. Therefore, except for one person, almost everyone believed that Xu Shuzheng, a late student, did not have the qualifications to be arrogant in front of Li Yuanhong.

But unfortunately, Comrade Xu Shuzheng is the only exception, because his blood is full of arrogance. Anyone who wants to be recognized and respected by Comrade Xu Shuzheng can only rely on strength. This was the first time Xu Shuzheng bullied Li Yuanhong.In the next few years, he will bully Li Yuanhong many times.But the problem is that Li Yuanhong is not a soft guy who can't fight back or scold, so the relationship between these two people is like an active volcano, which will erupt suddenly at some point. Before the poor Comrade Li Yuanhong had time to say goodbye to his family, Duan Qirui half-pushed him onto the train and left for Beijing immediately. When Li Yuanhong arrived in Beijing, President Yuan Da had arranged for him a residence—Yingtai, Zhongnanhai, the place where Empress Dowager Cixi imprisoned Emperor Guangxu. This residence has a vivid meaning, embodying President Yuan Da's ardent expectations for Vice President Li.Fortunately, Vice President Li's comprehension ability is also outstanding, he did not disappoint President Yuan Da, and he has lived a happy life in Yingtai since then. Li Yuanhong had enough self-defense. How could he keep his direct army in Wuhan, and he was soon broken up and reorganized by the enthusiastic Mr. Duan Qirui. According to ordinary people's thinking, Yuan Shikai became the official president and put the self-respecting Vice President Li under house arrest. His wish has been fulfilled, and it's time to stop. But Yuan Shikai didn't think so. He had been an intern president for so long, and he could see it clearly: the president Sun Yat-sen customized for him was basically an empty shelf-the legislative power was in the hands of the Congress, and the executive power was in the hands of the cabinet.This made Yuan Shikai, who has always liked power, very uncomfortable. He wanted to reform the constitution and get rid of these power constraints. Yuan Shikai's initial moves were quite gentle. President Yuan Da wrote a high-sounding statement (recommendation) and asked his subordinates to bring this statement to the members of the Constitution Drafting Committee.At this time, members of parliament are working enthusiastically, working overtime, and strive to revise the "Provisional Constitution" into a formal constitution as soon as possible. To explain, Yuan Shikai's suggestion is a legal procedure, and the law stipulates that the president is obliged to submit reports and suggestions to Congress. The procedure is completely legal, but the content is somewhat inappropriate. There are four suggestions written in the report: 1. The president formulates official regulations—administrative systems and regulations have nothing to do with Congress. 2. The president appoints and dismisses civil and military personnel—personnel power has nothing to do with the cabinet. 3. The president declared war, negotiated peace, and concluded treaties—major national affairs such as foreign wars and diplomacy were all under Yuan Shikai's control. 4. In the extraordinary period of "public security, defense, and disasters", the president should have the power of special disposition and enactment of laws, which only needs to be recognized when the Congress is in session. The core content of this speech is just one point: President Yuan Da should display the spirit of a super model worker and shoulder all the responsibilities on his shoulders. The congressmen were taken aback. Didn't President Yuan Da intend to engage in presidential dictatorship?This is completely contrary to the spirit of the "Temporary Agreement" and must not be agreed! It takes some backbone to dare to resist President Yuan Da. President Yuan, who was watching eagerly from the sidelines and always looking forward to good news, was furious when he saw that the people waiting for him did not agree but opposed, and said, "Since you don't want soft things, then come hard ones!" A few days later, telegrams from governors of various provinces and Beiyang generals came in like snowflakes, all of which supported Yuan Shikai's "reasonable demands" and accused the "autocracy of the Congress". The old and bad Kuomintang and the Congress have also been disbanded. The content of these telegrams is naturally the voice of President Yuan Da. President Yuan Da thought that once the soldiers stepped in to take charge of the government, the Congress would definitely submit.But President Yuan Da, who believes in the supremacy of force, did not expect that there is another reason in the world: the more oppressed, the more resistance. There are some hard-headed members of Congress - most of them are members of the Kuomintang. Despite Yuan Shikai's pressure, they insisted on passing the draft constitution and preparing to submit it to the Congress for publication. Now Yuan Shikai couldn't sit still anymore, and he resorted to the last ruthless move-to draw the bottom line and disband the Kuomintang. According to Yuan Shikai's usual way of dealing with affairs, he would only show up in a legitimate way, and he would not show up if he couldn't be justified.This time is no exception. Yuan Shikai and his team found a good reason: the garrison headquarters seized secret messages between Li Liejun, a rebel party member, and Xu Xiujun, a member of the Kuomintang, in an attempt to split the country. The Kuomintang absolutely bears the inescapable responsibility. Of course, it does exist.But obviously, this is information that Yuan Shikai had obtained a long time ago, why is it only used now? The reason is one word: timing.In the process of strategy implementation, only one timing is the most suitable. Before Yuan Shikai could do anything, he still needed to complete one more procedure-the cabinet agreed to ban the Kuomintang.Most of the members of the cabinet, including Prime Minister Xiong Xiling, were from the Progressive Party. Naturally, they did not have a good impression of the political opponent, the Kuomintang, which was always a political opponent. Therefore, President Yuan successfully obtained the order to ban the Kuomintang. Take down this gang of gangsters for me!When President Yuan gave the order, the military police who had been waiting for meritorious deeds rushed straight to the residences of the Kuomintang MPs. At this time, the army under the control of the Kuomintang has been crippled and morally disadvantaged, and they are still meat waiting to be slaughtered on the chopping board. More than 400 members of the Kuomintang were wiped out, and the Congress was paralyzed. The Congress was paralyzed, and all the affiliated committees, especially the Constitution Drafting Committee, immediately stopped by themselves, and the draft constitution that had not yet been announced was stillborn. On January 10, 1914, President Yuan Da sent a heart-pounding New Year message to the congressmen: The Kuomintang made the country a mess and paralyzed the Congress.You all know that the country's finances are very difficult. Since the Congress can't continue, the country can't support those of you who don't work for nothing, so please go home for now.Although the salary is gone, the travel expenses are still there.Of course, you don't have to worry, Congress will still be held in the near future, please go home and wait patiently for the good news. To sum it up in one sentence, I want to dissolve the Congress, and all of you congressmen go home. Members of course refused to agree, but limited by their strength, they could only walk through the streets and alleys to demonstrate.Public opinion counterattacks, with limited lethality.After making a fuss for a while, he had no choice but to give up his job with an annual salary of several thousand yuan and receive dozens of dollars in travel expenses to go home. So far, the first National Congress of the Republic of China has come to an end after finishing the "business" of electing Yuan Shikai as the official president. Seeing this, most people may think that Comrade Yuan Shikai's series of methods of improving administrative efficiency and concentrating power on one person for dictatorship are aimed at naked dictatorship. If you think so too, then you are wrong.President Yuan Da is not as superficial and simple as you think. This brother also knows that dictatorship is not a good word, and he also appreciates democracy. He didn't want to be infamous for a long time, so he must live up to his face, and he must go in the form he should go. He disbanded the Kuomintang and the Congress, not because he wanted the Congress and the Constitution, but to create a "Congress" and "Constitution" that would listen to his words.This "Congress" is the trick he came up with - "Political Conference", and the "Constitution" is the later "Constitution of the Republic of China". After dissolving the National Assembly, President Yuan still had more to say, and ordered the dissolution of the local council as well. Regarding this order, the governors of all provinces, especially those who were born in the military, all happily and beautifully finished their work. After all, no one wanted to be restricted by the parliament. While President Yuan fired the members of Congress, someone also fired him. Comrades Xiong Xiling, Prime Minister of the "Celebrity Cabinet" and Liang Qichao, Chief Justice, resigned. Although these two people from the Progressive Party assisted President Yuan Da in killing the Kuomintang, they also had a bottom line - to maintain the republican system.Seeing that they were powerless to stop Lao Yuan and the Republican Party from drifting away, and also out of fear of being dragged by Lao Yuan into the muddy waters of dictatorship, they resigned to Yuan Shikai one after another. "Xiong Fenghuang" Xiong Xiling first proposed to resign, and his attitude was very firm.President Yuan tried to persuade him to stay again and again, but finally saw that he had decided to let the gun that he used very well, so he had no choice but to let "Phoenix" go back to the mountain. Hunan talent "Xiong Fenghuang" has been worshiping his chancellor for less than half a year, and besides serving as Lao Yuan's spearman, he has basically done nothing.After suffering this setback, Xiong Xiling gave up his official career and turned to charity and education.This is his field of expertise, and he eventually became a famous educator and philanthropist in the Republic of China. Just after Xiong Xiling resigned, Liang Qichao also offered to resign to President Yuan: "I am not in good health, and I really can't work anymore. Please allow me to retire and return to the field." As usual, President Yuan Da was eager to persuade Liang Qichao to stay. He said to Liang Qichao: "You are also an old comrade, and you should contribute to the construction of the new Republic of China and realize the modernization. Well, considering your health, you will be in the 'National Currency Bureau' Take the post of president, and help out with ideas." Liang Qichao was too embarrassed to refuse, so he had to agree. After dismissing Xiong Xiling and Liang Qichao, President Yuan changed the cabinet into a political affairs hall and invited his old brother Xu Shichang to sit in charge.Its position was held by several famous American political women - Albright, Clinton's wife Hillary.Yes, the Secretary of State. This political hall is located in the presidential palace and is a subordinate office of the presidential palace.As for the job duties of the Secretary of State, Mr. Xu Shichang, the main tasks are to accurately understand and implement the intention of the leader—President Yuan Da, to communicate well, to take care of drafting important documents, to put forward specific suggestions, and to provide a basis for the leader to make scientific decisions. The cabinet, which was originally used to check and balance the president, has actually become a subordinate organization of the presidential palace. President Yuan really dares to think and do anything. Under President Yuan Da's drastic action, the republican and democratic atmosphere in the early years of the Republic of China was almost wiped out.However, among the few knives and axes that President Yuan made, the most cool and handsome should be the "Amendment to the Presidential Election Law" that was tailored for him. Where is handsome? First, the term of office of the president is ten years, not to mention excessively long, and he can be re-elected, and there is no regulation on the number of re-elections, which can almost be understood as life tenure. Second, the current president has the right to recommend the next presidential candidate. He only needs to seal the candidate's name with Golden Harvest Gold and store it in the Golden Chamber of the Presidential Palace. After the death of the president, he will open it . This set of things that Yuan Shikai did was actually the secret establishment of the reserve by Emperor Yongzheng.It's just that, who knows whether President Yuan's presidency will be passed on to his wife or his son?Could it be that President Yuan wants to engage in a hereditary system? So far, both in law and in fact, Yuan Shikai has become the lifelong head of state of the Republic of China. Through a series of actions that were crazily criticized by later generations, President Yuan Da finally succeeded in solving the problem of his personal future, and his real power increased greatly. With the political structure settled, President Yuan Da finally has time to deal with another problem: the withdrawal of military power. In Chinese history, most of the fierce people who started a business together could not escape this ending: the cunning rabbit dies, the running dog cooks; the flying birds are exhausted, and the good bow is hidden. It's just that some people have dark hearts and don't take human life seriously, like Zhu Yuanzhang, who killed the brothers who started the business together. And some people are benevolent, like Zhao Kuangyin, who use negotiations to solve problems, drink wine to release military power, and use soft and hard tactics at the dinner table to gently cut off the military power of entrepreneurial veterans.As a result, these people can still go home to be rich and enjoy their old age. Fortunately, President Yuan intends to learn from Zhao Kuangyin, so President Yuan's two gold-medal fighters—Duan Qirui and Comrades Feng Guozhang—don't need to be too nervous. President Yuan's first target is Duan Qirui.Because he found that Duan Qirui's strength has grown rapidly in recent years, and he is faintly out of control. In the past few years, although the turnover of the cabinet has been very fast, Duan Qirui's position as chief of the army has remained unchanged.The desire for power swelled violently in Duan Qirui's heart.Not to mention cliques, the promotion or demotion of officers is often decided by him without authorization, and most of the people promoted are his disciples and subordinates, such as Xu Shuzheng, Jin Yunpeng, Fu Liangzuo, etc., and the opinions of the eldest brother Yuan Shikai are no longer sought. . Although President Yuan felt a strong threat from Duan Qirui, he couldn't think of a good solution for a while. If Duan Qirui's position as chief of the army is rudely removed, he will be sorry for his old brother. If you attack Duan Qirui's army directly, you will be even more sorry for the old brother. At this time, a Japanese consultant stepped forward. To explain, in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, it was popular to "take Japan as a teacher and learn from Japan", so many Japanese with a little skill came to China to seek gold. This person is called Sakanishi Rihachiro, and he gave President Yuan an idea: "President, you can set up an organization called the 'Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy'. Flying together. In this way, the president can unify the three military powers of the army, navy, and staff in an open and aboveboard manner. In this case, there is no need for the Ministry of the Army to exist. At that time, Duan Qirui can be assigned to the office as a clerk. Become a civil servant and indirectly cut off all military power." Yuan Shikai felt that this idea was very good, and immediately put it into action, and gave Mr. Rihachiro Sakanishi, who came up with the idea, considerable power to participate in it.The Japanese made his debut. Yuan Shikai was wrong this time.The real identity of Mr. Rihachiro Sakanishi is a Japanese spy, and he is the head of the Japanese spy stationed in China.Rihachiro Sakanishi himself may not be famous, but his apprentice Kenji Doihara is famous.The two master and apprentice planned many shocking cases, which will be described in detail later. Comrade Yuan Shikai, an anti-Japanese fighter, not only failed to see his true face, but also gave this guy a noble Chinese name-"Ban Zhichao" based on Ban Chao who went to the Western Regions to help the poor during Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Although Yuan Shikai was tricked by the Japanese once, fortunately, the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy was successfully established in June 1914. Next, President Yuan called Duan Qirui back from Hubei and found him another position: a clerk in the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy.The clerk sounds a bit shabby, but in fact, his political status is quite high, probably equivalent to the Minister of Military Aircraft in the Qing Dynasty. In order not to make Duan Qirui too disappointed, President Yuan also recalled Wang Shizhen, who had "retired" once, as an executive clerk, equivalent to the chief military minister. Duan Qirui is not in the mood to comprehend Boss Yuan's difficulties and hard work.He is extremely displeased with the boss's power cuts, and he wants to express his anger through non-violent non-cooperation—staying at home instead of going to work in the office, scolding Boss Yuan and complaining when he is in a bad mood, and playing Go when he is in a good mood .It is said that during this period of time, Clerk Duan's Go level skyrocketed. From this point of view, the boss is not so easy to be. After taking down Duan Qirui, who was the most threatening, Yuan Shikai began to think of ways to solve the provincial governors. President Yuan Da and his advisory team finally found a good solution after in-depth thinking and various searches. Yuan Shikai first ordered the provinces to have another civil affairs chief (provincial governor), and later changed the governor to the governor (commander of the provincial military region). The warlord can only be in charge of the military, and cannot concurrently serve as a local government post, nor can it intervene in local affairs, completely losing administrative power.The so-called administrative power is nothing more than managing people, money, and things. Whoever controls these three items and the army will have the strength to rebel.However, according to President Yuan's current approach, those who intend to rebel must carefully calculate the success rate. In short, the real power of those governors has shrunk greatly. Yuan Shikai's approach, to put it bluntly, is to separate the army from the people, and the military and police are not allowed to interfere in politics. It is estimated that this is because Yuan Shikai himself played too much with the military intervening in politics. After seeing the huge destructive power of military intervening in politics, he was particularly afraid that his governors would follow suit and deal with President Yuan, so he had to eliminate this possibility in advance. in the bud. However, President Yuan's approach caused new troubles, because most of his core generals of the Beiyang Army were in this army whose power had been greatly reduced. For example, his old brother Feng Guozhang changed from the governor of Jiangsu to the governor of Jiangsu. Although in the long run, the decision to divide the army and the people is beneficial to the country and the people, it is a great thing, but the premise is that the officers who hold the guns must make some sacrifices for this—giving up the power in their hands, Abandon immediate interests. It is often extremely painful to give up immediate interests in exchange for longer-term interests in the future.Because most people would rather wait to die with the little possessions in their hands than fight for the big pie in front of them.After all, the immediate benefits are something that everyone can see or even touch, but the long-term benefits are invisible and intangible. Therefore, those officers of the Beiyang Army, especially the warlords represented by Feng Guozhang, began to feel resentment towards Boss Yuan in their hearts, who were always staring at their own gains and losses, sacrificing their lives for righteousness, and thinking about the world only occasionally.When these grievances accumulate to a certain level, they will explode at critical moments. But Yuan Shikai didn't care about so much, as long as he could cut off the military power. Next, Yuan Shikai selected some "regiment members" from the "model regiment" to enrich the local provinces, serving as adjutants of the governors or senior officers in charge of real power, and checking and balancing the local governors.To use an inappropriate analogy, the role of these "members" is a bit like the party representatives or political commissars of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. Briefly explain the origin of the model group.The model regiment is essentially a training class for officers. The core training content is ideological education. It is the masterpiece of Comrade Yuan Keding, the crown prince, and its original intention is to help the old man consolidate his military power. After taking these two steps, the matter is not over yet, because President Yuan still has a ruthless trick that is simple and crude but effective. President Yuan set up a "charitable" organization "nursing home" - the General's Mansion, to accommodate those governors who were dismissed from all over the country after the "Second Revolution" ended. From a toubob on one side of the separatist regime to a consultant with no real power in the "General's Mansion", everyone feels lost.Cai E, the famous governor of Yunnan, is no exception. He can only take a walk to relieve the depression in his heart.It’s just that I didn’t expect to walk to Bada Hutong during this walk, where I met my confidante Xiaofengxian, leaving behind a legend... After this series of cuts and fights, President Yuan finally gave up.