Chapter 2 1. Beiyang Era

The Beiyang Era was a chaotic era, characterized by warlord separatism and warlord struggle for power. The Beiyang era began with Yuan Shikai's military training at the small station, and ended with the successful Northern Expedition of the National Revolutionary Army and the change of banner in the Northeast.However, the various backgrounds before Yuan Shikai's military training at the small station, as well as the rise of Yuan Shikai, are also closely related to the Beiyang era. The Korean issue and the Sino-Japanese War are the background of Yuan Shikai's military training at the small station.

In Chinese history, every dynasty ends and another era rises, and there is always a transitional period in between, inheriting the past and ushering in the future.And this period is not exciting, but it is pregnant with a lot of great significance, and at the same time has a high value for history. Yuan Shikai represented the Beiyang warlords. He and his clique have ruled China for more than 30 years. From the training of soldiers at Xiaozhan to the successful Northern Expedition of the National Revolutionary Army, China's internal and external troubles are all closely related to this clique.Although Yuan Shikai died in the 5th year of the Republic of China, the Beiyang warlords ruled China until the 17th year of the Republic of China.

Strictly speaking, Yuan Shikai's ugliness is not as good as Dong Zhuo in history, but his grandeur is bolder than Dong Zhuo.Dong Zhuo dared not be emperor himself.However, Yuan Shikai usurped the fruits of the 1911 Revolution and stole the president of the Republic of China. He could not do it for China's Washington, but he wanted to wear a dragon robe and be the emperor of the "Emperor" of China, so that everyone betrayed his relatives. , died of depression.After Dong Zhuo died, his party members Li Que and Guo Si and other warlords disrupted the Eastern Han Dynasty for more than ten years, and the Beiyang warlords created by Yuan Shikai were similar.

When mentioning Beiyang warlords, although people think of Yuan Shikai, more people think of Zhang Zongchang.Zhang Dashuai has thick eyebrows and big eyes, spends money like dirt, is addicted to gambling like his life, his first rank is like clouds, and his wives and concubines are like running water.There are many jokes that set off the appearance of the warlords extremely vividly.For example, during Zhang Zongchang's tenure as the supervisor of Shandong, someone introduced a high-quality law student to him for appointment, and he readily approved "assignment to the Military Law Department".Unexpectedly, the word "pai" was written wrongly, and it was written as a word "catch", so a certain gentleman was "grasped" in a daze and taken to the military law office for custody. When I interviewed Zhang Zongchang and asked about this matter, Zhang said that he seemed to have been sent to work in the Military Law Department, and asked the adjutant to question him, only to find out that he was not assigned to the Military Law Department but arrested in the Military Law Department.

This story is indeed true, but there are many, many other stories that were attached or borrowed, some belonged to Zhang Jingyao, some belonged to Chu Yupu, and some belonged to Han Fuju, and everyone brainstormed to use Zhang Dashuai as the representative. In fact, there are all kinds of Beiyang warlords. Zhang Zuolin, who was born as a bandit, is the top figure among the Beiyang warlords. He is as righteous as a mountain and as elegant as a scholar; It is really like the Beiyang warlords in the novel, except Zhang Zongchang is Feng Yuxiang, but Feng Yuxiang changed into a revolutionary at the end of the Beiyang warlords.As for Xu Shichang, who has the nickname of Crystal Fox, he is also unique; Xu Shuzheng is the one who is domineering and talented; Yang Du and Zhang Qizhen are the most powerful and knowledgeable.In fact, this period can also be said to have produced a large number of talents. Unfortunately, they were born in a turbulent era.

Yan Xishan is considered half a Beiyang figure, and he is even more unique.When the northern warlords were quarreling and fighting and felling, he closed his door and buried himself in construction in Shanxi. Although the achievements of this kind of closed construction were limited, the northern warlords did not dare to invade Shanxi, so Shanxi has always been stable and there is no civil war. trauma. Tang Jiyao is also a half-beiyang figure. He was separatist in the Southwest. If you criticize him, you can get eight words-"Extraordinary spirit, eyes like beans". Originally, he was the first to protect the country, overthrow Yuan Shikai, and rebuild the Republic of China. He made great achievements .Later, he was driven out of Yunnan by his subordinate Gu Pinzhen. When he arrived in Guangdong, Mr. Sun Yat-sen wooed him and encouraged him. If he stayed in Guangdong and devoted himself to the revolution, his history would have to be rewritten. The sweet dream of the Southwest King.

The number one Beiyang warlord is of course Yuan Shikai.There are three people in the second level, the so-called Beiyang Sanjie, the dragon-Wang Shizhen, the tiger-Duan Qirui, and the dog-Feng Guozhang.Xu Shichang, Liang Shiyi, and Li Yuanhong are between Yuan and Beiyang.Cao Kun, Zhang Zuolin, Wu Peifu, Sun Chuanfang, Zhang Zongchang, and Feng Yuxiang are only the third rank. ... Politics in old China was often set off by a nonsensical myth, and it was Liu Bang who first created it.Liu Bang came from a humble background, but he had great ambitions, so he came up with an idea, saying that he was the son of the Red Emperor, and at the same time made an appointment with his family members, and hid himself in the mountains.Others didn't understand why the members of the Liu family could find Liu Bang, so the Liu family said vividly that where Liu Bang went, there was a colorful cloud above his head, which only the Liu family could see.Later, Liu Bang became the emperor, and these became the background of the real man.Since then, every emperor or great man has adopted this method to set off himself.

Yuan Shikai is also inseparable from myths, so it is said that when he was born, his father Yuan Baozhong dreamed of a big toad crawling on him, and there was also a saying in the late Qing Dynasty that there were ten cruelties in Xishan. Xishan Ten Rites are: Bear (Dorgon), Badger (Hong Chengchou), Osprey (Wu Sangui), Wolf (Heshen), Donkey (Hailancha), Pig (Nian Gengyao), Python (Zeng Guofan), Monkey (Zhang Cave), Fox (Queen Dowager West), Toad (Yuan Shikai). Most of these descriptions are based on the similarity of each person's appearance to a certain animal, and they are nicknamed.For example, Zeng Guofan suffered from skin diseases, and a lot of colored skin fell off as soon as he grabbed it, just like python skin.Zhang Zhidong is thin and small, like a monkey.Yuan Shikai has a short neck, short legs, a thick waist, and he walks with a foreign character. Whenever it is cloudy and rainy, he likes to open his mouth and breathe. Before the age of twenty, his hair and eyebrows turn white. These are very similar in appearance toad.

Does Yuan Shikai call himself a toad?Of course no one dared to ask him. In the 6th year of the Republic of China, Feng Guozhang once said an anecdote: It is said that it was the boy who served Yuan Shikai and beat his legs that really made Yuan Shikai become Emperor Hongxian.It turned out that Yuan Shikai used to take a two-hour nap every day, and he would drink tea first after waking up, using his favorite jade teacup.One day when the young servant was serving tea, he suddenly saw a big toad lying on the bed where Yuan was sleeping. He was so startled that he dropped the jade cup to the ground, and of course it fell apart.Fortunately, Yuan Shikai was not awakened. The servant was so frightened that he burst into tears. He hurriedly swept the floor clean, and then went to an old family member of Yuan Shikai for advice.When the old family saw the boy crying and crying in fright, they were moved with compassion, and taught him this and that.When Yuan Shikai woke up from his afternoon nap, the servant changed to a teacup to serve tea. Yuan took it and was puzzled, so he asked, "Where's the jade cup?" Furious: "It's broken, it's okay." The boy's tears were streaming down, and he said softly: "When I came in with tea, I saw that the person sleeping on the bed was not an adult." Yuan asked sharply: "What is it?" ?” The boy said, “It’s a five-clawed golden dragon lying on the bed. The little one was so startled that he accidentally broke the jade cup.” Yuan’s complexion suddenly improved, and his tone softened and he said, “Nonsense. , don’t speak outside, let me hear you and break your dog’s legs.” After Yuan finished speaking, he took out ten foreign coins from the drawer and said to the young man, “This is for you.” The young man took the reward and left happily , A great disaster just like this came to naught.

Because of this illusion, Yuan Shikai really thought that he had the honor of ninety-five years. In fact, Yuan was not a fool. He was usually very clear-headed, so why would he believe such nonsense?There is a Western proverb: "Great people often show their feet in front of their servants." Yuan's old family knows everything in the officialdom, and at the same time they have been with Yuan for a long time, and they have figured out Yuan's temper and weaknesses. The boy turned from being blamed to being rewarded. The association between toads and Yuan Shikai is widely rumored in the north. When Yuan took office as the interim president, there was a strange incident of "Nanxiawa" (place name) toads forming a team and courting the king. A large group of toads really appeared.In the 3rd year of the Republic of China, President Yuan Da held a ceremony to sacrifice to heaven, and the north contended that "toad worships heaven".When Yuan died, he couldn't do without toad, because there is a Chinese saying: "Toad is sad for the Dragon Boat Festival".Yuan died on June 6, 5th year of the Republic of China. Yuan was unknown one day earlier, and June 5 was the Dragon Boat Festival on May 5 in the old calendar.At that time, some people said that when Yuan Duan was angry, a big toad jumped out from under the bed, glared at him, and didn't know where he was going.

The Qing Dynasty’s war against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom made the Qing ruling class realize two points: one is that the green battalion of the Manchu army has become so corrupt that it cannot be relied on, and the war potential of the Han people is huge; the other is that Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, The loyalty of Hu Linyi and Li Hongzhang to the Qing court made the ruling group of the Qing court believe that the Han people were still trustworthy.The dying dynasty in the late Qing Dynasty was able to survive for decades because of the confirmation of this belief.But this is only internal rather than external.For thousands of years, the Chinese nation has always regarded foreign countries as foreigners, and has never treated each other as equals.Although they were bullied and persecuted by foreign powers after the Opium War, they did not realize it. It was not until the Sino-Japanese War of Sino-Japanese War that they truly realized their own weakness and pitifulness.Because in this war, the navy and army of the Qing Dynasty were vulnerable to a small Japan. This stimulus ended the old concepts of the Qing court and the opposition. Therefore, in the military, it was necessary to reorganize the army and practice military training in the West; in the political field, it was necessary to reform Figure strong, remove the old and update. The entire army fell to Yuan Shikai, and it evolved into a separate line of Beiyang warlords, which was not expected by the ruling class of the Qing Dynasty at that time.There are two ways to reform and strengthen: one is Kang Youwei's public letter, which led to the reform movement; the other is that Mr. Sun Yat-sen led the revolution of the whole people and founded the Republic of China. Yuan Shikai became the darling in this era of the old and the new. For the Qing Dynasty, he took the world from the Revolutionary Party; for the Revolutionary Party, he inherited the world of the Qing Dynasty. This is how the Beiyang era began.