Chapter 28 27. The last struggle of the Qing court

The Qing government’s plan to hold the Yongping Autumn Parade in the year of Xinhai was decided before the Wuchang Uprising. As early as February of this year, Zhang Zhizhong and Tian Xianzhang were sent to Yongping and Luanzhou to determine the location of the autumn parade, and Zaitao was appointed as the autumn parade for the Beiyang Army. Marshal Cao, on behalf of Xuantong, set up Xingyuan to guard the envoy in Jiyu.Feng Guozhang was appointed as the president of the Eastern Army, Wu Luzhen, the commander of the sixth town, and Zhang Shaozeng, the commander of the 20th town, were assisted.Send Shu Qinghe as the president of the Western Army, with Tian Xianzhang and Ha Hanzhang as assistants.In August of 1911, the Eastern and Western armies moved to the drill site. The Eastern army was stationed in the east of Luanzhou to Shanhaiguan, and the Western army was stationed in the west of Kaiping to the Fengrun area. The drill was scheduled for September.Exercise plan: The Eastern Army will land from the coast of Qinhuangdao and advance westward, and the Western Army will advance eastward from Tongzhou.During the war, the Eastern Army wins first and the Western Army wins last. The battle ends and a general military parade is held.Most of the western army is Manchurian, and the majority of the eastern army is Han. This autumn exercise also has the intention of defeating the Han.The generals of the new army, Wu Luzhen in command of the sixth town, Zhang Shaozeng in command of the twentieth town, Lan Tianwei in command of the second mixed association, and the revolutionary comrades secretly decided that the new army would shoot with live ammunition during the autumn parade to defeat the Qing imperial army first, and then reorganize the army to attack into Beijing.The plan was brewing, the Wuchang Uprising, and the Qing court heard that the new army in the north was also unreliable, so it withdrew the imperial guards to defend Beijing and stop the autumn exercises.

At this time, the Qing government transported a large amount of arms to the front line and passed through Luanzhou. Peng Jiazhen, who was in charge of escorting the arms, and his students Shang Zhen, Cheng Qilu, Xiong Bin, Liu Ji and others secretly decided to inform Zhang Shaozeng, the commander of the twentieth town, and ask him to go to Luanzhou. The state withheld the batch of munitions.On the eighth day of September, Zhang Shaozeng, together with Lu Yongxiang of the Third Township Association, Lan Tianwei of the Second Mixed Association, Wu Luzhen of the 39th Association, and Pan Quying of the 40th Association, sent a telegram to the Qing government to put forward 12 demands. The points are: It is required to convene the National Assembly within the year of Xinhai, the National Assembly will draft the constitution, and the National Assembly will elect the responsible cabinet, and the Qing imperial family shall not serve as the cabinet minister of state.This day happened to be Shanxi's independence, and Yan Xishan, the governor of Shanxi, announced that he would organize a revolutionary army to concentrate on Niangziguan.

For the Qing court, the Luanzhou remonstrance was more serious than the Wuchang Uprising, because it was in the heart of the Qing court.The Twentieth Town led by Zhang Shaozeng was originally drawn from the armies of the six Beiyang towns. Although its senior generals had an anti-Qing revolutionary consciousness, the middle and lower ranks were still from the Beiyang army. Fate is obedience.Therefore, it is very difficult to launch a revolutionary uprising with twenty towns, so Zhang Shaozeng can only urge the Qing government to implement the constitution, but cannot raise the banner of overthrowing the Qing Dynasty.

Luanzhou's military remonstrance and Shanxi's independence seemed to be two death knells, which were struck next to the bedroom of the Qing court.Therefore, the Qing government had to be perfunctory in its anti-Qing actions against the north. On the ninth day of September, it hastily ordered the Zizheng Yuan to draft a constitution;The Zizhengyuan also reported the nineteen articles of the constitutional creed to the Qing court within four days by driving a special express train.At the same time, on the ninth day of September, an edict was issued to quasi-revolutionary party members to organize a political party according to the law, and Zhang Shaozeng was ordered to be commended and awarded the title of minister.

At this time, Yuan Shikai had truly taken over the military and political power in the north.When the Qing Dynasty was founded, Dorgon wrote a letter to Shi Kefa and said: "I obtained the world of the Qing Dynasty from thieves, not from the Ming Dynasty." Yuan Shikai is also using this method now. He said to the revolutionary army: "We The world is obtained from the Qing Dynasty, not from the revolutionary army." He said to Qing: "My power today is obtained from the Revolutionary Party, not from the Qing Dynasty." In Huanshang Village, Yuan Shikai used the name of raising foot diseases, and he had already achieved his goal of coercing the Qing court to suppress the revolutionary army and raising the revolutionary forces to intimidate the Qing court.When he went to Xiaogan to take an oath on September 11, 1911, he made four decisions regarding the current situation:

(1) Modest resignation to form a cabinet. (2) Remonstrating against the Qing court moving the capital. (3) Stabilize the explosion situation in the south. (4) Eliminate the troubles of the elbow and armpit in the north. According to these four steps, on the one hand, he sent representatives to continue the peace talks with the Wuchang Revolutionary Government; on the other hand, he ordered the Beiyang Army to continue to exert pressure on the Wuchang Revolutionary Army.As for the north, Wu Luzhen must be eliminated, because Wu's vertical and horizontal talents and foundation in the Beiyang army, if he is allowed to stay, the world in the north will not belong to Yuan Shikai.Yuan's political capital is the powerful faction in northern China, and if the revolutionary forces grow and develop in the north, it will threaten Yuan's existence.Therefore, he regarded the elimination of the revolutionary forces in the north as more important than the work against the revolutionary army in the south.Therefore, when he was in Huanshang Village, he secretly discussed with his cronies and murdered Wu Luzhen by taking the bottom line.Yuan knew very well that Zhang Shaozeng was a compromising person, not as heroic as Wu, so as long as Wu was resolved, the revolutionary sentiment in the north would be severely hit.Sure enough, Luanzhou's remonstrance and Wu Luzhen's assassination eased the revolutionary activities in North China, and gave Yuan Shikai enough time to realize his personal conspiracy to take over the world.

Wu Luzhen, courtesy name Shouqing, was born in Yunmeng, Hubei. He was a member of the Tongmenghui and a mainstay in the northern revolutionary movement.When Yin Chang, Minister of the Army of the Qing Dynasty, was sent to the south by order, Wu was then the commander of the sixth town, and he volunteered to accompany him.The Qing court knew that he had great ambitions, but they dared not push him to the top of Liangshan. Instead, they rewarded him with lies and false words, and secretly ordered Yinchang to be wary of him.Wu knew that he was suspected, so he said that he was ill. The Beiyang army captured Hankou and set it on fire. Wu Luzhen impeached Feng Guozhang and others, and at the same time intercepted the Qing court's southward luggage in Shijiazhuang.When the Luanzhou military remonstrance started, the Qing government had a historical relationship with the Twenty Town because Wu, Zhang Shaozeng, and Lan Tianwei were all non-commissioned officers.Erzhen Town was originally stationed in Fengtian, and the former governor was Chen Jian, who was transferred to Luanzhou because of autumn exercises. Wu Luzhen had been in the Northeast for many years in frontier affairs, and many officers and soldiers of Erzhen Town were Wu's subordinates.At that time, Wu Luzhen, Chen Feng, and Lan Tianwei were leading troops in the Northeast. They were all from Hubei, and they were related to the nickname of the Three Heroes of Hubei.Because of these historical relationships, Wu was sent to Luanzhou to proclaim comfort. On the surface, he relied heavily on Wu, but in his heart, he transferred the tiger away from the mountain and transferred Wu from the control of the sixth town so that he could not make trouble.

When Wu Luzhen arrived in Luanzhou, Zhang Shaozeng just took advantage of his prestige to strengthen the unity among the officers and soldiers of the twenty towns, and asked him to speak to all the soldiers, so he delivered a moving speech.He analyzed the general trend of the revolution, told the stories of great achievements in the past and present, and then announced his plan. He said: "Yinchang has led the Qing army to march south to Wuchang, and the city of Beijing is empty. If you will listen to me, we will raise the flag of justice at this time." , Covering and attacking Beijing, there must be no bloodshed, and then appease the soldiers, change the monarchy, spread to the southeast, release the armies, and the great cause of opening up the world is determined by this, why talk about a constitutional monarchy.”

His remarks encouraged the entire Nianzhen Town, so he sent a telegram to the Qing court, saying that his propaganda work had been effective, which made Beijing relax its vigilance against the Luanzhou Mutiny. The Nianzhen Township is the first army, the Fengtian Lantianwei Second Mixed Association is the second army, and the third Lu Yongxiang Township in Xintun is the third army. The three armies launched at the same time and joined forces in Fengtai to force Beijing.This plan had hope of success, but unexpectedly, some people in Nianzhen had no confidence in the revolution and rushed to Beijing to report the change. The Qing court secretly dispatched the Luanzhou train to Beijing to prevent Nianzhen from transporting troops.At the same time, because of Shanxi's independence, Wu Luzhen was appointed as the governor of Shanxi, and a part of the army from the sixth town was dispatched to attack Niangziguan from Shijiazhuang.Wu heard the order in Luanzhou, hurried to Shijiazhuang to prevent his subordinates from attacking Niangziguan, and rode into Niangziguan alone to meet with Yan Xishan, the governor of Shanxi, and jointly agreed on revolutionary actions.Yan Nai appointed Wu as the governor of the Yan-Jin coalition army, and the plan discussed by Wu and Yan was: (1) the Jin army, the sixth town, and the 20th town three ways to attack Beijing; (2) the 20th town cut off the Jingfeng and Jinpu railways; Six towns cut off the Beijing-Han Railway.After Wu's business was completed, he returned to Shijiazhuang and returned to the Qing court in the name of the governor of Shanxi, pretending that the Jin army had been recruited.

Wu never dreamed that his subordinate Zhou Fulin, commander of the 12th Association of the Sixth Town, had been bought by Yuan Shikai and surrounded Zhengtai Station on September 17.Zhou led his subordinates to visit Wu Luzhen in the office. When Wu sent Zhou out, a rebel general Ma Huitian suddenly bombarded him with a pistol. Wu Sui died at the age of thirty-two.Zhou cut off Wu's head and planned to ask Yuan for a reward. Unexpectedly, Yuan turned his face and refused to recognize him.Later, in memory of Wu, the people of Shanxi paid a lot of money to buy back Wu's head and put it in Shijiazhuang, where the cemetery is still there.

On September 12, 1911, the Qing court announced Yuan Shikai as the prime minister of the cabinet. Yuan left Zhangde on this day to go to Xiaogan to inspect the teacher. Yuan's plan was successfully realized, and the Qing court also accepted his six conditions. On September 19, 1911, the Zizheng Yuan approved the nomination of Yuan Shikai by the regent of the Qing Dynasty as the prime minister of the cabinet.On September 23, Yuan Hao led a large number of guards in a mighty and mighty manner to Beijing.On September 26 the responsible cabinet was formed.The cabinet list is: Yuan Shikai, Prime Minister of the Cabinet. Minister of Foreign Affairs Liang Dunyan, Deputy Minister Hu Weide. Minister of Civil Affairs Zhao Bingjun and Vice Minister Wu Zhen. Yan Xiu, Minister of Du Branch, and Chen Jintao, Deputy Minister (cannot resign). Wang Shizhen, Minister of the Ministry of War, and Tian Wenlie, Deputy Minister. Sa Zhenbing, Minister of the Navy, and Tan Xueheng, Deputy Minister. Tang Jingchong, Minister of Academic Affairs, and Yang Du, Deputy Minister (cannot resign). Shen Jiaben, Minister of Justice, and Liang Qichao, Deputy Minister. Yang Shiqi, Minister of Posts and Communications, and Liang Ruhao, Deputy Minister (acting by Liang Shiyi). Zhang Jian, Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, and Xi Yan, Vice Minister. Dashou, Minister of Li Fan Department, and Rong Xun, Vice Minister. In the above list, many figures of the constitutional monarchy school, such as Liang Qichao and Zhang Jian, are on the list. In fact, many of them did not come to Beijing to take office.Yuan Shikai's intention was to absorb them as embellishments of the constitutional monarchy and responsible cabinet, so as to show that his cabinet was different from the old Qing government. After Yuan Pavilion was established, Xuantong's father, Zaifeng, removed the status of regent, and restored his title of Prince Chun and returned to the mansion. After Yuan Shikai's responsible cabinet was formed, the most important thing was to take the military power of the Qing court into his own hands. This was the most practical and basic issue.Yuan knows the most about power and tactics. If he can't control the army, it's useless to preside over the responsible cabinet. Therefore, while forming a cabinet, he must completely control the military power of the north and Beijing. He Yijun, Jiang Guiti, etc. have the full power of restraint and deployment, but there is also an imperial guard army under the command of Zai Tao (Xuantong's uncle and Zai Feng's brother), the Minister of Military Counselors in Beijing. Dare to act recklessly.This imperial guard army was formed after Zaifeng became regent and deposed Yuan Shikai. It can be said that the purpose of organizing this army was entirely to protect the Manchu relatives.The Imperial Guards are full of people, they are well treated, well trained, and well equipped.After Yuan Shikai formed a cabinet, he suggested to the Qing court that the revolutionary army was facing a great enemy. In order to boost the morale and morale of the army, the imperial guards should set up a kind of advocacy and demonstration, and the royal ministers should also set an example for the subjects. The guards marched south.His topic was aboveboard, but such a proposal was enough to scare Zai Tao out of his wits.Zai Tao was notoriously timid. As soon as he heard that Yuan Shikai wanted him to be handsome, he immediately went to Prince Qing Yiqian and begged him to intercede with Lao Yuan, which saved him from "military service".Among the relatives of the Manchurian royal family, Yikuang had the closest friendship with Yuan Shikai.Yikuang was greedy for money, and Yuan Neng did what he liked. Although he lived in seclusion in Huan, he still served Yikuang from time to time. Therefore, when Yikuang was the prime minister of the cabinet, he declared to the Zaifeng brothers that the post of prime minister must be handed over to the old man. Yuan can't, so Yikuang and Yuan Shikai are very close.Zai Tao's request was just in line with Yuan's hope. He agreed not to transfer Zai Tao to the front line. The command of the guards was also transferred from the hands of the royal family to the hands of the Yuan family. In addition to placing Xu Shichang as Minister of the Military Counselor, Feng Guozhang was transferred back from Hankou.At that time, Feng Guozhang was the president of the First Army under Yinchang. This First Army was a combat organization organized for combat against the Southern Revolutionary Army. Tong Wang Zhanyuan), the Eighth Association of the Fourth Town (Xie Tong Chen Guangyuan).Yuan transferred Feng Guozhang back to Beijing and appointed Feng as the commander of the Imperial Guard Army to effectively control the military power of the Imperial Guard Army.At the same time, Duan Qirui, the president of the Second Army, was transferred to act as the governor of Huguang and Feng Guozhang's first army, stationed in Xiaogan, and fully presided over the combat tasks of the front line and the revolutionary army.In addition, Yuan also organized the guards he brought into Beijing into the Gongwei Army, appointed Duan Zhigui as the commander of the Gongwei Army, and was responsible for the guards in Beijing, and transferred the original Imperial Guards to station outside Beijing. Yuan formed a responsible cabinet and once publicly published his political opinions in the "Times". He said: "China has been known as autocracy for hundreds of years, but in fact it is not complete autocracy, so that the people do not respect the government, and the people do not understand the government's responsibility. Responsibility. Now the reason why the people are encouraged and the people are willing to follow is nothing more than no taxation and no government. This is also the reason why the country has no responsible government for hundreds of years. There are two kinds of people in the China Progressive Party, one advocates a democratic republic, and the other advocates a constitutional monarchy.I don't know whether the Chinese people can really mature if they want to be the people of the republic?Or is the republicanism advertised now really presided over by the people?The turmoil in the situation in China was only caused by the discussions of one or two party leaders, and outsiders may not know the details.Therefore, if one wishes to establish a solid government, one must ask the opinions of the majority of the people and not rely on the minority. As mentioned above, Chen and Wai have their own interests and opinions, and the academic circles, military circles, gentry circles, and business circles have their own opinions. If they are allowed to form a small group everywhere, the opinions will not be harmonious, or the disaster of carve-up will occur. Although the Qing government has no strategy to win people's hearts, it has promulgated nineteen articles of faith in the constitution, and the power will be in the hands of the people.Therefore, comparing the constitutional monarchy with limited monarchy and other regimes that the people want to try, regardless of whether it is appropriate or not, constitutional monarchy is actually a common solution. I love the people of China even more than the Republicans who preside over radical progress.Therefore, what I am trembling about is the implementation of the reform.Knowing that he has a huge responsibility, Gu Yufei seems to want to restore order for China for the sake of reputation and rights, and intends to benefit China without any setbacks. Therefore, I still hope that the peace talks will be successful. If the people want to preserve China, they must satisfy all parties, restore peace, and build a solid government.I know that the people have clear opinions, and they don't want to witness the destruction of their own country, so they want to discuss with the Republicans a strategy to make the end of the war, break up all kinds of emotional barriers, and remove all the inconveniences of the people in the past. When the provinces became independent one after another, I saw that there was no gap between them and the peace talks. At that time, the power of the government could not be exercised in the provincial capitals, and some people in the provincial capitals must have declared a nearly independent political system. In fact, they were not completely independent, and some provinces still had power. In the hands of conservatives, it is close to neutral.Its topic is overthrowing autocracy, and its purpose is to maintain law and order and protect people's property. The more republican it is, the more neutral it is.Therefore, I plan to convene the people of all provinces to study the big question of what kind of political system this China should be.Since this issue is so important, everything should be discussed calmly, and enthusiasm cannot be relied on for a while.Yu's idea is to keep the emperor of this dynasty, that is, a constitutional monarchy, and the discrimination between the Manchu and Han in the past should be swept away. The most important issue is the preservation of China. This cannot but rely on the patriots of all parties to sacrifice their policies and help our goals, so as to avoid the split of China and all kinds of evil consequences in the future.Therefore, for the sake of China, a strong government must be established immediately, and a day's delay is a day's danger.Yu wished that the Progressive Party member Sibanguo should go to such an extent, and cooperate with Yu to make sure that all important matters are handled properly. Since Yu's aspirations are so grand, there must be room for misunderstanding, or he may be attacked by the Quartet. It is not ignorant of the matter. Gu Yu did not change Yu's highest due position because of a slight setback, and cover Yu's deeds for complete protection. China is also free from secession. " It was a big turning point for Yuan from Guiyin Huan to accepting orders in the face of danger and coming out of the mountains again.This transition is both good and bad for him. He has extraordinary talents, and he will definitely be able to grasp this unprecedented change. What's more, in the impression of Chinese and foreign people, he is a man who is both new and old, half new and half old. , A character who can be new or old, he has mastered the strength of the Beiyang military system.Therefore, for both the Qing court and the revolutionary party, he was an impressive and important figure. The fate of people is very delicate. Before this, Yuan was just a powerful official in a declining dynasty. If the Qing Dynasty continued to exist, his achievements would be no more than that of Zeng, Zuo, Hu, and Li. Although he had ambitions, he could not usurp the throne. ; Now that he is in the midst of great changes in the peril of the Qing Dynasty, this gives him a chance to develop his ambitions endlessly.Things in the world are often so subtle, and a person's fate is so unpredictable.Yuan was notorious through the ages because he had too much ambition, which caused him to make a mistake in one thought.