Chapter 55 54. Xiong Xiling Celebrity Cabinet

In May and June of the 2nd year of the Republic of China, the Kuomintang had not yet launched a second revolution, and the political situation in Beijing was very dull. Zhao Bingjun’s cabinet seemed to be a transitional one. One day, Yuan’s confidants Yang Shiqi and Yang Du talked about Yuan Shikai’s political trend. Yang Shiqi said: "When there was a revolution in the South in the year of 1911, it was inconvenient for Xiangcheng to directly take power from the Qing Dynasty. The best strategy at that time was to use the power of the Tongmenghui and the Revolutionary Army to overthrow the Qing Dynasty. When the Qing Dynasty was overthrown, there was a problem with the cooperative relationship between Xiangcheng and the Tongmenghui , Xiangcheng must reject the Tongmenghui and dominate the world. According to my opinion, this period will inevitably come. Although the Tongmenghui has been changed to the Kuomintang, and it seems to be very powerful, Xiangcheng will never allow him to become bigger and bigger until the Kuomintang is overthrown. After he is eradicated, he will inevitably abolish the "Temporary Constitution" of the cabinet system and replace it with a new constitution of the presidential system. At that time, he has only two choices in terms of political direction, either reform or conservative Restoration requires the appointment of new people to carry out the new policy, while keeping the old means finding one of the old bureaucrats and restoring all the old systems. Xizi, you are the leader of the new talents in Xiangcheng's pocket. You have a bright future and you must Plan for it early."

These two Yangs (Yang Shiqi and Yang Du) are both important cadres of Yuan. Yang Shiqi has a deep relationship with Yuan. His elder brother is Yang Shixiang who succeeded Yuan in the late Qing Dynasty and served as Governor of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang. He himself followed Yuan for a long time, so Naturally, he knows Yuan's political style and intentions best.However, he still can't completely understand Yuan's sincerity. He thinks that Yuan is a character in the transition of old and new eras, who can be new or old; he can be good or evil.In fact, Yuan is an old character through and through. He only knows the new things by reviewing the past. He just uses new characters to pretend to know new things.

After listening to Yang Shiqi's analysis of the political trend, Yang Du secretly rejoiced in his heart, and even thought that he would join the cabinet soon. After the Second Revolution broke out, it was publicly reported that Yang Du or Yang Shiqi would form a cabinet.However, at this time, Yuan secretly sent Wu Jisun to Qingdao to meet Xu Shichang.Xu Shichang is an old friend of Yuan’s. In the late Qing Dynasty, he was a general and a prime minister. He was the leader of the Revolution of 1911. He was the main figure who instigated Yuan Dongshan’s resurgence. However, after the Qing Emperor abdicated, he went to Qingdao to retreat. His words, deeds and political stance are completely conservative. .He made such a joke in Qingdao that the governor of Jiaozhou, Germany, pretended to entertain him at Qingdao University. The living room of Qingdao University was very grand, with a thick carpet. This Xu Shichang blatantly spit thick and thick phlegm on the carpet. The host and accompanying guests were shocked, and some people wrote about it in the novel of Peach Blossom Dream, which was passed on as a joke by Qingdao people.

Yang Shiqi guessed what Yuan did, but he didn't use new people but old bureaucrats. Inviting Xu Shichang is a good proof.Xu was of course very tempted by Yuan's invitation, but he still had to maintain his status as an old man from the former Qing Dynasty, so he was embarrassed to agree immediately, making a gesture of wanting to welcome and yet rejecting.For Yuan, it seems that the transition from autocracy to republic, and then from republic to autocracy cannot be too fast, so he does not force Xu to come soon.So he temporarily gave up inviting Xu to form a cabinet.Instead, Xiong Xiling, a moderate faction, was invited to form a cabinet.

Xiong Xiling is a member of the Progressive Party, but he is not the main party leader.He served as the Minister of Finance in Tang Shaoyi's cabinet, and had a big lawsuit with Huang Xing. After resigning as the Minister of Finance, he was transferred to Rehe Dutong. It was announced on December 12, the first year of the Republic of China.When he was in Rehe, the Rehe palace robbery case happened, so he was implicated in this case, and he was quite suspected. This is giving Yuan a good opportunity, because Yuan Ping likes to use people with weaknesses the most in his life. If you have the handle, you are not afraid that this person will be disobedient.This is a very important part of Yuan's imperial art.

Xiong received a call from Yuan in Rehe, asking him to return to Beijing to form a cabinet. He was so arrogant that he made repeated speeches. In the last call, he said: "Today's shallow and violent people have created a society without shame. There is nothing I can do about rebirth, and I plan to return to social and industrial affairs as soon as the border situation is settled, and I don’t want to hear about politics, and I hope that the president will lead this world to Zhizhi, so that the age can enjoy republic and happiness..." Yun Yun.Yuan Fudian said: "...Even if you can't be like Confucius, you can do it for a month; you should also think of Mencius's who is better than me, think of Gong Hongyi, and be honest. Although I can't forget the world. But if you are alone and helpless , I will return my ancestor to the field...Your Excellency just can’t bear it, so I come to Beijing to discuss the overall situation.” So Xiongcai entered Beijing with half push and half push.Before entering Beijing, his appointment to form a cabinet had already been announced, and it had been approved by the National Assembly.

On July 31, 2nd year of the Republic of China, Yuan appointed Xiong Xiling as the prime minister.At this time, the Civil War was still going on, Nanjing was still fighting for independence, and Guangdong, Hunan, Fujian, and Sichuan were all fighting for independence.In Beijing, although the Kuomintang is still the largest political party in the Congress, it is already in name only and cannot play a big role.At this time, Yuan proposed to form a cabinet with Xiong Xiling of the Progressive Party. According to the Kuomintang members, the Progressive Party’s cabinet was better than the warlord’s cabinet, and the Progressive Party was the second largest party in the Congress. Therefore, when the Congress voted for Xiong Xiling as Prime Minister, it was natural Passed very well.

Kuma himself was nominated by the president and approved by the Congress. Although it was very smooth, his cabinet was difficult to produce, and the list of cabinet members could not be decided for a long time. This is because the arrangement of candidates and positions is very difficult. Yuan Shikai.Since Xiong accepted the order to form a cabinet, he hoped to form a first-class "talent cabinet" in the country, and wanted to recruit all the "big celebrities" in the country into the new cabinet, which would be enough to refresh his eyes and eyes.In Xiong's mind, the so-called talents and celebrities, of course, belonged to the Progressive Party or the former constitutional monarchy.Xiong's idea and Yuan's plan are inconsistent.Yuan never let go of the personnel affairs of the finance, army, foreign affairs, interior affairs, and transportation ministries in the cabinet. Arrangements were made long ago, leaving only three ministries of education, justice, and agriculture and commerce to Xiong's control.These three ministries are cold yamen. During the period of cooperation between Yuan and the Tongmenghui, he assigned these yamen to the Tongmenghui. The first cabinet of the Yuan government in the Yuan Dynasty, Cai Yuanpei was the chief of education, Wang Chonghui was the chief of justice, and Song Jiaoren was the chief of agriculture and forestry. Chief, now that the League has been replaced by the Progressive Party, in Yuan’s view, the Progressive Party is unarmed, and it is by no means comparable to the League of Nations and the later Kuomintang. The price of allocating three ministries is already very high.

After Xiong Xiling formed a cabinet, Yang Du's hope of worshiping the prime minister fell through.Xiong Xiling has an unusual relationship with Liang Qichao and Yang Du.At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Xiong Xiling, under the name of a Taoist priest, went abroad with five ministers to investigate the constitutional government. Xiong asked Yang Du and Liang Qichao to write several major articles in the constitutional government report at that time. The three of them have been engaged since then.Before going abroad with the five ministers to inspect the constitutional government, Xiong was working under Chen Baozhen of Xiangfu, and Chen regarded Xiong very highly.When Pilumen was giving lectures in southern Hunan, Xiong himself rang the bell to gather the audience. People at that time jokingly wrote a couplet saying: "Deerskin lectures, bear's paw rings the bell." Because he was a popular member of Chen Baozhen, someone jokingly wrote a couplet saying: "Four legs don't stop, what can you do? One ear listens, what do you know?" Xiong Congxiangfu's red staff turned himself into a gymnastics instructor, and from the instructor, he became the entourage of the five ministers who went abroad to investigate the constitution. Great hope" begged to form a cabinet.His cabinet is called by the cabinet of celebrities.He never forgot Yang Du who cooperated with him back then and wrote about constitutionalism. They were fellow villagers and old friends, not to mention that Yang Du was indeed talented and well-known all over the world.So he reported to Yuan that he wanted to recruit Yang Du into the cabinet. Yuan said, "I don't care. You can discuss it with Xizi." It was Liang Shiyi's ban.Liang Shiyi was the Secretary-General of the Presidential Palace at that time, and he acted as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Finance. He did not join the cabinet because his position as the Secretary-General of the Presidential Palace was very important. will relax.Yang Du wanted to be the head of traffic, Xiong knew it would be difficult to pass, but he couldn't refuse, so he reported to Yuan, Yuan and Liang Shiyi discussed it, and Liang just said flatly: "Xi Zi is a layman in traffic."Yang's traffic chief fell through.

Xiong knew that Liang Shiyi had rejected Yang Du's chief of transportation, and he felt very sorry when he thought of his old friendship for many years. He visited Yang again and wanted to submit to the chief of education. How about the Director of Education?" Yang was very blunt, and just replied: "Me, I am helping not helping!" This is a pun, because Yang Du did a great favor to Xiong Xiling when he wrote the inspection report on constitutional government.Xiong's job as an attache to the five ministers was to write inspection reports, but Xiong knew too little about the constitutionalism of various countries, so he had to ask Yang Du and Liang Qichao to catch him.Because Liang is a reformer, if he mentioned his name, the Qing government would not approve it, so he only mentioned Yang Du.Xiong's job in the past has a great relationship with his future career. Since Yang has helped Xiong with this matter, now that Xiong worships him to form a cabinet, he actually wants to pay him with cold pork, so Yang replies to Xiong with sarcasm.Director Yang Bo did not do anything for a while, not because he did not want to get rid of the official addiction of the chief, but because he wanted to save this body for a better time to become a bigger official. Gu's.Since the formation of the cabinet this time, Yang Du and Liang Shiyi have had an extremely unpleasant relationship.They are the old Tongnian of the Economic Special Section in the late Qing Dynasty, and they are both Yuan's two think tanks, but they don't cooperate at all.

Xiong Xiling's cabinet of celebrities, although it is difficult to give birth, will always be born. Chief Financial Officer Yuan originally preferred Zhou Ziqi.Zhou Ziqi, styled Zizhen, was born in Shanxian County, Shandong Province. He was born in Fugong and grew up in Guangdong. Therefore, he was close to the Cantonese plutocrats. Liang Shiyi supported him very much.Since Liang Qichao had always wanted to be the chief financial officer, and Yuan refused to give it to Liang, the position of chief financial officer had to be held concurrently by Xiong Xiling and the prime minister. Duan Qirui was still the chief of the army, and Yuan still handed over the power of the national army to his most trusted old subordinates in terms of military affairs. The chief of the navy still sent Liu Guanxiong. Before the announcement of the appointment, Liu sent a report to Yuan, asking Yuan to use Liu's teacher Yan Fu as the chief of the navy and himself as the deputy chief, but Yuan approved: "absolutely not allowed." Sun Baoqi was appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Sun did not want to do diplomacy, but because Sun was very friendly with the French envoy in China. At that time, the Sino-Russian negotiations were being mediated by the French envoy. The chief of transportation didn't give Yang Du, and Zhou Ziqi's chief financial officer couldn't do it, so Zhou Ziqi was sent to the position of chief of transportation as a matter of course. The Chief of Internal Affairs is Zhu Qiqian.Zhu Qiqian, styled Guixin, was born in Zijiang County, Guizhou Province. He once worshiped Xu Shichang as his adoptive father. The chief justice is Liang Qichao, and he reluctantly accepts. Wang Daxie was appointed as the Minister of Education.Wang Zibotang, a native of Hangzhou County, Zhejiang Province, is a constitutional monarchist. Wang was regarded as a cadre among the high officials of the former Qing Dynasty, meticulous and diligent.Before Xiong formed the cabinet, he returned from Japan. Xiong repeatedly invited him to come out of the mountain. He made a condition that he must enter the cabinet with Liang Qichao and Zhang Jian. Why bother to superfluous today, unnecessary. Zhang Jian, the head of agriculture and commerce, is an extremely suitable candidate. On September 11, the 2nd year of the Republic of China, Xiong Xiling's "Cabinet of Celebrities", also known as the "Cabinet of Talents", was finally formed. Yuan Shikai issued an order on September 4 that the prospective Minister of Foreign Affairs Lu Zhengxiang, the Chief of Finance Zhou Xuexi, the Chief of Justice Xu Shiying, the Chief of Agriculture and Forestry Chen Zhenxian, and the Chief of Communications Zhu Qiqian resigned. On the 11th, Sun Baoqi was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Zhu Qiqian as Minister of Internal Affairs, Liang Qichao as Chief of Justice, Wang Daxie as Chief of Education, Duan Qirui as Chief of Army, Liu Guanxiong as Chief of Navy, Zhang Jian as Chief of Industry and Commerce, Zhou Ziqi as Chief of Communications, Xiong Xiling and Finance Minister The chief, Zhang Jian and the chief of agriculture and forestry. During the discussion period of forming a cabinet, financial difficulties reached the extreme, and several meetings were held to discuss financial issues. Representatives from all eight northern provinces participated, and the chairman Liang Shiyi presided over it.At that time, Liang Shiyi was not only the head of the transportation department, but also held great power in finance.After Xiong became the finance minister, Liang Cai was relieved of his position as the finance minister. The Xiong cabinet was still short-lived. It was established on September 11, 2002, and was reorganized on February 12, 2003. Xiong stepped down and was replaced by Sun Baoqi. As I have repeatedly said before, the biggest problem for the government in the early years of the Republic of China was finance. To be more specific, in China at this time, there was no finance but only debt.A politician's political power depends on his ability to borrow money. Being able to borrow money from outsiders means that he has political power in his country. Xiong Xiling was Yuan Shikai's first finance minister after he became president. After he formed a cabinet, he also served as the finance minister as the prime minister. However, this financial expert was trapped in finances. In the old calendar year between the end of the 2nd year of the Republic of China and the beginning of the 3rd year of the Republic of China, the total expenditure needed was 7.7 million yuan. As expected, 2.5 million yuan was borrowed from Jingfeng and Jinghan Roads, and collected from Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi. The national tax offices of Shaanxi, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Henan provinces have a maximum of 400,000 yuan and a minimum of 150,000 yuan for each province. According to the reports of each province, the total is 2.4 million yuan, and the total of the two items is 5 million yuan. The remaining difference is more than 3 million yuan. With a little accommodation from the upcoming 6% 8% government bonds, we can barely tide over the difficulties.But what about the actual situation?The provinces released funds to Beijing, with a total of only 1.1 million yuan, less than half of the expected amount. In addition, the advance loan of the five-nation syndicate at the end of the year was 750,000 taels (equivalent to about 1 million yuan). There is a huge difference between income and expenditure.As for the income from the Beijing-Fengfeng and Beijing-Han lines, the Ministry of Communications claimed that it would pay the loan principal and interest and insurance premiums with supply, and refused to accommodate.As a result, this long-sleeved and good at dancing Phoenix Prime Minister is inevitably stretched. The end of the new year is over, and the wax drums are constantly urging, Premier Xiong has a lot of pains for Wang Xiaoer to celebrate the new year.During this difficult time, Liang Shiyi, the leader of the transportation department, showed his hand. Three days before the New Year's Eve, he presented Yuan with a silver note of 5 million yuan, and asked Yuan to hand it over to Xiong himself.This action made Xiong Xiling, a first-rate financier, feel ashamed. It is said that when Xiong received the money, his face was red and his ears were red, embarrassing. Since the day Xiong came to power, he had disagreed with Yuan because of the choice of the chief financial officer. Although Yuan allowed Xiong to be the finance minister, Liang Shiyi, the leader of the transportation department, often failed Xiong financially. Xiong simply couldn't cope with the State Council's demand for military pay. He once suggested a large-scale reduction of troops to save financial expenses. The national army is limited to Gan divisions.This suggestion was firmly opposed by Army Chief Duan Qirui, and even yelled at the State Council, embarrassing Xiong. Xiong was not only under the influence of the Transportation Department and the military, but also offended the Legislative Affairs Bureau faction and the old faction of the Ministry of Finance.The old factions in the Ministry of Finance couldn't get along with Xiong, so they joined the transportation department one after another.Xiong had nothing to do with people from the Beiyang Army, and he was completely isolated in the political arena, relying only on Liang Qichao, Zhang Jian, and Wang Daxie of the Progressive Party, and these three celebrities could no longer play a role in the political situation at that time. Xiong is a person with a strong sense of the countryside. He has a very close personal relationship with Tan Yankai, the governor of Hunan. During the Second Revolution, he strongly advocated not to use troops against Hunan.After Tan Yankai left Hunan, he even emphasized not to send troops into Hunan. This view was completely contrary to those of the Beiyang military. Refuse to live up to his words.When Tan Yankai went to Beijing to wait for punishment after the failure of the second revolution, Xiong couldn't help him. When he knew that Tan's governor of Hunan was about to be replaced, he suggested that Cai E, the governor of Yunnan, be transferred to governor of Hunan.Cai is not only a native of Hunan, but also the favorite student of Liang Qichao, the leader of the Progressive Party. Xiong assured Yuan that Cai supported the "central government" and emphasized that the Kuomintang's power in Hunan had been wiped out, so there was no need to send the "central army" to Hunan. Because the "Central Army" came to Hunan, it could only arouse the feeling of xenophobia among Hunan people, which was harmful to Hunan and not beneficial to the "Central".Xiong's efforts were all for Xiangzi. He knew that the discipline of the Beiyang Army was very bad, so he tried his best to prevent the Beiyang Army from entering Hunan. Of course, his efforts failed. It is said that Yuan once promised Xiong to send Cai E to supervise Hunan, but in the end he sent Tang Xiangming as the governor of Hunan, and transferred Cai E to Beijing to spy secretly. Xiong felt uncomfortable inside.After Tang Xiangming was in charge of Hunan, he killed people like hemp in the Daxing party prison in Hunan. The Beiyang army had already regarded Hunan as their conquered land, burning, killing, prostitution and captives. The people of Hunan were in dire straits.A fellow Hunanese living in Beijing often complained to Xiong about the lawless atrocities committed by the Beiyang Army, and demanded that Xiong use his status as prime minister to plead for the lives of 30 million Hunanese. But what can Xiong do? Because of these clues, it was widely rumored in Beijing at this time that the president and the prime minister were at odds.However, people in the presidential palace insisted that nothing happened. Liang Shiyi, a popular political figure at the time, once said to someone: There are always rumors that the cabinet is about to collapse.Liang's words were not sincere, but although Xiong and Liang were secretly intriguing, Liang had no intention of becoming prime minister, but Liang was extremely influential in finance at this time, and Xiong and Liang had conflicts in this regard. Although Xiong was besieged on all sides, he was still struggling.At the beginning of the 3rd year of the Republic of China (1914), Beijing newspapers even published last year that Xiong was in charge of the capital of Rehe and was implicated in the case of stealing treasures in the Rehe Palace. Naturally, there are people in charge.Xiong was very angry when he saw it. He once asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to transfer the letter to the Procuratorate to investigate the matter. The Police Department transferred the original letter to the District Procuratorate. In other words, this is completely disrespectful to the current Prime Minister. Apart from Yuan's instruction, how could he do this? On February 7th, 3rd year of the Republic of China, Xiong asked to resign, and the resignation letter said: "It is ineffective to raise funds, and the management is too sparse. The responsibilities are heavy and the talents are light, and the energy is exhausted... I am afraid that the affairs of the country will be invisible, and there will be a lot of mistakes. . . . "Yuan approved Xiong's resignation as chief financial officer.Xiong Zai wrote a letter of resignation to the Prime Minister on February 12. The letter of resignation said: "Stealing Xi Ling's obscenity to exhaust his talents and harm the country's affairs, please retreat from the virtuous way. No matter who you are, dare to blaspheme again. But it is a boat that is flooded, and the helmsman has no ability to steer, so he must change people, so that he can cross to the other side. The current situation is difficult, and there is no difference. If you know your strength is invincible, If you reluctantly support it again, you will be afraid that Xu will be drowned, and it will be difficult to remedy. Xiling is not a pity, what is the matter of the state? I would like to make a statement again, and I will beg for it. Excuse the blame, keep the lotus safe, and stand by without any sense of responsibility." Yuan Nai approved it, and the original approval said: "According to the report, the prime minister has a difficult job, and he is diligent and diligent. The former Chen please resign. , to be frugal and virtuous, as for the heavy responsibility and balance, Fang hopes to maintain the relationship deeply, but still applies for the previous application, thinks about it, thinks about the difficulty of the current situation, thinks about the virtuous and sympathetic, and condolences again and again, and orders the state servants to resign together I would like to advise you, with the enthusiasm for helping each other, and the deep feeling of nurturing gold and jade, since you can't get rid of it, you can't go back to the bridle, and you can't do anything, and you are allowed to be the Prime Minister of the State Council. At this time, I am honored to invite you. At the beginning of this year, I will criticize Mo in the future, and I hope I will never forget to report on Chen. This is the approval." After Yuan Zaixiong's second resignation letter was approved, he sent Sun Baoqi to represent him. Xiong Xiling formed a cabinet on September 11, 2010, and changed hands on February 12, 2011. It took less than half a year, and he had enough anger and suffering.Those who resigned with Xiong were Wang Daxie, Liang Qichao, and Zhang Jian.Yuan not only allowed these celebrities to resign, but also wanted to imprison them in some empty name, so he announced that Xiong Xiling was the National Kerosene Supervisor, Zhang Jian was the President of the National Water Conservancy Bureau, and Liang Qichao was the President of the National Currency Bureau.Sun Baoqi is the acting prime minister in charge of the cabinet, and Zhou Ziqi is the chief financial officer, Zhu Qiqian is also the acting chief of transportation, Zhang Zongxiang is the acting chief of justice, and Yan Xiu is the acting chief of education. Before Xiong's resignation, Secretary-General of the State Council, Chen Handi said angrily to reporters: "The Prime Minister has passed away, and we have to see Hanfu in person." People said: I have died of illness, and I can't see the coffin being carried out.This means that the presidential system has been decided, and countersigning the presidential system is tantamount to leaving the coffin. The tragedy of Xiong is inevitable. Readers try to recall how high-spirited Xiong was when Yuan asked Xiong to form a cabinet in the fall of the second year of the Republic of China. As Yuan's friend party, Zhong helped Yuan deal with the Kuomintang, elected Yuan as the official president, overthrew the "Contract", dissolved the Kuomintang, and dissolved the Congress.After these things were completed one by one, the celebrity cabinet became Yuan's tumor, and the Progressive Party lost its status as a tool. Even Li Yuanhong had to be escorted to Beijing for house arrest. What is Xiong Xiling? At this time, if he does not resign, he must step down up.