Chapter 64 63. The Restoration Fallacy

When it comes to restoration, we must first introduce Lao Naixuan.Lao Naixuan is an old man from the Qing Dynasty. When the Boxer Rebellion broke out in the Gengzi Year, he was the county magistrate of Wuqiao County, and he wrote a letter requesting that the Boxer Regiment be banned. In the summer of the second year, he wrote "Continuing the Republic of China and Zhengjie". In the autumn of the third year of the Republic of China, he printed his two "masterpieces" together into a book called "Continuing the Reconciliation of the Republic of China" and sent them all over Beijing and abroad.

The republic of Lao Naixuan is explained in this way: when King Xuan of Zhou was too young to be in power, the important ministers in the court "harmonized" and "jointly" repaired political affairs, so it was called republic.Therefore, the so-called republic refers to a monarchy, not a democracy. Today, ordinary politicians are "ignorant and incompetent", and it is really unreasonable to arbitrarily add democracy to a republic.So Lao Mou tried to explain the various reasons why China cannot implement democracy.This is his "Republican Correct Explanation".As for the sequel, he claimed that he had a foresight long ago, and that democracy is not suitable for China.He thought wisely that although Yuan Shikai was the president, he had the ambition of Yi Yin, so he advocated the creation of a constitution called the Constitution of the Republic of China.Taking the name of the republic is in line with his correct interpretation of the republic. The name of the Chinese nation is not the name of the Republic of China, which means that a monarchy will be practiced; although it is a monarchy, it is not called an empire, which is not the same as Japan. Japan is called an empire. Although Russia and Germany are monarchies, they are not called empires, and neither is "China". As for why they are not called Qing Dynasty but China?It is because Zhonghua is the full name, and Daqing is only the name of a clan.All of this is Lao Naixuan's masterpiece.

Law's "masterpiece" naturally aroused the approval of some people, so it also caused quite a stir in the political arena at that time.Since Yuan Xu Shichang became Secretary of State, everything has been retro, which makes people think that Yuan intends to restore the imperial system.In addition to publishing this "masterpiece", Lao also wrote a letter to Zhao Erxun, who was also a widow and hired by Yuan as the curator of the Museum of Qing History, saying: "The term of the president must expire, and after he abdicates, it is no different from the people. At that time, the white dragon fish served, and there was no way to defend himself. He was reconciled with resentment, and he was willing to get it. Unforeseen disasters will inevitably be avoided. Xiang Cheng knows a lot , must have considered this early. Pushing it from the perspective of management, I thought that it would be enough to show people the sincerity of not being rich in the world, and then it would be enough to quell the disputes, and it would be enough to show people the loyalty of not forgetting the old master, and then it would be enough to quell the arrogance of Zheng Huan. But at this time It is very difficult to choose a residence, and it is still impossible to go beyond Xiangcheng. Therefore, it is foolish to agree on a period of ten years to return to power, to make it known to the world, and still use the name of the president of Europe and the United States , To carry out the affairs of the Zhou Dynasty to call for the republic, Fuwei Yushi, nothing is damaged, the so-called closed door emperor, it is better to open the door. After returning to power, it is different for the president to abdicate and return to Qimin. The honor of the title is only lower than that of the emperor, and the hall must be high and the curtains are far away, and the guards must be strict, so that there will be no accidents....And the president has no family heirloom, and the king has the honor of not being replaced. If this is the case, Xiangcheng will be safe And the royal family is also safe, and the world is safe because of this, so it is deeply hoped that my father will be superior to Chen, and Xiangcheng will hear and hear. . . . Okay, the reason for repaying the favor of the previous dynasty is better than compiling history.  …”

Why did Lao write this letter to Zhao?It turned out that he met Zhao in Qingdao not long ago. Zhao had just arrived in Qingdao from Beijing. When they were talking, Zhao casually said such a sentence: "The sun and the moon will shine again soon." So when Zhao returned to Beijing from Qingdao, Lao immediately wrote this letter to Zhao. Lao Naixuan wrote the above letter to Zhao Erxun, and at the same time wrote a letter to Yuan's children and relatives, Zhou Fu, the widow who was the governor of Liangjiang in the Qing Dynasty.Zhou Fu worked with Yuan in Tianjin, and his son Zhou Xuexi served as Yuan's chief financial officer.Law wrote to Zhou:

"Zhao Cishuai (Zhao Erxun's word Cishan) came to the island from Beijing, saying that Xiangcheng said to himself that what he did today was to protect the royal family. At the beginning, he couldn't bear to bear the meaning of the previous dynasty. Shixu), wanting to let go of his son's shoulders, but Shixiang said that there is no one to take over, so he had to risk his dissatisfaction. If this is the case, Xiangcheng's heart is also good and suffering. He should use his clumsy as the second commander of the two resolutions, Ask him if he can act on behalf of Cheng, Xiangcheng, and the second commander-in-chief, and he said yes, because I invite him to bring him into the capital.... Fu Si, my father, has gone through many dynasties, with great kindness and position, and lonely loyalty. There is the friendship of a father, the elegance of understanding and the elegance; close and close to Siluo, close to the heart, if you say a word, it is as important as nine tripods. Can you pass on the words of madness to the listener? If you choose, see it, it is not unique It was built in the previous dynasty, and the reason why it is Xiangcheng is that it came out of the Jiuyuan and ascended to the Nine Heavens."

In addition to Zhao Erxun and Zhou Fu, Lao also wrote a third letter to Xu Shichang, who was also a widow and Secretary of State. The letter said: "...My father was not only entrusted with the important task of the previous dynasty, but also a close friend of Xiangcheng. This strategy can be carried out, and there is nothing wrong with both.... During the time of Yiji and Geng, the boxers were young, and my younger brother was in Wuqiao. Hequan is a branch of the White Lotus Sect, and the publication "Yihe Quanjiao Origin and Development Research" is distributed everywhere, and they have organized methods, repeatedly promoted officials, and went straight to the Taiwan Division, which was like a deaf ear, and it caused a heinous disaster (referring to Zhizhi Governor Rong Lu and others did not accept his proposal.) At that time, Xiangcheng served as Dongfu, and his brother went to meet and see him off. He presented the magazine and the original manuscript. When the allied forces arrived in Beijing, the soldiers in the Eastern Province were preserved. His greatness in taking good things and his courage in doing good things are admirable. This summer in Qingdao, he was given a handwritten letter, and there is still: In the past Gengzi's change, the deacon was not afraid of painstaking efforts to standardize the theory to save The words of peril and peril are what Xiang Cheng used his younger brother's words to take effect, and he still hasn't forgotten it. What he said today is especially important. If He listens to it, the effect will be greater than that of Gengzi. .”

Of course, Lao's "masterpiece" and letters to Zhao, Zhou, and Xu all fell into Yuan's hands.Yuan did not express any attitude after watching it, but said to Xu Shichang lightly: "Invite him to Beijing to participate in politics!" Since Yuan did not ban Lao's fallacy, he wanted to invite Lao to participate in politics instead. People believed that Yuan agreed with and even encouraged restoration, so advocating restoration as one of the techniques of climbing the dragon became a shortcut for Beijing's official circles to opportunistically at that time, and many people echoed this idea.

Lao Naixuan received a telegram from Xu Shichang asking him to go to Beijing to take part in politics. He immediately went from Qingdao to Jinan with great interest, and planned to transfer to Beijing to show his talents for the restoration he advocated.However, in Jinan, it was heard that there was a case of "report and restoration" in Beijing. Among the people who were reported, one was a famous scholar Song Yuren.When Lao heard the news, he was really confused. He didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in Yuan's gourd.Therefore, he thought about it for a day, and felt that the risk of official career was too great, and it would be better to return to Qingdao and wait and see for a while.

Since some people in Beijing believe that advocating restoration is a shortcut to promotion, the theory of restoration has become more and more rampant.Liu Tingchen had a book on "Returning the Li System to the Library", Song Yuren had a speech on returning the government to the Qing Dynasty, and Song also joined forces with some conservatives in the National History Museum to openly publish a report.There is another one who is also making a lot of noise. He is a member of the Imperial Academy of the Xunqing Dynasty. When the fallacy of restoration was rampant, Xia Shoukang, the official of Suzheng, wrote a letter to Yuan, and he was righteous and strict, and tried his best to ward off the heresy.Then, Sun Yuyun, who participated in politics in the Senate, also proposed the "Investigation and Handling of the Fallacy of Restoration Case".He said in a speech in the Senate: "The fallacy of restoration was instigated by a few elders. Last year, Liu Tingchen wrote to the President and mentioned this issue. The elders did not understand the nature of the country, and mistakenly believed that it would not be a country without an emperor. , I believe that this fallacy should be thoroughly investigated in order to preserve public security and keep the house clean."

Is Yuan conservative?Or innovation?People who seek officials want to see Feng Chengzhi, so they can't help expressing their wrong feelings and scratching their heads.They were all trying to figure out Yuan's psychology, thinking that he was in favor of the monarchy.In fact, they didn't know that Yuan wanted to rule the empire for its own sake, not for the emperor's efforts.Yuan didn't want to seriously investigate the fallacy of restoration, because Yuan himself still wanted to proclaim himself emperor, so he blamed the Kuomintang for the restoration, thinking that this was also a disruptive act of the Kuomintang.

Due to the strong atmosphere of opposition to restoration in the whole country, Yuan Nai had to issue an order on November 23 to strictly prohibit the heresy of disordering the state system.Song Yuren was an editor of the National History Museum at this time, and was listed on the list of "Investigation by the Ministry of Internal Affairs".The investigation was originally a bureaucratic article, but Song's luck was too bad. He offended a fellow from Sichuan. A carriage went to pick up Song, and the coachman said to Song: "Master Commander, please Song Hanlin go to the Yamen." Song met Commander Jiang with a ghost, and Jiang Dui smiled and said to the editor: "It's no big deal. Regarding the matter, please Mr. Yunzi (Song’s nickname) write a statement of defense, so that I can explain it easily.” Song Yingming wrote: "Lao is proclaiming the continuation of the Republic of China, which can be adopted but is not suitable. I want to make an argument to refute it. According to the definition, the president is named only as the public, and his subordinates, officials, and scholars have a system. The meaning of aiding the spring and autumn to reward the royal family is to "treat the gift of foreign monarchs" as the ceremony of "the common master of the country", There will be a court meeting." This statement of defense shows that Song Xiaoyou is talented, and with a slight twist of his pen, he changed from restoration to persuasion. In this way, not only is there no fault, but also meritorious service! Before this, the Qing Dynasty veterans and the restorationists were the most popular figures at that time. Since the rumors of the restoration and Song Yuren were strictly prohibited from being spread, the situation changed. He was implicated in the name of the Restorationist.This is in sharp contrast to the fact that after the failure of the Second Revolution, young people in suits and leather shoes were afraid of being suspected of being a "rebellious party". At this time, Yuan's Beiyang faction couldn't scratch Yuan's itch, and they also hurriedly sent telegrams to oppose the restoration. Among them, Zhang Xun with braids said in his telegram to Yuan: "National affairs are not important. Waiting for the game of chess, the political system is a trifling matter!" The Beijing Ministry of Internal Affairs was also unclear about Yuan's intentions. Since the order was to strictly investigate, they had no choice but to investigate.The result of the investigation of Song Yuren's case was: "The arguments are absurd and the spirit is disordered. They should be sent back to their hometown and handed over to the magistrate for inspection." Yi 3,000 yuan, and at the same time ordered the local officials in Sichuan to send 300 yuan a month as Song's recuperation expenses. On November 30, Xi Yizhuang, the sectary secretary of Jiang Chao, the commander of the infantry, escorted Song to the train. Song's close friends came to see him off at the train station one after another, and many people asked Song to write a screen couplet as a souvenir.This kind of ostentation is not like "deportation to return home", it is simply "returning in good clothes". General Duan Zhigui of Hubei received a secret telegram from Xu Xiangguo, telling him to give Song special preferential treatment. Therefore, when Song arrived in Hankou by train on December 3, Duan sent a policeman with a four-person sedan chair to meet him at the station and a special ship to take him to Wuchang. At the same time, Duan Zhigui inspected Qingxiang's achievements under false pretences, and met Song at the Qingxiang General Office.Song waited for his family in Wuchang for a total of eight days.He was an alternate Taoist in Hubei during the Qing Dynasty, so he has many old friends in Hubei.Later, when he returned to Sichuan, Yuan revoked the punishment of "handing over to the magistrate for inspection" against him. As mentioned earlier, Lao Naixuan once wrote a letter to Zhao Erxun.Zhao Erxun was also a great widow. In the third year of the Republic of China, Yuan hired Zhao as the curator of Qing History Museum.Zhao originally refused to come out to be a "veteran of the two dynasties". Yuan lied to him and said, "This is a matter of praising the Qing Dynasty, not of the Republic of China." So Zhao put forward a condition to defend his brother.It turned out that his brother was Zhao Erfeng, the governor of Sichuan in the late Qing Dynasty, nicknamed Zhao Butcher, who was killed by the Revolutionary Party during the 1911 Revolution.Yuan Nai issued an order on March 24, 3, saying: "According to Zhu Qinglan, the envoy of the Heilongjiang Army Guard: Zhao Erfeng, the former governor of Sichuan Province, returned the power to the gentry for self-government when he first rebelled in Wuchang. The national flag, Gongming backed down, and was in favor of the Republic of China. It was killed for no reason because of chaos. Please give Zhaoxue and other information. Check the old supervisor to understand the overall situation, support the republic, and contribute to the Republic of China. There is indeed evidence. Prove the facts, and pay them to the Museum of History to show off your hard work.” Zhao Erxun was not completely satisfied with the Zhaoxue Order, but reluctantly left the mountain.After he took office as the curator of Qing history, he laughed at himself and said: "I am an official of the Qing Dynasty, I compile the history of the Qing Dynasty, I do Qing Dynasty affairs, and I eat Qing Dynasty food." Bo Yuntian, loyal to the sun and the moon, has a lot of arrogance about Yunchang's "surrender to Han but not Cao".Although Zhao Erxun thought he was very loyal to the Qing court, another old man, Liang Dingfen, wrote to scold him: "The Qing Dynasty is not dead, so why do you want to compile Qing history?" Speaking of Liang Dingfen, this is an extremely stubborn old man.On March 2 of the Republic of China, the Qinglong Yuhou Zigong, who had abdicated, was enshrined in the ceremony. The hearse arrived at Xiling.At this time, Sun Baoqi, the son and daughter of Prince Qing Yikuang, wore a suit and bowed three times before the funeral. When Liang Dingfen saw Sun, his eyes almost burst into flames. He pretended not to know him, and asked, "Which one is Mr.?" Chinese?" Sun said, "Jie'an, what are you kidding?" Liang Ban pouted at him, then cursed, "Who are you kidding? What are you? If you were a revolutionary party, you wouldn't You should come here; if you still remember that you were an official in the Qing Dynasty, why don't you wear filial piety? You bring a letter to your in-laws old ghost, tell him not to live in this world, so as not to be ashamed!" Lao Naixuan who kowtowed to the side He jumped up and shouted, "You scold me so much!" It turned out that Yikuang was working as an apartment in the Tianjin Concession at this time, and Qing Shi called him to take care of the funeral, but he ignored him. After Song Yuren was deported, Wang Kaiyun, curator of the National History Museum, was greatly falsely alarmed.Wang Kaiyun, styled Renqiu, was born in Xiangtan, Hunan. He lived in Xiangqi Tower, so he was also called Wang Xiangqi.He and Zhao Erxun were invited by Yuan at the same time, and Yuan asked him to be the curator of the National History Museum.On April 5, 3rd year of the Republic of China, he was summoned by Yuan Dian and set off from Changsha to the north, taking his mother Zhou with him.When passing through Hubei, Duan Zhigui hosted a banquet in honor of him, and he went to the banquet with Zhou's mother.When he arrived in Beijing, someone asked him why he had to travel thousands of miles to Beijing to become an official at such a young age?He said with a playful smile: "It is an easy job to be an official. When I am old, I can only find the easiest thing to do." He also treated Yuan with a playful smile. He made a parody of a horizontal plaque for the presidential palace. On the horizontal plaque, there are four words "bystanders are clear", and the couplets on both sides are "the people are still the same, the country is still the same, how can the north and the south be divided." "All in all, in general, it's not a thing." And the Zhengshi Hall should also have a horizontal plaque that reads "The breeze is coming".After Song Yuren's case happened, he was depressed, so he left a letter to "President Weiting's old nephew", and then took Zhou Ma back to Hunan.Yuan Nai sent Wang's favorite student Yang Du to act as the curator of national history. In addition to the incident of his student Song Yuren, Wang Kaiyun’s abandonment of his seal and his return to China had such an episode: when Wang arrived in Beijing to take up the post of director of the National History Museum, he sent Tan Qirui, a native of Hunan, to act as the director of the National History Museum. Satisfied, he wrote a letter to the court, suing Wang Bi for chaos, citing the Song Yuren case and Baohuang Hanxiang incident as evidence.Huang was arrested in connection with another case.The Yuan government did not pursue Tan's accusation, but Wang was furious when he heard the news, and immediately wrote to the president, claiming that the categories in the National History Museum were too complicated and demanded rectification.Yuan sent someone to find Wang, and asked Wang how to rectify?Wang lost his temper, patted the table and said: I wrote to the president to ask for advice because I couldn't straighten things out. Now you are asking me again, what a bureaucrat!As mentioned earlier, when he left his hometown and went to Beijing to take over the National History Museum, someone asked him, why should he be an official at such an old age?He jokingly said: Because being an official is the easiest thing in the world, I am old, so I have to choose the easy thing to do.But after he took over the National History Museum, he realized that it is very difficult to be an official.The first difficulty is the economy. The National History Museum has a fixed monthly fund of 8,000 yuan, but it often does not pay the funds for two months. Once, the director of the museum, Wang Zhiwen, the Ministry of Education, said: "This funding is so expensive, it is very moral. This book The director of the curator is also unwilling to make a lot of complaints. It is so difficult that it is better to cancel it. Correspondingly, please consult your Ministry to check the photo. If you can’t issue it month by month, please forward it to the President and cancel the National History Museum.” The Ministry of Education believes that this old joke has become a Sex, you don't have to argue with him, but tell the Bank of China that the National History Museum will be allocated funds for one month first, and the rest will be processed later.Wang is still struggling, and he feels that being an official still suffers from money; the second difficulty is dealing with it. Since the "restoration tide", everyone in the old man has been suspected of restoration, not to mention the fact that Wang still has a pigtail hanging down the back of his head. His favorite student was actually a blatant restorationist.When Song Yuren left Beijing, it was inconvenient for him to see him off in person, but he had to see him off, so he had to send his "wife" Zhou Ma to represent him, and the city was full of storms again.This well-educated and highly talented celebrity did not know until now that his view of "being an official is easy" was wrong.So he gave the seal letter to Zeng Guangjun first, but Zeng dared not accept it, because the seal letter cannot be accepted casually except when it is handed over.Zeng refused to accept it, and Wang handed it over to others, but no one dared to accept it. Several people refused to accept it, and finally had to hand it over to his fourth daughter-in-law.Speaking of this fourth daughter-in-law, she is also very famous.She is Yang Du's younger sister, Yang Zhuang, whose name is Shaoji. She is a talented woman of a generation. If you don't agree, then go." Yang Zhuang heard his brother's words, weeping and begging to go, so anxious that Wang Kaiyun scratched his head and said: "You don't look at his (referring to his son's) face, you have to look at my old face, you If you really don't want to be my daughter-in-law, how about being my daughter?" Yang Zhuang gave his father-in-law's great seal of the National History Museum to his elder brother Yang Du, and Yang Cai forwarded it to Yuan on behalf of the king, asking for instructions.Yuan sent Yang as the deputy curator of the National History Museum to act as an agent for the affairs of the museum.After Wang Qiyin sneaked back and left a letter to say goodbye to "President Weiting's Nephew", he quietly brought his old and ugly old lady back to Xiangtan.One is an old man with white hair and dangling braids, and the other is an ugly old Zhou mother with small feet.After Wang left Beijing, the Suzheng Office filed an impeachment case, accusing him of leaving his post without authorization. Since the restoration is opposed everywhere in the country, and Yuan's attitude seems to be unsupportive of the restoration, the Xunqing court in the Forbidden City panicked a little, and hurriedly abolished the Xuantong reign in the palace, renamed it the 3rd year of the Republic of China, and removed the Qing Dynasty service system. All the staff in the palace cut off their braids, and they persuaded Zhang Xun, the commander of the braided army, to cut off their braids too, but Zhang Xun didn't listen. Concubine Jin, the person in charge of the Qing palace, sent Zhiqi to explain to Yuan that the Qing Dynasty had nothing to do with the restoration movement that was rumored for a while, and handed over a secret memorial of Lao Naixuan to clarify his heart.At the same time, Yuan is requested to send officers to the Qing Palace to check the entry and exit photos to avoid misunderstandings.Yuan himself did not meet Zhiqi, but sent Ruan Zhongshu, the Internal History Supervisor of the Presidential Palace, to meet him on his behalf. This was the turn of the third and fourth years of the Republic of China. The weather in Beijing was extremely cold this winter, which had never been seen in thirty years. The police guarding the night froze many people to death.The political situation in Beijing was as gloomy as the weather. In addition to the restoration case becoming a major political depression, Yuan also strictly prohibited gambling and prostitution, as if these two things were implemented thoroughly.Zhang Yu in Xiaojiangfang Hutong is the back entrance of Liang Shiyi’s residence. It was originally the former residence of Zhang Wenda’s Duke Boxi. Gamblers rented it out as a club, where they gather every Saturday or Sunday to gamble. After the Qing banquet is over, it is often mixed with poker and sparrow battles.Suddenly, due to the restoration of investigations and the prohibition of prostitution and gambling, this high-end club also has scruples.There was Liang Shiyi at a dinner party one night, and the host asked Liang if he wanted to have some fun after dinner?Liang said: "I haven't done anything for two months. It's too wrong to cause trouble for a moment of entertainment."It turned out that a month ago, Yuan Zeng ordered Sun Baoqi, chief of internal affairs, to order civil and military officials to strictly prohibit gambling. The first person to be notified was Liang Shiyi.According to Sun Chuanyuan's verbal instructions, everyone should be more cautious. If something goes wrong, it is unthinkable.