Chapter 68 Sixty-seven, Feng, Duan Lilide

The foundation of the Beiyang Department was established during the military training period at Xiaozhan. At that time, Yuan devoted all his energy to the work of building the army. He personally deployed everything, such as: the formation and deployment of the army, the selection and replenishment of generals, etc.Afterwards, Yuan's political status became higher and higher, and the development of the Beiyang Army also increased. Naturally, Yuan could not take care of the Beiyang Army, so the power of Feng Duan's generals gradually increased.After Yuan became president, his energies were divided into diplomacy, finance, and political parties, and the military was entrusted to the generals of the Beiyang faction.At this time, the situation of the "Three Heroes of Beiyang" was as follows: Feng Guozhang was transferred to Nanjing to take charge of the military along the Yangtze River; Duan Qirui was in charge of the national military in the central government;Duan, as the chief of the army, not only monopolizes the power over the Beiyang military system, but also has the right to coordinate the national military.Duan relies on Xu Shuzheng, Xu is talented, but the connection with the Beiyang School is not deep.Most of the new forces of the Beiyang Army were trained and promoted by Duan, but Yuan was not relaxed about the military, so he set up a military department in the presidential palace to control the national military.

Duan has Duan's personality. After the Republic of China, Yuan and Duan always had something on their minds. There is such a story in the Beiyang Department: Before Yuan proclaimed himself emperor, the old people of Xiaozhan had already resumed kneeling and worshiping, but Duan Qirui was the only one who refused. He didn't care about other issues, but he objected to kneeling during the Republic of China.Feng Guozhang advised him: "Zhiquan, don't be self-willed. What's the difference between an emperor and a lifelong president? Isn't it the same to kneel down and take off your hat and bow?" Seeing Feng kneeling, Duan had no choice but to follow the example.Seeing these two generals kneeling in front of him, Yuan was a little embarrassed, stood up hastily, sighed and said, "Don't dare to be, don't dare to be!"

Feng and Duan sat for a while, and then went to Yuan Keding's place, also bowed and bowed. Of course, they felt 120,000 grievances, but how could this young master sit still and accept it calmly.Duan was full of grievances, and ran out angrily, complaining to Feng, saying: "Look, the old man is still humble, but the young master is full of airs. How can we be regarded as human beings! We have been dogs for the past life, and we will be dogs for the next life." A dog for life!" Feng Yi repeatedly shook his head and said: "Zhiquan, don't say that you are angry, I can't bear it, I will follow you from now on, we can no longer be dogs for life!" Feng and Duan's dissatisfaction was later spread. To Keding, complaining that he shouldn't put on airs and angered the two generals of Beiyang, how could Keding say indifferently: "This is exactly my arrangement, these two people were raised by the old man, and now they are a bit big-headed. If their arrogance is not broken, they will be even worse in the future, and they will inevitably climb on my head!" Beiyang soldiers bowed to Yuan Xing that year, and Yuan always called his son when he accepted their big gifts. Yuan Keding's name said: "Hurry up and return the gift!" Yuan Keding never agreed, as if he was the future heir.

This is a small festival, but it made the generals of the Beiyang faction feel alienated from Yuan; but this is not a fatal injury. The most fatal thing is that they gradually feel that Yuan refuses to tell them the truth and wants to relieve them of their military handle. : "The bow is hidden before the bird is exhausted, and the running dog is about to cook the rabbit before it dies!" "Since the old man no longer regards us as human beings, why should we be loyal to him!" Among the "Three Heroes of Beiyang", Wang Shizhen is the most easy-going and has no personality, so Yuan is particularly at ease with Wang.After the founding of the Republic of China, Wang Shizhen returned to his hometown of Zhengding and did not ask about the politics of the Republic of China.Since Yuan was deeply dissatisfied with Duan's stubbornness and wanted to exclude Duan on purpose, it was necessary to borrow from the king.In the spring of the third year of the Republic of China, Yuan sent his eldest son Keding to Zhengding to welcome Wang to Beijing by special car. Wang expressed that he had no intention of participating in political activities. Well, if you don’t leave for a day, I will have to stay in Zhengding to drive, and return to Beijing without face.” Wang was forced by the eldest son, and finally accompanied Yuan Keding to Beijing in the Republic of China.Yuan immediately awarded Wang the title of General of the Army, and appointed him as Grand Marshal of the Army and Navy to lead the office.

The command office was established on May 9, 3rd year of the Republic of China. It was organized by the chief of the army, the chief of the navy, the chief of staff and the senior generals appointed by the generalissimo.The chiefs of the Ministry of Land, Sea, and Civil Affairs were natural clerks. The first batch of clerks were only Yin Chang, Wang Shizhen, and Sa Zhenbing, and Cai E and others were added later.This was a concrete measure Yuan took to take the national military power back from the Ministry of War into his own hands.Since the establishment of the Commanding Office, the Military Department of the Presidential Palace has also been abolished. Duan Qirui has retired as one of the clerks, and the important functions and powers of the Ministry of War have been transferred to the office. The Ministry of the Army has become an institution that exists in name only.

Yuan Qirui generously donated a private house in Fuxue Hutong worth 300,000 yuan to Duan Qirui when he received the "decree" in the early days of Xuantong. Duan has lived in this house since then and opened a side door In order to communicate with the corridor of the Quartermaster Division of the Ministry of the Army, it is often entered and exited through this door.Since the establishment of the Commanding Office, Duan has not been so big as to discuss the affairs of the Ministry, and all the affairs of the Ministry have been handed over to his beloved protégé, Xu Shuzheng, Deputy Chief of the Army.Xu Shuzheng is Duan's most trusted person, but he is also the person Yuan Suo hates the most.Once Yuan said that he wanted to transfer Xu Shuzheng, Duan felt that this was deliberately looking for trouble for him, so he couldn't hold back and said loudly: "Very well, please remove me from the president first, and do whatever the president wants to do." !"

In May of the 4th year of the Republic of China, when Japan proposed the 21 Articles, the Ministry of the Army issued a report requesting an increase in staff salaries. Yuan personally approved the following: "If you have a little support, you can't do it!" Eight big characters.Since Duan does not work at the Ministry, he naturally does not look at the official affairs of the Ministry of the Army. Once Yuan asked Duan about a certain official matter, and Duan said he did not know. The official document came, but you, the chief, don’t know about it?” After the signing of the 21 Articles, Yuan Keding publicly stated to people: The reason why we must surrender to Japan is because China cannot resist Japan; why can’t it resist Japan?Because the army cannot fight, and no one is responsible for the affairs of the army department, the Yuan government cannot put all their eggs in one basket and take the risk of resisting Japan.In this case, Duan finally had to ask Yuan to resign, and went to Xishan to recuperate without approval.Yuan deliberately harassed Cai E, and planned to let Cai E, who had just entered Beijing, take over as the chief of the army; later, he decided to still give it to Beiyang's direct line, so the post of chief of the army fell to Wang Shizhen.

Duan Qirui's resignation was of course forced, but he was also ill all the time, so he went to Xishan to recuperate his illness after resignation, but Yuan kept him to stay, only allowed Duan to ask for leave, and repeatedly extended it. At the same time, he sent Wang Shizhen Acting, because Wang refused to betray his friends, he repeatedly expressed his reluctance to be the chief of the army. On May 31, 4th year of the Republic of China, Yuan Cai sent Wang Shizhen to act as the chief of the army, and issued a decree to Duan Qirui, giving him a two-month leave, granting 4 taels of ginseng and 5,000 yuan for medical expenses.The original order is as follows:

"According to Duan Qirui, the chief of the army, since last winter, he has been ill, his diet has been reduced, and he can't sleep at night. Until this spring, hemoptysis has occurred. He has been diagnosed and treated with various methods, sometimes mild and sometimes severe. The doctor said that blood deficiency and qi stagnation, spleen weak lung Fever, urgent need to rest, taking medicine can be effective, so far more than four months, the prescription is worth the country, so I dare not speak of illness. Now the overall situation will calm down, I plan to ask to go to the hospital, so that I can feel at ease and recuperate, and hope to get a quick recovery, etc. Feelings. It should be ordered that there should be less holidays for recuperation. According to the continuation, please open all kinds of gaps, so that you can rest assured and recuperate, and you will recover if you get well. Since the reform of 1911, the chief minister has made outstanding achievements and prepared for hardships. The Republic of China It was first built, with many worries and troubles, several years of operation, and a lot of financial support, so hard work has caused the blood to weaken, and the description is weak. During the meeting, the chief executive was asked to spend two or three days a week to go to Xishan and other places for quietness. The local government is recuperating and resting in order to regain its strength. However, the chief executive puts state affairs first, and still refuses to relax for a while. He devotes himself to state affairs, which is highly respectable. I hereby request to open a vacancy, and my words are sincere. The president of the country is the country To cherish talents, it is inconvenient to let them work too hard, which will increase the severity of the disease. We will give two months of leave, and give ginseng four taels, and medical expenses of 5,000 yuan to fund the health care. The chief minister is in mind of the difficult current situation. , take good care of yourself, carefully recruit famous doctors, carefully investigate the source of the disease, apply various methods of treatment, and hope to recover as soon as possible, and immediately cancel the holiday. If there are important military affairs during the holiday, they still go to the internal meeting at any time to express their good fortune and benefit the national economy. .This order!"

Duan was officially dismissed from the position of Army Chief on August 29 of this year. At the same time as this order was announced, Wang Shizhen accepted Duan's vacancy as Army Chief.After Duan resigned, Yuan ordered the Suzheng Office to impeach Xu Shuzheng for ordering 400,000 yuan in foreign military firepower, and on June 26, he was dismissed from the post of Army Deputy Minister and replaced by Tian Zhongyu.Due to Duan's sick leave and Yuan's express order to give falsehoods, Yuan and Duan caused a lot of trouble. It was rumored that Yuan and Duan had officially broken up. On August 3, Duan published a telegram to refute the rumors:

"Twenty years ago, when the President was training at the small station, Qi Rui used a military student as a lower-level military rank. He had nothing to do with the President, but was a false voice. The legislator was the leader of the artillery team, and he was promoted to the commander. In the first year, the rank of Qian Zong was slightly ranked, and he was promoted to the positions of Daoist, Chief Soldier, and Deputy Commander-in-Chief. And the President made a comeback, and Qi Rui returned to the posts of Huguang Governor and Army Chief. There is nothing to add to Qirui's strength. I am grateful to my confidant, who has been like one eye for decades. Although I am divided into subordinates, the love is more than flesh and blood. In recent years, Qirui has been vomiting blood and insomnia, pleading and resting his shoulders. A newspaper in a certain country, with the trick of sowing dissension, wants to frame Qirui as an ungrateful person, and even forges the rumor of being assassinated, which has no effect, and has to express his heart to make false rumors." Rumors in China's official circles have always been more and more true. Duan's so-called assassination and a certain country's newspaper turned out to be like this: there was a case of a tea service secretly planting a bomb in the Ministry of War, and the Japanese newspaper pointed out that it was a political conspiracy by Yuan Yu to murder Duan. The Beiyang soldiers all believed that the fuse of Yuan and Duan's separation was triggered by Yuan Keding's training of the "model regiment".Since Yuan Xiaozhan's military training, he has been actively focusing on the army, but since he became president, he has no more time to concentrate on the army. Most of the Beiyang soldiers are Duan's students and subordinates, and almost all junior officers are trained by Duan. Therefore, Duan's power in the Beiyang system gradually rose.In addition, after Feng Guozhang was transferred to Nanjing, the national military of the central government was completely under the command of Duan. In the Beiyang system, Feng Duan could be said to be evenly matched, but now Duan surpassed Feng. Feng was naturally very unhappy.Therefore, Yuan Keding advocated taking the military power in his own hands and at the same time creating another new force. Feng pushed hard from the sidelines. Before the Grand Marshal Command Office was established, Yuan Keding often discussed military science and training new troops with Major Dinkelmann in Germany and Lieutenant Colonel Berisou in France.In order to establish a renewed new army (20 years ago, when Yuan Shikai was training troops in Xiaozhan, he aimed to establish a new army; after 20 years, the new army has become an old army), Yuan Ke suggested to Yuan that in commanding affairs Set up a model army under the office, with the generalissimo and the commander of the model army. This plan is the same as that of the regent Zaifeng in the Xuantong period of the late Qing Dynasty who concentrated military power in the royal family, organized the imperial guards and acted as the commander himself.The model army plans to set up two model divisions first. The middle-level officers will use foreign students as much as possible, and the lower-level officers will use officer students and fast-track students. It turns out that most of the officers of the Beiyang Army came from graduates of the Tianjin Armed Forces Academy and various military academies in Beiyang, and Duan Qirui was always in charge of these schools.In Yuan Keding's new army plan, the source of officers was changed to graduates of Baoding Military Academy and Army Accelerated School.The Baoding Military Academy, like the Tianjin Armed Forces Academy, was founded in the late Qing Dynasty. Yuan did not want Duan to build up his strength. The principal of Baoding Military Academy was always pro-Yuan. Once he appointed Jiang Fangzhen as the principal without discussing with Duan. Baoding Military Academy's funds are various, and most of them are retained by the Ministry of the Army.Jiang Fangzhen was so annoyed that he committed suicide while the principal was in office. Fortunately, he was rescued but insisted on going.Yuan Nai reassigned Jiang to be the military counselor of the presidential palace. Duan was also the military director of the presidential palace at this time. Yuan didn't want to be too provocative and ordinary Beiyang old people, so he reduced the model army to a model regiment. The nature and scale of the model regiment are different from the model army. It seems to be an expansion of an officer training class. Director, directly under the command office.Using northerners and Beiyangsu to prepare for the future, it was Yuan who avoided arousing the resentment of the old Beiyang people. On October 23, 3rd year of the Republic of China, the model group was formally established. The group site was located at Zhantan Temple in Xicheng. Yuan Shikai served as the head of the group. Based in Beihai.The establishment of the model regiment made Duan Qirui most unhappy. The most obvious thing was that the Yuan family and his son were worried about Duan's solid strength in the Beiyang Army, so they established a new army to replace the Beiyang Army.However, Yuan started his business with the Beiyang Army as the capital, and now the world is not yet fully settled, and he wants to cancel the Beiyang Army. This is the most blunder in Yuan's life. Because it is obvious that the establishment of the Model Army is the "small circle in the big circle" of Yuan Jiaban. After the establishment of the Model Regiment, the soldiers were drawn from the lower-level officers of the Beiyang Army divisions, and 490 soldiers were drawn from the 4th Division stationed in Shanghai, and Yinchang was drawn from the graduates of Baoding officers to the provinces of Zhi, Yu, Ji, and Feng. 280 people are mid-level and corporals, and the upper-level officers in each division of the Beiyang Army are the lower-level officers of the regiment.Yuan ordered the model regiment to be divided into five training sessions, each training for half a year, and each training session can produce new officers of the fourth brigade, with the temporary goal of training model officers of the tenth division.After the first phase of training matured, Yuan set up the "Newly-built Army Supervision and Training Office" and established the fourth infantry brigade of the Gongwei Army, one artillery regiment, one cavalry regiment, one battalion of machine gun battalion, and one battalion of supply battalion.The arms of the Model Regiment are all the most sophisticated weapons and ammunition purchased from Germany. In the second period, Yuan Keding was the head of the regiment, and Lu Jin was the deputy of the regiment.Keding thought he was clever, and specially selected a group of students above middle school to train with lower-level officers of each division. After graduation, due to insufficient level, only two brigades could be established.The founders of the first phase were later compiled into the 11th and 12th divisions, with Li Kuiyuan and Chen Guangyuan as the division commanders (the name of the Gongwei Army was canceled after Yuan's death and incorporated into the official army).The founders of the second phase were later only organized into the first division of the Ninth Division, with Lu Jin as the division commander. On October 27th, 3rd year of the Republic of China, the graduation ceremony of the first phase of Baoding Military Academy was held. Yuan Shikai sent Yin Chang, the general of the army and the military attache to the presidential palace, as a representative, to the school to issue graduation certificates, and each presented a saber. The graduation diploma is in the name of the President. Yuan would ride a horse to the model regiment once a week to observe the drills. During the drills, officers would be summoned to give lectures.There are eight oaths, and the oath is: "Obey orders, serve the country with all my heart, defend the people with sincerity, respect the superiors, risk my life, be faithful in words and deeds, practice hard work, and not join the party committee. The eight oaths are willing to abide by, and those who violate one of them will be condemned by the heavenly law." On January 13th, 4th year of the Republic of China, all members of the first group went to Guanyue Temple to take an oath. Yuan Te sent Yinchang to supervise the oath, and Chen Guangyuan, the deputy of the model group, read the oath. Every time a sentence was read, all the members recited it aloud. The formation of the Model Regiment to the Gongwei Army was an important measure for Yuan and his son to determine their own control of the army. In the past, Yuan only asked the upper-level cadres of the Beiyang Army, while Duan was in charge of deploying the lower-level officers. Further control the lower-level officers of the model regiment. Therefore, no matter whether the leader of the model regiment is promoted to the platoon leader or the platoon leader to the company commander, they must pay homage to Yuan and kowtow. Taiwan, and must earnestly grasp the methods of junior officers.Is this the smart way?In the past Song Taizu gave up his military power with a glass of wine, after the emperor's career had been accomplished, but Yuan did it hastily without waiting for the real unification of the world. Yuan waited for his subordinates to be able to catch people's hearts, but they didn't believe in people and were suspicious of people. His spy work has the so-called three tricks: sending A (confidant) to monitor B (political enemy), and sending C to follow A to monitor A's actions.Yuan Lian is always scheming towards the two most trusted generals, Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui. Yuan had a governess——Zhou Di (named Daoru), a woman from Yixing, who was a teacher at the girls’ high school attached to the Tianjin Women’s Teacher. She was nearly 40 years old and still unmarried. She was very friendly in Yuan’s family. Yuan’s impression of Zhou Very good, get along quite well.After the second revolution, Yuan suddenly thought of matching Zhou Daoru with Feng Guozhang to show his win over.It turned out that Mrs. Feng's wife passed away not long ago and was about to reunite. Once the agreement was reached, Feng was of course willing, but Zhou wanted Feng to welcome his wife, and Feng agreed.In January of the 3rd year of the Republic of China, Yuan sent his third concubine to send Ms. Zhou south. When she arrived in Nanjing, Feng waited with the most solemn etiquette, fired 21 cannons to welcome her, and went down to the Negotiation Office. On January 19, Feng and Zhou got married. In order to fulfill the promise of "welcome in person", they moved their daughter's home from the Negotiation Office to the West Garden of the Governor's Mansion, which is adjacent to the Governor's House. One day, Feng wore the general's uniform to greet his relatives. The float entered the Governor's Mansion from Beiting Lane around the Huapailou. People wear red auspicious clothes to accompany the bride, and then there are two girls who each hold a flower basket to help the bride and groom enter the mansion. The first is a cavalry team, followed by a band. The President is the witness of the wedding.This wedding doesn't look special now, but it was called "civilized marriage" at that time. Yuan wanted to transform, from president to emperor, and was delayed for a year because of the twenty-one relationship.Before the Sino-Japanese issue occurred, Yuan moved his old friend and well-known survivor Xu Shichang out to be the Secretary of State, and all kinds of old-fashioned actions were not simple. Some people think that Yuan moved Xu as a hint, and revealed it to everyone. This is the resurrection of the dead technique. Yuan's imperial system is self-made, and there is one action that is very special. He does not rely on his direct descendants of the Beiyang Army at all.As I said before, the Beiyang soldiers were already depressed and proud of their achievements. Not only did Yuan Keding think it was difficult to control, but Lao Yuan himself felt a headache about it.Therefore, he began to weaken the importance of the Beiyang Army to him personally, so he invited old friends and a group of veterans out of the mountain to form another political force; he sent his son Yuan Keding to organize a new model regiment to replace the Beiyang Army; he intended to win over Cai E And reuse Chen Huan to show it to people at home and abroad, not just use the Beiyang Department.Therefore, when he was planning the imperial activities, he did not let the Beiyang faction be his protagonist. There is such a story that can explain Yuan's perfunctory treatment of the Beiyang Department: Just as the rumors that Yuan was going to be emperor were flying everywhere, Feng Guozhang went from Nanjing to Beijing. He visited Yuan three times in a row. , everyone was very stiff, and they couldn't tell the truth to each other. Feng Zegang married Yuan's female teacher, and he might have learned Yuan's true intentions. Feng Yi visited Yuan three times in a row, and each time they had lunch together at Yuan's place. During one lunch talk, Feng mentioned the rumor that the president would be the emperor. Putting down the chopsticks, the dishes fell on the table. Yuan said: "Hua Fu, you and I are our own people. Don't you understand what's on my mind? I don't think rumors are groundless. During the period of the Kuomintang control, there were people I have said that a republic is not suitable for the national conditions. I have said verbally that I will abdicate or return the throne, but I myself never want to be emperor. Recently, there is a clause in the New Testament law that the president can confer titles, so outsiders have attached that this is a part of changing the national system. In fact, I think this has nothing to do with it. It’s just that the Manchurian, Mongolian, Huizang, and Tibetan people can confer titles on kings and princes, but the Han people don’t have this right. The one who confers the king and the duke." After hearing Yuan's words, Feng was about to interrupt, but Yuan went on to say: "Hua Fu, I have already told you what is on my mind. How is the power and responsibility of the president today different from that of the emperor? If a person wants to be the emperor, It is only for the sake of descendants, because the president cannot be hereditary, but the emperor can be passed on to his descendants. Take me for example, the eldest is disabled, the second is a celebrity, the third son is not up to date, and the rest are very young, how can they be paid for state affairs Why did I do this?” Feng seized this opportunity and interjected: “The president said something from the bottom of his heart, but when heaven and man return, and the yellow robe is added to the body, they cannot be rejected. It’s gone.” Yuan said angrily, “No, I will never do such a foolish thing. I have a son who is studying in London, and I have asked him to set up some property there. If anyone forces me again, I will Go abroad to London, and don’t ask about state affairs anymore.” After hearing Yuan Shicai’s statement, Feng certainly believed it. In this regard, Zhang is a talented scholar in Suzhou. He has been Yuan's copywriter since he was a child in military training. , It is true that some people want to be the founding fathers, but the old man will not be so stupid."