Chapter 115 114. Li Yuanhong Led the Wolf into the House

On June 7, the 6th year of the Republic of China, Zhang Xun led 10 battalions of braided infantry, horses, and artillery with about 5,000 people and 148 entourages. He set off from Xuzhou and arrived in Tianjin on the 8th.Before he left, he telegraphed the independent provinces and said: "Let the team enter the capital and plan a long-term strategy together. I hope to stick to the original purpose and carry out in unison. All provinces set off troops, and they all hope to stay in their original places temporarily and not enter again. After Xun arrived in Beijing, he immediately sent a telegram to make preparations. .”

When Li heard the news that Zhang Xun led a brigade to Beijing, he began to suspect that Zhang Xun had no good intentions in this trip, and immediately called Xu Shichang and Li Jingxi to advise Zhang Xun to "reduce his participation in Beijing, so as not to panic the people in the capital." On the 1st, Zhang Xun suddenly proposed to Xia Shoukang, the Secretary-General of Li Pai's government who came to Tianjin to welcome him, to ask the President to order the dissolution of the Congress, and it would be implemented within three days from the 8th to the 10th, otherwise he would not be responsible for mediation.Xia Shoukang hurriedly forwarded the news to Li, and Li realized that this mediation was more serious than betraying the governor, and the dissolution of the National Assembly was originally a condition proposed by the independent provinces.If you were willing to accept this condition earlier, you would not need to ask a mediator to mediate.Li asked Zhang Xun to be the mediator. He originally wanted to meet the requirements of independent provinces as much as possible without disbanding the National Assembly.Unexpectedly, the mediator did not seek a mutually acceptable solution based on mutual concessions between the president and the rebel governor, but instead forced the president to surrender unconditionally to the rebel governor.Hence the appearance of Zhang Xun.It did not relieve the president's difficulties, but deepened the crisis of the current situation.What's especially bad is that "it's easy to invite ghosts and it's hard to send ghosts away".If Zhang Xun's mediation is rejected at this time, I am afraid that the mediator will be driven to the hostile side.Therefore, Li Suo's determination to "rather sacrifice the president than dissolve the Congress" was greatly shaken.Now all he is looking for is a solution that can satisfy both the desire to betray the supervisor and transfer people, and also take care of the president's face.After receiving the news from Tianjin, he ordered the dismantling of the military staff office of the government, and invited 28 leaders of various political groups in the Congress to come to the government for talks, and asked them to advise members of the two houses to resign. The government admitted that each person would be given 2000 Yuan, that is, the Congress automatically announces the adjournment, so as not to be forced to dissolve.In desperation, Li actually accepted the conditions for the dissolution of the National Assembly, but did not take the form of dissolving the National Assembly by order of the President, so as not to unduly damage the prestige of the President.

However, news continued to spread from Tianjin that Zhang Xun had absolutely no room for bargaining over the dissolution of the Congress.The issue of restoration has also become a semi-open secret in Tianjin.Many restorationists went to Zhang Xun's gate.Therefore, Li You hastily sent the government secretary Qu Ying to Tianjin with a letter, asking Xu Shichang to assist Zhang Xun in mediating, and put forward three opinions: (1) the government staff has been disbanded; (3) Appropriate procedures should be studied for the dissolution of the National Assembly.At the same time, he stated that he will never miss the president, and if the mediation fails, he is willing to resign and be succeeded by the vice president according to law, so as not to change the state system.Qu Ying met Zhang Guogan, the former secretary-general of the government, in Tianjin.Zhang said to him: "The issue of restoration is no longer a plan but an action. At this time, only by preventing Zhang Xun from leading troops to Jinjing can the restoration be prevented. It is useless to seek Xu Donghai or Li Zhongxian (Li Jingxi), because these two people are very serious about the situation. Zhang Shaoxuan (Zhang Xun) can’t even speak hard words. Only Mr. Duan Zhi (Duan Qirui) can stop Zhang Xun from leading troops to Beijing. Please go back to Beijing to persuade the President to use Mr. Zhi as the Prime Minister of the cabinet from now on, and try to Urge to take office. This is the only way to solve the current situation." This way is to use Duan Yi to resist Zhang Xun's emergency.Qu Ying thinks this method is difficult to handle, because it is only within half a month.The transition from the recall section to the appointment section is too fast, which will make the president feel ashamed.Zhang said: "Today's issue is not a question of fighting for face or getting angry, but a question of the survival of the Republic of China." Qu Ying agreed with this, and hurried back to Beijing to report to Li.

In an extremely urgent situation, Li found a few aides around him to study.Someone said angrily: "Zhang Guogan is Lao Duan's lobbyist! Everything is easy to handle, but we can no longer look at Lao Duan's bad face! Restoration may be a rumor, who dares to openly carry out restoration today! We would rather die at the hands of Zhang Xun than let someone surnamed Duan bully the president again!" Li was moved by this again, and said excitedly: "We are determined not to fall into other people's tricks!" On the 9th, without waiting for Li's reply, Zhang Xun sent the vanguard of the braided army to Beijing, stationed at the Temple of Heaven and the Temple of Xiannong.This was a step in a public demonstration to Li. Only a few days ago, Li adopted Li Jingxi's suggestion and wanted to use Zhang Xun to withdraw the soldiers of the Governor's Army. At this time, the most urgent thing was to withdraw Zhang Xun's soldiers.Therefore, Li urgently ordered Xia Shoukang in Tianjin to find Li Jingxi, asking him to advise Zhang Xun not to act rashly.Sure enough, Li did not dare to speak harshly to Zhang Xun, but instead asked Xia Shoukang to tell Li: "It is undeniable that Zhang Shaoxuan wants to carry out restoration, and there is no need to hide it. However, according to my observation, he still thinks that now is not the right time for restoration. Now his goal is to dissolve the Congress. The President received him politely and accepted his opinions. According to my observation, Shao Xuan is a bloody man, and he will definitely support the President."

Li immediately ordered to redecorate the grand auditorium of the mansion and decorate it carefully, planning to use it as Zhang Xun's residence after he entered the capital.The auditorium of the government office has never entertained distinguished guests before, and has only entertained Vice President Feng Guozhang once.At the same time, he summoned the government's foreign advisers to study whether the dissolution of Congress was unconstitutional.Li's purpose is to find a new interpretation that is not unconstitutional.When Yuan Shikai was in power, he first suggested the adoption of a constitutional monarchy, and he first said to Yuga Nagao, a Japanese legal adviser who claimed to be a foreign minister to Yuan: "Although the "Contract Law" does not stipulate the dissolution of the National Assembly, there is also no provision that the National Assembly cannot be dissolved. This is enough. Explain that it is not illegal to dissolve Congress."

Li's determination to "not break the law, not love positions, and not be afraid of death" has changed. He believes that the dissolution of the National Assembly is a small matter, and the restoration of the house is a major matter. The two evils should be lesser.Now that he has found a new explanation that the dissolution of the Congress is not illegal, he has made up his mind to dissolve the Congress.He did not understand and will not understand that the dissolution of Congress is the abolition of the republican system and paves the way for the restoration of the house.The remaining problem at this time is to find a prime minister to countersign the order to dissolve the National Assembly, because the order without the countersignature of the prime minister is in violation of the "Contract".

When the Braided Army arrived in Beijing, Wang Shizhen, the Beijing-Tianjin Provisional Security Commander-in-Chief, did not dare to fulfill his promise to fully guarantee the maintenance of law and order in Beijing. On the evening of the 9th, he voluntarily moved to the palace to stay, expressing his determination to live and die with the president. On the 10th, Li sent him to find acting Prime Minister Wu Tingfang to countersign the order to dissolve the National Assembly, but Wu flatly refused.Seeing that the problem was not resolved and disaster was imminent, Wang secretly returned to his private residence in Pailou Tangzi Hutong in Xidan, planning to escape from Beijing.Someone reported the news to Li, and Li hurriedly sent Jiang Chaozong, the commander of the infantry, to wait until Wangzhai tried to dissuade him, and the king was unable to escape.

When it comes to the dissolution of Congress, there is only one who will countersign the order.Before the new Prime Minister Li Jingxi took office, it was legal for this order to be countersigned by acting Premier Wu Tingfang.But Wu was willing to come forward to act as the prime minister in the past, just to help the president fight against Duan.Now that the president does not hesitate to dissolve the Congress and is willing to bow to violence, Wu naturally refuses to obey blindly. Zhang Xun's deadline expired, and the order to dissolve the Congress was still not issued. He was so angry that he jumped and cursed people in Tianjin, and Li Yuanhong in Beijing was frightened. On the 11th, Li had no choice but to invite Wu to the mansion again, trying to persuade him to put the Republic of China first and countersign the order, but Wu said he was sick and refused to come.At this time, Xia Shoukang, who had just returned to Beijing from Tianjin, proposed to Li to promote Wu Chaoshu (son of Wu Tingfang, counselor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs as the price for signing the order.After hearing this sentence, Wu thought it was insulting and said he would never accept it.

Li had to send Xia Shoukang to Tianjin to explain to Zhang Xun: "It's not that I refuse to dissolve the Congress, but that no one is willing to countersign this order." Knowing that Wu refused to countersign the order, Zhang Xun sent people to intimidate him. If he refused again, he would deal with it violently.But the majesty and prestige of the leader of the warlord regiment is useless in front of this old doctor who is sick and deaf. Zhang Xun then turned to the president's special envoy and said furiously: "I don't care about the counter-signature. I have to give the order even if no one counter-signs it. I can't excuse it." He obviously forgot that only half a month ago, the Overseer Corps was Falsely claiming that it is illegal for the President to issue an order directly without the countersignature of the Prime Minister, he declared independence; and he himself said the same thing, believing that an illegal order cannot take effect.

Li had no choice but to continue to take responsibility and go to find the person who countersigned the order.It was inconvenient for him to show up again, so he went to see Wu with Wang Shizhen and Jiang Chaozong, and advised him to make up his mind and countersign this order for the sake of personal feelings, in order to relieve the president's difficulties.Wu replied with a firm statement: "The position can be resigned but the name cannot be signed; the head can be cut off but the law cannot be violated!" Jiang persuaded him: "Even if it is not for the president, it is for personal safety, it is better for the elders to countersign. "Wu was not angry when he heard this, but calmly chattered to him with his own theory of soul science: "I have quite a lot of experience in studying soul science. It is a terrible thing. The soul of a person who has done no evil is much happier after death than his body."Jiang said that he would not move, so he knelt down and kowtowed to him anxiously, begging him to countersign the order, Wu closed his eyes and stopped talking.Thus, the hope of Wu countersigning the order was completely cut off.

In Tianjin, Xia Shoukang obeyed Li's order, looking for people everywhere with a blank order paper in his hand.Looking for a Prime Minister's signature.He found Li Jingxi, and Li Jingxie Bumin said, "I haven't taken office, so I'm not considered the Prime Minister." He found Duan Qirui again, and Duan said in a nonchalant way: "I have stepped down, and I don't have the power to countersign orders." Xia obviously didn't take into account that just half a month ago, Li had ordered Duan's cabinet prime minister to be removed, and Duan obviously forgot that he still claimed to be the legitimate prime minister after arriving in Tianjin, and did not recognize the validity of the president's dismissal. On the 12th, Li had no choice but to ask Wang Shizhen to persuade the Congress to adjourn automatically in the name of the commander-in-chief of the Pingjin Police.Wang replied, "There is no such power, and there is no such precedent." Li said: "Then, you can do me a favor, and act as the prime minister, and counter-sign this order." Wang said: "If the president must do this, I will resign and leave Beijing, and I don’t care about everything.” Li said: “Stop talking about resigning and leaving Beijing, let’s all go!” Thus, the hope of Li Jingxi, Duan Qirui, or Wang Shizhen countersigning the order was completely cut off. On the evening of the 12th, news came from Tianjin that Zhang Xun could no longer wait. If the order was not issued that night, he would lead the team back to Xuzhou, and the independent provincial troops could move freely, and he would not ask questions.In fact, Zhang Xun is in a precarious situation because the order has not been issued; the warlords ridiculed him for leading a large group of troops for not intimidating an unarmed president; and if he returns to Xuzhou, he will automatically break the siege of the Beijing government.But the frightened President Li was afraid of him coming to Beijing, and also afraid of his return to Xuzhou. The emergency meeting of the government on the 12th was discussed until 3:30 am on the 13th. Wang Shizhen, Jiang Chaozong, Chen Guangyuan, Wu Bingxiang, and Xia Shoukang who came back from Tianjin, who attended the meeting, looked at each other in blank dismay, unable to figure out why.It wasn't until everyone felt extremely tired that they saw a person stand up and say righteously: "Okay, I will come to rescue the president and counter-sign this order!" The person who spoke was Jiang Chaozong, the commander of the infantry.How can the commander of the infantry countersign the president's order?Fortunately, this problem is not difficult to solve. As long as someone is willing to countersign the order, no matter whether it is a cat or a dog, they can be appointed as the acting prime minister to rationalize the order.Therefore, Li seemed to have survived a desperate situation, and issued two orders in succession to appoint Jiang Chaozong as the acting prime minister and to dissolve the National Assembly.These orders were all dated on the 12th, but it was already dawn when they were issued.The command says: "In June of last year, the President of the National Congress issued a decree that the completion of the Constitution should only be waited for by the National Assembly. The Constitution has not yet been finalized, and the foundation cannot be established. It is urgent to convene the National Assembly to quickly finalize the Constitution. According to Jilin Governor Meng Enyuan and others, "A few articles of the Constitution passed by the Constitutional Conference and the Review Committee a few days ago contained a resolution of the House of Representatives that did not trust state officials. The President can remove state servants or dissolve the House of Representatives. Dissolution requires the consent of the Senate; the president appoints and removes the prime minister without the countersignature of the state minister; and the resolutions of the two houses have the same effect as the law, which is really shocking. For example, it should not be decided by the National Assembly. Therefore, if our country wants to have a good constitution, it must be fundamentally corrected, and there is really no way to improve it later. Comparing ordinary affairs with the Congress, the fixed Congress is important, and the Congress and the country are compared, and the country is important. Today The National Congress, neither for the sake of the country, but only for the sake of expediency, resolutely and arbitrarily, dissolved the Senate and the House of Representatives immediately, and organized them separately, so that the situation of discussing the constitution can be changed as soon as possible, and the republican government can be guaranteed forever. Language. Recently, there have been letters and telegrams from all walks of life in the military, politics, business, and academia across the country, and the love words are also the same. It will take a while to check the Senate and the House of Representatives and organize a constitutional conference. Members resigned one after another, resulting in repeated meetings, all of which were less than a quorum. The bill for constitutional review was unable to be amended. There must be another way, and there was no way to comfort the hope of the constitution. Originally, as requested by the warlord and others, the Senate and the House of Representatives should be dissolved on the same day, and another election will be held in a fixed period to maintain the rule of law. The original purpose of the reorganization of the Congress was to conform to the conclusion of the constitution, not to abolish the legislation of the Republic of China The organ of the state, the gentleman of the state, is a salty metaphor! This order." This order to dissolve the Congress was of course countersigned by Jiang Chaozong.Although Jiang had already countersigned it, he feared that it would cause worry, so he sent a telegram to explain himself: "Now the times are difficult and dangerous, the overall situation is precarious, and we can't live forever. The president wants to save the country and the people, so there is an order for the reelection of the Congress today. The emperor respects his knowledge and acts as the prime minister. He sincerely cannot bear the suspicion and slander of the whole country. , especially for the countersignature according to the law, with the intention of taking full responsibility for the mere intention of maintaining the overall situation and defending the capital, so that China will not collapse and the people will not suffer. Once the official cabinet is established, it will retire. The responsibility for breaking the law shall be Don’t dare to resign. Knowing that I’m guilty, I’m just listening to public opinion.” On the same day, Li telegraphed the whole country to explain his difficulties: "Since Yuan Hong took office, he has respected public opinion and abided by the "Convention Law" as his duty. Open, the results are still scarce, the Constitutional Conference, the power of the executive and legislative parties, the power is too light and too heavy, and it is not balanced, resulting in a flattery. One after another, they all spoke in unison. Si Hong said that the "Contract Law" has no clear text of dissolution, so it is not convenient to violate the law. , approaching Gyeonggi, and set up a general staff office in Tianjin to call freely, and heard about the two theories of an organized interim government and restoration. Repeatedly dispatched staff to contact, according to the staff's reply: "If you don't invent the order immediately, you will immediately shirk your responsibility, and the troops of all provinces will move freely, and it will be difficult to restrain them." At this time of crisis and shock, I am afraid that I will retreat immediately. When the army starts, the regime of the bandit and independent country is completely overthrown, and if they are robbed and searched for, the people are devastated, the capital is a good place, and the victims are particularly severe. Outsiders' self-defense plan is bound to start with interference and finally protect. The disaster of national subjugation is about to come At present, Yuanhong is thinking again and again. It is difficult to take into account the legal facts. He really can't bear to make Zhaomin suffer the pain of subjugation in the name of his own law-abiding. Already, there has been an order for the reelection of today's National Assembly. Endure the humiliation and bear the heavy burden, get relief for a while, swallow the pain, and feel guilty about the gods. I hope that the governors of the provinces, those who have made troubles, have the determination to regret the misfortunes and the troubles. In addition, the provinces also forgive the difficulties. If there is no dissent, the common people are united in one heart and one virtue, and the fellowship is difficult. Once the order is restored and the overall situation is stable, I will definitely take the blame and resign to thank the people of the country. By the sun, I swear not to break my promise." Both Li and Jiang's telegrams admitted that the dissolution of the National Assembly was an illegal matter. Li's telegram clearly revealed that the dissolution of the National Assembly was an exchange condition for the preservation of the republic.After this order was issued, members of Congress who took refuge in Shanghai issued a joint telegram saying: "In the Constitution of the Republic of China, the president does not have the right to dissolve the Congress. Jiang Chaozong is not a state servant and cannot act as the prime minister. Moreover, the president has been forced by soldiers and considers himself illegal. All orders to dissolve the Congress are of course invalid." On June 13, 6, Zhang Xun held a meeting at his apartment in the German Concession in Tianjin. After the meeting, he sent a telegram saying: "Because of political disputes, military incidents were caused. Xun received a clear order and went to the capital to mediate. ... Observing the situation in all aspects and the psychology of the majority, he believed that the members of the National Assembly were bad, and strongly advocated the dissolution of the election. ... Still recalling the past of the National Assembly. The dissolution was based on the request of the first leader, and it was nothing more than a plan to establish the overall situation. It is only a matter of heart, and it steals the purpose. Fortunately, the president has a sense of public opinion, listens to the opinions of the public, and issues a special order to dissolve the two houses.  … It is planned to enter the capital immediately and jointly plan for the country. Once the mediation is ready, we will discuss and ask the provinces to withdraw the troops." Zhang Xun invited Li Jingxi to Duan's residence, and Duan Tong to go to Beijing to "co-plan the state affairs", Duan politely declined, and Zhang Xun went to Xu Shichang's residence for a long time to have a secret talk.The content of the secret talks was to discuss restoration.According to outside rumors, Xu put forward three conditions to Zhang Xun: first, give him the name of regency or similar regency, and give him all the power; second, allow his daughter to Puyi as queen; third, implement a constitutional monarchy.After Zhang Xun returned to his apartment, he told some visiting restorationists about the talks.Liu Tingchen laughed and said: "This man really deserves to be a living Cao Cao."Zhang Xun used to respect Xu Shichang very much, but this time he saw through his details. For a while, he wanted to be the Great Master of the Republic of China, and for a while he wanted to be the regent of the "Great Qing Empire" and the "Head of the Qing Dynasty". The psychology turns into a psychology of contempt. At 3:00 pm on June 14, Zhang Xun and Li Jingxi, Zhang Zhenfang, Duan Zhigui, Lei Zhenchun and others took a special car to Beijing.Li sent Ding Huai, Niu Chuanshan, and Fang Shu as representatives, and Beijing military and police chief Jiang Chaozong, Chen Guangyuan, Wu Bingxiang, etc. were also welcome at the station.From Qianmen Station to Nanheyan Zhangzhai, the ground was paved with loess along the way, and the military and police guarded the road, and sentries and posts of the braided army were arranged in sections, and heavily armed soldiers stood on the towers and walls.This is the style of the emperor's tour in the past.On the route Zhang Xun's car traveled, a team of horses was first sent to drive away pedestrians, and traffic in the east and west cities was cut off for four hours.within the cordon.Pedestrians are not allowed to pass, but all foreigners are not subject to this restriction.Li had already sent an order to open the Zhonghua Gate to welcome Zhang Xun.Since the founding of the Republic of China, the Zhonghua Gate has only been opened three times to welcome distinguished guests: the first time Yuan Shikai welcomed Song Jiaoren and other five special envoys sent by the Nanjing government, the second time to welcome Sun Yat-sen, and this is the third time.Beijing citizens peeked at "Dashuai Zhang" from the corner of the door, and saw that he was wearing a melon-skin hat with a gemstone embedded in the center, a big braid hanging behind his head, a gauze robe, and a black big Buddha's gold-rimmed big hat. Jacket and black satin shoes.This is really a big nondescript monster. One day when Zhang Xun entered Beijing, Wu Tingfang and his son quietly left Beijing. Zhang Xun's arrogance is really big. On the day he arrived in Beijing, he didn't meet the president who was waiting for him, although the government was waiting for him with lanterns and festoons. On the morning of the 15th, Li sent Xia Shoukang and Niu Chuanshan to Zhang Zhai in Nanheyan to invite them.It was not until 9 o'clock that Zhang Xun went out by car, first visited Wang Shizhen, and then went to the presidential palace.Li Bei had lunch with Zhang Xun with a sumptuous banquet, and invited Wang Shizhen, Li Jingxi, Jiang Chaozong and others to accompany him.At the banquet, Zhang Xun proposed in writing five solutions to the current situation other than the dissolution of the Congress: 1. Organize a responsible cabinet; 2. Convene a constitutional conference; 3. Improve the regulation of the National Assembly and reduce the number of members; 4. Pardon old political criminals; At this time, Li had lost his resistance, so he personally approved the article: "hand over to the court for separate processing."Zhang Xun also verbally added three conditions: 1. Please include the condition of preferential treatment for clearing houses into the constitution; 2. Please make Confucianism the state religion; 3. Please approve the addition of 20 battalions to the Dingwu Army (braided army). Regarding constitutional issues, Zhang Xun advocated citing the established practice of the Provisional Senate in Nanjing in the first year of the Republic of China, and each province sent two representatives to organize a constitutional meeting.Li also raised four conditions to him: 1. The independent provinces shall cancel their independence; 2. The Tianjin General Staff Office shall be abolished; 3. The troops of all provinces shall withdraw to their original defenses; Zhang Xun became the new master of the Beijing government. After visiting Li, he telegraphed the independent provinces and said: "After entering the capital, compromise the opinions of all parties and conduct consultations, such as organizing a responsible cabinet, convening a constitutional meeting, improving the rules of the National Assembly, reducing the number of members, pardoning old political criminals, and dismissing government officials. Approved..... At the beginning of each province's declaration of secession, although the conditions proposed are different, the most important is no more than this number. Now that the matter has been resolved, the military must be restrained, and the foreword should be implemented urgently. On the day the telegram arrives, Please cancel the name of independence immediately, and those whose troops have already set off will be transferred back to their original station on the same day. Xun will lead his troops back to Xu once the deployment is finalized." On the same day, Wang Shizhen, Zhang Xun, and Jiang Chaozong jointly sent a letter to Xu Shichang and Duan Qirui, asking them to advise the independent provinces to abolish independence, and expressed their support for Li's cabinet. Kang Youwei also sent a telegram to the independent provinces to advise them to abolish independence.The telegram praised the 14 provincial governors' petition to dissolve the National Assembly as "a great contribution to the Republic of China".The telegram said indignantly: "The President regards the dissolution of the Congress as a morality, President Wu regards the refusal to countersign as abiding by the law, and the various newspapers regard the dissolution of the Congress as injustice. The southern provinces want to use the dissolution of the Congress to punish their crimes, shocking the whole country. Do you forget The Congress is evil, and the mob should be despotic to subjugate the country?" He also denied that the "Provisional Constitution" should continue to be observed.The telegram said: "The "Convention Law" is not the opinion of our 400 million people, but the representatives of the governors of the 17 provinces use strong troops. Now the governors of the 14 provinces are scattered with troops, and it is advisable to go back and forth." On the 16th, Zhang Xun, wearing a red crest and flower feathers, took a car with the four commanders of the Dingwu Army to Shenwumen, and then transferred to Jianyu to the Qing Palace.Zhang Xunxing knelt down to pay respects, claiming to be a slave and paying homage to Sheng'an.Pu Yi gave him a seat and rewarded him with horseback riding in the Forbidden City. The four imperial concubines also came to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to talk with him.Pu Yi gave a banquet, and rewarded many pieces of ancient porcelain and famous paintings.Then he went to Dongjiaomin Lane to visit the ministers of various countries, and Minister Hayashi of Japan hosted a banquet to entertain them. The day Zhang Xun arrived in Beijing was also the day when his majesty reached its peak.From this day on, his prestige began to gradually decline. According to the decision of the Xuzhou meeting, all issues related to the country's major plans must be handled by the leader of the alliance, and then the relevant provinces will be notified by text and telegram.After Zhang Xun arrived in Beijing, he issued orders to the relevant provinces as the leader of the alliance.But therein lies the problem.In the past, no matter when Yuan Shikai or Duan Qirui were in power, they regarded the warlords of the provinces as the favored sons of heaven, and they had to be discussed with them when they encountered problems.Both Yuan and Duan are the leaders of the Beiyang faction, and if they are so accommodating, how can Zhang Xun give orders to the warlords of the provinces? people.When the warlords attacked Li, they had to push out someone to come forward, Zhang Xun was in a moment of success, now Li's resistance no longer exists, and the leader of the alliance wants to act arbitrarily, how can everyone tolerate it? Between Zhang Xun and the provinces, conflicts first occurred on the cabinet issue.Li Jingxi's cabinet was supported by Zhang Xun alone, and Duan and Feng did not like this cabinet.The list of cabinet members determined by Li includes Liang Dunyan for diplomacy, Yuan Naikuan for internal affairs, Lei Zhenchun for the army, Zhang Zhenfang for finance, Sa Zhenbing for the navy, Cai Rukai for education, Li Shengduo for agriculture and business, Qian Nengxun for justice, and Yang Shiqi for transportation.Most of them are Hongxian Monarchist and Restoration faction.Zhang Xun originally planned to propose the famous former Qing Dynasty veteran Lao Naixuan as the chief of internal affairs, but because Lao was too politically charged, he changed the name to Yuan Naikuan.This list was not actually made by Li Jingxi. When Zhang Xun pushed Xu Shichang to organize the cabinet before, he made a list of cabinet members for Xu, and the content of that list was exactly the same as this one. At this time, it was inconvenient for the Overseer Corps to openly quarrel with Zhang Xun, so they used the topic to oppose the Zhang Guanli Dai's cabinet.Zhang Zuolin published Yandian, saying that Li Jingxi's refusal to counter-sign the order to dissolve the Congress was due to collusion with the South, so he suggested that the cabinet should still be organized.Cao Kun issued a salty telegram, suggesting to organize a military cabinet to unify the military power.He believes: "It is difficult for Zhi Lao to come back, and Ju Lao doesn't care about it", and advocates "Dun persuades Lao Lao to serve as a cabinet".Yan Xishan published the deleted telegrams, Zhang Huaizhi published the salty telegrams, and Yang Shande published the deleted telegrams, unanimously advocating hiring veterans to form a cabinet. According to Beiyang's custom, every time a new cabinet is formed, warlords from various provinces must call to congratulate it, so as to ensure that the cabinet will not die prematurely.All Li's cabinet received were telegrams persuading him to quit, so he dared not take office.In order to maintain his prestige, Zhang Xun was busy sending telegrams every day, sending representatives to dredge the warlords to support the Li cabinet.In the past, these tasks were all carried out by Li Lai, but at this time the central government was no longer Li's central government, and he was happy to stay out of it.Zhang Xun tried his best to clear it up to no avail. On the contrary, Cao Kun, Zhang Huaizhi, Zhang Zuolin, and Ni Sichong jointly advised Li not to go on stage.In addition, Li also received a telegram from Zhang Binglin, scolding him for "introducing bandits into the capital and disrupting the law and order, like Cui Yin summoning Zhu Wen. He is called Prime Minister, but he is actually an adjutant." Zhang Xun had never tasted such a bitter taste.He was furious and said to others: "To oppose Li's cabinet is to oppose the central government, and to oppose the central government is to rebel! Whoever dares to rebel, I will fight." The central government in his mouth is his own central government.There was also a big rift between the two (Zhang Xun and Zhang Zuolin).In the past, Zhang Zuolin called Zhang Xun Zhang Xuzhou, and he was very respectful to Zhang Xuzhou.Just because Zhang Xun took in Zhang Zuolin's traitor Tang Yulin who escaped from Fengtian, Zhang Zuolin was greatly dissatisfied.Zhang Xun simply summoned Feng Delin, the commander of the 28th Division who was at odds with Zhang Zuolin, to Beijing as an assistant to the restoration. Zhang Xun was at a loss for what to do as the warlords had different opinions on the cabinet issue, so he proposed to organize a senate of the six giants to take charge of state affairs and serve as the highest decision-making body above the cabinet.The elder was hired by the president, and Zhang Xun drew up a list of the six giants: Xu Shichang, Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang, Wang Shizhen, Lu Rongting and himself.According to this list, apart from Wang Shizhen, none of them are in Beijing. Therefore, he and Wang Shizhen sent a telegram to make final dredging for the Li cabinet. On the 17th, Feng Guozhang, Tian Zhongyu, Yang Shande, and Zhao Ti all called back saying that they had no opinion on the cabinet issue;Ni Sichong and Zhang Huaizhi still opposed Li's cabinet, and Zhang Huaizhi also asked the provinces to jointly call to persuade Li Jingxi to retreat from the virtuous way. The Legion of Governors expressed resistance to Zhang Xun on the issue of the cabinet, but the conditions for canceling independence were finally fulfilled.Ni Sichong, Zhao Ti, Cao Kun, Chen Shufan, and Li Changtai announced the cancellation of independence on the 19th, Zhang Zuolin, Yang Shande, Yan Xishan, and Zhang Huaizhi on the 20th, Xu Lanzhou and Zhang Jingyao on the 21st, Li Houji and Zhang Guangjian on the 22nd , The Tianjin General Staff Office announced its withdrawal on the 21st.In the telegram, they also said that the president was lenient and benevolent, and asked for strict punishment, as a warning.In addition to pleading guilty, Zhang Guangjian also sent a telegram suggesting that the "National Hongbo Constituent Assembly" be convened as a constitution-making body to replace the National Assembly. , Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, Zhang Jian, Tang Hualong, Zhang Binglin, Cai Yuanpei, Yan Fu, Xia Zengyou, Ma Qichang, Wang Zhaoming, and Zhang Shizhao "are all eligible for selection." Just when the Warlords canceled their independence, Guangdong and Guangxi declared their independence. At this time, although the warlords did not express their support for Li's cabinet, the wave of opposition to Li's cabinet had gradually subsided, and some warlords, through Wang Shizhen's dredging, expressed their acquiescence to Li's cabinet.The independent provinces of Beijing have canceled their independence, and the crisis of the provinces sending troops to attack Youyan no longer exists.Although Guangdong and Guangxi claim to be independent, one is that Guangdong and Guangxi are far away from Beijing, and the other is that the degree of independence is different from independence. Moreover, Lu Rongting, the leader of the Guangxi warlord who controls Guangdong and Guangxi, also directly communicated with Li Jingxi. to form a cabinet.Therefore, Li Jingxi believed that the current situation had stabilized, and announced on the 24th that Wang Shizhen was the chief of the army and chief of staff, Sa Zhenbing was the chief of the navy, and Cheng Biguang was the commander-in-chief of the navy, and he was also the chief of finance. On the 25th, Li Jingxi, the cabinet premier who was timid and unwilling to appear on the stage, finally announced his inauguration by telegram. In the telegram, he stated that his term of office would only be three months. In view of the fact that the list of cabinet members mentioned last time was not welcomed by all parties, Li plans to form another cabinet with first-class talents that can attract a lot of seats. Among them are Zhao Erxun's chief of internal affairs, Yan Xiu's chief of education, Zhang Jian's chief of agriculture and commerce, and Wang Daxie's. Chief of Transportation, Chief Justice of Tang Hualong.But how could those celebrities be willing to jump into the fire pit at this time.Li used the words "Buddha goes to hell" in the telegram, and strongly urged those celebrities to "come out to save the world" with the spirit of self-sacrifice.Zhang Jian replied: "If you become a Buddha, you can go to hell. How can you make an appointment to become a Buddha for a short period of time, and force those who are not Buddhas to go to hell together? Hell is heavy, and there are many people who wish to enter. Jian is weak and weak, and has no such ambition." Yan Xiu replied, "I have lived in the mountain for eight years. Thank you, Bumin." Zhao Erxun didn't answer, but his family members replied: "The sub-marshal is going to visit Mount Tai, and the telegram cannot be forwarded." Since Li could not form a "cabinet of first-class talents", he had to find some second-class celebrities who were willing to jump into the fire pit to join the cabinet. On the 29th, he appointed Jiang Yong as the acting chief of justice, Li Shengduo as the acting chief of agriculture and commerce, and Long Jianzhang as the acting chief of transportation.But this is still a broken cabinet.When Li's search for cabinet members received cold responses from all parties, the northern provinces still respected Wang Shizhen's cabinet formation.At this time, Zhang Xun had other plans, and he was no longer willing to quarrel with the Overseer over the cabinet issue.He telegraphed to the Overseer Corps and said: "Everyone wants to persuade the old man, why don't you repeat it again and again, but the sincerity of gold and stone cannot be transferred. If you don't hire the old man, you can't be honored and you can strengthen him. Just like Zhongxian (Li), if you want to be in charge, you can't be honored and stop him. Zhong Zhong Immortal is now in office, no matter who is recommended at this time, who will be willing to intervene? Xun has no intention of this seat, and all my compatriots; we can forgive each other." This telegram did not leave any room for Li.