Chapter 35 3. Missed opportunity

In 1911 AD, the last dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing Dynasty, perished amid internal and external difficulties.Along with it was buried the whole imperial system.This time, the Chinese, who have been tossed in the cycle of chaos for more than two thousand years, are no longer willing to repeat the mistakes of regime change and success. They are determined to carry out a real revolution-the revolution of the system. The history of the empire ended, replaced by the Republic of China. The Republic of China is actually a republic.The Republic of China or the Republic, translated into English, is RePublic.Therefore, the soul of the Republic of China is a republic.The slogan of the "anti-restoration" struggle during the Republic of China was also "defend the republic".This can be described as the consensus of many elites at that time, that is, to support the Republic of China, you must support the Republic.However, the Chinese who have just stepped out of the imperial age do not really know what a republic is.Yuan Shikai did not know.Even if he doesn't call himself emperor openly, he still wants to be emperor in his heart, and he will regard the president of the Republic of China as emperor.In his view, the so-called "revolution" is just an opportunity for him to "abide" so that he can change from a minister to the emperor, add a yellow robe, and rule the world.Gonghe Yunyun is just another pattern on his dragon robe.In other words, what he wants to learn is Sima Yan and Zhao Kuangyin, not Washington.

Sun Yat-sen may not be very clear, he originally advocated reform within the system.For this reason, he wrote to Li Hongzhang, Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi in 1894, requesting reform.It was only after such efforts failed that he realized that "the current Chinese system and the current government can never be improved or reformed. They can only be overthrown and cannot be improved" (Sun Yat-sen, 1897 conversation with the Russian translator of "The Crucifixion of London"), and only then did it turn to revolution.Unfortunately, although Sun Yat-sen tried his best to advocate the overthrow of the imperial system and the establishment of the Republic of China, his understanding of the republic was still limited.For example, the "Xingzhonghui" oath "expel the Tartars and restore China" is contrary to the republican spirit and also contrary to the idea of ​​"creating a united government".One of the essences of a republic is the free and equal peaceful union of all regions and nations.In the United Government, the Manchus should of course have a seat. How can they "expel the Tartars"?It can be seen that there are also problems.

It is Song Jiaoren who truly understands the essence of republicanism and practices it.For the republic, he united the five parties to form the Kuomintang and ran for seats; for the republic, he insisted on the party cabinet and refused to accept Yuan Shikai's appointment; Please supervise in good faith."Finally, for the republic, he gave his life at the age of thirty-two.Song Jiaoren's sacrifices and contributions to China's democratic constitutionalism are immortal; his exploration and efforts for China's democratic constitutionalism are also eternal. Unfortunately, there was only one Song Jiaoren in China at that time.What is even more regrettable is that "one Song Jiaoren fell, and there were not thousands of Song Jiaoren standing up" (Camel Thorn "Rereading Song Jiaoren"). The ones who stood up were warlords one after another——Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang, Zhang Xun, Cao Kun, Sun Chuanfang, Wu Peifu, and Zhang Zuolin, as the saying goes, "I will come on stage after you sing and sing."The Anhui faction fights against the direct lineage, the direct lineage fights against the Feng faction, the central government fights against the localities, and the south fights against the north.The warlords mobilized their troops along the waterways, railways and highways, and wherever they went, they used exorbitant taxes to exploit and blackmail the people there (Fairbank "The Great Chinese Revolution"), as the saying goes, "sprinkling all the people is resentment" (Mao Zedong's "Qingpingle Jianggui War").

Therefore, reunification has become the requirement of the times; eradication of warlords has become a necessity of revolution. In 1923, the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party reached an agreement to establish a united front of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. On July 9, 1926, the National Revolutionary Army (Commander-in-Chief Chiang Kai-shek) had eight armies of about 100,000 people, divided into three groups, and formally launched the Northern Expedition from Guangdong. In less than half a year, they defeated Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang, and occupied the To the Yangtze River Basin and parts of the Yellow River Basin.

This is of course something that gave the Chinese people hope, but the journey of the republic is doomed to be difficult and tortuous.After the Revolution of 1911 came the warlord melee, and after the warlord melee came the Northern Expedition.As a result of warlord melee, the "Republic of China" became a "Warring States"; as a result of the Northern Expedition, the "Republic of China" became a "Party State". In 1927, Chiang Kai-shek announced that he had entered the second stage of the "three stages of the establishment of the Republic of China" (military administration, political training, and constitutional government), that is, the "period of political training." In 1928, the Kuomintang passed the "Plan for Political Training", which clearly stipulated that "during the period of political training of the Republic of China, the National Congress of the Chinese Kuomintang shall exercise power on behalf of the National Assembly."When the National Congress is not in session, it is used by the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee (Central Executive Committee). In 1931, the National Assembly passed the "Constitution of the Political Training Period", which reaffirmed the system in which the Kuomintang "acts" the central government power, and clearly stipulated that the chairman of the National Government was elected by the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang, as was the president of the Fifth Academy (later It was changed to the Chairman of the National Government and submitted to the Central Executive Committee for election).As a result, Sun Yat-sen's ideas of "building the country with the party", "governing the country with the party" and "the party is above the country" became legal regulations, and the Republic of China was also "statutory" as a party-state.

In fact, the Republic of China in the "political training period" was not only a "party state" but also a "military state."Because whether it is the Nationalist Government or the five courts of the Nationalist Government (Executive Yuan, Legislative Yuan, Judicial Yuan, Examination Yuan, and Supervisory Yuan), they are all under the control of the Military Commission.The Military Commission, or the Military Commission, was originally a department directly under the Nationalist Government. In 1937, the Nationalist Government, in accordance with the decision of the Standing Committee of the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee (Central Standing Committee), announced that the chairman of the Military Commission (Military Commission) would exercise the power of supreme command of the sea, land and air, and also authorized the Military Commission to exercise unified command over the party, government and army.Therefore, the Military Commission not only manages the military (military), but also manages the government (administration) and the party (party affairs).As for the chairman of the Military Commission, we know that it has always been Chiang Kai-shek.Moreover, he also served as the President of the National Government (1928) and concurrently as the Chief Executive (1930).Obviously, this Chairman Jiang was the pillar and soul of the Kuomintang after Sun Yat-sen's death; his party state and military state can be regarded as a "post-empire" with the name of the Republic of China but not the reality of the Republic of China. Dynasty, we usually call it "Jiang Family Dynasty".Although this dynasty is actually fragmented and torn apart, and China has never been truly unified under their hands, it does not mean that there is no imperial legacy and dynastic atmosphere.In fact, when the Kuomintang regards Sun Yat-sen as the "father of the country" like the "first emperor" or "Taizu", these meanings are revealed inadvertently.From this point of view, the republic is by no means an easy task.What's more, we missed several opportunities.

The first time was "Southeast Mutual Insurance". In May 1900, the Empress Dowager Cixi declared war on all countries in the world in the name of the Qing Empire. The Eight-Power Allied Forces landed in Tianjin to threaten the capital.However, the governor of Shandong, Yuan Shikai, who holds a heavy army, communicated with Liu Kunyi, governor of Liangjiang, Zhang Zhidong, governor of Huguang, Xu Yinggui, governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, Sheng Xuanhuai, minister of railways, and Li Hongzhang, acting governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. , refused to obey.Not only did they not obey their orders, on the contrary, Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong and others signed treaties with the enemy without authorization, agreeing to "mutual non-aggression", blatantly disregarding the life and death of the Qing court.What's more, Zhang Zhidong and others secretly planned that if the queen mother and the emperor were killed in the war, the governors of the southeast would jointly promote Li Hongzhang as the "president" of China to preside over the overall situation.This is the famous "Southeast Mutual Insurance" in modern history.

There is no doubt that resisting imperial edicts has been a major crime of ransacking and beheading in all dynasties.A private "president" will even implicate the nine ethnic groups.Zhang Zhidong and the others dared to do this, obviously they had nothing to fear.The reason is that after the outbreak of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the imperial court could no longer suppress it by relying solely on the power of the Manchus, so it had to use a large number of Han bureaucrats (such as Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang).Moreover, due to wartime needs, many powers that originally belonged to the central government had to be delegated to the local governments.As a result, the first is the Han nationality of the governors of each province, the second is the independence of local forces, and the third is the privatization of the national army. official's private army.First of all, they obey the orders of the chief, and secondly, they are loyal to the court.The imperial court is beyond the reach of the local government; the local government is undoubtedly too big for the imperial court.The governor, who has relatively independent financial rights, human rights, political power, and military power, has long formed a community of interests with the local gentry, just like an independent kingdom.The situation of the princes' separatism has actually been secretly formed.

This is really a good opportunity that fell from the sky.Because of the peaceful union of regions and nationalities, the proper separation of powers between the central and local governments, and the rejection of absolutist centralization, this is exactly one of the connotations of a republic.We know that Zhang Zhidong, Liu Kunyi, Yuan Shikai and others are all powerful figures who hold military power and sit in one side.Their political opinions are different from those of Li Hongzhang.It couldn't be better.Because in this way, even if Li Hongzhang becomes president, he can only govern and share with these people, and dare not be dictatorial.These Han governors have strength and dare to reconcile; they restrict each other and can only reconcile.Southeast mutual protection, Li Daitao zombie (Li Hongzhang replaced the zombie-like emperor of the Qing Dynasty), inter-provincial republic, isn't it a heaven-sent opportunity?It's a pity that it didn't work out.

The second time is "inter-provincial self-government". In July 1920, Tan Yankai of Hunan Province initiated the self-government of the provinces, and implemented the provincial constitution on January 1, 1922.This initiative has won the support of many local power factions.In addition to Chen Jiongming, Commander-in-Chief of the Guangdong Army and Governor of Guangdong, and the Guangdong Provincial Council, supporters include Sichuan, Zhejiang, Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Hubei, Fengtian, Anhui, Gansu, Zhi The government, commander-in-chief or provincial council of a subordinate province.The intellectual class even applauded it repeatedly and had many supporters, because it embodies the spirit of the republican system.In fact, Sun Yat-sen also made similar claims.After the outbreak of the Revolution of 1911, Sun Yat-sen said in an interview with reporters in Paris that China's "area is actually larger than the whole of Europe. The climate of each province is different, so the habitual nature of the people also varies with the climate. It seems that this situation is politically inappropriate. It is most appropriate to use the North American federal system to centralize power", and said that "there is no other way" ("The Complete Works of Sun Yat-sen", Volume I, p. 562). On New Year's Day of 1912, Sun Yat-sen became the provisional president, and he also issued a declaration, saying that "now the provinces are united to seek mutual autonomy, and the administrative period will be based on the relationship between the central government and the provinces. The Complete Works, Vol. 2, p. 2).It's a pity that it didn't stick to it later.

Mr. Yuan Weishi believed that inter-provincial self-government was the best choice for China at that time.He reminded everyone that the "self-government" that Tan Yankai and Chen Jiongming talked about had real content: each province has a provincial assembly, and it has become common practice to formulate provincial constitutions.Moreover, there are many independent civic groups in each province, and the provincial council is not a rubber stamp.In Guangdong under Chen Jiongming, even the election of county magistrates has already begun.Such a system is obviously conducive to the democratization of the provinces, and it will also force the central government to respect the rights and interests of the localities, administer according to the law, and cannot be autocratic.This is the modern constitutional republic.What's more, when the national political level is generally not high, it is obviously much easier to partially implement democratic constitutionalism than to fully blossom, and a country that is united by relatively independent provinces that implement democratic self-government is obviously easier than issuing orders from top to bottom. A centralized state is easier to achieve a republic.Therefore, if this movement is successful, China will look very different (please refer to Yuan Weishi's "The Beginning and Frustration of Liberal Democracy and the Rule of Law in China").Unfortunately, it failed again. The third time is "KMT-CCP ​​cooperation". In 1945, the Anti-Japanese War achieved a complete victory.This is the result of the joint struggle of the people of the whole country led by the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and the fruit of the bloodshed and sacrifice of millions of anti-Japanese fighters, so it is very precious.At this time, the mountains and rivers are broken and urgently need to be reorganized; the people are in dire straits and urgently need to survive.The whole country is full of people's minds and minds, and they all yearn for peace.For this reason, Mao Zedong, the leader of the Communist Party of China, went to Chongqing to negotiate in person and reached an agreement with Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Kuomintang.At this time, if the politicians leading the direction of China can come up with the great concept of "one country, two systems", form a coalition government with the Kuomintang as the ruling party, the Communist Party and other parties as the opposition parties, and use the areas led by the Communist Party as "political special zones" "Turning hostility into friendship, substituting competition for war, peaceful coexistence, and peaceful competition, China's politics will be another scene.It is a pity that the two political parties that once fought side by side, defeated warlords, and defeated enemy bandits failed to join hands again to build a republic. Isn't the process of republic difficult? This is not surprising either.In my opinion, it is the inevitability of history that China cannot move toward a republic overnight, and the success of the 1911 Revolution may have been an accidental surprise.Because whether it is a republic or a republic, after all, it is something that has never existed in the political tradition of our nation, and it is impossible to produce it.Therefore, we must also discuss what is constitutionalism, what is democracy, and what is republic.After clarifying this point, we can answer why China's road to republic is so tortuous and long.