Chapter 14 San Beiyang Veteran

The edict of abdication was not issued, and only a statement from the Ministry of Internal Affairs wrapped in the presidential order was announced at that time. From the abdication edict of self-confessed "listening to the court" to the statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs that "Zhang Xun is entrenched, there is nothing to do against others". This is the result of the cooperation between the three veterans of the Beiyang Clan and the Forbidden City.It was Taifu Xu Shichang who came up with this clever plan, and it was President Feng Guozhang and Premier Duan Qirui who implemented it.

The behavior of the Forbidden City in this restoration has been lightly covered up.The new activities carried out by the Forbidden City from the day when the restoration and defeat were set are no longer noticed by the outside world. The following is Prince Chun’s diary during this period (my notes in brackets): The Forbidden City used the golden cicada to escape the eyes of the society, and those losers outside the Forbidden City became the targets of exposure and criticism.From the articles in the newspaper and the discussions of the masters, I quickly got mutually corroborated news and understood the truth of the restoration.

The brewing of restoration happened as early as when the Hongxian monarchy failed.At that time, Yuan Shikai's Beiyang faction was besieged on all sides. Xu Shichang, who once served as Secretary of State and then resigned because he opposed Yuan Shikai's "overstepping" and proclaiming emperor, used secret telegrams to discuss with Zhang Xun and Ni Sichong. During the Qing Dynasty, Xiang Cheng still held the position of prime minister and held the military power."This idea was agreed by Zhang and Ni, who had long been interested in it, but they did not dare to act because they did not receive support from the ministers of various countries.After Yuan's death, they continued their activities and successively held summit meetings of Beiyang soldiers in Xuzhou and Nanjing.And when Yuan's father-in-law moved to Zhangde, taking the opportunity of the leaders of the Beiyang faction and the warlords to pay their respects, under the auspices of Xu Shichang, a unanimous decision was made to agree to the restoration.

After a consensus was reached, the activities of the Restoration were divided into two centres.One is Zhang Xun from Xuzhou, and the other is Xu Shichang from Tianjin.Zhang Xun returned to Xuzhou from Zhangde, and invited the warlords together for a meeting (the so-called second Xuzhou meeting), and decided to seek support from foreigners first, first from Japan.Zhang had contact with a major general of the Japanese garrison army in Tianjin through Zhu Jiabao (Governor of Zhili Province) in Tianjin. After receiving sponsorship, Zhang also got in touch with Shanqi and Mongolian bandit leader Babu Zhabu who were active in Manchuria and Mongolia through the relationship of the Japanese major general. Zhang and Ni from Xu Bang, Lei Zhenchun and Zhu Jiabao from Tianjin contacted and agreed that once Babu Zhabu's army reached Zhangjiakou, Lei Zhenchun would instigate Zhangjiakou to respond, and Zhang and Ni would send troops northward under the pretext of defending the capital. , In this way, the "great cause" of restoration will be achieved in one fell swoop.This plan later failed because Babu Zabu's army was resisted by the Feng army, and Babu Zabu was assassinated by his subordinates.After Xu Shichang returned to Tianjin, he sent Lu Zongyu to Japan to test the attitude of the Japanese political circles.At that time, the Japanese cabinet and the military did not fully agree with each other, and the cabinet showed no interest in the activities of the major general stationed in Tianjin.Lu Zongyu's failure caused widespread complaints from the elders in Tianjin and Shanghai, blaming Xu Shichang for his improper employment.Not only did Lu Zongyu's diplomacy fail, but his internal diplomacy was also bad.Before going east, he visited Zhang Xun in Xuzhou, and showed Zhang Xun the conditions negotiated between Xu Shichang and the Japanese side, hoping to get Zhang's approval first.Zhang Xun didn't feel much about Xu's agreement to Japan's conditions. Only Xu Shichang asked Japan to understand and support him as the king of politics, which annoyed Zhang Xun.He said to Lu: "It turns out that the restoration was only for the sake of Xu? Don't I, Zhang, not deserve to be the king of politics?" From then on, there was suspicion between Zhang and Xu, and the activities of the two restoration centers began to diverge.

Soon, the Allied Powers pulled a section of the cabinet to participate in the European War that had been fought for three years.Xu Shichang saw that it was a good move, and believed that participating in the war in exchange for the support of the Allied Powers would greatly consolidate the position of the Beiyang faction, so he encouraged Duan Qirui to proceed.Duan wanted to unify the country by force, and if he participated in the war, he could get Japanese loans to fund his civil war, so he submitted it to the Congress for discussion.But most of the Congress opposed joining the war. At this time, President Li Yuanhong, who wanted to seize real power, joined the Congress to oppose Duan Qirui.The so-called dispute between the government and the court gradually became fierce. As a result, the Prime Minister was dismissed and fled to Tianjin.Duan went to Tianjin to secretly instigate the warlords of the Beiyang faction to claim independence from Li Yuanhong's central government, demand the dissolution of the National Assembly, and at the same time send troops to threaten the capital.Zhang Xun saw that this was a good opportunity, and at the Fourth Xuzhou Conference, he obtained the unanimous support of the provincial governors and the representatives of Feng and Duan of the Beiyang Department. He believed that he had indeed become the leader of the governors and the leader of the restoration, so he was deceived Li Yuanhong regarded him as a peacemaker and invited him to Beijing as a mediator.In late June of that year, he led the army to the north. After contacting the leaders of the Beiyang faction in Tianjin, he forced Li Yuanhong to dissolve the Congress as a condition, and then went to Beijing. On July 1, the scene of restoration was staged.

Many newspapers analyzed that Zhang Xun's failure was due to monopolizing power and making two major mistakes, which resulted in his own isolation.One mistake was to only give Xu Shichang an empty street of Dean Bute, which was doomed to failure; the other was that he should not have ignored Duan Qirui, who was both ambitious and a "research department" adviser.As early as in the meeting in Xuzhou, representatives of Feng and Duan had seconded the restoration plan. Zhang Xun later went to Beijing to visit Duan and met Duan, and Duan never expressed any disapproval. There is no problem with Duan, only Wang Shizhen's attitude is unclear.In the end he got Wang Shizhen into his hand in Beijing, and he thought that there were no problems.Unexpectedly, as soon as he launched the restoration, Duan Qirui of Tianjin vowed to fight against rebellion in Machang, and the warlords from all over the country also changed their minds, from supporting the restoration to "defending the republic."As a result of this restoration, Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang were fulfilled. One became the prime minister again, the other became the president, and Zhang Xun became the culprit.

Zhang Xun was furious because of this.He warned Duan Qirui and the warlords: "Don't force people too much and push everything on me alone. I will publish the relevant letters and meeting minutes when necessary." My father said in his diary The "letter is tough" refers to this matter.Zhang Xun's move was very effective.Feng and Duan knew the weight of Zhang Xun's dangerous words, so they didn't dare to force him.On the day the Feng and Duan governments issued an order to justify the Qing Dynasty, they also issued an order to arrest Kang Youwei, Wan Shengshi and other five restoration criminals.However, Zhang Zhenfang, the key criminal of the restoration, was captured by Feng Yuxiang's troops.Lei Zhenchun and others were immediately taken away by Duan Qirui and released immediately.After half a year, the president declared that all imperial criminals (from Hong Xian to the restoration of Ding Si) should be exempted from prosecution, although Zhang Xun was excluded, but in fact he had walked out of the Dutch embassy freely and lived in a newly purchased beautiful mansion inside.In the second year, less than two weeks after Xu Shichang took office as president, Zhang Xun was exempted from prosecution.

What caught my attention the most about these insider news is that the big figures in the Republic of China, especially the veterans of the Beiyang faction in power, were all once enthusiastic about restoration.This time they all took Zhang Xun as a target, but they all tried their best to protect me. Duan Qirui said in the telegram against rebellion: "We should rebel against Zhang Xun, and suddenly gathered his murderous party, summoned more than 30 military and police chiefs in the capital, held a meeting of halberds, resumed the order, and forced everyone to agree. Immediately he called Kang Youwei Breaking into the forbidden palace, forced to push him away, Shi Zhongtang continued to kowtow and fight, blood flowed out of the nose, the two concubines Jin and Yu cried bitterly, begging to be spared, almost wanting to live, the Qing emperor is aging, how can he resist such violence? He was falsely accused Threats, it’s really pitiful!” Feng Guozhang also said in the telegram: Zhang Xun “plays against people in the palm of his hand, leaving the house clean and even dangerous.” He also said: “In the former Qing Dynasty, Guozhang was not a person who advocated revolution. Since the 1911 Incident, the trend of the times has led to the formation of the Republic of China.”Why do they justify the Forbidden City in this way?Why can't I help express my feelings?The only conclusion I have come to is that these people are not really against the Restoration, the question is only who will take the lead.

From the perspective of the Forbidden City, as long as they can catch mice, white cats and white cats are all good cats, regardless of their surname Zhang and Duan, as long as they can carry out the restoration, they are all good people. Therefore, after Feng and Duan came to power, the eyes of lonely ministers and villains once focused on these two new powers.Hu Siyuan, who served as a cabinet minister in Zhang Xun's cabinet, was once Feng Guozhang's shogunate. He was the one who persuaded Feng during the restoration, and now he has moved Feng Guozhang again.Later, Duan Qirui also had contact with Shixu.But during the one-year term of Feng and Duan, nothing came to fruition.Because of a year of friction between Feng and Duan after they came to power, the Beiyang faction began to split into the Zhili (Feng) and Anhui (Duan) factions.In the midst of friction, Feng stepped down without any reply to Hu Siyuan.Although Duan also approached Shixu, and revealed that restoration is not a must, but Shixu, who has become more cautious after the Si incident, could not figure out what the meaning of the prime minister who came to power by crusade against restoration was, so he did not dare to take over. Huatou.

After Feng stepped down and Xu Shichang became president, the situation was different.Just after the failure of the restoration, there was a review article in the "Shanghai News", in which there is a paragraph that most touched the hearts of the people in the Forbidden City: Not only me, who has just passed the emperor's addiction for a few days, is tempted by it, but also the lonely officials and evil sons inside and outside the Forbidden City generally have this idea, at least when Xu Shichang took office in the early days. An old Beijinger of Manchu nationality in his sixties told me: "In the seventh year of the Republic of China, as soon as Xu Shichang became the president, there were more big carriages and two heads of bannermen on the streets of Beijing. The noble families once again made great fanfare. They built temples, sang operas, and held banquets, and it became lively. They also set up some "noble fan clubs" and "clubs"..."

An old gentleman of the Han nationality said: "Since the Republic of China, there have been three times on the streets of Beijing. One is in the days after Longyu's death, the other is in the days when Zhang Xun was restored, and the last time is from the time when Xu Shichang became the president until the "big wedding." '. Finally, this time it was the climax..." Xu Shichang was Yuan Shikai's friend before his fortune, and his "military adviser" after his fortune.Almost none of Yuan Shikai's major actions in his life was not combined with this military adviser.It is said that before Yuan Bi persuaded Longyu to "be inferior to the country", he and his military adviser invited Feng, Duan and others to discuss together. Army, and then restore the "resigned" emperor.Later, Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor, and Xu Shichang was quite dissatisfied.One of my relatives heard from a nephew of Xu Shichang that he was at Xu's house on the day "Hong Xian" was revoked, and Yuan Shikai happened to come to see Xu.Yuan entered the living room, but he was blocked in the smoke room inside and did not dare to come out.From the intermittent conversation, he heard Xu Shichang persuading Yuan Shikai to "still maintain the original proposal", but he didn't hear clearly what Yuan Shikai said in the end.Later facts showed that Yuan Shikai did not act according to his opinion, or died before he could do it if he wanted to. Xu Shichang himself never gave up the idea of ​​restoration. This was almost a well-known fact at that time. In September of the seventh year of the Republic of China, Xu Shichang took office as the President. He wanted to publicly declare that he could not enter and occupy Zhongnanhai. Before the official presidential palace was completed, he would work in his home.Immediately after he took office, he pardoned Zhang Xun, advocated reading scriptures, respecting Confucius, and held suburban ceremonies.According to his arrangement, some royal princes (Yu Lang) became councilors, and some (Zai Tao) were awarded the title of "General".He referred to the former Qing Dynasty as "this Dynasty" and me as "Superior" no matter who he was before or after At the same time, the Forbidden City and Xu Taifu are carrying out ulterior activities.When Feng Guozhang was president, Shi Xu, the Minister of the Interior, asked Xu Shichang to take away the Youzi Patriotic Bonds with a face value of 3.6 million yuan (this is when Yuan Shikai was the Prime Minister, and he went to the Empress Dowager Longyu to hand over all the internal funds to the internal affairs. government, according to estimates from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the actual number is more than the face value).This activity fee played a certain role in Xu Shichang being able to become president.When Xu's election as president was a foregone conclusion, the three current ministers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Shixu, Shaoying, and Qiling, accompanied by two former ministers Zengchong and Jilu, hosted a banquet for Xu Shichang at the Huixian Hall on the Shichahai seashore. Upstairs in the restaurant, after drinking for three rounds, Shixu asked, "Brother, what is his ambition when he comes out of the mountain this time?" Taifu Xu said with emotion: "Weiting (Yuan Shikai) shouldn't miss the opportunity in the year of Gui Chou (referring to Yuan Shikai in the second year of the Republic of China)." To put out the "Second Revolution"), there should be no trouble with Hong Xian. Zhang Shaoxuan was too reckless and unpopular in Dingsi." Then he raised his glass and said humbly: "We came out this time to serve as regent for the young master. Later, Xu Shichang sent Shixu a pair of couplets: "Hold the sun to stand above the world, and move the clouds to bend the mountains and rivers. The first couplet is a compliment to Shixu; the second couplet is about his ambition of "seeing the sun through the clouds." People around me refused to tell me these absolutely true stories at the time.I only know that when people mention Mrs. Xu, they always look very hopeful.I remember that ever since Xu came to power, the Forbidden City was full of people, and the posthumous posthumous law and court horses in the Forbidden City seemed to have increased again, and real and fake old people from all over the world flocked to them for a while.As for the progress of the relationship with Xu Shichang, the masters were completely vague.Once, in the middle of a discussion, Chen Baochen said with a look of disdain: "Xu Shichang still wants to be a political king, which is too much. A "gong" is enough." Empress, what is your intention? In fact, you have already seen him as the Qing Taifu who came out to serve in the Republic of China!" After Chen Baochen said these words, when Xu Shichang was mentioned in the Forbidden City, the enthusiasm of the past was gone.In fact, one year after Xu Shichang came to power, his own situation was very unsatisfactory.Since the Beiyang faction split into the direct Anhui faction, Xu was no longer able to control all parties with his qualifications as a veteran of the Beiyang. What's more, since he came to power, Duan Qirui had friction with him, and the "May 4th" student movement that shocked the whole country occurred the following year. It made them even more overwhelmed.No matter how high Taifu Xu's desire for restoration is, and how much his loyalty to the Qing Dynasty satisfied Master Chen, there is nothing he can do. Although the news from Grand Tutor Xu has gone silent, the small imperial court in the Forbidden City is not in despair about the future...

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