Chapter 31 A quiet "Garden of Tranquility"

In July 1929, I moved from Zhangyuan on Guandao Street in the Japanese Concession to "Jingyuan" in Xiechangli.This is the rented house of Lu Zongyu, an Anfu politician. It was originally called "Ganyuan". After the Northern Expedition, the power of the Kuomintang extended to the north, and the warlords who had friendship with me collapsed one after another. The three eastern provinces, which I had pinned my hopes on, announced the "change of flag".Because of this, Zhang Yuan felt pessimistic and disappointed.Some of the old retainers scattered like birds and beasts, and among the close officials who stayed with me, except for Zheng Xiaoxu and Luo Zhenyu, almost no one talked about restoration.People like Chen Baochen stopped talking about the words "Heaven and man return" and "Lying hard to taste courage" that used to be on their lips.The only question that people think about is how the new dynasty will treat me, the last emperor.I myself fell into deep anxiety.However, this situation did not last long.We soon saw that after the five-color flag was taken down, people holding the blue sky and white sun flag started to fight each other again. Today A and B join forces to oppose C, and tomorrow B and C cooperate to defeat A. The situation is the same as before.The "unification" achieved by Chiang Kai-shek is becoming less and less likely, and the country under Chiang Kai-shek's feet is becoming less and less stable as expected.Zhang Yuan had a sense of being saved from a dead end, so he couldn't help but gradually revisit his old dreams, and felt that the great cause of "fixing in one" still seemed to belong to me.Not only the elders and disciples later resumed this view, but even the Japanese staff who "talked" about the current situation every week did not shy away from this view.I named my new residence "Jingyuan" not because I want to be quiet, but because I want to "watch the changes quietly and wait for the right time."

Looking at the day in the quiet garden, looking forward to the moon and moon.In the summer of 1931, I was really looking forward to the news. Two months before the "September 18th" Incident, Pu Jie, who was studying at the "Learning Academy" in Tokyo, Japan, was about to return to China for vacation when he suddenly received a letter from Kagoshima.Captain Yoshioka Anzhi of a regiment of the Kagoshima Garrison used to be a staff officer of the Japanese Army Headquarters in Tianjin. He often came to Zhangyuan to talk about the current situation, and he also knew Pu Jie. Jie went to Kagoshima as a guest for a few days before returning to China.Pu Jie was invited to Kagoshima and received hospitality from Yoshioka Shaozuo and his wife.When it was time to bid farewell, Yoshioka said mysteriously and solemnly to Pu Jie alone: ​​"When you arrive in Tianjin, you can tell Brother Ling: Zhang Xueliang is making trouble now, and something may happen in Manchuria in the near future... Please Xuan Tong Take care, the emperor, he is not hopeless!" Pu Jie arrived in Tianjin on July 10 and told me the news.On July 29, Viscount Mizuno Katsukuni, a Japanese Chinese, came to visit. Accompanied by Zheng Xiaoxu and Pu Jie, I received him.During this ordinary and polite meeting, the guest gave me an unusual gift: a Japanese fan with a couplet of poems inscribed on it: "The sky is not empty, Goujian, the time is not without Fan Li".

It turned out that before Pu Jie returned to China, Viscount Mizuno personally approached him about sending fans. Therefore, Pu Jie understood the origin of these two lines of poems, and immediately wrote to report to me.This is a story that happened during the civil strife in the Northern and Southern Dynasties of Japan.Emperor Go-Daigo, who was under the control of the Kamakura shogunate, failed to launch the fall of the curtain, was captured by the shogunate, and exiled Yinqi.In exile, a samurai carved these two poems on the trunk of a cherry tree, hinting to him.Later, with the assistance of a group of "Fan Li", this Japanese "Goujian" overthrew the shogunate and returned to Kyoto.After that, the "Jianwu Zhongxing" began.That’s the end of Mizuno’s story. As for the fact that Emperor Go-Daigo was kicked out by the new samurai leader Ashikaga Takaji only three years after he returned to Kyoto, he didn’t say any more.Of course, I didn't have the heart to study Japanese history at that time.Importantly, this is a hint from the Japanese.At that time, when the "mountains and rains were about to come and the wind filled the building", the situation in the Northeast became increasingly tense, and my dream of "re-climbing the great treasure" had been dreaming for several nights in a row.That's when the cue—whether it came from purely personal concern or someone's behest—actually served as a signal for action to me.

Zheng Xiaoxu left some records in his diary of Jingyuan's dynamics in the days before and after September 18th: Ever since I heard the news of the incident, I have been thinking of going to the Northeast every minute, but I know that it cannot be done without the consent of the Japanese.Zheng Xiaoxu told me that the situation in Shenyang is not yet clear, so there is no need to be too busy. The Japanese will come to invite the emperor sooner or later, so it is best to contact all parties first.So I decided to send Liu Xiangye to find Uchida and Honjo, the supreme rulers of the Japanese in the Northeast.Also ask my head housekeeper, Tong Jixu, to go to the Northeast to see what's going on with the elders.At this time, Shang Yanying also wanted to find those Northeast generals who had come and gone.Not long after the people who handled the "timely tasks" left, Zheng Xiaoxu's words came true, and the Kwantung Army sent someone to find me.

On the afternoon of September 30, Yoshida Chutaro, the interpreter of the Tianjin Garrison Headquarters, came to Jingyuan and said that Lieutenant General Kashii Hirohei, the commander, invited me to the headquarters to talk about an important matter.He told me not to bring my entourage, but to go alone.With a premonition of a happy event coming, I arrived at the Japanese barracks at Haiguang Temple, and Kashii was waiting for me outside his house.I entered his living room, where I saw two people standing respectfully, one was Luo Zhenyu in a long robe and mandarin jacket, and the other was a stranger in a suit. From his bowing posture, it could be seen that he was a Japanese.Kashii introduced that he was sent by Osumi Itagaki, the staff officer of the Kwantung Army, to meet me, and his name was Riichi Kamikaku.After the introduction, Kashii went out.

There were only three of us left in the house.Luo Zhenyu greeted me respectfully and took out a big envelope for me.This is written by Xiqia, chief of staff of Zhang Zuoxiang, deputy commander in chief of Northeast security, from my distant clan.Zhang Zuoxiang is the part-time chairman of Jilin Province. Because he went to Jinzhou to attend his father’s funeral and was not in Jilin, Xi Qia took advantage of his power and took the opportunity to order the city to welcome the Japanese army. Therefore, the army led by his teacher in the Japanese non-commissioned officer school, Duomen, was not in Jilin. With one shot and one bullet, Fei occupied Jilin.He said in the letter that he had been looking forward to the opportunity for twenty years, and today it finally came. He asked me to lose the opportunity and go to the "ancestral birthplace" to preside over the grand plan immediately. He also said that with the support of the Japanese, Manchuria can be occupied first, and then In Tuguan, as soon as I return to Shenyang, Jilin will be the first to announce restoration.

When Luo Zhenyu waited for me to finish reading the letter, in addition to repeating the meaning of the letter, he also talked a lot about his own running and the Kwantung Army's "just assistance".According to him, the "recovery" of the entire Northeast is just around the corner. Thirty million "people" are looking forward to my return.In short, everything was fine, and I was sent to Dalian by a Japanese warship when I pulled my legs up.He spoke happily, his face flushed, his whole body trembled, and his eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets.His excitement was justified.He not only has the desire of Xiqia, but also the enthusiasm of Lu Buwei.He now believes that soon he will be able to surpass his addiction to mending gowns in python robes, kneeling and kowtowing three times, and he also sees "exotic goods" whose profits are tens of millions of times that of "Mo Yuantang".The "hard work" he spent in the past few years was later written in his autobiography "Ji Liao Bian":

Haoran has the ambition to return home.So he returned to the country in 1919, and lived in Tianjin for another ten years. He witnessed private fights between soldiers, which continued for years.Afterwards, I stayed in Liaodong for another three years.In the old age, the desire for governance is increasingly pressing, and selfish intentions are in chaos in the pass. There is no way to start, but the three eastern provinces have not yet been corrupted. It is better to implore the emperor to save the 30 million people in Manchuria and Mongolia, and then use the power of the three provinces to settle the pass.But in this matter, there must be powerful people in the three eastern provinces who understand the righteousness, and it cannot be achieved as expected.It was in the spring of Xinwei (1931) that he went to Jilin to negotiate with Zhaojungemin (Qia).Xi Jun has long had the ambition to recover, and when he sees a match, he cherishes it and waits for the time.In addition, the three eastern provinces have a deep relationship with Japan, and it cannot be achieved without the understanding of allies.After living in the Liao Dynasty, he was quite in touch with the commander of the Japanese Kwantung Army. He insisted that in order to achieve peace in East Asia, China and Japan must work together to start from the three eastern provinces;Youbang heard about it, and it was quite pleasant.

Regarding Luo Zhenyu's activities after he moved to Lushun Dalian at the end of 1928, he once wrote to me and told me roughly. Didn't hold out much hope.Just a few months ago, he had just made another bad impression on me.A few months ago, he suddenly ran from Dalian excitedly, and told me with a "persuasion form" written by the Japanese wanderer Ta Notoyo. Jie Suqi worked together and was entrusted by the military department to draw up a plan. Based on the intelligence of the so-called "Red Party's incident", he would send Seminov to lead the White Russian Army to take the opportunity to seize "Fengtian" with the support of the Japanese army. At the same time, he would contact the Northeast The local officials "welcome back to Manchuria, promulgate an edict to recover Manchuria and Mongolia, and restore the Qing Dynasty".In order to realize this plan, I hope that I will give him some funds.When I heard about this plan, I felt strange and couldn't believe it.Two days later, the Japanese military attache in Beijing, Mori Jiu, suddenly came to Zheng Xiaoxu and asked me not to believe Tian Yefeng's plan. Zheng Xiaoxu quickly told me and attacked Luo Zhenyu again.This happened not long ago, now that Luo Zhenyu came to talk to me again about meeting the driver, I naturally had to be vigilant.

I looked at Luo Zhenyu, then at the unfamiliar upper corner Liyi, feeling hesitant.Apparently, Luo Zhenyu's appearance this time was different from any previous ones. One of the conversations took place at the headquarters of the Japanese Army, and a representative from Itagaki University of the Kwantung Army came with him; the other was holding Teruji's personal letter in his hand; Furthermore, the day before I read the news in the Dalian newspaper that "all walks of life in Shenyang are preparing to welcome the former Qing emperor", and the Tianjin newspaper kept reporting that the Chinese army was retreating steadily, and that Britain was protecting Japan in the League of Nations.It seems that the Japanese army's rule of the Northeast is possible, and all this is what I hope.However, I think it is better to discuss this matter with Chen Baochen and Zheng Xiaoxu.

I told Luo Zhenyu and Shangjiao that I will answer them after I go back and think about it.At this time, Xiang, who was hiding somewhere, appeared on the scene. He told me that the security situation in Tianjin was not good, and he hoped that I would consider the opinion of the Kwantung Army's Itagaki and set off for the Northeast.His few words made me feel that things were not fake after I got into the car.My doubts have been completely replaced by joy.Unexpectedly, when I returned to Jingyuan, I immediately ran into someone who threw cold water on me. The first to express opposition was Chen Baochen, followed by Hu Siyuan and Chen Zengshou (Wanrong's master).After hearing my narration, they immediately thought that Luo Zhenyu had committed a reckless and surly old disease again, and believed that they should not trust a representative of the Kwantung Army.They said that the changes in the situation in the Northeast, the true attitude of the international powers, and the trend of "people's hearts" are still unclear, at least until Liu Xiangye finds out the truth before he can decide what to do.After hearing these discouraging words, I shook my head impatiently: "Xiqia's letter will never lie." Eighty-four-year-old Chen Baochen looked very sad when he heard my words. After working for a while, he said very sadly: "The return of heaven and man is inevitable. Isn't it my lifelong wish to restore the old things? But the situation is chaotic, and if you do it rashly, I'm afraid it will be easy to go and difficult to return!" I didn't think it would make any sense with these old men, so I asked someone to urge Zheng Xiaoxu to come here immediately.Although Zheng Xiaoxu is seventy-one years old, he is full of energy. He "opens the door" and "borrows foreign aid". The "Three Consensus Theory" and the "Sandu Plan" and so on have made me completely fascinated.Not long ago, according to his wishes, I wrote a banner of "National Warriors" to the Italian Prime Minister Mussolini whom he admired the most.He once said: "Italy will surely become the hegemony in the West, and the Qing Empire will surely re-emerge in the East. Is it God's will that the two countries divide the East and West?" In order to reward my future prime minister in black, I specially instructed my Father, let my second sister be engaged to Zheng Xiaoxu's eldest grandson, and give him the special honor of "Royal Family".I guess he must be very happy when he hears that Xiqia and the Kwantung Army have asked me to go out to "preside over the big plan" and Chen Baochen's reaction must be different.Unexpectedly, he did not show the excitement I expected. "It's been going on and on until today. Manchuria is bound to be restored first, and Japan won't be able to end it if it doesn't welcome the holy car." He pondered for a while and said, "However, it is more appropriate to wait for Tong Jixu to decide when to start the car." This meant that, like Chen Baochen, he also thought that the time was not yet ripe. In fact, what Zheng Xiaoxu had in his head was not a matter of timing.This can be proved by an entry in his diary not many days ago: (According to the economic panic that occurred in the capitalist world from 1929, there were often articles in the newspapers talking about how to save the capitalist world from the crisis-the author) It was all due to China.Citing the recent suggestion of the famous British novelist Wells that "the dictator of the world needs to be rescued from the world economic depression", he said that this plan is nothing but a dream and cannot be realized.Ward suggested that the US government should consider extreme dictatorship measures to save the status quo.The first step is to form an international economic and financial banking group, led by the United States, to provide funds for the sole purpose of revitalizing China.He advocated that the U.S. government should quickly draft a development plan for China.If China's industrial and transportation needs can be met, it will become the world's largest market, and it will not be long before the US investment is repaid.Focusing on China at this time, the social and economic systems of the United States have been corrected, prosperity can be restored, and human beings will benefit from it. The party is destroyed, and the period of opening up has come!Who can be its master?Among those who are qualified in Asia, one is the Emperor of Japan and the other is Emperor Xuantong. However, if the Emperor of Japan puts forward the proposal of opening up, what are the impressions of those who have heard of it from all over the world?safe?Uneasy?The emperor of Japan made this proposal himself, is it safe?Uneasy?If Emperor Xuantong has lived at home for twenty years, his power has been lost, and because of the loss of power, his qualifications for proposals have been increased.Because it has no racial and international opinions, and has no ambition to bully the weak. It can be seen that he not only saw Manchuria, but also saw the whole of China, the whole country's "opening up time has come", let alone the Northeast!At that time, the main issue he considered was not the timing of going to the Northeast, but how to deal with Luo Zhenyu's new challenge. The challenge started a few days before I went to the Japanese Army Command.That day, I received two letters from the Northeast, one was from Luo Zhenyu, and the other was from Zhou Shanpei, who was Pu Wei’s secretary (he worked as an aide to Cen Chunxuan in the late Qing Dynasty). Manuscript" in order to act for me.According to their words, the time has come, and all parties can contact each other as soon as they contact each other. The only thing left is to prove their identity as representatives.I told Zheng Xiaoxu about this, and he hurriedly stopped him: "This is absolutely impossible! If such a rash person is useful, it will definitely damage your reputation!" Zheng Xiaoxuxu and I were monopolized by Luo Zhenyu. Of course, I couldn't understand this at the time. I just thought that since people who went to the Northeast were all advocated, and those who went to the Northeast were coming back soon, it might as well wait.At this time, Chen Zengshou was afraid that I would change my mind, so he hurriedly gave me a memorial.This memorial can be said to be a typical material representing the thoughts of Chen Baochen and his group at that time: To restore the country, there must be Luan, Que, and Hu, who are the internal masters first; King Chu Zhao borrowed Qin soldiers to defeat Wu, and there were also old officials such as Zixi who collected the ashes and regarded them as pioneers.Since ancient times, there has been no one who can build a country solely by relying on external forces.At this time, the gentry and generals of the Eastern Province must first express their support and support, and then Japan will rely on it as a source of support.The time for this seems to have not yet come.Today, people in the Eastern Province are still waiting and watching. If they see a breakdown in negotiations between Japan and the government of the Republic of China, some people will change their plans.Now the foreign ministers of the great powers are gathered in Geneva, and they want to take advantage of the situation of the League of Nations to mediate.Japan refuses to offend the big powers. It is said that the outline of the terms has been proposed. If the government of the Republic of China agrees, it will withdraw its troops.Although the government of the Republic of China sang the theory of unyielding, it was actually ruthless and soft inside, fearing that it would eventually lead to submission.If Japan tries to do whatever it wants, it will end with it.If negotiations fail to compromise, there may be no other action.At this time, the situation is still wandering between the wrong roads, and we must not take the liberty to move lightly, and fall into a dilemma.Looking at the situation in the Republic of China today, although Nanjing and Guangdong are merging, they hate each other deeply. They live together and are suspicious of each other, and their union will not last long.If they break with Japan at this time, they will collapse immediately.If Japan's request is complied with, it will completely deviate from those who usually boast about the people of the country, and it will definitely cause civil strife and be unable to stand on its own.Even if Japan withdraws its troops temporarily, it will still wait for the opportunity to move.Therefore, what I am planning at this time is to slow down for the time being, and there will be many opportunities in the future.If you don't know the truth, try it lightly, and suffer setbacks, you will never have hope for the future, and you will have no way to stand.The emperor is wise and wise, and has suffered through hardships, so he will be able to stick to his opinions, and he will not be easily swayed when he moves when the time is right.As far as I can see, whether it is appropriate or not, I will pay attention to the secret report and pray for the holy lesson.Sincerely. With all these different thoughts, the quiet garden became more and more difficult to be quiet.At the same time, another unexpected thing happened.