Chapter 26 third quarter

On February 12, 1912, the day the Qing emperor announced his abdication, Yuan Shikai called Nanjing to express his support for the republic. The message was: "Nanjing President Sun Da, Vice President Li, the heads of various ministries, and fellow members of the Senate: the republic is the best national system, recognized by the world, and now it has leaped from the imperial government to it. It is true that you have worked hard for many years, and it is also the endless happiness of the Republic of China. Great. Since the emperor of the Qing Dynasty resigned, signed by Shi Kai, the date of the announcement is the end of the pro-government, that is, the beginning of the Republic of China. From then on, we will work hard to make the order reach a perfect position, and never allow the monarchy to be practiced in China again. Now Unifying the organization is extremely important and complicated. Shikai is eager to go south, listen to the great teachings, and conspire to carry out the method; it is only because the order in the north is not easy to maintain, and the army is like a forest, so it needs to be deployed; There are fluctuations, involving the whole country, and you all have a deep understanding of the current situation, and you will be able to understand this difficulty. As for the important issues of republic construction, you have studied well and have a well-thought-out plan. How to negotiate and unify the law of organization, I hope you will see it soon. Yuan Shikai is true."

After Sun Yat-sen received the abdication of the Qing emperor and Yuan Shikai's approval of the Second Republic of China, he submitted two messages of resignation and Yuan Shikai as the provisional president of the Republic of China to the Provisional Senate the next day. On February 15, the provisional Senate held a provisional presidential election meeting, and Yuan Shikai was elected as the provisional president of the Republic of China by a unanimous vote. We know what Yuan Shikai will do in the future, and we can't help but feel deeply sorry for Nanjing's actions.However, at the time, it was a matter of course: Yuan Shikai really lived up to expectations, did not serve the Qing court, and ended the Qing court in just over two months; if he was loyal to the Qing Dynasty and suppressed the revolution with all his might, then the victory of the Republic would have been deserved. How much will it cost.Li Yuanhong, Sun Yat-sen, etc. had repeatedly stated before that as long as he overthrew the Qing government and favored the republic, we would elect him as president; now he has done what he is required to do, and of course he must fulfill his promise.

There was another economic reason for Sun Yat-sen's eagerness to abdicate. After the independence of various places, the financial stocks left by the former Qing Dynasty were very limited, and a large amount of funds were urgently needed for combat, and all localities were financially stretched.When Sun Yat-sen returned to China, it was widely rumored that he brought back a large sum of money; after disembarking in Shanghai, a reporter asked him how much money he had brought back. Before that, Sun Yat-sen had failed to raise funds in Europe, so he said: "I don't have any money. What I bring back is the spirit of revolution!" Of course, everyone applauded enthusiastically, but they couldn't help but worry in their hearts.

After Sun Yat-sen took the oath of office, the military situation on the front line in Anhui was in an emergency, and there was a shortage of food and pay. An urgent call was made to the central government to demand payment.Provisional President Sun Yat-sen's Zhubi batch: allocate 200,000 yuan for emergency relief.When Hu Hanmin, Secretary-General of the Presidential Palace, took this presidential approval and went to the Ministry of Finance to allocate funds, he found that there were only ten silver dollars in the treasury! Zhang Jian, an industrialist who is proficient in financial management, estimates that the new government's expenditure must be at least 120 million taels per year and 10 million taels per month; after deducting the possible income, the new government will be short of 80 million taels a year.

Due to the lack of funds, the Nanjing Provisional Government was almost facing the danger of disbanding the army and the collapse of the government. Sun Yat-sen handed over to Yuan Shikai, and there were also reasons why it was difficult to maintain. Of course, Sun Yat-sen and others also know that this person is half-new and half-old, and he can be new or old. If he really wants to maintain the republic to the end as he said, then the people of the country will be blessed; What should we do if we start a dictatorship? Sun Yat-sen first prepared two curses for him: the capital is set in Nanjing; Yuan Shikai must go to Nanjing to take office.

This is because Yuan Shikai is too powerful in Beijing, and if he is transferred from Beijing, where personal power and feudal power are very strong, to Nanjing, the possibility of him acting recklessly is much smaller. At that time, there had been disputes within the revolutionary camp over where the capital of the Republic of China should be laid.Many people think that from the perspective of the national territory, Nanjing is located in a remote area, and it was a small place at that time, so Beijing is the best.Sun Yat-sen withstood the pressure and tried his best to overcome all opinions. From the perspective of restricting Yuan Shikai, he decided that the Provisional Government of the Republic of China must be established in Nanjing.

Sun Yat-sen sent Yuan Shikai the two items of setting the capital in Nanjing and Yuan Shikai must come to Nanjing to take office, and urged him to come to Nanjing to take office.Yuan Shikai knew the intention of these two articles at a glance, and sneered in his heart: the provisional government was established in Nanjing, and I was asked to take office in Nanjing. You just happened to bully me, didn't you?Is it so easy to tune the tiger away from the mountain? So Yuan Shikai called back, saying, I wish I could go to Nanjing to listen to the teachings of the princes as soon as possible, but the current order in the north is quite chaotic: the royal family has just retired, and they are unwilling to do so, and they are still trying to make trouble under the instigation of some outsiders; Mongolia is also very unstable; embassies, consulates and commercial organizations of various countries in Beijing must also be protected.These bad things have slowed down my preparations to go south to take office, and also made the country into two parts, the north and the south, which have not been unified for a long time. I am really sorry.Now it seems that instead of you, President Sun, giving way to me, it is better for you to continue, and after I stabilize the north, I will hand it over to you, and then I will resign and be a happy and happy ordinary citizen of the Republic of China.

Saying that Sun Yat-sen served the country and the people, what Yuan Shikai said was even more impartial.After the announcement of this telegram, Yuan Shikai "moved China", and his approval rate soared. Sun Yat-sen still did not let go. On February 18, Cai Yuanpei, the director-general of education, was appointed as the head of the delegation, and Song Jiaoren, Wang Jingwei and other eight members were members to form a special mission to welcome Yuan. Yuan Shikai gave a grand reception to the special envoy, and first sent his eldest son Yuan Keding to Tianjin to meet him; after the special envoy arrived in Beijing, Yuan Shikai opened the Zhengyang Gate where only emperors could go before; Arranged as a guest house.

The special envoy delivered Sun Yat-sen's personal letter to Yuan Shikai.Yuan Shikai had a very happy conversation with the special envoys. Yuan Shikai did not refuse the question of going south to take office, and agreed without hesitation, and also discussed the route of going south.Yuan Shikai said that he was going to take the Beijing-Hanzhou line, first go to Wuchang to meet with Vice President Li Yuanhong, and then transfer to Nanjing by ship.The special envoy was overjoyed, and a stone fell from its heart. Just when the special mission felt that the trip was worthwhile, on the evening of February 29, the city of Beijing suddenly burst into flames, gunshots broke out, and large groups of soldiers looted and burned the streets. "Gongbao is leaving, we are left alone, hurry up and grab some money and go home!" Such voices echoed in the army.That night, gold and silver jewelry stores, restaurants, and grocery stores were all looted wherever the rebels passed by, and Dong'an Market, Dongsi Archway, etc. were set on fire. It seemed that the Eight-Power Allied Forces had come to Beijing again.

A group of rebellious soldiers rushed into the accommodation of the envoys, and the nine envoys fled to the Liuguo Hotel in a hurry.Everyone's clothes are disheveled, shoes and socks are missing, and they are in a mess. The mutiny lasted for three days before and after, and expanded to Tianjin, Baoding and the greater northern region. On the second day after the mutiny, Yuan Shikai urgently convened a meeting of senior military and political leaders, and decided to take immediate action to stop the spread of the chaos. Yuan Shikai sadly said to the envoy: Beijing is really unstable, you can see it!What if I leave as soon as I leave? !

After such a process, coupled with Yuan Shikai's consistent behavior, it is difficult not to guess that he was the instigator of the mutiny, and it was difficult to find a reason not to go to Nanjing. Whether or not Yuan Shikai ordered someone to do this matter is still controversial, because no conclusive evidence can be produced.Most likely: the planner of the mutiny was Yuan Keding, the son of Yuan Shikai.He first released the news that as soon as Yuan Shikai left, Beijing would cut down the army and the soldiers would have no way to survive. The scale and chaos of the mutiny exceeded the expectations of the planners.In addition to the fact that the army is owed wages and the soldiers have grievances, there is another reason: the news that the capital of China will be changed to Nanjing from now on has caused some Beijingers to lose their minds and become angry: We used to be under the feet of the emperor, the center of the country, how big What a sense of superiority, the next move of the capital will immediately become nothing!So a large group of street ruffians desperately hustled with the rebels, hoping to keep the capital. Indeed, the rise and fall of Chinese cities is greatly influenced by administration. After Chiang Kai-shek designated the capital of the Republic of China as Nanjing in April 1927, he changed Beijing to Peiping.As soon as the central administrative organs moved away, the city of Beiping immediately became deserted; by 1949, Beiping, which had lost its status as the capital for only 22 years, was already in disrepute. manure! Regardless of whether the mutiny was planned by the Yuan family or not, the envoys who witnessed this scene had no choice but to call Nanjing to report the truth to Sun Yat-sen.Many people in Nanjing originally advocated the establishment of Beijing as the capital. In this way, Yuan Shikai's inauguration in Beijing was a foregone conclusion. He's done it again. After Sun Yat-sen failed to set two tight spells on Yuan Shikai, he built another embankment: the president must abide by the "Interim Constitution of the Republic of China" stipulated in the contemporary constitution.This constitution amends the provisions of the "Provisional Government Organization Outline" that the government of the Republic of China is a presidential system, and the government system is changed to a cabinet system. The so-called presidential system means that the power of the country is vested in the president, and the prime minister is appointed by the president.Now that Yuan Shikai is the president, the risk is too great. The so-called cabinet system is to entrust power to the prime minister, who is elected, not appointed by the president; the president does not hold real power, but is just a virtual head of state representing the country, doing some ceremonial and procedural work.If it can be realized, it will be tantamount to taking away the real power of President Yuan Shikai. On March 10, 1912, Yuan Shikai took the oath of office in Beijing; the next day, Sun Yat-sen signed and announced the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China. Before Yuan Shikai's cabinet was established, Sun Yat-sen was still handling central government affairs in Nanjing, and he was officially dismissed on April 1.Therefore, from March 10 to April 1, the Republic of China had two legal interim presidents. These two interim presidents, one is the most powerful faction in China, and the other is the biggest idol faction in China. If they can cooperate sincerely and conspire with the future of the Republic of China, then the historical process will be much smoother.But this faction of power has only a superficial view of a true democratic republic, and has no intention of defending or pursuing it; Yuan Shikai's first consideration is whether individuals can have the greatest power and whether they can do what they want without restriction. thing. Yuan Shikai sneered inwardly when he saw that the temporary constitution changed the presidential system to a cabinet system: If you are the president, you will be the presidential system, and if I am the president, you will be the cabinet system.I've been busy for a long time, just to be a virtual head of state with a signature and seal, so why don't I have the right?joke! After making a comeback, for six months, Yuan Shikai coaxed, threatened and forced the Qing court, beat, dragged and slapped the revolutionaries. He tried his best to obtain the highest power.Now that the president is in his hands, how can he be a little daughter-in-law! Yuan Shikai wanted to demonstrate to the laws and regulations formulated by Sun Yat-sen and others. As soon as he took the oath of office, he ordered an amnesty for the whole world. All prisoners who were imprisoned before March 10 would be released home with amnesty.For such a big move, firstly, it required the approval of the Senate, and secondly, it required the countersignature of the cabinet, that is, Yuan Shikai's signature must be accompanied by the Prime Minister's signature, so that it has legal effect.But Yuan Shikai did it brazenly, obviously expressing on purpose that the things you did in Nanjing are nothing in his eyes, and now the old Yuan is in charge! On March 13, Yuan Shikai appointed Tang Shaoyi as the first Prime Minister of the Republic of China; on April 1, Tang Shaoyi's responsible cabinet was formed, and Sun Yat-sen was officially dismissed.The members of the new government are: The interim president Yuan Shikai, courtesy name Weiting, was born in Xiangcheng, Henan, and was fifty-three years old. Vice President Li Yuanhong, named Song Qing, was born in Huangpi, Hubei, and was 48 years old. State Prime Minister Tang Shaoyi, courtesy name Shaochuan, was born in Xiangshan, Guangdong, and was fifty-two years old. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lu Weixiang, named Zixin, from Shanghai, 41 years old. Zhao Bingjun, chief of internal affairs, named Zhi'an, was born in Linru, Henan, and was fifty-three years old. Chief of the Army Duan Qirui, courtesy name Zhiquan, was born in Hefei, Anhui, and was 47 years old. Liu Guanxiong, chief of the Navy, named Ziying, was born in Minhou, Fujian, and was fifty-four years old. Chief Financial Officer Xiong Xiling, also known as Bingsan, is from Fenghuang, Hunan, and is 42 years old. Chief Justice Wang Chonghui, courtesy name Liangchou, was born in Dongguan, Guangdong, and was 31 years old. Cai Yuanpei, the head of education, was born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, and was 44 years old. Song Jiaoren, head of agriculture and forestry, was born in Taoyuan, Hunan, and was 30 years old. Chen Qimei, chief executive of industry and commerce, named Yingshi, was born in Wuxing, Zhejiang, and was thirty-six years old. Shi Zhaoji, director of communications, named Zhizhi, was born in Qiantang, Zhejiang, and was thirty-five years old. Huang Xing, who was left behind in Nanjing, named Keqiang, was born in Shanhua, Hunan. He was thirty-six years old. Looking at this list, one can understand that the departments that hold real power, such as foreign affairs, internal affairs, army and navy, finance, and transportation, are all in the hands of Yuan Shikai's people; The departments called "cold yamen" by the political circles are decorated by people who are not from Yuan Shikai's camp.