Chapter 29 Section VI

When the case was proceeding according to legal procedures and making considerable progress, the Kuomintang members who had lost their pillars hated Yuan Shikai except Huang Xing and a few others who remained calm.Sun Yat-sen, who was inspecting the railway in Japan at that time, heard that Song Jiaoren had been stabbed to death. He was very sad and indignant. This time to discuss Yuan is the "Second Revolution".The reason why it is called the "Second Revolution" is that the process of events is somewhat similar to the Revolution of 1911: anti-Yuan regions began to declare "independence" starting from Jiangxi.Jiangxi, Anhui, Shanghai, Guangdong, Fujian, Hunan, and Chongqing successively declared independence. Under the call of Sun Yat-sen, the "Second Revolution" was carried out with Jiangxi and Jiangsu as the main battlefield.

After Song Jiaoren was assassinated, Yuan Shikai knew that the Kuomintang was about to settle accounts, so he dispatched troops to prepare as soon as possible.The matter of discussing Yuan was hastily started, and Huang Xing internally strongly advocated not to resort to force, but to solve it by law. The "second revolution" failed in just over two months.There is no need for the shy Yuan Shikai to order anti-Yuan figures such as Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing, and Li Liejun to be wanted (these people had to go into exile again), and vigorously purged the KMT members in Congress and other institutions.

Initiating the second revolution, from today's perspective, should be another "mistake" by Sun Yat-sen.In the early years of the Republic of China, the "independence of the judiciary" that imitated the West did a good job. The assassination of Song Dynasty followed the legal procedures very well. Prime Minister Zhao Bingjun was summoned by the local prosecutor's office. There is widespread sympathy for the inexplicable death of the KMT leader who won the hearts of the people.However, Sun Yat-sen, in his rage, did not adopt Huang Xing's opinion, and immediately chose force, which made the matter deviate from the track of the law and went on the crooked path of "whoever wins is justified".Of course, it is impossible to bring Yuan Shikai to trial according to the law, but the imminent legal conclusion will make him lose all moral support, and he will probably never dare to act recklessly in the future.

In a word: It is difficult for the Kuomintang to seek justice with the law, but it will isolate Yuan Shikai, especially for a good start of "applying to the law for everything" in the future; The endless melee between warlords set a bad precedent.It is also a loss, and the "revolutionary" means are adopted, and the effect is far from the ideals of progressives. Yuan Shikai, who suppressed the "Second Revolution", was relieved to eliminate the anti-Yuan forces, but also suffered from the assassination of Song Dynasty, and fully tasted the power of the republic.Yuan Shikai is now full of energy, and he wants to remove all the things that hinder him step by step!

As early as April 8, 1913, when the first Congress of the Republic of China was held in Beijing, Yuan Shikai did not attend to show contempt for the Congress. However, Yuan Shikai still has a place to use the Congress, because he still has the word "temporary" in front of his president, and he wants to get rid of the ugly "temporary" and make it official, so he can't do without congressional votes. At that time, the Republic of China did not have a constitution, and it was replaced by the "Interim Constitution of the Republic of China" drafted by Song Jiaoren. Therefore, the normal procedure was: first formulate the constitution, and then elect the president according to law.

But Yuan Shikai couldn't wait any longer. He wanted to officially become the president before the National Day on October 10, so he went "backwards": first elect the president, and then formulate the constitution. Yuan Shikai demanded that the president be elected as soon as possible on the grounds that the country does not have an official president and it is inconvenient to deal with the international community. Then, Vice President Li Yuanhong, who was also eager to remove the word "temporary", was in charge of Hubei and sent a telegram with the governors and civil affairs chiefs of the nineteen provinces, arguing that First elect the president, then formulate the constitution; then, the Progressive Party proposed in the House of Representatives to formulate the "Great Presidential Election Law" first, and then formulate the constitution.

On October 4, the enactment of the "President Election Law" was completed; on October 6, the election of the President was held. The "Grand Presidential Election Law" stipulates that more than two-thirds of the total number of electors must be present in the presidential election. If no one is elected in the second round, the two candidates with the most votes in the second round will enter the third round. To Yuan Shikai's embarrassment and anger, he almost didn't get selected when he thought he had the chance to win and tried all his tricks! After the first round of ballots was counted on October 6, Yuan Shikai got 471 votes and Li Yuanhong got 154 votes, neither of which met the election requirements, so they entered the second round; in the second round, Yuan Shikai got 490 Seven votes, Li Yuanhong got 161 votes, still did not meet the election requirements.

In order to be safe, Yuan Shikai asked his subordinates to gather a group of rascals in advance to form a "citizens' group". They assembled outside the hall, blew their beards and stared at the congressmen, and shouted: "Long live President Yuan! President Yuan must be elected!" Whoever does not vote for President Yuan, we will never end with him!" Lao Yuan lost two elections, and it took four hours to count the ballots, and the congressmen fainted from hunger, but the "citizens' group" surrounded the door, claiming that Yuan Da would not be elected The president is not allowed to go out!Those who came to deliver food were also surrounded by them, and they were only allowed to enter if they declared that they were "delivering food to congressmen who voted for President Yuan Da".

At 10 o'clock in the evening, the third round of voting between Yuan Shikai and Li Yuanhong finally had its results. Yuan Shikai won 507 votes, surpassing Li Yuanhong and more than half of the total votes.Yuan Shikai was finally elected. When the result came out, there were several applause in the hall.Members of Parliament were unwilling to applaud, and they were already too hungry to applaud.And those "citizens", when they heard that Lao Yuan was elected, they immediately dispersed and went to collect the reward money. Yuan Shikai, who waited like an ant on a hot pot for a day, learned that he was finally elected, couldn't hold on anymore, and collapsed on a chair.

First use the "citizens' group petition" to besiege, although it is despicable, but it can barely use the "modern political rules"; and then use the method of starvation to force it, which is also a great anecdote in the history of world politics. The next day when the vice president was elected, the "citizens' group" at the gate disappeared; and Li Yuanhong got 610 votes in the first round, and was elected at one time, which was in stark contrast to Yuan Shikai's embarrassment in being elected. When Yuan Shikai forced the Qing emperor to abdicate and accepted Sun Yat-sen's abdication, he always supported the republic, saying that "the republic is the best national system, recognized by the world." You can't use power freely, and now you barely pass the three rounds of elections and lose your old face.The most direct hate is Congress.

At 10:10 on October 10, 1913, at this "perfect" moment, Yuan Shikai took office as the official president in the Palace of Preserving Harmony.In order to retaliate against the Congress, at the inauguration ceremony, he arranged the officials of the Presidential Palace and the State Department in the middle of the palace, and arranged the members of Congress in the remote court room, where he could not see or hear him at all; It is elected by Congress and is responsible to Congress! These deeds of Yuan Shikai show that no matter how prominent his identity and status are, he cannot conceal his unchangeable villainous heart. Abolish the "Convention" and dissolve Congress!Yuan Shikai started to do it "dramatically". He pointed out that the "Convention Act" and the Congress are the root of all political malpractices, preventing the president from exercising his powers and harming the people in dire straits; For the presidential system. The dissolution of the Congress begins with the purge of KMT lawmakers. After the "Second Revolution", Yuan Shikai said that the Kuomintang members "worked for tigers and endangered the country"; his Beiyang faction immediately acted upon hearing the news, and wrote a letter strongly demanding the expulsion of the Kuomintang members. The Kuomintang is the largest party in the Congress. Once the members of the Kuomintang were expelled, the number of members of the Congress dropped sharply, leaving nothing but empty air. In order to completely dissolve the Congress in a legitimate way, Yuan Shikai's signature alone is not enough, and the Prime Minister has to countersign it.The Prime Minister at that time was Xiong Xiling, how did Yuan Shikai make the old Xiong submit? Yuan Shikai informed Xiong Xiling to come to his office to discuss matters. When Xiong Xiling arrived, Yuan Shikai "just happened" to have foreign guests to meet, so he asked Xiong Xiling to sit in his office and wait.On his desk, Xiong Xiling saw the files of the former Chief Justice Xu Shiying's report on Chengde's treasure theft case. Among them, Xiong Xiling privately gave a Qianlong folding fan to Beiyang celebrity Jiang Gui when he was the governor of Rehe. problem! Yuan Shikai wanted Xiong Xiling to see that he had a handle in his hands. If he was disobedient, even if you don't want the prime minister, do you still want your reputation? When Yuan Shikai returned from meeting the foreign guests, Xiong Xiling, who was fidgeting, naturally agreed to whatever Yuan Shikai said, and just begged Yuan Shikai not to mention the treasure robbery case. In January 1914, Yuan Shikai ordered the dissolution of the National Assembly; in February, he ordered the dissolution of the provincial councils. The first Congress of the Republic of China came to an end; the constitution that was being formulated was completely ruined. In May 1914, Yuan Shikai announced the "Constitution of the Republic of China" tailored for him, and the "Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China", which shone with the spirit of modern constitutionalism, was abolished. The Yuan Ji contract law stipulates: the Republic of China is a presidential system; the State Council and the Prime Minister are abolished, and a government affairs hall is set up in the presidential palace, which is in charge of the Secretary of State; the election of the president is a secret ballot; the candidates are the current president and three other people recommended by him; the term of office of the president is ten years, Unlimited re-election. Yuan Shikai has completely mastered the Republic of China, and the Zhengshitang is a tool in his pocket. He can be the president for a lifetime, and he can recommend his son to be the president when he is about to die, and recommend his grandson to be the president when the son is about to die... Under the devastation of Yuan Shikai, the Republic of China has become in name only.