Chapter 39 third quarter

Although Zhang Xun has a prominent status, he does not have a deep foundation, and he has no appeal in society; his braided army of more than 20,000 people is certainly a force that the central government and local governments dare not underestimate, but Pu Yi must be taken seriously. Putting it on the stage and turning the Republic of China upside down to reshape the empire is no different from Shi Kelang carrying a boulder.The reason why the restoration farce can be staged is all because of a special timing - after Yuan Shikai's death, Li Yuanhong succeeded the president, and the real power was in the hands of Duan Qirui, the number one figure in Beiyang and the Prime Minister of the State. Both wanted to take power, so Li Yuanhong's president The government and Duan Qirui's State Council fought extremely happily, and the "fight between the government and the courtyard" gave Zhang Xun an excellent opportunity to take advantage of the void.

When Yuan Shikai was alive, he promulgated a treaty stipulating that the incumbent president should appoint three candidates for the presidency.He imitated the "Li Chu" of the Qing Dynasty and formulated a nondescript operating rule: write down the names of the three successor candidates during his lifetime, hide them in the "Golden Chamber and Stone House", and take them out after his death to unpack them.After Yuan Shikai died, everyone took out the list, which read: Li Yuanhong, Xu Shichang, Duan Qirui. This list is a bit unexpected, especially Yuan Keding.Yuan Keding turned pale when he saw that his name was not on his father's list.

Indeed, Yuan Shikai once intended to pass the throne to him, but after the fake "Shuntian Times" incident, Yuan Shikai became discouraged and hated him; in addition, he also considered that he had betrayed his relatives in his dream of becoming an emperor, so it would be a bit too much for his son to take over. There is no approval rate, and the naming of his son to succeed him is likely to send his son into the pit of fire.Therefore, before Yuan Shikai died, he replaced Yuan Keding on the list with Li Yuanhong. Seeing this list, the Beiyang generals were all thinking for a while.Once Yuan Shikai died, the most powerful person in the country was Duan Qirui, but he only ranked third on the list; Li Yuanhong, the vice president, should indeed be the natural successor, but he is not from the Beiyang family and has no strength.

It was still Xu Shichang who was slippery. In order to avoid disputes, just before Yuan Shikai's dead body, he proposed: According to the "Contract Law", Li Yuanhong should be elected president.Because Li Yuanhong is not only acceptable to the anti-Yuan provinces in the southwest, but also he cannot compete with the Beiyang figures. With him as the head of state, it is best for the Beiyang faction to hold real power. Xu Shichang's cleverness also lies in: he only said "according to the "Contract Law", but did not say whether it was based on the "Interim Contract Law" abolished by Yuan Shikai or the "Contract Law" promulgated by Yuan Shikai.Regardless of whether it is the new covenant law or the old covenant law, Li Yuanhong should be elected as the president, and Duan Qirui can't open his mouth if he wants to be the president.

On June 7, 1916, one day after Yuan Shikai's death, Duan Qirui issued a telegram from the State Council that Li Yuanhong would succeed him as President. Although this Li Yuanhong was the vice president of the Republic of China, before and after the death of the great president Yuan Shikai, all major events were out of the question and were only handled by the Beiyang faction. Li Yuanhong originally served as the vice president and governor of Hubei in Wuhan. The vigorous measures finally "invited" him to Beijing to take up the post. After arriving in Beijing, Yuan Shikai greeted him with the same courtesy as Sun Yat-sen, but after the banquet, he was arranged to stay in Yingtai, Zhongnanhai, where the Empress Dowager Cixi imprisoned Guangxu!Li Yuanhong sighed, knowing that his situation was over and he became Guangxu in Yuan Shikai's hands.

Li Yuanhong, who knew he was losing power, could only tuck his tail in front of this vice president who was the number two person in the country, but actually didn't care.Seeing that he was honest, Yuan Shikai was also willing to establish a good relationship with him. During his proclaimed emperor period, in order to get his support, he asked one of his sons to marry Li Yuanhong's daughter, and the two became in-laws. The Beiyang Department has always ignored Li Yuanhong, especially Duan Qirui.Duan Qirui has a great personality. He is capable and capable, and he is the number one general in Beiyang; Dung soil, and sent away the younger brother from the countryside who came to seek an official by saying, "You are not expected to be an official, I'd better give you some money to start a small business."Conceited, talented and virtuous, Duan Qirui never flatters others, only speaks with his strength, so he is famous for his self-willedness, eager to win, and is known as the "Tiger of the North Sea".

Duan Qirui looked down on Li Yuanhong a hundred times.As early as the Qing Dynasty, Duan Qirui was finally the governor of Huguang, and you, Li Yuanhong, were no more than a brigade commander.The Revolution of 1911 overthrew the Qing court. People said that Li Yuanhong had "the meritorious service of righteousness", but Duan Qirui believed that the Qing court was destroyed by Yuan Shikai and him. The threatening telegram sent by him on the front line and the Beiyang generals directly caused the Qing emperor to abdicate obediently; As for you, Li Yuanhong, who doesn't know that you were forced by uprising soldiers to become the governor of Hubei?

In Duan Qirui's eyes, Li Yuanhong is an incompetent and mediocre person who only relies on "kindness" and "kindness" to win the favor of others, so he feels very unfair that he should be inferior to this person; Well, he, the prime minister, simply treats President Le Da as nothing. To Yuan Shikai, Li Yuanhong thinks he is inferior; but to Duan Qirui, Li Yuanhong thinks highly of himself.He participated in the Sino-Japanese War of Sino-Japanese War. He threw himself into the water after he failed, and was rescued by others. He was generous and kind, and cared for his subordinates in his previous positions as an officer. He was always loved by the soldiers. , but in that dangerous situation, how much risk did he take as the governor?How much did it play a role in stabilizing people's hearts and strengthening the revolutionary prestige?At that time, if he hadn't come forward to lead everything in Hubei, how could there be such a good revolutionary situation later?Sun Yat-sen was elected President and received 16 out of 17 votes, while Li Yuanhong was elected Vice President with unanimous votes!Moreover, one of the six conditions for the peace talks put forward by the Southwest National Defense Rebels is that Li Yuanhong be the president. This is the evaluation of the people's hearts!Li Yuanhong was especially gratified that after he joined the Republic, he was steadfast in maintaining the state system of the Republic of China.Yuan Shikai attempted to proclaim himself emperor. He, Yuan Shikai's in-laws, publicly opposed him and was insulted many times by his supporters. Two days after Yuan Shikai accepted the imperial system, the first edict he issued was to confer Li Yuanhong the title of "Prince of Wuyi". Some people advised him to protect himself and accept the throne , Li Yuanhong said: "I have made up my mind, I would rather die than not." Yuan Shikai sent a tailor to measure the prince's uniform, but he was expelled; Jiang Chaozong came to declare the seal, but Li Yuanhong didn't see Jiang Chaozong at all this time, Jiang Chaozong had no choice but to play tricks, kneeling and shouting: "Please accept the seal!" Li Yuanhong was furious, and ran out of the room, pointing at Jiang Chaozong's nose Curse: "Jiang Chaozong, why are you so shameless, get out of here quickly!"

Because of Li Yuanhong's well-known clear attitude against the imperial system, Cai E secretly visited Li Yuanhong before he escaped from Beijing, and asked Li Yuanhong to be quiet and good news.When Cai E fired the first shot against Emperor Yuan in Kunming, Li Yuanhong praised Jie Jie: "Songpo (Cai E's character) is worthy of a hero!" Now it was his turn to be the president, Li Yuanhong did not buy the "support" of the Beiyang generals at all, he said very clearly at the inauguration ceremony that he succeeded the president according to the Minyuan Constitution (that is, the "Interim Constitution of the Republic of China"); That is to say, they don't appreciate Yuan Shikai's "Covenant Law", "Golden Chamber and Stone House", and the "support" of the Beiyang family.

However, Li Yuanhong knew that Duan Qirui and others were in control, and he urgently needed to strengthen his bargaining chip, so he demanded the reopening of the Congress as soon as he took office; and Duan Qirui said that once the Congress opened, the government's exercise of power would be subject to many constraints, intending to delay.Whether to reopen Congress is the first dispute between the presidential palace and the State Department. Under the firm demands of the southern provinces, Duan Qirui had no choice but to give in. On June 29, 1916, Li Yuanhong ordered the reopening of the National Assembly; then, the National Assembly was convened and Feng Guozhang was elected Vice President.

The reconstruction of the Congress increased Li Yuanhong's power.Duan Qirui was naturally very displeased with this, and Duan Qirui was very annoyed at Li Yuanhong's posture of being the president above him, and said: "I want him to sign and seal, not to ask him to press on my head." Of course Li Yuanhong didn't dare to go too far, he just said: "The president is a mother-in-law, not a daughter-in-law; a mother-in-law can take care of things less, but she can't bear the daughter-in-law ordering everything." The "controversy between government and courtyard" escalated step by step.Duan Qirui is going to arrange for his trusted protégé Xu Shuzheng to be the Secretary-General of the State Council. Xu Shuzheng is also domineering, much like his teacher Duan Qirui.Li Yuanhong denied the appointment, saying: "Tell the Prime Minister, I can agree to ten thousand things, but this one is not!" He resolutely refused to stamp the appointment document.Later, under the mediation of Xu Shichang, Li Yuanhong finally agreed to affix the seal; Duan Qirui also agreed to Li Yuanhong's request: all important matters should be reported to the president. Duan Qirui looked down on Li Yuanhong and never went to the presidential palace as a "lower level", that is, as the prime minister. Now that Xu Shuzheng is the Secretary-General of the State Council, he entrusts Xu Shuzheng to handle all dealings.Xu Shuzheng sometimes gave Li Yuanhong seals on documents, and when Li Yuanhong asked a few questions about the documents, Xu Shuzheng said impatiently, "I asked you to stamp it, and you just stamped it. Why do you ask so many questions? I'm so busy, how can I have so much time!" Li Yuanhong was so angry that he was half dead. Next, Xu Shuzheng and the Chief of Internal Affairs, Sun Hongyi, a member of the Kuomintang, had a big fight.At the state affairs meeting, Sun Hongyi accused Xu Shuzheng of stretching his hand too far and taking care of everything; but Xu Shuzheng said, can't others ask about what you, President Sun, do?Sun Hongyi couldn't hold back, and said sarcastically: "I admire your great talent, but it's a pity that the Prime Minister didn't promote you to be a state servant. This is a state affairs meeting, and you are only qualified to speak when you become a state servant!" The two went to the backstage boss to vent their anger.Duan Qirui said: "President Sun is too outrageous." Li Yuanhong said: "Secretary-General Xu is too deceitful." On October 18, Xu Shuzheng took the document to dismiss Sun Hongyi to Li Yuanhong and asked Li Yuanhong to stamp it.Li Yuanhong was quite surprised, and refused straight away; Xu Shuzheng went four times in a row, and Li Yuanhong refused four times in a row.For the last time, Xu Shuzheng said rudely: "If the president doesn't affix his seal, Bolan (Sun Hongyi's word) will have to be banned from attending the state affairs meeting!" Li Yuanhong couldn't help being furious: "What are you talking about?" Xu Shuzheng Arrogantly said: "That's what the Prime Minister said!" On October 24, Duan Qirui took the document to dismiss Sun Hongyi to Li Yuanhong in person and asked for a seal, but Li Yuanhong still refused.Duan Qirui was no longer polite, and started Huwei, saying aggressively: "If the president does not agree to remove Sun Hongyi, then remove me!" Li Yuanhong couldn't resist, so he had to ask Sun to resign instead of dismissing him.And Sun Hongyi has a very strong temper, claiming that he will never resign unless he is dismissed by the president. As things got more and more troublesome, Xu Shuzheng took a step back and proposed that Sun Hongyi resign "to maintain the prestige of the Prime Minister", and then take his post to go abroad for inspection, or arrange other positions, such as sending the governor abroad.Unexpectedly, Sun Hongyi declared: "I don't want any official, as long as I maintain my personality, I will not resign, I will not go abroad, and I will not be transferred!" This "three nos" made Duan Qirui's nose crooked in anger (his nose is already a little tilted to the left, especially when he is angry), and he roared: "Okay, everyone resign, let Sun Hongyi do it alone!" Li Yuanhong, who had had enough of being useless, wanted Duan Qirui to resign.Under the advice of his advisers, he decided to invite Xu Shichang, a Beiyang veteran who lived in seclusion in Henan and ranked second in Yuan Shikai's list of successors, to be the prime minister, taking advantage of the situation to drive Duan Qirui out of office. Since the court battle, Xu Shichang has been mediating in the middle. Now Li Yuanhong wants to drive Duan Qirui away and invite Xu Shichang to come out of the mountain, but Xu Shichang will never do such a thing: one thing he knows Duan Qirui's strength and temperament, who can catch up Can you let him go?He wants to resign and so on, just out of anger; second, he wants Xu Shichang to come out to cooperate with Li Yuanhong, fight against Duan Qirui, and then work under Li Yuanhong, he is absolutely unwilling to do it.Therefore, he put forward a condition of "not sticking to the pot" of "supporting the head of state, defending the prime minister, and not joining the political circle". If Li Yuanhong agreed, he would go to Beijing to mediate the dispute between the government and the court. Li Yuanhong failed to use Xu Daiduan's idea, so he had to accept Xu Shichang's mediation.The solution proposed by Xu Shichang is that both the government and the court will hit 50 boards each, and Sun Hongyi's chief of internal affairs and Xu Shuzheng's secretary-general of the State Council will be removed together.In the face of Mr. Xu, this method was accepted by both parties, and the round of crisis subsided. The dispute between the government and the court intensified.Zhang Xun watched the situation closely in Xuzhou.The presidential palace and the State Council of the Republic of China are nothing to him. Only the Qing Dynasty, the emperor, and the imperial court are things that he considers sacred. The more intense the central struggle, the better. The realization of the "ideal" is more likely to be achieved. Finally, a "declaration of war on Germany" case gave him a good opportunity. By 1917, the First World War had been fought for two and a half years, and China had always stayed out of it, taking a neutral attitude.In February of that year, the United States announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Germany and Austria and prepared to enter the war.The United States hoped that China would take concerted action with it. The U.S. envoy was ordered to frequently meet with the Chinese President and Prime Minister, expressing that if China participated in the war, it would lend money to China for military expenses.Under the activities of the United States, the Chinese government agreed to enter the war. This is a big event. Duan Qirui, who never met Li Yuanhong as prime minister, led all the cabinet members to the presidential palace on March 1, and held the highest state affairs meeting to discuss the severance of diplomatic relations with Germany. Li Yuanhong said that this issue should be submitted to the Congress for discussion; on the 2nd, Duan Qirui invited the Speakers of the Senate, House of Representatives, and leaders of various political parties to have a discussion, and the severance of diplomatic relations with Germany was approved; on the 3rd, the State Council approved the severance of diplomatic relations with Germany; Stamp the message.After the seal was stamped, it was submitted to the Congress. Since Duan Qirui had obtained the approval of the Congress in advance, once the seal was stamped and submitted to the Congress for a vote, the entire procedure for severing diplomatic relations with Germany was completed. Unexpectedly, Li Yuanhong insisted on not affixing his seal when the procedures were complete, saying that he could not "do it hastily", and proposed to unify the opinions of the soldiers of the whole country before making a decision. Duan Qirui was so angry that his nose turned to the side, and he suppressed his anger before explaining; Li Yuanhong said that the president has the privilege of declaring war and negotiating peace, and he should be responsible for everything.Duan Qirui was inexplicable and extremely annoyed, and shouted: "Since the president doesn't trust me and obstructs everything, I can't do this as the prime minister!" On the same day, Duan Qirui left the affairs of the State Council and left Beijing to go to Beijing. Tianjin went sulking. China broke off diplomatic relations with Germany. Under the lobbying of the United States, Li Yuanhong had already agreed, but when it was time to implement it, Li Yuanhong, who had always been honest and did not dare to take the initiative to find fault with Duan Qirui, changed his mind. The reasons here are: Japan heard that the United States was intervening in China's diplomacy with favorable terms, fearing that it would lose its influence on China's diplomacy, so it rushed in too, promising more favorable terms; Duan Qirui was originally a pro-Japanese faction, so he became close to Japan.The United States saw that Japan was going to dominate China's diplomatic direction, so it changed its attitude, from encouraging China's participation in the war to opposing China's participation in the war.Li Yuanhong was optimistic about the United States, so he opposed China's severance of diplomatic relations with Germany according to the tune adjusted by the United States. Duan Qirui ran away in a fit of anger, which was originally in Li Yuanhong's arms, but immediately he found that Duan Qirui really had the strength to go: once he left, Li Yuanhong would not be able to find someone who was worthy enough to be the prime minister.Please Xu Shichang, Xu Shichang will not do it; please Wang Shizhen, Wang Shizhen is Duan Qirui's fellow student, and it is impossible to "sell friends".However, warlords from all walks of life across the country still admired Duan Qirui, and sent telegrams one after another to ask Premier Duan to stay.Li Yuanhong had no choice but to ask Tang Hualong, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to come to Tianjin to invite Duan Qirui back. Duan Qirui returned to Beijing proudly.Naturally, Li Yuanhong had to seal the case of severance of diplomatic relations with Germany, and Congress quickly passed it. However, Duan Qirui still wants to declare war on Germany. In 1897, Germany forcibly leased Jiaozhou Bay and designated the entire Shandong as its sphere of influence; after the outbreak of World War I in June 1914, Japan declared war on Germany and seized Germany's privileges in Shandong.Duan Qirui sees that the Allied Powers will win, and strongly advocates participating in this war. After Germany is defeated, China can take back Shandong's rights and interests from Japan as a "victorious country".Japan, which supported China's participation in the war and promised to provide military loans to China, may not have thought that Duan Qirui had this idea in his stomach. The severance of diplomatic relations with Germany has caused the presidential palace and the State Council to fall apart, and the declaration of war against Germany has become even more violent, which directly created a good opportunity for Zhang Xun to restore. Li Yuanhong, who has a close relationship with the United States, first of all disagreed with the declaration of war; Congress also did not agree with the declaration of war. From the perspective of the congressmen, why should China go to the troubled waters of Europe? How can China go to a world war?It would be good to break off the relationship; the warlords of the provinces did not agree to declare war, because they were most afraid of sending their own soldiers to the battlefield, which would weaken their own strength. Duan Qirui is not afraid of Li Yuanhong, nor is he afraid of the Congress, but he is afraid that he will not get the support of the warlords.Therefore, he urgently convened an Overseer Meeting, and the Overseers from ten provinces across the country and representatives from other provinces attended the meeting.Duan Qirui gave an opportunity at the meeting: the so-called declaration of war does not need to send troops, just send some laborers to Europe. After the victory of the Allied Powers, China will be the victorious country, which is very cheap; moreover, during the war, the generals can also take this opportunity Grow your own army! The warlords of the provinces were of course very happy about this, and their attitude suddenly changed from opposing the declaration of war to supporting the declaration of war.Under Duan Qirui's manipulation, they formed a "supervisor regiment" to put pressure on Li Yuanhong and the Congress. When Li Yuanhong delayed the case of severing diplomatic relations with Germany, he used the excuse of "unifying the opinions of the military across the country." This time, the soldiers really put forward "opinions", but it was not in line with his intentions, and he was furious at the military's interference in foreign affairs.In the presidential palace, he shouted at the warlord group who came to encourage the declaration of war: "It is the prerogative of the president to declare war and negotiate peace. You are responsible for defending the territory and not infringing on the prerogative of the president!" But Li Yuanhong was a paper tiger after all, unable to withstand the offensive of the soldiers, so on May 6, he had to stamp the bill, and then hoped that the Congress would veto it. If Duan Qirui makes proper arrangements for this hurdle in the Congress, it will not be difficult to pass. Duan Qirui has already begun to dredge the Congress, answering questions from members such as "whether China's participation in the war is due to Japan's loan".Unexpectedly, Fu Liangzuo, Duan Qirui's subordinate, failed to achieve success but failed to succeed. Just like Yuan Shikai organized a "citizen's group" to besiege the congressmen when he was elected president, Fu Liangzuo also organized a "citizen's group" without Duan Qirui's knowledge!These "citizens" were agitated and surrounded the Congress, waving flags and shouting slogans to demand a declaration of war. When Duan Qirui saw it, he thought it was true and was very satisfied.Perhaps because the rewards were enough, the "citizens' group" worked so hard that they even rushed into the meeting hall, which aroused the great indignation of the members, and immediately announced the adjournment as a protest. The Legion of Overseers hit a wall in the Congress, and out of embarrassment, they jointly demanded the dissolution of the Congress.To this overbearing and unreasonable behavior that openly challenged the fundamental laws of the country, Li Yuanhong became tough and refused, announcing: "No violation of the law, no attachment to the law, no fear of death! Seeing that Li Yuanhong had no way to retreat, it seemed that God was helping him. At this time, a turning point occurred: the English "Beijing News" disclosed that if China declared war on Germany, Japan would provide China with a military loan of 100 million yuan!Duan Qirui had already denied this rumor when he answered the questions of the councilors. This time, the public opinion was in an uproar, and the old Duan was sent to the forefront of the storm. Then, another event that was beneficial to Li Yuanhong happened--the Yangtze River Tour Envoy, the Thirteen Provincial League Zhang Xun made it clear that he would enter Beijing at any time under the order of President Li Da to maintain public order. Duan Qirui was in a state of distress, and with Zhang Xun's allegiance, Li Yuanhong, who was fed up with the bullying, immediately stiffened, and he was determined to touch the "Beiyang Tiger"'s ass. On May 23, Li Yuanhong issued three orders in succession, announcing the dismissal of Duan Qirui as Prime Minister and Minister of the Army, and the appointment of Li Jingxi, a former Qing official, former governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, and Li Hongzhang's nephew, as acting premier.This is the biggest thing Li Yuanhong has done since he came to Beijing. Duan Qirui couldn't believe his ears when he heard that Li Yuanhong really dared to dismiss him.On the same day, he immediately came to Tianjin and sent a telegram saying that according to the constitution of the Republic of China, the president has no right to remove the prime minister from office, and he would not recognize this dismissal order.