Chapter 40 fourth quarter

Zhang Xun has been closely observing the disputes between the government and the court in Beijing. When the army governor was angered by Li Yuanhong and the National Congress, Zhang Xun secretly invited the governors from various provinces to Xuzhou, where his yamen is located. The provincial governors even called Zhang Xun a senior, instigating Zhang Xun to be rude to Li Yuanhong.Zhang Xun saw that the warlords were so resentful towards Li Yuanhong, he smiled triumphantly, and showed Li Yuanhong's telegram of Duan Qirui's dismissal as Prime Minister (the warlords were still on their way to Xuzhou when the telegram was sent); Shocked and furious.

What Zhang Xun wants is for everyone to hate President Li Yuanhong.Now everyone's mood is almost the same, and they all hope that Zhang Xun will take the lead in defeating Li, but he has a noncommittal expression.Someone immediately understood and said: "We know that you just want to restore the Qing Dynasty. As long as you take the lead, we will follow to the death!" Zhang Xun was overjoyed immediately, and said: "If this is true, that would be great! But this is not empty talk. Since we do it, we must be steadfast!" Everyone said yes again and again.Zhang Xun asked Xu Shuzheng and Anhui Governor Ni Sichong, who attended the meeting, if they could reveal Duan Qirui's attitude.Xu and Ni's answer was: "I only want to destroy Li, no means are used!" This means that there is nothing wrong with restoration.

The Xuzhou meeting before the restoration agreed that after Zhang Xun entered Beijing, first dissolve the National Assembly, then force Li Yuanhong to abdicate, and then welcome the restoration of Puyi.After the meeting, according to Zhang Xun's request, the provincial governors signed a piece of yellow silk in favor of restoration. The restoration that has been planned for many years has finally begun!Zhang Xun was very excited.This blunt and straightforward husband is proud of uniting such a group of powerful factions across the country. The restoration is just around the corner, but he can't imagine the psychology of the warlords and Duan Qirui: what they want is to use you to drive away Li Yuanhong, so let's promise your restoration. What year is it?Have you recovered?As soon as Li Yuanhong fell, our goal was achieved, and whether it is restored or not is up to you, Lao Zhang?Duan Qirui was even more insidious: he knew that Zhang Xun dreamed of restoration, so he asked his subordinates to encourage him. When Zhang Xun was restored, he could easily calm down and win a good reputation of "rebuilding the republic".

Li Yuanhong dared to remove Duan Qirui, the boss of Beiyang, and warlords all over the country started to boil. Ni Sichong, governor of Anhui, first declared independence, and then seven provinces including Henan, Zhejiang, Shandong, and Fujian declared independence; He accused Li Yuanhong of being a "traitor" and even threatened a "Northern Expedition".Li Jingxi, an old bureaucrat who was about to die, did not expect that he would still have the honor of being a prime minister in his old age. He was so happy that he wanted to take office, but now he was too scared to go out, let alone go to Beijing to take office.

The dispute between the court and court developed to such a point that Li Yuanhong was desperate and urgently called Zhang Xun to Beijing for mediation. From June 6th to 8th, there were heavily armed braided soldiers in the roaring carriages on the Jinpu Railway.Zhang Xun led an army of 6,000 braids and marched into Beijing under the legal name of being recruited by President Li Yuanhong, and the farce of restoration was about to begin. When he set out, Zhang Xun was carrying a package; when someone asked him what was in the package, he smiled secretly and said, "You will know when the time comes!"

Zhang Xun met Duan Qirui when he passed by Tianjin.Zhang Xun falsely told Duan Qirui that this trip was for him to drive Li away. Duan Qirui knew the inside story of the Xuzhou meeting from Xu Shuzheng, so looking at Zhang Xun was like looking at an old dog who was about to fall into a trap.While encouraging Zhang Xun to drive Li away, Duan Qirui made plans for the future, and said something in advance to "draw a clear line" with Zhang Xun: "If you restore the restoration, I will definitely beat you!" : "The restoration is certain, but I don't want to do it yet!"

When Zhang Xun arrived in Beijing, he rested in the Nanheyan Zhang mansion on the first day; he went to see Li Yuanhong on the second day and demanded that the Congress be dissolved immediately, otherwise he would not be responsible for mediation; Dragging his big braids, he sneaked into the Forbidden City to pay homage to his long live God Pu Yi. When entering Beijing, Zhang Xun asked to bring a guard, and Li Yuanhong allowed him to bring two thousand people. Unexpectedly, six thousand people came. Li Yuanhong knew that something was wrong; I invited a plague god myself. It is easy to ask God, but it is difficult to send God away.Zhang Xun was aggressive and demanded that the Congress be dissolved within three days, with no room for negotiation. On June 9, the braided army stationed at the Temple of Heaven and Xiannongtan, and put the knife on Li Yuanhong's neck.

Li Yuanhong had no choice but to preserve the republican system of the Republic of China, imagining that Zhang Xun would stop further actions after satisfying Zhang Xun's request to dissolve the Congress.Li Yuanhong knew that he had caused a catastrophe with a single recruitment order.The current situation is that even if Zhang Xun wants to be the president himself, it is better than the restoration of Xuantong!Changing the president does not involve the national system, but once it is restored, the retrogression of the national system is caused by President Li Da! The dissolution of the National Assembly required a countersignature from the prime minister. Li Jingxi hid in Tianjin and did not dare to take office. The acting prime minister was Wu Tingfang.Wu Tingfang never countersigned this compromise; Li Yuanhong followed the advice of others and said that if he was willing to countersign, he would promote Wu Tingfang's son Wu Chaoshu as the deputy minister of foreign affairs. Wu Tingfang was furious and said it was humiliating!When Zhang Xun heard that Li Yuanhong had surrendered, he lacked the signature of Lao Wu and sent someone to threaten Wu Tingfang. Wu Tingfang was unmoved. Department, the head can be broken but the law cannot be violated!"

Li Yuanhong sent someone to Tianjin to look for Li Jingxi, and Li Jingxi said: "I haven't assumed office, so I'm not considered prime minister." He refused to sign.The dispatched person was anxious, so he shamelessly went to find Duan Qirui, who had just been dismissed a month and a half ago. Of course, Duan Qirui said, "I have already stepped down, so how can I have the power to countersign it!" Li Yuanhong was so anxious that he wanted to cry, and begged Wang Shizhen to "help" become the prime minister once again, and countersigned the document. Wang Shizhen said, "If the president insists on doing this, I will resign and leave Beijing. I don't care about everything!"

In the end, it was Jiang Chaozong who stepped forward and was willing to countersign.Seeing a savior, Li Yuanhong hurriedly appointed him as the acting prime minister and immediately signed the document for the dissolution of the Congress.The inscription date of these two documents was June 12th as requested by Zhang Xun, because no one could be found to be the prime minister everywhere, and it was actually the morning of the 13th when they were issued. Under Zhang Xun's "order", the Congress was dissolved in such an absurd manner; a series of strange behaviors during the dissolution process made people not know how to laugh or cry.

"Braided Handsome" came to Beijing, and the elders of the former Qing Dynasty were very excited and engaged in frequent activities, waiting for the day when Pu Yi would re-enter the Great Treasure and become an official himself. On June 28, an old man dressed as a farmer walked out of the Beijing Railway Station, covering his face with a cattail fan, which was very mysterious.As soon as he got out of the station, he was picked up respectfully by four braided soldiers and galloped towards Zhang Xun's mansion. This old man is the famous Kang Youwei.In his underwear, there is hidden the restoration proclamation of Emperor Xuantong for restoration. Kang Youwei, who was called "the sage of the South China Sea" by people in the late Qing Dynasty and "the most outstanding thinker in modern times" by Li Zehou today, was a die-hard royalist.After the failure of leading the reform, he fled to Japan, and then lived in seclusion in Shanghai.Before Zhang Xun's incident, he had lived in Zhang Xun's house for half a year, and the two like-minded people planned to restore the "great cause" every day.Now he is one of the protagonists of course. Although Zhang Xun is rude, he has a good wife.His eldest wife, Cao Ruiqin, is simple, kind-hearted, generous, politically knowledgeable, and knows very well that Zhang Xun's actions are an enemy of the whole country.She tried her best to stop the restoration, pulled his clothes and begged on her knees.Zhang Xun was furious, and said, "If you dare to stop me again, I will kill you!" Knowing that Zhang Xun was stubborn, Cao could not persuade him to return, so he had to send his reliable cousin Zhang Zhao privately, and took three 100,000 taels of silver bills, to Guangzhou as a gift to Sun Yat-sen, so as to leave a way for Zhang Xun and his descendants. On the night of June 30, the restoration officially began.After Zhang Xun held a meeting in the mansion, he announced in public that he would immediately help Pu Yi regain the throne, and everyone looked at each other in blank dismay.Zhang Xun shouted hoarsely: "You have all been favored by the Qing emperor, you should do your best to agree with it, and achieve this eternal feat! People here today, if you don't agree, you are not allowed to go out!" Afterwards, the braided army flooded into Beijing like a tide, quickly occupying various key points. July 1st is a day that Puyi will never forget.The ecstatic masters rushed over and said that Zhang Xun was coming soon; Puyi said he was here to pay his respects again?The masters repeatedly said yes, he is here to welcome the emperor back to the throne!From today, you are the emperor again!The masters explained a few more words to Pu Yi. The secret in the package that Zhang Xun carried before his departure appeared, which is his "court uniform" all over his body now.Zhang Xun stepped forward, kowtowed three times and bowed nine times, and said: "The Empress Dowager Longyu couldn't bear to let the people suffer for the honor of the same family name, so she issued an edict to establish a republic. Who would have thought that the people would live in poverty. The republic is not in line with our national conditions. Only Only when the emperor is restored can the people be saved!" Is this the big happy event really coming?Puyi felt a little dizzy.According to the previous explanations of the masters, the 12-year-old Puyi said: "I am too young, I have no virtue and incompetence, and I am afraid that I will not be able to take such a big job." Zhang Xun was overjoyed, Puyi's words were so mature and decent, the emperor is the emperor, there is no guarantee!He repeatedly praised the emperor for being so wise at such a young age, and said that Lord Kangxi had ascended the throne at the age of eight?Didn't you also make such a big career?With the help of servants and others, you, the emperor, must also be a sage king who will be famous through the ages! Next, groups of elders came to see the emperor, to pay their respects, and to thank them for their gratitude. The Forbidden City, which had been deserted and quiet since 1912, became noisy and active again. Beaming, but also sober. On the night of June 30th, when Concubine Jin heard that the restoration was going to be restored, she hurriedly stopped it. She knew that restoration was impossible now, and instead, the conditions for preferential treatment of the royal family might be cancelled.The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became, she shed tears and said: "Kang Youwei and Zhang Xun's troubles will ruin this little court of orphans and widows!"But none of these can stop Zhang Xun's fanaticism and the ecstasy of dreaming of "a pie falling from the sky" of the restorer. Puyi sat in the Hall of Central Harmony, and Zhang Xun led a group of elders to kneel down and kowtow, and shouted long live; then he took out the restoration edict drafted by Kang Youwei, and asked Puyi to "review" it and stamp it. The sixth year of the Republic of China became the ninth year of Xuantong. On July 1st, the "imperial court" issued nine "shangyu" in one breath, the content of which was basically enfeoffment, what "public", what "minister", what "shangshu", and each of them supported the restoration or not. On the head of the Restorationists.Zhang Xun, who worked hard and made great achievements, ranked first among the seven "Ministers of Discussion", and served as "Governor of Zhili" and "Minister of Beiyang", and he was given horseback riding in the Forbidden City.Kang Youwei was appointed as the "Deputy President of Bute Academy", and the "President" was Xu Shichang! Li Yuanhong was also named a "first-class public" in recognition of his "return to the government". The imperial palace has been set up in a decent manner, and the private market is also being arranged. In the early morning of July 1, the police went door-to-door to notify: Lord Xuantong had been restored, and the dragon flag was hoisted immediately! The folk restoration supporters were overjoyed, turned out the clothes of the former Qing Dynasty that were treasured deep in the closet, put them on, and strolled happily all over the street.The general public who discovered the country's discoloration overnight were caught off guard, fearing that they would be held accountable by the restored court if they didn't change their clothes. This was far from meeting the demand for robes and gowns in the Qing Dynasty, so shroud shops became popular, and shrouds for the dead became a hot commodity for a while.On the streets of Beijing, people are walking around like people crawling out of a coffin, full of ghosts and monsters. It has been seven years since the end of the Qing Dynasty, and the dragon flag has long been thrown somewhere. The people who were required to hang the dragon flag had no choice but to stick a triangular dragon flag on paper and stick it in front of the door.The rows of paper flags in the streets and alleys make people feel that the people of this country are suffering from some kind of disease. That's not to mention, the biggest symbol of the Qing Dynasty is the braid, but now the only people with braids are Zhang Xun and his braid soldiers, except for the preferential treatment in the Forbidden City.Some elders who were forced to cut their braids by the current situation, as well as those who were afraid of the restoration of the court for "disloyalty", and those who showed their favor to the restoration court, collected hairs, made fake braids, put them on their heads, and then Just like that, he went out and walked in a strange way. The ancient oriental city of Beijing has become an extremely absurd world.This kind of farce is rare through the ages.