Chapter 81 Chapter 14 Cai E Supports the Monarchy

The old man Ma Xiangbo represents the academic circle, the education circle.The other two represent the military forces. Of these two people, one is Sun Wu, the father of the first Uprising in Wuchang. Speaking of Sun Wu, one must mention the "Three Wu" of Wuchang Shouyi: Sun Wu, Zhang Zhenwu and Jiang Lingwu.Zhang Zhenwu conspired against Fatty Li Yuanhong because he organized an iron-blood group, but was lured to Beijing by Li Yuanhong. Later, Li Fatty sent a secret telegram to Yuan Shikai, asking Yuan Shikai to kill Zhang Zhenwu, but Yuan Shikai flatly refused. So Fatty Li sent Sun Wu and his secretary Rao Hanxiang to travel from Wuhan to Beijing. After that, Sun Wu and Yuan Shikai talked secretly for more than an hour. No one knew what they said, but afterward, Yuan Shikai signed the order to kill Zhang Zhenwu.

The historian Wang Zhonghe commented: Zhang Zhenwu is a domineering and fierce character, while Sun Wu is a sinister and cunning character. So the domineering and fierce Zhang Zhenwu died at the hands of the insidious and cunning Sun Wu. Among the "Three Wus", Jiang Lingwu was killed on the way to Guangxi after the failure of the second revolution. Since then, the history of the "Three Wus" has disappeared, and only Sun Wu is left in history. As the so-called Taoism is different, do not conspire with each other. The "three martial arts" have different natures, different life pursuits, different ideals, and different values, but they are mixed up on the chariot of revolution by accident, and it is inevitable to part ways and go their own way.

At that time, tens of thousands of people in Beijing signed the form, imploring Yuan Shikai to become the emperor. On this form, the first person to sign was Cai E, the general of Yunnan, and the second was him, Sun Wu. And we know the final result. General Cai E, who signed the signature first, ran to Yunnan to raise troops after Yuan Shikai really became emperor, forcing Yuan Shikai to abolish the imperial system again.But it was too late to say anything at this time. Cai E, who ranked first in signatures, wanted to hold Sun Wu, who ranked second in signatures, accountable. Rao Sun Wu was absolutely unwilling, and he didn't dare to reason with Cai E: You signed it first, I saw that you signed it, and I signed it, so why do you hold me accountable?But Sun Wu didn't dare to ask such a question unless he was dying.

Sun Wu's explanation is: The reason why I want Yuan Shikai to become emperor is to let him collapse quickly. But no one would believe Sun Tzu's explanation. why? Because Sun Wu has no soldiers in his hand! You are empty-handed, and you are not qualified to defend yourself. No matter whether Sun Wu's signature is sincere or not, his strength determines that he can only be criticized by thousands of people. And what happened to General Cai E, who was the first to sign on the persuasion form? This is because Yuan Shikai has lost confidence in Beiyang, and he hopes to rebuild an army headed by the military genius Cai E.This matter is evidenced by Yuan Shikai's conversation with Xia Shoutian.Yuan Shikai said at the time:

Now the cadres who have come out of the small stand have become waste, the Japanese are watching all day long, and China may perish one day.I want to strengthen the country's combat readiness, but I lack generals. In the future, I want to find some military strategists in the south to entrust them with important tasks and train the new army, so that we can get rid of decay and give birth to new ones. Xia Shoutian asked Yang Du about this matter, and Yang Du strongly recommended General Cai E.So Yuan Shikai considered reusing Cai E to rebuild the new army. To this end, Yuan Shikai even established the National Command Office of the Generalissimo of the Army and Navy.Duan Qirui, chief of the army, was just a clerk in this office, and General Cai E was also a clerk, but Yuan Shikai internally appointed General Cai E as chief of the general staff, and planned to promote Cai E as chief of the army to replace Duan Qirui.

Yuan Shikai's reuse and trust in Cai E can be said to be unconditional. General Cai E is not a man of iron and stone. Is there a reason not to be moved? It was based on Yuan Shikai's trust in him that General Cai E was the first to sign his name on the persuasion form without hesitation. That being the case, why did General Cai E suddenly turn his face again, escape from Beijing and be the first to raise the flag against Yuan? Speaking of this matter, it would be troublesome. The first factor that caused Cai E to rebel against Yuan was Hong Xian's seven evil spirits and the sixth evil Lei Zhenchun.