Chapter 32 Section 10 Subtle Political Wisdom

The Habayashi Army has settled down, and the military chaos has passed, and the next thing is the cabinet. Between the Tongmenghui and Beiyang, there was a fierce competition around the candidate for the cabinet prime minister. The location is still at No. 10 Nanyang Road, Shanghai, Xiyin Hall, Zhao Fengchang's home. The participants included Sun Wen, Huang Xing, Zhang Jian, child prodigy Xiong Xiling, Song Jiaoren, Wang Jingwei, Zhang Shizhao, and the special envoy from the north Tang Shaoyi. Sun Wen and Huang Xing said: The prime minister of the cabinet must be a member of the Tongmenghui, and the prime minister must propose a list of cabinet members, and then voted by the senators.

Tang Shaoyi immediately sent a telegram to Yuan Shikai, and soon received a call back from Yuan Shikai, just two words: Don't think about it! The South must let a member of the Tongmenghui become the prime minister and will never retreat.The north, however, would never allow members of the Tongmenghui to get involved in the position of prime minister, and would not give an inch. The two sides are in a stalemate, the Prime Minister cannot be sure, and nothing can be discussed.How to solve this troublesome problem? Everyone looked at Zhao Fengchang, the most politically wise old man in China, did he have a way to solve this problem?

Zhao Fengchang smiled and said: Yi Er, the prime minister of the cabinet, ah, I see, let Xiao Tang do it. Tang Shaoyi was overjoyed: That's great... No, what I mean is... I'm not a member of the League, this, this... While speaking, he swept his eyes at Sun Wen and Huang Xing, hoping to get their approval. Sun Wen and Huang Xing pretended not to hear, and went about their own business. But Zhao Fengchang laughed and said: "What does it matter if you are not a member of the Tongmenghui?"You can join the League now. Tang Shaoyi suddenly became dizzy: I will join now... That's right, it's now!Zhao Fengchang got up, leaned on his stick and said: I thought the first cabinet of the new president was a bridge between the old and the new, so the Premier of the State Council must be someone trusted by the old and new presidents, Sun and Yuan.And you, Tang Shaochuan, were originally Yuan Shikai's best friend, and now you hang out with people from the Tongmenghui every day, talking about everything, so you are the only person in China who is suitable to be the prime minister.As long as Mr. Sun Wen and Huang Xing have no objection, I really want to persuade Mr. Shaochuan to join the Tongmenghui, become a member, and then serve as prime minister. This is the way to balance both sides.

Sun and Huang were overjoyed, because Tang Shaoyi had stayed in the United States since childhood, and had done a lot of tap dancing with Mark Twain's daughter. He was full of common people's thoughts and was more radical than the members of the Tongmenghui.Then Tang Shaoyi expressed his welcome, so Tang Shaoyi joined the Tongmenghui, and then sent a telegram to Yuan Shikai, asking him to be the prime minister of the cabinet, and Yuan Shikai immediately agreed. It is said that during the Revolution of 1911, Yuan Shikai took advantage of all the advantages. In fact, Tang Shaoyi also took advantage of it.Tang Shaoyi was overjoyed to get the position of prime minister just by taking such an opportunity of negotiation.

However, Zhao Fengchang's move was really wise, and it easily broke the deadlock between the North and the South, which is amazing. But Zhao Fengchang's political wisdom has been severely underestimated in history—in fact, his entire person has been erased from history.Yet such erasure is undesirable, and distances us from history, from truth, and from wisdom itself. But how did Mr. Zhao Fengchang know that someone wanted to erase him from history?He threw himself into the next fierce battle with great interest and vigor. The next tug-of-war between the north and the south is for the post of chief of the army.