Chapter 15 Chapter 15 Xu Shichang can also be a doctor

Beijing has finally calmed down again: Although the south and north of China are still hostile, the artillery fire has stopped; although the peace talks and reunification are difficult, they are still negotiating; there are many conflicts among the various factions of the Beiyang warlords, and the struggle for power has not yet developed. When it comes to the stage of using force, although foreigners are still thinking about their interests in China, they have not yet used force to break through the gap or force has played a role, and they are still "enjoying" for the time being.Xu Shichang was so lucky to become a president who wanted to "government civilly" and "stable governance". The 63-year-old is very pleased with this event! In order to distinguish the difference between President Xu and previous presidents, and to flaunt his strong literary and political atmosphere, Xu Shichang specially set up a "Wanqingji" poetry club in his presidential palace to share with poetry Youfan Fanshan, Ke Shaojuan, Yan Fansun, Zhao Xiangfan, Yi Shifu, Wu Pijiang, Gao Langxian, Xu Shuzheng and others gathered every Sunday to drink and compose poems. They also selected poems from various families in the Qing Dynasty and published them in the book Qing Poetry Collection. He compiled his own poems into collections, named "Shuizhu Village People's Collection" and "Tui Farming Hall Poetry Collection"; he also established a "Painting Research Association" at the home of his painting friend Zhou Zhaoxiang to study Chinese traditional painting art... .. The atmosphere of poetry and prose has become stronger, and friends in poetry and prose have gradually increased, and one of them has made him famous in the world.This person is the third son of his mentor Li Hongzao, a revolutionary Li Yuying (Shi Zeng), whom he met in the Hanlin Academy.

Li Shizeng studied in France. He used to be a member of the Revolutionary Party and his brother Li Fuzeng had a sworn relationship with Xu Shichang. He went to the Northeast to visit Xu Shichang, who was the governor, and persuaded him to turn to the Revolutionary Party or set up an independent banner.We have introduced it in the previous article.This Li Shizeng later went to France. When he returned to Beijing, Xu Shichang had already become a member of the Republic of China. He decided to visit Xu Shichang and wanted to join his poetry club and painting club. Fortunately, Wan Qing was a member of the Poetry Club Most of the members of the Chinese Painting Research Association are former Qing Dynasty veterans, and they are familiar with Li Shizeng’s father, Li Hongzao, a former scholar of the Hanlin Academy, so they led Li Shizeng into the presidential palace. Xu Shichang took Li Shizeng's hand and said, "It's been more than ten years since we left the Northeast. I heard that you went to Europe again. When did you come back? How is your father?" Li Shizeng hurriedly said, "Thank you, President , the family is still good, and I have been back for more than a month.I heard that your Excellency organized a poetry club and painting club, and advocated literary governance, which is very attractive and an enlightened move, so I came with my friends to join in the fun." "The atmosphere of Chinese life is too tense and fighting, there should be a piece of poetry and elegance World" Xu Shichang said: "So, I want to take the lead and start. "Li Shi once said: "The world trend is the same.Especially Europe.People basically stopped talking about war, and talked about science and civilization.When I come back this time, I can't think of leaving.I have established a Confucius School and a Sino-French University in Beijing to spread Western civilization. ""Good thing, good thing!" Xu Shichang said: "If there is something that needs help, just say it clearly, and I will try my best. After expressing his gratitude, Li Shi once said: "Since your Excellency advocates the rule of culture and loves poetry and painting so much, I think that for a leader of an Eastern country, Western countries will definitely impress him."There is such a thing, I think you should strive for it. ""What's the matter?" Xu Shichang asked. "You should strive for a doctorate in literature in France." Li Shi once said, "If a leader of a country has such a degree, then you will be the most prestigious figure in the civilized world!" For "France How much gold does a doctorate in literature have? Xu Shichang is still unclear. However, it must be a high honor to obtain a foreign doctorate. As far as Xu Shichang knows, since the Empress Dowager Cixi sent overseas students to today, Chinese students No one has won this honor. Of course he wanted to have a "doctor's hat" to cover it. However, he shook his head at Li Shizeng again. "It's not easy! What I have learned is all from the "Four Books" and "Five Classics" Confucianism is regarded as backward by Western countries.What do you use to get someone else's degree?"

Li Shizeng smiled. "It's not difficult. High-level people in Western countries are making great efforts to study the issue of the European War. China is a country involved in the European War. If it can be discussed and discussed from this aspect, it must be a major topic of world significance. In my opinion, it is Write a book "China after the European War", there is hope." Xu Shichang was eager to gain fame, so he agreed.He also said, "Your Excellency has to deal with it." "I will work hard." Li Shizeng promised. From the European War to the situation in China, this is indeed a big topic of world significance.However, Xu Shichang not only knew little about the European War, but also knew even less about the relationship between the European War and China. It would not be easy to make up a book.He felt embarrassed when things agreed.At this time, Xu Shichang suddenly remembered that a consultant named Huang Yu in the presidential palace was a very learned man, so he found him quietly and told him about it.

Huang Yu, a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang, with the word Yingbai, studied in Japan in his early years and joined the Chinese League. He was the chief of staff of Chen Qimei, the governor of the Shanghai Army during the Revolution of 1911, and later engaged in diplomatic work in the Beiyang government. He is very familiar with the conditions of various countries in the world. , Naturally, research has also been done on the European War.Hearing Xu Shichang's wish, he said: "This is easy, leave it to me to write." Huang Yu was bored in a secret room, and wrote it down day and night according to the situation of the European War, combined with Chinese historical facts, and according to Confucian principles.He wrote a chapter and gave it to Xu Shichang. Xu Shichang knew that he was not a scholar in this field, so he asked Wu Jisun, Cao Bingzhang, Xu Baoheng and Xie Zongtao to review and revise it.After half a year, it was written and printed in Chinese, English, and French.Li Shi once went to France with this book to publicize him, and he was really valued by the University of Paris in France, and the university immediately awarded him a "Doctor of Letters" degree.

Xu Shichang was happy. He was the first high-level Chinese leader to receive a degree from a foreign institution of higher learning. His literary talent and influence on literary governance suddenly increased. Once you have a degree, you need to get a degree certificate.Xu Shichang is the president of China, so it is inconvenient to go abroad easily.Therefore, Zhu Qiqian was appointed as his special envoy to go to France to collect it for him.Zhu Qiqian carried a large number of Chinese, English and French versions of "China after the European War", which were widely distributed in Paris.As a result, more people in the world know about Xu Shichang.

Xu Shichang did not forget the "fuck" Huang Yu in his masterpiece "China after the European War", so he took out US$10,000 and came to Huang Yu's mansion. After thanking him thousands of times, he said: "Yingbai! Some money is used as hot money, you go abroad to travel, it can be regarded as a refreshment!" Why not travel around the world Huang Yu.So, I went out with my wife.Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived in the United States, something unexpected happened; so many people in the diplomatic field praised Xu Shichang's masterpiece, saying that he is "the most knowledgeable president in the world today".Huang Yu felt a little unbalanced in his heart: "I wrote this book obviously, with his name on it, he became famous all over the world, and he only let me travel abroad for a while. Is this fair? Is it worth it?" At a party in New York, the completion of "China after the European War" was announced to the world, and when the media publicized it, Xu Shichang became ugly. "It turns out that the president is still an idiot, and the degree was taken by someone else?" Not only that, but Huang Yu also revised the original book and republished it overseas under his own name under the title "The New World After the European War". Xu Shichang was even more ugly.This matter can only be regarded as an "apology" by President Xu Shichang, so there is no need to comment.Let's talk about something else along the lines of "European War" --

When Xu Shichang was president, the European War was almost over. The United States and Britain wanted to compete with Japan for hegemony in the East. China, Italy and other countries cooperated with Japan to speak to China's north and south, suggesting peaceful reunification.Xu Shichang wants to be a peaceful and peaceful president, and the opinions of these foreigners fit his thinking.Therefore, Xu Shichang made a big fuss; he first asked Liang Shiyi to organize a peace promotion association, and then suggested that dozens of people, including Xiong Xiling and Cai Yuanpei, well-known figures in the north and south, initiated a peace conference. The time for reunification has come, don't let it go, China's safety is at stake!"

The high-profile is so sung, but once he took action, Xu Shichang showed his fox tail. In November 1918, while issuing the peace order, he held the first military governor's meeting in Beijing since he became president. Zhang Zuolin, Lu Yongxiang, Ni Sichong, Wang Zhanyuan, Chen Guangyun, Yan Xishan, Cao Kun and representatives from various provinces and regions attended the meeting.Duan Qirui was also invited to attend the meeting. Because of the different backgrounds, Xu Shichang and Duan Qirui have been far away from each other; even the Anfu Congress, which held Xu Shichang to the presidency, Xu Shichang is far away from them.What can be done? Xu Shichang listened to the British and American foreigners, and Duan Qirui listened to the Japanese foreigners. The British, American and Japanese foreigners always "divided the spoils unfairly" in dividing up China's interests, so they had to play their own roles and fight.Due to the participation of Duan Qirui, the warlord's conference discussed some things in a restrained manner, such as "peaceful reunification, the north and the south cannot be equal", "deliberations should not involve the Congress", and about "the respective spheres of influence of the warlords" and so on. .The final resolution was also ambiguous.However, under the repeated persuasion of Britain, the United States, France, Italy, and Japan, the meeting finally reached such an agreement: obey the president and favor peace. On November 16, in the name of the President, Xu Shichang issued an order to "strike and retreat the troops in front"; the southern forces also issued an order to "stand by for defense."In fact, this pretentious situation of peace, strike, and unification can only be seen as Xu Shichang's focus on dealing with the Southern Revolutionary Party, followed by the Anfu faction that rejected Duan Qirui.Subsequently, a marathon-style North-South peace talks began...

Just when Xu Shichang was falsely grasping "peaceful reunification", he suddenly remembered something: "It is time to issue an order to pardon Zhang Xun." ——That day, after he had a secret conversation with Duan Qirui, he wanted to immediately issue a "presidential decree" to cleanse his protégé of the charges and assign him a use.However, he found that Duan Qirui agreed very reluctantly. "Doing it too hastily, will it arouse the resentment of the hero who rebuilt the republic?" So, he put the matter aside for a while.Letting go is letting go, and my heart is always restless.Now, he decided he couldn't delay any longer.

The order to pardon Zhang Xun was very simple, it only stated that Zhang Xun was innocent and returned all his property.For the rest, nothing was said. On the second night after the release of the amnesty order, Zhang Xun secretly came to Xu Shichang's private house in the blacksmith camp. 63-year-old Xu Shichang, when he saw 64-year-old Zhang Xun again, he couldn't recognize him: his short stature became even shorter due to emaciation, and his dark face was a bit earthy. His eyes were gray and dark, and his gray military uniform told people that he was a straggler who had been lost for a long time.He has no braids, and a big hat covers his head (maybe there are still braids hidden there).He stood in front of Xu Shichang, staring blankly for a long time, his lips only moved, but did not open - the majestic spirit of the warlords, tour envoys, and first-class heroes in the past disappeared at all!

Xu Shichang took two steps towards him, grabbed his hand, and held it tightly. After a long time, he said in surprise, "Shaoxuan, why do you look like this?" The old student looked at the little teacher, staring blankly. Two lines of tears flowed down the corners of his eyes, through the hollows of his nose, and over his lips, and then fell drop by drop on the old gray military uniform on his chest. A piece of military uniform suddenly became mottled. It was Xu Shichang who said, "Sit down, sit down. Sit down and talk." Xu Shichang gave Zhang Xun a towel and a cup of boiling water.Said: "There is no need to mention it in the past, it is all in the past. With a paper order, everything has become yesterday. Today, everything starts from the beginning. Can the big country be without you? You have to walk out of a dead end, Go into the wilderness! Don't fall down!" Zhang Xun wiped his tears, sighed, and said for a long time: "I didn't listen to the teacher's words, and I made a big fight." He sighed again and shook his head. "I regard people as too upright and gentlemen. How can the imposing chief of the army and the prime minister, the god in my heart, think that he is a liar playing tricks? I was fooled, so easily fooled... .." Xu Shi and Chang knew that Zhang Xun was talking about Duan Qirui.I also have guilt in my heart. Xu Shichang was also a representative of him at the Xuzhou Conference! It was only after Zhang Xun arrived in Tianjin that Xu Shichang's attitude changed drastically and he advised him not to restore.In Xu Shichang's view, Zhang Xun's "liar" and "fool" are just a means of power struggle, so it is not surprising.What's strange is that I am immature in my power struggle.Therefore, after hearing Zhang Xun's emotional words, Xu Shichang just shook his head slightly and said: "Keep it in mind, many past events are unbearable to look back on. The strong wind blows down the sycamore tree - someone will measure the length! History will be Fair. When you come back, take care of your house first, take care of your health, wait for a while, and I will arrange for you to do appropriate things." "The teacher is worried." "Is there any difficulty?" Xu Shichang asked again: "What can I do for you?" "No need, teacher." Zhang Xun said: "At first I wanted to complain to the teacher, but after listening to the teacher, I stopped. Let future generations judge the merits and demerits. I have a thousand mouths and I can't tell clearly. " "Look for a doctor and take a look at your body." Xu Shichang said when sending Zhang Xun off: "As long as the green hills are there, you don't have to worry about running out of firewood! Take care of your body and do something about it!" When Zhang Xun left Xu's house in the blacksmith camp, Wu Jisun hurried over without inviting him. Wu Jisun is the secretary-general of the presidential palace, and he can act on behalf of the president in many small matters.However, during this period of time, everything that happened in the presidential palace was a major event, something that his secretary-general could not do on his behalf.Such as the North-South peace talks, as well as the signing of the Paris Peace Treaty and other major events.It was for these things that the secretary general came to the president's private residence in a hurry. "Shixiang," Xu Shichang always called Wu Jisun's nickname so affectionately. "Why did you come in such a hurry?" "Chrysanthemum handsome," Wu Jisun became Xu Shichang's confidant since he followed him to the three northeastern provinces as the governor. Since then, he has been called Shuai, and the word "handsome" is affectionate in both hearts.Therefore, whether Xu Shichang is in Qingdao, Tianjin, Huixian, or the presidential palace in Beijing, he will still call him "handsome", except for calling "president" in public. "The peace negotiation issue is very difficult. Zhu Guixin (that is, Zhu Qiqian, the northern general representative who negotiated peace talks) resigned in the name of the delegation, and asked the president to send someone else..." "How do you say that?" Xu Shichang tried his best to create a peaceful and prosperous world.The peace talks were discontinued, and the war resumed. Didn’t he also become a belligerent president?” “Could it be that Tang Shaochuan (Tang Shaoyi, the general representative of the South who was negotiating the peace) won’t make any concessions, and must force people to have nowhere to go?” “It’s such a momentum. " Wu Jisun said. "Respond to Shanghai and condolences to Guixin." --North-South peace negotiation is what Xu Shichang paid attention to and worked hard for as his own "virtuous government".The military government in the south insisted on "equal representatives from each faction on both sides", and finally reached an agreement of "ten people from each faction".The northern representative was headed by Zhu Qiqian, and the southern representative was headed by Tang Shaoyi. After several consultations, a peace meeting was held in Shanghai on February 20, 1919.For Tang Shaoyi, Xu Shichang believed in him very much, thinking that Tang would save face for him.When Xu Shichang was governor of the three eastern provinces, Tang Shaoyi was his subordinate. He was the governor of Fengtian, and Xu regarded him very highly.As the general representative of the military government in the south, how can he give the north some affection! However, things turned out to be counterproductive. Before the Shanghai meeting, Representative Tang first raised the issue of "the north's incomplete implementation of the armistice", pointing out that the specific fact is that the government sent troops to aid Shaanxi and Fujian—it turns out that Duan Qirui did do this: In Shaanxi, Duan transferred Xu Lanzhou, Liu Zhenhua and other departments to assist the warlord Chen Shufan in fighting the national army Yu Youren; he also sent troops to Fujian Li Houji to fight the national army Chen Jiongming.But Duan called it "suppressing bandits".Xu Shichang had no choice but to reply to the south according to his intention, using "bandit suppression" as a prevarication.After the talks in Shanghai began, Tang Shaoyi first raised three issues: "stop borrowing money for participating in the war", "cancel participating troops" and "announce the secret treaty between China and Japan".When Zhu Qiqian telegraphed all these three issues to Xu Shichang, the president was overjoyed—it turned out that these three issues were all caused by Duan Qirui's Anfu Department, and Xu also intended to solve them.Therefore, Zhu Qiqian replied: "The war in Europe has stopped, and all the divisions participating in the war are under the direct control of the Ministry of War; the British and the United States will negotiate with Japan on the loan issue. Except for the three million yuan that has been paid, the rest will not be paid." On the issue of the secret treaty between China and Japan, Xu Shichang sent four materials including the "Sino-Japanese Military Agreement", "Sino-Japanese Army and Navy Jointly Defending the Enemy" and "Supplementary Documents Explaining the End Date of the European War" to the peace meeting. Xu Shichang thought that doing so would satisfy the southern representatives and make the peace talks an early success. However, Tang Shaoyi refused.On the grounds that "the army participating in the war is still there, the military agreement is incomplete, the Shaanxi war is unresolved and the public debt has not been settled", he accused the North of being "reckless and sincere, and restricting recovery", and proposed to "depose Shaanxi (Chen Shufan) and Hunan (Zhang Jingyao) Two Governors".Zhu Qiqian, the general representative of the North, was always afraid of the peace talks, and wanted to accommodate but dared not compromise.So I offered to resign. The representatives of one party to the peace talks resigned, and the Shanghai Peace Conference was called off on March 2, the twelfth day after the start of the peace conference. After hearing Wu Jisun's detailed description, Xu Shichang decided to "consolate" Zhu Qiqian as his general representative, but Zhu Qiqian left Shanghai after all, and the Shanghai meeting for peace talks was dropped.Xu Shichang had no choice but to sigh deeply: "Shaochuan is so fierce! Guixin is so anthracene!" How can he drop out of the peace talks? Xu Shichang used "peace" to decorate his appearance. Without peace, what is the point of being a president? Xu Shichang is determined to bring up the peace talks again in order to achieve reunification. The suspension of the peace talks is already known to all the world.The people of the country all angrily condemned this.At this time, the United Kingdom, the United States, and France also advised Xu Shichang and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "Peace cannot be interrupted, and both parties should make concessions to achieve peaceful reunification." Even Wu Peifu, the direct warlord who directly called the president "Mr. Donghai", also sent a telegram Xu Shichang and the people of the country expressed their earnest hope for peace.Generals of the Guangxi family also called President Xu, hoping to reopen the peace talks. Xu Shichang, who was depressed, suddenly became excited again: "People and friends of the country hope for the peaceful reunification of China. Why can't China achieve peace? China will definitely achieve peace, and I will definitely raise the banner of peace high!" Didn’t the southern representatives question the truce in Shaanxi? Xu Shichang went to Shaanxi to monitor the demarcation of the truce with Zhang Ruiji as an "imperial envoy", resolutely reiterated the truce in Shaanxi, and urged it to cease fire immediately; disclosed the full text of the Sino-Japanese agreement; suspension of public debt; Change the participating army to the national defense army. All his actions confessed to the world that he, Xu Shichang, sincerely advocated and practiced peace by himself.As a result, Chinese people and friends also expressed their praise.Xu Shichang called Zhu Qiqian and asked him to "live up his expectations" before going to Shanghai. The 17-day Shanghai peace talks meeting resumed on April 9. Since "all" obstacles were eliminated, Xu Shichang thought that the reopened North-South Peace Conference would go smoothly.In this way, his presidency will be recognized by both the North and the South.As everyone knows.At the peace talks, the situation changed again: the southern military government insisted on restoring the old Congress.Restoring the old Congress means not recognizing Duan Qirui's Anfu Congress; the Anfu Congress has been overthrown, and the president elected by the Anfu Congress will naturally lose its glory! Xu Shichang disagrees, Duan Qirui disagrees, and Anfu Congress members especially disagree.As a result, the peace talks were suspended again. At the time when China's North-South peace negotiations were stop-and-go, in Paris, France, a peace conference after the First World War was also going on in a marathon style.Twenty-seven countries including Britain, France, the United States, and Italy participated in this peace conference (Soviet Russia did not participate).This peace conference was nominally intended to draw up a peace treaty with Germany and establish world peace, but in fact it was a conference for the victorious imperialists to re-partition and plan against Soviet Russia.The meeting was manipulated by Britain, the United States, and France, which also reflected the sharp contradictions among them. China is a country that participated in the war against Germany and is one of the victorious countries.However, the Paris Peace Conference ignored China's sovereignty and status as a victorious nation, and illegally decided to let Japan inherit the pre-war German privileges in Shandong, China, forcing the Chinese representative to sign the peace treaty.When this matter spread to China, the Chinese people were all outraged.Thus, the "May 4th" patriotic movement, which shocked China and the world, broke out. On May 4, 1919, led by Peking University, more than 3,000 patriotic students from more than ten colleges and universities in Beijing organized a strike against Duan Qirui's betrayal of the country and Japanese aggression. They gathered in the Presidential Palace and the State Council to petition and parade to protest.The demonstrators also set fire to the Zhao family building and beat up Zhang Zongxiang. The patriotic actions of the students were suppressed by the military and police, who arrested more than 30 students. The Minister of Education Fu Zengxiang hastily reported the matter to President Xu Shichang.After Xu Shichang listened to the report, at first he was considerate. He said to Fu: "Students hurt others and set fires, and it is strictly prohibited. However, young people are full of blood and go astray. If you look at the original situation, you should feel sorry for it. Punishment, it is not advisable to talk about it!" In order to put out the student movement, the State Council specially called a meeting.Most of the cabinet members were warlords, full of murderous intent. At this time, Duan Qirui was no longer the prime minister, but just a member of the cabinet, but he felt that he was a powerful faction, and at the meeting he strongly advocated severe punishment of students.Someone echoed him and proposed to close Peking University at the same time.For this matter, they even had a big fight with the director of education, Fu Zengxiang.Duan Qirui and others shouted: "Cai Yuanpei's principal should be dismissed, punished for his ineffective education, and encouraging students to make trouble!" Fu Zengxiang said: "The Paris Peace Treaty is unfair, and the representatives who betray the interests of the motherland should be severely punished!" The government's attitude is ambiguous, and the student movement is in full swing. It is not only a big move in Beijing, but the whole country is gradually supporting it.Students from all over the country established branches of student unions; a large number of students, through speeches and propaganda, boycotted Japanese goods and saved money for national salvation, strongly urged the Beiyang government to punish traitors and refuse to sign the peace treaty with Germany, in order to support the patriotic actions of Beijing students.The climax of the student movement was echoed by patriots from workers and business circles. On June 3, another large-scale movement involving workers broke out. The students have risen, the workers have risen, and so have the military and police of the warlord government.Duan Zhigui, Commander-in-Chief of the Gyeonggi Garrison, Wang Huaiqing, Commander of the Infantry, and Wu Bingxiang, Chief of Police of the Beijing Division, mobilized a large number of military and police officers to suppress and arrest the students who were speaking on the streets. Thousands of students were arrested in two days.As the news spread, major cities across the country went on strike, strikes, and strikes... As a sage who studied hard and sat on the bench in the Imperial Academy, and now he is the president, Xu Shichang really had an attitude of "pity without punishment" towards those patriotic students at first.At the meeting of the State Council, he supported the Minister of Education Fu Zengxiang from both speech and action.However, Xu Shichang is also one of the warlords after all. In addition to sympathizing with the patriotism of the students, he knows that signing the Paris Peace Treaty is an act of treason.However, he was afraid of offending foreigners.Therefore, Xu Shichang's government still signed the peace treaty after weighing it up and down. Deciding to accept the unequal treaty, Xu Shichang began to tear off his mask of "pity without punishment", and issued consecutive orders on May 6th and 8th, strictly prohibiting students from "rectifying the public and disturbing order under the pretext of using names", and requiring all schools to " Rectify the style of study and strictly prohibit students from interfering in politics." Otherwise, the "provoking" students will be sent to the court for handling, and even threaten to dissolve the university. Xu Shichang's government suppressed the students, which aroused opposition from the people across the country and aroused greater resistance among the people.School strikes, city strikes, strike climax from big cities to small cities, from cities to villages, spread like fire all over the country.Xu Shichang issued a third order on the 14th, ordering the military and police agencies in the capital to be on guard at all times, "resolutely ban the student unrest", and those who violated it will be severely punished; on the same day, he issued a circular to students in schools inside and outside Beijing, regarding the students' patriotic actions as "disrupting order". , Contempt the law and discipline without sympathy", said "rescue the crisis, keep calm, get involved in a little disturbance, fear of falling into ruins, called patriotism, it is appropriate to harm the country", and asked students not to interfere in politics. The patriotic movement cannot be suppressed by a few paper orders.Within ten days, not only students and workers, but also the business community joined in one after another. A patriotic upsurge was formed across the country demanding "struggle for national power abroad and punish national thieves at home." Xu Shichang was in a hurry. He hid in the secret room of the presidential palace, but he heard the voices outside the presidential palace and the surging patriotic upsurge, and he also felt it.His secretary-general, Wu Jisun, came in and out by his side like a fox in an iron cage.He thought of several ways to solve Xu Shichang's difficulties, but all of them were overthrown by himself-he wanted Xu Shichang to punish the student movement "severely", but he also saw the consequences, the high-pressure policy can only arouse greater Public indignation;--he wanted to suggest that the president stand up and stand up, and order the representatives in Paris to stand up and refuse to sign that unfair treaty.However, why does Xu Shichang have such a heart and courage? What's more, there are several powerful imperialist countries behind him, and their bayonets are already on his neck, and Xu Shichang is not a man who is not afraid of death.Wu Jisun could neither advance nor retreat.He circled around for a long time before he said: "Ju Shuai, the current situation, we must do something." There is no room for compromise. " "How to give in?" Xu Shichang raised his face and asked. "Concessions should be made." Wu Jisun said, "Swapping the representatives of Paris is a form of punishment." "Can it work?" "Can ease intense emotions." Xu Shichang thought about it silently, and then said: "I want to discuss it with Zhiquan." Duan Qirui no longer has political power and military power, but he controls the Congress, which controls the right to sign contracts with foreign countries.Therefore, Duan Qirui is still the real power faction.Xu Shichang found Duan Qirui, and Duan Qirui also saw the patriotic enthusiasm of the Chinese people. He was afraid that he would become the common enemy of the Chinese people, so he said: "Ju Shuai decides in the name of the president. The purpose is to ease the conflict between the government and the people. We Think Congress and all parties will agree." Duan Qirui nodded, and Xu Shichang made a "concession" decision: On June 16, the Beijing government decided to dismiss the foreign minister and Paris negotiators Cao Rulin, Zhang Zongxiang, and Lu Zongyu from their posts.However, twelve days later, that is, at 3 pm on June 28, the representatives of China were still ordered to formally sign the peace treaty between the Allied Powers and Germany at the Palace of Versailles in Paris.The news spread to Chinese students studying in France and patriotic overseas Chinese. They gathered and surrounded the apartment of the Chinese delegation, resolutely preventing the Chinese representatives from going to sign.In this way, Lu Zhengxiang, the Chinese representative attending the Paris Peace Conference, was pressured to refuse to sign the peace treaty.Afterwards, when the people of the country questioned the government, Xu Shichang also hypocritically sent a telegram to defend himself, saying: ...At this time, internally reviewing the national situation and looking at the general situation, we can only pay attention to the opinions of Britain, the United States, France, and Japan, and resolutely sign the peace treaty to maintain our international status.However, domestic public opinion in our country firmly refuses to sign, which is exactly the same. When the people are ignorant of the diplomatic situation, they are also planning it. In a republic, the people are the main body, and the president and below are all public servants. At the beginning, I wanted to use public opinion as my obedience, and I was familiar with profit and loss, but I couldn't bear to sit back and watch the country's progress stumble. Xu Shichang expressed his very contradictory feelings.On the one hand, he wanted to seek the understanding of the people of the country.On the other hand, according to the "petition" of the full-time war supervisor and Duan Qirui, he rewarded the so-called "personnel with the most outstanding achievements in the war" in the name of the president, praised him "or knew the candle a few times before, and tried his best to defy public opinion; or Sponsored with one heart, honored and honored."Among these honored people are Cao Rulin, Zhang Zongxiang, and Lu Zongyu. What President Xu Shichang did caused an uproar among the Chinese people.