1079908 Far Eastern madman

The Beiyang Group represents the strength of the north, and the united front will build up the strength of the south. As the two most powerful military and political blocs in China at present, the Beiyang Group and the United Front have become inseparable because of the congressional elections, and the Beiyang Army has moved southward in a big way, and the revolutionary armed forces of the United Front have also sent a large number of troops to the north, and the two sides are facing each other-for-tat. The situation between the North and the South is becoming increasingly tense, war can break out at any time, and both sides are essentially ready for war.

However, at such a critical juncture, the Southern United Front sent a small "North-South Peace Delegation" headed by Song Jiaoren. When I arrived in Beijing, I visited Yuan Shikai, the provisional president of the Republic of China.

This move was surprising, and people speculated about Song Jiaoren's real intention of going to Beijing to meet Yuan Shikai.

Yuan Shikai himself expressed a warm welcome to Song Jiaoren's arrival, and ordered the guards of the public palace to fire a salute and walk out of the presidential palace. Greeting Song Jiaoren in person can be said to have done enough courtesy.

Yuan Shikai was not surprised by the northward journey of the Song Jiaoren delegation, and in fact, although there was tension between the north and the south, and the smell of gunpowder was full, the two sides never gave up their last peace efforts. The Beiyang Group sent people to the south to meet with the leaders of the United Front, and the United Front also sent people to the north to meet with the leaders of the Beiyang Group.

The Beiyang clique was not greedy, and the price they offered was the proposal of the British minister Juordian to reorganize the parliamentary elections and the United Front to dissolve their political alliance. Participate in congressional elections in a fragmented partisan manner. "Fairly and justly" competed with several small parties under the command of the Beiyang Group for seats in the Senate and House of Representatives.

Nor did the United Front have a lion's mouth. Their demand was only one catty, that is, the Beiyang Army must withdraw from Henan and Anhui provinces, and as for the Beiyang Army in Jiangsu, they did not ask for a retreat. But at the same time, the bottom line of their negotiations seems to be unshakable, and this bottom line is that the current number of seats in the National Assembly is 395 seats, and not one less seat will be achieved.

In this way, anyone who knows a little bit of political common sense can see that this negotiation is incompatible, and the differences between the two sides are too great, so the differences can only be resolved through war.

As a result, the newspapers of both the North and the South began to advocate war, and the public opinion of the United Front was "to defend the constitution with war" and the public opinion of the Beiyang Group was "to unify the government with war."

Both sides shouted fiercely, and the troops moved frequently, putting on the appearance that they were going to fight a big battle

Force.

But if you really have to make up your mind to fight, it is not an easy task, and it will not work without the courage to break the boat.

At present, both the north and the south are in a financial crisis, and the north still has two catties. Although the south has breathed a sigh of relief after some period of financial rectification and military reduction, it is indeed a great risk to rely on this breath of anger to fight the Beiyang clique.

Therefore, the desire to resolve the differences between the two sides by means of negotiation is greater than that of the north.

As a result, the United Front sent a "North-South Peace Delegation" headed by Song Jiaoren. "Rushed to Beijing to meet with Yuan Shikai, the provisional president of the Republic of China, and tried to make a final peace effort.

"Mr. Song was tired, he didn't stay in the hotel first, and came directly to the presidential palace, which was the heart of the country and the people, which was admired by the world and Yuan. In Yuan's view, it is most appropriate for the united front to be led by Mr. Song

Yuan Shikai met Song Jiaoren's face, and while enthusiastically introducing his attaché to him, he held a gun and a stick in his words, pointing at Sang and scolding taxes, and sowing discord.

Of course, Song Jiaoren could hear what Yuan Shikai said, so he smiled and said, "President Yuan has won the award." Song asked himself that he is a diligent person, he always does things in a hurry, things are too far away for me, and he can contribute to the stability of the republican system, Song is already gratified, how dare he be admired by the world? As for the post of chairman of the United Front, it is most appropriate for Zhao Zhenhua to assume the post, and he has proved to be a staunch republican, dedicated to the revolutionary cause, and willing to show courage to defend the dignity of the Constitution

In these words, he also carried a gun and a stick, and clearly told the other side that now is not the time to sow discord, and the United Front is still the only one who can see Chairman Zhao.

Song Jiaoren's words tried his best to defend Zhao Bei, but at the same time he sighed in his heart, he never thought that in order to "defend the Constitution" and keep the seats won by the United Front in the parliamentary election, Zhao Bei really put on a posture of a decisive battle with Yuan Shikai, which Song Jiaoren and his comrades were a little surprised, and the reason why they elected Zhao Bei as the leader of the United Front was in the first place. They also know that as a powerful figure, Zhao Bei may not really put the interests of the United Front in the first place, and if he can get benefits from Yuan Shikai, Zhao Bei is not without the possibility of abandoning the United Front.

This is not the groundless speculation of Song Jiaoren and others. Just some time ago, some newspapers in Beiyi had revealed that Zhao Bei was secretly negotiating with Yuan Shikai and was preparing to betray the United Front, although these news were groundless. And it was also denied by Zhao Beiyan, but the "constitutionalists" in the United Front

The substitutes are still a little worried in their hearts. Figures in political circles and officialdom are fools, and while relying on the powerful faction, they must be prepared to be betrayed by the powerful faction, and when Zhao Bei was elected chairman of the United Front, the United Front was also prepared to be betrayed by Zhao Bei.

Of course, they are also ready to abandon Zhao Bei, otherwise, they would not insist on changing the chairman's term of office from five years to two years, for the constitutionalists in the united front, Chairman Zhao is a transitional figure, his main mission is to send the united front into the Congress, occupy the Congress, and after that, it will be the turn of the constitutionalists, after all, what they want is constitutionalism, not "military government" or "scraping government" They have to make their own decisions, not let the powerful faction make their own decisions.

Yuan Shikai's Beiyang clique is a powerful faction, and he admires the military and politics, so the united front has to regard Yuan Shikai as the main enemy, and unite the powerful faction of the Shanghai Republican Army to jointly curb the expansion of Beiyang forces.

But the premise of this alliance is that the North and the South do not fight, and if a large-scale civil war is caused by the congressional elections, it is contrary to what Soong and his followers have been pursuing. In the spirit of constitutionalism, if political differences can only be resolved through war, then what is the use of Congress? What's the use of a united front? Constitutionalism is about negotiation and compromise, and avoiding life-and-death on the battlefield through verbal disputes in parliament.

What's more, no matter whether this war is won by the North or the South, it will threaten the constitutional goal, and if the North wins, the Beiyang forces will become uncontainable, and then there will be no place for the constitutionalists like Song Jiaoren, if the South wins. Then, the prestige of Commander-in-Chief Zhao of Northern Zhao will reach a higher point, and the military power in his hands will also be even stronger, so who can restrain him? After the military victory, will Zhao Bei still take the Congress in his eyes? Who can guarantee that he will not become another Yuan Shikai? After all, people are ambitious, and this ambition comes from the pursuit of profit, and the pursuit of profit is one of the nature of human beings.

Although Zhao Bei was born as a revolutionary and was also a candidate for the leadership of the political coalition nominated by the late leader Tao Chengzhang, this does not change the basic fact that Zhao Bei is a man, a military strongman with strong military power, he is not a saint, and he has shortcomings.

Therefore, in the view of Song Jiaoren and other constitutionalist parliamentarians, if they can avoid a big fight between the north and the south. Perhaps we can make some concessions to Yuan Shikai on the affairs of the Congress, and in any case, we can first maintain this balance between the north and the south, and do not let either side sit big through the victory of the war. Only then can Congress really play its role. Even if it's just a small effect.

Helpless, Song Jiaoren is helpless, and his comrades are also helpless, this era is originally the era of military strongmen, for the defenseless constitutionalists, they can only play a balance game between different powerful factions, and in the cracks, the concept of constitutionalism will be deeply rooted in the minds of the people, looking forward to the awakening of the national consciousness in a few years.

Therefore, Song Jiaoren went to Beijing and met Yuan Shikai, wanting to save the situation with his own efforts. Avoid a civil war between the North and the South, and avoid Congress becoming a rubber stamp in the hands of the victors of the war.

Perhaps seeing that Song Jiaoren had no tongue, Yuan Shikai smiled faintly and asked Song Jiaoren to accompany him to a four-wheeled carriage of the presidential palace and go to Nanhai Juren Hall.

Jurentang was the place where Yuan Shikai received foreign envoys and presided over the State Council, and his intention to meet with Song Jiaoren here was also obvious. That is to respect Song Jiaoren's current status, and not to despise this veteran of the League because of the mobilization and confrontation between the north and the south armies.

When they arrived at Juren Hall, Yuan Shikai and Song Jiaoren sat side by side, and their subordinates sat down on the left and right.

"This time, the president sent the Beiyang Army to the south. It is said to be for exercises, but according to Song's opinion, this time the Beiyang Army went south, it seems that there is another deep meaning, right? ”

Song Jiaoren opened the skylight and said that now the north and the south are obviously tense, but both the north and the south are still insisting on the idea of "military exercises." This strange scene not only opened the eyes of the Chinese people, but even foreigners were quite surprised, and they did not know whether the two sides would go to war without declaring war.

"Since the revolution, banditry has been serious in various parts of the south, and this time the Beiyang Army went south, although the exercise was one of the purposes, but by the way, sweeping away the bandits in various places was also another purpose. Yesterday came the battle report. The bandits in Xuzhou and Luoyang have been eliminated. The local people greeted the officials and soldiers, "It is not a lie, the people in these places have been harmed by the bandits." ”

Yuan Shikai's words were also simple, but this ability to reverse black and white also made Song Jiaoren more insightful.

Xuzhou is stationed in the Southern Henan Military Committee of the Endeavor Association. On the outskirts of Luoyang were troops of League member Liu Zhenhua, all of which were the territory of the United Front. Now that the Beiyang Army is stationed in the name of suppressing bandits, this means that Beiyang may have found a good excuse for starting a war, that is, "suppressing bandits"

It seems that it is necessary to reveal the final conditions for peace talks of the united front, and this condition was discussed by Song Jiaoren with Zhang Han, Li Yuanhong, Huang Xing, and others, and has not yet been reported to the chairman of the CPPCC National Committee. Nor was it submitted to the Committee for a vote.

"Please be cautious and be militar. Although both the Senate and the House of Representatives are controlled by the United Front, in terms of future administration, the United Front will not deliberately oppose the President, and the Diet will never embarrass the list of cabinet members nominated by the President as long as they are not former officials or deaf people

Song Jiaoren said earnestly, but Yuan Shikai only smiled faintly.

"Do you mean what Mr. Song said, or do you mean by the United Front? In Beiyang, many officials were born in the former Qing Dynasty officialdom, and they wanted to find a few people in Beiyang who had not been former Qing officials. It's not easy. ”

Yuan Shikai also opened the skylight and said bright words. Tell Song directly that his cabinet members will be mainly from the Beiyang Group.

Song Jiaoren understood what Yuan Shikai meant, and said: "As long as you are not a greedy person, your official reputation is acceptable." Naturally, Congress does not regard him as a fool. The Cabinet may admit such persons. And. Given that the National Assembly is already in place, it is entirely possible to appoint cabinet members in advance. The president is nominated today, and Congress will vote on it tomorrow. ”

"However, the official presidential election has not yet been held. It seems inappropriate to form a cabinet at this time, and many members of the Diet have not yet taken office, so how can they meet? ”

Although Yuan Shikai didn't know much about constitutional affairs, he didn't immediately express his position.

"When the cabinet will be formed, the constitution does not have special requirements, if the president still has concerns, the congress can completely use" constitutional amendment, the way to stipulate the cabinet election time, and this cabinet is the first official cabinet of the Republic of China, can be treated specially

For constitutional matters, Song Jiaoren is the most qualified to put his beak, which is also his strength, and no one has more say than him in this.

Seeing that Yuan Shikai seemed to be a little tempted, Song Jiaoren struck while the iron was hot. He said: "With regard to the election of the official president, the National Assembly will also elect elected representatives, and the elected representatives of the provinces will elect the official president together with the elected representatives of the provinces, and the elected representatives of the provinces are now in Shanghai, and the National Assembly will immediately elect the elected representatives, and if the president wishes, the president can designate the list of representatives for the election of the National Assembly." ”

"Oh?"

Yuan Shikai was quite surprised, stood up and paced a few steps. He was most worried about the official presidential election, although the United Front money has made it clear that it will not put forward the party's presidential candidates, and the other presidential candidates are all "trusted" by Beiyang and cannot compete with Yuan Shikai at all, it can be said that if nothing else, Yuan Shikai will definitely be able to become the official president, but the problem is that. If there are too few yes votes. can't get over face, even if he becomes the president, Yuan Shikai will not feel comfortable in his heart, and it is easy to give political opponents an excuse to attack him.

But Song Jiaoren's proposal moved Yuan Shikai's heart. If all the deputies to the National Assembly vote in favor of Yuan Shikai, then this official presidential election will be nine out of ten.

Yuan Shikai paced a few steps and then sat back. Called the foreign secretary to his side, "Ding asked a few times."

"You go to Chief Duan and ask him to send a telegram to Wang Shizhen and Feng Guozhang, and ask them to restrain the troops, rest for a few days, and wait for my orders. In addition, I asked General Duan to draw up a cabinet list and send it over as soon as possible. ”

After Cai Tinggan left, Yuan Shikai said to Song Jiaoren: "Mr. Song, wait for the cabinet list to be prepared." I also ask you to inform Congress of the list so that they can vote as soon as possible. The National Assembly is still based in Shanghai. It is too far away from the presidential palace, and the telegram is sometimes blocked, which is really inconvenient, if the parliament can be moved to Beijing. It is more convenient to deal with state affairs. ”

Song Jiaoren hesitated for a moment and said: "I will hand over the cabinet list to the Congress as soon as possible, and urge the provincial legislators to hurry up and rush to the Congress as soon as possible to attend the meeting." As for the transfer of Congress, I can't make the decision, and we still need to meet to discuss it. ”

"That's good, that's good. You deliberate. However, now that the situation in Henan is delicate, and the Republican Army accuses the Beiyang Army of provocation, this Congress needs to meet sooner, otherwise, once the gun is misfired, it will not be under my control. ”

Xi Shikai nodded with satisfaction, and there was an imperceptible smile on the corner of his mouth.

Song Jiaoren frowned and fell into deep thought.

Since Zhao Bei was supervising the battle on the front line, the United Front was actually presided over by Song Jiaoren, Huang Xing and others. did not reach an understanding with Zhao Bei in advance, but Zhao Bei was the chairman of the United Front after all, and without his support, the United Front would not have been formed at all, so no one knew whether Zhao Bei would agree to reach a compromise with Yuan Shikai.

However, if the peace talks can be reached this time, the benefits will indeed outweigh the disadvantages for the united front, after all. This time, Beiyang is also interested, and both sides have their own plans.

Huang Xing, who received the telegram, immediately convened a meeting of the General Affairs Committee of the United Front, and most of the members present at the meeting believed that the cabinet should be determined as soon as possible to avoid a war between the north and the south, and they basically agreed to the cabinet list submitted by Yuan Shikai, and at the same time decided to restrain the actions of the southern army before the cabinet list was voted on.

As a result, another telegram was sent from the parliamentary headquarters in Shanghai to Wuhan, and then to Wushengguan at the junction of Hubei and Henan provinces, addressed to Zhao Bei, chairman of the United Front and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.