This article is the exclusive original manuscript of ShishiShishi, and unauthorized reproduction/author Lian Kefei is strictly prohibited
Book continues above: This late emperor of the empire wrote an obituary for the empire with his own splendid article (part 1)
Although Sun Yat-sen and Zhang Xiao met for the first time, the Western concepts of freedom, equality, democratic civil rights, and the Confucian political concept of governing the country and the world have long driven them to consciously shoulder the heavy historical task of saving and transforming society. Although they each absorb different cultural nutrients, they are all under the same blue sky, and the turbulent times and changing social realities have directly pushed them to the forefront of history. They were all stimulated by the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War and stepped onto the stage of Chinese history and threw themselves into politics.
Before the Sino-Japanese War, Sun Yat-sen wrote to Li Hongzhang, advocating promoting social progress through peaceful reform and using the more advanced Western democratic politics at that time to revitalize China. But Jia Wu's fiasco shattered his dream. After the war, he secretly organized revolutionary groups and began to embark on the road of anti-Qing revolution, hoping to build China into a democratic republic by overthrowing the Qing government and replacing the feudal monarchy with Western democracy.
In his early years, after accompanying Wu Changqing to the DPRK, Zhang Jian gradually understood the general trend of the world. After the Sino-Japanese War, witnessing the decay and incompetence of the Qing Dynasty, Japan began the activities of industrial salvation of the country, strongly demanded the reform of politics, and advocated the establishment of education, the development of industry, and the revitalization of the country through the establishment of a constitutional monarchy.
The reason why Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing, and others consulted Zhang Xiao and other constitutionalists and the old bureaucrats was first of all related to their idea of inclusiveness. Secondly, it is inseparable from the seniority and fame of Zhang Xiao and others. Zhang Xiao was the leader of the Constitutionalists, Tang Shouqian was the governor of Zhejiang, and Cheng Dequan was the governor of Jiangsu, and with their support, the Nanjing Provisional Government could not only be born smoothly, but also conducive to the stability of southeast society. In addition, the revolutionaries headed by Sun Yat-sen invited Zhang Jian, Tang Shouqian, Cheng Dequan, and others to participate in the Provisional Central Government. Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing, and other revolutionaries soberly realized that without the participation of constitutionalist leaders and leaders of the real world, the Provisional Central Government would not be consolidated even if it were established.
After the establishment of the Nanjing Provisional Government, Zhang Xiao served as the chief of industry, Cheng Dequan as the chief of internal affairs, and Tang Shouqian as the director of transportation. Indeed, as Sun Yat-sen predicted, the Provisional Government of Nanjing encountered great financial difficulties.
As the chief industrial officer Zhang Jian played a great role at this time, Zhang Jian founded a private cotton textile enterprise in Nantong at that time, called Dasheng Yarn Factory, the factory area is surrounded by cotton-producing areas, and the raw materials are cheap. After the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, japan dumped foreign cloth in the northeast plummeted, and the native cloth produced by the Daisei Spinning Mill was able to sell well in the northeast, with a total annual sales of more than 150,000 pieces, which provided favorable conditions for the development of the Daisei Spinning Factory. Then Dasheng Textile Co., Ltd. was registered with the Ministry of Commerce and obtained the patent right of "no one else is allowed to set up a spinning factory within 100 miles for 20 years", establishing a system of local economic monopoly in Dasheng. Zhang Xiao then borrowed 300,000 yuan from Japan as collateral for Dasheng assets, and raised another 500,000 yuan through other channels, providing the most stable economic foundation for the nascent democratic republic.
Old photo of The Great Raw Yarn Factory
During the Xinhai Revolution, there were three forces playing games on the Chinese political stage: the revolutionaries, the constitutionalists, and the bureaucratic forces represented by Yuan Shikai. Among these three forces, the Constitutionalists directly influenced the success or failure of the revolution and the survival of the Qing Dynasty. Due to the intransigence of the Qing government, it refused to implement constitutional government, which eventually led to the constitutionalists turning their backs on him and turning to the republic.
Yang Du once said, "In the past, the idea of constitutional monarchy was based on the premise of saving the country, not only for the purpose of preserving the throne, but to promote political progress, and was never willing to kill and shed blood to try to preserve the throne, so it was in favor of the republic." ＂
"Handsome pot" Yang Du
This turn of the Constitutionalists not only isolated the Qing government, but also greatly increased the revolutionary forces. The revolutionaries' alliance with the Constitutionalists and the old bureaucracy to organize the Provisional Government of The Republic of China in Nanjing shows that the establishment of a democratic republican political system in China is becoming a reality.
After all, the Provisional Government of Nanjing was the transitional government of the Xinhai Revolution, and it was only the first step in establishing a unified central government throughout the country. After the establishment of the Nanjing Provisional Government, the Qing government with Yuan Shikai as the prime minister still existed, and a confrontation between the two regimes in China appeared between the north and the south. As a result of the intervention of the great powers, the country is in danger of disintegration. How to put an end to the situation of separatism and antagonism between the north and the south and realize national reunification is a serious and urgent issue facing the revolutionaries and constitutionalists. In the process of ending the division between the north and the south, ending the rule of the Qing Dynasty, and establishing a unified democratic republican central government throughout the country, Zhang Xiao once again stepped out and played a crucial role.
Zhang Jian had an extraordinary relationship with Yuan Shikai, who had once been Yuan Shikai's teacher. When he was a gentleman for Yuan Shikai, Zhang Jian was only 29 years old. Yuan Shikai wrote that "the text is dirty and cannot be written", so that he could not revise it, and just after teaching a few sentences, Yuan Shikai, a student, was furious: "When the eldest husband mentions the three-foot sword and makes meritorious contributions thousands of miles away, he is willing to die under the Holy Sect Zhou Rites." After a generous statement, Teacher Zhang was greatly moved, praised his talent in governing the army, and sponsored Wu Changqing, first as a deputy of the camp affairs office, and then as a pioneer camp steward. Therefore, it should be said that Yuan Shikai opened the channel of his career under the promotion of Zhang Xiao.
So Zhang Xiao took advantage of the friendship between teachers and students, he visited Yuan Shikai at night, persuaded him to go along with the trend and approve of the republic, and his persuasion conformed to the expectations of the people at that time, and was praised and affirmed by people from all walks of life.
Of course, Zhang Xiao's successful persuasion of Yuan Shikai certainly has a teacher-student relationship, but politicians always put interests first, in fact, Yuan Shikai's ability to advocate republicanism is inseparable from his situation at that time.
After the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution. The reason why Yuan Shikai and the Beiyang military and political clique were able to make a rapid comeback, gain political power from the hands of the revolutionaries, and become the provisional president of the Republic of China is certainly not unrelated to the strength of the Beiyang military and political clique and Yuan Shikai's personal political means, but to a considerable extent, it is related to the achievements of Yuan Shikai in the political reform of the late Qing Dynasty and the widespread recognition and support obtained as a result. In the New Deal at the end of the Qing Dynasty, Yuan Shikai's political ideas were in favor of a constitutional monarchy. His attitude was very positive, and the areas under his jurisdiction have made very effective achievements since the New Deal, all of which have set a good image for him politically; he has made a big deal of police administration, and the profession of the police is yuan shikai's historical precedent; he has also trained a new army, held industries, and opened various new-style schools.
In the first year of Xuantong, the young Puyi succeeded to the throne, and his biological father Zaifeng became the regent. Zaifeng and Yuan Shikai can be said to have a new vendetta and an old grudge, and as soon as they came to power, they used Yuan as "unhealed from his foot disease" and "expelled him from his hometown." People have deep sympathy for his deposing after xuantong reform, and the new army he has trained in the past years is still loyal to him. Therefore, when the Wuchang Uprising broke out, all those who supported the Qing court, opposed the revolution, and all those who supported the overthrow of the Qing court (including revolutionaries and constitutionalists who were dissatisfied with the Qing court) pinned their hopes on the future of Chinese politics.
After Yuan Shikai was deposed, his political convictions did not change much, and he was still a constitutional monarchy. After the Wuchang Uprising, the Qing court was forced to invite him out of the mountains. He put forward six conditions, the key of which was to convene the National Assembly and establish a responsible cabinet, and the Qing court was eventually forced to agree to these conditions of yuan and appointed him as the prime minister of the first responsible cabinet. At this point, Yuan's constitutional monarchy proposition has basically been achieved.
The Qing court can be said to have pinned all its hopes on him, hoping that he would become a Zeng Guofan, quickly crush the revolutionary party, and restore order as soon as possible. However, since then, the development of the revolutionary situation is beyond Yuan's expectations. His attempt to resolve the north-south rivalry with both military and political hands was frustrated. At the same time, he received another promise from the revolutionaries: if Yuan could approve of the republic and overthrow the Qing Dynasty, the future provisional president of the Republic of China would "cut off Xiangcheng (Yuan Shikai)" without a doubt. The representatives of the independent provinces also unanimously passed the resolution of "imagining the presidential seat to wait for Yuan's return anyway", and the olive branch thrown by the revolutionary camp caused Yuan's inner turmoil. After Sun Yat-sen became the provisional president, he had two choices in front of Yuan Shikai: Whether to adhere to the constitutional monarchy, continue to be the prime minister of the Qing Dynasty, and be hostile to the revolutionaries to the end? Or abandon the idea of a constitutional monarchy, accept a democratic republic and posthumously abdicate the Qing Emperor? Choosing the former, or risking becoming a martyr of the Qing Dynasty, the ensuing assassination attempt reinforced his idea.
On January 16, 1912, Yuan Shikai withdrew from the DPRK and drove out of DonghuaMen by horse-drawn carriage, passing through Dong'anmen to the front of the Sanshun Tea Shop, when the bomb thrown by the northern revolutionaries hit the carriage rut, killing 1 guard belt, 1 platoon leader, 2 pro-soldiers, and 2 horse patrols. Yuan Shikai was held under the overturned car and climbed out of the car in a daze.
In fact, these Assassins were not all members of the League. It's just that they are not satisfied with the southern compromise policy toward Yuan, and want to use assassination to reverse this rainy and sunny situation.
This assassination campaign made Yuan Shikai determined to choose the latter, although there was a certain risk, but he could become the future founding president of the Republic of China, and as the situation developed, democracy and republican politics had become an irreversible trend.
Zhang Jian told him that republican politics "how can we choke the waters of the Yangtze River and make it flow against the current!", and he also warned Yuan Shikai that "it is better to fight with his dead souls than to accept the nation under republicanism." Be Washington, don't be Louis XIV on the guillotine. Zhang Jian also sent yuan shikai, a member of the Jiangsu Consultative Bureau, to meet with Yuan Shikai, asking yuan to accept the democratic republic, and since democracy and republicanism have become an irresistible trend, they should attach importance to the great cause of national reunification. The predicament he was in, coupled with Zhang Xiao's best efforts to persuade him, made a major change in Yuan Shikai's attitude.
On the one hand, he openly declared that "the republic is the best state system and recognized by the world", while on the other hand, he played it and forced the Qing court to abdicate. He also asked Duan Qirui and nearly 50 other Beiyang generals to help, cooperate with them, and issued a telegram declaring that they supported the republic and asked the Qing court to abdicate immediately, otherwise they would lead their troops to Beijing.
Empress Longyu was panicked at first sight, and immediately convened a royal meeting, decided to accept preferential conditions, and on February 12, 1912, Puyi officially announced her abdication, and Yuan Shikai had full authority to organize a provisional government. Zhang Xiao also personally drafted the edict of abdication of the Qing Emperor, and this qing official who once won the title of champion with his own splendid articles, and now he has written an obituary for the Qing royal family with his own raw flower magic pen, which is a great irony. Zhang Jian took advantage of the Provisional Government's preferential conditions for the abdication of the Qing Dynasty royal family, the imperial family and the relevant flag people, thus ensuring the peaceful handover of the old and new regimes, and finally realizing the reunification of the country. At this point, Yuan Shikai got his wish.
On the same day, Sun Yat-sen resigned from the Provisional Senate as promised and recommended Yuan Shikai to replace him. Yuan Shikai was unanimously approved by the Provisional Senate. In a telegram to Yuan, the Provisional Senate said: "Looking up world history, the election of the great president is full of unanimous people. Only Washington alone, the public is goodbye, the same people are deeply fortunate that the public is the second Washington in the world, and the first Washington in the Republic of China. In this way, Yuan Shikai became the provisional president.
Yuan Shikai was a man who had nothing to do with the revolution. His shift in political attitudes and his ascension to the presidency did not indicate his identification with democratic republicanism, driven in large part by a desire for power, as evidenced by his subsequent actions. This is not something that Zhang Xiao and others, or even the revolutionaries, could have predicted.
History is complicated, things change with the situation, Zhang Xiao began to advocate industry to save the country, until it is seen that only industry is not enough, but also need to be reformed by the state's politics, and then advocate the constitution to save the country. When this political goal could not be achieved, he no longer supported the Qing court and switched to republicanism, and each of his political shifts had a strong sense of reflection and self-correction. It can be said that almost all thinkers and politicians in modern China have this characteristic without exception, which is the trace of modern social changes on him, and it is also a reflection of his self-reflection and revision. Therefore, the formulation and practical action of any political proposition is by no means the product of the personal subjective will of the politician, but is the result of being constrained by China's national conditions at that time. Only by placing them in the whole history of the time can we make a proper evaluation of them, rather than simply labeling them with "so-and-so", Shen Enfu, the lyricist of the national anthem of the Republic of China, once sent an elegy to Zhang Xiaojing, and I think this poem should be the best summary and affirmation of Zhang Xiao's life's achievements.
Famous and full of things, half a life of rough and proud Shi Xian; Jianghuai is worried about the world, and the vicissitudes of the market are in the twilight years;
A generation of talents qingshi crown, five mountains scenery white clouds sleep; the article economy is ancient, and there are two words of Nantong.
END
The image comes from the Internet
Like this article/author, at the end of the article appreciate it to express support!