History has its own life, it is like a person, both easy-going and self-respecting. ——Yu Qiuyu
Late in the evening of June 6, 1916, the inner room of an official residence in Beijing was covered with bangs. A polite white-haired old man and a middle-aged fat man with kind eyebrows are staring at a golden box in a daze. The fat man spoke first: "There must be the name of Yuntai (Yuan Keding, the eldest son of Yuan Shikai) in it." The two men opened the gold box, which contained a sealed wooden box with a red envelope. Inside contains a list of heirs written by Yuan Shikai himself.
The two held their breath and drew notes from the envelope little by little, and their names appeared one after another: Li Yuanhong, Xu Shichang, Duan Qirui, gone. The white-haired old man sighed: "Although Xiangcheng (Yuan Shikai's character) is the emperor's own system, he has no homeless heart until he dies!" ”
This old man is Xu Shichang, Yuan Shikai's old partner, and the fat man is Yuan Shikai's successor, the second president of the Beiyang government, Li Yuanhong.
Li Yuanhong
The next day, Li Yuanhong was sworn in, and Duan Qirui was appointed prime minister. The first thing to do was to first punish the eight culprits who had overthrown Yuan Shikai's restoration of the imperial system, and then to restore Dr. Sun Yat-sen's provisional law. Li Shi took office, but the provincial overseers did not obey, so after the government reorganization, Duan Qirui was still re-elected as prime minister, suppressing the position.
Li Yuanhong's psychology is very unbalanced. So he wanted to emulate Yuan Shikai and expand the power of the president. Zhang Guogan, secretary general of the president, advised him: "Forget it, you are kind and kind, Duan Shi is upright, and your good cooperation is also the well-being of the people." Li Yuanhong shook his head: "I also have to achieve a little achievement, don't I?" ”
Li Yuanhong, who wanted to build a tree in a hurry, "saw" the tree first. The next day, a young man with eight eyebrows broke into the president's office without even knocking on the door, and "snapped" a stack of personnel appointment documents on Li Yuanhong's desk: "Stamp it!" ”
Li Yuanhong was startled, but immediately restored the majesty of the president and asked in a sharp voice: "Why don't you inform, who are you?" ”
"Xu Shuzheng, Secretary General of the State Council."
"Whose resumes are they?"
"I still have something to do, you can stamp it!"
"Have all the qualifications been reviewed?" Who approved you to come? ”
"This is a paragraph set by the prime minister, the content of which I don't know."
……
Things like this happen almost every day. That little tree, ah no, Xiao Xu, hung his eyebrows every day, and almost made the seal with a threatening attitude, making it seem as if he was the president. Li Yuanhong felt very embarrassed, the appointment and dismissal of personnel did not go through himself, and he was also angry, all behind him there was a Duan Prime Minister, ahem!
Xu Shuzheng
But then again, this Xiao Xu's ability to work is indeed very strong, like Zhuge Kongming to Give Premier Duan a strategic plan, people give him the nickname "Little Fan". But he has a characteristic, that is, he is arrogant and very strong. Li Yuanhong, such a "soft and mediocre" president, he naturally did not look up.
Li Yuanhong felt more and more insulted and discriminated against, so he personally went to Duan Qirui: "Old Duan, you see how harmonious and harmonious we were under Yuan Gong's account, and how pleasant it was to work together..."
Duan Qirui, who was straight, couldn't stand it: "What do you have to say directly?" ”
"I want to discuss something with you, that is, Xiao Xu, the business ability is not to be picked, but there is really no superior, this shelf is not OK, is it to withdraw or change, you see ..."
"Old Li, you are like a big belly Maitreya." Can't even tolerate a young man who loves to show his sharp edge? By the way, I was thinking about stamping. The specific issues of personnel were originally implemented below, and you didn't need to worry about the president personally, and you would be finished with a stamp. If you even manage this, it will be too overstepping your authority. ”
"No, you see I always have to look over..."
"Okay, it's okay to look over, but Xiao Xu is resolutely unable to change."
Duan Qirui
Each step was spared, Li Yuanhong endured this breath, and Xiao Xu was safe for a while. If it is said that the appointment and dismissal of personnel is still a small matter, in the end, because of a major event, the contradictions between the two sides have intensified again. That is the question of whether or not to participate in the First World War.
At first, Li Yuanhong advocated participating in the war, and Duan Qirui advocated not participating in the war; later Li Yuanhong advocated not participating in the war, and Duan Qirui advocated participating in the war. Opinions in the Presidential Office and the State Department are always at odds. Things were deadlocked, so Xiao Xu, who represented Duan Qirui's opinion, naturally became the firepower point of the two sides.
Li Yuanhong touched a nail last time, and this time he did not dare to kiss it. So I went to Xu Shichang, a white-haired old man at the beginning of the article, to be a lobbyist. One of the reasons is that the old Xu's resourcefulness is not under Xiao Xu, and people give him the nickname "Crystal Fox". The second reason, and the most important reason, Lao Xu did not have a good feeling for Xiao Xu.
Xu Shichang
So for the sake of the "little fan", the "Crystal Fox" went to see the "Tiger of the North Ocean".
Still Old Xu can speak: "Xiao Duan, you look at you and Xiao Li, the relationship between the president and the prime minister is the back of the palm of the hand, and the government is like a family." Why can't we work together now? Or has someone turned his hand over to the clouds and turned his hand into the rain, provoking it? Don't affect state affairs for small things! ”
Duan Qirui also gave face: "Since the eldest brother has spoken about this job, then I can give in and immediately remove the secretary general of the State Council." But his surname is Li, but he must understand that this is his overstepping his authority in the personnel affairs of the State Council, and he cannot have such a move in the future. ”
So Zhang Guogan, the secretary general of the Presidential Office who advised Li Yuanhong in the previous article, this time succeeded Xiao Xu as secretary general of the State Council. Zhang Guogan, Li Yuanhong, and Duan Qirui were all doing well, and Duan Qirui thought that it would not be a problem to participate in the First World War this time. Happily, he passed a resolution at the state council and asked Lao Zhang to send it to the presidential palace for stamping.
Who knows, this time Li Yuanhong was actually "hardened", not covered! There is a saying that "when a rabbit bites a person, the tiger is stunned." Duan Qirui was stunned for a moment and immediately rushed out of the Prime Minister's Office.
This time it was Lao Duan's turn to find Lao Li, and he pushed the door with a straight temper and said: "This matter is related to the overall situation of the country, if the president does not stamp it, the resolution cannot be issued, now I will be relieved of my post!" Li Yuanhong actually agreed, still with that "kind eyebrow and kind eyes" look, but he didn't even have any interest in keeping it.
After Duan Qirui resigned, he returned to Tianjin in a huff. Without the restraints, Li Yuanhong's beard was almost flying. An old gentleman, Li Jingxi, was found to succeed Duan Qirui as the new premier. He also asked Zhang Xun to go into Beijing to mediate the disobedient overseers.
Who knows, Zhang Xun led a bunch of "braided troops" into the city, prepared for restoration, dissolved the parliament, and made Li Yuanhong the prince. Lao Li this regret ah, sent away the opponent, who knows became the pusher of perverse action! If you don't want to be an accomplice, you can only resign!
Of course, this is the same as the bones, Xiao Xu, Lao Duan and Lao Li are people on the same front. Zhang Xun let the meeting vote on restoration, and the provincial overseers all signed and swore an oath in favor, but Xiao Xu did not sign on behalf of Lao Duan.
At the same time that Lao Li resigned, he also reinstated Lao Duan as prime minister. Lao Duan returned with his soldiers, successfully fought against Zhang Xun, ended the ugly drama of restoration, became a hero of the "three republics", and restored the position of prime minister. Of course, the president didn't have anything to do with Li Yuanhong.
Five years later, Li Yuanhong briefly became president for a while. At that time, the old Duan lived in Tianjin, and Xiao Xu was no longer there. Without an opponent, Lao Li felt very lonely.
In front of you, another group of ugly powder ink appeared, you sang, we took the stage. Li Yuanhong's anger was not as simple as stamping, but there was nothing they could do, and they gave him a new nickname, "Li Bodhisattva".
Sometimes late at night when drinking alone, Lao Li will touch this nickname, "Li Bodhisattva"? Isn't the pronunciation of the dialect "mud bodhisattva"? Alas, I should still cross the river earlier, otherwise it is really "mud bodhisattva crossing the river, it is difficult to protect itself." ”
The official was light, and Lao Li threw himself into a new cause - the establishment of education. "Hubei First Normal School" and Hubei Qianchuan Middle School rose from the ground. Until his death, he was still preparing for a Jianghan University. (Zihua)