In the early morning of January 14, 1912, at the door of Ward 205 on the second floor of Guangci Hospital on JinFuShi Road in Shanghai, two black shadows suddenly flashed by.
With the sound of a gunshot, Tao Chengzhang, who was being treated in the hospital room, was killed by two assassins who drank bullets from their mouths.
As soon as the news of Tao Chengzhang's assassination came out, it immediately caused an uproar in public opinion, and one after another demanded that the real culprit be found and severely punished.
Tao Chengzhang
A few days later, one of the Assassins, Wang Zhuqing, was arrested and executed in order to calm the pressure of public opinion. The other Assassin could not find out who it was, and at the time, there was unanimous speculation that this person should be Chiang Kai-shek, the brother of Chen Yingshi (Chen Qimei).
It wasn't until 95 years later, in 2007, that part of Chiang Kai-shek's private diaries were made public.
People only saw this passage in the diary:
"Yu Zhi's murder of Tao Chengzhang was out of the interest of the revolution and the party, and Yu Yiren took up his own responsibility and had no intention of seeking help and knowledge."
Through this passage, we can see that another assassin who participated in the assassination of Tao Chengzhang was undoubtedly Chiang Kai-shek.
After Tao Chengzhang was assassinated by Wang Zhuqing and Chiang Kai-shek in the hospital, the Guangfuhui and the Allied Association completely broke up.
Zhang Taiyan, who was then the president of the Guangfu Society, also began to sing against Sun Yat-sen.
Sun Yat-sen was inaugurated as the interim president
In February 1912, a month after Sun Yat-sen became the provisional president of the Republic of China, Zhang Taiyan publicly sent a telegram to Li Yuanhong, proposing that Yuan Shikai be appointed as the provisional president of the Republic of China.
Since then, from home to abroad, from the old bureaucrats of the constitutionalists to the revolutionaries, almost unanimously elected Yuan Shikai to succeed him to the post of provisional president.
In the face of the outside world's voices, Sun Yat-sen had no choice but to publish
"Give way to Yuan Shikai"
Declaration. In his manifesto, he said:
"If the young emperor of the Qing Dynasty abdicates and declares a republican system, then the Provisional Government of the Republic of China will never renege on its word, and Sun Wen can immediately announce his dismissal and promote Yuan Shikai with merit."
Sun Yat-sen's statement quickly spread throughout the north and south of the great river, and for a time, people who supported Yuan Shikai gathered in Beijing from all over the country to persuade Yuan Shikai:
"We must seize this opportunity to be the Washington of China."
Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai, who is scheming and calculating, naturally also knows that once the time is ripe, he will definitely play a set of combined punches against the Qing Dynasty.
Coincidentally, on January 26, the revolutionary Peng Jiazhen injured Liang Bi, the leader of the Imperial Clan Socialist Party, who advocated fighting, and died two days after being rescued. As soon as this incident came out, the Qing government was deeply panicked, and Duan Qirui and more than 50 other Manchu Qing generals took the opportunity to jointly send a telegram demanding that Emperor Xuantong (Puyi) abdicate.
In desperation, Empress Longyu, who was listening to the government at that time, had to invite Yuan Shikai to discuss the strategy of coping.
Yuan Shikai knew that the time was ripe, and when meeting with Empress Longyu, Yuan Shikai said:
"The revolutionaries are now everywhere, and everyone outside says that Sun Wen has three heads and six arms, and his men are all over the country, maybe in this palace." If we do not agree to the conditions they have put forward, perhaps the people hidden in the palace will attack us. ”
Empress Longyu
After all, Empress Longyu was a female streamer, and she was really frightened by Yuan Shikai's words, so she officially issued the emperor's abdication edict on February 12. This means that the feudal monarchy that lasted for more than two thousand years in ancient China came to an end.
In the book "The First Half of My Life", Puyi described the situation at that time:
In the East Warm Pavilion of the Yangxin Hall, Empress Longyu sat on the kang by the south window, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief, and on the red felt cushion on the ground in front of her, there was a thick old man kneeling, also full of tears.
I sat to the right of Empress Longyu, wondering why the two adults were crying. At this time, there was no one else in the Yangxin Hall except the three of us, and it was very quiet. The fat old man twitched his nose as he spoke, and I couldn't understand what he was saying at the time.
Later, I learned that this fat old man was Yuan Shikai, and officially at this meeting, Yuan Shikai directly raised the issue of letting me abdicate to Empress Longyu. ”
Later, regarding the meeting between Empress Longyu and Yuan Shikai, some historians commented:
Empress Longyu was really crying, and the "fat old man" Yuan Shikai was acting fake crying. ”
Puyi abdicated
The day after Emperor Puyi abdicated, Yuan Shikai sent a telegram to the whole country, officially announcing the implementation of the republican system. Sun Yat-sen also fulfilled his previous promise, resigned as the provisional president of the Republic of China, and gave way to Yuan Shikai.
On February 18, the Provisional Senate of the Republic of China elected Yuan Shikai as the second provisional president.
On March 30, Yuan Shikai began to appoint the chief ministers of the Republic of China, of which Chen Yingshi was the chief of industry and commerce. However, Chen Yingshi did not trust Yuan Shikai enough, and did not go to Beijing for a long time, insisting on guarding the political and economic powerhouse of Shanghai for the revolutionaries.
On August 24, 1912, at the repeated invitations of Yuan Shikai, Sun Yat-sen arrived in Beijing, and Yuan Shikai received Sun Yat-sen with presidential etiquette.
Although Yuan Shikai and Sun Yat-sen met for the first time, he was like seeing a long-lost relative. Over the next 24 days, the two met as many as 13 times, several times until two in the morning.
Chen Yingshi
In the course of his conversation with Sun Yat-sen, Yuan Shikai said:
"Shi Kai knows thin and can be fresh, I hope mr. can teach me."
Sun Yat-sen talked about some ideas for the construction of the Republic of China, and Yuan Shikai listened attentively.
Subsequently, Sun Yat-sen said:
"I will never run for official president, and Huang Xing will not run." Even after the Alliance is reorganized into the Kuomintang, it will definitely fully support your election as the official president. ”
Yuan Shikai hastily replied:
"Didn't you put me on the stove and roast me, and you ended up at ease?"
Sun Yat-sen said solemnly:
"We can divide labor and cooperate, in ten years, you will be responsible for training a million elite soldiers, and I will be responsible for building 100,000 kilometers of railways."
After listening to Sun Yat-sen's words, Yuan Shikai's mood at this time was very excited.
Sun Yat-sen
Through a period of contact, Sun Yat-sen's impression of Yuan Shikai gradually improved. So he hurriedly sent a telegram to Huang Xing and Chen Yingshi, who were in Shanghai, asking them to come to Beijing quickly.
On September 11, Huang Xing and Chen Yingshi arrived in Beijing by train, and Yuan Shikai organized tens of thousands of people to welcome the arrival of these two revolutionary heroes.
When Sun Yat-sen was obsessed with the construction of the railway, and Chen Yingshi put his energy into industry to save the country, a bigger storm came, and the cruel truth could not make them take off their battle robes.
On the evening of March 20, 1913, Song Jiaoren, acting chairman of the Kuomintang, accompanied by Huang Xing, Chen Yingshi, Yu Youren, and others, prepared to go to the Shanghai Railway Station with the intention of going to Beijing to attend the first official national assembly.
Three months earlier, the KMT had won the parliamentary election, with Song Jiaoren elected acting chairman of the KMT and Yuan Shikai inviting him to Beijing to "discuss state affairs."
Song Jiaoren
Although Song Jiaoren was only 31 years old at the time, everyone was unanimously optimistic about him, believing that he would definitely serve as the prime minister of the cabinet when he went to Beijing this time.
At about 10:00 p.m., Song Jiaoren, surrounded by everyone, successfully arrived at the Shanghai Railway Station.
However, what everyone did not expect was that when Song Jiaoren walked toward the ticket gate, there was a sudden burst of gunfire, Song Jiaoren fell to the ground injured, and Huang Xing, Chen Yingshi, Yu Youren and others immediately sent him to the hospital.
Just the day after Song Jiaoren's assassination, rumors spread from the outside world:
"Sending people to shoot Song Jiaoren was Chen Yingshi's doing."
Chen Yingshi was extremely angry when he heard this news, and although he had been the governor of the Shanghai Army for half a year, he still secretly ordered his former subordinates and brothers of the gang to quickly solve the case.
At 4:48 a.m. on March 22, Song Jiaoren died in the hospital due to his serious injuries.
Song Jiaoren died in hospital
For a time, the news of Song Jiaoren's assassination shocked the whole of China, and the people of the whole country demanded that "the murderer be arrested and the truth be found out."
Soon, the assassination of Song Jiaoren had an eyebrow, and the leader of the Green Gang, Jin Rong, who was working in the patrol house of the concession, personally captured the murderer, and this person was named Wu Shiying.
Wu Shiying once participated in the revolution, and his boss Ying Guixin was the president of the Republic of China Communist Progressive Association, and he was usually called a brother and brother with Chen Yingshi, Song Jiaoren and others.
What everyone did not expect was that from the official documents seized from Ying Guixin's home, it was found that the person behind the curtain was Actually Hong Shuzu, then secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the State Council, and Hong Shuzu's direct superior was Zhao Bingjun, the premier of the state, and Zhao Bingjun was a close associate of Yuan Shikai.
Before the Shanghai judicial authorities could interrogate them, Ying Guixin and Wu Shiying died one after another inexplicably.
Even more bizarrely, a month later, Zhao Bingjun, then premier of the state, was also poisoned and killed.
Through a series of events, Huang Xing and Chen Yingshi determined that the real culprit behind the assassination of Song Jiaoren was Yuan Shikai.
On March 25, Sun Yat-sen, who was leading a large number of entourage to visit Japan, immediately suspended his trip after hearing the news, and rushed back to Shanghai to discuss the specific matters of the crusade against Yuan Shikai.
Three months later, the "Second Revolution" broke out, and Chen Yingshi was inaugurated as the commander-in-chief of the "Yuan Army" in Shanghai, re-embarking on a period of arduous and iron-blooded milestones.