Wu Peifu pays tribute to Cao Kun (stills from "Zhifeng Wars")
The Rowan case, as far as the facts of the case itself are concerned, are a trivial matter.
Luo Wengan, finance minister of the Beiyang government, had some procedural flaws in handling the "Austrian loan." This kind of flaw is nothing at all in ordinary times.
However, during the delicate period of relations between Cao Kun and Wu Peifu, this flaw in Luo Wengan became the grip of the power struggle between the two major groups, which in turn triggered the terrifying waves in the political situation in Beiyang.
Cao Kun, Wu Peifu
The Luo Wengan case is the general outbreak of contradictions between Cao Kun and Wu Peifu. Using this case, Cao Kun beat up the invincible Wu Peifu and reiterated the leadership status of his immediate brother.
Since then, although Cao and Wu have been harmonious on the surface, they have actually drifted away.
Sandwiched in the middle of the Rowan dry
01
After the Zhiwan War in 1920 and the Zhifeng War in 1922, the Zhi family entered its peak period.
The middle of the day is good, and the full moon is a loss. According to the old dialectic, when a thing develops to its extreme, it begins its demise. The same is true of the immediate forces.
At this time, the main problem facing the direct family was division, that is, the contradiction between Cao Kun and Wu Peifu triggered the dispute between Bao and Luo.
The direct family controls the central government, but the two leaders of the direct line are not in Beijing, but remotely control the central government at the local level.
Cao Kun was the ZhiluYu Patrol Envoy, stationed in Baoding, his faction was called "Baopai", and Wu Peifu was the deputy envoy of zhiluyu Patrol, stationed in Luoyang, known as the "Luopai".
The reason why Wu Peifu ran to Luoyang was that he believed that Luoyang's geographical location was good, which was convenient for military training and the unification of China by force, and second, he felt that Cao Kun's left and right cronies were villains and did not want to join these people.
Wu Peifu (Stills of "Zhifeng War")
Over time, the direct family formed two power centers in Baoding and Luoyang, and the two sides began to fight for power and profit.
Although Wu Peifu was still loyal to Cao Kun and Cao Kun had general trust in Wu Peifu, he could not stand his subordinates from stirring up dissension every day.
This is like a palace fight drama, the relationship between the two bridesmaids is acceptable, but in order to compete for favors, the respective servants are loyal, manipulate right and wrong, pick up lights and fires, causing the two masters to have a grudge against each other, and the relationship gradually breaks down.
The contradictions between Cao Kun and Wu Peifu are mainly reflected in two points: one is the presidential issue, and the other is the cabinet issue.
It turned out that after the First Zhifeng War, Xu Shichang, the pro-Feng clan president, was ousted from power by the direct clan.
Cao Kun wanted to take advantage of the situation to become president, and he often lamented to his left and right cronies: Yuan Shikai and Feng Guozhang of the Beiyang Department had all been presidents, and now it was my turn.
Direct Generals Reviewing the Army (Stills from "Zhifeng War")
However, Wu Peifu did not approve of Cao Kun's immediate ascension to the throne, and he advocated that after the reunification of the whole country, Cao would become president again.
Not only that, Wu Peifu also lifted out Li Yuanhong.
According to the legal system, after Yuan Shikai, the most authentic president is Li Yuanhong, and others such as Feng Guozhang and Xu Shichang are not authentic, and Li Yuanhong was expelled by Zhang Xun's restoration, and the presidential term was not completed.
Wu Peifu welcomed Li Yuanhong out and asked him to finish the rest of his term of office, so that the legal system could be continued.
Wu Peifu also explained: With the grasp of the legal system, the forces in the southwest will lose their excuses, which is conducive to the direct system of the whole country.
Since Wu Peifu insisted like this, Cao Kun was not good enough to say anything more, but only said: Ziyu's opinion is my opinion.
In fact, Cao Kun was not very concerned about reunification or non-unification, he was only concerned about whether he could become president.
After Li Yuanhong became president, he was very unhappy in his heart, ignored Li Ai's answer, and did not give face.
Cao Kun Buddha-figure
Cao Kun's right and left cronies also came into rumors: Wu Peifu did not let the old marshal become president because he himself wanted to be president, and praising Li Yuanhong as a shield was a transition.
The old shuai is Cao Kun, who is called the old shuai and is also related to Wu Peifu.
Beiyang custom, the overseer above can be called the marshal, before the Zhifeng War, only Zhang Xun, Cao Kun, Zhang Zuolin can be called the marshal, after the rise of Wu Peifu, he is also known as the marshal, which is a taboo of the Bao faction - how can Wu Peifu sit on an equal footing with Cao Shuai?
Therefore, the Baopai called Cao Kun an old marshal to show that he was superior to Wu Peifu.
There were two people who were the most fierce in front of Cao Kun, one was Cao Kun's most trusted fourth brother Cao Rui, and the other was Cao Kun's favorite bather and brokebacker Li Yanqing.
One says things about flesh and blood affection, one blows the pillow side wind, how can Cao Kun bear it?
Cao Kun and Li Yanqing (stills from "Zhifeng Wars")
02
Let's talk about the second contradiction between Cao and Wu, the cabinet issue, which is also the background of Luo Wengan's case.
During his stay in Luoyang, Wu Peifu flaunted on the one hand that "military personnel are not allowed to interfere in government affairs," but on the other hand, he frequently issued orders to Beijing, and the Beijing government's domestic and foreign affairs and cabinet candidates must be approved by Wu Peifu with a nod.
Between Beijing and Luoyang, from the premier and the general director, down to the overseers, governors, and even parliamentarians, politicians, representatives of all parties, gentry and literati, flocked to the area.
These people either came to ask Wu Peifu to do things, or they wanted to see Wu Dashuai's style, and after meeting, all kinds of rainbow farts and exaggerated Wu Peifu fluttered.
Luoyang, the ancient capital of Luoyang, which has long declined, seems to be rejuvenated, and Wu Peifu's base camp in Luoyang is like the political center of the country.
Compared with Luoyang' traffic, Baoding is snubbed in front of the door. Cao Kun said sourly: As long as Luoyang sneezes, it will rain in Beijing and Tianjin.
Wang Favor
In this case, on September 19, 1922, Wu Peifu single-handedly supported the Cabinet of Wang Pet Hui.
In the cabinet, Prime Minister Wang Pethui was pro-Wu, Internal Affairs Chief Sun Danlin, and Communications Minister Gao Enhong were all close associates of Wu Peifu, and only Gao Lingxia, chief of agriculture and commerce, was Cao Kun's person.
It is clear that this is a pro-Wu Peifu cabinet.
After the formation of Wang's cabinet, it was fiercely opposed by the two major forces of the National Assembly and the Conservative Faction.
Wu Jinglian, the speaker of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly, has ambitions to become prime minister, and he wants to bring down Wang's favored cabinet and replace it.
The Bao faction had only one position in the cabinet, and of course they wanted to bring down Wang's cabinet and replace it with their own people.
Faced with a common political enemy, the two factions joined forces.
Wu Jinglian
Here's the question: Why didn't Cao Kun object when Wu Peifu was internally appointed as a member of the cabinet?
Wu Peifu is shrewd and capable, has a strong personality, and the military and political affairs of his direct lineage are mainly presided over by Wu in the front line, while Cao Kun is more like the spiritual leader of the direct lineage, he does not ask too much about specific affairs, and he is a bit of a retreat to the second line.
At this time, Cao Kun had reached the age of Hua Jia, and the pursuit of the rest of his life was to be a president, he had no higher political ideals, and he did not want to worry about trivial government affairs.
It is worth mentioning that although Cao Kun did not take much care of things, his direct leadership status could not be shaken, and the direct generals all supported him and did not like Wu Peifu.
First, Cao Kun is old and highly respected, and second, he is sincere and generous to others, and he is more comfortable doing things under him.
On the contrary, Wu Peifu is a rising star, with shallow qualifications, relatively crazy, very strict and difficult to get along with.
Cao Kun and Wu Peifu, behind li Yanqing (stills of "Zhifeng War")
(Cao Kun is known as Cao San fool, Wu Peifu is nicknamed Wu Xiao Ghost, and most people like a kind and generous boss, but do not like a ghostly and harsh boss)
With the development of time, Wang's cabinet became more and more partial to Wu Peifu, for example, when encountering major events, he only reported to Wu Peifu instead of Cao Kun, such as giving More points to Luoyang and less points to Baoding when allocating military expenses.
In this regard, Cao Rui was very unhappy, he often complained to his brother, saying that Wu Peifu was arbitrary and arbitrary, and he would definitely climb on the head of our brothers in the future, and although his subordinates were relatives, they were always inferior to his brothers.
There are more similar things, more people talking, three people becoming tigers, Cao Kun's heart will be shaken, he can ignore things, but the power absolutely cannot be left behind.
Cao Kun calligraphy
Therefore, he felt the need to knock on the high-profile Wu Peifu and let him know who was the boss.
The big guy fighting method naturally does not come up to showdowns, to be euphemistic, to be measured, and to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fuss.
03
On the evening of November 18, 1922, the moon was dark and windy.
Wu Jinglian and Zhang Bolie, chairmen and vice speakers of the House of Representatives, came to the Li Residence in Dongchang Hutong and said that they had a confidential matter to meet with the president.
After the screen retreated, the two submitted an official letter to Li Yuanhong, the main content of which was that Finance Minister Luo Wengan signed the Austrian loan extension contract without authorization, causing the country to lose 50 million yuan.
Austrian borrowing, is the early years of the Republic of China, China and the Austrian bank group, signed a loan contract, a total of about 4.75 million pounds, and later because of China's inability to repay, coupled with the outbreak of World War I, the contract was suspended.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire before the dissolution
After the end of the First World War, the debt bills borrowed by Austria expired, and the creditors demanded that new bonds be issued.
Moreover, the bonds issued by the Austrian banking group did not limit the purchaser, and many British, French, and Italians also bought such bonds.
The creditors of the Austrian loans, ostensibly the Austrian banking community, are actually the holders of these bonds.
At that time, the Beiyang government was in extreme financial difficulties and urgently needed new tariffs to generate revenue, but the great powers demanded that new bonds must be issued to recognize previous borrowings to support China's new tariffs.
In order to save China's international credit, Luo Wengan signed an Austrian loan extension contract, promising to issue new bonds, with a total principal and interest of 5.17 million pounds (about 40 million silver dollars).
Envoys of the Great Powers in China (stills from "Zhifeng War")
Wu Jinglian's official letter lists three major crimes against Luo Wengan:
First, The Austrian borrowing was decided by the Paris Peace Conference and has been used as a kind of ticket debt to compensate China (Austria is a defeated country, China is a victorious country), and there is no need to sign a new treaty to issue a new bond;
Second, Rowan took a kickback, as evidenced by three checks;
Third, the signing of the new contract was not submitted to the State Council for discussion in advance, nor was it submitted to the president and congress for consent, and the procedure was improper.
In view of this, the two asked Li Yuanhong to order the immediate arrest of Luo Wengan, so that he would not hear the wind and flee.
Li Yuanhong's ears were soft, and he could not withstand the urging of the two people, so he called Nie Xianfan, the commander of the infantry, and Xue Zhiheng, the police inspector of the Beijing Division, and arrested Luo Wengan.
Li Yuanhong
Is Wu Jinglian's accusation against Luo Wengan's three major crimes justified? Not all true.
The Paris Peace Conference said that the debts between the Entente and Austria can be offset by Austrian compensation, in other words, China can use Austrian war reparations to offset Austrian debts, but in fact, it is difficult to offset the debts due to the dispersion of creditors. (The matter is widely involved and is still controversial to this day)
The three checks that are called rebates, one of which is given to the Chinese government under the contract, and the other two are handled by banks and brokers, are reasonable and legal.
Procedurally, the contract was not submitted to the Council of State for discussion, nor was it submitted to the President and Congress for approval, but only to Prime Minister Wang Pethui.
However, as is customary, Rowingan's predecessors did this, and everyone did not feel inappropriate.
If in normal times, this is normal, but if someone takes the opportunity to make a fuss, then this is the big thing - the procedure is not legal.
Wu Jinglian just wanted to make a fuss about the Luo Wen case, make things bigger, and pull down Wang's favored cabinet in one fell swoop.
To attack Wang Pet Hui is to attack Wu Peifu.
Wu Jinglian has such a big boldness because he has the support of Cao Kun behind him.
04
After Rowangan's arrest, the cabinet blew up.
On the evening of the same day, Premier Wang Pethui, Foreign Minister Gu Weijun, Interior Minister Sun Danlin, and Communications Minister Gao Enhong jointly came to the Beijing Police Department to comfort Luo Wengan. Wang Said Bluntly: It is illegal for the President to directly order the arrest of cabinet members.
On the morning of November 19, Wang Peihui led all the members of the cabinet to the presidential palace to send a message to Li Yuanhong.
Wang Zonghui believes that the Austrian debt case is only a flaw in the formalities, and Luo Wengan is at most an administrative punishment, far from being criminally responsible. Moreover, without even calling, the president ordered the arrest of the cabinet members, where was the cabinet placed? Where are the judicial authorities?
Wang Pethui, Li Yuanhong
Li Yuanhong was intimidated and speechless, just a strong apology.
Under pressure from the cabinet, Li Yuanhong agreed to transfer the case to the court for trial, which would not only restore Luo Wengan's innocence, but also lead to the false accusations of Wu Jinglian and Zhang Bolie.
On the side of the National Assembly, After Wu Jinglian and Zhang Bolie heard the news, they led more than 20 deputies to the presidential palace in a menacing manner.
To avoid a head-on clash with The Diet, cabinet members slipped through the side door.
Wu Jinglian did not allow Li Yuanhong to act according to the cabinet's wishes, and he told Li Yuanhong that the National Assembly would investigate Luo Wengan and ask Li Yuanhong to cooperate.
Neither side of Li Yuanhong dared to offend, so he left the order to be transferred to the court for handling and waited for the situation to develop.
On November 20, Wu Peifu intervened, and he sent a telegram to Li Yuanhong to defend Luo Wengan.
Wu Peifu, Li Yuanhong
The cable said: If Luo Wengan violates the law, he should be dismissed from his official post by a cabinet vote before he can be sent to the court, and it seems that it is not a formal matter and is suspected of violating the law.
"It seems to be a non-formal body", to the effect that it is not a system, which is the tone of the previous emperor to his courtiers and superiors to subordinates.
Li Yuanhong was stimulated by this sentence and exploded, and his body trembled with anger.
He asked his secretary to write a telegram of more than 10,000 words, explaining the reason for luo Wengan's arrest, and also vented all the grievances and anger he had accumulated since he became president for the second time.
At the end of the telegram, he said, "Since I am not a body, it is advisable not to establish a virtuous person" - since I am not a system, you just have to set up another person to be president.
After the telegram was written, Li Yuanhong's anger also went down, and he considered the consequences and did not send the telegram.
Unexpectedly, the cable soon appeared in the newspaper and became known to the world.
Li Yuanhong calligraphy
Wu Peifu was furious.
At this time, not only the cabinet and the Luo party were dissatisfied with Li Yuanhong, but public opinion also blamed Li, believing that it was illegal for the president to directly order the arrest of cabinet members.
Western newspapers believe that this matter is not in line with the spirit of the rule of law, saying: As far as the circumstances of this case are concerned, consular jurisdiction is irrevocable in China at present.
Under pressure from all sides, Li Yuanhong asked someone to release Luo Wengan on bail, and also sent a special car to welcome Luo to the protocol of the presidential palace, apologize in person, and comfort him with kind words.
After the National Assembly heard the news, Wu Jinglian led more than 30 deputies to the presidential palace and requested that Wang Yuhui and Luo Wengan be dismissed.
Li Yuanhong was also angry: You are like this today, like tomorrow, what do you think of me as a president! One sentence shook these people back.
In any case, after Wu Peifu spoke, Li Yuanhong released Luo Wengan, which was seen as a victory for the Luo faction.
1923 Immediate Sphere of Influence (light blue)
05
How could Wu Jinglian, who has always been strong, be intimidated by Li Yuanhong's words?
He went back to rescue the soldiers, and the rescuers were Cao Kun.
On the evening of November 23, Wu Jinglian led more than 20 parliamentarians into the Li House in Dongchang Hutong.
Li Yuanhong was shocked to ask what had happened, only to see Wu Jinglian take out a telegram, the corners of his mouth raised, full of pride.
Looking at this posture, it seems that what he was holding in his hand was not a telegram, but a holy will.
It is indeed a bit like the Holy Will — this is Cao Kun's telegram, in which he counts Luo Wengan's guilt, accuses Luo of mourning power and insulting the country, bribery and dereliction of duty, and proposes to form a special court to thoroughly investigate Luo Wengan's case.
Wu Jinglian also told Li Yuanhong that if Wu Peifu dared to shield Luo Wengan again, the Baoding side had prepared a second step, that is, to ask the government to crack down.
Wu Peifu (left) and Wang Chengbin (stills from "Zhifeng Wars")
On November 24, Wang Chengbin, a direct cadre, issued a telegram requesting that Luo Wengan be investigated and dealt with, and publicly condemned Wu Peifu as an umbrella.
Jiangsu Qi Xieyuan, Jiangxi Cai Chengxun, Anhui Ma Lianjia, Shandong Tanaka, Zhejiang Lu Yongxiang, Shanghai He Fenglin, and Navy Commander Du Xijue also responded to Cao Kun's electrification.
Even Wu Peifu's concubines, Xiao Yaonan of Hubei and Zhang Fulai of Henan, were also electrified to echo Cao Kun.
The princes of all places directly under his command supported Cao Kun — this was Cao Kun's true strength.
Moreover, in order to deal with Wu Peifu, the Bao faction did not hesitate to reconcile with its direct enemies, the Feng, Anhui, and Anfu, Transportation, and Research factions.
Faced with a one-sided situation, Wu Peifu was confused.
Considering the overall interests of the direct group, Wu Peifu will never turn his face with Cao Kun.
Wu Peifu read "Spring and Autumn" at night (stills of "Zhifeng War")
On the other hand, Wu this person was deeply influenced by Confucian thought, and he used Guan Yu and Yue Fei as idols in his life, studied the Spring and Autumn Classics quite a bit, and was full of loyal ideas, so that he betrayed the lord, and he would not do it in death.
Wu Peifu hastened to issue a telegram, saying that he and Wang Zhonghui did not have selfish relations, had no intention of being impartial toward the Luo Wengan case, would no longer interfere in the case in the future, and that everything would be handled according to the will of Cao Dashuai.
After Wu Peifu bowed his head, the political wind suddenly changed, Wang's cabinet soon collapsed, Luo Wengan was re-arrested, and the Bao faction was full of arrogance.
Since then, Luo Wengan has been repeatedly arrested and released, but the case has little to do with the dispute between Cao and Wu and will not be repeated.
Luo Wengan was a scholar-type official who had stayed in the West, who was honest and honest, full of personality, and had a high level of business, and Cao Kun did not have a prejudice against him, but only used him to suppress Wu Peifu.
Luo Wengan (left)
Since Wu Peifu has already surrendered, Cao Kun has no reason to rectify him again, not only that, Cao Kun needs to recruit celebrities like him in order to bribe the president.
Later, during the National Government in Nanjing, Luo Wengan served as foreign minister and minister of justice.
Returning to the truth, Wu Peifu shut up, Luo Wengan was arrested, Wang's cabinet also collapsed, and the cabinet was changed several times and replaced by the pro-protection Zhang Shaozeng cabinet, basically as Cao Kun intended.
06
The Luo Wen case made the already overshadowed relationship between Cao and Wu even worse.
It is said that once, the guests of Wu Peifu's banquet were drunk, talking about their loyalty but not being forgiven, full of bitterness, pity, and tears, and the guests present were moved.
Wu Peifu cries (stills from "Zhifeng Wars")
On December 9, Cao Kun's sixtieth birthday, politicians and celebrities from all walks of life came to wish for the birthday, and for a time, Baoding crown cover gathered. However, such a grand event is missing Wu Peifu's figure.
Wu Peifu did not come, he sent Xiao Yaonan as a representative, told Cao Kun, saying that he wanted to personally come to wish for the birthday, but because the old marshal was angry, he was afraid of angering the old marshal, so he decided to come back to make up for the birthday in the future. It is also said that Bao and Luo cannot be separated.
Cao Kun said: Yes, Bao and Luo are iron-like relationships, how to separate! Ziyu did something wrong, I don't speak, who will talk! No one was allowed to talk about Paul again.
Although Paul did not separate his family, Cao and Wu's hearts were getting farther and farther away.
Cao Kun elected president (stills from "Zhifeng War")
After that, Cao Kun was busy bribing the election of the president, and Wu Peifu watched coldly in Luoyang, burying his head in military training, and the two rarely had the opportunity to meet in a year.
It was not until the eve of the Second Zhifeng War that Cao Kun recruited Wu Peifu to Beijing to preside over the war.
The Rowan case also greatly damaged Wu Peifu's reputation.
In the past, Wu Peifu's personality was a progressive warlord, and many people thought that he was still more like a person among the Beiyang warlords, and sympathized with and supported him.
After the Luo case, Wu Peifu submitted to Cao Kun and allowed this gang of garbage to plague the country and the people, acting very irresponsible. Therefore, many people have taken off the powder and scolded him as Cao Kun's lackey.
Then again, politics is the most realistic, and it can accommodate the romantic fantasies of ordinary people.
【References】
History of Beiyang Warlords" "History of Beiyang Warlords"
History of the Republic of China, Volume IV
On the Relationship between Cao Kun and Wu Peifu
"Cabinet, Congress, and Powerful Warlords: The Beginning and End of the Rowan Case in the 1920s"
"Crime and Non-Crime: The Judgment of the Rowingan Case and the Origin of the Case"