Author: Huo Xiaoshan
Li Yuanhong, a name that Chinese both familiar and unfamiliar. As long as you have studied the xinhai revolution in middle school history, you know that Li Yuanhong is a good person, as a reactionary warlord, he was elected by the revolutionary army to become the governor of Hubei, all the way to hang, all the way to lie and win, can be called a bug level existence in the history of the Republic of China.
On June 6, 1916, Yuan Shikai, president of the Republic of China, died in a worldwide curse.
In accordance with the provisions of Article 29 of the Law of the Republic of China formulated by Yuan Shikai, Vice President Li Yuanhong assumed the functions and powers of the President of the Republic of China.
Later, after Yuan Shikai became the president, Li Yuanhong was elected vice president, still serving as the governor of Hubei and sitting in Wuhan. Yuan Shikai was jealous of Li Yuanhong's presence in the local area, so he sent Army Commander Duan Qirui to Wuhan and escorted Li Yuanhong to Beijing by means of near-kidnapping. When Li Yuanhong was in Wuhan, he still had some of his own troops. After arriving in Beijing, he became completely isolated and in fact became a political prisoner of Yuan Shikai, fed up with Yuan Shikai's arrogance.
Li Yuanhong originally thought that after Yuan Shikai's death, he became president again and could no longer suffer from the nest. However, when he took office, he realized that the nightmare was not over. He is obviously the president, but he is even more miserable than Yu Huanshui, who suffered a midlife crisis in the TV series. Yu Huanshui was bullied and insulted by his superiors, and this tone could still be endured, after all, the official first level crushed people to death. But Li Yuanhong was bullied by his subordinates, and after being bullied, he could only break his teeth and swallow blood.
▲ Li Yuanhong
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > first, Duan Qirui's old calculations</h1>
The person who strongly supported Li Yuanhong as president was Duan Qirui, but this was not because Duan Qirui had a special love for Li Yuanhong. Because whether it is seniority or strength, Li Yuanhong cannot be on par with Duan Qirui.
Duan Qirui can be said to be the second most important person in the Beiyang warlord clique after Yuan Shikai, together with Wang Shizhen and Feng Guozhang, known as the "Three Masters of Beiyang", and in the former Qing Dynasty, he served as a commander, military commander and admiral, and once acted as the governor of Huguang. With the background of studying in Germany, he has long hosted various military academies, and many generals in the Beiyang military circles, either his subordinates or his students, can be said to be protégés all over the world, and have deep roots within the Beiyang warlord clique, and even Yuan Shikai has to fear him for three points.
In contrast, Li Yuanhong's seniority is much colder, and he is only a small co-commander of the Hubei New Army. After the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising, because Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing, Song Jiaoren and other revolutionary leaders were not in Wuhan, in order to avoid a leaderless situation, the New Army pushed Li Yuanhong to become the governor of the military government. It is said that he was reluctant at first, hiding under the bed and not coming out, until he was dragged out by the new army reluctantly. This made Li Yuanhong a well-known joke in society, and people called him "the governor under the bed". But in fact, this is just a story compiled by Cai Jiou, the chief writer of aurora minbao, and there is no exact historical data to prove it.
It was difficult to survive Yuan Shikai's death, but the powerful Duan Qirui had to support Li Yuanhong as president. Because Li Yuanhong was the only legal candidate to take over the presidency at that time, Duan Qirui did not dare to forcibly replace him. Moreover, Li Yuanhong has almost no political basic disk of his own, and when he becomes the president, there will be no opposition from all political forces in the country. The warlords in the southwest even directly regarded Li Yuanhong's succession as president as a prerequisite for the north-south peace talks, otherwise we would continue to do so. In addition, the great powers also expressed their support for Li Yuanhong's succession as president, and the Japanese cabinet even decided that as long as Li Yuanhong understood the great righteousness and could abandon the anti-Japanese policy of Yuan Shikai's government, "Japan would not hesitate to aid The Lai clan."
After repeated measurements, Duan Qirui had to raise his hands and feet in favor of Li Yuanhong's succession as president, and he only became the prime minister.
However, Duan Qirui, who is full of grievances, will certainly not give up, because the "Republic of China Covenant Law" stipulates that the political system adopts the presidential system instead of the responsible cabinet system. At first, he wanted to change the presidential dictatorship into a responsible cabinet system, and then let Li Yuanhong become a puppet president, while he himself took over the power and implemented a military dictatorship as the prime minister of the cabinet. This obviously won't work unless Duan Qirui is willing to abandon the so-called New Testament law formulated by Yuan Shikai
However, if this New Testament Law is abolished and the Old Testament Law is restored, that is, the Provisional Covenant Law of the Republic of China led by Song Jiaoren, it will inevitably bring about problems that will make Duan Qirui even bigger. Although the form of government stipulated in the Old Testament law is a responsible cabinet system, if the Old Testament law is restored, it is inevitable to restore the old Parliament, and the Kuomintang members in the old Parliament account for an absolute majority. These Kuomintang deputies had their own opinions and would never obey their own duties, and President Yuan Da was overwhelmed by the fact that he could not get these people.
However, contrary to people's wishes, under the strong pressure of the vigorous anti-imperialist movement and social public opinion, he finally had to restore the Old Testament law and the old Parliament. Duan Qirui was elected prime minister because he had opposed Yuan Shikai's claim to the throne and had the merit of rebuilding the republic.
Duan Qirui
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > second, Xu Shuzheng is arrogant</h1>
As prime minister, Duan Qirui holds real power in the central government, and it is reasonable to say that as long as he is willing to live in harmony with the nominal head of state, Li Yuanhong, then China's political situation can be stabilized. However, Duan Qirui was arrogant and arrogant, and how to look at Li Yuanhong felt unpleasant, and he even thought that regularly reporting to Li Yuanhong on official business was too much to lose his identity. Thus, "The President did not meet with him until the end of the day, but he saw that the Secretary-General had communicated with him." That is to say, he himself tried to meet with Li Yuanhong as little as possible, and let the secretary general of the State Council convey everything.
This position as secretary general of the State Council, Duan Qirui gave to his confidant Xu Shuzheng. How ironclad are these two people? At that time, Yuan Shikai said that in order to force Duan Qirui to support him, he threatened to depose Xu Shuzheng as deputy head of the War Department, but Duan Qirui did not buy it and counterattacked Yuan Shikai with his resignation. After Yuan Shikai abolished the imperial system, Duan Qirui recommended Xu Shuzheng as secretary general, but Yuan Shikai refused. Duan Qirui actually "electrified with the southwest and conspired against Yuan", and the relationship between the two was completely broken.
Xu Shuzheng, who wears a pair of pants with Duan Qirui, has been known as a prodigy since he was a child, and is especially good at dancing and inking - the joint telegram of the forty-two Qing generals who called for the abdication of the Qing Emperor was from his hand. Many such people will be arrogant and arrogant, and they will not be able to live forever, and it seems that everyone is in arrears with IQ
From the beginning of the fight, Li Yuanhong opposed Xu Shuzheng's appointment as secretary general of the State Council, because the latter's domineering style has long been known. But you think, even Yuan Shikai couldn't let Duan Qirui drive away Xu Shuzheng, and you Li Yuanhong was even more unlikely. Therefore, under Duan Qirui's tough attitude, Li Yuanhong had to choose to compromise.
After Xu Shuzheng took office, he directly positioned Li Yuanhong as a tool man. In his eyes, he and Duan Qirui decided on the country's major policies and decisions, and Li Yuanhong only needed to be responsible for signing and sealing.
He went to the presidential palace to report official duties to Li Yuanhong or submit official documents, and as long as Li Yuanhong had the slightest inquiry about official duties, he would impatiently use the idea that "matters are discussed by the cabinet and the cabinet is responsible for confrontation" and did not bother to explain at all. Once, when Shanxi Province changed the directors of the three departments at the same time, Li Yuanhong asked what the reason was, and Xu Shuzheng actually replied: "But the president has stamped the next page of the year, why bother with what is in front of him." "Angry Li Yuanhong seven tricks smoke." If Li Yuanhong asked one more question, he would threaten to resign.
What's more, Xu Shuzheng sometimes didn't even bother to report. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had informed the Japanese side as early as October 1916 of sending Cao Rulin to Japan to present the medal. This matter is a major matter related to Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations, but Li Yuanhong has never known. Li Yuanhong did not see a single word of the telegram of the State Council and Minister zhang Zongxiang in Japan discussing this matter back and forth. Xu Shuzheng was no longer belittling Li Yuanhong, but completely ignoring it. Li Yuanhong once angrily said to the left and right: "I didn't want to be a president, you see where they see me!" ”
Xu Shuzheng even explicitly stipulated that the State Council was above the Presidential Palace, and to this end, he formulated two major circulars, "Abridged The Authority of the Government" and "The State Council Concurrently Handles the Receipt and Dispatch of the Presidential Palace", in an attempt to deprive the Presidential Palace of all its powers. Don't you like to ask three or four questions when signing and sealing, well, you don't even have the opportunity to sign and seal now.
When Li Yuanhong succeeded to the presidency, he knew that he could not hold much real power, but he did not expect that Xu Shuzheng would not give him even the most basic face. Even if there is no basic respect, Xu Shuzheng has repeatedly deliberately provoked and wantonly trampled on the dignity of the president, knowing that Cao Cao of the Three Kingdoms has given some superficial respect to Emperor Xian of Han.
However, although Li Yuanhong was so angry that he wanted to vomit blood, there was nothing he could do to take Xu Shuzheng, after all, Behind Xu Shuzheng was Duan Qirui. Without Duan Qirui's instructions, Xu Shuzheng dared to be so authoritarian? Han Yuchen, who later served as the secretary of the presidential office, recalled that Li Yuanhong was once indignant: "In the past, he was humiliated by Xiangcheng (that is, Yuan Shikai), and now he is insulted by Duan. The president is a mother-in-law, not a daughter-in-law. The mother-in-law can take care of less, but the daughter-in-law is impatient to order everything. ”
Xu Shuzheng
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Third, Li Yuanhong's god assist</h1>
Just when the "mother-in-law" Li Yuanhong broke his teeth and swallowed blood, he suddenly had two god assists, one of which was the newly appointed secretary general of the presidential office, Ding Shiyi. In 1904, this person traveled to Japan to study at Hosei University, and after graduating and returning to China, he founded the Mining Preservation Association to oppose the German occupation of the Shandong mining area. In 1911, he was a member of the Provincial Consultative Council, and in 1912 he was elected to the Provisional Senate, and in the "Second Revolution", he opposed Yuan Shikai's claim to the throne. He is also one of the "Three Masters of the Press" in Beijing and has considerable influence in the public opinion circles.
As a Shandong person, Ding Shiyi was born with a strong style, aren't you Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng arrogant, then I am more arrogant than you! He told Han Yuchen, the secretary of the presidential office: I must compete with the "crooked nose" (it is said that Duan Qirui will have a crooked nose when he is angry). Han Yuchen asked, if you can't cure him, what if something bad happens? Ding Shiyi was arrogant and said that he had to try it too.
As soon as the new official took office, Ding Shiyi put forward the "Draft Procedures for handling affairs in the Government And The Court," which mainly consisted of two points: First, the president must attend the state council at any time; second, all state council deliberations and orders for the appointment and dismissal of officials must be approved by the minister in charge and then presented to the president for stamping, and if the president has different opinions, it must be returned to the State Council for reconsideration. This clearly increases the authority of the "mother-in-law" and will no longer let the "daughter-in-law" do whatever she wants.
Ding Shiyi also brewed a plan for the president to control military power, and he let out the wind and said: "The so-called responsible cabinet system should be a political responsibility cabinet system, and militarily it should be a presidential responsibility system, after all, the great president is the grand marshal of the navy and army of the Republic of China. ”
But how can the "daughter-in-law" sit idly by? They immediately fought back, accusing the draft of undermining the accountable cabinet system provided for in the Provisional Covenant Law and attempting to restore the presidential system. Xu Shuzheng even scolded Ding Shiyi as the head of the four evils in the presidential palace, and he desperately wanted to get rid of them quickly.
Duan Qirui also released a wind voice and said: "It is very good for the president to grasp the military, simply restore the presidential system, Duan Mou has returned to the hidden mountains and forests again, please ask President Li Da to do it alone." ”
If you are reasonable, Duan Qirui's words are not wrong. In a country like the United States that has a presidential system, the president is the commander-in-chief of the army, navy and air force. Since the Republic of China has a responsible cabinet system, the president should not control the military.
Li Yuanhong was really afraid that Duan Qirui would pick a role and not do it, because if Duan Qirui's cabinet fell, then the Nationalist government would have no strength to control the situation. Li Yuanhong had no choice but to smile and send someone to ask Duan Qirui to come back to work. In the end, the two sides took a step back and reached a compromise, and the President no longer asked to be present at the Council of State, but the President had the right to challenge the resolution of the Council of State, which had to be reconsidered once.
However, the relationship between the Presidential Palace and the State Council did not improve because Xu Shuzheng was still there, and he still raised an eyebrow at the people in the Presidential Palace and reprimanded him at every turn.
Li Yuanhong himself did not fight back, but his cronies, Sun Hongyi, the leader of the Taoyuan faction of the Constitutional Council, the largest party in parliament, could not see it anymore. Although Sun Hongyi was the chief of internal affairs of the State Council, he was in Cao Ying's heart in Han, and he fought with Li Yuanhong fiercely, as if he regarded himself as Li Yuanhong's "high counselor". He is also a strong and competitive personality, and he has long been dissatisfied with Xu Shuzheng's arrogant style, so every time he meets with Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng, he has to engage in a head-on confrontation with Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng.
The first fierce clash between the two sides was when Xu Shuzheng issued an order in the name of the State Council without authorization, ordering the troops of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, and Hunan to suppress Li Liejun's troops of the nationalist army. According to the provisions of the State Council's authority, the secretary-general of the Court can only attend the State Council as an observer, but has no right to speak or vote. Xu Shuzheng's bold words at the state council meeting did not matter, he actually issued a crusade order without seeking Li Yuanhong's consent, which was equivalent to directly punching President Li Yuanhong in the face. Sun Hongyi angrily accused Xu Shuzheng of encroaching on his powers, and Xu Shuzheng accused Sun Hongyi of leaking state secrets by privately informing the museum.
The second fierce clash between the two sides was when a Hunan lawmaker offered to investigate and deal with Hu Ruilin, the current governor of Fujian Province, on the grounds that he had corrupt practices while serving as Hunan finance minister. After Xu Shuzheng received the bill, he did not discuss it at the state council or let Sun Hongyi, the chief minister of internal affairs, know about it, so he defended Hu Ruilin in the name of the State Council without authorization and rejected the bill.
Sun Hongyi was furious when he learned of this, and he directly approached Duan Qirui: "The punishment of the civil affairs chief belongs to the authority of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and I myself am in charge of things, and I don't even know anything about it. If the Secretary-General can do everything, what else can I, the Minister of the Interior, do? ”
What Xu Shuzheng did in these two things, even Duan Qirui felt that it was too much. He asked Xu Shuzheng to recover the message, and Xu Shuzheng hated Sun Hongyi to the bone.
Duan Qirui also gradually regarded Sun Hongyi as a thorn in his eye, as long as this person was still in the cabinet, the entire cabinet would never have a peaceful day. Therefore, be sure to let this person roll up and get out of the egg
Later, Duan Qirui handed over the order to Dismiss Sun Hongyi to Li Yuanhong, saying: "If the president refuses to remove Sun Hongyi from his post, then remove me from office!" ”
Faced with the threat of Duan Qirui, Li Yuanhong once again chose to back down. But Sun Hongyi is his own person after all, and it is too hurtful to dismiss him, so he suggested: "It is better that the dismissal order is not down, let him resign automatically!" I'll do the work for him!
But Sun Hongyi is not the kind of character that is unlucky and admits to planting, he released harsh words: "Politicians must work hard, no matter how sacrificed, they will never resign!" He contacted another ruthless man, Ding Shiyi, and launched an offensive to overthrow the cabinet. Taoyuan sent dozens of lawmakers to the National Assembly to investigate Xu Shuzheng's case, listing Xu Shuzheng's seven major crimes. At the same time, they are also brewing the impeachment of Duan Qirui.
Sun Hongyi and Xu Shuzheng were inseparable, and the situation was out of control. There was no way, Li Yuanhong had to invite Xu Shichang, a big man of the Beiyang department, to mediate, and finally dismissed Sun and Xu from their posts at the same time, which temporarily stabilized the situation.
(Zhang Xun)
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > fourth, the end of the dispute between the house and the house</h1>
Li Yuanhong could not have imagined that the person who drove him down was not Duan Qirui, but the braided general Zhang Xun.
After the struggle between Sun Hongyi and Xu Shuzheng subsided, the problem of participation in the First World War surfaced again. Duan Qirui advocated China declaring war on Germany, while Li Yuanhong did not agree to declare war on Germany. Duan Qirui saw that he could not persuade Li Yuanhong, so he followed Yuan Shikai's approach and used violent coercion to force the National Assembly to pass the declaration of war against Germany.
After the truth was revealed, Duan Qirui became the target of public opinion throughout the country. Coupled with the media disclosure that the prime minister actually borrowed 100 million yuan from Japan, Duan Qirui became a traitor that everyone shouted and beat. With the support of public opinion, Li Yuanhong's waist pole finally stood up, and he ordered Duan to be removed from his post as prime minister, and this dismissal was immediately approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives
With a grudge in his heart, Duan Qirui plotted the "independence" of the 8 Beiyang provinces such as Anhui and Feng in Tianjin, and sent a telegram demanding the dissolution of the National Assembly and Duan Qirui's reinstatement, otherwise he would sever relations with the Beijing government. The Anhui overseer Ni Sichong issued a murderous threat to Li Yuanhong: "President Li listens to the small crowd, excludes the righteous soldiers, and the mob occupies the National Assembly and colludes with the government to seize power, and must be expelled by force." ”
In this situation where his life was hanging by a thread, Zhang Xun gave Li Yuanhong the last hope. Zhang Xun told Li Yuanhong that he could act as a mediator and promise to make Li Yuanhong and Duan Qirui reconcile, abandon their previous suspicions, and move towards a better tomorrow together.
Li Yuanhong firmly grasped this life-saving straw, but did not know the real purpose of this straw, that is, to take this opportunity to justifiably lead the braid army into Beijing and restore the rule of the Qing Dynasty.
Later stories are known to everyone, on July 1, 1917, Zhang Xun did indeed let Puyi put on the long-lost dragon costume, "listening to the government of the dynasty and taking back the power." Liang Dingfen, an old "old monster" of the former Qing Dynasty, was ordered to come to the presidential palace and ask Li Yuanhong to "obey the order" to hand over power.
Li Yuanhong shouted loudly: "If Sir comes to talk to Yuanhong as a remnant of the Qing Dynasty, he should sincerely welcome him; if he comes for the restoration, today I am the Great President, I have no way to control the rebellion, so that the rebels rebel against the Republic of China, I should be loyal to the Republic of China, you are the Minister of the Qing Dynasty, you should also do the work for the Qing Dynasty, we will all die together." Liang Dingfen was not interested in asking for help, and did not send a word away.
Li Yuanhong, who has always been weak, did not choose to back down in principle this time, adhered to the last dignity of the Republic of China, resolutely refused to hand over power, and the presidential palace was still flying a five-color flag, and later Zhang Taiyan praised Li Yuanhong as "succeeding the Ming Taizu".
At the same time, Li Yuanhong secretly issued a presidential decree to restore Duan Qirui to the post of prime minister and order him to send a military campaign against Zhang Xun. Duan Qirui immediately seized this opportunity to "hang the people and cut down crimes" and raised the banner of "revenge for rebellion." Zhang Xun's army was really indisputable, and as soon as Duan Qirui's army arrived in Beijing, it immediately scattered. If Duan Qirui had seen "Journey to the West Afterword", he would definitely point to Zhang Xun and say, "You have fallen down before I have exerted my strength."
After the farce of the restoration came to an end, Duan Qirui sent people to the Japanese embassy to welcome Li Yuanhong's reinstatement, but at this time, Li Yuanhong called himself "the flower of the fallen" and would never "climb the throne again". This big president is indeed exhausted, just to deal with Xu Shuzheng, he is already in danger of his hairline. At this time, if the official is light, wouldn't it be better to choose?
(Braided Army)
A president without force, despite trying to defend the testing ground of democracy and republicanism, has repeatedly run into a wall in the face of harsh realities. Coupled with Li Yuanhong's own personality is too weak, resulting in his lack of courage to fight resolutely. When Sun Hongyi and others confronted the warlord forces with a fearless spirit, Li Yuanhong did not become their strong backing. In order to maintain a peaceful situation like a mirror, he often chose to give in as a way to calm things down.
Yan Fu later commented on Li Yuanhong: "Li Gong's morality is believed by the world. However, the salvation of the country is by no means so morally effective. Why? Soft and dark! Reading through the history of China and the West, I think that the most dangerous people in the world are not guilty of goodness and cowardice. The head of a family will not be enough to shelter his family; and the head of a country will not be enough to protect his country. ”
In addition, the rules of the political game in the early years of the Republic of China were that whoever had his own army could call the wind and rain and who could do whatever he wanted. Don't say that Li Yuanhong, a marginal figure of the Beiyang warlord clique, even if he is a brother of Yuan Shikai like Xu Shichang, who later became president, because he had no guns or cannons in his hands, he had to struggle to maintain himself in the gap between the two warlords.
Finally, let's talk about Li Yuanhong's nemesis Xu Shuzheng, although he served as Duan Qirui's sharpest pawn all his life and repeatedly wantonly undermined the republican system of the Republic of China, he later completed the task of abolishing the autonomy of Outer Mongolia without firing a single shot, and made outstanding contributions to safeguarding China's sovereign territorial integrity.
However, his arrogant and arrogant personality has not changed, and later he has created all kinds of embarrassing incidents against the zhi and Bong factions. The warlords of the Zhi and Feng factions did not have the good temper of Li Yuanhong, and directly rolled up their sleeves to help Duan Qirui "Qing Jun's side". Of course, Duan Qirui could not abandon his right and left arms, so Xu Shuzheng's departure became the fuse of the Zhi and Anhui wars.
In the end, the war between the warlords was on the verge of breaking out, the Anhui army was defeated like a mountain, and Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng walked out of the spotlight of history together.
Li Yuanhong himself is a lucky person, but when he is lucky to be pushed to the center of the historical stage, it is an unfortunate thing for an era.
Resources:
1. Tang Degang, "Yuan's Dangguo", Guangxi Normal University Press, 2004
2. History of the Beiyang Warlords in The New Summer, China Publishing Group, 2019
3. Fei Zhengqing and Fei Weikai, Cambridge History of the Republic of China, China Social Sciences Press, 2006