Still
Zhang Xun's restoration was the first major infighting in the Beiyang clique after Yuan Shikai's death.
The main line of this event, as we all know:
President Li Yuanhong and Premier Duan Qirui fought against the law, Li Yuanhong deposed Duan Qirui, Duan Qirui ran to Tianjin, instigated the provincial overseers to oppose Li Yuanhong, Li Yuanhong could not withstand the pressure, summoned Zhang Xun to Beijing to mediate, Zhang Xun took the opportunity to restore the Qing Dynasty, drove out Li Yuanhong, Duan Qirui organized an army to fight Zhang Xun to suppress the restoration, and became the biggest winner.
Zhang Xun stills
Of course, this is a highly general statement, and if you look closely, there are many doubts, such as:
Why did Li Yuanhong dare to depose Duan Qirui?
Why did he look for Zhang Xun as a mediator?
Why can Zhang Xun's 5,000 braid army be easily restored?
Why was there no punishment after failure?
What was Vice President Feng Guozhang's attitude at that time?
Braided army stills
If these doubts are refined and connected with logic, it can be found that Zhang Xun's restoration is actually a huge power game of "innings in the game, counting in the plan". In this game, Zhang Xun is only a rhythm master, a key figure to promote the development of the plot, and it is Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang who really grasp the direction of the plot, the pillars of beiyangtai.
This conspiracy feast not only involved the provincial overseers, but also involved Cao Kun, Wu Peifu, Zhang Zuolin, Feng Yuxiang and other people who were more familiar with it, but at that time, they were not enough coffee seats, and could only play supporting roles or even run dragon sets.
01
Zhang Xun's life is a model of grassroots counterattack.
Zhang Xun, Jiangxi Fengxin, born in 1854, his parents died when he was very young, and he lived a very depressed life.
In 1884, the 30-year-old Zhang Xun joined the army in Changsha, and then participated in the Sino-French War, and was promoted for his bravery and repeated battle achievements, and it took only 7 years to become a general of the Qing Dynasty.
Zhang Xun
In 1894, Zhang Xun participated in the Sino-Japanese War, but due to the defeat of the army and the disbandment of the troops, he defected to Yuan Shikai, who was training at a small station.
Zhang Xun was older than Yuan Shikai, and his military seniority was also older than Yuan Shikai, he turned to Yuan Shikai and belonged to the art worship master, not so much that he was a subordinate of Yuan Shikai, but rather a partner, Zhang Xun was not completely tamed by Yuan Shikai.
After that, Zhang Xun accompanied Yuan Shikai to suppress the Boxers, and was transferred to Beijing as a royal guard, where he was cordially received by Empress Dowager Cixi, and the official Yun Hengtong, in the year of the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, Zhang Xun had been mixed into the Viceroy of Jiangnan.
Zhang Xun believes that his meritorious career was given by the Great Qing, without the Great Qing he is nothing, he has always read the good of the Great Qing, firmly determined that "people who are born in the Great Qing, and die are the ghosts of the Great Qing", and the political stance is very firm.
When the Nanjing Revolutionary Party launched an uprising, Zhang Xun suppressed it madly, without compromise, and dared to cut his braids and killed them all, and the Qing court saw that he was so loyal and courageous, and appointed him as the governor of Jiangsu, and concurrently served as the governor of Liangjiang and the minister of Nanyang—the most powerful feudal governor besides the governor directly subordinate to the governor and the minister of Beiyang.
After Zhang Xun's restoration, he served as the viceroy and minister of Beiyang
Zhang Xun's loyalty failed to save the Qing Dynasty, and after the founding of the Republic of China, he garrisoned Yanzhou, Shandong Province, under the protection of Yuan Shikai, with his officers and men still wearing pigtails, and with the etiquette of the Qing Dynasty, he claimed allegiance to the Qing Dynasty. Zhang Xun did not belong to the Beiyang concubine lineage, but belonged to the periphery of Beiyang, and was also considered a Beiyang warlord in a broad sense.
In April 1916, Zhang Xun was appointed as the inspector of the Yangtze River and the overseer of Anhui, garrisoning Xuzhou, with 20,000 people under his command. At this time, Zhang Xun was already 62 years old, and if it were not for Yuan Shikai's death and the continued turmoil that followed, Zhang Xun's dream of restoring the Qing Dynasty might have been buried in the yellow soil with his remnants.
On June 9, 1916, the third day after Yuan Shikai's death, Zhang Xun summoned representatives of the seven provinces of Ji, Hei, Feng, Zhi, Jin, Anhui, and Yu to Xuzhou for a meeting to discuss countermeasures.
As soon as old Yuan died, the Beiyang warlords lost their main backbone, and the provincial overseers were more confused and worried about the future, in order to safeguard their vested interests, they had to report to the regiment for warmth and form an offensive and defensive alliance.
Zhang Xun convened the Xuzhou meeting at this time, just in the eyes of these overseers, Zhang Xun was straight, generous, and moralistic, just daring, old and qualified, let him be the leader of the big brother who is obedient, on the other hand, the military to do politics is not a glorious thing, since Zhang Xun does not avoid suspicion, the overseers are happy to let him stand up to the thunder.
How is it possible that a straight man can be mixed into an Overseer? Just like Cao Kun, people call him "Cao San Fool", if you really think he is stupid, it must be you stupid. "Humble" and "silly" are just their protective colors, fading this protective color, one by one more refined than the ghost.
Zhang Xun convened the Xuzhou Conference in order to become the great alliance leader of the Various Overseers of the Beiyang Faction, to become the third force besides the Beijing government and the warlords in the southwest, and to resurrect the Qing Dynasty. He said to everyone, "The Great Qing Dynasty is deep and benevolent," and tested the attitude of the provinces toward restoration, and everyone knew that he had always been like this, and he did not care.
Braid army
On September 12, Zhang Xun convened the Second Xuzhou Conference, which expanded the offensive and defensive alliance of 7 provinces to 13 provinces, openly played the banner of "consolidating groups and defending the central government", and also established the "Thirteen Provinces and Districts Federation" to elect Zhang Xun as the leader of the alliance.
The Overseers not only had to deal with the National Assembly, the Kuomintang, and the warlords of the Southwest, but they also tried to confront the Beijing government—who dared to undermine their interests and were their enemies.
02
Here is a question: after Yuan Shikai's death, Duan Qirui inherited the mantle of old Yuan, why did the overseers not unite around Premier Duan, but to push Zhang Xun out?
This is where Duan Qirui failed.
Duan Qirui
Duan Qirui is a person who is cold and resolute, does not smile, loves to lose his temper, is not easy to get along with, and his popularity is far less than Zhang Xun, not to mention that he also has a spokesman Xu Shuzheng, who is the lord of people who see people.
Secondly, Duan Qirui has been serving in the central government for a long time, and he has been separated from the local overseers, and the interests of the central government and the local interests are often not consistent, for example, Duan Qirui wants to engage in centralized power, and the provincial overseers want to decentralize power, so Duan Qirui cannot represent their interests.
In the end, Duan Qirui was not the co-lord of Beiyang, and there were many people who opposed him and were unwilling to see him cover the sky with one hand, such as Feng Guozhang and Li Chun, Wang Zhanyuan, and Chen Guangyuan of his faction.
Zhang Xun pulled the tiger pila banner in Xuzhou, shook the air, and pointed fingers at the central government, what was Duan Qirui's attitude?
Duan Qirui obviously saw the huge energy contained in the Overseers, and also had insight that they wanted to resist the central government, but he did not intervene in time, and even sent someone to participate in the Second Xuzhou Conference.
Although he hated Zhang Xun and the Xuzhou Conference, as a political veteran, his first thought was not to make enemies of him, but to assess the political value of the other party and how to use it.
For Duan Qirui, Zhang Xun and the Overseer Corps were a sharp sword to suppress Feng Guozhang and Li Yuanhong.
Duan and Feng were yuan shikai's pillars, but when the two fought with Yuan Shikai, they were at odds with each other, and after Yuan Shikai's death, Duan Qirui took control of the central government as the premier of the state and the chief of the army, and Feng Guozhang sat in Nanjing as vice president and governor of Jiangsu.
Although Feng Guozhang is far from the political center, he has military power in his hands, and there are a group of younger brothers to follow, and his strength cannot be underestimated.
Yuan Shikai put Zhang Xun in Xuzhou, and also had the intention of restraining Feng Guozhang (both were in Jiangsu), and now Duan Qirui repeated the old tricks and also wanted to win Zhang Xun over against Feng Guozhang.
Feng Guozhang
Feng Guozhang's relationship with Zhang Xun has never been very good (provoked by Yuan Shikai), but he also sent people to the Xuzhou conference, of course, not to give Zhang Xun a show, but to use Zhang Xun to muddy the waters, to mess up the situation, and then take advantage of the chaos to seize power and find an opportunity to remove the "vice" word of the vice president.
In short, Zhang Xun, Duan Qirui, and Feng Guozhang all looked down on each other, and each wanted to use a third party to deal with each other.
As for the suppression of Li Yuanhong, it involves a dispute between the government and the court.
After Yuan Shikai's death, Duan Qirui did not become president for various reasons, but let Vice President Li Yuanhong succeed to the throne, but he looked down on Li Yuanhong very much, and sometimes even disdained the minimum respect.
At the time of the Xinhai Revolution, Duan Qirui was already a military cadre, and Li Yuanhong was only a brigade commander at that time, and his seniority crushed Li Yuanhong; Li Yuanhong did not belong to the Beiyang circle nor to the southern revolutionary camp, had no soldiers and no power, and how could he gain respect without strength?
"Towards the Republic" Duan Qirui stills
In Duan Qirui's view, Li Yuanhong is just a tool man, his role is similar to the printing machine, but Li Yuanhong is soft and inward, does not want to be a tool man, he also has a group of capable people, want to use him to help him and encourage him to fight with Duan Qirui.
Liang Qichao advised Duan Qirui to make polite concessions to Li Yuanhong and have something to say.
Duan Qirui said: In my life, I can't talk, I don't perfunctory, and I don't socialize. When the Heavenly Palace summoned a banquet to the Mongol princes, I entered the palace and bowed to the president, and when I withdrew, I bowed again, and I really had nothing to say at the feast, which was perennial.
The Presidential Palace and the State Council frequently fought, and Li Yuanhong had the support of the National Assembly, and Duan Qirui thought of using the Overseer Corps to counter the Congress.
Li Yuanhong attended the military parade
03
The Overseers' arrogance in deliberating on the central authorities and interfering in politics aroused the indignation of public opinion, and the warlords in the southwest also sent telegrams to reprimand them.
On September 26, Li Yuanhong could not bear it and issued a "ban on the intervention of the armed forces", severely condemning the Overseers.
In order to cope with public opinion, Duan Qirui also sent a telegram reprimanding the overseers for overstepping their authority and interfering in government, but he also tried his best to excuse them, saying that they did so with a good intention and patriotism.
The two central orders came down, and the Overseer Legion was immediately scattered, and Zhang Xun's arrogance was instantly suppressed.
This shows that at this time, the Beijing government still has a certain deterrent effect on local warlords.
However, Zhang Xun was not suppressed for long, and under the protection and connivance of Duan Qirui, in January 1917, the overseers gathered in Xuzhou on the pretext of Feng Guozhang's birthday and held a third meeting, which Duan Qirui's close associates Xu Shuzheng and Jin Yunpeng attended and played a leading role.
The Overseers made five major demands: ask the president to dismiss the Yu people, ban the Congress, support the prime minister, eliminate cabinet members, and promote the constitution.
This is actually to overthrow the president and dissolve the Congress, and Duan Qirui's purpose of using the Overseer Corps against the president and the Congress has initially been achieved.
Submarines sink ships
In February 1917, Germany announced the implementation of unlimited submarine warfare and wanton attacks on neutral ships, and the United States declared that Germany had broken diplomatic relations with Germany on the grounds that Germany violated international law, and persuaded China and the United States to take concerted action.
The issue of severance of diplomatic relations with Germany has once again triggered a dispute between the government and the court.
Duan Qirui was in favor of breaking off diplomatic relations with Germany, Li Yuanhong was opposed, Duan Qirui was angry, ran to Tianjin, picked a son and stopped doing it, after Feng Guozhang persuaded him to make peace, Li Yuanhong agreed to break off diplomatic relations with Germany, and he returned to Beijing.
In April, the United States declared war on Germany, and the United States suggested that China also declare war on Germany.
Duan Qirui was in favor, and Li Yuanhong was against it. This time, Duan Qirui was embarrassed to run to Tianjin again, and he summoned the provincial overseers to Beijing for a meeting and instructed them to go to the presidential palace to put pressure on Li Yuanhong (Zhang Xun did not want to run errands for Duan Qirui and did not come).
When The governor of Anhui Province, Ni Sichong, asked him to declare war on Germany, Li Yuanhong directly shrugged back: Declaring war and peace is the prerogative of the president, and it is not your turn to speak.
Ni Sichong
Ni Sichong said: The ministers of all countries want us to participate in the war...
Li Yuanhong shouted angrily: You are the governor of the province, what qualifications do you have to talk to the diplomatic corps?
Ni Sichong said: I came to Beijing to attend the military conference on the orders of Premier Duan...
Li Yuanhong reprimanded: You are the governor of the province, what qualifications do you have to participate in the military conference?
At this time, the central government was still there, and the Overseers did not dare to confront the president in person, so they had to retreat in ashes.
Seeing that this move was ineffective, Duan Qirui's subordinate Fu Liangzuo and others resorted to rogue tactics.
On May 10, when the National Assembly met to discuss the declaration of war on Germany, thousands of "citizens' groups" suddenly appeared in Beijing, surrounded the National Assembly under the banner of public opinion, threatening the deputies of the National Assembly that the bill to declare war on Germany must be submitted by the cabinet on the same day.
Yuan Shikai once used this trick to force the congressional deputies to elect him as the president, and now Duan Qirui has repeated the same trick, and he is really worthy of being the heir of old Yuan!
"Towards the Republic" "Citizens' Group" made a big fuss in Congress
However, he played this trick and smashed it. The congressional deputies were not only not intimidated, but were even more dissatisfied with Duan Qirui. At the end of the stalemate, the "Citizens' Group" injured Japanese journalists, and Duan Qirui, fearing that it would cause diplomatic problems, ordered the military and police to expel the "Citizens' Group."
The "Citizens' Group" was conspired and planned by Duan Qirui's cronies Fu Liangzuo, Jin Yunpeng, and others, with rogue scoundrels hired by the five-pointed ocean every hour.
04
The "Citizens' League" incident caused a national uproar in public opinion, Duan Qirui's cabinet was violently attacked, and cabinet members resigned one after another and fell into a state of paralysis. Moreover, the National Assembly shelved Duan Qirui's bill to enter the war against Germany, which actually constituted distrust of the cabinet.
According to the normal play of the cabinet system, Duan Qirui's cabinet should resign collectively.
Duan Qirui did not want to step down, he wanted to make a last attempt - to overthrow the Parliament. Soon, Xu Shuzheng summoned a meeting of the overseers in Beijing and jointly asked Li Yuanhong to dissolve the Parliament.
"Towards the Republic" Li Yuanhong stills
This time, there were 22 provinces of the Overseers or Overseers representatives jointly signed, the momentum is very strong, Li Yuanhong can not stand it, looking for Americans for help, The United States Minister Reins to support Li Yuanhong. Li Yuanhong stubbornly refused the overseers, declaring: No lawbreaking, no stamping, not afraid of death!
Li Yuanhong was so horizontal, Duan Qirui was also out of the way, stepping down was inevitable, and the overseers saw that the situation was irreparable, and they left Beijing and rushed to Xuzhou to discuss countermeasures with Zhang Xun.
On May 23, 1917, Li Yuanhong ordered Duan Qirui to be dismissed from his posts as prime minister and chief of the army, and Duan Qirui went to Tianjin in a daze and waited for the opportunity.
Duan Qirui and Li Yuanhong staged a dragon and tiger fight in Beijing, Zhang Xun, who was far away in Xuzhou, calmly watched the good drama, and the dream of restoring the Qing Dynasty burned violently in his heart.
Zhang Xun had carefully analyzed the lessons of Yuan Shikai's failure to claim the title of emperor, and he believed that there were two major reasons for Yuan Shikai's failure.
First, Yuan Shikai was a courtier of the Great Qing Dynasty, and when the emperor was disloyal, he should restore the Great Qing Dynasty, and the Great Qing Dynasty was deeply benevolent, and the people all missed the Great Qing.
Stills from Towards a Republic
Second, Yuan Shikai did not win the support of Feng Guozhang and Lu Rongting. If there was feng guozhang's support, Beiyang would not disintegrate, and if there was Lu Rongting's support, the national army would not even be able to maintain its base camp, Yunnan.
Based on this judgment, Zhang Xun began to focus on the work of Northern Feng and Southern Lu.
Lu Rongting and Zhang Xun are of a generation, both of whom have fought French devils under Su Yuanchun and are long-time comrades-in-arms.
Lu Rongting was very bitter in his early years, and later when the bandits were recruited into the system and began to be brilliant, Zhang Xun believed that everything lu Rongting was given by the Great Qing, and he should be grateful to the Great Qing and support the restoration.
When Zhang Xun sent people to test Lu Rongting, Lu Rongting did not object, Zhang Xun thought that he was in favor, but he was embarrassed to say it; moreover, when Lu Rongting came to Beijing for business, he specially went to the Qing Palace to meet Puyi, and there were rumors that Lu wanted to sacrifice his daughter to Puyi as a concubine.
Based on this, Zhang Xun believes that Lu Rongting is a fellow traveler.
Lu Rongting
As for Feng Guozhang, Zhang Xun thought that he knew him very well, this person was a wall-headed grass, and if the overseers all advocated restoration, he would not oppose it. Zhang Xun wrote a letter to Feng Guozhang to test his attitude toward the restoration, but this letter did not reach Feng Guozhang, and Feng's secretary general (who supported the restoration) wrote back to Zhang Xun in his name: supporting the restoration.
On May 23, the day Duan Qirui was removed from his post, Zhang Xun summoned the overseers to convene the Fourth Xuzhou Conference.
Although the overseers did not like Duan Qirui, Duan Qirui was a beiyang man, and Li Yuanhong and the congress bullied Duan Qirui so much that they simply punched Beiyang in the face, and they scolded Li Yuanhong as a public enemy of the Beiyang faction, shouting: dissolve the parliament and expel Li Yuanhong.
The atmosphere had already been stirred up, and Zhang Xun began to take the rhythm, he proposed: after the overthrow of the current government, the provinces supported the restoration of the Qing Emperor.
Xu Shuzheng said that Premier Duan could not openly support the restoration, but as long as he could dissolve the parliament and expel Li Yuanhong, it did not matter.
The overseers and representatives of the other provinces, who only wanted to safeguard the interests of the Beiyang group, did not care about the restoration or not, and also echoed it.
After that, they discussed the strategy of restoration, and decided to first declare independence by the provincial overseers, forcing Li Yuanhong to dissolve the parliament, Zhang Xun did not appear for the time being, but as a "mediator", he lured Li Yuanhong into the palace, one light and one dark, attacking inside and outside, getting rid of Li Yuanhong, and supporting the restoration of the Qing Emperor.
05
On May 29, Ni Sichong first declared the independence of Anhui, issued a mobilization order, intercepted the trains on the Jinpu Railway, and prepared to transport troops north, and then Henan, Zhejiang, Shandong, Shanxi, Fujian, Shaanxi, Fengtian, Heilongjiang and other provinces responded.
Zhang Zuolin, the overseer of Fengtian, threatened Li Yuanhong that if the parliament was not dissolved and Duan Qirui restored to the throne, relations with the Beijing government would be severed.
Li Yuanhong panicked and asked the Americans for support, the Americans were willing to intervene, but Britain and Japan opposed it.
He also asked Xu Shichang, Wang Shizhen and other leading figures to mediate, but the old men did not want to wade through this muddy water.
Yuan Shikai's close comrade-in-arms Xu Shichang
On June 30, Feng Guozhang took a stand, saying: My status is that of vice president, and I should assist the president and obey all measures of the president. The provinces oppose the Central Committee, and I have sent a telegram to dissuade them, but the dissuasion is ineffective, and only by waiting for the Central Committee to solve it.
The implication is obvious, I don't participate, I just sit by.
Zhang Taiyan saw through Feng Guozhang's thoughts and accused him of being on the sidelines because he wanted to take advantage of the chaos to become president, which was even more disgusting than the restoration.
Feng Guozhang hurriedly asked the Congress to resign as vice president to avoid suspicion, at this time the Congress was suspended, and naturally no one approved his resignation.
When Li Yuanhong was sitting in a troubled city, Zhang Xun extended a hand of friendship to him and expressed his willingness to mediate, and it was best to go to Beijing to discuss it in person.
Someone reminded Li Yuanhong that Zhang Xun was bent on restoration, and he must have bad intentions when he entered Beijing this time.
But Li Yuanhong had no choice, he could only grasp the life-saving straw in front of him.
On June 1, Li Yuanhong issued a presidential decree inviting Zhang Xun to Beijing to mediate.
On June 7, Zhang Xun led 5,000 men from ten battalions of infantry, horses, and artillery, as well as an attaché of more than 140 people, from Xuzhou to the north.
After Zhang Xun arrived in Tianjin, he stopped. He knows how to control the rhythm, he is not in a hurry, it is Li Yuanhong who is anxious, he guesses that Li Yuanhong will definitely send someone to urge him to enter Beijing, and then he can open his mouth to ask for conditions.
Li Yuanhong did send the secretary general of the presidential office, and Zhang Xun put forward six conditions: the implementation of the responsible cabinet, the dissolution of the National Assembly, the dissolution of the provincial parliament, the revision of the constitution, the punishment of Qun Xiao (Li Yuanhong's cronies), and the amnesty of political prisoners.
Li Yuanhong
In order to put pressure on Li Yuanhong, Zhang Xun ordered the vanguard of the Braided Army to march into Beijing and garrison the Temple of Heaven and the Temple of Xiannong.
Li Yuanhong inhaled a cool breath: Agree to these conditions, what do I ask you to do?
However, it is easy to ask ghosts to send ghosts, and if you do not agree to Zhang Xun, you will offend the mediator again, and the consequences will be unimaginable.
The lesser of the two powers, Li Yuanhong had to tearfully dissolve the National Assembly.
The Congress is Li Yuanhong's most advantageous weapon, and the dissolution of the Congress not only damages the president's prestige, but also destroys his wings. Li Yuanhong's president is over!
On June 14, Zhang Xun entered Beijing.
Zhang Xun entered the Peking Opera photo
Duan Qirui ran away, the National Assembly was dissolved, Li Yuanhong withered, Beijing was decided by Zhang Xun, and the restoration drama was about to be staged!
Zhang Xun's mediation was effective, and soon the provincial overseers announced the abolition of independence, and a new cabinet headed by Li Jingxi was formed, and everything seemed to restore the previous order and calm.
However, under the calm atmosphere, the undercurrents surged and the restorationists gathered in Beijing, Zhang Xun went to the Qing Palace to meet Puyi, conspired with the former Qing dynasty elders to plan for restoration, and Kang Youwei also appeared on the scene, drafted more than a dozen edicts, and included all the documents used for the restoration.
The horse ass elves called Kang Youwei a saint of Literature and Zhang Xun a saint of martial arts, "Wen sheng and martial saints shake hands, there will be an earth-shattering cause."
06
On July 1, Zhang Xun, dressed in a royal python costume, led the civil and military officials into the palace, asked Puyi to restore the throne, and published the edict prepared by Kang Youwei. At the same time, the police went door to door to ask the people to hang the dragon flag and resume their braids.
Zhang Xun sent people to Find Li Yuanhong, asking him to abdicate, and signed and sealed the return of the great government, but Li Yuanhong sternly refused.
The situation was urgent, and Li Yuanhong sent three telegrams in a row, asking the provinces to quickly send out troops to beg for thieves, save the republic, and save the Republic of China! Since Zhang Xun's men controlled the telegraph bureau, Li Yuanhong had to ask his cronies to take the telegram to Shanghai to shoot and distribute it.
At this time, only the presidential palace in Beijing stubbornly hung the five-color flag of the Republic of China. In one day, the Republic of China changed its days.
On July 2, Zhang Xun sent someone to inform Li Yuanhong that he would move out of the presidential palace within 24 hours.
Foreign legations received news and decided not to interfere with the restoration, but they warned Zhang Xun that the safety of the Chinese president must be guaranteed.
Li Yuanhong, worried that Zhang Xun did not speak of martial virtue, fled to the Japanese legation in disguise, and immediately signed two orders: to reinstate Duan Qirui as prime minister; and to ask Vice President Feng Guozhang to act as president.
These two orders were secretly sent to Tianjin to shoot and issue.
Look, when something big happened in the country, it was up to Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang to clean it up, who were both the initiators and the heroes of stabilizing the situation. Zhang Xun and Li Yuanhong seem to be pawns.
Zhang Xun thought that as long as he was restored in Beijing, the provincial overseers—no, they should be called inspectors—would respond in groups, and the world would be determined.
To his surprise, the military and political officers of more than twenty provinces were only Zhu Jiabao, the governor of The Province, Meng Enyuan, the governor of Jilin Province, and Pi Huan, the governor of Suiyuan, who accepted the edict and received the instructions of Xie En. Most warlords throughout the country are on the sidelines.
Zhang Xun's restoration caused an uproar throughout the country, and Shanghai and many cities in the south set off a strong public opinion condemning Zhang Xun.
Protest demonstrations
Of course, it is not entirely true that the whole country opposes it, and the opposition is mainly in the southern cities, which are dominated by revolutionary parties, industrial and commercial circles, intellectuals, and students.
The vast majority of peasants in the country are always absent. Lu Xun wrote a novel "Storm" about the impact of restoration on a rural family - the protagonist Qijin is concerned about whether the lack of braids will lead to the disaster of killing, as for whether the emperor sits in the dragon court is not important, anyway, no matter who comes to power, he should punch the boat or the boat.
At this time, Duan Qirui, who had been dormant in Tianjin for a long time, was ready to close the net. On July 3, Duan Qirui sent a telegram to the whole country opposing the restoration. This brilliant telegram was drafted by Liang Qichao.
Kang Youwei drafted the edict of restoration, and Liang Qichao drafted and repeatedly opened the electricity, which is really interesting for the master and apprentice.
Kang Youwei
On the same day, Feng Guozhang also sent a telegram to the whole country to denounce the restoration.
The two leaders of Beiyang have expressed their position, and the provincial overseers who are riding the wall and looking at the wind have followed suit.
Even Zhang Wensheng, the number one general under Zhang Xun and sitting in Xuzhou's old lair, opposed the restoration and demanded that Zhang Xun kill Kang Youwei and other restorationists to thank the world, otherwise relations would be severed.
The situation has taken a sharp turn!
07
After Duan Qirui was reinstated as premier, he began to organize an army to fight against Zhang Xun.
Organizing an army is a small problem. Although Duan Qirui was the leader of the Beiyang warlords, his protégés were all over the world, but he did not have a single army of the Concubine clan, and there were many armies in the Gyeonggi area, but he could not command them.
The situation in Beiyang is that the division commander is the one who really holds the military power, and other official positions are not easy to use. This is also the reason why Vice President Feng Guozhang is not too cheap and must also be the commander of the division.
Rebels
Duan Qirui and his close subordinates thought about it and decided to operate the following three armies:
The first is the Eighth Division stationed in Tianjin Horse Factory, which has two regimental commanders, who were once Duan Qirui's groomsmen, and have a good relationship with the division commander Li Changtai, and Li Changtai is very afraid of the inside, as long as he spends money to get his wife, he is definitely willing to obey orders.
The second was Feng Yuxiang's sixteenth mixed brigade stationed in Langfang, Feng's position as brigade commander had just been removed, but the army still listened to him, and Duan Qirui reappointed Feng Yuxiang as the brigade commander, and promised to promote him to division commander afterwards.
The third was Cao Kun's Third Division stationed in Baoding, and Cao Kun was dissatisfied with the official position that Zhang Xun had given him, and Duan Qirui used his vice presidency to win him over, and he also boarded the ship.
On July 3, Duan Qirui organized these armies into rebel armies, made himself commander-in-chief of the rebel army, and sent to Beijing to kill them.
The total strength of the rebel army reached 57,000 people, and the Braided Army in Beijing was only 5,000 people, and the outcome of the war was one-sided.
On July 8, the Braided Army was oppressed to the inner city of Beijing, and shrunk at three points along the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City, and the South River. On the 12th, the rebel army shelled Zhang Xun's mansion, zhang Xun fled into the Dutch legation, and the braided army was scattered.
Before fleeing, Zhang Xun calmly accepted a foreign reporter's interview, saying: Restoration is not my own decision, I am only implementing the common propositions of the overseers of the northern provinces, including Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang, there are personal letters or autographed documents in my hands, if necessary, I will publish these documents.
The meaning is obvious: you all have a handle in my hands, don't push too hard.
Afterwards, Duan Qirui did not embarrass Zhang Xun, and as for Kang Youwei and other restorationists, they were also not wanted and escaped punishment.
For the old Duan, regaining power is the goal, and the rest is not important.
On August 1, Feng Guozhang arrived in Beijing, visited Li Yuanhong, and falsely persuaded Li Yuanhong to restore his throne.
Li Yuanhong is not stupid, Feng Guozhang entered Beijing, it already shows that he is the president, he resolutely refused to reinstate, ran to Tianjin to do business, and later the business was very successful.
Three days later, Feng Guozhang telegraphed the acting president.
After Zhang Xun's trouble, Duan Qirui brought down Li Yuanhong, but unexpectedly ushered in a more difficult Feng Guozhang, Feng Guozhang thought he was a big winner, but unexpectedly, he did not turn right until his death.
A new dragon fight will continue.
After Zhang Xun quit the jianghu, he also ran to Tianjin to do business, the industry is very large, and he makes a lot of money. What didn't change was that he still had a long braid behind his head.
Zhang Xun holding the child
【References】
History of Beiyang Warlords, History of Beiyang Warlords, Ding Wei's Restoration, History of the Republic of China, First Half of My Life