Old Yuan is a bull-breaking figure, and the people under him are not simple. Old Yuan burped, and the gang was in chaos. What's the situation? Of course, it is a struggle for control of the Beiyang government!
According to the Provisional Covenant Law, the then vice president Li Yuanhong succeeded him as president, but Li Yuanhong did not have military power in his hands. At the time of the Xinhai Revolution, he was actually a soy sauce maker. Yesterday, he was an officer of the Qing Dynasty, and when he woke up, he became the leader of the revolutionary party, and his small braids made the new army click and cut.
Therefore, at this time, the Beiyang government had always been controlled by Duan Qirui, who held military power. Duan Qirui felt that he was a hardcore fan of Old Yuan, and he was also a leading figure in the Anhui clan, and he also held the position of prime minister.
Although Li Yuanhong has no military power, he is a seven-foot boy who once walked in the rain of bullets and bullets, so he did not want to be a puppet president at all.
Therefore, Li Yuanhong's small emotions were more during this period, and on the issue of personnel appointment and dismissal, the two often quarreled to the point of going it alone. After the start of the First World War, Duan Qirui very much wanted to participate in the war, but Li Yuanhong was partial to the opposite, this is not, the two people are going to pinch each other again.
In fact, Li Yuanhong had no bottom in his heart, it was reasonable to say that his concubine was in the south, and his so-called concubine was not his concubine, so he was a light rod commander.
And Duan Qirui is different, this cargo is full of soldiers and horses. In order to get Rid of Li Yuanhong, Duan Qirui summoned more than a dozen overseers from all over the country in one go and formed a overseer army to threaten Li Yuanhong. In the end, Li Yuanhong had to compromise.
Is Li Yuanhong a fuel-saving lamp? Obviously not good? In order to retaliate against Duan Qirui, Li Yuanhong took advantage of the exposure of Duan Qirui's collusion with Japan and decisively ordered the removal of Duan Qirui from his post as prime minister.
The two men completely tore their faces, and Duan Qirui ran to Tianjin without saying a word, and publicly announced that Li Yuanhong's removal order did not work, because according to the Provisional Covenant Law, the president is not qualified to revoke the premier! He even planned to overthrow Li Yuanhong by force.
At this time, Duan Qirui also talked about the law, but when he threatened Li Yuanhong, he did not talk about anything. In order to consolidate his position, Li Yuanhong made a trick, that is, to invite Zhang Xun to enter Beijing.
Zhang Xun this guy still has braids on the back of his head! And his army was called the Braid Army, because the soldiers all wore braids. Zhang Xun's entry into Beijing not only did not help Li Yuanhong, but instead planned to get Puyi out and restore it.
Fortunately, at this time, Duan Qirui, who had military power, decisively intervened and suppressed the farce of Zhang Xun's restoration. At this time, Li Yuanhong had no face to be president again, and resigned without saying a word. Therefore, the first battle between the government and the court was won by Premier Duan Qirui, who had a gun in his hand and was good at doing things.
After Li Yuanhong was laid off, Duan Qirui's old friend Feng Guozhang became president. Since the death of Old Yuan, the Beiyang warlords have been mainly divided into three parts, the direct family, the Anhui family and the Feng family.
Among them, the leader of the Anhui clan was Duan Qirui, and the leader of the direct clan was Feng Guozhang. As for the Feng family, at that time, it was still a miscellaneous army, after all, Zhang Zuolin was a bandit and became one of the warlords of Beiyang.
Therefore, at this time, the direct and Anhui families competed for the highest control in the Beiyang government. According to the reason, Feng Guozhang, who was the president at the time, should be a leader, but Duan Qirui was used to being too emperor, and he refused to let Feng Guozhang have the final say alone.
The old friendship was all in vain, and the two old guys began to tear each other apart again. At that time, the Guangdong Protector Army was very fierce, and the warlords in the southwest were also rampant. For these, Duan Qirui advocated military suppression, but Feng Guozhang felt that it should be peacefully reunified.
At this time, the relationship between the two was also tense, and Duan Qirui directly sent troops into Hunan to start a move, without giving Feng Guozhang any face. Feng Guozhang was also not a vegetarian, and directly asked several units of his immediate family to declare an armistice and peace talks. In particular, the powerful directly subordinate overseer Cao Kun also supported Feng Guozhang, which made Duan Qirui feel hurt in his heart.
In this case, Duan Qirui announced his resignation in a negative mood, he originally hoped that Feng Guozhang would retain him, but he did not expect Feng Guozhang's mouth to rise slightly: Go, go fast, numb!
Duan Qirui called a gas ah, a few days after the effort to organize a meeting of the Ten Overseers, let them cooperate to put pressure on Feng Guozhang, the use of force against the southwest region, it is worth mentioning that Cao Kun is also one of the Ten Overseers. It seems that at this time, Cao Kun is still a two-faced faction, and no one wants to offend!
At this time, Feng Guozhang had already realized that he was under house arrest by Duan Qirui's Anhui warlords! At that time, Feng Guozhang did not even have the right to leave the capital, and it was even more unthinkable to want to return to the territory of the direct family in the south.
In addition, Zhang Zuolin actually came to insert a lever and enter the customs military advice. Therefore, in this case, Feng Guozhang had to bring Out Duan Qirui as prime minister again, and Duan Qirui earned enough face.
In 1918, Feng Guozhang, who was in an embarrassing situation, had to face the situation of layoff. In fact, this is a feeling of relief for him. Because there was no power of his concubines in the north, he could not open his fists and feet at all. Now you know why Mr. Zhongshan refused to go north, and Old Yuan refused to go south, right?
When Feng Guozhang stepped down, Duan Qirui also showed his righteousness, saying that he was laid off with Feng Guozhang to receive a pension. In fact, Duan Qirui had already deployed everything, controlled the Anfu Congress behind his back, and still held great power.
Feng Guozhang couldn't do anything, he went home with both hands and a stall to receive a pension. Therefore, the Anfu Congress invited Xu Shichang, a good old man, to be president, which was the fourth president of the Beiyang government after Old Yuan, Li Yuanhong, and Feng Guozhang.
This Xu Shichang is an old acquaintance of old Yuan, and the relationship between the two people is not to mention how good. It's just that he has a shortcoming, that is, he doesn't have military power! It is equivalent to saying that Xu Shichang was just a puppet after he came to power, and it was Duan Qirui behind the Anfu Congress who took the idea.
Feng Guozhang died at the end of 1919, during which time Duan Qirui was always in power behind his back. The power of the Anhui warlords has not stepped down since the death of the elder Yuan in 1916.
While Duan Qirui was containing Feng Guozhang, he had actually tried to win over Cao Kun and Wu Peifu, but unfortunately the effect was very small, and people were dead set on following Feng Guozhang.
After Feng Guozhang's death, Cao Kun became the leader of the direct line, he already had opinions about Duan Qirui, and now that he was the eldest brother, he simply tore his face with Duan Qirui, and even wanted to avenge Feng Guozhang.
In this way, Cao Kun and Wu Peifu marched north with a large army and began to fight with Duan Qirui's Anhui troops. Wu Peifu's battle was so fierce that within 5 days, the Anhui clan was defeated.
Cao Kun and Wu Peifu understood that only when the army entered the capital could they truly control the capital. At the beginning, Feng Guozhang was eating this aspect of the loss, so that Duan Qirui pinched it in his hand.
Duan Qirui could not fight Wu Peifu, so he had to choose to resign and go to the wilderness. And his cronies, such as Xu Shuzheng and Duan Zhigui, were also wanted, and even the Anfu Congress was dissolved by Cao Kun.
From 1916 to 1920, for more than 4 years, Duan Qirui was a real power figure in the Beiyang government. However, after the Zhiwan War, the Anhui clan was defeated and there was no chance to turn around, so Duan Qirui completely lost the strength to hold power.
However, Duan Qirui is a person who has been the prime minister for many years, and is a die-hard fan of old Yuan, so this person still has a certain prestige. When the direct lineage is there, it is certainly not his turn to point fingers. However, after the direct family was defeated by the Feng family, the situation was different.
In 1924, after the Second Zhifeng War, the direct line Feng Yuxiang rebelled against the water, and Zhang Zuolin of the Feng clan entered the customs in one fell swoop, defeated Wu Peifu, and the direct family withdrew from the stage, and the Feng clan stepped forward.
Zhang Zuolin and Feng Yuxiang did not become presidents, but instead dug up Duan Qirui, who had been laid off for many years, and washed him to become a temporary ruler, that is, the meaning of a puppet leader.
History really jokes with people, Duan Qirui has treated Li Yuanhong, Xu Shichang and even Feng Guozhang as puppets, how could he not have imagined that he could become a puppet one day?
Reference: History of the Beiyang Warlords