Although Li Yuanhong is a member of the military circles, he is also enthusiastic about social affairs and actively participates in them.

In 1909, the huge road protection movement broke out, and Hubei was also an important place. At the instigation of patriotic students studying in Japan, the gentry, businessmen, scholars, and military circles in Wuhan were moved by the news. In order to unify the action, the railway association was established, and Li Yuanhong was the military representative of the association.

Because of his enthusiasm, he was elected by the association as one of the leaders of the association. He actively made suggestions for the association and supported the election of representatives to petition in Beijing. In order to meet the expenses of the event, he also organized a fundraiser within the army, and he also took the lead in donating money personally.

This verifies Engels' saying: "The first protests often come from within the ruling class." ”

Li Yuanhong started from the lowest level of society, was exposed to new-style education, and lived in officialdom for many years, so he had a deeper understanding of the decay of Qing rule. He was not a revolutionary, and he had never participated in the activities of the revolutionaries, but he was sympathetic to the revolutionaries in his heart.

Although he did not help the revolutionaries in the activities of the New Army, he often turned a blind eye to them. If there is not much risk, he is also able to provide convenience to a limited extent.

Liu Jing'an, a revolutionary, joined the first battalion of the horse team as a soldier, and Li Yuanhong was the leader of the first battalion of the horse team at that time. He saw that Liu Jing'an was talking well, so he was promoted to the assistant secretary. In the following year, Liu Jing'an's correspondence with Huang Xing was intercepted and sent to Li Yuanhong. Li Yuanhong did not blame him, and asked someone to signal Liu Jing'an to resign under the pretext of illness, but the matter was over.

Liu Jing'an (1875-1911) was a native of Qianjiang, Hubei. Formerly known as Zhenyi, also known as Daxiong, the word Jing'an, Jing'an, went to Wuchang in 1903 to join the Hubei New Army.

In 1904, he joined the Science Tutorial School and planned the Changsha Uprising without success. He also conspired with Wang Han and Hu Ying to assassinate Tieliang, the right servant of the Qing court's household department.

In the same year, under the cover of serving as the manager of the newspaper reading room of the American church, he ordered. Buy revolutionary literature and periodicals, organize speeches, and propagate the revolution.

In 1906, he presided over the establishment of the Japanese Notification Society, was elected as the director general, liaising with the military, academic, gentry, and business circles, and soon joined the China League.

In December, a revolt was planned in Wuhan in response to the Pingliuli uprising. He was falsely accused by traitors of being the wanted leader of the Brotherhood of Elders, Lau Ka-yun, and was arrested in 1907.

In 1909, he was sentenced to permanent imprisonment, where he continued to study, rallied with his fellow inmates, and propagated revolutionary activities in the name of the "Iron Army". In 1911, he was tortured and died in prison before the Wuchang uprising.

In 1906, a riot of bandits pretending to be revolutionaries occurred in Pingxiang, Jiangxi, which alarmed the Qing court. The Qing court sent an urgent telegram to Nanjing, and Wuhan sent troops to suppress it.

Zhang Biao, the supreme commander of the Hubei Army, sent Li Yuanhong to lead his troops. Before leaving, because he could not figure out whether it was the bandits or the revolutionary party who were rioting, Li Yuanhong held a meeting with the officers and particularly stressed that an important issue in this military operation was to find out whether it was the revolutionary party or the bandits who were rioting, and that the two should be treated differently.

If it is a bandit who brings disaster to the country and the people, what is not said is to resolutely suppress it. If you are a revolutionary, you should persuade more and use more political means to resolve contradictions. Because these people are people of faith, they have their own pursuits and reasons for acting, and they cannot resort to simple means of repression.

After arriving in Pingxiang, Li Yuanhong did not rush to use troops, but learned about the situation of this group of people with the local people. When they learned that these people were burning, killing, looting, and doing all kinds of evil, they concluded that this group of people were bandits under the banner of the revolutionary party, and immediately organized an attack.

This gang of bandits originally wanted to fish in troubled waters under the banner of the revolutionary party, but when they saw that their tricks were discovered, they fled and scattered. Li Yuanhong took his troops and stationed them in Pingxiang for two months. The trade was fair, and the autumn was not guilty, and the locals had never seen such a disciplined army.

When leaving, the local people spontaneously sent Li Yuanhong's "people-friendly brand umbrella", which is similar to the Wanmin umbrella, although it is not as good as the rewards given by the imperial court, but it is not comparable to any reward.

Zhang Hanjie, the chief writer of the "Chu Daily" and a member of the Japanese Notification Association, wrote an article criticizing Chen Bianlong, the governor of Hubei, for betraying sovereignty, and Chen was furious. He didn't know that Zhang was a revolutionary, but he insisted on accusing Zhang Hanan of being a revolutionary, saying that Zhang was advocating revolution. colluded with the British consul in Wuhan to arrest Zhang Hanjie, extradite him, and hand him over to the Army Law Enforcement Department for trial.

The chief of the army law enforcement was Tie Zhong, a Manchu, and a friend of Li Yuanhong. After Li Yuanhong learned about this, no one asked him for help, but he took the initiative to find Tie Zhong and intercede for Zhang Hanjie.

He said: "The scholar who makes the pen has ears, and he is mean with his tongue, which makes him taboo. If they must obey the will and severely punish them, then public opinion will gather the public body, why should the public take the favor of one person, and the public will be angry? ”

Tie Zhong listened to Li Yuanhong's words and felt that it made sense. He had no good impression of Governor Chen Bianlong, and there was really no need to be pointed at by thousands of people for him, so he wanted to acquit Zhang Hanjie. However, he was obstructed by Governor Chen Changlong in every possible way, and was reluctantly sentenced to one year in prison. After Chen Changlong took care of Wuhan, it was Li Yuanhong who managed to release Zhang Hanjie ahead of schedule.

Before the Wuchang Shouyi, the 21st Mixed Association under Li Yuanhong was also densely populated with revolutionaries such as the Rizhihui, and the activities were also quite enthusiastic. Someone reminded Li Yuanhong that if he didn't control it, he would be implicated by these people, but Li Yuanhong still turned a blind eye.

One day, Shi Hualong, a subordinate, secretly reported to him that the activities of revolutionaries had been discovered in several battalions. Please advise Li Yuanhong on how to deal with it.

Li Yuanhong and Shi Hualong have a good personal relationship, so they can say nothing and say to Shi: "This matter must not be made public, I am afraid that the handsome (Zhang Biao) will hear it, and it will be more difficult to deal with it." ”

Soon after, Pan Kangshi, a revolutionary who was the company commander at the time, was discovered to be engaged in secret activities, and the case was very big, and Li Yuanhong could not be saved. It is a felony to engage in revolutionary party activities, and in order to make it easy for Pan Kangshi to pass the test, Li Yuanhong did the job of the battalion commander, and when he wrote a report to the top, he said that Pan Kangshi was gathering a crowd to smoke opium. Pan Kangshi was dismissed.

Pan Kangshi always remembered Li Yuanhong's kindness, and wrote in his memoirs: "Yu Yinyi and others preserved the red and blue tops, and his life was fortunately preserved. ”

At that time, cutting braids was punishable by treason. Many young people who joined the revolutionary party felt that it was a shame for them to wear long braids, and that they did not take advantage of their revolutionary party status. One person drank some wine, and on impulse, cut his braids, and was accused of going to Li Yuanhong.

At this time, the young soldier who had cut his braids, who had also sobered up from drinking, was very scared and regretted.

When several people brought the soldier with braided hair to Li Yuanhong, Li Yuanhong pointed to the messy hair on the soldier's head, laughed and said: "Yes, yes, avoid the ridicule of the dolphin tail, and set a precedent for the atmosphere." ”

turned a very serious incident into a joke.

Later, Li Yuanhong simply announced in the barracks that we are in the barracks, and it is very inconvenient to drag a long braid on his head.

A person who treats others leniently, makes things convenient for others everywhere, and complains with virtue about those who are not on good terms with him is a manifestation of a person's noble moral character, and it is also difficult to do. Especially for those who find fault with themselves everywhere and can't get along with themselves everywhere, it is even more difficult to do this.

But Li Yuanhong has done it to a large extent, which is most prominent in his handling of the relationship with Zhang Biao.

Zhang Biao (1860~1927) was a native of Yuci, Shanxi.

Zhang Biao lost his father when he was a child, and his family was very poor, so he made a living by transporting coal in a cart. After the death of his mother, he joined the Taiyuan Fu Pacesetter in the sixth year of Guangxu (1880). Later, because of his outstanding martial arts, he should be tested by children. Zhang Zhidong, who was the governor of Shanxi at the time, found that he was in good health, outstanding in talent, and practical and reliable, and he was very fond of him. He was promoted to a personal guard, regarded as a confidant, and was promoted again and again.

In the fifteenth year of Guangxu (1889), Zhang Zhidong was promoted to the governor of Huguang, when the floods in Hankou were in disaster, Zhang Biao was commissioned to supervise the repair of the Huxi embankment. In the meantime, careful design, strict construction supervision, the project was successfully completed, and the flood was eradicated. Locally, the embankment is called "Zhanggong Embankment". Subsequently, he was responsible for supervising the repair of Wutai and Wufeng gates, and the project was also solid.

In the twenty-third year of Guangxu (1897), Zhang Biao was governed by the Qing Dynasty. Appointed by the government, he went to Japan to inspect military affairs, battalion formations, and guns, and his military ability increased. After the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900), he created and trained the Hubei army in Hu, and was Qing Zheng. The government awarded the title of "Brave Baturu" and was promoted to the deputy general of the Huguang Governor Biaozhong Army. In the thirty-second year of Guangxu (1906), he was promoted to the chief soldier of Songpan Town, Sichuan. In the autumn of that year, in the third year of Xuantong (1911), Zhang Biao was appointed as the commander of the eighth town.

Zhang Biao started in the old army and developed a domineering style. and because of his special relationship with Governor Zhang Zhidong, no one is in his eyes on weekdays, and no one pays attention to him; The same is true when I started dealing with Li Yuanhong.

Because he is older than Li Yuanhong, has a wide range of connections, and has a hard relationship, he casually instructs Li Yuanhong, and he is treated as a human being. In fact, although Li Yuanhong's status cannot be equal to him, it is not much different. If you put it on others, you will definitely not be able to stand it, but Li Yuanhong can handle it calmly.

After a long time, Zhang Biao found that Li Yuanhong was better than himself everywhere and did everything better than him, he couldn't stand it anymore, and regarded Li Yuanhong as a great enemy that threatened his position. Because of this, he was looking for trouble with Li Yuanhong everywhere, and he gave Li Yuanhong problems and stumbling blocks everywhere.

Li Yuanhong pretended not to know and gave in everywhere.

Others couldn't stand it anymore, and they were upset about Li Yuanhong, and said to Li Yuanhong: "People like Zhang Biao have to make inches, and the more they let him, the more unscrupulous they become." ”

Li Yuanhong just smiled when he heard it, and he was still the same as always.

Once, Zhang Zhidong held a meeting of the generals of the new army, and Li Yuanhong arrived late due to illness. Zhang Biao saw that this was a rare opportunity to slander Li Yuanhong, so he made something out of nothing and said that someone saw Li Yuanhong drunk and bedridden in a certain brothel, and it seemed that he would not be able to come.

Zhang Zhidong believed it to be true, and was very disappointed in Li Yuanhong, and waited for Li Yuanhong to arrive. Immediately reprimanded him severely.

Li Yuanhong didn't argue, but reported the truth: when he was going out, he suddenly became dizzy and couldn't walk at all, so he could only take a little rest, and he was late.

After hearing this, Zhang Zhidong glared at Zhang Biao fiercely, and Zhang Biao bowed his head and said nothing.