From a geographical point of view, Guangxi's position is extremely important for protecting the country and seeking Yuan's great cause. If Guangxi threw itself into Yuan Shikai's camp, the rear of the Protector Army would always be in a threatened situation. However, if Guangxi can join the ranks of protecting the country and join forces with Yunnan and Guizhou, the situation will be completely opposite.

Therefore, the attitude of Lu Rongting, as the king of Guangxi, has a great bearing on the success or failure of the great cause of protecting the country.

Lu Rongting (August 13, 1859 - November 6, 1928), Zhuang nationality, the character Ganqing, nickname Afa. In the ninth year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty (1859), on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month (August 13 of the Gregorian calendar), he was born in Leixiong Village, Wuming County, Guangxi Province (now Xiongmeng Village, Ningwu Township, Wuming District, Nanning City), a dilapidated thatched house of a Zhuang family.

The Lu family has been farming for generations, so poor that he was born without even a rag to wrap himself in. His father was a beautiful businessman, and he lived by plowing the fields and working part-time jobs.

In the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860), his father Lu Yexiu was falsely accused by some villagers of colluding with the "Changmao" (Taiping Army), leading the Taiping Army into the village, and was beaten to death. In the first year of Tongzhi (1862), Lu Rongting's biological mother Ou Shi remarried to the Wei family in the county seat, and Lu Rongting lived with his adoptive mother.

In the seventh year of Tongzhi (1868), Lu Rongting went to the county seat alone to find his mother and was sent to a private school. In the eighth year of Tongzhi (1869), his mother Ou Shi died of illness, and Lu Rongting dropped out of school and became an orphan and beggar, and his situation was miserable.

In the first year of Guangxu (1875), Lu Rongting was unable to accommodate himself in Wuming County, so he was exiled to Nanning, and then went to Longzhou with the boat owner Zhu Lasuo to gain a foothold and worked as a waiter in "Sanyouzhai".

In the third year of Guangxu (1877), Lu Rongting got acquainted with Liang Yazhu, the official of the Longzhou Department, and became the official of the Longzhou Department. Send official documents to yamen in various places, gradually become familiar with yamen etiquette and rules, and increase knowledge.

In the fifth year of Guangxu (1879), Lu Rongting was forced to flee to the Tusi cemetery because he killed a French missionary's dog, and on the premise of "not robbing the Chinese", he joined the gang and crossed the border to rob, and fled to Shuikou Village in Longzhou in order to escape the pursuit of officers and soldiers.

Soon after, Lu Rongting was beaten to death by a Frenchman because he could not bear the bullying and beating of a Frenchman, and was forced to go up the mountain to become a bandit, and he was the enemy of the French soldiers.

In the eighth year of Guangxu (1882), Lu Rongting was recruited as a personal soldier by Cheng Wuying, the military manager of Guanqing in Shuikou.

In the tenth year of Guangxu (1884), Lu Rongting was recruited into the Tang Jingsong military camp of the Qing army and was selected into the front battalion (death squad) to participate in the Sino-French War. Lu Rongting went deep into Vietnam with Tang Jingsong's troops, and in the coordinated operation with Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army, he was promoted to sentry commander by Liu Yongfu for his bravery.

In the twelfth year of Guangxu (1886), the Jingzi army was cleared. After the government was abolished, Lu Rongting led the crowd to take away some of the uniforms and guns, and gathered on the Sino-Vietnamese border, where he used outstanding guerrilla tactics in the mountains and jungles to fight the French invading army.

In the Battle of Nalan in the eighteenth year of Guangxu (1892), Lu Rongting led the crowd to annihilate the French army Duowei David's troops. After the war, the land department was greatly impressed. The rear headquarters grew to more than 5,000 people and became an important guerrilla anti-French force outside China's borders.

The French colonial army hated Lu Rongting's troops to the core.

In the twentieth year of Guangxu (1894), Lu Rongting's department was appeased by the Qing Dynasty and was compiled as the former camp of Jianzi. He has successively served as a pipe band, a supervisor, and a sub-commander. Because of his bravery in battle and good at leading troops, he was deeply appreciated by Cen Chunxuan, the governor of Liangguang, and promoted Lu Rongting to the commander of the 10th battalion of the Rongzi Army. Then under Cen Chunxuan's hand, the career entered the fast lane.

In July of the 32nd year of Guangxu (1906), Lu Rongting was sent to Japan to inspect the military and returned to China in December of the same year. While in Tokyo, Lu Rongting met with Sun Yat-sen and secretly joined the China League.

In the thirty-third year of Guangxu (1907), he was promoted to the chief soldier of Zuojiang Town. In the third year of Xuantong (1911), he was awarded the governor of Guangxi. During the Xinhai Revolution, he was promoted to deputy governor; Later, he became the governor of Guangxi.

Cen Chunxuan has the grace of knowing Lu Rongting, and the relationship between the two has always been extraordinary. Cen Chunxuan has always been anti-Yuan, and he has long persuaded Lu Rongting to participate in the discussion of Yuan's great cause. Liangguang, like Yun and Gui, is an area that the Beiyang Army forces have not reached.

The Guangdong general Long Jiguang was ruthless to the Kuomintang, and Yuan Shikai was particularly fond of him, regarding Long as the most trusted member of the new Yuan Party.

When Yuan Shikai appointed the generals of the provinces, he gave different treatment to the provinces according to the location of the former Qing governor. Long Jiguang was appointed as the general of Zhenwu, but Lu Rongting, who was also the governor of Guangxi during the Xun Qing Dynasty, was only named the general of Ningwu. People like to compare, and of course, Lu feels neglected in this regard.

Yuan Shikai found that Lu Rongting had the heart to leave the two, so he promoted Lu to be the general of Yaowu. But after Lu was made a general, Long Jiguang was named a first-class duke, and soon he was promoted to the king of the county for his meritorious service in pacifying Huizhou, while Lu was only a marquis.

Yuan's knighthood was originally used to attract the bureaucrats of the provinces, but he didn't expect that because of the high and low titles, although he satisfied some of his subordinates, he also lost some of his subordinates.

When Lu Rongting was made a marquis, his subordinates were not allowed to congratulate him. In addition, Yuan also sent Wang Zu to be the envoy of Guangxi, and he would handle Guangxi's military affairs. This made Lu and Yuan even more detached.

When Wang Zutong went to Guangxi to take office in September of the fourth year of the Republic of China, although Lu Rongting did not publicly refuse, he refused to accept it and asked Yuan for leave to show hostility. In order to prevent future troubles, his son Lu Yuxun in Beijing was recalled.

Lu Yuxun, who was formerly a military attache at the Presidential Palace in Beijing, took a leave of absence to return to Guangxi to visit his father's illness. When he arrived in Hankou, he died violently for no apparent reason, and some people said that this was Yuan Shikai's secret murder.

Lu Rongting was indifferent to this on the surface, and Yuan Shikai also pretended to be mournful and sent someone to take care of the funeral. The bystander was clear, secretly laughing that both of them could act.

Lu Rongting was not satisfied with Yuan Shikai, and even more disapproving of the imperial system, but he did not dare to act rashly.

He paid close attention to the attitudes of the two generals of the Beiyang Department, Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang. Duan Qirui pretended to be sick in Beijing, and the discord between Yuan and Duan has become an open fact. And Feng Guozhang's refusal to go to Beijing had a major impact on him.

Feng Guozhang once had a representative of Pan Bo to visit Guangxi, and Lu Rongting learned from Pan that the rift between Yuan and Feng was widening day by day, which doubled his courage to oppose Yuan.

Lu Rongting immediately sent five deputies to Nanjing and Shanghai for activities. He admired Liang Qichao very much, so one of the most important tasks assigned by his representative was to welcome Liang Qichao to Guangxi.

After Liang Qichao and Cai arrived in Shanghai from Tianjin on 18 December, one day before Cai arrived in Yunnan. After the Yunnan Uprising, Liang stayed in Shanghai and used his pen to advocate against Yuan and advocate against Yuan. In late January of the fifth year of the Republic of China, he had a letter of more than 3,000 words to Lu Rongting, the general of Guangxi.

On 19 February, Chen Zuyu suddenly came to see Liang Qichao on behalf of Lu Rongting, saying that he had invited Liang to Gui on Lu Rongting's orders. said that as soon as Liang arrived in Guangxi, Lu Rongting would take action.

On the 22nd, Tang Shaohui took the title of Lu to urge Liang to enter Gui.

Liang Qichao then took the Japanese wheel Yokohama Maru to Xiang on March 4. Port, 12 days by boat by incense. The port went to Haiphong, and then entered Guangxi from Zhennanguan.

Liang Qichao arrived in Nanning on 26 March, but Lu Rongting had already declared independence on 15 March.

It turned out that when Yuan Shikai used troops in Yunnan, he originally planned to transport troops to attack Yunnan through the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, but was rejected by the French minister and gave up.

In this way, Yuan Shikai pinned his hopes on the Beiyang Army to attack eastern Yunnan through Guangxi.

When Lu Rongting learned of this news, he mobilized the Guangxi gentry group to openly refuse the entry of the Beiyang Army. Yuan Shikai threw himself into a rat trap and did not dare to go too far with Lu Rongting, so he in turn persuaded Lu Rongting to send troops to attack Yunnan, but Lu Rongting refused on the grounds that Guangxi's army was short of salaries and weapons.

Yuan Shikai then came up with a way that was not a way, and sent Lu Rongting's in-laws, Long Jiguang's brother Long Jinguang, to lead the army to attack Yunnan through Guangxi.

Yuan thought that the Long brothers were all from Yunnan and were Tusi of southern Yunnan, so he sent him to attack Yunnan to win peace. Long Jiguang's son Long Yungan is Lu Rongting's son-in-law, and he sent Long Jinguang to Guangxi, but Lu Rongting is not easy to oppose.

Sure enough, Lu Rongting couldn't refuse this decision, so he had to call Long Jinguang to bring more ordnance and less soldiers. The reason is that with ordnance, there is no need to recruit soldiers along the way.

At this time, Long Jiguang's troops in Guangdong were insufficient, and he could not transfer more troops to his brother, so Long Jiguang had to take 4,000 Cantonese troops to organize an expeditionary force.

In the middle of January of the fifth year of the Republic of China, Long Jinguang led the army to Nanning and recruited another 4,000 soldiers in Gui Province, a total of 8,000 men.

On January 30, Long traveled from Nanning to Wuming to visit Lu Rongting, who was pretending to be sick.

When the two in-laws met, one was very enthusiastic and the other was very cold. Lu Rongting tried his best to make a disheartened appearance, and he was not interested in anything.

On 8 February, Yuan Shikai appointed Long Jinguang as the general of Linwu and the envoy of Yunnan Province. Long Jinguang, who was overwhelmed by grace, immediately sent Li Wenfu, the head of the department, to attack the pass in Yunnan from Baise, and sent his son Long Yungan to his hometown Mengzi to recruit local troops.

When Long Jiguang advanced towards Yunnan, Yuan Shikai telegraphed Lu Rongting to send troops to assist him in attacking Yunnan. Yuan Ben didn't have great hopes, but he didn't expect Lu Rongting to accept the order this time, and immediately sent his son Lu Yuguang to lead the army to assist the Long Army.

Yuan Shikai saw that Lu Rongting's attitude had improved, so he asked Lu Rongting to send troops to attack Guizhou. Lu Rongting did not refuse, and only asked Yuan to allocate 5,000 rifles and a military salary of 1 million as the conditions for promotion, and Yuan Shikai immediately complied.

On 7 March, Yuan Shikai appointed Lu Rongting as Guizhou's Xuanfu envoy and sent Chen Bingkun, commander of the First Division of the Guangxi Army, to take charge of Guangxi's military affairs. In the appointment, there was nothing to say, and this was a request from Lu himself.

At the same time as this order was issued, Yuan Shikai, who was used to playing second-hand, secretly ordered Long Jinguang to monitor Lu nearby.

Yuan Shikai originally thought that Lu Rongting would definitely not accept the post of Guizhou Xuanfu envoy, but how did he know that Lu immediately telegraphed to take office, but only sent another telegram to Yuan Shikai, asking for an additional 1 million yuan in military salary. Yuan Sheng was afraid that Lu would regret it, so he immediately complied.

Before Lu Rongting started in Nanning, he held a military conference. At the meeting, Chen Bingkun, who was appointed by Yuan Shikai as the acting military affairs of Guangxi, spoke fiercely, and Yuan Shikai wanted to use him to land, but how did he know that he was the backbone of the anti-Yuan army.

He loudly accused Lu of having an ambiguous attitude: "The new monarch (referring to Yuan) is disloyal, betraying the old master (referring to Cen Chunxuan) is unjust, forgetting to kill his son and hating is unkind, how can a person be disloyal and unjust!" ”

On 11 March, Lu Rongting led his division from Nanning to Liuzhou.

On the 13th, he followed the example of Cai Ye and Tang Jiyao, and first led the generals of the Guangxi Army to send a telegram to persuade Yuan to resign, and limited the power to reply within 24 hours.

"Former President Yuan Gonghuijian: The pain is to impose the imperial system, the people's grievances are boiling, Yungui reprimands, and the fight starts. Soldiers are in trouble, and winter and spring are involved. The fate of the country is in danger, and it is unknown. Far from the root of the disaster, my father has been harming the people and the government for several years, and the four people are resentful. In the near promotion of the killing machine, my father has been stealing the country and conspiring for several months, laughing and insulting all countries.

"Check Article 46 of the "Covenant Law", there is a provision that the president is responsible for the people, and if he violates the constitution for dereliction of government, he has a clear vision and a strong life, who will be relieved of the responsibility? Yun and Gui both support righteousness and prosperity, and there is no turning back, my husband is still obsessed, what is the art of self-gold? Rong Ting served in Yanjiang, security is urgent, Qichao traveled all over the place, Artemisia was frightened, because of the battle of Xinhai, the former Qing Dynasty with three hundred years of vertical rule, still can't bear to live in the people, abdicate to the emperor. Today, for the sake of private interests, I will not hesitate to kill the lives of hundreds of millions of people in order to ruin the country's demise. To win the dynasty, can you be shameless?

"In the end, nothing will be done, and he will be smiling in vain, and he will be called a wise man, if this is the case! Rong Ting and others have worked together for several years, and they can't bear to be the one who will bring disaster to the country, so I sincerely advise them to resign today to thank the world. Rong Ting and others should be more responsible to persuade Yun and Gui to stop the army on the same day, then the public will can not only confess, but also the national disaster can be relieved. The situation is safe, and there is no room for it. Begging to give 24 hours to reply, so that the decision to advance, is not overwhelmed by the pain of waiting for life! Lu Rongting, Liang Qichao, Chen Bingkun, Tan Haoming, Mo Rongxin, Ma Ji, Wang Zutong. ”