Before Yuan became emperor, there were already various factional struggles within Beiyang, one of which was the dispute between the Cantonese and Anhui factions.

The so-called Cantonese system is the Liang Shiyi department, also known as the transportation department. The so-called Anhui system is the Yang Shiqi system.

Liang Shiyi (1869-1933), known as Yifu, was born in Sanshui County, Guangzhou Prefecture, Guangdong, and was born in Gangtou Village, Baili Town, Sanshui, Foshan City. He was a famous economist, banker, and politician in the early Republic of China.

Liang Shiyi studied with his father Liang Zhijian in Sanshui, Guangzhou, and ** in his early years, and later studied with Liang Qichao in Foshan Academy.

In the twentieth year of Guangxu (1894), he was admitted to the Jinshi examination, and successively served as the Minister of Posts and Communications, the Minister of State, and the Director of the General Administration of Railways of the Qing Dynasty, making great contributions to China's early railway industry. In 1911, he assisted Yuan Shikai in coercing the Qing imperial family to abdicate.

In the early days of the Republic of China, he served as the secretary-general of the presidential office of Yuan Shikai and the general manager of the Bank of Communications. Finance, Vice Minister of Finance, Beiyang Zheng. General of State Affairs. As the head of the Department of Transportation and the president of the National Railway Association, he fully supported Sun Yat-sen's national railway construction plan.

Liang Shiyi is known as the "living god of wealth" and "the second president". In 1916, he was called "the brain of China" and "the powerful minister behind the throne" by the New York Times, and was an important political figure who was very active in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China.

On June 6, 1918, Liang Shiyi founded the Beijing Stock Exchange, which was the first stock exchange founded by the Chinese themselves.

In 1932, when the January 28 Incident broke out, Liang Shiyi sent a private telegram to British Prime Minister MacDonald, asking him to unite with other countries to stop Japan's atrocities.

On March 3, 1932, he went to Shanghai to discuss the anti-Japanese plan with Duan Qirui, and died of illness on April 9, 1933.

Liang Shiyi was in the Yuan, second and third years of the Republic of China, under Yuan Shikai, he was indeed a powerful figure, which is equivalent to "the general manager behind the scenes. rational". As the Secretary General of the Presidency, he is the President and the General of State. The bridge between the sciences, connecting the upper and the lower, calling for the wind and rain, is indispensable.

In addition, he has actual financial power, and Xiong Xiling, who once made a financial expert, always . was embarrassed, so that Yang Du and Yang Shiqi's chief of transportation were aborted one after another.

Therefore, if the Beijing officialdom at that time could not follow the path of Liang Shiyi, it would be difficult for him to have a great future as an official.

However, the so-called tree is a big move. Liang Shiyi's power is very large, but the forces of opposition that have attracted cannot be underestimated. At that time, almost everyone in Beijing officialdom knew that Liang and Liang Yang were incompatible; The two Yangs are both Yang Du and Yang Shiqi.

Yang Shiqi (1862-1918), known as Xingcheng, was born in Shanyang County, Huai'an Prefecture in the first year of Tongzhi (1862) in the Qing Dynasty, and was the younger brother of Yang Shixiang. In the eighth year of Guangxu (1882), he reported to the Taoist. For 11 years, he donated to Zhili for probation, and then for more than ten years, he has been in charge of railway affairs inside and outside the Guan.

In the twenty-fifth year of Guangxu, Yang was reused by Li Hongzhang, the governor of Liangguang, and went to Guangzhou with his brother Yang Shixiang to serve. Li Hongzhang returned to the position of minister of Beiyang, and the two Yang brothers returned to Beijing together. During this period, there were many pasts with Prince Qing Yixuan and Yuan Shikai.

The following year, he wrote to Yuan Shikai advocating the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion and served as a liaison between Li Hongzhang and the Eight-Nation Alliance.

In the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu, after the death of Li Hongzhang, Yang turned to Yuan Shikai and served as the chief copywriter of foreign affairs, becoming Yuan's pawn of "sports relatives and nobles, holding political power", and was favored for more than ten years, and was regarded as a confidant by Yuan, and was known as a "think tank".

It is said that when the Covenant Conference was established, Yuan Shikai originally planned to give Liang Shiyi a seat for the speaker.

Yang Du said lightly on the side: "Yansun is the leader of the Kuomintang, and the Nationalist Party branches are all over the country."

Yuan immediately said with a heavy face: "He is not suitable for this."

Yang's secret arrow happened to report to Xiong Xiling when he formed a cabinet, and Yang was going to be the chief of traffic, but he was coldly told Yuan that "Huizi is a layman in traffic", and he knocked off the hat of the chief of traffic.

At the beginning of the third year of the Republic of China, the open and secret struggle between the two factions of the Presidential Palace, Guangdong and Anhui, was very fierce, and in March, Yang Shiqi publicly made the following statement:

"I really don't care if others scold me for being old-fashioned. This is the same as when someone scolded me for being Yuan Dang in the former Qing Dynasty. At that time, Xiang Cheng had already left the wilderness, and Wen Jing (referring to his brother Yang Shixiang) was serving as the minister of Beiyang, so I couldn't leave immediately. Zhang Wenxiang actually said: "Although one of the two pillars is transplanted, there is still a line left in the middle. The two pillars refer to Xiangcheng and Qingdi (奕劻), and I am the first line to convey the message.

"After the Wuchang Uprising, I was appointed as a representative of the peace conference, but I thought that the non-republic would not be enough to tide over the difficulties, and the republic would not have good results, so I resigned and did not do it. For the past two years, I have lived in Shanghai, or during the period of Huang Laoism.

"Xiang Cheng has repeatedly called, for the sake of the relationship between old friends, I will be safe when I come, and it doesn't matter if I am an official or not, there is no need to be an official, and there is no need not to be an official. Last time, Secretary-General Liang vowed not to be a minister, and I agreed to serve as the chief of transportation. Others scolded me for being the leader of the Anhui faction, but I am the leader of the Anhui faction. ”

Liang Shiyi relied on transportation, but in fact held the financial power. At that time, although Beijing had a chief financial officer, the financial power was concentrated in the financial council in the presidential palace. The financial meeting was convened by Yuan Shikai and chaired by Liang.

After the collapse of Xiong Xiling's cabinet, the financial power was more concentrated in the presidential palace, and even all the revenue and expenditure were approved by the president.

One day, Yuan Shikai said to Liang Shiyi, "If the financial distress is like this, the Ministry of Communications must always help." ”

Liang replied: "Please ask the president to instruct, how much is enough?" ”

Yuan said: "There must be four or five hundred thousand yuan a month. ”

Liang replied: "Then it's 500,000."

Since then, the Ministry of Communications has paid the amount on time every month.

The two Yang's proud move against Liang was to cater to Yuan's psychology and praise Xu Shichang to be the secretary of state. Because in this way, the status of the secretary general of the presidential office will be completely lost, which is the best way to attack Liang Shiyi, and it is also a wonderful move!

The height is unbearable, and although Liang Shiyi is powerful, he is also in a dangerous situation, which can be seen in a newspaper clipping and a letter from Liang's father.

This newspaper clipping is a special article in the ** "Zilin Xi Bao", describing Liang's power, and the full text is as follows:

"The person who China relies on to exist today is President Yuan, and the person who will rely on it to exist in the future is actually Secretary-General Liang. Liang Shiyi is also the first person with the most financial power in China. He is endowed with firmness, is very sleek, and does not like to talk big, but seeks to be steadfast, step by step, so that the water comes naturally, and he reaps the results in one fell swoop, and this kind of character is very similar to the life of President Yuan.

"In the presidential palace, on major financial matters, President Yuan is always like a left and right hand, such as a marcher, President Yuan is the pioneer of the front road, and Liang Shiyi is the grain platform of the back road. He also has the best help to the Ministry of Communications, and the wealth is endless. After Zhou Xuexi left, he had already used his skill, and as for the Ministry of Finance, he was close and successful. And then focus on the national industry.

"Now the industrial opening policy began with Liang Shiyi. Xiong Xiling and the others just echoed the voice, and the person who received the credit was still Liang Shiyi. Therefore, when it comes to China's financial power, apart from Liang Shiyi, there is no second person. Moreover, Liang Shiyi's financial power is not only in the domestic possession of real power, but also in the international community with the highest credit, and various recent loans, although nominally signed by so-and-so, and the inside story is Liang Shiyi's person; And often others fail to negotiate, but Liang Shiyi is completely successful as soon as he handles it.

"Today, Gai Liang Shiyi has the qualifications to represent President Yuan, and can cater to the trend of industrial investment abroad, so he can do whatever he wants, all of which are unsatisfactory, in Chinese political circles, there may be those who say that Liang Shiyi has too much power, or even that President Yuan has lost power; Although the language is not similar, I did not think that if there was no Liang Shi in China's finances, not only would it not be able to support it administratively, but I was afraid that President Yuan's military might would not be affected by it. The credit of outsiders is also one of the biggest reasons.

"In short, the political forces in the world today, financial power accounts for almost all of it, and military strength is only its remnant, if this theory is not fallacious, then China's successor to the military and the ruling authority will be in the financial power, that is, the successor of President Yuan and the ruler of China, will be Liang Shiyi. This Liang Shiyi is therefore the most promising material in Chinese politics. ”

Liang Shiyi's father, Liang Baosan, wrote a letter to his son for this special article:

"Reading the "Zilin Xi Bao" on a one, it seems to be extremely praised, but it is really a taboo in the world. In the open-minded lord or not suspicious, in the far-sighted person, not without thoughts, there is a desire to shoulder to shoulder, climbing the dragon and the phoenix, hoping for the successor, all kinds of characters, are jealous.

"In the past, Cao Mengde was to Yang Xiu, and he was harmed by his own fame, which is terrifying. It is a daily newspaper, and those who are worried about someone deliberately doing it must be from Beijing to Shanghai, from Shanghai to Hong Kong, and ** will be heard. Therefore, everything is a step back to save room for yourself.

"The predecessors have high merit and shock the Lord, and they retire after success, and they are far away from suspicion, and they also protect their righteousness. One in the newspaper said that there was too much power, and the other said that the power was lost. These are all incitement, which is enough to confuse the readers of the newspaper. ”

Mr. Liang is not overly worried, it is true. When Yuan Shikai used troops in the south, the military and political chiefs and division and brigade commanders of the provinces must make a special trip to pay homage to Yuan after entering Beijing.

One day Yuan said to Liang: "Your status will be more important in the future, and the division and brigade commander who is now on pilgrimage should not be lightly colored." ”

When the Covenant was being submitted, Yuan told Liang that he wanted to expand the presidential palace to recruit talents. Liang advocated not changing the cabinet system for the time being, and if the government system was to be expanded, it would be better to expand the government secretariat office to accommodate talents.

Yuan wants to change the total. As the secretary of state, Liang tried his best to oppose it, Yuan stared at Liang for a moment, and Liang realized that he was suspicious of Yuan.

After Xu Shichang became Secretary of State, Liang Shiyi's political opponent Yang Shiqi gained power, and Liang Nai left the presidential palace, and his momentum naturally decreased a lot.

In June of the fourth year of the Republic of China, there was another major traffic case, which dealt a serious blow to Liang.

This traffic case was Yuan Zheng. A sensational political case in the government, the involvement in the case began with the Tianjin-Pudong Railway. The draft of the case was drafted by the former general office of the northern section of Jinpu Road, the current Su Zheng Shi Meng Yushuang and Jin Gong Shouding, the chief auditor of Jinpu Road, and the Su Zheng Shi Wang Hu and Cai Baoshan went to Jinpu Road to investigate the ten major crimes, and the capital Su Zheng Shi led the participation.