Now, we have to go back to Yuan Shikai.

On January 5, the fifth year of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai issued a crusade order to officially defend the army in Yunnan.

Ling Yun: "Previously, according to the Legislative Yuan of the Senate, Tang Jiyao and Ren Kecheng supported the army and plotted rebellion, and asked for revenge. According to the provincial generals, they successively telegraphed: Cai Yi and others telegraphed to instigate, please punish them, etc., at that time, it was suspected that they had other circumstances, and Tang Jiyao, Ren Kecheng, and Cai Yi were first deprived of their posts and waited for investigation; According to various side newspapers, Cai Ye entangled the chaotic party, sneaked to Yunnan, coerced the governor of the province and a soldier, plotted to rebel against the country, undermined reunification, declared independence, sent troops to peep into Sichuan, slightly rebellious conspiracy, was brutalized, arrogant, unauthorized establishment of the government, most of the people opposed it, wept and swallowed, and could not resist its might. They also arbitrarily spread rumors, spreading far and near, falsely claiming that a certain province has been united with a certain country and that a certain country has another conspiracy, and that it is not a deception to confuse the public, that is, to stir up feelings, and to whisper lies, but there is no truth at all.

"The military and the people of all provinces obey the decrees and defend the country, and all the friendly nations hope for peace and good relations. When the Yunnan Revolution started, the government. The generals of the government and the provinces galloped and persuaded them, and they were enthusiastic and accumulated, and the rebels had no lungs and intestines, and they blatantly ignored the laws decided by the whole people, and the rebels dared to violate the will of the people of the whole country with a small number of traitors. The righteousness of the government and the advice of colleagues have fallen on deaf ears and become frenzied, so far. The reversal or initiation of a change in the national system, or persuasion, repeatedly agreed, for the day by day, the succession is very different, the change is repeated, and it is incredible. Since ancient times, when the country was first created, there were cunning people who harbored evil intentions and plotted changes under pretexts; And such as the insidious and unpredictable reversal, it is rare to be chaotic. To the people of Yunnan Province, there was no rebellion at the beginning, the sergeants also knew more about the righteousness, and the border was barren, the livelihood was extremely difficult, the soldiers were only more than 10,000, and the salary was difficult to pay every month, and it was about to collapse.

"The state thinks of the military and people of Yunnan Province, and is extremely reluctant to rejuvenate the division and brigade, but it should rely on the danger and be far away, arbitrarily stretched, so that it will be entrenched for a little longer, which will cause suffering to our Li Shu, plunder the neighbors, the overall situation, the involvement of accidents, weigh the severity, dare not be tolerated, and even abolish the national law. The generals and patrol envoys of the provinces near Yunnan made strict plans for prevention and suppression, without negligence, and sent the Huwei general Cao Kun to lead the divisions to march and wait for the call. In the change of the province, the crime is to advocate a number of people, all who are coerced and obeyed, but can repent, are exempt from investigation, if there is always upright, unwilling to join the disorder, will be commended. All the people of Yunnan Province, most of whom are good, should be properly compensated, do not let them be lost, and use their vices to punish the guilt and reassure the people. This order. ”

Yunnan declared independence on December 25, the fourth year of the Republic of China, so Yuan Shikai did not rush to use troops against Yunnan, on the one hand, he did not take Yunnan seriously, and on the other hand, he wanted to "surrender without a fight".

He planned and deployed a three-way plan to march into Yunnan, hoping to defeat the Protector Army in one fell swoop with the overwhelming momentum of Mount Tai.

It's just that these three armies did not go all the way as he wanted.

Yuan's three GIs were:

General Huwei's 3rd Division Commander Cao Kun, 7th Division Commander Zhang Jingyao, and 8th Division Commander Li Changtai were sent to Sichuan. Cao Kun's 3rd Division was originally stationed in Yuezhou, Zhang Jingyao's 7th Division was originally stationed in Nanyuan, and Li Changtai's 8th Division was originally stationed in Baoding. As the main force of the frontal attack on Yunnan, this is all the way.

Ma Jizeng, commander of the Sixth Division, Fan Guozhang, commander of the 20th Division, and Tang Tianxi, commander of the 7th Mixed Brigade, were sent to Xiangxi, and the troops included the 6th Division to which Ma Jizeng belonged from Nanchang, the 7th Mixed Brigade transferred from Henan, and part of the 20th Division transferred from Fengtian.

This is the second way.

The commander of the 1st Division of the Guangdong Army, Long Jinguang, was sent from Guangxi to Guizhou, and the Anwu Army under Ni Yudi was transferred from Anhui to enter Guizhou from western Hunan. As a flank attack, this is the third way.

As we have already said, Yuan also had a plan to transport the Beiyang Army to Vietnam by sea and attack Kunming by the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, but he did not obtain the consent of the French.

Yuan Shikai was later reinforced by the Beiyang Army by Haidao, which was an important step in his efforts to extinguish the Second Revolution, and he wanted to repeat his old tricks.

He ordered Navy Chief Liu Guanxiong to transport troops to Guangdong, but when he heard that the situation in Guangdong had changed, he wanted to transport troops to Zhejiang, and Zhejiang was also independent.

Later, a part of the 12th Division of the Beiyang Army was loaded from Tanggu, with Xinyu, Xinkang, Xinming, Airen and other ships as troop transport ships, and Hairong and Haiqi as cover ships, heading to East China.

On 20 April, the convoy encountered a heavy fog on the surface of Wenzhou, and the Hairong ship did not achieve the purpose of escorting the ship, but instead collided with the Xinyu ship, and the two ships sank at the same time, drowning more than 700 officers and men, and causing countless losses of ordnance and materials.

The unfavorable battle ahead certainly made Yuan Shikai anxious, but what made him even more desperate was that there was no one available.

Yuan Shikai Zaifeng. Marsh. The garden organized the "Provisional Army of Yunnan. Affairs", he wanted to ask Duan Qirui to come out and support the scene for him. Duan resigned on the grounds that "the chronic illness has not been cured". This is the same as the Qing court in Xinhai who ordered Yuan Shikai to go out of the mountain to supervise the teacher, and Yuan was "not cured of foot disease". In order to please Yu Duan, Yuan lowered his body and invited Xu Shuzheng, who he usually didn't like very much, out. Xu Shuzheng was disgusted by Yuan Shikai and was concentrating on running Zhengzhi Middle School, when he was suddenly ordered to be the director of the General's Office.

However, Duan Qirui was still not moved at all. Still said that he couldn't get sick.

Yuan Shikai had no choice but wanted to ask Feng Guozhang to be the commander-in-chief of the expedition to Yunnan, but Feng was the same as Duan, repeatedly called himself sick and repeatedly renewed his leave. However, he secretly contacted the northern soldiers and the powerful factions in the south to discuss and work, which is also the same as Xinhai Yuan secretly negotiated peace with the revolutionary army.

Is history deliberately playing tricks on Yuan Shikai? Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang seem to be colluding to return the current Yuan Shikai with the way of Yuan Shikai in the past.

Duan Qirui's attitude was in Yuan Shikai's expectations, while Feng Guozhang said that he was sick in Nanjing and refused to go north, but it was much beyond Yuan Shikai's expectations. He had always believed that Feng Guozhang was loyal to him, although he knew that Feng Guozhang's loyalty was different from Duan Zhigui's. Yuan Shikai felt that he cared about Feng Guozhang and was considerate, and Feng Guozhang should have no reason to go his separate ways with him.

Yuan Shikai's daughter, Ms. Yuan Jingxue, mentioned in her reminiscences: Yuan Shikai and Feng Guozhang both like to eat pork knuckle meat, and every time the Yuan family cooks pork knuckle, Yuan always sends a copy to Feng.

Is Feng Guozhang really sick? Yuan Shikai specially sent Jiang Yanxing to Nanjing to explore the truth on the pretext of visiting the patient.

Of course, Feng Guozhang was not sick, he grabbed Jiang Yanxing's hand and wept bitterly and said: "I have followed the president all my life, and the president can do whatever he wants, why doesn't the president treat me as a human being." ”

He was referring to the scene when he went to Beijing to confess to Yuan the last time, when Yuan denied the imperial system to him. Yuan Shikai had long forgotten about this matter, he never took it seriously, and he didn't expect such consequences.

Yuan Shikai received a secret report from Jiang and learned of Feng's "illness", so he sent Ruan Zhongshu, Yin Chang, and Tanaka Yu to Nanjing in turn to dredge and explain.

While swearing to Feng to confess how close he was to him, he secretly attacked Feng. First, he instructed Jiang Yanxing to collude with Wang Tingzhen, the commander of Jiangning, to usurp Feng's position nearby, and then wanted to summon Feng to Beijing and relieve him of his post of supervising Jiangsu's military affairs. It's just that because Shandong General Jin Yunpeng and Jiangxi General Li Chun sent secret telegrams not to mobilize Feng, they didn't do anything.

Yuan also wanted to use Li Yuanhong to lead the Yunnan army in the name of deputy marshal. Before Yuan Shikai became emperor, he maintained Yuan's taming tools almost everything and was an honest man who was very good at talking, but he has changed since Yuan Shikai became emperor.

Li Yuanhong is not a revolutionary party, but his loyalty to the republic and the determination and courage he showed in defending the republic cannot but make people reacquaint themselves with this founding father.

When Yuan Shikai sent someone to tell Li what he thought, Li categorically said: "I'd rather kill your head than take advantage of it." ”

No one is available, Yuan Shikai can only come by himself. At this time, he was not only the president of the Republic of China, but also the emperor of the Chinese Empire, in charge of diplomacy, internal affairs, money-raising, and military affairs. For a time, Emperor Yuan was very busy.

After Yunnan fought against Yuan's army, Yuan had no choice but to devote all his energy to the military against Yunnan. On the one hand, he ordered the political circles to reduce their salaries, and on the other hand, they encouraged the soldiers at the front with money and titles, and the barons of meritorious service were crowned viscounts, and major generals were promoted to lieutenant generals, and brigade commanders were promoted to division commanders, or they were rewarded with double salaries.

When things were not going as planned, there were people in the court who "made . . . Anti". Zhuang Yunkuan, the history of the suppression of the government, was openly iron-faced and selfless, and sent an official letter to the Secretary of State without a request, proposing: (1) Cancel the Hongxian era name, because the empire has not yet been established, there should not be a year name first; (2) Request to abolish the Preparatory Office for the Ceremony; (3) Please abolish the Senate.

Zhuang Yunkuan (1866-1932), the word Si Xuan, the name of Hug Hong, in his later years, called the unhindered layman, a native of Changzhou.

In 1890, he served as the deputy tribute, and successively served as the lecturer of Xunyang Academy during the Guangxu period, the Tongzhi of Baise Hall, the prefect of Wuzhou Prefecture, Taiping Sishun Bingbei Road and Guangxi Longzhou Frontier Supervision Office. And successively set up Wucheng School in Pingnan, Wubei School in Guangzhou, Chuangwuzhou Middle School, Longzhou Girls' School and Book Club, etc., and invited Niu Yongjian and Cai Yi to Guilin to co-organize the Army Cadre School.

After the Xinhai Revolution, he served as the governor of Jiangsu, and then served as the president of the Audit Yuan in Beijing for 12 years, during which time he was one of the early leaders of the Palace Museum, and made outstanding contributions to preventing warlords from stealing cultural relics. He then served as the editor-in-chief of the Jiangsu Tongzhi until his death in 1932.

Zhuang Yunkuan is also a calligrapher and painter, and he is good at poetry. And the calligraphy and painting are also extraordinary.

Of course, what Zhuang Yunkuan is most proud of in his life is Zheng Zheng iron bones. When Yuan Shikai was proclaimed emperor, 59 of the 60 members of the National Covenant Law expressed their support, and only Zhuang Yunkuan took the case. risked death to ask Xu Shichang to deliver an open letter on his behalf, bitterly stating that the imperial system cannot be done, public opinion cannot be bullied, and the trend of the times cannot be reversed.

Zhuang Yunkuan is also famous all over the world and is well-known as Shilin because of his strong spirits.

When Yuan Shikai saw this official document, he was furious and declared that he would deal with Zhuang. Although Zhuang Yunkuan was not afraid of death, he still preferred to live, so he hung up his crown and left. Yuan immediately sent Zhang Yuanqi to succeed him. At the same time, it is strictly forbidden for officials to ask for leave, and those who ask for leave must have three or more people connected to the environmental protection link, and military police should be sent to protect senior officials above the rank of Jane. It is the same as monitoring the relatives and nobles out of Beijing at the end of the Qing Dynasty.

In the first year of Hongxian, Yuan Dengji was supposed to change the Yuan on New Year's Day of the fifth year of the Republic of China, but due to the first righteousness in Yunnan, the embassies of various countries returned the official documents of the Yuan change, so Yuan Shikai's trick of ascending to the pole had to be extended again and again.

On 23 February, Yuan Youyou issued an order to postpone the ascension:

"In the name of all civil and military officials, national representatives, and various organizations and individuals, they have called for an early ascension to the throne, and the flow of letters and telegrams has been carried out every day, and the patriots are urgently planning for long-term stability and long-term rule, and the authorities should bear the responsibility of judging the situation. At present, Yunnan and Guizhou are in turmoil, and they are still shocked, and the southern Sichuan area of Xiangxi is unbearable to hear because of the people who have left the house because of Kou Zhi. Remembering our people, it is difficult to sleep in peace! With the words of traitors, there are no surprises, so that the original intention of saving the people and the country is an excuse to change capital to fight for profit and government; How can you be at peace with yourself? The decision has been made and must be postponed. All my patriotic officials and officials should be able to forgive each other. Thereafter, all telegrams calling for the early position are not allowed to be submitted. It is hereby decreed to be informed. This order. ”