Now, let's talk about Chen Xiao and Hu Egong.

Hu Egong felt very uncomfortable when he saw Chen Xiao's sad appearance, but he still persuaded Chen Xiao to make the right choice at an important juncture in history and not to leave a reputation for eternity.

Chen Xiao thought for a long time and said: "My army has a total of three mixed brigades and a guard regiment, except for the Wuyu Pavilion (Xiangzhen), they may not be able to listen to me. You mean that you mean very well, I will have a meeting with a few colleagues tomorrow to talk. ”

The next day, Hu held a meeting with Zhang Zhen, the secretary of the General's Palace, Deng Wenyu (Lan Tianwei's father-in-law), He Jiyou (He Zizhen's grandson), and others in Chen Xiao's small study.

Chen Xiao said: "The monkey show played in Beijing City, the old man also feels that the name is not right. Songpo is calm and aware of the opportunity, not a rash person, we currently have three paths: first, immediately declare independence; Second, first dredge Zhou Jun, commander of the First Division of the Sichuan Army and Chongqing town guard, and Liu Cunhou, commander of the Second Division, and then become independent; 3. Send someone to contact Feng Huafu (Feng Guozhang) and Tang Zhuxin (Tang Qianming) before launching. ”

After some discussion, everyone agreed to take the third option.

Chen Eun also has plans to break away from Yuan Shikai, but his steps are very steady, and it depends on the development of the situation. So he sent his secretary Hu Egong to Hunan and Nanjing to spy on the attitudes of Tang Qianming in Hunan and Feng Guozhang in Nanjing.

On February 10, the fifth year of the Republic of China, Hu Egong set out from Chengdu, traveled day and night, and walked more than 1,000 kilometers of mountain roads to Chongqing in three and a half days. Changed to a small boat, lasted four days to Yichang, and then transferred to Hankou.

Chen Mi gave him the task of spying on the situation, and his idea was to create conditions for the uprising in Sichuan, so he was as anxious as a spark. In order to achieve the goal, after arriving in Hankou, he met with his old friends Chen Yushi, Huang Baochang, and Wang Xiaozhen, and everyone discussed how to do Tang Qianming's work, and recommended Chen Yushi to visit Tang in Changsha, because Chen and Tang had a close personal relationship.

There is a book that records that Chen Yu saw Tang Qianming's situation: "After Chen arrived in Changsha, he went to the general's office to pay tribute to Tang, Tang met Chen in the large living room, Chen talked about Yunnan's independence and Yuan, as well as the general air in Sichuan and Nanjing, only to see Tang's gray face blue and red for a while, and for a while he smoked a paper cigarette, and then stood up and polished around the sandalwood table, pondered for a long time, and did not say a word.

"Tang Qianming has killed a lot of people in Hunan, and he is ruthless, and he has the mixed name of a soup butcher. Chen Yushi knew about Tang's problem, and when he saw him like this, he was so frightened that his soul was not possessed.

"Thirty-six walked up, hurriedly retreated, and quickly turned around and said: 'Zhuxin, we have nothing to say, it is up to you to listen or not, you are not happy with these words, only when the donkey cries and the dog barks!'

As soon as Tang heard Chen's words, he burst out laughing and said slowly, "Why don't you go to Shanghai to talk to your brothers!" ”

Tang Qianming's eldest brother was Tang Hualong, who served as the chairman of the Hubei Consultative Bureau during the Wuchang Uprising in Xinhai. Since the Yunnan Initiative, Tang Hualong has constantly sent telegrams to Tang Qianming, urging him to become independent. This matter is not a secret, Tang Qianming's meaning is very clear.

It's just that Tang Qianming also has his difficulties, between Yuan Shikai and his fellow brothers, on the one hand, there is a deep grace of Jun; On the one hand, there is a brotherhood, which makes him in a dilemma. Although he lost the love of the Hunan people in Hunan because of excessive killing, he still had the heart to make the country prosperous, and he may not have his own views on Yuan's title of emperor, so he did not make up his final decision, but he still had many concerns.

Chen Yushi asked for this sentence, and hurried back to Hankou with great interest to report to Hu Egong.

Hu then transferred to Nanjing, where he found Feng Guozhang's son-in-law Chen Zhiji and nephew Feng Jiayou, and they accompanied Hu to meet Feng.

After Hu Egong finished talking about his intentions, he said in his capacity as a representative of Chen Eun that Chen was the only one who looked forward to Feng Ma, but Feng did not give a positive reply, but only talked about it left and right.

Feng was indeed in a very difficult situation at this time, and it was impossible for him to openly declare his opposition to Yuan, whether morally or emotionally; This is just like Yuan never said anything anti-Qing back then.

When Hu and Feng met a few times and talked about speculation, Feng gradually complained, he said, "Xiangcheng is full of foxes and dogs, and the evil people of the king." The subordinates who really love him are lined up outside the wall, and the reason why I am in such a difficult situation today is because Xiang Cheng left me out in the cold. Do you know the origin of Xiangcheng? ”

Feng then mentioned the story of Xishan Shier and the scholar offering tea.

The so-called Xishan Shi, in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, the common people of Beijing rumored that in ancient times, there were ten spirit beasts living on the Xishan, and after cultivating for thousands of years, they turned into human bodies, and reincarnated in the mortal world to become an important figure who influenced the historical process of the Qing Dynasty, which was called "Xishan Shiren".

The ten western mountains are:

1. Hong Chengchou (badger) Hong Chengchou was originally a minister of the Ming Dynasty, and during the Chongzhen period, he was already an official to the Ministry of War. After being defeated and captured in the war with the Qing Dynasty at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Hong Chengchou surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and became a scholar of the Qing Dynasty. During his tenure, he made many achievements to consolidate the rule of the Qing Dynasty. Due to its quick and fickle nature, like the burrowing badgers, it is considered a badger spirit reincarnation.

2. Dolgon (Xiong) Dolgon was the regent who controlled the Qing court. Most of the founding fathers of the Qing Dynasty were physically strong, and Dolgon was regarded as the reincarnation of the black bear.

3. Wu Sangui (Osprey) Wu Sangui, the king of Pingxi, was angry at the crown, because his favorite concubine Chen Yuanyuan was insulted by Li Zicheng's subordinates, and the Qing army entered the customs. His personality is like that of an osprey, hovering low above the water, and quickly pounces on his prey as soon as he sees it, only for his own immediate interests, regardless of the flood behind him.

Fourth, Nian Qianyao (pig) Nian Qianyao is Yongzheng's favorite minister, who has worked hard to support Yongzheng internally, and has meritorious service in fighting and quelling rebellions abroad. It's a pity that Nian Qianyao is still not satisfied, like a pig who is insatiable, but he doesn't understand that the day when the pig eats himself too fat and too strong, it is the time when the master wields the butcher's knife.

Fifth, Hailancha (donkey) The previous list of ministers and favored ministers are all powerful ministers and favored ministers, but Hailancha is loyal, hard-working, and a very low-key person, so although he has made outstanding achievements, he is not as famous as the previous ones. Later generations regarded him as the reincarnation of the donkey spirit, which is to highlight his protector and hard-working character.

Sixth, He Shen (wolf) and Shen are the same as the previous Nian Qianyao, they are also a greedy person. During the Qianlong period, he was honored and favored, and he was a very popular minister, but he didn't expect that he was just a lamb left by Qianlong to his son Jiaqing to slaughter. But here he is not regarded as a sheep spirit, but as a wolf spirit, because He Shen's surname is Niu Hulu, which means wolf in Manchu.

Seventh, Cixi (fox), the common people regard it as a fox spirit.

8. Zeng Guofan (Python) Zeng Guofan was the head of the "Four Famous Ministers of Zhongxing in the Late Qing Dynasty", and his subordinates brought out a group of capable people such as Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang, who made outstanding contributions to the Qing Dynasty. However, he suffers from a severe skin disease, and his whole body looks like it is covered with silver snake scales, so everyone says that he is the reincarnation of a giant python.

9. Zhang Zhidong (Monkey) Zhang Zhidong is also the "Four Famous Ministers of Zhongxing in the Late Qing Dynasty", which is not only the favorite minister of Cixi, but also the capable minister of the Qing Dynasty. Jang Zhidong likes the habit of sleeping during the day and going to work at night. He was both "unruly" and skinny, no different from a monkey, so he was regarded as a monkey spirit.

10. Yuan Shikai (clam) Yuan Shikai is known as a toad, first, because he has a short body, a broad face and a round face, and resembles a toad. Second, folk rumors say that whenever it rains, Yuan Shikai likes to open his mouth and exhale, just like a toad. Later, the story became more and more mysterious, and some people said that on the day Yuan Shikai ascended the throne, the toads around Taoran Pavilion in Beijing shouted in unison, congratulating the toad king on becoming the emperor.

The story of the scholar offering tea is: One day, when Yuan Shikai was taking a nap, the scholar went to offer tea. When he pushed the door, his feet slipped, and the teacup fell to the ground and shattered. The scholar was frightened, this was Yuan Shikai's favorite jade cup.

Fortunately, Yuan did not wake up from a sound sleep, and the scholar hurriedly ran to find an old housekeeper in Yuan's mansion and begged him to save himself.

The old butler pondered for a while, and then came up with an idea for the scholar. And said, "Do as I say, and keep you safe." ”

After a while, Yuan Shikai woke up and wanted to drink tea. The scholar brought the tea in, and Yuan looked at it, no! Asked, "Where is my jade cup?" ”

The scholar honestly said, "I fell." ”

Yuan was furious and said sharply, "What the hell is going on? ”

The scholar fell to his knees and said, "My lord, it's not that the villain is careless, but that the villain is really afraid." ”

Yuan Shikai was still angry, and scolded: "Say! What are you afraid of? I can't tell you for a reason, I can't spare you! ”

The scholar kept kowtowing, and said while kowtowing: "I really don't blame me, when I came in with tea just now, I found that the president lying on the bed was not the president at all!" ”

"You bastard, who am I not?" Yuan Shikai asked.

The scholar was surprised and said, "Yes...... It's a big golden dragon! At that time, I was frightened, and the jade cup fell to the ground and fell. ”

"Nonsense!" Yuan Shikai scolded angrily, but his face immediately calmed down. Instead of curing the scholar's sin, he took out a stack of banknotes from a drawer and gave it to the scholar.

Both stories are derogatory to Yuan Shikai and invisibly show Feng Guozhang's attitude.

Hu took the opportunity to say at this time: "Mr. Er (i.e., Chen Eun) and I have agreed that as long as the general (referring to Feng Guozhang) agrees, the general will send a secret telegram, and he will declare independence. ”

Feng slapped the table, as if with great determination, and said, "What about your telegram, I will send it for you." ”

After Hu Egong sent Chen E's telegram, he immediately went to Shanghai to meet Tang Hualong, and told Tang Yu how Chen Yushi went to Hunan in detail.

Hu said: "Mr. Two's independence is no longer a problem, Mr. Four (referring to Tang Qianming) is not independent, everyone is from Hubei, and Hubei people can't help but fight for personality!" ”

Tang Hualong was very sympathetic when he heard this, and said repeatedly: "It's really a word, and at this time he is still so confused, I will send him a telegram about your contact in Nanjing, and I am not afraid that he will not be independent." ”

When the Nanjing Conference was noisy, Sichuan changed, and after learning about the situation on Feng Guozhang and Tang Qianming's side, Chen Eun's attitude became clearer.

Yuan Shikai's telegram on the convening of the Nanjing Conference mentioned: "Recently, Tang Jiyao, Liu Xianshi, Lu Rongting, Long Jiguang and others have taken abdication as the most important thing, and Chen Eun has also advised him to rest."

Yes, on 3 May, Chen Eun did send a telegram to Yuan to persuade him to retire: he repeatedly said that "if the head of state allows to abdicate, the preferential conditions should be fought with the Xinjiang officials."

Although Yuan Shikai said on the face, "I won my heart", only he knew what he hated Chen Eun in his heart.

At this time, not only Feng Guozhang advocated Yuan's abdication, but Duan Qirui also agreed.

According to Chen Eun's suggestion, Duan formulated six preferential treatment methods for Yuan: first, do not chase the past; 2. Citizenship is not denied; 3. Private property shall not be confiscated; 4. Freedom of residence; 5. The people of the whole country shall be treated with due respect; 6. Politics of the Republic of China. The government gave an annual fee of 100,000 yuan.

Yuan looked at these conditions, and pretended not to care and said: "Okay, very good, it is not a problem for me to abdicate, and one day you agree on the aftermath method, I will move to the Summer Palace to recuperate." ”

On May 22, Chen Eun finally sent out the telegram that was called "forcing Yuan to die" and parting ways with Yuan Shikai.

Yan said: "The eunuch is in Jiangrijing Electric Xiangcheng, and I implore him to abdicate as the first advice." It was hoped that he would learn from this, return to the audio-visual, and make a decision immediately to resolve this dispute. When the reply came, the words of proper planning for the aftermath were the place of delay. The eunuch is not self-sufficient, and the second advice is given on the day of the text, saying that abdication is one thing, and the aftermath is one thing, and the two cannot be talked about together, please announce the abdication on the same day, and show the world with great faith.

"The reply telegram has been handed over to Feng Huafu at the Nanjing Conference. It is the so-called abdication of Xiangcheng Yun, which is by no means out of sincerity, or is held hostage by the left and right groups. The eunuch asked for the life of the Sichuan people, Xiang Chengxu and the snake, it was Xiang Cheng who first cut himself off from Sichuan, and the eunuch could not help but represent the Sichuan people and cut off Xiang Cheng. Since today, Sichuan Province has severed relations with Yuan's personally. If the government punishes Sichuan affairs in the name of the government, Sichuan Province shall be deemed invalid. ”

This telegram was drafted by Deng Wenyu, and the phrase "From today onwards, Sichuan Province has severed relations with Yuan's personally" was added by Chen Eun.