In April 1912, the Nanjing Provisional Government moved to Beijing. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Zhongnanhai, located in the west city of Beijing, at the main entrance of the presidential palace, known as the "Xinhua Gate", is crossed with two five-color national flags to set off the festive atmosphere. On both sides of the door, there were eight tall and majestic honor guards.

Yuan Shikai is a little busy these days, very busy, and has to enter and exit the presidential palace from Xinhua Gate several times a day. He had to go to Dongjiaomin Lane to talk to the ambassadors of various countries, to deal with the Manchu royal family that had abdicated, and to appease the representatives of the provinces and the generals under Beiyang. Although these are not big deals, for the sake of his good image as a president, Yuan Shikai has to do it himself.

Yuan Shikai, who finally got quiet today, walked along the walkway of Yingtai in the middle of Zhongnanhai, while looking at the fish swimming in the water outside the guardrail, while walking slowly. Yang Shiqi, Liang Shiyi, Yang Du, and Duan Qirui and some other old subordinates are all accompanying him at this moment. Everyone was talking and laughing, and everyone's faces were very cheerful, just like the bright scenery of spring now.

When Yuan Shikai was a little tired, he stopped and rested on a stone pillar on a guardrail. Seeing this situation, Yang Shiqi, Duan Qirui and others who followed closely behind him also walked up quickly.

"Hey, I'm getting old! I've only walked a few steps, and I'm already a little out of breath. Yuan Shikai seemed to sigh a little.

"What is the president talking about, now that the Republic of China has been newly established, it is a new atmosphere unseen in a thousand years, and we still need the leadership of the president to do a great job!" Liang Shiyi took a step forward and said quietly complimenting.

A smile appeared on Yuan Shikai's fat face, stretched out his hand and shook it, and then said: "You are wrong, the new atmosphere of the Republic of China now!" New dynasty and new system. Large and small affairs should have Prime Minister Tang Shaoyi next to him. ”

"Then the president has to be the leader and take the helm next to him!"

"Wingman, you man!" Yuan Shikai let out a long sigh, the smile on his face gradually disappeared, flashed a trace of gloom, and soon disappeared again.

Liang Shiyi knew that Yuan Shikai was a little dissatisfied with Tang Shaoyi's approach after he became the premier of the cabinet. Maybe others didn't see it, but he clearly captured the gloom in Yuan Shikai's eyes just now. He understands Yuan Shikai's personality, and Yuan Shikai's biggest feeling for him is that he likes to pretend, pretending to be confused, pretending to be deep, and pretending to have a demeanor, of course, all of this can be summed up as a black belly. Just like now, he is obviously dissatisfied with Tang Shaoyi's restriction of the president's rights, but he has to pretend to be extraordinary.

Tang Shaoyi was a person who was deeply trusted by Yuan Shikai before, as can be seen from his position as the North-South Council and the Plenipotentiary Representative of the North. After assuming the post of interim president, Yuan Shikai complied with the "Provisional Covenant Law" and implemented the responsible cabinet system, and Tang Shaoyi was nominated for the post of prime minister. It stands to reason that in this way, Tang Shaoyi should only be Yuan Shikai's head. However, everyone has ambitions, and Tang Shaoyi is not a person who is willing to live in the hearts of the people. Tang Shaoyi, who served as the premier of the state, began to emphasize that the orders issued by the president must be signed by the State Council in order to be effective, and every time Yuan Shikai issues a discussion and every order, it must be reviewed by the cabinet and signed by a member of the parliament.

"Huizi, what do you think of the current situation in China?" Yuan Shikai suddenly asked.

Facing Yuan Shikai's leapfrog thinking, Liang Shiyi was a little confused, but the protagonist at this time was not him, so he had to stand aside behind him.

At this time, Yang Du also lost the arrogance of the past. Facing Yuan Shikai's question, Yang Du lowered his head and thought for a while, then said with a straight face: "Although we in Beiyang control the center this time, Lord Yuan, you are even more inaugurated as the president. On the surface, the Republic of China is newly established, the weather is updated, and it seems to be a quiet and peaceful situation. In fact, this is not the case, and now the situation of the provinces is already obvious, and the central government's order does not go out of the west of the Yellow River, but south of the Yangtze River, which is already a well-known problem. Presumably, President You've already made up your mind at this time. ”

Yuan Shikai sighed bitterly, threw out his topic, and said: "What Huizi said is indeed good, although I Beiyang now controls the power of the country, but it has no name, but there is no reality. Recently, all provinces have been watching our every move in Beiyang, and these provincial military leaders who support their own troops cannot be underestimated! ”

Yang Du took a deep breath, he was not stupid, he knew that Yuan Shikai wanted to use force to unify the north and the south and solve the situation of domestic division as soon as possible, this is not impossible, but the unification by force is too arrogant and rash. Can it be so simple to use force against the revolutionary party? If it were that simple, I'm afraid Xinhai Nian would have already done so. Not to mention the current financial difficulties of the central government, how can we overcome the current difficulties, but it is possible to say that the revolutionary forces such as the League and the Communist Progressive Party are all mud and cannot be completed? Therefore, the best strategy now is to plot secretly, actively arrange, wait for the opportunity to disintegrate these revolutionary forces in one fell swoop, and then slowly clean up those small warlords.

"President, now that the division of the provinces has become a reality, we should plan early and step up the containment of the military forces in the provinces." didn't wait for Yang Du to say anything, Feng Guozhang on the side said in an accentuated tone. Hearing the issue of military affairs, Feng Guozhang hurriedly expressed his attitude to Yuan Shikai. has been following Yuan Shikai for so many years, he knows that what politics is not political is, and only the barrel of a gun can show strength is the last word.

"Oh? Huafu, let's talk about it, what do you think of the local forces in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Huguang, and Southwest China? Which place is the most troublesome? Yuan Shikai seemed a little surprised by Feng Guozhang's words.

"The only one who really threatens the president is the Southwest." Feng Guozhang said solemnly without thinking.

Feng Guozhang's words made Yuan Shikai a little surprised, nodded and smiled: "Well, Huafu, you are right, this southwest is indeed a little beyond the reach of the whip." ”

"At present, the various forces in the country can be simply divided into the three major forces of our Beiyang, the Alliance, and the Southwest Communist Progressive Party, and the rest such as Huguang Li Yuanhong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang constitutionalists will not be mentioned for the time being. On the surface, the alliance seems to be powerful because it has the territory of Guangdong, Jiangxi and other provinces, has soldiers and generals, and its prestige is growing, but it is full of contradictions inside, discord with each other, and scattered organizations, and there is nothing terrible about such a force. On the other hand, the Communist Progressive Party (CPC), on the other hand, has a tight party organization and is quite powerful in the southwest, having previously occupied all of the southwest and not long ago bringing the whole of Shaanxi under its rule, and its threat is not insignificant. At present, it is necessary to take advantage of the fledgling of the southwest to exert means of checks and balances. Otherwise, if it sits down, the consequences will be unimaginable. Feng Guozhang's analysis is the Tao, but it is undeniable that what he said is not unreasonable.

Yuan Shikai's face gradually turned cold, he breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "I heard that this leader of the Communist Party of China is a young man of twenty-eight or nineteen years old? ”

"Yes, this person's name is Xiao Mubai, he studied in Germany to study military affairs, and after returning to China, he served in Yunnan, and he was the commander of the nineteenth town before." Feng Guozhang said calmly.

Yuan Shikai squinted his eyes and didn't say anything on his mouth, but he kept chanting Xiao Mubai's name in his heart. It was this person's troops who defeated their own Beiyang New Army, which was also the first fiasco since the establishment of the Beiyang Army.

"President, Hua Fu is right, although this person is young, he has to be guarded against. From the Liberation Uprising to the present, in less than half a year, he has already organized an army of eight divisions. What's even more terrifying is that when Yunnan was recovered, this person spread the word about Yunnan almost overnight, and this person's forbearance can be seen. What's more, our Beiyang New Army has suffered losses in the hands of the southwest. As if to confirm Feng Guozhang's words, Duan Qirui also came out at this time and added.

Of course, what he didn't know was that the information he was talking about was still the situation a few months ago, when the army in the southwest had been expanded to twelve divisions. It's not that the spy personnel in Beiyang don't do their best, but the counter-espionage personnel in the southwest are too strong.

A few days ago, the newspaper also published a draft of Xiao Mubai's speech at the military academy, which was full of incendiary and demagogic remarks for the Communist Progressive Party. In this way, this son's heart is not small. In my opinion, to deal with the southwest, it is advisable to deal with it quickly rather than slowly. Seeing Yuan Shikai, who was a little hesitant, at this time, Yang Shiqi stood up again and added a handful of materials.

Yuan Shikai didn't speak, but there was a terrifying fierce light in his eyes.