In this era of the twentieth century, the components of a country are becoming more and more different from those of ancient times, and in later years, the strength of a country is not determined by the amount of money it has, nor by the number of troops.

The national consciousness has gradually become a prominent part of a strong country, and the luck of a country is closely related to the national consciousness.

If the people are distracted and have no faith, then the national consciousness of the country is very rubbish, and the public karma layer is mostly corrupt.

A country where the people are frantically oppressed by a family or a group will not think about developing a national consciousness, but will adopt a policy of repression, because their rule will be vulnerable after the revival of national consciousness.

And countries like this, they also start wars by frantically oppressing the people, but they are not a certain family or a certain group to squeeze for the purpose of personal gain, they are for the ideal of expansion, even if their people are not doing well, but many times they still support the political axe, and the reason why they support the political axe is because of the extreme national consciousness.

This is the difference, one does not allow the development of national consciousness, while the other has to be maintained by national consciousness, it is only a matter of public and private.

The people's demands are not high, and as long as the benefits they have deprived themselves of are used where they approve of them, they will still support the political axe.

At this time, the seven provinces of East China had developed a national consciousness, and the political axe did not survive by frantically squeezing the people, so the cohesion of the people was unprecedented.

Moreover, the wisdom of the people is gradually opening up, the quality of the people is constantly improving, and it is gradually moving towards the direction of a world power.

In contrast, the people's hearts of Yuan Shikai's Beiyang political axe are a little chaotic, with the gradual strengthening of the understanding of the East China political axe in various provinces of China, and the achievements of the East China political axe are getting better and better at this time, the people's hearts seem to be a little restless.

In particular, more and more students came to study in East China, and some of them became more and more dissatisfied with Beiyang's various behaviors after returning to the provinces under Beiyang's rule.

The so-called shopping around, at this time the Chinese provinces are also comparing the difference between Beiyang and East China, East China at this time economic and military rapid development, in terms of social welfare is beginning to catch up with the powers.

Yuan Shikai was called the emperor at this time regardless of the existence of an East China political axe, because he is now 57 years old, and all the men in the Yuan family will not live to be 60 years old, Yuan Shikai is afraid that he will not use a few years, maybe a few months later or even a few days later, he will go to Huangquan, and he will already sit on the presidential throne! But he didn't have a few days to live.

If you don't have money, you die, and there's nothing to be nostalgic about.

And those rich people, when they die, their eyes are still wide open, so much money can't be taken away! They died before they had enough of it!

Yuan Shikai obviously belongs to the latter, he hopes to use the title of emperor and add dragon qi to prolong his surname, this statement is very superstitious, but it is not necessarily, but it is just that the benevolent and the wise see the wise.

Some people believe it completely, some people don't believe it at all, and some people can see the subtlety of it, that is, they believe that this phenomenon exists, but they do not believe that it will still occur because some special historical period has passed at this time.

It's like domesticating a dog, and at first letting the dog bite something back, naturally you have to give it some sweetness. After the dog develops this habit, there is no need to give sweetness, and if you don't bite things back, you will be beaten.

When the emperor can live a long life, this phenomenon does exist in history, Yuan Shikai believes that this statement is just too blind.

In addition, Yuan Keding, the eldest son of the Yuan family, went to the fortune teller to tell his fortune, and the fortune teller said that he had forty years of emperor's life, so he tried his best to encourage Yuan Shikai to become emperor.

Maybe it's both, so Yuan Shikai embarked on such a path.

Yuan Shikai called the emperor so that many people were stunned, the last time Liang Qichao went to see Yuan Shikai, Yuan Shikai said to Liang Qichao: "I am the first emperor and cut off children and grandchildren?" Or be the emperor of all generations and bless the descendants? ”

Liang Qichao was stunned and didn't know how to answer, and Yuan Shikai said to him again: "I have more than a dozen sons, and Ren Gong is the most knowledgeable, choose one who can be the emperor on my behalf, so that I will not be involved in digging my ancestral grave, and I will be the emperor again." ”

Yuan Shikai means that none of my dozen sons can be emperors, the eldest is a cripple, the second is a celebrity, the third is a hooligan, and the others are even worse.

But now that I think about it, what Yuan Shikai said at that time was actually very general. He didn't say whether he was the emperor or not, but showed a strong sense of being the emperor, but he just said that he had concerns.

But listening to Yuan Shikai's words repeatedly, it seems that the meaning of both can be explained, which can be described as empty words in empty words, and clichés in clichés.

Liang Qichao reacted angrily and went south to the Hangzhou Post and Telecommunications Bureau to contact Cai Yi, the chief disciple who had arrived in Yunnan.

Hangzhou Post and Telecommunications Bureau has complete facilities, telegraph, mail and other services.

Liang Qichao, as a contemporary writer and a republican leader, has no problem using a radio, even if he is in East China, he also has good connections.

For example, Zhang Taiyan and Liang Qichao have some friendship, although it is not deep, but it is no problem to borrow a radio station through a relationship, Xia Jun did not say anything about it, but let Liang Qichao contact Cai Yi, and also asked people to equip him with a special telegraph room.

At this time, China's telegraph technology had developed greatly, and the East China Autonomous Government had already popularized radio stations in all provinces, and it was no longer like during the Xinhai Revolution, when a telegram was delayed for seven or eight days.

Xia Jun was waiting to see a good show, and he didn't say anything about Yuan Shikai's claim to be emperor, as if he didn't know about it at all, but public opinion in the seven provinces of East China was upside down.

The press began to attack Yuan Shikai, and those newspapers that had previously supported the imperial system still held their ground, but they considered Yuan Shikai unworthy of being the emperor of China, an insult to the personality of the countrymen, and strongly demanded that he step down.

At this time, the East China Autonomous Government did not make any statement, and all departments were silent about the imperial system.

And those old and young people of the Qing Dynasty were extremely disappointed with the changes in the current situation, and they created public opinion for Yuan Shikai in the newspaper before, and gave Yuan Shikai so much money, isn't it that Yuan Shikai gave way to the little emperor Puyi?

Now it's okay, Yuan Shikai put aside the little emperor Puyi, and he is going to be the emperor, which makes them grit their teeth and hate Yuan Shikai one by one.

On the third day of Yuan Shikai's announcement that he would be proclaimed emperor, a march took place in Hangzhou.

A large group of teachers and students took to the streets, strongly opposing Yuan Shikai's proclamation as emperor and demanding that the political axe stop Yuan Shikai's behavior.

As a result, more and more people participated in the march, and these marchers gathered on East China Square one by one with small flags, demanding that the East China Political Axe stand up at this time.

Some of these people's sentiments were unstable, but they did not point the finger at the East China Autonomous Government, so the scene was very orderly, and there were no clashes between the police and the people.

…… Xia Jun opened the curtains of the office and looked out, seeing that the black pressure was full of people, he couldn't help but wonder, "Damn, how did you do it?" ”

He watched the excitement, how did he get involved in the people of East China.

This is not a good sign, now is the time to bury your head and make a lot of money, and engage in a hairy parade!

Xia Jun had to call You Zhengbin and ordered all departments to strictly observe neutrality. Then Xia Jun published an article in the "Fuxing Daily".

In the article, Xia Jun did not pay too much attention to the issue of the imperial system at all, but warned the teachers and students of various schools not to disturb the order at this critical moment. In short, this is a period of quick money, or a period of preparation for winning the Shandong War, and politics outside the axe of East China's autonomous government will not be considered.

The day after the article was published, the crowd dispersed.

The chairman's remarks are still very effective, especially in the current special situation, and the East China Autonomous Political Axe has also shown its intention to participate in the internal struggle.

…… Yunnan, Cai Ye has been in Yunnan for half a month.

At this time, the governor of Yunnan was Tang Jiyao.

Tang Jiyao, a native of Huize, Yunnan, was born in 1883 in a scholarly family. In 1904, he went to study abroad and entered the sixth phase of Tokyo Zhenwu School. In the autumn of 1905 he joined the League. In 1908, he graduated from the Non-commissioned Officer School. The following year, he returned to China. In 1909, he returned to Yunnan and worked as an instructor in the lecture hall and engaged in revolutionary activities. After the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, he participated in the Kunming Chongjiu Uprising commanded by Cai Yi.

Tang Jiyao can be said to be Cai Yi's old subordinate, during the Second Revolution, Cai Yi stood on Yuan Shikai's side, Tang Jiyao also sent troops to attack Sichuan Xiong Kewu, and put hundreds of them.

Although Cai's return to Yunnan made him feel a hint of crisis, he quickly dispelled his concerns.

Cai Ye returned to Yunnan this time obviously not to replace his position, but to oppose Yuan Shikai's claim to be emperor, as Cai Yi's old subordinate, Tang Jiyao naturally supported Cai Yi's actions.

Moreover, Tang Jiyao found that Cai Ye seemed to have the support of East China's political axe.

With a huge sum of 5 million yuan, Cai Ye is usually not greedy for money, and when he became the governor of Yunnan, he did not see any actions of abusing power for personal gain, which was obviously something that Cai Ye could not take.

Moreover, when Cai Ye came to Yunnan, there was also a company of soldiers and horses to protect them, although these people did not wear military uniforms, but they were obviously from the East China Army.

In addition, the Yunnan East China Commercial Hall also took action, and after Cai Ye went to visit, he asked for a batch of arms worth tens of millions from the East China Commercial Hall.

Cai Yi, who returned to Yunnan, was the old boss of the people in power in Yunnan, and his prestige was high, coupled with the support of the East China Autonomous Political Axe, and he had no intention of taking power, so Cai Ye quickly got the support of these old subordinates.

Since receiving the news that Yuan Shikai has been proclaimed emperor, Cai Ye has accelerated preparations for launching a war to protect the country in Yunnan.

On June 27, Cai Yi, Tang Jiyao and others telegraphed the National Yunnan Reading Power in Kunming, with an article on the list:

"Provincial generals, patrol envoys, army envoys, commanders, town guard envoys, division commanders, brigade commanders, regimental commanders, governors, governors, societies, chambers of commerce, schools, and newspapers and offices: natural disasters in China, the head of state conspires against the law, disdains the "Covenant Law", reneges on the oath, rebels against public opinion, considers himself the imperial system, takes the lead in calling foreign insults, warns come one after another, the form of interference is completed, and the situation of protection will be determined. Yao and others are in solidarity with the country, and they can't bear to create a state with difficulty, and they will never be able to do it again. He is even more afraid of the rope following the gods, and he is razed into a soap garden. Lian Yue called Yuan Rebellious, persuaded his ambitions, and even asked for the culprit to be punished to thank the world. All the original electricity has been announced, and I want to undertake to inspect it. He Tu is faint, has not repented, cunningly refuses advice, and instigates rebellion. The president of the Republic of China is also the president, and all the officials are the officials of the Republic of China. If he is a sinner who betrays the Republic of China, he will of course lose his qualification as the head of state. Yao and others have received the grace of the country, and they are not thieves. Now it has strictly rejected the false order, laid the places of Yunnan and Guizhou, and guarded the country. And the Quartet, the condemnation of the crime, the text of the cloth, don't use the dust. There are even a few people who weep under Chen: the disaster of the wall is a great change in the family, and the revolutionary move is ominous in the country. Yao and the others love peace, how can they be happy to serve. In vain, Yuan rebelled, disregarded our people, bullied many countries, interfered, and was on the verge of death. If the imperial system is not eliminated forever from now on and the republic is ensured, then the internal security and the external security will be exhausted. Yao and the others are keeping this belief with the army and the people, sacrificing their lives, and hoping that those who eat the Lu of the Republic of China and do the affairs of the Republic of China will inspire the conscience of heaven and the righteousness of Shenzi. If you still wait and see, or hold similarities and differences, then the trend of the situation can also be predicted. Yao and others are the same as reclamation, force and other Daishan, and strive to levy management, which is not the original wish, where one enemy is eight, or the wise do not do. If the subordinates endure from the sidelines, how can Yao and the others be strong. However, the strength of the command may not be able to destroy the strength of the soil, that is, the heart of the original command will not want to take away the will of the horseman, hold on to this for a long time, prolong the years, then the benefit of the snipe clam is really attributed to the fisherman. And the frying of beans is empty and sad in the car music. Thinking of this, he cried bitterly. And Yao and the others died and lived together with the Republic of China, and their subordinates were still only husbands and eagle dogs, sitting here and holding on, as for the death of the country, the responsibility for their crimes must be returned. If you are now the same as Shen Righteous Indignation, the corresponding drums, the supporters are the inherent Republic of China, and the daggers are not shocked; The expelled person is a traitorous husband, and heaven and man celebrate together. Benefiting and doing evil is in the slightest thought; Protecting the country and recovering the sect is of great importance. Dare to lay out his heart, but he has a real advantage. Tang Jiyao, Cai Yi, Li Liejun, Ren Kecheng, Liu Xianshi, Dai Huan and all the military and political officials knocked together. Yes. Stamp. ”

…… Although Yunnan is an extremely poor province and has to rely on more than 100,000 yuan from the central government every year, it is not without combat effectiveness.

Because Yunnan is located in the frontier, successive governors have attached great importance to the reserve of arms, and the East China political axe has provided assistance to Yunnan every year, and this time Cai Ye brought 5 million yuan to purchase military supplies, and the East China Commercial Hall privately provided tens of millions of yuan in arms.

Many people think that the Yunnan soldiers are called the flower army, but in fact, the clothing of the Yunnan soldiers is relatively uniform, all the soldiers wear a big hat, and the body is wearing clothes made of homespun cloth, and the style is unified. Compared with the Hunan army, it is much better, and the modern Hunan army is called the real flower army, but the combat effectiveness of the flower army is not to be underestimated.

For example, in history, Zhang Jingyao's 100,000 Beiyang Army had an encounter with the 3,000 Hunan Army, and as a result, he was chased away by others, which was really humiliating.

And the source of all this started from the Protectorate War, and Zhang Jingyao's confidence was largely destroyed by the Protector [***] in the war.

On July 10, Cai's First Army was formed and brought with it sufficient ammunition, and for some reason, the East China Merchant House also stockpiled a large amount of arms in Yunnan, and the East China Merchant House handed over the arms to Cai's First Army within a few days after promising to give arms assistance.

Heavy machine guns, light machine guns, submachine guns, mortars, rapid-fire guns are readily available, and there are a lot of bullets, which greatly enhances Cai's confidence.

Liang Qichao noticed the neutral attitude of the East China Autonomous Political Axe in Hangzhou, and after sending a telegram to Cai Yi, Cai Yi was not worried about anything, at least the East China Autonomous Political Axe would not fall to Yuan Shikai.

Moreover, with the current situation of the confrontation between the East China Autonomous Political Axe and the Yue Army in Shandong, it is indeed difficult to provoke a civil war, but in Cai Yi's view, it is a civil war that has to be fought.

…… On July 13, Yuan Shikai officially proclaimed himself emperor on the throne, and during this time, the East China Autonomous Government did not say anything, which made Yuan Shikai feel at ease.

As long as the East China Autonomous Political Axe has nothing to say now, and when they are defeated in Shandong, then everything is easy to say, as long as the East China Autonomous Political Axe is willing to recognize his throne, then it is also a good choice to fight against Yue Ben together, if it succeeds, it can achieve his good name.

Yuan Shikai's wishful thinking crackled, and on the day he ascended the throne, the first edict was - to hunt down and kill the rebels!

There must be a person in charge of the conquest of Yunnan, and Yuan Shikai went to ask Duan Qirui to be the 'commander-in-chief of the conquest of Yunnan', and Duan Qirui repeatedly said that he was ill.

There was no way, Yuan Shikai went to ask Cao Kun to be the commander-in-chief of the expedition to Yunnan.

Cao Kun agreed, but Wu Peifu secretly told Cao Kun that Yuan's unrighteous deeds would have no good results, and persuaded Cao Kun to secretly communicate with Yuan Xuan and the anti-Yuan forces on the one hand, and wait for the change of the situation.

Cao Kun, who had long seen the situation clearly, accepted Wu Peifu's suggestion, anyway, he took one step at a time, and Cao Kun was most concerned about the attitude of the autonomous political axe in East China.

On 15 July, the East China Autonomous Government announced that it would send a mixed brigade to the southwest to supervise the fighting between the two armies, and promulgated the "Provisional Civil War Treaty."

The law stipulates that the two sides shall not rob or destroy silver in the course of the war, but any decisive battle shall be fought in the area designated by the East China Army.

Those who violate the covenant can be executed on the spot by the East China Army.

The main purpose of Xia Jun's dispatch of a mixed brigade to the battlefield was not only to restrain the behavior of the two armies to protect civilians, but also to protect commerce.

The main battlefield of this war was Sichuan, where there was a commercial presence in East China, and now it was a period of great industrial development, and commerce could not be affected.

Less than two days after the promulgation of the "Provisional Civil War Treaty", Cai Yi also telegraphed to accept the treaty. In order to stabilize the political axe in East China, the Beiyang political axe also telegraphed to accept the treaty, and promised to strictly enforce military discipline and reduce the disturbance of the people.

Xia Jun didn't believe in the promise of the Beiyang Army, if he did, he would not send a mixed brigade to supervise the battle between the two sides, which was also the only action of the East China Autonomous Political Axe in this war, which could reduce the losses caused by the war.

In Xia Jun's view, although this war has not officially started, there is no suspense that Yuan Shikai will lose.

After Cao Kun understood the attitude of East China's political axe after watching for a while, he took the train into Sichuan and began to wait and see further, provided that the military discipline of his headquarters was restricted, as for the other Beiyang Army, he really couldn't control it.

(To be continued)