108691908 Far Eastern Maniac Chapter 388 Cabinet Prime Minister

The veto of Zhao Bei as prime minister is likely to lead to a resurgence of the war between the North and the South, and Xu Shichang is also worried. The British minister also thought of this, so he and the Japanese minister also proposed a compromise plan.

Of course, this compromise plan should still be said by Xu Shichang.

This compromise plan is that Ran Zhaobei will become the vice president of the Republic of China, and as for the post of prime minister. The post shall be appointed by the Central Government. In this way, it will not only take care of the face of both sides, but also benefit foreign affairs. Xu Shichang said.

"I personally have no opinion on Zhao Zhenhua as vice president, but this cabinet prime minister should still be nominated by our side."

Song Jiaoren did not fully accept Xu Shichang's suggestion, and Zhao Bei served as vice president. Although he has no real power, he is a noble land, and he is the first successor of the president when he is unable to govern, and this proposal takes into account the interests and face of both the North and the South, but the post of prime minister of the cabinet. It is also impossible for Song Jiaoren to agree to be held by a Beiyang Chinese.

"The post of prime minister is of great importance, and it seems inappropriate for the North and the South to send someone to fill it, the central government believes. It is safest and fairest for this cabinet to have a neutral prime minister as prime minister. ”

Xu Shichang's words made Song Jiaoren hesitate for a moment, this suggestion does seem fair, but where to find this catty, "neutral person"?

"Dare to ask President Xu, in your opinion. Who is the most suitable prime minister for this Ran Ge? Song Jiaoren asked.

Zhang Jizhi of the Constituent Assembly was a former champion of the Qing Dynasty and a world-famous industrialist, and he also took the lead in instigating the establishment of a constitutional monarchy. His position is even more impartial and in the middle. He is the most suitable candidate for Prime Minister. Xu Shichang said.

See Xu Shichang's nomination of Zhang Xiao as prime minister. Song Jiaoren figured it out in his heart, in fact, there was also this person in the list of "neutral people" in his mind, and this person was also a constitutionalist, but although this person was now a neutral, he had a close relationship with the Beiyang Group in his early years, and he was also an old friend of Yuan Shikai, so this relationship could not be ignored.

Although Song Jiaoren admires Xu Shichang's nomination for the prime minister, in order to have an absolute advantage in the selection of cabinet members, he must also nominate a "neutral person"

"I also nominate one, Hunan celebrity Tan Zu'an. He was also a constitutional pioneer, born in a scholarly family, although he had joined the United Front, but, like Zhang Jizhi, he had declared his withdrawal before the war between the North and the South, and now lived in the concession, and was also a neutral person. Song Jiaoren said.

Seeing that Song Jiaoren actually pushed Tan Yantian out, Xu Shichang was quite surprised, and after thinking about it for a while, he already understood the other party's intentions, bargaining is certainly one of the reasons, but it may not be the purpose to show goodwill to the southern monarchical forces, in the last "rebellion war", the monarchical forces in Hunan Xiaoguizhou were almost swept away, and the monarchical factions in the southern provinces also died down, but they said from the bottom of their hearts that they were more afraid of the united front than respectful, and this is probably the main reason why Zhang Sai's Constituent Society has greatly increased.

Under the chaos, it is a process of differentiation and combination of old political groups, whoever can pull the greatest strength to their side, who will become the master of the world, Song Jiaoren understands this truth, Xu Shichang also understands this truth, the difference is that now the military strength of the two sides has changed, and Beiyang has fallen behind.

"Although Tan Zu'an is a member of the Shogunate, he seems to lack some experience, right?" Xu Shichang shook his head and glanced at the British Minister Zhu Erdian.

Zhu Erdianxin said: "Please forgive me for taking the liberty of interjecting, I think that the question of the selection of the prime minister of the cabinet can be put after the convening of the Diet, and now the list of cabinet members is made behind closed doors, if the prime minister of the cabinet is also behind closed doors, I am afraid that it will be accused of being a behind-the-scenes deal, I think it is appropriate for the prime minister of the cabinet to be publicly recommended, since the two have each nominated a candidate, then, why not leave the differences to the members of the National Assembly to resolve?" Now that your country claims to be a "republic", you can't treat Congress as an ornament, right? ”

This is a harsh statement, but it is also a fact, now whether it is the Beiyang Group or the United Front, they have completely put the Congress aside, and even in this North-South peace talks, the Congress has not played a key role, isn't the Congress of this country just a decoration?

Zhu Erdian's words also made Song Jiaoren suddenly wake up, and he said that he was confused, and he always wanted to imperceptibly penetrate the concept of constitutionalism into the hearts of the people. But now, if you don't take advantage of such a good opportunity, isn't it the so-called "obsession with the authorities"?

However, Song Jiaoren understands better that he can't make the decision on the selection of the prime minister of the cabinet, in the final analysis, the current situation is fought down by Zhao Bei with the army, and without Zhao Bei's support, their group of constitutionalists will also become decorations, so the issue of the selection of the prime minister of the cabinet must be discussed by the General Affairs Committee of the United Front, and then handed over to Zhao Bei for final decision.

But on the other hand, Zhao Beiken refused to agree to the National Assembly's public recommendation of the prime minister or secondary. The point is, if he refuses to withdraw from this battle for prime minister, then there is no way to talk about it!

After Tao Chengzhang's assassination, in exchange for Zhao Bei's full support, he maintained a political alliance to compete for the congressional election, and Song Jiaoren's group of constitutionalists had to

"Take the mountain to make a big concession. As a direct result, the chairman of the United Front committee has too much power, and the general affairs "have no ability to directly limit the power of the chairman, and they must go through a general meeting of all party members to supervise and restrain the chairman.

Now, Song Jiaoren can't wait for the convening of the all-party congress. Perhaps, at that time, Zhao Bei's power will be limited by the system.

"There is some truth to Mr. Minister's suggestion. I personally have no opinion. However, the specific matters are not up to me, and they still need to be discussed at a meeting of the General Affairs Committee of the United Front, and the approval of the chairman of the committee is also required. Since the cabinet list still needs to be further negotiated, we might as well discuss the issue of the withdrawal of the Shanxi Northwest Army. ”

Song Jiaoren understood that he was powerless about the affairs of the cabinet for the time being, so he wisely changed the subject.

Since the main forces of the United Front in Henan immediately began the Northern Expedition after crossing the Yellow River. It was impossible to immediately flank the Beiyang troops stationed in Shanxi, so although the RUF troops had entered Shanxi from Shaanxi to fight, their strategy was only to delay the pace of the Beiyang Army stationed in Shanxi and to respond to the advance of the Northern Expeditionary troops into Zhili. So far, there have been no major battles in Shanxi. Both sides were "restrained." Now that the situation is relatively calm, the United Front intends to take over Shanxi peacefully in order to expand its influence, further control a broader territory, complete the northern strategy formulated by Zhao Bei, and reduce the casualties of elite troops in this peaceful way, so as to prepare military forces for the next strategic step.

Zhao Bei was very anxious about the withdrawal of the Shanxi Northwest Army, and he took telegrams in the past two days, which made Song Jiaoren very strange and asked Zhao Bei, but the answer he got was also very vague, and he only knew that it might have something to do with the situation in Shaanxi. Song Jiaoren understood the reason, so he was also very the issue of the withdrawal of the Beiyang Army in Shandong, and he stayed in the War Department all day yesterday to discuss with a group of senior officers of the Beiyang Army

。

On the other hand, for the Beiyang Group, tens of thousands of troops were trapped in the west. Even if the United Front does not put forward a request for the withdrawal of Shanxi, Beiyang will find a way to transfer the Shanxi troops back to Zhili, and as for whether to stay in the north to defend the base areas in the future, or transfer them to the south to strengthen the military strength of the Beiyang Group in the south. At present, there is no consensus within Beiyang, but it is necessary to transfer the troops back to Zhili first.

Therefore, at the North-South peace talks, the topic of the Beiyang Army's withdrawal from Shanxi was a rare deed between the two sides of the negotiations, and the two sides reached an agreement almost without any words, and the troops of the United Front withdrew from Zhili, in exchange for the withdrawal of the Beiyang troops from Shanxi, this exchange seemed fair, but in fact the Beiyang Group suffered a big loss, because in this way, the entire Zhili region would be under the attack of the military forces of the United Front. The south and two directions are sandwiched in the Zhili and Beijing-Tianjin areas. The strategic initiative is entirely in the hands of the United Front.

But this is also a helpless thing, the current Beiyang, the most urgent task is to eat enough food so as not to starve to death, instead of picking and choosing to eat delicacies from the mountains and seas, if it is not for the sake of the great powers, I am afraid that the united front has already hit the Beijing-Tianjin area, where is it the turn to bargain with others?

It is precisely for this reason that Song Jiaoren's current proposal has received a positive response from Xu Shichang, Duan Qirui and other Beiyang veterans, and the lengthy military meeting in the War Department yesterday was not singing, so the two sides only discussed half a catty in Jurentang. At that time, the preliminary formulation of the timetable for the withdrawal of the Shanxi Northwest Army was completed, and it was waiting for the approval of the General Affairs Committee of the United Front.

Although the talks at the presidential palace did not achieve a complete victory, Song Jiaoren was still quite satisfied, and when he left the presidential palace, acting president Xu Shichang specially rode with him in a carriage. I sent it.

Rushing back to the hotel where he was staying, Song Jiaoling immediately sent two telegrams to the General Headquarters of the United Front True Revolutionary Armed Forces in Zhengzhou, the first one was about the withdrawal of the Shanxi Beiyang Army, and the latter was about the stranding of the cabinet premier candidate, in order to persuade Zhao Bei, he had to deliberately mention the attitude of the British minister, after all, although Zhao Bei was a "madman." But he is not a madman, Song Jiaoren is convinced of this, because it is impossible for a madman to have such achievements as he has now.

After taking pictures of the telegrams to Chairman Zhao, Song Jiaoren sent two telegrams to the General Affairs Committee of the United Front in shorter terms, which could be regarded as an explanation to the sycophants members.

In Song Jiaoren's view, as a supervisory and auxiliary political body, the general affairs committee of the united front has lost its meaning, not only is there no need for its existence, but I am afraid that even the united front itself seems to have no need to exist, and if even the party congress cannot limit Zhao Bei's power, then Song Jiaoren does not mind giving up this political alliance that he has single-handedly decorated.

To be a qualified politician is to learn to give up, even betrayal.

And this is also Zhao Bei's creed.