Just when the members of Congress were nervously holding the lottery ceremony for the list of members of the Diet, in the urban area of Tianjin, in a very ordinary Western-style villa,

This old man is the former president of the Republic of China, Xu Shichang, and now he is listening to the news broadcast on the radio, although the speech of the president of the Republic of China Li Yuanhong has ended, and the radio signal at the meeting of the National Assembly has been temporarily cut off, but the announcer of the radio station has made full use of this time to play freely, and the current political commentators who have been invited to the broadcast room have discussed the attempted coup d'état in the capital.

Xu Shichang listened to the radio of the local radio station in Tianjin, which was not the capital, so it was naturally impossible for citizens and reporters to get first-hand information immediately, so the announcer of the radio station was actually just gossip that he did not know how many hands had changed, and the current political commentators expressed their views on the current political situation based on these gossip.

Now, the current political commentator is making alarmist speculations about whether the central government will carry out a "mass arrest" across the country in the next few days, and the reason is very good, because in the live broadcast just now, Li Yuanhong, the president of the Republic of China, personally said that he was almost killed by the rebels in the office of the presidential palace, and the rebels even dared to threaten the president, and his arrogance was indeed arrogant, and the dignified president of the Republic of China was actually held to the head by the rebels with a pistol. Who will take this president of the Republic of China seriously in the future?

Current political commentators are open-mouthed, and ordinary citizens listen to the excitement, but Xu Shichang is different, he is sweating and trembling, the reason is very simple, because he is also a member of the coup group, although he did not directly participate in the coup action, and even returned to Xujia Garden in Tianjin when the coup occurred, but he did participate in the original coup plot, it was he who matched, matched the Beiyang consortium and the Southeast consortium, and jointly elected Tan Yanhong to take over the post of vice president. Thus directly identifying a spiritual leader for this attempted military coup.

If the central government wants to hold him accountable, Xu Shichang will not be able to escape, but he also does not think that Li Yuanhong will preside over this retaliatory action, in fact, he thinks that if the central government must carry out a purge operation, it can only be Zhao Bei who presides over all this.

To tell the truth, when he heard Zhao Bei's voice on the radio, Xu Shichang knew that the general trend had gone, and the coup had failed, and at that time, it was still less than eight o'clock in the morning, and at eight o'clock, Xu Shichang called a servant, prepared a car, and then quickly left Xu's garden, and quietly came to this very ordinary-looking Western-style villa, ready to hide here, and wait for follow-up news, from morning to afternoon, Xu Shichang has been sitting in a spacious and bright living room, with a telephone set beside him, and a tube radio, and there were also confidants at the Tianjin Telegraph Bureau, who could relay the latest news from the capital to Xu Shichang by phone at any time.

Just now, a set of lists that have been clearly identified as "rebels" were broadcast on the radio, and on that list, Xu Shichang heard many familiar names, and coup leaders-level figures such as Tan Yanmin and Tang Hualong naturally could not escape, and even Zhang Zuolin and Wei Zifeng, who followed the coup, were arrested, and Duan Qirui and Liu Renxiang, who successfully escaped the coup d'état, were also wanted, and even those members of Congress who did not participate in the conspiracy were arrested or wanted, Xu Shichang has no doubt that this person is Zhao Bei.

But at the same time, to Xu Shichang's surprise, on the long list of coup suspects, he did not hear the names of Xiong Chengji and Zhou Xuexi, he didn't know whether these two people managed to escape from the capital, or were killed by the counterinsurgency forces in the battle, or there was something deeper inside, after all, the military coup failed so quickly, Xu Shichang was very confused, he couldn't figure out, he didn't know why his side was so vulnerable.

At this moment, Xu Shichang was sitting on the sofa, listening to the radio, while pondering about the failure of the coup, and beside him, several servants stood there with gloomy faces, their eyes were fixed on the telephone, just now, it was the telephone that came Duan Qirui's voice, Duan Qirui had indeed escaped from the capital, and now he was on the way to Tianjin, he did not dare to take the train, but took a car, on the phone, Duan Qirui told Xu Shichang that Lu Jianzhang, the chief of internal affairs, was likely to be Zhao Beiancha's internal response in the coup group, Moreover, according to Duan Qirui's analysis, this coup d'état was a conspiracy from the beginning, and Lu Jianzhang's role was to give the coup group the confidence to launch a coup d'état, and once the coup action began to be implemented, Lu Jianzhang quickly defected and assisted Zhao Bei to extinguish the military coup, in other words, the failure of the coup d'état was directly related to Lu Jianzhang's defection.

But Xu Shichang's thoughts are more complicated, he is associated with another person from Lu Jianzhang's performance before and after the coup, that person is Zhou Xuexi, since Xu Shichang retired behind the scenes, Zhou Xuexi has become the de facto head of the Beiyang Consortium, and this military coup against Zhao Bei is also the head of this Zhou Xuexi, without Zhou Xuexi's instigation and incitement, Xu Shichang will not acquiesce in the actions of the Beiyang Consortium.

Thinking that Zhou Xuexi's name did not appear on the long list of rebels, then this matter is quite intriguing, Xu Shichang has been pondering this issue since he received Duan Qirui's phone call.

If this military coup is really a conspiracy of Zhao Bei, then Zhou Xuexi's role in it is quite crucial, who is he working for? This matter was quite weird, Xu Shichang was terrified when he thought about it, and the expression on his face was also quite weird.

Just when Xu Shichang was stunned, the telephone on the coffee table suddenly rang, startled him, hesitated, and reached out to pick up the microphone.

The phone was shaken by Xu Shichang's family, it was to ask Xu Shichang about going abroad, now that the coup failed, then Xu Shichang must send his family abroad as soon as possible to avoid the limelight, Xu Shichang is the spiritual leader of the Beiyang Consortium, the relationship between these aspects is very complicated, it only took a few hours to contact a British steamer, as long as the people of the Xu family rush to the dock, the British steamer can immediately set sail and go to Singapore.

But before he could say a few words, Xu Shichang heard an exclamation from the microphone, and in a panic, he asked into the microphone, but no one spoke on the other end of the phone, and it wasn't until half a minute later that someone picked up the microphone from the table and asked.

"Is it Xu Shichang?"

The tone of the person who spoke was cold, but Xu Shichang still felt a little familiar, it should be an acquaintance.

"Who are you? What's going on over there? Xu Shichang hurriedly asked.

"I'm Lu Jianzhang. Xu Shichang, don't try to escape, you can escape, but your family can't run, now, Xujia Garden has been controlled by the Ministry of Internal Affairs commando, and your family has been detained. I strongly advise you to tell me immediately where you are hiding, I have an arrest warrant in my hand, it was issued by the counterinsurgency command, I flew to Tianjin to arrest you, and the president has revoked your judicial immunity. ”

"Lu Jianzhang? You ungrateful! Have you forgotten who promoted you back then? Without Beiyang, can you have today? ”

Xu Shichang asked sharply, but he was very nervous, and after only shouting a few words, he felt dazzled.

"What's the use of saying all that? You're also getting old, don't drag down your family. ”

Over there, Lu Jianzhang's tone was still cold, which made Xu Shichang tremble.

"Good, good. I'm not leaving, I'm not leaving. Don't embarrass my family, I now live at No. 29 Zizhulin Old Street, Tianjin, you came here to arrest me, don't affect my family. Xu Shichang sighed and could only compromise.

Pressing down the microphone, Xu Shichang was discouraged, closed his eyes and waited for death, which was very bad for the servants around him, everyone discussed it and decided to stay here, only send one person out, and stand at the door to greet the group of police officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who came to arrest the master.

Half an hour later, Lu Jianzhang took several trucks to escort a prisoner car to the villa where Xu Shichang was hiding, and the servant led him into the villa and came to Xu Shichang.

Seeing Xu Shichang, Lu Jianzhang showed an arrest warrant stamped with the seals of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Justice, and then ordered the accompanying police officers to drive the servants out of the living room and take them to the police station for "questioning".

Lu Jianzhang sat down on the sofa, sat opposite Xu Shichang, and slapped the arrest warrant on the coffee table.

"Now, there are two paths before you, one is to write a confession, write it yourself, I read it to you, and then you cut yourself to thank the people, and afterwards, the center can guarantee that you will not implicate your family, and keep for them an inheritance sufficient to support themselves, and the other way, you will resist to the end, and then you will be brought to court martial for trial, and after that, to' The crime of armed rebellion' will be shot, and all of your Xu property will be confiscated to compensate for the property losses of the capital's citizens and government during the coup, as well as the military funds used to quell the armed rebellion. These two paths are the paths that the center has pointed out for you, and you have no other way to go. ”

"You're trying to kill them all. This coup d'état is a conspiracy of Zhao Bei, and you are the lackey who executes this conspiracy! ”

Xu Shichang opened his eyes, glanced at Lu Jianzhang, and then said a few words lightly, at this time, his mood calmed down, and even he himself was surprised, perhaps, knowing what the ending was, the stone in his heart finally fell to the ground.

Lu Jianzhang looked at Xu Shichang's gaze expressionlessly, and said, "You are old and confused, you are indeed old and confused." Zhou Xuexi is the key, he is the key in this game, without him, you can't match it at all, as for me, it's really just a small role, as for the lackeys, this is just your opinion, in my opinion, Duan Qirui's gang is your lackeys. ”

"Zhou Xuexi? Sure enough, it was him. Xu Shichang sighed and closed his eyes again.

"Which of these two roads do you take?"

Lu Jianzhang waited for a few minutes, and saw that Xu Shichang seemed to be delaying, so he asked a few questions.

"Let's go the first way. You're right, I'm old and don't live long, so it's better not to bother my family. This confession, I write, how you read it, how I write it, after I finish writing, please go to the street for me to buy a white silk. ”

Xu Shichang opened his eyes again, and his already cloudy eyes suddenly seemed to regain a little bit of vitality, but it was fleeting.

"White Aya? Don't. I brought you a bottle of poison, which is highly poisonous, and can kill in a minute, and it won't be painful for long. Speaking of which, you are also eighty years old, which is considered the end of your life. ”

After speaking, Lu Jianzhang took out a small glass bottle from the briefcase he was carrying, put it on the arrest warrant, and then took out paper and pen from the briefcase and put it on the coffee table.

……

An hour later, when the servants who were taken to the police station by the police officer for "questioning" returned to the villa, they found that Xu Shichang had collapsed on the sofa and swallowed his breath, holding two things in his hands, an empty glass bottle in his left hand, and a will written to his family in his right hand, covered with a blanket, but I don't know if Lu Jianzhang covered it for him, because when the servants rushed back to the villa, Lu Jianzhang had already left the villa with his subordinates.

In this way, the former president of the Republic of China "committed suicide in fear of crime", and he was also the biggest behind-the-scenes figure unearthed by the central government in the liquidation of the coup group, and according to his handwritten confession, this attempted military coup was jointly planned by the Beiyang consortium and the Southeast consortium, in order to overthrow the constitutional system and implement "chaebol governance", and it was precisely according to his confession that the central government was able to arrest a large number of "rebels" according to the map.

……

Xu Shichang's death was actually just the prelude to the liquidation campaign against the coup group, and the real liquidation lasted until the presidential election the following year, in the process of liquidation, a large number of chaebols and their political spokesmen were arrested and arraigned, and after a military court trial, in addition to some captured foreign mercenary leaders, fifteen rebels were executed, all of whom were charged with "armed rebellion", and most of the other suspects were also convicted and sentenced to prison and exile, although a small number of chaebols who participated in the coup plot fled abroad, But all the industries they left in the country were confiscated and confiscated by the central government, after this blow, the domestic chaebol forces collapsed, especially the original Beiyang consortium, the southeast consortium suffered the heaviest blow, the industry under their name was forced to split by the central government, and according to the industry and business conditions for reorganization, a number of old trusts fell, but through the integration of the financial market, a number of new trusts were quickly established, in the process, the loss is the chaebol, but the benefits are all strata of society, and central governments.

The coup d'état and its subsequent liquidation campaign affected not only the domestic situation, but also the situation in various countries, the Lan Fang Xian party lost the support of voters because of the party leader's participation in the coup plot, and was defeated in the presidential election of Lan Phong the following year, at the same time, the political situation in Siam (Thailand) was also affected, the pro-British and French governments fell in an armed coup d'état initiated by young Zhuang officers, and under the strong intervention of the Chinese and Japanese governments, a nationalist government extremely hostile to British forces was established, and immediately received a With Japan's strong support and the compromise of the "appeasement" of the British and French governments, the balance of power between the East and the West in Southeast Asia is quietly changing.

At the same time as the central government liquidated the plutocratic forces, the political "Restoration Era" officially arrived, and at the end of that year, according to the relevant election bill amended by the Extraordinary Congress, veterans had the right to vote, and then, a new Congress was formally established, which had 1,000 members of the Senate and House of Representatives, of which 600 were veterans, no doubt symbolizing the arrival of a new era and the arrival of the "era of civilian politics".

At the end of that year, Li Yuanhong announced that he would not participate in the next presidential election, and at the same time, because the local constitutional party assisted Lan Fang's mercenaries in the attempted military coup, the party was banned by Li Yuanhong, so the final presidential candidates were still two political parties: the United Front and the National League.

The United Front's candidate was Zhao Bei, whose campaign slogan was "Revitalizing the Economy, Defending the Constitution," and relying on his unparalleled prestige and counterinsurgency exploits of "defending the Constitution," he easily defeated the Kuomintang League's candidate Zhang Taiyan in the presidential election the following spring and successfully took over the presidency as the new president.

At the inauguration ceremony, Zhao Bei officially announced that in order to restore the national economy and revitalize industrial construction, the central government is about to start a new round of "four-year plan", a new era of industrial construction is coming, and those large enterprises reorganized in the chaebol liquidation movement will play a key role in this new industrial era, chemical, military, machinery manufacturing, shipbuilding, aviation, energy, ...... A number of industrial projects will be fully developed, while a more ambitious railway development plan will be implemented.

In any case, a new era has arrived.

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