On May 8, 1913 in the Western calendar, it was late at night, but Wuchang Station was illuminated as if it was day, and the station was crowded with people, wearing a blue number and a white towel on their shoulders, shouting rough and high-pitched bag drawings, shuttling back and forth between the station and the warehouse, sending all kinds of supplies to the train. A lavishly decorated train sounded its whistle and slowly drove away from Wuchang in white smoke. Military music sounded at the station, and the salute was fired nineteen, which was almost the same as the scene in the morning at the Wuchang Horse Parade.

This car is a special train specially dispatched by the Yanjing Provisional Political Axe, and there is only one guest in it, Li Yuanhong, vice president of the Republic of China.

Until this moment, he was still in a dream, he couldn't figure out whether he was a ghost or blinded by lard, and he actually gave up Hubei, which had been operating for more than a year, to Duan Qirui.

Since beating him and becoming the governor of Hubei, Zhang Zhenwu in the Shouyi Three Martial Arts was killed by him with Yuan Shikai's knife, and he personally ordered the killing of thousands of revolutionaries. He suppressed the Nanhu New Army Rebellion and the Heroes Association Rebellion, and killed the revolutionary party to a soft hand.

Li Yuanhong's rule in Hubei was not unstable, the army alone had four divisions, while the Beiyang Army in Hubei was only 20,000 people, and they were all subordinate to the border between Hunan and Hubei, and Wuchang City did not even have a Beiyang Army.

After Li Yuanhong was elected as the official vice president of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai invited Li Yuanhong to Beijing four times, ostensibly to perform the duties of vice president, but in fact to put Li Yuanhong under his control.

The so-called "only with soldiers can there be power, and only with territory can there be power", after Li Yuanhong became the governor of Hubei, he knew very well that controlling the local area was important to personal power, so he was also well aware of Yuan Shikai's plan to transfer the tiger from the mountain. As for the matter of going north, Li Yuanhong tried every possible way to delay it again and again, and refused to leave Hubei for half a step, and he had to concurrently serve as the governor of Hubei in the name of vice president of the Republic of China??? The vice president can not do it, the governor of Hubei cannot be improper, and Li Yuanhong is not a fool.

But just because you're not stupid doesn't mean you can't do stupid things!

It was this morning that gongs and drums were noisy on the Wuchang Horse Parade Ground, military music was ringing in unison, and bursts of salutes were set off from time to time. On this day, Premier Duan Qirui and Yuan Shikai's eldest son, Yuan Keding, came to Wuchang, and Li Yuanhong did not dare to slack off, and received Sun Yat-sen with the same courtesy as he welcomed Sun Yat-sen last year. When Li Yuanhong was the co-commander, Duan Qirui was already in control, and his military rank was much higher than Li Yuanhong. During the confrontation between the Southern Army and the Northern Army, Duan Qirui was already the governor of Huguang and the commander of the First Army, and now he is the premier of the state. Li Yuanhong stammered with Duan Qirui in every way, and the etiquette was so thoughtful that it was cumbersome. Li Yuanhong made up his mind, anyway, it's not strange that there are many people!

Duan Qirui was not polite to Li Yuanhong's humility, whether it was at the military parade or the banquet, Lao Duan put on the appearance of a superior leader, and did not take Vice President Li in his eyes at all. The next day, after he was full of wine and food, Duan Qirui called Li Yuanhong over and said, "I came to Hubei this time for two main reasons. First, it is to discuss with the vice president the rectification of the Hubei army; Second, the president sent me to invite you to Yanjing to discuss important matters. ”

Li Yuanhong was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and it took a long time to come back to his senses. He knew that he might not be able to escape this time, but on the surface he pretended to be calm, saying: "The president has invited me to Beijing many times, and it is really difficult to resist the hospitality, but the Hubei Revolutionary Party is very rampant, and I will not be able to leave for a while." Since General Chief Duan talked about rectifying the army, why don't you wait for me to stay in Wuchang to assist in the completion of the work, and then go to Beijing? ”

He thought he could prevaricate in the past, but he didn't expect Duan Qirui to wave his hand and say: "Vice President Li can rest assured, I, Duan, have been in the military circles for more than ten years, and I dare not say anything else, but I am afraid that this little matter of rectifying the army will not be difficult for me." Why, doesn't Vice President Li still trust my abilities? ”

After hearing this, Li Yuanhong hurriedly said: "How dare you! How dare you! ”

Duan Qirui hit the snake with the stick, and said aggressively: "In this case, Vice President Li does not have to delay, I will handle the matter here properly." The president is in a hurry, why don't you make the trip tonight? The car is ready for you. ”

Poor Li Yuanhong didn't have time to say goodbye to his family, so he was half-pushed and half-sent by Duan Qirui to get on the train, and this car was Duan Qirui's special train to the south, and he went to Beijing immediately. Before leaving, Li Yuanhong still fantasized that he could come back to be his governor of Hubei, so he temporarily entrusted the affairs of the Hubei Governor's Mansion to Chief of Staff Jin Yongyan.

Li Yuanhong's chickens and eggs are beaten, a hard work and an empty one!

He couldn't figure it out, why didn't he know to resist at that time? Back then, Guan Yunchang went to the meeting alone, and he had to take Lu Su as a hostage in order to leave safely, but Duan Qirui actually captured Wuchang City, which had more than 50,000 troops in four divisions, empty-handed!

Li Yuanhong thought about it for more than a day before he realized that he was afraid that his kneecaps were weak in the Qing Dynasty, and when he saw that he was older than his official, he could not raise the idea of resisting, but would only subconsciously echo it.

But he is already the vice president of the Republic of China, why can't he change this slave's life?

The door of the box was pushed open, and Yuan Keding limped in, and asked with a smile: "Vice President, are you still used to sitting in this car?" ”

People had to bow their heads under the eaves, and Li Yuanhong said with a smile on his face: "Okay, good!" Let the eldest prince bother, I have long wanted to go to Yanjing to visit the president, but I can't be idle, and now I can finally listen to his old man's teachings every day, what a blessing for three lives! ”

Yuan Keding didn't expect things to go so smoothly, he couldn't help but think of Yang Shiqi's evaluation of Li Yuanhong: Fierce and timid, doing big things and being greedy for small profits and forgetting righteousness, such rats can be caught in one go.

Sure enough, Wuchang was taken without blood, and the 50,000 troops of the four divisions changed masters in an instant, and Li Yuanhong was put on the train in the banquet. Everything is as Yang Shiqi expected!

After doing this big thing, it's time for the old man's model group to be handed over to himself, right? With this force, if you invite Yang Xingcheng back to help, then the position of your heir can be regarded as secure! And he drove Duan Qirui, whom he hated, out of Yanjing, which was even more unexpected, this guy expressed his opposition to the imperial system several times, which made Yuan Keding extremely tired of him.

Now Beiyang controls more than 50,000 people of Li Yuanhong, plus 20,000 people in Beiyang, it is already an army of 70,000, which has an overwhelming advantage over Tan Yanmin in Hunan and Hu Hanmin in Guangdong. Even if Chai Dongliang, who is sitting in Anqing, wants to fight against the central government, I am afraid that he will hit a stone with an egg, and he only has 40,000 people!

The more Yuan Keding thought about it, the more proud he became, and a smile appeared on his face, but this mysterious smile frightened Li Yuanhong??? Could it be that Yuan Ke has a murderous intent?

"Eldest son, there are a lot of chaotic parties in Hubei, otherwise I would still stay here, so I can help the president!" Li Yuanhong said tremblingly.

Yuan Keding said with a smile: "Don't bother the vice president, my father has already ordered Duan Qirui to serve as the governor of Hubei, and you don't feel at ease with him in charge." ”

Li Yuanhong's hands and feet were cold, and he said with a bitter face: "That's the best, the best!" I rest assured, rest assured! ”

Yuan Keding looked at him like that, not to mention how happy he was, and at the same time sneered at this revolutionary father.

"Vice President, my father has a request to let our Yuan and Li families get married, what do you think? Father suggested that you marry your eldest son, and your daughter's daughter marry my ninth brother Yuan Kejiu, do you think this is good? Yuan Keding looked at Li Yuanhong with a smile, as if a cat was teasing a mouse.

What else could Li Yuanhong say, he could only nod frequently: "Very good, very good!" ”

At the same time, he also breathed a sigh of relief, this old life was saved!

After two days and three nights, the train arrived at Yanjing South Railway Station on the morning of May 11. Yuan Shikai also gave face to the station, and sent the chief of the military department of the presidential palace, the military attache of the guard, the undertaker, all the state officials, and representatives of various ministries to the station, and Yuan Keding also went to greet him as Yuan Shikai's representative. There are military and police standing guard within 200 steps around the station, and idlers are not allowed to enter; In addition, a battalion of Gong Guards was also sent to greet them in a procession, holding guns to greet them, as a sign of solemnity. The most bizarre thing is that Yuan Shikai sent the gold-lacquered Zhulun two-horse carriage to greet Sun Yat-sen, which also made Li Yuanhong addicted to being the head of state.

It's just that at this moment, Li Yuanhong's life hangs by a thread, and he won't taste the taste of dragon meat, let alone take a carriage!

Although Yuan Shikai was hospitable, he still inadvertently showed a proud look of inviting the gentleman into the urn, while Li Yuanhong was sincerely afraid in front of Lao Yuan, holding twelve points of caution and caution. Vice President Li finally knows what it means to be "accompanied by a king like a tiger".

The most interesting thing is that Yuan Shikai arranged a place for Li Yuanhong: Yingtai in the South China Sea. Yingtai is located in the northeast of the Xinhuamen Presidential Palace, surrounded by water, although the scenery is very good, but after all, it is the place where the Empress Dowager Cixi put the Guangxu Emperor under house arrest, which is inevitably a little unlucky. For this allusion, Yuan Shikai didn't know. In order to avoid suspicion, he had already ordered someone to clean up the place, and replaced it with a plaque called "Little Penglai". It seems that Yuan Shikai wants Li Yuanhong to be an immortal here. Immortals, don't they just don't care about mundane things, eat and wait for death.

When Li Yuanhong saw this place, he was cold from the top of his head to his heels, which was obviously to put him under house arrest!

Sure enough, the few entourages brought by Li Yuanhong from Hubei, Beiyang Political Axe did not let them stay in "Little Penglai", and most of them were placed in the general school club in Dongchang Hutong. As a result, Li Yuanhong also lost his eyes and ears, and he was really similar to Emperor Guangxu back then.

At this moment, Li Yuanhong's regretful intestines were blue, and he couldn't wait to slap himself a hundred times in the opposite direction, why didn't he resist at that time! As long as they scream, Duan Qirui and Yuan Keding will become ghosts!

Even if you fight to the death with Beiyang, it is a hundred times stronger than sitting in a well and watching the sky now!

????

Author's words: In another time and space, Li Yuanhong was escorted to Yanjing in November. This is a parallel world, so you don't have to find faults.

Sitting on four divisions with tens of thousands of troops, but being coerced on his own territory, Li Yuanhong is also unprecedented! This kind of waste can also enjoy great fame, and it is really no hero in the world who has made the erector famous!

What else can be said other than to say that real history is more yy than fiction? This kind of person with weak kneecaps, equipping him with an atomic bomb, is the same waste!

(To be continued)