"Freezing three feet is not a cold, and it is not so easy to put an end to such evil deeds." Cao Kun sighed, "No matter how great his ability is, under the current system, I'm afraid it will be difficult!" ”

Listening to the old boss's sigh, Wu Peinan couldn't help but nod again and again.

"If you blindly stop it by force, you will be accused of reading [***], what a dilemma!"

Wu Peifu's words can tell the true meaning.

In the early period of the Republic of China (later history books called it the Beiyang Warlord Period), China's political system has always been criticized by later generations, thinking that its open cooking politics has its appearance, but in hindsight, they don't understand that in fact, the surface of the open boil is better than the naked [***] reading. In fact, the superficial recognition of the boiling, the formation of the shell of the boiling, just shows that the cooking is a socially recognized political form, is a social system recognized by all forces, under the surface of the boiling atmosphere, at least can be confidently publicized Mingzhuo knowledge, so that the whole society gradually understands the content of the Mingzhu, step by step to promote the real Mingzhu. And the inside and outside reading talent [***], there is not even a possible surname for introducing the Ming Cooking, promoting the Ming Cooking, or even performing the Ming Cooking.

Like later generations, "Beiyang warlords" such as Cao Kun and Wu Peifu were particularly resentful and sensitive to political assassinations in Chinese history. When the people of later generations heard that someone was assassinated under so-and-so, whether so-and-so knew it or not, it was forever nailed to the pillar of shame as a great crime, as if it were a symbol of [***] reading talent. In fact, assassination is more popular in relaxed societies, less literate societies, and even openly boiled societies. Because the assassination just proves that society does not approve of this kind of killing, the government and the opposition have denied such an act, and public opinion condemns such an act, so it can only be done in a sneaky way. If it is placed in a society that openly reads talents, if you want to kill and want to arrest and listen to a word from the ruler, the royal public opinion will follow to create perjury, who dares to say a word! There is no need to painstakingly track down, judge, or speak nicely, and pretend there. The use of assassination against dissident forces is also doomed to die in this way of victims can only be a very small minority, if it is an absolute [***] reading talent, it is completely possible to openly eradicate dissidents with any kind of crime or without charge, such as political purges and all kinds of absurd movements, such as bloody massacres, that is, hundreds of thousands, millions, or even tens of millions of lives.

Yang Shuoming was assassinated several times, which does not mean that this period was a [***] reading talent, but it shows that Chinese society at this time was relatively free and relaxed, and the political arena was also exuding a slight heat of boiling the rule of law.

Although this is only a superficial phenomenon and is likely to be short-lived, at least the society superficially agrees with the form of the rule of law, indicating that neither rulers nor opponents are allowed to act arbitrarily.

"I heard that Yang Hanzhi plans to resign from the post of border superintendent, is there such a thing?" After the officer who reported the message stepped back, Cao Kun asked again.

"That's right, and he agreed to follow the decision of Congress to remove the post of Border Inspector." Wu Peifu said.

"Oh?" Cao Kun's dark brows raised, "There won't be no one in the parliament to speak for him, right?" ”

"Of course, the proposal to revoke the border supervision office was put forward by a member of the Young People's Party, but Liang Zhuoru and Yang Hanzhi have always had a good personal relationship, and Liang Zhuoru's Progressive Party is the largest party, so this proposal could have been easily vetoed, but although Liang Zhuoru expressed his disapproval of this proposal, he failed to mobilize the Progressive Party to veto the bill, so that the bill was passed." Wu Peinan said, "This is where things are to blame." ”

"Then there's only one explanation." Cao Kun sneered and said, "It's him, Yang Hanzhi, who doesn't want to be this border inspector." ”

Listening to Cao Kun's words, Wu Peifu couldn't help but be surprised.

"He doesn't want to be this border inspector himself?"

"Yes, and he doesn't want to continue to do this border inspector, not to mention, and he doesn't plan to let others do it, so he would rather choose to revoke this position." Cao Kun said, "Clever and clever! It's really brilliant! I can't imagine that he is so young and acts so old! ”

Wu Peifu understood what Cao Kun meant at this time, and nodded slowly.

At that time, Duan Zhiquan set up the post of border defense superintendent, the purpose of which was to keep the military power of the whole country in hand, and not to leave outsiders with the excuse to seize power, and to preside over the overall situation behind the scenes in the capacity of superintendent to affirm his own will. To put it bluntly, the border superintendent is the emperor's emperor, and his power is actually above the president. "Now that he has removed this position and returned military power to the president, if anyone wants to preside over the overall situation, there is no other way but to run for president honestly." ”

"I see! So he Yang Hanzhi wants to be president?! ......" Wu Peifu looked at Cao Kun and shrunk the words behind him.

"Definitely! Although Yang Hanzhi has a high reputation for military achievements, after all, his qualifications are still shallow, and he is too young, and according to the provisions of the "Presidential Election Law", he is not yet eligible. Cao Kun shook his head and said.

"So he doesn't want to be either president or superintendent, and it's really puzzling what his purpose is."

Listening to Cao Kun's words, Wu Peifu was speechless for a while, and both of them fell into silence.

After a long time, Cao Kun stood up, paced to the balcony, and looked into the distance, Wu Peifu also got up, stood behind him, and looked at the bustling and lively town in the distance, and in the distance, there was an endless plain.

"Whether he wants to be president or not, it will be a few years before it is his turn." Cao Kun said thoughtfully, "Now that the war has ceased, the country is still in danger of being divided, and there must be no one who presides over the overall situation." ”

Wu Peifu heard the overtone in Cao Kun's words, and immediately said: "Peifu is willing to follow the lord and create a great cause together!" As he spoke, Lizheng straightened up and saluted Cao Kun with a standard military salute.

Cao Kun looked at Wu Peifu, nodded quietly, and turned his head to look out the window again.

At this time, outside the window, the sky is clear, and a round of red is hanging high in the air, shining brightly, and it is extremely scorching.

Yanjing, the headquarters of the Chinese National Social Ming Cooking Party, conference hall.

"I went to talk to General Yang, and he is indeed in favor of the abolition of the border superintendent, and he has been preparing for this all these days." Chairman Jiang Xueying said to Huang Xing, the leader of the National Socialist Party in front of the rostrum.

Hearing Jiang Xueying's words, the party members sitting below couldn't help but discuss, some praised, some sighed, and some regretted.

"Hanzhi often acts unexpectedly." Huang Xing sighed and said, "Now that the internal and external troubles have been flattened, and the overall situation is presided over in the post of border defense supervision, it is time to show a great future......

"Hanzhi's idea is easy to understand," said Tang Hualong, another councillor, "and he did it to prevent the emergence of new warlords in the country who would use force to control the political axe." ”

Listening to Tang Hualong's words, Huang Xing was startled at first, and then immediately came to his senses.

"At that time, Cai Songpo resigned as governor of Yunnan and entered Beijing at the order of Yuan Xiangcheng, in order to prevent local warlords from supporting their own troops, and Yang Hanzhi took the initiative to dismiss this time in order to prevent the emergence of warlords who read talents, and the reason is the same." Tang Hualong said, "The border supervision office actually holds all [***] power, and there is also a part of the financial power, in fact, it is a position of real power above the president, and some officials said a while ago that the official documents in various places are generally prepared in two copies, one to the presidential palace and one to the governor's office." Hanzhi understands the dangers of such 'one country, two masters', and he is worried that once this position is held by careerists or warlords, it will bring great disasters to the country and the nation. It is because after the war is over, he takes the initiative to rest his shoulders and does not give others a chance to put their beaks. ”

After listening to Tang Hualong's explanation, Huang Xing, Jiang Xueying and others all understood, and Jiang Xueying was very happy to hear that the respected Tang Hualong had such a high evaluation of Yang Shuoming.

Tang Hualong is Tang Qianming's elder brother, in the late Qing Dynasty was the famous leader of the constitutionalist, and later followed Huang Xing to join the Kuomintang Socialist Party, becoming an important leader of this young party, in Huang Xing and Tang Hualong and a large number of former constitutionalists joined, the Kuomintang has become the third largest party in China after the Progressive Party and the Youth Party, and its party members are distributed in all provinces of the country and have great influence.

"It's a pity that Hanzhi didn't have a chance in this presidential election." Tang Hualong sighed and said.

"Why?" Zhu Feng raised his hand in the audience and asked.

"Under the existing presidential election law, General Yang is not eligible to run for the post of head of state." Jiang Xueying explained to her, "The 'Great Presidential Election Law' promulgated by the Constitutional Assembly in October of the second year of the Republic of China stipulates: 'The people of the Republic of China, who fully enjoy public power, who are over 40 years old and have resided in the country for more than 10 years, may be elected as the president.'" In the "Amendment to the Presidential Election Law" promulgated on December 29, the third year of the Republic of China, the eligibility for the election of the president was changed to having lived in China for more than 20 years. Therefore, General Yang is not qualified to run for president now. ”

Jiang Xueying's explanation to Zhu Feng actually shows very well that since the establishment of the Republic of China, the concept of election has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the election of the head of state of the Republic of China is particularly important to people, with strict legal provisions and related procedures.

After the Wuchang Uprising, the Provincial Governor's Council set specific conditions for the qualifications of the first head of state to be elected by the Provisional Governor of the Republic of China. At that time, the provincial governor's office representative meeting decided that if Yuan Shikai was anyway, he would be elected as the provisional president. Before Yuan Shikai anyway, due to the great momentum of the revolutionary party, all the delegates unanimously believed that the provisional president "must belong to the Sun family", so on November 25, 1911, Sun Yat-sen had just returned from overseas, and he was unanimously elected by the delegates as the candidate for the provisional president. At that time, there was no time limit for the qualifications of the provisional president to settle in the country (author's note: Sun Yat-sen had American citizenship at that time, and it seems that the "foreign representative" of the later generations of the National People's Congress was inherited). At that time, the pro tempore president was elected by the representatives of the provincial governors. According to the "Outline of the Organization of the Provisional Political Axe of the Republic of China" amended on January 2, 1912, the provisional president and vice president shall be elected by the representatives of the provincial governors, and those who have obtained more than two-thirds of the total number of votes cast shall be elected. Delegates have the right to vote, limited to one vote per province. The voting results of the 17 provincial deputies were that Sun Yat-sen was elected provisional president with 16 votes, and Li Yuanhong was elected vice president.

After the establishment of the Beiyang political axe, the "Great Presidential Election Law" promulgated by the Constitutional Assembly in October 1913 stipulated: "The people of the Republic of China, who fully enjoy public power, who have reached the age of 40 and have resided in the country for more than 10 years, may be elected as the president." In the "Amendment to the Presidential Election Act" promulgated on December 29, 1914, the eligibility to vote for the president was changed to having lived in the country for more than 20 years. The Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China promulgated on March 11, 1912 amended the procedure for the election of the provisional president to be elected by the Senate, and the election shall be made by more than three-quarters of the total number of members present and two-thirds of the total number of votes cast. In October 1913, the "Great Presidential Election Law" was promulgated, stipulating that the right to vote shall be exercised by all members of the National Assembly, and the voting method of the National Assembly shall be used to form a "presidential election committee". second, the use of secret ballot; Third, those who receive three-quarters of the votes are elected; Fourthly, if no one is elected, a second ballot shall be required, and if no one is elected, the two persons who have obtained the largest number of votes in the second ballot shall be elected, and the one who receives more than half of the total number of votes shall be elected. According to this election procedure, on October 6, 1913, Yuan Shikai was elected as the first official president of the Republic of China.

For the first time in the history of the political system of the Republic of China, the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China stipulates the procedure for impeachment and removal of the head of state, that is, if the Senate finds that the pro tempore president has committed treason, it may be impeached by more than four-fifths of the total members present and more than three-fourths of the members present. The "Great Presidential Election Law" promulgated in October 1913, on the basis of the impeachment procedure proposed in the "Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China", also stipulated that after the provisional president was impeached by the Senate, all the judges of the Supreme Court elected nine people to form a special court to try him. The Constitution of the Republic of China, promulgated on May 1, 1914, stipulated that the impeachment and robbery of the President should be brought to the Dali Yuan.

As the elected head of state of the Republic of China, there is a fixed term of office. Although the term of office of the provisional president of the provisional political axe is not explicitly stipulated, because the representatives of the provincial governors have discussed it first, if Yuan Shikai is anyway, he will be elected as the provisional president, so the term of office of Sun Yat-sen's first provisional president is when Yuan Shikai supports the republic anyway. The term of office of the second Provisional President Yuan Shikai was calculated from the promulgation and implementation of the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China on March 11, 1912, and was limited to 10 months, when the Provisional President convened the National Assembly to formulate a constitution and elect a formal president after the promulgation of the Constitution.

On October 5, 1913, the National Assembly passed the "Great Presidential Election Act", which stipulates that the term of office of the President shall be five years, and he may be re-elected, but he shall be re-elected only once. In the "Amendment to the Presidential Election Act" promulgated on December 29, 1914, the eligibility to vote for the president was changed to residence in the country for more than 20 years, and the term of office of the president was changed to 10 years, and he could be re-elected without being limited by the number of consecutive terms. In terms of system, this can be described as a disguised lifelong system. In terms of the presidential election procedure, the election of a presidential election consisting of 100 members of the two houses is elected by each other, and the incumbent president recommends three candidates to run for the election. After the failure of Yuan Shikai's restoration of the imperial system, the provisions on the term of office of the president of the Republic of China were amended to the term of office of the president and vice president to be six years, and they could be re-elected once.

For example, the "Outline of the Organization of the Provisional Political Axe of the Republic of China" stipulates that the interim vice president shall be promoted to the post when the president leaves office for any reason, but when the president is unable to take matters into account, he may be appointed by the president to act on his behalf. Both the Provisional Statute of the Republic of China and the Statute of the Republic of China provide that the Provisional Vice-President may act in his place when the Provisional President is removed from office for any reason or is unable to act as a matter of time. For example, in 1916, President Li Yuanhong was unable to take care of affairs due to illness, and Vice President Feng Guozhang was appointed acting president in accordance with the law.

In the case of the simultaneous absence of the Vice-President, the State Council shall assume his duties. At the same time, members of the National Assembly meet on their own within three months to organize a presidential election to elect the next president. If the President-in-office of the second-term President has not yet been elected, or has not yet taken office after being elected, and the President-of-Office of the second-term President is not able to act as his or her deputy, the Department of State shall take over his duties. This time, in the history of the political system of the Republic of China, there was this phenomenon of the prime minister taking over the presidency: after Feng Guozhang died of illness, due to the war, the presidential election could not be held, and Premier Xu Shichang assumed the post of president in accordance with the law.

After the end of World War I and the Second War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the National Assembly began the process of re-electing the president in accordance with the law, and since the current National Assembly is no longer the "Anfu Congress" created by Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng, but a new National Assembly composed of the Progressive Party, the Young People's Party, the National Socialist Party, and other small parties, the government and the opposition are paying special attention to this presidential election.

As an important member of the Kuomintang Socialist Party, many people in the party are actually optimistic about Yang Shuoming, but they are optimistic about it, and the provisions of the law must be observed.

"Since Hanzhi can't run, I don't think we have to choose another candidate." Tang Hualong said, "Since President Feng went to take over, Premier Xu has been working diligently to assume the post of president. He is a peaceful and honest person, well-known in the Beiyang system, good at reconciliation, and very familiar with national affairs. As far as the country is concerned, it needs such a person to preside over the overall situation, and I don't think it is necessary to change course, and it is better to straighten out President Xu Dai. ”

(To be continued)