108621908 Far Eastern madman

Beijing, Dongjiaomin Lane, Liuguo Hotel. At present, the North-South peace conference is being held in a small conference room on the east side of the hotel, and in order to ensure the smooth progress of the talks, the embassies of various countries have sent guards. The joint security mission in front of the hotel was the first joint military mission of the embassy guards since the Eight-Nation Alliance.

The head of the southern peace talks delegation was Song Jiaoren, and the head of the northern peace talks delegation was Tang Shaoyi, and both of them did their best in the conference room to strive for the greatest interests of their own military and political clique, and the atmosphere in the conference room was also very tense, especially for the Beiyang side. This is because whether or not major progress can be made in this meeting has a direct bearing on the whole thing. The life and death of the Beiyang Group. Therefore, as the head of the northern peace negotiation delegation that was pinned on by the Beiyang Center, Tang Shaoyi felt that the burden on his shoulders was very heavy, and he was overwhelmed, far less open than his negotiator Song Jiaoren, and he had to think carefully before saying a word, so as not to give the other party a chance to increase his weight.

Although they are facing major military pressure and the situation in the north is also in danger, as far as the top leaders of Beiyang are concerned, they still have great expectations on the North-South peace talks, and they hope to gain some time through the peace talks to take a breath from the current situation, and as the general backstage of the Beiyang Group, the British Government also hopes to turn the North-South peace talks into a life-saving straw for the Beiyang Group, and even if it cannot finally save the fate of the inevitable demise of the Beiyang, at least it should buy some time for the British Government. In order to allow the British government to support another pound, suitable agents, and before this new agent takes over the center. Beiyang still has to be saved, otherwise. Once Commander-in-Chief Zhao, who was very unfriendly to Britain, seized the central power, it would have an extremely negative impact on Britain's Far East strategy.

Therefore, at yesterday's first peace talks, the Beiyang side took a rather tough stance, arguing and refuting the conditions for peace talks put forward by the United Front one by one, while the United Front side also took a tough attitude and refused to budge an inch, because they knew that behind them was a revolutionary army with high morale and invincible spirit. With this armed force supporting them, they don't have to look at Beiyang's face at all, and the only thing they need to worry about is the opinions of the ministers of the great powers. However, for the time being, Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary are very "friendly" to the united front, which may be used as an arm against the British and Japanese ministers in China.

Due to the tough attitude of both sides of the negotiations. Yesterday's first meeting, which did not make any progress, today is the second formal meeting, with both sides adjusting their tactics and engaging in verbal negotiations around the most important issue of cabinet formation. The smell of gunpowder is heavier than yesterday's meeting.

The position of the Beiyang Group is very clear, the cabinet is elected in accordance with the procedures stipulated in the constitution, and the Beiyang side will not interfere, this position is a big step back from Yuan Shikai's position at the beginning, at least it no longer insists that the Beiyang send people to form a cabinet.

But the demands of the United Front have become more demanding, and this time, Constitutionalist MPs such as Soong Kyo-in are determined to achieve the ideal political structure they have in mind. The tiger of central power should be encircled with a real constitutional framework, so the constitutionalists of the United Front of the Cabinet are determined to use the opportunity of the North-South peace talks to finalize the list of cabinet members, bypassing the rules and regulations in the constitution, and directly "electing" the cabinet.

For the Beiyang bloc, which has been flouting that constitution, this demand of the united front is not only excessive, but also violates the spirit of constitutionalism. In this regard, Tang Shaoyi protested, but was soon cleverly blocked back by Song Jiaoren with a legal loophole, which also allowed Tang Shaoyi to further see the other party's negotiation skills, in terms of understanding the constitution, he is far from being Song Jiaoren's opponent, and it can also be seen that the other party is by no means a nerd, on some issues, the other party can also pretend that the constitution is a decoration, in order to fight for the interests of the united front, they do not mind putting the constitutional spirit aside for the time being.

It seems necessary to change the negotiation tactics again, and perhaps use the British minister to exert diplomatic pressure on our behalf in the Southern peace talks. Force them to make concessions on the issue of the Cabinet.

Tang Shaoyi was pondering how to maximize the interests of the Beiyang Group on the issue of the cabinet, but before he could sort out his thoughts, the closed oak door of the meeting was pushed open from the outside, and then. Cai Tinggan walked into the conference room, hurried to Tang Shaoyi's side, and handed a telegram copy to Tang Shaoyi.

Tang Shaoyi was taken aback by the contents of the telegram, which was jointly photographed by Meng Enyuan, Lu Jianzhang and others in Nanjing. Xu Shichang, the acting president of the Republic of China, reported that there was an internal strife in Nanjing, and Xu Baoshan, the commander of the northern Jiangsu town, and Zhang Yongcheng, the fifth subordinate of the Beiyang Army, were merged, and the city of Nanjing was also shelled, and now the situation is delicate, and Nanjing asked the Beiyang Center for instructions on how to deal with it, and at the same time suggested that Xu Shichang issue a presidential decree to remove Zhang Yongcheng from the post of commander of the Fifth Division of the Beiyang Army, and appoint Lu Jianzhang as the acting commander of the Fifth Division of the Beiyang Army.

Seeing Tang Shaoyi put down the telegram, Cai Tinggan whispered in his ear: "Just now, the French minister and the German minister Zhu Buyou made a diplomatic protest to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressing deep dissatisfaction with the Nanjing bombardment, and the state-owned merchant house suffered losses in the shelling, which also confirms this telegram from Nanjing. Now President Xu Da asked me to give you a message, you must end the North-South peace talks as soon as possible, even if you make major concessions, you will not hesitate, now, we Beiyang has not much time to delay, if it drags on. I don't know what will happen to the southeast. ”

Tang Shaoyi nodded, it seems that Beiyang must make concessions on this cabinet issue, otherwise, just like Xu Shichang was worried about, if it drags on any longer, the Beiyang forces in the southeast may also collapse Bingbai

Tang Shaoyi looked at Song Jiaoren, who was sitting opposite the conference table, expressionlessly, and saw that the other party was patiently waiting for him to speak again, but before Tang Shaoyi could speak, the oak door of the conference room was pushed open from the outside, but this time it was an assistant of Song Jiaoren who walked into the conference room, and he walked up to Song Jiaoren and whispered a few words. Then he also took out a telegram manuscript and handed it to Song

。

Song Jiaoren spent two minutes reading the telegram, then put down the transcript of the telegram, stood up expressionlessly, and said to Tang Shaoyi, who was sitting opposite: "Please forgive me, Mr. Tang, according to the resolution just passed by the General Affairs Committee of the United Front, our side has decided to increase the conditions for this negotiation. ”

Tang Shaoyi was a little surprised and asked, "What conditions do you want to add?" ”

Song Jiaoren picked up the transcript of the telegram and said word by word: "First, the post of prime minister should be held by a member of the United Front; Second. In addition to the 10 major departments of finance, army, navy, justice, internal affairs, foreign affairs, education, agriculture and forestry, commerce, and communications, the Ministry of Heavy Industry and the Ministry of Railways should be added to the cabinet. The Commander-in-Chief of both should be members of the United Front. ”

Tang Shaoyi was even more surprised, and said: "If there is a Ministry of Communications, and then a Ministry of Railways, it seems that it is suspected of adding to the snake, as for the Prime Minister of the Cabinet." According to the Constitution, elections should be conducted by the National Assembly, and your blatant request is limited in terms of powers. There's really nothing you can do. ”

"Then, we suggest that the second formal meeting of the North-South peace talks end here."

Song Jiaoren was not in a hurry, glanced at the telegram in front of Tang Shaoyi, and said: "According to the latest news obtained by our side on the Internet, there was internal strife in the First Army of the Beiyang Southward Advance in Nanjing, and the Fifth Division of the Beiyang Army actually brazenly bombarded the peaceful residents of Nanjing. At present, the situation in Nanjing is turbulent, the people are panicked, and it has caused diplomatic disputes. We are now withdrawing from the talks for the time being, on the one hand, awaiting further orders. On the other hand, they are preparing to hold a meeting to discuss the shelling of peaceful residents by the Beiyang Army in Nanjing, and to discuss countermeasures. Here, I would like to state once again that the United Front has always been reasonable and that we are not warmongers. However, if Beiyang continues to act perversely and harm the people, our united front will continue to fight for the people! ”

This is a blatant threat, Tang Shaoyi heard it, Cai Tingfeng also heard it, the two looked at each other, and they both saw the anxiety in each other's eyes.

There is no way not to be anxious, on the one hand, there is an aggressive united front, and on the other hand, there are Beiyang generals who can't support the wall in the mud, and the current Beiyang Group really has no way to retreat.

"Well, then, let's adjourn the meeting for now.

As for the Nanjing shelling incident, I personally express my regret and hope that it will not affect your sincerity for peace. Tang Shaoyi also stood up.

"The peace sincerity of the United Front General Affairs Committee is genuine, and I hope that Mr. Tang will convey this sincerity to President Xu Da again, in my opinion. The sooner peace is reached, the sooner the central side will be able to get out of the current difficult situation and achieve genuine parliamentary politics. ”

Song Jiaoren had something to say, at least Tang Shaoyi understood it, yes, the highest expectation for peace now is the group of constitutionalists in the Beiyang Group and the United Front, whether it is the Beiyang Group or the constitutionalist members of the United Front, they are all eager to stabilize the situation as soon as possible and organize a cabinet that is truly controlled by the constitutionalists of all parties.

At present, there are two groups that pose the greatest threat to reaching a consensus, the first group is the Beiyang military generals faction who are scattered and have their own small calculations, and the second group is all the officers of the revolutionary armed forces of the United Front who have the same desire and high morale; these two groups are the Wufu group, and they also have their own interests, and they are more inclined to use force than to negotiate and compromise in the struggle for these small interests.

For the unarmed constitutionalist legislators, the best option for the time being to avoid the military being the country is to end the state of war as soon as possible and prevent those military men from using the war to grow their own power.

The constitutionalists do not want history to repeat itself, but at the same time they want to take more power from the Beiyang center in their own hands.

One side is a fish, the other side is a set of palms, can you have both?

In this regard, Song Jiaoren has no bottom in his heart, and Tang Shaoyi also has no bottom in his heart, what they are doing now is just seeing the move.