108681908 Far Eastern Maniac Chapter 387 Prime Minister

People are sunny and excited. With excitement, Song Jiaoren, accompanied by several attachés, boarded a four-wheeled carriage, and then, escorted by dozens of Beiyang Army cavalry, advanced to the presidential palace.

When he went to the presidential palace, Song Jiaoren went to visit Xu Shichang, acting president of the Republic of China, and held a consultation with President Xu on the list of cabinet members. But there is also a little uneasiness in the excitement.

Just the day before yesterday, the North-South peace delegation had formally concluded the armistice talks, and the two sides unanimously decided to sign a formal armistice agreement between the North and the South, but before the agreement was formally signed, it was necessary to make public the list of the first official cabinet of the Republic of China. Song Jiaoren hurriedly handed over the cabinet list submitted by the United Front General Affairs Committee to President Xu Shichang, but Xu Shichang did not immediately express his position on the list at that time. He just said to think it through.

Xu Shichang considered this for a whole day, and it was only today that he sent someone to inform the United Front and ask Song Jiaoren to go to the presidential palace for "consultations."

The closer he got to the presidential palace, the more uneasy Song Jiaoren's mood became; after all, the list of cabinet members was drawn up entirely in accordance with the interests of the united front, and not only the heads of all important departments were members of the united front, but even the chief of education and the chief of industry and commerce, such as the chief of education, the chief of industry and commerce, were all members of the united front; as for the nomination of the Beiyang group, the united front only agreed that a few people would come forward to decorate the façade, either as deputy directors or members of the department, or as advisers or senators in the name of the department. Purely a vase character.

In this regard, the British minister, Mr. Zhu Erdian, said that "this is a humiliation of the victors against the vanquished," although it was excessive, but even in the eyes of the United Front peace talks, the list of cabinet members was indeed too explicit and almost completely ignored the interests of the Beiyang bloc.

Seeking truth from facts, the United Front still took into account the interests of the Beiyang bloc, because this list of cabinet members is simply an exchange of interests. In return for the Beiyang compromise, the United Front agreed to revise the terms of the peace, not only no longer demanding a public trial of war criminals, but also agreeing to keep a part of the Beiyang army in full formation.

The conditions for the public trial of war criminals have been lifted. However, the quid pro quo that allowed Beiyang to retain a part of the troops was indeed a bit intolerable, especially for Zhao Bei, the leader of the United Front, who almost vetoed this quid pro quo, but in the end Zhao Bei reluctantly agreed to this catty, condition, as for what considerations came out of it. I'm afraid only he knows.

Again, to borrow the words of the British minister, Mr. Zhu Erdian, this small exchange of conditions is "quite cost-effective," and Beiyang should "seriously consider the current situation in the Far East."

With a combination of factors, the Beiyang Group finally agreed to these quid pro quo. And that list of members is the most important quid pro quo for the United Front.

If this cabinet list cannot be approved by the top level of Beiyang in the end, then there will be no real peace between the north and the south, and the peace talks ahead will also be fruitless, which is the main reason why Song Jiaoren is nervous at the moment.

Actually, according to the plan of Song Jiaoren and others. The United Front only needs to occupy those important departments, such as the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, which can completely hand over the control of the Beiyang people, so that it can not only take care of the face of the Beiyang Group, but also avoid giving people the impression that the United Front is dominant, at least it can make the appearance less ugly.

But as the de facto leader of the United Front. Zhao Bei resolutely opposed giving up some leftovers. According to Chairman Zhao's intentions, the united front must control the entire center with a dominant force. In order to facilitate the smooth implementation of all policies that are beneficial to the country and the people, as for the feelings of the Beiyang side. Zhao Bei didn't seem to think about it at all.

Song Jiaoren even had some doubts about Zhao Bei's sincerity in striving for peace between the north and the south, and he had tried in vain to argue with reason. I hope that Chairman Zhao can raise his hand to Beiyang, not to force Beiyang to a dead end, and not to let the other party jump over the wall in a hurry, but Song Jiaoren's efforts are useless, and Zhao Bei will not listen to him at all, and he will also pull some other members of the General Affairs Committee of the United Front to exert pressure on Song Jiaoren and others.

Politicians all hope that the bigger their officials are, the better, and the more money they have, the better, and the members of the United Front General Affairs Committee are all politicians, and they are all qualified politicians, and now that the chairman of the committee has personally supported them, they have completely disregarded their appearance when they grab the official hat, and the performances of Li Yuanhong, Tang Hualong, and others are particularly outstanding, and these members have come out. Chairman Zhao doesn't have to grind with Song Jiaoren's gang at all, so naturally there are these front-end figures who are charging forward for the chairman, and they are pounds. Regardless of oneself, move forward bravely.

As a result, this list of cabinet members who looked very ugly was released like this, which made Song Jiaoren and other representatives of the peace talks a little embarrassed, and before going to the presidential palace to present this cabinet list, Song Jiaoren also deliberately drank some wine to strengthen his courage, otherwise. He did not dare to step through the gates of the presidential palace.

In fact, Xu Shichang's performance was similar to Song Jiaoren's, and after receiving the cabinet list, he was also very shocked, his face was pale, and even his hands were shaking, and Song Jiaoren did not doubt it at all. If this cabinet list is not sent to Xu Shichang, but to Yuan Shikai. I am afraid that the flames of the Civil War will be rekindled at that time.

Fortunately, Xu Shichang was not Yuan Shikai, and he was shocked, but he quickly suppressed the fire in his heart. Let Song Jiaoren go back to the hotel first to wait for the news, while Xu Shichang immediately summoned the Beiyang elders to discuss countermeasures. Whether to accept this cabinet list in exchange for a glimmer of life for the Beiyang Group.

Now, Xu Shichang has obviously made a decision, whether the powerful factions in the north and south can turn hostility into friendship depends on Song Jiaoren's visit to the presidential palace.

The four-wheeled carriage drove to the front gate of the presidential palace under the escort of the cavalry of the Beiyang Army, and there were already staff members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs waiting there, seeing that Song Jiaoren arrived on time, there was no nonsense, and immediately asked Song Jiaoren and others to change into a light carriage and drive towards Jurentang.

Following the "Presidential Palace" branch, the staff talked about Ju Rentang, Xu Shichang, Duan Qirui and other Beiyang Kang went to Renduli, and the British minister and the Japanese minister were also surprisingly present.

The two sides greeted each other with courtesy, and there was no nonsense. Straight to the point.

Xu Shichang took out the list of cabinet members that Song Jiaoren had personally presented to him the day before yesterday. He pointed to the list very calmly, and then said: "Mr. Song, the center of the cabinet list you sent has been carefully discussed, and now I invite you to come over, which is to officially give you one."

"So, what's the answer?" Song Jiaoren also tried his best to make a calm expression and asked word by word.

"Although the list of cabinet members is flawed, if it is revised, the center seems to be able to approve it, but the cabinet premier will never agree to the election!"

The first half of Xu Shichang's sentence made Song Jiaoren sigh, and although the second half of the sentence was said in a tough tone, Song Jiaoren did not feel strange.

Because the candidate for prime minister nominated by the General Affairs Committee of the United Front is Zhao Bei.

Zhao Bei served as the prime minister. Supervising the administrative affairs of various ministries, this requirement can be agreed to by the Beiyang Center is strange!

In fact, at that time, Song Jiaoren euphemistically suggested to the United Front General Affairs Committee that the post of prime minister should be held by a civilian rather than a soldier, which was actually a reminder to them not to nominate Zhao Bei as the prime minister of the cabinet, but like his other suggestions, this suggestion was not accepted by the United Front General Affairs Committee, and they still nominated Zhao Bei to be the prime minister of the cabinet.

According to reliable information obtained by Song Jiaoren, the nomination of the cabinet premier was actually based on Zhao Bei's own "self-recommendation" of Mao Sui, that is, it was the United Front General Affairs Committee acting on orders, and on the one hand, it was of course under direct pressure from the leader, and on the other hand, it seemed that it was also a gesture of goodwill by Li Yuanhong and Tang Hualong's gang to the chairman.

There are sycophants everywhere, and there are many sycophants in the General Affairs Committee of the United Front, and the appearance of these sycophants is the result of the resignation of the members of the Constituent Assembly to the chairman before the last war between the North and the South. If the members of the Constituent Assembly were not in a hurry to draw a line with the United Front, the power of this group of sycophants would not be so great, in fact, these people are basically Li Yuanhong and Tang Hualong's sworn friends, Zhao Bei stuffed them into the United Front General Affairs Committee, which made Li and Tang grateful, this time they fully supported Zhao Bei as the prime minister of the cabinet is to repay the peach, which is not only the righteousness of the rivers and lakes, but also a political tradition.

Soong Jiaoren looked down on the members of the Constituent Council more and more, and in his view, the withdrawal of the Constituent Council led to many bad consequences; The increase in sycophants in the General Affairs Committee is the most serious consequence, which directly leads to the General Affairs Committee becoming Zhao Bei's echo worm and support group, and the power of the chairman has swelled to the extent that it is difficult to contain, which is completely contrary to the original intention of Song Jiaoren and others.

However, it is useless to complain about the Constituent Council now, and Song Jiaoren and others are now most concerned about this cabinet issue, in the eyes of these constitutionalist parliamentarians, as long as the National Assembly and the cabinet are in their own hands, even if Zhao Bei's power continues to expand. However, the constitutionalists also held at least some of the power, and the power of Zhao Bei could be completely restrained through political cooperation, and there may not be no place for the constitutionalists at that time.

Therefore, when Xu Shichang made it clear that he opposed Zhao Bei as the prime minister of the cabinet, Song Jiaoren was not too surprised, and he was even a little glad that Beiyang vetoed the candidate for prime minister, because in his opinion, once Zhao Bei really became the prime minister. It is obviously not beneficial to limit his political ambitions, and from the bottom of my heart, these members of the constitutionalist faction hope that Chairman Zhao will "retire successfully", but it is a pity that the other party Yan Ran has no such plan, so they can only use the Beiyang Center to check and balance.

"For this decision of the center, I am very sorry."

Song Jiaoren's words were very measured, and there was room for improvement, and after a change of words, he said: "However." The question of the choice of prime minister in the cabinet is completely negotiable, but in fact it is within the United Front. There are also differences of opinion on the appointment of Chairman of the Oil Committee as prime minister, and some committee members believe that it is indeed not appropriate for too many military cabinet members to appear in the first formal cabinet of the Republic of China, otherwise it will be easy to give governments the illusion that "this is a fighting cabinet and is not conducive to foreign affairs." ”

"Oh? Mr. Song understands the righteousness, and I am very pleased. I'm afraid that those who support Zhao Bei in the United Front will not agree with you. Now the center has a compromise that seems to save the situation. ”

Xu Shichang nodded, and then glanced at the British and Japanese ministers sitting on the side. Seeing the two of them, they nodded again and again, and seemed to agree with him.

In fact, the Beiyang Group is also divided into two factions on the matter of Zhao Bei becoming the prime minister of the cabinet, one faction believes that now Beiyang is hanging by a thread, it is better to sell a favor to Zhao Bei, anyway, the cabinet premier is not the turn of the people in Beiyang to do it, and the other faction believes that even if the people in Beiyang cannot serve as the prime minister, they must not let Zhao Bei serve, and Xu Shichang, who is the current head of Beiyang, he holds the latter view, after all, if Zhao Bei becomes the prime minister of the cabinet, the last bit of face of the Beiyang Group will be swept away.

However, the key to Xu Shichang's real confidence in vetoing the nomination of the cabinet premier is the attitude of the British and Japanese ministers to China, whether it is the British minister Zhu Erdian or the Japanese minister Ijiin Hikoyoshi, both of them resolutely oppose Zhao Bei as the cabinet premier, and the reason is also very simple, because this person holds a strong anti-British and anti-Japanese stance, and the cabinet premier can directly interfere in the actions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The two governments, of course, do not want such a person to control this catty. Foreign affairs of the country.

Although there is also a Diet that can check the Prime Minister under the Constitution, the problem is that neither the British nor the Japanese are optimistic about the power of this Diet.

In front of a military strongman, no matter how perfect the system is, it can't stop his ambitions.