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On March 20, 1893, outside the Xuanwu Gate in Beijing, it was as lively as a bazaar, and the crowd was noisy. The entrance of the House of Representatives, which had been converted from a former school, was bustling with new members of the Consultative Council from all provinces. At that time, the acacia flowers in Beijing had bloomed, the elm money was everywhere, and the breeze was blowing, and the fragrance was all over the capital, as if heralding the arrival of a new era.

After a while, a man in a black coat began to ring the bell for the meeting, and amid the 108-gun salute of the Praetorian Guards, the Provisional Congress of the First Republic of China was formally established, and more than 600 members of the Advisory Council were present that day. These councillors were not elected at all, and most of them were well-known squires from all over the country, as well as representatives of governors from all over the country.

Rong Hong, secretary general of Li Hongzhang's presidential office, delivered a speech on behalf of the president, and he solemnly declared: "The foundation of the country lies in the people, and since Mencius, China has had the democratic tradition of putting the people first and the monarch first, as well as the fine tradition of local self-government, remembering our republic, which was founded by 40,000 people, and the National Assembly represents 40,000,000 people. ”

Li Hongzhang, Liu Kunyi, Zhang Zhidong and other governors announced that on this day, the Beijing Federal Government was established, the first republic in Asia was born, and the five-color flag was designated as the national flag, and the red, yellow, blue, white, and black five-color horizontal stripes represented the republic of the Han, Manchu, Mongolian, Hui, and Tibetan ethnic groups, and the whole country was changed to a federal system, and the provinces and states were autonomous.

On the same day, the members of the Consultative Council elected Li Hongzhang as president, and Zhang Zhidong and Liu Kunyi as vice presidents. President Li Hongzhang nominated the heads of the ministries. Chief of the Army, Chief of the Navy: Song Xiaofei, Chief of Internal Affairs: Zhang Peilun, Chief of Justice: Rong Hong, Chief Financial Officer: Sheng Xuanhuai, Chief of Communications: Zhan Tianyou, Chief of Agriculture and Industry: Xue Fucheng, Chief of Education: Yan Fu, Chief of Customs: Hao De. Minister of Foreign Affairs: Ng Dinh Phuong, set up governors' palaces in Vietnam and Korea, Liu Yongfu was the first governor of Vietnam, and Tang Shaoyi was the first governor of North Korea, which was approved by the Provisional National Assembly.

But the First Republic was a loose federal republic, and after the establishment of the federal government in Beijing, it was nominally a central government, but in fact it was a symbolic symbol, and Manchukuo had a high degree of autonomy. The governors of North Korea, Vietnam, and various localities still go their separate ways, and even the two vice presidents, Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong, did not take up their posts in Beijing.

In order to bring the First Republic to international recognition as soon as possible, President Li Hongzhang also declared that all unequal treaties signed by the Qing government with the foreign powers were still valid. Great Britain, the United States, and Brazil announced their recognition of the First Republic of China. Germany, France, Italy, and other countries have indicated that they will recognize the First Republic after the First Republic has established a formal parliament and elected a president and a speaker of the Senate. In order to reduce the resistance and cost of reform, the republic did not even require the people to cut their braids, and their clothes were still horse coats.

Li Hongzhang also had a trace of illusion at the beginning, thinking that after he came to power, as long as he implemented the federal republic system proposed by Rong Hong. The old times associated with depression, poverty, hunger, embezzlement, and exorbitant taxes are gone, and as soon as the railroads are built and factories are opened, every citizen becomes rich, but three or four months have passed. Only then did Li Hongzhang realize how stupid this idea was, and change the old thing to a new name. For example, the change of the governor's name to the provincial governor did not solve any problems, the old bureaucratic system still existed, bribery, extortion and extortion were still rampant, and Chinese society could not get rid of the family and Confucian culture and completely Westernize. What is even more serious is that freedom of speech and freedom of association in the West have been written into the constitution of the republic, non-governmental newspapers have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, more than 500 newspapers have appeared in Beijing and Shanghai alone, and rogue groups such as the elders' associations in various localities have begun to form various political parties in an open and honest manner, and all kinds of democratic chaos have begun to appear.

Li Hongzhang gradually realized that because there was no strong central government, the provinces were in their own affairs, and the various reforms of the New Deal were also difficult, and the efficiency of the entire government was even inferior to that of the Manchu government: the tax burden of the various federations could not be collected, the army could not be unified, and the federal government's expenditures were increasing day by day, especially the 100,000 new army trained by Song Xiaofei in Tianjin, which required a large amount of military salaries.

And the subsequent parliaments established in various places are also struggling, either being hollowed out by the governors of various places and becoming an ornament, or they are a mess and achieve nothing! At this time, China was like a house handed down from our ancestors, which was already dilapidated, and the idea of those who stayed abroad was: "Tear it down and build a new one." Some reformists commented: "The house has not completely collapsed and can be repaired." The opinion of most of the squires was: "What has been handed down from our ancestors must not be touched." ”

After experiencing all kinds of confusion, President Li Hongzhang decided to personally visit the United States to see what the federal republic on the North American continent with a history of more than 100 years was like.

In September 1893, President Li Hongzhang and his entourage arrived in New York Harbor on the cruise ship "St. Louis", and the cruise ship emitted a lot of white steam. Song Xiaofei also set foot on the soil of the United States for the first time, more than 100 years ago, and felt that everything was very fresh.

On this day, the weather was clear, with a few traces of mist floating on the water and a few clouds floating in the blue sky. Americans flocked to the river where the cruise ship docked to see China's first president, because China's population of 40,000, more than all the population of Europe, was noisy and loud.

Song Xiaofei and Rong Rong stood on the deck of the bow of the "St. Louis" together, looking into the distance, Rong Rong pointed ahead and said, "Surrounded by the green hills of Stant Island, Long Island and the New Jersey coast, they are so beautiful against the blue water!" ”

Song Xiaofei nodded and asked Rong Rong beside him: "There are a lot of people on the shore, what do you guess these people are talking about?" It's so lively. ”

Rong Rong said: "They must be talking about President Lee's wealth and power, and Americans are particularly interested in such things." ”

About half an hour later, the "St. Louis" cruise ship slowly sailed through the Gordon Tunnel, and the warships and ships that greeted Li Hongzhang in the harbor sounded their horns of different tones and high decibels, and about 50 steamboats, yachts, and the "Republic" cruise ship of the United States escorted the "St. Louis" cruise ship to move forward slowly, forming a spectacular water performance formation, and on the second mast of the "St. Louis", the five-color flag of the First Republic of China was hoisted, flying high!

After the "St. Louis" cruise ship picked up General Lu Jie, who had come to welcome Li Hongzhang, and his men, it sailed several nautical miles forward to a military port, where four steel cruisers, the USS "Miami," the USS Newark, the USS "Columbia," and the USS "New York," lined up and fired a 19-ring welcome salute.

Then, the "St. Louis" cruise ship was ready to dock, President Li Hongzhang and Song Xiaofei and others were about to disembark from the ship, at this time, the port quarantine officer of New York Harbor, Dr. Dort, with several quarantine personnel wearing white coats, boarded the ship, and asked all the personnel on the "St. Louis" cruise ship to undergo quarantine inspection, Zhang Peilun was very angry, and stepped forward to negotiate, "Do you know who we are?" We, President Lee, are going to meet with you President Cleveland in the evening, and how dare you be so rude? ”

General Lu Jie explained in stiff Chinese: "I'm sorry, this is a routine inspection, Dr. Dott has the statutory inspection authority granted by the US federal government, even if the US president comes back from abroad, he will also inspect it!"

Li Hongzhang was very curious about such regulations and laws.

After they went ashore after quarantine, General Lu Jie, on behalf of President Cleveland, held a simple and solemn welcome ceremony to Li Hongzhang and his entourage, "I have been sent by the President of the United States to greet His Excellency the President, and I will take you on a visit to this free country. Welcome to visit us! ”

Li Hongzhang asked: "Is President Cleveland coming back to New York?" I heard that this is his second presidency of the United States. ”

General Lujie replied, "Yes. Your Excellency the President, he will be in New York this afternoon to meet you. ”

Li Hongzhang asked, "When will I meet President Cleveland?"

General Lujie replied, "I'm very sorry, but I won't let you know this until the afternoon."