readx; Duan Qirui and Li Yuanhong, as well as a large group of Beiyang bigwigs who were co-opted by Duan Qirui, had been waiting for the day when Yuan Shikai had taken his last breath, and various plans had been prepared, and they had even had in-depth contact with the south to conduct preliminary negotiations for the second north-south peace talks in the future. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Of course, this so-called second north-south negotiation is just for the sake of good sound, in fact, for the national army, it is to accept the surrender of Beiyang, but those people in Beiyang insist on using peace talks for the sake of face, and Chen Jingyun is not easy to force them too quickly, so he agreed, and was ready to give Beiyang a grand funeral to end all this, and even after learning that Yuan Shikai was not much, the first army that attacked Yanjing did not even attack with all its might, but only launched a partial containment attack. There are still tens of thousands of Beiyang troops in Yanjing City, although Li Jimin is confident in capturing Yanjing, but the casualties suffered by the troops will definitely not be small, since Duan Qirui and Li Yuanhong are ready to surrender, then Li Jimin is also ready to rest for a few days to see the situation, if the surrender goes smoothly, it will naturally avoid a hard battle, if Beiyang is stubborn, then the first army after the rest can also play a bigger position.

Yanjing was already in a state of surroundment, and a delay of ten days and half a month would not affect the overall situation.

On the evening of April 14, less than three hours after Yuan Shikai had just taken his last breath, Duan Qirui had already gathered with Li Yuanhong and several other high-level Beiyang officials who had been wooed by them, and then Li Yuanhong began to take the oath of office as the president of Beiyang Political Axe in accordance with the provisional covenant.

Immediately afterwards, the descendants under the control of Duan Qirui began to move around in Yanjing City, sent troops to control the important strongholds in the city, and placed most of the high-level Beiyang officials under house arrest who were not in the ranks of the court, and even the prime minister Zhao Bingjun was arrested by Duan Qirui. In the early hours of the morning, Xu Shuzheng, Duan Qirui's subordinate, led the remnants of the 11th Division, and suddenly entered another military force in Yanjing City, that is, the headquarters of the 12th Division.

At that time, Yuan Keding was still asleep, and before he could react after he was suddenly awakened by the gunfire outside, he was already pointed at by many guns, and it was not Xu Shuzheng's subordinates who pointed the guns at him, but the officers and soldiers of his 12th Division.

It is also interesting to say, although Yuan Shikai put Yuan Keding in the position of commander of the 12th Division, but Yuan Keding lacked sufficient military qualifications and prestige, so he could not convince the public at all, except for a small number of Yuan family children who were also sent to the 12th Division by Yuan Shikai, most of them were disobedient to him. Otherwise, there would not have been a whole regiment that did not obey his orders and retreated from the front without permission.

So when Duan Qirui was ready to surrender, he sent people to win over some of the senior generals of the 13th Division, and the two sides hit it off, although the 12th Division was cultivated by Yuan Shikai as a pro-guard, but it was never able to do so, and the middle and senior officers of the 12th Division did not want to die with Yuan Shikai, so many people joined Duan Qirui's surrender camp.

When Yuan Shikai died now, when Xu Shuzheng led his troops to attack the headquarters of the 12th Division, Yuan Keding had already been targeted by his own men before the outside came in, and Yuan Keding was not stupid, he immediately knew that there was a major incident of military rebellion, and when he wanted to escape, he was shot and killed by a few people behind.

When the sun rose from the horizon, a small number of ordinary people who were active in the city found that today was a little different from the past, although the city was also nervous a few days ago, and a large group of soldiers could be seen walking around all the time, but today they found that the expressions of these soldiers were a little strange, and these soldiers had red strips of cloth tied to their left arms.

"Now Yuan Keding is dead, and the Twelfth Division is under our control!" Duan Qirui's expression was as usual, but his face was tired, and his eyes were also covered with dark circles, obviously he hadn't slept all night.

"On the cabinet side, except for our people, the others have also been controlled, and many people have temporarily joined our camp!" Li Yuanhong's experience in the turmoil of the mutiny is much richer than Duan Qirui, although Duan Qirui is a Beiyang boss, but with the experience of being in the chaos, he can't catch up with Li Yuanhong, the Wuchang Uprising and then the civil war between Hubei and the revolutionaries, he Li Yuanhong can be said to have experienced many similar mutinies.

Of course, this is the first time that he has planned a mutiny with others.

"Although we are in control of the situation for the time being, we have to do things before the rest of the city can react!" Duan Qirui continued: "Now the people in the city are panicking, not to mention the others, even the soldiers under our command are also extremely panicked, you must be careful to avoid other turmoil!" To the south, we were asked to ensure stability in the city and avoid serious damage to it, which is one of the reasons why they promised not to attack in the first place. ”

After saying this, Duan Qirui looked at the people in the room again, and then sighed and said, "Contact the south now, and conduct peace talks as soon as possible!" ”

At eight o'clock in the morning, the intelligence officers of the Yanjing Station of the Intelligence Department of the National Army had already received news from Li Yuanhong and Duan Qirui, saying that Yuan Shikai had died of illness, and now they had taken control of the situation in Yanjing City, and asked for peace talks to be held today!

According to other intelligence sources, the people at the Yanjing Station of the Intelligence Department also learned that there was great turmoil in Yanjing City last night, and they also knew a little about the mutiny plan of Duan Qirui and Li Yuanhong.

After receiving the telegram from Nanjing, the intelligence department quickly reported the matter to Chen Jingyun.

"Then without further ado, let's talk about this as soon as possible! As for the specific conditions, there is a plan for a long time, so let's implement it according to the original plan! Chen Jingyun has also been paying attention to Yanjing, and he is not surprised that Duan Qirui, Li Yuanhong and others joined forces to launch a mutiny, and he did not pay too much attention to this matter when the overall situation of Yanjing was decided.

It's just that when I heard that Yuan Shikai was dead last night, I was silent for a long time, and I suddenly felt a lot, I didn't feel too happy as expected, and I didn't pity Yuan Shikai as an opponent, but I felt as if this happened to me.

The situation he and Yuan Shikai are in is very similar, although Yuan Shikai's death was not caused by a mutiny, but he only died for a few hours when his subordinates launched a mutiny, not only did the mutiny happen, but even the eldest son Yuan Keding died in the mutiny. As a warlord leader who is very similar to Yuan Shikai, Chen Jingyun imagined that if he didn't die, the national army would probably have no big problem, but once he died, the people below would probably have all kinds of mutinies, and the surrender of the enemy was probably not, but it was very likely that he would fight in order to inherit his position, and his family would be safe at that time?

This kind of unprovoked worry shrouded Chen Jingyun all morning, so that when he was eating with Lin Yun at noon, he looked at Lin Yun with a worried look on his face, Chen Jingyun thought that it was too dangerous for him to engage in politics in China, and if he was not careful, he would not only be defeated and killed, but also his family, and even he thought about whether he should send Lin Yun and Dong Bai and his two sons abroad, even if he was defeated and killed, they would not also suffer disasters. At this time, he also understood why those officials like to send their families abroad as foreigners, and the middle and low-level officials sent their families abroad so that they could help them spend the money they had worked so hard to find, but the more important thing for those high-level officials was naturally to keep their families safe. Playing politics in China is not an ordinary danger, even if a head of state has to worry that he will be thrown down by his subordinates or political opponents that day, and then he will either die or be placed under house arrest for a lifetime, and his family will not be any better, so being a naked official in China is absolutely and the only correct choice, and anyone who leaves his wife and children in China is embarrassed to say that he is a Chinese official!

This worry didn't last long, when he pinched his second son's little face and made this kid cry, Chen Jingyun's mood improved, as for the melancholy brought about by Yuan Shikai's and Yuan Keding's death, it also disappeared without a trace, as for the idea of sending his wife and children abroad, he is also gone, and now he asks himself if he can control the situation, and there is no need to worry about the safety of his family.

On the afternoon of April 15, Li Jimin, who was on the front line of Yanjing, received Chen Jingyun's order, and immediately held formal negotiations with Yanjing!

Although Duan Qirui, Li Yuanhong and others had already had private contact with the Nanjing Republican Political Axe through the Intelligence Department, and they also got some things promised by Chen Jingyun, such as Li Yuanhong got the promise of the vice presidential position, and Duan Qirui got the promise of the post of deputy chief of staff, and in addition, they could also maintain the establishment of the Beiyang Army.

But these private contacts are only verbal, and no one knows whether they are true or false until they are actually implemented, so this requires a formal negotiation.

That night, Xu Shuzheng, as the plenipotentiary representative of Yanjing City, went out of the city and arrived at the headquarters of the First Army and met Li Jimin, and then the two sides conducted detailed negotiations, Xu Shuzheng stayed in Li Jimin's headquarters for two hours before coming out, and as soon as he returned to the city, Duan Qirui couldn't wait for him to report back the details of the negotiations.

"It's the same as originally planned, there hasn't been much change, your side is still the deputy chief of staff, and then Li Yuanhong is the vice president." Xu Shuzheng said.

Duan Qirui nodded: "It's best if they can keep their promises, according to the system on their side, the vice president is nothing, and at that time, I, the deputy chief of staff, probably won't have any real power!" ”、

Xu Shuzheng also said: "Their military system is different from that here, there is no separate Ministry of the Army, only the Ministry of the Navy and the Ministry of the Air Force, while the Army is directly under the responsibility of the State Military Commission, and the Department of Staff, Logistics and Equipment are set up separately. The General Staff is not simply an army general staff, but a joint staff with the power to command the navy, the army, and the air force, so this staff is extremely important to the south. However, although their deputy chief of staff is also important, they are divided into two people, one is the deputy chief of operations of the general staff who is responsible for assisting in handling the battle plan, and the other is the permanent secretary of the general staff, who is responsible for assisting in the regular work of the general staff. ”

Duan Qirui understands very well that his position is actually not too important, what matters is how the Beiyang Army under his command will be arranged at that time, if there is an army to rely on, it doesn't matter if the deputy chief of staff is a fictitious position, but if there is no army to rely on, even if he goes to Nanjing to serve as the chief of staff, it will become a role that is hollowed out.

So Duan Qirui continued to ask: "What is the arrangement of the troops?" How much did they promise to give? ”