In the atmosphere of peace and democracy that has temporarily emerged on the land of China, time flies by. The March and April of the 7th year of the Republic of China were probably the happiest and most hopeful days for those who were keen to use bottom-up "federal" democracy to resolve China's separatist civil war.

First of all, although the North-South peace talks held in Zhangyuan, Shanghai, have not yet reached a final agreement on "autonomy and peaceful reunification of the two provinces," the differences between the two sides have been markedly narrowed. After bypassing the difficult problem of "negotiating with Russia," Chen Jiongming and Liang Qichao, the two chief negotiators representing the two governments of the North and the South, were not so much negotiating as exchanges and cooperation.

The two of them are probably experts and most enthusiastic promoters of local autonomy in China, and both of them have a bunch of methods for local autonomy in their stomachs, and now that they have gathered together, they have simply exchanged their experiences and views on this aspect at the negotiating table. After nearly two months of exchanges and discussions, Sun Yat-sen's idea of "inter-provincial autonomy and peaceful reunification" was finally turned into a concrete method of "great practical value"!

According to this approach, the future Republic of China will be a loose federation, with each province having its own constitution, parliament and army! Except for the absence of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Customs, the composition of the provincial governments is exactly the same as that of the central government.

The future central government will be a central government with very limited powers, and will not have the right to appoint and dismiss the governors and governors of the provinces, nor will it have the right to interfere in the internal affairs of the provinces. The power of the central government can only be reflected in the maintenance of national unity and diplomacy, and the central government's finances are still derived from customs duties and salt taxes, as well as taxes from the Jingshi Prefecture (referring to Beijing). In addition, the central government is no longer allowed to borrow money privately without the consent of the provincial councils, and the local governments are no longer responsible for repaying the loans borrowed by the central government. As for the central army and navy, of course, they still have to be retained, but the size of the scale will depend on the financial resources of the central government, and all officers and men will adopt the recruitment system. The central government's permission must also be obtained for the stationing and passage of the central army at the local level......

Of course. Chen Jiongming and Liang Qichao, two great sages, also considered the problem of the country being invaded by foreign enemies. In the event that the country encounters a foreign enemy, China will of course unite under a strong government and implement a wartime system. So they also worked out a way to deal with the "state of war". It stipulates that in wartime, the central government has the right to mobilize local financial and military resources, and also has the right to recruit troops in local areas, etc.

In short, this series of methods seems to Chen Jiongming and Liang Qichao to be more comprehensive. And in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai newspapers of all sizes. There was also a lot of praise for their approach, which they considered to be a panacea for solving China's problems. As for the diplomats of Britain, the United States, France, Japan, and other powers stationed in China, they have issued statements one after another, expressing their most heartfelt support for this......

As for the overseers and governors of the provinces of China, of course, the left one was electrified. The right one declares in favour. Speaking of which, they are the biggest beneficiaries of such a method of inter-provincial autonomy where the power of the province is almost equal to the power of the state!

Second, the local council elections being held in Hunan, which are being held on a trial basis for "inter-provincial autonomy," also seem to be smooth sailing. The Kuomintang and Tan Yanmin generally kept their promises and did not openly participate in the election, but there were still many KMT and Tan Yanmin figures who participated in the Hunan local council election under the sign of GCD candidates.

However, to the surprise of the Beiyang government and Zhang Jingyao, who ruled Hunan. Zhong G's performance in this election is far from strong! Perhaps it was influenced by the "Fujian Land Reform". The gentry in Hunan were quite suspicious of candidates with G signs. The Progressive Party on the Beiyang side hyped up in the newspapers, saying that once the Chinese and G won the Hunan election, they would definitely use the method of "Fujian land reform" to deal with the gentry and wealthy families in Hunan...... Therefore, most of the landlords and wealthy businessmen in Hunan sided with the Progressive Party in this election. And these people account for as many as seventy or eighty percent of the voters who are eligible to vote!

On May 1, the results of the Hunan local council election were announced. Out of 209 seats in the Provincial Senate. The Hunan branch of the China Progressive Party led by Xiong Xiling won one hundred and seven seats, which is already more than half! The Hunan Provincial Campaign Committee of China's GCD, led by Mao, won only 51 seats. Less than half of the opponent! The remaining 51 seats were won by a few small local parties and independent candidates backed by Mr. Tam.

Zhang Jingyao of Beiyang seems to be able to keep his Hunan overseer!

For such a result, it is natural that some people rejoice. Others were disappointed. However, it is not the top brass of the Kuomintang and GCD who are disappointed, but not the Beiyang bigwigs who control the central government in Beijing......

In the past few days, Duan Qirui, the real power figure of the Beijing government, has completely focused on training the army to participate in the war. Since the "Qinhuangdao robbery incident" did not occur, the speed of the formation of this participating army was much faster than in history.

It was only May 1918, and the personnel and equipment of the three divisions plus the three mixed brigades were already fully equipped. The three divisions are all two brigades and four regiments, plus one regiment of artillery and one cavalry, and one battalion of engineers and baggage. The three mixed brigades are equipped with two infantry regiments and one battalion each of artillery, cavalry, engineers, and baggage. The total strength of the entire participating army is as high as more than 52,000 people, and all of them hire Japanese instructors for rigorous training!

And the artillery configuration of this participating army adopts a large establishment of 18 guns per battalion, and the 9 artillery battalions of the entire participating army are equipped with a total of 162 Japanese-style mountain/field guns! Compared with the 6 artillery battalions with 12 guns in the Fujian Army owned by our Chang Da revolutionaries, it is more than twice as powerful!

Incidentally, the Zhao Zhensuo sent to Outer Mongolia has now been reorganized into the First Brigade of the Mongolian Frontier Army (but only one regiment), and is no longer a member of the participating army, nor does it belong to the establishment of the Central Army...... According to the "inter-provincial autonomy method" proposed by Chen Jiongming and Liang Qichao, they can only raise their own military salaries in Outer Mongolia to solve their livelihoods.

However, Duan Qirui, the army commander, now has no extra energy to take care of Mongolian affairs...... Zhao Zhen's regiment of soldiers let him fend for himself.

Seeing that the powerful army participating in the war was gradually becoming an army, Duan Qirui finally felt that his waist could be stiffer! This participating army refers to the "Fujian Army Charter", and it is completely controlled by the War Department and the General Staff Department of the "Central Lineage"!

With these 50,000-strong descendant army as the core, and then uniting the Beiyang Army of more than 100,000 or 200,000 people, it should be possible to reunify China before Sun Yat-sen and Chang Ruiqing in Fujian and Guangdong become bigger, right? During this period, however, he adopted a laissez-faire approach to his call for "inter-provincial autonomy and peaceful reunification." But in the minds of this traditional Chinese warlord politician, great unification will always be the only option!

After learning of the results of the Hunan election, Duan Qirui stood in a conference room of the War Department with several staff members in his military uniform, and began to think about the large map of China.

I thought about it for a moment. He used a red pencil to sketch a huge arrow on the map that stretched south from Beijing along the Jinghan Railway, and the end point of the arrow was Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province. Then Duan Qirui hugged his arms again and pondered.

None of the others in the room spoke. After being quiet for a while, he saw Duan Qirui suddenly turn his head: "Did Sun Yat-sen also start suppressing the local gentry there?" ”

At a time when the whole country was immersed in a harmonious atmosphere of peaceful reunification, Sun Yat-sen, who put forward the idea of inter-provincial autonomy, provoked a civil war with the Gui army in Guangdong! Although the central government issued several armistice orders one after another, public opinion circles in Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai were also condemning. But the revolutionary forerunner ignored it. After more than two months of civil war, Guangdong was finally completely unified in April.

Xu Shuzheng, the deputy commander of the army, is like a big manager, and the information obtained by the Beiyang system is also summarized to him. Hearing Duan Qirui's question, he sneered: "Old Zhi, it's already started!" Back in January. Before Sun Yat-sen proposed 'inter-provincial autonomy and peaceful reunification,' he had already begun to rectify the people's army in eastern Guangdong, rectify the local political power, and build the so-called Zhongshan primary school and township political power with great fanfare, and all the policies were similar to those in Fujian. The most odious thing is that Sun Yat-sen also implemented military politics in Guangdong under the pretext of driving Gui in February, and now Gui's army has been expelled, but there is no sign of his military administration being canceled! ”

He glanced at Duan Qirui again, seeing that he had no expression. He continued: "Recently, there has been news from Guangdong. Sun Yat-sen is also ready to follow the example of Fujian to carry out land reform under the law of permanent tenant and permanent rest! The Guangdong Fishery and Peasants Association has also been established, and the so-called national mobilization system is still being established, and it is estimated that when this series of measures is completed, it is time to tear off the camouflage and fight with us! ”

Duan Qirui felt a pang of annoyance in his heart when he heard this, and said coldly: "Talking about local autonomy to others, but engaging in military and political dictatorship on your own territory!" This Sun Yat-sen is the national giant. We must do our best to eradicate it, and we can't let it grow bigger! ”

He asked Qu Tongfeng, who had just returned to Beijing from Mongolia: "Is there an echo in Yunnan?" A Yunnan-Guichuan tour made him Tang Jiyao still not satisfied? ”

Qu Tongfeng said with a smile: "Tang Jiyao has already sent a letter back to his subordinates. He expressed his willingness to accept the appointment of the central government to ensure the safety of the three provinces of Yunnan, Guichuan and Sichuan. However, he was asked to send troops to aid Gui, but he refused. It seems that he was meditating on the mountain and watching the tiger fight. ”

Duan Qirui snorted: "Tang Jiyao is just a talented person...... As long as he doesn't embarrass us for the time being, he might as well put it aside. Wei Qing (Qu Tongfeng), Qing Jie (Fu Liangzuo), as soon as the first phase of training of the participating army is over, you will command the main forces of the three divisions to enter Hunan! Then it's time for us to play our cards and force Sun Yat-sen to hold a local council election in Guangdong! ”

He slapped the location of Guangdong on the map: "We already have the third, seventh and eighth divisions in Hunan, as well as twenty battalions of the Anwu army, plus three divisions of the participating army, but there are more than 100,000 troops!" As long as Sun Yat-sen dares to refuse to hold local council elections, our army can push through...... First pacify Guangdong, and then take over Fujian, this time we must use force to unify China! ”

Fu Liangzuo hesitated for a moment and reminded: "I'm afraid that the matter over there in Hunan is not so easy to settle, right?" Tan Zu'an, Cheng Songyun's Hunan army, and Yang Ximin's Yunnan army are still entrenched in the southern part of Hunan Province, and they also have tens of thousands of people......"

Before his words fell, he heard Xu Shuzheng say with a smile: "It's just tens of thousands of people, just kill them!" ”

Fu Liangzuo glanced at Xu Shuzheng, and said in his heart: "This little fan (Xu Shuzheng's nickname) has only been low-key for a few days, and he has started to show his teeth and claws again!" However, there was no affection on his face, he just smiled and shook his head: "You Zheng, you don't know, those Dian army and Hunan army are not weak brigades!" Although the weapons and equipment of our participating troops are not bad, they are all new recruits after all, and they are not as good as their veterans who have been trained on the battlefield for a long time. ”

Xu Shuzheng smiled and glanced at Fu Liangzuo with slanted eyes: "We also have veterans...... Aren't Zhang Xunchen's 7th Division, Wu Ziyu's 3rd Division, Wang Ruxian's 8th Division, and Feng Huanzhang's 16th Mixed Brigade, who just returned from Mongolia, all veterans? ”

He patted the Hunan side: "As soon as our three divisions of the participating army arrive in Hunan, we will push these troops forward." Let them fight with the people on Sun Yat-sen's side! At the same time, contact the Gui army to attack Sun Yat-sen's flank to contain the main force of the French Protector Army, as long as the Yunnan and Hunan armies in Hunan are finished, Sun Yat-sen's Guangdong will be in our pocket! ”

He spoke there with a high spirit. However, Fu Liangzuo and Qu Tongfeng knew that this time was probably Beiyang's last fight!

Don't think that the victory of the Progressive Party in the local elections in Hunan is a victory for Beiyang, on the contrary, this local election in Hunan has made the Beiyang warlords who have seized the territory see the benefits of inter-provincial autonomy, and the split in Beiyang has been further deepened.

Xu Shuzheng is in this situation. Offer advice to Duan Qirui and take advantage of the "favorable shape" after the election of the Hunan local council. Three divisions of the participating army entered Hunan and together with the main force of the Beiyang Army already in Hunan, they forced Sun Yat-sen in Guangdong to carry out local council elections.

According to Xu Shuzheng's analysis, Sun Yat-sen's military administration in Guangdong would inevitably harm the interests of the local gentry, which gave the Beiyang government an opportunity to win over local forces in Guangdong. Therefore, forcing Sun Yat-sen to hold local council elections in Guangdong will inevitably win the support of the Guangdong gentry. And Sun Yat-sen, who offended the gentry, must not have won the election.

However, if Sun Yat-sen refuses to be elected and insists on practicing military politics, not only will the people of Guangdong see clearly his true colors of "fake democracy and real dictatorship," but the people of the whole country will no longer regard him as a revolutionary leader who can save the country and the people. Once the aura of "revolutionary leader" is lost, Beiyang will send troops to fight in the name of protecting Guangdong's local autonomy, and it will definitely be able to completely eradicate the power of Sun Yat-sen's protector military government!

Such an abacus is indeed wishy-washy. But the question is, does Beiyang still have the strength to implement Xu Shuzheng's plan?

Beiyang is not short of troops now, they have 15 divisions on their books (not including Li Tiancai's 9th Division). Plus 17 mixed brigades of CSKA. There are also 3 divisions and 3 mixed brigades participating in the battle, with a total strength of more than 300,000! And this figure does not include the local forces in the territory ruled by the Beiyang warlords.

However, Beiyang's finances are now extremely embarrassed, with a deficit of more than several million yuan every month! As soon as the salaries were paid everywhere, those officials of the Ministry of Finance had to hide in Tibet and did not dare to show their faces, for fear of encountering the Beiyang officers who were urging salaries. If there is still a war, then the only way is to borrow a lot! But in order to borrow, there must be collateral. Now the customs duties and salt taxes have been swayed out. It seems that the Beiyang government has nothing in its hands that can be mortgaged, but the newly appointed finance minister Liang Shiyi really has a way. He actually found something that could be used as collateral - the Eastern Railway!

"Banxi-kun, it's time for you to settle down." Hayashien, the Japanese minister to China, was stationed in a Japanese-style room in the Japanese Legation. Holding a white piece calmly, he waited for Rihachiro Sakanishi, who was sitting opposite him, to play chess. During this time, the attention of the diplomats of the great powers in China was also attracted by the "North-South Peace Talks" that were being held in Shanghai. As for the "autonomy and peaceful reunification of the provinces" proposed by Sun Yat-sen and Chen Jiongming, the great powers generally welcomed it.

In particular, the diplomats of Western countries, such as Britain, the United States and France, do not know much about Oriental deceit after all, and they are already thinking about how to use the future provincial and local elections to prop up their favorite figures to power. On the contrary, the Japanese diplomats, who have always been keen on splitting China, expressed some indifference to this, and only paid lip service to praise and support.

Rihachiro Sakanishi is still the chief military adviser of the Beiyang government, and he helped Zhang Luo from the Japanese military advisers in Duan Qirui's army. At present, the role he plays is an old friend of the Beiyang government, and the purpose of coming to the legation today is also to probe the wind from Lin Quanzhu to see if it is possible to mortgage a sum of money with the Eastern Railway?

He looked at the chessboard, sighed, and threw in the towel.

"Lin Jun is really a national player, Xia Guan has already lost consecutive battles, why don't you stop here today?"

Lin Quanzhu smiled and messed up the chess pieces with his hands: "I'm afraid Banxijun's mind is no longer on this small chessboard, right?" The big branch is your real chess game! Am I talking about that? ”

Rihachiro Sakanishi shook his head lightly: "It's a pity, it's a pity......"

Lin Quanzhu looked at him: "What is a pity? Could it be that Bansai-kun has encountered some problems on the big chessboard of China? ”

Banxi smiled bitterly: "It's a pity that Xia Guan is not a chess player, but a chess piece!" I can only watch as the great opportunity is missed...... All eyes on Tokyo are now attracted to Russia! It's impossible to have any big money in China, it's just a little fight! ”

"A little fight?" Lin Quanzhu frowned and asked, "Is there any place where I can make a little fuss now?" ”

Banxi nodded solemnly and spit out three words: "Middle East Road!" ”

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