Although Wang Zhixiang once served as the deputy governor of Guangxi, the commander of the aid army to Hubei, and the commander of the Third Army, in the final analysis, he was still a literati and an old bureaucrat who liked to put all transactions under the table. Even if there is deceit behind my back, I still call myself a brother when we meet, you and me. Who knew that Sun Yuanqi did not have the slightest consciousness as an official, and when he came up, he was hand-to-hand with bayonets, which caught Wang Zhixiang off guard, and finally he could only surrender obediently.

After Sun Yuanqi left, Wang Zhixiang did not regret it, but Yang Jie's intimidation has been lingering in his ears, so that he does not dare to act rashly.

Yes, now is not a peaceful season, from the Xinhai Revolution to the present in just over half a year, the tragic death of the governor of Hunan Jiao Dafeng, deputy governor Chen Zuoxin, Shanghai military governor Chen Qimei, and recently Xinjiang governor Yuan Hongyou. It can be seen that although the life of the governor has not been reduced to the share of a pig and a dog, it is not as expensive as a pig. As for the over-the-top governor who has gone to his old position and has not come to his new position for a long time, a good head on the item may not be worth 20,000 yuan!

If he still has more than 10,000 men and horses in the Third Army, it is estimated that Sun Yuanqi will not dare to treat himself like this; If he is now the governor of Zhili, he can ignore him completely, and maybe even who threatens whom! But now? The fallen phoenix is not as good as a chicken!

Just when Wang Zhixiang felt sorry for himself and was frustrated, one of his peers hurriedly barged in, and asked directly without caring about etiquette: "Tie Shan, you took the initiative to announce your retirement?" ”

"Huh?" Wang Zhixiang was surprised: it had only been less than an hour since this happened, and he hadn't walked out of the door yet. How did he know the news?

In the same year, he didn't notice Wang Zhixiang's expression, and shouted loudly: "You are still 'ah'!" When did you decide? Why don't we even know? If it weren't for the sudden news on the radio just now, we would still be in the dark! ”

This brother is not "the emperor is not in a hurry, and the eunuch is in a hurry". But in the same year, they have always shared weal and woe. If Wang Zhixiang became the governor of Zhili, their benefits would naturally be indispensable, so they took the initiative to help Zhang Luo. Now that Wang Zhixiang has announced his retirement, it is equivalent to their fantasy future coming to naught, and they can't help but be in a hurry.

Only then did Wang Zhixiang come to his senses: It turned out that Sun Yuanqi went out on the front foot, and ordered the China Broadcasting Company to publish news on the back foot, the purpose of which was to create established facts. So that he could not go back. At this point, Wang Zhixiang had no choice but to sigh: "Just now Sun Baixi came to visit and told Brother Yu that the State Council and the Great Presidential Palace had recently had a very unpleasant quarrel over the matter of Wang Mou's supervision. There is even a risk that government affairs will be abolished and the country's foundation will be shaken. Wang was heartbroken when he heard the news, so he decided to hang up his crown and go into hiding. I didn't discuss it with you in the same year before, so please do a lot of Haihan if it's rude! ”

In order to prevent long nights and dreams, Wang Zhixiang left Beijing and went south that night. went to the Shanghai Concession to work as a resident.

Wang Zhixiang's sudden retreat is tantamount to pouring cold water on the white-hot dispute between the government and the courtyard. Both sides immediately calmed down. For the Great Presidential Palace, it didn't cost a penny to send away Wang Zhixiang, the plague god, and no one touched the position of governor of Zhili, of course, he couldn't help but be happy. And for the general ministers of the State Council, it is also a long sigh of relief. In the final analysis, the most depressed thing was the Alliance, Tang Shaoyi, Song Jiaoren and others were very angry about this, but Wang Zhixiang suddenly chose to go into hiding. I can't blame anyone else, so I have to hold back my sullen breath in my stomach.

After this stalemate. The relationship between the government and the court deteriorated even more, and they could only barely maintain a superficial hypocrisy. Anyone with a discerning eye knows that this responsible cabinet has reached the end of its rope, and is now only in a dying struggle, and perhaps it will collapse tomorrow, perhaps when the next wave comes. Major parties such as the League, the Republican Party, and the United Republican Party have not even shied away from openly discussing in the newspapers the method of forming the second cabinet.

In such a situation where the rain is about to come, as a large and influential party in the provisional Senate, the New China Party naturally cannot remain silent. Yang Yongtai, who was preparing to set up a branch in Henan, also put down the affairs at hand and hurried to the capital to discuss countermeasures with party bigwigs Sun Yuanqi, Zhang Jian, and Tang Shouqian.

In the study room of the old house in Houhai, Yang Yongtai first gave a general introduction to the situation: "The cause of this trend is the all-staff meeting of the Alliance held in Beijing not long ago. At the meeting, Song Dunchu proposed that the cabinet should be a purely political party cabinet in the future, that is, the largest party in the Senate should form the cabinet, and a person of national faith should serve as the prime minister, and other political parties should not be involved; If the current mixed party cabinet system is adopted in the next term, the League will no longer participate. After Song Dunchu's remarks appeared in the newspaper, they quickly aroused widespread attention and heated discussions throughout the country. ”

Tang Shouqian was a little surprised: "As far as I know, the Alliance does not currently have an advantage in the Senate, at most it is the second and third, why are they so bold to make such a proposal?" ”

Before the Provisional Senate moved north, Yuan Shikai, in order to change the situation that the League was dominant in the Senate, sent a telegram to all provinces across the country, claiming that there were as many as 5 provincial representatives in the Senate before, but some provinces had only 1 representative, and even some provinces had no representatives, which was obviously unfair; Moreover, there are only two or three representatives in each province, and the name of each province cannot be faithfully and comprehensively expressed. The provinces were ordered to elect five members of the Provisional Provincial Assembly as the electoral body to form a new Senate. As a result, the number of members of the Senate increased from 43 to 120, and the share of the parties in parliament changed dramatically.

The Republican Party, which was formed by five opposing parties to the League, including the Democratic Society, the United Party, the National Association, the Republic of China Association, and the Imperial Constitutional Council, became the largest party in the House of Councillors. Of course, the Republican Party's advantage is not obvious, with only about 35 members of the law, far less than half of them, and in the event of a major controversial vote, it must seek the support of other political parties.

After all, the League is an established political party, and although its share has shrunk sharply after the expansion of the Senate, there are still twenty or thirty members. The New China Party has a solid vote base in the four provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Shanxi, plus Tang Shou's potential influence in Zhejiang and Zhang Jian's forces in Jiangsu, as well as scattered support in Anhui, Zhili, Hubei, etc., and there are also 20 or 30 parliamentarians, which are on a par with the League. Next is the United Republican Party, backed by Yunnan Governor Cai Yi, with about 15 members; The Republican Building Symposium and other small parties and independents shared the remaining dozen or so seats.

Therefore, judging from the current composition of the Senate, the League does not have an advantage. If the largest party in the Senate were to form a government, the League would most likely stand aside and play soy sauce.

Sun Yuanqi said: "Now this Senate is only temporary, and it is not accurate, in the final analysis, it still depends on the Congress." In accordance with the requirements of the North-South peace talks, the first nationwide election of members of the National Assembly will be held at the end of this year and early next year. If I'm not mistaken, Song Jiaoren proposed a purely party cabinet bill to prepare for the upcoming parliamentary elections! ”

Chen Xunen, who was attending the meeting as an observer, said: "Your Excellency is right, according to the latest news, now Song Dunchu is preparing to reorganize the League and establish a new political party; On the one hand, it actively co-opts the United Republican Party, the National Communist, the National Progressive Association, and the Republican Practical Progressive Party, and strives to achieve a merger of political parties. If Soong's plan succeeds, there will be twenty or thirty seats in the League, fifteen seats in the United Republican Party, and other small parties will also surpass the Republican Party and become the largest party in the Senate. ”

"I see!" Tang Shouqian suddenly realized, "What are the Republican Party's moves?" Do you just sit back and wait to die? ”

Yang Yongtai said: "After Song Dunchu's remarks appeared in the newspaper, the Republican Party immediately held a meeting in Beijing and decided that the cabinet system should be a transcendent prime minister and a mixed cabinet, advocating the use of a person trusted by the president as prime minister; If a purely party cabinet system is adopted, they will refuse to vote in the Senate. In addition, in response to Song Dunchu's aggressiveness, they also spread rumors in the newspapers, claiming that Song Dunchu repeatedly embarrassed Tang Shaochuan in the cabinet, and the purpose was to make Tang Shaochuan resign and become the prime minister himself. ”

Compared with the New China Party's monopoly on radio broadcasting, the Republican Party also has its own public opinion position, that is, a large number of newspapers and periodicals. They have their own newspapers in big cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan, Changsha, Jinan, Guangzhou, Nanning, and even Tokyo in Japan, with a total of about thirty or forty newspapers. If you start to spread rumors in unison, you can also say that the false is true, and the dead are alive.

Zhang Jian said in a deep voice: "Thinking back to Song Dunchu's various actions in the cabinet, I am afraid that what the Republican Party said may not be rumors!" ”

Sun Yuanqi nodded: "If the United Republican Party really merges with the Alliance, the Republican Party will lose ground in the Senate, so while exposing and criticizing Song Dunchu, the Republican Party is also actively wooing the United Republican Party and our New China Party." Yesterday, Sun received an invitation from the Republican Party, saying that he would hold a joint meeting with the New China Party and the United Republican Party to discuss the method for forming the second cabinet of the Republic of China. To put it bluntly, it is to pull us into the alliance to do it. It was not appropriate for me to go to this meeting with Si Weng and Yu Weng, but I couldn't help but go, so I had to trouble Chang Qing to attend on my behalf. ”

Yang Yongtai said: "My subordinates are willing to serve the dogs and horses!" But after I go, how do I express my position? According to the 'enlightened party**' advocated by adults, we should support the pure party cabinet of the League. ”

Sun Yuanqi said: "After you go, you will be cautious in your words and deeds, less words and less deeds." It's really hard to do it, you just get in the mud, for example, the mixed party cabinet is very good, but the pure party cabinet seems to be very good; We should support the appointment of a person of the national faith as prime minister, but it is also necessary to have the trust of the president. ”

Yang Yongtai smiled: "It is to be offended." ”

Zhang Jian suddenly asked: "Yu Xian, Bai Xi, the old man doesn't understand a little, the chairman of the Republican Party is Li Huangpi (Li Yuanhong), although they don't deal with the Alliance, but their ultimate goal should be to push Li Huangpi to the throne, why do they now support Yuan Xiangcheng in turn?" Is there something greasy in the middle? ”

Sun Yuanqi replied with some uncertainty: "It is estimated that there is an exchange of interests between Li Huangpi and Yuan Xiangcheng, but it is too **, we don't know for the time being." (To be continued......)