Seeing Chen Gong away, Sun Yuanqi originally thought that Beijing could be quiet for a few days, but he did not expect that a bigger trend was brewing than borrowing for the aftermath of disarmament, and the direction of the trend was directly aimed at Tang Shaoyi's cabinet, which had not been in power for a long time.

If you really want to talk about this trend, you can't fail to mention one person: Wang Zhixiang.

Wang Zhixiang, the word Tieshan, a native of Tongxian County, was born in the eighth year of Xianfeng in the former Qing Dynasty (1858), and his final education was a lifter, and he was slightly cold at the end of the Qing Dynasty of the Manchu Dynasty, indicating that his reading skills were commonplace. However, he mixed well in the officialdom, and successively served as Zhongshu Zhongshu, Henan Guangzhou Zhizhou, Jiangxi Taoist, Guangxi Guiping Wu Taoist, Guangxi according to the inspection envoy (later changed to mention the law envoy) and so on". By the eve of the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, he had become the political envoy of Guangxi and the commander of the Central Road Patrol Team, and was a well-deserved second-in-command in Guizhou Province.

After the Wuchang Uprising, forced by the revolutionary situation, Guangxi declared independence peacefully, and the former governor of Guangxi, Shen Bingkun, became the governor of Guangxi, and Wang Zhixiang, who ranked second, and Lu Rongting, the governor of Guangxi, served as deputy governors respectively.

Although the governor of Guangxi is the highest military and political governor in the province, Shen Bingkun has only been in Guangxi for less than a year, and his foundation is not deep, so he cannot suppress the situation at all. Like Lu Rongting, who was born as a bandit in Guangxi Province, he has dozens of battalions of troops, and he is the most powerful faction in Guangxi, and he does not listen to Shen Bingkun's orders at all; And Wang Zhixiang entered Guangxi since the 28th year of Guangxu (1902), when Ke Fengshi, who was the governor of Guangxi, and operated in Guangxi for nearly ten years, which is not comparable to Shen Bingkun. Therefore, after the independence of Guangxi, Shen Bingkun, who felt crumbling, had the intention of returning in his heart. At this time, Hanyang, Hubei Province was lost, so he used the excuse of leading the army to aid Hubei. He led his troops to leave Guangxi and return to his hometown in Hunan.

Before leaving, Shen Bingkun appointed Wang Zhixiang as acting governor. The daughter-in-law for many years has become a mother-in-law, and Wang Zhixiang, who has been in politics in Guangxi for nearly ten years, is full of joy. It's a pity that he didn't have the last laugh. Shen Bingkun just walked on his front foot. Lu Rongting, another deputy governor, advocated "Guiren ruling Gui" throughout the province, and won the favor of the whole province, especially the Advisory Bureau. Wang Zhixiang, as a native of Zhili, was naturally among the crackdowns and exclusions, and in desperation, he had no choice but to follow the example of his predecessor Shen Bingkun and lead his troops to leave Guangxi in January 1912 in the name of the Northern Expedition.

When Wang Zhixiang left, he was nominally the commander of the aid army. But what is there to help Hubei? Don't forget that the enemy in front of the Hubei Revolutionary Army is the Beiyang Army, which has the strongest combat power, and the troops from all walks of life have been beaten to the point where they have lost their armor and dragged their troops away, how can Wang Zhixiang be willing to let the little capital he has left lose like this? So on the way north. Wang Zhixiang changed "aid to Hubei" to "aid Ning" and led his troops straight to the seat of the provisional central government of the Republic of China. Sun Yat-sen, who was lonely and widowed in Nanjing, was naturally overjoyed when he saw someone defecting, and on the one hand invited Wang Zhixiang to join the League, and on the other hand, appointed him as the commander of the Third Army and a senior adviser to the War Department. and specially awarded the rank of general.

After the start of the North-South peace talks. The Provisional Senate passed a bill stipulating that all governors of the northern and southern provinces should be renamed governors, and that the consultative bureau should be changed to provincial councils, and that governors should be elected by provincial councils. Gu Zhongxiu, a representative of Zhili who attended the meeting in Nanjing at that time, believed that Wang Zhixiang was quite prestigious in the whole country, and had served as the deputy governor and acting governor of the Guangxi Governor's Office, and then joined the League, and he was the governor of Zhili, and he could control the military power in North China. It plays a role in inhibiting Yuan Shikai. The Nanjing Provisional Government also agreed with this, and the two sides recommended Wang Zhixiang as a candidate for the governor of Zhili to Tang Shaoyi, who was then the plenipotentiary of the northern negotiations.

Tang Shaoyi was not the prime minister at that time. Although he felt that there should be no problem with Wang Zhixiang as the governor of Zhili, he was still the plenipotentiary and still did not dare to be self-dictatorial, and after returning to Beijing, he reported to Yuan Shikai on this matter. Zhili is the birthplace of the Beiyang system, how could Yuan Shikai give it to others? Although Yuan Shikai was unhappy, in order to make the Nanjing Provisional Government make concessions on the issue of Huang Xing as the chief of the army in the cabinet, he still said to the snake: "This matter is easy to discuss!" ”

Tang Shaoyi thought that Yuan Shikai had agreed, so he informed Gu Zhongxiu and other representatives of Zhili with the answer. China's elections are nothing more than a manifestation of the intentions of the higher-level organizations. Since both the north and the south were in favor of electing Wang Zhixiang as the governor of Zhili, the Zhili Council also pushed the boat and elected Wang Zhixiang as the governor of Zhili in March and April.

As soon as Chen Xiao left, Wang Zhixiang stepped down as commander of the Third Army and handed over Huang Xing to be responsible for the dismissal. As a result, Yuan Shikai was very polite to him on the surface, not only invited him to dinner, but also hired him as a senior adviser to the presidential palace, but he just did not issue him a letter of appointment.

After this delay, Wang Zhixiang began to mutter: What the hell is going on? This side has been delaying the issuance of the appointment letter of the governor of Zhili, but over there is sharpening his knife Huo Huo to cut his own Third Army, should he not be in vain? Thinking about it, Wang Zhixiang felt unsteady. So he found Tang Shaoyi, the middleman at the time, and wanted to ask what was going on.

Tang Shaoyi is also very strange: This is what the president promised before, how could he deliberately delay the issuance of the letter of appointment?

In addition to being surprised, Tang Shaoyi felt that as the plenipotentiary negotiator that day, she had the right and obligation to go to the presidential palace to help Wang Zhixiang ask what the reason was. And the last time he signed the loan agreement for the aftermath of disarmament, Tang Shaoyi had a very unpleasant quarrel with Yuan Shikai, and he never set foot in the presidential palace since, and this help can also break the ice between the two by the way.

After the cabinet meeting the next day, Tang Shaoyi went straight to the presidential palace.

Yuan Shikai was pleasantly surprised by Tang Shaoyi's visit, and said when they met: "Shaochuan, why are you free to come here today?" I thought that because of the loan after the last disarmament, you and I were divided! ”

Tang Shaoyi smiled: "What did the marshal say?" Tang has met Dashuai in North Korea in the tenth year of Guangxu (1884) for nearly 30 years. Moreover, debate for government affairs is also the norm after the implementation of democracy and republic, if this is the case, then politicians in Europe and the United States are not enemies everywhere? We should neither abolish private with public or private with private justice! ”

Yuan Shikai also smiled: "Then Shaochuan came here this time, is it for public or private?" ”

Tang Shaoyi said: "Naturally, it is both public and private. ”

Yuan Shikai suddenly smiled stiffly, raised the tea bowl and took a sip of ginseng soup before saying: "Then we won't abolish the public with private interests, let's talk about business first!" ”

Tang Shaoyi did not refuse, and said directly: "The main thing is Wang Tieshan (Wang Zhixiang)'s business. Yesterday, Wang Tieshan found Tang and claimed that the Zhili Provincial Council had publicly elected him as the governor, so he went north from Nanjing and petitioned the Grand Presidential Office to issue a letter of appointment in accordance with the resolution of the Senate. For this reason, he also visited the president, but he didn't see any movement for a long time, so he asked Tang to ask about the situation. ”

Yuan Shikai's face was a little ugly, but his tone was more gentle: "Yuan knew about this matter, but he didn't dare to use a seal on the appointment letter, and the reason for it was that Shaochuan could also understand and understand." ”

"Oh, what do you mean?"

Yuan Shikai said: "Shaochuan, you and I have been dating for nearly 30 years, and you were also a member of Beiyang before, so you should know the importance of Zhili to Beiyang." In such a place of throat and lifeblood, how can you fake your hands to others? Yuan didn't know much about Wang Tieshan's past, but he hurriedly joined the League when he led his troops to Nanjing, and according to this, he was also a revolutionary. For him to serve as the governor of Zhili, it is tantamount to luring wolves into the house. If he unites with the Southern Revolutionary Party in the future, will we Beiyang people still have a legacy? ”

Tang Shaoyi frowned, and said very sincerely: "But Dashuai, since you have promised before, you can't lose your words now!" This is not only a matter of you and me breaking our promises, but also a matter of the Cabinet's authority and the prestige of the government. Tang has followed Dashuai for so many years, and Dashuai has the grace of knowing Tang and the virtue of supporting, you might as well make a few jokes, but you can't lose your trust in the Zhili Council, the Alliance, and the world! ”

Yuan Shikai said: "It is indeed Yuan's fault to lose his trust in others, but it is just an expedient measure that has to be used because of the situation, and it cannot be done." Now that time has passed, Zhili does not allow others to get involved, so he has to make an appointment with Wang Tieshan. However, the Grand Presidential Palace will not treat him harshly, and in addition to arranging him with a position not lower than that of the Governor, there will be other rewards. What does Shaochuan think? ”

Tang Shaoyi said in a deep voice: "Tang can't accept this change of the president, and I hope that the president can respect the "Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China" and not lose faith in the people of Zhili!" ”

Yuan Shikai was also a little angry: "Wang Tieshan's appointment as the governor of Zhili was promised by you, I didn't know in the first place, it wasn't Yuan's dishonesty at all, and it wasn't that Yuan didn't respect the "Provisional Law"!" ”

Tang Shaoyi felt quite depressed about Yuan Shikai's scoundrel: "Since the president said so, and this is also the authority of the responsible cabinet, Tang has no choice but to issue the appointment according to the originally agreed results and the resolution of the Zhili Council, and I hope the president will forgive me." ”

Yuan Shikai sneered: "According to the "Provisional Covenant Law", can the cabinet bill take effect after it is issued without going through the seal of the Great Presidential Palace? ”

"You!" Tang Shaoyi was suddenly speechless.

"Prime Minister Shaochuan, Yuan is a little tired, let's stop today's deliberations! As for Wang Tieshan's appointment, we will discuss it later. Yuan Shikai immediately issued an eviction order, and Tang Shaoyi had no choice but to retreat.

On the surface, the proposals of the cabinet and the Zhili Parliament cannot take effect without the seal of the Great Presidential Palace, and Wang Zhixiang, who cannot obtain a valid appointment letter, cannot go to Zhili to take up his post, and the initiative in this matter is completely controlled by Yuan Shikai. But Yuan Shikai felt that these were far from enough, he wanted to take the initiative to kick Wang Zhixiang out of Zhili, firmly control the position of governor of Zhili in his own hands, and bring a little color to the disobedient cabinet by the way!

On the second day of Tang Shaoyi's visit to Yuan Shikai, the various troops stationed in Zhili jointly sent a telegram to the whole country, openly opposing Wang Zhixiang as the governor of Zhili, and saying that they would take all means to prevent Wang Zhixiang from taking office if necessary!

Immediately afterwards, the deputies in the Zhili Parliament who advocated Wang Zhixiang's direct administration received an anonymous letter, which, in addition to the threats, was accompanied by a bullet. The implication is self-explanatory. (To be continued.) For mobile phone users, please go to read. )

ps: Uncle He wants to come on code!

The highest level of codewords is,

The man is a eunuch,

Books but no eunuchs!!