The "calling the army into chaos" as Yuan Shikai and Sun Yuanqi said is the famous "second revolution" in history.

Current history textbooks often attribute the root cause of the Second Revolution to Yuan Shikai's violation of the Covenant, his authoritarianism, and the killing of revolutionary comrades, and the Kuomintang and Sun Yat-sen became victims of forced resistance. The most direct triggers of the Second Revolution were the assassination of Song Jiaoren and the aftermath of the large-scale loan case, which also seems to confirm this. Is history really like this? In fact, as early as January of the first year of the Republic of China, when Yuan Shikai and Li Yuanhong approached for peace talks, some people in the "Minduo Daily" had already drawn on the historical experience of the French revolution and put forward the possibility of a "second revolution".

At that time, the north and the south had just fought a bloody battle in Hankou, and on the surface, they were full of fighting spirit, and the Beiyang Army under Yuan Shikai carried the power of victory, and had the courage to "destroy this and eat in the morning"; In addition to the courage of the revolutionary party, which is not afraid of heaven and earth, there are also friendly troops from the southern provinces who have gradually come to their aid, and they also claim that they want to "fight across the Yangtze River and liberate the whole of China." Despite the loud clamor of both blows, today you issue an ultimatum, and tomorrow I issue a pre-war mobilization order, as if a major war is about to break out, in fact, neither side has the intention of fighting again.

For Yuan Shikai, he has just recovered, and the six towns of Beiyang have not known how many hidden stakes have been planted by the Manchu imperial family in the past two or three years, and they have to be subject to the Qing government in logistics and diplomacy. Therefore, he adopted the strategy of raising his own respect, stopped by the Yangtze River, and while cleaning up and rectifying the old Beiyang department, he liaised with various forces and ministers of various countries in the government and the opposition. Actively seize power in the North. As for the revolutionary party in the south, it is natural that the main thing should be pacification.

For the revolutionary party. Don't look at the word "Northern Expedition" on their lips all the time, in fact, the first battle of Hankou has already made them lose their souls, and even Li Yuanhong, the veteran general on the battlefield, fled when he heard the news, not to mention others? The defeated soldiers still have to be contained, the wounded soldiers have to be treated, the recruits have to be trained, and the reinforcements have to be run in, and there is no way to fight again in the short term. They have a fierce attitude. It is not necessarily a sincere opposition to peace. This may just confirm the saying "bite the dog and don't bark, call the dog and don't bite".

Moreover, at that time, many revolutionaries were wholeheartedly convinced of the democratic system and had great confidence that their revolutionary ideas would be supported by the people of the whole country. Song Jiaoren is an important representative of this kind of person.

Just like Sun Yuanqi said to Sun Yat-sen before: "What you can't get on the battlefield." Even at the negotiating table. "Under the premise that Yuan Shikai has superior forces, any attempt to seize power is futile. In the more than a year between the conclusion of the North-South peace talks and the outbreak of the Second Revolution, the revolutionary party tried all kinds of means to take power in the central government, but in the end it failed. In the midst of one defeat after another, the revolutionary party also rekindled little by little the idea of taking power by armed force.

In the south, revolutionaries were born and died to overthrow the Manchu government. Life is still embarrassing; Many of the revolutionary soldiers who participated in the Battle of Xinhai were ordered by the government to disband, disband, dismantle and return to the fields. These people have long been indignant in their hearts, and after the deliberate instigation of some people with ulterior motives, the tide of revolution is getting stronger and stronger, and it takes a spark to turn into a prairie fire.

Thus. The cause of the second revolution is better to say. It was because the previous revolution was not thorough enough. To put it bluntly, the revolutionaries have not reaped enough benefits.

Yuan Shikai's attitude towards the second revolution is also quite interesting, on the one hand, he wants to appease the revolutionaries and keep the country peaceful and stable; On the one hand, I think that the long-term pain is better than the short-term pain, and it is better to use force to level the south in one fell swoop now, so as to avoid endless troubles in the future. As the revolutionaries pressed forward step by step, the talk of a "second revolution" became loud, and he began to gradually tend to solve the problem by force.

A solution by force seems like a good idea, especially for Yuan Shikai, who has China's most powerful forces. However, only Yuan Shikai himself can experience the taste.

First of all, his military superiority is not as obvious as it seems. Although the Beiyang elite soldiers under his command have extraordinary cohesion and mobility, and are the most effective army in China, the total number is only about 80,000. In addition to defending the Beijing Division, his 80,000 troops also had to be stationed in Zhili, Shandong, Henan, Hubei and other places, and there were not many troops who could draw out to go south. Although the southern army is geographically scattered, politically it is difficult to keep pace, and the training is insufficient, it is simply a local chicken and a dog, vulnerable to attack, but in terms of number it is several times more than the Beiyang army, and Yuan Shikai still understands the truth of "ants bite elephants to death". If there are too many troops going south, it cannot be ruled out that Sun Yuanqi may send troops to attack his hinterland when the battle is in full swing.

Some people may say that since the army is short, then expand the army! Yuan Shikai didn't think about this problem, but he finally gave up because he faced a second problem: financial difficulties.

How can it be as easy as you think to expand the army? People eat horses and feed, monthly salaries, guns and ammunition, military uniforms and bedding, these are all white flowers! It has cost a huge amount of money to raise these soldiers, and it is a bottomless pit to fight, the so-called "cannon sounds, gold ten thousand taels", you will fill a lot of real money into it! In the last years of the Qing Dynasty, there was still a deficit in supporting the government army with the financial resources of the whole country and paying huge indemnities to various countries, but now the situation of the country is even more deteriorating, and the payment of foreign indemnities is not less, and the number of troops far exceeds that of the previous Qing Dynasty, coupled with the continuous withholding of taxes by the provinces, how can the central government's finances not be difficult? Therefore, since the first year of the Republic of China, the central government has been living on debt.

Another point is that the war is not a matter for Yuan Shikai, the Revolutionary Party, and Sun Yuanqi, but also for the interests of the great powers in China, and they must have their support before the war, or at least acquiesce. In Yuan Shikai's view, he was able to get the full support of the British minister, Sun Yat-sen stood next to the Japanese, and Sun Yuanqi had the United States behind him. The most obvious truth, the Japanese pressed more bets on Sun Yat-sen, and as a result, you Yuan Shikai beat him to ashes, who did the Japanese ask for an account?

Now Sun Yuanqi took the initiative to say that he wanted to stand on the same front as Yuan Shikai, so that he could not only solve the problem he was worried about, but even personally lead the army south to quell the chaos, how could Yuan Shikai not be happy?

But Sun Yuanqi's words changed quickly: "Of course, Sun feels that there are only a few careerists who really want to claim hegemony and cause trouble to the country, and the vast majority of the people still yearn for peace and stability, so our strategy should be to win over a group and crack down on a few, actively divide the plotters, and strive to solve the problem by peaceful means." At the very least, we cannot take the initiative to provoke a war. ”

"What do you mean?" Yuan Shikai didn't understand what Sun Yuanqi meant.

Sun Yuanqi said: "Sun suddenly remembered an interesting story at the end of the previous year. It is said that at that time, the Nanjing Provisional Government elected you as the provisional president, but demanded that you must go to Nanjing to take the oath of office, and sent Cai Heqin, Song Dunchu and others as special envoys to the north to greet you. As we all know, at that time, the Praetorian Guard besieged Jingshi University, and Jingshi University was forced to send planes to bomb the Forbidden City to counteract.

Song Dunchu forgave the plight of the president, quickly returned to Nanjing to report the situation, and proposed to cancel the requirement to go south and allow the president to proclaim his inauguration in Beijing. Ma Junwu, then deputy minister of the Ministry of Industry, scolded: 'Are you a lobbyist for Yuan Xiangcheng? As soon as the words fell, he swung his fist at each other, and punched Song Dunchu in the face, and blood immediately flowed. He lay in the hospital for more than half a month before his wound barely healed. But it was precisely because of Soong's proposal that the president was able to stay in Beijing. I wonder if the president still remembers this? ”

Yuan Shikai's heart moved slightly: "Such a generous kindness, Yuan is naturally unforgettable!" Yesterday, I heard on the radio that Song Dunchu had returned to Beijing a few days ago and publicly announced that he would abandon the formation of a cabinet and instead support the New China Party in power. Baixi, as the leader of the New China Party, wants to come to this time by you to form a cabinet, Yuan is grateful for the old kindness, and wants to recommend Song Dunchu to serve as the head of a certain department in the cabinet, I don't know if it is possible? ”

Sun Yuanqi replied: "Even the prime minister of the cabinet has done it, let alone the chief minister?" If he can take office in the cabinet, Sun will also be honored, and he will naturally have a thousand wishes in his heart. However, Sun had asked for his opinion before, but he firmly adhered to his idea of a pure party cabinet and was unwilling to break his promise to join the mixed party cabinet. Sun can only call in vain! ”

Yuan Shikai frowned: "It's a pity that such a talented person can't enter the government and serve the country." Baixi, you will soon be the prime minister of the cabinet, but you can't let the country have a legacy! ”

Sun Yuanqi thanked him and said: "Sun has a strategy, but it needs to be fulfilled by the president." ”

"Oh?"

"On behalf of all the members of the New China Party, Sun wants to elect Song Dunchu as the president of the Senate."

Yuan Shikai was taken aback: "If the old man is not mistaken, to be the president of the Senate, you must first be a member of the Senate, right?" Is Song Dunchu a member of the Senate? ”

"That's what it takes a big president to do. As far as I know, the elections for the Outer Mongolian and overseas Chinese sectors are still ongoing, and as long as the president agrees, it should not be difficult to elect Song Dunchu as a senator. ”

Yuan Shikai had a look of embarrassment on his face: "I'm afraid that something is wrong with this, right?" ”

When he appointed Cao Rulin as a member of the Outer Mongolian Council, why didn't he feel that there was anything wrong with it? Now he is acting like this, purely for the sake of manipulation! Could it be that without Butcher Zhang, you have to eat hairy pigs? Sun Yuanqi was a little angry, and said directly: "Since the president thinks it is inappropriate, then Song Dunchu's status as a senator will be left to my Central Society to solve!" According to the "Central Society Law", the president can directly nominate him as a member of the society, and it happens that the Central Society is also in the election, so let him participate in the election and be re-elected. ”

Yuan Shikai hurriedly said: "If Song Dunchu is elected by the Central Society, the procedures will be a little cumbersome, so let's leave this matter to the old man!" ”

Sun Yuanqi's face was a little pale.

The two chatted for a while, Sun Yuanqi was about to get up and say goodbye, Yuan Shikai suddenly said: "Baixi, now there are only you and me, the old man wants to say a few words from the bottom of my heart to you." Out of my mouth, into your ears, whether you want to hear it or not, leave this room as if the old man never said it. After a pause, he continued: "Actually, the old man's attitude towards the formation of a cabinet by Baixi is five points in favor and five points against, can you roughly guess why?" (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point (qidian.) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. For mobile phone users, please go to m.qidian. )