young marshal spring and autumn

Zhang Hanqing's remarks were reported to the desk of Yuan Shikai in the Beijing Presidential Palace soon after.It's not how pleasant his words are, but it coincides with President Yuan's thoughts - in this turbulent era, there are not many generals and officials like Zhang Zuolin who can educate their sons to be so "loyal" see you.

In history, Yuan Shikai was a generation of heroes in the history of the Republic of China: he single-handedly created the Beiyang family, forced the Qing emperor to abdicate with his strength, and used the covenant to run against Sun Yat-sen in exchange for the post of president.In order to avoid being controlled by others, he used tricks to make his soldiers mutiny, so as to achieve the purpose of refusing to go south to Nanjing to take office.At the beginning of his tenure, he used all means to strengthen personal power, undermine the legal system, trample on democracy, and pursue the unity of autocracy and dictatorship; Withdraw from the government, reduce the revolutionary army, and then mercilessly soak them in blood.

In January 1914, he dissolved the Congress again, tore up the "Contract", and wiped out all traces of democratic politics.However, all these reactionary actions that stifled the vitality of the nation were done under the cover of catchy slogans of "unifying the country", "saving the country and the people" and "defending the republic".Afterwards, Yuan believed that "the people are abusing democracy and freedom, and the people's political understanding is still in its infancy", so he abolished the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China, and launched a new "Constitution of the Republic of China" in May, changing the cabinet system to the presidential system.Although various centralization measures are manifestations of dictatorship, they have also won the reputation of "the first Washington in the Republic of China".Later, the presidential election law was amended so that the president can be re-elected indefinitely, and the new president is also appointed by the incumbent president.

He is well aware of the importance of strength to the regime, and he also has the essence of power tactics.When he was in power, although he was a dictator, he also changed the bad governance of the late Qing government, where local governments were independent and the central government was weak.Look at the history since Yuan stepped down, the Republic of China immediately fell into warlord melee for 14 years!

His containment of the important people in the army can be described as a state of perfection.Duan Qirui, the chief of the trusted army, is in charge of the army, and the warlords from all over the country are guarding the outside.

The Northeast is an important place to defend Gyeonggi. He first sent his confidant Zhang Xiluan to control the military affairs of Fengtian, Jilin, and Heilongjiang.

Yuan Shikai was wary of Zhang Zuolin, which was his consensus with all the local generals who held heavy troops.But Zhang Zuolin was also a hero of the generation. In the end of Yuan Shikai's first life, he never had any blatant confrontation with the central government.At the same time, Yuan Shikai also believed that he could control Zhang Zuolin. After all, Zhang Zuolin's strength was limited and he only had the strength of one division.

Even so, Yuan Shikai was still worried about Zhang Zuolin, the popular king of Fengtian.He transferred Feng Delin as the commander of the 28th Division, conferred on Feng the rank of lieutenant general, second-class Wen Huxing, second-class Jiahe medal, and third-class Baoguang Jiahe medal. He was equal to Zhang Zuolin in Fengtian as a constraint.He also dispatched Xu Lanzhou, the ambitious commander of the First Division of the Army, to station in Heilongjiang to prevent Zhang Zuolin from growing up in the Northeast.At the same time, Meng Enyuan, who is stationed in Jilin, is not easy to deal with. Zhu Hao is tied in the northeast, and Zhang Zuolin is even more low-key.

The world is settled, and the princes return to their hearts.At this moment, Yuan Shikai looked forward to Zixiong, thinking that he was a person chosen by fate, who could change the course of history as he wished.He looked up at the sky all the time, and secretly asked the boundless earth, who was in charge of the ups and downs.Who in this world knows what is on his mind, who dares to speak out?

In fact, who doesn't know?At least, Zhang Hanqing is very clear about this process, clear and familiar.

Yuan Shikai's important counselor, Yang Du, who called himself the "Emperor's Teacher", presented "On the Salvation of the Nation by the Monarch Constitution" two years ago, "If China does not abolish the republic and establish a monarch, there will be no hope for a strong country, no hope for a rich country, and no hope for a constitution. In the end, the country is subjugated... Therefore, using the power of autocracy to implement the cause of constitution is an excellent opportunity for the sage King Yingpi to make great achievements." Yuan Shikai's words won the praise of Yuan Shikai, and they were called "the most reasonable words".Taking advantage of this trend, Yang Du co-organized a preparatory meeting with Sun Yuyun, Liu Shipei, Li Xiehe, Hu Ying, Yan Fu and others during Yuan Shikai's tenure as the Deputy Minister of Government Studies. Proclaim the emperor.Yuan Shikai added to his favor, and personally bestowed an inscription on the plaque, calling him "a talented man of the ages".

Under such intentional or unintentional hints, all bureaucrats, big and small, tried their best to "persuade them" in order to gain support.Since August, there has been an undercurrent of restructuring in Beijing.Adviser to the Presidential Office Dr. Goodnow published in the "Beijing Evening News" on the advantages and disadvantages of the monarchy and the republic, and then Yang Du and others initiated a preparatory meeting (Yang was the chairman, Sun Yuyun was the deputy, Yan Fu, Liu Shipei, Li Xiehe, and Hu Ying were the Director) said, "Which one is more appropriate to study the monarchy and democracy from an academic point of view?" Call the provincial generals, patrol envoys, capital commanders, military expansion envoys, provincial cities, Shanghai and Hankou chambers of commerce, please send representatives to Beijing.

Of course, his elder son Yuan Keding contributed the most.The future "prince" tried his best to strengthen his father's confidence in being emperor.You can't blame him either, the position of prince is really too tempting.But although my father looks forward to Zixiong, he is deliberate and timid in this matter, and needs to push hard.After all, China's 2000-year-old imperial power politics has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Such a big thing needs to be carefully weighed.

In Yuan Shikai's view, the country is generally stable, and there is nothing that can threaten him, but the attitude of the big powers, especially Japan's, is crucial.Because the Article 21 issue was not pleasant to Japan, he was very concerned about the direction of the wind in Japan.

"Shuntian Times" is what Yuan Shikai read every day, because this newspaper not only has a large circulation, but also is a Chinese newspaper run by the Japanese in Tianjin. From it, we can see the trend of the Japanese government, and Yuan Shikai's attitude towards Japan at that time is the most sensitive.As the saying goes, "There is no one who knows a son like a father", and vice versa.In order to make the old man proclaim himself emperor and realize his "Prince Dream", Yuan Keding did not hesitate to forge a fake "Shuntian Times" that published some news advocating the monarchy and supporting President Yuan Da as emperor, and sent it to him every day. Show Yuan Shikai, this has to be said to be a strange story.

"Britain is a constitutional monarchy, and the sun never sets today; Japan is a constitutional monarchy, and the country prospers from a corner. In today's China, the republic is at a dead end, and only by restoring the dynastic system can the story of China be promoted." This is the story of the three days. headlines.

"The trend of constitutional monarchy is gradually increasing, and the people are excited, saying that ZTE is hopeful. The president should obey the destiny and accept the public opinion." This is the editor's note on the [-]th.

Yuan Shikai was delighted to see these more and more blunt persuasion of public opinion every day.But on the surface, he still pretended to be calm. After all, in the past dynasties, the emperor had to humble himself three times. He couldn't break this tradition.

But one day, a maid of Yuan Shikai's third favorite daughter, Yuan Jingxue, was going home to visit her father. Yuan Jingxue loved black-skinned five-spice crispy broad beans at that time, so she asked her to buy some to bring back to eat.The next day, the girl bought a big bag and brought it back wrapped in the entire "Suntian Times".When Yuan Jingxue was eating broad beans, she accidentally saw this newspaper a few days ago, which was different from the "Suntian Times" they usually read, so she hurriedly searched for the newspaper of the same day to check, and found that The date is the same, but the content is much different.Yuan Jingxue felt very strange at the time, so she went to her second brother Yuan Kewen to ask what was going on.

Yuan Kewen has always been very dissatisfied with his father's desire to proclaim himself emperor.In fact, he had already seen the different "Suncheon Times" outside the mansion, but he didn't dare to explain it to his father.Now that the little girl is in her early years, of course she goes along with the flow and asks Yuan Jingxue, "Do you dare to say it?" Yuan Jingxue is still young, so why not dare to be provoked by her brother?Immediately said: "I dare." When that night, she gave Yuan Shikai the real "Suncheon Times".

For Yuan Shikai, who is obsessed with tyranny, such a result is difficult to accept.It's no wonder, I thought that with a wave of my arm, there would be crowds of voices, but I didn't expect that it was my own son who was playing tricks?At that time, he frowned and didn't express anything, just said: "Go and play." The next morning, he found Yuan Keding.When it was found out that he was the culprit, Yuan Shikai was so angry that he beat him with a leather whip in the sound of Yuan Keding kneeling and begging for mercy.

From then on, Yuan Shikai became angry when he saw the eldest son. No matter what he said, he always put on a straight face, let out a "hum" from his nose, and stopped talking to him to show his respect for him. distrust.

Although Yuan Keding lost the old man's trust at a critical moment, he still has a trump card, which is the "family curse" that Yuan Shikai can't get rid of.This matter is very strange to say, in Yuan Shikai's family, those who went out to serve as officials have never lived beyond the age of 60, such as Yuan Jiasan, Yuan Baoheng, Yuan Baoling, Yuan Baoqing, and even Yuan Shikai's own father Yuan Baozhong also died in his prime.As a result, the 60-year-old mark became a long-lasting nightmare in Yuan Shikai's heart, which could not go away. Since the founding of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai's health has been deteriorating, which made him feel even more suspicious.

When the sixty-year-old deadline is approaching, Yuan Keding made repeated remarks, declaring that "only by proclaiming himself emperor can he break through this curse", which had to have a strong attraction for Yuan Shikai.That's right, the emperor is the "Ninth Five-Year Supreme", the most prestigious in the world, what is more noble than this in the world?Perhaps, this curse really dare not infringe on "The Right One"?To put it bluntly, Yuan Shikai was also a superstitious person at that time, and it would be unreasonable if Yuan Keding was entirely to blame for proclaiming himself emperor.Besides, the situation is already in a difficult situation, and once the engine is refueled, it will definitely not be able to stop in an instant.