Nine idlers

Chapter 220 VII 'Intervention' is a foregone conclusion

With the fall of the south of the Yangtze River and the successive uprisings in Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces, the Qing court felt unprecedented panic, and there was a feeling of the sky falling and the earth falling.They don't know why the country that was originally stable has become like this overnight, but when things have developed to the present, it is natural to find someone to take responsibility, so Sheng Xuanhuai, who was framed by the Beiyang faction, became a scapegoat. All official positions were removed and he was placed under house arrest in Shandong.All of this was expected by Xu Shichang and Yuan Shikai in advance, otherwise they would not temporarily transfer the Beiyang Army back to Tianjin, deliberately creating the illusion that Jiangnan's troops are empty, because in their view, apart from Yuan Shikai, the only one in the current Qing court is Yuan Shikai. A person who can support the overall situation is Sheng Xuanhuai.With Sheng Xuanhuai's ability and prestige, it is absolutely possible to stabilize the position of the Qing court. If Sheng Xuanhuai is not eliminated, it will be difficult for Yuan Shikai to get out of the mountain. Even if he does, he will not be able to grasp all the real power of the Qing court.

The subsequent development of the matter proceeded as Xu Shichang expected. Although the Qing government sent new troops stationed in Beijing to the south of the Yangtze River, it was still completely unable to hold back the momentum of the revolutionary army, so the Qing court focused its attention on the elite Beiyang army. .At this time, Xu Shichang submitted the paper, requesting that Yuan Shikai be reinstated, and Zaifeng and Yi Kuang were not fools, so they were naturally unwilling to let such a powerful figure as Yuan Shikai come back, so they rejected Xu Shichang's paper without hesitation.

So Xu Shichang, Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang and other generals of the Beiyang Army immediately refused to go south to suppress the rebellion on the grounds that the Qing court did not pay the army.The Beiyang Army's excuse was very delicate. If the Qing government had money in the treasury, why would they implement the state-owned railway policy? But in order to stop the Beiyang Army's excuse, Zaifeng and Longyu insisted on melting the gold and silver utensils in the palace and turning them into Gold and silver ingots were used as military pay.Although they have money, the true purpose of the Beiyang faction has not been achieved, so they simply pretended to claim that the military salary was insufficient and they were still unwilling to send troops.

The Qing court was 'forced' to be helpless, and in the end had no choice but to obey the Beiyang faction, and asked Yuan Shikai to come out of the mountain, let him return to his original post, and continue to serve as cabinet minister and imperial envoy.However, Yuan Shikai knew very well that this was a false position, which was far from the position he had in mind, so he continued to decline to leave the mountain on the grounds of recuperating his illness.Seeing that the revolutionary army is getting stronger and stronger, and the Qing Dynasty is about to perish, Zaifeng and Yi Kuang finally reluctantly agreed to Yuan Shikai's request to serve as the prime minister of the cabinet and control the army and navy. At this moment, Yuan Shikai officially took control of the military and political power of the Qing court. Became the uncrowned king of the Qing Dynasty.

After Yuan Shikai returned to Beijing, the first thing he did was not to send troops south, but to drive Zaifeng, who had long been tired of officialdom, from the throne of regent under the pretext of protecting the Qing court, and then put Yi Kuang under house arrest in the Prince's Mansion , There was a big shake-up of officials at all levels of the court.After he felt that the capital had stabilized, he immediately transferred Duan Qirui from the position of Jiangbei Governor, led the Beiyang First Army to march south, and joined forces with Feng Guozhang, who had been waiting in the south, to attack the Southern Revolutionary Army.The third Beiyang town led by Cao Kun and the first Beiyang town under the control of Long Jinbao were sent to Shaanxi and Shanxi respectively to suppress the revolutionary army.

Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang are worthy of being famous generals in the world, Cao Kun and Long Jinbao are also worthy of the title of titans, and the Beiyang Army is worthy of being the first army of China.In just over ten days, the revolutionary armies in Shanxi and Shaanxi were completely suppressed, and most of Anhui, Jiangsu and other places were recaptured.It can be said that the revolutionary army was retreating steadily. Even Wuhan, which had the strongest military strength of the entire revolutionary army and was appointed by Huang Xing, was quickly captured by the two towns of Hanyang and Hankou after the arrival of the Beiyang army.

However, just when everyone thought that Yuan Shikai would send his troops across the river and subdue the whole of Jiangnan, telegrams fell into the hands of the military commanders. There were only eight words on them: "Stop attacking and stand by for orders."This move of the Beiyang Army not only surprised the Qing court, but even the Revolutionary Army was at a loss. However, Yuan Shikai gave the excuse that the Revolutionary Army was too strong, the Beiyang Army suffered heavy losses, and the court needed to increase military expenditures.

Everyone knew that this was just an excuse, but the Qing court had to take it seriously and immediately issued patriotic bonds in order to get the money Yuan Shikai needed as soon as possible.On the other hand, the revolutionary army also felt that this was a negotiation signal from Yuan Shikai to them, and in view of the strength of the Beiyang Army, the Tongmenghui also expressed that they should negotiate with Yuan Shikai.It's just that the revolutionary army has never had any contact with Yuan Shikai, and they don't know how to start.There is no way to deal with the Wai Dao League, although the Wai Dao League has also tried to develop disciples in the Beiyang Army, but with little success.In addition to Yuan Shikai's tight grasp of the Beiyang Army, Xu Shichang, who is well versed in low-level sect techniques, assisted him, so that all the members of the Outer Dao League in the Beiyang Army were low-level people, and they could not get in touch with generals. high level.When all the forces in the north and south were looking for a suitable negotiating middleman, their eyes were all focused on the Chen family in Shanghai.

Since the separation of the two lines of the Chen family, the influence on the Chinese political and business circles has been weakening day by day.But a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Even now that they have lost their ancestral property in the south, the Chen family's direct lineage is still the most powerful businessman in China.The relationship between the Chen family and foreigners from various countries is enough to affect the entire Chinese political situation, and it is precisely because of the relationship between the Chen family that the consuls of various countries express their acquiescence to the revolutionary army's uprising and the establishment of a military 'government'.At this moment, the North and the South wanted to negotiate, and the Chen family, who had connections with the high-level officials of both sides, naturally became the preferred intermediary of both parties.

Yuan Shikai also attached great importance to the attitude of the Chen family. Regardless of the financial resources and prestige of the Chen family, the relationship between the Chen family and foreigners was enough to move Yuan Shikai, not to mention that behind the Chen family was Xu Changqing who made him scruple.The fact that Long Jinbao is Xu Changqing's registered disciple is not a secret among the senior officials of the Beiyang Army. He can become a vassal in a short period of time, and he can annex the first town of Beiyang, which is enough to make Yuan Shikai do it. Moved.Moreover, Jiang Sanbao, another registered disciple of Xu Changqing, also served under Wang Shizhen's command, and was trained by Wang Shizhen as a successor. In just a few months, he had mastered Wang Shizhen's [-] Beiyang Army.With these two people in the Beiyang Army, even though Yuan Shikai knew that practitioners should not meddle too much in secular affairs, he had to pay special attention to them. Whether it was intentional or not, he finally chose Chen Jiachong as the secret place for the negotiation.

Xu Changqing knew about Yuan Shikai's decision to negotiate with Chen Jiachong before the two parties contacted the Chen family.