On October 10, 1913, Yuan Shikai took a group photo with the envoys of various countries in China after taking office.
On December 29, 1911, on the same day that Sun Yat-sen was elected as the Provisional Congress of China, he called Yuan Shikai, saying that he was only temporarily appointed and that he would give up the post of Great ** to Yuan Shikai in the future. Although the text is temporarily lacking, the heart of waiting for the empty position can finally be revealed in the future. On February 15, 1912, the Nanjing Provisional Senate unanimously elected Yuan Shikai as the provisional congress of China, and stipulated that the date of "taking over with a new one" was Sun Yat-sen's dismissal.
To take over, Yuan Shikai got Nanjing, where he was located at the time. Yuan didn't want to go south, so he used the excuse that the northern garrison frequently mutinied, and the ministers of various countries were dissatisfied, so they asked for more troops from their own country and stayed in Beijing, but did not actually perform their duties. On March 6, the Senate was forced to agree to Yuan Shikai's appointment in Beijing, and at the same time, Yuan Shikai was required to send the premier and state officials to Nanjing to receive the temporary **, and stipulated that "Sun Da** shall be dismissed from office on the day of his confession." ”
Although Yuan Shikai was sworn in in Beijing on March 10, Tang Shaoyi's cabinet was not formally established until March 29. Sun Yat-sen was formally dismissed on April 1 after his confession. From February 15th to April 1st, there was a situation where the nominal temporary ** Yuan Shikai and the de facto temporary ** Sun Yat-sen coexisted, which lasted for 46 days. It is often said that one mountain cannot tolerate two tigers, there are no two days in the sky, and there are no two monarchs in the country, at that time, China at that time, one south and one north, two temporary big **, how to connect government affairs, how to divide power, and how to resolve conflicts?
The day after the abdication of the Qing Emperor, Yuan Shikai sent a telegram to the governors of the north, the armies under his jurisdiction, and the prefectures and counties, requesting that local official and military affairs be maintained.
In these telegrams, including a telegram to Wu Tingfang, the general representative of the Southern Council and the Qing Emperor, and a note copied to the Qing Emperor's abdication edict and preferential treatment of the Qing Dynasty, Yuan Shikai's signature was "full power Yuan". "Plenipotentiary" means "plenipotentiary organization of China**temporary**", indicating that Yuan Shikai at this time believed that his power was still transferred by the Qing Emperor.
This is also evidenced by newly published historical sources. Yuan Shikai was officially elected as the Provisional General ** on February 15, but the "Provisional Republic ** Seal List" collected in "The Complete Works of Yuan Shikai" shows that on February 12, he has secretly used the seal of China, the seal of the Provisional Republic, the Provisional Seal of Great China, the Great Seal, the former Prime Minister of the Qing Dynasty Cabinet Plenipotentiary Organization of China's **Provisional ** Leader Yuan, and the Plenipotentiary Organization of the Provisional Republic** These 6 seals. "Plenipotentiary Yuan" corresponds to "Yuan, the former prime minister of the Qing Dynasty's cabinet with full powers to organize the **provisional ** leader of China". In line with this, on 13 February, he also ordered the temporary renaming of the chief and deputy ministers of the ministries to be the chief and deputy chiefs.
At this time, what is Sun Yat-sen's external title? On February 13, Sun Yat-sen sent a telegram to Wu Tingfang, informing General Suiyuan of the Qing Dynasty to transfer Yi troops to Guisui to attack the Shanxi People's Army, and asked Wu Tingfang to negotiate for the withdrawal of all Qing troops. This electricity is "**Sun Wen". How do Sun Yat-sen and Yuan Shikai call each other? On February 14, Sun Yat-sen told Yuan Shikai that he had recommended Yuan to the Senate as the provisional president. The telegram was addressed "Mr. Yuan Weiting, Beijing" and signed "Sun Wen". Comfort Ting, also written as Comfort Pavilion, is Yuan Shikai's word. Yuan Shikai's reply on February 15 was titled "Sun Da ** Jian", and the payment was "Yuan Shikai". On February 15, Sun Yat-sen sent a telegram to congratulate Yuan Shikai on his election, and unlike on the 14th, the letterhead of the message has changed to "Mr. Yuan Da** Weiting", and the payment is still "Sun Wen". Interestingly, Yuan Shikai's reply on February 16 also called Sun Yat-sen Da**, the telegram was titled "Sun Da**Jian", and the inscription was still "Yuan Shikai". The strange phenomenon of the coexistence of two temporary big ** appeared in China, which had just reformed the old and made a new revolution.
Yuan Shikai was dressed in the newly designed Hongxian Emperor's uniform.
Despite the coexistence of the two temporary big **, the two maintain a delicate relationship. In the telegram to Wu Tingfang, Chen Qimei and other dignitaries on February 17, Sun Yat-sen signed "**Sun Wen". However, on February 15, he called Feng Guozhang, Jiang Guidi, Zhang Xun and other northern generals to congratulate Emperor Qing on his resignation and thank the generals for their concerted efforts.
The same is true for Yuan Shikai. The available information shows that Yuan Shikai issued a decree in the name of Da**, which first appeared in the "Telegram to Zhao Erxun, Governor of the Three Eastern Provinces" on February 16. The telegram informed Zhao Erxun that the north and the south were marked by the Chinese five-color flag, and that all armies flying this flag were not allowed to attack each other. The telegram was finally signed "Xinju Da** Yuan". On 18 February, he received congratulatory telegrams from Du Huaichuan, commander of the Second Nanjing Division, Chen Maoxiu, commander of the Third Division, and Wu Zhongxin, commander of the Nanjing Patrol Police. In the reply call on the same day, he only signed "Yuan Shikai", without the word "big **".
This is the case in the telegram, but how did the two sign the decree when it was issued? From February 12 to April 1, Sun Yat-sen signed decrees that were almost exclusively aimed at the southern provinces, such as the "Order of the Ministry of Finance to Handle the Former Qing and Shanghai Road Deposits" issued on February 17, which was aimed at Shanghai affairs; On February 22, the "Order of Zhuang Yunkuan to Ban the Fishery Association" was issued for the affairs of Jiangsu and Anhui. Zhuang Yunkuan was the governor of Jiangsu at the time, and the incident originated when the fishermen of Jiangyin wanted to organize a fishery association to monopolize the fishing industry in the Yangtze River, that is, the coastal area, but Sun Yat-sen had not yet approved, and the association began to work, and Sun Yat-sen ordered Zhuang Yunkuan to negotiate with the governor of Anhui to deal with it.
Most of the decrees signed by Yuan Shikai during this period were to let the northern generals truce and let the yamen of the northern provinces change to the Gregorian calendar, etc., using the name of the temporary great. When the "Amnesty Decree" was promulgated on March 10, the name of "Da**" was also used and the seal of "Da**" was stamped. This shows that Sun Yat-sen's ** identity is only used in the southern provinces under his subordinates and jurisdiction; In the same way, Yuan Shikai's ** identity is also mostly used in the northern provinces, that is, within the jurisdiction of the original Qing court. Behind the mystery of Sun Yuan's signature, in fact, was the balance of the northern and southern spheres of influence represented by the two at that time.
Before the abdication of the Qing Emperor, in order to alleviate the financial tension, Yuan Shikai and Shao Ying, the minister of the Acting Branch, proposed to sell the royal utensils of Fengtian and Chengde Summer Resorts to replenish military salaries. When Sun Yat-sen learned of this, he sent a telegram to stop it on February 15. Although it was the 28th day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar at this time, and the Spring Festival was about to be celebrated, Yuan immediately called Zhao Erxun, the governor of the three eastern provinces, to stop the sale of royal artifacts, and called back on the 16th to inform Sun Yat-sen that "a telegram has been sent to ban it." These artifacts from Fengtian and Chengde were later transported to Beijing and placed in the Baoyun Building near the Xihua Gate of the Forbidden City, and were stored in the National Museum and the Capital Museum after 1949. This shows that Yuan Shikai did not coax Sun Yat-sen.
During this period, the two men also communicated on matters such as the release of the revolutionaries and the demand for an end to the conflict between the armies of the North and the South. On February 18, Sun Yat-sen telegraphed Yuan Shikai to report that the revolutionary Liu Danian had been arrested by Zhang Zuolin and imprisoned in Mukden, and demanded that Yuan Shikai order Zhao Erxun's release. Yuan Shikai replied on the same day that he had let Zhao Erxun find out and release. In this negotiation, Sun Yat-sen's call was headed by "Beijing Yuan Da ** Jian", and Yuan Shikai's reply was still headed by "Sun Da ** Jian". On February 21, Zhao Erxun also made a special call to Yuan Shikai to inform him that Liu Danian had been released and sent to Qinhuangdao to take a ship to Shanghai on the same day. Yuan Shikai's cheerful promise shows that one mountain and two tigers get along quite well.
For Sun Yat-sen, Yuan Shikai did not obey his words. On March 12, at the request of all sectors of society, Sun Yat-sen sent a telegram to Yuan Shikai, demanding that Yuan punish the Qing generals Yi Qian, Wang Yujia, and Ding Shiyuan, who had brutally killed the soldiers and civilians of Hubei and insulted the republican form of government during the attack on Hankou in 1911, and at least "stop the commission" for them. The petition itself of punishing Yi Qian and others and sparing the higher-ranking Feng Guozhang and Li Chun gave people the impression that they were bullying the weak and fearing the hard, and Yi Qian and the others were originally under the order of Yuan Shikai to attack Hankou, so Sun Yat-sen's telegram had no effect. In November 1913, Yi Qian, Wang Yujia, and Ding Shiyuan were all promoted to major generals in the army.
Some of Sun Yat-sen's decrees during this period would make Yuan Shikai even more unhappy. On February 16, the Nanjing Provisional Senate, in accordance with the proposal of Gu Zhongxiu, a representative of Zhili, passed the "Bill on the Measures for Receiving the Ruling Power of the Northern Provinces of China", stipulating that all northern provinces should be changed from governors to governors, and that the provisional parliamentary assembly should be convened within one month to elect the official governors. Immediately afterwards, the gentry of Zhili and Shandong in the southern provinces first promoted Jiang Yan, the governor of Jiangbei, to be the governor of Zhili, and then to Wang Zhixiang, the former political envoy of Guangxi, to be the governor of Zhili. Previously, on February 3, Yuan Shikai had appointed his cousin, Zhang Zhenfang, then Changlu Yanyun's envoy, as the acting governor of Zhili. However, due to the fact that Zhang had repaid the salt merchants with a donation of 7 million yuan on the Zhili Road during his tenure as a salt transport envoy, as well as the appointment of private individuals, the provincial officials and gentry expressed their opposition to this appointment.
In early March, Yuan Shikai reached an agreement with Cai Yuanpei, the southern envoy who had come to Beijing to invite him to take up his post in the south, and the provincial governors maintained the status quo. On March 15, Yuan Shikai ordered the governor of the northern provinces and Fu to be changed to the governor, and allowed Zhang Zhenfang to resign and reassign Zhang Xiluan to supervise the governor. Yuan Shikai's concession was not understood, and the Nanjing Provisional ** was already suspicious of Yuan Shikai's attachment to the republic, and also wanted to take advantage of this to prevent it. Huang Xing persuaded Sun Yat-sen to call Yuan Shikai on March 20 because Wang Zhixiang was "alert and good at coping", asking Yuan Shikai to appoint Wang Zhixiang as the governor of Zhili according to public opinion.
On March 22, 1916, Yuan Shikai was forced to announce the abolition of the imperial system. In April 1916, Sun Yat-sen (5th from left), Soong Ching-ling (4th from left), He Xiangning (6th from left), Liao Zhongkai (2nd from left in the back row) and others gathered in Japan to celebrate the abolition of the imperial system.
Straight to the elbow and armpit of the Beijing division. Lying next to the couch, how could Yuan Shikai allow the south to get involved? On March 22, Yuan Shikai replied to the telegram emphasizing that the governors of each province had both military and political natures and could not be regarded as administrators, and that at the beginning of independence, the governors were mostly supported by the military. After the military and civil affairs powers have not yet been clearly demarcated and the official system has been properly submitted to the Senate for a decision, the public election system will not be implemented for the time being. After that, although Senators Wu Jinglian and Gu Zhongxiu said that they were "extremely shocking", and although Premier Tang Shaoyi also agreed to Wang Zhixiang as the governor of Zhili, Wang Zhixiang was never able to take office due to Yuan Shikai's opposition. In May, the post of governor of Zhili was revoked, and Wang Zhixiang was reappointed as the propaganda envoy of the Southern Army.
The coexistence of two temporary large ** will inevitably bring chaos to the ** department. On February 21, Sun Yat-sen sent a telegram to Chen Jintao, chief financial officer, informing Nanjing that the previous financial measures were still effective. "The Qing Emperor abdicated, ** Dading. There is no doubt that the current financial matters, such as public debts, foreign debts, the establishment of the Bank of China, and all financial matters that have already been implemented, will of course continue to be valid. It can be announced by the Ministry of Finance. "On February 15, Yuan Shikai was just elected by the Senate as the provisional president.
Despite the exchange of letters and telegrams, there are still deficiencies in communication between the two temporary leaders. On March 10, Yuan Shikai issued an amnesty decree in the name of Xinju Da**, announcing that all crimes committed before March 10 would be pardoned except for ** and robbery. Yuan Shikai's amnesty decree was obviously questioned in the south: the Jiangning Local Trial and Procuratorate Office asked Wu Tingfang, the provisional ** judicial chief of Nanjing, to "All Yuan Da**'s orders, do they include the implementation of both the north and the south?" Now that Beijing ** is in the process of being organized, and Nanjing** still exists, it is a denial that this order is valid. "Nanjing also asked whether the 58 eligible local prisoners really want to be released. Even Wu Tingfang didn't dare to call the shots, so he had to ask Sun Yat-sen.
Sun Yat-sen's reply was: Article 40 of the "Provisional Covenant Law" promulgated and implemented on March 11 stipulates that the Provisional General Assembly may declare amnesty or amnesty, subject to the consent of the Senate. In other words, Yuan Shikai's "Amnesty Decree" must be voted on by the Senate to be valid. This is equivalent to Sun Yat-sen abolishing Yuan Shikai's "Amnesty Decree".
A delicate balance, inevitably unpleasant. Sun Yat-sen and Yuan Shikai, the nearly 50 days of coexistence of the two temporary leaders, are the accident of cooperation and the inevitability of confrontation, the inevitability of refreshing accidents and the inevitability of unhappiness.