After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, because there was no force that could unify the whole of China, the so-called **big** became a showcase. Although the big ** is a showmanship, the princes from all walks of life also want to compete for this position in order to call the shots.
As a result, Li Yuanhong, Cao Kun, Duan Qirui, Zhang Zuolin, and Chiang Kai-shek have sat in this position. We can see from our analysis of **various sessions** or similar positions that these people are all powerful factions with soldiers and money, but in addition to these powerful factions, there is another person who is very exceptional, that is, Li Yuanhong. Li Yuanhong is the second ** after Yuan Shikai's death, but Li Yuanhong is not as good as Duan Qirui in terms of strength and relationship with Yuan Shikai, so, after Yuan Shikai's death, how did Li Yuanhong become this **?
Let's take a look at the resumes of Li Yuanhong and Duan Qirui first. Li Yuanhong is a native of Huangpi, Hubei, so he is also called "Li Huangpi". Li Yuan**Wen is a descendant of Hong Xiuquan, because his name can be split into "original surname Hong". Li Yuanhong participated in the Beiyang Naval Division and was fortunate to survive the First Sino-Japanese War. Later, the Qing Dynasty organized and trained the new army, and Li Yuanhong participated in the Hubei New Army organized by Zhang Zhidong. And the Hubei New Army is also the only new army that has been retained to the top except for the Beiyang New Army.
Li Yuanhong. Li Yuanhong himself was born in the military and won the trust of Zhang Zhidong, and was soon promoted to the commander of the New Army, that is, the highest commander of the First Association. Since Zhang Zhidong's Hubei New Army is so cooperative, Li Yuanhong can be said to be the supreme leader of the Hubei New Army. In 1911, when the Wuchang Uprising broke out, the Hubei New Army was the main force, and Li Yuanhong was so frightened that he hid at this time. But the rebellious New Army arrested Li Yuanhong and forced him to command the New Army to fight. At this time, Li Yuanhong knew that if he resisted, he would die under the indiscriminate guns, so he "reluctantly" led the new army to capture Wuchang City.
Li Yuanhong did not expect that the revolutionary party, which had frequently failed, would succeed this time, and the southern provinces successively responded to the call and declared uprisings. After the establishment of China, Li Yuanhong became the governor of the Hubei army, and he was also a prince, and his strength was only under the Beiyang Army.
The Wuchang Uprising was precisely because Li Yuanhong had a certain strength, and after Sun Yat-sen took office as the provisional leader, Li Yuanhong became the deputy **. Later, Yuan Shikai became the first official president of China, and Li Yuanhong also became the deputy leader. Li Yuanhong's deputy ** is also a conspiracy of Yuan Shikai. Because the Hubei New Army was not under the jurisdiction of Yuan Shikai, his transfer of Li Yuanhong from Hubei to Beijing was equivalent to a bright rise and a secret surrender, in order to strip Li Yuanhong of the Hubei New Army. It can be said that Yuan Shikai and Li Yuanhong have no trust at all.
Speaking of Duan Qirui, it's different. Duan Qirui's entire military career is directly related to Beiyang. Duan Qirui was born in Lu'an County, but the family soon moved to Hefei, and Duan Qirui also claimed to be from Hefei. Duan Qirui's grandfather and father both held a position in the army, and Duan Qirui loved to dance with guns and sticks since he was a child. But with the death of his grandfather and father, Duan Qirui could only drop out of school and join his uncle Duan Congde, who led soldiers in Shandong.
When Duan Qirui was a soldier in Shandong, he heard that Li Hongzhang was going to run a martial arts school in Tianjin, so he rushed to Tianjin to study. Tianjin Wubei Academy is the talent pool of the Beiyang Army, and those who enter this school will be the generals of the Huai Army in the future. During his studies in Tianjin, Duan Qirui was appreciated by Li Hongzhang for his first-class artillery skills, and after graduation, he was arranged to build a fort in Lushun. The Lushun Fort is also one of Li Hongzhang's most proud projects. Later, Duan Qirui was arranged by Li Hongzhang to go to Germany for further study, and after returning to China, he went to Weihai as a teacher.
Duan Qirui. Unlike Li Yuanhong, Duan Qirui is Yuan Shikai's real minister. Yuan Shikai trained the new army at the small station and invited Yin Chang to select a few talents for him, which were Wang Shizhen, Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang. These three people are also known as the Three Heroes of Beiyang. Duan Qirui became an artillery commander because he was good at artillery. After the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising, Duan Qirui was sent to the front to suppress the rebels. But at this time, Yuan Shikai had already seen through the weakness of the Qing court, and Duan Qirui "suggested" Yuan Shikai to accept the republic soon after he arrived at the front, which also led to the later abdication of the Qing Emperor and the establishment of such a series of events.
After Yuan Shikai became the big **, Duan Qirui also became Yuan Shikai's most relied on confidant, and even the signing of the 21st Article with Japan was discussed with Duan Qirui. After Yuan Shikai became emperor, Duan Qirui vigorously opposed it and fought for a favorable political position for himself. Therefore, after Yuan Shikai died with hatred, Duan Qirui was very qualified to become the next big **. But sometimes things don't necessarily happen.
The three heroes of Beiyang have to mention another character, that is, Feng Guozhang, another of the three heroes of Beiyang. Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui's life experiences are similar. Feng Guozhang was a native of Zhili Hejian and the leader of the later direct warlords. Feng Guozhang's family was relatively wealthy when he was young, so he has been studying hard in the hope of being admitted to Jinshi.
Later, his family fell into the middle of the road, and in 1884, he was introduced by his uncle Feng Shixuan to enter the Huai Army as a soldier. Later, he was also admitted to the Tianjin Military Academy to study infantry. During the First Sino-Japanese War, Feng Guozhang followed Nie Shicheng into Korea to fight, and after the war, he went to Japan to inspect the military and learned a lot of modern military knowledge. Later, he also followed Yuan Shikai to train at the small station.
Feng Guozhang. Because Feng Guozhang studied infantry, Feng Guozhang led troops outside for a long time after Yuan Shikai became a big **. In July 1913, Sun Yat-sen began the Second Revolution, and Feng Guozhang was appointed as the Jianghuai Xuanfu envoy to lead troops to suppress it. Feng Guozhang successively conquered a series of important towns on the Yangtze River, and finally blasted open the city wall of Nanjing and occupied Nanjing, and Sun Yat-sen's second revolution failed. Feng Guozhang's personal strength was greatly strengthened by the occupation of the Yangtze River Valley. Feng Guozhang also became the most powerful military in the Beiyang system. But because Feng Guozhang has been in the local area for a long time, his political prestige has always been inferior to Duan Qirui, who helped Yuan Shikai take the throne.
Li Yuanhong was able to take the throne because of the contradiction between Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang. Although the two are Yuan Shikai's right-hand men, they look down on each other. After Yuan Shikai's death, the antagonism deepened. But at this time, in addition to the Beiyang Army, there were also a large number of warlords outside the system in the south.
Beiyang warlords. In order to maintain Beijing's legal status, Li Yuanhong was temporarily pushed up. Li Yuanhong is not a figure in the Beiyang system, and his strength is much weaker than Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang. According to the "Provisional Covenant Law", Li Yuanhong is also the first heir de jure. It is also for this reason that Li Yuanhong became the second **big**. Duan Qirui became the prime minister, and Feng Guozhang was the deputy.
Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang underestimated Li Yuanhong's ambitions, and after Li Yuanhong became the first, there was a dispute between the government and the court, and Li Yuanhong was unwilling to become the puppet of the two. In the end, Duan Qirui came to a retreat and announced his resignation as prime minister and withdrawal. Since Li Yuanhong did not have much foundation in Beijing and his military strength was relatively weak, there was such a farce as Zhang Xun's restoration.
Zhang Xun was restored. After Zhang Xun was driven away, Beijing** did not quell the chaos and staged a second battle between the government and the court, this time it was a direct duel between Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui. The struggle between Zhi and Anhui lasted until Feng Guozhang's death in 1920, and at this time, ** entered a new chaos. Cao Kun and Zhang Zuolin both joined this struggle until the end of Chiang Kai-shek's Second Northern Expedition and the withdrawal of Beiyang warlords from the stage of history.