During the cabinet of Duan Qirui, the distribution of power after the National Defense Movement: revealing the appointment of provincial governors and governors.
While forming a new cabinet, Duan Qirui also attached great importance to the arrangement of local military and political chiefs. The first thing he considered was to distribute according to military strength, and the military strength of the whole country at that time could be roughly divided into three categories: first, the Beiyang Army, including local warlords such as Zhang Zuolin and Yan Xishan, who had a large number of troops and occupied most of Northeast China, North China, Northwest China, Central China, East China and part of South China; The second is the armed forces of the Progressive Party and the powerful factions in the southwest, which occupy the four provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Sichuan, as well as most of Guangdong and parts of Hunan; The third is the armed forces of the Kuomintang, which are mainly concentrated in Hunan, Guangdong, and Guangxi.
Among these three forces, the Beiyang faction is the most powerful and occupies an absolute advantage; The powerful faction in the southwest also has a certain number of troops and has been operating for a long time; The Kuomintang and its army, on the other hand, were relatively loose and unfounded.
In particular, the Northeast Army of the Chinese Revolutionary Army in Shandong was already in the stage of restraint because Sun Yat-sen strongly advocated the disbandment of the armed forces.
Duan Qirui's reappointment of the military and political governors of the provinces across the country was aimed at stabilizing the Beiyang faction, dismantling the southwestern protectorate camp, and strengthening local control in order to achieve "unification" under the Beiyang regime.
Although the names of governors, generals, civil governors, and governors were abolished and changed to overseers and governors, the provincial overseers controlled by the Beiyang faction were almost still the original team of Yuan Shikai when he was alive, and the list was as follows: Zhang Zuolin, the overseer of Fengtian, Meng Enyuan, the governor of Jilin, Guo Zongxi, the governor of Heilongjiang, Bi Guifang, the overseer of Heilongjiang, Zhang Huaizhi, the governor of Shandong, Sun Faxu, the overseer of Henan, Zhao Qi, the governor of Henan, Tian Wenlie, the overseer of Shanxi, Yan Xishan, the governor of Shanxi, Shen Mingchang, the overseer of Jiangsu, Feng Guozhang, the governor of Jiangsu, Qi Yaolin, the governor of Anhui, Zhang Xun, Governor Ni Sichong, Jiangxi Overseer Li Chun, Governor Qi Yang, Fujian Overseer Li Houji, Governor Hu Ruilin, Hubei Overseer Wang Zhanyuan, Governor Fan Shouyou, Zhili Governor and Overseer Zhu Jiabao, Xinjiang Overseer and Governor Yang Zengxin, Gansu Governor and Overseer Zhang Guangjian, Shaanxi Overseer and Governor Chen Shufan.
In order to appease the powerful faction in the southwest and the Progressive Party, and not affect the dual purpose of "unifying" the south when the time is ripe in the future, Duan Qirui has good intentions on the issue of arranging the overseers of the independent provinces in the south.
Except for Tang Jiyao, the overseer of Yunnan, and Liu Xianshi, the overseer of Guizhou, who were the original generals of the province, the other overseers and governors were replaced.
Liang Qichao and others hoped to obtain the position of military and political governor in the southwest region from Duan Qirui, but Duan Qirui did not meet their requirements and only appointed Dai Huan as the governor of Guizhou.
Liang Qichao and the Progressive Party saw Dai as an outstanding talent who should not be ignored, and they hoped that he would be reappointed governor of Hunan.
Original text: On the same day, he also telegraphed Lu Rongting to recommend Dai Huan to Li Yuanhong and Duan Qirui. However, Duan Qirui did not pay any attention to the Progressives on this issue. On the 16th, Beijing** appointed Liu Renxi as the temporary governor of Hunan as a temporary measure to moderate the Kuomintang's opposition to Chen Mi.
On the 20th, Cai Ye expressed to Liang Qichao that he was willing to return to his hometown Hunan to serve in order to recuperate. After Liang received the call, he thought that this was also a good excuse to meddle in Hunan, and immediately called Xiong Xiling to exercise Duan Qirui to implement it.
However, Liang's plan was also shelved by Duan. Obviously, Hunan is a military artery between the north and the south, and if Cai Ye is in Hunan, Hunan may become a barrier to the south, which will not be conducive to the southward movement of the Beiyang Army in the future.
Duan's heart still wants the Beiyang faction to dominate the world. Later, Duan Xuan Tan Yanmin, who was born in Chinese and did not have great strength in the Xiang army at that time, temporarily acted as the governor of Xiang, apparently also had other plans.
Duan also once planned to appoint Dai Huan as the Hunan investigation envoy to mediate the contradictions between the local forces in Hunan and the Beiyang Army, in fact, to make the Progressives take advantage of the fire for the Beiyang faction.
Although Liang Qichao once tried his best to fight for Dai Hu for the post of governor of Hunan, the situation in Hunan had changed at this time, and Dai's investigation and handling "must have no effect" and could only "have a bad feeling" with all parties, so he had to resign from this post for Dai Li.
Liang Qichao was extremely dissatisfied with Beijing**'s appointment of Cai Ye as the overseer of Sichuan and not Dai Huan as the governor of Hunan Province. He complained to his comrades: "My generation has done so much for the overall situation, if the result is the other, it will be so short-lived!" ”
Judging from the appointment of military and political chiefs in all provinces of the country on July 6, Duan Qirui seems to have made some concessions to the Progressives and powerful factions in the southwest on the issue of Zhejiang, Sichuan, Guangdong, and other provinces.
However, if we analyze it carefully, we can see that most of these compromises were forced to be made in the face of an unfavorable military situation. This is the case in Zhejiang and Guangdong.
In April 1916, Yuan Shikai's subordinates in Zhejiang, Zhu Rui and Qu Yingguang, were successively expelled by the Zhejiang military and civilians. On May 6, Lu Gongwang was elected as the governor of Zhejiang, declared independence, and organized Zhejiang to protect the first place in accordance with the program of the Southwest Army
Duan Qirui was of course reluctant for Zhejiang to break away from the shackles of the Beiyang Group, but in the situation of compromise between the north and the south after Yuan Shikai's death, he was unwilling to affect the overall situation because of Zhejiang.
Moreover, Zhejiang is surrounded by Beiyang forces, and there are many opportunities to enter. Therefore, Duan recognized the current situation in Zhejiang when he arranged for the military and political governors of the provinces, and appointed Lü Gongwang as the overseer and governor of Zhejiang.
With regard to Guangdong, Duan Qirui's policy was to do everything in his power to support Long Jiguang as overseer, but failed to achieve his goal due to fierce opposition from all sides. On the third day after Yuan Shikai's death, Long declared the abolition of Guangdong's independence.
At that time, Li Liejun led the Yunnan army to northern Guangdong, and planned to enter Jiangxi through Shaoguan, but Long Jiguang's Zhenwu army stationed in Shaoguan closed the city gate and did not allow the Yunnan army to pass, and set up artillery on Shaoguan City to bombard the Yunnan army, causing war.
After the clash between the Zhenwu army and the Dian army, Long Jiguang begged Duan Qirui for help. Duan Dian ordered Jiangxi general Li Chun to assemble the Beiyang Army in southern Jiangxi and prepare to attack Li Liejun. But the Beiyang Army has not yet moved, and the Zhenwu Army has been defeated by the Dian Army.
Lu Rongting also ordered the Gui army to take advantage of the situation to attack Sanshui from the west road and trap Long Jiguang in Guangzhou. At this time, if the Beiyang Army entered Guangdong, it would mean a new civil war. Duan Qirui weighed the situation and felt that he was not sure politically or militarily, so he had to take a step back for the time being.
On July 6, Beijing appointed Lu Rongting as the governor of Guangdong, Zhu Qinglan as the governor of Guangdong Province, and Long Jiguang was transferred to the supervision of the Liangguang mines. However, Duan Qirui also ordered Lu Rongting to temporarily supervise the army in Hunan under the pretext that Lu Rongting himself was still in Hunan; Before Lu arrived in Guangzhou, he still temporarily supervised the army in Guangdong with Long Jiguang.
For Li Liejun, the leader of the Yunnan army who started a war with the Zhenwu army, Duan did not give him any position, and only ordered him to "come to Beijing to listen to his appointment." Judging from Beijing's order to dispose of Guangdong, Duan Qirui is still stalling for time, striving to retain Long Jiguang's position as the overseer of Guangdong.
However, all factions in the south, including Liang Qichao's progressives, have long hated Long and resolutely oppose Long's continued supervision of Guangdong. Lu Rongting also ignored the order of the temporary acting governor of Beijing** and returned to Guangxi on July 10.
In late August, Lu led his troops into Guangdong and forced Long Jiguang to surrender by force. Long, under the pressure of the Guidian army, was forced to abandon Guangzhou.
Hunan was the focus of the military dispute between the north and the south, and Duan Qirui was originally determined to win. However, Tang Qianming, the right-hand man of the Beiyang faction, was forced to flee from Changsha under the persecution of Hunan Protector, which disrupted Duan Qirui's plan.
Unable to dispatch troops for a while, Duan hastily appointed Chen Mi, who had fled to western Hubei, as the overseer and governor of Hunan. This decision was strongly opposed by the military and civilians in the southern provinces, especially Hunan.
After Cheng Qian led the army into Changsha, he consulted with Zeng Jiwu, Zhao Hengti and other Hunan army generals and representatives from all walks of life, and elected Liu Renxi as the provisional governor of Hunan on July 7.
Liu Renxi is a native of Liuyang, Hunan, who once served as a Taoist in Guangxi and had a friendship with Lu Rongting. Cheng Qian and the others hoped to obtain assistance from the Gui Army through him. Although Lu Rongting is not a helpful old friend, Hunan is the gateway to Liangguang, and if it falls into the hands of the Beiyang Army, it will threaten the security of Liangguang.
Out of concern for his own safety, Lu expressed support for Hunan's boycott of Chen Mi and Xiang. Both the Kuomintang and some of the Hunan generals welcomed Huang Xing, who had just returned from Japan, as the governor of Hunan.
On July 14, Cheng Qian, Zeng Jiwu, Chen Fuchu, Zhao Hengti, Long Zhang, Qin Zhen and others jointly called Li Yuanhong and Duan Qirui, requesting that Huang Xing be appointed as the governor of Hunan Province and "take photos with capital".
However, Huang Xing resolutely refused and recommended Tan Yanmin or Cai Ye for this position. In the end, Duan Qirui appointed Tan Yanmin as the governor of Hunan Province, and his intentions were as mentioned above. In the distribution of local power, Duan Qirui clearly had an attitude of exclusion towards the Kuomintang.
He rejected not only Sun Yat-sen and the Chinese Revolutionary Party, but also the moderate wing of the Kuomintang. There are three armies, the commander of the first army, Cai Yi, and the commander of the three armies, Tang Jiyao, were awarded the governor of Sichuan and Yunnan respectively, but the commander of the second army, Li Liejun, has no position.
Other generals who were subordinate to the Kuomintang, such as Xiong Kewu and Fang Shengtao, were also excluded. Although Li Gengen, the "main figure" of the Military Affairs Yuan's "operational decision-making," was appointed governor of Shaanxi, after the order was issued, he was unable to take up his post due to the obstruction of Chen Shufan, the overseer of Shaanxi.
It was not until February of the following year, with the support of Li Yuanhong, that Li Gengen went to Shaanxi to serve as the governor for less than half a year.