Yuan Shikai died, and the domestic political situation changed
Sun Yat-sen and the Kuomintang failed to fully recognize the essence of Duan Qirui's feudal warlord ** for a considerable period of time after Yuan Shikai's death. The day after Yuan's death, Sun Yat-sen told ** in Shanghai that he was optimistic about the current political situation.
He believed that as long as the rulers of the North and the South can uphold justice, respect the Constitution, support the republic, abandon selfishness and bad habits, and work hard to realize the country's infrastructure with patriotic sincerity and the spirit of peace, then China will certainly be able to achieve true great governance.
Sun Yat-sen was willing to cooperate with Duan Qirui and expressed his willingness to solve the problem of the anti-Yuan war within the scope of the law. He believes that in the new environment, the Chinese Revolutionary Party should mainly supervise those in power, and should not use military power to fight for power, but should conform to the national mentality.
He advocated the containment of the Chinese Revolutionary Army and took the initiative to disband the Revolutionary Army, but was opposed by some Chinese Revolutionary Army generals and overseas Chinese. Sun Yat-sen insisted on his position, vigorously defended public opinion, and even adopted a tough attitude.
Since the funds of the Chinese Revolutionary Party mainly came from donations from overseas Chinese, with the end of the Patriotic War, the donations of overseas Chinese also ended, which was also one of the reasons why Sun Yat-sen had to cancel the Chinese Revolutionary Army.
At the urging of Sun Yat-sen, Ju Zheng went to Jinan in early August to discuss with Zhang Huaizhi, the overseer of Shandong, and representatives of Beijing** about the military affairs of the Chinese Revolutionary Army in the northeast.
In December, the Northeast Army of the Chinese Revolutionary Army disarmed in Weixian, Gaomi, Changdong and other places, and was dispatched by the overseers of Beijing ** and Shandong. Around this time, the Chinese Revolutionary Army in Guangdong, Sichuan, and Fujian also ended their military operations and were disbanded one after another.
Under the guidance of Sun Yat-sen's idea of "ending the war and building things," the little armament organized by the Chinese revolutionaries in the anti-Yuan war was completely reined in.
At this time, not only the Chinese Revolutionary Army was completely reined in, but even the Chinese Revolutionary Party organization itself announced that it would cease its activities. In July, the headquarters of the Chinese Revolutionary Party issued a circular to all local branches and branches, announcing that the premier had instructed them to not only curb the military, but also "stop all party affairs."
Whether it is to rein in the armed forces or to stop the activities of political parties, the basic point of Sun Yat-sen's guiding ideology is to engage in peacebuilding. He believes that after Beijing announced the restoration of the "Provisional Treaty" and the National Assembly, "those in power have been in favor of the republic," and that there is already an environment for peace-building in China.
Once the destruction is over, the construction begins". In order to show the Chinese people his determination to engage in peacebuilding, Sun Yat-sen also said that he would not ask about political affairs. In a letter to a friend, he said: "I don't want to have any ambitions in the future.
The status quo is maintained, so that the political theory can be gradually advanced, and there are many people in the country. He himself was determined not to be involved in state affairs again. Of course, Sun Yat-sen disbanded the headquarters of the Chinese Revolutionary Party, saying that he did not want to intervene in political affairs, and there were also some strategic considerations.
After Yuan Shikai's death, based on the psychology of the broad masses of the people who are tired of party politics, society generally criticized the political party. And the Progressive Party and the moderate faction of the Kuomintang also flaunted "non-partyism" in order to adapt to the psychology of the masses and the masses.
Sun Yat-sen and the Chinese revolutionaries also had to express themselves in order to win over the masses, and this was one of the reasons why he said he did not want to be involved in political affairs. For a considerable period of time after Yuan's death, Sun Yat-sen had great hopes for peaceful ways to improve politics.
After Beijing** announced the resumption of the Provisional Constitution and the National Assembly, Sun Yat-sen repeatedly encouraged the Kuomintang legislators in Shanghai to go north in order to organize a good National Assembly and formulate a good constitution.
In order to show his sincerity in cooperating with Beijing, Sun Yat-sen also changed the practice of refusing Yuan Shikai to award the Great Medal in the early years, accepted the Great Medal awarded by Li Yuanhong, and held a formal ceremony to accept the Great Medal in his Shanghai apartment in January 1917.
Under the influence of Sun Yat-sen, Tian Tong, a member of the Chinese Revolutionary Party, and others also announced one after another that they would "shift the revolutionary spirit of force and move onto the political track."
When the National Assembly resumed in 1916, the Kuomintang (both the Chinese Revolutionary Party and the Moderate Faction) regarded the National Assembly as the main front for political activities. Although Sun Yat-sen did not serve in Beijing, he had high expectations for Congress.
He believes that the Constitution and the National Assembly are the fundamental way to achieve a democratic republic. After the end of the anti-Yuan war, Sun Yat-sen once summed up the lessons of Yuan Shikai's betrayal and pointed out: The most fundamental reason why Yuan Shikai was able to implement feudalism and restore the imperial system was that "the wisdom of the people was not opened" and the people failed to exercise sovereignty.
Therefore, he put forward the political idea of "local autonomy as the basis for the establishment of the nation" and openly put forward it to all walks of life in the National Assembly. He hoped that through the introduction of local self-government, direct civil rights would be gradually realized.
However, Duan Qirui was still a warlord*** and he had no disdain for the constitution and the National Assembly, so Sun Yat-sen's plan was not implemented.
When Liang Qichao plotted against Yuan in the autumn of 1915, he already had plans to establish a Progressive Party base in the southwest. He encouraged the Progressive Party in the southwest to seek their own "establishment" through correspondence, and put forward four goals: first, to support the republican system so that the imperial system would never happen; the second is to delineate the local authority and plan the free development of the people's power in each province; the third is to build a constitutional politics to adapt to the general trend of the world; Fourth, it is necessary to consolidate diplomatic relations and increase the qualifications of international organizations.
In this article, Liang Qichao fiercely criticized Yuan Shikai for becoming emperor, and also proposed to limit the centralization of power and strengthen local authority, which was closely linked to his plan to establish a Progressive Party base in the southwest.
Although the Progressives set up bases in the southwest and conflicted with the interests of the powerful factions in the southwestern provinces and the Beiyang clique, they still tried to control Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou and establish a base in the southwest.
However, their activities were controlled by Tang Jiyao, Liu Xianshi, etc., after Cai Yi and Dai Huan led the Yunnan and Guizhou armies into Sichuan to fight, Tang and Liu constrained Cai's First Army in many ways, and did not give the necessary assistance in terms of funds, soldiers, and personnel.
Due to Tang Jiyao's strict precautions, the Progressives had to abandon their plan to run Yungui and Guizhou, and it was difficult to break into the Liangguang area. Therefore, they turned their attention to Sichuan.
After Yuan Shikai's death, Liang Qichao sent Huang Qun to Beijing to contact Duan Qirui and obtain a position for Cai Ye in Sichuan. At the beginning, Qirui did not agree, but in the chaotic situation in Sichuan, he had to temporarily appoint Cai Yi as the superintendent of Sichuan's military affairs.
Then, Cai Ye commanded the escort ** to attack Chengdu and drive away Zhou Jun, and the Beiyang forces withdrew from Sichuan. On July 6, Beijing** appointed Cai Ye as the overseer and governor of Sichuan.
Cai was initially concerned about his health and previous statements, but he couldn't bear to leave in the face of the chaos in Sichuan. In the end, he accepted the appointment of the governor of Sichuan.
After taking over, Cai Ye studied the plan for rebuilding Sichuan with the secretary and chief of staff in Luzhou, and carried out a series of rectification and reforms. However, his condition deteriorated day by day, and he could not continue to work normally, so he had to call Beijing ** for leave to recuperate.
On August 7, Beijing** approved his application for leave. After leaving Chengdu, Cai Ye rested in Luzhou for a few days, during which Liang Qichao telegraphed him several times, hoping that he would stay in Sichuan.
However, at this time, Cai Ye was too weak to carry out Liang's intentions. Although the Progressives had established a base in the southwest, they did not play against Duan Qirui, but hoped to act as a third force between the Beiyang faction and the Kuomintang.
However, due to Duan Qirui's obstruction, they were unable to gain a foothold in Hunan as they wished.
Original text: At the end of August, Cai Ye left Sichuan and went to Japan for treatment, but died in Japan soon after due to ineffective treatment. Liang Qichao's plan to establish a base for the Progressive Party in the southwest was further hampered by the death of Tsai.
Before Cai Ye left Sichuan, he once promoted Luo Peijin to temporarily supervise the army in Sichuan, led the Yunnan army to garrison the provincial capital, and recommended Dai Jian as the governor of Sichuan Province and the military affairs office, and led the Guizhou army to garrison Chongqing.
Liang Qichao, Cai Yiluo, and Dai Fen are in charge of the Sichuan Bureau, which is just an expedient measure. Cai Yi originally planned to hand over Sichuan to his classmates Jiang Fangzhen, but because he was not yet ready, and he couldn't leave Jiang by his side, he had to temporarily arrange for Luo and Dai to be in charge of the Sichuan Bureau.
However, such an arrangement is not conducive to the position of the Progressives in Sichuan. Because Luo Peijin had already leaned towards Tang Jiyao, the Progressives could only rely on Dai Ji in Sichuan, and Dai's prestige and talent were far inferior to Cai Yi.
When Cai Ye was in Sichuan, Tang Jiyao was photographed by Cai's prestige, and although he coveted the Yunnan army in Sichuan, he did not dare to ask. Cai Lichuan soon died of illness, and Tang had no scruples, and the Yunnan army into Sichuan was actually controlled by Tang.
However, the Guizhou army under Dai Huan's department only had a mixed brigade, and its strength was weak, not only could not be compared with the Sichuan and Yunnan army, but also far inferior to the Sichuan army. Soon after Cai left Sichuan, the Sichuan-Yunnan army clashed, and in April 1917, Dai Huan took the opportunity to seize the position of overseer.
However, soon after, Liu Cunhou, the leader of the powerful faction of the Sichuan army, clashed with Dai Huan due to the uneven distribution of the spoils. Under the instigation of Duan Qirui in Beijing, Liu devoted all his strength to besieging the troops stationed in Sichuan and Guizhou.
The Qian army led by Dai Huan was not strong, so it quickly failed, and when he fled, he was surrounded and annihilated by Liu Bu, and even Dai Huan himself was killed because of it. At this time, Jiang Fangzhen finished taking care of Cai Yi's funeral and was hurrying to Sichuan, but when he arrived in Chongqing, he learned the news of the complete defeat of the Guizhou army stationed in Sichuan, so he had to leave gloomily.
The force at the disposal of the Progressives in the Protectorate War was thus completely disintegrated. Regarding Dai Huan's failure in Sichuan, Liang Qichao and others certainly regretted it. After repeated setbacks in the southwest, Liang gave up the idea of establishing a base in the southwest to act as a third party, and instead further united with the Beiyang faction to fight against the revolutionary faction headed by Sun Yat-sen, and tried to gain a place in Beijing.
3. As mentioned in the previous volume, Yuan Shikai's claim to be emperor caused dissatisfaction among the Beiyang descendants Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang, and serious cracks appeared in the Beiyang Group.
After the defeat of the Yuan family, the Beiyang Group showed a trend of disintegration due to the loss of its center of gravity and the figure of control. The Beiyang lineage is divided into two branches, namely the Anhui line headed by Duan Qirui and the direct line headed by Feng Guozhang.
Although it was a later thing to make it public, the contradiction between the two factions after Yuan's death had actually begun.
Duan Qirui once served as the chief of the army in Beijing, and trained a number of military backbones, such as Xu Shuzheng, Jin Yunpeng, Wu Guangxin, Fu Liangzuo, Qu Tongfeng, Chen Wenyun, Ma Liang, etc., who became his cronies.
After Yuan Shikai's death, Duan Qirui held real power in Beijing, and at the same time actively recruited private parties in the Beiyang Group. These local warlords, such as Ni Sichong, the governor of Anhui, Zhang Huaizhi, the overseer of Shandong, Li Houji, the overseer of Fujian, Chen Shufan, the overseer of Shaanxi, Zhang Guangjian, the overseer of Gansu, Yang Shande, the overseer of Zhejiang, and Lu Yongxiang, the envoy of Songhu, all joined him.
Through these powerful military figures, Duan Qirui not only controlled a large number of troops, but also controlled Shaanxi and Gansu provinces in the northwest, Anhui (southern and central Anhui), Shandong, Zhejiang, and the Songhu region including Shanghai in eastern China, and Fujian in southern China.
In this way, an Anhui warlord group headed by Duan Qirui and composed of the above-mentioned military powerful figures began to be formed. Duan Qirui reused these people, including Long Jiguang, the superintendent of Liangguang Mine, Zhao Qi, the overseer of Henan, Jiang Guidi, the commander of Rehe, Zhang Zuolin, Wang Yitang, Tian Wenlie, Fang Shu, Zhang Arc and others.
In addition, many politicians who were originally attached to Yuan Shikai also joined the Duan system, such as Cao Rulin, Lu Zongyu and Ye Gongxuan, who had a close relationship with Duan. Although Duan Qirui controlled Beijing, he did not fully control the Beiyang army.
Feng Guozhang, the leader of the powerful faction in the Beiyang lineage, was appointed governor of Jiangsu shortly after the suppression of the Second Revolution, and gradually expanded his influence to the three provinces of Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Hubei in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, laying the foundation for the formation of the direct lineage.
In Yuan Shikai's era, Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui fought for favor, but they both opposed Yuan Shikai's claim to be emperor. After Yuan's death, Duan and Feng became the main rivals in the Beiyang group, and their differences were mainly reflected in their different attitudes towards the south.
While Duan Qirui sought to unify the country with the Beiyang faction and saw the South as an alien power, Feng Guozhang actively engaged with the South and advocated the restoration of the Old Testament, the convening of the Parliament, and the punishment of the culprits of the imperial system.
The contradictions of the Southern Question eventually led to an open confrontation between the direct and Anhui lines.