Beiyang reactionaries

The matter caused a sensation all over the country.

Lu Rongting is a real powerful faction, holding tens of thousands of elite troops of the Gui army.His sudden defection plunged the entire situation in the southeast into corruption.Because Lu Rongting immediately and Li Liejun's Second Army of the National Defense Army invaded Guangdong, and Guangdong was the old nest of Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary party.He also began to organize the old ministry to cooperate with Lu Rongting and asked Guangdong General Long Jiguang to support the National Defense Movement.

The National Protection Movement, which was defeated by Cao Kun and Duan Xun, began to rise again.

66 re-emerged

Lu Rongting.

What an old fox.He and Yuan Shikai are still in-laws, but Lu Rongting cheated Yuan Shikai just like this.Before the War to Protect the Nation, Lu Rongting expressed to Yuan Shikai that he absolutely supported Yuan Shikai as emperor.Moreover, after the outbreak of the War to Protect the Country, Lu Rongting directly expressed his willingness to fight for Yuan Shikai.At that time Yuan Shikai trusted Lu Rongting very much.

The deceived Yuan Shikai not only gave Lu Rongting a lot of money, but also sent a large number of weapons and ammunition.Yuan Shikai has always been worried about the Southwest Warlords, especially the Yunnan Army, the Guizhou Army, and the Guangdong side.

Therefore, Yuan Shikai hoped that Lu Rongting, his son and daughter's relative, would sit in Guangxi to stabilize the situation in the southwest.

After getting the money and weapons and ammunition, Lu Rongting used these to expand his army and prepare for war.Lu Rongting was originally a powerful faction, with 3 to [-] people in his hands, and with Yuan Shikai's support, his strength would be even stronger.But Lu Rongting sold Yuan Shikai as soon as he got the benefits.At the most sluggish moment in the War to Protect the Nation, he suddenly decided to fight back.Then he entered Guangdong with a large force and threatened Hunan.

very smart.

Self-confessed as the commander-in-chief of the Guangdong and Guangxi National Defense Army, Lu Rongting is no longer satisfied with being the king of Guangxi, but the king of Guangdong and Guangxi.

Of course it's nothing.

Although Lu Rongting is powerful, that's just the way it is.If the Beiyang army puts more effort into it, it is not impossible to deal with Lu Rongting.Just like Cai E's Yunnan army, the Beiyang army really wants to deal with you, you are nothing.

But where did Lu Rongting get the courage?

This courage was given to him by the big boss of the Beiyang Army.That is Feng Guozhang who is currently in Jiangsu.Since Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor, Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang, the two big men of the Beiyang Army, have been watching.

At this time Feng Guozhang jumped out.

Feng Guozhang wanted to check the direction of the wind before, and found that many people in the Beiyang Army did not support Yuan Shikai, and few people were really willing to work for Yuan Shikai.So he knew his chance had come.

Therefore, he immediately expressed his opposition to Yuan Shikai's proclaiming emperor.

This attitude of Feng Guozhang gave Lu Rongting the courage.And Lu Rongting was the first to pick it out, and the big shots in other provinces in the Southwest became active.

Feng Guozhang is not stunned.

He dared to come out at this time because Feng Guozhang had absolute strength.Feng Guozhang immediately contacted some local generals, exchanged news with them, and discussed Yuan Shikai's accession to the throne.The people Feng Guozhang contacted included Li Chun, governor of Jiangxi, Jin Yunpeng, general of Shandong, Zhu Rui, general of Zhejiang, and Tang Xiangming, general of Hunan.Give it to the generals in various places and ask them what they think of the current situation.

This is the famous "Secret Telegram of the Five Generals" in history.

These people are all powerful factions of the Beiyang Army, each of whom has tens of thousands of people in their hands.

On March 1916, 3, after Zhili General Zhu Jiabao received the telegram, he immediately handed it over to Yuan Shikai in a panic.Yuan Shikai was shocked after reading it.Yuan Shikai was not very worried about the troubles caused by the Southwest Warlords, because their strength was limited.Even if they are really brave, that is, they can influence Sichuan and Hunan, they have no strength to go up.

Not enough to affect Yuan Shikai's rule at all.

But this secret telegram is different, it is all generals in Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army.They controlled half of Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army. If they rebelled, it would be a big deal.

Yuan Shikai knew that the situation was over.

When Cai E's national defense army was the most powerful, Yuan Shikai didn't care.But when Feng Guozhang sent out the "Secret Telegram of the Five Generals" for the first time, Yuan Shikai really understood that things were very bad.

Therefore, on March 1916, 3, Yuan Shikai could only announce the abolition of the imperial system.

Yuan Shikai had only been the emperor for more than 80 days, and he abolished the imperial system in a hurry.Yuan Shikai's abolition of the imperial system was the beginning of the movement to protect the country, but what really made Yuan Shikai abolish the imperial system was the internal pressure of the Beiyang Army.

But Yuan Shikai was still worried.

Because it is a bunch of generals of the Beiyang Army who are currently opposing me, and these people have begun to disobey me.Although the monarchy was abolished, Yuan Shikai was still the president, but he didn't want to be unable to even be the president.

How to do?

Yuan Shikai had many people under his command, but looking around, he found that there was only one person who could help him stabilize the situation.

As far as the Beiyang Army is concerned, the most powerful under Yuan Shikai are Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang.Although Wang Shizhen is known as the head of the Beiyang Three Heroes, in fact, he himself does not have much strength. In terms of power, he is far inferior to Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang.Now Feng Guozhang is blatantly fighting against Yuan Shikai, and he is the go-getter who forced Yuan Shikai to abolish the imperial system.Of course Yuan Shikai would not reuse Feng Guozhang.

So the only one who can help Yuan Shikai now is Duan Qirui who has retired for almost a year.The important thing is that many of the generals who agreed with Feng Guozhang were all direct descendants of Duan Qirui.Therefore, at this time Yuan Shikai could only invite Duan Qirui to come out to help him stabilize the situation.

Yuan Shikai immediately generated electricity, and then sent someone to invite Duan Qirui to come out of the mountain.

"Youzheng, is this my chance to go out?"

Duan Qirui.

Duan Qirui opposed Yuan Shikai's proclaiming emperor, so he said he was sick and left, and Yuan Shikai let him leave the central government.But how could a person like Duan Qirui really be willing to step down?

Duan Qirui is only fifty now, and he is still in the prime of life in politics.

So he has been watching and watching the development of the situation.He also contacted many generals of his own faction to control the current situation.Looking at the current situation, Yuan Shikai couldn't control the situation, so he could only invite Duan Qirui to come out to help.Of course Duan Qirui had to think about coming out again.

Now Yuan Shikai has almost betrayed his relatives and is notorious. Is it a good time to come out by himself at this time.

"Yes."

Xu Shuzheng nodded.

As Duan Qirui's first confidant, Xu Shuzheng followed Duan Qirui to the field for a period of time.Xu Shuzheng has been planning Duan Qirui's comeback.

"Old Zhi (Duan Qirui), now is the best chance for you to come out of the mountain. Now the situation is beyond the reach of the President, and now he will agree to any request made by Elder Zhi. Doesn't the President want you to be the Secretary of State? Just right You can request the implementation of the responsible cabinet system, and Zhi Lao will serve as the prime minister."

"So how do we fix this situation?"

Coming out of the mountain again, there must be a bargain.

When the Revolution of [-] broke out, the Qing Dynasty invited Yuan Shikai to come out of the mountain, and Yuan Shikai also asked for a lot of things.In the end, the imperial court agreed to a lot of conditions for Yuan Shikai, and Yuan Shikai came out.

Duan Qirui is the same now.

The situation is almost exactly the same as that of the Xinhai Year.Yuan Shikai had to invite Duan Qirui, so as long as it was Duan Qirui's condition, he had to agree.

prime minister.

Once the responsible cabinet system is implemented, Duan Qirui, the prime minister, will be the de facto head of state, the person who actually holds the power of the country.This is what Duan Qirui has always dreamed of.

But now the world is in chaos, how to clean up the mess.

"Old Zhi, although there is a lot of noise now, it is actually an internal problem. As long as we keep our own people safe, the so-called national defense forces in the southwest will not be successful. Don't worry too much."

"Tell me?"

"The National Defense Army is mainly composed of the Yunnan Army and the Guizhou Army. The Guizhou Army has few people at all, and its combat effectiveness is average. The strongest of the National Defense Army is the Yunnan Army. But the Yunnan Army was defeated by Degong (Duan Xun) in Sichuan. The troops fought in a hurry. With Degong in Sichuan, it would be impossible for the Dian army to go north."

"go on."

"However, General Chengwu (Chen Heng) is double-faced and three-handed. There are also several troops in Hunan who are doing foreign work, and even flirt with the Southwest Army. So what I mean is that Cao Kun's third division was transferred to Hunan, let Cao Kun sit in Hunan. With Cao Kun’s third division in Hunan, there will be no problems in Hunan. Then let De Gong (Duan Xun) be in charge of the Sichuan Military Affairs Committee to organize the army in Sichuan Province, and watch Cheng General Wu. In this way, the two most important provinces in the southwest are under the control of Zhilao."