Beiyang reactionaries

Anyway, Duan Qirui's direct descendants in the government are all on the wanted list.But this is only in name, Xu Shichang, Cao Kun, and Zhang Zuolin will not really arrest them.Wanting them is one thing, actually arresting them and trying them is another.If these people are really arrested and tried, it will make people think that Cao Kun and Zhang Zuolin are small-minded.Therefore, although the arrest warrant is issued, it will leave enough time for them to escape from Beijing.

Except Xu Shuzheng.

Cao Kun and Zhang Zuolin must catch Xu Shuzheng this time.But Xu Shuzheng didn't know where to go, and now he couldn't find him at all.

On July 1919, 7, Xu Shichang appointed Jin Yunpeng as the prime minister of the interim cabinet to form an interim cabinet to replace the cabinet of Gong Xinzhan, who had resigned.In order to quickly form a new cabinet, Xu Shichang asked the deputy ministers of the original cabinet departments to replace the chief minister as the transitional chief minister.

Immediately after Xu Shichang revoked the order of the Beijing government to dismiss Cao Kun and his immediate supervisors before the Zhiwan War, Duan Qirui, the quasi-border supervisor and concurrently in charge of the affairs of the general's mansion, resigned.At the same time, Xu Shichang sent Wang Huaiqing to supervise the gathering of troops in the Gyeonggi area.

This is an exchange of their interests.

At present, Cao Kun and Zhang Zuolin have begun to reorganize Duan Qirui's elite troops. Originally, they were not going to let others come to share this big cake.But Duan Xun and other Anhui warlords moved too much, and Cao Kun and Zhang Zuolin needed to quickly control the Beijing government.If you want to do this, you can't get around the current president Xu Shichang, so you can only give Xu Shichang some benefits.Therefore, Xu Shichang sent Wang Huaiqing, his direct descendant, to join Duan Qirui's troops.In a short period of time, more than 1 Duan Qirui troops were reorganized.

Within two days, the Beijing government issued various orders one after another.

On July 1919, 7, the Second Division of the Maliang Frontier Defense Army, which retreated into Shandong, and the Fifth Division of the Beiyang Army led by Zhang Shuyuan were captured by Zhang Zuolin's No.5 Seventh Division and Wang Chengbin's Zhili First Mixed Brigade and Zhili Shangde Brigade They were defeated one after another, withdrew from Jinan, and retreated south.Wang Chengbin's Zhili First Mixed Brigade was the first to enter Jinan and took control of Shandong.

The Shandong army was defeated one after another, and Zhang Shuyuan was forced to announce his resignation from the post of Shandong governor.

Ma Liang's Second Division of the Frontier Defense Army was reorganized by Wang Chengbin into the First Mixed Brigade of the Shandong Army. Zhang Shuyuan was dismissed from the post of commander of the Fifth Division, and Zheng Shiqi, who had defected to Cao Kun's direct lineage, was appointed as the commander of the Fifth Division.

This is the third Anhui warlord to fall after the Zhiwan War.The first two were Wu Xintian, the governor of Henan, and Zhang Jingyao, the governor of Hunan, who had fled one after another.With the resignation of Zhang Shuyuan, the governor of Shandong, the most important war in the northern region of the Zhiwan War came to an end.

Relying on the Zhiwan War, Cao Kun took control of Zhili, Beijing, Shandong, Chahar, and Rehe in one fell swoop, and the controlled area was several times larger than before.Although Zhang Zuolin did not occupy much territory, he reorganized three mixed brigades of the Northwest Frontier Defense Army, and also occupied Duan Qirui's arsenal, taking away a large number of ordnance.

Both sides have greatly increased their strength.

Moreover, the cooperation between the two made Jin Yunpeng the prime minister, completing the transformation of the Beijing government.

"Let me withdraw from Henan and Hubei?"

Duan Xun is still in Xi'an at this time.

On July 1919, 7, Xu Shichang issued an armistice order in the name of the President, allowing all parties that are still fighting to stop the war.Let Duan Xun withdraw from Henan and Hubei, and restore the orders of Zhao Ti's Henan Governor and Wang Zhanyuan's Hubei Governor.

Duan Xun looked at the telegram and threw it on the ground.

Think beautiful.

Duan Xun managed to control these provinces, how could he let them out.Xu Shichang is a polished president. Although some troops support him, he has no control over local warlords like Duan Xun.

"Brother Changqing (Yang Yongtai), what do you think is going to happen now?"

"General, now is the best time, but also the most dangerous time."

"Tell me carefully."

During the Straight-Anhui War, the leadership of the Beijing government has changed, and the situation in the whole country has changed.But in terms of the final beneficiaries, there are only three parties, Cao Kun, Zhang Zuolin, and Duan Xun.When the Zhiwan War started, Duan Xun mobilized the army in a big way, and it seemed that he was going north to fight.

However, at the last moment, he did not go north to participate in the battle between Zhiwan and Anhui, nor did he participate in the war between Duan Qirui and Cao Kun.Instead, they suddenly sent troops to fight in the southern region.

Power greatly expanded.

It has become a force that can compete with Cao Kun and Zhang Zuolin, and even surpass them in strength.

"General, without Duan Hefei's restrictions, the general can develop his strength and occupy the territory at will. Because the Beijing government has nothing to restrict the general. The general can do what he wants."

"kindness."

Having Duan Qirui has many benefits.

But there are also many restrictions.

Duan Xun must first follow Duan Qirui's footsteps and support Duan Qirui's policies.Even if Duan Xun disagreed with Duan Qirui's policy in his heart, at most he would discuss with Duan Qirui in the telegram.You must not sing against Duan Qirui in public.

But in recent years, Duan Qirui's character has become more and more stubborn, and he has become less and less willing to listen to other people's words.It also made Duan Xun's position very embarrassing.

Then Duan Xun couldn't freely express his views.Originally, at Duan Xun's strength, he should have his own very clear political program and clear development goals.It is also necessary to have independent views on certain things, so as to attract more people to support Duan Xun.

But can't say it.

Because there is Duan Qirui on it, Duan Xun is worried that some of his views are different from Duan Qirui's, which will lead to the rupture of the Anhui Clan and lead to confrontation between himself and Duan Qirui.

But now these restrictive factors have completely disappeared.

From now on, Duan Xun is a truly independent force.What you want to say, what you want to do, can be expressed directly.A lot of things that I didn't dare to do before, I can do now.

"Moreover, the Anhui faction was defeated, and its strength was greatly reduced. The remaining forces of the Anhui faction are worried that after Cao Kun and Zhang Zuolin control Beijing, they will come to settle accounts after the fall. The general currently controls the most places and is the strongest. They will all look at it. The actions of the general and those political bureaucrats attached to Duan Hefei because of the failure of the Anhui Clan have no place to go. It is estimated that most of them can only defect to the general, which will greatly enrich the general's civilian team. General is a great thing, it will instantly improve the general's reputation and strength."

"However, there are advantages and disadvantages. There are many outstanding generals on Duan Hefei's side. Their political ability, financial management ability, and international connections are not comparable to those on the general's side. If they can be used , They will bring huge benefits to the general in terms of local governance, financial management, including the domestic financial industry, and diplomacy with European, American and Japanese countries. But they are charged with crimes."

"Crime? Are you talking about a wanted warrant?"

Duan Xun was taken aback.

It is definitely not a fluke that Duan Qirui has been able to influence China's government for so many years.Although Duan Qirui has many underlings, he still has a group of very capable talents.Just like those people in the "New Transportation Department" who were scolded by the Chinese.

In terms of finance, they all have a set of abilities and are proficient in financial knowledge.

Moreover, many of Duan Qirui's reused people had deep connections with European, American and Japanese conglomerates, and had huge connections with domestic financial circles.If Duan Xun can use them, it will be much easier to borrow money when you are short of money.

"Wanted warrants are a trivial matter. Even if the generals really use them, the Beijing government can't say anything. What I'm saying is that these people have a bad reputation. As the saying goes, the winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. Duan Hefei Up to now, it is not without reason. Although there are directly related newspapers contributing to the flames, it is more about Duan Hefei's own problems. Duan Hefei has worn the hat of traitor for many years, but Duan Hefei doesn't care about it at all. , I haven't thought about how to get rid of this bad reputation at all. The more Duan Hefei doesn't care about public opinion, the more public opinion doesn't like Duan Hefei. And these people under Duan Hefei's hands are more or less affected. When we talk about them , domestic public opinion will label them traitors. If the general accepts them with the general, then the general will replace Duan Hefei as everyone's new target. It will definitely seriously affect the general's reputation."

"kindness."

Duan Xun nodded.

Many officials under Duan Qirui did have problems in this regard.Because Duan Qirui has been the target of media bombardment these years, those direct descendants of Duan Qirui were also called traitors by the newspapers.

After all, what everyone criticized the most was that Duan Qirui betrayed national sovereignty in order to borrow money.The specific matters were handled by Duan Qirui's subordinates.Duan Qirui wears the hat of "big traitor", so the people under him wear the hat of "little traitor".

But Duan Xun quickly said: "Don't worry about this, I already know it in my heart. Isn't it the reputation of traitors? I will wash them off in minutes."

Duan Xun has his own plan.

Public opinion is the easiest thing to change.Today they are traitors, and Duan Xun has plenty of ways to make them national heroes.Duan Xun is not very worried about this.

These people are Anhui politicians anyway, so of course they have to be used.Duan Qirui can't use it, but Duan Xun can.Duan Qirui's politicians, including those from the Anfu Department, although many later became big traitors, are definitely first-class in terms of ability.Just like many people ridiculed later, whoever can become a big traitor is incompetent.

Let's talk about it.

"Then let's talk about other dangers. General, you were under Duan Hefei's wing before, and you have been in the southwest region, so you are not very conspicuous. Although the general controls the three provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, the weight of the three provinces combined is not as strong as Cao Kun. The governor of Zhili has a great weight. It is not even comparable to Zhang Zuolin, the patrol envoy of the three eastern provinces. Because the southwest region is too remote and far away from the current political and economic centers. Zhili and the three eastern provinces are all near Beijing, so they have great influence. But it is different now. The generals annexed too many places in the Zhiwan War this time, and successively controlled Henan, Hubei, Hunan, and Guangxi. Although they have not yet fully controlled them, they are already too powerful and will become the target of public criticism. Especially the Zhili and Feng It's the next target."

"I know."

Since swallowing Henan, Hubei, Hunan, and Guangxi, Duan Xun has controlled eight provinces, and with the semi-controlled Tibet, Duan Xun has instantly become the top warlord in China.With the expansion of troops and the reorganization of some other troops, the number of troops under Duan Xun's current control has expanded to 30.

And what about Cao Kun and Zhang Zuolin?