Of course, taking a stand is not easy! You must know that what Yuan Shikai values ????most is the position of president, and what he cannot tolerate the most is someone challenging his authority. But now requiring the formulation of a constitution that limits the president's power before electing the president is tantamount to violating his two taboos at the same time, and is as dangerous as stroking a tiger's beard or criticizing a dragon's scales.
The key to the rapid growth of the New China Party was that it adopted a compromise attitude between the Beiyang faction and the Kuomintang, neither aggressive nor aggressive, and had peaceful aspirations. To express such a public stance now would be equivalent to challenging Yuan Shikai face to face!
Sun Yuanqi thought about it again and felt that "there are no two days in the sky, no two kings in the earth, no two masters of the family, and no two superiors." If he wants to be prime minister, he will have a lot of head-on conflicts with the president Yuan Shikai in the future. Anyway, I will offend him in the future, so what's the harm in expressing my stance now?
Although in the Southern Expedition against the Kuomintang's "Second Revolution", Sun Yuanqi and Yuan Shikai tacitly agreed that one would take Jiangsu, Anhui, and Jiangxi, and the other would take Hunan and Guangdong. In the end, both families were happy, and they seemed to cooperate happily and closely. . In fact, the private confrontation between the two sides was also a flash of swords. For example, Yuan Shikai bribed Long Jiguang's Ji army to march eastward to Guangzhou, and Sun Yuanqi appointed Jiang Zhiqing's navy to attack northern Jiangsu. It is conceivable that there will only be more disputes between the two sides in the future, both overt and covert!
In the past, when encountering major decisions, the Kuomintang took shelter from the wind and rain, and the Beiyang faction took the blame later. The New China Party could be vague and play both sides. Now that the Kuomintang is on the verge of collapse, and the Beiyang clique is beginning to press harder and harder, can the New China Party, as the only force in Chinese politics that can confront the Beiyang clique, continue to be ambiguous? Especially the making of the Constitution. It¡¯s more about the power of Prime Minister Sun Yuanqi!
At the beginning of the founding of the Republic of China, the Nanjing Provisional Government adopted a presidential system, that is, the provisional president Sun Yat-sen took charge of all government affairs. Responsible to the Provisional Senate. After the North-South negotiations were completed and the government moved north, the Provisional Senate, under the leadership of the Tongmenghui, hurriedly formulated the "Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China", instantly changing the presidential system into a responsible cabinet system, with the purpose of limiting the power of Yuan Shikai, the great president. At that time, Yuan Shikai wanted to ascend to the throne of the president as soon as possible, so he pinched his nose and admitted it.
But as time passed, Yuan Shikai increasingly felt that the "Temporary Agreement" restricted him. I feel that the power in my hands is simply not enough to display my talents, and there is an urgent need to formulate a new constitution to replace the "Provisional Constitution". At the same time, the Kuomintang also clamored for the formulation of a new constitution that suited the trend of the times. Both parties attached great importance to the formulation of the constitution. It is believed that the constitution is the foundation of the country. The deviation of a word may be related to the security of the country; the addition or deletion of a word may be related to the growth and decline of democracy. However, there were huge conflicts between the two parties on specific details such as who formulated it, how it was formulated, when it was formulated, and how the content was revised.
For example, the question of who formulated it. The Kuomintang demanded that special committees be elected by the House of Representatives and the Senate. Refer to existing constitutions abroad. The draft will be drafted and submitted to Congress for review, revision and approval. Yuan Shikai expressed strong opposition to this, and his reason was also high-sounding: not all domestic scholars suitable for drafting the constitution are in the Congress. Since the constitution is the fundamental guarantee of the country, it should be done with caution and not hastily. It is best to set up a constitution drafting committee within the presidential palace, select constitutional scholars from across the country to specialize in drafting, and wait until it is formally drafted before submitting it to Congress for review and vote.
Another example is the issue of when to enact it. This is also the most focused issue in Congress at the moment. The reason why Yuan Shikai and others wanted to delay the formulation of the constitution until after the presidential election. The key is that at that time, the president's authority could be used to modify the content of the constitution at will, and Congress would no longer have any constraints. What if Yuan Shikai formulates a constitution that stipulates that the president has the power to dissolve Congress and the cabinet at will, and that the organization of the cabinet does not require the consent of Congress. At that time, Sun Yuanqi had nowhere to cry!
After thinking for a long time, Sun Yuanqi said: "As Mr. Ren said, electing the president before the constitution has been decided is indeed putting the cart before the horse! Since the Constitution Drafting Committee elected by the House of Representatives and the Senate has completed the draft constitution after three or four months of hard work, then It should be handed over to Congress for review as soon as possible so that our country can become a normal country as soon as possible. Otherwise, the country's fundamental law is called the "Provisional Constitution" and the country's supreme head of state is called the provisional president. What do you mean?"
Liang Qichao smiled and said: "Why doesn't Yuan Xiangcheng want to get rid of the word 'temporary' as soon as possible? It's just that he wants the word 'big' in 'President' to be worthy of the name. Otherwise, if he is only satisfied with the position of president in name only, who knows what will happen in this world?" How much less strife!¡±
Jiang Baili said: "There is a good saying about Laibao: as soon as you are full, you think about clothes, and there is a lack of beautiful wives in the house; there are thousands of acres of mules and horses, and you are afraid of being bullied without an official; the fifth and sixth ranks are too young, and the third and fourth ranks are too small. His taste is too low; when he was the prime minister, he still wanted to be the emperor facing the south. Yuan Xiangcheng had been an official for more than 30 years. He started as a soldier, and worked as a minister of Beiyang and the governor of Zhili, and as a minister of military aircraft and the prime minister of the cabinet. Experienced glory and wealth. Now he is sitting in the position of president againIn more than a year, there has been no promotion or reward. The only progress now is to seize more real power. What else can you think about? Can't we still ascend the throne and become emperor? "
To Jiang Baili¡¯s expectation, in real history, Yuan Shikai finally ended up facing the south and becoming emperor!
"Yes, when I have enough food and clothing, I want to be an official; when I become an emperor, I want to be a god; when I become a god, I want to be the Jade Emperor; when I am the Jade Emperor, I want to be in Foshan. When will human life come to an end?" Sun Yuanqi couldn't help but feel confused when he said this. Shocked and startled, he began to alert himself: "Think back more than ten or twenty years ago, Sun's wish was just to settle down in the capital, marry and have children, and then live a stable life. Who would have thought that one mistake would turn into eternal hatred, and finally the tide of the times would change Struggling hard in life and becoming a slave to fame and wealth, it is difficult to remember the original simple thoughts. Whenever I think of it, I feel lost!"
The "misstep" that Sun Yuanqi refers to refers to that on a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, he was so idle that he went to the Horse Temple and walked around. As a result, fate played a trick on people. From then on, he completely said goodbye to the previous world, and had to live alone in a different place in life. The mature Qing Dynasty worked hard. Liang Qichao and Jiang Baili understood the "misstep" to be that Sun Yuanqi entered officialdom, lost his freedom from then on, and could no longer dominate the academic world.
Liang Qichao quickly consoled him: "Baixi, you are a scholar of heaven and earth, with a unique perspective and far-reaching influence. In the future, you will definitely be in the position of a great master who will carry forward the past and forge ahead, and bring forth the new in the academic affairs of this dynasty! Since you have already established a sect, Baixi, you don't have to be too restrictive." Otherwise, a hundred years later, it will just be a name in the "Confucian Biography" and "Chou Ren Biography" in the history of the country. How can it occupy a place in this chronicle and official biography? Furthermore, who can be called the ancestor of Taoism in academics throughout the ages? People must also have great achievements in the officialdom, so that they can complement each other and be passed down for generations.
"As far away as Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wenwu and Zhou Gong, not to mention Confucius, who traveled around the world and encountered many difficulties, once served as the chief justice (big secretary) of the Lu State. Like Dong Zi (Dong Zhongshu), he served as several local officials Chief executive (Prime Minister of Jiangdu and Prime Minister of Jiaoxi); like Han Zi (Han Yu), who once served as Deputy Minister of the Army (Secretary of the Ministry of War), Jing Zhaoyin and other important positions; Wang Yangming went out to quell chaos and returned to give lectures, not to mention. This It¡¯s the so-called ¡®one who knows everything, and one who is capable can do anything¡¯!¡±
Jiang Baili also advised: "Since Prime Minister Baixi took office, his benevolent policies have benefited all people, and his merits are far greater than opening a forum to preach. How can there be talk of 'missteps'? Learning well leads to officialdom, as has been taught since ancient times. Prime Minister Baixi should use For the sake of the common people in the world, work hard to engage in politics, and don¡¯t give up on the middle path!¡±
Sun Yuanqi knew that his affairs could not be explained clearly to the two of them, so he could only talk to him: "What Mr. Ren and Baili said are true. The current situation in the country is like this. All our citizens should take the rise and fall of the country as their own responsibility and work hard to move forward." , you must not give up, or even indulge in the pursuit of your own hobbies. For example, Ren Gong weighs the pros and cons of national policy formulation, and Baili is ordered to study certain military topics, which may not necessarily be his own interests. But working hard for the needs of the country, this is This is the driving force behind the development of the country and the rejuvenation of the nation!¡±
The three of them chatted for a while. Sun Yuanqi said goodbye to Liang Qichao and Jiang Baili on the grounds of being "deep in autumn" and "busy at work", and hurriedly returned to the city to start arranging strategies for the struggle between Fujian and the Congress.
According to the plan previously agreed with Yang Du, Yuan Shikai's attention should not be attracted in the early stage of the Fujian attack. It is best to "enter the village quietly and shoot without shooting". Just make a fortune quietly without any fancy and noisy actions; wait for the later stage. When Yuan Shikai found out, the rice was already cooked in Fujian, and it was too late for him to intervene.
In contrast, the congressional struggle serves as a cover for the plan to attack Fujian, and it is necessary to attract Yuan Shikai's attention as much as possible. Therefore, the next day, Sun Yuanqi's royal newspaper and the official mouthpiece of the New China Party, the Political and Economic Daily, published a news on its front page, claiming that the Kuomintang was promoting chaos in the south. Many Kuomintang members also spoke nonsense in Congress and responded. Independence, both emotional and legal reasons should be punished to serve as a warning to others. Therefore, it is proposed that Congress severely punish the Kuomintang and expel some Kuomintang radical members who have inappropriate behavior and inappropriate remarks.
Subsequently, some members of the New China Party also met with Yuan Shikai, submitted a draft proposal to expel unconstitutional members, and put forward several opinions on this. According to the views of New China Party members, the Kuomintang must be dealt with and certain members expelled before the president can be elected. Otherwise, the will of all people will not be accurately expressed and it will violate the relevant laws and regulations of the country. This behavior of the New China Party not only seems to care for President Yuan and ensure that President Yuan successfully ascends to the throne, but also seems to add insult to injury to the Kuomintang and wants to kill the Kuomintang. It also seems to deliberately obstruct the convening of Congress and delay the presidential election.
Just when Yuan Shikai was wondering what medicine Sun Yuanqi was selling, the New China Party suddenly filed a bill in the Congress, requesting the Constitution Drafting Committee to submit the draft to Congress for a vote as soon as possible. Only then did Yuan Shikai suddenly realize: It turns out that constitution-making was Sun Yuanqi¡¯s trump card! (Unfinished)Continued. . )
PS: It¡¯s been a bad year this year. Not to mention colds and illnesses, I¡¯ve lost my ID card, my bag, and even a manuscript of several thousand words!