With Wang Shizhen and Cao Kun taking action, the efficiency of Beiyang's various ministries' exit was obviously several times faster than before. By the beginning of May, there were no organized Beiyang troops around the capital. The 47th Mixed Brigade stationed outside the entrance was the first batch of troops equipped with tanks and achieved brilliant results after being put into actual combat. It was originally the highlight of the Shandong exercise. However, due to the heavy responsibility of defending the capital, it was delayed until this time before moving south in a large scale.
The renovated Third Division of the Central Army quickly moved northward under the leadership of acting division commander Chen Chen, taking over the defense gap left by the army's departure. Jingshi University, which had been tense for two or three months, immediately announced the lifting of martial law and restored normal teaching order.
Although the exercises in the border areas of Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu and Anhui are in full swing, and the sound of gunfire has attracted attention at home and abroad, the situation in North China has become increasingly calm, and Sun Yuanqi no longer has a reason to stay in Taiyuan. Under the persuasion of Yang Du, Yang Yongtai and others, he had no choice but to take the opportunity to return to the capital to fulfill his duties as prime minister of the cabinet.
Hearing that Sun Yuanqi was coming back, officials of all sizes in the capital became agitated. No matter whether they were worried or happy, no one could ignore the impact of this incident. So on the day Sun Yuanqi returned to Beijing, everyone came to the airport to wait for him, including Li Yuanhong, the interim vice president who was acting as the president.
In fact, Li Yuanhong is also full of helplessness. Logically speaking, he is the president (although acting, still temporary), which is half a level higher than the prime minister, and there is no need to personally greet him. Moreover, he and Sun Yuanqi did not have any friendship at all. There was only a history of blood and tears of being bullied and humiliated, such as being deprived of half of Hubei for no reason, being tricked into Beijing for no reason, and being imprisoned in Yingtai for a year or two inexplicably, not to mention It is necessary to take the initiative to praise Sun Yuanqi's bad feet.
But what¡¯s the result? He still rushed over early!
There is no way, the changes in recent years have completely frightened Li Yuanhong: whether it is the Qing emperor who has blessed the world for three hundred years, or Sun Wen, who can stir up half of the world with just a eloquent tongue, or Zong Heng. Yuan Xiangcheng, who has been known as the dragon among men for twenty years, or himself, the miserable vice president and governor of Hubei, were eventually defeated by this young teacher, becoming a stepping stone for him to climb up.
???????? Is it because he is so virtuous and blessed with so many blessings, or is he elegant on the outside and ruthless on the inside? Li Yuanhong, who had already tasted the power, did not dare to think nonsense. Back when he was in his prime. Even if he was played by Sun Yuanqi in the palm of his hand, let alone now that the tiger is in peace, he wants land but no land, no gun but no gun, no one wants people? If he dared to cause trouble, Sun Yuanqi would kill himself no harder than killing a bedbug!
Is there a more miserable president in the world today than myself? Li Yuanhong couldn't help but lament in his heart, but on the surface he was smiling and chatting with the officials, ministers and counselors from various countries around him, and looking up at the southern sky from time to time.
At around ten o¡¯clock in the morning, Sun Yuanqi¡¯s special plane slowly landed at the Beijing Suburban Airport under the escort of two military aircraft. The plane just stopped. Li Yuanhong came forward with various people. After two or three hours of bumps and cold, Sun Yuanqi was still full of energy. When he saw Li Yuanhong appearing in the welcoming crowd, he quickly took a few steps and said, "Sun is really ashamed to trouble the President and all of you to greet him in person!"
Li Yuanhong laughed and said: "What did Prime Minister Baixi say? There has been no one in charge of the country recently, and officials in and around Beijing are panicking. When they heard that Prime Minister Baixi returned to Beijing today, they all cheered! If Taiyuan was not thousands of miles away from the capital, I'm planning to go all the way there, how far is it from the city to the airport?"
Sun Yuanqi knew that Li Yuanhong had a sly look on his face but a bright heart at the same time, so he smiled and said: "What the President said is wrong! With you and other officials in Beijing, how can you say that there is no one in charge of the country?"
Duan Qirui, the Army Chief who also came to greet him, joked: "We are just communicating from top to bottom. We don't have the backbone of Prime Minister Bai Xi. It's like the sky without sun, the car without wheels, and the ship without rudder. How can we not feel panic in our hearts?" ? These days, I have been looking southward every day, and I almost turned into a beautiful watch at the entrance of the Forbidden City saying "Wish you to come home!"
Sun Yuanqi shook his head repeatedly and said: "General Zhiquan's analogy is a bit unethical! Today is a democratic republic society, the Congress is the Lord, the people are the sun, the cabinet is like a wheel, the president is like a rudder, Sun is at most a spoke on the wheel. If President Li has been out of Beijing for a long time and has not returned, we will be waiting for you as much as we are waiting for you to return, but Mr. Sun should not deserve such ridiculous praise!"
Li Yuanhong responded and said: "Prime Minister Baixi, please don't be too modest. Li is just a temporary agent. Once the National Assembly elects the official president, he will return to his hometown in Hubei to spend the rest of his life. By the way, Baixi, the country's situation has become increasingly stable. There is no one in the way of government or opposition. When do you plan to convene Congress to formulate a constitution and elect a president?¡±
Frankly speaking, Li Yuanhong is also wavering on whether to hold a presidential election immediately, just like the attitude of high school students towards the college entrance examination, with both longing and fear. He has had countlessFor the first time, he secretly took stock of the strong candidates for the presidency: Yuan Xiangcheng has already left Hexi. Thank God for getting rid of the biggest enemy in his life; Sun Baixi is now under 40, and his age does not meet the rigid requirements for presidential candidates. Thank God for helping him get rid of a strong enemy again; Sun Yat-sen and Huang Keqiang are now in exile overseas and want to It is not yet possible to return to China, let alone participate in the competition, and thank Sun Baixi for getting rid of two opponents for him; as for Duan Zhiquan, Cai Songpo, Sun Tui'an, Tan Zuan and others, they are either too junior or in a corner, and they do not pose much threat to themselves. . I am one of the few vice presidents who can compete with Yuan Xiangcheng and Sun Yat-sen in Congress! After counting, it seems that I, the only remaining revolutionary hero, has the most hope.
However, every time Li Yuanhong was about to burst into tears, a voice from the dark corner of his heart would remind him: Hey, Fatty Li, stop daydreaming! The election of the president does not rely solely on seniority. In the final analysis, it depends on the voting results of members of Congress. Now the Republican Party has long since declined, and the once-popular Kuomintang and Kuomintang have also become a thing of the past. Only the New China Party remains prosperous and dominates the House of Representatives and the Senate. Sun Baixi didn't like her at all, so why did she promote herself to the throne of president?
¡°If the election is held now, there may still be a chance to win. If it is delayed until two or three years later and Sun Baixi is eligible to run for the election, he probably won¡¯t even have the capital to be a sparring partner! But then I thought again, if I postpone it to two or three years, I can at least be the interim president for a few more years; if the election is unfavorable now, I will probably have to go home and spend my old age in peace!
Li Yuanhong has been thinking about this issue over and over in his head these days, weighing the pros and cons back and forth, which makes him restless at night. He had no choice but to relieve his worries by overeating. The result is that although Li Yuanhong looks gloomy, he is several kilograms heavier than before!
Yang Yongtai, the secretary-general of the New China Party who followed Sun Yuan up, laughed when he heard the words: "Convene a Congress? After the siege of the Congress not long ago, the members died and fled, and the rest were like frightened birds, hiding. No. Now we can¡¯t even gather more than half of the members of both houses of Congress. How can we convene Congress? How can we formulate a constitution and elect a president?¡±
Li Yuanhong replied matter-of-factly: "Then let's elect the vacant members first!"
Although Li Yuanhong knew what the by-election members said. The New China Party's dominant position in Congress will become more obvious, but it is not without benefits for him. At least the Republican Party, with the protection of his interim vice president as acting president, can slightly regain its momentum and seize the opportunity for the Kuomintang and the Civic Party to fall apart. The part left behind is blank. Optimistic estimates suggest that it will not be a big problem for the Republican Party to occupy 20% of the seats in Congress and become the second largest party in Congress.
Sun Yuanqi pondered: "By-election of members? That's fine, let's do it according to the existing laws!"
According to existing laws? There are two solutions under existing law. One is according to the "Provisional Constitution", the president ordered the dissolution of Congress and re-election of members; the other is the "Congress Organization Act", which replaces one-third of the members every two years, and the vacancies can be filled at this time. It's just that the parliamentary election was just completed at the beginning of last year. If this law is followed, wouldn't it be necessary to wait another year?
Li Yuanhong was a little unsure of Sun Baixi's intentions and was about to ask a question. I saw that the British Minister Zhu Erdian had come closer and said in a standard London accent reservedly and solemnly: "Welcome to the Prime Minister to return to the capital. I hope that you can value and cherish the current UK-China friendship and take active and effective measures to continue to promote UK-China relations." Healthy and orderly development!" The British gentleman, who is polite on the outside but arrogant on the inside, is just like the British Empire, which is burning with fire on the outside but is gradually running out of power.
Sun Yuanqi immediately responded in standard Beijing Mandarin: "The government of the Republic of China has always attached great importance to diplomatic relations with your country. On the premise of not harming the interests of both parties, I am also willing to work with your country to maintain territorial integrity, normal commercial exchanges, and inviolable sovereignty." Conduct active consultations on other issues to further promote the healthy development of China-UK relations!"
Just like Zhu Erdian was sure that Sun Yuanqi could understand his English. Sun Yuanqi was also convinced that Zhu Erdian could hear his Mandarin and the meaning contained in it!
Zhu Erdian said with a cold face: "Since you mentioned not harming the interests of both parties, I would like to ask you a question. It is said that your country has recently mobilized more than 100,000 troops from six provinces to conduct large-scale exercises near Shandong. The imaginary enemy of the exercises is directed at Japan. . What is your comment on this?"
Sun Yuanqi shook his index finger frivolously: "First of all, the military exercise is the internal affairs of the country, and the location is within China. No country has the right to interfere. There is no reason to make irresponsible remarks. Secondly, the exercise is not targeting any country, even if there is As for the question, shouldn¡¯t this kind of question be raised by the Japanese Minister? As the British Minister to China, what does this matter have to do with you! Are you the British Minister to China or the Japanese Minister to China?¡±
Zhu Erdian had never suffered such humiliation. His face suddenly turned the color of pig liver, and then he became angry and said: "Of course I am the British Minister! Just because the Japanese Minister Mr. Yamaza died of illness earlier today, and Britain and Japan are allies. Relationship, that¡¯s why I ask this question. Why not?¡±
The Minister-General of Foreign Affairs, Lu Zhengxiang, who was originally accompanying the ministers of various countries, whispered to Sun Yuanqi: "Prime Minister Baixi, Mr. Enjiro Yamaza, the Japanese Minister to China, committed suicide by taking poison in the embassy early this morning due to domestic pressure!"
Sun Yuanqi had no favorable impression of Yamaza Enjiro, who led the signing of the "Three Civil Treaties". He was just slightly stunned when he heard this: " Yamaza is dead? That is not good news." There was no sadness or sadness in his words, as if he was like The neighbor's kittens and puppies died in his own home. He didn't care about the life or death of the cats and dogs. The first thing that came to his mind was the trouble of explanation and whether it would become an excuse for conflicts between the two families in the future.
PS: Take the train home and stop updating. I was so bored on the train that I actually coded three thousand words on my mobile phone!