Chapter 109: The Demonstration of the New Army in Fengtian (3)
The Qing government was not as absurd and ignorant as it was said to be. At least in the last ten years, the Qing government also actively carried out the New Deal across the country and established various new schools, laying the foundation for the later Republic of China government, which was filled with talents.
The Qing government was also bloody. During the Revolution of 1911, the Qing government sent its only heavy cruiser to demonstrate on the west coast of Mexico, forcing the Mexican government to apologize for the anti-Chinese incident.
During the Russo-Japanese War, it was a wise choice for the Qing government to choose outside neutrality.
After Song Biao accumulated strong military strength and had the conditions to mediate with Russia, it was wise for the Qing government to be forced to appoint him as the governor of the three eastern provinces. This does not mean that the Qing government would hand over all rights to Song Biao.
On the contrary,
The Qing government not only appointed him as the governor of the three eastern provinces, but also controlled all military and political power in the three eastern provinces by retaining the three garrison generals of Fengtian, Jilin, and Heilongjiang, because the jurisdictions of the garrison generals of the three provinces and the governors of the three eastern provinces happened to completely overlap.
The Fengtian New Army Demonstration incident was essentially caused by this seemingly shrewd arrangement of the Qing government, and the initiator was the Empress Dowager Cixi. She was already accustomed to using this trick to control hundreds of officials, but she did not expect the reactions of Song Biao and Zhao Erxun.
It was all so intense that it was completely like a fight to the death.
Yuan Jinkai's two moves were effective quickly. After Song Biao took a tough stance of competing with Zhao Erxun for the actual power of the governor of the three eastern provinces in order to implement the New Deal, the number of officials attacking Song Biao decreased, and some officials even petitioned for strict demands.
Check Zhao Erxun.
In this fierce battle, on the afternoon of December 3, 1905, Cixi summoned Yinchang in Ningshou Palace. The reason why she summoned Yinchang was because Yinchang was one of the few who criticized Zhao Erxun.
officials.
Strictly speaking, Yinchang is not even an official. He is only a quasi-official. As the general manager of the Tianjin Military Preparation Academy, he still has the official title of third grade.
Ningshou Palace is behind the Huangji Palace. Since the Gengzi New Deal, the Empress Dowager Cixi has always lived here to implement the New Deal and do what she wants. Governors and governors from all over the country have also been working non-stop to supervise the New Deal. It is just a group of old people running the New Deal.
It is glorious on the outside but full of decay on the inside.
Various places took advantage of the New Deal to plunder and levy taxes indiscriminately under various pretexts. The people were miserable. For example, in Sichuan, where the New Deal was most popular, the land tax was only one tael of silver in the past, but after 1902 it increased to 6 to 8
Liang, some places such as Hezhou and other places even surged to 14.3 Liang.
In the end, the so-called Manchu Xiliang, who was known as a famous minister of the Gengzi New Deal, was actually the ultimate founder of the Sichuan Railway Riots.
At this time, the Empress Dowager Cixi was obviously unaware of all this. All she saw was the prosperity of various places under the Gengzi New Deal, and the country was improving day by day. Except for the affairs of the three eastern provinces and Emperor Guangxu, she did not seem to have too many worries.
Although Yinchang had met Cixi, he was still panic-stricken. He was always worried that his previous confession in support of Song Biao would be used as a crime. Accompanied by Cui Yugui, the second chief eunuch, he entered the main hall of Ningshou Palace.
Entering the main hall, Yin Chang only saw an old woman wearing a dark green cheongsam on the bench in front. He couldn't wait to kneel down at a distance and said to him: "Slave Yin, the general manager of Tianjin Military Academy.
Please give my regards to the Queen Mother and Lafayette!"
As she reached old age, Cixi's eyesight was not as good as before, and her memory was even worse than before. Although she had seen Yinchang, she could not remember her appearance. She could not see clearly from this distance, so she waved her hands in annoyance and said,
: "Get up and talk!"
Yinchang replied without even daring to raise his head: "I have a low status. How dare I stand and speak in front of the Queen Mother Lafayette? It's better for me to kneel down and answer!"
There are different opinions about Cixi.
She was actually just an old Manchu noblewoman who wanted to safeguard the special power and interests of the Manchu people. She was also the last woman in the Manchu Qing Dynasty who could be called a politician. She held an exquisite hand-warming stove in her hand and looked faintly
He sighed: "It's rare to see a slave who obeys the rules like you nowadays. Stand up. I just have something to ask you."
Yinchang then stood up and replied: "I thank you, Lord Buddha."
Empress Dowager Cixi asked him: "Have you met Mr. Song Biao, the governor of the three eastern provinces? I remember that Yi Kuang recommended you to go to Liaodong to meet him. It is said that when you came back to report, he said that Mr. Song was quite good.
people."
Yinchang replied respectfully: "Reporting to the old Buddha, it is indeed Mr. Song who I met, but the servant is telling the truth. This Mr. Song is not a rebel."
"oh?"
Empress Dowager Cixi actually really hoped that this was true. Her Qing Dynasty was already in turmoil and could not withstand the torment. Today's Song Biao is much more ferocious than the Cantonese bandit Chang Mao back then. If he really wants to rebel,
Even if the Qing Dynasty blocked this wave, the court was completely destroyed.
She quietly raised her wrinkled eyes, but still couldn't see Yinchang's appearance clearly, so she told Cui Yugui, the second chief eunuch who was accompanying her, "Bring him a stool and come closer to talk."
"twitter!"
Cui Yugui nodded respectfully, bowed his waist, turned around and directed the two young eunuchs guarding the door to bring the round stool over and ask Yinchang to sit down.
Yinchang felt happy at this moment. Being given a seat meant that it was a good thing. He thanked the Empress Dowager Cixi and said, "I have thanked the Empress Dowager for your kindness."
After saying this, Yinchang actually sat down, only three steps away from the Empress Dowager Cixi.
Cixi then continued to ask Yinchang: "What kind of person do you think Mr. Song is?"
Yinchang replied: "Old Buddha, do you remember that the imperial court sent many young children to study in the United States in the past few years, and many of them have returned now, but which one is a rebel and which one is a revolutionary party?"
?”
Cixi felt that this was a clever statement, so she asked: "You mean...?"
Yinchang followed the words and replied: "I thought Master Song was similar to those young children back then. I saw Master Song when he was actually twenty years old. If I had really seen him, it would be really strange. As he said,
No official in the three provinces listened to him
The commanders and deployments all obeyed the garrison generals of the provinces, and regarded him as nothing. No one could bear to be left as the governor. Let alone a young man? The servants have seen this Lord Song. Those who have not seen him
, generally speaking, I thought it was forty or fifty.
A 20-year-old man naturally has all kinds of ideas, but most of them are based on his own wild guesses. This Master Song, my slave thought, he had two characteristics. One was his love of money. He made a lot of money during the Russo-Japanese War.
The three provinces bought land, coal and iron ore, and owned hundreds of
With Wan's wealth, there is no need to risk losing everything to rebel against the court; secondly, he is a rare master of war who can fight, and is extremely good at using soldiers. Even if you give him more money to support him, it will always be useful to him, which is better than letting him go.
The Russians kept him."
When Cixi heard this, she felt that Yinchang was really on point. In fact, she also heard a secret report from Zhao Erxun, saying that Song Biao was corrupt and perverting the law in the three eastern provinces, taking advantage of chaos and seizing tens of thousands of fertile fields, and cleverly seizing them with the support of the Russians.
The coal and railway franchises in various places are daring and unruly.
She always felt that Zhao Erxun was adding fuel to the fire and was taking advantage of the opportunity to make more money. Maybe it was true. How many people in this world don't love money?
Yinchang is right. Raising Song Biao can always be useful, and it is better than letting the Russians raise him.
After hearing what Yinchang said, Cixi nodded slightly.
At this time, there was also light snowfall in the capital city. The weather was turning cold, and the cold wind and snow caused a thin layer of snow particles to accumulate on the green brick floor outside Ningshou Palace. Cixi's appearance these days
She was not in a good mood. When the weather turned cold, her wrists and knees felt cold and painful. She also suffered from dysentery last month.
Cixi was wearing a dark green brocade coat. She was holding a brass hand warmer in her hand, and a charcoal stove was burning beside her. The room was warm, but there was always an indescribable coldness in her heart.
My body is getting worse every year. I am always worried that one day I will fall asleep and never wake up again.
Every time she thought about this, she felt too much worry and fear in her heart.
She is also a human being. She loves power, but she is also afraid of death. She also wants to leave a name in history, and she also wants to preserve the country and foundation of the Qing Dynasty.
She is old. No matter how much jewelry or care she takes, she can't cover up her age, which is over seventy years old, and the age spots on her face. She and this empire are already on their deathbed.
She always has a straight face, is always so strict, indifferent and ruthless, because she holds all the power in this empire and controls it, but she is the most heavy-hearted and worried old woman. She can't even find a few things.
Good things worth being happy about.
Cixi couldn't help but think of what happened a few days ago, and she sighed with Yinchang: "A few days ago, before Song Biao was appointed as the governor of the three eastern provinces, I hired Mr. Yuan, the governor of Zhili, who was also a capable man.
Lord Yuan, I asked him, if Song Biao rebels and sends his troops south, can you stop him? What do you think Mr. Yuan said to me?"
Yinchang humbly replied: "I don't know."
Cixi let out a short sigh and said: "Master Yuan said that if Song Biao goes south by himself, it's easy to say, maybe he can be stopped, maybe he can't. The key is to see whether the Russians support him; if Song Biao directs the Russian army to go south,
Then stop fighting, even three Beiyang troops combined are no match for us."
Yinchang also lamented, feeling that the lives of the Manchu people were really miserable, and he didn't know how this great inheritance had come to such a miserable end.
He could only reply: "This slave has studied in Germany and knows how foreigners play. To be honest with Lafayette, Master Yuan is right. But this matter is not like this. I am afraid that Zhao Erxun and the others
In order to fight for power and profit for himself, and to give himself a sigh of relief, he forced Governor Song to rebel. If you want to be a slave, Zhao Erxun also refused to do so.
Well-intentioned, isn't this clearly pushing Governor Song to death? I'm really not afraid of Governor Song's rebellion, but I'm afraid that Governor Song won't. Lafayette, no matter what happens, we still have to transfer Master Zhao back first, so
If this continues, even if Governor Song just wants to make more money and implement new policies, Mr. Zhao may force him to rebel."
Cixi was silent for a long time. After a while, she closed her eyes and said with a cold and tired face: "Yes, that's not what you are talking about. This Lord Zhao will really make me unhappy." thing."
She is getting old, her energy is no longer what she used to be, and she has many worries in her heart. She really wants to throw it all away, but she can't. If she throws it all to the emperor, her life will be ruined.
Seeing her closing her eyes and keeping a straight face, she didn't know whether she was happy or sad, angry or hateful. Yinchang felt some unpredictable fear and apprehension in his heart. Cui Yugui, the second chief eunuch who was familiar with all this, waited for a long time. Then he said to Yinchang: "Master Yinchang, Lafayette is going to take a lunch break. Please retreat first and wait outside the palace. If I wake up this afternoon and summon you again, I will go and greet you."
Yinchang couldn't wait to leave immediately, and felt relieved immediately. Then he stood up, kowtowed, and left Ningshou Palace with Cui Yugui, the second chief eunuch.
When he walked out of Ningshou Palace, he looked up at the sky. He really felt deeply sad for the Qing Dynasty and their Manchu foundation. He also hated Cixi's house arrest of the emperor, but now looking back, he We can only hope that the Queen Mother will live a long life. If the Queen Mother leaves, the Han people will fight among themselves and destroy the Qing Dynasty.
At this time, Yinchang did not expect that he, who had been doing nothing for most of his life, would finally have an unprecedented opportunity thanks to Zhao Erxun. A few days later, he would be suddenly promoted to the governor of Fengtian. Former Jilin general Zeng Yun and Heilongjiang general Cheng Dequan also became the governor of Jilin and the governor of Heilongjiang respectively.
A few days later, Cixi, who had not taken a stand during the entire New Army demonstration, finally made a decision and supported Yi Kuang in issuing two decrees as minister of military aircraft. One was to abolish the garrison generals of the three provinces and replace them with governors. At the same time, he abolished He was appointed Yin of Fengtian Prefecture; secondly, Zhao Erxun was transferred back to Beijing to be appointed as Minister of Household Affairs again, and Yinchang was appointed governor of Fengtian Prefecture, and he was sent to Fengtian Prefecture on the same day.
The Empress Dowager Cixi felt that what Yinchang said was right and won her heart. She also considered that Yinchang was still very tactful and was not as demanding on power as Zhao Erxun, who almost ruined national affairs, so she appointed Yinchang as the official. Governor of Fengtian.
When things got to this point, the Fengtian New Army Demonstration incident finally came to an end. The Qing government and Cixi once again decided to endure it and handed more power to Song Biao. Since they made him the governor of the three eastern provinces, they simply gave up the power. Give it to him so that he doesn't have to go through this trouble any more.
It was Yinchang's words that made Cixi finally make this decision.
Yinchang said that even if you give him more money to support him, it will always be useful to him, and it is better than letting the Russians support him.
Since Song Biao loved money, Cixi felt that this was also a good thing. Loving money was better than loving the country. When she heard that Song Biao was not yet married, Cixi asked Prince Qing to keep this matter in mind. If there was a suitable candidate, he would give it to Song Biao. Biao Bao Media.
The New Army incident quietly came to an end. Yinchang took Cixi's instructions and quietly set out for Fengtian Province with his German wife. He had even thought about it. When he arrived at Fengtian Mansion, he would immediately go to the Governor's Yamen to meet Song Biao. Instead of going to your own governor's office to settle your wife and children, etc., in order to fulfill your duty as a subordinate official.
Before he set off, the newly appointed governor of Jilin, Zeng Yun, and the governor of Heilongjiang, Cheng Dequan, came faster because they were in the northeast, so they arrived at Fengtian Mansion first to meet Song Biao.
Officials have the best eyes and ears in this area, and the most sensitive sense of smell. The situation in the three eastern provinces has completely changed. In the entanglement and struggle between the four parties, Song Biao had the last laugh, holding the power of the entire three eastern provinces.
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