Yunnan Province, Kunming, In the corridor outside the study room in the front yard of the Governor's Mansion, Chen Weigeng, the chief staff member of the Secretariat, quickly walked into the study room accompanied by Li Youxun, the adjutant of Tang Jiyao, and Gu Pinzhen, the commander of the Yunnan Second Division and the principal of the Lecture Hall.
At this time, Tang Jiyao was standing behind the desk in the study, holding a telegram in his hand and reading silently. When Chen Weigeng, Li Youxun, and Gu Pinzhen walked in, he still looked unmoved. The three of them had to first
Standing aside and waiting, everyone had varying degrees of anxiety on their faces.
After reading the message, Tang Jiyao sighed slowly and put the message paper in his hand firmly on the desk. He raised his head and glanced at the three people standing not far in front of him, and then sat down calmly.
, and then asked Chen Weigeng: "Brother Ye Zhou, this trip to Lijiang has been very hard for you. The meeting just ended yesterday afternoon, and you rushed here in a hurry today. I'm afraid you didn't get a good rest."
The Lijiang Conference was originally scheduled for June 7. Tang Jiyao sent Chen Weigeng, chief of staff of the Secretariat of the Governor's Office, to attend the meeting.
Chen Weigeng was a well-known political figure in Yunnan Province, and the most senior member of the Yunnan League and the revolutionary faction in the early years. Simply sending such a revolutionary hero to Lijiang and back actually showed Tang Jiyao's attitude:
The Lijiang meeting lasted for three days and officially ended yesterday afternoon. Chen Weigeng did not take time to rest and rushed back to the provincial capital overnight to report the meeting to Tang Jiyao. This shows that this meeting was no small matter.
"Your Majesty, the Governor is very polite. This matter is of great importance, and Wei Geng naturally does not dare to delay too much." Chen Wei Geng said quickly, with a bit of impatient expression on his face.
"In the early hours of this morning, a telegram has arrived from Guiyang. It seems that the meeting with you in Lijiang will not be easy." Tang Jiyao said first, and after he finished speaking, the hesitation between his brows became even more intense. "
Tell me, what exactly happened?"
"Guizhou Governor Liu means to follow our lead in Yunnan, but Commander Yang and Commander Liu of Guangxi believe that the current domestic momentum has changed. Coupled with the ambiguous attitude of the old man Lu Rongting, there are rumors that the Guangxi Governor's Office is already conspiring with the Beiyang government.
.As for Sichuan, Commander-in-Chief Xiong and Zhao and Huang seem to have differences of opinion. Moreover, two years ago, the Beiyang Army transferred Chen Huan and Wu Guangxin to Sichuan to occupy eastern Sichuan and Chongqing. The purpose is self-evident.
"Chen Weigeng said quickly.
Governor Liu refers to Liu Xianshi. Commander Yang and Commander Liu refer to Yang Ximin and Liu Zhenhuan. Yang Ximin was originally a unit sent by the Yunnan Army to Guangxi to assist during the Great Revolution. It now occupies some towns in northwest Guangxi and nominally still respects the Yunnan Governor's Office.
However, he actually became a unique local small warlord; as for Liu Zhenhuan, he followed the revolutionary army in the Guangxi uprising in his early years, and later controlled an armed force together with the revolutionary army Liu Guxiang.
Both Yang and Liu were only small forces in Guangxi. Yang Ximin's troops were less than 2,000 men, and they had to rely on Yunnan for support for part of their arms supply. Although Liu Zhenhuan's revolutionary army had a slightly larger number of troops, almost 4,000 men, even externally
It was also said that there were seven to eight thousand people, but there were very few regular troops. Most of them were men from the Ge Lao Association in various places. The quality was evident.
However, in order to plan major events, and Lu Rongting, who really controls Guangxi and even Guangdong, is a typical opportunist, seeing the great power of the Beiyang government, he does not pay attention to the Lijiang Conference at all. Therefore, Liao Hua, the general of Sichuan,
As the vanguard, no matter how small the power of Yang Ximin and Liu Zhenhuan is, they still have to win over them.
Since the end of the Qing Dynasty, the situation in Sichuan has been chaotic. Because of the complex terrain and inconvenient transportation of Sichuan and Shu, anyone with hundreds of soldiers can occupy a town and "make himself a king". Especially after the Great Revolution, Sichuan Province
The situation inside the country is becoming increasingly unclear, and there are many people trying to fish in troubled waters, making Sichuan now full of warlords.
Not only that, during the Great Revolution, troops were sent to Sichuan to aid Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou. Later, when the Great Revolution was successful, these Yunnan and Guizhou armies had no intention of returning to their own provinces. Instead, they occupied one and a half of Sichuan's city as their own.
Therefore, the local military forces in Sichuan are still very jealous of these troops from other provinces. Unfortunately, the province is full of internal strife. In addition to fighting each other openly and secretly, they must use foreign aid to consolidate each other's rule. Over time, these Yunnan armies have become more and more frustrated.
The Guizhou army is suspected of taking root.
Chief Xiong was Xiong Kewu, Chief of Civil Affairs of Sichuan. Although Xiong Kewu supported the southern revolutionary camp to a certain extent, as a local warlord in Sichuan, there was still some conflict between Zhao Youxin and Huang Yucheng who were sent to Sichuan by Yunnan.
After listening to Chen Weigeng's introduction, everyone present already had a very clear structure of the situation in their minds. On the surface, the four southwestern provinces still have forces that oppose the imperial system and resolutely overthrow Yuan. In terms of armed military strength, it is not too bad. But
Under the unified banner, the gaps between them are still very obvious. In addition, the Beiyang government was prepared early in the morning, and Sichuan, Guangxi, and Hunan all deployed heavy troops early.
"Ye Zhou, tell me directly, are the other three provinces really determined?" After taking a slow breath, Tang Jiyao looked a little impatient and asked directly.
"Alas, although everyone reacted very positively on the surface, saying that as long as someone is willing to stand up and lead, they will do their best to respond. However, after three days of meetings, no one has come up with a specific response plan, and no one can give a specific response plan.
A good idea. However, Commander Xiong's people were quarreling with Commander Zhao and Commander Huang. And Mr. Yang kept urging for next year's military expenditure. I'm afraid that the so-called uprising was just talking nonsense, and they still sent mails one by one.
I just want to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and just act according to the wind." Chen Weigeng said very helplessly.
"I should have known that these people would only be talking nonsense." Li Youxun said angrily.
"However, it is within our expectation to adapt to the wind. The key is to have momentum. As long as the momentum is generated, the other four provinces will definitely follow suit. In fact, I have already received some rumors earlier that the Beiyang government is not human.
Everyone agrees with what Yuan Shikai is doing now. As long as the momentum is big enough, the interior of Beiyang will surely fall apart on its own." Gu Pinzhen said solemnly.
The overt and covert fights between various factions in Beiyang are no longer a big deal for some people who know a little about politics or are active in this area. Since the Second Revolution, the differences within Beiyang have become more and more serious.
Obviously, first Wu Peifu was dissatisfied with the appointment of the governor of Hunan, and then Cao Kun was upset about losing his position as governor of Zhili. Even Beiyang veterans Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang were often jealous of each other.
Let’s not talk about the distant past, let’s just talk about the recent situation. The Beiyang government finally managed to cultivate a decent rising star, and Yuan Shikai finally had a clan member who could lead troops. As a result, Yuan Su had just made great contributions in Liaodong and returned to Beijing.
After that, his military power was confiscated. It can only be said that Yuan Shikai's suspicion caused the Beiyang, which was originally not united, to become even more loose.
The reason why Tang Jiyao was very keen on this meeting in Lijiang was also because he had seen through the internal situation of the Beiyang government. Of course, in addition, his ambition was also an important factor. Now Sun Yat-sen is hiding in Japan, and Cai E is also traveling to the East to recuperate.
, except for Lu Rongting, Yunnan has the strongest power among the five southwest provinces, so it is inevitable to take advantage of this opportunity to rise up and become the leader of the anti-Yuan forces in the southwest.
For several other provinces, the rebellion against Yuan may have certain revolutionary elements, but this revolutionary element is definitely not the mainstream. It is not all about taking advantage of the chaos to gain more territory and power, and at the same time, it can also increase the number of
Positive image, why not? But Tang Jiyao not only wants to gain territory and capital, but also wants to become a leader who can compete with the central government.:
He has fantasized more than once that one day his name will appear on the list of candidates in the congressional election. Only when he rises to such a position can he truly grasp the power.
Because of this, Gu Pinzhen's words more or less catered to his wishes.