Until recently, news came from Henan that the war in Hubei had gained the absolute upper hand, and Yuan Su even promised to break through Hankou within half a month. This news caused different reactions from the two factions within the Xinhua Palace. Yuan Shikai naturally hoped that he could conquer Hankou as soon as possible.
After settling the war in Central China and wooing Yuan Su to continue to support the monarchy, as long as he has Yuan Su's support, Duan Qirui obviously cannot be forced to take measures, and Yuan Shikai himself can calmly step down.
steps.
As for Duan Qirui, he was also ready to make a move. He was very angry that Yuan Shikai pretended to be ill a few months ago to delay the abolition of the imperial system. But on the one hand, he was always thinking about his old relationship, and on the other hand, he was still thinking about his old relationship.
On the one hand, it is not certain that Yuan Shikai was pretending to be ill at that time. Yuan Shikai's physical condition is already a fact before his eyes, and there is no need to pretend anymore. Even if he wants to delay it, he can't delay it for long.
If Yuan Shikai is really seriously ill soon, Duan Qirui will still try his best to fulfill Yuan Shikai's last wish, but the extent of this last wish is only limited to Yuan Shikai's own beginning and end. As for after Yuan Shikai closes his eyes, Beiyang will never
Just continue to immerse yourself in the imperial system. That's all.
Yuan Su commanded the army to go south to suppress the rebels in Hankou. It was Duan Qirui's recommendation that made it so smooth. Therefore, in Duan Qirui's view, Yuan Su should be on the same stand as him, even if it is not a superior-subordinate relationship.
It should never be a conflict of interest. After receiving the message from the Xinyang Development Conference, Duan Qirui sent seven or eight messages in a row, explaining the aftermath measures after the capture of Hankou, while asking Yuan Su to continue to stay in Hubei.
Sit in charge and coordinate the overall situation in the south, and guard against the Nationalist Army taking the opportunity to cause chaos.
At the same time, Duan Qirui also arranged for Fu Liangzuo and Qu Tongfeng to station their troops in Henan and Anhui, and stationed them in Anqing and Wuhu to be wary of any strange actions of Li Chunhui in Jiangxi at this time. Duan Qirui also had many conflicts with
Li Chun contacted Li Chun, showed his righteousness and tried to win over him. Compared with Jiangxi, when communicating with Lu Jianzhang and Chen Shufan of Shaanxi, Duan Qirui directly used threats.
Not long after, Yuan Shikai secretly sent someone to Henan, and first went to Kaifeng to meet with Zhang Zhenfang.
The purpose of this special envoy's trip is naturally nothing else. It is to gradually win over Yuan Su and some bureaucrats around Yuan Su, so that Yuan Su can contribute to supporting the monarchy. It is natural to meet with Zhang Zhenfang.
I hope that Zhang Zhenfang can play the family card. After all, Zhang Zhenfang is Yuan Su's father-in-law. Not only that, he also had some kindness to Yuan Su in his early years. More importantly, Zhang Zhenfang and Yuan Shikai are relatives, and they have always supported the imperial system. From
Zhang Zhenfang is the most appropriate link to connect Yuan Su to talk about continuing to support the monarchy.
The special envoy stayed in Kaifeng for three days. In addition to talking to Zhang Zhenfang about Yuan Shikai's intentions and hoping that Zhang Zhenfang would come forward to communicate with Yuan Su, he also went to visit the Guardsmen who had been imprisoned in Kaifeng earlier.
Sirs. Although more than four months have passed since the incident, these officers under house arrest still have not forgotten the injustice they suffered at the time, as well as the boredom and depression they endured during this period.
Originally, the special envoy was just ordered to comfort these officers and convey Yuan Shikai's condolences to them. On the surface, it was just a way to win over them. However, he never expected that it was precisely because of this meeting that the special envoy gradually
Realizing that there seemed to be a conspiracy behind these senior military officers imprisoned in Kaifeng.
It has to be said that in the past four months, senior military officers such as Tang Tianxi, Chen Guangyuan, Cai Chengxun, etc. who were under house arrest lived a very relaxed life. They could smoke cigarettes, listen to operas during the day, and play mahjong at night.
Or escorting prostitutes, it can be said that they are as happy as gods. They are far away from the worries of military and political affairs, there is no pressure on the whole person, and there is no need to consider the worldly affairs, and they have become a self-contained small circle.
But after meeting the special commissioner, the complaints that had been hidden in my heart for a long time suddenly burst out.
Everyone accused Yuan Su of acting arbitrarily. Not only that, but the key incident that happened in Zhengzhou seemed to be caused by Zhu Panzao, but in fact it was all under Yuan Su's control. Only later did they know that they
Most of the residences in Zhengzhou were under surveillance, and since Yuan Su could send people to monitor them, why didn't he be wary of Zhu Panzao? Zhu Panzao would not regret his death, but Yuan Su did not report the knowledge and deliberately let Zhu Panzao torment, in order to make use of the topic.
Find an excuse to deal with them.
They also kept emphasizing that they had always been loyal to His Majesty the Great Emperor. The only explanation for Yuan Su's behavior was because Yuan Su wanted to take sole control of power.
"Look, look at the news from Hubei. In two months of fighting, the Guards lost nearly 10,000 people and injured more than 40,000. This is the casualty statistics of Xiaogan alone. This Yuan Su
Is this a war? Yuan Su has made it clear that he is engaging in massacre!"
"Yes, since the founding of the Republic of China, there have never been such huge casualties in combat."
"Even if Cao Kun's bully is nothing, we are still brothers from Beiyang. Do we need to make such a big deal? It's just a show-off among our brothers. Why are we so serious?"
"Stop talking about this, look at the fight against the Japanese in Liaodong. The fight was not so severe at that time."
"In a word, this guy Yuan Su is just cleaning up. If more than half of the brothers in the Guards are killed or wounded, all the new recruits he gets in exchange will belong to Yuan Su alone. Even if we old guys go back to take charge of the old army afterwards, it will still be a waste.
Call us the old department? Will anyone still listen to us?"
Everyone complained. On the surface, it seemed that they were trying their best to eliminate Yuan Su. No matter what the intentions of the person who said these words were, the special envoy who heard these words couldn't help but have some thoughts.
Three days later, Zhang Zhenfang wrote a letter and gave it to the special envoy to take with him to Xinyang.
Zhang Hanling gave birth to a son for Yuan Su two months ago, but it was a pity that it was the most anxious time of Xiaogan's war. Yuan Su couldn't get away from Kaifeng except for communicating through text messages for a while. He didn't go back to Kaifeng until his son was one month old.
I reluctantly went back to Kaifeng to reunite with my wife and son for a few days.
Zhang Zhenfang dragged the envoy to bring a letter this time to discuss with Yuan Su his grandson's celebration of the Hundred Dynasties. The Hundred Dynasties was not a popular custom. After all, most families are extremely poor these days, and they can even save money on full moon wine.
It saves money. But Zhang Zhenfang is an extremely conservative person, and his family is well-off and has no shortage of anything, so he naturally wants to complete all the traditions of good luck. In addition, it also hints at some of Yuan Shikai's meaning.
The special envoy came to Xinyang to meet with Yuan Su. During the meeting, he did not mention the conversation he had with the imprisoned officers in Kaifeng. He only conveyed some condolences from Yuan Shikai in a business-like manner, and also asked Yuan Su about the state system in a circumstantial manner.
The final position. Of course Yuan Su guessed what Yuan Shikai meant. Even if Yuan Shikai did not send a special envoy, he had already reported some relevant information to those stationed in Beijing.
During the meeting with the envoy sent by Yuan Shikai, Yuan Su deliberately pretended to be hesitant, and at the same time emphasized that Duan Qirui had sent telegrams more than once during this period to explain Hubei's aftermath, change of flag, and other related matters.
.However, he personally has no obvious inclination towards the imperial system or the republican state system. Just like before, he only cares about centralization of power and everything else can be ignored.
Naturally, the special envoy could not say anything more, but at least he had figured out Yuan Su's position, and it was not hopeless at all. Then he told Yuan Su that he hoped that after the overall situation in Hubei was settled, he could return to Hubei first.
Trip to the capital. The reason why he was asked to return to the capital was because his uncle Yuan Shikai's physical condition might be worrying, so he hoped to meet with Yuan Su as soon as possible to discuss posthumous arrangements and related entrustments.
These words were as if Yuan Shikai was looking for Yuan Su's orphan. Yuan Su knew that Yuan Shikai had already lived half a year longer than the historical life span. However, the intelligence personnel he arranged in the capital also learned that Yuan Shikai's physical condition was indeed no longer good.
, no matter how good the curative effect is, it is nothing more than prolonging life.
At the same time, he also understood that the most important thing Yuan Shikai wanted for him to come to Beijing was not "entrusting an orphan". After all, "entrusting an orphan" was something that was uncertain, but Yuan Shikai was now full of expectations and sustenance for maintaining the imperial system.
He replied in front of the special envoy that he would arrange a time to return to Beijing as soon as possible. Even if he could not spare the time, he would arrange for his close relatives to go north instead. More or less, he could arrange the relevant support work first, and at the same time
By the way, he also revealed some details about his position to Yuan Shikai.
With Yuan Su's promise, the special envoy had completed several important tasks for his trip. After staying in Xinyang for a few days, he left for Xiangyang again. This trip was not part of the pre-planned itinerary.
, but he had other things to do and needed to find Tian Wenlie. From Tian Wenlie, he could learn some details about the Zhengzhou incident that day, either to dispel his doubts or to bring more favorable news back to Beijing.