Anqing, the capital of Anhui Province, has always been the center of activity for anti-Qing groups.
Enming, the governor of Anhui, was assassinated. After the Anqing uprising launched by Xu Xilin failed, the situation here became even more unstable. The successor governor of Anhui, Feng Xu, condoned the revolutionaries and was impeached within a few months.
Later, Anhui's chief envoy Jichang and Shen Zengzhi briefly served as governor, but they were both replaced because they could not control the situation.
In the summer of the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu's reign, Zhu Jiabao was appointed governor of Anhui.
Zhu Jiabao was a native of Mengzi, Yunnan, and was born as a Jinshi. Because he was an upright and upright official, his career in his early years was not satisfactory. When Yuan Shikai was appointed governor of Zhili, Zhu Jiabao was working as a county magistrate in Zhili. He was appreciated by Yuan Shikai, and his official career was prosperous from then on.
He studied politics in Zhili, and was later promoted to be the inspector-general of Jiangsu and then the governor of Jilin.
Just as he was preparing to take up his post in Northeast China, his appointment changed again and he was changed to governor of Anhui.
Under such circumstances, Zhu Jiabao took a boat and arrived at the dock in Anqing.
Zhu Jiabao is a politician, and like Yuan Shikai, he is a scheming, cunning and cunning politician.
Less than four months after he took office, he caught up with the "Taihu Autumn Exercises" formulated by the Qing Dynasty's War Department.
"Autumn Exercises" is a term used by the New Army in the late Qing Dynasty, which is equivalent to military exercises in later generations.
At that time, the Beiyang Army had the "Hejian Autumn Exercise" in 1905, and in 1906, there was the "Zhangde Autumn Exercise" which meant confrontation between the south and the north. During the "Zhangde Autumn Exercise", the Eighth Hubei New Army
The Southern Army, which was the main force, actually did not lose in the confrontation with the Beiyang Army, which was commanded by Duan Qirui. This greatly inspired the Qing Army Department headed by Tie Liang. They finally found another force that could check and balance the Beiyang Army.
Armed forces.
In order to test the training results of the new army in the south, the Ministry of War planned to hold a new army drill in Taihu County, Anhui Province in December 1908 to familiarize themselves with the combat environment of the southern terrain. Taihu County is one of the six counties under the jurisdiction of Anqing, with many
It is a hilly and mountainous area, which is suitable for the New Army exercises.
The main forces of the New Army participating in the Taihu Autumn Exercise were the two main forces of the Southern New Army, the Ninth Town of the Jiangsu New Army and the mixed Ninth Town composed of the Jiangsu New Army, and the Hubei New Army 21st Association supplemented the Eighth Town by Li Yuanhong.
In addition, some of the Beiyang New Army and officers led by Wang Shizhen also went south to observe the exercise. As the host of the exercise location, the Anhui New Army
A small number of troops were also sent to the exercise location to participate in the exercises.
At the New Army artillery camp outside the east gate of Anqing City, Xiong Chengji, a young New Army officer with a heroic face, walked out of the barracks.
He entered the city from the Songyang Gate in the east of the city, walked through the streets and alleys of the city, and came to the "Yang Family Test Hall" located on Sanzu Temple Street in the north of the city. This was the contact point of the Yue Wanghui, and he plotted to launch a new army uprising.
The largest anti-Qing group in Anhui was the "Yuewanghui", which was founded in Wuhu in 1904 by Bai Wenwei, Chen Zhongfu (Duxiu), Chang Hengfang and others, and then gradually developed and expanded among the Anhui New Army. At this time, Anqing
The officers of the 31st Association of the New Army include Leng Hu, the commander of the third battalion of the 61st standard, Xue Zhe, the commander of the second battalion of the 62nd standard, Ni Yingdian, the cavalry officer, Xiong Chengji, the artillery battalion officer, and any subordinates
Officers such as Fan Chuanjia, Zhang Jinfu, Tian Jiyang, Yang Wangpeng, Hong Chengdian and others. Due to Gu Zhongchen, the leader of the 31st Association, was inclined to revolution, the Yuewanghui developed rapidly in the Anhui New Army and already had hundreds of members.
The "Yang's Examination Hall" is not big. It was originally a hall for candidates who participated in the imperial examination. Since the imperial examination was suspended, almost no one comes here now. Since it is located in a remote place, it is very safe.
Leng Huan was the instigator of the Anqing Uprising. Seeing that more than ten backbone members of the Yuewanghui in the new army had arrived at the meeting, he put forward the uprising plan discussed with Fan Chuanjia: "This Taihu Autumn
Cao, the ministers of the review are Yinchang, the Minister of the Ministry of War, and Duanfang, the governor of Liangjiang. Zhu Jiabao, the governor of Anhui, will also rush to Taihu Lake. If we take the opportunity of participating in the autumn parade to launch a sudden attack, we will definitely kill them all. Then we will raise the flag of righteousness and appease them.
The new armies of Nanyang and Hubei join forces to fight, and with Anqing as the base, they declare independence and conquer all provinces at the same time. The world may be decided at one go!"
The members of the Yuewanghui who attended the meeting were all hot-blooded young people. Under Leng Xun's instigation, the crowd was naturally passionate and the resolution to launch the Taihu Uprising was quickly passed.
Everyone elected Leng Yu and Ni Yingdian as the chief and deputy commanders of the uprising, and decided to use the opportunity of the 31st Association of the New Army in Anqing to participate in the "Taihu Autumn Exercise" to launch an armed uprising.
Unfortunately, this uprising plan was soon detected by Duan Fang, the governor of Liangjiang and Zhu Jiabao, the governor of Anhui.
The revolutionary M parties of this year are all young people with no fighting experience and no sense of confidentiality.
Fan Chuanjia was ordered to go to the Ninth Town of Nanyang to contact the New Army. He easily told the detailed plan of the uprising to the spies sent by Duan Fang to the Ninth Town.
On the gallows.
The officers and soldiers of the Ninth Town of Nanyang boarded the warships sent by the navy at Xiaguan Wharf in Jiangning one after another. They went ashore via the Yangtze River waterway to Anqing, and then took the land route to the exercise site in Taihu County. The troop transport ship arrived at the Jiang'an Wharf outside the south gate of Anqing, and only the shore was seen
The pier was crowded with people, including Anqing officials and new officers and soldiers who came to greet them. There were also many people watching the excitement.
Nursing Governor Jichang of Anhui and Anhui New Army Association Commander Gu Zhongchen stood in front of the officers of the 31st Association in formation, and exchanged greetings and greetings with Xu Shaozhen, the commander of the Ninth Town of Nanyang who led the troops. The troops and artillery of the Ninth Town,
The cavalry team and others came ashore one after another to form a team. When the duty officer gave an order, the military band played majestic music and cleared the way in front. The infantry, cavalry, engineers, artillery, engineering, telecommunications team, health team, baggage team, etc. marched one by one to the loud military music.
, the majestic military power attracted bursts of cheers and warm applause from the people watching on both sides of the road.
Zhuang Yi, the general manager of the Anhui Surveying and Mapping School who returned from studying in Japan, hurried to the Wuhu Iron Factory and found Lin Shuo, who was supervising the work at the iron factory. "Sir, last night Anhui Governor Zhu Jiabao suddenly returned to Anqing. When he greeted the Ninth Town,
Gu Zhongchen and Leng Xun were captured at the banquet, and now Duanfang has sent his confidant Yu Dahong to the 31st Coordinator to serve as the co-president. The backbone of the Anqing Yuewanghui is now asking people everywhere to rescue Leng Xun."
After hearing this, Lin Shuo thought for a while, raised his head and said to Zhuang Yi: "Aren't you using the name of the Restoration Society to develop members of our Taiwan Restoration Society in the new army? This is an opportunity. If I come forward to protect these two people,
Come out, you must take this opportunity to gain the trust of the Yue Wanghui and try to get them to join the Futai Society."
Zhuang Yi said: "Yes, I will try my best."
Although the anti-Qing groups in Anhui are dominated by the Yue Wang Hui, due to the influence of Xu Xilin, the Guangfuhui also has great power, and the Tongmenhui is also quietly developing members. After Zhuang Yi, Li Zhiliang and other cadets studying in Japan returned to Anhui,
In the new army, under the banner of the Restoration Society, members have been quietly growing, and now more than 200 people have joined the Taiwan Restoration Society.
In this era, the Manchu anti-Qing movement was very popular among young people. Due to Lin Shuo's protection and financial support, Futai Society developed rapidly in the southern provinces, keeping pace with the Tongmenghui and Guangfuhui, and became the "leading force" in the anti-Qing movement.
Troika".
Due to Lin Shuo's plea, Duanfang agreed to release Leng Xun and others after the "Taihu Autumn Exercise". However, due to suspicion of being a "revolutionary M Party", Leng Xun could not return to the Anhui New Army.
Zhu Jiabao followed Duan Fang to Taihu County to participate in the Autumn Exercise. Because he was still worried about the new army, before leaving, he transferred the Jiangfang Battalion of the Third Battalion of the Navy led by Li Zhiliang from Wuhu to strengthen the defense of the provincial capital.
Next, the national situation changed suddenly.
On the evening of Saturday, October 21st of the lunar calendar, the 37-year-old Emperor Guangxu passed away in Beijing. The next afternoon, the 74-year-old Empress Dowager Cixi, who had been in charge of the late Qing Dynasty for nearly 50 years, also died of illness. A few days later, "national mourning"
"The edict of mourning was delivered to Anhui. The day before, the government had arranged for craftsmen to work day and night to build a mourning hall in Wanshou Palace, Sanpailou. Provincial offices, government offices, and civil and military officials from various departments gathered here to mourn.
Memorial.
The mourning hall was built on top of the dragon pavilion, more than ten meters high, with white tents hanging upside down from top to bottom, and large black characters of elegiac couplets swimming in it, making it particularly sad and solemn. Not only that, the east and west facing rooms inside and outside the Yimen Gate
, including the main hall at the back, the back hall, and the 14 imperial steles in the imperial stele pavilion, were also covered with miserable white gauze. Outside the Wanshou Palace, temporary guards were arranged to guard, loaded with live ammunition, and civilians could only watch from a distance.
You can't get close. Officials from all over the province rushed over non-stop in batches from morning to night, dismounted their horses and stopped their sedan chairs in front of the Yimen, and then filed into the Wanshou Palace with solemn faces, according to their positions.
The ongoing "Taihu Autumn Exercise" naturally stopped. Duanfang personally took command of Taihu Xixiang and worked with the Beiyang Army led by Wang Shizhen to suppress the unstable Jiangnan New Army. Zhu Jiabao hurried back to Anqing overnight. He ran non-stop.
After almost a night, when the sky was dimming, Zhu Jiabao and his party walked from Jixian Pass to Qipan Mountain via Gaohua Pavilion. Standing on a high place, looking at the peace and tranquility of Anqing City in the twilight, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhu Jiabao quietly rushed back to the governor's office before dawn, and Lin Shuo was in charge of Anqing for him.
Seeing Lin Shuo, Zhu Jiabao let out a long sigh and said, "My dear nephew, nothing happened. The city looks very peaceful."
"Something happened. The Revolutionary Party secretly planned to launch a mutiny at the 'Yang Family Trial Hall' to take advantage of the national mourning. Fortunately, they were discovered by the Navy patrol team and killed two people on the spot, but the rest escaped," Lin Shuo pointed out.
He pointed to Li Zhiliang who was standing aside and said.
Zhu Jiabao clasped his fists at Li Zhiliang and said, "Thanks to my brother for keeping the provincial capital safe this time. Please move around more in the future."
"It's okay. Zhiliang is one of our own. If anything happens, Uncle Shi will give you orders."
Xiong Chengji, Fan Chuanjia and others did not listen to the advice and insisted on launching a new army uprising in Anqing. Lin Shuo could only send Li Zhiliang and Dongjun Naval Battalion to the "Yang's Test Hall" to round up them. The original intention was to let Xiong Chengji and others escape. Unexpectedly,
Tian Jiyang and Fan Chuanjia resisted with guns and were killed in the crossfire.
"Sometimes sacrifice is inevitable. The reason for sacrificing these two people now is to protect more comrades. In addition, discipline education must be strengthened within the association. If the Taiwan Restoration Association is as unorganized and undisciplined as them, sooner or later something will happen.
"Lin Shuo confessed to Li Zhiliang and Zhuang Yi very seriously before leaving Anqing.
Since most of the leaders of the Yue Wanghui fled, most of the Yuewanghui members joined the Futai Society under the leadership of Xue Zhe, which allowed the Futai Society to almost control the entire New Army force in Anqing.
According to Lin Shuo's request, everyone is accumulating strength and waiting for the opportunity.
For Yuan Shikai, the winter of 1908 was particularly cold.
In November, Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi passed away one after another. According to the arrangements made by the Empress Dowager before her death, Prince Chun Zaifeng's less than three-year-old son Puyi succeeded to the throne and changed the Yuan Dynasty to Xuantong. Yuan Shikai's political enemy Zaifeng supervised the country as regent and took charge of the power of the dynasty.
.
After the regent Zaifeng came to power, the first person he had to deal with was Yuan Shikai.
When Cixi was alive, Yuan Shikai was very prosperous under the protection of the old empress dowager. His men's power expanded so much, including the army, official reform, and constitution.
As a thorn in the side, I am worried that its situation will be difficult to control, and I want to get rid of it quickly.
Under the illustrious imperial power, Yuan Shikai was panicked after hearing various rumors that were unfavorable to him, but there was nothing he could do.
On January 2, 1909, Yuan Shikai headed to the inner court in the bone-chilling cold wind as usual. After Zaifeng came to power, he summoned military ministers to discuss government affairs every day. When Yuan Shikai arrived at the palace, he had already been bribed.
The eunuch on duty will
He stopped him and secretly said to him: "There is no need for Yuan Da's military aircraft to enter. The regent is very angry today. Hearing that a severe punishment decree is about to be issued, I am afraid it will be detrimental to Yuan Da's military aircraft. It is better to prepare a self-protection strategy as soon as possible. How serious is the edict?
, it is beyond our ability to know."
After hearing this, Yuan Shikai felt as if he had been slapped. With his mind completely blank, he walked back to his home in despair. When he regained consciousness, Yuan Shikai hurriedly summoned his staff and cronies to discuss countermeasures. Zhang Huaizhi, a crony, said that the situation
It's critical. It's better to go to the train station immediately and take a third-class train to Tianjin. After all, the Governor of Zhili, Yang Shixiang, is ours.
After hearing this, Yuan Shikai simply packed his bags and headed to Tianjin under the protection of Zhang Huaizhi. To prevent any unexpected events, Yuan Shikai did not dare to get off at Tianjin Main Station. Instead, he asked Zhang Huaizhi to call Yang Shixiang one stop in advance and ask him to send someone.
Afterwards, Yang Shixiang was still calm. He told Yuan Shikai not to come to supervise the office and not to be seen. He then sent someone to deal with the matter.
When Yuan Shikai was sulking, Yang Shixiang's cronies came. He brought news from Beijing, saying that "the crime is only to open a vacancy, but there is no risk of life." After hearing this, Yuan Shikai breathed a sigh of relief and decided to return to Beijing immediately.
Be prepared to go to court tomorrow morning to express gratitude, otherwise it will cause even greater trouble.
At that time, the Yuan Mansion in Beijing was even more panicked. News of Yuan Shikai's disappearance spread like wildfire in the city. Rumors abounded for a while. Some said that Yuan Shikai was secretly executed, while others said that Yuan Shikai committed suicide out of fear of crime. There was a lot of confusion until later.
After Zhang Zhidong, who was in charge of the military affairs, heard the definite news that Yuan Shikai had returned, a stone fell from his heart.
The next day, Yuan Shikai finally saw the edict issued by the regent in the name of Emperor Xuantong: "Yuan Shikai, Minister of the Cabinet, Minister of Military Affairs and Minister of Foreign Affairs, has been promoted many times by the previous dynasty.
I rewarded him and put his talents to use so that he could drive efficiently. Unexpectedly, Yuan Shikai was suffering from foot disease, which made it difficult for him to walk and perform his duties. Yuan Shikai immediately opened a vacancy and returned to his hometown to recuperate as a sign of his sympathy."
Three days later, with great grievance and resentment, Yuan Shikai and his family left Beijing desolately and confused. After Yuan Shikai was expelled from Beijing, major or minor earthquakes occurred again in the political arena in the late Qing Dynasty, and Yuan Shikai's private parties were eliminated one by one:
Yang Shixiang died that year, and Duan Fang took over as the Governor of Zhili; Zhang Zhidong died; Chen Bi, the Minister of Posts and Communications, was dismissed; Xu Shichang was transferred internally to the Minister of Posts and Communications, and the Governor of the three eastern provinces was replaced by Xiliang; Heilongjiang Chief Envoy Ni Sichong was investigated; Civil Affairs
Minister Zhao Bingjun was reprimanded and Zaifeng took over the police administration; Jiangbei Admiral Wang Shizhen asked for a vacancy, etc.
The Manchu nobles seized power, causing the Beiyang Group headed by Yuan Shikai to completely lose the last bit of loyalty to the Manchu and Qing court. The Manchu and Qing royal family also lost the last bit of armed force they could rely on. Two years later, Yuan Shikai came back to power.
From that moment on, it also announced the end of the 250-year rule of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.