The conflict between Li Yuanhong and Duan Qirui finally broke out over whether to declare war on Germany.
In the early days, Li Yuanhong was quite tolerant. He had been the vice president for so long, so he had naturally learned to hide one's strength, bide one's strength, and be patient when faced with difficulties. Although Duan Qirui had a bad temper, he was still a person who had studied abroad, and he somewhat abided by the concept of the Constitution.
, and it won’t embarrass Li too much.
As the saying goes, the king of hell is easy to meet, but the devil is hard to catch. Some things go wrong in the hands of those under you.
Duan Qirui studied in Germany in his early years, and could at least show respect for President Li on the surface, but it was difficult for his subordinates to do so. For example, Duan Qirui's most trusted "little fan military aircraft" Xu Shuzheng was the most difficult to talk to.
Xu Shuzheng is very talented, and he is highly relied upon by Duan Qirui. Duan Qirui is lazy in government affairs and spends his time playing chess and cards every day. Xu Shuzheng basically helps handle official affairs. Moreover, Xu is very capable and can always
He handled government affairs in an orderly manner and was loyal to Duan. Over time, Duan became extremely dependent on him, as if he didn't know how to handle official documents without Xiao Xu himself.
But the biggest problem with Xu Shuzheng was that he was arrogant and domineering, spoke and acted domineeringly, and showed no mercy at all, even to the old Duan. Even Duan's cronies would go around and stay away from him when they saw him.
Anyway, Xiao Xu offended everyone he could offend on behalf of Lao Duan.
In terms of employing and recognizing people, Lao Duan is far behind Yuan Shikai. Lao Yuan has a group of people working for him, while Lao Duan only has one Xiao Xu at his disposal.
Duan Qirui was appointed Prime Minister, and Xu Shuzheng was appointed Secretary-General of the State Council.
Duan Qirui became the supreme prime minister, and Li Yuanhong was the rubber stamp.
The reason for this is the so-called "Provisional Agreement" that the Democratic Party hastily formulated in order to restrict Yuan Shikai. Because the agreement at that time did not clearly define the authority between the Presidential Office and the State Council, and Lao Duan and Lao Li were not very familiar with each other on weekdays.
Because they communicate with each other, misunderstandings and conflicts are inevitable on some matters. According to the statute, major matters decided by the State Council should be submitted to the Presidential Office, and the President will seal and issue them. Xu Shuzheng is the Secretary-General of the State Council, so he often has to travel to and from the State Council
He was working with the Presidential Palace, but Xiao Xu often did not explain the reasons for the incident to President Li, and only urged the president to seal it quickly. If Li Yuanhong asked a few questions, Xiao Xu would dare to contradict him if his temper got worse. Xu Shuzheng's domineering attitude,
If Zhang Guogan, the Secretary-General of the Presidential Office, had not intervened and mediated, President Li would have been a bit overwhelmed.
Once, Xu Shuzheng came to ask the president to seal the appointment letters of three directors of Shanxi Province. Li Yuanhong had just asked a few questions about the past background of these three people, and Xiao Xu said impatiently: "Why does the president ask these questions? Please
Hurry up and seal it, I'm very busy!" This really made Li Yuanhong furious. After Xu Shuzheng left, Li Yuanhong said bitterly to his subordinates: "I don't want to be president, but look at it.
How ignorant are these people of the president?"
Zhang Guogan, Secretary-General of the Presidential Office, was suffering from both sides. Naturally, life could not be easy. After working for three months, he finally resigned and left. After Li Yuanhong became president, a large number of fellow Hubei fellows joined him, and the Presidential Office
Nicknamed the "Hubei Guild Hall", this group of people did not want to see Li Yuanhong without power. Under the instigation of these people, the conflict between the Presidential Palace and the State Council rapidly intensified.
After Zhang Guogan resigned, he was replaced by Senator Ding Shiyi, one of the "Three Heroes of the Press". Secretary-General Ding is not as easy to talk to as Zhang Guogan. His personality is somewhat similar to Xiao Xu. He has always been sharp in words and capable in work.
How can we tolerate Xiao Xu's arrogant and domineering style? No, as soon as he took office, he immediately created a draft of "Procedures for Government Affairs", which was nominally to divide the authority of the Government and standardize the procedures, but to put it bluntly, it was actually
To gain power and status for the Presidential Palace...the State Council cannot regard the Presidential Palace as a sealing machine!
Secretary-General Ding's proposal was supported by President Li, but it aroused fierce opposition from the State Council. They believed that this draft was a "presidential struggle for power" and that it replaced the cabinet system with a presidential system. How did this make Duan Qirui
As the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, of course he could not just sit idly by and ignore this matter. He subsequently asked for leave to put pressure on Li Yuanhong.
President Li actually felt very guilty. He didn't want to make the matter bigger, because if Lao Duan didn't come on board, he really couldn't maintain the situation. So Li Yuanhong found someone to mediate and mediate, saying that he respected the "Provisional Agreement" and
The responsible cabinet system has absolutely no intention of restoring the presidential system; the reason why the draft of "Procedures for Government and Yuan Affairs" was drawn up is mainly to coordinate the relationship between the government and Yuan, avoid misunderstandings, and reduce conflicts. Taking this opportunity, President Li
He also complained to Lao Duan about the arrogant and domineering practices of Xu Shuzheng and others in the Presidential Palace, and hoped that Lao Duan could put some restraint on these people.
Now that Li Yuanhong had given in, Lao Duan resigned and returned to work after taking off his leave. After some mediation and discussion, both parties made concessions and compromises. Lao Duan also gave special instructions to Xiao Xu and handed them over to President Li for review later.
The documents must be delivered in person, and attention must be paid to restraint. As a result, the turmoil of "government and court procedures" temporarily subsided.
After one wave of calm, another wave arose, but this time it came from within the State Council. There was a conflict between the Chief of the Interior, Sun Hongyi, and the Secretary-General, Xu Shuzheng. Sun Hongyi was a famous constitutionalist in the late Qing Dynasty, and he was very popular in the craze for party formation in the early years of the Republic of China.
, he had a heated relationship with President Li and Vice President Lin at this time, and naturally conflicts with Lao Duan and Xiao Xu were inevitable.
Relying on the trust of his elder brother, Xiao Xu was known to dominate the State Council. However, when he met Sun Hongyi, he was also a friend with high ambitions and low abilities. He was competitive and had great political energy. In the words of people at the time, these two
When they are together, they are almost "in the midst of fire every day".
Lao Sun is from Zhili and is ten years older than Xiao Xu. He cannot get used to Xiao Xu's arrogance. Needless to say, the daily quarrels between the two are discussed here. Here are a few major conflicts. The first conflict was when Xu Shuzheng acted without permission.
An order was issued in the name of the State Council, ordering the armies of the four provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, and Hunan to suppress the French Guards Li Liejun. Originally, this matter had been discussed at the State Council, and the decision was to call for mediation, but Xiao Xu secretly
He drafted a crusade order and gave it to President Li to have it stamped, but it was rejected. In anger, Xiao Xu even issued the crusade order in the name of the State Council without authorization, which caused an uproar among other cabinet members. Sun Hongyi accused Xiao Xu to his face.
He broke the law and exceeded his authority, and Xiao Xu was not willing to be outdone, so the two formed a feud.
Then, in late August, the House of Representatives forwarded a bill proposed by Hunan congressmen to the State Council, in which it requested an investigation into Hu Ruilin, the current governor of Fujian Province, on the grounds that he had committed corruption and other misdeeds when he was the director of the Department of Finance of Hunan. Hu Ruilin As a member of the Anhui clique, Xu Shuzheng defended Hu Ruilin in the name of the State Council without authorization after receiving the bill, and dismissed the bill.
Sun Hongyi was very angry when he learned about it. He angrily went to Lao Duan and said: "The punishment of the civil affairs chief belongs to the authority of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I don't know anything about the matters I am in charge of. What kind of king's law is this? If the secretary If the chief minister can take care of everything, then why should I, the chief minister of the interior, do it?" After President Li learned about this, he also summoned and comforted Sun Hongyi and said: "That's right, where is the responsible cabinet system now? It is simply the responsible secretary-general system! "
After being made such a fuss, Lao Duan also felt that this was ridiculous, and immediately ordered Xiao Xu to take back the message. Xu Shuzheng agreed on the surface, but actually let it go. As a result, Sun Hongyi and Lao Duan started to fight again.
The thing about China is that we must not underestimate the role of small people. A thousand-mile dike breaks in an ant nest. From ancient times to the present, how many big people have been dragged down by small people and have been unable to recover! Xu Shuzheng and Sun Hongyi are fighting in the foreground. The boss behind the scenes could not help but complain in private. Duan Qirui said: "This President Sun is too outrageous!" Li Yuanhong said: "Secretary-General Xu is going too far!"
A month later, Sun Hongyi laid off more than 30 employees in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in order to reorganize the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Since most of these laid-off employees had some kind of relationship with the leaders of the Beiyang Department, how could they just let it go? Xu Shuzheng also wanted to They were used to get rid of Sun Hongyi, so they were encouraged to appeal to the Pingzhengyuan. As a result, the Pingzhengyuan ruled to revoke the original order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and those who were dismissed still went back to work.
The Pingzhengyuan was a political arbitration structure established during the Yuan Shikai period. Sun Hongyi not only refused to accept such a ruling, but believed that the Pingzhengyuan was an illegal institution. He then planned to submit the case to Congress for review. Xu Shuzheng was afraid that Congress would accept Sun Hongyi's opinions, so Deciding to strike first, he drafted an order to implement the ruling of the Ping Zhengyuan with the consent of Lao Duan, and prepared to submit it to the Presidential Palace for approval.
Xu Shuzheng's order was not only refused by the Chief of the Interior, Sun Hongyi, but also by President Li, who refused to seal it. Repeated disputes between the government and the court led to a dispute. Lao Duan had been very dissatisfied with Sun Hongyi since the last time, so he secretly gave the order Sun Chuan sent a message to him to resign. However, Sun Hongyi not only believed that he was not wrong, but also had a very tough tone and refused to resign.
Lao Duan was really angry this time. In mid-October, he issued an order to remove Sun Hongyi from office and asked Xiao Xu to give President Li a seal. President Li was shocked when he saw it and refused to use the seal. Xu Shuzheng ran back and forth over this matter. After four attempts, President Li refused four times and refused to give in. The last time, Xu Shuzheng threatened Li Yuanhong and said: "It doesn't matter if the president refuses to seal it, we will not allow Sun Hongyi to participate in state meetings in the future!" President Li was furious: "You What are you talking about?!" Xu Shuzheng sneered: "What are you talking about? These are Premier Duan's original words!"
A few days later, Prime Minister Duan, who rarely visited the presidential palace, suddenly appeared in front of President Li angrily. He handed Li Yuanhong an order to remove Sun Hongyi from office and said: "If the president refuses to remove Sun Hongyi from office, then he will remove Sun Hongyi from office." I’ll be relieved of my duties!”
Lao Duan issued an ultimatum, and President Li had no choice but to give in. However, he still wanted to leave some room for both parties and gain some face for himself, so he suggested: "It is better not to issue a dismissal order, and let him resign voluntarily! I
Come and do his work!"
But Sun Hongyi was also a die-hard. He refused to resign voluntarily, and even shouted loudly: "I don't have to hold any official position, as long as I maintain my personality! I will not resign, go abroad, or be transferred abroad!"
President Li could not persuade him, and now the matter was at a standstill. On the one hand, if Sun Hongyi was not kicked out of the cabinet, Prime Minister Duan would have no place to put his face, and he would lose his prestige in the future; on the other hand, President Sun insisted that he had no
Wrong, to resign voluntarily is to lose one's character. Both sides are unwilling to compromise, leaving President Li in the middle, in a dilemma and helpless.
In the end, Li Yuanhong had no choice but to invite Xu Shichang, the boss of the Beiyang Department, to mediate the dispute. Xu Shichang was an old bureaucrat and well-informed, and he could see the problem at a glance. So Xu Shichang proposed a plan.
That is to remove Sun Hongyi and Xu Shuzheng from their posts at the same time, and Zhang Guogan, the former secretary-general of the Presidential Office, will be appointed as the secretary-general of the State Council. Zhang Guogan has a good relationship with the government. If he serves as the secretary-general of the State Council, the communication between the two parties will be much better.
Lao Duan has always been "employing people with no suspicion and not using those who are suspicious", and he is famous for his protection of his subordinates. Regarding Xu Shichang's proposal, Lao Duan initially disagreed because he did not want Xu Shuzheng to be removed from office. It was not until Congress later that
In order to impeach Xu Shuzheng, Lao Duan reluctantly agreed to this plan, but added another element, that is, to remove Ding Shiduo, Secretary General of the Presidential Office and one of Li Yuanhong's "Four King Kongs".
In late November, Sun Hongyi, Xu Shuzheng, and Ding Shiduo were dismissed from their posts. Lao Duan exchanged one for two this time, and Xu Shuzheng was still the deputy army chief, barely prevailing. As for Sun Hongyi, who was dismissed, he turned around and returned to Congress.