Chapter 23: Parting Ways

  "Yuan Shikai looked at Song Jiaoren and asked, 'What do you think about this matter?'"

  "Your Excellency, I'm afraid it's inconvenient for me to answer this question." Song Jiaoren said with a faint smile.

  "Haha, you Song Dunchu are certainly not convenient to answer. Aren't those trouble-making party members under your command?" Liang Shi'e sneered.

  "Be careful what you say!" Yuan Shikai said displeasedly.

  "Mr. President, as the Secretary-General of the Presidential Palace, it is my duty to prevent you from being deceived! The party's chaos and the country's heart are clearly exposed, but you have been tolerant again and again. How much longer do you want to tolerate?

  Turning around, Liang Shiyi questioned Song Jiaoren: "As the Director-General of KMT, now your party members in the south are rising up together, despising the law, forcing the government, and treating the President as nothing. They even dare to take up arms, intending to split the country. I ask you, Mr. Song, how do you view this matter?"

  "Ah, yes! Brother Liang, please speak up." Everyone asked in unison, and actually everyone's thoughts were similar to those of Liang Shiyi. The current situation is complicated, Song Jiaoren holds a crucial position within the KMT, and apart from the late Huang Xing, only he has the ability to rival Sun Yat-sen. At present, his attitude is extremely critical, and it can even be said that if Song Jiaoren does not take a stand, neither Yuan Shikai nor Sun Yat-sen will dare to act rashly.

  "Huang Keqiang met with misfortune a few days ago. Before that, I was invited to dinner by Chen Qimei and Ying Guiyin in Shanghai. During the dinner, they asked me something, do you all know what it is?" Song Jiaoren thought for a moment, then slowly spoke out these words, and everyone suddenly felt strange.

  Everyone present shook their heads in ignorance, and Song Jiaoren smiled faintly: "They once asked me if I became the Premier of the Northern Government, what specific measures would I take to organize our party's cabinet. I replied with one sentence - I, Song Jiaoren, have only one way: absolute impartiality!"

  Song Jiaoren's words were like a bombshell, and most people in the room were stunned. This was something they had only just heard about today, and although they didn't dare to confirm whether it was true or not, judging from Song Jiaoren's unusually serious tone, it was probably not wrong. Thinking back to Song Jiaoren's consistent political views, especially his opinions on national institutions, which were always at odds with Sun Yat-sen's, and how he had debated with Sun Yat-sen many times for the sake of constitutionalism, their arguments had become so heated that their faces would turn red and their ears would burn, and this was also well-known to all. In this light, it was not surprising that Song Jiaoren had such an attitude.

  "Rise up, I, Song Jiaoren, proudly say to Yuan Shikai and everyone: Although our Republic is newly established, the North-South peace talks have already been successful, the provisional constitution has been set, the National Assembly has formally convened, and the speakers of both houses have been successfully elected. Therefore, whether it's legislation or supervision, although not perfect, we already have an outline. What's more, President Yuan and brother Zhang are the leaders of the country and government, and each department head and deputy represents the responsibilities of each government agency. As the director of KMT, I, Song Jiaoren, have never had personal motives for national affairs, just like what I said before 'no party affiliation'. As long as everyone acts according to the constitution and the National Assembly passes it, there's nothing that can't be done! But if someone wants to act arbitrarily, no matter who it is, they cannot do whatever they want. This is my attitude today!"

  Song Jiaoren's words were like a thunderclap on a clear day, stunning everyone and leaving their ears ringing. He stood up proudly, bowed deeply to Yuan Shikai, and continued: "As for who is right or wrong, where we are going, I believe the President has already made up his mind. I implore the President to hold fast to the idea of putting the country first, handle things with caution, and make a wise decision. The National Assembly elections are imminent, and the day when the President will be formally elected is not far off. As I have many pressing matters to attend to, I bid you farewell for now!"

  After finishing speaking, Song Jiaoren turned around and left. Yuan Shikai just wanted to open his mouth to stop him, but finally hesitated and put down the hand he had raised, gradually falling into deep thought.

  Leaving the Presidential Palace, Song Jiaoren hastily returned. In fact, today's meeting with Yuan Shikai, Liao Zhongkai and Yu Youren were all opposed to and dissuaded him, but after careful consideration, Song Jiaoren still came. At present, the situation is complex, as the KMT director-general, he must attend this appointment, because he is very clear in his heart that peace between the north and south is hard-won, and it has taken constant efforts from both sides to reach this point today. If he did not show up today and deliberately avoided it, it would be difficult to guarantee that Yuan Shikai would not do something under the instigation of some petty people, not only for the sake of the constitutional government but also for two other considerations.

  One is to warn Yuan Shikai and the Northern Warlords that they should not think that just because they hold military power, they can do as they please, disregard the constitution and parliament. If they act arbitrarily, Song Jiaoren will be the first to oppose them, and when the time comes, there will be trouble in parliament, and the parties from the north and south will unite, so even if Yuan Shikai has great power, he will have to think thrice before acting.

  Secondly, Song Jiaoren also made his attitude clear. No matter who the other party was or what party they belonged to, he would not cover up for them. As long as Yuan Shikai could take a broad view and rely on him and the members of parliament to start from the constitution, without resorting to suppressing the National Assembly and driving out members of various parties, Song Jiaoren would certainly support the government.

  This attitude was also decided by him after careful consideration before coming. Of course, there are other intentions in it. Is politics only black and white? Song Jiaoren is far-sighted and wants to balance and contend between Yuan Shikai and Sun Wen, making a very big move at a high level of impartiality. Can Yu Youren and his bookish friends understand this?

  After this period of time, Song Jiaoren's KMT basically controlled the parliament, and his current position was not much lower than that of the formal Premier. It's just that he hasn't formally taken office yet. Let Zhao Bingjun block the front for a few more days, and Song Jiaoren will be much easier later on. For now, what's important to him is to handle internal party affairs, firmly grasping the KMT in his own hands.

  This matter has already started to take shape, although the temporary effect is not great, but the progress is still encouraging. Sun Wen and others are now jumping more happily, and it is more beneficial for Song Jiaoren to do this thing. A few days ago, Song Jiaoren personally signed the document submitted by Fang Zidao that KMT members cannot hold membership in other parties, and formally issued a document within the party. This step mainly clears up cross-party members within the party, making the large but loose KMT more cohesive. Originally, this work was not easy to do, but Sun Wen's Chinese Revolutionary Party recently gave Song Jiaoren an unexpected surprise. Some old-timers who were originally swinging between him and Sun Wen were actually forced to change their allegiance in a way that required personal loyalty, which unexpectedly made them resentful and formally turned to Song Jiaoren's side. These people are not few, and most of them are also party elites. Winning over these people is a huge victory for Song Jiaoren.

  There is another issue that Song Jiaoren saw very clearly. In those years, in order to overthrow the Qing dynasty, the KMT, under Sun Yat-sen's instructions, welcomed all comers and absorbed a large number of members from the secret societies. At first glance, although the KMT seemed powerful, its composition was chaotic, consisting of people who were often considered scum and rascals by society, with no revolutionary ideals whatsoever. Once they gained power, they would inevitably harm local communities, leaving the people in dire straits. Those revolutionaries from the secret societies, once they had power in their hands, would recklessly issue orders, causing chaos and turning the newly-born Republic of China into a mess that was even worse than the corrupt but stable Qing dynasty. Now, most of those who are making trouble in the south are precisely these kinds of people. If we take this opportunity to eliminate these pests through Yuan Shikai's hands, the KMT will be able to complete its self-reform and become a truly revolutionary party.

  Yuan Shikai had actually made arrangements as early as Sun Yat-sen's first telegram, gathering Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang, Duan Zhigui, Li Chun, Wang Zhanyuan, Lei Zhenchun, and Zhang Xun, secretly mobilizing the various branches of the Beiyang Army along the Jinghan Line and Jinpu Line in two routes. One route took Hubei as its base, targeting Jiangxi and Hunan; the other route took Xuzhou as its front line, with naval support from Tang Shaoyi and Zheng Rucheng's navy along the coast, targeting Anhui and Jiangsu.

  It can be seen that Yuan Shikai has already made preparations for the use of force, and calling Song Jiaoren to negotiate is just a way to force him to reveal his attitude. Who would have thought that Song Jiaoren saw through his trickery at a glance and directly expressed a tough attitude? This made Yuan Shikai somewhat wary. However, Yuan Shikai was not an ordinary person, and he also heard some other implications in Song Jiaoren's words. After Song Jiaoren left, he considered it repeatedly and vetoed the proposal of Liang Shiyi and others to immediately expel KMT members and launch a preemptive attack by the military, but instead made another choice.

  On the afternoon of that day, Yuan Shikai formally ordered the removal of Li Liejun's post as Governor of Jiangxi and appointed Li Yuanhong to take over as Acting Governor of Jiangxi. He then formally submitted a presidential proposal to the National Assembly on maintaining national unity in order to gain support from the assembly and its members.

  Sun Yat-sen's so-called Second Revolution is just a farce, not only did it infuriate Yuan Shikai and the Beiyang clique to the point of being on the verge of exploding, but even Song Jiaoren and other KMT members opposed it. As for the ordinary people at the bottom, they also failed to understand and support it. From 1911 to early 1913, the whole country was in a state of turmoil, with various factions such as the Qing court, Beiyang, Revolutionary Party, New Army, and Huidang... setting up cannons and firing wildly, coming and going, fighting fiercely. Now that things have finally calmed down after several days of peace, Sun Yat-sen and others are making trouble again, using the Huang Xing case and the large loan as an excuse to openly provoke the central government with swords and guns, which is especially resented by the people who have been longing for peace and stability.

  After Li Liejun was exempted from his post as Jiangxi Governor according to law, there was a rare burst of applause in the National Assembly. Even Xu Xue'er, a famous journalist who had always opposed Yuan Shikai, wrote an article in the newspaper saying: "Today is already the Republic, if you conspire against the Republic, it is self-exclusion from the country, and the crime is unforgivable. Even if the government is evil, the law and the National Assembly should have the ability to solve problems, without resorting to conspiracy to disturb the people. Therefore, conspiratorial acts are despised by businessmen and abandoned by the wise." What made Sun Wen and others who were preparing for war even more depressed was that Cai E, the Governor of Yunnan, also openly declared at the time, shouting out the slogan "Whoever is the ringleader will be considered a national enemy. If someone starts a fight, they will be regarded as a public enemy of the whole country."

  There are also many KMT bigwigs who hold the same opinion as Xu Shuzheng and Cai E. At this time, Song Jiaoren also fulfilled his promise to Yuan Shikai, not only instructing the National Assembly to pass the presidential proposal, clearly showing his attitude among the people, but also formally starting the election of Yuan Shikai as the President of the Republic of China in secret. This also represents that the KMT led by Song Jiaoren and the Chinese Revolutionary Party led by Sun Yat-sen have drawn a clear line from now on and gone their separate ways.