292 invitation

292 Invitation (middle)

President Yuan pressed step by step, but Jian Feng still pointed to Marshal Li and did not respond to Vice President Li's departure.

Within 10 days, President Yuan sent three telegrams to Marshal Li, and the content of the telegram was "true". Judging from the superficial phenomenon alone, Yuan Shikai's attitude of "confrontation" with the Kuomintang is not insincere, and it is urgent to "discuss the national plan" with Marshal Li.

President Yuan pursues this superficial effect, which is exactly what he thinks is the excellence of this performance. Because he and his staff 200 percent think that Madman Li will not come to Beijing to negotiate. If the crazy Li really does not come to Beijing as expected, he can put the shit that does not want peace on the head of the Kuomintang. Yuan Shikai has a reason to launch a civil war, and he can win the sympathy and support of domestic and international public opinion. To take a step back, if the madman Li comes to Beijing, he will also take advantage of the negotiation time to prepare for a civil war. Have the strength to take the initiative to "sincerely" invite the actual leader of the Kuomintang, take the lead, and kick the ball to Li Xiang first. No matter what the result is, it is beneficial to the Beiyang government. Of course, this is just a strong wishful thinking.

As soon as the European war began, Beijing sent an invitation to Wuhan for "harmony talks". The suddenness of this conspiracy was really unexpected by the Kuomintang people in Hubei District led by Li Xiang.

However, what kind of medicine is in Yuan Shikai's gourd? Li thought it was clear, just like watching the fire in the cave. However, how does the Kuomintang judge the situation and kick the ball back from the fundamental interests of the Chinese people? It takes wisdom, courage and courage.

As mentioned above, Yuan Shikai's policy of launching a civil war has long been decided. Even so, if Li wants not to go to Beijing to negotiate, he will have the strength to put the responsibility of unwillingness for peace to the Kuomintang, which is unfavorable to the Kuomintang. Because Li wants to stand at the highest point of morality and unite the morale of the people.

The Beiyang Army needs time, and the Kuomintang also needs time to prepare for a self-defense war.

Zhu Andian focused on dealing with China's problems on Beiyang Yuan Shikai. He did not agree to fight the civil war, hoping that China would maintain the central government under the unified leadership of Yuan Shikai, which also puts some pressure on the Kuomintang.

Li Xiang's judgment on what kind of medicine is sold in Yuan Shikai's gourd is:

Yuan Shikai's determination to fight the civil war has been determined, but there are still many difficulties for him to let go of the full-scale civil war. In China, the people of the whole country have just seen the establishment of the Republic of China after the war, longing for the arrival of peace in order to rebuild their homes. Internationally, the major countries that participated in the European War did not agree with China's large-scale civil war based on their own interests. So why did Yuan Shikai abnormally send telegrams to Li Xiang for peace negotiations one after another? One of the very important reasons is that his elite German or semi-German armored divisions are still far away in Zhili and Hebei, and it will take time to transport these troops to the front line of the civil war.

For this point, Ambassador Zhu Andian, a powerful British ally, made it clear. He said, "Yuan Shikai's power is only in the corner of the north. The central and south and northwest are still occupied by the National Revolutionary Army. The battlefield in Jiangxi is a failure, resulting in any kind of Beiyang Central Zhengfu south of the Yangtze River. There is no shadow...

In fact, it is extremely difficult to have the strength and even completely occupy the Central Plains. To get the Central Plains, he must reach an agreement with the Kuomintang. If he does not reach an agreement with the Kuomintang and the British, he will not completely control the Central Plains.

Yuan Shikai invited Li to go to Beijing to "do a big plan together". In essence, he did not really want to achieve domestic peace through negotiations.

With the outbreak of the European war, Yuan Shikai couldn't wait to realize this dream in one morning in order to restore his autocratic rule over the country as soon as possible.

Yuan Shikai made a political capital in the Xinhai Revolution. Yuan Shikai thought that he could flatten the Communist Party of China and all democratic and progressive forces through the civil war. With the victory of the Xinhai Revolution, Yuan Shikai not only preserved his counter-revolutionary strength, but also accidentally grabbed the "big peach" exchanged by the people's blood and sweat, coupled with the British commitment, which made him feel that the Kuomintang could not compete with him in any case, and he could easily solve the Kuomintang problem within 3-6 months.

However, due to the rising trend of world peace and democracy in the post-war world, the Chinese people's call for peace and opposition to the civil war are strong. The existence and development of anti-Yuan Shikai and anti-competal forces within Beiyang, and the serious economic difficulties in the national unified region, especially the unprecedented growth of the people's revolutionary forces and Yuan Shikai's civil war forces are far from the north. Objective facts such as deployment in a short period of time are opposed to its established "internal war" policy, which makes Yuan Shikai have many concerns. The ambivalence between the unity of force and peaceful reunification drove Yuan Shikai to try the counter-revolutionary strategy of "condescending soldiers without fighting". Therefore, at the beginning of the negotiations in Chongqing, he was sure. ...The negotiation policy is extremely tolerant politically and not accommodating militarily."

This time, Yuan Shikai invited Li Xiang to go to Beijing to participate in peace negotiations. His thinking is to use peace talks to achieve two purposes:

First, it is beneficial to blame the Kuomintang for the civil war. If Li doesn't want to come to Chongqing, he can give the Kuomintang a charge of refusing peace talks and deliberately civil war, and shift the responsibility for the war to the Communist Party of China, so that he can put himself in a favorable political position (if he has the strength and confidence, Li Fengzi himself does not dare to venture to go to Beijing); if Yuan Shikai really takes a risk, he will give up several cabinet positions for the Kuomintang. Force him to hand over the liberated areas and the army, so that it is easy for him to finally eliminate the naked-handed Communist Party. Second, it is conducive to winning the preparation time for launching a full-scale civil war. If Li Madman goes to Beijing for peace talks, he can use negotiations to obtain the necessary time for the deployment of troops, which is extremely important for the Beiyang Army, whose military strength far exceeds that of the Kuomintang army.

......

Zhu Andian decided to fly to Wuhan to observe the movement. Before going, he discussed with Yuan Shikai and said, "If I can't even invite Li to come, the president can announce that the Kuomintang is not sincere about peace and apply military orders and decrees to fight against it. But if Li wants to come, the president must warn his subordinates not to come. Otherwise, if we act like a moment, which will provoke the criticism of public opinion all over the world, or make the Kuomintang and the revolutionary army more angry, then we are too uneconomical.

"Don't worry." Yuan Shikai said, "Ambassador Zhu Andian, I know."

Zhu Andian nodded with satisfaction.

"If Li wants to come," Yuan Shikai thought for a moment and said, "You must inform us early so that we can prepare early."

......

A plane with the British military logo circled over the three towns of Wuhan, where the turtle and snake locked the river.

Wuhan's airport is definitely one of the largest in the Far East. The British pilots who flew the plane soon found the "airport" and quickly dived down.

The action of the British pilot at this moment is like a strange flight show.

Lin Dong happened to be at the airport and was ready to return to Jiangxi. When he learned that the foreigner who got off the plane was Zhu Andian, he immediately recruited an infantry company as a temporary guard of honor. 61-year-old Zhu Andian "straighten his body and straightened his chest" to be reviewed by the infantry company and shouted the Indian war slogan like a proud young man. This scene made the leader of the Kuomintang who hurried to welcome him couldn't help but be stunned.

Wuhan has changed from an ordinary place name to a political word with complex meanings. The armed forces commanded by Wuhan have spread all over China, and the number has reached 630,000. To some extent, this is a "country", although Yuan Shikai has never recognized its legitimacy.

Chinese and foreign reporters found that what the Kuomintang people created in this land was far beyond their imagination, and accidents and new wonders came.

Marshal Li entertained them and enjoyed the "Allied March" and "The March of the Volunteers" sung by the artists.

Li Xiang, the leader of the Kuomintang in Hubei District, who was portrayed as a "bandit leader" by the royal newspaper of the Beiyang Army, has a gentle temperament. In addition to constantly smoking, this southerner with Napoleon's short hair behaves calmly and looks at ease. In response to the question raised by reporters, "Whether the North and the South choose war or reconciliation", Li Xiang said that the choice of the Kuomintang and the people is not a civil war, but a real democratic system.

Chinese and foreign reporters got to know Li Xiang from the level of daily life. "In Wuhan, Li Xiang is accessible and very simple. He will walk on the street planted with French sycamore trees and talk to the people. He doesn't bring guards. When taking pictures with a group of us, he did not stand in the middle, and no one led him to stand in the middle. He stood anywhere, sometimes on the side, sometimes behind others.

Although the observation group of representatives of the five countries led by Zhu Erdian was frightened by a March of the Volunteers in Wuhan, the editorial entitled "Welcome Friends of the Observation Group of Britain, France and other countries" published by the People's Daily still made foreigners very happy. The editorial not only said that the arrival of the observation group led by Zhu Andian in Wuhan was "the most exciting event since the Republic of China", but also said that the three words "friends" in the title of the editorial were added by Marshal Li himself.

Marshal Li told Xie Weisi, the second secretary of the British Embassy in China, that under the current circumstances, because the Beiyang government relies on a large amount of British assistance, the prevention of civil war in China depends largely on the influence of the United Kingdom. Due to the fear that once the European war is over, the Beiyang Army will immediately launch a civil war.

The well-received observation group ate the bread produced in Wuhan, while Marshal Li and the Wuhan military and civilians watched the movie brought by the observation group with great interest. The gasoline generator roared, and on the screen was a down-and-out American tramp who was always walking like a duck. Behind the tramp, there was the flashing modern era of a country very far away from Wuhan.