Master Yuan, start!

Using Taiwan as bait gave Li Hongzhang, who was not very convinced of Yuan Shikai, some confidence.

In the eyes of the French, if they kept Li Hongzhang, at least Vietnam could be preserved. Without Li Hongzhang, after Yuan Shikai unified China, not only Vietnam but also Cochinchina might fall.

"Federal, provincial, self-governing?"

Yuan Xiangcheng repeated these words word for word, and suddenly laughed out loud with relief.

No wonder Li Hongzhang repeatedly emphasized the need to convene a parliament.

It turned out that what he wanted to convene was not a national conference at all, but separate congresses for each province.

In this way, the province of Lingnan in the southwest was still in his hands.

Li Hongzhang was clearly well prepared this time, bringing with him the sweet treat of "Taiwan" as a federal province with autonomy.

Yuan Xiangcheng knew that if he wanted to reject this proposal, it would inevitably cause an uproar in the world.

After all, no one can resist the temptation of regaining territory.

"Then I'll fight you!"

Yuan Xiangcheng looked at Li Hongzhang, who had a smile on his face, and muttered to himself.

I don't believe that the French are really willing to give up Taiwan, nor do I believe that you, Li Hongzhang, can achieve federal autonomy.

Want to be a French dog? Beware! You might end up losing both the wife and the army!

Chapter 369: Prepare for both situations

Although Yuan Shikai was willing to take the bait of "federal autonomy" in exchange for the possibility of Taiwan's return, it did not mean that he really agreed with federal autonomy.

After all, it is hard to imagine the federal autonomy model in China.

This is actually a replica of the American Confederation federal system.

In the United States, governors can mobilize state police to confront federal troops under the president, but in China, such actions are almost blatant rebellion.

State laws in the United States often conflict with national federal laws, and the federal government in Washington is powerless to do anything about it. Even the president can only appeal to the Supreme Court and pray for the ruling of the nine justices.

Doesn’t the US president want to have unlimited presidential power like in some countries?

They wanted to, but they couldn't.

This is something that has not changed since the founding of the United States, and it is also the foundation of the United States.

Does the United States really have a separation of powers?

not necessarily!

The reason why the United States was able to form such a political system is that they were originally 13 scattered states, but they "united the states into a country" only to fight against the British.

The full English name of USA is "United States of America".

But today's China, regardless of the north or south, originally belongs to the same country. What qualifications do the provinces have to secede from China and become autonomous?

Moreover, in this case, the legal system established by Yuan Shikai would no longer exist.

Where is the legitimacy of the establishment of the Republic?

It was Yuan Shikai who fought against the Manchus with his left hand and resisted Russia with his right hand, and it was by holding high these two banners that he achieved the great cause of founding the country.

The federal conference was undoubtedly intended to dig out Yuan Shikai's roots.

This is equivalent to the orthodoxy changing from "winning the world by resisting the Manchus and Russia" to "sharing the world with the provincial council"

You should know that under the federal autonomy, the provincial councils convened by the provinces are not branches or subordinates of the Congress, but "provincial councils" with independent constitutional creation power.

The provincial congress is not controlled or directed by the Congress.

This is equivalent to more than 30 provinces in China, with more than 30 provincial constitutions.

A country under federal autonomy can only be established after the "Provincial Congress" sends people to organize a federal conference and formulate a federal constitution.

In other words, federal autonomy means that the power of the state is granted by the provinces, rather than the state distributing power to the provinces.

For Yuan Shikai, who had already gained control of most of China, supporting the Federal Conference was undoubtedly a self-destructive move.

Thinking of this, Yuan Xiangcheng stood up and bowed, saying:

"Governor Li, whether it's a federal congress or a national convention, it's not up to me or you to decide. It's up to all the citizens of the Republic to decide.

Besides, even if the federal conference has many advantages, the people will only support it if some actual results are seen.

For example, in Taiwan, why not let Mr. Sun from Taiwan establish a federal conference in Taiwan first?

Otherwise, why didn't China convene a general assembly, but instead went through the roundabout route of forming a federation of provinces?"

Li Hongzhang's face changed when he heard this. Yuan Shikai's words were very straightforward. It was possible to have a federation, but even that had its prerequisites.

The best thing is to start from Taiwan.

It is obvious that Yuan Shikai would not agree to implement it nationwide unless Taiwan first elected a federal parliament.

However, Li Hongzhang knew very well that even if the French needed his help, the price to pay for getting the French to agree to establish a federal parliament in Taiwan would be huge.

Compared with going to war, which one is more cost-effective and more reliable?

In fact, during the Wuchang talks, Li Hongzhang did not give up his plan to use force.

Having experienced decades of ups and downs in the political arena, he certainly wouldn't be so naive as to think that he could achieve the desired results by just talking.

Due to Guangdong's unique geographical and cultural advantages, he is actively purchasing weapons and ammunition from overseas Chinese and foreigners in Southeast Asia through various channels.

The American Krag-Jorgensen bolt-action rifle, the German Mauser rifle, the French Lebel rifle, the British Lee-Enfield rifle; French and German smokeless gunpowder; the sons of Krupp and Puteaux Arsenals.

After ruling Guangdong and Guangxi for more than ten years, Li Hongzhang still had some surplus in his Governor-General's Office. As long as the weapons were produced within 10 years, he would accept almost any of them.

But at present, he has not made up his mind whether to fight with force or use the Western method and engage in a verbal fight.

Seeing that Li Hongzhang remained silent, Yuan Xiangcheng did not press the issue. He approached the door and said, "It's getting late today. Commander Li should go to bed early."

After saying this, Yuan Xiangcheng opened the door and walked downstairs without caring whether Li Hongzhang was happy or not.

In Wuchang City, Zhang Zhidong had already prepared a place to stay, and Yuan Xiangcheng quickly returned to his residence under the protection of a group of guards.

...

In the study, Yuan Xiangcheng struck a tinder, lit the kerosene lamp, and covered the blackened lampshade. He turned around and asked:

"Weiting, what's the result?"

There was originally a power station and electric lights in Wuchang City, but the power supply was not stable.

Today, a strong wind blew in the three towns of Wuhan, which unfortunately blew down the power lines of the power station, and the few hundred remaining lights in the city stopped working.

In the dim light of kerosene lamp, Yuan Xiangcheng recounted everything he saw and heard at the Yellow Crane Tower today.

"I never thought that Li Hongzhang would propose federal autonomy and use Taiwan as bait." Yan Fu shook his head, puzzled.

"But why did the French want to get involved? Haven't they suffered enough in Jiangnan and Outer Northeast?"

Yuan Xiangcheng mocked him bluntly: "The French are always arrogant.

If they had known when to stop, Napoleon would not have been so arrogant as to organize an army of 60 to march thousands of miles to punish Russia, which ended in the total collapse of the empire.

If Napoleon had not been so reckless, his Great French Empire might have lasted another 20 years."

Hearing this, Yan Fu said bitterly, "Weiting, the French have evil ambitions. Not only are they using Taiwan to make trouble, but even the establishment of the Lingnan Party organization has been made difficult by them."

"Oh? Brothers, how do the French interfere in political party affairs?" Yuan Xiangcheng was puzzled.

After going south, he had been dealing with local affairs and had no time to learn about the detailed development of the party organization in the south.

Yan Fu took out the latest telegram and said worriedly:

"Weiting, the north, especially outside the Great Wall, can basically be said to be the world of the Socialist Revolutionary Party.

But the south, especially the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, is still out of reach.

News came from Hong Kong a few days ago that Li Hongzhang's Huaxing Society imitated our Socialist Revolutionary Party and changed its name to the Huaxing Party.

The party leader was Li Hongzhang, and the executive director was Huang Xing, who had become famous in Lingnan in recent years.

They are now using the Central Plains land reform to attack the Socialist Revolutionary Party, saying things like the Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuzhen eras and Li Zicheng's reign, which has made it very difficult for the Socialist Revolutionary Party organizations in Lingnan to carry out their work.

Under the light of gas lamps, Yan Fu explained the reasons behind the changes in the situation in Lingnan.

After Yuan Shikai issued a telegram in the capital to reform the party system, he changed the name of the original Red Confucian Society to the "Social Revolutionary Party", abbreviated as the Social Revolutionary Party.

Unexpectedly, the local organization of the Socialist Revolutionary Party had not had time to establish a party branch in the south, but the Huaxing Society in Lingnan was the first to take action.

The Huaxing Society originated from an association among students and has a natural appeal to young people, especially in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions where it has unique advantages.

After changing its name to the Huaxing Party, Huang Xing quickly expanded the party organization to the Hong Kong area, attracting many new scholars and overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia.

Moreover, because Li Hongzhang and the French reached an agreement not to harass each other on the Guangxi border, the Huaxing Party gained great influence in Guangxi.

The Huaxing Party took this opportunity to expand westward and absorbed many local organizations in the vernacular areas of Guangxi, such as the "Guixing Society", "Qinxing Society" and "Qianglian Society".

Most of these local organizations were formed by local gentry and wealthy merchants. Because Yuan Shikai had fought against the French and Japanese over the years and held the anti-Manchu banner to fight against Russia, they had always admired Yuan Shikai.

However, it happened that Li Hongzhang reached an agreement with the French.

After the French border threat was eliminated and they heard about Yuan Shikai's various land distribution deeds in the north, the attitudes of these people changed.

Therefore, when the Huaxing Society expanded to Guangxi, they quickly joined its ranks, hoping to support Li Hongzhang in his fight against Yuan Shikai and to keep their own land.

Taking advantage of this trend, the "Huaxing Party", which had merged with the landlord class, continued to expand and began to spread to the Chaoshan area where the land issue was more acute.

In some Lingnan newspapers, the Huaxing Party has even been dubbed "the largest party in the South."

Under such circumstances, it was no wonder that Li Hongzhang began to think about party politics and wanted to compete with Yuan Shikai under the framework of federal autonomy.

When Yuan Shikai heard that the French were spending so much money, he was a little unsure for a moment.

As a judicial person, you won’t really allow Taiwan to establish a federal parliament, right?

We must be prepared for both scenarios, otherwise, Li Hongzhang will become integrated with the Vietnamese colony, which will be difficult to deal with in the future.

Seeing this, Yan Fu hesitated for a moment and then said, "Weiting, I know someone who might be able to break this situation."

"Oh, who?"

"Liu Yongfu!"

Chapter 370 The Wandering Seven Star Army

The talks reached a stalemate, but Yuan Shikai was not idle either.