Master Yuan, start!

Originally, the Bi De Yuan existed as a power insurance, but the Qing Dynasty itself gave up this insurance.

Compromise and giving up in return are the essence of politics.

After Emperor Guangxu was assassinated in this time and space, the Qing Dynasty had a short-lived cabinet at the suggestion of Yuan Shikai.

There is no Pildeokwon in this cabinet.

8. When Yuan Shikai established this institution, he did not intend to follow the history of "Privy Council" but intended to "Central Advisory Committee".

Yuan Shikai knew that the upcoming war was not only a war against Li Hongzhang and Lingnan, but also a war for national unification.

After taking care of Lingnan, the Republican government would officially establish a land border with the French and face the issue of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with the British.

Not to mention, there are Germans and Portuguese in Zhuhai, Hengqin Island.

If we are not careful in our actions, we may attract formal intervention from these powers or have our support cut off.

Yuan Shikai knew that he could no longer just make military preparations as he did during the Hunan Campaign.

4 During the Hunan Expedition, the National Revolutionary Army was still called the National Defense Army, and the Qing Dynasty's banner was still there, so it was considered an expedition under orders.

But now, the republican government is the one on top.

2 Although the unification of China is a righteous cause for the world, the new republican government must also be prepared for political responses.

Fujian's local faction, Yunnan's Cen Chunxuan, Northwest's Chu faction, Shaanxi's Lu Chuanlin, the snowy plateau, the Mobei desert, the Western Regions' entangled people

As long as you recognize the republican government and the People's Republic of China, everything can be discussed.

Even people from Lingnan can talk.

As long as they show their loyalty to Yuan Shikai, they will definitely have a place in the new government.

However, this time the recognition is no longer the kind of recognition that the local government gave to the whole country in public when the republican government was declared, but in fact it still acted like a local tyrant behind closed doors.

Hand over military power! Hand over political power! Hand over financial power!

Only by honestly handing over these three things can we truly submit to the republican government.

As long as the local powerful groups are willing to hand over these three things, they will be resettled by the Republican government.

Yuan Shikai did not dare to promise the prosperity and wealth that would last forever with the country, but he could still ensure the wealth and prosperity for three generations.

Bi De Yuan was created for this purpose.

Of course, Yuan Xiangcheng prepared not only the Bi De Yuan, but also a series of honorary rewards.

He looked around the room with a smile on his face and fixed his gaze on Zhang Zhidong, who was still immersed in thinking about what the Bitongyuan was.

While you're still here, I might as well do it all at once to save trouble!

Thinking of this, Yuan Xiangcheng looked at Ming Ye behind him:

"Take the Grand Order Badge and let me personally pin it on Xiang Weng and confer the Grand Order upon him!"

Ming Ye was shocked when he heard this, and he quickly and carefully took out a sandalwood square box wrapped in a silk scarf from his arms.

After Yuan Xiangcheng took it, he brushed off the silk scarf, opened the lid of the box, and took out a silver medal decorated with gold, a round peony flower and leaf pattern, and four wheels decorated with yellow, blue, black and white beads.

Qunfeilu 226985

Under Zhang Zhidong's puzzled gaze, Yuan Xiangcheng took out the medal and slowly placed it on his left chest.

After overthrowing the Qing Dynasty, Yuan Shikai established the Republic of China, calling for equality for all.

But equality for all does not mean that everyone is equal.

Those who have made outstanding contributions to the country and nation must still be affirmed and given certain social status recognition.

In ancient times, a title was the best recognition the court could give to a person.

However, the Qing Dynasty had been overthrown and the imperial system had been eliminated. It seemed inappropriate to use feudal-era titles to reward the people.

After the Republic, in addition to military positions, soldiers can also be awarded military ranks, which, to a certain extent, serve as titles.

But apart from the soldiers, the rest of the citizens seem to have no good way to reward them.

It is not appropriate to award a person a military rank just because he has made contributions to the country.

Therefore, at the meeting of the Executive Committee of the Red Confucian Society at the beginning of the year, a set of honor awarding methods applicable to the civilians of the Republic was discussed and created. Finally, after a show of hands, the Order of Honor was issued.

In fact, after the order of honor was issued, it was soon drowned out by the current affairs news in the north and south because there was no follow-up, and did not cause any big waves.

Until this moment, the Hubei officials and businessmen in the room vaguely recalled this so-called honorary order in their minds.

"This...is this the great medal comparable to that of a prince?" Li Yuanhong stood beside Zhang Zhidong and looked at the twelve-bead medal in Yuan Xiangcheng's hand, feeling dazzled for a moment.

He had read about the Order of Merit in the newspaper. There were six orders in total.

They are Grand Order, First Order, Second Order and Fifth Order respectively.

The contrast is with prince, duke, marquis and even baron.

Li Yuanhong never thought that Yuan Shikai would be so generous as to award Zhang Zhidong a medal comparable to a royal title.

Yuan Xiangcheng didn't notice Li Yuanhong's little thoughts. He patted Zhang Zhidong's dry hand and said:

"Xiang Weng, any citizen of the Republic who has made outstanding contributions to the country or society can be awarded this honor and wear the corresponding medal. There is no need to refuse!"

After personally putting the medal on Zhang Zhidong, Yuan Xiangcheng turned around and said loudly to the Hubei officials in the room:

"Xiang Weng has made great contributions to the country, is loyal to the Republican government, and has saved tens of millions of people in Hubei. He should be awarded a great honor!"

President of the Bi De Yuan + Grand Order Medal.

This is the precious horse bone that Yuan Xiangcheng prepared politically!

Chapter 394: 12 Provinces of the Republican Government

The news that the President of the Republic came to Wuchang again and Hubei changed its flag quickly spread throughout Hubei and even the whole of China.

With a tactic of using force first and then courtesy, Hubei was easily taken.

The ban on paper money allowed people all over the world to see the strength of the republican government; the great honors allowed people all over the world to see the sincerity of the republican government.

No one expected that Zhang Zhidong would be awarded a higher title than a prince, and would also be able to go north to serve as the president of the Privy Council.

After all, after the establishment of the Republic, Yuan Shikai's treatment of the Manchu bannermen was extremely cruel.

The main culprit was beheaded at Caishikou, and the rest were all exiled to the Hetao reclamation area. It is said that more than ten thousand people died along the way.

Even Liu Kunyi, a Han Chinese from Hunan, was imprisoned and never given any official title.

Half of the surrendered Hunan Army were transported outside the Great Wall to reclaim land in the four provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Fengtian and Haihe to atone for their sins.

But what they didn't expect was that Zhang Zhidong, a bureaucrat who had been up and down in officialdom for decades and had been speculating for almost a lifetime, would finally be treated with such courtesy by Yuan Shikai.

It's really jaw-dropping.

Looking at Chinese history, the current situation in Hubei is like the Nanping and Wuping regimes when Emperor Taizu of Song unified the world in the early Northern Song Dynasty.

It's just a local separatist force entrenched between the Jianghan River and the Xiang River.

It is obvious that they could have sent a large army to wipe out the rebellion by force, but they chose to deal with it peacefully, which is unusual and really unexpected.

Even the British Minister to China, Duke of Culver, was surprised when he heard the news.

What surprised him was not that Yuan Shikai adopted peaceful means, but that Zhang Zhidong did so.

Dounale never expected that there would be someone in the world who could surrender faster and more thoroughly than Napoleon III.

Zhang Zhidong handed over power decisively without firing a single shot or cannonball.

If Napoleon III saw this, he would say "Bon no jour".

After all, Napoleon III held out for more than a month before surrendering to the Prussians at Sedan.

Of course, despite being surprised, Dou Nale still sent a congratulatory telegram to Yuan Shikai after receiving the news.

At the same time, he did not forget to contact London and ask whether to intervene in the situation in China.

In fact, Yuan Shikai also wanted to use severe punishments in troubled times.

But some people can be annihilated with thunder and lightning, while some people cannot be eliminated in this way. What Zhang Zhidong has done in this time and space is truly worthy of these honors.

Apart from anything else, the mere fact that Cixi and the young Emperor Baoqing were executed by guillotine was enough for Yuan Shikai to enshrine them as symbols of revolution.

The People's Republic of China is a revolutionary regime. How can a revolutionary regime not have one or two royal executioners to decorate its facade?

Yuan Shikai wanted to take all the credit for overthrowing the Qing Dynasty on the Red Confucian Society and the Social Revolutionary Party.

In other words, it is still a question of the legitimacy of the regime.

Although the Republic of China was established on the basis of overthrowing the Qing Dynasty, it is already orthodox enough.

But Yuan Shikai wanted to make it more legal and orthodox.

Theoretically speaking, the fact that the Qing Dynasty was overthrown so easily was also due to the "self-protective" governors and governors-general in the south.

After all, without their Southeast Mutual Protection Agreement, the Qing Dynasty might not have been divided.

Secondly, what Yuan Shikai overthrew later was only half of the Qing Dynasty. When Beijing was captured, the Southern Qing regime in Wuchang still existed.

The demise of the Qing Dynasty can be divided into two steps.

The first step was that the Northern Qing Regent Yi was beheaded in Beijing, and the second step was that the Southern Qing Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Baoqing were sent to the guillotine.

Zhang Zhidong was actually a hero in the destruction of the Qing Dynasty, so it was not excessive to give him the honor of a great honor and an empty position in the Privy Council.

And, more importantly, Zhang Zhidong had no blood debt on his hands.

5 Whether it was Liu Kunyi or Li Hongzhang, they all rose to prominence by suppressing the Taiping Rebellion and the Japanese invasion. To put it bluntly, their hands were stained with the blood of the people.

In the revolutionary narrative he told to the "members of the Red Confucian Society and the Social Revolutionary Party", Yuan Shikai regarded the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as the regime that fired the first shot against the Qing Dynasty.

The Chinese Republic government, established against the backdrop of this revolutionary narrative, naturally recognized and approved of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's actions in resisting the Qing Dynasty.

However, if we also win over those who suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and give them high positions and generous salaries, we will face a very practical problem.

That is, it is better to have revolution later than to have revolution early, and it is better to have counter-revolution later than to have revolution late.

How could the Huai Army and the Xiang Army, the executioners who wiped out the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, ascend to high positions in the Republican government so openly?

The People's Republic of China was established only two years ago, so this problem is not yet obvious, but it will definitely be magnified in the future.

Yuan Shikai treated different political groups differently.

Even if some of the Chu Army and Huai Army in the northwest surrender in the future, the treatment they enjoy will definitely not be as good as that of the Hubei New Army, let alone the National Revolutionary Army.