Master Yuan, start!

Thinking of this, Yuan Xiangcheng sighed deeply.

"It seems that sometimes, you have to kill the chicken to scare the monkey."

Chapter 491 Social Revolution Conference Part 5

It was another new day. Yang Du and the social revolution members in the Huaihai area sat in the auditorium set up in advance, waiting for today's meeting to be held.

As expected, the chairman of the meeting was Song Qing, chairman of the Huaihai Regional Preparatory Committee.

Song Qing was one of the original commanders of the five Jiashen New Armies. Later, during the dispute between the emperor and the empress, he was defeated by Yuan Shikai, who led the National Defense Army into Shanhaiguan. He then led his troops to surrender and was appointed Governor of Jiaodong, Shandong.

After the establishment of the Republic, he was transferred from his post as Governor of Jiaodong to the neighboring Huaihai area to establish a preparatory committee in preparation for serving as the future governor of Huaihai Province.

If we don't count "honorary positions" such as the President of the Privy Council, Song Qing was one of the middle and senior bureaucrats from the Qing court who held the highest position in the republican government.

Therefore, he was inevitably infected with some bad habits of the Qing court.

For example, the extravagant and wasteful style of welcoming and seeing off guests, lavish celebrations, and extravagance. When Yuan Shikai was traveling south along the canal, he was shocked by the huge welcoming team organized by Song Qing in Linqing, Shandong.

It is also said that on weekdays, Song Qing often gave some Shandong specialties to his "old acquaintances" in the central government.

Although Yang Du was only a local governor, he had heard of what Song Qing had done.

However, he didn't think it was a big deal.

It's nothing more than being a little more tactful. Isn't it enough as long as you can get practical things done?

The reason why Yang Du had a good impression of Song Qing was that he was able to keep in touch with Yuan Keding after graduation, thanks to Song Qing's matchmaking.

As Song Qing walked into the auditorium, Haizhou Prefecture Governor Jiang Guiti followed closely behind.

Jiang Guiti was originally a subordinate of Song Qing. After he surrendered to Yuan Xiangyang, he also served as an official in Shandong with him.

Yang Du also followed the delegation and slowly walked into the auditorium.

However, he found that there were already several figures sitting inside, and they looked somewhat familiar.

Ming Ye, the head of the Social Revolution Investigation Section and the director of the Presidential Aide-de-Camp, is a close friend of the President.

Yan Fu, a theoretical expert within the Socialist Revolutionary Committee and Minister of the Central Propaganda Department.

Yang Du had heard a few days ago that some Central Committee members of the Social Revolutionary Party would go deep into the provincial delegations to attend meetings as observers, so he was not surprised by the appearance of these two people.

Yang Du also saw that Song Qing was walking in front and seemed to be greeting Ming Ye and Yan Fu.

"They are all members of the Central Committee. As a local governor, I'd better not get involved."

Soon, Yang Du followed the team back to the crowd, found his seat in the auditorium and sat down.

On the front of the auditorium, a row of large yellow characters was hung on red cloth.

The Second Plenary Session of the Social Revolutionary Huaihai Delegation

Shortly after Yang Du took his seat, he noticed another commotion at the door. Xu Shichang, the Prime Minister of the Republican Government and executive member of the Central Executive Committee of the Socialist Revolutionary Committee, had also arrived at the scene.

For a moment, all the members of the Huaihai region stood up and watched until Song Qing welcomed Xu Shichang to the rostrum.

The conference finally began.

Xu Shichang first walked to the single-person podium and expressed his praise for the construction plans in the Huaihai region over the past period of time, especially praising the over-fulfillment of Xuzhou Prefecture's coal and iron production plans.

Although these things were not under Yang Du's jurisdiction, they were related to the future promotion of his good friend Tan Sitong.

967?91[O25 swollen profit.

Since the Xuzhou Iron Works and Jiawang Coal Mine had reached a critical period of expanding production, Tan Sitong, as the mayor of Xuzhou, specifically asked for leave from the organization and was unable to attend the National Social Revolutionary Conference.

Therefore, when Yang Du heard Xu Shichang specifically praise Xuzhou Prefecture, he was happy for his good friend.

However, as he spoke, Xu Shichang's words changed from counting the achievements in detail to harsh criticism.

“The progress of industry in the Huaihai region and the bumper harvest in the Yellow River floodplain are certainly gratifying.

However, for some time, the Social Revolutionary Party in the Huaihai region has been facing an extremely serious situation. The majority of Social Revolutionary Party members not only failed to realize the seriousness of this situation, but even actively made it worse.

When Yang Du heard the words "serious" and "worsened", his mind was still unable to process the situation. Just as he was wondering why Prime Minister Xu Shichang said such words, a name made him break out in a cold sweat.

"Social Revolutionary General Director of the Huaihai Region, Chairman of the Huaihai Provincial Preparatory Committee, Song Qing!

Colluding with local forces and accepting bribes; betraying the will of the organization, deceiving superiors and subordinates; forming entanglements with private gangs and relying on others; even attempting to disrupt public opinion and interfere in national affairs for personal gain

After investigation by the Social Revolutionary Intelligence Division, the evidence is conclusive!

"Chief Ming!"

Xu Shichang said lightly and called Ming Ye, the head of the Intelligence Search Section, who was sitting in attendance.

"After research and decision by the Central Executive Committee, we have now decided to revoke Song Qing's D-classification and arrest him!"

"understand!"

At Ming Ye's command, the intelligence officers who had been lying in ambush at the door rushed into the auditorium and, in front of everyone, pinned Song Qing down on the table.

Yang Du was stunned by this scene.

As the head of a province and a member of the Central Committee, even if he was not an executive member, Song Qing was one of the five commanders of the Jiashen New Army, who was as famous as Yuan Shikai, and had extremely rich experience.

Now, he was caught so easily?

Not only did Yang Du not expect this, Song Qing also did not expect things to develop this way.

As he was being dragged out, Song Qing shouted unwillingly:

"What's going on? How could I betray the organization?

I... I am a veteran who followed the chief instructor during the Anti-Curtain Campaign. 1 troops defected and surrendered. If it weren't for me, would the National Defense Army have been able to capture the capital so easily?

I have shed blood for the Republic, and I have risked my life for the Chief Instructor!

I...I just accepted some notes from salt merchants, but I didn't spend them recklessly. I used them all to entertain guests from the central government. As for the allegations of opposing the organization and interfering in national affairs, they are completely false, completely false!!!"

Song Qing defended himself at the top of his lungs, but Xu Shichang, who had always been lenient with others in the organization, now had a cold expression on his face when facing him.

He looked at Song Qing, whose legs were weak and hair was gray, with a hint of regret in his eyes, but more of it was disgust.

"Song Qing, Comrade Zhu San, Chairman Song, Mr. Song!" Ming Ye grabbed Song Qing's clothes, changed several names in succession, and said coldly:

"You not only accepted the salt merchants' bills of exchange, but also the shares in the bank they gave you, right?

To this end, you asked Haizhou Prefecture Governor Jiang Guiti to set aside hundreds of acres of tidal flats near a port called Lianyungang on the coast as a gift specifically for these salt merchants.

Yes or no? "

Song Qing had been under Yuan Shikai's attention for a long time due to his personal style. However, considering that he was indeed capable, Yuan Shikai turned a blind eye to these problems during the war.

Honest officials are rare, and capable officials are even rarer.

If it is impossible to find an official who is both clean and capable, then temporarily using an official who is not so clean is also a compromise.

Moreover, Song Qing was the first Qing general to surrender to him. Yuan Shikai also understood the principle of paying tribute to a horse's bones and was unwilling to break the rules easily.

However, his involvement in the "Lifelong President" incident and the involvement of Yuan Keding made Yuan Xiangcheng unable to tolerate it.

Suo asked, "You ordered people to spread the message that the chief instructor should be made president for life. You wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to try your luck and get promoted to the Central Executive Committee. Is that right?"

Ming Ye spoke in a calm tone, describing Song Qing's private actions one by one.

2. “So what? Is there anyone in the world who doesn’t want the chief instructor to be president for life?

As for the merits of following the dragon, that is nonsense. Am I, Song Qing, the kind of person who only seeks personal gain? "

Si Songqing was still being stubborn. He obviously only wanted to admit the first half of what Mingye said, but not the second half.

Lin Mingye saw this, but did not argue with him, but continued to talk to himself:

"But you absolutely should not have approached the Chief Instructor's son under the guise of being an old friend of his, and you should not have even instructed someone to contact the Chief Instructor's son privately, asking him to publish an article in the Dong-A Times openly supporting a lifelong presidency.

If Shan does this, wouldn't it make people all over the world think that the lifelong president thing was the personal instruction of the chief instructor?

Wu Songqing, do you know that this move has destroyed the republican system and the republican spirit!

You are the biggest sinner in this country!"

Song Qing howled weakly, but no one present cared about what he was shouting.

Everyone shook their heads and whispered to each other because of Ming Ye's words "the biggest sinner of the Republic".

Who is Mingye?

The personal soldiers and guards who followed the chief instructor during the Incheon military training period have now changed their title to the captain of the guard in the attendant room.

But everyone knew that he represented the chief instructor's opinion.

Some of the Huaihai region committee members present were restless, their eyes darting around, obviously frightened by the scene.

The central government officials present at the meeting all looked at the uneasy committee members with vigilance.

Under the gaze of the crowd, Song Qing, an old man in his 60s, was held up by his arms by two muscular men from the Intelligence Investigation Department, with his legs hanging on the ground, and was slowly dragged down from the rostrum.

When passing by the podium to the right of the rostrum, Song Qing saw Xu Shichang still holding the speech in his hand. He struggled to stand up and wanted to say a few final words.

"Prime Minister, Comrade Juren, Brother Juren!" Song Qing grabbed the corner of Xu Shichang's clothes, intending to make a last-ditch effort:

“After the fall of the Qing government, the chief instructor sent me to Yantai to serve as the governor of Jiaozhou, in charge of the bonded area affairs.

After taking office, I have never acted on my own. I have always waited for you, the assistant director of Jiaodong's commercial affairs, to make the decision.

Brother Juren, you and I have worked together for many years. Don't you know what kind of person I am?"

Song Qing brought up the old days when Xu Shichang served as an official under him, hoping to awaken the compassion in Xu Shichang's heart.

After the Anti-Curtain Campaign, in order to attract immigrants from Northeast China, Yuan Shikai proposed to Emperor Guangxu to establish a governor in Jiaodong and build a bonded area in Yantai.

In order to ensure that this customs territory was controlled in his own hands, he submitted a petition seven times and six times to allow Song Qing, who had already surrendered, to serve as governor.

As for the actual person in charge of the Yantai bonded area, it was Xu Shichang.

At that time, Xu Shichang was still an assistant to the Korean business department. Although he was rewarded for his merits in the anti-curtain campaign, he could not be promoted directly from a sixth-rank official to the governor of Jiaodong.

Therefore, Yuan Shikai adopted the method of "main with the virtual and deputy with the real", letting Xu Shichang hide behind Song Qing and take charge of the affairs of the immigrants outside the Great Wall in Shandong and the bonded area of ​​Yantai.

"Brother Zhu, why bother talking about the past? I didn't reveal the details of you embezzling money while you were governor, did I?"

Xu Shichang glanced at Song Qing on the ground, stepped over him mercilessly, and then said to the Huaihai District Committee members present:

"Well, comrades, let me put it more clearly. After the country is generally pacified, we will enter a period of construction.

After defeating the French, the whole country believed that there were no more strong enemies at home or abroad, and they could put their weapons in storage and let their horses go to the mountains.