I tried to cheer him up by telling him that in a modern government such ups and downs must be expected. "Let the other side now develop their policy, and show what they can do; let General Tuan use this time for quiet recuperation, after the strain he has been through. Then," I said, "the time will come again when Tuan will be called back to power." The eyes of the good general lit up with gratitude. General Ni Tze-chung, most notorious and active among the military party, declared on the 26th of May that the dismissal of General Tuan had been illegal. His province of Anhwei disapproved; it would act independently of the Central Government.
This was the crucial point in the development of the situation.
Expert observers said that had the President immediately dismissed Ni and ordered his punishment, appointing a junior commander in his place, the rest of the militarists would have fallen away from Ni, and the President could have dealt with them individually. Instead, he was persuaded to send a conciliatory letter to General Ni.
This, of course, confirmed the leadership of Ni over the military party; further, it encouraged the majority of the Tuchuns to declare their independence.
A so-called provisional government was set up at Tientsin. The older and wiser heads of the military party, men like General Tuan Chi-jui and Mr. Hsu Shih-chang, held themselves entirely aloof from this new organization.
General Ni Tze-chung was the leading spirit. By dint of force the so-called government helped itself to the deposits of the Chinese Government in the Tientsin branch of the Bank of China. The men greatly in evidence were the members of the pro-Japanese clique, Mr. Tsao Ju-lin and General Hsu Shu-cheng. General Aoki, the Japanese military adviser to the Government, was also on the ground.
In Peking a paralysis crept over the Government. The President lost his advantage as quickly as he had gained it. On the railways all orders of the Tuchuns for transportation were implicitly obeyed. When at this time the question of the movement of revolutionary troops and their stationing at Tientsin and along the railway came up, the Japanese minister persisted in the position that it would be highly undesirable to make any objection on the ground of any possible conflict with the protection of the railway by foreign troops. Two months before, the Japanese Legation had strongly objected to the stationing of a few government troops along the same railway.
The President issued a mandate inviting Chang Hsun to Peking as arbitrator.
When I interviewed the President, he looked disconsolate His youthful English secretary, Mr. Kuo, tried his best to give a more cheerful and confident note to Li's conversation, but Doctor Tenney, who was with me, easily compared the President's doleful Chinese with the more buoyant English translation.
The plan of the Tuchuns was directed toward isolating and strangling Peking. They controlled the railways leading there, and were preventing the shipment of foodstuffs. The ministry that controlled the railways, it must be remembered, was controlled by Japanese influence. Constitutional government in China was paralyzed through the lack of military and financial authority.