Republic of China: My great warlord, many children, many blessings.

"Just wait and see."

Zhang Zuolin also sat down next to Shen Hao.

"I hope my brat, Xiao Liu, hasn't caused any trouble."

Shen Hao said, "No, I still study very hard, and I'm quite happy at military academy."

"Haha, that kid's a bit mischievous and likes to fight. Hopefully, he'll amount to something."

Shen Hao said, "After a few more years of training, they'll be able to go out and stand on their own."

Immediately, Zhang Zuolin looked around and whispered, "Ah Hao, I heard that your military factory can produce more than 5 Mauser rifles a month, as well as Maxim heavy machine guns, is that right?"

Shen Hao said, "That's right."

"Leave me, Old Zhang, five thousand rifles, and fifty Maxim guns as well. I'll pay you at market price," Zhang Zuolin said with a smile.

Shen Hao was taken aback. Had Zhang Zuolin expanded his army?

Shen Hao wasn't short of weapons for the time being, so he nodded and said, "Okay, no problem, I'll send them over next month."

"Haha, okay, I, Old Zhang, thank you."

Zhang Zuolin recruited soldiers and horses, preparing to seize the position of governor.

After all, he occupied the capital city of Fengtian and could not give it to anyone else.

Deep down, Zhang Zuolin harbored even greater ambitions: to use Fengtian as a base and then take over the entire Northeast. Of course, that was a story for another time.

To take over the three northeastern provinces, the primary goal was to secure the position of Military Governor of Fengtian.

Shen Hao's support was crucial for Zhang Zuolin.

During the break, many people took the initiative to come over and greet Shen Hao.

Among them, Yan Xishan, the governor of Shanxi, and Zhang Xun, Feng Guozhang, and Duan Qirui, the governors of Jiangsu and commanders of the "Pigtail Army," all came.

Despite his young age, Shen Hao carries considerable weight here.

About an hour later, Yuan Shikai and Jin Quan's cabinet members came in again.

Jin Quan didn't waste any words and said again, "In the last election, we didn't have enough votes, so we had to hold a new election. I hope everyone cherishes this opportunity and thinks it over carefully."

The expressions on people's faces varied; some looked disdainful, some were indifferent, and some were gloating and watching the show.

Soon, the ballots were distributed again.

People wrote down their presidential candidates.

As a result, this election once again took an unexpected turn.

The only candidate, Yuan Shikai, still didn't receive more than a third of the votes, which made Yuan Shikai's face turn quite grim.

Jin Quan didn't know how to explain it either.

"We didn't get enough votes this time, so there will be a third election. Everyone, take a break."

After saying that, Jin Quan followed Yuan Shikai away.

Many members of the House of Representatives looked scornful, saying that even if there were a hundred more elections, the result would be the same.

During the break, several people tried to go out, but were stopped by the guards.

"No one is leaving without the president's order."

Why can't we go out?

"That's right, get out of the way! Who do you think you are to stop us?"

"The president said that no one is allowed to leave until the election is over."

After saying that, the guard raised his gun and cocked it.

Many people looked at each other, some of them having second thoughts.

They then discovered that the Yuan Shikai silver dollar wasn't giving them real democracy, but rather forcing them to comply.

At this moment, Lu Jianzhang, Yuan Shikai's trusted lieutenant, commander of the guards and director of the Beijing Military and Political Law Enforcement Office, stood expressionless at the door.

No one is allowed to leave this room today until we elect our preferred president. Anyone who leaves without permission will face court-martial.

The meaning is clear: if you don't elect Yuan Shikai as president today, none of you will be leaving.

As Yuan Shikai's lackey, Lu Jianzhang did a lot of dirty work for him, and his hands were covered with blood debts. He was known as Lu the Butcher.

His reputation is terrible.

The crowd that had been shouting earlier immediately fell silent.

Next, amidst the intimidation of the guards, an election lasting 14 hours and involving three rounds of voting finally resulted in a two-thirds majority electing Yuan Shikai as the first president...

The moment they stepped out of the house, many felt it was a rebirth.

Even after being elected president, Yuan Shikai was still very happy.

However, I am still very angry about the lack of cooperation from those Kuomintang councilors in this election.

The meeting continued the next day.

Subsequently, the Constitution Drafting Committee drafted the "Constitution Draft".

The regulations stipulate that the president is subject to the constraints of Congress and the cabinet, serves a five-year term, and can be re-elected once.

Although the National Assembly had elected Yuan Shikai as the formal president, it also drafted a constitution to limit the president's power, which made Yuan Shikai feel that the cost of maintaining this democratic facade was too high.

He was still very dissatisfied with the result.

So, seven days later, Yuan Shikai convened a political meeting and immediately lost his temper.

Yuan Shikai said sternly, "The Constitution Drafting Committee, though it appears to be democratic, is actually based on the principle of separation of powers and has no effect on our development."

Especially the Kuomintang members among them.

But they only know how to create chaos for their own selfish purposes, and have long since disregarded the danger to the country and the suffering of the people. This is the extreme of their chaos and cruelty to the people!

The last rebellion in Hukou, led by Li Liejun, is the best evidence of this.

This situation must be severely punished.

The governors below the stage responded enthusiastically.

"I support the President's decision."

Yuan Shikai said with satisfaction, "For the sake of the country's stability, I hereby announce the dissolution of the Kuomintang, effective immediately."

The Kuomintang (KMT) member's (or party member's) legislatorship was revoked, and his/her legislator's certificate and badge were confiscated.

From 4 p.m. on the day the announcement was made by Yuan Shikai, until the morning of the following day, 435 members of the Senate and House of Representatives had their certificates confiscated.

Even those who had already left the party before the uprising in Hukou were not spared.

This resulted in both the House of Representatives and the Senate being unable to convene due to insufficient quorum.

This resulted in the so-called Congress becoming a mere formality.

It can be said that this incident brought Yuan Shikai's power to its peak.

No one can bother him anymore.

They no longer care about the "democracy" label.

During this time, Shen Hao also inquired about Cao Yuanzheng's matter. Duan Zhigui and others told Shen Hao not to interfere, because Cao Yuanzheng had said something wrong about Song Jiaoren's matter, which implicated Yuan Shikai.

Yuan Shikai had already sentenced Cao Yuanzheng to death for this matter.

Upon hearing this, Shen Hao said nothing more.

Meanwhile, the growing strength of Bai Lang's rebel army greatly shocked Yuan Shikai.

Therefore, the first formal presidential appointment was issued.

The order to suppress Bai Lang's uprising.

The grand campaign to suppress the enemy across four provinces has begun.

Lu Jianzhang, who performed well at this National Assembly meeting, was also commended by Yuan Shikai.

Lu Jianzhang's troops were reorganized into the 7th Army Division, with Lu Jianzhang serving as the division commander and the supervisor of the western route "bandit suppression".

He led his troops from Tongguan into Shaanxi to suppress the Bai Lang uprising.

With support from several provinces, the Beiyang Army mobilized over 200,000 troops to encircle and annihilate the enemy. Duan Qirui, Lu Jianzhang, Wang Zhanyuan, and many other veteran Beiyang generals took to the battlefield.

It was quite a show of force. Shen Hao originally planned to return to Guangdong and send someone to sow discord between Lu Jianzhang and Lu Jianzhang.

Since you're going to fight Bai Lang, then I'll give you some trouble.

Damn it, I can't let this guy have his fun.

Unexpectedly, Feng Guozhang, the Governor-General of Zhili, found Shen Hao.

I want to collaborate with Shen Hao.

This puzzled Shen Hao, as he had never had any dealings with Feng Guozhang.

However, since the other party had already arrived, Shen Hao couldn't very well block them from entering.

Feng Guozhang laughed and said, "I've wanted to explain to Governor Shen for a long time, but I've never had the chance to meet him. This time, we should have a good chat."