Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 370 (Color Image)

0370	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

286 PEKING TO LHASA

and paid regularly, whilst Wu himself, judging

from the accounts of the fighting at I-chang on

the Yangtze some two years ago, appears to be

possessed of personal courage. Against him as a

soldier is his inexplicable neglect to crush Chang

Tso-lin early last year in the neighbourhood of

Shan-hai-kuan. The reason for this fear to push

on, when success lay open before him, has never

been explained. It may have been due to his

realising his own incapacity to take over the

burden of government, but this hardly seems likely

in view of his present extensive activities, extend-

ing to Szechwan in the west and Kwangtung in

the south. Possibly there may have been some

secret reason, such as fear of clashing with the

Japanese if he took over Manchuria. Whatever

the cause of his inaction on that occasion, he

appears to have been unable to handle the political

situation after success.

It is of course a risky undertaking backing

one faction against the rest, and could only be

done with the unanimous consent of all the Powers,

but in the present chaotic state of the Republic

it is only a choice of the lesser evil. The only

candidate appears to be Tuan Chi-jui, who some

sixteen or seventeen years ago enjoyed the reputa-

tion of honesty when commanding one of the old

Lu-chun divisions. I do not know whether he

still enjoyed this reputation when, as the head of

the An-fu party, he ruled the country. He was

a protégé of the Japanese and his nomination

would be acceptable to them, but for this reason

he would probably not be popular in the country,

and he has not a trained army behind him.

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