Chapter 11 10. The conditions of preferential treatment need to be negotiated, and the Qing emperor abdicated in distress

Just as the Empress Dowager Longyu was sighing, the eunuch sent another telegram. If you don’t read it, you will be out of your wits. What kind of telegram is this? It’s just a reminder! Before the Empress Dowager Longyu had time to read the contents of the telegram, she first saw the names of many people written on it, and she knew something bad was going on in her heart.It turned out that this telegram was jointly sent by the Beiyang generals on the front line. The general content is: "Now the overall situation is in danger, besieged on all sides, and the assassination party is all over the city. If you take precautions, disasters will happen soon, and the two palaces are also in danger; The republic system is so vast, it was originally given to the emperor Yao and Shun, and saved the people from fire and water. Today, only by praising the public opinion and seeking wealth and honor for the empress dowager and the emperor can save 400 million people from war and death. In the past three years, the overall situation of the royal family has been corrupted, and the crimes are innumerable. There are one or two princes who are still obstructing, so that the decree is not granted, and the people are trapped. The road of life is not met, Rui and others can't bear to have such a scum in the universe, and I would like to lead the whole army to the capital, and complain to the prince, board the car with tears, and go up to the top!"

The last sentence of the telegram is simply murderous. If the Beiyang army returns to Beijing, how can the Qing court survive?The so-called raising soldiers for a thousand days, and one day's backlash, this time it is really completely over.Empress Dowager Longyu saw the word "Rui", isn't it Duan Qirui, the commander of the first army on the front line in Wuhan?Behind him, there is a large list of names, such as Jiang Guiti, Ni Sichong, He Zonglian, Duan Zhigui, Cao Kun, Wang Zhanyuan, Li Chun, Bao Guiqing, Xu Shuzheng, etc. There are forty or fifty people in one brain, all of them are from Beiyang. Commander of the army.

Seeing this, the Empress Dowager Longyu couldn't help shivering, and gradually became confused, and said, "What should I do? What should I do?" At this moment, the Crown Prince Taibao Shixu rushed over, and he saw that the Empress Dowager Longyu had already passed away. There is no master in the six gods, so I had to play: "The empress dowager's anxiety is of no use. At this point, I can only ask Yuan Shikai to discuss with the southern revolutionary party to see how to get preferential treatment." The empress dowager Longyu wiped the tears from her face. , crying: "How much gold and silver has been spent by the country over the years, who would have thought that it would cultivate this group of tiger and wolf teachers? I might as well be like the late emperor and die early!"

Having said that, the Empress Dowager Longyu had no choice but to agree to abdicate and invited Yuan Shikai to the palace to discuss.When Yuan Shikai heard that the Empress Dowager Longyu had agreed to abdicate, he immediately forgot the wounds left by the Revolutionary Party, and then entered the palace happily.When he saw Empress Dowager Longyu, he still pretended not to bear it, and said: "The matter is of great importance, and it is appropriate to ask the princes of the nearest branch to discuss it before making a decision." If you don't talk about it, when it comes to this pain point, the Empress Dowager Longyu couldn't help but shed tears again: "What are you talking about now that you are close to the princes, all of them have already disappeared! The regent Zaifeng stayed in the capital, but you can ask him to come What's the use?" When it came to this, Yuan Shikai was no longer humble, he showed the Queen Mother Longyu the preferential treatment document he had drawn up, and went straight out of the palace to send a telegram.

Besides, the Revolutionary Party also organized a provisional senate in Nanjing at this time. When Yuan Shikai's telegram arrived, everyone temporarily put aside other issues and focused on reviewing the Qing emperor's abdication document. As soon as the telegram was opened, it read "Conditions for the Great Qing Emperor's Gifts" on the header. When everyone saw it, there was an uproar immediately, saying: "The Qing emperor has abdicated and the Qing Dynasty has died. What are you talking about?" If it’s not big, the word “excellent gift” is also inappropriate.” A member of the council interjected, “Wouldn’t it be convenient to directly change it to the terms of preferential treatment for the abdication of the Qing emperor?” After hearing this, everyone clapped their hands and applauded, He ordered the clerk to record it on another paper.

When they saw the first paragraph: "The honorary title of the Qing emperor will never be replaced. The people of the Qing Dynasty respect and respect the Qing emperor, equal to the monarchs of other countries." If he abdicates, why should we wait for the people to respect him? Why don’t we just change it to ‘after the Qing emperor abdicates, he will retain his honorary title and wait for the gift of a foreign monarch’.” The second paragraph of the telegram draft: "The emperor of the Qing Dynasty uses at least four million taels per year, and the amount will never be reduced. If there is a special ceremony, the funds will be borne by the Republic of China." The members of the House of Representatives have nothing to say about this paragraph. Opinion, just change "four million taels" to "four million yuan" and delete the "special ceremony".

The third paragraph reads: "The Great Inner Palace or the Summer Palace is for the Qing emperor to live in at will, and the guards and soldiers in the palace will be used as usual." Upon seeing this, the members of the House of Representatives immediately jumped up and said, "Since it has been If you abdicate, how can you live in the palace again? Could it be that you have to be an emperor for ten thousand years?" A member of the council interjected: "Why don't you let him live in the Summer Palace?" Another councilor retorted: "The Summer Palace is huge and expensive Wouldn't it be cheaper for him to build it with funds?" A group of people were arguing, and an old and steady member said: "Since the Qing emperor has agreed to abdicate, it should not be too persuasive, and it is better to save him a little face." After thinking about it, the councilor changed it to: "After the Qing emperor abdicated, he temporarily lived in the palace and moved to the Summer Palace in the future. The guards will remain as usual."

Then there is the fourth paragraph, "The mausoleum of the ancestral temple will be enshrined forever, and it will be properly protected by the Republic of China, and guards will be set up. If the Qing emperor pays respects to the mausoleum, the expenses along the way will be borne by the Republic of China." The members shook their heads. Said: "It is not impossible for the ancestral temple tombs of the Qing Dynasty to be protected by the Republic of China. After all, the tombs of the Ming Dynasty were also protected by the Qing Dynasty, and they can be treated equally. But if the abolished emperor often visits the tomb, wouldn't it be a waste? Must!" This paragraph was changed to: "After the Qing Dynasty abdicated, its ancestral temple mausoleum was carefully protected by the Republic of China."

When you see the fifth paragraph, "Dezong Chongling's unfinished project, if it is respectfully and properly repaired, its dedication ceremony will still be the same as the old system, and all funds will be borne by the Republic of China." Regarding this, the congressmen have no objection , but slightly changed the number, the general idea is still the same as the original text.It turned out that the Chongling project was under construction at this time, and the body of Emperor Guangxu had not yet been buried in the ground. However, the people of the people held a sympathetic attitude towards Emperor Guangxu, and presumably so did the congressmen.What's more, the Empress Dowager Longyu, the queen of Guangxu, is still alive, and the people of the country should not be too mean in doing things for others.

Subparagraph 6, "All the deacons used in the palace shall be retained by the Qing emperor." The members of the parliament are also quite hesitant about this. The maids and eunuchs who have served in the palace all the year round have no ability to engage in other jobs. , if all of them were released, it would be troublesome; since the emperor of the Qing Dynasty was willing to keep them, there is nothing wrong with them (it will be spent by the Qing Dynasty anyway).It’s just that the castration of eunuchs is against humanity and does not conform to the spirit of a democratic republic. Such tragedies must never happen again, so the councilors asked the clerk to change it to: “The deacons used in the palace must be retained as usual, but they must not be used again in the future. Recruit eunuchs." This inadvertently completely abolished the ugly system that has been passed down for thousands of years in the history of our country, which is not very successful.

The seventh paragraph is about the property of the Qing Dynasty. It says: "The original private property of the Qing emperor is specially protected." " was changed to "After the abdication of the Qing emperor, his original private property was specially protected by the government of the Republic of China". When we saw the eighth paragraph, "The emperor of the Qing Dynasty had a grand ceremony, and the people were able to celebrate", but it caused an uproar among the congressmen, and no one agreed.Now that the Qing emperor has abdicated, what does it have to do with the people of the country whether there is a ceremony or not?Just delete it without mentioning it. The last paragraph, "The quota and salary of the imperial guards will remain the same as before." Members originally thought that since the emperor of the Qing Dynasty had abdicated, the imperial guards would be dismissed. I'm afraid they will make trouble together, or change their careers to become thieves, which is troublesome.After deliberation, this article was changed to: "The original Imperial Guards were established by the Ministry of Army of the Republic of China, and their salaries and salaries are still the same as before", which can be regarded as dismissing the matter. The terms of the Qing emperor's abdication were negotiated, and the subsequent "royal treatment", "the treatment of Manchu, Mongolian, Han, Hui, and Tibetan ethnic groups" needless to say, but "the succession of the royal family, equality of all ethnic groups, and the salary of the Eight Banners soldiers are still paid. freedom, and all private property is protected," and so on.Do you think that the Qing emperor has already abdicated, so what is the use of princes and nobles retaining an empty title?Just save some face for those people. When the full text was drafted, the Southern Senate sent Yuan Shikai the revised conditions for "the abdication of the Qing emperor".When Yuan Shikai received the telegram, he didn't refute it, and just sent the document to Empress Dowager Longyu for review.After seeing this, the Empress Dowager Longyu couldn't help being secretly sad again, and then summoned the princes and princes of the nearby branch to discuss.I didn't want to call for a long time, only Prince Jin Zaifeng and a few people came, the others were still missing, even the veteran Prince Qing Yikui disappeared (presumably because he went to save money).The people who came here were actually non-negotiable, but they said nonsense such as "the royal family's funds are four million yuan a year, which must not be less"; Sadly, it is difficult to add the four words "inheritance and never replace" proposed by relatives and nobles, and Nanfang replied firmly against this.Empress Dowager Longyu was afraid of breaking up because of this, so she had to cancel the proposal and asked Yuan Shikai to call back to discuss it.Yuan Shikai read the telegram carefully several times, and felt that the word "abdication" was quite detrimental to the dignity of the family, so he ordered someone to change the word "Xun" on the telegram into the word "Ci"... After all, it was Lao Yuan's face However, the South has no objection to this, at least it won a word for the Qing Dynasty, which can be regarded as saving a little face. As of now, it is irreversible.In the palace, except for the ignorant little emperor who was still playing carefree, the rest of the royal family and nobles had long since collapsed and fled away.Under the panic, even Xiao De Zhang, the chief eunuch next to the Empress Dowager Longyu, was bribed by Yuan Shikai. From time to time, he drummed in the ear of the Empress Dowager Longyu: "Master, don't be too anxious to get angry. According to the slaves, no matter what the monarch is, Regardless of whether it is a republic or a republic, the old master is all the same. When talking about the monarch, the old master is just using treasures; Beijing, that's all over!" After hearing this, Empress Dowager Longyu felt that it was more important to abdicate to save her life, not to mention that she had left a way out! On February 12, 1912, that is, on December 25th of the third year of Xuantong, the last audience ceremony of the Qing Dynasty and also the Chinese feudal dynasty was held in the Hall of Mental Cultivation.This time, Yuan Shikai still claimed that he would not enter the court because of his illness, but he appointed Hu Weide, Minister of Foreign Affairs, as his representative. Ying, Minister of Industry and Commerce Xiyan, Minister of Lifan Dashou and others went to court. These ministers, which can also be said to be the last group of ministers of the Qing Dynasty, are still the same day as before, wearing plumes on their heads, well-dressed, and with a new crown. They came to the corridor on the southeast corner of Qianqing Palace early in the morning to wait. Purpose.The air at that time was quite dull, and the temperature was so low, everyone was holding a steaming cup of tea, and each of them kept silent, with their heads down, thinking about their own thoughts. Through the dense tea atmosphere, we can still see the differences in the expressions of each person: Hu Weide, Zhao Bingjun, and Liang Shiyi are calm and slightly happy, and seem to be impatient; Shaoying, Xiyan, and Dashou have angry faces Wang Shizhen and Tan Xueheng both looked disappointed, as if they were lamenting the loss of their high positions; while the Minister of Justice, Shen Jiaben, had an indifferent expression, as if all this had nothing to do with him, as if he stayed out of it look. At this time, a small eunuch's announcement broke the embarrassing silence: "The queen mother has arrived, and all ministers are invited to the palace!" After hearing this, the ministers got up one after another. They habitually adjusted their hats and court clothes, and then led by Hu Weide, they walked together to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.After arriving at the main hall, the ministers found that there was no one on the throne, only Shi Xu, the Minister of Internal Affairs, and Xu Shichang, the Assistant Minister of the Cabinet, were waiting in the hall early.Those guards with knives stood there as usual, still looking majestic. A moment later, the eunuch's announcement came from outside the palace: "The Queen Mother is here!" All the ministers turned around, and saw that the Empress Dowager Longyu, led by two eunuchs, led the six-year-old little emperor Pu Yi into the hall and slowly walked towards the throne.Because this is the last court meeting, the previous rules are not followed. The Empress Dowager Longyu does not need to hang down the curtain, and the ministers do not have to bow three times to the emperor. Hu Weide only bows three times to the Empress Dowager Longyu and Emperor Xuantong, which is regarded as a gift to the emperor. The empress dowager and the emperor saluted. After the Empress Dowager Longyu and the little emperor sat down on the throne, Hu Weide stepped forward and said: "Cabinet Prime Minister Yuan Shikai cannot go to the court due to illness, and I specially entrust ministers to come to pay respects to the emperor and the empress dowager." Empress Dowager Longyu nodded after hearing this. , Said: "Yuan Shikai devoted himself to the country and contributed a lot to the royal family. It was not easy for him to win such preferential conditions for the royal family. Today I will issue an imperial edict to abdicate according to the conditions of the peace talks between the North and the South. Yuan Shikai is going to take care of the aftermath." When it came to the word "abdication", Empress Dowager Longyu still couldn't help but her eyes turned red, and she almost shed tears again.The ministers at the bottom felt sympathetic when they saw it, but they didn't know what to say. A group of people just stood there awkwardly, neither crying nor laughing, extremely embarrassed. Fortunately, at this moment the imperial eunuch brought the edict of abdication that had been prepared to the imperial case. Empress Dowager Longyu picked up the edict and read a few lines, tears finally bursting out of her eyes, and she did not care about the empress dowager's decency, so she finally sobbed in public.Empress Dowager Longyu was full of grief, thinking about how her ancestors' life of more than 260 years was finally ruined in her own hands, and how she would see her ancestors underground in the future.Thinking of this, the Empress Dowager Longyu changed from sobbing to howling, and she still shouted: "Ancestor, ancestor..." Seeing this, the ministers below were also infected, and several people began to wipe their tears with the sleeves of their court clothes.Hu Weide, the head minister, cried a few times, seeing that it was not a problem for everyone to continue to act so hypocritically, so he pretended to be choked up and said to the Queen Mother Longyu who was already crying to death: "Queen Mother, the overall situation is like this now, I hope the Queen Mother will take care. The Empress Dowager is wise and wise, caring for the people of the world and protecting the royal family. The ministers are deeply grateful for the Empress Dowager’s kindness, and will definitely not disappoint the expectations of the Empress Dowager and the people. Now that the preferential treatment conditions have been determined, please rest assured that the Empress Dowager can retire with peace of mind.” When the Empress Dowager Longyu heard this, she cried even more sadly. She held the edict of abdication tightly in her hand, and her tears almost wet the edict.Zhao Bingjun and the others couldn't help being a little anxious when they saw it, and they repeatedly winked at Hu Weide, telling him to get the edict back quickly.Hu Weide was very embarrassed, so he had to keep looking at Xu Shichang, the Assistant Minister of the Cabinet, and Shi Xu, the Minister of the Interior, and wanted to ask these two senior ministers to think of a way, but these two had always opposed the North-South peace talks. Instead of refusing to stand out, he turned his head away and pretended not to see it. At this time, Hu Weide remembered that he still had a telegram sent by Wu Tingfang, the representative of the Southern Conference, in his sleeve, so he hurriedly took it out of his sleeve, and played in a pretended panic: "Queen Mother, don't cry, I have a telegram from the Southern Revolutionary Party here." An urgent telegram has arrived and must be reported to the Empress Dowager!" When the Empress Dowager Longyu heard the word "revolutionary party", she couldn't help shivering again, and hurriedly stopped crying. She asked in a crying voice, "What did the telegram say? Does the revolutionary party want to change its mind again?" Seeing that the "revolutionary party" had played a role, Hu Weide felt happy, so he pretended to be calm and opened the telegram and read: "Urgent. Wu Tingfang, representative of the South, telegraphed: With the consent of the Senate today, if the Qing emperor does not abdicate before 12 o'clock in the afternoon on the 15th, Then take back the preferential treatment conditions. With this announcement, it will be transferred to Beijing." After hearing this, the Empress Dowager Longyu couldn't care less to wipe her tears, so she hastily handed over the edict of abdication, and ordered Shixu and Xu Shichang to use the imperial seal as soon as possible, for fear that they would really withdraw the preferential conditions if it was too late. After the seal was stamped, Hu Weide held up the edict of Emperor Qing's abdication, and read aloud: "I respect the imperial decree of the Empress Dowager Longyu. Because of the uprising of the militia, all provinces responded. Nine summers were boiling, and the people were dying. I specially ordered Yuan Shikai to select members and the militia Discuss the overall situation, discuss the convening of the National Assembly, and referendum on the political system. In the past two months, there has been no definite solution. The psychology of the people in the whole country tends to be republican. The provinces in the south and central regions advocate the front, and the generals in the north also advocate the rear. The fate of the people can be known. What is wrong with you? , Internal review of public opinion, specially led the emperor to make the ruling power public to the whole country, and set it as a constitutional republic. When the new and the old are being replaced, it is advisable to have a way to unify the north and the south, that is, Yuan Shikai will use full authority to organize the provisional republican government and the militia to negotiate and unify the measures. The entire territory of the clan is a large Republic of China, and it would be great for the emperor to be able to retreat to leisure and enjoy the years, to receive the preferential gifts from the people, and to see the success of Zhizhi in person." After reading the edict, the last audience ceremony of the Qing Dynasty came to an end. Hu Weide took the edict and led the ministers to bow three times to the Empress Dowager Longyu and Emperor Xuantong, and then withdrew from the palace. Empress Dowager Longyu stared blankly at these people walking out of the palace, while the little emperor Pu Yi beside her was still as usual ignorant, how could he know what happened.After everyone left, Puyi jumped off the throne in a hurry, wanting to get out of this gloomy hall and go out to play.After the Empress Dowager Longyu saw it, she hurriedly hugged the little emperor. Unexpectedly, they cried so sadly just now that they almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, the eunuchs rushed over to help them.Supported by the eunuchs, the Empress Dowager Longyu and the young emperor Puyi returned to the palace sadly. It is a dream for thousands of years and generations, and it is all gone, changing the world.In the 268th year of the Qing Dynasty, after entering the customs, the regent Dorgon established Yanjing as the capital, and finally ended with the regent. Could it be due to the number of days. Besides, Hu Weide, after leaving the palace, he went straight to the diplomatic building and returned to the former Prime Minister Yuan Shikai.It turned out that there was such a clause in the edict of abdication: "Yuan Shikai will use full authority to organize the provisional republican government and the militia to negotiate and unify the measures." Ladies and gentlemen, please do not underestimate this clause. This shows that Yuan Shikai's succession to power did not come from the promise of the Southern Revolutionary Party. , but from the authorization of the Qing Dynasty, which can be said to be justified.Later, when the Revolutionary Party pursued it, Yuan Shikai said that the Qing emperor had abdicated, how could he change it back?If you want to change it back, wouldn't you have to carry out another restoration and abdication?The Revolutionary Party was at a loss for words for a while, and finally had no choice but to let it go. Yuan Shikai's move can be described as well-intentioned, cunning and cunning. In fact, Yuan Shikai is not only not sick, he is in a good mood at the moment.Since the morning, he has been in the diplomatic building with other officials, waiting for the news of the Qing emperor's abdication.After Hu Weide and others sent the edict of abdication, Yuan Shikai immediately ordered it to be read out, and had a dozen copies copied and sent to major newspapers and diplomatic embassies to announce this important event in history. The next day, all major newspapers in Beijing, without exception, published the full text of the edict of the Qing emperor's abdication.At this great moment, the newly listed newspapers were quickly sold out, and the city of Beijing was boiling.In the streets and alleys, people greeted each other and said: "The emperor has abdicated! The republic is here!" Amidst the sound of festive firecrackers and gongs and drums, merchants also quietly put away the old dragon flags and replaced them with five-color flags symbolizing the "republic of five ethnic groups".Looking around, the streets, alleys, pavilions, taverns and teahouses are full of colorful flags flying, and a new era of republic has come.While the five-color flag is being hung, people are cutting their braids everywhere in the streets and alleys, and the cut braids are discarded all over the place. The old days are gone forever. On the night of the abdication of the Qing emperor, Yuan Shikai also cut off the braid that had been kept for more than 50 years.At that time, he did not ask a barber, but asked his confidant Cai Tingqian to come to help, because he felt embarrassed to let outsiders cut it.When cutting it, Yuan Shikai said: "When I was training for the new army, I felt that the braid was really in the way. But the braid has been with me for many years. Once I cut it off today, I am really not used to it!" After cutting, Cai Tinggan handed the braids to Yuan Shikai's hands. Yuan Shikai stroked them, sighed, and threw the braids to the ground.Afterwards, he stood up and laughed loudly, "Let's talk about reform for now!"