Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen Must Be Emperor

The Japanese did not allow China to have anything to do with "World War I" for the purpose of taking advantage, but a group of intellectuals who were full and had nothing to do connected China with "World War I". Countries such as Britain, Japan, and Germany, which one is not a constitutional monarchy? Look at our democratic republic, the Republic of China, which is appalling!" Thus, in 1915, the debate between a constitutional monarchy and a democratic republic became a hot topic of the year. The one who is most enthusiastic about this topic is Yang Du. Yang Du wrote an essay "On the Salvation of the Nation by the Constitution of the Monarch", with thousands of words in it.In the article, Yang Du attributed all the political chaos since the Republic of China to the disadvantages of the republic.He believes that with the current level of ideology and cultural education of the common people, they still cannot understand what a republic, law, freedom, and equality are. Moreover, China has no democratic tradition. …and a constitutional monarchy also reduces the risk of civil war for the position of head of state.

In short, what Yang Du meant was to abolish the current republican system and implement a constitutional monarchy. President Yuan Da was very excited when he saw this extraordinary article, and immediately wrote down the four characters of "Kuang Dai Yicai" and presented it to Yang Du.I don't know whether President Yuan admired Yang Du's talent, or saw the opportunity to be emperor? Well, let’s put Yang Du’s thesis first, and now I will introduce two doctoral supervisors. It is said that since President Yuan Da officially took office, firstly, he suffered from his own lack of theoretical level, and secondly, in order to decorate the appearance, he hired two foreign legal experts with high salaries as his senior consultants.One is Dr. Nagao Ariga who has shown his face before, and the other is Professor Goodnow from the United States.

These two gentlemen did not take President Yuan Da's money in vain, and each contributed an excellent paper. Professor Goodnow has easily completed the article "The Republic and the Monarch".He wrote in the article that, as far as the monarchy and the democratic republic are concerned, there is no distinction between the superior and the inferior. The key lies in whether it is suitable for the national conditions of the country. The key to the decision of the political system lies in the history and tradition of the country. It was upright and impartial before, but it turned around in the last sentence, using the word "tradition" to imply that a constitutional monarchy is suitable for China.Advancing can be attacked, retreating can be defended, Gudnow's level of deception is really worthy of his high salary.

The Japanese Nagao Ariga also wrote an article "On the Three Requirements of a New State". He said that the reason why Japan became prosperous and strong rapidly was because it adopted a constitutional monarchy.The implication is that if China implements a constitutional monarchy, it will quickly become stronger. The views of these three are the same, and they all agree with a constitutional monarchy.However, in terms of expression, the latter two are much more subtle. Implicit, has an alias in the officialdom ecosystem: sleek, commonly known as slippery.Credit is indispensable for things to be done well, and it is also easy to shirk responsibility when things are not done well.You can attack when you advance, and you can defend when you retreat.However, this is really not behavior to be encouraged.

With these three prologues of great theoretical guiding significance, doers can follow the gourd and start working. If the government is changed to a constitutional monarchy, there is an indispensable role, and that is the emperor.Fortunately, there are not many candidates for the emperor.In terms of inheritance, it is naturally Puyi; in terms of strength, it is naturally Yuan Shikai.But let the Manchus inherit the throne for generations, the people of the country might not agree, right? Therefore, it is not too difficult to make a choice between Puyi and Yuan Shikai. There were two people who took action first: one was Yang Du and the other was Yuan Keding.

Yang Du's best skill is the art of the emperor.According to his observation, Yuan Shikai is a very promising emperor star, which is the fundamental reason why he abandoned Sun Yat-sen for Yuan Shikai.After Yuan Shikai's death, he joined Sun Yat-sen's Kuomintang. In 1922, he broke away from the Kuomintang again, became Zhou Enlai's subordinate, and became a communist fighter.After several twists and turns, he finally guessed who will win the world, and finally lived up to his lifelong learning.But then again, he thought he had mastered his fate, but in fact it was fate that mastered him.

Of course, this is the future.Now Yang Du is wholeheartedly planning to build momentum for President Yuan's ascension to the throne. For his own political ideals, he must push Yuan Shikai to the throne of emperor. In mid-August, Yang Du's long-planned "Preparation Meeting" was officially opened.The curtain of the imperial movement is finally lifted! Let me briefly introduce some of Yang Du's celebrity colleagues at the Preparatory Committee. Yan Fu, the early dean of the Beiyang Naval Academy and later the first president of Peking University, was Yang Du's number one assistant.

In addition to Yan Fu, there are four key figures—Liu Shipei, Sun Yuyun, Li Xiehe, and Hu Ying.These four have all been members of the League, and have also fought for the republican revolution, going through life and death.This gorgeous turn is really surprising. However, these elites all volunteered to join Yang Du's team. There was no force coercion, no beauty trap, nor was it driven by economic interests.Because behind this choice they made, and behind many major historical events mentioned before, there is such a thing hidden—it is not only the strongest fortress in the world, but also the most terrifying weapon in the world. Its name called faith.And their belief is that a constitutional monarchy can save the country and the people.

These five, together with Yang Du, are the "Six Gentlemen of Chiu'an" who are famous throughout the ages. While Yang Du was working hard to "create an emperor", the eldest son Yuan Keding was also making wishful thinking: I can't give up all the credit for supporting him to outsiders, right?The emperor is hereditary. If the old man becomes the emperor, wouldn't he be a legitimate successor? Therefore, in line with the professional spirit of "I have what others don't have, I have what others have", he gave full play to his subjective initiative and did a classic thing to cheer up the old man.

Yuan Shikai liked to read "Shuntian Times" very much.This newspaper published many articles in favor of the restoration of the imperial system. For example, with the current quality of the Chinese people, it is better to have an emperor. President Yuan was delighted to see it. But he didn't know that this newspaper was concocted for him by his precious eldest son Yuan Keding and supplied in limited quantities.Yuan Keding paid for the printing, and the layout was modeled after the real "Shuntian Times". Only one copy was published for each issue, which was exclusively for Lao Tzu to read.Later, when Yuan Shikai learned the truth of the incident, it was too late to regret it.

Mr. Yuan made persistent efforts later, and also drew seven "Kaizi" including Liang Shiyi, Secretary-General of the Presidential Palace, Liang Dashen, into the team of "Zaohuang", forming a team with a very prestigious name-"Seven Fiends", and The "Six Gentlemen of Chou'an" are collectively known as the "Thirteen Taibao". Under the public opinion and money offensive of the "Thirteen Taibao", people from all over the country have set up groups and jointly petitioned for various purposes - urging President Yuan Da to obey the public opinion and proclaim himself emperor as soon as possible, and implement a constitutional monarchy to strengthen China as soon as possible . Among them are the general petition group, the military police petition group, the chamber of commerce petition group, the academic circle petition group, the education petition group, the rickshaw puller petition group, the noble noble petition group... the most surprising thing is that there are beggar petition groups and prostitute petition groups .For a while, a group of demons danced wildly, even if the Xingxiu School described by Master Jin Yong came out again, they could only bow down. These people want to show off and grab the merits of Li, but the question is, is Yuan Shikai willing to be emperor? From the perspective of power, being an emperor does not seem to be a good choice. Yuan Shikai was in power at this time, far surpassing the king of England, the emperor of Japan, the Kaiser, and even the president of the United States.Whereas a constitutional monarchy is only a symbol of the state.In other words, if Yuan Shikai wanted to be emperor, he had to give up part of his power first. But judging from what happened later, Yuan Shikai wanted to be emperor. Since Comrade Yuan Shikai is a politician, politicians have always been very strict with their mouths and will not easily reveal their true thoughts, so we can only follow the principle of non-famousness: all choices in the world are actually five words in the end—— What do you want, reluctantly guess the reason why he wants to be emperor. The first reason is to consider the long history of the Yuan family and the happy life of future generations.The biggest advantage of being a constitutional emperor is the hereditary system of the emperor, whose inheritance stability is far more reliable than the feudal autocratic monarchy.See how many years the British royal family has passed on. The second reason is to pursue the political dream of the year—to take the road of constitutional monarchy and power in Britain and Japan.It's just that in his dream back then, he assigned himself the role of the cabinet prime minister, but now, with the expansion of his desire for power, his role has advanced with the times to become the supreme emperor. The third reason is to satisfy his growing desire for personal rights due to his long-term dictatorship.Absolute power produces not only absolute corruption, but also absolute desires, desires that can never be satisfied.With Yuan Shikai's current autocratic status, he may have a way to sit in the constitutional emperor's chair without surrendering power.If the power is not handed over, the emperor will follow suit. This idea is undoubtedly cool. Of course, maybe the real reason will always be buried in Yuan Shikai's heart. In any case, seeing that the "public opinion" could not be violated, President Yuan did not go through an arduous and fierce ideological struggle. President Yuan would never have thought that the so-called "public opinion" was just a kidnapping.The kidnappers are Yang Du's narrow ideals, Yuan Keding and Yuan Shikai's selfish desires. Forcibly kidnapping public opinion will only speed up its demise.Therefore, Yuan Datou is heading for extinction. Let's study the list of general petition groups who supported Yuan Shikai's proclaiming the emperor, because those who appear and those who do not appear on this list are crucial to Yuan Shikai's ability to secure the throne. At the top of the list was Comrade Cai E, who was the first to raise the anti-Yuan banner. The next important people are the big-name members of the super-popular and powerful group "No Lower Limits for Flattery"-Mr. Yan Xishan and Mr. Zhang Zuolin. Yan Xishan not only vigorously suppressed the revolutionary party to express his position after Yuan Shikai came out of the mountain, but also sent his father Yan Shutang to Beijing as a hostage. From this point of view, we should take back the naming right of the word "Keng Dad" from "My father is Li Gang". Accurate and vivid definition. Then again, although this method is brutal, the effect is not bad.Because Yan Xishan gradually dispelled President Yuan's wariness of him by relying on his unfilial trick of "deception". Compared with Yan Xishan, Zhang Zuolin is not much less. As a once-in-a-century sycophant, in order to make President Yuan feel at ease with him, he gave President Yuan an amazing flattery in return (mainly promotion and fortune) every once in a while.Regarding President Yuan's desire to be promoted to be emperor, he patted his chest and said with great arrogance: "There is something strange outside the customs, but Zuolin is the only one who is asking, and Zuolin is responsible for it; if there are opponents in the customs, Zuolin is willing to lead his headquarters to quell the civil strife." ! Based on the behaviors of these two people, it is not difficult to know that their petitions were not out of sincerity, but out of fear, fearing that Yuan Shikai would attack them on the separatist side.This kind of person is a fool, once something happens, he can run faster than a rabbit. Among the list is a commander of the Sichuan Military Region named Chen Heng. At the age of 45, he once knelt on his knees, held Yuan Shikai's stinky feet in his hands, and expressed his support tearfully. Emperor Yuan didn't recognize President Yuan's top-notch flattery.It was this old boy with superb acting skills who later led Sichuan to become independent and was the main force in persuading Yuan Shikai to abdicate. Also included in the list was Tang Xiangming, who had shown his face before, and a little sycophant warlord named Chen Shufan, both of whom later raised the flag of rebellion. In short, these generals who persuaded them to advance were either for self-protection or to gain benefits from climbing up, and none of them were reliable. Strangely, why are important first-line Beiyang cadres who should be reliable in theory, such as Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang, not on the list? Because the two were very upset with Yuan Shikai.One of the reasons for the displeasure was mentioned earlier: Yuan Shikai took back the power in their hands.In addition, there is another key reason. These two people did not support Yuan Shikai's abandonment of the republic. Duan Qirui once warned Yuan Shikai face to face: "We have been in republic for several years, but you want to turn around and become emperor. This kind of behavior of turning back the wheel of history is very dangerous. If you don't do it, your car will crash and people will die." But Yuan Shikai didn't listen.Duan Qirui was very angry, thinking that if you don't listen to me, I won't serve you.So I turned around and went home to play Go. Feng Guozhang, who is far away in Jiangsu, is naturally not as well-informed as Duan Qirui in Beijing.After he left some connections, he found out that Boss Yuan was going to be emperor.But he didn't believe that the wise and powerful boss would do such a stupid thing.So he ran all the way from Jiangsu to Beijing to confirm with Yuan Shikai face to face. President Yuan Da had superb performance skills. Facing Feng Guozhang's inquiry, he pretended to be surprised and said: "There is absolutely no such thing, it is purely a rumor! You see, Yuan Keding is a disabled person (a lame leg), and his second son Yuan Kewen is a literati. (Brother Swinger), they are all useless people. If I become the emperor and pass the throne to them, wouldn’t the world be over immediately? Why am I so stupid? Don’t listen to rumors, I have no intention of becoming emperor.” Feng Guozhang's mind was a bit stubborn, how could someone who wanted to be an emperor say so easily.If Feng Guozhang asked more times, based on their friendship, they might be able to tell the truth. Feng Guozhang is a good fighter in war, but he is an elm-headed man in politics. He can't understand this truth. Afterwards, the brother made a statement to the press: "I have confirmed with President Yuan himself that he wanted to be emperor, and it is purely a rumor. If anyone dares to talk nonsense and slander the leader in the future, don't blame me for not recognizing him." people!" What happened later proved that Boss Yuan was playing tricks on him.Therefore, the relationship with the boss was not as harmonious as Feng Guozhang was at the beginning, and he felt that the boss regarded him as an outsider, and he suddenly had a different heart. These two disaffected Beiyang heroes will become Yuan Shikai's big problem. However, under the prestige of Boss Yuan, these two who are accustomed to being younger brothers still dare not rebel. They need someone to take the lead. There really is such a candidate.This person is Cai E who is acting with the famous prostitute Xiao Fengxian in the "Eight Great Alleys". Cai E's name has been mentioned many times, but he has never introduced it seriously, so I will add it here. Cai E, courtesy name Songpo, was born in Shaoyang, Hunan in 1882. Like all the great people introduced before, Cai E's family background is also extremely poor. Since the age of 16, Cai E has been studying in various places.He wants to use knowledge to change destiny.He first entered the Changsha School of Current Affairs, where he learned new ideas from reformers Liang Qichao, Tan Sitong, and Tang Caichang, and then studied in Japan shortly thereafter.During this period of time, Cai E learned all the practical knowledge of the reform, and followed the route of Liang Qichao. He wanted to peacefully transform this decadent dynasty.But things are not as simple as he imagined. In 1900, Cai E's teachers Tang Caichang, Liang Qichao and others established the "Independent Army", planning to go to Beijing to rescue Guangxu who was under house arrest by Cixi.Because they firmly believed that the enlightened Emperor Guangxu could protect democracy and freedom.But before there was any time to start the incident, Tang Caichang and his right-hand men were taken over by Zhang Zhidong.Tang Caichang was killed immediately. Cai E was awakened by the blood, and he decided to change to the route of saving the country with iron and blood. After that, he was admitted to the Japanese Non-commissioned Officer Academy to study military affairs. In 1904, Cai E graduated and returned to China, and then entered the Yunnan Lecture Hall as a military instructor. Subsequently, the new army was trained nationwide.Due to his excellent work performance, Cai E was able to take charge of the 37th Association of the 19th Town of the New Army, which is equivalent to today's brigade commander, with about 4,000 people under his command.After the Wuchang Uprising broke out, Cai E relied on these 4,000 troops to instigate Yunnan's independence and became the new governor of Yunnan. What happened later was mentioned earlier.Although Cai E opposed the "Second Revolution", he was not as shameless as Yan Xishan and Zhang Zuolin, and he was willing to put down his body and seek refuge with Yuan Shikai. Therefore, he was transferred to Beijing by Yuan Shikai after the "Second Revolution" and has been idle until now. When Emperor Yuan was still President Yuan, Cai E did have ardent hopes for this most powerful person in China, and felt that the Republic might be realized in the hands of this person.However, President Yuan went against the current and became the emperor after a series of tricks, and Cai E was completely disappointed with him. He decided to stand up to stop Yuan Shikai and challenge the state apparatus behind Yuan Shikai as a man.It is not that he has not considered failure, but he is not afraid of failure. Because in this world, there is such a kind of person, all you see in him is ideal, courage, firmness and fearlessness, without cowardice.No matter how weak they are or how powerful their opponents are, they will listen to and obey their inner voice, move forward without hesitation, meet gods and kill gods, meet Buddhas and Buddhas, until they reach the end of victory. This kind of person who knows the difficulties and obstacles but goes forward bravely, regardless of the small self to save the big self, we generally call it a fighter.They are scary and awe-inspiring. And Cai E is a great fighter. Fortunately, Cai E is not fighting alone.Although there are many people who support Yuan Shikai's proclaiming emperor on the surface, there are also some who stand up and strongly oppose it. Cai E's former teacher Liang Qichao is one of them. After the two masters and apprentices got in touch secretly, they agreed that the top priority is to return to Yunnan as soon as possible, because only Yunnan has soldiers to use!But now Cai E is almost under house arrest, how can he return to Yunnan? Cai E knew that he could only take it step by step. The first step was to gain Yuan Shikai's trust, and then see if there was an opportunity to take advantage of it.And there is only one way to make a hero trust you and no longer feel that you are his threat: pretend to be stupid, of course, it can also be called keeping a low profile. As written in the book, after Liu Bei was placed under house arrest by Cao Cao, he hid in the backyard of his residence every day to grow vegetables and flowers, pretending to be content with the status quo, and became a full-time otaku.After a long time, Cao Cao began to doubt his own judgment: Did Liu Bei really lose his ambition to be the hegemony in the world, and he was willing to be a farmer?So the mind to kill Liu Bei is no longer as firm as before. The 33-year-old Cai E draws on the experience of his predecessor Liu Bei and plays the role of a swinger. He often appears in Bada Hutong and joins hands with Xiao Fengxian to create a romantic literary life.Not only that, Cai E also signed his name on the petition calling for Yuan Shikai to become emperor. After a long time, although Yuan Shikai didn't believe that Cai E's ambition had been exhausted, he still slightly reduced his defense.In fact, this is enough, a little slack can have a big opportunity. When Yuan Shikai was busy with his enthronement, Cai E created an opportunity.As for how this opportunity was created, historical materials provide two versions of explanation. The first version is the most widely circulated literary version. On a snowy winter day, Cai E and Xiao Fengxian pretended to go out to find plums in the snow.On the way, taking advantage of the surveillance spies not paying attention, Cai E turned up his collar, lowered his felt hat, blended into the crowd, boarded the train bound for Tianjin, went out to sea from Tianjin, and returned to Yunnan by detour. As for the second version, it is less romantic but more believable. Cai E did not rely on Xiao Fengxian to cover up, but took a certificate issued by the hospital and directly asked Yuan Shikai for three months of sick leave. The reason was to go to Japan for medical treatment.Because Yuan Shikai was quite satisfied with Cai E's recent performance, he casually agreed, and Cai E took the opportunity to return to Yunnan by way of Japan. No matter which version of the explanation is the truth of history, Cai E finally relied on his own wisdom, courage and insight, actively created opportunities, and returned to Yunnan after hardships. Cai E, who returned to Yunnan, did not rest. Instead, he immediately implemented the super-difficult plan agreed with Liang Qichao long ago: try his best in Yunnan, come out with all his strength, and occupy Sichuan.Then pour the power of the whole province of Sichuan, go north to Qishan, go down to the Three Gorges in the east, go straight to the Central Plains, go north to Youyan, and defeat Yuan Shikai in one fell swoop. On December 12, 1915, Yuan Shikai announced to all walks of life: "The kindness is hard to stop, I am ready to be emperor, and I plan to ascend the throne on January 1 next year." The next day, Sun Yat-sen, who was in exile in Japan, issued a telegram, calling on the people to carry out the "Three Revolutions" and bring the dictator Yuan Shikai back to his original form! December 25, 1915, Christmas.Yuan Shikai announced the establishment of the "Empire of China" with the reign title "Hongxian" and a constitutional monarchy. This Hongxian Dynasty has two innovations. One is to change the audience ceremony from three kneeling and nine kowtows to bowing, which is a big progress.Back then, the emperors of the Qing Dynasty fought with the great powers over this issue, and in the end even the Old Summer Palace was burned down. The second is to abolish the eunuch system and maid system, and draw a clear line with the previous dynasty. When Emperor Yuan was proud of the above two innovations, he received an unexpected Christmas gift.The gift is bad news: Cai E declared independence in Yunnan, with the slogan "Anti-Yuan Huguo", and he has already vowed to go to war. The Yunnan Army was organized into the first, second and third armies. Cai E personally led the First Army with 4,000 elites under his command to enter Sichuan from Yunnan and go north to the Central Plains.The number of people is a little less, but this is all Cai E can take out. Li Liejun, who hurried back from Japan, served as the commander-in-chief of the Second Army and sent troops out of Guangxi.It is said that troops are sent out of Guangxi, but in fact it is just to guard against possible attacks from Guangxi. In addition to Cai E, Tang Jiyao, another powerful force in Yunnan, served as the commander-in-chief of the Third Army and stayed behind in Yunnan to watch the gate. The "National Defense War" officially broke out! The national defense army was raised, and the chaos was the most important. Yuan Shikai had to postpone the enthronement ceremony indefinitely. Seeing the trick, Yuan Shikai sent three armies to attack the National Defense Army. He wanted to use offense instead of defense, and quickly defeated the National Defense Army with the momentum of Mount Tai. The first and second routes were led by Cao Kun, a young military officer from Tianjin Xiaozhan. One of them was led by Wu Peifu and Feng Yuxiang, two stalwart men who entered Sichuan to attack the main force of Cai E's national defense army, and the other was led by Beiyang Sixth Division (formerly known as Beiyang Sixth Division) The sixth town) led by Ma Jizeng, the division commander, crossed Hunan and attacked the base camp of the National Defense Army in Yunnan.The third route, led by Long Jinguang, departed from Guangdong, passed through Guangxi, and cooperated with Ma Jizeng to attack Yunnan. The battle first started on the border of Sichuan! The vanguard of the National Defense Army led by Zhu De encountered the Beiyang Army in Mianhuapo, and the Beiyang Army who was careless and underestimated the enemy. The future Marshal Zhu De became famous in the battle in Mianhuapo.However, the Beiyang Army paid more attention to the National Defense Army because of this. For the National Defense Army, the situation is not optimistic.Sure enough, one month later, the national defense army, which was at a disadvantage in terms of comprehensive strength, was forced to retreat due to insufficient troops and severe consumption of ammunition, and switched from offense to defense. The strange thing is that Cao Kun's Beiyang army stood still and did not take advantage of the victory to pursue it, and the war entered a stalemate.Cao Kun clearly has the advantage, so why not fight? The answer should be inseparable from the following possibilities: Possibility one, the front-line officers headed by Cao Kun did not support the old superior Yuan Shikai's proclaiming emperor, but they did not want to offend the other party by refusing to send troops, so after repelling the National Defense Army, they accepted it as soon as it was good. Possibility two, in order to preserve strength. Possibility three, due to the Japanese involvement in the war, wait and see for a while. Due to Yuan Shikai's consistently firm anti-Japanese stance, especially his political stance of increasingly drawing closer to European and American powers in order to check and balance Japan in recent years, Japan must be eliminated quickly. Therefore, after the start of the War to Protect the Nation, the Japanese cabinet passed a resolution: In order to overthrow the Yuan Shikai regime, Japan will vigorously sponsor the opposition political forces represented by the Revolutionary Party led by Sun Yat-sen and the Zongsha Party. The Yunnan National Defense Army, which was gaining momentum, naturally also received the key care of the Japanese-arms and military advisory team (Li Jikui's "National Defense War and Japan"). When Cao Kun rested, Ma Jizeng's army that attacked Yunnan all the way went into the battlefield.This is because the traffic conditions in Hunan and Yunnan are too unsatisfactory and the roads are too difficult to walk. Ma Jizeng led the army to the city, but Tang Jiyao's soldiers and generals were really stretched to defend a province in Yunnan, and there were almost defensive loopholes everywhere. The situation in Yunnan is critical! Cai E and Liang Qichao, who fell into a passive state, began to look for reinforcements and asked for help everywhere.The effect of calling for help was not good, most people were pushy and refused to give a happy word. Fortunately, there was a man named Wang Wenhua who lived up to their high hopes. Wang Wenhua's family is very powerful in Guizhou. His uncle Liu Xianshi has soldiers (guard envoys) and has a good relationship with the constitutionalists. He settled a powerful opponent and made great contributions to his dominance in Guizhou. On January 27, 1916, at the instigation of Wang Wenhua, Liu Xianshi declared the independence of Guizhou. Subsequently, Wang Wenhua led his army out of Guizhou to fight against Ma Jizeng's army. Fighting quickly broke out. Wang Wenhua's troops not only have a firm will to fight, but also have potential generals like He Yingqin, a future celebrity, commanding on the spot. The Beiyang Army is neither good at mountain warfare, but also arrogant soldiers, with only advantages in numbers and equipment.Under the sneak attack of Wang Wenhua's department, the Beiyang Army lost several games in a row. Ma Jizeng, who was losing streak, was very depressed. He looked down on the National Defense Army, but they played with his life and lost the battle.Too underestimate the enemy, too shameful. Mr. Ma Jizeng was not depressed for too long, because he was completely relieved soon - he died suddenly on the front line.It is said to be a sudden death, but the cause of death is unknown, it may be a death of depression, or it may be a suicide apology... This timely victory is of great significance. It not only resolved the crisis in Yunnan, but more importantly, it conveyed the signal that "the Beiyang Army is not invincible" to the people of the world! After that, the Beiyang Army stationed firmly in the city and stopped advancing aggressively, and Wang Wenhua did not dare to persecute too much, so the two sides confronted each other. The two battlefields in Sichuan and Yunnan fell into a stalemate at the same time. Just like the Revolution of 1911, when there was no fighting on the main battlefield, other provinces were lively. The liveliest event must be in Guangxi, because Yuan Shikai's old opponent, Cen Chunxuan, made a cruel move.He instigated his old subordinate, Guangxi Governor Lu Rongting, to declare Guangxi independence and detain Long Jinguang who passed through Guangxi, causing Yuan Shikai's third army to collapse instantly. The three provinces of Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guizhou joined together, and the war to protect the country reached its climax. At this time, Yuan Shikai, who fell into passiveness, did not despair.In his opinion, the National Defense Army, which has the support of Japan and has played all its cards, can't defeat the front line of the Yangtze River. This small impact is not to be feared!He believes that as long as the generals are changed, the Beiyang Army on the front line will definitely be able to regroup. Who can I replace?There is no choice, only Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang. But the two directly rejected Yuan Shikai's order, Feng Guozhang also gave Yuan Shikai an even bigger "surprise"-Feng Guozhang united with the governors of Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Hunan and Shandong provinces to send secret messages to each province, asking the National Defense Army to cancel independence immediately, Please Yuan Shikai abolish the monarchy immediately to reassure people! This incident is known as the "Five Generals Secret Telegram Incident" in history. The Beiyang system is openly split!The Beiyang system that once dominated the world is officially split! Although Yuan Shikai is familiar with war, proficient in war, and has the ability to save the crisis, he is old after all, and he has been out of battle for a long time, and the two Beiyang generals he regarded as relying on—Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang rebelled. His career as an emperor really can't go on. Some people must ask, isn't the Beiyang system a four-legged confrontation of Xu Shichang, Wang Shizhen, Duan Qirui, and Feng Guozhang? Why can't Yuan Shikai play well without Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang? This is determined by the personalities and interests of the other two. As mentioned before, Xu Shichang and Wang Shizhen are good at strategy. Compared with leading the army, they enjoy the status and glory of counselors who win thousands of miles away.In addition, they retreat from time to time.In this way, the influence of these two people on the army cannot be compared to that of Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang who "burned and melted, melted and burned" in the furnace of the Beiyang Army Camp. Yuan Shikai, who couldn't handle the current situation, hurriedly found Xu Shichang and Duan Qirui to discuss. Back then, there were none of these two among those who supported Yuan Shikai's proclaiming himself emperor.From this point of view, Yuan Shikai already had the intention of borrowing the donkey from the slope.Sure enough, the two supported the abolition of the monarchy with one voice. Misfortune caused Xiaoqiang, people's hearts were scattered, and the army couldn't move them. Having lost his biggest hole card - the army, Yuan Shikai did not break the can, did not put all his eggs in one basket to carry out the emperor's career to the end, he decided to rein in the precipice with his reason and conscience still remaining. On March 22, 1916, Yuan Shikai abolished the imperial system.After eighty-three days without being officially enthroned as emperor, Yuan Shikai announced the restoration of the Republic of China, and the Hongxian Dynasty was completely closed down. I don't know whether Yuan Shikai is old and confused, or the betrayal of relatives has dulled his sensitivity. After Yuan Shikai abolished the imperial system, he opened his mouth with a substandard sentence: "I am no longer the emperor, so I can continue to be the president, right?" Yuan Shikai wanted to go back to before he became emperor and start over.But no one will give him this chance. Sun Yat-sen, the anti-Yuan standard-bearer and spiritual leader, was the first to refuse him. On May 9th, Mr. Sun stood up again and issued the "Declaration for the Second Discussion against Yuan": the people of the whole country will continue to fight and completely overthrow the great dictator Yuan Shikai who did not abide by the "Temporary Agreement" and turned history back! Some people may wonder: Mr. Sun said that doing more and doing less?You misunderstood, Mr. Sun's movements are still quite fast.Regarding Mr. Sun's anti-Yuan experience after the "Second Revolution", we will talk about it in detail in the next chapter. The old enemy Sun Yat-sen firmly refused to let him go. Yan Xishan, Chen Heng and others who had actively supported him before were even more active in making trouble. People stood up for him. The pressure of rebellion, long-term political struggle and heavy official duties crushed Yuan Shikai's already sick and frail body.Yuan Shikai fell. The high-spirited and galloping horses back then can only be recollected in my mind. At the age of 23, North Korea fought against Japan, and it was unstoppable. At the age of 36, Tianjin trains and strengthens the army, and is cautious, and the sky is straight. The 42-year-old Zhili reformed and opened up, worked hard, and looked up to the world. At the age of 52, he came out of the mountain to end the Qing Dynasty. He ended a long-lived dynasty and started a short-lived one. He ended an era and opened up an era. At the last moment of his life, decades of hardships and obstacles, and the shadows of people who had accidents flowed from the bottom of his heart like floating clouds.He has built immortal feats and made serious mistakes.For all of this, he gave his youth, ideals, family, friends, subordinates, freedom and love, and now everything has come to an end. The setting sun was like blood, and the sky was drooping. Looking back on his decades of glorious years, he decided to end his life with the following words: On June 6, 1916, Yuan Shikai died with endless infamy at the age of 57. He also failed to break the record that the Yuan family's cattle could not live to be 58 years old. This is the end of Yuan Shikai's story, but the next one is about to begin. After Yuan Shikai's death, Wang Shizhen and others opened the Golden Chamber Stone Chamber and found out the nominations of successors left by Yuan Shikai. They saw the words written in their own handwriting: Li Yuanhong, Duan Qirui, Xu Shichang.There is no Yuan Keding, the son of Yuan Shikai. Yuan Keding, who wanted to be a prince and inherit the throne, was in vain in the end. He entered politics very early and ended his political career with the fall of his father. Yuan Keding was greedy for power and position, harmed the country and the people, and even harmed his father, so he was worthless.But during the Anti-Japanese War, he would rather live in poverty in Beijing than accept the invitation of the Japanese and refuse to serve the Japanese. The ambitious Beiyang brothers finally forced the old gang leader Yuan Shikai to death.But the Republic of China after Yuan Shikai's death, what should the next road be? Continue the republic. The republic was definitely an advanced social system at that time. Although there were many deficiencies in the implementation process and even frequent chaos, judging from the attitude of the Chinese people towards Yuan Shikai's restoration, it is enough to prove that democracy is the aspiration of the people, and republic is the aspiration of the people. One failure is not terrible, what is terrible is giving up after one failure, and the Chinese people will continue to make unremitting efforts for freedom, democracy and equality!