Chapter 4 3. North Korean military training

Yuan Shikai's emergence began in North Korea.Although North Korea was a vassal of the Qing Dynasty, the policy of the old China was laissez-faire and non-interference. For North Korea, Wu Changqing was not sent to South Korea to lead the navy and army until the Immortality Incident, and Yuan Shikai accompanied Wu to go there. Here is a brief description of the background of the Imoh Incident in North Korea: North Korea, like Japan, is the country most deeply influenced by Chinese culture. At the end of the 19th century, Japan’s Meiji Restoration accepted Western culture, while North Korea remained ruthless and refused to contact the West.As a result, Japan's political reform became stronger, while North Korea remained stagnant. In 1864, King Cheoljong of Joseon died and had no sons, so Lee Hee, the son of the royal family Lee Shiying, was made king.Li Xi was young, and after ascending the throne, his biological father should be the Lord of Daewon.The Lord of the Grand Court has a strong strategy, but he is very conservative, and he is very dissatisfied with the Japanese reformation. Seeing the Japanese envoys wearing suits, he feels that there is no fish or fish.The Japanese thought they were humiliated, so they had the theory of "conquering Korea".At that time, what the Japanese worried about was that Korea was a vassal of the Qing Dynasty, so they repeatedly asked the Qing court whether to manage North Korea's domestic and foreign affairs, but the Qing court refused to ask.Japan has figured out the attitude of the Qing court through various methods of testing, and then actively arranged steps to invade Korea.

Lord Daewon took his niece Min as the concubine of King Li Xili.Concubine Min is well-versed in history, good at reading "Zuoshi Chunqiu", and has political ambitions. Taking advantage of the empress dowager Zhao's dislike of the emperor's dominance, she encouraged Min Kuihao, Zhao Ningxia and others to conspire with the eldest son Zaimian of the emperor to persuade the king to take charge.Lord Daewon was forced to hand over his political power, so Concubine Min took the opportunity to rule, and North Korea's xenophobic policy was also changed. Japan had previously complained to the Qing court about Taiwan’s plundering and killing of Ryukyu people. The Qing court’s reply was very vague, not only to Taiwan, but also to North Korea. The result gave the Japanese government the impression that Japan could attack North Korea. In 1875 (Meiji 8), warships invaded North Korea's Ganghwa Bay.In the second year, 12 clauses of the "Ganghwa Treaty" were signed with North Korea. The important point is that North Korea is an independent state and has equal sovereignty with Japan.

After Concubine Min came to power, the state affairs became more corrupt.In June of the eighth year of Guangxu (1882), there were 5,000 soldiers in the capital city of North Korea. Because food and salary had not been paid for a long time, they repeatedly begged the government for payment.At the beginning of July, the mutinous people broke into the palace and wanted to kill Concubine Min.The concubine changed her clothes hastily, and fled with her son to the home of Min Yingzhi, a Daoist in Zhongqing.The rebels attacked the Japanese legation and set fire to the embassy. The Japanese minister Hanabo negotiated and led the embassy staff to break out of the siege and leave Incheon.Lord Dayuan regained power and rejected the Min family.At that time, Han Minister Jin Yunzhi and Yu Yunzhong were in Tianjin, and they asked for help from Zhang Shusheng, the governor of Zhili. Zhang Nai sent Wu Changqing, the commander of the Qing Army, to lead the navy and army across the sea to North Korea to quell the chaos.Because this incident happened in the year of Renwu, it is called "Reinwu Incident" in Korean history.

Wu Changqing led his troops to the south gate of Han Jing, divided the camps and set up camps, and informed the emperor of the courtyard to come to the camp to pay his respects. Yuan Shikai secretly arranged to prevent the escort of the emperor of the courtyard from outside the camp.Mr. Dayuan entered the camp and had a written conversation with Commander Wu. He was captured by the Qing army, sent to Jianyu, sent to Mashanpu at night, and boarded a warship and sailed back to Tianjin.At this time, Li Hongzhang had returned to serve as Minister of Beiyang, so he ordered the emperor of the courtyard to be confined in Baoding.

Wu Changqing ordered Yuan Shikai to lead troops into the city to capture the Donghak Party, and went straight to the Donghak Party's lair to suppress the chaos, restore the King of Han, and negotiate peace with the Japanese. Reparations, apologies, Japanese soldiers protecting the embassy, ​​etc.After the Korean affairs were settled down, Wu Changqing listed Yuan Shikai as the first meritorious service with the 16-character award phrase of "serious military management, well-organized deployment, striving to be the first to attack and suppress, especially courageous", and invited Li Hongzhang and Zhang Shusheng to play the award.On the first day of September, Yuan Shikai was ordered to use Tongzhi and give Hualing.

A person's success is by no means accidental, he must show outstanding achievements at certain important junctures, and then add opportunities. As far as Yuan Shikai is concerned, North Korea is a good place for him to display his skills, and it is also the starting point for his prosperity.People in the world think that Yuan started his career from training soldiers at Xiaozhan. In fact, if Yuan had no outstanding achievements in North Korea, the responsibility of training recruits in the Qing Dynasty would not have been entrusted to him. If Tan Sitong wanted him to be king, he would not be able to inform Ronglu and get the attention of Empress Dowager Cixi, so the achievements of North Korea were the beginning of Yuan's life.

About Yuan Shikai's early deeds in North Korea, there are not many surviving records. Yuan became a "presidential treason" because of "Hong Xian's proclaiming the emperor", ended his life in embarrassment, and made his life deeds ugly, so he has no official history. There is no biography, and there is no chronology, and everything in Chinese is a curse on Yuan Shikai.The earliest published literature of Yuan himself was "Records of New Army Binglue", which was printed in autumn in the 24th year of Guangxu (1898).In the reign of Xuantong, Yuan had lost power, and the Japanese Sato Tetsujiro wrote a book "Yuan Shikai" in Chinese, which praised Yuan Da.At that time, Yuan's political environment was very bad, and this book was envied by others, so Yuan's eldest son Keding asked the Japanese Minister to China Ijuin and the Japanese Consul General in Tianjin Yukichi Kobata to help him buy all the books and burn them. don't spread it.However, the Yuan family also felt that Yuan's early deeds should also be properly disclosed, so they published a "Records of Rong'an's Disciples".This book records Yuan's situation in North Korea in detail. Of course, it is too exaggerated, but it is also somewhat valuable as real information.Regarding Yuan’s military administration in North Korea, here are a few excerpts to show how strict Yuan’s military administration was when he was young:

"In July (the eighth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu), Ding Gong, the commander of the navy, led the ships to return to the defense aid division. Then he and Ding Gong first went to Tangshanban along the coast of the Korean border to investigate the place where the land soldiers disembarked. Yuan Shikai) and Ding Gong walked on sand and gravel with bare feet, and when they landed on the shore, both feet were broken. Ding Gong laughed and said: "How can a dude be like that?" There are many ex-partners of Wu Gong (Wu Changqing), who are arrogant and indulgent, and often slanderous. Gong (Yuan Shikai) said: It is not difficult to stop harassment, but it is not easy to be handsome and trustworthy.Wu Gong was silent.The nuisance became more and more serious over the next day, and the public entered the account and invited Wu Gong to go out, look up at the hillside, and the relics were piled up.What did Wu Gong ask?The public said that the soldiers plundered the things of the people, and the crude ones were abandoned by the Dao.It is also said that the master of the king is in chaos, the discipline is ruthless, the vassal is laughable, the state is humiliated, and he is handsome. I ask you to resign from now on.Duke Wu was shocked and changed his face. He swore: Please let go and restrain me. Anyone who listens to slander is not a descendant of the Wu family.The public sent an order to each camp, and those who entered the houses and miscellaneous troops were beheaded.Anyone who breaks the order will be beheaded immediately and passed on to several people.Some Han Gentlemen accused of raping and murdering their wives, went to investigate on foot, personally supervised the search and arrest, but they did not eat day and night, and were killed by hand.The nuisance has subsided a little, but it still hasn't stopped.

There is Wu Bian who insults the Koreans, and will be executed by the public.Mr. Wu built an office in person, borrowed money and died, and did not leave for a long time.Gonggu asked Wu Gong to read the books on the case, sneaked out and cut them, and entered to plead guilty.Wu Gong laughed and said: "Enforcement should be done."Wu Gong's relatives are in the army, Wu Gong always warns you not to break the law, and Yuan Mou will not forgive you.Those who serve in the people's homes to eat opium will be punished by the public.The servants rectified more than 500 people, claiming to be addicted to the strike, asking for money to leave the country, and the general will see the public.When Wu Gong heard about it, he called him and said: "Is it possible to kill all of them?"The public said that only Tian Heng's disciples can die together, Wuke will rule all the servants, if you show cowardice, you will come, and if you show off, you will disperse. If one or two people are killed, there is no need to recognize the rest.Wu Gong sighed in admiration and said: "It's true that you can adapt to good talents." "

From these narratives, it can be seen that Yuan Zhijun's sternness, although too arrogant and domineering, was as it should be for the sloppy Qing army. After the Qing army quelled the chaos in North Korea, Wu Changqing was ordered to stay in North Korea and set up the Qing Army Command stationed in North Korea.In this headquarters, Wu Changqing is the supreme commander.He has two major staff, civil and military, and the military one is Yuan Shikai. Yuan was only 24 years old at the time, but all military affairs of Wu Changqing were in the hands of Yuan, which is equivalent to the position of chief of staff today; ) is the master, which is equivalent to the status of the Secretary-General today.

After the Imoh Rebellion in Joseon, King Lee Hee of Joseon tried to punish the past and the past, and decided to reform.At that time, everything in North Korea was under the jurisdiction of the Beiyang Minister of the Qing Dynasty. With the consent of the Beiyang Minister Li Hongzhang, Li Xi hired the German Mu Linde as the general tax department, hired the Qing Dynasty Zhongshu Ma Jianchang as the diplomatic adviser, and proposed to invite Yuan Shikai as the military adviser. , Responsible for the whole army training.At this time, the Qing army in Korea was not stationed in the capital, but camped under the capital prison. Li Xinai personally went to the Qing camp to visit Wu Changqing and begged Yuan Shikai to join him.Wu refused, and the King of Han begged again and again. In the end, Wu Changqing only agreed to Yuan to train the new army for North Korea.Since then, Yuan Shikai was not only the chief of staff of the Qing army stationed in Korea, but also responsible for the preparation and training of the new North Korean army. After Yuan accepted the request of King Li Xi of Joseon, he drafted the system according to the specifications of the Qing army and selected the young men. In view of the weak status of the royal family, he first established the king's personal guard army, and then organized the suppressing army to strengthen the government. status.Li Xi was very satisfied with Yuan Shikai's actions, and he urged Yuan to move to the Three Army Mansion in North Korea so that he could command and supervise the Han army nearby. During the Renwu Rebellion, Li Xi's favorite concubine, the Min family, fled to Min Yingzhi's family. At that time, everyone thought that Concubine Min was dead, and a funeral was held for Concubine Min in the palace. Later, after the rebellion, Concubine Min came out. Announced the abolition of the previous mourning throughout the country.Concubine Min is a dangerous woman who wields power. She is beautiful and talented. Li Xi is afraid of her and trusts her.For the sake of Concubine Min, Li Xi was willing to turn against his own father, and it was precisely because of this that the Renwu Incident broke out. Li Xi's father, Lord Dayuan, was sent to Baoding for detention by the Qing army, but Li Xi still entrusted all the power to Min Concubine Min, so Concubine Min ruled again. After Concubine Min's dictatorship, her elder brother Min Yongjun served as prime minister, and all the power fell into the hands of Concubine Min's brothers. The Qing was forced to resist the French in Vietnam at the same time as it resisted Japanese oppression in Korea.Korea and Vietnam are both vassals of China, but the Qing Empire is gradually unable to maintain its suzerainty, and the Chinese and French armies in Vietnam have been fighting each other for two or three years.Therefore, in the 10th year of Guangxu (1884), when the battle between China and France reached its peak in Vietnam, the Qing Dynasty had to make emergency contingency preparations, concentrating troops and veterans who could fight, so Wu Changqing, the commander of the Korean Army, was appointed by North Korea. The recall was used to defend Liaodong, and North Korea's military affairs were handed over to three generals. Yuan Shikai took over the "Qingzi Battalion", and the other two generals were the admiral Wu Zhaoyou and the commander-in-chief Zhang Guangqian. During this period, Japan made progress in North Korea, desperately cultivating pro-Japanese armed forces, and training part of the new army for North Korea, so North Korea was divided into two major forces: one part was Concubine Min and her family who were originally pro-Japanese, but now they are very close to Yuan Shikai. They approached and became the pro-Qing faction in North Korea; some were the "Kaihwa Party", the pro-Japanese faction headed by Hong Yingzhi, Park Yonghyo, etc.; In the 10th year of Guangxu (1884), on October 15th, Hong Yingzhi, Park Yongxiao and others launched a coup. They planned to wipe out all the senior generals of the Qing army. They used the inauguration ceremony of the North Korean General Post Office to host a banquet for the three generals of Yuan, Wu, and Zhang, and planned to kill them immediately. .Wu Zhang knew that he didn't want to go, so Yuan Ze went to the banquet an hour earlier, wrapped in armor and arms.After a little wine and food, he said goodbye, took Pu Yongxiao to the door, and returned to the camp calmly, so that this assassination operation was stillborn; Chen Shutang, a member of the Chinese Commerce Commission, and Mu Linde, the tax secretary, did not attend the dinner. Students studying in Japan set fire to and beat Min Yongyi with a knife, and the host and guests broke up in an uproar.Min Yongyi fled to Mu Linde's house, and Yuan Shikai led two hundred troops to suppress him.In front of Mu Linde's gate, they saw a young Chinese man guarding the gate with a gun. Yuan Lebing stepped back, and the two exchanged names, only to find out that this young man was Tang Shaoyi.Tang Zi Shaochuan, a native of Zhongshan County, Guangdong, graduated from Yale University in the United States, and was sent by the Qing court as a tax assistant. This was the beginning of Yuan Tang's friendship, and the two cherished each other.Yuan Jin, seeing that Min Yongyi was seriously injured, stated that it was the pro-Japanese Kaihua Party, and asked Yuan Suo to save the king. After the Civilization Party launched a coup, Hong Yingzhi and others entered the palace to threaten the king and moved to another palace, and invited Japanese soldiers to enter the palace to protect.The king, concubine Min and others were imprisoned in Jinghu Palace. Veteran ministers Min Taihao, Zhao Ningxia, Min Yongmu and others were all killed, and the pro-Japanese faction held great power.At this time, Yuan Shikai advocated that the king should be more diligent, and Wu Zhaoyou advocated first asking the Beiyang ministers for instructions. Yuan thought it was not urgent, so he divided his troops to help.Yuan is the middle road, Wu and Zhang are divided into left and right wings, and enter from the Dunhua gate of the palace. The Japanese soldiers once attacked the palace, but were finally attacked by Yuan soldiers.At this time, Hong, Pu and others robbed the king of Han and fled to the Guandi temple at the north gate. Yuan sent Mao Yannian to welcome the king into the Qing camp.Hong Yingzhi and others stopped him repeatedly, and the two generals of Wu and Zhang also rushed to the scene. King Han was welcomed by the Qing army into the Qing State Barracks in Xiadujian.When Yuan went to Ye, Wang Qi complained that Hong, Pu and others forced him to change his clothes and go to Japan. He was exempted when the Qing army invaded the palace, but he was still robbed by Hong, Pu and others.Weeping while talking, the words are sad.The governor of the Japanese envoy had been exposed, so he set himself on fire on the embassy and led his troops out of Xiaoximen to Incheon.The pro-Japanese faction broke their hair and changed their clothes, and fled to Japan. Since the king of Han was in the Qing camp, Yuan Shikai presided over internal affairs, diplomacy, and military affairs on his behalf. Later, when the king of Han returned to the palace, he also invited Yuan to enter the palace as a guard, living in a side hall, separated from the king by a wall, and meeting day and night.At this time Yuan was only a 26-year-old youth.Minister Han must meet with Yuan every day to discuss matters and listen to his instructions.Soon it was said that the Japanese army gathered in Incheon, and Yuan Nai, Wu Zhaoyou, and Zhang Guangqian negotiated to divide the troops to guard the Han River and protect the palace. In this round, the competition between the Qing Dynasty and Japan in Korea gained the upper hand due to Yuan Shikai's decisiveness. Japan has been deliberating on North Korea for a long time, while the Qing Dynasty's policy on North Korea was vacillating, so although Yuan Shikai gained the upper hand in the Jiashen Incident, it could not completely solve the problem.International issues require power. When Japan was at a disadvantage in North Korea, it made active deployments and successively increased its troops. At the same time, it protested to the Qing government, accusing Yuan Shikai of recklessly initiating a provocation, and should bear the responsibility for the Jiashen incident.At this time, the Qing government did not intend to cause trouble with Japan because the Sino-French dispute had not yet been resolved, and because Yuan Shikai was a lowly official, the incident in North Korea had not been reported to the court in advance, so Yuan Shikai was not very understanding. After the Japanese government protested to the Qing court, the Qing court sent Wu Dacheng and Xu Chang as special envoys to Korea to investigate.Wu Dacheng believed that Yuan was lightly provocative, so he planned to put the blame on Yuan Shikai and apologize to Japan before he set off. In the 10th year of Guangxu (1884), on November 3rd, two ministers Wu and Xu arrived in North Korea.On the 17th, Jin paid a visit to the King of Joseon and conveyed the intention of the Qing court. Due to the disharmony between China and France, the Qing court did not intend to be tense with Japan, so they advised North Korea to be patient.At the same time, the two ministers Wu and Xu ordered Yuan Shikai to transfer all the troops stationed in the palace back to the base camp.Seeing the softening of the Qing government, Japan's attitude became tougher, and it made an inch of progress.Japanese Minister Kaoru Inoue led more than a thousand Japanese soldiers to Gyeonggi-do outside Ximenwai, and another 200 guards entered the palace. Japan and South Korea negotiated a peace agreement. The Japanese side proposed five harsh conditions. However, North Korea’s foreign affairs belonged to the Qing government, so the negotiations between Japan and South Korea turned into Sino-Japanese negotiations, the venue of the negotiations was also transferred to Tianjin, China. The Sino-Japanese negotiation on the Korean incident was held on the 18th day of the first lunar month in the 11th year of Guangxu (1885). The chief representative of the Qing Dynasty was Li Hongzhang, the representatives were Wu Dacheng and Xuchang, and the Japanese plenipotentiary representatives were Ito Hirobumi, the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, and Nishigo Conodo.Negotiations began on February 17 and ended on March 4. Three terms were agreed: (1) China and Japan will withdraw their troops stationed in South Korea within four months; (2) China and Japan will not send personnel to train Han soldiers (3) In the event of a major incident, China and Japan should send troops to Korea, and they should first send notes to each other. It can be seen from this treaty that Japan has achieved the same status as the Qing Dynasty in Korea. The "Ganghwa Treaty" made North Korea consider itself not a vassal state of China; the "Tianjin Treaty" made the Qing government consider North Korea not a vassal state of China, and at the same time Japan gained the same status as China. The stupidity of the officials at that time was really painful. Yuan Shikai became the chief culprit in this incident, and everyone blamed him. He was very sad to see the situation in North Korea at the mercy of others.It turned out that during his stay in North Korea, he had written to the Beiyang Minister many times (Korean affairs were under the jurisdiction of the Qing Beiyang Minister). He believed that there would be chaos in North Korea and that the King of Han was cowardly and incompetent.At that time, the Beiyang Minister was Li Hongzhang. Although he agreed with Yuan's opinion, he was worried that the Sino-French peace agreement had not yet been settled, and he was afraid of trouble in North Korea, so he put Yuan's suggestion on hold.Yuan Shikai continued to write a letter to express his heartfelt statement, but it was not adopted yet. At this time, it happened that Yuan's heir, Niu Shi, was ill. Yuan Nai asked for leave to return home, so he returned to China with the two ministers Wu and Xu who came to Korea to investigate the case.This happened in December of the tenth year of Guangxu (1884).He had an audience with Li Hongzhang in Tianjin, and then presented his proposal, but Li still refused to accept it, so he had to ask for a leave of absence for two months and returned to Chenzhou Mansion. Since the Qing government assigned Japan half of its suzerainty over North Korea, this was completely contrary to Yuan Shikai's plan to further control North Korea. In fact, North Korea still regarded China as its suzerain.At that time, North Korea wanted to increase its troops by three battalions, and asked the Beiyang Minister to still send Yuan Shikai to train troops. However, since the Qing court had signed a treaty with Japan, it naturally refused to agree, and Yuan Shikai had already returned to his hometown for vacation. The most ridiculous thing is that the Qing government's control of North Korea has neither principles nor goals.For example, before the Renwu Year of Joseon, the pro-Chinese faction was Daewon Lord Li Shiying, and the pro-Japanese faction was Concubine Min and her family. Baoding Detention.In the Jiashen year, China and Japan competed for dominance in North Korea. At that time, the Min family was pro-China. Logically, the Qing government should fully support the Min family. Lord Daewon returns to Korea.Lord Dayuan has been imprisoned by the Qing court for many years, and of course he hates the Qing Dynasty in his heart. Concubine Min and Lord Dayuan are enemies. Seeing that the Qing court wants to send Lord Dayuan back to Korea, he is naturally disappointed with the Qing court. In the summer of the eleventh year of Guangxu (1885), the Qing army retreated from North Korea and stationed in Lushun. At this time, the Beiyang Minister was planning to escort the Dayuan Lord back to Korea. Fearing that the Koreans of Concubine Min would resist, they planned to send a navy at that time. The admiral Ding Ruchang and the commander-in-chief Huang Jinzhi, Wang Yongsheng, Zhang Shaohua, Huang Jianguan and others led the navy and land troops to escort them.However, there are many rumors in the outside world that the Qing army returned to Korea in disguise, and Japan also questioned the Qing court based on this.Li Hongzhang was deeply anxious, so he decided to call Yuan Shikai to Jin, and planned to make Yuan Shikai be responsible for escorting him.When Yuan arrived in Tianjin, Li Hongzhang dictated the strategy and appointed him as the escort envoy.On August 12, the Qing government officially announced the release of Li Shiying, Lord of the Grand Court, and sent him back to China.On the 19th, Yuan Shikai and Mr. Dayuan boarded the ship from Dagu, took two warships, sailed eastward on drums, passed Yantai and Lushun, and arrived in Incheon, North Korea on the 25th. On the North Korean side, Concubine Min's faction was extremely dissatisfied with the fact that the Qing court sent Dayuan Lord back to Korea. Concubine Min forced the King of Han to refuse to send officials to greet him.After Yuan Shikai went ashore, he stayed in the Chinese residence. At the same time, he sent notes to the warships and consuls of various countries, and went back and forth to pay them back and forth.The next day, North Korea sent officials and servants to serve.On the twenty-seventh day, Yuan Shikai and Lord Dayuan arrived in Hanjing, and the King of Han set up the south gate of the curtain to greet them in person, so Yuan Shikai finally completed the task of Lord Dayuan to return to Korea. At this time, there was a new brewing in North Korea, which was not Japan but Russia.Russian Minister Weiba went to Hanjing one day before Yuan Shikai arrived in South Korea to discuss the treaty and require land trade. At the same time, Russians were used to train Korean soldiers and protect South Korea.It was Mu Linde, the general tax secretary, who connected Russia and South Korea.Mu Linde was a German, but he was sent to Korea by the Beiyang Minister of the Qing Dynasty. Because he was good at playing tricks, Li Hongzhang withdrew his post and was replaced by American Mo Xianli.Mu Xiehen joined Concubine Min, claiming that he had a strategy of rejecting the emperor, and wooing Emperor Russia to intervene in Korean affairs.Concubine Min sent Mu to work in the Dianyuan Bureau with a monthly salary of 300 yuan and free access to the palace.After Yuan arrived in Han, he understood his situation and immediately forced the king of Han to send Mu Linde away, so the collusion between Russia and South Korea was terminated.When Yuan Shikai later returned to Tianjin to resume his command, Li Hongzhang greatly appreciated Yuan's adaptability, and Yuan Zhi was specially promoted by Li, which was the beginning of this.Invisibly, Yuan has also become Li's trump card for North Korea.At this time, the Minister of Beiyang received an edict: "The Qing army has been stationed in Korea for four years. The year before last, the chaotic party caused troubles, suppressed everything, and responded to the opportunity. It is still called appropriate, and the best ones will be awarded."Chen Shutang, the commercial commissioner of the Qing court in South Korea, said he was sick and asked for leave. Li Hongzhang then asked Yuan Shikai to be promoted as a Taoist priest and rewarded with a third-rank title.After Yuan was commissioned, he set off for Korea again on the seventh day of October in the eleventh year of Guangxu (1885) to take up a new post. Yuan Shikai's visit to Korea this time is the third time, and the second time this year, but the role he played this time is the opposite of what he played before. The first two times he held a sword in one hand and a sword in the other. Power, now it is purely diplomats, although it also needs to be backed by force, but it is mainly a struggle. At this time, the opponents the Qing Dynasty encountered in North Korea were not only Japan, but also Russia, and the United States, Britain, France, and Germany also wanted to intervene, so Yuan Shikai launched a fierce diplomatic struggle.The pro-Russian faction in North Korea is dominated by Jin Jiazhen and Zheng Qinxia, ​​and King Han was also persuaded.Jin, Zheng, etc. had a private relationship with Russia, and were willing to be protected by Russia, and willing to sign a contract to make Russia have the same status as China in North Korea.The Qing court learned of this and ordered Beiyang Minister Yuan to investigate.Knowing that South Korea had sent secret documents to Russia, Yuan asked for Russia's protection, so he called South Korean ministers to Yuan's office to inquire.Han Chenchi told the King of Han and his concubine that they were terrified, so he sent ministers Shen Shunze and Jin Hongji to apologize to Yuan one after another, explaining that the king and the court did not know about the vote to Russia, and that it was faked by villains, so Jin Jiazhen, Zhao Cundou, and Jin Heyu were arrested. Waiting for punishment, and the Russian minister did not admit that there was a secret agreement. In April of the thirteenth year of Guangxu (1887), American Fujiu colluded with Han Chen Hongyingzhi, Jin Yujun, Jin Liangmo, Zheng Bingxia and others to make North Korea independent.Yuan Shikai learned that Nai went to Incheon on the pretext of illness and expressed his silent protest.The king of Han was deeply disturbed by Yuan's protest, and sent his ministers to express condolences. The Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a note to the American envoy, ordering Fujiu to return to the United States.At this time, Fujiu and Mo Xianli, the American chief tax officer, jointly discussed to promote North Korea to borrow money to open mines, and Min Yongyi, brother of Concubine Min's family, suggested to King Han that China is most afraid of European and Western countries. If North Korea can directly communicate with European and Western countries, then China will not dare to force North Korea.So it was decided to send Piao Dingyang as the ambassador to the United States, and Zhao Tingxi as the special envoy to Britain, Germany, Russia, Italy and France.Yuan Shikai learned of Min Yongyi's conspiracy, that is, he planned to arrest and take him to Tianjin. At the same time, he said that North Korea had no autonomy in diplomacy and should not directly send envoys to state affairs to question North Korea. North Korea responded by saying "the envoys have already left."At this time, Yuan asked North Korea to recall the special envoy as soon as possible and send high officials to China to apologize, but the North Korean government blatantly ignored it.The Qing government took the next best thing, requiring North Korean special envoys to report to the Chinese legation first when they arrived in the country of mission, and the Chinese envoys would visit with him. This period can be said to be the most difficult period for Yuan Shikai to handle his diplomacy with South Korea.