Chapter 30 Section VII

Yuan Shikai has traveled all the way in the Republic of China, and the image of Yuan Shikai in our eyes is that of inflated selfish desires, addicted to power, ruthless, treacherous and fickle.However, we say that he is a hero rather than a pure villain. To make Yuan Shikai a "bad guy" is to simplify history. Although Yuan Shikai is full of deceit, he also has great talent and general strategy.He was the promoter of constitutionalism in the late Qing Dynasty, the advocate of abolishing the imperial examination, the practitioner of encouraging industry, and the founder of modern schools; in addition, he was also the father of the Beiyang Army, China's first modern army.

He is good at ups and downs of political battles, and he knows people well and recruits talents.His Beiyang faction, along with the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, was one of the three major political talent groups in the Republic of China. Some people may not know that the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, which is the pride of the Chinese engineering community, was built by Yuan Shikai with Chinese funds and Chinese engineer Zhan Tianyou under pressure. Zhan Tianyou, an outstanding railway expert, graduated from Yale University. He was a rare engineering talent in that era. However, after returning to China, he was sent to learn driving at the Shipping School of Fuzhou Shipping Bureau. He even participated in the Battle of Horsetail during the Sino-French War!It was not until 1888 that he became a professional counterpart and joined the Tianjin Railway Corporation.After meeting Yuan Shikai, he finally had the opportunity to show his talents.

When the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway opened to traffic in 1909, Yuan Shikai had already been demoted back to his hometown of Henan, where he lived in seclusion in Huanshang Village.As a thorn in the side of the Qing court, except for the secret exchanges between his direct descendants and confidantes, most people avoid him for fear.However, Zhan Tianyou sent a special person to send a letter of thanks to Yuan Shikai and a set of photos of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway to Yuan's house.Yuan Shikai was filled with emotions, and wrote a reply letter: "Jingzhang Quanlu is all thanks to the construction of the deacon's general director, and he has worked hard, so it has been completed in a timely manner.... All photos of Jiakuang, the Badaling project is extremely difficult, and the rest of the bridges and caves They are not the same, but they are firm. My eyes wander, and I am deeply impressed." The two cherish each other, which is beyond words.

Ever since Yuan Shikai became the interim president, he has been obsessed with expanding his power. However, in just a few years, under his rule, China has undergone considerable changes, with remarkable achievements in economy and education. He first established the modern chamber of commerce, and various industry organizations were formed one after another.He swept away the disadvantages of the chaotic currency system in various places after 1911, and cast silver dollars for unified circulation. This is the famous "Yuan Datou". He corrected the monopoly patent policy of the Qing government, abolished the stipulation that the establishment of a company would give exclusive rights for several years, and patents were only granted to real inventions and innovations, thereby promoting free competition; he simplified the procedures for opening factories and mines, and reduced and canceled relevant taxes; he encouraged For manufacturing and processing industries, the government has funded the establishment of an interest-guaranteed system. From the first year of investment, you can get a dividend of 4 to 6% from the state. Only in the sixth year will you start to pay one-twentieth of the interest-guaranteed fund, which is divided into years. amortized.

Under his economic policies, China's flour companies, cotton yarn companies, coal mining companies, brewing companies, match companies, banks, and newspapers have sprung up like mushrooms after rain. When it comes to the vigorous development of China's national industry and commerce during this period, there are certainly reasons why the great powers were busy with the First World War and relaxed their economic aggression against China, but according to middle school politics textbooks, this is only an "external cause", and the external cause must pass through the "internal cause". Only then can it work, and Yuan Shikai has contributed a lot.

After Yuan Shikai came to power, China quickly established a national education system. Primary school is four years of compulsory education; graduates enter high school or industrial school; high school for three years, after graduation, enter middle school or normal school or industrial school; Then enter a university or a specialized school or a higher normal school.Undergraduate three or four years, preparatory three years. With the standardization of the education system and the strong support of the Yuan Shikai government, by the end of 1912, Yuan Shikai had only been in power for more than half a year, and there were more than 87,000 schools in China, an increase of 4% over the 59,000 schools in 1909. 17.4; a total of more than 2.93 million students, an increase of 79% over 1909?!

Among these schools, there are 86,318 primary schools, 832 secondary schools, and 122 senior schools. In terms of political and administrative system construction, Yuan Shikai was not completely lackluster.He also intended to establish a modern state agency. On January 9, 1913, he promulgated the "Civil Service Examination Law", which stipulated that the civil service higher examination should be based on seven subjects: national law, criminal law, civil law, public international law, administrative law, economics and finance. , Compulsory subjects; Business Law, Political Science, Criminal Procedure Law, Civil Procedure Law, Commercial Charter and other five are supplementary subjects, and candidates can choose one of them.This method of civil servant selection is quite scientific and reasonable.

He also promoted the division of government between the military and the people, and repeatedly ordered the military and police not to interfere in politics.This is true even today. When examining a historical figure, if you can not only focus on his thoughts and behaviors in various major events, but also observe them from the details of life, there will be more gains.At least, it can make the image of a person who has passed away for nearly a hundred years more vivid. What is this complex figure who cannot be judged in a few words and has had multiple influences on the history of the Republic of China, like in life?How did those who came into contact with him describe him?

U.S. Minister to China Reinsch said: "He is short and fat, but his face is expressive and his manners are quick. He has a thick neck and a round head, and he seems to be very energetic. His two eyes are elegant and bright, sharp and flexible. Always with an air of alertness. He gazes sharply at his visitors, but without hostility, and always with such intense interest, his eyes show how quickly he picks up the trends of the conversation." Another foreigner who came into contact with him said: "His eyes are piercing, and his sharp eyes show his physical health and emotional stability...He is simply the embodiment of health and strength."

Huang Yanpei said: "He has an excellent memory and never forgets anyone or anything. Therefore, when a local official was interviewed by him and talked about local affairs and private affairs, Yuan often surprised the visitors with his extensive knowledge and memory. He His subordinates are afraid of him because of this." Yan Xishan recalled the first time he met Yuan Shikai: "As soon as he met, he said everything I wanted to say, and then asked me what else I wanted to say, so that people had nothing to say." Undoubtedly, Yuan Shikai is a very capable person, and his mastery in playing tricks and tricks is not the whole of his talents.

Yuan Shikai had one wife and nine concubines in his life, and he preferred women with small feet, but his life was not corrupt; on the contrary, he maintained the rigor and rigidity of a soldier throughout his life.His daughter Yuan Jingxue wrote in the article "My Father Yuan Shikai" that Yuan Shikai sat down "always with his legs spread apart, and his hands are often placed on his knees... I never saw him cross his legs." Yuan Jingxue recalled that Yuan Shikai's diet and daily life were very regular. He got up on time at 6 o'clock every morning and ate breakfast at 6:30, which was always a large bowl of chicken noodle soup; The placement of each dish is consistent. For example, the steamed duck is always placed in the center of the table, the stir-fried shredded pork with chives and yellow is always placed on the east side, and the braised pork is always placed on the west side. Such a figure with the qualities of a great statesman has already grasped the fate of the entire country in his hands after several operations, and he is catching up with another period of the greatest upheaval in China's history.If he grasps the world trend and historical trend, guides China to overcome the millennium-year-old disease, and embarks on the road of modern republican constitutionalism, then his historical status will be truly unique throughout the ages, and it would be considered modest to say that he is "China's Washington." However, Yuan Shikai was not a "newcomer".Although he has a broad vision, his knowledge structure does not fall within the scope of feudal culture, and his ideological roots are still in the consciousness of small peasants.It can also be seen from family life: he let his daughters learn foreign languages, gymnastics and geography, but asked them to stay out of the house, and arranged marriages for them. Although he has extraordinary talents, he uses them more in conspiracy strategies and low-level personal utilitarianism.This is the case from betraying the reformists to serving as the interim president in Beijing, to stepping up totalitarianism and trampling on the state system of the Republic of China. For Yuan Shikai, what is the greatest achievement, the culmination of achievements, and the most glorious glory in life?Not what someone told him back then and what we tell him today, but to be an emperor! The emperor is a dazzling status symbol, and the deep sense of imperial power accumulated over thousands of years can never be erased from Yuan Shikai's heart; even though he directly buried the last dynasty of China with his own hands, even though he has served as the president of the Republic of China for two years. year. Now that he has completed the centralization of power, he has expanded the authority of the president of the Republic of China to be the same as that of the emperor, but he has no enthronement, no title of emperor, no subject's three kowtows and nine worships to the mountain, and no extreme extreme of "behavior is a teacher for all ages, and speak for eternity." Honor, no matter how powerful he is, he still feels deeply regretful. The emperor is so attractive in the hearts of him and many Chinese, and he, Yuan Shikai, is only one step away from becoming a legitimate emperor. Under the strong dominance of feudal consciousness and imperial power ideology, this most critical person at the most critical point in Chinese history finally made the most wrong choice, dragging China at a critical period of history onto the road of retrogression; Towards the abyss of complete ruin and will never be forgiven by future generations.