Chapter 34 Section Eleven

The outbreak of the uprising to protect the country in Yunnan was like pouring a spoonful of oil on the flames of opposition to the imperial system across the country.The well-known royalist Kang Youwei wrote to Yuan Shikai, calling him "President Weiting's brother", urging him to abdicate quickly; his close friend Xu Shichang called from Henan to warn: there is still time to abolish the imperial system, otherwise it will be out of control. The uprising to protect the country had greatly stimulated Yuan Shikai; during the suppression, Yuan Shikai was most shocked and frustrated by the calls from his trusted generals Feng Guozhang, Jin Yunpeng, Li Chun, Zhu Rui and Tang Xiangming, demanding that he abolish the imperial system and punish him. The culprit is to reassure people.

Proclaiming the emperor turned the whole country into a mess, and foreign countries immediately reacted strongly.The embassy stationed in Beijing called, accusing them of saying that "changing the state system, the people will not follow suit, and the strengths will only lead to chaos."Yuan Shikai's "Empire of China" and "Hongxian" dynasty were not recognized internationally at all, and all diplomatic documents signed by "Hongxian" were returned, so Yuan Shikai had no choice but to deal with the world in the name of the president.This nonsense made foreign newspapers call him "Emperor President" comically.

The desperate Emperor Yuan was still dying.He hurriedly mobilized the troops he could mobilize to rush to the southwest, and strictly suppressed the movement to protect the country.In his "Xinhua Palace", Yuan Shikai raised his thumb and said over and over again, "Anyway, I want to be a good emperor, anyway, I want to be a good emperor!" Under the entanglement of the emperor's dream, the extremely capable and strong man of the generation has almost turned into a lunatic. Facts made Yuan Shikai gradually wake up from his dream, and the revelation of Yuan Keding's fake newspaper hit him hard again.His daughter Yuan Jingxue asked the girl to go out to buy broad beans, and the broad beans were returned with a copy of "Suntian Times".Yuan Jingxue read the newspaper while eating broad beans, and felt that the content of this newspaper was quite different from what she usually read at home, so she gave it to Yuan Shikai in doubt.Only then did Yuan Shikai know that he was deceived by his son Yuan Keding with fake newspapers!

The furious Yuan Shikai held a whip in his hand, scolded Yuan Keding for "deceiving his father and wronging the country", and whipped Yuan Keding all over the floor. Yuan Shikai was exhausted physically and mentally.He remembered that he also used fake newspapers to deceive Empress Dowager Longyu back then, and that the turbulent "public opinion" before proclaiming himself emperor was so illusory; he also remembered that he saw a big star fall into the sky the other night. He also looked down once, but Li Hongzhang died soon after. Could it be his turn this time?He also thought that no one in the previous generations of the Yuan family lived past the age of fifty-nine, and now that he is fifty-eight, could it be that he would also be unable to pass this threshold?

And in the backyard, after Yuan Keding was beaten up by Yuan Shikai for "deceiving his father" and lost his trust, the scramble among his concubines for whose son should be the "Prince" immediately became fierce.Looking at the messy country and the chaotic home, Yuan Shikai sighed: "Stop arguing, all of you, and prepare to go back to my hometown in Henan with my coffin!" Finally, Yuan Shikai cheered up and invited Duan Qirui who was at home on leave because he opposed the imperial system to express his regret and asked Duan Qirui to help him clean up the mess.

When Yuan Shikai accepted the imperial system, Duan Qirui sighed at home: "Xiangcheng committed crimes!" Now, Duan Qirui's wife Zhang said happily: "The old man finally woke up!" When Duan Qirui was at home, he was thinking about how to calm down the situation. At this time, he proposed several conditions: abolish the monarchy, tolerate the rioters in the Southwest, and use peace talks to solve the problem.These conditions are similar to those proposed by Yuan Shikai to the Qing court when he came out of the mountain.Yuan Shikai, who was devastated at this time, was like the Qing court back then.

Seeing that Duan Qirui did not object to him continuing to be the president, Yuan Shikai finally issued a proclamation of abdication on March 23, 1916, announcing the abolition of the imperial system and the restoration of the Republic of China. Yuan Shikai's emperor's years are full of eighty-three days.