In the process of Yuan Shikai's proclamation as emperor, Yan Xiu and Zhang Yilu, two old friends who had followed him for many years, clearly expressed their opposition to the restoration of the imperial system, and they repeatedly dissuaded Yuan Shikai from embarking on this dead end, but Yuan Shikai never woke up after all.

On the night of the later abolition of the imperial system, Yuan Shikai brought Zhang Yilu to talk, and said with great remorse: "I didn't listen to you and Fan Sun (Yan Xiu's words) at the time, and now I think about it, I really regret and shame!" Fan Sun has followed me for many years and has never mentioned any official promotions to me; You've been in my shogunate for more than ten years, and you've never made any personal requests. It can be seen how valuable those who are indifferent to fame and fortune, glory and wealth, fame and fortune are, this is the real countryman! Those who once put me up, are they really for the country and the people? They elect me as emperor today, and tomorrow they may oppose the imperial system, such people really abound! In short, I spend more time doing things and less time studying, which is also self-inflicted, and I can't blame others. ”

In the end, Yuan Shikai said sadly: "It's just that the mistake of me is small, and the mistake of the country is big, and those who are in charge of the country can't help but take it as a warning!" ”

In the end, Yuan Shikai's body couldn't stand it, and instead of helping him break the family curse, he hastened his death. During the Lantern Festival in 1916, when the whole family was eating the Lantern Festival together, the sixth, eighth, and ninth aunts quarreled loudly in front of Yuan Shikai for the status of "concubine" and "concubine". Yuan Shikai sighed when he saw it and said, "Don't make any more trouble!" You all have to go back to Zhangde, and wait for my coffin to go back together! After speaking, Yuan Shikai got up and went back to the office.

This was an incredible thing before, how could Lao Yuan, who was strong all his life, say such depressing words?

No one has ever dared to be so presumptuous in front of Lao Yuan, not even the aunts and wives, when has the tradition of this family been subverted? Is it really the twilight of heroes?

His brain, which is good at dealing with all kinds of intractable diseases, is no longer able to cope with household chores, and his energy is much less than before, and he is no longer "simply the embodiment of health and strength" as the New York Times put it, "although he works more than ten hours a day, he never gets tired." He was resolute in his handling of things, and he was able to keenly identify the crux of the situation and make major decisions quickly."

At that time, the Protectorate War had broken out, Yuan Shikai was worried all day long, and his spirit was low, and after being so troubled by his family, Yuan Shikai began to eat less from that day, and his body slowly turned sharply. In the midst of the calls from all sides for the president to abdicate, Yuan Shikai has been in chaos.

Under the "recommendation" of Fengtian General Zhang Zuolin, Sun Liechen, commander of the 54th Brigade, succeeded him as the commander of the 27th Division. At this time, the army that can be relied on is none other than Zhang Zuolin, and he naturally responds to his needs. However, when Zhang Zuolin began to vigorously carry out military training, he did not agree to Yuan Shikai's dispatch of troops. The last straw did not work, and Yuan Shikai saw that the general trend had gone, and became angry in late May.

Blows followed. Feng Guozhang, one of the "Three Heroes of Beiyang," refused the appointment of chief of staff a few years ago and had no choice but to allow him to be "remotely led" in Nanjing. Wait until Yunnan becomes independent, organize the national protection army, and crusade against Yuan Shikai. Feng Guozhang in view of the rise of the national anti-Yuan movement. And he will no longer pretend to be sick. On March 9, 1916, he telegraphed Yuan Shikai to sell false facts, and from then on he let go of his courage and openly opposed the imperial system, and became "the first central figure in the Beiyang faction to oppose Emperor Hongxian".

On the one hand, Feng Guozhang sent a telegram to Yuan Shikai asking him not to start the war lightly, and on the other hand, through Liang Qichao, Hu Egong and others, he communicated with the southwestern Yunnan and Guizhou warlords Tang Jiyao and Lu Rongting's messengers, so as to prompt the southwestern independence and Lu Rongting to attack Guangzhou and drive away Yuan Shikai's sworn friend Long Jiguang; At the same time, he persuaded the Beiyang Army in Sichuan to cease war with the Protector Army, and instructed the generals of Sichuan and Hunan Chen Eun and Tang Qianming to send a telegram to refuse Yuan Shikai's order. When Yuan Shikai sent Cao Kun to lead the Beiyang Army into Sichuan to engage the Protector Army, Liang Qichao sent people to Nanjing and asked Feng Guozhang to assist Cai Yi in opposing the imperial system and maintaining the republic. Feng Guozhang said to the envoy: "I am a person who he (referring to Yuan Shikai) has picked up and is a relatively close confidant, and my telegram is a major blow to him. Between us, it cannot be denied that there is a sense of acquaintance. I should support him in personal relations, and I should not do it for the sake of the country, and it may not be good for him to do so, and once the people of the country rise up and attack him, the disaster will be even worse. Therefore, the result I just considered decided to persuade Yuan to abdicate. So, Feng asked the secretary to prepare two telegrams, one to Yuan Shikai, to persuade him to abdicate; A telegram was sent to Hubei and Jiangxi and the southwestern provinces, expressing his opposition to the Hongxian Empire.

Not only that, Feng also took the initiative to contact Li Chun in Jiangxi, Zhu Rui in Zhejiang, Tang Qianming in Hunan, Jin Yunpeng in Shandong and other generals to jointly send secret telegrams to the provincial generals to solicit opinions on cleaning up the situation, which was called the "secret telegram of the five generals" at the time. The content of the telegram demanded that the southerners cancel independence, withdraw from the war zone, and protect the people in the war zone. He demanded that the north abolish the imperial system, punish the culprits of the imperial system, and ask the head of state to resign on his own in order to show the will of the people of the whole country. It can be seen that the "secret telegram of the five generals" was a ploy of Feng Guozhang to summon non-independent provinces and regions in the name of the leaders of the "neutral" provincial generals to form a third force, in order to unite the national protection army and defeat Yuan Shikai.

On March 19, when Zhu Jiabao, the governor of Zhili Province, presented the "Five Generals' Secret Telegram" to Yuan Shikai for his eyes, Yuan was so angry that he almost fainted, and the Beiyang system, which he cultivated and relied on to make a fortune, actually had to calculate himself. This situation is similar to the power sent out by Duan Qirui to force the palace back then, the difference is only that the person who is forced is different from the person who is forced. Yuan Shikai really found it difficult to accept this reality, and he said to the people sitting next to him: "I dreamed of a giant star landing last night, and this is the second time in my life that I have had such a dream. After the first dream, less than a month later, 'Wen Zhonggong' (Li Hongzhang's nickname) died, and this time it was about my turn. ”

When the imperial faction saw this telegram, they were all dumbfounded, which shows the extent of the blow of the "Five Generals' Secret Telegram" to the Yuan imperial system. Yuan Shikai, in view of the fact that the struggle of the people of the whole country against the imperial system was in the ascendant, and that the internal struggle was already in a state of fragmentation and rebellion, and that he was on the verge of extinction, but in order to still retain power, he tried to continue to entrench himself in the presidency, so he announced the abolition of the imperial system on March 22.

was unwilling to abdicate, and then went to war and couldn't, and in the end, his heart was haggard, and his body collapsed. By the last days of May 1916, Yuan Shikai was no longer able to work;

Yuan Shikai suffered from soft foot disease at the end of the Qing Dynasty, which was also the reason why the regent Zaifeng opened him out of vacancy. After the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, Yuan Shikai made a comeback, and he still needed the support of servants when he entered the palace. This time, Yuan Shikai's disease was bladder stones that caused uremia to infect the whole body, and originally this disease would not lead to life-threatening disease, but Yuan Shikai was more stubborn, and he had always refused to see Western medicine and refused to operate (probably because of the special location of the disease, and he was ashamed to speak up).