Since the leak of the "Five Generals' Secret Message", the rift between Feng Guozhang and Yuan Shikai cannot be concealed. So Feng Guozhang decided to exert more pressure on Yuan to force him to cede power to him.

To this end, Feng Guozhang publicly telegraphed the Beijing government on April 1 and 16 to persuade Yuan to abdicate as soon as possible. The warlords of various provinces followed suit, and also successively sent telegrams to persuade Yuan Shikai to abdicate quickly, and Yuan Shikai had to send his confidant Ruan Zhongshu south to beg for favor from Feng Guozhang. At the request of Nguyen Trung Shu, Feng Guozhang agreed to contact the provinces and act as a mediator. On May 18, Feng Guozhang invited the provinces that did not have independence to convene a meeting of representatives in Nanjing.

Feng Guozhang intended to force Yuan to step down through the Nanjing Conference and replace him with him. However, due to Ni Sichong's sabotage and the different strategies of the generals and representatives of the provinces and regions, the Nanjing Conference was aborted. Feng was self-defeating and was rebuked by public opinion as: "Rather than a meeting to resolve Yuan's status, it is better to call it a meeting to resolve his own status." ”

The final blow to Lao Yuan was three telegrams from his henchman, the Sichuan overseer Chen Eun. This is Chen Eun's teacher Luo Chengxiang prepared three telegrams for Chen Eun to crusade against Yuan Shikai, and Luo said confidently: "I want to be angry with the national thief!" The first two telegrams were sent in a relatively mild tone, just to persuade Yuan Shikai to abdicate, but the third one made Yuan Shikai angry like thunder: "From today onwards, Sichuan has severed relations with Yuan's personal affairs, and if Yuan's punishment of Sichuan affairs in the name of his government on any one day is deemed invalid in Sichuan Province." Yuan Shikai never expected that his henchman Chen Eun would "rebel" against him, and he was so angry that he shouted "people's hearts have changed greatly".

After this toss, Lao Yuan is no longer supported. After the condition deteriorated sharply and the urine was not smooth, at the insistence of Yuan Keding, Yuan Shikai asked the French doctor Bechille to come for treatment, but it was too late. Beshye suggested that Yuan Shikai go to the hospital for surgery, maybe there was still a glimmer of life, but Yuan Shikai refused. In this case, Bei Xiye had no choice but to catheter him in Yuan Shikai's bedroom, but at this time, all the urine that came out was bloody. Yuan Shikai knew that he couldn't afford it, so he hurriedly asked people to find Xu Shichang and Duan Qirui, and handed over the presidential seal to Xu Shichang, saying: "The president should be Li Songqing (Li Yuanhong's character), I am fine, and I am ready to go back to Zhangde." ”

On June 5, Yuan Shikai was in a coma in shock. However, during his sobriety, he still wrote a suicide note on the case, which read: "Go to a big enemy for Japan!" I don't know if it's a compliment to my life or a prediction of the future situation. Postponed to 6 o'clock in the morning on June 6, Yuan Shikai finally returned to the west with his life, which was in response to Luo Chengxiang's words of "angry to death the national thief".

It is said that after Yuan Shikai fainted and recovered in the early morning of the 6th, he whispered to his old friend Xu Shichang, who was sick, "Yang Du Yang Du, misunderstand me and mislead me"; Some people also said that Yuan Shikai said when he was dying: "He hurt me!" Yuan Shikai didn't say who this "he" was, and most people thought that he was referring to the eldest son Yuan Keding. If you want to talk about this restoration scandal, Yuan Keding really has to bear half of the responsibility, he wants to be the prince and wants to go crazy, but the result is to push the old man to the fire to roast, causing Yuan Shikai a generation of heroes, and finally being harmed by this erection, and ending up with a pity and a ridiculous and lamentable infamy through the ages, it is really a wretch. Yuan Keding is a person who is neither literate nor martial, not high-quality, not virtuous, confused for half his life, not to mention, and a good male pet in his later years, but because of this, he went bankrupt and died. Yuan Shikai has such a prince, how can he be undefeated?

Since Yuan Shikai was still the incumbent president when he died, Li Yuanhong also treated him with the specifications of the incumbent **** after succeeding to the president. At that time, in addition to allocating 500,000 yuan of public funds for funeral expenses, the central government also ordered civil and military organs to fly the flag at half-mast, stop feasting for 27 days, and stop folk entertainment for 7 days; Civil and military officials and troops stationed in Beijing all wear black veils; Set up a "respectful funeral office", with Cao Rulin, Wang Yitang, and Zhou Ziqi to undertake the funeral, and Li Yuanhong, Xu Shichang, and Duan Qirui were in charge.

The cause of Yuan Shikai's death was fundamentally a humiliating failure in his life's work, and on the surface, it was because he did not believe in Western medicine. "His fatal condition was bladder stones, and the first symptom was difficulty urinating. At this time, if he was hospitalized for catheterization or surgery, his life would not be in danger, but he has always believed in Chinese medicine and never refused to seek medical treatment from Western medicine." (Yuan Jingxue's "My Father Yuan Shikai") waited until finally had no choice but to invite Western medicine, it was too late.

Yuan Shikai's funeral is an interesting symbol of his life from another side. "This ceremony is a mixture of old and new customs, Chinese and Western rituals", and "the lamas who perform the ceremony, some chant sutras, some play Mongolian instruments, while modern Western bands play European funeral marches". This unique scene just illustrates the success and failure of Yuan Shikai's life.

It may be assumed that if Yuan Shikai had died in 1913, he would have gone down in history as a progressive figure. Unfortunately, he lived another 3 more years. It was in these three years that he turned himself from a "consistent progressive" era tide maker to a "thief of the country" who turned back the clock on history.

After Yuan Shikai's death, those who openly and secretly opposed him in the Protectorate War also "released their old suspicions", or personally or sent an attaché to Beijing to mourn the old leader, so Yuan Shikai's funeral was also held in a beautiful and glorious manner. The most lamentable thing is that the royal gan'er, the former Fengtian general Duan Zhigui, he hurriedly came from the starry night outside the Guanwai after learning the news of Yuan Shikai's death, and when he arrived in front of the Xinhua Palace Spirit, he was even more crying and grabbing the ground, tears rippled, and people who didn't know thought that it was his father who died (what a filial son!). )。

As early as after the Second Revolution, Zhang Jian, who was known as the "Northern Zhou (Xuexi) and Southern Zhang", kept a distance from Yuan Shikai, although he supported Yuan's authoritarian politics, but calling the emperor was the bottom line that Zhang could not tolerate. Later, when Zhang heard the news of Yuan Shikai's death, he was very sorry, and he wrote in his diary: "Thirty years of talent, three thousand years of unprecedented, could have been a first-rate person, died in the hands of a group of small people." In Zhang Jian's eyes, Yuan is the person who can change China, and if he can stay in power for 30 years, China will surely rise.

Because Yuan Shikai's funeral was too luxurious, it was found that he could not make ends meet when he finally settled the bill, and the special funds allocated by the government were not enough to build the cemetery after deducting the funeral expenses. To this end, Xu Shichang, Duan Qirui, Wang Shizhen and other eight people jointly launched a public announcement, asking people from all walks of life to help, and finally raised 250,000 yuan to finally end Yuan Shikai's funeral.

As the advocate of the imperial system, Yang Du was scolded and condemned by the whole country as soon as the Hongxian Empire was introduced, and Yang Du was scolded as a traitor in his hometown, and his former friend Liang Qichao called him "a lowly and shameless, creeping and moving woman". As self-purification or self-restraint, Yang Du wrote down Yuan Lian to clarify his intentions:

The republic mistook the Republic of China, and the Republic of China mistook the republic; After a hundred generations, then peace is prison.

Jun Xian bears Ming Gong, Ming Gong bears Jun Xian; Under the nine springs, three repetitions.

However, in any case, a generation of heroes has ended up like this, isn't it sad and lamentable? However, according to Zhang Hanqing's meaning, it is "self-inflicted, not alive." "When you are old and old, you are really old and confused? It seems that later generations have repeatedly emphasized that it is really necessary to abolish the lifelong system of cadres. If it really happens that day, Zhang Hanqing also decided not to fall in love with the stack, accept it when he sees it, at most set up a senior minister or advisory committee or something, like the Lee dynasty in Singapore, as long as he can get by on the big scene, and leave a high wind or bright festival in the history of the youth, wouldn't he be happy? Why can't these people look at it!

Trees fall macaques scattered. Lao Yuan drove the crane to the west, and his supporters must give an explanation to the world, that is, the famous so-called "Thirteen Taibao". However, because it is still that group of people who take over Beiyang, they can't help but have elbows and arms when they move.

The list proposed by the Southwest Zhugong is the Thirteen Taibao, that is, the "Six Gentlemen of Preparation" and the "Seven Murderers" Zhu Qichao, Duan Zhigui, Zhou Ziqi, Liang Shiyi, Zhang Zhenfang, Lei Zhenchun, Yuan Naikuan and others. But in fact, these 13 people are not the only ones who help the abuse? The southwest side has reduced its coverage so that it can be accepted by the north, but Duan Qirui, the head of the new cabinet ministers, still does not accept it, and he is not willing to punish these people at all, one is that he has a flesh-and-blood relationship with many of them, and the other is that although he does not agree with the countercurrent move, but the spirit of these people to serve Yuan with all their hearts is a "tradition" necessary to maintain the Beiyang forces. He inherited the mantle of the Beiyang group, and Yuan Zhi's wings are his wings, so he can't help but try his best to excuse it.

Just when the list was decided, Yuan Keding called urgently to beg for Zhen Zhenchun and Zhang Zhenfang, and Feng Guozhang called to intercede for Duan Zhigui. Because they are also powerful warlords with men and horses and territory, these three names were removed from the list;

Li Jingxi tried his best to ensure that Yan Fu and Liu Shipei were "rare talents", and there were two less on the list;

Someone also suggested to Duan Qirui that in order to show goodwill to the south, Li Xie and Hu Ying should not be listed, so these two "wall grasses" are also at large; Yuan Naikuan is the nephew of the Yuan family, so he was also ticked off the list by Duan Qirui.

In this way, the "Thirteen Taibao" is only left with the "Five Taibao". The Beiyang warlords were no longer good at prevaricating the southwestern warlords, so they picked up Gu Ao, Xia Shoutian, and Xue Dake, who were less related to the Beiyang group, but in fact, the three of them were just a "trick" character. In this regard, Zhang Xun also sent a telegram to openly oppose it, saying, "Although there are different propositions, they are nothing more than expressing their own opinions, and the culprit is the first, how can success or failure be the balance?" ”

After bargaining, a wanted warrant was finally issued to punish the "culprit": "Invite someone to cause the disaster, and the corpse will be to blame." Yang Du, Sun Yuyun, Gu Ao, Liang Shiyi, Xia Shoutian, Zhu Qichao, Zhou Ziqi, and Xue Dake were all handed over to the court, and the famous shackles were interrogated in detail, and severely punished. ”

But even if a wanted warrant was issued, the Beiyang warlords did not really want to arrest these people. Even before the wanted warrant was issued, the center used various channels to suggest that the people on the list should leave Gyeonggi as soon as possible. Soon, Yang Du, Sun Yuyun, Liang Shiyi and others moved from Beijing to the Tianjin Concession, and some were summoned by Zhang Xun to Xuzhou as guests. Other participants who are not on the list are still relieved that the wanted warrant has the words "all others will be waived". Therefore, the high-sounding wanted warrant is just a formality, just a cover-up.