Among the so-called six gentlemen of Hongxian, the most famous is Yan Fu.

Yan Fu (January 8, 1854 - October 27, 1921), formerly known as Zongguang, the word and Ling, later changed his name to Fu, the word several ways, a native of Houguan County, Fujian. He is a highly influential Enlightenment thinker in modern times, a famous translator, educator, and representative of the New Legalist, and one of the "advanced Chinese" who sought truth from Western countries in modern Chinese history.

He graduated from Fujian Shipbuilding Academy and the Royal Naval College of the United Kingdom, and served as the general office of the Translation Bureau of Beijing Normal University, the principal of Fudan Public School in Shanghai, the principal of Anqing Higher Normal School, and the editor-in-chief of the Dictionary of the Qing Dynasty Academy.

The translation standards of "faithfulness, attainment, and elegance" put forward by him have had a profound impact on the translation work of later generations.

In the second year of Guangxu, Yan Fu was sent to England to study the navy as the first student of the Fujian Shipbuilding School, and after returning to China, he was appointed to teach in the Beiyang Naval Academy. Although he studied the navy, he was famous at home and abroad, and he translated Western classics.

He once participated in Zhang Yuan's "Congress" presided over by Tang Caichang, and was elected vice president, and Rong Hong was the president. Qing ** had ordered the people who attended the meeting, Yan Funai took refuge in the Shanghai Concession and devoted himself to the cause of translating books.

He has successively translated into books such as "Theory of Heavenly Evolution", "Famous Studies", "Qunxue Xuanyan", "Theory of the Rights of the Masses", "Yuanfu", "Law and Italy", "General Interpretation of Society", "Brief Explanation of Famous Studies", and "Discussion on Chinese Education". Introducing Western doctrine in ancient texts, Yan was the first person in China.

He and his fellow countrymen Gu Hongming and Lin Shu are equally famous, and they are the three heroes in the literary world, but Yan Fu is committed to introducing Western theories to China; Gu Hongming translated Chinese academic thought into foreign languages and sent it abroad; Lin Shu is a lifelong job in ancient Chinese and popular. All three of them have achieved something, and each has a path to work.

Gu Hongming studied in Germany and France, and after returning to China, he became a friend of Zhang Zhidong, specializing in Chinese classics, and has an English work "Spring and Autumn Righteousness". His ideology is retro, opposes the republic, and does not seek fame, but he looks down on fellow villagers Chen Baochen and Zheng Xiaoxu. He has a particularly strong memory and is proficient in various languages.

When Yuan Shikai was the Minister of Beiyang, he once recruited Yan Fu, but he looked down on Yuan very much, so he resolutely refused.

He once said: "What is Yuan Shikai? Enough to recruit me. ”

Wait until Xuantong succeeds to the throne. When the regent Zaifeng forced Yuan to leave the position of Minister of Military Aircraft, he was quite sympathetic to Yuan and said regretfully: "It seems that Yuan is still the pillar of a country, and it is a pity to be idle!" ”

This is a true lover, when Yuan Shikai was unlucky, others avoided Yuan Shikai, but he dared to stand up and speak for Yuan Shikai. He is also one of the two people Yuan Shikai took the train back to his hometown and went to the station to see him off; And the other one is Yang Du.

After the founding of the Republic of China, Yan was reinstated as the superintendent of the Jingshi University.

When the whole country unanimously supported the republic, he believed that there was a republic in the name but not a republic.

Organizing the Preparatory Security Meeting, Yang Du took the initiative to find Yan Fu and said straight to the point: "Young and old, you are against the republican system, and recently Kaiser Wilhelm II also said that the republican system is not suitable for China, what is your opinion on this?" ”

Yan said coldly: "I don't have a high opinion, national affairs are different child's play, how can I change it again and again!" ”

Yang said: "China must be unified, and if we want to be unified, we must have a heroic monarch to rule, we want to initiate and organize a group to study the national system, how about inviting the young and the old to be the initiators?" ”

Yan Fu replied coldly: "Why do you bother to study? It is okay to be called an emperor and a king. ”

Yang saw that he was not speculative, and quickly changed his tone and said: "Young and old, you are wrong, political ideas are not based on learning and reasoning, and scholars are not loyal to the country they have learned. ”

This sentence hit Yan's heart, so he said, "Okay! You go and initiate, I can list it. ”

The next day, the news of the organization initiated by the Preparatory Security Committee was published in the newspaper, and Yan Fu's name was prominently among the initiators.

Li Xiehe (1873-1927), known as Tiexian, was born in Lantian Town, Anhua County, Hunan Province.

Li is a veteran of the Liberation Society. In 1900, Li Xiehe went to Changsha to study, where he learned about Huang Xing, Liu Kuyi and others, and embarked on the revolutionary road. Li Xiehe first joined the Huaxing Society headed by Huang Xing, and gathered comrades to create a "Huang Han Society" as a peripheral organization of the Huaxing Society. The "Huang Han Society" means opposing the Manchu Qing Dynasty and restoring the glory of the Yellow Emperor and the Han people.

Li Xiehe participated in a series of anti-Qing activities of the Huaxing Society, and planned with Tan Renfeng and others to organize an uprising in the area of Baoqing (now Shaoyang) in Hunan, participated in the Pingli Uprising, and fled to Japan after failure.

After the Xinhai Revolution, Li Yuanhong appointed him to recruit envoys for the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and he went to Shanghai to instigate the police to respond to the uprising, and hung up the name of "Commander-in-Chief of the Liberation Army" in Wusong.

After the assassination of Song Jiaoren, he traveled from Hunan to Beijing to reconcile the north and the south. happened to run into Yang Du, that is, he was collected by Yang.

In early August of the fourth year of the Republic of China, when Yuan Shikai's American adviser Goodnow was about to return to China, Yuan instructed him to write an article entitled "On the Republic and the Monarchy," and ordered Lin Bu, counselor of the Legislative Affairs Bureau, to translate it into Chinese and send it to the "Asia Daily" for publication, officially opening the prelude to the restoration of the imperial system.

Immediately afterwards, Yang Du's preparation for the security meeting took the stage to perform.

On 14 August, Yang Du, Sun Yuyun, Yan Fu, Liu Shipei, Li Xiehe, and Hu Ying jointly sent a telegram to the whole country to issue a declaration on the preparation for the establishment of the Preparatory Security Committee, the full text of which is as follows:

"During the Xinhai Revolution in our country, the Chinese people were emotionally aroused. But apart from the barriers of race, regardless of the progress of politics, in a hurry, the formulation of a republic is appropriate for the national conditions? Don't think twice, discuss and advocate, don't dare to criticize; Although the people of deep knowledge know that the hidden dangers are long, they have to be subordinated to avoid the disaster of temporary danger.

Therefore, since the abdication of the Qing Dynasty, the founding of the Republic of China, and even the temporary and formal handover, the dangers experienced by the country and the pain felt by the people can be said by the whole country.

"Recently, the republics of South America, Central America and Central America, such as Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile, etc., all began with partisan disputes and eventually became the scourge of war. Its most disturbing person is Mexico, since the abdication of the throne of Macyass, there is no peace, the leaders of the parties support each other, the victory is to occupy the territory, the defeat is to burn the city, loot and slaughter, everything, to the death of the five presidents side by side, accompany the country in the tragic scene.

"Our country is also a newly created republic in the East, and I am not a lesson from the past? The United States is the first of the world's republics! Dr. Goodnow, a great political scientist of the United States, said, "In the world system, the monarchy is better than the democracy, and China is especially indispensable with the monarchy." Dr. Gu is not only Dr. Gu's words, but there are many enlightened people in various countries, and Dr. Gu discusses the gains and losses of republican politics from the perspective of the people of the Republic, which is deeply aware of it, and it is also said that the relationship between China and the United States cannot be transplanted.

"What does it mean to be patriotic when outsiders think of our country and do not hesitate to speak out as advice to our people, but those who are in our country are anti-committed and do not think of a fundamental solution, or even know that the country is in danger, and they are discredited and staked, and they are afraid to make a statement. What is the meaning of national duty?

"As a Chinese citizen, the survival of China is the life and death of the family, how can I bear to sit and wait for his death!" This association is organized by a special group of comrades to raise the security of a country, to consider the future of the country and the interests of the republic, to learn from each other, and to contribute to the people. The far-sighted people in the country, in view of their foolishness, are willing to come and discuss together, and China is very fortunate! ”

The so-called "people with deep knowledge in the country" in the declaration allude to Yuan Shikai, who defended Yuan Shikai's capriciousness of suddenly agreeing to the republic and suddenly changing to the imperial system with the idea that "he knew that the hidden dangers were long, but he had to be subordinate". Bringing out the great American political scientist Goodnow, citing so many clumsy examples, trying to prove that the monarch is superior to democracy, China cannot but implement a monarchy;

In the end, it was hard and fast to conclude that monarchies were superior to democracies.

On August 23, the Preparatory Committee was formally established on Shijuma Street, with Yang Du as the chairman, Sun Yuyun as the vice chairman, and Yan Fu, Li Xiehe, Hu Ying, and Liu Shipei as the directors.

Yang Du was so enthusiastic about the monarchy, there must have been a motive to become inflammatory, but it cannot be denied that at that time, he knew this in his mind. He is a scholar, and he still has a basic conscience. Yang Du's life is very dramatic, and this former drummer who engaged in restoration and regression finally joined the Communist Party. Give birth. The party became a socialist. Yes. Host. The Righteous One.

The notice to the members of the Preparatory Security Council said: "The purpose of the Association was originally to study the suitability of the monarchy and the democratic state to China, and to focus on the right and wrong of the doctrine and the interests of the facts. ”

After its establishment, in addition to issuing a declaration, the Preparatory Security Council also sent a telegram to the provincial generals, envoys, and various organizations to appoint representatives to Jinjing to discuss the issue of the national system. The whole country knew that this was a trick of the Yuan family's class, and the officials tended to be inflammatory, and in order to maintain their position, they all replied in favor and promised to send representatives to join the association.

Soon, branches were organized in Hunan, Jilin, Anhui, Nanjing and other places; Only the Guangdong branch was named the Collective Thinking Wenyi Association, which was formed by the Liang Shiyi faction and refused to be attached to Yang Du's preparatory committee.

Although the Council informed its members, "The purpose of the Association was originally to study the suitability of the monarchy and the democratic state to China, and to focus on the rights and wrongs of the doctrine and the interests of the facts. ”

However, after the members filled out the membership form, they found that the Preparatory Committee was not a research institute but an action organization, and its action was to "persuade and advance".

For those who volunteered to join the association, they wished that this was an opportunity to "follow the dragon", so when the Preparatory Security Council sent the voting papers to the provincial representatives and asked them to write "Junxian" or "Republic" on the paper, of course everyone unanimously filled in Junxian.

The Preparatory Committee has done a job similar to the Gallup poll in the United States today, but its public opinion is all fake, although it is fake, but it is a fake show.

Next, the CPC issued its second manifesto advocating a "constitutional monarchy".

The manifesto is divided into two parts: seeking justice and rectifying chaos. The part of seeking governance is to "go to the pseudo-republic and implement the true monarchy"; The part that stirs up the chaos says: "Whoever does not have a strong army cannot be in the position of head of state for a day." …… The provisions of the Constitution, the pen and tongue of the legislators, and the gunfire of the guns and cannons shall be null and void. The so-called popular election is actually a military election. ”

The conclusion is that "the law of removing chaos is better than abolishing democracy and establishing a monarch; The best way to seek justice is to abolish the democratic dictatorship and establish a constitutional monarchy. ”