On the 25th, Cai Yuanpei and his entourage arrived in Beijing. Yuan Shikai opened the Zhengyang Gate with high etiquette and held a grand welcome ceremony. In the afternoon, as soon as Cai Yuanpei saw Yuan Shikai, he handed over his grandson. Middle. A letter of request for his inauguration and a certificate of election from the Senate to elect him as the provisional president. I implore him to take up his post as soon as possible.

That night, Yuan Shikai appointed Hu Weide, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to hold a grand banquet.

On 27 July, Yuan Shikai invited Cai Yuanpei and his entourage to hold a symposium, and when talking about going to Nanjing to take up a post, he said that he was now dealing with some matters at hand, and when these matters were clear, he would go to Nanjing as soon as possible. The attitude is very good, and I don't insist on leaving Beijing.

Cai Yuanbao and others were very satisfied with Yuan Shikai's attitude, and also praised and affirmed.

Things have come to this point, and Yuan Shikai can no longer insist that he will not leave Beijing. Middle. Mr. Shan said that if Yuan Shikai did not take office in Nanjing, he would not hand over the post of provisional president of the Republic of China for a day. The appointment of Yuan Shikai as president of the Senate is also in Nanjing, and if the Senate makes a new appointment because Yuan Shikai has not been in Nanjing for a long time, wouldn't it be troublesome? There are so many people, and the people are moving to pick you up, no matter how many reasons you have, you can't refuse in one go!

According to the arrangement of the Beijing administration, in order to celebrate the end of the imperial system and the birth of the Republic of China, and to welcome and welcome the mission, Beijing will hold celebrations for three consecutive days, and there will be a lantern parade at night.

However, the day after the celebrations, gunfire rang out in Beijing.

At first, people mistakenly thought it was a celebratory salute, but it soon turned out to be a mutiny.

At 6 o'clock in the evening of February 29, 1912 (the twelfth day of the first month of the lunar calendar), a cannon of the 3rd Town Soldier and two battalions of Zi were denied wages. The chaos was first caused by the artillery team of the ninth standard stationed at Chaoyangmen (also called Qihuamen), and then the baggage team stationed in Lumicang and the garrison of Dongcheng Land Temple in the original coal bombing alley of Shuaifu echoed it and raised troops to make a rebellion.

The artillery team first made chaos outside the Chaoyang Gate, and then the artillery bombardment forced into the Chaoyang Gate, and the baggage team cooperated with it in the city, opened the city gate, and the two teams converged and marched westward, destroying the houses along the way, and plundering countless people.

At the beginning of the night (more than 21:00), the rebel army went to the residence of the special mission, and bluntly said that he only asked for property, Cai Yuanpei and others immediately avoided it, and their clothes and luggage were exhausted. In the second half of the night, there were also riots in the west and north of the city, and bandits and some patrol officers joined in the robbery.

As a result of the mutiny that night, more than 4,000 merchants and civilians were robbed. The three banks of Qing, Jiaotong and Zhili, as well as the mint, were also looted, losing more than 9 million taels of silver. The residence of the Special Envoy was ransacked. Cai Yuanpei and others took refuge in the Liuguo Hotel in Dongjiaomin Lane, and only escaped with their lives.

The timing of this mutiny is so strange that it is easy to think that someone deliberately organized and arranged it to prevent Yuan Shikai from leaving Beijing. Because the slogan shouted by the mutinous soldiers was "Gong Bao is gone, no one cares about us". It is appalling to use such shameless and despicable means to achieve the goal of Yuan Shikai not going to Nanjing to take office.

Most people say that the mutiny was orchestrated by Yuan Shikai. Because, it was the three towns of Beiyang that Yuan Shikai specially transferred to the capital to protect his Cao Kun who held the mutiny.

After the mutiny, someone once saw that Cao Kun went to Yuan Shikai to repay his merits. It didn't matter if there were outsiders or not, they shouted: "Report to the president, last night on the president's secret order, the mutiny has been done." ”

Yuan Shikai was so angry that he scolded Cao Kun: "Nonsense, get out." ”

The mutiny devastated Beijing like that, brought such a catastrophe to the common people, and after the mutiny, no one was held accountable and no one was punished. The police forces that manage public order have gone into hiding, and Lu Jianzhang's military law enforcement office has done nothing. People suspect that Yuan Shikai planned it, and of course there are good reasons.

Some people also believe that this is Yuan Shikai's eldest son Yuan Keding, who colluded with Cao Kun behind Yuan Shikai's back and under the banner of Yuan Shikai.

The main reason for those who hold this viewpoint is that after Cai Yuanpei came to Beijing, he heard and witnessed a lot of situations, and through their mediation, the Nanjing side no longer insisted that the provisional capital should be placed in Nanjing.

has already given in, Yuan Shikai only needs to go to Nanjing once and take the oath of office in the Senate. It is not easy to go to Nanjing once, and there is no need for Yuan Shikai to engage in any mutiny.

Another reason for them was that Yuan Shikai would not be so morally corrupt and mad.

Whether it is Yuan Shikai or Yuan Keding, or someone else's self-made wisdom to help their masters, it is very likely that someone planned this mutiny in advance. But making things so big and causing so much damage is certainly not what anyone wants.

This is normal, many movements and events, once activated, are not within the control of the instigators.

Of course, there is another theory, which is that the simple soldiers made trouble because of long-term arrears, under the guise of preventing Yuan Shikai from going south. Regardless of whether this was planned by Yuan Shikai or not, his purpose of not going to Nanjing to take up his post was achieved.

On 1 March, the mutiny seized Beijing's Xicheng again, and similar things happened in Tongzhou, Baoding, Tianjin, and other places. In response to that sentence, the bandit family.

Britain, Russia, Germany, Japan, and other countries immediately took action, first dispatching troops to Beijing to patrol the thoroughfares, and then transferring troops from other places into Beijing under the pretext of protecting their embassies. It completely confirmed Yuan Shikai's sentence: "Internal strife and external troubles, recursive and mutually restrictive, if Yin Kai leaves, everything will change immediately."

The big and small leaders of the Beiyang Army have been electrified. The government must stay in Beijing, and President Yuan Da cannot leave Beijing to demonstrate to the special envoy who received Yuan Shikai from the south.

Liang Shiyi repeatedly said to Cai Yuanpei and others: "Now that the whole country is advocating revolution, the people's hearts are in turmoil, and it is difficult to maintain order in the north. In a situation like the present, if we fail to dispatch ammunition and pressure in a timely manner and ensure local tranquility, it is very easy to cause the misfortune of foreign countries using troops against our country. ”

Seeing all this, Cai Yuanpei's thinking and coming have changed a lot. In addition, Wang Jingwei vigorously exaggerated it, which made him believe that Yuan Shikai left Beijing, and there must be a big mess in the north.

sent a telegram to the Nanjing Senate: "The Beijing Mutiny has made outsiders extremely excited, and Japan has sent many people to Beijing. If such an incident were to occur again, it would be inevitable for outsiders to move freely. Seeing this, Pei and others gathered to quickly establish a unified government. The government is the most important issue today, and the rest can be accommodated to determine the overall situation. "As a special envoy, he asked the Senate to make concessions on the matter of Yuan Shikai's southward departure.

Yuan Shikai also called Sun Shikai after the mutiny. Middle. Mountain, please be accommodating. Provisional Politics of the South. The government believed that the situation in Beijing was not known how bad it was, and Huang Xing actually proposed to lead troops to the north to help Yuan Shikai suppress the mutiny and protect Yuan Shikai.

Yuan Shikai was really afraid that Huang Xing would lead his troops north, so he hurriedly called back: "This incident has changed, and the soldiers and bandits have all broken away afterwards, and there is absolutely no political opinion." The contemptible people have been severely punishing the military and police for several days to compensate the businessmen and people who have been killed, and now the people's hearts have been set up and order has gradually been restored. …… Don't go far, please stop going. ”

Yuan Shikai also informed the whole country for this reason: "When the envoy arrives, he will decide to go south and organize a coalition government. The government unifies the north and the south and comforts the high hopes of the people. In the face of this change, it is difficult to implement, and the public is fortunate. In addition, the diplomatic pattern in Beijing and the representatives of our country abroad, etc., all want to consolidate the Republic of China, preserve the republic, and build a unified government as soon as possible. There is no other way. Thinking about the national psychology, all sympathy, because of the incident, the southward indefinite, the organization of politics. The house is bound to be slow, and Kaishi is anxious. ”

Immediately afterwards, Beijing businessmen strongly demanded and resolutely opposed the relocation of the capital to Nanjing. Some people went to the welcome representative office to petition, they were really afraid that no one would control this soldier, and they helped Yuan Shikai a lot.

Yuan Shikai suggested that Vice President Li Yuanhong go to Nanjing to take over the power on his behalf, but Li Yuanhong could not go to the post after replying.

In order to do the work of connecting Nanjing, he also sent several people to Nanjing to do the dredging work separately. Personally feeling the strong voice of the people in Beijing, Cai Yuanpei and others, who originally made a special trip to pick up Yuan Shikai, now spoke for Yuan Shikai in turn, and repeatedly made the Nanjing Senate and Sun Shikai. Middle. The work of the mountain.

Grandchild. Middle. Shan felt that it was a loss to persevere, and he could only agree to Yuan Shikai's appointment in Beijing.

On 6 March, the Nanjing Senate passed the unification policy. Resolution on Article 6 of the Provincial Organization Rules.

(1) The Senate sent a telegram to Yuan Shikai and allowed him to take up his post in Beijing.

(2) After Yuan Shikai received the call, he immediately telegraphed the Senate to take the oath.

(3) After receiving the oath-taking telegram, the Senate shall reply to the telegram and notify the whole nation.

(4) After Yuan Shikai takes office, he will plan to be excluded. Business. Total. The names of the ministers of various countries were sent to the Senate for approval.

(5) State. Business. Total. After the appointment of the state clerk, he will receive the matter in Nanjing.

(6) Sun. Middle. Yama resigned on the day he confessed.

On March 7, Sun. Middle. Shandian told Cai Yuanpei to convey to Yuan Shikai that he was officially appointed in Beijing according to the six measures issued by the Senate.

Yuan Shikai, who was in a relaxed manner, sent a telegram to the Senate on 8 March, fully acknowledging the six measures listed and telegraphing the oath.

On 9 March, the Senate sent a telegram to Yuan Shikai, acknowledging his appointment, emphasizing in the telegram: "The Provisional Constitution is more than the Constitution, and it is upheld!" Don't go against public opinion, don't be arbitrary, don't be immoral, don't be talented! ”

It expresses that the Senate is not very relieved of Yuan Shikai, and it can be regarded as the third chapter of the law.

On March 10, 1912, Yuan Shikai was complacent and inaugurated as provisional president in Beijing, and the ceremony was held in the former Qing Foreign Affairs Office in Shida Hutong, Beijing. There were more than 100 participants, "there are those in Western clothes, those in Chinese clothes, those with braids, those without braids, the lamas in red clothes, the newly shaved heads, and so on." British Minister Zhu Erdian also attended the ceremony.

Yuan Shikai wore a military uniform and a long sword, full of energy and complacent.