On December 12, the fourth year of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai officially issued an edict to accept the throne:

“…… The rise and fall of the world, the husband is responsible, to give it patriotism, and to be the back of the people? However, the responsibility of 100 trillion is heavy, how to benefit the people's livelihood? How can we revitalize the country? How should we refresh politics and civilization? All kinds of measures, how can Bo De rarely be able to overcome the burden? The previous honest statement was not for humility, but because of the lingering feelings, there are those who cannot themselves, but the stricter the people's blame and the more eager they are, the more they can not excuse themselves! The first creation of Hongji, the matter is heavy, Xun should not be held in a hurry, resulting in negligence, should be punished by the ministries and institutes on the affairs of the management of the detailed preparations, once the preparations are completed, and then the petition for implementation.

"All our citizens should do business with peace of mind, seek common benefits, and never have any doubts, obstruct their duties, all civil and military officials, especially the position of the Jing Gong, strive to ensure law and order, and use a copy of the president to remember the people's livelihood! In addition to sending the letter of recommendation of the general representatives of the National Congress and the national representatives of all provinces and autonomous regions to the government affairs hall, and consulting the general representatives of the National Congress to act on behalf of the Legislative Yuan, the joint declaration will be made known to the public! This order. ”

So President Yuan Da turned into Emperor Yuan Da and became Emperor Yuan Da on December 12 of the fourth year of the Republic of China.

Since that day, there has been a strange phenomenon in Chinese politics, which is ridiculous. It is that there is both a president and an emperor, and it is neither the Republic of China nor the Chinese Empire. It is even more chaotic in official documents, and it makes people wonder what to do.

For example, the Fengtian general Duan Zhigui was the first to be called a minister, and Yuan Shou criticized "improper ministers". According to Zhu Jiabao's recital text**, the line was written "Please ask His Majesty the Emperor to make a sacred review". Yuan also said that the enthronement ceremony had not yet been held, and it was inappropriate to call the ministers His Majesty the emperor.

However, from this time on, Yuan Shikai did not like others to call him president anymore.

Since December 17 of the fourth year of the Republic of China, the "Great Presidential Decree" in Beijing's "** Communiqué" no longer has been seen, and it has been replaced by the "Political Affairs Hall Decree". Exactly who ordered it is still a mystery. Because this decree was issued by Yuan Shikai, who was neither emperor nor president, nor emperor nor president, in these decrees, Yuan neither called himself "I" nor "the great president", but called Yu. Listening to the tone, this should be the tone of the quasi-emperor, probably the transition of history!

It was a strange time for China to have an emperor and a president, and the highest authority was Yuan Zheng. Mansion is the Yuan dynasty again. Not to mention, Yuan Shikai's lackeys can really "keep pace with the times", and came up with a method in the official document program, that is, to abolish the title of president, and avoid using the title of the emperor, and use some vague terms as much as possible, such as "Fengzhi", "Beggar" and so on.

December 12 is the day when Yuan Shikai accepted the throne. On this day, he met with more than 200 civil and military officials above the rank of Jian Ren in Huairentang.

These large and small officials congratulated Emperor Yuan one after another, the civil officials in the east and the military attaches in the west, lined up neatly, bowed to Yuan Xingsan, led by Ruan Zhongshu, the chief of the internal history, and Huang Kaiwen, the grand ceremonial official of the public government.

Yuan Shikai delivered a short speech, saying that his acceptance of the throne was to save the country and the people:

"The great position is in the body, and there will never be a day of rest. Therefore, the emperor is really a diligent and diligent position, and he must not be regarded as prosperous and honorable. And the descendants of the emperors of the past dynasties rarely have good fruits, and all academic professions are not allowed to be free in ordinary times, so the royal family is difficult to develop, and it is not necessary to avoid sacrificing children and grandchildren to save the country and save the people. ”

is obviously hollowing out his mind to be the emperor, but he makes a "helpless" posture of "I don't go to hell, who will go to hell".

In order to become this emperor, Yuan Shikai brought down the parliament and turned the legislature into his royal tool, a doll he used at will. According to his needs, he arbitrarily amends the law and creates public opinion at will. He is not satisfied with becoming a lifelong president, and he wants his children and grandchildren to pass it on. As a result, our country, which has suffered so much from autocracy, has just made a little progress in building a democratic system, and all of it has come to naught.

All this done by Yuan Shikai is certainly unprecedented in the history of China, will it be a last-ditch move? It's hard to say, I'm afraid. Because, this kind of shameless person whose face is thicker than the city wall, who will do anything for his own selfish interests and gain power, I am afraid that it will be difficult to disappear in this world.

The day after Yuan Shikai accepted the throne, that is, on December 13, he issued a "Decree Prohibiting Opposition to the Emperor", the full text of which is as follows:

"The former Qing Dynasty abdicated the throne, the Republic of China was established, and he was entrusted by the people to take over the power of rule, but he was willing to save the country and save the people. Worry and diligence, four years in the Z, every time I think of the difficulty, how ashamed! Recently, the people tend to the monarchy, dislike the republic, and punish the heart of the former and the future, which is a plan for long-term peace and stability. Urgent appeals, letters and telegrams, please change the national system, officials and soldiers, and feel the same enthusiasm. The whole country is united and unstoppable. To give the original status, should have the responsibility of maintaining the national system, repeatedly said, people do not forgive, after the acting legislative Yuan agreed on the National Congress, to solve the national system, the national representatives of the provinces and autonomous regions, unanimously in favor of the constitutional monarchy, the sovereignty of the Republic of China. For the sake of the whole people, how dare you insist on your own views and ignore the sky and see yourself and the people, and the sky listens to the people and the people, and the people will follow what they want. The borrowing place hangs down to the heavens and the sky, and the precepts are very strict. The sky is not visible, but it is seen in the hearts of the people. It is not a contempt to bow, but can be suppressed.

"The general trend of external expeditions, the internal audit is clear, things are different from wishes, and it is extremely terrifying. It is not enough to follow the will of the people, and it is not enough to convince people if it violates the will of the people. Deeply understand the righteousness of the people with likes and dislikes, look around Li Yuan Wangzhi, take care of safety, use Dian Ouyu, because of Sixiao Xiaoren, He Dai is contemptuous, and he is a chaotic person, seeking the private rights of a few parties, and betraying the public will of all the people. or make words and incite, or collude to become traitors, and be willing to be the public enemy of the same country and the same kind of people. He is a traitor in the country, and a loser at home. The country of beetles is a disaster, and everyone abandons it. The national discipline is there, and it is difficult to tolerate it. Only those who enforce the law should be held accountable to avoid harm to the good. The civil and military officials of all provinces have made a serious announcement and strictly inspected it, and there is no negligence in it. This order. ”

It is "an official and a soldier, and he is also sincere about this." The whole country is united, and the momentum is unstoppable", how can we talk about "the civil and military officials of the provinces are earnestly instructed, and they will be closely inspected without the slightest negligence" and "the country is a traitor, and the family is a loser"?

When the president becomes the emperor, what does the vice president do?

After Li Yuanhong entered Beijing from Wuchang and lived in Yingtai, he treated himself with "no wisdom, no ability, and no action".

Since September 6, the fourth year of the Republic of China, he has repeatedly resigned from the posts of vice president and president of the political council, hoping to return to his hometown of Huangpi to recuperate.

Since Li Yuanhong borrowed Yuan Shikai's knife and killed Zhang Zhenwu, the first meritorious person, at least people feel that Li Yuanhong completely took refuge in Yuan Shikai. In fact, Li Yuanhong also defends Yuan Shikai everywhere and everywhere, as long as Yuan Shikai is in need, he will come out to stand up for Yuan Shikai and speak out, which can be said to be the same trend. Even so, Yuan Shikai was still not at ease with it, because Yuan knew Li Yuanhong's energy and influence, and he finally got it out of Hubei and locked it in a cage, of course, he couldn't let the tiger return to the mountain.

Li Yuanhong had planned to flee, but he was unable to do so because of leaked news, knowing that he could not do it without Beijing, and since November, he has resolutely refused to accept the vice president's salary and public funds, asked Yuan Shikai to abolish the vice president's office, and asked the Senate to resign from the post of vice president.

He was like a mute, he didn't speak to anyone, and when the Xinhai Uprising began, he was pushed out involuntarily, and at that time he was still "...... Not...... Hmm......", "Good...... Good...... It's ......", and even those words are gone.

On December 15, Yuan Shikai proclaimed Li Yuanhong the title of Prince of Wuyi, and his decree was as follows.

"The recovery of China, the beginning of Wuchang, the foundation of retrospective creation, the enlightenment of the mountains and forests, all the Xinhai first righteous meritorious personnel, the greatness of the meritorious cause, and the present is magnificent, where the past is rewarded, Yunyi Garon. Admiral Li Yuanhong, the upper reaches of the Jianjie, called on the southeast, the arch to defend the central government, hard work, to protect the overall situation, never turn back, the battle of Ganning, the supervision of the division to prevent suppression, the merit is especially great, according to the twenty-seventh article of the "Covenant Law" special award, in order to show the martyr. Li Yuanhong canonized Prince Wuyi, brought the mountains and rivers, and shared weal and woe, and became famous, and Wang Qi respected. ”

This order shows the insidiousness of Yuan Shikai, he does not deny the merits of those who contributed to the establishment of the Republic of China, so it is not contradictory to whitewash the empire and the Republic of China. He called Li Yuanhong a general, which was to remove his status as vice president; The insertion of the Battle of Ganning was an expression of hostility towards the Kuomintang. Taking the new "Covenant Law" as the basis for sealing the king, on the one hand, means that he has always abided by the "Covenant Law" of the Republic of China, and on the other hand, it also makes Li Yuanhong feel that it is acceptable because it is a glorious ceremony of the Republic of China.

However, Li Yuanhong did not buy it, and after the order of the king was announced, Yuan Shikai sent Ruan Zhongshu, the internal history supervisor, and Shu Qing'a, the adviser of the public government, to spy on Li's attitude in the name of Daohe.

Ruan Zhongshu openly addressed Li as "Wang Ye" and conveyed Yuan Shikai's intention to crown him as deputy marshal and auxiliary general. originally thought that Li, the "mud bodhisattva", would be flattered and grateful. What is unexpected is that this good-tempered person, who has been obedient to the people for some time, is angry.

Indignantly, he spat out six words: "Don't scold me!" ”

On the 19th, Yuan Shikai had another order to persuade Li Yuanhong to accept the title, with the words "Wang Qi only inherits, no fixed words".

One of Li Yuanhong's think tanks persuaded him, hoping that he could protect himself wisely and not lose his big because he was small, so angry that Li Yuanhong never talked to him again.

In order to allow Li Yuanhong to accept the title of Prince Wuyi, Yuan Shikai can be said to have exhausted his thoughts, but Li Yuanhong just didn't accept it, and threatened suicide for the last time. (Regarding the details of this, this book will be described in detail in the second part of "Li Yuanhong", so I will skip it here for the time being)

In short, this great man of the Republic of China, praised by Sun Yat-sen, has gradually been forgotten by people since he left his lair and was almost under house arrest in the capital. Now, in order to defend the republic, the high wind and brightness displayed cannot but be impressed by the world.