As early as 9 April, the Government Affairs Hall, together with various ministries, set up a "Ceremony Preparation Office." Since the imperial activities had not yet been officially activated, Yuan Shikai and his henchmen still had some scruples and restrained themselves. Although this body is very busy, the preparatory office is closed.

The director of the preparatory department is Zhu Qichao, director of internal affairs, and the members are Liang Shiyi, Zhou Ziqi, Zhang Zhenfang, Yang Du, Sun Yuyun, Tang Zaili, Ye Gongqiu, Cao Rulin, Jiang Chaozong, Wu Bingxiang, Shi Yu, and Gu Ao. Shen Mingchang, Director of the General Affairs Section, Wang Shitong, Director of the Writing Section, Gu Ao, Director of the Codex Section, Ruan Zhongshu, Director of the Internal Etiquette Section, Guo Zexuan, Director of the Etiquette Section, Yuan Naikuan, Director of the Accounting Section, Chen Yanchang, Director of the Documentation Section, and Zhang Shiyu, Director of the Security Section.

The preparatory office for the ceremony worked secretly for three months, and it was not until December 19 that Yuan Shikai officially ordered it to be officially released.

After the official opening of the preparatory office for the ceremony, the first task was to change the Taihe Hall to the Carrier Hall.

Originally, the Taihe Hall has always been the place where Yuan served as the president's office, and the columns in the hall were completely painted red, among which the eight pillars were painted red gold, decorated with dragon clouds.

Then the Zhonghe Hall was renamed the Liyuan Palace, and the Baohe Hall was renamed the Jianji Palace.

The emperor's throne back is carved with a dragon everywhere, at a cost of 400,000 yuan, and the yellow satin embroidered dragon is the same.

There is a carved dragon in front of the throne, and there are three ancient tripods and three ancient furnaces in front of the case.

Behind the throne is furnished with a nine-sided carved dragon inlaid treasure screen, and the left and right sides of the screen are a pair of sun and moon treasure fans.

The emperor's dragon robe was made by Rui Fuxiang, the largest clothing store in Beijing, and there were two sets, one for worshipping the heavens and one for ascending to the pole. The dragon robe is woven with red gold thread, and the whole body is decorated with pearls and inlaid with diamonds. In addition, there is a crown of the flat sky, which is vertically rotated all around, and each spin hangs a string of pearls, and the crown eaves are decorated with a large pearl.

The imperial seal of the new dynasty is four inches square, engraved with the words "born of the mandate of heaven, the history is boundless"; Five gold seals.

Yuan designated red as the representative color of the new dynasty in place of yellow in the Xun Qing dynasty.

As for the cost of Hong Xian's claim to be emperor, according to the peace clause listed by the Protector Army, the amount was about 60 million yuan. There are about 30 million accounts. There is no detailed list of those used in secret.

The origin of this expense is the loan, the National Salvation Reserve, various taxes, opium, etc.

According to the investigation, 30 million was used, and it was originally planned that 20 million would be used as the special fund for the ceremony, and 10 million would be used for the army.

Since the beginning of the defense of the state, the army will be rewarded with 10 million yuan of war expenses. Of the 20 million in the preparation of the ceremony, there are still more than 2 million, which is said to have been divided among the people in the preparation of the ceremony.

The cost of 20 million yuan is divided into three major items: first: the funds of the Security Council. Among them, about 23 million were spent on the campaign, about 300,000 yuan for the newspaper fee, about 300,000 yuan for the purchase of the articles of celebrities and scholars and the opening expenses of the provincial branches, the gifts and telegram fees of the delegates, including the expenses of Yang Du and Sun Yuyun, and the remuneration of the personnel of the preparatory office for the ceremony.

Second: the cost of the construction of the three halls. Some say that the use is more than 2.7 million, but some say that it is less than 2 million, which is handled by Yuan Naikuan.

Third: Ascending the pole fee: (1) Imperial supplies, such as dragon robes, sacrificing to the sky, ascending to the pole, etc.

For example, the dragon robe is all woven with real gold silk and embedded with jewelry, while the Dadong beads are taken from the Qing indoor warehouse, which is not yet included. A royal seal jade, worth 120,000 yuan. Five gold imperial treasures have been made, the so-called emperor's treasure, the big one weighs 50 catties, the small one weighs 30 catties, and is worth 600,000 yuan. and 400,000 thrones. In addition, borrowing the Luan driver of the Qing room, the repair cost also cost tens of thousands.

(2) Ceremony fee: For example, the crown uniform fee for the teachers and students who practice Chinese music for the pole, the crown costume and the court wat fee for the staff of the Yamen, and the laying fee of the Confucian Temple (according to all the tables and tents in the Confucian Temple, the original yellow satin, because the new dynasty is still red, all are changed to red satin, and the Dacheng Hall and the two houses are all new systems). There is also the founding commemoration of the People's Republic of China, the Central Park and the Qianmen area, but in terms of electric lights and lantern archways, there are more than 100,000 yuan in three days. As for the various national flags and lanterns, it is still outside, so this item is about one or two million.

(3) Organ fees: There are more than 400 staff in the preparatory department, and half of them are full-time. The salary is as generous as the ministry. In addition, there are more than 1,000 people who borrowed from the Qing Dynasty and the praise of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, each with a daily salary of two yuan, and the office houses are equipped with new hot water pipes to keep out the cold.

This high cost is undoubtedly worse for the poor finances of the Republic of China.

The national flag of the "Yuan Dynasty" is ready to add a red sun to the five-color flag, which means that "the five ethnic groups wear one monarch together".

On the 21st, Emperor Yuan rewarded his ministers, and specially named Long Jiguang, Zhang Xun, Feng Guozhang, Jiang Guidi, Duan Zhigui, and Ni Sichong as first-class princes, and Tang Qianming, Li Chun, Lu Rongting, Zhu Rui, Zhao Qi, Chen Eun, Tang Jiyao, Yan Xishan, and Wang Zhanyuan as first-class marquis. Zhang Xiluan, Zhu Jiabao, ** Qi, Tian Wenlie, Jin Yunpeng, Yang Zengxin, Liu Jianzhang, Meng Enyuan, Qu Yingguang, Qi Yaolin, Cao Kun, and Yang Shande are first-class uncles. Zhu Qinglan, Zhang Guangjian, Li Houji, and Liu Xianshi are first-class sons. Xu Shiying, Qi Yang, Lu Tiaoyuan, Cai Rukai, Duan Shuyun, Ren Kecheng, Long Jianzhang, Wang Yitang, Shen Jinjian, He Zonglian, Zhang Huaizhi, Pan Yuying, Long Jinguang, Chen Bingkun, and Lu Yongxiang are first-class men.

On the 22nd, Zhao Bingjun was posthumously awarded the first-class loyal Xianggong, and Xu Baoshan was posthumously awarded the first-class Zhao Yongbo (and Zhao Bingjun was posthumously awarded as the secretary of state, and Song Jiaoren was posthumously awarded the secretary of state). There are 128 knights, and more than 70 first- and second-class light car captains.

Before being knighted, Nei Shi Yi put a large list of provincial generals, patrol envoys, army envoys, town guard envoys, division and brigade commanders on the "imperial case". Emperor Yuan personally used a red pen to point out specific circles according to the name, such as the five circles are dukes, the first circle is barons, and so on.

On the 22nd, President Yuan issued an edict: "Eunuchs will be banned forever, and female officials will be used in the inner court" to show that his new dynasty will spit out the old and embrace the new.

On the 31st, another decree was issued. The name of the year was announced, and the next year was changed to the first year of "Hongxian". Since New Year's Day, the Presidential Palace has been renamed Xinhua Palace, the Presidential Office has been changed to the Reception Office, and the Presidential Palace Security Command Office has been changed to the Ouchi General Command Office.

Yuan Shikai is the president and the emperor, which is really nondescript. Because the emperor also has a ready-made plan, that is, the Xuantong in the Forbidden City, people's habits and concepts are not easy to change.

Although, in the era of the Republic of China, everyone thought that Yuan Shikai was the most powerful figure and a big man, but when it comes to the emperor, everyone thinks of Xuantong, although this is a deposed emperor. As the old Chinese saying goes: There are no two days in the sky, and there are no two emperors in the people!

To say a few digressions, in the sixties of the last century, Pu Yi, who had become a citizen of New China, was recognized one day shopping in a shopping mall. As soon as he saw this former "True Dragon Son", a large number of people immediately knelt down in front of him. Pu Yi himself was at a loss, and he didn't understand it, saying what age is this, how can it still be like this? This shows how powerful this tradition is.

When the emperor was not recognized, this made Yuan Shikai very uncomfortable, and when he decided to accept the throne, he wanted to crown Puyi as Prince Yide. But when this idea was lingering and brewing, it happened that the pigtailed handsome Zhang Xun called to ask to save the Qing Emperor's title and treat the old monarch as a guest emperor, so Yuan Shikai's idea could only be stillborn.

The most speculative of the Manchu nobles was Pu Lun, who had been the president of the Senior Administrative Yuan.

When the imperial system was brewing, Yuan Shikai asked the Qing court to hand over the honor guard, give up the inner and hand over the imperial seal, etc., which was undoubtedly an earthquake for the current small court of the Qing Dynasty.

Xunqing's family, Concubine Jin, convened Shixu and others to hold a "pre-imperial meeting" of the small imperial court, and everyone hated Yuan Shikai to the bone and marrow, scolding him for Dong Zhuo, Cao Cao, and Sima Yi. However, scolding and scolding, the problem cannot but be solved.

Some people advocate that the Xunqing Dynasty should take a blind attitude towards the transformation of the state system of the Republic of China into an empire. But for Yuan Shikai who wanted to occupy the Nestle dove and enter the palace, he couldn't resist. Because the country has been ceded to him, what palace is there to talk about? After discussing it for a long time, I didn't come up with a reason.

At the meeting, Pu Lun suggested that he must clearly express his attitude, immediately move to the Summer Palace, give the Forbidden City to Yuan Shikai, and send the honor guard and the imperial seal of the country in exchange for Yuan Shikai to maintain the Qing emperor and give preferential treatment to the Qing family.

The princes and widows who were loyal to Xunqing were very dissatisfied with Pu Lun's attitude, but there was no better way. Therefore, it was decided to send Pu Lun as the representative of the Qing family to make it clear to the Senate that the Qing family agreed with Yuan Shikai's attitude as emperor.

In his message to the Senate on 16 December, he said:

"On this day, in December of the Xinhai year, the Emperor of the Emperor of Xiaodingjing was entrusted, entrusting the President of the present day to organize the republic with full powers**, and the people elected the President of the present President to supervise the rule, and the Republic of China was established. Therefore, the Legislative Yuan reformed the national system according to the people's petition, and passed the "National Assembly Act" to promulgate, and now the national representatives of the whole country decide on the constitutional monarchy, and recommend the present president as the emperor of the Chinese Empire. ”

On December 18, Yuan Shikai reciprocated the favor and issued a decree saying:

"Now that the state has been decided by the people to establish a constitutional monarchy, all the preferential conditions of the Qing dynasty are set forth in the Covenant and shall never be changed; In the future, when the constitution is formulated, the constitution should be attached and continue to be in force! ”

Yuan also wrote a handwritten oath to ensure that the preferential conditions for clearing the house would not change. At the same time, in order to repay Pu Lun's support, he was appointed as the president of the Senate to replace Li Yuanhong, who had not been working in the hospital for a long time and resolutely resigned. At the same time, he gave Pu Lun "the prince's money" to fulfill Pu Lun's long-cherished wish to be crowned king.

The small court of the Xunqing Dynasty did not move to the Summer Palace. Because Yuan Shikai didn't dare to persecute his former lord too much, he didn't take the imperial seal, because this imperial seal was a combination of Manchu and Han languages, and it was useless for the "Chinese Empire", but he just took the emperor Luan Zhan away.