Yuan Shikai was afraid that the great powers would not be satisfied, and cause a major incident. On the afternoon of 9 November, diplomats were sent to the legations of Britain, Russia, and Italy on 4 November to inform them of the situation in an unconventional manner.

He said: The matter of the imperial system will be postponed for the time being, and it will not be implemented within this year.

It's already the end of the year, and there are actually not many days left in the year, which is really self-deception.

At the same time, the envoys of the four countries were invited to come to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at noon on 11 July, and Lu Zhengxiang, Minister of Foreign Affairs, gave an official reply.

In his reply, Lu Zhengxiang said that in addition to repeating the words of the four countries in the previous time, he said that it was Chinese politics. The government has absolutely no intention of speeding or rushing to change the national system.

He said: "As far as the number of votes set in each province is concerned, more than half of the votes in favor of it are a change in the national system, and it has long been the will of the majority of the people, which can be proved by this." Wei Zheng. After deliberation between the government and the various ministries and the various organs of the government, it is advisable to set another date for the ceremony to be held on a change of motion, once it has been decided by the people.

"It is a postponement of the public opinion, although it is not what it likes to hear, but in politics. There is a reason why we can't afford not to delay. Moreover, there seems to be quite a lack of people who are hiding outside China's governing power, hoping to take advantage of this opportunity to incite and slander and attack those who advocate changing the national system. Even the earnest advice of the four countries was also instigated by this, so it was imperative to postpone the implementation. However, if there are any accidents, the Chinese government. The government is confident that it has the ability to deal with it completely at any time. ”

These replies were very vague, and he always emphasized Yuan Zheng. The government is enough to quell all opposition. This naturally reassured the powers. He still repeatedly sent notes to Yuan, demanding that the change of national system be mitigated. However, Yuan Shikai was afraid of long nights and dreams, on the one hand, he did not want to slow down the pace of becoming emperor, and on the other hand, he did not want to stiffen the relations with several countries, so he hoped that his good friend, the British Minister to China, Zhu Erdian, could come out to help. In particular, we should do the work of Japan, because Japan is the most strongly opposed.

Zhu Erdian was embarrassed, but he still came up with an idea. He believed that China was neutral to the European war at the time, while Japan was an ally of Great Britain and jointly declared war on Germany. Under such circumstances, it would be inconvenient for Britain to oppose any action taken by Japan against China. The only way to change this situation is for China to enter the war immediately, join the side of the Entente, and have an alliance with Britain, at which point Britain will be able to talk.

In doing so, Zhu Erdian also fulfilled his diplomatic duties and took the opportunity to persuade China to join the Entente.

Zhu Erdian gave Yuan Shikai a formal reply to this plan through Lu Zhengxiang, and this plan was also approved by the French and Russian envoys to China.

On 20 November, Zhu Erdian again asked Lu Zhengxiang about the results, and Lu said: "The issue can be discussed, but Britain, Japan, France, Italy, and Russia have raised the advice on the issue of imperialism against China. ”

This contact between Lu and Zhu was revealed by the US newspapers, and Japan was greatly dissatisfied, so Zhu Erdian was quite embarrassed and issued a statement denying the incident, and the Beijing Foreign Ministry also vigorously denied it.

Zhu Erdian deeply blamed the Chinese diplomatic authorities for not being able to keep diplomatic secrets, and the British Foreign Office had news of Zhu Erdian's replacement.

Soon after, American newspapers published that China and Britain were secretly negotiating an alliance on the condition that Britain would be responsible for persuading the great powers to recognize China and restore its imperial system.

This news angered the Japanese and caused panic in the British**. In order to ease Japan's contradictions, British Foreign Minister Grey instructed British Ambassador to Japan Greene to visit Japanese Vice-Foreign Minister Bihara on 27 November, guaranteeing that Britain would never conclude an alliance between China and Britain without an agreement with Japan.

Japanese Foreign Minister Ishii has repeatedly stated that no agreement can be concluded on the China issue without Japan's consent or participation. As for the question of Chinese imperialism, it will be considered after the end of the European war.

Yuan Shikai and Zhu Erdian had a secret conversation, and the secret conversation record has the word "strict" written by Yuan himself, and the following is the secret conversation record of Yuan and Zhu:

Zhu asked: "The day when the constitutional monarchy will be implemented is not far away!" ”

The President replied:

"In recent years, the provincial generals, envoys, and civil and military officials have all said that they are not constitutional monarchies and cannot consolidate the foundation of the country; As for today, the whole country is in favor of it, and the only way to obey it is to obey the will of the people. ”

Zhu said: "If there is no civil strife in the country, it can be implemented at any time; This is China's internal affair, and no one else can interfere in it. ”

The President said: "Civil strife cannot be extinguished, but it will not be expanded. Yu can guarantee the responsibility of law and order. However, I am very anxious about external issues, and I don't know how my eastern neighbor will behave. The security of the mainland can be guaranteed. To the three eastern provinces and Mongolia, it is difficult to predict. There are a lot of Japanese people in this place, and if a Japanese person is killed, regardless of whether the Chinese are the first offenders or the Japanese are the first offenders, the Japanese can take advantage of this to create an opportunity. ”

Zhu said: "Japan's advice may be a routine article, and it seems difficult to say that it is difficult to take advantage of the time. ”

The president said: "Uncle Okuma told my minister to Japan that President Yuan should rest assured that President Yuan would do everything regarding constitutional monarchy, and that Japan would be willing to help with everything." From this point of view, it seems that on the surface, Japan no longer pursues the fisherman's policy. Monarchical democracy is based on the will of the people and goes against it. If the republican form of government is still in place, the president can rest and retire at the end of his term; If it is a monarchy, the responsibility is too heavy to be overcome. ”

Zhu said: "Looking at the current countries, regardless of monarchy and democracy, there is no one as heavy and great as the power of a great president. Regardless of the power of the British Emperor, that is, the power of the German Emperor, the Emperor of Japan, and the President of the United States, it is not as good as that. ”

The President said: "Your minister's argument is quite reasonable, and it is fair that the rest of the current position bears 80 percent of the responsibility, and the ministries share 20 percent, and it stands to reason that the balance should bear 20 percent, and the ministries should bear 80 percent, which is fair." ”

Zhu said: "If others take on such a heavy responsibility, sleep and food will be wasted." ”

The president said: "Yu Si is the emperor himself, but he has only been the emperor for a few years, but he has a lot to do with my children and grandchildren. Chinese history, princes and grandchildren, as the years go by, there is no reason why they are not weak, and they can also be worried. ”

Zhu said: "Children and grandchildren have their own children and grandchildren, why bother about a hundred years from now!" If you can establish a good family law and make it more knowledgeable, then the prince will also prosper, and the children of the common people will also prosper; If you abandon your family to learn from the law, where will you get started? ”

The president said: "Those who advocated a republic in those days did not know what a republic was, and those who advocate a monarch today do not know what a monarch is, and most of the people only have the absolute monarchs of the Han, Tang, Ming, and Qing dynasties imprinted in their minds. ”

Zhu said: "The republican form of government, the Chinese have not studied it, and the monarchy may know a little. On the day of the Xinhai Revolution, the Chinese people were obsessed with the republic and used this slogan to overthrow the Manchu Qing Dynasty. It was the president of the time who thought that a constitutional monarchy was close to the ideal of the Chinese people. Erdian and the American envoy Jia Leheng also advocated a constitutional monarchy, that is, the former American envoy to Beijing Rou Keyi also repeatedly said. During the discussion between the north and the south, Tang Shaoyi was moved by the moment, did not observe the country's 10,000-year plan, and presided over the republic, which could not be described as a mistake. ”

Japan was the most serious when the Great Powers exercised pressure on the question of Chinese imperialism, and it has already been mentioned that Japan oppressed Yuan individually or jointly.

After Yuan Shikai formally accepted the imperial throne on 12 December, the Japanese minister sent a separate note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 13 December, condemning China's insincerity in replying to the imperial question and demanding a satisfactory reply by 15 December.

On 15 July, when Minister Zhiyi, together with the ministers of Britain, France, Russia, and Italy, went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue a second warning, the Japanese envoy spoke on behalf of the other countries, saying: "In the past few countries, China has pledged to do its best and to guarantee full responsibility for public order in China. Therefore, Japan and Shikoku have resolutely adopted a surveillance attitude towards China. ”

This is the combined pressure of the great powers, and its method is to change from exhortation to warning, from spectators to surveillance.

As early as October 12, Yuan sent Lu Zongyu, the minister to Japan, to celebrate the coronation of the Japanese emperor as a representative of China. At this time, in order to curry favor with Japan, Zhou Ziqi, the chief minister of agriculture and commerce, was specially sent as a special envoy to Japan to present a gift to Japan, and on behalf of Yuan, he presented the emperor with the rank of president. When Zhou's appointment was announced, Yuan Teh promoted Zhou to the post of secretary of state to show his solemnity, and sent Cao Rulin, vice minister of foreign affairs who specializes in foreign affairs with Japan, to be treated as a deputy envoy with the treatment of "Yitong special appointment." Everything shows that relations with Japan are listed as the most important.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing sent a telegram to Lu Zongyu, minister to Japan, to inform Japan of China's dispatch of a special envoy, and to agree on the itinerary of the envoy in advance, and it was expected to arrive in Tokyo on 24 January in the fifth year of the Republic of China. After Lu Zongyu contacted the Japanese side, it was learned that Japan would receive the Chinese envoy as a prince.

On the 14th day of the first month of the fifth year of the Republic of China, the Japanese minister to China, Nichi Zhiyi, paid a visit to the Japanese embassy for Zhou Ziqi's special envoy, and the guests and hosts were very happy. Unexpectedly, the next day, the Japanese Legation suddenly called the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and said: It had received an urgent telegram from Tokyo and asked Special Envoy Zhou to slow down.

Lu Zongyu also sent a telegram report: The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified the Chinese minister to ask Special Envoy Zhou to extend the trip, but he did not accept the grand medal because the Chinese republican system was about to be abolished, and the grand medal could only be displayed in the museum.

When the news of Zhou Ziqi's visit to Japan circulated, Britain, the United States, France, Russia, and other relevant countries all attached great importance to this matter, believing that there must be unusual secret negotiations brewing between China and Japan, so they engaged in spy activities in various ways in an attempt to expose this mystery.

The French minister to China, Kang Yi, through his Chinese clerk Fang Jingsheng, bought Yuan's "inner court" Qu Keming. Qu Keming's mother is Yuan's old maid, so Qu has been by Yuan's side since he was a child, Fang Li lured Qu Keming with a key, secretly opened Yuan's confidential document box, and quietly stole out the draft of the Sino-Japanese secret agreement and handed it to Fang Jingsheng, Fang took it back to the embassy to Kang Yi, Kang Yi took pictures and stored it, and the original was still sent by Qu Keming to the restoration office.

Somehow, the secret pact was revealed in a New York newspaper. As a result, the secret Sino-Japanese negotiations became public, and they became a major international event. This, of course, is a serious blow to both Yuan Shikai and Japan. The envoys of Britain, the United States, Russia, France, and Italy in China jointly raised questions to the Japanese cabinet, and the Japanese authorities were greatly embarrassed.