Chapter 6 Chapter 2 My Childhood

Ascension and abdication On the evening of October 20th of the lunar calendar in the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu, there was a great chaos in Prince Chun's Mansion.Here, old Fujin fainted before listening to the edict brought back by the newly installed regent.The eunuchs of the royal family and the women's servants were busy pouring ginger juice, passing on ginger juice to doctors, and passed on to doctors. They were in a hurry, and there came the cries of children and the voices of adults coaxing and persuading.The regent ran in and out in a hurry, greeted the minister of military aircraft and the inner prison who came with him for a while, and asked someone to dress the child. At this time, he forgot that old Fujin was unconscious, and he was called in to see old Fujin after a while. I also forgot that the Minister of Military Aircraft is still waiting to send the future emperor into the palace.After a long commotion like this, old Fujin came to his senses and was escorted inside to rest, where the future emperor was still resisting the decree, even crying and beating to prevent the eunuch from coming to hug him.The inner eunuch smiled wryly to see what the Minister of Military Aircraft ordered, but the Minister of Military Aircraft was helpless waiting for the regent to discuss a solution, but the regent would only nod and could do nothing

I have no memory of the situation that the old man at home told me.The old people said that the chaos was finally ended thanks to the wet nurse.Seeing that I was crying pitifully, the nurse took out milk to feed me, and only then did I stop my crying.This remarkable move inspired the helpless gentlemen.The Minister of Military Aircraft and my father discussed it, and decided that my wet nurse would carry me with me. When we arrived in Zhongnanhai, I would be handed over to the internal prison to carry me to see the Empress Dowager Cixi. I can vaguely remember this meeting with Cixi.That was the impression created by a strong stimulus.I remember that I was suddenly among many strangers, and there was a gloomy curtain in front of me, revealing a hideously thin face, that was Empress Dowager Cixi.It is said that as soon as I saw Cixi, I burst into tears and couldn't stop shaking.Cixi asked someone to bring me candied haws, but I threw them to the ground, crying repeatedly: "Mom!!"Momo!This made Cixi very unhappy, and said: This child is really awkward, take it somewhere to play with!

On the third day after I entered the palace, Empress Dowager Cixi passed away, and more than half a month later, on the ninth day of the 11th month of the lunar calendar, the enthronement ceremony was held.This grand ceremony was spoiled by my crying. The grand ceremony was held in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.Before the grand ceremony, according to the regulations, you should first accept the bows of the ministers leading the guards in the Hall of Zhonghe, and then go to the Hall of Supreme Harmony to receive congratulations from civil and military officials.I was tossed about by them for a long time, and the weather was extremely cold that day, so when they carried me to the Hall of Supreme Harmony and put me on the high and large throne, it had already exceeded my patience limit.My father knelt sideways under the throne on one knee, supported me with both hands, and kept me from moving, but I struggled and cried, "I won't stand here!"I want to go home!I don't stay here!I want to go home!My father was sweating profusely.Civil and military officials knelt and kowtowed nine times, endlessly, and my cries became louder and louder.My father had no choice but to coax me and say: Don't cry, don't cry, it's almost over, it's almost over!

After the ceremony, all civil and military officials whispered: How can it be said that it is almost over?What do you mean by saying you want to go home?All the discussions are dejected, as if they have found an ominous sign. Later, in some note sketches, it was added that I was frightened and cried amidst the sound of bells and drums, and that my father, in anxiety, took a toy tiger to coax me, and then he stopped crying.In fact, because the grand ceremony was in the period of national mourning, Dan Bi's great music was only set up but not played, let alone the so-called toy cloud.But it is true that the ministers were all in a state of panic because of those two sentences.Some books also said that in less than three years, the Qing Dynasty was really over, and those who wanted to go home really returned home. It can be seen that the words spoken at that time were prophecies, and the ministers had long been inspired by these two sentences.

In fact, the real induction does not come from two sentences that are accidental and unintentional.If you look at the historical records at that time, it is easy to understand where the worries of civil and military officials came from.Just look at the summary of major events in the year before my ascension to the throne in "Qingjian Compendium": Thirty-three years of Guangxu, autumn and July.The Qinzhou Revolutionary Party in Guangzhou rose up and captured Yangcheng, and Xuan was defeated. Winter November.Sun Wen and Huang Xing jointly attacked Zhennanguan in Guangxi (now renamed Munanguan), defeated it and retreated.Instruction: Students are prohibited from interfering in politics and speaking at meetings.

Thirty-four years, the first month of spring.Guangdong seized Japanese ships, smuggled arms, and released them with their lives. March.Sun Wen and Huang Xing sent their party to attack the mouth of the Yunnan River, conquered it, and retreated in defeat. In winter and October, Xiong Chengji, an officer of the Anqing Artillery Battalion, revolted and was defeated. This "Compendium of Qingjian" was compiled during the Republic of China, and the historical materials based on it are mainly the archives of the Qing government.From the archives of that period, I also saw a lot of words of "defeat and retreat".The more such characters there are, the more the storm intensifies.This was the worry of those princes and ministers at that time.In the Xuantong Dynasty, things became more and more obvious.Later, when Yuan Shikai was appointed, some people were even more worried, thinking that there was a revolutionary party outside and Yuan Shikai inside, and all the omens that had appeared in history were concentrated in the Xuantong Dynasty.

I was the emperor for three years in a daze, and then abdicated in a daze.What happened in the last days impressed me the most: One day in the East Nuan Pavilion of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the Empress Dowager Longyu sat on the kang by the south window, wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, and wiped the red felt on the ground in front of her. Kneeling on the mat was a stout old man with tear-stained face.I was sitting on the right side of the queen mother, very puzzled, and didn't understand why the two adults were crying.At this time, there was no one else in the hall except the three of us, and it was very quiet. The fat old man was talking loudly while twitching his nose, and I didn't understand what he was saying.I found out later that this fat old man was Yuan Shikai.This was the only time I saw Yuan Shikai, and it was also the last time Yuan Shikai saw the Queen Mother.If I am not wrong, then it was at this time that Yuan Shikai directly raised the issue of abdication to the Empress Dowager Longyu.After this summoning, Yuan Shikai excused the Donghuamen accident [1] and never entered the palace again.

After the Wuchang Uprising, all regions responded one after another. The Manchu commander could not command the new army in the Beiyang towns who were resisting the militia.Yuan Shikai, who was up for grabs, had Xu Shichang, a confidant of the co-organizing minister in the cabinet, who provided information and had a good understanding of the market in Beijing. When the imperial envoy was in full control of the military and political power, he received the imperial decree in Zhangde, ordering the Beiyang army to attack the civilian army.After recapturing Hanyang, he stood still and went to Beijing, where he was summoned by the Queen Mother Longyu and the regent.

Yuan Shikai at this time was different from Yuan Shikai in the past. Not only did he have military and political power, but he also had something even more rare. That is, foreigners also became interested in him, and the revolutionary party also had his friends.After the Beiyang Army captured Hanyang, the British Minister Zhu Erdian received instructions from his own government and told him that the British had developed a very friendly feeling towards Yuan [2].Soon after Yuan arrived in Beijing, the British Consul General in Wuchang was ordered by Zhu Erdian to mediate the war between the civilian army and the Qing army.Yuan Shikai's friends in the revolutionary party are mainly Wang Jingwei, who failed to assassinate the regent.After Wang Jingwei was arrested, he was well received by Prince Su Shanqi.My father said in his chronology that this was for reassurance, but it wasn't.A relative of mine later told me that at that time a Japanese named Nishida Koichi told Shanqi through his Japanese adviser relationship that the Japanese did not agree to kill Wang Jingwei.Under the pressure of several aspects, the regent did not dare to attack Wang Jingwei.After the Wuchang incident, Wang Jingwei was released, and he immediately seized the opportunity to make friends with relatives and dignitaries like Shanqi.When Yuan Shikai arrived in Beijing, the two hit it off immediately, and Wang Jingwei soon became good friends with Yuan's eldest son Keding, and thus became Yuan's counselor, and at the same time became a bridge between Yuan Shikai and certain figures in the militia.News from the civilian army spread to Yuan Shikai through this, and the constitutionalists gradually expressed their favor for him.Yuan Shikai had many new friends, plus a group of old friends both at home and abroad and inside and outside the court, and he became the person who knew the most about the situation in all aspects and had the right and the right.Less than a month after Yuan Shikai returned to Beijing, he played a trick in front of Longyu through Yikuang, squeezed out the regent, and returned to the mansion.Then, in the name of supporting the military, Longyu's internal money was squeezed out, and at the same time, the relatives and nobles were forced to lose money to support the army.The relatives and nobles felt the pain of the skin, and the financial resources of the royal family fell into a state of exhaustion. So far, the three powers of politics, military affairs, and finance have all been in Yuan's hands.Then, Yuan instructed Lu Zhengxiang, the minister in Russia, and other ministers stationed abroad to call Qing Dynasty, asking the emperor to abdicate.I found out the date of this secret memorial, which was exactly the day of the meeting with Yuan mentioned above, that is, November 28.From this, I understood why the Queen Mother kept crying afterwards.The most frightening thing for the Empress Dowager in the secret memorandum was these few words: The navy is completely rebellious, and the natural danger is gone. How can we use all the troops in the six towns to defend Beijing and Tianjin?Although it follows the Zhou family's relocation, there is no compatible place.There are those who are engaged in mediation in the friendly countries of the East and the West. They think that I am only doing political reforms. If they wait for a long time to argue, they will inevitably interfere.As a result, the civilian army will have good and bad feelings towards the imperial court.Reading the history of the French Revolution, if you can follow the public opinion early, there will be no leftovers in the descendants of Louis.

The Empress Dowager Longyu was completely frightened and fainted, and hurriedly convened an imperial meeting to call the relatives and nobles of the clan to make up their minds.When the princes heard the content of the secret rehearsal and Yuan Shikai's threatening words, what shocked them first was not the story of France, but Yuan Shikai's sudden change.Originally, during the peace negotiations between the People's Republic of China and the Qing Dynasty, Yuan Shikai always opposed the implementation of a republic and firmly advocated a constitutional monarchy.In a letter to Liang Dingfen, he once expressed his loyalty to the Qing Dynasty, saying that he would never disappoint the orphans and widows (referring to me and the queen mother).Not long after he arrived in Beijing, on the day when he issued an edict allowing people to cut their braids freely, on the way out of Sanchao, Shixu pointed to the braids on the back of his head and asked with a smile: Brother, what do you plan to do about this?He also replied solemnly: Brother, don't worry, I still cherish it very much, and always try to preserve it!Therefore, some people who expressed distrust of Yuan Shikai were very happy, saying that Yuan Gongbao would never become Cao Cao!Negotiations between the Democratic and Qing parties reached an agreement in principle to submit the issue of the state system to the interim Congress for a vote. The membership, time, and location of the Congress remained unresolved due to the insistence of the Qing.In the midst of the dispute, a provisional government was established in Nanjing, and Sun Yat-sen was elected as the interim president. On the second day, Yuan Shikai suddenly withdrew Tang Shaoyi's qualification as representative, and instead negotiated directly with the representatives of the militia by telegram.The issue of the state system was still far from being resolved, and the Yuan cabinet suddenly asked the Qing emperor to abdicate, which naturally shocked the royal family.

It turned out that Yuan Shikai had the support of foreigners at this time, and he had many friends in the militia to the extent that he could influence the actions of the militia.Those former constitutionalists who became revolutionaries already understood that Yuan Shikai was their hope; this hope was later infected with some naive republicans.Therefore, this resolution was made on the side of the militia: as long as Yuan supports the republic, the republic will soon succeed; as long as Yuan is willing to work hard, Yuan can be invited to be the first president.This is exactly in line with Yuan's ideal, not to mention that around the abdicated regent, there is still a hostile force, no matter whether he wins or loses to the revolutionary party, this force will not spare him.He decided to accept this condition, but he still had to think about how to clear the room.At this time, he suddenly heard that Sun Yat-sen had assumed the post of interim president in Nanjing, and he couldn't help feeling anxious.His confidant assistant Zhao Bingjun later revealed: Xiang Cheng was originally ambitious and made good use of the opportunity.However, although he has a lot of troops, he tried his best to avoid Cao Mengde's deceitful name, so he used the northern forces to contact the south, and on the other hand, he used the southern forces to threaten the north.At the beginning, Xiang Cheng thought that the south was easy to deal with, and he was quite partial to the south. After the election of the president in the south, he suddenly realized that the north and the south were two families. He did not want the power of the south to grow.He decided to deal with the Qing Dynasty specifically, first coercing the relatives and princes, then the Qing Emperor, and then the Empress Dowager, and speculated on her psychology, baiting her with preferential treatment conditions, so as to announce her abdication and organize a provisional government with full power.This is the truth of Yuan Shikai's sudden change. Although change is change, if you want to see the fierce face directly from the face of Yuan Shikai who is good at weeping, it will be impossible.The last time he met the Queen Mother, he ran into a bomb from a reckless revolutionary at Donghua Gate, and gave him an excuse not to enter the palace again, but his assistants Zhao Bingjun, Hu Weide and others came out to deal with the royal family.The parts that he himself was not comfortable playing were played by them. But change is change after all.Those who believed in Yuan Shikai changed their views again. Who said Yuan Shikai was not Cao Cao? Those who have always insisted on this statement are Gong Wang Puwei, Su Wang Shanqi, Duke Zaize and others, as well as the young Baylors around King Chun.A student of Guihua Academy later said that Manchu Guichun, then Minister of Civil Affairs, had declared that in response to the vendetta against Manchus in other places, he had organized the Manchu police and students of Guihua Academy to take revenge on the Han people in Beijing.Shengyun, a Mongolian governor who was far away in Xi'an, led troops to Qin Wang and left Xi'an. Yuan Shikai sent a telegram expressing his approval and ordered him to stop at Tongguan and not advance.Some aristocrats headed by Liang Bi organized the Clan Socialist Party [3], and legends that the Clan Socialist Party would take terrorist actions also appeared.In short, some Manchu and Mongolian princes and ministers made a desperate gesture.The first imperial meeting convened by the queen mother was full of resentment.Yikuang and Pulun were severely criticized for expressing their support for abdication.The next day, Yikuang did not dare to come, so Pu Lun changed his tone and declared that he was in favor of the monarch. This situation did not last long.Yu Lang, who attended the meeting, later talked about the meeting with his descendants, and Pu Wei also made some records in his diary, and the content was similar.One of the meetings went like this The queen mother asked: Do you think it is better to be a monarch or a republic? About four or five people responded immediately: slaves all advocate the monarch, there is no reason for the master republic.Then others also expressed this attitude. This time Yikuang and Pu Lun did not participate, and there was no contrary opinion.Some people also said, I beg the Empress Dowager to persevere, and not to be confused by Yikuang and his ilk.The queen mother sighed: Why do I want a republic? It was Yiqiang who told Yuan Shikai that the revolutionary party is too powerful. We have no guns and no military pay, so we can't fight this war.Did I say you can't ask foreigners for help?They said to ask.Two days later, after asking, the foreigner said that the regent abdicated before they could help.Zaifeng, did you say that? Pu Wei said angrily: Hasn't the regent abdicated?Why don't foreigners help?This is obviously Yikuang deceiving the king! Na Yantu interjected: Don't listen to Yikuang, Queen Mother from now on! Pu Wei and Zai Ze said: There is nothing to be afraid of a rebellious party. As long as the army is paid, there will be loyal ministers to destroy the thieves and kill the enemy.Feng Guozhang said that he could defeat the Revolutionary Party with three months' salary. I have already asked Yuan Shikai for all the internal money, and I really have no money left!The Queen Mother shook her head and sighed. Pu Wei took out the story of the Japanese empress giving jewelry to the army during the Russo-Japanese War, and persuaded the Empress Dowager to follow suit.Shan Qi supported Pu Wei's opinion, saying it was a good idea.Longyu said: It's good to win, but if you lose, you won't even be able to afford preferential treatment? At this time, the conditions of preferential treatment had already been negotiated by representatives of the Republic of China and the Qing Dynasty. The preferential treatment conditions are just a deceptive talk, Pu Wei said, just like the words of Ying Chuang Wang not paying the food, it is deceiving the people, it is deceiving the king.Even if this condition is true, wouldn't it make people laugh at all ages and nations if they receive preferential treatment from their subjects with the honor of the imperial court?After all, he kowtowed on the spot. Even in war, only Feng Guozhang can't do it!The queen mother is still not confident.Pu Wei asked the queen mother and the emperor to reward soldiers to serve the country.Shanqi also said that some are loyal and brave men.The Empress Dowager turned her head and asked Zai Tao who was kneeling on the side and kept silent: Zai Tao, you are in charge of the army, you know how our soldiers are. The slave has trained in the army, but has never fought a war, so I don't know.Zai Tao quickly kowtowed to answer. The Queen Mother fell silent.After a pause, he said: You go down first. At the end, Shanqi asked the queen mother again: after a while, Yuan Shikai and the minister of state will have an audience, and the queen mother must carefully issue an order. I am so afraid to meet them.The Queen Mother shook her head and sighed. At this meeting, Pu Wei originally came up with a way for the Queen Mother to deal with the ministers of state, which was to push the issue of abdication to the Congress, which was far away.However, Minister of State Zhao Bingjun brought the words that Yuan Shikai had prepared long ago: Let everyone discuss this matter, whether there are preferential treatment conditions, but we can't say for sure! The queen mother refused to consider the princes' idea of ​​the main battle.The princes had asked Wan Qian not to mention this matter to the eunuchs, but when the Queen Mother returned to the palace, the chief eunuch Xiao De Zhang, who had already been fed by Yuan Shikai, spoke first: From the point of view of slaves, whether it is a republic or a monarch, the old master is all the same.Speaking of the monarch, the old master is only in charge of using treasures.Speaking of republic, the queen mother is still the queen mother.But this has to agree to the condition.If not, the Revolutionary Party will hit Beijing, and it will be over! At the imperial meeting, fewer and fewer people spoke and fought, and in the end there were only four people left.It is said that my sixth uncle, who was in his twenties, was one of the main fighters. He advocated breaking the whole into parts, conferring princes and dukes into vassals, and dividing them into various places to resist.This claim was not heard at all.Yulang Baylor also had an idea, but people couldn't figure out what he was advocating.He said: If you want to fight, you must serve the battlefield, and you are duty-bound.If you want to reconcile, you must make a plan early. The imperial meeting broke up without any results every time.At this time, Duan Qirui, the general of Yuan's Beiyang Army, and others suddenly sent a telegram from the front line demanding the abdication of the Qing emperor. Then, Liangbi was killed by the revolutionaries.In this way, even Yulang's ambiguous opinions in the imperial meeting disappeared.Shanqi and Pu Wei, who fought the most, saw that the situation was over and left Beijing. They wanted to emulate Shen Baoxu and cry for Qin Ting. One went to Qingdao occupied by the Germans, and the other went to Lushun occupied by the Japanese.They were left there without letting go.Foreign officials told them that it was inappropriate to visit their country at this time.The problem is very clear, the foreigners have decided to recognize Yuan Shikai's government. On December 25th of the lunar calendar in the third year of Xuantong, Empress Dowager Longyu promulgated my abdication edict.Some princes ran into Dongjiaomin Lane, and Yikuang and his son moved into the foreign concession in Tianjin with their treasure and concubine.King Chun kept silent at the meeting. After issuing the edict of abdication, he returned home to hold the child.On the one hand, Yuan Shikai organized the provisional republican government of the Republic of China according to the imperial edict of the Qing empress dowager, and on the other hand, according to the agreement reached with the southern revolutionary party, the prime minister of the cabinet of the Qing Empire was changed to the provisional president of the Republic of China.As for me, as a neighbor of the great president, I started the life of a small court according to the preferential treatment conditions [4]. The room clearance conditions are as follows: After the resignation of the first emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the honorary title still exists.The Republic of China treats each other with the courtesy it treats foreign monarchs. In the second paragraph, after the emperor of the Qing Dynasty resigned, he spent four million taels per year.After the new currency is changed, it will be changed to four million yuan, which will be allocated by the Republic of China. After the third paragraph, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty resigned, he was temporarily confined in the palace.Later moved to the Summer Palace.Guards, etc., remain as usual. After the fourth paragraph of the Qing emperor's resignation, his ancestral temple mausoleum will be enshrined forever.The Republic of China will set up guards at its discretion to protect them carefully. The fifth item is the unfinished project of Chongling Mausoleum of Dezong, if it is properly repaired.The ceremony of enshrining the Annunciation is still the same as the old system.All utility expenses shall be paid by the Republic of China. The deacons used in the palace before the sixth paragraph can be retained as usual, but no eunuchs can be recruited in the future. Article 7 After the resignation of the Qing emperor, his original private property shall be specially protected by the Republic of China. Article 8. The original Imperial Guards shall be established by the Ministry of Army of the Republic of China, and the amount of salary and salary shall remain the same as before. [1] On November 15, 1911, the British Foreign Secretary Gray sent a telegram to the Minister in China, Jules Dian.The full text is to reply to your twelfth telegram.We have developed a very friendly feeling and respect for Yuan Shikai.We would like to see a government strong enough to handle foreign relations impartially, to maintain domestic order and a favorable environment for post-revolutionary trade in China, and such a government will receive all the diplomatic assistance we can give. (See Blue Book China No. 1, 1912, p. 40) [2] On January 16, 1912, when Yuan Shikai retired from the court and returned home, three revolutionaries waited on the restaurant in Bianyifang, Donghuamen Street, and threw bombs at Yuan Weizhong, killing Yuan Jinbiao, Yuan's chief guard, and wounding him. There were several guards. Afterwards, Yuan asked for leave in the name of long-term heartbeat and fever and left waist pain. He refused to enter the court and asked Hu Weide and others to replace him. [3] During the Revolution of 1911, the most stubborn and reactionary group of the Manchu Qing royal family, headed by Liang Bi, Pu Wei, Tie Liang, etc., formed the Zong Socialist Party. Yuan Shikai opposed the peace talks.Later, Liangbi was killed by the bombing of the revolutionary Peng Jiazhen, and Yuan Shikai instigated Feng Guozhang and others to issue a telegram in favor of the republic, so he was forced to agree to the abdication of the Qing emperor. Longyu also sent an order to dissolve it.After the disintegration of the Socialist Party, some of its main elements did not give up and turned to imperialism in an attempt to restore it with external force. [4] At the same time as the conditions for preferential treatment after the abdication of the Qing emperor, there were also conditions for the treatment of the Manchu, Mongolian, Hui and Tibetan ethnic groups and the conditions for the treatment of the Qing royal family.