Because Yuan Shikai was recommended to Cixi by a court elder, and he was not on the same front as Emperor Guangxu, Cixi felt that he was a trustworthy person. At that time, Yuan Shikai met Li Hongzhang, who won the trust of Empress Dowager Cixi. Knowing that Yuan Shikai had certain training methods, Li Hongzhang recommended Yuan Shikai to Empress Dowager Cixi.

With Li Hongzhang's recommendation, Empress Dowager Cixi trusted Yuan Shikai more. In fact, Empress Dowager Cixi is a very suspicious person and will be very cautious when choosing talents. At that time, Yuan Shikai was recommended by Li Hongzhang, who was very trusted by her, so she felt that the person recommended by Li Hongzhang must be good. After meeting Yuan Shikai, she saw that Yuan Shikai had a certain ability to train soldiers, and the country needed talents like Yuan Shikai when facing difficulties, so she chose Yuan Shikai, although she was right.

Yuan Shikai was disloyal to Emperor Guangxu, and betrayed him, winning the favor of Empress Dowager Cixi. Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu were on two fronts at that time. If a person is not in front of Emperor Guangxu, Empress Dowager Cixi will think this person is very nice and then trust him. At that time, Yuan Shikai betrayed Emperor Guangxu, and Empress Dowager Cixi was very happy when she learned about it. She felt that he and Emperor Guangxu were not on the same side after all. It would be a pity if such talents didn't win him over, so she handed over her own army at that time.

Moreover, Yuan Shikai also knows how to please Empress Dowager Cixi. At that time, although he didn't use his own army to protect Empress Dowager Cixi, which made Empress Dowager Cixi very angry, he later paid a lot of gunpowder to Empress Dowager Cixi and won her heart, so Empress Dowager Cixi became very trusting in him.