Now let's talk about Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai, whose real name is Weiting and alias Rong 'an, was born in a family in eastern Henan. His uncle Yuan is an official and his uncle is an assistant minister. Yuan Shikai adopted Yuan Baoqing as his adopted son since he was a child, so he was much loved. Later, after Yuan's death, he was brought to Beijing to be raised. At this time, Yuan Baoheng was already the official residence of Zuo Assistant Minister, so Yuan Shikai often saw many dignitaries hanging around at home, and gradually he also came into contact with some officialdom political skills, which also had a great impact on his later life. 1879, Yuan Baoheng died, and Yuan Shikai was forced to return home with his family. 1876 and 1879 failed after taking the provincial examinations in Sun Shan twice, Yuan Shikai made up his mind to join the army and make a fortune by military exploits.
188 1 year, Yuan Shikai led dozens of people to vote for Yuan's close friends and got promoted. Soon after, he went to North Korea with Wu, and made outstanding contributions in 1882 and 1884 to help pacify the civil strife in North Korea, which was appreciated by Li Hongzhang. 1885, Li Hongzhang recommended Yuan Shikai as the Minister of Negotiations and Trade in the DPRK Prime Minister's Office. Since then, he has been implementing Li Hongzhang's foreign policy. Later, on the eve of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894,/kloc-0 returned to China in July, ending his mission. After the war, due to Li Hongzhang's fighting thought of avoiding war and protecting ships and relying on international mediation, he was attacked by court officials and was about to lose power. Yuan Shikai stepped up efforts to win over other dignitaries. He got to know Rong Lu, the favorite of Empress Dowager Cixi, and was soon recommended by Rong Lu and others. Yuan Shikai got the important job of editing and training Tianjin military forces. After Yuan Shikai took office, he trained the infantry strictly, increased the number of infantry by more than 2,500, and soon formed a new army of more than 7,000.
The new army completely followed the German organization, used German weapons and hired German instructors for training. Most officers at all levels were born in Beiyang Military Academy founded by Li Hongzhang. Among them, Duan, Feng and Wang Shizhen are also known as the "three outstanding men in the North".
1899, the Boxer Rebellion broke out in Shandong and other places. Due to the ambiguous attitude of Yu Xian, the former governor of Shandong Province, under the repeated pressure of foreign ministers, Qing * * * appointed Yuan Shikai as the governor of Shandong Province to suppress the boxer rebellion. After Yuan arrived in Shandong, he immediately actively expanded his army, such as reorganizing Shandong and forming the "Wuwei Right Army Pioneer Team" with nearly 10,000 people. Under the active expansion of Yuan Shikai's army, Yuan Shikai newly formed more than 20,000 troops, becoming the strongest armed force in the north at that time. When the Western Empress Dowager was exiled to Xi 'an, he donated 65.438 billion taels of silver to show his loyalty. When apportioning boxer indemnity in the Qing Dynasty, the provincial governors demanded that the amount in the above table be reduced. However, Yuan not only raised enough compensation, but also extracted training funds from taxes such as tobacco and alcohol. Therefore, when 190 1 Li Hongzhang lay dying, he silently wrote that the sponsor Yuan Shikai "looked around at the talents in the room, and no one was right." Moreover, because Yuan Shikai suppressed the Boxer properly, he was supported by the powers of various countries at that time. Seeing that Yuan Shikai was familiar with Westernization and liked by foreigners, the Queen Mother of the West appointed Yuan Shikai as the Governor of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang on the day of Li Hongzhang's death.
After the signing of the "Xin Chou Treaty", under the pressure of the situation, the Qing Dynasty played the slogan of "New Deal" and "Responsible Cabinet". Because Yuan Shikai was very popular and had a high status at this time, he played a leading role in the "New Deal".
190 1 In May, Yuan Shikai took the lead in putting forward ten New Deal proposals, such as vigorously developing industry and commerce, cultivating new Lu Haijun, setting up banks, enlightening the people and sending overseas students, which were basically the same as those adopted by Emperor Guangxu during the Reform Movement of 1898.
As mentioned earlier, Yuan Shikai's biggest capital is Beiyang Army. Therefore, after he came to power, he greatly expanded the Beiyang Army. For example, 190 1 sent people to Hebei to recruit more than 6,000 soldiers and form a 10 battalion "new training army". 1902, the Beiyang Military and Political Department was established to direct and train the Beiyang New Army. After the Qing Dynasty established the training center, Yi Kuang was appointed as the training minister, and Yuan Shikai was appointed as the training minister. Because Yi Kuang was weak and greedy for money, he was bought by Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai invited the Queen Mother of the West in the name of "sickly" and "careful care". The composition of the training center fully shows Yuan Shikai's control over the training center. Military training consists of military administration, military orders and military science, all of which are controlled by Yuan cronies. 1904, the Ministry of war was established in the Qing dynasty, and the new army of the national army was changed into seven towns. In addition to the first town is a flag soldier, Yuan can't control it, and the other six towns are controlled by Yuan. Yuan Shikai mastered most of the military power of the new army and became the leader of the largest armed force in the country.
However, with the expansion of Yuan Shikai's strength, he was also hit by the Manchu nobles. The struggle for internal political power in the Qing Dynasty seriously weakened its central power and provided opportunities for the strength of the revolutionary party to grow.
1908 1 1 In June, Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi died one after another, and Yuan Shikai's political career was also hit, almost losing his head.
Before she died, Cixi instructed Puyi to ascend to the throne. Her father, Zai Feng, was the Regent and held the military and political power. Zai Feng this person, can be said to be the ability is not big, ambitious, he wants to seize the qing * * *, nature can't tolerate yuan shikai. At that time, Zai Feng asked Manchu etiquette and Yuan Shikai how to deal with it. The strategy of advocating killing was opposed by everyone. Afraid of causing unnecessary trouble, he gave up the idea of killing Yuan, dismissed from office and rushed back to his hometown. Subsequently, many of Yuan's cronies, such as Tang and Ni Sichong, were dismissed.
After the outbreak of Wuchang Uprising, Yuan Shikai was reactivated by the Qing Dynasty because he was struggling, helpless and no one was available. Yuan therefore quickly took control of the current situation. I believe many people know that on the one hand, Yuan Shikai played tricks on both sides and ordered the Beiyang Army to storm the three towns in Wuhan, but at this time he was playing an abacus. Many people who have seen the Revolution of 1911 know that Yuan Shikai believed that if he wiped out the revolutionary party, the Qing court would give up on itself again, and it would not be good for him to sit back and watch the revolution win. Therefore, he advocated north-south peace talks in order to benefit from them.
On the one hand, Yuan Shikai, a wily man, deliberately used the Qing Dynasty to put pressure on the revolutionary party, forcing it to hand over political power and elect Yuan as president. On the other hand, he actively used the revolutionary situation to force the Qing emperor to abdicate.
However, Yuan Shikai obviously forced the Qing emperor to abdicate, but he acted in front of the Queen Mother Yulong. Yuan in history is kneeling on the red carpet mat, shrugging his shoulders and wiping his tears (selected from Memoirs of Puyi).
Yuan Shikai urged his men to call the Central Committee in order to step up their efforts. 191265438+1October 26th, Hubei front-line Beiyang general Duan and others jointly called the Central Committee, demanding that "the imperial edict be proclaimed, and political power be established at home and abroad." On the same day, Liang Bi, an important official of Manchu Dynasty, was killed by revolutionary Peng. Yulong and others are even more afraid. Finally, on February 3rd, Yuan Shikai was authorized to negotiate with Nanjing on the terms of abdication temporarily. 12 years, Puyi announced his abdication. The next day, Sun Yat-sen announced his resignation as interim president. In 15, Yuan Shikai succeeded as interim president.