As for Cai E, a figure in the Republic of China, most Chinese people know two things about him.

One is to organize the Yuan Huguo Army to raise troops to oppose Yuan Shikai's proclaimed emperor, and the other is an anecdote about the famous prostitute Xiao Fengxian, who is both official and unofficial. The former belongs to the great righteousness, and the latter belongs to the small section, vividly portraying Cai E's historical image. As for why Cai E raised an army against Yuan Shikai, most Chinese people are unclear. At most, they swear and parrot Cai E's uprising as opposing Yuan Shikai's feudal restoration and his return to the throne. And this is also an important reason for Cai E's untimely death. It really should not be confused and forgotten in the vast smoke of history.

Liang Qichao, who was both a teacher and a friend of Cai E, has repeatedly spoken out in public speeches and written articles about Cai E's motivations for rebelling against Yuan.

At Cai E's memorial service, Liang Qichao told everyone that Cai E's rebellion against Yuan was "fighting for the integrity of the people." He said, "General Cai, the commander-in-chief of the National Defense Army, swore an oath: 'We have no choice but to do this righteous act today. Unless we dare to say that we will save the nation, we are just trying to regain a character for our people.'... Tens of millions of people in our country. His personality has been ravaged by Yuan Shikai to this day and there is nothing left of him."

On December 25, 1922, Liang Qichao gave a speech "Review of the Battle of Protecting the Country" in Nanjing academic circles. He once again recalled Cai E's words back then: "Soon, thousands of people will be praising Wang Mang. Thanks to the merits and virtues, Yuan Shikai was able to ascend to his great treasure and let the world see what the Chinese are. Although there are many people with righteous indignation in the country, they have no basis or are in inappropriate positions, so it is difficult to take action. We clearly know the power We are limited, so we may not be able to resist him, but for the sake of fighting for the dignity of 40 million people, we have to fight with all our lives."

Tao Juyin, a journalist of the Republic of China, wrote in his "Zhenghai Anecdotes". The article "Cai E" contains a speech by Cai E: "In this act of justice, what is fought for is not victory, but the personality of the forty million people of the Republic of China."

Cai E's will also contains " In order to fight for national personality".

It can be seen that the real reason why Cai E launched an army against Yuan was: "to fight for the integrity of the people." After the overthrow of the imperial system, what Cai E did was to prevent the Chinese personality from continuing to sink into the shackles of feudalism, and thus gave his life.

After Cai E raised his army, Yuan Shikai once asked Morrison whether Cai E had ambitions and whether he would rule China. Morrison dismissed this with contempt as a "stupid question". "I ignored him." It can be seen that Cai E's innocence and aboveboardness against Yuan at that time were completely different from those later revolutionary parties who blamed sheep heads for selling dog meat.

And this may be Cai E The reason why E's death became a secret.

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